Part Five

Wanted: Dead or Alive

"I can't breathe!" Mary gasped as she clutched her stomach and struggled for air. The lack of oxygen reaching her lungs had little to do with the fact that she, Inez, Alex and Julia had raced across town in a desperate bid to get as much distance between the bank and herself. Instead as they came to a pause in an alley away from the crowds who were rushing towards the commotion she had created, the adrenalin that had spurred to her rescue her friends had more or less dwindled. Like a cold splash of water against her skin, Mary Travis realized with sudden and acute clarity what she had done.

"What is it? Are you hurt?" Alex asked as she approached Mary upon hearing the widow's laboured breathing. Meanwhile Inez kept a vigil at the mouth of the alley to ensure no one was in pursuit. Fortunately, the alley did not culminate in a dead end as it ran between the large hotel and large general store. Outside in the main street, they could heard frantic voices shouting with excitement as the commotion regarding the destruction at the bank spread through town like wildfire.

"No, I'm not hurt!" Mary exclaimed, with nothing less than pure panic in her blue grey eyes as she looked up at Alex with wide eyed fear. "I just blew up a bank!" At the time, she had felt no fear, no worries about what she was doing only the welfare of her friends had been paramount in her mind. However, now that the danger has passed for the moment at least, the enormity of what she suddenly overwhelmed her. Mary found herself leaning against the wall breathing hard, almost doubled over as she struggled to breath while at the same time coming to grips with what she had done.

"You came to our rescue!" Julia reminded. "It was extremely brave! I am sure Mr. Larabee would have been proud."

"Don't mention the C word!" Alex hissed at the petite redhead because she knew just how Mary would react to that comment.

"Oh my God!" Mary groaned in realization just as Alex had predicted. The doctor winced grimaced as Mary descended into darker depths of despair while throwing Julia a frowned look. "I forgot about Chris!"

"If it makes you feel any better, we're in the same boat." Alex implored. "People saw us all leave!" The doctor said trying to help Mary breathe normally before she had an attack of serious hyperventilation. "Vin is never going to let me live this down either."

"Not to mention, Ezra." Julia retorted. "When I think of the smug way he is going to stare at me, full of southern superiority, I just want to wipe that slimy grin off his face. ."

"Hey!" Alex said to Julia sharply. "Let's not lose it here." She turned to Mary once again. "Mary, you did what had to be done. If it was not for you, we'd still be trapped in there with that lunatic and his hired killers."

"Yes, I know but I blew up a bank!" Mary declared frantically. She could not even begin to imagine the world of trouble she had descended upon herself and her companions. The entire town would be mobilized and hunting for their heads.

"Chris is going to kill me!" Mary gushed, shaking her head in disbelief at her actions since leaving Four Corners She hardly recognized herself in the wake of the things she had been called on to do during this trip. "He is literally going to kill me."

"Of course, he's not." Alex rolled her eyes in exasperation wondering how someone as cool as Mary Travis could go to such pieces. In light of what she had just done to save them all, it seemed somewhat trivial to be worrying about what Chris Larabee would do. Although secretly, Alex would give her right arm to see the look on the gunslingers face when he came riding into town and found out that Mary blew up a building and was probably wanted for bank robbery or destruction of property, which ever came first. In fact, now that Alex thought about it, the look on Chris' face would almost be as priceless as the look on Vin's face when he learnt of their adventures.

Suddenly, she could understand why Mary was hyperventilating.

"Well think of it this way," Alex sighed unable to see anything positive now that she had a chance to consider the situation in depth. "Chances are, you will be locked up with the rest of us long before Chris could ever get his hands on you."

"Alex!" Julia swatted her on the arm. "This is hardly the time for your twisted sense of humour." The eastern glared at her reproachfully.

"I'll have you know Vin loves my twisted sense of humour." Alex said in her most dignified voice and then turned back to Mary. On a more serious note, she leaned closer to the widow whose breathing was still frantic. In a completely different tone of voice, Alex decided to lay it on the line for her. "Mary we need you to be strong for us or none of us will get out of this alive. So please, pull yourself together because we need to decide what to do now. It won't be long before Preston comes after us and you know he will because we still have what he wants."

"Come on Mary." Julia lent support to Alex's argument now that the doctor was making the effort to reach the widow sensibly instead of her half witted attempts at humour. Julia found that Alexandra Styles often resorted to that habit whenever she felt threatened. Julia could not blame her or Mary for being so shaken at what was happening to them, not when she felt similar tendrils of fear sneaking up her spine as she recounted how easy Preston had found it to order Selena to have them all killed. She had no doubt whatsoever that if not for Mary's timely arrival, they would have been dead by nightfall.

"We better get moving!" Inez cried out as she came running down the aisle towards them. The lady bartender stopped short when she saw the group had frozen in place like flies trapped in amber. There was no time for such delays, not when it appeared she had seen Selena and Burke on the street combing the area for them. "What are you waiting for?" The Mexican looked at them in question. They had to get moving now.

"Mary's a little upset." Alex explained glancing at the newspaperwoman's direction.

"I'm not surprised! She just blew up a bank!" Inez retorted and then saw how quiet Mary was. It was too strange for her to deal with and in truth, they had not the time for it. "Don't worry, I've seen her like this before." The bartender reassured the other two women as she took a closer step towards Mary before giving the widow a gentle shove. "Snap out of it!" Inez barked without any tact whatsoever. "Those two are on the streets out there looking for us. We've got to leave now." Instinctively, Alex and Julia's gazes shifted involuntarily at the direction from which Inez had just come.

Inez's words seemed to reach Mary and the blond let out a deep breath, dispelling her fears and calming herself at the same time. After a moment, she looked up at them and allowed her gaze to sweep across their faces as she felt the same surge of adrenalin rushing through her veins that had allowed her to rescue them so fearlessly. "Let's get off the streets first," Mary said quietly. "We can decide what to do when we are not exposed for anyone to just find us."

"It's a plan." Inez threw her a comforting smile as Mary started walking down the opposite direction of the alley.

