Arthur was sitting at the table writing in his journal when she returned, wearing her nightgown. She ladled out the beans and meat into a couple of dishes and placed them on the table. While he ate, she sat at her desk and began to comb out her damp hair.
"So where were you shot? I mean, where on you," Arthur asked after a few minutes.
She pulled the collar of her nightgown aside revealing a healed bullet wound just over her left breast. "I think it just missed my heart since I didn't die right away."
"Does it hurt?"
"Getting shot? Yes, it hurts, you should know that," she buttoned up her nightgown.
"No, I mean... uh..."
"Dying?"
"Yeah."
"Not really, but returning to life is when it really hurts because everything has to heal and rebuild itself, I suppose. Like this," she pointed at her chest, "the bones were shattered when the bullet went through, so they had to be put back together. And no, I don't know how, all I know is that it hurts even worse than being shot."
"And you go through that every time?"
"Yes. Recovering after drowning, it's not so bad, but after being shot in the head?" She whistled. "It's a thousand times worse than the worst hangover ever."
"Jesus." He stared at her, wondering how someone could be broken and put back together so often. But- "So, before you met me, when's the last time you, um, died and all that?"
Grace paused to think. "1864, during the war," she answered casually, still combing out her long hair.
Arthur frowned slightly and looked down at his journal. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?"
"Well, you been okay until you met me," he said quietly.
"I'd say it's the other way around."
"I don't understand."
She set her comb down on the desk. "I haven't been okay until I met you."
"What do you mean?"
"It's very lonely living for so long, you know," she began to braid her hair over her shoulder, "I tried not to get too close to you, but..."
"I know. But you still died all those times."
"It's fine." Grace finished braiding her hair and stared down at the floor, deep in thought.
"How can it be fine? If you hadn't met me..."
"Arthur, you are the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time," she looked over at him as her eyes began to water up.
"But-"
"Look, all the moving around, having to find somewhere new all the time, it gets tiring, you know that. But no matter where I go, how much I enjoy it, or who I befriend, I know I have to leave. I haven't felt at home anywhere in a very long time. But when I'm with you..." she paused, biting her lip, trying to fight off the tears that were now falling down her cheeks.
Arthur hurried across the room and embraced her tightly. She cried into his shoulder as he held her. Even though her predicament was difficult to understand and even if he wasn't entirely sure about the whole thing, it's not like he had much time left. He kissed the top of her head.
"You know, you don't look half bad for someone who's over a hundred years old," he said.
She snorted and hit him lightly in the arm. "Shut up," she laughed as she wiped her face with her hands, "Anyway, we should get some sleep."
"You should eat," he gestured to her dish, untouched, on the table.
"I'm not very hungry anymore."
"You'll need it," Arthur took her hand, "Sadie and me have to break John out of Sisika."
"Wait, John was arrested?"
"Yeah, he was grabbed at the bank."
"Oh, I didn't realise it was him. How do you know he's at Sisika?"
"Saw him from a hot air balloon," he couldn't help but smile slightly as Grace's eyes widened.
"How the hell did you get a hot air balloon?"
"Sadie arranged it," he then sighed, "But then she went off huntin' O'Driscolls and had a whole bunch of 'em chasing her."
"While you were in the balloon?"
Arthur nodded. "Balloonist got killed, had to pull Sadie up, but then we crashed and ended in a shootout with the rest of 'em."
"Jesus," she shook her head, "can't stay out of trouble for two minutes, can you?"
"Heh, nope."
"Well, it's getting late, and I'll eat in the morning. Let's go to bed," she moved towards the bed but he grabbed her hand. "We really need to sleep."
"I know, just... let me have this," he ran his hand down her braid to the gunshot scar on her chest then kissed her again.
The following morning, Grace cooked them breakfast and brewed some more tea for Arthur.
"This will help with the coughing," she said as she poured the rest into a flask.
