It's the fourth day here at Shady Belle, the first I don't have to go to Saint Denis. I missed spending a little time at the camp and I missed spending some time with Mr. Pearson.

I pass the day working with him and after lunch Javier, Trelawny, Arthur and Strauss leave for a job, making the camp even more empty and calm.

I'm seated under one of the trees on the other side of the camp, behind the house. Here the soil is softer, I'm sure because of the water under it, the air is wetter and the silence is broken only by the frogs in the lake in front of me.

I take out my gun and start cleaning it, an operation I haven't done for a while, and it's perfectly visible. The pistol is stained and it needs a little oil on the trigger.

Until some months ago, it would have been unthinkable for me to find my father's gun in these conditions. But now… I don't know why, but I can't give it more importance that it needs: it's a gun, which I really care about, that's true, but just a gun anyway.

Some steps in the distance bring me back to reality.

I don't turn around to see who it is, but I wait for him or her to make the first move. The unknown figure doesn't talk, just keeps walking with a slow pace until reaches my side and sits down.

I turn my head and smile to Charles.

"What are you doing here all alone?" he asks.

"After these days I needed a little silence."

He doesn't answer immediately. I sense his eyes on me.

"You want me to go away?" he asks in the end.

I shake my head.

We stay like this, one next to the other, in silence.

There are times when his presence makes me feel uncomfortable and makes me wish to disappear in a cloud of smoke. But then, there are moments, like this, when he makes me feel good and… safe.

"You liked the party?" he asks out of nowhere.

I smile.

"It wasn't bad, but it's not the kind of environment I like. I prefer spending my time with simpler people."

I think a little before keep talking.

"At the party we met a man, Mr. Miller."

I sense his eyes on me again.

Shouldn't I tell him? I don't know how much Dutch wants us to share about his plans.

"He's helping some natives with a problem. We met them. They really look like good people."

"Why are you telling me?"

I stare at him and my heart sinks.

"I don't know, I guess… just to talk."

I move my eyes on the ground again.

"Sorry, I…"

"Why you apologize?" he asks.

"I don't know…I….you confuse me" I say chuckling.

"Do I?"

Without knowing what to say, I look at the lake in front of me, catching some movement in the water.

"What's that?" I ask narrowing my eyes and trying to understand what is it.

"It'll be a fish" he answers.

"It looked bigger than a fish" I reply standing up and getting near the shore.

"I heard Javier saying there are some really big in this lake" he says doing the same.

A pair of eyes get out the water. What I see under them, in the green muddy water, doesn't look exactly like a fish.

"Err… Charles, I don't think…"

I have no time to say anything else that the animal jumps out from the lake opening it's jaws. I feel two hands grabbing me from behind and pulling me away. I lose my balance and fall of the ground, on my back. I jerk up and Charles pulls me away again.

Where a moment before there were my legs, now there is a giant alligator.

"Okay, that wasn't a fish" says Charles, keeping his hands on my shoulders.

I look at him and burst out laughing.

Trelawny, Arthur, Strauss and Javier come back the morning after.

They finished really late last night and so they decided to spend the night in a hotel in Saint Denis. This added to the fact that, apparently, things didn't go as planned and to escape from some boat they had to make a pleasant swim in the lake to come back.

"It's lucky that you weren't with us, John, or by now we'd had to rescue you from Saint Denis jail. Or worst, from the bottom of that lake!" says Arthur laughing.

"Why? Couldn't he swim like the rest of you?" I ask.

"You want to tell her?" asks Arthur to John ironically.

John sighs and he seems suddenly embarrassed.

"I-I… I can't swim" he says.

I laugh, surprised.

"And you are ashamed of that?" I ask him.

I turn to look at Arthur, who's smirking.

"And you, stop it!" I scold him, but unable to restrain a smile myself.

"Oh, come on! Who's unable to swim?" he jokes.

"Someone who's never been taught?"

"Ahh!" he exclaims standing up and going away.

"Don't listen to him, John" I say to the man next to me.

"I stopped listening to him years ago. So, in the end all was good, but for some dead folks and a little swim" John addresses Javier.

"Yeah, more or less. We took a few thousands and a watch that seems to be valuable" he answers.

