Authors Note: This is pure fluff

Chapter One
Travelers

"Suing me for what?" Mary Travis gaped at the round face of Barbara Darcy.

"You said my Alvin was a horse thief." Mrs Darcy, a rather rotund woman, painted in lurid colours, with a scandalous amount of breast showing over the too-tight dress she wore, glared at Mary through the veil of her hat. Her voluptuous bulk filled her chair until her fleshy behind was starting to droop over the edges. Just looking at her made Mary feel the sudden urge to diet.

"He is a horse thief!" Mary burst out exasperated. The notice of intent for litigation stared at her from her desk with an accusatory eye. "He was caught on Kurt Simpson's horse, riding out of town, with Patsy the new saloon girl and two hundred dollars he stole from Mrs Potter's till. If Chris Larabee and his men had not brought him home, the next time you would have heard from him would have been through a postcard from Mexico!" 

Mary was trying not to lose her temper with this obnoxious woman. She realized with a sinking feeling as her fury continue to bubble, it was a battle she was not going to win.

"You ain't got no proof of that until he goes to trial!" Mrs Darcy lifted her considerable posterior out of the chair and leaned over Mary's desk to meet the widow's furious glare, eye to eye. "He ain't been proven to be no horse thief yet, and until the judge finds him guilty, my Alvin is still innocent."

"I report the facts as I see them," Mary kept her voice in pace with the counting she was doing inside her mind. Ten. Nine... 

"I'll bet you don't report half the things that get done by those seven lawmen of yours."  

Mary took another deep breath and resolved not to lose her temper in front of this foolish woman. The venerable Mrs Darcy believed suing Mary for the princely sum of $5000 for slandering her good name, might make up for the fact that she married a criminal who probably stole horses to escape from her. She knew where the woman was going with her current line of remarks regarding the seven, so Mary was not wholly unprepared for the insults when they came.

"Especially that Larabee  Just because he's your beau, you don't write about half the things he's done. Just innocent folk like my Alvin."

Easy Mrs Travis , Mary told herself. Just keep counting. Eight. Seven. Six.

"Mr Larabee did not ride out of town with someone else's horse or a saloon girl," Mary stated with a surprising amount of calm despite her extreme hostility. She was starting to understand why Alvin might have taken flight. No man could stay married to this creature without incurring some debilitating defect to their mental processes. 

"I heard about some of the things Larabee has done. He's a no-good gunslinger, and the only reason you ain't writing about him in your trashy little paper is cause you're sweet on him." Mrs Darcy said snidely, defying Mary to deny her pointed allegations.

"What Mr Larabee may or may not have done before he came to Four Corners is no one's business except Mr Larabee's." Mary had just about enough of this vile woman's presence in her office. As a newswoman and a community leader; she did not have to suffer this indignity.

"You would say that!" Mrs Darcy hissed angrily, feeling impotent her cruel barbs did not have the desired effect upon the spirited widow. "It don't matter anyway," she huffed, marshalling up a new plan of attack. "I got me a lawyer who made me that writ." She gestured to the piece of paper Mary barely glanced at. "I'll take everything you own, and then we'll see if that low life gunslinger still wants you when you ain't got a penny to your name. Maybe he'll just keep your around as his whore!"

Five…Four… Three… Two…One…

The counting was not working. Mary's temper was bubbling over, and that final insult was the last straw. The blond woman stepped out from behind her desk and sank her grip into Mrs Darcy's doughy forearm before the woman could open her painted mouth to utter another vicious word.

"You have wasted enough of my time," Mary said through gritted teeth. "You are leaving ."

"What are you doing?" Mrs Darcy screeched as Mary grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the door. The woman had not expected a physical reaction from Mary and had no time to recover her composure until she was shoved out the front door. "How dare you put your hands on my person!" She squealed as she stumbled onto the boardwalk outside the office of the Clarion. Her high pitched voice stopped people in their tracks as they stared at this latest excitement. "I'll have you up for assault!" 

Mary started to feel a little better and was now recovered from the frustration of trying to take the civilized approach. "You are on my property, and if I do not wish to have you here, Mrs Darcy, I can throw your large behind out on the street! As for this travesty you call a lawsuit, tell your lawyer to go look up the First Amendment! Trust me, I'll have you buried in so many court injunctions and delays by the time this case gets laughed out of court, Alvin would have been tried, convicted, served his sentence, and out to steal his next horse!"

With that, Mary Travis turned around and retreated into the office once more, slamming the door loudly in the woman's face, hoping she would take the hint and go away. As she passed by the window to her desk, she saw Mrs Darcy's face glowering in crimson rage before the woman spat coarsely and went on her way, a storm cloud following her as she left.

Of all the unbelievable nuisances, Mary endured since assuming control of the Clarion, this ranked as one of the worst. She slumped into her chair, forcing herself to take deep breaths while she tried to calm down from that unpleasant encounter. Of course the case was ludicrous, and Mary had no doubt it would be thrown out of court because Judge Orin Travis was never a man who could swallow legal trickery in any shape or form. 

Still, she would have to go to court to defend her First Amendment rights, which meant she really did need a lawyer.

She sighed and decided lingering on this unpleasant subject was only going to put her into a worse mood, and she did not wish to be venomously tempered by the time Chris came over for dinner tonight. Besides, she was always required to have a sunny disposition since he could be so depressing when he was in one of his moods. Mary loved Chris Larabee more than anything in the world, but sometimes she just wished she didn’t have to be so doggone perky to offset his calm, deliberate personality.

Realizing she still had a paper to get out, Mary sighed and emerged from her hiding place behind her desk and went to her printing press, Lucifer, at the other end of the room. She looked at the sheets of paper prepared for usage and loaded it into the mechanism. As Mary had done a thousand times since assuming sole ownership of the Clarion, she went to work putting out the latest edition of the town newspaper. She let her mind drift as Lucifer went to work, thinking back to those days when her dreams were far grander and less focussed on making one patch of earth in the Territory a safe place to live.

She was going to see the world and write great stories, at least that was what she planned when she was twelve years old. Her mother was mortified while her father just laughed, knowing it was one of those things young girls indulged in until they reached marriageable age. Stephen was a godsend then, just as Chris was now. He wanted a woman who could think, who could hold her own in any situation despite the limitations of gender. Mary always tried to be that for Stephen, even after he died and was left alone. 

In retrospect, she wondered if Stephen possessed some premonition she might be forced to carry on without him. When he first died, she hadn't believed herself capable of surviving on her own, but eventually, things became more manageable, and she thrived.

And then Chris Larabee strolled into her life, and she knew a new page was turned over in her existence. Chris was the beginning of something new and exciting, and he beckoned her with that cool smile, sometimes bordering on a sneer she alone had the power to see through. Perhaps Four Corners was not meant to make her the intrepid globetrotting writer she dreamed of being, but life, for the most part, was good . 

As that thought crossed her mind, Mary looked down and saw the ugly smear of black across all her freshly printed pages. A slight leak in the inkwell had turned half of the already printed pages into an incomprehensible mess!

"No!" Mary grimaced as she tried to shut off Lucifer to discontinue its treacherous actions, but the printing press took several minutes before relenting on its path of destruction. When the press stopped what it was doing, Mary was left with a stack of ruined pages and a machine that would probably require dismantling and cleaning before she could start work again. Mary groaned, looking at those soiled sheets of paper and let out a frustrated cry.

"@#$%^&*!"

Chris Larabee chose to walk in at this point and the words escaping the lips of his usually, poised and elegant fiancee made him freeze in his tracks. Pausing at the door, he stared at her with his hard blue eyes while she stood before a stack of sodden ink papers, cursing in language he had not heard since the last time he made a visit to Purgatory. Meeting her gaze, the black-garbed gunslinger told himself, smiling at this point was a very bad idea.

He made some mental calculations and was sure it was not quite one month since the last time she was furious like this. Chris was married to Sarah long enough to remember that much about women. Mary did not get this temperamental often, but when she did even Chris knew well enough to ride out the storm instead of provoking it.

"I'm guessing you ain't having a good day." 

She glared at him with a look that could easily kill him dead.

"No, I am not having a good day. Do you know why I am not having a good day?" 

Chris glanced at the printer and could make a somewhat educated guess straight off. "That?"

"That and Mrs Darcy." She snarled in plain disgust, leaving the stack of ruined papers where it was.

"Alvin's wife?" Chris asked, familiar with the woman in question (he hesitated to call her lady), and could sympathize with Mary if she was forced to endure an encounter with that pain in the ass. Her husband had been trying to skip town ever since Chris arrived in Four Corners. Not long after meeting Alvin, Chris had the man pegged. 

Some men stole horses because they needed the money, others who did it because they were thieving varmints and then there was Alvin, who did it to get away from his wife.

"That's her," Mary grumbled. "She's suing me."

"What for?" He would have laughed at the foolishness of it except it did not appear as if Mary found the whole situation very amusing.

Barbara Darcy never ceased to amaze him with her antics. She was one of those women who contributed nothing to the community and delighted in causing as much chaos as she could with her scheming and gossiping ways. He was almost curious to imagine the exchange that must have taken place between his spirited Mary and the screeching harpy. 

No wonder Alvin needed a horse so badly.

"Slander," Mary replied, having no wish to go into the details and stormed over to her desk where she found the writ Mrs Darcy served her so proudly.

Handing it to Chris, she folded her arms impatiently while he read it.

Chris studied the contents and met her eyes after a moment, seeing Mary was taking this very seriously indeed. "The Judge will throw it out of court," Chris reassured her, and if not, he saw no reason why he could not have a little talk to Mrs Darcy and convince her to forgo this entire farce of a lawsuit.

"Chris." She said firmly with a perfectly straight face. "What if I sold the paper and the house, packed up and moved into your shack out of town? I can handle being a housewife again. We can live on a dollar a day. You can go hunting, and I'll grow things in the garden. I've seen people do it and churning butter isn't that hard. I understand all you need is a cow."

Once again, Chris knew to smile was a bad idea. 

"Come on," Chris went to her instead, taking her gently by the arm, and guided her towards the door.

"Where are we going?" Mary asked as she was led out of her office.

"Out of here, you're starting to get weird," Chris replied as they left the office.  "All we need is a cow ...?"

***********

Inez decided the best thing to do was not say a word because she had been listening to it all day already.

Inez stood at her customary place behind the counter in the saloon, trying not to let the talk bother her. After all, this was Buck Wilmington they were talking about, and she should not be surprised by his behaviour, let alone be troubled by his many dalliances. How many times had she heard the gossip and rumours about his latest conquest? Most of the time, from his very own lips. Inez knew from the very beginning Buck possessed an insatiable appetite for women which was why she stayed away from him, having no wish to be just another conquest. Still, it was fairly obvious to both of them, their relationship was far more complicated than that. 

Inez knew in his way, he loved her and could probably love her as loyally and devotedly as she wanted if she would only allow him the chance. Yet every time she turned around, it appeared he was going off with yet another woman, and no matter how vehemently she may deny it to others or herself, Inez burned with jealousy. How could she love someone when it was so easy for him to switch his affections from woman to woman?

How could she trust him?

"That Wilmington sure knows how to live dangerously." Inez heard a group of men talking against the counter. She recognized them as regulars and forced herself not to listen to their lurid barroom tales about Buck's latest fling.

Rancher's daughter, twenty years old, lovely and apparently very accommodating as well. The girl was virginal until Buck came along and her father was livid at his daughter's sudden change of status.

Lately, Inez had begun to question why she spent her nights alone when Buck was spending his nights bed-hopping. She was an attractive woman, not spectacular, at least in her opinion but pretty. If Inez wanted a suitor or a lover, it would not be a complicated matter to satisfy the need. Did she abstain out of some twisted desire to remain faithful to Buck? 

How could she betray him when she had not been near a man since she'd seen him? Once she had entertained ideas about Ezra because she worked so closely with the gambler, not to mention Vin Tanner who was so good to her during her first weeks in town. Of course, those relationships had evolved into friendships which Inez found more meaningful than any romance. Besides, both men had loves of their own now, and she was waiting for Buck to stop whoring, to go on the straight and narrow before she would allow herself to love him.

She was dreaming.

"Afternoon Inez." Buck Wilmington greeted, tipping his hat in her direction as he stepped up to the counter. 

Inez looked at him, startled because she hadn’t noticed him entering the saloon with JD Dunne at his side, while she was daydreaming. The rest of the seven were nowhere in sight. Nathan was probably at his infirmary, while Josiah Sanchez was no doubt continuing with the restoration work on the church. Ezra Standish had ambled off earlier, making some remark about having lunch with Julia Pemberton.

"Hi, Inez." JD smiled, agog with typical youthful enthusiasm. She wondered how he managed to keep that sunny disposition in the face of everything he had seen since arriving in Four Corners.

"Hello JD" She answered, ignoring Buck. "What can I get you?"

"Maybe some of your wonderful home cooking." Buck smiled his most charming, deciding she was so aloof because she was busy. The afternoon crowd was already in force with voices rumbling softly in the background as men gathered to drink, play poker or just to get out of making an honest day's living.

"I'll see." She said coldly with none of the usual warmth she reserved for him. "What about you, JD, can I bring you some lunch?"

"Much obliged ma'am," JD said, removing his hat and placing it on the counter. He sensed the tension between Buck and Inez, but like Buck could not imagine the cause of it was. JD knew Inez liked Buck more than she let on, and for all his big talk, Buck Wilmington felt something similar. He watched her draw away until she disappeared into the kitchen.

"What did you do to Inez?" JD turned an accusatory eye in Buck's direction.

"I haven't done anything to Inez,” Buck shook his head in puzzlement, and then added with a grin, “she never lets me."  

However, the kid was right, she did seem awful ornery at him, and for once it did not seem like the good-natured sparring they usually engaged in. Whatever was bothering Inez, it was real. Buck did not like the idea Inez could be angry with him over anything. He loved the woman for God sakes, if she ever consented to being with him, Buck could imagine the heat they would generate with their lovemaking. Buck knew instinctively she was a passionate woman. The thought of her dusky skin against his with its exotic aroma made him twitch with need to find him some female company.

Wait, he was getting off point here.

Buck shook such thoughts from his head and decided he was unwilling to let the situation remain unresolved. Striding towards the kitchen, he saw Inez busily preparing JD's and hopefully his lunch as well. She was slicing some carrots with her knife, and Buck wondered if it was all that wise risking an argument with her when she was armed. She shot him a glare at his arrival before returning to her vegetables, leaving Buck more confused than ever.

Leaning up against the counter before her, Buck opted for the quiet, sensitive approach. "Inez, darling is there something wrong?"

She met his eyes with a look he could only describe as venomous. "Not at all, Buck." 

"Now it doesn't look like it to me," Buck responded in his always-husky voice. "It looked like you were kind of  mad."

"Maybe I am." She said scooping the cut pieces on the chopping board and turned away from him as she dropped them into a pot on the stove,  steaming with savoury aromas.

"Well, tell me about it." He urged, wanting her to confide in him. After all, they had been through a great deal together. When she was kidnapped, Buck was so terrified he was going to lose her, he had not dared let her out of his sight. No matter how she denied her feelings about him, Buck was perceptive enough to know she cared for him a great deal.

Inez paused before the stove, trying to decide if it was time to move on with her future. After a moment, she whirled around and faced him. "Do you love me?"

The question took him by complete surprise, but the answer did not. It tumbled from his lips without any hesitation or doubt that Buck was secretly astonished at the certainty in his own heart. 

"Of course I do."

"Good," she nodded. "I think I love you." 

Buck started to smile that wide grin which infuriated her to no end and meant he was about to say something stupid. 

"Well, how about we go somewhere and discuss it." His fingertip grazed her bare shoulder.

And there it was.

"I may love you Buck, but I don't trust you."

Buck stared at her. "Don't trust me?" He held his chest in mock hurt. "Darling, I would never hurt you." He continued, stroking her skin with his fingers and Inez found herself responding, against her will. 

"I do not doubt you believe that." She wondered how he could be so compelling and so damn infuriating at the same time. "Except I think you will, even if you don't mean to."

Buck was enjoying her response to him until the statement snapped him out of the moment. "What?"

Inez stepped away, walking to another bench and leaning against it, so there were a few feet between them. "I love you Buck, perhaps I always have, but you love women too much to ever stay faithful to one, and I will not share you."

"That ain't true." He protested but knew it sounded weak. By his own actions, he proved to her she was right because he enjoyed the company of many women and while Buck could be loyal to Inez, he also knew he could not be sure about that promise. "I can try."

"There is no try with me, Buck," she shook her head quickly. "I want to know for sure. I want to know when you are not with me, you are not carrying on with some other woman. I am not even sure I can even wait for you to grow up. It’s time to move on."

He did not like the sound of that at all.

"Move on?" He said suspiciously. "You mean, leave?"

"No," Inez gave him a look of exasperation. "I mean it’s time to put us in the past."

“Inez,” Buck said with just as much seriousness, "I got feelings for you like I have no other woman. I know you have the same for me. Maybe I can't stay faithful to you but then again maybe I can. It's a chance like all things are a gamble."

"I don't believe in chances," she said, abruptly stepping away from him and proceeding out towards the bar. "And I am not waiting for you anymore."

With that momentous statement, she swept out of the kitchen, leaving him feeling like a fool because nothing she said was wrong and yet all of it was.

***********

Julia Pemberton had a bizarre notion of what lunch was meant to entail.

This much Ezra Standish ascertained, but for obvious reasons, was not about to complain. After so many weeks in her company, he learned what Julia's idea of a luncheon was and found no reason to argue with her interpretation. They were both in her bedroom, with the blinds drawn, feasting on pate and other culinary delights, with a bottle of wine within reach. Ezra decided he could certainly live with her idea of lunch. Of course, the meal followed a most exciting hour of hot steamy lovemaking which left him drained and completely sated, even before they reached for the food.

As Julia lay naked beside him, completely uninhibited by her nudity while feeding him liver pate on a cracker, life did not appear to get much better than this. For a moment, Ezra felt like a Roman Caesar of ancient times, and wondered if it would be too indulgent to make the lady a request of a peeled grape. Ezra decided pate would serve just as adequately. 

Never let it be said he did not know how to rough it.

"Miss Pemberton," he stretched languidly on the not so crisp white sheets of her bed, quite pleased with himself. "I certainly enjoy your concept of lunch." He leaned forward from the pillows when Julia held out a morsel of food to his mouth. He took a bite, and she smiled, licking the salt of the crackers from her fingertips with those perfect pink lips.

"I aim to please," she smiled before lowering her head on his bare chest.

A few seconds of silence followed and Ezra noticed an unwillingness on her part to engage in any form of conversation. Since coming together, Ezra learned her habits and one thing Julia did not do was hold things back when she had something to say. Her silence now told him something was amiss.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"Nothing." She shrugged and rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling and losing all interest in him since he was more concerned about her emotional health. She should be grateful for his sensitivity, but she could not help feeling a little awkward discussing what was on her mind.

"Come on now," he slid an arm around her and stared into those amazing green eyes that held such power over him. "My dear, I know all your little peculiarities, every impure thought crossing your mind. Trust me, there is nothing you have done that would possibly shock me. If it makes you feel better, I promise there will be no retribution or judgements if you reveal your latest conundrum."

Julia looked at him, wondering how he managed to keep a straight face when he talked that way. "When you put it so succinctly, how am I to refuse?" She rolled back to her side and faced him again.

"I don't think the other women like me."

