Wilderness Redemption Tour

Hosea put down the newspaper after hearing that. "It's okay for now, but..." Hosea changed the subject. "Molly did have contact with the Pinkerton detective, but not at the time she said. It was when we first moved to Shady Belle."

Dutch and Arthur's expressions became solemn at the same time. Even Lin Yan did not expect that there was another hidden story here.

"What's going on?" Dutch asked.

Hosea stood up with the help of the tree trunk, patted the dirt and grass on his body, and then said slowly: "When we just moved to Shady Belle, Molly had a quarrel with you and ran to St. Denis to drink. Somehow, she was spotted by Pinkerton detectives and then taken to the Pinkerton office in St. Denis for questioning. Those people asked her some information about you and the gang..." At this point, Hosea smiled, "Do you think that Molly, who is either curled up in the tent reading books or sticking with you, and has no interest in understanding or participating in gang affairs, will get any useful information even if she tells them everything she knows? Let's not talk about whether she really told them these things, at least she didn't tell them the location of our camp at that time. There is evidence that Pinkerton detectives did not find us when we were in Shady Belle. Based on this, Ms. Grimshaw and I tend to think that she didn't say anything after she was taken away."

"Didn't say anything?" Lin Yan asked in confusion: "If Molly didn't say anything at the time, would those Pinkerton detectives let her go?"

"Why not?" Arthur explained for Hosea, "Molly has no criminal record, and the Pinkerton detectives have no evidence of her crime. They only know that she is Dutch's woman. Although she is indeed a member of the Van der Linde gang, the Pinkerton detectives abide by the law. They will not arrest people without scruples just because they are gang members or the women of gang leaders. Since we can't get any useful information, and keeping her in custody will arouse our suspicion, we might as well let her go. Of course, I believe they must have a backup plan, such as secretly following Molly to find our camp or something. Whatever their plan was at the time, it failed anyway."

"Then why didn't she tell me when she came back?" Dutch asked.

"She said she was too scared at the time." Hosea shrugged noncommittally. "She lived in fear for the first few days after she came back. Later, she found that everything was normal. No Pinkerton detective had found the place, and you didn't ask about her whereabouts that day. So she took a chance and concealed it from us."

"She didn't lie to us, Dutch." Aunt Susan saw Dutch coming back with Mrs. Bell. She continued what Hosea said to Dutch, "But since she once hid something from us, for the stability of the gang, Hosea and I discussed it and decided to drive her away. Now I want to ask for your opinion."

"I have no objection." Dutch shook his head. "You handled it very well. Molly is no longer suitable to stay here."

"Then we'll take her with us this afternoon," Mrs. Bell said.

Dutch looked at Mrs. Bell, and a flash of surprise flashed across his face. "Madam, are you leaving too?"

"Yes, my uncle and I." Mrs. Bell was quite frank.

"Madam, you...has your uncle agreed?" Lin Yan didn't expect that Mrs. Bell could actually convince his uncle.

Mrs. Bell smiled proudly: "Yes, he agreed."

Dutch was silent for a long time. First it was Pastor Swanson, and then the uncle. These old men who had saved him and were recruited into the gang by him were now leaving him one by one. If it were in the past, he would only be happy for them to find a new direction in life, but now, he only felt a sense of loneliness and a hint of betrayal - these people must have left because they felt there was no hope in following him.

Hosea saw Dutch was silent for a long time, and knew that he must be thinking too much, but he knew that he could not stand on Mrs. Bell's side. Dutch was not mentally stable now, and doing so would only add fuel to the fire. After thinking for a while, he replied to Mrs. Bell on behalf of Dutch: "Madam, the gang is in need of people now, how about you and uncle..."

Before Hosea could finish his words, Dutch interrupted him, "It's okay. Ma'am, you and uncle can take Molly away later."

Mrs. Bell observed the man's expression and knew that now was not the time to be happy. After getting permission, she just nodded slightly to Dutch and left quietly.

Lin Yan and others also noticed that something was not right with Daqi's condition, so they didn't say much. They tied up the horses silently and returned to the camp.

Including Uncle Molly and Mrs. Bell who will leave soon, seven members of the Van der Linde Gang have left after the St. Denis bank robbery. Lin Yan only needs one person to complete the first stage of his final mission.

However, almost all those who left now were the gang's logistics personnel, so in the short term, there would be little impact. Uncle and Molly were usually "mascots" with little presence in the camp, but Mrs. Bell's departure was a big loss. Because every time she arrived at a camp, she would scout the surrounding terrain and arrange defense measures due to her lack of security, except when she lived in Lakai. That time it was purely because the humidity in Lakai was too high and there were many swamps with water around. Even if the explosives were placed on the trees, they would not be able to explode because they were too humid. Digging traps and setting up mechanisms were impractical. At that time, her abilities were really useless. Now the gang has just moved to the beaver cave for two days, and Mrs. Bell has not had time to arrange the fortifications here. With her departure, the overall security of the gang has dropped by more than one level.

Dutch's depression only lasted for a short while. By the time they had dinner, he had put on a smiling face and was chatting and laughing with the uncle. They might not have the chance to see each other again, so Dutch must have cherished this moment very much.

Before leaving, Dutch gave the uncle some money. He had seen the uncle's actions over the years and knew that he had not saved much money, so he gave him a "settlement fee".

In stark contrast to his attitude towards the uncle, Dutch did not express any opinion about Molly's departure, and even the communication between them was brief. It is a pity that two people who once loved each other are now strangers because of endless quarrels.

Pearson had to go out to buy groceries in the afternoon, so after lunch, the uncle and others got on the carriage driven by Pearson and slowly drove towards Annesburg under the gaze of everyone.