Arthur and Grace were quickly ushered out of Marko Dragic's lab the following morning.

"I am very busy, good day!" he said, slamming the door.

"Did he sleep at all last night?" Grace asked Arthur as he fed Smokey.

"I don't think so, he was still working on that machine of his when I fell asleep." Arthur tightened the cinch on the saddle then turned back to Grace. She was sitting on a crate, looking deep in thought. "You okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, just tired," she smiled up at him, "Want to go fishing? I feel like having fish today."

"I ain't much of a fisherman, but sure." He lifted her onto his horse and mounted up.

"You know I'm perfectly capable of getting on myself," she said.

"Yeah, I know."

"Anything to touch me, huh?" she poked him in the side.

"Yep," he turned to smile at her before turning his horse back to the road. They only had to go a short distance before reaching a river with a waterfall.

"Hey, this looks like a nice spot to fish," she said.

Arthur nodded, and stopped off the trail. Grace slid off and walked over to the river's edge for a look.

"Ooh, there's some big fish in there, should be good eating," she said. Arthur dismounted, took his fishing pole out and started putting it together. "I'll get a fire started." Grace started gathering sticks and twigs from the nearby trees as Arthur baited his line and cast out.

As he waited for a bite, he kept glancing back to watch her build a small firepit. The way she placed the sticks and kindling, so carefully like she was creating art. She took out a match and a cigarette, lit the cigarette and then the kindling, tossing the match in. She sat back on her heels and watched the fire slowly grow as she smoked the cigarette.

Arthur turned back to the river and watched as the fish seemed to swim around his baited hook. He sighed in annoyance.

"Wanna trade?" Grace stood next to him, holding out her half-smoked cigarette. Arthur took it and handed her the pole. Maybe she'd have better luck. "Hey, looks like someone's moving in over there." He looked across the river where she was pointing and saw a wagon make its way down a trail to a house up the hill. Grace raised her hand and waved to the driver and his passenger who both waved back.

"Guess they like to be away from all that city life and noise," Arthur said.

"I don't blame them. It is quite nice up here." she started humming as she slowly reeled in the line. He had just finished smoking the cigarette and tossed it aside when the line jerked violently and pole bent over. "Ooo, got something!" She held the pole tightly, waiting for the fish to tire itself out.

"Here," Arthur took the pole from her and was nearly knocked off balance by the force of the fish thrashing against the line. It took him a few minutes to reel in the large muskie.

"Hold on," Grace grabbed the fish by the mouth and poked at its side, "Yep, it's good." She removed the hook and carried it over to the fire.

"How do you know that?" Arthur took his pole apart and put it back in his saddlebag.

"If it's too firm or too soft, then it's no good for eating," she said as she sliced into the fish, "It has to be just right, at least for muskies. Takes some practice to get the right feel."

"Guess that's why I ain't a good fisherman," he sat and watched her debone the muskie.

"Sounds like you just need more practice." she smiled as she removed the filets.

"Heh, maybe," he picked up the filets and placed them carefully on his camp grill over the fire. Grace took out a small pouch and sprinkled what looked like herbs over them. He cooked the fish while she watched, expecting her to tell him a better way to cook it, but she didn't. When the fish was cooked to his satisfaction, he removed it from the fire and handed a piece to Grace.

"Thanks, ooo, hot," she dropped it quickly on a flat stone she picked up. She let it cool a bit then broke off a piece with her fingers and ate it. "Mmm, perfect."

"Probably 'cause of those herbs you added," he said before taking a bite himself.

"Only a bit, still need to cook it to the right consistency, which you did," she smiled at him before eating the rest.

"You know," Arthur said between bites, "You eat a lot for someone your size."

"Um, okay?" Grace raised her eyebrow at him.

"I mean, I've seen Bill eat less than you and complain about being full."

"Heh, well, I've always said I'm mostly stomach in here," she poked at her belly, "I was always hungry growing up, and asking for more was unacceptable for a young lady. So when I was out on my own and learned to cook, I realised I could eat as much as I wanted and I did. I probably should be the size of a rhinoceros by now, but I guess I run around enough to balance things out."

