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Caleb and Mary-Beth had changed places into a more secluded area, shoulders brushing as they ate their stew together then talked about nothing and everything. At one point, Mary-Beth leaned her head against his shoulder. "Today was... nice. Even with the shooting and all."
Caleb smiled, eyes half lidded. "Yeah. It was."
She tilted her head slightly to glance up at him, eyes reflecting moonlight. "Think we could do it again sometime soon? The not shooting part of today, I mean."
Caleb's chest warmed, the kind of warmth that wasn't adrenaline or the rush of a job, but something deeper, quieter. "I'd like that, Mary-Beth. Anytime you want. If I'm free, we'll do it."
Her smile deepened, more content than before. She leaned her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes.
They sat like that for a long moment, just the two of them breathing together, savoring this rare stillness. But as with all things in camp life, peace was never left to its own for too long.
A soft chuckle broke the silence.
"Sorry to interrupt the both of you," came Hosea's familiar, knowing voice. "Didn't mean to sneak up, but I've got something I'd like to speak with Caleb about."
Both of them stiffened. Mary-Beth sat bolt upright, face turning crimson, while Caleb blinked like he'd been caught stealing sugar out of the jar. He let out a nervous chuckle and scratched the back of his neck.
"Uhh… sure, Hosea," he said, clearing his throat. "Umm… why don't we just… step away for a moment. You know, to talk." He glanced apologetically at Mary-Beth, whose expression was caught between mortification and amusement.
Hosea only smiled, amused as ever, and gave a small nod.
Caleb stood, dusted off his pants, and followed Hosea a few steps into the trees just off the path. Enough distance to give Mary-Beth her dignity back, and to allow a private conversation.
Once they stopped near a moss-covered log, Hosea turned toward Caleb, that sly twinkle in his eye still present.
"I see your progress with Mary-Beth is going well?"
Caleb grinned shyly and nodded. "Yeah. Didn't expect her to feel the same way, honestly."
Hosea patted his shoulder. "So what now? Should we start calling you two a couple?"
Caleb laughed softly and shook his head. "Nah. Not yet. I'm courting her. That's how I want to treat it."
Hosea nodded appreciatively. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a crumpled cigarette, lit it with a match from his belt, and took a long puff before continuing.
"Well, it's good to see. Mary-Beth deserves someone who sees her for who she is. Not just another girl around camp."
"Thanks, Hosea," Caleb said genuinely.
"Now…" Hosea exhaled a thin stream of smoke. "How was the robbery this morning? With Bill? Didn't go and lose his temper, did he?"
That caught Caleb a bit off guard. Hosea didn't usually check in like that. Not in the game, not even now. Still, Caleb rolled with it.
"Actually, it went really well," he said. "Bill didn't lose his temper once. Maybe it's because he was the one in charge. Or maybe it's because no one called him stupid or tried to question him the whole time."
Hosea raised an eyebrow, letting out a thoughtful hum as he took another drag of his cigarette.
"You're telling me he didn't raise his voice once?"
Caleb nodded firmly. "Well there were several times when he was excited but that's it. Not once did he raise his voice in anger. We followed his lead, gave him room to work. And he delivered. Efficient, calm, focused. Even Mary-Beth commented on it."
Hosea was silent for a moment, absorbing that. The only sound was the occasional pop from the campfire behind them and the night insects humming in the brush.
"You know," he finally said, "maybe we treat him unfairly. The man does have a temper, sure, but maybe it's not all his fault. Not if he's constantly being mocked or dismissed."
"Exactly," Caleb said, smiling faintly. "He's got a short fuse, yeah. But when folks let him be who he is, when he's given a chance to lead and not just punch, he can surprise you."
Hosea gave a rare nod of agreement. "Thanks for telling me, Caleb. It's not often someone speaks for Bill. Least of all in this camp. It's easy to fall into old habits, writing folks off because they don't fit our mold."
There was a long moment of shared silence between them. Hosea smoked, thoughtful, while Caleb reflected on the contrast between Hosea's self awareness and Dutch's constant deflection. It felt good to be heard. To feel like his perspective mattered.
Then Caleb remembered something.
"Oh, Hosea. Almost forgot." He opened his satchel and reached into the glowing grid interface of his inventory system. A second later, he pulled out a bundle of carefully wrapped paper tied with twine, the bonds from that morning's robbery. Caleb offered it to Hosea.
"These were from the stagecoach job with Bill. I figured I should give them to you, since… even if I handed them to Dutch, you'd be the one selling them anyway."
Hosea blinked, then laughed, shaking his head as he accepted the bonds.
"You're not wrong," he said, tucking the bundle into his own bag. "Thank you, Caleb. I'll see what I can get for 'em when I pass through town again."
"You're welcome."
Hosea gave him one more look, not of command or judgment, but something gentler. Approval, maybe.
"You've come a long way since you showed up in this gang," he said, flicking the stub of his cigarette aside. "And you're shaping into something fine, Caleb. A leader, even."
Caleb felt a tightness in his chest at that, quiet pride mingled with a weighty kind of pressure. Still, he smiled and nodded.
"I'm just trying to help where I can."
"Keep doing what you're doing," Hosea said, placing a hand briefly on Caleb's shoulder before stepping past him and walking back toward camp. "And keep treating Mary-Beth right."
"I will," Caleb said softly, watching him go.
Once alone again, Caleb let out a long exhale, a quiet grin stretching across his face. He turned back toward the firelight, where Mary-Beth was still waiting, now speaking with Tilly who had come to her while holding a small mug in both hands.
Caleb let them speak for a while and when Tilly went away, he made his way back to Mary-Beth, She looked at him when he approached, cheeks still faintly pink.
"Everything alright?" she asked.
