Chapter 2

We couldn't give up the watch. It was our only way out of here. Emmett took it off and handed it to me. Against my better judgment I dropped it into the bag.

Jessie moved on to the people behind us. Taking pocket watches, rings and whatever else they could pilfer from people.

"Don't worry. We will get the watch back. I couldn't exactly make a big scene or stop history in the making. Jessie James's history is already written."

Em was right. We all had heard Jessie's name and knew he was a famous outlaw. If we hadn't went along with it, history would have been changed and we would have altered it. Our names or something would have gone down in history as the ones who stopped the great Jessie James. Who knows how it would have thrown the universe off from here forward.

From the window we saw men riding up and the two men jumped from the train to horses. These were human men who obviously weren't afraid to die. Or they done it so many times before it was normal for their getaway method.

"What now?"

"We jump off the train and follow them."

More running with Em. It wasn't long until they stopped at the hide out to divide up the loot. I was learning a lot of new lingo.

Jessie was disappointed with their take. To him it wasn't enough and a waste of time. "We need to hit a train with a lot of money on it. I've got a plan. How many of you are with me?" They were loyal robbers if nothing else. Because they all followed him.

"This stuff we took is chicken feed. Even this damn fancy watch is broken and worth nothing." Jessie threw it hard against the ground.

"Hey boss. Can I have it?"

The dumb ass thought it looked good around his saddle horn. It was our life line and he wanted it to be used as a decoration. Because he thought it made his saddle look downright pretty.

When they split up, they all went in different directions. Of course there was only one of them we were interested in. The plan was for us to take the watch when he stopped at the next place.

We followed him into a town. At least it was what I thought it was. A dirt path was in the middle of old buildings.

"I was wrong Dorothy. We are in Kansas, Dodge City Kansas to be exact."

He got off of his horse and took the watch with him. Looking through the swing doors he went in and sat down at the card table.

"I don't have anything to play cards with."

We had money but, money like they haven't seen yet and wouldn't for many years to come. I still had my cell phone that was in my pocket when we left. My battery was still fully charged but since it hadn't been invented yet, it wasn't going to do me much good. I shut if off because there was no need to run the battery down.

Then I saw it, my engagement ring was in the pocket of my dress too. I took it off when we changed clothes. I guess it was good thing Jessie James didn't see it or my necklace watch I had tucked inside my dress. Because he would have taken it too.

"Use this Emmett to get in the card game."

"Are you sure Bella?"

"Yeah I'm sure. It's not like I will be needing the damn thing."

Emmett squeezed my hand and gave me a smile when he took it from me. It was letting go of the ring and a small piece of the heart ache I had. The first step to recovering was admitting it and I was ready. I would probably end up an old maid who lived with her cats as her children.

"You can't go in there."

"Why not?"

Emmett pointed to a wooden hand painted sign which hung above the saloon's doors; no women folk allowed.

"There are women in there. I can see them."

"Just the saloon girls can be in there."

"Saloon girls?"

"The painted ladies."

"Painted ladies?"

"They're old west hookers Bella and they sell their ass for money."

"Oh."

Being a respectful woman was measured by a lot of things in life. From my era as long as you don't sleep with too many guys or let everything hang out, for the most part you were still considered to be respectful. Hell I should be in the sainthood category still being a virgin. Standing here today, it was as simple as which side of the swinging doors you were on.

"I still want to go with you. What am I supposed to do while you're in there? Just stand here and get into trouble?"

"You're right about the trouble part Bella. Come on we'll go around back to get you in."

The set of old wooden stairs creaked with each step we made. It led to the rooms of the saloon girls. I would assume for the men who didn't want their wives to know they were here. I had heard of back door action before but, it was nothing like this.

Emmett walked in front of me and I felt someone touching my shoulder. "Are you the new girl? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Um... yes I am the new girl. I didn't want to attract attention to myself on the train ride."

"What is your stage name?"

"My stage name...my stage name is Bella Star."

"Well you better get ready. You only have about thirty minutes before the next show."

"Hey cowboy what's your name?"

"Emmett Black Ma'am."

He tipped his hat to her. It's almost like he had lived through this time before even though, I knew he hadn't. Needless to say he fitted in better than I ever would.

