Cody wandered down the street in amazement. The eastbound stage, the one Kat would have taken to go back to Omaha, had already left. Tomkins swore though that no one matching Kat's description had bought a ticket for it. And none of the townspeople milling about had seen Kat at all. It was as though she walked into Sweetwater and vanished into thin air.

Cody tried desperately to figure out where Kat could have gone. All she had talked about was going back to Omaha. Cody had been sure she would be on that stage.

As Cody walked by the livery, an idea struck him. None of the horses were gone from the ranch, so Kat must have come to town at some point. While he wasn't sure Kat would have tried traveling on her own, he decided to take a chance.

"Excuse me." Cody called as he walked up behind the livery owner.

The man turned and looked at Cody. He was very aggravated to be interrupted from work again that morning.

"I'm looking for a young woman." Cody began. "Petite, auburn hair, freckles." Cody continued, hoping the man had seen Kat.

"She was here." The man nodded, turning back to the bridle he had been repairing. "Traded for a horse and rode out."

Cody grinned, grateful someone in town had seen Kat.

"Traded?" Cody asked, a little concerned about how Kat could have afforded a horse.

"Gave me her watch for a horse." The man explained, nodding toward a table by the door. Cody gasped slightly when he noticed Kat's gold pocket watch lying there.

"How much was the horse?" Cody asked, pulling all the money he had out. He couldn't let Kat lose her watch because Buck had made a few mistakes.

"Well, the watch is worth more than the horse." The livery owner replied, eyeing the money eagerly.

"I know that." Cody shot back knowing the livery owner had no idea the true value of the watch. "How much for the watch?"

Cody was becoming irritated as the man stroked his chin and tried to come up with a price. The longer this took, the harder it was going to be to find Kat.

"Forty dollars." The man finally answered.

"There's thirty." Cody answered the man, slapping all the money he had on the table next to the watch. "It's more than all your nags together are worth!" Cody spat as he grabbed the watch.

"It'll do." The livery owner just grinned. It was twice what he had been asking for the horse.

"Where was she going?" Cody asked, hoping Kat might have given herself away.

"Didn't say." The man answered. "But she headed north."

"Pleasure doing business with you." Cody said sarcastically and he tipped his hat and walked out.