Claire shook her head at Ben chasing George around the barnyard. Chickens went scattering everywhere when they were supposed to be rounded up. Times had been tough since the plague and she'd seen fewer and fewer students return to classes once the school had been reopened than she'd expected.

"George, Ben stop messing around," she said, "Get them back in the coop."

George just looked at her.

"They don't want to go…and Uncle Ethan said it wasn't my fault."

Ben sighed, looking forlorn.

"It was my fault."

George nodded.

"Your fault, not mine."

Claire sighed.

"Just get them back in the coop and we'll settle whose fault it is later…dinner's almost on the table."

Ben and George tried to round up the chickens while Ethan went out to go look at one of the horses who had gone lame after catching a rock in its foot. John Taylor had advised him to get Joseph to make a poultice for it and it seemed to be working. It'd been a tough day…not the bass fishing part of it with the boys who were supposed to be catching the hens that one of them let out but he felt on edge more and more with each passing day. He had always been a man of action, often immediate, gut driven, spur of the moment decision making back when he'd been a gunslinger.

Now, the days were so damn quiet after the epidemic had burned itself out and the town started returning to normal. He knew with the hot summer months coming, it'd be a matter of time before the riff raff returned to try to take advantage of the town people.

He heard the sound of hoof beats and saw Hannah drive up in her carriage. He remembered that he had invited her to dinner. She'd be bringing some dessert that she'd picked up at the new baked good shop. Mr. Lee had a brother who had once worked building the railroad but had been injured in an explosion so now he started his own business. It'd been one of the last things Amelia had done before leaving town.

He helped Hannah out of her carriage and she looked around.

"Land sakes…what are all those hens doing?"

He watched as George and Ben nearly collided trying to herd them in one direction.

"Ben…George…time to clean up for dinner," he said, "I'll have Joseph get them in there."

Joseph had just come out to check the horse and shook his head.

"I'll do my best…but after dinner I got to go back into town and work on some files."

He seemed to like his job working with Doc Tucker and the money he earned went to his education when he'd be ready to go.

Hannah sighed.

"So how were things today?"

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.

"The usual…quiet…there were some wires coming in late on Silver Crest."

She groaned.

"What a place of heathens…to blow up their own school like that."

Ethan didn't know how to respond to that but he did know if it got much worse, he and Dakota would be riding there to help the sheriff keep order.

"We don't know what happened exactly," he said, "but there's been a lot of unrest there…and they're keeping us posted in case they need our help or any comes down this way."

Hannah headed with him to the house.

"I heard it's a bunch of those…suffragettes wreaking chaos on our way of life."

He frowned.

"I thought it'd make you happy…to get the vote."

She looked pained.

"Oh Ethan…I'm happy enough with what I got," she said, "My own business…left to me by my father of course and plenty of nice things…why would I want more people to vote to change all that?"

He supposed she had a point but none of the women in Paradise really seemed to talk much about what was going on in other places and with Silver Crest…somehow it didn't seem to really be about suffrage. They walked inside the house and Claire was putting the food on the table. It smelled delicious but she'd always been a good cook even before she came to live with him.

They all sat down at the table, gave thanks for such a fine meal and then started eating.

Amelia looked over at Annabelle while Nellie jotted notes. They'd been to the sheriff after the school blew up and Carlton didn't seem much interested in the fact that some men on horseback had tried to kill them.

Or at least stop their meetings which until that night, they thought had been clandestine. Someone must have told or been overheard talking about them. The town had been like that, no one was sure now who to trust. Brock had bought off some people with promises of more prosperity but then so far not much had materialized. The only one who seemed to get richer was him and his gang. She suspected that Carlton was in with him already. She knew he had deputies that worked all over the region but that he took care of most everything.

"You ready for your speech in front of Town Hall?"

Amelia didn't think she should be giving it, being a newcomer but none of the other women had volunteered. The explosion had shaken them up, put the fear of further loss into families that had already seen too much of that. Nellie had wired back some information to the cluster of newspapers that would tell their story.

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Annabelle sighed.

"They're talking about whether or not to call in the neighboring marshals."

Amelia's brows arched slightly. She knew that would mean Paradise…and Ethan. But she also knew that the town was recovering from the plague that had hit the region, Paradise worse than Silver Crest or anywhere else. He wouldn't have the time or manpower to deal with anything outside. It'd been enough to know that he and the children had weathered the crisis well and that the town was getting back on its feet.

