"It's just that no one ever told me that being a grown up was going to be so hard. Seems like all I do is work these days and I've pretty much messed everything up with Naomi. I don't think she'll ever forgive me for being so bullheaded. It's a bit cold out here, Miss Weaver. Maybe you should go on inside."

Before Miss Weaver could speak, another voice, a man's, said, "Maybe you should both come back inside."

Both Charity and Elijah turned to see a silhouette outlined in the moonlight. As he came nearer the outline of the man became clear and Ben Baker stepped out of the darkness as if he had just peformed an act of magic. "Wishes do come true," He said and he wrapped his arms around both of them at the same time.

Elijah buried his face in his fathers shoulder and said, "So hard pa. It's just been so hard."

"You've become a man since I've left haven't you son?"

"Not a very good one. Not a good one at all."

"Well, let's go inside and have some cider. What do you say Miss Weaver? If I'm remembering correctly, we left off somewhere right here." And with that he took her face in his and kissed her. "Was that the correct place we left off? Or was it here?" And he kissed her again.

Ben Baker-Home

He walked into the barn in a newly tailored suit, steel gray of color. He really hadn’t been out and around much of late, remaining at the café to work and leaving town to socialize, so people didn’t see him very much. He didn’t look quite the same as he usually did.

If you didn’t look at him next to more normal sized townspeople, Clyde looked a handsome man of respectable proportions. Thus he remained at a slight distance from the people around him as he scanned the room.

Was she still around or had she moved downriver? His question was quickly answered as he spied the girl of his dreams from across the room: Jenny Gardener.

She was being coy and chatting with a few fellows he didn’t know. Should he steel himself and walk up to her or just wait till she had a free moment? She was about to dance with one of them when Clyde decided he should cut in. He quickly strode toward her when suddenly he was on the floor.

Men and women were looking and laughing, many people he recognized, but Clyde smiled and lifted himself off the floor, always the comedian.

But who had tripped him? Nobody around gave a tell-tale appearance of guilt.

Jenny had imparted a brief glance in his direction just to see what was going on. She had an expression on her face that belied a lack of recognition. Good. He was humiliated, but he looked different enough that she didn’t know who he was. Slowly he slunk to the back of the barn.

Maybe coming here wasn’t such a good idea, he thought, but like a moth to a flame, he seemed drawn to her beauty. He stood and watched her, and could hardly breathe, as he watched her dance.

Clyde could never measure up to a goddess like Jenny. She was so perfect and he was so less than perfect.

Wyatt said, “That would suit me just fine.” But before he could finish his thought her smile faded and she called after the gentleman she had come in with.

“Caleb! Caleb!.” She yelled across the barn. Caleb had been sitting in a corner and now was heading for the door. Wyatt could not tell if he had heard her or not but he continued on out the door. Wyatt hoped that the man was not leaving on account of his dancing with Miss Scarlet, he did not want to step on the toes of another man (so long as that man was not treating a woman with disrespect) and had intentions on keeping his relationship with Miss Malory strictly business. Wyatt remembered that Caleb had come in had not looking to well and had just stood there by the door for a long time as if he was in a trance, so perhaps he was not feel too well.

Scarlet turned back to him and said, “You were saying?”

She pushed her hair away from her face and thought out loud, "Hmmmmm..let's see a place to stay?" She tapped her index finger gently on her lips. "Well, there is Ashley Manor. It's owned by Bradley Vape. Nice man , he is." She thought and tapped a bit longer. "I also have a few appartments above the Pub that you're welcome to see about."

Scarlet looked around the room and took in all the holiday cheer. "My...my...don't you just love this time of year. It makes you happy even if you don't feel like being happy." She sighed.

"If you'd like, c'mon down to the Pub tommorrow morning and see the business as well as the rooms upstairs. You can let me know then how you feel about it all. I'd be real happy to have you on....board, that is."

Wyatt had no brother or sister and the closest kin that he new of was his mother’s brother who had never much liked Wyatt’s father and as such had never lost any love on Wyatt himself. The only person that Wyatt was close to was Charles, Mom and Dad’s butler who had taken care of their estate in Boston, but Wyatt had not talked to him in over 8 years. Wyatt had given Charles the deed the land that he had so carefully tend for so many years, even before the war. He knew that he would never be going back to Boston and he did not want to have to worry about the estate during his travels. He also knew that if ever he went back that Charles would give the estate back to him without hesitation but Boston held to many memories and to much pain.

