Unshaken

Banking, The Old American Art

It was the day before they were gonna rob the Saint Denis Bank. It was going to be the biggest job the gang had ever pulled. As more people had awaken, Liam could tell everyone was feeling it too. They had all of their stuff ready to be packed to leave. Liam wasn't sure where, but he prayed the job went as planned. Hosea sent Karen, Tilly and Abigail at different times of the day to scope out the bank. That night he could hardly sleep.

He woke the next morning before the sun rose to all the men putting on their fancy suits to rob in. He put his on, too. Sean quickly found that he had no suit and scurried around for one. The sun was starting to rise in the sky. As Liam was loading his guns onto Colter, Arthur approached him. "Where do you think you're headed?" Arthur asked, almost interrogating him. "Huh? The bank job, with all y'all." Liam said as he shoved his rifle in Colter's saddle. "No, you're staying here." Arthur said. Liam looked at him for a moment. "You just kidding around?" Liam asked, not understanding. "No, I ain't. Now go change out of that suit and give it to Sean." Arthur said. "What do you mean? I've been on a lot of other jobs with y'all." Liam argued. "We can't have you getting hurt again. This is gonna be a dangerous job. Go inside and get changed." Arthur said, growing impatient. "Arthur, I can handle myself, why can't you see-" Liam was cutoff. "I ain't asking, boy! I said go inside now!" Arthur yelled in his face. His voice rang in Liam's ears.

Liam stood for a moment and stared at him. He could hardly say anything. His heart was racing and his hands were shaking. "I thought you believed in me." Liam said quietly. Arthur put his head down and rubbed his neck for a moment. "Just go get changed." He said before walking off. It had hurt Liam, but he did as Arthur said and went to the back room with Sean and changed, giving him his suit. He watched as everyone loaded up and rode out to Saint Denis. He couldn't understand what had just happened. He stood on the porch, looking down. His heart was still racing. He felt like Arthur didn't believe in him, and he didn't know why. Was he too sloppy in the city with Bronte in the hotel? He was embarrassed. He thought he had finally proven himself.

As he was lost in thought, Sadie came up behind him. "Sit with me." She told him. He did as she said and sat in the chair beside her. He didn't say anything, looking the other way. "He's just trying to protect you." Sadie said. Liam looked at her. "But I'm almost grown, why do I need protection?" He asked. "I guess that business with Bronte scared him. And this bank job is gonna be dangerous for all of them." Sadie said. "But I thought that's what came with this life, danger." Liam said. "It does, but we have something that many don't... folk who care about us. If he didn't care, you'd be on your way to Saint Denis right now." She said. "Maybe you're right, it just don't make no sense to me." He said. "You don't see it now, but you will." She told him, patting his knee and walking off.

Around fifteen minutes later, they heard an explosion come from Saint Denis. Everyone in camp cheered. Liam didn't feel all up to cheering, but he was excited that everything was going to plan. They waited for a while, and no one returned to camp. Liam walked up to Sadie. "Shouldn't they be here by now?" Liam asked. "Yeah. Something don't seem right. Maybe they're just hiding out, but I don't know." She told him. "I guess we should give it some more time." He said.

As the evening began to come upon them, he and Sadie grew more wary of the situation. "Alright, something ain't right. Get everyone to start loading up, we need to get out of here, and quick." She told him as she grabbed a piece of paper and started writing. "What's that?" He asked. "We gotta let them know where we're going, but keeping it anonymous incase any lurking eyes see this." She said. He nodded his head and quickly walked outside. "Everybody start loading your stuff up. We have to leave, and quick!" He yelled to them. The gang members started scurrying around loading everything up, Miss Grimshaw keeping things in order.

