"If we were married or I were to tell you I was pregnant, would you still want revenge?"

          "Yes."

          Mary got more than she asked for. She sat in a rocking chair in front of a fire during the middle of a cold front. She was eight months pregnant with Chris Larabee's child, and held a ring on the proper finger he gave her when she told him the news. A ring that would symbolize their unity in marriage.

          Mary never thought in a thousand years she would be with Chris Larabee, and have his child. She always thought the man resented her for knowing too much, for being nosy, and speaking her voice out about morals and keeping the town safe. She just never thought he'd give her the time or day. And she never thought that until Chris took her in his arms and made love to her.

          Chris was a man of his word that when he took a woman to his bed, he would love her and treat as her if she were the only woman alive in the world to hold and keep. He gave her a ring, asked her to marry him, and be with him to raise their child together.

          Mary's heart fluttered as she thought back on the day Chris had asked her for those promises. She took them, kissed him, and promised him that she would be his for the rest of his life.

          But the promises would have to wait. Chris needed to have his revenge on the woman who took everything away from him before. Ella Gaines was just a woman in the past, but Chris wouldn't give himself to another woman and begin a new life with her until he knew his ghosts of the pasts were put to rest.

          "Mary?"

          Mary looked over her shoulder as she set her reading book on her lap. She smiled as she watched Chris walk into the Clarion and right up to her.

          "Chris," she said.

          Chris bent to one knee before her, and looked down at her belly growing with his baby. He then looked up at her. "You look beautiful."

          Mary felt her cheeks turn red, "Oh, Chris. I'm fat."

          "No," he brushed the side of her face with the back of his hand. "You're beautiful."

          Mary's heart flipped as she leaned forward and kissed Chris softly on the lips.

          "Liar," she whispered. No matter how many times she'd kiss those lips of his, or looked into his eyes, Mary would always feel the way she did when they first met. Chris was a stunning, fine man. He was strong, held a strength deep down that no man, or woman could break, and he was quietly stubborn. Mary liked that about him since she's been called the same more than once.

          Chris watched her in the fire's light and licked his lips to swallow her taste. "If I kiss you one more time, I might be wanting more than what I came in here for."

          "Kiss me as many times as you want to, Chris. I'll always be here."

          That comment sent Chris a load of shivers and he opened his mouth to release a breath of air he had caught in his throat. "As many times I think this over about what happened between you and me....I'm still at a loss for words."

          Mary gazed into his eyes, and reached for his hand. "I never thought you and me either, but now that I have you, I'm never letting go. No matter what happens. I love you, Chris."

          Chris squeezed her hand, wanting to tell her he loved her back but the words were so hard to say. The pain showed on his face when he looked away. Mary tugged on his hand and made him look at her.

          "I know I am not your first love," she said. "I don't even know if I can meet her principles. I am not trying to replace her. I just want to help you, and love you, and give you the life that was taken away. That's all I want to do."

          Chris searched her eyes, and found that Mary was speaking the truth. Sarah and Adam could never be replaced by Mary and Billy, and now this child they've created. This was something new for Chris to understand, and take. He knew in his heart and dreams that it was going to be okay to move on. That Mary wanted to give him that chance with her, and her son.

          Chris leaned forward again and kissed her right on the mouth, taking his time.

          "It's hard," Mary said, pulling away his lips. "I know it's hard for you to say you love me back. I'm not hurt. I understand."
          Chris shook his head, "It's not hard. Just crazy that I'm sayin' it to you. The stubborn woman of my crazy dreams."

          Mary laughed, "I may be stubborn but so are you, Mr. Larabee. Do you think our child will be just as stubborn or the opposite?"

          "For the better? I hope the opposite but with her mother's looks."

          "Or his father's eyes." Mary said and put a hand on her belly after she felt a pain strike.

          Chris kissed her fingers that were laced with his. "How you feelin'?"

          "Other than that my feet are swollen, my fingers fat, and my belly enormously huge and cramping....I'm good."

          This time Chris laughed, "Least you're bein' good about all this. Goin' through it again I mean."

          Mary eyed him. "So are you. I want you to be with me when our baby is born."

          "I will be."

          Mary leaned back in the rocking chair, and fumbled with the pages of her book. "Do you have any word about Billy?"

          "Oh," Chris searched his coat pockets for the telegram he had just received. "Reason why I came in here." He found the paper and handed it to Mary. "The Judge and Billy will be comin' on the afternoon train tomorrow. Travis wrote that he will need some help gettin' here since his coach driver is ill." Chris watched Mary read the letter, "I've already talked to Vin and...."

          "I want to go," Mary interrupted.

          Chris immediately said no.

          "But I want to be there when they get off the train. They won't expect it. Not in the least."

          "Mary, you're almost nine months pregnant. I don't want you out of town, much less out of this building until you give birth."

          "Chris, I've dealt with harder life alternating decisions before, and while I was pregnant with Billy. I gave birth to him on the road to my parents' funeral. Stephen was with me, and so was the town's doctor before he skipped town to another job. He delivered me on a coach. Now, I'm not due until at least another month. Nathan said on my last visit. Please....I want to go."

          Chris groaned and curled his hands into fists. He wanted to put his boot down but couldn't this time. Stubborn was the right word. He made love to Mary and had gotten her pregnant. Chris would have to make sacrifices now that after he asked for her hand in marriage even if that meant putting up with her ways of life. And damn if he didn't love her....

          "All right. Then I'll go with you." he said, and took her hand again. "We'll leave in the morning, and then you'll be back here in this building. Understood?"

          Mary smiled, "Understood."

          Chris bent down and kissed her quickly. He told her he would be back before the end of the night and stay with her. Mary accepted, released his hand, and watched him leave the news building.

          She turned her attention back on the blazing fire, smiling. She put her hand on her belly and within a few seconds, she felt her baby kick beneath her palm. She laughed out loud before she opened her book and found where she left off.

          "Tell the driver to make a left at the fork," the dark brunette told her suitor sitting opposite of her. She watched the scenery pass by, getting more excited as she started to recognize the territory. It would be a matter of minutes before they were back in Four Corners, and that much closer to Chris Larabee. Then her plan would take its course and nothing could stand in her way.

          Ella Gaines opened her personal satchel and took out a palm size mirror. She fixed her hair, any make up smudges, and replied her dark lipstick. Yes, seeing Chris Larabee did make her excited and she had to look her best when the time came to see him face to face.

          "How much longer?" another woman asked. Her voice pained.

          "Not much, darlin'," Ella said. She looked over at the dark haired woman, the color of her own, the shape of her face much like hers but younger. She held herself up, but her head dangled in front of her as if she were ill. Instead of her hair tied up behind her ears or a flop on top of her head, the younger woman had it loose and dangling over her face as if she did not want to be seen.

          Ella shook her head, already disgusted with the woman's look. "Child, you ought to straighten your looks up better. You never know, you may just pass as a lady." The younger woman said nothing and Ella took the silence into her own hands and said, "You need to cheer up now. Soon you will be released out of my custody and I'll have you back on a train in no time and in the arms of your fiancé. I just had to kidnap you because it's amusing how you and I look so much alike. That you could almost pass as my sister. Only my much younger sister."

          "What do you need me for?" the woman looked up and right into Ella's eyes.

          "We've been over this, Eva." Ella stopped talking and laughed out loud. "Heck, your name even sounds like mine. Ella....Eva...." the older woman shook her head, enjoying herself. "As I was saying, I only need you for a short time. I've told you this already."

          "Don't you know that once you set me free to these people I will speak out that I was kidnapped?" Eva exclaimed.

          "You do that, child, and I will personally see it that your Richard will see nothing but pieces of you when I send you back." Ella's demeanor changed and Eva scooted back into her seat and went back to silence. "But since I am a better person than that and won't really do it myself, I will have someone else do the dirty work. That is if you stay quiet and do as we discussed earlier."

          "I will," Eva mumbled.

          "Good girl." Ella said and went back to look outside the coach window as the territory land rang bells inside her head. They were almost there. They were almost to the sight of what will be unexpected surprises for her Chris and whoever stood in her way.

          Mary stood by the Clarion windows, dressing her hands with black gloves, trying her best to stick her throbbing fingers into the sleeves. She was aching all over, mainly her belly, and her feet were tender and her lower back cramped.

          "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," Mary said, but she immediately discarded the thought and went on to put her light sweater over her shoulders, and put her feet in a pair of wool shoes.

          Chris then opened the door and found her. "You ready?"

          Mary turned to face him. "I'm almost done."

          Chris came into the room then and saw that Mary was struggling to put her gloves on. He took her hands and she looked up and into his green eyes as he helped with the gloves.

          "Thank you," Mary said.

          Chris took her hands in his, and kissed each one of her material knuckles. "I don't think this is a good idea."

          Mary took her hands away from his lips, "And you think romancing me will change my mind?"

          "No," Chris said and reached for her hands again and this time laced his fingers with hers. "I'm just tellin' you what I'm seein' now."