Wyatt was alone again this Christmas and he was beginning to get awfully tired and feel very lonely. Looking around the room he saw all of the people having a good time smiling and dancing. Of course he had been enjoying himself too, but he longed for something more than the vagabond life that he had been living. For a moment the smile faded from Wyatt’s face as he all of these memories played across his mind. <Yes> Wyatt thought <I am tired of traveling and having no home. Perhaps Hatrack is where I need to stay. Every one here seems so friendly, well, excusing Mr. Outhouse breath. Yes, I think that this is where stay. Make friends build a home and perhaps someday even start a family.> He had made up his mind that Hatrack was the last stop on his long journey and already felt a bit warmer and more at peace. In a way he even felt closer to the folk here like he belonged. The smile returned to his face and the spirit of the season lifted him up.

Taking Wyatt's hand, Scarlet more than willingly took the dance floor. "I would be delighted," was all she managed to slip through her smiling lips.

And she couldn't deny that it WAS a pleasure.

Little Abigail was almost six months old, and until this moment Lavvy hadn't realized how much she missed the parts of her life that were not absorbed by the infant. One of the most important of those parts was her husband, devotedly dancing with her and showering her with his usual barrage of compliments too extravagant to be believed.

She couldn't help but smile at him. It had taken the strength of Hercules for the young Mr. Baker to force his wife out of the house that evening, and she could only hope that he was having as good a time as she, despite the fact that they were both concerned about his twin's obvious depression. (Lavvy still found it hard to believe she had ever been fooled when Elisha and Elijah chose to take places. They might well wear identical faces, but in temperment, it often seemed as though no two men could be farther apart than the Baker boys.)

Lucilla never could understand how very charming he found the folk of Hatrack, and her desire to socialize with them had been severely limited over the past few weeks. She considered so few people to be members of her social circle. "After all, my dear," she would sometimes say in the privacy of their own home. "You wouldn't want people to think we live on the same level as farmers."

Lucilla did not make that point very often. Truthfully, many of the farmers in town lived better than the doctor and his wife who were paid as often in eggs and butter as cash money.

For all that, Lucilla had friends in town, among them Miss Henrietta Featherbairn whom she hoped to see here tonight. Lucilla was quite sure that Henny would be smitten green with envy by the splendour of her new dress, the pattern and fabric both a gift from yet another friend, this one lucky enough not to dwell in the benighted wilderness of the Hio Territories.

In her wake strode the handsome figure of the good doctor's eldest son, Jasper. He was also dressed in sartorial finery, evidently hoping to enliven the evening with some sardonic comments at the expense of his peers, or a cheerful flirtation with one of the pretty women present.

Tansy Hobs would be his by dawn.

“Clyde, you need to come out to Dekane with me some time and pay for it.” Eb McElvyn said to him. “You got yerself all gussied up and she don’t even know you’re alive.” Eb, like most of Clyde’s friends came and went to Hatrack, going where the work took him.

“Shut up, Eb. You don’t know a thing about it.”

“The funniest thing is you’re too skeered to even take over. From that.”

Clyde’s eyes lit up and he pulled the dreaded spectacles from his shirt pocket and spied the young man that was dancing with the one he fancied an angel. “It ain’t nothing but a kid. Who is he?”

“Get these apples. He’s, Birley, the new Smith’s Prentice!”

“Jehosiphat! Tell the truth! He’s too old! An apprentice?”

Eb nodded his head when the buck-toothed Widow O’Hara appeared.

“C’mon Ebenezer, I didn’t drag you here just so I could be dancing alone, get on out here with me.”

The unfortunate Eb called back, “Don’t ferget your eyes and go trippin’ over any more sacks of hay,” before the Widow, three years older than he finally had him in her grasp.

Greedy cuss, Clyde thought, I wonder if he even cares that the late Farmer O’Hara fell onto a pitchfork that happened to be in her hands. He watched the kid and Jenny. It was probably the closest the boy had been to an ample pair of bosoms since he was weaned, so Clyde let him have a few more moments before he decided to move in.

Carefully, he retained his spectacles until he was close, and then lithely slipped them back into his pocket.

What he hoped to say was something like: “Excuse me fine young sir, it shall really do me the honor to have the opportunity to cut in and dance with this beautiful vision of loveliness. A goddess so untouchable that the likes of Venus and Athena could only worship at her feet. May I?”

Fate, however, had other plans, and the moment he glimpsed Jenny, all the finery slipped off of his palate--he was nearly doomed. The dance was moving faster than he could think, and if he did not speak now, he would find the dancers tripping over him all over again.

He had wanted to sober up and stop feeling sorry for himself to make a good impression on Scarlet. He was ready to court her like a gentleman and prove to her that he was over Lara once and for all. He approached the dance hall a bit apprehensively, but finally he made his way in.

The barn was aglow with candlelight and happy faces. Bradley smoothed down the cowlick in his hair and made his way through the crowd. It felt good to be back.

