Changes


by Fluffy Rabbit

Go to Part II

There was definitely something up there, Poppy thought, pulling up on the side of the dirt road. Switching off the engine to her jeep she got out, drew her weapon and cautiously approached the bundle laying just in front of her. Probably one of the guys from town passed out drunk again. Well she'd give them a lift back to town and throw them in the cell until they'd sobered up. Kneeling down next to the bundle she slowly turned it over until she could see who it was. Sure wasn't anyone from town and those clothes looked as if they hadn't been washed in a while. Still she couldn't leave him out here not when it was going to snow.

„Hey buddy," shaking his shoulder, „Rise and shine."

„Wh..." he moaned opening his eyes and blinking rapidly.

„Come on up you get." helping him to his feet, trying not to shine her torch in his hazel eyes. Now that she could see his face more clearly she could see the already forming bruises that covered most of it. Someone had worked this guy over pretty good, she thought. „Can't stay out here. You'll freeze to death by morning." As the first few flakes of snow began to drift downwards.

„Where..." he began, shaking off the hold she had on his arm.

„You're about five miles outside of Wolf Lake. Could try walking it, but you wouldn't get far in this weather," as the flakes started to come down thicker and faster, „I'll give you a lift into town so Doc can take a look at you. Could probably use a hot bath and some clean clothes as well."

„Who?" he asked.

„I'm Poppy, look if you want a lift we'd better get going. Weather's only going to get worse." she said.

„Who am I?" he said.

„Don't ask me buddy." she replied taking hold of one of his arms and leading him towards her jeep.

„Another stray?" Doctor Peter Jones asked when Poppy entered his office with a dirty and obviously brusied young man.

„Found him on the road into town. Bout five miles away. Figured you'd better take a look at him." she replied.

„Now young man, what's your name?" Jones asked leading the young man into the rear of his office.

„He doesn't remember," Poppy supplied helpfully following them, „Haven't go any reports of missing people recently so..."

„Any idea how long he was out there?"

„Nope, but he was just about coming round when I found him. Way I see it someone beat him up pretty good. So that makes it an assualt."

„Maybe you should wait outside," Jones suggested, „Give him a little privacy."

„Whatever you say Doc. Gonna have to find him somewhere to stay tonight anyway." backing out of the rear office.

„I don't suppose he's got any money on him." he said.

„Didn't check. It was starting to snow. Couldn't just leave him out there to freeze to death."

„Well he can always stay here tonight. I'll want to keep an eye on him anyway." closing the office door.

„Now lets have a proper look at you," Jones said, „It's alright I'm a doctor." when he saw the terrified look in the young man's eyes, „I need to see where you're hurt so I can fix you up."

„My head." he replied.

„That doesn't surprise me, you took a pretty bad blow to it," looking at the large egg sized lump on the right side of his forehead, „Probably why you can't remember anything at the minute, but don't worry your memory'll come back to you." Not that he could make any promises about when that would happen. As the young man peeled off his shirt he took a deep breath and held it. Someone had done a good job on him, he thought, last time he'd seen bruises like that it had been on a corpse. „Looks like you've a couple of possible cracked ribs as well," gently pressing the rib area, „Only thing I can do for those is strap them up. Gonna hurt like hell while they're healing, but it can't be helped. Got some old clothes around here that should fit you. Normally I'd suggest having a bath before putting them on, but that'll have to wait until you're feeling better."

„Evening Jake," Poppy said, entering the small sheriff's office which was next door but one to the doctor's office, „Got that list of missing people handy?"

„Sure," Deputy Jake Crown replied, shifting through piles of paperwork on his desk, „Think you've found someone?"

„Don't know, might have," taking the list off him and looking down it,

„No-one matching his description on it."

„Want to me call the city see if there are any updates?" he asked eagerly.

„It'll wait until morning," she said, „He's not going to be going anywhere for a couple of days."

„So who is he?"

„That's what I was hoping to find out." she said.

„Anything I can do sherriff?" Jake asked.

„Not at the moment. Why don't you get off home. I'll take care of things here."

„You sure?"

„I'm sure. Snow's starting to come down pretty thick and fast out there so you be careful driving home." smiling at him.

„I will be, see you in the morning."

Why couldn't he remember anything, he thought, carefully changing out of the ripped and dirty clothes he was wearing into the clean ones that the doctor had sorted out for him so that he didn't injure his ribs further. Obviously he didn't come from here or the doctor would have recognised him. So where did he come from? If he could remember where he came from then he might be able to find out who he was.

„At least you're looking semi human now," Jones said when the young man came out wearing the clothes he'd sorted out for him, „Don't suppose that you've had a decent meal in a while. Not much of a cook myself, but the diner should still be open if you're hungry."

„I don't have any money." he replied.

„Don't you worry about that," Jones reassured him, „We'll sort it out when you remember who you are. Now you'd better put this on," handing him a thick jacket, „Snow's really coming down now. Wouldn't be surprised if we weren't cut off in the morning."

„She said snow." he said.

„Who? Poppy? She's the town's weather forecaster. Hell of alot more reliable than those folk you get on the radio," Jones replied, „You were damn lucky she went out that way tonight. Couple of hours in this weather and she would have found a corpse in the morning."

„Ring." Detective Henri Brown muttered looking at the silent phone on his desk. His partner had promised him that he would call and let him know that he'd arrived safely at his holiday destination. And by his reconking that call was nearly four hours late. Of course he'd taken into account that Brian might have stopped on the way because it was a long drive. But that still didn't account for the fact that he was over three hours late for checking in with him. Picking up the phone he dialled the number of the hotel where his partner would be staying to see if he'd arrived there and forgotten to call him.

„Yes, I'm calling to see if a Brian Rafe has checked in yet. He hasn't," concern showing in his voice, „Well when he does could you have him call Henri Brown, he has my number." he then put the phone down. So Brian hadn't even arrived yet, that certainly wasn't good news especially as he wasn't getting an answer from him on his mobile. Staring out into the snow Poppy could feel herself going off again, forcing her attention away from the individual snowflakes she rubbed her eyes. She couldn't afford to lose track of time like she had been doing recently. It wasn't safe to especially in her job. One mistake and either her or somebody else could end up dead. Why now of all times was the family curse really starting to make it's prescence felt? Until a week ago she'd been doing fine, coping with it on her own. But now it seemed as if it was reaching a point where she wouldn't be able to do that. Then she'd have to quit and go off into the woods just like her grandmother had. Her mother had been spared that particular fate by dying in a car accident along with her father. She could still remember the day when her grandfather had died, her grandmother had taken off into the woods never to be seen again. From that day on she'd been on her own. Still she had carried on the family tradition of being elected sherriff, the youngest ever in the town's history. And she had to admit that she was a pretty good sherriff even if she did say so herself. Even though it meant that she'd never had a chance to date like all the other girls in town had. Not that anyone had ever asked her out, who would want to, knowing that eventually she would have to take off and leave them before she went insane.

„Well you certainly haven't lost your appetite have you?" Jones joked as the young man sitting opposite him wolfed down the meal in front of him,

„Suppose we'd better think of something to call you until you remember who you are. Any suggestions?" The young man just shrugged his shoulders. „How about Adam? Nice and simple, easy to remember as well. Not that you'll be using it for long."

„Fine with me," he replied, washing his food down with a tall glass of milk, „Is there any more pie." Jones just laughed.

„H, shouldn't you be getting home? Thought you had a big date tonight?" Captain Joel Taggart said.

„Just waiting for Rafe to call," H replied, „He should have been there hours ago."

„Maybe he got delayed by the weather. Their forcasting heavy snow for the next couple of hours. He probably stopped somewhere to get out of it."

„He was setting off this morning so he should have got there about lunchtime," H said, „It's not like Bri not to call when he say's he will."

„Have you checked where he's staying?" Taggart asked.

„Three times so far. He hasn't checked in yet. And I'm not getting any answer on his mobile number."

„The battery could be dead." he suggested.

„No way would he go anywhere without it being fully charged." H protested. He knew his partner better than anyone, they were so close they were almost family.

„Look why don't you leave a message with the night shift in case he calls," Taggart said, „And we'll contact highway patrol and ask them to keep an eye out for his car. That's about all we can do for tonight."

„Not alot though is it." H said.

„If there's no sign of him tomorrow we'll talk to Simon, see about putting out an APB on him." Taggart said.

She supposed that she should go and get something to eat before the diner closed, Poppy thought, getting up from her chair. After all with the weather this bad she was bound to get alot of people checking in with her to see how long it was going to last. At the moment all she could tell them was that the snow was going to be with them for at least the next couple of days. Which meant that she was going to have to do alot of patrols along the outlaying areas to make sure that they didn't have any problems. Not that anyone from town would be foolish enough to go out in this weather without there being a damned good reason for it. Still there was sometimes the odd camper, not that there had been many of those recently and she knew that they were all accounted for. Fastening her coat up tightly she ventured out into the snow.

„Dropped another five degrees out there." Poppy said brushing the snow off her coat when she entered the diner.

„Usual?" Mike Ross, the owner of the diner asked.

„Yeah," she replied walking over to where Jones was sat, „And how are you doing?" looking at the young man who was wearing clothes that were about two sizes too big for him.

„Adam here's doing just fine for now." Jones replied.

„Adam, so you remember your name."

„No." he replied.

„I figured that he had to be called something. And Adam's as good a name as any," Jone said, „So how long's the snow going to be with us?"

„A couple of days maybe more," Poppy said sitting down next to him, „Gonna get alot colder as well. Might be a good idea to stay in town for the duration. Road out's already pretty covered over."

„How far down?" Jones asked.

„Least five miles, could be all the way to the highway by morning. No-one's going anywhere real fast in this weather," she replied, „Wouldn't surprise me if we didn't get a few rescue calls from the highway patrol. Always some damn idiot driving too fast for the conditions."

„Well I'm sure glad that I'm not the one who had to go out there and rescue them," Jone said, „These old bones don't like the cold much these days. Come summer I'm moving to Florida."

„Doc, you've been saying that since I was kid," she smiled, „And you ain't moved yet. Don't think you ever will either."

„One of these days I'm just gonna pack up and go." he said.

„Believe it when I see it."

„Your usual," Ross said placing a plate of mashed potatoes and rice in front of Poppy, „When you going to start eating decent food again? It can't be good eating just this, tell her Doc." looking at Jones.

„You know as well as I do that the Sherriff's eating habit's aren't her fault," Jones said, „And as long she takes those vitamin suppliments she'll be fine for a while."

„Still..." Ross began.

„Can't afford to do anything to lose the Sherriff til this bad weather's over. Gonna be alot of people relying on her," Jones replied, „Could be you're one of them."

„Just think it's a shame it's happened so soon that's all." Ross said before leaving.

„You know it's getting worse don't you," Poppy said, pushing her food around on her plate, „Soon won't be able to eat even this."scooping up some of the white mixtue up on her fork.

