Happy Saturday everyone!

I hadn't planned on posting another chapter so soon but it was ready and I'm in a good mood since I found out that I am not being made redundant!

So, I hope you enjoy chapter 2 and your weekend!

Chapter 2

"Good afternoon Pete." Isabella nodded to the man as she walked past his counter. His chin was resting on his fist as he cooled himself with a hand fan. It was another blistering hot day, and Isabella found her room to be too uncomfortable in this heat.

"Hello Miss Isabella, I just wondered if I might have a word? Did you want to extend your stay again?" Isabella sighed as she faced the older man. It had been over a week since she had arrived in Placerville, she was no closer to finding her brother and with her only photograph now smoky ash, she was uncertain as to what her next move would or should be.

"Erm," Isabella chewed her lip as she contemplated her options. She still had no future destinations in mind, there was no point in rushing to another town until she had a plan in place she reasoned. "Yes please, Pete. At least a few more days, would you like me to pay you now?" Isabella stepped up to the counter but Pete waved her off.

"I know you're good for the money, pay me on your way back in."

"Thank you. Have a good afternoon Pete."

"You too, Miss Isabella."

"Hey Charles," Isabella greeted the saloon owner.

"Well, hi there, Miss Isabella. Fine day out there, you sure you wanna' be couped up in here with lil' old me?"

"I told you Charles, you can call me Bella, and of course." Isabella claimed the rag on the bar and begun to polish the glasses gathered there. Two days after the incident in which Watson had been kicked out of the saloon, Charles had knocked on Isabella's door over in the hotel, to offer his apologies. He had also asked if there was anything he could do to help her situation, and Isabella had asked for a job. She had enough money to see her through another couple of months still, but with her future unknown she figured that whilst the opportunity was there, she may as well earn a few extra dollars.

"Alright kid. When you're done there, could ya' clear in those tables?" Isabella nodded as she continued on with her first task.

They worked together through the afternoon and long into the evening, the patrons keeping them fairly busy. Isabella watched people come and go with a vigilant eye, she did have an ulterior motive for requesting to work here; it allowed her to listen in on conversations. She held on to the hope that maybe someone would speak her brother's name. Every now and then, when she felt brave enough, she would approach a table and ask if they knew of her brother but so far no one's eyes had sparked with recognition at the sound of his name.

"So, have you figured out what yer' gonna do yet?" Charles questioned her as he circled back around to his favourite spot from which he could observe his customers. He relaxed against the bar and scratched at his moustache absentmindedly, his gaze was fixed on something across the room.

"Well, I do have another picture of Jasper, but it's much older. He's only twelve years old in the picture, so I can't imagine it will be all that useful." Isabella shrugged her shoulders. "No one around here seems to have heard of him either, but this country is large, maybe I just need to try another town."

"Can't ya' go back home?" Charles wondered aloud.

"What? Why would I do that? I've come this far already. Besides I sold our house, I don't have anything to return to." Isabella muttered sullenly. Whatever she chose to do next; going home was not an option she would consider.

"It was just a thought," Charles held his hands up in surrender. "So, what town would ya' move on to next?"

"I thought maybe Sacramento. It's not much further west but if Jasper did head south, he must have passed through one of these towns and maybe someone will remember him."

"Sounds like a solid plan to me. You know when yer' gonna be heading out that way?"

"I don't know, I'm not in a rush but it's probably better that I move on sooner rather than later, before people start to forget his name." Isabella supplied, in just under two weeks she had grown comfortable here though, she recognised a few people around the little town and could remember the layout of the main street. Her nerves returned when she thought of leaving it behind to resume her search in a brand-new town where Charles, Pete or even young Seth, who had been very useful although expensive, would not be present.

Isabella was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by the ringing of glass shattering in the corner furthest from where she stood. Her eyebrows rose as she watched a man spring from his seat in apparent anger, his fisted hand swung for the man seated opposite him. The seated man's hat fell to the floor as the force from the punch sent his head careening back, the whole chair toppled and he joined his hat on the ground.

The assailant loomed over the cowering man, screaming at the top of his voice

"You're a bunko artist, that's what you are! You're as crooked as a dog's hind legs and when I'm through with ya..."

Charles unhurriedly proceeded towards the squabbling pair when the furious man withdrew his gun form the holster around his hip and directed it first at Charles and then at the unarmed man on the ground. His body was visibly vibrating with an uncontrollable rage that was pouring from within.

Charles attracted Isabella's attention from his position; he was discreetly inclining his head towards her. At first the young girl was baffled by Charle's silent message, but then she grasped his meaning, she was positioned close to the rear door that Charle's used to bring his deliveries through. Once Charles was sure Isabella understood him, he reached for his own gun that was kept in the holster on his back.

