The next day, Dani had woken and gotten ready all before Sadie had woken up. She wanted to be busy today, help out somehow, since she took a day off yesterday.
When she left her tent, Dutch gestured for her to come to him, "So what do you think?" he asked as she got near.
"About what, Dutch?" she asked, frowning when she saw Micah there too. Thankfully, though, Arthur was also present.
"The fine folks around these parts," he told her.
"I don't know, Dutch, I haven't been into town much. Hosea and Arthur have told me some things."
"Well, on the one side, we have got the Gray family; Scots, degenerates, drunkards the local law, you couldn't make this stuff up! Rich as Croesus. And on the other, their mortal enemies, the Braithwaites; moonshiners, hypocritical, both rolling, we believe,-"
"In gold," Micah interrupted him.
"And in the middle of it all," Arthur added, "you've got some inbred retellin' of Romeo and Juliet," they all laughed.
"Well then, they seem might fine to me Dutch," Dani said, sarcastically.
"Exactly!" Dutch laughed.
"So, what you boys thinkin'?" she asked.
"We try to rob 'em both," Micah said, walking away. And Dani knew this was probably a stupid idea if Micah was the one to come up with it. Surely Arthur wouldn't agree to this? She thought.
She was right, "Are you sure?" he asked.
"Why not?" Was Dutch's, somewhat smug, response.
"Because we got lawmen in three different states after us," Arthur argued, surprised Dutch had seemed to have forgotten that fact.
"Last thing I want is to get us into trouble," Dutch assured, "but we need money. Now we have the opportunity here, to put ourselves in the middle of somethin', ain't nobody gonna know we was here. Because even without us, these fools are gonna kill each other anyway!"
Arthur sighed, "Okay, well, Hosea's gone back to see that Braithwaite woman."
"Good. Hosea should definitely take the lead on this. I sent Sean over to Braithwaite Manor too. Now, you two can meet up with them or join John and Javier at the Gray's place, somethin' to do with the Braithwaite's prize horses."
"Uh, wait, Dutch, I'm confused, Hosea told me about the Braithwaite business but how'd we get an in at the Gray's place?" Dani asked. Hosea and Arthur had made sure she had been brought up to speed before she went to bed last night.
"Sheriff Gray kindly put in a word with his father, it ain't that complicated," he chuckled, "We gotta convince each family that we are on their side, and then we rob 'em both. Before they figure out it was us that done it, and not the other lot, we'll be long gone! Think of it as payback for my daddy," Dutch finished, grimly.
"Payback? I ain't in the revenge business Dutch," Arthur said, "Least of all for somethin' that happened a long time ago."
"Well, I guess we all gotta pay for somethin'. Now, if you will excuse me, I got to write a letter," Dutch said, walking back inside his tent.
"Well," Dani sighed after a moment, "I'm with you wherever, Gray's or Braithwaite's, up to you."
"Let's head to the Gray's place first, if we leave John and Javier on their own for too long, chaos might ensue."
They laughed and started to head to their horses. Just as Dani was about to mount hers, she saw Sadie out of the corner of her eye.
"Good mornin'," the blonde said as Dani turned to face her.
"Good mornin' to you," Dani smiled back.
"Where are you two goin'?" Sadie asked, trying to hold herself back from kissing Dani. They both found themselves wanting to tell the others what was going on between them, but just kissing out of nowhere was not the way to go about it.
"To the Gray's place, out in Rhodes. There's a lot cookin' up right now. With the Gray's and the Braithwaite's," Dani told her.
"You gonna be alright?" Sadie frowned.
"Yeah, don't worry, John and Javier are meetin' us there, this is their thing apparently."
"Alright, well, I'll see you later then?" Sadie smiled with hopeful eyes.
"Of course," the redhead smiled back, her sparkling.
"Alright," Arthur grumbled so no one besides the two women would hear, "you two love birds can make eyes at each other later. Come on, Danielle."
Dani and Sadie blushed and the redhead made a face at Arthur. She mounted her horse and gave Sadie one last smile before following Arthur to the Gray's.
