I think you might enjoy the end of this chapter :)

6. Partner or Prisoner?

'So, what happens now?' Rose asked, as she and Dimitri made their way back towards the sheriff's building.

Half an hour ago – when Alberta announced her fate in front of half the town – Rose was ready to murder somebody, but now a feeling of nervous anticipation was beginning to build in the pit of her stomach. The prospect of spending unlimited time in the presence of a gorgeous Russian cowboy certainly had its perks, even if he could be annoyingly smug and overbearing at times. As long as the man remembered that Rose wasn't going to be treated like a child, she had a feeling they were going to get on just fine.

'I have a bit of paperwork I need to look through before lunch, then I thought we might go out for a ride?' Dimitri framed it as a question. The deputy was no fool. He'd already figured out that Rose resented having her independence threatened, and it couldn't hurt pandering to her ego at bit by letting her believe she had a choice in the matter. 'Alberta suggested I get out and introduce myself to some of the townsfolk who live on the outlying properties. I thought you might show me around, seeing as you're the local expert?'

Unaware she was being manipulated by a master, Rose fell for the subtle flattery. 'I suppose I could help you out,' she replied condescendingly.

'How very kind of you,' Dimitri hid a smirk, 'but first, there's something I have to attend to in town before I forget. Coming?'

Rose followed him without complaint, and five minutes later they were standing in the general store waiting to be served.

'You want how much flour?' the shopkeeper gawped at the deputy like he had two heads, certain he'd misheard his customer's request.

'One hundred and fifty pounds,' Dimitri answered matter-of-factly. 'And no - I'm not concerned about the price.'

Old Mr Drosman looked in his ledger, his eyes flicking up to the imposing figure on the other side of the counter as he leafed through the pages. 'The bulk flour sacks weigh a hundred and forty-four pounds,' he explained, 'but I only have three bags left and that amount has to last everyone in town until we get the next delivery. Are you sure you need that much?'

'I'm sure,' the Russian confirmed. 'A hundred and forty-four pounds should just be enough.'

The storeman still looked dubious. 'Very well, but I'll need to get my boy Aaron to help you with the lifting – the job is too heavy for one man alone.'

'Thanks all the same, but I can manage,' Dimitri replied, finalising payment and following the shopkeeper into the back storage room. He emerged again a few moments later, carrying a massive canvas sack over one shoulder as though it was weightless.

Without her permission, Rose's mind conjured a strangely pleasing image where she was the one thrown over Dimitri's shoulder instead of the bag of flour, but before she had time to feel self-conscious a nasty thought popped into her head.

'You're not planning some baking-themed punishment for me, are you Deputy Belikov? Because I feel I should warn you that I nearly burnt down one of the houses Lisa and I stayed at while we were away. I'm honestly not to be trusted around a fireplace or cooking utensils.'

Dimitri raised an eyebrow but didn't bother answering her question. 'Home, delinquent,' he ordered, adjusting the weight of the bag on his shoulder and leading the way.

Rose retired to her room after lunch to get ready for the afternoon's outing. Dimitri had told her that they would be paying house calls for as long as the daylight allowed, so she hunted through the clothes that Natalie left for her, looking for something that was both smart and suitable for riding. After some consideration, Rose settled on a bottle-green, tailored dress with a fitted jacket-style bodice that buttoned to the throat but still accentuated her feminine assets. Finally, she donned a riding hat to keep her hair in check, securing it with a hatpin, and made her way downstairs.

Deputy Belikov was outside checking over the horses in preparation for their upcoming ride when the door to the sheriff's building opened and someone called out to him.

'Howdy, partner!'

Dimitri turned at the sound of the familiar voice and, despite the fact he was trying to keep a professional distance from his charge, he couldn't stop his lips from curving upwards. Rose – dressed up in all her finery – was standing on the veranda, unholstering a pair of side-arms and twirling them deftly in her fingers.

'I hope those hairbrushes aren't loaded, Miss Hathaway,' the deputy replied in a dry tone, casually leaning against the taller horse – one elbow propped over the saddle as he took silent pleasure in Rose's game.

'Pshew! Pshew!' Rose lined up her pistols and unloaded a pair of shots directly into his chest. 'Dead!' she declared, blowing the smoking barrels, her eyes goading him to play along.

'No. Not dead,' Dimitri shook his head slowly, his lips twitching as the secret smile threatened to burst into a grin. 'With an aim like that you'd be lucky if you managed to hit the side of a barn. Now, do you think we can be on our way? This daylight won't last forever.'