          "And what do you see?"

          "Pain....all over."

          Mary's jaw ticked, "I'm a woman. I know what this kind of pain feels like, and I'll get through it. Trust me."

          "Trust ya I will, but this is not about trust. You're my woman, soon to be my wife, and I want to protect you. You're not allowed to voice your opinion on that."

          Mary's felt her knees weaken. She did love this man, with all her heart, and he had no idea how greatly she appreciates him for letting her into his broken heart.

          "You'll be with me, Chris. There's nothing in this world that can break us apart."

          Chris leaned forward, grabbed her face and kissed her. "Nothin' can break us apart. You have my word, and my love." He took her hands again and led her to the coach waiting outside the door.

          It was hard to keep her emotions under control when she smelled Chris Larabee in the air. Ella Gaines' driver reared behind a row of buildings as Ella ordered and she and the young woman, Eva, stepped out and into the dark alley between the Hardware and Antique buildings, followed by two, buffed suitors.

          Ella took in a deep gulp of fresh, clean air and ran her hands down her dress to crease any wrinkles. She touched her hair again but dropped her hand as soon as she did knowing there was nothing wrong with it. She was perfect; her body was perfect, and so was her makeup.

          Eva had a different story to tell. She hated to dress fancy and hated that she was forced into a dress two sizes too small for her. The corset tugged hard on her torso, and her lungs begged for air. One of the suitors grabbed her by the arm and that only lessened the chance of getting any air when she soon faced the evil woman Ella Gaines turned into.

          With gentleness, Ella moved away the loose strands of Eva's hair around her face. "My precious look-a-like....how will you ever manage to pass as me looking like this?" Ella clicked her tongue while shaking her head. "I thought we talked about all this. We have to make you look presentable."

          "No, you talked about it," Eva snapped. "And why talk and look nice at all? You're just going to have me thrown in jail. It's already a crime to look like you. Why bring me to the one town where I could be killed in your place?"

          "Because, Eva, there is a man who protects this town and---"

          "And he dumped you sixteen years ago, and you killed his family, and you found him again, giving him your sympathies and letting him make love to you. All this before he found out it was really you who killed his family. Why do you think I am so afraid of being here?"

          Ella slapped her, and her hair flew across her face again. "Shut the hell up, child! You know nothing!"

          "I only know what you've told me," Eva murmured.

          Ella regained her persona and put a smile back on her face. She took Eva by the shoulders and moved her head back to face her. "What you say is all true, but what I still want is mine. Chris Larabee has moved on since I've last seen him. He's getting married. He's going to have a child with another woman. I need you to play as me, be put in jail under his protective watch, so I can get rid of his woman. Then I will have you out of jail as soon as I've taken care of business. You have no other choice."

          Eva watched the sanity from the older woman's eyes slip away. "You're mad."

          Ella snickered, "Mad isn't the right word for this plan, my dear. I want my man back. Even if that means I have to kill his child and the woman that he loves. For the second time." Ella was finished talking. She felt she already said too much that when it was time to let this woman go who was forced to help her, would too have to die for what she knew. With or without Ella's word.

          Ella looked at the two suitors holding Eva by the arms and motioned for them to get going. As they dragged the misfortunate woman down the dark alley, Ella watched, smiling.

          Chris escorted his pregnant fiancé to the coach and opened the door for Mary to step in. It would be a three hour ride to the train station and Mary was more looking forward to seeing her son than the bumpy ride. When she reread the telegram from Judge Travis, she couldn't get over the mere fact that Billy was just as excited as any little boy would be waiting for his sister or brother to arrive and join the family. And Billy couldn't have been happier that Chris Larabee was going to take him in as a son.

          Chris helped Mary ease comfortably in the velvet, cushioned seat. He made sure her dress was all the way in, and her feet weren't dangling out since Mary thought they were enormous as well.

          "You in?" he asked and Mary nodded.

          Vin walked around the corner, stopped to say hello to the coach driver, and walked on his way toward Chris. "Y'all in?"

          "Yeah, we're leavin' now. We'll be back before sunset." Chris said.

          Vin looked inside the coach and tipped his hat at Mary. "You doin' all right there, Mary?"

          Mary smiled, "I'm fine, Vin. I just need to get out of this sun is all. I can't wait to see Billy."

          "You best be on your way then. Don't wanna keep him waitin'." Vin said and took the coach door from Chris. "Don't reckon much will happen while you're gone. The town's been nothin' but quiet anymore."

          "Rather keep it that way," Chris said and looked at Mary, her hands resting on her belly, her expression calm as she took slow breaths. "I'm bringin' a child into this world, Vin. I don't want nothin' but peace in this town if this will be the place to raise it."

          Vin nodded, "Understand you there, pard." He then shook Chris's hand before the gunslinger stepped into the coach. He was almost all the way in, and Vin ready to close the door when they heard a shout from a ways down the town.

          Chris pulled back the coach door and stepped out and Vin stood at his side. Mary tried to look out to see what the problem was and who was shouting.

          "Ella Gaines!" Buck shouted. "Ella Gaines! Chris! I got her!"

          Chris's heart sank to his feet as he looked at Mary. The color in her face faded as did her smile and Vin wanted to slam the door as hard as he could but kept himself from doing so. Mary was inside the coach and he wanted to do nothing to alarm her.

          "They have her?" Mary asked.

          Chris ordered Vin to stay with Mary since he didn't want to move her, and he began to run past the worried locals toward Buck with a woman laying face down in the dirt, his gun cocked at her head.

          "Buck, don't!" Chris shouted as he reached him. Soon JD and Josiah were next to him, their guns out, all pointing on the woman at their feet.

          "Are you serious?" Nathan asked to the air as he walked up since no one dared to answer him.

          Chris kept his glare hard on the woman's back thought to be the woman he wanted to only crush in his dreams. Could it be her? He couldn't tell. She had the same color hair, the same figure, the same smell. Chris looked at Buck, rage filling his eyes, his gun aimed down low.

          Chris wanted to stop time and take Ella in his arms and shake her senseless until she gave up and let him kill her. And he wanted nothing more than to kill her. Then Chris looked down the ways at Vin and Mary now stepping out of the coach. They watched Chris from the distance, and Mary with her proud belly poking out. He had to think about their child now and he couldn't do a single thing to Ella Gaines but lock her up, and how angry he knew that would make him since all he wanted to do was put her six feet under.

          "I don't wanna see her!" Chris shouted at Buck. "Take her to the jail. Lock her up!" Without seeing her face, Buck did as he was told and yelled for Josiah to help him seize the woman off the ground and shove her into a jail cell until Chris figured out what to do.

           Outside in the barreling wind, the locals began to drift apart and away from the livid and confused Chris Larabee. He couldn't figure out why Ella came back now after all this time. This was too easy. This wasn't like her. And if his memory served him correctly, he knew there was something misleading about her sudden appearance.

          "Chris?"

          Chris turned and was suddenly enveloped in Mary's arms as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close. "Is it true? Is Ella Gaines really back?"

          "Looks like," Chris said, holding her close for another second before pulling away. "I can't go with you, Mary. I can't go to the train station. I have to stay here and find out why she's back."

          Mary's hopes dropped but she nodded, understanding her love. "Okay. I'll stay too then. I'll hire someone to pick up the Judge and Billy."

          "No," Chris said quickly. Mary stepped back when she heard anger in his voice. "You want to go. You still can." Chris drew her back into his arms. "I don't want to leave your side and I sure as hell don't want you to leave period, but you want this and I wanna give you this." He cupped her cheek. "You're going."

          Vin kept quiet as he watched the exchange between Chris and Mary. He saw the love in their eyes, heard it in their voices, and watched as they showed they loved each other with a kiss.

          "I'll go with her, Chris." Vin spoke up.

          Chris looked behind Mary at Vin. "I wouldn't ask any other man."

          "Oh, Chris....I am so sorry this is happening. I mean now of all times." Mary said and looked down at her belly. "You'll take care of things. I know you will. You always do."

          "You'll come back and we will born this child together. You and I." Chris said and kissed her right on the mouth. "Now go before I give up on this altogether and never let go of your hand. Go so I can take care of business."

          "I will go so you can think better. Vin will be with me. I'll be out of harm's way." Mary said and stroked her fingers against Chris's scruffy cheek. "I love you."

          Chris bit his tongue. Instead of having to say the words, he grabbed her fingers and kissed them. Mary's heart gave and sank when she knew Chris would say no more. She gave him a sad smile then turned her back on him, and reached for Vin's hand for help.

          "Protect them, Vin." Chris called out.

          "As if they were my own," Vin said and then they were gone and Chris was left with nothing but a pile of problems to mend.

          Eva paced the jail cell, not expecting the way that it had gone down. Ella Gaines must be a pretty important woman to go through the beating of being slammed to the ground, and the many guns pointed at her head as soon as she was thrown from the alley. She thought it'd be much better, but then again, she never knew her looks could actually kill her.

