Colton White sat a top a young, golden stallion and watched as Macgruder's mines collapsed from within. A little while earlier, Colton himself had been inside, dueling it out with Macgruder himself: the man who killed his father and his best friend Ned. Vengeance was sweet as Colton and Many Wounds watched as a huge boulder fell onto Macgruder, killing him instantly. Outside, Colton looked over Macgruder's gun, a Nock Gun that was extremely powerful, but bulky. He stuck it in his saddlebag and decided to deal with it later. Many Wounds smiled at Colton and gave him a nod of appreciation and then reared his painted pony towards the Blackfoot country.

Soon Clay and his gang rode up in a cloud of dust, along with Soapy who was still clutching his hand in a red, soaked bandage. Clay looked up at the mountains where the Lost City had been and then back at Colton, who was swigging a bit of Whiskey to numb the pain of a hidden flesh wound on his left shoulder blade.

"Damn son! You are one crazy mother!" said Clay, smiling brightly. "How'd you get out after the big explosion?" asked Soapy.

"By the grace of God", he answered.

"Man," said Soapy, shaking his head "I heard there was gold up in them mountains. Too bad we couldn't get any. I hear they have this new procedure where I can get me some new fingers put on for a real nice price! Shoot, I'd love to get me some new fingers. Having only seven fingers isn't good for my line of business."

"Well ain't it your lucky day! After Colton helped us get rid of Macgruder's army, we got to investigate the mines before they collapsed. We didn't leave empty handed and since you two helped us take down Macgruder, a portion of our findings is yours" smiled Clay as he tossed them two good sized bags of pure gold.

"Thanks Clay. You've been a real good friend. Don't get into too much trouble" said Colton as he peered towards the road to Empire City.

"What, you leaving us Cole?" questioned Clay, hoping he would say no.

"I've done all I can here. Besides, Jenny has a sister up in California who doesn't now she's dead yet. I reckon I gotta be the one to tell her, since I was there."

"Can I come with you Cole? It ain't safe for me here anymore. Not after my almost hanging!" begged Soapy.

"I guess so. I'm sure I'll need you for something."

Clay rode over closer to Colton and placed his hand on Colton's right shoulder. "You take care of yourself Cole and come back and see us sometime."

Colton nodded his head and then spurred his horse into a gallop, which Soapy followed closely behind. They were to follow the railroad tracks all the way into California to find Jenny's sister.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Madison City: City of Thieves
Jenny told me about her younger

sister Gwyneth, before she died.

The right thing to do was to go

and give her the bad news in person.

Madison City was real close to the New Mexico-California border and was much larger than Empire City. As the two rode into town, their presence was hardly noticed, which was fine with Colton because he didn't care too much for being the center of attention. All sorts of people roamed the streets of Madison; Whites, blacks, Spanish, oriental, men, women, and children. But in every situation, the whites were superior and everyone else obeyed them.

"So, where's this broad at anyways?" asked Soapy, looking around nervously as if someone might recognize him.

"Jenny said that she works at a saloon near the edge of town on the main street. I'm supposed to ask for Gwyneth Porter."

They rode on further, past The Rocky Ridges Saloon, then a little ways up was the Calamity Gals' Saloon and the Howlin' Hole Saloon. Finally they came to the edge of town which ended on the edge of a cliff, sort of like Dodge city did, only beyond a bridge was the Town Hall and a fork in the road that ran south and south west. To their right, just before the bridge was The Poisoned Apple Saloon. They mounted off their horses and tied them tightly to the railing.

Inside The Poisoned Apple came the sweet smell of a higher class brothel combined with a thriving saloon. Colton walked over to the barkeep, followed closely by Soapy who looked around nervously, but then saw a sign advertising a doctor. "Hey, Cole. I'm gonna go see if the doctor can give me some new fingers." Colton nodded and then leaned on the bar, waiting for the barkeep to get to him. The barkeep walked over and smiled brightly.

"Hello sir. What can I interest you in?" he asked, motioning towards the booze.

"Actually, I'm looking for a girl who works here, Gwyneth Porter?" said Colton, leaning in a bit so not to many could here him.

"What's your business?" asked the barkeep, suspicious.

"It's about her sister Jenny."

The barkeep's eyes widened a bit as he set down the glass he was cleaning and headed towards a doorway covered in glass beads and fabric. As Colton waited, he swigged more of his Whiskey to keep the numbness of his shoulder blade. He saw a few other saloon girls wandering around and wondered why Jenny's sister was one of the special ones; he soon found out why.

