Liars And Thieves

Chapter 6

When Grace and Arthur rode into camp, Arthur dismounted quickly, making his way towards Strauss. Grace sighed, the ride back was silent and quick. Grace's feet hit the ground as she dismounted before searching through her saddle bag for an apple to feed her horse. As she held the apple out for her mare to eat, the mare's lips tickled her hand causing her to grin. Grace called the mare 'horse' because she never really got around to thinking of a name, not with everything that has been happening lately. Once the mare had taken the apple out of her hand, she walked into the camp, noticing John and Abigail to the right. Abigail had her hands on her hips, her face tense as she stared at the man, shaking her head. John, scratching his jaw as he spoke, his face screwed in anger. Abigail continued to shake her head before stomping away, her eyes caught onto me, causing her to stop for a split second. The woman looked at me before continuing, not saying a word. Abigail looked exhausted and drained. Grace approached John who was staring into the bush land. 

"So you're up and about now?" Grace greeted, pretending she didn't see Abigail and John arguing about something. John gave a small nod before lighting a cigarette. He puffed out a cloud, turning to face Grace.

"What am I doing wrong, Grace? I just can't seem to please her," John sighed, looking past Grace towards Abigail who was sitting with Hosea. Grace gave a shrug.

"Wrong person to ask I'm afraid," Grace apologised. John looked away for a few moments, taking another drag.

"She freaked out because I told her I found a train that we could rob. Well, I ain't found it. Mary-Beth did but we can't exactly let her go," John explained. John was right, Mary-Beth was good at pick-pocketing. Mary-Beth was defiantly not good at shooting, Grace believed she had never seen Mary-Beth anywhere near a gun and things would probably stay that way.

"I guess she just doesn't want you to get hurt," Grace expressed. John nodded quickly, a hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"I know. I know... she just needs to understand that-"

"I know," Grace finished, not wanting to force John into the conversation more. John gave a small nod, holding the cigarette in between his fingers. "So this train... does Dutch know?" Grace questioned, trying to take the topic off of John's family issues. John nodded.

"Yeah. I'm thinking of taking Arthur and Charles. Sean has pestered me but I don't really want him to come, his talking will alert everyone," John grunted while grinning. Grace chuckled, nodding in agreement. 

"It'd be suicide to take him," Grace added. John turned his whole body to face Grace, a small grin growing on his face. 

"Say, you want to rob the train with us?" John offered. Grace pouted, laughing. She thought John was joking but she realised he wasn't.

"Me? Why me?" She questioned in disbelief. John shrugged before pointing at her revolver on her hip.

"You're a good shot, plus you haven't done a lot of robberies yet," John pointed out. Grace sighed, running a hand through her dark hair while looking over at Arthur. She watched as he was talking to Strauss, Strauss looking alarmed. 

"You really think he'll want me to ride with you? You know how he is..." Grace trailed off as she watched him throw his hands up in the air at Strauss.

"Stubborn? Bitter? Raw? That's what makes him Arthur Morgan!" John snorted. Grace grinned, nodding her head at him. "Plus, this is mine. I have a plan and Morgan is going to listen to me for once, meaning he is just going to have to live with you coming," John added. Grace exhaled, looking at her boots before giving John a small nod, looking back up at the scarred-face man.

"Alright, I'll join you," Grace complied. John grinned, slapping Grace on the shoulder proudly before tucking the cigarette back between his lips.

"Good. Arthur and I have a bit more preparing to do but once it's done, I'll let you know," John advised. Grace grinned before walking away, leaving John to smoke in peace. Grace strolled over to her cot, picking up the book Hosea had recommended for her to read. As Grace picked up her book and turned around, she spotted Arthur sitting in his cot, his journal in hand as he wrote. Grace had no clue what Arthur wrote about, whether it was stories or diary entries. Maybe even drawings, Grace had always been curious because Arthur never shows it to anyone. Grace managed to drag herself out of her train of thoughts before walking towards the edge of the cliff the camp was based on. Grace sat on the edge, dangling her feet over the edge, taking in the breeze that blew through her hair and tickled her skin. The book beside her, Grace played with the grass between her fingers as she closed her eyes, imagining that this is what heaven feels like. Grace didn't need to read a book to escape the world, she just needed to take in the surroundings and realise how beautiful life really is. In her mind, Grace imagined that she was dancing on the clouds, the breeze against her skin was her dancing partner, twirling her around as she smiled and laughed. Grace's eyes fluttered open, the colours of the sunset greeted her. Grace glowered in confusion, realising she had been taken away from reality for at least a few hours. It hadn't felt that long at all. Grace found her feet, brushing the dirt off of her and the grass off of her hands. She picked up the book, slightly disappointed that she had forgotten to read it again. Grace returned her book back to where she had placed it on the barrel at the end of her cot before going towards the back of Pearson's wagon, grabbing a bowl and spoon from the dishes. She took the silver in her hands before making her way to the camp pot, waiting behind Tilly as she filled her bowl with Pearson's stew. Tilly greeted Grace before straightening up and walking towards Javier who was by the fire. Grace poured some stew into her bowl before walking away and towards the round table where Susan and Bill sat. 

"Hello," Grace greeted the two. Susan and Bill greeted Grace as she sat down, placing her bowl onto the table.

"Thank you for letting me rest by the way," Bill thanked Grace. Susan grinned at Grace, giving her a nod of praise.

"That's very kind of you to do, Miss Peters," Susan complimented. Grace smiled at the two.

"It was nothing. We all need our share of rest," Grace added, looking at Bill. Bill nodded in agreement. "Anyway, you two find anything out there?" Grace asked, referring to Valentine. Susan shook her head but Bill stayed quiet, thinking to himself for a moment. The two woman turned their attention onto Williamson who was now forced into telling them.

"I am working on something, a stage," Bill grinned before taking a spoonful.

"That's good," Grace answered between scoops of stew. Bill froze, looking at Grace in disbelief. Susan raised her eyebrows at Grace before pushing herself away from the table, chuckling.

"Good? Just good? Miss, this is excellent! It's a lot of money! Huh... just good," Bill muttered. Bill placed his spoon in his bowl, leaning onto the table now. "I'll do this right and when I do, Dutch'll be proud of me. And that's all I need, I don't need to please anyone but him. So if you want to call it 'good' then be my guest," Bill continued, sounding uptight. Grace rolled her eyes at him.

"Calm down, I was being nice," Grace stifled. Bill started to scrap the bottom of his bowl with the spoon, thinking to himself again. "Don't think too hard there," Grace joked, watching the man's brows furrow down in frustration. Bill glared up at her.

"Mind ya business! I'm thinking," Bill hissed. Grace chuckled, pushing herself out of the seat she sat in, looking down at Bill.

"I can see that," she muttered before walking away to take her bowl to the wash up area. She added her bowl to the stack of dishes that needed to be washed before wandering towards the camp fire to sit with Karen, Sean, Javier, Tilly, Uncle and Lenny. Uncle was drunk, as always. Lenny sat on his bedroll, watching Karen, Sean and Tilly sing as Javier played his guitar. Lenny waved to Grace as she sat down on the log next to Karen. Grace grinned at the group before joining them in singing.