ACT TWO

Scene Three: Nick takes a hand in Jamie's education - with results less than satisfactory.

Nick strolled over to Jarrod and Heath. He had just about enough of this company, rich but boring. He chewed the end of his cigar thoughtfully. Much as a night with some soft companionship would be nice, he didn't think Mother would appreciate him rolling in at the wee hours of the morning smelling like cheap French perfume. Maybe later on, when all the business was taken care of.

"Having fun Pappy?" He smiled at Jarrod who grimaced back.

"Just as much as brother Heath here, I suspect." Jarrod said with a straight face and smiled toothily at one of the older men. "Damn there's Colonel Andover looking for free legal advice. Brothers, may I suggest an important engagement elsewhere."

"Please." Heath said thankfully. The three Barkley men moved quickly out of the Stockman's club into the noisy streets of Alameda.

"Boy Howdy. I don't see how you put up with all that." Heath loosened his tie thankfully. "I could have sloped off with Joe and Jamie an hour earlier.

"Jamie left with Joe?" Nick raised an eyebrow. "I thought he was going back to the hotel."

"The boys were off to ride an unridable horse." Heath snorted.

"Hmmff, kids." Nick snorted from his wise vantage point of being about eight years older. "D'ya think they'll stay out of trouble?"

"Cartwright and O'Shannon? Not likely." Jarrod laughed. "We better go and find them, or Mother will make one of us drink tea with her in the afternoons."

"How does that boy do that?" Nick asked shaking his head.

"What? Drink tea?" Jarrod asked.

"No. Get into trouble - and drink tea." Nick loosened his own tie. "Well brothers, shall we go see a man about a horse?"

Despite the shabby area of town, and the unreliable-looking people who populated it, the three Barkley men cut a distinct swath through the crowds. Fancy clothes couldn't hide the gun belts and the easy air of men used to getting their own way, with or without violence. It was a potential antagonizers choice.

As they grew nearer, they could hear the unmistakable sounds of a large fight.

"Do you think...?" Jarrod looked at his brothers.

"Hell!" Nick grinned grimly, "We know!"

Heath merely started rolling up his sleeves and cocked his head to his brothers. "Shall we?"

"Oh by all means." Jarrod carefully slung his coat over a fence post and joined his brothers in setting a solid front. Rounding the corner of the street they found the expected sight.

Nick cursed as he dodged a wild haymaker slung by a drunken cowboy. Surely Jamie and Little Joe were in the thick of this wild mess?

Jamie and Little Joe were happily counting their money and keeping one eye on the free entertainment. As was predictable, Jamie had no sooner laid a calming hand on the horse when it was somewhat willing to do her bidding.. Betting had been lively with Little Joe talking earnestly to a fancy dressed gambler. A rather seedy horse buyer and his even seedier crew had been drunk enough to cover all of Little Joe's and the gambler's bets. By the time Jamie had mounted the nervous horse feelings and money were running high. The horse gave a few bucks and kicks, but they were mostly out of habit rather than the viciousness the horse had given all of the other previous riders.

There was a unnatural hush when the ride was over. Jamie O'Shannon strolled over to the hang jawed owner of the horse to collect their winnings.

"Hell" The horse buyer drawled dragging the word out into four syllables. "Iffen that there boy ken ride that there hoss, then so can I."

"Ten dollars the gentleman doesn't ride the full time." The gambler called out with a southern drawl.

"Hey!" Little Joe spoke up."I bet the same."

"I'll have a bit of that action Ezra." A large mustached man, who seemed to be with the gambler spoke up. "So will J.D."

"Buck, don't bet my money. I can do it myself." the young man protested but dug out a crumpled bill.

The horse buyers men were soon clamoring for a piece of what they thought was a sure thing. After all if a young boy could handle a few bucks from the horse than Ol' Ed was sure to stay on too!

Jamie was carefully watching the man count out the money. He was rather reluctant to part with his cash even though he'd been raking it in hand over fist.

"Here you go boy." He said roughly and stuffed the bills into her hand.

"That's only $80. I watched you counting it."

"Be thankful you're getting that." He snorted.

"You best be giving the boy his due." A man dressed in black spoke up next to him. He lit a thin cigar and directed a cold glare at the man. A tall man in buckskins backed up the glare.

"Uh. Yeah sure, whatever you say mister." The man stuttered and gave Jamie the rest of her loot.

"Thank ye." Jamie said grinning.

The man touched the brim of his hat and turned to watch the circus that was beginning in the corral.

"Come on Joe, I got our winnings. We can split it up and go back to the hotel." Jamie pulled at Little Joe's sleeve.

"Wait wait. I got ten dollars on this."

Jamie looked at the overweight cowboy dressed in what he thought was fashionable attire, approach the horse which was back to being it's normal vicious skittish self.

"The horse is not going to let that man even get in the saddle." Jamie spat out. "It's a terrible bad crayture that was no too happy about even me ridin' him."

"You seem to see well into the soul of the horse." A tall imposing man next to the gambler said. In the flickering torch light he looked quite frightening. Next to him an imposing black man stood silently, and disapprovingly watching the scene.

"Aye I have that gift." Jamie admitted easily. The man smiled and she found him not so scary.

"Then I believe that is a sign from the heavens. Ezra! Put four dollars on the horse for me."

"As you wish Mr.Sanchez." The gambler grinned revealing a gold tooth.

The man in black who had helped Jamie quietly handed the gambler a bill and grated out around the cigar. "The horse."

As Jamie predicted the ride was short and to the point. The horse neatly bucked the man off and spent the next minutes bucking and kicking furiously as if to make up for lost time.

The horse buyer was not physically hurt but his pride and dignity were seriously bruised. The results were predictable. A fight broke out.

The gambler deftly and with accustomed skill collected the bet money and began to beat a hasty retreat. He stuffed a small wad of bills into Little Joe's hand.

"I suggest you and your young precocious friend should find a vantage point that would be less" he paused briefly to sidestep a wide swung punch and placed a well shod foot in the man's way tripping him."precarious."

"Huh?" the two of them echoed.

"Ezra means get out of the way." The mustached man said gleefully as he threw a man over the fence into the corral. The horse, spying fresh meat, made a run for a new victim. The man threw himself over the fence hastily.

"Well, well, someone besides J.D. who can fly." The big man casually picked a man up and shook him furiously. "Behave yourself." He said and tossed him aside.

Little Joe was itching to get into the fight but the seven men seemed to be handling things rather nicely. Anyway Jamie was carefully counting out his share of the $100.

"There ye go Joe, not bad winnings for a few minutes work."

"Wow! Didya see that punch. Ooo that has gotta hurt!" Joe moved his body with action that was going on around the corral. Going into the corral was not an option as the horse had that territory well staked out and defended tooth and hoof.

Heath found himself standing back to back with a long-haired man.

"You seen a young man, black curly hair. Bout so high" He held a hand up and the man took a quick look over his shoulder. He got a fist in his gut for the distraction. Heath reached over his doubled up body and struck the man in the face dropping him to the ground.

"Over there..." the man wheezed and pointed off to one side where Jamie was trying to restrain Little Joe from jumping into the fray.

"Thanks." Heath said and slapped him on the shoulder driving the man to his knees.

"Don mention it." A tall man in a black duster took Heath's place in defending the downed man.

Heath caught Jarrod's eye and nodded to other side of the corral where the fighting was thin. They had managed to snag Nick's arm and were heading for the calmer side of the corral when the inevitable happened. The young man with a funny hat came barreling into Jamie and Little Joe. Little Joe Cartwright helpfully put him on his feet and together they dove into the brawl that was edging itself like a many-legged mindless animal towards the dock and the cold murky waters of the bay.

Jamie dithered at the edge of the fight trying to keep an eye on Joe and at the same time avoiding flying fists and bodies. Her one experience with fighting had given her a wariness and a wish to never be hit again by an angry man or anyone else, for that matter. Her decision was decided for her when she saw 'Ol Ed' who had managed to recover enough from being tossed by the horse to tackle Little Joe to the ground.

"Ah darn..." Jamie muttered and threw herself onto the top of the man. The three of them started rolling around surprisingly enough avoiding being stomped on or kicked by the other combatants who were actually winding down a bit. Even the horse had begun to relax.

Little Joe found himself as a sandwich between the beefy man on top of him and a rather squashed Jamie under him. Ol' Ed was battering his ribs with ham-like fists and Jamie was pushing at him to get off. His eyes widened for one moment in stark realization what kind of body was under him. His revelation was forgotten as Ed dragged him off the gasping Jamie and tossed him off the dock. Ed himself soon followed suit as Jarrod and Nick railroaded the man off the other side of the dock to land with an almighty splash in the water.

