Friendship has never been a familiar thing to me. I didn't have truly have friends as a child, not ones outside of the books I read, anyway.

So I honestly didn't know how to react to my friendship with Pearl.

I had always thought that you were friends with people you had a lot in common with, and I had very little in common with Pearl. As time went on, I found that to be a relief, as Pearl loves to talk. I would rather her chatter on for hours about something that I don't know anything about, than something I already know about.

Pearl was also interested in spending a lot of time with me. Whenever she was bored, she sought me out. She was quick witted enough to know where to find me, and didn't seem to have to look for long.

This got me to wondering if, like me, Pearl had no friends of her own. When I asked her about it, she got very defensive, and insisted that she did have other friends besides me. I have yet to meet them, but I won't bring it up again.

One afternoon she accompanied me to the train station in Blackwater to look at wanted posters for a bounty. There were a number of them, some pinned on top of others. She shuffled through the older ones with a petulant look on her face.

"If the police want these men caught so badly, why don't they just go after them? Why put up posters at all?" She asked.

"Probably because it's easier to let bounty hunters take the risk than risk having their own men killed or injured." I told her. "It's easier for them to let me die than to let one of their own die."

"That's selfish. They are supposed to be the ones protecting the people." She looked up at me. "Maybe you should be a lawman, Jack."

I made a face. "I'd rather not."

"I know, but you'd be a good one." She said. "You'd even get a nice shiny badge."

"Yeah, let me trade in my honor for a badge."

"Some would say you would get more honor with the badge."

I gave it a moment of thought. "Maybe somewhere else, but not here. I wouldn't be a policeman."

"What's keeping you here, if you hate it so much?" She asked.

"I grew up here." I shrugged. "My father's ranch is here. It's what I'm used to. You haven't spent a lot of time in New Austin. It's different there."

"Different how?"

"It can go on for miles and not have a single other soul around. It's so quiet and isolated. Sometimes I would forget that I'm not dead." I looked away. "You found anything yet?"

"There's a boy no older than fourteen, wanted for petty theft." She held up the poster.

"I'm not interested in hunting down children." I told her.

"Good, that was a test." She crumped up the paper and threw it outside. "Let's see…"

"Ralph Stricker." She read over the paper. "Four hundred dollars if you don't kill him. He's handsome too."

I plucked the paper from her hands. "I'm sure you two would get along."

She grinned. "Maybe." She walked alongside me as we exited the train station and I whistled for my horse. "Can I come with you?"

I was surprised she even asked. "No. Look, these men don't take kindly to bounty hunters. Bullets are flying, people are dying… It's no place for a lady."

She glared at me. "I can take care of myself, Jack."

"I don't want you getting shot." I told her. "I'm definitely going to get shot at least once, but I doubt it will be anything fatal."

"You think I can't handle a gunshot wound?"

"The problem isn't whether or not you can handle it; the problem is that it doesn't need to happen." I sighed. "It's not your responsibility, Pearl."

"But it is your responsibility?" She laughed. "You should be a lawman!"

I climbed on to my horse. "I'm assuming you can get home fine, since you can take care of yourself?"

"I've been walking since I was a toddler, and I'm quite sure I know the way." She put her hands on her hips. "Don't go dying, now."

I tipped my hat to her and rode out of Blackwater.

According to the wanted poster, he was hiding somewhere around Aurora Basin, which was excellent since I hated the cold and couldn't swim. I also wasn't very fond of bears and wolves, which were in abundance in that area. Luckily, I didn't encounter many that day as I rode out there.

The bounty went as they usually did. I killed most of the criminals quicker than they could aim at me, although a few of them gave me trouble. I took a bullet in the shoulder and one clipped the top of my ear. My frustration fueled me enough to kill the two of them, and hogtie Ralph Stricker before sticking him on the back of my horse. My shoulder protested as I climbed onto my horse, and Stricker protested too.

"Fuck you!" Stricker made a sound like he was failing to spit in my direction. "Untie these ropes and fight me like a man!"

"We already fought." I told him as I kicked my horse into a run. "And you lost."

I had to shoot some more of his friends on the way back to Blackwater, but it seemed like they were incapable of shooting straight while riding a horse.

When I collected my four hundred dollars, I considered getting Pearl but decided against it. I knew she'd be upset, but my shoulder ached and I didn't feel like dealing with her at that moment.

I made sure to get thoroughly drunk before I went to the doctor to get my wounds treated, which helped when he had to dig into my shoulder to get the bullet out. I paid him, and found the bed in my hotel room to sleep for the night even though it was barely sunset.