That morning Julia didn't have a lot to do.

The Pinkertons would have gone for a while so she had all the time to think about what lie tell them next, but also about the letter D had written to her which words were still imprinted in her mind.

After she took her cup of coffee, she got near the cliff where she enjoyed the horizon and the warm sun up in the sky.

That night she hadn't slept well, so she overslept in the morning. It was years that she hadn't suffered from insomnia since she had found someone who took care of her. But at that moment, she was far from him and where she was, she couldn't feel safe.

Suddenly, her attention was caught by Molly, whose voice crossed the entire camp.

"I heard what you said about me"

Julia turned to see who she was talking with and to her surprise, it was Karen, seated in her tent with a book in her hands.

"What?" she asked not understanding what Molly was talking about.

"I said, I heard what you said about me"

Intrigued, Julia took some steps in their direction, frowning a little.

"Did you? Okay"

"I don't think it's very fair" said Molly.

"Okay, good for you" answered Karen looking somewhere else.

Molly's face contorted in a grimace.

"You know, you're not so high and mighty and above everyone than you think you are!" she screamed.

"Whatever you say" answered the other.

Molly got closer to Karen's face.

"He bloody well loves me, d'you know? He bloody well does" she said turning towards Julia's direction.

Is she talking about Dutch? she thought while she continued to sip her coffee.

"Of course. Of course, he does. What exactly are we talking about?" asked the blonde looking at her annoyed.

Molly looked at her in turn.

"Damn you! Damn all of you!" she screamed towards the entire camp.

Julia's eyes widened.

"You ain't so smart, you trollop" she said at the end turning to Karen again before she got away.

"Trollops!" screamed again Molly.

Karen looked at her going away and shook her head. When she turned, she noticed Julia's unbelieving expression.

"Give me strength" Karen said.

"She was better the last time I saw her" said Julia and Karen chuckled.

Julia exchanged a look with the blondie.

"I guess she doesn't like when people talk behind her back" she added looking at Molly in the distance.

When she turned to Karen again, their gazes met.

"She'll get used to it. I did...thanks to you"

Karen huffed.

"It was a long time ago" she said returning to her book.

"That's right. But it doesn't mean it not still hurt" answered Julia.

Karen gazed at her before Julia left walking towards Pearson's wagon where she left her cup.

She continued to wander around camp when she noticed the Mexican cleaning his gun and in front of him a table with a map on it, so intrigued she drew closer.

"Escuella, right?" she asked once she was close enough and the man looked up at her.

"Yes"

Julia glanced at the map.

"You're planning to go somewhere?" she asked exanimating it more closely.

The man sighed continuing to clean his pistol.

He was about to answer when Julia heard a deep voice at her back.

"Hi Javier"

"Hi Arthur"

Julia turned to look at the man behind her.

"G' morning" Morgan she said, and he answered by tipping his hat.

"What are you doing?" he asked soon after.

"I asked Mr. Escuella if he was going somewhere" she answered and then both looked at the Mexican.

"I heard about a house. Could be interesting"

"What kind of a house?" asked Morgan while Julia looked at the map on the table noticing a little red cross.

"I don't know...couple of fellers I heard in town they said...said it was very...freakish" answered Escuella getting up.

Julia turned to look at him with a brow raised and looking at Morgan she noticed that even he wasn't convinced.

"Family local bogeyman, I guess...but they're crooked in every way"

There was a moment of silence.

"So?" asked Morgan.

"So, these boys thought they was sitting on a lot of cash...they're highway robbers, kidnappers, apparently" carried on the Mexican, passing Julia to get between the two.

Escuella continued to stare at Arthur before he added:

"They're well hidden in the woods"

"It sounds very dubious" answered again Morgan.

Julia rolled her eyes catching Javier's attention.

"Where is this house?"

The man turned towards her.

"It's up north, on the other side of the river from Valentine"

Julia nodded.

"We better take from Cumberland Falls" she said.

"We?" asked Morgan.

Javier was rolling up the map on the table.

"If you don't wanna come, stay here then Morgan" said Julia and before she passed him, she patted him on his shoulder.

Morgan turned to look at her while she walked away, glancing at Javier who shrugged and followed Julia.

He sighed and followed her in turn.

"Oh, so you're coming" asked Julia, already on Wind Catcher.

"Shut up. We're gonna take a look. Nothing more" answered the man getting on his horse.

