Last Updated: 5/14/99

Clair fixed the woman at Chris`s side with a hard stare as the two heightened minds mingled. Confusion washed over Clair with such intensity it threated to steal the very air she breathed. The images the moved threw her mind were far to foreign for her to grasp, things she could never fathom even in her dreams. Among the images was something Clair clung to, an elemental understanding forming to fill her mind. It was what the other woman wanted her to know and feel. A babies life lost even before it began,a mother that would never hear that babies first cries or feel the wonder of that new life as their eyes met for the first time. Clair knew the burden the woman was left with, nourishment for the life she had lost.

Clair felt hot tears splash her cheek as she pulled back her senses. The woman had endured so much and was still willing to place her heart on the line to help another baby. She knew right away that this woman need the baby in her arms and Kitty defiantly needed her. She looked over her shoulder at Mary. Thinking this option was a far better trade than letting Mary rip the baby from her arms, out of some misguided sense of propriety.

"Excuse me Mr.Larabee may I have a private word with..." Clair hesitated a moment, and then turned to the other woman. "I`m sorry I don`t know your name."

"My name is Chandrika," the woman eagerly supplied.

Chris looked as if he might actually refuse her request. "Please Chris it is of the utmost importance," Clair quickly explained. Chris nodded and moved out of earshot. She gestured for Chandrika to take a seat in the nearest pew.

Chandrika silently thanked the other woman and breifly glanced at Chris as she stepped toward her and sat in a nearby pew. Close enough to make sure the others didn't think they would bolt, but also far enough to where they were away from them without having to whisper too softly. Chandrika knew she would eventually, even now, have to explain the things that Clair had seen in her head. But maybe that was best. She could finally discuss with someone the child she had lost.

"How can I prove to you that this is real?" Kit asked.

Jack smiled at her, plopping down on the bed and stretching out. "You can't, especially when you ask questions like that."

"Pinching you? Throwing water at you?"

"After the pounding I've taken so far today and just took a bath? What's pinching and a little water?"

She growled a little in frustration. She was tempted to take a shot at his ribs and see if that convinced him.

"Don't feel bad about it," he said noticing her expression. "I don't mind this being a dream. Shucks, it's a lot better that it's all a dream. I'll have trouble when I wake up, but I can't do much about that now."

Kit tried to think of how to convince him. She needed to get to Clair, Charlie, and Lena soon, before anything else went wrong. On the other hand, she'd noticed how much Jack had relaxed and opened up when he thought it was a dream. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

"If this is all a dream, explain those papers to me."

Jack opened his mouth, ready to talk, then shut it and gave her a suspicious look. *Man, I'm suspicious of people even when I'm asleep.* "I already know about them, why should I waste time explaining?"

"Because this isn't a dream?"

Jack considered this but wasn't ready to give up his feeling of peace. "Nope. Try again."

Kit sighed. She didn't have time to play games.

"Come on, Kit, these could be the last happy moments of my life. Don't look so upset. Have a seat," he invited, sitting up and making room on the bed.

She sat grudgingly, still trying to think. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh they'll probably kill me when I wake up, if I'm lucky," he said as though it were a normal occurrence.

"Who'll kill you?"

"Them," he said with a mysterious smile, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

Kit shrugged the arm off. She decided she'd have to worry about convincing him later. For now all she could do is hope to keep him out of trouble. "People die in their dreams if they aren't careful."

Jack paused. Death was death, but he'd like to put it off as long as possible. "Any reason you felt the need to mention that?"

She stood up and headed for the door. "We've got trouble."

"What kind of trouble?" he asked following her out the door.

"Big."

Kit hurried out of the boarding house and stopped abruptly, causing Jack to nearly collide with her as she looked up and down the street. "Whoa," he muttered, caught off-balance. "You need some brake lights, Kit."

Kit didn't reply, intent on the main street. She'd last seen Lena and Charlie in the saloon, when Jack had gotten tangled up with Ames. Somehow bringing him back there didn't seem like such a good idea. That left the church, where Clair was most likely still looking after the baby. She started up the middle of the street towards Josiah's church, glancing over her shoulder to ensure Jack was still behind her. She couldn't resist commenting, "If this were really a dream, you could just fly us over to the church and we wouldn't have to walk."