After the third song, Wyatt escorted Miss Malory off the dance floor “It has been a pleasure dancing with you Miss Malory. I believe though that I shall call it an night. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning.” Wyatt lifted her hand to his lips and kissed gently, “Until then I will say Goodnight.”

After Scarlet said her goodbyes Wyatt turned to leave. After picking up his coat he headed out the door. The cold and darkness engulfed him at once and with a sigh he began to make his way back to the inn.

At one point, however, Jenny happened to notice a young woman who made her feel very awkward. A flush crept up her neck when she recognized her old friend Lavender Wells (now Baker). Ever since she had "come back from the dead", Jenny had found herself unable to speak in Lavvy's presence. The girl she had been friends with had run away, eloped, and come back after months abroad a different person. At least it seemed so to Jenny. Lavender had a husband, and a baby daughter now, and she helped run the Baker Home for Orphans. Jenny's and Lavender's lives now ran in different directions. Jenny had never had the chance to sit down with her friend, and now with so much water gone down the river, it seemed awkward whenever she thought about it. When Lavender looked her way, Jenny steadfastly stared in the other direction to avoid meeting her former friend's eyes. Besides, whenever Jenny did get a look at Lavender's face, it was shining with love as she gazed at her handsome husband. Jenny bit her tongue with jealousy and tried to concentrate on her footing.

She barely saw a young man headed in her direction from the corner of her eye.

"Whoa, Birley, I think we're going to hit someone!" she laughed, but they managed to stop before running into anybody. The man looked familar - he had a rascally smile and the way his eyes measured her body made her heart pound even faster than the dance had.

"Kid, your mother didn't come to this party. I'm sure Miss Jenny'd like a real man," he said. Finally Jenny connected the right name with the deceptively dapper man.

"Clyde Traveller!" For a moment, Jenny looked radiant as she greeted her old friend. Then the rudeness of his words sunk in. No amount of spit and polish could keep Clyde Traveller from being a rascal, just as no amount of frou-frou could tame the wildness in Jenny Gardener. Privately, she was pleased to have Clyde's attention, but Birley's grip had tightened on her and he looked upset. And when she thought of what his words implied, she tossed her head.

"What makes you think you know what I like, BOY? Birley and I have been having quite a good time. And he's a 'prentice smith, so perhaps he's farther along the path of manhood than a cafe dishwasher." Jenny's eyes flashed green fire as she played the two males against each other. For once, she'd like to be the one fought over. She wondered if Elijah Baker had felt this good when she and Naomi had squabbled for his attentions.

“DISH-washer! Who do you think runs the Hatrack Café, what with Mr. Mueller blacking out and disappearing for months on end and Mr. Genteel getting all loony?”

He and Jenny had known each other too many years and lots of ‘kid’ feelings were coming up. They were too familiar with one another. But the words just kept coming out.

“Oh, and by the by, if it weren’t for me making fish stew the daily Soup d’jour…”

At times he had spent so much time with Trout that they were almost a family, but Clyde always made sure he kept enough distance from Jenny to think of him as a brother.

“…your brother wouldn’t sell half the fish he does now…”

Clyde couldn’t stop in spite of the bemused look on Burley’s face. Surely the kid thought that Clyde’s battle would be with him.

“..and THEN who would…”

Finally, he stopped flat, but could already see her anticipating the end of the sentence.

Clyde steeled himself for the avalanche that was about to fall upon him. He was doomed, doomed, doomed. She hated him.

And the worst thing was that a little kid was getting the better of him in the middle of the dance floor, and Eb McElvyn was only steps away, dancing with Widow O’Hara but watching the events.

And yet something inside him was getting excited.

He grinned wide, knowing it was gonna hit hard. He had no idea it would push him back.

Eb had been watching so close, but the Widow O’Hara was such a controlling follower Eb couldn’t steer her out of their way. Clyde fell right into Eb and the Widder, spilling them into another pair of dancers.

Clyde didn’t care about that. He didn’t even care what became of Birley. All he cared about, as he rubbed his injured jaw then sprinted forward on all fours, was grabbing where Jenny Gardener's pretty knees must be under all that dress and pulling her legs from under her.

The fire was hot inside of him and the fray was on.

Watching him leave, she thought to herself, <My...what a nice man he is. He certainly seems to know himself. He's like a grown man>. Scarlet laughed at the thought as she looked around the room and could clearly see most of the men were grown in age, but she was referring to their minds. Wyatt seemed put together and she liked that. He had a balancing effect on her.

Scarlet smoothed down her dress and helped herself to some of the spiked punch, curtisy of Seth. She liked it and quickly downed two more glasses.

Looking around the crowded party, Scarlet wished...she wished some more... and closed her eyes. The room took on an extra special glow when she opened her eyes. The people all looked happier, even though there seemed to be a fight breaking out between a woman and man. She grinned at it because the girl was doing things Scarlet often thought about doing but never did. <Nice shot>, she thought to herself.

