Liars And Thieves

Chapter 30

The morning light floods the broken window of the room, making it almost impossible to go back to sleep with the distracting light. Grace sat up from her cot, yawning. As her eyes adjusted, she frowned as she realised her cot had been moved. She looked beside her to see it right up next to Arthur's cot. He was gone already, must've woken up early to do something she figured. Grace felt the warmth of the morning sun warming her whole body, causing her to look down to reveal her exposed. Grace's jaw dropped wide open before dropping her head into her hands, realising what she had done.

"Shit," She cussed to herself. Her and Arthur must have had too much to drink last night. She jumped up quickly, picking up her clothes off of the ground and pulling them on. Grace couldn't remember a thing, she always promised to herself not to drink so much as she has seen what it does to people but she fell hard for the lovable liquor. After pulling her jeans up her waist she shuffled in front of the mirror, doing up the buttons on her white blouse. "Pretend it never happened, you goddamn fool," she muttered to herself. Grace was relieved it was Arthur she did it with though, otherwise she would've cheated and that would not go down well at all. She tucked the long-sleeved blouse into her jeans before grabbing her worn black gloves off of the barrel that was her nightstand. She grabbed her holster belt with her revolver and buckled it around her small waist as she pushed open the door with her shoulder. 

"Dutch, please just listen to me-" Grace overheard Molly from inside of Dutch's room. She paused, not wanting her footsteps to disturb their discussion. 

"No, I've listened to you enough. Miss O'Shea... I think it's best you find somewhere else to sleep. Miss Grimshaw will help you," Dutch paused for a moment. "Get comfortable elsewhere in the camp."

"I...My...You-you. Damn you!" Molly stuttered before shouting at him. She heard Dutch sigh loudly before the doors busted open, Grace freezing when Molly's eyes darted onto her. "You all got it in for me! What did I do wrong?" She pleaded while shouting before hurrying down the stairs before Grace could put in a word. Grace's face fell in sympathy. She felt bad for Molly, she had gotten worse these past days. Grace decided not to intrude on Dutch and to give him space so she continued her journey down stairs. 

"Mr. Morgan, we have a problem. A real problem, it's Tilly," Grace overheard Susan outside, almost shouting in fury. Grace's face frowned in curiosity as she pushed her way through the side doors, seeing Arthur with Mary-Beth and now Miss Grimshaw. Grace looked around the area in front of her, Tilly was nowhere in sight. Nor Kieran. Grace figured he was probably with the horses again. Grace watched as Susan pushed Mary-Beth out of her way, moving to the back of one of the wagons. She could see Susan saying something to Arthur but she couldn't make out what it was. Grace's eyes widened a little when she saw Susan grab a cattlemen's revolver, realising something bad had happened. "Come along," Susan called back out to Arthur as she already started to leave without him. 

"The Foreman brothers? Well what are they doing here?" Arthur questioned loudly so Susan would her, his voice raising as he began to be concerned for Tilly. Grace's teeth dug into the side of her cheek as she remembered Tilly telling her all about them and how she used to run with them. 

"Well, I don't know what they've been doing here, but I can tell you what they're going to be doing here, dying," Susan threatened harshly, holding the revolver up as she marched back to Arthur. 

"Sure. Do we need more guns?" Arthur questioned as he motioned back to the wagon, Mary-Beth sitting back down as she became aware of the situation. 

"You and I can handle this, Arthur." Susan called back to him as she made her way to one of the wagons, climbing up onto it. Arthur looked over quickly to Grace, giving her a small grin before following Susan to the wagon. Grace decided to check on Mary-Beth as she watched the two of them get onto the wagon with a worried expression on her face.

"Will Tilly be okay?" Mary-Beth asked, closing her book slightly as she looked up at Grace. "First it was Jack, now Tilly and Kieran..."

"Wait, Kieran? What do you mean?"

"He's gone. Strange once you think about it. I haven't seen him since last night," Mary-Beth explained, placing the book down beside her before resting her hands in her lap. 

"I'm sure he'll be back today. He probably wandered off drunk somewhere, he had a good time instead of being so worried. I'm sure Tilly is fine, she is a strong woman," Grace comforted the worried lady. Mary-Beth nodded her head slowly.

"Well, I hope so. It feels like things are coming good again, or they could at least with Jack being back and all. Maybe our luck will continue," Mary-Beth added positively. She had a small grin on her face, Grace nodding with her. 

"That would be nice," Grace agreed. She knew however that their luck was only going to get worse. They just got scared off by the Pinkertons, they burned down the Braithwaite's mansion and they lost Sean, all of these events occurring after each other. "Well, I'll leave you to your book. I've got posters to plan out," Grace excused herself as she gave a small wave to Mary-Beth. Mary-Beth nodded at her before picking up her book again, opening the book as Grace walked back towards the house. She opened the side doors she had exited through, entering the house once again. 

"How are those goin'?" Arthur's voice made Grace jump slightly. She looked up at the door to see Arthur leaning against the frame. She grinned at him. 

"As usual. Fake name to mail to, rip off price. Just the usual," Grace raised an eyebrow. "Did you find her?" Grace asked as Arthur walked in, walking to his cot and sitting on the edge of it. 

"Yeah, she's fine. A bit shocked from the whole thing but she'll be okay. Mary-Beth and Abigail are cleaning her up and making her comfortable again," Arthur answered, scratching his jaw with his hand. "Anthony Foreman had her, just as Susan guessed. She stabbed a man in the neck for Tilly, she may not show it but Susan does love all of you."

"I know she does, but I guess that's because she is not on my back like she is with them. I think Tilly gained more respect for her today, don't you?" Grace asked as she fiddled with the quill between her fingers. Arthur nodded.

"I think Tilly was surprised to see Susan with me, I'm sure Tilly will see her differently from now on," Arthur agreed. "Has Kieran turned up yet?" Arthur continued the conversation. Grace frowned, starting to get worried about him.

"He isn't back yet? I haven't been out of the house since you left," Grace answered, motioning to the poster on the wooden floor in front of her. 

"I didn't see him when I rode back in. Figured he would be with the horses but I didn't see 'im. I would look for him if I weren't busy all the time but I'm sure he is okay," Arthur sighed. "Dutch is considering going to the Mayor's party. I don't know if it's a good idea, maybe we could get good information or it could be a waste of our time."

"You need to stop thinking negative," Grace grinned as she pushed herself off of the floor, standing up. "It could be fun, being in a fancy house and eating rich people food," she added. Arthur chuckled lightly as Grace walked over to him, grabbing his hands and pulling him to his feet. "I'd like to see his house, I've heard it's very beautiful."

"You could look at it from outside," Arthur suggested. Grace frowned immediately which caused Arthur to laugh, swaying her arms as he held her hands. "I'm kidding. I'll let you know if it happens, I'm sure Dutch would be fine with you coming along." Grace grinned happily, she hadn't been to a fancy party before and was quite excited. She placed a kiss on his cheek thanking him. 

"Thank you," she thanked. Grace turned away to go continue her work but Arthur grabbed her hand, spinning her back into him and kissing her. Grace grinned as she kissed him before pulling away. "I have work to do and I'm sure you do too. Now go on," She ordered, ushering him with her hands. Arthur grinned before hurrying out as Grace followed him, still ushering him away before turning back to her paper on the floor and sitting back down and picking up the quill.