AN:I think it was obvious but I'll say it anyhow so people know for sure, Andrew won't be in every mission. He'll more than likely just be in those that I feel fit with how the story is going at the time. Just felt like I should go ahead and get that out there.Also if you like, or don't like, what you read just let me know on ways you think I could improve the story. Okay that's all from me.

May 11th

Not much had happened in the past three or four days. I had decided to stay in the camp and help finish setting everything up, much to Mrs Grimshaw's dismay. I think she believed that was mainly the women's work but I wasn't to sure. Most of the men had scoured out looking for ways to make money, other than Dutch, Arthur, Uncle, Pearson, and I.

"Andrew."

I swung the axe down once more splitting the log before turning to see Hosea holding a cup of coffee.

I turned and swung the axe into the base log, sticking it in enough to keep it there.

"Thanks," I said, my breathing slightly labored, taking the cup.

"Figured you could use it," Hosea said with a grin.

I nodded as I took a sip, heatwaves from the drink floated upwards.

"I saw Javier and Charles ride out earlier, what's up with that," I asked, taking another sip.

"They said that Bill and them wanted to get out for a day, so they headed to Valentine," Hosea answered.

"Is that so?"

Hosea and I turned to see Arthur squatting beside the fire and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yes. Also Swanson has a lead down at the train station near the lake. Strauss came back earlier with that creepy smile on his face, m'sure there's a list of unlucky people he's forced to borrow money," Hosea said patting Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head as he finished off his coffee, "Thank you."

He set his cup back down by the fire before standing back up and stretching. I finished off my coffee now that it had cooled down some.

"Wanna ride with me kid," Arthur asked, looking over at me.

I shook my head, "Naw I wanna see if I can find a job on my own."

Arthur chuckled before nodding and walking towards his horse.

I watched him climb on and ride off before turning and walking over to Pearson's station.

"Mister Booker. How goes it," said the cook as he chopped up some vegetables.

"Just fine. Was wondering if you have a request for meat," I asked, scratching my somewhat beard.

"Yes actually, glad to see someone cares about their food," Pearson said with a grin, "Deer is fine, of course, but I think some turkey would go good with this soup I'm cooking."

I grinned and nodded, "Deer should be pretty easy. I'll try to get some turkey if I find any."

"I've heard if you head east into The Heartlands a little more you can find more game that way," Pearson offered.

I looked in that direction before nodding.

"Also if you want I could make you a satchel from the deerskin," Pearson asked, stirring the stew.

I thought about it before nodding, "Sounds good."

I walked towards my spot to sleep and reached in the wagon before pulling my Litchfield repeater out and swung it over my shoulder. I grabbed a box of bullets and stuffed them in my pocket before walking towards Hosea who sat by the fire reading a book.

He glanced over at me before looking back towards his book, "Goin' huntin'," he asked.

"Yeah. Was wonderin' if I could borrow Silver Dollar again," I asked readjusting the repeater.

He nodded, "Sure thing. Just make sure nothing happens to him."

I nodded, "I promise."

"Never promise something that you don't know if you can keep," Hosea advised looking up at me.

I hesitated before nodding and turned to where the horses were kept. I grabbed the saddle I recognized as Hosea's before carrying it over to Silver Dollar and setting it on him.

"Wanna stretch your legs boy," I asked, scratching his neck, as I finished tightening the straps. He knickered and nodded as if he understood me. I laughed softly and climbed on.

I gently turned him towards the path that lead to the road. "Come on," I said, clicking him forward.

We turned away from Valentine and followed the road for a while, I loaded the repeater as we slowly continued on our journey.

"Wanna run for a bit," I asked, patting Silver Dollar's neck.

He knickered and started to trot, I grinned at how smart he seemed to be.

"Come on! Hyah," I said, digging my heels into his sides.

The wind started to pick up as he burst into a gallop. I grinned and laughed as the wind blew against my face. I felt...free, like nothing was going to go wrong. I could get to see my family again, it felt amazing.

We continued along the road for a few minutes before coming to two giant rocks jutting out from the ground.

"Pretty sure this is Twin Stack Pass," I muttered to myself.

I slowed Silver Dollar as we cut off the road and into the wide open plains. Silver Dollar snorted as I slid off of him, he slowly started after me as I slid the repeater off my shoulder and into my hands.

I reached the apex of a small hill and looked around, not noticing anything close by. I walked towards the saddlebags and rummaged through until I found a pair of binoculars.

