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...
Mary-Beth looked down at the gun, then back at him. A smile tugged at her lips, one warmer and filled with something more from her feelings than her usual warm smile. "You're sweet, Caleb. Don't worry, I've done this kind of thing long before you showed up."
He returned the smile with a half chuckle. "I know. But it'd still eat at me if something happened to you out there. Just humor me."
With a playful roll of her eyes and a nod, Mary-Beth took the revolver and tucked it into her dress's hidden holster with practiced ease. Then, without another word, she nudged her horse forward and trotted up the road.
As she disappeared from view behind a curve in the dirt path, Bill and Caleb dismounted. They each pulled out sackcloth masks from their saddlebag, worn and dusty from past use, but proven effective.
After the successful train robbery, these crude masks had become a quiet staple for the gang for big robberies. Dutch didn't officially endorse them, but he didn't complain either. Less heat meant longer survival.
With masks secured, they jogged behind a line of rocks and a tall bush beside the road, rifles in hand, crouching low as they settled into their position.
"You good?" Caleb asked quietly.
Bill scowled. "Course I am. Just… ain't done this with you before. Don't screw it up."
Caleb chuckled. "Not planning on it."
Bill squinted down the path. "Alright. Any minute now."
Caleb nodded, keeping his breath steady. His rifle rested across his lap, finger just off the trigger. His eyes flicked back and forth across the horizon.
Minutes ticked by. Birds scattered from a tree up the way, and Caleb felt the familiar rush of nerves start to rise. But just then hoofbeats.
Not just two. Multiple.
Caleb tensed.
The stagecoach came into view, exactly as Bill predicted, drawn by four horses, two dark brown and two black horses, reinforced frame, and thick wheels coated in dust. Two armed guards sat up top, one holding the reins, the other clutching a repeater. Three more men rode alongside it on horseback, one in front, one behind, and one beside it.
"Five," Caleb whispered. "Just like the information you got, Bill."
Bill let out a smile. "What do I tell ya, this feller information was solid."
As they neared the bend, the driver pulled on the reins.
"There!" came one of the guard's voices. "You see that girl?"
Mary-Beth lay just where planned, near the side of the road, clutching her ankle and waving them down with one hand.
"She's hurt!" the rider in front called, slowing his horse.
The driver brought the coach to a halt with a jolt. One of the guards jumped down, weapon slung but not drawn.
"You alright, miss?"
Mary-Beth gave a perfectly convincing wince. "I fell from my horse and it run off... my ankle, I think it's twisted."
Another guard began dismounting.
That's when Bill hissed, "Now."
He and Caleb rose as one from behind the rocks, repeaters raised. The masks lent an eerie coldness to their voices.
"Drop 'em!" Caleb barked with a gruff voice. "Hands where we can see 'em!"
The driver froze, wide eyed.
The rider in the rear reached for his gun, too slow.
BANG! BANG!
Bill's shot cracked across the quiet air, striking the rider in the rear clean through the chest. He tumbled from his horse like a sack of potatoes.
His second shot was for the guard on horseback which was on the side, striking clear right on the head and his body fell down while his horse bolted away.
"SHIT!" the second rider shouted, yanking his repeater.
Caleb fired once, then again, his bullets slamming into the rider's shoulder and thigh. The man went down screaming.
The guards up front reacted fast. One raised his rifle toward Caleb, but Mary-Beth, cool and unflinching, drew her Schofield and fired from her back.
BANG!
The shot hit the man's thigh, and as he dropped, Caleb took him out clean with a second shot to the chest.
The final guard, the driver, sat frozen atop the stagecoach, his hands halfway in the air, trembling as he realized what had just happened. Five men down in less than a minute. The one beside him was still bleeding into the dust, Mary-Beth calmly standing, revolver still warm in her hands, and two masked men approaching with rifles drawn.
"Alright, alright, I surrender—" he started, voice cracking.
BANG! BANG!
Two precise shots from Bill ended his sentence and his life.
The bullets hit center mass, right in the chest. The force knocked the man backward and over the side, landing with a dull thud beside one of the wheels.
The silence that followed was broken only by the sharp whinnying and stomping of the four horses, who'd been driven near panic by the chaos and gunfire. Their nostrils flared, bodies tense, threatening to bolt.
"Shit," Bill grumbled, "Don't let 'em go!"
"I'll get it!" Caleb called out.
He slung his repeater onto his back and quickly stepped forward, both hands raised in a calming gesture as he approached the four startled horses. He exhaled slowly, drawing on that bond he'd been cultivating since the day he arrived in this world.
His Horse Mastery (Lvl 3) kicked in, soothing, firm presence, practiced voice. He stroked their snouts, murmured softly, and gently tugged their reins into a relaxed knot on the brake rail to keep them steady.
"Easy now… nothing else is gonna scare you all, promise," Caleb said under his breath. The horses responded with slow exhales and lowered heads, easing into stillness.
He turned to Mary-Beth and gestured to the dead men. "Mary-Beth, can you check their pockets? Might be some valuables."
Mary-Beth, her face calm but focused, gave a nod. "On it."
While Caleb secured the horses, she moved swiftly and professionally through the aftermath. She searched the five bodies, picking out two silver plated belt buckles, four pocket watches, and about 47 dollars and change in loose bills.
She worked fast and clean, flipping collars, digging through coat linings, never staying long in one place. She moved with a casual grace that belied how many times she'd probably done this before.
Meanwhile, Bill stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes sharp, keeping lookout.
"Still quiet," Bill said after a few moments. "Ain't no one dumb enough to come through here after that racket."
Mary-Beth returned with her findings, pocketing the small items and handing the rest to Caleb.
"All clear," she said.
"Thanks," Caleb replied, then climbed up to the driver's seat. He took the reins and gave a test tug, still solid.
