Last Updated: 3/24/99

Clair stepped from the alleyway beside the hotel with a basket of dirty linen balanced precariously in her small arms.Her senses told her that the man she had been thinking of was heading in her direction,she couldn`t help being in awe of him after all he was one of the seven men who protected the town.She smiled to herself and her heartbeat a little faster in anticipation of his warm smile.

Clair took a few steps down the boardwalk and the familiar face of Vin Tanner came into sight.As he neared he tipped his hat and smiled at her"Mornin Clair"she heard him say.She was about to respond when the basket in her arms shifted and the contents spilled onto the boardwalk at her feet.

"Here, let me help you with that," Vin said as he stooped over and began to help her pick up the laundry. He hadn't meant to scare the young woman into dropping the clothes. Truth be told, he was curious about this newcomer to Four Corners. She seemed young and innocent, but he had learned a long time ago that people weren't always who they seemed to be. He wondered why she had come to Four Corners. It didn't quite seem the place for a young woman to be all by herself. He figured he'd keep an eye out for her. It was his job to protect the town anyway. And that included all its citizens.

Clair bent to scoop the linen back into the basket."I`m sorry to trouble you Mr.Tanner,I`m sure you have more important thing to do than picking up dirty sheets".Her hand brushed over his and a tingling started in the back of her mind.A vision of Vin with a rope around his neck flashed before her eyes.She gasped"A hanging,what did you do?".To her horror she realized that she had asked a question that was personal and definitely none of her business."I`m sorry"she straitened and turned to hurry off to the laundry,but Vin grabbed her arm before she could retreat.

Vin grabbed Clair's arm. He didn't want to hurt the young woman, but he wanted answers. He knew that the townsfolk knew about his bounty - ever since Yates had come to town, posing as that fake marshall. But this woman hadn't been in town that long. How would she know about it? Unless she had been asking around about him. Vin wanted to know why someone like this would be asking questions about him?

Vin paused for a minute before talking to Clair. Did she mean the bounty on his head or the hanging he almost had at the hands of Eli Joe? Something in the look in her face made him wonder.

"Wait a minute. Not so fast. What do you mean about a hanging?"

Charlie saw Vin from across the street. She saw him talking to Claire. She didn't really notice what was going on, her mind was on other things. She just figured they were having a friendly chat. But she needed to ask Vin a question real quick so she stepped off the boardwalk and started toward them. She got to the edge of the boardwalk where they were and stopped.

"Hey, Vin, I need to-" She stopped in mid sentance. Something wasn't right. The air around them wasn't right. It was heavy. Something was wrong. She looked up at the two people staring at her.

"I'm sorry. I...uh...I'm sorry," She said flustered. She turned and rubbed her forehead then walked away quickly.

"I,I"Clair stammered.She was desperate to find away out of this awkward position,she couldn`t tell him how she knew about his brush with the rope."I`m sorry Mr.Tanner i truly meant no insult,your past is your own i had no right to speak in such an open manner".She tried to pull out of Vin`s grasp but he held her in place.She felt eyes on her back,she glanced over her shoulder and saw the proprietor of the hotel staring at her.She could feel her employers anger boiling.She leaned close to Vin"Please Mr.Tanner i can`t afford to loose another paying position".

Kit paused in her sweeping to watch the little scene. Even from across the dusty street she could see the hotel proprietor's reprimanding expression. It wasn't the girl's fault, Kit thought to herself, and any man with half a brain would realize that. Her light eyes danced with glinting amusement as she resumed her mundane sweeping, keeping an intent gaze on the action across the street. Pushing a broom might not be her favorite chore, but at least it was money, and it allowed her to observe the town's goings-on. Like the actions of the seven men who protected the town. Like the more mundane citizens. Like the newcomers. Particularly the newcomers.

Nathan cantered his horse up the main street, glancing back and forth in search of Chris. He didn't see him out on the main street, which meant he was probably in the saloon. He pulled his horse up to the rail and tied the gelding there, trying to think of some way to get Chris into a private conversation without alarming any of the saloon's patrons. He strode into the bar's dark interior and a quick survey of the inside found Chris at a corner table, nursing a whiskey. Nathan tried for casual as he headed for the corner, and made sure his back was to the room when he looked at the man in black intently and muttered, "Chris, we got trouble."

