Faraday knew he needed to let Jack rest, but after being told from the last town he and his other companions stopped at that the town of La Belle was about a half of a days ride away, he had started to become antsy in his saddle if he wasn't before.
"Would you quit moving around like you have sand in your pants?" Goodnight snapped that afternoon as they began to ride through a vast forest full of fallen trees, "You're making me nervous."
"Please," Faraday grins, "I just saw you take your fifth smoke and it's not even a full day yet."
He was right. The others were starting to show nervous ticks as well. Goodnight was taking more Opium smokes than he usually would during the day, Horne was starting to hum certain gospels instead of reciting bible verses, and Billy was fucking repeating them as if talking so much was a complete norm to him let alone singing! Faraday wondered for how long Billy had been able to hide such a wonderful talent since after listening to his voice, the assassin appeared to sing quite beautifully. Either way, upon further inspection, Faraday could fully observe that he wasn't the only one hoping that their friends hadn't ridden from La Belle quite yet.
Horne chuckles slightly at the betrayed look on Goodnight's face just as Billy's horse stopped right in front of them. Goody and Faraday had to pull back on their own reins tight enough so that their horses could stop just in time, but that only appeared to rile up the tired animals further.
"You want to give us a warning next time, cher?" Goody asked his partner as he tried getting a hold of his steed.
"Quiet," Billy muttered under his breath, only staring dead ahead while slowly reaching for his belt, "I heard other horses."
The others all but hold their breaths as their horses finally relaxed, taking the opportunity to breathe when the beasts had realized they were stopping. There was indeed movement up ahead, and before long two other men on top of horses came trudging down to meet the four other companions halfway. The first one to speak, a man with a mustache and a badge, tilted his hat to them.
"Afternoon gentlemen."
"Good afternoon, sir!" Goodnight was quick to flash a smile and briefly lift his hat from his head. Billy didn't seem interested in the law enforcement man and kept a wary eye on the man beside him, who appeared to be scrawny and possibly the same height as Billy but just as intimidating.
"Might I ask which way y'all are heading?" The man leaned forward on his saddle with a tight smile.
"To a town called La Belle, sir," Faraday turned to glare at Goodnight's honesty seeing as they don't know these men and if they were any trouble then they would just be delayed in getting to said destination.
The man's smile fades for a moment, looking over and exchanging a glance with his traveling companion before he straightens up his back, "I'm the Sheriff of La Belle. My name is Bill McNue. This here is Mr. Ward."
"What business do you have in La Belle?" the other man, Mr. Ward, finally speaks up and only stares at Billy, who doesn't even appear to look away from him.
"My name is Goodnight Robicheaux," Goody introduces himself before pointing at his companions one by one, "This here is Joshua Faraday, Billy Rocks, and Jack Horne."
"Those are quite the celebrity names," Mr. Ward points out, "I've heard some things on some of you."
"Good things, I am sure," Goody nods, "If you've heard of us, then you've probably heard that we're not people who make trouble. Just going around, making our living while helping a few folks out."
"I haven't heard any bad things about you, that's for sure," Mr. Ward leans away, "But that doesn't mean that answers why you have business in La Belle."
"We have a message to deliver to a certain woman. Perhaps you know her? Callie Dunne?"
"I know Callie," McNue slowly nods, "...She's my children's schoolteacher. And what message do you want to deliver to her that needs all four of you to deliver it?"
"A message from a relation; her sister," Goody clarifies as he slowly takes out the letter from his jacket, being decent and harmless by jumping off of his horse to walk over and deliver the parchment to the Sheriff of La Belle to show that he is no potential threat. Billy's muscles appeared to tighten around his back, Faraday noticed and his hand hovered over his knives to prove to Mr. Ward that he will cause harm if Goody is taken advantage of while off his horse.
As McNue takes out a pair of broken spectacles to read the letter for himself, Goodnight smiles up at Mr. Ward and continues, "But the reason the four of us are traveling together is because we also have relations waiting for us in La Belle. Seeing as you folks are out here, I wonder if you aren't aware of them."
"I just came from there," Mr. Ward points out while McNue returns the letter to Goody, "The Sheriff here has been away from town for a while and I was just escorting him back. I'm assuming your relations are with three men and a woman, all of different backgrounds?"
Goody's eyes were nearly shining and nods, "Yessir."
Ward looks at McNue for a moment where they appeared to share the same expression of understanding before he turns back to the four men opposite of them, relaxing a little while explaining, "Then we'll ride together back into town. But... you should probably know that by the time we get there, La Belle may become a war zone."
"What the hell does that mean?" Faraday frowns in confusion.
McNue reaches into his pocket and holds out a burnt piece of the newspaper clipping to Jack Horne as he was the closest within reach after Goody retreated to his horse's back again. Horne takes the newspaper and reads for a few moments, his lips move silently along the paper before looking up at the two gentlemen, "Who is Roy Goode?"
"That'd be me, sir," Mr. Ward says almost shamefully as Horne hands the newspaper over to Goodnight while turning towards the others to explain the situation.
"It appears as though this young fella right here is wanted by a very dangerous man," Horne explains to Billy and Faraday while Goodnight continued to read on his own, "Frank Griffin. I've heard about him. He shames all who read the good Lord's will. And if this paper is right--"
"It ain't," McNue cuts in.
"It doesn't matter. Frank Griffin will believe it," Goodnight cuts in while handing the newspaper clipping over to Billy next, the atmosphere between the strangers change as they discuss the situation, "And he's no doubt closer to getting to La Belle than we are if the publication date on that paper is correct. Sam and the others are probably helping the locals get ready for a fight as we speak."
Billy's face hardens if that's even possible while reading the paper before finally handing it over to Faraday. The gambler reads a few of the words as the paper talks about the town of La Belle for some time before mentioning how the ladies there were harboring a fugitive, Roy Goode. Then it mentions some current happenings caused by Roy Goode trying to antagonize Frank Griffin and his men, such as the manslaughter that took place in a town called Creede and then a promise from Frank Griffin that he will murder any man, woman, or child who even dares hide Roy Goode from him. Goodnight and the others watch Faraday's expression remain stoic the entire time he reads the article before he crumples it up into a ball and stares dead ahead at Roy with a heated glare.
"How many men does he have."
"Thirty at the most. Hard sons of bitches."
"And you was one of them," Faraday accuses.