Heath picked up a rather flattened Jamie who was trying to catch her breath.

"He - Heath..." she gasped. "Joe...no splash."

The three Barkley's looked over to the other side of the dock to find Little Joe inelegantly sprawled in the bottom of a half-sunk rowboat.

"Joe? You all right?" Nick called down.

"Girls..." Joe called back. "Girls..."

"That boy has hit his head one too many times." Jarrod said shaking his head.

The rest of the fight had petered out after a rather soggy and quickly sobered up Ol' Ed and his crew wandered off to find more agreeable and less painful entertainment. Some effort was spent on getting Little Joe up to the dock where they discovered that the hit on the head was joined by what suspiciously looked like a broken leg.

He tried to sit up but immediately fell back with a groan.

"Ye stay still, Joe." Jamie scolded him.

"Will you quit yelling at me - you're as bad as my brothers. Nag, nag, nag." Joe complained.

Heath hunkered down next to the young man. "Yep. Looks broke." He looked around. "Looks like the best way is to carry him to the street and see if we can get a wagon to take us to the hotel."

"I'm just fine here." Little Joe said faintly. "Don't want to move."

"I bet you don't." Nick grated out.

"We could just shoot ye." Jamie said unkindly. "Like we do with horses that break their legs."

"You are just mad 'cause you didn't want to join in the fight." Cartwright tried to shrink back as Heath and Jarrod came at him from both sides. "This is going to hurt, huh?"

"Yes. Most likely." Jarrod said. "Just think how your father is going to react when we tell him you broke your leg and hit your head in a fight."

"You're right." Joe winced. "That will really hurt." He glared at Jamie who was looking rather worried.

"This is all her fault" He said and promptly passed out cold.

"Boy Howdy is he ever out of it." Heath said.

(Little Joe, never remembered too much about the fight afterwards, but two months later when he was having a friendly toss in the hay with Mary Jane Kropectny he had a familiar flash of a similar soft body pressed up against his. "Oh my God Jamie is a girl!" He blurted out, which caused Mary Jane to box his ears for not paying attention and left him to muse and worry over his awful discovery.)

By the time they got back to the hotel, rounded up a doctor, roused Victoria, and sent a telegram off to Virginia City and Ben Cartwright the night was winding down to the wee hours of the morning. Joe Cartwright was ensconsed in Heath's bed enduring the minor torture of having his leg set. Victoria would be sleeping on the cot to keep an eye on him in the night.

Jamie yawned widely and eyed the sofa longingly, but Heath and Nick were already comfortably draped across it long legs stuck out onto the once highly polished surface of a coffee table.

"C'mon boy." Nick said and stood up lazily stretching his large frame idly. "You can share my bed tonight. Ol' Heath can sleep on the couch."

"I can sleep on the couch." She suddenly felt wide awake her heart beating hard.

"I ain't sharing a bed with Heath. He kicks. You are small enough not to take up so much room." He tossed over the small bag of belongings that Jamie had and a blanket. "Get going. I'll give you a ten minute head start. And I sleep on the side next to the door."

She didn't move. Couldn't move. It was bad enough sleeping in the same room as Heath. Sleeping in the same bed with Nick would be - awful.

"Go on git, or I'll undress you myself."

He would too. Jamie didn't doubt for a moment. She ran into the room leaving Nick chuckling behind her.

"For someone who had brothers, he sure is shy." Nick stretched again hearing the satisfying popping of his back. "Little Joe wasn't that little. He was sure a handful to carry."

"Hmmm. You know there's something odd about Jamie." Heath mused.

"Hah! You just noticing now?" Nick challenged.

"Noticing what?" Jarrod came into the sitting room. "I got the telegram off to Ben Cartwright. I expect we'll get an answer sometime tomorrow afternoon. How's the patient?"

"Doctor is just tying him up by now." Nick said. "Mother said she'll spend the night - just in case."

"Would you believe it, she had a pot of her liniment with her." Heath shuddered as did the other two.

"She thought we'd get into trouble." Jarrod mused. "Poor Cartwright. Say, where is O'Shannon?"

"He was dead on his feet, I sent him off to bed." Nick said. "Let's hope he doesn't snore as much as you do."

"You mean from both of you." Jarrod countered. "Well, we have a full day tomorrow, so gentlemen. I think we should all turn in."

She lay as far as she could on the edge of the bed without falling off. The long nightshirt hid most of her, but she still felt vulnerable. Despite wrapping herself in the blanket, she could feel herself shaking with cold. She kept herself very still and hardly breathing when she heard Nick and Jarrod getting ready for bed. The bed sank alarmingly and creaked as a heavy body sank into it. She had to grip the side of the mattress to keep from being pulled into the deep dip Nick caused on the bed. Jarrod blew out the lamp and the brothers muttered good nights to one another.

It was quiet for a while when she felt Nick roll over and nudge her. "Relax boy. I ain't gonna bite ya. You did good with Little Joe." He muttered and sighing gustily turned over again with his broad back to Jamie, much to her relief. "G'night boy." He apparently had the ease of falling asleep quickly because soon she heard his breathing even out and slow. Jarrod was already starting a steady buzz from the other bed in the room. The gravity Nick's body seemed to exert was slowly drawing her against her will to the center of the bed and his broad back which was radiating a comforting heat. Maybe if she just leaned a little on him, just to get warm, her back against his.

Nick woke up with a snort. Something damp was on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw that Jamie had his head on his shoulder. O'Shannon's mouth was open and the dampness was from drool.

"Oh for Pete's sake." Nick muttered and gave the boy a little push. This only made the boy snuggle in closer rubbing a cheek against him like a cat. Nick sighed and closed his eyes. The boy needed someone to curl up next to...well Nick could use a little loving too. A smile curved his lips...Miss Lily would be just the ticket - for both of them.

Jamie looked around the place eyes wide and mouth open. She had only heard whispers about places like this, or crude humor that seemed too strange to be true. But it was true. Women in various costumes showing all together too much skin and leg and other parts were preening themselves or draping themselves over the men.

"Nick, darling!" a well-endowed brunette dressed in an incredibly indecent short skirt and bloomers and only a camisole top enthusiastically embraced the dark man. Their kiss seemed incredibly involved and lasted for much longer than seemed decent. Nick's hands were moving all over the woman's body causing her to make funny little noises in her throat. When they broke off Nick was grinning like a fool and the woman was breathing funny.

"My Nick, how I missed you." She seemed to notice Jamie who was openly staring at them in amazement. "And who is this fine young man?" She purred and ran her tongue over her lips.

"This is James O'Shannon." Nick smiled and squeezed the woman familiarly.

"First time honey?" The woman laughed throatily.

"Uh, I don't think..." Jamie suddenly realized that Nick had expected her to be enthusiastic about this place.

"C'mon boy. It won't be so bad. All of Lily's girls are really nice, aren't they Lily?" He gave the woman a hearty kiss on the cheek and his hand had wandered to her ample bosom. "My treat boy. We Barkley's take good care of our hands."

"You should watch your hands Nick." Lily laughed and batted his hand off her thigh. "You can go with Suzy, she's young enough not for him to feel mmm too nervous." She beckoned a pretty young blonde dressed only in a shift.

"Take James up to your room. Be gentle, it's his first time." This seemed to be funny because both Nick and Lily laughed.

"But Nick, I really don't want to..." Her protestations were left unheard as she was unceremoniously dragged to the girl's room and pushed in with her.

"You'll thank me in the morning, boy." Was Nick's laughing parting shot.

"You want to take off your clothes? I can take mine off." Suzy looked at the boy. She had first timers before, they were always nervous at first.

"I'm not going to do anything with ye." Jamie said tightly, "I'm leaving." She had her hand on the doorknob.

"Wait!" Suzy said unhappily. "If you go, I won't get paid and Lily will be mad at me." She let a tear drip down her cheek. "I can be with you all night and won't have to be with so many men."

"Dear God." Jamie felt her throat close up. Could this have been her fate if she hadn't left Michael? "Can we just stay here, and not do anything?"

Suzy sniffed. This was truly one strange boy. "Sure if you like." This was one of the things that Lily taught her, sometimes the men just wanted a little company before getting down to business. She sat down on the bed that was the only useable piece of furniture in the room besides a large ornate mirror, a small closet, and a fancy commode in the corner. She patted the bed next to her, after all they had all night. Maybe she could change the boy's mind.

"How old are you?" Jamie asked suddenly.

