Chapter 3

'How's the girl this morning?' Ben questioned as Adam walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and came over to join them at the breakfast table. 'Any improvement?'

'A little.' He replied as he took a seat, pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot. 'She woke around midnight, drank two cups of water.' He put a teaspoon of sugar into his coffee before looking back up at his Pa. 'Her name is Missie, she's twelve years old.'

'She spoke to you?'

'Got her name, age and the fact she doesn't know how to read out of her. She can't talk much because of that swelling like the doc said. When she did speak I could hardly hear her. Her fever hasn't broken yet, I gave her some of the medicine Doc left, she's sleeping now.'

'That's good.' Hoss exclaimed as he took a bite of his scrambled eggs. 'I'm glad she's doing a bit better.'

'Maybe physically but I saw something in her eyes. She flinched at the slightest touch even after I assured her she was safe.'

'She's been through Hell Adam, it'll only be natural she's frightened. New place, new people.'

'No Pa, it was more than just that. I don't know how to explain it.'

'That's a first.' Joe teased with a smile. 'For once you don't know how to explain something in a mile long speech.'

Adam turned to him. 'Joe, if you'd seen her last night, you wouldn't be able to explain it either. When she looked up at me, it wasn't just fear in her eyes just of my presence. It was fear of being beaten again and while I know I'd never lay a hand on her, just seeing the look in her eyes, she looked like a dog that had been kicked yet still comes crawling to its owner for a pat. She's terrified yet still wanting to have someone love her. I feel sorry for her.'

They were silent around the table for sometime, eating while they each attended to their own thoughts. Ben finally broke the silence, placing his empty cup aside. 'We're going to need to be careful with her, we won't want to cause her more stress then she's already going through. It won't do her any good if she can't get the rest she needs so she can heal. I think Adam and I'll take over watching her for the moment, the less people she has around her right now, the better.'

The boys nodded, Hoss glancing back at Adam. 'You get a last name for her?'

'No, it was a wonder she could speak her name as it is. I did ask her if she had family, she shook her head and started crying so I thought it best not to press her any further.'

Ben was thoughtful for a moment. 'We'll wait till she's ready to talk about what's happened but at the same time I do want to try and find out what's going on-' A knock sounded at the door and he stood up and went to open it. He opened the door, seeing the Sheriff there and invited him in. 'Roy, what brings you out this early?'

'Had a rider come in from Silver Hill way this morning, he found an entire family dead on the trail towards here yesterday.'

'Dead? Have you been out to take a look yet?'

'No, I thought perhaps you and the boys might want to come along and help. My deputy is busy back at the jail watching a couple of prisoners.'

'Of course, Adam and I are busy here but Hoss and Joe are able to give you a hand.'

He nodded in their direction. 'Thank you. How's the girl Adam found the other day?'

'Woke up last night, Adam got a name out of her. Missie.'

'Last name?'

'Didn't tell him one. You had any luck finding anything out?'

'There's nothing about a girl missing so far, I wired all surrounding communities and there hasn't been anything come up.'

Hoss spoke up. 'I don't think whoever she's run from is liable to be asking the laws help to find her.'

'Hoss is right.' Adam agreed. 'I don't think we'll get much out of her when she is able to talk, I doubt she'd want to go back.'

'What are you planning to do with her then?'

'Well, she's in no condition to be moving from here anytime soon. The doc is quite concerned with her condition.' Ben replied. 'I'm happy for her to stay here for the moment.'

'I might get in contact with an orphanage in San Francisco, see if they'd take her-'

'I'd hold off on that Roy, at least for sometime. There's no rush for her to leave, I and the boys are happy to take care of her.'

'Alright but we will need to find something permanent for her in the future.'

'I understand.'

Roy glanced over at Hoss and Joe at the table. 'You boys ready to head out?'

'Yes sir.' Hoss replied, grabbing a piece of toast to go as he stood up. 'Come on Joe.'

Joe pushed his empty plate away and followed Hoss and Roy. 'Bye Pa.'

'See you when you get back. If I get any more information out of Missie Roy, you'll be the first to know.'

'Thank you Ben.' He nodded as Ben walked him to the door. 'Appreciate it.'

'Good luck.'

