It was close to sunset in Tall Trees. It had been cloudy all day, threatening to rain but never really doing so. The thick wet air of the forest didn't help me from not freezing, either.

I heard an elk in the distance and pulled the repeater from my back. It was a healthy thing, big with thick fur. If I managed to shoot it, I would kill two birds with one stone. I could eat some of the meat, and sell the fur for money to buy a drink.

I hadn't had a drink in ages. The last had been half a mouthful of warm moonshine that had been sitting in my pack all day. My hands were shaky as I held my gun, and I worried that I wouldn't make the shot. I knew that if I missed, he would bolt and be gone before I could blink.

I tried to hold my gun steady but my hands wouldn't stop shaking. It was a mixture of the cold, hunger, and my need for a drink that had gotten my hands to shaking. I took a deep breath and held it, trying to aim steady, but I missed the shot anyway.

The elk ran and I yelled something foul in response. I put my gun away and pulled myself back up on my horse, and started heading away from Tall Trees.

I thought, briefly, about returning to Beecher's Hope. There was no food there, and I doubted I would find anything to drink after the last time I tore the house apart looking for some, but it was familiar. My stomach turned and I regretted even thinking about it.

My only other option was to take up Pearl on her offer from before.

It had been over a week since I'd last seen her, and I hoped she hadn't changed her mind by then, or forgotten.

The sun had only just gone down by the time I reached her house. No one was outside, but I could see the lights on inside filtering past the curtains. I dismounted my horse and realized how unwelcome I still felt. Every fight up to the front door took ridiculous effort, and then I couldn't bring myself to knock.

I felt stupid. I felt stupid for being there, rather than somewhere else. I didn't belong there. I felt stupid for feeling stupid, because there was nothing wrong with coming to a house that I was invited to.

On an impulse, I lifted my hand and knocked. The noise inside of the house stopped for a moment, and then a man answered the door. He was a portly old man with thick black hair and a mustache to match. His eyes were brown, and reminded me of a dog's eyes. I realized that this was Pearl's father, and the parent she looked most like.

"Can I help you?" He asked, and I barely had time to let out an "uh" before Pearl was squeezing past him.

"You're here!" She yanked my arm and pulled me inside. "I thought you weren't going to, and I'd have to give you a piece of my mind the next time I saw you in town."

"Sorry," I told her. "I've been busy."

"It's okay." She waved her hand dismissively. "I hope you don't mind, but we've actually already had dinner. It's still warm, though. I'll make you a plate."

My stomach ached in protest as I argued. "No, no, it's fine. I don't want to be the only one eating."

"Nonsense." She turned for a moment and looked me up and down. "You're so skinny, Jack. How long has it been since you've had a good meal?"

"A while." I admitted. "I'm not a great cook."

I tried not to look at Pearl's mother and aunt as we passed them, but I could feel them staring at me.

Pearl sat me down at the kitchen table before going across the room and piling food high on to a plate. She slid it in front of me along with some silverware and sat across from me.

"Since you don't feel like eating alone, I'll eat with you." She pulled out a peach and a sharp knife. "I stole this from one of the neighbors this morning. Let's see if it's any good."

Once I had finished eating, she took me into the living area where her mother and aunt were at. I sat on an uncomfortable and expensive looking couch next to Pearl, who was leaned back as far she she could go with her legs crossed politely in front of her. They sat on an identical couch across from us, eyeing me critically.

"So, who is winning the staring contest?" Pearl asked, casually rotating her ankle in what was apparently a very irritating fashion for those two. "It looks to me like Aunt Sarah is winning." A moment passed. "How long are you going to do this?"

"Until we figure out what it is about him that prompted you to invite him into our home." Sarah said, her lips curling up as she spoke.

"You're being quite rude, you know. If you don't stop soon, I'll be forced to take Jack somewhere else." Pearl grinned. "Someplace where you can't stare or make rude remarks to our guest." The twins gaped at her.

"I will not allow that." Her mother hissed.

Pearl threw her head back. "Papa!" Her father entered from the other room, a stack of papers in his hands. "Can Jack and I go to the saloon underneath the Blackwater Hotel?"

"Of course." Her father replied. "Just come home this time, please." He abruptly went back into his office. Pearl smirked at her mothers while they reddened.

"Come on, Jack." Pearl stood and stretched. "You've been talking about wanting a drink, now is your chance to get one."

So we walked to the saloon. It was dark outside, and the citizens of Blackwater had retreated back into their homes, so the saloon was mostly empty. I got a drink and then found a table near the corner of the room to sit at while Pearl glanced around.

The men were there playing blackjack, as always, along with the cleaning woman and the bartender. None of them paid any real attention to us, and that didn't bother Pearl as much as I thought it would. Apparently her constant need for attention was sated as long as at least one person was watching her, and this time it was me.

"Happy now?" She smiled at me as I took a gulp of my drink.

"Not necessarily." I replied after I cleared my throat.

"And what would make you happy?"

"I don't know."

"How about..." She pursed her lips and tapped her chin. "A kiss?"

"No." I took another mouthful of my drink as she frowned at me.

"Fine, I'll just wait until you've drank a little more." She quirked an eyebrow. "Then you'll want to kiss me."

"Being drunk has never made me want to kiss someone." She scowled at this and glanced around.

"I have an idea." She leaned closer to me, her eyes bright with mischief. "If I beat you in one round of blackjack, I get a kiss."

"And what if I beat you?"

She grabbed my arm and whispered "I'll let you take my dress off." I felt my ears heat up and I pushed her arm away.

"You'd like that more than I would." I frowned. "If I win, you have to stop saying things like that to me for a whole week."

