Miss Morgan

Forty-Four

June 1899
-Ivy-

"You ain't comin'." Arthur barks at me.

"Bill says I am." I cross my arms. Who the hell does he think he is? "How many times are we gonna have this argument, Arthur? I'm more than capable of robbin' a bank."

"You're also more than capable of gettin' yourself killed."

"Oh, well in that case, explain to me how I'm still here?" I roll my eyes. "Quit treating me like a damn child. You had no problem with me workin' before."

"Will you two quit arguin' so we can go?" Bill hollers over us.

"Yes, let's go." I ignore my brother's griping and mount up on Sawyer's back, excited to ride my own horse for a job once again.

"So Bill, this better be good." Arthur mutters.

"It is good." Bill nods. "We put a lot of research into this one."

"I hope so." Arthur shakes his head. As he turns to his horse, he's stopped by Strauss.

"Mr. Morgan." The German waves.

"Herr Strauss." Arthur greets.

"That man, the debtor, Thomas Downes... apparently he's dead."

"Dead?" Arthur raises his eyebrows. "Huh... well, no he didn't seem very well."

"His wife, I believe he has a wife and child, she will assume the debt of course."

"Of course."

"When you can, head up there and collect, we lent them a lot of money." Strauss turns on his heel and walks back into camp.

"Okay."

"Why you still loan sharkin'?" I ask my brother as he mounts up.

"Money." He shrugs.

"Ain't worth it." I shake my head.

"Let's go rob ourselves a bank." Karen winks at us before climbing into her saddle, wearing her nicest dress which can only mean she's about to put on a show. Lenny joins us, mounting up onto his mustang's back as well.

"What's the plan then?" Arthur asks.

"Oh we're gonna send Karen on in ahead, as a uh... distraction, then we're just gonna rush on in afterwards." Bill explains. "Just a small bank in a little town, nothin' that big in the way of security. We just need to bring you along as a... insurance policy."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Arthur mutters.

"Alright, follow me." Bill calls out to the group as we turn our horses down the path out of camp.

"So, tell me again about this big can't-go-wrong, plan of yours?" Arthur asks Bill.

"Oh, it can go wrong. Anything can, once the shootin' starts."

"Well, that's reassuring."

"Like I said, we'll see how it looks. If we can get in alright, we'll send Miss Jones ahead to the bank. They won't recognize her."

"I'll show you boys how it's done." Karen grins.

"What are you thinkin' this time?" Arthur asks her.

"I don't know... fellers always like a lost little girl, but nobody plays the drunken harlot quite like me. Either should work."

"Once she's got 'em distracted, we'll move in." Bill continues explaining.

"When I was scoutin' the place the other day, there were only a couple of guards." Karen adds.

"We deal with them, and any customers who are feelin' brave... and you always fancy yourselves as the vault siblings, right, Arthur and Ivy?" Bill asks.