A/N: Hello, again, lovely readers. I know, I know, it's been FOREVER since we updated, but stuff happens in real life. Like work, and snow storms, and Christmas!

This chapter is out now because of the awesomeness of Melolabel. She stepped up and got this chapter written when I was in major real life failure. She sent it to me and I added some of my special charm, and we are now able to get it out to you.

Thanks go out to our awesome beta, SweetThunder. Her special talents make this story awesome.

So now please enjoy Westward...

The Marksman

Chapter 6—Stinky Swan and Minty Fresh

Could the day get any worse? Honestly could anything more catastrophic happen? Yeah, it probably could, and with her luck, it probably would, thought Bella as she galloped away from the center of town. Her embarrassment and humiliation weighed down on her, and as she neared the end of Main Street—away from most prying eyes—she let the tears come, and they fell fast.

The warm air blew past her, drying her new dress into a semi stiff cocoon of fabric. Every now and then a cloud of dust and dirt would billow up, caking onto her tear-streaked face and into her still-damp hair. She rode hard all the way to her little house, back to the stable. The horse seemed to be enjoying the moment; to run so fast and hard, which just riled Bella up even more. Why didn't he get how horrible this all was? Bella just wanted to go back in time, back to this morning and pretend this day had never happened and that she had never gone into town. The regret seeped into her and her emotions were feeling as caked with dirt as her hair. She would've liked to jump off the horse and run straightway into the house and never come out again. Ever.

But Captain needed tending to, so she quickly unsaddled him, drew some water from the pump and filled the feed trough with enough hay to last the rest of the day. She gave him a quick brushing, however she was not as thorough or nice as she usually was. After tossing the brush aside Captain hung his head low and seemed to be a bit chagrined. It wasn't his fault and she did feel badly for being so rough with him. Sighing, she picked the brush back up and more methodically and tenderly gave his coat a good grooming. Her thoughts were still pounding through her head like Captain's hooves on the dry ground. And through all the chaotic mess in her mind, one thought stood out--Why had he stuck up for her? No one ever took up for her like that.

She had become the joke of the town. The crazy one. Swiping the tears from her eyes she tidied up Captain's stall. After the grunt work was done, she trudged into the house and put a large kettle of water on to boil. She would need a bath to get rid of the filth that had collected on her.

The glass reflected her mussed hair and dirty dress. It was a shame that such beautiful clothing had gone to waste. Perhaps, she thought, if she were extra gentle with the washboard, they might still be salvaged. Isabella peeled off the blue taffeta and laid it over the chair next to her dressing table. The suede boots came off next, still damp from her soaking. They wouldn't be very soft anymore, not after they dried.

Once her hair was washed and her face scrubbed, her thoughts turned once again to the handsome stranger. There was something about his eyes; when she looked into them, she'd felt a strange kind of recognition, almost like déjà vu, though she was positive that she'd never seen him in town before. But still…She couldn't shake the strange feeling of familiarity.

The sun was setting fast, but Isabella couldn't be bothered with cooking anything for supper. Her stomach grumbled in protest though, so she unwrapped a loaf of three-day-old bread and sliced off a hunk, slathering it with jam and butter. Dressed in her nightgown, she locked the doors, set the rifle by her bed, and settled in for the night. As she knelt by her bed to pray, she begged the Lord to make today go away and that when she woke up, it would be yesterday morning and she could just start all over. And if he was obliged to that idea, maybe she could just wake up and have her Pa back too. He would have known what to do. Pa would have said, "Well, looks like that horse had the surprise of his life. I wish I'd look down at my drink and find the most beautiful woman in town." She chuckled to herself, thinking of her Pa's sense of humor, nibbling on the last crust of bread.

Licking her fingers of the last of the jam, she frowned, now thinking of her ruined book. Darn him, for knocking her into the trough. She had been so looking forward to reading something new, instead, thanks to him, she resigned to pulling out one of her trusty favorites. With much determination, she tried to clear her mind of all thoughts of the handsome stranger and concentrate on the story before her. In no time at all though, the exhaustion of the day became too much and she succumbed to sleep.

