Kathryn screamed in frustration and kicked a clump of dirt, sending it soaring into the woods.

She couldn't believe this had happened!

"Percy, you're on first watch tonight."

Kathryn whipped her head up at Howie's growled order. What did he think he was doing?!

"Why? The girl's been doing just fine."

"Exactly, Kathryn has been doing guard duty every night for the last week." Giving her a sympathetic smile he said "No offense, but you look ready to keel over any second. And besides, on a normal cattle drive, everyone contributes to keeping watch. So I'm taking second."

Kathryn opened her mouth. There really was no need! She wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. And since she'd be awake, might as well be doing something useful.

Howie held up a hand. "Comes straight from the boss."

Looking over at where Nick was still laid up, she saw him talking with John, Luther and Ernest.

She gave a low growl.

Of course it did. A bunch of men figuring she couldn't do the job because she was a woman and weaker.

She took a threatening step toward the group—

"Ree?"

She stopped and blinked owlishly, her brain trying to think clearly.

She turned slowly back around to find—

"Chuck." She breathed softly.

He gave her a small smile in return. "I was thinking of sitting on your hill. I was going to ask for permission, but maybe you'd rather join me?"

Kathryn smiled wickedly. "Mr. Barkley owes you."

He returned her smile, his vivid blue eyes twinkling mischievously. "I'm aware. Your... murderous, intent was quite clear."

Kathryn gasped dramatically, placing a hand to her chest. "Me? But, sir, I am no threat. I am just a woman."

Chuck shook his head with a chuckle. "Anyone who is dumb enough to think that, deserves what they get from you for revenge."

Nick snapped his head up to observe the camp.

He has been braced for a fight for when Howie informed Kathryn of the changes going to be made to the watch schedule.

That had been awhile ago.

Since they had all conspired, he had made sure to have Luther, John and Ernest around to get her to see reason.

... But she was nowhere to be seen.

"Howie, have you seen—" He stopped and moved around, trying to stand up.

Instantly, the other men were gently restraining him. "Mr. Barkley, please, don't move."

"Well, if you don't want me moving, go find out why he is carrying Kathryn into camp!" Nick snapped, pointing at Chuck, who was indeed, carrying Kathryn bridal style into camp.

Before anyone could obey, he made it to her bedroll and, laying her down gently, covered her with her blanket.

Walking over he told them "I got her to lay down and once I started talking about how everything now had a schedule and what that schedule was, she just drifted off."

After a second, Nick growled "Guess I owe you one."

Chuck smiled impishly. "For more than just that." At Nick's quirked brow, he jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "After Howie talked to her, she had quite the thundercloud on her face. You're lucky she wasn't around with her bow; I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have hesitated to shoot you." Growing serious he added "If you're going to keep underestimating her, I just might stop stepping in and let her show you just how wrong you are." Without waiting for a response, he turned his back to them and walked away.

After a beat, Raphael gave a soft woof that, if Nick didn't know any better, sounded like a laugh.

"You be quiet."

Kathryn came awake with a violent start.

When had she fallen asleep?!

The last thing she remembered was listening to Chuck—

Chuck... Kathryn shook her head in amusement. He had better watch his back— And someone had carried and "tucked" her into her bed roll!

She angrily got to her feet and started walking toward the pen that currently housed the herd. Bunch of conspiring old women, that's what they were! Well—

She stopped dead in her tracks.

Under the brightly shining moon she could see that one of the posts was down and the herd was slowly trickling out.

She swore and looked wildly around for—

"Percy!" She screamed in the sleeping man's face as she shook him roughly.

He blearily blinked his eyes open. When he saw her, he scowled and opened his mouth—

They had no time! "The fence is down and we're losing the herd." She felt malicious satisfaction when his face blanched.

Huffing in frustration, she ran back to the camp and quietly roused John and Ernest.

When they were awake, she held a finger to her lips to quiet their questions. Nick did not need to know what was going on!

"We have a problem; the fence is down, we're losing the herd. I'm going to go find any we might have lost. Do not tell Nick!"

Both men nodded in acknowledgment of the serious situation with the cattle and Nick; knowing he would be up trying to help or thundering his displeasure.

Kathryn grabbed her bow and quiver, her teeth bared as she thought angrily "And this is what happens when I'm not on watch!"

—

Which led to her current situation.

Even though the moon had been shining brightly, there was only so much she could see at night. She had followed what she thought was trampled ground for about two miles. She was hoping that it was just the nighttime darkness otherwise, from what she could tell, it wasn't one or two heads she was following, but quite a lot.

She was going to kill Percy! What had he been thinking, sleeping while on watch?!

She knew the men were getting... uneasy.

If Jesse had gotten to Stockton after that first day, he should have been back with reinforcements on the fifth day.

With the sun now risen, it was now the eighth day.

Kathryn was keeping an eye on their food rations and they were doing... OK, but she herself was getting a little antsy.

