37

Ianto lay in the bed she was sharing with Chrys and let go a weary sigh. Before the Cooper sisters fell asleep, she'd had to listen to Gwen carry on about the horrors of living in Heaven, prattling on for what seemed like an eternity.

Thankfully, sleep finally overtook both sisters, to leave her alone with her thoughts, disturbing though they were. If she didn't know any better, she'd say Gwen was trying to dissuade her from staying in Heaven. Which perhaps she was, but how could she tell?

All she knew was how badly she wanted to see Jack, talk with him, tell him how she felt. Tell him she loved him. She hoped and prayed that when she did see him, the fear usually so quick to render her speechless would remain silent for once. She had to tell him!

Chrys suddenly laughed in her sleep, turned over, and flopped one arm over Ianto's belly.

Ianto winced, sighed, then did her best to pick up the girl's arm and move it. At least she was sharing a bed with Chrys and not Gwen – otherwise, that girl might still be talking!

Jack, why didn't you come for me? she sighed to herself.

But wait a minute – why hadn't he? They'd left the note at the sheriff's office, and he had to have gone there at some point during the day. Surely he'd read it by now! So why didn't he come get her earlier and take her home? He couldn't have known she had decided to leave and begun to pack her satchel … unless he'd gone back to the farm first.

Would he be angry that she'd done so? What did Mrs. Harkness think?

Guilt rose like bile in her throat. Poor Mrs. Harkness – did the woman think she'd run away? But no, Mrs. Harkness had to have seen her with Gwen as they left the farm.

Oh, what was she to think? Well, other than the obvious … Jack hadn't come for her after reading the note because he had decided not to marry her. Her heart sank with the thought. Oh, Lord, no! Help me to show him I love him! Help me get back to the farm first thing in the morning!

But what good would it do? If he'd wanted her back at the farm, she'd be there. He surely would have come for her after reading the note and taken her home.

Home … where would her home be now? What was she to do? She'd been so angry that afternoon, so confident in her spur-of-the-moment plan to go to Owen and Francine's and stay there a few days until she decided what to do.

"I have no money," she whispered to herself as reality hit hard and fast. "I have no family… no place to go and no one to see."

The numbness came out of nowhere. It encircled her heart and mind with a force so powerful, so deadly, that in the past it would have alarmed her. But not this time – this time she welcomed it. She hoped it would give her the strength to do what she knew she had to.

Leave.

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Jack stood in shock as the Hopper-coach driver folded his arms over his chest and spat. "I'm tellin' ya, Sheriff, there ain't no woman on this Hopper by the name of Ianto Jones. There ain't no women, period –them's all men asleep in there!"

He'd ridden through the dark with nothing but the bright moonlight shining on the snow-covered ground, and arrived at the Gundersons' Hopper stop well after midnight. He immediately found the driver and woke him up. Of course at that point he probably woke up the entire establishment, but he didn't care. He had to find Ianto!

"You mean there wasn't a woman on this Hopper at all?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"That's what I said! Just three men. Maybe she planned on taking the morning Hopper."

"Morning Hopper!"

"Yep, ten o'clock."

"Good God!" Jack tried to collect himself as he calculated what time he'd seen Ianto the day before. "No, it's not possible – she couldn't have left on the ten o'clock Hopper."

"Hafta agree with ya there."

Jack stared at the driver. He was tired, he was hungry, and he wasn't sure he heard him right. "What did you say? How could you know she didn't take the ten o'clock Hopper?"

"Because it ain't left yet. This here's the two o'clock Hopper, there's a ten o'clock Hopper leavin' Heaven in the morning."

"Today?"

The driver spat again. "Yep." He scratched at his long underwear. "Now if ya don't mind, I need to get me some shuteye. Dawn comes mighty early, ya know."

He stomped off to resume his interrupted sleep.

Jack stood with his mouth hanging open like a dork, and stared at the wall. She hadn't left; she couldn't have. But if she didn't leave Heaven, where did she go?

He rubbed his tired eyes with his hands. He'd be a fool to try to ride back now. The hopper needed refuelling and a cool down, and so did he. He'd have to get at least a few hours sleep before heading out again. He drove the hopper to the barn and took care of it. Then he returned to the house, found the food Mrs. Gunderson had set out for him, ate, and then after finding the blanket she left, bedded himself down in the parlour.

But sleep didn't come so easy to Jack – there were too many unanswered questions, one in particular. Who did Ianto leave the farm with?

Jack suddenly groaned when he realized it could only be one person, or in this case four - the Cooper family. Who else would have her and not let any of his family know about it?

"Lord have mercy!" he spoke to the dark. "Gwen, you scheming little minx, what are you trying to pull now?"

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"I'm so sorry none of it worked out for you, but I'm sure you'll find a job in Clear Creek." Mr. Cooper told her as he helped her climb into the morning Hopper. "Why, that little town has the prettiest hotel in Oregon! Big, too! I'll be sure to send a telegraph to Mr. Van Cleet the hotel owner. I've had dealings with him a time or two. Nice fella."

Gwen and Chrys had woken before dawn to Ianto's soft weeping, and both sisters did their best to console her. Gwen even told Ianto she should wait and talk to Jack before she left, but Ianto wouldn't hear it. She was determined to leave, and was now convinced the girl was only trying to help her.

After all, if Gwen wanted to truly get rid of her, she'd have all but shoved her onto the afternoon Hopper the day before, but she didn't.

Instead, she took her home to have tea and biscuits with her sister. Now she was trying to get her to wait until Jack showed up to speak with him. But as the morning waned on, it became quite apparent that Jack Harkness wasn't showing up any time soon.

"Thank you, Mr. Cooper. I'll repay you as soon as I can," Ianto told him. At breakfast Gwen sweet-talked her father into lending the Hopper fare. As she didn't have enough money to go back to Cardiff, and wasn't about to ask Mr. Cooper for the money to do so, Ianto took Gwen's suggestion to head south and accepted fare to Clear Creek.

The best thing about it was she wouldn't have to face Jack – wouldn't have to hear him tell her he no longer wanted her, wouldn't have to suffer that humiliation in front of his brother and Mrs. Harkness.

Maybe she was being a coward, but she didn't care. She didn't even care that she was leaving with nothing but the clothes on her back – that's how she'd arrived, after all. She just wanted to go, as soon as possible.

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Since you asked for second chap but I don't think this makes you feel any better.