Lena gently set the Perezosa's hoof down. The dappled gray gave a sigh, and leaned heavily on Lena's shoulder. "Stop it Zosa. You have four feet, I have two. By all rights YOU should be supporting ME." She heard a soft chuckle from behind her and whirled around, startled. JD Dunne, one of the hired guardians of the town, stood in the doorway leading his horse. Lena sent an irritated glance at Zosa for not warning her. Zosa did not seem worried at her mistrisses displeasure. In fact if anything the traitor gave off a feeling of content. Lena supposed it was the oats, Zosa just fell apart when it came to molassas oats.

"Lena, afternoon. Sorry if I startled you."

Again feeling foolish at how obviously off guard she had been, Lena hurried to assure him, "It was nothing, I didn't hear you come in is all."

JD grinned at her again, and then led Milagro to his stall at the far end of the stable. They chatted quietly across the distance, while each tended to their own horse.

Vin looked past Clair and saw the stare of the hotel proprietor. He knew that condescending look and knew that if he didn't let Clair go, she was sure to lose her job. And who knew what rumors the man would start spreading, as well. Most of the townsfolk appreciated that the men were again protecting the town. But some were still not happy about it.

"We'll finish this later," Vin whispered in a soft, yet authoritative manner. He let Clair go and said goodbye, as he tipped his hat to her.

"Charlie, wait up," Vin yelled as he watched Clair go about her business. He *would* talk to her later. Of that much, he was certain.

Vin stepped off the boardwalk, catching up with the hastily retreating Charlie.

Charlie stopped and turned to face Vin. She had been embarrassed to have walked up on them like that. But she had truly thought they were just chatting. She cursed herself for not paying more attention. This had happened before. She had had her mind on other things, didn't pay attention to what she was doing, and got herself into some sort of trouble for it. In this case she could have avoided the embarrassment. She had just been so eager to go practice her shooting with Buck and Vin that she had blocked out all her other thoughts.

She didn't know what to do. Her first thought was to run and hide. Her second thought was to apologize again. But all she could do was stand there. She pulled her hat off of her head and ran her finger along the brim nervously. "Hi, Vin." She tried not to sound uncomfortable. She didn't think she was succeeding.

"Charlie," Vin said, as he tipped his hat. He could tell the young woman was uncomfortable. He liked Charlie. She had the same affable qualities as Buck, but a bit toned down. She seemed to enjoy tagging along with the men - that is, when Buck would let her. "What can I do for you?"

Charlie smiled, calming down a little.

"I was just wondering when you and Buck wanted to leave. For the practice, I mean." She adjusted the gun belt Buck had given her when he had believe her responsible enough. Buck kept telling her to practice even though he knew she was as good, if not better, than he was. It came very natural to her, Vin had said so.

Buck had told her that the gun belt was for practice, or protection purposes only. But Charlie had payed no attention to that. She had taken to wearing it all the time. Buck obviously hadn't noticed.

She had also learned a lot of other things while having been in Four Corners for these past few months. Take for instance, poker. Ezra had taught her poker and she had actually been able to beat him in several games. She was proud of that. Buck was jealous. She was proud of that too.

"Well," Vin shifted his weight and put his hands on his belt so that he was in his favorite comfortable position, "I don't know now, Charlie. Did Buck definitely say we were gonna go shootin' today? I haven't seen him around anywhere. Have you?" Vin loved Charlie's eagerness. But right now, he had to admit, he was a bit concerned about Clair. He didn't want to disappoint Charlie. But when Vin got onto a trail, he kept on it until he reached its end.

Charlie looked a little disappointed, not much.

"No, I haven't seen him today. He told me last night were gonna try to get out there early. But if you guys don't want to go that's fine. I'll go find something to do." She smiled at him. She knew he had something important on his mind. She just couldn't tell exactly what, only that it had a lot to do with the new girl.

She put her hat back on and started toward the Standish Tavern. Maybe she'd go shooting by herself later.

Clair hurried down the street berating herself with each step.She knew Vin was not the kind of man to let this drop.She left the dirty sheets with the laundress and made her way back to the hotel.She noticed Vin talking to the young woman in the street,and wished she was the one he was talking to so casually.She turned and stepped into the lobby of the hotel,her employer was seated behind the front desk.He looked up as she walked by "hold it there missy".He stood and came around the desk"i`m not paying you to socialize with the local riff raff,if you want to stand out there and flirt with Vin Tanner you can pay for it"."I`ll take the time out of your wages"his matter of fact tone left no room for argument."Yes sir,Mr.Henson"she gave a small curtsy and continued threw the lobby."The backstairs need a good scrubbing"Henson yelled after her.She rolled her eyes,there was nothing worse than kneeling in the hot sun scrubbing your hands raw on the outside stairs,except maybe for answering Vin`s questions.

