Amelia had been standing at the window when she saw Sheriff Coffey haul Duncan off to jail. He had completely ruined the plan. He was supposed to make sure the town saw him, but he wasn't supposed to get arrested. Now how was she going to get Adam's body out of the saloon without anyone noticing. She plopped down on the bed and tried to decide what to do. David was going to be waiting for them at the ranch. He would probably figure out something went wrong when they didn't make it back before sunrise, but by then it would be too late, they needed to move Adam's body before first light.

She heard a knocking coming from out in the hallway. Running to the door she looked into the corridor and spotted a young boy, about 14 years old, delivering a message to one of the rooms.

"Hey boy!" she called to him quietly.

The young boy turned and saw Amelia standing in her doorway motioning him towards her. The boy jerked his head back when the door he was standing in front of was answered by a large man who was busily trying to hold his pants up. "What you want boy!" he barked.

"Message for you sir," the boy squeaked.

The rough looking gold miner yanked the message from his hand and slammed the door.

"You're welcome," the boy stated sarcastically then turned back to his left. He didn't see the woman anymore. He moved slowly towards her door and was pressing his ear against it when she yanked it open. The boy, caught off guard, quickly pulled himself back and stood up straight. "Did you need me for something, ma'am?" he asked.

Amelia smiled sweetly. "Yes boy, I need you to deliver a message for me to the Fairchild ranch, do you know where that is?" she asked as she quickly scrawled out a message on a piece of paper.

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "But it shore is a long way out there…"

"Yes it is, that's why I need you to move quickly," she stated as she placed a silver dollar in the palm of his hand along with the note. "I'm going to pay you half now and half when you return with my brother, is that clear?"

The boy could barely contain himself, "Oh yes ma'am! You've never seen a faster rider than me ma'am!" And he turned and ran off down the hall.

*******

Ben Cartwright refused to believe that Roy had David locked up in his jail. Moving towards the house he saddled up Buck and was insisting on riding back to town with Roy.

"Ben you need to stay here until I can question him," Roy had told him. "If you go to town I won't be letting you get anywhere near that jail, not until I'm sure you've calmed down."

Ben narrowed his eyes at the Sheriff. Roy moved towards his old friend and, placing a comforting hand around his shoulders, he led him away from the rest of the crowd. "Ben, I know you're upset, but you have other…arrangements that need to be dealt with."

Ben looked over at the wagon that contained his son's body, his heart catching in his throat.

"You know I want to catch the person responsible for this just as much as you do," Roy continued. "Please, let me handle it."

Ben dropped his head and nodded.

"Good," Roy answered as he patted Ben's shoulder a few times. Turning he walked back to the group of men that had arrived with him. "Let's mount up boys and get back to town."

The three Cartwrights watched as the Sheriff left, followed by the townspeople. There was silence as they stood absorbing the events of the evening.

It was one of the ranch hands that finally broke the silence. "Mr. Cartwright?"

Hoss turned and saw a group of four ranch hands standing beside the wagon. "What is it you want Charlie?" Hoss asked.

Charlie turned and looked to Hoss. He began to shift his feet uncomfortably. "Do you…" he shot an awkward glance towards the rest of the hands standing nearby then looked at the ground. "Do you need us to help with the body?"

Ben jerked his head up. An angry determination built up inside of him as he walked back towards the wagon. "No," Ben spoke gruffly as he brushed past Hoss and waved them all away from the wagon. "No one touches my son's body."

The ranch hands stepped back. "We don't mean no disrespect…" Charlie said.

Ben laid his hands on top of the blanket and raised an icy glare towards them. "No one touches his body but me, you hear?"

Hoss and Joe exchanged troubled glances. They had never seen their father act this way, so out of control and almost a little crazy. Hoss looked to his father then back towards the men. "You fellas go on to bed. We'll take it from here."

There was a low mumble of commentary as they turned and walked towards the bunkhouse. Hoss and Joe watched as they left, then moved to stand beside their father at the back of the wagon.

Ben continued to stare at the lifeless form under the blanket, tears glistening in his eyes. "He can't be dead," Ben whispered.

Hoss put his hand on his father's shoulder. "Pa, Joe and I can take care of this. Why don't you go in the house and get some rest."

"No," Ben mumbled. "I won't leave him. I promised him I'd never leave him." He pulled down the tailgate and sat on the edge of the wagon.

Hoss looked at Joe who shrugged and shook his head. It was obvious there'd be no talking to their father tonight. Hoss motioned Joe towards him, away from their father. "Joe, why don't you head into town and see if you can find anything out."

Joe, not wanting to leave his father's side, nodded reluctantly. "What are you going to do?"

Hoss looked over at his distraught father. "I'm going to stay here with Pa. See if I can't get him to start thinking about the arrangements. " He looked back at Joe. "Let me know what you find out, will ya?"

Joe slowly turned and pulled himself on Cochise. Pausing, he looked at his father staring down at the corpse of their brother. The pain was too much to bear. He clicked the reins and headed into town.

********

Amelia saw Sheriff Coffee and the other townspeople as they arrived back from the Cartwright ranch. She stood in her hotel room and watched as they separated and headed home. Dropping the curtain she wheeled around and started pacing nervously. Duncan had really screwed everything up. She put her thumb to her finger and continued chewing the already ragged nail. If David didn't show up before morning than she was going to have to figure out a way to get Adam's body out of town without anyone seeing them. It wasn't going to be easy. Course, she could recruit another cowboy to help her and then kill him off like they did that drifter. She dropped her hand, debating what to do. Crossing back over to the window she looked out onto the street and saw the Sheriff and Deputy standing outside talking. The Sheriff turned and entered his office leaving his assistant to guard the front. She needed to find out what had happened at the Cartwrights'. She grabbed her drawstring purse and headed over to the jail.

As she approached the Deputy she decided that the best tactic was just to demand to see her brother, how could they refuse to let her see him?

"Hold it Miss Amelia," the Deputy said as he held up his rifle to prevent her from passing.

Amelia stepped back. "Deputy, I'd like to see my brother."

"Sorry, but no one's allowed to go in there till the Sheriff finishes questioning him," he stated.

"Questioning him?" she cried. "About what? What's he done?"

"Can't tell you miss, you'll have to wait for the Sheriff to tell you," he responded.

"Well, certainly he wasn't referring to his own family," she questioned, her voice growing louder.

"The Sheriff told me no one was to enter and that means no one," Clem stated firmly.

Amelia was getting frustrated. "I want to see my brother!" she hollered as she stepped forward, but was blocked by the insistent Deputy.

"What's going on out here?" Sheriff Coffey questioned as he walked out onto the office porch.

"Good evenin' Sheriff," Amelia called out. "I'd like to see my brother and this… Deputy of yours won't let me in."

"Well, Miss Amelia, I'm kind of in the middle of questioning him. You think you could wait a few more minutes while I finish up?" Roy asked kindly.

Amelia wrinkled her nose in frustration. "I guess I'll have to." She moved and sat on the bench that was just outside the office door.

"Thank you ma'am. Clem here will keep you company," Roy stated with a smile, and disappeared back into his office.

Amelia shot him an angry look as she crossed her arms over her chest. "That won't be necessary." She turned and walked away. "Tell the Sheriff he can find me at the saloon!" she called over her shoulder.