As they started walking, Alex noticed Julia Pemberton eying her with an accusatory gleam in her emerald coloured eyes. "What?" Alex asked, feeling self conscious by the woman's gaze.

"Why didn't you think of that?" Julia asked with a smug smile.

"Oh shut up." Alex retorted and walked on ahead with Julia wearing a satisfied smirk.

Mary strode down the alley, trying to decide what to do when she saw the rear entrance of the hotel. With the need to get off the streets imperative now, it seemed like no better place than any other to seek refuge while they came up with a new strategy. Obviously now it was impossible to remain in Winston Falls with the destruction of the bank not to mention the formidable presence of the mercenaries who were not doubt hunting them at this moment. Once the pandemonium caused by the bank had died down, questions would be asked and no doubt blame would require assignment. The staff inside the damage premises had seen her and would undoubtedly offer her as the only suspect.

"In here." She said to Inez as Mary gave the door knob an experimental twist and found to her relief that it was not locked.

"Good," Inez let out a sigh of relief. "We really need to get out of town."

"We'll never make it out of here unless we can get past those two not to mention the law, when they get around looking." Mary replied as they entered the building.

"You think they will?" Julia asked, her eyes darting around the kitchen area they had entered.

"I guarantee it." Alex retorted, returning the suspicious looks being flashed by the kitchen staff as the four women intruded on their domain. The Four Corners quartet attempted to look casual as they moved through the tables where kitchen hands were preparing food while chef stood over steamy pots and pans and performed their culinary expertise of the aromatic concoctions within.

Leaving the steamy heat of the kitchen, they proceeded down the corridor that would eventually take them to the front desk of the hotel when suddenly Inez caught sight of something that gave her an idea. "Mary," she hissed. "In here."

The woman quickly slipped into the room without hesitation and will full expectation that her companions would follow. Mary wrinkled her brow in confusion as did Julia and Alex until they saw the sign on the door.

L A U N D R Y

The three women entered the room hastily and shut the door behind them once they were through . The room was filled with hampers that were filled with laundry awaiting the wash. The smell of detergent was heavy in the air as Inez went rummaging through the clothes. There hats awaiting brushing down perched on shelves, along with shoes that needed cleaning and linen and other garments. Several wash buckets and an internal pump stood on the left wall of the room, no doubt where the actual laundering would take place.

"Please tell me, you're joking." Julia said with distaste as she saw Inez fish out a pair of dark trouser from one pile and slung it over her shoulder. "Please tell me you're not expecting us to do what I think you are." The easterner wrinkled her nose in obvious dislike to the possibility of what was looming fast into reality.

"It's the only way." Inez replied without looking up at her as she continued her search.

"Inez is right," Mary agreed. "Everyone is looking for four women, at least they will be soon enough." The editor of the Clarion News took a tentative step forward, examining which hamper she would begin her search and decided very quickly that the one closest to her was as good as any. "We can't keep up this game of cat and mouse any longer. We've got to stay in town long enough for the men to find us. If we keep running from town to town, we're definitely going to get ourselves caught or killed."

"But they're all dirty." Julia whined as she saw Inez having selected herself some rather drab clothing The lady bartender wasted no time in starting to remove her clothes. "Hurry up!" Inez urged as she prepared to strip down her skirt. "We don't have a lot of time!"

"Come on Julia," Alex sighed as she took the woman's elbow and led her forward towards the motley collection of clothes. "Its time to find you that special look."

Seacourt was on a quest. He had seen the destruction of the bank and saw the four women making a hasty departure. In the pandemonium of crowds that filled the streets, attracted to the commotion, he had lost sight of them and was now forced to search the place until he located them again. For some reason, Selena and Burke were also in pursuit and their desire to find the women only served to convince Seacourt that he needed to find them first.

With the presence Lawrence Preston, Seacourt did gain an advantage because he finally a name to which he could place the mastermind of this operation. He knew Preston by reputation. The man was one of the richest people in the United States. Preston owned everything from banks to gold mines to factories is New York to vast tracks of fertile land in California and throughout Texas. It was impossible to adequately pinpoint the complete sum of his assets because Seacourt was certain that not even the government could keep track of his net worth.

Preston had always been a suspect but until now, no conclusive proof had ever linked him to any illegal dealings. However, even Seacourt had underestimate the grand scheme he had in mind with the package that Sanderson had discovered. At the moment however, all Seacourt had was supposition. The hard evidence he required to finish Preston once and for all would only come he could find those four women and find out what they knew.

Somehow, they were the keys to the whole thing.

"I am not leaving this room." Julia Pemberton said defiantly. "I will not be seen like this." She folded her arms in protest as she stared at her companions in a show of refusal.

Mary rolled her eyes in exasperation, a feeling she was certain was collective among the rest of them at this moment. It was bad enough that Julia was right, they did look silly and it was uncomfortable and the smell of some of these clothes were bad enough but at the moment, their options were limited. Julia stood in front of them wearing a badly fitting brown suit that hung off her small frame like a blanket but fortunately, the shapelessness of the man's suit was enough to hide her other more feminine features.

"Julia we don't have time for this." Mary growled, feeling a slight itch under her neck where the flannel of the shirt she was wearing and was forced to adjust the collar once more to make it partially tolerable. "We need to get out of sight and trust me, we will attract attention if they find us in here!"

"Why can't we book ourselves into a room here and just hide!" Julia asked, not at all eager to emerge in any public place looking like this.

"Because they will find us!" Inez snapped just as annoyed. She adjusted the suspenders she was wearing when she felt the pants she was wearing starting to slip down her hips. How on earth did Vin Tanner wear these things! Inez was tempted to ask but decided she would not be improving the current mood in the room.

"All right, I'll handle this." Alex spoke up, trying to be the voice of reason in all this because she was not happy wearing this disgusting shirt with its smells, or tucking her dark hair under a dusty hat and the whole idea of wearing pants felt odd and uncomfortable. To say nothing of the chaffing. "Julia, you can come with us willingly or I can drag you out there kicking and screaming. The choice is up to you. Remember, I still have all this hostile feelings towards you just waiting for release." She narrowed her eyes as the woman to show her just how serious she was.

