The echo of nails being hammered into hardwood loaded up first, a tirade of aching snaps sounding in the town, not too far from her. Next came the background hubbub of several people talking and chatting simultaneously. It sounded like the saloon downstairs was full. As her vision loaded in, she became aware that she was staring up at a plank ceiling. Kitty rolled out of the bed she had loaded into and went to the window. It had basic linen curtains which, when hauled back, exposed the side of the building across the alley from her window.

  “Helpful,” she grunted. Her clothing had been delivered while she was logged out, as promised. It was all neatly folded and smelled faintly of charcoal. She dressed hurriedly. Once her revolver was on her hip, and the rest of her small arsenal was in place, Kitty opened the door of her room and entered the bustling saloon.

  Nels almost rammed into her immediately, as he hurriedly followed another of the saloon’s prostitutes into a nearby room. Kitty scowled at his antics, thumping the door once with her boot as she passed by.

  His voice sounded from inside, breaking through the hushed giggles and shuffling of bedclothes. “Sorry Miss Kitty!”

  From the balcony, Kitty could see a bloodstain on the poker table and thought of Kurt with a quick grimace. Then she shrugged it off and headed downstairs, weaving through the crowd up to the bar. “Hey! I’m off to the bank, then I’ll be back to settle up. How much do I owe you?”

  He leaned over the bar to hear her, and then retrieved a pad of paper from under the bar, scanning it briefly. “Fifty three dollars even!”

  With a nod and a flippant tip of her new hat, Kitty left the saloon and entered the slightly less crowded street. People were everywhere. Talking, shouting, laughing, clustered in small and large groups. The majority of them were gathered in the open square at the end of the street, down by the railroad station. A group of townsfolk were in the process of building a broad scaffold with a trapdoor on its main stage, a quickly assembled gallows.

  After peering in the windows of the sheriff’s office to ensure Jacob was still locked away securely, Kitty noticed with a smile that Abraham was seated in the corner of the office, still keeping his watch. She nodded at him and started weaving through the crush of people again.

  Once in the bank, she had to stand in line and wait a bit but got her business managed. The money was paid out primarily in large silver coins, each equal to twenty dollars and adorned with a snarling cougar on one side and a large desert city on the other. The rest were smaller gold eagle coins.

  Money in hand, she returned to the saloon and shoved her way to the bar to pay the now happy owner. He pocketed her payment without a word and went back to serving the myriad of clients waiting on him. Kitty shrugged and left.

  Heading to the general store was next on her agenda, and upon arriving she was somewhat dismayed to see a line down the boardwalk to get in. Taking her place in line, she started getting impatient immediately. Waiting had never been a strong suit for Kitty, but she was aware that patience was considered a virtue, so she did her best job of pretending.

  It only took a few minutes for the line to start moving, and once it did she relaxed a bit, thinking about that gorgeous shotgun. She couldn’t wait to get rid of the junker strapped to her back. So it was with some distress that she noted the shopkeeper follow his most recent customer out of the store and turn back to lock the door.

  Ignoring the disappointed customers as they began to disperse, Captain Levi flipped a hanging sign on the door to read closed, before pinning a scrap of paper to it. She groaned in frustration and gave a few seconds thought to robbing the place before regaining her customary control. As Kitty approached, she got a good look at the makeshift sign.

  “Closed for hanging.”

  Kitty again controlled her reaction and instead fell in beside Captain Levi as he walked towards the town square. “Hey there Captain!” She tried to keep her voice cheery. Acting had never been her strong suit, that’s what she kept Kurtis around for.

  He scowled severely, turning to see who was addressing him. As soon as he saw her, his expression softened, and she happily filed her new reputation gains with this NPC shopkeeper away into mental storage.

  “Hello deputy,” Captian Levi said. “Hear we have you to thank for the hangin’ Job well done.”

  “Why thank you sir. Too kind by far,” Kitty replied. They arrived at the square and she looked around at the crush of people gathered there. “I don’t much approve of hanging though. Messy, inefficient. Too many ways for it to go bad.”

  Captain Levi’s back straightened a bit, and he looked her in the eye. “I can see you mean that. Genuine care for your bounty, to the end. Remarkable woman.” That last was under his breath but raised Kitty’s eyebrow anyway. “You’ll be wantin’ that shotgun then.”

  She nodded, a smile forming on her lips.

  “Fine, that’d be fine. Shop reopens tomorrow, nine in the mornin.’ I’ll keep her for ya.” He missed her sudden frown as he shifted back to the scaffold, where the mayor of the town was waving his hands for the crowd to settle.

  The mayor was a rotund man, and he wore a dusky purple suit with matching top hat and tie. He was introduced to the crowd as Mayor Plume, and Kitty couldn’t stop a chuckle. Captain Levi stared at her hard as she laughed and she caught his eye, causing another gale of stifled giggles.

  When she regained her composure, she leaned over to the Captain and muttered under her breath. “Did they say, ‘Mayor Plum?’”

