bakerstreet | pic prompts.

Slowly the once barren and dilapidated property was coming together. The secondary stable was up, the border fence now ringed the whole place, with the apple and cherry tree saplings the newest additions. Next spring they'd till the earth for gardens and fields.

They had all the livestock they'd initially wanted, and duties were divided well amongst them to take care of them all. Bill was gone but Lenny and Pearson remained as promised.

A couple weeks after his leaving, a letter arrived from Charles. He spoke of the Wapiti, their situation with the government quickly going downhill despite all efforts to keep the peace. They were being starved and supplies diverted or halted for whatever damned reason, leaving many sick and hungry. He even mentioned he'd met Evelyn Miller-Dutch's poetic hero-who was helping aid the chief and his son. Times like this he noted he wished some of the gang were there to help but knew even with them there, was only so much they could do. Unfortunately his own time with them would remain, possibly until the spring when the tribe could move further north, into Canada. If they could move sooner, then perhaps he'd see the gang again before the first snow, but it was difficult to say.

He'd not seen Mrs. Adler yet though at the time of his letter he had heard a woman fitting her description was in Valentine and intended on visiting to see if he could get in touch with her. He still spotted Pinkertons here and there but it seemed their numbers had dwindled, at least where he was situated. Charles noted he'd write again as soon as he could.

Arthur, like John, kept himself busy, though for different reasons. Less for the sake of it and more to keep his mind off certain things. Since moving into the house with the Marstons, his sleep issues had subsided quite a lot, perhaps in part to having a roof over his head or John's occasional peek in on him. But in any case, he was doing better in that regard, though he did miss Charles, for reasons he'd never say aloud. With construction all completed, he spent a good deal of time with Kieran, training the new horses, learning their personalities and setting up a ledger of sorts to figure out which-both their original stock and the new mustangs-would pair well together come spring. Arthur and John made a trek back to Pocatello and managed to get two handsome stallion drafts, expensive but they were well behaved and had good breeding in them which meant their drafts would in turn do well.

The gang was about half the size it once was, but they still filled the Marston's dining room to bursting. As they drank and ate, chatter erupted about what they should call the place. Arthur gave John a knowing look as they'd often laughed about it all but now they were serious. One name that stuck with them during those discussions didn't sound so bad at all, and so, he decided to voice it.

"John and I thought about the name Locksley Ranch, after Robin of Locksley." Arthur said to Dutch, hoping he didn't need to clarify why. Their original intent, to help the needy and screw the law much like Robin Hood did, was the foundation of the gang and seemed fitting to be called something akin to it.

Dutch's brows raised with the boys' choice for a name, having heard them banter names back and forth between them as they worked together, almost like a game between them. It had kept their minds busy, he figured, and it seemed to him like John and Arthur's relationship had finally begun mending after the rift had been opened up by John's disappearance.

"Locksley Ranch," he repeated, then nodded, slowly at first as he thought it over, then with a definitive nod, he agreed. "That is precisely the kind of name we been needin', to get back to what we're all about. Good job, gentlemen."

It was official from that point on. The sign that had been brought in was carved with the names of the proprietors of the land on the back, each member of their family allowed to chip their names in, then the name of the ranch itself was penciled in by Hosea, whose hand was steady and writing impeccable. The rest of it, the carving and painting, was handled by Lenny and Karen the next day.

That was the morning that John went to town and was loading up hay and grain into the wagon when he heard something that made a prickling chill of nerves run up his spine. He overheard that a new gang had come rolling into the area. The O... Oh somethings, a rowdy, horrible bunch of roadside bandits and train robbers, that had been living southeast of there for a while.

"Fuck me," he whispered to himself, and rode back to the ranch. When he returned, he tasked Kieran to unload the wagon and went to find Arthur first, planning to take this to Dutch next.

He got the older man's attention with a sharp, "Arthur." He walked up to him and nodded towards Dutch and Hosea's cabin. "Bad news."

Arthur was in the paddock with the foal they'd caught with the herd, the little filly having grown so much since being brought to the ranch and just as feisty as her sire, Khan.

