Will stretched as he woke up, cracking his neck a few times, and looked over at the person lying next to him. It wasn’t Kate or even Miss Kitty… it was Abe. Not like that either.

The old man had offered William a place to stay the night before and he happily accepted. The problem was there were quite a few people whose homes had been burned or riddled with bullet holes that needed a secure place to stay for the night. Abe hadn’t mentioned he’d already had a full house, leaving Will to sleep on the floor with him and a half dozen others while his bed was taken by a young couple and their baby.

Will got up quietly and grabbed his boots and saddlebags to head for the door. There were a few other people waking up and he gave them a wave as he slipped out to put his boots on outside in an attempt to not wake the baby.

He walked through town, stopping at a well to top off his canteens and brush his teeth, then headed for the Red Rock where Kate and the Marshalls had all rented rooms. When he rounded the back of the building, Will froze.

“Shit!”

He dove as multiple rounds tore up the already destroyed railing of the deck and one struck him in the shoulder. He could hear shouting behind him and tried to get up but was immediately pushed back down with a heavy knee dropping into his back.

“Ugggh… What the fuck!?”

“Get off him.”

“Now you watch your mouth boy! Kate stay outta this!” Will recognized the voice and had recognized her face when he came around the corner.

Will tried to get the man on his back off but froze when he felt a hard cylinder press to the side of his head. Once again the matriarch of the Landry family was aiming a gun at him but this time she’d actually shot him.

“Granny! That’s enough. You know I wouldn’t-” Kate’s voice cut off behind him but Will didn’t know why or really care at that moment.

“Ma, there’s law here, you cant be putting an iron to his head like that. I’ll speak with him.”

“Alright…” Margret said.

Will felt the weapon leave his head and the knee leave his back but when he looked up he got barely a moment to recognize the boot coming for his face.

“Granny!” Kate plead while her pa and two of her cousins repeatedly kicked the unconscious form of William. She had no idea what it was about but she knew he didn’t do anything to deserve a beating like that.

“Now hush girl. They’re letting him off easy and you know it!” No she didn’t!

“He didn’t do nothin’!”

“Hey, what’s the meaning of this?!” Kate’s heart skipped a beat and thanked the gods. All eyes turned to the front door of the saloon where Marshall Perrington stood with a shotgun in his hands and a silver star on his chest. All four of his fellow lawmen poured out onto the porch with weapons drawn. The beating immediately ceased.

“Just a bit of justice Marshall,” her grandmother said.

“Justice?”

“That’s what she said, or you expect me to let a man go after treating my little girl like that?” her paw walked away from William.

“How did he treat me?!” She demanded to know and activated her Skill, ”Now Pa, I’m not sure what you’re gettin’ at. Mister- egh!”

“Don’t be using that on your Pa, you know better,” Granny said after giving Kate a smack to the back of the head. Among other things, Kate was a [Charming Negotiator] in her profession class. She had multiple Skills at her disposal but none were quite as effective as [Innocent Charm] except [Eye of the Beholder] but she couldn’t use that on her own father. [Innocent Charm] usually got people to listen to her but it wasn’t the most effective when she got smacked.

“Hold… Now one of you, tell me what this man is accused of?” Perrington demanded and pointed not at Pa or Granny but at Joseph, her cousin.

“Got into town this mornin’ and first thing we heard was how he done put his hands all over my cousin when they rode off! Then find out next that he crawled through her winder and saw her in nothin’ but her skin!” Joseph yelled out, not just to the Marshall but the entire crowd.

“Who said that?! He didn’t-” Kate got smacked again.

“She’s askin’ the right questions… who told you that? I rode alongside Mister Tempest and as far as I could tell he was a gentleman-”

“Well of course he didn’t do it in front of you, you’re a-”

*BANG*

Everyone shut up as a shotgun round sounded off into the air.