"You wouldn't." Julia retorted, taking a cautious step backwards and glanced at Mary and Inez.

"She would." Mary nodded with a wicked smile.

"Oh just come on!" Inez groaned and started out the door.

"Okay!" Julia released a loud cry of exasperation as she realized that she was out voted on this point three to one. "I'm going! I'm going! But I swear if Ezra sees me like this, I am forgiving none of you."

"We'll try and live with the pain." Mary remarked as she followed Inez out.

"And take that floral hair clip out of your hair," Alex suggested as Julia started to put the slouch hat on her head. "Who ever saw a man with flowers in his hair?"

They moved through the hotel quickly, making their way through the corridor with as much speed as possible in their hasty need to leave the premises immediately. Winston Falls was a large town, larger than Four Corners and hopefully big enough so that they could hide their faces for the few hours it would take for Chris and the men to arrive. Hopefully, the law in the town would be searching for four women and not four men in ill fitting clothes. As they stepped out of the main entrance of the hotel, Mary could still see the attention still focused on the damage she had inflicted upon the bank. Groups of people were gathered around it and Mary recognized some of them as the bank tellers as well as tall imposing men wearing the Silver Star of the law who were questioning witnesses. While the explosions had not caused the structure to collapse, the building did not look very safe either.

"Where to now?" Inez whispered as they continued further away from the centre of town. They kept to the board walk that run up the length of the town, never making eye contact with anyone while keeping their faces to the ground.

"I'm not sure." Mary said as she brushed past the people going in the opposite direction, taking care to keep her face hidden beneath the hat she was wearing. In fact, they were all forced to don a varying collection of head apparel because there was no other way to keep their hair hidden.

"These pants are killing me." Julia complained through gritted teeth when there was no one near them.

"Grin and bear it." Alex hissed, just as irritated by this costume she was forced to wear. "We're all chaffing."

"Quiet!" Inez suddenly spoke up as she caught sight of Selena and Burke who appeared through the narrow crevice between a lodging house and some other building. The duo was about to cross the street and would head straight at them! Fortunately, neither had not seen the women yet or if they did, certainly did not recognize their quarry immediately. In any case, it was not wise to allow them the chance to do so. Inez looked around and saw a door with a sign that said 'welcome all' and decided it was as good a place as any to make a hasty retreat.

"Come on!" She said quickly and hurried up the steps into the inviting doors of the large house that sat almost at the far corner of town. There was little time to argue as Mary went after her into the building closely followed by Alex and Julia. Casting a glance over her shoulder as she disappeared through the door, Mary noticed that Burke and Selena were oblivious to their flight. The mercenaries were still on the other side of the street, still surveying the area as she disappeared indoors.

The first thing Mary noticed when the door closed behind them was the colour of the wall paper. It was deep burgundy shade that while being an interesting choice seemed somewhat garish against the polished wooden banisters and the smooth paneled floors. A huge chandelier hung in the front foyer as and a rather heavy women in bright colours greeted them through the velvet curtains that led from an adjoining room.

"Well hello there." She smiled, her face almost pink from the liberal application of rouge across her skin. Mary was sure the beauty spot on her cheek was hand drawn. "What can I do for you boys?"

"Boys?" Mary said trying to do her best imitation of a male voice and then cursing silently to herself and wondering if this humiliation would ever end.

"Oh I'm sorry," she replied coming towards Mary and slipping and gloved arm around her shoulder as she lead Mary through the curtains. "I should have said young strapping men. Now you tell ol' Betsy what's your pleasure."

"My pleasure?" Mary asked finding it difficult to keep her voice so low and she was getting more confused when she passed through the red velvet curtains that led to the next room.

The room was dimly lit, with the same dark curtains covering every window that might allow natural light. The same brocade patterned burgundy paper covered the walls and with occupied wing chairs and divans stretched across the polished floors. There was the faint aroma of incense burning in the room for the scent reminded Mary of roses or something whose scent was just as sweet. The chairs were occupied by men who were in turn being 'entertained' by women clad in their underwear. It took Mary approximately two seconds to realize exactly where this place was that Inez had deemed to be an appropriate.

"Where the hell are we!" Julia hissed when the realization struck her and she looked around like a deer trapped in a hunter's sights. She had heard about this places and knew that her experience in Wickestown was not the normal way such 'houses' operated. Although there was some fascination in her mind about the establishment, it struck her with a splash of cold water that ol' Betsy thought they were men or young strapping men who were in need of her girls' expertise. Julia's disguise allowed her to pass for a young man but it wasn't that good.

"I think we have a problem." Alex replied in the understatement of the year.

"Gee, you think?" Julia shot her a venomous look.

"Quiet!" Inez looked at them both sharply. "Do you want to give this thing away?"

"Give what away?" Julia whispered angrily. "I am not going upstairs with a working girl. I can tell you right now this disguise is not going to fool her for long if she expects me to have sex!"

"Inez is right," Alex gripped Julia's arm to remind her to lower her voice. "Just shut up until we figure this out and Inez," the doctor looked at the lady bartender. "Next time, do you think you could just take a quick look at where we're going before you say 'this way'?"

Inez frowned and turned back to Mary who was staring at Betsy with wide eye terror as the woman apparently explained what was available and whom they could do it to, with or without the benefit of hot oils and minty gels.

"Don't worry sugar," Betsy said oozing tender concern. "My girls are clean and they know how to take care of first timers like all of you." Betsy let her gaze move across the face of the 'young men' in front of her.

"But. ." Mary opened her mouth to speak when Betsy waved to some unoccupied young women at the far end of the room who immediately began sauntering towards her in a most seductive fashion. After being chased off a train by hired killers, being forced to face off with angry gamblers in a saloon and having to blow up a building to free her friends, Mary Travis felt genuine terror that surpassed all that in the light this new horror.

