As the sun began to fade, casting the sky around them into wisps of reds and purples, Joey slowed their pace and scanned their surroundings for a place they could make camp. It did not take him long to locate an appropriate place and he guided them easily to the spot. Ella slid down and stretched, letting her tired muscles have the movement they had craved for the past hour or so. When she turned, Joey pushed the horse's reins roughly into her hands. He began searching for wood to make a fire and before long they had a good campfire burning. They ate a small meager meal before Joey fetched two blankets from his horse and threw one towards her. Ella was not unused to sleeping out in the plains; she had done it many times in her youth and many more times with Dave on their journey to Mexico. She knew to expect a harsh cold night, but still the thought of this was not as chilling to her bones as Joey's current stubborn silence.

"Are you just going to treat me like I ain't here?" she finally asked in a small voice, the hurt clear in her tone.

"I know you are here" Joey said tersely, "I wanted you to come."

He began to pull off his boots, putting them down just beside where he was going to sleep.

"Why? Why did you want me to come?" She began to follow suit, unlacing her own boots. "You hardly said one word to me all the way here."

Joey glanced at her, "I was thinking" he said simply.

"About what?"

"Where I would go, I have decided" Joey said, lying back and covering himself. Ella pulled her own blanket closer to him knowing that sharing body heat would be more than welcome to both of them.

"Where?" she asked after he did not offer anything more.

"Crow Town." He rolled onto his side so he was facing away from her.

Ella's mouth turned in disgust, she guessed that in theory that was the best place for him to go, but she had no desire to go there. The filthy little place was known as a haven for cut-throats, robbers, killers and thieves, even lawmen hesitated about entering that tainted town. She lay down and pulled the cover over herself and glanced at him.

"Wish you'd told me that before I agreed to come" she mumbled.

"You are scared" he declared, his voice tinted with sleep. "You should not be, you will be with me." He gave a low sigh, signaling that he wished to sleep.

Ella took in a deep breath, she supposed he was right, she would not have anything to fear - not from the inhabitants of Crow Town at the very least but everything else was another matter.

"I didn't get anythin', I have nothin'." she said, chancing the words and hoping he would not flare into anger.

He sighed again. "I will buy you more when we get there" he said simply, pulling the blanket over his head, the action signaling that talking was now over.

Ella rolled onto her side and studied his back, finally after she felt sure his breathing had become shallow she shifted closer and hugged herself close, trying to stave off the cold shivers that were already clinging at her muscles.

---

Ella lost all track of time for how long they had ridden. Joey had awoken her before dawn that morning, they had been packed up and ready to leave before the first pink light began to make itself known in the sky. After shaking out there boots and eating a small meal comprising mainly of bread and water, Joey had pulled on a poncho to shield himself from the sun and wind before mounting his horse, Ella had to make do with one of the blankets she had slept under the night before. The task of holding it tightly around her became difficult as the hours of riding passed and her fingers stiffened from being forced into the same position for too long a time.

They had only paused once to rest and eat during their travelling at around mid-day, Ella could only reckon about time but she thought that now it was well past six o'clock in the evening, perhaps later, but the sun was still strong and made any accurate guessing impossible. She dozed quietly as they rode across the arid plain, her only wish, gradually growing in need as the hours passed, was that they would reach their destination soon. Even if it was Crow Town, somewhere to rest and be still for a while would help her regain her strength and will. She was slowly becoming aware how her muscles had begun to feel as if they were made of porridge and could not continue to support her for much longer.

She felt the horse begin to ascend a steep embankment and straightened her posture, looking around them and becoming full awake. Once at the top she looked down upon the scene that stretched out before them, Crow Town was spread in front of her eyes, Ella felt her gut recoil at the sight. The town was made up of shacks, crumbling adobes and pathetic stick houses, each one worse looking than her little house back in the village of Ojinaga. She quickly became fully aware as to how the place had gained its name, circling above them were black shapes, crows, and it was easy to see what attracted them. Dead animal carcasses littered the edge of the pathway through the town, a few of the black birds were perched on rib cages or skulls, picking at what rotten tidbits still lurked in hidden crevices.

