Chapter 156: Persuading Hosea
Hosea was a master swindler, a gentleman, and a thief—but he was never much of a gunman.
If anything, he was even better suited to this new era than Dutch.
When Dutch was young, he wasn’t dressed like the polished gentleman he plays now. His very first partner had been Colm O’Driscoll.
Back then, like every other cowboy, Dutch wore plain trail clothes, no different from how Arthur looks today.
It was clear that after meeting Hosea, Dutch came under his influence. That was when he began refining himself—painting, reading, cultivating a sense of culture.
Hosea was eleven years older than Dutch. When they met, Dutch was barely in his early twenties, while Hosea was already in his thirties.
The cowboy era began around 1866. Hosea, born in 1844, had lived through its peak and its decline, giving him a deeper insight than most into how one ought to adapt to changing times.
...
Inside the luxury car of the train to Valentine.
Unlike the standard coaches, the luxury compartment’s seats were arranged almost like booth seating.
Davey and Hosea sat opposite each other.
“Hosea, I heard about the Gray family. Their tobacco fields burning down—that doesn’t sound like Dutch at all. But I didn’t expect you to push things that far.”
“Maybe you don’t know this, but after the Civil War, the Gray family aligned themselves with the federal government. That’s how they secured law enforcement authority in Rhodes.”
“If they find out your group was the one who torched their fields, the trouble won’t be small.”
Davey spoke seriously. Even though this matched the events from the game he remembered in his previous life, it didn’t feel like something Hosea would normally do.
The most likely reason was that Hosea didn’t fully understand the two big families, which led him to accept Old Lady Catherine’s request.
Hosea let out a weary look.
“Davey, if only you’d told me that sooner. It’s too late now.”
“And given where we stand, we don’t have any other options.”
“I just hope we can keep this covered for a while. The Grays will definitely suspect the Braithwaite family first. Even if they eventually find out it was us, they’ll still deal with the Braithwaites before anything else.”
“That’s the time we have to work with. The Gray family already sent word—they want us to help them fight the Braithwaite family.”
“Once that conflict sharpens, we’ll have a chance to track down that stash of gold. If we get our hands on it, we’ll finally have enough money to leave.”
Hosea knew perfectly well how dangerous all this was. It was like dancing on the edge of a knife. But as he said, there was no other path left.
Davey sighed. “Alright, Hosea. But keep this in mind: those two families have survived in Rhodes Town for over a hundred years. They’ve stayed powerful for a reason.”
“Don’t look only at their greed and stupidity. While you’re using them, they might also be using you.”
“I met with Tavish Gray, the Gray family’s patriarch. If my guess is right, they’ve already figured out who you really are.”
“So your time is running out. And as for that gold… it’s possible even they don’t know where it actually is.”
The plan against the two families had been made by Hosea and Dutch together, but the result had turned into a complete failure.
In truth, the plan wasn’t bad—Hosea had simply underestimated both families.
Davey’s words made Hosea fall into thought. He, too, sensed something wrong. Maybe things truly had gotten out of hand. Burning the tobacco fields had caused a huge stir, even if it did succeed in throwing Rhodes into chaos.
“Davey, we can’t pull out now. No matter what happens, we have to finish what we started.”
“And thank you for the intel. We’ll need to be more careful, especially with the Gray family. They may have already passed our information to those Pinkerton men.”
“The only good news is that once we reach Valentine, we might be able to sell those Cornwall bearer bonds for a decent amount. That’s about the best thing we’ve got going.”
Hosea had been trying to find buyers for the bonds recently, but no one had offered a good price.
In the game’s original storyline, those bearer bonds had only sold for about a thousand dollars.
With Davey’s connections, Hosea had held off selling, waiting for the right opportunity.
“Don’t worry, Hosea. I’m confident that banker will offer a fair price. In the civilized cities of the East, Cornwall has rivals everywhere. They’re not afraid of Cornwall’s retaliation, so they’re willing to pay more.”
“And since Mr. Nathan Kirk agreed to come, it means he has the proper channels.”
Davey’s smile finally put Hosea at ease.
Right now, those bonds seemed to be the gang’s biggest potential source of income.
Author's Note
Comments (0)
Please login or sign up to post a comment.