"Can I help you there?" One of the guards at the entrance to the Gray's asked.
"Sure," Arthur replied, "we were supposed to meet our business partners here, they arranged a meetin', I believe, about some horses."
"A feller with a scar and a Mexican?"
"Yes sir."
"Out by the stables," he pointed the way.
"Thank you. Have a wonderful day now," Arthur said, walking back to his horse.
Dani noticed the guard looking at her funny, so she gave him a wink in return. She tried to hold in her laughter at his blushing face.
They rode over to the stables and could hear John talking as they got there.
"Listen, mister, we're good men. Like you," he said.
"You don't know me," the man replied, "You turn up in this town, and you're helping everybody. And everywhere...there's troubles. Who are you?"
John was glad Arthur and Dani turned up, "Have you met my partner Arthur Morgan, and my sister, Danielle?" he asked, trying to change the subject.
"No," he answered.
"We met your son," Arthur informed, "the Sheriff?"
"Okay."
"Mr Gray here was sayin' how he had problems with a family...a family of degenerates," John said, turning to Dani and Arthur.
"Oh, well, nobody likes degenerates."
"That hag and her inbred sons," Mr Gray spat, "they've ruined this county. They killed my uncle, you know."
"And that ain't right," Dani nodded.
"Problem is, we can't be seen to get too close."
"And?" John asked.
"We've got gold, Yankee...we've got gold."
"I ain't no Yankee, friend, I ain't nothin'. My daddy came over on the boat from Scotland."
"I'm Scottish," Mr Gray said, seemingly happier he was dealing with a fellow Scot.
"And the Braithwaites?" Dani asked.
"Goddamn peasants...I don't know...mongrels...slave fuckers...all you gotta do is look at them."
"How much gold?" Arthur asked.
"Enough. These are prized horses I'm talking about. Them, they'll get you...five thousand."
"Five thousand?" John scoffed, "For horses?"
"Easy," Mr Gray confirmed, smugly.
"And where do we sell them, these, five thousand dollar horses?" Arthur asked.
"Over in Clemens Cove. Feller over there will run them out of state and give you fifty cents on the dollar."
"Mister, you got yourself a deal," John shook Mr Gray's hand, and the gang members started walking towards their horses.
"Just keep us away from this. Publicly, I mean," Gray warned.
"My sense is we keep all horse rustlin' away from the public," John smirked.
"Go to the stables on the south side of the manor. That's where they keep the thoroughbreds," Mr Gray informed.
The gang mounted their horses and started to make their way over to the Braithwaite's.
"Crazy old fool," John laughed as they were out of earshot.
"You should see the Braithwaite woman," Arthur told him.
"Hosea and Sean were planning on going over to the Braithwaites, you haven't seen 'em?" Javier asked.
"No, not yet," Arthur said, "If they're there already, they better be keepin' their heads down. We don't need this to be any more complicated than it already is."
"Five thousand dollars for horses?" Dani wondered aloud, "We've been robbin' the wrong folk all these years."
"Yeah, he doesn't know what he's talkin' about," Arthur replied, "but if we get even a third of that, it'll be worth it."
"So how we gonna play this?" John asked as they rode on.
"The place is well-guarded," Arthur informed, "so there ain't no point in blastin' in there. We'll make them think we're there lookin' to purchase."
"Three armed men and an armed woman?" Javier questioned.
"You'd be armed if you were about to spend five thousand on horses. We should go in the back way though, avoid too many questions."
They rode by Rhodes and around the outskirts of the Braithwaites land. "Careful boys, there's a guard," Dani pointed out.
"I'll speak to him, okay?" John said.
Arthur sighed, "Well alright then."
"Can I help you folks?" the guard asked.
"Yeah," John replied, "we're here to see about some horses."
"Horses?"
"Yeah, we had a-an appointment with Mr Braithwaite, I believe."
"Yeah I never heard about any of this," the guard narrowed his eyes.
"Our partner wanted to make a significant investment in some stables 'round here," John sighed for effect, "but, perhaps we should look elsewhere."