“Don’t be interrupting me again, boy. You know what, get him inside…” Marshall Perrington waited while two of his Junior Marshalls and a couple townsfolk got William onto a board and carried him inside. He looked around at the crowd for a moment then focused on Joseph again.

“As I was saying he was nothing but a gentleman to my eye and I think I heard this story before but for the record’s sake, who told you that?” he asked.

“Him! Right there, he’s the one that told me this man crawled through my cousin’s winder,” Joseph pointed to a man standing in the crowd. It immediately split to give the man some space.

“Is that what you saw Mister?”

“Nah, Marshall. Didn’t see it but Miss Kate were laughin’ about it and told all o’ us,” he said.

“I did not!” Kate protested

“Of course, you didn’t. Who are you?” the man looked at her confusedly.

“Oh, you old fool… Miss Kitty, you’re needed out here!” A woman broke out of the crowd and yelled at the Red Rock before turning to the Marshall, “Miss Kitty is short for Katherine, some of the folk in town call her Miss Kate.”

“See, there’s more than one Miss Kate. Mister Tempest didn’t do a thing," Kate pointed at the building for effect, the location of the other Miss Kate.

“Kate, why was he pawin’ at you when you rode off then?” her mother asked, speaking for the first time. Calm and quiet as always.

“He wasn’t. If you’ve seen Void run, his bakarna, you’d understand ma. He let me have the saddle and was sitting behind me but when Void took off he had to reach around me to grab the horn.”

“He didn’t touch you, horns awfully close to some other parts,” Granny spoke up. Kate could hear the threat in her voice and saw the coin in her hand.

“Not on purpose, he was just trying not to fall off,” Kate admitted. Granny cocked back the hammer on her revolver…, “It was a thumb… The way we was sittin’, the back of his thumb touched me and the moment I told him to move, he did. He didn’t even realize that’s what he were doin’.”

“Well if it were only a thumb, that ain’t- Ooof!” Joseph started but was almost knocked to the ground by her Pa. He’d learned to go for the back of the head from her granny.

“Alright, I’ve heard enough from you… Ma’am, I’ll need that firearm,” Perrington said to granny.

“I only shot ‘im to keep ‘im from running. If I wanted ‘im dead, he’d be dead… I ain’t givin’ up my gun, Marshall. You’re just gonna havta shoot me,” Granny said.

“You shot an innocent man in broad daylight and now you’re refusing to turn your weapon, which is ready to fire I might add, over to a Deputy Federation Marshall,” Perrington split open his shotgun and replaced the spent round, “If I havta shoot ya to disarm ya, I will.”

Kate stared back and forth between the lawmen and her family. As soon as the threat was made, more than one of her fellow Landrys stepped up to stand alongside the family’s elder. Kate just watched with tears streaming down her face wondering why her family was so fucked in the head!

“Oh for gods sakes, you old hag! Margret! Give him the piece. We sent Kate off to fetch a Marshall to investigate what happened to my Jeb! And now you’re playing games with ‘em, old woman?” Kate’s aunt Mary was furious. She looked granny in the eye and snatched the gun out of her hand as soon as she let go. She opened the drum and dropped the rounds on the ground before tossing it towards the lawmen. It wasn’t Mary’s normal behavior but she’d lost her only child. No one in the family was willing to cross her at the moment if nothing else but out of respect for the dead.

“You lot too, you were part of this,” Perrington referred to her Pa and two cousins that had been involved in the beating. Each of them cleared their sidearms and tossed them to the ground, “Good, I catch ya carrying again before this is sorted and I’ll shoot first and ask why later.”

