Chapter Text
Robin Parker
…
I’ve been hiding behind this damn rock for so long I’m tempted to eat it.
There’s been this deer hanging around lately, a real big buck, and he might be just what I need to make it through the rest of this month.
I planned everything out down to the breaths I would take; first I’d place the ropes of my half-assed snare, then set the bait, rig the line to trigger, and finally scout the area for any hint at the deer’s location. After all that, I would come sit behind this rock with my bow and wait for my trap to do most of the work.
That isn’t nearly what happened. Instead of running into my prized deer when I left my snare, I stumbled upon one angry coyote. Not rabid, thankfully, but still mean enough. It was nothing I couldn’t handle with my pistol—except I was only carrying a bow, couple arrows, and a hunting knife. I managed to kill the ornery thing with the knife eventually, but it got a pretty good bite of my leg first. I had to wrap my bandana around it tourniquet style to prevent further bleeding, and then poorly limped back to the rock from earlier.
I debated going back to my cabin and calling it a day, but I had already lost a good bit of blood—if I didn’t catch something to eat today, I wasn’t sure I’d have the strength to hunt tomorrow.
And God knows I ain’t got the money for food in Rhodes.
I wasn’t lying when I said I planned to count my breaths, but now it was for a whole different reason. The coyote’s teeth left my right pant leg in tatters, and put rather deep, painful holes in the flesh on my calf. My tourniquet did its job at first, but it’s been nearly an hour and the blood hasn’t dried yet—even worse I think more is pumping out as I’m sitting here.
I shifted my leg to a more comfortable position, wincing at the pain it caused. I leaned my head back against the rock, staring into the trees above.
How unlucky did I have to be for this to happen? I was only out looking for food, and now I’m the one likely to become something else’s dinner.
Five more minutes. I was gonna count out five more minutes, and if I don’t see any sign of this deer, I’m going home.
The first two, I seriously considered eating this rock again. During the third I listened to the birds chirping, wondering if they were as desperate for a meal as I was. Halfway through the fourth everything got real quiet. And after I convinced myself to wait just a few seconds after five is when I heard the snorting.
I froze—raising my bow halfway and panicking to notch an arrow.
There he was, his body a huge base to support the crown of antlers atop his head, sprawling out like the branches of the tall trees in the forests around Strawberry. He snorted in the direction of the bait. My fingers trembled on the bowstring. I could not mess this up, it would only take one simple shot, I could do that.
I didn’t care if it would take me hours to get the carcass home. Didn’t care if I had to spend all night dressing the beast while a combination of our blood pooled beneath me. This buck meant food.
He dipped his head down to sniff the ground inching toward the bait. His long legs moved gracefully—unaware of the death awaiting him.
He lifted his head to smell the air again, when suddenly his ears flicked back. Then a twig snapped to the right—and not the snap of a squirrel, or coyote, or any of the normal forest game.
It was boots on dry leaves.
A quiet murmuring floated through the air, a real low voice. I couldn’t make out anything, but it was all my buck needed to hear before spinning on his legs and darting out of the clearing.
“No no no! Dangit Sadie I said shoot!”
A large man ran into the clearing at the same time I cried out in frustration, turning rapidly to pin the sound—only to get strung up in my rope.
“No! I needed that damn deer!” I hollered, pushing myself up off the ground.
“Woah there partner, what the—?” The stranger stumbled in my tangle of ropes, mumbling profanities and struggling to regain his balance. “What in the name of—?”
I limped my way forward, hunting knife in hand, and perhaps should’ve been more nervous about pointing it at the guy. I was already at a huge disadvantage with my leg, and that wasn’t including the fact that this was a tall, well built man with a gun on both his hips.
“You done scared off my deer you bastard!”
Now truly, I wasn’t going to harm the guy, mostly I just needed to have someone to yell at. His friend didn’t appear to share the idea however, stepping out of the brush and pointing her rifle at my face.
The woman was dressed in the same kind of worn clothes as her counterpart. Her blondish hair was braided down her back and paired with a brown hat that sat atop her head. The way she held her rifle was enough to tell me she knew how to use it—and that she likely wouldn’t hesitate if given a reason.
“Back up, missy,” the woman said through bared teeth.
I raised my hands at her command.
“I ain’t lookin’ for trouble lady, I just—” I sighed, slowly pocketing my knife and limping a few feet backward. “I’m just real frustrated with my luck today, that’s all. Wasn’t really gonna hurt your friend here.”
The woman lowered her rifle by a fraction, her eyes flicking down to the blood staining my pants.
“You hurt?” She asked hesitantly.
