Casie woke up with a start. She looked out the window. It was still dark. Arthur was asleep on the second bed. She had finally persuaded them, after three days that she didn't really need anyone to sit up with her all night, and all day long. She was feeling suffocated. She was still the same person, as she was, before she got shot. Actually that wasn't true. Because every time she woke, she hoped that she would be waking from a nightmare, and Sean would be there smiling and joking. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. Being stuck in the house wasn't helping, being cosseted by everyone, just in case anything happened to her. Some wounds heal, some though, go too deep. She was sure that they were waiting for her smile or laugh. But she didn't think that there was a huge amount to smile, or laugh about.
Casie got out of the bed. She picked up her boots, and tiptoed across the room. She glanced back at Arthur, when she reached the door, making sure he was still asleep. She silently crept down the stairs, and out the front door. She slipped on her boots. She would have to be careful, there would be a guard. She didn't really know the layout of the camp, not like the others.
Casie quietly crept across camp, she saw the big gated entrance and the track beyond. She should avoid trying to go out that way. She spied Ice, tied up to a hitching post. Casie checked the saddle, the rifle was there. She led Ice to the edge of the river, then followed the path of the river, until she was well out of the camp.
Casie's shoulder was still sore, but she managed to mount. She stroked the horses neck gently, then pushed her into a gallop, and just rode, not sure what direction she was headed in. She could get her bearings later. For now, she didn't care, she just needed to go, somewhere, anywhere. Anywhere that wasn't a constant reminder of Sean.
Arthur woke suddenly, being shaken by Dutch.
"Wha..what!" He exclaimed.
"Where is she, where is Casie?" Dutch yelled.
Arthur looked at the empty bed, and then at the place where her boots had been.
"Shit!" He growled. "She was here, when I came to bed."
Arthur jumped up, and ran to the doors, which led to a balcony. He looked over to the hitching area. "Ice has gone," he sighed. "We should have given her some space."
Micah walked in the door, and saw the empty bed.
"Morgan, you fucking idiot, you can't even look after a child!" he growled.
"Enough!" Dutch yelled. "Fighting between ourselves isn't going to find her. We need to start looking!"
"Maybe we should just let her come back, when she's ready." Arthur suggested.
Both men glared at Arthur, Dutch was the first to speak,
"Pinkertons are after her, O'Driscolls are out there too, she's still recovering from a gunshot wound, and she's not herself. If she was, she wouldn't have left. We need to find her, and quickly."
"I'm going to look for her," Micah said, as he turned to leave.
"Oh yeah, and where exactly are you gonna look, Micah?" Arthur asked, sarcastically.
Micah turned, and walked up to Arthur. Facing him off. "I don't know Cow-poke, but anything is better than sitting around here debating it!"
Arthur shoved Micah in the chest.
Dutch moved, so that his was between the two men. "I said enough!" He growled.
"Arthur, find Charles, let's see if he can track her! Micah, find Javier. You two go as well. Find my daughter!"
"What are you going to do, Dutch?" Arthur asked.
"I'm going to speak with Trelawny. We need to find Abigail, and get some answers!"
Casie rode hard until sunrise, keeping away from the main tracks. Going across country, or keeping close to railway lines, or the river, but being wary of all the gators in the swampy areas. she knew they would try to track her, and plus she wanted to stay away from civilisation, as much as possible.
As the sun started rise, she looked ahead. She could see emerald ranch in the distance. She'd come further than she thought. Good, she could afford to rest a while, and let Ice recover some energy. Casie set up camp, lay down on her bed roll, and closed her eyes.
Charles, Arthur, Micah and Javier left camp. Charles took the lead, changing direction several times.
"Why are we going back and forth like his?" Micah complained.
Charles smiled, "She's good. She didn't intend for us to be able to track her easily. She's good, but I'm better!"
After that, Micah kept his mouth shut, and followed Charles, making sure to keep behind, so that he didn't ride over any tracks that Casie may have made.
"She's been riding fast, she'll have to rest soon. For the horses sake."Charles noted.
He raised his hand, motioning for every one to stop.
Charles took out his binoculars, and Found Ice's tracks. "Ok lets make for that large tree. I can pickup the tracks from there, we need to pick up the speed."
The tree was about a mile away, so the men galloped to the location, Charles then picked up the tracks again, and they continued at a slower pace.
Dutch sat with Hosea and Josiah Trelawny, in the main downstairs room of the house.
"Aren't you worried about Casie?" Hosea asked, with concern in his eyes.
"Of course I am, but I also intend to find Abigail and Jack. We need to find out if Abigail was aware of John's treachery, or if she just thought they were going to leave the gang, and make a home for themselves. I know that's what she always wanted."
"And the boy, what if Abigail has turned as well, will you make him an orphan. I hope we haven't sunk to killing children too!" Hosea replied.