Always the consummate actor, Ezra was able to hide his reaction from her. That was the understatement of the year, but Ezra kept it to himself. 

"Well, you did start off on the wrong foot with Alexandra."

Julia winced at the memory. How could she forget? Both of them were rolling around on the floor of her hotel room, like brawling children, until Chris Larabee walked into the room and forced them apart. Not to mention what she had actually said to Alex Styles to prompt that violent display. Julia supposed it was understandable that she would be viewed with such distaste with that kind of history between them. After all, she did steal Ezra from Alex and was less than gentle when she imparted the news to the good doctor.

Naturally, Mary and Inez rallied around Alex in support, and it still remained that way even now. At gatherings, Julia felt like an outsider. In the beginning, it did not matter because she had little feeling for them. As Julia got to know them, she saw the fellowship of the seven and slowly began to understand the need to belong, even Ezra could not escape. The bond between the seven was evident, even to her, and she knew while they remained the seven, they would always ride home together. Ezra was a part of something special, and she envied how Alexandra Styles, Mary Travis and Inez Recillos had become apart of it. Julia was also utterly aware she was not included in this circle. Her presence was tolerated because of Ezra and nothing else.

Acceptance had never been necessary because other women were always seen as competition byher. She treated Alex the same way because she wanted Ezra and did not possess the faith in him at the time to believe he would leave the beautiful doctor for her. Now that Alex had given her heart to Vin Tanner, there was no reason for the enmity to continue and every reason to attempt some reconciliation. The days when Julia felt the compulsion to view every man as conquest was broken upon the realization the man she wanted was hers already. While not all the old instincts were banished, some were gratefully forgotten.

Still, she felt strangely envious of the camaraderie shared by the seven and moreover by Inez, Mary and Alex. She thought she ought to be apart of that friendship, but she was not. Of course, it was entirely her fault. She burned her bridges with Alex  because of Ezra and Mary had more or less held her to ransom with her unsavoury past. The only one who seemed to view her with any form of civility was Inez, and this only resulted after their kidnapping experience some time ago. What friendship formed then was achieved through a life and death experience. Since then, Inez was warm but still kept her distance, and it bothered Julia more than she would like to admit.

"Yes, I supposed that was my fault."

That too was an understatement Ezra chose to let slide. He wished he could help her with this problem, but as responsible as he was for Alex's hurt, it was Julia's cruelty that was hardest to forget. He loved Julia but did not absolve her from her misdeeds. The situation she created with Alex Styles was her own doing, and only Julia could end the tension between them if she wanted to be accepted.

"I'm sure Alexandra will come around." He said although he did not believe it for a moment. From what Chris told him about their quarrel, both women had gone to blows with their fists. This, to Ezra, did not appear to be a salvageable situation. Still, Alex did forgive him, and perhaps with Vin in her life and their relationship in the past, she might extend the same courtesy to Julia. He did not hold out much hope for such an outcome but could not deny Julia the possibility, no matter how remote it might be.

"I do not have the patience to wait for it. I must take care of this now."

Ezra did not doubt it. He did not doubt she would make every effort to win Alex's forgiveness because Julia had proved how determined she could be when her mind was made up. Ezra almost felt sorry for Alex and all the grief the doctor was going to endure when Julia embarked on this quest to win her friendship. 

"Well my dear I wish you the best of luck, but you are attempting a most serious undertaking."

"I will think of something." She smiled defiantly, tossing her red hair back as she offered him an alluring smile. The fire of determination was in her eyes now, and Ezra knew personally how fierce it could burn when adequately provoked.

Julia would deal with Alexandra Styles later and perhaps there might be some measure of success in her attempts. For now, however, she still had a lunch hour to finish and dessert to serve. Leaning over she met Ezra's mouth with a searing kiss, which he returned  in kind.

"Dessert, Mr Standish?" 

Incapable of refusing, Ezra let out a satisfied smile. "I never say no to a full course meal."

***********

Alex was brewing a pot of tea for herself and Inez when Mary Travis walked through her kitchen door. It was an hour after her appointment with Mr Baker, whose claims of suffering poison oak was actually a malady that prevented relations with his wife until his ailment cleared. Inez arrived earlier, having turned the saloon over to Ezra once the gambler returned from his lunchtime engagement with Julia, wearing a smile on his face that left no doubt food was not the only thing on the menu. Like Inez, Mary appeared just as harassed and Alex wondered if she was the only person having a trouble-free day.

"So I take its been a trying day?" Alex inquired as she poured her companions cups of tea around her kitchen table, taking note of the frowns both were wearing on their faces. Alex wondered what could possibly ruffle the feathers of both these women when Mary Travis was the mercurial newspaperwoman who through will alone, forged peace in Four Corners before the seven arrived in town. Inez was no less formidable. Any woman who could survive working with Ezra while at the same time being able to handle herself in a saloon was not usually beaten by the mundane trivialities of life.

Mary gave her a quick rundown of the situation with Mrs Darcy, followed by the almost predictable foul-up by Lucifer as the usual staple of a bad day. Mary related with affection how Chris dragged her out of the Clarion for a ride out of town, to pacify her troubled temperament.

"I can never figure that man out," Alex said with a smile, wondering how someone who seemed so ruthless and aloof could be so warm and tender at the same time. Still, Mary was one of those people who brought out the best in others.  

Alex guessed not even Chris Larabee was immune to that power. "Most of the time he looks to be a complete pain and then he goes and does something adorable."

"Chris is like that." Mary nodded, sipping her tea with a bittersweet smile on her face as she remembered just how tender he could be. Riding with him had calmed her nerves considerably and lifted her spirits although he was still perplexed by her desire to churn butter. "Still waters run deep, they say."

"Very deep." Inez agreed. "And then there are some men who are exactly what they appear to be. Drunken, hard-living, skirt-chasing buffoons."

Mary and Alex exchanged a glance and said in unison. "Buck?"

Inez let out a frustrated groan "Buck. I love that man. I do not for the life of me know why! He is such an unmitigated pig when it comes to women, but I love him! I knew when he decided to defend me against Don Paulo, I was making a bad deal."

"He's just one of those men, Inez." Mary tried to defend Buck. "He loves women. He loves them so much he just has no will power."

Wait , Mary said to herself, perhaps this was not the best tact to take .

"I know that." Inez sighed, propping her cheek against her hand on top of the table. "I told him I would wait for him no more. I cannot spend my whole life waiting for him to grow up."

"Hear, hear." Alex and Mary cheered her on. "You're a beautiful woman Inez. You can do better and have a great deal more security knowing whoever he is, will not be chasing half the ladies in town."

"Exactly." Alex laughed and then remembered something. "Reminds me, I got a letter today." Alex reached into her pocket and pulled out the white envelope that she had forgotten about until this point. "Vin brought it to me a while ago."

"I thought he didn't come to the clinic during the day?"

"Why?" Inez looked at Alex puzzled as the young doctor started to tear into the crisp white paper of the envelope.

"Oh," Alex looked up as she realized a question was aimed at her and replied distractedly. "He walked into the clinic the day I had to lance a boil from Mrs Harrington's rear end. Vin never got over the shock, and we agreed it's probably best he comes through the upstairs kitchen when he visits during the day."

"What?" Inez started laughing loudly, trying to picture the look on the tracker's face at that discovery. Mrs Harrington was almost two hundred pounds of sturdy farmer’s wife in work boots. Mary joined in, and they both giggled like silly schoolgirls for the next few minutes. Meanwhile, Alex, who unfolded her letter,  was reading it with particular interest.

"What did Mrs Harrington do?" Inez had to ask.

"Not much, I had a scalpel to her bum, she was not about to make a fuss." The doctor answered, still focused on her letter but did pause long enough to add with a slight smile. "Although I almost had to give Vin a shot of morphia."

This only succeeded in an even louder burst of laughter as the two women giggled so hard, they were almost giddy by the time they paused to catch their breaths.

"I don't think I can ever look at Vin with a straight face again." Inez snorted, trying to speak through her giggles.

"Funny," Alex mused. "Vin said the same thing about Mrs Harrington."

She barely heard the giggling that followed because she was too surprised by what she was reading.

"What is that?" Mary asked finally, feeling a little disappointed Alex was not joining in.

"Sorry," Alex apologized as she looked up at her friends. "I have been invited to give a talk at a luncheon for the Society of Women's Studies in Denver."

"You're kidding!" Mary exclaimed. "How exciting!"

"Apparently, some of your columns regarding my work has reached their notice.  They want me to give a talk about being a professional woman and a physician in the frontier." Alex said with some astonishment. She knew Mary occasionally mentioned her name as well as Nathan's in the Clarion News, especially when she was forced to perform some new medical treatment. There were also occasions when Mary needed quotes on the status of victims or criminals that made the news.

"See," Inez beamed. "She made you famous."

"Hardly famous," Alex remarked but could not help feeling some measure of pride because it felt good to be recognized by an organization of note as a doctor, even in this fashion. "Still, it's nice to be appreciated."

"So, when do you have to be there?" Mary pressed, happy for Alex.

"A week from today judging by the date." She frowned. Obviously, mail travelled slowly in these parts, and Alex wished she had the time to make such a trip. Denver was almost 500 miles away. She would need to get there by train and then there were her patients. "I can't just leave."

"Yes, you can," Inez insisted. "Alex, are you mad? This is a great honour. You have to go."

"But Denver is so far away. I don't even know my way around the city."

"You're a world-class traveller who’s crossed the Gobi Desert. You can survive in Denver." Mary glared at her impatiently. "Stop making excuses." 

Suddenly an idea came to her, and she liked it as soon as it popped into her head. Four Corners was driving her crazy, that much was evident after today. Perhaps a little trip away might be just the thing she needed to revitalize her lately frustrated state of mind. "I'll go with you."

"What?" Alex looked at her. "All the way to Denver?"

"Yes," Mary nodded, liking the idea the more she thought about it. She would not mind a trip to the city, with its hotels, theatres, and shopping. A few days away, pampered by the temptations of the big city was something Mary could endure. "I can cover the luncheon for the Clarion. You know, the local doctor makes good in the big city."

"That's a great idea." Inez sighed, wishing she could go. "I'll miss you both, but it's a wonderful opportunity."

"What are you talking about?" Alex stared at her. "If Mary and I are going, so are you. They sent me an extra ticket for a travelling companion." 

Women were not meant to make such an arduous journey alone. No matter how forward-thinking the Society might be, they could not break that convention.

"I couldn't!" Inez protested. "Who would take care of the bar?"

Mary rolled her eyes. "If I can leave the paper and Alex can leave the practice, you can certainly leave the saloon in Ezra's hands for a few days."

"Besides," Alex added her voice to Mary's persuasive argument. "It will be fun. Think about it room service, running hot water bath?"

"And room service. Let’s not forget that."

Inez bit her lip and considered their idea. It was undoubtedly inviting, and she had more than enough money saved to indulge in such a trip. She supposed she could leave the saloon in the hands of Josiah who would take care of the place and ensure it was still standing when she returned. In any case, Alex was right, it would be fun. Furthermore, with all the emotional confusion over her relationship with Buck Wilmington at present, Inez would definitely enjoy the time away, if only to clear her head.

"Alright," she nodded decisively. "Let's go."

"Wonderful!" Mary giggled, feeling more enthusiastic about this forthcoming trip than anything else that had happened lately. "Now, I've just got to figure out how to break it to Chris."

"And Vin." Alex agreed, seeing the fly in the ointment. She would miss him terribly, but there was no way in hell she was taking him to a ladies' luncheon in Denver. After seeing Mrs Harrington's naked posterior, that would probably send him over the edge once and for all.

"Ah," Inez gloated with some measure of satisfaction. "I now see the advantage of being unattached. I am a free spirit who needs to give no explanation to any man. I can tell you now with absolute certainty, they are going to hate this idea."

"Of course not!" Mary protested, knowing Chris was not that stubborn. After all, she was going away with two women to Denver for a few days. What could be more harmless than that? She resented Inez for implying she had to explain herself to Chris. "I'll have you know Chris will have no problem with this." 

***********

"Mary this ain't a good idea." Chris Larabee replied when Mary told him of her plans later that evening.

How did Inez do that?

Mary swore under her breath while telling herself she was not going to be upset by his negative view of her trip to Denver. After all, he was just being Chris, a trifle too protective for his own good. He was just a little overly concerned about her welfare, and she could not fault him for it. Besides, they were courting now, and so she had to afford him some small say in how she conducted herself.

"Why?" Mary looked at him as she stood by the stove, preparing their dinner to serve. She put down both plates and stared at him, hands on her hips full of defiance.

Chris knew the stance well. It was one usually indicating she had made her mind up and he could either go along with it or shut up. He was about to give her a dozen good reasons why she should not go when Chris remembered how she looked this morning when he walked into the Clarion. He noticed the exhaustion in her eyes, not just in a physical sense, but the evidence of mental weariness was very prominent. 

Perhaps he was wrong, Chris realized. Maybe she did need to get away and do things normal women do, like taking walks in manicured parks and going shopping with other women. Mary always did strike him as being out of place in the ruggedness of Four Corners. She should be going to society teas and embroidering things in a parlour somewhere in the east.

"You're right." He conceded defeat because it occurred to him she did need the time away from this place, to just be herself and not the paragon of the community and the defender of Four Corners. Besides, Chris knew if he said no, she was just going to go without his permission anyway. That is what came of falling in love with a strong-willed woman capable of being just as stubborn and ornery as he could be. "You should go."

"Really?" She stared at him with surprise after his initial distaste for the idea. Mary joined him at the table and sat down on his lap, meeting his lips in a deep searching kiss to which Chris reacted to immediately.

"Just don't get into any trouble." He growled as their kisses intensified.

"Do I ever get into trouble?" 

Chris did not even dignify that with an answer.

Chapter Two
Unexpected Guests

What are you going to do without me for a whole week?" Mary asked as the stagecoach driver started loading her luggage and those of her travelling companions, to the top of the carriage. 

The time to make her trip to Denver approached so fast, Mary could scarcely believe it was only a few days ago she sat at Alex's kitchen table and made the decision to leave Four Corners. She fought the urge to act responsibly; ignoring the practical voice in her head telling her this entire expedition was a lesson in frivolity. She had duties to fulfil, a newspaper to get out and yet despite all those excellent reasons, the one giving her most reason to pause was this black-garbed gunslinger before her.

Chris showed no signs of being bothered by her impending absence, wearing the usual dispassionate mask over his handsome face when he saw her to the stagecoach. He was accustomed to her leaving town occasionally, whether to see Billy or visit friends. Most of the seven turned up to bid the ladies goodbye, although it was Chris and Vin who had more personal reasons for doing so.

"I reckon I'll get some peace and quiet."  

In truth, he would miss her, especially at night. Chris had become accustomed to falling asleep with the soft warmth of her body in his arms. How many times had he drifted into pleasant dreams amidst a shimmer of gold hair in breath's reach?

"Liar." Mary declared, perfectly aware she would be missed because she could not deny feeling the same loss whenever they were forced to put distance between them. Chris and Mary had become so much a part of each other's existence, it was impossible to imagine life before they drifted into each other’s worlds.

A faint smile penetrated his indifferent mask when their eyes met, the steely gaze that intimidated so many people and put the fear of God into his enemies, was dispelled for the moment. "Try not to get into any trouble."

He said that just to annoy her.

"How many times are you going to give me that warning?" Mary let out a frustrated groan. 

For some reason, Chris managed to work it in no matter what they were discussing and his ability to remind her of this during their most intimate moments made Mary wonder if Chris thought she was a lightning rod for trouble. It was only after remembering just how many times he had come to her rescue Mary was forced to admit he might be justified in his concerns. 

After all, she did burn down a house, inflamed a bunch of lunatic cultists to pursue her, and those were just the highlights .

"As many as it takes," Chris stated firmly, enjoying the flush of annoyance creeping into Mary's cheeks.

"I'll have you know this is just going to be a nice, simple trip." She pronounced with confidence he did not trust for a second.

"Uh-huh." He looked at her sceptically because, with Mary, that was how these things usually started, with the words ‘nice and simple’.

"I promise you, I will not get into any trouble while I'm away from you. Besides, even if I do get into it, how do you know I can't get myself out of it?"

The look he gave her spoke volumes. 

"On second thought." Mary interrupted quickly before Chris could respond. "Never mind."

The smug look on Chris's face was enough to make her frown, but Mary could not help laughing as she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. Mary knew he was just teasing her, and she enjoyed it when he dropped his guard down long enough to display the dry wit hidden behind his serious persona. Once these occasions were rare, but now they were growing in frequency, the more he became used to having her in his life.

"I'm going to miss you." She whispered in his ear.

"I'll probably miss you.”

"Probably?" Mary looked at him in mock outrage and slapped him on the arm.

"Likely." He tried again, still teasing her with his eyes and his slight smile.

"Likely?" She shook her head in disbelief. "You're not very good at this, are you?" 

"Not very." Chris chuckled not about to let her in on just how much he would miss her. Mary had rekindled his soul the way nothing had since Sarah and Adam. The months following their initial declaration of love were heady ones. Even with tragedy intermingled; Chris would not have traded those moments with her for anything. Of course, he would miss her. She renewed his spirit, where there was once nothing but cinders. 

"That's what he says." Buck Wilmington snorted, announcing his presence as he walked past the couple and the stage while making a beeline towards Inez. "He'll probably be drowning in whiskey like a sick puppy before you're even out of town."

Chris flashed Buck a filthy glare. "Buck, remind me to kick your ass when the women are gone."

"You can try Chris," Buck said gleefully, always amusing himself at Chris's expense. It was so good to see Chris slowly returning to the person he was before the loss of his family and Buck could never resist helping the process along.

"I can stand to see that now, Chris." JD urged as he stood next to Inez, wishing the sultry barmaid farewell on her trip to the big city. Although he would not miss Inez the way Chris would miss Mrs Travis, JD knew he would not be happy until Inez returned to Four Corners. Ever since her arrival in town and her business partnership with Ezra, Inez always paid particular attention to him whenever he came into the saloon.

She made sure he was eating right and last summer when he had a case of the fever, sat by his bedside and cooled his brow at the height of his delirium. JD had gone to sleep, feeling her soft hand on his forehead and her voice lulling him to sleep with some Spanish tune that had no words he could understand but soothed him nonetheless. It reminded him of how his ma would take care of him when he was a boy.

However, Inez was more than just that to JD She was the only other person other than Chris Larabee who could take down Buck a peg or two. They often indulged in playing some awful practical jokes on Buck when the man sorely deserved it. Despite the torture they forced Buck to endure, JD knew there was something unspoken between Buck and Inez.

Even though they argued and fought publicly, JD believed there was more to their relationship than anyone suspected. More than anything, JD would love to see Inez and Buck get together, even though he sometimes thought he might be a little in love with her himself. It would be hard not too, for she was so beautiful in ways he was never capable of explaining.

"Remember Josiah," Inez stared at the preacher. "I'm trusting you to see to it that Ezra does not let things go to hell before I get back."

"I do resent the implication you feel I cannot be trusted Miss Recillos," Ezra protested, as he heard Inez give Josiah instructions about the saloon that should have come to him. For reasons, he could not possibly fathom, his partner seemed to think he was utterly untrustworthy. It was not like he had burnt the place down or anything, although she never left the saloon in his charge long enough for such a catastrophe to take place. Nevertheless, Ezra knew he was justified in feeling slightly perturbed Inez entrusted Josiah with the supervision of the saloon in her absence.