I was more focused on the man than her question, still caught in the ropes and grumbling something about “losing his hat.” I almost wanted to break a smile at the sight, but bite my tongue over the fear that these two wouldn’t take that too kindly.
“It’s just a coyote bite ma’am, ain’t nothin’ I can’t manage,” I said.
The woman studied me for a moment, her eyes going back down to my makeshift bandage again.
“Doesn’t look like you’re managing it too well,” she replied, taking a step forward. I should have been more concerned about the rifle still pointed in my direction, but started to feel a little awkward as the man pulled apart a knot and studied it.
“You can just cut yourself out sir—the rope ain’t that important.” I lied. I was lying. That rope was really important to me actually. It was the last nice one I had left. And yet, seeing the way he looked over my handiwork made my face get a little flushed. Despite their mistakes earlier, they looked like seasoned hunters—I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of a bunch of condescending questions about how I’ve managed to stay alive. I’ve truthfully never been a great hunter—good with a rifle, sure, decent with a bow…but traps? This little stunt was equal to gambling off fifty dollars over a poker game. The snare was mostly just there to give me a chance to shoot; I knew for certain I would’ve had to finish the animal off myself. I wasn’t entirely skilled at tracking animals over large distances either, so the fact that I knew where this buck would be was my week’s proudest accomplishment.
The man managed to work himself out of the last few knots, pushing himself off the ground as he dusted off his attire. He adjusted his hat, giving my whole set up another long look.
“...Y’know,” he said slowly, “These here knots? Your flat overhand is good, but your noose is loose. Ain’t gonna hold much more than a turkey on bad knees.” He looked at me, really looked at me, and then shrugged. “But your bait placement? Not bad at all, pair that with a poacher’s knot and next time you’ll be set.”
I was real caught off guard. He wasn’t judging, not really. It almost sounded like he had respect in his voice.
The woman shook her head, slinging her rifle over her shoulders and across her back. “How long you been bleedin’?”
“Round an hour I believe, ma’am,” I said.
“An hour?” The woman’s eyes widened briefly before narrowing. “You’re lucky you’re still standing, missy, I’ve seen grown men faint from less.” She walked up to me—getting real close like stranger danger wasn’t something that applied anymore—and pushed up the sleeves of her shirt. “You want me to take a look at it?”
“Well…” I started, but paused out of nerves. “This was either a blessing from God himself, or I was about to be robbed of all I got. “I’m…I think I’m alright, thank you.”
She raised her eyebrows at me, giving me a head-to-toe once over. “You sure?”
The man spoke up, placing a hand on her shoulder. “C’mon, Sadie. We’ve already wasted time on that deer.”
“Now hold on, Arthur.” The woman, Sadie I guess, said as she turned her attention back to me. “You got a horse ‘round here or anything, girl?”
I limped over to my rock, slinging my bow across my body and collecting my few things. “She’s just over that hill—” I nodded in the direction, “—Ain’t too far of a walk.”
The pair shared a look, having some sort of unspoken conversation before Sadie spoke to me again. “And how do you plan to mount with that leg?” She nearly sounded like she was scolding me, though I suppose I did feel a little silly for not thinking that far ahead.
“I’ll…figure something out, ma’am.” I reassured, not too convincingly for either of us.
“Mm-hmm,” Arthur hummed, giving me a flat stare. “Take a seat.”
I didn’t even try to argue with his tone, just huffed out a small sigh as I sat down on the rock. “Y’all better not amputate me out here,” I muttered.
The corners of Arthur’s mouth lifted just slightly, breaking the stoic demeanor he’s had up to now. “Only if you start turnin’ green.”
Sadie knelt down onto the dirt in front of me, taking a hold of my right leg and tugging at the knot holding together my frayed bandana. She took a knife from her belt to cut the fabric of my already-ruined pants to better access the wound, and used the canteen water to carefully wash away what blood and dirt she could. Arthur just kept a watchful eye during all this, standing a foot or two while doing so.
“You said a coyote did this?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I confirmed, “Damn thing got me when I was paying attention.”
Sadie grimaced at the deep gashes on my leg, slowly wrapping a clean handkerchief from her bag around it to act as a new bandage. “You’re sure lucky it didn’t make it all the way to the bone.”
I hummed in agreement, and the two of them were quiet as Sadie finished up. Arthur seemed a bit lost in his thought, and my eyes glanced back at what remained of my rope.
“Sorry ‘bout all the trouble, by the way,” I said.
Arthur shook his head, waving his wave dismissively. “Save it, ain’t nothing we can’t handle.”
