The Story Of Red Dead Redemption

Chapter 49: Rescuing Sean (Part Three)

"Let's take a good look."

"Trelawny, did you find out who these bounty hunters are?" Arthur asked, looking through the binoculars at the bounty hunters escorting a hooded man, whose build matched Sean's, off the boat.

"Well, I'm sorry, I only know they are Ike Skelding's men. As I told you before, they are numerous and brutal."

Through the binoculars, everyone saw that the bounty hunters had a lot of trouble escorting Sean. Sean seemed to be struggling and cursing non-stop. He was soon kicked to the ground by one of the bounty hunters. Seeing this, Arthur nodded confidently.

"That's Sean, no doubt about it."

"Yes, it's definitely Sean. Look at how beaten up he is," John agreed.

"Well, we can only imagine how foul-mouthed Sean must've been to them."

Joking aside, Arthur kept his binoculars focused on them. He saw two bounty hunters leading Sean up the canyon. Arthur moved the binoculars up the canyon and immediately spotted Charles, who was already in position.

Charles was also observing them with binoculars and waved at Arthur. Seeing this, Arthur said to those around him, "Look, Charles is there, on the other side."

After looking, Trelawny put the binoculars away.

"Let's go. I suddenly have a good idea."

Trelawny then led them down the slope to the riverbank. The boat transporting Sean was docked on the other side of the river, with a few bounty hunters still nearby.

"Wait here for a moment. I'll go over and create some confusion, then you can quietly take them out." Arthur and John had no objections to Trelawny's plan. Whether it was a good idea or not... well, that was debatable.

The two crouched down, knives in hand, and slowly waded through the shallow water. Halfway through the shallow water, they hid behind a large rock, waiting for Trelawny's signal.

It didn't take long.

Trelawny rode his horse around and approached the two bounty hunters guarding the boat. He started talking to them.

"What do you want?" The bounty hunters raised their guns, warily watching Trelawny.

"Oh! I've lost everything, help me, oh, how could this happen to me..."

"Calm down, sir! What's wrong?"

Seeing Trelawny successfully attracting their attention, Arthur signaled to John, indicating which bounty hunter each should take. They cautiously approached from behind.

When they were just a few steps away, Trelawny saw Arthur and John moving in.

Suddenly, he acted as if he was having a seizure, gasping for air and falling to the ground, his hands flailing.

This unexpected event completely distracted the two bounty hunters. As they bent down to check on Trelawny, Arthur and John sprang into action. With a swift motion, they took down the bounty hunters.

Seeing the job was done, Trelawny stopped pretending to convulse, got up and dusted himself off.

"Alright, you go ahead. I think you can handle the rest. I won't be going. And no need to thank me, gentlemen."

Arthur and John sheathed their knives and took out their guns. It wasn't surprising that Trelawny wouldn't join them in the next part of the action. After all, Trelawny was the kind of man who never carried a gun.

The two of them made their way up the slope in the middle of the canyon. Honestly, with the high ground, attacking from below wasn't easy.

There were hardly any cover along the way, just a few scattered rocks by the sides. Arthur stopped John, who was about to charge up recklessly, and pointed to a distant hilltop. There, behind some rocks, snipers were positioned, guarding the area.

"What do we do, Arthur?"

Arthur thought for a moment. Although he didn't like it, it seemed they had no choice but to fight their way through.

"Check your ammunition. Even though I can't see Lenny and Charles, they must be nearby. Once the shooting starts, they'll join us. Remember! Stay behind cover and provide covering fire. Don't follow me."

Arthur said this mainly because he was worried John might get injured or even killed in the upcoming gunfight. This wasn't a game; a single bullet could take John out, and the same went for Arthur. But Arthur was confident in his skills.

"Arthur, what do you mean?" John frowned, clearly not happy.

John admitted Arthur was better with a gun, but it didn't make sense for Arthur to charge ahead while he stayed behind.

There was no time to explain further, so Arthur simply said, "Trust me," and started moving along the left wall to get closer.

Not far from Arthur, two bounty hunters were patrolling.

Reaching the closest position where he wouldn't be seen, Arthur took a deep breath, aimed carefully, and waited for the right moment.

"Bang—bang, bang."

Arthur was indeed the best sharpshooter in the Van der Linde gang, if not the entire West.

John was about to follow Arthur, ignoring his instructions. 

He heard three gunshots, and the sniper on the hilltop tumbled down. The two patrolling bounty hunters ahead also fell to the ground. 

The gunshots were heard not only by John but also by the enemies. With the gunfire, several bounty hunters emerged from the crevices on the right wall and started firing wildly at Arthur's position.

Facing such firepower, Arthur didn't dare to expose himself and pressed tightly against the wall. He could even see the small stone fragments splintering off the cliff face from the bullets.

For a moment, Arthur was pinned down by the enemy's fire.

The situation was bad.

"Damn it! Marston!" Just as Arthur was about to risk a counterattack, he saw John charging ahead, directly into the line of fire. Arthur quickly spotted an enemy aiming at John and shot him dead.

By the time Arthur looked back, John was almost out of sight, and Arthur had to follow.

John's charge had drawn the enemy's fire, allowing Arthur to aim carefully and take out the most dangerous enemies one by one.

"Follow me! Let's go!"

Arthur finally caught up with John at a cover near the top of the hill. Before he could say anything, John shouted and continued charging forward.

Honestly, Arthur couldn't tell if John was injured or not. Judging by his energy, even if he had been shot, he probably wouldn't die anytime soon. Arthur decided to follow quickly.

Suddenly, something happened.

Just as John reached the corner, he ran into enemies coming down to reinforce. John's gun was just raised when an enemy tackled him to the ground.

The enemy quickly drew a dagger to stab John, who was pinned down. Arthur, who had just reloaded, quickly shot the enemy, saving John's life.

Finally, Arthur couldn't hold back anymore and, despite still being in a firefight, cursed loudly, "John Marston! You really have a death wish!"

"Not now! Look up, the cliff!"

Arthur looked up. The sight made him realize it was too late. The enemy was about to fire. Suddenly, a black figure appeared from behind the enemy and kicked him off the cliff.

"It's Lenny! Arthur, hurry, let's go."

Arthur swallowed his words and quickened his pace. The two soon reached the camp at the top of the hill.

By then, the enemies in the camp had been dealt with by Lenny and Charles. It seemed they had taken out all the guards while Arthur and John were attacking from below.

It was hard to say whether they trusted Arthur's abilities too much or what. They really left Arthur and John to fight their way up from below.

Arthur looked at the bodies of the bounty hunters and thought back to the dangerous situation. He couldn't help but ask, "Just how much is Sean's bounty?"

***

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