And with Nick slowly getting his strength back, she was worried that any day he'd ignore her pleas to wait for the OK from Dr. Merar and, wagon or no wagon, stubbornly "finish" the drive.

And now with the missing cattle!
She couldn't do it anymore! She was anxious, tired, angry...

She fell to her knees and, burying her face in her hands, sobbed.

She had tried so hard to make this work! She helped Luther with the cooking, helped out where needed around camp, had kept watch over Nick while he was unconscious and the cattle every night—

And she had failed.

They were missing who knew how many head and it was her fault. She should have never relinquished keeping watch over the herd! It had just been so... nice; nice to have someone in charge, making decisions, taking the burden from her. It had been nice to let go, to breathe, to not have to worry because someone else—

She stopped, her ears catching the sound of...

Creaking wood, the jangle of tack and voices; lots of voices.

She scrambled clumsily to her feet and staying under the protection of the trees, caught herself before she sobbed in relief.

Help had arrived.

Heath stood up in his stirrups again for the umpteenth time.

Seeing no sign of the campsite, he sighed heavily and plopped back down in his saddle.

He raised an eyebrow in question when he heard Jarrod's chuckle.

"I am anxious to see him, too. Though I am concerned for his well-being; your concern is compounded by guilt." Jarrod observed gently.

He wasn't wrong.

Heath — usually so calm, collected and the opposite of Nick — was having a hard time as he struggled to keep his growing frustration in check, making his ire worse as well.

They didn't have enough men! Which meant that some of the injured men would have to stay behind.

They had to get to Nick!

"Mr. Barkley?"

He whipped around, angry as a kicked hornet's nest, to find—

"Sorry it took us so long. The work is done in the pasture for the new herd. On our way back, Ben found us and told us the news. We packed up right away. If you're ready, Mr. Barkley, I know we've got only about four or five hours left of daylight, but we're ready."

Heath found Ben with his eyes and, giving him a nod of gratitude, turned to Jarrod.

"Let's go."

"I see them!"

Heath looked to where Jesse was pointing and, sure enough, he could see people and a campsite.

He and Jesse broke off to ride ahead of everyone else.

"Mr. Barkley! Boy, howdy, are we glad to see you."

Heath gave John a distracted nod of acknowledgement, the man having taken Charger's reins when Heath had leapt from the saddle. Heath's eyes searched the campsite, praying—

"Well, Jesse, seems like you succeeded in getting us help. I knew my instincts were right about you."

Heath stopped dead in his tracks, his mind processing that Nick was awake, talking and, smiling.

"Ah, Brother Nick, it's good to see that your humility was not damaged along with your body." Jarrod greeted. As he passed Heath, he gave his shoulder a firm grip, grounding him and assuring. Walking forward, he and Dr. Merar knelt next to Nick, who was sitting up, propped against a tree.

Nick rolled his eyes, before meeting Heath's and pleading "Heath, a little help here."

Heath's brain was not working. Nick didn't seem to be mad at him. He—

"Where's Miss Kathryn?" Jesse panted out.

John ran a hand through his blonde hair and confessed with a mumble "We... had some trouble last night."

"What?!" Nick roared, glaring furiously at the man shifting from one foot to the other.

"The fence was down. We... we lost 14 heads."

Nick growled, letting his head "thunk" back against the tree, much to Merar's displeasure, evident by the noise of disapproval he gave. "Well, I know Kathryn wasn't on watch. In the last week, we had no problems when she was and she would never let that happen."

Jarrod arched a brow at the declaration. "The last week; please tell me she's been sharing those watch duties and hasn't been staying up all night for the last seven nights."

Nick pointed an accusing finger at him. "You're no better when it comes to dealing with her! Sure, you talk at her, but does she listen? She does her own thing without permission." He slumped slightly, exhausted by his vehement rationalization. "But, you are right. I've been distracted by how much I hurt and frustrated that I can't do anything. I'll admit, it was... nice. I didn't have to be in charge, because Kathryn was. She had things under control. The men were willing to follow her." When John gently cleared his throat, Nick sighed. "Well, almost all. She was helping Luther with the cooking, helping out where needed and— ... it had to be pointed out to me that not everyone was contributing and that she was taking on everything all by herself; most noticeably, the watches. Since everyone had been getting a full night's sleep, I figured it was a good time to share the load. So, John, where is Kathryn?"

John sighed heavily, knowing he was in trouble. "I'm sorry, Mr. Barkley, I really don't know. She woke up Ernest and me about the downed fence. I think she said she was going to go track down any that were loose."

Nick's glare made his blood freeze. "She went out, tracking cattle who had been missing who knows how long... alone, in the dark."

Jarrod bit the inside of his cheek as John started sputtering his defense. "Now, Nick, weren't we just discussing how Kathryn does what she wants without permission?"

"Or common sense it would seem!" Sighing heavily in resignation he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "John, start getting the men packed up; we're heading out."