Shortly, they set out together towards the first stop on Dimitri's list; a rancher's property fifteen minutes to the north. The further they got from Saints Town, the more relaxed Rose began to feel, and the sense of freedom and excitement put her in a talkative mood.

'So I guess I should say congratulations on your new job, Deputy Belikov,' she began, hoping to lure the man into a conversation.

Dimitri was surprised but quietly pleased at the acknowledgement. 'Thank you,' he responded politely, with a sidelong glance at his companion.

Rose Hathaway had all the appearance of a refined young lady, but her wild nature was barely contained, always bubbling just below the surface. She was a contradiction – a mystery – which made her an object of fascination for Dimitri's logical mind.

'I have done other work in the past,' he added, 'but this is the first time I've ever been a lawman.'

'So what did you do before?' Rose asked, unable to hide her curiosity. 'Before you were a bounty hunter, I mean.' She'd met him as a saddle tramping vigilante – quiet and controlled, yet powerful, with just a hint of dry humour – and somehow she couldn't imagine him any other way.

A shadow crossed the man's face but he covered the lapse before it was noticed. 'Well, when I was living back in Russia I mostly worked on my family's farm.'

'Your family?' Rose pounced on the new line of enquiry immediately, leaving the deputy mildly amused at her eagerness.

Nobody had shown such a genuine interest in him for a long time and, while he normally kept his private business private, he didn't seem to mind sharing a little bit about himself with this imp of a girl.

'My mama, grandmother, three sisters and a couple of nieces and nephews as well,' he clarified, a tiny ache in his heart as he thought of those he loved.

The young woman's eyes widened in surprise. 'Wow. That's a big family. I've just got Alberta. So are they all here in America too?'

'Not yet,' Dimitri's expression sobered. 'I've been saving up to bring them over here but it's taken longer than I first expected.'

'How long have you been here?' the girl probed.

There was a pause as Dimitri gazed into the distance. 'Three years.'

Rose wasn't sure how to respond. She'd left home too, to protect Lisa, but that was different – she didn't have to leave an entire family behind her. 'You must miss them,' she finally said, her face conveying the empathy she couldn't express in words.

He nodded to show that he understood. 'Every day.'

They rode on quietly for a few minutes, but soon another question came to Rose's mind – now she'd got the big man talking she found she didn't want him to stop. 'What did you do when you first arrived in America, Mr Belikov? Alberta said you're from San Francisco?'

Dimitri glanced over at her. 'My ship arrived in San Francisco, but work was difficult to find in the city. My English wasn't very good to start with and I think people found me… intimidating.'

'Gee. I wonder why,' Rose couldn't help herself, the sarcastic comment being matched by an equally sarcastic expression from the Russian cowboy. 'Sorry. Please continue,' she urged him, resolving to be on her best behaviour.

Forgiving the interruption, Dimitri continued on with his story. 'Eventually I was introduced to a man called Ivan who offered me a position on his estate near Walker's Lake. I worked for him for nearly two years, and I will always count him as one of the best people I've ever met.'

Rose's brows knotted quizzically. 'So why didn't you stay with him? It sounds like it was an ideal position.'

The deputy's jaw tensed and this time his companion didn't miss it. 'He died.'

Rose kicked herself for being so insensitive. 'Oh. I'm so sorry. I didn't realise,' she stuttered.

'It's alright,' the man reassured her, though his mood remained serious. 'You had no reason to know.'

In a rare show of tact, Rose realised it was time to cease her interrogations, and the pair travelled in silence – each lost in their own thoughts – until they arrived at their first destination.

The whole afternoon passed quickly. Dimitri and Rose stopped off at no less than eight homesteads, where the deputy sheriff made his presence known to each of the residents and offered his services should they be required. The unexpected arrival of a gigantic, gun-toting foreigner made some people uneasy, but the stranger's direct conversation and unassuming attitude appealed to most of the frontier folk despite their misgivings. The only trouble that Deputy Belikov and his sidekick encountered on their journey was having to put up with the stand-offish manners of the locals, and suffering some dirty looks from a few young men who thought that they should have been picked as deputy instead of the Russian.

It was growing late in the afternoon when Dimitri announced to Rose that there was one final place left to visit before they would return to town.

Trotting along a familiar path, Rose's spirits lifted when she realised where they were heading, and she urged her horse to a canter. 'We're going to Lisa's place,' she grinned across at Dimitri, who was keeping pace with her.

'I'm afraid not, Miss Hathaway,' he tried to let her down gently. 'Alberta's rule still stands. We're actually going to see Reverend Karp.'

