Kat stared angrily at her horse. It was favoring one leg, and wasn't cooperating enough to let her look at it. She silently cursed herself for not waiting on the stage and deciding to take a horse to Laramie. She should have known better since she'd never been very good with horses. But all she wanted was to get as far from Sweetwater as fast as she could. She wanted to put her mistakes behind her.

Kat was considering her options when she noticed the man riding toward her. She silently hoped he was friendly, since she knew she couldn't make it far on her horse and she was not about to take off on foot in an unfamiliar place. She could take care of herself, but that meant knowing when certain decisions were just plain stupid.

"Can I help you?" The man asked politely as he dismounted.

"I think my horse just picked up a stone." Kat said as though she didn't need any help. She studied the man quickly. He had short dark hair, a friendly face, and seemed clean. Kat quickly assessed he wasn't a drifter, so was relatively safe.

"Well, let's see." The man smiled as he bent down to inspect the horse's hoof. "There we go." He said as he pulled the stone loose.

"Thank you, sir." Kat said gratefully.

"Please, it's Joe." The man said, offering Kat his hand.

"Kat." She smiled, taking his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you." Joe smiled back as he studied Kat. "Aren't you from Sweetwater."

"I was just visiting there." Kat explained as she tried to recall if she had ever seen this man before.

"Ah yes!" Joe exclaimed as if he had met Kat before. "You were staying with the Marshal."

Kat nodded suspiciously as she continued to study Joe.

"I don't recall meeting you." Kat confessed becoming wary as she realized the man still hadn't let go of her hand.

"You didn't." Joe smiled wickedly as he tightened his grip on her hand. "But my brother visited you last night."

Kid and Teaspoon had quickly caught up with Cody and the three were following what Cody believed was Kat's trail. Cody had to admit he wasn't sure though. He had been going on blind faith for some time now.

"What's she doing headed north?" Kid commented as he and Cody walked in front of their horses looking for more tracks.

"Maybe heading back to Laramie." Cody shrugged. He wasn't sure either why Kat didn't take the eastbound stage, unless she had decided not to wait around for it. "Maybe she didn't want us to come find her."

Kid nodded as he scanned the horizon. He liked Kat, but her behavior was definitely odd. She said she loved Buck, but now she was running away from him. It had been clear to Kid that the pair had strong feelings for each other, but he understood as well as anyone what they thought admitting that would do.

Kid stopped short in his thoughts when he spotted something in the distance ahead. He tapped Cody's shoulder and nodded toward the outline of a horse further up the trail.

Cody didn't even glance at Kid, just focused on what his friend was looking at. Both men quickly mounted their horses. Kid pointed out the horse to Teaspoon as Cody took off after the sight like hell was chasing him.

Cody reached the horse ahead of Teaspoon and Kid, and began looking around. He wasn't sure this was the horse Kat had bought, but he had a sinking feeling it was. He began frantically digging through the saddlebag and gasped when the first thing he came across was a picture of Kat and her father.

"This is her horse." Cody confirmed as Kid and Teaspoon dismounted and began looking around.

"She had company." Kid said trying not to sound distressed. He knew it could have been anyone, but somehow he was positive it had been Joe Riley. And the feeling didn't go away when Kid looked over at Cody. His friend's eyes were glued to something on the ground near Kat's horse. Kid walked over to where Teaspoon and Cody were standing, and sighed as he took in the small pool of blood on the ground in front of them.