          Then suddenly the young woman cursed her appearance and for what she agreed to do. Eva wanted to scream and kick and beg for mercy that these men let her go because they captured the wrong woman. But Eva knew if she confessed Ella's plan, it wouldn't be these men to kill her. It would be Ella herself.

          She heard footsteps on the hardwood floor, and she begged herself not to turn around and speak out. Eva had to keep it under control and if that meant acting loony, not look at any of them in the eye, and keep to herself, then so be it.

          Immediately she heard voices in the front of the jail, and Eva turned her back on them, climbed up on the bed, and looked outside the small cement window. She looked down as far as she could to see if Ella was anywhere around, enjoying all this, but she saw no one. Her suitors had warned Eva before they spit her out into the arms of these men that they would find out one way or another if she spilled the beans of Ella's plan.

          "I can't believe we got her! We actually got her!" JD yelped.

          "It's like she just handed herself over to us. It doesn't make any damn sense." Buck said.

          "Maybe it's not supposed to," Nathan added.

          The five gunslingers circled around the jailhouse. Josiah and Ezra stood guard outside, talking in a quiet conversation, and Nathan, Buck, and JD all paced inside, scratching their heads and messing with their gun belts as they tried to figure out what the real reason was Ella Gaines decided to show her face again.

          "Why the hell are you back here, Ella?" Buck demanded to know as he walked toward the cell. "Why come back here when you know we're gonna kill you?" Then he tried to grab the woman through the bars but Nathan stopped him. "Why did you kill Sarah and Adam? Why?"

          "Settle down now, Buck, settle down!" Nathan said and pulled Buck away from the bars.

          "You're gonna pay, Ella! You're gonna pay for every ounce of pain you've caused Chris. You're gonna get what's comin' to ya."

          Eva covered her ears and turned back around to face the stone walls. She then wondered which one of them was Ella's man. She only looked at them every so often so they wouldn't catch a glimpse of her face. Eva made sure her hair was in the way, dangling loosely on her lap. She held her body, and waited for something to happen. For her fear, she thought they might kill her right then and there.

          He curled his fists, gritted his teeth, and stomped on the jailhouse porch with more anger inside him than a raging bull. Chris kept his jaw in a tight lock as he walked past Josiah and Ezra right inside the room.

          Buck turned toward his old friend, "Chris....I can't believe it."

          Chris looked at him, eyeing his friend like a prey.

          "Just like that, Chris." JD said.

          Chris took a deep breath and tried to think all this through, of what his controlled, quiet life had turned into. He was getting married; Mary was pregnant with his child, and now Ella Gaines interrupted it all. It didn't make sense to him but at the same time it made perfect sense. It was just the way Ella was. Somehow the news of Mary's pregnancy was leaked out side of Four Corners and Ella grabbed hold of the news and took it for granted.

          "She's locked in there real good." Nathan said.

          "Is she talkin'?" Chris mumbled.

          "Hasn't said a word," Buck said. "Chris, you think she knows about Mary?"

          "Why else do you think she's here?" Chris barked. He walked toward the cell and looked down at the woman who was once his lover. She looked small and vulnerable now. She had no power, and no authority. Her hair was in disarray around her face. Her dress reeked, even inside this jail cell that held hundreds of dirty men before. This wasn't the same woman he left, and then came back to. She was different and quiet, but insane.

          "Ella," Chris said. When she said nothing he fought the urge to reach through the bars and grab her hair to look at him. "Ella!"

          Eva shook her head and suddenly stood to her feet and turned her back on Chris. Eva knew this was the man Ella was after. She caught a glimpse of him over her shoulder and from what she saw; she could only describe as a man she would only see in her dreams. He stood stiff and rigid; his hands curled in fists, his cheekbones ripped and square. He had devilish green eyes, and the body of a God she knew that curved in all the right places underneath those dark clothes he wore.

          Eva took a deep breath and remembered her Richard back home in Colorado. How worried he must be of her whereabouts. This wasn't fair. She wanted to see Richard, hold him, and never let go.

          The men who grabbed her and threw her in jail was just a walk in the park. The real battle would start once she was released.

          "JD, throw me the keys." Chris ordered without turning his glare on Ella's backside.

          JD threw Chris the keys and he started to unlock the cell.

          "Wait, Chris," Buck said, grabbing Chris's arm. "You saw how unexpected she was back at that ranch. She might have another trick up her sleeve with all this."

          "It doesn't matter anymore, Buck. I have to finish what I started. If I wait, she'll be gone again."

          "We have her under lock and key. One of us will be here around the clock watching her. She won't escape this time without a bullet in her first."

          "I don't want her to escape. I want her dead." Chris growled then pulled out of Buck's hold and walked inside the cell right up to Eva.

          Eva kept her backside to Chris when he ordered her to face him. She did not budge and she moved her hands to grip the cement bars of the window. She would not give up this soon when so much was at stake.

          But Eva wanted to turn and tell Chris that the mother of his unborn child was at risk. After what Ella told her of the plan when she thought Eva wasn't listening, Ella mumbled a few words to one of the suitors and told him something about a letter being fake, and she would meet just outside Panama County to stop the coach carrying Mary Travis.

          Mary Travis was her name, and Eva tried everything in her power to keep quiet about it all.

          "I don't know why you're here, Ella, and I don't know what stupid idea you had by comin' here, but you're mine now. I'm gonna take from you what you took from me." Chris mumbled in Eva's ear. His deep, seductive voice sent a shiver down her spine and she gripped the bars harder.

          "How is that possible?" Eva whispered, trying to sound like Ella. "I don't have a husband and a child. I only have my suitors, and my chefs, and my servants. Kill any one of them and it still won't match what I did to you." Oh, Eva hated doing this. She was forced to memorize certain words Ella wanted Chris to hear.

          Chris grabbed a fistful of her hair, and pulled Eva's head back to lean on his shoulder. "You're right. No matter what I do to you, it will never match what you did to me. What you almost did to my men, and what you plan to do now."

          "I don't know what you're talking about." Eva said, trying to keep her voice no louder than a whisper.

          "Why did you come here, Ella? Why come here as bait when you know damn well I won't hesitate to pull the trigger this time. And I won't care if your blood is on my hands and your soul is rollin' around on my conscience. Your death is the only thing that will bring me peace." Chris tightened his hold on her hair and in that instant Eva gave.

          "What's going on in here?" someone asked at the back of all the gunslingers.

          Chris just about lost his breath when he recognized that voice. He could have lost his insanity when he held the woman he wanted to kill, and then he turned to hear the voice he didn't want to hear now.

          Judge Travis looked among the men and the woman and Chris inside the cell.

          "Is someone going to answer me? Where's Mary?" Travis asked.

          Chris loosened his grip on Eva's hair and cocked his head around to find the Judge standing with his hands on his hips, wanting answers.

          "Judge....I thought you were at the train station." JD said, stepping over to stand beside him.

          "Who told you that?"

          "You did. In a telegram you sent Chris." Nathan told him.

          "That's ludicrous. I told my coach driver to meet me at the train station no later than noon. Why, what's the matter?" Travis asked and switched his glare from Nathan to Chris. "Who do you have in there?"

           Eva didn't want to play this game anymore. She figured Ella was well on her way to getting what she wanted from the pregnant woman who she claims stole her life away. Mary wasn't the bad person, and neither was Eva. She had to think not only of her life but the life of that unborn child.

          "Then who sent you that letter, Chris?" Buck asked, confusion swirling inside his head.

          Chris's mind was racing a mile a minute. His heart rate pulsed frantically as he moved his glare on Eva's backside. Then it all clicked. The telegram was from Ella. They would always be from Ella Gaines until she was put to rest. She would never stop until she had what was rightfully hers.  

          Chris moved his hand from Eva's hair and wrapped it around her neck.

          When she had a taste of her life slipping away from her body she screamed.

          "Wait!"

          Chris loosened his grip but not enough when Eva tried to pull out of his hold. "I am so sorry, Mr. Larabee!" When the comment didn't register in Chris's memory of anything Ella Gaines would say, he released the woman and jerked her around to face him.

          It was as if someone slapped him in the face when he saw the young woman's vulnerability. Something he knew Ella would never have, and if she did, never showed.

          "Who are you?" Chris asked, flabbergasted.

          Eva regained her breath and looked at him. His male features darker in this cell than what she had seen. "My name is Eva Mills. I was kidnapped by Ella Gaines just five days ago. She saw that I looked like her and thought I'd play into her scheme like butter. I never had the chance to ask what she wanted from me. I saw the resemblance too. But I begged, Mr. Larabee, I begged and I cried and threw punches at her to let me go. It wasn't until then I was knocked unconscious for sometime and found myself snuggled into some rich garments and on my way to this town. She briefed me about what she wanted from me, and how she wanted things to go. What I should say and what not to."

          "What are you talkin' about? That she brainwashed you?" Chris moaned. Buck and the others gathered around the cell, confused like their leader.

          Buck knew he got the right woman. How could he have made that mistake?

