Pronouns: She/Her due to her appearance, but sheâs never had a problem whenever misgendered. Sometimes, she intentionally dresses significantly more masculine to get into places a woman shouldnât be able to go to in 1899.
Age: 23 (should note this isnât my real age, but i think it suits the character i seek to portray more :-})
Occupation: none. sometimes she steals in order to make do, otherwise she simply is an outlaw.
Appearance: she once found a batch of hydrogen peroxide, and thought it was water, pouring it on her greasy hair. As a result, it brightened! She enjoys finding any way to brighten her bangs, just to make her look a little more out of ordinary. With genetics that make her look blocky, and her⊠less than fancy attire, sheâs been mistaken as a witch multiple times. She isnât one.
important items:
12 rings. 9 from various occasions/people, she couldnât exactly name where they were from, and 3 from Dylan, which are the three most personal items she owns. She also sold four in order to pay for Dylan to go to the doctor.
One sketchbook and a pen. Itâs relatively destroyed, but she loves it. She wonât sell her sketchbooks for any price, but sheâd willingly give away drawn on pages for no price if the person was kind enough
One cowboy hat. She found it on the ground, asked around, and when no one said it was theirs, she took it.
satchel
15 cents. On a good day
Animals:
Scarlett loves every animal, bug, or creature except for mosquitoes and street rats. When drawing, if she encounters a bug or similar creature, sheâll end up drawing it instead of trying to kill it.
her favourite animal is a beaver, cat, or horse
She has a horse called Penny. She also feeds a stray in Rhodes which she called kitten. Kitten is at least 3 years old and certainly doesnât look like a kitten.
Roleplaying Notes:
the only donâts i have are the usual: as are most rdr2 blogs, this should be set in 1899. modern political matters arenât my concern in 1899. homophobia/transphobia wont be tolerated, and hate of other role players wont be tolerated. I couldnât care less if you hate me though.
forgive me if I accidentally rb/repost something non related to my roleplays here. It happens far too often. I suck at sideblogs.
âMy favourites? Tough question!â Scarlett smiled, pondering her response. âWell, I always start with red, of course, itâll always take number one. Though I also like golden! Like the sunset. Finally, I also love white, as if I were looking at the snow!â
((ough my three favorite decorations everâŠ. maybe keychain? :-}
big apologies for my lack of anything on this blog. consider it a hiatus. I love doing shit with you all but im also preoccupied with many things already, including both physical sicknesses and bdd worsening, of which, only the former will pass. ill still react with comments and likes to things im pinged to and maybe the occasional rp post, but dont count on the latter.
im still super interested in talking with you all though ! just as me scarlett, and not the character, Scarlett.
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
âThe privilege of travelling alone,â Mag nodded. âI always shared with my sister until I was eight. Maybe nine. But I was always very tall for my age and I outgrew it.â
Scarlett frowned. âI wish I was tall. My brother and dad all got the height genetics. Weâmy sister and Iâ unfortunately took ours from our mother. There was over a foot difference between them!â She scratched her jaw. âThankfully I never had to share at home. That wouldâve been a nightmare.â
âIt was in the thoughts a couple of times, sharing rooms. My sister was riight next to my parents room, so, after a few years of the house being built, they started talking about bulldozing her room for more space in theirs. She luckily shut down that idea.â
âHa! They use it as a threat ever?â He chuckled. âMy parents always said theyâd turn our room into an office and make us sleep with the horses.â
Scarlett shook her head. âNot often. Luckily, they werenât that cruel. Besides, the topic only ever came up after my sister and I stopped bickering so often. However, if she was being lazy, it did get brought up.â She smiled. âSave the smell, sleeping with the horses wouldnât be teeerrible.â
She laughed. âCmoon! It isnât that bad! To be fair, practically all of my neighbours were horses, so I learned to live with them more than I did other humans.â
âThe further away from the towns, the higher the ratio of horse-to-human populations seemed to differ.â Scarlett chuckled. âAnd we lived far away from any town. It was probably⊠two wild ones per person for us.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
âThe privilege of travelling alone,â Mag nodded. âI always shared with my sister until I was eight. Maybe nine. But I was always very tall for my age and I outgrew it.â
Scarlett frowned. âI wish I was tall. My brother and dad all got the height genetics. Weâmy sister and Iâ unfortunately took ours from our mother. There was over a foot difference between them!â She scratched her jaw. âThankfully I never had to share at home. That wouldâve been a nightmare.â
âIt was in the thoughts a couple of times, sharing rooms. My sister was riight next to my parents room, so, after a few years of the house being built, they started talking about bulldozing her room for more space in theirs. She luckily shut down that idea.â
âHa! They use it as a threat ever?â He chuckled. âMy parents always said theyâd turn our room into an office and make us sleep with the horses.â
Scarlett shook her head. âNot often. Luckily, they werenât that cruel. Besides, the topic only ever came up after my sister and I stopped bickering so often. However, if she was being lazy, it did get brought up.â She smiled. âSave the smell, sleeping with the horses wouldnât be teeerrible.â
She laughed. âCmoon! It isnât that bad! To be fair, practically all of my neighbours were horses, so I learned to live with them more than I did other humans.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
âThe privilege of travelling alone,â Mag nodded. âI always shared with my sister until I was eight. Maybe nine. But I was always very tall for my age and I outgrew it.â
Scarlett frowned. âI wish I was tall. My brother and dad all got the height genetics. Weâmy sister and Iâ unfortunately took ours from our mother. There was over a foot difference between them!â She scratched her jaw. âThankfully I never had to share at home. That wouldâve been a nightmare.â
âIt was in the thoughts a couple of times, sharing rooms. My sister was riight next to my parents room, so, after a few years of the house being built, they started talking about bulldozing her room for more space in theirs. She luckily shut down that idea.â
âHa! They use it as a threat ever?â He chuckled. âMy parents always said theyâd turn our room into an office and make us sleep with the horses.â
Scarlett shook her head. âNot often. Luckily, they werenât that cruel. Besides, the topic only ever came up after my sister and I stopped bickering so often. However, if she was being lazy, it did get brought up.â She smiled. âSave the smell, sleeping with the horses wouldnât be teeerrible.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
âThe privilege of travelling alone,â Mag nodded. âI always shared with my sister until I was eight. Maybe nine. But I was always very tall for my age and I outgrew it.â
Scarlett frowned. âI wish I was tall. My brother and dad all got the height genetics. Weâmy sister and Iâ unfortunately took ours from our mother. There was over a foot difference between them!â She scratched her jaw. âThankfully I never had to share at home. That wouldâve been a nightmare.â
âIt was in the thoughts a couple of times, sharing rooms. My sister was riight next to my parents room, so, after a few years of the house being built, they started talking about bulldozing her room for more space in theirs. She luckily shut down that idea.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
âThe privilege of travelling alone,â Mag nodded. âI always shared with my sister until I was eight. Maybe nine. But I was always very tall for my age and I outgrew it.â
Scarlett frowned. âI wish I was tall. My brother and dad all got the height genetics. Weâmy sister and Iâ unfortunately took ours from our mother. There was over a foot difference between them!â She scratched her jaw. âThankfully I never had to share at home. That wouldâve been a nightmare.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
âIt was usually my sister and I in one bed and brother on a mattress. I tried to be on my own bed but i was the smallest of the kids. Always.â She sighed. âIt was only when I could pay for them myself that I could sleep by myself.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
âMaybe I will!â Scarlett grinned. âIâve fought for hotel beds many times when we went to town. Sometimes I even won! For⊠only a few minutes. Dad always forced me to give it up because I was the smallest.â
âAnd, the nicer the better. When I win, Iâll just have to thank you for making it so nice and neat for me!â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
It was almost winter. The days were getting shorter and colder. At night, at the camp, the fire always stayed lit until late. It kept us warm. Or at least it tried to.
