This one is going to be bittersweet - probably a bit more 'bitter' than 'sweet' - but I've got a very special character who wants his story told.

(Before you freak out - Dimitri does not die, sleep with anyone, or get up to any Conan the Barbarian shenanigans in this chapter, so no need to stress!)

8. Marian

Fort Baker to the Painted Desert: 425 miles

'To hell with Adrian Ivara!' Rose threw her arms in the air, incensed. 'Sydney isn't a thing to be bought or traded. If she doesn't want to go back to Saint's Town then you have no right to take her!'

'I do actually,' Abe was irritatingly calm. 'Miss Sage and I recently entered into a private business arrangement and I expect her to honour her end of the bargain.' Or else... the unspoken threat behind his words was unmistakable.

'What kind of arrangement?' the deputy demanded.

It was Sydney who answered, her posture stiff and voice strained. 'Do you remember the two soldiers who attacked my sister - and your husband?'

'Of course.' As if Rose would ever be able to forget them.

'Their names were Captain Keith Darnell and Private Brayden Cartwright,' Sydney explained. 'Both of them were stationed alongside me and my father at Fort Freemont.'

'You knew them?' Rose stared at her in shock. 'Why didn't you tell me?!'

The blonde woman exhaled slowly, trying to remain calm. 'The morning of the attack, my father sent me out to treat a civilian who'd fallen from a ladder and broken his leg. Carly was only visiting the fort for a few days but she volunteered to come along and keep me company. Captain Darnell and Private Cartwright were assigned to us as chaperones - to protect us from unforeseen dangers on the road.'

The fireplace on the opposite wall filled the room with cheery light and warmth, but Sydney hugged her arms around herself as if she were cold.

'Carly was feeling unwell when we reached the homestead so I told her to wait in the carriage while I saw to my patient. I'd just finished splinting the man's leg when the gunshots sounded. I grabbed my medical bag and ran to check on Carly but the carriage was empty. I actually felt relieved when I saw Darnell hurrying towards me from one of the outbuildings,' Sydney faltered then continued on mechanically, '...but then the captain put his hand over my mouth and dragged me behind a woodshed at the back of the house. He told me he'd just had one sister, and thought it might be amusing to have the other as well.'

Rose hissed a soft, angry curse, her face a picture of disbelief and horror.

'He said if I mentioned it to anybody he would say I begged him to take me... Then he told me he knew I had a younger sister too, and next time she visited Fort Freemont he planned on collecting the set.'

'Sonofabitch!' Deputy Belikov swore unapologetically this time, but Sydney frowned to quiet her.

'I couldn't let him get away with it,' she pressed on, anxious to relieve herself of the secret she'd been harbouring for nearly two weeks. 'I told him if he promised to stay away from my sisters I would offer myself to him willingly, as often as he desired.'

The deputy was across the room in an instant, grabbing her friend by the arm and searching her eyes for the truth. 'Tell me he didn't... If that bastard...'

Sydney winced away from the other woman's gaze. 'He wanted the first instalment of his payment right away, so while he was distracted unbuttoning his trousers, I... I struck out at him with my medical scissors and got him in the eye.'

Rose was so overcome with relief she actually laughed.

'It's not something to be happy about, deputy,' Miss Sage cut her off sharply. 'I didn't kill Captain Darnell - I just wanted to make him stop. It was only later, on the way back to Cottonwood Creek ranch, that I realised the foolishness of my actions. If I returned to Fort Freemont, Darnell could have me court-martialed and shot for attacking an officer... and if I ran away to escape punishment, I'd have no way of guaranteeing my sisters' safety at the fort.' Her gaze slid over to the man who was seated by the fire. 'I didn't know what to do, but Mr Mazur promised he'd take care of everything. Darnell. Carly. Smoothing things over with my father so I'd have a job to return to when I got back from helping you find Sheriff Belikov. All I had to do was leave town for a while and Abe would come to collect me when the trouble had blown over.'

Rose frowned. The lawyer might have come highly recommend by Alberta, but there was something about him she still didn't trust. 'I'm thankful that your affairs are being well managed in your absence, Sydney, but what does he get in return for these favours?' she threw a wary glance at their host.

'Information,' Abe spoke up from the comfort of his chair, smoothing a thumb and finger over his dark, luxurious moustache. 'Our country is in the grip of war, Deputy Belikov, and in war there are winners and losers. I intend to be a winner. Miss Sage has agreed to be my eyes inside Fort Freemont. If she sees or hears of anything that might be of advantage to me or my business interests she'll let me know. A small price to pay for the services I have provided.'

'You call stealing government secrets a small price?!' Rose spluttered.

According to Adrian, Abraham Mazur had a reputation for dancing around the grey edges of the law, but this kind of activity was downright criminal.

Mr Mazur raised his hands in innocence. 'I only want the best for all parties, myself included. If we do things my way, Miss Sydney can return to her daily life with no threat of future reprisals from Captain Darnell. Miss Carly can rest assured her attacker will receive just punishment, without the gross spectacle and humiliation of a public court case. Adrian Ivara's fears for his lady's safety will be allayed, and, in a happy coincidence, I will gain unrestricted access to the wealth of knowledge held by the Union Army, not to mention the tidy sum of money I'll be collecting from Mr Ivara upon our return. Don't you see? Everybody wins.'

'Why does it seem like you're winning the most?' the deputy scowled.

'Somebody doesn't win, actually,' Sydney challenged the lawyer, defending her case with mounting conviction. 'What about Rose? You said yourself that Sheriff Belikov's behaviour has been altered by his injury, making him violent and unpredictable... possibly even delusional. How can you expect me to return to Saint's Town tomorrow and leave my friend to pursue her husband alone under such circumstances? Have you no compassion?!'