Jack was silent, and Kit checked over her shoulder to make sure he was still there. He was still following her, but he looked like he was concentrating on something. Kit stopped short, barking a quick laugh. Jack, his attention focused inward, didn't notice she had halted and nearly plowed into her. He stopped abruptly and glared at her. "Will you quit doing that?"

Kit sighed. "Look. You may think this is all a dream, and you may go wandering through town, trying to fly." His uneasy shift told her that she'd guessed correctly what he'd been concentrating on. "But it isn't, you can't, and if you don't *pay attention*," the sharp words made Jack blink in surprise, "you're going to end up in a pine box. There's trouble afoot, Jack, in case you hadn't noticed."

She glared at him for a moment longer before spinning on her heel and continuing towards the church. She didn't look back. She was about ready to leave Jack Malone to fend for himself, stranger or no. At the moment she had bigger problems on her mind. Kit was nearly to the church steps when the breeze carried a familiar scent to her and she froze. She quickly shifted to sharpen her senses and cast about, turning her head to sniff the air. It was the smell of the man on the hill, of Lena's Dark Man. He had been here, and recently. Worried but wary, Kit paced around the church, sniffing. The scent wasn't as strong at the sides or back, and that concerned her. That left the entry, but there was only the faintest hint of Him there, too long ago to justify the freshness she'd caught on the breeze. Another wind danced through the street and Kit tried to track the scent back to its source. It seemed to come from above her head, somehow. Above the church. Scowling, Kit took the church steps two at a time and bolted through the door.

She made a quick assessment of the people in the church: Clair and another woman at one of the back pews in quiet discussion, the baby in Clair's arms; Charlie a few rows up, Nathan nearby and occasionally looking at her in concern; Mary and Ezra near the front of the church, where Vin and JD still hovered near Buck's still form; Chris off to one side, distrustfully watching the strange woman who was talking with Clair. Ezra, Vin and JD turned at the sound of the church door slamming behind her, and Kit felt Chris' eyes on her as well though his head didn't turn. She ignored them all and headed purposefully for the stairs to the bellfry. Josiah's scent was strong in the stairwell, and Kit knew that he often spent hours in the bellfry keeping an eye on the town below. As she emerged into the open-sided bellfry, however, Josiah's comforting smell was overwhelmed by the acrid stench she'd found below.

"He was here," she breathed. "Up here, on the roof." The thought of that dark, loathesome being on the roof of Josiah's church outraged her. "What the hell were you doing on this roof?" she demanded aloud to the darkening sky.

Jenn goes outside and hears the sounding winds. 'Oh great!' She thought and stumbled towards the church almost fainting.

Jack watched Kit continue toward the church, returning her glare though she never looked back to see it. *If the opportunity presents itself for her to die in this dream...* he thought, folding his arms and turning away from the church as she entered. He'd been starting to like her; in fact, he was starting to like everything. *I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that things in your dreams actually represent some part of your personality.*

He started walking back toward the boardinghouse, dream or no dream he was dead tired. After only a few steps he heard Kit yelling, "What the hell were you doing on this roof?"

Jack stopped, looked up and down the street to see if she was yelling at someone else, then cautiously called up, "I wasn't on the roof. What are you doing on the roof?"

Kit noticed him but only growled in response.

Jack was about to turn away again, when he noticed a woman stumbling toward the church. She looked like she might faint. He hurried over to her and grabbed her before she could fall.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Mary watched with a frown the two young women talking near the back of the church. She was almost positive she was the only one in the room with any experience caring for babies and she was also sure that she should be taking care of that child instead of that chambermaid. Not that Clair wasn't a perfectly decent person, but a baby, especially one so young, was a big responsibility. She continued to watch them talk, wishing she could tell what they were saying.

Clair sat on the pew next to Chandrika, and gently handed over the baby in her arms to the woman. "I know that you lost your baby," Clair hesitantly whispered. "This babies mother was killed, and she hasn`t had milk since. I have to know,are you willing to feed her?" Clair waited expectantly for Chandrika`s answer.

Chandrika gently took the baby from her cradling the baby close. She gazed down at the small child.

"I have to know are you willing to feed her?" she heard Clair ask. Chandrika looked up and gazed at her.

"Yes I will," she stated softly. She lookde at the others. "I'd rather not here though. Not with all these men in here," she said a slight blush on her cheeks. She looked at Clair with a pleading look again.

Chris also watched the two women. He wanted to know exactly who the dark haired beauty was that suddenly seemed such an intergal part of this town. He stood, cocking his hip and crossing his arms over his chest, waiting for some answers.

