thedancenovel Chapter 481: 454. Bringing The Gang To The Mansion Pt.1
Chapter 481: 454. Bringing The Gang To The Mansion Pt.1
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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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The gang was completely speechless. To see a man that large, that heavily armed, and that clearly dangerous bow to Caleb and call him 'Don' was a staggering shock to their reality. John Marston exchanged a bewildered look with Charles Smith, while Uncle simply scratched his beard in sheer disbelief.
Then, Caleb turned back to the group, clapping his hands together once to break their stunned silence. He told everyone to grab their remaining luggage and enter into the massive fleet of carriages waiting at the curb.
At the edge of the group, Mary-Beth finally stopped her tight hugs and her excited, low volume conversations with Tilly Jackson and Karen Jones.
She offered her sisters one last, beaming smile, promising they would have all the time in the world to catch up at the estate, before then she went to join Caleb. She moved with the flawless, untouchable grace of the city's Madam, lifting the hem of her pale yellow silk dress as she navigated the platform.
Caleb offered his arm, and she took it naturally, the two of them moving toward their primary, black-lacquered personal carriage. It was a massive, opulent vehicle, boasting plush velvet interiors and polished brass fittings.
They climbed into the cabin, and Caleb immediately motioned for Arthur and Hosea to join them in their specific carriage, needing his two most trusted, senior brothers close by.
Arthur and Hosea climbed in after them, their dusty boots and worn leather coats looking entirely incongruous against the pristine, crimson velvet cushions. They settled into the rear-facing seats, staring at Caleb and Mary-Beth as if they were looking at entirely different people.
Outside, Silvio and the elite mafia soldiers efficiently ushered the rest of the gang, John, Abigail, Jack, Sadie, Lenny, Sean, and the others, into the remaining heavy duty transport carriages. The outlaws loaded their worn leather trunks and duffel bags, marveling at the sheer luxury of the transportation provided for them.
When everyone had finally entered into the carriages and the doors were secured, Caleb gave a sharp knock on the wooden partition. The driver cracked the whip, and the massive procession of carriages immediately rode out from the platform of the central train station.
They moved with a heavy, intimidating momentum, the elite guards riding on horseback alongside the convoy, forming an impenetrable diamond formation as they headed toward the Don's sprawling mansion located at the wealthy west end of the city.
As the carriages rolled smoothly over the paved cobblestone avenues, everyone in the cabins looked out the glass windows at the sheer, overwhelming marvel of Saint Denis. For people who had spent the last few months hiding in muddy ravines, sleeping under canvas tents, and looking at nothing but pine trees and open plains, the city was an absolute sensory explosion.
They drove past towering, multi story brick factories belching smoke into the sky. They saw massive, ornate stone banks, incredibly crowded sidewalks filled with thousands of people of every nationality, and the brilliant, blinding glare of electric streetlamps that were just beginning to flicker to life as the afternoon progressed.
Hosea leaned his head against the velvet cushion, his sharp eyes taking in the staggering scale of the industrialization around them. He let out a long, heavy sigh, shaking his head in profound amazement.
"My lord... look at how different it is," Hosea murmured, his voice laced with a mixture of awe and a deep, underlying melancholy for the dying wild west. "This city... it is one of the most advanced, sprawling places I have ever seen in all my traveling days. I've been to other cities, I've been to the coast, but the sheer wealth concentrated here... it's overwhelming. It makes Valentine look like a muddy puddle."
Caleb, hearing that honest, highly observant assessment from the older man, nodded his head slowly. He completely understood the feeling of being dwarfed by the sheer momentum of human progress.
"I know exactly how you feel, Hosea," Caleb agreed, his blue eyes staring out the window at the passing crowds. "When I first arrived at Saint Denis some time ago in the past, it hit me the exact same way. The noise, the smoke, the absolute relentless pace of it all. It's a machine. And it doesn't stop for anyone."
Arthur, who had been sitting rigidly in his seat, his massive arms crossed over his chest, finally couldn't hold his silence any longer. He looked away from the window and locked his piercing green eyes onto Caleb.
"Alright, Caleb. We're in the carriage. The doors are closed," Arthur pressed, his voice a low, gravelly demand for the truth. He still couldn't wrap his head around the opulent reality they had just been dragged into. "Are you going to tell us now? Because I still can't figure out why you brought all of us here to Saint Denis. You wrote in your letter that it was safe, ensuring us as well that Angelo Bronte and Leviticus Cornwall wouldn't do anything to us... but how can you guarantee that? This is their backyard!"
Caleb looked at Arthur, the deep, brotherly bond between them anchoring his response. He didn't want to lie to them anymore, but he also didn't want to explain the hostile takeover of the mafia in the cramped confines of a carriage.