'Of course I wouldn't leave Mrs Belikov to travel alone,' Abe looked genuinely hurt by the accusation, quickly turning his attention to Deputy Belikov. 'What I am proposing is a trade. Miss Sage... for Pavel. Pavel?!'

A few seconds later the door opened and Mr Mazur's companion appeared. The rain had started up again and there was a brief delay as Pavel shook the excess moisture from the sleeves of his fringed deerskin jacket before entering the room.

'Pavel. My right hand man,' Abe stood to formally introduce the newcomer, and the older man bowed his head awkwardly - his long, greying hair falling loosely over his face and mingling with the wild expanse of beard that hid his chin and neck from view. 'Consider him at your service.'

Rose's surprise quickly turned to suspicion. 'You'd give up your right hand man to help me? Why? What's the catch?'

'No catch, my dear,' Mr Mazur gazed at her steadily. 'Pavel is my most loyal and valued companion - sworn to serve me to the death if need be. I have faith he will do the same for my daughter.'

'Daughter?!' Whatever else had been going through Rose's mind was whipped away by the gale-force wind that gusted furiously in her ears. Daughter? This smalmy, scheming criminal was her father?

Abe reached out to tug gently on one of the brown curls that fell, disorderly, about his daughter's face. 'You didn't get that colour from your mother, kid.'

The news did not go down well. Seeing Rose's cheeks pale and her hands ball into fists, Sydney suggested it was time they retired to their room. It had, after all, been a very long day, and everybody needed a good night's rest if they were to set out on their separate paths in the morning. Abe condescended to show the ladies to their room himself and, a short time later, the nurse and the deputy were lying side by side in bed; each so tangled up in her own worries for the future that sleep continued to elude them.

'I'm sorry... I hope...,' Sydney turned her head to look at her friend, unable to find the words to express what was on her heart. There was so much to say but so little time left to say it. In the morning they would be parted, and there was no knowing if they would ever meet again.

Under the blankets, Rose found the other girl's hand. 'I know. Me too,' she whispered in reply, and they remained that way - hand in hand together - until sleep mercifully came to claim them.

The next morning's breakfast was a quiet one. Pavel ate in silence at the far end of the table, Sydney brooded over what to say to Adrian when next she saw him (considering the man had now added kidnapping to his prior offences), while Rose was too preoccupied with thoughts of finding Dimitri to care about a reunion with her estranged father. Mr Mazur read the young woman's mood astutely and kept his comments to small talk until the meal was over, but, when he finally raised the subject of Sheriff Belikov, Rose immediately paid close attention to every word the lawyer had to say.

'It's possible that Mr Belikov and his companions headed due east after the incident at Cedar Creek,' Abe sketched out a rough map in his business ledger, 'but I'm betting they'll have cut south-east into New Mexico to meet up with the Santa Fe Trail. Santa Fe itself hasn't been drawn into the fighting as yet, so I suggest you begin your enquiries there before following the trade road east into the heart of Confederate territory. With all the forts and military outposts along the way, there's a good chance somebody will recognise your husband's description.'

The deputy nodded grimly. 'And from here to Santa Fe? Do you have any advice for that stage of the journey?'

'Pavel is the expert on navigating that particular wasteland, not I,' Mr Mazur gestured to the older man who was quietly observing their conversation, 'so the only advice I can recommend is that you follow his instructions implicitly...'

Rose had really been hoping for something more useful.

'...But I did bring you a gift to aid you on your journey,' Abe excused himself from the table and returned soon after carrying a large box, which he placed in front of the deputy. 'From your mother.'

'My mother?' Rose's stomach turned over. After all the news she'd had in the past twenty-four hours, she didn't think she could handle any more surprises.

'Alberta,' the gentleman clarified. 'She told me you'd be wanting these,' he removed the lid of the box to reveal its contents. 'I'm not sure I entirely approve of my daughter dressing as a man, but unconventional times call for unconventional measures.'

Rose wanted to laugh and cry when she saw what was inside the parcel. The first item was a pair of trousers - not the figure-hugging pants that had rendered Dimitri speechless at their first training session together, but a smart, new pair made up to fit her current measurements. Beneath those were two linen shirts and a waistcoat, and at the bottom of the box lay a heavy woollen overcoat that fell just past her knees - perfect for keeping her warm and dry on the long ride east.

'Did she leave a message?' Rose felt homesick thinking of the woman who'd raised her; strict and firm whenever she'd needed to be, but with just enough kindness and humour to remind her delinquent daughter that she was loved.

'Not a message I care to repeat in the presence of ladies,' Mr Mazur's dark eyes twinkled, 'but suffice it to say she was very upset that you left without saying goodbye and wants you to know there will be hell to pay when you return.'

The deputy smiled, though her heart was aching. 'Please tell her thank you for the clothes. I love them. In fact, tell Alberta I think I'll throw out all my dresses and make this my regular attire!' It was a weak attempt at humour but it did make her feel a little better.

'I should hope not, Mrs Belikov,' Abe looked disturbed. 'Pavel. Would you fetch the other parcel?'

'Maybe Alberta sent suit-pants for you, too?' Rose whispered to Sydney, whose eyes widened in dismay.

'On the contrary...,' Abe accepted a large box from Pavel and shifted his attention to the young nurse. 'Mr Ivara wished me to present you with this gift as a sign of his deepest apologies and highest regards. He said that while he is fully aware he cannot buy your favour, he thought your riding habit would be soiled from the journey, and hoped you might feel more comfortable travelling home in fresh clothing befitting a woman of such elegance and taste as yourself.'