He heard horse hooves riding up. He grabbed his rifle and walked quickly to the front of the property. He aimed his gun with Sadie coming out the house behind him when they realized it was Abigail. Liam could see the anxiety in her face. Sadie helped Abigail down. "What in the hell happened to you?" Sadie asked. "They came so fast, it was like they knew we were coming. They grabbed Hosea. I hid in a warehouse until they stopped looking. I don't know what happened to the boys. It was madness." She said with tears coming to her eyes as Sadie comforted her.

Liam and Sadie checked the entire property to make sure there were no signs that they had ever stayed there. The sun was completely down now. "Ride!" Sadie yelled as she led the group of wagons and horses out of camp. "Where we going?" Liam asked. "Strauss told me about this run-down settlement in the swamps. A few squatters is holed up there, but I figure we can run them out. Locals are terrified of it, so that should buy us some time." She said. As they rode past the fields outside of town, they heard horse hooves riding fast towards them. Liam grabbed his revolver. "It's just me." Charles said, riding alongside them. "Charles, you alright?" Liam asked. "I'm fine." Charles replied. "Where's everybody else?" Liam asked. "Dead or on a boat, I'll explain when we get where we're going, where is it exactly?" Charles asked. Liam had hoped nobody had actually died. "A couple of shacks in the swamps, Lakay, I think it's called." Sadie said.

"How did you guys know to get out?" Charles asked. "Pinkertons been breathing down our necks, we ain't about to let them find us again." Sadie said as they rode. The group followed her into the swamps and to Lakay. "Charles, Liam and Karen, come with me. The rest of you, stay put until we know it's safe." Sadie said. They did as she said and followed her to the shacks. A door opened as they approached them. "What in the hell do you think you're doing here?" A scrawny man asked them. "This is ours now. Y'all got ten seconds to scram, or we're killing the lot of ya's." Sadie said. "Oh yeah?" The man said grabbing his rifle. Sadie shot him in the chest. The other squatters yelled and started running away. Karen, Liam, Charles and Sadie chased them until they knew they were all gone.

They returned to the caravan. "Okay, it's safe. Y'all make yourselves at home." Sadie told them. Liam, Karen and Charles checked each shack to make sure no one was hiding. "Not much food, but I think we'll survive." Liam told Sadie and Charles. As they searched the houses, Sadie spotted a trap door. "Look." She said pointing at it. She opened it and went down. "Watch out for snakes." Liam told her following her into it. "Leads under the shack, onto the bank of the swamp. Could be a good defense." She said. "Yeah well let's hope no one finds us here." He said to her.

They walked back up to where everyone else was getting situated. Sadie walked up to Charles, Karen and Liam, who were standing in the shack. "So Charles, what the in hell happened with everybody?" Karen asked. He put his head down for a moment. "It's like they knew we were coming. They came incredibly fast. The law got John. And poor young Lenny was shot and killed. Same with Hosea." Charles said. Liam closed his eyes and took a breath, feeling a pit in his stomach. Karen held her hand over her mouth in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. Charles continued. "We hid in some old building for hours until nightfall, and then the rest of us snuck around to some boats to flee. I gave them a distraction and got the law to chase me. I'm not sure where they are now." Charles said. "Poor Lenny, and Hosea too. And Marston, what are we gonna do about him?" Liam asked. "We need to bust him out before they hang him, which should be a little while considering they have to try him first. We need to let the area cool down a bit and then go to the jail and bust him out." Sadie said.

"Should we tell Abigail?" Karen asked. "If he were my boy's father, I'd wanna know." Sadie said. She  walked out and let Abigail know the news, and let everyone else know about Lenny and Hosea's deaths. Abigail paced around anxiously. Mary-Beth and Tilly cried over them. Even Susan started to tear up. "They had so much to live for." Tilly said.

Everyone unloaded and made Lakay into a makeshift camp. "Alright, get some rest. Tomorrow we need to get to work if we wanna survive." Sadie told everyone. They did as she said and everyone went to the shacks and fell asleep. The humidity was even worse than Shady Belle. Liam had a hard time falling asleep not knowing where half of the gang was, or if they were okay.