The girl's face fell. She didn't have anything against Sonya Karp's father, of course, but she hadn't seen Lisa since they arrived in Saints Town and she missed her friend bitterly. Struck by a sudden urge to cry, Rose took a few gulps of air to calm her breathing before she trusted herself to respond. 'I just wish I knew Lis was okay,' she muttered. 'You know how sweet-tempered she is. She's no match for Madam Kiroy. I swear that woman is evil incarnate.'

'Miss Hathaway!' Dimitri sounded shocked.

'I'm only calling it as I see it,' she shrugged. 'Alright. So no Lisa today, then,' Rose squinted her eyes, looking beyond the Draymore ranch to a smaller homestead on the opposite rise that belonged to Reverend Karp. 'Come on then, deputy. Let's get this over with.'

Approaching the Karp residence, Rose was struck by an eerie feeling. She couldn't put her finger on it at first, but she finally figured out that the garden beds by the front porch were overgrown with weeds. Most people out here didn't even bother trying to keep gardens, but Miss Karp always had a knack for making things grow regardless of how hostile the conditions might be, and her house had become affectionately known as The Oasis. There was nothing inviting about the place now, however, and Rose shivered as she sat and waited on the front stairs, feeling Sonya's absence like an oppressive gloom.

'Good evening, Reverend Karp. My name is Dimitri Belikov, Sheriff Peterson's new deputy. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance.'

The old man looked tiny in the deputy's shadow, but the illusion was broken when he stepped out to join Dimitri on the porch. The preacher was a thinly-framed man in his early seventies and would have been quite tall in his prime, only now his shoulders were sloped with age. His expression was drawn and he eyed the newcomer warily – the drawn-out silence only broken by a chorus of cicadas chirruping in the distance – before he eventually replied.

'Welcome, friend. It's good to meet you,' came the reply at last. The reverend pulled a thin smile, but his eyes flickered nervously out into the deepening twilight and Dimitri knew that his host was not as comfortable as he was trying to make out.

'Is everything alright, sir?' the deputy enquired carefully.

'Yes, yes,' the old man seemed distracted. 'Though, one must be careful opening the door to strangers at this time of day. You never know who or what might be lurking out on the prairie.'

Dimitri's eyebrow raised a fraction but he refrained from questioning the odd behaviour. 'I apologise,' he said formally. 'It appears we have dropped by too late. Perhaps we will call again another day later in the week.'

He made to leave, but the preacher stopped him.

'We?' he asked in a tremulous voice, and Rose quickly climbed the steps to make herself known.

'Reverend Karp. It's me, Rose Hathaway,' she announced, her heart sinking at the sight of the man's ashen face. 'Alberta told me what happened with Sonya. I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry I wasn't here to help.'

The old man's face broke into a teary smile and he wrapped his arms around Rose's shoulders in a fatherly embrace. The girl had been a member of his congregation since she was knee-high to a grasshopper and had been sent to him for counselling on more than a few occasions during her wayward youth. 'You're safe, Rose! You made it back home. God be praised.'

'Yes – and Lisa is back safely too,' Rose assured him.

Without warning, the mood in the air changed and Reverend Karp took a step backwards. 'I'm sorry, friends, but the evening chill is settling in and I should be getting inside. Please do stop by again if you're able. Safe travels to you both,' and he shuffled quickly back into the house, closing the door behind him.

Rose and Dimitri exchanged puzzled looks but there was no point pushing the old man to talk to them. The preacher had a reputation as being slightly cracked – Alberta always put it down to too much communion wine – and it seemed they weren't going to get any more sense out of him tonight. Conceding defeat, the pair were making their way down the front steps towards their waiting horses when Rose let out a wide yawn.

'Time to head home, Miss Hathaway,' the deputy announced, looking slightly weary himself. 'I've just got to take care of something before we go. You wait here – I'll only be a few minutes,' he said, and he headed off in the direction of the outhouse.

In every person's life there comes a moment when fate presents an opportunity, and all one must do is reach out and take it. Rose lived for these moments, and as soon as Dimitri was out of view she followed her instincts, jumping onto her horse and urging it quickly down the slope towards Cottonwood Creek Ranch.

The Draymore and Karp homesteads lay side by side, separated by a creek that ran through a shallow gully between the two properties. The narrow waterway was lined by tall cottonwood trees that flamed the whole area gold during the autumn, and it was a favourite haunt for Lisa and Rose when they were growing up. Finding the narrowest bend in the creek, Rose jumped across then tied her horse to a nearby tree-stump, before ranging up the hill on the other side of the gully and making for Lisa's bedroom window.