That night, Shad sat there on a log, watching the flames move in the wind. It scared her. Fire had done that before, but now...It was one of the only things that could kill her, and maybe that scared her.
She had a family now, she wanted to be there for them, even in that state. She wanted to be there for Theodore, for her brother Dylan, who had been through too much, For Mag, for Osi and for Scarlett.
Scarlett...
Thinking about that brown hair reassured her, but it worried her. Shad had promised she'd be there for anything, but she hadn't seen her in weeks. She was starting to fear something, but deep down she knew that the girl would be fine.
Shad heard a distant rustling, which pulled her from her thoughts. When she looked toward the source of the noise, her eyes widened as she saw it. The source of her thoughts, standing there, bleeding...
"S-Scarlett?" And she didn't think twice about approaching her.
She looked up at the sound, alert, but relaxing after seeing Shad. She had been walking like a zombie, with her injuries and all, and, with th loss of a limb and her further malnourished body, She was thankful she could still be recognized. The more of the camp she saw alive, the merrier. Fuck, sheâd lose it if she went to save one family, and ended up losing her other. She scratched her scalp, putting on a grateful smile. âIâm not surprised youâre up this late.â She stopped moving when she noticed Shad walking towards her, her voice one filled with fatigue. âHow are you, Shad?â
"What the hell happened to you, Scarlett?!" She made a gesture to touch her, but he pulled away, not wanting to hurt her. The blood coming out of her now nonexistent arm, her gaunt face and her posture and she was the one asking how she was doing?
"Where the hell have you been? How are you? Howâoh forget it, come with me." She huffed hastily and led her toward her tent. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with these things, Dylan had been the freshest example, but damn...now Scarlett too.
"Here, sit here and don't think about doing anything. I'll take care of it." And between the glances she gave Scarlett and the medicines she took from the boxes, she hoped that she would talk and explain the situation to her.
Scarlett followed, partially begrudgingly, but also because she knew there was some help needed about this. And the fucking infection. Ouch. Nonetheless, she listened and sat down.
âI only took a quick stop to Alberta, thatâs all. I was given a letter regarding my popularity up North, and just needed to, ahhhâŠâ She gestured with her only arm, trying to figure out how to describe her situation in a lighthearted manner. âDeal with my fans. But, as they say, it costs an arm and a leg to deal with infamy. Iâm just glad I saved my leg from the big boom of popularityâŠ!â She chuckled, rubbing her neck. âThatâs all⊠mostly.â
Hearing her speak that way only made her more suspicious. It was clear that Scarlett wasn't talking about a positive reputation. How could she? She had returned with practically one arm missing and so...many wounds...Even Shad didn't know where to start.
But he approached her, starting from the part that seemed to be getting infected and began swabbing. The blood there... she could have lost control, but she'd lost her appetite for days. This could be positive... for human relationships at least.
"And these 'fans' who threw you this party, is there a specific reason why they did this? Or did they just want to show you how much they cared about you?" The tone was ironic, the gaze focused on the wound.
âYes, party! Uh.. they wanted to uhm.. celebrate my families success in⊠having such a popular child like yours truly! And so they celebrated at my house without inviting me, so I celebrated with⊠fireworks? Yeah, fireworks. Lit them up at one of the stations that love talking about me. A firework just set off near my hand, and I lost it in the fun!â She hissed in pain as the injury was swabbed. âI brought some gifts to them, too. I loove my fans. They clearly love me back as well.â
Shad looked up at her, only to look at her seriously. A moment to let her know she didn't believe a word she said. Shad felt Scarlett's heart beating abnormally fast. The blood she'd lost and her agitation were the cause.
She was lying to her.
"Scarlett. What happened? I don't buy the party story. No one throws a party and we warn you. And then the fireworks? Oh come on..." The blood on the cloth had now replaced the white of the object. Shad dipped it in water, while she took an herbal mixture. "Please tell me the truth...every time it's a different story. Dylan also has no leg left and now you..."
Shad didn't look her in the eye. She couldn't do it. She always felt so helpless in the face of all these things. She was an immortal, powerful being, but what good was that if she couldn't even help her family...
She frowned, scratching her scalp, thinking. She looked at where her arm used to be, and decided to speak. âThe law threatened me and i fought back. If i turned myself in, theyâd spare my family and their ranch.â Scarlett paused, before continuing. âI almost did it. Almost just⊠sacrificed myself. But I thought of you, and Dylan, and Mag, and realized I had to do something else. I ran off because I didnât want help. I was trying to help one family so both of them could be safe.â
âIn the end, I bombed one of the North-West Mounted Police stations, and set fire to some of Albertaâs fields, in hopes it would spread quicker than it could be saved.â She scratched her chin. âAnd uh⊠killed people. But that goes without saying, I suppose.â Scarlett wondered if she should speak on the missing limb, but realized it would end up with more questions. âThe limb? Just a stupid mistake. I got caught near a burning wick and it exploded before I could get my arm away. I feel worse for the Mountie that, uh⊠yknowâŠâ She imitated pushing someone, and then tried to mock the sound of an explosion.
Shad looked at her in silence for a moment, continuing to tend to that wound that seemed endless, but which she was somehow managing to clean. Scarlett's words made her sigh. A habitual gesture, more than necessary.
"I won't judge you for what you did. You wanted to protect your family, and that does you credit." Shad turned to get a fresh, clean cloth to wipe the face of the girl who had endured those horrible moments. Her eyebrows were slightly arched downward. "...But you could have⊠asked me to come with you⊠we could have⊠gone to see Alberta together." Shad gave a bitter smile. They'd shared their hometowns a while ago. She would have gone to Alberta with Scarlett, even if it hadn't been for a pleasure trip...Especially if there was a risk that she might have risked her life.