"The lady is wise as she is beautiful." Josiah grinned. It was nice to know he was the only one Inez trusted with the saloon. Since assuming partnership interests in the bar, Inez always came to him when she was required to leave town. While Ezra may be part-owner of the business, she knew he had no taste for any kind of work or 'menial labour' as he put it. Left to his own devices, the gambler would idle away the profits in front of a card table. 

"You would say that," Ezra gave Josiah a look. "Am I to assume I must tolerate Mr Sanchez's supervision the entire time you are away in the city?"

Inez looked at him and smiled sweetly. "You can because I would like there to be a saloon when I get back."

"Gentlemen," Buck interrupted their conversation over the sound of their chatter. He was wearing an expression on his face bordering on the serious. Although with Buck, it was difficult to tell. They so rarely saw him serious, it was difficult to tell the difference. "May I have a moment with the lady?"

Inez's mood darkened, not wishing to get into any kind of in-depth discussion with Buck about their non-existent relationship. Why did he have to confront her about this now? She did not want to talk and felt some dismay when she saw JD, Ezra and Josiah stepping away. The rest of the seven were aware of the tension between Inez and Buck. Ezra made an attempt to ask her about it, Inez was unwilling to discuss it with anyone other than Mary and Alex.

"Have a good trip," Josiah said, tipping his hat at her as he withdrew.

"Spare a thought for those of us languishing in this arcane place when you are indulging yourself in the excesses of high urban living," Ezra said wistfully, kissing her hand in that continental way which sent many a female hearts flutter in Four Corners.

"Don't worry, I'll fill this shopping list of yours to ease the pain," Inez stated, remembering the list he produced when he learned she was going to Denver. Apparently, she was going to spend at least one day there, shopping for men's clothing, toiletries, and haberdasheries. 

According to Ezra, it took work to look as good as he did.

"You are a goddess." 

"Shopping list?" JD asked as he followed Ezra away to afford Buck the privacy he desired with Inez.

"I see I will just have to educate you in some of the finer things in life..," Inez heard Ezra say as he led JD away.

She turned around to face Buck impatiently, wishing not to discuss this subject because she was confused about the whole issue of their 'relationship'. Buck dispelled the look of good humour he wore for everyone's benefit and met her gaze with the closest thing to thoughtfulness she had seen in recent months. Sometimes, she could become lost in his gaze because she could tell there was more going on behind those blue eyes. Buck Wilmington touched her heart from the first moment he stood up for her against Don Paulo, but she was a proud woman who felt her love needed to be earned not given freely. Buck earned her respect, but not her trust. To Inez,  the two things were essential to any relationship between them.

"What is it, Buck?" 

"Inez, I don't want you going the way like this."  

"Like what?" She stared, wondering if he thought she was going to run away or something. "I'm going to Denver  with Mary and Alex. That is all there is to this."

"There's a lot of things between us that need saying," he struggled to speak, finding difficulty in reaching into the dark well where he kept his innermost thoughts. "I don't want you to go without at least trying to tell you some of it.” 

Buck had to tell her something . Since their conversation in the kitchen, he had this terrible aching inside his stomach that would not go away for anything. It lingered there, whispering possibilities in his mind, such as having Inez walk out of his life and never coming back. Buck did not know much, but he knew he could not bear her leaving him.

"Buck," she replied sharper than she would have liked. "There is nothing to say. You are what you and that is the way it is. I do not expect you to change."

"But..."

"I've got to go," Inez turned away and kept walking. 

Buck did not follow her, and she did not expect him to. He was too proud for that, especially when it came to her. A part of Inez felt guilty because he was trying so hard to explain himself, and she was refusing to hear him out. Inez knew if she listened to his promises and oaths, she would only be swept up by another tidal wave of hope that would be crushed later. Instead, she climbed into the stage, almost completely loaded with their luggage only since no other passengers were travelling today, and waited patiently for Mary and Alex.

Buck stared after Inez with a silent ache, wishing there was something he could say to reassure her his feelings for her were real. He loved only Inez, while other women were merely company. Buck understood her reservations, but couldn't make the commitment needed to seal the breach between them. Turning away because he was helpless to resolve this situation, Buck knew the gnawing in his gut wouldn't go away until she returned to Four Corners. 

Meanwhile, Alexandra Styles was imparting to Nathan Jackson a list of instructions as long as the one Inez gave Josiah earlier.

"These are all the people you need to keep an eye out for. Mr Baker will be back regularly for his treatment, Janet Lowing looks to be getting some sort of an ulcer, and Noah Kelly's bandages will need to be changed tomorrow. I'd keep a close eye on that one if I were you. He hurt the arm while out on the trail during that wet patch a few days ago. I'm worried it might turn gangrene if we're not careful." 

While Vin looked on in disbelief, Nathan took it in stride, noting everything she was saying. Vin was not so accommodating and chuckled quietly to himself as he heard Alex run off a hundred orders to Nathan.

"Don't worry Miss Alex, I'll handle things," Nathan assured her since he usually gave her a similar list when he left town. Alex and Nathan cared passionately about their patients, enough so leaving them was like severing some unseen umbilical cord. It was a source of great pride to Nathan Alex respected him and his skills enough to allow him access to her patients. Other doctors would not be so trusting.

"Quit nagging the man," Vin drawled, pulling Alex away from Nathan to take a minute alone with her before she had to leave.

"I am not nagging!" She protested and threw Vin a look of mock offence. "You're just saying that  because you're going to go to pieces without me." 

"You wish," Vin said with a smile even though she was correct. Still, he was not about to admit it to anyone, least of all her. "I'm going to rustle me up some trouble when you're gone. Maybe do some hard drinking in the saloon and then  go whoring with Buck."  

"Oh wonderful," she gave him a look. "Then I'll have to get the poison oak story from you instead of Mr Baker."

"How do I know what you're getting up to in Denver? With all them fancy men in the city? Might be I'm just getting in trouble before you do."

"The only trouble I am going to have is when I have to give that speech." Alex stared at him with arms folded. A stance Vin was very familiar with, particularly when they were engaged in one of their verbal jousts. "Then I'm coming straight back."

"That just means you're the one who’s going to be missing me. I ain't too fussed when you get back." 

"Well," she smiled sweetly. "We'll see who misses who when you're alone in your wagon tonight."

"Will you two cut it out!" Nathan finally groaned, having listened to this verbal foreplay long enough. "Just kiss the woman goodbye, Vin! It’s like watching two alligators trying to mate."

“Nah,” he grinned at Nathan. “If I do that, she’ll never leave.” 

“Very funny,” Alex swatted him on the arm. 

"I give up on the two of you," Nathan said, throwing his hands up in a gesture of defeat.

Vin and Alex shared a few more seconds, chuckling at Nathan's exasperation before Alex stared into Vin's blue eyes. "I will miss you, cowboy but I'm not going long."

"I may miss you too," Vin replied, never one to show his feelings unless he had to. Nevertheless, he sealed his remark with a chaste kiss which he would miss dearly while she was gone. "Have a good time, darlin’ and don't get into any trouble."

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" 

***********

Sanderson knew he was in trouble.

The rendezvous to meet Seacourt had not gone well. He was at the appointed place and time waiting anxiously for the arrival of his contact when he saw them appear in the darkened alley. The sight of them made him flee because it was imperative he reached Seacourt before it was too late. In desperation, he ran straight to the train station and took the first outbound service from San Antonio, leaving his pursuers behind.

Or so he believed.

He disembarked at Eagle Bend, believing the place to be small and obscure enough to wait out the time while he contacted Seacourt again to arrange another meeting. Pacing his hotel room like a caged animal, Sanderson kept a close eye on the package he risked life and limb to acquire. It was the key to a heinous plan that could easily break the back of the country, should the agents pursuing him get their hands on it. Fortunately, Seacourt made contact and arranged a new rendezvous point.

Sanderson spent the evening in Eagle Bend too terrified to leave his hotel room in case the enemy tracked him down and were at this moment scouring the streets for him. Sanderson knew if he could hold out until tomorrow and keep his appointment with Seacourt, his troubles would be over. Seacourt was one of the best of them, if not the best. He was a world away from Warren Sanderson who mostly played the part of a courier, ferrying vitally sensitive material from one place to another.

The man who gave him the package was dead and in his last dying breath, imparted to Sanderson its terrible purpose. Sanderson who was only meant to deliver the package back to Washington soon found himself the prey in a deadly hunt as assassins pursued him across the West. The next morning, following his clandestine entry into Eagle Bend, Sanderson prepared to leave the hotel for the train station once more. Seacourt should already be in town and would probably be making the same journey to keep their rendezvous if he was not already there.

He no sooner left the hotel when he saw the two people who tracked him relentlessly, no further than a few meters away when they turned off the boardwalk towards the front steps of the hotel. Sanderson froze and tried to retreat, but it was too late. They saw him. He was barely thinking when he fled back into the hotel, disappearing through the front lobby past the surprised clerk before colliding with a startled bellboy carrying a handful of luggage.

The two assassins, the most notable being a tall, blond man with long gold hair and handlebar moustache, pulled out his gun even though it appeared he would have no trouble snapping Sanderson with his bare hands if required. He reminded Sanderson of Viking conquerors in a picture he once saw. In contrast, his companion was a lithe female who wore a man's suit and looked as lethal as her dead eyes implied. It was apparent she was calling the shots between the two. Sanderson scrambled through the innards of the hotel, trying desperately to keep them from narrowing the gap. He tipped shelves over and pushed people to the floor, he even considered hiding but had little time or opportunity to do so.

Finally, he entered the kitchen, tipping a pot full of hot, bubbling concoction over as he crossed the floor. The meal splattered in all directions while the soup rolled spread across the smooth tiles on the ground. Sanderson ran through the back door, ignoring the chefs who were screaming furiously at the sudden disruption of their kitchen and the destruction of an excellent meal. He looked over his shoulder long enough to see the huge man toppling over because of the slippery floor.

Despite the temporary victory, Sanderson was unable to shake them.

They dogged his steps all the way to the train station, and it dawned on him he might not be able to lose them at all. Sanderson knew certain death awaited him if he fell into their hands and was prepared for this possibility. He could not function in this business without being aware this was a consequence of his work. What did not sit well with him was the knowledge he would die with the terrible secret he uncovered. Somehow, Seacourt had to know what was happening, but Sanderson had no idea if the man was on the train or not.

Sanderson arrived at Eagle Bend train station to see that the place was full of travellers preparing to board the train to Denver. He searched the faces and saw no sign of Seacourt among the passengers. With a sinking feeling, Sanderson realized he would have to come up with a plan of his own. He could not see the duo hunting him but assumed they were not far behind.

As Sanderson advanced onto the platform, he searched the faces around him, wondering if he was foolish by what he intended to do. He caught sight of her, mostly because of the gold hair. You really could not miss the luxurious wave swinging down from her neck as she waited with two similarly stunning women on the platform. What leapt out at him more than her hair, however, was the small carry basket she carried. Its was an open design allowing objects be slipped into its depths if one felt so inclined to, which he did.

Sanderson looked over his shoulder and saw the duo appear on the platform. The man was crimson with rage, and it seemed they were dispensing with the formality of taking him discreetly. Shoving through the crowd rudely, they advanced towards him quickly, and Sanderson knew he was out of time. Running forward, he ran straight into the woman, dislodging the basket from her grip and sending it and its contents tumbling to the floor.

"Oh, Madam, I am sorry!" 

Mary Travis glared at the man with annoyance as she saw her personal belongings strewn across the platform floor. "Really Sir," she huffed as she bent over to pick up her basket and everything else scattered in front of her. "You might watch where you are going."

Sanderson could feel the approaching footsteps of his pursuers and quickly picked up some of the items, using a little sleight of hand to include in her belongings, the package he was guarding so determinedly, probably at the cost of his life. 

"Are you alright, Mary?" The exotic looking woman behind her asked.

"I'm fine." She grumbled snatching her things from the ground before shoving them back into the basket.

"I am so clumsy," Sanderson apologies feigning regret at his trespass and gestured to the things he’d collected for her, ready to be returned to the basket. Mary held it open with a scowl on her face as he deposited them into it. She did not see she was given something extra. Once the package was safely hidden, Sanderson looked frantically behind him to see the duo almost on top of him.

"I do apologize, Madam," Sanderson said hastily, preparing to run and then almost as an afterthought added. "If you are ever in trouble, find Jeremy Seacourt.“ 

With that bit of advice, which she received, with understandable bewilderment, he rushed away from the three startled women.

Sanderson had no idea where he was going but decided the train would serve at this moment. Hee ran past the conductor, who barked at him in anger as he boarded without showing his ticket. The man had neither time to argue when suddenly he saw two more intruders on the locomotive. The trio disappeared just as suddenly as they appeared, running down the length of the aisle between compartments. Sanderson ran through the empty carriages, hoping to find escape and knowing futilely the best he could hope for at this point was to lead them away from the woman, whoever she was.

When Sanderson reached the baggage car, there was nowhere else to go. 

The side door of the carriage was locked from the outside, and the only way out was the way he came in. Panicking, Sanderson tried to backtrack, but it was too late. The two were closing in fast, and they knew he was cornered. Taking a deep breath, Sanderson reached for his gun, but the woman drew hers before he could even slip past his jacket to acquire it.

"You've given us quite a chase, Mr Sanderson." The woman stated as she and her companion entered the baggage car and slid the heavy wooden door close with a loud thud. Sanderson swallowed thickly and retreated into the back of the carriage, almost tripping over the luggage stacked haphazardly about.

"I fail to see why." Sanderson tried to sound brave but did not quite manage it. He did not appear formidable and was aware he was somewhat weedy looking with a pale complexion and watery blue eyes. In contrast, she was breathtaking with her dark mahogany hair and her near rose-red lips. Her eyes were blue like an ocean but devoid of anything that could be considered human. She wore the suit of a rich Mexican gentleman and it was entirely becoming. She stared at him from beneath the brim of her hat with what could only be called impatience.

"You have something that belongs to my employer."  

"Belongs?" Sanderson laughed at her choice of words. "He stole it!"

"Whatever," she dismissed the details of the issue. "We will have it back now."

"I don't have it," Sanderson replied, aware that the huge man behind him was glowering in anger. His clothes were covered in food stains from his earlier spill and wished to return the favour.

"Check him, Burke."  

Burke said nothing but stepped forward without question. He put his large hands on Sanderson who struggled meekly before the woman raised her gun at his face showing in no uncertain terms what would happen to him if he did not comply. Burke searched through his person for the package and looked up at her a moment later when he did not locate it.

"He doesn't have it, Selena." He informed her dutifully.

"Where is it?" The woman who he now knew as Selena demanded.

"I gave it to Seacourt." Sanderson lied and hoped he was good enough at it to be believed.

"You have not had a chance to contact Seacourt." She snapped, but Sanderson saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

"Nevertheless, that's where it is," Sanderson repeated. He was sweating profusely, but it had nothing to do with the heat. Selena stared at him with narrowed eyes, trying to determine if he was lying or not.

"Maybe we should look around and find Seacourt," Burked suggested. 

"Yes, we should, but I suspect Mr Sanderson is lying to us." She studied Sanderson with a penetrating gaze meant to make him crack.

Sanderson tried not to flinch as he returned her stare, wondering how such a lovely woman could be so markedly evil. "You ran into a woman earlier on, didn't you?"

Sanderson tried to hide the reaction but could not. He blinked and swallowed, all but giving away what he was trying so desperately to keep from her.

"Did you see her?" She stared questioningly at Burke.

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, Mr Sanderson," Selena faced him once more. "That effectively ends your part in this matter. Whatever shall we do with you now?"

Sanderson could find no answer as Burke advance towards him.

***********

"I wonder what that was all that about?" 

Mary Travis exclaimed, not expecting an answer after they resumed boarding the train, The other passengers were making the same exodus from the platform while bidding farewell to relatives and friends. Seeing them made Mary feel a twinge of longing that Chris had not opted to see her off from Eagle Bend. Still, she could understand his reasoning against doing so since Four Corners required his presence.

"Who knows? That man looked a little crazy to me anyway."

"Seacourt did he say?" Alex stared at Mary as they climbed up the steps one after the other while handing their tickets to the conductor who promptly led them down the aisle, bypassing other passengers for the private compartment they secured themselves.

"Yes," Mary nodded, still wondering what the man had intended when he made his offer of assistance. "Jeremy Seacourt." 

If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn there was some urgency in his voice. Mary's journalistic nose for a story immediately sensed there was more to him than met the eye. Perhaps she would try and find him once the train was underway to Denver. Suddenly Chris's remarks about staying out of trouble came to mind and Mary frowned slightly, telling herself investigating as a journalist was not getting into trouble, it was doing her job.

Somehow, Mary had a feeling Chris was not going to see it that way. 

"You work fast," Alex teased. "You're not long from Four Corners, and already men are throwing themselves at you for assistance."

"Oh, that's just what I need, another man in my life. It’s not like the one I have doesn't make me tear my hair out as it is."

"Hey," the doctor laughed. "I'm just getting used to having on."

"As opposed to none." Inez pointed out. "At least you don't have a philandering fool who thinks he may love you but not quite enough to give up the several dozen other women he has hanging around him!" There was more than a little irritation in her voice, and her vehemence only served to show just how much this whole situation with Buck bothered her. 

"Well, I wouldn't know about a dozen. Just having Ezra do it to me once was enough. I swear, it was the first time I had ever thought about taking a scalpel to anyone for purposes other than surgery." Even though she had forgiven Ezra for that trespass, opting to keep him as a friend, albeit never a close one, it galled to think about that terrible day when the news of his infidelity was impressed upon her so prolifically.

"Look at it this way," Mary reminded. "If Ezra wasn’t a two-timing pig, you would not have discovered how wonderful Vin is."

"Exactly," Inez responded and added further, “and he must be quite wonderful if that smile he's been wearing lately is anything to go by," she looked at Alex with a suggestive smirk. 

"I refuse to comment." Alex laughed as the conductor showed them the private compartment they reserved for themselves. Since this journey to Denver was an exercise in indulgence and Alex was able to afford the luxury, she decided a little privacy during their trip was in order.

Until Alex entered the compartment and found the presence of an unexpected guest.

"What are you doing here?" Alex demanded at the sight of Julia Pemberton nestled comfortably on one of the seats in the private compartment. 

"I have business in Denver, and when I heard that you three were also making the trip, I knew you would not mind my company," Julia declared, making no move to leave.

The conductor frowned at her and said sternly. "Ma'am, you ain't meant to be here. This is a private compartment."

"I'm sure my companions would not turn me out." She looked at the three surprised faces before her. Alex's expression was quickly descending into pure dislike, which was hardly surprising since that's how the doctor always looked at her. Mary seemed to be debating whether she should be allowed to remain while Inez merely shrugged her shoulders, in an indication she was not about to get involved in all this. 

"You thought wrong," Alex said curtly. "Out!"

Mary winced, not wishing to create a full-scale situation with the tension existing between Alex and Julia. She could not understand what Julia was doing on this train or why the woman was making the trip because Mary did not for one moment, believe a word the Easterner said about going to Denver on business. Still, it was clear she and Alex were going to have to resolve this enmity between them.

"Alex," Mary sighed, knowing she was going to regret this."Maybe it would be alright if she stayed a bit."  

Alex groaned, recognising it would be incredibly rude to throw the woman out, to say nothing of how dismayed Ezra would be with the whole situation. She was just beginning to mend her bridges with the gambler, and considering the friendship between Vin and Ezra, such an action would only create friction between the two men. Besides, hadn’t she told herself she was ready to extend the woman some forgiveness after the incident with Randall? 