"Well, I...okay then. Head on up to the stables," he opened the gate, "Someone'll come see you."
"That's it, nice and easy. No need to rush. We don't wanna draw any unnecessary attention," Arthur said as they rode down towards the stables.
They hitched up their horses at the front of the stables, Dani quickly giving Midnight an apple to munch on.
"Let me do the talkin'," Arthur instructed as he walked through the gate, "Hello there," he greeted the stablehand.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I hope so," Arthur replied, "Heard you got some horses."
"We always got horses," the man brushed off.
"Fine horses, I mean," Arthur specified.
"I don't get you, friend."
"Yeah you do, come on," the outlaw tried.
"Listen, why don't you get out of here? You, scarface, your greaser buddy, and your whore."
"Woah!" Javier cried.
"Excuse me?" Dani raised a brow.
"I don't like officials."
"We ain't officials," Arthur assured, "We're connoisseurs. Lookin' to do some breedin's. Come on now, partner."
"Okay, fine," the man relented, "follow me," he showed them into the stables, "These here's mainly the studs, available for purchase or for workin' if that's what you're interested in. What is it y'all are interested in?"
"We represent a famous uh, stable and stud farm, from uh, Saratoga," Arthur said, and Dani tried not to smirk at that moment. Arthur reminded her so much of Hosea sometimes.
"Is that so?"
"Unofficially."
"'Course. Well, this here's Cerberus," he showed them one of the horses.
He made the mistake of turning his back, Arthur grabbed him and broke his neck.
"Uh huh. Greaser, huh?" Javier laughed.
"Call me a whore…" Dani muttered.
"Okay, bandanas on. Don't need nobody recognising us," John said.
"Alright, I'll grab the white one in the middle, you get the other two. Dani, you'll ride point and keep a lookout while we handle the horses," Arthur instructed.
"Got it," the redhead nodded.
"I'll cover up the back. If there's any problems, we regroup at Clemens Cove."
They were just about to leave when they were spotted, "What're you doin'?!" one of the workers yelled.
"Let's go, quick!" John called.
"Go, get outta here! I got the back!"
They had to shoot their way off the Braithwaite's land and up the main path, and they were still being chased by riders.
"Go, I'll hold 'em off!" Dani yelled. She pulled back to let the others go ahead. The men chasing them were confused by her actions, and she used that to catch them off guard and take them out.
"Damn, the gate's blocked!" she heard John call.
"Go left! Into the fields!" Javier pointed.
They rode through one of the Braithwaite's fields, Javier directed them to a gap in the fence that they could escape through, and try to lose the riders through the trees ahead.
"I think we're clear!" Dani called ahead.
They were through the trees when Javier called, "No, look out! There's more of 'em on the road!" Two more riders appeared on the road.
The sound of gunfire started up again. Dani quickly slid her rifle back into her horse's saddle and pulled out her revolver. She got closer to the men on the road and rode right in front of them. Again, she had outsmarted them, they were focusing on her, which gave Arthur plenty of time to put a bullet in one while Dani got the other.
"You see any more of 'em?" Arthur called ahead to John and Javier.
"No!" John called back.
"Don't think so!" Javier confirmed.
"Alright, let's get these horses to Clemens Cove quick before we run into any more trouble."
"Well, that could've gone smoother," Javier said as they rode into Clemens Cove.
"That'll be on my gravestone," Arthur smirked. They could see two men waiting up ahead, "You think they look like they're payin' five thousand for horses?"
"I guess we'll see," John said.
"What y'all want?" One of the men asked.
"Heard you was, uh, heard you paid good prices for horses," Arthur said, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh we'll but more or less anything, pop," the man replied.
"That so?" John asked.
"Sure, pop. I'm Clay Davies, that's my brother Clive," he gestured to the other man, "We're twins.
"John, Arthur, Danielle, Javier," John introduced, pointing to each gang member as he named them.
"A woman, huh? What's your deal darlin'?" Clay asked, leering at Dani up on her horse.
"I ain't got a deal, friend, just doin' business with my brother," she pointed to John, "and his boys here."
