Chase was snapped out of his reverie by the sound of the door opening. Quickly resurecting the mask of a heart broken man, and going over his rehersed story one last time, Chase looked up to greet the man who entered.

Josiah entered the room where the man awaited him. Before him sat the picture of a dejected man. He sat, shoulders hunched, on the corner of a bench wearing a weary expression. The man appeared to, indeed, be down on his luck and Josiah set about seeing what he could do to turn that luck around.

Extending his right hand as he walked to where the man sat, Josiah introduced himself. “Hello sir, my name’s Josiah Sanchez. I’m one of the preachers at this mission.” Chase took Josiah’s hand and replied, “How good to meet you. My names Chase Lancer, and I wanna thank you for taking me in like this......” Chase let his voice trail off into a pitifull whisper and lowered his eyes as if in humility....it was all for effect.

Poor soul, Josiah thought to himself. He wondered what turn of events could have caused this man to be suffering so. He took a seat on the bench next to Chase and decided to attempt to find out. “So tell me, brother, what brings you to our mission?” Chase let out a long, sorrowful sigh and began to wring his calloused hands. “Well, Joisah......do I call you Josiah?Or preacher?” He thought of what he would like to call this bible thumping do gooder, but he would refrain until such time as he was no longer essential to his safety. “You may call me Josiah.” Chase gave Josiah a humble smile and continued. “Well, Josiah, you see.......I am at my wits end. My wife.....Emily......she has gone missing, you see, and I have been combing the area in search of her.”

Josiah’s heart went out to the man. Having just discovered the bond that love could form between two people, Josiah could only imagine the pain it would bring when the bond was broken......even for a short period of time. “How horrible for you Mr. Lancer. You must be beside yourself with worry. have you been looking long? have you had any leads as to her whereabouts?” Chase burried his head in his hands. He was skilled at summoning false emotions when he needed to, but even he needed a minute to beckon the tears that would put the icing on this cake, so to speak. Sure enough, with a little prodding, his eyes began to mist up and he rose his head as he spoke. “To answer your questions, yes.....I have been looking for nearly two weeks, which seems like a life time......and no, I have had no leads as to where she may be.” Chase then went in for the kill. He looked Josiah straight in the eye, and with the cunning that perhaps the devil himself would be envious of, he let a tear roll down his dust covered cheek. In a squeek of a voice he begged, “Please Josiah, might I stay here....just for a night or two....in order to regain my strength so that I can continue to search for my beloved wife?” “Of course you may, Mr. Lancer. That is what we are here for.” Josiah placed a reassuring hand on the man’s shoulder. “I will see that you get some food and rest. Then, perhaps tomorrow, we could possibly see about checking with the local law to see if they can aid you in your search.”

Chase had no intentions of going anywhere near a law man. Why, with the henious deeds he had commited, he was sure any law man laying eyes on him would recognise him and throw him in a cell and call a hanging judge directly afterwards. Still, that was tomorrow, and he didn’t plan on being here then. He had seccured a safe hiding place for the night, and tomorrow he would be gone by first light. By then those men hunting for him would have been thrown off his tracks and he would be free to move on to different parts.....and different evils. “You are too kind, Josiah. Tell me....do you have one that you love?” He could not resist the masked jab at this man. These preacher types, especially the ones in these missions, were too busy praying to get themselves a woman and have a little fun with them. Besides, even if they did find a woman between the prayers, he’d have to marry her first.....and Chance knew all to well what hell that could be.

But to Chase’s surprise, Josiah answered, “Well, actually, yes I do.” “Really?” Chase could not keep the shock out of his tone. He covered this by adding, “I just thought that with living a mission, and helping all us lost souls, that you may not have time to find a wife.” Josiah smiled and nodded. “Well, you are partly right. I have not married her yet....though I plan to soon. As for the mission, I shall attempt to do my work here after Cheyenne and I are married, but if it proves too much I will seek a smaller parish.”

