Karen hadn't worn anything new in ages and the last time she gussied up this nice musta been when her and the boys pulled off that bank job in Valentine. That had been a fun time. Hell, today had been fun, despite the danger of it.

However, the day's events hadn't been enough to push down the guilt of the past. Trying to shake it once more, Karen looked out the window as they passed Van Horn. The sight of which didn't ease her mind any as vague memories floated to the forefront.

Van Horn had been her first stop after leaving the gang. She'd been blacked out most of the time, but some images remained clear. Dancing on the saloon tables, strange men grabbing at any and all parts of her, waking up in rat-eaten beds, next to men she never remembered from the night before. She'd been surviving there until the town got shot up.

For the first time, Karen wondered if that had anything to do with the gang, since their hideout hadn't been too far off. At the time, she didn't considered it. She'd seen the law and hitched a ride south.

Here and now, she sat cleaned up a little, and, foolishly, she felt somewhat like a person again despite not being able to leave all the dark memories behind. She'd been pissed by Charlotte's maneuvering her to pick out a new outfit, but she couldn't rid herself of the warm feelings at having someone else treat her for nothing.

Behind her, she heard someone stand and then Arthur was sliding in next to her. He informed her, "Charlotte's out."

Karen glanced back, seeing the dark-haired woman's head resting against the window, eyes closed. "Makes sense. She didn't sleep none last night, fretting over your sorry hide."

"She seem alright to you?" Arthur asked in low tones.

"I guess." She shrugged. "But I ain't known her five minutes before she had a gun pointed at me."

Arthur's worried frown in Charlotte's direction shifted to Karen. "What?"

"She was mighty determined to get you out of that jail. Enough to rope me into it and I didn't plan on coming back for you." Karen grinned a little. "But it sure was worth sobering up for, I'll admit."

"You two enjoyed that mess a little too much," Arthur muttered. He lifted his chin and asked, "How did you both get on by the way?"

Karen raised a brow. "You wantin' my blessing or something, Arthur?"

"No." He chuckled. "You seem like you like each other, but I ain't never been able to tell with women."

"She seems like she's got a good head on her shoulders." Karen added cheekily, "Except she's with you."

"I've told her much the same and, thankfully, she won't listen."

She hadn't known Charlotte long, but Karen already had a feel for her personality. Her fierceness at getting Arthur back reminded her of Abigail's intensity and insistence in retrieving Jack. Her soft nature brought up memories of Mary-Beth. Lastly, her no-nonsense, but nurturing attitude at the tailor were identical to the times Tilly had been watching out for her. Damn, Karen missed those girls.

Arthur settled in his seat more comfortably and said, "Pearson was surprised to see you."

"So?"

"I thought you took off with him, Uncle and Mary-Beth."

"No. I must've left just before." His words had her tightened chest loosening. Mary-Beth did get out then. But from what, she didn't yet know besides that Charlotte had insinuated it wasn't good.

Not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer, Karen swallowed and asked, "What happened to the gang, Arthur?"

"A lot." Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "What you remember?"

"I remember..." Grimshaw shooting Molly... "you getting John when Dutch said not to."

"Yeah..."

"You throwing Strauss out on his ass, but I never heard why."

Arthur's jaw tightened. "'Cause he was a vulture. Worse than a vulture. Least a vulture ain't preying on the living. Shoulda got rid of him a long time ago before that."

That was a lot of hate over one man she didn't think anyone else had a problem with. She raised a brow and said as much, "You sure feel strong about that."

"He weren't helping with his loans by then anyways. I couldn't take nothing from folk who had nothing in the first place." Arthur sighed and looked away before rubbing a hand on his chest. "And maybe I blame him for this. If he weren't lendin' to the sick, I wouldn't gotten hit with TB."

Karen's brows raised in surprise. "Well, you ain't on your deathbed, so it can't be all bad."

"No. Leastwise, not yet."

Arthur fell silent and Karen didn't know what to tell him. She wasn't a stranger to the consequences of her own actions. While she thought she had it rough most days, she wouldn't want to be stuck with a lifelong illness.

"I ain't sure you want the details on what happened," Arthur interrupted her musings. "It was all pretty much done since we got back from Guarma. Maybe even sooner."

"What happened?" Karen prompted.

"It ended real bad. Dutch going off on me and Marston..." Arthur shook his head like he didn't want to bring up the memories. "Seemed like that's all I'd been doin' with Dutch them last couple weeks, causing trouble for him when all I'd been tryin' to do was keep us together."

Much as it had been Dutch who'd taken nearly all of them in at one point, it wasn't him Karen was concerned about now. She dared ask Arthur, "Anyone else make it out okay? Any of the girls?"

"Abigail got taken."

"By who?"

Arthur's face hardened as he spit out, "Pinkertons."