"Charlotte," Betsy replied, ignoring Mary's protest which she put down to youthful inexperience. "Now I want you to take this handsome boy upstairs and show him what it takes to be a man."

Somehow, Mary just knew she was not going to rise to the occasion. Charlotte slithered up to Mary and reached for her hat before the widow could stop her. Mary made a wild grab to prevent her from reaching the dusty hat but it was too late. Golden hair spilled out from beneath it, falling around her ears as everyone in the room stared at her in shock.

"You're a girl!" Betsy exclaimed outraged. Charlotte took a step back and dropped the hat on the floor.

"This was a mistake. ."Mary tried to explain and wondered what story could even sound remotely plausible to this woman at this moment. It did not take Betsy to make the leap to realize that all four possible customers were women instead of men. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she glared at them before her crimson face paled enough for her to respond. The men in the room were scattering for the door, as if the presence of women who weren't working girls had killed their romantic ardor. Only a few remained who were unperturbed by the extraordinary turns of events. Mary assumed these were not the customers who were married.

"Look honey," Betsy said placing her hands on her hips and glaring at Mary critically. "I know they go in for that strange stuff in the big cities but my girls don't do that sort of thing."

Alex had to ask. "What sort of thing?"

"You know, women who like laying with other women. My girls are strictly for men only." Betsy replied in no uncertain terms.

The jaws of all four women dropped collectively in outrage.

"We are not here for anything like that!" Julia declared indignantly.

"Then what are you here for?" The Madam demanded.

"Nothing!" Inez said quickly putting a stop to this before it got even further out of hand. "Mary pick up your hat and let's just go!"

Mary could not fault that reasoning, wondering if she would ever live down the mortification of this sorry mess and prayed if there was a God anywhere in the universe, that Chris would never find out about this particular leg of her nice simple trip to Denver.

"Without doubt," Mary groaned as they left the establishment and stepped onto the boardwalk again. "That was the single most embarrassing moment of my life." Her pale skin was almost red from the shame at being ejected from the brothel so unceremoniously.

"I didn't know what the place was!" Inez spoke out in her defense. "I just thought we had to get off the streets!" As she made mention of that, she allowed her gaze to move across the street and to her relief saw no signs of either Burke or Selena for the moment. At least for the immediate present, they were safe.

"I can't get the idea out of my head." Alex mused, looking somewhat dazed herself.

"What idea?" Mary looked at her in question.

"The idea of that woman thinking we were into that strange stuff."

"Oh please!" Julia exclaimed with disgust. "Must we relive that whole sordid episode?" She cried. "Its bad enough we're wanted for blowing up the bank but now, thanks to Inez, they'll think we're bunch of sexual deviants as well."

"Suffice to say, the posse that comes after us will be very motivated." Alex could not resist adding.

Despite the urgency of the situation, they could not help but laugh at that prospect and after the absurdity of where they had been, it almost seemed perfectly natural to be laughing on the board walk like loons, even though there were mercenaries hunting them at that very moment. The women indulged in few seconds of jovial relief before Mary sobered up first and decided on their next plan of action.

"I think we should split up." She suggested.

"Good idea." Inez agreed. "As long as we are four, they can track us."

"Is that such a good idea Mary?" Alex inquired. "We've been doing okay so far because we're together. I don't want to think what could happen if we're alone."

"We don't have a choice, we need to get indoors and hide out. I say we try the saloon." Mary suggested. "It's not the kind of place that would ask too many questions if we got lodgings. I say we split up and make our way there."

No one could deny the logic of her claim and reluctantly, Mary broke away first deciding to take the initiative. She continued down the boardwalk to the only saloon in Winston Falls that had lodgings. Meanwhile, the trio behind her lingered to talk for a while before scattering at regular intervals until they were all finally on the way. Mary hurried to the saloon unhampered and for the moment, unrecognized. Occasionally, she was forced to tuck her hair under the hat when a loose strand threatened to give her away.

For the time being however, the law in Four Winston Falls was more preoccupied by taking down names to organize a posse to hunt down the women who had brought so much chaos into their normally quiet town. It gave Mary some comfort knowing that they believed she and her party had already departed the town. It never even occurred to them that their suspects were still in town. Mary saw now reason to change that perception because it eliminated one hindrance while allowing them time to try and think of some way to deal with the other.

Mary kept her eyes trained for either Burke or Selena as she journeyed to the saloon, hoping that their absence before her did not mean that Inez, Alex or Julia had instead encountered them. She knew that Burke wanted to hurt her personally because she had incapacitated him in the train. Selena however frightened Mary even more because there was no personal agenda in her actions. The mercenary looked at her like a job that needed doing.

Suddenly without warning , a voice spoke in her ear. "Which one are you?" The decidedly male speaker asked with complete politeness.

Mary practically jumped out of her skin as she looked to her side and saw the handsome stranger who had come to their defense in the saloon at Stone Creek. However, she was not fool enough to trust him. "You're a long way from Stone Creek." Mary pointed out.

"So are you but I asked the question first." He reminded her with a charming smile. He was dressed impeccably, looking not all that different from Ezra Standish at that moment. He had dark mahogany coloured hair and soft blue eyes that stared at her with the barest hint of amusement reflecting form its depths.

Mary had no intention of answering him, not when she had no clue as to who he was and how he had managed to see through her disguise to recognize her so easily. "I won't answer until you do."

"Spoken like a woman." He declared. "Although your clothes could use some work and a wash." He noted with a wrinkled nose.

"Sir, I am in no mood for levity." Mary said coldly, continuing to walk although she was uncertain whether or not she should continue to the saloon. If he was one of Preston's cadres, there was no way she was leading him to the others.

"Neither am I." He said firmly. "And you do need my help if Burke and Selena are after you."

Mary froze in her tracks as her eyes snapped to meet his. "Who are you?" She finally asked, realizing that her need to know outweighed the risks.

