"You don't have anythin' any smaller than this?"

Vin had to laugh at the disbelieving, sceptical look on Amy's face as she held up her good arm. She was dressed in a white man's shirt, and the sight was one to behold. The shirt reached down to her knees, and the sleeves over hung her hand considerably, causing her to flap her hand in an aggravated manner that made Vin think of a baby bird trying to fly. Gloria Potter stood beside him, her brow furrowed,

"Not in men's clothing, I have some dresses here that mi…"

"No!" Amy attempted to hold her hand up in protest, but the result was the overhanging sleeve flapping in Mrs Potter's direction, "No dresses. No skirts. An' definitely no damn corsets!" Vin had to suppress a chuckle as he looked over at Mrs Potter, it was clear from the bemused expression on the older woman's face that she had no idea just what to make of Amy.

"Well….erm….are you sure Miss? Just, that looks rather large for you…"

Amy was looking down, concentrating on trying to roll up the sleeve, but getting nowhere fast with only one hand, the distraction causing her words to come out slowly and mumbled,

" I'm…sure…Argh!" she had let out the little yell at the end in frustration, as what she had managed to roll up of the sleeve, unravelled back down past her hand. Vin stepped forward to help her, but she stepped backwards shaking her head at him, accompanied with a glare that he was becoming all too well accustomed to. He couldn't help but wonder to himself whether everyone received this honour from her, or if he was particularly privileged in this respect. She turned her attention back to Mrs Potter,

"I'm sure. It's bad enough this is white," she had been persistent in the fact that she had wanted dark clothing, she had said that white was too easy to get dirty, but after trying on the few dark shirts Mrs Potter had in stock, she had been forced to try on the white shirts also. "This'll do," she chewed down on the words in consideration, "How much for this one, a couple of the dark ones, and couple a' pair of the black trousers?"

Mrs Potter returned to her position behind the register, and wrote down the items in her stock book, calculating the amount, "That'll be four dollars in total."

If he hadn't have been already looking in her direction, Vin would have missed the momentary flash of panic on Amy's face, before she reached into her pockets. Digging into his own pockets, he grasped at the few coins he could feel,

"Allow me," he thrust the coins into Mrs Potter's hand smiling warmly at her, before Amy could say anything. He could feel her glare boring into the back of his skull, but he had known that she wouldn't be happy about him paying for the clothes before he had chosen to take the money out of his pocket. Sure enough, when they had left 'Potter's' and were back on the main street, she gave him the ribbing he had been expecting to receive,

"Where do you get off actin' all high an' mighty like that?" she was practically spitting the words out, and her eyes were blazing with rage. She knew that passers-by in the street were turning to look in shock at the spectacle she was causing, but she was too enraged to care. He had humiliated her, in the worst way she could think of,

"I'm no scrounger Mr Tanner! I don' need to rely on nobody in this world, especially not you! I can pay my own way, I've been takin' care of myself so far an'"

"An' look how that's turned out so far" Vin's response caught her off guard, instead of shouting back at her as she had expected, he had gentle said the words in what she could only place as a concerned manner, as he gently lifted her elbow that was poking out from her sling ever so slightly. Still furious she instinctively went to pull her elbow away from his grasp, but he had obviously been expecting this as her elbow didn't move. She could feel her blood boiling at his actions,

"Don't pretend like you know the first thing about me, cause you don't!"

He looked down at her carefully. His eyes were kind,

"I know that, an' I'm not." He released her elbow so gently, that it took her a few minutes to realise he was no longer holding her, "I didn't mean to insult or embarrass ya', it fact I only meant the opposite." She cradled her elbow with her free hand, it was unharmed, his touch had been almost as gentle as Nathan's when he had been fixing her up, but she didn't want him touching it again. It made her feel vulnerable, and there was nothing she hated more than looking like the little vulnerable girl people imagined her to be.

"How did you think payin' for me was gonna not embarrass me?" Her voice wasn't as harsh this time, not because she had calmed down, but because she was confused herself about what he could try and say to redeem himself. She noticed his gaze was focused on her hand still supporting her elbow, his brow furrowing in what she presumed to be a mixture of concern and guilt. Realising that he must be thinking that he had hurt her when he had grabbed her, she dropped her arm down to her side as quickly as she could.

