Painted Sky sat on top of a granite bluff overlooking the Dakota River. Tabitha and Daiyu stopped their horses at the foot of this bluff; the road seemed to run right into a vertical incline to the top, one that a horse would have major difficulty in climbing up.

Tabitha glanced over at her friend, who looked incredibly small seated atop her massive white stallion. The girls frankly had no idea what to expect from this encounter with the Valentine sheriff, but one thing was certain: they would need the support of every lawman they could to avenge Jessica LeClerk's husband and clear Daiyu's name.

Daiyu leaned forward in her saddle studying the cliff, the slowly rising Sun warming the slope of her back. After a moment, she looked at Tabitha, signaling toward the impossibly steep road.

"You sure, Daiyu?" Tabitha asked. "There might be an easier way up if we go around."

Daiyu shook her head, clicking her tongue and nudging her horse forward with her spurs.

Tabitha sighed. "Okay, sugar, you're the boss."

She urged her brown mare towards the base of the cliff, following closely behind Daiyu, who made sure to keep her weight just behind her horse's shoulder blades as it climbed the impossibly steep road. Daiyu's stallion moved slowly, encouraged by a few firm tongue clicks from its master to keep going. The muscles in its hind legs pumped behind it, kicking up puffs of dust and loose bits of gravel, but it kept edging forward until it scrambled over the hill, where it was rewarded with a sugar cube and a proud ear scratch from Daiyu.

"Come on, Rhoda. You can do it, girl."

Tabitha gently petted and encouraged to her brown mare, who had become incredibly skittish. Rhoda was much more reluctant than Daiyu's horse to climb the steep road, whinnying in protest as Tabitha tried to coax her forwards. Small pieces of gravel from Daiyu's stallion tumbled past Rhoda, scaring her enough to not want anything further to do with the hill.

Tabitha groaned, putting a hand to her face as Daiyu watched from atop the bluff.

"Well, I'm not nearly as good with horses as you are, sugar," Tabitha said with a half-smile. "Me and Rhoda are gonna find a way around. You scope the place out, see if you can find the sheriff."

With a determined smile, Daiyu saluted her friend and turned her horse away from the cliff face as Tabitha urged her mare back down the hill.

Daiyu's horse proceeded at a leisurely walk as its owner scouted the clifftop property that she found herself in. Even though it was surrounded on three sides by the mighty Dakota, Painted Sky was safe from all but the most Biblical floods due to its high elevation. Despite this, the owners hadn't made much out of the pristine location. While the soil was probably too rocky for farming, Daiyu noticed a small pen in the back, along with a badly aging wooden stable. The place had likely been built for breeding or training horses, but there weren't any animals in the pen or the stable.

Coming around to the farmhouse, which was painted a rotting shade of green, Daiyu saw another horse hitched to a small perimeter fence. She could hear quite an argument going on inside the house. After hitching her horse on this fence, she walked over to the house, preparing to knock on the door. Before she could, two men came storming out of the house, one of them irate, the other with a trained deference to strong emotions, an immediately recognizable trait of a law enforcement officer. A startled Daiyu was forced to withdraw a few paces as the men came bounding past her.

"My property was stolen, sheriff!" yelled the shorter man on the sheriff's right, who wielded a curlicue mustache.

"I'm fully aware, Mr. Arnsdale," the sheriff countered calmly with a nod, his own mustache bobbing up and down on his lip. "But like I said, I ain't got the resources to go after Bob Crawfish." The sheriff noticed Daiyu for the first time, a bored expression on his face. "Madam."

Daiyu tipped her hat in reply. She tried to look calm, although this was betrayed by a nervous gulp and the slight trembling of her hand. Without Tabitha to communicate for her, she could only hope that the two men wouldn't start asking her questions she couldn't answer. Thankfully, they seemed much too embroiled in their argument to care about her presence.

She put her hand to a loose black neckerchief that concealed her scar. Knowing the sheriff discriminated against women, Daiyu and Tabitha had agreed that revealing she was mute would likely kill any chance of them being hired. They had figured it would be better if the sheriff didn't know this information unless he had to.