"Bastards." When the other girls, Tilly and Mary-Beth, got too silly, Abigail was always reliable for a decent conversation. "She okay?"

"Me and Sadie got her back. Abigail killed Milton."

"Good," Karen said ruthlessly. "And Tilly? Mary-Beth?"

"Tilly, we sent off with little Jack, and Sadie's since told me she's in Saint Denis. I ain't knowin' where though. Haven't seen her the couple times I been through." Arthur made a motion like he meant to run a hand through his beard, but whatever barber he'd been to had shaved his jaw smooth. He frowned, rubbing his chin instead. "I ain't too sure about Mary-Beth, but like I said, she took off with Pearson. S'pose we could write him and find something out. Didn't think to ask."

"Yeah, I think I will write him." Damn, she'd missed them all so much.

Arthur informed her grimly, "Susan's dead."

Shocked, Karen's mouth dropped open. "How?"

"Micah."

What a goddamn bastard. They all knew he'd been rotten and they'd let him stick around anyway. But Karen was too numb at the news to feel any hate. Numerous times she'd said she wanted to kill Grimshaw, but she hadn't been serious. She'd only been venting frustration for always being yelled at and ordered about like Grimshaw's personal slave.

"I miss the old days, Arthur," Karen commented quietly. "When we could rob and steal and it was fun."

"Yeah, sometimes I miss it too. But them times is gone for good. The law's takin' over this land and we got to adapt or be killed by it."

"I like that life," Karen said stubbornly. "I thrive on it."

He shook his head. "You liked bein' chased by the law and hungry more often than not?"

"I liked bein' free."

"You weren't free," Arthur argued. "Ain't none of us were, much as Dutch tried to convince us otherwise."

"It was my life," she insisted.

"Some life." Arthur gestured to a bottle of whiskey at her side. "Just look at you. You're still killing yourself with this nonsense."

She crossed her arms. "Don't you come after me. You got your women and I got this."

"That ain't a life. Drinking like I seen you do, you're damn lucky to be alive." He pointed at the bottle again. "Where the hell you get that anyhow?"

"Swiped it from the tailor's private stash in his office while I was changing clothes."

"Damn it, Karen."

"What?" As if he had any right to act like he was better than her. She lashed out at him, "What the hell else am I supposed to do with myself?"

A few heads turned at her outburst and Arthur answered quietly, "I don't know. Settle down, find a husband, or a home for yourself somewhere."

"You're sounding like Mary-Beth and Tilly. Their heads were always full of dreams like that. All they wanted was some big, strong man to swoop in and care for them the rest of their days. I don't believe in that fairy tale shit."

"Well, I don't know!" Arthur's temper was breaking through. "What the hell do you want then?"

It frustrated her as well and she couldn't quite find the words to describe what she wanted. "I don't know neither. Something that makes me feel fulfilled with life. That makes me as excited as robbing a goddamn bank does."

Arthur shook his head, like he didn't know a feeling to match that. "Look, I didn't come up here to argue with you." His tone got serious and she tensed. "I know you're in a bad way. Charlotte and I want you to stay with us for awhile."

She turned away from him, her cheeks flushing with shame. "I don't want your damn pity."

"It ain't pity. Just a friend asking another over for company. It bein' Christmas and all."

Karen pressed her lips together and didn't answer.

Arthur continued, "Come on, Karen. Don't get stubborn about this. Stay 'til the end of the year at least. I know you ain't got no where else to go and...and it'd make me feel better seeing you were alright."

It was a good offer, even if it had her hackles rising in defense that he asked her at all. Staying with Arthur was better than nothing, better than waking up with strangers. Better than not waking up at all.

She shrugged begrudgingly. "Beats my plan, I guess."

"Which was?"

"Riding the train 'til they kicked me off."

"Karen..."

"I said yes, Arthur. You don't got to badger me." She faced him and stated bluntly, "You're right. I ain't got nowhere else."

"Well. Okay then," he said, clearly unsure of how to react.

Karen wasn't so dumb as to not realize Arthur didn't have to take her in, that he meant well, even if he was clumsy about it. In a softer tone, she added sincerely, "Thank you, Arthur."

He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You're welcome."

He stood then, but hesitated and she tilted her head. "What?"

Now he wouldn't meet her eye as he asked, "Hey, you and the other girls, uh, never snooped through my mail, did you?"

"Who told you that?"

"Sadie," he said.

"Blabbermouth."

He froze and met her humored gaze. "So you did? Goddammit!"

"It was just some harmless fun for us." Karen couldn't quite hold back the grin forming. "What else were we supposed to do?"

"Not go through my goddamn personals." Arthur left her then, slipping back into his own seat and grumbling some more under his breath like a grumpy old man.