„Ain't no cure that I know of," Jones admitted, „Not unless you want to go to one of those fancy big city hospitals."

„Step foot in one of those and they'd never let me out." she said.

„Reckon you can stay around for the next couple of days. People gonna want reassuring an you're the best person to do that."

„Hope so. You'll be the first to know if I can't." she replied with her mouth half full of food, surprised that for once she could actually stomach the taste of the bland mixture. Maybe she'd been too hasty in thinking that the curse was finally descending on her with it's full force. „This actually tastes pretty good for a change. Could use some black pepper though." picking up the wooden pepper mill on the table and applying a small amount to her food.

„Not sneezing, that's a good sign." he said.

„Suppose it is." digging into her food and quickly clearing the plate.

„Are you sick?" Adam asked hesitantly.

„Sort of, it's not contractable though. So you have nothing worry about," Poppy reassured him, pushing her now empty plate away from her, „Think I'll try the apple pie, smells pretty good."

„Might want to take it easy," Jones suggested, „Been a couple of months since you last ate anything more solid than tatoes and rice. Stomach's not used to it."

„Just feel real hungry all of a sudden." she said. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this hungry or when food had tasted so good.

„I'm heading back over to my office," he said, „You make sure my patient gets back safely okay."

„Sure will." moving so that he could get out.

„And no playing the snow for either of you." he joked.

„No sir." she laughed.

„Thank you." Adam said after Jones had left.

„What for?" Poppy asked motioning for Ross to come over.

„Coming along when you did. The doctor said come morning you would have found..." he began.

„Can I have a large piece of apple pie and two coffee?" she said.

„Looks like someone's got their appetite back," Ross said smiling at her,

„About time."

„Just get the pie and coffees before I lose it again." she said.

„Coming right up." clearing the plate and cutlery in front of her.

„I've been going out on that road a lot the past week. Just good timing I came across you when I did," Poppy said, „So any idea how you got there? Didn't find any sign of a car, but there were some tyre tracks leading back towards the highway."

„Sorry I don't know," he admitted, „I really wish that I could remember."

„Come back to you in time." she smiled.

„For all you know I could be a criminal."

„Would have recognised your mugshot if you were. You sure wouldn't be walking around freely. Sides my gut feeling is you're not criminal. Can usually smell them a mile off."

„You really the sherriff?" he asked.

„Yeah, it's sort of a family tradition around here. Sinclair's have always been sherrif since the town was founded. And that was way back when the first settlers made it this far," she said, „So I'm just the latest in a long line." And she would be the last because there was no way in hell that she was going to inflict the curse on another generation. Not that there'd ever been any guy willing to take her on with all her problems.

He must have been over the Sinclair's medical records at least a hundred times over the past month and still he hadn't found a damn thing that could help Poppy. It had been a mistake to make her sherriff so young, but they'd had no choice after her grandmother had taken off like that. Besides she didn't know any other sort of life, being sherriff was what she'd been brought up to be. Even so it hadn't been easy for her, especially when she'd wanted to go away to school. Then she'd found out the hard way that she had other responsibilities that had to come before her education. Damn shame about that because she the smartest kid they'd ever had in town. Still the town had agreed to pay for her to take correspondance courses as long as they didn't interfer with her work as sherriff. And last summer they'd paid for her to go to a police conference in Seattle so that she could keep up with all the latest developements in the field. Not that she needed a lot of technology to help her do her job. Hell no, she could tell if someone was guilty just by looking at them.

Jesus the snow was really coming down now, H thought, driving home. All he could hope was that whereever his partner was he was safe and indoors. He had a couple of days leave due to him so if Brian hadn't been in touch by tomorrow lunchtime he'd arrnage to take them and go looking for his partner. And no matter how hard he tried to shake the feeling that something bad had happened to him he just couldn't. If it was Sandburg who was missing then the entire force would be out looking for him. But because it was good ol' Rafe, no-one but him seemed to give a damn. And that just wasn't right.

„One patient delivered safely." Poppy said entering Jones Office with Adam.

„What's it like out there now?" Jones asked.

„Freezing," she replied, „Wind's starting to pick up so it's gonna drop below tonight and stay that way tomorrow. Might be a good idea to make sure your generator's working. Power could go off soon. Already seen a couple of phone lines down."

„Well I won't be going out unless it's an emergency," he replied, „Neither will this young fellow." smiling at her.

„Better get back before someone calls in," she said, „You know where I am if you need me."

„I'll see you in the morning." Jones said.

„Night." Poppy said before leaving his office.

After taking a final sip of her coffee Poppy put her mug down and slipped her coat on. Time to go and see just how bad it was out there. All night she's heard the wind howling and the snow blowing hard against the wind. Even so she knew that there was worse to come over the next couple of days. Zipping up her coat, she slipped her thick gloves on and pulled her hat firmly on her head before heading out of her office. Forcing the door open against the snow that had blown against it Poppy stepped out into the street the snow coming halfway upto her knees. Well Main street was pretty much blocked so it didn't look too good for some of the smaller streets in town. Still people would soon be out helping to clear it, although there really wasn't much point until the snow had finished falling. Looking out of town she could see that the road to the highway was well and truly blocked by snow. Had to be at least six foot of it out there, she thought, when she saw the tops of a couple of trees barely sticking out from it. The county snowploughs would be concentrating on clearing the highway and keeping it that way so they weren't going to get a visit from them anytime soon.

There was definetely something wrong, H thougth, when he entered the Bullpen. For a start it was too quiet and Rhonda looked as if she'd been crying.

„What's up guys?" he asked with forced cheerfulness. Not really wanting to know.

„Simon wants to see you in his office." Joel said.

„Something's happened to Brian hasn't it." Otherwise why would Simon want to see him in his office. And it had to be pretty serious or someone from the nightshift would have called and let him know what was going on.

„They found his car..." Joel began, the door to Simon's office and the taller man came out.

„Henri," Simon said, „Maybe you should sit down."

„I just want to know what's happened to my partner." H snapped. He had a right to know.

„His car was found by a highway patrol unit. About ten miles outside of Seattle."

„What the hell was it doing there? He wasn't going anywhere near Seattle." he said.

„Detective," Simon growled trying to calm the younger man down, „All we know is that his car was found burnt out just outside of Seattle, and that there was a body in it."

„That doesn't mean it's Rafe," H said, „Could be a hitchhiker he picked up." Why was everyone just assuming that it had been his partner without any proof, he thought.

„Henri, they found his gun and badge." Joel said.

„That still doesn't prove anything." H stormed.

„Son, they've checked the dental records," Simon said, „It's him."

„No, there has to be some sort of mistake. He's not dead, he can't be he just went on holiday."

„H, listen to them." Detective Jim Ellison said.

„Bri's coming back," H snapped defensively, „He has to." No matter what they said his partner wasn't dead, any minute now there was going to be a phone call from him saying that he was safe and well.

His head didn't hurt as much as it had yesterday, Adam thought, swinging his legs off the bed where he'd spent the previous night, but the rest of him hurt like hell. And he still couldn't remember who he was, what if he never remembered. What sort of life could he have not knowing whether he had a family out there or not. And supposing the sherriff had been wrong and he was some sort of criminal. God, he could have killed someone and not known about it.

Still he supposed that at some point his past would catch up with him and there was very little point in worrying about it until it did. Running a hand through his hair he felt his stomach rumble. Maybe things would look better on a full stomach.

„Bout time you woke up," Jones said when the younger man emerged from the rear office, „Gonna need to take these for a couple of days," handing him a vial of painkillers, „Didn't want to risk it with your concussion last night. Just hope that you ain't allergic to them."

„I don't think so." Adam replied. But then he didn't know a great deal about himself other than he'd been found by the side of the road badly beaten.

„I'll keep a close eye on you just in case. If you're hungry just go across to the diner and ask Mike to put it on the sherriff's account."

„Am I under arrest?" he asked nervously.

„Lord no. It's just the way we do things around here. First meals on me then their on her. Leastways until we can find you a job. Now you'd best go across to the dinner."

„Yes Sir." Adam said.

„Ain't no Sir," Jones laughed, „Call me Doc everyone does."

He wasn't going to be able to do anything too physical for a while, Poppy thought watching the young man struggling to cross Main street. She'd had cracked ribs in the past and they hurt like hell. Still there was bound to be something that he could do, even if it was just sweeping up her office. She supposed that she'd better go over and get something to eat before she got called out to rescue someone who'd got stuck in the snow. Besides it's give her a chance to talk to him, see what skills he might have that could be put to use.

Maybe he should have gone home after all, H thought, because if one more person came upto him to say how sorry they were to hear aobut his partner he would hit them. Half the people who'd come upto him so far hadn't even known Brian, and those who had, had considered him to be something of a joke because of the way he dressed. Just because his partner had always had more than an avid interest in the way he looked, it didn't mean that he wasn't a good cop. There's been plenty of times back when he'd been on patrol that Brian had saved his life, been there to offer him advice even if it wasn't always wanted or listened to. He shouldn't have died the way he had. Someone like Brian should have died at a ripe old age surrounded by his family. Something that his partner had been seriously lacking until his family had adopted him. And how was he supposed to tell his mother that Brian was dead, that she couldn't say goodbye properly because he'd burnt to death in a car accident.

„H," Blair said softly, „Thought you might need this," putting a mug of coffee on H's desk, „If you need to..."

„What am I supposed to tell my mom?" H asked, „Bri's like..." He'd had to tell families before that a loved one wasn't going to be coming home again. But this time it was different, it was his family. „He doesn't have any family of his own. She..." rubbing his eyes to stop the tears that were building from falling.

„Maybe Simon or Joel could tell her." Blair suggested.

„What that he burnt to death." H snapped.

„We don't know that he did," Blair said, „From what the highway patrol said he was ... He wouldn't have known."

„And that's supposed to make everything all right," standing up and glaring at the smaller and younger man, „I knew that there was something wrong yesterday and I didn't do a damned thing about it. Now my partner's dead."

„It's not your fault," Blair said holding his hands up, „It was an accident."

„Yeah, an accident that took my best friend away from me." H said.

„Mind if I sit here?" Poppy asked sitting down opposite Adam, „So how you feeling?" taking off her hat to reveal a mass of dark curls.

„Not much better." he admitted sipping his coffee.

„Gets better once the bruises are out." And he was going to have some wonderful ones on his face along with his ribs.

„Doc gave me some painkillers to take. Said I was to put my meals on your account."

„That's not a problem." smiling at him.

„I can't pay you back at the minute. I don't have a job, don't even have my own clothes."

„Actually I might be able to help you out with a job. My deputy's got snowed in, so I need someone to stay by the radio when I go out, take down messages for me." she said.

„I don't know how to..." he began.

„Radio's pretty easy to use I'll show you how."

„What if I can't write?"

„In that case you relay the messages to me," she replied, „Guess it must be strange not knowing who you are or anything."