He chased her about, playing with her as her mother looked on, grazing not far away, Tilly looking on too and laughing as Arthur slid on a patch of mud but kept his balance before keeping after the filly.

He came to a stop at John's sharp tone. At the look, he knew it was serious so he let Tilly handle putting their youngest member away while he went up to the younger man. "What's goin' on?" he asked

John led the way, not too quickly to Dutch's cabin. "Folks in town's been sayin' the O'Driscolls are up this way, robbin' folk." He didn't beat around the bush, say more than he needed to. This was a problem, a huge one if they showed up in their part of the country. Especially when there was still the high possibility that Dutch wouldn't take too well to the idea of having to share space with them. He knew Dutch. He knew that if he found out any other way but by himself and Arthur, there'd be hellfire.

He was pretty sure there'd be hellfire anyway, but he didn't express that, save for a grim scowl on his face. He stopped halfway between the stables and Dutch's cabin, and looked over his shoulder at the road. "Should we check it out before we tell 'im? Would save us a hell of a lot of trouble if we know for a fact Colm ain't around and it's just his lackeys."

Arthur listened, his blood running cold at the news. He'd thought they'd have been a long way from O'Driscolls and if it was them, it would beg the question why had they come up this way. Colm spread his gang far but never like this. Was he looking for something, or maybe someone? Maybe Dutch?

He looked to the cabin then shook his head, "We go find out first if its O'Driscolls for sure, no use." he said and they headed to the stables to get mounted up, telling Kieran that if anyone asked, they were looking into a possible gang moving in nearby, and nothing more.

Tight lipped in seriousness, John went to the house to fetch their weapons, fixing his belt on before walking out to the stables, handing Arthur's belt and rifle to him before getting the horse ready and mounting up, his own rifle and repeater on his back. "Sonofabitch, I knew we wasn't gettin' away scot free." He led the way, remembering that the conversation he'd overheard had told him they were heading north from Raft River, south of Fairview.

He really didn't like where this was headed. Did these sonsofbitches come west to find them? And if they did, what did that say about Mrs. Adler? Was she not far behind? He knew that if she was alive, there was no way that she'd let these slimy bastards get away. Was Colm aware that they were up here? If Colm knew, how far would the Pinkertons be behind them?

Paranoia crept into his bones, and John's shoulders tightened like they hadn't been in months.

"Take it easy now" Arthur assured him as they rode out "If it is the O'Driscolls, we grab one and find out what's going on, where Colm is and why they're up here." he said, keeping a level head.

Felt like it'd been awhile since they had to drag in the old way of doing things, but like riding horse after a long break, once you got on you knew how to do it again.

He let John lead the way, keeping his weapons holstered in the event they met anyone from town on the road who knew them. Couldn't look like bandits themselves.

John wasn't exactly happy that they had to pause their little pleasant lives for this absolute bullshit, but at least they had a head's up. Riding through town, they got no looks - John got a couple greetings, which he nodded in response. Luckily, Abigail's work wasn't through the main road of town, so he didn't have to worry about her knowing that they were on their way out to do something about the situation, at least until she got back home.

Home wasn't going to be ruined by the likes of Colm and his funny little band of trash. He wouldn't have it.

Though Arthur's words did, in their way, comfort him. "Easy as ever," he sarcastically remarked, picking up the pace of Peggy's trot to a gallop once they cleared the town. "They said they was down this way, doin' what they do." And, even putting aside the bitter blood between their gang and the O'Driscolls, John found their band far sloppier, far more reckless than anyone in their gang, past or present. Even Bill had more decorum and presence of mind than these madmen.

It didn't take very long until John slowed Peggy down to a standstill, seeing a stopped coach before them in the distance on the road and heard a gunshot. He reached over and pulled out his binoculars, getting a better view.

Flashes of green in the clothes gave them away. "That's them all right. Whaddya think? Let 'em break off from the coach n'catch 'em on their ways back to camp?"

Arthur greeted folk pleasantly as well as they made their way through town, keeping calm and collected outwardly. Though knew if these were O'Driscolls, they could have serious problems.