Kit finished the monotonous broom-pushing and turned back into the store. "All done, sir," she called, leaning the broom in its corner. "Is there anything else?" She held her breath, hoping the storeowner would say no. She'd seen Nathan go into the saloon not too long ago, and unless she was very much mistaken, something had upset him. She was intensely curious as to what.

"Naw, I think that's it for now. You'll be around tomorrow?" Mr. Bucklin's voice wafted out from the back of the store.

"Yessir," Kit replied. "'Bout the same time."

"Good enough." Mr. Bucklin came up to the front counter and opened the till. He drew a scrap of paper from the drawer and scratched some figures on it, glanced at Kit for approval, and slid it back into the drawer at her nod. "See you tomorrow, then."

Kit flashed a smile, light eyes dancing, and bounded out the front door with a wave. Hers was an unorthodox arrangement, but it worked well for her and her employers. She did odds and ends for a couple of storeowners, and they paid her on a per-job basis. She got a little bit of pocket money, and they got their chores done for less than they'd have to pay someone else. Best of all, it meant if she wasn't available for work one day - or for a couple of days - it didn't matter.

Not like Clair, over at the hotel. Kit winced in sympathy. Even across the street, she'd heard Henson's bellow about the back stairs, and she could imagine *that* thankless job. Henson could be so overbearing at times... someone really ought to take him down a peg or two. Kit grinned at the thought as she made her way down the street towards the saloon.

Chris' eyes narrowed. "What kind of trouble?"

Nathan glanced over his shoulder at the meager population of the saloon, then looked back at Chris meaningfully, indicating the saloon doors with a tilt of his head. With a subtle nod, Chris pushed back his chair and stood up, taking one last swig of whiskey from the bottle on the table. Together they crossed the room and passed out of the swinging saloon doors, stepping aside to let Charlie through between them as they offered her nods of greeting.

Vin spotted them as they emerged from the saloon. Nathan looked worried and Chris had That Scowl on, so he headed towards them, meeting them at the edge of the boardwalk. "What's goin' on?"

"Trouble," Chris replied softly. The three men slipped down the alley alongside the saloon for a quiet conference.

With a last look around, Nathan began, "I just got back from the Taylor farm - you know, Nick and Jennie, who just had a baby a couple of days ago?" Chris and Vin nodded, remembering the Taylors, who lived on a small ranch about an hour's ride from town. Nathan continued, "Well, I was goin' back out there to check up on Missus Taylor and the baby, see how they were doin' and all, and when I got there..." He paused, swallowing. "They'd been killed. The both of 'em, Mr. and Missus Taylor. And there was no sign of the baby."

"How'd they die?" Chris asked. Nathan had seen many faces of death before, and had always faced them calmly. His nervousness was uncharacteristic.

"They'd been ripped to shreds," Nathan replied in a hollow voice.

Clair struggled up the stairs with the bucket of hot soapy water.As she reached the top step the familiar tingling started.A vision of three men standing in a alleyway in deep discussion floated threw her mind,she smiled recognizing Vin among them.Her mind spiraled into a house with red drenched walls.Inside her head she was there,staring at two mutilated bodies.A silent scream slipped past her lips.The vision released her and she slammed back to the present.The tremors that gripped Clair caused her to drop the heavy bucket,it went clattering down the stairs.She collapsed on the top step and sobs racked her small frame.

The watery clatter of a bucket on stairs caught Kit's attention, and she glanced across the street. She could see a form huddled at the top of the hotel's back stairs, sobbing. Kit spared a last, longing look at the alley where three of the town's protectors had vanished, but quickly decided that her curiosity would have to wait. For now.

She trotted across the street and up the boardwalk to the hotel, looking alertly around for trouble. Seeing none, she dodged the overturned bucket on the landing and trotted up the hotel stairs two at a time. Clair was still hunched over, sobbing, and Kit crouched down carefully on the wet stairs. "Are you okay?" That was a silly question, she realized immediately, and added, "What's wrong?"

