"Matthews! You're up!"

Hot on his feet, Danny Matthews scampered over to where Mac and Davey were, assisting in repairing one of the caravan's over a loose wheel. Just behind the caravan Danny slept in front of, the teen assisted the Callander brothers by doing whatever the brothers told him to do, most of which involved handing them tools.

The front of the caravan was decorated with boxes, blankets, books and components for knitting.

Mary-Beth was postured erect on a small box laid on its face, her hands and fingers occupied with knitting a scarf for no natural purpose except for something personal. The chatter going on on the other side of the caravan distracted Mary-Beth, her hands unconsciously knitted in a slow rhythm while Jenny sat on her legs, washing clothes and hanging them on a line extending from the corner of the caravan to a tree two metres away.

"When you're fixing a wheel, you need to have a few people - three at the most - lift up the caravan here, and here, while another person hammers the wheel back on this thing. Hit it a few times real hard, then you get a hammer and just nail it in place a bit more." Davey instructed calmly.

"You listening?" Mac grumbled.

"He's listening. Leave the boy be."

"You done yet or what?"

"Shut up."

Davey banged the wheel a few times with an additional three for assurance with a hammer.

Once the job was completed, the caravan rocked slightly before it settled like the tombstone of someone's grave.

Danny attended to his next duty which involved transporting hay bales to the horses for feeding, followed by refilling the water drum next to the cooking caravan. His slim body only carried so much strength until he began to struggle carrying the second and third hay bale to the horses. As soon as that was done, he moved on to his next task which took just as much effort, if not more, as the first task.

The entire time, Mary-Beth watched him labour and strain himself. Meanwhile, Miss Grimshaw hounded folks for being lousy, lazy slobs doing nothing in contribution to the camp.

By that time, the Callander boys had mounted their horses and ridden into town to escape Miss Grimshaw's terrorisation while others did their best to ignore her and do whatever they could to keep her off their backs. Even those who were brave enough to face a mere preview of Miss Grimshaw's wrath paid little to no mind of her aggravation.

When the sun was high over everyone's heads and the atmosphere had barely changed from its chill, Danny Matthews took a break from his physical labour and made his way over to the food caravan and helped himself to an apple.

Then, he heard a voice belonging to a woman - accented identically to that of Sean's.

"Yer Hosea's kid, ain't'cha?" A redheaded woman addressed the young boy in an unsavoury manner.

Danny perked up at the sound of the voice and smiled cautiously at the ginger woman in the green dress.

"I am. I didn't catch your name, miss...?"

"M' name's Molly O'Shea."

"Danny Matthews. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Molly-"

"It's Miss O'Shea, ya twit."

"You Dutch's girl now?" Danny asked, lacking any modicum of respect for the woman.

The sense of entitlement was a behaviour Danny had never come to face before but now that the chance had presented itself to him, he did not like it one bit.

"Aye. I am. So don't expect me to be hanging 'round you lot." 

"Oh, of course not, your majesty. Would you like me to get down in the mud and polish your diamond shoes?" Danny mocked, dry-wheezing to his own amusement as a crossed expression hardened Molly's features.

"Why you little..." 

"Molly!" Dutch sang out. "I see you've acquainted yourself with young Matthews here."

In an instant, the redhead's behaviour altered to one that of a woman lovestruck.

"Dotch! I was just having a friendly chat with Danny. He's a very lovely boy." Molly lied, faking a smile that showed her teeth as she gave her lover a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Dutch chuckled, blinded by his love for his new girlfriend. "That he is. You know, Danny, you and Mary-Beth make quite the couple."

Heat formed in Danny's face, causing him to blush uncontrollably as he broke eye contact and looked at his feet.

"I still haven't mentioned how I felt about her. I'm too embarrassed."

"Whatever do you mean?! You both make the perfect match! I-I only assumed you two had finally told each other how you feel, on-on account of how many times I have seen you both pining over each other." Dutch guffawed.

"He's right," said Molly. "If ya don't tell 'er how ya feel, you won't get the chance again, lad. Tell her now, and believe me, you, you'll see you've been stressing all for nothin'."

Dutch smiled proudly at his lover for adding some motivation to lift Danny's spirits, which worked, but to a certain degree that it left the young teen suspicious about why she seemed rather genuine with her advice for somebody who almost seemed to detest the presence of the young boy. Nonetheless, Danny accepted their advice and used his new motivation to seek Mary-Beth out and tell her his feelings.

Just as Danny was about to roam the camp for a certain brunette with emerald eyes and an emerald necklace, Danny's name was called - shouted to a level that it would frighten birds away.

Startled by the voice booming from across the campsite, Danny gawked in the direction of the voice where he spotted his father summoning his son. Danny jogged over to where his father was and stood beside him where he also stood right beside his horse, a grey Turkoman horse so named, Silver Dollar.

"You called, dad?" Danny squeaked.

Hosea dry laughed. "There you are, son. Pack your things, we're going travelling."