Kate looked around at the townsfolk of Vicksby and shook her head. She was tearing up and after barely a thought, she activated her [Innocent Charm] Skill. But after a moment, she deactivated it. She wanted to know for sure what they felt about what she wanted to say, “Ya’ll might not realize this but proper courtesy would dictate that you don’t speak ill of a man that risked his life to defend this town. Especially without cause... While you were all hidin’ behind your barricade, and I was right there with ya, William was one of only a few that left to try to save the womenfolk the outlaws claimed to be violatin’. He din’t owe you nothin’. Never been to Vicksby before and he returned with those women and more. With firearms, ammunition, and money from the outlaws he killed. He didn’t ask for none of it… and this is how you repay him? You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Only a few in town could meet her eyes. She turned to her family next. It wasn’t often that she spoke up amongst so many of them, so they paid attention.

“And you… you realize what he did for me? Granny? Pa?! I woulda died twice that night if it weren’t for him,” Tears started streaming down her face as she looked at those closest to her, “First time he saw the outlaws take aim at us, he tackled me to the ground and covered me with his own body! Second time he pulled me back right as a sharpshooter pulled the trigger. It went through my arm instead of my heart! Then you know what he done did after that? I could say that was when he saved me a third time. We couldn’t stay there, the outlaws knew where we were and we couldn’t go back... so he stepped out into that street and fired on the sharpshooter while I ran across it to get to the next building. The sharpshooter coulda taken him out right then and there but we made it… and you...”

She shook her head and looked over to where they had pinned William down. Blood from his shoulder still wet on the ground but it might have also been his nose or mouth.

“Sounds like you’re in love with the man,” Joseph said.

“Pa?” She asked and her father answered with a heavy hand to the back of Joseph’s head. He knew damn well that she wouldn’t fall for a man she just met but that didn’t mean she didn’t respect him or find him interesting. She didn’t say that and stormed into the saloon, shrugging her father's hand off her shoulder as he reached for her.

Will groaned as he woke up. He looked around himself to find that he was laying in a bed this time, with two men standing at the door and a busty woman that he recognized wiping his face with a wet cloth. Downstairs he could hear raised voices still.

He wondered briefly how long he was out. Prolonged lapses of consciousness after a head injury wasn’t a good sign but at the same time, he was hurting too much to really care. He knew he probably had a concussion at a minimum.

“Sounds like you got yourself into a spot of trouble, Mister Tempest. Some miscommunication,” Miss Kitty said, “We’ve got you patched up, the bullet went straight through and the ointment is doing its work.”

“I’ve got a tonic in my saddlebag,” Will whispered to her and she turned to one of the lawmen in the room. He walked away from the door and started digging through the bag, coming up with the tonic. He passed it to Miss Kitty.

“Lay on your side… Now, this is gonna hurt,” she said and poured some on both the entrance and exit wounds.

“It’s not that- damn!” Will said through gritted teeth as the tonic took effect. He realized the high quality ones must have some sort of anesthetic because he felt like he was getting surgery done without being knocked out first. That was the stabbing that Kate had mentioned, it wasn’t worse it was just missing something. He ground his teeth and Kitty handed him the bottle to take a drink of it before she dabbed some on her rag.

“Dear, they did a number on you, wouldn’t want that face to stay messed up... this is gonna be worse I think,” she said and started rubbing above his brow and on his nose. She was right, though it was shorter lived, unlike his shoulder that felt like there was still something sharp in there, even with the skin patched up.

“Why?” it was all that Will could ask.

“Don’t you worry yourself. It sounds like it’s being sorted,” she said but Will stared at her. He’d been shot and kicked in the face and he wasn’t supposed to worry about it?

“The way it sounds, after you left Vicksby, Deputy Victor rode on to Silverstead and informed the Sheriff and the Landry family of what happened. A few of the Landry family returned and asked around town this morning and someone told them that your hands were grabbing at Miss Kate when you rode off.” the Fairpoint Inspector informed him.

“I was just trying to hold on! I let her have the saddle and stirrups, I wasn’t grabbing at her,” Will protested.

“I know and I believe that point is being argued now… the other issue was someone told them you’d jumped through the window and seen Miss Kate in her birthday suit.”

“What?”

