Dutch, Bill, Micah, Javier, and Arthur were dropped off one by one along the coast to keep a low profile as they searched for the rest of the gang. Arthur was brought to Van Horn where he commandeered a horse and rode to Shady Belle. It was empty and looked like the gang had left in a hurry. He went into the house for a look around, finding a letter on the table.

It was addressed to 'Uncle Tacitus' from 'Caroline', and saying they were visiting relatives in Lakay. Arthur smiled to himself as he pocketed the letter and headed to the door when he heard voices outside.

"Milton keeps sending us back every day to search this place. There quite clearly isn't a gang of outlaws holed up here."

Arthur crept to the window and peered outside to see four Pinkertons had ridden up.

"Well someone is here," one of them dismounted and pointed at the ground, "Look, those are fresh footprints."

Arthur snuck out the side door before he could be spotted. At least the horse he 'borrowed' had the decency to wander off into the next field. He mounted up and hurried away.

He rode past the farm Grace and Tuula usually stayed at, but didn't see either of them. He continued along the road without stopping until he reached the swampy settlement.

He was greeted happily by Pearson and Abigail outside, and the others in the main building. They were all there, safe and sound. Micah and Javier had already arrived earlier that day. Arthur was quickly given a dish of stew which he ate eagerly.

Shortly afterward, Dutch arrived to the joy of everyone. Abigail rushed up to him.

"Dutch, they got John," she pleaded.

"Okay, okay," he said then to turned to the others. "How did you all get here?"

"It was Mrs. Adler who got us to pack up," Strauss said, "She got us away from the camp before the Pinkertons turned up."

"After Grace had rode in to tell me to," Sadie added.

"Grace?" Arthur asked.

"Rode in like the devil was on her tail, told me to get everyone the hell out of there and to come here," Sadie said.

"And when we got here, Hosea was waiting for us," Tilly added.

"Hosea? He... he survived? Where is he?" Dutch demanded.

The others went quiet.

"He didn't make it," Miss Grimshaw said solemnly, "His old heart couldn't take it anymore and he passed peacefully with all of us around him."

"Damn it," Dutch wiped his face.

"What about Grace?" asked Arthur.

"She wasn't here when we arrived and Hosea said she was very badly hurt," said Sadie, "She told him we'd be here soon and she left. We must've missed her by only a few minutes."

"I tried tracking her, but lost her trail in the river," said Charles.

"But we saw both of them get shot," said Dutch.

"Only Grace was shot. Hosea said she quickly told him to pretend to be dead and they made their escape when it was clear," said Abigail, "We stole Lenny's body from the morgue and we buried them together."

"Almost wish we coulda seen the look on their faces when they went back for the bodies to find 'em gone," Uncle laughed.

Arthur stayed quiet. Even after he yelled at her for lying to him, she still came back to help them and got shot doing so. Could she really still be alive? It had been on his mind ever since Guarma. His thoughts were interrupted when the door burst open again.

"Well here you is!" Bill said angrily, "I asked everyone I could find and eventually someone knew and said you fools were out here! Shit, gimme a drink or something!"

"Get your own damn drink!" Sadie retorted.

"In our absence, Mrs. Adler here has been looking after things," Dutch told Bill as he handed him a cup of coffee. Before he could speak further, they heard a commotion outside.

"This is Agent Milton of the Pinkerton Detective Agency!"

They peered out the window and saw a large group of Pinkertons and one with a Browning gun on the back of a wagon outside.

"On behalf of Cornwall Kerosene and Tar, the United States government, and the Commonwealth of West Elizabeth, we are here to arrest you! Come out with your hands up!"

Arthur looked over at Dutch who had already taken out his guns. They shrugged at each other, getting ready for another gunfight. A moment later, the Pinkertons began shooting. The gang hit the floor as the wooden shack began splintering around them.

Sadie yelled for Arthur to follow her out the back. One of the neighbouring shacks had a trapdoor which they could sneak around and climb through to flank the Pinkertons.

Soon they were able to push them back and make them retreat. Arthur looked around at the bodies and was disappointed none of them were Milton. Slimy bastard got away again.

