Good Old West

Whatever remains of sleep that were clinging to him still, fully retreated and disappeared.

He remembered the girl, a brunette with long hair and an expensive dress. She hadn't been hiding herself, or her surname either, from what he remembered. But the last time he'd seen her was before he went out for his poetry reading.

"we was with her, yes. But I went out to smoke, a bit drunk already and by the time I went back in she had left or somethin'." Said Asa, rubbing his eyes. Lord this was bad...

"Mr Asher, right?" Said the man who could only be the sheriff or some deputy.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Miss. Williams mentioned you got in a fight last night?" Said the Sheriff. Whose name they didn't know yet.

Asa arched an eyebrow.
"Who?“

"Anne Williams"

"Ah!, Anne. Yeah I did. Wasn't much though. Just bumped into a feller and we got annoyed" He said with a shrug.

"What did he look like?" Asked the Sheriff. Asa hesitated, mainly because the man in question didn't actually exist.

"Uh, can't remember very well. But he was white, with short brown hair and a beard" Said Asa, pretending he was trying to remember and struggling.

"Darn it, could be half the population of this country." Said the Sheriff.

"Yeeeah, sorry sir. Anythin' we can do to help?. Miss. Hagenson was a nice, decent girl. She don't deserve nothin' bad happenin' to her." Said Asa, sincerely, and looking at Mr. Hagenson. The poor man was pale, fidgeting with the hems of his sleeves.

"What about you?, saw anything suspicious?" Asked the sheriff, focusing on Oscar now.
 
"I didn't," Oscar answered. "I left the saloon to look for David before Miss. Hagenson left. When I went back she was already gone. I assumed she'd gone home, so I didn't ask if anyone saw her." He wasn't lying about this statement, because most of it was true anyway - he'd been too preoccupied with other things to care about where Miss Hagenson had gone and as such didn't bother asking.

The sheriff regarded him for a moment longer, squinting as though evaluating his story, then shook his head and looked at Mr. Hagenson. "You heard them, they didn't see anything." The man looked sick with worry, as though he hasn't slept for the whole night. Oscar couldn't help but pity him- they've only encountered each other briefly, but as far as he knew Mr. Hagenson was a decent man, the kind of hardworking folk that most people have nothing bad to say about. Having his daughter go missing like this must be devastating.

"Sorry," Oscar interjected, wanting to learn more about the situation. "I don't mean to overstep, but... what exactly happened?"

"That's not really-" the sheriff started, but Mr. Hagenson cut him off with a shaky voice, as though on the verge of tears.

"My Lizzie, her friend Angela came to Strawberry from a whole state over to visit her, and I let the two of 'em go into town for a day or two to have some fun... an' yesterday they went drinkin' at the saloon. Lizzie excused herself t' get some fresh air 'fore Angela went back to the hotel room and realised that Lizzie went missin'... they immediately went to Sheriff Woodleigh here, sent his men and my stable hands to look all over town... couldn't find a single trace of her, not a single one! It's like she just... vanished!"

Sheriff Woodleigh stood at Mr. Hagenson's side, looking slightly miffed that he'd been cut off and more than a little annoyed at the man's continued rambling. "Yes, well. That's the gist of the problem at hand, thank you Mr. Hagenson. If there's nothing else you two have to say, we'll be on our way."

"Wait," Oscar said. "Mr. Hagenson, a quick question - would Miss Elizabeth have had any motive to run away?"

"Run away!" Mr. Hagenson looked aghast at the very idea. "Why, I'd never- Lizzie was perfectly happy, far as I know - gave her everythin' she wanted, an' she never expressed any desire to leave."

"What about- is there someone who might hold a grudge against you or her?" Oscar continued pressing.

"Who's the one who's supposed to be conducting the investigation here?" Sheriff Woodleigh grumbled, folding his arms.
 
Asa would've been happy to laugh in the sheriff's face if the matter had been less serious. But still, even if Oscar's questions were rude... he knew it was just 'cause of the books. And his heart was in the right place.

"I mean does it matter?, The way I see it we ought to focus on finding Miss. Hagenson." Said Asa, folding his arms over his chest.

"We?" Said the Sheriff, turning up his nose.

