Trelawny stayed at Land Farm for only a single day before leaving again.
He needed to track down the gang's new hideout and complete the task Davey had given him.
Davey actually already knew the gang was at Clemens Point, but he kept that to himself.
If he said it aloud, Dutch and the others might think he had been monitoring them, which would only create unnecessary misunderstandings.
...
Land Farm, Stables.
Kieran Duffy kept the place running like a well-oiled machine.
There were several stables now, and Davey owned sixty horses in total—though with Mac and the others at Emerald Ranch, the place felt a bit emptier than usual.
"Hey, Kieran. Looks like the stables are doing great under your care," Davey greeted with a smile.
Kieran was grooming a horse. Even with several stablehands helping, he never let himself stand idle.
"Mr. Land, my apologies—I'm a bit dirty right now," Kieran said, always respectful whenever he saw Davey.
Davey was the one who had given him this stable, comfortable life, and Kieran never forgot it.
"It's fine, Kieran. You don't need to get nervous every time I show up."
"I just wanted to tell you we'll probably need to buy some more horses soon—around fifty."
"The farm can't hold that many, so I'm planning to buy a ranch nearby and put you in charge of managing it."
Davey leaned against the stall, still smiling.
"Me…? Mr. Callander, a whole ranch? I'm afraid I won't be able to manage something that large."
Kieran's voice trembled slightly with worry.
Davey patted him on the shoulder.
"I believe in you, Kieran. You can do it. You've managed the stables excellently, and I'm very satisfied. That's why I'm entrusting the ranch to you."
Kieran immediately bowed.
"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Callander."
...
After finishing the arrangements for the horses, Davey headed to the gun shop.
He knew arms dealers were operating near Shady Belle at the moment, but after weighing the risks, he decided not to source from them.
Crossing state lines meant the shipment would need an armed escort, and if anything happened along the way, the loss wouldn't be worth it.
Sure, firearms might be cheaper over there, but Davey wasn't concerned about the small price difference—especially given the modest quantity he needed.
The gun shop owner clearly wasn't used to receiving such large orders from Davey, and even offered a slight discount.
The transaction would take a few days to complete, but the upside was that all transportation risks fell on the owner.
Even if the weapons were robbed on the road, that loss wouldn't be Davey's problem.
As for uniforms, he could wait until he had all his people assembled before designing them. No rush.
...
A few weeks later.
Davey hadn't expected that a simple recruitment notice would attract such a massive turnout.
Once the newspaper hit the stands, nearly two hundred applicants arrived—most of them competent-looking and physically strong.
Some were lean, but their shooting wasn't bad at all.
With so many people showing up, Davey rushed to the newspaper office to cancel the next three issues of the advertisement and publish a notice stating the positions had been filled.
Paying the round-trip travel expenses for over a hundred people cost him nearly four thousand dollars… almost enough to cover a month of salaries for his employees.
But since he had publicly made the promise, there was no backing out. Compared to his company's reputation, four thousand dollars meant little.
Rejected applicants weren't exactly happy, but they understood the competition was fierce—high pay had drawn in many strong candidates.
Still, Davey's generosity with travel reimbursement earned him a great deal of goodwill.
Bosses that generous were rare in this era.
Davey had originally planned to hire just over forty people, but in the end he recruited fifty-two.
Some candidates were simply too good to let go.
Among the fifty-two, seventeen were former Pinkerton agents—
and six were still active agents who had been lured away by the high salary.
Most of the others were bounty hunters with excellent horsemanship and marksmanship—solid gunmen all around.
Only three were selected as Senior Employees, all personally tested by Davey.
Their shooting skills were on par with Sharpshooters.
Two were retired non-commissioned officers—Emin Deva and Jason Cartman—both with extensive combat experience, which pleased Davey greatly.
The last candidate was a special case—
a bounty hunter with a near-legendary reputation.
"Near-legendary" because he usually worked alone, yet his mission completion rate was extremely high.
Among bounty hunters, his reputation matched names like Cole Stoudemire and Ike Skelding, leaders among their trade.
Davey tested his shooting and was delighted to find that he possessed four-times-speed reflexes—
a rare and welcome discovery.
"Mr. Laval, I'm curious," Davey said, studying the man. "With your skill, what brings you to my company?"
Kerry Laval—that was the name of the legendary hunter.
At forty-one years old, he exceeded the official age limit of thirty-two, but with skill like his, exceptions were easy to make.