Shad finished cleaning her face. She wasn't disappointed, just deeply worried. Seeing Scarlett like that... the thought that she'd never be able to see her again...She didn't want it to happen so soon.
âAh, well, I wouldnât want to have hurt you. Immortal or not, Iâm not fucking testing it.â Scarlett sneered. âBesides, thereâs not much left of that area anyways. I couldnât tell you if the Davies Ranch survived or not.â She scratched her chin. âNot all of it wouldâve died, though. I doubt the fire spread up to Calgary, or down to Lethbridge, or whatever. But where we lived? Burned that fucker to the ground.â She was hesitant to admit her next words. âIf I hadnât been bleeding out, id have burned more.â
She fell silent for a second, then clapped her hand to her knee, a faint chuckle escaping her mouth. âWell, no use going back now. Iâd have no doubt my escapades brought even higher bounties to my name, even all across the country.â
Shad gave a hint of a smile. One that didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked down, straightening the bloody clothes. So much blood. Scarlett's wound was infected, but it could heal. Somehow, the explosion of those 'fireworks' had helped.
"I understand... it's better if you take a break, Scarl. The wounds you have are not to be underestimated." As she spoke to her, she had begun to bandage her wounds, delicately. "And I hope all of this..." Shad gestured to his entire body. "Was worth it." And she didn't say anything else.
Her family was changing, she could feel it. She had changed, but every day something happened that she couldn't avoid.
Then after a moment of silence, she looked at her again. "And now? What will you do? What will happen?"
She nodded, smiling faintly. âI could lose an arm and still live, but living knowing I lost my family isnât defined by living. So, this, everything about this, is worth it.â
Scarlett thought in silence. What was next? In honesty, this wasnât even planned. This was her next, if she survived. âWhat will I do though?.. Ahm, I suppose Iâd like to see my family again⊠if they send a letter to Emerald Station, I can find out where theyâre hiding. Then I can rack up some money, help them find a new residence. Maybe even a new ranch, in America.â She scratched her jaw. âDepending on what they need me for, Iâll go over and provide aid, as long as I can. Then I can come back and.. do this again. Run away from the law, today, tomorrow, next week. All until they catch me.â She shook her head. âBut whatâs next is providing for my families. However much they need help, that is.â
Shad was impressed by Scarlett's perseverance and desire to help her families. But now it was she who needed help.
"I know you want to help them, and I'm sure the time will come...but for now, you're the one who needs a hand, Scarl." she had started to bandage her wound. "I'm not saying you shouldn't do that...Just rest and get better. And maybe this time, we can help you with your family."
Shad smiled at her, more gently. She didn't expect Scarlett to let it go. That was her family, and it was natural that she would help them, but she just wanted to keep her from getting worse.
âThat depends on how far away it is. I donât think a couple of us taking an extended vacation to refurnish a home would make the camp happy.â Scarlett shrugged, wincing slightly at the occasional sting from the bandages. âHell, even if I canât make it there, Iâll just⊠send a parcel with the money to the nearest station. I ah, doubt theyâll get to me any time soon, anyways. Hell, I might even be healed up by the time they get to me!â She chuckled, a pinch of sadness in her voice.
Shad gave a sad smile when she saw her like that. She was not short of hope. She fixed the last few things. The wound would heal, but a visit to the doctor was probably necessary.
"You'll definitely be fine, Scarlett, you'll see. But for now, stay positive. You have to see a doctor tomorrow." Shad placed a hand on her cheek, slowly moving her head to see if there were any other injuries. "I'll take you there, but you can't stay without a check-up and the right medicines."
Shad was confident that Scarlett would get better. Then she got up and got her some water, handing it to her. "Are you hungry?"
âAh, itâs not that bad. I can handle myself without a doctorâs visit.â Scarlett rubbed her shoulder. âBesides, doctorâs visits, they cost a hell of a lot of money.â
She quickly accepted the water. Fuck, was she thirsty. After a sip and a grateful sigh, she nodded. âMore hungry than a pack of wolves. I havenât eaten in fucking forever. I could eat a whole horse right now.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
It was almost winter. The days were getting shorter and colder. At night, at the camp, the fire always stayed lit until late. It kept us warm. Or at least it tried to.
That night, Shad sat there on a log, watching the flames move in the wind. It scared her. Fire had done that before, but now...It was one of the only things that could kill her, and maybe that scared her.
She had a family now, she wanted to be there for them, even in that state. She wanted to be there for Theodore, for her brother Dylan, who had been through too much, For Mag, for Osi and for Scarlett.
Scarlett...
Thinking about that brown hair reassured her, but it worried her. Shad had promised she'd be there for anything, but she hadn't seen her in weeks. She was starting to fear something, but deep down she knew that the girl would be fine.
Shad heard a distant rustling, which pulled her from her thoughts. When she looked toward the source of the noise, her eyes widened as she saw it. The source of her thoughts, standing there, bleeding...
"S-Scarlett?" And she didn't think twice about approaching her.
She looked up at the sound, alert, but relaxing after seeing Shad. She had been walking like a zombie, with her injuries and all, and, with th loss of a limb and her further malnourished body, She was thankful she could still be recognized. The more of the camp she saw alive, the merrier. Fuck, sheâd lose it if she went to save one family, and ended up losing her other. She scratched her scalp, putting on a grateful smile. âIâm not surprised youâre up this late.â She stopped moving when she noticed Shad walking towards her, her voice one filled with fatigue. âHow are you, Shad?â
"What the hell happened to you, Scarlett?!" She made a gesture to touch her, but he pulled away, not wanting to hurt her. The blood coming out of her now nonexistent arm, her gaunt face and her posture and she was the one asking how she was doing?
"Where the hell have you been? How are you? Howâoh forget it, come with me." She huffed hastily and led her toward her tent. It wasn't the first time she had to deal with these things, Dylan had been the freshest example, but damn...now Scarlett too.
"Here, sit here and don't think about doing anything. I'll take care of it." And between the glances she gave Scarlett and the medicines she took from the boxes, she hoped that she would talk and explain the situation to her.
Scarlett followed, partially begrudgingly, but also because she knew there was some help needed about this. And the fucking infection. Ouch. Nonetheless, she listened and sat down.
âI only took a quick stop to Alberta, thatâs all. I was given a letter regarding my popularity up North, and just needed to, ahhhâŠâ She gestured with her only arm, trying to figure out how to describe her situation in a lighthearted manner. âDeal with my fans. But, as they say, it costs an arm and a leg to deal with infamy. Iâm just glad I saved my leg from the big boom of popularityâŠ!â She chuckled, rubbing her neck. âThatâs all⊠mostly.â
Hearing her speak that way only made her more suspicious. It was clear that Scarlett wasn't talking about a positive reputation. How could she? She had returned with practically one arm missing and so...many wounds...Even Shad didn't know where to start.
