Selena Coombs sauntered out of the Principles office and slammed the door shut as she left, when Caleb had not returned to class after being summoned she had become worried; however, it was evident that the Principle believed it was appropriate to allow Lucas Buck to waltz in and take a child whenever he saw fit, so apparently she should not be worried.

Selena felt the anger rise within her, she took her job very seriously and did not appreciate the Principle or Lucas thinking they could make a decision about a member of her class without consulting her first, especially when that child was Caleb Temple. It was hard enough to deal with the boy himself these days due to his fathers influence and his lack of concentration; however, it would be even harder to deal with Gail when she found he had been able to leave the school again.

Gail had previously warned that she would take a personal interest in the school if Caleb managed to continue skipping class, she had not made an outright threat; however, she had made it clear that she would start to become concerned with how secure the school actually was and whether other parents should be trusting the staff to look after their children. If Gail chose to write an article on how easy it was for one child to be taken offsite without their parental guardians authority, it would cause unrest against all the parents who trusted the school with their children.

If Gail chose to report on anything it would come back on Selena, as she was Caleb's Teacher. She had no doubt that the Principle would sell her out to cover his own hide and she did not need this stress right now, especially after the fight she had with Billy this morning. Selena took a deep breath before entering her classroom and put on her best smile for the children, it would do no good to disrupt the rest of her class; therefore, she would continue the day like nothing had happened and deal with the problem later.

Billy sat behind the desk in his office. leaning back in his chair with his eyes clothes. This headache of his had not subsided, if anything it appeared to be getting worse and he cursed himself for so willingly drinking an excessive amount on a week night.

'It's all self inflicted Doc...be a man and stop feeling sorry for yourself, just own it' Lucas said impatiently as he walked into the office with Caleb.

Billy let out a loud sigh and sat upright in his chair. Lucas Buck was the last person he wanted to see today and he certainly was not in the mood to deal with him in a child friendly manner due to his present company. 'You ever heard of knocking Buck? I thought you would show some common courtesy with that false southern gentleman facade you like to display'

Lucas smiled and nodded, Billy looked at deaths door today; however, it appeared he was still up for a fight. 'Well Billy-boy my gentleman nature is saved for the woman of this town, not the likes of you and they do appreciate it...just ask Selena, I'm sure she'll enjoy a little stroll down memory lane'

Billy was using all his strength to hold back his anger at the comment, he would not allow Lucas to get under his skin. 'Well while you two are taking a stroll down memory lane, maybe I'll go get Gail and we can pick up were we left off at the riverbank last night' he said standing up and stretching.

Lucas was not used to not knowing what people were getting up to in his town and his lack of sight with Gail was a sore subject. He had seen her with Billy at the pool hall and assumed the Doc had just wandered in after his shift here. He had been completely unaware that they had been together by the river, as she had failed to share her previous activities with him last night and he felt his anger begin to rise.

Caleb watched his father carefully and instantly spotted the change in his demeanor. He was not a stupid boy and knew both of these men were fond of his cousin, he was also aware that Lucas had been fond of Selena and Billy was now with her. He liked his cousin and his Teacher, he also found both of them to be pretty too; however, they were just girls at the end of the day and he did not understand why men's reactions could be dictated by them.

Caleb had come with his father on some unknown task and this was getting them nowhere. 'I think Gail would rather pick up with M who was also at river with her' he interrupted, trying to subtly reassure Lucas that his cousin had company other than Doctor Peele.

'I don't remember that part Champ, I just remember dancing very closely with your cousin'

'Well, I'm sure Gail just remembers stayin' in my fathers house last night' Caleb smiled, knowing there was nothing more Doctor Peele could retaliate with.

Lucas glanced at Caleb and winked, he appreciated his sons intervention and it had certainly given them the higher ground here. 'Anyway...' he interjected smiling, '...we just came here to check on how you're doin' Doc, there have been some disapproving comments from your staff about some new treatments you've been trialing'

'Since when do you care what's going on here Buck?' Billy said walking towards the door, with the intention of directing his visitors out of his office.

Lucas shrugged, 'I had a good relationship with Doctor Monroe before his untimely death, we went way back...It'd be a shame if all his hard work went down the toilet just because some new blood decided to put their stamp on this place'

Billy laughed and shook his head in annoyance. 'Doctor Monroe was incompetent and his activities here were immoral...If you ask me this place was in dire need of new leadership and this new blood ain't going anywhere'

Lucas sighed and signaled for Caleb to follow him out of the office. 'See that son, that's just plain disrespectful of the dead...Let's leave Billy-boy here to his pointless trials, he'll soon learn how it works around here'

Billy disregarded Lucas's smug look on the way out and slammed the door behind them. He had attempted to keep his experimental trials quiet until he could establish whether they were making a difference to his patients; however, now that he had Lucas Bucks eyes on him he would have to step up his game.