"Jelly Belly she's so smelly." The two boys had caught up to Isabella on her walk home from school and sandwiched her in between their larger shoulders. She'd stepped in a pile of dog scat on her way to school that morning, and thought she'd wiped it all off in the grass, but after sitting in the schoolroom, other children began to complain of the smell.

She was mortified when the teacher finally sniffed her out and made her take her shoes off and put them outside. The other children had been horrible in the play yard, and these two boys saw fit to follow her home and continue the taunting.

"Leave me alone!" She yelled, as angry tears streamed down her face. She had known these boys all her life and they were being merciless, it was cruel, and she was just an easy target.

"Stinky Swan! Stinky Swan," they teased as they continued jostling her between them, pulling on her braids. She was about to try and make a run for it when an angry voice called out from behind them.

"Hey Clem! You best be gettin' away from her right now."

They all stopped and turned around, the boy on her right responding, "Or what?"

"Or I'm gonna thump you like you've never been thumped before." The little girl's heart dared to hope that she was saved when she saw Eddie come toe to toe with Clem. Eddie was a good 4 inches shorter than Clem but he held a menace in his eye that made it clear he was serious about his threat. And something in that look scared Clem into believing the promise behind it.

"Well maybe if she took a bath, she wouldn't stink so bad," said the other boy, though not nearly as assured as he was before. Eddie stepped away from Clem and stood in front of the boy on Isabella's left.

"You wanna say that again, Roddy?"

Isabella had backed up, clutching her books, and stood plastered against the fence in front of the row house where they had stopped. Roddy shook his head and began stumbling backward, away from Eddie. Clem looked over his shoulder at the little six-year-old girl and wrinkled his nose in disgust. He shook his head and pushed past Eddie, making sure to knock his shoulder stiffly into Eddie's, mumbling, "Stupid girl, she still smells."

Without a moment of hesitation, Eddie pushed Clem's shoulder around and punched him square in the nose. Clem dropped his books and pressed his hands to his now bleeding nose. Tears sprang from his eyes and he began sobbing.

"Don't ever talk bad about her again, picking on a little girl, and now look at ya, sobbin' like a prissy baby," ground out Eddie before turning back to Isabella. He reached out for her hand and said softly, "Come on Bella, I'll walk you home."

She slipped her small hand into his larger one and turned to look back at Clem, who'd fallen to a heap on the sidewalk. She poked her tongue out at him and then looked up to her savior with something akin to hero-worship in her eyes. His tousled auburn hair was disheveled and he had a small red mark on one of his cheekbones. But his green eyes danced with kindness as he looked over at her.

"What happened to your face?"

"Nothin'," he said rubbing his cheek slightly. He wouldn't tell her that the reason he wasn't there right away to walk her home was because he was giving a pounding to a few of the other mean children that had been making fun of her. But he didn't really need to tell her; she probably already figured that out.

"Thanks Eddie, you're the bestest friend ever." She reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

Isabella shot up in bed, her heart pounding and her breathing labored, her eyes darting around the room as they adjusted to the gloom. The moon shone through the curtain, illuminating a small sliver of her bedroom. She opened the old pocket watch and saw that it was still the middle of the night. The dream was so real and the memory was vividly clear…

Eddie!

Isabella spent the next several days holed up in her little house cleaning, painting, repairing little bits of fence, and cleaning out the barn. She went down to pan with Jacob, but she didn't see hide nor hair from him either. She was doing anything and everything she could to keep her mind occupied with thoughts that did not center on the boy she knew as a child or, more specifically, the man he had become. He had obviously not recognized her, and though he stood up for her, it wasn't because of who she was, but rather because of who he was.

Her face crinkled in frustration as she realized her mind had once again strayed, as it had done so many times in the last few days, back to the bronze-haired man that had knocked her into the water trough and then, just as quickly, lifted her to safety. He had changed. A lot. There was hardness and an edge to his manner that had all but eclipsed that gallant boy of her childhood who always came to the underdog's rescue. She allowed herself a small smile as she realized that one thing hadn't changed; he was still rescuing underdogs.