"Yeah, just a look" said Javier, but form his tone Arthur understood he wasn't serious.

The three of them headed to Valentine and once they got closer to the town, they took the path that brought them to West.

After a while, they stopped.

"Okay, we're pretty close now. Let's stop and go on foot from here. Just up the hill this way" said Javier while the other slowed down.

Julia looked around where she could see only thick wood. If this family was hidden and freakish as the Mexican said, they wouldn't have any problem.

Once they got down their horses they hid them behind some trees.

"Follow me" said Javier and Julia and Arthur obeyed looking for a moment to each other.

Julia noticed that Morgan had taken two rifles.

"Where are we going?" asked the man.

"There's a spot up ahead where we should be able to get a good look at the place" answered Escuella.

"If they lived isolated for long, they're not gonna like intruders in their propriety" said Julia with a low tone.

Once they got on top of the hill, they could see a big house with a rather big barn behind it hid between the trees.

"Now...big place, right?" said Javier.

Julia took out her binocular and looked at the house.

"The house is pretty big. There must be a lot of people living there" she said giving the binocular to Morgan who took it and looked in turn.

"The barn is big too. Not a bad place to start looking" he said before he returned the binocular to Julia.

"The cash could be in any of them buildings and who knows how many people are in there" added Morgan.

"Who cares about how many they are? I say we kill them and take their money" said Julia.

The men exchanged a puzzled look.

"What about your idea of not killing innocent folk?" asked Morgan.

"They're not innocent. He said they're killers and kidnappers. So what's the matter?"

"She has a good point Arthur" said Escuella eager to rub that family as much as Julia did.

Morgan sighed.

"I'm not sure about this"

"You might be not, but I am. Mr. Escuella, would you come with me? See if we can get a better look closer?"

The man nodded and together they got closer to the house.

Morgan stayed behind, rolling his eyes and sighing he decided to follow them.

When Julia noticed his presence, a wicked smile appeared on her face.

"You really can't stand someone doing a job without you, can you?"

"I still think this is not a good idea, but I don't want you to get him killed" answered the man referring to Javier to much focused on the house while they sneaked closer.

"Or maybe you're too pride to admit that you don't want to be cut out"

"I don't know much about pride, but I can recognize a disrespectful girl when I see one"

Julia didn't have the time to answer that Javier interrupted her.

"Hey, keep it down, I hear voices"

The two of them hushed but continued to challenge each other with their eyes before they focused on the mission.

"Let's hide behind this shed, see if we can hear what they're saying" said the Mexican.

Once they hid behind a small wooden building, they started to eavesdrop the conversation between three men that Julia spotted from where she was.

She couldn't understand exactly what they were saying and then a fourth man arrived but he was a lot bigger and fat and form what he said she understood he was the father.

"Go guard the shed. Go!" screamed the latter.

"You understand what they're saying?" asked Javier to Arthur.

"Not much of it" he answered.

"The one I think is the father, sent one of them to guard the barn. I think the money is there" said Julia looking at the two men who nodded.

They saw the man go away while the others whispered between them.

"What we doing, Javier?" asked Arthur.

"Okay, you two take cover by the rock over there. I'll create a little distraction then you jump 'em, okay?"

Julia looked where the man had pointed.

"What kind of distraction?" asked Morgan.

Julia rolled her eyes.

"For God's sake Morgan, let him breathe" she said in a whisper and Morgan gave her a dirty look.

"You'll see. Now go" answered the Mexican.

Julia ran silently towards the big rock, behind her there was Morgan.

Once their back was leaned against the rock, they looked at Javier.

From where they were hidden, the back door of the house was near them.

Julia had an idea and turning to Morgan she caught his attention.

"I'll go in and see if I can knock out someone silently. You stay here and help him" said and did to go but the man stopped her by her arm.

"We don't know how many they're in there. It's not safe"

"I've to remind you who you talking with?" asked Julia.

Morgan shook his head.

"It don't mean you're unbeatable"

Julia looked at him for a moment. No one had never questioned her identity, but what she saw in his eyes was something more.

"Worry, maybe?"

"Speak for yourself" she said before she slipped from his grip and entered the house finding herself in a sort of closet full of boxes.

While she was looking around, she suddenly heard a loud sound coming from the other room. She took out her knife and walked towards the door, leaning her ear to listen better.

