Arthur paced near the river shore south of the Braithwaite property as he waited for Grace to return. She had changed into her new dress and rode Tuula in to meet with Penelope. He hadn't heard any gunshots so that had to be a good sign. The Braithwaites, what was left of them, seemed more the 'shoot first, ask questions later' type. He pulled out his binoculars for probably the tenth time to have a look down the road.
At first there was nothing, but then he spotted Tuula emerge from around the trees with Grace and Penelope on her back. He breathed a sigh of relief and waited for them to approach.
"Oh, Mr. Morgan, you came!" Penelope greeted him enthusiastically.
"Yes, we came," he gestured to Grace.
"They've killed Ms. Calhoon!" Penelope said angrily as she slid off Tuula's back.
"Who killed her?" Arthur asked.
"I don't know, my cousins, probably, or Beau's," she looked back as if to see if anyone was following, "You've met them, they're animals! Worse than animals, they're monsters!" She turned back to Arthur, "Can you please take me to the train station? Beau will be waiting."
"And why couldn't he come and rescue you?"
"If they saw us together, they'd probably lynch him and send me off to a nunnery, and you know Beau isn't a fighter."
"No, he ain't," Arthur said, "Alright, let's get you to the train station."
"I think she'll be better off riding with you," Grace said, "This old cow nearly put up a fuss as we were leaving." She poked Tuula in the neck.
"Oh, she's not so bad, are you?" Penelope moved to pet Tuula but stepped back when the appaloosa tossed her head and snorted.
"Heh, seems she's a one-woman horse," Arthur said as he helped Penelope onto the back of Smokey before mounting up himself. "So where you heading?"
"Up to Boston," Penelope replied as they cantered down the road.
"Good, they'll like you up there," he said. He looked back to check they weren't being followed and noticed Grace kept looking back as well. They rode around and cut through the Bolger Glade battlefield towards Rhodes.
"Beau should be waiting at the station," Penelope said.
"How long has he been there?" asked Arthur.
"Oh, he goes every day, making some excuse or another, in hopes that I would show up. And today I will, God willing."
Arthur only nodded and listened as Penelope continued to talk about Beau. Grace was strangely quiet, he realised, but said nothing as they continued on into Rhodes. As they reached the train station, he felt Penelope tense up behind him.
"We're here! He should be out at the front," she said with a hint of nervousness, "Will you ride on the train with us a little? Just to the first stop?"
Arthur looked over at Grace who didn't seem to have heard the question. "Fine, I'm sure it won't be a problem."
Penelope breathed a sigh of relief before sliding off Smokey's back and hurried to the station. Arthur and Grace dismounted and followed, watching as Beau rushed to Penelope, embracing her tightly.
"You came! At last you came!" He then turned to Arthur, "Sir, how could we ever begin to repay you?"
"Well, some of them jewels will do nicely," Arthur said, only half joking.
"Beau, Arthur's going to join us, and maybe Grace too," Penelope said, "I think we need the support." Beau nodded.
"We'll buy the tickets, just so they don't see it's you leaving," Grace finally spoke and led the way into the station. Arthur accompanied her to the clerk to purchase the tickets.
"You okay?" he asked her quietly as the station clerk prepared the tickets.
"Yes, why?"
"You seem more quiet than usual."
"Oh, don't worry, I'll make up for it later," she winked at him as the clerk handed Arthur the tickets. Just as he picked them up, they heard a commotion from the platform. Through the window they saw two men grab Beau to drag him away. Arthur and Grace ran outside.
"No! You leave him alone, you philistine beasts!" Penelope shouted as she grabbed one of the men, trying to release his grip on Beau. Arthur pulled her away and instructed her to get on the train.
"I'll take care of this," he turned and threw a punch at the Gray who advanced on him. As he and the Gray brawled, Arthur noticed Grace had knocked down the other Gray with a small suitcase so Beau could escape. Arthur knocked out the one he was fighting before grabbing the other. This Gray was easier to fight as he seemed to be knocked dizzy by the suitcase and Arthur knocked him out.