"That's right. Was," Roy corrected while shifting carefully on his horse, "Now, I didn't want to intentionally endanger anyone. I had left the first chance I got in hopes Frank Griffin would never touch La Belle but by then, it was too late. The papers had just been printed and shipped. The Sheriff here was tracking Frank and his men when he also heard the news and found me," the other men watch Sheriff McNue for a moment before letting the fugitive continue to explain the situation, "Now these men are smart. Real smart--"
"Well, luckily for La Belle, Sam Chisolm, and his companions are smarter," Goodnight cuts in while sitting up taller and gripping his reins tighter, "Frank Griffin won't stand a chance."
"He might not, considering he only has one arm now," Roy explained, "But his men might. They all have certain sets of skills that make them special to Frank in their own way. Reliable."
"So do we," Billy accentuates by flicking out a knife in the speed of lightning and letting the blade fall between his fingers like it was second nature to him, which it was, all the while Roy carefully watches him and Bill McNue has to squint to do the same.
"As I was saying," Roy continued, still watching Billy's knife cautiously, "Griffin is smart enough to hit Blackdom first. It's a town an hour's ride outside of La Belle full of Buffalo soldiers and Civil War veterans. He'll try taking out the most prominent threat before moving onto La Belle. And if that's true, then maybe we still have time to get to the town before they do."
"Then if that's the case, we'll need a plan," Goody offers, "Might you have one?"
"We might," McNue nodded.
Faraday gently kicks Jack's sides, "Then let's go."
~~~~~~~~~
They first saw the loose dirt being kicked and rising in the air as if a huge beast was rolling around in it to try and scratch his back. It was far enough away to look like a distant storm, which it might as well be, but everyone could tell it was coming from Blackdom.
The wind howls in order to drown out the silence covering La Belle, not a single word was spoken and barely anyone breathed, all waiting with prayers and regret. In the distance, what was once believed to be far-away thunder is slowly starting to turn into several hooves pounding. The town was so quiet, Matilda could hear a door creaking from down the road and even a bird's caw from way up in the mountains. The wind still howling in her ears, the woman turns to watch the entry road with Mary Agnes and Alice Fletcher as she faintly heard a horse's whinnies somewhere out in the fields. Sure enough, a stream of horses that looked like ants from their spot up on top of the hotel started appearing from out of the trees, heading straight for the bridge to get into town.
Matilda refuses to let her heart drop down into her stomach and swallows her fear, straightening her shoulders while resting her hunting rifle against her, turning to Mary Agnes when the McNue woman spoke,
"Ain't nothing but pure-ass luck gonna save us now," she tells her female companions while loading her rifle.
Matilda grips her barrel to try and hold onto it better with the way her palms began to sweat, "Now remember, try to get headshots only. We don't have the time or the resources to go and waste half a dozen bullets just to make sure one man stays down."
There's an echo of hooves riding over wood, signaling Frank and his men were over the bridge now, drawing even closer. They'll be riding past MacDalena's House of Rapture right about now and then soon after will pass the nearly empty stables, pulling on their reins as they make it just outside the hotel.
"Get down," Matilda tells Alice and Mary, "We'll take 'em by surprise."
They both nod to her then duck down over the side so they won't be seen just as Frank Griffin and his men arrive, slowly stopping their herd of horses while looking around just outside the building of women. In the distance, they can here men getting off their horses, searching the town as they kick open doors and even break windows.
"Where is everybody?" One man, Alonzo Bunker, demanded from his horse.
"Up there," one of the twin boys Frank keeps around, possibly Daryl Delvin, sees something out of the corner of his eye and nods up to the hotel.
Slowly, all of the curtains of the windows begin to tuck back and reveal all the women peeking out of the dirty windows, staring down at the crowd of men before them. The other Delvin twin, Donnie, grins in anticipation, "Hello, ladies."
Mary Agnes doesn't appear to like that and stands up from her hiding spot, peering down from the rooftop and firing, hitting Donnie Delvin square in the chest. He was dead before he could even fall off his horse or before Mary could even reload.
With that initial shock slowly sinking in, Donnie's twin skips a couple of steps of grieving and hits anger in a heartbeat, swearing up at Mary Agnes, "You goddamn bitch!"
"Go, go, go!" Vasquez shouts from one hotel room.
Suddenly, the shutters to the windows begin to open, one by one, as fast as the women could handle before they all quickly reach for their guns. Before Frank and his boys knew what was happening, Matilda Crawford also stuck her head out of the rooftop and shouted down,
"Welcome to No Man's Land, gentlemen!"
Callie Dunne is the first to shoot, and so she became the first target for Frank's men. When they all aim at her, Alice decides to pop out and shoot down at the first men with a gun out that she sees. She's able to kill him and knock him from his horse just as the shooting gallery begins.
Glass is shattering everywhere from stray bullets missing their targets, creating a vast amount of debris flying around. Sam finds the courage to open both front doors of the hotel and kneels right in the open of it to start shooting, again, catching more men by surprise as he has both guns out and hitting every one of his targets. It's all-out chaos now as the men down below begin to shout and shoot, dying in anguish if they don't bring their guns out in time. Their horses begin to panic and scatter against their rider's command, the poor beasts wanting to run before they, too, are caught in the crossfire. The women in the parlor and lobby keep their heads down behind the furniture while providing Sam cover as they shoot through the windows.
As for Matilda, she keeps her aim and breathing steady enough to wait and shoot two men in the head while only using a single bullet. It goes without saying that hitting two birds with one stone is easier said than done as she is not so lucky the next time around and wastes a few bullets on another man as he maneuvered his horse to be in front of him. Vasquez was stationed in one of the far left windows of the hotel and has already discarded his rifle for his two usual pistols, having some luck with killing a few of the blasted men. Red Harvest doesn't run out of arrows as nearly as fast as he did in Rose Creek as he now had fewer targets to shoot at from across the way of the hotel. He had already killed five men before they realized they were being shot at from both sides of the street and started firing at him as well. Matilda, just like in Rose Creek, made sure to pay extra attention in aiming at any men shooting in Red's direction as a way to cover him easier.
"Down on your right!" One woman calls from the parlor as a way of warning the women in the lobby that one man was trying to make it through the doorway. He barely steps foot inside before Sam comes out from behind the door and shoots him at point-blank in the head.
Callie already runs out of ammo in her rifle and gently tosses the weapon onto the hotel room's bed, exchanging it for the pistol Mary Agnes gave her and starts shooting out the window again in no time, covering herself by kneeling just inside the pane. Louise, Whitey's little lady friend from Blackdom, was hiding from the window beside her as she was hurriedly trying to reload her gun.
Martha and her window partner also duck down to reload together, never saying a word but keeping their heads out of the way of the window. Frank Griffin is still found right in the middle of all this havoc, untouched and still calm, not even drawing his gun as he almost appeared bored. He looks around as some of his men walk around town, setting fire to all of the nearby stores and houses, even shooting the General store clerk when he came out of his shop with a gun in his hand.