Before Clair had a chance to try and answer, there was a heavy footstep on the boardwalk below and Kit turned. She found herself looking down at the hotel proprietor, Henson, who was scowling thunderously up at the landing. "What is going on here, missy?" he demanded. He glared at the overturned bucket, the soaked stairs, the still-shaking chambermaid, and Kit was momentarily fascinated by the visible line of red creeping from his shirt collar towards the top of his head.

Before he could explode, Kit scrambled down the stairs to grab the bucket. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Henson," she rushed. "It's all my fault. I'm just right clumsy sometimes." Kit tried to look worried and abashed. "Y'see, I'd just went up to the landing to ask Miss Clair a question, 'cause she was so busy scrubbing the stairs and all, and I went and tipped over the bucket." She dashed a quick look up at Clair, then back turned back to the hotel proprietor. "I'm awful sorry, sir. If you'll show me where I can get some more water I'd be happy to help clean up the mess I made."

Henson was still scowling, but he grudgingly motioned for the girl to follow him. Kit trailed him in silence, carrying the bucket, her mind racing.

Charlie had passed Chris and Nathan as she entered the saloon. As she stepped past Nathan she got a horrible feeling in her chest and stomach. Something was wrong. She didn't ask what. She couldn't.

She walked over and sat down at a small table in the back of the room. That feeling that something was about to happen had been there for 3 days now. Though she didn't know what is was, and had no desire to, she was afraid to blink for fear of seeing something. It only happened when she closed her eyes. She'd see something, a gun, a house, a person. She never knew when it would happen. But, no matter what it was she always knew whether it was good or bad. This wasn't good. She had no one to tell. They'd laugh and tell her she was being silly. But she knew better than to think things like that about herself. She'd never been wrong with these 'visions', as she called them. She'd never told anyone about them either. But this one...it was like a feeling of doom. She had wanted to go shooting today to get her mind of this. But no such luck. Charlie leaned over and rested her arms on her knees. She felt nauseous. They were talking about it, Nathan and Chris. She knew they were talking about it. She had never had this feeling before in her life. Never.

She stood up put a hand up to her mouth. 'A place to go.' she thought. 'I need a place to go...' She walked quickly out the saloon doors, down the steps and across the street to the ally. She leaned over behind a barrel and the feeling to vomit came quickly.

"It'll pass." she whispered to herself. "Take a deep breath." She did so and promptly threw up.

Lena was just finishing Zosa's grooming, when the stable door slammed open. (No small task considering the design of such doors.) A mountain of a man strode in, leading his horse, a giant black, to an available stall. The man did not stir the dust at his feet. Nor did any of the much warmer air from outside accompany him.

Lena watched him curiously. He was huge. Taller, Lena guessed, than even the preacher, Josiah. His clothes were elegently cut and obviously stylish, but were all the same unrelenting black. From his hat to his boots, the man was clothed entirely in monochromatic ebony, and without the sadly touching feel of the mourning style that Chris Larabee wore.

Puzzled by the new arrival (and disturbed by Zosa's sudden unease), Lena gently reached out to touch the mind of the Black.

At the first feather-light touch, Lena's mind felt as if it had been plunged into icewater. She recoiled blindly, snapping back into her own mind only vagely aware that she was trembling.

She looked up to see the man watching her. He grinned at her. The expression contorted his face unnaturally, never reaching his eyes.

Quite as suddenly as he had appeared, the man exited to Four Corner's main street.

Lena could feel Zosa trying to comfort her, but was unable to shake the chill that gripped her. *Those eyes...*

After a long moment, JD approached Perzosa's stall. "I think I'd better go find Chris," was all he said before crossing into the bright sunlight.

As soon as he was gone, Lena buried her face into Zosa's mane and quaked at what she had felt.

Charlie wiped off her mouth with the sleeve of her oversized shirt. She stood up straight and sat down against the other wall of the ally. She rested her arms and her head on her knees. What was this? It had never happened to her before. The pain in her chest and stomach had gotten worse after she threw up.

She put her head up, leaving her arms resting on her knees. She had to know what was causing this. She felt like she was about to die from this horrible feeling inside her. She shut her eyes but nothing came. She held them closed almost searching in the darkness of her mind for the picture she knew was there.

