Red Dead Redemption

Chapter 1: Colter

By 1899, the age of outlaws and gunslingers was at an end. America was becoming a land of laws… Even the west had mostly been tamed. A few gangs still roamed but they were being hunted down and destroyed…

Part 1: The Outlaws From the West

The icy wind blows throughout the large forests in the mountains, as the Van Der Linde Gang flees from the massacre they had made in their last heist. Dutch Van Der Linde and Hosea Matthews are leading the gang at the front in a covered wagon, while the others fall behind either sitting in wagons, or riding on horses beside them. Reverend Swanson stays beside Davey Callander in the back of Dutch’s wagon, before he hops out and makes his way through the snow toward Dutch.
“Abigail says he’s dying, Dutch,” Swanson says as he struggles to stay upwards from the blistering cold wind, “We’ll have to stop some place.”
Dutch turned and squinted his eyes to shield them from the cold wind, “Okay, Arthur’s out looking, I sent him up ahead.”
Swanson nodded before he made his way to the back of Dutch’s moving wagon, going back to help Davey be nursed back to health.
“If we don’t stop soon, we’ll all be dying.” Hosea muttered sarcastically.
There was a pause as they continued to ride forward into the seemingly never ending storm of snow and ice.
“This weather… it’s May,” Hosea said with disbelief. It seemed no one could believe that this harsh weather was during the month of rain showers and hot air, “I’m just hoping the law got as lost as we did…”
There was another long pause, as they continued to slowly freeze to death in the dark winter night. Suddenly, the wagon came to a slow halt as Dutch and Hosea peered into the darkness, they saw a sturdy silhouette on horseback.
“There…” Dutch squinted, trying to make out who the figure was.
Just then, the figure’s horse moved forward and into their lantern’s light, revealing the figure to be sturdy, gruff man with a brown stubble and long hair. His leather hat was shining in the light of Dutch’s lantern, it was Arthur Morgan. “Ah, Arthur! Any luck?” Dutch said, calling to Arthur through the harsh wind. Arthur nodded before smiling lightly, and calling out in his gruff voice, “I found a place where we could get some shelter!”
Arthur rides forward before coming next to Dutch’s wagon and riding beside it.
“Let Davey rest as he… Y’know,” Arthur trailed off with a light shrug. Dutch nodded as they continued to ride, small specks of snowflakes battering their bodies as they rode.“It’s an old minin’ town, abandoned- It ain’t far,” Arthur said, “Come on…”
“Come on, Yahh!” Dutch said as he beckoned the horses to move faster.
The gang rode through the winter wasteland, the light clops of the horses silenced by the sound of the fierce wind. Soon, they came upon a small grouping of four wooden buildings. The gang members quickly got out of the wagons and off of their horses and got into the wood cabin. Dutch held his lantern high as Hosea held the door open, and Arthur assisted Lenny Summers and Bill Williamson in carrying Davey inside with a makeshift stretcher.
“Bring him in here,” Hosea said to Arthur.
Arthur put Davey down on a creaky bed with rags for blankets.
“Miss Gaskill… Get that fire lit, quick. Miss Jones, bring in whatever blankets we have, Mr. Pearson, see what we’ve got in terms of food,” Miss Grimshaw said as she quickly closed the door.
“Davey’s dead,” Abigail said, her voice laced with disbelief and grief.
There was a long pause at the news of Davey’s passing, before Swanson took a slow step forward.“There was… Nothin’ you could’ve done…” Swanson said sadly as he laid two gold coins over Davey’s eyes.
Hosea wasted no time, they were in a dire situation already, “What are we going to do? We need supplies,” Hosea asked.
Dutch looked up at them, a gleaming look of perseverance and determination in his eyes, “Well, first of all, you’re gonna stay here…” he looked around the room of miserable faces, “And get yourselves warm. Now, I sent John and Micah scouting out ahead, Arthur and I, we’re gonna ride out and see if we can find one of ‘em.”
Arthur glanced to the door, where the sound of the strong wind was still evident, “In this?” Arthur asked.
“Just for a short bit,” Dutch reassured him, “I don’t see what other choice we have.”