They'd worked so hard, every one of them, and he'd sacrificed everything. He'd not have it all go to shit because of these bastards.

He spotted the coach and took out his own binoculars to have a look. Unfortunately their fears had been realized. It was O'Driscolls for sure.

"Yea let's get'em when they head back to wherever they've holed up." he agreed, putting his lens away. "Remember to leave one alive though, have to confirm whether Colm is up here too and what the hell they're up to."

"Right." Tucking his binoculars back into the saddlebags, John waited for them to ride away from the coach while Peggy tap-danced impatiently on the center of the road. He leaned forward to pat her neck, telling her to be patient. He may have been telling himself that, too.

Once the O'Driscolls broke off from the coach, they all went the same direction, like idiots might. They really weren't thinking they'd get caught if they stuck together like that? Whatever, it wasn't time to analyze the amateur moves of the other gang, it was time to take them out. "The one on the palomino lives," He said to Arthur, flipping the snap of his holster open as he spurred Peggy into motion again. The horse was fast, far faster than Old Boy could be. Of course, she was absolutely no Edelweiss or Count, but she could haul.

Pulling his revolver out, he quickly made calculations for angle, speed, wind, and distance, faster than he ever did when he was hunting. There was a strange distinction, a cognitive dissonance between hunting and killing in his mind. It was natural for John to slip back into a killer's mindset, to be able to line up several shots before taking them. As he focused on his heartbeat, he fired, two of the five men got shot in their backs as he and Arthur rode up on them.

Arthur nodded, seeing the determination in John he'd not seen in some time. He wanted their little paradise to remain so as much as he did. To protect his family.

How far they'd all come.

He took out his rifle, waited for John to call it, and took the shot. A third man, still reeling from the gunshots into his buddies, was struck off his horse and was dead before he hit the ground. A second shot rang out and Arthur hit the remaining target in the shoulder, then again in the side. His horse dragged him by the stirrups for several yards before getting caught in the brush.

Arthur went after him, made sure he was dead before they took off after the O'Driscoll they wanted taken alive. He holstered his rifle and took out his lasso, a moment of Deja vu coming over him as he recalled doing this with Kieran oh so long ago, only this guy was older and no horse caretaker.

There was more than determination within John at that moment. He was full of fury, of a dangerous sort of protectiveness, when he made sure the men he'd shot were good and dead, one slumped forward on his horse, and the other toppled into the grass. He turned Peggy around and raced behind Arthur, gun still at the ready to hobble the bastard if he tried to escape once Arthur had him lassoed.

There was a desire to loot the bastards' bodies, a kneejerk thought that always came with gunning someone down. It was what he was taught to do, what he was told he had to do, to survive. Survival mode had kicked in about the time he heard the people in town talking about the rival gang, and wasn't about to stop until they saw this through.

Once they flanked the O'Driscoll, John's malicious tone rang out. "C'MERE, WE JUST WANNA HAVE A LITTLE TALK." It was obvious from his shout that there was no desire to just talk.

Khan wasn't as fast as Edelweiss but Arthur noted how steady he was as he came up on the O'Driscoll, and didn't shy at the gunfire neither. But he'd go over how those great traits would pass on at some other point. He had an O'Driscoll to catch.

When they got within range, Arthur let his rope fly and he snagged the man around the waist and yanked. The man let out a yelp as he was pulled off his horse and they all came to a stop. Arthur hopped down and hogtied the bastard in practiced motions.

"We get'em all?" he asked John, looking around, spotting the palomino slowing down some yards ahead, the other horses scattered about "We need to round those up" he said. Horses loaded with gear would draw suspicion. Before, they'd be content with letting them go without issue but they couldn't alert the town at all that there was another gang in the area right under their nose.

He then hauled the O'Driscoll up and propped him against the foot of a tree. "Alright, talk. What the hell are O'Driscolls doing way up here? Is Colm still alive?"

"Right." John went to go fetch the horses, having to pull out the lashes to do so. It was a pretty damn good steal, all things told; four, five new horses for their ranch, on top of some information. He was still furious, and it was a damn good thing Arthur was taking care of the little chit-chat, because he would have been extremely glad to take the man's head off the moment he said one word.

