In the dim evening light it was difficult for Liisa to make out what the commotion was in the street. From her window she could see several men gathered in the street. One man broke away from the group and stumbled off down the street in the direction of the livery. Liisa splashed some water on her face, stuffed her hair up in her hat and headed down to the street.

"Outta the way." Buck pushed aside a couple of men to get to the young man who lay unconscious on the saloon floor. "Josiah . . ." Josiah stood a couple of feet away. He and Ezra had run in the saloon when they'd heard the fighting begin. ". . . go get Nathan."

"Dear God." Lily knelt down across from Buck. Blood was flowing steadily from a large gash on the man's forehead. She took the white bar towel in her hand and pressed it to his forehead trying to stop the flow of blood. Lily disliked the warm sticky feeling of the blood as it soaked into the cloth.

"Buck, what happened?" Both Buck and Lily turned at the sound of Chris's strong steady voice. Josiah had passed Chris on his way to get Nathan and said a few hasty words about trouble in the saloon.

"This boy got in a fight. Josiah's gone for Nathan."

"Who'd he fight with?" Buck stood up and surveyed the crowd.

"Don't see ‘im. Must've left."

"Gentlemen, may I make a suggestion?" Lily laid her hand gently on Chris's arm to get his attention.

"Ms. Patterson?"

"May I suggest that we move the young man out of the middle of the room and upstairs to one of the rooms. That way Mr. Jackson will have a bit more ease in tending to him."

"Beauty and intelligence, my favorite combination in a woman." Both Lily and Chris shot Buck looks of exasperation.

"Not now Buck." Chris looked down at the young man lying on the floor. He was still unconscious but the gash across his forehead had stopped bleeding. "Buck, you and Ezra carry him upstairs."

Ezra was standing near the stairway. He had taken Bryn aside to keep her out of the way of the fighting. Ezra said a few words of assurance to Bryn before leaving her side. Buck took hold of the man under his arms while Ezra grabbed his feet.

"Terrance, go unlock the extra room next to yours. Have them put him there."

"I don't see why we should be messing up a perfectly good room for some drunken boy that started a fight in here." Terrance hissed quietly to Lily. His voice was so low that only Lily and Chris heard his words. Lily leaned in close to answer him. She tried to keep her voice steady even though her heart was racing from all the excitement.

"At this particular moment, I don't really care what you think. Maybe if you hadn't been cheating to begin with the fight wouldn't have happened in the first place. Now take the boy upstairs." As Terrance moved off Lily met Chris's gaze. Their eyes stayed locked for a few moments before Lily turned away.

"Bryn, what happened?" Liisa had found her way into the saloon in the aftermath of the brawl.

"A figh' broke ou' between a couple of men. They're takin' one upstairs." Bryn pointed to Buck and Ezra who were halfway up the stairs.

"Bryn?" Bryn saw Lily waving her over to the bar.

"Come on, ya can mee' Lily." Bryn grabbed Liisa's hand and pulled her through the crowd. Lily was behind the bar pouring herself a whiskey. She hoped that no one noticed the way her hand was shaking. Lily pretended to be calm but her heart was beating a mile a minute. The sight of blood always disturbed her.

"Lily, I wan' ya to mee' someone. Lily Patterson this is Liisa . . . I . . . I don't even know you're las' name."

"Kurri."

"This is Liisa Kurri."

"It's a pleasure, cher." Lily extended her hand and gave Liisa a pleasant smile. Liisa noticed the Lily slyly surveyed her clothes and the way she looked. Liisa looked down at her own dusty pants and shirt and then at Lily's dark green silk dress. Liisa tensed at the thought of what Lily must be thinking of her. "I believe I saw you earlier by the boarding house?"

"Chris . . ." A man's voice called through the room interrupting Liisa before she could answer. Nathan had finally arrived with Josiah trailing right behind.

"Buck and Ezra took the boy upstairs. Come on." Chris and Nathan started for the stairs. Josiah stayed behind knowing that Nathan didn't need a crowd getting in his way.

"Nathan, if you need anything let me know." Nathan smiled warmly at Lily's offer.

"Thank ya ma'am." Lily noticed the look of shock and disgust on Liisa's face as she watched the men ascend the stairs.

"Is there something wrong, cher?"

"That darkie? Is he your doctor?" Liisa had inferred as much from the bag he'd been carrying.

"Yes, Mr. Jackson, is the closest thing this town has to a doctor."

"You'd let some darkie tend to ya?"

"That's not a very Christian attitude, sister." Josiah had heard Liisa's words and had moved closer to the trio of women.

"I just don't like his kind." Josiah shook his head and moved away slowly sipping on the beer Lily had given him. Liisa noticed the way that Lily's eyes had turned cold toward her.

"Bryn, why don't you sing a song? It'll calm everyone down and get their minds off the fight." It took Bryn a moment for Lily's words to register. She was still trying to digest Liisa's words.