Dutch looked around the room once again, the members had a haggard look. They hadn’t eaten good food in days, they’re missing three members and one of them is already dead… they had already lost so much.
“Listen… Listen to me, all o’ you for a moment,” Dutch said in hopes of getting everyone’s attention, “Now, we’ve had… Well, a bad couple of days… I loved Davey… Jenny… Sean, Mac… They may be okay, we don’t know, but we lost some folks,” Dutch paused, thinking of a way to motivate his gang to keep striving forward, “Now, if I… Could throw myself to the ground, in their stead. I’d do it. Gladly. But…” Dutch took a final glance around the room, “We, are gonna ride out… And we are gonna find some food. Everybody. We’re, safe now… There ain’t nobody following through a storm like this one… And by the time they get here, well…” Dutch glances to the door as the blizzard continues to rage on, “We’re gonna be long gone. We’ve been through far worse than this before.”
Dutch turns to Pearson and Miss Grimshaw, “Mr. Pearson, Miss Grimshaw… I need you to turn this place into a camp. We may be here for a few days…” Dutch turns back to the group, “Now, all of you… All o’ you!” Dutch calls out to them, “Get, yourselves, warm. Stay, strong! Stay, with, me! We ain’t done yet!” Dutch grabs his hat and turns to Arthur, “Come on, Arthur!” Dutch throws open the poorly made cabin door and enters the blizzard.
Dutch looks around as the two pull their cotton coats tightly around them.
“Well… We ain’t run into them yet, so… They both must have headed down the hill.” Dutch said as he looked around the snow covered terrain.
“Sure.” Arthur muttered, “Hey, I ain’t had time to ask. What really went down on that boat?”
“We missed you, that’s what happened,” Dutch patted Arthur on the shoulder.
Just then, a black man wearing many layers of warm clothing walked over to them through the storm, he led two horses behind him as he trudged through the knee-deep layers of snow. The man also had a white bandage wrapped around his right hand. It was Charles Smith.
“Hey! You need horses?” Charles called out.
Dutch turned to the man and began to get on one of the horses, “Oh, yeah,” Dutch said as he got on the horse, with Arthur getting on the other soon after. “And, Mr. Smith, get yourself indoors, you need to rest that hand.”
“I’ll live,” Charles said bluntly as he passed the lantern he held to Arthur.
“Get indoors, son!” Dutch exclaimed in a stern tone, “I… We, need you strong right now.”
Charles nodded and responded gruffly, “Okay,” He dragged his feet through the many layers of snow as fast as he could and went into the cabin, leaving Arthur and Dutch in the cold night.
Dutch turns to Arthur, his black mustache now speckled with white snowflakes, “Alright, let’s head out.”
“Ain’t sure what we’re gonna find out here, Dutch…” Arthur said skeptically.
Dutch continued to try and motivate either himself, or Arthur, “We have to try,” He said with a confident tone.
They start their horses and begin to ride off, the wind battering them and their horses with a cold force. It seemed that the more they rode through the weather, the worse it got. They could hardly see two feet in front of them.
Dutch turns to Arthur and notices that he’s drifting off of the trail that the snow had covered up, “Stay close, we’ll do our best to stick to the trail.”
Arthur also notices that he was drifting away from the trail and groans in annoyance, and slowly but surely makes his horse turn through the thick snow.
“This goddamn weather…” Arthur complained.
“Been two days or more like this now,” Dutch sighs and says in a desperate tone “Oh, it has to blow over soon.”
They continued riding, more, and more through the horrible weather that continued to send its freezing temperatures to their core. Eventually, they came to an old wooden bridge that was suspended over a large drop.
“Bridge comin’ up, take it easy,” Dutch said as he carefully rode across.
The boards creaked under the weight of the horses and the men, but they continued to ride. Soon, Dutch turns to Arthur.
“Hey, move up alongside me. Can’t see you back there,” Dutch motions lightly for Arthur to move faster so he could ride next to Dutch, before quickly pulling his coat tighter around him once again. Arthur rode forward and shook his head in disbelief.
“Can’t believe we lost Davey too…” Arthur said solemnly.
Dutch turned to him as they rode, “He’s the last one, Arthur. No more. We need to get those people warm, and fed.”
