The forest path north of Strawberry was the main road that headed up Mount Shann. Rosalyn had found her way on the mountain trail after losing control of her horse. Her attempts to follow Arthur had failed, and now she was desperately trying not to get thrown from the horse who had been galloping out of control down the road for nearly twenty minutes. Rosalyn's thighs were getting sore as she was losing the strength to stay on.
"Please stop! Please stop." She begged as she tried to follow the rhythm of the horse's strides, tears streaming down her face from the pain. The horse was finally slowing down as they entered a walled-in path between two large rock formations. Blinded from what was ahead on the trail the horse kept moving forward at a fast trot.
"I don't think this is where she would be hunting," Rosalyn said as she bounced up and down in the saddle. Three men suddenly appeached on the road with guns pointed at her spooking the horse into rearing back. This time Rosalyn was too exhausted to hold on, and she fell off Princess's back as a man lassoed the beast around the neck.
"I got the horse! Grab her!" One of the men called looking too blonde on the ground. Rosalyn rolled over quickly after falling hard on her ass. Her rifle on the ground beside her as one of the three men approached her. He was dirty, wearing blood-stained clothes and kept his face covered with a mask. Rosalyn's heart started to beat fast, and she scrambled to pick up her rifle and without flinching shot the masked man in the chest. The sound of her gun making the other bandit jump out of the open and into the bushes.
Izzy and Arthur who were further down the path heard gunfire in the distance as Izzy and Aristotle charged down the road towards the mountain.
"Rose! I'm on my way!" Izzy shouted as loud as she could. Arthur further behind on the Duke could hear the poor thing under him pant from riding too fast trying to keep up with the others. The sizeable English Mastiff Bijou was running alongside him at the same speed as the Mule.
"Come on boy just a bit further," Arthur said patting his side giving him a good scratch under the neck. The sweet mule honking in pain but still trekked forward — a series of gunshots sounding in the distance making him look up worried.
Rosalyn had gotten off the ground and ran for cover behind some boulders as the bandits had tried to fire on her.
"Hey! Does she look familiar to you?" The bandit who was trying to reign in Princess called out.
"Yeah! But she shot Duncan!" The other yelled as he tried to shoot the blonde who let out a scream when the stone above her head shattered.
"I hate it out here!" She hollered and aimed over the rock at the bandit who shot her. She pulled the trigger, and nothing happened.
"Shit!" She panicked and ducked down and reloaded before being shot at again.
"Hey come on out! We got your horse; there's nowhere to go!" The man behind the bushes yelled.
"Yeah, maybe the boss will be nice to you if you surrender. No one liked Duncan anyways." The two of them laughed before the lasso-wielding one got bucked in the face by Princess. He collapsed to the ground dead before he hit the dirt as Princess bolted back down the mountain with a lasso around her neck.
"Chuck! You bitch you killed my best mates!" The last bandit yelled and unloaded his gun at Rosalyn. She had to run from her spot because the rock was blown away and no longer able to guard her. She tried to hide down the edge of the path but slipped in the mud. The steep hill was sending her plummeting down across gravel and rocks as she tumbled down at least 30 feet down the steep slope.
"Oh, you better run! Boss! We got a runaway!" The last bandit ran off up the trail shouting.
Izzy had turned up the mountain path when a white Arabian came bolting down past her, and she kicked Aristotle sides with her spurs.
"GO GO!" She shouted.
Arthur watched Izzy run out of sight up the mountain trail as Princess came barreling towards him.
"Whoa!"He slowed Duke down and got him to turn around and gallop the other way before Princess got close. As she sprinted up towards them, Arthur stood up on the saddle and waited for her to get close enough before leaping onto Princess. Grabbing the seat with all his strength as he kicked off the ground to mount the panicked horse.
"Easy girl easy!" He said slowing her down as she reared again, Arthur able to stay on her back as she landed heavily stopping finally. Arthur's weight and familiar voice settling her down.
"Good girl!" He said and patted her neck as he pulled the lasso off her and stashed it watching the Duke slow down and honk loudly having to turn back around to run back to Arthur. Bijou was continuing forward after her owner.
"You gotta stay here boy. It's too dangerous for you." He said and turned Princess around and headed after Izzy having fallen further behind. Arthur and Princess now headed up the mountain with the Duke slowly on their trail as he trotted after them at his own pace, which was comically slow.
