Later that night, while Helen was tending to her new horse, she was approached by Dutch. "Good evening, Ms. Matthews," he greeted, holding his cigar in hand.
"Evenin', Dutch." He let out a whistle as he inspected her horse; "One helluva beast, where'd you get her?" he asked. What does he want? "An Andalusian, stole her out of Strawberry with Sadie. Is there somethin' I can help you with, Dutch?"
He eyed her closely, a smirk on his face as he took a puff from his cigar. "Arthur and Sean are up at the Braithwaite Manor, near Rhodes, and I think you're just the right woman to help them."
Helen's eyes widened in surprise - another chance to cause trouble? "Hell yah, I'm the right woman!"
~~~~
"What in the hell is going on?" When Helen rode up to the Braithwaite Manor, she was confused when everything was silent. Did Dutch lie to me? Just as she turned to leave, Helen noticed the dark clouds of smoke in the air.
Driven by curiosity, she spurred her horse onward, her rifle already in hand. "That's my girl, come on!" The closer she got, the thicker the air became, and she could not only see the flames, but she could hear the gunshots as well.
Her horse didn't waver, much to her delight, and she joined in on the gunfire. "Arthur?!" Helen yelled, dodging the flames. There were bodies scattered all over the burning fields, and she gunned down any stragglers.
"Arthur, where are ya?!" she called again, making her way to the outskirts of the fire. Helen finally spotted Arthur and Sean fleeing, but a group of men raced out of the fire behind them.
"Over here, shit-for-brains!" Three of the six men were shot down by Helen while the two outlaws dealt with the last. "Damn good to see you, Helen! We was nearly dead meat just then!" Arthur called.
"Get up here, you moron!" She tugged him up on her horse, then spotted Sean robbing a wagon. "Let's go, Irishman, before we're fried! Grab one of them horses!" she yelled.
Immediately he complied, following behind her as they fled from the scene. "Wasn't expectin' to see you, Ms. Matthews!" Sean called. "Be glad that Dutch sent me out when he did, or else y'all woulda been shot dead in them fields! Now shut up and keep these bastards off'a us!" Helen yelled back just as more men showed up.