She did a quick mental calculation and realized it had been almost twenty years since they'd last seen each other. The thought of all those years and the changes fate had wrought in her life, suddenly made her feel very old and alone. She was so isolated out on the ranch, it wasn't often that she allowed herself the luxury of traipsing down memory lane and revisiting the memory of what it was like living in the midst of so many people and friends.

What had he been up to? I had been years since she had seen him. The last time was probably only a few weeks after the incident with the bullies. Why hadn't his family followed them out West like they'd planned? She had been little at the time, but she could remember hearing her parents wondering the same thing,

And how did he end up here of all places? And why now? Her mind was swirling with unanswered questions when she was snapped out of her thoughts by a bellowing yell…

"Dizzybells!!" She peered out one of the dusty windows at the back of the house and cracked a small smile. She hadn't seen Jacob since before...the incident. And he was always a sight for sore eyes. Even though they were just friends, she could appreciate the many physical gifts God had bestowed on her native friend. From his glossy long black hair and gleaming white smile, to his very well muscled body.

She mounded the ball of dough she had been kneading into the large wooden work bowl to allow it to rise and then dusted off her hands on the towel tucked into her apron. It had been too many days since she'd last seen him, and she was in sore need of some company.

Left to her own thoughts for that many days was never a good thing. Melancholy and despair always seemed to creep in. Though for the last several days she had been more than distracted from the negative thoughts that were usually present by the nightly dreams and other snippets of memories of Eddie. She was still struggling to reconcile the boy she once knew with the man she had met in town. Not that she knew much of anything about the man he'd become. All she knew was that she had been thoroughly frustrated by his seeming air of aloofness. And she was starting to get mad as she thought about all the letters she'd taken the time to write him—in her very best penmanship—that he'd never responded too. They had been best friends! Why hadn't he seen fit to write back?

She pushed away the image of the man that had been at the forefront of her thoughts for days as she opened the back door and stood on the top stair plastering on a wooden smile for her friend. "Jacob! What brings you this way?"

He hopped off his mount and tossed the reins loosely over one of the fence rails before striding over to Izzy and hoisting her up in a big bear hug. "Can't I come see my friend?" Her facade melted a little at his genuine declaration and she wrapped her arms tightly around him, relaxing into the sureness and honesty of his hug.

"Of course you can, I wasn't expecting you. But I'm right glad you're here."

"Well," Jacob said, "I haven't seen you at our fishing spot since the day we went to town, so I came to find out if you'd fallen down the well or gotten yourself into some other kind of trouble."

She frowned slightly at the mention of town, and then poked her tongue out to show her feigned offense at his teasing. Jake chuckled as he stepped back and looked at the clothes line, the low laughter turning into a whistle of appreciation as he noticed the blue gown flapping in the light breeze.

"This is pretty. I haven't seen it before."

"I got that from Alice's shop the other day." She couldn't help the fallen expression that flashed over her features.

"And you had to wash it already?"

"Don't even ask."

"Too late," he smirked. "I know my Dizzy! What happened?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and began pacing back and forth, hating the embarrassed feelings that bubbled up in her chest. But she was incapable of hiding anything from Jacob. He knew her too well.

"I got pushed into a watering trough…and covered in horse snot!" She lifted her chin in defiance, waiting for his tease. At first he just looked at her. But slowly, the humor spread across his face and his large tanned body began to shake with silent laughter.

"Oh Iz, only you! It could only happen to you." He was gentle in his ribbing, and she didn't feel nearly as humiliated as she had when it had happened but she was still feeling irritated if at nothing else but the truth of his words. Things like that just didn't happen to most other people.

She proceeded to give him the full accounting of what had happened, igniting Jacob's protectiveness of her and his desire to put an arrow into Ward and James' backsides. Izzy hadn't disclosed her theory—about which she was almost a hundred percent sure—that Ward and her childhood friend Eddie were one in the same.