„Doc said my memory should come back." Adam said.

„He's pretty reliable about most stuff. And you can stay here until it does."

„Wouldn't it be better if I went looking for who I am?" he asked.

„No, for a start you wouldn't get far in this weather," Poppy said, „And secondly a stationary object is easier to find than a moving one. Trust me someone is going to come looking for you."

„And if they don't and I don't get my memory back what then?"

„Then you get on with life," she replied, „People have built lives out of worse tragdies than losing their memory. Feeling sorry for youself is a waste of time and energy, least that's what my grandmother always said. She was sherriff here for fifty years."

„So have all the sherriff's been women?" Adam asked.

„Even since the town was founded they have. Might seem strange to an outsider but that's the way things are done around here," Poppy said, „I've been sherriff since my grandmother retired."

„That can't be all that long ago."

„Ten years in May," she replied, „Youngest ever sherriff the town's had. Not that we have much crime around here. Just your usual tourists getting lost in summer and occassional criminal trying to give highway patrol the slip. Haven't had one get past me yet." pride showing in her voice.

„Henri," Mrs Brown said when her son entered via the kitchen door, then she saw the older african american man who was following her son, „Brian?" dropping the plate she was holding.

„Mrs Brown,"Joel said, „Brian was in an accident last night."

„Mom, Bri's gone." H said going to comfort his mother who had tears running freely down her face.

„It was all over very quickly," Joel said, „He wouldn't have felt anything."

„What happened?" she asked.

„His car went off the road due to the bad weather," Joel replied, „I'm so sorry."

„My poor baby." she said letting her son guide her to a kitchen chair. 'Mom, it's going to be okay," H said breaking down, „Bri's in a better place." He had to believe that he was otherwise he was never going to get through the next few weeks. Quietly Joel slipped out leaving mother and son to comfort each other.

„Jim, they are sure that it was..." Blair began.

„There hasn't been a mistake Chief," Jim replied placing a reassuring hand on his friend and partner's shoulder, „The dental records match."

„Man this is so unfair." the younger man said.

„I know, but accidents happen. Even to people we know," Jim said, „At least he didn't suffer." Which wasn't much consolation, he thought, but nothing was going to be under the circumstances.

„He and H were so close."

„Don't worry we're all going to be there for H," Jim reassured him, „And his family."

„He was worrying about what he was going to tell his mom," Blair said,

„They were the only family Rafe had."

„And that's how you send messages out to me," Poppy said pressing a red button on the radio, „Think you've got the basics?"

„Just about," he admitted, „At least I found out that I can write." looking at the neat script on the notepad he was holding.

„Lot neater than mine. Wonder if you know how to type." she said.

„I can give it a try." smiling at her. Now that he knew he could be useful he didn't feel so guilty about her paying for his meals.

„Couldn't be much worse than Jake's attempts," looking at mass of paperwork on her deputy's desk, „And I'm not much better. If you want coffee or that while I'm out just help yourself. There's a couple of paperbacks somewhere around here if you want something to read."

„No TV?" Adam asked.

„Fraid not, most people round here don't own one. Wouldn't be much use in winter even if they did," she replied, „But I do have a transistor radio, spare batteries are in the second drawer down of my desk. It's the one with all the photos on. If you have any problems just call me or go see Doc and he'll know what to do."

„Gotcha," he said, „How long will you be?"

„Won't know until I see how bad the roads are. Then it depends on what sort of calls I get. Could be out all day, might even be all night," Poppy said, „But don't you worry about me. I'm not the one with cracked ribs. If it gets too much for you just ask Doc or mike to take over and they will."

„I should be fine." he replied.

„I think you will be as well." pulling on her hat and gloves before going out into the snow.

Today was probably going to be the hardest day of his life, H thought, helping his mother into the car that would take them to the church for Brian's funeral. It was hard to believe that just a week ago he'd been teasing his partner about his holiday, that he'd only been going on that course so he could meet women.

Not that Brian had denied it, only now his partner wouldn't be meeting any women. What had surprised him most was the way his mother was dealing with losing Brian, she'd got out the photo albums to show people who'd come to the house to offer their condolences. Still his mother had had to be strong raising him alone after his father had died.

„Henri." his mother said distracting him from his thought.

„Guess it's time." he said getting into the car.

„Brian wouldn't want us to be sad," she said, „He'd want us to remember all the good times." taking hold of her son's hand and squeezing it.

„I know," giving her a faint smile, „Just hard to do that right now."

„Won't be in time," she replied, „And life has to go on no matter how painful it is."

„Doesn't feel that way." he admitted. Right now he felt as if someone had ripped away a huge part of him. He and Brian had been partners for nearly a decade, that wasn't something that he would ever get over missing.

„Trust me son it will get better."

Even he could see that she couldn't keep pushing herself the way she had been doing, Adam thought, watching Poppy put her coat on again. He knew that her deputy was still snowed in so she was having to do everything by herself, but it just didn't feel right letting her go out there by herself again. He'd tried talking to Doc about it, but he'd just shrugged his concerns off by saying that Poppy was used to it, that she'd done it before by herself and for longer.

„What are you looking at?" Poppy asked.

„You," he replied, „How long are you going to keep this up for? You've been out there alone everyday for the past week."

„It's my job." she said.

„Surely even Sherriff's are allowed a day off now and then."

„Not when I'm the only law officer on duty for twenty miles. People rely on me to be there when they need me, not when I feel like turning up."

„I'm just worried that something might happen to you out there," Adam admitted, „Who's going to rescue you if it does?"

„Trust me nothing is going to happen to me. I've been doing this job since I was fourteen and the worst I've ever had are cracked ribs. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go out on patrol."

How dare he question the way she did things, Poppy thought, driving away from her office. She'd been Sherriff for almost a decade now and nobody else had ever complained about the fact that she worked so hard. Still she had to admit that she couldn't remember the last time she'd had a day off that wasn't interuprted by work. At the moment it just wasn't possible for her to take anytime off though, not until Jake wasn't snowed in. And then something was bound to come up, it always did.

A day off might be nice when things had calmed down a little. Although to be honest she didn't have a clue as to how she would spend a whole day without having to work. She wasn't really the sort of person who had hobbies, in fact her grandmother had discouraged her from doing anything that would distract her from learning how to be a good Sherriff. Nor was she able to lay in after the sun was up, even when she was sick which wasn't that often. And somehow she doubted that the town would approve of her taking any time off. Even when she'd had cracked ribs they'd expected her to carry on working as normal.

„Maybe we should do this later." Blair suggested looking at Henri and his mother.

„Blair's right," Henri said, „The lease still has a month to run. It just doesn't feel right doing this now. Not on the day of the funeral."

„It has to be done," Mrs Brown said, „Keeping busy will help. When your father died I cleaned. Now if you boys don't want to do this then I will."

„Just feels strange being here without Brian," H said, „And how are we supposed to know what he would have wanted people to have?"

„You'll know." smiling at both of them.

„Oh man, look at these." Blair said after opening the wardrobe in Rafe's bedroom.

„What?" H asked going to see what Blair was looking at.

„These," reaching into the wardrobe and taking out a folded up quilt, „Did you..."

„I've never seen them before." H admitted taking the quilt off Blair and unfolding it. In the process a piece of folded up paper fell out from it. Blair bent down and picked it up. After opening it he handed it to H.

„Captain Simon Banks," he read aloud, „You don't think he..."

„He obviously wanted Simon to have this." Blair said, looking at the picture on the quilt, it was of angels.

„I didn't even know that he artistic." H said, wondering what other secrets his partner had kept from him.

„There's seven of them," Blair said counting the number of quilts in the wardrobe, „One each?"

„I guess so," he replied handing the quilt that he was holding to Blair so that he could take the rest of them out of the wardrobe, „I suppose that he took most of his suits with him. Never did believe in dressing casually."

„Or getting dirty." Blair grinned.

There had to be something that he could do to help her out, Adam thought, looking around the Sherriff's office. His attention finally being caught by a stack of paperwork that was threatening to overtake her desk. Now was his chance to find out whether he could type or not. The worst that could happen was that he found out that he couldn't and then he would have to think of another way to help her. Not that there were many as he still wasn't back to full health yet.

Maybe when he got his memory back he'd be able to repay her fully for everything that she'd done for him so far.

Although as the days passed he was starting to have doubts about whether he would ever get it back. Be patient, Doc had told him when he'd asked about how long it was taking. It was easy for him to say because he knew who he was, and where he came from. The only thing he knew for certain was that he wasn't from around here because he didn't have an accent that was like everyone else in town had.

"Mrs Rafe" was written on the piece of paper in the final quilt, all the others being for members of the department.

„So what do we do with this one?" H asked. Because obviously there wasn't ever going to be a Mrs Rafe.

„I think you should give it to your mom to look after for the time being," Blair replied, „Til you can decide what you want to do."

„Suppose so," H admitted, „Seems a shame that no-one's ever going to use it." All that work his partner had done had been for nothing, he thought.

„Somethings weren't meant to be used. Maybe this is one of them." he suggested.

„Don't suppose he's got his memory back yet?" Mike asked casting a glance over to where Adam was sitting while he poured Doc a fresh cup of coffee.

„Not yet," the older man replied, „These things take time. That boy was badly beaten." Even now the brusies were still highly visible.

„Sooner he does and leaves the better," Mike said, „Aint right that the Sherriff's getting so attatched to him. She never needed anyone before and she don't need them now."

„Before we were on the verge of losing her," Doc said, „A week ago I would have said that we had two more at the most before she took off."

„Didn't seem that serious to me. So she weren't eating right. That's happened before. Come out of it with your help this time."

„I didn't do anything, she got better the minute he came along." Doc said. He wasn't about to claim credit for a miracle he hadn't performed.

„Nah, she just decided to quit sulking about not getting a pay rise," Mike said, „Soon as the road's clear he's out of here memory or no memory. Be plenty of folk in town who'll back me up in that."

„You do that, but don't you come laying the blame on me when she takes off," Doc said, „Because it won't be my fault."

„Can't see why you can't fix her when she gets like that."

„She's a person, not a truck. And maybe if people round here started treating with a little more respect she wouldn't have so many problems," Doc said, „You know as well as I do that she deserved that pay rise. We'd never be able to get another sherriff for what we pay her. Have you even seen where she sleeps?"

„Don't see why she needs money, town provides everything she needs. Always been that way."

„And that is the problem. Things and times change. She shouldn't have to go begging to the town council when she wants to buy batteries for her radio or when she runs out of coffee."

„Forty dollars a month was enough for her grandmother," Mike said, „And she raised a family on it. So it's good enough for Poppy."

„You try living on ten dollars a week and see how far it gets you," Doc said pushing his cup away and standing up, „You can't even rent a motel room for that. Sure as hell wouldn't see Jake Crown trying to live on it." Or anyone else for that matter.

„She's a Sinclair, it's her duty to be Sherriff." Mike said. „As if she's ever been given any choice in the matter." walking away.