"I pay your goddamn wages!" the short man, Mr. Arnsdale, snapped. "If this happened at my other property near Strawberry, that sheriff would be helping me!"

"I've got seven active cases back in Valentine," the sheriff replied as he climbed onto his horse. "Murders, robberies, assaults, you name it. Me and my deputies are all booked up to our necks, we can't be goin' after a big gang like that. Not without more fundin' and resources."

"Ha! I bet that Oriental over there would do a better job than your lot!" Mr. Arnsdale seemed to notice Daiyu for the first time, eyeing her like a caged monkey at a zoo. "Who is she, anyway? Is she with you?"

"I've never seen her before in my life," the sheriff answered honestly.

"Hey, you!" Mr. Arnsdale snapped. "Who are you? What's your business here?"

Daiyu bit her lower lip, avoiding eye contact with the man interrogating her. She had stored her easel and chalk in her saddlebag, but she knew that using it would have to be a last resort.

The sound of hoofs echoed through trees to the north. A breath of relief escaped Daiyu's lips as she saw her friend, galloping up the road on her tiny mare.

Daiyu pointed over to Tabitha, silently excusing herself to go and join her. Mr. Arnsdale and the sheriff exchanged a confused glance.

"Ah, I see you found him," said Tabitha as she stopped her horse. "Good work, sugar, I'll take it from here."

"I hope you two aren't scoping out my property!" Mr. Arnsdale yelled. "I'll have you know, everything's been taken already by some goddamn thieves!"

"No sir, nothin' like that," Tabitha assured him, climbing off her horse. "We just came by to see the sheriff. His deputy said he'd be up here."

"I was just leavin'," the sheriff said, impatiently gripping his reins. "Now, what did y'all need that couldn't wait till I was back in my office?"

"We don't need anything, sheriff – I was hopin' to ask what you needed," Tabitha said with a cool smile. "This gentleman here seems pretty irate with you - for a small fee, we can take the matter off your hands."

"Look, I can't be hirin' no women as bounty hunters. There's an election comin' up, and it wouldn't look good, especially if somethin' happened to y'all."

"Say…" Mr. Arnsdale scratched his mustache as he looked over the two women. "How'd you two like some employment?"

"What?" The sheriff's eyes popped open for the first time.

"Bob Crawfish and his gang are hiding in an old town called Limpany, on the east bank of the river," Mr. Arnsdale explained. "It's a proper outlaw gang, so you'd need to go in armed. You get Crawfish and his lieutenant, then bring them to the train tracks near Fort Riggs Station. You do that, and I'll pay you handsomely."

The sheriff cleared his throat. "Mr. Arnsdale, this doesn't seem like the best-"

"What you think, Daiyu?" asked Tabitha. "Should we help this fella out?"

Daiyu nodded, making a circle with her thumb and forefinger. Tabitha smiled and returned the gesture.

"Daiyu here doesn't speak English," Tabitha explained to the men, a half-lie that was met with an affirmative nod from Daiyu. "But she's good with her gun and she knows how to fight. I do too."

"That's all I need to know," said Mr. Arnsdale. "At least some people around here are willing to help."

The sheriff sighed. "Look, just don't kill nobody, alright?" he said to the girls. "I don't need a massacre site to handle on top of everything else."

"You're just gonna ignore the fact I was robbed, sheriff?" Mr. Arnsdale interrogated. "If you ask me, they should all be put down like dogs. World has enough damn thieves in it."

"We'll see what we can do," Tabitha said simply. "C'mon, Daiyu. He said it was just across the river."

Tabitha headed back toward Rhoda, while Daiyu proceeded to her huge white stallion. Unhitching her horse and climbing into the saddle, she tipped her hat at the two men before following Tabitha down from the cliff, taking the easier way down this time.

Once they descended the cliff, Daiyu passed to the right of Tabitha and rode ahead of her. The Sun was high and hot over the narrow strip of wetland that lined the riverbank, but a cool wind rushed past the girls' faces as they rode, providing some relief.

