Culture
Pioneer - Part Three
In the gripping conclusion of 'Pioneer - Part Three,' Clara and Ada face a terrifying attack from masked men, forcing them to fight for their lives and the safety of their children. As darkn...
Pioneer - Part Three
Culture •
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Pioneer by Nicholas Woods.
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Clara sat at the table near the tents, sipping tea, felicity, and Ada.
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The children played nearby and Clara watched Ada look at them fondly more than once.
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She wondered about Ada and the silences of the quiet afternoon.
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The woman had also lost a child many years before.
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They had a bond there.
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Two mothers whose nests held an empty corner.
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When Clara told Ada about how she lost grace, the woman was quiet for a moment.
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Ada gave Clara a look of sincere empathy.
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Be careful. It ain't just gold that can cause someone to want.
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Grief can grow into its own desire.
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A desire for what?
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Revenge.
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Ada said seriously.
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Clara gave a small shrug.
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It was a mountain lion that took from me.
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No one alive to seek anything from.
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My husband saw that.
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Sometimes any pain will do from anyone.
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Clara knew Ada sensed the danger that was present in the area.
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Clara asked Ada why she stayed when violence seemed to be around every corner.
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The woman's answer was simple.
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The child I lost.
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He's buried there off under the mountains.
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I just can't bring myself to leave him.
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All alone here.
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Clara nodded, understanding.
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There must be somewhere that people can go on without fear and just live.
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Somewhere without bloodshed and strife and war.
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Somewhere quiet.
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The two sat sipping tea.
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Felicity was meticulously cleaning her nails with a metal file.
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Ada set her cup down onto the porcelain saucer.
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Her eyes going wide.
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She looked at Clara and spoke very seriously.
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Tell your sister to bring the children inside the tent.
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Calmly with the casual speaking voice.
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Clara didn't understand.
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Why?
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Ada kept her posture still as she leaned in.
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Don't turn.
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There are men in the trees, masked men.
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They're sneaking up on us.
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They don't know I've spotted them.
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Calmly called to her.
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Clara froze as if her blood turned to ice.
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She could hear it.
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A faint rustling in the distance.
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Although fear coursed through her veins, she mustered her voice, pushing past the lump in her throat.
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Felicity, could you please bring the children into the tent?
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They're tired.
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Ada looked at Clara.
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Do you have a pistol?
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Clara felt tears sting her eyes.
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In the tent.
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Ada nodded.
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We'll have about 30 seconds till they're on us.
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When I say we run, are you ready?
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Clara's eyes said she was.
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Run, Ada said, and the women sprang from the table and moved toward the tent.
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Behind them stood three figures,
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each wearing burlap sacks with eye holes cut out.
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And their hands were pistols.
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Clara and Ada made it to the tent.
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Clara quickly informed Felicity of the situation and told her to stay back with the children.
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Clara grabbed her pistol.
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Her hands shaking as she moved out of the tent once more.
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Standing just ten feet ahead of her was one of the masked figures.
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Move any closer and out fire.
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Clara only wished she could control her shaking hands.
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In that moment she prayed.
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She prayed to God to give her the strength so she could protect the children that remained toward her.
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God responded.
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Smack!
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Clara was struck on the side of the head by something.
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When she hit the ground, she could see another masked figure standing above her holding the butt of his pistol out.
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The third masked man appeared moving inside the tent.
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Clara could see through the flap as Felicity screamed holding onto the children.
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Ada was with them.
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Ada grabbed a knife off a table and stuck it into the man's side.
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But the man didn't flinch.
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He just removed the knife and let it fall to the floor.
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He struck Ada in the face, then roughly grabbed Felicity pulling her by the leg out onto the dirt.
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The third man hauled Felicity to her feet and bent her over the table.
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Their tea cups rattling as Felicity was forced onto the wood.
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Felicity fought as the man tried to unbuckle his belt with one hand and keep his other on her neck.
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Clara watched as the masked man who struck her stepped over, looking down on her.
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He removed his mask.
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The man had dirty strawberry blonde hair and a thick mustache.
