Arthur Morgan's Journal: Colter

We have been running for weeks. I mean running more than usual. The job they was pulling in Blackwater, robbing that ferry, it turned into a disaster.

Young Jenny got killed, poor thing, while Sean and Mac got arrested, or killed, nobody seems which.

Dutch shot a girl. I am not too sure if by accident or design, and seems like it might have been a set up.

We took to the hills in an almighty scramble, leaving money and most of our things behind.

Then, as we were fleeing east over the Grizzlies, an almighty storm hit us.

Davey Callendar, who had got shot in the gut on the raid, passed away. It was brutal to watch, and the rest us nearly froze, but we found shelter and have been resting here in some old, abandoned mining town while we await the thaw.

DAVEY ✝

Hardly the spring I had been hoping for. Hosea and I had been planning a robbery of our own in Blackwater, but I guess that's been abandoned along with most of what I owned.

I am profoundly concerned as to what happens next, once we leave this place or the law finds us cowering up here.

Found a girl, well a woman I should say. Her husband had been murdered by some of Colm O'Driscoll's boys - nasty business. -

Had to save John again. It was Abigail's request.

I don't know how many times I risked my own life to save that fool but I did. Javier rode out with me.

We found John with a nasty scratch on the side of his face. The wolves got to him but I am glad that he is okay. For Jack's case.

Once we brought him back to the new camp, Abigail was happy, thanking me.

Then, as I was walking back to my cabin, Abigail came out and kissed me. KISSED ME.

I am such a goddamn fool for that woman.

Hardly the spring I had been hoping for, I guess. The snow blankets keep getting worse by the second. My face feels frozen. I wouldn't be surprised if my entire body gave out right now but I had to stay strong. Everybody was not having a good time over the nasty business that happened up at Blackwater.

My eyes adjusted to the rotting wood that was keeping this cabin up. I was now overhearing Hosea and Dutch talking, so I decided to spring up from the not so relaxed bed and join them.

"so what now, Dutch?" Hosea asked.

"We get strong, we get warm... and we wait." Dutch explained, hearing his fingers up by the warm fire. "When the storm breaks, we move but we're safe here. Warm enough."

I don't think Hosea believed that all that much, which is understandable. A lot of people were losing faith but then again, the cold makes people things awful thoughts. Dutch was trying his best, I understand. "I guess."

Dutch noticed the doubtfulness in Hosea's voice. "You sound doubtful."

Hosea shrugged almost. "not... doubtful, just worried."

We're all worried as of right now.

"What do you think, Arthur?" Dutch asked me now.

I didn't know what to say, really. "I wasn't on that boat, so hard to say but I trust your judgment, Dutch. Always have."

"Thank you son... We have been shot at before, Hosea. I don't feel like this is honestly anything new."

"I hope not." Hosea answered.

"We had a bit of bad luck but then the storm covered our tracks, so now we wait a bit... and we go back to Blackwater and we get our money or we get some money and we keep heading west..."

Hell, maybe we shouldn't go back to Blackwater. That was nasty back there. I was not hoping to get shot over Micah's dirty work.

I left the cabin, seeing the snow fall further down from the sky. Walking by Javier by the other cabin, I nodded in respect and walked through the doors where Lenny, Bill Micah, and Charles resided.

"Up with you boys, because I thought you liked action. Couple of days on the lam... and you lot have all turned yella. Apart from you, of course." Micah turned to Lenny with a smirk falling down from his lips. Micah was already getting on my nerves and it wasn't dawn yet.

Lenny took a drag from his cigarette, "Shut up, Micah."

"I ain't never seen so many long faces." Micah continued on but Javier comes walking in.

Bill decided to come in with his feelings. "I guess folks miss them... that fell."

"Well, when I fall, I don't want no fuss."

"When you fall... there'll be a party." Lenny made the entire room chuckle. I was chuckling. There would be a goddamned party if Micah fell.

Micah was not having the joke though. He got up and looked Bill straight in the face. "That funny, huh?"

"Sure." Bill answered.

Micah threw a punch at Bill and we all had to pull the bigger man away from punching him back. "Maybe I don't feel like being laughed at by the likes of you two."