Joey nudged the horse onwards and they began to descend into the accursed place. The smell instantly hit Ella, making her reel a little from the sudden shock of rotting flesh, sewage and dust. She wrinkled her nose trying to take small breaths through her mouth to limit the impact. Joey did not seem concerned with either the look or the smell of the place his face was calm and unconcerned.

Ella tried to focus her attention upon her surroundings, although the sights were not much better than the stink. An old Indian woman sat outside a stick hut, her look haggard, dirty and a little crazed, she muttered to herself as she stirred a large pot before her. Both Joey and Ella's attention was caught as a door banged to their right, a young woman was exiting a crude outhouse, pulling her skirts about her as she watched them. Ella tried to hide the revulsion she felt that the woman would even deem to come out in such an undressed state. She was sour faced and glared at them both before sending a gap toothed smile towards Joey; Ella instinctively tightened her grip around his waist.

Ella's attention was caught again by another movement to their left, a huge brown pig, bigger than any she had ever laid eyes on looked at them both with beady little eyes. The monstrous thing had been busy eating something upon a small hill and Ella suddenly felt glad she couldn't see what it feasted upon. Joey gave a casual glance to it before riding onwards.

They came to a stop beside a small cantina, the place was dilapidated and empty whiskey bottles were piled haphazardly outside. Ella slid down reluctantly, wishing harshly that they had just been riding through this place. Joey dismounted with ease and wrapped the horse's reins around a post, he gave her a glance before walking up to the battered cantina door and pushing it open, leaking sunlight into the dingy room inside. Ella followed him closely making sure she was mostly hidden from view, she highly doubted any men inside would be hospitable, or that many women inhabited this town, she did not want to draw any unwanted attention to herself.

She peered over his shoulder meekly to the small one roomed bar. Three well worn tables sat upon the dirt floor, a bar, pock marked and bullet ridden, stood on the far side, empty bottles stacked in a neat pile upon it. Three men sat at one table, the rest were empty.

A scruffy, balding man with spectacles was holding a hand of cards closely to his chest; he started at Joey's sudden entrance pressing the cards flat against his chest as if he were scared someone would discovcer his hand. Ella noticed that he rested one of his feet upon a chair, it was heavily bandaged but still blood soaked the dirty cloth. A rough, broad man with a large belly and a bushy dark mustache looked at them with curiosity. Lastly, sat between both, was a tall, lean man with sharp, birdish, mean features. He looked to be in his forties, was scarred, unshaven, but still had a magnetic quality to his demeanor. There was something about him that caught Ella's attention, some long distant forgotten memory, repressed by force, she searched her thoughts…

All three men stared at Joey who had obviously just interrupted their card game and drinking.

"Are there any empty houses in this town?" Joey asked coolly, their presence not ruffling him in the slightest.

The man with the mustache got up from his place and went to the bar. "No," he said with contempt, "who are you?"

"I am Joey Garza" he said simply, his tone stating without a hint of ego that they should already know this name.

Indeed they did appear to know the name as all three pairs of eyes descended upon him in interest, the silence lasted a moment before the lean man spoke, his eyes dancing as he studied the young man before him.

"The way to get domicile in this town, all ya gotta do is find a house you like…" he lazily fingered the cigar in his hand. "Kill whoever's in it and drag the victim up on the sand hill an' the devil pig'll do the rest." He placed the cigar in his mouth and puffed, creating a cloud of smoke.

Joey glanced over the man, a slight grimace touching lips. "What makes it a devil pig?" he asked calmly, "It only looks like a pig to me."

"It ain't just a pig, it's our town mascot. It has a tunnel to hell. It goes to see the devil every nigh…" The man with the bandage foot began but Joey had quickly tired of the conversation.

"Excuse me Senores" he said, closing the door behind him.

