Cole just nodded and walked away. Finding work they could all do together turned out to be harder than expected. Most jobs didn't need four people, and the ones that did paid too little to justify the effort. They spent a week taking odd jobs, repairing fences, hauling freight, even helping Mrs. Halstead clean out her storage shed before Lyra came up with an idea.
"What about bounty hunting?" she said one evening. Cole looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "Bounty hunting?" "Yeah."
"Think about it. It pays well. We work together and we set our own schedule." "It's also dangerous, illegal half the time, and a good way to get killed." "So is everything else we've done."
Lyra grinned. "Come on. We're good in a fight, we're good at tracking, and we need the money." "She's not wrong," Kaya said slowly. "There's a bounty board at the sheriff's office."
"I saw it when we first got here. Some of those rewards are serious money." Cole looked at Sani. "What do you think?" Sani considered it.
"I think it's risky, but so is everything else. And if we're careful, we might make it work." Cole sighed. "I'm going to regret this." "Probably," Lyra agreed.
"But let's do it anyway." They started small, tracking down a horse thief who'd stolen from a ranch outside town. The man wasn't dangerous, just desperate and stupid, and they brought him in without firing a shot. The sheriff paid them $20, and suddenly bounty hunting didn't seem like such a terrible idea. The next job was harder.
A man named Dutch Carver, wanted for armed robbery and assault, last seen heading toward the hills north of Gravel Springs. The bounty was $200, dead or alive, and the sheriff made it clear he didn't care which. They tracked Carver for three days, following signs through rocky terrain that would have lost a less experienced group. When they finally caught up to him, he was holed up in an abandoned miner shack, armed and paranoid. "Carver," Cole called out from behind cover.
"You're surrounded. Come out peaceful and nobody gets hurt." The answer was a gunshot that splintered the rock near Cole's head. "Guess we're doing this the hard way," Lyra muttered. The fight was short but intense.
Carver fired wildly, more desperate than skilled, and within minutes, Kaya had circled around to the back of the shack while Lyra kept him pinned down from the front. Sani and Cole moved in from the sides, tightening the noose until Carver had nowhere left to go. He surrendered with his hands up, cursing and spitting, but alive. They brought him back to Gravel Springs tied to his saddle, collected the bounty, and split it four ways. $200.
$50 each. It was more money than Cole had seen in months, and it was just the beginning. Over the next six months, they took on more jobs, building a reputation as reliable, efficient, and willing to go after targets other bounty hunters wouldn't touch. The work was dangerous, but they were good at it, and the money started piling up faster than any of them had expected.