Dutch came in just in time. "Stop it! Now! You fools punching each other... when Colm O'Driscoll's needing punching, hard. You wanna sit around waiting for him to come find us? All of you, we got work to do."

I walked out of the cabin, putting a cigarette between my lips. "Are you sure about this, Dutch?"

"Yes."

"Folks been through a lot recently... we hardly back on our feet yet."

"And the last thing we need is to get bushwhacked by Colm O'Driscoll. Let's go." Dutch hit the back of my shoulder, escorting me to the horses.

"I know you hate him, Dutch."

"He's here for us."

I snickered. "I doubt that."

"No, you're just doubting me."

"I would never doubt you, Dutch, you... you always said revenge is a luxury we can't afford."

"This is the right call, Arthur." Dutch grabbed his rifle from his horse, giving it to me. "Take this. And this is about more than revenge for business long ago. They were talking about trains and detonators."

I put the rifle around my shoulder as Dutch gave me a lasso.

"Colm always had good information. Come on."

I walked over to my new horse, pushing myself on top to settle down on the saddle. "And you think now is the right time to hit a train?"

"Now you might fancy living on deer piss and rabbit shit... I'm getting too old for that life."

I guess her was right. He always was. I threw my cigarette in the snow.

"Mr. Matthews. Mr. Smith. Mr. Pearson... would you please look after the place... there are O'Driscolls about."

Bill, Lenny, Micah, and Javier joined Dutch and I on this mission.

And we were off. One by one, we all followed Dutch as we rode off to get blood in our hands with the O'Driscolls. The snow, after a while, gets brighter by each gallop my horse made. My cheeks getting red by the cold. Snow pilling up on my thick blue winter coat. The snow was definitely not ideal for me. I could never live out in the cold but there are some folk that love the isolation. I should love the isolation - I'm an outlaw, for some reason, but the isolation with the side of cold doesn't make it perfect.

"Southwest, right, Arthur?" Dutch asked.

"Yeah, he said follow the main trail southwest. They're camped near some lake." I said.

"Okay, let's go find these bastards before they find us, and rob this score they're planning."

Dutch has hated Colm O'Driscoll for the longest time but they understood each other way back when. It all turned bloody when they turned into enemies. Dutch had to murder Colm's brother because he always wanted the last word, even though he didn't exactly get it. Colm had the last word, murdering Dutch's lover, Annabelle.

Ever since then, Dutch wanted to avenge Annabelle. I just know that stealing Colm's score won't make anything better. Revenge is never the key for anything. Revenge is a fool's game.

Annabelle was a beautiful human being. She had eyes greener than the grass and trees. Her voice patient and concerned. She loved Dutch. Dutch loved her. I only wished she got up and left the gang rather than dying because of what Dutch foolishly done. When we got word that she passed on by the brutal hands of Colm, Dutch became obsessed in trying to be better than the O'Driscoll's. To me, personally, we should just stay away from them but I'm not in charge here.

As we roamed further in the snow storm, almost everybody kept their feelings to themselves, which is understandable. If we said anything, implying that we're against Dutch's plans, he would automatically think we're not loyal enough for the job.

I've been loyal to Dutch for the longest time. I'm still ever so loyal to him.

"What's that?" I asked, unable to not be overwhelmed with the white of the snow.

"Tracks... horses, quite a few of 'em." Dutch answered, following the noticeable horse tracks. "Far as I can tell, the only fools out here are us and them... they must be this way.

I knew he wasn't okay but I had to ask, just to make sure. "You good, Dutch?"

"Of course." He quickly said. Denying it will never truly make it okay for him. "Listen, I know you don't think much of my ideas recently, but this is the right move."

"Okay... you know I got your back."

"I learned a long time ago that you hit Colm O'Driscoll... wait for him and the people you love will die."

I held tightly on the reins of my horse. "This feud between you and him... needs to be put to rest, one way or another."

Bill shuffled out a laugh. "It will be."

"Some things I can forgive, others I can forget. What he did to Annabelle, I can't do neither." Dutch said.

"You killed his brother, Dutch." I responded.

"Yes, I did," Dutch never truly had regrets over the fact he killed Colm's brother. He never did. "And I hope the bastards'll be reunited soon enough. That's how this'll end."

