Chapter Text
Prologue
The air was thick and cold that one night when you fled from the small town of Roosevelt; just outside of West Elizabeth and entering New Austin. You decided to take it upon yourself to go out hunting for a job, but little did you know as time had flown by the law had begun invading into towns you wouldn’t believe, they were quick and smart with their approaches. You had heard talk from a man earlier that week that a woman who was a widow was left with an insane fortune from her deceased husband. You had decided that since it was a small house you took it upon yourself to loot. But of course, a small house, more security.
Your horse, Soren, was trotting fast along the almost icy path, it was beginning to get colder. You knew how far you were from camp but you feared the worst if you didn’t get back sooner.
“It’s okay girl.” you whispered as she shivered slightly, you realised it was becoming unbearable for her to travel in this horrific cold weather, it wasn’t snowing sure but you hadn’t expected such a shift so early in the night. The wind was picking up which was almost making it impossible to breathe with the trotting, You decided to turn off into a sheltered area, you got off your horse and took off your bedspread and set up camp.
You hated camping alone, it was always something you feared especially in your early days before you were in a gang, hence why you usually travel in the day, but tonight you spent a lot longer than you had expected in Roosevelt.
“Wake up!” you heard someone call in your sleep, it wasn’t long until you opened your eyes and you were met with an unimpressed sight, you looked at the man before you who looked as irritated as you to see you open your eyes.
“Arthur Morgan, well ain’t this a surprise.” you say sarcastically, he slightly chuckles under his breath, “Ain’t no surprise Miss Wilde, I’m just here on account of Dutch, he was worried about you.” he says and you roll your eyes, “Well, I’m fine, he doesn’t need to worry.” you respond, sitting up and fixing your hair.
Arthur grabs your horse and strokes it, “she doesn’t like to be touched by fools.” you joke, “oh really? How did you manage?” he said and you rolled your eyes again, “I’d appreciate it if you would leave now.” you say and he chuckles, “alright, i’ll tell Dutch you’re good.” he says before getting on his horse, “try and stay out of trouble and take as much time as you need away from us I guess.“ he says and you grumble “you know I never realised how much I like being by myself until you showed up.”, he scoffs “shut up, I’ll catch you later then.” he said before riding off. You sighed as you rubbed your eyes from the sleep and began lighting your fire again and brewing some coffee.
You had been with the Van Der Linde gang for almost a year now, it was different to being alone; you enjoyed the company, but of course you didn’t want them to know that; you tried your best to make yourself look stoic and non-sociable but, the girls managed to bring that out of you, especially Tilly, she saw you and looked straight through you immediately, a little girl lost and just yearning to fit in to societies norms.
You took a sip of the coffee, you jumped a little, too soon. You waited longer for it to cool down as you watched the game meat that you had covered in oregano cook, Soren grunted slightly behind you as you stood up. You walked over towards her to your satchel and you pulled out an apple and fed her whilst stroking her freshly tamed mane. Soren had been your horse ever since you were 19, you didn’t get her from a stable of course, it’s not like you could afford it, she wasn’t even stolen, no, she was just there in the field, she was a stray and you were drawn to her immediately.
A sizzle came from you no more than 20 minutes later, you were resting there with your almost empty coffee mug when you realised the game had finished cooking, finally. You walked over and took it, you rested it on some leaves that you stuck together to make a plate before blowing on it and taking a bite, you moaned with delight as the succulent flavour sprung at your taste buds. You thought back to the gang and wondered, how the hell did they eat plain game meat, you would watch them on the daily as Arthur, Bill and Sean would devour the tasteless meat like it was the end of the world, of course the only person who saw some sense was Javier.
It was now getting close to the latter of the morning and you decided to give in and head back to camp, you didn’t want to worry Dutch anymore, you kicked dust into the fire putting it out and collected your things.
Chapter 1: Tumbleweed
“Who goes there?” I heard Lenny call out as I trotted in, “It’s Priscilla.” you responded, “Oh Priscilla, we were worried about you!” he said as he rested his repeater down, You nodded in his direction, “Well, I’m fine.” you responded calmly before hitching up.
You saw Miss Grimshaw walking towards you, face tough as anything, you dreaded the lecture you were about to receive. You placed your guns back onto your horse as her footsteps began to come closer.