The woman didn't answer and slumped more against him. Jack was at a loss for what to do. He couldn't just leave her out in the street in the growing twilight. Deciding bringing her into the church where Nathan might be able to help her was the best option, he struggled to pick her up.

"Stupid ribs," he grunted as he lifted her. Carrying her up the church steps he opened the door with his foot and walked in. His headache came crashing back at him as soon as he stepped through the door. He almost staggered at the suddenness of it.

"Delivery," he said cheerlessly as Nathan walked quickly down the aisle toward him.

"What happened?" he asked as he took Jen from Jack's arms.

"I just deliver them," Jack shrugged as he hugged his ribs.

Nathan noticed the movement and said over his shoulder, "I'll take care of those ribs in a minute."

Jack sighed and took a moment to look around the room. The blond woman he'd passed earlier was standing at the front of the church with the dressed up guy, Vin, and JD. Charlie was sprawled in a pew looking drunk as a dog and Mr. Larabee was glaring at a back pew. Following his glare, Jack realized it was directed at Clair and a strange woman.

*Ha! More proof. If I was really in 1883 no one would be wearing those clothes.* He wished Kit was around so he could point that out, but since she wasn't, he decided he'd go check on Kitty who the dark-haired stranger was holding protectively.

"Hey," he said reaching for the child. "How's my little girl doing?"

Charlie was standing in the middle of a large field. The grass was bright green, the trees were tall and strong, and the sky was dark with black, dangerous clouds. The wind, she finally realized, was blowing so hard that the grass looked flattened. She was fighting to stay upright. She looked around the empty, angry field and wondered what this could mean. Suddenly there was a flash of light through the clouds and loud crashes of thunder, then she began to feel wetness on her arms. She looked down thinking of rain and her breath caught in her throat. She began to gasp for breath, her legs gave way underneath her and she fell to the ground still fighting to breath. She watched as her hands and arms turned red with blood. The field turned red with blood. The rain falling from the sky...was blood. It fell hard and fast.

She closed her eyes wishing it away and when she opened them again, it was gone. But she hated worse what happened next. A large, dark man, stood before her, staring at her with lifeless dark eyes. He had blood on his hands, Charlie knew it was innocent blood of the people in this town.

In an instant she realized who he was. He was the thing in the sky that attacked Buck, he was thing responsible for the towns coming to an end soon, he was the dark clouds in the sky, the reason for the blood that she was soaked with.

Charlie swallowed hard as he put his hands on her shoulders, she began to beg him to leave her alone. Suddenly he had his hands on her throat.

"No!" She jumped off the church pew she'd been sitting on. She looked at the room around her, holding her hands out, checking for the blood. She looked at the room again got a horribly confused look on her face. She was no longer as tipsy as she'd been an hour before. She was quite aware of the things going on around her, the footsteps above her, the people staring at her, the feeling of that mans cold hands around her neck. She felt a cold chill run down her spine, then reached up to make sure they were gone and had just been imagining it. She shook her head in disbelief at what she had seen.

Nausea swept over her and she sank against the wall, her eyes wide open for fear that if she closed them again, the visions would start all over.

What was happening to her? Was it insanity slowly taking over her mind? Was it guilt for things she could have helped? Was it the knowledge of things she couldn't help? She had felt fine only a half hour before, probably because she couldn't think.

She looked around the room, still confused. She saw everyone's stares and felt embarrassment and anger. She caught Jack staring at her as if she were crazy. She wanted to say something, but she couldn't talk. Her voice wouldn't come out.

Nathan laid Jenn down gently on an unoccupied pew. "You just lie here for a minute, miss," he soothed. "Y'all are gonna be fine."

Jenn looked up at him dazedly, still not totally recovered from her near faint. "He... he's gonna come... after me again..." she whispered. Nathan bent low to hear her words, and smelled the remnants of beer on her breath. He cast a glance at Charlie, who was crouched against the wall, trembling, and bit his tongue on a sharp comment. What were these ladies doing drinking, when they obviously couldn't handle the liquor?

He could tell Jenn's fear was real, in spite of the alcohol, and he tried to reassure her. "It's all right, miss. Nobody's gonna come after you."

"You... you don't understand," Jenn protested, trying to sit up. Nathan pressed her back down with firm hands on her shoulders.