"Damn right, boss!" Bill shouted.

Dark charcoal smoke was seen in the air. I could barely see it but Dutch quickly came to the idea that we all should cut up and take a look. We knew we were close.

When we pulled our horses to the side, Dutch clapped his hands and gave us all a look. "Are we goddamn ready?"

We all said that we were ready. Were we about to kill Colm O'Driscoll?

"Now, Mr. Morgan and I, we're going to head up here a little, see if we can't get a sense of the layout of the camp... Mr. Williamson, Mr. Bell, you two take up a hidden position just outside the camp... Mr. Summers, Mr. Escuella, you two hold position here... Let's go."

Dutch and I got off our horses and walked along the edge of cliff above the camp. Dutch pulled out his binoculars as I did the same. The first thing that popped out at me was a young man getting something out of his saddle pouch.

I looked longer and harder. Snow gently falling from the heavens. More men coming out of shacks. Was it Colm? I couldn't tell. It was definitely his men.

After another hard look, I realized it was Colm, who was now yelling at the young man to come over towards him. He did what he was told.

Colm, stepping up on his horse, didn't seem all that happy. Even Dutch pointed it out.

In a second or so, Colm grabbed the man by the collar of his winter coat and slapped him around several times. I wish I could pin point about what was being said. Maybe it was best to keep it a secret.

Colm and a few others in his gang were not leaving the sight. "Should we go get 'em?" I asked.

"No. Colm can wait. Best to get some of them outta there." Dutch quickly answered, "And much less fun to rob him and his score if he never finds out about it... Alright, let's go pay our old friends a visit."

I snickered as we walked back down to our horses. Lenny and Javier were looking out behind them. I grabbed the rifle from my horse, keeping myself close to Dutch.

"Seems easiest to take the same path down as Bill and Micah." Dutch shuffled through the deep snow. "Like you said, revenge is a luxury we can't afford."

I was shocked to know that he liked what I said. Didn't think he would repeat it. "Yeah, I wasn't sure you agreed with me."

"Arthur. Arthur, have you completely lost faith in me? Our needs right now are supplies, equipment and a way out of here. Everything else, including Colm, can wait."

Dutch was smart and I had to believe in him. A charismatic man can talk himself out of anything. Dutch was definitely known for that. Besides, he was one of the few men that I truly trusted. I just don't understand why he has the nerve to give any liking towards Micah... He was one of the main reasons why the Blackwater ferry job didn't exactly go the way everyone anticipated it would go.

"There's enough of those bastards down there to deal with as it is." Dutch went on as we walked through the hill, almost stumbling from how deep the snow was.

"Maybe I should take the lead on this. They're going to be gunning for you." I was just looking out for Dutch, who was not on Colm's good side.

"They ain't got me yet."

"No, but the way our luck's been running..."

He stopped me. "Hush, let's get down there first... Follow me, let's head for that building in front."

The further we walked down, the more chatter I could hear coming from Colm's gang. Not the chatter I would like to hear, anyway.

The building was rusting on the side. The landing above us cracked. We walked slowly underneath it, trying to move around without being noticed. I was just surprised that most of the building was still intact. I thought the snow would have took it down with the weight. Time will tell, anyway.

As we got into a comfortable spot to take cover, Micah gave me a look of disgust. I really don't know what his problem is. Nobody at camp liked him. Well, besides Dutch, anyway.

"So what are we doing, Dutch? I can take this if you want." I tucked my rifle closer to me, looking at Dutch from what I was covered.

"Just make the call. You wanna take the lead? Go."

And so I did. I shot a few in the head. Suddenly, I realized that this might have been a bad call but there was nothing we could do about avoiding a shootout. It was like I was possessed in shooting Colm's boys. Some, maybe a few, were actually were innocent from the grasp Colm had for his gang but maybe this was needed to take the train job away from them.

I just kept shooting them. One after another. Micah, Bill, and Dutch had my back as we ran up to get the last remaining O'Driscoll's in the area. once we were completely done slaughtering, Dutch quickly gave me the okay to loot the bodies to see what they had in store for us.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, was important in the pockets of these dead men. Only a few cents in their name.