“Miss Wilde!” she bellowed, you tried not to show the annoyed expression on your face before turning around towards her, “Hello Miss Grimshaw” you say brightly, she scoffed, “Don’t hello miss Grimshaw me, you had me worried sick! It’s not like you to be out overnight.” she exclaimed, you sighed before nodding your head slowly, “I know, I know, I-I just lost track of time is all, I was scoping out a job and things went wrong and ended up staying there longer than I expected.” You state clearly, “Well, I’m glad you’ve returned but I am still unhappy with your behaviour, a woman should know her station and I’ve always said that you should not be out galavanting like one of the boys! You are a lady! And a lady does what a lady does best!” she scolded, you felt offended by that comment, “What’s that supposed to mean?” your body language shifted into a guarded tone, “I’ve been watching you Miss Wilde and I’ve seen what I’ve seen, you need to be reminded to behave yourself and behave like a woman should” she argued, you smirked at her in disapproval, “You think i’m not ladylike? That’s a shame, cause last time I checked, I have a vagina, I have breasts, I’m all woman Miss Grimshaw. I’m sorry if you think I wanna subject myself to being a housemaid, that’s not for me, I have ideas above what you would consider my station miss Grimshaw and you know what i’ve never felt more alive.” you expressed.
She was speechless and with that you walked off to your camp, someone crashed into you, and you turned around “fuck off.” you exclaimed, “aye! watch yourself.” Sean exclaimed and you grumbled before finally reaching your tent, you closed it shut before making your way over to your bed and collapsing on it.
If you were honest your relationship with some of the gang members was not the best especially Miss Grimshaw, ever since you opted to follow the boys in fighting she’s always making unkind remarks and sneakily trying to get you to do the chores within the camp as she feels a lady should, but it’s 1898 and almost 1899 she needs to get with the times.
“Miss Wilde? Are you decent?” you heard from behind the curtain, you sighed with relief recognising the voice, “yeah, come in!” you responded before sitting up, the curtains opened and revealed Tilly who smiled as she walked in. Tilly had been your friend since you arrived, you were not really one to have friends so it was nice to finally meet someone who you got along with. “Miss Tilly, I have missed you” you say before hugging her, she hugs back and laughs into your shoulder, “I saw you getting it in with Miss Grimshaw, Moody old crone, she deserved it.” she said and you laughed a little, “You saw that huh? Yeah, the first thing she does is nag as soon as I come back, I don’t need that right now, I’ve got more important things to deal with.” you say before unbuttoning your blouse.
“I am sure, how did you get on in Roosevelt, it’s pretty far.” she said and you shrugged your shoulders, “it was going until someone decided to have a nosy and blow the whole thing, there were a lot of guards, it definitely wasn’t a one person operation that’s for sure…they didn’t see me though so maybe the next attempt will be more reasonable.” you said, you had finished removing your garments and stood in your chemise, you walked over to the pail, “would you be able to fill up this pail for me? I don’t really want to leave my tent right now?” you said holding it towards Tilly, “of course, I’ll be a few minutes.” she said before leaving, you laid on your bed again and stared at the roof of your tent patiently before you felt your eyes grow heavy and you drifted off.
Later that day…
You and Tilly had spent the last few hours having full blown conversations to the point where Karen even joined, you were talking about Miss Grimshaw and her antics and how you were fed up with them and it wasn’t long until the final piece of the puzzle, Mary-Beth joined into the conversation, you will be honest, the girls of the gang were the only ones you had gotten along with, well them and Lenny, the boys had a manner about them, the protective kind, and you always hated that, you weren’t quite sure why either.
The conversation began to deter away from Miss Grimshaw into men and intimacy and no one other than Karen would be the one to switch to this exact topic, you shifted uncomfortably as she began the conversation on how she and Sean had become intimate last night.
It’s not that you were a prude, you’d just never had a chance of that level of intimacy, with any man for that matter, every man for some reason back in England you would scare them away, even coloured men which hurt you, you were 25, never been kissed, never even held hands, you had no experience and the fear that you never would was always something in the back of your mind.
“What about you Priscilla?” Karen asked in your direction, you froze as you hadn’t been listening to the conversation due to having drifted into your own thoughts.
“Um, what was discussed?” you questioned, Karen smirked and let out a little laugh, “have you ever let your bloomers loose, was there a special guy back in good ol’ england?” she asked and you sat there silently, you really didn’t know what to say and their eyes looking at you with curiosity was throwing you off.
“There were-um there were a few.” you managed to utter, Karen raised her eyebrow, as you swallowed nervously, “a few?” she asked before leaning closer, “Don’t push her Karen, maybe she wants to keep it to herself.” Jenny interjected before smiling at you, “No-no there were a few guys…yeah” you tried to make yourself sound believable and hoped you’d been successful but unfortunately Karen wasn’t convinced.
“You’re a virgin aren’t you?” she questioned and you felt your heart fall in your stomach.
