Location: Horseshoe Overlook
Time: Afternoon/Evening
Myra ran to her sleeping area and grabbed her new holster.
"Where are you off to," Sadie asked as she walked towards her.
"Mr. Morgan is taking me to go target practicing again," Myra said with a smile on her face.
"Alright then, be careful," Sadie said as she patted Myra's shoulder.
Myra attached her holster and ran back over to see Arthur and Dutch talking with Molly in the background.
"Mr. Morgan," Myra said, "I'm ready for target practice."
"Alright, let's—"
"They got Micah."
Myra and the others looked towards the entrance and saw Lenny running towards the camp, saying "Dutch… Arthur…"
"What's going on," Dutch asked.
"They got Micah. He… He's been arrested for murder," Lenny rambled, "He was in Strawberry and…"
Dutch raised his hands and said, "It's okay, son. Breathe…"
Lenny leaned down and said, "They nearly lynched me…"
Looking back up, Lenny continued, "They… they got Micah in the sheriff's in Strawberry… and there's talk of hanging him."
"Here's hoping," Arthur said.
"Arthur," Dutch said.
"What? That fool brought this on himself. You know my feelings about him, Dutch."
"You think I can't see past his bluster to the heart inside? He is a fine man," Dutch said.
As this happens, Molly touched Myra's and Lenny's shoulders and nodded before walking away.
"Come on, Miss Owens," Lenny said as the two of them walked over to a nearby table.
"Actually, it's Miss Adler," Myra said as she pulled dates adoption certificate out and showed Lenny.
The two sat down as Lenny grabbed the paper and stared at its contents, "What's adoption?"
"It means that I am now Mrs. Adler's child… I guess," Myra scratched her head.
"Huh… wait," Lenny said as he saw Kieran talking with Karen, "Isn't that the O'Driscoll?"
"Mr. Morgan let Mr. Duffy join you all. Mentioned that he saved Mr. Morgan's life," Myra said.
"What happened while I was gone," Lenny asked as he looked down, "Oh god…"
"You okay, Lenny," Arthur asked.
"Yeah, course I'm okay," Lenny said.
"You don't seem okay," Arthur said.
"You take Mr. Summers into town. Valentine, not Strawberry… get him drunk… and Arthur," Dutch said, "No crazy business."
"I've given that up," Arthur said.
"And you get Micah out of that jail," Dutch said.
Arthur sighed and turned to face Myra, "Well kid, it looks like we won't be going target practicing today."
"Oh… okay," Myra said as her enthusiasm faded.
Seeing this, Arthur looked to see Charles eating some stew and yelled, "Charles! Get over here."
Charles approached the group and asked, "What is it?"
"Lenny and I are heading into Valentine. Think you could take Miss Adler here for some target practice."
"I think that Miss Adler here is ready for something a bit more challenging than glass bottles, Arthur."
"Like an unguarded stagecoach," Arthur asked.
"No, you simple minded fool. Bison," Charles said.
"Bison," Myra asked.
"Bison," Charles repeated, "from which you can get anything. There's some over on the plains, I believe. I saw a couple a long way off earlier."
Charles looked to Myra and asked, "You wanna come with me?"
"I-I can't say that I know how to hunt one," Myra said.
"I'll teach you. Maybe you can teach Arthur something next time," Charles said.
"Can I ask my ma," Myra asked.
"Of course," Charles said before Myra ran off.
"Come on, Lenny. If you need us, we'll be in Valentine," Arthur said before looking to Dutch, "I'll get to it, Dutch. Just… can't drop everything."
Charles waited for Myra as Arthur and Lenny went to Valentine, sharpening his blade when Myra came back, saying, "She said I can go with."
"Good, let's go before it gets too dark," Charles said, noticing the sun setting.
Location: Path to Valentine
Arthur and Lenny rode out shortly after as Lenny said, "I rode as fast as I could. Didn't stop for nothing."
"You look like you've been through it," Arthur said.
Lenny sighed, "I'm beat… We finally got off that mountain, then this… Micah's got a crazy side, Arthur."
"What were you boys doing? You're supposed to be scouting ahead for us," Arthur said.
"I kept asking him what we was doing, but he was 'you worry too much, kid" , "just some business to attend to, kid"… you know how he is," Lenny said.
"Yes I do," Arthur said.
"He was half-soaked before we even got there. Then we ran into some fellers, one of them Micah knew, drank some more… and this is supposed to be a dry town we're in too."
"And then he shoots one of them… I know how that goes," Arthur said.
"Couldn't even tell ya quite how. It happened like the strike of a match. The law was on us fast too… They was ready to sting me up there and then but I got away, just about."
"You're alright now. We'll take care of it."
"So you're gonna go get him? I'll come with you," Lenny suggested.
"No, you leave it to me. For now, let's drink something, forget about Micah," Arthur said.