Then...there he was...her wish...Scarlet rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't just seeing things due to Seth's new punch recipe.

Bradley Vape was here.

Scarlet was soooooo happy she could burst.

Elijah hadn't taken his advice after all, leaving the party completely. Jim supposed he was either trying to avoid a scene or playing hard to get. The other twin (and the more successful at love) was happily dancing the night away with his lovely wife.

He knew he was taking the hostess away from her post, so he was doing his best to keep an eye on the gathering, which is why he saw the fight breaking out when the dishwasher tried to cut in on the 'prentice smith with the girl of the green thumb. Before the very unladylike fist connected with the red-haired rapscallion's.

With a courtly bow to his dance partner he said, "Pardon me, lady. There seems to be some trouble starting yonder."

He misjudged how quickly the situation would escalate, so the first punch was thrown before he arrived on the scene, but it was easy enough work to deflect the red-haired projectile that was aiming for the green thumb's legs. Still some dress tangling going on, but not as indecent as between the legs where he'd been aiming, and not enough to avoid all three of the rabble-rousers, Jenny, Clyde, and Birley, from tumbling into yet another pair of dancing couples.

Jim watched in a mixture of shock and bemusment as a chain reaction felled one dancer after another, until it seemed as if half the dance floor was on the ground like a holy-roller church revival. Eyes wide, in shock over the dancers falling all around him, he pointed at the three trouble-makers.

With just a hint of a smile tinting his anger, he said, "Just look at what you've done!"

He grinned a thankful smile that HE wasn't the one causing the trouble at the dance. He thought about holidays past and of missing dead bodies, lost treasure, and the Dread Pirate Alton.

He also thought for a moment of Sarah and Abigail. His family. Long returned to the dust. He held back some tears but tried to remember that the reason we love things so dearly is because they are fleeting, that our lives are bookended by a big slumber and that it was our job to live while we could. To LIVE.

And then more things filtered into her consciousness. People were staring at them.

"Just look at what you've done!" a man was saying. Jenny couldn't bear to. She'd made such a scene. Her skin looked as if it had been scalded, and hot tears began running down her face. Covering her cheeks and eyes with her hands, Jenny cried.

“Just look at what you’ve done,” Planter said to them, sending Jenny into a crying fit, the way that women did for no apparent reason.

And the worst thing was, when Clyde patted his pocket, he felt nothing but a handkerchief where there should have been several harder items. Curse him for a fool, not only were his spectacles missing, but another, more critical item had bounced on to the floor.

Frantically, Clyde began pawing the floor looking for it. “Glasses, has anyone seen a pair of glasses,” he shouted, in spite of the fact that they were not his biggest concern.

Suddenly he saw a glint, and grabbed it right before someone set foot on it. He hoped Jenny had not seen it when he smoothly pocketed the object and pulled his handkerchief out at the same moment.

He heard a cracking sound and a male voice going, “Whoops.”

Oh well, he could always buy a new pair of glasses. Some things, though, money couldn’t buy.

“Miss Jenny,” he said, offering his kerchief and speaking in his most tender voice. “I’m real sorry. I just wanted to talk to you and like a real jackass, I’ve ruined your night. Could I get you out of here, take you to the café and make it up?”

Before Tansy could give her a good answer she made her way toward him. Once she'd stopped next to him she realized that he was taller than she'd reckon back at the punch table. She glanced back at Tansy whose eyes had widened considerably.

"Mr. ahhh, deputy...ummm...James Peacemaker will you dance with me?" She asked with much more force than she intended. Now she was committed come what may. Tansy must think she was a loon and frankly Ruthie wasn't sure her friend was far from wrong.

She would have said something to Ruthie but thought it would be better if she was humiliated by the man rather than her own sister.

Then there was the brawl. Apparently Jenny Gardener had been spreading her charms amongst some of the younger menfolk and two of them had embibed a bit too much of such. As always, Jenny brought out the absolute best in people. The nutty thing was that the girl seemed to enjoy it.

Not wanting to get involved in this bit of drama, Naomi decided to step outside. The air was cold and the first thing she laid eyes on was Mr. Ben kissing Miss Charity and Elijah looking as if he'd cried a river.

"If it isn't the aptly named Miss Charming," he said. "You're looking lovely as usual this evening, but I hope you won't take it amiss in me to wonder if you should be out in the cold without even a shawl on a brisk night. If you'd rather be here than inside with all that chaos, I don't blame you, but at least let me fetch something to wrap around your shoulders." He smiled, and waited on the charming young lady's answer.