"A rhino-what?"

"You've never heard of a rhinoceros?" Arthur shook his head. "Big animal, about the size of a grizzly, but with no fur. It has a tough skin like a hippo or elephant, and horns on its nose."

"Oh! That's what it's called," he realised, "I seen pictures, but it didn't say what they were called."

"They really are quite beautiful to see in person. I don't know if any of the zoos over here have one. I think there's a place out east that has a taxidermied rhinoceros, but I don't know for sure. Best to see them alive in their natural habitat anyway."

"I seen elephants at a circus, but nothing like that."

"Oh, I love the circus! When did you last go?"

"Years ago. Went with Mary," he said quietly, smiling to himself at the memory.

"Oh, I bet she loved it," Grace leaned forward resting her chin on her hand, "I went to one last year. They had a lady who could ride her horse while standing on its back. She even did a back flip!"

"On the horse's back? Jesus."

She started laughing. "That's actually how I got that scar on my shoulder, when I said I fell off a horse."

"You tried doing a back flip on your horse?" Arthur burst out laughing.

"Ha, no! I can't even do a flip on solid ground. I tried just standing on Tuula's back to see if I could do it. Let's just say she didn't like it much."

"Guess a career in the circus isn't in your future," he laughed.

"I could always be a clown," she snorted, "That seems more my style. You could be a lion tamer."

"Hah, well, I didn't so well with that last lion."

"Heh, guess not," she stood and crouched by the river to wash her hands, "Anyway, want to get going?"

"Sure." Arthur kicked sand and dirt over the fire to extinguish it. He turned to help Grace up onto his horse, but she had already jumped on. He was about to mount up himself, but paused.

"Anything wrong?" she asked.

"Nah, just.. I like doing this. Just us out here."

"Me too," she smiled down at him, "But I do miss riding my own horse."

"Yeah, I guess you do," he mounted up, "Well, let's go see how Tuula's doing."

"Probably kicked down a few walls, gnawing on a gator's tail," Grace laughed.

"Hah, if she is, I guess she's back to normal."

"Yep," she hugged him tightly, "As much as I miss riding Tuula, I do like this."

He took her hand and held it as he urged Smokey into a trot. They crossed the river at a shallow part and continued along the trail. They passed a few other riders, but it was otherwise quiet. The sky was cloudy with occasional clear spots so it wasn't too bright.

"Which way you wanna go?" Arthur halted as they reached a fork in the road.

"Um," Grace considered the options, "Oo! Hold on." She slid off and dashed towards a tree just off the trail. Arthur watched as she jumped to grab a branch and started climbing.

"What are you doing?" he called up to her. She didn't reply as she seemed to grab something then climbed back down, dropping from the lowest branch.

"Give me your hat," she held out her hand. Arthur narrowed his eyes at her, then removed his hat and watched as she carefully placed two feathers into the corded band. "There, the cardinal feather will bring you luck and the blue jay feather will make you fearless." She handed it back to him.

"Heh, I guess if you believe that sort of thing," he said, looking over the feathers before putting his hat back on.

"Well, even if you don't, they look nice," Grace smiled up at him as she took his hand to be lifted back on, "And it's not very often you find feathers from two different birds up a tree."

"Don't know how you spotted them."

"I have good eyes. Let's keep to the right."

Arthur nodded and gently kicked Smokey into a lope down the trail. They cantered along the road until they reached the railroad bridge and slowed to a trot underneath it. Instead of following the curve of the trail, Arthur kept going straight.

"Where are you going?" Grace asked.

"Just need to take a piss, don't feel like being seen," he replied.

"Oh, well, off you go then," she said when he stopped.

He dismounted and found a tree among some bushes to relieve himself. As he did, he looked around at his surroundings. He could see what looked like a mining town not too far up the road. The river ran alongside, so following that would bring them back to Saint Denis. A large rock then caught his eye. It seemed to have something written on it. When he finished, he went over to inspect it.

