Levi and Hope sat on the front porch watching the sun set. Today it was especially glorious with fiery red and orange colors bursting from the horizon. A cool breeze blew enough to cause the lush green leaves to rustle softly. Hope had Mason while Levi held Emma, and Ellie chased fire flies in the front yard under a huge oak tree.

It was so peaceful, that Hope found herself wishing she could stop time forever in this perfect moment. The screen door creaked open and Harold walked out onto the porch. "Mind if I join you?"

"No, not at all." Hope said as she motioned for the older man to pull up another chair. Instead, he walked by electing to sit on the white porch swing. Easing himself down, he began to swing gently back and forth. The silence was broken by the soft plink of the excess chain tapping against itself. The crickets began to chirp and every once in a while you could hear Ellie laugh as she caught another firefly.

Hope had given her a clear canning jar and Levi had poked a few air holes in the lid. Ellie liked to catch fireflies and put them in the jar, then set them on her bedside table. Once she was asleep, Levi would go get them and set them free for her to catch again another night. She just loved to watch them as she went to sleep.

"She's better today, don't you think?" Harold asked as he watched her play. Ellie had been very upset and not quite herself since Timmy had called her that horrible name. She hadn't really thought about the scar on the side of her face until then. But today she had been her old self again, happy and carefree.

The thunder of hooves barreling down the drive cut off further conversation as all three adults turned their attention to the loan rider. Levi stood up and walked over to Harold then laid Emma in his arms. He then walked over to the edge of the porch with his hand on his gun and waited for the rider. A moment later Andy's horse came to a skidding halt at the bottom of the steps.

"Levi, I need you to come with me, now." Andy panted.

"Andy, what in the hell is going on? What's wrong?" Levi asked as he began walking down the steps to make his way to the barn.

"Just go get saddled up and I'll tell you on the way."

Minutes later the two of them were on their way to town. As soon as they were off of Levi's property, he turned in the saddle and looked at his friend. "Alright, I want to know what in the hell is going on?"

"I had a visitor come and see me. She was in pretty bad shape and she insisted on finding you." Both men brought their horses to a stop. "Levi, she said she was your sister, Faith."

It felt like the breath had been knocked out of him. What was Faith doing here? How did she even find him? Wait. "What do you mean she was in pretty bad shape? What was wrong with her?"

"She and the boy that brought her have ridden almost non-stop from Flat Rock to get here. She has a few bruises that are fading on her face and marks on her wrists to indicate that she's been bound at some point. I took her over to Docs for him to check her out, then I hauled ass here to get you."

"This boy that you said brought her here, did he hurt her?"

"No, from what I got, his mother saved her life and the boy was her guide to get here."

"Saved her life! Why would her life need saving?" The more he heard the more confused Levi got. Why would Faith be here anyway?

"Let's just get back to town, then we can ask both of them these questions and hopefully get you some answers." There was very little if any conversation the rest of the way to town.

It was dark by the time Levi and Andy pulled up in front of Doc Baker's office. Levi jumped off his horse and tied the reins to the hitching rail. He put one foot on the bottom step and stopped. Nerves assailed him as he remembered the last time he had seen his family. It was not a good memory. His father's words echoed through his mind. Traitor, disgrace, and disowned, those words had echoed through his mind for the last ten years.

He'd known if he left, he would never be able to go back. He did not miss either of his parents. Both of them had been so consumed with Charleston Society to worry about him or his siblings. The only family member he'd ever missed was Faith; and now she was here.

"Levi?" Hearing his name, he looked up focusing on Andy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just remembering the last time I saw my sister. Come on let's go." The two men walked across the front porch, opened the door, and walked into Doc Baker's front parlor.

Sitting in an arm chair beside the fireplace was a beautiful woman. A woman that looked vaguely familiar to him. As he and Andy entered the room, she looked up at him, her mouth opened slightly in the shape of an "O." Each of them stared at the other for a moment. Faith was the first to gather her wits as she jumped up and flew across the room and into her brother's arms.

"Oh Levi! I can't believe it's really you! After all this time, I've missed you so much. I was beginning to think that I would never find you."