"Yes, we. I'm sure Mr. Fern can spare us while we help you find Elizabeth." He continued, if only because he wanted to spite the sheriff.

"You're not even from here. What the hell do you think you're doing, boy?, this ain't a game." Said Mr. Woodleigh.

"We wanna help, you don't exactly got an army of deputy's in here, do ya?"Continued Asa, somehow more eloquent than he had ever been in the past three months. This was the opportunity to get their nose in the local law's office. That was always good, make 'em think they were good citizens. And tease them a bit in the meantime.

"Maybe Mr. Smith could also help you?, that way i'd also stay informed."Said Mr. Hagenson to everyone's surprise. Charles seemed startled for a second, and he also looked like he might reject the offer to get involved in something that attracted this much attention. But then he gave Asa and Oscar a strange look, and he didn't.

"Of course, I'll do what I can to help." He said, solemn as always.

Sheriff Woodleigh was two words away from staring at them with his mouth open. As everyone but himself jumped in to decided who'd be helping him with his investigation, in his town. This was preposterous... but he couldn't exactly deny them when he complained about the lack of help he didn't have as often as he did. Not when Mr. Hagenson was such an influential presence in the region of West Elizabeth.

Conor looked confused, and also like he might spill the breakfast he hadn't had yet.

"Good!, Give us a bit to freshen up and get dressed then, sheriff, and we'll be with you." Said Asa, swiftly pulling Oscar inside and closing their cabin's door once the others had turned away.
 
Back in the cabin, Oscar dressed quickly, ducking into the back to brush his teeth and splash some water on his face. Already his mind was racing as to where to find clues and which people to ask questions from. Well - it wasn't as though he'd actually done any sort of proper detective work before, but he's read enough to hazard a pretty good guess. Besides, as annoyed as Sheriff Woodleigh seemed to be at their presence, he wasn't particularly in the position to turn down their offer. If they managed to resolve this, it'll certainly bolster their popularity in town, possibly even endear themselves to the local law enforcement as well - wouldn't that be something. Oscar never once imagined that he'll one day wind up working on the side of the law rather than against it, but well, life found its way to take you places.

Grabbing his overcoat, he found Asa already waiting for him at the door of the cabin. They walked outside, finding the gaggle of men standing a distance away on the dirt path leading up to their cabin. Mr. Hagenson was nervously tittering, the Sheriff with his arms folded, Conor half-leaning on Charles at this point, whose facial expression betrayed but a tiny sliver of disdain as he held up the severely hungover Irishman.

"First things first," Sheriff Woodleigh said as they approached. "No funny business. I don't care what kind of detectives or genius investigators you think y'all are - my town, my rules. Whatever you do must be reported to me." Certainly a jolly fellow. Oscar resisted the urge to roll his eyes, settling for a nod and elbowing Asa who seemed to be gearing up for some sort of argument.

"Now, with that out of the way..." the Sheriff reluctantly dug out a few deputy badges from his pockets and handed one to Asa, Oscar and Charles. "Might I remind you gentlemen that this is a temporary arrangement. You'll be givin' that back once the investigation is concluded." He waited for them to fasten it onto the lapels of their coats, before setting out towards the stables to retrieve their horses. "Come on, we don't have all day."

As they walked, Oscar and Asa trailed a few steps behind the others. Oscar couldn't help but think of the ironic hilarity of the situation - outlaws on the side of lawmen! - and threw a sideways glance to Asa, biting his lip hard to keep himself from laughing as they locked gazes. He subtly pointed towards the badge on his own coat and grinned. Behind them, Charles was watching passively, though he didn't comment even as the two in front traded amused looks.
 
Charles watched with suspicion, not know what the other two men found so funny about a kidnapping.

Asa had to hold back his laughter too, elbowing Oscar about it a couple of times. Star on his chest had a strange weight, responsability, freedom maybe. Or perhaps the opposite. All he knew was that Woodleigh could go to hell, and that he didn't care to return his new shiny star. It must ve worth a pretty penny, and also worked as a cool memento.

As sad as it was, the both of them weren't there for Elizabeth. Sure, they could hope to find her... But if someone had taken her she could be anywhere by now. Well. They'd probably wait some time so they could move her at night or with her, the kidnappers. And it was probably the work of more than one person. She had to be either in Strawberry or its surroundings. Alright, maybe they could actually find her.