“Karen!” Mary-Beth protested almost hurt for you, Tilly looked at you with that sympathetic look and you felt your cheeks burn, “I’d appreciate it if we didn’t talk about this anymore, let’s just move on.” you expressed quickly, you felt yourself beginning to well up from the embarrassment and Karen sensed this, “Hey it’s okay, I’m not judging you, it’s okay if you’re still a virgin, sometimes I wish I still was because a lot of these men are worthless.” she said before laughing, you looked up at her with your eyebrows raised, “I’m a virgin too Miss Wilde.” Mary-Beth admitted and you looked at her shocked, “Really?” you questioned and she nodded her head with a smile, “We must be one and the same, you’re waiting for the right person and especially at that level of intimacy you want it to matter, you want an emotional connection with them right?” she questioned and you never really thought about it, but that would make sense why you feel the way you do. You nodded your head slowly and she pulled out one of her books, “Read this, it’s one of my favourites.” she said before handing it to you, “5 Years” the book was called by Everlyn Lindivik, “I’ll keep this in mind, thank you.” you responded with a smile.
The conversation continued into the evening and eventually you heard Pearson yell out that the stew was ready, the girls walked out of your tent whilst you got up and went to your table to pick up your plate, you walked out of the tent and began making your way to the stew, the line had formed already, the boys being there first of course, you stood behind Arthur and began waiting, “Miss Wilde.” Arthur said. You looked up at him, “Welcome back, I assure Miss Grimshaw gave you a talking to as you came in.” he joked, “Of course she did.” you sneered, Arthur laughed, “that’s what happens when you try to be one of us.” he said and you felt your teeth grind, “This stuff is not just for you Arthur, Women aren’t just made for housework you know.” You almost snapped, Arthur turned around and stared at you, “Calm down, I didn’t mean nothin’ by it, just somethin’ she said is all.” he stated and you rolled your eyes.
It was Arthur's turn to collect when he began putting the stew in his plate.“You know Miss Wilde, you need to get that stick out of your ass and be more friendly to folk here, I don’t know who upset you or who hurt you but your attitude it needs fixing.” he said sternly, Your blood began to boil, “I’ll give you an attitude fixing, you sonofabitch!” you snapped, “Aye! Enough between you two!” Dutch cried as he began walking down the line, he walked towards you as you took a deep breath, “Miss Wilde, please, we’ve had a rough few days, I don’t need anymore strife within this camp, can you please calm down?” he questioned and you almost saw red, you closed your eyes and let out a deep sigh before pushing past Arthur and getting your soup, you began storming out of camp once you collected it to a secluded area where no one would bother you, you sat there and began eating your stew.
You stayed in that spot for a long time and even went back to pick up Mary-Beth’s book, you sat there and began reading, you weren’t much of a reader you would admit but it would be nice to have something to entertain yourself for once.
“Ethel saw him down the hallway, her eyes peeked through the gap of the wooden door as he looked in her direction, he sensed her, he urgently made his way towards the door and she ran away from it, her heart pounding in her chest before she heard it swing open, she was too frightened to turn around, she eventually didn’t have to, he grabbed her hand and spun her around towards him, “Mr Porter, what are you doing?” she questioned she didn’t mean to but lust filled her vocals once she realised how close she was, how close she’s always wanted to be, “Ethel, I am weak in your presence, I always have been, the slightest touch from the palm of your hand makes me go feral, the loving glances you give every time we share a hallway, I might bed you now, for I am blooming for you” he said…
You felt yourself becoming wet as within the story they began to explore each other, words like “length” “fingers” “warmth” “moans” “cries” were expressed and you shifted uncomfortably and your wetness grew.
You were slick just like that, you couldn’t control it anymore, you had never touched yourself before as according to your mother and father it was considered a sin, you parents were very religious and you respected that and they were partly the reason you never courted a man, the fear of being seen as a devil in god's eyes terrified you.
You looked down at yourself, you changed into your chemise when you collected your book, your nipples were hard against the fabric,and your legs rubbed together, your body was curvy, you liked it and always felt that you received glances for it. You never felt insecure about your body, your hand slid past your nipple and you whined a little at the sensation, you’d never felt something like that before so you ran your hand over yourself again, you tried to envision yourself as Ethel as her legs were parted with Mr Porter between them, his head was buried between her legs but in your mind it was yours, your hands caressed your nipples before kneading your breast through the material and a passionate sigh escaped your lips.
You pulled the straps of your chemise down, you looked around to make sure no one could see you, your hands came down and you continued to knead your breasts.
