Lily watched the young woman for a few minutes before moving toward that area of the saloon. She took a damp rag and proceeded to wipe off the two tables to the left of the woman.

"I don't believe I've ever seen you before here, cher." The young woman stared straight ahead seeming not to have heard Lily's statement. "Where are you from?"

AJ hesitated a minute before answering. "Nowhere special."

Lily could tell from the tone of the woman's voice that she wasn't interested in talking. "Well, enjoy your time here, cher." She moved away from the table joining Chris and Vin where they sat.

"Who's that?" Chris had seen Lily talking with the stranger.

"I don't know. She's not exactly the friendliest person I've ever met." She smiled at both men. "What are you two discussing so intently over here?" Chris and Vin exchanged worried looks. "What is it?"

"Judge Travis came in on today's stage." Chris didn't have to say any more. Lily knew that he was there for KC's trial. Even though KC might hate her for doing it, she'd tell the judge that KC wasn't a young man before she'd let her end up in a man's prison. She wished she understood the young woman's reasons for the masquerade.

"Lily," Vin's voice pulled her from her thoughts, "how's Molly doing?"

"Molly? She's doing just fine, cher. I think the other night at the jail upset her a bit but she seems to be doing alright now." A smile spread over Lily's face as her eyes focused on something behind Vin. "Afternoon Nathan."

"Afternoon Lily. Chris, I thought I told you to stay off of that leg for a couple more days." Nathan shook his head in exasperation.

"I'm off it, I'm sitting aren't I?" Chris' crooked smile elicited laughs from the other three.

"Alright, upstairs, I want to take a look at the dressing." Nathan helped Chris to stand and the pair slowly made their way upstairs. Lily waited a few minutes before following up the stairs. Nathan was just exiting her room. After the first night Chris had been sleeping in her room.

"How is it looking?"

"Healin' okay. Probably heal faster if he'd stop trying to get around so much. I don't suppose you could convince him to stay still."

"I'm afraid my charms only goes so far." Lily patted Nathan's arm. "I suppose you know about the judge being in town?"

"Yeah, for Casey's trial. I haven't told anyone about . . . " Nathan's voice dropped to a whisper, "you know."

"I know, neither have I. But I don't think we'll be able to keep this quiet for much longer." He nodded in agreement before heading back downstairs. Lily pushed open the door to her room and found Chris putting his boots back on. A wry grin crept across his face as she entered. "What?" She never trusted him when he looked at her that way.

"Nathan threatened to tie me to the bed if I didn't stay off the leg."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, but I told him that would be more of a favor to you. Then I'd be at your mercy." Chris chuckled as Lily's mouth dropped open in shock. A rush of crimson spread up her face.

"You did not say that."

"I don't think I've seen you blush before." He grabbed her arm pulling her onto the bed next to him. He rolled over partially pinning her to the bed. "I like it." His hand ran along her jawline. "And no, I didn't say it."

He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her hard. His lips left hers sliding down to her neck. "Chris, what's going to happen to Casey?"

He growled into her neck. "That boy is not your responsibility, Lil." Chris rolled away from her and laid back on the bed. Lily stood and began to pace.

"Maybe there are things that we don't know about that. . . "

"That what? That excuse murder and robbery?"

"You know that Casey didn't kill that stage coach driver. Captain McCatney said as much."

"And the bank robbery?"

"Casey helped the captain escape, told him to come here, giving the captain a chance to warn you about the robbery. If Casey had really wanted to commit the robbery would he have done that?"

"You can try to justify it all ya want, but it doesn't change what he did."

"Fine. But what will happen to him?"

"Most likely end up in prison." Chris grabbed her arm as she paced past him. "You're not telling me something. What is it?"

"I . . . don't know how to tell you this. Casey isn't . . ."

"Isn't what? Just tell me what it is."

"Casey's a woman."

"What?" Chris' voice full of disbelief. "Casey? Casey is a woman?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I guess I should have said something sooner. But she didn't want anyone to know. I couldn't stay quiet any longer. You can't let the judge send her to a man's prison."

"A woman." Chris muttered under his breath. "How long have you known?"

"Since Terrance shot her."

"And Nathan took care of him, I mean her, so he knows too?"

"Yes, but he didn't like keeping it from you Chris. I asked him to do it."

Chris shook his head. "Anything else you're keeping from me?" He pushed himself up from the bed and grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to the judge. He needs to know all this."

The last patron had left nearly an hour ago. Lily sat at her dressing table brushing out her hair. She hadn't seen Chris since he'd left hours earlier. But she'd heard from Buck that he'd been talking with the judge. The door to her room opened without warning. Chris closed the door behind himself and took a seat on the bed.

She watched him in the mirror as he slipped off his boots. "I didn't expect to see you tonight. Are you still upset with me, cher?"

Chris sighed and turned toward her. "No. . . I. . . I just don't like things being kept from me." Lily nodded in understanding and returned to brushing her hair. He finished undressing and laid down on the bed watching her braid her hair.

"What are you smiling about?" A sweet smile hung around her mouth.

"Molly."

"Molly?" He cocked his head toward her.

"The other night after the dance, our young JD kissed her."

"Well I'm not surprised the way he's been going around mooning after her. What about it?"

"I think she was a bit taken back by it. We had a little talk about it." A hesitant look replaced the smile.

"Did it help?"

"I don't know. Maybe. There was just something else there, Chris. I don't know what it is though. I just felt like there was more that she wasn't telling me." Lily shook her head.

"Has she ever mentioned someone named Hartman?" The man's name from Molly's nightmare had stayed on his mind.

"No. Who is he?"

"Someone that tutored her. During the tornado it seemed that she was having a nightmare and she was telling him 'no'." Chris didn't want to admit that the incident had crossed his mind more than once since.

"You don't think that?" They had spoken once before about Lily's fear that Molly might have been attacked at some point in the past.

"I don't know." The pair sat in silence for several minutes. Lily's eyes sat unfocused on the fuzzy area on the edge of the mirror. She felt Chris move close behind her. He pushed the soft robe off her shoulders exposing the satin straps of her nightgown. He massaged her shoulders for a moment before lowering his lips to the red mark on her left shoulder blade. "Have I ever told you how much I like this birthmark?"