"Trelawny was the usual showoff?" asks Charles.

"You know him. If he hasn't the attention of at least three men on him, he doesn't feel good."

We all laugh.

"I don't mind him. He's a little strange but.." I start.

"What the hell…" Javier stops me.

I follow his gaze and I notice a horse coming from the wood, but something's wrong.

I slowly stand up with the others. Halfway from the horse I finally understand what my eyes are looking at. It's a body with its head cut off and placed between its hands. And it's not a simple body.

"But… it's Kieran" says John next to me.

I turn to look at him without knowing what to feel right now. I'm just in… shock.

A little bit further I see Mary Beth, walking through the house yard. While she walks she turns her head towards the figure on the horse, narrowing her eyes so to understand better.

Instinctively, I run towards her. I try to reach her as soon as I can, but when I finally get there, it's too late.

Her scream is earsplitting.

"IT'S KIERAN."

I grab her from her shoulders making her turn around.

She's shaking and I think she has on her face the same expression I have.

"Don't look Mary Beth. Don't look. Look at me. You hear me? All will be fine" I say.

"Everybody, get cover! There are the O'Driscolls!" shouts Dutch from the distance.

"Go into the house!" I say to Mary Beth pushing her towards the front door.

Then, I take my gun and take cover behind a fence while the air is filled with shots.

Next to me, Abigail and Jack are hiding.

"You should go inside" I tell them sticking out and aiming to a man with a black hood on his face.

"Jack, NO!" Abigail screams.

When I turn, I see the boy running in the open space of the front yard, towards John. He sees him too and runs in his direction to grab him immediately.

I start shooting again so to give them cover.

"Stay here" says John to Jack when he brings he back.

Then, he kneels next to me and starts shooting.

"Women and children, inside! Rest of you, hold your ground!" orders Dutch.

"I'll take Jack, you protect Abigail" I shout to John among the shots.

I grab the child and cover him with my body while I run to the house.

I jump the porch steps feeling bullets everywhere around me. I push the door with my shoulder and get inside, John and Abigail right after me. Then, I let Jack go who runs upstairs with his mother and I get out again.

With John, we take cover again and start shooting a man after the other.

"Everything okay out here? Everyone's good?" asks Arthur reaching us.

"All but Kieran" says Charles from my left.

Men at horseback show up from the wood and they are definitely more difficult to hit, so they keep us busy for a while, until…

"A wagon is coming!" shouts Micah.

"We're getting overwhelmed. Everyone fall back to the house" says John.

Someone throws some dinamite to the wagon which blows up with a roar.

"What the hell is happening?" asks Arthur.

"Just keep shooting" answers him Javier.

"Come on, let's get inside" repeats John.

I step back slowly until I reach the house again, the others right after me.

The last ones to get in are John and Charles, while we cover them from the windows.

"Get those doors barricaded, quick!" yells Dutch.

Arthur takes an old library and makes it fall on the ground. Then, together we push it until we block the door.

"Good, now everyone get these windows covered. John, you take the windows over there. Charles you take the side door there. Arthur, Fred, the windows in the back" orders Dutch.

We run to the last room, Arthur takes the left window and I take the right. I hit the glass with the back of my gun breaking it in a thousand pieces and start shooting again.

Those bastards surrounded the house.

"John, is everyone accounted for?" asks Arthur.

"Err… I think so" he replies distracted.

"Hey, I said… is everyone accounted for?" asks Arthur again.

"I don't know! I think so!" John shouts back.

"You want me to go check?" I ask.

He has no time to answer me back because we hear a woman scream.

"Sadie!" I call out recognizing the voice.

The scream comes from the outside.

I jump out of the window and start running towards her.

"Hey! John, cover us" I hear Arthur yelling from my back.

The screams lead me to one of the abandoned shacks on the back of the house.

I run around the corner and see Sadie with two men on her. I aim one and jump on his back, hitting him on the face with my uncharged gun until he falls on the ground and stops moving. Then, I get up and turn to Sadie who's standing with the knife in her hand and the man at her feet.

Arthur reached us too and is looking at us with his mouth half open.

"Are you okay, Sadie?" I ask to the woman.