Passengers on the train watched in shock then pretended like a brawl had just happened as Arthur and Grace boarded the train to join Penelope and Beau.
"Are you alright, Mr. Morgan?" Penelope asked, pointing at Arthur's split lip.
"Oh, I'm fine," he brushed her off as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, "That is quite a family you've got there, son."
"I know, charming to the last," Beau rolled his eyes. "There's good people in this county, but our families bully them and drove most of them off, all over this silly feud."
"Yeah, well," Arthur sat next to Grace as the train jolted and began its journey, "how delightful." They sat in silence as the train gradually gained speed.
"Um, I think we may have a problem," Grace nudged Arthur.
"Oh, my Lord," Beau said, looking out the window.
"What is it?" Penelope looked and gasped, "I think it's my second cousin!"
"What is with all these goddamn cousins?" Arthur exasperated as he stood up, "Alright, keep your heads down, I'll deal with this." He pulled out his pistol and headed to the back of the passenger car.
"I think they found out about the jewels I took!" Penelope cried.
"Of course," Arthur stepped out onto the flatbed car, took cover behind some crates, and started shooting at the Braithwaite cousins.
"Look out, over the hill!" Beau yelled out. Arthur saw three more Braithwaites on horseback ride towards them, but they suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"What the-" Arthur was confused for a moment, then noticed Grace standing in the passenger car doorway with her bow. She prepared another arrow as Arthur continued to shoot.
More and more Braithwaites kept riding over the hill. Penelope must have robbed her family blind, Arthur thought and smirked slightly. Good for her. Another cloud of smoke exploded in front of more Braithwaites just as part of the crate splintered in front of Arthur.
"Shit!" Arthur aimed at a Braithwaite who had managed to ride through the smoke, but was suddenly pulled back. One of them had managed to jump on the train. Arthur elbowed him hard, then suddenly felt him fall back away. He looked to see the man with an arrow sticking out of his eye, his body twitching and blood beginning to ooze out of his mouth. "Jesus," was all he could say as he watched Grace shoot another Braithwaite on horseback, this time with an arrow through the neck. Arthur pushed the now dead Braithwaite off the flatcar and waited for any more.
Just as he felt like they were clear, he felt the train begin to slow down and then stop. Grace rushed back into the passenger car, closely followed by Arthur. Beau was comforting Penelope who was understandably upset by the events.
"Is that the driver?" Beau asked, pointing at a man now running away from the locomotive, "He's abandoning us!"
"If it weren't for your ridiculous... whatever it is, we would still have a driver!" another passenger yelled.
"Oh, shut up," Grace said, annoyed, as she hurried through the passenger car to the next one.
"What will we do now?" Beau grabbed Arthur's arm.
"Hold tight, I'll see if I can get it moving," Arthur pushed Beau's hand away and continued to follow Grace.
"Can you drive a train, Mr. Morgan?"
"I guess we'll see!"
Arthur caught up to Grace as she jumped off the train to bypass the tender. She hitched her skirt to step up into the locomotive.
"Let me guess, you can drive a train," Arthur said as she looked around at the dials and levers.
"Well, kind of," she said, "I didn't actually drive one, but I charmed my way into being shown how to operate one. It's been a while though." She frowned in thought before pulling a large horizontal rod, then pushing forward a lever. The train slowly began to go forward. "Pull that lever," she pointed to a small lever on the opposite side of the boiler. Arthur did so and there was a loud hissing noise. "Okay, push it back in."
"And what was that for?"
"Releasing some of the steam, to keep the pressure stable," she pointed up at a pressure gauge above the boiler. "You'll have to shovel a bit of coal into the fire shortly, I think. Seems the fireman run off too."
"And where exactly did you learn to drive a train?"
"Scotland," she grinned, "Could barely understand the engineer, but I got the gist of it."
Arthur could only shake his head as Grace concentrated on keeping the train moving, occasionally asking him to add more coal into the boiler and releasing more steam. She slowed the train to a stop when they reached Riggs Station.
"Best to stop here, they can get a coach to another city and then another train to Boston," Grace said. Arthur helped her out of the locomotive then went back to the passenger cars.