Arthur nodded, before continuing, “Least we don’t need to worry ‘bout Pinkertons tailin’ us in this.”
“A couple more days, we’ll be on the other side,” Dutch said, his voice cracking as he tried to shout over the howling wind, “You need to help me pick the others back up. You’re the only one I can rely on to stay strong right now.”
“Well, we got fire and shelter, that’s a start,” Arthur paused, as he had a sudden realization, no one had mentioned if the heist was successful or not, “And what about the money? Please tell me you at least got the money before it went to all hell on that boat?”
Dutch looked guilty, before he answered, “We did… It’s stashed with the rest of the money in town. It’ll be safe for now, but… Well, we sure can’t go there to collect it any time soon.”
They continued riding in silence, before another silhouette on horseback approached them.
“Hey… I think I see somethin’ up on the path,” Dutch said as the two squinted to try and get a better look at the approaching figure. “You up ahead!” Dutch lifted his lantern to illuminate the snow covered road, “Who’s there?”
The figure grew closer, before their body was illuminated by the lantern, to reveal Micah Bell on the back of his horse. A cocky look was spread across his scarred face and his blonde horseshoe mustache was speckled with white snowflakes.
“Gentlemen.” Micah tipped his hat to the two freezing outlaws.
Dutch let out a breath of relief after he saw that it wasn’t anyone who meant danger, “Micah, found anythin’?”
Micah turned his horse around as the two caught up with him, “Think so. Found a little homestead down thataway,” Micah pointed to where the hill began to slope downwards.
Dutch nodded, “Okay. Anyone home?”
“Sure,” Micah chuckled, “Place is blazing with light and noise. Sounded like a party,” Dutch chuckled along with him, “Well, let’s go and see,” Micah nodded, “Follow me,” Micah said to Dutch.
The trio began to ride toward the homestead, following Micah as he led them toward it through the powerful storm. Before long, Micah tried to start some small talk with them as they rode.
“So…” Micah said, trying to project his voice over the storm, “How’s Davey doin’?”
Dutch looked down and sighed, “Ah… He didn’t make it, I’m afraid. Nor did little Jenny,” Micah shook his head, “That’s too bad. Davey was a real fighter, both those Callander boys is, er… was,” Micah commented, not sounding too upset about the news.
Dutch simply nodded, “Yeah.”
“And Mac and Sean?” Micah asked as the blizzard continued to blaze on.
“We don’t know,” Dutch replied.
“Quite a business…” Micah muttered as they neared their destination.
They began to approach a wooden cabin, they could see that lights were on inside. The roof was covered in snow and the walls were powdered with small white specks. The more they rode, the more they felt the freezing cold wind penetrate their coats and chill them to their core.
Arthur calls out to Dutch, “Hey, ask ‘em if he’s seen John!”
“Hey! Have you seen John, Micah?” Dutch yelled over the wind.
Micah laughed as they continued nearing their destination, “Didn’t see much of anything since this storm rolled in.”
Dutch turns back to Arthur so that he could hear him, “He hasn’t seen ‘em.”
“He’ll be fine,” Arthur says as he waves it off, “Things always turn out right for that boy,” Dutch nods, “I hope… Mac and Sean are still out there somewhere too,” Dutch looks around, before motioning Arthur forward, “Move up, Arthur. I'll cover the rear.”
Dutch moves back in their single-file line and Arthur moves up into the middle, next to Micah.
“You run into anybody else?” Arthur asked as he turned to Micah.
“Heh, I reckon we’re the only ones crazy enough to be out in this, Morgan,” Micah responded.
Arthur rolled his eyes, “Yeah, we’ll don’t talk to me ‘bout crazy.”
Micah scoffed at Arthur’s sarcasm, “Oh, so no ‘Glad you’re alright, I was worried, Micah?’" He shook his head lightly and turned to Arthur, “Look, it’s all gonna work out, Morgan. We lost a few folks, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re feelin’ so good about it,” Arthur said sarcastically.
There was another pause as they continued riding, the storm not showing any sign of ending soon.
“Where are all of the others?” Micah turned and asked Arthur.
“Old minin’ camp, back up the hill. It ain’t much, but it’s shelter,” Arthur peered into the fog of the blizzard, trying to see anything that was more than five feet in front of him.