"Listen up. Mr. Smith here and I will go ask around town, see if we can find anything."Said Sheriff Woodleigh.

" You two ride around the outskirts and the mountains, anything you find you get back to Me before doing anythin'. S that clear??" He continued. Asa nodded, glad that they wouldn't have the sheriff up their asses all day.

They got on their horses and separated, with Mr. Hagenson leaving to rest since he was too nervous to do anything.
 
The two of them rode to the outskirts of town at a leisurely pace. They didn't meet many townfolk on their way as it was still early in the morning, and those who passed them paid them little mind, though some more observant ones noticed the deputy badge on their lapels, doing a double take as they brisked by on their horses. Oscar watched them eye the badges with astonishment, knowing that the news that the two newcomers had been deputised for whatever reason as well as the circumstances that lead to this development would've spread in town by the time they returned. Part of him looked forward to it, while another had mixed feelings about the attention about to be drawn their way yet again.

In truth, even as they reached the outside of Strawberry, he didn't have a clue of where to begin. He had theories, sure, but they weren't given any concrete information about Miss Hagenson, nor if anyone actually had those motivations to kidnap her. He would've liked to speak to the townsfolk and certain other people that were close with the family, but since Woodleigh dismissed them to be some kind of search dogs - well. Was it even accurate to say that they were out of leads when they hadn't been given any in the first place?

"Wait, hold on here for a bit." He slowed Houyi, turning to pull out the map that he'd gotten at the general store a few weeks back, spreading it open. It was more detailed than their old one, showing the the locality of Strawberry and its surrounding areas. "If we're gonna be runnin' around all day, we might as well be a little smart about it and discuss where to look first." He beckoned Asa to come closer such that they could look at the map together.

"I was thinkin'," he started, "since Mr. Hagenson seems to be plenty well off and known enough around the region, that somebody could've taken his daughter for some ransom, maybe. Think about it - she's the apple of her daddy's eye, gone to town by herself to socialise with a friend - would be easy enough a target, even easier hostage to get whatever they want out of Mr. Hagenson. So by that logic," he scanned the map, looking for markers of nearby locations. "I don't think they would've gone far with her - they might still be in the area."

Oscar realised he was rambling and flushed a little - he really had been reading too many of those crime novels. Talking like he's an actual qualified detective or something - he just had an overactive imagination, was what. "Uh. So... what do you think?"
 
This extra work was already worth it, if only for the look on people's faces when they saw the little shiny stars on their coats. Beautiful, thought Asa.

He also noticed that Charles was looking at them a bit weird, his gut told him to be careful. Mainly because the man was smart and capable, and way too serious to mess around with.

Once they split, he rode after Oscar until they stopped. And he paused to look at the map by his side, leaning a bit into his friends space and listening to him ramble. He could do that all day, let him come to all sort of conclusions and never get tired of hearing him. Oscar was so damn smart!. He was almost jealous.

Once the other man stopped talking, blushing a bit as he realised that he'd gotten a bit out of control, it was Asa's turn to speak up about what he thought might have happened.

"Hmm... I think yer right, mostly. Regardless of if she left, or if she was taken, someone would've noticed her 'round here. So, let me see the map..." He said, studying the terrain and how it was presented. Asa furrowed his brow in concentration, tracing some lines on the map and mumbling.
Where would he set camp for this sort of operation?, kidnapping a lady at night. There were a lot of spots that were hidden from the view, courtesy of the mountains. But... Hm.

"Alright, if she was taken I know three places they could've taken her. People like us. You think about where a lady who's tryin' to get away from her daddy might hide. All them novels have to be good for something." He joked, smiling a bit at Oscar.

"That and you've got the prettier, longer hair" He said next, ending with a wink. They were alone after all, and surely Oscar would take it as a joke with how much Asa was laughing.
But just in case, he spurred Red and took off towards their next destination before he could look at Oscar in the eye.
 
"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Oscar called out after Asa, though a grin was already stretching wide on his face. he spurred Houyi on to match Red, keeping pace a few feet behind Asa. "You callin' me a pretty boy, Davis?" He was joking, of course, but he felt his heartbeat quicken a little at that anyway. It was all very much irrational - he didn't even know what he'd expected Asa to mean by that, but he couldn't help but feel some sort of hope rising up in his chest, fluttering along with his heartbeat. Get a grip, Leung, he chastised himself. Whatever you think it is, it's not gonna happen.