Miss Sage had been preparing to refuse the gift on principle, but when the box was opened the heavenly creation hidden within nearly took her breath away. It was a stylish winter day dress made of the palest silk and trimmed in the finest black lacework money could buy. The cut was modest but still feminine and chic, and the colour had been chosen to perfectly match with her complexion.

Sydney knew she probably should respond in some way, but she sat there, speechless; struggling to understand how such a considerate gesture could come from the same man who thought it was justifiable to kidnap the woman he claimed to love.

Abe took her silence for awed acceptance. 'I've taken the liberty of laying out the matching hat and coat on your bed, in case you'd like to wear them today,' he suggested, rising from the table to draw the conversation to a close. 'Ladies, if you are both finished with your breakfasts, Pavel will deliver your new outfits back to your room so you can prepare for departure. We each have a long road ahead of us so the sooner we set out, the better. Kindly meet me by my carriage when you are ready to leave.'

Sydney and Rose soon found themselves standing outside in the brisk winter's air; the genteel lady and the strangely-curvaceous cowboy drawing curious and disapproving looks from the Mormon women who passed down the street on their morning errands.

'Look after yourself, Rose,' Sydney embraced her friend briefly, 'and don't forget to send a telegram if there's anything you need. There are a lot of people who care about you and we're all ready to help in any way we can.'

'Thank you… And you look after yourself too,' Rose countered. 'I know you've agreed to supply Mr Mazur with information about the war, but please don't do anything that will get you into trouble.' Her face grew stern, though there was a note of playfulness to her voice. 'I may be your friend, but I'm still an official of the law, and I'll be very unimpressed if the next time we meet is through the bars of a military prison cell.'

Miss Sage winced, the possibility a little too real for comfort. 'Going to prison is definitely not in my future plans,' she promised.

'That's good to hear,' the deputy smiled in approval, then cast a curious eye over the exquisite dress her friend was wearing. 'And Adrian?' she asked carefully. 'Is he in your future plans?'

Looking down, Sydney clutched at the fabric of her skirt before letting it fall from her fingers in defeat. 'I honestly don't know.'

Rose looked at her sympathetically. 'Well, if there's one thing I've learnt over the past few weeks, it's that life is too short to waste... Of course, I'm not saying you should rush blindly into a commitment with Mr Ivara,' she cautioned. 'Clearly, the man has some issues. But consider it this way - if Adrian makes you even half as happy as Dimitri makes me, then maybe his faults shouldn't really matter?'

Surprise, confusion and vulnerability sweetened the nurse's features, but there was no opportunity for her to respond.

'Come, now, Miss Sage. Time is getting on and we must away,' Mr Mazur approached his charge, offering her his arm.

'Are you sure you'll be alright without me?' Sydney reached out to Rose instinctively, already regretting their parting. 'What if you need medical assistance?... What if you don't get on with Pavel?... What if...?'

'We'll be fine. Go!' Deputy Belikov laughed softly and waved her off. 'We'll be fine, cowboy,' she repeated under her breath, as she watched her friend disappear into the darkened interior of Mr Mazur's carriage. 'We'll be together soon, and everything will be fine.'

'Rosemarie?'

The deputy was on her way to join Pavel at the horses when she was intercepted by her father.

'I don't mean to worry you, but there is something you must know before we part ways,' Abe stood close to her, his voice low and measured. 'The night your husband was taken I sent off several urgent telegrams in an effort to locate him - through official channels, and... unofficial ones,' he paused meaningfully. 'I believe you are familiar with the name Victor Dashley?'

'You think Victor had something to do with Dimitri's abduction?' a feeling of panic fluttered in Rose's chest. In Mr Dashley's eyes, she was the reason his daughter Natalie was dead, the reason he failed to marry Lisa and steal her fortune, and the reason he was currently serving the remainder of his days in a prison cell on Alcatraz Island. If anybody held a grudge against the Belikovs it was him.

The lawyer shook his head. 'Mr Dashley denies any involvement in your husband's disappearance, but he did mention something of immediate concern to you. The outlaw James Nathan is no longer in prison.'

'What?!' Rose gripped the gentleman's sleeve. 'That bastard took dozens of lives! He nearly killed Dimitri in a shootout at the saloon last year! I thought they gave him a death sentence!'

A nerve twitched below Mr Mazur's left eye. 'So did I, but apparently Mr Nathan has friends in very high places. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment - to be served out in his home-state of Kentucky. Rumour has it, he was pardoned to take up a commission as an officer in the Confederate Army. I've spent the last week trying to locate him, but so far my sources have been unable to trace Nathan to a particular state or regiment.'

'But if Dimitri crosses paths with him...,' Rose worried aloud.

Abe took her by the shoulders. 'It's only a slim chance, but promise me you'll be careful. I am aware James Nathan once made threats to Dimitri regarding your safety. If he - or anybody else - hurts my daughter...,' he let the threat hang.

If Rose had been in any doubt that the man was truly her father, the raw emotion in his dark, flashing eyes was more than enough to convince her of the fact. Unfortunately for Abe, his daughter was not yet ready to accept that truth gracefully.

'If you're so concerned about my safety, father, then why are you letting me go after Dimitri at all?' she said roughly. 'Why not just force me to return to Saint's Town like you're doing to Sydney. I thought a man like you would have no trouble making his child obey him.'

The love and hurt in Abe's expression made Rose want to look away, but he wouldn't let her. 'In all my life I've only had one regret, and that was losing you,' the man confessed. 'I might have ruined any chance I had at being your father, but you still have a chance to find your husband and make your family whole again. I will not stand in the way of your happiness, Rosemarie. Never again.'

