I promised another chapter, and so I delivered! Well, this time anyway. Remember you can still send in characters!

Three more chapters, what can I say? Erm… After this, there's 8 phases to this story, and we're finishing up the fourth so… we're pretty much halfway through the series. As you all know, I didn't intend on 8, but I just realized there's 8 parts/chapters to the game so… that's funny.

Cattail Pond, West Grizzlies, AM

23rd September, 1905

Alice splashed the water on her face and around her neck, breathing deeply as she felt it cool her skin, already kissed by sweat from the rigorous riding out of state. Alice smiled in thought – another shoot-out in Strawberry, and she'd emerged without a single wound. Was it possible? She must've been the greatest gunslinger who'd ever lived… so far, anyway.

Alice unbuttoned her breeches and shirt, stripping down to her union suit. She stepped into the cold water, feeling the pebbles press against her bare feet. She felt her shins get wrapped in the cool water, cleansing sweat from her skin. A smile formed on her lips as she leant down and dipped her face into the water.

"You done yet?"

Alice's back arced up as she swept the wet red hair out of her face to see Sam Washington leading his horse to the water, a dead wolf strapped to the back of his saddle.

"How long you been watching me?"

"I wasn't-"

"You like lookin' at ladies bathing, that it?"

"Oh, shut up, Alice…"

"Excuse me, boy?" Alice cocked her head to the side. "Daddy ain't here to protect you right now."

"I don't need D- Rune to look after me."

"Oh?" Alice grinned, going back into the water. "Come show me, then."

"I'm alright."

"The water's fine. Ain't no monsters in here."

"There's one, for sure."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Christ, you're boring…"

"And you're a bastard… woman." Sam said, trying to sound gruff. Alice placed her hands on her hips and nodded.

"Well, that's me told." She walked up to the shore and lay down on the ground.

"What're you doing?"

"Drying."

"We ain't got time for-"

Alice held up a finger, "Shh, Lil' Sam. Holler if there's trouble…" She closed her eyes and breathed out gently.

"Jesus Christ…" Sam muttered, glancing around and weighing up whether to mount his horse, Mercer, and ride away or not.


On the edge of Big Valley, Aiden and Jay rested. They ambled forwards on their horses along the muddied road as they passed the pine trees and lush green grass. Jay found it… too green. He preferred New Austin, where grass didn't grow. There was just sand and dust. Here… well, it was cold. Aiden, however, couldn't help but feel sad; it gladdened him to see that the forest still existed, that there were places the gang could still live without the say-so of Uncle Sam. But there was a small, nagging doubt in the back of his head – there weren't many places like that left anymore.

"Why's it so goddamn cold 'round here?" Jay groaned, pulling his coat closer around his chest.

Aiden felt hungry… he started to look around his horse, checking for tracks of a hare or… well, even a squirrel. He looked behind his horse to see two figures on horseback. He frowned and turned back to Jay, who was still complaining.

"… And there should be more women in the camp! 'Part from Abuela and pequeña Charlotte, we've only got Elvira and that pendejo, Alice. Why ain't you got more women?"

"We did…" Aiden replied.

"What happened?"

"What d'ya think? She died."

Jay scoffed. "Just my luck…"

"Don't make this 'bout you," Aiden said curtly, "it's just one of them things."

"This is Ava, right?"

Aiden nodded. "Right."

"You and her have a thing?" Aiden shook his head. "Friends?"

"No more than everyone else…" Aiden said. "She was nice. Real good woman…" He glanced over his shoulder again to see the silhouettes ambling behind them. They hadn't ridden by... odds were they were following. "Get off your horse." Aiden told Jay.

"What?"

"We're being followed…" Aiden dismounted and led the wagon-horse by the reins to a tree, looping the leather reins around the tree. Jay followed in suit and Aiden glanced over to Jay for a moment as he began to pat down the horse's neck, shushed his horse.

The riders ambled forwards slowly, riding their horses off the road and looping around to face Aiden and Jay. The first man was tall, with piercing azure eyes and a shorn scalp beneath his derby hat. He wore a black suit, the gold chain of his pocket watch showing. Probably paid a small fortune for it… Aiden's father had lost the chain to his watch a long time ago.

The second man was ruddy-cheeked and pale, with a broader cut than the first man. He was also dressed in a suit. Both men dismounted.

"Afternoon, gentlemen," The first man said, "giving your horses a rest, are you?"

Aiden began to roll a cigarette as Jay crossed his arms. "We just figured you'd wanna give yours a rest…" Jay shrugged. "It's a long way back to our camp."

The strangers exchanged a look. "Do we know you people?" The ruddy-cheeked man asked.

"Hope so," Aiden muttered, "otherwise I might be wonderin' why you two are followin' a pair of strangers."

The first man grinned a pointed a finger at Aiden. "We had you down as a dullard, Mr. McKneil. You've a sharp mind- I didn't expect that from you."

