The next day, when Stephen crawled out of his bunk, the gang was already packing up and getting ready to leave.

  Ms. Grimshaw was leading the few sober women to pack things up, one by one, packing them carefully onto the wagons.

  Dutch and Hosea stood aside, talking about something. Seeing Stephen come out, Dutch greeted him with a smile.

  Stephen took out a cigarette and offered one to each of them.

  He lit his cigarette, took a deep drag, the spicy tobacco flavor flowing through his lungs, and then slowly exhaled, taking away the last trace of drowsiness from his body.

  "Are you guys getting ready to head out?" Stephen asked curiously.

  "That's right, we're heading southeast. There's a small ranching town there called Valentine. Hosea says there's a place called Horseshoe Overlook, and we're going to set up shop there," Dutch said, waving his hands.

  This guy seemed to like waving his arms no matter what he said, as if it would make his words more convincing.

  "You're just telling me this?" Stephen said to Dutch with a smile. "You know I'm a bounty hunter, and you guys have quite the bounty on your heads."

  Dutch laughed heartily, drawing the attention of others.

  He clapped Stephen on the shoulder forcefully, saying with confidence, "You wouldn't. I believe in you. I've never misjudged anyone, and I have faith in you, in myself."

  Who knows where his confidence came from.

  Stephen didn't know how to respond, so he just nodded. "Don't worry, you guys saved Mrs. Sadie from the O'Driscoll gang. That alone is enough for me not to give away your location."

  "Oh, right, and that damn Colm," Dutch said, slapping his forehead and looking at Stephen. "We'll go check out Horseshoe Overlook first. If it's a good spot, we'll settle down there. Then we'll start looking for the O'Driscoll gang."

  "I'll find them. I have some of my own sources," Stephen said with a smile.

  After being a bounty hunter for so long, Stephen had developed some of his own informants.

  It might cost a little money, but that's the deal, isn't it?

  Stephen glanced at Mrs. Sadie, who was helping pack things up. Maybe his words last time had had an effect. Mrs. Sadie seemed to be doing much better lately and had started helping with the chores.

  "Mrs. Sadie should stay with you guys for now," Stephen said helplessly. "There are a lot of people here, and Mary-Beth and Karen can keep her company. If I take her away now, I'm afraid she won't be able to handle it."

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  "Don't worry, son, we'll take care of her," Hosea chimed in. "You're right, the support of friends is essential at a time like this."

  "Thank you. I don't know what I would have done without you," Stephen said sincerely.

  Of course, he could take Mrs. Sadie away directly, but then what? He had to go after the O'Driscoll gang scum. Was he supposed to just leave Mrs. Sadie alone at home?

  God, that would be a disaster. To be honest, given Mrs. Sadie's previous state, Stephen couldn't imagine what kind of foolish thing she might do.

  After the small talk, Stephen went back to pack up his own things. He didn't have much, so he got it done quickly.

  But Stephen felt a little embarrassed just standing around, watching everyone else bustling about.

  He happened to see Mary-Beth dragging a heavy box, looking exhausted. Without thinking, Stephen went over to lend a hand.

  This caused the girls around him to laugh exaggeratedly, looking like they were having the time of their lives.

  Ms. Grimshaw then unleashed her fury on the lazy girls, scaring them into quickly going back to work.

  Forget it, I should just relax and not get in the way.

  Stephen turned and walked into the stable, leading out his white horse.

  The horse had been cooped up for the past few days and was excited to finally get out. If Stephen hadn't been holding his reins, the horse probably would have run off already.

  Stephen tidied up his saddle, loaded all his belongings onto his horse's back, and led him slowly to the edge of the village, where the packing was almost complete.

  Arthur, carrying the wounded John on his back, roughly placed him on a prepared wagon that had been lined with blankets.

  Perhaps his movements were too rough, causing John to groan in pain.

  Arthur turned around and said to John with a look of disgust, "You should be paying me for this, and a lot too."

  John retorted, "If you were my employee, I would have fired you a long time ago."

  "Maybe you shouldn't be here, but rather be a rancher or something. You're just like those heartless capitalists," Arthur said sarcastically.

  "Oh... is that so? Thanks to you, maybe one day I really will deduct your wages," John retorted without hesitation.

  Watching these two bicker was quite amusing.

  Arthur was always sarcastic and seemed unwilling to admit defeat. This John, although usually cold and seemingly incapable of speaking properly, could sometimes be cutting when he was sarcastic.

  Stephen watched these two argue with interest. Why didn't he have such eloquence? He had to learn from them, it might come in handy in the future.

  Bill dragged his prisoner, the poor Kieran, to Dutch. "Boss, what should we do with this O'Driscoll gang lowlife?"

  Kieran cried out in pain, "How many times do I have to say it? I'm really not with the O'Driscoll gang. I was just their stablehand, looking after the horses."

  "Oh, we'll find out you're a stablehand. Bill, he's yours. Take him with us. We'll need him," Dutch said, not bothering to listen to him and handing him over to Bill directly.

  Bill happily tied Kieran to his horse, knowing that they would be spending a lot of time together in the coming days.

  Soon the wagons were packed to the brim, and everyone climbed aboard, ready to leave.

  "Arthur, you and Hosea sit in the back wagon. I know you like to talk about the old days, and what exactly happened to your beloved old Dutch," Dutch said cheerfully, even interested in making fun of himself.

  Stephen rode his horse behind the convoy.

  Once everything was ready, at Dutch's command, they slowly left Shady Belle.

  This group of old-fashioned outlaws once again embarked on the path of the new era. Was tragedy or comedy awaiting them ahead?

  No one knew, and Stephen didn't know either.

  That's how the future is, unpredictable, and always anticipated.

  But as long as you keep moving forward, you will eventually find out.