Part 4:

Diversions and Casualties

The crisp morning breeze stirred the manes and tails of their horses as they stood overlooking Tesoro Azul; their backs were turned to the canyon wall and the sun had just begun to rise over the abandoned settlement, splashing brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow upon the white walls of where La Phantasma and her gang surely hid from the eyes of weary travelers.

Maddie sighed through her nose and frowned as she scanned the gang hideout below through the scope of her high-powered rifle. She shook her head as she lowered the scope from her face and rested the firearm across her lap. Beneath her, Gypsy blew and lowered her head as she pawed at the ground impatiently.

"See anything?" Jack asked, looking over at her. He held his horse's reins taut: the stallion had begun to prance about in place and was growing all the more anxious by the second.

Maddie shook her head before raising the gun back up to scan over what she'd been staring at for the past two minutes. She surveyed the entire miniature fortress, pausing on some of the buildings when she thought she spotted movement. Growing frustrated with the lack of light, she grumbled under her breath as she slung her rifle over her shoulder and across her back. She drew her right pistol and held it aloft in preparation as she nudged her horse forward.

"Something's not right here," she pointed out as she walked her horse toward the south entrance gates. No sound came to her ears except the sighing of the breeze and the flapping of tattered cloth from within the hideout. As the sun tiredly rose and bathed the world in light, she stopped her horse before the gates and sized them up, her brow furrowing with confusion.

Jack stopped his palomino beside her, his pistol held at the ready as well. "Where are they?"

His wife shrugged and dismounted. "Only one way to find out…" Cautiously, she approached the gates and rested a hand on one of the doors. Glancing back at her husband, who was right behind her with his gun in his hand, she pushed open the door and pointed her gun forward.

The Marstons rushed forward and dove behind the nearest cover possible; several empty crates served as their protection as they entered the hideout. However, with all their preparation and willingness to fight back whatever opposition presented itself, they were met instead by silence. They glanced up over their cover and were faced by an empty gang hideout, and nothing more.

"Strange," Maddie murmured as she and Jack stood up and lowered their guns. Looking around, their bodies still tense, the bounty hunters advanced deeper in the settlement.

"No kidding," Jack agreed. "Did they just up and leave?"

"C'mon, let's look around. You take the right side, I'll take the left." She glanced back at him, right into his eyes. "Be careful."

"Always am."

Their inspection took them no less than ten minutes. In that allotted time, all they found were remnants of previous tenants: a smoldering fire here, hasty boot prints and hoof prints there, horse droppings, and indentions in the ground where people laid down for the night. The crates and barrels that littered the place looked as if they had been dragged about and moved into certain positions that would help fortify the gang's protection from the outside world and other threats.

Husband and wife met in the center of the abandoned hideout, their guns holstered and their spirits sour with disappointment and worry.

"This doesn't make any sense," Jack began as he looked about them once more. He shook his head. "They were just here: the fires are still smoldering, and the footprints are pretty fresh. Where did they go?"

Maddie shrugged in response as she scanned the area alongside him.

"If they were in Chuparosa three days ago, then where the hell are they? Why wouldn't they hide out here?"

"Maybe they left for that very reason, darlin'," she reasoned as she turned to face him. "Still, you've got a good point."

It took her another second for realization to dawn on her. Eyes widening in horror, she turned and stared off into the horizon towards Chuparosa.

"Oh, no."

Jack followed her gaze, and his jaw dropped as his eyes came to rest on what she saw. Over the town, perhaps even further, smoke clouds coiled and belched into the morning sky, the black swirling and curling about and blocking off the beautiful colors of the sunrise.

In the next instant, the bounty hunters sprinted to their horses and mounted up swiftly. As they kicked their steeds into a gallop down the road back to town, an ominous boom sounded, and as it echoed across the land, it spooked both horse and rider when it reached them.

In two minutes, they'd reached Chuparosa, only to discover that nothing was amiss in the town. Maddie and Jack pulled their panting horses to a stop at the gates, confused and trying to discern why nothing was wrong, when all of the sudden, a storm of gunshots reached their ears. Like the boom before, the gunshots sounded distant, and as they spurred their horses back into a gallop, they discovered where such havoc was happening. The moment they passed through the west gates of Chuparosa and galloped alongside the railroad tracks, their worst fears were realized.