"I'm twenty, well almost." Suzy patted the bed again and wiggled playfully making sure her breasts bounced enticingly. There was no sign of interest, no sign at all.

"Can I ask ye..." Jamie looked embarrassed.

"How a nice girl like me became a lady of the night?" Suzy laughed. "It happens. When I was a kid, there was five of us to one bed and never enough food to go around. This life sure beats that. I got a roof over my head and food to eat. I get plenty of money and can buy myself pretty things." She tossed her blonde curls and pulled up the shift exposing a length of creamy thigh. Damn still no interest. Maybe a more direct approach...

Jamie was torn between sympathy for the girl and her own precarious situation. She began to pace the room, silently damning Nick Barkley to hell for wanting to treat her to this seamy side of life and for her own weakness not in saying firmly no. Though saying firmly no to Nick Barkley didn't work. The man had to be hit with railroad tie and shot before he would listen to Jamie O'Shannon's opinion.

Suzy waited until Jamie was near the bed and she jumped up and wrapped her arms around the startled boy and took a firm grip where there should have been - something. Both of them shrieked.

"My God...you're..." Suzy's eyes went wide as Jamie put a hand over her mouth and pushed her down onto the bed. They heard laughter from the hall, apparently the sound of yells was normal in this place.

"Don't shout." Jamie hissed and let up her hand.

"Are you really?" Suzy looked as curiously at Jamie as Jamie had looked at her.

"Yeah, I'm a girl too." Jamie sat heavily on the bed. "You gonna tell?"

"No. Why should I?" Suzy shrugged. "I still get paid." She grinned. "Can I ask you...?"

"How a nice girl like me ended up being a boy?" Jamie recognized the humor of the situation and grinned back. "It started out as fun, but I can sure tell ye, it isn't that nice any more."

"What do you miss?" Suzy crossed her feet under her. This was like when business was slow and the girls would talk together. Mostly they talked about the customers, this was too interesting to pass up.

"Oh the usual, to wear a dress. Take a nice long bath. Have a fellow look at you like, well you know."

"I know." Suzy sighed. "I got me a beau. He only comes in once a month, but he always asks for me. Maybe someday... Does anyone else know, I mean you being a girl?"

"No. They would be powerful mad."

"What do you do?" Suzy asked.

"I'm a wrangler, work with the horses. I'm really good at it. I'd hate to give it up just to be a girl." Jamie found herself growing more comfortable talking with Suzy.

"Oh you are missing so much. Being with a man can be so nice." Suzy licked her lips.

Jamie looked at Suzy. They were stuck in this room for at least a couple of hours, here was an opportunity to find out, well to find out. Mum had died before telling her daughter much about that sort of thing and well the horse's mouth...

"Uh, what is it like?" Oh dear Mum would be rolling in her grave.

Suzy spent the next hour cheerfully revealing many secrets held by the male sex and how a woman could enjoy the experience and please her man. Jamie had seen horses mating before. It was a cut and dried process compared to this complicated give and take that Suzy described. Suzy enjoyed watching Jamie turning pink and red at times and her exclamations of shock and wonder.

"Is that what Ni...I mean men are doing with the ladies now?"

"Yes, of course." Suzy was surprised about how naive this young Jamie was. Even she had known what happened between a man and woman before she had entered into the "business". Ten siblings and a two-roomed cabin didn't hide many secrets.

Jamie felt sick.

"Men are like that. They need lots of women."

"Even after they are married?" Did Da do this sort of thing?

"Not too many, and then their wives are always sickly or they don't understand their men and their needs." Suzy said with a certain amount of authority based on what the men chose to tell her. "They usually feel bad afterwards and buy the wife a gift. I get paid and he gets to feel good, and the wife a pretty bonnet. It works out real well."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense..." It didn't make Jamie feel much better, but Suzy must know what she was talking about. This was beginning to be too much, she thought of her brother's favorite phrase when she wanted to tag after them when they went to town, 'Curiosity killed the cat..."

"Would you like to try on one of my dresses?" Suzy asked brightly. "I have three. I bought them new, not even a hand-me down."

"Really?" Jamie felt tempted, all of her boy's clothes were her brother's old things and Barkley hand-me-downs, even her riding boots had been her mother's.

Suzy leapt up and opened the cupboard expansively. She pulled out the first dress which was a brassy yellow with layers of creamy lace and flounces. "This is my favorite." She held it up in front of her. "Come over here." Jamie joined her in front of the mirror and Suzy held the frock in front of her. "No, yellow is definitely not your color..." She imitated Lily's voice of quiet authority that kept all of her girls in line. The next dress was a pink piece of confection that had more ruffles and bows on it than was really tasteful. The neckline had large artificial pink roses sewn on to it. "Well better...but, I believe it will have to be the blue" Suzy pulled out a turquoise dress embroidered with beads and shiny bits. "Well come on, get out of those clothes..." Seeing Jamie's hesitation she added, "All right I won't look."

Jamie undressed quickly, she had plenty of practice doing that in the past years. She removed the linen binding her breasts with a sigh, that always felt good and a quick scratch was a fine reward at the end of the day. She stepped into the dress and pulled it up."How do ye hook this thing up?" She asked twisting around in front of the mirror.

"Well, you should really have a corset." Suzy picked out a boney contraption. "Put this on first." Suzy got the corset on and began to pull it tight with a little more energy than was necessary.

"OUCH, this is uncomfortable. Do all women wear them?" Jamie tried to catch her breath. She felt like a horse had kicked her in the ribs.

"Of course, if you want to look pretty." Suzy said authoritatively and pulled the turquoise dress on. Once buttoned up it sat off Jamie's shoulders with dainty puff sleeves. It showed a lot more skin than any decent woman would like to seen in, but it suited Suzy and the trade she practiced.

"You don't have as much bosom as me..." Suzy was happy to see that the dress looked much nicer on herself than this rather thin girl. Her own white round arms looked better than the tanned muscled arms of Jamie O'Shannon. The turquoise made her look more yellow than tan."And blue is your color, but not this shade."

Jamie slid her hands down the dress, it felt strange, she felt strange. She turned in front of the mirror and tried to imagine what it would be like to really be a girl again. The full skirt felt heavy and strange against legs used to wearing trousers. The corset thing pinched but gave her an interesting shape she didn't realize she had.

"Walk across the room. Don't it feel fine, the silk rustles ever so nice, not like cotton gingham, I can tell you." Suzy said.

Jamie turned and walked as she always had with long strides to keep up with the men and trotting horses. She was a good walker.

"No! No! No! You have to move slowly, let your hips lead the way. Watch me." Suzy walked across the room hips swaying from side to side causing even the thin shift to switch around her ankles. Jamie tried and it took several attempts before she got the hang of swaying inside the skirt.

"You know with your hair long and the right dress you might even look pretty." Suzy said generously, completely deflating any feminine feelings Jamie was trying to awaken. She looked at herself critically in mirror as if she were going to buy a horse. Too small, too thin, her nose was short, well, a mouth full of her own teeth. Her eyes were a pretty blue, but there were minute lines around the edges from working out in the open. Her hands were strong and calloused, not soft and pretty with long nails like most women's. "You'll never be nothing more than a cowpony, at least as a boy she had freedom - freedom to make her own mistakes. She sighed deeply and felt the corset pinch harder. Compared to the strict bindings she used on her breasts the thing was torture. Suddenly, she had enough. "Let's get this off." She said brusquely. Jamie changed quickly into her own clothes and felt a sense of relief and familiarity settle over her.

"I'll be thanking ye Suzy. I've learned a lot today." She dug in her pocket and pulled out a two dollar gold piece. "I don't know if it is much, but...buy yerself something pretty."

"That's fine. I had fun." Suzy said honestly, "Good luck to you."

Jamie crept down the stairs feeling like everyone was watching her. She found Nick sitting in the parlor his long legs stretched out in front of him. His shirt was unbuttoned and one of the girls was rubbing his shoulders.

"Done already boy?" Nick grinned broadly and stood up. He ignored the woman who wandered off. He casually started buttoning up his shirt.

Jamie felt a terrible anger well up in her. How dare he take her here? Show her the place Michael always threatened she'd end up in. Show her finally that she would never, ever be a woman. "I hate you Nick Barkley!" she shouted and threw a punch just like her brothers had taught her. He reeled back, more surprised than staggered by the blow. He put his hand to his nose and looked surprised to see blood. The little squirt had bloodied his nose! Jamie turned and stalked out of the house of ill-repute, black hat set low over her face.