Slowly, as to not draw attention to herself, Isabella backed up until she could wrap her hand around the handle. Her eyes remained on the situation unfolding in front of her, the man had not detected her movement. His voice was gradually rising again as he terrorized the petrified man whilst aiming his gun at Charles who mirrored his position with his own gun.

Her breathe caught in her chest as she turned the handle and thrust the door open before darting out. A deafening crack resounded behind her as a bullet splintered the wood of the doorway she had just escaped through. Her heart beat matched the pace of her footsteps as she sprinted towards the Sheriff's office which was three doors down from the saloon.

The occupants in the office all jumped as the young, frightened girl threw the door open causing it to crash against the wall. There were two men inside, both were dressed in working shirts and vests, but one had the tell-tale badge that informed her that he was the sheriff of this town.

"Calm your horses there-"

"Mister, there's a fight in the saloon, the man, he has a gun!" The sheriff and his deputy rushed towards the door whilst drawing their guns from their hips; Isabella was quick to jump out of their way less she be run down.

"Stay here Miss." The deputy called back over his shoulder as they disappeared from sight.

Isabella stood gazing at the empty doorway as her heart began to slow. What in God's name had that been about? She wondered. Was this how grown men settled disagreements out here? She was not ignorant to the way that men liked to communicate, her father had frequently used his fists to get his point across, but she had never seen men act so savagely.

Isabella thought about following the sheriff over to the saloon but thought better of that idea and retreated a little further in to the office. She had never had to visit the police back home, she found herself curious as she circled around the large room. There was not much to the place, the two officers had been seated at the only desk, two half full glasses of what appeared to be whiskey were left abandoned. The room was split down the middle with two large jail cells on one side, both unoccupied. Although not for long, Isabella imagined. The cots inside the cells looked dreadfully uncomfortable, a rusty bucket was placed in the furthest corner of each jail cell. Eww.

There was a long bench by the entryway to the building where someone could sit and wait. And above the bench was a board with posters pinned to it. The faces of various men and a couple of women stared back at her, all were hand drawn with the word WANTED in bold letters across the top. The detail and realism of the drawings were remarkable. Isabella took a couple of steps closer so that she could inspect the bounty posters.

WILLIE JOHNSON

WANTED FOR UNLAWFUL KILLINGS, KIDNAP, RAPE,

ARSON, TRAIN ROBBERY

APPROACH WITH CAUTION

DEAD OR ALIVE

REWARD $5000

Isabella glanced at the sketched face of Willie; he looked a mean man with a deep brow that sat over dark eyes. His nose was too large for the rest of his features and his facial hair was scruffy and unkempt. The drawing alone managed to give Isabella the chills, this was an evil man.

MAD MADSEN

WANTED FOR MURDER, KIDNAPPING, BANK ROBBERY

STAGE COACH ROBBERY, HORSE THEFT

WANTED ALIVE FOR QUESTIONING

KNOWN CLAYTON GANG MEMBER

REWARD $4000

EMMETT DALTON

WANTED FOR KIDNAPPING, BANK ROBBERY

STAGE COACH ROBBERY, HORSE THEFT, LARCENY

WANTED ALIVE FOR QUESTIONING

KNOWN CLAYTON GANG MEMBER

REWARD $2000

SULLIVAN

WANTED FOR MURDER, KIDNAPPING, BANK ROBBERY, LARCENY

WANTED ALIVE FOR QUESTIONING

KNOWN CLAYTON GANG MEMBER

REWARD $3000

Isabella gasped, her hand clamping over her mouth as her eyes immediately flooded with tears. Eyes, so familiar to her glared back at her. Her hand trembled as she caressed the face on the bounty poster, Sullivan. Jasper Sullivan. Her brother, here was a recent picture of him, hanging in the sheriff's department. In a fit of raw emotion, the girl ripped the poster from the wall, the page creasing under her tight clutch. Her brother did not belong on this WANTED wall; he was a good man!

Isabella collapsed onto the bench. She refused to believe what she was reading, they must have the wrong man, the wrong description... Jasper who would not even raise a hand to their father, who had never been in a physical altercation before the night he had run away. And these people, had the audacity to accuse him of these crimes?!

As she studied her brothers face, she realised why no one had recognised him from the photograph she had been sharing around. With her little finger she gently traced the scar that had been drawn onto his handsome face. What happened to him? Isabella wondered. The man depicted in this picture didn't look like her brother, not the brother she had grown up beside at least.