In the twenty minutes that it took to reach Las Hermanas, it was far too late. The convent was ablaze, its gates destroyed and looking like they'd been blasted open by dynamite. The train station had also been set fire to, as well as the stagecoach that usually sat there waiting for passengers—the driver and his four horses lay upon the ground riddled with bullets and laying in puddles of blood.

As Maddie and Jack reached the convent, their horses squealed, skidded to a stop, and reared up in terror at the sight and smell of such tall, destructive flames. In shock, their riders dismounted and ran towards the crime scene, utterly helpless but still hoping to somehow stop the havoc. All around them, passersby had stopped and dismounted to scurry about as they tried desperately to douse the flames from the nearby water troughs and wells. In the middle of it all, five nuns stood huddling and cradling each other, sobbing and wailing as they watched their home go well past saving. Two of the women had sunk to their knees and raised their clasped hands to the sky.

Maddie stumbled up to the group of weeping women and grabbed one of them by the shoulders. She turned her around, forcing her to look into her eyes, and she demanded, "What happened here? Who did this?"

Between her sobs and gasps for air, the elderly woman cried, "La Phantasma did this! She… she came in disguised as one of us this morning at dawn! I saw…," she paused as a silent scream of horror contorted her face and opened her mouth, "…I saw her shoot one of the sisters in the face at point-blank range!" It was all she could relay to her interrogator as she crumpled into the arms of her nearest comrade and sobbed openly.

Her confider took the opportunity to continue her friend's recounting. With tears streaming down her face, the younger woman explained, "She killed all of las hermanas except for us. We ran outside when they started shooting. The men we thought we could trust inside the convent turned on us and opened fire!" She raised her wet face to the smoke-riddled sky and shouted, "¡Dios mio! Dios mío, ¿por qué nos has abandonado?"

The heat of the fire before them was unbearable, and Maddie and Jack pulled the nuns away from their destroyed sanctuary. All around them, men sprinted about collecting buckets of water and sand before attacking the flames. Their horses, along with the steeds of the strangers who had stopped to help, galloped away in terror and stayed at a far distance. With no other way to comfort the last surviving nuns, the Marstons charged forward and did their best to help put the fire out. However, in no time at all, they quickly became aware that it was all a lost cause. They slumped back, panting and exhausted as they helplessly watched alongside the men who tried their best and failed. Within a short time, the flames combatted and ate away at itself when everything it could've eaten was already lost to its insatiable appetite. With nothing else to fuel it, the fire died away slowly, as if imploding on itself, leaving the foundations of stone and the white walls a tarnished, soot-covered skeleton of what used to be a great haven.

Tears of anger and sorrow trickled down Maddie's cheeks as she sat alongside the weeping nuns and the defeated men who, even though were mere strangers, became a part of the mourning party along the road side. On her other side, Jack knelt clutching her in a desperate attempt to shield her from the sorrow that emanated all around them, but even he was tearing up.

"This could've been stopped," Maddie somehow murmured past the lump in her throat. "We could've stopped her from doing this if we didn't go to Tesoro Azul."

"We couldn't have known where she was gonna strike next," Jack said. He swallowed hard. "Still, I know how you feel."

"She will pay for this," Maddie proclaimed, her voice trembling with rising hate. Her hands gripped her husband's sleeves tightly as her face contorted into a dark, seething countenance. "She will pay for everything, I swear it." She turned and cuddled into his chest. "There must be something we can do."

"What can we do, Maddie? This place is lost. Only a thunderstorm can help us now." As if willing it to come true, he raised his gaze above them, and though the sky was polluted with thick, black smoke, he tried to see past it with the hopes of seeing the clouds above them pregnant with rain and willing to bequeath to them their sacred gift. However, the sky was as clear and blue as any other day, and the bright cheerfulness gave a stark, satiric contrast to the travesty happening before them. Jack could've laughed and cried at the same time where he not so strong at holding back his emotions.

Maddie looked around them at the sole survivors of the terror of Las Hermanas. With a heavy heart, she watched the strangers who had taken their time and energy to right the wrongs shuffle defeatedly to their horses and mules, mount up, and ride away with a dejected shake of their head. To her right, the nuns cradled each other and sobbed in each other's arms, all the while staring in horror and denial at their destroyed place of worship and sanctuary.

"We must take them back to Chuparosa," she decided. "They'll be safe there."

"What makes you so certain, Maddie? If La Phantasma can do this and get away with it, who knows what else she's capable of?"

"We have to do something, Jack."

Jack bit his lip as he glanced over the remnants of Las Hermanas, then flicked his gaze to the nuns. He sighed sadly and nodded. He helped his wife up to her feet. "C'mon. Let's get them out of here, then."