Dutch glared at Hosea, "give me some credit, Hosea! Anyway that's the other thing, we have to find out for sure."
"Find out what?" Asked Josiah, looking somewhat surprised.
Hosea replied, before Dutch had a chance to. "There's always been some speculation over the parentage of young Jack. Abigail had a habit of sleeping with whoever was available. John was never quite sure if he was Jacks father. If Abigail is also a traitor, then removing her, won't necessarily leave him an orphan."
Josiah raised an eyebrow. "Is there anyone that Abigail would trust, to look after Jack, whilst all this is going on. Or does she have any other family that she would trust."
"I'm not sure, she did mention a sister once or twice. Used to work the saloons with Abigail, before she joined us." Dutch replied.
Josiah nodded. "Its a start, I'll see what I can find out."
Casie woke up. "Shit!" She mumbled. She had rested too long. Casie got up, and stamped out the fire, she noticed some riders on the horizon. She grabbed the binoculars from her saddle bag. She recognised immediately, the cream trench coat of bounty hunters.
Casey grabbed her rifle from Ice, and slapped the horse on the rump. "Scoot!" She yelled.
The horse galloped away. Casie saw a rock, and decided that would do for cover. She ducked behind the rock. They would have seen the smoke from the fire, so she was pretty sure they would head this way. She didn't think they were after her, but she had sworn revenge. The only good bounty hunter, was a dead one. They were usually employed by the Pinkertons anyway.
The three bounty hunters rode up to the fire. The first one jumped off. "Still warm, she wont be far," he said, to one of the others.
Casie quickly shot the two on horseback, then pulled her revolver, and dispatched the one, next to the fire. The Three horses fled.
Casie whistled, and Ice came galloping back. She patted her on the neck. "Good girl."
Casie put the rifle back in the saddle, and searched the Bounty hunters, some cash, a few valuables, pocket watches, and the like. Then she found what she was looking for, a bounty poster. Not anyone she knew, but at least the poor woman would be able to get a bit of a head start.
Casie debated finding her, and telling her to get the hell out of wherever she was, but she thought she probably knew they were after her anyway. Now, Casie needed to get as much distance between the camp, and her.
She mounted Ice, and carried on her journey.
The four gang members pushed on. It had been a case of close tracking, then tracking using the binoculars. The had made good time, and saw emerald ranch in the distance.
Charles took out the binoculars, "There's a camp over there, and..."
"What!" Micah grabbed the binoculars from Charles. He laughed "Casie's handy-work I reckon!"
Arthur grabbed his binoculars, and saw the three dead bounty hunters.
"Lets check out the camp, see how long ago she left."He suggested, pushing his horse on.
When they approached the camp, Charles jumped off of Taima, and felt the fire.
"Not more than about an hour a go, but she'll be going as fast as she can, if she's rested Ice, she can probably go flat out for about three hours."
Javier nodded in agreement.
Arthur looked at the direction of the tracks. "I think I know where she is going, but I need to go alone."
"The hell you will, I'll be coming too!" Micah growled
Arthur rolled his eyes. "C'mon, I don't suppose I can stop ya."
"You got that right, Cow-poke." He replied.
Arthur looked at the other two men "Charles, Javier, go back to camp, and let Dutch know, me and Micah are heading to Cumberland Falls."
Charles nodded, and he and Javier rode off, in the opposite direction, as they headed back to camp.
Arthur kicked his horse on. "There's a lot you don't know about Casie." He said, glancing at Micah.
"What's to know, I don't need to know the details, to know she's had it tough!" Micah replied.
Arthur frowned, "yeah, but after this business with John, Sean and the Pinkertons, I'm worried."
Micah laughed, "I ain't, look what she did to them bounty hunters, that's the Casie I know, and love."
Arthur glared at Micah "No it ain't, that's you. Casie would never have blasted 'em, just for the hell of it!"
"Oh, get over yourself Morgan, when shit like that happens to ya, it hardens you up a bit. You got a problem with taking out bounty hunters and Pinkertons now, have ya?" Micah Scoffed.
"Micah, its not me, or you we're talkin' about! Its a thirteen year old kid, whose just been shot, and seen someone close to her, have their brains blown out. She'd never have run off before this happened!"
Casie arrived at Cumberland falls, just as the sun was setting. The red orb, laying low in the sky, shone on Annabelle's tree, turning it gold again. Casie sat on a rock gazing at the water crashing from the waterfall, onto the rocks in the river. It was a long way up. She smiled. All the holy books said, if you took your own life, then you would go to hell, because it was a sin. Well she was going to hell anyway, for all of her sins, for killing people, for not letting anyone know her father had killed her mother, for letting Sean die. Her only regret would be leaving her new family. But she would join Sean in hell, and then they could be together, forever.
