Chapter 12: A Trip to Valentine & Blessed are the Meek?

Location: Horseshoe Overlook

Time: Morning

Myra woke up after a night of uncomfortable rest and walked over to the pot of stew to get some breakfast.

"Morning, Miss Adler," Hosea said as he approached her.

"Good morning, Mr. Matthews…"

"You okay," Hosea asked.

"I… I've been better," Myra said as she began eating her food.

"What's wrong?"

"I watched a man die yesterday…"

"Oh… Charles told me about yesterday. The first one is always the toughest," Hosea said.

"Have you killed people," Myra asked.

"You're part of a gang, Miss Adler. Everyone here has killed someone."

"…"

"But… we don't kill out of pleasure. We kill to survive. To defend ourselves and those we care about," Hosea said, "Don't think of it as murder. Think of it as justice, Miss Adler."

"Okay…"

"Good," Hosea said.

"Where is that fool," Dutch asked as he approached the two.

"What is it Dutch," Hosea asked.

"Arthur and Lenny went out yesterday and haven't come back," Dutch said.

"You think they had too much fun," Hosea asked.

"Perhaps. I can't risk going to find out," Dutch said.

"Mr. Van der Linde?"

"What is it," Dutch asked as he looked to Myra.

"My mother was suggesting going into Valentine. Maybe the two of us could go and see if he's at the sheriff's?"

"You think the sheriff could recognize you," Hosea asked.

"I don't know… I did bail out my uncle a few times, but that was so long ago."

"I can go and get them," Sadie said as she walked up, dressed in her blue skirt and white top.

"Then it's settled. Take the wagon, the boys might be a bit… inebriated," Dutch said as he walked away.

"Come on, remember how Mr. Johnson always puts the best chocolate out in the morning," Sadie asked.

"I remember," Myra smiled as the two approached the wagon.

"Wait," The two heard.

Turning back, they saw Charles approaching them with an object in his hands.

"Miss Adler, I just wanted to apologize for what you saw yesterday. I hope that you can understand…"

"I do, Mr. Smith," Myra said.

Charles nodded and said, "To ask for forgiveness, I wanted to offer you this."

Charles extended his hands and revealed that it was a carved bison horn.

"A bison horn," Myra said, admiring the designs on it.

"When I returned with my first bison, my mother carved its horn like this and gave it to me. She told me that the buffalo's spirit will always be with me and grant me its strength. Now, I offer you your own talisman," Charles said.

Myra looked to Sadie, who nodded, before grabbing the gift and attaching it to her side, "Thank you, Mr. Smith."

"Thank you, Charles," Sadie said.

"Good luck out there," Charles said.

The two attached their horses, got onto the wagon, and rode to Valentine.

"I think I've finally thought of a name for this horse you got me," Sadie said.

"What?"

"Bob," Sadie said.

"Bob," Myra laughed.

"Don't you laugh, I'm serious," Sadie chuckled.

"Why Bob?"

"Well, why not?"

"I hope that he's a good horse," Myra said.

"That he is," Sadie said.

Location: Valentine

Time: Morning

Arthur slowly woke up, feeling his head was going to split in two as he heard his name being called repeatedly.

"Arthur… you alive, Arthur?"

Arthur groaned, "Shut up… I wanna die."

Slowly leaning up, Arthur asked, "Where are we?"

Arthur took in his surroundings and quickly realized that they were in separate cells. Sighing, Arthur asked, "What did we do?"

"I don't know," Lenny said.

"Me neither… shit," Arthur said.

"You pair of degenerates," Arthur turned to see the sheriff sitting outside of their cells, "there's a fine for drunken violence in this town. You're just lucky no one was killed."

"Hey we didn't start a thing," Arthur said.

The sheriff chuckled and said, "Yes you did."

"Well… I don't remember."

"Either of you fools got any money? It's ten dollars and you're free to walk," The sheriff said.

"Shit, I left my money back at my house… Arthur, how about you?"

"Nah… I spent all of mine last night," Arthur said as he patted his pockets.

"Well shit, looks like the three of us are gonna be acquaintances for some time," The sheriff chuckled.

Outside

Myra and Sadie pulled up to the Valentine sheriff and hopped down.