Suddenly she heard some screams and gunshots, so she opened the door entering a big room that served as a kitchen and living room and saw that there was a man who was shooting from the window.

She drew closer as silent as she could and stabbed him in the neck with her knife before she began to shoot to everyone who wasn't Javier or Arthur.

She noticed that the shed where they were hidden just before was on fire and Julia understood that that was Javier's diversion.

Great idea, she thought while shooting.

She moved soon after, getting out of the house and continuing to shoot hitting a woman who was shooting from a window in the barn.

Then she shot a man who was near the barn too and continued until the shooting ended and they got out their shelters.

"I don't see any more of them" said Javier.

"Me too" said Julia looking around.

"Alright, quick let's look for the cash" said Javier again.

"They weren't shy about defending that barn. Let's check in there first" said Morgan.

The three of them got closer to the barn, opening the door quickly and entering with their guns high, but no one was still alive.

Julia took a look around, finding some boxes piled up in a spot. Thinking it was very weird, Julia kneeled to see better and noticed that under them there was a big hole.

"Hey, look"

The two men got closer and looked in turn.

"Help me move it" said Javier to Arthur while Julia moved away.

The two men moved the boxes revealing a safety deposit box.

"Look what we have here" said Morgan opening it while Javier whistled.

There were three bribes in it, one for each of them.

"I told you it was worth the trouble, didn't I?" said the Mexican while Morgan gave them the money.

Julia counted them quickly. Three hundred dollars.

"Let's split up. I'll meet you at the camp" said Morgan.

Javier nodded and went outside with Javier, but when they called their horses only the Mexican got on his.

"You coming?"

"No, I wanna take a look around. See if I found anything interesting" she answered.

The man nodded and spurred his horse going away and while Julia looked at him, she heard Morgan's heavy steps behind her.

"I knew you would have stayed"

"Did you?" answered Julia turning around to look at him.

He had two other bribes in his hands.

"Here. I found this in a trunk in the barn"

Julia took it and put it in her bag.

"Let's take a look. Maybe there's something useful" Morgan added.

The two took a look around, finding some supplies for Pearson and other little valuable objects.

Julia found a pack of cigarettes in one of the sheds and taking one she got outside finding Morgan near one of the ranch owners' horses. She looked at him while he sweetly petted it.

"You okay girl" the man whispered before he took off the saddle and drop it on the ground.

Then he led the horse to the entrance of the ranch and pat it on the back. The horse neighed and ran way.

Julia drew closer.

"You may be a killer and a criminal, but you have a soft spot for horses" she said.

Morgan turned to look at her noticing the cigarettes in her hand, so he took it to have one.

"You finished?" he asked lighting the cigarette with a match.

Julia nodded, taking a hit from hers.

"It's better if we leave. Maybe someone is gonna come up here" said Morgan.

"Okay" answered Julia and then she did to take back the cigarettes but Morgan put it in his pocket so she couldn't get it.

"I'll keep it" he said.

Julia smiled a little and shook her head before she called Wind Catcher.

Together they headed to Valentine.

"We made a fortune today. That Javier knows what to do" said Julia and Morgan nodded.

"We're not so stupid as you think"

"Of course not" she answered with a smirk.

Morgan shook his head looking away.

"I bet you don't make all this money with the bounties, do you?"

Julia thought about it for a moment.

"Well, it depends. But at least it's more honorable than killing people, don't you think?"

"If I remember, you was the one who didn't care about killing them fellers"

"Because they were bad people. But an innocent girl on a boat..."

Julia exchanged a look with Morgan who seemed to agree.

After a couple of seconds, he answered:

"Well, things go wrong sometimes, and bad things happen too"

"Yeah well, I believe there's always a better way of doing things" answered Julia.

When they got near Valentine, Julia headed to town instead of following Morgan down the street and towards the camp, so the man stopped and called her.

"Where the hell are you going?" he asked.

"Come. I'll show you something" answered Julia not stopping.

The man sighed and followed her.

They stopped in front of the Sherriff and once they tied their horses, they got inside finding the sheriff Gibbs seated at his desk.

"Oh, nice to see you again Miss"

"G'morning sheriff" greeted Julia.

"Gibbs" moved his eyes to Arthur.

"Who is him?" the man asked.

"This is my partner..."

"Tacitus Kilgore" Arthur introduced himself quickly.

