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saintgoths · 3 months ago

Text

ʜᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴏɴɢᴜᴇ

CHAPTER ONE - HOLD YOUR TONGUE.

WORDS - 4,937.

RATING - 18+

SUMMARY - after cheri and arthur have a heart to heart talk in camp, arthur already finds himself being infatuated with the new member.

ARTHUR MORGAN FIC.

previous chapter - prologue.

feedback would be appreciated!

“It’s okay girl, everything will be okay,” a lady said as she guided Cheri to a comfortable place, Cheri had just arrived to their camp, and it had reminded Cheri of the past she used to share with her mother before they had found her late father, Dylan. The camp was on a cliff, the entrance guarded by many tall trees and the cliff a place someone could overlook and see the rest of Valentine.

Cheri had noted to herself, that once she was made place in this area, she’d overlook the sight.

She had pondered if the view would look like if someone flew out of the Earth and glanced down. Trees the size of ants and people the size of atoms, seas the size of a pool and countries the size of broken biscuits. She had then wondered if this uneasy train of thoughts was a way of her trying to calm herself from what had just happened.

Her father’s death and her almost being buried alive next to him.

The lady was called Ms. Grimshaw. She was the oldest woman here, and had the essence of strong matriarch. A Caucasian woman with her hair loosely tied up with a few strands loose, she wore a red blouse that seemed to compliment the redness in her cheeks, and the arms of her blouse slightly rolled up as she also wore a black long skirt, her touch was hard but soft at the same time, but during this time, Cheri hadn’t cared on how she was handled.

There had been many people around her, specifically women. Dutch, who Cheri had come to acknowledge was the name of the leader of the gang, had been speaking to another elder, a scrawny man with a funny accent, was what Cheri had thought, and Cheri had known that the two of them had been speaking about her.

Cheri was thankful, but hadn’t spoken much. It was the shock, was what Ms. Grimshaw said and since she had believed that everyone’s presence had over-whelmed Cheri, she had rudely shooed everyone off but Arthur. “Fetch her a tent she can be in for the time being,” the lady said and with a respectful nod, Arthur’s eyes lingered on Cheri who had looked at her knees, the thin blanket she had protectively held onto had barely warmed her, and Arthur had immediately thought of retrieving something to tepid her.

“Brought another coloured?” A man asked, and immediately everyone turned to look at where the voice had come from, there had been a share of unkind words out of defence of Cheri, the man surprised of their reaction, had raised both of his hands up in defence. “Oh, never mind, she’s a mulatto, that’s a bit better,” he awkwardly chuckled as he took a step back.

Cheri screwed her face in response to his disrespect, but had not said anything, it was as if her mouth was temporarily sealed shut. She had hated it, but was grateful that people felt the need to defend her. One of the women who was shooed away but didn’t listen took a step towards her. “Don’t mind Bill,” the girl said, she was blonde, a curvy woman with blonde hair that curled at the ends. Her eyes were pretty, they were green and she had a look that comforted Cheri, the look on her face had made Cheri think that the blonde woman was happy to have another lady join the camp.

“She was almost buried alive,” Charles said, he had introduced himself before they arrived to their camp, and within their trip to this location, she had felt like everyone had treated her like brittle glass. Perhaps it was the way she looked; the wide eyes that were once filled with shock now empty.

The unnamed woman furrowed her eyebrows; she had quickly silently and wondered what would cause people to do that to a girl. “What for?”

“They wanted her father’s money, and more,” Charles explained and with another shoo from Ms. Grimshaw, Charles and the unnamed woman who Cheri had learned to be Karen obediently scattered away.

Even though she was grateful for their sympathy, Cheri did not like the fact that they spoke about her as if she was not there. Along with Dutch who had been beside a different elderly man, a man who had a softer look compared to the man with the weird accent. “Give Cheri a break before you harass her with questions,” Ms. Grimshaw said to Dutch, she had a stern tone in her voice but there was softness coated in her speech, to show she still had respect for their leader.

