Once outside the hotel, Bart had to quickly sit down on the bench near the door to give the pain in his head a chance to calm down. Breathing heavily, he put a hand to his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut with a groan.

A hand suddenly touched his shoulder and Bart was startled. He snapped his head up without thinking, and everything spun.

It was the sheriff, who winced when he saw what he'd caused. "Sorry," he said.

Bart fought not to groan again, once again putting a hand over his forehead. "What did you…find out?" he somehow managed to croak.

The sheriff crouched in front of him, to make it easier for Bart to see him. "Not very much yet. Most of the witnesses only saw what happened after you collapsed; it's what got their attention."

Bart sighed at that.

"A few of them actually saw the man grab the baby and watched the other one hit you," the sheriff said. "But no one saw their faces well enough to identify who they are."

"Figures," Bart mumbled, hand still over his forehead.

The sheriff watched him for a minute. "What are you doing out here? You should be resting." He'd been very surprised to see Bart stumble out of the hotel.

"I was coming to see you," Bart told him, finally lowering his hand.

"You should've sent someone to fetch me," the sheriff said. "I planned to come fill you in once I had a chance." He stood and gently pulled on Bart's arm. "Now, back inside with you. I'll keep you updated. A posse will get sent out once I know which direction those men went in."

Bart was glad to hear that. "I'll stay here for a while. The fresh air helps."

The sheriff nodded. "Take it easy." He walked off back towards his office.

Bart had no intention on sitting on that bench for long; he couldn't just wait while the baby was missing. It killed him to know that he'd been responsible for her, and now she was gone. He didn't know what he could do at the moment though…his head was protesting every movement, even while he was immobile.

"Mister?"

Bart opened his eyes, not realizing that he'd closed them. A little girl stood in front of him, clutching a doll. "Yes?" he said, wondering what on earth she wanted.

"Did that bad man break your head?"

Despite himself, Bart smiled at the hilarious question. "No," he said. "Thankfully."

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

Bart sighed. "Yes, it does."

"Why did they take your baby?" was her next question.

Bart sighed again. "Like you said, they're bad men."

"This is my baby," she told him, holding out her doll. "Isn't she pretty?"

Bart inwardly sighed. He was in too much pain to be having this conversation. "Very pretty."

"Are you gonna go find your baby?" she asked.

Bart suddenly realized that this little girl must've witnessed what had happened. "Did you see the men attack me?"

She nodded.

"Did you see which way they went?"

She pointed. "That way. They rode right out of town!"

Adrenaline spiked its way through Bart's veins, enabling him to stand up. "Thanks, honey," he said.

She gave him a toothy smile.

Carefully, Bart made his way past the hotel to the livery stable, which was thankfully nearby. His horse nickered when she saw him.

The stable owner had just taken the saddle off a new occupant, and saw him come in. "Can I help you?"

Bart nodded without thinking, and winced. "Could you saddle my horse, please?"

The man eyed the bandage on Bart's head, but didn't appear to know what had happened. He saddled the horse and moved on to continue his work.

Bart gave his horse a pat, mentally preparing himself for what he knew would be a painful action. He stuck his boot into the stirrup and slowly propelled himself up, throwing his other leg over the horse and gripping the saddle horn hard when the action made him dizzy.

The stable master turned when he heard a groan. "Ya'llright?" he asked.

Bart took a deep breath. "Fine," he lied, before steering his horse out the doors. He painfully rode in the direction that the little girl had pointed him in for half an hour before he realized that he should've told her to tell the sheriff what she'd seen. His headache had robbed from him the luxury of rational thought; if he'd been thinking clearly, he would've told the sheriff himself and taken the posse with him rather than go alone.

What an idiot, he thought. He had no further time to insult himself before a gunshot suddenly sounded. He practically felt the bullet whiz right past his face, and his horse reared, tossing him to the ground.

Bart gasped as he lay there on his stomach, unable to move thanks to the pain that pounded through his head. A roaring sound filled his ears when he nearly blacked out, and he couldn't draw his gun even if he tried: not knowing up from down at the moment. A few seconds later, he heard someone approaching and he tried to slow his breathing and fake unconsciousness. It appeared to work, for the shooter stood over him for a few seconds before grabbing the reins of Bart's horse and pulling it closer.

A voice suddenly spoke. "Is he dead?"

"No," said the first man. "Lookit, it's the dude who Jim snatched the baby from."

"Looks like you got 'em good!" laughed the second man, when he spotted the bandage around Bart's head.

So the first man was the one who had hit him, and 'Jim' was the one who the baby had been hidden from. Bart didn't remember seeing a third man at the time, but he hadn't seen anything after being hit on the head…

Hands suddenly grabbed him, and Bart realized that they were trying to pick him up. Taking me home to Jim, Bart thought.

"Let's take him back to Jim," said the first man. "He was wondering who this dude is and how he ended up with the baby…now he can ask him!"

The other man helped him lift Bart and drape him over the horse.

Now that the men couldn't see his face, Bart squeezed his eyes shut tighter in a wince. Hanging over a horse was not what his head needed right now. Ten painful minutes of blood rushing to his injured brain passed before the horse stopped. Bart again faked unconsciousness as the men pulled him off the horse and carried him into a small house.

"Look who we found a couple miles away, boss!" the one carrying him by the shoulders exclaimed. "It's the dude who you grabbed the baby from."

"I thought you said that no one saw us leave town!" Jim exclaimed.

"No one did," said the other henchman. "He must've got lucky."

Suddenly, the men's hands were gone and Bart was unexpectedly dropped to the floor, knocking the breath from his lungs and painfully jolting his head. He couldn't prevent a cry of shock from the impact, and tried to suck in a deep breath as he raised a hand to his head.

"Aha," said Jim, seeing that Bart was conscious. He stepped over to him and knelt on the floor, grabbing the front of Bart's jacket in his fist. "Would you mind telling me just who you are?"

Bart opened his eyes, squinting up at the man…the very big man, who surprisingly looked familiar. "I was hoping you could tell me," he said, quickly trying to improvise. "Someone attacked me, and when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything." He doubted that they would believe him, but it was worth a try. "I was just out riding when one of your boys shot at me, and—"

"Tie him up," said Jim, not believing a single word.

The two henchmen pulled Bart off the floor and pushed him into a chair, which they quickly tied him to.

"How do you know her?" Jim asked.

Bart frowned. "Her who?"

"Her my wife," Jim said.

Bart blinked. "Your wife? I don't know your wife. How can I know who your wife is when I don't even know who you are?"

Jim frowned. "You must be someone who she knows very well for her to entrust our daughter to you."

Those words surprised Bart. "The baby is your daughter?"

"Yes, and she had no right to hide her from me!" Jim exclaimed.

Suddenly, a sound that Bart was very relieved to hear filled the air: the sound of a baby crying.

"Get her out here," Jim told his henchmen.

One of them went over to a door and opened it, motioning for someone to come out. A few seconds later, someone did…and Bart was finally able to meet the baby's mother.

TBC