If it feels like in this chapter that there are huge leaps being made or things happening too quickly, its partially because it comes after a huge writing gap during my first draft. I went to Korea for a week, and therefore stopped writing for a month. Because that's how my brain works! But anyways, it was a problem I never quite figured out how to solve, and since it was at least moving in the direction I wanted it to move, I left it throughout the edits.

Chapter 17: Bounty

We are in Shady Belle now. I've kept Dutch from meeting Angelo Bronte for now, but Dutch is not one to lie low. He's started talking about Tahiti, and I think it's time to go.

I don't want to leave any family behind, and I'm worried about leaving Lenny, too. He's real sick now, and we still don't know if he's going to make it.

As Arthur rode through the streets of Saint Denis, he kept his eyes peeled for three people: Brother Dorkins, Sister Calderon, and Rains Fall. The former two would be easy to find in the city, but he had no idea if Rains Fall was here. As much as Arthur wanted to see the man again, he hoped that the situation with the Wapiti Reservation was better this time around.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. He came across Rains Fall and Eagle Flies standing with the writer, Evelyn Miller.

"Mr. Miller, this is a good friend, Arthur," Rains Fall introduced. "Mr. Morgan was the one who warned us of the men seeking to take our land."

"Ah, yes, you knew of the survey," Mr. Miller said. "Unfortunately, the men came and have written up a report. They are claiming that huge reserves of oil are under their land! But I don't have the proof."

Arthur met Rains Fall's eyes, the same thought passing between them. This was the start of it all.

"Perhaps I can help."

"How?" Miller asked.

"Let's just say I have a talent for acquiring certain items."

"We will pay you very handsomely, Mr. Morgan," said Rains Fall, but Arthur shook his head, an idea forming.

"I don't want your money, but there might be something you can help me with."

Eagle Flies spoke up for the first time. "I told you, they are all the same."

"I'm trying to go west, trying to get some people west as well, but we can't go through Blackwater. Do you know of any safe way north through the Grizzlies?"

"There are some paths. They are long and difficult, some you can't take wagons, but it is possible, yes."

"I might ask you to show me some of those routes, if it's alright."

Rains Fall nodded. "Meet my son up at Citadel Rock in a few days, west of the oil fields."

With some time to spare, and no intention of helping with Dutch's plans, Arthur headed north to check in with Hamish Sinclair.

The veteran sat on his porch, cleaning his gun when Arthur arrived, and waved him over. "Arthur! How are you? I got your letter, and your money."

"Good to see you, Hamish. Want to go hunting?"

"Sure! There's a bear that's been in this area for a few weeks now, and I haven't had the chance to go after him yet."

"Let me grab my gun!" They rode around O'Creagh's Run, tracking a bear that turned out to be gigantic! Not as big as the one he took down with Hosea, but not one Arthur would want to meet alone in the woods. As they skinned the beast, Arthur told Hamish the story of the scarred bastard that almost ate him and Hosea, and even Hamish remembered him.

"I never got the chance to go after that monster, glad you got him. What did you do with the pelt?"

"Sold it to the local trapper. Got sixty bucks for it. Someone probably made a rug out of him."

"Well, I'm going to mount this guy on my wall," Hamish said as they returned to the cabin. "Want some coffee?"

They sat and talked for a while. Hamish passed over an enormous sum of money, asking, "Who did you capture to earn that?"

"Colm O'Driscoll."

"Seriously? How?"

"Well, my friend went missing and Hosea, me, and this woman named Sadie were trying to track him down. Found him in an O'Driscoll camp, and when we took them out, one of them was Colm. Took him to Strawberry, dropped him off, and apparently he is worth quite a bit!"

Hamish laughed. "Glad you are alright! And your friend?"

"Oh, John is fine. We took him to a doctor, Sadie too because she got hurt, but they're both OK."

The sun slipped below the horizon, and after multiple cups of coffee turning into drinks and dinner, Arthur ended up rolling out his bedroll and spending the night at Hamish's cabin.

The next morning, they said their goodbyes, and Arthur started heading to the Heartlands. But soon he saw a man riding up to him.

"Mr. Morgan," the man called, and Arthur stiffened, recognizing the jacket and badge. Pinkertons.

"I think you've got the wrong man," Arthur tried, but more men were appearing out of the woods, guns pointed at him.

"Funny, I suppose you prefer Arthur Callahan? You certainly match the description of the man who collected the bounty on Colm O'Driscoll. And you match the description of a man who is wanted in a couple of states. Perhaps you could come with us and talk."

"I'd rather be on my way." But the men were circling Dakota, and he was alone. Hamish's cabin was too far, but Arthur didn't want the man in danger. Not after seeing him die once before.

But before he could decide whether to talk or shoot his way out, something large swung into the back of his head, and his vision went black.

The smell of burning coal hit his nose first, then the sounds of a train, shouting, metal hitting rock filled his ears. Something was rubbing into his wrists, his arms were tied behind him. His entire body felt slow, something was dripping off his head, and his eyes blinked open to a dark room. The Pinkerton Agent in front of him was not one he recognized, but then again Milton and Ross were dead.

"Take it slow, Mr. Morgan, we have all day."