"Jamie! Wait! Hey, what's wrong?" Nick took off after the young man who seemed to have been swallowed up by the night. "Dammit." he fumed and began to look for the boy. Several times he thought of just letting the boy take care of himself, but then he thought of all the pitfalls a young boy could run across at this time of the night in Alameda. He finally gave up and returned back to the hotel just as the sun was beginning to rise. He was relieved to find the boy had returned safely without him and was tucking into an early breakfast in the hotel restaurant.

"Where the hell you been?" Nick sat down heavily and poured himself a cup from the pot on the table. He choked on the first swallow, it wasn't coffee but that dishwater stuff, tea. Jamie glared at him, her lips pressed in a thin line. She kept silent, but was beginning to simmer again with barely suppressed anger, she began to turn red. Nick mistook her anger for shame.

"Look son, maybe I pushed you too soon." He lowered his voice in a confidential tone, "It happens to men. You were just nervous. You'll get the hang of it. Get yourself a girl, I know a lot of nice fillies in Stockton." He sat back satisfied that he had spotted the boy's problem and had fixed it.

"I'm not a boy..." She began rather unwisely her temper throwing caution to the winds. What might have followed was interrupted by the entrance of an imposing white haired gentleman. He was followed by a slim man dressed in black.

"Nick! Nick Barkley!" The man called out and strode over to the table.

"Mr. Cartwright! Hey, Adam!" Nick bounced to his feet. "How did you get here so fast? We only sent the telegram yesterday."

"You were right Pa." Adam Cartwright said wryly "My little brother in trouble?"

Nick threw back his head and laughed. "Broke his leg and knocked himself silly in a big fight. But if the telegram didn't get to you, then what brings you here?"

"Well, actually.." Ben Cartwright looked a little abashed.

"Pa felt that maybe Joe might get into trouble and decided to meet him here." Nick and Adam exchanged looks that spoke about the vagaries of parents.

"Well Mother will be glad to see you, though I think Joe is in more pain from thinking about your reactions than his broken leg."

"Just as it should be. " Ben said firmly.

The three men went up the stairs towards the Barkley suite, Nick looked back to see if Jamie was around, but he seemed to have disappeared.

ACT TWO

Scene Four: More Cartwrights enter the picture. Victoria learns more about the O'Shannon clan and is very close to knowing the secret. Jamie meets a new enemy who fights with a different set of rules.

Jamie groaned as she hid behind a convenient pillar that she had ducked behind as soon as she had heard the name Ben Cartwright. The chances of him connecting a little ten-year old girl with a young man named Jamie was possible and not a chance she wanted to take. Not after seeing Lily's and the kind of life that would be waiting for her if someone found out. Michael had always hinted broadly at her fate, but now she had seen for herself.

"Boy Howdy, you look like you were out all night catting around." Heath had crept up on her unawares.

"I didn't do anything! And don't sneak up on me like that!" She said with her knees shaking.

"Hey, are you all right?" Heath took in the white face and trembling shoulders. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"M' fine." She said looking with interest at her feet. Then with a sigh she pulled out the crumpled wad of bills from her pocket. "This is the money I won the other night, $50. It's for you, for Buddy. " She stared at him challengingly. He looked at her seriously and pocketed the money with a nod.

"I want to get all the new horses shod for the trip. Can you give the farrier a hand? Some of the new stock is a bit skittish and I know you can keep them calm." Heath continued on as if nothing momentous had passed between them.

"Aye. No problem." She lifted her head. At least with the horses she knew what she was doing.

"Here's a dollar for lunch. I suspect the smith will be crowded and I don't know when I'll be free to give you a hand."

"A dollar's too much..." Jamie began.

"Well, you gotta buy apples for the horses and maybe some candy or something for yourself. Enjoy yourself a little. It is allowed you know."

"Well, at least your idea of enjoyment is better than Nick's." Jamie muttered but pocketed the treasure of a whole dollar.

Heath climbed the stairs to roust his brother Nick and was surprised to find two strangers in the sitting room with his brothers and mother.

"Ah, there you are. Ben I would like you to meet my youngest son Heath." Victoria rose graciously and extended her hand towards Heath.

"Heath. This is an old friend of your father's and mine, Ben Cartwright and his son Adam." There was a split second of silence and then Ben grabbed his hand and shook it firmly.

"By God, you have the look your father...glad to meet you Heath."

"I want to thank all of you for taking such good care of my boy." Ben began.

"Now, Ben, you would do the same for any of my boys. Think nothing of it." Victoria said and smiled at her old friend. "I'm sure you'll want to have a word with your son." She and Ben went into the bedroom. Jarrod and Adam were already discussing the vagaries of younger siblings.

Heath sidled over to Nick who was gulping a cup of coffee off the table. "Boy Howdy, Nick. What happened to Jamie. He looked like he hadn't slept all night."

"Well neither did I." Nick growled. "Where's he at? I figured he'd like to meet the Cartwrights seeing how they knew his folks."

"I don't know, that Jamie is as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when you talk about his past or his family." Heath shook his head. "I sent him to see to the shoeing. You know he'll keep the horses still for the job. What the heck did you two do last night. He wasn't too happy."

"I thought he would like it. I did at his age. How was I to know that - well- things just didn't - ah you know." Nick said rather self-consciously. Jamie was not taking this disappointment well.

"No. I don't know. What?" Heath pressed.

"Aw heck, we went to Miss Lily's, you know." Nick leered and nudged Heath.

"And...?" Heath led on slightly blunting his brother's attempt at lightness.

Nick sighed deeply. "He had...mmm...problems. Poor kid, I thought a little warmth and kindness would do him good." Nick Barkley frowned. "Under all that noise is one lonely youngster."

"Well, maybe if you won't lose your temper with him so often, he wouldn't feel so bad?" Heath raised an eyebrow at his temperamental big brother.

"Hah! That'll be the day." Nick snorted. "So, today we get the new horses ready for the drive home and get them loaded into the train. You did book us a boxcar?" Nick was back to being all business.

"Yeah. Got our tickets and have got a couple of extra porters for Audra's shopping." Heath winked at his brother. "Along with Miss Belle's things we might have to rent another boxcar."

"Yeah." Nick smirked. "Females and their baggage. Thank heavens boys that age, like Jamie, are much more easy to deal with."

*****

Later that afternoon, Victoria Barkley and Ben Cartwright had the opportunity for a little chat.

"Heath is a fine looking young man." Ben said smiling. "You must be proud of him."

"I'm proud of all my boys, just as you are of yours." Victoria raised a mobile eyebrow. Ben was being just a bit nosy , but polite. "Though I see so much of Tom in Heath. Not just his looks, but the way he moves, thinks. I sometimes forget that he hasn't always been with us."

"I can see that." Ben took a sip from his tea. While basically a coffee drinker, he could still appreciate a good cup of tea. "Earl Grey?" He changed the subject slightly, a silent apology for prying.

"Yes. Pity Mr. O'Shannon can't join us. That boy really appreciates a fine cup of tea."

"Umm. Yes Joe mentioned that he was one of Seamus O'Shannon's sons. Damn shame, they were one of the finest horse breeders west of the Mississippi. Joe's paint, Cochise, was bred and trained by them. I swear that horse can all but speak and loyal...I could tell you stories about that horse." He laughed. "They say that the O'Shannons used magic on their horses." He tapped the side of his nose.

"I can believe that."Victoria also laughed, "He has managed to work his magic on our horses too. Disturbs my sons to no end. They are imminently practical."

"Oh I know. Adam came with me on the horse buying trip. He was a very righteous fifteen year old. You know how serious he has always been. He followed the O'Shannon boys and to see what they were doing to the horses." He took a sip of tea again and then shook his head. "It was such a shame that the war took away the whole family."

"All of them?" Victoria asked and held up the teapot asking Ben silently if he wanted another cup.

He nodded and then clarified, "Well, I believe the youngest died of influenza, I suppose the girl did too. She was a bright thing. Curly black hair just like her father and older brother. All the rest were red heads like their mother."

"Yes, Jamie did mention his mother had red hair and apparently the temper to match."

"Oh they all did. Would fight at the drop of a hat. I think Adam had a fight with all of them just in the three days we were there."

"Not really. I just had to beat one of the twins and then I was accepted." Adam said coming in from his brother's room. "Joe's asleep. I hope you have a cup of tea left in that pot for me?" He flashed a white toothed charming smile at his hostess.

"By all means, Adam." Victoria smiled. Jarrod and Adam were so much alike in mannerisms.

"Remember the names of the boys?" Ben asked his son who had fitted his long-legged frame into one of the spindly chairs the hotel considered fashionable and adequate.