"It was drink that started all this," Lenny said.
"We'll just have a couple, settle you down, then head back, okay," Arthur asked.
"Okay," Lenny said, "So what has happened since Micah and I left? Miss Owens is… what was it? Adopted? And now, that O'Driscoll is riding with us?"
"Look, I'll tell you everything that happened when we reach the saloon. Now… I should warn you, me and a couple of the other boys got in a bit of a fight last time we was here."
Lenny plainly asked, "What kind of fight?"
"Nothing big, we kept it clean. We're all good," Arthur said as they got into the town.
Lenny scoffed, "If you say so, Arthur."
The two rode down the main drag and hitched their horses in front of the saloon.
Hopping down, Arthur and Lenny entered the bar, with Lenny reminding Arthur, "Just one or two… right, Arthur?"
"Course, just a drink… no big drama."
Location: The Heartlands
Myra and Charles arrived on the plains of the Heartlands as Charles was telling Myra the story of the respect between the Bison and his mother's tribe.
"They lived almost as one. Where the bison went, my people went. They were the center of all life… we couldn't survive without them. They provided us with everything… food, clothing, shelter, tools. There was a lot respect…"
"It reminds me of the Adlers when they took me in," Myra said.
"I suppose that it can be viewed that way."
"Before that, well, I guess you could say that my uncle tended to move with the whisky."
"Well, my father did that too," Charles said as he looked towards the hills and said, "Let's try over here to the left."
The two got to the top of the hill and stared out across the field at a herd of bison. Charles could not hold in his admiration of the wild beasts as he said, "Over there, you see them all? Incredible aren't they?"
"Back at the ranch, there was a time when I thought I saw this huge white bison. But when I told Mr. Adler, he said that a bison like that couldn't exist nor survive up there."
"Well, nature has a way of exceeding our knowledge of it. For now, we should focus on these bison. We should only kill one of them. Would you like the honor to kill the bison, or would you like me to do it?"
"I can try, Mr. Smith… but what should I use," Myra asked.
Charles extended his hand to give Myra a bolt action rifle and said, "This. Clean as you can."
"Okay, Mr. Smith," Myra said as she took the rifle.
"I'll ride first, keep them ringed in and you see if you can bring one down," Charles said before riding down.
Myra watched Charles startle the bison and guide them in her direction. Myra aimed the rifle down and tried to pick one of the bison. Seeing which of the target, Myra placed her finger on the trigger, followed the bison, and fired. The next thing Myra realized, she was on the ground and staring up at the sky, her heart racing and an immense pain in her shoulder.
"Myra," Charles yelled as he rode over, "What happened?"
Myra leaned up and rubbed her shoulder, mumbling, "Ow."
"First time using a rifle," Charles asked.
"Yes, Mr. Smith," Myra said.
"Well, I must say that it seems that your aim has improved," Charles said as he looked at the fresh bison corpse, "But it isn't over yet."
Charles hopped down, pulled out his knife, and extended it towards Myra, "We need to skin and butcher it, take its horns too. It can all be used."
"Uh, Mr. Smith, I don't think I—"
"You made the kill, you must collect the bounty," Charles said, "I'll guide you."
Myra took the knife and approached the bison. As they kneeled down, Charles placed his hand on the bison's head and whispered, "You roamed free, you fought hard, you have earned your rest…"
Looking towards Myra, he guided her to skinning the bison, which then switched to Charles skinning it as Myra began vomiting from the stench.
"I-I'm sorry," Myra wiped her mouth.
"You did well for your first bison kill," Charles said as he set the pelt on Skye and turned to Myra, "When I was given the chance to hunt bison, I…"
Myra noticed Charles trail off as he stared out into the distance before saying, "Miss Adler, mount up. I want to check something out."
"Is everything okay," Myra asked as she mounted Skye, "Where are we going?"
"I thought I saw some scavenger birds over here… just wanted to see what attracted them," Charles said as he and Myra rode forward.
As they reached their destination, Myra and Charles were met with a horrific sight.
Four dead bison…
"No…" Charles said, with a hint of sadness in his voice, "They were shot and left for dead, it looks like."
Myra looked to Charles and saw the emotion he expressed. He had a sense of sadness… and fury.
"Why would someone do this," Myra asked.
"I don't know but I see tracks heading in this direction. I say we follow them," Charles said.
"Mr. Smith, are you sure I—"
But Charles had already rode off, so Myra decided to follow him.
"Could it have been an animal," Myra asked.
"No, they'd been shot. I just don't know why anybody would just leave them to rot like that," Charles said as he looked up and said, "Look, another dead bison. On that hill to the right. Come on."
As they approached the corpses, Charles said
"Mr. Smith, I don't think that I should be out here much longer."
