When Anna was warm enough, and John was doing fine, she stepped out of the cabin and went to check on Bill. Javier was guarding the door. "Are you doing well, Javier?" She asked. "Yeah. And if you're looking for your sister, she's in there." Javier said. "Thank you."
Anna stepped inside where Lenny, Elsa, Arthur, Bill, and Micah were talking. "- Up with you boys, cause I thought you liked action!" Micah gives Anna a bottle of Bourbon that she would choose over Navy Rum any day. "Couple of days on the lamb, and you lot have all turned yellow. Apart from you, of course." He insults Lenny. "Shut up, Micah." Elsa said.
"I ain't never seen so many long faces." Micah continued before Javier entered. "Well, I guess folks miss them, that fell." Bill said as he puffed on his cigarette. "Well, when I fall, I don't want no fuss." Micah said. "When you fall, there'll be a party!" Lenny said. Everyone giggled and chuckled at the joke. "A party. Probably!" Bill agreed. However, Micah was unamused. "That funny, huh?" He asked as he got up.
"Sure!" Bill said before Micah punched him in the face. Elsa, Anna, Javier, Lenny, and Arthur rush up to stop Bill from fighting the red coated outlaw. "Maybe I don't feel like being laughed at by the likes of you lot!" He said. "Stop it! Now!" Dutch ordered as he entered. "You fools, punching each other, when Colm O'driscoll's needin' punchin' hard! You wanna just stand around and wait for him to come find us? All of you, we got work to do. Come on." He said.
Everyone steps outside. "Are you sure about this, Father?" Anna asked. "Yes." Dutch said. "She's right. Everyone's been through a lot recently. We're hardly back on our feet." Elsa said as she joined them. "Girls, the last thing we need is to get bushwacked by Colm O'driscoll." Dutch said. "We know you hate him, Papa." Elsa said. "He's here for us." Dutch said. "I doubt that." Anna muttered, but Dutch heard her. "No, you're just doubting me." Dutch said.
"Neither of us would ever doubt you, Father. You - It's just, you always said, 'Revenge is a luxury we cannot afford'." Elsa said. "This is the right call, girls. Here, take these." He gives his daughters two Carbine Repeaters. "And this is about more than revenge for business long ago. I mean, they were talking about trains and detonators. Here." He gives them two lasso's too. "Colm always had good information. Come on." They mount up.
"And you think right now is the good time to hit a train, Papa?" Elsa asked. "Now you two might fancy living on deer piss, and rabbit shit... I'm getting too old for that life." Dutch said. "That's disgusting." Anna groaned, and she made a disgusted face. Dutch laughed at her goofiness. Despite Anna being 18, she was still basically the goofball of the gang.
"Mr. Matthews, Mr. Smith, Mr. Pearson, would you please look after the place? There are O'driscoll's about." Dutch said to them. He and the others ride out.
"Southwest, right, Elsa?" He asked. "Yeah. He said to follow the main trail southwest. They're camped near some lake." Elsa answered. "Okay, let's go find these bastards before they find us, and rob this score they're planning." Dutch said. After a while, they spotted tracks.
"What's that?" Anna asked as she rode up beside Dutch and Elsa. "Tracks... horses, quite a few of them." Dutch said, and they started following them. "Far as I can tell, the only fools out here are us and them... they must be this way." The leader said. "You good, Dutch?" Arthur asked. "Of course. Listen, I know you don't think much of my ideas recently, but this is the right move." Dutch said.
"Okay... you know we got your back." Anna said. "I learned a long time ago that you hit Colm O'driscoll, wait for him, and people you love will die." Dutch said. "This feud between you and him... needs to be put to rest, one way or another." Arthur sighed. "It will be." Bill agreed. "Some things I can forgive, others I can forget. But what he did to Annabelle, I can't do neither." Dutch said grimly as he remembered the state he found Annabelle in before Colm shot her dead.
"You killed his brother, Papa." Elsa said. "Yes. I did. And I hope the bastards will be reunited soon enough. That's how this'll end." Dutch said.