Rosalyn had tumbled down the slippery hill and caught herself before she fell an even more dangerous ledge. Her breath was quick and shallow as she held onto the rocks to be still for a moment. Her rifle was gone, and she was stuck on the edge of a cliff with no apparent way up or down. Up above her a group of men had come to the cliffside and looked down to where she was. Down was a raging river.
"There!" One of them pointed her out.
"Well hello there! You stuck lady?" A man wearing a fur-collared jacket asked yelling down the cliff side.
"No! I'm fine you can leave me here. Just a big misunderstanding is all." Rosalyn called back. The gang of bandits had already started to climb after her, so she got up and began to jump over the rocks and head back around the cliffside. A wrong step and she could go tumbling to her demise.
"Sense of humour she has. Bring her to me alive I want to meet her." The leader of the gang ordered and put his cigar back in his mouth. Most of the bandits headed down the cliff, and two stayed behind sat up on the rocks with guns over their laps laughing. Watching as members of their party tried to climb down the slippery slope without falling themselves.
"Eh 5 bucks Logan slips and dies." One of them said lighting a cigarette.
"I'll take that bet." The other a ginger-headed man with a scar over his face replied polishing a six-shooter in his hands.
"Boys, no one else is dying today. Besides, it's been a while since a lady has graced our camp we should be nice to her. Besides. No one liked Duncan anyways." The leader, a greasy dark-haired man in fur, said as he started to lit his cigar. While his head was down Izzy came trotting up with her rifle in hand pointed at him surprising the lot of them.
"Well my, my, lookie here boys, not one but two pretty ladies have come up this way. Tell me, my fine friend, what brings you up the mountain this terrible day?" he asked the redhead who approached gun ready.
"I lost my partner who lost control of her horse. You hadn't seen her have you?" She asked noticing the other two boys train their guns at her but hesitant as she held this stranger at gunpoint with a rifle vs their pistols.
"We did! Sadly she shot two of my men." He said and pointed to the two corpses on the road.
"Oh boy, that is a real shame. Shall we make it three? Tell the boys to put the guns down, or I will shoot you." She stated and cocked her gun ready to fire.
"There's only one of you, three of us. You sure you can take us on?" He asked then laughed and pranced around with an air of cockiness.
As Arthur finally caught up, he noticed Izzy stopped ahead, but the rest of the path was blocked by the stone. Her gun drawn and pointed at someone as he could finally hear the conversation. Arthur slowed his horse down to try and sneak up. The voices in the distant sounded familiar, and he hopped off his horse and ran up to the edge of the wall to peek around to get a look before revealing himself. Once he spotted the three men, he tucked back around the wall.
"Colm O'Driscoll." He cursed the name. He reached into his pocket to grab his bandana only to discover that it still in pieces from when the Duke tried to eat it.
"Shit." He cursed.
"Alright, Lets talk," Izzy said waiting to hear his response.
"Yo boss we got her!" One of the men at the ledge called out looking below.
"Sure! Lets talk, You see we have your friend now. So if you want her back alive, I suggest you put down the weapon."
"Not till I see her," Izzy said
"Hmph. Smart girl you are. Alright, bring her up. I can wait." Colm said and smoked casually at gunpoint not fazed by it.
"I never caught your name?" Colm asked through a mouthful of smoke.
"Some call me the Devil in Red." She shouted for all to hear.
"Is that right. Well, some call me a Murderous Bastard, but that doesn't make it true now does it?" He laughed looking the red-head up and down. "The devil in red you say?" Colm asked checking out her horse and the large dog which had approached at her side. The boys behind him were getting nasty seeing such a massive dog beside that already enormous horse.
"Didn't they say the Devil in Red rode with a monster dog and black horse boss?" One of the O'Driscoll boys pointed out as the men he sent down the cliff started to climb back up with Rosalyn at gunpoint.
"Oh good, my dear come here your friend is here," Colm said and waved the blonde over. Rosalyn cut up, dirty, bloody and red-eyed looked around seeing Izzy. She was surrounded by these gruff dangerous looking bandits who all eyed her like a piece of candy as she was pushed over to Colm escorted by a ginger-haired scrawny man.
"Well, I'll be damned! Looky here, boys! We got a celebrity in our midst. Do you know who that is?" He asked grabbing the ginger-haired man by the arms and shaking him.
"No sir I don't." He said with a thick accent and a smirk as he eyed the blonde head with a grin.
