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To Warm These Cold Bones

For @greenwitchess and the RDR Secret Winter Exchange 2025. I hope you enjoy!

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The wind always made an eerie sound in this part of Big Valley. Black Bone Forest's trees rattling like their namesake, accompanied by a low moan that made all the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

That air was particularly sharp at this time of year, and it cut right through the fabric of Arthur's coat. With an ill tempered grumble, he shifted a bit in place, crouched down low to see past the stones and scrub of the little pass, up to where there was an enviably warm looking fire lighting the mouth of the old mine. Men passed bottles of whiskey back and forth and every now and then, the sound of raucous laughter and off key singing would reach him.

A distant scrape of boot against rock told him that Sadie had found her position to his right, and it wouldn't be long now. They'd debated on the benefits of attacking during the day or waiting until nightfall, given this particular group’s penchant for drinking too much and passing out in the nearest ditch. The problem with nightfall was that the temperature dropped and the air turned dry and cutting. A tickle was already teasing the back of Arthur's throat and the haunting feeling of needing to cough started to claw its way through his chest. A sensation that brought both the risk of discovery and bad memories, which were their own kind of distraction.

Now was not the time, he told his body firmly, suppressing the urge to cough. Not that it listened much to him these days. Damage done and all that. The pressure kept growing, and he had to slow his breath down, his options being either very slow deeper breaths or little pants that just annoyed the shit out of him. If he gave up their element of surprise, Sadie would never let him live it down. He fought back a shiver and shifted again, trying to block the trajectory of the wind with his shoulder as they waited for the thin light of the moon to make its way high enough in the sky to offer some assistance.

Ahead of him the sounds of singing had faded. He could just make out the forms of the four men they had counted outside, poorly lit by the slowly dying fire light. The sound of a whip-poor-will rang out through the night, and Arthur had to smother a pain-filled groan as he eased to his feet, willing his muscles to release where the cold had locked them up. A trio of bolas hung from his belt and with his lasso in hand, he started to inch his way up the little rocky pass, sticking to the shadows. As he edged closer, he could see that two of the idiots had drunk themselves into a stupor; empty bottles spilling from their hands onto the ground. One had curled up into a little ball, using someone's boot as a pillow. The other sprawled out on his back, head thrown back and snoring loud enough to have covered the approach of an army of bounty hunters. Arthur suppressed a snicker, knowing at this point it would turn into a coughing fit. The other two were in varying stages of consciousness, with one swaying drunkenly in place, humming under his breath, and the other seemed to be haphazardly stabbing at a piece of wood in a poor attempt at wood carving.

None of them were their bounties.

The Dick Francis “Gang”. Brothers Dick and Francis Jones, the leaders of this raggedy ass bunch of misfits, were wanted dead or alive for a string of homestead robberies. The group had created a reputation for themselves, attacking at the end of the day when all family members had gone inside for the night. They would tie the family up, eat their dinner, and then take anything of value, including horses, cattle and one time an ornery billy goat that later fled their custody to wreak havoc in the town of Strawberry. Arthur suspected their increased bounty was due to the damage from the goat more than anything. Needless to say, he and Sadie had discussed what they were going to do with the rest of the gang, all picked up from bars and back alleys, none of them particularly dangerous or deadly. Death seemed a bit much for a group of people that were mostly just incompetent and lazy, so they were going to attempt to take them all in. A borrowed prison wagon sat hidden behind a copse of trees at the bottom of the hill.

He watched as a Sadie-shaped shadow creeped around behind the only semi-sober member of the group. Muscles threatening to lock up on him, he stiffly maneuvered himself in place, staying outside the man's line of sight, badly hidden by some scraggly bushes. Sadie struck like a snake, clubbing the man on the back of his head with the butt of her revolver which dropped him like a stone. Arthur nearly cursed as he scrambled to grab the other man before he could raise an alarm, slapping a hand over his mouth to smother a confused yell and then darting out of the way as the idiot also met the ass end of Sadie's gun.