Karen didn't feel bad about it. If he didn't want to know, he shouldn't have asked.

OOOOOOOOO

As they arrived in Annesburg, Karen joined Charlotte in collecting some parcels at the mail office while Arthur brought the horses around from a small stable down the street. While they waited, Karen observed the town of Annesburg. It was her first time here and she didn't know anything much about it.

There were a lot of men milling around, but that's how all these small towns were. A few shops lined the main road, but none of them looked like they'd been in business in awhile. It was snowing here, adding to the few inches already on the ground.

Karen shivered, grateful she'd taken Charlotte's tip for a warmer coat with her outfit. If she was staying here a couple of weeks, she'd have to find herself some gloves too. The air up here was bitter cold. However, if she compared it to the miserable late blizzard in the Grizzlies this past May, it wasn't the worst of conditions.

When the wind briefly picked up, Karen asked with irritation, "What's taking Arthur so long?"

Beside her, Charlotte smiled, her cheeks rosy. "Surely you're familiar with how he interacts with his horse?"

Unfortunately, she was. Idiot greeted them like they were his damn family members. Maybe that was harsh, but Karen was freezing her ass off here. Eventually, Arthur came around with the horses, riding a mare and leading a workhorse.

Arthur dismounted, handing her the lead to the dappled brown mare. "This here's Jane. She's the jealous type so she might fight you a little."

"It's a horse, Arthur."

He ignored her eye roll and continued, "Go easy on her. I'd ride her up myself, but Vee will take two riders better."

Arthur took the parcels from her and Karen mounted up. He fit what he could in the saddlebags and attached the remaining bags split between the two horses. Arthur and Charlotte mounted on the large gray workhouse and they were off.

Karen found her horse did have some spirit, wanting to stay close to the other horse. Or maybe it was Arthur she was after and he wasn't exaggerating about the jealousy.

Arthur led them out of town and into the woods, silence descending as the trees engulfed them. While the snow was packed down on the path, Karen could see off the trail it was at least a foot high, maybe even reaching her knees if she were to trudge through it. She hoped this cabin wasn't too far of a ride. Already, she was feeling the chill through her boots and she had to keep blowing and rubbing her hands together to keep warm.

Eventually, they cleared the snow-covered trees. As they crossed the tracks and started in the direction of a river, Karen was about to ask how much further, when howling broke the crunching of the snow under the horses' trotting. Arthur reined in his horse to an immediate halt and Karen followed suit.

Charlotte asked in alarm, "What was that?"

"Stay here," Arthur ordered and he was slipping off the horse, pulling a rifle from the saddle. He checked the gun before moving cautiously up the path, inspecting the ground.

Down the hill, in the distance ran a man, with three wolves snapping at his heels.

"Shit!" swore Arthur and he took off.

Arthur paused once to let out a shot, which unfortunately didn't scare off the ravenous wolves, but did startle the running man into tumbling face first into the snow. However, he wasn't immediately feasted upon because the dogs overshot him. One backtracked quicker than the other two, enough to sink in his teeth.

Luckily for the man, the wolf only got hold of his coat, but as he scrambled back, the coat was pulled over his head, obscuring his view as the wolf clamped tight.

Both horses shifted anxiously at the barking. Charlotte caught hold of Vee and quieted him quickly enough. Jane was more disturbed, moving until Karen patted her down.

Charlotte fumbled in her coat and hauled out her own gun. But when she aimed and pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Karen had used all of her bullets and the gun Lou had defending the jailhouse.

"Darn it," Charlotte cursed.

Karen fixed her gaze back on Arthur, who'd made it to the man. By this time, the wolf nearest no longer had a hold of the coat and had backed off, circling the two men. Arthur stood over the other man protectively and took aim again. This time when he shot, it was for the kill and one of the wolves yipped before slumping into the snow. The next one showed teeth and moved in and Arthur swung his rifle around to get that one too.

The last wolf, who'd gotten the closest to his prize, turned and sped off in the direction of the woods. Arthur trained his gun, but ended up letting the animal go.

The women nudged their horses forward, approaching Arthur and the stranger.

"You okay, son?" Arthur asked.

Arthur hauled him up, onto his feet. The man adjusted his fine, yet torn wool coat, pushing it back over his head to reveal dark, disheveled hair and startlingly bright green eyes.

"Benji!" Charlotte exclaimed, sliding from her horse and throwing her arms around him. "What on Earth are you doing all the way out here?"

"I—"

"Heavens, you look awful."

He offered weakly, "I was just attacked by wolves, Char."

"Are you injured?" She started patting down his arms, inspecting him. With Charlotte next to the man, Karen immediately recognized the similarities and knew they were related.

Arthur pushed the two towards the horses. "You can fix him up at the house. Let's get away from here before that lone wolf brings by more friends. Come on."