"I'm press! I'm press! I surrender!" Frank looks over his shoulder to spot A.T. Grigg exit the saloon while waving a white handkerchief but doesn't make it very far as he's shot twice in the torso and goes falling down to bleed and hide behind a wagon, pressing his precious newspaper to his wounds.
"Whoo!"
Alice and Mary Agnes band together, slowly walking alongside the railing to the rooftop next to each other and shooting at whatever leftover men the other might have forgotten or wasn't able to kill right away.
"Woah! Look out!" One man warns Frank as one of Mary Agnes' bullets hit and kills a man from right beside him.
Mary Agnes and Alice realize who it is and reload simultaneously, side-stepping across the roof nearly in sync as they have their sights set on Griffin, following his movements as he moves his horse slowly down the road. They shoot a couple of men around him and try aiming at him again, the old man even staring up and making eye contact at them with his arm raised, waiting for them. Hesitant, they quickly take aim and pull the trigger, only to have their chambers come up empty and they hurriedly duck away from the sides to reload.
The men continue to holler and fire back up at the many windows of the hotel, Daryl Delvin using this as a distraction and rushing his horse up onto the porch and through the front doors of the hotel. He kills one woman in the parlor before forcing his horse up onto the stairwell, killing another as he makes the climb. Once he gets onto the top of the staircase, he sees one woman in a hotel room as he passes by and doesn't hesitate to fire, killing her. Martha doesn't even see her window partner's killer... but she sees the aftermath and is horrified.
Daryl earns a bullet to the shoulder but quickly turns and shoots down the woman aiming at him from down the hallway. Angrily, he yells for his horse to continue the climb up. While Sam was distracted with hauling a wounded young woman behind the hotel's turned-over piano, Alonzo Bunker has managed to sneak into the hotel by horseback as well and kills three women upon reentry, only angering Sarah Doyle as she was sitting next to one of his targets as she begins to fire furiously back. He steers his horse out of the room and aims into the other side of the entryway, killing one other woman in trousers right between her eyes.
Finally, Alice and Mary Agnes have their guns reloaded and stand back up to join Matilda in shooting the remaining men, but are not aware of Daryl finally getting up onto the roof, still on his horse's back. He fires immediately at Mary Agnes, hitting her in the arm but she barely even flinches as the hard woman stares at the wound for a moment and then assessing the situation. Daryl comes barreling towards the women as the three of them all start firing at him.
As Alonzo and his horse also make it up the hotel stairs, another man of Frank's lassos a woman from behind the front desk of the hotel, dragging her out and over it, flinging her across the floor as his horse races down a hallway. With that momentum and speed, the woman is thrown into a wall and falls down dead after everyone hears a distinct crack.
Mary Agnes decides to take out her pistol and starts firing back at Daryl with that instead, Matilda and Alice still using their rifles and riddling the remaining twin with bullets. He's shot half a dozen times by the time he reaches them, but his horse stops just before the edge and he's sent flying off the roof, screaming to his death. The three women take a moment to breathe before their back in the game.
Alonzo makes it up to the top of the stairs and also fires at the first woman he sees, and unfortunately its Martha as he shoots her in the side. She falls down with a cry, grasping her wound while Alonzo continues down the hall. Further downstairs, Charlotte is trying to reload her pistol with shaking hands as she's hunkered down in the kitchen. One of Frank's men on a horse trudges past and sees her, taking aim but doesn't fire as the liveryman, Hiram comes out of nowhere and fires at Frank's boy with a rifle.
Callie hears a commotion outside her room and peers out to see Alonzo heading towards her. She starts to fire as his horse starts to race at her at full speed. Her gun only clicks when she fires and she starts to panic while furiously trying to load as her initial killer stalks forward at an increasing speed. Alonzo, wounded in the shoulder, was unable to aim correctly and is only able to shoot at the window right behind Callie, making the small woman flinch as she's trying to reload. Finally, she gets at least one bullet in the chamber and plays a little Russian roulette just in time for Alonzo and his horse to be right in front of her. Luckily for her, the gun goes off straight away and shoots Alonzo before sidestepping into her hotel room, both the man and his horse crashing through the window and into a cloud of fire down below.
An abrupt silence falls over Frank's ears as he heavily eyes the dead body of Daryl Delvin not far away from where he and his horse stood. Looking away and moving forward, he fails to see a white horse coming into town from behind him, the rider trying to appear invisible as he makes a beeline for the jailhouse. No one manages to spot him yet and so once he gets to the jailhouse, Sheriff Bill McNue dismounts from his horse and crouches low as he spots a body nearby. Reaching the corpse so that his eyesight might see it better, he's saddened to find that it is his own deputy, Whitey Winn, lying down dead on his stomach just in the open doorway of the jailhouse. Turning the body over, McNue trembles as he mutters a few words,
"I'm so sorry, son."
Respectfully, McNue takes off his jacket, his badge still attached as he throws it over Whitey to cover his once young and spirited face. Tears in his eyes that were not yet shed, McNue slowly stands as he looks onto the hotel, seeing the chaos is not too far away and becomes more determined than ever before.
In the distance, Martha hears her name being called and recognizes it as the detective fella she had previously shot and nursed back to health. Full of worry, the foreign woman forces herself onto her feet, clutching her wound as she stands. Charlotte has gotten up from her spot in the kitchen to eye the body Hiram just killed for her, pistol now finally gripped correctly in her hand. Frank's men were being killed and then thrown through the hotel windows, drawing the women back and stuck in a few corners of the parlor and lobby. Sam tries to assist in any way he can but finds himself easily occupied whenever one of Frank's men tries coming in through the front door. Charlotte unimpressively shoots at the body of the man already dead several times while Sarah is in the other room cowering behind a wooden chair as the room explodes around her with splinters and glass. Martha looks down the staircase with a pained expression before drawing both of her pistols, taking deep breaths before rushing down. Hiram takes point and leads Charlotte out of the kitchen, the two of them getting as far as the next room before Hiram is shot down and killed, leaving Charlotte open for a gunshot to the leg. One woman covers for Sarah as she goes to fetch Charlotte, the taller woman continuing to fire while dragging the wounded Charlotte over to the corner of the room for cover. Martha continues down the stairs, firing constantly once she sees the men outside. She's able to kill a man off his horse just outside the front door once she makes it into the entryway before she's forced back into the parlor and hides behind some furniture with the other women there. Sarah and Charlotte are forced to lower themselves onto the floor, nearly crying as Charlotte's hand draws back bloody. Callie and Louise are huddled together underneath a window, their weapons emptied and forgotten as the schoolteacher tries to shield the Blackdom girl from stray bullets as much as she could, both flinching every time a bullet makes its way inside.