"I'm Miss Kitty. After the show if you want a taste its two bits."

When she walked away I wanted to know how much two bits really was.

"They use dimes and nickels here, not like the ones we used. Two bits is twenty-five cents."

Unbelievable how prostitution cost had went up over the years. Oh well I guess inflation even had hit the hookers hard. Hell if they visited Forks now, the girls give it away for free there.

"Well I'm gonna mosey on down the stairs and belly up to the bar."

"Em don't you think you're getting a little too much in character with this stuff?"

"You need to enjoy what we have Bella. Live in today and have fun with it. Nobody will judge us for it either. I don't know about you but, I've been judged enough for a life time. I've always been told what to do and when to do it. That changes today on this trip."

"I just don't want things to get out of control. I used to think I was in complete control of my life until I realized Edward controlled my happiness."

"No one ever controls you Bella. If you really believe it, then change it starting today. Besides I've always wanted to say belly up to the bar for some damn reason."

He gave me a wink before he disappeared down the stairs to get into the card game. So we could get the watch back and get the hell out of here. If I wanted to be in the saloon, it was time for me to blend in with the painted ladies.

Knocking on Miss Kitty's door and when she opened it, it was as bad as I thought it would be. Although their clothing of choice would still be considered modest compared to our modern time.

Getting cinched up was the worst part. Just strings were supposed to hold your body in to give you an hour glass figure. It also made my boobs look bigger so it had its perks.

The dress she gave me was red and black silk with lace around the low plunging neck and hem line. It matched hers and came to the top of my knees. I guess they thought back then showing your knees off and shoulders was sexy.

After she pinned up my hair to one side. She took out this brown looking stuff. She wet her finger tips and ran them over the top of it.

"What is that?"

"Clay to set the curl. What do you use?"

"I use clay too. It's a darker color than where I'm from, that's why I asked."

The makeup was worse than the damn mud she put in my hair. As bad as it smelled, I really didn't want to ask what was in it. She pinned a long black feather in the back of my hair and wrapped a black boa around my neck.

"I don't have time to go over the dance steps with you. You should be able to keep up because you've done this before."

"I have to dance?"

"Yes. We all do. It really gets the men folk riled up for us later."

"Great."

We all stood on the stairs and waited for the piano player to set down. When he started playing we took the stage. Their stage was nothing more than a spot on the wooden floor in the back of the bar. They were trotting and bouncing around to take their places. So when a painted lady, act like one.

Following behind them I found nothing sexy or exciting about what we were doing. They all turned around and so did I. They flipped up their dresses to show the men their bloomers. My timing wasn't like theirs. By the time I had done what they had, they were already on the floor kicking their legs around in the air.

Going to the floor I kicked my legs around too. The v move they did with their legs, they were way ahead of their time. Because almost all of the men in the room were mesmerized by it.

When they started running around the bar and flipping their boas, I did it too. Only I wasn't as graceful as they were. I tripped over my boa and face planted down in the lap of one of the cowboys.

"Would you like a drink little lady?"

"If it means I can quit dancing, I'm all for it."

We stood at the bar and I could see Emmett had traded my ring for a huge stack of poker chips.

"What would you like to drink?"

The bartender was dressed differently than everyone else in here. He had on a clean white shirt, a gray vest and a gray pair of pants. I bet his handle bar mustache must have had some clay in it to make it curl up that way. One of the dancers asked for a Adams Ale. So when in the old west, do as they do.

"I'll have an Adams Ale please."

He went to a bucket and used a dipper to put it in a glass. It was a weak brown color and looked like it had things floating around in it. The taste was horrible.

"What is this?"

"You asked for water and it's what I gave you."

Pushing the glass back, I wouldn't be drinking the water again anytime soon.

"Aren't you going to look at your card first?"

With his poker face on Emmett shook his head no and shoved all of his chips into the middle of the table. The others were out of the card game. It was down to Emmett and the member of Jessie's gang.

Em had exchanged one card with a king, queen, jack and ten of spades showing. One card wasn't flipped over and it was really pissing the guy off Em refused to look at it.

"Look at your damn card."

