Oh dear…Our heroes are getting themselves into more pickles and sore thumbs than they can count. First Sadie was attacked, experiencing a Revelation about why her husband had died…Arthur goes to Mount Hagen in search of a secret yet peculiar relic of strange origin. Dutch, Charles, Javier, Bill ride to Mount Hagen in search of Arthur to prevent him from being killed or captured by a horde of O'Driscolls. And John…Now rides to Strawberry to get Micah.
Things seem to be reaching its climax…if only they knew…what is yet to come.
As always…Only one way to find out…
-Chapter 8- Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret and depression.
Mount Hagen…5 Hours Later…
Arthur was on his horse, he had gotten up to the slope of Mount Magen. His horse trotted up it. The cold had died down, but it was getting close to night. Already it was 6:07 p.m. Arthur pulled out the Collector Map. Folding it open and looking at where exactly he needed to go.
His horse started to make noises, getting slightly tired from the run. Arthur started to pat her on her neck.
"Easy girl, I know its cold, we'll find someplace warm," Arthur said as he patted his horse on the neck. Calming it slightly.
"Giddy-up," Arthur said, the horse then continued to trot up the small slope. A Snowstorm was already on its way. It started to get cold again. At least Arthur was wearing his Frock Coat. But even then, it only got colder and colder.
His horse continued to trot.
It took a long while but after at least an hour passing, Arthur finally found his stretch of where he needed to go.
"Woah," Arthur said to his horse as the horse stopped. Arthur then dismounted her. He looked ahead. Seeing the entrance to the huge cave.
"Stay here, girl," Arthur said. With that, his horse started to graze on some exposed grass. Arthur brought out a lantern and lit it. Making some light in the now 20-degree weather. The snow fell heavily. Raging hard and fast.
Arthur walked to the entrance of the cave, who knows what he might find inside this here cave? It was already pretty dark, even with the lantern.
Arthur looked around to see what was all in it. He didn't see much of anything. Many rock formations and water dripping. He then saw some cave paintings…only they weren't like any he'd seen before. Arthur brought the Lantern closer to it. From what he saw, it showed…strange creatures seemingly being worshipped by people. They bowed down before them. Treating them as Gods…Arthur shined the lantern closer to it.
He set down the lantern to where it could still shine the cave paintings. Arthur dug through his satchel and brought out his journal. He then started to draw down the paintings.
"Huh, interesting," Arthur said as he continued to draw some sketches of the cave paintings.
Strawberry…5 Hours earlier…
John had ridden into Strawberry, many people were out and about. Trying to get through the day. John then got off his horse and hitched it to a hitching post near the Post Office. He then started walking toward the Sheriff's Office. Walking down the muddy street, guns holstered and ready.
He quickly saw Micah locked up in a cell, below the Sheriff's Office.
"God Damnit, " John whispered to himself as he continued forward toward Micah.
"John!" Micah said as John leaned against the stone wall.
"Look at where the rat put himself into. How in Pearson's Stew did you get yourself into this?" John said acting casual about it.
"It's a long story, John, but you gotta help me," Micah said. He seemed pretty beat up, he no longer had his hat or his duster.
"I guess I don't have much of a choice," John said.
"How'd you find me anyway? If anything I would've expected Arthur to be here, not Scarface," Micah said.
"That's the reason why I'm here. Dutch sent me to come and get you. Arthur's in trouble," John said.
"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" Micah asked.
"Apparently, Arthur found something of Value up at Mount Hagen…But I don't think he knows that an entire army of O'Driscolls are chasing him down," John said.
"What?! How'd you find out about this?" Micah asked.
"Mrs. Adler…She was shot by a bunch of O'Driscolls, they're all dead, but she was on the brink of death when we found her," John said. This seemed to anger Micah.
"Damn Bastards…Well, I'll help if we can find a way outta this," Micah said. John put some thought into it, he thought that paying the Sheriff would do it. Or simply breaking him out would also pull it off.
"Wait, Scarface, I got a favor to ask of you," Micah asked.
"What is it?" John asked.
"My guns, an old friend of mine has them in that house down the street near the bridge, can you go get them for me," Micah asked. John looked down the street, he took a heavy sigh.
"How do you want me to deal with 'em?" John asked.
"I don't care if ya kill 'em or ya just rob 'em, threaten 'em, that's completely up to you, Scarface, I just need my guns," Micah said. John let out another sigh of annoyance.
"Fine, I'll be back," John said.