Over time, as it was starting to feel like it would never end, the gunfire just slowly stops as Frank Griffin looks on. While his men try to reload and recuperate, the women of La Belle quickly rush to do the same, Callie and Louise diving for the hotel room's bed to grab whatever ammunition and weapons they have left. Sarah and Charlotte are hopelessly crying while trying to reload their pistols, panting out of exhaustion and pain. Alice, Matilda, and Mary Agnes appear unharmed from their station on the rooftop, aside from Mary's bullet wound to the arm as they hurry to reload their rifles. Mary Agnes peers over the side for just a moment and sees someone she recognized walking towards Frank and his men.
"What in good holy hell?"
Her brother, Bill McNue, appeared out of nowhere, on foot, alone, and with only one rifle in his arms. Callie and Louise eye him from their windows cautiously while Frank Griffin's right-hand man, Gatz Brown spots McNue coming up from their right side and warns his boss.
"Frank."
Griffin looks over and sees the Sheriff of La Belle instantly. The men with Frank and even the women in the hotel watch McNue silently, while Griffin slowly reaches over to his gun and carefully cocks it while watching the Sheriff. The broken man looks down at the ground for a moment before seeing his shadow, straightening back up and loading his rifle.
"He's going to get himself killed," Matilda mutters while gripping her rifle close to her chest, "Get ready, ladies. Soon we'll need to back him up. If we can just--"
Her voice drowns to the sound of another rifle loading, echoing down the streets of La Belle and causing everyone to turn their heads away from McNue. Everyone leans closer to see what the noise might be while through the dust and smoke emerged Roy Goode on the back of a dark horse. No one is given the time to sink in the fact that he was back before Frank aimed his gun at Roy, but the younger man was faster and shot at the man right in front of Griffin, causing the older man to hesitate.
Bill McNue considers that his cue and starts to fire at Frank's men from the other side of them and before long the people of La Belle were back in the game. Alice, Mary, and Matilda decide to pitch in and start firing back down at the men as they have yet to open fire again after McNue and Roy showed up. Despite losing his eyesight, McNue was able to take out a few men of his own as Roy rides through the crowd of them and also shooting quite a bit of them off their horses. He jumps off his own once he reaches McNue and joins him on the ground, the two men firing at the crowd of men cornered between them and the hotel.
"I ain't blind yet!" The Sheriff shouts to him.
Sam watches in awe of the scene before firing at Frank's men through the window. By now, Red Harvest was forced to jump off his rooftop as the building was on fire and cut Frank's men off from escaping through an alleyway as Roy and McNue continue to fire at them. Vasquez emerges from his window and fires back down upon them, shouting profanities in Spanish and laughing. Matilda exchanges rifles with Mary Agnes after she had emptied her clip, the Sheriff's sister ducking back down to reload Matilda's weapon while Matilda continues on shooting with hers.
Chisolm is about ready to walk out of the hotel and close the doors behind him so as the women inside were far more protected before he hears a familiar war cry ring out in the distance, causing the warrant officer to freeze in disbelief.
Roy doesn't need to look behind him to know that Goodnight Robicheaux was riding up on his right-hand side, hollering as he does while skillfully firing off his rifle, shooting three men dead within a few seconds of each other, whooping in his small victory before continuing to fire. Meanwhile, Martha has finally found a window of opportunity and makes it outside the hotel, shooting as she goes while trying to get to her detective. The poor man is shot a couple of times and currently has a gun to his head before Martha comes in and finishes the opposing man just in time.
Jack Horne joins the party while using his full weight to jump up and knock a man off his horse just like the good old times. As he brings out a knife to stab the man to death, Matilda looks over the railing of the rooftop and shoots another one of Frank's men that had aimed his weapon in Horne's general direction.
She had seen the familiar furs covering the rather large body of the bear of a man. She noticed another man on his horse with a familiar grayish-blue jacket and aiming skills but she shakes her head to try and clear herself of the hallucinations caused by exhaustion. She knows better than to get her hopes up only to drag herself down. Taking a deep breath, she makes her next move.
Back on the ground, Roy's rifle empties and he throws it at one of Frank's men to distract him then quickly brings out his pistol, killing the man and continuing to fire on all the other men he used to travel with. Callie and Louise continue firing out of their respected windows and even cover Sam Chisolm when he emerges from the hotel down below. Crouching low when bullets are fired just above his head, Sam wasn't prepared to have someone sneak past him from inside the hotel and towards the stables. He hears a familiar whistle and looks up, spotting Matilda of all people among the dusty clouds jumping up onto her horse and riding off towards the mountains.
"CRAWFORD! Matilda, WAIT!" He calls after her, not knowing where she was going despite reading the determination on her face for the split second he saw her. Now she had disappeared amongst the chaos.
The remaining women of La Belle continue to push and fight back despite their exhaustion and fear. Gatz decides he's just about had enough of this bullshit and charges himself and his horse at McNue, the blind Sheriff able to pinpoint and fire at him within seconds. Gatz falls off his horse and hits the ground rather harshly. His hands shaking, Gatz reaches for his fallen gun but McNue still has his sights on him, shooting him in the head just as he was raising his pistol. Dyre Howe, the specialized knife thrower of Frank Griffin's gang decides to dismount his horse and make a beeline for Roy as the man is currently reloading his pistol while still kneeling on the ground from a previous encounter. Dyre takes out one of his knives and raises his arm to throw, only to scream in pain when a different knife digs into said arm in return. Grunting while trying to take the knife out, Dyre is unprepared to fight off Billy Rocks as the man of the Orient withdraws his hairpin and digs it into the man's neck, killing him instantly. Roy looks up to watch this interaction before nodding to Billy in thanks. Alice shoots another man trying to pursue Roy as he finally stands up to rejoin the fight, all the while Sam raced out and tries to find the source of that familiar hollering.
One of Frank's men sees Chisolm and aims as he is currently distracted, only to die with his finger still on the trigger as Goodnight appears from the dust again, rounding his horse to stop right in front of Sam.
"How many times are we going to have to save one another before we're even, Mister Chisolm?"
Sam has never laughed so loud in his entire life.
Vasquez has finally joined the others outside of the hotel and continues firing his guns, his belt only having a few bullets left to spare. Looking around, he sees a man jump off a familiar horse and hesitates to aim at him, cautious as to whether not he was a foe. Vas was sure he had left that damn beast of a horse with Teddy Q back in Rose Creek, but after the horse known as Jack runs off to reveal the man once riding him, Vas doesn't hesitate to shoot a bastard from Frank's group who was about to come at his friend with a rifle.