"My name is Seacourt." He introduced himself, tipping his hat slightly..

"Jeremy Seacourt?" Mary exclaimed.

"Yes," he nodded, taken back by her knowledge. "How do you know. ."

"Sanderson." The widow said excitedly, feeling a flood of relief that finally someone had arrived that could actually extricate them from this mess. "I'm Mary Travis." She introduced herself deciding that she had little choice but to trust the man.

"Well Mary," Seacourt said with a smile, realizing that she was willing to trust him with the admission of her name. "I think we have a great deal to talk about."

Inez was almost to the saloon when she ran straight into Selena and Burke.

At first, neither recognized her and Inez dropped her gaze to the ground and she attempted to move past them, to afraid to breathe. The mercenaries continued walking a few more steps in the opposite direction, moving towards the hotel again when suddenly Inez heard their footsteps pause. Although there were people all around her, Inez could still hear Selena and Burke in particular. She kept walking, forcing her fear away while acutely aware that they had stopped and were regarding her with recognition.

Inez panicked and started running, which was the worst thing she could have done because it erased any remaining doubt in their mind as to who she was. Inez bolted forward, looking over her shoulder long enough to see Selena and Burke shoving everyone aside in their pursuit. Inez saw the saloon ahead and realized with anguish that she could not go there because to do so would mean exposing the others to them and she was not prepared to lead these killers to her friends. Ducking into an alley in an effort to evade them, Inez felt her heart pounding in her chest as she tried to lengthen the gap between them.

At least the pants made it easier to run, she decided as the walls of the alley narrowed beside her as she entered its confines. Inez could feel her energy start to give out as her legs started to weaken but she forced herself past the walls of woods and brick, assuming that the alley would empty into a backstreet where she could then disappear.

Unfortunately, all she ran into was a wall.

The alley had been cordoned off by another building and Inez's eyes widened in fear at the trap she had ran willingly into. She could hear their foot steps grow louder in intensity behind her as she ran to the door of one of the flanking buildings, shaking frantically at the lock so that it would open. The door refused to budge thanks to the padlock that was firmly secured. Inez let out a small cry of frustration before wondering if it was possible to get past them if she ran up the way she came.

They stopped running when they saw there was no where left for her to go. Despite the futility of the effort, Inez nevertheless tried to get past them. She surged forward, hoping to propel herself ahead with enough speed to slip past the narrow space between them and the wall. However, she had no sooner taken a few steps forward when Burke moved to intercept her. He caught Inez easily with one massive arm and slammed her hard into the brick.

She could see stars in her eyes when she felt her head swim from the impact against the wall. With Burke's considerable weight pressing her against the building, Inez could manage little more than a weak struggle. Her hat fell from her head, spilling dark hair over her shoulders, leaving them no doubt that she was indeed their prey. Still it was not in Inez's nature to endure anything without putting up a considerable fight first and she writhed and pushed in her vain attempt to be free of his grip.

"I would not waste my time." Selena spoke as she came slowly up to Inez, her gun drawn. "I've seen Mr. Burke break men bigger than you with his bare hands, you will not break free." She leaned close to Inez's ears and whispered softly. "You and your friends have caused myself, Mr. Burke and our respectively employer a great deal of trouble." She hissed. "How do you think, you should repay us for that inconvenience?"

Inez spat in her face.

Selena lashed out with a balled fist and connected with the side of Inez's cheek. The Mexican let out a soft cry of pain as the mercenary dug a gloved hand into her dark hair and yanked her hair with such vicious force that Inez could only twist her head painfully to curb some of the pain.

"You're a feisty one aren't you." Selena smiled, wiping the spittle from her face as she glared at Inez with dark eyes. "Well feisty one, I think I had just about enough of your and your stupid friends so here is the deal and listen carefully, because it's the only one you're going to get."

"I will not help you do anything!" Inez hissed, still determined not to show fear even though that was all she could feel. Burke tightened his grip around her as she felt a resurgence of courage and struggled to break free of him again. However, he was still too strong for her.

"Your help is not required." Selena said with a predatory gleam in her eyes. "Only your presence."

She nodded slightly at Burke who in turn snapped his head forward, slamming against Inez with so much power behind the impact that the women in his grasp could do nothing but slacken in his grip as she fell unconscious immediately.

"Shouldn't we have questioned her?" Burke asked once he had swept Inez into his arms.

"No," Selena shook her head. "We are through chasing through town like a bunch of bloodhounds looking for these bitches. We finally have something to bargain with," the mercenary said as she started walking out of the alley, with every expectation that Burke would follow her with their prize in hand. "Next time, they will come to us."

Thanks to her fortuitous meeting with Seacourt, it was her new found ally that procured her and the others lodgings at the saloon while they awaited the arrival of Chris Larabee and company. Mary had a dozen questions for Seacourt but waited until the others arrived. However, as time went on and Mary paced the floor of the dingy room above the main floor of the saloon, it was obvious that one of them was missing. Alex had been the last to arrive, having been directed to the room upstairs by the saloon owner who had been well paid by Seacourt to remain silent about their presence in the establishment.

Alex walked into the room and was immediately bombarded with questions from Mary and Julia, although the sight of Seacourt in the room also gave her some of her own to ask them in turn.

"Have you seen Inez?" Mary demanded as soon as Alex had shut the door behind her.

"No," Alex shook her head. "Not since we split up. Isn't she back yet?"

"We haven't seen her," Julia said freeing herself of her hat and running her fingers through her red hair, to loosen the knots accumulated during its confinement. "She never came back."

"I knew we should not have separated!" Alex swore and saw the expression on Mary's face before quickly responding. "I'm sorry Mary," she replied apologetically. "I know it was the only way to get here safely."

"Not all that safely." Mary frowned, worried because she knew as they all did that if Inez was not here it was because she had been prevented from reaching them.

"Three out of four isn't bad." Alex replied trying to make the woman feel better after her faux pas. She could see the lines of worry on Mary's face and knew that these were accusations Mary had already made to herself.