          Without warning, Chris grabbed Eva's neck and threw her up against the stone wall. "How do I know you're tellin' me the truth? That you're not in on it with Ella?"

          Eva tried to scratch at his hands, at his face, but he was too strong, too angry. The only way to save her life now was to lift her hand and show him the engagement ring. "I have a fiancé. Richard Parks. He's looking for me. Please, mister...."

          Chris saw the color drain from her face and dejectedly pulled his hand away. Eva dropped to her knees and started to cry.

          "She took you, and now you're here sufferin' in her place." Chris mumbled, really to himself.

          Eva nodded.

          "Where is she now?"

          "She said something about heading towards Panama County."

          "The train station?" Judge Travis asked, stepping toward her.

          "No," Eva breathed and looked around at all the men. "She said she wasn't going to make it there. She had business to see to on the way. A coach ride with passengers." She looked at Chris then. "Your passengers."

          "Mary...." Buck mumbled.

          "Vin's with her," Ezra said.

          "And Ella has two ex-cons with her. Your man will be no match." Eva whispered. Then they all heard footsteps outside the jail and a wind of bullets flew inside.

          Chris slammed to the floor and covered the young woman as a shield. Buck and Nathan fell to the ground too; their pistols arched high in the air, watching out for the shooter's hits.

          "It's the suitors!" Eva yelled.

          "What?" Chris shouted over the gunplay.

          "They stayed behind to see what I would do. To see if I would tell the truth."

          "Well, you did!"

          "I had to. I couldn't let an innocent woman and her child die. So I did what was right."

          Chris turned around and saw Buck had capped one of the suitors and Josiah snagged the other. Chris moved off Eva, and he pulled her up with him.

          "Why didn't you say somethin' sooner?" Chris asked.

          "I had to get out of the open because of those men." A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she knew the suitors were dead.

          "Oh God," Judge Travis groaned. "Ms. Gaines sent you that telegram addressing it from me and now she set Mary and Vin out there to pick Billy and I up. It's a trap, Chris. She's after Mary."

           And so it began.

          "Buck! JD! Get this woman out of here and on her way back to wherever she came from." Chris ordered and pulled Eva out of the cell. "Josiah, Nathan you come with me." He then told Ezra to stay back with Buck and JD until they took care of the girl.

          Chris ran toward the livery to retrieve his horse with Josiah and Nathan running after him. Chris wasn't the kind of man to wait around for things to happen. It didn't take long for the three gunslingers to head out of Four Corners and on the trail to Panama County with hell following close behind.

          "Something's not right," Mary said as she looked over at Vin sitting beside her.

          "What's that?" Vin asked.

          "I usually see you leading the horses, not riding behind in a coach." She laughed while rubbing her belly.

          "Hey, if someone's offerin' to give me a ride, I'm more than willin'."

          "It's not like you though."

          Vin looked at her, "Why you say that?"

          "Because you're not the kind of man to take orders and do what he's told." Mary said. They stared at each other for a moment before looking off in the opposite direction, watching the scenery pass.

          "Ah, but this is nice. I'm not eatin' dust." Vin said and then he was the one to laugh. He took Mary in for a friend, and swore on his grave to Chris that he would protect Mary and her unborn child. Only, he didn't know what coarse would lie ahead.

          Vin switched his gaze back on Mary as she continued to rub her belly. "It's almost time, huh?"

          Mary nodded, "Oh yes. I am very much looking forward to it."

          "The during or after part?"

          Mary snorted, "Of course the after. I wonder who the baby will look like more....me or Chris. I hope a good combination of both." She said, still watching the outside sun and trees pass.

          "He or she will be beautiful. No matter what."

          "Oh, Vin." Mary said and took his hand and gave it a good squeeze. "How kind of you to say such a thing."

          Vin looked away, shaking his head. "What do you think it'll be? Boy or girl?"

          "I'm not sure."

          "What do you want it to be?" he then asked.

          Mary thought about the question, pondering it in her mind before smiling. "A boy. I want another boy so he will grow to be like his father.... smart, controlled, and handsome."

          "All great combinations."

          "Well, all the things I love about Chris, and I want that all in my child. Boy or girl." Mary said with a wide smile. The knowing she was soon going to be Chris's wife hadn't sunk in yet. Her life had changed without warning, and she couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome.

          And suddenly Mary's world turned upside down when her side of the coach tilted as if one of the wheels had broken. Mary screamed and just before the cart rolled over onto its side; she remembered Vin shouting something to the driver, a round of big barrel gunshots, and Vin throwing himself over her body to shield her.

          Ella Gaines rubbed her hands together, getting them warm so when she placed her hands on Mary's big belly, she wouldn't startle the mother and wake her so soon.

          "Ella, you didn't tell me the woman was expecting." Henry moaned as he tied Mary's hands and feet together.

          "What difference does it make? We're not going to kill her now. She's almost due to have this baby. I'll just make the waiting hurry a bit faster." Ella sneered.

          "This wasn't apart of the plan. We needed to know the full details of the kidnap and a doctor to perform any kind of birth." Matthew said, finishing tying down Vin, also unconscious.

          "You already killed the coach driver. We have no witnesses to this, and you will do as you are told, understood?"

          Both men looked between the other, catching their skeptical glances before they nodded at Ella that they were still game.

          "Good," Ella said. "Now put them in the coach." She pointed to their ride and horses, more than eager to get Mary Travis awake and talking before she reached her hands inside her and pulled out the baby.

          Mary's head hurt. She ached for a taste of water and the feel of cool air on her face. She got nothing but hot sunlight and the taste of dust blowing in the wind. She tried to lift her hands to her head, but couldn't. She discovered her hands and her feet were bind together, and she already had to take a quick breath before panicking. She wanted to reach for her belly to see if she was still pregnant. When she looked down through swollen eyes, she found she was and thanked the Lord the coach accident hadn't severed her fatally.

          "Hush now, darlin'." Mary heard a deep woman voice say. She tried to open her eyes more but the sun continued to beam right on her face.

          "Who are you?" Mary asked, trying to sit up more in the velvet lining of the coach.

          Ella smiled, "You knew me once. We've met before."

          "I can't see you." Mary moaned. As she got herself somewhat comfortable she looked across from her and saw Vin, unconscious. "Oh my God! Vin!"

          "Hush, I said!" Ella snapped, and her gloved hand slapped Mary across the face. "You don't want to wake the wounded. They always have a massive headache afterward."

          Mary took a deep breath, "I don't understand why I'm here. Why you took us. Who are you, lady?" then she winced again when the sun caught sight of her face and Ella pulled the blue curtain in the way of the sun and gave Mary a perfect picture of her face.

          "Ella Gaines...." Mary whispered, shocked. "But how....? They got you back in town. You were arrested."

          "No, honey, they arrested someone who looked like me. Those damn fools. They took the bait just as I thought." Ella laughed.

          "Why can't you just leave us alone? Chris left you a long time ago. It's over." Mary felt her cheeks burn with anger. "Why can't you leave him be and let him move on with life?"

          "It's not over until Chris himself says it is." Ella said. "I killed his family. He wants my blood. It will only be a matter of time before he realizes its not me they have jailed up back in town and that it's you I want now."

          Mary was confused. "Why me?"

          Ella laughed again, and she kept up the laughter for a good, long minute. She calmed then and looked at Mary with a stilled smile. "Why, darlin', I want your baby."

          The first wave of panic had passed, leaving Chris numb and searching for focus. It would only be a bit longer before they were in the middle of the route to Four Corners and Panama County Eva had told the men where Ella planned to make her attack.

          Chris kept telling himself that everything would be okay. That they would reach Vin and Mary and handle Ella like a mad dog. She turned into a complete villain, the ultimate enemy, and now she had Mary and their unborn child. He knew the world wouldn't be safe to live in, that his life wouldn't be safe, until he knew he had Ella in chains, if not dead.

          Chris wasn't a fool about to make the same mistake again.

          His hopes soared as he quickened the ride when they saw the wagon in the far distance. But then Chris's hopes fell when he saw a wheel was broken and the coach lay upside down.

          With Nathan and Josiah behind him, Chris jumped off his horse and hit the ground barely out of breath and ran the rest of the way to the coach, put his hands on the door and pulled.

          He'd been praying all the way up that Mary would be inside and Vin with her, although he knew in his heart that would be too easy. Ella wasn't going to let herself get caught. Not until he'd done what she set out to do. He waited for the others to catch up before he called out Mary's name. When they looked around the open field, they saw nothing but blowing tree branches, the bright sun, and far away towns.

          "They're not here," Nathan said out of breath.

          "I didn't think they would be," Josiah said as he huffed and puffed his way around the abandon coach.

          "Where could she have taken them? What does she want with Vin, or Mary? Why?" Chris exclaimed as he stomped his boot on the ground, angry with himself that he did not see this coming. He knew one day Ella Gaines would want him back, and try to. Now that he knew of her past, and what she's capable of. No one could love him like she does, Ella had said. That she's the woman that he loved. But she wasn't. She killed his family so that they could be together. Ella wouldn't let any other woman stand in her to make that happen.