The O'Driscoll, a man about Arthur's age, glared daggers up at Arthur, then a look of recognition came over his face. "They said you was dead! That you was hung!" But more to the point - and he got to it - he growled, "We was scoutin' up this way on account of we heard there was good pickin's, easy marks! Colm ain't up here, I swear!"

"Swear all you like," John said, on his way past to round up one horse which had escaped in this direction, then shouted behind him as he galloped past, "We know you're lyin'!"

"Well as you can see, I ain't dead. But you will be if you don't talk." he growled right back, letting some of the bear shine through to press the threat

He listened intently, glancing at John when he rode by but focus was on the man, trying to figure out if he was lying. Might be...

"Where's Colm then? What's he up to?" he asked

There was something in Arthur's eyes, the wildness, the aura of being much, much larger than he was that made Colm's man's voice crack and him stammer over every word, but he managed to spit out, "Colm's not here!"

He wasn't very good at this whole telling the truth thing.

John managed to have two horses rounded up, lashed them to a tree, then went after the other two which had bolted the opposite direction. It'd take a little bit, but he was more than happy to do something other than sit on his hands. These horses were fine specimens, too. There was one that John had only seen the kind just once before, a cracker horse, used by cowboys in the southeast. The stallion was a deep chestnut brown with a blond mane and tail, pretty as a picture. The other three were standardbreds.

"Damn, ain't you a pretty one," he said as he rounded the big boy up, and trotted him over with the rest. "We're glad to have ya, friend."

The fourth, however, was nowhere to be found. That was a shame. Well, one loose horse was better than four. Now it came time to move the bodies off the road. John decided hell, waste nothing had always been the method, and went through the dead men's pockets, taking out the money, taking off the rings. All of it would be coming home with them, along with the contents of the horse's saddlebags.

It was a mess, but it kept him busy.

Arthur growled again, curled a fist, and struck him hard in the stomach to knock the air out of him.

"The more you lie, the more pain you'll be in." he warned, then drew his pistol and held it to the man's balls. "Or I can just start shootin' them jewels and let you bleed out for the wolves to find."

Colm's man coughed a few seconds, squirming against the binds of the rope, curling inward towards the pain of the blow to his stomach, "He's... He's south'a here," came the agonized words of the man, "Lake Walcott. Took over..." He was interrupted by a few brutal coughs, "Took over a farmhouse."

John discarded the saddlebags off the horses, once he packed what was in them into Peggy's. The saddles themselves were plain, but fair enough to keep, and definitely worth a good amount of money, especially the one on the cracker horse. John hopped off Peggy, leaving her with the others as he went about soothing the whole lot, hushing and patting them, brushing the dust off their coats while soothing them and lashing them together so they could come home with Arthur and him.

Arthur listened to him wheeze, pressing the tip of his pistol against the man's gut until he got what he wanted.

Satisfied with his answer, Arthur shot him in the heart without another word and made sure his body was off the road before rejoining John.

"Bastard is here alright. South, Lake Walcott." he said shortly, mounting up on Khan. "Let's go" he took the leads on two of the four horses and led them behind him and they rode out.

Irritation and anger now burned white hot in him. They'd left the Heartlands and West Elizabeth behind along with the fire of a gunfight. To make and have a life, a legitimate life. Colm being here was bringing out the worst in them all over again.

This had to end.

"Dammit, figures." John didn't have much to say other than that. He lashed the other two up to Peggy, admiring the cracker horse again as he did, then followed quickly along. "You see this horse? Don't know how an O'Driscoll managed to get one. Could probably sell him outright and make enough money to feed the whole damn ranch, animals and all, for a month. Don't know if we'd find another cracker horse up this far north, but he'd be one hell of a sire." He wouldn't apologize for losing his mind over such a fine horse, but he needed something positive to think about before he dug himself into a mental state he didn't want to ever find himself in again.

He was also wondering if the two of them could take on Colm and his closest men, but then he reminded himself that Arthur was a bear. If they couldn't shoot their way through, he definitely could tear through what was left.