"You recognize any of them, Dutch?" Bill asked.

"Of course not. Colm doesn't give a damn about his men." Dutch answered truthfully. "All he cares about is numbers. If you can shoot a gun, and ride a horse, and kill without a thought, you're in. Think how long some of you have been with me? I imagine Colm doesn't even know half of the names of these fools."

The sad part of it all was that Dutch was pitting out the truth. Colm always cared about himself and how much money he can make in his lifetime. I don't even think he cared about his brother all that much.

Shots from the distance were fired. BANG BANG BANG!

"Heads up, boys! We got more coming in from the forest!" Dutch warned us.

I grabbed my rifle once more, and shot at the O'Driscolls again. it was like they multiplied. They just kept forcing themselves out of the trees but I was just happy enough that the few men that were alive from the gang were running away from the gun fight. I left them alone but Micah had the decency to shoot the cowards in the back of the head.

Dutch promoted us to look around and see what we can find in the shacks. Bill was instructed to search the wagon. Micah had to search the building to the right as I was told to take the building to the left. Dutch just sat proud on his albino horse.

We had to find any sort of explosions that could help us take the train job. In my building, the first thing I noticed was a big, almost gunned down, box filled with explosions. Bill was right behind me as I shuffled through it, "Here... this looks good... what do you think Bill?"

"Looks fine... smells good."

I give him a smile as we both walked back to Dutch, who asked if we got everything we needed to take this score.

"Think so, Boss... Found this on one of them." Micah gave Dutch information on the train we are gonna rob pretty soon.

"A Mr. Leviticus Cornwall..." Dutch seemed to grin at the name. I'm not too sure if he knew the man or not. Probably not.

Once we knew we were done with area, Dutch instructed us to follow him back to Colter. "Proud of you boys! All of you. Not a man down."

Javier and Lenny rode down from the cliff to catch up to us.

"Good work, fellers." Bill said.

"Not bad for some starving down-and-outs," Dutch smiled. "They can pummel us as hard as they like, but we will always get back up and fight. That's who we are. Outlaws for life, fellers."

Outlaws for life. That has always been struck in my head. Mary Linton didn't want me to be an outlaw for life. Did I want to be an outlaw for life? I don't know. I just know that I'm too loyal to Dutch to back out now.

Dutch continued. "Wait until we have John, Mac, Charles, and Sean back riding with us, and I believe... I know... they will all be back."

"You didn't get Colm, but this hit will hurt him a lot more than any bullet in the head." I said in a simple manner.

"Especially when we rob this train too." Dutch smirked this time around.

I give out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess we'll see about that."

"Oh, indeed we will."

"You know... he'll come after us." I said.

Dutch knew that he would. "Oh, of course he will, just like all the rest but we're going to stay a step ahead of them, make sure we always know where they are before they know where we are. We allowed ourselves to get a step behind in Blackwater. That won't happen again."

I hope he was right. Blackwater was a mess - Riding with Dutch has always been fun. The adrenaline of excitement always rushed before me. Getting shot at is not fun but I always knew we'd get out alive in all the deals we got ourselves into. We were strong by the loyalty that is on our backs.

Thirty minutes passed as we made ground back to Colter. The sun was going down as the wind picked up, making it colder. Dutch quickly noticed a man in the awful weather, riding away.

"Hey, you see that feller? Wasn't he at the camp with Colm?" Dutch asked.

My tongue brushed along my teeth. "Leave him to me."

"Alright, we're heading back, just bring him back alive. He could be useful."

I kicked my horse in the side gently, giving it the okay to rush towards the man on the horse. I eventually caught up to him, wrapping my lasso with my fingers. Once I had a feeling it was okay to bring him down with the rope, I let it go, bringing the man to the solid white ground.

"Shit no! Don't hurt me!" The O'Driscoll pleaded.

I got off my horse and walked over to him. I was taking my time, "I'm not here to hurt you... Somebody else might." I said this all with a straight face, fastening together his hands and feet together, placing him on the back of my horse. Mounting back up, I could hear the sad cries coming from the O'Driscoll. I thought it was better to make small talk than hearing him squirm. "What's your name, boy?"

"I don't know!" He cried once more.

I gave out a chuckle. "You don't know your name?"

