It had been three days since Arthur returned from the mountains. The money was still in his trunk. Most of the others had told him they enjoyed Grace's company and hoped he would bring her back sometime. Bill and Micah were suspicious, and while Dutch said Grace was nice, he still seemed bitter by her comments about the plan to escape to Tahiti. Even so, Arthur couldn't help but be a bit amused.

Arthur was sitting by the gazebo, listening to Jack read his new book to Hosea, when Trelawny strolled up.

"Are you ready to win some money tonight?"

"Huh?"

"The poker tournament out on the Lannahechee River boat, surely you've already been told about that."

"Oh, right."

"But first, we need to get you smartened up a bit."

"What? Why?"

"Well you can't play at the tables looking like this," Trelawny gestured to Arthur's clothing.

"Why not?"

"Because, dear boy, you need to fit in so well no one realises you're there to rob the place, now come on."

They mounted their horses and rode to Saint Denis.

"By the way, I met your lovely Miss Bellerose yesterday while I was in the city."

"You did?"

"And she agreed to go along with us."

"She did?" Arthur was surprised. Why on earth would she agree to be a part of a robbery like this?

"I explained everything and asked her to pretend, or not as the case appears to be, to go along as your dear wife. She seems to be able to play the part of a high society lady quite well so perhaps some of that will rub off on you."

Arthur and Trelawny rode to the tailor's where Arthur, again, had to pick out a fancy suit. He asked why he couldn't wear the suit from the mayor's party, but was told it wasn't appropriate for the riverboat. Then it was off to the barber to get his hair trimmed and face shaved.

"So what's the plan then?" Arthur asked.

"Oh, it's very easy, indeed. You'll play cards and win. And you're going to bet very big and flamboyantly while you win. When you bust the place, they'll take you upstairs to pay you off and that is when Javier comes in and you take whatever you want."

"You don't think they might see an armed Mexican coming into the safe with me?"

"Sure, they might. But perhaps not. You will see."

After the barber, Trelawny led him to a small coach outside. "I've arranged some transportation for us."

"What about Grace?" Arthur asked.

"She will meet us there." They stepped into the coach. "And look at you, from toad to prince."

"This is a bit much, ain't it?"

"You're a brash oil man with money to burn! Which reminds me, no shuffling and mumbling."

"So, how's this supposed to work then?"

"Strauss will sit in your eyeline and give you cues. The dealer has become a good friend of mine and he will make sure you are dealt the right cards."

"What could possibly go wrong?" Arthur said sarcastically. "And what money will I be playing with?"

"Don't worry, that has all been arranged. Ah! Here we are." The coach pulled up to the dock where a large river boat was moored. Trelawny turned to Arthur. "Leave any weapony here. They'll search us when we get on."

Arthur reluctantly removed his gun belt after Trelawny promised the coach driver was a good friend and they would collect it later. He then followed Trelawny to the docks where Strauss, Javier, and Grace were already waiting. She was wearing a fancy violet dress with a matching brimmed hat.

"Ah, Mrs. Callahan, how wonderful to see you again," Trelawny greeted her loudly.

"Likewise, Mr. Muldoon," she said, nodding at him.

"I see you've met our friends from New York," he gestured to Javier and Strauss.

"Yes, they've just been telling me how much it's changed since I've last been," she turned to Arthur, "All set, darling?"

"I guess so," he smiled at her.

"Well come along then! Champagne is on dear old Arthur!" Trelawny led the way to the boat. Grace took Arthur's arm as they followed.

"I can't believe he managed to talk you into this," he said to her quietly.

"Neither can I, but it could be fun," she replied with a smile.

"But what about all that stuff you said about not robbing decent people?"

"Well, no one brings every cent they have to these things. Even if you took everything they have here, you wouldn't be making anyone destitute. Besides, you're supposed to rob them by winning at poker, aren't you? So you won't need to beat or shoot anyone."

"Heh, I suppose." He paused. "You look nice."

"Thanks, so do you."

When they boarded, they found a private room to enjoy some champagne before Arthur went down to the poker tables. Javier had already gone to find a change of clothes to pose as one of the guards.

"So who will Arthur be playing against?" Grace asked.

"A man called Desmond Blythe, made his fortune in hosiery."

"And you promise no one will get hurt?" Grace turned to Trelawny.

"Of course! Well, perhaps a bit of coercion will be in order when they bring Arthur up to the safe."

"But no deaths."

"Oh, there will be no need for that," Trelawny stated.

Soon it was time for Arthur to head down. Grace accompanied him to the main floor, trailing behind Trelawny and Strauss. He felt a little nervous about the whole thing, but was reassured by Grace's presence, like somehow nothing could go wrong.

"Good luck," she said, "Don't lose all of our money," she added with a wink.