"Nope. If you want to see what it is ante up. You don't have enough chips to match my bet. I'll take the watch for the rest."

The guy had a three of a kind showing on the table. He finally took the watch from his wrist and placed it in the middle of the table.

"Now show me the damn card."

Lifting it up slightly off the table. Emmett must have not gotten the card he needed from the look on his face. He then tossed it in the middle of the table. It was the ace of spades.

As Emmett was reaching for the pot he won the guy pulled a gun on him. In front of these people he couldn't do anything to tip them off he was different.

"You cheaten yellow belly. Get on outta here before I fill you with lead."

Everyone owns a gun here. Because the others pulled theirs out too. Calmly Em tossed the table over and grabbed ahold of his hand to take the gun away from him.

A shot was fired. "Enough."

He wore a marshal's badge and had a huge cowboy hat on the top of his head.

"Billy go home." The guy went to protest about taking what belonged to him first.

"You heard what I said. I'll run you in and lock you for the night. Now go on."

"This ain't over yellow belly."

"The name is Emmett Black, so don't wear it out."

Em had lost his hat during the scuffle. The marshal picked it up and handed it to him.

"I like my town to be kept peaceful. How long are you planning on being here?"

"Just passing through."

"The move was gusty but stupid. Billy is crazier than a ran over raccoon. His brother is meaner than a rattle snake so if I were you, I would leave real soon."

"Yes Sir."

We got the most important thing, the watch. Emmett had pockets full of their dimes and nickels. "Excuse me Ma'am. I was wondering if you would like to spend some time with me? You look downright pretty Ms. Bella."

Going up the stairs we went into a room so I could get my clothes back. It wasn't like saloon women walked around and co mingled with the proper women in town. As soon as I had the contraption on again, we went down the back stairs.

We joined hands and said the words. "Great spirit world take us to another place and time."

Nothing happened. So we did it again and again. It was the same result each time. We were still in Dodge.

"Maybe they broke it. It has a crack on the face of the watch."

"Maybe. Or it could be it's just not time for us to leave here yet. Wind Taker said we would know when it is time."

"So what do we do now?"

"We need to get a couple of horses and get the hell out of this town. We'll find somewhere to stay out of sight. We can decide what to do when you have slept for the night. With the sun, we can't travel during the day."

"Why do we need horses? You can run faster than they can."

"How are we going to explain traveling without them. Every cowboy has a horse Bella. Unless you want to save a horse and ride a cowboy."

My face must have been redder than the crap they put on my cheeks.

"I was only kidding."

"I know Em."

We walked down the dirt path they called a main street to the black smith's stable. He had all kinds of horses for sale. But none of them liked Emmett. The one in the corral threw his head around and made snorting sounds. Banging his front hoof off of the ground.

"He knows what I am."

Before I could say anything Em opened the gate and went inside with the horse.

"Em maybe it's not such a good idea to go in there."

"Relax Bella. Animals only fight for a few reasons; food, fear, dominance, their mate or to mate and survival. I know because I am one."

A man came running out of the stable. "Mister you need to get out of there. The horse is going to be destroyed. He's wild and can't be tamed. It will hurt you."

Em kept inching towards the horse and stuck his hand out. It must have not liked the smell. He reared up on his hind legs and lounged towards Emmett.

"It that you're husband?"

"Um...yes he is my husband."

Standing his ground and not showing it any fear, the horse was backing away from the vampire. Em only followed after him. Once the horse was backed into the corner. He grabbed a hold of his mane. He was talking to the horse and I couldn't make out what he was saying.

"I've never seen such a thing. No one has ever been able to get that close before. Why is he talking to it?"

"He is a horse whisper."

"A what?"

"He can make any wild animal tame." It was a lie and not at the same time.

The confused black smith brought Em a saddle and a bridle. I guess the true test was if he could ride it or not. He took his jacket off before he climbed up in the saddle.

The horse wasn't very fond of Em being on his back. But after about ten minutes of the horse fight him every step of the way. He surrendered and was walking around and acted tame.

We bought Midnight, that's what Em named his coal black horse and a brown mare for me to ride. She had been rode before and was already tame. But I still wasn't sure about it.

