Amor ordinem nescit

Love does not know order

The embarrassment she felt could not be put into simple words. Right in front of the only two "friends" that she had, Ike had to make sure that they knew what had happened between her and Ringo.

And for that, she now wanted to kill that sonofabitch more than anything in the whole entire world.

But, she did realize one thing.

She had finally made a "true-blue" friend.

As Ike and Billy walked away into the dark, Sherman McMasters stayed at her side, an unbelievable look still on his face. After the initial speechlessness had left her, Nola finally turned to face him.

"Sherman, I'm..."

"Don't." he said, a slight smile on his face.

If it wouldn't have looked awkward, Nola would have hugged him right there in the street.

"I should have told you, I mean, you're the only person I could have told."

"It's not really something we talk about regularly." he replied, and she noted the obvious amusement on his face.

"Thanks McMasters,"

He tilted his head to the side and raised his eyebrow.

"…for being a good friend."

Unfortunately for Nola, after discovering about her and Ringo, Billy had, of course, ranted to anyone of the Cowboys who would listen. And, like dominoes, the whole faction soon knew about it, along with every citizen in the growing town who had been within hearing range of the entire rant.

That also meant Ringo heard it.

But, as it soon became apparent, it was hurting her reputation more than his.

Now, everyone one of the Cowboys' suspicions was confirmed.

Nola was a whore.

To everyone's disbelief, Curly Bill Brocious' charges on the killing of Fred White were dropped. Of course, he had to spend near two weeks in the town's jail, waiting for Judge Spicer to return.

As soon as he walked into the Crystal Palace that afternoon, all of the Cowboys rushed to greet him, congratulating him on his luck. He simply smiled and ordered a very stiff drink.

But during his time in jail, he'd got to thinking. Tombstone was getting a little too warm for his liking. With Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp, along with Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, and Luke Short against him, he honestly felt as though the Cowboys were equaled to the "lawmen". Hell, half of his boys were so short tempered they didn't think things out, and with every one of the "Earp Party" being quite skilled with their firearms, it was a bad combination.

So, why not let the town cool down for a while and make a little money in the process. Through word of mouth, he'd heard of a Burton recently moving his livestock, a considerable size herd, into Arizona. And the Tombstone butcher didn't honestly mind what brand was on the cattle, just as long as they were edible.

Almost as soon as he had finished his drink, he began to round them all up. Most of the boys were pleased with the decision; their wild blood had begun to crave the feeling of the wide-open Arizona range.

"A cattle drive?"

Nola was quite distraught when Sherman had found her and told her to pack up and get her horse; the Cowboys were on the move.

"Well, they don't call us Cowboys for nothing." he laughed, following her back to their hotel to retrieve their few belongings.

"How long will we be gone?" she questioned.

McMasters did the math in his head, and she couldn't help but laugh when she saw him silently counting his fingers.

"Since it is the second week of November, I calculate maybe a few days before Christmas."

Nola smiled.

"I love Christmas."

"Well," he chuckled, opening the door to the hotel for her, "I doubt that Tombstone's Christmas celebration is the kind of tree-trimming fun you're imagining."

Even though she had not realized it while in town (the excitement usually kept her mind off of these things) she had missed riding across the country. The wild feeling it gave her was unexplainable.

However, as they rode over the sandy earth, she couldn't help but notice Ringo. Yes, there he was, sitting on his beautiful paint, eyes closed slightly to the sun. She hadn't spoken a word to him after their breakfast fiasco, and she was too paranoid to do so. If the Cowboys saw her talking to him, hell, what would they come up with next?

She also noticed that Billy Clanton had been treating her as though she was the plague. Every time she got within a rocks throw of him, he would dart from the area, head turned down, and Ike, that sonofabitch, not far behind.

Nola groaned to herself. How the hell did she get into this mess?

"Miserable?" Sherman inquired about an hour into the ride, having heard her groan of despair.

"Yes."

"Hmmm. The heat never seems to bother me."

"It's not the heat, Sherman."

He thought a minute before smirking.

"Oh, you mean that kind of heat!"

She rolled her eyes at him and cracked her neck. Sometimes he could be such a pain...

"I miss her." he finally spoke up. Nola looked at him oddly for a moment.

"Who?"

"Oh, the girl I was telling you about, the one back in Tombstone. Her name is Cora, isn't that a pretty name?"

Nola nodded. She'd never heard a name like that before, but it had an interesting ring to it.

"I tell ya, that girl is just, well, you see..."

"You love her." Nola teased, a smile tugging at her lips.

Sherman shook his head, scratching his brow line with his free hand.

"Hell, I don't know what true love is!" he laughed.

Nola let her gaze travel to Ringo, who was now discussing something over with Curly Bill.

"Neither do I."

That first night was hellish for Nola.

After stopping at a grove of the oddest stringy-leaved trees she'd ever seen, all the Cowboys removed their saddles and plopped them on the ground, covering the seat with the blankets and sprawling out for a good night's sleep.

Then, she realized that there were no walls protecting her from them. Fear ran through her blood at the revelation, after all, they all believed she was a whore.

She was careful to set her makeshift bed up near Sherman, who already seemed to her like an older brother who would watch her back. After tying her horse to the rope one of the other boys had strung between two trees, she cautiously lied down.

The sun had yet to fall behind the beautiful mountains, so she was able to see her surroundings.