At one point, Daiyu signaled for Tabitha to stop. The Chinese girl dismounted her horse and picked some bulrush she had spotted protruding from a patch of sediment. Combined with some ginseng and boiled in a small amount of water, this could be used to make medicine for the horses. She made sure to gather enough for Tabitha's horse as well before heading back, her boots sinking a little into the gray muck as she walked.

"Good thinkin', sugar," Tabitha said as she patted her horse. "Rhoda's gut has been actin' up. She might need some of those remedies you like to make."

Meeting eyes with Tabitha's horse, Daiyu smiled a bit, tearing off a small strip of bulrush and presenting it to Rhoda. Rhoda sniffed it a bit before her lips curled around the freshly picked treat. Daiyu scratched her behind the ear, and Rhoda happily leaned into her hand as she chewed.

Tabitha sighed and threw her hands up.

"Y'know, you may not be able to talk to people, but you sure can talk to the horses. I'm pretty sure she loves you more than me."

Daiyu shrugged, handing some of the bulrush to Tabitha, who stored it in her satchel.

"But…maybe that'll change, you know?" Tabitha thought out loud. "Once you get good at writin', you could communicate with anyone you want – well, anyone who can read, anyway. In fact, you might not even need me anymore."

At this, Daiyu shook her head feverishly. She grabbed hold of Tabitha's right hand, then held it firmly to her chest. Tabitha could feel Daiyu's heart beating underneath her shirt as she gestured between the two of them. She closed her other hand around Tabitha's while keeping her dark, narrow eyes locked with her friend's.

Tabitha seemed taken by surprise by this gesture. After a few moments, she withdrew her hand from Daiyu's breast, laughing a bit as she shifted in her saddle.

"Well, alright then," she said. "If you want me to stick around, then I will…To be honest with you, I think we're better off together, anyway. We just…suit each other, y'know?"

Daiyu smiled, reaching up and giving her friend a quick hug, which Tabitha returned.

"And you give good hugs too," Tabitha said with a laugh. "You can't really get those when you're out on your own."

Daiyu half-smiled at this, her eyes reflecting the sunlight that bounced off the shallow river. Squinting against the bright light, Daiyu pointed towards a thicket of burned trees in the distance. Following Daiyu's index finger, she noticed a man with a rifle, mingling amongst the thicket, a barely visible puff of smoke emitting from the cigarette in his mouth.

"That must be it," said Tabitha. "Let's leave the horses here and take a walk, scope the place out."

Tabitha dismounted her mare and plopped down into the soft mud, Daiyu following close behind. After a minute or so of walking, they came to a boulder that was wide enough for two people to hide behind. Having done many missions together by this point, the girls knew the drill: they withdrew two sets of binoculars, making sure to conceal themselves behind the boulder as they surveyed the area.

"God…What happened to this place? Everything's all burned up…" Tabitha looked at Daiyu. "You think it was a brush fire, or somethin' else?"

Daiyu shrugged while looking down her binoculars.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess it ain't important." Tabitha studied the old town, which she noticed was teeming with outlaws and their horses. "I think the fellas we're after might be holed up in that old saloon there. Everyone else just looks like hired guns…There's also an old jail back there. Looks sturdy – if I was them, I'd keep my loot in there. It could keep stuff nice and dry. But the thing is, I don't know if we can do this without killin', like the sheriff wanted. There's way too many of 'em."

Tabitha looked to her left and noticed Daiyu flicking her binoculars upwards. Following her friend's signal, she diverted focus from the burned husks of buildings to the burned husks of trees on a hill, which led to a scenic overlook of the Dakota on a sandstone bluff.

"Ohh, I see." Tabitha grinned. "You brought that new sniper rifle, didn't you?"

Daiyu nodded and put her binoculars down. With her finger, she traced a path along the hillside that ended up at a prime spot above the town for a shooter.