"Why that's Miss Rosalyn Bush! Hey, tell me you got a can of beans in there." Colm asked and rifled through the ginger's bag and pulled out a can of kidney beans.
"See right there, that's you ain't it." He said gesturing to the can excitedly.
"Ta-da!" Rosalyn said and weakly struck the pose.
Arthur was watching from cover with a stern look in his eyes. Izzy could see him but the gang could not, and he signalled her. When she glanced over her tried to inform her not to shoot and try and talk out of it.
Izzy was keeping her gun trained on Colm as he walked around, more guns pointed at her since his men had all returned from their rock climbing adventure. More Pistols and a few repeaters but nothing that could quickly pick her off from the distance she sat. Bijou was growling low next to her.
"You know last I heard you were in Saint-Denis running the best whore house this side of the country! Tell me is it still running?" Colm asked approaching Rosalyn.
"Sadly sir it is not, I ventured out here to open and brand new house, But Gosh darn I haven't found a good place for it yet." Rosalyn had been speaking in her American accent.
"You hear that boys! An outstanding whore house for the upstanding gentlemen of the west. Why I would be your happy first customer once you were open, whereabouts are you headed." Colm asked and got uncomfortably close to Rosalyn.
"Blackwater." Izzy interrupted. Making Arthur flail his arms in panic.
"What are you doing!" He mouthed "If they found Dutch." He wanted to yell at her but stayed quiet
"Blackwater, why that's the other way. What are you doing up here?" Colm asked and ran his hand down Rosalyn's shaking arm.
"Yes, I lost control of my horse she's new and, well took me for the ride of my life today, but I am real sorry I shot your man. He was all scary looking wearing that mask, and I swear he was going to kill me first. Can you blame me?" Rosalyn was calm, and after a few strokes of his hand on her arm she swallowed hard and just went along with it.
"Nah I can't blame you at all mam, I would shot that fella just for being ugly." He said and took a long drag of his cigar as he rested his hand on Rosalyn's hip, which she didn't fight off. Instead, she pushed her pelvis into his hand and smiled at him.
"You are a sweet man, I can tell." She said and pinched his cheek playfully before taking his cigar from his lips and taking a drag from it. Colm's sly smile was growing wide.
"People always assume I am some monster, but a good woman can see through that." He said and squeezed her hip as she giggled.
"So, what are we doing now. All these guns pointed are going to age me something horrible with how afraid I am. You think we can maybe sort this out over dinner sometime?" She asked.
"Dinner with us or just me?" He asked
Izzy and Arthur both had deep frowns on their face watching this. The disgusting letch was pawing at her like a doll, and she was flirting back.
"Well I was hoping just you, I don't usually care myself with just average men." She said running her fingers down his cravat returning his cigar to his lips when he tried to get close to a kiss.
"Dinner for two, Why don't you come on up to my camp."
"And eat shitty stew? I don't think so, a man like you deserves a home cooked meal from yours truly."
"That does sound good, where can I find you then? Blackwater is a little far off."
"I'll be in town till this storm passes at least." She said as Colm took out a small journal from his pocket.
"Well I will just come over tonight then, you best go get ready for me. Before you go, would you mind giving me an autograph." He said and held the book out to her.
"Of course." She went for her bag to take out a pen.
"And everything in your bag." He added when she opened the flap.
"Everything?" Rosalyn paused looking in her bag seeing Arthur's journal staring back at her.
"Everything." He stated again.
"I guessed as much. I highly doubt you want my homemade orange marmalade." She said and started fishing out the expensive items. Sweat was dripping down her back as she held the silver pen and comb out to Colm.
"Orange what?" He asked as she started handing random items including the half-eaten jar of Orange marmalade to him. Also small handfuls of petty cash and coins.
"Do you not have a coin purse?" He asked
"Oh no, that got pinched two weeks back. I lost my favourite wallet, my cash, my pocket mirror. Oh, I lost my cat." Rosalyn started going on as she pulled out another handful of small coins for him.
"Okay, that's fine then." He said as most of the coin dropped on the ground.
"Oh I need the pen to sign your book," Rosalyn said and grabbed the pen from his grip making him drop more coins before signing his journal with a heart. By now Colm's appreciation of Rosalyn had run into annoyance with the coins and change debacle ruining the cool moment he was having. A few of his gang members snickering to themselves.
"There, am I free to go now?" She asked.