Joshua Faraday turns around to watch the man about to kill him fall down with a bullet through his brain and looks up to see who had saved him, grinning like a fox caught in the hen house, "Hola, muchacho. Did ya miss me?"
"Maldita sea, lo hice," Vasquez is grumbling all the way towards his formerly lost companion, chuckling despite himself as he goes to clap Faraday's shoulders while shaking his head in disbelief, "Güero, what kind of deal did you make with the Devil, huh?"
Faraday grins as though he was keeping a secret he forbid to tell before the two friends embrace.
Silence crept over the town, Roy unable to see much anymore while the dust was still thick. He aimed his guns a few times whenever he heard a noise, but would lower the weapon again when the noise appeared to be a runaway horse or an ally. The dust looked as though it was thickening and so Mary Agnes and Alice go to get off the roof to see if they could get a better look at the situation. McNue and Roy walk further into the dust, cocking their weapons just to be safe and meet up with Horne and Red who had found each other through the smoke. Eventually, Billy is there and then Goody and Sam. Faraday and Vasquez are not too far behind them as the wind howling all around them decides to be kind and clear up all of the dust and smoke. When the area begins to clear up, the remaining men defending the town find that there are bodies scattered everywhere, some still with their horses while others by their lonesome. Looking towards one another and exchanging glances, the men nod and spread out to check the bodies for any signs of life. As McNue limps past the hotel, the remaining women of La Belle start to trickle out once they realize that the danger appeared to be over. They cough and groan in pain and exhaustion, limping out of the hotel until Charlotte and Sarah emerge, the latter still supporting the wounded short woman as they only go as far as the front porch steps to rest.
Even A.T. Grigg still appeared to be alive or at least breathing as he crawls out of his hiding space while clutching the newspaper dampened with blood. Martha and her detective man limp over to rest on the side of a building, the woman bringing their conjoined, bloodied hands to her lips, not caring that she smeared her mouth with the red liquid.
"How is this... Why are you--" Sam is looking around at Goodnight, Billy, Horne and then finally resting his eyes on Faraday while sighing in relief, "How are you all alive?"
"Would it be too cruel as to say you're only dreaming?" Faraday questioned but is quickly knocked upside the head by Vasquez, who despite all else is still grinning.
"Very cruel, Faraday," Goodnight frowned at the gambler before turning to smile at his old friend, "It's a long story, Sam... but in the end, you can thank the determination of Rose Creek along with Emma Cullen's miraculous healing hands."
"Oh, so he can get away with saying that?" Faraday is appalled when no one reacts to Goody's comment, but they all decide to react to his by laughing, out of relief or pure amusement, no one was really sure.
Callie Dunne barely registers their laughter as she looks around at the damage and bloodshed of her town, still shaking profusely while on the brink of crying. She barely registers Mary Agnes stomping out of the hotel and marching towards the nearest dead body, shooting it a second time for good measure. As she went to each body and shooting to determine the death, Callie jumps in her skin at each bullet the other woman fires, her lip beginning to tremble.
"Easy, sister," McNue grabs Mary Agnes by the shoulder, turning her towards him so she may stop shooting, "They only need to be killed but once," when he knows that his sister was relaxing, he eyes her with suspicion, "Where are my children?"
Without hesitating, Mary Agnes turns around and McNue follows her gaze to see the rest of La Belle such as the broken men, frightful women, and their children return to their town from a cloud of dust covering them from their hiding place. The Sheriff calls to his son and daughter when he sees them, running to William and Trudy McNue before falling to his knees to hug them, crying out of relief and joy to see his wife's babies are okay.
Alice appears from the doorway of the hotel, looking around with her rifle still in her arms but decides that maybe she should go to make sure that the strange men hovering around Chisolm, Red, and Vasquez were allies. Trudging over to them, she eyes them all cautiously before turning to Sam, "Friends of yours?"
"Alice Fletcher, meet Goodnight Robicheaux, Billy Rocks, Jack Horne, and Joshua Faraday, the remaining heroes of Rose Creek."
"I thought they were all dead?" She questioned, "Miss Crawford told me so."
Alice couldn't help but notice the way the man known as Faraday stiffens while looking around frantically, his face paling when he looks between Vas and Sam with a distraught look in his eye. Turning around when she heard a noise, Alice breathed a sigh of relief when she finds Roy Goode standing in front of her, but he appeared downtrodden and less enthusiastic. He doesn't even look her in the eyes before delivering the bad news, "Griffin ain't here."
"What?" Sam had looked away from a panic-stricken Faraday when he hears Roy say this, "You sure?"
"His horse ain't here, either. He must have rode off in the confusion."
Sam's face falls with shock and realization before cursing under his breath, "Dammit, Crawford," he turns back to his own men, now all of them huddled close together, "I saw Matilda ride out a while back during the fight. She must have seen Griffin ride out and went after him."
"Good Lord," Horne mutters, horrified, "Do you think they could have gotten far?"
"It depends on how long ago they went," Roy exclaims while mounting his horse when it came to his call, "But if they're out there, I'll find them."
He takes off without another word and Vas turns back to Red, "Are you not a tracker, amigo? Go after Matilda before she does something stupid!"
"Vasquez, no one knows Frank Griffin like Roy Goode does," Goodnight comforts while trying to remember the interaction he had with Roy earlier, all the while Red is picturing what an arrow would look like in Vas' head, "He's dangerous and sadistic. We know nothing about him besides that. If we corner him, he may lash out and hurt Miss Crawford so it might be best if we just wait and let Roy take care--"
His sentence is cut off by a horse racing past him with another rider on his back while following the path Roy took out of town. Chisolm noticed the familiar vest, hat, and then the horse meant to be Jack before calling after the rider, "FARADAY!"
"Dammit, boy," Goodnight muttered.
~~~~~~~~~
By the time she was up into the hills, Matilda faintly noticed how all the gunfire down below in the town had stopped and she prayed that the silence meant they had won. But it wouldn't exactly be a real victory if Frank Griffin was able to escape.
She was still hot on his trail, Nessie only racing after Griffin's horse from several feet behind him. Matilda had tried firing her gun up at Frank, but by the time she was in range, the horses were dodging and weaving past each other in the forest and so Griffin easily avoided the gunshots.
"Come on, girl," Matilda muttered to her horse, "Come on!"
Nessie began to gallop faster, despite already panting in exhaustion from such a steep climb. Frank had also realized that his horse was slightly slowing down and he couldn't exactly push the animal any further even if he tried. So as a last resort, Frank took out his gun and blindly aimed behind him while continuing to look ahead.