Dutch and the other man looked at each other, in silent agreement with Ms. Grimshaw, they turned on the heels of their soles and redirected to another tent, a larger tent than everyone else’s at the camp, so Cheri quickly covered that it must’ve been Dutch’s sleeping place.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” Ms. Grimshaw questioned and as she still hugged her body tight, Cheri slowly shook her head.

Cheri’s eyes slightly wobbled, as she finally found the strength to speak for herself, to allow Ms. Grimshaw to once and for all hear what she had sounded like. “If I leave, I will be hunted down,” Cheri said and with a sympathetic look, the lady placed both of her hands against the wings of Cheri’s shoulders, they had shared a look, Ms. Grimshaw’s expression, stern but understanding.

“Then for now, you will be a part of the Van Der Linde gang,” Ms. Grimshaw said.

“I’ll be an outlaw?” Cheri asked, the sound of her voice was barely whisper, it sounded like a scratch, but the lady still heard what she had said. It wasn’t like Cheri had not been an outlaw before. Before her mother Whitney Dylan, the two of them were in a gang, and Cheri remembered that she had hated it. Though, currently being an outlaw, was better than becoming a slave again.

“Yes,” Ms. Grimshaw responded as if she had already known what Cheri would be doing. “You know how to work right?”

Cheri nodded her head. “I know my way around a kitchen, I know how to be domestic,” Cheri provided and as if a short glow depleted in Ms Grimshaw’s eyes, the woman saved herself with a warm smile, even though the older woman had something racy and obscene in mind for Cheri, the older lady wasn’t upset that Cheri had come up with another idea that could provide for the gang.

For her own defence, Ms Grimshaw saw Cheri as a pot of Gold, the second she came in with the rest of the gang, Grimshaw saw Cheri as pretty, with a nice body and was mixed. An oasis for the curious Caucasian man who’d wants to lay with foreign girls, well that was what Grimshaw had thought. Plus, she saw the way majority of the men in the camp’s eyes followed Cheri around, their very eyes like summer bees wanting their pollen.

“Then you’ll be with Pearson and Mrs. Adler when it comes to cooking for the gang,” Ms. Grimshaw shared. “There’s a lot of people here, and these people have big stomachs, so you’ll find yourself having to cook all the time,” the lady said as she stood to her feet. “Now go get yourself cleaned up before going to bed,” Ms. Grimshaw ordered and like an obedient abandoned pet, Cheri scurried to her feet to clean herself.

ಹ ೀ ಹ

The Moon was still young when Cheri overlooked the cliff, she had worn a big black shawl, the trims of the shawl multi-coloured with blue, red and yellow which would’ve made anyone look like a circus clown, but when Cheri had worn the shawl, she had made the cloth look beautiful, while the piece of fabric had only just highlighted the delicacy Cheri naturally carried.

The wind had braided through her hair, her curly locks gently fanned her face which had commenced the woman to softly wipe her face every now and then. She had noticed a presence behind her slowly walk towards her, as if they had slowly been entering a tiger’s cage. Almost everyone at the camp did, as if she had a red symbol dotted on her forehead that had told everyone that she was danger. As if there had a been a predatorial black shadow everyone but her had saw loom above of her shoulder.

“Can’t sleep?” A voice had called and Cheri had quickly acknowledged it to be from Arthur. Cheri didn’t have time to respond fore he spoke again, as if he was able to read her mind. “Can’t blame you, you had quite the night.”

-With a short hum, Cheri tightened the grasp on her shawl. She had looked away from him and Arthur had watched how the Moon’s Halo softly kissed her features, the sharpness of her cheekbones and how the Moon’s reflections on Cheri’s skin almost looked like stars. “Who were you before all of this?” Arthur had asked and with a short smile, Cheri sat herself on a big rock.

“I was an heiress,” Cheri sourly smiled. “Obviously cheated out of it by men who said they were devotees to my father, Dylan Harley,” Cheri explained, and as he softly approached her, Arthur hooked his thumbs around the buckle of his belt, silent, he had stood beside Cheri, eyes scouted the top of her head. He had wanted to sit by her but didn’t want to appear as eccentric. So, he had stood there, as if he was a whispery tree listening to all secrets one could tell under the Moon. “My father was good, well he tried to be a good man before his days were over, so for his redemption from his previous outlaw days, he used that goodness on me and my mother and I guess, they didn’t like that he was giving his love and money to a black woman.”