"I'm right here beside you. I will never let anything happen to you Bella. So get up there and ride. It's just like a bicycle with legs."

"A bicycle with legs my ass."

They wanted to give me a side saddle. Because it wasn't lady like to spread your legs to ride. But then again, where I'm from the women spread their legs a lot to get rode. So I chose the traditional saddle.

After getting used to it, it wasn't half bad. I was ready to leave the corral and ride for real.

"We need to get some food for you before we leave town."

"Yeah and you don't know how much I miss having bottled water."

"What?"

"Nothing."

They don't have a fast food drive thru here. There was only one general store in town so, we went there. They didn't carry fresh anything. Dry goods were what they had the most. Along with some material to make clothing with. Until I spotted a row of big glass jars. It was sticks of candy.

"How much is the candy?"

"A bag full for two bits."

Everything must cost the same round here. Two bits for the food and two bits for the hookers. I guess they are both sweet little treats.

We bought flour, coffee, dried meats, beans and honey. Along with some other necessary staples, like a bar of lye soap and a kerosene lantern. Em doesn't need it to see in the dark but I did.

Since sugar wasn't in great supply honey was used as its substitute and I couldn't wait to figure out how to use it. I've done a lot of cooking and baking but never from scratch without a recipe.

"Excuse me. Where is your restroom?"

"Restroom?"

"I have to pee."

"It's out back."

"Do you need a key or something for it?"

"No Ma'am. Just make sure you lock the door from the inside. So no men folk can walk in."

While Em paid for our stuff and was loading it up in the saddle bags, I went to find the bathroom.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Since indoor plumbing wasn't plentiful here. It was a shack outhouse. To say it wasn't a very pleasant thing to use wasn't painting the real picture at all. It was a hot sweat box inside with flies swarming everywhere. Without any ventilation in place the smell was unbearable.

Hovering my butt over the wooden hole because there was no way I was sitting down on it. I got my business done quickly. Looking around I didn't see what I wanted.

"Don't be a dumb ass Bella. Toilet paper hasn't been invented yet."

There was nothing else in here but a basket of corn cobs. Well I didn't care what else I had to use to do number two, it wasn't going to be those. I hadn't fallen that far yet to even want know how they wiped your butt.

"Are you ready Bella?"

"Yeah and you don't want to even know what they do with corn cobs."

"What?"

"Let's just leave Dodge damn City and never look back."

Riding was okay. But the chapped legs I was getting from them rubbing against the saddle wasn't. My ass was getting sore and my body hurt from being tousled around so much.

Emmett had his horse running at a full canter. I'll have to admit I was a little scared I would fall off. But I knew Em would save me. So I yelled "Getty up." And we were chasing hot on his heels.

When we slowed down even the horses were getting tired. We walked and let them have time to cool off. There was a stream and we led them there so they could have a drink of water. It looked so clear.

"Do you think it's safe for me to get a drink from here?"

"Sure it is."

Cupping my hand and bringing it up to my lips. It tasted so good and was cold. When I looked over the horses had their mouths in the same stream I was drinking from. The past wasn't very sanitary by any means.

"Here Bella."

Em had filled up the canteen for me. I don't know why in the hell I didn't think of it. I drank until I felt full. Then I filled up my canteen again for later.

We walked always before Em switched directions. Over the hill we saw an old abandoned log cabin. There was even a hitching post in the front to tie the horses up.

When Em opened the front door it fell off the hinges. It was like a Norman Rockwell painting inside. Wooden floors, a hand carved rocking chair, a wood burning cook stove completed by a fireplace.

"Nobody has lived here for a while. We can stay here for now."

First things first, it needed a good cleaning. A coat of dust covered everything. Some old clothes were left in a trunk and they could be used for rags. Most of them wouldn't fit me or Em. When I took out a long duster coat, he fell in love with it. It was going to be part of his new attire.

We took the horses to the old barn. It probably felt good for them to have the heavy saddle off their backs. Em found some grain and we filled up the wooden box inside each stall for their dinner.

Then he went to fetch me some wood and water as he put it. I found a broom and swept my heart out. I was stirring up more dust by trying to clean the floor.