"Alright, Myra, I have to go deal with Mr. Morgan and Mr. Summers. Why don't you go get us some chocolate bars from the general store," Sadie said as she gave Myra ten dollars.

"Okay," Myra said as she took the money and jogged over to the store.

Sadie turned and walked into the sheriff's office.

Myra walked into the general store and saw the clerk.

"Hello, sir."

"Ah, Miss Owens, how are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Well, I ain't dead yet, so that's all I can be thankful for," The clerk chuckled, "What can I do for you today?"

"I was wondering if you have a new order of chocolate," Myra asked.

"Right next to you."

Myra grabbed two bars as the clerk said, "If you want to know, your uncle managed to survive that beating from that feller."

"He did," Myra asked.

"Yeah."

"…That's good to hear," Myra said as she walked up with the bars and pulled out ten dollars.

"Alright," The clerk said as he took the money and gave back the change, "Well, don't you be a stranger in these parts."

"I'll try, sir," Myra said as she walked out of the general store and towards the wagon.

As she passed the saloon, she heard, "You…"

Myra turned towards the voice and dropped her candy bars…

"Uncle Chester…"

At the Sheriff's

Arthur, Sadie, and Lenny walked out of the Sheriff's after paying for their release. As they walked out, Lenny ran and threw up onto the ground.

"Oh Jesus," Arthur sighed.

"You fools had Dutch worried sick," Sadie said, "What were you thinking? Drinking all night?"

"Well…" Lenny turned, vomit still on his lip, "Arthur said it was gonna be a quiet drink."

"Oh, you call that a quiet drink, do ya," Sadie asked.

"First one was pretty quiet," Arthur said.

Lenny started laughing, "Yeah, the first one was pretty quiet."

Arthur sighed, "At least it took your mind off of goddamn Micah…"

"Well, that's certainly true… I gotta get outta here," Lenny said.

"Get onto the wagon," Sadie said, "Arthur how about you?"

"I'm just gonna… have a little sit down and… feel sorry for myself…"

As Lenny slowly dragged himself onto the wagon, the three heard a scream coming from one of the small gaps between buildings.

"That sounds like the Miss Adler," Lenny said.

As Arthur slowly got up, Sadie ran up to him, grabbed his gun and ran.

Arthur quickly said,"Hey! Ugh…"

Before he could even reach his feet, Arthur fell back to the ground and groaned.

Sadie ran towards the scream, hearing Myra say, "I-I didn't rob you, Uncle Chester."

"You lying bitch!"

*SLAP*

Sadie turned the corner to see Uncle Chester standing over Myra, who was on the ground. Gun raised, Sadie said, "You so much as take a step closer and I will end you, you bastard!"

"Speaking of bitches," Uncle Chester said as he turned to Sadie.

"Myra, come on," Sadie said.

Myra stood up and ran behind Sadie as Uncle Chester said, "Let her go, woman. She's mine."

"No, she ain't. She's an Adler now, by law. So I don't want you to ever approach her, look at her, even think of her again. Because if you do, I will shoot you in a place I know won't feel too good."

"She robbed me."

"I don't care if she shot you. Now go, before I shoot you."

Uncle Chester scoffed and said, "Fine, the bitch is yours."

Uncle Chester walked away from the two as Sadie turned to Myra and asked, "You okay?"

"Nothing that won't heal," Myra said, rubbing her cheek.

"Come on, let's get the fools home before your uncle gathers some form of drunk courage"

Myra and Sadie walked back to see Lenny in the wagon and Arthur throwing up.

"Did you kill him," Arthur asked, "And where's my gun?"

"Take it, you drunk. If I did kill him, would we be walking back?"

"Fair… How are you Miss Adler?"

"Well, I feel better than you look," Myra said.

"Heh, can't argue with you there kid…"

"Come on, let's get back," Sadie said.

"I gotta go do something first," Arthur said.

"Now," Sadie asked.

"Yeah… Yeah, go on, I'll be back soon. I gotta go deal with something in Strawberry."

"Alright, come on Myra," Sadie said.

As Sadie got onto the wagon, Myra approached Arthur and handed him the chocolate bar and said, "Here, Mr. Morgan."

Arthur saw the candy and asked, "Why?"

