In the early morning, Valentine was bathed in the late spring morning light as always, but today, the crowds here were much sparse, and an abnormal sense of depression could be felt from a long distance over the entire town.
At this time, Brandy and his party happened to enter Valentine from the dirt road south of the town.
Brandi dismounted the little girl Mattie Rose at the grocery store's request.
Mattie jumped off the horse briskly, looking very energetic and not sluggish from staying up late last night. She bowed respectfully to Brandi, Arthur and everyone else, and said: "Thank you, gentlemen, I don't know how to repay you. I can only write down your kindness first and wait for me." When you grow up and become more capable than you are now, I will definitely repay all of you.”
Brandi, Arthur, Charles, and Lenny looked at each other, a little surprised at the little girl's precocity, but their faces were still full of warm smiles. Brandy bent down on the horse, gently stroked Mattie's little head with her palm, and said, "I know you are a child with a sense of justice, but in the future, you must remember that protection is more important than justice. Be good to yourself, because only in this way will you have more opportunities to seek justice in the future, do you understand?"
"I understand, Mr. Munny, I will definitely be more cautious in the future," Mattie nodded seriously, and then took out the handful Brandy gave her from the big pocket on her thick skirt with rough fabric. Schofield revolver, saying, "Here's your gun, Mr. Munny."
Brandi glanced at the gun, hesitated for a moment, then took out six more .44-caliber revolver bullets from his pocket, stuffed it into the little girl's hand, and said, "Now it's yours." Yes, remember to keep it and use it to protect your family, okay?"
Mattie looked at Brandi with some surprise. Not only her, but Arthur, Charles, and Lenny also looked at Brandi with something strange in their eyes. They were both surprised and confused.
Although Mattie subconsciously wanted to refuse, Brandi's unquestionable eyes made this smart little girl understand that refusal was meaningless. So, after only a short hesitation, the little girl put the gun and bullets back into her big pocket, bowed deeply again, turned around and ran away.
"Giving a gun to a little girl?" Arthur asked slightly surprised, "What do you think?"
"She's a smart girl, I like her," Brandi replied, "and, believe me, this little girl is a damned girl and will be a good prospect."
"How did you tell?" Lanny was puzzled.
"It's a long story, but I can see it anyway." Brandy didn't say it clearly, but he knew very well why he could make that judgment.
He felt a kind of temperament from the eyes of this little girl, and he had felt the same temperament in Sadie.
The four tied their horses at the door of the Smithfield Tavern. Charles and Lenny planned to go to the pub for a drink. Arthur and Brandi came to the Sheriff's Office because they noticed that at the door of the Sheriff's Office, "Earl" and "Silver Dollar" "Two horses are waiting outside.
Opening the door, in addition to Chief Malloy who was definitely there, Dutch and Hosea were also in the office.
When Dutch saw Brandy and Arthur entering the door, he immediately stood up and introduced very enthusiastically: "Mr. Sheriff, let me introduce to you. This is my most capable brother, Arthur Callahan. As for this , I don’t think I need to introduce him, you should also know what an outstanding young man he is.”
"Of course, Mr. McIntosh, of course I know how good Mr. Munny is," Sheriff Malloy stood up from his seat, extended his right hand to Arthur, and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Callahan. .”
"I'm glad to see you too, Sheriff." Arthur nodded and stretched out his right hand to hold it with the Sheriff.
Hotch McIntosh was one of Dutch's common pseudonyms, along with Arthur Callahan for Arthur, Billy the Kid for Brandi, and Tacitus for the gang's owner. Just like Kilgore, it was a way to hide from others and avoid being called to the door by the police in the first place.
Of course, this method is actually very clumsy in Brandi's view, especially now, in front of Detective Pinkerton, who has transcontinental law enforcement powers and criminal investigation technology ahead of this era, this method is like a low-level magician At a glance, one can see that all the tricks are full of flaws.
However, Brandy also understands that this method is not bad, because even more than a hundred years later, there is no unified identity certificate in this country, let alone this era where there is no concept of unified identity certificate at all. , changing one's appearance is actually easier than changing clothes, which is why Brandi got himself two vests even though he knew this method was flawed. As for that flaw, he felt that with his acting skills , enough to make up for it.
"By the way," Sheriff Malloy shook hands with Arthur and motioned for Arthur and Brandy to find a place to sit. He sat back on the chair behind his desk and asked Brandy, "I I heard from Mr. McIntosh that you took people to rescue the kidnapped little girl last night, how was the situation?"
