When Arthur arrived back in camp, he was immediately accosted by Karen, Bill, and Lenny.
"There you are!" she greeted him.
"We got something cooking you might be interested in," said Bill.
Hit the bank in Valentine with Bill, Lenny, and Karen. They been planning it since we was at Horseshoe, but then we had to leave after the commotion we caused with Cornwall's men. Went in quiet and left quiet and everything was going to plan until we was almost out.
Arthur followed Karen, Lenny, and Bill out of the bank and towards their horses. No one paid any attention and it looked like they were in the clear. That is, until-
"Oh my god, someone's robbed the bank!" someone yelled from down the road.
"Look, over there!" Lenny pointed to a few lawmen just riding up.
"Shit!" Bill and Karen started firing at them. They shot back until they reached their horses and galloped out of Valentine, closely followed by more lawmen.
They raced into the Heartlands, trying to gain distance but it felt like more lawmen seemed to appear out of nowhere. Arthur yelled at the others to keep going as he tried to keep the law off them. Suddenly a cloud of white smoke engulfed a group of lawmen behind him. He didn't have time to figure out where it came from when there was another shot and his horse stumbled.
"Goddammit!" he yelled as Smokey pulled up limping. Arthur looked to see his horse bleeding in his rump. Lawmen galloped towards him, but there was suddenly another crack followed by the same white smoke that stopped them. A familiar horse appeared from around the smoke, but it wasn't another lawman.
"Get on!" Grace shouted when she saw Arthur's injured horse. He didn't need to think twice before jumping up behind her. Instead of following Karen, Bill, and Lenny towards Twin Stack Pass, she turned and galloped back towards the lawmen.
"What the hell are you doing?" Arthur yelled.
"Trust me! Hang on!"
He then realised she was holding her bow in her hand. She aimed it along with an arrow with some sort of sack attached to the end at the lawmen and fired. It hit the ground just in front of them and exploded into a cloud of smoke. Tuula suddenly veered to the right, almost causing Arthur to fall off. He grabbed her waist as they galloped towards the trees. She then reached into her satchel and took out a small can.
"Throw this, but don't hit them," she instructed. He twisted to see some more lawmen following them and he lobbed the can towards them.. It exploded as it hit the ground into a thick cloud of white smoke. He hung on as they zig-zagged through the trees. Grace slowed up Tuula when they emerged from the trees onto a road and looked behind them.
"What was that stuff?" Arthur asked when he saw no one had followed them.
"Smoke bomb," Grace said, petting Tuula's neck, "Well, kind of. It's flour. I've been experimenting with them and flour is more effective."
"Why the hell are you making smoke bombs?"
"Makes for a good escape, don't you think?" she turned her head towards him, "Do you want to see if we can get your horse?"
"Crap, law probably got him," Arthur said sadly.
"They're not going to execute him," she smirked slightly, "If anything, they'll have confiscated your saddle and probably place him in the livery stable to be resold. I hope you didn't keep anything in your saddlebags that will identify you."
"Nah, I don't think so," he sighed, "Dammit, poor Smokey."
"So where we going then? Rhodes, or back to your camp?"
Arthur thought for a moment. "Camp, but maybe a little further away, in case anyone's on the lookout."
"Sure," she turned Tuula down the road and eased her into a gentle lope, "So. Robbing banks, huh? Even after I said I had money you could have?"
"It wasn't my thing, Bill and Karen had it planned when we was still at Horsehoe," Arthur protested.
"Of course. So how much did you get away with?"
"I don't know yet," he clutched the saddlebag of money still over his shoulder, "Just hope the others got away."
"I'm sure they did, though I don't know why you started shooting at the deputies when they didn't even know it was you who robbed the bank."
"You saw that?"
"How could I not? You all stood out like sore thumbs, especially the lady with you."
"Karen."
"Yes. Very pretty outfit, by the way, but very out of place in a livestock town, especially when she was accompanied by three intimidating men wearing identical long coats," she smirked, "But I suppose you were almost lucky that no one else noticed."
"Where were you when we robbed the bank?"
"I was just coming out of the general store, saw you all before Karen went into the bank, followed by the rest of you. Then I waited out by the train station to see if you would get away with it, or if you were going to shoot your way out."
"Well, thanks."
"You're welcome," she turned her head to look at him, "Try not to make it a regular occurrence, please."