She opened her eyes. It was there, it had to be. She put her hands on her face, they were cool and her face was hot. She closed her eyes again and this time the picture was there. A small, newborn baby. It was alone. Crying. No one around to care for it. Not even its parents. The nausia hit her again when she saw the next picture in her mind. She opened her eyes quickly, swallowing back the urge to throw up again. She stood up and held herself steady by leaning on the brick wall of the ally. "Ugh." she moaned. Either she was very ill or something formidable was going to happen to this town.

She hunched over again, coughing.

Through her tears Clair had heard the hastily made excuse Kit had handed Henson.As Kit walked away with the bucket Clair composed herself as best as she could.She got to her feet and smoothed down the front of her skirt.At the bottom of the stairs she waited for Kit to return.

Kit appeared a couple of minutes later, lugging a full bucket of hot, soapy water. She saw Clair at the foot of the stairs, looking much better than she had when Kit had left. "Hi," she said quietly. "Feeling better?" Clair nodded and reached for the bucket, but Kit hauled it up the stairs and set it on the top step.

"I promised Mr. Blowhard down there that I'd help clean up the mess," she explained, eyes dancing. She hoped the irreverent reference to Clair's boss might cheer the chambermaid up a little. Kit still wasn't sure what had upset Clair so much, but she wanted to find out. To help her, if she could. No one should look that upset for any length of time - that was Kit's philosophy. There was always something to smile about. A child's laughter, the caress of the wind, the stupid look that would be on Henson's face when he discovered the tack Kit had surreptitiously put on his chair behind the Hotel's front desk before she left with the bucket...

Charlie was standing in the doorway behind Clair and when Kit walked with the bucket of water she stepped back outside just past the door. When Kit had gone upstairs she stepped back inside. Her face was now very pale, and she was still sick, but she tapped Clair on the shoulder as she started up the stairs.

"Clair," She whispered, looking around for Clair's boss.

She knew that people didn't cry over spilling water. And when Charlie had heard her sobbing from all the way the boardwalk. She had gone down to the hotel to see what was wrong and seen all the water. She knew that wasn't what it was about.

Clair smiled weakly at Kit as she approached with the bucket."Thank you for covering for me"Clair reached for the bucket.Kit moved past her and started up the stairs.Clair felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned to see a very pale Charlie standing in the doorway behind her.Charlie swayed precariously towards Clair and she grabbed her arm to steady the other woman.A familiarity invaded Clair as the two women's heightened senses mingled."You saw it too"Clair whispered to Charlie.She saw the slight nod of Charlie`s head.She heard the heavy steps of Henson echoing on the wooden planks of the boardwalk and knew he was coming to check up on her.There would be no time to talk now,she reached into the pocket of her gingham skirt and pulled out a key.She pushed the key into Charlie`s hand."I can leave in a couple of hours,go to my room at the boarding house"She looked around to make sure know one had overheard."We can talk there without interruption",she turned from Charlie and hurried up the stairs to join Kit.

Lena could still feel the oily malice that oozed off the black horse. Like kerossin in a water bucket, the taint Lena could feel in the animal left her own mind with a slick, greesy feel.

She moved slowly toward the open door. With each step, Lena was aware of the horse's intense scrutany burning into her back. Long moments passed before she stood blinking in the overbright sunlight.

The town lay heavy in the afternoon heat. Like right before a thunderstorm. Something was wrong in Four Corners, and glancing back at the stable Lena had a pretty good idea what...or at least WHO.

Farther down the street she could see JD coming out of the saloon. He saw her and shook his head. *So, Chris doesn't know yet.* JD caught her eye again and nodded in the direction of the church. Josiah! Of course the preacher would know more about these things than she did. JD had dissappeared, presumably to keep looking for Chris. Lena hurried into the church.

When she found the pllace empty, Lena stood nonplussed befor the alter for a moment. She had to do something, but didn't know where to begin.

The door behind her clapped shut. "Josiah, I need to..." her words faded out as she turned to face the newcomer. The man behind her was not Josiah.

Clair knelt beside Kit at the top of the stairs and retrieved a scrubbing brush from the bucket of water.Clair heard Kit asked the question she had been waiting for.Before she answered she let her mind roam over Kit,she had to know if she could trust her.She smiled at Kit in the space of seconds Clair had learned thing about Kit that no one could have guessed."I just see things in my mind,thing that are about to happen or sometimes thing that have already happened"she paused before she told Kit the rest."When i brought the water up here, i saw something"she whispered."People that were dead"she shook her head."Kit,they were torn apart blood was everywhere",she was clenching the scrub brush so tightly splintered wood began to dig into her hand.As soon as the words were out of her mouth a sense of urgency overtook Clair.She grabbed the material of Kit`s shirt"Come on we have to go".