"That so? You do any other kinds of business?" he smirked.
"Sure, I beat men like you who assume every woman is a whore," she smiled politely.
Clay just laughed and approached Javier now, "So what are you? Cuban?"
"No," Javier sighed.
"I don't like Cubans."
"That so?"
"Maybe. Why what do you care? You ain't Cuban."
"Maybe I like Cubans."
Clay laughed, "You're funny. He's funny. Ain't he funny, Clive?" Clive said nothing, "Clive don't talk. We're twins, but I was born first, he came out all yellow and black but he's okay."
"Sure," John nodded.
"Yeah, I know these horses. They ain't yours. But I like ya, and I'll give ya...I can give ya six-hundred and fifty for 'em."
John scoffed, "I was told we could get up to five thousand dollars for 'em."
"And I was told the moon was made of ladies' tears, only it ain't true. Not one little bit."
"But," John tried.
"I like you folks, but I ain't got more than seven hundred on me. You want it, or you want to ride them fellers into town, and maybe someone there'll hang you."
"We're gonna need more than that," Arthur insisted.
"I ain't got no more money, pop," he threw a stack of money to John, "Here. Take it or leave it."
"Alright," John said as he counted the money.
"You're a goddamn fool, Marston," Arthur hissed.
"Ain't no one round here got five thousand dollars, but nice meetin' you," Clay smirked as he took the horses from Javier, "See y'all again I hope."
They rode back to camp in silence. A silence that stemmed from Arthur's frustration with John. Dani understood the frustration but, even so, seven hundred dollars was still a lot. It could go a long way. But when they were promised five thousand, she too felt a little frustrated at the smaller amount.
Sadie made her way over to Dani as she was hitching her horse. Noticing the somber look on the redhead's face, she frowned.
"What happened?" she asked.
Dani sighed, unsaddling Midnight, "Mr Gray said if we stole some fancy horses from the Braithwaite's we'd get five thousand dollars for 'em. Instead, we got seven hundred."
"How the hell did that happen?" Sadie asked, her eyes wide.
"Probably just Mr Gray makin' sure we would steal the horses. I mean, seven hundred isn't bad, but, we thought we were gettin' five thousand, Sadie. Arthur's mad at John, again, because he was the one that accepted the seven hundred. And I get it, I do, those were some fine horses and we got shot at stealin' 'em, but, any money is good money right now."
"Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry it didn't work out like you thought though," Sadie said, placing a comforting hand on Dani's shoulder.
"Eh, it's fine," Dani smiled, "We still got some money and I got to come back here to you didn't I?"
The blonde laughed, "Right, there is that."
"Man, I'm starving, is there any food left?" They had gotten back just after everyone in camp had had lunch.
"I think there's a little left, come on," Sadie took Dani's hand, neither of them thinking anything of it, and led her to a table, "Sit down, I'll go get you somethin'," she smiled.
Dani smiled back and thanked Sadie when she came back with a bowl of stew for her.
"Danielle, Sadie," Arthur greeted, "Dani, will you come with me to the Braithwaite's once you've eaten?" he asked, "I wanna get all this done sooner rather than later."
"Sure," Dani nodded, "Don't wanna torture Hosea by leavin' him with Sean for too long," she smirked.
Sadie and Arthur laughed, "Right," Arthur said, "Whenever you're ready." he left to go get his horse ready.
Dani looked to Sadie, "What is it?" she asked, noticing Sadie suddenly looked a little sad.
"Nothin'," she sighed, "I just...was hopin' we could maybe spend some time together once you got back."
The younger woman smiled, "We will, I promise, there's just a lot goin' on right now. Dutch thinks we could rob both these families without either of 'em knowin' so, we got a lot goin' on."
"He thinks you could steal from both?" Sadie's eyes widened.
"Yeah, he thinks we'll be able to get away with it because they'll both think the other family did it. Or at least we'll be long gone by the time they work it out."
"Just be careful, Dani," the blonde had a worried look in her eyes.
"Hey, you don't gotta worry, okay? These families? They're nothin'. We've gone through a hell of a lot more than this. We can handle 'em, trust me," Dani told her, her eyes reassuring.