"Oh Tabitha, you genius," she said, pointing up at the hill. "Okay – how 'bout you go up there and get yourself concealed? I'll draw 'em out into your firin' line, and when I give the signal, you start shootin'. How's that sound?"

Daiyu smiled firmly and nodded, her eyes directed firmly at the hill in the distance. This was usually how things worked between them – Tabitha would distract the enemies while Daiyu picked them off in the shadows. As little as she knew about Daiyu's background, Tabitha was able to guess that her previous occupation had involved stealth in some capacity, so skilled was she at concealing herself and killing people silently.

Tabitha briefly looked again through her binoculars at the town, the gears in her head turning rapidly as she visualized the assault.

"Alright, when I yell 'doctor', that's when you'll know I'm ready." Tabitha clapped her friend on the shoulder. "You go and get a head start while I put together my act. I think you'll like what I've got cooked up this time."

Daiyu put her hand on top of Tabitha's and grasped it firmly, her way of wishing Tabitha good luck, and headed for her white stallion, withdrawing the unused sniper rifle from her saddle. She briefly inspected the rifle and peered through its scope at the camp. The magnification was good, providing her with a clear view of the burned-out buildings and the disreputable men inhabiting them.

Wasting no time, Daiyu hopped into the saddle and spurred her horse into the shallow river. Splashing across to the opposite bank, she kept a steady canter to the spot she had picked out, an improvised sniper's nest above the mysteriously burned town. The soil was black and clung loosely to the hillside, the dead husks of trees doing little to hold it down. She slowed her horse to a walk as she approached the site, then dismounted and withdrew two long weapons: the brand-new sniper rifle, and a handmade bow with a quiver of arrows that she slung across her back.

Daiyu smacked her horse on its left flank to scare it away – she didn't want her white stallion anywhere near the hillside when the gunfire started. Creeping carefully along the unstable earth, she eventually came to a place where some of the vegetation was growing back. She concealed herself behind this scraggly formation, which held the soil in place, and withdrew the sniper rifle from her back. She smiled a bit as she loaded the gun with high-velocity rounds, perhaps congratulating herself for having picked such a prime spot for her sniper's nest. Peering through the scope, she had a good view of most of the ruined town and the lowlifes that called it home. She was also able to see Tabitha, without her horse, hopping on one leg toward the townsite.

Tabitha groaned in exaggerated pain as she hobbled toward the town, getting the attention of one of the lookouts.

"Oh thank God! Sir, please, you gotta help me!" Tabitha shouted through yelps of pain, falling on her rear while grasping her left ankle. "My horse died on me, a-and I think I broke my foot! I can feel it swellin' up!"

"Sorry, lady, this is a private function," said the lookout, brandishing his repeater.

"Please, sir! I-I run a sugarcane farm in Lemoyne, and I've got five little kiddies at home!" said Tabitha, holding up her fingers. "I gotta get back to them, sir, or they'll be…they…"

Tabitha managed to get herself to cry on cue, drawing the attention of even more men. With a gasping sob, Tabitha looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Look, I hate to intrude on…whatever you gentlemen are doin' in this old burned-up town. I hate askin' for help like this, but I…I'm real desperate here. Real desperate…"

While this charade was going on, Daiyu drew back her bow, a sharpened arrow nestled firmly in the string. She released her fingers, sending the arrow between the shoulder blades of a man who was isolated from the others. He fell to his knees, reaching for the arrow that protruded from his chest, but he died quietly enough that the other men didn't hear. Daiyu went on to do the same to a couple of other stragglers as Tabitha continued her teary-eyed monologue.

"My husband died of dysentery a few months back, and now it's just me and my kiddies," Tabitha said with a sniff. "And let me tell you fellas, they mean the whole world to me. A mother's love is a lot bigger than a broken foot, let me tell you."

"I said this is a private function!" the lookout shouted. "You shouldn'ta come to an outlaw's camp, lady! Go find some other poor fool to help you!"

"Well, I'm here now, ain't I?" Tabitha said, suddenly haughty. "I can't rightly leave, not on this foot. I-If one of you could take me to…oh, what's that fella's name? The one in Valentine, I think."

