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When Dutch told him The Reverend went missing again, all Arthur could do was sigh. The man was a mess as usual and Arthur was also busy, as usual. However, Dutch specifically asked Arthur to find the man because even though Arthur would never say it out loud; everyone in the camp knew he had a soft spot for the man.
It was because he could relate to him– And no, Arthur never knew what exactly The Reverend went through. Because to know what he went through for him to become like this, he'd have to ask, which would make everything quite uncomfortable and sentimental.
Arthur hated getting sentimental, especially around a man. So he never asked, but he related to the man still because of the things he did; seeing how The Reverend failed to cope made him remember things. Made him remember how much a mess he was after he lost his son.
So when he goes out to search for him, he goes to the bars first. He goes to Valentine and nobody has seen him. He goes to Strawberry and they don't even know the man. He goes to Rhodes, then Saint Denis– But he cannot find him. Understandably, Arthur starts to get worried. He starts to ride his horse faster, starts to ask the strangers he's seen on roads about him and there's no luck yet.
He wonders if The Reverend found his way back to camp, Horseshoe Overlook, so he rides back there. Before he gets there though, he spots a camp in the wilderness, and his gut tells him to check it out. He listens to his gut, he always does. So he slowly rides there, grabs his revolvers from his holster and dismounts. Then he hears it:
“Are you sure this is one of Van Der Lin Boys?”
Suddenly, the blood runs cold in his veins. The guy's voice is rough and skeptical and another voice answers him.
“Yeah,” the voice says. He sounds relaxed– Like he doesn't have a care in the world. “He's not a fighter though. We can use him as bait.”
As Arthur gets closer, he sees the O'Driscoll boys, about 6 of them. They're sitting around the campfire, drinking and talking. To Arthur's relief or discomfort, he's not sure which, Swanson is there tied to the tree. The poor man looks beaten and drunk– And Arthur can only feel rage.
He doesn't waste time; he aims and fires and the six men are dead in seconds. “Arthuur,” he hears Swanson mumble. “I knew you'd come, boy…”
He turns to Swanson and walks over to him. Kneels down in front of the drunk man and takes a good look at him, checking his injuries. He’s got a black eye and a busted lip, his nose seems broken. They punched him hard and the man can't even fight. He sighs and shuts his eyes for a second. “Of course I've come, Reverend,” he says. Then he grabs his hunting knife and starts cutting the ropes around his legs and his arms.
“When you decide to be a fool, at least be a fool in the camp so you've got people looking out for you.” Arthur tells him. He can't hide the frustration in his voice because what if he hadn't noticed the camp? What if he hadn't listened to his gut? Swanson would have gotten himself killed and he would have put Jack and the women in danger. With everything that's happened recently, they don't need any more trouble.
“I don't wanna be a fool,” Swanson mumbles again. “I wish I was different…”
He'd never say it out loud, but Arthur's heart aches. He gets upset thinking about the man, wants him to get better, but only he can save himself from this mess. He knows it from experience.
“If you wanna get better,” he says, “then get better.” He gets up, holds the drunken man's arm and pulls him up. And then, it slips from Arthur's mouth: “I'll be there for you.”
He immediately avoids Swanson's eyes and changes the topic. “Can you walk?” he asks. It takes a few seconds for Swanson to answer, but he eventually nods and starts walking towards Arthur's horse. A moment later, Arthur realizes being beaten and drunk doesn't help much with the walking, so he sighs and gets under his arm to help him. Swanson makes a confused noise and Arthur replies with, “Let's go.”
He mounts up, then helps Swanson to sit behind him. “Stay awake,” he tells him. “No need for you to fall off.”
“Suure, Arthur…” Swanson says as he wraps his arms around Arthur's waist. “...Thank you.”
While riding back to the camp, Arthur notices the man fell asleep anyway and is leaning against him. Normally, he would have woken him up cause it's dangerous and he thinks the man might be drooling against him, and that's, ew. Instead of waking him up, though, he decides to ride slowly so he won't fall off. As disgusting as it may feel, Swanson needs to rest and Arthur is a cruel man but isn't cruel enough for this.
Swanson talks in his sleep about a woman, Arthur doesn't ask any questions– Swanson isn't awake to answer anyway.