Adam looked up at Ben as his father closed the door behind the Sheriff, pondering what the man had said. He knew that the sheriff was right, if the girl had no family that was her only option but wasn't it too early to suggest that? They didn't even know for certain if she didn't have any family yet. 'An orphanage is his best suggestion?'

Ben sighed as he took a seat at the table again. 'Unless there's a family around here who'd take her in and I don't know of any who would. I've got no idea of raising girls, I've raised boys. She needs a woman's touch and that's something I can't offer her.'

'Who's going to adopt a twelve year old girl from an orphanage Pa? You and I both know most girls who end up there end up being adopted by men who exploit them.'

'I know.' He replied after a moment. 'I'll think about what should be done with her but for the moment she stays here.' He looked at Adam, noticing how tired he appeared to be. 'You better go get some rest, I'll go sit with Missie.'

Adam was about to protest but knew his father was right. The night he'd spent watching over her had been tiring. 'Thanks Pa. Just be gentle with her, she's probably going to be a bit frightened of you until she realizes you're not going to hurt her and she can trust you.'

'Don't worry, I'll be careful.' He assured him, Adam taking one last sip of coffee before getting up and heading upstairs. The house was quiet again, leaving Ben with plenty of silence to think, both about the girl and about what the Sheriff had said.

'Hold up-' Roy held his arm up, signaling for Hoss and Joe to halt their horses. He looked around, figuring out which way the trail went then motioned for them to go on. 'Shouldn't be much further now, he said it was about five miles from the last crossroads.'

They rode on in silence, coming over a rise and could see in the distance amongst the trees what looked like a covered wagon. They'd found it.

The boys followed the Sheriff's lead, halting and dismounting their horses near the site then followed him forward. The stench of decomposing corpses was strong in the air and they held their handkerchiefs to their noses as they looked around.

'Who'd you think did this?' Joe asked after a moment, breaking the silence. 'This trail isn't used hardly at all anymore.'

'I've got no idea.' The sheriff replied, looking over what appeared to be the corpse of a man. As grisly as the job was, he still needed to find out what exactly had happened. This man had been shot, even in his state of decomposing a hole could be seen clearly in his forehead. Going through his pockets he found a watch, with the name Edward inscribed on the back. 'Well, we have a name for this man-' Joe looked over as he stood up. 'Edward, doesn't appear there's a last name.'

'They didn't steal his watch?'

'Whoever did it didn't bother sticking around to loot much.' He replied, glancing down at the corpse of a woman, shot the same way as the man. 'Which is telling me they weren't focused on robbing, at least not the small stuff.'

'Over here Roy.'

He heard Hoss's voice from the other side of the wagon, him and Joe walking around to it. There, on the ground lay corpses of four children. They stood there in silence, Roy shaking his head. Sometimes he really hated his job.

'Who'd want to murder youngins?'

'Probably the same person who put a bullet in Missies back.' Joe replied, both disgusted and abhorred by the sight in front of him. ' I'll take a guess this is connected to Missie somehow.'

'Your more than likely right, we'll just have to wait and see if the girl is able to tell us what happened.' He looked around, sighing. 'We'll check the wagon, see if they were robbed then bury them.'

'I'll get started.' Hoss exclaimed and went back to the horses to get the pick and shovel.

Roy and Joe went over to the wagon and just when they thought they'd seen everything they came across the body of a baby girl. Neither of them said anything, looking at the little corpse still wrapped up in a shawl next to a cradle. There was dried blood on it but at least the wild animals hadn't gotten to it like they had the others. He turned away, looking around the rest of the wagon. A rather large strongbox had its lid open, the lock broken by a bullet. 'Looks like they were carrying some money then.'

'That's still no excuse to murder an entire family.' Joe exclaimed angrily, looking around the area. 'Especially a god Damn baby.'

'No, no it's not.' He agreed, going through the rest of the belongings inside. There was no food, obviously someone had taken that all but a glint of silver caught his eye from under a shawl and he lifted it up. Picking up a pistol, he looked it over. Inscribed on the handle was the name Missie.

The throbbing pain was what brought Missie back to reality, the girl moaning softly when she tried to move. Why was she so sore? Why was she in so much pain? What had happened-

'Easy, take it easy. You're alright.' Ben soothed gently as the girl started to stir. The girl's eyes opened and he understood what Adam was meaning about the way she looked at a person. There was a fear in her eyes, absolute terror. 'It's alright Missie, I'm not going to hurt you.' Something flashed in her eyes at the mention of her name. 'I'm Adam's Pa, Ben. You're safe here, no one will hurt you.' Slowly the girl's eyes became less fearful and he continued after a moment. 'Do you want some water?'