I walked back to the top of the hill and pulled the binoculars up and looked around. A small group of deer, a buck and two does, reached the apex of the hill around two hundred yards away.

I put the binoculars back in the saddlebags, before turning back towards the deer and crouched before continuing towards them. As I got closer to the deer, now only around a hundred and fifty yards away. I looked back at Silver Dollar and saw the wind was blowing towards my left, away from the deer.

I turned and continued on getting closer and closer until I was around seventy yards away. I came to a stop and rested on one knee, none of the deer had turned towards me or seemed to notice me.

I put my left arm on my left knee and balanced the rifle on my arm before aiming down the sights. I took a deep breathe in as I aimed where I wanted to hit before slowly breathing out and pulling the trigger on empty lungs.

The reaction from the doe was instant as she shot away from me along with the rest of the deer. I stood up and reloaded the repeater before slowly moving towards the blood trail.

I stopped and observed the blood on the ground, I followed the trail on the ground with my eyes before turning and walking back towards Silver Dollar.

"Come on boy," I said, with a click of my tongue.

Judging by the amount of blood on the ground she wouldn't last much longer if she wasn't dead already.

We reached the apex of a third hill before we came upon her body lying on it's side. I climbed off sliding the repeater into a holster on the saddle.

I walked towards the doe and put my hand to her neck but found no heartbeat.

"Thank you," I said as I patted her neck before lifting her up and setting her on my shoulder.

I walked towards Silver Dollar and set the doe on his hindquarters.

Silver Dollar shook his head as if he didn't like the doe on his back. "Relax," I said, climbing onto him and patting his neck, "We'll be back home soon."

I looked towards the sky, "It's only probably one or two. So we got time to find a turkey," I said as we trotted back towards the road.

The road was silent other than a passerby and nature, I turned us back onto the road that led to camp.

I hummed to a popular song from my world, "We will, we will rock you," I sang softly.

"Hands up mister," came a voice from the wood line, followed by a man pointing a rifle at me. Another man followed behind him wielding a pistol.

"If you plan on robbing me, you'll be sorry. I ain't got no money on me," I said, raising my hands up beside my head, in all honesty.

The two dropped their guns slightly and turned to one another. I quickly spurred Silver Dollar forward, I kicked my leg out as I passed the two, knocking one into the other and both fell. I pulled my Cattleman out and fired two shots blindly in their direction.

As we came around the bend I steered us off the road and into the woods a ways before climbing off Silver Dollar and pulling the Litchfield out. I hid behind a bush and watched the road as around twenty seconds later the two came around the bend flying past me and down the road away from me towards Valentine.

I sighed in relief as they disappeared out of view, I turned towards Silver Dollar who had an almost quizzical look on his face.

"What? I didn't want to kill them, and I didn't want to die," I argued. Silver Dollar snorted and shook his head.

I frowned, "Don't make fun of me," I said before climbing on his back.

I guided us out of the trees and towards the road, just as we turned to go to camp a noise caught my attention. Ahead of me about fifty feet was a group of seven or eight wild turkeys.

I grinned and shook my head before lifting the Litchfield up and sending a bullet through one of the male turkeys heads.

It panicked and ran around before running into a tree and falling to the ground, I laughed and climbed off the horse before bending down and grabbing the turkey by its legs.

I pulled myself up onto the saddle and grabbed the reins in one hand before continuing onto the camp.

"Who's there," called Uncle, as I trotted in.

"Andrew," I answered, nearing him.

"Looks like you got a good haul. Should eat good tonight," Uncle said as he leaned against the tree. A rifle leaned against the tree beside him and a bottle of liquor in his hand.

I shook my head with a grin, "Yeah we should."

I slowed Silver Dollar before stopping in front of a hitching post. "Hang out right here," I said, climbing down.

I walked into camp and headed for Pearson's station, the man was digging in the wagon behind him when I approached.

"Got that turkey you wanted. Along with a doe," I said setting the turkey on the counter.

Pearson smiled, "Good. Good job. I'll need another deer to be absolutely sure I can make a satchel. Also I'll need some leather working tools."

I nodded, "I'll get you it."

I turned and headed towards my spot to sleep before sliding the Litchfield into the wagon.

"I hope that blood on your shirt isn't yours," came a voice behind me.

I turned to see Mary-Beth looking at me with a concerned look.