"No, just stay there. I'll get a cool cloth for your head and you'll be just fine in a couple of hours." *After the alcohol wears off,* he amended to himself. He looked up and called softly across the church, "Vin! Hey, Vin!"

The tracker turned at the quiet summons. "Whatcha need?"

"Can you bring me some clean, cool water?" Nathan asked, nodding at the bucket that was still at Buck's side. Vin saw it was murky with mud and blood from Buck's wounds as he picked it up to head for the pump. Nathan looked back down at Jenn, who seemed to be drifting in and out of sleep. He remembered the bump she'd taken on the head not long before, and wondered how much that was affecting her imagination, as well. He considered making up some tea for her, but decided that a rest would probably be better for the short term. He'd get Jenn settled, then take care of Charlie, though he figured that only time would sober up Buck's niece.

Annie leaned against the support beam and watched people come and go. Something out ofhte corner of her eye caught her attention. On the church rooftop, was what looked like the biggest, ugliest raven she'd ever seen, and where she had come from, the pit bulls wre afriad of the ravens. Annie shook her head and the raven was gone.... a trick of the imagination? For a second it looked like just a shadow, maybe from a building or something. Annie started paying mind ot the church however, and noticed a lot of activity. All Annie had was the clothes on her back, and in her world, churches were a sanctuary, not even the gangs would trespass there.... might have had something to do with Father Joanathan having a double barreled shot gun that just never seemed to run out of ammo... Annie smiled sadly, ths world could be different, but it still wasn't home. She wanted someplace to call home.

Annie started down the street toward the church. It was getting later, and she needed a place to stay for the night if there were giant ravens around here. Annie's bloody and torn clothing was causing some coment with the people she passed, and Annie ignored them, at least for now. She also heard some comments about her race. Ignorant people here. Annie sighed, let's hope things get better.

Vin was heading out the front door with the bucket of water when he heard a clamoring on the steeple stairs to his right. Before he had time to dodge, Kit came flying down the stairs, three at a time. She had half a second to realize the danger before she crashed into Vin, sending both of them to the floor. The bucket of dirty water sloshed over the floorboards with a wet slopping sound. Kit's momentum sent her tumbling halfway across the church and she came to rest behind the far row of pews. Vin scrambled to his feet to avoid the water that was puddled on the floor, and looked at Kit. She was slowly getting to her feet, unhurt. "You all right?" Vin asked out of courtesy, though his voice was tinged with anger.

"I'm fine," Kit retorted, standing and looking at her wet clothes in disgust. Vin sighed and shook his head, reaching for the bucket to continue his errand. "Damn, damn, damn!" Kit snarled as the tracker left the church. She looked up, saw Mary standing nearby, and reddened. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Mary said, hiding her smile. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yes," she bit out. "Just clumsy." Kit saw Jack standing near Clair's pew, watching the proceedings with an air of smug amusement. "Don't you *dare* laugh," she hissed at him.

"Me? Laugh?" Jack replied, trying with a herculean effort to keep his laughter in check. "Would I do that?" Kit glared at him, a growl forming deep in her throat. Normally she'd be the first to laugh at the accident, but things were serious right now. Too serious. But no one else seemed to understand that.

"Not if you know what's good for you," she warned, shaking excess water from her hands and stalking across the floor to Charlie. The girl was huddled against the wall, looking confused and embarassed and frightened all at once. Kit tried not to drip on her as she reached for her shoulder. "Charlie?"

Charlie turned to look at Kit, the look in her eyes setting the other girl back on her heels. "Charlie? What's wrong?" But Kit already knew what was wrong. Or at least she hoped she knew what was wrong, because the last thing she wanted right now was something *else* that was wrong.

Charlie opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing emerged but a squeak. She tried again, with no results. Kit's eyes grew wide, frightened. "Clair?" she called. From her place on the pew, Clair turned to look at them. "I think something's wrong with Charlie...?"

When Jack reached for the baby Chandrika did not know what to do. So she did the only thing she could. She got up and back pedaled away from him, eyeing him closely. She looked from him to Clair, unsure of what to do. She gazed down at the baby then back to the two people.

Jack gave the woman a funny look but before he could get defensive about her keeping Kitty away from him, he was distracted by Kit's ever so graceful flight across the room. A snort of laughter escaped and Kit's threats didn't help his effort to control it. He kept it in check until she went to Charlie then another chuckle got out. It was nice to see someone else landing on their head.

