Paying a Social Call

The prisoner

Kieran has spent close to a month tied to a tree at Horseshoe Overlook. Arthur walks up to him: "You got some speaking to do of your own... about that old gang of yours." Kieran answers: "I said... I told you... I don't know nothing."

Dutch and Bill come over. Dutch: "Whoa, hold your horses there... it seems the cat has got our friend here's tongue. I was thinking Mr. Williamson could have a word." Kieran insists that the O'Driscolls are no friends of his and that he only rode with them for a while. "Horseshit", says Bill, and asks Dutch what he wants him to do.

Dutch first tells him to hurt Kieran, then changes his mind: "One of O'Driscoll's boys couldn't open his mouth... but he'd tell a lie. Screw it. Let's just have some fun... geld him." "Oh yeah!", says Bill, and goes off to fetch a pair of hot tongs. Dutch tells Kieran that in Imperial Rome, eunuchs were among the happiest and most loyal of courtiers. "You sick bastards! What do you want from me?", shouts Kieran. Dutch: "Well, you are going to talk. The only question is now... or after we got these little fellers off?"

Kieran gives in: "I know where O'Driscoll's holed up... and you're right... he don't like you... any more than you like him. He's at Six Point Cabin." He offers to take them there, saying he likes Colm even less than he likes them. "No offense." Dutch: "Oh, none taken." Arthur tells Kieran to take a few of them up there right away, and tells Dutch: "I got this, Dutch. Should be fun." He unties Kieran.

A social call

"Let's both hope you ain't trying to trick us, O'Driscoll", says Arthur. "I ain't no O'Driscoll", answers Kieran. Arthur calls John and Bill over: "we got a social call needs making." Kieran says Colm is up in the hills behind Valentine. Arthur tells John to take "this little rattlesnake" on his horse and to kill him at the first sign of nonsense; Kieran rides behind John on Old Boy. "Sharing saddle with an O'Driscoll. Who'd have thought", says John.

On the way, Bill tells Arthur: "Morgan. You got throwing knives in your saddle bag. Dutch said you might... I was asked to give them... and I'm doing you the further courtesy of telling you about it." Arthur answers that next time Bill wants to give him something, he should give it to him instead of hiding it somewhere and hoping the chance comes up to mention it. "Last goddamn favor I do you", says Bill.

The ride into the hills

The player can then ride alongside John or Bill. If Arthur talks to John, he asks how he is holding up. "Fine. Still ain't right, but I'm fine", answers John. Arthur says he should be, after all that bed rest; John answers that Abigail would not let him up. Arthur reminds him that while he was "hiding behind your woman", the others were getting shot at, and that he fears John does not know how to help anyone except himself. John turns to Kieran: "You see, O'Driscoll? If this is how he treats his friends, imagine what he does to his enemies."

In this conversation, Kieran answers that he has an inkling, since they put those gelding tongs to his parts. Arthur asks Bill whether he still has the tongs. "I got a knife. Won't be so clean, but it'll do the job", says Bill.

As they climb, Kieran says: "You know... you all ain't that different from the O'Driscolls." John retorts that Kieran has been tied to a tree and knows nothing about this gang. Kieran explains: "You're outlawed like them... you're out to survive like them... you live rough... you live hard... fighting the law... nature... you're out for yourselves...." John: "See? This is why you're an O'Driscoll, O'Driscoll. You're out to survive... we're out to live... free. Colm's a sneak thief and a killer... Dutch is... Dutch is more like a teacher." Kieran says that from where he has been, they just look the same; John: "Then you looked, but you ain't seen..." Arthur tells John to shut the boy up.

Close to the hideout, Arthur sets out what is at stake: if Kieran is telling the truth and Colm is there, "we can end years of fighting. Here and now." "Amen to that", says John; "Hear, hear", says Bill. Arthur's plan is to go in quiet and take the O'Driscolls out one by one, and to move quick and hard if things go off. They leave the horses on the far side of a clearing. John warns Kieran that he is watching him every moment, and Bill adds: "You'll die, boy. But you'll lose your balls first."

From a rise, Kieran points out the cabin in the clearing below. Asked whether the men there are armed, he answers: "Armed. Drunk. Wary of strangers." Colm, he says, will be holed up in his cabin, "passed out, booze blind, likely as not."

The sentries

Three O'Driscolls walk past, worried about who will tell their boss they have nothing for the pot. One of them stops to relieve himself against a tree while the other two wait for him. Bill asks Arthur what to do about "the pisser".

Arthur and Bill then close in on the other two. "When we're there, we move at the same time", says Arthur, and each kills one man. John, who has left Kieran on the rise, reports that their guide is "meek as a little lamb". Near the camp, one more O'Driscoll sits on a log; Arthur takes him or tells John: "Take him quiet, Marston. Get your hands dirty for a change."