There was definetely something strange going on, Adam thought, even he knew that forty dollars wasn't alot of money. He'd been to the store and seen the prices of things like coffee and batteries. Didn't people usually have a choice in what they did for a living. Just because it was a tradition for a Sinclair to be sherrif did that have to mean that they couldn't be anything else if they wanted to be. If she was really that important to them then why weren't they taking better care of her. The only person apart from him who really did seem to was Doc.

Turning back was the only option she had, Poppy thought, as the jeep started to get stuck in the snow. If she didn't then there was a real danger that she might not make it back to town at all. Coming out this far by herself had been a mistake, but she was the Sherrif and it was her duty to make sure that people were safe during the bad weather. Only there was no-one to make sure that she was apart from Doc that was and he had more than a vested interested in seeing to it that she was allright.

„Always knew that boy had hidden talents." Mrs Brown said looking at the quilts.

„You knew about this?" H asked.

„A suspicion." she admitted.

„Then why..." he began. If she had an idea that his partner was doing something like this then she should have told him.

„Because a man's allowed some secrets," she replied, "And I know how you boys think."

„Rafe obviously didn't want us to know about this." Blair said.

„I wouldn't have made fun of him." H protested. He would have understood if Brian had told him. After all he hadn't kept anything from him during the time they'd been partners.

„Son, he knew that," his mother reassured him, "This was something that he didn't want to share with anyone until he was ready to."

A few more days of snow like this and she wouldn't be able to get out of town except on foot. She'd done foot patrols before and they weren't her favourite thing to do when the weather was bad. In summer it was a different matter entirely, then she couldn't wait to get out of town and away from the tourists that descended on it. She knew that tourists brought in much needed money but they could be a damnded nuisance out in the wild. Hunting season wasn't much better either, most of the problems then were caused by alcohol.

Next town meeting she was going to suggest that they ban people from taking liquor with them when they went hunting. Not that there was much chance of them agreeing to it. In the decade she'd been sherrif not one of her ideas for making the town a better place had been passed by a town meeting. Even persuading them to let her have basic equipment was an uphill struggle. They wouldn't even pay her enough so that she could go to the store and buy a new pair of boots when she needed them instead of having to save up for months. They seemed to forget that she could hear every word that they said about her and it hurt when they blamed her for not being in the right place at the right time. She couldn't be everywhere at once no matter how hard she tried to be.

„Getting worse out there?" Adam asked.

„Alot," Poppy replied, taking her hat and gloves off befoe removing her jacket, "If it keeps up I'll have to go on foot patrol til it eases up."

„Alone?"

„Yeah, I've done it before," she said going and pouring herself a mug of coffee, "How's it been here?"

„Quiet, I've almost caught up on the paperwork," he said, "So I know I can type."

„Think you could keep on top of it til Jake's able to dig himself out?" she asked.

„I should be able to." he replied.

„Good." smiling at him.

„There was one call for you though, from the highway patrol. They're closing the freeway due to the weather, said they'll let you know when they're re-opening it." Adam said.

„Makes life a little easier for me," Poppy said sipping her coffee, "It's a long trek up there when it's like this."

„Is the weather always so bad?"

„Only sometimes," she replied, "And it's going to get alot worse out there over the next couple of days."

„You have to go out on patrol," Ross complained that afternoon, "It's your job." glaring at Poppy.

„It's too dangerous," she said, "Even on foot I'd never make it out of town. There's blizzard going on out there."

„As mayor..." he began.

„You have no right to force her to go outside in this weather." Adam said.

„This is nothing to do with you," Ross snapped, "She's paid to patrol everyday of the year no matter what the weather."

„Mike, there's no-one out there I checked this morning. The freeway's shut won't be open for the next couple of days," she said, "When it settles down out there I'll go out and not before."

„Your grandmother went out in all weather's," Ross said, "We never had any complaints from her either."

„I'm not her. If I get a call I'll try and go out, but otherwise I'm saying right here." sitting down behind her desk. He wasn't going to bully her into risking her life when there was no need for her to.

„If you don't go out there right now you'll be docked a weeks pay." he warned her before leaving her office.

„Doesn't he understand how dangerous it would be to go out there now?" Adam asked.

„I'm the sherrif so I'm supposed to be out there," She said, "I feel as if I should be as well. He's right about one thing though,my grandmother did go out in all weathers."

„You've been on patrol since this weather began. By yourself, if he's so concerned why doesn't he go out there?" he asked.

„Because I'm the sherrif." she replied.

„He'll still dock you a weeks pay won't he."

„He can do it anytime he wants," she said, "It won't be the first time or the last."

„That's not fair." he protested.

„It's the way thingare done around here. Always has been." There wasn't anything that she could do to change it so she just had to accept it and make the most of what she did have.

The sooner they got rid of Adam the better, Ross thought, making his way back to his diner, because ever since he'd some to town the sherrif had been acting up. She seemed to have forgotten that she owed everything she had to the town and that she wasn't going to be allowed to change the way things had always been done just to suit her. They'd spoilt her by letting her get an educatiion and paying for her to go to that fancy ploice conference. Maybe losing a week's pay would remind her just who was in charge. If not then he'd have to take more drastic action to force her back into line.

It had been nearly two weeks since Brian had been buried and every time that the doors to the Bullpen opened he looked up expecting him to walk in with some fantastic story about where he'd been and what had happened to him. At least this morning he'd been able to stop himself from pouring two mugs of coffee. He knew it was still early days yet, but he couldn't shake the feeling that his partner was still alive somewhere out there. And it was only a matter of time before he was assigned new partner, no-one would ever be able to take the place of Brian though.

His mother seemed to be getting over Brian's death alot better than he was. Maybe it was the fact that she really did believe that he had gone to a better place that made it easier for her. He'd tried to believe that but he couldn't.

"Why can't I remember anything yet?" Adam asked as Doc checked his ribs.

"These things take time," he replied, "You should be able to start helping clear main streets next couple of days. Just don't over do it."

"When am I going to start remembering though?"

"Son, if I knew that I'd be living in some fancy condo in Florida," he laughed, "You know when the Sherrif brought you in here you were in a pretty bad state. Somebody worked you over real good. The body heals at it's own rate, and the brain's a pretty delicate organ..."

"So I might never remember." Adam said.

"It's possible," Doc admitted, "Then again you could wake up in the morning and remember everything."

"That's not much help. What am I supposed to do until then?" he asked.

"What you've been doing all along helping the Sherrif."

"She has a deputy to do that." As soon as he was back he was out of a job.

"He's not going to be around for too much longer. Finally got a transfer to a big city department," he said, "Damn fool's going to get himself killed within a month. Hasn't made an arrest in years."

"I'm not a cop. I wouldn't know what to do." Adam protested.

"You've been doing just fine so far. Anything else she'll teach you," Doc replied, "She hasn't looked so well in years."

"And what if she gets sick? She said she was." Although she didn't look sick to him, just a little distracted at times. But with everything she had to keep on top of she was bound to be from time to time.

"That's an inherited thing, you can't catch it," he explained, "A little help and she can control it just fine. Course it would mean you spending more time with her."

"I could give it try." Adam said. It wasn't as if he had anything else to do.

"Deputy's job pays pretty well, there's a house that goes with it." Doc said.

"And where does she live?" She seemed to spend most of her time in the office, but she had to live somewhere, he thought.

"That room at the back of her office. People like to know where she is," he replied, "Tend to forget that she's a person sometimes, treat her like she's some sort of machine. Then wonder why she breaks down from time to time."

"H, my office." Captain Simon Banks said. This wasn't something that he was looking forward to at all. A fortnight just wasn't long enough for anyone to even start to get over the lose of their partner for nearly a decade. But H had a right to know that he was being assigned a new partner and when they would be arriving. Of course he wasn't expecting things to go smoothly how could they. But H's new partner had a good record, alot of experience behind them so eventually they would work together.

"You wanted to see me Captain?" H said entering Simon's office, closing the door behind him.

"Sit down Henri," Simon said picking up a cigar from his desk and rolling it in his fingers, "I thought you should know that your new partner will be arriving in a couple of days. I tried to delay it but the department's under staffed and..."

"So who am I getting?" H asked. They couldn't even wait until Brian was... It was happening alot sooner than he thought it would. Still someone from the station would know about Brian and understand.

"A Deputy Jake Crown, he's got alot of experience so you won't have to babysit him," Simon said, "If it doesn't work out then I'll partner him with Joel."

"I'll give it try." H said, not that he was going to try very hard.

"You know my door's always open if you want to talk." he said.

"I'm okay, still getting used to the fact that Bri's not coming back." he replied.

"We all are."

"You're leaving! Don't you think that you should have given me more notice?" Poppy said.

"I got a transfer," Jake said, "And no-one has to tell you squat if they don't want to."

"I'm the Sherrif. Where am I supposed to find a replacement at such short notice?" she said.

"Not my problem." he replied.

"Well I hope you'll be very happy whereever you're going." She'd just have to manage on her own until she found a replacement although it should be fairly easy to find someone who was better than him. What she didn't understand was how he'd got a transfer when she hadn't filled in any paperwork for one. Mike Ross had to be behind it, he was always the first one to object when she needed something and the last one to say thank you. Not that many people actually bothered to say it, most of the time they tended to ignore her unless they needed help.

"Don't worry I will be," he replied, "Shame you're going to be stuck here." smirking as he left her office.

She looked upset, Adam thought watching Poppy filling in paperwork. He couldn't help but think about what Doc had said. He'd seen for himself the way some people treated her and it wasn't very nice, especially when she worked so hard.

"Do you want me to get you a coffee?" he asked.

"No, I'm out of coffee," she said, "And milk and sugar."

"I could got get some." he suggested.

"Sure why not. I'll just got get some money." standing up and going to her room at the rear of the office. A few minutes later she returned and handed him two handfuls of coins. "If there's not enough here forget about the sugar. I only bought it because Jake took it."

"Doc told me that he was leaving." Adam said.

"Wish he'd told me first," she said, "Jake sprung it on me on his way out of town. Could be a while before I get a replacement."

"So can anyone apply?" he asked.

"Yeah, why you thnking of applying?"

"If that would be all right with you." he said.

"Well you've been doing a better job that Jake ever did," she smiled, "All you need to do is fill in a form and go through an interview."

"I won't be able to answer many questions about myself." he replied. He might never be able to do that if he didn't get his memory back.

"Just make it up as you go along, Jake did," she replied, "Wouldn't worry too much about the interview either. If Doc thinks it's a good idea you've got the job."

"So when do I start?" Adam asked.

"Officially first thing monday morning," she said, "Uniform might be too big though."

He'd finally made it to a big city department, Jake thought, pushing open the double doors to the Bullpen. Now he'd really have a chance to show what he was capable of doing without that freak around to take all the credit. Aware that everyone was watching him he made his way to the office at the end of the room. He couldn't help but wonder which one of the detectives in the room was going to be his partner. Not that he really needed one with his arrest record. Still he could always teach them a thing or two about real police work. Knocking on the door in front of him he waited to be told to enter.

