Arthur watched as Annabelle and Dutch quickly moved their chess pieces back and forth, rapidly taking each other's pieces and barely saying a word between them as the game progressed on.

"What's that one do again?" He asked, pointing to a bishop. Annabelle picked it up and slid it across the board towards Dutch's black queen, smirking slightly as Dutch paused and scratched his thin mustache. He eyed the pieces carefully, before moving his queen away and out of danger from her bishop.

"We can play some time if you'd like." Annabelle said as she moved her knight from the bottom left of the board up over her pawns.

"He doesn't have the mind for it. You'd beat him in five moves, it'd be an unfair fight." Dutch replied quietly, moving a bishop along the darker part of the board.

"There's plenty of work to be done!" Grimshaw called from her wagon, folding her arms irritably and glaring at them. Annabelle sighed and stood up from the bench, patting her dress down and rolling up her sleeves.

"I better get to it." She said, curling her braid into a bun and securing it with a chord.

"We're not going to starve, the chores can wait." Dutch rubbed his face but Annabelle shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Make yourselves useful and tickle us a couple trout." She winked and he huffed in response.

She had become a permanent fixture at camp now along with a few of her men but they seemed to be more interested in getting back out on their own rather than hanging around with her. There had been disputes between her and her former comrades over Dutch's political ideology and the way he intended to structure his organization going forward. O'Shea had been one of the first to leave, citing that he couldn't be around the man on account of the incidents of Saint Denis.

They had left New Austin behind and journeyed back up towards Illinois now, deciding to take a rest by a nearby lake where they had been camped for a few days. There was a small town built over naturally occurring springs to the east where they made plans to rob a local landowner who had begun forcing folks off their homesteads.

Annabelle picked up a knife and began carefully peeling potatoes, taking a seat on a barrel as Susan continued hanging up various pieces of laundry that belonged to everyone.

"Thank you." Susan snorted, she didn't particularly like the young woman's presence in camp but Dutch didn't seem to mind whatsoever. They slept in separate tents on opposite sides of the Van der Linde Gang's basecamp and seemed to be cordial but not romantically involved, which Susan was quite pleased about. The last thing she would want was for Dutch's visions to be derailed again by some smart ass young woman who seemed to enjoy causing trouble for him. Though, Annabelle seemed to just indulge him by playing chess or poker with him and Arthur and rarely went on jobs. The young woman pulled her weight at camp, of course, it usually took Susan breaking up her and Dutch's chess games or Annabelle's reading.

"What can I do to help after I'm done?" Annabelle asked, setting one of the potatoes in a pot of water before working on the next one.

"Got shirts need mending, if the boys do manage to catch dinner that'll need cleaning and deboning, and these linens will need to be beaten to get the dust off 'em." She pointed to a pile of stiff blankets and the young woman nodded quietly.

"Miss Grimshaw, how would you feel about a vacation?" Annabelle raised an eyebrow and set another potato into the pot and Susan snorted angrily, hanging one of Arthur's shirts up on the line.

"I don't have the luxury of such a notion." She angrily moved onto another shirt as Annabelle paused in her peeling of the potatoes. She looked back over as Arthur and Dutch grabbed their poles and conversed over the type of bait they'd need.

"Mr. Van der Linde? Might you boys be able to fend for yourselves for a weekend?" Annabelle called out and he turned around, slightly annoyed.

"To do what?"

"It's a yes or no question, Dutch!" Annabelle replied angrily, skinning the small brown potato again.

"Do whatever you want!" He hollered back, turning back and patting Arthur on the shoulder and motioning towards the lake.

"See, it's settled. The boys will be just fine." Annabelle plopped the next potato in the spot.

"You can go, I don't have time for–" Susan began but Annabelle set the knife down and wiped her hands on her dress.

"Look, you're the only other woman in this group. Surely a few days in an actual bed, eating and drinking like queens, and a nice hot soak appeal to you. I am keenly aware of how you feel about me–" Annabelle began but Susan smacked her with an open hand, catching the woman off guard as her cheek stung and turned bright red. She rubbed it gingerly and went back to peeling potatoes without a word.

"You ruined us. You nearly destroyed the gang with your idiotic lover's quarrel. I don't know what game you're playing at now, but if I even suspect you're trying to screw us over again–I'll put a hole through you." Susan snarled and Annabelle nodded.