"My uncle also has terrible headaches after drinking too much… so I gave him some of a chocolate bar I," Myra looked around before whispering, "borrowed once… and he seemed to have gotten better sooner than usual."

"Well," Arthur said as he took the bar, "Tell you what…"

Arthur stood up, opened the candy bar, and snapped it in half, "Why don't I take half and you take the other half? That way, we both have some."

Arthur handed half of the bar back to Myra, who took it and nodded, "Okay."

Arthur watched Myra hop onto the wagon before Sadie had the horses start heading back to camp.

"See you back at camp," Sadie said.

"Goodbye, Mr. Morgan," Myra waved.

Arthur chuckled as he bit off some of the chocolate, "Damn, that's kinda good…"

Walking back to his horse, he sighed as he said, "Alright boy… let's go get Micah…"

Location: Trail back to Camp

"I'm sorry about my uncle, mom," Myra said.

"Oh baby girl, it ain't your fault," Sadie said as she wrapped her free arm around Myra, "But I swear if that man so much as goes near you again… rrg…"

"You weren't really gonna shoot him, were ya mother? You were just being tough, right?"

Sadie saw the look fo concern in Myra's eyes and said, "Nah, of course not…"

"Good," Myra said, "I may not like him… but no one deserves that to happen…"

"Ugh," Lenny groaned in the back of the wagon.

"Here, Mr. Summers, this can help you feel better," Myra said as she handed Lenny the second half of the chocolate bar.

"Thanks, kid," Lenny said as he took the candy and began eating.

They turned down the path leading towards camp as Bill yelled, "They're back!"

The wagon pulled in before Lenny was helped down by Sean and Miss Grimshaw.

"Well, young Lenny, look at you. Couldn't even handle a good pint, eh?"

"I can handle a pint, Sean… but I can't say the same for… I don't even recall how many we had."

"Well there he is, how are you Lenny, my boy?"

"Like I wanna die, Dutch…"

"Well, I guess we should've figured that Arthur would enjoy himself a bit too much. Take the day off. Uncle, take care of Mr. Summers' chores for today."

"Alright," Uncle said as he sat down to take a nap.

"As for Arthur— wait, where is he?"

"He said that he had some business in Strawberry," Sadie said.

"Ah, well, then I look forward to welcoming back him and Micah," Dutch said.

Location: Strawberry

Time: Morning/Noon

Arthur approached the door of the sheriff's office and sighed, rubbing his eyes and knocking on the door. The door opened to see a sheriff with a rifle in hand as he said, "Yeah?"

"Hello sir, I've er… I've come from Blackwater," Arthur said.

Another sheriff waved Arthur in.

"Thanks, I'm on the trail of a dangerous gang… Colm O'Driscoll. Heard you had some sort of incident."

"We don't deal with bounty hunters round here, son," The sheriff said.

"I-I was just wondering if I could get a description," Arthur said.

The sheriff turned to Arthur and said, "Well they weren't friends. They got into a fight… two men got killed. Now one of 'em's an idiot… the other's some kind of dumb mick… so maybe them's your boys. You can look right enough… when we hang 'em."

Arthur nodded and proceeded out, "Thank you, Sheriff."

As Arthur left the sheriff's, he heard Micah yell, "Let me outta here, you maggots!"

Arthur walked towards the side of the building and saw Micah was looking through the iron bar window.

"Arthur? Arthur," Micah asked.

"Hello, old friend. Had a good time, did you," Arthur chuckled as he leaned against the wall.

"You gonna get me outta here," Micah asked, a sense of fear in his voice.

Arthur sighed, "I ain't decided yet…"

"Real funny."

"Oh I ain't joking, cowpoke. I heard so much bluster out of your mouth these last six months… and now I got an opportunity to watch you be silenced."

"Well you gotta do something."

"Why?"

"I always looked up to you, Arthur."

"Well that's your first mistake."

"Come on, Morgan. What if I was that kid that you've been training? Would you leave her to hang?"

"She doesn't go and kill two people. Listen, there's one little problem… there's only one of me and there's a whole town full of people wanting to see you swing."

"You gotta do something, Arthur…"

Arthur looked straight ahead and saw a steam donkey.

"Well?"