"Thanks." He slowly drank the tea in his mug and watched Grace pack up her saddlebags.
"Ugh, can't believe how dusty it gets when I haven't been here for a while," she ran her finger along the windowsill and crinkled her nose at the amount of dust she pulled up, "Haven't been here since we left on that trek."
"Really? What were you doing after you recovered?"
"Tried to find out where you were. I knew you hadn't been arrested and hanged yourself, but I knew someone was nabbed since it was in the papers."
"How did you know it weren't me?"
"Just a feeling," she shrugged, "Also tried to see what the Pinkertons were up to, but obviously I can't talk to them myself any more." She sighed. "I really did try to get them off your tail."
"Yeah, I know, but we wasn't exactly quiet."
"Got that right," she shook her head. "By the way, you ever find out who took that money from your trunk?"
Arthur shook his head and stood. "No, and no one else has said anything about finding a lot of money."
"Hm. You'd think someone would've done so by now, unless-" she stopped in thought.
"Unless what?"
"Unless someone took it, hid it, and is waiting for the right time to get it." She turned to him. "I don't think it was coincidence that the Pinkertons knew about the bank robbery."
"Yeah, I think you're right," he frowned, "I have my suspicions, but I just don't know for sure."
"Who do you think it is?"
"Well, Micah."
"I'd agree with you, but he seems the kind of person who would've already told everyone about the money in your trunk and make it seem like you were keeping it all for yourself," she said, "And if he told the Pinkertons about the robbery, surely he would've made sure he had a way out instead of getting caught in the middle of the shootout."
"You got a point." Arthur followed Grace outside to their horses. Tuula nickered warmly at him as he pet her nose. "Who else do you think could've taken it?"
"I don't know," Grace shrugged as she tacked up Tuula, "I don't know any of them well enough to start making accusations. You're sure that it's not just tucked into some clothes or something?"
"I'm sure." Arthur tacked up Smokey.
"So, where are we meeting Sadie to break John out of Sisika?"
"What do you mean 'we'?"
"You really think I'm going to let you have all this fun without me?" she grinned at him before mounting up.
"I ain't having you getting involved," he insisted. Even if she would allegedly be fine, he didn't want to see her get shot again.
"Are you sure you're up for it?" she looked at him worriedly.
"'Course. I ain't leaving Sadie to do it herself." He laughed under his breath, knowing Sadie would do it herself if he didn't show up soon enough.
"Okay. Let's go."
Arthur followed Grace down the hill to the road and they rode side-by-side in silence He still couldn't believe she was actually here. He still wasn't sure if everything she told him was true, it was so unbelievable. But it didn't matter now. He had only a little time left while she seemed to have all the time in the world. Over one hundred years so far, in her case.
A whole century. Jesus. He looked over at her and wondered how many stories she has from all those years. He wanted to hear them all, and hoped that he will.
"You okay?" she interrupted his thoughts.
"Hm? Yeah."
"You're staring at me."
"Just thinking about how you're impossible."
"Heh, I suppose I am," she said with a laugh, "But so are you."
"Me?"
"You were quick in being okay with this," she gestured to herself, "It's taken a few others years to come to terms with it."
"I suppose it's 'cause I don't have much time," he said.
"I suppose you're right," she said quietly, "I hope you have more time than you think."
"Me too."
They rode for a bit longer before stopping for a rest and a bite to eat.
"So what's the plan then?" she asked as she fed Tuula a carrot, "For getting John out?"
"Go get him while he's working the fields, shouldn't be too many guards."
"Oh, no, not until you start shooting the ones who are out there."
"You got any other ideas?"
Grace paused. "No."
"Hah, ain't going to try to bring the warden his lunch?" he teased.
"Somehow, I don't think they get a lot of wives going out to bring lunches for their husbands," she giggled, "Besides, it didn't exactly work smoothly last time."
"Well, I think that were partially my fault," Arthur admitted.
"Yes it was," she said, "Just... be careful."