"And whatever you do, don't listen to a word he says, he's a snake and a liar," Micah said as John walked off.
"Sure, Micah, whatever you say," John said as he walked down the muddy street. Crossing the bridge and going up to the house. He then pulled his bandana over his head. He knocked on the door without saying a word.
The door slightly opened just a little.
"Who is it?" A man said, but John didn't say anything except kick the door open. Forcing the man back, John quickly walked through and shut the door behind him. John then pulled out his Cattleman Revolver aiming it at the man on the ground.
"Now, I've got a friend who knows you, says you got his guns, wanna be a kind gentleman and hand 'em over," John said as the man backed away, trying to crawl back.
"Who the hell are you!?" The man shouted.
"I ain't got the time or the patience for this, Where are the guns!?" John asked as he kicked the man in the face.
"Norman!" A Female voice shouted, suddenly, a woman came from around the corner and saw her husband on the ground. She was about to let out a scream.
"You scream and I put a bullet in your man's head!" John shouted at her, forcing her to silence herself.
"Where. Are. The. Guns." John asked as he kicked Norman in the face again.
"Micah Bell is a bastard and deserves to be hanged!" Norman shouted. John then slammed his Revolver down on Norman's head, forcing him down again.
"Maybe…but that don't mean he's worth keeping alive," John said. As he kept his gun aimed at Norman.
"Get up!" John said as he grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and brought him to his feet. John threw the man into the kitchen where his wife resided. Scared for her life.
John grabbed Norman by the back of his collar and slammed him into the table.
"Going through all this trouble for a pair of guns," John said as Norman fell to the ground.
"Where. Are. They!" John shouted at Norman. Norman, however, wasn't speaking.
"Son of bitch," John whispered to himself as he smashed his Cattleman Revolver into Norman's face, knocking him out.
He stood up and looked at Norman's wife. Pointing his Revolver at her. She let out a few wheeps.
"This can all be over if you give me the damn guns!" John shouted at her with a fierce tone. She started crying.
"Where are they!?" John asked, starting to grow more impatient.
"They're…they're…under the sink…please…just leave us alone," The wife pleaded. John kept his Cattleman Revolver pointed at her and slowly moved toward the sink. He opened the cabinet while keeping his gun leveled with her. There were two Lemat Revolvers under the sink. John grabbed both of them and put them in his satchel.
He walked toward the woman.
"Okay, you got what you came for…please just leave," She pleaded. John, however, needed to get rid of loose ends. He obviously wasn't going to kill her. But he couldn't allow her to scream around town and point fingers at him.
John put his Cattleman Revolver in his holster, and grabbed the woman by the neck, lifting her up off her feet and slamming her into the wall.
"Sorry…Can't have you spreading the word around town," John said as the woman started choking. She slowly started to black out and went unconscious. John released his grasp from her throat, letting her fall to the ground, unconscious. He looked around at his handiwork.
"God damn you, Micah," John said as he walked toward the exit of the house and left it.
He took off his bandana before he exited the house. Making sure that no one grew suspicious of him. He shut the door behind him and made his way back to Micah.
When he did, Micah stood there in the cell, waiting patiently for John to come back.
"John! Did you get them?" Micah asked as John walked toward the barred cellar.
"Yeah, they were very reluctant to give 'em up," John said as he pulled out the two Lemat Revolvers and gave the to Micah.
"Thank you, Scarface, now, how you reckon we get out of here?" Micah asked.
"I don't know if they'll let you off the hook that easy, but I'll see what I can do to getcha outta there calmly," John said as he walked around to the front of the Sheriff's Office. He knocked on the door and it slowly opened. He counted at least two other lawmen and the Sheriff.
"Scuse me, Sheriff, but, the man down below, is he available for bail?" John said as he cautiously walked in. The Two lawmen had Carbine Repeaters in their hands. The Sheriff had his feet up on his desk.
"That would depend, how much is he worth?" The Sheriff asked. John then searched through his satchel and pulled out money.
"I'll…give you five hundred…It's all I got…" John said as he offered the money to the Sheriff. The Sheriff looked at John. Then to the other two Lawmen. The sheriff seemed to think about it for a moment.
"He's all yours," The Sheriff said as he motioned his hand to one of the lawmen, who brought out a set of keys. He motioned John to follow him. John set the money on the Sheriff's Desk and followed the lawman.
They walked downstairs into the cellars. Where Micah stood in his cell.
"You're free to go, but we want no more trouble from you," The lawman said. As he brought out the key and unlocked the cell, opening it.