He hesitated then quickly kissed her on the cheek before heading to the tables while she joined a couple other women at one end of the room.


It took only a few hands to bust out Desmond Blythe, much to Blythe's annoyance. Arthur followed the pit boss up to the safe, accompanied by Javier who had changed into a guard's uniform. Once at the safe, Javier knocked out the guard up there and threatened the pit boss to hand over his gun to Arthur. Before they could loot the safe, the pit boss pulled another gun and Arthur was forced to shoot and kill him.

"Damn, I'm sure someone heard that," Javier said, "Hurry up."

Arthur took everything he could and they returned to the main floor, acting like nothing had happened. Just before he reached the bar, Grace took his arm and pulled him aside.

"Did I just hear a gunshot?" she whispered at him.

"It's fine," he replied.

"Dammit, Arthur," she hissed.

"I had no choice!" he said quietly, "Let's... let's just keep this charade up for a bit longer, okay?"

She didn't say anything, but nodded and put on a smile as they went over to the bar. Desmond Blythe was arguing with Trelawny.

"No sir, my friend is not a 'no good cheat' and I beg you to take back the insinuation!" said Trelawny.

"There he is!" Blythe pointed at Arthur,

"Now, don't be a sore loser, friend," Arthur moved himself in front of Grace.

"There's something I don't like about the lot of you!" Blythe accused.

"There's plenty I don't like about you," Trelawny stood and faced him, "but I have the good manners to keep my mouth shut."

Before anyone could say anything else, a man in just his undergarments appeared and pointed at Javier. "There he is, shoot that man!" The other guard turned to Javier who shot him then threw his gun to Arthur. Arthur grabbed Grace and they ran behind the bar to take cover.

"Come on, we gotta get out of here!" yelled Javier.

"How the hell are we going to get out? We're in the middle of the river!" Grace asked Arthur angrily.

"Stay behind me," he ordered. He looked over the bar and shot a few of the guards before grabbing Grace's hand running out. He and Javier shot more guards as they made a run for the deck with Strauss and Trelawny close behind. Arthur ran for the railing, still holding Grace's hand, when she stopped.

"Wait!" she yelled, "What are we doing?"

"We have to jump, let's go!"

"I can't swim wearing all this!" she gestured to her dress, "I'll drown!"

"Let's go, Arthur!" Javier yelled as he jumped over the railing. Strauss and Trelawny jumped as well.

"Dammit!" Arthur ripped the dress off without thinking twice, making her squeak in surprise until she was left in only her underthings and they leaped into the water just as more guards reached the deck.

They swam to shore, which thankfully wasn't as far as they had initially thought. Trelawny, Strauss, and Javier were already on the dock, catching their breath, by the time Grace and Arthur swam up. Arthur went up first as the water had made Grace's undergarments transparent and he offered her his jacket as she climbed up.

"Well, never a dull moment," Trelawny joked.

Grace marched over and slapped him across the face. "You said no one would get hurt!"

"Ah, yes, that was an unfortunate miscalculation," Trelawny said, rubbing his cheek.

"Now wait a minute-" Arthur started before Grace turned and slapped him hard.

"And you! Just... URGH!" She threw up her hands and whistled shrilly as she stormed to the road. Tuula came barreling down the street and slid to a stop by Grace. "You can all just rot!" She jumped on her horse and galloped away.

They were left in silence until Trelawny spoke.

"Well, not to worry, dear boy, I'm sure she'll forgive you in no time."

"Maybe," Arthur said quietly. He doubted she'd forgive him so quickly. They managed to steal a few thousand from the safe, plus a valuable pocket watch. But was it really worth it?


Arthur wondered where Grace had gone. Did she return to the mountains? Or go home to her cabin? Or was she still in Saint Denis somewhere? He decided not to try to find her, to give her time to cool down.

He made frequent trips into the city on the pretense of looking into some leads, but hoping to run into her. Instead he ended up meeting a strange French man in a bar, an artist called Charles Châtenay. He was given a drawing in exchange for a drink, then invited to the art gallery the following day for an exhibition.

The next day, Arthur looked at the handdrawn map Charles Châtenay had drawn, trying to make sense of it as he walked along the street to find this Galerie Laurent. As he did, he saw her across the street.

"Grace!" he rushed over to her.

"Hello Arthur," she said coolly.

"Listen, I'm sorry about what happened," he said.

"I'm sure you are."

"No, really, I am, but you see, I-" he stopped. He didn't know what to say, really.

"No, I understand," she said. "You can't help it. It's all you know. God forbid you ever try to earn money honestly."

She turned to walk away, but Arthur grabbed her arm.

"Do you want to go to an art gallery with me?"

"What? Why?"

"Some feller I met, an artist, is showing his paintings," he said, "I said I'd stop by."

Grace thought about it and then sighed. "Fine. Why not?"

