Arthur had returned late the night before, smelling heavily of smoke from his escapades with a young Native American man named Eagle Flies. He'd sleepily explained the nights events to Evelyn as she tried washing the smoke from his hair. She commended his actions of trying to help them to which he shrugged off and crawled into the bed with her. They'd been functioning as a sort of mock family since the few weeks after helping Mary Linton, and Arthur had essentially become a permanent resident in her room, moving in slowly with his clothes, personal items, and opting to leave the guns and ammunitions in his old room on account of Annabell. He'd even built Annabell her own smaller bed that he'd put in the corner of the room. The girl wasn't keen on sleeping in it until Evelyn had tidied it up with a pretty bedspread and organizing her dolls on it for her. That'd been a relief for Athur who was often the victim of the five-year old's foot in his face or jabbing him in the ribs. Evelyn also appreciated the extra bed space; she just wished the girl had a room of her own.

When they woke the next morning the weather was particularly beautiful with the spotless blue sky and beaming sun. Immediately Dutch called for Arthur to discuss something in his room. While they were talking Evelyn kept herself busy with the usual chores. Annabell had run off with Jack to play with their dog, Cain, so Evelyn and Abigail were left to themselves as they finished up the last few bits of breakfast's dishes.

"Evelyn, have you seen Kieran in a while?" Abigail asked her in a low voice. Evelyn shook her head, thinking.

"No... Now that I think about it I haven't seen him for a few days now." She revealed.

"MaryBeth has been beside herself searching for him. Poor thing is worried." Abigail sympathized. Evelyn nodded along.

"Maybe after Arthur is done talking with Dutch he'll go look for him." Evelyn offered. They were cut off from their conversation by a scream.

"It's Kieran!" MaryBeth screeched, pointing. Evelyn and Abigail looked to where she was pointing and gasped in horror.

Atop his beloved horse, Kieran sat. In his grasp lay his bloody disembodied head, mouth agape in a horrified bloody scream. His eyes, having been crudely gouged out wept tears of blood from the massive holes left behind. Too stunned to move, Evelyn and Abigail stared on in horror as the horse walked along slowly to stop in the middle of camp.

"Everyone, take cover!" Dutch yelled from above on the balcony. In an instant men dressed in all black crawled from the cover of the woods, shooting off gunshots. Everyone dashed for cover, Evelyn searching for Annabell who stood alongside Jack. The two children were frozen looking for their parents. Alongside John, Evelyn dashed to the children's side. John swooped up Jack and blocked the little boys body from the bullets whizzing by as he ran to safety. Evelyn ran to Annabell, quickly catching her in her arms and bolting to the doors of the manor. Everyone was rushing to get inside, MaryBeth and Tilley urging her in. Everything felt slow and muddled as Evelyn ran as fast as she could. Just before she got to the doors she cried out in pain, throwing Annabell to the two women waiting for her as she crumpled to the ground.

White-hot pain lanced through her arm as she fell to her knees. Everything sounded muffled to her, gunshots and screams didn't faze her, even Arthur shouting her name. She didn't flinch when John, who came back for her after getting Jack to safety, picked her up roughly and ran inside. He carefully deposited her on the floor before running out to join the rest of the men who stood vigilant in front of the house returning fire. As gunshots rang through the air around her, and Annabell cried hysterically, Evelyn tried getting the bleeding wound on her arm to stabilize. She wasn't sure if she'd just gotten grazed or if there was a bullet wound lodged in her bicep. Windows and doors were frantically boarded up. Outside she heard a woman screaming and Arthur shouting for Sadie. Her heart dropped, her scream sounded unhinged and frantic. She tried getting up to help her friend but Miss Grimshaw pushed her down and hissed for her to stay.

In what seemed like comically short time the battle ended and everyone shakily gathered their bearings. Arthur ran into the house, his head sweeping side to side in a panic until he saw Evelyn sitting propped up against a wall, cradling Annabell to her side and gritting her teeth in pain. He rushed to her side and assessed the wound. Her bicep was bloodied and the shirt she had been wearing was torn but thankfully the bullet didn't sink into her flesh, instead leaving a large gash that would need stitches. He sighed in relief, gripping her hand in his and lowering his head.