  His face reddened, and he raised a hand to cough into a few times. It sounded to Kitty like he was covering laughter of his own. Once that was over, he adopted a more serious expression and nodded at Kitty. “He’s alright. A dandy, but he does right by the town for the most part. Ain’t a carpetbagger, so that puts him up a few points in my eyes.” There he paused, leaning in conspiratorially. “Now that you point it out, he does look an awful lot like a plum.”

  They shared some amusement and Kitty assured him she would never tell he had spoken such deviance. Then she saw the main event coming down the street from the sheriff’s office behind the gallows. The mayor continued pontificating about justice and closure, about healing and tragedy. The usual gibberish politicians use to face down heartache they’re physically incapable of empathizing with. Kitty ignored the man she now solely thought of as ‘Mayor Plum’ and made her manners to the Captain before weaving her way through the crowd to meet up with Jacob, Mitchel, and the sheriff.

  Mitchel raised his hat when he noticed her pushing through the crowd, and Jacob’s grim expression grew darker. He had his good arm tied by the wrist to his belt behind his back, but his amputated arm was free. Kitty noticed Abraham standing in the shade of the sheriff’s awning, leaning casually on a post and staring in their direction.

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  She stopped in front of the men, touching the brim of her hat. “Lovely morning, ain't it?”

  Jacob stumbled; his feet chained together. When he recovered, his face lifted to meet Kitty’s. “I cannot wait to burn the rest of this place down,” he said, hatred dripping from every word.

  “What’d I tell you about that cynicism, Jacob?” Kitty said. She nodded to the sheriff and Mitchel, before falling in beside them as they walked Jacob slowly to the gallows. When they arrived, she faced them again. “Mind if I have a quiet word with the condemned?” Both men nodded and moved a few feet away. Once they were alone, Kitty shuffled over to a leg of the gallows and leaned against it, piercing Jacob with a stare.

  “What? You won the battle, big congrats,” Jacob whined. He sighed as he hopped to get out of the noonday sun.

  “Tell me what you did to Abraham,” Kitty ordered. Her stare hadn’t shifted, and Jacob cringed when she spoke Abraham’s name.

  “What? Nothing. We ran together for a while.” Jacob grunted as he flopped down into the dirt, grimacing as he nearly fell while his missing arm pinwheeled. “Funny, you asking what other people have done. You took my arm!” he hissed.

  “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. What’d you do to him?” Kitty growled. She tightened her cheek muscles as she spoke.

  Jacob peered up at her, squinting against the sun behind her. After a moment he barked a laugh, just the once. “I patched him up for the quest, not that he needs it. He gets hurt a lot, always seems to get past it without treatment.” He paused there, looking down at his bandaged stump. “Somethin’s wrong with him.”

  “Something’s wrong with you. You hurt him for the quest, so you could patch him up, and you can’t even admit it.” Kitty swept off her hat and ran a hand through her hair and sighed. “If you come back, Jacob, I’m going to have to deal with you. Again,” Kitty emphasised. “It’ll be worse next time.”

  Jacob struggled to his feet, moving towards the steps. “I don’t have all day,” he said.

  Kitty waved over the sheriff and Mitchel again, backing away into the front of the crowd. The gathered people began to whoop and cheer as they saw the condemned finally rising the steps to his fate. Glancing around in revulsion, Kitty stationed herself at the front of the crowd and waited.

  Pomp and circumstance was adhered to. A rancher who lived on the outskirts of town presided over the religious ceremony. Jacob had murdered the town’s preacher, and the rancher had gone to seminary in his youth, so the task of final rites and prayer fell to him. Mayor Plume waved his plump arms to quiet the town and the rancher led the townsfolk in a prayer.

  “Lord above, we beseech your grace on this day. You are a God of peace and forgiveness, of light and hope, healing and mercy. Yet, you are also a God of righteous fury, of vengeance, and of justice. It is justice we aim to serve this day, Lord. We send the condemned to you for judgement and we humbly ask for your grace. Please Lord, heal this place. Amen.”

  As he prayed, Mitchel secured the noose around Jacob’s neck and stepped back, resting a hand lightly on the lever that would drop the trapdoor.

  The makeshift preacher stepped in front of Jacob with a cloth hood. “Your final words, son?”

  Jacob sniffed, eyes narrowed, and lips pursed. He whispered something and the man leaned in closer. With a harsh echoing laugh, Jacob kicked the rancher in the chest and knocked him sprawling into the crowd. The town erupted in anger, shouting and surging towards the scaffold. Mitchel yanked on the lever and Jacob plummeted from sight, calming the angry crowd as Kitty turned away.

  Instead of a sharp snap, the entire stage shifted with a creaking groan, and Jacob’s feet bounced against the hardpack for an instant. The gallows swayed, causing the sheriff and mayor to grab at their seats in concern as Mitchel hurried down the steps.