Matt Crower stood outside the gates of the Buck Mansion staring at it suspiciously, he had just come from an appointment with Ben and Rita over her pregnancy and Ben had indicated Lucas was busy today; therefore, he had chosen to finish his shift early himself and come here.

After his falling out with Gail a few weeks earlier, he had not known what to do with himself as he had gotten into a normal routine with her and this led to his detestation of Lucas Buck to become more intense. Lucas was the reason everything happened in Trinty and in his eyes it was Lucas that had changed his friend. He still could not fully accept the thought of Gail being pregnant with that mans child previously and this made his hatred of Lucas grow.

He knew he was displaying signs of obsession, for god's sake he was lurking outside the mans house in his spare time; however, he was past caring and he wanted to find out what could turn such a good woman against her morals. Gail was smart and had come to Trinity with the right attitude. She had seen right through Lucas' charm from the beginning and saw the man for what he really was, therefore it was hard to believe she would just disregard her instincts and fall for the man she once despised. It was this that bothered him the most, he was convinced Lucas had done something to remove his friends free will and he needed to know what.

Matt caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to force his vision to focus. There was a woman stood by a tree at the far end of the garden wearing a long cream dress, her head was hanging down and her dark brown hair was draped over her face. He could not be certain but the woman reminded him of Gail and he instinctively entered the garden.

The wind picked up all around him and caused him to let off a shiver, Gail had warned him from entering Lucas' property alone and he had never felt the need to set foot on this questionable land alone; however, he was drawn to the woman and his caring nature would not let him turn a blind eye when the demeanor of the woman indicated she was in distress.

The closer he got to her the more she reminded him of his friend and his heart began to sink, suddenly he heard a low growl coming from his right and he turned cautiously to see the wild dog Gail was so fond of. The dog his friend had playfully named Gideon took a few steps towards him, then turned towards the woman by the tree and his growls became louder. Gideon placed himself between them; however, when the woman's head shook from side to side in a warning manner, the dog backed up and his growls became lower.

Matt had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach and he noticed the woman was wet from head to toe. He began to back up like the dog, sensing it had been a mistake entering this place; however, a sudden flash of light came over his vision and the woman in front of the tree was Gail with blood dripping from the ends of her hair. Matt rushed to her side without thinking and ignored Gideon's barks, he did not understand what had happened to her but he needed to help his friend.

When Matt reached Gail he placed his hands on her bare arms and was taken aback at how cold her wet skin was. He brushed her wet hair out of her face and gently took hold of her chin to raise her face to look at him. The last thing Matt saw before his vision went dark was the malevolent grin and her sharp teeth.

Lucas lay on the grass by the waterfront with Caleb, staring up at the clouds in the sky. Usually he would not waste his time with such a pointless activity; however, the boy seemed content here and Lucas was just happy to be spending some quality time with his son.

After their visit to Juniper House they had completed a short patrol of the town, then stopped off for some lunch. Lucas had decided to bring them to this quiet spot to let their food settle before deciding what to do next; however, they had been here for almost an hour and Caleb appeared to be in no rush to leave. 'You alright son?' he asked, turning his head to regard his boy.

'I reckon I am...' Caleb nodded while continuing to watch the clouds, '...You think Gail will be mad for what I said to Doctor Peele earlier?'

Lucas let out a small laugh and stretched his arms out above his head. 'Nah, you were just stating the facts...I'm glad you decided to step in otherwise I may have said some things I wouldn't be proud of, she certainly would be mad then'

Caleb sighed and continued staring at the clouds, he felt relaxed here with his father and wanted to make the most of it before Gail or Merlyn found out. He knew they would be mad at him skipping school again, especially when they realized he was spending time with Lucas.

'You have to learn to put those two woman out of your mind son, you think they consider you when they go about doing the things they do?' Lucas asked reading his mind.

Caleb propped himself up on his elbows and turned towards his father. 'They're alright, I like my space anyhow and don't care what they do...You on the other hand do care I reckon' he said with a knowing smile.