Keeping his sight on the road, Oscar started to drift into thought, especially regarding what Asa said. A lady running away from her father. He'd suspected as much when he first learned that Miss Hagenson went missing, but after asking her father about it... he had his doubts about the possibility of that. After all, from all accounts, Elizabeth Hagenson had everything she'd ever need in life - riches aplenty, a loving father who doted on her, who would probably quite literally buy the stars for her. What reason would she have had to run away from a charmed life like this? What else could someone in her station in life possibly have want for? Suitors, possibly, though Oscar doubted she had a shortage of that. Friends, maybe? Was she lonely?

Latching onto that train of thought, Oscar tried to put himself in Elizabeth Hagenson's shoes. The only daughter of a well-off stable owner, living in the outskirts of Strawberry, in the middle of nowhere, with no peers her age to socialise with. Oscar had to admit that it did sound like a rather lonely existence. Maybe the hypothesis that she ran away voluntarily did hold some water to it. His mind further wandered, and he remembered Mr. Hagenson talking about how Elizabeth's friend Angela had come from a state over for a visit. Was it then possible that she'd planned to run all the way to Angela's state so that the two could meet up later, then?

Oscar's mind raced with possibilities, even as they entered the forest ahead. He'll bring it up with Asa later, but there were too many unknowns to her disappearance to be able to reliably say what exactly happened. For now, however, they turned onto a branching road from the main path that lead through the forest. This path seemed to have gone unused for enough time that roots and other weeds had grown over most of it, and they slowed their horses down, treading carefully through the woods.

"Where are we heading for, exactly?" He asked Asa, who was leading the way.
 
Asa just laughed at Oscar's response, thankful the other had taken it well. He didn't look back at him, feeling he might have a warm blush on his cheeks.

He was thankful that they were alone. With the exception of their cabin, they were surrounded by people constantly as of lately. It was welcome. He had always liked company, but it wasn't real. They were just playing pretend and trying not to be too obvious in their wicked ways. It wasn't the same as talking to Fraser or Pauline about their last robbery around the campfire. Complaining about the law being on their ass and also a bunch of morons. Now they wore deputy stars and helped out, by bloody bullying their way into the sheriff's business. It was ridiculous, and also a tell on just how good Oscar and him were at lying.

"Checking out a good spot for a hidden camp." He said, not giving any more explanations. It was something he was good at, sniffin' out hidden places. He enjoyed it, just how much you could hide out in the open. Himself and a girl he never liked were always the ones that went out to find the best camping spots. Rosa García, a mighty bitch she was. But she was still a damn good scout and shot. They'd buried her along with Morrisey. Turned out to be such a bitch she was just as loyal as one.

Asa felt a pull in his chest, he missed Rosa's crude remarks and smart comments, her clever jokes that went over his head most of the time.

He sighed, as they moved through the trees. They weren't seeing any clearings here or any smoke that indicated there was a camp nearby. Maybe it was time to head towards the next possible spot.

"Do you think she could've ran away?" He asked quietly, slowing down the horse so he was almost touching knees with Oscar.
 
Oscar slowed his pace and looked around, trying hard to find any traces that someone had been near this path lately. He wasn't a good tracker, not like Asa or some of their more environmentally astute gang members had been, and as such really faltered in a setting like this. The fact that they were treading on some barely walkable path almost entirely hidden by overgrown weeds and roots didn't help the matter. He squinted a little, examining the forest ground as they passed by for any footsteps or items dropped recently.

"Doesn't seem to be anything here," he said to Asa after some time passed, the added ruefully, "I mean - not that I can see, anyway. You know I'm kind of rubbish at this."

Slowing down to match his pace with Asa through the narrow forest path, Oscar listened as Asa questioned whether Elizabeth could've run away.

"I thought about that just now, actually," he started as the two of them leisurely made their way through the overgrowth, vegetation rustling underneath their feet as they went. "It's a possibility. Didn't give much thought to it in the beginning, since I figured a lady like her would've had no want for escapin'. Her family's rich, her daddy dotes on her... not much else someone could ask for, right?