"The good news is I don't they'll harm her." Seacourt made himself heard, wanting to be of some comfort because it was obvious how close these women were.

Alex turned to him and then to Mary. "Who is this person?"

"That's what I want to know," Julia added, shifting her gaze from Mary and Alex to the handsome stranger who was suddenly in their midst and seemed to know an awful lot about what was going on. Mary had not bothered with the introductions when she had arrived because the widow was still on tenterhooks about Alex and Inez.

"Alexandra Styles, Julia Pemberton, meet Mr. Jeremy Seacourt." Mary introduced as she continued pacing again. She could not relax, not while her best friend was out there somewhere in the clutches of people who would not hesitate to harm her for a piece of metal that could topple a nation into chaos.

"Ladies," Seacourt tipped his hat in their direction briefly. "I am pleased to finally make your acquaintance."

"Mr. Seacourt," Alex responded in a slow measured voice, the clinical detachment of Doctor Styles oozing into her lovely features as she regarded him. "I hope you do not think it rude of me if I were to show some mild irritation and inquire WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" She demanded. "Do you have any idea what we have been through in the last 48 hours? Could you please explain to us who these people are and how we can get them to stop wanting to kill us?"

Seacourt did not at all seem ruffled by Alex's outburst. In fact he could understand their outrage and wished he could help, however there were still a few gaps in his knowledge that required filling before he could adequately respond to her demanding questions. "I have no idea why they are after you. Do you?"

"I do." Mary sighed and produced the plate that was nestled in the inside pocket of her coat. "A Mr. Sanderson slipped this into my possession."

"You've got it!" Seacourt practically snatched it out of her hand and quickly unwrapped the silken covering around it. In a moment it lay exposed to the man who studied it carefully, almost with an expert eye. "I have been tracking this thing from San Antonio." He explained looking up at Mary as he spoke. "How did it get to you?"

"Sanderson ran into me," Mary answered and went on to relate how Burke and Selena had come after them on the train to Denver, forcing them to flee into the night after an unceremonious disembarkation from the locomotive. While he was aware of what happened to them at Stone Creek, she did explain how Inez, Alex and Julia had been captured by the villains and how she was forced to free them.

"I knew there was a good reason to blow up a bank." Seacourt smiled much to the chagrin of the blond in front of him who threw him a filthy look in turn.

"I am glad you find this so amusing Mr. Seacourt," Mary said folding her arms and staring at him critically. "Now, what is your part in all this?"

"Well," he replied, still unable to wipe that amused smirk of his face. "I work for the government, the Secret Service to be precise."

"You mean like those men who protect the President!" Julia exclaimed with surprise and a hint of girlish excitement.

"That's not all we do," Seacourt answered good naturedly, accustomed to that response from most people. Secret Service men tended to work in the shadows, their presence formidable by their absence. "Aside from body guard detail, we also protect the sanctity of the US government, its ability to function. In this case, the economy of the country. There are three men in the United States who can do the kind of work it took for this plate to be created. These are highly skilled craftsman who are under surveillance at all times."

"I take it without their knowledge." Mary started at him with clear disapproval. This was after all America, land of the free and her journalistic sense of liberalism found such surveillance offensive. Still, this was not the time to voice her politics.

"Mouse won't play if it doesn't think the cat's away." Seacourt remarked and then continued "As of three months ago, one of those men had a very generous amount of money placed in his bank account. Of course, he used an assumed name to hide the money trail but we nevertheless traced it to him. After which we kept a close eye on him, watched his movements very carefully over the next few months. It didn't take us long to discover what he was doing."

"So why didn't you just arrest him?" Alex asked.

"Someone commissioned him to make these plates and at the time we didn't know who that was. Selena Quint and Mr. Burke, who I gather you know very well were the intermediaries at almost every point. We never actually saw where the money was coming from so we couldn't move until then. By the time the plates were ready however, we decided not to wait any longer because we just could not let them be used to make counterfeit currency. It was decided to bring in the good Mr. Lane and the plate and slap him with a ton of indictments before offering him his freedom in exchange for his cooperation."

"I am guessing this flawless plan did not go as anticipated?" Julia looked at him with sarcasm. She hated being embroiled in what was fast appearing to be a bureaucratic bungle of epic proportions.

"The agent involved in bringing him was neutralized and Lane was also killed in the process. Before he died however, Agent Drake managed to dispatch the plate to one of our couriers. However, by then Selena and Burke were aware of the exchange."

"Sanderson." Mary replied nodding in understanding. "Sanderson was the courier."

"Yes," Seacourt nodded sombrely. "He was not much a field agent. All he ever did was deliver messages and documents. This was beyond him but he still managed to keep ahead of them." There was a hint of admiration in Seacourt's voice as he spoke about the late Sanderson.

"Is he dead?" Alex asked quietly, feeling some measure of remorse for this man whom they had met for only a matter of minutes. She felt the death of anyone to be a personal loss because Alex Styles was in the business of saving lives, even the ones who did not require a doctor's expertise.

"They found him when the train got to Denver." Seacourt met her eyes with genuine sorrow in his. "His neck was broken."

"Burke." Mary stated without hesitation. She had seen the size of those hands and knew they were capable of breaking bone with ease. With a shudder, she remembered the threat the mercenary had made and hoped he was not taking out his frustrations on Inez.

"Probably." He sighed.

"And now they have Inez." Julia pointed out. "So are we going to do?"

"There's only one thing to do." Mary whispered as her blue-grey eyes swept across all their faces and they stared back at her in anticipation of some idea at what she was about to say. "We give them the plate. Its what they'll be asking for anyway, if Inez is still alive."

Seacourt agreed with her assessment. "I'd almost guarantee it."

"We have no assurance that even if do give them the plate they'll let us alone or give us back Inez," Alex pointed out suddenly. "You already said that they took precautions to hide Lawrence Preston's complicity in all until this point. He was prepared to kill all of us to hide his secret, any exchange they set up is going to be a trap. We're a loose end."