But he approached her, starting from the part that seemed to be getting infected and began swabbing. The blood there... she could have lost control, but she'd lost her appetite for days. This could be positive... for human relationships at least.
"And these 'fans' who threw you this party, is there a specific reason why they did this? Or did they just want to show you how much they cared about you?" The tone was ironic, the gaze focused on the wound.
âYes, party! Uh.. they wanted to uhm.. celebrate my families success in⊠having such a popular child like yours truly! And so they celebrated at my house without inviting me, so I celebrated with⊠fireworks? Yeah, fireworks. Lit them up at one of the stations that love talking about me. A firework just set off near my hand, and I lost it in the fun!â She hissed in pain as the injury was swabbed. âI brought some gifts to them, too. I loove my fans. They clearly love me back as well.â
Shad looked up at her, only to look at her seriously. A moment to let her know she didn't believe a word she said. Shad felt Scarlett's heart beating abnormally fast. The blood she'd lost and her agitation were the cause.
She was lying to her.
"Scarlett. What happened? I don't buy the party story. No one throws a party and we warn you. And then the fireworks? Oh come on..." The blood on the cloth had now replaced the white of the object. Shad dipped it in water, while she took an herbal mixture. "Please tell me the truth...every time it's a different story. Dylan also has no leg left and now you..."
Shad didn't look her in the eye. She couldn't do it. She always felt so helpless in the face of all these things. She was an immortal, powerful being, but what good was that if she couldn't even help her family...
She frowned, scratching her scalp, thinking. She looked at where her arm used to be, and decided to speak. âThe law threatened me and i fought back. If i turned myself in, theyâd spare my family and their ranch.â Scarlett paused, before continuing. âI almost did it. Almost just⊠sacrificed myself. But I thought of you, and Dylan, and Mag, and realized I had to do something else. I ran off because I didnât want help. I was trying to help one family so both of them could be safe.â
âIn the end, I bombed one of the North-West Mounted Police stations, and set fire to some of Albertaâs fields, in hopes it would spread quicker than it could be saved.â She scratched her chin. âAnd uh⊠killed people. But that goes without saying, I suppose.â Scarlett wondered if she should speak on the missing limb, but realized it would end up with more questions. âThe limb? Just a stupid mistake. I got caught near a burning wick and it exploded before I could get my arm away. I feel worse for the Mountie that, uh⊠yknowâŠâ She imitated pushing someone, and then tried to mock the sound of an explosion.
Shad looked at her in silence for a moment, continuing to tend to that wound that seemed endless, but which she was somehow managing to clean. Scarlett's words made her sigh. A habitual gesture, more than necessary.
"I won't judge you for what you did. You wanted to protect your family, and that does you credit." Shad turned to get a fresh, clean cloth to wipe the face of the girl who had endured those horrible moments. Her eyebrows were slightly arched downward. "...But you could have⊠asked me to come with you⊠we could have⊠gone to see Alberta together." Shad gave a bitter smile. They'd shared their hometowns a while ago. She would have gone to Alberta with Scarlett, even if it hadn't been for a pleasure trip...Especially if there was a risk that she might have risked her life.
Shad finished cleaning her face. She wasn't disappointed, just deeply worried. Seeing Scarlett like that... the thought that she'd never be able to see her again...She didn't want it to happen so soon.
âAh, well, I wouldnât want to have hurt you. Immortal or not, Iâm not fucking testing it.â Scarlett sneered. âBesides, thereâs not much left of that area anyways. I couldnât tell you if the Davies Ranch survived or not.â She scratched her chin. âNot all of it wouldâve died, though. I doubt the fire spread up to Calgary, or down to Lethbridge, or whatever. But where we lived? Burned that fucker to the ground.â She was hesitant to admit her next words. âIf I hadnât been bleeding out, id have burned more.â
She fell silent for a second, then clapped her hand to her knee, a faint chuckle escaping her mouth. âWell, no use going back now. Iâd have no doubt my escapades brought even higher bounties to my name, even all across the country.â
Shad gave a hint of a smile. One that didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked down, straightening the bloody clothes. So much blood. Scarlett's wound was infected, but it could heal. Somehow, the explosion of those 'fireworks' had helped.
"I understand... it's better if you take a break, Scarl. The wounds you have are not to be underestimated." As she spoke to her, she had begun to bandage her wounds, delicately. "And I hope all of this..." Shad gestured to his entire body. "Was worth it." And she didn't say anything else.
Her family was changing, she could feel it. She had changed, but every day something happened that she couldn't avoid.
Then after a moment of silence, she looked at her again. "And now? What will you do? What will happen?"
She nodded, smiling faintly. âI could lose an arm and still live, but living knowing I lost my family isnât defined by living. So, this, everything about this, is worth it.â
Scarlett thought in silence. What was next? In honesty, this wasnât even planned. This was her next, if she survived. âWhat will I do though?.. Ahm, I suppose Iâd like to see my family again⊠if they send a letter to Emerald Station, I can find out where theyâre hiding. Then I can rack up some money, help them find a new residence. Maybe even a new ranch, in America.â She scratched her jaw. âDepending on what they need me for, Iâll go over and provide aid, as long as I can. Then I can come back and.. do this again. Run away from the law, today, tomorrow, next week. All until they catch me.â She shook her head. âBut whatâs next is providing for my families. However much they need help, that is.â
Shad was impressed by Scarlett's perseverance and desire to help her families. But now it was she who needed help.
"I know you want to help them, and I'm sure the time will come...but for now, you're the one who needs a hand, Scarl." she had started to bandage her wound. "I'm not saying you shouldn't do that...Just rest and get better. And maybe this time, we can help you with your family."
Shad smiled at her, more gently. She didn't expect Scarlett to let it go. That was her family, and it was natural that she would help them, but she just wanted to keep her from getting worse.
âThat depends on how far away it is. I donât think a couple of us taking an extended vacation to refurnish a home would make the camp happy.â Scarlett shrugged, wincing slightly at the occasional sting from the bandages. âHell, even if I canât make it there, Iâll just⊠send a parcel with the money to the nearest station. I ah, doubt theyâll get to me any time soon, anyways. Hell, I might even be healed up by the time they get to me!â She chuckled, a pinch of sadness in her voice.
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
âI donât think youâd like the shield bugs. They defend themselves by making themselves stinky,â he giggled. âPut those ones under your pillow.â
âHeeey!â Scarlett frowned, but quickly smiled. âThen Iâd kick you out of your bed and sleep in yours. You can have the stinky bed and stinky tent.â
"I went into this mission assuming I would be dead before I left the province
Why wouldn't I be? I'm one woman against all of Alberta.
