"Anytime, Cowgirl." : Arthur Morgan X OC

Chapter 6

The next month was torture for Jane. She sat at various places at camp. That was really it. She sat.

And sat.

And sat.

She still hadn't gotten out of chores yet. Pearson had her cut vegetables, the amount of laundry she had to do was endless, and dirty dishes called her name.

She was about to lose her damn mind.

Entertainment was still available, though, despite the long, hot days full of chores that never seemed to end. Arthur and her would talk in the meantime, about his day, and Mary-Beth would read her her romance novels. Jane liked books, and yes, she like the romance ones, they would get old after hearing about thirty. She longed for another kind.

After mentioning it to Hosea, he lent her a book about Joan of Arc, which she devoured. It was a nice, refreshing drink of water to read again. When she was little, she read endlessly. That diminished as she aged.

She also was accompanied by a curious young boy. Jack and her would sit together sometimes, and she would teach him how to read. She felt pitiful for him. He was being raised in a gang of outlaws, and he didn't even know how to read. They started small, with the alphabet and his name, and then they started with small sentences such as, "The dog ran," or "He sat," but now, Jack was beginning to write longer (but still simple) sentences, like "I like to dance," and it filled Jane with a humble pride she hadn't felt before. Sometimes Abigail would sit in, but she was usually busy.

Today, they were talking about contractions.

"So, it's just two words smushed together?" Jack asked. He was seated on the bed next to her. He was braiding together flowers, but was still attentive to what she was teaching.

"Yes. So the contraction, 'isn't', is just 'is' and 'not' squished together. It's just a shorter way to say something."

He looked at her with a funny look on his face. "People are pretty lazy."

That made her chuckle as Hosea approached her. "Yes, they are." She ruffled his hair. "Now, you go on. We'll finish this later."

Jack hopped off the bed and ran off.

"Hello there, Jane," He said. His hands were hidden from her, and she was curious to find out what he was holding.

"Hi, Hosea," she said warmly. "How are you?"

A gleam of excitement rested in his old eyes. "I'm good. How's your leg treating you?"

She gently rubbed it. "It's alright. Getting better. I'm getting real bored around camp, though."

He nodded. "That leads me to what I want to talk about. I was in town, with Bill, and I came across something that I think could help you out- a lot." Bringing his hands out in front of him, he revealed a pair of wooden crutches.

A huge grin broke out on her face. "Thank you, Hosea! You have no idea how much I've hated sitting."

He smiled and chuckled. "It was no trouble. I just want to see you on your feet again."

She scooted forward to the edge of the bed. "Can I try them?" She asked excitedly.

He put an arm on her shoulder to keep her in place. "Slow down there." Turning to John, who sat at a table nearby, he called him over. "John, come help her out."

John obliged, and looked at the crutches. Jane noticed that the same curiousness rested in his, just like Jack's.

"Where'd you find those?" John asked, crossing his arms and resting his weight on his back foot.