"Fine, go. I'll see you later though." Colm pocketed his things as she walked away. Colm slapped her on the ass as she went and as her back turned to the gang Arthur saw her face twist into an evil scowl. She calmly walked back not even reacting to the slap as she approached Artistole and Izzy slowly. The gang was dropping their weapons as Colm commanded them.
"Really you're just letting her walk away." The Irish accented ginger complained.
"Hey, we don't mess with the local whores, we kill their madam they won't let any of us back. You want never to get laid again, boy?" Colm asked him as he eyed the jar of Marmalade in his hands. Once Rosalyn crossed the barrier of the stone and saw Arthur tucked away in the brush she rushed towards the saddle and pulled out a repeater.
"I guess your right." The ginger responded
"Shoot them!" Rosalyn ordered and spun around cocking the gun. The smirk on Izzy's face grew in response.
"Yes, mam."
Arthur came out from his cover, and the three of them unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the gang who had let their guard down. Colm retreated immediately out of the line of fire leaving his ginger-haired compatriot to take a headshot between the eyes. Izzy tapped the horse on the thigh and whistled, and he straightened up and started to walk back towards the cover of the rock where Arthur was. Bijou was falling back behind the horse following her master.
Arthur immediately took out 3 of the closest gang members who had no idea he was there until he popped off his first three shots of his repeater.
"Son of a bitch! Kill them and bring me, Rosalyn, even if you have to beat her raw! I want her alive." He shouted feeling like a fool for letting her walk away ready to throw the jar away.
Rosalyn gracefully walked along with Aristotle covering for Izzy as she reloaded her gun. The blonde had popped off her three shots, and two of them fell gang members as the third missed. The rest of Colm's men having found cover by now.
"Time to go!" Arthur shouted seeing the moment to flee. He grabbed Rosalyn by the wrist while she was reloading.
"Not till I kill that fucker!" She shouted tears in her eyes.
"I'm not arguing!" Arthur said and picked up the blonde who screamed in protest but followed anyways. Arthur lifted her onto Aristotle while Izzy fired one more shot landing another direct headshot on an O'Driscoll who ran after them around the rock face.
"Alright go get outta here!" Arthur yelled as he sprinted for Princess.
"Not without you!" Rosalyn shouted for him. Izzy did not wait, and they took off back down the road.
"I'll catch up!" Arthur shouted after them jumping onto Princess who very quickly launched after them. Now with the horse under control of her rider, Princess was let loose and flew down the path. Even with the late start Arthur ended up passing Aristotle and the girls and pushed forward to gain some ground. Remembering the way they took up he found a ledge overlooking the road and diverted Princess up onto it. He switched weapons from to his rifle strapped on his back and aimed. The girls gaining on him as a line of 5 horses with O'Driscoll riders came out from the path. Arthur fired immediately sniping one of them in the shoulder knocking his gun free his grip. Aristotle passed them, and Princess followed behind returning to the trail. They took cover down the tight turns of the path.
"We have to lose them!" Izzy shouted back as Rosalyn held onto her tightly bouncing around in the saddle behind her.
"Why did you have to shoot them!" Arthur yelled back mostly at Rosalyn.
"Don't you fucking start with me! You two assholes got me involved in your bullshit drama. As a result, I get harassed by some lowlife, and I'm supposed to take it? You owe me his head!" Rosalyn was furious.
"Nevermind that how do we get outta here!" Izzy tried to keep them focused.
"We have the better horses let's use them. We get them in the open and kill them." Arthur suggested as the two horses glided around corners on the challenging terrain.
"Or lose them on the trail ahead and use the mountains to our advantage to hide," Izzy suggested.
"Out in the open, we won't get trapped." Rosalyn made the call.
"Rosalyn, I need you to steer," Izzy said and flipped her leg over the saddle standing with one foot in the stirrup and let Rosalyn move up in the seat so she could take control as Izzy reseated herself behind the blonde.
"Lead the way, Arthur," Izzy said and switched weapons with Rosalyn taking the repeater. Once they exited the mountain trail, they passed the Duke who was still trying to catch up and had to turn around again to follow the bolting horses — honking when he saw Arthur move.
"Oh no, the Duke!" Rosalyn called out worried.
"He'll be fine! Focus ahead. We need to ride them along the tree line. Once we get ahead of them we wait for them to pass and before they notice. We take them out from behind." Arthur instructed Rosalyn riding alongside her.