The barkeep came back around the bar, followed closely by a busty redhead in a green corset mini-dress adorned with black ruffled lace with fishnet stockings and draping a black boa on her arms. Her hair was mostly up, but she left a few thick strands dangling down that danced on her large breasts. Her backside swayed smoothly as she walked up to Colton with a slight smile on her face, but Colton could see the worry in her eyes.

"Mr. Philips here says that you have word of my sister Jenny?" she asked in a sweet and gentle voice that was soothing to his ears.

"Yes ma'am" he said, tacking off his hat in respect for the lady. "Your sister was a good friend of mine and she asked me to tell you if anything should happen to her. I'm sorry to say that she's was murdered by a renegade priest in Empire City".

Gwyneth took a deep breath, but held in her tears. Colton could see that she would rather sob deeply for the loss of her older sister, but in the presence of future clients, she would not dare. She moved a bit of her dangling hair behind her ear with one of her black gloves and smiled at Colton. "Thank you. Any friend of Jenny's is a friend of mine" she said, placing her hand on his. "I didn't catch your name."

"The name's Colton White, but you can call me Cole, Ms. Porter".

"Please, call me Gwen. No need to be all formal when you're a friend of the family."

Colton smirked slightly.

"Did Jenny ever give that old trunk to Ned?" she asked, sitting down in front of Cole.

"No ma'am. Ned was killed in a steamboat ambush along with everyone else onboard. I was there when it happened." Colton lowered his head a bit, still mourning over his lost friend. Gwen put her hand over her mouth and looked at Cole. "So that means that YOU'RE the boy that Ned raised?"

"Uh, yes ma'am, but how'd you know?"

"Jenny told me all about you and how you helped her get to Empire City. It's a shame she got mixed up in all of Hoodoo and Macgruder's schemes."

"Wait, you knew about Hoodoo and Macgruder?" questioned Colton, but was silenced by her finger touching his lips. "We can't further our conversation at this time, but come back around 8 O'clock. I should be through with my client.

"You're client?" he asked, following her eyes to a stagecoach that pulled up. Out stepped a man dressed in fine attire and walked with a cane that he didn't need. He walked in and smiled at Gwen, who beamed a fake smile at him as she met his arm and walked with him, arm in arm.

"Hello my dear. Your looking wonderful today" said the man in a flirtatious, yet devious tone of voice. Colton could sense jealousy in his words. Gwen batted her eyes and smiled brightly, blushing a bit.

"Say, you ain't from around here, are you?" asked the man, a little suspiciously as he looked over Colton.

"No sir. New Mexico" said Colton, gradually sipping on his whiskey flask.

"Well, welcome to Madison City. I'm Mayor Hugh Carson. I do hope you enjoy the scenery" smirked the mayor as he walked back towards the back with Gwen. Colton could here the mayor asking questions about him.

"Oh, he's just a family friend. He won't do nobody harm…"

Another corrupt Mayor?

Where were they all coming from?
I didn't know the answer yet,

but I had to find Soapy

and tell him about my

8 O'clock meeting

with Gwen.

Colton found the Doctor's, but no Soapy. He saw a blonde haired woman sitting up at a desk, twirling a pencil around. She noticed him and perked up a bit. "Hi there! Are you here for an appointment or here to make one?" she asked, smiling brightly, exposing the fact that she was missing a tooth.

"Actually, I'm lookin' for a fellow who came in here lookin' to get some new fingers." Said Cole, looking around a bit.

"Oh! Yes. He's in the back with the Doctor. You can go in there if ya like. I'm sure Dr. Jones won't mind." She said, twirling a bit of hair that had come loose from her huge bun at the back of her head. Colton nodded as he walked through the curtain and inside the operating room that also functioned as a coroner's office and a personal office. Soapy was sitting on top of a desk, smiling at Colton.

"Hey! Cole! Guess what! The Doc here sure fixed my hand up real nice!" smiled Soapy, showing Cole his bloody new fingers that were sown onto his hand. They were splinted straight so they could attach better. The fingers however were a bit more pale than his skin. "I got me some China man fingers!" said Soapy excitedly.

"Is this gonna work, Doc?" asked Colton, not s sure that something like this would actually work.

"Actually I have a very good success rate with this procedure. In due time those new fingers will be good as new! Plus they'll eventually match his skin color in due time." The Doctor turned back to Soapy. "Now look here. Keep putting this ointment on your fingers every day, ya hear?"

"Yes sir Doc! Ointment everyday!" said Soapy, hoping off the desk.