"I'm fine, Arthur." Evelyn reassured him. He nodded silently and squeezed her hand tightly before standing up.

"Thank God for that. You two stay in here. You don't need to see what's out there." He ordered grimly. Evelyn nodded and held Annabell tighter to her. Arthur sighed and left to go help clean up.

Bodies surrounded the property in a bloody mess. At the center of it all was Kieran's body, having been thrown limply to the dirt after his horse was spooked and fled. His head rolled some feet away from his body, the eye-less gaps staring endlessly into the mockingly beautiful sunny sky.

"Kieran... Oh God, Kieran..." MaryBeth whimpered with her hand clasped to her mouth in horror. Miss Grimshaw lead the sobbing girl away from the grim sight. The men gathered around the body, Dutch instructing Charles and Swanson to take it away and bury it, Hosea grabbing the head and following along. Meanwhile the rest of the men were tasked with clearing the O'Driscoll's corpses from the property. Miss Grimshaw and Pearson were tasked with clearing away the debris and gore. Everyone attended to their tasks silently, their faces drawn in grim serious expressions, no one daring to utter a word.

"Arthur. We need to get out of here." Dutch called to him. Arthur stopped what he was doing to stand by Dutch.

"You need me to find another camp?" He asked. Dutch shook his head.

"No. You're not seeing the vastness of our problems." Dutch urged. "We need to get away from here. We need money. Then we'll be gone. Meet me at the trolley station as soon as you're done here." He commanded before turning and taking his leave. Arthur sighed and shook his head as he got back to moving bodies with John. Anymore he wasn't sure what Dutch's plan was.

Before he left he made sure to check on Evelyn and Annabell. Annabell's face was red and puffy from crying and the girl refused to let go of her mother's skirt or speak to anyone. Evelyn idly stroked the girls hair as she silently waited for Tilly to finish up with the stitched to her arm.

"You girls okay?" Arthur asked. Evelyn looked up to him, a sort of far-away gloss to her eyes. She gave him a small smile.

"We're okay. Annabell's just frightened. I think we might lay down for a bit." She said quietly. Her voice was expressionless and unsettled Arthur. He supposed she was just in shock, after everything that just happened he couldn't blame her. He looked to Tilly who just nodded to him.

"Don't worry Arthur, I'll keep an eye on them until you get back." Tilly reassured him. Arthur nodded to her in thanks. He wasn't one for affection, especially in front of others, but regardless he knelt down in front of Evelyn and Annabell, pressing a comforting kiss to both of their foreheads before he took his leave.

He'd keep an extra watchful eye on them when he got back from whatever it was that Dutch had planned for him.


The men returned as the sun began making its descent. They rode into camp with their heads held low and dejected. Dutch clutched his head in pain and Arthur had an arm wrapped around his ribs. Lenny didn't seem to be injured, but he seemed to be as downcast as the other two. Miss Grimshaw rushed over to them, fussing and urging them to sit down so their wounds could be tended to.

"What happened to you boys?" She asked. Dutch held a wet cloth to his head. He spat angrily.

"We were set up. There was no money but plenty of the Law." He hissed. Hosea came up to them, concerned.

"Set up?" He asked. Arthur scoffed lightly. Yeah, they were definitely set up. Played like fools.

"Bronte." Arthur said gruffly. "Dutch said it had to be Bronte. No way all those Lawmen were there just for fun. Not with such little money." He was gratefull Lenny had been there. The kid did phenomenally.

Dutch stood up, dropping the cloth on the table. He made his way back over to his horse. Arthur and Miss Grimshaw watched him in concern.

"Where you goin', Dutch?" Arthur asked. Dutch swung into the saddle and looked at Arthur with a steel reserve.

