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Chapter  Pt.IV

"Who the Hell Is Leviticus Cornwall?"

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Guns blazing, bullets ripped and flew through the cold air around them like a pointed knife. Luckily, Tulip had gotten repeater rounds from the dead bodies, the train was quite guarded than she had originally thought. It was owned by Cornwall though, so it wasn't too surprising.

*pitwang!*

One of them ricocheted. Another bullet grazed Arthur's hat, "Shit, that was close..."

"There better be money at the end of this!" Lenny took cover behind a stack of iron bars on the train, dragging a corpse over to grab what little ammo it had to offer.

"All these bastards must be guarding something." He yelled over the gunfire.

"We need the car in the back, right?"

"Yep, keep pushin' on 'em." One by one, the guards were dropping like flies. "You doin' good, kid." Arthur asked, checking over everyone as he dipped his head lower in his cover. "You still okay?"

"Mm-hm." Shots near her made the earth and snow explode around her, she'd reflexibly flinch away from the shots.

Tulip placed her Winchester on top of a rock, Arthur and Lenny were drawing the fire and attention now, making almost none of the shots focused on her.

"I think so." Lenny yelled.

"Good."

For a moment, she focused and breathed, then closed her eyes. Within the next second, Tulip exhaled, then her eyes shot open. Darting, she rapidly adjusted her rifle and as quick as a flash, Tulip let fire, pulling her lever-action in each shot. Her Winchester spewed out black and dirty smoke, its muzzle spitting out blazing light.

The rounds ripped through the air, Tulip's aim was true as they've found their carefully placed marks. She wanted her kills to be clean, but one of the guards moved as the bullet whizzed past. Instead of tearing their way through that man's skull, it tore through the man's neck instead. He panicked at the suddenness of it, running and stumbling in the midst of the shootout before finally going down, their blood spooling forth from an opened wound.

No matter how many she took down expertly, more seemed to pop up as if they had an endless supply of them. "Damn, he's got an army! Who is this guy?" Lenny cursed.

"Where the hell are the others?" Arthur bellowed, Tulip sneered at their absence too. Who knows how long they could hold before running out of bullets?

"I don't know!"

"Shoot 'em! Shoot 'em!" The guards hollered.

More began to appear from the back of the locomotive. "Goddamnit, I thought that was all of them!"

"We're gonna get out of this." Arthur reassured, being level-headed, and shooting their enemies with an experienced aim.

"Oh, I know we are."

Slowly, Arthur and the others moved up inch by inch, making ground and pushing back the enemies. Tulip took cover by a tree, Arthur dove into cover with the rocks, and Lenny did the same. Soon, Tulip's ears caught a faint sound of humming, hooves that were pounding the earth amidst the shootout. "Hey! There's the other boys!" Arthur pointed out. "Watch it, more of 'em head!"

"Alright! Finish those sons of bitches!" Dutch's incoming voice rang out, more gunfire sounds joined and melted with the mess, singing a chorus of hellfire.

"Yer done now!" One of the men shouted. In no time, Tulip spotted the others, "Hey! Over here, fellers!" Bill hollered.

They called, horses galloping over and the men they fought were all downed. Charles was leading Sunny, Arthur's Tennessee Walker was following behind, and what Tulip assumed was Lenny's horse too. It was a Mustang with a Light Palomino coat.

"Good shootin', kid."

"I can see now why the O'Driscolls brought so many boys up here for this."

She sighed now that the action was over, Tulip slung her rifle over her shoulder as they jogged down the incline. "You did real fine too, Miss Tulip."

"Yeah, I can see why ya got your name." Tulip chuckled, little embarrassed. She pulled her hat down slightly and looked at the ground as if it was interesting, an old habit of being shy.

Dutch called, "Arthur, get over here! Are you three alright?"

He replied. "Tulip's got her arm grazed by a bullet, but other than that, we're all just fine." She showed her arm, and gave a small smile, gesturing that it's alright. "Small scratch, let's grab the money and get going."

"We get some fellers holed up in this last car."

They all gathered, approaching and eyeing the last railcar, Micah had a dangerous glint in his, with a laugh traced with amusement.

"Ah, shit..."

"What are you boys planning on doing in there? Listen to me, we don't want to kill any of ya..." He turned to his gang, "any more of ya." They laughed. "I give you my word, but trust me..." He shot both his hands up, probably smiling under his red bandanna of his. "We will." At that, everyone leaned with a dangerous intention, ready for their leader's signal.