He turned to Ella. "Fetch the horse" he instructed her. Ella didn't hesitate; the prospect of staying a moment longer outside the cantina was not appealing. Joey mounted his horse and Ella walked behind. He pushed the horse forward, his eyes studying each place they passed, searching for something that would meet his standards. Finally he decided upon somewhere that seemed to gain his approval.

They travelled up to an adobe that already had a horse tethered outside; Ella quickly tethered their own beside it and glanced at Joey, her expression silently asking what they were doing. This place was already occupied, it would be unwise to meddle with anyone from Crow Town, it was only asking for trouble, who knew what kind of man lay within. A ghost of a smile touched Joey's lips as if her uncertainty and fear amused him; before he turned and with a violent movement, kicked open the door. The flimsily thing gave easily to the pressure and flapped back on its hinges with a loud bang. At the sound Ella heard noises of surprise, women's voices. She followed closely behind as he strode confidently inside, as if he already owned the place.

A drunken man was lying in bed with two plump, young Mexican whores, his mouth hung agape at being disturbed so bluntly.

"What the hell…" the man managed to blurt, his look threatening.

Joey gave him a cold look and indicated with a casual glance towards the open door that the man should leave. His gaze was almost lazy but so full of confidence that Ella found she shivered slightly in the aftermath of it. The two men stared at each other, the drunken man's face twisting in anger at this young boy daring to barge into his home and tell him to leave. Joey's expression clearly stated he knew the man's thoughts all too well, that he was thinking of fighting… Joey closed his eyes slowly, his own anger flashing through their blue depth as he reached down and cocked the gun in his holster. At the sound the man's annoyance seemed to melt away as if he had sensed something in the young man before him that he was not willing to face. He placed the bottle of whiskey he had been holding down upon a table and with his eyes never leaving Joey's form, he climbed out of the bed and gathered his clothing into his arms. Picking up his bottle, he edged timidly passed Joey and fled.

Joey casually kicked the door closed behind him and walked through the house ignoring the two women huddled together in the bed, their eyes stating how scared and unsure they were of the new owner. He walked up to a wooden beaded curtain and roughly pulled it back revealing an older white woman stood behind it. She flinched at his presence but quickly scurried out of his path, knowing it was better to stay out of most men's way. Joey gave a brief turn towards Ella and indicated with a lazy hand gesture that she was to follow him. Ella glanced at the three women, feeling uncomfortable in their presence, before hurrying after him; but then this whole town made her feel uneasy. She drew the curtain behind her and studied the small light room they had entered, the walls were made of sticks and let in a fair amount of sunlight, but it was at the back of the house, away from prying eyes at least. It had a good sized wooden bed, a wash basin with an attached mirror and a wooden table pushed against the wall. Ella did not move from the curtain, letting her eyes take in the place that she would now have to call home, at least for a while, as Joey laid his rifle down upon the table.

"I guess we got a new landlord" Ella heard one of the girls in the other room say.

"He's better looking than the old one."

"That don't mean he'll be any easier to live with."

Ella gave out a low sigh and tried to convince herself things were not as bad as they seemed.

---

Ella had not realized just how exhausted she was from the long ride. She stripped out of her dusty outer clothes and after giving the blankets they had brought with them a shake, replaced some of the less than clean sheets upon the bed before lying down and pulling the covers up to her chin, glad of the rest and comfort of a mattress beneath her. Joey did not take long to join her and they both fell into a light but restful sleep. When Ella again awoke it was dark and the air about them was chill, she pulled the cover further over herself and huddled closer to Joey's warm body. But no matter how she tried to fall back into slumber it would not come and take her. She looked out through the cracks in the room, the clear night sky visible with the stars twinkling like small jewels.

Her thoughts again returned to the unpleasant subject of what would become of her in this place she did not even wish to be in. What had possessed her to follow Joey; his cold demeanor to her had felt all the more chilling now they were alone, as she was left to rely solely on him for everything in this dangerous town…

The regrets came hard and fast and she bitterly pitied herself for allowing any of it to get this far.