Lucinda tilted her head up, keeping her cheek pressed against Aurelian's shirt. "I don't need a big wedding, Aurelian. And I think you're absolutely right. We don't need to wait any longer. Don't worry about romance. That can come later, and I know it will. I've seen hints of it already."

"I must be worse at this romance stuff than I thought? I have already been doing that with you, Lucinda," he smiled. Well, she did say 'hints' at least.

"You will need to wear one of your wardrobe, if I can get the preacher to set the ceremony, there won't be time for you to have a specific wedding dress made I'm thinking. Not that your dress matters to me but I know women like that sort of thing. I will go into town tomorrow and stop by the church while I'm at it," his mind was already full of plans and what needed to be done.

"I want you to teach me how to shoot," she added. "If something else happens, I'm not going to hide under the table again."

"Very well, long as you are of a mind to it, I think it a capital idea. I taught Clara afterall and she took to it like a duck to water."  Well, that was a fatherly exaggeration but Clara at least knew how to use guns and was not afraid to pull the trigger.

"I must go to the gunshop to purchase one maybe two new guns. I also need to go to the bank to secure a loan," once more he was back to planning.

Lucinda smiled and nudged Aurelian in mock anger. "Don't twist my words, sir. You've been plenty romantic. But it will be, you know, different when we're married. I'm just happy we're both alive and getting married. And you know what's funny? I don't even care about having a new dress. Whenever you say the word, I'll drop what I'm doing so we can tie the knot."

Funny how an event like this made you stop and reevaluate life. Poor Aurelian, she thought again. It wasn't fair that he was having to take out a loan. If only there was a way to make those ruffians pay for what they'd done. But how could that be managed when they didn't know who'd done it? Well, she had her suspicions, and she was sure Aurelian did too, but this wasn't anything that could be proved.

"If there's anything I can do..." She paused. "I don't have much saved up, but what's mine is yours. It will be when we get married, anyway, so we might as well start now."

She was being just grand about all this sudden rush. Lucinda assured him she didn't care about some fancy dress or the hurried plans, she was ready to marry him without hesitation.

"Sounds good then," Aurelian smiled, "Hopefully the preacher is just as cooperative then when I talk to him."

"If there's anything I can do..." She paused. "I don't have much saved up, but what's mine is yours. It will be when we get married, anyway, so we might as well start now."

"I can cover the immediate expenses of the guns I am confident. But, of course, once we are officially man and wife, we should go to the bank and see to it we have a joint account established then. I'm guessin' they would be reluctant to set such a thing up until we are really a married couple," Aurelian surmised.

"He'd better be cooperative." Lucinda grinned. "If he's not, we might just have to elope." It was a silly thought, but it would be nice to get away with Aurelian, to escape everyday life even if it was just for a few days. But, as nice as eloping would be, they'd both agreed to put practicality before romance.

And Aurelian was already moving on to planning again. He knew exactly what they needed and what he wanted. Maybe that was one reason she'd been drawn to him. "A married couple," Lucinda echoed dreamily. "I can't wait." She leaned up to kiss him.

In times like these it was good to have such a reassuring presence as Aurelian's. The man's steady calmness made her feel anchored in an otherwise tumultuous time.

"Elope?  Why how sinful of you?" Aurelian remarked with a grin though.

"No the minister will marry us or we will simply take a stage to the next town and marry there. I hear in Billings there is a justice of the peace who marries anybody who enters their office straight off," he added.

They kissed again. Then he sighed. Reality and their immediate situation needed to attended to.

"Well, you need to go to town with Jacob and Clara. It's been a long eventful day - a wonderful feast and then a disaster to top it off. Least we can thank God that we are all in one piece. It's only a building and some empty fields, could have a lot worse," he declared.

ooc: Probably good place to end this one? Then we can move on with the storyline.