"Well what do we do now, Dutch?" Arthur coughed.

"Clearly we need to leave. It'll take some time for them to regroup, but we better be long gone before then," Dutch turned to the others who had gathered outside, "Mr. Pearson, Miss Grimshaw, start packing up. We need some time, I just... I need some time. We can't go east, otherwise we'll be in the ocean, so we're gonna have to go north, I guess?"

"What about John?" Abigail asked desperately.

"John?"

"He's in jail."

"We'll get him, just not right now," Dutch tried to reassure her.

"There's talk of hanging him!"

"It's not gonna come to that," Dutch waved her away and returned to the shack.

Abigail turned to Arthur and Sadie. "I'm begging you two, they're gonna hang him. It would break my... the boy's heart."

"We will," Sadie said. Abigail nodded her thanks and left. "Okay, I'm gonna figure out how we rescue this bastard."

"Now?"

"Of course now," she frowned, "Or, at least as soon as we can. He's at Sisika working on a chain gang, I know that." She paused. "Don't suppose you'd know where to find Grace? Or find out what happened to her?"

"I don't know," he shook his head, "She ain't what she seems to be."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I guess I don't know that either," he coughed, "But I need to get some rest."

The following morning, Arthur found Dutch sitting on the porch behind one of the old shacks.

"So what now?"

"Now, I'm working it all out, once and for all, Arthur," Dutch said, staring out into the swamps, "There is country in Roanoke Ridge, past Butcher Creek I believe we could hold."

"Up there? You sure?" he asked, remembering his near run-in with the Murfree Brood when he was with Grace.

"You and Charles, take folks up that way," Dutch replied, "Micah and I need to do some reconnaissance. I ain't got a final plan yet. I just need time."

Arthur nodded and left to find Charles. Things were looking worse and he had a sinking feeling it was going to get worse. He couldn't help feeling like Dutch was becoming more unhinged, but what was he to do about it? At the very least, he could help keep the others safe.

Charles knew the area Dutch wanted them to go and warned Arthur about it.

"I know, but maybe the law won't be so willing to come looking for us up there."

"You got a point."

They mounted their horses and rode out of Lakay. Charles suggested taking some canoes up the river up to Butcher Creek, but Arthur opted to stick with riding. He was still feeling sore and sick but he didn't want to let on that he wasn't up for the job.

"This was where I lost Grace's trail," Charles said as they rode across the bridge of the river, "I thought she might have fallen in and I rode up and down trying to find her or tracks leading out, but I didn't."

"Oh, well, thanks for trying," Arthur sighed.

"What happened between you two?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you weren't exactly happy that morning when you two left the day before the bank job. And then you came back alone, and Sadie said she saw you burning a photograph out back."

"It's... well, I suppose it's a long story."

"We've got a long ride."

"Let's just say she ain't what she was."

"What does that mean?"

Arthur paused, wondering if he should tell Charles. "She lied to me."

"What about?"

"About... everything! Dutch had Trelawny look into her past and he found out that the only Grace Bellerose from New York City died in 1800 up in Canada."

"Huh."

"So I don't know who she really is, or what her plan is."

"But what if it's true?"

"Don't tell me you believe that," Arthur scoffed.

"I don't know, but seeing as she was shot in Saint Denis and still somehow managed to get Hosea to Lakay. Anyone else would've died and stayed dead."

"I don't know."

"There's an Indian legend that when someone dies before their time is up, they're reborn again with all their memories of before. Maybe instead of being reborn as a infant, she just picks up where she left off."

"Sounds ridiculous to me."

"I suppose there's only one way to find out."

"And what's that?"

"Find her. If she's telling the truth, then she'll still be alive. If not, then I guess you'll be finding her grave."

Arthur thought about it the rest of the ride. He could look for her once they relocated the gang, see if she was up at her cabin or go back to the farm and ask Mr. Coyle if he had seen Grace recently. And if she was still alive, then what?

He couldn't think of it much longer because they had arrived close to the Murfrees' main hideout. They dismounted and continued on foot.

