Dutch's Girl

Chapter Three

Dutch

We had planned this for a while. I had hoped we would be able to stop the O'Driscolls from raiding this little farm not too far away from Valentine, but Hosea said that it probably wouldn't end that way. I felt sorry for whoever lived there because they had no clue a gang of outlaws was planning to take over their little farm. Thanks to some inhumane interrogation from Mrs. Adler to some poor O'Driscoll sap takin' a piss in the woods, we were able to determine Colm and his boys were trying to find a place to stay before they planned an attack on us.

Hosea assured me that even if they got the farm, not all of Colm's gang would be there, just his best men. And his "best" men weren't worth a damn anyway. It would be a huge loss for Colm, and I was glad of it. If it was truly his best men staying there, then he would have to take some heavy downtime in order to train what he has left up to where his best men are right now. Things were finally looking up.

I sat atop my horse's back as I waited patiently with my gang members. We had to relocate anyway, and Hosea and I figured now would be a good time to deal with some pests. I scanned the area around us as the stars began to shine in the sky. What a pretty night.

"Dutch, what are the plans?", a voice asked, and I turned my head to see one of my most trusted friends, Arthur. "Well Arthur, the plans are we intercept the O'Driscolls before they even reach this little farm, but since we can't pinpoint their exact location as of late, we are just gonna wait it out and see if any commotion happens." My gray-haired friend nodded his head and nudged his horse to sidle up to mine. The Count swung his head in agitation, but the white horse didn't buck me off or anything. Crazy animal.

We sat in silence for a while. Hidden back into the trees, the family sat in wait in the main wagon and on horseback. We had to be able to move quickly. "Dutch, look." Arthur was using his binoculars, but passed them to me to show me what was going on. I could see a large group of men. There they are.

I handed the binoculars back to Arthur before getting ready to charge, but I was ultimately stopped by the approach of another one of my gang members, Javier. "Dutch, I just eavesdropped on them bastards that were heading to the farm. Colm will be here in the morning. We need to wait until he's here, this may be a chance to weaken him even further." I nodded at him. "Good work. I agree, we should wait. Did you bring this up to Hosea?" Javier nodded. "He thought it was a good idea too."

I turned and together, me and Arthur followed Javier to the others. Upon entering the trees, I let my eyes focus on the even darker setting before dismounting a few feet away from the others. The Count bumped his head on my shoulder, and I patted his neck before walking towards my companions.

"Now, as I'm sure you all know by now, Javier has picked up information that Colm O'Driscoll will be at the farm in the morning. Our best bet of making his life worse, or perhaps ending things once and for all, will be if we wait. The best thing to do now is get rest. We are doin' this thing tomorrow." Hosea strode up to my side and patted my shoulder. "My dear friend, this should be a successful endeavor." I dipped my head. "Indeed it shall. Make sure we stay quiet. I don't want trouble where it's not needed." Hosea nodded and went towards the group to keep things in check. Arthur offered to keep watch for a few hours, so I took my leave and went to lay down.

I was the first one up that morning. The sun wasn't even out. My neck cracked as I turned my head from side to side, and it was incredibly satisfying. I leaned back and popped my spine before standing up and grabbing my hat and guns. I walked around our little set up and grabbed ammo and cartridges before taking it upon myself to get everyone up.

"Rise and shine everybody! We've got some O'Driscolls to kill!", I hollered. Grunts and groans were heard as my companions worked to get themselves up. Arthur and Hosea appeared quickly at my side. "Alright, are you guys ready to hear the plan?" Once everyone has stilled and focused on me, I glanced between my two confidants before turning to the whole lot to relay the plan.