Liars And Thieves

Chapter 1

The small, brunette woman stood before the man, two of the finest horses at her side, reins of them in either hand. She eagerly waited for him to hand her the money promised. 

"Here's the money," The man coughed, handing her the money. Grace took the money in her small, gloved hands, scanning the bills before frowning in confusion.

"This isn't what you promised. You said a thousand up front if we stole these horses from your uncle," Grace seethed through gritted teeth. Grace waved the money in front of the face of the man. "This is only five hundred."

"Miss, this are fine horses but that was only to get you interested in this deal," the man explained. Grace glared, gripping the reins of the two horses tighter, not allowing them to go anywhere. 

"My friend and I, we are wanted. We could have gotten caught stealing horses from your uncle! Now give us the money," Grace warned, lowering her voice. Grace looked over her shoulder to her friend, Arthur Morgan. Arthur stood by there horses at the hitching post, smoking a cigarette while he watched. "He won't be very pleased if you don't. Wouldn't want to get turned into pulp now, would you?" Grace pushed further. The man chuckled uncomfortably, scurrying through his trouser pockets and grabbing another stack of bills. He handed Grace the money and she counted up an extra five hundred. Grace grinned, handing him the reins of the prised horses. "Have fun with your steeds," Grace bellowed as she turned her back to him, strolling confidently over towards Arthur. Arthur grinned, the cigarette falling to the corner of his lips as Grace handed him the money. "Pig tried scamming us, I warned him about you," Grace smirked. Arthur nodded, splitting the cash between them and stashing the camp's money into his saddle bag. He looked over his shoulder at Grace.

"Dutch'll be happy with this. Good job," Arthur praised. I nodded, walking around to my horse to untie her reins from the post.

"You didn't do too bad yourself Mr Morgan," I complimented. Arthur grinned before throwing his cigarette to the ground and stomping on it before mounting his horse. He turned to Grace, peering down at the woman from on top of his horse.

"You want to ride back with me to camp or are you going to check out things around here?" Arthur asked. We were currently in Valentine, smuggling horses to the stable owner so he could sell them. I nodded, putting my foot in the stirrup. 

"I'll come back with you, not much to look at other than mud and shit," Grace snorted as she sat down into the saddle. Arthur nodded, letting out a small chuckle. Arthur and Grace turned their horses away from Valentine, going past the auction yards and then following the main road before turning off to go to Horseshoe Overlook which is where Hosea had suggested the gang lay low for a while, after being stuck in the mountains from the BlackWater robbery that went wrong. The gang had lost Jennie and Davey, Sean and Mac were still missing but the boys are working on trying to get them back, Sean at least. They hadn't been able to track Mac yet however. 

Arthur and Grace rode into camp together, dismounting their horses. Arthur told Grace he was going to go and put the money in the camp's contribution box. Grace nodded before turning to her beautiful splashed white American Paint horse. Grace kindly stroked the mare's neck, cooing praising words into the ear of the horse before removing the saddle from the horse, allowing the mare to rest well. Grace carried her saddle over a hitching post, placing her saddle next to who she believed to be Charles' saddle. Grace finally entered the camp, hearing the O'Driscoll complaining about being tied to a tree, pleading about how this is even necessary. Grace ignored him, following Dutch's orders along with everyone else. 

"So you and Arthur are helping out the scum living in Valentine," Javier chirped out from the table. Grace noticed Javier to be sitting in one of the chairs, sharpening his knife. She sighed, turning to face him.

"Better than causing trouble," Grace spoke her opinion. Javier chuckled, looking up from his knife with a grin.

"Yeah and when you get caught? Won't that just be trouble?" Javier joked. Grace chuckled before shrugging.

"Who said we would get caught?" Grace joked. Javier nodded, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you're right about that."

"What are you doing there, anyway?" Grace asked. Javier looked back up at the woman before spinning his knife in his hand, scanning it.

"Preparing to go get Sean with Arthur, Charles and Josiah later," Javier answered. Grace frowned, folding her arms over her chest.

"You found him? Where?" Grace pushed, surprised Sean had actually been found.

"Josiah worked his magic and found him in BlackWater. Using him as bait," Javier explained, raising his eyebrows before placing his knife on the table and standing up. Grace's eyes filled with alarm.

"You idiots are going back to BlackWater? Are you serious? After that mess we made?" Grace hissed, keeping her voice low to avoid listening ears from overhearing and then freaking out. Javier sighed, nodding slightly. 

"We can't leave that Irish bastard behind, he is family you know," Javier reminded. Grace nodded, sighing at the thought of them going back to BlackWater. Arthur, Charles and Javier are all capable of doing this though, they are good shots.

"I know... I just don't like the idea of going back so soon," Grace explained. Javier nodded, patting the woman on the shoulder comfortingly. 

"Me too but we can't leave it any longer in case they move him or lynch him," Javier muttered. Grace stood by as Javier took his knife and walked off towards Arthur, probably to discuss when they would leave now that Arthur was back in camp. Grace knew that everything would go well with rescuing Sean but BlackWater was way too hot right now, with things being how they are it would make this rescue a lot more difficult.