Come to think of it, the spot where Jenny'd been twirlin' looked more like a fight than a dance just now. Tansy knew her blood-sister was more'n capable of takin' care of herself in such a spot, and was set to start easin' her way closer to Ruthie and the deputy on a chance she might overhear somethin' worthwhile, when everythin' changed. She caught sight of Jenny, all red-faced and crying and what had been a shy country mouse turned into lightning an tornadoes rolled up in one little tangle-haired package.

Before she had time to fret about bustin' in where she wasn't wanted, Tansy found herself standin' with her arm round Jenny's shoulder.

"It would seem, Mr. Chartley,you tend to know when I am in the greatest need."

She took his arm, knowing that Elijah was too enthralled with Mr. Ben and Miss Charity to notice her, at least for the moment.

Mr. Chartley was kind. His charms were different than Elijah's or James Peacemaker's. There was no danger to him just friendliness. For now that was enough for Naomi.

Glancing back inside she spotted Jenny crying and Tansy focused on her intently. Meanwhile, whatever had started her crying was over and folk were dancing again. She thought she saw her sister but couldn't quite tell.

As he swept both Elijah and herself into his arms, she smiled and felt warm inside. Now it was Christmas in Hatrack.

Ben's kisses were as much of a surprise as the first time he'd kissed her back in the spring. Still she returned them and wished they'd last forever.

"I think some cider would be lovely. Perhaps we should join the couples on the dance floor and see how long it takes to turn heads, my dear." A mischievious glint sparkled in Charity's brown eyes. "I do believe this is the first time since I was a child that I had a Christmas wish come true."

The winter night air cooled her cheeks. But they soon flared again when she realized that Clyde hadn't let go of her after they'd left the dance. She wasn't about to remind him. For some reason, his warmth and solidity made her feel completely safe.

"Clyde, I , uh..." but she was tongue-tied. She wasn't sure if she was really sorry
or still mad or just tired.

"I don't really like dances much."

"Yes he is inside with Lavender. And just wait until you see Abigail. She's grown so much," Elijah confirmed.

As they turned to go inside Elijah thought he saw Naomi, but no, surely it wasn't her. When they reached the entrance he was horrified to see that someone else had stolen her away and then to top it off there was Ruthie dancing with the deputy sheriff. The HORROR of it all.

Elijah looked towards Jenny Gardener who appeared as if she had been crying and saw that she was taken up with that sneaky Clyde Traveller whom he had once gotten in so much trouble with.

Enraged and full of jealousy he excused himself from his father and Miss Weaver who had already started to move towards Elisha and Lavender, and he practically ran to the punch table, took a big drink from a cup and then spotted her. Without thinking he grabbed the hand of Sarah Lively and whisked her out on the dancefloor. "Let's show these people how to dance." He caught Naomi's eye at that moment as if to prove that he too could move on since it was apparent that she was leaving him behind. He began to wonder why he had even thought there was any chance of reconciliation. He was the furthest thing from her mind.

******

Elisha was enjoying the company of his wife, each time watching the smile fade from Lucillas face when Lavenders back was to her. Then he would spin her around so she could face her mother and Lucilla would be smiling again. He stuck his tongue out at her once when Lavender wasn't looking. "I just love your parents my dear. They make our lives so much more interesting wouldn't you say. We really ought to have them up for dinner soon."

Elisha turned Lavender once more and instead of seeing Lucilla his father was practically standing right in front of him. You would have thought he was having a seizure the way he jumped.

"FATHER!" Elisha exclaimed. "You scared the devil out of me!"

"And here I thought Lavender would have taken care of that for us all by now."

"You're all so unforgiving," Elisha teased. "Is it wrong for a man to enjoy the finer things in life?"

"Not so long as that man doesn't behave like a pompous ass, child."

"You mean like grandfather."

"Yes, exactly," Ben smiled.

"How is the old Senator and my grandmother doing?"

"They're having the time of their lives. And Seth is enjoying his school tremendously."

"Great to hear."

At that moment Elijah came flying through the midst of them, dancing, sweating, and causing the young girl he was with to shout with glee.

Ben looked at Elijah, then over at Naomi with another man. "Did I miss something here?"

Ben - What's happened?

I can see that Jenny has rectified the situation and I hope no feelings are irreparably hurt. Naomi has her own headaches to deal with before getting in the middle of a brawl. Goodness!

“Clyde, I , uh...I don’t really like dances much,” she said to him as they walked.

Words had come so easily when he was mad at her, when his juices were flowing, and even when he was concerned for her. But now, when he had her close to him and he had to think, and they were walking out toward the café, everything he wanted to say to her went right out of his head. He tried to come up with small talk in response.

“I don’t much like dances either,” he mimicked.

