Coyotes howled somewhere in the darkness of the night. Evelyn sat in front of the campfire eating a raw carrot, and looked back over her shoulder toward the distant twisted mesas, touched softly by the mysterious light of the moon.
Her scarlet eyes held steady on the horizon, cold and unblinking.
"There are a lot of coyotes out in the desert," said Bonnie. She was eating from her can of sweet beans.
"There are — but they're timid around people and they spook easily when they hear gunshots. Nothing much to worry about."
"Yeah… I suppose you're right."
Tightening her grip on the can, Bonnie frowned. Ever since Evelyn had told her the story of how she'd ended up in that town, one question had been circling around in the back of her mind. While turning the story over and analyzing it, she had noticed a gap in it.
'If that man had already seen the cat once — how did he fall for the same trick twice?'
She brought the spoon to her mouth and chewed, thinking hard. She looked at Evelyn, who was watching the stars in quiet contentment with her back against a rock, and narrowed her eyes with suspicion.
'Could she have lied to me? Was it just a coincidence? Am I overthinking this?'
Stupid people exist in this world. Bonnie was living proof that a person could do something dumb twice in a row — but it still struck her as strange. An older man, falling for a trick he had almost certainly already seen… Though that was the key word: "almost certainly."
Part of the story had been fairly vague. When the cat entered the train car, Victoria had followed almost immediately. Was it possible that Wild Dog simply hadn't noticed the cat in time?
'I could ask about it. It might even pull out a few more details about how the summoned cat actually works.'
She finished the last of her beans and set the can aside.
"Hey… about the cat — is it more like an animal you summon that acts on its own? Or can you control it like you're actually inside it yourself?"
Bonnie wasn't really asking about the origin of the power — she was asking about one of its effects. It was a good question, because Evelyn actually sat with it for a moment.
"If I had to put it into words, it works like a real cat that's separate from me — but I control it and I can see whatever it sees. It's incredibly useful if you want to steal something quietly, since it can pick things up and scratch people. There's a reason they call me Thieving Cat."
"I see. So that means you were seeing everything that happened inside the train car. What did you do to distract the Northern Dogs?"
Evelyn laughed.
"Well — I had the cat jump onto everyone's shoulders. The brutes had no idea what was happening, and the car was dark, so I don't think they even realized it was a cat scratching their faces. After that, Victoria dropped in and broke all their jaws."
'So it really was just paranoia on my part… What a waste of energy. At least now I understand how the cat works.'
Just an ordinary cat used for distraction. In the hands of someone without much going on upstairs, it would be completely useless — but since Evelyn was the one controlling it, it became a versatile, strategic weapon with multiple applications.
Bonnie found herself wondering whether other animals could be used the same way — an owl, maybe, or a coyote — but pushing into that territory would probably put Evelyn on the defensive.
'I wish I could figure out how to do something like that. It would suit me perfectly, since I'm still way too fragile to fight on my own.'
There was a long road ahead before that changed — her body and her mind both needed training.
Evelyn shifted on the rock, using her supply bag as a pillow. Then she pulled a small, worn blanket over herself.
"Let's set the supernatural powers aside. You'll learn more when you meet Victoria. For now, I want to ask you something important."
"Sure. What is it?"
"What is your goal in life? I mean — to set out alone toward the frontier, you must have a reason. What is it you're trying to accomplish?"
Bonnie already knew the answer clearly — she just wasn't sure Evelyn would understand it. Looking at the ground with that bleak expression that seemed to be hardening into a permanent fixture on her face, she said:
"When I escaped a few days ago, I had no idea what I was going to do. I was alone, scared, and completely lost. I kept thinking about what my life was going to look like from that point on. Eventually I came to a conclusion. There's something I'm searching for more than anything else in the world."
"That sounds serious. What is it?"
"I want to find the Devil's Cult and destroy it."
The moment Bonnie said that, Evelyn's faint smile disappeared entirely. A shadowed look took over her face.
"Hey… please tell me that's a stupid joke…"
The sudden shift in Thieving Cat's voice and demeanor put Bonnie on edge. Unfortunately, the words were already out — there was no taking them back. And that reaction said more than a thousand words ever could.
'There it is again — something else I've been looking for. She knows something.'
She tried to stay calm.
"It's not. They kidnapped me, but I survived whatever they were planning to do to me. Now that I have nothing left to lose, I want to find them and understand what the hell is going on — and why they're kidnapping and killing young girls. Back at the saloon I learned that almost nobody knows anything about them, except the Church, which has been after them for a long time."