When they get back to camp, it's night time. Charles is guarding the camp, Kieran is brushing the horses, Dutch is standing still and thinking in front of his tent with Molly in the bed, Abigail is drinking coffee while Jack is playing with toys on the ground. Karen, Mary-Beth and Tilly are sitting together in chairs around the table and probably gossiping. Most of the gang members are sitting near the campfire; Javier is playing “Oh My Darling Clementine” on his guitar which is one of Arthur's favorites, Hosea and John are sitting next to each other and smoking, Uncle is telling stories with Bill, Pearson, Sadie, Sean and Lenny listening.
Many folk are around the campfire, is this a party? Mood seems pretty good around here.
Arthur has always loved late night campfire talks. The campfire is the gang's safe place. It's a place where they can bond; they're free to talk, vent, sing and play instruments– And no one will judge the other. He personally doesn't like to talk when he's sitting there, only listens and sometimes responds to others, because the vulnerability of the campfire is too much for him. He doesn't like getting sentimental.
He dismounts and starts carrying Swanson in his shoulder. Looks around for Grimshaw when he notices he hasn't seen her. Dutch sees him and thanks him, then Arthur tells Dutch that Swanson was beaten and needs help. Dutch, with a disappointed tone, tells Arthur that Grimshaw is probably cleaning guns near the cliff. Arthur thanks him and starts walking there. When he sees her cleaning a shotgun, he calls out to her. “Miss Grimshaw!” he says and she looks at him, then the man he's holding over his shoulder.
“You found him?” She says as she stands up and lets go of the gun. Arthur nods and puts the man down.
“He's quite drunk and I think his nose is broken. O'Driscolls caught him and beat him up, Miss Grimshaw. They was talking about using him as bait when I was sneaking up on ‘em.” He informs her. “They're now dead men, though.” He adds and Grimshaw sighs.
“Well, thank you Mister Morgan. I'll get him the help he needs.” She says, sounding tired. Arthur nods again and then walks over to the Dutch's tent. He donates about 30 dollars and heads over to the campfire.
“Come and sit, Arthur,” Uncle calls out and Arthur does as he says, sits next to John and lights up a cigarette.
“Gentlemen,” he greets and folk greet him back. They seem quite happy and awake, eating and getting drunk.
“I see you've brought Swanson back,” Hosea says. “I saw bruises. Is he alright?”
“O’Driscolls found him before me, ‘sea.” Arthur sighs for the hundredth time as he looks at the fire. “He was drunk, they did him bad, but I managed to get him before things got worse. They was gonna use him as bait to get to us.”
“What are we gonna do with him?” John asks. “He's a mess. Getting caught by the O'Driscolls– What if you hadn't found him, Arthur?”
“It ain't Reverend's fault, John,” Arthur defends him. His tone is not mad nor upset, but tired. “You know how Colm's boys is. They use anyone they can, don't matter if it's women or children or men who can't defend themselves. You know that.”
“It's his fault for getting drunk and reckless outside the camp with none of us around though, amigo.” Javier says after stopping playing the guitar.
Arthur's silent for a moment. “I know,” he says. “I know.”
“You're too easy on him, Arthur.” John says and Arthur ignores him.
“You're too easy on him, English!” Sean repeats. “I've always known you've got a soft spot for him. Always being the one to help him when he makes a fool out of himself, hahah.”
Arthur opens his mouth to say something but Hosea cuts him off. “That's how Arthur is, really,” he says. “He likes to pretend he's all tough and cruel but the truth is, he's got a heart.”
“Oh, c'mon,” Arthur raises a hand. “He's a mess but he's one of us,” he says. “Of course I'll help him when he needs help.” And then, embarrassment hits, so he stands up and excuses himself. Starts walking over to his tent, and he can't help but hear the men at the campfire talk.
“And this ain't nothing new,” He hears Uncle say to the men. “Arthur cannot handle compliments. He doesn't know how to!”
“What a great man, though,” He hears Lenny say. “I wonder what we would do without him.”
“Probably rot under the ground,” John answers him.
Jesus, Marston, shut up, Arthur thinks to himself as he feels himself getting hot. He takes a look at himself in the mirror where he usually shaves, and yes, he's red– Fuck.
He takes off his holsters and lays down on his cot, his back facing the campfire so nobody can see how embarrassed he is. He tries to sleep, but cannot.
So he pretends.