Returning from the outhouse, Deputy Belikov was shocked and furious to see only one horse tethered to the post outside Reverend Karp's house. He cursed loudly in Russian and immediately leapt into the saddle. It didn't take a genius to figure out where Rose had gone, and he wasted no time following after her, determined to stop the girl before she got herself into serious trouble. If Madam Kiroy found the dreaded Rosemarie Hathaway on her property there would be hell to pay – for Rose and Dimitri. Crossing the creek in a single bound, the deputy spied the other horse and hitched his own beside it then stalked towards the house, searching the area for clues as to which way his quarry had gone.

Shadowing around the house at a radius of twenty feet or so, Dimitri spotted a familiar figure low on the southern wall, and he crept closer to see Rose reaching up to climb a trellis outside what he could only presume to be Lisa's window. Advancing with the grace of a cat, he pounced on the girl and dragged her back to the ground. The deputy was about to give her a piece of his mind when footsteps sounded nearby and he shoved Rose unceremoniously into some bushes, hissing at her to stay out of sight.

'State your business, stranger,' a heavy-set man growled as he rounded the corner.

Dimitri straightened his duster and approached the man with his hand outstretched. 'Deputy Belikov,' he announced himself. 'I'm here with a message for Miss Draymore, but I thought I'd do a sweep of the property first. There have been reports of prowlers in the area.'

Thanks to the deputy's quick thinking, the other man's posture relaxed. 'Ah. We've been expecting you to show up at some point, Deputy. The name's Ben,' the bowler-hatted man replied, his face twisting into an ugly smile as he shook the proffered hand. 'Follow me.'

Less than ten minutes later, Dimitri emerged from the Draymore house and retrieved his lost property from the bushes.

Rose was indignant that the deputy had dared to manhandle her yet again, and she regained her footing shakily, brushing the twigs and leaves from her hair and riding habit in annoyance. 'What was that for?' she huffed, casting a mournful look at a long tear in her skirt. 'You've completely ruined my dress.'

The deputy's eyes narrowed and he gripped her by the sleeve, tugging her towards the waiting horses without a word. As soon as they were out of earshot of the house, Rose prepared herself for Dimitri to yell at her – she was actually looking forward to the chance to defend her actions – but he didn't oblige, and instead she was forced to endure the punishment of a cold and bitter silence for the entire ride back to Saints Town.

Once they arrived at the sheriff's office, Rose hastened towards her room to change out of her soiled clothes, but a heavy hand stopped before she could escape.

'No. We need to talk,' Dimitri's voice was low and forceful, sending a chill of anxiety through the girl's chest.

'Well, you could have talked to me for the last half hour, but you wanted to ride in silence,' she retorted bravely.

The deputy stared down at her with an uncompromising set to his jaw. 'No. We are going to talk on my terms, Miss Hathaway,' he ordered, forcing her to sit on a chair and pacing in front of her as he commenced the lecture. 'I will talk and you will listen. Today – running off like that – it will never happen again, you understand?'

'But I only did it because—,' she began, but her words were cut off as Deputy Belikov dragged her off the chair and hustled her into the closest of the two jail cells, locking her inside.

Dimitri was done putting up with the girl's rudeness and excuses. 'You can't just keep behaving like a child, Rose – acting with no thought of the consequences,' he chastised harshly. 'You were seconds away from being discovered at the Draymore ranch today. What if you were caught? Do you understand what that would mean? Madam Kiroy has forbidden you to see Lisa. She believes you are a bad influence and that it was your fault Miss Draymore left home last year. She is just waiting for an excuse to take your friend away.'

The self-righteous retort Rose had been planning was now useless. 'What do you mean?' she frowned uncertainly.

The deputy kept a hard edge to his voice, determined that Rose should understand the precariousness of the situation. 'If you step out of line even once, Madam Kiroy said she will take Miss Draymore to San Francisco where she can associate with more suitable company – possibly move there for good. If I hadn't stopped you today, you might never have seen your Lisa again.'

The news came as a shock and Rose could feel herself bristling with anger at the unfairness of it all. 'Okay! I get the message. I won't do it again. Now can you let me out? I really want to change and I'm starving too.'

'No.' Dimitri had turned away from her and she couldn't see his face.

'What? Why not?' she demanded angrily, rushing at the bars and gripping them as if she planned to prise them apart.

The deputy spun around suddenly and stood directly in front of her, dropping his head to fix her with a steely glare. 'I'll let you out when you apologise,' he hissed dangerously.