"Yes, Arthur. I am going to tell you everything," Caleb said, his voice calm, steady, and entirely reassuring. "I wanted to tell not just the two of you, but everyone in the entire gang at the exact same time. You all deserve to hear the absolute truth about what I have been doing down here."
Caleb paused, a slight, knowing smirk touching his lips as he looked between the two veteran outlaws. "I just hope that this news wouldn't shock you all too much. It's a rather... significant shift in our circumstances."
Arthur let out a loud, genuine laugh, shaking his head with a bit of dry, sarcastic humor. He leaned back against the plush velvet, looking at the incredibly expensive suit Caleb was wearing and the beautiful silk dress adorning Mary-Beth.
"Shock us?" Arthur chuckled, his voice dripping with playful disbelief. "Caleb, what in the hell would shock us even more than what we've already seen? We step off a train, and you're standing there looking like a damn oil baron with a private army bowing to you."
Arthur began ticking Caleb's known achievements off on his calloused fingers. "You already own a highly profitable, fully legitimate restaurant back in Valentine. You told us you are also actively funding and building a massive, fancy hotel out west in Strawberry with a n electric wheel. You've got more legitimate money flowing than half the banks in New Hanover!"
Arthur threw his hands up in a gesture of friendly exasperation. "What more could possibly surprise us at this point? Did you buy the damn state legislature?"
Caleb just smiled, a wide, deeply satisfied, and highly enigmatic expression that made Arthur's eyes narrow in sudden suspicion. Caleb reached over, gently taking Mary-Beth's hand, who was sitting silently beside him, trying her absolute hardest not to giggle at Arthur's complete lack of comprehension regarding their true status.
"You'd be surprised, brother," Caleb murmured softly, looking out the window as the massive, wrought iron gates of the Garden District estate finally came into view at the end of the avenue. "There is something much, much bigger waiting for you all behind those walls."
Hearing that incredibly cryptic, highly loaded statement, both Hosea and Arthur looked at each other, their brows furrowing in deep, shared confusion.
For two men who had spent their entire lives reading people, running cons, and predicting the unpredictable, they were entirely at a loss. Caleb's calm, absolute confidence didn't match the reality of a man simply hiding out in a dangerous city. It matched the demeanor of a man who owned it.
Arthur opened his mouth to press the issue further, to demand exactly what Caleb meant by "something much bigger," but the words died in his throat.
The heavy, black lacquered carriage began to slow down. Through the thick glass windows, Arthur and Hosea watched in absolute, stunned silence as the carriage approached a massive, towering perimeter wall built of imported white stone and topped with lethal, sharpened wrought iron spikes.
At the center of the wall stood a set of colossal iron gates. As the procession of carriages approached, the heavily armed men standing guard at the entrance didn't raise their rifles or shout for identification. Instead, upon recognizing the lead carriage, they practically scrambled to attention, pulling the massive iron gates wide open with a frantic, terrified reverence.
The primary carriage, carrying Caleb, Mary-Beth, Arthur, and Hosea, rolled smoothly through the gates, the iron shod wheels transitioning from the cobblestone street to pristine, crushed white gravel.
However, the sheer size of the convoy they had brought from the train station presented a logistical issue. The massive procession of carriages simply couldn't all enter the central courtyard at once without causing a massive traffic jam on the manicured grounds.
So, under the sharp, barked orders of the mafia lieutenants, some of the heavier transport carriages came to a halt safely parked outside the walls, lining the wealthy avenue.
The heavy wooden doors of the carriages were thrown open, and the Van der Linde gang began to step out into the humid, floral scented air of the afternoon.
Silvio and the elite guards immediately stepped in, efficiently and politely escorting the confused, dusty outlaws through the open iron gates and guiding them directly into the sprawling front garden of the estate.
At the center of the courtyard, the primary carriage finally came to a complete stop near the base of a sweeping, white marble staircase that led up to the main entrance of the house.
Caleb, operating with his usual, flawless gentlemanly grace, got off first. He stepped down onto the white gravel, the silver spurs on his boots chiming softly, before immediately turning back. He extended his strong, calloused hands, and Mary-Beth took them, allowing him to help her step gracefully down in her pale yellow silk dress.
After her, Arthur stepped down, his heavy boots crunching against the expensive gravel, followed closely by Hosea, who leaned slightly on his cane as he took in his surroundings.
As all of the gang gathered in the expansive, meticulously landscaped garden, the sheer, staggering reality of where they were standing finally hit them. They stopped dead in their tracks, their worn leather bags dropping from their hands, and they simply marveled at the big mansion.
It wasn't just a house. It was a palace.
Towering three stories high, built from flawless white stone and red brick, the estate boasted massive bay windows, wrap around balconies with intricate iron railings, and a roofline dotted with ornate chimneys.