"You're just a fountain of optimism aren't you." Julia grimaced, not at all happy to hear those words but completely aware that Alex was probably correct in her assessment of the situation.

"She's right though." Seacourt responded. "Any exchange they set up will be a trap."

"Is it still a trap if we know what's coming?" Mary inquired. "They don't know about you, Mr. Seacourt. They'll just be expecting us three."

He started to see what she was getting at. "No, they don't, do they?" A slow smile crossed his face as an idea formulated in his mind.

"I sense you have a plan Mr. Seacourt, do we get to know what it is?" Alex asked, hoping that his scheme would not go as awry as the government's original plan to corner the counterfeit ring and its master. Inez's life hung in the balance of their success in how ingenious he could get. She was tired of this whole business and wanted it put behind her. After all, she was meant to be giving a speech tomorrow in Denver not preparing to walk into a life death situation with a megalomaniacal tycoons with delusions of grandeur.

"A little bit of plan." He flashed the young doctor a debonair grin and then presented it to Mary and Julia as well. "Are you ladies game for some excitement?"

The three women exchanged glances as if that was not already painfully obvious.

It was Mary who finally answered. "After blowing up a bank, anything else is a tough act to follow."

When Chris and the others arrived in the town of Winston Falls, it was well into the night but for some reason, the streets were extremely crowded. The five lawmen from Four Corners rode through the busy main street of town and immediately headed in the direction of livery to stable their horses. This time, Chris knew that the horses needed a lengthy period of rest after submitting to the exhaustive demands of their owners. It was not to say that they were not similarly fatigued as well. The five men had been riding almost all day now and were no further to finding the women, despite the trail of breadcrumbs left in the form of Mary's enigmatic telegrams.

By now, Chris Larabee was almost ready to foam at the mouth. Part of his fury had to do with the fact that he knew nothing of the peril that Mary Travis and her companions now found herself in and that lack of knowledge left him ill equipped to help her. The others in the group were similarly distressed. Vin had descended into a foul mood that was unusual for the unflappable tracker and sharpshooter which no doubt had something to do with the hangover he was suffering. Buck in the meantime, seemed to find the whole thing rather very funny. Chris wondered how much of his humour was not some attempt to hide his own fears regarding the safety of Inez or the uncertain ground his relationship with the beautiful barmaid now found itself.

On the other hand, Chris was certain than he and the others with him were ready to shoot Ezra.

Ever since they had left Stone Creek armed with the knowledge that somehow Alexandra Styles had managed to beat seasoned poker players out of $250, Ezra Standish had been torturing himself with notions that Alex might have let him beat her at poker during all their games together. The gambler had spend most of the journey there debating the subject until the very idea of poker made them all meaner than spit and ready to kill somebody. In this case, being Ezra.

Nathan however, seemed most relaxed and the healer appeared to be enjoying some enormous joke that he was not letting anyone else participate. Chris was almost tempted to ask him what was so funny if his mind was not so wrapped around what Mary was doing at this moment and how much trouble she was getting into. After Stone Creek, his estimation of much trouble Mary could get into would require serious evaluation.

Before leaving the town, Chris had consulted the law in the and discovered that there was indeed a warrant for the arrest of the four women who had stolen horses the night before. The sheriff, a man who understood professional courtesy, was quite reasonable when the situation was explained to him along with the extenuating circumstances. Somehow, Chris had managed to convince the man to drop the charges with assurances that the animals would be returned to their rightful owners soon enough. As for the charges of assault brought on by Lansing, the sheriff had more or less dismissed those claim because witnesses present had testified in favour of the women, stating much of their actions were in self defense

The lawmen left the livery once the horses were properly stabled and made their way through the town which was strangely lively for that time of night. People were gathered in the main square as Chris prepared to search all the lodging houses, knowing that is where Mary and the others would chose to be if they were attempting to remain out of sight since their lives were under threat.

"We best split up." Chris told Vin as they moved deeper into town. "We gotta check all the lodging houses, boarding homes and hotels. They may be hiding from someone but Mary knows they still have to be somewhere we can find them."

"Right." Vin nodded in agreement as they arrived in front of the courthouse and saw the sheriff addressing the crowd.

"Wonder what's going on there?" Buck inquired as the five paused at the scene of the gathering. Horses were mounted and ready to be ridden with people carrying torches and rumbling with descent. Men were loading their shotguns and various other armaments as if in preparation of one hell of a fight.

"Looks like they're fired up about something." Nathan commented.

"Yes," Ezra agreed, if the dark faces in the crowd were anything to go by. There was no doubt in the gambler's mind that there was definitely something unpleasant going on with this community at present. The feverish hunger in their eyes made his skin crawl. The group was quickly descending into mob mentality, a situation that did not bode well for whomever all this aggression was intended. "The mood does seem decidedly ugly."

"We think they went up towards the hills!" The sheriff who had taken centre stage before the mob announced loudly. "Mr. Preston here tell us they got a way with about $500,000 from the vault of the bank after blowing it up and the man who brings in these four dangerous women will be get a reward amounting to the sum of $500 a head!"

Four women?

Chris Larabee's eyes immediately widened and shot a glance at the sheriff who was no doubt organizing a posse to pursue the bank robbers. Without skipping a beat, he strode to one of the men in the crowd gathered before the lawmen and yanked the first person he came across away from the main body to have some questions answered. Chris did not believe in wasting time after hearing a statement like that.

"Did he say that four women robbed the bank?" Chris asked.

"Yes Sir," the elderly man nodded as if this was the most exciting thing to happen to the town in ages. He certainly did not mind being pulled away from the group when he was able to relate what he knew on the subject to the four strangers. "Four women robbed the bank just this afternoon."

Chris exchanged a glance with Vin whose hand immediately flew up to the bridge of his nose as he attempted to dispel the sudden return of his hangover. Buck was staring open mouth and Ezra could hardly say anything because the idea that the four in question were Julia, Mary Alex and Inez was too much for him to comprehend or articulate into any coherent glib remark. Nathan simply wore an expression of disbelief as the man related the story of how four women had blown up the bank this morning using dynamite and then robbing the vault of half a million dollars.