After he and Charles cleared out the cave, Arthur now understood why Grace was so terrified of them. Upon arriving at the cave, they saw the skinned and dismembered body of a man displayed outside. More dead bodies inside. And one girl, still alive, and traumatized.

Arthur brought her home to Annesburg while Charles cleaned up the place before bringing up the gang.

Molly ratted us out. Dutch broke her heart so she told the law about us.

Explains how they found us so easily, I guess. Love does strange things to us all, even stranger than hate.

She turned up drunk and mouthy and told us all this. She was so pathetic I wanted to spare her, but Miss Grimshaw put a bullet in her anyway.

Guess it was right. Guess there weren't much of a choice.

I'm just glad it weren't Grace who told, as some seem to think.

Met Sadie who introduced me to Arturo, an odd man with a hot air balloon. She had the idea to get a look from above into Sisika to see if John was still there. Have to say it did work since I saw John in the fields before they started shooting at us.

Then we saw Sadie being chased by O'Driscolls and Arturo got shot. We crashed the balloon and shot all the O'Driscolls, seems Sadie went out hunting for them. She won't rest until every damn one of them is dead.

"So, I'll get us a boat and we'll go get John," she said after whistling for her horse, "You gonna find Grace soon or what?"

"Why?"

"Because you've been a grouchy ol' bastard and you ain't gonna be any use unless you sort things out."

"And if she's dead?"

"Then I guess you'll know for sure," Sadie mounted her horse, "Besides, we want to know too. Just don't take too long."

Arthur shook his head and watched Sadie ride away. He supposed she was right. Maybe he'll head into Saint Denis and get himself cleaned up a bit before trying to find her.

He stopped at the farm on the way to the city.

"You seen Miss Bellerose lately?" he asked Mr. Coyle, who was leaning against the fence of one of the paddocks.

"No, not since she was here with you," Mr. Coyle frowned, "She missing?"

"Not really, just... I've been away and haven't seen her in a while."

"Oh, okay. Well, tell her we say hi when you find her."

"Sure."

Arthur rode into the city and was suddenly overcome by a pain in his lungs. He began coughing, but it was nonstop. He couldn't breathe. He fell off his horse and onto the road, gasping for breath and coughing. His vision became more blurry and blacked out.

"Oh my god, Arthur!"

He opened his eyes and saw Grace looking down at him, worried.

"Grace," he croaked and reached for her.

"I ain't Grace, mister, are you okay?"

Arthur blinked a few times and saw a man with a moustache standing over him instead. Arthur coughed again.

"You don't look so good," the man helped him up, "Let's get you to a doctor." Arthur followed the man to the doctor's office, stumbling in through the door.

Turns out, I'm not very well. Got tuberculosis. Doctor did not know how long I would last. All them bullets shot at me, all them horses threw me, all them fights and it was beating up that pathetic little fella Downes that killed me, I reckon. He's the only man I been near was real sick. He begged for mercy and I beat the bastard and he died. And now I'm dying too. The way of the world.

He felt numb. He couldn't go back to camp or go meet Sadie. Not yet. There was only one place he wanted to be right then.

By the time he rode up to Grace's cabin, the sun was low in the sky, stretching the shadows of the trees far across the grass. The cabin stood empty and dark. Nevertheless, Arthur dismounted, walked up to the door and knocked.

No answer.

He opened the door slowly, hoping he wasn't about to find her corpse, but there was no one. He went in, shutting the door behind him, and looked around. It looked like no one had been here in a while. A thin layer of dust coated everything.

He picked up the photograph of himself and Grace she kept on her desk. It was the blurry one of them laughing. He would give anything to hear her laugh again, to see her again. He regretted destroying his own picture of the two of them.

Then he realised it hadn't been the only picture he had. He dug into his satchel and took out the print Albert Mason had given him, the one of himself and Grace kissing in Saint Denis. Despite everything, he still loved her, fool that he was. He wondered if he would ever find out the truth about her, who she really was.

He just wanted to see her again.

