Guess who completed her public speaking class group project and definitely got pity points because half the group didn't show up for the speech day! They had legitimate reasons, but still... I'm glad to see that class end!

Chapter 45: Love

Arthur was glad the Lemoyne Raiders were terrible shots.

When he stumbled across two of them hassling a farmer, the Raiders tried to get Arthur to hand over money, too. Arthur was ready, though, keeping his breathing slow. The Raider aimed at Arthur, and Arthur shot his gun out of his hand.

They ran away pretty quickly after that.

"Damn, Raiders," the farmer said. "Thank you, Mister."

"This happen often?"

"More and more every year. Ever since the Grays put that idiot Leigh in charge," the farmer said. "Everyone knows the Braithwaites support the Raiders, since the beginning, really, but now they ain't even trying to hide it!"

"That right?"

"Not like the Grays are any better. You know half the folk in this town lost their boys in the war, but not the Grays."

"Interesting."

"This whole town has gone to hell, but I'm not letting those families chase me away!" the farmer said. "Anyway, thanks again mister."

"You're welcome," Arthur said, turning Boadicea towards Caliga Hall.

Why did those bounty hunters have to find them in Montana? They could have been safe on their ranch instead of in the south surrounded by idiots.

Then again, he never would have met Charles. Maybe there were some good things to come out of their journey to Blackwater and now Rhodes.

Though, as Arthur pulled Boadicea up next to the guards at Caliga Hall, he wondered if Charles could have made his way up to Montana instead. The gigantic brick manors, the rows of tobacco fields, the perfectly sculpted hedges… this wasn't Arthur's type of place. But Dutch asked him to be here, and he wasn't about to let Dutch down.

"Excuse me?" Arthur said to the guards.

"Who are you? What do you want?" a guard asked.

"This here the Gray plantation?" Arthur asked, already knowing the answer before the guards confirmed it. "Sheriff's orders. He wanted me to have a word with some folk on the property."

"Dammit, Leigh," the guard said. "Look, you can come in, but you ain't talking with me."

"Obliged," Arthur said, riding past the guards and looking for someone who could answer questions. There was a worker sweeping the porch of the main house. Hosea always reminded Arthur that the servants and maids were the ones with the most information.

"Hey, mister. I'm a student at the local university," he started, wishing he'd looked around for schools to help with his story. Hosea was better at this. "A history student. Do you have time to talk about the local history of this town?"

"No, sorry. You might want to ask Beau Gray, though. Boy has all the time in the world," the worker said. "He's over by the storehouse."

"Appreciate it," Arthur said, wandering in the direction the man pointed, past the well-trimmed hedges and the apple trees. Near the shed, just like the worker said, was a young man holding a book. A vaguely familiar young man. "Hey, did I see you at the Sheriff's office?"

"Excuse me, friend," Beau said.

"We friends?"

"Not yet, but here's hoping," Beau said, still paying attention to his book more than Arthur. "We don't get a lot of traveling men here, then suddenly there's a whole phalanx of mysterious but strangely helpful Yankees around the place."

Arthur scratched his chin. Beau was certainly observant. "Is there?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?" Beau asked.

"I'm just looking for work," Arthur said.

"Well, looking for something," Beau said with a sly grin and a knowing look. "But don't worry, your secret is safe with me?"

Arthur let out a fake scoff. "What secret?"

"I have a secret of my own," Beau continued.

"Are you secretly normal?"

"Excuse me?"

Arthur waved him off. "Never mind."

"The thing is, I don't care if you kill the whole lot of us and the Braithwaites," Beau said.

Arthur was shocked. If this kid suspected them of foul interests, did the other Grays know, too? Not that Beau was wrong, but still, for an odd kid he was amazingly perceptive. "I don't want to kill anyone," he replied truthfully. Dutch might want to rob them, but not kill.

Beau checked around the building for anyone listening, then said, "I love her, you know."

"Love who?"

"Penelope. But it's impossible."

"Well, love tends to be complicated," Arthur said.

"She's a Braithwaite! I'm Beau Gray, son of Tavish Gray, nephew of Leigh Gray the sheriff, grandson of old Murdo Gray. We Grays have been loyal to the State and murderers to the Braithwaites for so long now no one can even quite explain why. Beyond blind loyalty and stupidity." Beau started pacing. "I'm supposed to be loyal to some nonsense, while she… she's amazing! She's like a woman from the future. She's like tomorrow, if tomorrow turns out fine."

