"Grace? Grace!" John exclaimed as he found her in her cot, reading. Grace looked up from her book, seeing Charles in tow of John, giving her a small wave. John stopped, nodding at her slightly. "It's time," he announced. Grace pushed herself to her feet, grabbing her gun belt and buckling it around her waist, picking up her rifle as she followed John and Charles.
"Good luck! If you ain't back by morning, I'll get a group to come looking," Dutch called out. Grace looked over her shoulder to see Dutch waving to them from his tent, Molly O'Shea beside him. Grace turned her attention back to John and Charles.
"So, what exactly is the plan?" Grace questioned as she swung up into the saddle. Nightfall had just fallen not too many hours ago. John gathered his reins, leading the way out of camp, Grace falling behind him and then Charles as the end.
"We rob this train, get money. We are going to stop it by using an oil tank," John exclaimed, sounding proud. Grace grimaced in confusion.
"An oil tank?" She questioned. Charles chuckled, causing John to look over his shoulder back at him. John than nodded.
"Yes. You got a better idea ma'am?" John snapped.
"No, just curious on how you got an oil tank," Grace explained. John sighed after laughing a little.
"I manage to convince Arthur to do some pretty stupid things," John chuckled. Charles continued to keep to himself, he always seemed quiet but that was respectable.
"So how did Arthur get it? Where even is he?" Grace continued questioning.
"Miss, you ask a lot of questions," Charles stated.
"How else? He is waiting for us with the oil tank, he left during the day to keep watch of it, in case someone somehow finds it," John explained. Grace nodded, somewhat less confused now. "When the train driver sees the oil tank, it'll give him enough time to stop. Than everything should run smoothly from there," John continued.
"Let's hope, should expect the unexpected though," Charles added. Grace nodded, agreeing with Charles.
"I mean, yeah. I guess. Nothing will though," John reminded, staying positive. The rest of the ride, the three stayed quiet. All that could be heard was the hooves and heavy breathing of the horses. We crossed Dewberry Creek, not much of a creek since there is no water. John led Charles and Grace towards where the oil tank was hidden. We halted the horses, Arthur jumping to his feet. I noticed Sean was with him and immediately rolled my eyes. I dismounted, following John and Charles.
"What are you doing here, kid?" John spat at Sean, immediately marching up to him. Charles and Grace lingered back, not wanting to have any part of this.
"I'm coming John... on the job," Sean exclaimed happily.
"I said you weren't coming," John hissed, making it obvious that Sean wasn't mean to be here. Sean grinned cheekily before looking at Arthur.
"Yeah well, Arthur says I am," Sean cheered before climbing up in shotgun of the oil tank driver. "And it's his party, boy, so come on let's go!" Sean exclaimed excitedly, sitting down and making himself comfortable. John looked at Arthur who shrugged at John.
"I didn't know, John," Arthur sighed. John nodded.
"Sure. And this is my party," John snapped up at Sean. Arthur finally noticed Grace standing with Charles causing him to frown immediately.
"What are you doing here?" Arthur snapped at her. Grace stood her ground.
"John said I'm a good shot so I'm here," Grace defused. Arthur shook his head, taking a step closer to her.
"I don't care what John said. I ain't going to risk you getting shot," Arthur hissed. Grace shook her head in anger, Charles stepping in.
"Come on, Arthur. We both know she can do this," Charles defended. Arthur continued to stare at Grace before walking off and around to the drivers seat.
"Me and the big cheeses, love it," Sean continued. Grace watched as John rolled his eyes, already growing annoyed with the Irish man. "Can't wait to slit some bastards throat," Sean added, rubbing his hands together hungrily. Charles shook his head, looking away from Sean. Arthur climbed up beside Sean, ordering him to shut up. John jumped up onto the left side of the tank, holding onto a bar attached to the wagon. Charles waved Grace forward, ushering her to climb up first. Grace did as she was told, holding onto the bar on the right side. Charles climbed up behind her, holding onto the bar also.
"Let's go earn us some money!" Arthur cheered enthusiastically before waving the reins, ordering the horses to move.
"Hey... all the horses untethered?" Charles asked, looking across to John. John nodded.
"Think so," John answered.
"Good. They should follow along behind us," Charles assured, looking over his shoulder to see the five horses following.
"You find a good spot, wolf man?" Arthur questioned. Grace noticed John wince at the nickname but didn't say anything about it to him.