"It was only tha', I saw the look on your face when Mrs Potter said the price, an'…it looked like ya' didn't have the money on ya'…an' I knew I had that much on me." He paused, raising his eyes from where they had been staring at her elbow to look at her face, "I figured I'd pay for them in the shop, an' you can pay me back when ya' go back to ya' hotel and get the money…" His words had grown quieter as he finished, unsure about how Amy would react to this. He was watching her intently, but he couldn't read her expression. Her anger was gone now, but he wasn't sure if he had preferred it when she had been angry, at least then he had been able to tell how she was feeling.

Amy stared up at him, studying his eyes closely for a moment. He was being genuine. She dropped her eyes and forced herself to take deep breaths, she could feel the colour rising in her cheeks, and she couldn't afford to look anymore of a fool than she already felt.

"I'm sorry," she had meant for the words to come out louder, but instead they left her mouth a whisper.

"You weren't ta' know," the softness in his tone only added to the guilt and embarrassment she was feeling. She looked up to meet his gaze again, this time a little less flustered,

"Doesn' matter. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that at you. It's just…" her eyes grew serious, "I ain't nobody's charity." The words left her mouth with such disdain. He smiled at her, not a mocking or jesting smile, but a sincere one,

"I know."

But she didn't. A sick feeling grew in Amy's stomach. She would pay Vin back for the clothes, she would have forced him to take the money, even if he hadn't have planned for her to do so. She had already had an argument with Chris and Mary about staying in the hotel yesterday. A man with whooping cough had been brought to see Nathan, and so she had had to leave the room in his clinic. She's had no problem with this of course, she had already discharged herself from his care as soon as he had finished treating her arm, but it meant that Nathan had mentioned to Chris and Mary that Amy needed to stay somewhere in town. Naturally she had refused to intrude on either of them and their homes, so the two had plucked together and forced her to stay in a hotel. She hadn't minded this that much either, it was the fact that upon attempting to pay the concierge at the counter, she had been informed with a beaming smile that her bill was taken care of for as look as she was under 'town-arrest' by Nathan. Vin paying for her would have been too much for her to bear, she already felt like enough of a charity case.

"Shall we?"

The sound of Vin's voice interrupted her from the contemplation, and she looked over to him, standing with a slight smile on his face, and his arms raised gesturing down the street. She managed to throw him back a smile, which she could tell by the gob-smacked look on his face, he wasn't expecting.

Buck Wilmington jumped down from the horse, giving it a gentle pat as he walked away from tying it up in the livery. Chris was standing outside, lighting a cigar as Buck walked up to him.

"Oh Purgatory, I haven't missed you one lil' bit."" Buck called out, looking around him at their surroundings, "actually, maybe I have…" he grinned noticing a passing woman.

Chris laughed at his friend, and scouted around the town quickly with his eyes.

"Looks like Purgatory mighta' missed you too," Buck motioned his head over towards a young woman, adding with a smile, "stud."

Chris looked over to where the woman was stood. He recognised her immediately, it was Maria, a prostitute who had been kind to him, in more ways than one, the last few times he had visited the town of Purgatory. It had been months since he'd last been here, the week in which Ella had come back into his life in-fact. He'd been drowning his sorrows with Maria for company the day before he's encountered her again, the anniversary of his wife and son's deaths. Maria was walking over towards him, a welcoming smile on her face,

"Hello stranger," her thick Mexican accent, drawling over the words, "Long time, no see."

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit Pard," Buck winked at Chris as he began to walk past the pair. Chris opened his mouth to shout after him, but Buck had already turned around to face him, arms up in the air and still walking backwards, "Don't worry, I know we're here on business, no….funny business an' tha'," he grinned as he walked away. Even though his tone was jokingly, Chris knew that Buck would stay focused and on task. He averted his gaze from his friend walking away and back to Maria. She was now supporting a mock pout on her pretty face,

"That sounds like no fun for us," she threw him a wicked smile as she spoke the words. He smiled in an apologetic manner briefly before a solemn expression filled his face again, "'Fraid not Maria, I need your help. Can I ask you some questions?"