This man with his angry scar looked deadly. He had aged slightly, he had minute creases at the corner of his eyes, his hair which had always been kept short now reached his shoulders in a chaotic mess.

Suddenly Isabella was startled from her thoughts as she heard shuffling footsteps approaching the front door which was still open from the Sheriff's speedy departure. She fumbled with the poster; she did not want the sheriff questioning why she was sat here weeping over a criminal's poster. She quickly folded it before stuffing it into the front of her blouse, just in time as the deputy dragged a man through the door. The sheriff followed with another man behind him, a trail of blood appearing behind him. It was the men from the saloon.

"Right boys, you can sleep off yer' argument in here tonight. Got a room for each of ya'," The sheriff snickered to himself as he dropped the man he had been dragging into one of the cells, the deputy repeated his actions with the other man in the second cell. The doors clanged loudly as they closed.

"We'll call for the doctor. Get his leg looked at-." The sheriff began.

"Oh Miss, are you okay? Nothing to be afraid of, see they're behind bars." The young deputy noticed Isabella still in the room and rushed over to her. She recoiled as the man reached out for her. Isabella was puzzled by his reaction to her but then realised that the impact from discovering her brothers face on a wanted poster was evidently still apparent on her own. She was relieved that the deputy believed her expression of fear and shock was down to what she had witnessed in the saloon and had not yet noticed that their wanted wall was now missing a poster.

"Mike, why don't you escort the young lady back home on your way to fetch the doctor?" The sheriff seemed disinterested as he finished and refilled his glass of whiskey.

"There's no need, I was working in the saloon. Charles is probably wondering where I am." Isabella stated; she was glad she had enough control of her emotions that her voice did not shake.

"Well, allow me to escort ya' back to the saloon Miss." Mike didn't give her a chance to argue before clasping her hand in his own and wrapping it around his forearm. He led her from the sheriff's office at a leisurely pace in the direction of the saloon completely unaware of Isabella's discomfort.

"I don't think I've seen you around here before. What's yer name?"

"Isabella-" She cut herself off before revealing her family name. It was probably best if people did not link her with her brother right now, especially a deputy.

"Well Isabella, let me welcome you to our humble town, my name is Mike. I'm a deputy here, if you need anything at all, just ask, I'd be more than happy to help."

"Isabella! There you are girl!" They had reached the stairs to the saloon and at the top was Charles who looked worried. "Thanks there Mike, I'll get the girl a drink and make sure she's good. Have a good evening." Charles quickly descended the stairs and retrieved Isabella's free hand. She graciously allowed him to pull her away from the friendly deputy and back into the saloon which seemed deadly quiet after the events that had just unfolded in here.

Abigail and Sharon were working on a couple of men in the corner, she knew it would not be long before they disappeared upstairs for a more intimate atmosphere. There were a couple more patrons scattered around but it was all rather tame now in comparison to how it had been not too long ago. The only sign that there had been an altercation was from the glass that still littered the floor along with a small puddle of blood.

"Here kid, drink this." Charles slid a crystal tumbler towards her, an amber liquid swirled around inside. Whiskey, Isabella peeked hesitantly at Charles. "I added water." He reassured her.

Cautiously she took a sip, the flavour was instant, the liquid burned the back of her throat as she quickly swallowed. The heat trailed all the way down into her tummy where it settled and warmed her from the inside out.

"Yer looking out of sorts there. Bit too much drama for you?" Charles asked.

"Erm, yes, I guess it was." Isabella could feel the edges of the folded-up poster digging into her chest uncomfortably, the weight of knowing what the paper meant was a bigger agony however. "I might actually head back to the hotel, if you don't mind Charles?"

"Of course not, Miss Bella. You want me to walk ya back?" He made a start to join Isabella round the front of the counter but the girl declined his offer.

"Don't worry, it's just across the street." Isabella waved her hand dismissively. Charles relented, watching as the lonely, young shickster hurried from the saloon and out of sight.

As Isabella closed and locked the door to her room, she reached down the front of her top and withdrew the poster. Unfolding it carefully, she placed it onto the bed and now that she was in the privacy of her own room, just stared at it.

If she were to believe the poster, then her brother had changed a lot more than she had ever imagined in the last seven years. The word 'MURDER' screamed at her from the page, she refused to believe that Jasper had committed such an extreme action.

Isabella thought back through all of the letters her brother had sent to her, could this have all happened in the last nine months? His last letter had reassured her that he was doing well, so when had everything gone so wrong? And where did this leave her?

If this were true, then Jasper would be in hiding somewhere, if he didn't want to be found, what chance did she have of finding him? And if she did find him, then what next?

