Until Colm O'Driscoe left for a while, neither lady reacted to what had just happened.
Ten minutes ago, they were drinking expensive coffee elegantly in a gorgeously decorated and heavily guarded carriage, but they were suddenly kidnapped by the O'Drisco Gang; a few minutes ago, the leader of the O'Drisco Gang looked like a winner. He greeted his trophies, which was them, with a graceful attitude, but was scared away by a few shots from a strange gunman who was like a magic weapon descending from heaven. I have to say that the ups and downs of life are really exciting.
"Miss, are we safe now?" the maid Amandine, who had been silent before, spoke. Although her expression was still unfazed, in fact, she almost fainted from fright just now.
Lily looked excited and expectant: "It doesn't matter whether it's safe or not now. Hey, do you see what the man who shot and saved us just now looks like?"
Amandine had a grimace on her face. All her energy had just been used to control herself from fainting. How could she have any spare time to see what the shooter looked like? What's more, she didn't even know from which direction the bullets were fired. In her impression, gunshots were suddenly heard from all directions, and then the gangsters ran away.
Lily didn't care about the maid's reaction, but looked at the hills with great excitement: "I really didn't expect that the Wild West could be so exciting. First there were a large number of gangs robbing the road, then there was a large-scale gun battle, and finally there was a sharpshooter hero. Save the beauty, my God, I thought scenes like this could only be seen in dramas, movies and dime novels."
"A person?" Amandine was a little confused. "Did you say that the person who saved us just now was a person, not a team?"
"Of course not," Lily proudly pointed to her ear with ruby earrings, "I can tell that those gunshots all belong to the same gun, the Spencer lever rifle, which is the most common carbine repeater. Rifle, and unlike the standard one, the rifling has been finely improved, and the barrel has been lengthened to a reasonable extent. Such modifications can effectively enhance the power of the firearm and extend the range. If not unexpected, this gun is also An optical sight was installed because the distance from the top of the mountain to here is too far, and it is difficult to ensure such high accuracy without the help of an optical sight, but maybe, he is a sharpshooter after all."
Although Amandine often bluntly said that her daughter's knowledge was mixed but not perfect, she had always trusted and admired her daughter's extraordinary hearing.
Lily has had a very special and keen sense of sounds since she was a child, so she was sent to France when she was very young to receive training from a music master and learn vocal music and musical instruments. Amandine has been serving Lily since then. It wasn't until she was exposed to firearms for the first time at the age of 12 that she discovered that the sounds she was most sensitive to did not come from songs and musical instruments, but from firearms. So, after she returned to the United States at the age of 13, she began to learn about firearms almost crazily and tried various types of firearms, until today. Amandine can even confidently say that even an officer with rich combat experience cannot judge the sound of gunshots more accurately than her own lady.
Amandine looked around, surrounded by only green and vast grasslands, where deer and hares were running or looking for food. She asked cautiously: "Miss, what should we do now?"
"Of course we are waiting for the warrior who saves us to show up," Lily's smile was full of innocence, "I guess he will be here soon. It would be great if we could ask him to escort us."
"I thought he had left." Amandine was a little surprised.
There seemed to be a hint of ridicule in Lily's words: "Amandine, you always say that I am naive, but in fact, you are the most naive one. In this place, how can there be someone who does good things but doesn't mean anything?" What kind of person? This kind of person is rare even in this world. Besides, I have a feeling."
"What does it feel like?"
"The person who saved us also came here for us." Lily said firmly.
Amandine immediately became nervous. If it is true as the lady said, then they are actually not out of danger yet. In a sense, they are even more dangerous than before.
Compared to Amandine's nervousness, Lily seemed too calm and relaxed. She even still maintained her initial state of excitement. Although she knew in her heart that the ultimate goal of the mysterious sharpshooter was herself, not only did she not feel dangerous. , but there is a trace of expectation.