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He looked to his partner, who removed his mask as well.
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The second man had a bald head and small, mean eyes.
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The bald man asked when his turn would be in the mustache man replied,
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after Evan.
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Clara could only assume that the hulking man with Felicity was Evan.
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He kept his mask on, still struggling with his trousers.
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Please don't hurt my children.
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Clara begged.
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The man laughed.
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Their heads turned at the sounds of Evan who cried out in pain.
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Felicity had struck him in the groin and made a move to escape, but Evan grabbed onto her.
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Clara used the moment as a distraction.
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She rolled over toward the fire pit where an iron poker sat idle.
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She grabbed it and went to a knee lunging upward to strike the mustache man in the head.
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He wailed.
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He turned and lunged Clara.
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They both rolled in the dirt.
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Clara scratched at him with all her might clawing at his face, kicking at him endlessly.
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The mustache man managed to get on top of her and wrapped his hands around her neck.
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He squeezed and squeezed.
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Clara tried to push his hands away but couldn't.
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Instead, she gave up, but before darkness and death took her, she reached her hand onto the mustache man's belt.
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There, she found his pistol.
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She pulled it from the man's holster, turned it into his side and fired.
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The bullet ripped right through his torso.
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The mustache man let out an otherworldly scream.
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He fell to the ground, writhing like a snake with his head cut off.
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Clara's eyes went wide watching him.
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He didn't just bleed.
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No.
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The man seemed to send her and smoke from within.
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It looked like when one blew out a piece of parchment that was a flame.
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But though the fire was gone, little red embers continued to burn the paper away.
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The man continued to disintegrate from the place where the hot bullets struck him.
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Clara kept expecting the man to burst into flame, but instead, he just crumpled into black ash, slowly up his body, until his eyes burned out of his skull.
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The bald man watched in horror.
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Clara looked and saw Felicity grab it a teapot, turn and swing it into Evan's head.
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The man stumbled.
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His pants now fully down, caused him to trip over his feet.
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Clara lifted her pistol and fired two bullets into the man.
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The same thing happened to him.
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Where the bullets struck him, he began to burn like paper until black ash spread over his entire body.
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Ada appeared from the tent and stuck the remaining man with a knife.
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He didn't flinch.
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He turned and grabbed Ada by the throat, but the bald man's eyes went wide as he screamed to sound no human could produce.
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Through his belly appeared the white hot iron poker.
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Clara, on the other side of the man, driving it deeper into his back.
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The man cried out, a gold tooth in his mouth, shining to the sun.
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When he centered into black ash, he disappeared completely.
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Clara looked at the pile of ash she left behind.
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She reached into it and removed his gold tooth.
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Clara looked at Ada, then they both went to Felicity.
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The three held one another, too frightened to rejoice.
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Clara moved into the tent to find her children and reassured them they were safe.
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Bad men had come, and they had won.
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But the battle wasn't over. Clara knew this for sure.
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It wouldn't be over until they left the place for good.
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Something terrible had been fallen organ town, a dark evil.
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And now they needed to escape.
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Later that evening, Henry, Victor and a man named Julius arrived back in camp.
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Julius seemed surprised to see Ada there.
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The two obviously acquainted with one another.
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Henry was drunk.
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Something had happened that day, but Henry wouldn't speak of it.
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When Clara tried to tell them about the attack, the men listened.
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But they didn't seem to take the danger as immediate as she and Felicity did.
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The two could barely stand. They were so inebriated.
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These are violent times.
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Another ordinary about it.
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Victor shouted at Felicity, though the woman was on the verge of tears.
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Violence and evil have always resided in the hearts of men.
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I don't know what happened here, but there are no bodies.
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What am I to believe?
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After what they had been through, the women were furious.
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They sent the two away and told them to come back when they were sober.
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They didn't need them around.
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They couldn't protect anyone in the state they were in.
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Clara knew if she was going to save her family, she needed to do it on her own.
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Ada and Julius stayed in their tents that night.
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They put the children to sleep and made a plan.
