Six Shots Deep

A Day Away

It's been two weeks since I moved back in with Ma. She keeps getting more and more sick, no matter how much medicine and herbs she takes. It stressed me out to the point where I wanted to rip my hair from my skull. I did most of the work around the house, cleaning, doing laundry, taking care of the horses, while also practicing with my rifle in the back yard.

One night, as I was sitting in the living room in front of the fire reading a book, a knock on the door pulled me away from my place by the fire. I stood, grabbing my pistol from the coffee table and looking out the curtains. To my surprise, I saw Dutch Van Der Linde, Hosea Matthews, Javier Escuella, and Charles Smith. I laid my gun down and opened the door. I stepped outside.

"How the hell did you guys find me?" I whispered.

"No time to worry about that," Dutch said, grabbing my arm, "Arthur's been arrested."

I pulled my arm away. "Good," I turned to go back inside.

"Rose," Hosea said sternly, "please, ride with us."

"Why?" I spun around, "to rescue that smug bastard? You're crazy."

"Rose, he loves you."

I stared at them, raising my eyebrow. "No, he doesn't. If he loved me, he wouldn't of done what he did-"

"He didn't know!" Dutch yelled. "If he knew it was your mother, he wouldn't of came to collect the debt. But this was before you came into the gang, Rose. Before he ever even knew of your existence. Now, I am saying this as clear as I can. He has been an absolute wreck since you left. He's been slipping on jobs and finding more ways to doubt himself. I ain't ever seen that boy this upset in a while. He loves you with every bone in his body and he wants you. Now, will you ride with us?"

I stared at the men, holding my breath. I looked back inside, knowing Ma wouldn't want me going. But I went against my better judgment anyway. I nodded. "Wait here, I need to get my stuff." I quickly turned and walked in the house and to my room. I slipped on my boots, getting my guns from my metal cabinet. I tied my loose curls into a low ponytail. I slipped on my fathers black hat before walking out of the house. "Let's go rescue this dumbass."

I quickly mounted Whiskey, following closely behind Dutch. Hosea was behind me, then Javier, and then Charles covered the rear. I followed them to Valentine, tuning out their conversations as they tried to figure out how to save Arthur.

"Rose, you got the plan?" Dutch asked, looking back at me from his White Arabian.

I shook my head.

"You and Charles sneak in and cover us while Hosea and myself try to make our friend, Sheriff Malloy, release Arthur. Make sure no deputies try anything funny, got it?"

I nodded, bringing Whiskey to a slow trot as we entered town. I followed them up the tracks to the sheriffs office. He tethered all the horses outside the saloon.

"Bandanas on, boys." He glanced at me, "and Miss Rose. Something goes wrong, meet up back at camp." He smiled beneath his bandana before Charles and I went in first. We grabbed two deputies by the shoulders, holding guns to their heads. "Gentlemen," Dutch started, "oh, it's nice to see you, Arthur."

"What the hell?" Sheriff Malloy stood, but stopped when Dutch pointed his gun at his head, Hosea walking forward.

"Now, give my friend here the keys before someone gets shot." Sheriff Malloy hesitated. Dutch chuckled and pulled back the hammer on his revolver. "Now!"

He nodded and quickly fumbled for the keys in his pocket. He handed them to Hosea and he walked over to Arthur's cell, releasing him. Then Charles and myself pushed the deputies in the cell with Sheriff Malloy and locked them in. We followed Dutch outside to the horses, Arthur in front of Charles and me in the back with Hosea.