Chuparosa didn't meet their expectations of safe, just as Jack suspected. With the nuns riding behind them on mules, Jack and Maddie led them back to town, only to be horrified further as they approached the east entrance.

"Holy mother of—!"

Jack would've finished his exclamation were it not have been for Sundance and the other equines rearing up and shrieking in terror at the sight before them. Hanging from the arch of the gate, the man he recognized as their informer, Jesús Aguirre, hung suspended by his ankles with a thick, strong rope and his hands tied behind his back. The man's throat had just been slit; a puddle of his blood had collected upon the ground below him, with tendrils of it still trickling down his face and dripping off his nose and forehead. Jesús was unfortunately not alone: what Jack assumed were his wife and two small children hung on both his sides in the same fashion.

The nuns screamed and stared at the grisly show before them. "It was her!" one of them shrieked. She pointed up at the bodies with a shaking finger. "La Phantasma did this!"

"Jesus Christ," Jack murmured.

"It was all a diversion," Maddie said. "It was all just for show. These people are no more than cattle to her."

"No." He drew his pistol and aimed it up at the rope that suspended Jesús. "Jesús and his family will not be a part of it." He shot the ropes that held the family hanging for all to see; their bodies fell to the ground with solid thumps.

He would've dismounted and begun to give them a proper burial were it not for the remaining citizens of Chuparosa shrieking and running about within the town's walls. Terrified at whatever else lay in wait for them, he and Maddie reined their mounts around the dead bodies before spurring them forward into a lope.

They brought up their horses quickly as the remaining families of Chuparosa scurried around them, collecting goods and necessities before mounting their nags and mules and forsaking their town. Nearly fifteen or so people were left as they made haste to flee.

"¡Espera!" Maddie cried out, her head swiveling about as she looked for anyone who heard her. "¡Parada!"

A few people managed to come to their senses and stop what they were doing.

"¿Qué pasa? ¿Dónde ha ido todo?"

"¡La Phantasma vinieron y mataron otra vez!" a man explained while he cinched up his brown mule. "Todos han huido."

"¿Dónde?"

"¡En cualquier parte, pero aquí!" he responded before hastily going back to saddling up his mule and mounting.

"What's goin' on?!" Jack inquired impatiently, not knowing a word that had been said.

"Everyone's fled," Maddie explained as she turned in the saddle to face him. "La Phantasma came back and killed again, as we've just found out." She nodded grimly back in the direction of Jesús and his family lying dead behind them.

"So now what? Where are they headed?"

"Anywhere but here."

"We need to take them someplace else besides anywhere," Jack countered. He leaned forward in the saddle and prepared to spur his horse forward with the intention of stopping some of the people fleeing out the west gate.

"Wait, Jack," Maddie barked. "Where would we lead them, even if they agreed to go?"

"Where is there that's close and safe?"

"Escalera, I suppose."

Jack's jaw dropped. "Maddie, that's exactly where La Phantasma's headed to next!"

"Well, where else are we supposed to go?!"

An older woman nearby approached them. "El Presidio!"

Jack and Maddie blinked and looked down at her.

"¿Está seguro?" Maddie questioned.

"Sí, estoy seguro. The President's army is there."

"That'll work," she finalized and reined her horse around to begin rallying the people.

"Wait!" Jack exclaimed, hindering her from nudging her horse forward. "Isn't that directly back where La Phantasma has taken over? Hasn't she already taken over that part of Mexico? Why go there when her power is already in full swing?"

Maddie shrugged despairingly. "Where else are we to go, Jack? Besides, it's the least she'll expect, since we figure she's been making her way west across Mexico instead of east. If we do this right, we can evade her and her gang and get the people to safety."

"How? You heard them all: La Phantasma has power all over this country, it seems. We'll never make it there."

"We've gotta try."

With the woman's help, Maddie and her husband rounded up the remaining people in Chuparosa and led them outside the town through the east gate, being careful to step around the bodies that lay at the foot of the entrance. Once there, Maddie explained to the terrified citizens her plan and ensured them that she and Jack would help protect them and lead them to safety to El Presidio. Jack watched on, utterly baffled as to what she was saying but getting the impression that she was promising them great things, and to him, her bravery and leadership was admirable.