He gave in. "It's Kieran."

"Kieran what?" I asked.

"Duffy. Kieran Duffy."

"Well, I ain't gonna lie to you... this is a real bad day for you, Kieran Duffy."

"Where are you taking me?" He asked. His voice was filled with horridness.

"Somewhere you ain't gonna like."

"Why? What are you gonna do to me?" He was fiddling around in the back this time.

"Like I said, I'm not gonna hurt you... They might do something you ain't gonna like. So I'd advice you to save your breath for screaming."

"No, please!" Kieran was screaming more but he was silent through most of the ride. When we were almost back to the camp, he spoke up once more. "I think I'm gonna puke. I don't wanna die, mister. Please, I'll do anything!"

"Are you trying to test me, is that it? Because I will break every bone in your body." I wasn't serious. I was just trying to scare him. Nobody wants to die.

"I thought you don't wanna kill me."

"I changed my mind..."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... okay?"

I cleared my throat. "Not one more goddamn word, am I clear?"

"Okay... Okay..."

I snickered. "That's two bones, right there."

Once we reached the camp, I dismounting my horse next to the others horses. "Here we are, you sack of shit. Let's introduce you to the boys."

I picked him up from the back of my horse, carrying Kieran to the cabin. He was once again pleading me not to hurt him. I warned him that he didn't need to worry about a thing, they're all very nice folk.

Dutch must've heard our voice because he came out, not entirely shocked that I came out of the snow storm alive. "You found the little shit, did you?"

"Yep..." I answered, throwing Kieran to the ground. I took out my hunting knife, slicing through the rope.

"Good work. Welcome to your new home... hope you're real happy here." Dutch's sarcasm was not pleasant for Kieran.

I picked the O'Driscoll from the ground, "You want me to make him talk?"

"Oh no, now all we'll get is lies... Uncle, Mr. Williamson... Tie this maggot up someplace safe. We get him hungry first," Dutch looked Kieran in the eye this time, "I got a saying, my friend... we shoot fellers as need shooting... save fellers as need saving... and feed 'em as need feeding. We're gonna find out what you need..." Dutch smiled, "I can't believe it... an O'Driscoll in my camp."

Kieran was fighting with the hands of Bill and Uncle. "No, I ain't an O'Driscoll, mister... I hate that feller."

"Oh, whatever you say, son..." Dutch then gave me a small look. "Well done, Arthur."

"I'm just sorry we missed out on Colm." I said, throwing my arms in the air.

Dutch opened the cabin door, "Oh, there's time enough for that. Now, I gotta figure out if we can hit that train."

Dutch and his plans. I just hope this plan will be better than the Blackwater plan.

The next morning, I had the chance to wrangle up some deer with Charles for Pearson to cook up something good for the camp. Through our adventures, I was surprised by a beautiful White Arabian horse. I decided to break her in, making it almost impossible to think wild deeds in the wilderness. She still had wild tendencies but I know for sure she's going to be a good horse. I decided to call her Ghost because her coat was so white like I was looking in the light of God. Heaven was upon whenever I looked at her. Such a beautiful horse.

Over the course of a few days, I fed Heaven, riding her a lot more to get rid of her tendencies, and tried to avoid Abigail as much as possible whenever she was taking care of her John but it was time to check on everyone in the cabin.

The snow finally stopped. The sun was melting away the ice, which is great news. It was still cold outside but I am glad that I could see the sun again. Once I walked in the cabin with everybody, my eyes wandered over to John. Reverend Swanson was hovering over him, praying under his breath.

"I thought you was reading him his last rites... now I see you're introducing him to your other passion." I was fondly joking around but with the rough of my voice, I knew I was going over my head.

"I'll mind you to show me some respect, Mr. Morgan." Reverend said.

"Mind away, Reverend...," I said, letting Reverend push pass me. I looked down at John this time. "You're still here, then?"

"I owe you." John said.

I sat down by him. "Yeah... and you'll pay me... but for the moment, just rest."

Dutch walked in through the door. "Arthur... I think it's time for the train."

John was shuffling through his bed. He could barely see out of his one eye. "You want me to come?"

"Of course I do, but... look at you."