When Isabella had first set out on her mission to find her brother, she never would have believed that this could have been a possible outcome. She had hoped to find him happy and working and abiding by the law! Gosh, what a mess, Isabella thought to herself despairingly.

Known Clayton gang member. She recalled the other posters she had seen displayed in the sheriff's office, there had been a couple of other men associated with the Clayton gang too, both with a long list of crimes underneath their names. Her brother had clearly got tied in with the wrong crowd and they were leading him astray, it was the only reasonable explanation. Maybe he had found himself in trouble with money and he was trapped. He need not worry any longer, Isabella thought to herself. She would find him and with the money she had left they would fix this.

The next morning Isabella sought Seth out for the first time since she had arrived. He was not difficult to find; today he was hovering by a stage coach that had just rolled into town with a group of fresh people for Seth to prey on.

"Hey Seth, I need some information." Isabella shook her small pouch at him which jingled as the money inside moved around. The young boy glanced back at the stage coach before shrugging his shoulders and following Isabella a short way away. "I'll give you two cents for every useful answer you give me, and an extra five for your sworn secrecy." She thought he might argue her price but was amazed when he nodded his head in acceptance.

"What do you know about the Clayton gang and its members?" Seth looked taken aback by her question and for a moment Isabella was concerned that he was going to head back to the stage coach. But her fear was unnecessary as he began to speak.

"Well, they robbed a town north of here a couple of months ago. I hadn't really heard of them before then, but I overheard someone say that they were on the run from the law already because of something that happened a while back." Isabella nodded for the boy to continue. "They robbed a huge bank in Blackfoot and got away with thousands of dollars."

Isabella processed the new information, if they had gotten away with so much money, why was her brother still with them? If she was to believe her theory, that he was only with them because he was in financial trouble, then why hadn't he ditched the gang already?

"How many of them are there Seth? Have you ever seen any of them?"

"The gang is run by Old Man Clayton and Curly Bill, I'd say there's ten of them, maybe more. I've never seen them, apart from the posters anyway." Isabella thought about the poster tucked away in her room. "Imagine having that much money." The boy said wistfully.

Isabella frowned to herself, she wasn't sure where Seth came from, but without fail she had seen him up and down the main street nearly every day trying to earn himself a living by swindling people of their money.

"How far north was this town that they robbed Seth? The one from a couple of months ago?"

"I don't know, maybe two days ride."

Isabella reached into her pouch and withdrew fifty cents; it was way more than she had promised but she didn't care.

"Here, get yourself something good to eat." Seth grinned at her before running off.

With her mind attempting to make sense of the situation, Isabella made her way towards the saloon. Maybe she could wrestle some information out of Charles too.

"Good morning Charles," Charles who had been lost in thought, jumped as Isabella greeted him.

"Hello there, Mis- er Bella. You look better this morning." He noted the colour seemed to have returned to her face. The girl had been awfully pale when she had rolled into town a couple of weeks ago, but the sun had been doing her some good and she had a healthy glow about her.

"I feel better." Isabella wondered how to approach the subject without seeming too obvious. "Those men frightened me last night, do men usually act like that around here?"

"Well, I wouldn't say that it surprised me. We got rough people passing through every now and then." Charles played with the edges of his moustache, completely oblivious to the opening he had just provided Isabella.

"So, you're used to it then. I guess you must get all sorts of gangs passing through." From the corner of her eye, she noticed that he had turned to face her now and seemed to be studying her face. Isabella focused her sight on her hands in apparent interest, she didn't want to get caught in the older man's gaze in case he could see her true intentions through her eyes.

"I don't know about any gangs, but ye' get the odd fool who needs to spend a night in the sheriff's office, why?" Isabella remained silent for a moment, wondering how to swing the conversation in the direction she needed.

"It's nothing really, I just grew up listening to stories about the cowboys and gunslingers in the Wild West and it made me curious, do you ever get any trouble from gangs around here at all?" She almost cringed at how transparent she must seem.

"Nope." Charles answered abruptly as he begun to fix himself a drink. Something in the way he had been so quick to answer Isabella made her feel that she was hitting a nerve.

"Morning Isabella, Charles," Isabella huffed as someone joined them at the bar. She didn't appreciate the intrusion. However, as she turned to greet Mike, the deputy from the previous night, she wondered if she could work this to her advantage.

Without needing to ask, Charles slid a cup of coffee towards the deputy and took payment.

"What were you two nattering on about?" Mike asked curiously as he took a sip from his warm drink. Charles peered at Isabella over his shoulder, she could tell he did not want her to explain but she was not prepared to let this go just yet.