Lucas smiled and remained in his laying position. 'I only care when it involves me son and when it comes to your cousin, I can't trust what she's doin' behind my back these days'

'I'd take Gail over Merly any day, at least she sticks to her word...Merly's too busy with that stupid boy to care what's goin' on with me these days'

Lucas sat up and turned towards his boy, he knew Merlyn had taken a shine to Earl and he was happy his plan was starting to fall into place; however, he was attempting to keep Caleb out of it all. 'Don't you worry about your sister Caleb, she's a big girl and you don't need to be hangin' out with her anyhow...you've got me now'

Caleb sighed, then stood up and brushed the dirt off his jeans. 'I've got you until you get distracted by Gail...I've seen you pinin' over her'

'Excuse me?...' Lucas asked in shock as he stood up and followed Caleb to the waters edge, '...I'm Lucas Buck son, I don't pine over nobody'

'I've seen you follow her around like sick puppy' Caleb said sarcastically and laughed when he saw the look of warning on Lucas' face. 'I'm only kiddin', you do follow her though'

Lucas sighed and shook his head, if it had been anyone else talking to him in such a manner he would have silenced them in an undignified manner; however, he was proud of his sons boldness. 'That ol' cousin of yours continues to snoop into my business...I gotta follow her to ensure she ain't goin' where she don't belong'

'You can't stop her from doin' that no matter how hard you try' Caleb said picking up a stone and throwing it into the water.

Lucas regarded Caleb carefully, the boy appeared to have an understanding of his cousin that he had not realized. 'And why's that?' he asked him curiously.

Caleb sighed and turned towards Lucas. 'Cause she won't stop 'til she's found what she's lookin' for...it's just her way'

Lucas nodded and placed a hand on Caleb's shoulder. 'So what would you do son?'

Caleb smiled mischievously. 'I guess I'd give her somethin' to throw her off track...somethin' she thinks she wants'

Lucas considered this for a moment, then wrapped his arm around the boys shoulders. 'Well that's certainly somethin' for me to ponder over...In the meantime, lets go have some fun' he said leading Caleb back towards his car.

Ben sat with Billy outside Jimmy's bar, it was late afternoon; however, they had both managed to finish their shifts early and decided a beer was in order after the day they had both had. Ben was still trying to come to terms with Rita's pregnancy and had heard about her check up with Matt Crower, it appeared the Doctor had been acting strange and did not appear concerned with Rita at all.

'So let me get this straight...Matt gave Rita a quick once over then turned his focus to you?' Billy asked taking a large sip of his beer.

'I swear it was like I was gettin' the third degree man! Where's Lucas? What's he been up to? Have you seen him with Gail? What do they do together?...Next time she can go to her own damn check up on her own' Ben sighed and picked up his beer.

'I hope you thought better than to answer his questions' Gail said approaching the pair with a drink.

'Two days in a row huh? Things must be getting to you' Billy said with a wink and gave up his chair with a smile.

'Of course I didn't say anythin', Lucas would skin my hide if he thought I was gossipin' about him. I just said Lucas was out for the day, it's the truth so I'm not takin' sides' Ben said taking another large drink of his beer.

Gail pulled the chair closer to him to allow room for Billy with another chair around the small table. 'Curious on both counts...' she pondered for a moment, then turned her attention back to Ben. '...How's Rita doing?'

Ben shrugged and just stared at his drink.

'Our women are a sore subject at the moment friend, which you'd know if you'd been around lately' Billy interjected to take the spotlight off Ben.

Gail laughed and shook her head, she had been busy with other things she barely had time for her friends these days. 'Oh Doctor, if I didn't know better I'd think it was your time of the month' she said sarcastically and took a sip of her vodka and lemonade.

Ben laughed, he had still been privy to his morning coffee with Gail; however, Billy had not seen her so much and had starting to whine like a hormonal woman. 'See! I'm not the only one who's noticed your mood swings' Ben teased.

'Ha ha...' Billy said sarcastically and finished off his beer, '...I'd be in a much better mood if I wasn't getting it from all angles'

'Getting what from all angles?' Gail asked curiously.

'Well if it's not my staff chuntering behind my back, it's your boyfriend butting into my treatments...usually I don't mind a bit of banter with our temperamental Sheriff but not when I've gotta watch my mouth around a young boy' he said without thinking.

'What young boy?' Gail snapped, but before Billy had a chance to answer Selena approached the table.

'Well had you waited for me out front as planned, I would've been able to inform you then that your cousin had been taken out of class today' Selena said and shot Billy a disapproving glance.

'What! Why?' Gail asked feeling the rage within her begin to rise for the second time today.

Selena shrugged and confidently took the drink from Gail's hand, then had a sip. 'That's a question for the defender of our town' she said cattily and waited for a reaction from Gail.

Gail inhaled deeply and shook her head, she would deal with Lucas and Caleb in good time; however, something had been niggling at her since she approached the table. 'What were you saying about Matt?' she asked, turning her attention back towards Ben.