"I was always ugly, Dutch... it's just a scratch."

Then Abigail and little Jack walked through the door. Dutch warned John to lie still, saying hello to Abigail. I pushed him gently back on the bed.

"Dutch." Abigail spoke. I turned my attention towards her, standing up from the chair. "The boy wanted to see you, John." She was keeping an eye on me when she said that, but later drifted off to Jack.

John wasn't looking at Jack though. He could barely see straight. "He's seen me now... or what's left of me... What about you?"

"Guess I was hoping to see a corpse." Abigail said with an attitude.

"Bide your time, you'll see plenty of them." John answered coldly.

"You're a rotten man, John Marston." Abigail answered. Her eyes were dark.

"He is an idiot, Abigail, we all know it." Dutch said, tapping the rolled up map of the train information with his fingers.

Abigail hissed out a sigh, leaving the cabin with Jack. Before she left, she looked at me and I looked at her for a slight second. We didn't smile at one another.

"Now, railway men," Dutch walked over to open up the cabin door. I walked after him, "Bill, now you ride ahead and set the charge at the water tower, just before the tunnel."

Dutch showed Bill the plans once again.

Abigail, who was sticking by the door, grabbed me gently on the shoulder. She was now looking at me longer. Her eyes. Ever so beautiful.

"Arthur." She huffed out.

"Abigail." I said.

"I... I... I... Just... Please don't get shot." Abigail replied. She pulled away from me, but her eyes never left my side. I nodded my head, keeping my face straight. She didn't want to see me dead... She never exactly showed her feelings out in the blue. She was strong, so this was new but I had a feeling she knew I was happy that she cared. Abigail grabbed Jack's hand and walked away from me.

I walked over to Dutch, patting Ghost gently before I climbed up on my saddle.

Hosea came out of nowhere, "Why are we doing this? Weather's breaking, we could leave. I-I thought we was lying low."

Bill rode off as Dutch stared at Hosea. "What do you want from me, Hosea?"

"I just don't want any more folks to die, Dutch."

"We're living, Hosea, we're living... look at me, we're living... even you but we need money, everything we have's in Blackwater. You fancy heading back there?" Dutch asked.

"No." Hosea breathed out. "Listen, Dutch, I ain't trying to undermine you, I just... I just want to stick to the plan... which was to lie low, then head back out west. Now suddenly, we're about to rob a train."

"What choice have we got?"

"Leviticus Cornwall's no joke, Dutch, he's..."

I interrupted him. "Who is Leviticus Cornwall?"

"He's a big railway magnate, sugar dealer, oil man." Hosea responded.

Dutch chuckled. "Well how good for him. Sounds like he has more than enough to share."

"Dutch!" Hosea cried.

Dutch decided to ignore him this time. "Gentlemen, it is time to make something of ourselves. Get your horses ready, we have a train to rob."

And we were all moving out, following Dutch. I just hope nobody ends up dying like what happened at Blackwater.

"Okay gentlemen. Listen up, all of you," Dutch said as he lead the group, "According to the information so kindly provided to us by the O'Driscolls, the train will be coming north, from Big Valley. We're going to pick it off after it crosses the border into the Grizzlies. There's a raised spot there that should give us good vantage... Charles, you'll keep lookout for any outriders. How's that hand, by the way?"

"I'll be fine!" Charles responded.

"Good. I'll take the driver and engineer, then run point... Lenny and Javier, you two take the front cars, deal with any guards... Arthur and Micah, you head straight for the back. That's what we're after... Mr. Cornwall's private car."

"You and me, Morgan." Micah laughed.

I shook my head. "Great."

"Have you got a problem with that?" Micah asked.

"Not if you keep your head for once."

"You worry about yourself."

"Enough!" Dutch broke in our conversation. "After Bill blows the tracks, we're gonna need to move fast. is everyone clear on what they're doing?"

We all, at once almost, agreed that we knew what the hell we're doing on this train job.

"Good. Now, come on. Let's ride."

We rode out in silence. Nobody said anything, especially Dutch. We all just followed him. As an hour went by, I could finally see grass.

