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boffeeceans · 4 years

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Change Your Life - Chapter One

The ride to Armadillo was hot, long, and exhausting, But Beatrice finally made it. She has heard that Armadillo was a town you could better stay away from because of all the diseases constantly going around, but she didn't think it would be this bad. Scarlet fever was going around like wildfire, half the town was sick and most of the other half was getting ready to leave.

It broke Beatrice's heart to see the people of Armadillo like this. Someone very close to her has died because of a disease, it wasn't Scarlet fever but it was still bad. Beatrice still misses her dearly, but there was no time for her to sulk around and feel bad for herself. She had to find someone and it was gonna be a whole lot more difficult with her brother disappearing on her.

It was late in the evening and Beatrice made her way over to the saloon for a drink and to rent a room. She hitched her horse outside of the saloon and gave the stallion a pat on the neck before making her way up the stairs and walking through the batwing doors. All eyes were immediately on her, some turned back around but others were focused on her like hungry wolves. She tried to ignore them as much as possible while she walked over to the bar counter.

The bartender looked up from cleaning a glass, he was surprised to see a young woman in his saloon. "Uh, w- what can I get you today, miss?"

Beatrice sat down on a barstool and threw about five dollars on the bar counter, "A room and a whi-" A man grabbed her waist before she could finish her sentence.

"How about you take me to that room of yours, pretty girl." A strong smell of alcohol and cigarettes came out of the man's mouth. Beatrice turned her head to look at him, his teeth were rotten and he looked and smelled like he hadn't taken a bath in months.

"Hey, how abo-" the bartender started.

Beatrice stopped the bartender from speaking by holding her hand up. She got off the barstool and looked the man in the eye with a sweet smile. Beatrice kneed him the balls before he could even blink, the man fell to his knees as a loud "Fuck!" left his mouth. Beatrice grabbed the man by his collar, swiftly removed her knife from its sheath and held it to his throat. The sweet smile that was once on her face was now replaced by a look that could scare a lion.

Beatrice used the knife to lift the man's chin and made him look directly into her eyes before she spoke, "Y'know, I've been on the road for weeks and I'm exhausted, all I want is to enjoy a drink and to finally sleep in a bed again. So I suggest you keep your mouth shut from now on unless you want to lose your balls. " The man looked at her with pure horror in his eyes, "Understood?" She asked him, he quickly nodded his head causing the knife to protrude the man's skin. Beatrice wiped the bit of blood off her knife and put it back in its sheath and nodded towards the door. The man quickly got to his feet and ran out of the saloon without looking back.

Beatrice turned around to face the bartender, "Sorry about that." She said, a sweet smile making its way back on her face. "Right, a room and a whiskey, please."

The bartender looked at her in disbelief, no way someone could go from looking sweet and innocent to threatening someone with nothing but a knife and succeeding to make them run off like a scared puppy. He immediately got the whiskey and key to a room for her, scared that he would end up at the other end of her knife if he took too long. Beatrice quickly downed the whiskey and grabbed the key, she tipped her hat to the bartender and made her way to her room.

It didn't take long for her to find it, the room wasn't very large, all it had was a single bed, a nightstand, and a dresser with a mirror. Beatrice placed her hat on the nightstand and let herself fall onto the bed. She thought about her brother, Elijah and Beatrice had a fight about a week ago. Elijah didn't like the idea of going after someone when they're not even sure if he's alive or had any idea where he is. Eventually, Beatrice decided to ignore him and go to sleep, but Elijah was gone when she woke up.

She closed her eyes and hoped that both the man she was looking for and Elijah were still alive while slowly dozing off.

---

Beatrice woke up covered in sweat because of the New Austin heat, she got out of bed and stretched with a yawn. She looked at herself in the mirror that was above the drawer and across from her bed, her once bright eyes were now dull and tired with dark circles under them. Her hair was disheveled and all over the place, she ran her hand through it and placed her hat on her head.

She walked down the stairs, the saloon was mostly empty except for the people from last night that were too drunk to leave and the bartender. The man behind the bar counter wasn't the same one as last night. Beatrice walked over to him and cleared her throat and placed the key on the bar, grabbing the man's attention. He smiled at her, "Hope you had a good night's rest, miss." He grabbed the key and put it away. "Anything else I can help you with?"

Beatrice thought for a moment, this might be the best place to start asking for a certain someone. She grabbed a bounty poster from her pocket and placed it on the bar, "Do you know where this man is?"

The bartender picked up to the poster to take a closer look, it read:

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

$100 REWARD

For Robbery And Murder

DUTCH VAN DER LINDE

He handed the poster back to her, "I'm sorry miss, but I don't know. Anything else?" He asked.

Beatrice shoved the poster back in her pocket with a defeated sigh, hopefully, someone else around this town knew where he was. "No, that's all," She tipped her hat. "thank you." The man nodded at her and went back to washing glasses.

Beatrice stood outside of the saloon next to her horse and fed him a carrot, she didn't think finding Dutch van der Linde would be this hard when she and Elijah started searching. She was starting to think that Elijah had made the right decision to leave, walking into dead ends was starting to get old.

"M- miss?" A familiar voice emerged from behind her, she turned around immediately holding her revolver to the man's groin.

"I thought I told you that I didn't want to hear you speak again."

"Wait! I heard you were looking for Van der Linde!" The man stammered. Beatrice looked the man up and down, she pulled the hammer of her revolver down.

"Speak. Quickly."

"I've- I've heard that he and his gang are around Blackwater."