—-

It was getting towards the end game between Annabelle and Dutch, her knight was beginning to threaten his King at the other end of the board. She had sacrificed most of her pieces, save for a bishop, her two knights, her queen, and six pawns.

"So, you're going to Hale's tomorrow then? Do you want some company?" Dutch asked as he moved his king out of harm's way, leaning his chin on his palm.

"I was hoping I could convince Miss Grimshaw to give up a weekend of hen pecking, but she seems convinced I mean harm in some way." Annabelle sighed, half closing her eyes as she moved her queen up where it threatened his king again by 3 spaces diagonally.

"I let you join the gang, she needs to get over it." He angrily snatched her queen with his knight and fidgeted it in his fingers as he set it down with his other trophies.

"How's the plan coming along with Olson?" She moved her bishop up and he knew the game was over.

"The Immortal Game." He chuckled, extending both his arms outward on his elbows and tipping his head to her.

"If you already knew, why'd you let me win?" She chuckled as they began moving their pieces back to a starting position.

"Trelawny's working on Olson, I'm more concerned with how we're supposed to convince him to rip up the scummy contracts he's been making folks sign to get them to give up their land. Never stolen land before." He leaned back on his chair and put his arms behind his neck to stretch a bit as the young woman finished arranging the pieces.

"We could trick him into signing a contract that turns the land over to us, acting like we're rich investors looking for somewhere to park some money. Of course, you'd have to change up your look a bit." She smirked, gesturing to the dirty white shirt and black slacks he was wearing.

"And I suppose you'd be funding this little shopping spree?" He raised an eyebrow and she folded her arms, pouting a bit.

"Look, if we play it right, we can get him to sign the land back to its rightful owners, make a little profit for ourselves, and move on. I thought we were partners, not an aristocrat and her manwhore. I know how to charm and influence the elite, you know how to play the role right along with me, so are we doing this together or do you want to try your hand at it on your own?" She raised her own eyebrows, still sulking a bit as she bit her lip.

"I let you join because you're intelligent and Trelawny tends to be more forthright with you when it comes to information. He tends to leave out the details whenever he brings me some kind of information. But you, he loves you. How long have you two been together? You call him your cousin but it certainly doesn't look that way to me sometimes." Dutch lowered his arms and started picking his sleeves down past his elbows, though the night air was thick and warm causing him to perspire with any sort of minimal physical effort.

"Trelawny is my cousin, by marriage. We aren't a blood family but we are family nevertheless. He adores his wife, there's nothing between us." She rolled her eyes and they both chuckled for a moment.

"And I'm not family? Given our history?" Dutch paused in rolling down his sleeves.

"We're friends," She gestured to themselves before waving her arm out at the rest of camp, "they are your family."

"Another game?" He gestured to the chess board between them and she shook her head, rising from her seat and smoothing out the fabric of her dress.

"Not tonight. I ought to pack for Hale's." She went to turn away when Dutch called out for Susan, turning slightly in his seat.

"Miss Grimshaw, a word." He gestured for her to come sit and Annabelle folded her arms and shot him a mean look.

"You really don't need to–" She began but he raised his hand to her as Susan lifted her skirt and headed away from the cooking pot, her eyes firmly fixed on Annabelle.

"Something I can do for you, Dutch?" Susan strutted like a peacock and stood next to the man, it looked for a moment as though she might sit on his lap but he quickly crossed his legs and gestured to the seat next to him.

"Miss McLean here has kindly offered to treat you to a ladies weekend away from us boys. I'm sure Arthur, the twins, Trelawny, and I can take care of ourselves," he reached into his pockets and pulled out a small roll of bills and held it out to Susan, "go enjoy a well earned rest, Miss Grimshaw."

She gently snapped the bills from his hand, counting them a moment before side-eying Annabelle who bit her lower lip and wriggled her eyebrows, standing rather uncomfortably with her arms folded. Susan lifted the man's hat and gently kissed his forehead, patting his shoulder with her arms.

"Well aren't you sweet, thinking of little ol' me." She giggled a bit and Annabelle tried to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh. The older woman quickly glared at her and she lowered her hand and chewed at her lower lip.

