"(Y/N)?", with a big yawn, Ginny came out of his room.

He looked like he just fell out of bed, barley able to keep himself on his feet.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee was in the air.

Gently smiling, you let out a soft breath and shook your head.

"I'm proud of you.", you said and placed a huge plate stacked with fired bacon, beans and buttered bread in front of him. "You managed to do everything by yourself yesterday. And I checked the money. Not a single cent's missing."

Still tried, he nodded and started to shove the steaming hot breakfast into his mouth.

Bacon and meat in general was a treat to him.

The townspeople always made sure that everything you wanted to buy from them was extra expensive.

To feed the two of you, you had started to grow a few vegetables behind the house. It wasn't much, but plenty to feed that hungry boy.

But the fact that he was well fed didn't keep Ginny from complaining about the food. He wanted meat, bacon and chicken breast were his favourite.

But the butcher really did make it unaffordable despite the fact that business was going great.

"I asked Loretta for the money she owes you yesterday.", he said, mouth full of beans.

You took a sip from your coffee.

"How did it go?", you asked and noticed a dark spot on his forehead not a second later.

"Her husband beat me.", he showed you the spot.

A huge black spot covered his forehead and ran right up into his hairline.

"Did it bleed?"

"No. But my head hurts."

"We should get you to the doctor then."

He shrugged.

"Why? He won't help me anyways..."

A sigh escaped you.

He was right.

Nobody in the hellhole would help, even if he'd be knocking on deaths door.

All you could do was wait and see if his condition would worsen. And if so, you needed to get him all the way to the next town, a good few hours away.

Chewing loudly, Ginny shoved another spoon full of beans into his mouth and some bread even before he swallowed.

"So how did it go?", he asked. "Not so well, I see."

With a sarcastic grin, he pointed at your face.

Confused, you frowned and let your fingers run over the skin.

Something rough pressed against the tip of your fingers.
It burned.

"Is that a scratch?", you asked.

He nodded.

"Obviously."

"Huh...", for a moment, you stared into nothing, trying to remember where it came from.

But as the memories of last night lit up inside your mind, you pulled a face and pressed your lips shut.

It would be better if he didn't know.

In the end, there was nothing he could do anyways.

The priest was a nasty man and would continue to change your life for the worse. There was no need to stab into a hornets nest. Especially not since he was one of the favourites in town.

No wonder, everyone wanted to make friends with him so he'd save them from hell.

A man of god. What a joke.

"You shouldn't worry about it.", with a smile, you messed up his hair. "It all turned out well in the end. And I'm sure it will stay this way from now on."

With a sceptical look on his face, Ginny eliminated the last bits of his breakfast and leaned back to let out a deep, satisfied groan.

"You really are in a good mood today.", he said and looked out the window. "Is it because your boyfriend is here?"

A cold shiver crawled down your spine. The smile froze on your face.

"My... what?", you asked in utter shock.

He grinned.

"That stranger from yesterday. Tall, bit dumb looking, with a black hat?"

Your eyes widened.

"Arthur?!", as if struck by lightning, you jumped from your seat, rushed to the window and glanced outside.

With a lost look on his bearded face and a cigarette between his fingers, he looked up to the window and met your gaze.

Quickly, he put out the cigarette and tapped his hat in greeting before pointing at the door.

You signalised for him to wait a moment and rushed down the stairs to open the back door that led right up into the apartment.

"Mister Morgan!", you jogged up to him, maybe a little too excited.

He flashed your a polite smile.

"G'day.", stretching his legs, he leaned against the fence of the meadow that you had build for costumers to park their horses. "Dutch sends me."

The smile on your face fell.

With a strange feeling growing in the pit of your stomach, you squeezed your eyes shut and sighed.

"I told him all I could.", you started to defend yourself. "If he's unsatisfied with that I'd advice him to leave town. There's nothing else to get here."

Amused, Arthur smirked.

"Easy there.", he said and pulled out an envelope that was so full it looked like it was about to burst. "Dutch is very pleased. Didn't see him that happy about a heist in a while."

He offered your the envelope.

Unsure, you took it and threw a glance inside.

A stack of bright green paper shone into your face.

Your eyebrows rose in surprise.

In one swift movement, you let all of the money fall into your hand so you could count it.

"That's a lot.", you noted. "What for?"

"It's your share. Like Dutch promised, you'd get your dept from em'. This came from a lovely mister Dawsley."

Your heart skipped a beat.

"You already did some work?", you asked, baffled.

He nodded.

"Right after you were gone. And don' worry about someone smellin' somethin' fishy. We take all we can from them and give you the share they owe. No one will ever know."

For a moment, you stared at him, unable to process that he had just cleared a dept that was big enough to pay off half a house.

"Thank you.", you managed to huff with a smile.

A smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"It ain't me, sweetheart.", he said. "That's business."