“Jesus Christ, woman!” He hissed, to which she gave a rather feral looking grin. Miraculously the other two continued to slumber on, the only sign of disturbance was the brief interruption of snoring. They worked quickly to tie them all, he and Sadie exchanging incredulous looks as the slumbering pair continued to sleep right through being hogtied. It made him wonder how this group of particularly bad outlaws hadn't been caught before now. Sadie smirked as she poked one of them with the tip of her boot. “Hey Arthur, how far do you think I could roll him down this hill?” She whispered, eyes alight in almost demonic glee. Arthur smothered something that was a cross between a cough and a chuckle and stabbed an annoyed finger in her direction as he tried to control it. Snickering at him, she dragged the last of the four out of sight under some bushes.

Together they cautiously approached the mine entrance, an almost hellish glow emanating from the bowels of the abandoned structure. They stepped carefully over rusting equipment and old support beams, trying to keep their boots from scuffing on the stone floor. Voices drifted towards them and the bouncing of the sound inside the stone walls made it difficult to pin down how many men were inside. The last they had heard, the Jones boys were riding with four other men, but there seemed to be a third voice echoing through the mine. With quick hand gestures and a brief argument that was mostly them mouthing insults at each other, they worked out a plan for Sadie to take the lead to try and identify how many men there were and which way they were facing. She eeled off into a dark side passage, departing with a triumphant grin, and he rolled his eyes as he was once again left by himself.

As always, his worry grew as he listened hard for any change to the cadence of the echoing conversations, fretting that Sadie would pull a Sadie and go in without him. He almost jumped when she silently reappeared out of the corridor with a look of success on her face. She held up three fingers and then pointed to her eyes and indicated which directions they were facing. Picking up three rocks and putting them into formation, she pointed to two of the rocks and mouthed the men's names. Arthur would take Francis and she would take Dick. The third guy would be the wildcard and she pulled her gun and mimed shooting him, making Arthur roll his eyes and shake his head. A shot inside the mine would bounce around, just as likely to hit them as it would one of the gang.

He followed her into the side path, and they had to crouch low to squeeze through part of the passage, rock scraping uncomfortably against his shoulders. The voices grew louder as they eased closer, and Sadie stopped him just outside the ring of lantern light. The men were seated out of sight, just around a curve in the tunnel. Sadie shifted just enough that she could see them.

“Hey, any of that whiskey left?” One of the men asked.

“Yeah, just a bit, Tom has the other bottle.”

“Shit, it's probably long gone by now.” The first man grumbled.

There was a shifting sound and Sadie caught his eye, holding up her hand. His body tensed. Instinct and old muscle memory kicking in. She dropped her hand, and they surged forward. He barrelled forward in a straight trajectory towards his target, barely registering the skinny figure of the third mystery man popping up in front of him before he slammed into him, sending him to the hard ground, his head bouncing off the dirt with a cry of pain and surprise. One of the brothers staggered to his feet with a yell, while the other, too shocked to move, just stared at them with his mouth open. Arthur continued past the first man and bowled over the seated Francis Jones before he could recover from his surprise, grabbing him by his coat and tossing him to the ground like a bag of corn.

“Let go of me, asshole!” Jones hollered, writhing in vain as Arthur quickly hog tied him. There was scuffling and cursing coming from behind him and he heard Sadie yelp, and he yanked around in concern, just in time to see her kick her man in the balls. He dropped straight to his knees, eyes bulging, and Arthur winced in sympathy.

“Yeah, she has that effect on some people.” He said as Dick Jones puked up his dinner into the dirt.

“Shut up, Arthur.” She growled as she shoved the guy down to the ground, heedless of where he landed, and started tying his hands.

Then there was the cocking of a gun behind them.

Arthur mouthed a curse as Sadie froze, looking over her shoulder at the man behind them. Arthur held his hands up and slowly turned around.

Fuck.

Turns out the skinny guy he'd knocked over was little more than a kid. Couldn't have been older than 14 or 15, still scrawny and covered in pimples. He was holding an old cattleman on them, hand shaking so bad that Arthur feared getting shot by accident rather than by purpose.

“Easy now, son. There's no need for that.” He said, voice low and calm, a thin hope that they could resolve this without killing anyone.

“Let them go!” The boy squeaked and Arthur risked a glance at Sadie, which caused the kid to squawk, “Don't do anything!” and shifted his aim from Arthur to Sadie.

“Hey! Back over here.” He barked, the barrel of the cattleman swinging jerkily back to him. “Just put the gun down, kid. No need for this to end poorly.”

The boy looked down at the men tied at their feet as if for guidance. Dick piped up, “Shoot em, Johnny!”