She'd been right, Adam thought, studying his reflection in the mirror, the uniform was too big for him. Still he supposed that it didn't really matter as he wouldn't be going out on patrol. During his interview with Doc it had been made very clear to him that his main job would be to keep the Sherriff focused on her job. Anything on top of that was upto him, but they weren't paying him so that he could get shot at. Not that there was likely to be much shooting going on with the weather still being bad.

Adjusting his stetson, he slipped on the coat Doc had given him when he'd arrived in town. It wasn't new or clean but it helped to keep the cold out.

"Morning Adam," Poppy said, "You're ten minutes early. That's a good start."

"If I'm going to do this job them I'm going to do it right." he replied, taking his coat off and hanging it up.

"Don't worry, you're going to do just fine," she reassured him, opening a drawer and taking out a gun, "You probably won't ever need to use this, but it comes with the job." handing him the gun.

"What if I have to use it?"

"I'll run through the basics with you," she replied, "Only had to fire mine twice in ten years. Both warning shots."

"Until I know how to use it I'd rather not have it." he said handing the gun back to her.

"We're gonna get on just fine," smiling at him, "Jake was alwats too eager to use his gun. Damned fool would get it out and wave it around every chance he got."

"Trust me I'm not going to do anything like that." Adam said.

"Good, now I want you to hold the fort here while I get breakfast. After that I'm going to go on patrol. You need me for anything..."

"Use the radio." finishing her sentence for her.

"Yeah," putting the gun back in the top drawer of her desk and standing up,

"I should be back by nightfall, if not lock up and leave the key with Doc."

"I don't mind waiting until you get back." he said.

"Upto you if you do." going and getting her coat.

"Detective Brown, I'm Jake Crown, your new partner." he said extending his hand.

"Right," H said, "That's your desk," pointing to the one next to his, "Try not to let your stuff migrate onto mine."

"Captain Bakns explained about..." he began.

"Look you're here to work," He said, "The most current case file is the top one."

"I know the score," Jake said, "This him?" picking up the photo on H's desk. Oh shit, he thought, this looked a lot like the guy the Sherriff had found and brought into town. It would serve her right if he told these guys about him, but then they wouldn't need him anymore. Still the chances were pretty slim that that guy would get his memory back, so he'd keep his mouth shut and make himself so invalueble that they wouldn't want to get rid of him.

"His name was Brian," H snapped snatching the photo off him, "He was my best friend as well as my partner."

"Sorry," Jake said, "Didn't mean to upset you." "How's it going Sherriff?" Doc asked, "New deputy working out?" as Poppy sat down next to him in the diner.

"I'm fine and he was early." she replied smiling at him.

"You look better than fine to me," he said, "Been a long time since you smiled. Still he is a handsome fellow even with those bruises."

"Hadn't noticed." she said motioning for someone to bring her a cup of coffee.

"It'a all right to notice," he reassured her, "Course some people might not like it." looking across at Ross.

"He's my deputy, that's all there is to it." Poppy replied. Besides he wouldn't want to stay in the job for long once he realised just how sick she could be at times. But then she hadn't been feeling that sick recently.

"I seem to remember your grandmother saying that, then she met your grandfather," he said, "Turned out to be the best department we ever had in this town."

"Bit late for that to happen to me." she said.

"It's never too late." Doc said smiling at her.

There was just something about the man he didn't like, H thought, going through a case file. It wasn't anything solid that he could go to Simon with, more like a gut feeling that the man was trouble. He'd never had that feeling with Brian, not even the first time he'd been introduced to him. Still he would try and get to know and get along with his new partner. But the minute the minute he put a foot wrong he'd be straight in Simon's office asking to work alone. Ellison had done that for years before Hairboy had come along so there was no reason why he couldn't work alone.

While she was out he might as well tidy the office up, Adam thought, not that it was that untidy to start with. Okay so he was more than a little curious about the room she lived in at the back of the office. She'd never know that he'd taken a quick look, as long as he didn't touch anything that was.

After turning the volume of the radio up so that he could hear it he made his way to the rear of the office. Cautiously he opened the door and peered inside. He'd gone this far so he might as well go the rest of the way, he thought, opening the door wider. Entering the room he looked around the room and it's meagre contents. It was no ownder that she spent so much time on patrol when this was what she had to comeback to. The only decent looking piece of furniture in it was a desk, everything else looked old and damaged, including the bed. There was something totally unfair about her having to live like this when he'd got an entire house to himself.

Doc had been talking a lot of nonsense as usual, Poppy thought, finishing her coffee. She wasn't anything like her grandmother and never would be. For a start her grandmother had been respected by everyone in town, no-one respected her at all, well maybe with the exception of Doc that was. Times had changed a great deal since her grandmother's days as Sherriff, now there were alot more people around and guns. Drugs were starting to be a problem in her town, not that anyone listened when she told them that they had to do something about it before it got out of hand.

Still she now had the best deputy she'd ever had, so maybe together they could so something about it. There was this feeling that she had about Adam, it was a good one though. She liked having him around and he could certainly do the paperwork a lot better than Jake ever did. Maybe he'd worked in an office before she'd found him. At the time she should have looked for more clues, something that might have helped to at least point to where he'd come from.

"And what do we have here?" Jake sneered cornering Blair in the breakroom,

"You some sort of freak?" Brown had been giving him a hard time all morning so he didn't see why someone else shouldn't have a hard time of it as well.

"I work here." Blair replied.

"You're a cop!" he said in surprise.

"Observer, I'm Jim's partner."

"So you hang around and play cops with the big boys." Jake sneered.

"I'm not playing at anything." Blair said struggling to squeeze past him.

"Haven't finished with you yet Mr Observer, " he said, "You see I don't like freaks or people pretending to be something they're not..."

"My partner's waiting for me, and trust me you don't want to upset Jim." Blair said pushing Jake out of his way.

"Just trying to be friendly." he replied, deciding that he could have more fun with him later on.

"You okay Chief?" Jim asked when a somewhat ruffled Blair sat down at his desk.

"Yeah." he replied looking across at where Jake Crown was.

"So you had a chance to talk to the new guy yet?" he said.

"Not really," Blair said, "Don't think H is too happy with him though."

"It's only his first day. Give him a chance." Jim said

He was dedicated, Poppy thought, pulling up outside her office and seeing the light on. Still it was only his first day, give him a couple of weeks and he'd just be like Jake had been. As long as he turned up regularly he'd get paid. That was all that bothered Jake along with strutting round town like he owned it. Not that he did, no, it was Mike Ross who did. If there was one person that she could truly claim to hate it was him. He was the one who'd said that it was a waste of time her carrying on going to school when her grandmother had retired. After all they'd needed a Sherriff there and then not in a couple of years time when she'd finished school.

"No calls." Adam said when Poppy entered the office.

"Were'nt expecting any," she replied, "Busiest time round here's summer. It's nonstop then, mostly lost tourists."

"That's when I get to go on patrol?" he asked.

"You don't ever go on patrol, not part of your duties. Besides you don't know the area." she said.

"That doesn't seem very fair to me. What if you need help out there?"

"I've never needed help yet. You're paid to man the office. So that's all you do." she said.

"Don't tell me it's the way things have always been done." he said.

"It is, nothing's going to change it so get used to it. I have."

"Don't you ever wish that you could?" Adam asked.

"No, now go home because you're not being paid to talk to me."

"You could have got me killed." H shouted shoving Jake up against a wall.

"It wasn't my fault," Jake protested, "I could have taken him down if that damn hippy hadn't got in the way."

"He's a member of this department, a part of the team," he snapped, "Something that you don't seem to understand." For the past fortnight he’d put up with one mistake after another from his new partner. But almost getting him killed was the final straw. Sure Brian had done some dumb things, never anything that had put his life in danger though.

"Just because you lost your partner..." Jake began. The last thing he was aware of was H's fist rapidly coming towards him.

He'd got his first week's pay and he knew exactly how he was going to spend it, Adam thought. He didn't need anything, the house that came with is job was fully furnished and the cupboards were full. In fact he felt quite guilty at how well off he was compared to the Sherriff. She worked so much harder than him and what for a loust forty bucks a month. Only this month it was going to be thirty because she'd had a week's pay docked for not going on patrol in a blizzard. Even he knew that wasn't fair, not that there seemed to be a great deal that he could do about it.

Entering one of the town's two stores he became aware that he was suddenly the center of attention.

"Morning Deputy, what can I do for you?" Trevor French, the owner asked.

"I need some batteries and coffee." Adam replied. He knew for a fact that she was out of both even though she hadn't said anything to him.

"Anything else?" French asked.

"Couple of thick shirts, and do you have any quilts, blankets?" he said. What she had on her bed was little more than a rag. She had to be freezing at night.

"Best I can do at the moment is a sleeping bag," French replied, "Bad start to winter this year. People are stocking up. Might want to think about doing the same."

"It's going to get worse?" he asked.

"Could do, Sherriff'll be the first to know if it will. Last winter were pretty mild."

"Suppose I'll get used to it." he said.

"First year's always the hardest," French smiled, "Now what size do you want those shirts?"

"Large." Adam replied. So they might be too big for her, but they would help to keep her warm.

"Suspended!" H snapped, "He almost gets me killed and I'm the one being suspended."

"You hit him," Simon growled, "You're damn lucky that he didn't decide to press charges."

"The guy is a total screw up," he said, "He can't even do his paperwork right. Bri..."

"H, I've booked an appointment with the department's physchologist." Simon said firmly.

"But..." H began.

"Until he clears you for duty you're suspended." he said. Perhaps he should have kept a closer eye on Henri, he thought, then things wouldn't have got to this point. Still he did have a point about their newest detective though, even rookies didn't make the sort of simple mistakes that he did. He'd tried contacting the department that Crown had worked for previously only to discover that they were cut off because of the weather, and it could be weeks before the weather cleared up enough for the phone lines to be fixed. When he did get to speak to someone he wanted to know just what the hell they thought they were playing at sending him such an incompetant officer. Maybe that was why they'd sent him, to get rid of him.

Jake couldn't help but gloat as he watched H grab his coat and leave the Bullpen. Sure his face hurt and he'd have some bruises but he'd got rid of his so called partner for a while. Now all he had to do was get rid of the hippy and everything would be fine. Of course he couldn't be too obvious about it though because he didn't want to have a stand off with Ellison. There was something weird aboutt hat guy, something that reminded him of the Sherriff.

"What are you doing here?" Poppy asked looking up and seeing Adam standing there with several brown paper parcles, "It's your day off." Not that she minded him dropping by. In fact she was starting to miss him when he wasn't around, not that she would ever admit that to anyone, not even Doc. That would be the surest way of getting Adam run out of town and he didn't have anywhere to go.