Beatrice put the hammer back in place and slowly nodded, "Thanks, now scram." The man didn't think twice before getting on his horse and quickly riding off. Beatrice watched him leave and turned back to her horse and gave him a pat on the neck before mounting him and riding off. "Next stop: Blackwater."

---

It has been about two days since Beatrice left Armadillo and was now riding up to Blackwater, she was expecting to arrive in just another boring town, but was met with quite the opposite. The town was filled with Pinkertons and people talking about the Van der Linde Gang, it confirmed Dutch was there, but it also meant she wasn't the only one looking for him. Which could work in her favor, but it could also backfire.

Beatrice carefully rode around town trying to overhear any information, all she knew so far was that there was a ferry job gone wrong that had the gang flee town.

There were posters of Dutch and Hosea everywhere, Beatrice wasn't told to find Hosea but her mother still spoke fondly of him "I've never met a kinder man than Hosea Matthews." Her mother had told her. Beatrice really wanted to meet him if he was really as nice as her mother had told her.

Beatrice overheard a small group of Pinkertons talk about the ferry job, she dismounted and walked closer to them so they couldn't see her eavesdropping.

"You were here, how did it go?" One of them asked the other.

"It was a massacre, 32 dead and we have no idea where they are now."

"I heard they fled to the Grizzlies," A third Pinkerton added, "Probably won't survive there long though. Heard the weather is so bad, it could kill you in seconds." The Pinkertons stood in silence, all three of them hoping they didn't have to go out there to look for the Van der Linde Gang.

Beatrice slowly emerged from her hiding spot and made sure no one saw her. There was no way that she was going into the grizzlies, not with weather that bad. She mouthed her horse and rode toward the saloon.

She ordered a coffee and sat at a table near the window with a map in front of her to plan her next move. Strawberry wasn't an option, It was too close to Blackwater for a hideout and they would've passed it if they went into the Grizzlies. The next best place was Valentine, a livestock town. It was a good place to exit the Grizzlies and was full of outlaws just like them, Beatrice Circled "Valentine" on her map and put it away. It would take a couple of days for her to get there, but the ride from Armadillo to Blackwater was too exhausting for her to go on the road again right away. She finished her coffee and rented a room for the night, she would plan on leaving first thing in the morning.

---

Beatrice arrived in Valentine about two weeks ago, she sat on the steps next to the general store with a man she had befriended. His name was Thomas Downes, She donated some to the Charity he was raising money for. They got to talking and Beatrice found out that he had the same disease that killed her mother. Thomas appreciated her company and conversations, She was the only one that bothered talking to him besides his wife and son. Beatrice might have kept her distance, but she always made sure that he could count on her.

She took a drag from her cigarette before focusing her eyes on the newspaper article she had been reading for the past couple of days.

TRAIN ROBBED

_______

PITCHED BATTLE LEAVES MANY DEAD

________

OUTLAWS SEND TRAIN ON DRIVERLESS JOURNEY

________

OWNED BY LEVITICUS CORNWALL

________

It could've been the Van der Linde Gang, but there was no way of her knowing for sure. It wasn't smart for them to rob a train now, especially one that belonged to Leviticus Cornwall, it would send the Pinkertons right back on their trail. Beatrice stared off in the distance, she hoped that they weren't long gone, that they still had to arrive or let themselves known.

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a window being smashed in. Beatrice shot her head up and focused on where the sound was coming from, there was a man in the middle of the road in front of the saloon. He struggled to get off the floor as the people from the saloon gathered around him. "Come on, pretty boy..." Another man that emerged from the saloon said.

"Pretty boy? You're kidding me? Pretty boy?" The man who was previously thrown out of the window said before they continued their fight on the street.

"You okay there, Arthur?" A man from the crowd that was watching the fight said.

Arthur. That name piqued Beatrice's interest, she got up from her spot on the stairs and decided to take a closer look. She grabbed a picture from her satchel and held it up, it could be him, but she wasn't sure and even if it was him her mother told her to talk to Dutch first.

"Yeah, I got this son of a bitch." The man now Identified as Arthur replied. The fight didn't go one for much longer until Arthur had the other man pinned to the ground and was beating his face in like it was nothing. Beatrice didn't notice Thomas rushing past her to get Arthur off the other man, whose name, Beatrice had figured out was Tommy.

Beatrice was too focused on figuring out if that was the Arthur her mom told her about to realize that he pushed her to the side and made his way to the general store. Two men approached him and three others after they talked for a little bit. Beatrice couldn't hear barely hear their conversation and decided to just watch.

"It's you they want. Dutch."

That was something Beatrice could hear. Dutch. It's not a name you hear every day, so it had to be him. She waited for the men to finish their conversation before approaching Dutch.

Dutch was about to mount his horse when Beatrice cleared her throat behind him which caused him to turn around. He had a frown on his face, but that frown was quickly replaced with a charming smile when he realized it was just a girl. "How can I help you miss?" He asked, voice smooth like honey.

Beatrice just stood there, it was really him. Dutch van der Linde. Right in front of her and she had no idea what she was supposed to say now, she didn't think she'd actually get this far after all the dead ends. "Uhm-" She had to say something.

"Miss?" Dutch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"My uh, My name is Beatrice Morgan. I- I'm Ethelyn's daughter."

Dutch just looked at her, not understanding what she was talking about until it hit him. "Bill, go on without me, i'll be back later." Bill protested a little before mounting his horse and riding off.

---

A/N: Hope you liked the first chapter of my very first long fic, constructive criticism is always welcome and thank you for reading :)

#red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfic #rdr2 fandom #arthur morgan

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