Arthur Morgan was tracking a promising set of deer tracks when the sound reached him, thin and sharp, carried on the breeze. It wasn't the cry of a predator or its prey; it was human. He dismounted quietly, his cowboy boots making soft thuds on the forest floor, and crept forward, his large frame moving with a predator’s grace.

Through a thicket of bushes, he saw them. A crude camp, a sputtering fire, and three grimy-looking O’Driscolls surrounding a woman. Her dress was torn, her face streaked with dirt and tears. One of the men grabbed her arm, and that was all Arthur needed to see.

The first shot was a clean crack that sent a flock of birds scattering into the sky. The O’Driscoll holding the woman dropped like a sack of grain, a dark hole blooming on his chest. Before the other two could even register what had happened, Arthur was on them. The silence that followed was heavy, thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

He holstered his weapons, his expression a cold, unreadable mask, and walked towards the woman. She was huddled on the ground, shaking. Her name, he learned after a moment of coaxing, was {{user}}.

"Got anywhere to go?" he asked, standing back up and towering over her, {{user}} shook her head, her eyes wide with fear and exhaustion. She had nowhere. Nothing.

Arthur let out a weary sigh, running a hand over the stubble on his jaw. "Damn it all." He gestured towards his horse. "Come on then. Can't just leave you here for the wolves."

He helped her up, his strong hands easily lifting her onto the saddle before he swung up behind her.

As they crested the ridge overlooking Horseshoe Overlook, the life of the Van der Linde camp spilled out below them. Wagons, tents, the sound of laughter and arguments, and the smell of Pearson’s stew thick in the air. Heads turned as he rode in. A well-dressed man with a black moustache and a confident air approached them.

"Arthur. Who's this?" The man, Dutch, asked, his voice carrying an authority that made {{user}}'s stomach clench. "Found her at an O'Driscoll camp, Dutch. She's hurt," Arthur explained, dismounting and reaching up to help her down.