Out of the corner of her eye, AJ saw something coming straight at her. She barely had time to turn her head before the butt of a gun knocked her to her knees. There wasn't any time for her to waste. She rolled back onto her back. The two men standing over her sneered.

"Someone's been lookin' fer ya, Cinders." One of the men said, aiming his six-shooter at her. AJ glared at them, slipping her knife into her hand.

"Mighty high reward for you. I t'ink you know that it ain't any lawful reward," the second man said with venom.

"Maybe t'hat's cause I'm valuable." She remarked and kicked upwards. The gun went off, but embedded itself into the wall. AJ moved fast. She leapt back onto her feet and heard the first man cry out in pain as the knife sliced open his arm. The second man lunged for her. She pulled out her own colt gun. Without giving the other man a warning, she shot him in the chest. He immediately collapsed. She slammed her palm into the first man's nose, followed by her fist into his eye. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

AJ swore hotly at the men. Damn. Who the hell had placed a reward on her head? She heard the commotion on the street and quickly hid her knife back in her sleeve. AJ ducked around the corner and inconspicuously slipped out of the alley. Things would be worse if those seven peacekeepers meddled in her business. She made her way back to her room, hopefully no one had noticed her.

Lily tossed restlessly in her bed. She hated to admit it to herself but she missed the feel of Chris next to her. His absence wasn't the only thing on her mind though. The appearance of her brother was weighing heavily on her. They'd argued twice earlier in the day about her refusal to return with him. She hoped that he would abandon his efforts quickly and leave town. Muffled voices out in the hall made Lily sit up in her bed.

"It must be Terrance," she said quietly to herself. "But who is he talking with?" She was almost to the door when it flung open. "Terrance! You nearly scared me to death."

"You know I wouldn't want to cause you any harm Lily." The sing-song lilt to his voice scared her. He reached out and gently pushed a lock of hair away from her face. "Oh my dear Lily, if only you had agreed to marry me all those times I asked . . . maybe things could have been different."

"What are you talking about Terrance? What could have been different?" The words had barely left her mouth when he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her into the hall. A few feet away stood her brother Henri holding a gun to the head of Joseph. For a moment Lily considered screaming but knew it would be a futile gesture, the only other person who lived in the saloon was Ezra and he was off with Chris. Terrance must have read her mind because his hand came down over her mouth. He leaned in close his breath hot against her ear.

"Now my dear, you and I are going to accompany your brother to the train in Ridge City. Then you are going to return to France with him. I know that you will not try to cause us any trouble or young Joseph here is going to die an early death. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

Lily shook her head. She let them push her down the stairs and out of the saloon. Her mind raced trying to come up with a way out of this. She certainly didn't want to see Joseph hurt. Henri's coach waited in the street.

"I do appreciate your help young man. But I do not believe we will need your services any more." Henri lowered the gun and released his grip on Joseph. He gave the boy a pat on the back. Lily looked back and forth between the men a confused look on her face.

"My poor sister, you look confused." Henri took a step toward her. "You see, your young Joseph was never in any danger. He was working with us all the time. A very capable young man, for the most part."

"Yes, I'm so glad that I hired Joseph. Though if he had done his original job properly I doubt that we'd be having so much trouble with you now."

"What are you talking about?" Lily was becoming frustrated by this conversation. There seemed to be some piece of information that she was the only one not privilege to.

"You haven't figured it out? And I always thought you were such a bright woman. I hired Joseph to do one thing. Kill Chris Larabee. You do remember him being shot, don't you? Unfortunately Joseph missed his target. But that's neither here or there any longer. By the time he returns from his little errand you'll be far away from here."

Lily looked at Joseph in wonder. She couldn't believe that this sweet young boy had been the one that shot Chris. She couldn't believe that he would shoot anyone. He turned away from her gaze.

"Enough with this talk. My sister and I need to get going. We wouldn't want to miss our train." Henri grabbed Lily's arm and pulled her closer to the coach.

"Wait. I want to know why."

"Why what?"

"Why is it so necessary for me to return with you? For fifteen years no one in this family has given a damn about what happened to me. Why now?"

"I told you. Father is dead."

"That's no reason, that's just your excuse." Lily raised her voice a bit. She hoped that if she could keep him talking long enough maybe someone from the town would come out to see what was going on. Henri walked a circle around her three times before speaking again.

"You made him look like a fool. Father knew that you had taken off with that farm hand. He sent people after you. They found that idiot boy after he'd left you. It took a little longer but they found you in San Francisco and what you were doing." He spat at her feet. "What do you think that did to him . . . knowing that you had become nothing but a whore?"

"It was better than returning to you."

"Yes, well, you don't have that choice any longer. You're coming home now. Oh, and mother will be ever so happy to see you." His last words dripped with evil. She knew that it would not be a pleasant homecoming.

"This is all out of spite? To make me pay for--" Henri grabbed her arms halting her words.

"It's more a matter of family honor." Their attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of fighting in the alley followed by gunshots. "I'm not waiting any longer. We're leaving now."

"No! I'm not going with you."

"Yes, you are." Henri grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her toward the coach.

"I think she said she didn't want to go." A woman's voice came from the shadows. AJ Cinders stepped out into the street with her gun drawn.

"This is none of your concern." Henri kept his grasp on Lily's arm tight.

"Maybe, maybe not. But either way, you're going to let her go." In the cold silence of the night the sound of her gun being cocked echoed. Henri and AJ stared at each other coldly. Joseph looked back and forth between the pair before running from the street.

His departure distracted AJ's glance for a second. Terrance took that opportunity to draw his gun. Out of the corner of her eye AJ saw his movement. She didn't hesitate, only moved her aim to the right and fired. The bullet hit him square in the chest and he fell backwards. Henri dropped his hand from Lily's arm. She dropped to the ground next to Terrance.

"Damn you, you stupid man." He tried to choke out a laugh in response. "You never knew to stay out of things." She felt a tear run down her cheek.

"I think you ought to get on out of here before anyone else dies." AJ waved her gun at Henri. He opened the door to his coach and stepped up to the door.

"This is not finished Lily. You will come home one day."