James Doris nudged Frank Elcombe as he watched Dwight Hodgson poked at the fire. He noted that Hodgson seemed miles away, "Now what do you think that boy is thinking?" Doris asked in a hushed voice as he nudged his friend with his right elbow.

" I don't know, but I bet whatever it is, it's good," Elcombe laughed. "He gets his way when he's planning something good," he stated. "He'll tell us when he's ready to."

"Hum," Doris grunted. "Now I'm really curious," he said while studying Hodgson before turning back to his saddle bags and fished around to the tin of beans. He pulled the container out and looked at with a huff.

Both Doris and Elcombe opened their cans and dumped the contents onto their plates. Elcombe tossed Doris a biscuit to dip into the beans as he moved toward the campfire.

Hodgson was oblivious to his two friends as they joined him at the fire with the tin plates and a heap of beans for supper. Both men remained quiet as they played with the food on their plates as they tried to warm then over the fire. Doris and Elcombe eyed each other. Elcombe shrugged as he haphazardly stirred his beans.

Out of the blue, Hodgson finally spoke, "Do you fellas like the army life?" he asked as he looked up from the fire.

"Not particularly," Elcombe said while chewing his biscuit he held in his left while stirring the beans on the plate with the spoon in his right.

"Same here," Doris stated though a mouthful of warm beans.

"How would you like to make some fast money and disappear?" Hodgson said with a growing smile. The orange of the flames from the fire and the contrast of the shadows gave his face and eerie look. He pushed his forage cap back on his head and smiled more.

Doris looked at Elcombe and then back to Hodgson, "How?"

"I figure that stagecoach doesn't have to reach Dodge with that payroll shipment," Hodgson said and stood. "I figure that if we intercept it on route, we could get that strong box and disappear into the hills. Never to be seen again," he arched his back from the day's ride. "I'm sick of army food, and all that daily routine. The "yes Sergeant" and the other garbage we have to do…"

"You think this would work?" Doris asked as he right eyebrow crept upward.

"If we all work together, I know it would. Why wouldn't it?" Hodgson smiled and knelt back down to the fire and poked at it some more while watching his friends. They were talking amongst themselves at the prospect of having money to spend and not having Sergeant Williams barking orders at them - not to mention the dreaded night patrol.

"I'm in," Doris looked sharply to Hodgson.

"Me too," Elcombe chimed in.

"Excellent. There's what we need to do," Hodgson used the stick he was poking the fire with to draw a map. Doris and Elcombe leaned forward and listened to Hodgson's plan. They nodded as he walked them through, step by step.

"See, I told you he was thinking something good," Elcombe swatted Doris across the upper arm in a joking manner. Both men laughed excitedly as Hodgson continued to unfold his plan on how to rob the stagecoach.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Matt didn't eat much – his mind was on other matters; the payroll to be exact. He also wasn't sure he trusted Grover Dolan either, however, he thought that the man wouldn't have a successful business if he stole property - personal, federal or otherwise.

Just the same, Matt was uneasy about the thought having Kitty, Doc and Jonas aboard the stagecoach at the same time as the extra large payroll. The thought had crossed his mind to have them stay at the stage stop and catch the next stagecoach into Dodge, but that would put them out another three days.

The marshal decided that he'd trust the driver and the army to fulfil their commitment and take the payroll into Dodge as planned. It would just mean a more watchful and stressful trip on his part. He certainly didn't want to alert his friends to the potential trouble for fear they would all become paranoid – especially Wilbur Jonas who did his best to hide his nervous side of himself.

Matt stood from the table and walked to the common room in the stage stop. Kitty watched him and she knew from the look on his face that there was something afoot. "Matt?" she said from the chair next to the fire.

Matt slowly made his way across the room and pulled another chair close to Kitty's.

"What's the matter," she said in a whispered voice. Her eyes were on Doc and Jonas who were passing the time playing checkers on the table near the far window. Kitty's eyes then came back to Matt's.

"Nothing, yet." Matt responded in the same whispered tone. "And I hope that nothing will be wrong," he hedged around the facts about the payment being on board. His steel blue eyes looked deeply into Kitty's. "What is it, Matt?" she pried.

Matt shook his head, "You won't believe this," his eyes slipped away from Kitty to Doc and Jonas before they came back to the redhead, "The army has placed a larger than normal payroll on this stagecoach. They are expecting more troops in Fort Dodge and they are to pick this up first thing the day after tomorrow," Matt's face reflected his tone – he was not impressed. Kitty's mouth slowly dropped open, "How could they do such a thing? Why wouldn't they send men to get it?" Kitty sputtered.

"They didn't want to draw attention to this. I have a feeling this is all connected to the illegal gun trading that's happening. I can't verify it until I'm back at my office though," Matt said quietly.

"Well, shouldn't you tell Doc and Jonas?" Kitty asked.

"I'm not sure if I should," matt again looked over his shoulder at the two men who were deeply involved with their checkers game. Matt chuckled slightly at them, "I don't want to raise any unwarranted concerns. I'm sure nothing will happen," Matt looked back at Kitty. "Get some sleep, okay?" he smiled as he stood to leave. Kitty nodded, "Sure, Matt. As much as I can," she pulled her shawl over her shoulders as she thought about going to the back room to lie down. Matt tried to smile.

Matt walked to the door and looked back to Kitty before his eyes drifted to Doc and Jonas. With a deep breath, Matt pulled his coat collar tight over his throat and left the building to spend the night in the barn.

Doc noticed that Matt left and he looked over to Kitty who had retired from the room. Doc twisted his lips in thought and shook off the strange feeling he had. With a shrug, he picked up his checker and touched it easily across the board. Jonas shook his head, "I think you spend too much time playing this game, Doc," he looked up at the doctor with a hint of humour in his eyes. Doc chuckled as he set out the next game.