Liars And Thieves

Chapter 9

Days have passed since the gang moved into Clemens Point.  Dutch, Arthur and Bill were all pretending to work for the law, fooling the Grays at Rhodes. Dutch had this idea in his head where he thought hiding in plain sight was the best idea. Grace however, didn't like it so much. Grace carried a basket of damp laundry towards the line to hang up. Grace hadn't left camp since they arrived, trying to catch a breath after everything that has happened these past few months. 

"Grace!" Sadie called out. Grace stopped, coming to an abrupt stop and turning around to meet the woman. A few days ago Sadie had got into an argument with Pearson and then told Arthur she wanted to fight too, just like Grace except Grace still did some of the chores. 

"Mrs. Adler! It's good to see that you're so cheery," Grace greeted as Sadie came to a stop before her. The woman had a grin, her yellow shirt stood out in the midday sunlight. "You need something? I have work to do, Miss Grimshaw won't be pleased if she sees me not doing as she asked," Grace continued. Sadie grunted, taking the basket out of Grace's hands.

"You ain't doing this work! Mary-Beth! Mary-Beth, hang the clothes. Grace and I got some work to do," Sadie called out to Mary-Beth who sat by, reading a book. The woman looked up from her book, a grouchy look grew on her face before she slammed her book shut and finding her feet.

"What are we doing?" Grace asked. Sadie grabbed Grace by the arm, leading her to the horses as Mary-Beth marched up, snatching the basket from the ground.

"We are going to go check out the Braithwaites property," Sadie cheered, a sly grin on her face. Grace frowned, stopping beside her mare before looking at Sadie.

"Is that a good idea? Does Dutch know?" Grace questioned. Sadie sighed, ushering Grace to mount her horse. She waved to Kieran, quickly thanking him for getting the horses ready before swinging onto her horse, Bob's saddle. 

"No but I figured if we get some good information, it would be worth it," Sadie insisted. Grace brushed a strand of her dark hair out of her eyes, before grabbing her hat out of her saddle bag. 

"This is a really stupid idea but, I'll ride with you," Grace gave in. She knew she couldn't let Sadie go alone in case something was to happen. Sadie gave Grace a small nod before leading the way out of camp. 

"You been out much Miss Peters?" Sadie called back to Grace as they cantered up the path leading away from camp. Grace shook her head.

"No, haven't been out since the train robbery. I was going to keep it that way, Arthur told me about the Lemoyne Raiders that you and him ran into. Think that scared me into staying in camp more," Grace chuckled. Sadie chuckled with her.

"You're a good shot from what Arthur tells me, you'll be fine out here. I didn't want to bring Bill with me since Javier and Arthur are out somewhere doing god knows what and I was defiantly not going to sit around and listen to Pearson whispering about me," Sadie grunted, her strong voice booming out. 

"What is it with you two? Pearson seems fine with me running with the men," Grace questioned. Pearson had it in for Sadie which he needed to back off, she just lost her husband. 

"Guess he just don't like me, along with a lot of folk. It don't bother me," Sadie answered. The two women busted out from the trees, turning onto the road and following it.

"What's the approach on this? How are we going to get into the Braithwaites property? Apparently there are guards everywhere," Grace questioned. Grace wanted this to go as smoothly as possible, she didn't know about Mrs. Adler though. That woman seemed thirsty for blood, especially O'Driscoll blood. 

"We're going to sneak through the property from the back fence, keep low and quiet. Check out some of the workers' cabins, maybe they can tell us what the deal is with the Braithwaites. Either way, they're still getting paid to work there. I want to check out the barns too, see if there is anything laying around," Sadie explained her plan. The plan seemed alright, it could have been better though. Grace knew her and Sadie could make it work though.