"Liam and Andrew were the twins. I am not sure which one I gave a black eye to...Liam maybe."

"I recall he gave you a bloody nose."

Adam waved his hand in dismissal, a bloody nose was a mere detail. "Michael was the oldest, a couple of years older than me. Sean was the one with the gift..."

"Gift?" Victoria asked. " So they did do something special."

"Well, Seamus O'Shannon sure did have a touch with horses. I've seen him calm the wildest horse in minutes, and the horses sure adored him." Ben explained.

"Remember the girl, Pa?" Adam chuckled. "She had a foal that followed her around like a dog. Her mother said that the horse would almost come into the house. Ellen or Alaine I think was her name." He laughed again. "Called this big roan horse Rosebud. Seems she had the 'gift' too."

"That reminds of the time you boys brought in a wild cat kitten..." Ben mused and began to tell an amusing story that parents tell to embarrass their grown children.

The dramatics of Alameda began to die down as the Barkleys and many others began to leave the city to fade back into dusty dreariness until the next year. A dark gunslinger and his six companions turned their heads back towards a magnificent little town called Four Corners that they called home. Ol' Ed and his crew went off to catch another bunch of mustangs to tame and train for next years auction. The Cartwrights spent a few extra days waiting for Little Joe to heal enough to travel. Little Joe was plagued by dreams of girls, girls with curly hair, but he figured that was just a natural part of bein Little Joe. Jamie began to forgive Nick, grudgingly of course, but when he had appeared to have forgotten the whole thing, maybe that was the best course. Audra and Belle returned from San Francisco laden with an inordinate amount of baggage and constant chatter and giggling.

Man has lost most of his primal instincts when he left behind his days as a hunter-gatherer in the prehistoric times. Then, his survival was dependent upon his five senses highly attuned to the environment in which he lived. The real survivors had a sixth sense, a feeling that would arise from nowhere and would signal fight or flight. Nowadays, the other five senses have dulled considerably but the sixth sometimes could be just as effective, just like modern man's far ancestors.

It was nothing that normal five senses could detect.

They hated each other at first sight.

Belle Smithson was a perfectly turned out young lady. While not staggeringly beautiful, she wielded her prettiness with charm and a light laugh. What intellect she had was bent towards one goal, the conquest of men, and she did it well, leaving behind her a trail of broken hearts that would mend rather too soon than the breaker would have been happy with. At the age of nineteen she was in the height of her powers, soon she would begin the downhill slide into shrewishness and complaint. But before then it would be a good idea to be married. And who better than her dear friend Audra's brother - which ever one came up to the mark first.

She knew that in order to get the man she would have to make sacrifices, spend some time with Audra, be a good guest for Mrs.Barkley, and treat the people around the Barkleys like they were important. But one look at the young man herding the horses a feral grin slipped past the carefully rouged lips. This one was trouble.

Jamie's eyes swung momentarily off the horse she was herding into the gathering pen to meet the cold blue eyes of the young lady standing next to Audra and Mrs.Barkley. Her own lip curled into a snarl and she pulled hard on reins instinctively causing the horse to stop and rear. She dropped her hands and patting a quick apology to the horse she cast a last baleful glance at Belle and then went back to work.

The deep atavistic feeling of two predators defending their own rose in both women. It wouldn't be a pretty war. Blood would be shed.

ACT THREE - THE BARKLEY RANCH

Scene One: War has broken out between Belle and Jamie. Many people are caught in the crossfire.

The first shots are fired.

They had given the new horses a day or two to recover from the train trip and the short drive to the Barkley ranch. Now it was time to test them. Heath and Jamie sat on the fence with identical self-satisfied grins as each horse proved it's worth.

"Not bad." Heath said laconically.

"Nope." Jamie said but grinned even wider as Nick watched the horses being run through their paces. He would nod occasionally, or shout an instruction to the rider. "Back him up Charlie. Don't let him have the bit."

Nick mopped the sweat off his brow and set his hat firmly back on his head. They had garnered a fine bunch of horses. He spared a sideways glance at Heath and Jamie who were sitting like a couple of old cats in the sun looking very pleased with themselves.

"God knows what we are going to do with this old bunch of nags." He growled to the two. They both grinned back even wider. "Oh all right, they'll do. But don't go around thinkin' like you two know it all." He pointed an accusing finger at both of them.

"We leave that all-knowin' to you Nick." Heath teased. "Like who's gonna ride the black?" He pointed his chin to the black gelding that was running in nervous circles in the corral next to the barn. This was the horse that Heath and Jamie had seen the first night. They had bought him cheap, which was the only reason Nick had unbent enough to bid on the edgy horse.

Jamie felt her breath catch slightly. She had really liked the black even though it had a lot of bad habits and was going to be handful to ride. She loved Rosebud with all her heart, but she and the horse were so much in tune with one another there was no challenge to riding. The black would be a challenge. Brash, stubborn, strong-willed dark-haired with soft brown eyes that caught your imagination. Now, there was a ma...horse.

Nick caught Heath's eye and the infintismal nod towards Jamie who was trying to look disinterested.

"Go on boy. Let's see how good a rider you are." Nick said gruffly, but with a twinkle in his eye.

Jamie's approach was much like Heath's, a gentle monologue of talk and light touches to get the horse used to her. The black tried to bite her several times, but always got a slap across the nose for the audacity.

"Quick ain't he?" Heath said as the horse took a half-hearted nip at Jamie.

"You should have seen him dodging Williams' punches. That boy could go through a rainstorm without getting wet." Nick laughed.

Preliminaries over. Jamie mounted on the horse. It fidgeted nervously, shifting from foot to foot.

"All right. Ye'll stand for me, but others have got to ride ye." Jamie said and gave the horse a kick in the ribs. Somehow freed from the glamourie of gift the black took off bucking and sun fishing. Sure, Jamie had the gift, but her father and her brothers had also taught her to ride- and ride well. It took all of her muscles, leg and arm to hold the black to her will.

"Hey boss, figure Heath there will have some competition at the next rodeo." One of the hands yelled out in admiration. There was soon a cheering crowd of cowboys watching the horse slowly give up to the strong will and good riding of O'Shannon. Her concentration solely on the fractious animal under her, Jamie didn't pay any attention to the noise of the crowd until she had the sweating horse tamed to a slow walk around the corral. He still had some rough edges to work out, but the horse was in her control. She took off her hat to wipe the sweat that was streaming off her face . She looked up to see Belle waltz off holding Heath's and Nick's arms. She could of sworn that the blonde looked back at her with an expression of smug triumph. The other men's praise and pats on her back seemed like nothing and she suddenly felt very angry about something.

The lines had been drawn and fire was returned.

"Oh you are such a strong man Heath. You make me feel so small and weak." Belle had neatly cornered Heath in the barn. She was slowly backing him into the shadows, the hunter playing with her prey before going in for the kill. She was licking her lips in anticipation of a kiss from the blond cowboy when they were rudely interrupted.

"Hey Heath! I found worms in the manure. All squirming and writhin' they were. Wanna see?" Jamie had a lump of steaming hot horse droppings in her gloved hand. She thrust it past the woman's nose towards Heath.

"Ahh...umm...Jamie...I don't think now is the time to show me this." Heath began and pulled the disgusted Belle away from the smelly mess.

"Oh aye, ye want to be waitin' when the horses bloat with the worm and start having the runny brown gooey manure that stinks somethin' fierce and the blood runnin down the legs and the flies..." She tried not to look surprised when Belle put her hand over her mouth and beat a hasty retreat.

"Was it somethin' I said?" Jamie asked innocently.

Heath shot her a stern look. "Yes. Fine ladies like Belle are not interested in manure or horse disease. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

"Me mother taught me to judge people for themselves and not what they do." Jamie said a little more sharply than she wanted to. "I'll apologize at tea today."

"Is Mother expecting you?" he asked.

"I..." She stopped and then carefully dropped the handful of manure into the straw. "I guess not." It was half a question and Heath's rather stern face gave her the answer. It was like Da always said , "Revenge costs."

Victoria gave a little sigh as she cleared away her tea things. One cup was still clean and unused. Jamie wasn't coming. She still wasn't sure what to do about - the boy. She smiled, sure that she had figured out the convolutions of Jamie O'Shannon's family to her immense satisfaction. All she needed now was a name. A girl's name.

Nighttime reconnaissance, the enemy reveals herself.

The sound of music and laughter from the big house drew her like a magnet. She should have felt happy, a good job, a nice place to lay her head, and good men to work with. What more could she want? Yet, she found herself more and more drawn to the warmth and light of the Barkley house.