"Well, I'm sorry for your predicament," Arthur quickly interrupted.

"Would you help?" Beau asked.

"I don't want to get involved in gang feuds," Arthur said, turning to walk away. He got some information about the Gray and Braithwaite feud, enough to confirm that the anger ran long and deep. "Last time didn't really end well for me."

"What?" Beau asked.

"Nothing."

"I'll pay," Beau said, and Arthur paused. "We Grays, we've always got money. No brains, mind, but money."

Arthur sighed. The gang could use some more money. And considering how lovestruck this boy was, maybe some more information about the family could slip out. "Alright, fine."

Beau rushed back to his book, grabbing a letter from between the pages. "I know she loves to sit out in the gazebo on the edge of the Braithwaite property. Take her this letter and this bracelet. Please."

"Alright. I'll see you later."

"Oh, and look out for their guards! They're worse with strangers than ours are!"

"Great," Arthur muttered, grabbing Boadicea and heading towards Braithwaite Manor. He vaguely knew where it was, having seen the gate and the long line of huge trees along the entranceway while hunting near camp. Still, when he got to the fence, looking for a way through the fields away from the main house, he found himself astonished by the size of the property, wrapping around most of the peninsula.

At least the fields themselves didn't have guards. They were mostly stationed around the house and barn. Arthur skirted the edge of the massive property, weaving through the trees before spotting the gazebo along the lake, with a young woman sitting inside, staring out at the water and lightly fanning herself. He crouched low, stepping around the bank until he was certain the guards weren't looking, and approached.

"Are you Penelope Braithwaite?"

"Why yes, I am," Penelope said. She stared up at him with the same curious, intelligent expression Beau had when he figured out the gang's purpose.

"I've got a letter for you, and a gift."

"A letter and a gift? Well we don't even know each other."

Arthur laughed. "Well, it's not from me, it's from… uh…"

"From Beau!" she gasped, dropping her fan and tearing open the letter. "Oh, he is so…"

"Strange?" Arthur offered.

"Well, yes, he's a little strange, but also so human. The rest of our families are stuck in the Dark Ages, or… well, I don't know… cave people, perhaps." She handed Arthur a glass of lemonade, which he took gratefully. "Beau's different, but if they find out, they'll kill him, and send me to live someplace awful like Ohio. Have you ever been to Ohio, sir?"

"No, can't say I have," Arthur said.

"Well, neither have I, but my uncle has a factory there. He was sort of the black sheep, on account of having left, but now they tolerate him, because he's a vicious snob. Families are… are… they're something else."

Arthur chuckled a little, drinking his lemonade. These two kids were starting to grow on him. They were from completely different worlds, of course, but they were refreshing compared to Leigh Gray and that awful deputy, Archibald.

"Have you got a family, sir?" she asked.

"I do," Arthur said. "I've got a son, a bit younger than you and Beau."

"And you'll let him marry whoever he wants?"

"So long as they ain't an ax murderer, sure," Arthur said.

Penelope gave him a sad, wistful smile. "I wish my aunt was the same, but she can't stand me. I have ideas above my station."

"That sounds pretty complicated, I don't quite know what to say," Arthur said.

"Well nothing to say, except I hope they all rot." She hesitated, almost catching herself. "I don't, well, maybe a bit. But here, if you see Beau again, will you give this to him?"

"Sure," Arthur said. He was planning to go back there anyway, and even if he wasn't… well, having a kid made him soft, he knew that.

Arthur left the same way he came in, weaving his way back to Caliga Hall. He waved at the guards, asking where Beau was, and got directed towards the stables. Beau was there, brushing a Paint and minding his own business.

"You got my money?" Arthur asked with a grin, leaning on the stall door.

Beau jumped.

"Sure," he finally said. "Did she give anything? For me?"

"Yes."

"Might I have it?"

He thought about teasing the kid, but the hopeful expression caught him. "Sure. Here. Now, if I'm done running errands, maybe you could tell me a bit about this town."

"Yes, yes, of course," Beau said as he tore open the letter. "My god, what a woman! She's… this will get her killed for sure."