"I do trust you, I just…" she trailed off.
"I know," Dani said, softly, taking Sadie's hand. While looking at Sadie, Dani saw Micah approach them from behind the other woman.
"Well, isn't this cosy," he leered.
"What is it, Micah?" Dani asked through gritted teeth.
"Nothin', just saw how cosy things were gettin' over here, that's all," he smirked.
"And what of it?"
"Nothin'," Micah held his hands up defensively, "just makin' sure Mrs Adler here is alright."
"She's fine," Dani felt her frustration build, "or she was until you got here. Much like the rest of us really," she smirked.
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
Dani stood and got in Micah's face, Sadie kept a hold of her hand and tried to get her to sit back down, but, of course, she didn't.
"It means that we were just fine before you inserted yourself into the gang. That whole mess in Blackwater never would've happened if it wasn't for you. Arthur and Hosea had a real thing goin' until you got that stupid idea into Dutch's head."
"Oh please," Micah scoffed, "You know we made more money on that score than we would've doin' whatever they had."
"Maybe, but that don't matter since we had to leave it!"
"We'll get it back!" he insisted.
Dani laughed, "You really think that? You really think the Pinkertons are gonna give up long enough for us to go into the town that probably has our faces on goddamn wanted posters everywhere, and get the money we stole from their bank?"
"Not exactly, but,"
"Face it, Micah," Dani cut him off, "We are in this mess because of you, our people, my family, have died because of you. You burned Sadie's house down! My brother could have died because you let him go off on his own back in Colter. Wherever you go, chaos follows. All you do, and all you will ever do, is ruin lives. And I don't quite know how you got Dutch to trust you so easily, but what I do know, is that nothin' has been the same since."
Micah just smirked as he listened to her rant, "You wanna know what I think?" he didn't let her answer, "I think, you're jealous."
The redhead scoffed, and she noticed some of the others were watching them now, "Me? Jealous of you? Just how hard were you dropped on your head, Micah?"
"I think you're jealous of how close Dutch and I are," Dani wanted to punch that stupid smirk off his face.
"You think I'm jealous of the relationship you have with someone who practically raised me? Get over yourself Micah, Dutch is like a father to me, you'll never have that."
"And what would he think of all your dirty dealin's?"
"Excuse me?" she raised a brow.
"This," he gestured to the two women, "you ain't as good at hidin' it as you seem to think you are."
"Sadie and I have nothin' to hide," Dani told him, defensively.
"Is that so?" he smirked again, "Well in that case, why don't you go tell him?"
"'Cause it ain't no one's business," she tried.
"Well, if he's like a father to ya, don't that make it his business?"
"You know what Micah, I am sick of you pickin' on everyone in this gang. You don't know us. You don't know where we come from, you don't know Dutch, you don't know me, you know nothin'. And someday, you're gonna get what's comin' to ya," she felt her fingers twitch, she instinctively wanted to reach for her revolver.
"That a threat, little girl?" Micah sneered.
"No, just a fact," Dani smirked back.
"Don't you remember our conversation back in Colter? I ain't against hittin' a girl."
"Be my guest," the redhead challenged.
"Dani," Sadie stood between the two, she wasn't just going to stand by and watch Dani get hurt, "just leave it, he ain't worth it," she tried.
"You should listen to her kiddo, she might leave you if I disfigure your face," Micah taunted.
Dani growled and went to lunge at Micah, but Sadie grabbed her by the waist and pushed her back, "Stop!" she cried.
It was then that Dutch decided to intervene, "Alright, what the hell is goin' on over here?" he asked.
"Nothin', Dutch," Dani tried.
"Clearly," Dutch laughed, "Mrs Adler? What're these two fightin' about this time?"
"Uh...Well, uh," Sadie didn't know what to say.
"I'll tell you, Dutch," Micah smirked, "Your golden girl here," he gestured to Dani, "is one of them freaks that thinks she's a man," he said, loud enough to make sure everyone around could hear.
