Lou was amazed and a little worried by how hard Kat was working around the ranch. It had been three days since the posse rode out and Kat had spent everyday as busy as possible. She beat Lou out of bed in the morning and went to bed exhausted each night. Lou wasn't going to complain about the help, but Kat was working herself ragged.

"Why don't we go into town today." Lou suggested as the two prepared breakfast on the fourth morning. "I need to pick up some supplies."

"But there's so much to do here!" Kat protested. Lou shot her an incredulous look, and Kat realized it was a weak excuse.

"You've done so much, no one will have to lift a finger around here for weeks." Lou smiled teasingly. "I think you deserve a break."

Kat sighed as she sat at the table and put her head in her hands. Lou was right, Kat had been working extremely hard around the ranch. But, it was keeping her mind off of Buck during the day. Unfortunately, she couldn't keep him out of her thoughts and dreams once she went to bed. She still had no idea what she was going to do if he didn't feel the same way about her.

But town! Kat had avoided that because SHE was there. Jen. The woman Buck had asked to marry him the same day he shared a bed with Kat. Kat just didn't think she could handle it if she ran into that woman. Besides, Lou had told her that Jen's father owned the general store, so if Lou needed supplies they would definitely be stopping there.

"You don't have to go to Tomkins store." Lou offered, reading Kat's mind.

"Kinda silly, isn't it?" Kat commented after a few moments.

"What?" Lou asked, turning away from the stove to look at Kat.

"To hate someone I've never even met." Kat confessed sheepishly.

"Yeah, but we all do it sometimes." Lou consoled as she placed a hand on Kat's shoulder.

Kat sat for a moment thinking how wonderful Lou had been over the past few days. Lou seemed to understand Kat extremely well for knowing her less than a week. Lou left her alone when she cried, but was always right there to answer her questions about Buck and Jen's past.

As far as a trip to town, Kat decided she could use a little rest. Besides, even in a small town like Sweetwater, it wouldn't be too difficult to avoid Jen.

"I think a trip to town is a good idea." Kat finally agreed, smiling up at Lou.

Buck just shook his head in disgust. Once again the thieves had struck a ranch on the opposite end of town from their last victims. And once again, the tracks headed toward Sweetwater. The robbers were right under his nose, somewhere. Every night for the last week and a half they had been hitting some random farm outside of town. It was beginning to irritate Buck. There was no method to their robberies and no trace of where they were lying low.

On top of that, Buck was having a hard time keeping his mind on his work. He hadn't meant to hurt Kat. Their night together had just sort of happened. Buck knew that was no excuse and he felt guilty for being upset enough over Jen to hurt Kat. But, thinking about it over the past few days, Buck realized he was now extremely confused. He and Jen had possessed a special bond from the moment he fought for her. But he and Kat had a similar bond since he saved her life in Omaha. He loved both women, but they did different things to him. With Jen he felt comfortable. But with Kat, well, he couldn't quite put his finger on how he felt when he was with her.

As Buck was lost in thought, he unconsciously walked up behind where Cody was sitting. Teaspoon and the other men were sitting around the campfire fixing lunch. Cody was sitting nearby, studying a rough map on which Teaspoon had marked the farms that had been robbed.

Buck looked over Cody's shoulder. The victims' locations formed an almost complete ring around Sweetwater. But the outlying farms had been robbed in no particular order. Anyone could be next.

"Who got robbed first?" Cody asked, knowing Buck was standing behind him.

Buck was startled to hear Cody speak. Cody hadn't said a word to him since the scene at dinner a few nights before. Buck gathered his thoughts quickly to give Cody an answer.

"The Adam's place." Buck said.

"Which one?" Cody asked, nodding toward the map.

"There." Buck pointed to a farm southeast of town. He figured Cody was trying to find a pattern, but Buck was convinced it was impossible.

"Second?" Cody asked.

"Holmes." Buck answered pointing to a location directly northwest of town. "Then Fisher's." Buck added, pointing back to the southeast on the map. The farm just west of the first victim.

Cody sat for a moment, deep in thought. Teaspoon wandered over and watched the two young men studying the map. He was glad to see they were working together again and not killing each other.

"And this one was next, right?" Cody asked pointing to the location directly east of the second victim.

Buck nodded, finally seeing Cody's point. There was a method the robbers were using. It became more obvious as Cody and Buck went through the list of nearly a dozen victims. Cody got a pencil out of his saddlebag and began marking the map. When he was done connecting the victims, the map resembled a wagon wheel around Sweetwater, with spokes running through town.

"Good job boys." Teaspoon praised proudly. "So who's next?"

Cody and Buck looked up from the map, horror in their faces.

"We are." Buck answered, his voice cracked slightly with panic.