“Evil,” Arthur muttered and in response, Cheri hugged her legs. “Yeah, my mother used to be a prostitute, we used to be outlaws as well, but they were not good people, so when my mother thought it was best, she ran off with me and looked for my father and he accepted us.”

Confused, Arthur gently kicked the rock that was in front of his left shoe. “He accepted you that easily? Didn’t think your mother was lying?”

“I look like him, have his eyes,” Cheri explained, and his frown, was what her late mother would say. His singing, she definitely inherited his singing, Cheri cheerlessly smiled. Her mother was a terrible singer.

“These previous outlaws you and your mother used to be with? Who were they?” Arthur investigated, and with both eyebrows raised, Cheri had quickly speculated if he had thought Cheri and her mother used to be with the O’Driscolls the Van Der Linde gang seem to speak about almost every hour.

With a side smirk, Cheri barely glanced his way. “We weren’t with the O’Driscolls if that’s what you’re thinking about, I don’t remember their name, or at least don’t want to, they weren’t good people and they are in the past so it is best to leave them there.”

He had wanted to apologise, but it had appeared as if his voice got stuck in his throat. “But the ones you met yesterday, they call themselves the Jesters of Dylan Harley, the Jesters.”

Both Arthur and Cheri had began to laugh. “That’s a silly name,” he coughed.

“They’re like a pack of hyenas, laughing whenever they see their prey,” Cheri said with a quite shudder, even if the name appeared like a joke, to be trapped in the middle between blood thirsty Jesters was a nightmare brought into life. “That’s how you know they’re around, their laughter. My title was how I knew you guys were here. My family were outlaws close with the law, played them and paid them to keep their mouth shut. We had good money…”

“How much of money was that?” Arthur had asked and he hadn’t realised he had moved closer to her, close enough for Cheri to lean against his lower thighs.

“Millions of dollars taken away from me,” Cheri gritted.

“That’s unfortunate,” Arthur said as he gently stretched, he had a look on his face that mirrored how unsure he was when it came to Cheri, should he hug her? She seemed like she needed it but she had a look on her face that made it seem like she’d throw knives to whoever laid a finger on her.

Adamant, Cheri shook her head. “Only unfortunate if I allow them to continue running away with my money,” she said, now angry as she stood to her feet. She had patted the dusts her fabrics of her clothing had collected and released a heavy sigh. “Goodnight, Mr. Morgan,” Cheri briefly smacked before she readied herself to her tent and had used every muscle in her body to not look back to give him one last look.

ಹ ೀ ಹ

Cheri had not remembered how low the Sun had rested when she had been woken up to cook breakfast. It was the rough hands of a man that had shaken her up and he introduced himself to be Pearson. He was an odd-looking man and Cheri hadn’t taken much time examine him as she was taken in by the red-headed woman who was beside her. She had man-handled every tool and food that was put upon the cutting-board.

She had mumbled and grumbled to herself every second as if she were mad, her accent sour and strained, had a tune Cheri had liked, and Cheri had taken in that woman was pretty, freckled, had barely looked her way as she was submerged within her rage.

She had worn clothing that looked like it had worn her, and with the way she looked, Cheri had comprehended this was likely not the woman’s style. Silently, Cheri had chopped up vegetables while Pearson handled the meat, it was a deer Arthur had hunted hours before everyone else had woken up, and Cheri had wondered, if everyone was so used to waking up this early. If she would’ve asked, she would’ve gotten the answers from Ms. Grimshaw who would’ve said something about them being workmen.

“Is anything okay?” Cheri eventually had asked, she had spent the seconds gathering up the confidence to ask Sadie and had prepared herself to be stabbed by the ginger-woman, but to her surprise, Sadie didn’t point the sharp knife at her.