"Hey, come look at this," he called out to Grace.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Just... come look." He crouched in front of the rock, taking out his journal to sketch it.

"Oh, thank god," she joined him.

"What?"

"Honestly? I thought you were still going to have your pants down," she smirked, giving him a playful kick.

"Damn, I never thought of that," he laughed, "But what do you think of this?" He pointed at the rock.

"Hmm," she knelt down, running her fingers along the symbols. "This means 'boat', this is 'people', and this is 'peace'. But I don't know what the rest of it means."

"What kind of writing is it?"

"Runes, I think they're called. I've seen some of these words in a book about vikings. Old Norsemen from Scandinavia. Apparently they reached the Americas first before Columbus or anyone else."

"Didn't stay long, did they?"

"Guess not. So this could mean anything, really. Like, maybe they came by boat, met the native people here, left them in peace? Or they came by boat, killed the local people, now it's peaceful?"

"I think I like that first translation better."

"Me too. But I don't know for sure," she stood up, "Should we get going?"

Arthur didn't move. Grace whistled at him, nudging him with her foot. He suddenly grabbed her hand, pulling her down as she shrieked in surprise. She fell to the ground on her back and he straddled her, placing his hands on either side of her head.

"I guess we're staying for a bit?" she smirked. He gazed down at her, not moving until she gently pulled on his shirt and lifted her head to meet him with a kiss. He couldn't help but smile as he kissed her back, removing his hat to place it on the ground beside them. She started to push his jacket off when he stopped her.

"You ain't afraid of being seen?"

"I don't care," she kissed him again before he sat up to remove his jacket.

Whether they were seen by anyone other than his horse, Arthur didn't know nor did he care. All he cared about at that moment was Grace, who now lay with her head on his bare chest, her fingers lazily entangling themselves in the coarse hairs. He ran his fingers through her hair, now loosened from the braid it had been in. He sighed contently and told her he loved her. She smiled against his chest and raised her head.

"I love you too," she kissed his chest before sitting up and looking around, "So, um, where are my pants?"

He sat up and looked, but didn't see them. He stood, pulling his own pants up along with his suspenders. As he was buttoning up his shirt, Grace suddenly snorted with laughter.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"How the hell did you throw them up there?" she laughed, pointing to a nearby tree. Arthur looked and started laughing at the sight of Grace's riding pants draped over a branch, the legs flapping in the breeze. He managed to retrieve them after a few tries and handed them to her. "Thanks."

"You know, it would've been easier if you'd just wear a skirt," he smirked, tucking his shirt into his pants and picking up his jacket.

"It's easier to ride with pants," she said, wiping dirt off her pants before pulling them on. "Besides, I wasn't expecting to stop for a rest so suddenly otherwise I might have. At least you didn't throw my drawers up a tree or down the hill. I like these ones."

"Heh, they are nice," he watched her finish buttoning up her shirt and tucking it in her pants before pulling her in for a kiss.

"Mm, as much as I want to keep this up, we should get going," Grace kissed him again and wrapped her arms around him tightly. He hugged her, kissing the top of her head and breathing in the earthy smell of her hair. He didn't want it to end either. They reluctantly parted and she let him lift her onto the back of his horse. He mounted up and they returned to the road.

They rode through the mining town of Annesburg, but chose not to stop. They didn't need to. They followed the road south along the railroad tracks.

"Wanna stop in Van Horn?" Arthur turned his head back.

"Why?"

"Dunno, thought you might want to stop."

"Isn't that where you fought that big guy from the theatre show?"

"Heh, yeah."

"I don't need to stop, but if you need to, by all means."

"Nah, don't need to stop either."

They passed by Van Horn and followed the road up a hill. They were about to pass a large house when Grace told him to stop.

"What is it?" he halted Smokey and she slid off.

"All these windows and doors are boarded up," she said, approaching the house. "Wonder why."

"Moved out, I guess." He stayed mounted and leaned forward in the saddle to watch her explore. She climbed onto a cart behind the house and jumped onto the porch roof. "What are you doing?"

"There's an open window up here."