"Mr. Van der Linde, Miss Grimshaw, a pleasant evening to you both." Annabelle bowed her head and turned away quickly, the former couple could hear her trying to stifle her laughter.

"She's a snake. I'm telling you, that leopard hasn't changed her spots. Mark my words, she's up to something." Susan stuffed the money in her bust as Dutch pushed her arm off his shoulder.

"Let bygones be bygones, Sue. She does what you ask of her and then some. If I didn't think she'd fit in with us then I wouldn't have asked her to join." He rubbed his face with his hands as Susan slunk into the seat beside him and put her hand on his thigh.

"I care about you. I know it's over, it has been for a while, but that whore is more trouble than she's worth."

"That whore is the reason we've had more success recently than before. Last week, she managed to rob that gunsmith blind by keeping him preoccupied while Arthur snuck in the back and got what we needed, providing us more guns and ammunition and even managed to get a little spending money in the process. She's pulling her weight. Just, play nice." Dutch tossed his hat down and stretched himself again.

"You like her." Susan hissed but Dutch only shrugged in response as he yawned loudly before he stood up and pushed his shirt back into the waist of his pants.

"Stop acting like you're a Madam and she's some dumb whore with more cunt than sense. She's an aristocrat and you are just an ex-whore. I'm not going to ask you again, Miss Grimshaw, do not continue to bully her. Otherwise, I will leave you at the first crossroads and you can squirm your way back to the brothel where I found you." Dutch snorted and turned away towards his tent.

—-

Annabelle worked the wash cloth along her shoulders, her long dark brown hair pinned up as she sat in the large wooden tub with Susan who was scrubbing her own face with a cloth. Her blonde curls neatly pinned up away from the water's edge. They hadn't said much to each other, except when it came to deciding where to eat for dinner or what hotel to stay at. Annabelle had tried to pay for as much of their activities as she could, but Susan would sneer in response and slap down the spending money that Dutch had given her.

"I was thinking of going to the bar later, there's supposed to be some kind of entertainment tonight, a peep show I think. The woman allegedly has a beard or something like that." Annabelle set the wash cloth down on the edge of the tub and floated a bit in the hot sulfur bath, taking care not to let her hair fall into it.

"That's pretty below a woman of your station, isn't it? Surely you'd prefer visiting a nice restaurant, eating your pate and caviar." Susan snorted which caused Annabelle to groan and prop herself up by resting her elbows on the wooden tub.

"Jesus Christ, I don't give a flying squirrel turd about what's above or below my 'station'. I'm not above you, we are women, and whether I'm a princess or a toothless whore, we are equal." She closed her eyes and leaned her neck against the back of the tub.

"You don't belong with us. Your sewing is garbage, your cooking is atrocious, and there were bones in the fish the other night. You do a half assed job, which is probably because you're so used to women like me waiting on you hand and foot! He might think you're just the belle of the ball, but you're nothing but a spoiled, self centered, arrogant skank." Susan shot her a mean look but Annabelle didn't open her eyes.

"We're not sleeping together. We made it very clear after the stagecoach incident that we weren't interested in kicking over spent coals. I get he's defensive of my presence at camp, but I've been doing what I can to help out regardless of how you personally feel about my being around. Bully me all you want, Miss Grimshaw, but don't do it in front of him." She opened her eyes and grabbed her wash cloth again, running it over her long and slender arms in a scrubbing motion.

"Yet. It's only a matter of time before you're underneath him again." Susan snarled, causing Annabelle to toss the washcloth down into the tub and stand up, the young woman stepped out of the tub and snatched a clean towel from a bench and began to dry herself off.

—-

"So…why are we here again?" Arthur asked as a couple of barflies hung out on the corner, giving both him and Dutch googly eyes as they stood at the end of the bar.

"Fun, Arthur. It's called fun." He knocked back his shot of rye and slid it forward as the bartender came round and refilled it along with others who mulled around the bar.

"Okay…I thought the girls wanted a weekend away from us though…" Arthur fidgeted with his shot glass a moment before he took a sip.

"They're busy over at the bathhouse. We are not bothering them. We're just...enjoying ourselves." Dutch smirked and Arthur knocked back his shot and set it down.

"So, which one is you–" Arthur began but Dutch held up his hand and very pointedly interrupted him.