Within minutes, he found himself riding abreast Maddie leading a small band of people. The sole survivors of Chuparosa followed them both on foot and on horseback in single file as they trudged down the road leading to El Presidio. It was slow-moving, and by the time evening came and the group made camp off the side of the road, they had just passed the remnants of Las Hermanas. Jack, Maddie, and several armed men took turns watching for La Phantasma and her gang, but when dawn came and everyone packed up and readied their mounts, nothing was amiss. Concerned and worried that something would surely happen to them soon, Maddie and Jack mounted up and continued leading the people to safety.

The Marstons led the people as close to the shore of the San Luis River, taking less-traveled roads and avoiding the towns that La Phantasma had taken over. By the end of the second day, they'd passed Ajave Viejo and Casa Madrugada, stopping to make camp at Roca De Madera when nightfall cloaked the world around them.

While the people made their small campfires and ate their provisions, Maddie sat atop a rock near the base of the landmark, with her back to the looming boulder and her Henry repeater across her lap. Wearily, she looked out across the desert landscape, her eyes heavy but still scanning for any wanton threat.

Jack shuffled up the slight rise to her, carrying a bowl of hot soup and vittles from the campfire he and the others were sitting around. He sat down beside her and looked out past the horizon, squinting and straining his eyes for any signs of La Phantasma's gang. No moon shown that night, but there were enough stars above to shed enough light upon the world for him to see for several miles out.

"Yet another quiet night," he murmured as he turned and handed her supper.

She accepted it and rested it atop her rifle on her lap. The steam swirled and danced above the soup, caressing her face as she took up the spoon and bent over it. Though it scalded her tongue and mouth, she ate the soup with gusto after having traveled all day on barely any food. As she ate, she glossed over the fifteen travelers and shook her head. "Everyone's exhausted. I think we pushed them too hard today."

Jack frowned. "Yeah, I think we did. But we need to get to that fort as fast as we can before more people die, and I'll be damned if that happens on my watch." His expression darkened with guilt and anger as he looked down at the ground before his boots and sighed. "We've already lost the better part of the battle."

"Don't say that," his wife admonished. She set aside her bowl, turning away from it long enough to console him. "We've suffered a defeat, yes, but that doesn't mean we won't win this. I'm gonna make damn sure something like this doesn't happen again. We'll get these people to safety, Jack. We will."

"I'm beginning to wonder if we stepped into this whole thing a little too late," he continued gloomily as he looked off into space with a sour countenance. He scrunched up his brow and bit down on his lip.

"It's never too late to turn the tides, Jack. We can stop her."

He didn't respond as he continued surveying the surroundings. Quietly, he sat there keeping vigil while Maddie ate her fill. Once she was done, she handed him back the bowl and spoon and thanked him. He looked her over with concern, and he frowned when he noticed how tired she looked.

"You gonna be okay taking first watch?"

She nodded fervently but was deceived as a large yawn escaped her

He gave her a look that clearly stated how wrong she was. "Maddie, get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm fine."

He shook his head. "No, you're not." He nodded down to the campsite at his empty bedroll. "Get some sleep, darlin'. You need it more than I do."

Maddie looked him over dubiously. "And what about you? You look just as beat as I am."

"I can go without sleep. You know me."

"Maybe so, but I'd better not catch you sawin' away when I come up to take watch."

"Of course, dear," he chuckled and handed her back the bowl and spoon.

Maddie took it from him as she stood up and held her gun with her other hand. "Holler if you see something, alright?"

"I will." He nodded down to his bedroll again. "Get some sleep. I'll wake you in about three hours."

"Alright," she agreed as she bent down and kissed him good night.

Morning took forever to come for the Marstons, as well as two other Latino men who helped take watch. Though nothing happened all night, their nerves were on edge, and half the time their eyes played tricks on them. As camp was cleaned up and the steeds saddled, the bounty hunters still kept a strong vigilance.

By midday, the gates of El Presidio loomed before them as they rode down the inclining road toward sanctuary. Maddie and Jack pulled their mounts to a stop before the gates and looked above at the men who kept watch and marched along the fortified white walls. Behind them, the weary survivors of Chuparosa stopped and waited for them to speak.

"¡Parada!" one of the men above them shouted. All eyes froze upon them, and guns were raised and at the ready as the Mexican army sized up the group. "¿Quién se va allí?"

Maddie took the opportunity to speak for them all. She looked straight up at the man with the large, well-kept mustache and clean uniform and stated, "El pueblo de Chuparosa, señor. Bueno, lo que queda de ellos."

The man looked her over and demanded in a grouchy, commanding tone, "¿Quien eres tu?"