"Out of the snow, finally." I smirked.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Dutch asked. "But we need to get this done fast now it's thawing... before anyone gets up here after us... Look at you boys. See? This is what I call a crew... Micah Bell, Charles Smith, Arthur Morgan, Javier Escuella, and what about young Lenny here? Always the first man on his horse."

"Just happy we're back at'em, Dutch." Lenny gracefully answered.

"You sure you're ready for this, kid?" Javier asked him.

" 'Course I'm ready."

"Just stay calm, keep your eye sharp." Dutch replied. "That goes for all of you. No mistakes, not again."

"So we do this, then we go back to Blackwater to collect?" Micah was always worried about the money from Blackwater.

"How many times are you going to ask the same question, Micah?" I asked.

"That's a lot of damn money to leave for too long."

"It would be crazy to go back there now." Charles said. "The place will be swarming with Pinkertons."

"We go back when I say we go back, and that's the end of it." Dutch yelled out. "The money's safe, you'll just have to trust me. And if the O'Driscoll's are right, there'll be a stack of railroad bonds on this train... good money, once we work out how to cash them... Now everyone shut up and get your mind on the job at hand. Come on... There's the water tower. Hold up here on the ridge."

Dutch looked down at Bill, who was setting up the dynamite. Bill, by the looks of it, was struggling and Dutch told me to go down there and help him out. I huffed out a sigh and walked down to Bill.

"How you getting on?" I asked him.

"Yeah... I'm okay." He responded.

"You sure?"

"Of course!" Bill looked at me with disgust.

I smiled. "Can I help a little?"

"Alright... Go ahead... and set up the detonator by those rocks over there." Bill instructed me. "Now, just unspool the wire and then attach it to said detonator."

I picked up the wiring, walking towards to detonator to connect it all up. Once I arrived, I grabbed out my knife and connected it to the detonator. "Okay, this is good."

"Alright, that should do it. You head back up to the others, I've got it from here." Bill said.

I laughed, walking back up to Dutch and the others. "I'm sure you do."

When I arrived back, Dutch quickly asked what was going on.

"He says all fine." I answered.

"Everything okay then?" Dutch asked again.

"I think so."

"Okay, cover your faces. Train should be here any minute now." Dutch warned us.

I grabbed my bandana from my satchel, wrapping it around my neck before it covered my face. The sound of a train screeching on the tracks reaches my burning cold ears.

"Gentlemen, it's time." Dutch said. "Good luck, all of you. You all know what to do."

I looked down, eyeing Bill. He gave Dutch a nod and pulled down the detonator. Nothing went off. No explosion.

Bill pulled it down several more times. Nothing came out of it.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Dutch said, his voice annoyed.

"Where did you find that moron?" I asked, pulling down my bandana from my face.

"You said it was fine." Dutch was now pointing fingers.

"So it's my fault?" I asked, turning to face him.

Javier got off his horse, "Well, come on!"

His words riddled my ears. I stepped off Ghost, "You're pathetic. You know that?" I left my thoughts in the wind as I rushed towards the moving train with Javier and Lenny. We jumped off the cliff, landing on the top of the train. On one corner of my eye, Javier was thrown off. On the other, Lenny was struggling on the side. I got up from my knees, and quickly grabbed Lenny's hand.

"Help!" He screamed.

"I've got you. Now stop yelling." I said, pulling him up on the moving train. "You're okay... now let's go slow this thing down."

"Where's Javier?" Lenny asked.

We both jumped down in one of the train's compartments, "He fell, the others'll get him."

"You and me, big man." Lenny smiled. He took his knife and knocked one man out. I was unsure if he killed him or not. He probably did.

"Come on, we need to stop this train." I said, sprinting towards the other end of the train. I struggled to get one door opened so I decided to climb back on top of the train. Once I finally got my weight up there, I was welcomed by another man with a gun. Thankfully, he missed every shot he took on me. I shot him straight in the stomach.

More men came out of nowhere, taking their shots at me. one by one, the men plummeted to the ground as they were taken down by my bullets. "How are you doing there?" I asked Lenny.

"I'm okay." He answered. "If we don't stop this train soon, the other boys'll never catch us."

"I know, just stay calm." I told him in a friendly matter.