 There were far worse sins on Alexandra Style's conscience already. 

And as loathe as she might be to admit it, if it were not for Julia Pemberton, Alex would never have gone to Vin and be as happy as she was now. 

"Okay, you can stay." Alex conceded defeat, never having it in her to be intentionally cruel, “but only because of Ezra.” 

“Ezra?” Julia looked at her in suspicion. 

“Because he’s my friend and I know tossing you out on your bum would upset him.”. 

Inez sighed inwardly, grateful Alex relented because she did not feel right about turning Julia out either. Despite her odious nature, there was something strangely likeable about this scheming witch. Inez could not understand why that was. Perhaps it was the way one admired a mountain lion for its inherent beauty even though it could tear your throat out any minute.  

"That's alright." Mary turned to the conductor. "We're fine with her being here."

He scowled slightly, still uncertain about allowing this and then realized there was no reason to cause a fuss if the ladies were satisfied with this end.

"Ticket please." He said to Julia, trying to recover some measure of control over the situation.

Julia handed it to him with a smug smile that only served to infuriate him as he clipped the ticket.  He gave it back to her before departing the compartment, deciding to put the whole sorry business behind him. 

"What are you doing here?" Mary asked once the compartment door slammed shut.

"I told you, business," Julia repeated, knowing that she was probably not going to be believed but cared little at this point. So far, things had gone according to plan, and she was on course in her plan to win these women over. "I thought it might be fun to join you."

"Fun?" Alex stared at her with disbelief. "How could being on a train with you for the next five hundred miles be fun?"

"Now come on," Mary said sternly before this got out of hand as it was threatening to do so rather rapidly now. Julia's presence was like a match to the powder keg, and it would not take very much to cause an explosion that would produce a fiery death for all involved.

"Let's not do this." Secretly, Mary was furious at Julia for provoking Alex like this.

"Are you still upset about that whole thing with Ezra?" Julia rolled her eyes in exasperation. “You should be grateful, I actually did you a favour."

"Excuse me?" Alex balked, outraged by Julia's interpretation of events even though she was more than a little accurate. "Is that what you call it?"

"Julia, this is hardly the time to discuss this," Mary spoke up, sending daggers at the woman for a multitude of sins, the least of which was intruding on a trip she had no business being a part of and then bringing up such a volatile subject.

"Why not?" Julia exclaimed, turning to Mary. "She's been stewing about this for ages when we all know she probably slept with Vin while they were out there in the mountains together. Come on, you were missing for three days. Are you expecting us all to believe that nothing happened?"

Alex grit her teeth before responding with controlled fury. "I did not sleep with Vin when we were out there! Just because you found it easy to seduce Ezra does not mean the rest of us have to do the same whenever we're alone with a man!"

"We're not talking about me, we're talking about you and what the esteemed Mrs Travis will not voice, is we all wondered what happened during those three days and nights. Even if she is too discreet to admit it."

"I thought no such thing!" Mary declared furious, feeling the heat seeping into her cheeks in exasperation because like Chris, she did wonder about it. She was regretting ever convincing Alex Julia could stay.

"I'll have you know," Alex protested her innocence with great dignity. "That nothing happened between Vin and me when we went to find Agnes Doherty! He was a perfect gentleman at all times!"

"Not that perfect, since you were with him less than two months after your heart was supposedly broken. Let's face it, something happened between you two that would have happened anyway, even if I had not come along."

"That's it!" Mary shouted furiously before this conversation turned into a physical altercation. "YOU SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN." She glared at Julia with enough menace to make Chris Larabee proud, before turning to Alex and ordering with equal intensity.“YOU, CALM DOWN."

"Okay," Alex lowered into her seat immediately, feeling silly at her outburst. 

"Fine, but...,” Julia started to say before Mary cut her off. 

"I said shut up," Mary repeated herself sharply, not wanting to hear another sound out of Julia. For a while, at least. 

Beyond the window of the compartment, the train lurched into movement. The ladies could hear the coming to life of enormous pistons rolling the locomotive forward beneath their feet. Eagle Bend started moving past them, beginning them on a journey no longer entertaining due to their unexpected visitor.

"Oh, wonderful." Inez groaned, unable to ignore the heavy pall of tension, filling the compartment in the wake of Julia and Alex’s argument. "This is going to be a long trip to Denver."

***********

Selena and Burke had gone through most of the train by the time the sun started to set on the horizon, and Eagle Bend was far behind them. They were still in the Territory and the country in this part of the land was bare and flat, with nothing as far as the eye could see but desert and sand. They searched the train as discreetly as possible for the woman with the long gold hair whom Sanderson had made brief contact before his untimely demise.

Selena knew Seacourt might have been on the train, so her search had two purposes. If Seacourt was here, then they would have a real problem, for the man was known for being thorough and very good at what he did. Seacourt would not have missed much, and if he were on the train when Sanderson ran into the woman, he might have forgone the need to assist his colleague in favour of retrieving the package whose importance far outweighed the cost of one man.

Seacourt's type could make such distinctions for the cause, which was precisely why he was so dangerous, and Selena was determined to end the threat he posed before he reached the woman. Unfortunately, neither Burke nor Selena spotted her or Seacourt and hoped as they moved into the more exclusive areas of the train, their quarry would not remain elusive for long. Their employer was not a patient man, and a great deal was riding on the retrieval of the package.

Selena moved through the aisle of the private compartments, studying the faces through the glass panels on the door. Most of them were occupied, so Selena and Burke were treated to a wide assortment of people as they walked past nonchalantly like a couple taking a walk to stretch their legs. At this hour of the evening, people were snacking on meals. As was the practice during such journeys, they were, either bought on the train or brought with them. Children were curled up on seats fast asleep; other people were burying their noses in books while some passed the time away watching the scenery sweeping past their window.

They were almost to the last car when Selena glimpsed the four women inside a private compartment. The glimmer of gold hair caught her attention immediately for there was no way to mistake that cascade belonging to anyone else. Showing no signs of recognition as she walked past, Selena and Burke continued to the end of the carriage before pausing to discuss their next move.

"That's her," Burke said decisively.

"I know," Selena replied. "I don't think she'll pose too much of a problem. We'll do this nice and quick." She smiled at the big man before leading him back to the compartment.

***********

The tension in the small room was so palpable it could almost be sliced through with a knife. Alex was in a foul mood after Julia’s accusation while Mary was keeping a vigil on both, hoping they would not get a repeat of the fiery confrontation earlier. Julia seemed nonplussed by all the aggravation she was causing, oblivious to the dark mood her arrival into their circle had caused. 

Inez did not hold much hope of it improving the closer they reached Denver.

"Oh, this is ridiculous." Inez declared sick and tired of the tension. "We were meant to be having fun on this trip." She stared at her companions.

"We as you, me and Mary. No one invited her ." Alex glared at Julia with undisguised hostility. "Why did you come anyway?"

"Oh, are you asking? I mean are you really interested in knowing why or are you just going to use it as another reason to blame me for Ezra?" She eyed Alex critically.

"Yes," Alex bit down the urge to be rude. "I would like to know."

"Alright then," Julia nodded, allowing her gaze to sweep across their faces. "Because you didn't ask me."

"What?" Mary exclaimed, surprised enough to verbalize it. "Why would we? You have not exactly endeared yourself to us since arriving in town."

"That's putting it mildly," Alex muttered before receiving a stern look from Inez to keep silent. Inez had a feeling Julia was about to tell them something personal, and she, for one, wanted to know the woman's reasoning for barging in on their vacation.

"I know," Julia exhaled loudly, wondering if she really wanted to do this. She was never comfortable exposing her more sincere feelings, and this instance was no exception. But, she knew if she wanted to win their friendship, it was going to require some measure of honesty on her part. 

"Maybe I felt a little bad about how I treated you Alex. I knew a simple apology was not going to be enough, so I thought if I came with you on the trip, we might get to know each other and mend some fences."

"A simple apology would have done fine," Alex frowned, knowing she was a little hard on Julia, especially since she forgave Ezra and he had more reason to be guilty than Julia.

"I seriously doubt that." Julia deadpanned.

Alex found she could not refute that statement no matter how much she may hate to admit it. She was about to respond when suddenly, the compartment door slid open.

A woman and a huge man stepped into the room. Mary noticed the woman first, mostly because she was wearing men's clothing, although the cut of the material was decidedly feminine. Mary watched her in those clothes, fascinated because she had never worn pants in her life and thought it must be convenient, especially when riding.

"Good evening." The woman greeted.

"This is a private compartment." Mary stated, wondering why these strangers were here.

"Yes, I know it is," the woman suddenly produced a gun from seemingly nowhere. Behind her, the man produced a sawn-off rifle, not unlike the Winchester carried by Vin Tanner, but the similarities ended there.

"What is this?" Alex demanded.

"Quiet." The woman said sharply. "I am not interested in the rest of you. Just her." She moved the barrel of her gun in Mary's direction.

Mary's eyes widened as she saw the weapon aimed at her. "What do you want with me?"  

"You have something that belongs to my employer." The woman stated, her eyes running over Mary as if she had it hidden on her person.

Mary stared back at her completely puzzled. "I think there's been some mistake..."

"No mistake." The woman cut her off. "You had an encounter with a Mr Sanderson."

Mary did not recognize the name and still wore that blank look signifying she had no idea what this woman was referring to. "I don't know any Mr Sanderson." 

This was all some terrible mistake. Mary knew nothing about the mysterious object this stranger claimed was in her possession or somebody named Sanderson.

"The man who ran into you!" Inez burst out, the answer coming to her in a flash of inspiration. She knew there was something strange about that man and then realized what must have happened when he had collided with Mary. The memory of Mary's personal items scattered across the platform came to mind, and Inez's eyes sought out the basket tucked beneath Mary's seat.

"Mr Sanderson." The woman nodded, confirming Inez's guess.

"Why he hardly said anything to me,” Mary continued to explain. “He ran into me and caused me to drop half my belongings on the floor, but we had no conversation, and he certainly did not pass me anything that might belong to your employer."

The woman did not seem convinced and kept her gun trained on the others while she looked over her shoulder and gestured at Burke to step forward. "Search her."

A sneer crossed his lips at that instruction as he gazed over Mary's form with a look resembling a salacious leer. Seeing the glimmer in his eyes made Mary recoil instantly, deciding there and then she would not let this man put his hands anywhere on her person.

"Don't touch me,”  she warned, feeling terribly vulnerable because she knew there was no way she was going to stop him if he did not relent.

"Don't worry," he smiled in a truly repulsive manner. "I'll be gentle."

"Stop it!" Alex cried out and took a step forward only to be halted in place by the gun jammed into her side by the woman.

"This will be painless unless you give us trouble," she warned and waved the gun at Alex to return to her seat. 

The doctor's eyes clouded in anger, but she knew that there was little she could do about it. Reluctantly, Alex withdrew, unable to stand the fear in Mary's eyes as the man approached her and she was powerless to fend him off. He practically towered over the widow, and any fight she put up would be a gesture in futility. His size alone could overcome all of them.

Where the hell was Chris when she needed him?

Mary thought frantically as Burke put her hands on her shoulders and slid down her arms more slowly than was required. Clearly, he was enjoying it as his hands slid down the length of her arms. Mary suppressed the urge to react violently since doing so would end up making them all regret it.  Burke was clearly enjoying his power over her and Mary swallowed hard when his hands dropped to her waist before moving up her sides. When he reached the curve of her breasts, he did not pause and allowed his hand to grope its rounded shape.

That did it.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Mary brought her knee up sharply and connected with the soft flesh in between his legs. He let out a strangled cry and doubled over in pain as his knees buckled underneath him. His face turned crimson with rage as he fell to the floor in genuine agony at her feet.

Julia saw the woman swing her gun in Mary's direction after the widow incapacitated her companion so completely, with every intention of firing.

Thinking quickly, Julia grabbed the emergency lever within her reach and yanked hard. The loud screech of metal grinding against metal shrieked through the air with a low whine that became piercing in a matter of seconds. The entire locomotive heaved in protest as pistons were locked into place and carriage cars shimmied like ripples through water. The train came to an abrupt halt with a mighty shudder and threw them all off their feet. When she saw the woman fall, Julia reacted quickly, attempting to snatch away the gun giving the stranger such an advantage over her captives. Before Julia could wrestle it away, the woman tightened her grip and refused to surrender the weapon.

"Help me!" Julia cried out for anyone as she struggled for the gun and was mildly surprised when she saw Alex's fist lash out and strike the woman across the face. She released her grip on the weapon and felt back as Julia took hold of it.

"Don't move!" Julia ordered and then decided that this would not aid their situation. 

Without warning, Julia struck her across the back of the head with the gun and sighed in relief when she slumped forward unconscious. Julia was still in a state of mild disbelief at attempting something so foolhardy, but when her life was in jeopardy, she could amaze herself. Looking up, she saw Alex wincing in pain because her knuckles were not used to such labour. 

"What is it with you and faces?" Julia asked.

"I just picture yours, and it comes naturally," Alex said sweetly and turned around to Mary and Inez. "Is everyone okay?" 

Outside, they could hear the confused voices of passengers who were trying to ascertain the reason for the locomotive's abrupt stop. Footsteps were running up and down the aisle outside as the train conductor sought out the emergency warranting the sudden disruption of the journey.

"Not him," Mary looked at the man who was still very much conscious. Even now, he was struggling to rise, and Mary did not want to face his wrath when that happened. "We've gotta get out of here before he gets up."

"I'm going to cut your out your heart!" He snarled, putting his point across with far more accuracy then she could convey to her companions.

"On that note," Mary glanced at the others. "Can we please get out of here?"

"No arguments from me," Julia replied, the gun still in her hand. For some reason, she felt a great deal more secure with it in her grip. The man's companion was still lying on the floor dazed, and Julia did not anticipate it would take her long to recover.

"You go!" Inez ordered as she dropped to her knees and fished out Mary's basket from beneath the seat.

Predictably, Julia ran out first while Alex and Mary lingered behind long enough to ensure Inez was following them when they hurried out of the room into the aisle outside. The corridor was full of people peering out of their respective compartments, full of questions at the sudden break in the journey. Conductors were trying to explain the situation as the women of Four Corners put as much distance between themselves and their attackers.

"Where are we going?" Alex cried.

"Off this train," Mary said without hesitation.

"Off the train?" Julia bit back. "We're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Would you rather stay and deal with that giant?" Inez returned as they reached the exit that would take them out of the carriage.

"Good point," Julia grumbled, realizing they really had no choice in the matter. She was the first to reach the exit and hoped this was not a bad idea when she pulled open the door and let the night air sweep into the confining space. Outside, the night was clear, and they could see across the terrain for some distance in the moonlight. With any luck, the train would be underway again before their two assailants guessed where they had gone.

That is if luck was with them at all.

At the moment, Mary Travis was not entirely sure it was.

***********

Selena woke when the sound of the train chugging into motion roused her from her temporary blackout. Her head throbbed painfully, and she looked up to see Burke still lying on the floor, clutching the portion of his anatomy suffering the crushing attack. He was struggling to get on his feet, but his progress was slow. There was no sign of the women anywhere in the compartment, and Selena winced knowing they were probably running to the conductor for assistance, for all the good that it would do them.

"Burke." She groaned.

"They got away." He grunted, pulling his enormous bulk onto the seat as Selena sat up from the floor.

"Obviously," she winced as the room spun a little. Her head swam for a few minutes after she shifted into her upright position. The quarry had fled, leaving most of their belongings and that gave Selena some measure of hope in locating them. She reached for one of the bags near her and rifled through the possessions, finding little of interest that could aid them in their search. Her head still throbbed painfully, but the discomfort was quickly being replaced by the intense anger at these four women overcoming Burke and herself.

She examined the objects in the bag, ignoring a purse full of money, some cosmetics and other incidentals that were common to any woman travelling over a distance. However, it was a crisp open envelope that captured her attention. Selena pulled out the envelope and studied the name written neatly across the front.

"Alexandra Styles," Selena readout loud for Burke's benefit, "of Four Corners."

"That’s deep in the Territory," Burke recognized the town if somewhat vaguely. "I think it’s near Sweetwater."

"Well, that's something," Selena said, rising to her feet and noted with chagrin, her gun was taken. "I'm going to hurt the bitch that hit me." She hissed under her breath, feeling her head aching almost as painfully as the bruising along her jaw. It gave her some satisfaction knowing it had taken two of them to disarm her.

"I want the blond." Burke snarled angrily. "I want her and then I'll kill her."

"That's up to you," Selena shrugged, not wanting to contemplate in depth too much what Burke would have in mind for the woman. When suitably provoked, her partner could be quite savage, to say the least. It took quite a bit for him to make a personal request while they were undertaking such a contract. "After we've found what we're looking for."

***********

Mary Travis watched the train disappear into the night while she and her companions lay crouched in the darkness, waiting to see if anyone came after them. The train pulled away and continued onward to Denver, oblivious to the drama unfolding for the passengers left behind. She kept staring at the train as it drew further and further away, watching the pinpricks of light escaping the carriage windows diminish with distance. Once it was far enough away, only the full moon above their heads offered any light in the pervading darkness of the terrain surrounding them. 

"Well, we're safe." She sighed, turning away from the locomotive now that it had entirely disappeared into the horizon.

A coyote in the distance chose to make its presence known with a loud howl that tore through the night in one long note. While they could not see exactly where it was, they knew the animal was not far away when it finished its song, Julia quickly spoke up. "I beg to differ."

"Oh give it a rest," Inez grumbled, not liking the situation any more than the Emporium owner did, but it was not like they had a choice in the matter. "We had to get off the train. I don't know about you, but I'm sure they killed that man who ran into Mary."

"You too?" Alex met her gaze in the darkness. "I had a feeling by the way he looked, there was something wrong."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Julia asked, unconcerned with why this had happened since that question was not as imperative to their survival as what they would do next. She was not useful in the wilderness and detested being in any kind of outdoor situation. Looking around the sparse landscape, Julia felt her skin crawl at the realization this was as outside as one could get out here.

"I noticed a town a few miles back," Mary replied, recalling the collection of dusty buildings and dilapidated homes that looked like Four Corners when she first arrived in town. The place was so small it had not even warranted a stop by the train as it rumbled past. "If we start following the tracks, we're sure to run into it."

"I remember that town." Julia nodded, thinking she had never seen a more odious place in her life and how the west seemed to be littered with such depressing communities. "If I recall it was a little more than a few miles back."

"It’s a place to start," Inez started walking back towards the train tracks. She was glad that she was now wearing flat-soled shoes because the trek back to civilization was going to be anything but pleasant. At least they would be travelling by night, which meant being spared the ordeal of traversing this terrain in the heat. "I seriously doubt we are going to run into a stagecoach or wagon any time soon."

"I'm with her." Alex declared and started following Inez's lead.

"I hate the outdoors!" Julia complained as she started after them.

They had not progressed very far when they saw Mary was still rooted to the spot. The blond woman was staring in the direction of the train, her face unreadable.

"Mary?" Inez called out. "Are you okay?"

Mary almost laughed but could not quite manage it. She spun around to face the bartender with a dark expression on her face, which was somewhat of a feat considering she was surrounded by the unyielding blackness of the night. "I can just hear him now."

"Him?" Alex asked.

"Chris," Mary replied through gritted teeth. "All week before we left, he only had one thing to say to me. Just one thing!" The widow was working herself into a righteous state of frustration at this unexpected turn of events that occurred through no fault of her own.