But she knew she could never see him. She knew if she did she could never keep the truth from him. She rubbed her forehead where the patchwork of silvery lines above one eye still remained. But she returned her focus to what she had to do here.

"Then we'll worry about that when it happens…and not all of them can be bought."

Nellie looked up from her writing.

"Oh? You have some honest lawmen in these parts?"

Amelia nodded.

"One…and he'll never be turned."

The reporter's brow knit in question.

"Who?"

"Ethan Cord from Paradise…he was doing the job before it was official."

"Have you thought about contacting him," Nellie said, "Having him come out here and talk to the sheriff?"

Many times, Amelia thought to herself.

"No…no it wouldn't help…more marshals will just complicate things…it could be more dangerous."

Nellie pursed her lips.

"More dangerous than an exploding schoolhouse…?"

Amelia nodded, much more dangerous.

"We….we just have to keep to our strategy."

Annabelle sighed.

"We'd better finalize it then," she said, "and have a plan for if Brock's men try to come and shut us up."

Another woman, Emily sighed.

"In a town square, won't we be safe?"

Amelia knew there was no guarantee of that; no place was safe after all. But they knew what they had to do.

Ethan walked Hannah out to her carriage after dinner. It had been a pleasant meal and she'd been good company but he didn't they'd move beyond a polite friendship. Though she kept trying to push him into formally courting her…when he just didn't want to do that…

"So I'll see you in town tomorrow."

He nodded as she looked down at him from the carriage.

"She's not coming back you know," she said, "Why would she?"

He blinked his eyes.

"I know that…but you don't just forget something like that…at least I don't."

She nodded crisply.

"Okay then but you need to focus on the here and now," she said, "and this summer we'll have time to spend together and we seem to be compatible."

He cleared his throat. Compatible…now he'd never been one where a word like that would come into play. But then until a couple years ago, he'd never imagined he'd be staying in one place long enough to run a homestead and looking after the children.

Life had a funny way of changing everything in a split second.

"I might be called out to what's going on in Silver Crest if it gets worse."

She sighed. '

"They need to just send in some militia to enforce the law on those rabble rousers. It's going to impact Paradise if those wanting to do business with it think we're all like that."

"Shouldn't be that bad…"

She gathered up the reins.

"I don't know Ethan…something's got to be done to tame this region once and for all," she said, "We just can't have rebellions popping up like this because someone doesn't like a system of laws."

"We don't know what's going on," he said, "Sometimes those enforcing the laws are wrong."

Her jaw dropped.

"Is that what you think," she said, "You're the marshal and you're talking like that?"

He sighed, wondering why she was getting all ruffled up.

"I'm not…and I do believe that enforcing the law is important but I'm not going to jump to conclusions about what's going on there anymore than I would here."

She clucked to her horses and started to leave.

"See you later Ethan…"

He watched her go before heading back to the house but something stopped him. He turned around knowing who he'd see before he noticed John Taylor walking up to him from the darkness.

"Hi…"

His bond with the Indian hermit was as tight as with anyone but seeing him made him wary because among other things, John Taylor warned of danger.

"Ethan…"

They looked at each other, in the quiet.

"What's going on that I need to know about?"

John smiled at him.

"Why do you assume that?"

"Because I know that look…"

John nodded.

"There's unrest in these parts."

"I know that…but it's not our problem," Ethan said, "We've got enough problems."

"This might be our problem," John said, "or at least the town's."

Ethan narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

John paused.

"There are some shady characters that are trying to make themselves richer off of those who've already lost so much."

"Silver Crest…"

After all, it wasn't news to Ethan what that town and its people had lived through with the mines.

"Bad men…posed as the law Ethan," he said, "and some people are standing up to it."

Ethan felt the prickle on the back of his neck….he'd had this sense that there was more to it.

"If they lose…it'll spread and it'll come to Paradise…"

Ethan rubbed his forehead, just what they needed after the plague had finally left them.

"Who's trying to stop it?"

John smiled again.

"The town's women, the only people strong enough to stand…they've got that famous writer, Nellie Bly there writing about it."

Ethan had heard of her.

"So this isn't about suffrage?"

John shook his head.

"It's about survival…"