“Of course not,” Mrs. Adler whined. She twisted her face before she started to throw her arms everywhere, Cheri was sure she had to duck a couple of times if she still wanted an eye. “I don’t cook!” She exclaimed. “Before all this shit, I shared duties with my husband.”

“Well, clearly your husband isn’t here now so you gotta do what you gotta to do!” Pearson yelled, he had a tired tone, as if he had gone over the topic with Sadie a dozen of times.

Thus, Sadie had shrieked at the mention of her husband, aimed to stab the knife at Pearson but had been easily held back by Cheri, who had wanted to laugh but had understood that the circumstance could get serious if Cheri had taken a misstep and had Sadie accidentally plunge her with the knife.

“Please Sadie, let’s just make the stew,” Cheri breathily chuckled and with a soft pull, Sadie glanced at Cheri with the side of her eyes as her strands covered parts of her face. She had a tense nose but had used her annoyance to chop the vegetables.

Once everything had been completed, Cheri had helped herself with the food fore she aided herself to get cleaned up. It didn’t take long after the stew being made for Cheri to be surrounded by some of the women in the gang; Mary-Beth, Karen and Tilly.

They had poked her with questions about how Valentine was and had expressed with profound desperation on how much they wanted to go there. So, when the three women saw Arthur and an old man they called “Uncle” rudely banter with each other before they spoked about going to town, the women had squealed with a moment of eureka before they perused them.

“If you’re gonna take the old man into town, could you take us too?” Karen had asked.

With a contemplative thought, Arthur lit his cigarette against the sole of his boot. “Why, what have you got planned?” He questioned.

Cheri had avoided his look, thankful that it had been Karen who was speaking. “Nothing,” the woman answered. “We’ll find something for y’all to do, we always do,” she persuaded as she stepped through the long grass, and as much as Cheri had loved the nature, her previous events had made her hate the smell of dirt and greens.

“We’re bored out of our minds,” Mary-Beth cried out, Mary-Beth, a good girl, kind, and a lover at heart, it had barely been a whole day and Cheri had understood that Mary-Beth was a day-dreamer, head in the clouds as she dreamed about the future, and then there was Tilly, so sweet and innocent, she had reminded Cheri of a dove sweetly gliding through the sky.

“Been cooped up here for two weeks now,” Mary-Beth explained. “Karen’s about ready to murder Grimshaw.”

With a humoured look on his face, Arthur placed one of his hands against his buckle, a faded cloud of smoke passed through the tight slip of his mouth and he had quickly observed Cheri with a hasty scout. Aware that she had been more closed off. She was like two positive magnets fighting the urge to not let go of each other. “Well, can Miss Grimshaw spare you?”

“Can Miss Grimshaw spare you?” Karen repeated as if she had been hit a thousand times. “What’s happened to you, Arthur? Three young healthy women want you to take ‘em robbing, and you’re worried about house chores, let’s go! Cheri is a Valentinian!” Karen encouraged. “She knows Valentine like the back of her right hand.” With a moved expression, Cheri folded her arms against her chest at the mention of her name.

“Fair enough, you got me,” Arthur said. “Come on then,” he allowed as the three women cheered, Arthur walked closer towards the carriage as Uncle pulled himself on, Mr. Morgan had then turned to look at Cheri who had contemplated to join. “You comin’ Cheri?”

With a short hum, Cheri pushed herself off the thin tree, considering of what had happened to her, a moment in Valentine wouldn’t hurt, moreover, it’ll mean she’d see her lover. Cheri had remained quiet when the carriage started moving, truthfully, Cheri had felt comforted by the excited energies that had been shared around the vehicle.

Mary-Beth was excited the most. “Oh, Cheri, tell us about Valentine!”

Out of respect, Cheri had spoken about the place, about the strict laws that can be smoothed if they had the funds to pay them off. Karen had wrinkled her eyebrows in response to what she had heard come out of the Harley woman’s mouth. “What makes you think we don’t have the funds?” Karen had asked, her voice strung and judgmental which had quickly made Cheri feel like she had been serious, but there had been a clear glint in Karen’s eyes that made Cheri think otherwise.