"I will."
They finished eating and continued on to Copperhead Landing. When they arrived, they saw that Sadie was not alone.
"I am coming!" Abigail argued. "He is my husband!"
"And I say you ain't!" Sadie argued back.
"I can handle myself just fine!"
"Arthur, tell her she ain't coming!" Sadie said as they dismounted.
"Grace, tell them I am coming!" Abigail insisted.
"Abigail, you ain't coming and that's the end of the matter," Arthur then turned to Grace, "And you ain't coming neither."
"But-"
"It'll be better if it's just the two of them," Grace interrupted Abigail, "Besides, I have something else I could use your help with."
"I suppose," Abigail sighed then gave her a small smile, "It's good to see you again."
"You too," Grace smiled at her.
"What do you have to do?" Arthur asked
"Never you mind right now," Grace said, "Just worry about getting John out and not getting yourselves killed." She kissed him on the cheek before he stepped down into the boat.
"Only ones gettin' killed are the ones holding John prisoner," Sadie scoffed as she hopped into the boat, "We'll bring John back to you, Abigail, and Grace, we need to catch up when we get back."
"Of course," Grace took Abigail by the arm and led her back to the horses as Arthur rowed himself and Sadie towards the island.
Arthur and Sadie reached the penitentiary island and crept up to one of the watchtowers. Arthur silently took out the guard and used his rifle scope to see if John was working the fields. He thought he saw him, shot the guards, then realised John was not part of the work detail.
Arthur took another guard hostage and they made their way to the main prison building. He felt so out of breath already but he couldn't let on. The guard started to blubber and Arthur almost felt sorry for him.
"What's your name?"
"M-M-Milliken," the guard sputtered.
"You a popular employee, M-M-Milliken?" Arthur taunted.
"N-not especially."
"Guess we're about to find out."
"Either way, we're shooting our way out of here," Sadie said as she disarmed and knocked out other guards along the way. They crossed a bridge and reached the main gate as more guards appeared along the top of the walls, aiming their guns at them.
"Bring out John Marston," Arthur shouted, "Or Mr. Milliken here will have his brains shot out!"
"Hurry up and bring that asshole out here, you bastards!" Milliken cried, "I don't want to die!"
"I know, I know," Arthur patted him on the back as they watched the guards on the wall gesture within the jail. A few minutes later, the gate opened and a guard pushed John through. Sadie rushed forward to shoot the chains apart from his feet.
"Let's go!" Sadie said as they started to run.
"Well, Milliken, looks like it's your lucky day," Arthur pushed the man forward and made a run for the bridge just as the guards began shooting. Sadie had given John her pistol as she used her own repeater to shoot back.
A few moments later, they heard an explosion coming from another part of the island. Arthur risked a look and saw another explosion with thick white smoke.
"They're flanking us!" one of the guards shouted as a few began running towards the explosion.
"Goddammit," Arthur swore, knowing full well who was behind the explosion, but thankful that it taken a little of the heat off them as they ran through the fields back to the boat. Sadie had thrown John her pistol but he seemed too fatigued to shoot back accurately. Another explosion distracted the guards as the three fugitives reached the boat. Sadie rowed as Arthur shot at the rest of the guards until the guards turned back.
He sat down, exhausted, but kept an eye on the island in case they still sent anyone after them. Down the river, he spotted another boat making its way back to the mainland. What was she thinking, getting involved like that?
They reached the dock without further trouble and quickly mounted their horses, John riding behind Sadie, before any law showed up.
"What happened at the bank? Is Abigail alright?" John asked as they rode away.
"She's fine, she managed to get away when they got Hosea," said Sadie.
"And Jack?"
"He's fine too."
"Still don't seem real," John shook his head, "Hosea was like family."
"Yeah, we lost young Lenny too," Arthur sighed.
"No, what a goddamn mess," said John, "And I'm sorry about Grace, whatever you two were going through."