"You'd best start hoppin' back the way you came!" shouted another man in the crowd, which Tabitha noticed was becoming restless.

"Oh come on, help me out here, fellas, what's his name, uh…DOCTOR!"

A sudden boom, after which a massive bullet entered the lookout's back, piercing his heart and exiting through the breast pocket of his shirt. He was dead before he hit the ground, courtesy of Daiyu's bullet.

"Shit, TAKE COVER!"

The men scrambled out of the way of the sniper on the hillside, but not before Daiyu brought another one of them down with a fatal shot to the chest. Another man tried to take potshots as Tabitha as she dove behind an old wagon, all signs of injury gone.

It was immediately obvious to the two girls that there was very little leadership in this 'gang'. The men each tried to do their own thing, some firing in vain at the hill that Daiyu was concealed on, but most trying to shoot at Tabitha. Daiyu reloaded her sniper rifle and took a few of these men down in succession, the high-velocity rounds ripping through their backs with ease.

Out of the corner of her eye, Daiyu saw movement through open slats in the old burned-out saloon, in front of which a few spooked horses were tethered. Two men were in the building with revolvers drawn, probably waiting for a break in the gunfire to make a run for it. These were the ringleaders that Mr. Arnsdale wanted taken alive – all the lackies had been stationed outside to protect them.

While focused on the saloon, Daiyu hadn't noticed the slight movement of her foot on the unstable hillside. The ground gave out from under her, and Daiyu's next shot went into the air above her as she struggled to steady herself, but she instead went tumbling down the hill and out of cover. A hail of bullets immediately greeted her as she struggled to right herself, but she couldn't get a foothold on the loose soil and ended up sliding down on her backside.

One bullet impacted the soil near the crook of her shoulder as she slid, sending sharp vibrations through her left arm. Thinking quickly, she drew her revolver and shot at the closest enemy to her position. Her first shot missed, but the next one entered his gut, sending him into a fit of dying convulsions as he bled out.

Reaching the bottom of the hill, Daiyu sprang up and continued firing her revolver, scrambling behind the old jail Tabitha had mentioned earlier. The thick stone walls shielded her from bullets, giving her the opportunity to fire back between breaks in gunfire. As she was reloading her revolver, she heard heavy bootsteps approaching her position, undercutting the barrage of gunfire.

By the time the outlaw got to her, Daiyu was ready. She slashed the man's throat with her hunting knife, then finished him off with a bullet to the skull at close range, spraying blood all over her clothes. Daiyu's brown eyes were wild from the adrenaline that rushed through her veins. Tabitha was still in the thick of things, with outlaws shooting at her from all sides.

Holstering her knife, Daiyu rushed out from behind the jail and hit another man in the chest with a bullet from her revolver, distracting the outlaws from her friend. This gave her the opportunity to dash out from behind the crumbling wagon and behind an old chimney.

Working together, the two girls slowly whittled away the gang's members until there was just one man left to guard the saloon. While this man served as a distraction, taking two bullets in the process, the two leaders emerged, making a run for a couple of horses that were tethered nearby. The animals were spooked by the gunfire, but the men managed to mount their rides, shooting back at their attackers on the way out of the camp.

"Oh, hell!" Tabitha whistled for her own horse. "C'mon, Daiyu, let's get after 'em!"

Tabitha looked at her friend and nodded, whistling for her white stallion, which appeared like a ghost from the black trees surrounding the town. Daiyu emerged from cover one last time, laser-focused on the last remaining outlaw. Before he could get another shot off, he was hit by two revolver bullets in the chest, followed by another one to the head from Tabitha. He fell down the steps of the old saloon, staining the blackened ground beneath him red.

Wasting no time, Daiyu leaped onto her horse and kicked its sides hard. The stallion reared up, Daiyu holding tightly to the saddle, then rushed toward the river, where the two outlaws had headed. Tabitha followed behind on her slower mare, which struggled to keep up with the stallion's huge gallop.