"Heh, I can't promise that."
"I know."
They rode in silence the rest of the way to Lemoyne and to the outskirts of Rhodes. Arthur felt lucky and grateful that Grace had been there, but his heart sank at the loss of his horse. He'd have to use his share of the take to buy a new one, though he didn't really want to so soon. When they crossed the train tracks and reached the fork in the road, he patted Grace on the shoulder.
"Here's good," he said. She stopped and he jumped off. "So, uh, thanks, again."
"No problem," she smiled down at him, "See you around." She turned her horse and trotted back towards Rhodes. He watched until she disappeared from view and made his way back to camp.
"There you are!" John called out to him as he walked in, "The others are worried."
"Yeah, got into a spot of trouble but got out of it."
"You weren't followed?"
"Of course not!"
"Where's your horse?"
"Shot."
"Oh. Damn. Well, better go let Karen know you're back before she drinks up the entire camp."
Arthur was greeted happily by Lenny and Bill, who informed him they were already planning his jail break. When asked how he got away, Arthur kept his answer vague, saying he managed to outsmart the lawmen. Bill seemed satisfied with his reply and offered him a beer, while Lenny was clearly sceptical, but didn't question it further.
After he handed the take from the bank into Dutch and claimed his share, Arthur was approached by Kieran.
"Hey, uh, where's Smokey?"
"Shot, probably taken by the law."
"Damn, I'm sorry, Arthur," Kieran said sadly, "He was a good horse, and you always took real good care of him."
"Yeah."
"Uh, if you need to, if you want, you can borrow Branwen for... for whatever you need," Kieran looked nervous.
"Thanks. Maybe just for going into town, until I get a new horse," Arthur reassured him. He knew that Kieran would be devastated if he lost Branwen.
"Sure, no problem."
For the next week, Arthur stayed in camp. He'd row out to the island to see if Grace was there, but she never was. Hosea was still integrating himself with the Braithwaites but hadn't come up with anything new. The Grays were beside themselves over their tobacco fields going up in flames and had increased security. Dutch would occasionally go into town to chat with Sheriff Gray, but apart from a few small-time bounties which some of the others took on, there hadn't been any progress.
Arthur finally decided to head out to buy a new horse, fed up with having to stay in camp despite Kieran's offer of loaning him Branwen. He was just packing up his satchel when he heard his name being called.
"Hey, Arthur! You have a visitor."
Arthur turned to see Charles standing next to Smokey. He ran to his horse and looked him over. Apart from a healing scar from where Smokey was shot, the grey Thoroughbred looked very well.
"Well, good to see you, boy," Arthur patted his horse's nose.
"Just wandered in on his own," Charles said, petting Smokey's neck, "Looks like someone took care of him."
"Yeah, and looks like my stuff is still here too," Arthur smiled to himself. How the hell did Grace manage it? He knew this was her doing.
"Anyway, I better get back," Charles returned to his guard post.
Arthur patted his horse again, then inspected his saddlebags and pulled out a letter.
Dear Arthur,
Thought you'd like your horse back. I have a friend in Saint Denis who's good with horses so I brought Smokey down there. Luckily the bullet only grazed him so he only needed some disinfectant and rest. The sheriff's had confiscated your saddle and saddlebags, but kept them sitting out back of the jail. I can see why you steal things, it's quite a rush. Don't worry, I don't plan on making a habit of it. That's more your thing.
I'm sure you'll be wanting to get out for a while. Meet me up at Barrow Lagoon? I left you something in the extra saddlebags. Make sure you bring them.
See you soon,
Grace
Arthur frowned slightly then opened the additional saddlebag slung across the saddle horn. Inside, he found a brand new pair of ice skates. What the hell? He kept them hidden in the bags as he informed Dutch he was heading out for a few days.
When he finally arrived at the frozen lake, Grace was already skating on the ice, but this time she had a strange-looking stick with a bend at one end and hitting a small object back and forth with it. She spotted Arthur and waved.
"Did you get them?" she asked with a big smile as she skated up to him.
"Why the hell did you send me ice skates?"
"So you can try skating too, it's fun!" Grace said, "I've gotten so much better. Watch this." She skated backward, lifting her wool skirt up slightly, then did a hop from one foot to the other and turning so she was skating forward again.
"Huh, so what's with the stick?"