          And now that Mary had stepped in her way, Ella wanted nothing more to kill her. Ella was at it again. She was going to kill his family again. That knowing cut deep in Chris's heart and he fell to his knees, looking out at the land.

          "We have to find her," Chris groaned. "We have to."

          "We will, Chris." Josiah said.

          "No, you don't understand. She's crazy. She's lost her mind and she will kill any man or woman who gets in her way to be with me. And now she has Mary and Vin, and my...." Chris could have vomited when he thought of the crazy bitch having his unborn child as a hostage too. "My baby...." His memory cleared then and everything made sense. "She wants the baby. If she can't have me, she'll take the baby." Chris stood then and turned toward the others. He cursed to himself, his hands tightening in fists. "I let Mary go on her own. I goddamn gave her to Ella like a present. She must have been laughing the whole time."

          "No," Nathan said. "Mary had Vin with her, Chris. Vin is a strong man. He'll take care of her."

          "Vin is human just like you and me. He can get hurt, and he can be killed. I won't let his life be in jeopardy because of me. This all started because of me."

          "There's got to be something here that will tell us where she's taken ‘em." Josiah said, then he paused and looked down at his feet. He pushed aside a pair of horses' trackings, and bent down to examine it further. He touched the trackings. They were fresh. He looked up then and out in the distance and found freshly matted down grass. "I found something."
          "What is it?" Chris asked, walking over to the ex-preacher.

          Josiah pointed to the grass, "Looks like a horse trail. They're heading south."

          "Not to Panama County?" Nathan asked.

          "No, toward...."

          Chris looked stunned, "Purgatory."

          Nathan frowned. "How far is that from here?"

          "I good hour ride," Josiah said.

          "Not if we hurry," Chris said, and bolted to his horse with the others right behind him.

          Vin opened his eyes and groaned. His head was splitting, and he had no idea why. It wasn't until he discovered he couldn't move that he remembered Ella Gaines. Staring in disbelief at the ropes around his wrists, he quickly realized his feet were also bound.

          "Wakey, wakey."

          He gasped. The woman's guttural chuckle was like something out of a nightmare.

          "Mary...."

          Ella snorted, "That's Ella Gaines to you, Mr. Tanner."

          "Where's Mary? Let me go."

          She stared at him a moment, then threw her head back and laughed.

          "Just like that?" she asked, dancing around his spread-eagle body like a moth flirting with a flame. "Let you go? You're madder than I am if you think that's going to happen."

          "If not me, then let Mary go. She's not who you want. Hell, what do you even want, Ella?" Vin said, gritting his teeth. He took a slow breath, trying to calm the nausea bubbling at the back of her throat. She would like that, he knew. Watching him puke up his guts in pain and fear. Anger pushed through his pain.

          "Let me see Mary. Where is she?" Vin said again.

          Ella circled her fingertip along Vin's chiseled cheek. "If I do, will you promise to cooperate?"

          "Let me see her Damnit. I need to see if she's all right. She's gonna have a baby."

          Ella's expression dropped when she thought about the baby who will soon be her baby. "Oh yes, the baby. Mary Travis....the town whore who slept with my man and got her pregnant. Sure, you can see her." She motioned at one of her men standing in a corner and he left the basement of an abandoned ballroom. When he returned, he rolled in Mary Travis, also tied to a chair.

          Vin's heart dropped when he saw the beginning bruises on Mary's peach skin face, and scratches everywhere from the attack of the coach. Her mouth was locked shut by a piece of thick rope cutting the corners of her mouth.

          Mary cried out when she saw Vin. She couldn't have been happier to see that he was awake and okay when she knew she would not be. Ella was a woman of Chris's past who swore on her life that she would not rest until Chris was hers. And that meant killing anyone in her way. That meant she would kill her. The tears began to fall faster, harder and she dropped her head to her lap, looking at her belly through a blurry vision.

          Vin saw Mary's tears and knew Ella wasn't the kind to take emotions to heart. He would play it her way. She needed to tell him why. He could tell that this jubilation was part of the game. Like a child who'd just hit a home run, she still had to run the bases so she could hear the cheers. That was fine with him. As long as she let him talk, Mary wouldn't die.

          "So are you mad?" he asked.

          Ella stumbled, then spun, pointing at him with a daggerlike knife.

          "Wouldn't you be?" she asked, approaching him, then straddling his body, aware that intimidation was better at creating fear than pain was.

          "Crazy? I don't think so," he said. "It's so sleazy."

          Ella sat up, walked over to Mary and used the knife to cut her cheekbone. Mary screamed. Vin wanted to kick himself for speaking his mind, but he knew he had to keep this going. He had to keep her away from Mary.

          "I'm not crazy!" Ella screamed in Mary's ear. "This is simple revenge. Chris left me for his wife, and moved on without me. It was me who lived everyday knowing he was happy with his life. I had to take it away from him, and he turned bitter. Just like the man I fell in love with. He was bitter. And now this bitch had to put back the heart Chris Larabee lost and give him another chance at happiness. I won't have it! I will take what is rightfully mine! I deserve him! Chris screwed me. I am going to screw him."

          The taste of copper was suddenly strong in Vin's mouth, and he realized that he'd bitten his tongue to keep from shouting.

          "That's sleazy, too," he said, frowning as if studying an odd subject. "Screw? You know what, Ella dear? That's such a low class word. I'd expect better coming from you. Someone of high class, high society. But screw? Damn."

          Ella stared at him in disbelief then she started to laugh. A slow, deep-belly chuckle that sent a chill up Mary's spine.

          "You don't get it, do you, Vin? I'm the one who will be screwing Mary. I'm taking her baby and it will kill her. And you're the witness, and I will kill you."

          She hit a sideboard and the two men standing guard left the room to stand guard outside the door. Ella lit a few candles around the basement before switching off the high beam overhead. The basement turned from a bright, damp setting to a dark, heated room.

          "What are you doin'?" Vin asked.

          "Vin...." Mary whispered.

          "It's payback time," Ella said. She took a candle stick and walked right up to Mary. "Sit back, darlin', and enjoy the ride."

          "No....please....leave my baby alone," Mary cried.

          Ella smiled, "I'm sorry."

          The last thing Vin heard was Mary's agonizing scream.

          "That's Ella's coach!" Chris shouted as he slid around the turn into Purgatory without a thought of all the cutthroats and armed men. He raced through and dropped his horse off and Josiah and Nathan followed.

          Chris ran into the cantina, screaming Mary's name, and yelling for Vin. When the three men separated, they thought it'd make things go quicker in their search but when no local man would offer to help them that only intensified the situation.

          Nathan jogged over to Ella's coach and looked inside at the blue velvet interior, and the red oak siding. The woman was rich and had taste, Nathan gave her that but he would feel no sympathy for her after Chris killed her. She took something from him that every man in some point of their lives wish they had: a family. Now that Chris had a taste of that life, and ready to begin another after long years of suffering, Nathan knew Chris wouldn't stop the search until Mary and his baby were in his arms.

          "This is Ella's?" Josiah asked as he fast walked up to him. Anger puffed in his veins after he knew he asked a thousand questions to any man willing to help.

          "Where did Chris go?" Nathan asked.

          Chris ran out of the cantina, stomping his boots, his duster flying back behind him as the wind blew hard against his body. He was livid, and nobody talked which made his hopes of finding Mary and Vin fall. He was on the brink of tears when he turned to face the almost dead town in the middle of the day and looked around to see if he recognized anyone that may have rode with Ella to this place, and that person was more looking for them then the other way around.

          This was where Ella was hiding, Chris just had to find out where.

          Henry leaned against a wooden post just outside the cellar stairs of the rundown church. He tried to keep his lean body hidden, and his dark features covered. He watched Chris Larabee as he stood in the middle of town. Looking around for some kind of clue, or something that would tell the gunslinger what he needed to uncover.

          Henry knew in the pit of his stomach that keeping the expecting mother tied and beaten was nothing he wanted to be apart of. But this was all about money. The rich woman who hired him gave him strict instructions, and if they didn't ask a question about her requests, she would pay them each one thousand dollars.

          To Henry, that was a whole hell of a lot of money and he told himself that it didn't matter what he thought about the kidnapping. He was going to get his money regardless, even if that meant keeping his mouth shut.

          Before Chris Larabee turned to look in his direction, Henry was out of sight before the wind whistled by, leaving an uneasy feeling deep inside the gunslinger.

          Mary screamed until her throat went dry and plugged on her. She bit her bottom lip as Ella spread her legs and used the daggerlike knife to cut the ropes around her ankles.

          "Leave her alone!" Vin shouted then got sideswiped by a suitor and spat on.

          Mary held her breath, and bit her tongue as she felt the tip of the knife grace her lower abdomen. "God...."

          "Does that hurt?" Ella asked her voice a high shrill.

