Buzz linked Jessie's arm through his, and they started down the road.
"That's the saloon." Jessie pointed to the brightly lit building on the left. "Over here," the right this time,
"is the Millinery Shop. Bo works there." Jessie smiled. "She's Woody's girl."
Buzz couldn't help but smile at how Jessie lit up when she spoke about her brother.
The eventually reached the end of the street, between the Doc's place, and the station, and they turned around to head back.
As they drew even with the saloon, the doors swung open and a large rectangle of light spilled across the ground. Two people stumbled out and into Buzz and Jessie's path. Buzz had seen them coming and sidestepped, pulling Jessie with him.
They turned back to look at the disheveled couple.
"Hello, Rex." Jessie said coldly. He didn't look at her. Instead, tried to help the other girl off the ground.
"Howdy Jessie!" She exclaimed, pushing herself off the ground and pushing Rex's hands away at the same time.
"Trixie." Jessie nodded at her. She may have merely nodded, but Jessie's greeting towards Trixie was far warmer than the one towards Rex. This puzzled Buzz, but he made no comment.
"Sorry for stealing Rexs." Trixied grinned sheepishly. She seemed truly apologetic.
"It's not your fault Trixie." Jessie replied. "Rex is a big boy and can make his own decisions."
"Well, it seems like you've made some of your own." Rex countered, looking pointedly at Buzz. There was a faint spark of recognition in his eye. "Hey weren't you-"
"He's an old family friend." Jessie cut in. "He was injured by a fall from his horse." She held her chin up high as she bluffed her way through the explanation. "...but he has amnesia, so I really must get him home."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Rex asked, looking suspiciously at Buzz.
"Hey, Rex," Jessie's voice was soft and threatening. "Don't call me a liar or you'll spend the night in jail for blackening the honor of a deputy of the law."
"You can't-" But a squeeze on the hand from Trixie silenced him.
Woody shook Buzz awake the next morning, and they went into the kitchen together. "I'm surprised you were able to sleep out there." Woody commented, sitting down at the scrubbed wooden table.
"When you're really tired, it doesn't matter where you sleep." Buzz smiled. His eyes fell on Jessie, who stood by the fire, shifting a cast iron skillet with one hand, and holding a basket of eggs with the other. Her unbraided hair was tucked behind one ear, and pulled over her shoulder.
Woody glanced back and forth between the two of them, somewhat afraid of what he might see. "So, Jessie, what are your plans for today?" Jessie slid the eggs from the skillet onto a plate and put it in the middle of the table.
She sat down. "I figured that I would take Buzz out to Prosciutto's place and see about the barn-raising." She put an egg on her plate and took a bite.
"Oh." Woody sounded slightly disappointed.
Jessie eyed him suspiciously. "Why, what are you doing?"
"I have to go up to the mining town and run off some hooligans." They were silent for a few minutes as they ate.
"Sheriff," Buzz began.
"Woody." He corrected him.
Buzz smiled slightly. "Woody, where did you find me?"
Time seemed to halt. Even Jessie had stopped eating, her egg-laden fork hovering halfway to her mouth.
"Why do you ask?" Woody said carefully. "Don't you believe us when we say you're family?"
"I'm not stupid, Woody." Buzz replied. "At least, I don't think I am. It isn't very difficult to realize, especially by your conversation yesterday with Doc Piquant, that i'm not family."
"You're right." Woody said after a moment. "I found you on the prairie just East of Prosciutto's Ranch." Jessie resumed eating, her eyes on her plate.
"What was I doing out there?" Buzz asked, trying to seem nonchalant.
"Your guess is as good as ours." Woody replied.
"Oh."
Jessie looked at Buzz out of the corner of her eye and saw that he wasn't moving, his hand resting on the table with the fork pointing up towards the sky, and his eyes glaring at a knot in the table.
Jessie put her fork down and stood up. "Well, I really need to get out to Prosciutto's. Buzz," she gently touched his hand, "you should go get the horses ready while I clean up."
Buzz jerked out of his reverie and nodded, then left the kitchen.
As soon as Jessie was sure he was out of earshot, she turned to Woody. "Why did you lie to him?" She demanded.
"What do you mean?" Woody asked.
"I saw you coming into town yesterday morning, and you were coming from the foothills. I ain't stupid either."
"What else did you see?" Woody put the plates in the wash basin to soak.
"I saw that thing fall out of the sky, and I saw you run after it." Jessie said. "I figured that you would have everything under control and that you wouldn't do anything too stupid, so I went to bed. I knew that Rex would be coming in the morning, so I woke up early, and I saw you and him carry Buzz into Doc Piquant's." She took a breath. "I see more than you think I do."
"You might have seen all that," Woody started, "but I don't know what I saw. And, until I do, I think that it's safer if he doesn't know the truth." Jessie opened her mouth to protest, but Woody cut her off. "I know what you're going to say, but I believe that it's in the best interest of everyone in town if he doesn't know anything. He could be a threat."