"The little girl should have been reunited with her family by now," Brandy replied. "As for those gangsters, we have killed them all and their bodies were thrown into the nearby ravine."
Sheriff Malloy straightened his posture in surprise and said, "Four people killed at least twenty people? That's impressive."
"That's right, Mr. Sheriff," Dutch said, "So, what else do you have to hesitate? Including our people, there are nearly thirty people on our side, and we are fighting at home, so we have the advantage It’s with me.”
"The risk is still too great," Chief Malloy said sadly. "Even if every one of your men can equal one to five, we can't escape the fate of being beaten into a sieve."
Dutch and Sheriff Malloy started a new round of argument. Seeing that Brandy couldn't get in the conversation, she quietly walked over to Hosea who was silent and asked quietly: "How was the discussion? ?”
"Not very good," Hosea sighed and said, "Daqi advocates relying on Valentine to carry out town defense battles. If the time is right, he plans to take the initiative."
Brandy nodded unconvincingly: "This seems like Dutch's style."
"But the Sheriff doesn't seem to have much confidence," Hosea tapped his forehead with his fingers as if worried, "He plans to take the remaining townspeople to move to other places first, and let the town go first. When we contact the bailiffs and the army later, we can return here and take back the town."
"If we do this, the day lilies will be cold." Brandi thought, and then asked: "Why is the Sheriff not confident?"
"Just think about it, it's impossible for more than 20 people to win against more than 100 people, no matter how you think about it," Hosea replied helplessly, "You know, my idea is not to take a trip into this muddy water. , but Daqi just didn’t listen.”
"Hosea, what do you think we should do better based on the current situation?" Arthur interrupted at this time and asked.
Hosea sighed softly and said, "Just one word, run."
Arthur fell silent upon hearing this, and Brandi stopped talking. He knew that Hosea saw further and knew better what the best choice was for the gang in this situation.
However, from a practical point of view, it is absolutely impossible to persuade Dutch to run away. Hosea is powerless under the current situation, and even if Arthur is confused, he will only follow Dutch's orders unconditionally. As for himself, , not to mention he is not suitable to play such a role, not to mention that for Dutch, he is not a confidant like Hosea and Arthur. It is only because he is more familiar with Valentine's situation that he is qualified to sit in the role. Here, simply saying that this incident was caused by him determines that Brandy can only stand on the side of supporting Dutch. What's more, as far as his own wishes are concerned, he does not want to submit to a group of scum and Madman compromises.
While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Sheriff Malloy say: "Mr. McIntosh, your idea is very bold, and your partners are all very good players. However, despite this, the numerical gap between us and the other party is still too big." The disparity is huge, I can’t risk the lives of my men and the whole town.”
Immediately, Sheriff Malloy stood up, as did Dutch, Hosea, Arthur, and Brandy.
"Nevertheless, I'm still grateful for your help." Chief Malloy took Dutch's hand and shook it, and said.
Dutch and Hosea looked at each other and said nothing. Dutch exchanged some polite words with the Sheriff, then asked Hosea and Arthur to leave with him. As for Brandy, Dutch intentionally or unintentionally ignored her, and Sheriff Malloy also intentionally or unintentionally did not issue an eviction order. , Brandy knew what the two men were thinking, and didn't say much, just watched the police chief send his companion away.
"Your friend is very courageous, but unfortunately, to be fair, he is a little too arrogant." Sheriff Malloy closed the door and turned back to Brandy.
Brandi smiled helplessly and said, "Although I don't want to say this, it is true that he is always very confident in himself."
"For a desperate cowboy, you can have this kind of self-confidence, but I can't put the lives of the residents of this town on the self-confidence of a few cowboys." Sheriff Malloy sat back at his desk and said Started smoking a cigarette.
Brandi smiled slightly and said, "Then you still have a chance to catch me and give it to them. Don't worry, I will tell my friends that this is of my own free will and they will not mess around."
"Stop joking, Brother Brandy," Sheriff Malloy said with a bitter smile, "Since I have decided to let you go, I have no reason to go back on my promise. You should leave as soon as possible. Even if they come, I will It's time to tell them that you have left long ago, and maybe they can let Valentine go."
"I think you are joking," Brandi also lit a cigarette and laughed, "Expecting scum and lunatics to show mercy to you? Is this your first day as a police officer?"
Sheriff Malloy sighed and said: "Otherwise? Take nearly two hundred ordinary people and leave? Not to mention whether anyone is willing, even if no one objects, if they are attacked by those bastards on the road, there will be more Many people lost their lives.”