  Kitty turned back to the sound of an explosive cough. Jacob was dangling, his bloodshot eyes bulging as he pinwheeled his truncated arm. Drool dangled from his gaping mouth, and he erupted in a long strangled gasp.

  Kitty drew her Remington, but Mitchel grabbed her arm and shook his head. “We’re not to interfere.”

  She stared at the marshal hard, cocking the revolver in her hand as she pulled it away from him. He held on for only a second, before letting go and turning away. Kitty stepped up to Jacob, pressed the gun barrel to his forehead, and squeezed the trigger.

  The crowd went silent, but the mayor and sheriff became quite vocal. The rest of that commotion passed in a haze, as Kitty struggled to get the image of Jacob’s bulging eyes and protruding tongue out of her mind. She kept hearing that strangled gasp he had made and feeling the kick of her revolver as she ended it.

  Kitty shook off the worst of it as she walked with the sheriff, mayor Plume, and Mitchel back to the sheriff’s office. Abraham followed them inside, but simply leaned on the wall and didn’t speak. The chubby mayor began the proceedings, as befit his station in his own mind.

  “Who the hell gave this woman authority over my hanging!?” Mayor Plume demanded. His face was already red from the sun and excitement, but now anger tinged his shade a bit brighter.

  “Woah now, this woman is Kit, our new deputy,” Mitchel replied. Bless him, the marshal tried.

  “Shut your mouth marshal!” The sheriff seemed to be on the mayor’s side. “Interfering in a lawful execution is a federal offense. I should lock you in that cell!”

  After his bluster, Abraham shifted, stretching as he pushed off the wall and moved over to the open cell Jacob had recently vacated. He swung the door shut and leaned against it instead of his former wall.

  All eyes followed the towering man, and Kitty smiled as she realized his intent. “Sheriff . . . Mayor Plume.” She spoke softly and slowly at first, revving up in intensity as she went. “You quote law at me without the proper guidance of morality and you’ll lose my interest real fast. That execution went wrong, and I stepped in to stop the cruelty of it. The man that burnt your church down is dead, your people stand avenged, and justice has been served.” She paused for effect, before shouting the next words. “Now stop whining!”

  Both men confronting her turned a deeper shade of red, but neither spoke against her. After standing in place and thinking for a long moment, Kitty drew her revolver in a sudden motion. She let it dangle from her finger by the trigger guard as she stepped over to the sheriff’s desk and thumped it down onto the hardwood. Then she fished the badge he had given her out of her satchel and flipped it into his lap like a coin.

  “My resignation should satisfy your paperwork,” Kitty said. With a significant look to Abraham, Kitty moved to the door. Fixing the sheriff with a stare, she opened the door and held it. “Jacob’s gang is coming." If you’re smart, you’ll keep these people here and get as ready as you can.”

  With that, she left, Abraham in tow. He shifted uncomfortably in the milling crowd, so Kitty nudged his arm as she started walking down the row of buildings towards the northern edge of town. Once they were clear of Delusion, he stopped walking and turned to look back.

  “Why did you shoot Jacob?” Abraham asked. His voice was higher than usual, and he exhibited clear confusion in his body language.

  “Just what I said in there. It went bad, he’d have choked for an hour before he died,” Kitty answered. She adjusted her now empty gun belt.

  “Oh.” Silence for a moment as he looked into the distance. The confusion and interest were gone. “I’m hungry.”

  “Been meaning to talk to you about that, actually,” Kitty said. She turned to face the big man, shielding her eyes as she looked up into his face. He was wary. “I’m not asking you to change, or even share your secrets. But this is my crew, and you’ll have to accept some rules to be part of it.”

  His eyes narrowed as he gave her a shallow nod.

  “Good. Look, I don’t care how you play your game, but you can’t cause trouble around here or get any more bounties. Just don’t eat good people, how’s that sound?” Kitty asked.

  Abraham snorted. “Unreasonable.”

  “Yeah maybe. Here’s the thing. You may actually become a valuable member of my team, and possibly a dear friend someday. But right now I don’t know you, and you’re going to need to prove that you can operate within my parameters. How you go forward is up to you, but figure it out, cause your little ‘habit’, shall we say? It cannot interfere with what I’m doing.” Kitty stood and stared at Abraham as she spoke, watching his subtle body language responses. “Thank you for having my back with the sheriff, by the way.”

  Abraham smiled slightly. “You’re welcome.” He then cupped his hands and produced a piercing whistle that echoed across the desert. “I’ll figure it out.”

  His horse approached then, nickering slightly as it nudged him from behind. The animal was massive, and while Kitty couldn’t place the breed, its shaggy legs and sheer size led her to believe Clydesdale wasn’t off the board as a possibility. He mounted the horse and trotted off into the distance, heading in the general direction of the swampland the next state over.

  “Well, that was fun.” Kitty sighed and tried to keep the slump out of her shoulders. “Think I’m gonna go pick flowers.”