Matilda ducks her head at the last second and when the expected shot rings out, she wasn't expecting to fall to the ground with a startled scream. Flying off her horse, Tilda thankfully lands further away instead of getting crushed by hooves. She rolls for a moment before coming to a stop in a pile of fallen leaves, her gun had fallen from her belt and her hat no longer on her head. When the woman recovers from catching her breath and looking around, hair wild and matted with twigs sticking out, she was waiting to see Nessie trot back around to come and get her the moment she realizes her rider is no longer on her back, but Matilda was instead surprised to see that Nessie had fallen down with her and was at least thankful that she wasn't crushed underneath the animal when they fell. Tilda clutches her side when she catches her breath and noticed that Griffin's bullet found a way into her hip, her shirt now coated in blood. Trying to brush it off, she is almost ready to find her gun amongst the dead leaves she had landed in before coming to the conclusion that her horse had not uttered a single sound, not even in distressed.
Blood running cold, Tilda actually takes a moment to look over at her horse, slouched over the ground with her saddle still intact. Eyes widening, Tilda realized that Nessie's large stomach was not moving up or down to breathe.
"NESSIE!!" Matilda screamed while crawling over to her horse, gun forgotten and wound less painful as she reached the horse's neck. Brushing some strands of her groomed mane out of the way, Matilda lets out a strangled sob to see the bullet hole in her horse's neck. The shot was clean and through and it made sense as to why Matilda was even shot after she had ducked behind Nessie's head. Frank Griffin had shot her horse clean through the neck to get to Matilda, the fucking bastard.
"NO!" She screamed over and over, "No no no no no I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. Nessie, please, I'm sorry just get up I won't do that again I'm so sorry please Nessie!"
She barely breathes through her pleading as her tears fell and drop down into the horse's soft hair. The animal didn't respond, however... her big, dark brown eyes still wide open and staring up at the treetops, blood slowly oozing out of the horse's mouth. Matilda cries and cries, holding her horse's neck while rocking herself hysterically, unable to stand up from the forest floor. Tilda couldn't find it within herself to breathe as she mourns over the loss of a friend she had been able to keep alive for years. They had been through so much, Tilda and her horse. Nessie was originally her ex-husband's farm animal, but Tilda had taken her as her riding companion after his death. She had known no other horse in her life other than Nessie, an animal who had survived all odds including the battle of Rose Creek. And now Matilda had lost her horse as well...
"I didn't mean to shoot such a beautiful creature."
Matilda's sobs slowed as she cautiously looked up. Frank Griffin stood towering over her and her dead horse, his one arm holding onto his pistol while his own live horse grazed nearby after having to circle back here even after such a long run. The old man's face was soft and full of pity, even with a weapon in his hand. He slowly crouched down to her with a pained groan as she noticed the bullet wound in his own abdomen, but he barely wavered as he kept his gun trained on Matilda while gazing down at her horse.
"Such a majestic animal," he fawned over sadly in such a gentle tone of voice, Tilda was almost convinced he had been raised a preacher, "They say when you breathe on the nostrils of a horse, he'll be yours for life. They are loyal beasts, with a faint heart to love you and strong legs to support you. One might believe they are better companions than humans."
He slowly tilts his head to Matilda, who only breathes through her nose as her throat started to ache from crying. Her lips trembled whilst her tears formed clean trails on her filthy cheeks, staining her face. She refused to look at him as he used the very tip of his gun to push back the knotted hair in the woman's face, tucking it behind her ear. She didn't even flinch, motionless and defeated, only staring down at her beloved horse's beaded eyes.
"A love such as that cannot be broken, as God intended, and I'm sorry for your loss," he offered his condolences, sniffing the air while looking around, his gun still dangerously close to Matilda's face, "I understand, sweet girl. I understand your pain, your loss... I have lost all my sons today, as I'm sure you know. And by the deep and clouded look in your eyes, I can see that you are no stranger to loss of love."
Matilda tries to catch her breath, still unable to look death in the face as Frank slowly stands up with a grunt, taking deep breaths as he sighs, taking a few steps back before getting back up on his horse. Tilda didn't take the opportunity to search for her gun as he had his back turned, instead, she kept staring at Nessie's dead eyes while her whole body and emotions go numb. As Frank steers his horse so that he was towering over Matilda again, he leans down to her, "I know what it is like to love. I know it as much as the Bible describes it."
The color in her eyes changes as the forest suddenly quiets all around her. The emotion that began to build up in her chest reels its nasty head out to be rage while staring down at her dead horse. Slowly, her eyes finally turn upward to meet Griffin's and the old man's horse nearly reels back nervously at the sight of her glare.
Her nose flares, her deep breaths slowly become barely controlled pants as she shakes out through gritted teeth, "...You could never."
He rolls his lips and glares at the ground before slowly deciding to cock his gun and point it back at her. She barely flinches at the gun, letting the forest floor ground her as she glared up at the old man as he spoke, "I can save you from this world. All it takes is one shot. I can save you from all this pain and suffering. If there is a God where you're going, tell him who sent you."
A small huff escapes her lips as she flashes an unexpected smile, "I'll tell him that there is a special place in Hell for Frank Griffin."
The air is now stiff as the two humans stare down one another, Matilda smiling softly while the other frowning sadly. Frank looks down at her from the small barrel of his pistol, and when his finger moves to find the trigger, Matilda slowly closed her eyes, feeling the wind on her face stick to her tear tracks. And for a moment, she felt at peace.
A gunshot rang out throughout the whole forest, shaking the ground beneath her. Matilda doesn't open her eyes, believing her time had arrived before she heard what must have been Roy Goode's voice, "Frank! Get back here!"
She hears two sets of hooves gallop away and into the woods, only opening her eyes when she heard another horse behind her. The scene in front of her is just endless trees with no Roy Goode or Frank Griffin in sight. They were long gone. The horse behind her grunts as someone dismounts from the animal, and so Matilda could finally conclude her death was real when she heard a voice.
"Tilly!"
Her ears ring in delight at the familiar voice and nickname as a strong person falls to their knees and rams themselves against her, nearly forcing her to stumble back into their arms. By the time their rough hands cups her face to make her look at them, she was already shaking from the adrenaline wearing off. When Matilda finally meets a pair of soft green eyes, her emotions melt like snow as a watery smile rises on her lips.
"Maybe death isn't so bad after all," she told him with a cracked voice.