"Go where?" Kit asked, still digesting Clair's words. Torn apart? But Clair was practically pulling her down the stairs, and Kit narrowly avoided upsetting the water bucket in her wake. Clair stopped when they reached the street, giving Kit a chance to collect her thoughts as Clair looked up and down the dusty thoroughfare.

Torn apart? Well, Nathan had looked upset when he came riding in, maybe that was it. And if it wasn't... Kit's train of thought was interrupted as Clair grabbed her hand and pulled her into the street behind her.

Charlie had taken Clair's room key and left as quickly as possible so she wouldn't be seen by Henson. The man was meaner than badger in a wool sack. He could scare you by staring at the back of your head.

Once she had accidently run into him chasing Dreamer, her horse, down the street. She ended up falling down and the man had just growled something under his breath about 'Damned kids,' and kept walking. Luckily the horse came back on its own, 'cause Charlie had sprained her ankle. Nathan wouldn't let her walk for a whole two weeks. She almost went crazy.

Charlie stopped at the porch of the saloon. She was too dizzy to keep walking. She flopped down hard in the wooden chair. She turned her thoughts to what had happened in the hotel. She had gone in there because Clair had seen it too.

She'd seen what Charlie had seen, maybe worse. Charlie only knew that because she sensed things. But that's not why Clair knew.

It was strange for her to think about that kind of thing. It was something she didn't understand yet. She didn't know if she wanted to.

The world slowed down and then stopped in twin pools of obsideon. Lena was frozen, a hare beneath the wolf's gaze. Excruciatingly aware of the sounds from the street, the way her blood roared through her body, the whisper of the breeze that danced across her skin. All sensations tied to the physical world. A world that she was suddenly unable to participate in.

It wasn't fear, Lena discovered, that held her so. The rational bits that were left to her screamed out to move or run or even cry out. She couldn't.

Lena couldn't gather the strength to tear her eyes from his pale face and coal eyes.

He reached out slowly and pressed a single finger to the soft hollow of her throat. The touch chilled her and the blood that pulsed beneath his touch boiled with a frozen fever.

His words were softly rendered. "There is power here, in this place. I feel it in your blood as well. But you are not so strong, I think, to be the source. Hmmm? So who is it? Do you know? You who would steal secrets from my mount?" He traced her jaw line slowly with his free hand. "Will you not try the master now? No? Pity you are not as strong as you might be. This is hardly worth the effort it will take."

Lena's mind was spinning. He was going to kill her and she was letting it happen. Something soft brushed against her ankle. A warm presence burrowed through her terror. Lena gasped as the tight control the man in black held her with disappeared.

The man took a step back, studying her. "No I don't suppose it would be prudent. The time is not yet right. Go on, look for your priest. He can't do anything. Neither can you. You won't remember we had this discussion, but have no fear. When everything is prepared, I will return for you my dear."

....Lena looked around the church in confussion. She knew she had been looking for something, but couldn't quite remember what.

Charlie walked down the hall toward Clair's room. She was walking slowly, dragging her feet. She was very tired. She felt like she'd fall asleep if she stopped walking, but she just couldn't close her eyes. She kept telling herself that. She didn't want to know what else there was to see. It scared her to see what she had seen. Never in her life had she seen anything like it. The blood. The mess everywhere. Yet she didn't know what it was she had seen. As she turned the corner to another hall that led directly to Clair's room, she stopped quickly as she nearly ran into J.D. as he came out of his room. She almost screamed but couldn't quite make that much sound. It came out more as a loud gasp. She then laughed a little.

"Sorry, J.D." She walked on passed him and down to Clair's room. She unlocked the door and stepped inside closing the door carefully behind her.

JD turned to watch Charlie as she brushed past him. He was about to ask her if she knew where Chris and the others were, when he got a good look at her. The girl looked ill. JD was half tempted to see if she needed him to fetch Nathan, providin' of course, that he could find Nathan. After a moment of silent debate, he decided that Charlie was old enough to take care of herself. 'sides, he didn't have the time, and she had already dissapeared into one of the rooms. JD hoped that she would be okay, and headed toward the back stairway.