"Hockey stick, ever seen an ice hockey match?" Arthur shook his head. Ice hockey? What was that? "I saw a match in Montreal, up in Canada. Terribly exciting. They can skate almost as fast as horses can gallop!"
"Jesus."
"I know, right? So come on, get your skates on, let's go!" Grace said excitedly.
"I won't be very good."
"So? I wasn't when I started. I'll teach you. Once you get the hang of it, it's fun."
Arthur sighed and rode his horse to Tuula by the cabin. He dismounted and took out the ice skates, looking at them curiously.
"They go on like regular shoes," Grace said, having followed him over. Arthur nodded, sat on a boulder by the ice, removed his boots and pulled the skates on.
"How did you get my size?"
"I guessed, actually," she shrugged, "Do they fit okay?"
"Yeah, just fine," he tied the laces and put his feet on the ice. Almost immediately, the blades slid in opposite directions.
"Here, hang on," Grace set her stick down and offered her hands to him. He took them in his. "You're going to stand slowly and you have to stand up straight. Okay? One, two, three!"
Arthur stood up a bit too fast and ended up falling on top of Grace on the ice.
"Ouch!"
"Damn, sorry," he said, kneeling up and helping her, "Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah, I've fallen loads of times," she said. "In fact, I'm wearing extra undergarments as padding. Well, let's try it again!"
After many more falls, Arthur finally got the hang of skating slowly on the ice. Stopping was a bit more difficult, and even though Grace tried to teach him, he decided it was just easier to let himself either slow to a stop or just bump into her.
"See, I told you it was fun!" Grace said, skating in a circle around Arthur.
"I guess it is," he admitted.
"Soon you'll be an ice hockey star! Then they'll make cigarette cards of you!"
"Ha, yeah, I'll give up my life of thieving and just spend it all on the ice."
"You could, you know." She looked at him pensively, before skating to the edge of the lake and picking up her hockey stick along with a second one. She handed the second stick to Arthur.
"You do make me laugh the way you talk sometimes," he looked over the stick.
"Yeah, anyway, time to learn to play ice hockey," she said, sliding over the wooden disk with her stick. "This is a puck. They use rubber ones in big matches, but this will do. The idea is to get the puck into the goal. I don't have proper posts so I used rocks instead." She pointed down the ice to where she had placed a couple of large rocks about six feet apart.
"Seems easy enough."
"Only because it's just us two and not two whole teams plus goalminders," she said.
"Goalminders?"
"They stand in front of the net and stop the puck from going in. There is also point and cover-point, they defend the goalminder and goalposts to prevent the other team from scoring. Then there's the centre and left- and right-wings, they score the goals. And finally there's the rover who skates around and assists with either scoring or defending."
"So which one would you be?"
"Hm, I think I'd like to be a centre. Or a winger. I like scoring goals." She looked Arthur up and down for a moment. "You would be a rover. You're intimidating enough to step in as point and stop the other team from getting closer to the goal, as well as break through the other teams points to score goals."
"Not a goalminder?"
"Nah, they have to stay in one spot and I can't see you doing that." She tapped her stick against the ice. "Okay, enough talk, let's play some hockey!"
Arthur hated to admit it, but it was fun. Hours later, they had lost track of who scored the most goals (probably Grace since she was the better skater and she also used her skirt to stop the puck from going in), and he had gotten better at skating. He even managed to stop on his own a few times.
He didn't realise they had been skating for so long when the sun started to set. His toes were frozen along with his boots, which had been sitting on the snow since he arrived. Walking after skating was weird. His legs still wanted to glide, even though he was walking. Grace had already dashed into the cabin to stoke the fire.
"Here," she passed him a thick pair of socks when he entered the cabin then sat on a chair with her socked feet on a stool in front of the firestove.
"Thanks," he removed his boots and pulled the socks on, warm from staying by the stove all day. He sat down on another chair, flexing his toes to feel them again. After a few minutes, Grace stood and placed a small pot on the stove, poured some water in, and then dumped a bag of something in.
"Rabbit stew," she said, seeing Arthur's questioning look. "I put together the meat and things before I came up. Every time I've been here before, I hated having to prepare my dinner after skating so much."
"So how many times have you been here?"
"Many," she stirred the stew, "I've lost track."
"No problems with bears? Or wolves?" he asked, remembering the battle between the grizzly and the wolves the first time they were here.