The door suddenly flew open and there she was. A wave of emotions ran through him at the sight of Grace, standing there alive and well, and he became overwhelmed with everything that had happened - the failed bank robbery, Lenny and Hosea's deaths, shipwrecked in Guarma, moving camp yet again, Molly's confession and death, his illness, and... her. He collapsed into a chair and broke down. Grace ran to him and held him tightly as he wept into her shoulder.

He started coughing, sputtering blood onto her shirt, and pushed her away. He tried to stop, but he kept coughing. It was too much, he couldn't breathe. Everything went dark.

When he woke sometime later, Arthur found himself tucked into Grace's bed. A fire was crackling in the fireplace, and Grace was sitting at her desk, writing. He groaned as he sat up and she turned around.

"How are you feeling?" she stood.

"I'm..." he stopped. How could he tell her? She looked at him for a moment, then went over to the stove. He couldn't see what she was doing, but she returned to him with a small mug of steaming liquid.

"Here, this will help soothe your throat," she gave it to him and he took a sip. It tasted sweet and bitter, but his throat did feel better. He drank the rest as she sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened?"

"Everything," he sighed. "Grace, I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

He looked at her, confused. "For all them things I said, and yelling at you."

"You don't need to apologise for that," she gave him a small smile, "I wouldn't have believed me either." She paused. "I assume you still don't."

"I don't know," he looked down at the empty mug in his hand.

"I understand. It is pretty hard to believe." She took the mug from him and stood to place it on the table. "I mean, having someone tell you that they can resurrect from the dead like goddamn Lazarus, pretty crazy, if you ask me."

"Heh, but apparently you do." He looked up at her. "So you were really shot when you saved Hosea?" She nodded. "He... he didn't make it."

"I'm so sorry." She sat on the bed again and took his hand. "He was very shaken up when I brought him to Lakay. What happened to you?"

Arthur told her about the failed bank robbery and escaping on a ship. "And then the ship caught fire. I got separated and I tried to get out, and then I saw you."

"Me?" she looked confused. "What do you mean you saw me?"

"I was trying to find a way out and you just appeared in a door that led to a way out."

"Well, I haven't been on any ships recently, sinking or otherwise."

"I saw you again when I ended up on the shore of Guarma."

"You ended up there? Jesus. But what do you mean you saw me again? I was never there."

"Yeah, that's what you kept saying. I mean, the you that was there said I was hallucinating."

"You probably were."

"But I could touch you, and I saw you again and you, well, the one that was there said it was because I needed you."

"Huh. So maybe- Never mind. What happened on Guarma?"

"Maybe what?"

Grace let go of his hand and stood. "Well, usually it doesn't take long for me to regain consciousness after I die, but this time it did. It was like I was stuck between death and life. I don't know, I can't explain it." She leaned against her desk. "So what happened on Guarma?"

He told her about fighting against Fussar and his army, and taking out a warship before they were able to return to the United States. He told her about finding the gang at Lakay and then moving camp.

"We're at Beaver Hollow now."

"You're up there? Jesus, what about the Murfrees?"

"Charles and I killed the ones at that cave, saved some poor girl they had there."

"Oh my god."

"Did you know it was Molly who ratted us out to the Pinkertons?"

"Molly? No, it couldn't have been."

"She said she did. Uncle found her drunk and brought her back and she said she told the Pinkertons everything. Then Miss Grimshaw shot her."

Grace was quiet. "I don't think she told."

"How do you know?"

"Because she left camp the night before the bank robbery and I met her in town. She was very distraught, still hung up on Dutch. I told her to just move on. I gave her money and told her to go somewhere else, find someone worth her time and love. I was with her until the following morning when we saw all the Pinkertons arriving in Saint Denis. I got her on a train to Rhodes, just to get her out of the city, and promised to meet up with her later. I rode to Shady Belle to warn you, but you had all left, so I told Sadie to get everyone out."

"So, Molly probably didn't tell."

"Not unless she somehow did it before I saw her in Saint Denis, but I don't think she did."

"Damn." Arthur coughed slightly.

"How sick are you?" she asked quietly.