"Naw, let's get this over with," he said carefully, "what do you want?"

"You did us a huge favor, taking out Colm O'Driscoll. Now, we want Van der Linde."

Arthur finally recognized his surroundings as Annesburg, and he had no doubt that there were agents all around the town. "I get you one outlaw, and you greedy bastards want another?"

"This is a civilized world, Mr. Morgan. It doesn't have a place for people like Van der Linde. They have no use in society."

Arthur decided in that moment to take a gamble. It was a vague memory and assumption, but it was worth a shot. He had nothing else to lose. "You seemed to have a use for Colm."

"Excuse me?"

"You offered him a deal. Van der Linde for his freedom. Now I don't know if you would have actually followed through with it, but maybe you should." He looked the not yet introduced agent in the eyes and smirked. "I killed Colm O'Driscoll for you. And he has a much more violent gang, a lot more people, too, the way they keep cropping up no matter how man bullets I put in them."

"So?"

"I'm not the only one who knows. If I go missing, what's to stop Hosea Matthews or John Marston from telling the whole world that the Pinkertons work with criminals. Imagine what that would do to your reputation!"

The agent considered his options. "You are bluffing," he said, sitting back in his chair.

"Maybe. But you could give me the same deal, and I won't say a word. You clear my bounty, and Hosea Matthews', and John Marston's, since they helped out. Hell, you can put that money for Colm towards it if you have to." As far as he was aware, Sadie Adler didn't have a bounty yet.

"Not Van der Linde's?"

"Look, we all know where this country is headed. They don't want folks like us no more, but old Dutch won't change. But me, a couple of other folks, we want out."

"You, Morgan? You are going to give up the lying, and stealing, and killing, and be an honest man?'

"Yes," he said simply.

The agent looked skeptical. "And Van der Linde? Are you going to tell us where to find him?"

"No. I may disagree with his vision for the future, but I won't betray those twenty years. I suggest you not ask me to again."

The agent stood up, going to a desk and writing something on a few pieces of paper. He signed with a flourish, before returning to Arthur. "Your current bounties will be cleared, as well as Mr. Matthews and Mr. Marston. I suggest you leave Van der Linde quick, because if we catch you breaking the law with him again, you'll be arrested right alongside him."

A knife sliced through the bonds around Arthur's wrists, and he rubbed the sore skin to get blood back to his hands. He took the offered papers, signed by the lead Pinkerton agent, Mr. Smith.

And they let him walk out, didn't even take the bounty money from him. Dakota was hitched up at the post office, she nickered softly when he approached. Arthur quickly rode out of town, taking a beeline into the woods. He didn't trust the Pinkertons to not follow him, especially since he intended to meet up with Eagle Flies. He galloped north, figuring he could lose any pursuers in the Grizzlies, but then he realized where he was. He was near Willard's Rest.

Slowing Dakota to a trot, he pointed her towards the small homestead. Charlotte and her husband could be there, and Cal was likely still alive. In fact, they were outside. Cal was on the roof inspecting the shingles, and Charlotte held the ladder.

"Howdy folks!" he called. Both Charlotte and Cal jumped, and the way Cal's foot slipped caused Arthur's heart to jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Last time I was up here, no one lived here."

"We just moved here, about a week ago actually," Charlotte said. "My name is Charlotte Balfour, and this is my husband Cal. We're from Chicago, but we decided to leave the city and come out here."

"Very nice, how's that going?"

Charlotte hesitated, smiling falling away. "Not well, actually. I'm afraid neither of us are very good at hunting, so we've mostly been making trips to Annesburg for supplies."

"Well, you got a gun? I can show you some tricks, if you like."

"Really?" Cal said, climbing down from the roof. "That is mighty kind of you, sir."

"Of course, now come on. Should be some rabbits in these woods."

The three of them crept through the woods, Arthur leading the way. He paused, holding up a hand to indicate for the couple to do the same. He gestured to the rabbit chewing on some clover up ahead, and aimed his varmint rifle at its head. A gentle squeeze of the trigger, and the family had dinner. Once he got them to skin it, of course.

"I hope that helps you guys out," he said before he departed. If he remembered correctly, Cal was killed by a bear, and as much as he hoped the couple could survive, he certainly couldn't be there to protect them from everything. Perhaps helping them to hunt would keep them from wandering too far into bear country. Perhaps not. But he was happy knowing he did something.

Two days later, after circling the Grizzlies and doubling back through Cumberland Forest, he met up with Eagle Flies. Stealing the documents went better this time, Arthur carefully covering his whole face, and was more careful sneaking past guards, and when he exited the window after getting the documents, he chose a more secluded place to jump off the roof.

"Thank you," Eagle Flies said.

"Don't think anyone recognized me, and I'm not sure if they will help, but I hope for the best."

Before they departed, Eagle Flies said, "My father seems to trust you. I know you spoke to him a few months ago, and I don't know what you said to him, but ever since he's been more involved in trying to convince the government to maintain the treaty. I think he is foolish sometimes, but perhaps it will help."

"I hope so, son," Arthur replied. "Feel free to write if you need more help. If I move, I'll let you know where I've gone."

They parted ways, Arthur taking a winding route south to Saint Denis, seeing for the first time a way out of this mess.