Rose actually laughed. 'Not going to happen,' she scoffed, shaking her head in derision. The man thought he was in charge of her, but he was so, so wrong.

Dimitri took a sharp breath, holding back whatever he had been going to say, then walked over to the sheriff's desk and reached for a book. Retrieving an apple from the pocket of his duster, he put his feet up on the desk and flicked to the first page of his novel, completely ignoring the death stare that was boring into the back of his head.

'You're bluffing,' Rose challenged him. He wasn't really going to keep her in here until she apologised, was he? No. He wouldn't dare.

Crunch.

The apple was half gone by the time Rose finally relented. 'Alright. Alright. I'm sorry,' she announced stroppily. 'I shouldn't have run away when you told me to wait for you.'

Dimitri turned his head slowly, still holding the book in one hand, the apple in the other. 'You're sorry, who?' he prompted.

Rose's eyes widened with frustration, but she realised that the man was not going to be trifled with. 'I'm sorry, Deputy Belikov,' she said, through gritted teeth.

There was a tense silence as Dimitri narrowed his eyes at her, then he stood and moved to unlock the cell door. Rose stiffened in annoyance as she made for the exit, but her Russian jailor stopped her with an arm across the doorway.

'Wait, Miss Roza,' he breathed. Completely different to the man Rose had argued with only moments before, Dimitri gazed down at her with unimaginable softness that nearly made the tired girl break down into tears. 'A reward for your good manners,' he said, placing an envelope in her hands before stepping aside to let her pass.

Recognising the handwriting, Rose glanced to Dimitri with a grateful expression then hurried upstairs to open her prize. It was a letter from Lisa! Flopping down on her bed, the girl's hands trembled slightly as she unfolded the scented paper.

Dear Rose.

I'm sorry I haven't been able to talk to you since we arrived back home. Kiroy has put me under house arrest until I prove to her I'm sorry for running away – however long that's meant to take. I thought you'd want to know I'm okay. Hope you are too. I can't believe Alberta made the bounty hunter her new deputy. It was his idea for me to write you this letter, you know. You're lucky to have someone who is looking out for you. And he's pretty handsome too don't you think? (In a dark and dangerous kind of way, that is.) I've been forbidden to contact you but I think I can convince Natalie to deliver you messages whenever she heads into town, so if you have anything to tell me just give it to her. I'm so sorry I got us into trouble. Miss you already.

XOX Lis

Rose read and re-read the letter, her mind churning with the events of the past week. When she finally slipped off to sleep, she was still wearing her riding clothes.

.

Author's Note:

I love writing Dimitri as domineering but considerate when it comes to Rose – he'll happily lock her up in jail but still go out of his way to help her make contact with her best friend, even though it's against the rules.

Can you guess what Dimitri plans to use the bag of flour for? And what do you think is up with Reverend Karp?!

New Character: Mr Drosman Snr. – Aaron's dad/shopkeeper. Seriously not an important character, I just wanted to give him a name.

Pathetically Slow:

I feel bad for not updating more regularly (I know some people churn out a couple of chapters every week), but let me give you an insight into why I am so pathetically slow…

Writes: 'I feel I should warn you that I nearly burnt down one of the houses Lisa and I stayed at while we were away. I'm honestly not to be trusted around an oven.'

Thinks: Ha ha. Rose is a dork…

10 minutes later – re-reads paragraph: Oh crap. Did they even have ovens in 1860?

Furiously researches online: Discovers that the colonial settlers mostly cooked & ate around an open campfire – rats that won't work for my scenario. Gets distracted reading cowboy recipes for ten minutes. Baby cries – starts breastfeeding and continues typing search-strings with one hand. Finds a blog that says flour comes in 100lb canvas sacks (not 144lb bags as my Dad suggests based on what he had in his shop on an Aboriginal mission in Australia in the 1960's). Ponders whether to change the flour reference to be more historically accurate. Decides Dimitri should carry the heavier weight because it's sexier. Flicks across to open FanFiction tab & checks stats/PM's. Remembers I'm actually supposed to be researching ovens.

Thinks: Well that was a waste of time. How would people cook inside before electricity?… Lightbulb. Oh yeah. Fireplaces are a thing right?!

Writes: 'I feel I should warn you that I nearly burnt down one of the houses Lisa and I stayed at while we were away. I'm honestly not to be trusted around a fireplace.'… Re-reads twice… then adds 'or cooking utensils'.

A noise breaks my concentration: Toddler wakes up from nap. Writing session aborted until 9pm. I have written 38 words. But on the upside, they are historically accurate and vaguely amusing!

It hurts being me sometimes! :0