Up ahead, the girls saw one of the outlaws veering left, up a hill that led out of the river valley. Daiyu pointed to this man, then to herself.

"Okay, sugar, I'll get that fella down there!" Tabitha pointed to the flatter surface of the valley. "We'll meet back here at the crossroads!"

Daiyu spurred her horse up the hill. The outlaw, who wore an expensive-looking leather coat, immediately began shooting back at her with his revolver. In response, Daiyu drew her own gun and shot the outlaw in the hand, immediately disarming him. A furious "goddammit!" erupted from his throat as he rode even faster toward Flatneck Station, but Daiyu's faster horse was no match. As soon as she was within range, Daiyu took out her lasso. Focusing on the outlaw, she spun the rope a few times in a waist-sized circle above her head. As soon as the momentum swung forward, Daiyu threw the rope, which caught him around his shoulders, throwing him from his horse and onto the dirt road.

The outlaw groaned in pain as Daiyu stopped her horse, then dismounted and approached him, holding the rope tightly as he squirmed on the ground.

"Who the hell are you, huh?!" he demanded, his eyes ablaze with fury. "Why'd you kill all my men?!"

Daiyu remained emotionless as she flipped the man onto his stomach, then tied his hands and feet with the remaining length of rope, much as she had done with Hannah's kidnapper the previous night.

The outlaw struggled to break free, but Daiyu looked satisfied that her knots were tight enough. She stood over the man and caught her breath for a moment - she was covered in head to toe with charcoal and blood, her face shiny with sweat that trickled down her neck and into the collar of her paisley shirt. She grabbed the black neckerchief, using it to wipe the grime from her face.

"Answer me, goddammit!" the outlaw screamed at her. "Who are you working for?!"

"Shh."

Daiyu raised a finger to her lips, her eyes stern like a schoolteacher's. Holding up this same finger to the man to excuse herself, she casually walked back to her horse and reached into her satchel. The stallion immediately noticed the nice, juicy carrot in his owner's hand and bent his neck towards it, crunching down on the treat as Daiyu smiled and gave him a hug around the neck.

The outlaw leader looked on, partly in disbelief and partly in a rage. Patting her horse, she turned her attention back to the man, who resumed his frantic struggling on the ground.

"When I get outta here, I'll have your head, bitch! You hear me?! I'll-"

Daiyu bent down and clocked the outlaw in the face. He fell silent, his muscles relaxing as much as the ropes would allow, which seemed to please Daiyu. With impressive strength for someone so small, she lifted the man up onto her shoulder, carrying him a few steps to her horse and placing him on the stallion's rear, just behind her saddle. Breathing hard from exhaustion, air whistling through her injured throat, she climbed back onto her horse and fetched a canteen of water, which she gulped down, wiping her mouth with her neckerchief.

She spurred her horse back down the hill and saw Tabitha, who had the other outlaw on her horse.

"Good job, sugar," said Tabitha with a grin. "Okay, the rich fella said Fort Riggs. I think we passed it on our way to Valentine yesterday."

Daiyu nodded. She urged Tabitha to follow her as she urged her stallion into the river, splashing along to the west bank.

Eventually, the outlaw on Daiyu's horse began to wake up and start struggling again.

"Why don't you answer me, huh?!" he went on, causing Daiyu to grimace. "You kill my gang, hogtie me and my lieutenant, and don't even have the decency to tell me why?! Why don't you talk?!"

"She don't talk to no one, mister!" Tabitha yelled back at him. "Especially not outlaw scum like you!"

"I saw you two back there," he accused. "The way you killed all those men, I can tell you're in the life too. Who's paying you?"

"You'll see in a second," Tabitha snapped. "The fella thinks you stole his property, so be prepared for a nice, long torture session to figure out where it is."

"Oh, that pompous ass Arnsdale?!" the outlaw yelled. "It weren't us who stole his stuff!"

"I think he'll be the judge of that." She looked at her friend. "Daiyu?"