          Don't react. Don't scream. Whatever you do, Mary Travis, don't let her see you cry.

          Mary's fingers curled around the back of the wooden chair as she took a deep breath, ignoring her instinct to panic. As long as Ella kept torturing, she would keep breathing.

          "Oh, and another thing Vin," Ella said and looked over at him in the corner, the suitor, Matthew, standing behind him. "You can't do a damn thing of what I am about to do. What you say won't bother me since you won't be allowed to talk anymore."

          "Don't touch him, you bitch." Mary mumbled, making her voice steady when all she wanted to do was shriek. "Unlike you, Vin doesn't like to talk much."

          Ella hit her cheek with the back of her hand.

          "Shut you, bitch! You don't know anything about me."

          Tears of pain pooled quickly, shattering her vision of the world. She touched the place where she'd hit her with her shoulder, and her shoulder came away covered in blood.

          Dear God.

          Mary thought of Chris, back in town, completely unaware of the danger she was in, and almost lost it. This wasn't fair. Surely God wouldn't give her a man to love and then let her die before they had a chance to enjoy the life they created together.

          Then just as Ella turned to face her again, Mary's water broke. It wasn't a big splash for the she-devil to notice but enough for Mary to feel and know that the time to give birth would soon come.

          Her mind was racing as she looked down at Ella between her legs. She didn't want to confess that her water had just broken since that would only put Ella into an intense state of worry and the need to get the baby out now. Mary chewed her bottom lip, and let the tears fall when she felt her first contraction. God she'd forgotten how that felt. It had been almost ten years since she'd given birth to Billy.

          Just when the pain was becoming unbearable, Henry came rushing down the stairs.

          "Ms. Gaines. We've got company," he said out of breath.

          "Chris?" Ella asked, shooting straight up.

          "And a few other men looking around for you. They know you're here."

          "Good," Ella whispered.

          "How is that good, Ms. Gaines?" Matthew spoke up as he walked around Vin's chair to stand before her.

          "Because once he finds we were down here, we will be gone and his little friends will be dead, and his baby will be mine." Ella said. Mary saw the demons in her dark eyes, but she was relieved when Ella left the room, ordering her suitors to make sure her hostages were rapped pretty tight, before she made them show her where Henry last saw Chris.

          Mary almost lost her senses when she cried out in pain. She couldn't keep the quiet contractions up for long. She wanted Ella to be out of the room before Mary gave any notion she was going in labor.

          "Mary....Mary?" Vin called out.

          When Mary recognized that sweet, concerned voice, she looked back up and cried out again but they were cries of hope. "Vin....my water. I think my water just broke."

          "What did you just say?" Ella asked, walking away from her men and right up to Mary who cried for help. Mary wouldn't look at her in the eyes when she knew she would see nothing but bliss that once she gave birth, Ella would be gone with her child.

          "No!" Mary screamed. "You're not taking my baby! You stay away from me." Mary said in a deep, guttural growl. Her arms gave out and her back ached as she leaned forward in the chair, trying to release some pressure between her legs.

          "Nothing you say will change my mind." Ella whispered. A few moments of Mary's panting and Vin's anger clouding the room, Ella looked at her men and ordered them to stand watch outside the door.

          "No, Ella, you have to let me go!" Vin yelled as he again moved his hands under the ropes. He cursed himself for being tied down.

          "Whoever gave you that idea, Mr. Tanner?" Ella laughed, and pulled out a shiny new pistol from her dress.

          "Ella....listen to me. You have to untie me so I can deliver the baby." Vin lowered his voice to a calm whisper. "You have to, Ella, or she and the baby will die, and you won't have any baby at all."

          Ella looked from Vin to Mary, slowly starting to lose her cool, and the pistol in her hand.

          "Vin...." Mary gasped, and bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming. "I need someone who knows what they are doing. I mean....look at where we are! I won't have my baby delivered in the arms of this bitch and then be taken away! She'll kill us anyway!" she said, fresh tears clouding her vision.

          Vin's heart gave, "I have to Mary. It's the only way." He turned his glare on Ella again. "Let me go! Ella....for once in your life do something right!"     

          Ella didn't like to be told what to do but she saw the danger in the situation and the pain in Mary's eyes and she knew her baby was tearing the woman's insides. She turned to her men again and told them to go scour the town for fresh, warm water and lots of towels.

          Vin listened and knew somewhere in Ella's heart that she had done the right thing, but he regrettably changed his thoughts when Ella looked back at him. She held the pistol in her hands, loaded, and she held it steady on him.

          "If you do anything that will benefit your escape out of here....I will have no baby and Chris will have no family." Ella threatened. Vin fisted his hands again and wished to the heavens to give him strength to break free from the ropes.

          Few moments later, Ella cut Vin's ropes and he scurried over to Mary, untying her ropes. He barked out orders for Henry to help him lay Mary down on the ground to put her at ease.  

          Mary was blinded by her tears as she threw her head back and screamed. The contractions were coming one after the other and she didn't know if she would make the deliver or not. If she was going to see the child she created with the man she loved with all heart. To see whether or not it was a boy or a girl. She screamed again, ear-splitting as if the baby had ripped a hole through an organ.

          "Hurts....Vin....do something!" Mary screamed.

          Vin took a deep breath and lowered himself between Mary's legs, parting them further to see if he could see anything coming out. There wasn't and that raised Vin's hope of rescue coming soon and Nathan to take over the job. He didn't know what he was doing, and he never had to deliver a human before, and never saw one being performed in the Indian villages he grew up in.

          "I need some water! Hurry!" Vin yelled at someone, anyone around him. Then he looked up at Mary and sweat began to soak her hair and her tears poured down her cheeks as she laid her head back on the ground and cried out in pain.

          "Do something!" she screamed.

          "I need water!" Vin shouted and started to shout it again until he got a thrust of water on him when Henry came running through the door to give him a bowl of it. "Get me some towels!" and Henry was gone again.

          "Oh, I want Chris! I want Chris!" Mary screamed. She tried to prop herself on her elbows but another contraction ripped through her insides and she was forced again on her back. "Vin!"

          Chris walked back into the cantina, dirt and water all over his black clothes, giving his dark appeal a lighter side. He slammed his fists on the bar, but quietly and kept his anger under control. Nathan came right up beside him, watching his leader's every move so he wouldn't do anything he'd regret.

          "Where could they be," Chris said aloud.

          Josiah laid silver on the damp bar from the morning showers and the bartender dropped a glass of whiskey in the money's place. He swallowed the taste of his medicine and looked over at Chris. "We followed the tracks here, Chris. They could be anywhere."

          Nathan downed his drink and said, "Nobody will help us here. Look around you."

          "We can't leave if that is what you're sayin', Nathan." Chris mumbled.

          "Not sayin' that all. Just it's a little hard when nobody will talk. Ya can't even pull a gun out here without having a hundred locals pouncin' on ya."

          Chris looked at his dirty hands on the bar and pounded his fists again then turned around and faced the men in the cantina.

          "Listen to me, all you...." He made sure he eyeballed every single man before continuing. "There was an older woman and a pregnant blond that came through here. They might still be here with a couple of men and one tied up. Any of you know anythin' bout it?"

          The cantina was silent other than the noise from outside the beaded entrances. Snickering came around the corners of the place and the grunts and grumbles were heard in the distance. Chris locked his jaw, silent, and controlled as he waited for an answer from any one of them and Nathan and Josiah stood with him.

          But Chris could only hold his patience for so long. He curled his fingers into his fists, squeezed his strength into the ball and slammed them on the nearest table, knocking over beer glasses of the men who occupied that table. The two men stood back, one tumbling over in his chair from the rumble.

          Chris looked crazy, Josiah saw. He looked dead crazy as he searched the saloon, demanding answers. As far as Josiah or Nathan could tell, Chris had lost his control and they had to stop him before he reached for his pistol and started shooting up the place. Then he would get no answers.

          "Tell me!" Chris shouted. "Tell me where she is!" He slammed his fists down again, and just as Josiah suspected, Chris reached for his pistol and he stopped him. Chris pulled away from his grasp.

          "Not like this, Chris. Get a hold of yourself." Josiah said to him in a low, guttural voice as their connected hands shook from all the anger Chris held. When the crowd in the saloon began to thin, and only a few gutsy guests stayed and continued on with their drinks and card playing, Chris released his hold on his pistol and straightened his back. He lost the crowd's attention, and turned to Josiah and Nathan with that crazed look still in his eyes.

          "She has my babies, Josiah. Both of them. I will not give up. I will not let her destroy my life again." Chris panted, his voice shaking on dry tears, the anger taking over his strength.

          "We have to stay connected. Ella will kill Mary if she knows you're here to stop her. She will kill your baby in a heartbeat because she knows how much that will tear you apart. She's a sick woman, Chris, but you have to trust me and you have to stay calm. We will find them." Josiah said, again in the same control manner he had before.