For so many years, Rose had told herself it didn't matter that her natural parents had abandoned her. Alberta's love was as good as theirs, and when Dimitri entered her life, his love filled up any last cracks and holes she'd been secretly carrying in her heart. But hearing her father admit aloud how much he'd missed her reopened those age-old wounds, and all Rose could do was squeeze her eyelids tightly shut as the knowledge of her father's love crept into her soul and soothed away years of childish hurts, fears and resentments.

'Godspeed, Deputy Belikov,' Abe leaned in to bestow a kiss of blessing on her forehead. 'I will strive to gather more information about your husband's whereabouts, and leave word for you at the telegraph office in Santa Fe if I hear anything. The rest is up to you and Pavel.'

Rose's eyes sprang open and she found herself looking to her father for reassurance. 'Do you think we'll find him soon?' her voice was strange and tight. 'I mean, I'll search for him for as long as it takes... it's just, I miss him so much sometimes...'

'You'll find him,' Mr Mazur told her, without any pomp or artifice. 'You'll find him, just like I found you.'

'Can't we go any faster?' Rose had kept patiently to Pavel's side all morning, but they'd only covered eighteen miles in four hours. At this rate they wouldn't reach Santa Fe for another fortnight.

Pavel looked over at her from atop his sturdy trail horse, drawing lightly on the reins in his left hand while his right hand rested by his knee to take up the slack. He shook his head.

'But...'

The man only stared at her from beneath a bushy pair of eyebrows then continued on as steadily as before. If anything, he even slowed down a little.

Rose sighed in frustration but conceded to follow Pavel's lead. She knew why they couldn't rush. With every mile they distanced themselves from Las Vegas, the terrain was becoming more rugged and treacherous. If their horses were lamed slipping on the rocky mountain slopes that sprawled along this stretch of the northern New Mexico border, it would take them much, much longer to get to Santa Fe by foot.

After another five hours of being pitched and jolted in the saddle, the deputy was glad when her guide slowed to a halt and dismounted.

'Do you want help building the fire?' she offered.

Pavel shook his head, tinder box already in hand.

'I'll get the tent set up, then,' Rose announced tiredly, and set about choosing the flattest site she could find to erect the shelter.

By the time she was done, the fire had been lit and a pot of water was on the boil but Pavel was nowhere to be seen. To keep herself busy, Rose took an inventory of what was in her saddlebags. Before they'd left Las Vegas one of Abe's men had restocked her food and water supplies, and added a few extra items to lift her spirits (a bag filled with sugar-coated almonds, dried apricots, various boiled sweets and a tin of ground coffee). Most of Deputy Belikov's personal items had been left behind to lighten the horses' load, leaving her with only two changes of underclothes and a winter day-dress to wear when they finally returned to civilization. There was also a separate pack containing a spare knife, and a healthy amount of ammunition for her pocket pistol and rifle.

The deputy's final, much-prized possession was Sydney's medical satchel. 'To be used in case of emergency,' the nurse had told her, and Rose had an uncomfortable premonition that she would have need of it before her mission was through. Reaching for the medical bag now, she searched in one of the pockets until her fingers closed over a small, round object, which she took out to examine by the fire.

Abe's parting gift to his daughter had been an unusual glass bead; decorated on either side with an eye made from layered circles of blue and white. 'A token of good luck,' he'd explained.

Turning it over in the firelight, Rose sensed something unnervingly familiar about the pattern, but before she had a chance to figure out the puzzle she was distracted by the sound of her travel companion returning. Rose quickly untied the ribbon from her hair and threaded it through the hole in the bead so she could loop it around her neck; tucking the talisman into her blouse so it was nestled just behind the sheriff's badge pinned under her shirt-collar.

'That was fast!' she exclaimed softly, looking up to see Pavel approaching their campfire with a rabbit dangling limply by its hind legs.

The hunter shrugged in acknowledgement.

'Would you like a hand preparing dinner, Mr Pavel?' Rose asked, feeling restless and fidgety with nothing to do.

Pavel only responded by slapping the bunny down onto a rock by the fire and slicing the blade of his knife around the animal's hocks. He tugged the skin down each leg and - after a few deft flicks of his knife - rid the creature of it's pelt more swiftly than a gentleman might remove his overcoat upon arriving at a dinner party. Splaying the carcass out on it's back, he cut a line up the middle of its belly to remove the entrails, then sliced off its head and skewered the whole carcass to be spit-roasted over the fire. Apparently, he didn't need any help preparing dinner.

The two strangers ate in silence; Pavel's attention wholly focussed on eating his meal, while Rose snuck occasional glances at the man across the fire, fascinated by her father's choice of companion.

Pavel was at least ten years older than Abe. His beard was heavily salted with grey, but there was still a good showing of black in his long, finger-combed hair. With fringed buckskins clothing the man's lean, muscled frame, he could almost have passed for an Indian at a distance, though his paler colouring suggested he came from a European background.

While Pavel's eyes didn't have the same calculating gleam as Abraham Mazur's, they held an intelligence of their own. Life experience had given the older man a common-sense sort of wisdom that was easily recognisable despite his silence. In less than the course of a day Pavel had already proven himself a competent rider, scout and hunter, and there was something about his solemn, unwavering presence that made the young Deputy Belikov feel safe and secure despite their inhospitable surroundings.

'Do you mind if I have seconds?' Rose asked when she'd polished off her first helping of the rabbit meat - which was nowhere near as gamey or tough as it would have been if she had been the one cooking.

The man gestured to say she was welcome to have as much as she liked.

Rose bit back a groan of exasperation. Pavel might have established himself as a reliable guide and protector, but the quality of his company left much to be desired. It was more fun travelling with Sydney Sage on her monthlies!