Intrigued by this bit of information, Chase probed for more. “Cheyenne.....what a beautiful name. Tell me about her....it would help to take my mind off my sorrow to hear how two people fell in love.” Chase watched the trusting preacher take the bait like a greedy fish. This was almost too easy, he thought to himself.

Josiah, wanting to ease the man’s pain, even if for only a few moments, gladly complied. Besides, he was still near bursting with joy over the recent events, and was all to happy to voice it. “Well, like I said, her name is Cheyenne. She and her father, a good friend of mine, live in a cabin about two hours east of here, at the foot of the mountains. I have known both of them for about a year now, but never realized how much I cared for Anni, that’s what I call her, until my last visit only last week. So, I decided to make her my wife.....and I am returning in two days time to ask her.” Josiah beamed at the mere thought of having Cheyenne as his wife, and talking about it only made him more anxious to make it happen.

“What a wonderful story.” Chase replied. And what a good deal of information on this preacher’s woman. Chase made a mental note of everything said...never know...it may come in handy. Right now, though, all that interested him was some food and sleep. Running for your life sure took a lot out of a man. Josiah senced the man’s increasing weariness. “Please, forgive me Mr. Lancer. You must be tired and hungry. Come with me and lets find you a bed and a hot meal.” Chase only nodded, most of his energy spend on his earlier performance.

Two hours later found Chase Lancer with food in his belly and a warm bed in which to lay his weary bones. Better than a hotel, he thought to himself, cause the damn things free! He was just about to start stripping off his clothes, and climb in bed when he heard a knock at the door of his small room “What the hell now?” He muttered to himself. For a place of sanctuary, it sure as hell was hard to find any peace.

Summoning every ounce of energy his exhausted body could muster up, Chase once again erected the facade and said, “Come in...the door’s open.”

Hearing the permission to enter, Josiah opened the door and walked into the man’s room. “Hello again, Mr. Lancer. I just wanted to check and make sure you were all settled.” “Yes, thank you. I am.” The man’s response was short and to the point. He was growing ever more weary of this meddlesome preacher. Josiah gave Chase a nod of his head and replied, “That’s good to hear, well.....I will leave you to it then.” He turned to leave when suddenly he recalled what he carried in his hand. “Oh.” He said, turning back. “I nearly forgot. I brought you something.” With that he held out the bible he had wanted to give to him.

Eyeing the offered bible for a brief second, Chase felt a wave of disgust and anger sweep over him. All he wanted to do was get some sleep and then get the hell out of this place first thing in the morning, but this damn preacher was keeping from it by shoving his religion down his throat.

Deciding the quickest way to get rid of Josiah was just to accept the damn book, Chase took the offered bible and with a weak smile said, “Thank you Josiah, I will read it when I am not so tired.” Chase hoped the preacher would take the hint and get out. “Of course.” Josiah said. “I know you must be exhausted. I just wanted you to have it for comfort in your time of grief. I even wrote a little message on the inside of the cover for you.” “Oh really?” Chase asked. Curiosity overtaking his weariness. I just had to see what pretty words the preacher wrote for me, Chase thought sarcastically. Sure enough, when he open the bible there was a written inscription on the back of the cover. It read “ Mr. Lancer, Remember that God is always with you and that in your time of need he will not forsake you.” Chase had to fight to stifle laughter at the sappy sentiment. If only he knew, Chase thought to himself, that the man this preacher was trying to comfort had been responsible for sending more people to meet his precious God than any man I.....or probably this preacher.....had ever met.

As Chase looked up from the book, to give Josiah the expected words of thanks, he saw the preacher exiting the room......leaving him alone, at last. Once the door was closed Chase took the offending bible and shoved it in his back pack. More to just get it out of his sight than any desire to keep it. Having done that, he then crawled into his bed and let a restful, guilt free sleep overcome him.....after all, guilt required a conscience. Something Chase Lancer did not posses.