“So, this house… You speak to the people there already?” Arthur asked Micah as he pushed a branch out of the way while they rode.
“No, like Dutch told us; Look, but don’t talk to no one. Just followin’ orders, you know me,” Micah responded to Arthur with a hint of suspicion.
“Right…” Arthur said as he eyed Micah. Arthur never really trusted Micah, he’d only started riding with them a few months back and has been causing problems ever since, especially in Blackwater… “How much further?” Arthur asked curiously, in which Micah responded blankly, “Not far,” Arthur paused, that didn’t necessarily answer his question, “What does that mean?” Without missing a beat, Micah responded once again, “Not. Far,” Micah said once again.
Arthur scoffed at Micah’s non-helpful answer, “Thanks,” he huffed sarcastically.
“Oh, goddamn this snow. Gets right to the bone,” Arthur said as he shivered.
Soon, they found their destination as they began to ride down the snowy hill. It was a very old looking wooden cabin, with yellow lights inside and three windows in all, two on each side of the door, and one in the attic.
“Okay, let's keep it down now, gentlemen. It’s just up ahead,” Micah stated in a whisper.
The trio of outlaws made their way down the snowy hill as the wind howled around them. The moon shone above them brightly as snow continued to fall, not slowing down for a moment.
“Snuff and stash those lanterns, boys. Best you two lie low on this,” Dutch said as he put the fire in his lantern out, as Arthur and Micah did the same. Once they make it to the pathway to the house, the three hitch their horses behind a boulder.
Dutch turned to them, “Let me handle this, we don’t want to spook these fine people.” his voice was laced with sarcasm as he said his ‘compliment.’ As the group approached the house, many cheerful sounds and tunes of music were heard from the doors.
“Someone’s having fun in there,” Micah commented.
Dutch turned to Micah and Arthur, “You two, get yourself out of sight. One lonely man is a lot less intimidating than three nasty lookin’ degenerates.” Dutch inspected the environment around the cabin, “Micah, hide behind that wagon. Arthur, you take that old shed on the left. And stay low, both of you.”
Dutch then continues to stride toward the door as Arthur gets behind the old fence in the open barn, and Micah hides behind a nearby snow covered wagon with a large white cloth covering the cargo container of the wagon.
“Hello?” Dutch called out.
Voices from the cabin were heard, “Shut up, Billy! Shh, shh!”
Dutch called out once again, “Excuse me? Hello?”
A man soon opened the cabin’s door, and slowly walked out as he skeptically watched Dutch.
“What you want?” the man from the cabin asked.
Dutch smiled slightly at the sight of the man, seemingly relieved it wasn’t anyone hostile, “I am very sorry to disturb you. Uh, my friends and I, well we got into some… Trouble up the way. Lost in the storm,” three other men walked out of the cabin and watched Dutch, seemingly suspicious of him. “Ah, gentlemen,” Dutch said as he held his hands up defensively.
“We can’t help you, mister.” One of the other men said.
Suddenly, Arthur heard Micah whispering frantically as he watched Micah slowly pull the blanket on the wagon off and reveal a frozen body.
“Arthur…” Micah whispered, “Arthur, we got a problem. There’s a corpse, right here,” Micah looked back at Arthur, who was still focused on Dutch, but he definitely had seen what Micah was talking about. “Arthur… There’s a body. In the wagon,” Micah said as he unholstered his dual double-action revolvers as he crouched behind the wagon again.
Arthur nodded but continued to watch Dutch silently. “Yeah, I hear you, just… Keep your eyes on Dutch.”
The first man who came out of the cabin took a step forward, “I think you should go now, buddy,” He said in a threatening tone.
Dutch chuckled, “Now, friend, I ain’t askin’ for much. Please, I am… Kinda desperate.”
“Hey… I don’t believe it…” The man from the cabin said with a tint of disbelief, “Come here, partner, come here!”
Dutch skeptically took a step forward as he eyed the men suspiciously, before his eyes widened at the sight of their green scarves. O’Driscolls.