A few more steps of silence, and then Clyde said, “You can keep my kerchief, y’know,”

She hadn't been mean about it, no, but it was clear that Jenny wasn't thinking about her scraggly little blood sister no more. Her mind was all wrapped up in somethin' else. Maybe that Clyde Traveller. Unexpected and ugly, a twist of jealousy sparked into hot life beneath her breastbone, and she tamped it down as quickly as she could, ashamed. It was all too close to the uncertain emotions that raddled her whenever she thought of Joshua's preoccupation with Asher and Twilla. She turned her head, and her thunderous eyes met those of Prentice Burly.

Tansy's cheeks flamed, and she hurriedly ducked away.

A glance around the room through the tangled screen of her hair showed that, the fuss being over, most everyone had gone back to dancing. Ruthie was twirling around in the arms of the deputy, and Tansy was too familiar with her redoubtable friend's stubbornness to be surprised that she had wrangled him into actually stepping onto the floor with her. If she didn't sweet talk him into fetching her a glass of punch afterwards, then Tansy would be surprised all right.

But just now, it seemed as if nobody in the room even needed her, nor even cared if she was there.

Seth Fowler raised the cloth up to his nose and inhaled deeply, his head filled with filthy thoughts...

It was going to be a great Christmas.

Ruthie was taken care of, so long as Naomi didn't come inside any time soon and catch her flirting, and Tansy had no desire to stand witness to THAT battle of wills when it came. She had nobody else here, but nothing to go home to except the sight of Joshua pouring all his heart into that baby and Twilla. With jealousy still bubbling so close to the top of her heart, the idea wasn't appealing.

Tomorrow, she'd celebrate Christmas with them, and had even fashioned gifts for all three of them. Jenny and Quincy Umble, too. After arguing with herself, she'd made a gift for Needles too, and tucked all of them into the corner of Joshua's cabin near her little bed. Tomorrow was for them. Tonight, she wanted something else.

<What?...all this due to Brad?> she thought to her self. <Why does he effect me. Some times he makes me feel so calm and warm and other times he puts such a wild rage in me>.

Scarlet was confusing wild rage with wild..er...uh..wild other stuff.

All she wanted to do was be close to him. The more time that past without him coming near, the more anxious she got. Soon, Scarlet might lose control and just help herself to what drove her. It would be beyond her control.

-Scarlet <---holding back for as long as she can.

There were quite a few young people here tonight, a bright and sparkling contrast to their more sober elders. A few of them seemed determined to turn the dance into a romp, and Sam tried to steer the young lady clear of these. He tried even harder when he saw that one of the young pups dangling after Naomi was the ringleader of the most boisterous gang of revelers.

Sam was a map-maker by trade, which meant the majority of his time was spent slogging through wilderness and marking landmarks on his charts. He had a knack for it, they said. He might not be the most artistic fellow you'd ever meet -- his trees and mountains often looked no better than squiggles -- but a man could find his way using one of Sam Chartley's maps. If he'd been to a place, he could show another person the way, that was certain. By rights, living so long out of doors, he ought to have been a wild man, all hair and boots. Luckily, his sister had been tracking in his wake ever since she'd been old enough to leave her schooling behind. She'd had a civilizing effect on him. The only remnants of the wilderness left in Sam could be seen in the fact that he had very little patience for nonsense.

That fair-haired snirp might well have been Naomi Charming's favorite, once upon a time, but Sam thought she could do better than a boy who had yet to graduate beyond nursery tricks. She had better sense, Sam thought, than to tie herself in marriage to someone like that. All that bouncing around, trying to make her jealous, young Mr. Baker might as well be pulling hair and throwing frogs, for all the good it might do him. Certainly that wasn't the way to show a young lady he would make a good husband.

Sam had only recently begun to think of marriage, and he was bound to admit that it was the sight of Miss Naomi Charming on that waterlogged riverbank day that had started him thinking it.

The music to which they were dancing came to an end, and the band seemed likely to take a break to refresh themselves with lemonade and cider that had been set out near them. Sam offered his arm to Naomi with a smile.

*************
"Why do you insist on chasing after a man who doesn't want you, my dear?" Her conscience started. "Why...what a fool you make of yourself."
*****************

"No, I won't do it, I say, I just won't." Scarlet sighed to herself.

Although she knew darn well she would, in fact , do whatever it was she was so heavily set against doing. Somethings you just can't stop yourself from doing. It's as if you're driven to do them. You know it's wrong but when pure nature calls....there's no stopping the force.

Scarlet pulled her wet nibbled finger out from her lips and smoothed down her hair, still attempting to control herself. She looked away from the dance floor, but quickly jerked her head back to it and fixed her eyes on her target.

Without really feeling the floor, she walked quickly over to Brad and pulled him by the hand. She thought to herself, "I just gotta have this, just this once. To hell with what's right or wrong."

