"What do you mean she isn't here?" Kronos demanded to know.

"It's just like I told you," Caspian replied, "I've searched the entire house and the grounds, and she's gone."

"You're lying."

"Why would I?" Caspian asked.

"Well I can think of a few reasons," Methos chimed in.

"Shut up," Caspian told him, "I keep telling you, she's not here."

Kronos said nothing and only passed him and stormed out of the room, with Methos following behind him.

"Wait for me, I'll go with you," he told Kronos.

Kronos reached the bottom of the stairwell, opened the front door, went out, and Methos heard his brother collide with somebody else and heard them both yell as they hit the ground. Methos stepped out onto the front porch and tried as hard as he ever had not to laugh.

Kronos lay on his back with his eyes all but rolled back in his head; slowly he sat up and had only to say, "Who hit me?"

It was then that he saw who he had collided with. Louise lay just three feet away from him, also knocked on her back with her feet in the air, and she wasn't making to get up anytime soon either.

"Louise," Kronos moved over beside her and helped her up, "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she replied her eyes stuck halfway near the back of her head, "But what happened?"

"Louise, where have you been?"

"Out here in the yard, why? Is something wrong?"

"Are you sure of that?"

She closed her eyes and nodded, "I couldn't get any of the windows open so I came out for some air, right after you went back to sleep."

"Are you sure you've been here the whole time?" Kronos asked.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm sure."

"Just checking," Kronos said, "Are you feeling alright?"

She nodded, "I'm fine, Kronos, is something wrong?"

He smiled and shook his head. "No, everything's fine."

Kronos was relieved to see that his wife was okay, Methos on the other hand, was starting to wonder.

Late in the morning, Silas couldn't find Methos anywhere in the house so he went out the front door and decided to search the grounds. He got outside and saw Methos over by Kronos' car, knelt down by it, looking at something. Silas heard the low rumble of thunder in the sky and he knew that a storm was on its way, this he'd known since he saw the red dawn earlier that day, but he could almost feel it drawing closer now.

"Methos!" he called as he walked up to his brother, "What're you doing?"

Methos got up, turned to him and answered, "Kronos took Louise down the back road to the lake, while they're gone I wanted a chance to look at something."

"What is it?"

"This morning Caspian said Louise was gone, Louise said she had been here the whole time, I thought I might look and see if she were telling the truth or not."

"How would you know?" Silas asked.

"Well Kronos parked the car in the yard, no ground up here has been paved and probably won't be for 100 years. When he drove it through yesterday afternoon the tires made tracks in the dirt and the grass. So I came out to see if there was still only one set of tracks."

"And was there?" Silas wanted to know.

"No, there were three."

"Three?"

"One on top of another over another, I think Louise backed the car out of here and left early this morning after Caspian said she knocked him out, and just got back when Kronos came out to look for her. Although where she went, and why she would do it without telling Kronos, that's what I don't know, yet. Silas, did you see Louise this morning?"

He shook his head. "I went over to the stable and tended to the horses, I didn't see anything or anybody."

"Well," Methos said, "It would seem Kronos got himself a smart one alright…maybe a little too smart."

Silas knew Methos better than the others and he could see the gears starting to turn in his brother's mind. "What're you going to do?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," Methos replied, "But I'll think of something."

A loud rumble erupted in the sky and Methos felt the ground shake from beneath him. "Come on," he said to Silas, "We better get them before the storm hits."

That afternoon the rain poured down and every few minutes there would be a loud rumble of thunder followed by a near deafening clap of it. Kronos watched it all from the window in their bedroom, all the while not really seeing the rain, rather he was trying to look past it. His mind was in nowhere particular, and yet it was trying to return to an exact memory. Never in his whole life did he ever enjoy having to pick between his wife or his family in who he believed. He recalled earlier that day, Caspian accusing Louise of attacking him, Kronos hadn't believed him at all. Caspian sounded damn sure of himself but he always had, even when he lied through his teeth.

In that instant, his memory went back thousands of years to another time when Caspian seemed certain of himself. Kronos had awoken one morning to find Louise gone; he searched his brothers' tents, he rounded up all the slaves and she was nowhere to be found. He spent half a day looking for her and he finally found her, unconscious, her body discarded near the river, her dress torn, her face bruised under one eye, and marks of curled hands around her throat. Adding insult to injury, because it had taken him so long to find her, now her flesh had been burnt bright red from the sun and the wind as well. When he picked her up he was very careful not to hurt her anymore than she already had been. He carried her back to the camp and laid her out in his tent, removed her dress and covered her up in his bed.

Methos had seen him return and came to see what had happened, and when he saw what had been done to Louise, he couldn't believe it.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kronos replied, "Though I have a good idea."