"Myra, these bison were shot and left for dead for no reason. I need to know why," Charles said, "You think that your mother would just run away if she found you the same way? Shot and left to rot in the dirt?"
"I guess not."
"Come on, I think I see a campsite up ahead," Charles said.
The two rode up to an abandoned camp as Charles said, "Damn… we missed them. Logs haven't gone cold yet. Maybe half a day since they left."
"Mr. Smith," Myra said.
"What?"
"Look," Myra pointed.
The two looked out and saw smoke just a small distance from them.
"Let's go check it out," Charles said as the two rode off.
"Is it possible that we can talk this out," Myra asked.
"You don't have to worry, Miss Adler. I don't kill for fun. I kill when I need to," Charles said.
The two rode closer to the smoke and saw more bison.
"Look, more dead bison. It has to be them. Come on," Charles said as he galloped away.
"W-Wait, Mr. Smith! Come Skye," Myra said, sending Skye into a gallop after Charles.
Myra rode up as Charles hopped down from his horse, noticing Charles grabbing his gun, and approaching the camp. Myra jumped down and approached the camp as Charles said, "Did you fools shoot those bison?"
The two men stared at Myra and Charles and asked, "What's your problem?"
"I said, did you fools shoot those bison," Charles asked again.
"Calm down, you black or red bastard, whatever the fuck you are," One of the men said as he stood up.
"Did. You. Shoot them?"
"Yeah, we did. We shot them bison and we will shoot you too, if you don't get," The second man said as he placed his hand on his holster.
The first man chuckled and asked, "What business is it of yours what we—"
But as the man said this, Charles pulled out his gun and shot the second man. Myra screamed at the sight of witnessing a man being killed for the first time as Charles yelled, "IT'S THAT BUSINESS OF MINE!"
"Good god, you're crazy," The man said.
Myra did not hear any of it… all she could hear was a loud ringing as she stared at the dead man. The large hole in his gut, the blood that poured out as he desperately tried to hold it back, the look of pain and fear on his face. But in an instant, she saw his eyes dilate and his hands fall to his sides.
"I-I got a family… a family! Don't shoot me," The man begged.
"Tell me why you are here, killing those bison and leaving them to rot," Charles said as he aimed his gun at the man.
"Okay! We… we were told to kill as many bison as we could… to make it look like it was Indians…"
"Well… hope it was worth it," Charles said.
Myra ran up and stood in front of the man, extending her arms.
"Kid, get out of the way…"
"He… He doesn't need to die…"
"Kid—"
"Enough… please…"
Charles looked at Myra and lowered his gun, "You. Get out of here."
"T-Thank you, miss. I—"
"NOW," Charles yelled.
The man immediately ran off.
"You can't save everyone Myra," Charles said as he holstered his gun.
"He can go tell the others what happens when they poach bison," Myra said.
"…I've seen enough of this… let's go," Charles said.
Myra looked back at the dead man before walking back to her horse and riding back into camp.
Location: Horseshoe Overlook
Myra and Charles rode back into camp, with Myra remaining silent as the sight of the dead man replayed over and over in her mind.
"Hey," Myra heard Charles said, "You okay?"
"…No…"
"First time seeing a dead person?"
"No, Mr. Smith… It's just the first time seeing a person die," Myra said.
"Unfortunately, I can't promise that will be the last," Charles said.
Myra only nodded as she walked away.
"Hey, how was—" Sadie began, but stopped as Myra walked past her, "What happened?"
"Came across some poachers… some things happened and I shot one of them in front of her," Charles said.
"Oh… I'll talk to her," Sadie said as she walked away from Charles.
Myra sat down in her sitting in her sleeping area, a blank expression on her face as Sadie began approaching her, "Hey, Myra… Charles told me what happened. You wanna talk about it?"
"…"
"Listen," Sadie said as she sat beside Myra and placed a hand on Myra's shoulder, "I know what you saw was terrible… but those were bad men and they did bad things, you understand?"
"I understand…"
"Tell you what. Tomorrow, you and I can go into town and get some more of those candy bars. How's that?"
"I guess," Myra said as she laid down, "I think I'm gonna rest for a bit."
"Well then, I'll stay with you," Sadie said as she laid down next to her.
Myra rolled over and placed her hand on Sadie's, who gladly took it.
"Good night, Myra," Sadie said.
Location: Valentine Saloon
Time: Night
Arthur and Lenny were drunkenly laughing on the second floor of the bar, laughing, drinking, and screaming hysterically. This went on for hours, with some conversations between one another.
"Tell me something, why do you care so much about the kid," Lenny asked.
Arthur's smile vanished and he looked at Lenny and said, "Cause she reminds me of my own…"
The two then started laughing and returned to their drunken antics. Arthur doesn't remember much, but he remembers passing out in the middle of the town as the sheriff walked up to them and arrested them for their drunken tomfoolery.