Turning back to the retreating woman as Clair got up in response to Kit's call, he reached out to stop her. "Hey, where're you going with Kitty?"

Chandrika looked from Jack to the baby and back to Jack.

"I'm going to feed her," she said. Jack frowned.

"How? You don't have a bottle," he said. Chandrika snorted a bit, a smile gracing her beautiful face. "They don't have baby bottles in this time. Luckily I can be like a wet nurse for her," she said.

"This time?" Jack asked. "Oh come on!"

"You don't believe that we are in the past do you?" she asked. Jack shook his head.

"Well we are. I was sent back here for a reason. Why are you here?" she asked. Jack said nothing. He changed the subject.

"How can you so easily be her, what is it you called it? Wet nurse?" he asked. Chandrika got sad suddenly.

"I lost my baby. Ever since then, when a baby is in need like she is, I can sense it if I am close enough. My body reacts like it would if I had a newborn baby," she said. She went silent and turned on her heel to go out of the room and away from the men's eyes to feed the baby.

Jack watched her walk out of the chapel and into a side room of the church. He shook his head and shrugged, things here were just weird. *I didn't even catch her name,* he thought but decided not to go after her. Instead he turned to look around the room again.

Clair was so confused by the exchange between Jack and Chandrika that she didn`t even try to figure out what they were talking about. She watched in relief as Chandrika headed toward the church`s extra room. Kitty had began to make soft little fussing noises that Clair knew would soon turn into full fledged wailing. She turned back to Jack and gave him a reassuring smile."She has Kitty`s best interest at heart Jack,she wants to help her." Clair left him and moved across the room to kneel beside Kit, and tried to help her deal with Charlie`s distraught condition.

Vin let the church door close behind him, still shaking his head. Things were happening too damned fast for him, and he felt like he was constantly one jump behind. He didn't like the feeling one bit. Once things had settled down at the church, he and Chris were going to have to have a war session and get things under control.

There was a pump across the street in the livery, and Vin headed in that direction. He was glad to see that someone had stabled their horses while everyone was busy in the church. He gave Peso a quick rub on the nose, then started working the pump. The bucket was filling with clean water when Vin saw movement on the street. A young girl, about Chandrika's height, was making her way towards the church. Her hair and skin had the look of a Native American, but no Indian Vin had ever known had worn clothes like that. Even from this distance, he could tell she was pretty banged up.

"Another one?" he asked under his breath. Peso snorted as if in reply.

Vin grabbed the full bucket and hurried out of the stable, hoping to intercept the woman before she reached the church. Something was definitely going on, and he was determined to find out what.

Annie was walking toward the church when she noticed the man walking toward her. She started to look around, trying to see if he was just headed in her direction, or was headed for her. The pupose of the man's walk indicated that he was coming for her. "Ahh shit", Annie said, figuring this was going to be trouble. Some cowboy's gonna take issue with an indian in town. Annie readied for a fight that she had hoped, in the back of her mind, that her trip through that hole in the wall would have saved her from.

Jenn opened her eyes. She found herself in a church, Josiah's church. She jumped up, "OH!" Jenn put her hand to her head feeling nauschs.

"Miss, your not supposed to be up and around!" Nathan said coming back to her.

"No, no, no! I have to get outta here. He's coming!" Jenn replied.

"Who?"

"The guy who gave me this, where's Josiah and Jon? Why am I here?"

"Well let's see you got drunk and almost passed out on Josiah's church steps."

Jenn started going hysteric. "I have to get outta here before he get's me!" She ran out the door and right into Chris. She pushd him away hard and he fell to the ground and she went running to the stables, grabbed a black horse and rode outta there quick and headed went to the Siminole viliage.

The woman Jack had carried in fled the room, seemingly in terror, though he couldn't figure out why. Mr. Larebee was picking himself up off the floor and Jack noticed for the first time the two women by the door. Well, one woman and a teenage tomboy. The woman looked very uncomfortable, but he didn't give it a second thought as he continued his survey. Kit and Clair were beside Charlie, trying to figure out what was wrong. He decided to go see if he could help.

Walking up to the trio he resisted the urge to laugh at Kit's wetness. Kit heard him coming and only gave him a quick warning look before returning her attention to Charlie.

"So what's the problem?" he asked crouching down, though from the distinct smell of beer he could take a wild guess.

"Nathan what the hell happened?" Josiah asked. He had gone to check on Jenn but didn't find her.