She pulled a piece of paper from her satchel, and started to write a letter.
It took a while for Casie, to put everything in the letter that she wanted to say. There were a lot of people to say goodbye to. A lot of people to say thank you to, by the time she finished, she had tears running down her cheeks. But the tears didn't matter. She had made her decision, when she put the bullets in the bounty hunter. She attached the letter to the tree, with the knife that Charles had made for her, it seemed right somehow.
Casie walked to the top of the falls, and balanced on a rock as the water gushed past.
Micah and Arthur arrived at the falls, and scanned the area. It seemed strange to Arthur, how happy they had all been, when they stopped here, when they were on the way up to the grizzlies. Now look at the mess they were in.
Micah pointed across the river. "There's Ice, Casie can't be far away."
"Oh fuck," Arthur exclaimed, pointing to the top of the falls.
Micah looked where Arthur was pointing to. "What the fuck is she doing standing..." Micah didn't finish the sentence. Both men knew exactly what she was doing.
Arthur swung his horse onto the path that led to the top of the falls, hoping he wouldn't be too late. Closely followed by Micah.
Arthur took out his lasso and threw it at Casie, the loop went round her waist, just as she was about to jump.
Casie was pulled back with a jerk. She felt the rope around her waist, as she went under the water. When she surfaced, she was coughing.
Arthur dragged Casie to the edge, and pulled her out of the water.
"What the hell do you think your doing?" he screamed.
Casie coughed, "you should have just let me die," she looked at Micah, who was now standing behind Arthur, "you should have let me die too, I don't want to live any more." She sobbed.
Arthur slipped the lasso of of Casie, and tried to give her a hug, but she stiffened.
"I'm not coming back, I'll kill myself somehow, or let some bounty hunter or sheriff kill me."
Micah shoved Arthur out of the way. He grabbed Casie by her hair, and forced her to look at his face.
"What happened to the Casie that I saved from the sheriff in Valentine, or the Casie that I robbed the stage with. She wouldn't just give in like that." He growled.
"She died, when John Marston blew Sean's brains out." She snarled.
Micah threw Casie on the ground, and hog tied her, then put her on the back of Baylock.
Arthur stared at Micah, "What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm taking her home...Are you coming?" he snarled.
Arthur sighed, "Lets go and get Ice."
The two men rode down to where Casie had hitched her horse. Arthur looked across, and saw the note on the tree. He pulled out Casie's knife, and put both the knife, and note, in his satchel. Now probably wasn't the time to read it, and on first glance, it started Dear Dutch. So he would let Dutch have it, when they got back.
Casie was kicking and screaming. "You cant do this, its my choice, I want to die!"
Micah looked behind him, "sorry darlin, you ain't got a choice."
Arthur grabbed Ice's reins, and mounted his own horse, and the two outlaws, with Casie screaming on the back of Micah's horse, headed back to Shady Belle.
Arthur and Micah, rode through the night, stopping momentarily for the horses. Casie's screaming, had changed to a sob, then she was quiet. Accepting the fact that neither Micah, nor Arthur, were going to untie her, or let her kill herself.
When they arrived at the house, Micah took Casie off the back of Baylock, and carried her into the house. He ignored the yells, and complaints, of the rest of the camp, and Arthur followed him, waving them away.
As they entered the house, Dutch came down the stairs.
"What the hell are you doing, untie her right now!" He yelled angrily.
Micah said nothing, but walked past Dutch up the stairs.
Arthur put his hand on Dutch's shoulder, and handed him the note.
"She tried to jump off the falls, this was pinned to the tree, I haven't read it." He said gently.
Dutch looked at Micah, who was walking towards the bedroom, where Casie had been sleeping before she left. Then he looked at the note, and started to read it.
His face turned Ashen white, he swallowed hard.
"You'll need to read this. So will Micah, Hosea, and probably Charles too. Meet up in my room, once you've got the others together."
Dutch turned, and walked to his room, the look of a broken man on his face.
Micah put Casie on the bed, and untied her feet. He retied the rope, so one ankle was attached to the bed, with enough length, so that she could move, but couldn't get off the bed.
He left her hands tied behind her back.
"I'm sorry kid, but its for your own good." He said gently.
"I fucking hate you, Micah, and the rest of you no good bastards!" she spat the words out of her mouth.
Micah turned, and left the room, not sure how this was going to end.
"Dutch needs to see us all, about Casie, and the note," Arthur said, as he saw Micah leave Casie's room. "I'll go and find the others."
Micah, Arthur, Hosea and Charles, entered Dutch's room, he was sitting at a table, the note folded up in the middle.
The others sat down, around the table. "You all need to read this. Then we need to decide what to do for the best." Dutch sighed, and pushed the closed note towards Hosea.