"Last I saw, she was in the office tyding up the place." Speed told her, nodding back toward the window, "Go on in, she'll be glad to see you."

"So, I would say you and I should go on back and see the Sheriff, but if I know the women, we'd best go with all three of us." He added. "I'm not real sure about him, we've spoken in passing but I have no idea what his orders are about anything. Though life is quiet these days, even Leah's bodyguards are holed up in that cottage of theirs or at Doc Danforths."

"Dang, I got jest ahead'a not havin' anything ta do." Barnabas said, faking dejection. "Guess we get Em an' go get this done an' overwith."

 The two walked inside and stepped into the Marshal's office.

"Well, without a 'Mister' Pike, there wouldn't be a 'Missus' Pike, would there?" Emeline asked with a grin.  "And that would be a bad thing, don't you think, Speed?"  She let Barnabas help her from the buggy, then greeted, "Good morning, Speed.  It was a beautiful ride out here, although the reason isn't so great."

She took a breath, adjusting her hold on Wheeler.  "Is Alice in town?  I'd like to ask her to watch Wheeler while we do this.  Or I can have Angie look after him."  She certainly didn't want to have to worry about the baby while she was telling her story, that was enough by itself.

"It's what saved me an' Frances," Tully defended, "I just..."  Well, the panicked fight had muted any true fear that might have made her think twice and worry about getting hurt.  

Sighing, she sank onto a crate, then looked up at Shin. "Reckon it's better ta know what yer doin' than just lashin' out an' hopin' fer th' best."  Then she gave him a sly smile.  "I didn't hurt ya, did I?"

"I ain't so sure about all the amenities. Now, as far as it growin'? Absolutely! Gold, copper, silver, it's all here for the takin', 'course that means work, but what don't? I mean even the Lickskillet took work, and getting the ranch built  took doin', though I had it built, given as I didn't have the time, washin' dishes and deputyin.' an all." He grinned, "'corse i wpi7u;dn't have it any other way. Us, galavntin' around San Francisco, an' Virginia City, an all."

They rolled into town and pulled up in front of the Municipal Building, where Speed was standing out front, leaning on an awning post, "Mornin' folks."

"Mornin' Speed." Barnabas said, turning, he said, "Dallas, you and the boys stay outta trouble. Have a drink 'er two, but no fights!

"Yes sir, Mister Pike. No fightin'." Dallas stated as he and the boys swung their horses around to cross the street to the saloon.

Barnabas suppressed a chuckle, "Can't hardly get used to the Mister Pike thing. So, let's get to it." 

Once he saw Tully had control over herself he relaxed from his defensive posture. He listened as she explained what happened though she left out the details as to why. Not that he needed detailed, he could guess as to why she would go into a panic fueled frenzy. What bothered him more was it happened when she wasn't in any true danger, either she just didn't trust him enough or her past trauma was so strong it overruled her reason. In either case it wasn't good to leave this unaddressed, it would always be a danger to the both of them in any future training sessions. Not to mention an even greater danger to others if he taught her more of what he knew.

"We've done enough combat training for now," he said gently. "I think it will be more prudent if I teach you how to better control your emotions. These moments of panic when your head goes all black, not a good state of mind to be in especially in a life or death situation."

Emeline wasn't necessarily surprised at Barnabas' vehement comments about Love, it was a struggle for her as well not to harbor ill will toward the man.  And she truly did want justice, wanted the man locked away at the very least, so there was no longer a threat to her family. 

But she was also worried that it might consume her husband, that he'd cross the line and wind up in prison himself...or worse.  It was just another layer to the whole thing.

"Town does look so nice and peaceful from here," she commented, letting the other subject drop, "and it seems to be growing every time we come here.  Pretty soon they're going to need a whole police force, and the streets will be paved properly, and we'll have gas street lights..."

It did seem like the little town was growing quickly, and if the railroad made it here, it would grow even faster, hopefully in a good way.

He turned slightly as he laid his son in the crib, "No luck involved Misses Pike, none a'tall!" He replied and kissed her. "Busy day ta'mara, but it'll be good ta get all this behind us. Then we can get on with whot we're buildin' here. This was no part of what I had planned, hangin' up the badge. No sir. But we'll get back to living our life soon enough! Promise." 

And then they eased their way into bed, under the covers, and hopefully, to sleep. Tomorrow was unknown. It shouldn't be a simple meeting with Speed and then the new County Sheriff, and be on their way, but sometimes, life just doesn't play fair.

"Good, we'll stop there first before we see to this new lawman." He assured her, An' yer my queen, I'll tell you that, an' that little Price yer holdin'. Be glad to put this all behind us, well, all except for settlin' up with Mister Tom Love. I'll take real pleasure in that." He said it before he thought about the words.

"Sorry, but I will, he wanted to hurt my family, though I don't know why, so there's a reckoning comin', count on it!" He said, the anger beginning to rise, but then subsiding as he added, "Didn't mean to get all wound up, jest happened naturally I guess." He pointed, Funny how town comes inta view long before ya get there, but we're almost on top of it!"

 And they were now just a few minutes from meeting Sheriff Mark Harper, just down the hall from Speed's office.

It took a moment for Tully to realize that Shin was backing off, and not for the purpose of waiting for an opening to attack, but that he was genuinely trying to avoid her.  And then his voice cut through the chaos in her brain, and she suddenly stopped, backing away several steps.

Blinking several times, she crossed her arms over her chest, then shrugged, looking down at the ground.  "I..."  Well, there really wasn't anything she could say that he couldn't figure out himself, and that wouldn't prevent the panic that possessed her when she felt trapped.  

"My head goes all black," she muttered, "an' then all I think is...well, nothin'."  Of course, the other times this had happened to her she'd truly been in a fight for her life, and survival had been the only goal.