"What?"

"Women's suffrage."

Having never voted before himself, Arthur didn't know too much about voting rights rallies. He was about to get a lesson, though, as he followed an angry, ranting Beau out of the stables and towards town. He got the gist of things, though. Rhodes didn't much care for democratic government or women being involved in that government, and the supposed good citizens that the sheriff had talked about wasn't below murdering those who spoke up. And Beau was set to marry his cousin, apparently.

But when they got to the rally, setting up with their wagon outside town, Arthur was impressed. The women had signs and a wagon. The woman standing on a rock commanded the crowd well, giving a simple but powerful speech of encouragement. It reminded Arthur of some of Dutch's speeches before a big robbery, and he smiled as he imagined Dutch being a politician.

Beau insisted that the women needed protection from the Gray family, though Arthur wasn't sure he agreed. They seemed to have it handled. Besides, would the Gray family really attack one of the Braithwaites, or any other woman, in the middle of town? But Beau was concerned, and Penelope wanted to march, so Arthur found himself driving the wagon in his first ever protest march next to Olive Calhoon. She maintained her confidence even as the angry, jeering men surrounded the wagon and the protest, and soon, they were parked outside the bank.

It turned out that the women weren't the ones needing protection that day, though. When Beau's cousins showed up, they were more angry with Beau listening to the speeches than the women giving them.

"Beau, weren't we just leaving?" Arthur said.

"Who the hell are you?" the moron cousin asked.

"Come on," Arthur said, heading around the back of the bank.

"Who the hell is that?" one cousin asked the other as Arthur moved as fast towards his horse.

"Follow me, I know a place. It's an old battlefield no one goes to," Beau said, and they took off before the cousins could find their own horses.

"So, were those two the family you were worried about?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, but not all of them," Beau said. "If they know about Penelope and me…"

"Everyone knows about Penelope and you," Arthur said. "I know about Penelope and you and I have been here all of ten minutes. Sooner it's out, sooner it's resolved."

"The sooner it's dealt with, you mean," Beau replied. "We're dealt with. Our families, the Grays and the Braithwaites, we bury our secrets and we bury them deep. You know, Catherine Braithwaite's got a daughter. No one's seen her in years. She weren't right, and Penelope said they keep her locked up."

Arthur's eyes widened. No wonder the kid was so worried. If these families could do things like that to their own, well, who knows what else they were capable of. "And this feud?" he pressed. "I heard one of your families stole gold from the other and is keeping it hidden."

"That's how the story goes, Mr. Morgan, but I fear it's just that. A story."

"How so?" Arthur asked.

"Well, if both families think the other stole from them, one of them has to have the money," Beau said. "But my family doesn't, at least I don't think so, and Penelope doesn't think hers has it either."

"So, which one is the thief," Arthur finished.

"It's more likely someone swindled both families and ran off, or they made it up as an excuse to start fighting," Beau said.

Not the ending Dutch was hoping for, of course. But the families were still rich and angry with one another, so it wouldn't be a total loss.

As long as Beau and Penelope didn't wind up in the middle of it. Damn, he was really soft.

"If it's as bad as you say, then you should leave," Arthur said.

"I will, as soon as I have enough money," Beau said. "My family has money, but I don't."

"You could rob them and take off," Arthur suggested, only half joking.

"Very funny," Beau said, offering Arthur a money clip.

He hesitated, then said, "Keep it. In case you need to hurry out of here."

"Thank you, Mr. Morgan."

"Listen, no more running around with letters, but if you or Penelope need anything, write to Tacitus Kilgore here in Rhodes. The letter will find its way to me."

Arthur waved him goodbye and rode back to camp to tell Dutch what he learned. He spotted Charles on guard duty on the way back, stopping to chat and share the story with him.

"Didn't know you were such a romantic. Passing letters for a secret relationship," Charles said with a grin.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Arthur said. "I was just doing what Dutch said."

"Sure you were."

"Still, I should let him know how it went," he said, before pulling Charles in for a kiss. "See you later."

"Looking forward to it."

Arthur removed Boadicea's saddle and sent her off with the other horses. Kieran was grooming his own horse, keeping his eyes glued to the brush. "How are the horses, O'Driscoll?" Arthur asked.