"Okay! I only have to follow you right?" She asked nervously.
"If you lose me to head back for the town and get out of there as fast as you can. You don't want to be on Colm O'Driscolls bad side."
"You know him?" Rosalyn yelled as a few pops of gunfire sounded from behind them. Izzy was firing her gun in response using Rosalyn as an anchor to sit awkwardly on the saddle to aim better.
"Yeah, we go way back," Arthur said as a bullet whizzed past him.
"No more chat let that horse loose." Arthur clicked his teeth and kicked Princess with his heels as she sped up on the flat ground, the level open field the perfect place to show off just how fast his horse was. As Arthur gained the lead, Rosalyn kept up behind him but as they sped up Izzy could not give them any more cover fire if she was to hold on. They ran for a minute and were barely gaining any ground on their pursuers.
"Arthur!" Rosalyn called out nervously. Aristotle was making worrisome noises riding with the extra weight of the two ladies. Princess was also beginning to show signs of exhaustion, and it was time to create the opening they needed. Out of his bag, Arthur pulled out a stick of dynamite and lite it.
"Brace yourselves!" He yelled and tossed it in the air. Straight up in fact, as Aristotle ran past underneath it. As it came back down the Five mounted cowboys in the back started to approach it. The explosive hit the ground with a loud kaboom, and Arthur veered his horse out of the field and into the trees jumping over a log. Aristotle following as Rosalyn freaked from the blast. Aristotle jumped the trunk, but the two girls were unable to hold on as they got vaulted off the Mustang and into the mud at full speed. Aristotle stopped following Arthur as soon as he lost his riders but sprinted away in panic from the blast of dynamite. Arthur still saddled curved back through the trees to circle behind the pursuers while he was out of sight unaware the girls were no longer on his tail.
Izzy and Rosalyn were splayed out on the forest floor after both taking a lot of damage after being thrown from the saddle. Rosalyn could barely breathe as the wind got knocked out of her and she was hyperventilating. Izzy felt something stuck in her side but the adrenaline was too much, and she sat up to check on Rosalyn who was crawling away. Looking ahead to find Arthur gone and back to notice the horses headed their way.
"Get down!" She said in a hush to Rosalyn and laid back down in the grass. Rosalyn froze in place shivering in fear as she couldn't catch her breath still. Four of the five horsemen had avoided the blast, the one who didn't was blasted from his horse since the poor creature took the brunt of the explosion and left as a pile of scattered meat across the field. The other four had slowed their gallop noticing they had disappeared into the trees.
"Split off and search! Remember it's the blonde we gotta bring back do what you want with the other two!" A man wearing a dirty grey and black stalkers hat said as the four of them split off to search. The last man on the ground was standing up with a blown apart shoulder, burns and no horse.
"Hey what about me!" He shouted before his skull blew apart. Arthur had reemerged from the trees behind them with his repeater in his grip. Two more bullets let loose from his gun and two more men when down shot straight off their horses. The two others had already taken off into the tree to get out of sight of the gunslinger who was now hunting them.
"Holy shit, that guy has perfect aim, Josiah!" One of the bandits said as they jumped the log and entered the trees.
"Fuck we gotta get outta here Danny! I'm not dying here." Josiah said as they investigated the forest.
"Hey, where did the two broads go?" Josiah called out before he got shot through the neck.
"Oh fuck!" Danny screamed and noticed the blonde getting up from the ground. She was unarmed. He quickly jumped off his horse and ran for the blonde grabbing her to attempt and take her hostage but as soon she grabbed her arm Bijou came out of the brush and mauled him. Though in typical Bijou fashion did not bite but licked.
"Bijou attack!" Izzy ordered, and the dog went from friendly to vicious as he bit the man on the face who started to scream under him.
Rosalyn noticing the man take out a pistol grabbed it from his hands and aimed it at him as the dog attacked.
"Bijou off!" Izzy shouted as the dog stopped giving Rosalyn the time to shoot the last O'Driscoll in the head.
Arthur and Princess leapt over the fallen tree just as Rosalyn had taken her shot and he jumped off gun ready looking for the last two who had already been taken care off.
"Are you two alright?" He asked. Rose stopping to pant and breath as Izzy collapsed to her knees.
"Izzy!" They both called in unison running over to her. Isabella was holding her stomach with her hand and peeling it back noticing a large amount of blood dripping from her side. A branch was sticking out as the splintered wood lodged into her skin.