Gibbs nodded.

"Well, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if there's any bounty. You know...to make some clean cash" said Julia.

Gibbs nodded and got up, walking around his desk and towards the bulletin board where there was the picture of a man.

"This is Benedict Allbright. He's low down huckster. He's been poisoning folks with his miracle cure from here to Annesburg. Killed more Landon Ricketts without even pulling a trigger. Gets some kind of sick satisfaction out of it"

Julia took the picture reading the information. The money was not much, but she didn't care, it was still money.

"The feller over the saloon says he thought he saw him by the gorge straight north of here. You think you can bring him in?" asked Gibbs.

Morgan and Julia exchanged a look.

"Yeah, I think we can"

"I need him alive though. I wanna make sure the women he widowed get compensated before he swings"

"That's not a problem" answered Julia putting the picture in her bag.

"We'll see what can we do" said Morgan before they got outside.

Once they got on their horses, Morgan followed Julia.

"We're gonna do this?" he asked.

"Yeah, why not? I wanna show you what's like to be a bounty hunter" answered Julia.

The two headed to the north, following the path along the river that soon shrank in a ledge; on one side the cold wall of the mountain and the river on the other side.

"I see something" said Julia, seeing some smoke coming from behind the stone wall.

The two stopped and got down their horses.

"What do we do?" asked Morgan.

"If we approach him together, he will run away before we can say anything" answered Julia.

"So?" asked Morgan again.

Julia thought about it for a moment, then turned to Morgan with a smile that didn't bode well.

"You go and catch him"

"What? Why me?"

"Because I know what to do as a bounty hunter. But my purpose was to show you, so go"

Morgan sighed before he convinced himself to go.

Julia waited patiently, stretching her ears to know when making her appearance.

"Are you Benedict Allbright?" she heard Morgan say with his usual accusatory tone.

Soon after she heard the man's answer.

"No, sir"

Silence.

"You kinda look like him...I was told he'd be up here" said again Morgan.

Julia frowned, trying to understand where Morgan's idea was going.

"No...not me, sir" continued to say the man.

"It's because...I wanna buy some medicine and...I heard...I heard good things"

Julia shook her head.

What the hell he's doing?

"I'll pay in gold. If you can help me find him"

There was a moment of silence and then Julia heard Morgan sigh.

"It's just...my mother's real sick"

Julia tried to stop her laugh that come out her mouth like a snort.

Then she heard the man laugh and say:

"Oh, well if that's the case...if it's for a sick woman I'd be happy to help"

That was the moment for Julia to appear, so she got out her hideout with her pistol pointed at the man.

"I'm a healer you know! A medical man!" continued to say the man while rummaging in his bag from where he took out a medicine that he gave to Morgan, who took it laughing before he threw it down in the river and pointed his pistol to him.

"Game's over mister" said Morgan while Julia got closer, her gun hight.

"Who is she?" asked the man.

"My partner" answered Morgan and Julia glanced at hit for a moment.

"Put your hands up, we're taking you in" continued Morgan.

"Taking me in? What for?" asked in disbelief the man.

"You've been killing people with that poison of yours Allbright" said Julia.

"There's a price on your head" added Morgan.

"C'mon partners, that's crap. I'm a healer" answered the man without moving his eyes from Arthur who raised his gun forcing the man to take a step back.

"I've got an aura...I speak to spirits...I'm a scientist"

Morgan and Julia exchanged an amused look.

"Folks get real angry for no good reason...this is a mistake" continued the man stepping back.

"Keep your hands up buddy, they only want you for questioning" said Morgan taking his gun from his gunbelt and throwing it in the river.

"I have to insist that this is a mistake"

Morgan took a step ahead.

"Don't be a fool" said but the man was already slipping down the cliff.

Morgan grasped him by the collar just in time while Julia threw herself towards him to help him pick up the man.

"Hold on" said Morgan.

"I'm slipping!" screamed the man.

"We know!" screamed Julia in turn.

Finally, they picked him up.

"You saved me!" said the man.

"Now, come on, buddy let's make this easy" replied Morgan while Julia got on her feet pointing her pistol at the man again.

"You're taking me in?" asked the man stepping back towards the fire.

Morgan followed him while Julia stood her ground.

"It's just for questioning" repeated Morgan.

"You saved my life" repeated the man in turn.

"Ain't we had enough of drama?" asked Morgan.