"Well it seems your friend went for a ride." Nathan replied. "Jen! Dammit!"

Josiah grabbed his stuff, knocking chris over and going for his horse.

"This ain't your day chris!" Nathan said as he followed Josiah and Chris and the others.

Mary began walking to the back of the church when Chris had been knocked down the first time and was there in time for him to be knocked over again by Josiah. She would have smiled if the situation didn't seem so dire.

Before she could ask if he was all right he was out the door with Josiah, Nathan only steps behind them. She sighed as she watched them run toward the livery. Whoever that girl was, she seemed like trouble. What kind of people were in town now? That man who looked like he'd been in a bar fight, though he looked a little better after getting cleaned up, two women drunk in the church, who know what else was going on. Mary shook her head.

Noticing Gia and Casey she walked over to them to say hello.

"We just wanted to see what was going on," Casey explained.

"I don't know for sure," Mary confessed. "Buck was injurred at the Taylors and there are some strangers in town who seem to be trouble."

Casey started up the aisle toward JD and Buck. Gia didn't seem in any hurry to get closer to the altar and stayed where she was. After a moment or two, Mary broke the silence.

"So how are the preparations for the dinner coming along?" she asked.

Chandrika sat in the rocking chair she had found, nursing the baby, humming to her softly. She saw the baby's ees drift closed as she murmured to her gently. She felt her heart twist knowing this could have been her child 6 years ago, but it was not to be. She let her head lean agianst the back of the chair as the baby ate.

Clair firmly grabbed Charlie`s upper arm and gave the girl a light shake to gain her attention. "What are you doing?" she heard Kit gasp.

"Kit, she`s hiding inside her own mind, can`t you feel it? If we don`t pull her back, she`ll be lost there." She was about to give Charlie another harder shake when the girl glanced up at her with a guarded stare. "Are you seeing more Charlie?" Clair asked. She waited for the girl to answer, but all she got was a brief nodded of the head. "Charlie try doing this....Charlie are you listening?" Clair practically shouted at her. She quickly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed her outburst.

Turning back to Charlie she noticed the girl was looking at her expectantly. She started over. "Try this Charlie, imagine building a rock wall in your mind and be sure it`s sealed up real tight. Make it so big that nothing can get through." Clair gave her a moment to take in what she was saying. As she turned to Kit to ask her help in getting Charlie over to the boarding house, she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head just in time to see a very dusty Chris Larabee heading in the direction of the church`s extra room."Stay with her," she whispered to Kit. Clair jumped to her feet to intercept Chris.

Clair stepped in front of the door a second before Chris reached for the knob. "Move Clair. I want to see what Chandrika is up to in there," he growled.

"That`s none of your concern now Mr.Larabee," Clair flatly stated. She knew she was pushing her luck with him when she saw the fire that leapt in his eyes.

"Clair I`m not gonna tell you again, move. She shouldn`t be left alone with that baby." Chris reached for her arm to pull her out of the way, when he was sure she wasn`t going to move on her own. Grasping the only weapon at her disposal Clair let a subtle change settle over her. Her eyes began burning with the effort it took to hold the illusion. In her mind she focused her energy into making her sky blue eyes appear black as obsidian. The trick was simple but effective.Chris`s momentary suprise gave her the upper hand and she switched mental gears quickly.

Reaching out to Chris`s mind she exerted the slightest of pressure there."Chris, I really think Josiah could use some help finding that poor confused girl. She was so upset she may do something drastic," Clair suggested. For a moment she was unsure if she had any effect on him at all. He looked as if he might barrel threw her and the door at any moment. The seconds slipped by and Clair began to debate the wisdom of putting herself at odds with Chris Larabee, when he suddenly turned without a word and strode towards the entrance to the church. She smiled to herself thinking back to the night Marie had taught her that deceptively easy trick. She turned to the door about to turn the knob when she realized that Chris`s mind hadn`t been as easy to deceive as it should have been. To Clair that meant only one thing Chris had heightened senses. Not gifts like her or Charlie`s, but something more than most people were aware of. She filed that knowledge away in her mind for future us when Chris was involved.

She turned the doors knob and slipped quietly into the room where Chandrika sat nursing the ravenous infant.

Chandrika looked up as Clair came in. She had remember how her sister had always covered herself when she had bursed her own son. Chandrika had found a cloth in the room. When she had heard the commotion outside between Chris and Clair she had thrown the cloth over the child's head concealing her body from anyone who came in. She smiled at Clair, and looked back down at the baby.

