Roy Crawford spurred his horse hard as he manoeuvred the animal through the thick brush and into the forest trying to loose the small posse that the Spearville sheriff had sent out. Crawford was confident that he'd reach Evelyn Sweeny's house without being caught.

It was getting late in the day and soon it would be difficult for the posse to continue tracking – at least that is what Roy Crawford was counting on. With the sun creeping closer to the horizon, he pushed his horse hard to reach the canyon that would lead him to Evelyn.

Sheriff Parker halted his men once they reached the thick brush. He cursed under his breath as he noted the tracks of Crawford's horse entering the thick brush, "We'll have to make camp here for the night," he stated sternly.

"Why can't we continue?" Charlie Appleby asked.

"If we get in the brush with the sun setting, we'll get lost. It's too thick and it'll take us a good hour or more to get through. There's just not enough daylight left," Parker concluded.

His two deputized men dismounted and tied their horses to a tree before removing their saddles for the night. Parker stepped down from his horse and scanned the ground, planning his next move in the morning.

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Jonas had just finished with his books and placed them under the counter. He gathered his hat and coat and blew out the oil lantern that he was working by. The store owner fished around in his coat pocket for his keys so he could lock the store up for the night. It was an unusually busy day.

Jonas pulled on his coat and placed this hat on his head then locked the door. He started to walk home, but remembered that Doc had some thing for him. The store owner walked up the stairs and opened the door into the doctor's office.

Doc was seated at his deck and reading from a journal he received in the mail that day. He looked up at Jonas, "Bet you're glad that day is over," Doc smiled and stood to hand Jonas the small parcel.

"It was a busy one, that's for sure," Jonas smiled as he took the package in his hands and looked at it. "It's from Joe Morgan," Jonas stated.

Doc took his seat again as he watched Jonas open the box. The store owner read the note with his name on it which was an update on his teachings. "Joe has asked me to give this to you," Jonas handed a small package to the doctor.

Doc looked at the brown paper-wrapped parcel, "I wonder what it is," Doc placed the item on his desk as he read the note:

"Doc,

When I was in your care, I noticed that a particular item was badly damaged

during the train wreck. One I could tell meant a great deal to you.

You have likely been wondering what happened to your pocket watch. I took it upon

myself to have the watched repaired. The watchmaker did a splendid job,

and I hope you enjoy your watch again.

Sincerely,

Joe Morgan"

Doc looked at the pigeonhole in his desk and noticed that the watch wasn't there. He'd totally forgotten about it when he began to use his other watch, "Hum," he light-heartily grumped.

"What did the note say, Doc?" Jonas inquired.

Doc said nothing at the moment; instead he carefully picked up the package and opened it. There inside the tissue was Doc's gold watch, restored like new. Doc's eyes welt up with tears of joy and he looked up to Jonas. "Joe had my watch fixed," he smiled.

Jonas smiled broadly, "Well, I'll be," he turned to leave, "I have to tell Ellen about that," he walked to the door. The store owner looked over his shoulder. Doc stood with the watch in one hand and the letter in the other. Jonas smiled and left the office.

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Crawford pulled his horse to a stop just above Evelyn's homestead. In the twilight, he could just barely make out a lone figure out at the small garden. Crawford looked around and then nudged his horse forward. He rode down into the valley, "Evelyn?"

Evelyn Sawyer looked up from the gate she was closing, "Roy?"

Roy Crawford rode his horse over to Evelyn, "I need your help, honey," he said as he winced and held his bleeding leg. He's had wrapped his bandana around his leg, but it wasn't doing much to control the bleed, or pain.

"You've been shot!" Evenly stated. "Put your horse in the barn," Evelyn said as she looked around and watched Roy take his mount to the barn. Crawford carefully stepped down from his horse and opened the barn and pulled the horse through into a stall.

Crawford decided to leave the saddle on the animal for the time being, and maybe once Evelyn had a chance to look at his leg, he'd get around to taking the saddle off. Either way, the horse seemed happy with the hay it was eating.

Crawford limped to the door and closed it behind him as he made his way over to the house where Evelyn was waiting, "What happened, Roy?" she said knowing that it wasn't going to be good news.

Crawford said nothing at first. Instead he wrapped his arms around Evelyn and pulled her tightly to his chest and kissed her.

Evelyn gently pushed herself back from Roy, "We better go inside," she said looking around while she opened the door into the little house. Roy limped his way into the living room and lowered himself into a chair. He moaned and held his leg, which burned from the growing infection and irritation cause by the bullet wound.

Evelyn put a pot of water on the stove and gathered other items so that she could tend to Roy's wound. She watched him over her shoulder and wondered what life would be like if he chose to settle down. Deep down she knew he never would, and she half-heartily knew that he was running from the law.

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Festus quickly walked down the boardwalk toward the jail house, "Matthew?" he hollered. Matt looked up from his paperwork and waited for the deputy to arrive at the office. Like a whirlwind, Festus opened the door while waving a piece of paper in his right hand, "Matthew! Barney sent this here telegram for you!" he strutted across the office and handed Matt the message.

Matt looked down at the message and frowned. Slowly he stood, "The bank in Spearville has been robbed and the banker was killed," he said in a low tone. "Get the horses ready, Festus. I'll see if Newly can look after things for a day or two," the marshal pulled his hat and gun belt off the peg near the door.

Festus shook his head, "When will these yahoos learn?" he followed Matt out to the street and crossed to the livery stable.