Thieving Cat let out a tired sigh.
"You're full of surprises, Bonnie. If you really escaped from them, it means those bastards could show up at any moment to finish what they started."
"So you don't know any more than what they told me back there."
"You think?" Evelyn asked with a short, humorless laugh. "They have supernatural powers too, Bonnie — powers far more horrifying than anything you could imagine."
"And how do you know that?"
"Because my gang and I nearly died together fighting just one of those sons of bitches. What I'm saying is — however much you want to play righteous detective with that sweet little heart of yours, you will not be able to stand against something that three experienced outlaws couldn't contain."
She let the blanket drop and kept going.
"So drop this crazy idea you're running around with. I don't know — follow the same road as any other outlaw. Rob trains, kill strangers, and get drunk in rundown bars."
She sounded more than a little irritated.
"Even if those bastards are out there looking for you — use the short life you have and the freedom you've got as an outlaw. Train your body and your mind. Get strong enough to survive on your own and never get tangled up in that stupid cult's business again. Trust me — anyone who gets it in their head to wade into that garbage is just a massive idiot."
Bonnie felt the weight of Evelyn's words — and yet she still couldn't back down. If she wasn't going to search for the origin of her transmigration into this world, then what else was there for her? Without the cult, there was nothing else worth living for.
Did that mean Thieving Cat was dismissing the one and only thing Bonnie had to keep moving forward?
'When someone else questions what I'm doing, it hits like a kick to the stomach… But I already decided this. It's all I have.'
So Bonnie answered Evelyn the same way Evelyn had answered her about the cat's powers.
"I'm sorry I can't follow your advice — but I'm looking for answers because that's what I want. Beyond the fact that they kidnapped me and I escaped, I have a more personal reason for going after the Devil's Cult, and nobody is going to tell me what I should or shouldn't do."
Thieving Cat raised her eyebrows. She had just been given a taste of her own medicine — and that… made her smile. She laughed quietly under her breath as she said:
"You are genuinely full of surprises. You almost seemed like a completely different person just now."
"Maybe I am," Bonnie answered, watching the flame with steady eyes. "And that doesn't have to be a bad thing."
The shadows of both women trembled in the campfire's glow — but they did so in such a strange way that they seemed to have a life of their own, watching their owners in silence.
"If that's what you want and you're set on not listening to me, that's your right. Besides — I liked what you said. You talk like a real outlaw. You know what that means?"
Bonnie shook her head.
"It means the faster you accept your place as an outlaw, the better you'll be at developing your power. Congratulations. Though none of that changes the fact that what you're after is essentially walking into your own death at the hands of a bunch of demon lunatics."
"My life has been boring for a long time — but that's no reason to throw it away. So I'll decide when and where I die. It won't be in the hands of that cult."
"Sure. Don't come crying to me when you realize you've made a mistake."
"I don't cry anymore…"
Evelyn laughed at that. She settled back into her spot and fell asleep.
Bonnie watched her in silence. She looked to Capella for support, searching for something in those dark eyes — but the mare was staring at the bag of carrots with undisguised longing.
'So even you aren't on my side tonight. Fine. So be it.'
She pulled a carrot from the bag and tossed it to Capella. Storm watched the food in silence, and Bonnie felt a pang of sympathy for him, so she tossed one his way too.
In the end, she drifted off to sleep unable to shake the full weight of everything Evelyn had said to her.
━━━━━✧❃✧━━━━━
By midday the following day, the two of them were riding alongside the Great Red Canyon — and it was exactly as Bonnie had imagined. A vast expanse of red sandstone carved away by millions of years, with a wide river running at the bottom.
'Wow… It's incredible.'
Bonnie loved seeing it with her own eyes. A small smile slipped out before she could stop it — because when she looked out across that stretch of sandstone, she thought about all the years she had spent inside the house, and about how she had ended up here.
It didn't feel like it on the surface, but it had been a long journey.
"From here we head toward the mountains through the Hellbells plains to get closer to the Guinevere River. It should take us about another day and a half."
"That is excellent news," said Evelyn.
"Yeah… We're relatively close."
"Then let's not waste time — keep moving. With any luck we'll run into the gang at Hellbells."
'I hope so,' Bonnie thought. 'Because I really don't want to run into any trouble. I can barely defend myself as it is.'