"So, are there nearly two hundred ordinary people in the town now?" Brandi asked.
"That's right," Sheriff Malloy said with a sad look on his face, "there were less than fifty men among them, and these people were cattlemen, drunkards, and homeless people. Most of them didn't even have guns. I have touched it, and those few who know how to use a gun, even if there is a big living person standing less than five yards away from them, they can still shoot blankly and cannot fight at all. It is a waste to give them guns."
"These are actually not problems," Brandi smiled. "The real problem actually lies with you, Mr. Sheriff."
"Me? What's my problem?" Sheriff Malloy was confused.
"Your biggest problem is that you don't believe that the residents of this town have the ability to protect this town." Brandi said leisurely blowing out a smoke ring.
"Why should I believe that they can protect this town?" Sheriff Malloy asked, "I was chosen by them to be the Sheriff because they are incapable of protecting themselves, and these people usually just do it for a little bit. Xiao Li, they can't wait to fight to the death. Now that a disaster is approaching, the reason why they didn't run away is because they don't have the ability. Otherwise, who would be willing to stay in such a dangerous town?"
"Oh? Really?" Brandi smiled a little slyly, but more confidently, "Why do I think they have the ability to protect this place?"
"Do you really expect these untouchables to help us succeed?" Chief Malloy was still full of doubts.
"It's not to help us get things done, but to let them protect the land and homes," Brandi corrected, "Okay, Mr. Sheriff, what you need to focus on now is the defense layout of the entire town and your own personnel deployment. I’m going to have a nice chat with my friends now.”
Pushing open the door of the Sheriff's Office, Brandi was a little surprised to find that Dutch, Hosea and Arthur were all waiting outside. Dutch saw Brandy coming out of the house and asked: "How is it? Sheriff's Has your attitude changed?"
Brandy immediately gave a brief account of the chat between him and the Sheriff, and then said: "Chief Malloy still has doubts, but he basically accepted my proposal, so I think our next arrangements will be OK. It’s time to adjust.”
"You mean to use the power of all the people in the town to resist the cultists and O'Drisco? With all due respect, I actually have the same concerns as the Sheriff. We can choose to believe them, but are they really reliable? ?" Hosea expressed doubt.
“I think trust is always mutual,” Brandi explained. “Rather than blindly believing that these ordinary residents have the ability to protect their homes, it’s better to let them believe that under the wise leadership of Mr. Sheriff and our With their strong support, they are also capable of doing their part to protect their homeland.”
"Now I understand what you mean," Dutch suddenly realized. "In other words, our top priority now is to win over people's hearts, right?"
Seeing that Dutch had understood something, Brandy nodded with a smile and said, "Yes, boss, you are absolutely right."
"In this case, it's just a little troublesome," Dutch said confidently, "Leave it to me to win over people's hearts. As for you, Brandi, I still have a difficult task to give you. "
"Whatever you ask, boss," Brandi said.
"I need you to help me get rid of all the bosses in this town, especially the gun shop. If all the people are mobilized, then the weapons and equipment will have to come from him," Dutch said, "I think you should also know , Capitalists cannot be equated with ordinary people, and naturally they should be treated differently."
After thinking for a while, Brandy understood what Dutch meant, nodded and said, "I understand, boss."
"To do this kind of thing, you need an assistant who plays the villain," Dutch pondered for a while and said, "Well, you go to the nearby tavern later to find Micah, and you and he will complete this task together. Bar."
"Huh? Micah?" Brandy was a little surprised, and then said, "Boss, why don't you let Arthur join me, or Charles, or Bill, I have worked with them all, and we have a good understanding of each other. "
Dutch patted Brandi on the shoulder and said, "I know there has been a misunderstanding between you and Micah, and Micah's relationship with other people in the camp is not very good, but no matter what, you guys They are all brothers of the Van der Linde gang. They are all brothers of me, Dutch Van der Linde. Even if I don’t like my brothers at ordinary times, we must unite at critical moments. We cannot form cliques or engage in cliques in the gang. If we are a group, this will affect the unity of the gang. Do you understand what I say?"
When Brandy heard this, her pupils shrank slightly and she raised her eyes to look at Dutch. No more emotion could be seen in Dutch's smile.
He thought for a while and finally had no choice but to compromise: "Okay, boss, I'll go find Micah right away. There will definitely be a result within today."
Dutch nodded happily and said, "That's right. I believe you can do it. After all, until today, you have never let me down."