Faraday's eyebrows furrow in confusion but regardless, he smiles, wide and proud. Letting go of her face, he wraps Matilda up and crushes her in a hug, breathing in a sigh of relief, "You're not dead, darling. You're alive. You're alright."
Feeling his actual weight against her, feeling his breath brush her skin as he spoke, feeling his fingers run shapes up her back and just-- just feeling him, Matilda slowly started to come to that same conclusion as well as her eyes began to widen, her heart stopping for several beats in order to catch up with her brain. Keeping her face tucked in his shoulder but moving her head to look down, she could still see the body of Nessie laying by her knees. She was still alive. This is real.
Her brain finally woke up and her heart squeezed painfully in protest. She couldn't control the tears running down her face as she finally reacts by lifting her arms and holding onto her gambler for dear life, "Faraday--" she croaks as a sob ran out of her mouth.
He holds onto her as she rides out her sobs, her body uncontrollably shaking with her cries as she clung onto everything she could reach. His shirt, his hair, his collar, his arms, his shoulders, almost as if she was checking for wounds or a translucent appendage that might clue her in that this was just a dream. He gently rocks her in small motions until she pulls away far enough to evaluate his face. She doesn't recognize a few of the new scars on his skin and gently traces the one that left a bald spot in his scruff along his jawline with her fingers. If that wasn't a dead giveaway that they were both, in fact, alive, she didn't know what was.
"Thank God," she whispered shakily, "Thank God..."
He laughs under his breath, eyes squinting from how wide his smile pushed back the muscles in his face. He gently pulls a twig from out of her hair and felt a burst of energy course through him, feeling like himself again after months of being bedridden and hostile, "Now, the last time I saw you... if I remembered something correctly, you said if I come back alive we can talk about that kiss for good luck."
The laugh that erupts from her lips sounded like church bells in celebration, shaking her head as the joyous tears continued to run down her face, "Joshua Faraday, you have quite the nerve."
He laughs again and moves his hands down to rest on her hips if they were just going to sit on the forest floor for a while, but when his hand moved down, he felt something wet around her vest and the sudden smile vanishes from her face as she winces, "Ow ow ow."
"Shit," he muttered as she leans further into him with a pained hiss when he drew his hand back and found blood, his own running cold in his veins. Looking down, he noticed the bullet wound in her side and felt his stomach flip, "Are you alright?"
Matilda smiles back weakly and tries forming a mocking tone, "So far, so good."
He couldn't help it, he laughed again and slowly moved to help her up, "We should get you back into town and find you a doctor. Roy can handle Frank Griffin."
Remembering that she was actually alive and still technically in the middle of a gunfight, Matilda's eyes harden for a moment as she turned back to the dead horse lying next to her. Carefully, she leans down and plants a small kiss on Nessie's neck, feeling a single tear run down her face again. Faraday rubs a hand over her back in comfort before she nodded to indicate they could leave. Faraday helps her stand up then sweeps her up in his arms to carry her over to his horse. When he gets her up on the saddle he goes back to her horse's body to collect some of her essentials, such as her gun and hat. Walking back over to her, Faraday watches as Matilda runs her fingers through Jack's mane with a broken look in her eyes. He stands next to Jack and pats Tilda's leg gently, "Do you want us to come back for her later?"
The woman thinks about the children of La Belle seeing her Nessie this way and just shakes her head in response, "Wolves need to eat, too."
It may have sounded cruel, but it was true and Faraday understood that. He nods before getting up on his horse behind her, wrapping his arms carefully around her and taking the reins. Jack starts off slowly down the path and Matilda sighs in exhaustion, leaning back into Faraday's chest to feel his heartbeat against her back and his chin on top of her head. The thought that he's alive comes back to her again and she lets the happy tears stream down her face. She's been through enough and so she knew she could have this moment even if it were just this once. She deserved that much.
With the slow pace of the horse beneath her, a warm body behind her and the afternoon sun slowly starting to turn gold and crack through the green leaves above her, Matilda felt as though there would be no greater heaven than this even if she were dead. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could sleep in peace just as her eyes started to grow heavy.
Faraday felt her breathing slow down from feeling the expansion of her back rise and fall against his chest. He tucks his chin in and kisses the top of her head, closing his eyes as he breathes in the scent of her hair, "Don't go to sleep yet, Tilda. I'd feel much better if you did that after seeing a doctor."
"The wound's not life-threatening," she counters while blinking her eyes rapidly to keep them open.
"It definitely won't be if you see a doctor. Besides, I'm sure the boys would like to see you before you're whisked away into recovery."
She tilts her head up to scrunch her eyebrows up at him, "Vas and the others see me all the time."
"I wasn't talking about Vas, Sam, or Red, darling," he grinned.
Matilda's eyes widen as a hopeful look spreads across her dirty face, "You mean... Goody?"
He smiles and nods, "Goody."
"Horne?"
"Horne."
"Billy?"
"Of course!"
"How the--?" Matilda looks as though she was close to bursting out fireworks as the happy tears keep coming back, "How in the hell did you all survive? I saw... I saw Goodnight fall off a steeple. I saw-- I saw you get blown up."
Faraday hushes her when she thought back to Rose Creek and shook his head, "We can all sit down. Talk 'bout it later. We don't have to ruin the mood just yet."
"Asshole," she muttered, but she was smiling regardless.
"Yep, that's me," he entertained with a teasing smile, "What? You didn't actually miss me, did ya, Tilly?"
She smiles sadly, reaching up to scratch some of the scruffs on his neck while staring up at him with almost a glassed-over look, "You have no idea."
He might have some idea.
The small trek back to the town continued like this as they heard a small gunshot in the distance. They looked at one another with a grave look but didn't dote on it. Whether that shot was meant for Frank Griffin or Roy Goode, it didn't matter. No one has ever considered Frank Griffin a threat when he was alone. Without his men, he wouldn't last a week even if he had survived today.
Tilda found herself eventually playing with a button on his shirt to pass the time, "How did you find us?"
"I told ya we can talk about it later."
"I'm trying to stay awake here."
He scoffs as a way of surrendering while recollecting some parts of his adventure to get here, "You had made a friend in Amador City, that's where we went first since we knew about the bounty Sam had won. The new bartender, Lizzie Michaels, you remember?" She nods in response and he continued, "Well, as it turns out, she has a sister here in La Belle and told us about the situation here. We had no doubt in our minds you and Sam would want to come here to help out."
Matilda remembers Sam for a moment and bows her head shamefully, "Sam wanted to head back to Amador City. He had a gut feeling that we should go back, but I didn't listen to him. We could have found you a lot faster. But I told him there was nothing back there for us."
"It's alright, Tilly. You didn't know."