Audra's friend, Belle, was the center of attention laughing gaily and flirting outrageously with all three brothers. Jamie's lip curled as she saw even the most sensible Jarrod kiss the coyly offered hand. "Hussy." she muttered and shifted slightly causing the bushes to rustle. A small voice in the back of her mind, that sounded remarkably like her mother's, asked her why she was sitting on the damp ground in the bushes watching other people's business. Yet, she remained.

"Maybe I can persuade to take a moonlight stroll in Mother's rose garden?" Nick asked the lovely blonde in his low husky voice.

"Mother always says a lady must not seem too forward..." Belle cooed, "But she also said it is not kind to refuse a gentleman any reasonable request." She laid a dainty white hand on Nick's arm.

The couple were barely out of the house when Belle turned to Nick raising her face invitingly for a kiss. "You are such a strong man, Nick. I feel so small and weak next to you."

Jamie recognized the line that Belle had used in the barn with Heath. "Don't fall for it Nick..." But of course he did. Despite her disgust at the whole thing Jamie found herself holding her breath as Nick leaned down and covered the willing blonde's mouth with his. It was apparently a different kind of kiss than what he gave Lily at the Golden Gate because Belle only gave a little giggle and a sigh when the kiss was finished. Of course Lily was paid to be enthusiastic.

The enemy recruits former allies.

"No." Jamie said flatly. "She's no rider for all them fancy duds. Fireball is the better horse."

"Really Nick, do you let your servants talk back to you like that?" Belle laid a soft white hand on Nick's arm. Her big brown eyes fluttered at him.

"Saddle up Daisy." Nick said in his flat most angry tone.

"I want that one." Belle pouted and pointed to Buddy. "Please Nick. All of my friends say I have a wonderful seat." She pointedly twitched the part of the anatomy that was referred to.

Nick looked at her critically. Buddy was a lot of horse and while technically not yet Jamie's it was still his horse. He only needed one glance at Jamie's face to make his decision. The boy looked like he'd just been shot.

"Now, Miss Belle, Daisy would match that pretty riding dress of yours. Anyway Buddy there wouldn't know how to behave right around a lady, he hasn't been taught any manners." The last pointed remark was directed over the blonde's head to Jamie. "You just wait right here, and I'll see that you have the prettiest horse in the ranch to ride." He smiled at the beautiful young woman winningly. Still smiling he took Jamie's arm in an iron grip and practically dragged the boy into the barn.

"I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR INSOLENCE O'SHANNON!" His voice carried back to Belle who had the satisfied look of someone who has made trouble on her face.

"Insolence! For seeing past the pretty face to see that yon female has the brain of a chicken!" Jamie shot out more scared than angry.

"SHE DOESN'T HAVE THE BRAIN OF A CHICKEN!" Nick yelled rather injudiciously.

By now, half of the hands were drifting towards the barn to watch the fireworks. Heath found Belle's reactions more interesting. She had made a move on him earlier which he had politely refused, it seemed she was setting her cap at Nick now. He frowned when he saw how she seemed to enjoy stirring up things.

"MISS BELLE IS A GUEST IN OUR HOUSE, I EXPECT YOU TO EXTEND EVERY COURTESY TO HER THAT SHE ASKS!" Nick gave the arm he still held a sharp shake. "NOW SADDLE UP DAISY AND IF I HEAR ANYTHING MORE ABOUT THIS YOU'LL BE WALKING OFF THIS RANCH." He finished angrily. He didn't have time for this sort of thing. He stalked out of the barn, not even watching to see if his orders were obeyed.

Jamie felt as if all of the air in her lungs had been sucked out of her. How could he be so mean? Michael had his reasons for being cruel, the war and the shattered leg and shattered dreams. What had she ever done to Nick Barkley, but try to do her job? Her actions were automatic as she saddled the doomed Daisy to be tortured by the inexperienced riding skills of Miss Belle. The woman gave no heed to Jamie, but snatched the reins triumphantly and gracefully mounted the horse with Nick's help. She gave him a brilliant smile that turned acidic when it brushed across Jamie.

Heath followed Jamie into the barn.

"Boy Howdy, Jamie. When are you going to learn not to go up against my brother?" He shook his head. "Nick is the boss. Even I know that." He chided gently.

"Aye. I'm just the servant Mr.Barkley. I know my place. If ye'll excuse me sir, I got me some work to do." Jamie disappeared up the ladder into the loft.

Heath started to say something, but then thought better of it. Nick would probably forget about the whole thing by tomorrow. He wasn't the kind of guy that held a grudge. Once he blew up that was it. Jamie wasn't too careful with his words either. He shook his head. He was beginning to have a feeling that the appellation of 'chicken brain' for Belle might be awfully close to the mark.

Up in the loft, Jamie sat hunched into a little ball and tried not to cry. In one week it was payday and she could give Heath the last $25 she owed on Buddy. Then there would be nothing to hold her to the Barkley's and their ranch. She would miss Heath, his shy crooked grin, and Mrs.Barkley and her kind words and tea, Audra was fun to be with, Jarrod was a nice man who loaned her books to read. But she wouldn't be sorry to see the last of that ungrateful, self-satisfied, pompous fool, Nick Barkley. No! Not in a million years! Not that loud voice, nor his eyes that said so much, or , or, any number of annoying things about him. Like that lock of hair that fell on his forehead or the way he his muscles moved when he was doing work and that darn laugh of his, so full of life. She would be damned if she would miss that man!

ACT THREE

Scene Two: Audra notices something interesting and the Barkleys come to some startling conclusions.

If trailing after Audra and Belle on their shopping trip to Stockton was supposed to be a punishment, it surely didn't turn out to be that way. Jamie took careful note to watch the two girls behavior. It was certainly a new experience for her to see what normal girls her age did and talked about. Belle's conversation was almost exclusively about men she knew, men she wanted to know, and men in general. She would talk about fashion and the like, but only in reference to what 'men' would like. Jamie thought she had the brain of a chicken, you fed it and it followed you looking for more. All a man had to do was look at Belle and she fancied that he loved her and she loved him. She was behaving herself very well today feeling that the Jamie person had been well put in place, of course the gentle talk the Mrs. Barkley had given her last night had also left an impression. It wasn't a good idea to antagonize a potential Mama-in-law.

Audra while interested in men, was much more sensible than her friend and had other more human interests. Compared to Suzy, Audra was much more appealing as a source of information and example of how women acted and were supposed to act around normal men. Men like Heath and Jarrod, not like Nick who was, of course, an uncouth loud-mouthed bully and totally disagreeable.

The dress shop was as good as a corral full of fine horses. Bolts of bright and tempting cloth drew all three in like iron filings to a magnet. Belle was more interested in the rich brocades and velvets while Audra and Jamie hovered over the silks and satins. Jamie carefully ran her fingers over the shiny surface of a bolt of silk which garnered a disapproving cough from the elderly lady running the shop. Audra wandered off to look at some hat trims. Looking around quickly, Jamie pulled a bolt of blue ribbon silk out to hold up in front of herself in the mirror. The color mirrored her eyes and seemed to add a rosy blush to her cheeks instead of making her look sallow like Suzy's turquoise dress had.

"That's a pretty color, but hardly good for a man's shirt." Audra said quietly beside her.

"I - ah- if I was a girl..." Jamie began desperately looking for some reasonable explanation. "My sister, she had the same color eyes and hair as me. I wondered if she would look good..." her voice trailed off.

"Oh yes! The blue matches your eyes perfectly. But Jamie, you never said you had a sister. What is her name?"

Jamie swallowed, it was her name but hadn't been said aloud for years. As if waiting for a bolt of lightning to hit her and sort hoping it would, she opened her mouth, "Alanna," and then a little louder as if it were important to say it again, "Alanna O'Shannon."

"So, is she older or younger than you? Where is she?" Audra took the bolt of cloth carefully out of Jamie's hands. He looked awfully upset all of a sudden. Audra put a sympathetic hand on Jamie's arm. "Did something bad happen to her?"

"Aye Audra. She got lost." Jamie looked at her brown capable hands, hands that guided horses, healed their hurts, hands that were unused to the feel of silk under them.

"Oh dear. Did you look for her?"

"No, Audra. No one looked for her. In my family, girls weren't worth looking for. She stayed lost."

"But Jamie, surely you...I can't believe you wouldn't look for her."

"Ah well, then ye don't know me, do you Audra Barkley. I'll wait outside fer ye and Miss Belle."

