#rdr artwork

"In A Tight Spot"

Clean version and final version 😍😍

"A Perfect Match"

Colored pencil and chalk on paper

The horse was tethered away from the other horses to the only hitching post by the train station, presumably because of his aggression, and as Jack approached him, the horse squealed with anger and reared up, his hooves slicing through the air. Recklessly, he strode up to the scarred steed and stood right beside him, staring deep into his red eyes. The horse stared back, simultaneously pawing at the ground and swishing his tail. He tossed and bobbed his head from side to side when Jack extended his hand towards his white muzzle; he pinned his ears flat against his head and snorted as his hand came closer and closer. Just when he thought the horse was going to bite him or rear up and kill him with his front hooves, the horse calmed as his hand came to rest on his muzzle. He slid his hand up the horse's face and let it rest underneath his forelock. Jack and the horse stared at each other, and it all fell into place. Both were beaten up, scarred, angry, and itching for some sort of rebellion. A perfect match. 

~~~

"Investigations"

“So, uh…did you get anything else from Fordham today, besides what you just said?”

“Not really. Just records of all the criminals he’s brought in, all the deeds he’s done over the years, and all the metals and rewards he’s been given…all the way up to his retirement. Then the records just stop. There’s nothing after that, except his death certificate and where the authorities found his body.” She scoffed. “It’s frustrating to say the least.”

She was silent for a time, looking as if she were struggling with something on her mind. Jack snuck a peak at her out of the corner of his eye and winced at how troubled she seemed.

“Do you think Wade Basset’s right, ‘bout me and my uncle?” she questioned quietly, almost too soft for him to hear. Pain and doubt littered her words. “What if it’s all true? I mean, I’m finding it hard to believe this, that everything I’ve come to know about my uncle is a lie. This whole thing…it’s just one confusing thing after another.”

He played the ignorant fool and half-shrugged, keeping his left shoulder immobile for fear of setting it off again with a stab of pain. “Don’t know. I never knew your uncle, so it’s hard-tellin’ if you’re like him. But I bet if I had to take a wild guess, I’d say you’re better than him. You’re young, you’re smart, and you’re good at what you do. I’d be hard-pressed to find a woman like you anywhere else.”

Despite his appraising comments, Maddie looked over at him with a scrutinizing expression, her brow furrowing. She bit her lip before asking, “You weren’t involved with Edgar at all…were you?”

Jack froze and stared at her. He swallowed thickly and did his best not to panic.

“‘Cause your pa worked with my uncle and did his job for him—which sickens me, really—but I’m askin’ you if you’ve ever had any affiliations with him. You never mentioned whether or not you had any sort of acquaintance with him…Did you?”

He hastily put the emotionless mask on, though he could’ve sworn he felt it slip off and expose the ungodly fear beneath a fraction of a second. He gathered his wits and said as casually and innocently as possible, “Like I said, I never knew your uncle, Madeline. And Pa never really told me what all he did for him, either, ‘cept to go after Bill, Javier, and Dutch. The only time I ever really saw the man was when he ordered his men to take me and Ma and lock us up here in Blackwater. He kept us hidden away from Pa; he used us to gain leverage over my father, and it worked.”

Maddie’s eyes widened in revelation and shock. “He did that?”

Jack nodded curtly and scowled down at his boots. “Yup.”

Silence crept its way back between the two bounty hunters; the late-night sounds of the saloon dwellers raucously drinking and speaking and the songs of the nocturnal creatures quickly filled that silence.

~~~

"A Shot Of Reality"

“Marston, would you quit yawning and wake up already? That’s like the tenth-thousandth time you’ve done that and it’s not even nine o’clock!”

From behind the viewing glass of his binoculars, Jack frowned and snapped tiredly back, “It’s not my fault that bastard horse thief kept me up all night bitchin’ and yellin’ like some damn screech owl. I mean, who the hell puts someone that fuckin’ loud right beside my cell and expects me to get some sleep?”

“Me, that’s who,” Maddie snapped back and flicked the end of Gypsy’s reins at his arm.

“Ow!” he exclaimed as the leather slapped his bicep. He flinched in the saddle, causing the Dark Horse beneath him to pin back his ears and glance back at his rider in annoyance. His eyes narrowed in anger as he scowled at his companion by his side. “Damn it, Maddie! What the hell was that for?”

From atop her bored black mare, she grinned devilishly at him and gathered up the reins again. “I’m helping you wake up.”

“With pain?”

“Yup,” she giggled and flicked the reins at him again, this time smacking him harshly on the thigh.

“Stop that!”

“Is it waking you up?” she teased, a bright smile flashing across her beautiful face.

“It’s pissing me off is what it’s doing!”

“Good! Then my job here is done.”

“Great! Then go back to the ranch and leave me be, ya rotten bitch,” he growled, gesturing behind him with a jab of his thumb.

She smiled coyly at him, teeth flashing brilliantly in the morning sun. “Oh, you only wish, princess. I can’t just leave you here with the herd and expect you to know what you’re doing. Besides, have you already forgotten why we’re out here in the first place?” She loosened her grip on the reins and gave her horse her head.

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed angrily. He looked back into his binoculars and scanned the wide open plains, his gaze passing over the backs of the head of thirty cattle that were grazing contently fifty yards before them. He and Maddie sat atop their horses beneath a large tree, shading themselves and giving their mounts a rest as they settled in for the long day that was to come. He saw nothing but open plains, cattle, and blue sky.

“I haven’t forgot, damn it. Lay off for a while, ya nosy little shit.”

“Good. Just keep a sharp eye out for those cattle rustlers. No doubt they’ll be here sometime during the day.”

“I know, I know,” Jack grumbled back and continued his vigilance over the horizon and around the cattle.

~~~

Thank you!!! @fadedjacket for this beautiful art of my (now grown up; 19 yrs) OC Cristina Winchester-Smith and Jack Marston ❤❤❤