"They've been around, but they ignore me for the most part. I just skate back here when they get a bit too close to the ice."
"Well, you seem pretty handy with a bow and arrow, at least."
"I rarely use it to defend myself," she shrugged, "I find with animals that if you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone."
"Except for that cougar at that cave," Arthur remembered.
"Yeah, well, you two were encroaching on her home and I guess she thought I was too."
"I suppose you're right."
Grace finished cooking the stew and ladled it out into two bowls. She handed one to Arthur along with a spoon then sat down herself. They ate in silence.
"So, I think I know where to find that treasure, the snake one?" she said after a few minutes.
"Oh yeah? Where?"
"Over near Van Horn. There's a mound formation in the shape of a snake."
"And you didn't look for the treasure yourself?"
"I don't like being out there for too long," she shuddered, "There's a group called the Murfree Brood. Nasty bunch of men, they kidnap people. Or rather, they kill the men and kidnap the women and girls."
"Jesus, well, you stay away from that area."
"Oh, I plan on it," she said, "Much prefer to be up here."
"I can tell," Arthur finished up his stew and looked around the cabin. Grace had tidied and rearranged things. She had removed the top bunk of the bunk beds and built a second bed that lined up with the bottom bunk. She had fixed up the table and chairs so they didn't wobble so much. A shelf at the back of the cabin held some different sized pots and dishes. Below the shelf was a closed trunk.
"Like what I did to the place?" she asked, noticing him looking.
"Better than what it was before."
"And you get your own bed," she pointed at the new bed. "I brought up extra blankets so we don't need to share."
"Oh. Good."
"You should take Mary skating."
"What? Why?"
"Because it's fun? You can impress her with your skating skills."
"Nah, I don't think I'd do that."
"Why not? You could take her skating and hold her hand so she doesn't fall."
"If you've sent her ice skates..." Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose.
"I don't know where she is."
"But if you did..."
"If I did, I'd tell you." Grace looked at him for a moment. "I know you've said it's in the past, but why can't it be in the future?"
"Why do you care?"
"I just want to see you happy."
"Huh."
"Anyway, it's getting late. I'm going to bed." She crawled into one of the beds and pulled the blankets up.
Arthur imagined what it would be like, taking Mary skating. Would she even enjoy it? It would be fun. He did enjoy himself immensely skating with Grace and he realised he had forgotten about all his problems, even for a little while. But as much fun as it was, he did need to return to camp and help out with whatever scheme Hosea and Dutch have been cooking up next.
He sat on the other bed, taking in the sight of his and Grace's skates by the firestove and the hockey sticks leaning against the wall by the door. Hopefully they can do this again sometime.
Arthur woke to find himself alone in the cabin again. Grace's skates and hockey stick were gone so he assumed she was out on the lake. A look out the window confirmed it. He went outside and watched her for a bit. It was peaceful and quiet. She didn't seem to notice him yet as she glided along the ice, her stick in one hand. He took out his portable camera and walked closer to the edge of the ice. He took a picture just before she turned towards him.
"Good morning!" she waved and skated over, "Oo, is that a camera?"
"Yeah," he said, holding it up.
"How does it fit in your satchel?"
"Our cook, Pearson, is a wonder with leatherwork," he said, putting the camera away.
"Wow, you've got all sorts in your family, huh?"
"Why do you call them that?"
"Well, they are, aren't they? They may not be blood relatives, but they're family all the same."
"Yeah, you're right, a very dysfunctional family, but family nonetheless."
"So you want to do some more skating before heading out?"
"Sure, why not," he agreed. Grace smiled widely as he returned to the cabin to retrieve his skates. He fell twice as he stepped onto the ice, but Grace offered her hand which he held until he got used to skating again.
"Isn't there a fish to catch for that Jeremy Gill near here?" she asked as they skated around.
"I think so," Arthur stopped and dug into his satchel for the map, "Ah, over at Lake Isabella."
"Okay, we'll stop there before heading out," she said, "May as well earn a few dollars while you're up here or they might think you're just wasting your time."
"Hah, probably."
They skated around for another hour before they decided to head out. They left their skates at the cabin - Grace figured they were the only ones who kept coming out here - and rode towards the lake.
"So how'd you get Smokey from the sheriff's?" Arthur asked as they made their way around the mountain.
"He was at the livery and I bought him," she replied, "They were taking care of his wound, but considered him still lame so I only paid forty-five dollars."