Scarlet didn't even bother to look him in the face , she just walked him firmly towards the door. His hand felt right in hers and she wondered what else of his felt right to her.

The two of them were guided by Scarlet's wild side, to the ouside of the barn. She found a dark area just off to the left of the barn. Scarlet whirled him around to finally face her. She felt anger and wondered why she was sooooooo mad at him. The truth of the matter was not that she felt anger, she felt passion.

Scarlet let go of his hand and pushed Brad by the shoulders, hard against the big tree just inches behind him. Her eyes were glazed over and she didn't feel embarassed. She felt driven.

As Brad's back sat pinned against the tree, Scarlet slid her hands, that never left his shoulders after the push, around his neck. She blazed a cross look into his eyes as if she was very angry with him. She pushed herself hard against him and forced her right knee to bend inbetween his legs, pinning him even further.

Brad had no room to move. Scarlet had him cornered with her eyes, her arms and her leg. She didn't care what he thought, she didn't care what he did. All she did care about was having the chance to do exactly what she had to do.

"Damn you, Vape." She whispered into the cold night air. Scarlet pushed her face up to his and layed her lips on his without moveing them.

She slowly dropped her hand down his neck and rested it on his chest. Her fingers traced a path into his shirt. She brushed her lips softly against his and started to nibble at him. Her free leg pulled in close to his outer thigh and she raised it up and down as if to stroke it.

Scarlet kissed him deeply, passionatly and angrily. Her hand that was inside his shirt wanted to feel every part of his chest. It wondered from one side to the other, up and down as her mind drew a picture of all the things she was feeling on him.

Kissing him harder and more deeply, Scarlet pulled her other hand from his neck and took hold of his belt from the front. She pulled him strongly into her then reached around behind him, never letting go of the belt. She used it as a guide to take her hand where it wanted to go.

Her hand pulled at his tucked in shirt from behind. Being successful, Scarlet slid her hand up his back and ran her fingers up to his naked shoulder blades. His skin felt so good to her.

Her breathing was hard. She felt like there was no air to be had. She almost couldn't stand it and so she stopped.

Scarlet pulled away from Brad and looked over the mess she had made of him.

She didn't feel bad.

"That's all I wanted to tell you", she panted. Scarlet ran the back of her hand across her lips and turned to head back to the barn.

"If Mrs. Baker were still here, the rest of these dishes would pale in comparison." She missed her old friend, who had moved back to New York. Sipping some cider, she glanced back toward the floor. She almost dropped her cup.

There was Ruthie dancing with James Peacemaker. At first she was livid, but then she remembered the last time she'd seen Ruthie dance with anyone. It was with Mr. Genteel, at a summer dance a while back. The same dance where she'd met Elijah. . .

Another sight brought her back to reality. Miss Charity was dancing! She wondered who the seamstress would possibly be tempted to dance with in the absence of Mr. Baker. Then she saw that it was Mr. Baker.

Taking another gulp of the cider, she smiled at Mr. Chartley who seemed rather taken with her.

"I believe I'd like to dance some more, Mr. Chartley."

This was turning out to be more fun than she anticipated.

Sam whirled the young lady out onto the dance floor with a grin lighting his sun-browned countenance. There was a certain arrested expression in his eyes, that reminded Jo rather forcibly of the time he'd thought he'd win five dollars at the county fair by staying in the ring against their champion pugilist. Miss Naomi Charming had dealt him a stunning blow.

Jo, seated on a bench against the wall, felt her fingernails digging into her palms, and had to force her hands to relax. She wasn't even sure she understood her anger. Was she jealous that Naomi danced while she sat against the wall? No, that wasn't sensible. Hatrack was a small town, and she'd had plenty of partners from among the farmers and shopkeepers gathered here tonight. Was she worried that the bewitching young lady was trying to use her brother for one of her silly little jealousy games? Jo remembered quite vividly how Naomi had pit one lover against another in the inn, but that wasn't the source of her emotion. Both of those men were here tonight, but even if Naomi was a hardened flirt (and not just the overly-popular girl good sense said she must be) Jo trusted her brother was too sensible to get embroiled in a quarrel of anyone else's making.

So if she wasn't jealous of Naomi's good looks and popularity, and wasn't afraid that the young lady meant harm to her brother, what reason was there to be upset?

Jo sighed, and shook her head. Her brown ringlets bobbed against her cheek. The reason was simple enough. It was just that she had realized, for the first time, that her time as a tag-along on Sam's adventure was severely limted. Even if he continued his roving lifestyle after he married, it was likely that he would want his wife to be his companion, and not his sister. Jo was upset because she had no idea what she was going to do with herself when that happened.

"There..I've done it. Oh I've really done it this time, alright. But devil take him ! He made me do it, blasted arse that he is." Scarlet mumbled the words quietly to herself.