Audra looked in total dismay as Jamie left the store. She looked down at the bolt of cloth and a funny thought crossed her mind and then flitted away quickly as Belle bore down on her demanding her opinion on a choice of fine bonnets. The trip back to the ranch was dominated by Belle's conversations about the shopping they had done and her comparisons to the shops in the east. She easily made up for Jamie's silence and Audra's own preoccupied nods and monosyllables.

It was only when Audra was dressing for dinner when that stray thought that crossed her mind in the shop came back. It was preposterous, it was impossible, it was...intriguing! This was too good to keep to herself.

Audra found the rest of her family in the library. Jarrod standing by the fireplace with Heath looking at a book, while Nick was lounged comfortably in one of the chairs. Her mother was carefully working on a piece of mending, probably one of Heath's shirts that always seemed to suffer. Her brothers smiled at her entrance, their unconscious greeting warming her heart. In a sudden burst of love and affection she flew across the room to hug her eldest brother tightly.

"Hey, kitten." He said returning the hug, but confused at her sudden show of love. She was hanging on to him as if she hadn't seen him for a month of Sundays.

"Audra is something wrong?" He asked as she almost reluctantly let go of him.

"If I was lost, would you come to find me?"

"Of course I would." Jarrod said becoming almost alarmed at what Audra was talking about.

"We all would."Heath said seriously.

"What's got into you girl?" Nick asked getting to his feet. "You know we would do anything to protect you. Has something, has someone bothered you in town? I suppose Jamie sloped off to look at horses, when I told him to keep an eye on you two. That's it, the boy can take his damn horse and..." Nick began angrily.

"Wait Nick, it's not like that."Audra took a deep breath. "Did you know that Jamie had a sister?"

"Ben Cartwright mentioned it..." Victoria dropped the mending into her lap and looked with interest at her daughter.

"Her name is Alanna." Audra said triumphantly. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"Well, Ben seemed to think that she may have died when her younger brother Patrick died of influenza or something like that. What of it?" Jarrod added.

"Jamie said she got lost, and that no one in her family thought it important to look for her." Audra said triumphantly.

"Why would they do that?" Heath asked his brow furrowing, "From what Jamie says about his family they were real close before the war. I don't see Jamie not looking for a lost sister."

Nick nodded slowly, "Yeah, the kid is a pain, but loyal to a fault. Look at that fight he got into about Heath and that time in Alameda."

"What fights?" Audra asked temporarily diverted.

"Nothing." All three brothers said at once, causing Audra to wrinkle her nose at them. Men and their secrets.

Victoria carefully put away the mending in her sewing basket ."Tell me, what do we know about Jamie's family?"

"Now Mother, where is this going?" Nick asked gruffly.

"No, fair enough question Nick," Jarrod said, "Let's look at the facts." He switched into lawyer mode. "James O'Shannon has an older brother Michael. Presumedly still living. He had three, no four other brothers. Sean, Liam, hmmm Andrew, and..."

"Patrick who died of influenza." Nick added and settled himself back into his chair. "And now a sister who has died."

"Not necessarily dead."Jarrod asked, "Lost, is that right Audra?"

"That is exactly what Jamie said, lost." Audra said.

"Now Nick you saw the photograph...how many children were in the picture?"

"Four boys standing, the Mother holding the little girl in her lap and the Father a small baby. But what does all this prove?"

"Boy Howdy!" Heath breathed, "You don't think..." He looked at Jarrod who was thinking hard and Victoria who was looking smug. "Adam told me that the little O'Shannon girl had a foal named Rosebud. The horse followed her everywhere nibbling on her curly black hair."

"Who in the family had the horse gift?" Jarrod asked. "Sean and the girl, Alanna. And who had black hair? Michael and the girl, Alanna."

"And how do you lose a sister and not look for her?" Audra chimed in "By turning her into a boy, into James O'Shannon."

"Oh No! No!" Nick said jumping to his feet again. "You all are crazy. Jamie O'Shannon is not a girl." He laughed forcefully. "You all have been reading too many books, out in the sun too long."

Heath shrugged. "Makes sense to me. Jamie keeps to himself, ah maybe herself. That cheek will never see a beard and she acts a lot older than she looks."

"She was admiring a bolt of blue silk, how many boys would do that Nick?" Audra looked very pleased with herself.

"Rosebud can easily be Buddy." Jarrod added.

"Now wait, he, she, Buddy, Rosebud, the three of you are just barking up the wrong tree. Jamie acts like a man, rides like a man, drinks like a man, fights like a man, I even took him to..." Nick broke off the sentence and looked at his little sister and mother. Victoria's unspoken question was never voiced as Silas came to announce dinner.

"Well, whatever secret life James or Alanna O'Shannon may have, I suggest we wait until after Miss Belle has left our company." Victoria said wisely. Audra nodded reluctantly as did Heath.

Nick snorted. "Jamie O'Shannon, a girl, ha!"

Jarrod stopped his mother on the way to the dining room, "How long have you known, Mother?"

Victoria smiled at her son. "Long before any of you."

The day started like most other days with no clue of potential disaster or roll of thunder to herald destruction or doom. Victoria and Audra went off to visit neighbors with a new baby, a pastime that Belle graciously declined. Babies were such noisy distasteful things always taking attention away from others - just like her little brother had when he came into the world - disgusting thing. Superficially she pleaded a headache and a desire for a little rest or maybe pursuing someone interesting. Unfortunately, Heath and Nick and the majority of the ranch hands were out doing some fencing work.

Jamie had spent the morning cleaning tack and brushing down the few horses that were left in the barn. She had expected to join the men with the fencing work, but Nick had looked at her strangely and told her to stay close to home. She shrugged and considered a ride out to the river on Buddy for a bath. Quick wash-ups in a bowl were not getting her clean enough to her satisfaction. Maybe that was why Nick and Heath looked so strange at her this morning. She took a hesitant sniff at herself and frowned.

Jamie had just finished saddling Buddy and was leading him out of the barn when she was accosted by Belle.

"Oh boy." Belle said in a soft syrupy voice. "Are you going for a ride? Could I come too?" She fluttered her eyes at Jamie who wasn't too impressed.

"I'm just going to the creek. Not a pretty ride." Jamie said tightening the cinch on Buddy.

"Please. I really think we should be friends, for the Barkley's sake. They had so many good things to say about you." Belle said winningly.

"Really?" Jamie looked at the young woman who looked all innocence and a touch of remorse.

"I'm sure you would like to know what they said..." Belle tossed the baited hook out.

Jamie took the bait hook, line and sinker. "Well alright, let me saddle up a horse for you. Daisy is out, you'll have to ride Fireball."

"All right." Was the bright cheerful reply. After the fuss of several days ago Jamie should have been on her guard, but the thought of hearing what the Barkley's and Nick thought of her was too good to pass up. Maybe she could stay on the ranch for a while, maybe they could be told her secret...

Heath and Nick were just returning from the barn after caring for their horses after a hard day's work.

"I could eat a bear." Heath said stretching his back muscles lazily.

"I'm with you brother, but I hope it's Silas' pot roast." Nick said slapping his brothers shoulder affectionately.

"Boy Howdy, what is that?" Heath said suddenly stopping to point at a sorry sight coming into the yard. Fireball was half-trotting half walking, it's rider bouncing awkwardly around. As soon as the rider spied the two men a wail that would put a cat to shame broke out.

"OooooOOOooo." Belle cried and waited until she could fall neatly into one of the men's arms.

"MOTHER! AUDRA!" Nick bellowed inviting someone else to take over the handful of teary muddy young woman.

"My heavens." Victoria said running out of the house. "What on earth happened to you? Are you hurt dear?"

"Well, no." Belle said honestly. "But look at my dress..."Belle sniffed audibly. "It is just ruined! I am completely disheveled, Mother says that a woman must never appear in polite company in a less than perfect order. I must surely bathe, change and then tell you of my most frightening experience." Belle managed to flutter her eyelashes which were unfortunately glued in clumps by mud. Nick nimbly avoided her muddy hand on his arm.

"You go and do that." Nick said gruffly. He turned to Heath, who was patting the sweating, trembling horse. They both watched as the blond girl marched into the house supported by Audra and Victoria, each tantalizing sway of her hips dropping half-dried clumps of mud along the way.

"Poor 'Fireball' has been rid pretty hard, Nick." Heath said running his hands down the elderly pony's legs. The animal was covered in dried foam and was still breathing hard.

"Damn." Nick eyed the exhausted horse." Take him to the barn, um I'm sure Jamie can take care of him."

"Well, Nick. I think you ought to, seeings how Jamie told you that Belle was too rough on the horses. You can say he was right." Heath grinned his lopsided grin. "Matter of fact, mebbe I'll just tag along and hear you eat crow."