"But then I figured, even with all the money and fancy things she has, she can't buy friendship or love 'round these parts. Livin' in the middle of nowhere for your entire life... must be mind-numbingly boring. Think it's possible she ran away to where her friend Angela came from, or maybe just off somewhere that's not Strawberry. Or maybe I'm wrong about all of this, and she's just actually been snatched by bandits. Who knows?"

The two of them continued on the path as Oscar talked, eventually reaching a point where the terrain had become too difficult to traverse safely on horseback. Oscar peered over at the landscape beyond their path for a little, seeing nothing in sight that could signal human activity.

"We should probably turn back - don't think anyone would've tried to cart someone out here and risk losing a wheel or laming a horse," he said to Asa.
 
He listened to Oscar, noticind how the terrain became less and less unstable and appropiate to navigate on horseback. It was unlikely, then, that the girl would be brought here. It may make for a good on-foot camp, though.

"Yeah lets turn back, I'll come see if there's anything nearby later." Said Asa, patting Red's neck affectionately. He earned a huff from the mare. They turned the horses around with some manoeuvreing, and as soon as they could, picked up the pace.

"Maybe she did leave, I dunno, never understood the rich and their weird mannerisms. Ah wouldn't leave my family behind like that, but I ain't a young girl with everything I could ever ask for except for friends." He said with a shrug. It wasn't like he had liked her, or Angela. They were both... Boring. Anne was at least a hard working woman, she has stories to tell even if she didn't talk much. Maybe her and Oscar would get along or something. Maybe he should encourage them.

"There's a couple other places I wanna check out before goin' back to Woodleigh. Not in a hurry to see his ugly ass face either." He said with a snort, taking a different path towards a higher mountain area.

"Oi Oscar, are you sweet on Anne?" He asked out of the blue. They were together the night before after all. He didn't want to assume, but for some reason he really wanted to know.
 
"Mhm," Oscar hummed a little non-committally. He didn't understand rich folk either, couldn't even begin to fathom why they did what they did when they had so much money and power, but he thought he might understand a little about Elizabeth's motives, if it turned out that she'd actually ran away. Loneliness was a powerful thing to have to contend with, something no amount of money could fix. Looking in from the outside, Oscar couldn't imagine leaving your own family heartbroken and fearful for your wellbeing to chase some dream of freedom. Still, he'd never lived Elizabeth's life, so who knows? Maybe if he'd been in her situation he'd have done the same thing.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Woodleigh's not in the mood to see us any time soon neither," Oscar replied, mouth twitching upwards a little in scorn as he followed Asa upwards. It wasn't like Woodleigh gave them any hints on where to look, so they couldn't be faulted for taking their own sweet time. The day was still young - it wasn't even noon yet, and Oscar was quite certain the two of them wouldn't be returning to town until it was too dark.

The two of them continued for a bit before Asa abruptly sprung the question about fancying Anne on Oscar, which he balked a little at. "Sweet? On Anne?" He repeated the question incredulously, trying to process why the hell Asa would ask about this of all things. He wracked his brain for all the times he'd been seen interacting with Anne while in Asa's presence, and couldn't come up with a single one where they might've seemed sweet on each other. Anne was a nice girl, for sure, and she'd been nothing but helpful towards him, but it didn't mean that he had to fall in love with her because of that or anything. That, and the fact that he just plainly wasn't interested at all.

"No, I'm not - she's just a friend, that's all there is to it. Where did you get that idea from?" He looked over at Asa. "I ain't the type to fancy every woman we come across, y'know."
 
Well you did kiss me. Thought Asa, amused. He could like anyone if he'd kiss Asa, he wasn't exactly all that or a good catch. But he wasn't about to bring that up now.

"Hey if I thought that, I'd have asked if ya liked Genoveva, or Miss Hagenson or... Dunno. Any other woman. I jus' thought you two were gettin' along fine. And you're both..." He was going to say quiet, but that wasn't right. Oscar wasn't that quiet when the two of them were alone.

" Reserved, I guess?. Ah forget it." Said Asa with a sigh.

" An' before you ask, I don't fancy her either. She's a nice girl, though." He said, thinking his friend might ask him back or something. Maybe he'd think he was the ine who was sweet on Anne. Not at all.

