Daylight came early, much too early in Jessie's opinion. The slowly rising sun woke her before Brisco even had a chance to. He barely glanced up from his cup of coffee when she sat up and brushed the thick dark mane from her eyes. He handed her a tin cup as she sat down next to him, the thick aroma filling her nostrils, perking her up instantly. They finished their first cup in silence, any words that needed to be said could wait. Anything he wanted to tell her had all been said before, and would fall on deaf ears, anyway.

Brisco had nearly emptied his cup for a second time before Jessie spoke.

"You think it's about time to wake him?" she asked, nodding towards Bowler, who was laying a few feet in front of the two, still in deep sleep, evident from his deep, rhythmic snoring.

"He'll get up on his own." Brisco surmised as he finished the last of the coffee, shaking out the last bit of liquid from the bottom of the cup before pulling himself to his feet. "How's your hand?" He asked, motioning to Jessie's right hand, wrapped tightly in gauze, dirt streaked from the night spent on the ground. Thick splinters from the hotel room door had cut deep into the side of her hand when El Gato had sent a barrage of bullets into her room.

"It 's fine." she mumbled into her cup, her eyes downcast.

"You probably should find somewhere it have it looked at. So it doesn't infect."

"Maybe." Jessie shrugged, falling silent for a few minutes. "So," Jessie began slowly, making the word long and deliberate as she eyed Brisco warily. "We're just going to take our sweet ole time, huh?"

"What?" Brisco asked, raising an eyebrow faintly.

"Well, are we going to go after James and his gang sometime today, by chance?" Jessie inquired before finishing the last of the coffee from her tin cup. Brisco shook his head in disbelief as he began the process of cleaning up their temporary rest stop.

"Wasn't it you who was just complaining about the fact James' hideout is nearly impossible to reach, what with all the 'dangers' waiting for us inside The Hideout?" he shot back, busying himself with rolling his bedding into a tight coil so he could attach it back onto Comet's saddle. "Unless, of course, you really do know a way in that's far from prying eyes."

"If I did, Brisco, I'd tell you." Jessie muttered as she took after her brother's lead. She kicked a small rock angrily from her path before kneeling down next to her own bedroll. The rock bounced along the parched earth before coming to rest in a small patch of yellowed weeds.

"Would you?"

"Yes, I would." Jessie shot back quickly, turning at her waist to glare at Brisco before continuing to gather her belongings. "I hate that bastard more than anything. I want him much more than you do, I can guarantee you that."

"Why?" Brisco asked, his attention focused solely on his younger sister, fascinated by the amount of disdain and anger in her tone. He noticed her body tense, her shoulders square with an invisible target in front of her, her fist clenching the wool blanket tightly. Jessie shook her head, as if to clear the thoughts from her head, and resumed rolling her bedding. "What the hell has got you so hot and bothered about Jeremiah James?" Jessie's shoulders sagged and she turned to him once more. The look in her eyes threw him off balance; he wasn't expecting to see such vulnerability and sorrow in the pools of sapphire. The eyes may be the window to the soul, but Jessie rarely allowed any emotion to shine through.

"Why the hell can't the two of you ever let me get a decent night's sleep?" Bowler's interruption caused Brisco to jump slightly. When he caught his sister's gaze again, the previous look was gone, replaced by the standard unemotional gaze in Jessie's eyes.

"I should say the same damn thing about you, Bowler," Jessie said, chuckling. "That snore of yours could wake the dead."

"I don't snore." Bowler objected as he pulled himself up.

"Ha. Okay."

"I'm hungry." Bowler said after the trio had finished picking up the last remnants and any evidence they had ever set up camp.

"How long you figure it'll take El Gato to catch up with us?" Jessie asked, ignoring Bowler's last remark.

"I wouldn't be too worried about El Gato." Brisco answered. "He's not that good of a tracker. And even if he was, we made sure our tracks were pretty well hidden, remember?"

"Well, I'm kinda hungry, too" Jessie said, tightening the saddle straps around Sancho's golden belly as she spoke.

"What does that have to do with El Gato?" Jessie shook her head.