"Be careful!"

"Pfft, I always am." She crawled in through the open window and it was silent for a minute. "Holy shit, Arthur, get up here!"

Arthur quickly dismounted and jumped up to the porch roof, He entered the window and was met with the strangest sight he had ever seen. A small room with what looked like an operating table along with a number of desks and bureaus were packed inside the room. But at the back was a creature suspended in a display. It had the head of a boar, horns of a ram, wings of a vulture, one set of arms from a bear, two other pairs of arms from wolves, and the body and legs of God knows what else.

"Jesus, what the hell is it?"

"'Immensa Creatura', apparently," Grace picked up a piece of paper from the table and passed it to him.

"Just when I thought I've seen it all," he shook his head, then took out his journal to draw a sketch of the creature.

"Must be a big fan of 'Frankenstein'," Grace said, getting a closer look to some other homemade creatures on a nearby desk.

"What's that?"

"Absolute cracker of a book, about a scientist who creates life out of bits of corpses, but he regrets it."

"Sounds like something that professor up north should read," he chuckled.

"He probably did, but decided to just go for an automaton instead of reusing bits of dead people."

"And this feller here just decided to use animals," he gestured to the creature.

"Well, at least it didn't work. I mean, it's not alive. I don't think I'd like to meet this monstrosity out in the wild."

"Heh, neither do I."

Grace returned to the window and paused before climbing back out. "Oh! Have you found that treasure from the map yet? The one that looks like a giant snake?"

"No."

"It's up the hill a bit." She climbed out with Arthur following. Instead of getting back on his horse, she started walking through the trees.

"Hey, wait," he followed her, whistling for his horse to follow as well. They crossed the road and she stopped and held up her hand. "Wha-"

"Shh, listen," her eyes widened. Arthur listened and he could hear the sound of a wagon approaching and strange mumbling. "Let's get out of here," she whispered.

"But-"

"It's the Murfree Brood," she grabbed his hand. He nodded and they turned to his horse, but Smokey then spooked and galloped away. "Shit!"

"Up there," he pointed at the nearby watchtower. Graced dashed to it and quickly climbed the ladder. Arthur followed her up and they had just reached the top when they heard the voices more clearly.

"Why we gotta bring em all back?"

"'ts what 'e wants."

Arthur looked over the side and saw a small wagon with two men in grungy overalls driving. It had a few bodies in the back. Grace nudged him.

"Does it look like anyone's still alive?" she whispered. He looked and shook his head at her.

The wagon suddenly stopped.

"Whatchu stoppin' for?"

"Smell that?" One of the Murfrees took a long deep sniff, "That there's woman smell."

The other sniffed the air loudly. "Yeah, let's go find 'er."

Grace grasped Arthur's arm tightly as he unholstered his pistol slowly. It was unnerving seeing her so terrified. He peered over the edge of the watchtower to see the two Murfrees, now on foot, scouting below. One stopped at the ladder and looked up. Arthur pulled back before he could be seen.

"Smells good here," the Murfree called out, "Must be hidin'."

"Nowhere else to go!" the other one called up the watchtower.

Grace's breathing became more erratic when she suddenly grabbed something out of her satchel and flung it over the side. The Murfree's horse whinnied shrilly.

"Dangit, the horse!"

"What about the woman?"

"We gots some back there still."

Arthur peeked over the side and watched the two Murfrees chase their horse and wagon up the road. When they were out of sight, he turned his attention back to Grace who still looked panicked.

"Hey, it's okay, they're gone," he knelt in front of her, cupping her face in his hands, She grabbed his shirt to pull him closer. He kissed her forehead then rested his head against hers. "It's okay, darlin'. They ain't gonna hurt you."

"The things they'd do-"

"Don't think about that. We're okay now." He ran his thumb against her cheek. "Let's just go, okay?" Grace nodded and he kissed her forehead again. He stood and looked down to make sure things were clear. Then he noticed the mounds of grass on the hill, made to look like a giant snake. "So how'd you find this anyway?"

She didn't reply right away. "I was trying to get away from them," she said quietly.