They slowed down to a trot when heading up the mountain, the terrain becoming a bit harder and inclined. Less easy to navigate, while easier for the horses to lose their footing. Pine trees grew here and there, not helping either. Further up ahead they could see a column of smoke.

Asa and Oscar shared a look before spurring their horses and hurrying towards the source of the smoke, finding a hidden trail amongst a more dense bunch of trees.

"Get ready in case things go south" Whispered Asa.
 
"I'm flattered you'd think that," Oscar said, the teasing note creeping back into his tone. "People don't generally bond over being reserved, though. There really ain't nothin' going on between us, other than... being quiet together, I guess?" At Asa's pre-emptive statement about not fancying Anne either, however, he deliberately held himself back from making any comments. He couldn't help but think back to yesterday night's events, brief flashes of what he'd witnessed in the alley flickering through his mind. He quickly shook his head to clear those thoughts, suddenly glad that Asa was leading the way and couldn't look back at him.

As they ascended the rocky terrain of the mountain, they both caught sight of the smoke rising above the canopy of the pine forest. Oscar gripped the reins a little tighter as he directly Houyi towards the source of the smoke. Houyi was steady on his feet, but this type of mountaneous terrain wasn't optimal for riding by a long shot. They turned onto the hidden trail, squeezing in between the branches of the trees that obscured the pathway, and Oscar's hands itched for the revolver on his belt.

"We really should go the rest of the distance on foot," he whispered back to Asa, dismounting with a small thump that nonetheless sounded far too loud to him, eliciting a wince. It was mostly silent this high up in the mountains, and any noises that they made sounded amplified no matter how softly they moved, from the crunch of bootsteps over fallen twigs to even the rustling of their clothes. Perhaps it was just paranoia, but a nervous energy flickered through Oscar as they crept forward, choosing their steps deliberately and advancing slowly. A small cluster of trees obscured what seemed to be the source of the smoke from vision. Crouching down and making his way behind a tree trunk, Oscar motioned for Asa to come closer as he delicately pushed the branches in front of his view to the side to get a good look at what rested beyond.

A small camp, seemingly empty, set up crassly in a small clearing in a way that reeked of rushed work. The tents weren't pitched properly, and the campfire was little more than a sad gathering of twigs sputtering smoke. Whoever set up this camp seemed to either have done so in a great hurry or was a clueless beginner at it. Oscar frowned a little as he craned his neck to look around, trying to take in as much of the campsite as possible. There didn't seem to be anyone around right now, but this camp was definitely being used. By whom, he couldn't tell, but he suspected it wasn't for entirely good purposes.

"Do you want to take a look around first?" He mouthed at Asa. "Or wait for someone to appear?"
 
Before Asa could respond, the two of them heard rustling, steps and voices. And so they hid behind the nearest boulder, almost on their knees and shoulder by shoulder. It was experience only that helped, since they didn't fight for the space. Instead, they awkwardly shared it while unholstering their guns. Oscar's elbow was jabbing at Asa's side, but they had to keep quiet.

"'Course we will, miss, who do ya think we are?" In response to that, there was only laughter from a few other men. Asa counted three, maybe four. No woman' s laughter was heard, though.

"You sure Hagenson will pay?" Asked another man.
"O-of course he will! He loves me, just please don't hurt him..." Asa's eyebrkws shot up in surprise. They hadn't talked much, but that was Elizabeth's voice.

A cackle.
"Who?, yer daddy or your dog??" They sneered at her, to what she replied with anger. This was a rich woman after all, not used to being ordered around.

"He ain't no dog!, he's much better than you bunch of filthy animal-" A slap, and a surprised cry from the girl.

"Don't talk to hs like that, bitch, or your pet will get back to you useless as the sack ks shit he is. No one disrespects the Hudsons. Not even yerself missy."Barked thee man back. There was some muffled screaming from another spot of the camp.

Asa indicated to Oscar that he should try to peek at them. See if he could get a view, since he had the better angle.

" Has whats his face, Fernandez, come back yet??, he should've delivered our message by now." Said the first voice. Asa wondered what he meant. And also how the hell would him and Oscar lsave.
 