"Soy Maddie Marston, anteriormente Maddie Ross. Estas personas necesitan la protección de La Phantasma."

Jack leaned closer to her in the saddle and murmured, "What the hell are you sayin'?"

"I'm trying to convince this dipshit to let us in," she whispered back.

The soldier blinked and paused before asking, "¿Marston?" He looked directly at Jack and asked, "¿John Marston?"

Jack blinked in turn and stared up at the man. He looked to Maddie for support, then back to the general and shook his head. "No," he answered back nervously. "I'm—er, sorry, um… Soy Jack Marston."

"Este es su hijo y mi esposo," Maddie clarified. She reached over and patted Jack on the leg for trying.

"What'd you say to him?"

"I told him you're John's son and my husband."

"Oh."

The man looked about at his fellow comrades and bickered back and forth between them in rapid Spanish. He gestured specifically down at Jack, as if emphasizing his importance. After a moment longer of conversing, the general turned back to them and waved them onward. "¡Pase!" he commanded before disappearing. A series of shouts was heard until at last the double iron doors of El Presidio opened. Maddie and Jack led the people into the fort, where they were met with a swarm of Mexican soldiers standing and staring at them with their firearms in their hands. Off to the side, what appeared to be other peasants and common folk populated the first level of the place. The fortress was relatively packed with citizen and soldier alike, as if this was the last safe place in Mexico.

"Looks like everybody else had the same idea," Jack uttered over to Maddie as they stopped their horses in the center of the place and dismounted.

"Perhaps Reyes is helping his people after all," Maddie agreed as she slid off Gypsy.

They were met with the same man who spoke to them at the wall. He stepped forward through the throngs of people and stood before them solidly, looking utterly important and imposing. While several of his soldiers began to pass out food and water to the survivors they escorted, the general looked Jack and Maddie over with a trained eye.

"¿Quien eres tu?" he asked again. He looked from Maddie to Jack and back as he waited for them to speak.

"Somos los cazadores de recompensas," Maddie answered. "Hemos venido a México para La Phantasma."

As she and the general spoke and exchanged information, Jack let his focus drift from the conversation, seeing as he couldn't understand a word, and as he looked around the fortress, he couldn't help but study the fortified, thick walls, the multitudinous cannons and Gatling guns sitting forebodingly atop the watch towers, as well as the pueblo-style buildings. He looked around at the hundreds of crates and barrels of what he assumed were supplies, both of ammunition and food and other general necessities, and he couldn't help but think to himself, This is exactly where these people needed to be. He grinned with pride, finally seeing success after such failure only three days ago. These people will be safe here.

"Y este es mi esposo Jack Marston, hijo de John Marston."

Jack felt his wife's hand tap his shoulder. He blinked and turned around to face her, staring dumbly down at her. "What?"

She jerked her head towards the man, who stood facing him with a hand extended. "This is Captain Gonzalez."

"Oh," he blurted and shook the man's sturdy hand.

The captain looked him in the eyes and nodded with gratitude. "I want to thank you and your wife for the kindness you've shown to these people. There aren't a lot of people like you two nowadays, now that La Phantasma's riding around killing people if they don't join her." His superb English surprised Jack, and his deep voice resonated in the large, open space. The man's presence carried an astounding weight, as did his sturdy appearance, yet despite his imposing demeanor, he spoke to the bounty hunters with exceptional kindness and generosity.

"Oh, uh…Thanks. And you're welcome, I suppose."

Gonzalez grinned at him. "I can't believe it."

Jack blinked. "Can't believe what?"

"I'm standing in the presence of John Marston's legacy. He was a great man: he helped bring about change to this country and helped our Presidente overthrow Allende. You don't know how much this country is grateful of your father's help."

Jack blushed but otherwise gave the man a pleasant smirk of appreciation.

"Captain," Maddie gently budged in, taking a step forward, "what's happened in Mexico as of late? What can you tell us of La Phantasma?"

Growing pale in the face from exhaustion and terror, Gonzalez gave a long sigh and ran a hand over his face. He beckoned them after him with a wave of his hand as he turned and started towards the nearest set of stairs that led to the second level of the fort. "Ven conmigo," he stated. "I will tell you all that I know."