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Something was happening in town and it was clear it had to do with the gold.
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The only thing left of the men that were killed were products of gold.
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They got rid of Felicity's earrings.
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That was the only gold left in the encampment.
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They remembered Victor's pocket watch and Henry's flask.
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Clara made a promise that the following day they would find the men,
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rid them of their gold and be away with the town.
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They sat in the tent a long time before adults.
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Each of them terrified on what they witnessed that day.
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When Julius spoke about what happened at the burnt river mine,
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both Clara and Felicity felt guilty for sending the men away.
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Clara made a plan to leave first light if the men hadn't returned.
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Henry and Victor rode away from their tent encampment at a slow pace.
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Henry tilted his flask to his lips, draining it of the remaining whiskey.
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How dare they curse us for being drunk?
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Of course we're drunk.
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Will we witness that maybe drunk until the new year?
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The men made their way to the only place they knew to go,
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toward town and the brass palace alone.
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They hitched their horses outside and moved up the wooden steps.
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Henry was surprised to hear such commotion coming from inside.
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It sounded like a New York party was booming from within.
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As they pushed past the double swinging doors,
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the men were thrown right into a lively gathering.
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But the place did not look like it did the days before when they had lunch
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at the quiet creaking saloon.
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Now the brass palace was alive.
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Victor noticed Walker Mitchell in the middle of the room.
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He waved Victor over and showed him a hefty piece of gold that the mind had produced.
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And there's so much more, Victor.
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We did it. We really did it.
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Tears were in Victor's eyes.
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He was a success.
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Everything he dreamt about had come true.
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Victor flipped a coin to the three armed guards who stood around Walker
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and the mass of gold ore, shook congratulatory hands with the men,
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then led Henry over to the bar.
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Henry couldn't believe what lively excitement flowed from every corner.
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Henry watched as one man placed a gold necklace around a woman's neck,
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then ripped to shirt open only to bury his face in the chest.
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Henry turned away from that display to see whiskey had arrived.
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The two brothers clinked glasses and threw the warm liquor into their mouths.
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After a few fingers full, Victor turned to Henry, his eyes glossy with emotion.
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You know, Henry, I never got to say how sorry I was about your daughter.
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Grace, I'm sorry I never got to meet her.
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Henry was taken back a moment and looked his brother in the eyes and nodded his sincere gratitude.
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They drank more whiskey, but Henry felt his head start to buzz.
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He stood, claiming he didn't feel right.
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The victor said he hadn't felt more alive in his entire life.
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Henry excused himself to get fresh air, moving outside,
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past the men and women who would nearly turn the saloon into an open brothel.
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As Henry reached the door, he looked back and saw Victor speaking to a young woman.
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She took his hand and Victor let her lead him to a back room on the second floor.
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Henry's eyes narrowed in judgment at his brother.
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Outside, Henry took a deep breath, but it was cut short when two men raced by on horses shooting at one another.
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Henry ducked down, then looked inside the saloon for someone to call to sheriff.
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No one responded. No one seemed to be bothered by the fighting.
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Henry moved down the steps to head to the jail and find Jim Kelly, but Henry tripped and fell down the stairs hitting his head.
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He sat up, his vision blurry.
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Someone was there to aid him.
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Some kind horror who helped him to his feet and even brought him to a quiet place in the saloon to heal his cut.
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The woman tried to unbuckle Henry's belt, but Henry stopped her.
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And when he looked at the woman, he nearly jumped from the bed.
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He saw dark eyes and an evil presence where once a woman sat.
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Henry felt at the floor crawling away, terrified.
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He found his pistol and pointed it.
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And when he looked at the woman again, she was fine.
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Just a simple, comely girl no more than 20.
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And she was scared by Henry's pointed pistol and went to the adjacent room calling for the deputy.
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After blurry eyes, Henry watched his more-in-the-young entered the room.
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And when the man saw Henry, he cursed and smiled, saying it would be worth pausing his time with his own hoard to throw Henry and jail.
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Henry tried to crawl from the room, unable to stand.