“Well, look around us,” Cheri replied which had caused Uncle to laugh. The rest of the short trip had been exciting, Cheri had silently been glad that she had agreed to join their short travel, it had involved them being encouraged to sing by Uncle, of course, Cheri hadn’t joined, but she had nodded her head to the vulgar words that had come out of their mouths.

“I got a girl in Valentine, like to drink that fancy wine. Plumes in her hat was two feet tall, the crack in her pants paid for it all!” The three girls sang and with an awkward smile, Cheri had her hands cupped around her knees, the other women continued to sing until Arthur was persuaded to save a white horse a man had struggled to bring back, and when Arthur had returned to them, the Van der Linde gang resumed their travel to Valentine.

ಹ ೀ ಹ

Cheri had been at the Saloon with the girls whereas Uncle and Arthur had busied themselves in the shop, as they said previously, Karen, Tilly and Mary-Beth had focused to search who to rob while most people in the Saloon had greeted Cheri with their condolences, Cheri had scanned the area to seek a familiar figure.

Kyle.

Kyle Blake.

The moment he saw Cheri, Kyle had had made a bee-line towards her and brought her into a big, warm and comforting hug that caused the three women Cheri had come with to giggle and “woo” them. Cheri had awkwardly smiled at their reaction whereas Kyle had not taken them in and dragged Cheri away from the Van Der Linde women.

Kyle was a handsome man, tall and slender with brown messy hair, green eyes and pale skin, freckles that had reminded Cheri of the stars and his eyes were usually filled with the brightness of the sun. Though today they had dimmed, as if a star had died. “The law ran those damned men out due to what they did,” Kyle explained, news travelled fast in Valentine and sometimes Cheri hated it, though this time, Cheri had been somewhat glad the law had done that, however, a side to her had been annoyed as it had meant getting her money back would involve long trips and searches within the country.

“I still need my money,” Cheri muttered, gently anxious as she had flicked her nails against the softness of her palms.

To comfort her, Kyle placed his hands against the point of her shoulders. Cheri avoided to look at him, her eyes wandered to the dirty wood of the saloon floor, ears flooded with the music and drunk cheers of men who had danced and flirted with women who had stuck themselves against the saloon walls. “I can give money to you baby you know you can always rely on me,” he had belonged to a fine family in Valentine and was brought up to be generous with his belongings, so when he had moved his hands into his pockets to pull out money for her, Cheri had pouted fore she pressed his mouth against her lips.

He was soft with his embrace and quick. However, aware with her body language, Kyle had taken in that Cheri didn’t want to have a long kiss. As Cheri kindly thanked Kyle for his money, Kyle had then stood up straight before he began to question her. “So where are you living now?”

With a short breath, Cheri had then explained her circumstance, and when she did, Kyle had been silent and had not shown what he had felt or thought. He had still held onto her, examined every curve on her face, every breath hitch and every over-whelmed stutter, and when she had finished, Kyle slowly pulled away from her.

“You’re with a bunch of outlaws?” Kyle had asked, his simple question laced with clear judgement.

Defensive, Cheri furrowed her eyebrows as she crossed her arms. “They rescued me, Kyle,” she said. “My family were outlaws too; I hope you remember that.”

“You can stay with me and my family,” Kyle protectively suggested and in disagreement, Cheri shook her head.

“I know your family looks down on me because I am half black,” Cheri stated, eyes now focused on her partner who had sighed just as he scratched the back of his head.

“I understand,” he gritted. “But at least try to come, I believe they’ll be less unkind because of your current circumstance.

With a humoured glint in her eyes, Cheri had tried her best not to smirk. “I’ll visit your family, but I cannot see myself staying with you guys.” Cheri had wished Kyle had his own home, but Kyle was connected and devoted to his family the way the Moon had been devoted to the Earth.

Cheri pursed her lips as she had looked at him, aware of the heavy footsteps that neared towards them. It was Arthur, he had barely taken in Kyle and had turned to look at Cheri. He had a unambiguous look on his face, as if he had tried to hide his worry with a shift of calmness. “Cheri, you’ve seen Karen?”