Jack waved Maddie forward, allowing her to ascend the steps first. They followed the captain to the second level, where the Latino stopped near a cannon and in quite the great view of seeing the rest of the fortress. The Marstons noted the other cannons and Gatling guns that sat atop the watch towers, acting as if steel gargoyles of mass destruction. The trio paused by the fortress wall and looked out at the desert landscape before them that stretched far beyond their sight. It all seemed so foreboding, such a vast expanse of land that, somewhere, their greatest foe rode about freely. Though they were safe for the time being, they still felt utterly insignificant and powerless.

Captain Gonzalez rested his balled fists atop the wall and sighed. "Our country has had quite the struggle these last ten years, and we've had our fair share of banditos and criminales, but La Phantasma is the worst. She only wants to watch the world burn around her. Everything she does, all that she's devoted herself to, is chaos. It doesn't matter who or what gets in her way: if she can destroy it, she will."

"How long has she been a problem, señor?" Maddie questioned.

Gonzalez shook his head and scoffed. "She's only become a threat as of late. She rose up out of nowhere. It's as if Dia de Los Muertos has sprung her to life, and now she's on a rampage. Dios mio, she's insatiable."

"Dia de Los Muertos isn't even a month away!" Maddie said. "She rose to power that quickly?"

"Exactamente," the captain answered. "Like the plague, she came. Not a lot is known about her origins, or how she came to power so fast, except for her sole desire to kill, and if you don't stand alongside her and help her destroy, then you yourself get destroyed instead. It's as simple as that, señora. We don't know where she came from, who she really is, or what her true goal is, other than to kill, kill, kill. I guess she started out in America but had only a handful of followers—she was only una penqueña bandita then, but now, she's una anarquista, and she's only getting worse as the days go by."

"You're right about that one, amigo," Jack added. He frowned deeply as he admitted, "She burned down Las Hermanas three days ago." He gestured to himself and to his wife. "We did everything we could to stop it, but we were in the wrong place and the wrong time when it happened."

Gonzalez's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped "¿Realmente?"

Maddie nodded. "Only five nuns survived. They are here with us." She pointed down below to where the nuns and the other survivors from Chuparosa had congregated to eat and rest on crates.

"Madre de Dios," the captain whispered as he followed her gesture. He shook his head and scratched at his mustache in deep recollection, taking the time to soak in the disheartening information he'd just received. "She's practically taken over this country, except for this place and Escalera." He looked down at the swarm of civilians who had begun to mingle and take comfort in one another. "You and your little group from Chuparosa haven't been the only people who have taken refuge here at El Presidio. People from Casa Madruga, Ajave Viejo, and El Matadero have come here as well. What little people have survived La Phantasma's butchery have fled here, and we have kept them safe and fed under President Reyes' orders."

"Speaking of which," Maddie piped up, "why hasn't Presidente Reyes dealt with La Phantasma if she's become such a terrible problem? Why hasn't Reyes interfered?"

"Reyes has been busy with other things," he quickly responded, looking sheepish.

"Like what?"

The man's eyes narrowed at her boldness. "Running this country, for one thing."

"How about defending its people?" Jack inquired bravely, his eyebrows narrowing darkly over his eyes. "What has he been doin' while the townsfolk are bein' killed and terrorized and bein' forced to join an army that will only cause further destruction and death?"

"Reyes has done everything in his power to stop her, gringo! He'd sent us out to find and capture her, but she's evaded us from the start. At first, we thought she was no more than a rowdy peasant who wanted to cause some trouble, but we never expected her to rise up this high and become such a bigger problem."

"'A bigger problem'," Jack scoffed. "No offense, but that just sounds plain lazy to me."

"Has she taken over so quickly to where you and your army couldn't have avoided her?" Maddie continued. "You're a part of the Mexican army, amigo. You could easily take her on and wipe her out of existence."

"We would've done that long ago if we would've known where she hides. She keeps slipping past our nets."

"Why couldn't you have sent out a—"

"¡Capitán!" came a panicked shout from somewhere nearby. "¡Mi capitán, ven aqui! ¡Rapido!"

The trio whipped their heads towards the cry, and their gazes rose above them on a soldier who stood beside a Gatling gun. The man was beckoning them urgently while pointing out towards the rise outside the fortress' walls.

"¿Qué es?" Gonzalez demanded as he rushed forward and ascended the ladder. Maddie and Jack followed right behind him, their bodies becoming once again flooded with adrenaline should the need arise for action.