An hour later, the deputy decided there was no point trying get a response out of her brooding companion and she prepared to retire to her tent. 'Thank you for the meal, Mr Pavel. I'll take a few hours' sleep now, if that's alright with you, and you can wake me when it's my watch.'

Pavel nodded in agreement, watching her steadily from his place by the fire.

Suddenly, the silence was too much for Rose. 'Don't you ever talk, Mr Pavel?' she demanded, a little rudely.

The old man raised his shaggy eyebrows. 'I was not aware you wished me to talk.'

Deputy Belikov stalled, surprised to hear his voice at last. It was deep and slightly raspy, but gentle and guileless - with a hint of an accent that was neither her father's nor her husband's.

'Of course I wish you to speak, Mr Pavel,' she told him as soon as her initial surprise had passed. 'I don't know what kind of arrangement you had with my father, but when you're with me you are welcome to speak your mind whenever you have something to say.'

'Thank you, ma'am,' he answered gruffly. 'Please just call me Pavel.'

'Good night, Pavel,' Rose gave him a small smile, then made her way to bed.

As the two travellers progressed eastward the next morning they were met by the sound of flowing water. Cresting the top of the craggy mountain slope they'd been climbing, the brave and dauntless Deputy Belikov felt decidedly un-brave and more than a little daunted. 'You cannot be serious, Pavel!'

Their way was barred by a rocky cliff-face that fell away into a deep gorge. At the bottom of the ravine flowed a mighty torrent of water that could only be the Colorado River - swollen from the recent rains and swirling with heavy undercurrents that would wash away even the strongest swimmer.

'Do you trust me, ma'am?' Pavel squinted at her against the glare of the overcast, noonday sky.

Rose looked dubious. 'Are you certain there's no other way across?'

'Only if you want to travel another two-hundred miles to the next ford,' her guide informed her.

'I guess I trust you, then,' the deputy decided. 'Please lead the way.'

After a nightmarish cliffside descent - her knees clinging desperately to the saddle as they zig-zagged down the steep, crumbling walls of the gorge at wildly impossible angles - Rose had never been happier to reach level ground. 'If I was doing this for anybody other than Dimitri, I'd...'

'You'd do it again in a heartbeat,' Pavel finished knowingly.

Now that the immediate danger was over, Rose felt her fear transform into a growing hum of excitement as she looked back up the cliff-face to see the way they'd come. It was pretty exciting, she had to admit. Yes. She would definitely do that again.

'Once we cross the river and find our way up the other side, that's the worst of it over for a while,' her companion announced, edging his wary mount closer to the bank.

The feeling of caution returned as Deputy Belikov shifted her attention to the swift, icy waters of the Colorado River. 'You're going to swim in this, Pavel? I don't think I'll be able to make it across - this coat Abe gave me weighs a ton.' It bothered her to admit she might be weaker than a fifty year old man – even if he was the fittest old-timer she'd ever met - but there was no way she was getting herself drowned when Dimitri needed her alive and kicking.

'We won't be swimming, ma'am,' Pavel reassured her. 'Follow me.' He lead them downstream fifty yards or so - until the narrow strip of riverbank widened slightly - and pointed to something set back from the water's edge.

It took Rose a few seconds to realise what she was looking at. It was a log-raft - stood up on its side and secured to a nearby rocky outcrop by a length of plaited rope - large enough to carry both them and their horses across the water. 'But how did you…?'

'This isn't my first time crossing into New Mexico Territory, ma'am,' Pavel reminded her, and they both dismounted to drag the raft into the shallows.

The ascent up the other side of the gorge was just as gruelling as the downward journey had been. Rose's horse stumbled several times – once quite badly – and even Pavel looked relieved when they had put the Colorado River well behind them.

'Rain's coming,' the old man announced gruffly, when they stopped to make camp later that evening.

They worked together to set up their shelter and fire - finishing just in time for the first fat raindrops to fall. Supper was rabbit again, and Rose was proud of herself when she managed to skin her kill nearly as quickly as Pavel did (though his was more neatly done). Volunteering to prepare a stew, the deputy set about her task at once - motivated by the increasing complaints from her empty stomach. After she'd added a generous pinch of spices to the mix, she returned to sit by her companion to wait for their meal to cook.

'How did you know about that river crossing we took today?' she asked curiously, her cold-nipped fingers wrapped tightly around her coffee cup. 'I didn't realise my father's business interests would take him this far off the beaten track.'

Pavel added a dash of whiskey to his own mug before answering. 'I didn't always work for your father.'

'Oh?' Rose prompted. For some reason she'd assumed that Abe and Pavel had always been together.

'Fur.' The man's use of language was annoyingly economical.

'You were in the fur trade? A mountain man?' the deputy enquired with renewed interest.

Alberta used to tell her stories about the reclusive wild-men who wandered the Colorado Rockies in the hunting season and didn't emerge again until summer, when they came into town to sell their pelts. They were renowned for their Hawken rifles and Bowie knives and drinking too much liquor. Naturally, Rose had always wanted to meet one.

'I suppose you could call me that,' he shrugged. 'I worked for the South West Company - trapping beaver, mostly. Living in the wilderness for fifteen years, you learn your way around.'

'Is that how you met that Indian that Sydney and I bumped into on the trail south to Las Vegas? Tadiw...,' Rose struggled with the pronunciation. 'Tad.'

'Taduwidetsihi,' he nodded. 'I've had close dealings with several Indians over the years. Town-folk say they're hostile savages - after the scalps of every white settler in the west - but not all of them are like that. I owe my life to Taduwidetsihi three times over. And Black Beaver as well.'

'Black Beaver?' Rose thought she'd heard the name before. Maybe Christian had mentioned him at some point.