"Last stop, I'm sure the fine ticket agent will assist you all in the next part of your journey," Arthur announced to the confused passengers before reaching Beau and Penelope. "I think it's best that you two go on alone from here."
"I didn't know you could drive a train, Mr. Morgan," Beau said as he picked up his and Penelope's bags and they hurried off the train.
"Heh, well it ain't that hard, I guess," he said quietly as he followed them to a waiting coach where Grace was talking to the driver.
"I don't have much money, but here," Penelope took out a bracelet with blue gems and handed it to Arthur, "This is worth a lot of money. Old family heirloom."
Arthur looked it over, then shook his head and gave it back. "No," he said sternly. "Now, let's get you off to Boston."
"The driver will get you north to St. Louis and you can get a train from there," Grace said as they approached.
"You are a gentleman, sir," Beau said to Arthur, "And you are a fine woman," he added to Grace.
Penelope paused a moment before hugging Grace. "Oh, thank you so much, I only wish I could have gotten to know you better."
"Same, but you'll do just fine, both of you," Grace said as Beau and Penelope climbed into the coach.
"If you happen to be in Boston, look us up," Beau waved as the coach started off down the road.
"Well, now what?" Arthur asked after the coach disappeared around the corner.
"Now we wait for our horses to show up," Grace walked over to the small station and took a seat on a bench.
"How the hell are they going to find us all the way out here?" Arthur sat next to her.
"Oh, Tuula has her way and Smokey will probably just follow her. Might be a little while, though," she reached into her satchel and pulled out a small box. "Care for a game of cards?"
It wasn't until early evening when their horses trotted up to the station and they called it even with the card game (something called Speculation, which Arthur had never heard of before). They fed their horses, then opted to camp somewhere nearby instead of riding on to Strawberry so they could all rest.
Grace had changed out of her dress into riding pants and a blouse and was now sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring into the fire.
"You okay?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, why?"
"Well, you been more quiet than usual today through all that," he moved closer to her.
"Hm."
"'Hm'? That's all you have to say?"
She looked over at him with a small smile. "Hm." Then she sighed. "I guess, with helping Beau and Penelope today, I kept thinking how I should've done more."
"I think they'll be just fine now that they won't have to worry about their families any more. Hopefully."
"I didn't mean them. I meant you. You and Mary."
"I told you that was in the past," he said.
"But what if it didn't need to be? I should've been more insistent. I should've known you wouldn't leave unless you were forced to."
"And you would've forced me to run away with Mary, is that it? Never mind that I already said it was over."
"Everything would've been better if you did," she whispered.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked.
"I mean, if you did, you never would've gone through with the bank robbery. You never would've gone through all that trauma and stress in Guarma. You may not be as sick as you are now, and may even actually be able to recover. Hosea and Lenny and Molly would all still be alive, John would never have been arrested, and maybe the rest of them would all be celebrating their newfound freedom in Canada or Australia or wherever right now instead of being at each other's throats."
Arthur said nothing as he stared into the fire, realising that she could be right. Maybe everything would've turned out differently if he had just gone with Mary. But how could he have known things would go badly? Things could've still been alright if only Dutch hadn't insisted on finding out about Grace's past.
"What would you have done?" he looked over at her, "If Trelawney never looked into your history and we all got out before we robbed that bank?"
"I assume you mean if you had left with me instead of leaving with the gang."
Arthur nodded.
"I don't know. Hope that you'd be annoyed by me before you found out the truth, I guess. Hope that you'd leave before it became apparent that you were getting older and I wasn't."
"Heh, well, I don't know what I'd've done in that case."
"Neither do I," she said quietly, "Apart from Sister Calderón, I've never stayed in touch with anyone long enough for them to find out."
"That's another thing I don't understand. When you die, you hear a voice tell you 'not yet' before coming back to life, right? So why don't you believe in God?"
Grace snorted slightly in contempt. "What kind of God would do that to someone? And why me? What did I do to deserve this? There are far better people than I who could do so much if given the chance." She looked over at him with tears forming in her eyes. "Arthur, I am tired, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
"What does Sister say about it?"