"Yes, let's go" she says going away with a fast pace.

"We should go back inside" says Arthur behind me.

"Not before we finish with these bastards! There, they're coming with the boats" she answers pointing to some men coming from the lake.

I follow her.

We take cover behind the trees and aim at the men inside the two little canoes.

"There are some more in the front of the house. Should we go?" I ask when we kill them all.

"Why not?" replies Sadie before running away.

I try to follow her, but she seems to have acquired a new strength and suddenly she's much faster than me.

When we almost reach the front of the house I'm forced to stop abruptly: a hooded man comes out from behind a corner pointing his rifle to me.

I put both my hands up in surprise.

Sadie already run forwards and Arthur still hasn't come, so I'm alone against him.

He stares at me for a second, just one, but it's the time that Charles needs to jump out of the window, land on him and stick a knife inside his throat.

"Thank you!" I say running past him to reach Sadie.

The others come out of the house too and we start to push them back until the last ones run away in the wood.

"You goddamn cowards!" I yell at them before turning around and going back to the camp.

"We okay?" asks Hosea coming out of the front door.

"I think so, except for Kieran here. Poor kid. Mr. Swanson, would you take this boy and bury him, someplace near, but not too near" orders Dutch.

"Of course. Charles, help me with the body" replies the reverend.

"I'll do it" I say walking towards him and lifting one of Kieran's legs.

"Wait, I help you" says Charles.

"We need to get this place cleaned up. Mr. Pearson, Miss Grimshaw"calls out Hosea.

"Already taking care of it" she answers from the distance.

With Charles and the reverend we carry Kieran on the back of the house, next to the place I was sitting the day before to have a little peace.

Now, maybe, Kieran can have a little peace too.

Swanson volunteers to dig the hole, but I give him no possibility to insist: I want to do it.

Charles helps me. We can't do it too deep because of the marshy soil.

When we finish, we put the body on the bottom of it, Hosea puts the head on his chest, and we refill it.

"Someone wants to say something?" asks the reverend.

I throw the shovel aside and turn around without saying a word.

I go away with a fast pace without being able to understand where my feet are leading me.

I can't think clearly right now and my eyes burn, but I can't cry.

So many dead people. How many more there must be? How did they took him?

I find myself in the front yard of the house. On the ground in front of me there is a little wooden crate.

Without being able to restrain myself I kick it as hard as I can making it fly on the other side of the yard. But I don't feel better, just worse.

"Whoa, I wouldn't like to be that box right now."

I turn my head and look at Micah.

He's seated on the dry fountain at the centre of the yard.

"Poor Kieran had to expect this. No-one runs away from Colm's rage."

I look at the sky taking a couple of deep breaths.

"And that poor Mary Bath, she'll be sooo desperate."

"Stop it Micah!" I snap.

"Ooh, you're nervous. I can understand. It's never easy when you lose someone dear."

I try to go away, but he stands up and stops me.

"If you want, we can blow off some steam, together" he says reaching out a hand to my face.

I push him hard from the chest making him step back. Then, he grabs me from my shoulders, but he can't do nothing more because a punch hits him in the face and he has to let me go.

I turn my head and look at Charles.

"Look who's here. Your man!" Micah says.

"Aren't you tired of this, Micah?" I reply.

"I keep wondering how you can like someone who's half black and half redskin. Oh! I forgot! You like animals!"

As soon as Micah says this, I see Charles, out of the corner of my eye, taking a few steps towards him and grabbing him angrily from the shirt. Then, with a strength I didn't think him capable of, he lifts him and throws him away making him land on the ground a couple of yards away.

"Will you stop that!" yells Miss Grimshaw's from the house, making me turn in her direction.

I slowly move my eyes from her to Charles, staring at him in disbelieve.

I've never seen him do something like this to another man. I've never seen him truly angry with someone.

So, this is what happens when he loses control?

A strange feeling rises from my stomach and a little evil thought insinuates in my mind.

Right now, I can't help myself being strongly attracted by him.

He turns to look at me and I gulp, trying to repress my instincts.

Then, he takes a few steps towards me and puts a hand on my shoulder pushing me gently away.

We walk past Micah who's standing up slowly, laughing to himself.