          "I won't wait another second's breath." Chris said, grinding his teeth together and shoved past Josiah and Nathan. He walked out into the dusty town and looked in every direction for some kind of sign. Something he could uncover, something that one of Ella's men could do to slip up and tell him where Mary and Vin were. He had to find something.

          And if he hadn't had to spit fire twice, Chris caught in the corner of his eye a man in a long, black trench coat, much like his own, running in the opposite direction. Chris saw where he escaped to, and he turned to see if the man was just running away from something, or someone for kicks, but he saw nothing but the dusty wind blow in his face, and the scarcely town making no sound.

          This had to have been his clue, and Chris didn't wait for Josiah or Nathan to follow and figure out his sudden discovery. Chris turned in the direction of the runaway man and took small steps, remembering what Josiah said about how he needed to be as slick as possible. But Chris couldn't do that. He thought about Mary as he took those steps that turned into elephant size. He thought about the life they created, the new love he felt for her, the new world they wanted to make with each other. He couldn't let Ella Gaines ruin him again, take his happiness away. He wouldn't let her. He won't!

          Chris picked up his pace, heard Josiah and Nathan calling out his name to stop, and wait for them. He wouldn't listen. He had so much strength in his body, he knew he could take out any man Ella hired. He knew he could take out Ella with just a swift of his hand around her neck, snapping the bone in half. He could feel the adrenaline. The taste for blood, the taste for revenge seeping into his pores as he now ran to where the dark figure escaped to.

          "Chris, wait!" he heard Josiah and Nathan yell one last time before he yanked the wooden door open to an abandoned church and was swallowed into the darkness.

          "Mary," Vin said, coming up from under her dress to look at her. His glare softened, the sweat on his face turning into running water as he tried to control his breathing. "I need you to start pushin'. You have to push or the baby will get caught and then there will be nothin' I can do. So, come on, honey." Vin looked Mary right in the eyes as she did the same. She tried to take easy, slow breaths but the pain started to become greater than she remembered. Something had to be wrong. She doesn't remember feeling this much pain with Billy.

          "Oh, Vin, I can't....it's hurts too much. It hurts!" she cried out, rubbing the back of her arm over her face to wipe away some of the sweat.

          "No, Mary, you can't stop now. Just push for me, and then I can tell where the baby is, but you have to push. Come on!" Vin shouted, thinking maybe his sense of control will encourage Mary to get rid of the pain and have her baby in her arms as quick as he can get it out.

          With Mary still crying, and Vin cursing under his breath trying to make her push, Ella stood in the background, taking in all the pain and effort. She covered her mouth with her hand, her diamond ring shimmering in the sunlight above through the cracks. For a moment, she didn't know what to do. She didn't know how to continue on with her plan, or what she even had planned next after the baby was born. She didn't imagine it was going to be this difficult and with all the screaming and crying. But then again, she never suffered the pain of childbirth, and after watching Mary work through it, she was glad she never had the chance.

          This way her plan would work out perfectly without the pain, and she would have her baby. The baby that truly belonged to her and not this woman Chris found comfort in every night. Maybe after she killed his woman and his best friend he would come to his senses and finally be with her.

          Vin moved Mary's dress further up her knees so he could see where he was going. He demanded more water and rags, and then yelled at Matthew to help Mary with the pushing. When he obeyed without Ella's permission to do so, Vin figured he wanted the screaming to stop, so he helped.

          Matthew did what Vin told him to do and that was to let Mary rest against him why she pushed. The big man wrapped Mary into his embrace and allowed her to lie heavily against his chest as she cried and panted harder.

          "Okay, Mary, love it or not, we have to push. The baby doesn't have much time, and neither do you before you start losing a lot of blood. You can do it, Mary, I know you can. You have already." Vin said in a calm tone. "Just think about the baby, and what he or she will look like, what names you and Chris will pick out. Don't think about the pain....think about your baby." For a quick moment, Vin reached out from under Mary's dress and touched her sweaty cheek, caressing it gently, letting her know he was here for her and will be until it's done. Mary managed to control her breathing, stare back at Vin with his concerned touch, before she nodded in agreement. She wanted her baby out, and for Ella Gaines to be dead. Life and death all in the same second. That's what she wanted.

          Mary looked away from Vin, and up at Ella standing over him. "You're dead, Gaines. You are dead." Her voice rattled as she took another shaky breath and tore her glare from Ella before the murderer could react. She looked at Vin one more time and gave him a nod of approval.

          "I want my baby. I'm ready."

          Vin nodded, a hint of a smile crossing his lips at the threat she gave to Ella. Even in the worst times, Mary didn't let up to speak her voice. Vin was damn proud of her.

          "Okay. On the count of three...." Vin said, and Mary braced herself on Matthew, his face a pastry white. "One. Two....Three!"

          Mary pushed and Vin yelled for her to keep going. It all happened so fast, Mary's world began to spin when he shouted for her to make a second then third push until he announced he could see the top of the baby's head, and all that hair. Through excitement and pain, Mary squeezed Matthew's big hands and pushed again, then another before she heard her baby's first cry into the world.

          Chris walked in the darkness, half expecting for Josiah and Nathan to bust through the door he came through and ruin his unexpected visit. When a second past, he reached for his pistol on his gun belt and clicked to load it. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he knew he was going in the right direction because he could see a faint light in the far distance. He also knew he wasn't walking in the dirt anymore, and neither was it concrete because he heard the ground creak after every step he took further into the corridor.

          Then he stopped abruptly, his feet in glued place when he heard cries and screams where the light came from. With only ten feet at the most away from the door, Chris swallowed down the fear in the back of his throat, and took the remaining steps until he was ear close to the door. He didn't want to bust in without a plan, but he was crazy sick with guilt and fury he didn't care what happened. But the people he cared for the most were just on the other side of this door. His family... and he was going to take every motion as slowly and controlled as possible.

          Then he heard it. When he heard a baby cry, all the magnum in his belly turned to ice. His heart thumped hard in his throat, and his hand on the pistol weakened.

          He heard his baby cry. The sound was rich and music to his ears knowing Mary had delivered the baby, and was okay after she screamed with joy and pain. He heard Vin laugh, the sound echoing out of the room and through his body. They were alive, both of them. Suddenly tears started to cloud Chris's vision and everything he felt angry about before had evaporated. But he still had to remember that Ella Gaines was the only woman that stood between him and his family. He had to get inside and get them away from her, and put her down for good.

          "You done well, Mary," Vin said with a wide smile, tears and sweat covering his face. He held the baby in his hands, lifted her up for Mary to see. Mary smiled, but she was drained and her body had gone limp and she lay sprawled on Matthew, who was coming to his senses that these people weren't bad at all. He had just witnessed a miracle. No way would he take those smiles away from the mother he helped.

          "Vin...." Mary said weakly. "Let me have her." She held out her arms, and Vin stood on wobbly legs, and slowly brought the baby girl to her mother. After he settled the baby in Mary's arms, he searched the basement for some kind of cloth to wrap the newborn in. He couldn't find anything but dirty rags. He yanked his jacket off the ground and helped Mary put the baby inside the comfort of the buffalo skin leather.

          When Vin leaned back, Mary had tears in her eyes as the baby girl stopped crying and slowly sucked on her tiny thump. She was warm now, in Mary's arms, just where she should be. Vin leaned over her, as did Matthew to admire the precious child.

          Then they all three heard a click after a moment of silence. At once they shot their heads up to find Ella Gaines pointing her pistol at them. Mary held her baby that much tighter with a mother's growl in her eyes to leave her offspring alone. She wouldn't let this woman take away her baby away. Weak or not, she would not let her.

          "Isn't this a sweet picture? Mother and baby make it through childbirth. Something I will never have the experience to try." Ella said.

          "That's because no one wants you, and when someone does you go off and kill him because he's not Chris." Vin hissed.

          "You know my history way too well, Mr. Tanner. I can't have that." Ella shot off the first bullet into Vin's right shoulder and he fell back on the floor, clutching his wound, screaming out in pain. The baby started to cry again, and Mary tried to calm her down but the bullet sting was too loud.

          "Vin! Are you okay?" Mary hesitated, her emotions taking over her mental state. "Vin, talk to me."

          Vin rolled around until he came to his senses that the bullet did not pierce him. It was a simple grace against his shoulder but he had to make it look real to let Ella know she had the power back.

          "Okay, Mary. I'm okay." He bit his tongue, looking as if he was in real pain. The bullet grace hardly hurt, but it showed blood. Blood he needed to show to make it look real.

          "Why are you doing this?" Mary shouted at Ella, then spit on the floor to show her disgrace for the woman. "I just gave birth to a baby. I don't need anymore pain. You're just one ugly, horrible son of a-"

          When Vin saw Ella was raising her gun again, this time directly toward Mary's head, he intercepted before she finished her thought.

          "Leave it be, Mary. This woman is nothin' without her money. If she didn't have it, she would be nothin' but a whore on the street." Vin knew he could step on the rattle snakes. He wasn't the one holding a newborn, and he had been shot before. Hell he had been through worse pain than what a bullet can do.