Arthur offered his arm and she reluctantly took it. They walked up to the next block where they found the gallery. Heading upstairs, she admired a few paintings of some still life before going into the first room with large photographs on the walls.

"It's you!" she gasped, forgetting she was angry at him, pointing at a large photo of Arthur on the wall. He felt a little embarrassed, seeing this image of himself on display for everyone to see, but he felt his chest swell with pride as Grace approached the photo in admiration.

"Heh, I met this feller, Albert Mason, out in the woods taking pictures of wildlife," he said.

"Well, he certainly chose the ideal subject," she elbowed him in jest then looked back up at the photo. "It is a good picture of you."

"Hah, well, he seemed to be better at taking pictures than dealing with actual wildlife." He pointed to the photo beside it. "This coyote stole his bag and I had to chase him until he gave it up."

They moved to the next photo of a pack of wolves.

"How did he get this one?" Grace asked.

"He hung some meat from a tree to lure the wolves in," Arthur shook his head, "I had to stop them from eating him."

"Goodness."

"At least with this one, he didn't have to worry about being eaten," he pointed to a picture of horses galloping through water.

"Oh, this one's beautiful."

"I may have helped herd them past him."

"He's lucky to have met you," they moved to the next photo, "So did you have to help him with the gators too?"

"Yeah, I rowed him out to get some pictures. Even had me go into the reeds to lure one out for him."

"You actually did that?" Grace's eyes widened, "How much did he pay you?"

"Nothing."

Grace stared at him. "Wait, you did all this for nothing?"

"Yeah, well, he did give me a print of the wolves."

"See? You are a good man."

Arthur laughed and they moved on to the next photo of eagles flying. "I suppose I am sometimes. This fool nearly fell off a cliff taking these pictures."

"And then you saved him, right?"

"Yeah. I have to admit, I like the guy."

"I think I like him too and I've never met him."

They moved on to the next photo, one that neither of them had realised had been taken. It was of Grace and Arthur kissing under a lamppost that night after the theatre show in Saint Denis. Even though they were just a silhouette in the light, they both recognized themselves. Grace looked up at Arthur and they couldn't help but smile at each other.

"Oh, how romantic!" a woman behind them exclaimed, pointing out the photo to her husband.

"Is this what constitutes as art these days? Kissing in public? Dreadful," her husband sniffed.

"I know, how awful," Grace said, trying not to giggle.

"Speaking of awful, I see Mr Châtenay in the next room," said Arthur. They went into the next room to see lurid paintings of mostly women in the nude.

"Well," was all Grace could say as she looked at one of the paintings.

"It's a disgrace," said the woman next to her. "The unclothed figure, it's unnatural!"

"I disagree, the naked form is the most natural we can be," Grace said, "It's quite beautiful, actually."

"It's disgusting!" the woman strode off.

"You think this is beautiful?" Arthur asked, pointing at the painting.

"Well, maybe not the painting itself, but the human body is," said Grace. "Though, I suppose if you tilt your head this way and squint a bit it looks... okay?"

"Monsieur Morgan," Charles Châtenay approached them, "And who is this beautiful lady?"

"Grace," she said.

"Ah, I should've known, such a pretty name for a pretty face," he then turned to Arthur, "You must let me paint 'er."

"That ain't up to me," said Arthur.

"Not a chance," said Grace.

"But my dear lady," Charles took her hand, "you must let me share you with ze world."

"There are very few I share myself with," she said, quickly glancing over at Arthur before taking back her hand, then walked away to inspect the other paintings. Before Arthur could follow, the other patrons started to raise their voices.

"Hey, you got a picture of my wife here in her delicates!"

A woman gasped. "Henry! Is that your behind? Why would you be showing it to that man?"

"That's my momma!" a man exclaimed, pointing to one of the paintings, "As nude as the day she was born!"

"Stop looking at my husband's buttocks!"

"Stop looking at my momma!"

"Well maybe she shouldn't have exposed herself like that!"

One of the men threw down his glass of champagne then threw a punch at another. The women in the room immediately left, except for one lady who started attacking Mr. Châtenay with her purse. Grace and Arthur stood off to the side, greatly amused as Mr Châtenay ran out of the room.

"I'm coming after you, Frenchy!" one man yelled going after him. Arthur stopped the man who then decided to challenge him.

"Arthur, no," Grace pulled on his arm, but the other man threw a punch at him. Arthur blocked it and Grace ran out of the room, leaving Arthur to the fight. All the men were fighting now, with Arthur knocking them out one by one.

When he had finished, he left the room to look for Grace.

"Is it safe to come out now?" he heard Mr. Châtenay say from the hallway. "Come on, I know a place I can stay for a few days."

"Hold on, I have to find someone first," said Arthur, turning back.