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His vision was blurry and his head still swam.
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There was something in the air.
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The whole place didn't feel right.
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Henry could hear a thrum and a shook-and-dose core threatening all his senses.
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When Henry finally crawled from the room, Morgan young and the two whores laughing while they watched him, he barely made it to the stairs.
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But when he did, all four were surprised when they saw downstairs.
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The entire saloon had gone quiet.
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Half-naked men and women were all gathered around the gold ore, standing still in silence, watching him.
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What the fuck has happened down there? Morgan young asked.
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But when Henry tried to stand, the man produced his pistol, struck Henry in the head with it.
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Henry went limp and darkness and finally found it.
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Clara waited up all night for Henry and Victor to arrive home that they never did.
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She packed their things, all the valuables she could hold as well as water skins and wrapped food.
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She did all this in the dark.
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Soon the sun rose and she was left with a decision.
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Leave her children with Felicity, Ada and Julius to make an attempt into town to find Henry and Victor or escape with them all right there and then.
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The Clara knew in her heart she couldn't leave Henry.
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So she dawned her coat, loaded her pistol and made out at first light or town.
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Clara walked the three miles on foot moving with purpose through the trees.
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The men had taken the horses of her own two legs, what had to do.
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She made it just outside of town when she stopped in the middle of the road.
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She looked behind her and saw a man on horseback racing toward her.
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She tried to run but the man was too fast.
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As she rode closer, Clara saw he was one of the native climbers.
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The man slowed down and dismounted.
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He seemed to be warning Clara not to enter the town.
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His English was broken, but Clara understood what he was trying to tell her.
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It was what she already knew.
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She told the man she knew what she was up against.
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Account from the accused, Keela Eakney, age unknown.
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Translation from a captured, climate man.
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He came from this sky, the evil.
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It was not born here in these lands.
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It came from the stars, the gold.
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It came from the darkness beyond the night.
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Men dig and men unearthed that which should have stayed in the ground.
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Cast it into the fire.
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Only fire can destroy the dark.
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Cast it into the fire, the gold, and those consumed.
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The man was hung later that day.
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He spoke no other words.
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Victor woke suddenly.
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He didn't know the time, but the light that came through the window told him it was early morning.
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He looked in the bed next to him.
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A young girl was turned over, still sleeping.
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Victor felt a small pang of her grip that shook it off quickly.
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His head pounded from the night's whiskey.
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He felt it as coat which lay strewn on the bedside table.
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Everything seemed to be there except for his pocket watch.
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Already put his gold pocket watch.
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He moved from the bed to a chair where his trousers sat.
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He checked the pockets.
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It wasn't there.
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He turned back to the whore.
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He moved to a queues her.
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He yelled in the room for her to give it back.
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When he pulled the girl to wake her up, she turned over.
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A pool of blood underneath her.
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She was dead.
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Blood from a wound on her neck.
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Whether the cut was from a blade or a bite, Victor could not tell.
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He panicked.
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He wasn't sure what had happened.
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He moved to find his clothing.
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He ran to escape the room in the saloon all together, but then he stopped.
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He saw something shining in his boot.
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His gold pocket watch.
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He removed it, staring at it, and suddenly he felt no more regret.
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He felt nothing and everything.
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Victor looked up at the shadow and darkness that stood before him.
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A being from night and shadow, seven feet tall, standing where his gold watch was just a moment ago.
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Victor looked at the black form and bowed to it.
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The figure didn't move.
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The darkness was still in the morning light that shone through the window.
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Victor bent on his knees, worshipping the figure that stood before him.
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He thanked it and promised his life to it.
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He prayed, and for a moment, Victor knew for certain he would never feel alone again.
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He was finally complete.
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Clara moved into Orgentown, her pistol in her hand.
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A fog had settled onto the ground so thick the entire area seemed to fall into shadow.
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She could barely see two feet in front of her.
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She heard fighting and commotion somewhere in the distance.
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Then she heard a scream and turned as a woman emerged from the fog bearing a knife.
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Clara shoved the woman away from her before the blade could reach her.