"I'm not worried. And it's 'are', not 'is'. 'Which one are you worried about'."

"Uh-huh. So we just happen to be in town for no reason other than fun? Is that right?" Arthur raised an eyebrow and Dutch chewed on his lower lip for a while angrily, exhaling loudly through his nose.

"Are you questioning me, son?"

"No, sir. I just think you're lyin' through your teeth. They're not dogs, Dutch. They're not gonna rip each other apart when you ain't around." Arthur snorted, but as he did so, the double doors to the bar slammed open as a woman in a casual blue dress slunk into the bar. Her hair pinned up with a teal colored ribbon, her long black heeled boots stomping along the floor as men watched her angrily storm past their tables. "Okay, maybe you did have a reason to be worried."

The woman was cold, her attention to the rest of the bar seemed blinded by rage as she walked right past them and found a place at the bar and folded her arms, glancing down at the bar counter. A local man dressed in plain tan clothes who was already somewhat intoxicated slurred at her, wiggling back and forth as he tried to maintain his balance using the bar to steady himself.

"You're not from around here." He leaned down, trying to peer up at her but she held her gaze firmly to the bottles behind the bartender as he meandered down to the dark haired woman to take her drink order.

"I'm not in the mood, sir." Annabelle quickly snapped her gaze over to the local man who had stumbled somewhat closer to her. He gently touched her shoulder and she bristled, her nostrils flaring slightly, the aura of her anger visible to other bar patrons who quickly slid away from the pair.

"Now, sweetheart, let's not treat the locals with such animosity," She felt two warm hands gently caress her shoulders and her expression soured further as he tenderly massaged his thumbs between her shoulder blades, "my apologies, my wife has been through quite a bit recently."

"Hi, honey. I thought you and your son could handle being alone while I enjoyed time away from you." Annabelle's voice was barely above a whisper as she replied through her gritted teeth, Arthur tried to slide between her and the local man. Arthur cleared his throat and leaned against the bar with his back to them and cracked his knuckles audibly at the local man who began to back up.

"What can I say, I missed you." Dutch kissed her shoulder and could see that her eye twitched as she glared at him, her cheeks bright red as she ground her teeth together and looked at him with disdain.

"Maybe some wine for the lady?" The bartender cleared his throat and pretended to rub a dirty spot on the bar.

"Give me the strongest firewater you have." Annabelle seethed, causing the bartender to retreat to his shelves as Dutch took his hands off her shoulders and wrapped one hand around her waist, leaning in close to her ear.

"Just say the word and I can send her away." Annabelle closed her eyes and swallowed, exhaling audibly through her nose and leaned against him, putting her hand on top of his for a moment.

"She loves you. Don't throw that kind of fidelity away on my account. Families argue all the time, this is just two sisters arguing for the sake of arguing, nothing more." She murmured as he held her hip, putting his chin on top of her head.

"Certainly doesn't seem that way if you're this upset." Dutch replied quietly and she nudged his arm off her hip as she went to retrieve the glass the bartender had set for her before retreating again.

"I appreciate the concern, but I'll be alright. You're a good friend, but I'm a grown woman and I can handle the angry ex-whore." She knocked the drink back and nearly choked as it burned her mouth, she gasped audibly and gently patted her chest as she felt her entire body shiver as the alcohol went down.

"We're staying down the street if you need anything. I didn't feel right leaving you two alone for a whole weekend, not without at least keeping an eye on you to make sure–" He began but Annabelle grabbed his drink and sipped it, holding her hand to his chin and tapping her finger against his bottom lip.

"You know that I know how to protect myself, so does Miss Grimshaw. I won't call you out on your obvious bullshit, but we agreed not to revisit old feelings." She smirked a bit, setting his small glass down and going to remove her hand when he grabbed it and kissed her knuckles.

"We're not. I'm just concerned for your ladies' wellbeing." He let her hand go and she leaned forward on the bar, rubbing the place he had made contact with and shook her head. She retrieved a fan from her bust and snapped it open, fanning herself with it gently as the bearded lady came out to perform.

"You boys could use a bath tomorrow. And Arthur could do with some new clothes, he's getting a little too big for that shirt." She murmured as Dutch ordered her a glass of rye from the bartender by gesturing.

"I'll see what I can do." He nudged her with an elbow and the two chuckled.