"Hang on, I got an idea…"

Arthur approached the steam donkey and grabbed the claw.

"Yes, hook that over the bars, see you can pull them off."

Arthur walked back over to the cell window and hooked it around one of the bars.

"What a modern disaster this is going to be," Arthur said as he activated the steam donkey.

In seconds, the steam donkey ripped down the wall of the sheriff's building. Micah hopped through the hole as Arthur handed him a cattleman.

"Let's get outta here, come on," Arthur said.

Micah took the gun and shot the other cell member who was crawling through the hole.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"He was an O'Driscoll," Micah yelled.

Arthur saw the sheriffs coming out as he grabbed his guns and said, "Shit… here we go."

"I knew you was scum, moment I laid eyes on you," The sheriff yelled.

Arthur leaned up and shot the sheriff right in the neck, killing him instantly.

Micah shot the other sheriff as he drew his gun on Arthur, "Come on, Arthur!"

As Arthur began to head for the horses, he saw Micah running in the direction of the gunshots.

"Don't go that way, let's get the hell out of here," Arthur yelled.

"I got some unfinished business. Trust me, Morgan!"

"Trust you? You have finally lost your mind," Arthur said.

Micah ran up and shot three deputies while laughing as they crossed the bridge.

"You goddamn maniac, I should've left you to hang," Arthur said.

"We're in it now, Morgan. What do you wanna do? I'll kill this whole town if I have to!"

The two turned left from the bridge and started heading down the path, killing the deputies that were in their way.

"We should be long gone by now," Arthur said.

"They got something of mine I ain't leaving without."

"Who," Arthur asked.

Micah reloaded his gun and said, "Let's go."

"Where we going," Arthur asked.

"Making a house call," Micah said as he ran towards a house.

"We really should get outta here," Arthur said.

"Calm yourself, woman. Like I said, I need to see someone," Micah said as he got up the steps, "Skinny, get out here! Skinny!"

The door opened slightly as the man said, "Mi—"

Micah shot the man in the head and said, "You always was a letdown, you fat sack of crap. Excuse me a moment, Arthur."

Arthur heard a woman scream, some more shots, and then Micah walked out and said, "They had something of mine… my guns."

"Goddamn fool, let's go," Arthur said.

"I showed him… and I'll show the rest in this town," Micah yelled.

"You have really lost it this time," Arthur said.

"See the horses? Come on, follow me," Micah said as he hopped onto the horse, "Reckon its time we got out of here, Morgan."

"Now you wanna get out of here? Let's ride," Arthur yelled as they rode out of the graveyard that was Strawberry.

Location: West Elizabeth

"That was some good shooting, Morgan. I gotta hand it to you," Micah said.

"What the hell was that you pulled back there," Arthur asked.

"Got a bit wild alright," Micah said.

"Wild? Making a house call in the middle of all that?"

"Ain't much I care about more than those guns," Micah said.

"That much is clear. Who was that feller," Arthur asked.

"Skinny? Yeah, we ran together for a while. Did a bank job down south, didn't end well."

"I saw how it goddamn ended," Arthur said.

"He was gonna let me hang," Micah said.

"I'm starting to wish I had… and you owe Lenny, too. If he hadn't found us in time…"

"Yes, you will all be thanked profusely, I promise."

"You're lucky Dutch has got your back, for some unknown reason."

Micah looked back and said, "I think we finally lost 'em."

"Well, I hope so."

"I'm giving you a holster… my way of saying thank you," Micah said.

"And thank you… there I was having a dull day only for you… to liven it up by letting me help you shoot up half a town."

"You're a funny feller, Arthur. Real funny. Why you act all sour all the time," Micah asked.

"Yeah, well, you ain't funny at all… so why you gotta act like the court jester?"

"Alright, listen… I'm sorry, but we're family now, Arthur. You and me," Micah said as he turned around, "sons of Dutch. Makes us brothers… and sometimes brothers make mistakes. Now, I'm heading back to my little camp round back of Strawberry… come see me, maybe I can make things up to you?"

"So you ain't heading back to Dutch?"

"No, I've been a bad boy, Arthur," Micah said, "I ain't seeing Dutch till I can bring him a peace offering. Bye now."

Micah rode off as Arthur said, "Damn fool…"