"She says it's a cursed gift," she smiled slightly. "Anyway, we should get some rest then go see Mr. Sinclair. I am very curious to see what those rock carvings mean."
She lay down on her bedroll and closed her eyes. Arthur didn't hesitate to cover her with his own bedroll and lay down beside her, suppressing a cough as he embraced her tightly.
Grace was quiet the following morning as they packed up their makeshift camp before making their way to Francis Sinclair's home. She remained silent nearly the whole ride, only speaking when she greeted some passersby in Strawberry.
They reached the cabin, dismounted, and Arthur knocked on the door. There was no answer, so he knocked louder and the door partly opened.
"Hello? Mr. Sinclair?" he called out as he pushed the door open and entered. The cabin was empty apart from the furniture and a fire burning in the fireplace, but one wall was covered in paper drawings.
"What's this?" Grace asked as she moved in for a closer look. "Wait, these are some of the rock carvings, and is this Mr. Sinclair?" She pointed ot the prominent figure in the middle of all the drawings.
"What does it mean?" Arthur asked. Grace didn't have time to reply as the door opened a woman with a baby entered.
"Oh, hello," she greeted them.
"Uh, Mrs. Sinclair?" Arthur asked.
"Yes, can I help you?"
"We're looking for your husband."
"My husband?" Mrs. Sinclair frowned slightly, "I'm afraid you're too late. He died a year ago, just after Francis was born." She nodded at the baby in her arms.
"Uh, your husband, Francis, is dead?"
"No, this is Francis," she gestured to the baby, "My husband, Tom, is dead."
"I'm a little confused," Arthur tried to understand it.
"Yes, I think you might be," Mrs. Sinclair said, slightly amused.
Grace nudged him and whispered. "Look," she nodded to the baby. Arthur noticed that the baby Francis had the same birthmark on his face as the adult Francis they had met not too long ago.
"Sorry, how do you know my husband?" Mrs. Sinclair asked.
"It's a long story," Grace said, "May I ask about the drawings?" She pointed at the wall.
"What drawings?" Mrs. Sinclair looked a little puzzled.
"Oh, um, sorry, eyes playing tricks on me today," Grace said quickly, "Sorry to bother you."
"But wait, how do you know Tom?" Mrs. Sinclair asked again as they went to the door.
"Like I said, it's a long story," Grace said, "May I write you? I'm afraid we're a little constrained for time."
"Of course," Mrs. Sinclair smiled at them warmly as they left the cabin.
Arthur and Grace left, more confused than before they went in. Before mounting up, she took out her journal and scribbled a few notes.
"So what do you think?" he asked as they trotted down the road towards Strawberry.
"Honestly, I don't know," she said, "Maybe someone's putting us on? Like it's a big joke or something?"
"Heh, I don't know either. Ain't like the feller grew up and just popped back from the future."
"That would be impossible."
"Like you?" Arthur smirked a little, "I mean, guess you could be a time traveler yourself."
"Only I took the long route going forward," she smiled, "And I can't go back in time," she added quietly.
Arthur was about to ask what she would do if she could go back in time, but he knew immediately. "Can I ask a personal question?"
"Sure."
"If you could choose, would you prefer to be where you are now, or go back to William?"
"Jesus, you're really putting me on the spot," she said. "Of course, if I could, I'd go back to William, but then I'd miss you."
"But what if you never met me?"
"I think I'd still miss you," she sniffled slightly. "Anyway, where are we off to now? Are you going to meet Micah by Van Horn, or do you want to head back to Saint Denis to see that gunslinger writer?"
He thought for a moment. "I don't suppose that money will be at Saint Denis by the time we get there, huh?"
"I doubt it. As much as I'd prefer you not to, I think you should see Micah otherwise they're going to get even more suspicious and I'd rather not consider the consequences."
"I suppose you're right. Better not keep him or Dutch waiting."
"Just don't get killed."
Arthur could tell she was upset and for a moment he wanted to suggest they leave together right now, but he knew he couldn't neglect the gang so fleetingly. She wouldn't have allowed it anyway.