She had formulated a plan though, to find out for sure. But maybe it was already too late. What if he'd already left town? All the better she thought. If he didn't remember her, then their friendship must not have meant very much to him. Except…it used to mean something to her. But she buried that thought deep down in her heart. At this precise moment she was more irritated with his actions in the present than the memories of how things had been in the past.

His mocking, glorious, green eyes, his stiff and standoffish manner, not to mention the guns he wore, all added up to one thing. Even though he'd stood up to James and rescued her-- after he had knocked her into the trough it should be noted--he had become a scoundrel! Pure and simple. He had changed, a lot, over the past twenty years. And even if he did happen to remember her, she wouldn't want anything to do with the scoundrel he had become.

And at the moment, with her irritation with the stranger back in full force, Isabella actually believed that to be true.

Jake left shortly after devouring the lunch Isabella fixed him as payment for hauling wood and several buckets of water into the house for her. That was only one of many things she missed about her father.

The next morning she tucked her new boots—that had dried stiff and crusty—into one of the bags slung over Captain's saddle. Hopefully Alice would be able to help her fix them. As she swung herself into the saddle, she could tell that Captain was dreading this trip to town as much as she was, but it had to be done. So with two heads hung low, they slowly clomped their way to town.

The bell over the door had hardly chimed before Isabella was engulfed in the arms of her tiny friend. "Oh Iz, how are you? I'm so sorry about the other day, I was so sure that something good was going to happen, I just...I felt horrible watching you ride away. Are you alright?" Her small hands fluttered all around Isabella's face and shoulders as she offered comfort, but in her haste, those hands looked more like frenzied butterflies.

"Alice! I'm fine," Isabella assured her friend. "My pride is injured, but then that's nothing new is it? Can you fix them?" She asked plaintively, thrusting her suede boots towards Alice.

"Hmmm," she said taking them from Bella's outstretched hand and looking them over with a scrutinizing eye. "I just might, though it'll take me a bit of time. Why don't you come back in a little bit and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Alice, and you know I don't hold anything against you. It wasn't your fault I got pushed into the trough. That would be entirely the fault of my own personal rotten luck." Isabella shrugged and gave Alice another quick hug before stepping onto the boardwalk.

She crossed the wide and dusty expanse of Main Street and walked into the General store. She wound her way silently around barrels of meal and large sacks of flour, various farming implements and other household items, to the back corner of the store. She couldn't help the small smile that tugged at the edges of her mouth. She ran her hands lightly over the spines of the very small collection of books on the dusty shelf. Her face fell just a bit when she realized that she'd either read or owned all of the books the shopkeeper offered. She had been so hoping to find a new title and couldn't help her thoughts from straying to the stranger, to Eddie. He ruined my book!

The sadness flickered briefly in her heart before giving way to indignation. She would've gladly given up the fancy dress and the new boots if only she could have her book back. It was in this tempest of emotions that Bella hurried out of the store without a word to the clerk. She had only momentarily closed her eyes to try and shake off the tears pricking the corners of her eyes. But that one moment was long enough to catch her toe on a large display of rakes that someone had carelessly placed on the boardwalk just outside of the entrance.

Her hands flailed helplessly as she stumbled forward. Her eyes clamped shut, not wanting to see each stair as she tumbled down to the dirt. But instead of the pain she anticipated, she felt a pleasing warm sensation on her hips at the same time as her arms landed on a firm set of shoulders. She was tipped forward, her toes barely scratching the edge of the top step. And when she opened her eyes, she was nose to nose with none other than the stranger from before. Eddie!

Well.

His vibrant green eyes danced with mirth as his long fingers firmly gripped the flesh of her hips and waist. She could smell the shaving soap and a minty flavor on his breath. She realized suddenly that they were in very close proximity which set her heart to beating a thunderous gallop in her chest and her own breath to catch in her throat. He really had grown into a devastatingly handsome man. Too bad he'd turned into an arrogant and annoying person. And a scoundrel, to boot! Too bad he'd forgotten his best friend. Her cheeks were beginning to burn with blush because this was not one of the thousand scenarios she had pictured of their second meeting; she was moderately prepared for those, but not for this. She slid her arms over his shoulders trying to get enough of a grip to push her body away from him. He seemed to have other ideas as his firm grip on her hips tightened slightly.