"Nothing. It's just…"

"What?" Bowler prodded when Jessie let her voice trail off, receiving a stern look in return.

"It's just I might know somewhere we can stop and pick up some food, and clean wraps for this." Jessie held up her injured hand slightly.

"Unless it involves going back to Ci, I don't know how you're going to do that."

"Well, it doesn't. But I want to make sure El Gato doesn't follow us there. And," Jessie stressed the last words, drawing it out longer than she needed before continuing. "I want you two to promise me you'll forget where I take you and never head back there again."

"What the heck are you talking about, girl?" Bowler asked impatiently, inspecting her closely as she pulled herself into Sancho's saddle.

"I just want to the two of you to promise me you'll never head back to the place I'm about to take you ever again. Promise?"

"Fine, we promise." Brisco answered quickly.

"What's this 'we' stuff?" Bowler asked.

"We promise." Brisco repeated, shooting a warning look Bowler's way. Seemingly satisfied, Jessie urged Sancho to a gallop, heading west, and away from The Hideout. If there was a trail Jessie was following, it was cleverly hidden from view, disguised almost the sagebrush and rocky desert floor. There wasn't a town or a settlement for nearly twenty miles, a fact Bowler brought up more than a few times, but Jessie continued on, her body language and set look on her face telling the two bounty hunters she had a purpose.

The sun was set high in the sky before the tiny farmhouse was a welcome dot along the horizon. Bowler exchanged a confused glance with Brisco as Jessie urged her palomino faster. There wasn't supposed to be anything out here for miles. At least, according to any map they had seen.

As they approached, an elderly woman, dressed in a simple cotton dress, appeared in the front doorway, gripped in her hand a Winchester rifle she kept level on the trio as they approached.

"Get the hell off my property before I gun you down!" the woman cried out, her voice stronger than either Brisco or Bowler would have imagined.

"Mrs. James!" Jessie called out, cheerfully, waving a hand in a hello. The muzzle lowered slightly as an inquisitive eye peered over the sights. Another confused look passed between the two bounty hunters.

"Jessamyn Sutton, is that you?" A wide smile spread across the woman's deeply lined face and the rifle fell to her side as Jessie jumped from her saddle to walk the last few steps.

"Yes, ma'am, it is."

"Good heavens, child, I haven't seen you in forever." Mrs. James propped the rifle against the door frame and met Jessie at the bottom of the porch steps to engulf her in a big hug. The elderly woman stood just an inch or two shy of Jessie's five feet, with snow white hair kept in a tight bun atop her head.

Mrs. James pulled away just enough to look over Jessie once more. "Where have you been hiding at, Jessamyn?"

"Oh, I've been around." Jessie answered quickly, motioning toward the two men standing awkwardly behind her. "Mrs. James, these are my friends." Jessie turned, her eyes wide and her mouth frozen open as she met Brisco's gaze. He smirked back at her slightly when he realized she was unsure whether or not she would be giving Mrs. James their real names. "Uh," Jessie stammered, pausing, but only slightly. "Wiley Stafford and Pierre LaMont." Bowler gave her a slight sneer at her choice of aliases, convinced she could do better.

"Mr. Stafford. Mr. LaMont." Mrs. James nodded a hello then turned back to Jessie. "What on earth are you doing all the way out here?"

"Ah, well, we were just on our way back to uh, California…and I wanted to stop and say hello." Jessie smiled brightly.

"Well, come on in, come on in. I'm about to cook some lunch and I'm certain the three of you are famished." Mrs. James bustled back up the stairs, obviously excited to have visitors.

"Mrs. James?" Brisco asked quietly, his head dipped low as he leaned in close to Jessie, skepticism laced throughout his tone.

"That's what I said."

"As in…"

"As in Jeremiah's grandmother." Jessie shot back matter-of-factly.

"What the hell are you doing?" Brisco hissed, grabbing his sister's arm and forcing her to a stop before she entered the homestead.

"Trust me, Brisco." Jessie said sweetly, grinning up at her brother as she pulled her arm free. "I know what I'm doing.