"Oh, everyone's left," Mr Châtenay said dismissively, heading downstairs. Arthur just shrugged and followed him out. He looked for Grace outside, but couldn't see her. He escorted Mr Châtenay to a house down an alley and bid him farewell.

Arthur rushed back to the street, hoping to see Grace. He went back to the gallery, thinking she might be in the back garden. When he couldn't find her there, he went back upstairs. He found her sitting under the photograph of them kissing.

"Can't even go to an art gallery without getting into a fight," she said, looking down at the floor.

"I didn't start it!" Arthur said.

"But you certainly finished it!" she said, looking up at him angrily.

"Don't know why you're upset."

"It doesn't matter," she stood up and swiftly walked past him. He tried to grab her hand, but she slapped his hand away. He watched her leave then sat down in the chair she had been sitting in.

A few moments later he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up eagerly but it wasn't Grace. It was Albert Mason, carrying his tote bag.

"Ah, Mr. Morgan!" he greeted him. "I hoped we would meet again."

"Yeah, I see you got your pictures up here," Arthur replied.

"With gratitude to you, sir," Albert said. "And I hope you don't mind, but I did catch you and your lady a few weeks ago." He pointed at the photo of Arthur and Grace.

"I thought you only did wildlife shots," Arthur stood up.

"I was experimenting with night shots," Albert explained. "There's not much light out there in the wilderness, but I thought I'd try out some cityscapes. Far less things trying to eat me." He opened his bag and rummaged around in it. "I think it turned out quite well, don't you?" He handed Arthur a print of him and Grace.

"Yes, it did," Arthur said, looking down at the picture.

"Well, at least someone is in here looking at my work," Albert looked around the empty room.

"It was full, but there was a, uh, incident," Arthur pointed into the other room where the men he had knocked unconscious were starting to wake up.

"Oh dear, well, these will be here for a while yet, perhaps someone will find some sort of value in them. Take care, Mr. Morgan."

Arthur said goodbye and looked down at the picture again. He thought of that evening often. He wondered what would have happened if Albert Mason didn't take that picture. Not that he wasn't now thankful for the picture as a physical reminder of it.

Where was Grace now? He should have gone after her.

"Arthur!"

He turned and saw not Grace, but Mary hurrying towards him. He smiled, glad that the picture of him and Grace was now safely in his satchel.

"Oh, I am glad to see you," Mary said when she reached him.

"Why, you got more family members that need saving?"

"No, I've been hoping to see you again."

"Well, here I am."

"Yes." They stood there awkwardly for a moment. "Will you walk with me?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"Let's go to the park, there's a nice one here." Mary took his arm and they walked in the direction of the park.

"What are you still doing here?" he asked.

"I'm... I guess I... Well, it's..." she stammered.

"It's ol' daddy, ain't it?"

"Arthur, you know how it is," she sighed.

"Yeah, I know."

It was nice to see Mary again and he thought back to when he told her he'd run away with her when he had the money. He couldn't do that, not anymore. But how could he tell her?

When they reached the park, they walked along the path around the pond. Partway around, Arthur spotted Grace sitting on a bench, watching a duck and her ducklings waddle by.

"Excuse me a moment," Arthur pulled away from Mary, "I just need to talk to someone." Mary watched him, confused, as he approached Grace. Grace stood up and walked towards him, but then passed him completely and went straight for Mary.

"Hi, you don't know me but I'm a friend of Arthur's," she said, "Just a friend," she added at the look of disappointment on Mary's face. "Listen, I want you and Arthur to get out. Take this," Grace reached into her satchel and took out a large pouch, "and leave." She turned to Arthur. "When I know you two are gone, I'll give money to the rest of them so they can leave too."

"Grace-"

"Be happy, Arthur. And you too, Mary. Goodbye." Grace walked away.

"Oh my- Arthur!" Mary opened the pouch, "There's... there's thousands of dollars in here!" She looked up at him happily. "We could- Oh." Her face fell. "You're not going to run away with me, are you?"

"I'm sorry, Mary," Arthur said sadly.

Mary looked away to hide her tears. "Just a friend?"

"She's.. well.. she's something else," he wasn't sure how exactly to describe Grace.

"Well, she must be if that's how you feel about her," Mary looked down at the money, then held it out to him.

"No, you keep it," Arthur pushed it back, "You take it. Take your brother, go find something and someone worth living for."

"Arthur, I-" she stopped, "I never stopped thinking of you."

"Me too," he said quietly.

"Walk me back?"

Arthur nodded and offered his arm to her, escorting her back to the hotel. They were both silent until they reached the door. She turned to him.

"I miss you," she said, "I hope she's worth it."

Arthur nodded slightly, but didn't say anything. Mary quickly kissed him on the cheek and hurried into the hotel. He didn't feel the same rush as when Mary used to kiss him years ago. But now he knew for sure that it was in the past.