“Shut up!” Sadie barked and kicked the man in the side.

The kid nearly fumbled the gun, yanking it back towards her and that was all Arthur needed. He darted forward and before the kid could get off a shot, he shoved the gun towards the cave’s ceiling. A familiar explosion of sound nearly deafened him as the gun went off and a bullet ricocheted off the rocks. A yelp and yelling came from behind him, but he was too busy wrestling the cattleman from the kid's surprisingly strong grasp.

Ears still ringing, he kicked the kid's legs out from under him, snatching the revolver from his grasp as he crumpled. The kid looked up, seemingly shocked at his sudden change in position, only to freeze as he stared down the barrel of his own gun. Arthur from a few years ago might have just shot the kid and been done with it, but the wide-eyed fear in the kid's eyes hurt in a way he didn't want to examine too closely.

“Up.” He ordered and the kid scrambled to his feet, cringing back and hunching in on himself, like that could protect him from a bullet. “Kid, this is your one chance.” he said. The boy met his eyes,, surprised and wary. “Don't waste this. Outlawing will get you killed, don't end up like these two idiots, hanging from a gallows.” He gestured with the barrel of the gun. “Now get out of here before I change my mind!” The boy sucked in a sharp breath and nearly tripped over his own feet as he made a mad dash for the mine entrance.

“Don't leave us, you little coward!” One of the Jones brothers hollered after him and an exasperated sigh from behind him told him what Sadie thought about his decision, but his own brush with death had changed the way he thought about a lot of things.

“You'd better hope he doesn't untie the rest of those idiots.” she complained as she tore a strip of cloth from the bottom of her shirt and used her teeth to tie it around the growing bloodstain at her bicep.

“Shit, that shot get you?” He asked, concern coloring his voice as he made to move to her side to help.

“No shit.” She bit back and waved him off. “Stay over there with your mother henning. Don't need your help. Just pick up your idiot, so we can get the hell out of here." He rolled his eyes as he turned to help her gather up the brothers, who immediately started up a string of complaints and threats that continued all the way to the bounty wagon. Luckily the kid had decided that getting out was more important than freeing his fellow gang members, and the four men they'd captured earlier were still tied up in the bushes, though one had woken up enough to start moaning about how much his head hurt.

“Shut up before I hit you again.” Sadie growled as she deliberately dropped him hard on the floor of the wagon. Five pairs of eyes glared back at them, varying from dazed to furious and one slumbered on, completely clueless to the change in his fate.

“When I get out of here, you'll feel no end to the pain!” one of the brothers whined and Sadie's only reply was a snort of derision that immediately had the man sputtering in insult. Arthur was too busy trying to hold back a coughing fit to engage with any of them and hurriedly shut the back of the wagon as the now familiar suffocating feeling rose in his chest. Sadie gave him a concerned look as he leaned against the side of the wagon, desperately trying to draw in little measured gasps of air. He waved her off as he wheezed, and she lingered a moment before leaving him alone to deal with the demon that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

She pointedly did not look at him as he joined her in on the driver's bench, rifle sat across his lap, just in case they ran into trouble on the way back to town. She clicked her tongue at the horses, and the wagon rumbled forward, spurring more yelling from inside the wagon. Sadie slammed a fist on the metal roof. “Shut up! It's dead or alive and bringing you in dead would be worth the blessed silence.” She hollered, and they apparently believed her enough to go quiet for the time being. Arthur fished out a mint from his coat pocket, one of the few things that seemed to help calm the tickle in his chest.

“You alright?” She asked him quietly as he tried to catch his breath.

“Are you?” He snipped back, instead of answering her. She let out a sound like the angry hiss of a goose and punched him in the shoulder.

He was grateful that the rest of the ride back was mostly quiet, apart from the random bouts of bitching coming from the back of the wagon. Between the chill that had set firmly into his bones and the constant burn in his chest from both the air and the efforts of the evening, his now limited stamina was reaching its end. The light breeze was now a sharp wind, filling the once clear night sky with heavy looking clouds, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before snow started to fall. The meditative rumbling of the wagon and the quiet of the night led to too much thinking and inevitably his thoughts drifted to people he was missing. Tilly in Saint Denis. Pearson in Rhodes. Charles out there somewhere, no doubt making a better life than him. John.