The man points at Dutch as he quickly draws his revolver, “Hey! It’s that Dutch Van Der Lin-“ suddenly a shot is rung from Arthur’s revolver as the cold hard metal bullet flies through the man’s head. He falls to the ground with a thump, and there is a pause from everyone. Before it quickly turns into a firefight of bullets zipping across everywhere.
Arthur and Dutch stay behind their cover while Micah attempts to strafe them, which results in him getting caught and being pistol whipped, before Arthur steps in and sends a hot and fast piece of lead into one of the O’Driscolls’ heads.
Out of nowhere, bullets began to fall from the top of the cabin, Dutch whips his head up and spots another O‘Driscoll with a repeater in his hand, “Watch out! One up top in the window!” Dutch yelled as Arthur quickly took care of the man with three expertly aimed shots. The man fell from the window and into the snow with a loud thump.
“One of them’s making a run for it, Arthur!” Micah shouted as he watched one of the O’Driscolls run off. “Leave him!” Dutch replied, “He won’t make it far in this storm anyway.”
Soon, the trio of outlaws had taken care of the O’Driscolls without a single man down. “That’s my boy, Arthur. Good shooting.” Dutch pats Arthur on the back before getting out of his cover and inspecting one of the bodies. “Goddamn O’Driscoll’s boys here? Why?”
Micah shrugged as he looked down disdainfully on the O’Driscoll who had pistol whipped him, before rubbing his jaw. “I don’t know, maybe same reason as us?”
Dutch stood back up, not giving a reply to Micah’s idea. “Micah, go bring the horses closer to the cabin,” Dutch commanded, “Arthur, let’s go search the cabin.” The two walked into the cabin, it was a cozy place that felt like a real home.
“Turn the place upside down, grab as many supplies as you can.” Dutch instructed Arthur as he began to look around the cabin, “We need the essentials. Food, medicine…” Dutch picked up a bottle which was on the dining table, it read ‘Kentucky Bourbon', and Dutch pocketed it. “Whiskey.” Dutch added, finalizing their list of essentials.
After some searching around, Arthur’s stomach growls hungrily and he clutches it as he groans, “I’m starvin’.” Dutch turns to him with a concerned look, “You should eat somethin’ now. Get your strength up for the ride back.” Arthur nodded and searched around the small kitchen, finding a can of beans. He used his knife to open the top and ate it as he continued searching.
Soon, Arthur came across a blood stain on the floor, “Big ol’ pool o’ blood on the floor ‘ere,” Arthur stated. Dutch turned to him, “I saw.” he said before he turned around and continued his search around the cabin. Arthur looked at the stain one last time before he said to himself, “Probably the poor bastard who lived here. Micah found a dead body in the wagon outside.” there was a pause, before Dutch exclaimed as he continued the search, “O’Driscolls! I don’t believe it.”
“It’s a strange one, alright.” Arthur replied, “Maybe they’re hidin’ up here too. There’s a big price on Colm’s head… Nearly as big as the one on yours,” Arthur chuckled at his own joke.
“Wantin’ Colm dead is about the only thing me and Uncle Sam agree on.” Dutch joked back. As Arthur looked around the cabin, he saw a small picture frame and picked it up, “Looks like the poor bastard was married too, at some point.” Arthur said as he inspected the photograph, the photo was a black and white image of a man and a woman in wedding clothes. Dutch turned to him, “If we can’t eat it or drink it, put it down.”
Arthur nodded and put the photograph down, before taking a look around the cabin and making a proposal, “Place is dry, and warm. Maybe we could move the women and Jack down ‘ere.”
Dutch thought the proposal over for a moment, “Maybe, we’ll see how they are when we get back. I really don’t want us to split up.”
Dutch took one last look around and stated to Arthur, “I’m going to start packin’ the horses. You keep lookin’, grab anything you think we can use.”
After Arthur is done searching, he walks outside and sees Dutch and Micah readying the horses, “Micah, search the cabin, see what we missed,” Dutch instructed, “Arthur, go see if there’s anything in that barn.”
“Sure,” Arthur said as he nodded once again and made his way to the barn and pushed the doors open, and walked inside. It didn’t take ten seconds until a hidden O'Driscoll had jumped from the ceiling and landed on Arthur, knocking his six-shooter from his hand.