To any skilled man or woman, that's just a suicide mission.
To me, it was a suicide mission. But i kept on telling myself: âRemember that you will die.â
I guess you only live if you don't know what the fuck you're doing."
Scarlett only had a few things planned: burn shit, bomb shit, shoot shit. She didn't really have a reason to hold on tight to her life, so safety wasn't her priority.
She had already stolen what she needed: dynamite from Annesburg, a gun from Valentine, some bandages and a gas can near Nanton Station. She had no plan for what she would do after she lit fires and bombed the Mounties.
-
Davies Ranch, Alberta
17:00
Once she recognized the paths she rode on for over 20 years, she rode the horse and wagon into a batch of trees, too little to call a forest, and tied the reins on a birch tree.
Scarlett convinced the Devil to let her drop the shotgun for as long as her departure with her family would take. She knew she would pick it up once she went back. Her curse wouldn't let her do otherwise.
She snuck into her families ranch from the back, climbing the trees of the miniature forest on the acreage. She hit the grass with a grunt, assessing the yard of hay for any guards. None. Her family wasn't outside either.
Guess they assumed intruders could only come through the ranch one way.
It was rearing nighttime, but the sun was still as bright as ever. Of course it was, clouds were near nonexistent in Alberta. The air was so welcoming, the temperature she had loved to live in. The prairies and foothills she missed riding in. The fields of wheat, hay, and canola that thrived in the square acres they were planted in. The background of the Rockies that always assured her she was home.
Home for not so long, unfortunately.
She snuck into the backdoor, knowing that at least one of her family members would be home. Thankfully, she recognized the faces she was blessed to see for two decades in the house that was always her home.
"Dad!" A grateful voice shocked the man, was that Annabelle? Outside of her room for once?
He looked behind him, seeing the smaller woman, not Annabelle, she was an inch shorter, but the person's gaze was still one only a child of his could master.
"..Scarlett?" The hunk of a man relaxed, like all of his chronic pain washed away from the look of his little girl.
A part of him knew that her independency would keep her alive, despite her criminal status. She wrapped her arms around him, tearing up. He seldom cried, but the sight of his daughter brought a tear to his face.
"I missed you, Dad." She spoke through sniffles.
"Me too, kid... Why are you here?"
A hiccup. "You have to go... away from the ranch. I'm going to do something bad here. I just wanted to say goodbye to you a-and Clyde, and Annabelle and Eliza first..." Scarlett sniffled. "But I'm going to make a bunch of people mad... and I don't want you all to get hurt because of me.."
He hesitated. He wanted to argue, to fight with her on this. But this was his daughter, and she was as stubborn as a mule. "Do you want Clyde to come with you?"
"No.. no, Dad, I can't let him get hurt again..."
He nodded, letting go, patting her shoulder. "We all missed you. Even Annabelle." He smiled through red eyes that held back tears. "She even said it!" Scarlett chuckled through her wet face, wiping off the tears on her face.
"I love you, dad. After I leave, you have to go. Quickly. Understand..?" He nodded to her words, and she hugged him once more, before leaving to greet the rest of her family with a farewell.
Scarlett had spent the past six hours plotting. She had covered her face by tying a sheep skull she had found on the ground to her face (she simply deemed it cooler than her bandana), and tied her hair back.
When she made it near Nanton Station, she tied the horse to a post, and opened the crate of dynamite.
She watched the guards near and in Nanton station, assessed how they moved, where the blind spots were, and then snuck in.
She would bring a handful of dynamite in at a time, and planted them around the station, hiding herself from the Mounties.
Every time she ran out, she snuck outside once more, and grabbed more sticks of dynamite. This took fucking ages, but she wasn't going to try anything.
Once every stick was planted deep enough so that no guards would pay notice to the visible wick, she rested in the wagon, waiting for nightfall.
-
Most of the mounties were asleep at 11. When the only witness to her crimes were the constellations, she snuck in one last time, this time with her shotgun, knife, and lighter.
She snuck alongside the perimeter, getting to the first dynamite stick, and lighting it.
BAM.
As she heard the first explosion, she began to run, lighting them as quickly as she could, a choir of explosions waking unsuspecting lawmen.
She heard yelling, but ignored them, watching the station light in flames by the sparks.
The final one, yes!
Scarlett knelt down, using her lighter, watching the wick ignite with a spark, and she smiled. Fuck the law-
She was halted by a grab of the collar, metal to her head as she was forced to stand.
"I found the criminal! He's right-" She grunted as the Mountie harshly tore off the skull hiding her face, but her own gaze watched the dynamite stick's wick disappearing quickly. Would she die by her own mistake?
She thrashed the man away, stunning him, then grabbing him by her right hand, pushing him right next to the-
BANG.
She was thrown back by the explosion, her right shoulder stinging, her right arm was too fucking close. Scarlett was stunned by the explosion, her head hurting, her body frozen by shock. Fuck-!
Gunshots began ringing near her ear, and she jumped in fear, quickly trying to get up, scrambling to her hands and knees, but tumbling when she tried to use her right arm, her cheek hitting the dirt. What the fuck?
She looked down, assessing her right arm. It was fucking gone! Burn marks matched the previously pink skin, and moved into bloodied bone and meat, dripping with blood as though it was recently chopped by a butcher. Her heart dropped, but she stopped her concern the second a gunshot grazed her left shoulder, quickly standing up and beginning to run once more. She could worry about the trail of blood later.
She climbed the fence, grabbing the getaway of her horse and wagon, shooting a few quick Mounties behind her before dropping the gun in the wagon to untie the wagon and horse.
Scarlett ignored the blood loss and pain from her right arm, thankful it was only one limb lost. She put the reins of the already running horse in her mouth, grabbing the gun in her only arm, and shooting every person she saw. Mostly Mounties. Bodies dropped in her trail. She'd be at this for a while. Fuck.
She finally lost the Mounties, making it near Cayley. The amount of blood she had spilled from the men she had dropped matched the amount of blood she had lost by her open wound. she quickly, poorly wrapped the open wound with her stolen bandages, and sighed, watching the white quickly turn to red. Scarlett dropped from the wagon, grabbing the gas can, and jumping into a hayfield.
She poured gasoline over sections of the field, before lighting it, watching the field burn up in flames. With the dry climate, she knew this would be much larger than simply one field's burning.
Scarlett chuckled, then ran back to the wagon, making a beeline back to America.
"I hope my family made it.
I hope they're safe.
Fuck, my arm hurts. But I did it.
Lord only knows how many people will come after me.
As much as I hate my curse. It helped me.