As they topped the look-out and stood next to the soldier, all eyes followed the young man's index finger. Everything went silent as their attention became fixated on a lone rider that sat astride a white horse and stared back at them nearly a hundred yards away on a rise just before the gates of El Presidio. The rider's long black hair flowed freely to the side from beneath a black flat-brimmed hat, blowing carelessly along with the breeze and moving in sync with the white horse's mane and tail. The person was dressed in dark clothing, complete with a black, hoodless shroud over similarly-dark pants and shirt, and a bright-red bandana over their face.

"¡Hijo de puta!" Gonzalez hissed, his voice trembling. "It's her!"

"What?" Jack and Maddie chorused, flicking their gaze from the rider to Gonzalez and back.

"It's La Phantasma!" proclaimed the young soldier.

"How do you know it's her?" Jack asked. He fetched his binoculars within his satchel hastily and brought it up to his eyes.

"It's her, señor. Sólo muerte monta un caballo pálido."

"What did he say?" Jack asked. He briefly looked away from the lens to glance at his wife.

"Only Death rides a pale horse," she translated.

Jack swallowed nervously as he returned his eyes to his binoculars. Through the lens, he was able to see La Phantasma for the first time, and in relative clarity. Upon closer inspection, her white horse appeared to be an albino: the stallion's eyes, muzzle, and ears were a pale red. But what struck him the most was his rider's appearance: though it was concealed by a bandana and a hat, from what little he could see of her eyes and nose looked as if she'd painted her face.

"What the hell?" he asked aloud.

"What?" Maddie asked as she stepped closer and gestured for the binoculars.

"Look at her face," he answered as he gave up the binoculars to her.

Maddie looked through them and gasped. "Is she…? Has she painted her face to look like a…?"

Before Jack or any other soldier nearby could answer, right before their eyes, La Phantasma took off her hat and pulled off her bandana, revealing to every soldier who wished her dead the most terrifying face makeup: she had painted her face to look like a skull, with deep black circles around her eyes where her sockets would be, as well as a black spade-shape on her nose. Black lines were meticulously painted across her lips and across her cheeks to make her mouth appear only as bare teeth on a pair of bony jaws. On her forehead, chin, and cheekbones, she'd crafted what looked like intricate floral patterns in bright red paint.

"¡Santa Muerte!" the young soldier gasped and crossed himself hastily.

Jack stared at his wife. "What does that mean?"

"She's painted herself as Our Lady of Holy Death."

He blinked. "Which means…?"

"Think Grim Reaper but different."

"She's desecrating the saint!" Gonzalez angrily reprieved, his fists shaking by his sides. "How DARE she try be an impostor of Santa Muerte!"

"Isn't that the whole point?" Maddie pointed out, gesturing with an upturned palm at the rider before them. She shook her head, scoffed, and regrettably admitted, "How very clever."

"¡No es inteligente, maldita sea!" the captain shouted. He stepped forward and reached for the lever of the Gatling gun. "¡Eso es suficiente! I've had enough of this impostor and usurper! I'll deal with her myself!"

Just as he was about to fire the Gatling, his hand froze and his mouth gaped open as a wall of mounted men appeared seemingly out of nowhere, topping the rise and pulling their horses to a stop behind La Phantasma. Like a cavalry about to charge into battle, the army of followers took up their positions behind their leader in a v-shaped formation. All two hundred and fifty men sat atop their horses of varying colors and breeds with steadfast resolve. They respectfully looked to their leader just as she walked her horse forward several paces.

She stopped the stallion, however, just before the horse was about to descend the hill down towards the gates of El Presidio. She pulled back on the reins, leaned back in her black saddle, and kicked her heels forward, nudging the stallion's shoulders with her spurs and causing him to rear up tall and proud. The horse pawed at the air before him powerfully before landing back down on all fours and tossing his head. After putting on a show, his rider and all the others behind him studied the fortress before them silently, looking for any signs of weakness in the strong foundations of white stone and iron defenses. Their eyes bore through every soldier whose gaze they met; their presence alone struck terror into the hearts of even the bravest of men.

Two tense minutes passed as the opposing armies sized each other up and waited for the other to make a move. No one stirred or spoke during that time, except for the wall of strong horses that blew, whickered, and pawed at the ground. All the while, La Phantasma sat proudly atop her white stallion, boldly showing herself off and making a statement that only she could've pulled off in such an impressive manner. However, despite her superior presence and authoritative body language, the one thing that instantly set a shiver to every man's spine was the way she stared up at the captain, Jack, and Maddie, as well as the way she suddenly jerked her horse's reins to the right and kicked him into a gallop. It was clear then that despite possessing such clear brutal force, she was met with a definite mishap in her plans, and that enraged her. The white stallion was a beacon of chaotic leadership as he barreled across the land and headed straight east; the thundering of two hundred and fifty sets of hooves deafened the ears of the soldiers and anyone within a two-mile radius as the army of followers quickly disappeared off into the horizon.