"Thought these might...They're to say thank you," he replied, dumping to parcles on her desk, "I didn't really know what to get so I thought something practical would come in useful."

"You didn't have to get me anything." she said.

"I wanted to," he replied, "You've done alot for me. Saved my life, giving me a job, a place to stay."

"It wasn't anything I wouldn't have done for anyone." blushing heavily. Well maybe she had gone a little further for him that she might have done for anyone else she'd saved. But that didn't mean that he had to buy her things to say thank you.

"Will you be going on patrol tonight?" he asked.

"Not unless I get an emergency call," she replied, "Why?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to have something to eat with me. Thought it might make a change from eating at the diner again." he said.

"You mean at your house!" Except for when she was carrying out her duties as Sherriff the last time she'd been inside a house had been the day of her grandfather's funeral.

"Where else would I mean?" Adam asked, "I'm not much of cook though."

"I think I'd like that." smiling at him.

"I'll see you about seven then." he said.

"Yeah."

Something was wrong if Henri was home this early, his mother thought when she heard him come in the backdoor. Ever since Brian had died he'd been very withdrawn. Of course she missed Brian a great deal as well, but she also knew that he wouldn't want them sitting around mourning him forever. She'd have a long talk with him about that way he'd been acting recently. Work obviously hadn't been going to well for him either as he hadn't brought his new partner home for dinner yet.

"Henri," she said when he entered the living room, "You've done something haven't you?" when she saw the look on his face.

"I've been suspended," he replied, "I hit him."

"Sit down son," patting the sofa where she was sitting, "Now you're going to tell me everything that's happened. Then we'll work it out from there."

"A bust went wrong today," he said, sitting down next to her, "He nearly shot me." Normally he wouldn't discuss work with his mother but it was important that he told her everything.

"Oh lord." she said.

"He never stopped going on about Brian. Mom, I know it probably sounds crazy but I don't think Brian's dead. It's possible that it wasn't him in the car."

"Henri, think about it. How could it not be him? The dental records..."

"They could ahve made a mistake," he replied, "It's happened before. And no-one's been able to explain why his car was whereit was." She didn't believe him, he thought, and what hope did he have of convincing anyone else if his own mother didn't believe him.

"Supposing you're right, how would you go about proving something like that?"

"Check the records again I suppose," he said, "See if they have made a mistake."

"And if they have? What then?" she asked.

"Start phoning round hospitals and police departments." he said.

He hadn't been kidding when he'd said that he'd gone for practical gifts, Poppy thought, opening her last one. So far she'd got a sleeping bag, two packs of batteries for her radio and a large can of coffee. Now it looked as if she had some shirts as well. She could certainly use everything that'd he'd got her though. There was no way that she could get him anything like this though, especially when most of the time she struggled to buy basics. This month was going to be even harder than most as she would be missing a week's pay.

Sure she had a little money saved up but that was for emergencies and christmas. Every year she tried to buy Doc something, not that she was always successful in doing so. She felt bad when she wasn't able to, not that she ever got gifts off anyone including Doc. The ones Adam had given her had been the first ones she'd recieved in nearly a decade.

She wasn't coming, Adam thought, looking out of the front window at ten past seven. There were two possibilities as to why she wasn't, either she'd changed her mind or she'd got an emergency call. He had to admit that he had been looking forward to spending the evening with her, because he got the feeling that she didn't get to go out a lot, not that he had since arriving in town. Still there wasn;t that much to do at night except go to the diner. And he really didn't like sitting there knowing that Mike Ross wanted him out of town because he was getting too close to the Sherriff. Seeing a bundled up figuremaking it's way upto the front a smile crossed his lips as he moved away from the window to go and answer the door.

"Sorry, I'm late," Poppy said apologetically, "I had to wait for Doc to arrive."

"That's all right," he said stepping to one side to let her in, "Dinner won't be ready for a while. Would you like a beer? Coffee?"

"Coffee please." she replied looking around nervously.

"Why don't you take your coat off and I'll get you it," smiling at her, "I don't suppose that you get much chance to go out with the hours you work."

"No, but then I never went out before I was the Sherriff either," she said,

"My grandmother said it wasn't good to get too involved with people." Not that she'd ever had much chance to even if she'd wanted to. The only time she'd plucked up enough courage to go to church had been the day of her grandfather's funeral service, she'd been ordered out by the preacher."

"You have to get lnoely sometimes." he said watching her take off her coat.

"I don't really have time to, there's always something I need to do." Poppy replied.

"Well, I'd better go and get that coffee for you," he said, "Make yourself comfortable in the living room."

"Which was is it?" she asked.

"Just through there," pointing towards an open door, "Sorry I thought that you'd been here before."

"Never had to arrest anyone here." she replied.

He'd go and see the shrink, H thought, because that was the only way he was going to be allowed back on duty. And he had to be if he was going to prove that Brian wasn't dead. Of course he knew that some people would think that he had gones nuts, but he was prepared for that, and if he was proved wrong then he would accept it. Until the weather got better though he wouldn't be able to do much other than check to make sure that there hadn't been a mistake made with the dental records. Maybe once he'd proved that a mistake had been made with them he could get Simon on his side so that they could start looking for Brian.

She shouldn't be here, Poppy thought, they could both get into serious trouble if anyone found out. Doc hadn't minded taking over the office for her tonight, but there were going to be alot of people who would mind that she was spending her evening doing something not realted to work. Still she was enjoying herself and the house was alot warmer than her room in her office.

"Are you all right?" Adam asked when he saw the distracted look on Poppy's face when he entered the living room carrying two mugs of coffee.

„I'm fine." she replied somewhat startled.

"Could I ask you something?" handing her one of the mugs.

"Sure." smiling at him.

"Just how sick are you?" he said, "Only you don't look sick and..."

"I'm not really sick," Poppy said, "Sometimes I have lapses. It's really not all that serious."

"Couldn't that be dangerous when you're out there alone." he said.

"I haven't had one for a while," she reassured him, "And it's what helps make me a Sherriff, just like it did all the other's before me."

"I still don't understand how." he admitted.

"You're not supposed to," smiling at him, "Even I don't understand it all. Doc thinks it's inherited so you don't have to worry about catching it."

"I wasn't," he replied, "Just curious."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that curiosity killed the cat."

"If they did I can't remember." Adam laughed.

There was going to be hell to pay if Mike Ross came across to see why the Sherriff hadn't gone across for her supper, Doc thought, sitting in her office. Still he supposed that even she was entitled to one night off a decade, but he had been more than a little surprised that she had decided to go. Maybe now there was some chance of there being another Sherriff after her. Of course he'd help them as much as he could, but he was an old man whose voice didn't count for much. In the past he'd done his best to try and help her as much as he could but not with much success.

"You've never left town before?" Adam said as Poppy helped him clear the dishes after dinner.

"Not on my own no," she replied, "Last year I went to Seattle for a police conference, Doc went with me. Didn't think much of it to be honest. Too many people, too much noise, couldn't wait to get back."

"Do you think that's where I might be from?" Adam asked.

"You don't have the right accent," she replied, "If it's any consolation I don't think you were gone long enough to be reported missing."

"If anyone bothered to report me," he said, "What if there wasn't anyone to do that?" There was the very real possibility that he was totall alone in the world.

"Someone'll come looking for you eventually. Weather's probably held them up." she reassured him.

"And if no-one comes?" he asked.

"You've got a job for life here." Poppy replied.

Was it really possible for him to have any feelings other than gratitude for her, Adam thought, locking the house up for the night after Poppy had left. Because he definetely felt something for her, but what he couldn't be sure. Maybe it was wrong for him to because he didn't even know if he was married or not. And she didn't seem to be the sort of woman who would want to get involved with a married man.

If the road out of town had been clear he would have driven him out to the freeway himself, Mike Ross thought, watching Adam and Poppy laughing over breakfast. The Sherriff didn't have any right to be getting that close to someone, especially an outsider that they knew nothing about, or laughing for that matter either. Laughing wasn't what she was being paid for and while she was getting close to pretty boy over there she wasn't going to be able to do a good job as Sherriff.

"Last night was..." Poppy began, searching for the right word to use.

"Fun," Adam supplied helpfully, "Don't tell me that you've never had fun before."

"All right I won't." she replied. Fun hadn't been something that she'd been allowed to take part in. When she thought about it there was a great deal that she'd either never been allowed to take part in or learn about.

"You must have done something that was fun at least once." he said.

"Last night," she said, "Being Sherriff's a pretty serious thing."

"Even Sherriff's should be allowed to have fun sometimes." smiling at her.

"You might be right about that." Poppy admitted. Maybe it was time to see just how far the town would let her go.

"So you going to have some?" he asked.

"Only if you help me." she replied. With him behind her she'd maybe have the confidence to stand up to the likes of Mike Ross.

"As deputy it's my job to help the Sherriff, I suppose that could mean helping her to have fun as well." Adam said.

"Mom, you don't have to come with," H protested, "I can do this by myself." And he could just imagine what the guys at the station would say when they found out that his mother had gone to the department shrink's with him.

"I know you can son," his mother replied, "But you shouldn't have to."

"I don't know how long I'll be." he said.

"I've got all day," smiling at him as she fastened her seatbelt, "And take that look off your face Henri."

"Yes mom." he sighed. When his mother was determined to do something nothing would stand in her way of doing it. He'd found that it was a lot easier to go along with her, especially if he wanted a quiet life.

At least with the phone still out they couldn't call the Sherriff to ask her about him, Jake thought, putting the phone down. Which was good because what she had to say probably wasn't very flattering at all. Still she hadn't been all that good a Sherriff according to her arrest record. That was just one of the many advantages of being the Mayor's cousin, another was that all the usual paperwork involved in a transfer had been done over her head. He really wished that he'd had a camera with him when he'd told her that he was leaving town to join a big city department.

Being deputy had been a pretty easy job, all he'd done most of the time was sit around listening to reports coming in from the highway patrol. Half the time he hadn't even bothered passing them onto her, that had always been good for getting her into trouble with Mike. Maybe he could use the same tactic on the hippy. After all Ellison wouldn't want to keep him around for long if he was always screwing up.

"Sherriff..." Adam began, following Poppy through the snow to the town's sole church.

"Poppy," she corrected him, "Sherriff's not my name, Poppy is." Not that many people ever bothered to use her name, even Doc called her Sherriff. Adam was different though, he treated her like she was a real person, not the social outcast that she was.

"Poppy," he smiled, "Going to church isn't fun."

"It is if you're not allowed to go." she replied. She knew that the preacher might get upset with her being there, but she wanted to see her grandfather's grave and she wasn't going to leave until she had.

"Why aren't you allowed to go?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted, "It's just always been that way. Wouldn't even let me go to my grandfather's funeral."

"You're joking right." he said.

"No," Poppy replied, "Haven't even seen where he's buried although I paid for it." And it was only recently that she'd finished doing that.