Helped me do bad, might I add, but I'm alive...
Thank god I could honor one more promise."
Scarlett had little to eat, it was hard to do shit without an arm. She was tired, and what was left of her right arm was infected, but she was alive. She got off of the wagon, cut the horse free, and scared it off, before beginning to slowly walk back to the camp, holding onto the stub of her right arm. Scarlett was thankful it was nothing more than an arm. Save a few scrapes here and there. And a section of her clothing.
She could barely think, the closer and closer she got to the sight of the Van der Linde camp, the more she felt emotions wash through her. Fuck, maybe she'd see her other family again! And she did it in... just a little over 6 weeks. Fucking hell.
The only thing that made her realize she was still alive was the unbelievable amount of pain on her right arm. At least it wasn't killing her immediately, so, she could live with it.
Scarlett had disappeared almost a month ago. To say Mag was worried sick was an understatement. No note, no farewell, nothing. Was she just tired of the gang? Did she get lost? Were they not a family? Was she dead? Did sheâ
The near-constant reeling his mind had gone through for a month stopped at the sight of a girl. Dark hair, with a little light at the front, typical pants and vest. Except for what looked like a large rip. And where was her other arm�
He took a step towards her, blinking. No, that wasâ
She looked up from her dragging feet, her tired eyes looking at her name. So they hadnât died. At least, who was itâŠ
âMag..? Mag!â She chuckled, relief passing through fatigue. She continued to walk towards him, smiling. âHow are you, man? How is everyone..?â Scarlett asked, nearly ignorant of her change in appearance. It wasnât much of a change to her anymore, especially after a few weeks looking like this. She could ditch the pain, though.
Mag nearly tackled her in a hug, trying not to squeeze the life out of her. âYou left and you didnât say anything and I didnât know where you where what happened to your armââ
She yelped, her soul nearly flying out of her body. She certainly had woken up after that!
She hugged him back once she realized she was safe, trying to piece together the words in her own jumbled brain. âI- uh⊠had business to attend to. Personal business, and I didnât want anyone else to get hurt. So I went off by myselfâŠâ
Scarlett attempted to put on a nonchalant smile, acting like her missing arm was common. âThe arm? Uuuuuuuhhhhm⊠I got in a bit of an incident with a Mountie, and it kind of blew up in my face.â
âĐĐŸĐ¶Đ” ĐŒĐŸĐč, Scarlett⊠did you get this looked at?â She went off alone. Didnât want to tell anyone. Her and Dylan both, they were gonna be the death of him.
She pursed her lips. âI uh⊠had a deadline I needed to meet. Besides⊠itâs been covered for three weeks. It should be fineâŠâ Scarlett took a step back. âAnd I didnât exactly have money to spare for an appointment. âSpecially not after buying a gun..â She smiled innocently. âItâs been covered since I was in Cayley. It should be fiiine..â
âI only stole this much!!â Scarlett raised the stump of an arm, the bandage visibly unchanged. âLike hell would I have changed it!! And it was already enough of a fucking pain to get it on with one arm, let alone take it off and put it back on!â She huffed, frowning. âItâs not like im the richest bastard ever. And I didnât exactly take a path with towns and shit. I wasnât going to⊠test my luck any further.â
Mag pinched his nose, sighing. âFair. Okay. Jesus, I missed you. Iâ thank you for staying alive. We need to address the arm. Or lack thereof. I canât remember where the medical stuff was lastâŠâ
âIt was hard not to die.â She muttered, then looked down at the bandages. âI mean.. I havenât been at camp for a bit.. but maybe the medicine wagon has something..?â
âYouâd be shocked,â he muttered. Thankfully, though, there were some bandages and antiseptic, which Mag carried back while making a mental note to buy more.
Scarlett had found a stump to sit on, still dizzy and fatigued. She assessed the bandage on her arm. âFuucking hell does it hurt.â She began unwrapping the bandages, admittedly curious on what it looked like. She hadnât checked before wrapping it, but, then again, it was engulfed in blood three weeks ago, so she wouldnât have seen much anyways.
She could only see a section of the wound, but it definitely looked both better and worse than it did three weeks ago. ââŠno wonder it hurt so much..?â She frowned. âMaybe washing it when I was safe wouldâve been a good idea.â
âReally.?â Scarlett spoke, her voice silent, and pursed her lips. âIâm sure itâs not that bad, right..? Just an infectionâŠâ Would she truly end up dying because of an infection? It wasnât like she had the money for medical supplies. What a cruel fucking way for fate to make fun of her: survive the impossible, die from the curable.
He grimaced. âYou should make it. I think. But unless we go to a doctor or something, itâs just going to be a lot of cleaning and changing bandages. And a lot of rest.â
âIâm not. Wrapping up an open wound without cleaning it and leaving alone for three weeks is practically begging for sepsis. And your budget includesâŠâ he glanced in his bag. âBout thirty dollars. Give or take.â
âThirty dollars? You have that?!â Her eyes were wide. Thatâs more fucking money than sheâs had the entire year. She didnât know what sepsis was, but she assumed it had to do with the infection. âNot my fault I was running away for three weeks⊠septic couldâve waited.â
She frowned. âI could⊠probably find something to chip in as well.â She looked down at her hand, still bare. Right, her rings were in her tent. Thank god she left them there, or half of her rings would be fucking Gone. Scarlett scratched her cheek. âMaybe some jewelry⊠or something. I canât exactly wear 10 rings on a single hand.â
âIâd say finite.â She muttered. âBut it depends on if youâre asking the law or not. I have no doubt my bounty will traverse borders now. I didnât do nice things up north.â
âThatâll be fun,â Mag sighed. âBest we find a doctor sooner rather than later, then. And then we can bide our time and wait to see if thereâs a bounty. Iâd be surprised if it got this far south, though.â
âWell I- I..â Scarlett pursed her lips, thinking. âIt would take a minute if it ever did. But I have a very small bounty down here, at least in some spaces. If they knew an inhabitant caused⊠âwell, I can only define it as domestic terrorismâ Iâd doubt theyâd just ignore it. Besides, Albertans have little else to do besides want to kill every other goddamn Albertan. Iâd be impressed if some rich fuck didnât want my head mounted on their wall for⊠uh.. bombing⊠and arson⊠and multiple counts of manslaughter.â She shrugged. âBut Iâll live in high spirits! You know, maybe it wonât! For all Americans know, Iâm just some lowly outlaw fucking around. Iâd be happy if it stayed that way.â
âIâ you know what, yeah. Sure. They wonât figure it out. Out here, I doubt theyâd even care much.â Mag rubbed his face. âWhich means we can address the infection. Please. Before it gets worse.â
Scarlett scratched her jaw. âYeah. Yeah. Infection.â She looked at it, poking the flesh and immediately regretting her decision. âIâll clean it, and shit⊠and, maybe Shad has something to stop it from worsening, or otherwise.â She waved it around curiosity. âItâs not like an extra inch off of the top to remove the infection would hurt, that is if the infection couldnât be treated.â
âIâ I couldnât say, honestly. Infection is where my knowledge ends. I know spells to prevent it, butâŠâ He sighed. âMight be worth asking Shad, yeah.â
Scarlett chuckled, she had already lost an arm, there wasnât much else to lose. âFor now, if wrapping and cleaning it is all we could do, I couldnât care less. Itâs not like I havenât overcome an infection before.â She smiled, rolling up her pants, gesturing to an ugly scar on her shin. âI ended up cutting off the infection for that one. Like a wart. Worked out like a charm. It just took a bit ofâŠuh, work to flush the area out.â Well, she certainly was no doctor. âFucking dog bit me for that one. I just wanted to pet him.â
Magâs eyes widened. âĐ„ŃĐžŃŃĐŸâ this is why I donât like dogs. But yeah, if worse comes to worst, thatâll have to happen to whatâs left of your arm.l
âNo disrespect to dogs on my end. Them and cats⊠and snakes⊠and animals in general.â She smiled. âI like all of them. Even if thereâs one bad apple in the batch.â Scarlett chuckled. âNext time I see Clyde, Iâll tell him all about how I maybe had to amputate an inch off of my already lost arm. Then Iâd have something to boast about in my argument of why Iâm cooler than him!â Scarlett had taken this lightheartedly. She had friends, family, and a life still. Sure, the loss of a limb hurt like a motherfucker, but losing her family would hurt her more than anything.
