Molly's breath came in rapid gasps as she ran blindly through the falling twilight. Hot tears burnt her cheeks. A strong hand appeared out of nothingness and grabbed her arm. A cry of fear escaped her lips as the stranger's grip tightened preventing her escape.

"Molly, it's okay. It's me, Josiah." The familiar voice calmed her momentarily. She turned hesitantly, her eyes travelling up from his hand, up his arm to his concerned face.

"Josiah . . . I . . . uh . . .," she took a deep breath trying to steady her voice.

"Lily saw you run out of the saloon. She was worried, sent me after you. Are you all right, little sister?"

She nodded, her eyes still wide with fear. "Yes, I think so." Josiah released his grip on her arm. The pair walked slowly back toward Four Corners.

"What scared you so much that it sent you running into the night?" Molly remembered the pain of KC clutching her wrist and the hard look in her eyes.

"I . . . I . . .," the hesitation in her voice caused Josiah to reach out and pat her arm reassuringly.

"If you don't want to talk about it child that's fine. Just remember, if you feel like unburdening your soul, I'm hear to listen." He gave Molly a gently smile that calmed her for a moment.

Her thoughts returned to her fear about who had been following her. What if it was one of the men who protected the town? It was Josiah who had found her in the barn and it was him who'd found her tonight. She gave him a sideways glance. The large man seemed so gentle but she'd seen kind men turn evil before.

As they neared town the sounds from the saloon floated out to meet them. Molly hoped that her father would not hear about this. She knew how worried he'd been and she didn't want to add to his troubles.

"There you are." A relieved Lily left the place in front of the saloon from where she'd been watching for them to return. She enveloped the young girl in her arms. "Are you all right, cher?" Molly nodded meekly in response. "Thank you for fetching her back Josiah."

He tipped his hat to the two women and turned away disappearing into the darkness. Lily took Molly by the arm and lead her through the saloon which had become much more crowded during Molly's absence. Bryn still sat at the table in the rear. She was quietly sipping a cup of tea.

"Josiah found our wayward child." Bryn looked up at Lily's words and gave a sigh of relief.

"Ya had us so scared. Please don't do tha' again." Molly took the seat next to Bryn at the table.

"Well, I think there has been too much excitement for tonight. I want both of you to go upstairs and get away from all this." Lily waved her hand at the crowd of patrons.

"But I still have t' sing tonight." Bryn did like the idea of retiring early but didn't want to let Lily down.

"Nonsense, cher. These men will survive one night without you." Lily chuckled lightly. "I'll bring up some super in a little bit. Now, don't try to argue with me. Upstairs with the both of you."

If anyone had been watching him, they would have seen the rage in his eyes. How dare that woman deprive him of his beautiful Songbird. Twice this week she'd spirited his love away as she made her way through the crowd before she'd said hello to him. And now, he wouldn't even be allowed the pleasure of her sweet voice. He'd make Lily regret this.

Lily knocked lightly on the door to Bryn's room before entering. She carried a tray loaded down with biscuits, fried pork, and another pot of tea. She smiled when she saw that the two younger women had changed into their nightgowns and robes.

"This is so kind of you Lily." Molly poured herself a cup of tea and sipped it gratefully. Lily opened her mouth to respond but a noise in the hall halted her words.

"I'll be right back." Lily pulled the door almost shut behind her, leaving a crack of an inch or so. Bryn slipped from the bed, her feet padding silently on the wooden floor.

"What are --," Bryn raised a finger to her lips signaling Molly to be quiet. The voices in the hall were low but Bryn recognized the other voice as belonging to Chris Larabee. Lily's voice raised but the words were unintelligible to Bryn. They had a familiar harmony and she suspected it was French.

A creak of the floorboards drew Chris's attention to the door Lily had exited. He could see fabric moving closely behind it and knew that someone was listening.

"Let's talk in private." The gunman firmly grasped Lily's arm and pulled her into her room.

It was nearly thirty minutes before Lily returned to Bryn's room. They'd heard Chris leave a few minutes before. Lily's hand trembled as she pushed the door to Bryn's room open. Her eyes were red and puffy. It was clear to the two younger women that she'd been crying and even now was fighting back more tears.

"Lily, wha' happened?" Bryn threw a comforting arm around Lily and lead her over to the bed.

"It's nothing." Lily sighed heavily and stood back up. She tried to reassure them with a pained smile. She slipped out of the room without another word.

Lily was still shaky from her argument with Chris but descended to the saloon anyway. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd for her business partner. She moved quickly across the floor to where he sat playing poker.

"Terrance? A word please." He raised his gaze slowly. He tried to hide the amusement he felt at seeing her upset. Terrance folded the hand he was playing and followed Lily to the back room.