'Huh?...' Ben asked startled from his thoughts, '...Oh nothin' really, just that he seems a bit interested in Lucas'

'Interested in what way?' Gail asked, she could not get Matt out of her mind earlier and hearing about him now caused her some concern.

'Well I don't know Gail, I was too busy tryin' to focus on my pregnant girlfriend. He just appeared really interested is all'

Gail rolled her eyes and looked towards Selena, who was clearly waiting for a bad reaction in relation to Caleb being taken out of school. Gail could not deal with this right now and got up from the table, she quickly said her goodbyes to her friends and focused her attention on finding Matt.

Lucas walked up the steps to his front door with Caleb following closely behind, the boy had decided he wanted to spend the night at his place and he was not going to deny his boys request.

'Are you sure Gail won't mind me stayin' here? She doesn't normally like me being here alone' Caleb asked cautiously.

'You're not alone son, you're in the company of the man with the star' Lucas smiled, then opened the door and signaled his boy to enter.

Caleb could not help rolling his eyes at the comment but he trusted Lucas and did not think he would get him into trouble, so he obeyed and walked through the threshold. He was always taken aback by the vastness of this place and would give anything to be able to explore it unattended, as like his cousin his curiosity spiked whenever he was here; however, something within him warned him against straying from the usual rooms he was allowed in and he was not ready to disregard his caution just yet.

'You look deep in thought son' Lucas said as he hung up his jacket.

Caleb peered at Lucas guiltily and turned away quickly in an attempt to hide his thoughts. He did not know what he was afraid of Lucas finding out; however, he had noticed Gail still kept her thoughts hidden around Lucas, even though she was clearly his girlfriend. Although he trusted the man Gail's obvious caution and Merlyns previous warnings were still in his mind, so it would be of no harm to remain a little cautious himself. 'I'm just admirin' the place...I'm starvin', have you got any food?'

Lucas smiled and shook his head, he could sense Caleb was hiding something; however, he did not want to push his son too soon and he was confident he would open up eventually. 'You think I cook son? Nah, that's not my style...If you can hold out for a little while I'll sort us out, I just need to do something first. Is that alright?'

Caleb nodded and headed towards Lucas's study to give him the space he needed to do what he wanted to do, there were plenty of books that Caleb was curious about so he was happy to be left for a little while and could keep himself entertained.

Lucas watched as Caleb obediently gave him some space and then let out a long sigh when the boy was out of earshot. He had sensed someone else on his property as soon as he entered his home; however, he did not want to alarm the child. Lucas knew exactly who was here and knew they were of no threat, so he casually walked to his telephone and picked it up. He had more pressing things to do before dealing with their intruder.

Gail had returned home to a moody looking Merlyn, who informed her there was an answering machine message awaiting her attention. She had not been in the best mood to deal with anything right now, after Selena had filled her in about what happened at the school; however, when she had seen the look of Merlyn's face, she let out a loud sigh and knew she was not done for the night like she initially hoped.

The message had been from Lucas informing her that Caleb would be staying with him tonight and that she did not have to worry as the boy would be safe. Gail let out a laugh, then kicked the small wicker set of draws that her answering machine was placed on in frustration.

Merlyn had jumped at the sudden lack of control she had displayed; however, she looked equally as angry. She had asked if Gail was going to allow this display of dominance from Lucas, to which Gail just laughed then picked up her car keys and slammed the door behind her. She was now on her way to the Buck Mansion with the bags of shopping she had previously picked up on her back seat.

Gail pulled into the driveway not caring who saw her car or what gossip it would create, she was livid and all her anger was directed at Lucas Buck. When she opened the gate, she caught a sense of something watching her which caused her initial anger to dissipate and it was replaced with curiosity. This was not the familiar feeling that she usually got here, she sensed it was something different and could not resist walking to the side of the house. She spotted Gideon at the far end of the garden and approached him, the dog let out a low whine and rushed to the back of the house prompting Gail to follow him.

When she reached the familiar fountain at the back of the house she ran her fingers over it subconsciously and slowed her pace. She surveyed her surroundings before moving deeper into the garden, aware that she needed to be cautious here. She felt herself being summoned towards the wooded area at the back and wanted to allow herself to follow that direction; however, her dark passenger Rosemary, which she had now chosen to think of her as, was calling for caution and Gail had come to heed the warnings from Rosemary as she herself still did not fully understand what was happening to her.

She continued forward until she reached the grave of R.B, she smiled to herself smugly as she had determined the grave was empty before Lucas had and she knew that had infuriated him. It appeared the all mighty Lucas Buck did not know everything about his property and she felt a kind of self-satisfaction being able to discover things he never thought anyone could.