She smirked, feeling the competitiveness creeping back in. âIâd beat his ass in a race. Even if he still had both of his legs. Besides, look at these fuckers.â She chuckled, flexing her left arm and⊠well, she tried to flex her right, but looking over, she remembered all she had was a fucking stub. ââŠ.my muscle bump :-(.â Like sheâd fucking know what a bicep was.
Scarlett shook her head, defensive again. âWhatever. âM cooler than Clyde, and Iâm cooler than Dylan. Men are no match to me! Even if they have horns and tails. Even then, Iâm smart enough not to gamble my soul away, because my granddad already did that for me!â
âGood. Cause youâd lose.â She smiled, overly confident of her own abilities in comparison to the worlds. That was, depending on the category. Scarlett giggled at the thought of it. âYouâd lose in⊠most categories. Maybe not a boxing match. Not anymore, at least.â
âDonât underestimate yourself!â She huffed. âMost I got out of fighting a brother was a clicky jaw and banged up knees. And Iâm still recovering from those today.â Scarlett looked down at her legs. âBesides, these things are more useless than whatâs left of my arm. Theyâve never been on my side.â
Scarlett shrugged. âItâs the only reason I donât fight as much as I want to. Losing an arm is already enough punishment in itself for starting a fight I couldnât finish.â
She chuckled, looking down, rocking on her heels. âOnce I know everythingâs fine⊠I hope allâs back to normal. âM starting to realize I havenât exactly been the nicest over the past few weeks. Still shaking off the⊠ah, curseâŠâ
Mag shrugged. âWe still love you. Curses tend to make people act ornery, in my experience.â He patted her good shoulder. âNormal isnât exactly something youâll find here, though,â he chuckled.
Scarlett nodded. âIsnât that rightâŠ. Guess i bicker about myself not being normal, and then I forget i have you bunch as a family.â She smiled. âIâm just.. trying to be a little less angry. But itâs hard.â
âAnger itself is not a bad thing. Sometimes, itâs even useful. But it can be hard to choose when it shows.â He shrugged. âThankfully, you have people here who are willing to help when things get bad.â
Scarlett let out a thankful sigh. âI appreciate it. From.. tending to my wounds all the way to helping me get through this shit. Youâre all too fucking kind to me.â She smiled.
âI think weâre all too kind to each other,â he joked. âMaybe someday weâll act like normal siblings and hide scorpions in each otherâs blankets instead.â
Scarlett giggled. âDonât tempt me. The tricks Iâve played on my brother and sister were fucking gold. And I usually got away with it, too!â She kicked her feet. âOne of my favorites was drawing a bunch of silly faces, ripping them out, and sticking them to both my brother and sisterâs room walls with tree sap! It stuck surprisingly well.â She chuckled. âTook forever for them to finally get it off.â
Mag cackled. âThat is gold. One time I tricked my little brother into thinking there was treasure in the spooky woods by our town. Poor little man. All he found was a squirrel skull.â
âHey, Iâd consider a squirrel skull treasure!â Scarlett smiled. âWhenever my sister and I found skulls, we ended up drawing all over them. It was fucking great.â Her smile turned slightly sinister, thinking about the idea of pranks. âBut.. considering you brought it up, Iâd be double checking everything you use and do from now on, Mag! Lord forbid I ever got to it first~!â
âWe had to throw ours out after we were done playing with it. And they were never loud inside. Too creepy, apparently.â
Scarlett kept her smile on nonetheless. âWho said anything about making it sticky?â Her smile widened, eyes closing with it, feigning innocence. âMaybe that was the prank, tricking you into thinking id prank you! HehehâŠâ
Scarlett only laughed. âJam my bed and I will pour buckets of water on you when you sleep! You dare not test me, Mag!â Oh, if they ever got to it, the prank war would be many battles won and lost.
âYouâre right, instead, Iâd pre-wet it! Turn it into a pool before you realized, and watch you innocently sit into it and get everything wet!â Scarlett smirked. She threatened these things, but she had boundaries. Lying about her boundaries was not a boundary, though.
âHah! You think you could scare me with those critters?â Unless they were biters. Ough, Scarlett held back a shudder. âIâd give them some sugar water or something for the night! Iâd feel worse if i accidentally slept on one.â
"I this isn-,.NONONONO-" Dyl(God this is weird actually referring to myself) yelped as he plunged through a portal, quickly landing into dirt with a huff. He's wearing a band T-shirt, black ripped jeans, bracelets and necklaces. He looks as Dylan does, just without horns, missing leg, and gaint scar on face. But his right eye is a misty color, and does have a nose bridge scar. "...shit..." a cat is dropped with him. Chance. (Here are sone tags if anyone's interested xD)
Scarlett was sitting down, drawing for the first time in a few weeks. It was hard to keep her sketchbook steady without an arm to hold it., but she was getting something drawn. Barely.
She yelped when something fell from thin air, looking up, seeing a cat! She lowered her sketchbook to greet it, when she saw a⊠partially familiar face.
ââŠDylan?â Scarlett tilted her head. Was this the devils doing? Again?
