Couldn't figure out where to put this so here: Murdoch suspected Gillies had allowed Newcombe to see his true identity so that when they disappeared no one would bother searching too hard or alert the NWMP. For that would have been completely counter intuitive to their singular goal; remaining out of the limelight.

It was nearly dark before they arrived on the outskirts of the only known Indian encampment in these parts. Philip Jones, a well built athletic man, had led them there himself. For the most part, the Indians kept to themselves, but out of necessity the fur traders did have occasion to trade every now and again. Sometimes the Indians even came into their little hamlet for this purpose. Jones had thought that the fugitives must have come in contact with the Indians during just such an exchange. Contrary to popular belief, some of them could speak English quite well and therefore it was relatively easy to interact with them, provided you didn't hold the barrel of a gun to their face.

"Funny how all men don't seem to like that," Jones had said with a smirk.

They stopped far enough back from the camp so as to not feel as though they were a threat and intruding on their territory. Now that they were this close to the Indians, he noticed Jimmy was ill at ease. Whatever that was about, Murdoch could only guess.

In his ornery state, Brackenreid wanted to charge straight on in but Jones talked him out of it.

"It would be best if I were to speak with them first. We have a rapport after all."

They watched as Jones trotted over to the camps southern entrance. A sentinel with a drawn bow and arrow also followed his progress.

He stopped just outside and spoke to a lanky Indian man for a short while. The man disappeared and another one took his place, this one much more imposing and fancily dressed. After Jones pointed them out, the man (whom Murdoch assumed was the chief) kept shaking his head and the conversation quickly took on a heated tone (at least on Jones' part), and the Indian gestured for him to leave. This Jones did quickly enough, riding back over to them, irritation written all across his normally jovial features.

"I'm sorry," said Jones. "They refuse to speak to you."

"What the bloody hell is going on?" demanded Brackenreid, gripping his reins tight. "I thought you said you had a rapport!"

"I do," he replied. "The problem is that you do not."

"What the bloody hell does that mean?!"

"As I'm sure you are aware, the NWMP and the Cree do not have a bloodless past. Far from it. They are a proud people and take long to forgive."

At these words Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his saddle.

"Well that's just bloody great!" Brackenreid yelled, tossing up his hands. "We come all the way out here just to be turned away! I don't think so!"

Murdoch and Jasper shared a look and being on either side of the Colonel, each grabbed a hold of his reins before he went charging towards certain death.

"Let me go you bloody bastards!" he snarled, attempting to pry Murdoch's fingers loose. "Those nancy boys are probably in there as we speak!"

"Please, sir," said Jasper, "have a little patience."

"I've got plenty of patience!" Brackenreid boomed, causing a flock of birds to fly out of the forest they had emerged from.

They would have gladly given him some whiskey hours ago but the settlement in Red Deer had been bone dry, or at least that's what had been claimed. The stuff probably wasn't easy to come by and was likely rationed out most of the time. Not something you would want to share with passing strangers unless you absolutely had to. So they had to make do with the rapidly unhinging Colonel as best as they could. At this rate he would be dead by morning, unless they figured out a way to speak with the Indians.

Naturally they all looked to Jimmy. He became very anxious at the prospect of dealing with them.

"Please, just give it a try," said Jasper.

Jimmy nodded and rode over there slower than he had to. The scenario that followed was similar to Jones' in the beginning, until Jimmy approached the lanky Indian. This time there was a one sided conversation in which the gatekeeper completely ignored him, as if he didn't exist. Suddenly Murdoch felt a kindred spirit in this man, and was burning with curiousity to know why they were acting this way towards him.

Later, after they had set up camp and the others had gone to sleep, Murdoch stayed with Jimmy around the fire, and asked him about this.

Jimmy sighed, stared deeply into the flickering flames, and then began his tale.

"I was from this tribe, grew up here. These people were my family. I now live among the white man, dress as one and even work for one. I'm considered nothing at all to them. Not even worth notice."

"Why did you leave?"

"I never really felt like I fit in with my tribe. I was forever asking questions that no one could satisfactorily answer. Then one day while I was out hunting, I met a beautiful white woman, the daughter of an adventurer and explorer. Instead of being frightened of me, or attacking me, she simply spoke to me like a human being and showed me wonderful modern inventions that I never dreamed could exist. I fell in love with her and this modern world of hers. When she returned to Calgary, I went with her and she helped establish me in town. Even after I looked like them it was still quite awhile before anyone else accepted me. George was the first one to show me true kindness and slowly but surely people followed his lead." He sighed again, eyes never once leaving the flames. "I thought I would make more of myself than a simple stable boy, but I never managed to. Everything...and everyone I gave up was for naught."

"What happened to her, the woman?"

Jimmy didn't respond at first and when he did, there was an additional note of sadness. "She didn't feel the same way that I felt about her. After I was settled in town she went back home, to Saskatchewan. I never saw her again."