"Detective Brown," Dr Mathew Joyce said, "Please sit down. Would you like to tell me about Brian?"

"He was my best friend as well as my partner," H replied, "My brother."

"Losing someone you're close to is never easy," Joyce said, "Especially when you've had to rely on that person so much. It must have been very difficult for you to suddenly be faced with a new partner, one you didn't want."

"If the guy wasn't such a total screwup it might have been easier," he admitted, "He's arrogant, thinks he knows everything there is to about police work..."

"Don't you think that you're being a little unfair..."

"Unfair! My own partner nearly shot me," H snapped, "I know that Brian wasn't perfect, but he would never have put me at risk like that." It was a complete waste of time even being here, he thought, because the good doctor had already made his mind up that he had a problem and there was nothing that he could say that was going to change his mind.

Taking a deep breath Poppy entered the church. Okay she hadn't been struck down by a bolt of lightening from above for having dared to step foot in it. So much for the preacher threatening that was what would happen if she ever did.

"You okay?" Adam asked from behind her.

"Yeah," she replied, "It's a lot smaller than I thought it would be." looking around.

"So which way is it to the graves?"

"Behind the church." she said,

"You know they could be covered over with all this snow." he warned her.

"I know that, but we can always clear them off." If he wouldn't help her then she would do it by herself. She'd come this far without being stopped so she might as well go the rest of the way.

"Poppy, are you sure that you want to do this?" he asked, following her as she walked down the center aisle of the church, "I mean what if someone comes?"

"I just want to see it once," she said, "I'll go on my own if I have to."

"Could you at least tell me what name we're supposed be looking for once we've fond tham." Adam said.

"James Ellis," she replied, "My grandmother kept her maiden name, all the women in my family have."

"Another tradition?"

"Yeah."

"This place is full of them isn't it." he said.

"I think they make them up," Poppy said, "Just to annoy me." None of the traditions she was supposed to follow made any sort of sense to her.

"Why follow then them?"

"Because it's..." she began.

"Tradition." he laughed.

"Got it in one." she replied, opening a door to the left of the altar.

"Can I..." Reverand David Carlton asked when the door to his office opened,

"Sherriff, you know that you're not allowed in the church. So I'm afraid that you're going to have to leave."

"I just came to see my grandfather's grave," Popy said, "Once I've seen it I'll leave."

"That's not possible." Carlton replied.

"Why not?" Adam asked, "There's no law against it is there?"

"You're an outsider so I don't have to explain anything to you," he said,

"Now if you don't leave I'll be forced to call the Mayor."

"Go right ahead," she replied, "Because I'm not going anywhere until I've seen it." Knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to call anyone with the phone lines down. From the rate his heart was beating her was teriffied, maybe that she would find something out that she wasn't supposed to.

"I'd really like to see you call the Mayor," Adad said, as Carlton reached for the phone on his desk , "Be a miracle if you did get through."

"Now can I see the grave or not?" Poppy asked tapping the weapon which was strapped to her upper thigh.

"What happened to you Sherriff?" Carlton asked, "You would never have acted like this before he came into town."

"Maybe I should have," she admitted, " Don't worry I won't be coming to sunday services. And the next time you have the collection money stolen I suggest you call the Mayor. Seeing as though I'm not allowed in here."

"You're refusing to do your job!" he said.

"Just working within the rules you and the rest of town laid down." Poppy replied. Rules which they were going to find stopped her from being such a good Sherriff.

"The Mayor's not going to be happy about this when he finds out." Carlton warned her.

"Just tell her where the grave is." Adam said.

"Far corner of the graveyard." he replied.

"Thank you." Poppy smiled.

They were going to have an easier job finding her grandfather's grave now that they knew roughly where it was, Adam thought. It just didn't make sense to him that they would stop her from even seeing it unless they had something to hide. After all what possible harm could it do? If anything happened to him, all they'd have to put on his grave was a name that wasn't really his and a date of death.

Without Adam's support she would never have dared to stand up to the preacher like she had, Poppy thought brushing away the snow on the headstone in front of her to find out if it was her grandfather's. The more time she spent with Adam the more confident she felt not only about standing up for herself but in using the family curse. Even since meeting him she hadn't had a single lapse, whereas before she had been having several a day. At first she had thought that coming across him that night had just been good luck, now she was starting to think that maybe fate had given her a helping hand. Doc could even have been right when he'd said that it wasn't too late for her to meet someone.

"I'm telling you that as Mayor you have to do something about her," Carlton said, "She walked straight into my office and demanded to see the grave, then she refused to do her job."

"She's been acting up ever since she got that pretty boy deputy of hers," Ross said, "Her mother was just the same."

"Well you need to do something." he said.

"They never made it out of town and neither will she if she gets the idea to in her head," Ross reassured him, "Not even she could make it to the freeway in this weather."

"Whatever you're going to do I suggest that you dod it soon because right now they're snooping round the graveyard." Carlton said.

"And you didn't try to stop them?" he asked.

"She has a gun." he replied.

"Which she never uses," Ross reminded him, "And don't worry about it I'll take care of her and that pretty boy."

"She knew what you did," Carlton warned him, "That you..."

"It was an accident," Ross snapped, "It was their own fault for trying to leave. And you knew exactly what was going to happen, so don;t start getting a guilty conscience now." He'd deal with them both in any way he saw fit along with anyone who didn't go along with him.

"Rose Sinclair mean anything to you?" Adam asked looking at the name carved onto the headstone in front of him. So far that was the only one with Sinclair he'd found. Which was strange as Poppy's family had lived there since the town had first been settled, he thought.

"My mother," she replied going over to where he was stood, "At least that's what I've always been told."

"You don't know?" he asked.

"No, my parents died in a car crash. I was just baby at the time," she said, "Never knew she was buried here though."

"What about your grandmother? You said that..." he began.

"She left town when she retired, went into the woods. That was the last anyone saw of her." staring at the name on the headstone.

"And no-one bothered to go looking for her?" Adam said.

"Why would they? It happens when the curse takes you over," Poppy said,

"Happen to me eventually."

"You were fourteen when she..." how was he supposed to describe it, he thought.

"Retired." Poppy suggested.

"Retired, so shouldn't you have gone to live with relatives?" he asked,

"You shouldn't have become Sherriff." What sort of town was she living in when they would force a teenage girl to take on such an adult role.

"Why not?" she asked, "I couldn't leave the town without a sherrif."

"Because it's not right that's why not." he replied. She had absolutely no idea that what they'd done was both morally and legally wrong.

"I know that." she admitted.

"Then why haven't you done something about it?" he demanded.

"What am I supposed to do?" Poppy asked.

"You could leave." Adam suggested.

"And go where? All I know is being a Sherriff. I didn't finish school. This is my home." she replied.

Pretty boy was the one responsible for filling her head with nonsense, Ross thought making his way to the graveyard. And as soon as he'd got rid of him she'd be a good little Sherriff again, do everything she was told to, and if she didn't. Well then she would meet with a very nasty accident just like her parents had.

He had never regretted what he'd done that night. After all, they were trying to deprive the town of two Sherriff's. Sure people knew what he'd done, but they'd also known why. And people knew better than to say anything when she might be able to hear them. Ever since the town had got it's first Sherriff it had been his family's duty to keep them in line and he wasn't going to be the first one to break that long tradition.

"Let's go home." Henri said coming out of Royce's office and looking at his mother.

"Henri..." she began.

"I have to apologise to him," he frowned, "It should be the other way round." After all, he wasn't the one who'd nearly shot his partner. Still after what had happened Simon was bound to either let him work alone or with Joel. Because if he had to work with Crown again next time he might not be so lucky.

"You're back at work that's the important thing," she smiled, "Now that's over with you can start looking for Brian. If that boy's out there you find him and bring him home."

"I will." he promised her.

There was definitely trouble brewing, Doc thought, looking out of his office window and seeing people flocking to the diner. Mike Ross was probably stirring up trouble for the Sherriff again. The man was never happy unless he was causing trouble for someone, unfortunately that tended to to be the Sherriff. Well, whatever was going on he'd best be ready for it. If she came to him for help he'd do what he could, but the chances of her and Adam getting out of town safely were very slim if people were really determined to stop her.

"James Ellis, this has to be it." Poppy said rubbing her hand over the etched stone. A frown crossed her face then she took one of her gloves off and ran her hand over it again.

"What's wrong?" Adam asked.

"Something else was written here," she replied pointing to where there was a blank space on the headstone, "It's been ground off."

"How can you tell?" He certainly couldn't see any difference in the stone at all.

"The feel of it," she replied, "It's rougher."

"So what was written there?"

"S,O..." tracing the once carved letters with a finger.

"Son?" Adam suggested.

"Yeah," looking at him, "Why would someone want to defile his grave like this. He served the town for fifty years, surely he had a right to rest in peace after that long."

"Poppy, don't you think that if they've gone to so much trouble stopping you from seeing this that there's something that they really don't want you to find out," he said, "What I mean is they could try and hurt you."

"Or you," she said, "I'd never let anything happen to you though."

"More than one person had to be involved in this. You can't fight an entire town."

"I don't understand you," she said, "One minute you're telling me one thing, the next the opposite. Could you make your mind up what you want me to do."

"Go back to your office and don't tell anyone what you found," he replied,

"We'll work this out I promise."

"I think it's too late." looking past him where she saw Mike Ross approaching them with what looked like a shotgun. Adam was right they weren't going to let her find out what it was that they were hiding from her. Only it wasn't her that they were planning on hurting, but Adam. Grabbing hold of one of his arms she began dragging him towards where she could see the that the fence surrounding the graveyard was broken.

"What the..." Adam began.

"We have to get out of here," she said, "He's coming with a shotgun."

"Who is?" he demanded to know as she half dragged him through the gap in the fence.

"Mike Ross," he hissed, "Now shut up and follow me." Her grandmother had showed her places to hide if she ever had to, not that she'd ever really expected to have to use them. Of course they were at a disadvantage while they were in town, but once they got out of it she would be able to give everyone who came looking for them the slip.

"Doesn't matter where you go I'll find you," Ross hollered as he struggled through the snow, "Can't escape the whole town." There'd be plenty of people willing to help hunt both her and pretty boy down. He wasn't entirely sure that they could trust Doc though, the old man seemed to be going soft in the head, siding with the Sherriff, saying that she needed that pretty boy to help her. A home town boy wasn't good enough for her, no she had to get involved with an outsider. If he;d had his way she would have been married off to someone who wasn't afraid to use a little force to keep her in line. Now he was going to have to put her out of her misery like the sick animal she was.

It looked as if he might be making some sort of progress, H thought, waiting for the secretary on the other end of the phone to check a file. But one piece of evidence wasn't going to be enough to convince some people that there was a chance that Brian was still alive, or at the very least that he hadn't died in that crash, but somewhere else instead.