Knowing what Tabitha meant, Daiyu reached back and hit the outlaw across the face, an open-handed smack that shut him up for a moment.

The girls rode in silence. The lieutenant seemed despondent and wasn't saying much, which allowed them to catch their collective breaths. It wasn't over until they were paid, but it was very rare someone skipped out on their payment. If the need arose, they could force Mr. Arnsdale to pay up – he didn't seem like the type who knew how to handle a gun.

Urging up their horses up a grassy rise along the Dakota, the girls followed the train tracks west until Mr. Arnsdale, who looked happy to see them. Fort Riggs, an old internment camp for Indians, was visible in the distance.

"Am I glad to see you!" Mr. Arnsdale said with a laugh. "Set 'em on the tracks."

"Yes, sir."

Tabitha stopped her horse next to the tracks and dismounted. Daiyu disembarked her saddle as well and grabbed the outlaw leader, who squirmed in his ropes as he was lifted onto Daiyu's slender shoulder.

"Hello, Bob," Mr. Arnsdale said sarcastically.

"Hello, Clinton," the leader, Bob Crawfish, answered. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes, a long time since you robbed me." Mr. Arnsdale looked at Daiyu. "Set him down flat, will you?"

Daiyu nodded at him and dropped Bob Crawfish down hard on the tracks, his back thunking against the wooden sleepers and his head pinging off the rails.

Mr. Arnsdale smiled underneath his thick mustache. He paced back and forth a bit as Tabitha set the lieutenant down next to Bob Crawfish, lecturing his captive audience like a professor as they squirmed in their ropes. The two girls stood back and let him have his moment.

"You two imbeciles have my property," Mr. Arnsdale said. "I suppose it would make less sense if you didn't steal it. Precious China. Scenes of the vistas of Italy. First-edition works of Aldous Bramley. All expensive, and all targets of thieves like you."

"We didn't steal your stuff!" Bob Crawfish protested.

"I think you did, Bob. That coat you're wearing didn't appear out of thin air. Now, where are my things?!" he barked at them.

"It was a repossession." Bob Crawfish was red in the face. "You had debts you never repaid. It wasn't stealing, Clinton, we were paid to do a job."

"You know nothing about my finances!" Mr. Arnsdale thundered. "Give me back my property!"

"I think I do, Clinton," said Crawfish with a tight laugh. "Remember your sister? That's where your property is, in the basement of her house."

Mr. Arnsdale looked stunned. "My sister…" he trailed off. "Goddamn wench. I should've expected her to associate with outlaws."

"We ain't outlaws, Clinton," Bob Crawfish sneered. "Everyone steals from folk at some point. Even you have."

Mr. Arnsdale glared at him. "I've heard just about enough from the likes of you." He reached into his pocket. "Girls, come get your money. I've got it all here."

Tabitha stepped forward and took the bill fold from Mr. Arnsdale. She quickly counted through the stack of dollars and handed Daiyu half of it. It wasn't a bad sum, even if the girls privately thought a rich man like Mr. Arnsdale could do better.

"Now," Mr. Arnsdale said. "Take care of them, will you?"

Tabitha raised an eyebrow. "You want us to…"

"Yes, kill them!" he shouted. "No wait, even better…Leave them on the tracks," he ordered, a devilish smile on his face. "That way, these two can be an example. Anyone else wants to steal from me, their guts will be painted all over the next train to Strawberry!"

Mr. Arnsdale let out a wild, unhinged spell of laughter as the two outlaws fought against their ropes. Tabitha and Daiyu looked at each other, their eyes wary.

As Mr. Arnsdale rode off on his horse, the girls looked to the east. A tall bridge crossed over the Dakota, linking New Hanover and West Elizabeth by rail. They were able to see black smoke from a locomotive, barreling down across the bridge.

"Please!" said Bob Crawfish. "This ain't right, and you know it!"

"Help us!" the lieutenant spoke for the first time.

The train thundered across the bridge, its whistle echoing like the roar of a bison across the plains. The ground next to the tracks began to shake.

"I don't like this," Tabitha said to Daiyu. "What about you?"