He hoped the idiot was somewhere warm, tucked away safely with his family. He hoped that the lesson had stuck and he'd become the husband and father that Arthur had never been. When inevitably his mind strayed towards Dutch, he steered it away. Despite the passage of time, those memories still hurt too much. And on this night of all nights, his heart ached as he missed Hosea and the memories of times past that had been filled with joy rather than grief.

He pondered too on the fate of the kid, so familiar to his own beginnings. Would he take the chance that he'd been given and make something better with his life or would he just slide back into the life of a petty criminal? Would he starve to death in the cold or would someone show him mercy? The questions irritated him and he let out a huff that had Sadie cutting a look at him. He waved her off and returned to fighting off the creeping cold.

The heavy chill left Sadie quiet as well, where normally she would be bantering and teasing him. It was with distinct relief that they pulled up next to the sheriff's office in Strawberry. Arthur helped unload the men and then stayed out of sight as Sadie dealt with the deputy who'd been stuck with the unfortunate task of hauling the Dick Francis gang down the stairs to the jail. His teeth chattered, and he shivered as he lurked behind the now empty wagon, not wanting to risk giving the deputy a clear look at him.

Snowflakes started to fall, and he growled under his breath as his lower back spasmed from cold. Sadie heard it as she came around the side of the wagon and snickered at him. “Need a fluffy blanket, princess?” she asked, resulting in him grumbling under his breath about mean spirited women. She gave him a shove towards the Welcome Center. “Go get warm, I'll join you after I drop the wagon off.”

“I can help.” He growled back, immediately resenting the implication of weakness.

“Arthur.” was all she said, voice painfully soft and reminiscent of another time, and he left without replying, stomping his way into the warmth of the building. After suffering through an awkward moment with the man behind the reception desk, he got a room reserved for both of them, along with a hot bath. Still aggravated and suffering from cold-induced muscle spasms, he went straight to the bathing room, wasting no time in stripping down and climbing into the water. He groaned out loud as the almost oppressive heat finally leached the cold from his bones and the steam loosened the aches in his chest. He stayed there far too long, both enjoying finally being warm and in an attempt to avoid Sadie's gentle judgement. Knowing that she would call him on his melancholic behavior when he got back in the room. With a sigh, he heaved himself out of the bath and dried off and dressed. He poked his head into their room, half expecting something to get thrown at him, but Sadie was quiet was addressing the bullet graze on her arm.

“Hey.” he said, voice soft as he eased into the room. “You alright?”

“Just another scar.” She mumbled as she struggled to get her shirt unstuck from her arm. “Shit, damn thing's dried to the damn bullet wound.” She groused as she grew more frustrated with trying to free herself.

Arthur took a rag and dipped it into a basin of hot water before swatting Sadie's hands away from her shirt and gently rubbed the water into the stain, to loosen the dried blood. “You'd just rip it off, and it'll bleed all over the bed.” he said, taking his turn to scold her.

“S’faster that way.” she hissed in reply as Arthur successfully eased the fabric free of her arm.

He just sighed, knowing nothing he was going to say would change her penchant for just tearing through whatever problem got in her way, even pain. “There.” he said as he helped her peel the shirt off and came back with a clean rag to wipe down the wound. She sat there, just in her breast band, glaring up at him. “Stitches.” he muttered as he peered closely at it, making sure it was free of shirt fibers and dirt. “Gunna hurt, Sadie girl.” He said as he poured some diluted alcohol on the cloth and without waiting, pressed it to the bloody furrow.

“Fucking hells Morgan!” She growled through clenched teeth, punching the bed and stomping her foot through the burn. “I hate you!” She snapped.

“No you don't.” he chuckled as he finished wiping the wound and got the needle and thread sorted.

“Ugh.” and an eyeroll was her only reply, knowing he was right. Both of them went quiet as he worked, making small and neat stitches until the furrow was closed. Bandage applied, he leaned in, caught and held her eye as he pressed a soft kiss to her bare shoulder. Her eyes softened in response and she leaned in to press one to his lips. They both looked up as a bell rang out from the center of town, marking the midnight hour.

“Think they ever got the Christmas decorations back up from where the goat ate them?” She asked, amused. He chuckled under his breath and only hummed in response.

Sadie turned back to him, a soft and affectionate smile on her face, grateful to still have him after everything. “Merry Christmas, Arthur.”

-- The End --

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