"No, she survived," Sadie said.
"What? How?"
"Guess she didn't get hurt as bad as we thought," Arthur said, knowing he couldn't tell them the real reason. "Hold up, we should wait for them."
"Don't look like we got anyone on our tail," Sadie slowed her horse and they rode into the trees.
After a few minutes, they spotted Grace and Abigail ride up on Tuula. Abigail nearly jumped off Tuula to happily greet John until Sadie pointed out they needed to get back to camp.
"The hell were you thinking, getting involved after I told you not to?" Arthur asked Grace angrily.
"It was obviously not going to be a simple break out, so I paid a man to drive me out in his motor-boat in order to provide a distraction," she said simply.
"So you caused those explosions?" John's eyes widened.
"Dynamite arrows, quite effective, don't you think?"
"It certainly was," Sadie agreed, "Got a bunch of them bastards off us when we was getting back to the boat."
"So, what happened to all the money?" John asked.
"Lost at the bottom of the ocean," Arthur sighed, then explained how it happened. "Now we're holed up in some caves up north after the Pinkertons caught up with us again and we had to move."
"Yeah, seems like Molly ratted us out, the bitch, so she's dead too," Sadie scoffed. Arthur glanced over at Grace who simply frowned at the accusation but didn't say anything.
"Jesus, maybe you should've just left me to hang," John said.
"Don't you dare, John Marston, I ain't having you hang just because you're a goddamn fool," Abigail said angrily.
"And why were you here too? What about Jack?" John argued.
"The girls are looking after him."
"And I should warn you," Arthur said, "Dutch didn't want us breaking you out, said it wasn't the right time so don't expect any sort of hero's welcome."
"So much for no man left behind," John shook his head, "You know, back at the bank when they grabbed me? He saw it and felt like he had a moment to do something and didn't."
"Yeah, he ain't himself right now, or maybe he ain't who we thought he was," Arthur said.
When they arrived in camp, Abigail quickly leaped off Tuula and hugged John as he dismounted. He was greeted happily by some of the other members before Dutch stalked up to him.
"What are you doing here?" Dutch demanded, "I hadn't sent for you yet!"
"I went," Arthur said before Abigail could start arguing.
"But I said-"
"I know what you said, but I felt different," Arthur suppressed a cough before standing next to John to face Dutch.
"And when the law comes down on all of us? What then, Arthur?"
"Then I guess we got another fight on our hands," Arthur glared.
"You need to leave," Grace interjected loudly, "And you all need to go as soon as possible."
"All the money we got is at the bottom of the damn ocean," Dutch replied.
"Then I will get you the money you need," she said. Arthur looked over at her, surprised.
"We don't need your money," Dutch shouted before looking back at Arthur, "Loyalty, it-" he stopped before continuing, "I had a goddamn plan!"
"What is your goddamn plan then?" Grace asked angrily, "Do you actually have one, or are you just going talk big, do nothing productive, and wait for everyone else to get killed?"
Dutch opened his mouth to say something, but opted against it, glowering at her before turning to John. "John, I was coming for you."
Grace snorted in contempt as John spoke. "They was talking of hanging me!"
"They was talking, and now they may come and hang us all!" Dutch said angrily before turning away to return to his tent. The others stayed where they were awkwardly before quietly welcoming John back as well as Grace before returning to their duties. Abigail picked up Jack and led John back to their own tent as Sadie joined Grace and Arthur.
"So what really happened at the bank?" Sadie asked Grace, "I mean, you were the one who was shot."
"Got lucky, I suppose," Grace shrugged.
"And what happened between you two?"
"A kind of misunderstanding," Grace said, looking up at Arthur who simply nodded. He supposed it could be considered a misunderstanding.
"Well, I'm glad you're okay anyway," Sadie said, "What are we going to do now?"
"Now I'm going to head back to Saint Denis and see about getting money for you all to leave."
"You really think that's a good idea?" Arthur asked.