"Yeah, follow the trail south west, there's a spot that's...remote, but should still give 'em enough time to spot the oil wagon," John explained his plan. Grace nodded, it sounded pretty good to her. The rest of the journey contained Sean being argued with John, turning into almost everyone. That Irish bastard never seems to stop his tongue. Before Grace knew it, the wagon came to a stop over the train tracks. Charles and Arthur immediately started unhooking the horses, getting them away. Sean, John and I climbed off of the wagon, waiting for orders.
"Mr. Marston... Mr.Smith... Mr.Macguire and Miss Peters," Arthur began before slapping the horse on the rump, causing the horse to flee. Arthur turned to us four quickly. "Get over there," Arthur pointed towards the trees. Charles gave a nod, him and John immediately going to the trees. Sean hung around Arthur a bit, so did Grace. "When she slows, board her," Arthur continued, walking around the oil tank.
"And you?" Sean asked, looking at Arthur with concern.
"I'm going to make sure she slows," Arthur muttered, staring down at the train tracks.
"It's do or die with you..." Sean chuckled. "I like it!" Grace grabbed Sean by the shoulder, shoving him towards the trees.
"Come on," she hissed. Sean continued to chuckled before finally doing as he was told. They both ran over into the trees while Arthur climbed on top of the oil tank. "Is that really the smartest idea?" Grace hissed to John. John shrugged.
"He'll make it stop," Charles acknowledge, knowing his friend could do it. Grace looked back out onto the train tracks to see Arthur pulling up his bandanna, covering his face. The rest of them did so too, hiding in the trees so when the light from the train come through, they won't be seen. The train began to be heard in the distance, approaching fast. Grace gripped her revolver, pulling it out of her holster. The four of them stayed quiet as they kept their eyes on Arthur. Charles quickly loaded his shotgun, the train now coming to a stop in front of Arthur. The train whistled before the engineer jumped off, looking up at Arthur. Charles began to sneak out, John ordering Grace and Sean to stay until he says so.
"What's going on here? What's going on?" The engineer questioned, taking a few steps towards Arthur who continued to stand on the oil tank. That's when Charles ran up behind him, knocking him out with his shotgun.
"Go! Sean, take Grace and start checking the end carriages," John hissed. Both Grace and Sean nodded, hurrying out. Grace stopped when she realised Sean had ran off to take out someone who had jumped off the train to investigate.
"Sean, let's go!" Grace let out a harsh whisper. She watched as Sean quickly called out something to Arthur before running after her. Grace and Sean jogged to the last few carts, boarding them. Sean kicked open the door, revealing some passengers.
"Alright, this is a robbery ladies and gentlemen! Handing over everything," Sean's Irish accent boomed. Grace pulled out the bag that Charles had handed her earlier, holding it in front of a couple while Sean took care of the other row.
"Put it in the bag," Grace hissed at them. They immediately threw in everything except for the earrings the woman wore. Grace noticed them to have some pricey jewels on them, knowing they were extremely valuable. "The earrings," she snapped. The lady looked at her husband in fear, shaking her head quickly.
"I-I-I can't!" She cried out. The husband gave a scolding look to Grace.
"Who do you think you are?" The man demanded, outraged. Grace aimed her revolver at him, tilting her head slightly.
"The lady who isn't afraid to pull the trigger, now do it!" Grace roared. Sean chuckled, overhearing my threat. The lady began to cry as she took her earrings off, throwing them into the bag before hiding in her husband's shoulder. Grace continued up the cart, the rest of the passengers giving in quickly, not wanting any trouble. "Let's go look for the baggage cart," Grace called out to Sean. Sean nodded and they quickly ran out of the passenger cart and back onto the grass next to the train, peering up into the windows. Sean and Grace noticed a large stretch between the passenger carts.
"That must be the baggage cart!" Sean exclaimed. They both climbed up onto the open cart. Sean immediately pushed open the door to the baggage cart when a man jumped out at him, knocking him down with the end of his rifle. Grace quickly aimed her revolver, shooting the man in the shoulder before Sean could get seriously injured. Sean ducked behind the wall. A rifle fired behind Grace, causing her to look over her shoulder to see Arthur. He fired at a man on the roof of the baggage cart.
"For fuck's sake...for fuck's sake," Sean muttered to himself. Grace spotted another man running through the baggage cart and quickly shot him. Sean kept doubting himself as he attempted to get a hold of himself. Arthur placed a hand on Grace's shoulder.