She snorts, "I know I said I missed you, but the whole 'Tilly' thing is still annoying as Hell."
"Well, tough. You're going to be hearing about it for a long time."
Matilda's body stiffens and she looks up at him with a hopeful look in her eye, "So... you're staying with us?"
He tugs the reins until Jack comes to a complete stop then Faraday looks her dead in the eyes with the most sincere expression he could muster, almost to the point where Tilda could hardly recognize the usual trickster in him.
"I go wherever you go."
~~~~~~~~~
Vasquez is the first to spot them as he sees them appear as a dot in the distance. He whistles the others over to him, Horne being the first to stand right next to him and mutters, "Thank you, Lord."
Sam sighs in relief and pats Goody's shoulder as the dot slowly turns into a single horse and two humans on its back. When the horse gets closer, Vas realizes its Jack and feels his heart sink. When Jack stops only a few yards away, Faraday gets off the horse first before helping a tired and wounded Matilda get down. She slides down almost effortlessly into his arms before he places her down on her feet, all the while Vas was wondering when did she get shot in the hip and where was her horse.
Faraday has a firm grip on her elbow while helping her keep steady as she walks, and is patient with her when she finally looked up to see another six pairs of eyes watching her. When she recognized three other men she had long thought to be dead were standing among her usual companions, the smile she graces them with is one Vasquez thought to be long gone and barely remembered how it looked. Faraday lets go of her when she made a motion to run and all but nearly collapsed into Billy's arms as he was the first to reach out to her. She sobs quietly in his shoulder as he holds onto her, neither saying a word even as Matilda grabs Goodnight's shoulder to drag him into the embrace. The three of them hold each other like this for a few minutes until Tilda pulls away to wipe her tears and move onto Horne, having to reach up in order to hug him. After reuniting with her formerly fallen friends, she moves onto her usual acquainted ones and lets Vasquez elope his arms around her.
"Jesus, Matilda," Vas whispered, "No vuelvas a asustarme así."
"Okay," she hums tiredly without a fight before gripping Red's hand as their respected embrace then moving on to hug Sam.
"Dammit, Crawford," he muttered with a sigh, "Next time I tell you not to do something, just don't do it."
"Clearly I'm fine," she grinned lopsidedly, "So no harm came to it."
"Clearly," he deadpanned sarcastically while proving a point by poking her side wound, causing her to hiss and grab at her hip with an added glare to him, "Now let's find you a doctor."
"Bring her to my farm," Alice Fletcher stepped up, still holding her rifle, "The town doesn't have a doctor. Iyovi can heal her better than any normal doctor anyways."
"Faraday, take her," Sam nods to Matilda.
The gambler was already moving towards the woman before Sam even asked, but he scoffed at the warrant officer anyway while flashing a grin towards Goodnight, "One day back and he's already ordering us around."
"I wonder who died and made him the boss," Goodnight grins in response, earning an appalled and betrayed look from Chisolm that was unlike his usual character.
The group finds each other laughing and even Tilda chuckles, regretting it almost instantly, however, when her bullet wound ached in protest. Wincing in pain, she doesn't deny relaxing when Faraday came over to lift her up in his arms again and looking over at Alice with a pointed look, "Lead the way."
Alice nods and goes to fetch her horse. Vas walks towards Faraday in her place and helps him with Matilda by holding onto Jack while the two mount onto the horse. Once Faraday has taken the reins from him, Vas eyes Matilda with a dejected expression, "Nessie...?"
Matilda bites her lip and looks away, Vas looking to Faraday for an answer and so the Irishman just shakes his head before pushing Jack into a trot when he noticed Alice emerge from the stables with a horse.
"Red Harvest," Sam looks over to the archer, "Go with them."
Red nods and whistles for his own mare, jumping onto her bareback when she appeared and followed Faraday and Alice out of town. Sam looks to the others, sharing an expression with Vasquez before turning to Goodnight, Billy, and Horne, "Even though we would love to celebrate your lives and return, this town is probably not too keen on the idea since they lost loved ones of their own."
"Another time then," Goodnight smiles tightly in understanding, "But for now, we help them rebuild."
~~~~~~~~~
Alice noticed Roy's black stallion grazing outside of her house before anything else. Her heart skips a beat, even more, when she noticed her son sitting by himself on her porch. Not even stopping her horse, Alice jumps off her back and picks up her skirts, walking quickly towards her child.
"Truckee..." she calls out and he comes running, sprinting at her at full speed and crushing her lungs when he hugged her. Alice sighed in relief as she coddles the back of his head against her, inspecting the dirty tear tracks and specks of blood on his face, "What happened? Are you alright?"
"I'm okay," her boy responds, "Grandma is taking care of Roy. He killed Frank but got shot again."
"Okay," Alice breathes for a moment and holds him even closer to kiss the top of his head, "Okay. Miss Crawford is also hurt and could use some help. Take care of the horses while we bring her inside."
"Yes, Ma," he replies before moving over and taking her horse's reins, leading her to the stables while Faraday and Red Harvest approached on their horses. Truckee waves them over and Alice helps Faraday get Matilda down from Jack. When the humans dismount, Truckee takes the rest of their horses.
"Glad to see your boy is alright," Matilda comments while using Alice as a support to lean half of her weight into.
"He's just lucky I'm not in the mood to wallop him," Alice replies with no real fire behind her words as Faraday came over to help Alice walk Matilda into the house. They hear a pained scream from within the barn and Matilda sends a pleading look in Alice's direction,
"Just promise me that Iyovi ain't gonna do whatever she's doing to that poor man to me."
((Someone please make fanart of Faraday and Matilda from that moment when they're on horseback riding back into town. This moment:
He nods before getting up on his horse behind her, wrapping his arms carefully around her and taking the reins. Jack starts off slowly down the path and Matilda sighs in exhaustion, leaning back into Faraday's chest to feel his heartbeat against her back and his chin on top of her head. The thought that he's alive comes back to her again and she lets the happy tears stream down her face. She's been through enough and so she knew she could have this moment even if it were just this once. She deserved that much.
With the slow pace of the horse beneath her, a warm body behind her and the afternoon sun slowly starting to turn gold and crack through the green leaves above her, Matilda felt as though there would be no greater heaven than this even if she were dead. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could sleep in peace just as her eyes started to grow heavy.
Faraday felt her breathing slow down from feeling the expansion of her back rise and fall against his chest. He tucks his chin in and kisses the top of her head, closing his eyes as he breathes in the scent of her hair, "Don't go to sleep yet, Tilda. I'd feel much better if you did that after seeing a doctor."
I am dead serious because I have so many feels right now. Please and thank you!))