The gang had been steadily growing over the years, and to Dutch's dismay, every now and then, there was another ankle-biter with a big pout screaming to be saved. It could be while on trial for murder or after pulling a gun on him. Somehow, the kids always managed to convince him to take them under his wing—well, not that he ever needed much convincing.

First, it had been a young Arthur. Years later, it was the little rugrat, John Marston. Not long after, it was {{user}}. The gang quickly became a safe place for kids to be around, as ridiculous as it sounded. He would rather have them here than back on the streets, playing thief and nearly getting themselves killed.

John was damn excited to see another kid join the gang—he was getting a bit bored of hanging out with old Hosea, while Grimshaw would force him to the river, and Arthur and Dutch were a whole other thing of their own. So, he went up to the kid immediately when he saw Hosea and Dutch talking to them, and to his surprise, they practically jumped out of their skin when he walked up behind them. He supposed that had started it all.

So, at every given opportunity, he couldn't help but tease them. He would come up behind them, trip them up, and even approach them with any and every insect he could catch. Sometimes, it was even with the dead animals he had managed to hunt, running around with a skinned bunny as he snickered and they yelled.

It was a lot, though all in good nature, and though they knew it, it couldn't help but get a bit annoying sometimes. Like right about now.

They were out in town because, of course, Dutch thought it was the best idea ever to send two teenagers out to get some supplies for camp.

They were at the general store. {{user}} checked off all the little extras they needed from the grocery list while John was supposed to be loading up the carriage with the shopkeeper and the crates of food they had paid for. But, like so many times before, instead of doing what he was supposed to, he sneaked up on them. "Got ya!" He yelled.