“That’d be me, honey… Kitty is short for Katherine and some folk call me Miss Kate,” Miss Kitty explained. Before he could ask more there was a knock on the door. Both lawmen readied their sidearms and one peeked through the peephole but they relaxed and opened the door.

“Mister Tempest, before I go over anything… how are you feeling?” Marshall Perrington asked.

“I still got my teeth,” Will groaned out… he thought he did at least. Will ran his tongue across them and was happy that they were all still intact. Not even cavities, his body's previous owner must have brushed and flossed. Either that or there was a tonic for cavities.

“Good, good… I’m glad to inform you that any accusations made against you have been dropped…” Perrington paused and looked towards the window. Will did too and could hear Kate’s voice yelling, “And it would appear Miss Kate Landry is taking it upon herself to correct the people of Vicksby’s behavior.”

Will smiled but dropped it after half a second. His face hurt.

“Now to business, Misses Landry… I believe her name is Margret. Claims that she didn’t intend to kill you, only to apprehend you. Now if this was outta town, she could have done so and hauled you back to the law but we’re in town and they made no attempt to properly restrain you to take you to the law, as I’m sure you’re aware,” Perrington said.

“Oh, I’m aware,” Will responded ruefully.

“In fact, you were assaulted by three men, witnessed by myself. So there’s no need to get statements. Therefore all four parties involved will be charged. Three with assault and one getting assault with a firearm. Three of them are looking at prison time if convicted, in Fairpoint, and Margret Landry is looking at a noose… that is if you are willing to press charges against them,” Perrington laid it out for him.

“It’s my choice?” Will asked, confused. Normally serious crimes were considered crimes against the state.

“Your choice, that’s the law. Now if you’re worried about them outside right now. I can assure you that me and my men will do our best to protect you, it’s our duty to do that.”

Will thought about it and shook his head. If they really thought he’d violated Kate? He couldn’t do that over a misunderstanding.

“I don’t wanna press charges… But if they ask, make sure they know I’m only doing it for Kate and Victor’s sakes,” Will decided.

“Very, well… off the record, I thank you for that. We’ve already got enough to do out here and it-” Perrington was interrupted as the door behind him swung open. He caught it but after seeing who it was stepped aside. Kate sped into the room and dropped to her knees next to Will.

“I’m okay, tonic, remember,” he lied. That shit still hurt.

“No you’re not, I saw what shelf you bought them from. You could have sent someone to ask for-”

“Mister Landry…” Marshall Perrington said with no lack of warning in his voice. Kate’s head spun and looked at the door.

“Ain’t here to cause problems, Marshall,” he said. Will got his first look at Kate’s father. He glanced back and forth between them… he could kind of see the resemblance but he imagined she took after her mother.

“Well, as it happens… Due to the respect Mister Tempest has for your daughter and Deputy Victor, he won’t be pressing charges against you or anyone else in this matter… although I will order a fine equal to the value of a healing tonic and his clothing be paid to him as recompense. As well as the cost the Red Rock Saloon has placed towards this matter to be paid to them,” Perrington said. Will was a bit surprised, he’d made no mention of that before. Did Marshalls handle civil matters as well? Also the Red Rock? Will turned slightly and saw the blood soaked sheet below him… okay, he got that.

“I’ll make sure it’s paid… we just wanted ta thank the man and give our apologies. Tha’s all,” papa Landry said and Perrington looked back at Will. It was his decision, he shared a glance with Kate and when she didn’t object, he nodded.

The man strode into the room and two more followed right behind him. One was a woman that made Will look at Kate, the woman looked just like an older version of Kate and he immediately knew where she got her looks. And behind him was a young man that looked like her father.

“This is my father Hendrick, mother Elisa, and little brother Samuel,” Kate informed him.

“Hello,” Will said and tried to sit up a bit more.

“Kate told us what you done did for her… As a father, you have my thanks…,” Hendrick extended his hand and Will took it.