"I know." Alex closed her eyes and grimaced, realizing what Mary was talking about. 

"Stay out of trouble," Mary muttered loud enough for them to hear as she picked up her skirts and started walking. "All he asked me to do was stay out of trouble. .."

Chapter Three
Past and Present

"I cannot believe she left without telling me." Ezra said staring at the folded note on his table. It had been left peeking at him through the crack of her front door when he had gone to the Emporium and learnt from the staff there that Julia Pemberton had not been in all day. Deciding to investigate, he went to her house and found the note that had been waiting discovery all day. Upon reading it, Ezra learnt that Julia had taken herself off to Eagle Bend in the small hours of the morning to meet the train that Mary Travis and her company would be taking to Denver. Ezra tried to picture the response her arrival would engender and found a bemused smile stealing across his face with almost involuntary action.

"Miss Julia ain't exactly the most forthcoming woman in the world." Nathan said sympathetically as Ezra complained. "I get the impression she's kind of independent." Nathan pointed out since Ezra should be aware of that more than anyone else in the room.

"I know." Ezra sighed. He had thought himself spared by the absence of female company suffered by most of his friends when Julia had not been invited on the Denver trip. He realized that she had taken the rebuttal badly but Ezra was realistic enough to know that it was no more than she deserved. After all, even Ezra had trouble with accepting how she had behaved towards Alexandra and it had taken his dangling her off a building before he could forgive her for that sin.

"Get over it." Vin grumbled, downing his third drink in the last hour. He was determined to drink as much as he could until the ache for Alex no longer existed. He knew he was being ridiculous pining for her but the last two months with Alex had been as close to heaven as Vin Tanner had ever thought he might find on this earth.

Outside the saloon, the sun had set over the horizon and Four Corners had descended into a curtain of black. Most of the seven were present, however, the atmosphere in the tavern seemed sombre instead of lively as it was apt to do at this point in the evening.

"Is that your third Mr. Tanner?" Ezra looked at him critically, knowing Vin usually did not drink so much. The tracker had not voiced his feelings but it was blatantly obvious to everyone present, that he was missing his doctor severely and was drowning his sorrows in the bottom of a whisky glass.

"Ain't that your fourth?" Vin returned such as sharply.

Look at you two." Nathan laughed, offering no comfort because he found the whole scene incredibly amusing. "They ain't been gone for more than a day. You're like a bunch of lovesick cows." The healer could not keep the grin from crossing his face. "Ain't that right Buck?" Nathan asked Buck who was sure to contribute with an equally glib remark.

However, there was no answer.

"Buck?" Nathan looked over his shoulder at the big man who was at the bar drinking.

"She wouldn't even let me say anything." Buck looked up and said but not actually registering anyone in his mind. "She just walked away." J.D. met Nathan's gaze with a helpless shrug, since the young man had been at Buck's side all evening trying to console him that Inez was really coming back. Buck was convinced something awful was going to happen to the sultry bartender that would prevent her from ever returning to Four Corners.

"Oh Christ." Chris Larabee rolled his eyes and wondered how some of the bravest men he knew could go completely to pieces with their women out of town. Sure, he missed Mary but in truth, he had to admit he was accustomed to her leaving town.

For both Vin and Ezra, this was the first time they had been apart from their lady loves and it was anyone's guess what was going through Buck's mine about Inez. With Vin, the passion for Alex was new and it did not help that they had spent almost every night together since that first time together. While Vin spoke nothing about his sleeping arrangements, Chris knew Vin had not been spending much time in his wagon. Not to mention that unlike Ezra who was older and had a great deal more experience with women, Vin was a virtual novice at this.

Although Chris relied on Vin like no other in the group, it was easy to forget that Vin was a young man, only a few years ahead of J.D. It was his intelligence and years living in the wilderness that marked him a world of difference from J.D. Still for all his wisdom, Vin was young man who was most likely truly in love for the first time in his life. Chris was not so old that he could not remember how that felt. A small smile crossed his lips when he thought of the damn fool things he did when courting Sarah.

Alex and Vin had been virtually inseparable following the situation with Randall Mason. When he was not at the saloon or performing his duties as one of the lawmen in Four Corners, he was with Alex. Chris had to admit he was surprised at how flawlessly their relationship had progressed. The refined urbanite had surprised Chris with her easy acceptance of everything Vin was. It was not uncommon and did send a few tongues wagging when she went riding with Vin without a horse of her own. She was often seen holding on to Vin as they were tearing out of town on Peso, disappearing for hours at end. Like Mary, Alex ignored the gossip because very little about her was conventional.

"How do you handle being away from the fair Mrs. Travis?" Ezra asked, taking note of the sarcasm in Chris' declaration.

"I handle it fine." Chris said, not wishing to discuss his feelings and threw a dangerous look at Ezra for bringing up the subject. For all the mellowing, he might be accused of over the past months, he had not softened that much to tolerate intrusions into his personal life.

"No offence intended." Ezra threw his hands up in the air. "It looks like I shall have to suffer with the rest of you." He glanced in Vin's direction and then at Buck, whom J.D. was still trying to console.

"Ah the love of a woman," Josiah sighed, enjoying this side to his companions. "Nothing finer." The benefit of age had left him with fond memories that kept him warm at nights so he could tolerate the lack of a woman in his life.

However, Josiah's dry wit did allow him to enjoy the struggle endured by his younger friends.

"What about you Nathan?" Ezra said deciding Nathan was probably more accessible about such things than Chris. Besides, it did not seem like anything else was going to be discussed this evening. No one was in the mood for much celebration. The problem with true love was that it did not allow any of them to indulge in the company of working girls or any other soft round form that gave comfort in the night. "How do you tolerate your prolonged distance from Rain?"

"I got my work," Nathan said honestly. "People need looking after so much in town, I ain't got time to think about how much I miss her. But that's the way it is and I got to accept it until I'm ready to settle with her permanent."

"And what do you do when you ain't busy Nathan?" J.D. asked, finally tired of trying to unsuccessfully improve Buck's mood.

"I take a lot of cold showers." He grinned and elicited a round of laughter from everyone, including Chris.

"It seems to me, things were a lot simpler when there weren't so many women in town." The young man replied and drew a stern look form Ezra, Vin and Chris.

Even Buck had looked up long enough from his depression to make comment. “Don’t even think that, J.D." Buck shuddered. "No women in town?" The big man declared. "There ain't nothing finer that seeing a set of nice, round. ."

"Buck." Josiah warned. "Impressionable youngster in the vicinity?"

"Eyes. I meant eyes." He changed tact quickly.

"Good save Mr. Wilmington." Ezra shook his head with a slight smirk. "I see you've emerged from your melancholy." He looked in Buck's direction.

"Yeah," Buck grumbled. "I have come to a conclusion about Inez." He announced to the others.

The rest of the seven looked on in interest, wondering what gem of knowledge Buck would care to illuminate in their presence. With Buck, it was always entertaining. "We are all ears." Ezra prompted.

Chris was just in the middle of debating whether this would be a good time to go home while Vin had decided he was not quite drunk enough yet and wanted another drink. Josiah was tending bar so he would have to get the bottle to help Vin reach that end. J.D. was always interested in any nonsense Buck had to say and Nathan listened because he had nothing better to do.

"It's a trap." He said decisively. "She's trying to lasso me in."

"I beg your pardon?" Ezra looked at him blankly.

"It’s true." Buck retorted, convinced that his theory was sound even though his companions were staring at him with disbelief. Even J.D. was having a little difficulty swallowing this idea.

Nevertheless, Buck continued speaking despite his less than enthusiastic response from his comrades in arms. "She's got that nesting instinct. You know the one I mean. The one where they start to get older and the future starts preying on their mind and they think that it’s time to land a man or else they gonna grow old alone and die. She's playing hard to get, that's all it is." Buck grinned triumphantly. "And there ain't no way Buck Wilmington is gonna fall for it. No one woman is going to catch me in any snare. I'm too smart for her." He met their gaze with a wicked gleam. "As a matter of fact, I'm so over Inez, I'm going to find me some female company. You boys can mope around here if you like but ol' Buck ain't gonna be pining for anyone."

With that, he rose from his seat and strode purposefully out the batwing doors, leaving his friends in stunned silence. It was almost a full minute when someone spoke and surprisingly enough, it was Vin who did.

"You can almost hear the rattling in his head when he walks." The tracker said downing another full glass of whiskey.

"I think Inez has finally wised up to him." J.D. said in the lady's defence. He normally always defended Buck but in this instance, he could understand Inez's feelings. J.D. thought highly of Inez and knew she cared deeply for Buck but could not trust him enough to give herself over to him. J.D. would have like to have seen them get together but he did not like the idea of Inez wasting away, hoping that Buck would someday come to his senses while at the same time, going through the women in town like there was no tomorrow.

"I think Inez was always wise to him." Josiah remarked. "She's just never did anything about it until now." The preacher said in his low deep voice. "There comes a point in love when reality must take precedence."

"Where the mind takes control instead of the heart." Ezra agreed. "Inez is a smart woman, much too smart for the likes of Buck."

To that, no one could disagree.

***********

It took the women most of the night to reach the town of Stone Creek.

They were tired, aching and worst of all broke, since in their hasty departure from the train, only Inez had the foresight to take Mary's bag and that was because she suspected Sanderson's mysterious package was inside its confines. The town was quiet and dark, with only light emanating from the saloon.

Predictably, at this time of night, it was the only place still open for business. Thanks to their lack of funds, a room at the hotel seemed well out of their price range and all four women were starting to get very ornery, besides feeling weary and exhausted from their long hike to town.

The saloon seemed even seamier than the Standish Tavern if such a thing was possible. Everything about the place warned away the presence of women and it was not the sort of establishment that they that should frequent at any time. Unfortunately, they had little choice at the moment since it was the only place that provided some form of cheap lodgings. Before approaching the main entrance of the saloon, it became necessary for the women to take stock of their finances.

"I've got some money in my purse." Mary remarked as she noticed Inez carrying it. "But it's not much. I wired some money to a bank in Denver because I did not want to carry cash." She explained.

"All of mine was in my purse which unfortunately, is still on the train." Alex grumbled. "But I can have Four Corners' bank wire me some money in the morning." She sighed, looking at the saloon with visible distaste at the possibility of having to spend the night there.

"It does not help our situation tonight." Inez pointed out with a similar expression of unhappiness. She did not like the idea of spending a night in a saloon. It was different when it was a place she knew well and managed herself, but this was a strange town with none of the seven were here to protect them should anyone take in mind to do them harm. Four women in a rough place like a saloon were very easy and attractive targets. "What about you Julia?" Inez turned to the petite redhead.

"Well I do have emergency money," Julia replied, bending over and reaching into her boot. She produced a painfully thin roll of notes. "It's hardly enough to pay for anything more than a room or two in this wonderful establishment." She said sarcastically.

"It's better than nothing." Mary pointed out as Julia handed it to her. Mary counted the meager collection and frowned at it being not more. This was meant to be a leisurely trip to the city not an escapade into the wilderness. In hindsight, she could safety say that if she known how the day would have turned out, she would have certainly brought more currency with her. With a sigh, Mary decided they probably all felt the same way.

"Okay," Mary took a deep breath looking to the faces around her as she explained the situation. "We get a room for the night and lay low until morning when I can wire Chris to come get us." Even as she said those words, Mary winced slightly, trying not to picture the look on Chris' face when he received a telegram from her telling him that she was stranded in a strange town with dangerous people after her. If Chris ever let her out of town on her own again after this, it would be to be a minor miracle, she thought glumly to herself.

"Oh, that will be great." Alex groaned, mindful of the same warning from Vin. "We're never going to live this down you know." She met the widow's gaze.

"Can we do this later?" Julia whined. Her feet ached and she was hungry. This was no time to be quibbling about what the men were or weren't going to do when they arrived in this godforsaken hole. For herself personally, she would be so ecstatic about being delivered from this place, and she hardly cared what they thought. "I'm tired and I'm hungry and I want to go to bed." She replied walking towards the saloon without any reservation about the place or the danger lurking behind the batwing doors or the sounds of men laughing amidst rowdy music.

"She does her best work there." The doctor muttered as she reluctantly followed Julia's lead.

Mary watched them get ahead for a moment before turning to her best friend. "Inez, I don't like this." Mary confessed, unable to hide the concern on her face that went deeper than just their immediate situation. The encounter with the two strangers had rattled her. In particular, the threat made by the gigantic Mr. Burke for the injury she had delivered to him. "Those people will still come after us."

"I know." Inez nodded, understanding Mary's fears and her reservations. "But Julia's right, we need to rest. We've been walking all night. We'll think of what to do tomorrow." She offered Mary a comforting and supportive smile.

"We might be safe for tonight, "Mary considered. "But it will still take time for Chris to reach us." Four Corners was almost a hundred miles from here and that was a lengthy journey to make on horseback.

"And they may get here first." Inez concluded, seeing where Mary was going with this. The solution in her mind was clear enough but its application was another thing entirely since they did not even have enough money to leave town. "We've got to raise some money to buy some horses or get the stage out of here."

"That will be a neat trick." Mary sighed as she started walking after Alex and Julia who had disappeared into the saloon and were eliciting some loud wolf whistles and calls that could be heard from outside the noisy building. Mary took a deep breath as she prepared to walk in herself door, steeling herself from the barrage of bad behaviour she would soon have to endure and feeling like a Jonah about to meet his whale.

Inez said nothing but she did have an idea.

***********

"Come on Alex," Inez urged from inside the confines of their dingy room. "You can do it. I've seen you."

Naturally, upon seeing four women enter the establishment, the saloon manager had automatically decided to up the rent on his lodging so that they could afford little more than one room for all four of them. While the difficult task of deciding who would get the bed and who would be forced to sleep on the grimy floor had yet to arise, it was only a matter of time before the mood got very ugly in the room. There was only one way to avoid this outcome of bloodshed and that was to convince Alex to agree to Inez's plan.

"I don't know," Alex groaned reluctantly as she sat on the bed, massaging her aching feet. She wanted to sleep and forget about the situation they now found themselves in, not undertake the demands of Inez's request. "I'm not really that good."

"I've seen you do it with Ezra." Inez pressed on much to the confusion of Mary Travis and Julia Pemberton who was staring at the doctor in question about this skill that was obviously not pertaining to her medical knowledge.

"What were you doing with Ezra?" Julia glared at Alex, since that subject was her exclusive territory and she was highly possessive on who had use of it.

Alex glanced sideways and shot her an icy glare before turning back to Inez. "Yes, but that was just the two of us and I never got the impression that he was not on to me." She implored.

"What are you talking about?" Mary looked at Inez and Alex blankly as they debated this point.

"Poker," Inez stated. "I've seen Alex throw games while playing with Ezra."

"I thought you couldn't play." Mary turned to her, with accusation. "In fact, I've seen him beat you a lot."

Alex rolled her eyes and met Mary's gaze. "Of course, you did." She retorted. "Can you imagine what I'd have to go through if I actually beat him? He's a professional gambler! Can you imagine the whining if I started beating him as his own game?" Alex answered and then gave them a guilty stare. "So, whenever we played, I'd let him win."

Julia could understand the logic behind Alex's actions knowing how highly Ezra regarded his gambling skills. It would utterly kill him to know that she had been letting him win and Julia seriously considered the amusement of telling Ezra of this little truth. She would save that little morsel of news when he was being particularly difficult with her. "So, I gather you play well."

"I would not say that." Alex said modestly. "When I was in medical school, I used to play with the other students and then I did Europe and spent a month in Monte Carlo. They have gambling casinos everywhere there."

"How did you know for sure Inez?" Mary asked, wondering how the bartender had stumbled onto such an interesting secret. Surely it would have been difficult to ascertain just from watching Alex and Ezra play.

"I came into the clinic and saw her giving a patient a game. She did not play like she did with Ezra. If the patient had not already had his pants off, I think he would have lost it." Inez smiled, recalling the scene with some amusement.

Immediately Mary and Julia turned to Alex and looked at the doctor in question.

"I had to apply some solution to an infected wound, it was a three-step procedure!" Alex said exasperated. "Alright Inez! You convinced me. Just keep it to yourselves please and how much money do we have left anyway?"

"Two dollars," Mary sighed as she studied the scant amount in her hand and decided that it would have to do for what Alex had in mind. "I can't give you the rest, I'm going to need it for the telegram."

As far as Alex was concerned, Mary could keep all of it. The doctor did not relish the prospect of venturing into the sea of drunken men downstairs and attempt to hustle them into a card game. Unfortunately, Inez was right. They needed money and they needed it fast or else the two psychopaths on the train had a real chance of catching up to them. Alex did not like the possibility of encountering the duo any more than the rest of her companions. "It will have to do." She climbed off the bed.

"I'm going to find the telegraph office and see if I can't appeal to the operator to send a message tonight." Mary declared purposefully. "If we send it now, Chris will get it first thing tomorrow." There were not disagreements with that plan. "Inez, you and Julia stick close to Alex. Safety in numbers that sort of thing."

"Okay," Inez nodded. "Julia do you still have that gun?"

"Right here." Julia patted the pocket where the weapon was safely hidden.

"Bring it with us," Inez ordered. "It's going to be rough down there. We may need it."

***********

The saloon was lively enough as it was but with the arrival of the three women, it seemed like everything had slowed to silence as hungry eyes followed them down the stairs from the rooms above. It was obvious to everyone that these were no saloon girls but ladies although the question remained why would they be in such inappropriate establishment. It appeared as when they descended, as if no one was interested in anything else that was transpiring in the room.

"Oh, this is going to be safe." Alex muttered, feeling like a Christian about to be fed to the lions. Everyone from the painted saloon girls, to the drunken men at the bar, to the more sedate groups around the tables to the bartender held their image until they reached the floor and faded into the background of
bodies.

"Just be calm and everything will be fine," Mary instructed as she broke away from her friends and made her way through customers and disappeared out the door. Alex did not share her optimism.

Inez scanned the room and noticed the only group who was not paying attention to them. These were the men seated at the felt-covered table indulging in a game Inez recognized immediately as poker. She looked at Alex and gestured the doctor to follow her as they wove through the crowd trying to avoid roaming hands as they passed by some of the rowdier groups. There were four players at the table and judging by the pot piled in the centre of the table, Alex knew her two dollars was not going to buy her into it. While she did not voice the potential problem to Inez, Alex considered furiously what she would have to do solve this hurdle. Inez was correct in stating that this was the only way out of their present predicament.

"What are you doing?" Inez hissed when she saw Alex beginning to undo one of the buttons on the cuff of her shirt.

"That's a high stakes game there," Alex gestured in the direction of the table. "Two dollars is not going to get us in. We need to front a suitable stake."

Inez's gaze darted to the table and realized with dismay that Alex was right. There was a lot of money piled in the centre of the table and she saw ten dollars notes in the collection. She even saw a gold watch and a heavy signet ring in the mix. "What are we going do then?" Inez hissed with disappointment.

"Relax," Alex said coolly, knowing it was never wise to show fear when it came to playing such games of chance. During her years at medical school, Alex had sat up nights at the club with some of her fellow medical students playing the game after they had overcome their prejudice enough to invite her to join them.

"I've got something to play with." Once the cuff was loosened, Inez saw a glint of gold slip down the doctor's wrist where it had been concealed under the material previously. It was a thin gold bracelet with intricate links that looked exquisite against her dusky skin.