There was a big plume of smoke over a hill. "See that smoke? Let's cut up here and take a look. They said it was near the lake, so we must be close." Dutch said.
They soon came to a stop, with Elsa, Anna, and Arthur next to Dutch, while Javier, Micah, Bill, and Lenny were in front of them. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen. This is it. Are we goddamn ready?" Dutch asked. "Ready." Everyone said in unison.
"Good. Now, Elsa, and I, we're gonna head up here a little, see if we can't get a sense of the layout of the camp. Mr. Williamson, Mr. Bell, Anna, Mr. Morgan, you four take up a hidden position just outside the camp. Mr. Summers, Mr. Escuella, you two hold position here. Let's go." Elsa and her adopted dad dismount and walk up the hill. They grab their goggles, and start viewing the enemy camp.
"There they are. That's definitely them." Dutch said. "Is that Colm?" Elsa asked. "I think so." Dutch said. The mysterious figure mounted up. "Yeah, that's him." Elsa whispered. Colm called over an O'driscoll. "Who's he talking to? He don't seem very happy." Dutch said. Colm then grabbed the O'driscoll by his shirt, and slapped and backhanded him in the face. "I guess he isn't." Elsa said.
"They leaving?" Dutch asked. "I think so. Should we go get him?" Elsa said. "Nope, Colm can wait. Best to get some of them out of there. And much less fun to rob him and his score if he never finds out about it. Alright, let's go pay our old friends a visit. Don't forget to grab that rifle from your horse." Dutch said.
Elsa walked up to her horse and grabbed her rifle, and rejoined Dutch as they walked down the hill. "Seems easiest to take the same path down as Anna, Bill, Arthur, and Micah. Like you said, revenge is a luxury we can't afford." Dutch said. "Yeah. I just wasn't sure you agreed with me." Elsa said. "Elsa. Elsa, have you completely lost faith in me? Our needs right now are supplies, equipment, and a way out of here. Everything else, including Colm, can wait." Dutch said.
"Okay." Elsa said. "There's enough of those bastards down there to deal with as it is. Now come on." Dutch said.
"It's steep here. Be careful." He warned. They carefully walked over the steep slope, and continued downward. "Maybe I should take the lead on this. They'll be gunning for you, Father." Elsa said. "They ain't got me yet." Dutch said. "No, but the way our luck is..." Elsa started. "Hush, honey. Let's just get down there first." Dutch shushed her.
"Follow me. Let's head for that building in front." He said.
"Stay low!" Dutch warned. They crouched and continued through the building and found Anna, Bill, Micah, and Arthur waiting. "Get in cover." Dutch said. Elsa hid behind a crate. "You sure you don't want me to take this?" Elsa asked, as she drew her rifle. Anna forgot her's, so she grabbed her schofield revolver, which was designed exactly like Dutch's.
"Just make the call. You wanna take the lead? Go." Dutch said. "Okay. I'll go first." Elsa raised her rifle above the crate, and lined the sight with an O'driscoll's head. She pulled the trigger, and he fell dead. The fight was on. "O'driscoll's! You're dead, you sons of bitches." Arthur yelled.
Anna shot an O'driscoll on top of the water tower, and put down 5 mote before her revolver clicked, and she reloaded it.
Elsa continued to put down the enemy gang. Dutch thwacked one in the face with his gun before blowing his brains out.
Micah had fun in killing the O'driscolls. Soon they were all down. "I think that's all of them." Bill said. "Search the bodies, strip everything we can from them!" Dutch ordered. Elsa managed to get some money, and a golden plate buckle from a deceased O'driscoll. "Do you recognize any of these people, Papa?" Anna asked. "Of course not. Colm doesn't give a damn about his men. All he cares about is numbers. If you can shoot a gun, ride a horse, and kill without thought, you're in. Anna, just think how long some of you have been with me." Dutch said. Then, gunfire interrupted them, and it meant that more were coming.
"Heads up, fellas! We got more coming in from the forest!" Dutch said. "Shit, there's a lot of them! What do you think, Arthur? Should we hold ground here, or go at em?" Dutch asked Arthur.
"Reckon we're better holding here." Arthur said. "Alright, pick em off as they come out of the trees!" Dutch said.