Sure enough, just as Lily said, after a while, a huge black horse came around from the mountain to the main road. The man on the horse was in a suit and leather shoes, with an upright posture and a handsome face, which is rare to see even in a civilized society. This kind of handsome guy fits the image of a handsome gentleman very well. If we really want to say there is a flaw, then it should be that his cheeks are a little chapped and rough due to the wind and sun. However, it doesn't matter. Men in the West are more rough if they are rougher. charming.
The above was seen from Lily's perspective, while Amandine's perspective was completely different. She only noticed the repeating rifle that the visitor had been carrying on her shoulder, which was enough for her to conclude that the visitor was not good. .
"Miss, be careful, eh? Miss! Where are you going!" Amandine was about to remind Lily, but found that Lily had already urged the horse to rush forward. She couldn't help but turned pale with fright, and rarely lost her usual decency. deportment. There was no other way. Since the lady had made this decision, even if there was a fire pit in front of her, she, the servant, could only dance with him. With this thought, she also followed on horseback.
The two sides stopped their horses about five meters apart.
"Thank you for your help, sir," Lily said, "I am Lily Cornwall, daughter of Leviticus Cornwall, and now I would like to hire you to escort us to the Cornwall Coal Tar Factory. , as long as you can escort us as you did to help us, I will give you a generous reward."
The man seemed a little surprised. He looked Lily up and down with his bright green eyes and asked, "What did you just say?"
"I mean, I wish I could hire you to escort us..."
"No, not this sentence," the man waved his hand to interrupt Lily, "the previous sentence."
Lily was stunned for a moment, then realized: "I am Lily Cornwall, the daughter of Leviticus Cornwall."
"Are you Leviticus Cornwall's daughter?" The man pointed the gun at Lily rudely, his tone full of disbelief.
"Is there any problem with this?" Lily was a little angry at this man's rudeness. She originally thought that this savior should be a rare gentleman.
"No, I've never heard of Mr. Cornwall having such a beautiful daughter." The man gently held the brim of his hat to apologize, "No offense, Miss Cornwall, but I was just passing by. The two of them were saved by chance only because of the sound of gunfire. As for me, I really have no interest in the escort mission, so I can refuse."
"Sir, can you bear to let us two helpless weak women walk dozens of miles across the grassland?" Amandine on the side skillfully pretended to be pitiful.
"Not only do the women in this land often ride horses across the grassland alone, but many of them are also traveling with the one who kidnapped you just now." The man's tone showed no respect for the woman, "So, this woman from a foreign country is Miss, welcome to the American West, even though it’s not quite the West.”
"So, I wish you both a safe journey and enjoy the charm of the Heart of the Earth." The man held the brim of his hat again, turned and left.
"Who is this? This is," Amandine was surprised and a little embarrassed. She looked at her young lady and asked, "Miss, what should we do next?"
"Next? Leave it to me next," Lily smiled slightly, and suddenly shouted loudly to the place where the man left, "Hey! Aren't you afraid that we will go to the police station to report the crime and let the police arrest you?"
Hearing this, the man stood still and did not look back. He just responded: "Did I do anything illegal?"
"Robbing our motorcade," Lily replied.
"You can go tell the police chief. He will only think that there is something wrong with your brain. Then after a while, I might see the news that Miss Cornish has been sent to a mental hospital." The man said in his tone. Full of banter.
"You're right, that's usually the case," Lily nodded as if she had just come to her senses, "But what if I set the reward at 10,000 US dollars?"
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" The man seemed to be stimulated by these words and started coughing crazily. Seeing this, Lily couldn't help covering her mouth and snickering.
Finally, the man regained his composure and said, "Miss Cornwall, do you think you can do whatever you want if you have money?"
"I'm sorry, sir, but you can really do whatever you want with money," Lily smiled mischievously and said, "Besides, my father seems to have hired Detective Pinkerton recently, so I think he wouldn't mind sharing it. My two detectives came to look for the robber I identified, are you right?"
The man nodded and said, "What you say makes sense, Miss Cornwall, but..."
Having said this, he suddenly pulled out the carbine repeating rifle hanging on the saddle, aimed at Lily and Amandine, and said: "If I kill two of them here, it seems that I won't have so many worries, right? "
"Miss!" Amandine urged her horse to stand in front of Lily.