          Ella cocked the pistol again, but didn't take it away from Mary. "Matthew, get up and come over here."

          Matthew, quiet this whole time, stood up but remained where he stood. "I will not, Gaines."

          Confused, Ella tore her gaze from Vin and Mary. "What did you say?"

          "I said I will not. I'm not working for you anymore. I will not be apart of you harming a woman and her child. What is the matter with you?"

          Ella stared at him in disbelief. A pain of loneliness swept through her hollow brain then she quickly forgot about remorse and pulled the trigger, and shot Matthew. The bullet was not so kind this time and his lifeless body crashed to the floor behind Mary and Vin.

          Mary screamed, holding her hand over her daughter's ears.

          "Who's next?" Ella pointed the gun at Vin. "And this time, I won't be aiming for your shoulder."

          He heard the gunshots. When he heard the gunshots, Chris thought he was going to lose his mind. He had to get in there and stop all this madness. He heard Mary scream, his baby cry, and Vin shouting at Ella. With his hand on the rusted metal door handle, Chris about pulled the door open when he heard someone rustle up behind him.

          Before he had a chance to see who it was, the man was on the ground, belly down, knocked out. Chris looked up to see Josiah holding a large piece of wood and Nathan behind him with his pistol erect.

          "I told you to wait for us until we figured out a plan." Josiah said.

          Chris shrugged. "When did I ever take orders?" when he saw Josiah step forward and pull the lifeless man at their feet over his shoulder, Chris stopped him from making anymore noise. "Josiah....the baby's born and Mary and Vin are right inside with her and Ella. I can't wait for a plan of action. This is the action. It has to happen now or I will lose my mind. I'm not waitin' anymore."

          "Then step aside, Larabee." Josiah said and Chris did just before the big preacher man tossed Henry's body through the closed door, and all eyes in the room fixated on the three gunslingers in the doorframe.

          "Well, well, well," Ella said after the initial shock of truly being alone passed. "Looks like the guest of honor has finally arrived."

          Chris took a second to breathe as he looked over Mary and their baby nestled closely to Vin, who was bleeding from the shoulder, and a dead body five feet from him. Never mind the body, Chris did another quick glance at Mary and the baby before looking back at Ella.

          "What have you done? What is it that you want?" Chris asked, his question more of a plead of annoyance.

          "I told you a long time ago what I wanted from you. I wanted a life with you. I wanted a family with you, but no, you had to leave. You had to go and screw that whore of a wife you married, got her knocked up, and then ran away with her. I caught up with you though." Ella waved the gun in the air, suddenly feeling good. "You didn't think I still cared for you though after the last time we were still together. After I found out you were planning on leaving me because you didn't like the life we lived. Baby, we were so young then! We had so many dreams, don't you remember? Don't you remember what we always talked about? But no!" she screamed. "You shared all of our dreams with another woman. Do you have any idea how awful that made me feel?"

          Chris took a step forward, and so did she. "Yeah, I knew how it made you feel. But Sarah was nothin' like you. I needed somethin' different. I needed her. She was the one I wanted to share all those dreams with. It was never you, Ella. Never."

          "It was me!" she screamed and ran after him, and tried to tackle him down but he grabbed a fistful of her dark curls and yanked her back. She screamed louder and longer as she swung the pistol around, shooting the rest of the bullets out anywhere they went. Josiah slammed his big body over Mary and the baby and Vin did the same. Nathan leaped out of the room, and stayed behind the concrete wall for coverage.

          When the bullets were gone, the pistol empty, Chris tugged it out of her hand and twisted his hand in her hair around to look him in the eye.

          "Finally," he growled. "Finally I will have the chance to do what I have been waiting six long years for."

          "We had something, Chris. We did. Don't you remember?" Ella asked with tears in her eyes and a crazed, glossy look.

          "You're in the past, Ella. And things in the past should be kept there. Nobody likes to drudge up bad memories." Chris swallowed the disgust in his throat, and leaned down to grab the knife out of the side of his boot. He held it to Ella's throat, teasing her with it, stroking the sharp tip along her jaw line.

          "Chris....I love you...." Ella whispered, then closed her eyes expecting her life to flash before her eyes, and when it did she would only see the man she devoted her life to. The man who would take her life.

          Chris gritted his teeth, so wanting to make the cut that would end this miserable woman's life. This sick, sick woman. But that would have been too easy, and he didn't want his baby to be anywhere near death. As much as pleasure would bring him in doing nothing but taking the blade and slicing Ella's wind pipe open, he declined. A quick death would be too easy. She needed to die slowly.

          Chris dropped the knife from her neck, and grabbed her chin, pulled hard on it. Ella jerked her eyes open, looking into his cold green ones.

          "You don't deserve to die a quick and easy death." Chris said and reached for her hands. "You deserve the slowest. The worst kind there is." He clasped her hands together in his one big hand and turned her around. "And I'm not even going to be there to see it." He made her face Mary and Vin, made her look at them long and hard. "You almost took my second family away from me. In this world, this day and age, there isn't a death worse enough to make you go through what you did to me." He shoved Ella forward and Josiah grabbed her. "Get her out of here, and I don't care what you do with her. Just take her; I don't wanna see her ever again." Chris took a deep breath, exhausted all of a sudden, and took off his hat and ran his hands through his wet hair.

          "Chris...." Ella pleaded one last time.

          Chris grew irritated again. "Get her out of here!" He was sick of hearing his name come out of her mouth. He wanted none of it anymore. What he wanted was Mary, and his baby.

          "So much death all around us," he said in a low voice as he knelt beside Mary and Vin. "But not anymore. Now we life to look forward to."

          "Chris," Mary cried and leaned forward to nestle against his chest. "I am so lucky to have you. If you wouldn't have came, we-"

          Chris put his fingers to her lips. "Don't say it. I don't wanna know, and I told you I would come for you, and protect you. Have I ever let you down?"

          "There's time for that, Mr. Larabee." She smiled through tears. Chris leaned forward and kissed her softly. He pulled away just in time to see his daughter's eyes open for the first time. The tears came quicker now in rushing loads as Mary watched Chris begin to cry. "Chris, I'd like you to meet your daughter."

          The baby turned her head a slight to look at Chris in time she will call papa. Chris reached for her tiny hand and she latched on with a strong grip.

          "Mary, I am so proud of you." Chris said and kissed her damp curls.

          "I'm proud of you, Chris. In more ways than one." She leaned up to kiss him again, and didn't pull away. He kissed her long and hard, running out of breath before they had to pull away. Then together they looked down at the life they created.

          "She beautiful, Mary. Soft blond hair like her mama."

          "And has a strong grip like her papa."

          Leaning away, Vin stood up and allowed them their privacy, but Chris didn't let up and he looked at Vin now standing, and saw the blood again on his shirt. But before he could comment on it, he stood too so he and Vin were eye level. There Chris extended his hand out for Vin to shake.

          "Thank you, Vin. For everything. I don't wanna know what would have happened if you weren't with Mary, and the baby." Chris said, tears again stinging in his eyes. Vin stared at his hand for a moment, and when he was about to take it, Chris dropped the friendly handshake and pulled Vin into a deep, warm embrace. He was very thankful to Vin for being here. To deliver his baby, to stay calm and help Mary through the birth. Chris was again on the verge of tears, and Vin felt it strike through his body through a tight shudder. He sensed the tough gunslinger's lost battle with hate, and he finally felt alive again.

          After several seconds Chris pulled away and wiped away his tears. That's when he caught sight of the blood again.

          "You hit?" he asked.

          "Just a scratch," Vin smiled.

          "Good. No one's hurt then." Chris looked around, coming to realize they were still in the dirty basement of the church. He peered down at their now sleeping baby in Mary's warm hold. "You up to walkin', Mary?"

          "Are you kidding me?"

          "I figured." Chris looked over his shoulder to find Nathan walk inside. "We need to get out of this basement."

          "Wait," Mary said when she discovered she and Chris had yet to decide on a name for their daughter. She wanted to give her a good, sturdy name. One that will last her a lifetime.

          "We have to pick out a name," she announced.

          Chris kneeled back down and brushed back the hair from Mary's forehead. "Do you have one in mind?"

          Mary searched his beautiful green eyes then looked back at her sleeping daughter. "Yes, I have the perfect name." She waited a moment, the room was silent, then she looked back at Chris. "Sarah. I want it name to be Sarah."

          Chris felt a right punch jolt in his stomach when he heard that name spoken aloud out of another woman's voice. Don't drudge up the memories. What he said to Ella. Chris sure as hell didn't want to, but somehow when Mary said the name it felt right, and it fit perfectly for their daughter.

          "Sarah, huh?" he said.

          "Do you mind?" Mary asked, knowing she was walking on thin ice. She studied his expression for a second longer before he broke out into a smile.

          "Sarah," he said again, nodding his head. "No, I don't mind at all."

          "Then her name shall be Sarah Marie Larabee."