"I... I got TB," he said, not looking at her.

"It's bad, isn't it?"

He nodded, looking down at his hands. "Doctor said I don't have long."

Grace burst into tears. Arthur pushed the blankets off and stumbled to her, taking her in his arms.

"It's not fair," she cried.

"Ain't like I ever had any good coming to me anyhow," he said.

She suddenly pushed him away and punched him in the arm. "Don't say that, Arthur."

"Well I don't know if you noticed, but I ain't a good man," he said angrily, "I killed and robbed a lot of people, and I expect I'll end up in eternal damnation."

"But-"

"It was that man, Thomas Downes. He was real sick when I went after him for the debt. I good as killed him and forced his widow into selling herself to get by. I ain't got no good in me, not like that Downes fella."

"You could make it right," she said quietly.

"How, by making Thomas Downes just come back to life?" Arthur scoffed.

"Help Mrs. Downes and her son."

"Why don't you help them, with all that money you got stashed away?"

"It's not about me, this is about you," she looked up at him, frowning, "I can give them money, yes, but it's not the answer."

"Then why the hell were you always offering to give us money to get away?"

"To give you a chance to be happy! If you took the money, you could've all gotten away a long time ago. But whether or not you'd be living free or just continuing robbing people would've been up to you." She sighed and wiped the tears off her face. "Anyway, get some rest. I need to wash up."

Arthur watched her leave the cabin then sat down on the bed. How the hell was he supposed to help Mrs. Downes when she despised him with all her being? It wouldn't save him from whatever waited for him after death, but maybe he could try.

He heard Grace dragging the tin bath into the clearing. He considered going out to help, but figured she wanted to be on her own for now. He listened to the sounds of her filling the tub with a bucket before it went silent. After a short bit, he went outside.

Grace was in the bath with one leg resting on the rim and smoking a cigarette. She was staring up at the sky. Arthur picked up a chair from beside the door and placed it next to her. She looked over at him curiously.

"There's no meteor shower tonight," she said with a slight smile.

"You're always looking at the sky."

"I like it. Makes you wonder if there's anything else out there. Like, maybe there's another planet far out there and someone's looking at the same stars and wondering the same thing."

Arthur was about to speak when he started coughing. At least it wasn't as bad as before. "Heh, too bad you can't make me like you, not being able to die and all that."

Grace frowned. "Even if I could, I wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not a very good way to live."

"But you seem to be doing fine, what with all your travelling."

"I have no choice," she sat up, flicked her cigarette butt away, and turned to him, "I can't stay in one spot for too long because everyone else gets older and I stay the same. I have outlived and will outlive everyone I ever meet and love. That's why I told you we couldn't be together."

"But you still... I mean, we still..."

Grace sighed and crossed her arms on the edge of the bath, resting her chin on them. "I didn't mean to. I kept worrying about when or how to tell you that it wouldn't last."

"You kept saying I'd leave you."

"And you did. I figured you'd choose the gang over me, or you'd get yourself killed doing something stupid."

"Like robbing a bank and getting shipwrecked?"

"And you're still here."

"Not for long." Arthur leaned forward on his knees, looking down at his hands. "I still love you."

"Even after everything?"

"Yeah."

"I still love you too," she smiled over at him.

"So, can you get sick? I mean, you can't catch any illnesses or anything?" Grace shook her head. "Good." He knelt down beside the bath and kissed her. She grasped his shirt collar and kissed him back. When they parted, she had tears in her eyes.

"I missed you."

"Me too," Arthur kissed her again.

"I'm going to finish washing up. Why don't you go in and I'll be there shortly."

"I'll be waiting," he kissed her hand then stood and headed back to the cabin.

"You need to rest!" she called after him.

"I can rest when I'm dead!" he joked, looking back to see her smile. He sat down at the table in the cabin, feeling a bit winded. Maybe she was right, he did need to rest. But he still felt a newfound energy, happy that Grace was still alive and happy that she wasn't angry with him, and especially happy that they could continue on together, however long it would last. Regardless of how long he had left, he was going to make the most of it.