Missie nodded slowly, watching the man as he poured her a glass of water. He had grey hair, he was an older man but there was an air of confidence about him that kind of made her feel safe but scared her at the same time. He lifted her head gently, tipping the glass to her lips and she drank slowly until it was emptied, her head being placed back on her pillow after she'd drunk. 'Thank you.'

Ben smiled, placing the cup aside. 'Your welcome. Would you like some more?' She shook her head. 'Alright, maybe later then.' He went to reach for the cloth on the girl's forehead, the girl flinching as he extended his hand towards her. 'I'm not going to hurt you, I'm just taking the cloth.'

She watched him cautiously as he took the cloth, a memory of her father coming to her mind at his hand. How he hit her, how he hit her Ma-

Missie! Missie, you get back here!'

Missie heard him about but kept running, running down the street as fast as she could. She had to get to her Ma, she had to warn her. Ducking into a side ally she glanced back, relieved to see he was no longer behind her. Suddenly she ran into something, someone clutching her arms tightly. 'Let me go! Let me go!

' Let me go! Let me go!'

Ben turned around from wringing out the cloth, the girl tossing and turning on the bed. He hurried over, taking hold of her arms as he sat down beside her on the bed. The girls eyes were glazed as she screamed, trying to get away from some invisible nightmare in her mind. 'Missie, Missie!' He spoke loudly but kindly at the same time, trying to snap her out of it. 'Missie, you're alright. You're okay. Calm down sweetheart, you're safe here.'

She could hear a man speaking but couldn't make out what he was saying. She could feel someone holding her, trying to force her to lie down and it made her panic all the more. Her father had her, had her in his grasp. She had to get away, she had to run-

'Pa, what's going on?'

He glanced at Adam as he came in then looked back at the girl. 'I don't know, some kind of fit or something.'

Adam quickly took stock of the situation, motioning for his father to move aside. 'Let me try.' Ben nodded, letting go of the girl and got up, Adam sitting down in his place. The girl was still screaming but it was barely audible, trying to get away from something neither of them could see. 'Missie, it's alright. It's Adam here.' He spoke gently, holding onto her arms firmly so she didn't hurt herself further by her thrashing about. 'Missie, listen to me. Snap out of it Missie. Your alright, no one's going to hurt you.'

Slowly the girl became aware of a familiar voice speaking to her, her eyes focusing on Adam's face as she came out of her episode. It wasn't her father there, it was the man with the kind eyes and gentle voice. 'A-Adam?'

'It's alright, it's alright. I'm here.' He consoled softly, the girl's eyes watering. 'Your safe. Your safe, everything's alright.'

Missie began to cry, the adrenaline that had been flowing through her because of her episode numbing her to the pain. The memories came back, every last one of them and she couldn't hold back the sobs any longer.

Adam placed his arm around her, sitting her up against his chest and held her as she cried. Gently he stroked her cheek, holding her head against his shoulder. 'It's alright Missie, let it out. You'll be alright.'

Ben had been watching the whole thing, their eyes meeting when Adam looked up at him. He sighed softly, his heart going out to the girl as he took a seat in the chair beside the bed. He didn't know what to say, neither did Adam obviously, his son letting the girl cry into his shoulder as he held her.

Missie relaxed her head on Adam's shoulder in exhaustion as what little energy she'd had was now completely spent. She caught her breath, closing her eyes as she tried to imagine her Ma holding her.

He could feel her exhaustion when she laid her head against him, letting her catch her breath for a moment. 'You alright now Missie?'

She nodded, choking back tears and looked up at him. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.'

'Don't be Missie, it's alright.' Adam assured her, gently lying her back on the bed and wiped the tears off her cheeks. 'You feeling any better?'

'A little.' She looked over at Ben. 'I'm sorry.'

'It's alright Missie, you don't have to apologize.'

'I'm afraid I'm going to have to check your wounds, you might have torn the stitches open when you were moving.'

She bit her lip, her body screaming at her not to trust him but in her condition she knew she hadn't much of a choice. 'Alright.'