Dyl winced, rubbing his head thst his cat had fell on, then froze at the voice and looked up. Immediately recognizing her from art and roleplay- Scarlett. Oh this would be fun.
He gave a bit if a nervous smile. "Uh... no uh, sorry miss my names uh... rip van winkle."
Scarlett sat cross legged once more, rubbing her index and thumb together at the cat. âpspspspspspssp kitty, cmere kittyâŠâ
While attempting to beckon Chance over, she spoke, suspicious. âWell, Rip Van Winkle, why do you look like a⊠four-limbed version of my brother? AndâŠâ she looked at his clothes. âDo you need some money to go to the tailor? Your jeans are ripped.â She continued to assess the man, head to toe, still thinking itâs Dylan. âWhere are your horns? And tail?â
Chances ears perked as ahe sat, hearing the noise. He cockdd his head and slowly limped over, tail in a question mark.
Dyl looked down at his jeans. "Huh-? Oh haha, n-no these um, were self made on purpose." He swallowed, shifting. "Horns and tail? I uh... don't know whst you are talking about." He lied again.
âNobody looks like my brothers.â She frowned, trying to pet Chance as she spoke. âUnless youâre one of them. Did the devil take away your memory this time? Did i fall back in time? Is this what you were like this few things ago?â Scarlettâs eyes widened. âDonât gamble your soul away! Please! And uh- uh⊠uuuuuhmmmm.â Think! What are some good like lessons! âThe Devilâs a cunt! Donât listen to him!!â
âYeah, you say that, and then you end up losing your soul.â Scarlett sneered. Wait, Chance?
âDid I fall into another dimension? Chance? Heâs a horse, not a cat! And he-â she scratched her forehead. âOh, you poor baby⊠thank god youâre not a horse.â She brought her hand back.
âMe? Strange? Youâre the one falling out of mid-or with intentionally ripped jeans and a weird stain on your shirt! And youâre calling me strange! And, and you look so much alike to my brother and barely acknowledged my mention of it!â Scarlett retorted. âLet alone having such a funky ass name, like Rip Van Winkle.â
Scarlett froze. What the fuck. âyou.. based him off of yourselfâŠ? Are you god-?â Her eyes widened, and she pounced on him. âGod! Stop hurting him! He does not deserve this treatment! You Dylan should be ashamed for hurting our Dylan so poorly! All timelines should be equal!!â She shook one of his shoulders as she spoke, frowning widely.
Dylan yelped in surprise as he was tackled, blinking to process, looking at Scarlett. "It-" ok how do you explain to someone who literally lived in tge universe?
âCoping?! My Dylan cannot cope!!â Scarlett made a visible :-[. âAre you beyond the Devil? God? Purgatory? What are you to treat him so poorly so you can cope and he cannot! My brother hurts!â She learned in. âI should take off your leg and give it to him, if youâre basically the same blood and bones. Then you can see how it is!â
ââŠwhat.? I have a creator..?â Scarlett looked down at her stump of an arm, eyes wide. âWell she isnât any fucking better than you!! But I donât see her anywhere! So I call bullshit!â
"I this isn-,.NONONONO-" Dyl(God this is weird actually referring to myself) yelped as he plunged through a portal, quickly landing into dirt with a huff. He's wearing a band T-shirt, black ripped jeans, bracelets and necklaces. He looks as Dylan does, just without horns, missing leg, and gaint scar on face. But his right eye is a misty color, and does have a nose bridge scar. "...shit..." a cat is dropped with him. Chance. (Here are sone tags if anyone's interested xD)
Scarlett was sitting down, drawing for the first time in a few weeks. It was hard to keep her sketchbook steady without an arm to hold it., but she was getting something drawn. Barely.
She yelped when something fell from thin air, looking up, seeing a cat! She lowered her sketchbook to greet it, when she saw a⊠partially familiar face.
ââŠDylan?â Scarlett tilted her head. Was this the devils doing? Again?
Dyl winced, rubbing his head thst his cat had fell on, then froze at the voice and looked up. Immediately recognizing her from art and roleplay- Scarlett. Oh this would be fun.
He gave a bit if a nervous smile. "Uh... no uh, sorry miss my names uh... rip van winkle."
Scarlett sat cross legged once more, rubbing her index and thumb together at the cat. âpspspspspspssp kitty, cmere kittyâŠâ
While attempting to beckon Chance over, she spoke, suspicious. âWell, Rip Van Winkle, why do you look like a⊠four-limbed version of my brother? AndâŠâ she looked at his clothes. âDo you need some money to go to the tailor? Your jeans are ripped.â She continued to assess the man, head to toe, still thinking itâs Dylan. âWhere are your horns? And tail?â
Chances ears perked as ahe sat, hearing the noise. He cockdd his head and slowly limped over, tail in a question mark.
Dyl looked down at his jeans. "Huh-? Oh haha, n-no these um, were self made on purpose." He swallowed, shifting. "Horns and tail? I uh... don't know whst you are talking about." He lied again.
âNobody looks like my brothers.â She frowned, trying to pet Chance as she spoke. âUnless youâre one of them. Did the devil take away your memory this time? Did i fall back in time? Is this what you were like this few things ago?â Scarlettâs eyes widened. âDonât gamble your soul away! Please! And uh- uh⊠uuuuuhmmmm.â Think! What are some good like lessons! âThe Devilâs a cunt! Donât listen to him!!â
âYeah, you say that, and then you end up losing your soul.â Scarlett sneered. Wait, Chance?
âDid I fall into another dimension? Chance? Heâs a horse, not a cat! And he-â she scratched her forehead. âOh, you poor baby⊠thank god youâre not a horse.â She brought her hand back.
âMe? Strange? Youâre the one falling out of mid-or with intentionally ripped jeans and a weird stain on your shirt! And youâre calling me strange! And, and you look so much alike to my brother and barely acknowledged my mention of it!â Scarlett retorted. âLet alone having such a funky ass name, like Rip Van Winkle.â
Scarlett froze. What the fuck. âyou.. based him off of yourselfâŠ? Are you god-?â Her eyes widened, and she pounced on him. âGod! Stop hurting him! He does not deserve this treatment! You Dylan should be ashamed for hurting our Dylan so poorly! All timelines should be equal!!â She shook one of his shoulders as she spoke, frowning widely.
Dylan yelped in surprise as he was tackled, blinking to process, looking at Scarlett. "It-" ok how do you explain to someone who literally lived in tge universe?
âCoping?! My Dylan cannot cope!!â Scarlett made a visible :-[. âAre you beyond the Devil? God? Purgatory? What are you to treat him so poorly so you can cope and he cannot! My brother hurts!â She learned in. âI should take off your leg and give it to him, if youâre basically the same blood and bones. Then you can see how it is!â
