Liars And Thieves

Chapter 28

"These are some fine horses, sir," Grace approved as she looked the horses from head to hoof. The man in the cap had a wide grin on his face as he held a cigarette in his fingers, he gave Grace a nudge.

"They are indeed, ma'am," he started before turning to face her. "I'll let you take them for six-hundred," he announced. Grace winced at the pricey ask. She looked out towards the barn doors to see Hosea waiting for her outside, just as they had agreed. Grace looked at the four horses in front of her, standing with another man as he held them for her to look them over. The horses all had no scars at all, were in perfect condition and were young. Perfect for her to sell for herself and if anything, this man was asking for nothing. She knew she could sell them for double of what he was asking. Grace gave a hesitant not before nodding approvingly, acting as if this was a difficult decision to make to throw the man off of any suspicions. 

"You have yourself a deal," Grace grinned, forcing her hand out for him to shake. The man took it, a money hungry grin plastered on his worn face. He looked over at the man who held the horses. 

"Go on, boy. Git them outside," he ordered. The man nodded quickly, leading the horses away from Grace and the man. The man turned to Grace as Grace pulled out a stack of cash from her duster coat pocket. His eyes rested on the money in her hands as she counted the bills, ensuring she was paying him nothing more than what was asked. She slapped the six hundred in the mans hand, his grin growing larger as his hands latched onto the money. Grace slipped the left over money into her coat pocket. "Pleasure doing business with you," he cooed as he looked at the cash. Grace wanted to laugh but she held it back. He quickly stuffed the money into his ripped vest, a corner of a bill poked out from the top. Grace and the man walked out of his barn together. "I don't mean to pry but, what exactly do you need with these four horses?" He asked as Grace joined Hosea, noticing him sitting up on Silver Dollar with the ropes of the four horses wrapped around his saddle horn. 

"My Father and I work with the Grays, these horses are for them. They want the best horses to prove themselves better than the Braithwaites," Grace explained, following the storyline Hosea had suggested to her. Grace swung up into her saddle as Hosea nodded down to the man.

"Do you know them, sir? Surely you would," Hosea asked casually. The man nodded before frowning.

"I heard the Braithwaite manor had burnt down not long ago," The man stated, still frowning in confusion.

"The two families will always feud, manors burnt down or not. I'm placing my money on the Grays that they burnt down their manor," Grace betted. "We ain't involved in the feud and don't intend to be. We're just workers, the pay is good," Grace whispered jokingly. The man chuckled, believing Hosea and Grace. 

"Well, I trust you two to make sure they arrive safely. Now, you lot be good," The man cooed to his horses, one of them snorting as a bug flew around its face. The man looked up at Hosea and Grace one last time before walking away, walking towards one of his pens that had a foal and mother inside, the man who had helped him was over there already. Hosea threw two ropes over to Grace, Grace caught them and led two horses as Hosea led the other two. As the two left the property they finally started to talk now out of hearing range.

"You know, Arthur and I robbed that house when we were at HorseShoe?" Hosea announded, a sly grin on his face. Grace chuckled, looking over at him.

"Of course you did. How did they not recognise you?" Grace questioned. Hosea didn't have a forgettable face and especially his charm was not one to forget.

"New people. I'm guessing our robbery scared them into moving away. I was nervous myself that they would recognise me. I wanted to say something but I wanted this to go successful which it did," Hosea explained as he looked at the two horses he was leading before looking back at Grace. "I'll never figure out how you manage to find such amazing horses. How much did he sell them to you for?"

"Six hundred. I agreed, I know it's a fair bit but I reckon I could sell them for double. It'll be like the money never left," Grace sneered, her plan sounded simple. Hosea nodded.

"That's good for four horses, paying six hundred I mean. You think he was suspicious at all?" Hosea asked. Grace shook her head.

"Not at all. Even if he was, I'm sure he wouldn't say a peep after getting the money. His eyes lit up like Saint Denis at night," Grace chuckled. Hosea laughed at her joke, imagining the smile before he broke into a coughing fit. "It's getting worse, ain't it?" Grace questioned softly. Hosea nodded as he managed to clear his throat.

"I'm afraid so," he wheezed slightly as he cleared his throat. Grace's face sunk with sadness. "I should slow down with things but I can't. I can't just sit around and watch the days pass," Hosea explained. Grace nodded at him, understanding him. "Maybe after the Saint Denis bank I'll stop but until then, I ain't stopping."

"Saint Denis bank?"

"I'm thinking of a plan to rob it. It's a big bank with a lot of money, enough to get us all out of here just like Dutch wants. Of course it isn't certain yet as Dutch is in Saint Denis with Arthur and John, I haven't had the chance to speak with him yet," Hosea explained. Grace nodded.

"Well, as long as you look into it more and make sure no one gets caught, I'm in. Also, aren't they finally meeting this Angelo Bronte today?" Grace asked. Hosea nodded and Grace hitched her breath. "Let's hope they get Jack."

"Let's. What you going to do with these horses?" Hosea asked, changing the subject back to the horses.

"I'm going to put up some sale notices for them on some boards around Saint Denis and see if I get in contact with a possible buyer. I'm hoping to grab the interest of a rich person so that them paying a lot won't be an issue. But for now, they'll stay in the camp for at least three days before I begin to advertise," Grace explained. She normally did this with all the horses she sold. 

"Okay. If you need a hand with putting up flyers, I can help," Hosea offered with a grin.

"Thank you," Grace thanked him, acknowledging his kind offer. The two rode back to camp, through the swamps until they got to Shady Bell. Lenny waved at them as he stood by the wall before Shady Bell, his rifle in his hands as he stayed alert and on guard. His eyes flickered onto the beautiful horses. As Hosea and Grace led them through the wall, Lenny's head peeked around as he stared at the horses, stunned. Grace and Hosea dismounted their horses without hitching them, both leading the new horses to a free hitching post and tying their ropes onto the posts. Grace offered to Hosea that she will hitch their horses which Hosea agreed to.

"Oh! I'll see if Keiran can get them some water," Hosea called back to Grace as he stood on the bridge that separated her from the house. Grace gave him a thumbs up as she led their horses over to another hitching post, happily hitching them and unsaddling the two horses.