Em brought back a bucket of water and an arm load of wood. He lit the lantern because it was almost dark inside. I wanted to stay awake and clean some more but, sleep won the fight.

(XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)

Loud noises were coming from outside when I woke up. Em was cutting pieces of wood and banging on the front door. It wasn't at vampire speed, it was normal.

Sitting down on the grass while I watched him work so hard. He wanted to be a normal man fixing up the place. Once he hung the front door, he went on to repairing the logs around the cabin that had rotted or come loose.

Since he was so busy I got my butt up to do something. I loaded up a basket full of clothing, lye soap and found an old rusted wash board. The stream was where I was headed to.

Taking off my granny boots and dress so I could wash our clothes, a couple of towels and the ones I wanted to use for rags. I didn't wade to far out until I started scrubbing them against the board. I only washed a few pieces of clothing and my hands were already hurting.

The women here would be fascinated by the invention of the washer and dryer. Not only was it a way to make their lives easier; their clothes would smell fresher. Because when I was rinsing them it took forever for the water to turn clean from the pounds of dirt.

Throwing on my granny boots I went to hang them outside to dry in the sun. I couldn't find anything to clip them to the wire clothes line so I tossed them over it and hoped they didn't fall off.

"It's a sexy look on you Bella."

"Yeah I've always thought granny boots and bloomers were so sexy together. It's my new fashion statement."

His skin was sparkling so bright as he hammered nails in the fence around the house without his shirt on. He was putting so much effort into this since we weren't going to here for very long.

The inside was where I was turning my attention to next. The coffee pot was filthy. I poured a little water inside of it and scrubbed the hell out of it. All I had to do now was figure out how to make the wood burning stove work.

You would have thought it would have been easy. I shoved the hole full of wood and used the matches I found in the drawer. It took forever to get the fire started. Since I didn't want to do this again, I threw a pot of beans on at the same time with the coffee.

Wiping the table off several times to make sure it was clean. I was going to try to make some biscuits. When I mixed up the ingredients I squeezed some honey in it. I've never done this before and just hoped they didn't end up like a rock. Setting the bowl aside so the dough had time to rise.

It was so hot from the fire inside the stove I had to cool off. I grabbed a cup of water and went outside to see what Em was up to.

Emmett had mapped out something in the dirt. A rock was used to represent each of the Cullens. Along with numbers and their names written in the dirt beside it. Looking at it, I couldn't understand what he was doing.

Carlisle 1640/1663/23, Jasper 1844/1863/19, Esme 1895/1921/26, Edward 1901/1918/17, Alice 1901/1920/19, /Rosalie 1915/1933/18 and Emmett 1915/1935/20.

"What is it?"

"Carlisle was born in 1640 and he was turned in 1663. He was only twenty-three years old when it happened. Jasper was turned in 1863. Which means those two are here with us now. The others haven't even been born yet."

"What does it mean?"

"If they haven't been born yet or turned, we can stop this from happening."

"No we can't. Wind Talker said we can only change what we wished for or we would alter the future. We can only change what affects us."

"Everything affects us Bella. If we change one thing, the outcome will be different for them too. You have no idea what they had to endure and lived through. Jasper, Esme and Alice had it the worst."

"Why did they have it worse?"

Emmett wasn't going to say anymore. He wasn't going to tell me. I don't if it was because he didn't want to share things about the others or if he didn't trust me. The Cullens had always kept things from me. They would only tell me what they thought I could handle or what I should know about.

"Hold out your pinky Emmett."

He gave me a strange look but, he did it. Locking mine with his.

"Now pinky swear we won't ever keep secrets between us. You will always tell me the truth no matter what. Even if it's something I don't really want to know or how bad it is. Pinky swearing is like an oath or bond in blood between two people."

"I pinky swear Bella. Now I want one from you. From today forward we never use Edward or Rosalie's name again. We will refer to them as prissy lips and she devil. It will be part of our healing process and moving on from them."

"I pinky swear Emmett."

First we talked about Jasper. Maria used him to kill and as a soldier of her personal war. He had a living hell on earth for many years in his vampire life. The scars he had shown me before the newborn battle, were deeper than on his skin. It sadden me when Emmett was through telling me about how Jasper lived and was brow beaten to believe he was doing good and not evil work for her.