"RAFE, there's no Y in it," he said, "You're sure that's the file you sent? Yes, you've been very helpful. Thank you." putting the phone down. They'd made a mistake when spelling Brian's surname, putting a Y in when there wasn't one. At least now he knew that his best friend and partner hadn't died in that crash. It still didn't answer the question of what had really happened to Brian though. Although he was now one step closer to the truth than he had been before.

No matter which way they went they were going to die, Adam tohught, struggling to keep up with Poppy as she almost bounded through the snow. The only real choice he had to make at the moment was whether he went with her and froze to death or go back to town and be shot by Mike Ross. She seemed to know what she was doing after all she probably patrolled this area a lot. So for the time being he'd go with her.

The more he thought about everything the less it made sense to him. From what she'd said and what he'd seen her family curse allowed her to see, hear and feel things that other people couldn't. He could certainly see how that would make her very useful as a Sherriff, not that it made the way she'd been treated any more acceptable. From an early age she'd probably had it drilled into her that she had to do as she was told or be exposed as some sort of freak, no wonder she'd accepted the way she'd been treated so easliy. Something had changed though, because she wasn't the same person she'd been on his second day in town, but what?

"Nearly there." Poppy said waiting for Adam to catch up with her.

"Where?" he asked, all he could see in front of him was snow and more snow.

"See those rocks to the right?" she asked.

"We're not going to try and climb them are we?"

"No, we go through them," she replied, "It's going to be a tight squeeze but once we're through we should be safe." smiling at him.

"For how long?" Adam asked, "We've left tracks all the way here, and what about food?"

"Adam, relax. Nobody is going to follow us." she reassured him.

"How can you be sure of that?" Even he could clearly see the tracks they'd left behind them.

"It's going to snow again," Poppy replied, "Won't take long for them to cover over. As for food, you'll have to trust me on that."

"As if I have any other choice." he muttered.

"I'm the one going on the run here," she snapped, "Leaving everything I've ever known." Even now she felt the urge to turn back and accept her fate in town. But something deep inside her wouldn't let an innocent person get hurt because of her, and she knew that's what would happen if the ydid go back.

"You're scared?" Adam asked.

"Terrified," she admitted, "I've never broken so many rules before." And she knew that her grandmother would be very disappointed that she'd abandoned her duty to the town, not that she had chosen to do so lightly.

"Rules are only as good as the people who make them." he said as a few flakes of snow began to drift downwards.

"She's run off with that pretty boy deputy of hers." Mike Ross announced to the gathered crowd in the diner.

"So?" French asked.

"We have to go after them," he replied, "She has no right to be going off anywhere without permission. Never mind with a total stranger."

"Why not?" French asked, "You haven't been treating her right lately."

"After everything this towns done for her she owed us her loyalty," he snapped, "Now whose coming with me to get her?" He was disappointed to find that not a single hand was raised. Still, he should have expected them to turn out to be cowrds when there was real work to be done.

"The minute you leave town I'm calling the highway patrol," French warned him, "I say it's time we found a Sherriff who actually wants to be here."

"Well she's not going to be anything for much longer." Ross said.

No matter what he didn't Ellison didn't get more than a little irritated with the hippy, Jake thought. Either the man had ice running through his veins or her suspected that someone else was messing his paperwork up. From now on he was going to have to be careful or he'd get caught. To make things even worse he'd discovered that Brown would be back at work tomorrow. He should have made sure that he'd got rid of him while he'd had the chance to because from now on he was going to be very wary around him.

"You weren't joking about it being a tight squeeze." Adam said following Poppy through a narrow gap in the rocks.

"Maybe you should have taken your jacket off," she replied, making her way through the gap and into a large cave on the other side, "After all, you are fatter than me." slipping her jacket back on.

"I'm not fat." he protested struggling to make it to the end of the gap.

"Keep going, you're nearly there." grabbing hold of one of his arms and trying to pull him the rest of the way.

"Watch it," he said, "Keep doing that and I'm likely to get stuck."

"Fine I'll start the fire." letting go of his arm. She'd only been trying to help him so why was he being so touchy.

"Won't someone see the smoke?" Adam asked making it into the cave.

"There's no-one around for miles." Poppy replied.

"You can really hear that far?"

"Yeah, even see it when it's clear," smiling at him, "There's a box of candles around here somewhere. Light one if you don't like the dark." Not that she really needed light to see by.

"I can see the candles..." he began.

"Sorry." she said.

"So do you come here often?" Adam asked jokingly.

"About once a month if I can," she said, "Check on things, sometimes bring what I can up here." finding the box of candles, lighting one and handing it to him.

Looking around the dimly lit cave Adam realised that a few supplies was putting it mildly.

"You brought all this up here?" he asked.

"Only some of it," Poppy replied, "Most of it was already here. I think ever Sherrif's there's ever been's brought stuff in here. A lot of it's pretty old."

"And no-one in town knows about this place?"

"No, it's family secret. There are a couple of other places like it. I never thought I'd end up using them though."

"Poppy, how long are we going to be staying here?"

"Depends on a lot of things," she admitted, "So make yourself comfortable cause we could be in for a long wait."

She had to be cold and tired, Adama thought watching Poppy going through everything in the cave, because he was. Even with the fire she'd built blazing away he could feel that the temperature was dropping. And it was going to get alot colder.

"You find a blanket yet?" he asked casually.

"Yeah," she replied, "But it's not exactly clean."

"I don't care." he admitted. He was too cold to care about what state the blanket was in.

"Here," throwing him what looked like a screwed up rag, "If you're hungry I can fix you some soup. Mugs are a bit dirty though."

"Stop worrying about whether something's clean or not." he said.

"I just don't want you to get sick. It's not as if we can go back to town and get Doc to fix you up if you do." she reminded him.

"I'm not going to get sick," Adam reassured her, "But if you don't sit down soon you're going to." Then they would both be in serious trouble as he didn't have a clue as to how to survive out here in this sort of weather."

"In a minute." she replied.

"Now." he said firmly. Reluctantly Poppy sat down next to him. "Have you thought about where we're going to go once we get out of here?" They had to go somewhere because they couldn't live out in places like this for the rest of their lives.

"The city I suppose," she replied, "Seatttle's closest. Would take us a few days to walk there in this weather though."

"Do you know anyone there?" he asked.

"Not really," Poppy admitted, "But I'm pretty sure that a couple of the guys from the highway patrol would help us. Cops help their own, especially out here and they don't like Mike Ross anymore than I do." smiling at him.

"One letter," she said shaking her head and looking at her son, "You'd think that they'd double check these things. Especially when it affects people's lives." And it had certainly affected their's because they'd buried the wrong man.

"Mom, it doesn't mean that Brian's still alive," Henri reminded her, "Just that he wasn't in that car."

"Don't you give up on him Henri," she warned him, "He's out there somewhere."

"I'm not going to, but it's not going to be easy to find him even if he's still alive."

"You know I'll help you as much as I can. So make some coffee because I have some phone calls to make."

"Who to?" he asked.

"Never you mind." she said. There would be plenty of people willing to help look for him once she'd told them what she was planning to do. After all many hands made light work.

Not even the weather was going to stop him, Ross thought, doing his best to follow the tracks out of town which were rapidly being covered over by the falling snow. It might have been better if he'd let her die along with her parents. And he couldn't wait to see the look of absolute terror on her face when he shot pretty boy, not that she didn't already know what he had in mind for the both of them. Might be nice to be able to have secrets instead of knowing that there was always somebody watching and listening. Hell the rest of town should be grateful that he was doing their dirty work. Not that anyone had ever really appreciated his efforts in keeping the Sherriff in line for so long.

"How the hell do you work this thing?" French asked staring at the police radio in Poppy's office.

"Let me do it," Doc said, pushing his way through the gathered men to the radio, "Not that calling the highway patrol's going to do any good. Can't get through until this weather clears up. Could be days before they can get a snowplough through." By that time both the Sherriff and her deputy could be dead, then again it might be Mike Ross that they ended up burying.

"We should still call them," FRench said, "In case he finds them, or they make it to the highway."

"Damn fool'll be lucky to find his way back to town." Doc said, fiddling with the buttons on the radio.

It would be so easy to just close her eyes and drift off to sleep, Poppy though, sitting and looking at Adam who was curled up fast asleep in front of the fire. But first she had to make sure that the fire wouldn't go out until nearly morning, and that there wasn't anyone coming their way. Moving to the gap that served as the entrance to the cave she listened for any sign of life outside. There wasn't even so much a bird moving out there at the moment, not that she could blame the wildlife for taking shelter, because that's what they were doing. Only they weren't just hiding from the weather.

Settling down behind Adam she let herself relax. Fot the first time ever she felt truly at ease with the curse. And it was all down to Adam, she thought, without him she'd still be in town, afraid of what she was and what would happen to her. She still was afraid of what would happen to her when he got his memory back, he'd probably leave her and go back to his old life. Then she would be alone again, and she didn't think that she could face being that again. Why was she worrying about something that might not happen for a long time if ever when there were much more important things that she had to worry about right now, like what they were going to do once they'd managed to get away.

Moving up closer to Adam she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

"Morning," Adam said, when a pair of sleepy blue eyes looked up at him, "At least I think it's morning." He certainly hadn't been expecting to wake up to find Poppy sprawled all over him. Not that he intended to complain about it.

"It's not so go back to sleep." Poppy yawned closing her eyes and snuggling up closer to him.

"Poppy..." he began.

"What?"

"Night." wrapping his arms around her.

"You too."

There was something about holding her while she slept, Adam thought, something that felt right. It was as if she belonged in his arms and she certainly acted as if she did. He really wished that he could remember something about himself, his name would be a good place to start. If he could remember that then when they got to Seattle he could see if he was in the phone book, maybe go to the police ask whether anyone had reported him as being missing. Somehow he doubted that he had been otherwise there would have been a message from the highway patrol aobut him. At least he didn't seem to be a criminal mastermind on the run.

What was going to happen to Poppy if he did get his memory back? She'd given up everything that she'd known for him. And what could he give her in return, nothing that's what. For all he knew he could be married, then what was he supposed to do. THe feelings he had for her weren't going to go away, if anything they were getting stronger.

"Mom, are you going to tell me what you're doing?" Henri asked, because for the past three hours she'd made phone call after phone call. At the rate she was going their next phone bill was going to be through the roof. "It's not illegal is it?"

"Henri," outrage showing in her voice, "If you must know I'm arranging a search party."

"A search party! How?"

"The church," she replied, "Everyone's agreed to help."

"This sort of thing is better left to me and the guys at the station." he said, once he'd been able to convince them that Bri might still be alive that was. It was a good idea though, but he couldn't really see it working.

"And you're going to go all round the country looking for him?" she said,

"Son, it's not possible for you to be everywhere at once. Extra eyes will help to find him all that sooner. I've already got most of the major cities covered."

"Maybe you're right," he admitted, "But if someone finds him I'll go get him."

"We'll go get him." she said.

To be Continued
Go to Part II