Sherman and Nola were on the fringes of the group, but she noticed a few of the Cowboys awfully close to her. She turned her back to them quickly and hugged herself.

A thought crossed her mind that made her smile.

I wish Ginny was here.

As the sun set, her eyelids dropped, and she dozed off, thinking of the good times her and her sister had had.

To her amazement, Nola awoke the next morning in one piece. And also to her surprise, she was the first one awake.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, she rose, stretched, and slowly began walking away from the still snoring group. She couldn't help but laugh at the odd sounds they made!

The sun was just rising, sending a warm glow over the landscape. Nola breathed in deeply. This place was just so beautiful. Quietly, she continued to walk, staying close enough to hear if they began to stir.

She'd always loved the mornings…the solitude, the peacefulness, and the prospect of a new day; of another chance.

"Aren't you up early."

Nola panicked at the voice and dove behind a nearby tree; removing her pistol and peeked her head from behind the trunk.

Ringo stood there, arms crossed across his chest, a very arrogant look on his face.

Realizing it was he; she stood up the full way and leaned on her barrier.

"I could say the same about you." Ringo noticed the slight quiver in her voice.

"Did I scare ya?"

She shook her head and replaced her .45.

"No, I just didn't expect it to be you."

He shrugged and walked towards her. Nola immediately stiffened.

But to her surprise, he simple leaned against the other side of her tree, facing the opposite direction of Nola.

"I always liked mornings." he began, and she turned her head in his direction. "They're always, quiet. I like that."

She nodded in agreement, and looked cautiously around for a spy of any kind. It was still in the back of her mind that the others could just simply not see her talking to him.

"You always get up this early?" she questioned, keeping her voice as low as possible.

"Usually."

"I see."

The silence enveloped their conversation, and the two stood, staring in opposite directions, thinking somewhat the same thoughts.

"I...I better get back, if Sherman sees I'm gone he'll probably come looking for me..."

Ringo nodded. Damn, he seemed so calm!

Slowly, Nola began to walk back towards the other Cowboys. She sighed. How she wanted to stay. Ringo could be such good company when he wasn't acting like a jerk.

"Where the hell where you?!" Sherman whispered harshly as soon as Nola sat down. She shrugged and fell back into her saddle.

"I went for a walk."

Sherman shook his head and sighed loudly. "Girl, you can't just go walkin' around here, God, there's Indians and snakes and just, please, don't go for walks!"

Nola giggled at his flustered ways. "You act like a brother would." she teased. "And I can take care of myself."

McMasters rolled his eyes and flipped onto his other side. "Just don't leave while I'm sleeping, okay?"

"Okay..." she sighed, trying to sound as annoyed as possible.

Unbeknownst to Sherman, she crossed her fingers...

Cows.

Lots of cows.

By the middle of the next week, they had reached their goal. It was a relatively small herd; Nola guessed around one hundred head or so. But what she did know for sure was that a barbwire fence was keeping them from the cows.

"So, what are we gonna do?" she asked Sherman, who kept swiveling his head from side to side.

"Well," he began stopping his scanning for a moment, "since the house is quite a ways off, and from what we've heard this Burton doesn't have too many good cow-hands, we're gonna cut the fence, round the cows out, and get the hell outta here."

And that's exactly what they did!

After ushering all the beasts through the hole they'd made, Nola and Sherman kept their horses on the right side of the herd, watching for any strays. Nola had never done anything with cattle, so it was a "learning experience".

Sherman continued to talk about Cora the whole time, and Nola listened with about half of her mind. The other was on the man near the front on that gorgeous paint...

As the sun began to sink behind the mountains, Nola noticed that no one seemed to be stopping. She wondered if they were going to stop at all.

"McMaster's, where are we goin'?"

"Clanton's ranch." he replied simply. She mulled it over for a moment before stopping.

"Wait, we're only a days ride from where we got these things, don't you think they'll come looking for them?" she questioned, fear rising in her.

Sherman laughed.

"Hell Nola, no one goes near that place!"

"Why?"

"They know who owns it!"

After loading the cows into the corral outside of the Clanton house, Ike led all the boys, and unwillingly the girl, into the house. If it hadn't been for a look from Brocious, Ike may have made her stay outside.

The house wasn't very large, definably not enough room to hold all the Cowboys that had come on the drive. Ike quickly informed them that a good many of them would be sleeping in hay, in the barn. Nola looked over at Sherman and mouthed Oh Boy.

Hay, not the best kind of bed, but Nola decided that as she lay on her stomach on a large pile of it that it was...cozy.

Sherman lay on the opposite side and every once in a while, just to tick him off, she would grab a particularly long stem and pitch it over to him. After about the tenth strand she threw, he finally turned around to glare at her.

"What are you doing?"

Nola smiled innocently.

"Nothin'."

"Uh huh, so this hay just keeps magically landing on me, eh?"

She nodded before flipping back around to lie on her back. Sherman simply shook his head...girls.

"Hey Sherman?"

"What?"

"When are we gonna be back in Tombstone?"

Sherman narrowed his eyes before answering. He knew he'd told her this once before.

"Few days before Christmas, why?"

Nola beamed and snuggled deep into her hay bed pulling her blanket up over her head.

"I'm not gonna tell you."

Jeeze it sure as been along time since I updated this, sorry to anyone who was waiting!!

Thank you Betherz!! )

And I agree...Michael Bien is sooo smexy XD...almost Val Kilmer good ;)