Mr Porters hands were holding them gently before his tongue caressed your nipple, your finger mimicked how’d imagine that took place, you whimpered to yourself, this felt amazing, you could feel the cool air brushing against your core, your right hand came down parted your legs, running down towards yourself and you feel the wetness coat your fingers, you gasped as you began caressing yourself, you carried on reading, the mention of Mr Porter caressing her clit, you were unsure of where that was but you tried your best to figure it out moaned quietly as your hand caressed over a section which you assumed would be it and you continued your left hand caressing your breasts and you drew circles around your clit, you were a whimpering mess, the sensation was driving you crazy, you were lost in the pleasure passionate sighs were being released from you.
“Oh.” you heard and you snapped out of it, you opened your eyes abruptly and covered yourself, you couldn’t recognise it and never got to catch them properly as they walked off quickly. You laid there in complete embarrassment and annoyance. You looked down at yourself and felt guilty immediately for everything you had done. You were quick to recover your chemise over your shoulders and sat up before making your way to your tent. You looked around the camp but couldn’t see the whereabouts of your peeker, which irked you. You wanted to find the spy and deal with them accordingly but you were still weak from bliss. You looked down at the book in your hand before throwing it at your bed and getting inside of it. No more Mr Porter tonight.
The night was restless. You would admit the lingering feeling between your legs of what would've happened if you weren’t interrupted. Is there a moment of clarity where you reach ultimate euphoria? your curiosity was interrupted when you heard Pearson call for breakfast, You wasted no time in getting up and cleaning yourself from the pail, once done you picked up your bowl and began making your way out of camp.
Upon your travels, you noticed a few others were awake and already lining up for their food, as you walked past Hosea nodded towards you before saying, “good morning.” you smiled back and responded “good morning”.
Before you finally reached the line, you stood behind Miss Grimshaw, you felt a little awkward standing behind her knowing the events that transpired yesterday. She didn’t acknowledge you at first until she heard you shuffle your fork and turned around briefly, “good morning, Miss Wilde.” she said politely, you were shocked, “G-good morning Miss Grimshaw.” you responded.
You will admit as much as she irritated you, she did only care about you and the rest of the gang which you did appreciate. “Miss Grimshaw, I wanted to apologise for yesterday, I was out of line.” you began and she shook her head immediately before a tiny laugh escaped her.
“Miss Wilde, It’s okay, I will admit, I did feel bad, you did just come back after a long journey and slept rougher than usual, you didn’t need to hear my mouth.” she said and you sighed with relief, you nodded your head, “Yeah I guess I was very cranky when I returned. I know you care - Miss Grimshaw, I appreciate you.” You said honestly, you saw her face brighten at your words before she patted you on the shoulder in appreciation before she turned around and began getting her food.
You wanted to find someone to do the job with you back in Roosevelt but no one really sprung to mind, you of course thought about Karen and Tilly but you knew they weren’t very stealth in their pursuits.
Charles sprung to mind, he was good at pretty much everything and was the perfect candidate, however he was quiet, you knew it would be awkward between you considering you were the one who spoke more.
The last person who sprung to mind was Arthur, you shivered at the thought of him riding with you, you didn’t know why but you and Arthur didn’t have the best relationship ever since you joined the gang, at first you assumed it was because of your race, but he treated Tilly as if she were his little sister so that couldn’t be it. You knew that doing the job with him would be guaranteed a success and he did speak to you more than Charles would, you groaned to yourself knowing that he would be the best and final option, maybe Charles could join you both so it wouldn’t be as awkward.
You left your tent and searched the camp for Arthur but he was nowhere to be found, to be fair you didn’t see him at breakfast.
You began to search for Charles instead just to inform him of your plans and you found him at the edge of camp sharpening his arrows as he often did in the mornings. He looked up at you and nodded his head as if to say “hello.” you nodded your head in response, “You got a moment Charles?” you questioned and he put the arrow to one side, “sure.” he responded in a low tone, you felt kind of nervous as you’d never really spoken to him before so this was different, “um, I have a proposition for you.” you began and his eyebrows raised slightly, interested.
“I’ve been spending some time in that town about 2 hours from here called Roosevelt, small livestock town, didn’t seem like much at first.” he began to reposition himself and leaned forward, “I overheard a couple of folks talking about this house just outside of town, woman's husband passed away and left her with a great fortune.” you say, “What kind of fortune are we talking?” he asked.
“I’m talking big, seems like they’re a gold mining family, had businesses out in Guarma, Some places in Africa and in the middle east, lots of gold, he left all of it to her.” you exclaimed in a detailed tone.
Charles smiled a little.
