Corky was running toward the Bolt brothers, motioning them for help. The three brothers began running toward Lottie's, followed closely by Corky and Aaron, who had grabbed his double-barreled shotgun on the way out the door of the mill.

The men reached Lottie's quickly, and as they threw open the doors, Aaron leveled his shotgun at the figure of a man who had been holding Lottie in his arms a moment earlier.

"Get your hands off her or I'll blow you to Kingdom Come," Aaron shouted at the man in a voice that would have frightened even the notorious Jesse James.

As the man stepped away from Lottie and turned around to face the group of intruders, Lottie shouted at Aaron, "Stop it! Put your gun away! He means no harm! It's Harry! Gentleman Harry!"

Jason, Joshua, Jeremy, Aaron, and Corky's mouths all dropped open in surprise. But Aaron kept a firm grip on his shotgun.

Once he recovered from the initial shock, Aaron shouted back, "The last time he was here he brought nothing but trouble, along with some dangerous bounty hunters! We don't need his kind here, Lottie! Step away from him, Lottie. He's obviously escaped from prison and on the run. Now march to the jail, and THIS time, we'll make sure you can't escape!"

Jeremy was the first Bolt brother to find his voice. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute, Aaron! Harry, what are you doing here? Why are you out of prison? What happened?"

Harry was finally allowed to speak. "Jeremy, my lad, it's good to see you again! And this is all perfectly legal! My sentence was commuted by the Governor and the Warden in an act of charity for some services I rendered."

"Services rendered, my backside," Aaron scoffed.

"I have proof!" Harry started to reach into his jacket pocket, but Aaron quickly leveled his shotgun again at Harry's chest, anticipating Harry pulling a gun. Harry slowly opened his jacket so Aaron could see he was not carrying a pistol. Aaron lowered the shotgun a couple of inches, but kept a wary eye on Harry. Harry withdrew an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Jeremy. Jeremy opened the envelope and pulled out a very official-looking document, complete with gold governmental seal. He showed the document to Aaron.

"Here's your proof, Aaron. Now put the gun down."

Aaron held his position with his shotgun and growled, "Then why were you attacking Lottie?"

Lottie walked in between Harry and Aaron's shotgun. She pushed the barrel of the shotgun down as she shouted at Aaron, "He wasn't attacking me, you fool! He was consoling me!"

The men could now see that Lottie had been crying,

"I was telling Harry about the changes that had happened since he'd been here." She paused and looked down at the floorboards as she continued, "Including Clancey's passing"

Harry came up behind Lottie and handed her his handkerchief as he stared at Aaron to see if he would stand down now.

Aaron slowly lowered his shotgun, and Harry softly let out a long breath.

Aaron whirled around to face Corky, who immediately jumped back several paces and put his hands up in an imploring fashion towards Aaron.

"Sorry, Aaron! I guess I was wrong! It just looked like... That is, when I saw him through the window... I just thought..."

Jason could see that Corky wanted to disappear into the woodwork. "Corky, what are you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be clearing the plot I told you about earlier."

Corky was relieved to switch the focus to the Bolt brothers.

"Yeah, yeah. I came down to tell you we've got a problem up there, and need you up there before we lose any more time."

"Well, that's one thing we can't afford to lose with that new contract! Joshua! Jeremy! Let's get that contract signed and get back to work!"

The brothers headed back to Aaron's office, as Corky headed back to the mountain. Aaron turned back to Harry, and said in a menacing tone, "Enjoy your little visit to Seattle, but don't even THINK of staying." It was an obvious warning,

The room became silent after everyone had left, but an overwhelming sense of sadness permeated the space. Harry slipped his hands into his pockets and stared at the door. "I wonder if it will be like that for the rest of my life."

Lottie slowly came to him and gently put her arms around him.

"Let's take a walk, Harry."