The next morning Josiah woke bright and early and went straight to see reverend Morgan. Josiah was hoping he would allow Josiah to leave for his return to Cheyenne today, instead of tomorrow as he had earlier planned. Finding the reverend overseeing the construction of the new addition, Josiah walked up to him and said, “Good morning reverend Morgan. I have a favor to ask of you.” “Good morning yourself Josiah.” He replied cheerily. “Ask away, my friend.” “I was hoping I could leave a day early.....um, today......to go and see Cheyenne. Would that be a problem?” The reverend patted Josiah on the back and laughed. “Not at all, Josiah! In fact I was going to suggest you head out early. The sooner you go, the sooner you will bring back this lovely woman so I can meet her.” With a sigh of relief Josiah smiled. “Thank you so much. I will just check quickly on the man that came in yesterday and then be on my way.” He then turned to leave but was stopped by reverend Morgan’s words. “No need for that.” The reverend said. “I went to check this morning on him and found he had left us already.” An expression of concern came over Josiah’s face. “Really? Strange that he would leave so soon, and without so much as a good bye.” Josiah then reasoned, “I suppose he went out looking for his wife. I know that if Cheyenne was in trouble I wouldn’t rest until she was safe as well.” The reverend only nodded, and then watched Josiah walk away. Ah, he thought to himself, the eagerness of a man in love. He could hardly wait until he met the woman that made Josiah so happy. Won’t be long now, she’ll be here before I know it.

Chase had been riding for a good half an hour when he heard horses coming up behind him. Damn! He thought, those bastards have found me again. He was just about to spur his horse into a gallop when a familiar voice called out to him. “Hey Chase! That you you old scoundrel?” Turning around, relief flooded over him as he yelled back, “Stu! You don’t know how glad I am that it’s you! And is that Henry and Jesse I see with you there?” “Sure is!” Jesse called back as they rode up beside Chase. These three men riding up had ridden in the same gang as Chase a few years ago, and as such were of the same breed........rotten to the core and always looking for trouble. “What you doing out here Chase? You’re about the last person I expected to see way the hell out here.” Jesse inquired. Chase gave a bitter laugh. “Trying to stay low and keep from getting my hide shot full of holes!” Stu shook his head and gave a snort. “Figures, Chase, figures. You always did have at least one person gunning for ya. Oh well......no matter now. We’re hear and if who ever it is finds ya the three of us will be more than happy to help ya turn the tables. We like that kind of thing don’t we boys?” “Sure do!” Jesse shot back, eager for some action. Henry just nodded and smiled. Not that he wasn’t as eager as the others, but he wasn’t much on words. He let his actions, most of them despicable, speak for him. “Well that’s just great!” Chase exclaimed. “Knew I could count on you boys!” “So.....what we gonna do until then?” Jesse inquired. “I mean I don’t aim to just sit here waiting for trouble to show up. Kinda like to find it myself!”

All at once Chase had what in his twisted mind was a great idea. “I got something we can do!” “Yeah? What’s that?” Stu asked, reaching into his saddle bag for something. Chase gave his companions a sinister grin. “Know of a nice secluded place where we can find ourselves a sweet young thing to play with.” “Now that sounds like our kind of thing Chase!” Stu replied as he produced a bottle of whiskey and crack open the top. “What say we get into some of this here whiskey and go find us this place?” All the men nodded in agreement. Chase spurred his horse and, with the men riding beside him, he set about leading them to a nice little cabin some nice preacher had told him about.

It had taken the four men a little longer than originally anticipated to find the cabin. This was due to the fact that their directions were not specific, coupled with their state of great intoxication from the whiskey they had been guzzling since they started out on this quest. But that didn’t matter now, they were there and Chase and the other three were all anxious to lay claim to whatever treasures lay inside.