Oscar held his breath as he leaned ever so slightly forward, trying to take a good look at the men that had appeared. They were milling around quite a distance away, with their backs turned to him, and try as he might he couldn't make out their faces or many identifying features. As far as he could tell, he counted three men in the cluster, all clad in the nondescript wear of travellers. At their feet was the kneeling form of Elizabeth Hagenson, who seemed to have had her hands bound behind her back. Oscar squinted at the back of the camp, where a vaguely human-shaped lump had been dumped unceremoniously. Unlike Elizabeth, this other person seeme to have been thoroughly hogtied and gagged, seeing as it was able to make little more than muffled cries for help, struggling futilely against the restraints.

The men continued talking as he spied on them. "Forget about Fernandez, he'll get back when he gets back. Always slow as a damn pig with half its brain shot out, that's why I sent him away to deliver the message. Dumb brute." The first man reached down to yank Elizabeth's face up to face him, causing her to yelp in indignance and pain. "Now, let's get the little missy and her loyal dog comfortable while we wait for daddy dearest to deliver the goods, shall we?"

Slowly shifting himself back behind the boulder, Oscar's mind raced to piece together the pieces of the puzzle based on what he'd seen and heard. The person all tied up in the back seemed to be the "dog" the bandits were referring to - if that were the case, it had to be Elizabeth's lover of sorts. Oscar thought back upon the circumstances of Elizabeth's disappearance yesterday night - it was possible that she'd snuck out for an illicit rendezvous with this man, and the two of them had been caught unaware by the kidnappers. So Miss Hagenson hadn't been some sort of thrill-seeker running away based on some sort of misguided desire for adventure - turns out that she'd just been the easy target for a ransom plot by being stupid and in love. That was one mystery solved, at least - the problem still remained that he and Asa had no way to deal with the bandits.

Oscar silently held up three fingers at Asa while pointing in the general direction of the camp, motioning that a fourth was on his way back. He then pointed towards his own revolver, then back towards the camp. He hoped Asa understood what he was asking - he didn't like the odds of starting a shootout here, but they had the element of surprise, and if they waited for the fourth member to return their chances would be even worse. They had to act now, while the bandits were still gathered together, before they spread out to different parts of the camp.
 
Well, they hadn't shot Oscar. They hadn't seen him either... It was very likely their guard was down. This was a difficult place to access already, out of the way unless you really knew how and where to look. Abilities that came with experience, and living a life of running.

Asa listened, and looked at Oscar attentively as he gave him instructions via hand signs on what they'd be doing next. Interfering, it seemed, fuck Woodleigh's orders. He smirked and nodded, something sick and twisted inside him taking over. The side of Asa that craved violence, revolution and chaos. He peeked over the side of their hiding spot and aimed. They weren't expecting them, they weren't on guard even.
He gave Oscar a countdown with his other hand.

One of the men dropped dead with a shot to the head, and the other two scrambled for cover.

"Gentlemen this is deputy Asher and you are Under Arrest!, surrender or face the consequences!" He shouted after taking cover behind a nearby tree. More for the fun of it than to make it count. They might think there was only one of them still. That was an advantage.

Elizabeth ran for the lump on the ground that must be her sweetheart. She kneeled by his side and he leaned into her, bound and gagged as he was, the poor bastard.
 
Oscar loaded his own revolver, still crouched behind the cover of the boulder, his entire body tensed like a coil about to spring. He heard the thud of a body hitting the floor and the subsequent panicked footsteps of the remaining men scrambling to find cover, Asa shouting after them like he was actual law enforcement or something. God damn, he's a natural at this, Oscar thought, allowing that small sliver of humour to lift his mood for just a second. Shifting the centre of his body weight forward, he listened intently for the response from the bandits, waiting for his chance to strike.

"What in the goddamn hell - how'd you find us?" One of the men snarled in what seemed to be like an attempt to threaten Asa, though the agitation clear in his tone more or less nullified much of the impact it might've had. Before Asa could reply, however, he was cut off by the voice of the other man -"Does it matter? Shoot the bastard! We can't afford to let the bitch run free now!" From a distance away, Oscar heard the metallic clink and the sound of a gun being loaded - now!

With as much force as he could muster, Oscar jumped out from behind the boulder, quickly picking up on the visual information of where the men were located based on where their voices had come from. Reorienting himself, he took aim at the man who he'd heard loading up his gun a moment ago, taking three shots at his gun-wielding arm.