"If Jasper is here somewhere. Maybe we can find him and get him to leave Maria now."

"We are not going anywhere near Jasper. He is a savage and will kill you. I will have to fight him and he is not the same Jasper we know in the future. I'm not sure even with my strength I could handle him."

Emmett had never shown fear of anything since I've known him. If he thought it was best to leave it alone, then that is exactly what we would do.

Alice's story was just as sad. Her parents thought of her as crazy and evil. She had visions of things even in her human life. When she was locked up and forgotten, her hell only got worse. She was beaten, abused, experimented on and turned by someone who left her for dead. She couldn't remember her human life, only what they could piece together from archives.

"What about Alice?"

"I have a plan for her when we get to the year."

"And Esme, Edw...prissy lips and she devil?"

"She devil never wanted this life as you well know. So we stop it from happening. She can grow old and have children."

"You know if we stop her from becoming a vampire, you won't make it Em."

"I know. By then Bella you can move on and find Nico. I know you can do it because I have faith in you."

Emmett had a plan for all of them except for Carlisle and Jasper. Carlisle adapted to his way of life and was a survivor who started their coven. Jasper, well I wasn't really sure what would end up happening to him without the others. In Emmett's opinion if we stopped the coven from ever forming, it would be a favor done to the world.

My opinion however, was different. With his emotions running high, he was making irrational decisions. There would be at least one Cullen who lived through this trip and I wasn't referring to Carlisle either. Besides I hated to tell Emmett, without him, I wouldn't be able to move forward through time. I would be stuck in the year 1935. For now, I would keep that part to myself.

It wasn't until I heard it all mapped out in my head it made sense to me. Be careful what you wished for. Just because it may be granted. Your outcome could end up worse than it originally started.

Maybe it was Wind Talker's plan from the start. Even if we changed our own future, it would touch everyone around us and change theirs as well. He knew Emmett and I would never survive this trip without the other one. I guess looking at it now, prissy lips and she bitch...I meant she devil, wasn't the worst thing that could happen to us after all.

"When are we going to try to leave again?"

"We can when you want to Bella. But I don't think it will work. Maybe you're right and Jessie broke the watch."

"If it is broken. How are we going to get out here? Is there someone who can fix it?"

"Where would we take it to? We are from the future and the watch is how we jump time. Who will believe us or is smart enough to... I know who is smart enough."

"Who?"

"Carlisle."

"Where is he?"

"It's 1867 so he would have already left the Volturri. It's just a matter of finding him and him not thinking we're crazy."

"We can't tell anybody what you really are."

"We won't have to tell Carlisle. He'll know what I am."

"Okay. So how do we find him?"

"I don't know. It's not like we can look him up in the yellow pages."

"Well no shit Sherlock."

"I know in 1911, Carlisle worked as a doctor in Columbus, Ohio. Because the local doctor was away. He was assigned to treat Esme Anne Platt's broken leg after she fell from a tree. That's how they met. He had wandered around here alone before that. I remember him telling me stories about how he would study at night because he was afraid to come out during the day. He never said pacifically where he was this year but East is going to be a good place to start looking for him."

We tried to use the watches one more time without success. Tomorrow morning would be a new start for us. We would catch the train early before the sun shinned bright and would try to find Carlisle. Now if we could just convince him we weren't crazy.

"I am going to go make my biscuits."

The dough raised nicely. Coating the table with flour I rolled it out. I used my cup as a biscuit cutter. There was a cast iron sheet pan I put them on. While they were cooking, I stirred the beans and poured a cup of coffee.

It was a pleasant smell in the cabin. I used a rag to open the door to the stove and saw they were golden brown. It was time for them to come out of the oven.

While they were still hot I split one open and drizzled more honey on it since I didn't have any butter. I was starving and ate three of them along with a plate of beans. It was pretty good considering I had no clue to what I was doing.

After I ate I went back outside where Emmett was. He was patching the hole in the barn's roof. All day long I hadn't once seen him use his vampire speed. He was moving in slow motion and I think he was enjoying it.

The clothes were dry and I folded them up. I just wished they had at least a bathtub I could use. I grabbed the bar of soap, a towel and my clean clothes.