“Speak for yourself,” Sadie added. He rolled his eyes as she stood, confirming to herself that she was done before returning his canteen.
“How far’d you say your horse was again, miss?” Arthur asked.
“Just a couple hundred yards, mister,” I replied, “I can handle it from here, I think.”
Neither of them looked like they believed me for a second.
“Yeah, I doubt that,” Sadie countered. “Look, no offense, but you look like you’re seconds away from fallin’ over.”
“Little taken,” I mumble, pushing myself off the rock. “Really though, I’d hate to take up any more of you folk’s time—”
Sadie let out an exasperated huff, interrupting me midsentence. “For Christ’s sake, girl. You can’t even stand on your own.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“Alright, alright, fine,” I surrendered.
Arthur extended a hand to help me balance myself, and then wrapped it around my back to keep me upright as we shuffled forward. Sadie walked a bit in front of us, moving branches and kicking small things out the way.
“How was it that you got yourself into this mess anyway?” She asked. “Ain’t often you see a young lady like yourself out here all by your lonesome.
“Was just tryin’ to catch somethin’ to eat, miss…” I paused not wanting to be rude to my new saviors. “Miss Sadie? Was it?”
“Missus Adler,” she corrected as we kept moving. “But I ‘spose Sadie works, too.”
Arthur’s grip on me was light—enough to support me, but still respectful for a stranger. He seemed to be thinking about something again, and I wasn’t sure if he’d be making much more conversation with me when he surprised me by asking a question.
“You got a name, girl?”
“It’s Robin,” I answered. Sadie glanced back for a second, I guess just to give a nod of acknowledgement that she was listening too, and then returned her eyes to the ground ahead of us. Arthur seemed to be thinking it over, but didn’t necessarily look all that surprised.
“Can’t say I’ve met another gal with that name,” he admitted.
I gave a somewhat shrug of my shoulders—best I could with him holding me up and all. “Man’s name does good at keepin’ a lady out of trouble,” I replied.
“I imagine it does.”
We slowly made our way up over the crest of the hill, my girl waiting near a small collection of trees as she grazed on the grasses there. Sadie whistled lowly at the sight.
“I’ll give you credit, missy, that’s sure a fine horse.”
Arthur helped me as we approached her, and I politely pulled out of his grasp once I was close enough to support myself against my horse. She let out a soft whinny, lowering her head to nudge my shoulder.
“Quite the beauty you have here,” Arthur commented, patting her side.
“She’s my pride and joy,” I remarked. “My girl Epiphany.”
“Fitting name,” Sadie mused, “Looks like she’s seen a revelation or two herself.”
Arthur gave a quiet chuckle, mostly just an amused exhale, and reached into the bag on his hip. He pulled out a small biscuit of sorts—offering it to Epiphany. She took it gently, and then snorted at him like she approved.
“You’ve certainly got good taste in animals,” he said to me, glancing over with positive regard. “And grit…even if your traps are held together by thoughts and prayers.”
“Well thank you, Mister Arthur.” I offered him a small smile, then decided to attempt mounting Epiphany in my condition. I gripped the saddle horn with maybe a bit more force than needed and Arthur stuck out his hand for me to push off of while hoisting myself up. With a small jump, I got my good leg into the stirrup, and swung my bad one around and over the saddle. The action made my entire right side throb.
Not a great idea.
Arthur cringed as he watched, obviously able to see how much pain the small movement put me in. Hell, even Sadie looked all sympathetic. She sighed before speaking.
“I’m hoping you live somewhere close by?”
I nodded, trying my best to look all fine and dandy. “Just over yonder a ways.” I tipped my head in the direction.
Sadie seemed to be arguing with herself before eventually giving in to whatever dilemma she was fighting. “Arthur,” She spoke, turning to the man. “Why don’t you go round up the horses and come find us, hm?” She looked back to me, patting Epiphany’s mane. “I’ll walk you there, make sure you ain’t gonna fall off the damn horse on the way—if it ain’t bother you too much?”
“Do I got much of a choice?”
Sadie smiled at my words. “Not if you value that leg, hon.”
“Alright then.” I let out a sigh of my own, turning slightly to my right and pointing into the distance. “Cabin’s just over there, if you find the path heading right off the road you can’t miss it.”
Arthur nodded, his expression saying something unreadable before he turned and started away, disappearing behind the trees. Sadie stayed at my side as Epiphany made her way over the uneven terrain. Slowly—must’ve been the longest damn ride of my life. I did smile quite proudly though when my cabin came into view. Epiphany would forever be my first pride and joy, but the home I built with my own hands? That was a real close second.