Elsa nearly got hit, but she dodged just in time. Soon, the remaining O'driscoll's run away. "The cowards are running away! Good work, fellas!" Dutch praised them. "Back to the camp. We'll get what we need and clear out."
They regroup in camp. "Okay, let's wait for Javier and Lenny. They're coming down with the horses." Dutch started. "Keep an eye out for any more of the bastards." Bill said as he finished reloading his Bolt Action rifle.
Javier and Lenny came down with the horses. "Nice of you two to join us!" Micah said. "Good work, fellas. Now, let's tear this place apart. Bill, you go search that wagon there. Micah, search that building. Anna, Arthur, you two take that building to the left. Everyone else, keep an eye out for more of them O'driscolls." Dutch said.
Anna and Arthur entered the building, and searched for what they needed. Anna spotted a big red chest. "Arthur, I think I found something." The teenager said. She opens the crate, and found a plunger, and loads of dynamite. "I think I found it." Anna said.
"This looks good." Arthur said as Bill came to join them. "What do you think, Bill?" Anna asked. "Looks fine." He sniffs the stick. "Smells good."
Arthur and Anna give him the explosives, and leave the building. "Did we get everything?" Dutch asked. "I think so, boss. Found this on one of em." Micah gives Dutch a map. "This is perfect." Bill said. "Oh, yeah. Interesting... this is something about the train they was gonna rob. A Mr. Leviticus Cornwall. Mount back up. Let's keep moving." Dutch said.
Everybody got back on their horses and they rode out of the O'driscoll camp. "Alright, let's get outta here. Proud of you, fellas! All of you. Not a man down." Dutch started. "Good work, fellers." Bill said. "Not bad for some starving down-and-outs. They can pummel us as hard as they like, but we will always get back up and fight. That's who we are. Outlaws for life, fellas. Wait until we have John, Mac, Charles, and Sean back riding with us, and I believe I know... they will all be back." Dutch said.
"You may not have gotten Colm, but this hit will hurt him a lot more than a bullet in the head." Anna said. "Especially when we rob this train, too." Dutch said. "Hehe. I guess we'll see about that." Arthur laughed. "Oh, indeed we will." Dutch said.
"You know... he will come after us." Elsa said. "Oh, of course he will, just like all the rest, Elsa. But we're going to stay a step ahead of them, make sure we always know where they are before they know where we are. We allowed ourselves to get a step behind in Blackwater. That won't happen again. Alright, dig in fellers. Let's make some ground." The leader said.
They rode past the frozen lake. Then, Dutch found someone who was just mounting up. "Hey, you see that feller? Wasn't he at the camp with Colm?" Dutch asked. The O'driscoll took off. "Leave him to me." Arthur said. He starts chasing after the O'driscoll, and the others ride back to camp.
Later that evening
Arthur came in with the O'driscoll tied up on his horse. "Here we are, you sack of shit. Let's introduce you to the boys." He carries Kieran to the main cabin, where Dutch, Elsa, and Hosea step out. "Heh. You found him, didn't you?" Elsa asked. "Yup, sis. I got him." Arthur said. "Welcome to your new home. Hope you're real happy here." Dutch said. Artbur cut the ropes on his legs and forced him up. "You want me to make him talk?" Arthur asked.
"Oh no. Now, all we'll get is lies. Uncle, Bill, tie this maggot up someplace safe. We get him hungry first. I got a saying, my friend: We shoot fellas as need shootin' save fellas as need savin' and feed 'em as need feedin'. We are gonna find out what you need." Dutch sneered at the O'driscoll. "I can't believe it! An O'driscoll in my camp." He said.
"I ain't an O'driscoll, Mr. I hate that feller!" Kieran begged before he was dragged away. "Oh, whatever you say, son. Well done, Arthur." Dutch said. "I'm just sorry we missed out on Colm." Arthur said. "Oh, there'll be plenty of time for that later. Right now, I gotta see if we can hit that train." They re-enter the cabin, and Arthur trudged back to his.
Author's note: Here is chapter 4. I hope the story is doing good so far.