Daiyu shook her head and withdrew her knife, Tabitha doing the same. They stepped over the tracks, feeling the earthquake-like vibrations as they cut the two outlaws free, then pulled them out of the way of the approaching train, a deafening whistle accompanying their departure.

Bob Crawfish doubled over, his hands on his knees as he breathed in the coal-laden air of the passing train.

"Goddamn, I…" He struggled to catch his breath. "For a second there, I thought we were gonna be flapjacks."

Daiyu shook her head, holstering her knife.

"We kill people, Mister Crawfish," said Tabitha. "But we don't kill 'em like that. Not our thing."

"I can see that." Bob nudged his lieutenant, who sat catching his breath. "Get up, Carson, you're okay."

"Y-Yeah, sure, boss." Carson was a younger-looking man who looked shellshocked, like he hadn't stared death in the face too many times.

Bob helped his lieutenant to his feet.

"Look, I don't foresee us bein' friends or nothin' 'cause you killed all my men, but…I respect you not killin' us in cold blood like that. I'd say we have no further quarrels between us."

He stuck a hand out to Daiyu. In response, she gathered some saliva in her mouth and spat on her palm, presenting it to him. With a smile, Bob Crawfish did the same, and the two shook hands.

"So what are we gonna do now, boss?" asked Carson.

"Well first of all, we're gonna replenish our numbers, gather up more men," Bob answered gravely. "Then we'll figure out how to stick it to old Clinton, if that's okay with you ladies."

Tabitha smiled and shrugged. "He ain't employin' us no more. Do what you will."

"Good, good." He looked at Daiyu. "You got anything to say to that?"

Daiyu shook her head.

"Silent type, huh?" Bob Crawfish smiled. "I kinda wish more fellas were like you. Let's go, Carson."

"S-sure, boss." Carson was red in the face as he bowed to the girls. "Thank you, again."

Carson ran to join his boss as he walked toward the treeline. Tabitha and Daiyu watched them until they disappeared behind a rise, leaving the chirp of cicadas as noon turned to afternoon and the day grew hotter.

Tabitha sniffed at her armpit and recoiled. "You know what, sugar, I think I need a bath. I didn't get to take one in town yesterday."

Daiyu smiled, nodding her head toward the Dakota River.

"Exactly what I was thinkin'." Tabitha clapped her friend on the shoulder. "The water oughta be nice and cold when we get there."

The girls walked back to their horses and mounted up. Daiyu led the way back down the hill, looking for a nice, secluded patch of river they could bathe in without being disturbed. They'd taken baths together at Sisika and had been doing the same as free women. They had a nice system in place, with one watching their clothes and belongings while the other washed themselves.

Tabitha rode beside her friend. "I wonder how Hannah's gettin' along. She seemed to be doin' a little better before we left, but I'm afraid for that child. She went through a lot for someone so young."

Daiyu nodded, her face hard as she rode along the west bank of the Dakota.

"Well, I'm in favor of keepin' her with us until she's back on her feet," said Tabitha. "I mean, it'll be tough supportin' four people on an outlaw's salary, but I wouldn't feel right just turnin' her loose. We'll see what Missus LeClerk thinks when she visits us next."

Jessica LeClerk hadn't visited the girls in about a week. She would undoubtedly be eager to hear their progress in finding her husband's killers, but how she would react to Hannah's presence in the camp. She'd told the girls she wouldn't judge them for their activities as free women – if they wanted to help folks, she would let them. However, recruiting a teenage girl into their efforts at vigilante justice might be a step too far. They might have no choice but to turn Hannah loose rather than subject her to such danger, even if she wanted to assist them.

Daiyu looked down at her hands, her fingernails stained with fresh blood and charcoal from the burned hillside. She looked like she knew her life wasn't an easy one, and that subjecting someone else to it may not be the best move. However, Daiyu needed a posse to clear her name, and a girl without a voice had a lot more trouble making friends.

The girls rode on, the Sun beating down on their sweat-drenched backs.