"Mary-Beth, ride up with me," he said. "Let's move before buzzards start circling."
Without protest, she climbed up and took the shotgun seat beside him. Caleb clicked his tongue, the four horses obeyed, and the stagecoach began rolling down the southern trail, as Caleb and Mary-Beth whistled for their horse to follow them.
Bill whistled for his horse, then mounted with practiced ease. "Let's head for Dewberry Creek," he said. "Find a hidden spot in there for us to collect our money."
They traveled south in formation, Bill riding beside the coach on his horse while Caleb led the team across the hard packed trail. The sun was starting to dip, casting golden light across the trees and the dry riverbanks that signaled they were nearing their destination.
Finally, they veered off the main trail and descended into the more remote section of Dewberry Creek, far from any traffic. The terrain flattened out, rocks and low brush lining the cracked riverbed.
"Here's good," Bill said, pulling his horse to a stop.
Caleb halted the coach and climbed down, tugging the brake lever to keep it stable. Mary-Beth hopped off gracefully behind him.
They all removed their sackcloth masks, stuffing them into saddlebags.
Bill cracked his knuckles and grinned. "You take the honors, Caleb. Grab the lockbox from inside."
"Sure," Caleb said with a smirk.
He glanced at Mary-Beth. "Mind cutting those horses loose? Don't want anyone tying us to this thing if it's found."
She nodded and pulled a knife from her boot. "Gladly."
As Mary-Beth began slicing through the reins that connected the four horses to the yoke, Caleb went to the side of the stagecoach's steel door. He tugged at the steel latch. Nothing.
He tugged again, no give, just as he'd expected. He rapped his knuckles against it.
"Locked," he said, then turned toward Bill. "We're gonna need to blow it open. Got a dynamite with you?"
Bill snorted as if the question offended him. "Course I do! You think I come unprepared to a payday?"
He dismounted and rummaged in his saddlebag, pulling out a stick of dynamite with a short fuse already wrapped tight and ready. "Step back. Lemme show you how it's done."
While Bill moved to the door, Caleb walked over to help Mary-Beth unbuckle the final horse's reins.
"You good?" he asked.
"Fine," she replied. "These fellas are probably well trained. Didn't immediately bolt when the shooting started."
With the horses free, Mary-Beth gave them a pat on the side and a loud "Hyah!" They took off into the hills, disappearing with pounding hooves.
Back at the stage, Bill placed the dynamite carefully into the door hinge and sparked the fuse.
"MOVE!" he barked, then sprinted back toward them.
Caleb pulled Mary-Beth behind a large boulder as Bill joined them just as—
BOOM!
The blast echoed across the dry creek bed. A small cloud of dust and smoke filled the air. When it cleared, the door to the stagecoach hung off one bent hinge, the metal warped and twisted.
"Woo!" Bill whooped, grinning like a man who just won a poker hand on a bluff. "Now that is how you opened a damn door!"
Their horses flinched but didn't bolt. Caleb approached the smoldering wreckage, coughing slightly at the acrid smoke. He climbed inside and found what they were after.
A thick lockbox, now dented and bent slightly from the explosion. He heaved it out with effort and placed it on the ground, prying it open with his knife and shoulder.
Inside lay neat stacks of dollar bills, mostly twenties and fifties, and rolls of bank bonds sealed with wax.
He began counting, hands quick and methodical.
"Six hundred... 623 dollars," he announced. "Dollar bills. Bonds too, but those take longer to sell off and Hosea's job."
Bill gave a satisfied exhale. "Well hot damn."
"We give the gang 300 dollars," Caleb said. "Leaves 323 dollars for us. We split it three ways, that's a little over a hundred each. 107 dollars, give or take."
He handed Bill his share. "There you go."
Bill laughed, slapping his thigh. "What do I always say? Easy money!"
Caleb chuckled. "Yeah, it's easy money alright, if we do it right."
He handed Mary-Beth her cut, which she tucked discreetly into a pouch hidden in her dress.
"I'll store the gang's cut when we're back in camp," Caleb said. "We should split up now. Less likely to draw attention."
"Agreed," Bill said. "See you back at camp, partner."
He mounted his horse and tipped his hat, then rode off down the south trail.
Caleb shook his head with a small grin, then turned to Mary-Beth. "Stay close. We'll go the long way back. Don't want anyone tracing where we've been."
"After today," Mary-Beth said, her voice light but a little breathless, "you think anyone's crazy enough to follow us?"
He laughed. "Let's just not give them the chance."
Together, they mounted their horses and started their slow, looping return to camp beneath. They took a meandering route back, sticking to game trails and dry creek beds to avoid leaving an obvious trail. The sun was beginning its descent, casting long shadows across the Heartlands. Mary-Beth rode beside Caleb, her hand holding tight to her reins. After a comfortable silence, she spoke.
...
Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 7/10
- Agility: 6/10
- Perception: 8/10
- Stamina: 7/10
- Charm: 5/10
- Luck: 6/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl 2)
- Rifle (Lvl 2)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl 2)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl 1)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl 1)
- Sneaking (Lvl 2)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl 3)
- Poker (Lvl 3)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl 1)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl 1)
- Dead Eye (Lvl 2)
- Bow (Lvl 2)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl 1)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl 0)
- Crafting (Lv1)
- Persuasion (Lvl 2)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
- Cooking (Lvl 2)
- Teaching (Lvl 1)
- Germanic Language Proficiency (Lvl MAX)
- Inventory System (Permanent - 5x5x5)
Money: 513 dollars and 45 cents
Inventory: 1111 dollars, 2 gold nuggets, 1 gold bar, and 4 silver rings
Bank: 320 dollars, 4 gold bars, a large bag of jewelry, and 3 gold nuggets