Jesse was the first to notice the old man working outside the small cabin. Slurring his words, he said, “Hey Chase. Lookths like we got ourthelves a welcomin committee.” A sinister grin appeared on Chase’s lips. “Now don’t you worry none about the geezer there Jesse.” Chase pulled his gun out of it’s holster....fighting not to drop it, then raised it out in front of him. Closing one eye, he tried desperately to aligned the barrel with the distant image of Jacques. The actions cause him to nearly lose his balance and he had to take hold or the horn on his saddle to steady himself. “If he decides to give us any trouble.......” Chase made the sound of a pistol firing. “We’ll just cap the bastard. Don’t want nothing getting in the way of us and a piece of that little girl in there!” A ripple of wicked laughter made it’s way through the group.

“Oh hell,” Stu called out from behind in a boisterous voice. “Why don’t we just waste ‘em anyway....no witnesses then.” Finding his own thought amusing, Stu set out in a fit of drunken laughter. Henry, being a man of few words, only nodded his approval. “Reckon you’re right, Stu.” Was Chase’s reply, but his tone turned deadly serious.

Jacques heard the faint sound of horse hooves echoing on the soft ground. He looked up from his chores to see four men riding towards him. Though Jacques was a kind and generous man by nature, he instantly found himself disliking the look of these men. His hand slowly slid down to his side to confirm that he was carrying the new hunting knife Josiah had given him. Just in case, he thought.

“Morning sir.” Chase said as he tipped his hat in Jacques direction. The others only nodded, deciding to let Chase do the talking. “Morning.” Jacques replied curtly. “What can I do for you?” He searched the faces of the men before him and found no good in them, increasing his uneasiness. He noted that one of the men seemed to be having trouble sitting straight in his saddle. “Well, seems me and my friends here have become a little lost.” Chase started, making broad hand gestures that were often associated with a drunk man. “ We were wondering if you might point us in the direction of the town of Eagle Bend.” Chase always liked to feel out his victims before he struck. He liked to know what kind of a life he was taking. Starting idle chit chat not only made this possible, but prolonged the excitement for Chase.

Jacques put down the trap he had been working on and pointed to his left. “ Seven miles that way....just follow the river. It will lead you to it.” Seeming to ignore Jacques directions, Chase scanned the small clearing. “Nice place you have here.” His blurred vision took note of the pile of valuable furs that lay by the door to the cabin.

The longer these men stayed, the more Jacques wanted to see them go. The distinct odor of whiskey emanated from them and Jacques knew that whiskey often made good men bad....and bad men worse. “I have given you your directions. Is there something else you want?” “As a matter of fact, old man, “Chase replied with a crooked grin. “There is. I hear you got yourself a daughter.” Snickers wafted from the other men. His fears confirmed, Jacques grabbed for his knife and yelled at the cabin. “Cheyenne!” That was all he could get out before Chase drew his weapon and put a bullet in Jacques. He crumpled to the ground and lay motionless.

Cheyenne sat by the fire darning socks and daydreaming of Josiah. He would be back soon and her heart filled with joy at the thought of the reunion. Many times, since he had left, Cheyenne had replayed in her mind the moment he had taken her hand in his and kissed it. There were times when the image was so vivid she swore she could feel the warmth of his lips on her skin.

Her mind wandered even further, creating images of those tender lips on hers. His strong hands caressing her body as he loved her. Cheyenne knew very little of the act that men and women did together when they shared their love, but she had no doubt in her mind that with Josiah it would be a glorious union.

She laid her darning on her lap and leaned forward to retrieve the music box Josiah has given her from the table. She cupped it in her hands and let her thumbs caress it’s surface. Cheyenne knew that as long as she lived she would treasure this gift....the first one given by the man she loved.

She was yanked from her reverie by a sharp cry of her name from her father outside. She thought she detected a tone of fear and urgency in the call, and she jumped up to see what was wrong. Cheyenne only made it two steps closer to the door when it was flung open and a large, sinister stranger filled it’s frame.

“Now there’s what I came for!” Stu spat, and stumbled towards Cheyenne.

Frightened into action, Cheyenne spun around and headed for her father’s rifle above the fireplace......her precious music box tumbling out of her hands and falling to the floor.