Pavel leaned forward and prodded at the fire with the metal head of his hatchet - a crumbling piece of wood collapsing in two and sending a sudden flurry of sparks hurtling upwards into the dark, cloud-cloaked sky. 'From the Lenape tribe,' he explained. 'Everybody out here knows him. Started out as a fur trader like me. Worked as a guide and interpreter for white folk crossing Indian lands to settle in the west. It's thanks to him that so many settlers and military expeditions made it safely to their destinations. Me included.'

A thought came to the deputy's mind. 'Did you use sign language to communicate with one-another or did you speak in English?' She was wondering if she should ask Pavel to give her some extra tutoring with her signing. The lessons Christian gave her before they parted felt like an age ago.

'French actually.'

'You speak French?!' Rose baulked.

Pavel stiffened, aware he'd revealed more than he intended to. 'My wife was French-Canadian,' he mumbled, getting up to stir the stew. Mrs Pavel was not a welcome topic of discussion.

They ate in silence as they had the first night, but when Rose announced she was going to bed her pensive companion called for her to wait.

'I nearly forgot,' he reached for the buffalo leather bag that was never far from his side; passing over a selection of knives, buckshot pellets, and several mysterious leather pouches, to locate a folded piece of paper. 'Mr Mazur said this was for you. To keep your spirits up. Sorry it's late.'

The woman frowned suspiciously as she unfolded the note, but her heart sung in her chest when she read the words printed there. It was a telegram from Lisa; addressed to the telegraph office in Las Vegas, and dated Monday, November 18th, 1861. Two days ago.

DEAREST ROSE (STOP) I HOPE THIS MESSAGE FINDS YOU SAFE AND WELL (STOP) IF YOU ARE READING THIS THEN YOU AND MISS SAGE WILL HAVE ALREADY PARTED WAYS WITH CHRISTIAN (STOP) IF MY HUSBAND MISBEHAVED ON THE JOURNEY PLEASE TELL ME AND I WILL DEVISE A SUITABLE PUNISHMENT FOR HIM WHEN HE GETS HOME (STOP) SPEAKING OF COMING HOME - I MISS YOU (STOP) DO YOU HAVE ANY NEWS OF DIMITRI (STOP) DEPUTY BELIKOVA WANTS ME TO TELL YOU SHE BROKE HER FIRST NOSE LAST FRIDAY BUT SHE IS STILL WORKING ON THE HEARTS - WHATEVER THAT IS SUPPOSED TO MEAN (STOP) BABY STARTED KICKING TODAY (STOP) I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A BOY (STOP) LOVE (STOP) LISA (STOP)

Rose looked up from the page and caught Pavel watching her with a strange expression in his blue-grey eyes.

'Thank you,' she whispered, before hurrying into the tent with her unexpected treasure to read it again and again for as long as her tired eyes allowed. When the deputy finally gave in to sleep, the telegram was still clutched in her fingers, and that night she dreamed of home.

There may have been no marked trail from Las Vegas to Santa Fe, but Pavel knew exactly where he was going. Another steady day's ride brought them to a place where the mountains began to smooth out into gentler slopes, and at lunchtime the following day Pavel informed his charge that they would soon be entering desert country.

'We'll be in Hopi territory by tomorrow, but the land we're standing on now is still controlled by Apache and Navajo. It's best we don't stay here long. Take care of your needs and we'll move on.'

He dismounted, disappearing behind a bush to relieve himself, and Rose followed suit. Lunch was replaced with an uninspiring cup of cold-flour - water mixed with a spoonful of cornflour, cinnamon, and sugar - and they set out again promptly to cover as much ground as possible before the sun went down. When they did finally make camp for the night they'd covered nearly sixty miles - an impressive distance considering the wet and dreary conditions.

'So tell me...,' Deputy Belikov started her interrogation as soon as the supper was cooking. 'Why did you give up being a mountain man to work for my father?' she asked, trying to distract herself from the depressing realisation that today officially marked two weeks since she been separated from Dimitri.

Pavel paused from stirring their dinner over the fire and glanced back at her with steady, blue-grey eyes. 'Because of you.'

Rose gripped her coffee cup tightly, frowning as she tried to push through the fog of her earliest memories. 'Did I know you... back then?' she asked uncertainly.

The mountain man finished tinkering with the dinner then took up his place by the woman's side, his own coffee in hand. 'No.' He lifted the tin mug to his nose and inhaled deeply.

Rose didn't have the patience to wait for him tonight. 'For the love of God, Pavel. Just tell me what happened!'

He lifted his eyebrows at the outburst but conceded to tell her the story. 'I met your father in St Louis, Missouri in the summer of '47,' he explained quietly. 'Paid work was hard to come by with the fur trade was slowing down, but Mr Mazur offered me a job. Said he had business interests in Memphis that were a threat to his family. Wanted to hire a man to protect his young daughter. A man who knew his way around a knife and wasn't afraid to use it.'

The deputy grew very still.

'I agreed to the job, but it was a three week journey to Memphis. By the time we got there you and your mother were already gone.'

'My mother?'

A look of pity came over Pavel's face when he heard the longing in her voice.

'Mrs Mazur left a note with a neighbour. Said the life your father lived was not fit for a child so she was going to make a new start for the both of you. Mr Mazur was inconsolable. He paid me to stay on as a tracker to help him find his little girl - left his whole empire behind to search for you in every city and settlement for hundreds of miles, but it was like you'd just... vanished.' The mountain man frowned into the fire like the failure still haunted him. 'One year from the day you disappeared, he came to me and said it was time to stop looking. Your mother, Janine, thought you were safer without him and she was probably right. Mr Mazur couldn't bear to return home to Memphis without you so he invited me to head west with him instead - to seek out our fortune in California. He struck it lucky in the Gold Rush. Used his wealth to build himself a new life of influence in San Francisco. But in all these years your father never forgot the life he had before, with his little Memphis Rose.'

