Chapter 11: The Man Bitten by a Wolf, Half His Brain Gone
"It's been days since I last saw him, and the weather hasn't improved. He's tough and smart, uh, at least tough, I guess."
Inside the house, Abigail and many other women gathered around the fireplace for warmth. During this time, she kept talking about John to everyone, showing her concern for him.
As Arthur and Johnny pushed the door open, Abigail stood up and said, "Hello Arthur, and Mr. Van der Linde."
Then she shifted her gaze from Johnny to Arthur, nervously clenching her fists: "Arthur... are you alright?"
Arthur could tell at a glance what Abigail wanted, but his anger towards John hadn't subsided yet.
Because the most important thing in Arthur's heart was loyalty; he could even abandon his loyalty to his own family for the Gang's loyalty.
Yet, John, when he had both family and the Gang, could betray both at the same time. This created a huge rift between Arthur and his brother, with whom he had grown up.
Johnny greeted Hosea, who was educating little Jack in the back, and then joined him in teaching little Jack to read. Jenny also walked over with interest, quietly watching from the side.
"It's that young man John again, he's gotten himself into trouble. How can he be so stubborn, like a rock, and useless like scrap metal... but that won't change just because of a blizzard."
Johnny watched Arthur start his invincible verbal assault again. It seemed he was right not to let Arthur know he couldn't ride a horse.
Hosea, standing in front, listened to Abigail's desperate pleas and Arthur's foul mouth, and was the first to not be able to stand it, rising to his feet:
"At least go take a look. Javier, can you go with Arthur? At least you two are the most suitable candidates right now."
(At this moment, one of the Callander Brothers is dead and one is missing, John is missing, the Legendary Rat is unreliable, and Charles is injured. The only usable combat strength is these two people.)
Javier said it was no problem at all; at least, if the roles were reversed, John would come looking for him too.
He then handed Arthur a sawed-off shotgun and a box of shotgun shells (18 rounds) and got up, ready to leave.
Johnny also expressed his willingness to help, so Hosea told him to go along. With that, he led the three of them to the stables.
(Hosea noticed that Johnny didn't have his own horse.)
Hosea handed Johnny the reins of his silver turkoman horse, Silver Dollar, and instructed:
"Although an extra person means extra strength, you must also be careful. Who knows how many dangerous wolves and bears live on these snowy mountains?" With that, he turned and walked back into the house.
Johnny was on the verge of tears; he had originally planned to ride on the same horse as Arthur, but now he was put on the spot.
Arthur saw that the other party was hesitant to get on the horse and instantly understood. He then laughed loudly and clapped his hands, saying:
"Oh oh oh, look at our 195 tall guy, he's already taller than a horse but can't even ride one, that's hilarious..."
Javier was also caught off guard and stood frozen, speechless. Johnny, on the other hand, instantly flushed red, not knowing what to say.
However, Arthur's verbal assault wouldn't last forever (after all, they weren't that close yet). He loosened his reins and walked towards Johnny, and with great effort, finally taught him how to ride a horse.
Johnny felt lucky that his first time riding a horse was an old one, otherwise he would have suffered greatly.
Along the way, Arthur told Johnny and Javier about John, even expressing his suspicion that John wasn't missing but had run off, as it wasn't the first time. Javier, however, didn't believe John would just leave.
Before long, the three, guided by Javier's hint, found an abandoned temporary camp and continued to follow the horse tracks forward.
During this time, Johnny saw Arthur wanting to say something multiple times but didn't. He guessed Arthur wanted to ask about the Blackwater Town robbery, but refrained because Johnny was present.
The snow intensified, and Arthur said that if they didn't find John soon, the tracks would disappear. The three continued up the mountain, following the horse tracks.
Finally, their efforts paid off. Not far ahead, they saw the body of John's poor horse. Immediately, Arthur fired a shot into the sky as a signal.
"Hey! Help! I'm on the edge of a cliff!" A hoarse cry for help came from afar, and there was only a very narrow path ahead.
The three dismounted, preparing to walk. Arthur took the sawed-off shotgun from his horse, and he and the other two walked cautiously along the path, as one wrong step meant a thousand-foot drop.
After passing two large boulders, Arthur said he was too cold and needed a rest. Javier opened a bottle of alcohol and handed it to Arthur. Arthur took two sips and then handed it to Johnny. The burning sensation of the whiskey finally warmed the three of them a little.
After a small slope, they finally encountered the person calling for help—John Marston. Johnny counted down 3-2-1 in his mind; Arthur's foul mouth, though delayed, arrived.
First, he mocked John for getting himself to the edge of a cliff just to find food, then he swung John onto his shoulder and started walking.
John also noticed that one of the newcomers was a stranger and asked Arthur what was going on. Arthur explained that the person was a poor soul who had survived the torment of the Odriscoll, and was now living with the Gang and had helped everyone a lot.
Only then did John relax. Just as the three were about to help John onto a horse, Javier, with his keen eyesight, noticed a large pack of wolves on the distant ridge, counting a total of 11.
(The author believes it's impossible for only 3 wolves to be foraging on a snowy mountain.)
Johnny also noticed that Arthur's revolver was in his saddlebag, so he threw his lemat revolver to Arthur and asked if Arthur could avoid damaging the teeth of the largest alpha wolf at the very front.
(In the game, if you don't pick up the short shotgun and switch back to the revolver, you're left with a two-shot shotgun to fight 3 wolves without Dead Eye, which is quite absurd, and the gold medal challenge is incredibly difficult.)
Arthur quickly caught the pistol. Although he was a bit confused by what the other party had just said, he quickly nodded, indicating that he understood the other party's meaning.
Meanwhile, Javier, standing by, tightly gripped the sawed-off double-barrel shotgun, his gaze sharp and vigilant towards the threatening figures of the wolf pack.
Seeing that the three men had already noticed their presence, the wolf pack decisively abandoned their original plan of luring them with the horse.
Led by the majestic alpha wolf, all 11 wolves, like a surging grey torrent, rushed down the mountain.
At this critical moment, Johnny had a flash of inspiration, thinking this was a good opportunity to quickly accumulate progress for the second main mission.
So, he unhesitatingly aimed his firearm at a slightly smaller wolf cub on the right (because young wolves run slower), preparing to shoot.
Immediately after, Johnny pulled the trigger, and with a series of crisp gunshots, four bullets instantly whistled out. However, to his surprise, just as he finished firing the fourth bullet, nine deafening gunshots echoed one after another!
In an instant, smoke filled the air and dust flew everywhere. When the smoke cleared, everyone looked closely and saw that the 11 wolves that had been charging fiercely were now all lying in pools of blood.
Although Johnny already knew Arthur possessed extraordinary marksmanship, when such an astonishing scene played out again, he was still deeply shocked by Arthur's miraculous shooting skills.
Johnny opened his panel and found that he had only killed two wolves, then closed it and walked towards Arthur.
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