Ruth, Camille, and Lydia had managed to get to Franklin without further mishap personal or otherwise.

It wasn't the first time Ruth had been to Franklin as the town was where the Santa Fe trail started, but it looked a lot different from last time. A big flood had swept through the town a couple years back, causing folks to relocate a little further north. One thing that hadn't changed was that it was full of merchants looking to make a dollar from those heading further west. The town thrived despite the disaster.

They made it to the office just minutes after Bill and Kid did.

They must have presented a surprising contrast with a woman wearing fancy, bright silks that showed enough skin to mark her profession, a lady in a plainer more modest garb carrying a Bible, and a young girl whose dress had seen better days for all three men seemed downright flabbergasted by their appearance together.

Ruth went over to Kid and hugged him, relieved to feel him in her arms again. This past week had felt like an eternity. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, but I wish you wouldn't have come," he reiterated. He was worried that Ruth might get considered an accomplice in all this lunacy.

"Ma'am, this is a hardened criminal you're conversing with, I suggest you back up and give the prisoner a wide berth. You don't know what he's capable of," said a snappily dressed man somewhere in his 40s. He was clearly the owner.

"Prisoner by whose authority? You don't look like a sheriff to me," Ruth said.

"I'm Edgar Hunter and it's a citizen's arrest. This man stole from my company and I intend to see that he doesn't steal from me or anybody else again or gun anybody else down for that matter. This man is a menace."

Ruth didn't like the sound of that. If she'd hoped to find a strain of mercy in this man, those hopes were gone.

"Kid Cole is not the man you're looking for," Camille said.

"If you'll pardon me," said Bill. He'd already been given the money and intended to leave.

"Hold it," said Edgar, "You're not going anywhere until these women have their say. I doubt it'll make a difference though. Go on."

"Who you're looking for is some 16 year old boy using Kid's name to rob your coaches," Camille revealed.

"And how would you know?" Edgar asked with a scoff.

Camille lifted her head higher and Ruth wondered if she really felt that pride or if it was a mask to hide her shame as she answered, "Because I heard it from one of my women."

"One of your women?" he repeated.

"I'm a madame. This woman isn't the kind to lie either. If she says the boy told her he did it, he did it."

"And how do you know that this boy wasn't simply bragging to try to impress her?" he returned.

"Because I know Kid and it isn't his style. If he needs money, he doesn't go and take it from somebody. He always comes by it honestly even before he went and got religion."

"You expect me to take the word of a soiled dove over the witnesses I have that were there?"

Camille shot Ruth a look that said I-told-you-so. She was chalking it up as a lost cause already.

Ruth asked, "What about me? I can vouch for his whereabouts everyday for the past 2 years. I'm his wife. Ain't that enough for you?"

"Not when you're so personally involved. Sorry, ma'am. I understand that he's your husband and you don't want to see his neck in a noose, but you got to understand that my company will go under if these attacks continue."

Lord help us, she prayed. The words had been a mantra in the past few days, not because of a lack of faith or because she thought He couldn't hear her, but because it calmed her and she did trust that He was listening and would soon give her an answer.

"Don't you know who this is?" Lydia demanded rather indignantly. Her hands were perched on her hips. "This is Sister Ruth. The revival and healer lady and you ain't going to take her word for it?"

His demeanor immediately changed. "I—I'm sorry. I wasn't aware of that. I guess that does put things in a new light. You're sure you can account for his whereabouts?"

"We ain't even been in Missouri until just recently," Ruth replied.

"Well, I suppose I can't condemn an innocent man. You may free him, Mrs. Cole."

Ruth wasted no time. She was pleased to see that although the ropes had been tight enough to keep him from undoing them, they hadn't been so tight as to leave marks.

Kid gave a sigh of relief, both for escaping the noose and the increased blood flow now that his arms weren't tied behind his back.

Ruth had been starting to regret her well-known name after the hotel incident, but maybe a well-known name had its good points too. Still, if not for Kid's well-known name, they might not be in this mess in the first place.

"It isn't enough I've got to compete with the river. Why if it wasn't for that blasted—forgive my language, ma'am—thief, I'd have a lot more money lining my pockets." He looked to Bill who'd been slowly inching his way toward the door, hoping for an unnoticed escape. "You can't possibly keep the reward money. Hand it over now or I'll be forced into another citizen's arrest."

"Why can't I? I brought you Kid Cole just like the notice said," Bill almost whined.

"But he didn't actually rob the coaches, did he?" Edgar shot back.

"Now it didn't say that," Bill pointed out, looking most pitiful. "It only said you wanted Kid Cole and you got him."

"You got the money to take it to court over the wording? That's a mere technicality. It should have been clear enough, I wanted the thief."

Bill parted with the money, his eyes never leaving it until it was tucked away in Edgar's pocket. "Doggone, lady. You couldn't have waited 5 minutes until I got gone with the money?"

"I tried to warn you that he was innocent, but you wouldn't listen," Ruth said, "but I'll pray that God gives you a way out of your financial trouble."

"I'd like to see that," Bill said. "I don't see God letting it rain money anytime soon." The old man left as penniless as he came and Ruth couldn't help feeling a twinge of sympathy for him.

"I don't suppose I could impose on you to find the real person behind the robberies?" he asked Kid. He at least had the sense to be hesitant about it after his former hardnosed attitude.

"Oh, I'll find him," Kid said with a determined look that would have made most men squirm, "not because I care what happens to your company, but because I don't like the idea of somebody going around masquerading as me. This was too close a call for comfort. He'll be sorry that he ever heard of my name."