Rose stirred from her stillness, the loss of her father setting a burning ache in her throat. 'He settled in San Francisco? He was that close to Saint's Town all along? Why didn't he find me?'

Pavel looked her directly in the eye. 'He did find you, girlee. Just took him a bit longer than he'd hoped.'

They ate quietly after that, and Rose lost herself in the silence; thinking about everything she'd learned about her parents; imagining what her life might have been like if she'd never been separated from her father; wondering what had become of her mother.

'What is it?' the deputy looked up when her dinner plate was empty and noticed that Pavel was gazing at something off in the distance. 'Smoke? Indians?' she was instantly on the alert.

The mountain man shook his head. 'Just the stars.'

Deputy Belikov took her hand off the holster of her pistol, feeling confused and a little annoyed. 'But you can't see any stars. It's cloudy.'

'Doesn't matter,' he shrugged. 'I know where they are.'

Rose peered up at the sky, trying to imagine where the constellations lay. 'So what are you looking at, exactly?' she asked, curious despite herself.

Pavel remained silent for a full minute before answering. 'It doesn't have a proper name, but my wife used to call it Claire's star.' He fell quiet again, his jaw clenching as he glanced indecisively at the girl beside him.

The deputy didn't interrupt.

'It was the winter before I met Mr Mazur,' Pavel stared hard into the campfire. 'I came home from the mountains and cholera had taken half the town, my wife and daughter included. Claire was only eight years old.' He blinked once or twice before continuing. 'When she... left, there was nothing I could do to bring her back. But it was different for your father,' his eyes slid across to Rose, glowing intensely with the reflected light of the fire. 'When he asked me to help search for you, it was like I had a chance to find my own little girl again... I'm sorry it took me so long to get to you, ma'am, but I'm mighty glad to be helping you now.' He looked away again quickly, as if he was embarrassed for being so forward.

Rose took a few seconds to calm her breathing, knowing an emotional scene would only spook her quiet companion. 'I'm glad you're here too, Pavel,' she answered truthfully, smiling softly when he caught her gaze. 'Maybe...,' the deputy's focus wandered to the sky just above the eastern horizon. 'Maybe one night you can show me Claire's star? I'd like to see it.'

The old man's grey eyes shone with pride. 'It would be my honour.'

Saturday was overcast, but the clouds held back their rain, which put Rose in good spirits.

'So what's your other name?' she asked her companion when they slowed to a walk to rest the horses.

'Hmm?' the monosyllabic responses had returned.

'You go by Pavel, but is that your surname or your Christian name?'

'Surname.'

Rose imagined she saw a twinkle in the man's eyes, like he was amused by her impatience.

'Well Mr Pavel, if it's not too rude a question, what is your other name?' she pressed him for an answer.

'Marian.'

A giggle choked out from the deputy's throat. 'As in Maid Marian - from Robin Hood?'

She didn't hear him answer because the horse beside her screamed. Rose watched in horror as Pavel slumped forward in the saddle, clutching at the arrow that had planted itself in his back. A second arrow was lodged in the base of his horse's neck, and in its distress the beast reared up on its hind legs - losing balance and pitching sideways. When the animal hit the ground, Pavel's leg was pinned beneath it. Indians! They were under attack!

Ignoring the sound of hoof beats advancing from the north, Rose leapt from the saddle and rushed to her companion's side; grabbing Sydney's medical bag and scrabbling for a bandage to press against the bleeding arrow wound. 'Stay still,' she commanded. 'I can fix this.'

Pavel shoved her away roughly with his good arm. 'They're coming. Get away from here. You mustn't let them take you.' He stifled a groan of pain as he shifted to retrieve a massive knife from his belt, looking past Rose to assess their enemy. Two Indians - but clearly not the friendly kind.

'I won't leave you,' the deputy argued. She reached out to him again, but even gravely wounded Pavel managed to swat her away.

'Mr Mazur told me to protect you,' he growled - annoyed she wouldn't listen to reason.

'Mr Mazur isn't here!' she glared right back at him.

The man's face was taut with pain, but there was no weakness or fear in his eyes. 'I've waited fifteen years to protect you, girlee. Let me do my damn job... Get out of here. Now!' he ordered.

Rose frowned tightly but obeyed; dashing for shelter behind a nearby clump of low-lying bushes and cocking her pistol. Pavel might want her out of sight, but that didn't mean she couldn't cover him from here.

'Take what you want,' Pavel made the sign for peace as the horsemen approached, his voice sounding raspier than usual. 'Just leave my boy alone.'

The Indians did not respond. The one dressed in trousers like a white man made straight for Rose's horse. He secured its reins to his own mount then nocked an arrow to the string of his bow, scanning his surroundings for any sign of movement in the bushes.

Meanwhile, the younger, bare-chested brave sprung down from his horse's back and padded silently towards the man on the ground, a tomahawk clutched loosely in his hand. 'Helpless old pale-skin,' he leered in the language of the Apache, leaning over the injured man and grabbing a fistful of his hair. 'Are you ready to meet your forefathers?'

Pavel met his attacker's gaze without flinching. 'Not yet, my friend,' he replied in the man's native tongue.