"You have a better plan?"
"Wait, you really have a way to get a bunch of money?" Sadie asked.
"Yes, and I apologise for not doing something about it sooner," Grace said as she headed back to her horse.
"Wait, I'll come with you," Arthur followed.
"You ought to stay here, rest up," Grace said, "I'll be back as soon as I can, and despite what some of them may think, I will not bring back any unwanted guests."
"I can rest later," Arthur insisted. He had spent long enough being away from her.
"Don't worry, I'll tell them you two ain't running off to the law," Sadie said.
"No, you aren't coming," Grace told Arthur sternly, "Last thing you need is to have the law on you, especially after breaking John out."
Arthur nodded, irritated that she was right, but he didn't want her to go on her own.
"I'll be fine," she said, as if she could read his mind, "I'll come back. I promise."
"Hold on," he grabbed her hand, wanting to express his concerns but not in front of Sadie who was still standing with them, "Wait until tomorrow. It's been a long day and I'm sure your horse needs a breather."
Grace stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "Fine, but I'll need to go first thing in the morning."
"Good, I wanna know everything about what happened to you after the bank robbery," Sadie said.
Grace and Sadie sat on some crates behind Arthur's wagon while he sat nearby, listening to Grace tell Sadie about bringing Hosea to Lakay before riding off to find medical help. She told Sadie that she found a nice family who called for a doctor for her and nursed her back to health, which Sadie thought very lucky. 'Lucky' would certainly be the word for it, Arthur thought.
Sadie was updating Grace on how the gang coped in Lakay after the bank robbery and before Arthur, Dutch, Bill, Micah, and Javier had returned when Miss Grimshaw interrupted.
"Miss Bellerose, may I have a word?"
Grace looked curiously at Arthur who shrugged slightly. "Sure," she stood and followed Miss Grimshaw a short distance away.
"What does she want?" asked Sadie.
"Who knows," Arthur suppressed a cough, "But I think I need to rest." Sadie nodded, pat him on the shoulder, and headed towards the campfire. He looked over at Grace who was still in conversation with Miss Grimshaw then leaned back against one of the crates, relieved that they had rescued John, relieved that Grace was still alive, but worried about what would come next. They had barely settled in but already it felt like the gang was splintering. It was probably just the stress of everything.
"Hey," Grace sat beside him.
"What did she want?"
"She wanted to explain Molly's death," Grace said, "Wanted to tell me that Molly broke the rules, and that's how it is."
"What'd you say?"
She shrugged. "Nothing much to say. What's done is done, unfortunately, but while I'm certain Molly didn't say anything to the Pinkertons before the bank robbery, I can't be certain if she said anything afterward."
"Do you think she said anything?"
"After? I don't know. She might have, depending on what they threatened her with."
Arthur shook his head and was about to ask Grace how the Pinkertons would have threatened Molly when Jack ran up.
"Miss Grace!" he threw his arms around her.
"Hello, Jack, happy your father's back?" she hugged him back.
"Yes, but I don't like it here," Jack stepped back, "Momma won't let me play in the cave."
"Good, you stay out of the caves."
"Why?"
"It's dangerous, Jack," Arthur said.
"But why?"
"Because sometimes caves can collapse," Grace said quickly, "And we certainly don't want a cave to fall on you."
"Oh." Jack paused and looked deep in thought. "What's that song you sang? The one with the funny words."
"Frère Jacques?"
"Yeah."
Grace smiled and sang the song to him. "Do you remember the words and how to sing in a round?"
"I don't know."
"Well, let's try it."
Arthur watched and listened as Grace taught and sang to Jack, feeling a sense of heartache as he realised neither he nor Grace would ever be able to have this for themselves. After some time, Abigail came to collect her son, leaving Arthur and Grace alone once again.
He didn't say anything as she sat next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. There they stayed long after the sun set, silent and thinking about what the upcoming days would bring.