"Ooh, interesting." She tapped her fingers on the table for a second. "Okay, deal." She went over to the blackjack dealer and took a few cards from his deck, seeing as the blackjack table was full and we didn't want to disturb the other players. She let me shuffle them and set them out so I couldn't accuse her of cheating, which I would have. I lifted my cards and she lifted hers. I had seventeen.

"What do you have, Jack?" She asked, and then bit down on her lower lip in excitement.

"Seventeen." I set the cards down. "A fair number."

"Oh, dear." She frowned. "Looks like I have twenty. So much for my attempts to make you happy."

"Damn it." The thought of kissing her filled me up with enough anxiety to make me feel ill. I took my time handing the cards back to the blackjack dealer, and finishing my drink while she stared at me with a smug look on her face.

"Don't worry, Jack." She told me. "I know what I'm doing. I've kissed a man before."

"Yes, that makes me feel so much better."

"What's gotten you so embarrassed?"

"What if someone sees?" I looked around. "It's... I don't want to do this where people can watch."

"What, do you think they'll talk?" She asked. "Because you're right, they would. People already talk about me, and they talk even more about you."

I was silent for a moment. "People talk about you?"

"You haven't heard the rumors about the Ramsey's whore daughter?" She shrugged. "You know, the one who sleeps with a different man each week and practices witchcraft in her spare time."

"There isn't any..." She gave me a blank stare. "Well, that isn't true, right?"

"I'm not a witch, and I don't sleep with a different man each week." She made a face. "As for whether or not I'm a whore, well, that's a matter of opinion. But please, do tell me if you decide that you think I'm a whore."

I felt sorry for asking.

"I still want my kiss, though." She brightened up again. "So I'll make you an additional offer. You can kiss me here, and I'll accept a little peck on the lips... but if you take me somewhere more private, I'll want a better kiss than that."

"Damn it, Pearl." I hissed. "I don't... I haven't..."

"Think of it as a learning experience." She offered. "Besides, I don't judge."

I glanced around the room again, and my eyes lingered on the men at the Blackjack table. I knew how much they loved to gossip.

"Fine." I told her. "I've got a hotel room upstairs and-"

"You're taking me to your hotel room for this?" Her eyebrows shot up. "I thought you were just going to take me to a dark corner of some alleyway."

"You'd prefer an alleyway?" I scratched the back of my head.

To my shock, her cheeks reddened. "I don't mind, but your hotel room, Jack? Think of the implications. I thought you were worried about what people would say."

"I know, but the room has a fireplace, and no one will see anything. It's freezing outside, and if we went into an alley someone could still happen by."

"Okay, well, take us to your room then." She stood, and I polished of my drink before standing with her.

Once we were in the room, I went over to the fireplace to poke the embers back to life. Pearl stood not too far away.

"In truth, I didn't expect such boldness from you, Jack." She told me. I hadn't expected such boldness from myself either, but I really didn't want anyone to see this, especially if it didn't go well.

"So," I said. "Should we sit down or keep standing or...?"

"It would be better to stand, I think." She told me, stepping up close to me. "Sitting would make things more awkward right now."

I looked at her for a moment. In all honesty, I wasn't entirely opposed to the idea of kissing her. The light from the fire flickered orange off of her face, and the red paint on her lips had worn halfway off. Her eyes weren't even cutting, though they still gave me the impression that she could see everything I was thinking or feeling.

Suddenly she was giggling, and that helped break through the tension a bit. "Let me help you." She grabbed my arms and arranged them, curling one around the top of her back and the other a little lower. "And then my arms go here." She put one hand on my chest and the other on my neck. "Seem familiar?" I hoped she couldn't feel me sweating.

"Now remember, when you kiss me, you should close your eyes. Staring is strange." She tilted her head up expectantly. "Take your time."

"You want me to start?"

She was giggling again. "Would you prefer that I kissed you, Jack?" When I couldn't come up with an answer, she pulled my face down to her level. "I'll start slow."

She did as she said, and I only barely felt her lips on mine at first before she pressed only a tad firmer. I forgot to close my eyes like she told me, until I saw that hers were closed and I followed suit. Other than that, I was frozen in place. I didn't know if I should move, and if I should, how? I had to bend over a bit to even reach her, and that made things strange as well. I also noticed that she was kissing the bottom of my mouth, and I wondered if that was because I hadn't bend over far enough for her to reach properly.

Then her fingers moved against my neck, and she moved her lips slowly like she promised. I tried to imitate her but I worried that my lips were too dry, or that I would do it wrong. It was pleasant, but not what I'd expected it to feel like. Then she tilted her head a little more and pushed firmer into the kiss, moving her lips faster for only a second before pulling back to see my reaction.

"So, how was it?"

"It was... weird." I answered honestly.

"Let's try again, then. Try doing what I do." And she pulled me back for another kiss before I could say anything. She continued right where she left off, and I felt my hands sweating against her dress. I did as she said and tried doing whatever it was that she was doing. I felt her nose brush against mine and heard her hum out a little laugh. Then suddenly I tasted her lipstick in my mouth and I pulled away.

"You said one kiss." I told her.

She shrugged. "You can take it back if you'd like. Anyway, that's not important." She removed her arms from around my neck. "What did you think?"

"I thought it was awkward and weird."

She grimaced. "It was awkward and weird, but you're learning. It was alright for your first go." She winked. "We'll just have to practice some more."

I snorted. "Yeah, well, I have to get you home before your father gets mad at you."

She sighed. "Okay. I suppose we've had our fun."

"Yeah, yeah. Just go." I ushered her out of the room, and then realized that unfortunately I'd never be able to go into that hotel room again without thinking of that moment.