In the evening, on the first floor of the Strawberry Town Hotel.

Maika and Lenny sat on the platform where the desk at the hotel's reception desk and the giant elk specimen were placed, one sitting in a wooden chair with a bottle of whiskey, looking with interest at the one large and one small on the sofa.

On the couch, the little girl Marty sat upright on the single sofa, although she was in the dust because of the journey, but the blue eyes that were now almost murderous were still staring at Brandy.

Brandi leaned on the couch and held her forehead with a helpless expression.

The innkeeper behind the desk at the front desk looked at the four people with a confused expression, not knowing what they wanted to do.

As soon as the four of them entered, the tall, handsome young white woman and the little girl who looked like she was about to grow into a girl but wore very unruly pants sat down on the couch and had been in for fifteen minutes, in the same position as they had just sat down.

As for the other white man and the young black man who looked fierce, as soon as he entered the door, he was asked to go out and buy two bottles of whiskey, and then he sat here as if he was waiting for a good show.

Although staying here in this way will not necessarily affect the boss's business in a practical sense, it will indeed affect the boss's mood in doing business in a practical sense.

The boss originally wanted to take the initiative to break the current situation that made him, an outsider, feel embarrassed to the point of deducting his feet, but he looked at the vicious white man not far from him, and then looked at the revolvers in the waists or pockets of the four people, and finally did not have the courage to take the initiative. The boss didn't understand why even the little girl had a gun with him, but he knew very well that if he acted recklessly, others would not know, but the white man, who was not easy to mess with at first glance, would definitely use the most direct way to make the hotel change owners.

Finally, the long silence was broken by a sigh from Brandy.

"Ugh......" Brandi sat up straight, looked at Marty, and said, "You're really surprising me."

"You lied to me." Marty's eyes stared straight at Brandi, and that kind of inquiring look was revealed from the eyes of a little girl, and he didn't know if others could hold Brandi, anyway, he himself was indeed a little nervous.

"What else could I do? Did I really bring you?" Brandi said angrily, "I may not be able to protect myself 100% now, if I really take the initiative to bring you along, if something happens to you, won't I be pointed at by a thousand people?"

"So you're lying to a little girl who hasn't reached the age of ten?" Marty kept the same expression as before, and said, "Besides, I spent half of my family's remaining fortune to buy this pony, and I came here on the last train that could stop at Riggs Station, not to hear this from you."

"Is this really the words of a girl living in the 19th century who is less than ten years old?" Once again, Brandi was shocked by the maturity of some aspect of Marty's mind, and couldn't help but scold.

"Marty, you have to understand that although Strawberry Town is a tourist town, I'm not here to visit," Brandi persuaded bitterly, "It's not child's play, Marty, you have to go home anyway, that's the safest option."

Mattie shook her head firmly and said, "I don't have any money left to pay for the return trip, and even if it's safe to go home, is it safe to get home?"

When Brandi heard this, he immediately recalled the three homeless cowboys who had died under Mika's gun before, and immediately realized how dangerous it was for a child to be away from towns and civilized society in this era.

If it was her choice to travel hundreds of miles to get here, now that Brandi drove her back like this, it was his own problem, leaving a little girl alone to face the beasts and bandits that would inevitably appear along the way, no matter what the era, would be called "scum".

Brandi felt that although she had deceived Marty by deception, which led to the fact that she was now running all the way from New Hanover to West Elizabeth alone, it was enough for people to call him "scum", but

, if he drives the little girl away like this now, and leaves her alone to face the danger, not only will he really sit on the title of "scum", but if something really happens, then the little conscience that he thinks is left will definitely jump out and condemn himself all the time.

Perhaps, asking his two companions to send the little girl back to Valentine is also an option, but when you think about it, it is still unrealistic.

First of all, Brandi can only ask Lenny, after all, Maika is a person Brandi really can't be trusted, and Lenny may be a good strategist, but definitely not a good gunman, at least in the Van der Linde gang, he is definitely not ranked in this regard, so not to mention protecting the safety of the little girl, even if he can do it himself is unharmed.

This is why Dudge arranged for him and Maika to act together, after all, the two do complement each other in terms of ability, and if they can match each other in terms of personality, maybe they can become the best partner.

Moreover, even if Marty is really sent back by Lenny like this, according to her character, she will not give up, and there will definitely be some kind of saucy operation when the time comes, rather than singing against her and increasing the chance of her being killed by her own, it is better to let her stay in Strawberry Town with peace of mind, looking at her appearance, as long as she doesn't run around, she can also not run around, which can ensure his safety to the greatest extent.

Finally, and it is also a more realistic point, that is, in the current situation of not knowing who he will be facing, Brandi does not want to let the support that he has finally encountered be discounted, although Lenny's combat effectiveness may not be good, but it is always right to have multiple people and multiple guns, and Lenny's mind is also indispensable in this task, and it is easy to let him leave to do this kind of thing, Brandi feels that this is a waste.

After considering all the circumstances, Brandi finally sighed and said, "Well, forget it, since you're already here, it's too inhumane to drive you back again, so you can live here first, and I'll take care of all the expenses."

"Great," Marty's expression finally relaxed, revealing a shallow smile, "Don't worry, Mr. Manny, I know this is dangerous, and I'll be obedient."

"If that's the case, I'd thank you so much," Brandi sighed again, looking up at the innkeeper who had been watching from behind his desk, and shouted, "Boss!"