"My father bought it for me," Alex explained as she undid the clasp and removed it from her wrist.

"Alex, you can't use that." Inez quickly protested even though she knew it was truly the only way. Still, the sentimental value of the object alone was worth more than using it as a stake in something as vulgar as a poker game. "We'll think of something else."

"There is nothing else." The doctor retorted. "Don't worry," she assured Inez. "I don't intend to lose it."

While Inez and Alex advanced upon the gamblers, Julia Pemberton was having no difficulty being the centre of so much attention. While the former stayed away from the men they had passed, Julia smiled and greeted anyone who tipped their hat in her direction. The leering eyes of men were something she had become used to over the course of her life to date. She knew how to handle lascivious stares and lustful leers by using just enough wits to stay ahead of them. She battered her eyes at some, offered intent stares at the others and ensuring that they were kept off balance always. Her come-hither looks had confused enough men in the room for them to take their time deciding if they would approach the women or not, which was exactly what Julia wanted. She hastened her pace just in time to see Alex and Inez approach the table.

"Good evening gentlemen." Alex introduced herself by stepping right to the edge of the table.

Four sets of eyes looked up at her. Two were well dressed and did not appear that different from Ezra Standish, the third looked as if he had just come riding off a cattle trail while the last man looked more like one of the denizens of Purgatory. Their eyes studied the three women with equal parts lust, curiosity and indifference. It was the older man in one of the fancy suits that responded to their greetings "Good evening ladies, to what do we owe the pleasure of such lovely company?" His gaze moved from Alex to Inez and then Julia respectively.

"I was just watching your game." Alex answered politely. "That's some serious money you're playing with. Any chance a wayward soul like myself could be dealt in?"

The men exchanged glances and then started to laugh. Alex was infuriated by their condescending behaviour and fought the urge to make some glib remark to vindicate herself when Julia leaned over and whispered in her ear. Julia knew enough about the doctor to know that was just hot-headed enough to respond to their behaviour in extreme hostility. "Take it easy," she said quietly. "We're here to take their money. Be nice. These are men, they have to be handled delicately."

Alex said nothing and ensured that the anger she felt did not reach her eyes or her mouth where they could have evidence with it. Despite her chagrin, Julia was right. She had to restrain her annoyance. Instead, Alex took a deep breath and turned her high-powered gaze at the man who had spoken "I'm so glad that you find my interest amusing Sir," she said with such sickly-sweet politeness that Julia would have been proud. "However, I was serious in my intent to play."

"Poker ain't for no woman." The cattle man growled. He was a huge man, dusty and grizzled, with a ten-gallon hat and a craggy face that spoke much about his tolerance.

"I'm afraid that my friend here is correct," the first man responded. "Women cannot appreciate the delicacy and subtle intricacy of such a game. Men are risk takers by nature and women are not capable of the bluff."

"I see." Alex smiled, feeling both Inez and Julia squeeze her arms on either side simultaneously to remind her of restraint. Alex gave them both a sarcastic frown before returning her attention to the man, while envisioning the space his beady eyes and the slick dark hair to be occupied by the cross hairs of Vin's Winchester. "I have no wish to intrude on this bastion of male dominance but it does seem quick shocking to me that you gentlemen could be intimidated by a lady?"

They bristled visibly at that remark. Their annoyance moving across the table like a ripple in a stream Alex hid her satisfaction as she saw the cattle man glare at her while the quiet dandy in the corner merely looked on in amusement, even if his attention was firmly focused on Inez. He tipped his hat ever so slightly in her direction before offering her a smile which the bartender received with some measure of surprise. Whoever he was, he stared back at Inez at with the most intense blue-green eyes she had ever seen and there was no doubting that the interest in his well chiselled and handsome features was more than fleeting.

Inez was almost grateful when the fancy man addressing Alex spoke again because it gave her an excuse to stop staring at the handsome stranger like a teenager. "No woman intimidates anyone at this table."

"Then let me in," Alex said smoothly with a look of challenge, daring him to prove otherwise. She held out the strand of gold for all of them to see and announced with similar deliberation. "This is my opening stake."

The men eyed the gold bracelet and came to a decision faster than Alex had expected. After a few seconds, the man who had been doing all the speaking, rose to his feet and pulled out a chair for her. "Madam." He said with a smile. "Please sit."

Alex let out a silent sigh of relief and sat down at the chair. However, she was no fool. She detected the resentment in his eyes at being cornered like this. Except for Inez's stranger, all of them were wearing thinly concealed distaste on their features at the prospect of playing this game with a woman. The man slid over a deck of cards in her direction. She looked at him questioningly.

"You're the dealer." He said with a hint of triumph. He was trying to scare her off, this much Alex could tell. As the dealer, she stood to make the money but it had the double-edged sword of possibly losing her a great deal of it as well if she had to cover the bets of all the winners. Nevertheless, if that was how it was to be, Alex could accept those terms. Besides, she really had no choice to be selective. Still, Alex threw Inez and Julia too, a smile that revealed the confidence that exuded from her when she picked up the deck and started shuffling. Her hands moved so fast as she manipulated the cards to her will that even Inez had widened her eyes at the level of dexterity.

Surgeon's hands, Inez decided.

"I guess that makes it dealer's choice." She said to them showing them absolute no sign of fear. Alex knew what they were trying to do of course. In medical school, she had been forced to endure the same kind of treatment. They were trying to rattle her, trying to see if they could break her resolve. Fortunately, that had been tried already by better men then at this table and she had so far managed to prevail. She shuffled the cards deftly, performing those fancy tricks she never let Ezra see while they had been courting.

"Gentlemen," she replied when she split the deck and met their eyes with a confidence that was mostly image than how she truly felt. Still, the key to poker as Ezra Standish had once said, was all in the bluff. "The game is five card stud, deuces are wild and the Jack of Spades is the death card."

***********

***********

This trip to Denver was going to be memorable.

Once the four women had made their escape, the men in the saloon who had restrained him had lost all interest in Jeremy Seacourt. They were too liquored up and furious to contend with him when there were four women somewhere in the Territory who had stolen away from their manhood in the most resourceful manner it had been Jeremy's pleasure to witness. Even now, he could not wipe the amused smile off his face when he pictured the whole scene in his head.

From the exotic looking creature who had imposed herself on their card game, to the golden hair goddess who had held everyone at bay with her steely eyes and not to mention the fiery redhead whose use of a liquor bottle was memorable to say the least. However, the woman Jeremy recalled most was none of these. The sultry lady with wild dark hair and the loveliest face he had ever seen was the one who captured his attention the most. She reminded him of all things untamed, wild and spirited. In her dark eyes, he could see the raging of a thousand storms and wondered what it would be like to be carried away by such gale force presence.

He wondered how they had come to be in Stone Creek or in a saloon for that matter because none of them looked at all comfortable at being inside the establishment. It was almost as if they were forced there out of necessity, although their ability to handle adversity impressed Jeremy Seacourt to no end. In any case, he knew he could not linger on the identity of the Latin temptress who had captured his attention so completely when he had a job to do. Sanderson had checked in on the train and Jeremy assumed he would be in Stone Creek which was their secondary meeting place in case of trouble. However, Sanderson was nowhere to be seen and Jeremy was starting to assume that he would never arrive. Thus, he was faced with the dilemma that the enemy may already have the precious item he was searching. That however was the worst-case scenario and while Sanderson may not have kept their meeting, Jeremy knew the man was a loyalist and would never allow the package to fall into wrong hands even under the threat of death. Still, if Sanderson had made alternate arrangements then Jeremy was similarly lost for there was no way to know what those arrangements might have been if Sanderson was dead.

Somehow, he had to find out what happened to that package.

***********

Chapter Four
Armed and Dangerous

This was the only way to forget a bad day.

Mary Travis found herself thinking as she sank into the luxuriously warm water of her bath and felt the weariness ooze out of her bones the deeper she immersed herself. Resting her head against the edge of the porcelain tub, she wondered if Chris had arrived at Stone Creek yet and found herself flinching involuntarily despite the pleasurable sensation of relaxing in her well-deserved respite. Mary tried to imagine what would run through Chris' mind when he arrived in that town and found out that they were probably wanted for horse theft. Knowing Chris, he would say nothing. At least to none of the seven anyway, he'd just wear that impassive mask that he always wore, keeping a steely gaze on everything while he avoided disclosure.

Until he got his hands on her and then he would be very vocal.

They had ridden half the night, almost believing they would never find another town in the darkness. Finally, a few hours before dawn, they sighted the distant lights of a town that sat further along or down the railway line, there was no way to tell until they had a look at a map. A great deal larger than Stone Creek, the town of Winston Falls looked every bit the thriving frontier community. Thanks to Alex's poker winnings, the ladies could check themselves into a somewhat respectable hotel and catch up on some well-needed sleep. Mary and Alex had shared a room since it was decided considering what had transpired in the last 24 hours that it was not wise for anyone of them to be alone.

Considering how Alex and Julia felt about each other, Mary decided the doctor should bunk with her or else they would end up killing each other if forced to share the same cage. Alex had taken her bath earlier and was presently ordering them some breakfast before the four of them got together and decide their next move. As far as Mary was concerned, there was only one thing to do and that was to sit still and wait for Chris to arrive. She supposed they could have taken the stage but somehow Mary's instincts told her that it would be safer for everyone concerned that they had the seven's protection.

Somehow, their attackers on the train had given Mary the impression they would not relent in their pursuit and should they appear again, Mary did not think she could squirm out of their clutches a second time. As it was, Mary could hardly believe from which hidden well of courage she had found the strength to get Alex and the others out of the saloon without getting seriously hurt. After she had mounted the horse and left the town behind her, Mary had ridden alongside the others silently, even though she was suffering an anxiety attack of almost biblical proportions. Her heart pounded in terror from the sheer realization of what she had done, not to mention the light-headedness that almost made her faint from relief that she had not gotten herself or her friends killed or worse.

A sudden knock on the bathroom door snapped Mary out of her thoughts. She looked up from the frothy water to which she had been staring aimlessly and looked to the door in response.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Can I come in?" Alex's voice sang out.

"Sure," Mary called out since the soapy water gave her some measure of modesty. A moment later the doorknob twisted and Alex Styles walked inside, still drying her hair with a towel and clad in a complimentary robe.

"Breakfast is here," Alex announced as she sat down in the chair where Mary had hung her clothes. Unfortunately, there had been little time to have them laundered because they could not stay in such plush surroundings for too long. The only reason they selected this establishment was that it had a front desk manned at the early hours of the morning when they arrived.

"Great," Mary said running the sponge over her arm, washing away the dirt and sweat that had accumulated since they had begun this journey that spiralling into nightmarish proportions. Mary even considered writing an article titled 'holidays from hell' because this entire trip to Denver would certainly qualify as something of a page from Milton's Paradise Lost. "I'm really starving." The widow admitted.

"Well, I'm glad we got some sleep." Alex yawned even though they had slept most of the morning and early afternoon away. It was scandalous how late the time was for she was accustomed to waking up early even when Vin shared her bed.

"I had no idea you were such an accomplished gambler." Mary teased seeing Alex roll her eyes in embarrassment at the realization that her secret was out.

"I had no idea you were so good in a crisis," Alex returned. "Chris would have been proud."

"That's not the word he'd use." Mary deadpanned and started working the sponge on her other arm.

"Julia's right you know," Alex said suddenly, feeling very melancholic thinking about the secrets that she kept hidden. While she was friends with Inez and Mary, the doctor revealed very little personal information about herself. She just never felt right with such disclosures.

"About what?" Mary said distractedly, scrubbing a particularly ingrained piece of grit from under her nails.

"About something happening between me and Vin at Agnes Doherty's cabin." She replied softly.

Mary looked up immediately, her blue-grey eyes meeting Alex's with no hint of reproach but simple curiosity. She edged closer to the edge of the bath facing Alex and leaned over. "Really?"

"It was not anything like Julia thinks," Alex admitted quickly before Mary thought of it as anything more than it was. "It was a strange trip, to begin with." She said with a faint smile. "I didn't want him to come with me and we argued almost all the way until we got to Agnes' cabin and had to stay the night."

Mary hid the smile that threatened to steal across her features, remembering how Alex's experiences with Vin touched a chord of familiarity with her own relationship with Chris. However, she said nothing, allowing Alex to continue with her sudden confession.

"I never felt as much with Ezra as I did with Vin that night and we didn't do anything more than share a kiss," Alex omitted the heavy petting they indulged in briefly. "It was like lightning. He just took my breath away." Alex sighed. "When we got back to town, I knew I had a problem but I could not bring myself to just discard Ezra. It was not right."

"Fortunately, he did that for you." Mary frowned. She wondered how Ezra would have taken it he knew by taking the honourable course of simply telling Alex about his intentions towards Julia, he might have been surprised by how accommodating Alex might have been considering her own feelings for Vin.

"Yes, he did," Alex replied with a slight nod. "I guess I really should not be so mad at Julia, should I?" The doctor hated admitting wrong about anything, in that she and Mary shared the same traits. However, Alex was a mystery of cool detachment at times and it had taken sheer perseverance on Vin Tanner's part to bring the woman beneath to the surface.

"Well, you have good reason to," Mary said gently, knowing that this was a difficult thing for Alex to overcome. Julia had been most cruel in the way she imparted the news of her relationship with Ezra to Alex. She had been nothing less than brutal and the scene that followed if Chris description was anything to go by, was not something easily forgotten. "I take it this soul-searching has come about because you're ready to move past your anger towards her?"

Julia was never going to likeable, either by Mary or Alex for two differing reasons. However, it was not lost upon them that Julia had attempted to fit into life at Four Corners as well as in the tight-knit group that was the seven's circle. Neither was Mary blind to how she had been held at arm's length and Mary felt a sliver of guilt creep into her conscience knowing that the woman probably deserved the benefit of the doubt or the very least, a second chance.

"Not quite," Alex replied with honesty, "let's just say I'm considering it."

Considering what they had been through together the past 24 hours, Alex felt somewhat petty clinging to her old hatred and had spent much time pondering the question of her attitude towards Julia Pemberton. Unfortunately, it was not a subject that yielded any easy answers. Finally, Alex decided that she had better things to discuss at this point and moved for a change of subject. "So, what's our next move? Do we go home?"

"No," Mary responded with a decidedly harder edge to her voice when the subject of their current situation arose. "I have a feeling those people may either be waiting for us there or they'll be on route. If I know Chris, that telegram would have sent him riding towards Stone Creek. Don't forget, we left all our luggage behind and our personal items, it would not be hard for them to track us back to Four Corners."

"So, we stay here?" Alex asked. "That's risky if those men from the saloon come looking for us." She pointed out.

"I know," Mary responded as she started running the sponge down her leg, realizing that she had spent enough time on her hands. "Not to mention anyone else. I think we should move to more discreet accommodations, a lodging house perhaps and stay out of sight."

"I wish I knew why there were after us," Alex grumbled standing up to leave so Mary could have the rest of her bath in peace.

"Inez seems to think Sanderson might have slipped something into my basket when he ran into me," Mary answered, having heard Inez's suspicions during their arduous ride to Winston Falls. When Mary considered that possibility, she realized that Inez must have been right because the duo had been in pursuit of Sanderson when Mary had encountered him. Had they seen the collision, it would have led them to the conclusion that caused them to seek out Mary on the train and the patterns of events that followed made perfect sense in that light.

"Like what?" She looked at Mary with surprise and curiosity.

"I have no idea." The newspaperwoman confessed. "In all the confusion, I have not had the chance to look at it. I think it’s time we did though when we get together."

"Not to mention working out who Seacourt is." Alex reminded.

Mary kept all these things in mind, wondering who the elusive Mr Seacourt was and what part he played in this unravelling mystery. This was more than she bargained for during this supposedly leisurely trip to Denver. She paused upon ruminating that point and several other considerations before she met Alex's gaze. "You know something," she sighed. "I am not looking forward to Chris finding us."

Now it was Alex's turn to stifle a smile as she tried to picture the scene that would be when the fiery newspaperwoman and the gunslinger finally saw each other again. Alex used to think that she and Vin had some heated exchanges but they were nothing in comparison to the all-out warfare practised by Chris Larabee and Mary Travis that had everyone running for cover. In some instance, it was almost entertaining watching the inferno that usually ensued.

"Don't laugh." Mary caught the glint of amusement in her eyes. "He is never going to let me live this down." Suddenly Mary narrowed her eyes and stared at Alex with a perfectly devilish look on her face. "Neither is Vin going to let you forget this either. If I am not mistaken, I was not the only one offered a warning."

"Yes." Alex stopped smiled and scowled. She said nothing for a moment and then spoke after a short time of reflection. "Maybe there's still time to jump a train to Mexico."

***********

It was well after dark when Chris Larabee and company came riding into the fair municipality of Stone Creek. Chris had no idea who was happier about reaching their destination, the horses or their human riders. Spurred on by concerns for their respectively female halves, the men had pushed the mounts hard to make the journey from Four Corners before the end of the day. By the time they had reached the small forgotten town that did not warrant a stop by the Denver train, the horses were near exhausted and Chris and the others were not far behind.

After leaving their horses at the local livery so that the spent animals could get some decent rest and feeding, the men headed towards the local saloon.

According to Mary's telegram, the lack of money had forced them to seek lodging in the establishment and when Chris walked into the place, his stomach hollowed at Mary being forced by circumstances to stay in such unsavoury conditions.

"I do not think I like the idea of any of the ladies being forced to seek refuge on these premises," Ezra stated the obvious as the five men walked into the saloon. However, his attention had already shifted to the felt table where a group of players were congregated for a game he knew all too well. For some reason, two of the men, cattle drivers by the looks of them, were wearing noticeable bandages around their heads.

"You and me both." Nathan agreed, looking around the collection of worn tables and similarly unhygienic clientele scattered around the room.

Chris said nothing, merely content to exchange a hard stare with Vin that conveyed the tracker was not happier about the accommodations the ladies were forced to endure the night before, not to mention the sight of this place only heighten his fears about their safety. They stepped up to the bar and Vin let Chris do the talking since Chris had a way of prying answers from people like no one else could. The same saloon owner, who had overcharged Mary Travis the day earlier for accommodations, greeted the lawmen with a smarmy smile that seemed to ooze distrust from the visitors.

"What can I get you, boys?" He asked, a cigar protruding through a mouth full of bad teeth.

"Whiskey and some information," Chris said quietly, leaning up against the counter while staring at him intently. Buck was allowing his gaze to move across the room as usual, never being one to sit still even for a moment while Ezra's found himself drawn to the game being played in the corner. Only Vin and Nathan were paying any attention to Chris' attempt to garner some information about the women.

"Whiskey will cost you," the man replied turning to retrieve a bottle from one of the dusty shelves behind him. He returned with a full bottle and five glasses before adding further, "so will the information."

"I'll see if it's worth paying for first," Chris said coolly.

"On the information?" The man asked still wearing that shit-eating grin that Chris wanted desperately to wipe away with his boot. The gunslinger was already in a foul mood and fixing for a fight. This whole situation with Mary was playing havoc with his tightly wound emotional control. Until he knew that she was safe, he was in the mood to do some serious hurtin'. If this asshole behind the bar did not start giving him answers soon, Chris was liable to start on him.

"On both." Chris retorted gruffly. "I'm looking for four women. Said they were paid room and board here last night." He focused on the man's eyes because Chris could tell in a second if he knew nothing or was hiding something.