“You bastards shot my cousin!” the O'Driscoll exclaimed as he attempted to fight Arthur.
“Well, he started it!” Arthur responded as he threw the O'Driscoll off of him and into the cold dirt inside the barn. “I’m gonna break your neck!” The O'Driscoll yelled as he charged toward Arthur, as Arthur dodged and punched the O'Driscoll across the face. Arthur proceeded to beat the O'Driscoll into a bruised pulp, before Dutch walked in, “What’s going on?” Dutch asked.
“This guy just jumped me.” Arthur said as he kept dodging and countering the attacks of the O'Driscoll, with a scowling face. “Oh, did he now?” Dutch asked as Arthur sent multiple strikes across the O'Driscolls face, feeling a crack as the O’Driscoll’s nose was broken, before throwing him to the ground. “Sneaky little bastard…” Arthur snarled as he towered over the wounded O'Driscoll, “Should I kill ‘im?” Arthur asked Dutch.
“No, not yet. Find out what they’re doing here, and where Colm is.” Dutch instructed as he leaned against the barn door. Arthur looked down on the O'Driscoll, “Oh, this son of a bitch’ll talk…” Arthur grabbed the O'Driscoll by the collar and held his fist high, “Where’s Colm O'Driscoll?” Arthur snarled, his look one that would instill fear into the toughest of outlaws.
“W-With the others! At an old minin’ camp southwest of here, near the lake!” the O'Driscoll stuttered as he attempted to shield a possible attack from Arthur. Arthur kept the O'Driscoll pinned, before slamming his fist into the O’Driscoll’s face once again, continuing his interrogation, “What are you bastards doin’? Why are you up here?” Arthur said, not as much asking, more of demanding. “We’re fixin’ to rob some train, gonna blow the tracks. I-I don’t know more than that, I swear!”
Dutch laughed at the sight of the O'Driscoll, “Well, I would say it looks like you have this, Arthur. Do what you want with him, I don’t care, but bring that horse when you’re done.” Dutch said before he walked back towards Micah.
“Please… Please spare me, you won’t see me again, I-I swe-“ suddenly Arthur sent another blow into the O’Driscoll, with an unforgiving look in his eye. “P-Please…” the O’Driscoll begged, before Arthur eventually beat him to death. He stood up and brushed himself off, picked up his gun and put his hat back on, before turning to the horse.
“Woah… Easy, boy.” Arthur said as he raised his hands lightly, trying to calm the horse. The horse whined, but soon came to and let Arthur lead her out of the barn. As Arthur made his way toward Dutch and Micah, Dutch turned to him and asked, “So you let him go, huh? Saw the little bastard scurrying off.”
Arthur nodded, “Yeah, figured he wouldn’t get far in this weather anyway.”
Dutch nods, before taking a look at the horse Arthur is leading and makes a remark, “That looks like a decent horse, you should keep ‘im! Get that horse hitched, we don’t want him bolti-”
Suddenly a loud, high pitched shriek was heard from the cabin, and the Dutch rushed in. As Dutch burst through the door, he saw Micah on one side of the table, and on the other side was a woman in a nightgown with a crazed look and a knife in her hand.
The woman yelled as tears fell down her face, “Get away from me!” she shrieks as she holds the knife up. Dutch turned to Micah, completely dumbfounded on what Micah’s train of thought was, “Micah, what the hell are you doing?!” Dutch yelled. “O'Driscoll bitch!” Micah yelled back at the woman, “Get away from me!” the woman yelled once more. Arthur quickly bursts into the cabin to check on them.
Micah tried to run around the table to grab her, but she was too quick, “Look what I found in the cellar. Wild thing, ain’t you?” Micah sneered as he continued to try and run around the table to catch up with her. “Leave her alone!” Dutch yelled at Micah as both him and Arthur watched.