"I'd be better off jumping" said the man running towards the cliff, but Julia stretched her foo and the man fell on the ground hitting his face.

"I had enough with this nonsense. You're coming with us" she said giving Morgan a rope to tie him.

Morgan looked at her for a moment before he started to tie the man's legs and hands.

"But you saved..."

"Stop repeating it!" said Julia hitting the man's head with her pistol making him faint.

When Morgan finished to tie him, he put the man on his shoulder.

"You was a little aggressive"

"Yes I know, but it would've taken us forever" answered Julia walking towards Wind Catcher.

"Put him on your horse. I don't want that shit to touch my horse" she said while Morgan chuckled.

When he was on his horse too, they headed to Valentine.

"So, how was your first time as a bounty hunter?" asked Julia.

"Not fun at all" answered Morgan making her smile.

"This was pretty easy though. Sometimes is difficult to catch them especially when they're protected"

"You've ever been hurt?" asked Morgan.

Julia looked at him.

"Loads of times"

For the rest of the way, they stayed silent until they reached the sheriff.

"Where are we?" asked Allbright when he regained consciousness.

"Welcome back" answered Morgan getting down from Tundra.

"We almost there buddy. I'll be honest with you, you're not gonna like this" he said taking the man form his shoulders and putting him on his before he got inside followed by Julia.

When they entered they found Gibbs in good company. The woman got quickly away from the sheriff while her cheeks got a bright red. Julia recognized him, it wasn't the first time she had seen her with the sheriff.

"Oh my Lord...I wasn't expecting you back so soon" said Gibbs.

Morgan glanced at the woman and Gibbs noticed it.

"Uhm, Mrs. Calthorpe was, uh...was just leaving" he added embarrassed.

"Sure...where I put him?" asked Morgan.

"Uhm...in there, on the right cell"

The woman couldn't raise her gaze from her hands and that made Julia smiled amused.

"There's been some terrible mistake. I never did it...any of it" said Allbright.

"I thought we told you to shut up partner" said Morgan freeing his feet before he lifted him.

"But I told..."

"But nothing. Shut up" answered Morgan pushing him into one of the empty cells, closing the door.

The man continued to talk, but no one was listening to him anymore.

"Now sheriff, how much you was offering?" asked Morgan.

The back door was open and the woman was ready to leave.

"Uhm...fifty dollars, here" said the man taking out the money from his pocket and giving it to Julia who thanked him with a gesture of her head.

"Thank you...madam" said Morgan before he walked towards the door and after Julia glanced at them for a moment, she followed him.

They got on their horses in silence, heading to the camp while the sun was already setting.

For a while, the two of them didn't say a word but continued to exchange amused looks. Suddenly they both burst out laughing.

"They were so embarrassed" Julia said laughing.

"Usually I don't care about what the others do, but there was an illegal affair for sure" answered Morgan.

Julia laughed again.

"I've to admit it...it was fun"

Julia looked at Morgan.

"I'm happy that you find my job funny, Morgan"

"Now, that's not what I meant..."

"Oh, I know what you meant" she mocked him and the man shook his head.

When they arrived at the camp and got down the horses they tied them before they walked towards Pearson's wagon where they left the supplies they had found that morning.

"I need fresh meat!" screamed Pearson.

"Be thankful every now and then Pearson" said Morgan before he went away.

Julia followed him while Morgan took out his bag the pack of cigarettes he had stolen from Julia.

Once he took one, he gave the pack to Julia who took it one in turn. Morgan stroke a match and lighted up Julia's cigarette before his.

"That's very kind of yours" said Julia while Morgan did a gesture with his hand.

Julia took out the money of the bounty and split them, giving half to Morgan.

"Here. This is yours. You made a good job. I hope that your mother's still good"

Morgan shook his head putting the money in his bag.

"Well, that worked, didn't it?" he asked.

Julia smiled putting the cigarettes in her pocket under Morgan's disappointed look.

"It worked for sure, partner" said Julia and then she smiled in an enigmatic way.

Morgan didn't understand the nature of that smile and while he looked at her walking away hid head filled by thoughts.

That girl was really something.

...

HI EVERYONE!

Sooooo this was the new chapter, I hope you liked it and if so let me know!

Comments are always accepted!

I'm also sorry for the late, but I had a lot of things going in my head these days so...

I'll post ASAP.

KISSES!