The shots rang out, Elizabeth's whimpers of fear mingled with the agonised roar of his target, the bullets connecting with his arm and splitting both flesh and bone. The gun clattered aside into the grass a feet or two away as the man fell to his side, cradling his ruined arm as blood pulsated out of the bullet wounds.

Oscar now trained his sight on the other man who was still hiding behind a tree, pointing his revolver in his direction instead.

"You have two choices," he said evenly, trying to evoke the deadly calm the way old Dan Rouge used to do on whoever he interrogated, back before he'd left the gang to go off on his own. "Surrender now and we won't have a quarrel, or you'll meet the same end as your comrades."
 
It bothered Asa, that Oscar didn't shoot to kill. These people were part of a gang, The Hudsons or something, they said. If any of them got free, they might target them. And they'd have to run away again. These bastards weren't leaving this encounter with their brains intact, he decided. They couldn't risk it, and it wouldn't be hard to find out who they were anyway. They had to kill these two and then find the other guy who was gone, Fernandez or Hernandez or whatever his name was. He shouldn't leave either, let them know this part of the country was dangerous so they'd think twice about coming to sniff about.

Hopefully, Elizabeth and her forbidden lover were too busy being afraid and traumatised by the experience to remember any of this. Even if they weren't, surely they could be persuaded more gently, no guns involved. After all, they wore a golden star now. It was sad that it gave them the power to not explain themselves, as long as Woodleigh wasn't right beside them.

Asa peeked out of his hiding spot, and he thought it'd be the last thing he ever did for a hot second. A bullet aimed at his head only got a brush off of his ear instead, burning pain erupting from it as he backed off.

"Shit, fuck!!!" He curled behind his cover, his revolver forgotten on the ground in favour of clutching the side of his head. His ear was bleeding plenty.

"Fucking shoot their brains out of their heads!" He shouted at Oscar while he pawed at the floor for his revolver. He'd been careless, thinking about the possibilities of the future in case of focusing on the present. He'd be fine, it was just part of his ear. But it still hurt like hell.

There, his revolver was back in his grasp.
 
Oscar's heart dropped as the man hiding behind the tree abruptly peeked his head out and took a shot at Asa. For a moment he feared for the worst, though still not daring to take his eye off the bandit, before Asa bit out a curse and yelled for him to finish the rest of the bandits off. This time there was no hesitation in his aim as he emptied the three remaining shots in the direction of the man. The three shots connected with the man's arm and torso, which - while not enough to kill - maimed him severely enough that he wouldn't be able to pick up the gun again.

Reloading his revolver, Oscar placed a shot square in the forehead of the bastard he'd shot previously who'd been bleeding out this entire time to put him out of his pain, before making his way to the tree where the other man had collapsed behind. He didn't usually like to make killing shots - all the years of running with a gang and growing numb to pain and death still hadn't broken him out of some sort of innate moral objection to taking someone's life. This time, however, even the brief pang of remorse that usually accompanied a kill was absent, replaced only by a simmering rage as he stared down at the prone form of the man who'd tried to shoot Asa. The man raised his head, meeting Oscar's eyes directly, his eyes wide and pleading.

"You shouldn't have done that, buddy," the voice that came out of his mouth was imbued with spite so intense that he didn't know he was capable of it. It would've concerned him some other time, perhaps, but in that moment, when he raised his revolver to the other man's head and fired, self-examination was the furthest thing from his mind. He watched the other man fall limp like a ragdoll, eyes rolling into the back of his head as blood pooled around the exit wound on his forehead, and felt only a sense of grim satisfaction.

Asa's bitten off groan, however, broke him out of his strange reverie mere seconds later. He hurried towards Asa's side, Elizabeth and her lover all but forgotten, his heart pounding from both the adrenaline of killing and from the fear of seeing Asa's hands coated in red as he cradled his ear and hissed.

"Where did he shoot you? Let me see." He pried open Asa's fingers, wincing again as he assessed the wound. He thanked whichever gods were listening above that the bullet missed - an inch to the left and well - Oscar didn't want to continue that train of thought. He dug around in his coat pocket for the bandana that he always carried around, only now noticing that his hands were shaking.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top