Dani could hear the others gasp, "You son of a bitch, Micah," she gritted out, tears forming in her eyes. "Dutch, it, it ain't like that, I don't think I'm a man, I...I just…" she felt Sadie take her hand again, and it gave her the strength to continue, "Sadie and I, we, I…" God this is not how I wanted her to find out, "I love her, Dutch."
"What?" Sadie gasped.
"You what?" Dutch asked.
"Yeah. I love her. Just like you loved Annabelle. And I know how much you loved her, please, please don't think different of me," she let the tears fall.
"Does anyone else know about this?" Dutch asked after a beat.
"What?" Dani sniffed, "Um, yeah. Hosea does, and Arthur and John and Abigail. I...I was afraid to tell you and Hosea, Dutch because you've been like fathers to me. I was scared that you'd hate me. I'm not a freak, Dutch. I'm not. I just love someone."
She could see Micah smirk from just behind Dutch. He thinks he's won.
He hadn't. Dutch just stepped forward and pulled Danielle into a hug. That was when Dani really let the tears fall.
"I'm sorry…" she whimpered.
"Shh," Dutch comforted, holding her tight, "It's alright. I know you're not a freak. Micah and I will be havin' words later," he turned his head to glare at the blonde man, before resting his chin on Dani's head, "I'm sorry you were so afraid to tell me. I'm happy for you!" he broke the hug, he still held Dani's arms though, "For a while, I thought you'd never find someone and be happy. That is all I want for you. Ever since you were a little girl, all I ever wanted was for you to be safe and happy. Then we found out you can shoot a gun and knew the safe thing was a lost cause," they both laughed, "but, as long as you're happy, I don't care who you're with. Besides, Sadie ain't an O'Driscoll, so there's no problem!" they laughed again.
John, Abigail, and Arthur came over to them, "Thank you, Dutch," Dani said, turning to smile at her brother.
"Sure thing, kid. Now go on, all of you!" he called to the others, who had all been watching, all with different looks on their faces, "Back to work! There is much to be done!" he turned to Micah, a dark look on his face, "You and I will talk later," he walked back to his tent.
John and Abigail hugged Dani, Arthur was standing next to Sadie who looked dazed, "You should probably go talk to her," Abigail suggested, smiling.
Dani nodded and walked over to Sadie and Arthur, "Dani, if you still wanna come with me to the Braithwaite's, I'm ready when you are."
"Yeah, sure, thank you," the redhead smiled, and Arthur left the two alone, "So...that happened," she laughed nervously.
"Yeah…" Sadie did the same.
"Listen, I...that wasn't how I wanted to say...that, but that don't make it any less true. I really do love you, Sadie. You don't gotta say it back, I know it's real soon and all but-,"
Sadie cut her off with a kiss, right there in front of everyone, Dani smiled into the kiss. It was nice to finally be able to do this, "I love you too," the blonde smiled when they broke the kiss.
"You do?" Dani breathed, her eyes soft.
"Yeah," Sadie laughed, "I do. And maybe it is too soon but considerin' I never thought I'd love anyone after Jake I don't think it is."
"Yeah…"
She was about to speak again, but she felt a tugging on her pant leg, she looked down and saw Jack.
"Hey, Jack," she smiled.
"Hi. I saw you and Sadie kiss. Are you together like Mama and Pop?" he asked, so innocently.
"Um, yeah, pretty much," Dani said, "But um...the thing is, kid, um, we're not really supp-."
Sadie cut her off, "Yes, Jack, we are," she knew the boy wouldn't really understand that two women technically aren't supposed to be together.
"That's nice," the boy smiled, "You make my aunt happy Mrs Adler, I could see it."
"You're right, she does," Dani smiled.
"That's good," he hugged his aunt's legs.
Dani and Sadie laughed, looking at each other lovingly, "Yeah," Dani said, "it is."
Author's Note
Thoughts?
Also, just before anyone says that it's unrealistic the reaction Dutch would have to Dani and Sadie being together, just remember that this fic is based off a game in which there are UFOs and vampires...that is all xD
As always, thank you for the support! I hope you're all doing well!