Liars And Thieves

Chapter 14

Grace rode back into Clemen's Point, seeing Bill, Karen and Lenny's horses all there. As Grace dismounted and hitched her horse to a post she could hear the laughter of Sean ring out from in the camp. Grace looked over into the camp, seeing Karen marching away from him, still in her dress from the robbery. Grace wasn't surprised he was off annoying Karen already although she knew they were sweet on one another. Odd couple but they were alike in many ways. They love to drink, they love to laugh and they both are loud and not afraid to speak their minds. Grace moved towards the girth of the saddle, un-doing it.

"Eh, Miss Peters! Are you going to be kind to me or do ya ladies like to be feisty?" Sean called out as he made his way over to Grace. Grace heaved the saddle off of the horse's back, placing it on the hitching post before turning to look at Sean. "How'd it go huh? Bet I'd do better than old Arthur! That old sour man needs to lighten up a little," Sean continued. 

"Hello to you too," Grace muttered to herself. "It went fine. Karen's plan worked well, we got a good take. That's all you need to know," Grace answered. 

"All I need to know? What am I, a child? I ain't little Jackey boy!" Sean complained, motioning towards Jack who was sitting in the dirt, drawing with a stick. Grace sighed.

"It'll put ideas in your head. Remember how things went with that train robbery?" Grace reminded, a smirk growing on her face. Sean frowned in annoyance.

"I did mighty fine, other than getting a little bump on the head! Did you lot disturb the law? Where is Arthur anyway? Probably off saving a damsel in distress, ha!" Sean continued, his mouth running like water in a river. 

"Sean," Grace started, placing her hands on Sean's shoulders. Sean looked at Grace, his eyes hopeful. "Shut up," Grace snapped before moving her hands away from him. Sean chuckled as Grace walked past him and into the camp.

"Oh come on miss! You all need to take me on the next run, eh! I reckon I'd do great, just maybe not a train," Sean continued, ignoring Grace's command. Grace rolled her eyes as she continued to walk away from Sean however he followed. 

"Grace! Can we talk?" Dutch called out. Grace looked to her right towards Dutch's tent to see him standing in front of his tent, a cigar in hand as usual. Grace nodded at Dutch, leaving Sean staring at Grace as she approached Dutch. Sean scoffed before walking off, possibly off to find someone else to bug. 

"Dutch," Grace greeted as she joined him. Dutch nodded at her, offering her a cigar. She took one before lighting it. 

"Bill told me about the bank robbery. Well done," Dutch complimented as a cloud of smoke floated out of his mouth. "He also told me you handled things really well and that you followed orders as planned. I'm thinking that maybe I should let you on more robberies seeing how you went with that train and now the bank," Dutch continued. Grace grinned as she blew out smoke from the cigar. 

"Thank you," She thanked before scurrying through the saddle bag she had thrown over her shoulder to take into camp with her. She grabbed the money Arthur had split, handing Dutch the camp's share. "Here. Looks freshly printed as well," Grace assumed as she watched Dutch look the money over. He nodded, waving the stack in his hand.

"Impressive. Miss Jones has surprised me. I always knew she was good for distractions but planning a robbery... impressive. Just a few more takes, Grace," Dutch informed as he walked into his tent and towards the back, opening the contribution box. Molly sat on Dutch's cot, knitting something. Molly looked up at Grace, giving her a small smile. Grace nodded at Molly as Grace moved closer to the entrance of Dutch's tent. "Then we'll be gone, far away from here," Dutch assured as he turned around to Grace again.