Cheri furrowed her eyebrows; she had looked back to where she had seen all the women before Kyle had taken her and had noted that they were all gone. It was expected, as they did say they wanted to rob. “Oh,” Cheri whispered as she had pondered on how long she and Kyle had been speaking with each other.

“I heard her speaking about going to a hotel,” Kyle said and as if he had just seen Kyle for the first time, Arthur twisted to look at the brunette. Quickly examined him before he had spoken.

“Who are you?” Arthur had asked, an awkwardly Cheri had turned to look at the point of her shoes. “Cheri, is he bothering you?”

Quick to defend him, Cheri shook her head. “No, Arthur, this is Kyle, my partner.”

With a twisted look on his face, Kyle glanced at Cheri. “Are you sure you can be with them?”

“Yes, I’ve made my decision,” Cheri responded, aware that her boyfriend’s question struck a chord in Arthur. Cheri had sighed, aware that she’d likely have to come between them and silence them if they decided to compete on who’s scarier than the other.

Arthur, who had taken a step forward to question him opened his mouth. “You have something against people like us?” Arthur drawled; his voice had sounded deeper than before as his was accent thick, Kyle scrunched his face as he had attempted to hold his tongue, but Cheri had placed a hand against Kyle’s shoulder with a forced smile on her face.

“No, no he doesn’t,” Cheri said and as kickback, Arthur took a step backwards. “Kyle,” Cheri said as she turned to look at her partner. “I’ll be seeing you later,” she promised and with a confused look on his face, unsure if he should go after her, Kyle had bit his tongue as he had then watched his lover walk out of the saloon with Arthur.

ಹ ೀ ಹ

They had been on the trip to return back to the camp, Arthur had been able to find the rest of the women ere he sat down on the driver’s seat. They were quieter than before, Cheri had been told both Karen and Tilly had been assaulted by men, and she overheard a situation that involved a place called Black Water.

“What happened in Black Water?” Cheri had asked and the already silent air had become piercingly quiet. Not even the loud mouth of Uncle had saved the silence, perhaps he had been quiet, or had wondered on what story he could come up to lie with.

Cheri had heard that Arthur had chased a man who had mentioned him being a part of the Black Water incident, and aware that there could be future problems she could be associated in due to the gang, the woman would rather know. “Are you going to snitch?” Uncle joked and with a brief chuckle from Arthur who had slapped the reigns against the horses, Tilly had moved closer to Cheri to explain the entire story.

“A bad robbery happened, the gang narrowly escaped with our lives,” Tilly began, her eyes big as she continued to speak. “It was so bad, so many lives lost,” it had seemed the girl had wanted to say more, but she had held her tongue, Cheri shortly smiled at her, thankful that she had been the one to shortly explain their previous circumstance.

“Well, at least the robbery the gang is going to do is going to be better,” Mary-Beth spoke and confused, Cheri furrowed her eyebrows. She hadn’t heard any of this. “They’re going to rob a train going to Brazil, lots of money Cheri, lots of money.”

Interested, the women could see life sparkle in Cheri’s eyes. “I want to join the rob,” Cheri said and as if she had shared the funniest joke, Uncle repeatedly slapped his knee, almost as if he was a drunk circus clown, offended, Cheri straightened her posture just as she turned to look at the older man. “What’s funny?”

“Women never go on the robbing trips,” Uncle said.

“It’s not like you do,” Arthur lowly muttered which had commenced the rest of the women to giggle. The carriage had then turned closer to the woods, Cheri had noticed the recognisable forest trees that had either curved or stood high while it had hidden the new home for the gang.

“I know how to use a gun,” Cheri said. “And trust me one day I’ll put a bullet in that big stomach of yours,” she smiled and as the rest of the gang continued to laugh, they had finally arrived into the camp, excited with what had happened and eager, Arthur and Mary-Beth had walked beside each other to inform Dutch of the rich train that would be travelling to Brazil soon.

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