The raid

At the edge of the camp, the O'Driscolls are drinking with several women. Arthur takes a look, then gives the signal: "It's on. We move quick, we move hard!" A gunfight breaks out across the clearing. "He weren't lying, that little toad!", shouts John; Bill calls out: "Come at me, you Irish bastards." When the last O'Driscolls run, John shouts that they are turning tail; Arthur answers: "Leave 'em. Colm's still here." He goes to check the cabin while John and Bill loot the bodies.

Kieran's shot

At the cabin, a last O'Driscoll jumps Arthur and knocks him to the ground. Kieran shoots the man dead. "You alright?", he asks. "Sure, thank you", answers Arthur. Then he sees that Colm is not there: "Colm O'Driscoll... he ain't here. You set us up." He points his gun at Kieran. Kieran protests that Colm was there, and that he would not have saved Arthur if he had been setting them up. Bill: "It's a good point, Arthur."

Arthur then tells Kieran that he will not kill him and that he is free to run. Kieran answers: "That's as good as killing me. Out there... without you... Colm O'Driscoll's gonna lose his mind about this." He concludes: "So I'm one of you now." "Give me a break", says Arthur, before giving in: "Alright then. But I'm warning you..." "Oh, I know", says Kieran.

Kieran then asks whether Arthur found the cash: there is usually some in the chimney. Arthur sends the others back to camp. "See, Arthur... I ain't so bad", says Kieran. Arthur tells Bill: "Hey, Bill... you tell Dutch, old Kieran ain't worth killing... just yet."

The chimney

Arthur searches the cabin. He finds the money in the chimney and takes a Double-Barreled Shotgun from above the fireplace; the game then shows how to select, maintain and clean the shotgun. "Least you got something tucked away", says Arthur.

Deaths

• Several O'Driscolls, killed by Arthur, John and Bill; the last one is shot by Kieran.

On the ride

• The player can talk to John, who brings up Abigail, or to Bill, who talks about the saloon brawl of Americans at Rest.
• If neither is chosen, John and Kieran keep talking: John brings up Colm's murder of Annabelle, Dutch's lover, and reproaches Kieran for riding with a man who kills women.

Taking the sentries

• The man by the tree can be killed from range with the bow, with a knife after sneaking up on him, or by Bill.
• The next two are killed by Arthur and Bill at the same time, from range or with knives.
• The man on the log can be taken by Arthur or by John.
• If Arthur leaves a man to Bill or John and then kills him himself, they comment on it.

At the hideout

• Shooting any of the women at the O'Driscoll camp does not cost honor.
• Arthur can take the shotgun first or search the chimney first.
• Soon after the mission ends, Arthur becomes wanted and lawmen arrive to investigate: the bodies and the hideout are best looted before he enters the cabin.

For the first objective, Arthur takes the lead each time he is offered the choice and takes the man on the log from range: the four silent kills are the man by the tree, one of the next two, the man on the log and the man to his left. Bow headshots during the approach count toward the second objective. Dead Eye tonics do not count as health items.

• Oh, don't worry... they're only balls boy... just gonna cause you trouble.

  Dutch, to Kieran

• I swear... I promise. I'm taking you to Colm as best as I can. You'll see. I'll make good.

  Kieran, if Arthur rides with John

• Keep that in your mind, young feller. Right at the forefront of it.

  Arthur, to Kieran, after Bill mentions his knife, if Arthur rides with John

• I ain't going to shop you now, come on. It'd be suicide.

  Kieran, when John says he is watching him

• Give up, O'Driscolls. We got you beat!

  Arthur, during the gunfight

• Before this mission, a short camp scene shows Sadie Adler bringing a plate of food to Kieran, still tied up; she throws the plate to the ground in front of him and walks off.
• During the gunfight, Bill uses his custom Schofield Revolver, one of the few times he fires it in the game.
• The O'Driscolls and the women seen at Six Point Cabin during the mission appear in this mission only. Ordinary O'Driscolls occupy the hideout when Arthur comes back in free roam.
• The Double-Barreled Shotgun can be obtained before this mission: from the Catfish Jackson's robbery, from the Hermit Woman, or, in a worn state, from Murfree Brood members in some random encounters.
• After this mission, Kieran is accepted into the gang and spends most of his time looking after the horses. He carries a custom Cattleman Revolver from this mission on. Back at camp, he thanks Arthur for sparing him; after a pause, Arthur thanks him for the shot at Six Point Cabin.
• In Blessed are the Peacemakers, Colm accuses Arthur of killing many of his men at Six Point Cabin, which Arthur denies.
• In IGN's playthrough of the game, shown a few months before its release, Kieran was captured just before this mission rather than in Old Friends, in chapter 1.