I pushed up, but I gradually walked over to the front of the train. I was worried someone else might jump out with a gun... I was wrong about the gun part anyway. A dressed up fella took a shovel to my nose, and wrapped his arm around my neck, choking me. I struggled with him, trying to break free from his grasp. I kicked him and elbowed him to let go. After a few second, I reversed the grapple and started to punch the man multiple times until I pushed him off the moving train.

Once that was over, I finally had the chance to stop the train. I pulled the lever and climbed down to the ground, covering behind a big rock. Many men came out of the woodworks, trying to shoot me straight. I don't know how long the gunfight lasted. Dutch and the others took their time before most of the men were taken down. I was glad Lenny was by my side through it all. I would've slowly bled out if he wasn't here... Something Abigail didn't want to hear about.

After the gunshots came to a close, I eyed Dutch and the others and walked over to them. Dutch quickly asked us if we were alright.

"Yes, let's get the money and go." I said, putting my gun on left shoulder.

"We got some fellers holed in up this last car." Dutch informed.

"Ah, shit." I sighed.

"What are you boys planning on doing in there?" Dutch asked the men in the private car. "Listen to me, we don't want to kill any of ya... I give you my word, but trust me... we will."

"I work for Leviticus Cornwall." One worker yelled out.

"Come on, boys!" Dutch voiced out.

"We got our orders."

"Okay. You asked for it."

"We ain't opening this door."

Dutch started to count down from five.

Four.

Three

Two.

One.

"Seems our friends have gone deaf. Wake 'em up a little!"

We all grabbed out our sidearms and started to blast our ammunition at the metal door of the train.

"We ain't coming out! You got no way in here!" The worker pushed on.

"That's enough!" Dutch ordered us to stop. "Mr. Williamson, give Mr. Morgan and Mr. Smith some dynamite... you two boys, go blow that door open."

I nodded, taking the dynamite from Bill, placing the dynamite on the doors. Charles and I then lighted the fuse, sprinting back towards the others... BOOM!

I grabbed my sidearm once more and walked up to the now opened car. When I saw a few bodies emerge from it, I pointed my gun directly at them.

"We don't want to kill you... we just wanna rob your boss." Dutch told them. "Get on up there, search that train."

Micah, Lenny, and I jumped up in the private car. Lenny was amazed at how beautiful the interior was. "Look at this place. It's like a palace."

I laughed. "Now I've seen everything... You two for the safe? I'll search the rest."

"Oh yes, should be easy as cake." Micah answered. "You're just gonna stand there, kid, pour me some brandy will ya? I'm parched."

"Shut up. Me and Arthur did all the work." Lenny said.

I fished through a few containers around the car but one letter in particular was quite interesting. A letter to Cornwall from Leland Oil Development Company discussing about some Indian Reservation and funds for exploration. "Yeah... kid did good. Didn't see you rushing to jump on that train."

"He's keen, I'll give you that..." Micah said.

I looked around some more and found the bonds in the middle desk. I also got a cigarette card from there as well.

"Are you done in there?" Dutch asked from outside.

I climbed down from the train, "Yep."

"What did you find?" He asked.

"These..." I grabbed the bonds from my satchel, giving it to him. "Bonds. They worth anything?"

"Oh, sure... bearer bonds. I think we can probably sell these pretty easily. Well done... Now would you get rid of all of this?"

"The train?" I asked.

"Yeah, get it out of here." Dutch answered.

I looked down at the captives. "What about them?"

"What do you think?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

"It's up to you." Dutch responded. "Kill 'em. Leave 'em here... take 'em with you on the train... Just make sure they don't send no folk after us... See you back at camp. When you get back... we'll be moving on. The rest of you... let's ride!" and they were off.

I looked down at the folk once again. "Okay, get on the train, quick, all of you. Any bright ideas, I'll kill all three of you... so behave. Come on, move!"

"We won't tell a soul, I swear!"

"If I hear so much as a footstep from this car, you'll end up like all your friends out here. Get a move on!" I said, sprinting towards the engine car to start up the train once again.

I pulled myself up, pulling the lever up. Once I felt the train merge, I whistled for Ghost to come pick me up. I jumped down and stepped up on my saddle. I sighed softly, patting Ghost on the side. "Good girl," and we rode back to Colter.