"Amandine! Back off!" Lily's tone became rarely serious.
She urged her horse forward and said: "You can try, but sir, I think you need to consider the consequences of offending the Cornish family. If you kill me here today, my father will definitely send someone Chasing you to the ends of the earth, I believe Detective Pinkerton will be able to find the murderer."
"What's more, the two of us are just weak women with no strength. If you shoot us without asking any reason, won't your conscience hurt?" Lily said, opening her arms and opening her heart. Revealed and said, "Of course, if you don't have what I call a conscience, then I have nothing to say. You can kill me, but please let my maid go. Don't worry, I will make her swear a poisonous oath." , your physical appearance will never be disclosed to the police and Detective Pinkerton."
The man smiled slightly and said: "Miss Cornwall, you are a thoughtful lady, but are you naive in your behavior now?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, we have too many unsolved cases where the murderer cannot be found. At least with the existing detection methods, we have many ways to ensure that we don't leave any evidence behind," the man said while giving The gun was loaded, "Or let me put it bluntly, your long speech did not convince me, and if you don't value the time I give you, I will not hesitate to let two more corpses here."
Lily finally understood that if she didn't come up with a bargaining chip that could impress the man in front of her, she would definitely not be able to escape today.
"Sir, if you can escort the two of us to the Cornwall Coal Tar Factory, I will pay you three thousand dollars." Lily finally made a decision.
The man tilted his head and seemed to lower his gun a little.
Lily continued: "In addition, you can also take away all the jewelry I brought this time." After saying that, she stepped aside a little, revealing the bulletproof carriage with only the carriage behind her, and then said: "They are all here. Inside, trust me, you won’t be disappointed with their value.”
The corner of the man's mouth seemed to have a vague arc. He no longer held the gun in the standard posture, but the muzzle of the gun was still pointed at Lily.
Lily was a little angry and embarrassed, annoyed by the greed of the strange man in front of her, and embarrassed that she couldn't think of anything else she could offer in return. In a sense, this was the crown jewel of the Cornish family. What a shame.
"Is that all?" The man seemed a little disappointed. His posture holding the gun became more upright again, "I don't lack money. As for the jewelry, I can take it away even if I kill you. In that case , then, sorry, Miss Cornwall, and the maid who is about to faint, it’s time for us..."
"Wait." Suddenly, Lily interrupted the man.
The man closed his mouth and waited for her response.
"I can also make you a promise."
"A promise?"
"A promise from the Cornish family," Lily said very seriously at this time, "As long as it is what you ask for and what our family is able to do, no matter what the request is, no matter what, we will spare no effort to help you, but there is only one chance. .”
"Can you represent the Cornwall family?" The man was a little confused.
"At least my father has never refused to agree to my request."
The man thought for a long time and finally nodded and said: "I finally got a truly valuable reward. Congratulations, Miss Cornwall, you convinced me. In the next journey, you will get a first-class gunner in the west." Protect."
Lily and Amandine looked at each other, and both of them could clearly see the joy and fear in each other's eyes.
"Then the rest of the journey will be troublesome to you, sir." Lily and Amandine saluted on their horses.
"You're welcome, but next, ladies, I hope you can give me some private time." After the man finished speaking, he walked directly to the battlefield without waiting for Lily and Amandine's response.
"Miss, what is he doing?" Amandine was a little confused when she saw the man dismounting and walking towards a corpse next to her.
Lily watched the man groping around on the body. After thinking for a while, she just shook her head: "I don't know, I can't understand, but I think at least we should listen to him and give him some private time."
"If you two ladies can't wait, you can walk slowly in the direction your motorcade was traveling just now," the man said after groping for a corpse, stood up, and called back, "Just keep walking slowly along this road. I’ll catch up soon.”
So, two bad horses carried two somewhat disgraced women and walked slowly along the road. In this land that had just been baptized by gunfire and explosions, a young man in a suit and ties was groping for the corpses left behind one by one.