"And my tack?"
"Well, the saddle was just sitting out back, so that was easy to get. Just waited until nightfall, grabbed it, and that was it," she laughed, "Your saddlebags were inside the sheriff's, though, so that was more tricky. So I might have lit up some dynamite on other side of town, and it might have distracted them long enough for me to run in and grab your stuff."
Arthur stared at her, wondering why on earth she would go to such lengths to help him. While he knew already that she would lie to the law, never had he imagined she would actually steal from them.
"What?" she asked, noticing that he had been staring.
"I... well... thanks."
"Can't believe I'd actually steal something, huh?" she smiled at him.
"Well, no," he finally said, "I don't get it, why are you being this helpful?"
"Why not? You don't like needing help?"
"It ain't that, it's just... why me? And... and why you?"
"Because I like helping people, because I like you, and because I like helping you."
"But-"
"Arthur, I know you don't believe me, but maybe you will some day. Anyway, here we are," she pulled up near the lake, "Is there a specific spot, or am I just casting out anywhere and hope the right fish takes the bait?"
"Uh, let me check," he pulled out the map again, "I think it's over there," he pointed to some large rocks on the edge of the lake, "And apparently it's a sockeye salmon."
"Okay," she trotted closer to the rocks, dismounted, took out her fishing pole and walked out onto the ice.
"Careful, I don't know if the ice will hold," Arthur said, dismounting near Tuula.
"It's fine." Grace moved closer to the water and stopped, her eyes scanning the lake.
"See it?"
"Not yet. A lot of muskies here, but sockeyes are pink so it should stand out."
Arthur carefully walked out onto the ice to join her. "Don't know how you can even spot anything here."
"Heh, takes some practice," she said, not looking away from the water, "If you do it often enough, it becomes almost second nature. Oh! There it is!" She pointed out further into the lake then quickly cast out. Arthur couldn't see anything, but took her word for it. After a few minutes, she was suddenly jerked forward and her pole bent violently. He grabbed the pole and tried to brace himself to reel in the huge fish, but it was difficult against the slippery ice.
"Dammit!" he swore as the fish thrashed in the water and he slid along the ice to the edge. He considered just letting the fish go, not wanting to take a freezing swim, when he felt himself being pulled backward. He didn't have time to figure out how as he reeled in the line, hoping the line wouldn't break. Finally, the enormous salmon flopped up onto the ice and Arthur pulled the line to keep it from falling back into the water. It was only then he noticed the rope around his waist.
"Jesus, what a monster," Grace skid across the ice to the fish which had now stopped flailing about.
"How the hell did you get this on me?" Arthur removed the rope which he now saw was tied to Grace's saddle.
"You were too busy with the fish," she said, crouching by the salmon, "Well, there you go, one fish down, a bunch more to go." She stood and watched him pick up the fish and tie it down on his saddle. "So other than fish, dinosaur bones, and rock carvings, what else are you collecting out here?"
"Heh, well there's a fella collecting those cigarette cards too," he said, mounting up.
"Of course," she mounted up and they headed down the road, "I haven't found any more rock carvings, but I've found a few dinosaur bones. I'll give you the locations of the larger ones when we get into town. Oh, we better go to Strawberry for now. Valentine is closest, but I'm avoiding it."
"Why?"
"Only until they forget what Tuula looks like. The law did get a good look at her when we found you after that bank robbery. And I don't know if they'll recognise Smokey still, so you ought to stay out of Valentine for a while too."
"Won't be the first time," Arthur said, but agreed.
They rode on to Strawberry where Arthur posted the fish to Jeremy Gill.
"So how will Mr. Gill send you any money for the fish?"
"We get mail addressed to Tacitus Kilgore," he replied as they led their horses through town, "Dutch's idea."
"Oh, well that's clever," she nodded in approval, "So where else do you need to find the fish?" Arthur took out the map and handed it to her. "Hm, these three west of Blackwater might be difficult for you to get. I'll head that way and see if I can get them for you."
"You sure? That one up in the mountains would've pulled you in. Woulda pulled me in too."
"True, but I'll do what I can," Grace mounted up, "See you around, Mr. Kilgore," she winked at him and rode west out of town.
Arthur watched her leave then headed into the general store to restock on a few things before heading back to camp, wondering when Grace would show up again.