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Clara aimed but didn't fire.
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She yelled at the woman who disappeared into the fog to stay back or Clara would kill her.
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For a moment, things were quiet.
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Clara moved down the dirt road again to town.
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She found the brass palace and slowly crept up the stairs.
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When she looked inside, the place was empty, but there were blood stains all over the saloon.
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Clara called inside.
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Henry! Henry Hill!
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A dark silence responded. She heard nothing.
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Then she heard a frantic scratching, a clawing at the walls.
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Then suddenly someone appeared out of a back room, the barkeep.
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But he had blood all down his mouth and body.
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He held in his hand of butcher's axe.
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He gripped it running toward Clara in a scream.
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Clara told the man to stay where he was but the man didn't listen.
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Clara ran outside, pistol pointed, waiting for the barkeep to emerge.
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But he didn't. Nothing came out.
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Clara didn't wait for something to arrive.
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She turned and moved back down the road.
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Clara moved through the thick fog once more.
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She heard a noise and spun, but she couldn't see two feet in front of her.
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She heard a wicked scream echo through the air.
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She didn't know where it was coming from.
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She turned, but she ran right into the body of a horse.
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The animal bristled and Clara knew the nag immediately to the stool.
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She hugged the beast and even asked it where Henry was, of course, expecting no response.
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Clara padded stool reassuringly, then pulled his reins as she moved back down the thoroughfare.
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She decided not to peer into the quiet brothel that was the fine feline,
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and instead moved to the jail where maybe she could find help.
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Clara tied stool to a post and crept up the wooden steps of the jail.
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As she didn't knock but called out as she entered.
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No one responded.
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When she opened the door fully, she saw the place was empty, except for the jail cell.
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Someone was crumpled in a pool of blood behind the bars.
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Clara looked once more to see the person there was Henry.
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She cried out to him, but the man didn't wake.
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She looked for keys, but couldn't find them.
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Clara turned at the sound of gunshots outside.
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Then, suddenly, the door swung open and a man entered.
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Sheriff Jim Kelly.
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The man was bleeding from the shoulder, but otherwise seemed okay.
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Clara spoke with him and he confirmed that chaos had found the town and people were killing in the streets.
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The sheriff moved to a back safe where he produced the jail cell keys as well as the cigar.
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He lit the cigar and told Clara to hold out her arm.
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Clara wasn't sure why, but the man made it clear he wasn't going to hand over the keys until she did.
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Jim Kelly said it was a test to make sure she really was her.
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Clara held out her arm and quickly realized what the man meant to do.
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He took his cigar and held the hot end with forearm.
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She cried out.
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Jim Kelly's hand on his pistol waiting for something that didn't come.
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The sheriff explained that fire was the only way to kill whatever had consumed his town's folk.
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If they were too far gone, if the gold had seeped into their minds and souls, then fire was the only way.
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The sheriff unlocked the jail cell and Clara went to Henry.
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The man was starting to come too, but he was very injured and bleeding greatly from his head.
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They got him to his feet, moved to the front door, ready to make their escape.
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Sheriff Jim Kelly opened the front door but did not expect the pistol to be waiting level with his jugular.
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The bullet ripped through his throat and a sheriff of Oregon Town fell backwards suffocating on his own plot.
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Clara looked to see the man who wielded the gun was Victor.
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Victor! What are you doing?
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Take my mind as from me will you sheriff?
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Victor turned his gun toward Clara, looking his eyes void of anything that resembled the man she had come to know.
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Clara rushed the man, striking him hard in the groin.
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Victor punched her in the face, but Clara threw her body into them and turned and hit him hard with her pistol.
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The man touched his face, laughing.
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He gave Clara a menacing look, from where he stood but Clara had managed to back him up into the open jail.
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As fast as she could, Clara pushed the door to the jail closed and turned the key.
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Victor growled as he realized he had been trapped.
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Clara moved to Henry again who had slumped to the floor and went to lift him up.
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Victor screamed at her to let him go, yelled out all the things he would do to her when he was free.
