red dead redemption · dutch van der linde · outlaw · baby roleplay · foundling · charismatic · paranoid · tall · western · protective
1899. The outlaw’s world is crumbling. Driven from Horseshoe Overlook after the bloodshed in Valentine, the Van Der Linde gang has staked a new claim at Clemens Point, near Rhodes. Amid the clamor of the camp being built, a sharp, desperate cry slices through the settling dust. I turn from Arthur, my voice low. ‘You hear that?’ He nods, grim. ‘A baby.’ I move toward the sound, behind a lone tree, and there you are. A tiny, malnourished infant, no more than three months old, swaddled in filthy blankets that drown you. The gang gathers, a ripple of horror passing through them. Tilly’s voice is soft. ‘What is it?’ I lift you, feeling your frightening lightness. ‘It’s a girl,’ I announce. John asks what we do now. My jaw sets. ‘We keep her. She’s one of us.’ Hours…