Caspian was the only one in the whole camp who ever gave her any trouble that she didn't provoke; and considering that Kronos had claimed her for himself, he knew that Caspian was also the only one in the whole camp who would dare defy his brother's direct order.

Louise moved, barely, to turn over. The low moans that she was subconsciously releasing for them to hear only told them further of how much pain she was in. Kronos' hands started clenching into fists and unclenching; he was starting to see red and he was ready to kill his brother. Methos moved away from him and set to work dipping an old rag in the water basin and carefully running it over the reddened skin on Louise's face, even her eyelids had been burnt.

Kronos couldn't even remember turning around and leaving, all he did remember was finding Caspian and beating the hell out of him until after the sun went down that night. He really had had no intention of it carrying for as long as it did, and it wouldn't have, if Caspian would have just explained why he did it. But the little bastard was so full of himself that he endured being beaten half to death for six hours all the while claiming that he didn't know what Kronos was talking about and that he didn't go anywhere near the witch.

From that day to this Caspian had never admitted to what he'd done even though Kronos knew it was him. And now it seemed that Caspian was starting to pick up some of his old habits again.

"Hey."

His mind returned to the present when Louise sat down on the bed beside him and looked in his eyes and asked him, "What're you so hot and bothered thinking about?"

One corner of his mouth turned up and he replied, "Nothing."

"Be nice if I could believe that," she said, "You've been distant all morning. Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, "No, everything's fine."

Her eyes grew a bit colder, started a bit more to resemble glass. "Yeah, everything's fine, except for the fact that you never wanted your brothers to meet me."

"This again," Kronos quietly groaned.

"Let's see if I got this straight," Louise said, "You met up with Methos again, how long ago was it, 50 years ago?"

Kronos turned away and looked over to the window again as he answered, "About that, yes."

"And it wasn't until 25 years ago that you told him that you had a wife, isn't that correct?" Louise asked.

Kronos said nothing and only nodded his head, waiting for her to start again.

"Perhaps you'd like to explain why that is," Louise said as she stood up, with one foot resting on the trunk as she awaited his response.

"I told you already."

"I know you did. I also know that you never seem to tire of hearing yourself talk, and never in all the years that I've known you have you ever been shy about repeating yourself. So start talking."

Oh the joy of being married to an opinionated woman. Well, Kronos thought, he supposed he asked for this staying married to her for all these years.

"You know the last time Methos and I saw each other, it didn't end on pleasant terms. When we met up again, he thought that I was just the same as I was when he threw me down in that pit. It took a long time to convince him that I had changed, genuinely changed…if he couldn't believe it, I didn't see much point in dragging you into it too."

"And after he realized it?" Louise asked.

Kronos didn't answer.

"25 years he knew about me and you didn't want us meeting, when were you going to bring us up here to get acquainted, 50 years, 100 years, never? Why? For what reason? Are you embarrassed? And of whom? Me? Them? There must have been some reason why you never brought me up here to meet them, what is it?"

He turned away again and he didn't answer her. She got on her knees and scooted over behind him and in a gentler voice said, "What is it, Kronos?"

Without turning around to face her, he raised his hand and reaching behind him, caressed her cheek as he replied, "That's one thing I can't answer."

Louise said nothing and only let out a frustrated sigh as she wrapped her arms around Kronos and folded her hands on his chest and kissed him. Little good it did to thaw out how frigid he was feeling at that exact moment. He didn't enjoy keeping things from Louise but he knew there were some things she was better off not knowing, and he prayed she never found out.

"So now you believe me?" Caspian asked Methos after Methos told him what he'd found out.

"I'm not saying that," Methos replied.

"Then you still don't believe me."

"I'm not saying that either."

"Well what are you saying then?" Caspian asked.

"I don't know," Methos admitted, "But I'm sorry that I automatically assumed you were lying. Kronos' wife is up to something but I just don't know what it is."

"And lot of good it'll do us trying to find out without upsetting Kronos in the process considering that he's hardly left her alone for a minute since they got here," Caspian realized.

Methos nodded in agreement.

"So what do we know so far?"

"All that we can really say we know at this time," Methos said, "Is that early this morning right after she must've conked you out, she managed to slip out of the house without anybody finding out she was gone, got in the car, backed it out the way Kronos came in, and stayed gone for over two hours, where, we don't know, nor do we know why."

"And it's only a half hour drive to get back into civilization," Caspian added, "So, you take an hour to go both ways, that still leaves over an hour to be gone, where could she have gone?"

"Well there was nothing in the car after she got back so I'm guessing she didn't stop anywhere to pick up anything, so she might've gone to see somebody," Methos thought.

The two were left scratching their heads on that one and coming up blank.

"Caspian?" Methos finally asked.

"What?"

"How old did Kronos say Louise is?"

He shook his head, "I don't know."