“And is this place armed? Guards?” he asks, you nod your head, “to the brim, very guarded, I wanted you and well Arthur on this one.” you said and he nodded his head, “Sounds pretty good, Arthur left pretty early this morning, not sure where but he should be back soon, when did you wanna make a move?” he asks, “Tonight, we can’t linger for long, they were talking pretty loud.” you say and he nods his head, “alright then, I’m assuming you want to do this stealthy, hence why you asked me?” he asks and you nod your head “of course.” you said with a smile, he smiled back and for the first time you realised that he’s actually very kind.
Once you had done talking you turned around and walked back into the centre of camp where you were met by the leader of your gang, Dutch Van Der Linde who, as usual was smoking a pipe and sat with his lady, Molly O’Shea, you smiled, “Good morning Dutch, Molly.” you said with a small nod they smiled at you.
“Miss Wilde, how lovely it is to see you today, we were worried about you not returning 2 nights ago.” Dutch stated and you nodded your head, “oh I know, Arthur came and found me. It took me a lot longer in town than I expected.” You stated and he nodded his head, “These things happen.” he said before taking a puff, “anything good?” he asked and you nodded your head, “Real good, a big take, I’ve asked Charles and well I’m waiting for Arthur to get back so I can pitch it to him to see if he comes along.” you say and Dutch nods his head before standing up, he holds your shoulder and smiles, “That’s mighty good Miss Wilde, be sure to stay safe and don’t lead anyone back to camp.” he warns, you nod your head, “of course Dutch.”
As you were talking you saw Arthur hitching his horse at his post and walking towards camp. You smiled at Dutch and Molly before walking in his direction.
Arthur was holding what looked like a bag, as you walked closer towards him, he looked at you for a moment before looking down, you rolled your eyes slightly but ignored his stealthy attempt to not make eye contact with you.
"Mr. Morgan, good morning," you greeted him, and he responded with a nod before continuing on his way. You followed him, determined to talk to him about something important.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," you said, and he appeared slightly puzzled. "Um, what... what would you like to talk about?" he asked.
"It's a job," you explained, and Arthur's curiosity was piqued. "A job? For me? What is it?" he inquired, walking as he spoke.
"It's in that town I was coming back from, Roosevelt," you replied. He chuckled, showing his scepticism. "That town? There's nothing there but tumbleweeds and morons. You ain't getting a good take from there," he remarked dismissively.
"But, Ar—" you began to say, but he cut you off, "Let me know when you find something else," and walked away.
"There's gold," you stated, causing him to pause and turn around. "Gold?" he questioned, now curious.
"I heard a few fellas talking amongst themselves about a woman who lives there. Her husband died, and he was filthy rich but didn't flaunt it to the public. He had a gold mining company that operated in various places worldwide. He left it all to her, and some of it is in that house," you revealed.
Arthur stared for a moment. "Guarded?" he inquired, and you nodded. "Very. That confirmed my suspicions. We need to be stealthy. I wanted you and Charles to join me on this job," you explained.
He smirked a little. "That's good, real good... And you wanted me to help? How adorable," he teased, and you rolled your eyes. "I protested at first, but unfortunately, you're a good fit for this job."
"Are you sure it should just be the three of us?" he asked, his interest piqued.
You nodded decisively. "Three is all we need."
"Alright," Arthur agreed. "Tonight, we move," you instructed.
"Sounds like a plan," he acknowledged with a nod.
Just like that the plan was decided, you made your way back to your tent and began to prepare yourself for your trip, you laid out your guns on your bed, making selections of which ones you would carry, you never left them on your horse, you had your fears.
You decided on your Schofield revolver, applying gun oil to it and cleaning. You would admit it had been a while since you’d taken a few bullets but it’s worth a clean.
You also decided on your volcanic pistol, it was a gift from your daddy when you were little, he told you, you couldn’t use it until you were 18. You only made it to 17. Since then you wouldn’t be seen without it, it was your signature.
Now you hovered over your rolling back rifle, it was a gift from Dutch when you joined the gang which you were grateful for, it was usually just you, your Lancaster repeater and your volcanic pistol but not anymore.
You picked up your Lancaster repeater and cleaned it excessively. It had seen a lot of wear and tear but it was worth it in the long run. You picked up any remaining weapons you thought may be necessary and rested them against the tent door.
You changed your outfit to something more suitable for fighting, you were no longer wearing your skirts but settled with some brown flared pants, you sported a white blouse with a brown vest over it. You made sure to pack your thick brown coat in case the weather conditions changed. Once you were pretty much set up you decided to take a well deserved rest, you had a heavy night ahead of you.