'I'll try and be gentle but I can't promise it won't hurt.' The girl nodded and he looked over at Ben. 'I'll need your help Pa.'

Carefully they sat her up again, Ben sitting beside her to hold her steady as Adam checked the wounds on her back and side. The girl couldn't help flinching at the touch as he unbuttoned the back of her nightgown, closing her eyes and biting her lip again as he checked the bandages over.

'You okay Missie?'

She took a deep breath, fighting through the pain now that the adrenaline had worn off and nodded. 'I'm fine.' She replied through gritted teeth. She wouldn't whimper or complain about the pain, she'd been through it before, she was no stranger to it.

'Doesn't look like you've opened them again, you were lucky.' Adam exclaimed, buttoning up her nightgown again. 'Okay Pa, lie her down again and we'll check her leg.'

'Alright, easy now.' They carefully laid her back down, Ben noticing her eyes watering as her head rested on her pillow again. 'Your in pain?'

She shook her head, not wanting them to think her weak.

'Now come on Missie-' Adam interjected, finishing checking her leg. 'You don't need to go playing the hero. We need to know if you're in pain so we can help you. Are you in pain?' The girl sighed and nodded, refusing to look him in the eye. 'Alright then, the docs gave us some other medicine to help you that doesn't make you sleepy. Would you rather that instead? You're pretty tired of sleeping right now aren't you?' A moment passed and she nodded again. He grabbed another bottle and placed the correct dosage into a glass and added a little water. 'Pa, you give this to her and I'll go see if Hop Sing has some broth for her.'

The girl shook her head, looking up at Adam. She trusted him more then this new man, something made her like him against her better judgement and she felt more comfortable with him. 'Stay.'

Ben saw the look in her eyes and got up, placing his hand on his shoulder. 'I'll go.'

'Thanks Pa.' He turned back to the girl, sitting down beside her on the bed. 'So, I'm not that bad am I?' He joked, the girl smiling a little. 'Here-' He picked the glass up, helping the girl drink the medicine. 'This will make you feel better.'

'Thank you.'

Adam placed the cup aside, looking back to the girl. 'I'm going to touch your forehead to see how your fever is, I'm not going to hurt you.' He placed his hand on her forehead, the girl flinching but her eyes never leaving his. He frowned, she should be getting cooler, not warmer.

The girl saw the look on his face, asking in her weak voice. 'Something wrong?'

'No, no.' He brushed his concern aside quickly so he didn't make the girl worry. 'Has anyone told you you've got nice eyes?'

Missie couldn't help a small chuckle. 'No.'

'Well you have young lady.' He got up, going over to the basin where the cloth had been left. 'Eyes are the window to the soul you know.'

'Alright, I've got some broth here for you Missie.' Ben exclaimed as he walked in, noticing Adam motioning for him to join him outside once he'd put it down. 'I'll leave it here to cool, it's still hot. Adam, why don't we grab a quick cup of coffee?'

'Sure Pa.' He placed the cloth back on the girls forehead. 'I'll be right back.'

'Can't go anywhere anyway.'

He chuckled at the girl's response then headed out to the living room after his father, closing the door behind himself.

'What's wrong Adam?'

'Her fever's getting worse Pa. I don't know if it's from her episode earlier or if it's infection setting in worse.'

'Well she's awake and drinking at least.'

'Yeah it's something but I think the doc should come take a look at her. I'd feel a whole lot better.'

'Alright-' Ben patted his son on the shoulder. 'I'll head into town now and bring him back.'

'Thanks Pa.'

'See if you can get some of that broth into her while I'm gone.'

'I will.' His father strapped on his gunbelt and grabbed his jacket, heading out the front door and he went back into the girls room. Missie was staring up at the ceiling as he walked in, looking at him as he sat down on the bed beside her again. 'What are you thinking?'

'That I should be grateful-' She replied, the effort of speaking starting to take its toll on her already weakened voice. 'Thank you, for everything.'

Adam nodded, catching the last of what she was saying before she lost her voice again. 'Don't try to speak now Missie, you're wearing your voice out. The doc said it might take a little while before you can speak properly.' She nodded in understanding and he checked to see how the broth was cooling. 'Alright, looks like it's cool enough now. Are you ready for some of Hop Sings famous beef broth?'