"You know you really should try paying attention to your surroundings," he breathed softly as his green eyes locked with hers. "It would save you a whole lot of trouble. What would you do if I weren't around?" Something dark and smoldering had settled in his gaze as he let his eyes roam her face. He continued to peruse her body, wandering down until he could see her feet dangling inches above the ground and clearly visible as her skirt was hiked to mid calf. A look of surprise crossed his face as he asked incredulously, "Are you wearing…men's boots?" His eyes lit with sudden mirth as they again met hers and the smirk that lit across his face almost demanded a set-down.

He wasn't disappointed.

"What's it to you whether or not I fall on account of my paying or not paying attention to my surroundings?" Isabella demanded, her entire body shaking with indignation as she willed herself not to start bawling in front of this insufferable man. She swallowed back the tears as she whispered in sharp defiance, "And never you mind about my boots!" Nobody talked bad about her daddy's boots. Especially him. He hadn't cared enough to be around when her daddy died, she could certainly care less about his over-inflated opinions now.

"Well, when I'm the one who's liable to get run into, I do my best to prevent the collision entirely." Ward was doing his best to keep his own ire under control. Then he realized she was close to tears and he knew he couldn't take that. He would much rather see her spitting fire at him than crying. He had to think fast. "However, it can be rather rewarding to rescue a damsel in distress." He flashed a broad smile and gave her a gentle squeeze before he set her softly back on the board walk. His words had the desired effect as he watched the irritation replace the sadness on her face, only to be quickly replaced with slight exasperation as she looked at his wide grin.

Because that was when she noticed a little piece of green stuck between his two front teeth.

Men! she thought dryly. Did they never look into a mirror?

"I thought you'd be gone by now," she retorted, the tiny speck of green distracting her so that she completely ignored his implied suggestion that she was, in fact, a damsel in distress.

"Well, I'm not," he answered slowly, slightly bemused by her lightning fast mood swings.

"So I see."

She crossed her arms and stared, her eyes pinching at the corners from glaring at him. Her fascination with the green speck had changed into anticipation as she waited. She wanted him to recognize her. He had to recognize her. He just had to. She really hadn't changed that much had she? And she still had the same name, unlike this two-facer before her. Her irritation returned as he just kept grinning at her with that blasted green speck lodged in his teeth. Her fingers itched with an overwhelming desire to just reach forward and pick it out. But that wouldn't be the thing at all. Annoyed that he still didn't remember her, she huffed and shook her head while stepping to the side to make her way down the stairs.

But as annoyed as she was, he had saved her from certain pain, and probably a knocked out tooth as well. This would also give her a chance to test her theory. She walked past him and heard him heave a long, drawn out sigh. Isabella looked over her shoulder and said, "Thanks for saving me…Eddie."

His body visibly stiffened and her only thought was gotcha.

A/N:

Belly: Hey, Melly.

Melly: Yes, Belly?

Belly: I've had a really eye opening week. A snowstorm knocked out my power, phone lines, and water. I've been living like Ward and Izzy for the past week.

Melly: And in the snow no less. I'll bet you're glad you have a wood burning stove!

Belly: Don't I ever. Remind me to give my hubby a kiss for insisting we put one in our fireplace.

Melly: So it's been a little while since we posted, do you think anyone is still with us?

Belly: I think we still have some loyal readers. And I think each and every one will show us some love by leaving a review.

Melly: I hope so because that would really encourage us to work fast to get chapter 7 out, and that's when things start getting good...

Belly: Oh, don't you know it. Hear that ladies, the West will start getting REALLY hot soon!

Melly: And you know that's the chapter when they begin to find out.........

Belly: All the good stuff....

Melly: And dream of Westward…..

Belly and Melly: *sigh*