Dumbfounded, Danny parroted his father's words. "Travelling?"

"Since Arthur decided to teach you how to shoot a gun, I did some thinking... and I've decided that if you're going to be a gunslinger, you need to learn the necessities of being an outlaw. Hunting."

"We're going hunting? What're we hunting, dad?"

"A great, big, monster! A bear."

Danny gasped. "A bear?!"

"Pack your blanket, bed roll and some food. I also bought you a decent saddlebag to put more stuff in there."

Danny beamed with joy and threw his arms around his father's waist and gave him a tight squeeze.

"Thanks, dad."

It warmed Hosea's heart to witness the kind of love he had for his son, and how he was raising him to be a gentleman in a way that didn't restrict Danny from his freedom; by right.

Danny let go of his father and ran to collect his things, one such thing that was on his mind quickly faded away momentarily, even when Danny started to collect his things right where Mary-Beth was, confounded by his zeal. Barely a goodbye was exchanged between the two teenagers as Danny was hot on his feet to mount his horse and go ride with his father.

Given that Hosea had already forwarded this information to his superior and dear friend, Dutch, the charismatic and charming leader of the gang had easily given the father and son his blessing for them to take their leave for a couple of weeks. 

A few days had passed after Hosea and Danny departed from the temporary campsite governed by Dutch Van der Linde and his gang.

The long journey slowly took its toll on the father and son duo but while Hosea had many years of experience riding and shooting a gun, these early stages of Danny's life was something he was not fully accustomed to, given that he was only thirteen years of age. So when Danny whined every now and then about how tedious and wearisome the ride was, there were a lot of urges suppressed from being let out with vocal aggression, especially after Hosea lost control; the first time in a very, very long time.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Danny sighed heavily, bowing his head as his body lightly rocked side to side as his horse walked along the dusty road.

The sun shone high over the mountains in the distance, miles and miles away. The bright blue sky provided no comfort for shade from the clouds which couldn't possibly have been predicted to appear. Tumbleweed drifted past in the light breeze that blew past from the left to the right. Even lifting dirt that created miniature clouds that levitated no higher than the fetlock of their horse's legs.

Danny reached for his canteen tucked securely in a slot on his saddle and held the bottle over his head, his mouth wide open as he used his other hand which held the reins to open the cap so that the cool, refreshing water refreshed his parched throat.

"How much further have we got, dad?"

"Well... judging by the mountain tops that I once saw a long, long time ago, I'd hazard a guess that we're about four to five days away from our destination." Hosea answered calmly in spite of how humid it was, especially being in direct sunlight for many hours.

"FIVE DAYS?!"

"Four to five days. And calm yourself, boy. You'll see Mary-Beth soon enough. Just think of it this way: once we go find that bear and skin it as our prize, we'll be back at camp sooner than you can say, 'Pearson's stew'." 

It bothered Danny to a certain degree that he would have to endure the trip just to hunt a bear. Nonetheless, he enjoyed spending time with his father.

They both continued to ride for another hour when they began to trek up a hill. They followed the clearest path to the top of the smallest hill which expanded through a forest so dense that the shade could mimic the inside of a foreign cave. The trees stretched for a good few hundred kilometres before there was a clearing with a medium-sized lake surrounded by more trees.

At the click of his tongue and the light jab of his heels, Hosea encouraged his horse to walk towards the trees. Danny followed.

The thickness of the trees and the darkness that concealed the sunlight frightened Danny Matthews to the prowling danger deep in the forest. Fortunately, there was just enough visibility through the trees for the father and son to weave past trees on their way to the lake. Before emerging from the tree line, the duo dismounted from their horses and walked the rest of the way to the clearing.

The first thing Hosea did was squint his eyes at the ground. He was scanning the grass and leaves for evidence of a bear: faeces, rotten fish, crushed twigs... any sign that would point to the bear's exact location.

The foul stench of faeces reached their noses. Each direction they moved towards either dispersed the scent or pulled them closer. Hosea led his son over to the source of the foul stench and examined it without poking it with a stick. Nearby, a pile of sticks were snapped. Further past that were fish corpses disturbed by flies feasting at its guts spewn on the ground, blood staining the grass and dirt.

Together, the father and son duo wandered through the forest, around the lake. Out of precaution, Hosea raised the Carbine Repeater rifle he'd brought with him and pushed the butt of the rifle against the soft spot just below his collarbone and shoulder. His trigger finger above the trigger as a precaution in case he accidentally set the trigger off.

That's when they saw it...

Hosea instantly froze on the spot, his hands cramped from holding the rifle the same way for so long as his breathing hitched, quickly becoming excited inhales and exhales. 

There, ten metres apart, was a four-hundred-pound brown bear.

Hosea was so on edge, he almost forgot to command his son to take cover behind one of the thick trees. Steadily, the forty year-old drummed his fingers on his gun before tilting his head towards his gun to line his eye up with the sights and the barrel while his finger very slowly moved onto the trigger, itching to pull back on the trigger and give away their position.

