Chapter Text
Her belly grumbled. It twisted and knotted inside of her in its usual attempt to tell her that her body needed to eat. But it did little when there was nothing to eat. Not since she was so ruthlessly tossed out on her own. Well…not exactly tossed out. More like…she was forced to live on her own. Her father and mother no longer lived, thus she had to figure out the world on her own.
I gotta find somethin’ to eat she thought to herself. She had scavenged the land for how many months now? No town wanted her there, not even when she tried to tell them about what had happened. She was lucky enough to run from another group of men that were with the first. O’Driscolls they called themselves. They were worse than rabid wolves. And if they got a hold of her…well…they would be less than gentlemanly towards her. The only thing that this young woman had was her father’s teachings. Understand the land. Work it to her advantage. What little teachings he was able to give her anyway. That is the only reason she was able to survive for this long…
Another groan came from her stomach and she gripped the dirty button shirt she wore. The pain in her stomach was greater than anything she had ever had to experience. Being beaten for thievery was better than this. If only she didn’t leave her gun…she’d have been able to go hunting…now she had to resort to stealing. She looked around for a mark. Anyone that would have enough money for her to get something to eat. If she was lucky, maybe enough to get a hunting rifle. But that was only if she was really lucky. She spotted one man. Dark hair, dressed well, and a walk that showed he was confident. Confidence often made you a target. This young woman was very well aware of that. Calmly, she let the man walk in front of her. Didn’t beg, didn’t ask for anything. Just waited. She got up normally, reached her hand out and took whatever billfold was in the man’s pocket. It would have worked…had strong fingers wrapped around her wrist.
“What’s this we have here?” the man asked. His eyes were dark, just like them O’Driscolls. Terror and the need to survive overruled anything that ran through her head. She lashed out one fist and made contact with the man’s face. His grip loosened enough for her to make her escape. She didn’t care who shouted after her. She just had to get away.
Around a wooden house she ran, only into a fence. Panting, she looked for some sort of escape. She turned to see two other men after her. She looked around for something to climb. Anything to get herself out of this situation. She found perch in the log siding of one house and climbed up and over. Once she had landed she ran. She ran and ran and ran. She ran into the woods. Ran until her legs couldn’t run anymore.
“Damnit!” she shouted. Breath never seemed to fill her lung. Her hands rest on her knees as she struggled to recover from her run. The sky was turning colors. From blue to the orange red of twilight. Another day without food. The young woman nearly sat down. Thank God she didn’t. The sound of hooves approaching stopped her. Determined to not get caught, the young woman ran further into the brush. She went into the trees, thick brush, and tried to lose her pursuers. But those trees disappeared and turn into a camp. With a fire, and people around it. A young boy, maybe her age, pointed a gun at her.
“Who the hell are you?!” he demanded. The young woman could barely talk between pants.
“Damnit, someone found us,” a woman snapped up. There was no time to answer. The young woman couldn’t catch her breath long enough to answer. The older woman held a shotgun in the crook of her arm. The young woman watched as yet another barrel pointed in her direction.
This is where I die the young woman thought to herself.
“Calm down. Everybody, just calm. Down. Can’t you see this woman’s runnin’?” a man asked. He had darker hair, black hair. Well kept. He dressed with the style of a rich man, kinda like her recent failed mark. There was a cigar in his hand that was freshly lit. She watched as he approached. One foot stepped back. She was ready to bolt…but to where?
“Darnit, where’d that brat run off to?” someone shouted in the distance. The young woman looked behind her for a moment with worry. She really was going to die here. If it wasn’t from her pursuers, it would be from these people.
“Come here, kid,” the man offered a hand. The young boy looked a little irate, but he lowered his gun, as did the older woman. Hesitation filled her for a moment, until the sound of thundering hooves changed her mind. She walked towards him briskly. His hand snaked out and pulled her from her shoulder. He placed her behind him as two riders appeared.
“Y’all see a brat right through here?” the rider demanded.
“There she is!” the other shouted and pointed an angry finger at her. The young woman wanted to duck behind her apparent savior. But she refrained. All she could do was watch as the horses danced around, ready to run at the first chance they had.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen. Please, what has this young woman done to deserve you chasin’ her?” her new protector asked.
“That bitch wanted to steal my money and then assaulted me,” the angry rider snapped. The young woman peered out from behind the man in front of her. She could see that she busted his nose. A slight sense of satisfaction turned the young woman’s worry into a slight smile. She watched as his horse danced around underneath him. It pulled at the bit, demanding to get away from there. That behavior was bleeding over to the other horse. That’s when she turned to the young boy.
“If you want them to go away, shoot that gun over the horses,” she whispered over to the boy.
“Are you nuts?” he asked her. The young woman didn’t ask questions. She was quick to grab the gun and point it right about the animal’s head. One fire was all it took to make the horse half rear. Both of them snorted and stamped the ground until they turned tail and fled with their riders. A dreadful silence fell and the young woman lowered the gun slowly. The boy took the gun out of her hands with a yank. Eyes watched her as she slowly backed away from them.
“Don’t you think that was a little rash?” the man asked as he turned around to her. The young woman looked up at him without fear.
“No,” she answered. “They would beat me sooner, or turn their own guns on you.”
The older man looked over at the woman and then down at her.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“…why should I tell you?” she returned the question. There was a smile on his face. Amused. He knelt down to her level. Eye to eye.
“It’s only polite when making conversation,” he explained calmly. He had a point. The young woman looked at the man. She debated over and over and over again in her head on what to do.
“…Logan…Logan Micheals,” she answered cautiously.
“Dutch, Dutch van der Linde,” he said. He held out a hand. Logan looked down at it. Mistrusting.
“Mistrust is good, but I ain’t out here to hurt you,” Dutch said. Logan looked up at Dutch for a moment and cautiously extended a hand. He gripped it firmly and shook it.
“Now that we are acquainted. What are you doing out here, all on your own?” he asked her.
“I ain’t got no where else, mister,” Logan answered. Dutch nodded. Logan’s stomach growled loudly. She gripped her stomach without looking away from Dutch. He looked like he pitied her.
“Let’s get you something to eat first,” he said. That was the start of Logan’s new life.