General Hospital; Into the West

Another Life


Previously

Robert Scorpio had saved a woman from his past, Katherine Delafield; a woman he had believed to be dead for many years.

She had been held by two hill-men and physically abused. Robert ended up killing the two men in self-defense, and after making a stretcher made out of branches and skinned fur that the two men had in their possession, he dragged her behind his horse to the nearest two of Corby.

Another man from the hills, who was also in Corby, seemed to recognize the furs that Robert had used to make the stretcher out of as he and Katherine arrived in the town.

Our story continues…


The small town of Corby; on the border of Wyoming and Utah

Robert had gotten two rooms at the local hotel; one for himself and one for Katherine.

While she settled into her room, Robert took his horse down to the local stable to house it over night; and he was also well aware of the fact that someone was following him from the distance; another hill man…Robert had seen the man paying close attention as he and Katherine had arrived in town earlier.

Later, after renting a stall from the town's stable master, Robert led his horse inside the large building that housed several horses.

The hill man entered the building as well, and has he tried to find Robert; Robert found him instead.

"Alright, mister," Robert said from behind the large burly man, who also wore a thick bear skin draped over his body; and the smell of the animal as well, "why are you following me?"

The large bearded man turned to face Robert; his grin revealed a mouth missing several teeth.

"Them rugs you dragged into town," the man said with deep a scratchy, "they be' mine!"

Just like the two hill-men Robert had killed before, this hill-man was also armed with a large knife that he no doubt used to butcher the animals he trapped and killed in the wilderness.

"Did you abuse that woman as well," Robert asked as cold anger in his eyes began to flare.

The hill-man laughed.

"Fool; she be just a woman!" he said to Robert, "but only on this earth only to please men…like me and you."

That was all Robert needed to hear as he swiftly hurled his own Bowie knife at the large man and watched as it dove into his forehead before he could react fast enough.

Twenty minutes later, after asking the stable's manager to fetch the local Sheriff, Robert explained in great detail to the law officer who soon arrived, and who knew of Robert's name and respect, about his ordeal of finding Katherine in the nearby hills and how he had to kill the other two men in self-defense as well… so as to save her.

Sheriff Bo Buchanan listened closely to Robert's story and finally nodded his head; he believed the nearly legendary Australian-American frontier man and his claims of self-defense.

Robert hadn't given Sheriff Buchanan Katherine's name; she had asked Robert earlier not to give anyone her real name for now…and would explain to him why she wanted it that way when they had time to talk in depth.

"What is her name," Sheriff Bo Buchanan finally asked.

"She never had the chance to tell me," Robert replied, knowing it wasn't exactly the truth; he already knew it so he didn't have to ask her for it, so he hadn't lied to the Sheriff.

"Mr. Scorpio," Sheriff Buchanan said to Robert after a moment, and after looking down at the dead hill-man Robert had killed, "because of your well-earned reputation out here in the west, I accept your word on what happened."

Sheriff Buchanan paused, but then he continued.

"But I can't just white-wash the fact that you have killed three men in a span of two days. I need to get a statement from her as to who she is and how and why they had abducted her from where ever she is from."

Robert nodded his head.

"Sheriff; I totally agree," Robert agreed. "I have already paid for two rooms for me and her at the town's hotel. I'm sure after a night of sleep she will have no problem telling her what you want to know."

"Fair enough," Sheriff Buchanan said.

Both men headed for the exit as two other men from the local cemetery came to gather up the body of the hill-man so he could be buried.

At that moment, across town, Katherine Delafield, wearing a dark cloak and jacket she had stolen from the hotel's garment room, had actually left her hotel room and had made her way over to the saloon across the street from the hotel.

She hadn't gone there to drink at all; she had gone there to steal a horse; or to be more precise, to borrow a horse for her getaway before Robert returned from the stable.

She was in luck; the saloon was crowded and several horses were tied up to several hitches cluttered around the front.

Because horse thievery was a hanging offense; most horses were left unattended…most wagering that a death sentence was an outcome no one wanted to risk stealing a horse for.

Katherine had her eye on a brown and white shire horse; the animal's known speed would be needed for her ride to the nearest train depot that was five miles away.

Confident that no one could see her stealing the horse, Katherine mounted the horse; and then she spotted a young boy, at best 10 years old, watching her from the window of the local barbershop.

The boy simply smiled and turned away…Katherine, still in much pain, pulled the hood of her cloak over her head and galloped off.


A half an hour later, Robert Scorpio and Sheriff Buchanan stood in Katherine's room. A note had been left on the bed; with Robert's name on the envelope it was inside of. Robert took the note and read it, then handed it to the sheriff to read as well.

"I'll go after her," Robert finally said to the sheriff.

Robert's tracking skills were what made him one of the most notable frontier men of his era; skills usually reserved for native Indians.

"Alright," Sheriff Buchanan said, after thinking it over, "I assume you will let her get to her destination in Oregon; Amber Falls?"

Robert nodded his head.

"There is no way in her condition can she ride there straight on from here," Robert said after thinking things through and her weak physical shape. "She's no doubt heading for the closet train depot; and then she will head on to Amber Falls from there on a train."

Bo nodded his head; he agreed.

"The judge in these parts," Sheriff Bo Buchanan said to Robert, "is a friend of mine. I'll ride up to the camp you rescued her from and verify what you said about what you found up there, and the two men who had to kill. If it all adds up in the mind of he judge, and I'm sure it will, then you'll have nothing to worry about and, as long as you return the horse, we will drop the horse theft charge he now faces. Just make sure you send me a telegraph when you find some resolution as to how she came to be their captive."

Robert nodded his head and then the two men shook hands, and then Robert left the room to gather up his horse, which he had left back at the stables.

From there he would head to Amber Falls by horseback, while Katherine would no doubt arrive there ahead of him by train.

Hopefully, in a couple days or so, he would track Katherine her down in Amber Falls and find the real reason why she had chosen to abandon him in Corby. What was the secret she was hiding?

Continued…finally; Sonny Corinthos, Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber all have a quite interesting conversation / Robert Scorpio and Sonny Corinthos meet for the first time!


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This chapter featured

Tristan Rogers as Robert Scorpio

Edie Lehmann as Katherine Delafield

and Robert Woods as Sheriff Bo Buchanan