"You'll get no more trouble from me, I promise you that," Micah said as he held up his hands.
"Just get outta here," The Lawman said.
Micah turned to John.
"How much did it cost ya?" Micah asked.
"More than it should've been," John said as he walked with Micah upstairs.
"Wanna steal it back?" Micah asked.
"Not unless you wanna gunfight the whole town," John said.
"I'll keep that in mind," Micah said as they walked up the stairs. John was about to go out the door but noticed that Micah had stopped and was looking at the Sheriff, who was counting the money that John had given him.
"Go on, you're free to go," The sheriff said.
"Well, you see, Sheriff…that money ain't yours to take…so, we'll have it back now," Micah said, catching the attention of both John and the two Lawmen. The Sheriff looked at Micah and was about to say something. But before he could do said action, Micah pulled out his Lemat Revolvers and shot the Sheriff in between his eyes. Which was followed by two more bullets from the other two Lawmen behind Micah.
"What the hell are you doing?!" John said in disapproval. Micah took the money off the desk. And counted it quickly.
"Five hundred dollars, Scarface!? You were just gonna walk outta here without five hundred dollars?!" Micah said as he put the Money on John's chest. John grabbed it.
"To bail you out!" John said.
"Well, there are other ways to get a man outta jail! Hence MY way!" Micah said as he bashed through the door. Where other Lawmen were waiting for them. But Micah shot first, already killing at least three of them.
"Son of a bitch," John said to himself as he followed Micah, pulling out his Cattleman Revolver and shooting a few Lawmen himself. Though he was highly reluctant of it.
"I gotta get Ole' Buckeroo, He's at the Stables! Come on John follow me!" Micah said as he rushed toward the stables.
"God Damn it, Micah! I could've gotten him for you earlier!" John shouted as they ran through the town getting shot at and also shot back.
"Well, I didn't think you would waste Five Hundred dollars on me Scarface! We need that money more than we need a hired gun!" Micah shouted.
"You mean you're putting money over yourself!?" John asked as he shot another Lawman dead on the spot.
"That's exactly what I'm implying Scarface. I ain't worth 20 cents if you ask me! I'm just a former cold-blooded outlaw trying to fix himself up by starting a new family! So yes, Money is worth more than me, Scarface!" Micah shouted in the heat of the moment. That was when John went dead speechless. Micah had never said anything like that before…though he seemed pretty serious about it. But John had absolutely no time to think about that. He needed to get out of this town alive if he was going to see Abigail again.
"Alright, John you wait out here, I'll get Ole' Buckeroo," Micah said as he went into the Stables.
"Don't kill anyone, Micah!" John shouted. He heard arguing inside then some heavy beatings…soon, Micah came out with Ole' Buckeroo. A Turkoman breed.
"Alright, Hop on John, Let's get the hell outta here!" Micah shouted at John as more bullets flew at them.
"You didn't kill anyone did you?" John asked.
"Of course not, Scarface, Now get on!" Micah shouted as John got on Ole' Buckeroo.
"YA!" Micah shouted as Ole' Buckeroo galloped down the muddy path and across the bridge.
Ole' Buckeroo then stopped by John's horse, which John quickly got on and unhitched his horse.
"Let's get outta here, Scarface!" Micah said as Ole' Buckeroo galloped down the road with John following on his horse. They galloped up the path. Being chased by a few Lawmen on horses.
Micah shot at them, knocking them off their horses.
They rode for a long while until they were in the clear.
"I think we lost 'em," Micah said, breathing heavily.
"I damn hope so, what the hell was all that about?" John asked as he looked at Micah.
"Look, what's done is done, now I better get myself proper clothing and equipment if we're heading up the mountains," Micah said.
"Damn it, Micah, we just massacred an entire town for what? Five hundred dollars and a horse!" John said.
"I get it, John, but we do what we must to survive, we couldn't just leave that much money to the law. Besides that what got Arthur worked up about finding something in the Mountains?" Micah said trying to change the subject. John let out a heavy sigh of annoyance.
"He apparently thinks it's valuable enough to go back," John said.
"Well, if it's O'Driscolls we're dealin' with, Count me in," Micah said.
"Right, Dutch, Bill, Javier, and Charles are already on their way to Mount Hagen, no tellin' how far Arthur got," John said.
"Guess we'll soon find out, Let's Ride, YA!" Micah said as Ole' Buckeroo galloped forward, with John following suit.
To Be Continued…