Levi wrapped his arms around his sister. It felt good to know that at least one member of his family had missed him. Faith drew back in his arms looking up at the man her big brother had become. He looked the same, just more mature. He no longer possessed the face of a boy, but that of a man. A very handsome man.

"What in the hell are you doing here Faith, and all alone?" His tone was sharper than what he'd meant for it to be.

Drawing herself up to her full height, she squared her shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "I came to see you, but now I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just kept going on to some other town." Her words were just as sharp as his had been.

A huge grin split his face. "I see you still have a temper. I figured Mother would have calmed you down by now."

"It wasn't for the lack of trying, believe me. And now that I've been wearing these britches, I don't think I will ever go back to wearing a dress."

"Seriously Faith, why are you here? More importantly, why are you here with only a boy?"

"Oh my goodness, I almost forgot. I'll start at the beginning. I left Charleston because I just couldn't abide by Mother and Father anymore. They wanted me to marry some stuffy banker and be a society wife. You know me, I want more. I want to be my own person, I want to be independent, not be under the thumb of some man that I don't even like. I'm not a possession."

She paused, looking up at her brother waiting for him to explode, but he just looked at her and smiled. "Well, you came to the right place. So, I take it Mother and Father don't know that you found me or that you have come out here? What did you tell them?"

"I – I didn't tell them anything except that I wouldn't be back. To be honest they wouldn't let me come back anyway. I've been gone for two weeks with no chaperone; they would be too ashamed to let me come back. I waited until I was old enough, just to make sure they wouldn't even have to make the token effort to bring me back." Faith walked back over to the chair she'd vacated earlier and sat down. Levi followed her across the room, but elected to stand instead of sit. Actually he began to pace as he listened to his sisters words.

"Anyway, I was on the train during an absolutely horrible storm when this man asked if he could join me. He was handsome and very well dressed, I assumed he was a good southern gentleman, but I was so very wrong. Not long after he sat down across from me, I got this feeling that something wasn't right. The porter came in our car and told all of us that we were stopping at the next town, Flat Rock. The railroad was afraid the tracks would have washed out from the storm. On the second night, he snuck into my room. I heard a noise and woke up right before he put a rag with chloroform over my face. The next thing I remember, I woke up with the sun shining brightly through the window. I was tied to the bed."

Levi's brows shot up and he quickly turned to Doc and Andy. "She's fine Levi, I checked. She's got few rope burns and bruises, but other than that, she's okay." Doc said from the entrance of the parlor. "Would any of you like some tea or coffee?" Everyone indicated that they did not so Faith continued her story.

She held her hand up to stay Levi's reaction. "He didn't do that to me; at least I'm pretty sure he didn't. He held me there for several more days, using the chloroform every time I woke up and he was there. Levi." Faith reached up and grabbed her brother's hand to stop him from pacing. "He wants to kill you for marrying Hope. John's mother Mildred, the owner of the hotel, knew something was wrong and saved me. She gave me a pair of John's clothes and the use of a horse. We rode almost non-stop to get here before Philip could get to you."

"Who did you say?" Levi asked, sure that he'd misunderstood his sister.

"Philip Huntington."

It felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach. This was his worst fear. He had so hoped that Philip would just let things be and just go back to Savannah. He had to get home to Hope and the kids. "I have to get home. I want you to stay here for tonight; Andy can bring you out to the house in the morning." Levi turned to look at the sheriff, who nodded his agreement.

"No. I'm coming with you. I didn't think I would ever find you again, and I'm going to spend time with you. Besides, I want to meet the woman that managed to settle you down and start a family." Faith crossed her arms over her chest and raised her chin a notch. It was more than clear that she was not going to give in.

Sighing reluctantly, Levi acquiesced. There was no point in arguing with her. Someone cleared their throat on the other side of the room drawing his attention. Turning around he saw a young man, really nothing more than a boy standing in the corner.

"Levi, allow me to introduce you to John, he's the one that brought me here."

Levi walked over to the boy and stuck out his hand. "Thank you for taking care of my sister, I know it wasn't easy."

"No sir Mr. Matthews, it wasn't." John said shyly.

"I guess you'd want to be coming with us too."

"Yes sir that would be nice. Just for a day or so for me to rest, then I'll be going back home."

bed tEh