"Well, we've known for 25 years that she existed…but they've been married for over 100 years."

Caspian slowly nodded, not quite sure where this was going.

"In all the times he's been coming up here since we all met again, he's never stayed for too long, has he?"

Caspian shook his head in response, still not quite sure what Methos was getting at.

"A day, two days, maybe a week in a blue moon, but he never stayed for very long…and now that they've been here he's hardly let her out of his sight…why," he asked, "Would you need to keep an eye on your wife that much when she's that old? Clearly she knows how to take care of herself, so why is Kronos being so cautious with her?"

"I don't know," Caspian answered, "But what's that got to do with this?"

"Maybe nothing, I'm just thinking…and I'm wondering if there's a connection to him watching her like a hawk as he's been doing this whole visit so far and I'm guessing through most of their marriage, and her slipping out conveniently when nobody could catch her, and getting back just as he was heading out to look for her."

"I just don't see why I can't go with you," Louise said. She had fallen asleep that afternoon and woken up to find Kronos getting ready to leave.

"I told you already," he said, "You're not allowed to come."

"Not allowed?" she repeated, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Kronos just smiled at her and said, "Now you be a good girl while I'm gone and don't burn down the house."

"I promise nothing," she defiantly replied.

He saw the sourpuss look on her face and he just had to laugh.

"Come on now," he said, "Give me a kiss."

She turned away from him. He laughed and grabbed her from behind and pushed her down on the bed and kissed her.

"I hate you," she said as he headed toward the door.

He ignored her last comment and closed the door behind him and made his way to the stairwell. Looking over the banister down below he saw Methos coming into the lower hall.

"Methos," he said as he came down the stairs, "I'm heading out for a while, and I'm going alone, will you keep an eye on Louise while I'm gone?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, she's just mad that she can't come with me."

"Why can't she?"

Kronos glanced up the stairs to see if Louise might be there listening. He didn't see her but he wasn't going to take a chance on her eavesdropping, he pulled Methos to him and said in it in his ear.

"Oh," Methos nodded, "I see. Well, I'll certainly do what I can, but I'm afraid I've been married too many times to know that when a woman sets her mind on something, she'll find a way of doing it, come hell or high water."

"I've been married to Louise long enough to know that's true, just keep an eye on her until I get back."

Methos didn't know what for, but he said he would. Once Kronos was gone, Methos heard Louise call from the top of the stairs. "Is he gone yet?"

"Yes, he's gone."

He saw Louise descend from the top of the stairs, wrapped up once again in her long black fur coat, and as she neared the bottom of the stairs she said, "Don't you ever turn on the heat in this house? Last night it was colder than a witch's tit, and I know this because for the last 100 years I've have the misfortune of sleeping with your brother's poking into my back."

Methos felt some color rising to his cheeks as he became too shocked by what she'd said to laugh. "I, I'm sorry, Louise," he finally got out, "I didn't realize it was cold last night."

"No you wouldn't, but what can one expect from a man who wears six layers of clothes at the same time?"

Methos didn't know how to respond to that one.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I'm just not feeling in much of a sociable mood today…I'm sure you can understand that."

Methos nodded. "We all have our bad days."

"Too bloody bad some people can't figure that out. Between you and me, if there's one thing I can't stand it's people who figure you should always be pleasant. Can't a person have a day where they're just in a rotten mood to everybody once in a while? They like to go on about we should be happy about what we have. Oh yeah, really happy…I had a boyfriend who shot me three times during a game of Russian roulette, all three times in the girdle, I was chased out of my home 17 times by detectives or other lawmen who I always wound up having to kill, I burnt to death in a car crash in the 1920s when I outran the police following a bank robbery and wound up going off a cliff…I was caught in a bomb explosion, I went diving out the window of the Hindenburg 200 feet above the ground with my coat on fire…oh yeah, I got a lot to be happy about."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Louise," Methos said.

"I'm even sorrier that it all happened," she replied, "But, life goes on and in the long run it hasn't been all bad but that doesn't mean I'm not entitled to be a complete bitch now and again if I feel like it. I'm old enough, I think I've earned it. I'm sure you can appreciate that."

Methos nodded. "I've had a few of those days myself. But things are going alright now for you, aren't they?"

"They're going better, I'll give you that, I wouldn't say alright though," Louise told him, "It helps though that now, I have Kronos to drag through the suffering with."

"Well," Methos commented, "He sure seems to love you."

She nodded and laughed bitterly, "Yep, that's always been what I did best…I always knew how to make Kronos love me."

Methos looked at her and saw her in a different light at that second. He would swear that he had heard her say that, or something to that effect, in that same voice, somewhere before. He looked at her and tried to figure where he might have seen her before, and he could swear he almost had it, but he just couldn't think of when or where it had happened.