chapter 28; goddamn o'driscolls

                                    

                                          
- Three Days Later -
The hot sun beats down on Shady Belle, filling the air with thick moisture and swarms of insects. The hums of growling gators sound in the nearby creek as the familiar chirps of evening crickets start up. Sadie and Charlotte rest on the front porch, each carving thick sticks with their knives into no particular shapes.
"Been quite a journey since I joined you all. And now both your men have gone and joined high society. My Lord above." Sadie jokes, grinning beneath the brim of her hat.
Charlotte chuckles. "'fraid so."

"I think my days in polite society are over."
"Well... I just saw Bill Williamson at a fancy party at the Saint Denis' Mayor's house. If he can do it, anyone can." 
Sadie straightens her spine, stretching with a laugh. "You get any leads?"
"I think so..." 
"You know so, Charlotte Van der Linde." Dutch interrupts. "Come on, we need to talk. Will you excuse us, Mrs. Adler?"

"Dutch, when you gonna let me go robbin' with you?" Sadie complains, tossing the partially carved stick to porch floor.
"My lord... You're starting to sound like Charlotte when she was a girl. Few more like you, we could take over the world." 
"If we had a few more women like these two, there wouldn't be much of a world left." Arthur jokes, following the two indoors.
They walk upstairs, cutting through Dutch and Molly's room to the balcony that overlooks camp. "Now... the trolley bus station. I went down there, took a look at her..." Dutch pauses to light a cigar for everyone. "I say we can hit it."

"We ain't never robbed in a city before." Arthur summarizes, puffing the cigar. 
"You leave the planning to me. You'll ride with me?" 
"Always." Arthur answers without hesitation.
"You know I'm always with you." Charlotte nods.
"We'll need one more, I reckon." 
"I say Lenny." Arthur suggests.
"Not Micah?" Dutch's brow lifts.
"That depends. You want a massacre or a pay day?" Arthur gripes, biting his tongue.
"Now, I wish there was something I could do to make the two of you get along better."
"Well, that's easy... let me kill him." Arthur bites, keeping his tone light enough to feign a joke.
Before Dutch can press any further, something on the ground below catches his attention. He leans over the railing, watching an unknown horse stroll into camp. His face flushes when he realizes the body in the saddle is headless. 
Karen screams, her shrill voice carrying over the entire camp. "It's Kiernan!" She cries out.
"What the hell have they done to him?" Charlotte murmurs.
"Shit, the tree line! Everybody take cover, O'Driscoll boys are coming!" Arthur calls out.
The gang dives for cover, women flurrying to the cover of the house while the others scurry to arm themselves. Arthur and Charlotte run downstairs, taking cover behind stacked crates to pick off the men hiding in the tree line. A wagon loaded with O'Driscolls rolls into camp, a dozen more men dropping off. 
"We're overrun! Get to the house!" John yells, providing as much cover as possible for the last few stragglers to get inside. Arthur slams the door shut just as John ducks in. They grab a bookshelf and begin barricading the doors. Dutch and Bill frantically begin boarding up windows. Arthur heads for the kitchen, counting heads to assure all the women made it in safely.