Chris shook his head from the netal image of having to go find Jenn. he cursed Clair. He knew what she had done. He continued with Josiah to retrieve the girl, but as soon as he got back he was determined to see Chandrika and Clair. No matter what.

Clair stood just inside the door of the churches back room. Chandrika was just finishing nursing the infant when she noticed Clair. "I was about to go over to the boarding house with Kit and Charlie, and I thought it would be a good idea if you and the baby got settled in over there. It`s almost sundown and with the things that have been going on in this town today I wouldn`t want to be out after dark." Clair motioned for Chandrika to follow her.

Chandrika held the baby close, following Clair to wherever it was she was going. She noticed Larabee was nowhere to be seen. She wondered were he had gone.

Casey left Gia`s side and walked over to Mary. "I think I should tell Gia that we`ll have dinner another night," she whispered to Mary.

"That`s a good idea Casey. We can have dinner when things settle down a bit around here," Mary smiled.

"Ok,I`ll tell Gia and then I should start for home." Casey turned to walk away.

Mary grabbed her arm. "Casey maybe you should stay in town tonight, it`s almost dark. You can stay with Billy and me," Mary offered.

Casey nodded her head at the invitation. "Thanks Mary"Casey smiled. "Mary, one other thing, what happened to Buck?"

"I`ll tell you later," she replied. Casey turned and went back to Gia and tried to explain why they would have to postpone dinner.

Jenn saw men behind her and ran her horse faster and into him. The man that stole her. "NO!" She was nocked out and tied to a horse. Then taken back towards four Corners.

Chris felt something over take him. He wanted to help Josiah get Jenn back, but Dammit! He was worried about Chandrika alone with that baby. He spun his horse around and hurried back to town. The sun was beginning to set and he wanted to make it back to town before it set. He also didn't want Chandrika taking off with the baby in the middle of the night and while he was gone. He was determined to find out what she was doing here, and why.

Jack listened half-heartedly to the comments on building a wall in Charlie's mind. He was pretty sure her problem was more alcohol than she could hold, not some mental assault blah blah blah. He stifled a yawn as Clair stood up to intercept Chris.

Kit held Charlie's hand encouragingly and Charlie seemed to be struggling with something. *Probably keeping her dinner down,* he chuckled. The thought of dinner made his stomach growl but he ignored it, it could wait until tomorrow. His legs were starting to cramp from crouching so he stood, pulling his sagging pants back up. *I need a belt.* He started to stretch but thought better of it after just a yawn made his sides ache.

"Look ladies," he began, his would-be charming smile marred by a split lip. "It's been a pleasure visiting but I need some sleep."

"If this was a dream you wouldn't be tired," Kit smirked.

Jack returned an exaggerated form of the expression. "Not true, I spend a lot of time sleeping in dreams," he lied.

Kit looked at him like he was crazy then turned her attention back to Charlie.

Jack watched for another moment as beads of sweat ran down Charlie's tense face.

"She's going to be okay, right?" he asked, feeling bad for her even if it was her own fault. She looked to be underage, not that he thought any age was particularly good for drinking. He didn't like the idea of having his judgement impaired or reactions slowed. *You never know what's coming.*

No one answered his question so after another moment of watching the pair he turned to leave. "I'll find my own way 'home,'" he smiled over his shoulder but didn't even get a grunt in response. With a shrug he headed for the door, weaving past the women near it.

The growing twilight brought a cool breeze with it. It was nice after the heat of the day. The smell of rain blew by, along with the less pleasant smell of wet animals. Scrunching up his nose, Jack walked a little faster down the street to the boardinghouse ignoring the people and things he passed. He realized Nathan still hadn't taken care of any of his injuries and hoped the man would forget about them entirely. Shaking his head, he contemplated this weird dream. He didn't need to worry about Nathan or anyone else if this was all a dream so why did he keep thinking things like that? And shouldn't he be able to control things once he realized it was all a dream? Why wasn't he relax on a beach somewhere right now? *I should be enjoying this.* He thought of going to find some fun, or trouble as he was more likely to get, but decided sleep would be the most fun thing to do at the moment.

Reaching Maggie's he trudged up the stairs to his room. Throwing his jacket and clothes off the bed he fell into it, not even bothering to take off his shoes. He was asleep in moments.

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