Kieran jumped. "Uh, just fine, Mr. Morgan. And I'm not an O'Driscoll."

"Just messing with you," Arthur said. "They doing alright though?"

"Okay, well, some of them could be better. I'm worried. They've been through a lot. If I had some burdock root, I could knock up a poultice, could keep them well and cure some ailments."

"Burdock root, huh? Well, I'll keep an eye out."

At least the O'Driscoll cared about the horses, even if he was nervous and jumpy. Arthur had heard of burdock root before, probably from Hosea. He'd ask Hosea where to find it later.

"Arthur! How did you get on?" Dutch asked, calling him over from his tent. And there was Micah, sitting right next to him, leaning against a crate and sharpening his knife.

"Good, I guess," Arthur said. "Found out a bunch about these families. Certainly as backwards and crazy as Trelawny said, but I'm not so sure about this whole stolen gold thing."

"How so?"

"I mean, they're rich, sure. But this feud goes so far back, according to the Gray kid I talked to, and no one is entirely sure why anymore. Stolen gold might just be a town rumor."

"And you believe this kid, Morgan?" Micah said. "People lie all the time."

"He's more interested in running away with a Braithwaite girl than protecting his family fortune. Almost like Romeo and Juliet. As far as I can tell, if there was buried treasure on his property, he would have dug it up by now."

Dutch nodded. "Hosea went over to the Braithwaites place earlier. The matriarch is running the moonshine business, possibly to make ends meet on the plantation. Seems unlikely they have a vault of gold for a rainy day."

Micah glared at Arthur. "But that don't mean we can't still rob both of them."

"Both?" Arthur said. "But didn't you boys become deputies?"

"Considering how drunk Leigh Gray is on a daily basis, I doubt he'll notice," Dutch said with a laugh. "Listen, son, last thing I want is to get us into trouble, but we need money. Now we have the opportunity here to put ourselves in the middle of something ain't nobody gonna know we was here. Because even without us, these fools are gonna kill each other anyway."

"I don't know, Dutch," Arthur said.

"Look, we've made contact with both of the families, and now we wait! Surely, they will have some opportunity for us. Hosea has gone back to the Braithwaite woman with Sean-"

"Wait, Sean is working with Hosea?"

"You said he's matured."

Arthur did say that, but more in the line of replacing Micah as lawman than conning with Hosea.

"Anyway," Dutch continued, "he's gone over to the manor to see what work they could have for us. In the meantime, maybe you can keep talking to this kid, make sure the families don't suspect us of anything."

"I just really think we should lie low this time," Arthur said.

"What do you know about robbing?" Micah asked.

"Listen," Arthur said to Dutch, ignoring Micah. "These families have armed guards patrolling their property and most of the town in their employ. The Gray kid said something about his family killing women at a suffrage rally. If they figure us out, we're going to have a fight on our hands!"

"It's not going to-"

"I don't want my son in the middle of a war."

"That ain't going to happen!" Dutch said. "Will you just trust me, Arthur?"

Arthur did trust Dutch. He just didn't trust Dutch with Micah around. And he wanted to say as much, but then Jack came running up.

"Uncle Dutch! There's a dog! A dog!"

"What?" They both turned to see Catahoula Cur wandering into camp. "Well, will you look at that."

"Isaac, look! A dog!" Jack continued, dragging Isaac over. Isaac crouched down and held out a hand for the dog to sniff, and the dog soon nudged his hand looking for pets.

"Well, where did he come from?" Dutch said.

"I don't know, he just wandered in. Hi, my friend, hi."

"Want to pet him? He's friendly," Isaac said, and Jack did.

"Well, then he's ours, I guess," Dutch said. The dog walked right up to Dutch and sat, nice and calm.

"That's so great!" said Jack. "What should we call him?"

"Well, he's a wanderer. Probably did something bad. Cain, his name is Cain."

"Hey, Cain," Jack said. "What did Cain do?"

"A real bad thing, so he never stopped wandering."

"Arthur, did you pet the dog?" Jack asked.

"I will," Arthur said. "Come here, boy."

He gave Cain a scratch behind the ears, smiling. He missed having a dog around since Copper passed. And he did notice how Isaac's face lit up at the sight of Cain.