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Clara left in there, hauling Henry outside, Victor held screaming plans and murder for within.
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She moved Henry over to school.
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She loaded her husband onto the horse with much effort.
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There was fighting around, but the fog was still heavy and made the combatants possible to work.
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Clara looked at Henry who seemed near death.
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She made his hands grab, seuls' reins and she pushed the horse in the direction west away from town.
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It was the only thing she could do.
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She watched as Henry bobbed on the horse half dead, moving through the fog.
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Clara had done what she could.
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She gathered herself and made an attempt to escape town and find her children.
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She moved through the fog on foot and left town the way she had come, the sounds behind her driving her onward.
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Clara arrived back at the tents to find what she had feared.
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People had arrived, consumed.
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Their tent encampment was in the midst of a terrible fight.
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Felicity sat on the ground, Homer, in her lap.
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The man had a fatal wound in his chest.
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The boy was pale and had died in arms.
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Ada held on to the children, as Julius fended off two large men with pistols.
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Julius could barely stand.
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The man holding his bleeding side where he must have taken a bullet.
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Clara looked at her own pistol.
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Her hand was shaking.
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She looked up to the sky.
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For a moment she could hear humming and a baby's laughter.
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She didn't know why, but somehow she felt grace as presence.
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It gave her strength.
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Her hand was no longer shaking.
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And Clara knew what she must do.
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Clara emerged onto the fight, wielding her pistol and fired a shot at one of the men.
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It took him in the shoulder and he switched on otherworldly screams as arm began to send her away.
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The men turned their pistols onto Clara, but she was fast and ducked behind the wagon.
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She dove through the ground, firing her pistol again at the same man, this time striking him in the chest.
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The man wailed and fell to the ground as his body burnt to black ash.
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Bullets struck the ground near Clara, and she stood quickly, running fast behind one of the tents.
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Clara moved from the other side of the canvas, emerging into the open area, firing a bullet at the man.
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It hit him in the chest.
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She charged him and fired, but she was out of bullets.
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The man raised his gun to shoot her, but Clara reached him and pushed his arm into the air while he fired.
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The man fell on top of Clara, pointed to teeth and dark eyes screaming as the man tried to bite at her.
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But his wound eventually cut up with it, sintering his entire body to black ash that scattered over Clara's screaming face.
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The man was gone and Clara got to her feet.
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Her children ran to her and she embraced them.
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Clara helped Felicity to her feet, telling her the awful truth that they must leave Homer's body in a scape west.
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The group gathered what they could, but mostly left it all behind.
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They moved toward the trees on foot, away from the fog and evil that had overtaken Oregon territory.
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They moved until the sun was about to set, but through the trees they heard something.
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When they emerged upon the noise, they found Henry sitting by a tree.
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They patched the man up and gave him water.
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They moved him back on the stool once more, and the group continued their journey as far away as they could go.
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They walked for three days.
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Henry seemed to recover well and he made endless apologies to Clara that she wouldn't hear.
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They had their children and they would find safety once more.
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They mourned the loss of Homer and whatever would become a victor, but they had to keep going.
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After days of travel when Oregon Town seemed finally behind them, a song returned to the group and joy filled their hearts.
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They traveled along the long road, Henry and Clara leading the soul.
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The children sat atop the steed, behind them walked Ada and Julius as well as Felicity.
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Fear and torment had left them.
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Clara smiled at Henry across the soul's reins and Henry smiled back.
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So, Henry asked, where are we going to go?
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Clara smiled, somewhere quiet.
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They rode and sang until the sun began to set.
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Benjamin held onto his sister tightly, who sat in front of him.
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The young boy was careful to keep one hand on her to make sure she was secure on the horse,
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but his other hand kept moving to his pocket.
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The tiny hand padded it, making sure its contents were still there.
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The boy nodded, feeling the circular shape of the locket and the coil of the silver chain that was laced with gold.
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He could hear it's calling, a saw gentle sound that drummed through the trees.
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Calling.
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This has been Pioneer, written and directed by Nicholas Woods, performed by Chase Cargo.