"I work for Leviticus Cornwall!"

"Come on, boys." Tulip didn't bother, she just stood with her arms crossed, putting on her wolf pelt. By the looks of it, this train's reinforced with thick steel, she'd doubt any puny bullets would even pierce it. So, Tulip just watched.

"We got our orders!"

"Okay. You asked for it." Dutch took a step back and the others drew their guns.

"Five..."

"We ain't opening this door!"

"Four..." Dutch quickly counted down the next ones, impatient. "Three, Two, One."

No voices responded.

"Seems our friends have gone deaf." He turned to the locked cart himself, lining up with his men. "Wake 'em up a little!"

A volley of rounds slashed the air, denting the car. But alas, it's as good as trying to open a reinforced bank vault with bullets.

"We ain't comin' out!"

Tulip intentionally coughed loudly, tapping Dutch's arm. "That's enough!" He ordered, seeing that it was feeble too. "Mr. Williamson, give Mr. Morgan and Mr. Smith some dynamite...you two boys go blow that door open."

She watch Arthur snatch the dynamite stick from Bill's hand, he really wanted to get this over with.

Their leader yelled, "Now don't matter to much to us, but you boys in there, might wanna take a step back."

Tulip and the others retreated a few steps backwards while Arthur and Charles was setting up the explosives. "Seems good enough, now light the fuse."

"Here we go." They struck their matches and ignited the dynamite.

"Unless ya got a deathwish, I'd step back, fellers." Everyone prepared themselves and were shielding their faces, Micah didn't even bother and just turned around.

*BOOM!*

Then the long awaited light show happened, breaching and tearing the metal doors open wide. "Alright c'mon, just walk on outta here."

The remaining men inside the cart groaned in annoyance, slowly making their way out here. Micah laughed, "Heheheh. My, oh my..."

"We don't want to kill you... We just wanna rob your boss. Get on up there, search that train." The mustached rat face entered first, still cackling like a greedy vermin finally digging up gold.

Other than annoying Tulip and pretty much the entire camp for these past few months, at least Micah does his jobs. Just not in the way she prefered. That doesn't mean she likes him one bit though, she'd rather be paired with Uncle that does nothing than Micah that makes everything happen.

Lenny followed behind, then Arthur and Tulip entered. Lenny whistled, "Look at this place. It's like a palace." They all laughed, impressed.

When Tulip had thought the other carts were lavish, this, was something else. They've seen pretty private cars before, but the entire interior has wealth written all over. Tulip hummed, her eyebrows raised as she looked around.

"Now I've seen everything." Arthur beamed. "You two got the safe? We'll search the rest."

"Arthur Morgan, always gettin' the lady." Micah retorted.

"Go and crack that safe." He said, sighing.

"Should be easy as cake." Micah eyed the safebox while Arthur was going to head for the back, she heard him spoke. "You're just gonna stand there, kid. Pour me some brandy will ya? I'm parched."

Tulip curiously picked up a crisp clean paper sitting on one of the beautifully crafted tables, Lenny replied. "Shut up, me, Arthur, an' Miss Tulip did all the work."

Morgan was glancing at the paper over her shoulder, "Yeah...kid did good. Didn't see you rushing to jump on that train."

She quickly scanned over the cursive writing, it was clear that it was written with an elegant hand.

"Letter to Leviticus Cornwall From Leland Oil Development Company..."

(Picture of the letter itself, you're free to read it.)

Her eyes stuck on the letter mentioning "Wapiti Indian Reservation", she sighed, quickly tucking it away and Arthur knew why.

"He's keen, I'll give you that." Micah knelt down to the safe. "Let's see if I can get this open..."

Outside of the strong armored windows and flower curtains, she can hear Dutch talking to the men they had just threatened. "See, this is unfortunately what happens when you work for a greedy son of a bitch."

Tulip walked over with Arthur who was looking at another letter, she saw it and the title reads:

(I'll post the pics whenever I can just for you guys.)

It was about a mining company in Annesburg, which should be in Northeastern parts if she could recall correctly. Tulip caught the Bourbon sitting neatly on the wooden and well-polished desk, she snatched it without a second thought. She heard Micah complaining at the other end about a pile of papers that weren't bonds.

"Sugar imports... A lotta them from the Spanish West Indies... Some fancy new boat he's ordered from Europe... Invoices, Railroad contracts... Nothin'." Lenny read them.