"You okay?" He asked. Grace nodded, ensuring Arthur she was okay. "Good shooting," he complimented before hurrying into the baggage cart. "You two keep cover, I'll search," he ordered. Grace nodded, hurrying to Sean's aid.
"I'll try my best brother...but, I'm seeing double here," Sean groaned, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. Sean looked up at Grace, nodding at her while wincing in pain. "Thank you, for not shooting me," Sean thanked.
"Trust me, I thought about it," Grace joked. Grace kept Sean company while they kept an eye out for unwanted company while Arthur searched the baggage cart. Sean tapped Grace on the arm, pointing to faint lights in the distance.
"There's two arseholes on horses," Sean muttered loud enough for Arthur to hear. Arthur peered out of the door, looking in the direction.
"How many you say?"
"I just see a pair of them."
"Alright, in that case, we're fighting," Arthur planned as he hurried out of the baggage cart, ducking behind cover with Sean and Grace. "Marston! Smith! Get ready," Arthur hissed out. Grace looked over to see John and Charles in the passenger cart, ducking behind the walls.
"You lot come off the train now, do you hear?" A lawman yelled. Grace peeked over from cover, seeing the two lawmen riding over. She ducked back down, both her and Sean looking at Arthur. "We said, you lot come out now!" He repeated.
"There's only two of you, you fools...we've got a lot less to lose!" Arthur called out to them. "Why don't you two ride away? That way neither of you get killed," Arthur suggested. "Goddamn liberties," Arthur muttered.
"Hey, there's a few more turning up!" Sean hissed, looking into the trees. Grace looked in the direction Sean had pointed out, her jaw tightening as she gripped her revolver tight.
"Shit," she muttered.
"Me and my big mouth..." Arthur grunted in annoyance. "Okay... let's deal with them," Arthur kept his voice low. With that, Arthur took the first shot, knocking one of the previous lawmen off of his horse. Gunfire rang out everywhere, Grace ducking out of cover and shooting before ducking back in. Charles and John ran out of the cart, firing at the lawmen before ducking down with Arthur, Grace and Sean. After a shootout that felt like it lasted forever, they all ran off of the train once they had a break from the law. Grace quickly ran up to her American Paint, swinging up into the saddle while ordering the mare to run. Arthur led the group away from the law, helping them all to escape safely. Once they got away, Arthur slowed down to a stop. "Woah," Arthur called down to his horse, the horse skittish over the guns.
"Woah!" Sean called out while chuckling. "That was fun, real fun!" Sean cheered as Arthur went through the money the gang had stole. Arthur threw a stack over to John. "I can see why they call you the professionals of the outfit," Sean continued the ramble, Arthur throwing a stack to Charles and then to Grace. Grace caught it, pulling down her bandanna before looking through the dollar bills.
"Shut up," Arthur complained while throwing Sean his earnt money.
"At least we made some money...and what did I get? Gotta be a hundred dollars here, very nice!" Sean continued, ignoring Arthur as he looked at the money Arthur gave him.
"And you weren't even invited," Arthur scoffed.
"What do we do now?" John asked.
"We still need a real big take, enough for us to get out of here," Arthur reminded, following Dutch's plan.
"Was that a setup? The law turned up real fast," John questioned, Charles nodding.
"I don't know. I don't think so. I'm starting to get nervous," Arthur sighed.
"Think they followed us from Blackwater?" Charles asked, looking across to John. Grace shrugged.
"Maybe."
"They already found me near horseshoe, but I think this lot was just locals," Arthur explained. The gang sat there for a few moments, in silence. Trying to wrap our heads around what had just happened.
"I'm gonna head into Valentine, see if I can get something started there," John explained. Arthur nodded, agreeing with John.
"Good idea, either way we should all go at it alone right now. You know the deal, don't be followed," Arthur reminded. Grace nodded, Charles already leaving the group with a small wave.
"Ah, course not boss!" Sean insisted. Sean chuckled before cantering away, John heading towards Valentine.
"You did well, saving Sean," Arthur complimented. Grace shrugged.
"It was nothing, anyone would've done the same," Grace debated. Arthur shrugged.
"Maybe. But, your draw was quick. Marston was right about you, you are a good shot. We'll have to take you out more," Arthur grinned. Grace smiled at Arthur before he galloped away. Grace began her journey back to camp, making sure she didn't follow to close behind any one of her gang members.