She pulled herself together and thought about the delicious punch inside and decided she must have more.

Scarlet glided back into the barn and headed for the punch bowl. She downed two more glasses and hummed to the music dancing in her brain.

-Scarlet <---man eater

The sounds of the barn dance had faded away into the quiet distance and the two of them were now walking, slowly, though apart, toward the dark café. Clyde thought he heard the sound of footsteps behind them, and he quickly turned around, but he didn’t see anyone.

It’s just your nerves Clyde thought, as he pulled the door open.

"The two of them have been angry for weeks and I don't really know why. Naomi fell into the river and almost drowned. That gentleman she's dancing with rescued her. They're both being rather stubborn, I think."

Ben's arms were strong, and Charity had forgotten just how much she enjoyed dancing with him. She still tasted his kisses on her lips and couldn't help but smile at their sweetness. His blue eyes sparked with concern for the situation at hand. It seemed only right, he was Elijah's father. Still, perhaps the boy needed to grow up a bit more before all would resolve.

"I imagine, that no matter what has happened, they'll figure a way past it. Love has a way of helping such things along."

Almost on cue, the music changed to the jaunty piece to a slower tempo. She felt her partner pull her closer. They danced as if for that moment nothing else mattered.

Most likely, as soon as Mr. Chartley found out what Naomi was, the things she had done and was able to do, he'd run just like Elijah had run. She wanted to scream at Elijah It isn't as though I tried to harm Abigail! Why'd she ever try to follow her mother's path? No man would be able to love a woman like her.

As the music slowed she spotted Elijah continuing to dance with that Lively girl. Before she could stop herself, a breeze began to form around Sarah's ankles. Naomi and Mr. Chartley passed the couple in time to see the girl trip over Elijah's feet. Looking up at her own partner, Naomi caught Mr. Chartley gazing at her in a rather peculiar way as if he were considering something. She wasn't sure what it meant but smiled graciously and continued to dance.

Finally, Seth was upon her. He reached out with one hand, drawing Charity's scissors out from his pocket with the other...

Still he had graciously swept her onto the dance floor and looked to be enjoying himself. His steps were light and graceful almost like Mr. Genteel's steps when he danced with her so long ago. She looked up at him and began to understand why her sister thought he was handsome. Because he was. And the craziest part was that she was dancing with him.

She looked around to catch Tansy's eye in triumph and mischief, but she couldn't find her friend anywhere. Maybe she was dancing. Ruthie didn't see her with anyone, although she did see Elijah acting a fool with Sarah Lively, who's face mirrored a mix of happiness and terror. Then she saw the girl trip over his feet not once but three times.

Naomi passed with Mr. Chartley, her dance partner. Ruthie saw her smiling sweetly at him but there was a spark of something else in her eyes. She got the feeling that Sarah wasn't tripping because she couldn't dance.

Miss Charity was dancing and positively glowing which could only mean one thing. . . Mr. Ben was home! This also meant that perhaps Seth had returned. She felt her heart leap a bit, but stopped herself. She didn't see him anywhere and his last letter hadn't hinted that he would be in Hatrack at Christmas. She missed her friend so.

Still here she was in Hatrack and she was dancing with the very good-looking deputy. All in all a pretty nice place for a girl of barely fourteen to be.

"You dance nicely, Deputy."

Either way, for precious minutes, she was too scared to scream.

By then, she'd been hauled off the road proper, and into the icy shadow of the trees. By then, She'd realized that the arm holding her was hot and wiry, a man's arm, not a tree or a ghost. She would have screamed, but ever since Digger'd tried to strangle her, there wasn't enough of her voice left for a scream to do much good. By then, too, she'd had a vision of Digger's face as she'd last seen him, and the heat of terror that burned inside her, the heat that would have made it possible to spark a fire in this man to kill him, that fiery heat died to cold ash. She couldn't bring herself to do it again.

She didn't know the man who held her. She couldn't see his face. He had something sharp in his hands, sharp and cold. He traced the smoothness of it against her face, not to cut, just to tease. Tansy remembered a strange, pointy-toothed face in the woods, a time when another stranger had caught her from behind and held her. That one, like this one, seemed to drink up her fear the way Digger'd used to drink up whiskey. Knowing so didn't make her any less frightened; she shivered all the same.

The fire had left her, but she still had her hands and feet. She struggled like a wildcat in the man's arms, kicking and flailing, but he had her held so tight that she couldn't do any real damage, and she sure couldn't break away. She felt him shaking behind her, and thought he might be laughing, quiet like. Tansy had never been so cold in all her life. She shook and her teeth clacked together like rocks in a quarry. She was stuck, but good, and had no idea what was going to happen now, unless somebody at the party happened to be lookin' out on the road just when she got herself snatched up.