"Heh, I am not robbing another boat as long as I live." Micah referred back to the failed heist that seemed like it was only a few days back.

Tulip pulled out a steel box from under the cabinets, she opened them, seeing more papers. But they were bonds by the looks of signatures and whatnot, it was like a check. Quietly glancing at her peripheral, she seperated a few from the stack and stored some for herself. Something for future plans or emergencies. She cleared her throat, catching his attention.

"Are these bonds?" She nodded. "Well, we got 'em."

"Nice."

"Well, thank God, c'mon."

Exiting, Dutch approached them. "What did you find?"

"These..." He fished out the stack of papers from his satchel. "Bonds. They worth anything?"

"Oh, sure...bearer bonds. I think we can probably sell these pretty easily, well done. Now, would you get rid of all this?" He gestured to the men sitting there, in incredible fear.

"The train?"

"Yeah, get it outta here."

"What about them?"

"What do you think?"

Tulip didn't mount the horse and ride off with the others immediately, she was carefully watching the scene unfold. "I don't know." Arthur shrugged.

"It's up to you. Kill 'em, leave 'em here...take 'em with you on the train... Just make sure they don't send no folk after us." As Dutch was going to mount the Count, he noticed Tulip. "What about you, Miss Tulip?" Tulip walked over a few dead bodies, checking their pockets.

Arthur asked, "You staying?"

She nodded and Van Der Linde chuckled. "Do what you want, we'll see you back at camp. When you both get back, we'll be moving on." He flicked the reins, turning to his posse. "The rest of you...let's ride!"

The beating hooves soon died as they ride into the distance, Tulip quickly turned to Arthur.

He sighed, knowing exactly why she stayed behind. "Tulip, if we let 'em go, they're going to have the law set on us."

The men panicked, one of them pleaded, holding up a hand. It was a golden wedding ring wrapped around his finger. "I- I have a wife and son waitin' for me at home! I- I have this ring to prove it!"

"We won't tell a soul, I swear!"

Tulip pulled him aside, a glare upon her brown eyes, threatening. "Tulip..." He explained lowly. "I know it ain't worth our time, but right now, them Pinkertons may still be on our tails. If they find us..."

She thought carefully, then became extremely uncomfortable. A gloved hand rubbing her eyes and on the bridge of her nose.

She sighed loudly, "Killgh if neegh be..." She whispered, slowly trying her best to say it and with a dangerous sneer, she had meant it.

Tulip was referring to an old honor code they had in the gang, it was the very same thing Dutch had said to the O'Driscoll, Keiran. They kill and save those who need it, and it was the sole reason why the gang was formed with a family-like bond. Dutch saved every single one of his folks and some in a different way.

Arthur was surprised, hearing her talk, even though she had spoken to him before. Tulip spoke to Hosea the most when they first found the two girls, she was a mess emotionally. It was only on very rare occasions that she talked. When first meeting her, it wasn't long when Dutch, John, him, and Hosea discovered Tulip's liability when they had to interrogate her for her intentions.

He felt tad bit guilty, seeing her struggle to talk with only half a tongue. He looked over that their captives, who all quivered in fear. Then back to Tulip, her eyes holding a genuine, burning emotion in them.

In a few moments, he sighed, defeated. "Okay, get on the train, quick, all of you. You folks are damn lucky, and you better be damn happy that she convinced me."

"Th- thank you!" They all scurried inside of the private car.

"Any bright ideas, I'll kill all three of you... so behave. Come on, move."

Tulip gratefully nodded in thanks, her bandanna wrinkled upwards, showing her smile. Then without drawing a breath, she walked over the men and pointed at them with her revolver. He still could never get used to how quickly Tulip can switch in her demeanor.

He shouted, pulling own his own gun. "Get a move on! If I hear so much as a footstep from this car, you'll end up like all your friends out here."

"We w-won't say a word." They stammered, holding up their hands to show they won't try anything.

"Good." He scanned over the guards while Tulip was already at the engine railcar to start up the train. They both regrouped, "If the law is set on us again, it's on you."

She nodded.

They rode off, "C'mon, let's go."

With that heist done, they returned back to Camp Colter, and prepared to set off to who knows where.

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A/N : This mission's now finally done! Bit of Tulip's backstory there and I was trying to avoid as best as I can to not have Tulip speak, especially until much later. But we get to see that, even though she's one dangerous outlaw, she still has some standards. And for a very good damn reason. Hohoh, truuuust me! Can't wait to dive into her story...

Published : Dec. 21, 2018