Taking a look around before I tried to get my bloomers off. At least it had a snappy crouch to use the restroom. But I couldn't reach behind me to undo the hooks.

"I'll help."

"You startled me Em."

It didn't take him long to get it undone. He wasn't shy either as he stripped down in front of me and got in the water. I stood on the bank holding on to the front of my bloomers with my hands so they didn't come down.

"You jumped time with me. Just jump in the damn water Bella. I won't look unless you want me to."

"Don't look."

He turned around and I knew he could still see. I guess at this point, it didn't really matter either way. I let go of my bloomers while letting go of the embarrassment at the same time.

Emmett was a lot fun and liked to have fun no matter what. He splashed me in the face and I splashed him back. When he dunked his head under the water, I was a little uncomfortable because he was seeing it all down below. I kept waiting for him to come back up. Then he finally did.

"There is something I want to show you. Hold your breath."

Taking in a deep one Em had me and was swimming through a bunch of large boulders. When we came up there was a waterfall. It was a steady stream and beautiful. It must have been why the water tasted so good.

Emmett got out and held out his hand for me. He might not mind being naked in front of me but, I've never been naked in front of a man before.

"Trust me Bella. You don't have a damn thing to be ashamed of. Besides I already seen your body when I went under the water and you have a nice ass."

Since he put it that way. I held out my hand and he lifted me up on the bolder. He had the bar of soap with him and stood under the waterfall. It was just like a shower, well sort of. So I went to. He tossed me the bar and went on with his business of getting clean like us being naked together was no big deal.

The clay wasn't coming out of my hair and I washed it three times. I felt my scalp getting massaged from behind. His fingers felt wonderful.

"Turn around Bella."

"Um.. Em."

"Just turn around."

He leaned me back and was rinsing my hair. Then he lathered, rinsed and repeated it again until I couldn't feel anything but clean hair.

"It's getting late. We should get back."

Taking in another deep breath I swam back with him to the bank. As we were getting out Em's head turned and I knew he heard something. He tossed me a towel and wrapped one around his waist.

"There isn't time to get back to the cabin and they will find us there anyway. He's alone now but the other will be here soon. Stay behind me."

"Well look at what we got here. If isn't yellow belly and his woman. Now I want my watch back you cheated me out of in the card game or I might just have to bed down your women instead. Hell I might bed her down anyway because you made me look like a fool."

"You made yourself look like a fool."

"You got a smart mouth on you boy. Didn't your Mama teach you any manners?"

The next thing I knew I was behind the trees and a gun shot was fired. My heart was racing as I peeked out. Em stood over him with the gun in his hand. He let it fall to the ground.

"Is he..."

"Yeah. It went off, I didn't mean to kill him. Shit we need to get out of here now."

"We can't just leave him here."

"We can't be associated with killing one of the James gang either. They will be here soon and they will find him."

Packing up what little we owned. I threw some food, my cell and ring in the flour sack. I made sure I put my necklace back on. Em had the horses saddled up and ready for us to ride back to Dodge.

By the time we got there. The last train had run already for the night. The stage coach was our only option left. We would have to run or ride the horses. At least with the stagecoach it would be covered from the sun and we could take it to the next place to catch a train.

Emmett boarded our horses with the black smith. If we had to come back here, they would be waiting for us. If we didn't he would take care of them until they were sold again.

"Let's get the hell out Dodge Bella. I've always wanted to say that."

We were traveling with two gentlemen. One was a traveling salesman of a magic medical tonic. The other was going to visit his son. I leaned my head over on Em's arm while I listen to all the aliments his tonic cured.

I hadn't dozed off long until I was woken up to everyone panicking but Em. We were being thrown around inside.

"What is it Emmett?"

"You know how we pinky swore about telling the truth at all times.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure about it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay here is the truth. The stagecoach is out of control. The driver is dead because of the Indians arrows and they will probably try to scalp us if we're captured."

"Is there any other bad news?"

"Yeah. There is a cliff up ahead. I can't be what I really am to save us in front of these people."

"Thank you for your honesty Em. I wonder how I can take back a pinky swear?"

I hope you enjoyed reading me!

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