Caleb sat beside her, nudging her shoulder playfully. "Yeah. Just gang business."
Mary-Beth hummed, setting her book aside. "You know... I was thinking."
"About?"
She hesitated, then smiled. "Maybe tomorrow, if you're free... we could ride into Rhodes? Just for a change of scenery."
Caleb's chest warmed. "I'd like that."
Mary-Beth's smile turned mischievous. "Good. Because I may have already told Tilly we were going, and she may have insisted on coming along."
Caleb groaned. "Of course she did."
Mary-Beth laughed, the sound bright and clear in the quiet camp. "Don't worry. She'll find an excuse to wander off once we're there. She always does."
Caleb shook his head, grinning. "You're trouble, Mary-Beth Gaskill."
She leaned into him, her voice dropping to a whisper. "And you love it."
He didn't deny it.
After a few more moments of quiet laughter and soft conversation under the stars, Caleb and Mary-Beth slowly parted ways for the night. They walked together for a time, lingering at every step as though reluctant to let the night end, before finally reaching the fork in the trail that split their tents.
There, they exchanged one last glance, one last shy smile, and went their separate ways, Mary-Beth to her corner of camp, and Caleb back to his own small setup.
The flap rustled softly as he entered, the distant murmurs of camp life beginning to quiet as the others turned in. Caleb knelt and rolled out his bedroll, sinking into it with a sigh. His body was tired in the best way, from action, purpose, and the closeness of someone who cared.
He lay there, staring at the tent ceiling, letting the feelings of the day wash over him. Then, with a satisfied breath, he turned onto his side and fell asleep quickly.
Morning came softly, golden light peeking through canvas seams and dappling the forest floor outside his tent. Caleb stirred before the camp truly woke. His internal clock, sharpened from both his past life's routine and the rhythm of outlaw life, stirred him early.
He sat up, stretched his back with a grunt, then stepped outside into the crisp morning air.
After a splash of cold water from a nearby bucket, he began his usual routine, stretching first, loosening his limbs with purposeful focus. He rolled his shoulders, rotated his joints, then dropped into push ups, squats, sit ups, and burpees, all performed with fluid motion. A light sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead by the end of it.
Next came his run. Caleb took off at a steady pace, jogging around the natural perimeter of the Clemens Point camp. He greeted Pearson with a short wave, sidestepped a wandering chicken near the kitchen area, and passed by a still dozing Uncle without slowing. The path twisted through brush, followed a rise near the cliffs, then curved alongside the river.
And that's when the idea struck him.
The water was clear and glittered in the morning light. Dew clung to the grass, and the river sang a cool, tempting song. Caleb stopped, took a breath, and then laughed to himself.
"Why not?"
He stripped off his boots, shirt, and coat, leaving only his trousers on. Then, with a running start, he dove into the river with a clean splash.
The cold hit first, but it wasn't biting, just refreshing. It invigorated his skin, cleared his mind. He let himself drift for a moment, floating on his back beneath the pale blue sky, then swam to the far side with steady, practiced strokes.
He pushed his body through the current, doing laps for the sake of motion, of joy, of memory. The water churned around him, but he felt nothing but calm.
From the shore, a few curious eyes watched.
Karen and Tilly had come to fetch some laundry water when they caught sight of Caleb swimming. Tilly raised an eyebrow, impressed.
"Well would you look at that," she said with a smirk. "Didn't think we had a proper swimmer among us."
Karen giggled. "Look at them muscles though, he's been working out more than Arthur that's for sure."
Nearby, Mary-Beth, who had just finished setting out her notebook and her fountain pen from Caleb, turned her head at the noise. Her eyes caught sight of Caleb in the water and widened slightly.
She hadn't really seen him like this before, shirtless and shining with river water, muscles taut and defined from his workout and swim.
There was a strength to him, lean, balanced, and graceful, not the bulky weight of someone like Bill, but something more precise. She swallowed and quickly looked back at her notebook, cheeks flushing, though she wasn't writing anymore.
Tilly caught her expression when she and Karen walked passed by, to which she elbowed her lightly. "Oh, honey, don't act innocent now."
Mary-Beth turned even redder. "Shut it, Tilly."
But the loudest response came from the youngest member of the camp.
"Uncle Caleb!" Jack's voice rang out from down the hill, excitement in every syllable as he sprinted to the water's edge with Cain barking and bounding alongside him. "Uncle Caleb, you can swim?!"
Caleb, halfway through a lap, stopped for a moment when he heard that, a wide grin spreading across his face. He remembered the irony of the situation.
In the first Red Dead Redemption, John Marston, Jack's father, couldn't swim, a fact that had often put him at a disadvantage. It seemed Jack was destined to follow in his father's footsteps in that regard since John couldn't teach him, at least until now. Caleb chuckled, a warm, genuine sound that carried across the water.
...
Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 7/10
- Agility: 6/10
- Perception: 8/10
- Stamina: 7/10
- Charm: 5/10
- Luck: 6/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl 2)
- Rifle (Lvl 2)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl 2)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl 1)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl 1)
- Sneaking (Lvl 2)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl 3)
- Poker (Lvl 3)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl 1)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl 1)
- Dead Eye (Lvl 2)
- Bow (Lvl 2)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl 1)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl 0)
- Crafting (Lv1)
- Persuasion (Lvl 2)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
- Cooking (Lvl 2)
- Teaching (Lvl 1)
- Germanic Language Proficiency (Lvl MAX)
- Inventory System (Permanent - 5x5x5)
Money: 513 dollars and 45 cents
Inventory: 1111 dollars, 2 gold nuggets, 1 gold bar, 4 silver rings, and 1 Double Action Revolver
Bank: 320 dollars, 4 gold bars, a large bag of jewelry, and 3 gold nuggets