"Any idea what these women looked like?" Chris had to ask, praying that this was all an unhappy coincidence and Mary was in a room somewhere, waiting patiently for his arrival. Perhaps it was a gang of four other women who happened to be in town at the same time with the same tenacity for trouble. Chris knew he was deluding himself but it was almost an unconscious need to rationalize what was happening.

"Don't know about the other three." The man drawled in response, aware that he had the undivided attention of all five men even though he was not certain why. "But Cam Davis who works in the bank, said the leader of the gang was a pretty little thing. Long gold hair and eyes like a dove he said but then Cam can lay it on a bit thick. Anyway, she done walked into the bank and blew up the place with sticks of dynamite. Damn near brought down the ceiling before she and her gang ran out of the place and left town."

Long gold hair. Chris rolled his eyes and swore silently under his breath. Eyes like a dove. Of course, who else would it be?

While Chris thought this, the muscles in his jaw tightened involuntarily. Vin who was standing next to him had let out an exhausted sigh of frustration as the tracker shook his head, almost unsurprised by the story. Somehow, just when he thought that Alex could not get into any more strife, the woman had managed to out do her previous accomplishment The expression on his face was one which Chris could understand most profoundly.

"You talking about them girls who done rob the bank?" A strong female voice entered the fray. "I saw 'em too."

Chris looked up and saw the woman who had spoken and immediately came to the conclusion that only Mary Travis could blow up a bank and still manage to make it the least outrageous thing she had done that day. Chris decided that he was nowhere close to just how much worse this possibly could get when he saw the arrival of the woman into their conversation. There was no question in his mind what she did for a living since her clothes were quite a loud statement of her occupation. He was almost afraid to ask how she and Mary's path had crossed. Like the rest of the town, Betsy had emerged from her place of business to see what all the excitement was about only to discover how much of it had to do with her personally.

"Yeah Betsy?" The man asked with interest. "When did you see them?"

"They came into my place," Betsy announced to her neighbour and her new audience who was listening to her story with something akin to shock and astonishment. She questioned the strange looks on their faces as she spoke but found little reason to hold back as she related her tale. After all, it was so very rare that men were willing to listen to her simply talk instead of paying for the privilege of something else. "Four of them, dressed in men's clothes. They were trying to lay with some of my girls."

The mental picture of Mary in men's clothes attempting to have sex with another woman would normally be reason enough for quite an interesting midnight dream for Chris Larabee, however on this particular occasion, the gunslinger almost turned ashen with disbelief. "They did what?" He asked slowly.

"They came into my place." Betsy said impatiently wishing this dark clothed stranger would keep focused so she would not have to repeat herself since she wanted to move on to the more salacious excerpts of her story. "Looking for women. When I told 'em my girls don't go in for that sort of thing, they left."

"What sort of thing?" Vin ever the uninformed at times in such matters, found himself asking although the idea of Alex in men's clothes going into a 'house' was more than his mind was able to process. Suddenly the hangover that he had believed gone and banished, had returned to his head with a vengeance following this latest snippet of new regarding the exploits of Mary Travis and company.

"You know," Betsy looked at Vin like he was a naive kid. "Women laying with other women."

"That's disgusting!" Nathan exclaimed although he could not deny the image in his head was undeniably tantalizing.

"But strangely arousing." Buck replied and garnered a filthy look from both Vin and Chris. "Aw come on!" Buck looked at them in protest. "Are you telling me you never thought of two women at once?"

"Who hasn't!" Chris snapped. "Just not Mary!" And then thought guiltily to himself, liar.

"You mean two women together at once?" Vin mused, drifting into the possibility with all sort of exciting visual accompaniments flashing in his mind as he wrapped his mind around the idea. Alex on her own was an experience but with another woman...

"Yeah," Buck said with a smile, knowing exactly what was running through the younger man's mind. "I done it once when I was up north. You ain't lived until you've had twins."

Chris rolled his eyes and snapped. "Buck!"

"Sorry," Buck apologized clearing his throat and then whispered to Vin. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Mr. Wilmington, you exceed yourself." Ezra said feigning similar distaste. He tried to see Julia in men's clothes and could not imagine anything more amusing. He was going to have a great deal of fun at her expense when he found her.

"Come on," Chris said as he strode away from the crowd because he did not want them townsfolk to have any idea that they were in any way associated with the four fugitives. Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the mob, the group grappled with the new information they had just been provided with.

"Do you think they're still in town?" Buck inquired. "I would be riding hard and away if I knew a posse was coming after me." The big man offered.

Chris would tend to agree, except this was Mary. "I don't think so. They got rid of the dresses because people would be looking for four women not four men, which means. ."

"They could still be in town." Vin caught on quickly. "Dressing up as men is their way of hiding out until we got here."

"Exactly." Chris nodded firmly. "Mary knows they can't keep running from whoever is after them and a posse on top of that. I think she'd wait us out so we can help them."

"So its back to the lodging houses, hotels and boarding places." Nathan declared. "If they're in town, they're probably in a room somewhere laying low."

"That's about the size of it." Chris answered, praying silently that Mary had no further surprises up her sleeve. He did not know how much more he could take before he was forced to do something violent to cope with the frustration. "Vin and I will take this end of town." Chris ordered. "Nathan, you, Buck and Ezra go that end."

"Sure Chris." Nathan shook his head in consent as Ezra tipped his hat in the gunslinger's direction before the trio started working their assigned section of the town.

As they drew away, Chris heard Ezra's voice inquire of Buck. "Twins Buck?"

Chris narrowed his eyes and met Vin's before rubbing his face with his palm.

"God give me strength." He said through gritted teeth.

"Hey Pard," Vin said with a slight smile. "You really shouldn't have given Mary those shooting lessons."

Predictably, Chris swung and Vin ducked, chuckling.

TO BE CONTINUED