John shook his head, "We was over and done with all this. Whaddya plan to do about Colm? Take him out, or take him with?"

"We'll have to figure all that out when we get back, for now keep them close." he said, mind having shifted entirely to dealing with Colm and his men. The horse John was fawning over was nice and quite a prize but they'd have to be careful selling these horses, and without paperwork they wouldn't get what they were truly worth. They'd have to sell them in Aberdeen or further north if they ended up not wanting to keep them.

For now, they had O'Driscolls to hunt.

"We see how many men he's got. We can't risk him or any of his men getting away with the knowledge we're up here. But if we're way out-numbered, I'd rather come back with a couple more guns." While he could and probably would shift for the fight both to provide a distraction and for maximum advantage, more men than they could keep their eyes on meant more likelihood of one recognizing John or himself and getting to the authorities.

"Try to take Colm alive, gotta find out why he's up here." he advised.

Well, at least he'd tried. Seeing Arthur so dead-set, so ready to put the whole thing to rest brought him back down into a serious frame of mind, and John set his jaw, making sure the horses stayed with them.

Soon enough, they broke out into a clearing, farmland that spread far ahead. John decided to hitch the horses to one of the trees, and got back on Peggy, to start riding slowly, slowly enough not to draw attention, but fast enough that if they ran across anyone, they'd only have a quick glance.

The large farmhouse and surrounding farm had at least thirty horses in front of it that he could see, a couple wagons... "That's a lotta 'em. Thirty or more." He looked over at Arthur, deferring to him for this one. Arthur knew what his limits were, or at least John hoped he did. "My thought on it's that this ain't a two-man job."

Arthur was indeed eager to put this to rest. He was through with O'Driscolls and Pinkertons and wanted nothing more than it all to end. But the horse and cart counts were too high to risk just them going in.

Still, he had a look around with his binoculars, seeing if he could spot Colm and at least confirm he was there. Didn't recognize any of the men milling about, a sign of how many the man went through, but eventually he did land on a familiar dark brown horse he'd seen when they fought his men near Colter. Colm was here.

It was a long tense moment before Arthur put his binoculars away. "We have to come back with more folk."

He nudged Khan back towards the other horses. "We get back to the ranch quickly, let Dutch know and we come back immediately. If the O'Driscolls we just killed are noticed to be gone too long, Colm might bolt."

John nodded and turned his horse around, following Arthur with a sour look on his face. "Dutch ain't gonna be too happy 'bout this. Paranoid as he is, he's gonna probably get it in his head that he's gotta get gone." It was something John had been clinging to in his mind, what Arthur told him. Dutch didn't want to stick around, and this was just the excuse he'd need to leave.

He shook his head and took the lashes off the low branch he'd hitched the horses on, and they made their way back, with John being silent, but clearly thinking everything over. Making plans of his own, tactics, how to approach the farmhouse without getting caught. There was corn growing high around the farm, that would give them sufficient cover. The farm was a fairly open spread of land, with very little cover to hide in. It would have to be a night job.

Job. The word curdled and turned in his mind. Would he ever be anything but an outlaw? The look of disgust crept onto his face without him realizing.

"If that's what he wants to do, then that's what he's gonna do. Nothing we can do to convince or stop him. But that ain't important right now." he reasoned, having a slightly more even head in this than John. Whatever Dutch wanted to do after this, he didn't care. Dutch had gotten them here and they'd settled in well into this life, his position as leader though was no longer needed.

They arrived back at the ranch in good time, fortunately encountering no one on the road.

Lenny greeted them, "More horses? Ain't we got enough?" he joked but noticed the looks on the two men's faces. "What's wrong?"

"We got trouble. Put them in the paddock and get your gun and a mount for yourself" Arthur ordered, giving the reins of Khan to John before running to go get Dutch. The commotion quickly drew everyone out from what they were doing. Kieran went to help Lenny with the horses.

"We got a big problem and its name is Colm O'Driscoll." he said soon as he was within range of the older man. "He's holed up south of here along with at least thirty men."

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