The man's reaction seemed to imply the latter but fortunately, he had good sense enough not to keep it concealed for too long. He betrayed his knowledge by immediately straightening up, the grin fading from his face as realization flooded into his eyes. "They your women?" He asked, his eyes narrowing as he studied the five strangers before him like they had just walked in this second and not a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, what of it?" Vin said getting off his elbows until he was staring at the man eye to eye, with an expression on his face that left no room for the saloon owner to doubt that any offence would be taken at great exception.

"They're horse thieves." The man retorted, with a hint of relish in his voice at being able to impart such salacious news to this tough band. The need to gain the upper hand in some small way overrode his baser instincts to keep his skin intact. His grin seemed to stretch wider across his craggy face as he spoke and infuriated Chris to no end that the gunslinger could almost predict what was going to happen, although amazingly enough, the outburst would not come from him.

Vin Tanner was already running on a short fuse.

He had been forced to ride on a day when he was enduring the worst hangover since man first decided to put alcohol to his mouth and imbibed freely before discovering the terrible consequences the next day when he woke up in his own vomit. To say nothing of Vin's present state of mind, regarding the woman that he loved and the possible danger her life might be in to allow him to tolerate this man and his sneering face with any ability whatsoever.

Almost with a flash, Vin grabbed the man's head and slammed it hard against the counter, toppling over the empty glasses he had placed there earlier, sending the small shot glasses skittering to the floor. Some smashed most did not. The reaction in the saloon was tepid to owner's predicament. A waiter or two stepped forward to help their employer but Chris need only turn a steely gaze at their direction for them to freeze in their tracks and make a wise withdrawal. Around them, some of the customers were looking up in concern but not enough that would inspire them to offer the beleaguered saloon owner any assistance. Chris was almost disappointed when no one turned up because he wanted to hurt someone too.

"As you can see," Ezra spoke up to try to be the voice of reason, having turned his attention back to his friends considering the small commotion taking place before him, "my companions are somewhat lacking in enthusiasm for your particular brand of humour. I take it by your earlier reaction you do know the ladies in question?" The gambler asked, offering a charming smile that paled the shit-eating grin the saloon owner had worn in comparison. No one could do smug better than Ezra Standish, Chris had decided.

"And what do you mean, they're horse thieves?" Buck demanded since that was a serious crime to be accused of in any shape or form. He could hardly imagine Mary Travis or Julia Pemberton getting up to such mischief. Of course, Inez had been accused of the crime once but that was because of Don Paulo and after Alex Styles had gone riding after Vin, to save him from bounty hunters, Buck was ready to believe she was capable of anything.

"They shot up the place last night." The man said hastily, taking note of the sawn-off Winchester that was prominently displayed in Vin's holster from his awkward position, pressed up against the counter. In fact, all he could see was that weapon. "Hustled some of my customers and then took one of 'em hostage."

"Hustled?" Chris declared, thinking he had heard wrong. Mary, hustling? Mary could not even lie with a straight face. Julia Pemberton was another story entirely but he was not about to voice that at this moment at least in Ezra's presence. Alex and Inez maybe but what would possess them to try something so stupid in a place like this? Did they have any idea what could happen to them? This place was not just rough. It was dangerous. There were men who frequented place like these who had no trouble harming a woman or worse for no other reason than her being there.

"Yeah, the real pretty Creole, she was playing cards with Albert and Lansing over there. Hustled them into letting her play and then took all their money." The saloon owner spoke not an easy thing to do with half his face pressed to the countertop by Vin Tanner who had yet to ease up on his interrogation technique.

"Creole?" Nathan mused trying to decide whom the man meant when he suddenly realized that for someone who was unaware of her parentage, they might choose to describe Alexandra Styles that way. "Miss Alex, playing cards?" Nathan said with disbelief.

"Alexandra does not play cards well enough to hustle." Ezra pointed out instantly, wondering why he had fabricated such a fantastic thought.

"See Mister, she don't play cards." Vin hissed with a hint of savagery in his voice and shoved the man's head harder against the counter until he grunted his pain quite audibly. Vin was aware that Alex had played cards with Ezra when they had been together but she had always given him the impression that she was not very good, which made the validity of the man's claim even more suspect.

"I ain't lying!" He cried out desperately, the pain having snapped the back of his defiance. "I'm telling you, she sat there at that table as good as you please and all took all their money. Just ask them." He waved frantically in the direction of the felt table that Ezra had admired when he had first entered the room.

"Maybe you should be asking us." A new voice full of gravel and spit retorted behind them.

The five lawmen turned around and faced the speaker. Vin too, whose grip was still firmly on the saloon owner with no signs of releasing the man, faced the two men and the cadre of others who were inching closer to surround them. The leaders, Lansing and Albert had come to investigate upon hearing their names mentioned while at the same time realizing that these men bore some connection to the women who had humiliated them so publicly the night before. Injury and lack of resolve had kept them from going after the women the night before but that still did not mean that their need for revenge was any less.

"Those bitches belong to you?" Lansing, formerly known as the cattleman that Mary Travis had taken hostage glared at Chris with obvious anger demanded angrily. "Look at what they did to us!" He gestured to the bandage on his head.

"Mister, I wouldn't go telling too many people that women did that to ya." Buck retorted, unable to resist the opportunity to have some fun at the man's expense. However, the ploy was just a tactic to detract anyone from seeing his fingers move gently towards his gun and undo the flap.

"They pulled a gun on us!" Lansing shouted indignantly, inflamed by the humiliation of incurring such injuries by a woman, particularly a polished and refined lady. "The little blond plum stuck a gun right in my guts, told me she'd shoot if I even breathed." He said venomously, his eyes showing just how much hatred he had inside him.

Chris could almost see the slow glances of his friends turning to look at him with that statement even if he were not focused on Lansing and counting how many of his men were preparing to enter the fight that was coming. The gunslinger reacted long enough to close his eyes, suddenly overcome by the slight throbbing in his temples that threatened to escalate into a full-blown headache the more he uncovered Mary's exploits. His mind whirled with only one thought as he heard Lansing recall the tale as to how Mary had held a room at bay by taking him hostage.

He just knew those shooting lessons were a mistake.

"And the other one stole our money!" Albert, the man that Julia Pemberton had so ceremoniously brained with a bottle of cheap tequila added his voice into the lists of complaints. "Hustled her way into our poker game with her pretty smile and sweet-talking voice and then stripped us blind."

"I'm telling ya, Miss Alex don't play poker." Nathan insisted while Vin tried to picture Alex at the table with these men, playing a game of high stakes poker. The idea almost sent him into sensory overload and made his head ache with a surge of pain caused by stress to add to that of the hangover.

"How much did she win?" Ezra asked, best qualified amongst all of them to know whether Alex could play poker or not. In truth, he knew she could never play the game well enough to outwit these men out of so much money. It had to be a mistake. Besides, he had beaten her so many times because she had shown no skill to play the game whatsoever.

"Almost $250 dollars!"

If Ezra had been drinking, he would have choked.

"How much?" Buck exclaimed, never one to hold back on an unspoken thought. "How did you know she was hustling?"

"No woman could play cards that well unless she was cheating." Albert retorted, his hand slowly shifting to his gun because he was spoiling to get his revenge upon the men to whom the women obviously belonged. Chris watched the subtle movement towards his gun; his own hand already nestled comfortably on his peacemaker. In fact, everyone seemed more than prepared for the onslaught to follow and Chris hated to admit it but damn if he wasn't ready for this!

"Alexandra cannot play cards." Ezra insisted, still unable to shake the possibility that Alex might have hidden her skills from him. "In fact, I've beaten her several times."

"Then maybe she's hustled you too." Lansing sneered, finally saying what none of the lawmen were too tactful not to point out to the gambler.

"Hustled me?" Ezra said filling up with indignant rage and was starting to share Chris Larabee's desire to shoot something. "I will have you know Sir that I do not get hustled. Alexandra Styles did not hustle me and I assure you she cannot play poker to any degree that it could be considered a hustle. If she did beat you, it must have been because you are an exceptionally poor specimen of gambling expertise."

"Hey!" Vin looked at Ezra with annoyance. "How do you know she can't play!" He said rising to the occasion for the love of his life. "You weren't here!"

"Mr Tanner, the only game that Alex ever played with any expertise was Go Fish!" Ezra retorted, for some reason feeling very threatened by this whole suggestion that Alex could play poker because if she could play poker this well and he had beaten her so many times, it led to two very unhappy conclusions. One that she had let him win or...actually there was no second unhappy conclusion, the whole let him win possibility was bad enough as far as Ezra was concerned.

"Maybe she didn't want to put you to shame." Vin retorted.

"Ain't this precious?" Lansing sneered at the comic relief these two men were providing.

"Get over it you two!" Buck hissed in disbelief but not as much disbelief as Chris Larabee.

"This ain't the time for it," Chris said loudly and sharply enough for both men to fall silent, realizing that their credibility as tough men of the law was suffering from this display of sentiment and wounded pride.

"Where did they go?" Chris turned his attention to Lansing, daring him not to answer while his fingers grazed the butt of his peacemaker, poised to draw the moment he saw a shift in the man's eyes.

"They stole horses and ran off into the night." Lansing declared. "Good thing too cause we would have shown them a thing or two, like maybe what it’s like to have some real men." He grinned salaciously.

Nathan Jackson saw the reaction crossing four faces simultaneously. Oh hell, the healer thought as the first blow was struck, predictably by Chris Larabee, straight across Lansing's face that almost lifted the man off the ground and send him crashing into a table, amidst the scream of the working girl and the customer who was still occupying it. With that, the entire room descended into the pandemonium of a good old-fashioned barroom brawl. Chairs began flying across the room, punches were thrown and bottles were smashed as fists went in all directions. Surprisingly enough the hand to hand combat had been used in favour of gunplay, which was singularly safer in such close quarters.

The whole thing lasted about twenty minutes. When the dust had cleared and the other patrons of the establishment had gone running for cover behind the counter or out the front door or window, whichever came first and was closer at hand, the five lawmen of Four Corners surveyed the damage. Somewhere in the mess of broken bottles, shattered glasses and the debris of destroyed furniture; Chris Larabee spotted the bleeding face of Lansing underneath the remnants of a collapsed table. Chris had come out of it quite well actually, suffering no more than a bleeding lip from a shard of glass that had nicked him on the way past. He grabbed the man's leg and pulled him out from under the fragments of broken wood.

"Don't make so much noise," Vin complained, similarly searching for the saloon owner who had made good his escape during the fight. The tracker's head was still throbbing and wished more than ever Alex was here. She could give him one of those pills that were supposedly guaranteed to soothe headaches. "I can hear everything ten times louder." He spotted the man quivering behind the counter and reached for his Winchester.

"Hey there," Vin leaned over and produced the sawn-off shotgun aimed clearly in his direction. "Now that we're through asking nice, where did the ladies go?"

"I don't know," the man shook his head frantically, in shock at the destruction on his premises and by the certainty that a wrong answer would get his head blown off. "They took horses and they left town! That's all I know."

"I do believe he's telling the truth," Buck replied pulling the chair someone had broken over him from around his body. The big man noted the acrid smell of loosened bowels that was filling the air.

"Oh, now that is disgusting." Ezra retorted, straightening his tie and collar that had been pulled out of dapper perfection during the altercation. "Sir, you are never going to pass health and safety regulations for this establishment with such a slovenly constitution."

"That's a pretty nasty shiner you got there Ezra." Nathan pointed out, examining the swelling on the Southerner's face.

"What?" The gambler looked at his reflection through the sheet of broken glass behind the counter and winced at a huge purple bruise that was forming under his eye. "Damn, purple is not my colour."

"I wouldn't say purple," Buck leaned over with a grin. "Try black and blue."

"Your compassion is overwhelming." Ezra frowned. "Unfortunately, this entire episode led us no closer to the ladies except in us learning that they are capable of embroiling themselves in more discourse than any of us could have possibly given them credit."

"I told you," Buck said trying to mask his deep concern for Inez with a humorous air. "I told you not to underestimate them."

"Where are they!" Chris barked at Lansing who was too incoherent to say a word. He merely looked at Chris with a dazed expression as the gunslinger shook him by the head while holding it off the floor by the hair.

"He's out of it Chris," Vin replied impatiently and threw a venomous gaze at the saloon owner who was still trembling in his own filth. "So's this one, or might as well be anyway."

"Excuse me?" A rather portly woman said meekly as she entered the saloon entrance. She looked at the five men with nothing less than fear and Chris could not blame her considering they were standing in the middle of a saloon that looked as if a cannon had been shot at it and unconscious bodies strewn everywhere.

"Can I help you, ma'am?" Nathan asked, knowing how ridiculous courtesy must seem amid this entire ruckus.

She tried to gain courage by Nathan's politeness by the healer could see it was Chris she wanted to speak to and it was Chris whom she was more afraid of than any other. That was not a hard feat, of course, Chris Larabee had that effect on people.

"I'm Doris Stanley," she said trying not to quiver when she spoke. She stood by the doorway and seemed unwilling to come any further as if stepping deeper into the room was like walking off a cliff. "I run the telegraph service."

Immediately Chris paid attention. Telegraph? "Is it Mary?"

Doris' fear evaporated once she heard Chris call Mary by name and realized that there was more to their association than the young widow had led on. "I got this telegram late today, addressed to a Mr Chris Larabee to be identified by his black clothing." Her eyes moved up and down the length of the gunslinger's apparel. "I guess that's you."

"What does it say?" Chris said abruptly and received a reproachful frown from Nathan who felt Doris should be treated with some courtesy because she looked so afraid of them.

"It says that should a Mr Larabee come to town, I was to inform him that Travis and party are currently in Winston Falls." She replied nervously.

"Winston Falls?" Ezra blurted out. "Where is that?"

"Thirty miles north of here," Vin said automatically. There was not an inch of space across the Territory that he was not familiar with. "It's a larger place than this."

"Hell, Purgatory is larger than this." Buck looked at Chris. "Can we at least get something to eat before we get going again?"

"I don't think this place is serving Buck." Chris looked around and noticed the hasty departure of the Doris Stanley. He let her go seeing that she had delivered her message from Mary and it appeared they had another long ride ahead of them. Chris sighed and started out the door towards the livery once more.

"I swear," Ezra sighed as the realization dawned upon all of them and the group resigned themselves to be on their way as they gravitated to the door, sidestepping debris and unconscious brawlers. "I am starting to question whether it was entirely wise to let them out of the kitchen."

"The last thing Alex does in the kitchen is cook," Vin muttered and found himself grinning.

"There he goes again with that smile on his face," Buck exclaimed before the group left the saloon and began the tedious journey to Winston Falls. "What is the story with that?"

"Trust me, Buck," Chris replied, feeling infinitely better now that he had beaten the crap out of someone. "If you ever want to have dinner at Alex's again, you don't want to know."

***********

It was pure luck.

Selena did not know whether providence was smiling upon her and Mr Burke or the devil was telling her he was willing to pay to get her soul. Whatever deity she chose to thank, the evidence before her was clear enough, as was the opportunity. She and Burke had climbed off the train and began searching every little dirt town since the encounter with the woman on the way to Denver. They had arrived in Stone Creek only to hear stories of four women who had gone riding off into the night after helping themselves to some horses and money. Apparently, the local sheriff was still getting around to the warrants but did not seem eager to send a posse after a bunch of women. This served Selena well, as they required no interruptions in their own hunt for the women.

However, the search had been cut short when they were called onto deliver a status report of their progress to retrieve the package to their employer who was waiting for a meeting in the town of Winston Falls. Selena and Burke had just left their mounts at the local livery on their way to the Preston Bank owned by their employer when lo and behold who should see walking across the street? The very three women whom they had been searching for so insistently gazing about furtively about as they made their way to a lodging house. The blond whom Sanderson had encountered and to whom Burke had a personal if not physical grudge was nowhere in sight but Selena was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Considering the debacle that this entire episode was quickly descending into, she was eager to take her breaks where she could get them.

They followed the women to the lodging house, ever careful to keep an eye for the last in their party. Selena did not doubt she would eventually surface and if she did not, the loss of three friends would certainly make her willing to negotiate for the retrieval of the package. In any case, Selena was tolerating no further mistakes because she was certain her employer would feel the same ambivalence and to Selena's distaste, would end their employment relationship fatally.

***********

When Seacourt saw the arrival of Selena Quint and her faithful companion, the behemoth Mr. Burke in the town of Stone Creek, the man had known with certainty that Sanderson was dead. He mourned the death of the man he had hardly known before this assignment as little more than a courier. In truth, Sanderson was never meant to become a field agent of this nature and Seacourt mourned his death by strengthening his resolve to bring his killers to justice. However, despite his innate need for vengeance, baser instincts to the oath he pledged his life took precedence first. He could not understand why Selena and Burke were here if Sanderson was dead for he could think of no other way they could have known about the rendezvous point. Not to mention that the package he had protected with his life would no doubt be in their hands already if Sanderson had died by their ministrations.

However, it soon became very apparent to Seacourt that Selena and her partner were conducting a search. He stayed out of sight, observing them at a distance and then questioning the people they had encountered for information. As adept as Selena Quint could be at this profession, she was still by Seacourt's estimation little more than a hired gun, albeit a rather charming one, but still a paid mercenary while Seacourt did this for a living to a cause higher than himself. It was to his utter surprise that Seacourt learnt that what Selena was after was not an elusive package but the very four women he had unsuccessfully and in retrospect, redundantly tried to assist the night before.

The women were wild cards, almost as wild a card as one of them had played at the gaming tables in the saloon. Seacourt could not understand what Selena could possibly want with these four different women who did not seem at all comfortable playing fugitives, even if they did handle themselves very well. He was forced to remind himself that seeking these four out was still a job and had nothing to do with the fact that the Mexican in the group had the most enchanting smile he had ever seen in his life.

So Seacourt followed Selena and Burke at a distance, keeping far enough out of sight to be completely concealed, while still maintaining the pursuit. He followed them across thirty miles of harsh terrain to arrive at a relative rustic oasis in the territory by the name of Winston Falls.

***********

"So, it’s all about this thing?" Julia stared at the piece of metal before them.

It was a square block of steel, with intricate engravings worked on by a master craftsman. When Inez had finally pulled it out of Mary's bag and unwrapped the plain brown covering to find the object wrap in silk, it was enough to make the newspaper woman go running for the telegraph office to send a wire to Chris immediately. Upon realizing what it was the duo in the train had been so determined to possess, the women moved lodgings immediately and agreed there would be no safety until they were no longer in possession of the item.

"It’s enough." Alex sighed looking at the object that was lying on the bed next to Mary's basket. "There are people who will kill for this thing." She frowned, wrapping it up in its silken covering once more.

"We've met them." Inez pointed out as she went to pour herself a glass of water from the pitcher located on one of the tables in the room. "I think we need to find a Marshall or something when the men get here."

"You know I never thought I'd say this," Alex sighed slipping the package back into Mary's bag and sliding the basket under the bed where it was out of sight. "But I'm going to be glad to have the guys rescue us from this mess for a change. I have the strangest feeling we were over our heads the minute we stepped onto the train."

"All that money..." Julia sighed. "Fifty dollar notes for as far as the eye could see. You could buy yourself a kingdom for that."

"Or an extremely devaluated country like this one would be if those plates are even used." Alex retorted. "I can't believe we are in possession of currency plates!"

"I can't imagine how they would even get their hands on something like that," Inez replied, sitting in a chair while Julia lay draped over the bed, where she had stared wistfully at the plate for some moments and Alex had paced around the place, repeating how much trouble they were in.