The Indian hesitated - just long enough for Pavel to unleash one last burst of energy and drive his Bowie knife up into the unsuspecting Apache's chest. The young brave looked surprised as he toppled forward, and his dying cry of indignation drew the attention of his friend. Turning swiftly, the archer raised his bow and took aim for Pavel's heart - but in the half-second it took him to draw back on the string, Deputy Belikov fired off a shot from her pistol. The native's arrow went wild and he fell backwards from his horse without uttering a sound. He came to rest on his back; staring blindly up at the grey skies above, with a bullet hole between his eyes.

Less than a minute later, Rose was knelt by Pavel's side. Her eyes darted from the horse - its lifeblood spilling out on the ground around them - to the man who had waited over a decade for the chance to protect her.

'You did good, kid,' the old man smiled weakly, his breathing laboured from the exertion of talking. The arrow had grazed his lung. He didn't have long to go.

Tears glistened in the deputy's eyes. 'I'm sorry I laughed at your name, Marian. It's a very fine name.'

'Don't feel bad about that, girlee,' Pavel wheezed. 'At least my parents didn't go with my father's first suggestion.'

'What was that?' Rose couldn't help being a little curious, even as a pair of heavy tears spilt down her cheeks.

'Pavel,' he answered, grinning widely.

'Your father wanted to call you Pavel Pavel?' the deputy was crying, but her lips formed a wobbly grin.

'It was the one word he knew how to spell,' the dying man brayed with laughter until a fit of coughing overtook him.

Rose's moment of joy evaporated. 'How can I ease your suffering?' she implored him, squeezing his broad, coarse fingers.

He looked up at her, his eyes dull with pain but his face calm. 'Go find that husband of yours and have a happy life... And tell Mr Mazur I did my best to look after his little girl... I'm happy to go now I've done my job. My Claire's been waiting for me a long time.' He smiled a sad, soft smile, and that was the expression that remained on Pavel's face when the spirit departed from his body.

Deputy Belikov sagged in grief, clinging to the man's hand tightly until she remembered she couldn't stay here. Others might have heard the gunfire and come to investigate. She had to leave.

Rose travelled on alone. She made camp alone. She ate alone, she slept alone, she awoke alone, and she travelled on again, alone.

She thought the silence would make her feel lonely, but Pavel had taught her that the state of quietness was not simply a lack of noise. It was having an awareness of things usually unnoticed. Rose saw movements in the undergrowth and thought about the wild animals that might be scurrying beneath. She saw strange peaks rising from the desert - painted with wide bands of lavender, red and grey - and wondered what stories they held for the Hopi people who called these lands their home. She saw clouds and imagined the stars behind them.

Unfortunately, Rose never saw the thing that bit her. All she remembered was a burning feeling near her ankle, and a strange, light-headed sensation that made her want to lie down at once. But she knew she couldn't lie down or she might fall asleep in this strange, beautiful desert and never wake up again. She couldn't let that happen. She needed to find Dimitri.

The deputy mounted her horse and pushed eastward. When her stomach began to writhe and knot, she paused to purge herself of the vile humours then carried on. When the shaking started, she lashed herself to the saddle so she wouldn't fall. In the end, she lolled weakly in her seat and let her horse follow after the shifting creature that seemed to be guiding them through the endless desert. Sometimes it looked like Pavel. At other times, an Indian scout with raven hair. A black beaver appeared at one point, later turning into a bouncing cottontail bunny, and then a beautiful, golden-skinned woman.

On the third day the horse stopped. They had found a stream. Rose struggled weakly with the knotted ropes that bound her and slid from the saddle; dropping to her knees by the water and scooping cold, life-giving water into her mouth and over her face.

'I'm coming, Dimitri,' she spoke the words aloud to remind herself she was alive. 'I'm going to make it.'

'I'm waiting, Roza,' the wind whispered in her ear, and she dragged herself up out of the water and onto her horse once more.

When the rain started again next morning Rose began to shiver. She didn't feel violently ill like when she'd been bitten. It was more of a creeping tiredness that stiffened her joints and chilled her bones, until eventually her mind fell into a strange delirium.

A tent was up ahead. A man was crouching beside his campfire tending to something above the flames, and a woman with dark hair and golden-brown skin stood at the entrance of the shelter, looking westward. When she saw the rider approaching, she walked purposefully towards her; taking the horse's reins and offering a hand to help the bedraggled traveller down from her saddle.

Rose pushed the mirage away. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted by this pleasant delusion. She had to get to Dimitri.

'Stop fighting, Rose. Don't struggle,' the woman urged, holding her firmly by the shoulders and looking intently into her eyes.

The deputy paused at the sound of her name, her breathing quick and shallow.

'Be calm, my darling. You're safe now,' the angel told her. 'My name is Susana. This is my husband Mark. We've been waiting for you.'

Rose fainted.

.

Author's Note:

Sydney – What did you think of Sydney stabbing Keith Darnell? (based on Bloodlines, but I've changed the details quite a bit). More on Sydrian later.

Pavel – I'm sorry to kill off such a sweet character, but Pavel doesn't mind. He's been Abe's friend for a long time and he would have been honoured to go protecting Rose. [If you haven't already seen it on my Pinterest page, google 'Mountain Man Ron Kebic' to see one of my favourite visual references for Pavel] Incidentally, it always bothered me that I didn't know the correct pronunciation of Pavel's name - I looked it up online & it sounds like 'Parv-ill'.

Black Beaver - He's a real historical figure. Read up on him if you're interested - he's pretty awesome!

Abe – Did you like the Abe/Rose interactions? I don't think they would be great buddies straight away, so I'm giving them room to grow closer together with time.

Rose – This is Rose's lowest point. She's been tested to her limits and she has prevailed. Now that she's proven how strong her will is to survive for Dimitri, it's all looking up from here & Rose's newest buddy Susana (Oksana!) is going to help her in an unexpected way.