"Oh, do you have any instructions, sir?" The boss immediately stood up from behind his desk and said.

Brandi gestured to Marty on the single sofa and said, "Could you please have someone take this young lady to freshen up and then put her in a nice room?"

"Of course, sir," said the boss at once as he walked over to Marty, bowed and made a gesture of please, "please, miss, go this way to the bathroom."

After Marty and the innkeeper left, Brandi looked at the two guys who had been watching the excitement for a long time, pointed to the sofa angrily, and said, "You two, after you've seen enough of the excitement, shouldn't we discuss business?"

"Hahaha, of course, little cowboy," Mika seemed to like his new nickname for Brandy, and he got up from his wooden chair, swaggered over, sat down on the couch, and said, "I said you too, how can you not even handle a little girl, it's really unmanly."

"What else should I do? Spank her?" Brandi scolded.

Maika heard the irony hidden in Brandi's words, not to be outdone, and immediately sneered: "Hey, even if you really spank her, it's better than now, and you don't feel ashamed to be generalized by a little girl?"

"I like this little girl a lot, she has a personality that bears a bit like Jenny," Lenny said, sitting on the single couch opposite the one where Marty had just sat on, as if caught in a memory, "If I could, I would approve of letting her join us."

"I know you still miss Jenny, Lenny, but I think it's better not to happen," Brandi shuddered at the thought of Marty's stubbornness, and immediately brought the conversation to the point he had wanted to talk about, "Now, we've basically confirmed, three or four days ago, in the upper reaches of the Montana River, Camp Riggs

There was indeed such a carriage robbery near the fort, and the hijacked carriage must have a lot to do with the gunsmith's shipment, but we don't know who did it, and where they moved it after the robbery, in other words, we did get the information, but we didn't get the exact information yet, so we couldn't carry out targeted action."

Brandy sat down a little further, and Micah and Lenny moved closer, and Brandi looked at the two of them and said, "So I'm thinking, Strawberry Town is the closest to the scene of the crime, and the police here know that there was a robbery there, so the next step, I think we should ask the mayor of Strawberry Town, or the sheriff, to believe we can get further information."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Lenny immediately questioned, "Don't forget, those robbers are not visible, and the black goods we are chasing are also not on the table, if the government or the police are involved, it is tantamount to dancing on the tip of a knife, and even if you have the identity of a bounty hunter, if they suspect that you have something to do with the black market trade and robbers, the police will still arrest you, and they will definitely not show favoritism because of your identity, rather, because you have this identity, they will stare at you more closely."

Speaking of this, Lenny also pointed at Maika and himself, and said in a low voice: "And don't forget, Mika and I are both wanted criminals on the list, and now the Great Plains area where Blackwater Town is located and the tall tree area very close to here are full of Pinkerton detectives, and there are indeed no gangs wanted here for the time being, but if we show our heads too much, who knows if those puppies will follow the smell and find them, when the time comes, it doesn't matter if we are caught, anyway, as long as we don't resist, they won't execute us immediately, We still have a chance to be rescued, but it's a shame that your innocence is ruined like this, and Ducky told all of us before that you must do your best to ensure that your identity is always on the table, which is very important for the future operation and survival of the gang."

"Tsk, that's a problem," Brandi said, scratching his head, "Is it possible that the thread is going to be broken here?"

At this point, Maika smiled and said, "At this point, you'll have to use the network that only criminals like me have who have been around everywhere."

Brandi looked at Maika and asked, "What does that mean?"

"It's easy to understand that the means on the surface don't work, so naturally you have to use the means that can't be put on the table, isn't it?" Maika laughed deceitfully, "You all know that in this country, no matter what state it is, there will be at least one or two gangs with local roots, and this is no exception."

With that, Maika leaned back on the couch, pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, and said, "I just happened to know that there was such a family gang here, and that their family had been robbing wagons and passing caravans in this area before the Civil War, and they knew everything that was going on in this area, both overtly and secretly."

"Oh?" Brandi suddenly came to his senses, "Where are they?"

"It's not far from here, near the river called the little stream to the north, and if you get closer, you can get there in about a day." Maika struck a match and lit the cigarette and said.

"It's getting dark now," Brandi said, looking at the sunset outside the window, "why don't we go early tomorrow morning."

At this point, Brandi looked at Lenny and said, "It's good that this matter is up to me and Maika, Lenny, please take care of Marty, she's actually an obedient and smart child, but it's difficult in some ways, I hope you won't be too embarrassed."

Lenny smiled slightly and said, "It's okay, although I don't really want to be a nanny, but since you mentioned it, it doesn't hurt for me to be a babysitter, anyway, I like this little girl a lot."

"Well, that's the end of the matter," said Maika, standing up and smoking a cigarette, "I'll come here to meet you at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and hopefully you'll not be sleeping by then, little cowboy."

"Where are you going? There doesn't seem to be a second inn nearby, right?" Brandi asked.

"I'm just not used to being in a civilized society, don't worry, I have a way to settle myself," Maika said, turning away and turning over and riding his beloved horse Bellock,

He said, "Have a good night's rest, you two, no matter who it is, I believe tomorrow will be a hard day."

The bloated cowboy rode a horse with a unique coat and was dressed in the sunset, and slowly walked out of the town, towards the depths of the forest outside the town.