"Criminals, Charles was saying this is a pretty safe town." Isabella began. Charles adjusted his position so that he could face the pair whilst still clearing down the worktop.

"Well, I think we do a pretty good job of protecting this town." Mike smirked and shrugged his shoulders smugly. Isabella fought the urge to roll her eyes, but giggled when she realised Charles had given in to that same urge. Before the conversation could fizzle away Isabella fired a question at Mike.

"Do you come across many outlaws?" She did not fail to notice Charles tense slightly.

"Sure, being a deputy means I have to be prepared to face all sorts o' criminals. I mean, last night we raced towards the danger-"

"But what about real criminals? Gangs?" Isabella interrupted as she was growing impatient.

"Well, we don't have too much trouble with gangs, but we have been warned by the neighbouring towns that there's one hanging around these parts. So, I make sure to always carry my iron, you can never be too safe."

"What gang?" Isabella leant forward in anticipation. Maybe Mike interrupting their conversation had been the best thing after all. She noticed Charles fidgeting from the corner of her eye but paid him no attention as Mike continued.

"The Clayton gang; they robbed a town just north o' here a while back so we are on high alert." So, Seth's information had been correct. "But that doesn't mean you should be worried; we here take the safety of this town seriously. We've been patrolling through the night and just last week we hired a new deputy."

Isabella was absorbed in the information that Mike was feeding her so she did not notice the only other early morning customer place his hat on his head and storm from the bar. Charles however, observed with an uncertain eye as the man mounted his horse and rode away from the main street with haste.

"Now deputy, let's not downplay the danger." Charles began. "Bella here, needs to understand that these gangs are dangerous, they aren't the same as the stories you heard growing up Missy. When these men ride off into the sunset, they usually leave a trail of corpse's behind them in the dust. They steal, they rape, they murder. They are ruthless and mean, I hope you never get the chance to meet one o' them, but if you do, you'd better say your final words to the Lord if ye' believe in him."

Isabella realised that her mouth was hanging open in an unattractive state of shock. Charles could not understand what his words had caused her to feel, because he did not know that he was potentially describing her brother. Could what he was saying be true of Jasper?

"Well if they ever pass through this town, we would be able to keep her safe." Mike argued, Charles just waved his hand at him dismissively. Isabella was no longer paying attention to the men's dispute as Mike insisted he could save this town single-handily if he really had to.

Without realising it, Charles had managed to alter Isabella's perception of her brother. Maybe it had already started to change the previous night, from the moment she had laid her eyes on the wanted post. Could Jasper still be a good person if he was riding with these bandits? Spending an unknown amount of time with those monsters was sure to change someone's core being and morals. Maybe he was a monster now too?

The war of emotions that tore through Isabella was unbearable. She disregarded both Mike who was still rattling on, and Charles who watched her leave the saloon in a daze.

She did not walk far, when Isabella stopped to look at her surroundings, she realised she had reached the end of the street. The long dirt path that lead out of town was barren and dry leaving her alone in the dry heat. Her skirt floated around her ankles in the gentle breeze.

To her left a horse neighed at her as he watched her curiously. Hesitantly she wandered over to the large creature, pausing a few steps away she offered her hand to him. She had never been around horses all that much and was unsure of the proper way to introduce herself to the animal.

The horse gently pushed his nose into her palm causing her to giggle; she had not expected the horse's nose to be so squishy. Slowly, she stretched her fingers out to scratch along the side of the gelding's face, she must have hit a sweet spot as the horse nodded his head up and down enthusiastically, his mane flicking around his eyes.

"What do I do?" Isabella whispered to the animal uselessly.

She had three options; stay here, go home or move on to another town. Going home was not really even an option for her. She had sold the house and said her farewells to her childhood, she felt nothing drawing her back east, she would not be happy there.

The thought of moving to a new town now sounded unreasonable to Isabella. What was the point? She still did not know where her brother was, but she was starting to understand who he had become in the seven years since she had seen him. Did she really want to find him now? She wanted her brother, not a notorious gang member who instilled so much fear into a man like Charles.

But then that left her with only one option. Stay.

Could she stay here indefinitely? The thought had not crossed her mind until now. This town did not feel like home to her, but then nowhere did anymore. At least here she recognised people, she had somewhat of a routine, it was growing familiar. Maybe she would settle for being this close to her brother, for now. In time her curiosity would outweigh her fear and she knew she would continue her search. But for now, she would stay put.

Thanks for reading!

I'm definitely going to blackmail you all by saying; the more reviews I get the quicker the next chapter will appear ;D