The temperature in the garden suddenly dropped and Gail felt a strong gust of wind push her towards the woods at the back of the property, she heard Gideon's barks from a distance and turned around to see the mysterious dark haired woman walking towards her quickly. Gail called for Rosemary to take control as she sometimes did; however, her dark presence was nowhere to be found. Suddenly Gail felt a strong hand on her shoulder and she turned around to see the gaunt face of the man she had previously seen in the picture she had retrieved from Abe's house. The hand moved down to her arm and gripped it tight, then began pulling her towards the trees.

'Need some assistance Miss Emory?' came the calm, smug voice of Lucas from behind her.

Gail turned towards him in shock, then felt the grip on her arm disappear and reached for the gravestone to steady herself. 'What the hell?!' she exclaimed and Lucas just let out a small laugh.

Lucas had sensed Gail as soon as she pulled up in his driveway and had followed her around the back of his property. He had witnessed his father lurking in the trees before Gail had even reached the empty grave and had nearly intervened, then realized the loathsome man had triggered a new player to show themselves. His property was full of character, he had grown up with the mysterious presences appearing all through his life; however, he had not come across this one before and the woman had disappeared when he had made himself known.

He approached Gail and placed a reassuring hand on her arm. 'You will venture into places you've been warned to stay out of Darlin', this is on you' he said and gently pulled her back towards the front of the house.

Gail did not know where to even begin processing what had just happened and she was not sure how much Lucas had actually witnessed; therefore, she chose to stay quiet until she had regained her composure. Lucas had escorted her to his front door and she entered obediently, then headed to the voices in the study. When she entered the room, she saw Matt sat cross legged in front of the fire and glanced at Caleb confused.

Caleb shrugged then quietly went to his cousins side. 'Don't be mad at me, I...'

'What's he doing here Caleb?' Gail interrupted, she had not seen Matt for several weeks since their argument and she had not been able to get him out of her mind after what Ben had said earlier.

Caleb glanced towards Matt and leaned closer to Gail. 'I dunno...' he whispered, '...Lucas found him just stood by a tree in the garden, he's not said anythin' since Lucas brought him in here'

Gail signaled for Caleb to leave the room then approached Matt cautiously and sat down beside him on the floor. When he did not move she placed a hand on his and was taken aback by how cold his skin was. 'Matt are you OK? What were you doing in the garden?'

'You need to go back to the riverbank' Matt said, staring into the fire curiously.

'What did you say?' she asked, sensing her friend was not his usual self.

'She want's you to...' Matt started then lost his train of thought as he suddenly felt the flames of the fire were surrounding him.

'Matt?' Gail asked, squeezing his hand.

'Has the Doc had another episode?...' Lucas asked smugly as he entered the room with a bag of shopping, '...Maybe Billy-boy should try some of his experimental treatment on him'

Gail glanced at Matt who seemed hypnotized by the fire and stood up. 'What did you do to him?'

Lucas smiled devilishly, 'I'm not convinced it was me Darlin'...have you studied yourself recently?'

'What do you mean?'

Caleb entered the study and noticed Lucas was close to Gail. 'You're a mind reader cous'' Caleb interrupted them and give her a playful nudge with his shoulder.

Gail stared at Lucas for a moment longer, then turned her attention to Caleb. 'Why's that?' she sighed, trying not to snap at him in frustration with the whole situation.

'Cause you knew we were starvin' and you brought us food'

Gail looked at Lucas who just shrugged and shook her head, of course he would have known she'd storm out of her house without getting her shopping out of the car. 'What can I say, I appear to be clairvoyant' she said sarcastically then turned towards Matt who had now stood up and was holding his head as though he was in pain.

'Don't worry about him Miss Emory...' Lucas said putting his arms around Matt's shoulder and leading him out of the room, '...Floyd is already outside in his car ready to ensure the good Doc gets back to the Boarding house safely'

Gail forced a reassuring smile for Matt when he turned towards her as he was leaving, then she put her arm around her cousin. 'This needs to stop' she said sternly.

Caleb watched Matt leave and looked up at Gail. 'I like it here and you said I could stay here when I wanted' he shrugged.

Gail let out a long sigh and shook her head. 'It looks like I'm having to stay here too then doesn't it?' she said disapprovingly and disappeared into the kitchen.

Lucas returned and winked at his boy. 'I told you I'd find a way to get us some grub'

Caleb smiled and shook his head, he hoped Gail would not be too mad at being tricked into coming here.

-To be continued-