"I've got business, out in the swamps. I'll be back." He said simply as he turned away. Arthur watched as he rode away, heaving a heavy sigh. Miss Grimshaw stood with him, also watching their leader as he faded away into the distance. She touched Arthur's arm in reassurance.

"Thank you for everything you do, Mr. Morgan. Dutch needs you more than ever I fear." She said quietly. Arthur nodded to her, returning her gesture with a small one of his own. His eyes searched around camp, seeing the bloodshot eyes of some of the people and the hard angry expressions of the others. The camp was eerily quiet. Miss Grimshaw followed his gaze. They stood there in companionable silence for a small while.

"Your lady and the girl are in their room." She said finally breaking the silence. "They've been up there a while. I imagine they both need to rest. I suggest you do, too." Arthur got the hint and thanked her silently before trodding heavily into the house and up the stairs.

He silently swung the door open, revealing Evelyn gazing out the window, her arm bandaged up nicely and Annabell sleeping with her head on her mother's lap. Arthur removed his hat and his boots and changed into clean clothes before he made his way over to them. Evelyn's gaze flitted over to him then back out the window. Arthur sat next to her, drawing her into a sideways embrace. They sat in silence for a while.

"Kieran." Evelyn whispered. "He was such a good soul."

Arthur nodded, sighing deeply. "Yeah... He was. He saved me, and I couldn't save him." He said quietly. His chest ached. Kieran had earned his place as someone Arthur cared for deeply.

"He saved you?" She asked. Arthur snorted softly.

"Yeah. To this day I don't quite know why. We'd been holding him captive for weeks. Then, as I was staring down a barrel thinking everything was over, Kieran saved me."

His throat tightened at the memory. The fool should've taken his offer to run away. Maybe he'd still be alive if he had.

"I'm not surprised. He was so gentle. And kind." She sniffled. Arthur hummed. He didn't know what to say.

"I thought I was going to lose Annabell, too. She was so far away, right in the middle of everything when the shooting started. All I could see was her, standing frozen and crying. She was looking straight into my eyes, like she believed that if I was there for her she'd be just fine." Evelyn's voice shook.

"She was right. You saved her, and you both are alive and fine." Arthur said, slightly lost.

"What if she wasn't? What if I didn't make it in time? She trusts me with her whole entire heart. If I failed her..." She choked, tears finally gripping at her throat. Arthur clutched her tightly.

"I know how you feel, Evelyn." He soothed, his voice quiet and deep. "I never told you this but; I had a son." He said hesitantly. Evelyn sucked in a sharp breath. "I had an affair of sorts with a waitress. Didn't expect nothin' from it. I learned she was pregnant not too long after. She didn't want nothin' from me, but I told her I'd be there for them both. Her name was Eliza, my son's name was Isaac. He was a good kid. I'd stay with 'em a few days of the month, buy 'em whatever they'd needed. He was ten." Arthur said, his voice hoarse. "One day I came over. Saw two crosses outside then knew something was wrong. Found out they'd been killed in a robbery. All over ten dollars." He chuckled bitterly. Evelyn grasped his hand tightly, careful not to wake Annabell.

"I wasn't there for them, not nearly as much as I could've, should've been." He finished. He held his head low. Evelyn's eyes glistened with tears as she looked upon the usually strong, impassive man who was now hanging his head dejectedly.

"It wasn't your fault, Arthur." She reassured him. "You loved him, cared for him, and his mother. Even when you could've just walked away. That means something." Arthur rested his head on hers.

Evelyn moved Annabell off of her lap, careful to not wake her. She gestured for Arthur to pick the girl up.

"Let's get some sleep. I have a feeling we're not going to be able to rest much for a while." She said. Arthur nodded and picked up the sleeping girl. Evelyn insisted she slept with them for tonight and Arthur agreed, also unsettled at how close the girl had been to death and didn't like the idea of her waking up by herself tonight. They crawled into the bed, Annabell tucked in between them and Arthur resting his arm protectively over the both of them. They fell asleep quickly, exhausted both physically and mentally.