Early on Sunday morning, when most of the men at the fort were sleeping off the previous night's bouts of drinking, Mary finally got her chance to speak with Fitzgerald alone.

As usual, Fitzgerald had spent the pre-dawn hour pacing the fort grounds in the snow. Mary had watched him do this since his arrival a few weeks back. She'd peer out her window to watch him marching in circles in the snow.

Fitzgerald spent this pre-dawn hour considering all his options, worrying about the outcomes, and wondering how soon Captain Leavenworth would arrive so that they could recover the pelts and he would receive his payment and be free to leave this fort. He also spent plenty of time justifying his actions against Hugh Glass and his son Hawk. Somewhere in the back of his mind, guilty feelings would surface now and then but he'd push those away, even if he did have nightmares about it. After about an hour of this pacing, he was finally hungry and headed towards the kitchen.

Mary was headed in his general direction, hoping to bump into him, and sure enough, they literally ran right into each other. Mary locked eyes with him and flashed her broadest smile.

"I'm sorry ma'am." Fitzgerald drawled but Mary was so intent on dazzling him with her smile that she didn't respond.

Fitzgerald blinked, looked uncomfortably from side to side and with an eyebrow raised quizzically returned her gaze.

"I said, I'm sorry."

The spell was broken. Embarrassed, she responded, "No worries, no trouble. I'm Mary Henry and you interest me Mr. Fitzgerald ."

"And how do you know who I am?" Fitzgerald asked suspiciously. He was partly amused, partly annoyed at the attention.

"My brother, Captain Henry, has mentioned you."

"And just what did he tell you about me?" Fitzgerald stared at her with an edge of menace, but, she wasn't frightened.

"He told me to stay away from you."

"That was good advice. You should stay away from me."

"And why is that," Mary asked flirtatiously, "are you dangerous?"

Fitzgerald just smiled slyly, circled back in the snow and stared and marched off in the other direction. What did this girl want from him? And what had Captain Henry told her about him? Did he have suspicions that he had shared with her?

Mary was not about to let him get away with this rudeness and swiftly followed after him.