Woo hoo! Look! An update!

foureverCharmed: Thanks much! I aim to please!

scullymulder1234: Wow, the best, huh? Damn, I'm good!

piperleo4eva: Shh! Don't tell! Think about Leo's past in the show. Now whaddaya think her name is, huh?

i like eggs: What a penname! Holy crap, thanks for all the names! It will definitely help!Got any last names? I've been flipping through my yearbooks, and that's helping, too.

Chub: Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Hey, you named my dog and my brother, my friend, my cat, my other friend, my other friend, my other friend, my enemy, my friend's brother, my other friend, my dad's friend, and one of my favorite names (Emma). Wow. Thanks! And that's just on the top of your head?!?

Sorry if I missed anybody...I'm having some organization issues.


By the time the second night had settled, he already had a camp set up. He let the horse roam, knowing she wouldn't go far, and added some wood to the fire. He sat on a log he'd set up beside the flame.

Not twenty minutes passed when he heard a rustle in the long grass. He looked over his shoulder, but brushed it off as some animal. He glanced at his horse, about fifteen yards in front of him, eating the grass, moving every now and then.

He heard a rustle again and whipped around. His hand gripped the handle of the pistol and he pulled it out. He stood up and turned to where he'd heard the sound come from.

He heard three loud shots. His horse neighed and galloped away. That was when he felt the burn in his side. Fire spread from his chest and side and spread through his body.

Everything went black.

Jacob jumped off of his horse and tied it up to a hitching post built outside the house. He noticed Piper's horse tied up, as well. He'd gotten a tip from someone from town as to where Piper was, and he and Jack had ridden there right away.

Jack was already at the door. He opened it up. No one was there. The father and son slowly made their way through the house. They got to the back door and swung it open.

Jacob laughed. Jack slapped his arm.

Dan and Brian were tied with their backs to opposite sides of a tree. About twenty feet away, Piper was digging. She had a hole about three feet deep and two feet wide. There was a pile of dirt beside her.

"Piper…Piper, what're you doing?"

Piper didn't stop digging. "Getting--" She stuck she shovel into the ground. "--my--" She jumped on it to get it to go down deeper. "--money." She pushed the handle down and pulled up some dirt.

"In Hell? The money's in Hell?" Jacob asked. Jack slapped his arm again.

Piper drove the shovel into the ground again. It slammed against something hard. Something metal. She frantically dug around it, then dropped down to her knees to dig with her hands.

"It can't be…" Piper pulled the small metal safe out of the ground, with some struggle. She managed to pull it onto the level earth beside her. "I can't believe it."

"Piper, is that what I think it is?" Jack asked quietly.

"What's the combination?" Piper snapped, glaring at Brian.

He didn't answer. He didn't even look at her. He was tied with his back to her, anyway. He stayed silent.

"What is it?" Piper demanded.

She got no answer. It wasn't worth it, she figured. So she stood up and backed away. "Watch it." She pulled out her gun and shot the lock. If flew off. She dropped down to her knees again and yanked the little door open. Her breath caught in her throat. "Oh my God."

There it was--all of her money.

Piper's hands trembled as she reached out and took it out of the small safe. It was in two small bundles. She counted it very quickly. She'd been wrong--he'd taken over four hundred dollars from her over the entire time they were together.

"Is that--"

Piper screamed. She jumped up and faced Jacob and Jack and screamed again. She hugged them both.


When he woke, it hurt to move. He could barely breathe. She struggled to his knees to find that his entire camp was destroyed. Everything was gone…Everything but his shotgun. Hmm.

His hand searched his belt. His two guns were still there, as well.

God damn bandits.

He took in a shaky breath. He tried to stand, but couldn't. He looked up to see his horse--the same scared filly who ran away, who had been around gunshots her entire life--standing three yards away from him…munching on grass.

He had a split second thought to shoot her down. That damn horse. He sighed and decided not to. He needed a way out of here…

He whistled for his horse, and she looked up at him. She stood still for a few seconds, staring at him. He was half-laying on the ground, mostly on his side, one arm under him, the other reaching out at her. She walked up to him and he snatched her reigns. He'd never been more glad he'd left her saddled in his life.

He somehow managed to push and pull himself onto the horse. He looked around. There was nothing left. He got her to walk him over to the tree his shotgun was propped up against, and leaned down to grab it, barely able to. He slipped it into the holster.

He sat up as straight as he could. It wasn't that straight. He looked down for the first time, afraid of what he would find.

The red blood-soaked shirt and coat confirmed his fears. The fire in his side and chest didn't help, either. With one more look at the empty camp, he gave the mare's reigns a snap. She galloped off.

He'd never been on a more painful horse ride.


Piper walked into the saloon and sat at a table instead of a bar. She didn't get a drink. She sighed and put her head in her hands. The money was returned to the Armstrongs, and she'd threatened Dan's life in case she ever saw him back in town. The same treatment went for his brother. They'd both packed up and left, together.

For the first time in a while, Piper smiled.

A man stumbled into the saloon. He was limping terribly. Blood stained his shirt and coat. He could barely stand.

Piper's head whipped around to see. She caught a glimpse of a white mare behind the doors he'd just come through. The horse's coat was stained with blood, probably from when he'd gotten off.

She studied his features. His face. She examined his entire body from head to toe with her eyes from across the room. Her first thought of him was, Wow.

Despite the blood trickling down from his shirt and coat, she had to take in a quiet breath. Her eyes flew past his face, but returned to stare at it.

His eyes were captivating.

Even though she was across the room and three men were getting up to help him, she could still see a shine in those eyes. His features were tired and slightly worn, but it didn't matter. She had been taken so much by surprise at seeing him that when he fell to the floor that she had moved in her seat, almost getting up to help.

She stopped herself just in time and sat down.


Ooh...I wonder who stumbled into the saloon?

My freaking sideways carrots are gone! What the hell??? Oh...forget it, I'm not in the mood.

Mom's yellin' at me to get offline, soI g2g! Don't forget to review, people! It only takes like twelve seconds to make me happy!