Only then did every soldier and citizen within El Presidio breathe a sigh and relax from their tense stance. Captain Gonzalez turned and faced Jack and Maddie.

"Now we know what she looks like," he muttered as he took his neckerchief in his hands and wiped the sweat from his brow. "There's no mistaking the leader of such a large gang on such a white, powerful caballo."

"Indeed," Maddie agreed and sighed heavily. She rested both hands on the ledge and bowed her head, overcome with worry and exhaustion brought on after such an adrenaline rush. "This is bad. Really bad."

Her husband nodded as he returned his binoculars to his satchel. "We gotta figure somethin' out soon, or else we're screwed." He looked to Gonzalez and gestured in the direction the gang disappeared. "They were headed east. What's in that direction?"

"Torquemada."

Maddie's eyes suddenly bulged, and she straightened from her slouched stance as she turned and faced him with an ever-growing look of concern. "How long has Reyes' forces been stationed up there?"

Gonzalez blinked incredulously. "Not since he became Presidente. ¿Por qué?"

"¡¿Por qué no?!" she exclaimed and gestured wildly out towards the gang hideout. "Are you telling me Torquemada has been abandoned all those years? What's become of it?"

"It's been home to a few banditos off and on, pero…" The rest of the captain's sentence drifted off into silence as her point became across. "Mierda."

"Mierda indeed!" Maddie shouted. She jabbed a finger eastward. "I bet you any kind of pesos that that's where she's headed, and if that's the case, then we're really screwed."

"Why?" Jack asked. "What's so special about that place?"

"It's a fucking fortress in its own self. It's sitting way up on the top of a mesa, which gives it a tremendous tactical advantage, and there's only one way up to the hideout, which makes it nearly impossible to sneak up to without being noticed. It's a place that well-defended and pretty much impregnable."

"Maddie, with all those men followin' her, I'm pretty damn sure she could impregnate it," Jack shot back. He exhaled angrily through his nose and pounded a fist down onto the ledge of the wall as the tension and anger rose to a breaking point within him. He turned sharply to his wife and added, "If that's the case, then we are neck-deep in a heap of shit, Maddie, and you're the one who drug us into it."

Her jaw dropped. "Me?!"

He pointed down at her with his right index finger. "You're the one who got us into this mess, with you wantin' to relive the glory days."

She smacked his hand away and glared up at him. "That's not true! There was a bounty that needed to be taken care of, and I went after it."

"Yeah, well, now look where that got us!" he shouted back as he gestured angrily about them.

"Hey, I didn't know it was gonna be this bad, okay?! How was I to know it was gonna become a war of sorts?"

Jack shook his head and flicked his gaze upward in disbelief. He raised both hands and gestured toward her, his fingers becoming like claws as he demanded, "Why did YOU have to go and try to take care of this big problem, Maddie? Why does it always have to be YOU who has to go after things like this? Why couldn't you have just been happy with the peaceful way of life we had back at Beecher's Hope? We could be at home right now just mindin' our own business and carryin' on like we were before, but instead, YOU drug us into this!"

"Don't push the blame all on me, goddamn it! I was merely doing my job! It's my job to bring in criminals such as La Phantasma, and seeing as Archer Fordham personally saw to it that I go after this particular bounty, I have a certain duty to uphold. Isn't it my duty as a bounty hunter to bring outlaws into jail and take back justice?"

Jack's eyes narrowed to slits of rage. He dropped one hand to his side and pointed down at her with the other with one cold, jabbing finger. "You're not doin' it for duty, Madeline. You're doin' it for your own selfish desires. There's a BIG difference!"

Husband and wife glared each other down, their noses inches away from the other. When the tension was overflowing, Jack sighed through his nose, took a step back, and looked away. He chewed on his bottom lip as he glared of in the direction of where La Phantasma and her army disappeared, and with a shake of his head, he turned away from Maddie and began descending the ladder.

Maddie glared down at him. "And just where the hell do you think you're going?!"

"Goin' to have a long chat with my good friend Tequila," he snapped back without looking at her.

She watched him stomp down the stairs and into the main building. She flinched when he slammed the door behind him as he disappeared inside.