"Alrigh' " Bryn sat down at the piano and started to play a lighthearted tune. Her fingers danced gracefully across the ivory keys. People began to settle back into drinking and their card games.

Lily raised a whiskey to her lips and stared at Liisa over the edge of the glass. Lily motioned toward the bottle with her head asking silently if Liisa wanted a drink too. Liisa nodded and watched as Lily poured the drink. The two women's attention were drawn to the stairwell where several of the men were descending. Terrance was first followed a few steps behind by Chris, Buck and Ezra. It didn't escape Liisa the look of disgust the man in front shot at Lily. She also noticed that it had no effect on Lily. Lily pushed the drink across the bar to Liisa. Liisa reached into a pocket to pull out her money. Lily waved her off.

"First one's on the house. With it, cher, let me give you a piece of advice. If you plan on staying here long I'd strongly suggest you keep your opinions about Mr. Jackson to yourself. He's a well respected man around here and he's got lots of friends."

Lily turned and walked toward Chris. Buck and Ezra made their way to the bar and took up positions on either side of Liisa. Buck pulled a bottle out from behind the bar and poured drinks for himself and Ezra.

"Well, Liisa, how did I get so lucky as to spend more time in your company today?" Liisa rolled her eyes and turned her back to Buck. She found herself face to face with the same man who had caught her attention earlier. He smiled broadly at her.

"Any woman who turns her back on Mr. Wilmington must be one of discerning taste. Allow me to introduce myself, Ezra Standish, at your service." Liisa accepted Ezra's outstretched hand.

"Liisa, Liisa Kurri."

"Oh good, ya two have me'." Bryn had joined them at the bar. She linked her arm with Ezra's. "Liisa's new t' town, like me." Ezra lead the two women away from the bar to a table for more privacy.

Buck stayed at the bar and poured himself another drink. He watched Lily and Chris talking in the corner. A sly smile crossed his face as he watched the pair. He knew the look of desire in a woman's eyes when he saw it.

"Chris . . ." Nathan slowly walked down the stairs wiping his hands on a towel.

"How is he?"

"He'll be fine. He's awake. I bandaged that gash on his head. Other than that I don't know much. The boy won't let me hardly touch him."

"I know you did what you could Nathan."

"Uh, Miss Lily, I hope its okay, but I told him that he could spend the night up there." Lily reached out and patted Nathan's arm.

"Of course, Nathan, that'll be fine." Nathan moved off to join Josiah at a table in the corner.

"If you'll excuse me Ms. Patterson, I'm going to go see if I can find out what happened to the other half of this fight."

Chris found Vin and JD in front of the sheriffs office. They'd both heard about the brawl. JD was disappointed that he hadn't been there to break it up. He was also disappointed that he hadn't had the chance to arrest the other man. According to Vin, the other man had retrieved his horse from the livery and headed out of town.

"Think we outta go after ‘im?" Vin knew it wouldn't be difficult to track him, especially since he hadn't been gone that long.

"Naw, wasn't that serious. Besides I don't think we'll be seeing him again anyway." The three men wandered back to the saloon to join their friends.

The rest of the evening passed without further incident. Nathan made an occasional trip upstairs to check on his patient. After the third trip he told Lily that the young man was asleep. Nathan was going back to his room but he'd come back if he was needed. As the night wore on the patrons grew fewer. Lily had ben busy cleaning up and didn't notice Liisa leave. Bryn had said goodnight before heading up to her room and Josiah had left shortly after Nathan. The other five men were seated around their usual table in the corner. Ezra had tried to engage them in a poker game but that had only elicited laughter. None of them were stupid enough to play poker with Ezra anymore. At least when there was money involved.

Chris pushed away from the table and crossed to the bar to get himself another beer. Lily poured it without him even having to ask for it. Lily's hand brushed against Chris's as she pushed the glass back to him.

"You handled yourself well earlier."

"I've seen my share of bar fights. It takes a lot more than a simple fistfight to get me too excited." Chris sipped the beer slowly watching Lily dry glasses. "You know, Mr. Larabee, I have a particularly fine bottle of whiskey up in my room, if you'd care to join me for a drink."

"Now wouldn't Mr. Sullivan object to that?" Neither one looked at Terrance who was at the other end of the bar watching the pair intently.

"I do believe that you're mistaken as to the . . . nature and extent of his and my relationship." A half-smile crossed her lips before she turned and started toward the stairs. Lily stopped on the first stair and looked over her shoulder at Chris. "Second door to the right." Lily didn't wait for any response she just continued up the stairs.

Chris stood at the bar for several minutes finishing his drink and pondering Lily's offer. He took one last gulp and then strode purposely up the stairs. Chris stopped in front of Lily's door and knocked twice. She opened it a minute later and motioned for him to enter.

From his place on the top step Terrance could see Chris going into Lily's room. He could also see that Lily no longer wore her green silk dress but instead was clad in her dressing gown. Terrance could feel his anger growing. Damn that Larabee he'll pay for this, he vowed silently to himself.