Chapter 14 - You're Gonna Burn Up

                                    

                                          
Warning: contains suggestions of rape
                          


                          
"Elizabeth" said Arthur softly from outside, "Are you awake?"  
                          
When he received no reply he knew something was wrong, the sunlight was beaming straight into her tent.  "That always wakes her up."  He thought to himself.  Slowly he unbuttoned the tent and made his way quietly inside.
                          
"Shit!"  The only word Arthur could muster after seeing Elizabeth in a bleeding heap on the floor.  He stepped over to her and shook her shoulder gently, she didn't stir.
                          
"Hosea!  Hosea quick!" Shouted Arthur in despair.
                          
Hosea crashed through the tent followed by Susan, as he entered Arthur caught a glimpse of every member of the camp huddling outside looking in.
                          
"I found her like this."  Arthur stammered, staring at his hands which were covered in her blood.
                          
"Arthur, we need to get her onto the bed, help me lift her."  Ordered Hosea calmly with a hint of panic in his voice.  "Susan go and get some morphine."
                          
Susan hurried off and Arthur and Hosea lifted Elizabeth's lifeless body and placed her gently on her bed.  Arthur crouched beside her and held her broken hand in his.  
                          
Susan returned and passed the bottle of morphine to Arthur who poured a small amount into her mouth.
                          
"Susan, would you sit with her, Dutch needs me for a job."  Said Arthur.
                          
Susan nodded and pulled a stool next to where Elizabeth laid.  "She should be awake when you get back, just wait for the morphine to set in," she explained.
                          
Charles and Arthur rode out of camp to town, Charles was first to break up the single sound of hooves.
                          
"Dutch said Trelawny's place has been ransacked" he said, his voice monotone.
                          
"Right." Arthur responded, he couldn't stop thinking about Elizabeth and how he hoped she was going to be okay.
                          
"Are you alright?" Asked Charles 
                          
"No, it's Elizabeth, found her in a state this morning, covered in bruises and blood." Arthur could barely explain, his voice cracked as he shifted his sadness into hatred.  "I will kill whoever did that to her."
                          
"Arthur, you'll need a calm head going into this, who knows what we'll find at Trelawny's place."
                          
The boys rode into the fenced area in town, and noticed Josiah's house was exactly as Elizabeth had left it.
                          
"This isn't good Arthur, looks like a struggle."
                          
"Goddammit Trelawny, you pissed off the wrong person."  Charles and Arthur sifted through the trashed cabin to look for any evidence that could point to where Trelawny had gone.  The image of Elizabeth broken on the floor was still prominent in Arthur's mind. Suddenly a disembodied voice spoke,
                          
"You boys the law?" A slurred voice asked, Charles could tell the man was extremely drunk so decided to play along.
                          
"Yes, did you see what happened here?"
                          
A man dressed in rags stumbled into the doorway clutching a bottle of gin.
                          
"Some girl, was looking for that guy" he said through hiccups "She was real pretty"
                          
"What did she look like?" Pressed Charles
                          
"Her hair was the same colour as leaves when they are 'bout to die, she were dressed in all black, looked like an angel sent straight from hell."  The man paused and took a huge gulp from his bottle, "she didn't want me though, she was real mad, punching walls, sliced herself up pretty good too, hell of a scream on her, made me shake."
                          
Arthurs heart stopped in his chest, his head had finally pieced together the information from the past few days.
                          
"She didn't sound like you and me did she?" He asked 
                          
"No, all cuffs and collars speak, thought she was the bloody queen of England" the man informed before stumbling down the stairs.
                          
Charles looked at Arthur, he could see an anger growing in his eyes, 
                          
"Go find Trelawny, I need to go." Growled Arthur
                          
He marched outside and got on his horse leaving Charles, kicking his horse violently he rode back to camp. 
                          
Back at camp Elizabeth had started to stir, her eyes heavy with agony, the morphine Susan gave her had taken some of the pain away, but she was left with a dull throb all over.  Arthur burst in and demanded that Susan left, he buttoned up the tent flaps and stood over Elizabeth, his shoulders broad with fury.
                          
"Why is my knife in your pocket, and why is my hat on the floor?" He interrogated, concealing his temper.
                          
"Turns out, your Josiah, was my Josiah."  Elizabeth forced words through her pain.
                          
"You take MY things to do YOUR dirty work?" His temper was trickling through.
                          
"It was necessary!  He screwed me over and I trusted him!" Elizabeth wept, succumbing to her pain.
                          
Arthur couldn't speak, he was filled with emotions, he hated seeing her in this state, but hated what she did, he vowed he would kill the person that hurt her, but the person that hurt her, was her.
                          
"You're gonna burn up if you don't get this shit under control." Arthur snapped.  "What were you planning on doing to him?  Were you gonna kill him?  Get a price on your head too?  Trying to be a big bad outlaw?  You're not!  You're just a girl."  Pain filled Arthur's head as he said those words, he wanted to keep her safe but couldn't if she wanted to lead a life like his.
                          
"Just a girl?"  Elizabeth laughed out of rage "Just a girl who's already got a price, a price of three thousand dollars, I've killed a hundred plus in the eyes of the law.  What's one more."  Elizabeth's words stung as she spat them at Arthur, "Still think I'm perfect?"  She turned away.
                          
Arthur sat in shock, "Hundred plus?" He questioned
                          
"Yeah, babies, same as my mother, though in the eyes of the law I'm the criminal, not the bastards that forced those babies in there in the first place."  Her voice was as cold as ice, she was not the girl Arthur thought, her morals were questionable but he understood why she did it.  He thought for a moment before walking out of the tent.  He returned with strips of cloth.
                          
"Come here," he said quietly.
                          
Elizabeth rolled over and struggled to a sitting position.  She placed her purple, swollen knuckles in Arthur's hands and let him bind them.
                          
"Micah met Josiah," she mumbled as her knuckles shot pain up her arms. "Micah told him there was a new girl in the gang, Josiah knew it was me from his description."
                          
"Go on," said Arthur, still binding her hands.
                          
"Micah paid Josiah for information about me, and he spilled everything, that's how Micah knew about my parents, that's how he knew how to wind me up.  He's playing with me till I lose it for good."
                          
"Think I need to teach you to keep the fire at bay darlin'" he said, still concentrating on her hands.
                          
"How?"
                          
"When you're healed I'll show you, till then, I'm sleeping in here with you, to make sure you don't go running off again."  Arthur made the suggestion expecting to be shot down, but Elizabeth just smiled sweetly.
                          
After hearing what Micah had done, Arthur hated him even more, 
                          
"He's trying to get her kicked out of the gang."  He thought to himself, he could feel the rage beginning to build again.
                          
"Arthur, can you read your book to me?  The one about the plants that will cure or kill?"  Elizabeth's sweet voice made Arthur's anger simmer down, he loved her, he couldn't let Micah ruin them, he had to do something.