The gardens surrounding them were a masterpiece of botanical engineering, lush green lawns, towering oak trees draped in Spanish moss, and perfectly pruned bushes of vibrant, blooming orchids. A massive, tiered marble fountain sat in the center of the driveway, the crystal clear water sparkling in the afternoon sun.
For a group of people who had spent the last several months sleeping on the freezing, muddy ground of the Heartlands, shivering under leaking canvas tents, the sight of this unimaginable luxury was almost impossible to process.
Bill Williamson stared at a marble statue of a Roman goddess with his mouth hanging wide open. Lenny and Sean stood shoulder to shoulder, completely speechless, their eyes tracing the sheer size of the mansion's footprint.
Even Charles Smith, a man usually entirely unfazed by the excesses of the civilized world, looked profoundly impressed by the sheer scale of the fortress.
At this time, Sadie Adler pushed her way to the front of the group. The fierce, blonde haired widow rested her hands on her gun belt, her eyes narrowing as she looked from the towering mansion directly to the impeccably dressed man standing beside Mary-Beth. She wasn't one to bite her tongue or be intimidated by fancy architecture.
"McLaughlin," Sadie called out, deliberately and respectfully using his fake name just as they had been instructed on the train platform. She gestured wildly at the massive estate, the marble fountains, and the armed guards patrolling the perimeter walls. "You telling me you have been living here this whole time while you've been in Saint Denis? While we were staying our asses off back at the homestead, you've been sleeping in a damn castle?"
Caleb looked at Sadie, understanding the blunt, confrontational nature of her question. He didn't take offense. Instead, a small, knowing smile touched his lips, and he slowly shook his head.
"No, Sadie," Caleb answered, his voice calm and carrying clearly over the gentle splashing of the fountain. He wanted to be precise about his timeline. He stated that he hadn't been living here for long. "Maybe for this past several weeks, yes. I have been here, sleeping under this roof. But before that? No. Before this, I was sleeping in the Bastille at a rented room, riding through the mud, and sleeping with one eye open in the city, exactly like the rest of you."
He let his blue eyes sweep over the gathered gang, ensuring they understood that this wealth wasn't handed to him; it was violently, ruthlessly acquired. "This house... it is a very recent acquisition."vHearing that, the sheer logic of his statement registering in their minds, everyone in the gang slowly nodded their heads. They knew Caleb wasn't a man born into soft money. If he had this house now, it meant he had fought for it.
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Name: Caleb Thorne
Age: 23
Body Attributes:
- Strength: 8/10
- Agility: 8/10
- Perception: 9/10
- Stamina: 8/10
- Charm: 8/10
- Luck: 9/10
Skills:
- Handgun (Lvl MAX)
- Rifle (Lvl MAX)
- Firearms Knowledge (Lvl MAX)
- Past Life Memory (Lvl MAX)
- Knife (Lvl MAX)
- Blunt Weapon (Lvl MAX)
- Sneaking (Lvl MAX)
- Horse Mastery (Lvl MAX)
- Poker (Lvl MAX)
- Hand to Hand Combat (Lvl MAX)
- Eagle Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Dead Eye (Lvl MAX)
- Bow (Lvl MAX)
- Pain Nullifier (Lvl MAX)
- Physical Regeneration (Lvl MAX)
- Crafting (Lvl MAX)
- Persuasion (Lvl MAX)
- Mental Fortitude (Lvl MAX)
- Cooking (Lvl MAX)
- Teaching (Lvl MAX)
- Trilingual Language Proficiency - G, I, & C (Lvl MAX)
- Inventory System (Permanent - 100x100x100)
- Acting (Lvl MAX)
- Alcohol Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Treasure Hunter (Lvl MAX)
- Drugs Resistance (Lvl MAX)
- Business (Lvl MAX)
- Leadership (Lvl MAX)
Money: 3,222 dollars and 60 cents
Inventory: 285,392 dollars and 61 cents, 11 gold nuggets, 74 gold bars, 1 Double Action, 1 Schofield, 2 Colm's Schofields, 1 land deed (Parcel), 1 Mauser, 1 Semi Auto Pistol, 1 Lancaster Repeater, 1 Old Wood Jewelry Box, 1 F.F Mausoleum small brass key, 1 Ruby, 1 Braithwaites Land Deed, 1 Broken Pirate Sword, 1 Milton's Safety Deposit Key, 1 Senator Pendleton Sealed Envelope, Proof Of Marlin-Thorne Firearms Co., 10 Dynamites, 1 LeMat, 1 M1899, 1 Carcano, 1 Ownership deed of Doyle's Tavern, 3 Diamonds, & Important Documents & Deeds Of Cornwall
Bank: -