“I wasn’t doin’ nothin’! She’s one of them O'Driscolls!” Micah shouts in defense, “No she ain’t, Micah! Look at her!” Dutch yelled back with a hint of anger at Micah’s behavior. In an attempt to escape from Micah, the girl ran back toward the wall, accidentally knocking a lantern over. The lantern shattered and the fire that was held captive inside sprung forth and lept onto the walls, before slowly climbing to the roof. “Oh, you fool, Micah!” Dutch shouted angrily as he shoved Micah to the side. Arthur glared at Micah, not even trying to hide his disdain for him, before he walked over to Dutch, who was talking to the woman, “Miss, now, it is gonna be okay. We mean you no harm,” Dutch looked at the fire, “Miss, come on, it’ll be okay. We need to get out of here,” Dutch looked around the flames dancing on the walls, “and quick. C’mon.”
Dutch leads her out of the house quickly, with Arthur and Micah quickly tailing behind him. Dutch wrapped one of the blankets they had around the woman and hastily scanned her over. “You okay, Miss?” Dutch asked, seeming to be concerned for her health. The woman was still crying as she tried to piece together a sentence, her voice was raspy and broken, “They came three days ago… My husband, they…” the woman began to cry once more. Dutch nodded, seemingly having understood what she meant, “Okay, Miss. You’re safe now… And you can’t stay here. You come with us,” Dutch led the girl over to his horse, “Arthur?” Arthur nodded and helped the woman onto Dutch’s horse, “Miss, it’s okay, alright? We’re bad men, but… We ain’t them, so… it’s okay.” Arthur reassured the woman as he pulled his coat tighter around himself.
“We’ll keep you safe, until you find out what you want to do.” Arthur began to make his way through the thick snow and got on his own horse, as they began to leave the area on horseback. “What’s your name, Miss?” there was a long pause, in which the woman didn’t answer, “Miss?” Dutch asked. “Adler.” The woman said, “Adler?” Dutch double-checked, “Sadie Adler, Mrs… I, he…” She turned back to the burning cabin and seemed to watch the wagon where Micah had found the frozen body, “he was my husband…” she finished.
After a long ride back, the group finally sees the gang. “Hey! Somebody’s comin’!” One of the younger members, a nineteen year old black kid who had run away from his home named Lenny Summers, yelled as he quickly loaded his rifle and pointed it to them in precaution, but put it down when he saw Dutch. “Look, it’s Dutch. Hey everyone! Dutch is back!” Lenny called out to the gang. Hosea and a few others came from the old abandoned buildings they were staying in to check on them, “How’d you get on?” Hosea questioned. “Micah found a homestead, but… he weren’t the first. Colm O'Driscoll and his scum, they beat us to it. We found some of them there, but there’s more about apparently. Scoutin’ a train.” Dutch answered.
Dutch got off his horse and helped Sadie off as well, Hosea rolled his eyes at the news of a possible robbery, “That’s the last thing we need right now, Dutch.” Hosea responded flatly. “Well, it is what it is, but we found some supplies, some blankets, a little bit of food, and this poor soul, Mrs. Adler.” Dutch said as he helped Sadie off of the back of his horse. He turned to the girls that had come to check on them, “Ms. Tilly, Ms. Karen, would you warm her up? Get her a drink of something.” The two nodded and began to lead Sadie away, before Dutch said one last thing, “And Mrs. Adler, it’s gonna be okay, you’re safe now.” She nodded with the slightest slimmer of hope in her eyes. Dutch turned to Hosea and Abigail, “They turned her into a widow, animals.” his voice dripped with a bitter hate towards Colm and his men. Dutch looked around before rubbing his eyes, “I need some rest, I haven’t slept in three days.” Dutch walked off to the small cabin that Susan motioned towards.
Susan then turned to Arthur, who had just finished hitching his horse, “You’re over here, Ms. O’Shea will show you the way, Mr. Morgan, we put you in a room over here.” Arthur nodded thankfully, “Thank you, Miss Grimshaw.” he said before following Molly to his room. Susan nodded back and turned to Micah, “Mr. Bell, you’re with the fellers over there.” she pointed to the cabin where Lenny, Bill, and Javier were staying. Micah scoffed as Susan began to walk away, “How come Arthur gets a room, and I get bunked next to Bill Williamson, and a bunch of darkies?!” Micah shouted over the blizzard. Hosea scolded him with an annoyed look, “Get yourself to bed.” Hosea said, before he went back to his own cabin. Micah shook his head disapprovingly, before begrudgingly walking over to his cabin and entering it.