"Lily, my dear, you seem upset."

"Why did you have Casey following me?"

"I don't know what you mean." Terrance gave her a look of wide eyed innocence.

"That's not going to work, cher. The day you shot her, she and I just happened to cross paths on the road. And today, on her way out of town, she was overheard saying something about having a job to do. I certainly wouldn't ask her to do anything in her condition. So I can only assume that it was you."

Terrance paced the floor for several seconds before answering Lily's accusations. "I was worried about you, darling. I didn't like the idea of you riding off alone."

"Or did you not like the idea of me riding off to see Mr. Larabee?"

"I won't deny that the idea of you with . . . him, makes my stomach turn. You know how I feel about you." Terrance's hands grasped Lily's waist and pulled her close to him. She pushed against his chest trying to break away.

"We have been through this before. Let go of me." Terrance relaxed his grip and Lily pulled away. "Now, in the future, if I choose to go for a ride, I will and I'll go alone. Never, never again, send that poor child to follow me."

Lily turned away without waiting for an answer. She knew that she'd made her point.

KC lay on her bed trying to relax, hoping that the pain would ease. A knock at the door caused her to rise to a sitting position with difficulty.

"Yeah?" The door opened slowly and Lily peeked her head in.

"I wanted to check on you, cher. How are you feeling?" Lily closed the door behind her as she entered.

"Fine." KC studied the other woman and wondered if the bloodshot eyes were a result of the fight she'd heard coming from her room earlier.

"We need to discuss something. I know about you following me when I go riding. And I know that's its Mr. Sullivan that has been ordering you to do so." Lily waited for some objection but KC merely stared silently at her.

"From now on you're not to follow me when I go riding. You also needn't follow Mr. Sullivan's orders any longer. He and I have had a discussion on the subject and he knows my wishes too." KC watched her suspiciously.

"You said something about paying your debts. Well, now any debts you owe are with me. I've been paying the board for your horse at the livery. And I managed to keep Mr. Larabee from throwing you jail after beating up that man out at his ranch." Lily paused for a moment considering whether or not to add one more piece of information. "I also paid that man for your horse. That way he wouldn't come accusing you of being a horse thief."

"It was my horse." KC's voice had an icy tone. She was still planning on getting back at Terrance for selling her horse.

"Regardless of that, you now owe me. And part of your way of paying off that debt is to stop following me on my rides. Is that clear?" KC waited a minute before nodding in understanding. "Good. Now then, I'll bid you goodnight. I suggest you turn in early, cher, you look a little pale."

Bryn covered her mouth trying to stifle a yawn. Molly was still upstairs sleeping soundly. They had stayed up half the night talking. It was already mid-morning and she was upset with herself for having slept so late. She had wanted to take Ezra his breakfast and check on how he was doing. She found Lily behind the bar examining the books.

"Mornin' Lily."

"Good morning cher."

"Are ya goin' ridin' again?" Lily's attire was the first thing she'd noticed when she'd come down the stairs. Bryn was slightly surprised. She knew that Lily's rides were always out to see Chris. Lily's state after seeing him last night lead her to believe that she wouldn't be riding out to see him anymore.

"Yes, I am." Lily studied the other woman for a moment before continuing. "Bryn, I'm sure that you know where I go when I leave to go riding. Last night Mr. Larabee had a bit of an argument and I said somethings that I now regret. I feel I should go and apologize to him. Please keep this between us?"

"Of course and I hope tha' everythin' works out." Lily gave Bryn a warm hug before heading out to the livery.

The loud rumble from above her drew Lily out of her daydream. She gave a cry of shock as she saw the rocks tumbling down the hillside toward her. A large rock charged down the hill just in front of her horse causing him to jump up in the air throwing Lily from the saddle.

Lily moaned in pain as she tried to crawl away from the barage of stones and rocks that were enveloping her. The sharp edges of some of the smaller stones caught her hands and face. She could feel the warmth of the blood as it spread across her face.

The thunder of the rocks stopped. Lily coughed as the dust settled around her. She tried to move but her left ankle was caught between two large rocks. Her desperate attempts to push the rocks apart were hopeless. They were too heavy for her to anything but scrape up the palms of her hands.

A shadow blocked the sun from her eyes. She peered up and saw a figure on the hill above her. Lily waved her arms trying to attract the man's attention. From this distance it was difficult for her to see exactly what he looked like but he was familiar in some way. She watched in disbelief as the man tipped his hat to her, mount his horse and ride away.

"Wait, come back! Please! Help!" Lily's voice barely carried up. She chest ached from the effort of screaming. She laid back on the ground and prayed for someone to find her.