I shook my head, "It's from a deer I killed. I put it on my shoulder to carry it and well...you see what happened."

Mary-Beth nodded and smiled, "If you say so. Thanks for helping us with setting up camp. Miss Grimshaw didn't like it but it definitely helped us girls out."

"It's fine. I didn't really wanna head out of camp at the time anyway, so it was just the right opportunity at the right time," I replied with a shrug.

"Still it helped out a lot."

I smiled slightly and nodded before turning towards Silver Dollar and walking over. I patting his neck as I drew near, "Hey boy. Don't worry that deer'll be off in just a sec."

I grabbed the doe and flipped her onto my shoulder before turning and heading back to Pearson's station.

"Here's a deer as ordered," I said setting the doe down beside the station.

"Thank you Mister Booker. Supper should be good tonight," Pearson said, dragging the deer over to a small table clear of anything.

"Not a bad kill."

I turned to see Charles holding an axe, while looking down at the deer, "But a bow would work better."

"How so," I asked, turning towards him.

"An arrow is silent, you can catch more animals. Also it's a lot easier to clean and cut up a deer when there's nothing lodged in it," Charles explained.

I looked towards the deer, "Ya think so," I asked turning back towards him.

He nodded, "I know so. Do you have any money?"

I shook my head, "Not a cent."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wad of cash before he started counting some.

He pulled out a few bill's and handed them to me, "Here. This should get you a bow and arrows from the gun store in Valentine. I remember seeing a few there."

I grabbed the money and counted around twenty dollars, "Well thanks," I said with a nod before slipping the money into my pocket.

"Hey Andrew," called a high pitched voice near the woodline behind Pearson's station.

I grinned and nodded to Charles, "We should go hunting some time. It'll get us some more meat. Plus you could help me get better with a bow and my tracking."

He nodded back, "Sounds good. Find me when you can."

I nodded before turning and walking towards the toddler, his mother leaned up against the tree.

"What is it buddy," I asked, squatting in front of him.

"Did Uncle Hosea let you ride his horse?"

I smiled and looked back at Silver Dollar, "Yep."

"D'you think he'll let me," Jack asked, hope in his eyes.

I glanced at Abigail who still was giving me distrustful looks.

"Well as long as you have someone with you and your momma says it's okay. I don't think Hosea'll mind," I answered, scratching my neck.

"Okay! Bye. I'm going to ask him," Jack said before running into camp.

I chuckled and shook my head before standing up and stretching.

I looked towards the camp and the only people close enough to hear us was Pearson and the O'Driscoll. Pearson was busy and I doubted the O'Driscoll would say anything. I turned towards Abigail, "May I ask why you don't like me Miss Roberts," I asked quietly.

She turned to me with an almost shocked look, "I...I didn't mean it like that Mister Booker. I just don't trust anyone who's only been with the gang for a week or so. Maybe when I get to know you a little more I might trust you arpund Jack."

I frowned but nodded, "I understand."

I turned and headed back towards Silver Dollar before untying his tether from the hitching post.

"There you go boy," I said patting his neck before turning and heading into camp.

The sun was starting to set and almost everybody was back in camp, minus Arthur.

"I hope everything went well," Hosea asked as I neared the fire.

"Everything went fine," I answered, telling a white lie.

"Well I hope it's not too much trouble but I was figuring we could head to Valentine, me and you, first thing in the morning," Hosea asked as I sat down on the log next to the fire.

I nodded slowly, "Sure but what for?"

"The camp can lend you enough money to get you a horse, a saddle, and a few of the essentials," Hosea answered.

"But that's money that the camp needs," I argued.

"You ARE a part of the camp now," Hosea retorted.

I opened my mouth and shut it before turning towards the fire, "Alright."

A drunken muttering caused me to turn to see the Reverend stumbling around, I could smell the booze on him from his tent. He stumbled his way over and tripped and almost fell in the fire before I managed to catch him and push back onto his feet.

"Maybe you should sit down Reverend," I suggested not giving him a chance as I pushed him down until he collapsed onto his behind.

"Oh Margaret why…," the Reverend muttered falling onto his back and looking at the sky.

"Food's done," Pearson called.

Several people got up and headed to the calderon. Jack was pushed to the front before anybody else got a bowl.

"You should eat, then head to bed. We'll be leaving early tomorrow," Hosea advised, standing up and stretching.

I nodded and stood up. At least I would be able to leave camp and get money easier with my own horse.