"I'm sure there's a compliment in there somewhere…" Aiden lit his cigarette.

"This one Gonzalez?" The man asked.

"His name's-"

"Si, mi amo Jay Gonzalez," Jay said loudly, taking a step forwards. "You a fan?"

"Not exactly."

"Then why ride all this way to find me?"

The second man laughed. "You've an inflated view of yourself, boy. If we had the slightest interest in a spic such as yourself, we'd have saddled you up and ridden you back to Chicago."

"The hell you just say, puta-" Jay began, only to be hit hard in the gut by the second man. Jay crumpled up and fell to the ground, holding his waist, gasping for breath. "Madre…" he groaned.

The first man looked up to Aiden. "I trust you can empathise with my associate's rather blunt nature."

"Who're you?"

The man opened his jacket to reveal a shining silver shield. "Agent Bayfield of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Agent Finch…" He gestured to the second man. "There's a price on your heads. And Rune Brody's…"

"McKneil!" Jay barked. "Kill this cunjo pendejos!"

Aiden glanced from Jay to the two men. Finch had drawn a pump-action shotgun from his saddle. "Nah, I'm alright, Jay."

Bayfield removed a cigarette from his carton. "We've not heard about Mr. Donnelly or Miss Delacroix for a while now…" He lit his cigarette, examining Aiden. "It's barely a chicken scratch."

"What?"

Bayfield tapped his eyebrow. "We thought it to be grizzly and ugly… I'll have to amend the poster of you."

"Will ya?" Aiden nodded.

Bayfield gripped his own lapel. "Bounty's gone up to six and a half thousand for you, Mr. McKneil."

"Just for me?" Aiden glanced to Jay. "Shouldn't have said that in front of him- he'll get jealous."

The corner of Bayfield's lip curled. "I'm going to give you this offer- just this once, Mr. McKneil. Turn yourselves in – you, MacKenzie, Brody and Simmons, and I promise you won't swing. Hell… I'll even promise you fine treatment."

"In jail?"

"Or maybe work with us," Bayfield tossed his cigarette away. "Hunt down criminals…"

"Oh, sure! You gonna a saddle for me as well?" Aiden cocked his head to the side.

"It's a generous offer," Finch growled.

"Forgive me if I don't see it that way," Aiden snarled. He walked towards them. "How's about you two run off to Chicago, tell your owners that I ain't gonna play by a game that you lot wrote the rules for!"

"Those Rune Brody's words?" Bayfield asked.

"Them's my words."

"Mr. McKneil, you've robbed and murdered-"

"It's pointless, Bayfield…" Finch scoffed. "This one's too foolish or… too cowardly to save his own skin."

"Watch your mouth, boy," Aiden growled.

"You willin' to let that kid die?" Finch asked. "The preacher, the lil' ol' lady… You want 'em to die with the rest of you?" Aiden's hand curled into a fist. "Cos they will," Finch crooned, "and it'll be all down to you and your-"

Aiden's hand flashed forwards and he slapped the brim of Finch's derby hat, flipping it off his head as he took a step forwards, his face inches apart from Finch's. Finch drew his revolver, pointing it at Aiden's face. Jay drew one his revolver's from the ground and aimed at Finch, still groaning.

"How about I goddamn kill you, boy?" Aiden shouted, slapping Finch's gun away.

"Calm down, Mr. McKneil…" Bayfield said calmly.

"How about I goddamn kill ya?" Aiden continued to shout.

"Mr. McKneil!" Bayfield raised his voice for the first time. Aiden kept his eyes locked on Finch's. "Remember my offer, sir.

"Yeah…" Finch smiled. "When we put the noose around your neck, remember we offered you mercy. Remember that when you see me there to watch you swing-"

"Neither of you are gonna be there to see that," Aiden stated plainly.

"I suppose we shall see," Bayfield replied.

Aiden watched them riding away, his hand resting on the embossed eagle on the white grip of his revolver. He thought about drawing – about shooting them both in the head. But… Pinkertons were after them. Goddamn Pinkertons! There hadn't been a gang that'd gone up against the Pinkertons and won. And killing Pinkertons… that was a sure way of bringing the full force of them down on the gang.

"Goddamn it…" Aiden muttered, turning to Jay and offering a hand. "You alright, Jay?"

Jay smacked Aiden's hand aside and pushed himself up to his feet. "The hell is wrong with you?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you help me?"

"'Cos you were actin' like an idiot."

Jay pointed a finger at Aiden. "I've taken on bigger men than you, hermano…" Jay mounted the horse and began to canter down the road east.

"Whatever you say, you fool…" Aiden muttered, mounting his horse and following.

Yup, another small chapter. I figured you might like this because characters meeting each other for the first time is always fun. So, leave a review and say what you thought!

R.