"I don't think the US government makes them very accessible," Alex replied. "However, a very skilled engraver may be able to make one."

"You mean this thing probably isn't even a legitimate plate?" Julia exclaimed, feeling her dismay at so much easy money in reach and not being able to touch any of it. Only Ezra could share her sorrow at this point.

"Not if they're chasing it the way they are." Inez retorted. "I wish we knew who Seacourt was." She sighed. "Sanderson said if we needed help to find Jeremy Seacourt."

"Except for all we know, Seacourt could be his dentist." The petite redhead quipped.

"Must you always be so negative?" Alex looked at her with a hint of sarcasm but not real malice. After having that discussion with Mary earlier today, Alex had decided to try being a little less hostile towards Julia, even though it was a hard habit to break.

"Call me the voice of reason," Julia replied in deadpan. She was not really offended because she had noticed a slight thaw in Alex's behaviour towards her and decided that an improvement, no matter how slight was still an improvement.

Suddenly the door knocked and Alex immediately went to answer it, assuming it was Mary Travis since the widow was due back any time from the telegraph office following her latest message to Chris Larabee. Hopefully, he was already on route and Vin would be right alongside him. At this moment, Alex wanted nothing more to be in the tracker's arms again. The man had the uncanny ability to make things better.

Alex opened the door and found herself staring at Burke and Selena.

"Don't even think about screaming," Selena said before Alex could open her mouth to warn the others. The gun in Selena's hand was aimed right at her stomach. "Step away from the door." She ordered.

Alex swore under her breath but had no alternative but to comply with the woman's demands. Reluctantly, Alex stepped away as Burke and Selena pushed their way into the room. The reaction was swift; Inez leapt out of her chair while Julia sat up startled at the presence of the new arrivals.

"I'll give you the same warning," Selena said icily. "Anyone of you makes one unnecessary sound that I do not ask for and it will be very unfortunate for all of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Alex said sarcastically.

Selena regarded her response and lashed out, striking Alex across the face with a fisted blow. Alex felt her cheek flare in pain as she staggered back. She recovered quickly enough, even if she was slightly dazed and was tempted to fight back when she heard the audible click of Selena's gun aimed at Inez, indicating what would happen if she made that attempt. "I was merely paying you back for the train." The woman replied with a smile. Burke sniggered behind her, enjoying the display very much.

"Where's the other one?" She demanded.

A furious exchange of glances across the rooms united the women in a show of solidarity that no information would come from them willingly. When Selena's question was met with silence, the mercenary seemed unsurprised. "That does not matter. She will walk into our little drama soon enough. Now, where is the package?"

"I don't know what you mean," Inez said bravely, glaring at her in open defiance even if she was forced to display it in this limited fashion.

"Please don't play games with me." Selena walked straight up to her and pressed the gun barrel firmly in her throat.

"Wait!" Julia shouted before Alex could. "We don't have it!"

"Of course, you don't," Selena glared at her with obvious disbelief.

"I'm telling you the truth." The Easterner said with enough panic in her voice to tell Selena her fear was genuine as well as the words coming from her lips. "We unpacked it and found out what it was," Julia explained, letting the lies come from her lips faster than she could think to stop herself. "Mary knew that it had to be used to make counterfeit notes, that's why she's not here! She's taken it to the sheriff to hand it in!"

"You're lying!" Selena hissed at this new development. She cocked the trigger against Inez's throat as if to illustrate the point of what would happen.

"I'm not lying!" Julia implored. "I swear! Mary took it with her!"

"Shit!" Selena swore viciously and glared at Burke. "We better get back to Preston." She said visibly unhappy at reporting this snippet of news to her employer.

"He ain't going to be happy." Burke pointed out.

That was the understatement of the millennium. "Alright," Selena thought quickly. "All of you, on your feet now!"

Reluctantly, Julia climbed off the bed and joined Inez at her side, while Burke was keeping a close eye on Alex.

"It appears ladies," Selena smiled as she gestured towards the door, "we are going to take a little trip."

***********

Mary had just sent her next telegram to Chris, hoping her instructions to Doris Stanley was clear enough for interpretation. Having unveiled the mysterious package that Mr Sanderson had deposited into her basket, Mary now understood just how much trouble they had stumbled into. She did not know much about counterfeiting or engraving but the workmanship of the plates convinced her that if used to print notes, the counterfeit currency would have been almost certainly good enough to pass. Even Mary was aware of what could happen to the economy of a country if these notes were entered circulation. She now understood the persistence of those who had attempted to retrieve it and knew that she was correct in waiting for Chris' arrival.

Having turned the corner of the street towards the lodging house, Mary had taken no more than a step when she saw something that sent her retracing her steps to avoid discovery. For a moment, her heart skipped a bit as her pulse began the racing at the sight of the two strangers that had attacked them on the train, leading Inez, Alex, and Julia out the door of the building. Judging by the sombre expressions on the faces of her friends, Mary assumed that they did not wish to make the journey. Mary watched with wide-eyed fear as the group descended the stairs, with the woman standing very close to Inez, close enough to be holding a gun to her if Mary's guess was right.

Mary took a deep breath trying to decide what to do. She watched them disappear down the street and only dared to emerge from her hiding place behind the corner of the boardwalk when they could no longer see her. When they had put enough distance between them and Mary was certain that the crowds in the street this afternoon would provide her with suitable cover, she stepped out and began following them. She walked slowly, knowing that surveillance was not a skill she had in any abundance. Fortunately, the group did not go far and Mary was surprised to see her friends being ushered through the front door of the local bank.

The widow was at a loss of what to do as she hastened her steps and paused in front of the hardware store next to the bank. Mary watched people filter in and out the front door, revealing that it was indeed a legitimate business but Mary could not understand why they would be taken to such a public place? Mary considered going to the sheriff and then decided that was a bad idea. She did not doubt that they were all wanted on charges of horse theft and entanglements with the law were the last thing she wanted to deal with now. Mary could not understand why they were taken? The plates were in the room with them, if Inez and the others were captured there, surely their kidnappers would have found the object?

Unless they did not find it and Inez, Alex and Julia were being held until it was produced.

Mary thought furiously, realizing that if there was any hope for her friends then she would have to do something now and she would have to do it alone. Of course, she had no idea how to storm a bank no less and rescue her them but those were minor details she would solve as she went along. Mary turned away from the hardware store and was about to return to the hotel to retrieve the package for that was her only bargaining point now and she would need it to barter for the lives of her companions. Suddenly, she caught sight of something beneath the canvas sheet on the back of wagon holding stationary along the sidewalk. The wagon was unmanned and no doubt its owner was present in the hardware store, purchasing goods.

Mary saw the box staring at her and slowly a plan started to form in her head. She had promised Chris Larabee that she would not get into any more trouble and since this whole situation more or less decided that promise had not one she was going to keep, Mary decided to take it one step further.

Without saying another word, she reached under the canvas and pulled out the box. It was heavy but she could manage it and do so without being seen.

Hurrying away from the scene of her crime, she wondered how much of a criminal record she would have by the time this whole thing was over...

***********

Lawrence Preston had a dream.

He wanted to be rich. He was already rich but he wanted to be so rich that it positively boggled the mind and he wanted to be that way for no other reason, then the challenge of aspiring to see it done. He had indulged in legitimate forms of achieving his gold and soon found it inadequate to the herculean task he had set for himself. Thus, he began indulging in other avenues of reaching his goal and until this point had been making steady progress.

While most men might have balked at the idea of hiring a female mercenary to handle his shadier dealings, some could not even fathom the existence of such a thing; Preston had found Selena Quint to be quite the professional. In fact, he had never found a reason to complain until this instance and it particularly irked this time because the job to which he had assigned her to was the most important undertaking that he had ever set him to accomplish. Now thanks to circumstances and he was starting to question was not pure bungling, months of hard work was in jeopardy thanks to the three women before him less one who was still at large, with his property in her possession.

He was not very impressed.

"So, am I to understand that your companion had my plate?" He glared at the women from behind the desk, inside the manager's office of the bank. The manager had been dismissed for the day while Preston had commandeered the room to conduct his business. He owned a few local banks scattered across the Territory, mostly because some investment adviser had convinced him the merits of having one's foot through the door in the frontier.

"Answer him," Selena ordered sharply when none of the women chose to answer. They were seated on chairs facing the desk with Burke and Selena keeping a vigil on them while Lawrence Preston held them a captive audience.

"Yes," Inez said sarcastically and fell silent again. She sent an icy stare at Preston as she was forced to speak.

"And what would her name be?" Preston asked again, emerging from behind the heavy walnut desk to pace the floor before them. He was not a very impressive man, dressed in fine clothes but bearing what seemed like a permanent sneer on those otherwise ordinary features. In a crowd, he would be utterly unforgettable if not for the money at his disposal. He studied at them with watery coloured blue eyes like they were something that should be dissected to satisfy his curiosity.

"Who?" Alex quipped and promptly felt Selena shove her head forward roughly. The doctor winced but offered no more than that.

"Mary Travis," Julia answered and received furious stares from Alex and Inez respectively. "They have all our identification anyway," the Easterner spoke in her own defence. "They have the names, just not the faces."

"Very astute," Preston said offering her a smile because she was an exceedingly beautiful woman. He did not care much for the other two but he found all that red hair charming and perhaps worth a night's amusement. "So, I take it Mrs Travis has my property?"

"Yes," Julia nodded, continuing the lie she had used earlier to keep the duo from searching their lodgings and finding the package. Julia knew that if they were not in possession of their prize, they would not kill her or her friends. "Mary took it to the sheriff."

"You will retrieve it," Preston said shifting his gaze from Julia's expression of fear to Selena's colder visage. There was no question that the instruction was not a request. He expected it done. "Kill the sheriff and anyone else who might have seen it but do so Selena."

"What about these?" Selena nodded in answer and gestured to their three hostages. "We can let them go with what they know."

"Agreed," Preston nodded. "Keep them here until nightfall." He said taking a step towards Julia. He reached for her chin and let a finger stroke Julia's cheek. When she pulled away in disgust, he balled his fist and met Selena's eyes after a flash of hatred surfaced in his own. "Then kill them, including the other one." He retorted and then sent a cold smile of satisfaction at Julia for her trespass.

"Yes, Mr Preston," Selena replied coolly, not really expecting anything different. In this type of business, it was never wise to leave loose ends. Besides, this entire enterprise had been one fiasco after another and Selena had no wish to leave any remnant behind that could remind her of this miserable experience.

"I do not want the bodies found." Preston continued as if the three intended victims were not even in the room. "Once you have my plates, we will meet again in Fort Worth." He gave his instructions like a general about to go into battle, pacing the carpeted floor before them as if he were working out strategies inside his mind.

Alex, Inez, and Julia exchanged glances, realizing that their all their lives had suddenly been shortened to a scant few hours unless they thought of a way to escape their current situation. Unfortunately, with the two mercenaries behind them, whom they now knew as Burke and Selena, holding guns to their heads, the chances of that seemed unlikely and they doubted that the lawmen of Four Corners were going to come riding to their rescue in a blaze of glory.

Suddenly, without warning, a tremendous explosion shattered the silence of their thoughts and office. The shock wave sent shudders throughout the building, shaking the foundations until streams of plaster were shaken loose and drifted through the air. Everyone in the room collectively jumped at the sound and it was Preston who found his voice first.

"What the hell was that?" He shouted as he heard screams and panicked cries beyond the office doors.

The words had no sooner past his lips when another explosion rocked the building.

***********

Of all the plans that Mary Travis had ever concocted in her head, it was quite possible that this was the worst. Worst was an incorrect word, a more accurate description was perhaps desperate. This was the most desperate plan she had ever had. After returning to the lodging house and searching the room thoroughly and then to her chagrin realizing that her friends had hidden her bag in the most obvious place which was incidentally the last place she looked, Mary had returned to the bank. At first, she thought of the most effective way to implement her foolhardy rescue attempt, asking herself what Chris would do in this situation, then, of course, she remembered that it was not a fair comparison.

Chris would not have gotten into trouble in the first place!

Mary returned to the bank, armed with a dozen sticks of dynamite and a gun carefully hidden in her basket. She strolled into the premises looking like one of the customers as she stood at one of the tables, pretending to work through some deposit slips. In the meantime, Mary watched surreptitiously the people going in and out of the door, counting how many there were and taking note of the premises as if she was about to rob the place instead of simply bringing it down over their heads. She could not see Inez and the others in the immediate vicinity but had noticed the door to the manager's office. If her friends were anywhere, it was in that room.

As discreetly as she could, Mary produced a stick of dynamite; one of several tucked in the waistband of her skirt. Secretly, she hoped that the room was large enough and strong enough to endure the blast without toppling the entire roof and burying them all in a mountain of rubble and debris. No one paid much attention to her when she struck a match and even less when she tossed it to the corner of the room, looking up only at the sound it made when it hit the floor. The hiss of the fuse sparked some interest as a teller wrinkled his brow while shuffling some notes, trying to decipher what the strange sound could be and noticed Mary crossing the room but heading not towards him but to the farthest end of the room.

Mary dropped to her knees and covered her ears as the fuse burned to its end. Only then did the tellers behind the counter and the iron bars protecting it, look at her strangely, wondering what she was doing until they followed her frightened gaze and rested upon the stick of dynamite that sizzling to its explosive finale.

The explosion was loud and destroyed everything near the nucleus of the blast. Wood floorboards buckled under the force of the shock wave and burned lustily as the concrete walls shuddered and plaster crumbled to the floor from the cracks in the brick. Furniture in the immediate vicinity was completely obliterated, their smoking embers covering the floor as the room descended into panic. Mary did not allow the bank's staff to regain their composure. Being ready for the pandemonium had given her a head start at recovery and she stood up straight and silence them with the gun she had produced. Mary aimed it at them with the convincing portrayal of someone who was not afraid to fire.

"Get out." She said coldly, waving them towards the door with the weapon.

"Are you crazy!" One of the tellers shouted angrily, still unable to believe a woman could have caused this chaos. "You could have killed us all!"

"I still can." Mary cocked the gun just to demonstrate her resolve. "Now get out!" She barked. Hesitation ebbed away as the bodies filed past her, eager to escape this madwoman who was armed with explosives and bullets. They had not even started to file out of the room when Mary produced another stick of dynamite, which only created more pandemonium amongst them, as they rushed to escape. Mary was hardly concerned about them; it was what was happening behind that door which worried her most.

The only reason they had not emerged yet was that they were too busy trying to understand what was happening. That would not last for long. Mary lit another stick of dynamite and threw it at the door, hoping no one was anywhere near it. The building was solid concrete but it was not that strong that it could withstand any more bombardment by such explosive force. It could easily crumble the entire structure like a house of cards. Still, she could think of no other way to help Alex, Inez and Julia.

Once again, she took cover behind the counter as the fuse began to sizzle.

The doors were blow off their hinges. Strips of wood flew in all directions as the group inside the room ducked for cover. Smoke filled the air as more plaster started to rain down on them as well as the debris of the blast. However, for the three women whose lives were in the hands of those who intended taking it soon enough, the opportunity to escape was too good. Alex jumped to her feet first, pulling her chair from under her and swinging hard against Burke, who was gaping at the door and the partially blown away doorway. The walls were starting to heave as if the concussion it was enduring was too much for it. The big man turned around just in time to see the heavy chair smash into his body. He let out a slight groan of pain as he staggered against the wall.

Selena in the meantime swung the gun at Alex to shoot but Inez grabbed her arm and forced it aside. The gun fired but the bullet dug harmlessly into a wall. The mercenary who had better skills than she did was not about to let go and once again, it required Julia's intervention to even the odds. Digging all ten digits into the woman's hand, Julia pulled back a handful of dark mahogany hair, dragging her head with it. Selena let out a slight scream of pain as she fought the two women off and felt her grip on the gun she was holding starting to slip. It dropped to the floor as Inez scrambled to pick it up.

"You stupid bitches!" Selena snarled furiously. "I'm going to cut your fucking hearts out by the time I'm done with you."

Alex in the meantime had noticed that Preston was moving towards her and between the recovering Mr Burke and him, was at a loss what to do. She picked up another chair because Burke was the greater of two evils. This time, because the man was on his knees, Alex could break the chair over his head. The resounding crash dropped him to his knees again before the strength drained from his body. His enormous bulk collapsed under the intense pain and he fell forward, his face meeting the floor first with a loud thud.

"Nice try but not good enough little girl." Preston slipped his arm around her throat and trapped Alex in a forceful arm lock. Alex struggled to free herself but his grip was strong and vise-like around her neck, not to mention that he was fuelled by the outrage of what was happening.

"I wouldn't say that." Mary stepped out from the smoke and debris, gun aimed firmly at the man who had Alex so helplessly in his grip. "Let her go," Mary said in her strongest imitation of Chris when he was at his bad element worst.

"Ah, our last player." Preston sneered. "You have my plate."

"You have my friend." Mary retorted. "Let her go or you won't have your head either."

"You don't have the guts to pull that trigger." He taunted her, glaring at her like she was some stupid female.

Mary was about to prove just how wrong he was.

"I had the guts to blow up your bank," Mary said with a smile of her own. "Now let her go!" The widow shouted.

Preston swore loudly and shoved Alex forward as he realized that he was in no position to bargain with a gun pointed at him. Alex was still coughing from the tension around her throat and massaged her neck as she staggered forward. She seemed shaken but as Mary had come to know about Alex, very little could phase the doctor for too long. She recouped her strength and hurried to Mary before hearing the widow quickly respond. "My basket is out there, get it and get out, we'll meet you outside. You too, Julia!"

"No arguments from me!" Alex croaked through her sore throat and disappeared out the door.

"Come on," Mary gestured towards Inez and Julia to leave Selena alone since Inez had taken her gun from the women. "We're getting out of here."

Julia let go of Selena's hair, letting the woman fall to her knees as Inez aimed her own gun at her. Frightened and feeling completely out depth by resorting to such physical displays of violence, Julia heeded Mary's advice and hurried out to join Alex. The mercenary glared at both women with black hatred as they ran past her, heading towards the door where Mary was waiting for them.

"We'll hunt you down!" Selena screamed with uncharacteristic fury. "We'll find you!"

"You have to catch us first!" Inez snorted as she joined Mary at the door.

Mary fumbled the stick of dynamite tucked into her clothes before handing it to Inez. "Light it!"

Inez's eyes widened in shock until she saw Mary was completely serious. The blond woman handed her a match and turned back to Selena and Preston, keeping the gun trained in their direction and leaving Inez to do what she asked. Inez's hand shook as she lit the length of fuse extending from the actual gelignite.

Selena and Preston's eyes revealed genuine fear as they saw the fuse sputter to life and then began to burn strongly. The small flame started eating its way towards the reactive chemicals.

"Throw it and get the hell out of here!" Mary ordered her best friend.

It was one order she did not have to repeat twice as Inez flung the dangerous item into the room, letting it disappear within the shadows beneath the desk before she ran out of the place as per Mary's request. Preston and Selena's gaze followed the disappearing stick of dynamite, desperately fighting the urge to lunge after it because they were terribly aware of the gun pointed at them. It was precisely the reaction Mary was hoping for.

"You got don't have a lot of time," Mary said with a smile as she took a hasty step back, preparing to make her own departure. "Better start looking now."

With that, she turned on her heels and exited the building as Preston and Selena went scrambling to put out the fuse because they were not going to get out of there before the dynamite blew the room apart.

NEXT CHAPTER

BACK TO MAIN PAGE