"I thought you only met 'em once?"

She shook her head. "I hid up a tree, further up the hill. But Tuula attacked them."

"Jesus, was there anything left of 'em?"

"Heh, not of their faces, no," she smiled slightly.

"Well, let's go see if that treasure is there and get you back to your horse." He climbed down the ladder first, keeping his eye out for any sign of the Murfrees coming back. Grace followed and stayed as close to him as possible as they made their way up the serpent mound. She kept her head on a swivel, eyes darting about for any sign of danger. Arthur inspected the rock formation at the top and found a small pouch containing a silver bracelet and another map. He opened it to see a drawing of a waterfall with arrows indicating to go behind it. "What do you make of this?" he asked Grace.

She looked and shrugged. "I don't recognise it, but I'll keep an eye out."

He put it in his satchel and whistled for his horse. Smokey trotted up and Arthur lifted Grace on before getting on himself. He took her hand and kissed it before kicking his horse into a canter. As they travelled further south, he could feel Grace become more relaxed behind him.

The sun had set by the time they reached the farm. They could see her horse Tuula grazing in the paddock with the other horses. Suddenly Tuula looked up, neighed loudly, and galloped towards the fence before jumping it.

"Jesus," Arthur said as Tuula slid to a stop in front of them. Grace jumped off and threw her arms around Tuula's neck.

"How are you, old girl?" Tuula snorted. "Yeah, I know, you're not that old," Grace laughed, petting her horse's nose. "I missed you." Tuula snorted again. "I know, I had to ride another horse. It was awful."

"Hey!" Arthur tried to look offended but couldn't help but smile.

"Looks like those wounds are healing well," she moved to Tuula's rump and ran her fingers gently along the scars.

"Luckily they weren't as deep as I thought," Mr. Coyle joined them, nodding at Arthur, "I've been putting a salve on them so they wouldn't get infected and it hasn't affected her ability to jump out of the paddocks."

"So we saw," Arthur said, "We was expecting the place to be destroyed by the time we got back."

"Not for lack of trying on her part, I'll tell you," Mr Coyle snickered.

"Shocking. Well, would you like the money now or in your account?" Grace asked.

"Account, please," Mr. Coyle took out a small notebook, wrote something down, tore out the page and gave it to Grace, "I've had other animals that need looking after and I don't have much time to run to the bank."

"Sure, I'll go first thing in the morning." Grace said, "Thank you for looking after this terror."

"Aw, she's not that bad, are ya?" Mr. Coyle patted Tuula's neck, "But I'm sure she's itching to get back out with you. Your tack is in the barn."

"Thanks," she shook Mr. Coyle's hand before he left. "Well, let's get going then." She led Tuula to the barn and tacked her up.

"It's late, where we going?" Arthur asked as Grace mounted her horse.

"Let's go get a room at a hotel. I need a bath. And so do you," she wrinkled her nose.

"Heh, yeah." He followed her into the city to a small hotel beside a dingy bar. They checked in as Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Callahan and were able to get a bath prepared in the room.

"I love these large tubs," Grace said, dipping her hand into the warm water of the bath, "A lot of places just have those small ones, which is fine, but I like to just lay back for a while."

"Well, so long as you don't let it go too cold before I can wash up," Arthur hung his hat on the back of the door.

"You know, this is probably big enough for both of us," she smiled up at him coyly. He crossed the room quickly and kissed her hard. "So you agree then?" she asked just before he kissed her again.

It was late as they now lay in bed, naked and covered in sweat. Grace ran her fingers through his hair.

"Your hair is getting long," she said, twirling a strand around her finger.

"You should talk," he replied, gently pulling her long hair across her shoulder, "Don't think I've ever seen hair this long."

"Probably because most women wear their hair up."

"Yeah, probably."

"Well, you should get some sleep," she patted his chest as she sat up.

"What about you?"

"I need to comb my hair or else it gets all tangled," she said with a smile, picking up a comb from the side table.

Arthur watched her comb her hair instead of going to sleep, hoping they could have many more nights like this.