BANG!

A loud yelp followed by roaring immediately petrified Hosea Matthews as the bear he startled flinched back from the bullet penetrating its skin before charging towards him. The daze he was left in stunned him very briefly before proceeding to fill the bear with lead until his rifle was out of ammunition. Once that was the case, he switched to his revolver, but by then, the bear had rammed into his body with its head, knocking him off his feet and the revolver out of his grasp.

"DAD!" Danny wailed helplessly as he watched his father cling on for dear life.

The four-hundred-pound bear overpowered Hosea as easily as an adult restraining a pup and thumped the ground just below his arms which were stretched out, roaring mightily in his face. Hosea's hand grabbed his knife and held it in a stabbing position and madly punctured the bear's neck and chest with the blade until the bear succumbed to its injuries and let out a deathly groan before it collapsed on top of him.

"DAD! DAD!"

In response, Hosea grunted as he pushed down on the bear's head and shoulder in order to slide out from underneath its mangled corpse. Danny threw his arms around his father and they embraced each other.

"I'm alright, son. I'm alright. Come on. Let's skin this son of a bitch. Now, what you're gonna do..." 

A fire was set by the river after Hosea and his son skinned the bear.

Proud of their achievement, the pair celebrated by feasting on bear meat they roasted over the fire by using their knives. The skin would exchange a pretty dollar for claiming their prize. 

As soon as Hosea was done with the grizzly meat on the tip of his knife, he pulled out a cigarette and lit it using the campfire blaze to start its depletion. Danny glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye and said nothing. He was well aware of his father's smoking habits but one thing Danny was concerned about was the belittling he'd receive if he spoke against it.

So he said nothing and sat there, waiting endlessly for him to say something to break the God-awful silence.

As time quickly moved on, so did the sun setting beyond the horizon, leaving an orange glow beneath the pink clouds until the fire was all that illuminated the site.

"It's so beautiful... sittin' by the fire. That's still one of life's great pleasures. You know, if you sit and stare at the fire long enough, you can see the whole world pass you by." Hosea proclaimed. "You never really get to just stop and wonder... while life passes you by. You miss so much and you don't even realise it until you're in your final moments, barely holding on as your life withers away. I'm not asking much of you, son, but whenever you get the chance, just stop and admire the world around you. Make the most out of it because you don't know how long you've got."

"I will, dad. I love you."

"I love you too, son. Better get some shut eye."

Tucking himself under his blanket, Danny made himself comfortable by lying on his side. It didn't take long before he fell into a deep sleep.

The dreams that filled young Danny's mind were nothing short of despicable. Given the outcome of the bear encounter, Danny was still psychologically shaken up about the event, despite things not turning into a horrific, gruesome scene in which his father was brutally mauled by the bear. But that was the sole focus of the twisted dream: the bear.

In Danny's mind the encounter replayed over, and over, and over, and over; where in each repeat, Danny's innocent mind was plagued with gruesome imagery in which his father suffered many deaths. And then the bear turned to him...

The strength in its foul breath matched the excrement after just coming out of hibernation, quickening as did its heartbeat. Its paws crushed the dirt beneath its weight, creating a thick paw-print of where it had been moments before the attack. Its eyes were pitch black and hollow, void of empathy for the life it would take; out of fear and out of blind fury.On its hind feet, the bear jumped up using the support of its front paws pushing it upwards where its mouth opened, displaying what big teeth it had and the mad taste for human flesh on its tongue.

The bear then let out a petrifying roar before it fell forward, perfectly landing on its front two paws and charged towards Danny Matthews until...

"Danny! DANNY!!" A familiar voice rang out, snapping Danny out of his mortifying nightmare.

The boy jumped up from where he laid and scanned the environment for any potential danger or signs of a bear attack.

Alas, all was quiet.

The trees were barely disturbed by the rocks of Danny's squirming and Hosea's screaming. Not even the sun had risen over the mountain range and yet already there was a disturbance of peace and tranquillity. And justly so, Hosea Matthews strained his already damaged lungs to cry his son's name until he woke up, covered in sweat.

Instinctively, Danny wrapped his arms around his father's neck and squeezed tightly for reassurance that all was well. Naturally, Hosea accepted the embrace and gave his son a pat on the back until the boy had calmed down. Once he'd done so, Hosea gave a few words of encouragement before asking his son to help him pack so that they could leave.

As soon as they'd finished packing, they were on their way. The bear skin Hosea peeled off of the bear corpse had been rolled up and stuffed on the back of his horse before they dismantled the campsite. By then, the father and son had already made their way back the way they came.

The time it took getting back to camp was a bit longer than they way they came. Given the fact that Hosea had encouraged his son to enjoy the ride and go about it with a little speed in order to take his mind off of the bear attack. In spite of that, nothing could prevent the nightly torment of Danny's dreams.