Murdoch had never left or been left by someone he was in love with. Mostly because he had never been in love. Still, he couldn't imagine it was a pleasant experience and he felt badly for the man but there was nothing he could do to make it better. So they simply stared into the fire for some time until it burned down to glowing embers. Jimmy put it out with a bit of water and they too retired for the night.

That is until there was a bit of commotion. Murdoch quickly became alert when he heard some hushed voices carrying on not too far from his tent flaps. They were not speaking in English. He reached for his revolver and cautiously poked his head outside, expecting to find themselves surrounded by the Cree. Instead he found Jimmy trying to force a striking young Indian woman out of the camp.

She stiffened at his approach, or perhaps the weapon in his hand and he lowered it. In any case, she stopped struggling and Jimmy turned to face him too.

"What's going on here, Jimmy?"

The woman raised an eyebrow at the name and then burst out laughing.

"Keep it down, Kayla," warned Jimmy. But too late, Jasper had been awoken as well and had come to investigate.

Murdoch shared a look with him and shrugged.

"Well, now, Jimmy," said the woman with clear amusement, "the rat is out of the bag. You might as well let me stay."

"If they find out you attempted to help us, they will banish you too."

"I don't care, Jaha," she replied fiercely, "they shouldn't treat you this way. I will help you whether you like it or not."

"There's nothing I can say that will stop you, is there?"

"Was there ever?"

Jimmy shook his head, smiling slightly. "No, I suppose not. All right then," he said, gesturing to the overturned logs they had used as dinner seating. Once the four of them were situated - Jimmy facing Kayla, and Murdoch and Jasper facing each other – he continued, "What can you tell us about the men we have been searching for?"

"Enough."

With Kayla's information in hand, they (or rather Jimmy) now knew where the fugitives were hiding. It was not in the Indian camp before them, but rather an ancient secluded place the Cree used for contemplation and healing.

Naturally they were all confused by this development, but that was the extent of Kayla's eavesdropped information. Jimmy hugged the woman before she stole away into the night and watched her progress until he was certain she had made it back to her home unseen.

The men got a few more hours of shut eye and then in the early morning they were off again. At the entrance to the sanctuary, two able bodied Cree carrying a club and bows and arrow, respectively, came out to block their path, one saying something in very angry tones to Jimmy. Whatever Jimmy responded with seemed to calm the man down enough to avoid bloodshed.

Jimmy turned on his horse and said, "They do not wish to grant you access."

Brackenreid was not having any of this nonsense. But seeing as how there was an arrow directed at his heart, he decided against charging past and quickly closed his trap.

"So now what?" he grumbled.

Jimmy spoke to the men again, this time for longer.

"They say they will allow two of us to pass...but no redcoats."

Murdoch immediately understood that it would just be him and Jimmy proceeding forward now, something it took Brackenreid a much longer time to comprehend.

"This is a sacred place," Jimmy said to Murdoch. "If we wish to proceed, we must leave all instruments of destruction behind."

It had been a long while since he had been foolish enough to confront dangerous men without any means to protect himself save for his wits and fists, but there was nothing for it. He couldn't let Jimmy try and take them both on himself. He had no idea what they were capable of.

Finally they commenced on a nearly half a mile trek through underbrush and narrow passages that finally opened up into an idyllic meadow. Here there were several teepee's scattered throughout, a couple with smoke emanating from the tops. The Cree present simply watched as they passed by.

Jimmy spoke to one of them and at first they didn't respond but then they pointed to a teepee over to their left about two hundred paces. The two outsiders nodded to each other and then ambled on over, every step the horse took leaving him increasingly anxious. He patted his saddle bag to reassure himself that at least the lasso was still present.

When they were closer, they could hear chanting in the Cree tongue from within. Nevertheless, Murdoch said in his best authoritative tone, "James Gillies and Robert Perry. Come out here immediately. You are under arrest."

Instead what he got was an elderly Cree woman poking her head out. She spoke to Jimmy and Jimmy turned to him and said, "We'll have to go in there if we want to see them."

Again his unease grew, but so too did his curiousity. The men descended their horses and Jimmy leading, entered the teepee. The air was thick with smoke from burning incense but there was another far more unpleasant smell just beneath this. One he was well acquainted with.

What they found was Gillies lying down, stripped of all his female attire and clothed in nothing more than his underthings. Without all the makeup covering up his face, Murdoch could see there were lesions on his face and neck. Perry sat off to the side, holding his hand, apparently oblivious to their presence. The man's fake beard was gone, and despite the relative darkness in here, he still wore the brown tinted sunglasses Jimmy had alluded to. Murdoch could see that Perry's hands were covered in an ugly rash and almost looked deformed.

Suddenly everything made sense.