Nick opened his mouth and raised his finger to his brother who was laughing silently. He closed it and pulled the horses reins from his brother's hands. He stalked towards the barn with Heath following at a leisurely pace behind him. Fireball's ears perked forwards as the familiar odors and sight of the barn faced the tired horse.

"Jamie!" Nick called out just inside the barn. He was greeted by a few whickers and shuffling from the horses. Coco stuck his head over his stall door and gave a welcoming farrup. Other than that the barn was quiet. He quickly pulled the saddle and blanket off the horse.

"JAMIE!" Nick bellowed. "Got us a sick horse here..." This would usually bring the boy double time. Heath wandered in looking around carefully.

"Don't seem to be here, Nick. Buddy isn't in his stall. You don't think he took off?"

"Now, why in 'ell would Jamie take off?" Nick groused and grabbing a brush began to vigorously brush the coat of the grateful Fireball.

"Well now, could be because you yelled at him the other day for calling Miss Belle chicken brain." Heath sat down on a block of hay. He pulled out a whisp and began chewing on it thoughtfully.

Nick snorted. "The boy would have taken off the first day he was here if he was afraid of me yelling at him." He gave the horse a slap on it's rump as it was beginning to lean gratefully on him.

"Jealous." Heath said succinctly. "Look at the way she has been acting around Belle." He shrugged and repeated. "Jealous."

"What? Aw, hell Heath you aren't buying into that crazy idea that Jamie is...is a girl?" Nick staggered a bit as the horse managed to lean on the distracted man. He gave it a less than gentle slap and it looked at him reproachfully.

"Kinda makes sense to me. Y'know her age is right to be Alanna, Buddy is Rosebud, the gift with horses...Jamie is Alanna."

"You all have gone south around the bend..." Nick finished brushing the horse and was covering it with a blanket.

"Face it Nick, you just don't want Jamie to be female. Or maybe..." Heath paused and looked at his older brother thoughtfully and then grinned.

"Maybe what?" Nick shot out and pushed the horse into an empty stall and dumped a measure of grain into the grateful animal's manger.

"Well Nick, maybe you would be more disappointed if we were wrong."

"What do you mean..." He was interrupted by Audra who came running out to the barn. She had a rather distracted Belle by one hand. Belle's hair was half covered in soap and was hanging in unattractive rat tails around her face. She had a robe clutched around her with one hand.

"Nick! Heath!" Audra yelled. "Jamie's in trouble! Belle just told me." Audra shot her old school friend a contemptuous look. Flirting with everyone in trousers was bad enough, but deserting a rider in trouble out on the range was less than human. "Tell them what happened," She gave the girl's arm a tight squeeze, "What really happened, not any of your stories."

"Audra," Belle whined, "You are hurting me, I will have to tell my mother about this breech in good behavior. I will have to cut my visit short." She raised her eyes to look beseechingly at the two men who were paying more attention to their sister than to her. There appeared to be no help from that quarter and Audra did not seem to want to stop squeezing her arm. She began to speak, Nick wondered why he even considered her whiny voice dulcet and sweet.

"I wanted to go for a ride and that nasty boy, wouldn't let me go alone. He saddled two horses, that awful slow one and the pretty red one. I wanted to ride the red one. He was quite rude, I must say..." she began, but paled as Audra pulled her around to face her.

"Tell them what you did." she grated out between her teeth.

"I took the red horse, when he was saddling the other one. My, we took off like the wind. That boy couldn't keep up on that old pony. If it hadn't been for that ditch..." Her voice trailed off.

"Ditch?" Nick said dangerously, the only ditch was the newly dug irrigation ditch for the orchard about five miles from the ranch. It was fairly shallow, but wide, too wide for a horse to jump.

"I thought we could jump it, then that boy couldn't follow. He was yelling, saying such bad words. The horse fell and I got thrown into the mud. I was lucky not to get hurt. That boy helped me out of the ditch with the rope and then he went into the ditch to the horse. He was yelling at me! It wasn't my fault. The horse was making a lot of noise...I got on the other horse and rode here. I was going to tell you..." Her voice trailed off as she faced the three furious people. She took refuge in bursting into tears, her face screwing up and turning red and ugly.

Nick was already pulling Coco out of his stall and was throwing on a blanket and saddle. Heath started to saddle up Charger.

"I can take the south end and you the north, we can ride towards each other, they gotta be easy to spot."

"We have only about an hour of daylight left." Nick tightened Coco's cinch.

"Audra, I want you to get her, "Nick jerked his head over towards the sobbing Belle, "out of here."

"Nick. I can come with you." Audra put a hand on her older brother's arm. Nick in a cold rage was not a good thing, better to have him yelling and ranting.

"Better, do as Nick asks Audra." Heath said, "Tell mother. She'll take care of Belle and...and Alanna when we bring her home.

ACT THREE

Scene Three: A death brings Jamie to his end.

Nick rode at a bruising pace to the Northern and farthest end of the irrigation ditch, it had been quite a job digging the half mile long ditch, but it would make all the difference to the fruit trees during times of drought which plagued the area all too frequently. He turned Coco to face south and began riding at a slower pace. The sun was still up, but the long shadows hid the bottom of the ditch from seeing much.

"Jamie! Can you hear me? Jamie! Answer me boy!" Nick shook his head. Was Jamie a boy? No matter, right now he was someone in trouble. "Jamie!"

He had been riding about ten minutes when he heard a faint answer to his shout. He slid off Coco and paced along the rim of the ditch, the earth was soft and crumbly at the edges, clods rained down to make soggy pattering noises in the muddy bottom of the ditch. The growing shadows softened what was a heartbreaking situation. The roan gelding was down in the bottom of the ditch, covered in thick mud. Jamie was holding the horse's head out of the mud. The animal was breathing heavily, as if it had just run a long race.

"Throw me your gun." Jamie's voice floated like a specter on the breeze, it sounded thin and tight. "I gotta put him out of his misery."

"Legs broke?" Nick said and dallied his rope around the saddle horn, he trusted Coco to hold his weight while he went down the loose side of the ditch.

"Jest throw me the damn gun, Nick Barkley." Jamie's voice was high, it was the first time Nick had heard the boy swear.

"Do you want me to..." Nick said pulling the heavy six shooter from his holster.

"He's my horse, I saw him born, I'll put him down." Came the tense reply.

He handed the gun to Jamie who carefully aimed at a point in the horse's skull and pulled the trigger. Nick was close enough to hear the sharp sob that was almost drowned out by the bark of the gun.

"Jamie, I'm sorry." Nick said brusquely. "I should have listened to you."

"Listen to me? Ah hell, Nick why should ye listen to me?" The gun began to wave in a dangerous direction towards him. She thumbed the hammer back, cocking the gun.

"Whoa, take it easy." He held his hands up."You want to be more careful with that gun, Jamie." He lowered his hands and reached out slowly for the loaded weapon. "You don't want to do this."

"I didna want to kill Rosebud either. He was all I had. He was the last thing in the world to love me. How can ye understand? In that house with yer family around you. Ye took yer time coming too. I sat watching him suffer with no way to make it go away. Did you and Belle take a walk in the garden before ye came to see? Damn ye Nick Barkley I trusted..." Her voice broke off as she took in a shaky breath. The gun dipped and wavered.

"It wasn't like that..." Nick desperately tried to find the words to calm the distraught Jamie. "Belle..." It was the wrong choice.

"Oh aye, believe what ye will. If Belle says so, then by the saints it must be true! I've had enough! YE HEAR! ENOUGH! " As if seeing the heavy pistol in her hand for the first time she raised it up bracing her wrist with her other hand. It wasn't aimed at him anymore, but at herself.

If he jumped at her, the gun could go off.

"Alanna." Her head snapped up and he saw the white twisted face of despair. "Alanna, give me the gun." He repeated. The gun wavered and jerked. He moved closer. He reached out his hand and took the gun from her slack hand holstering it.

Her legs went out from under her. Nick went down on his knees with her.

"Don't do this." He laid a none too steady hand on her cheek and tilted the head back to catch what pale light was left in the sky. Her eyes blinked and he could feel sharp shallow breaths fan his own face as he leaned closer.

"Nick! Jamie!" Heath's sharp voice cut across Nick's consciousness.

"Here!" Nick turned his head to shout to his brother who was a shadowy figure on the edge of the ditch. "It isn't like that. I swear to you," Nick spoke in a low voice his face close to hers his mouth next to her ear. "Alanna O'Shannon I'm sorry."

"Are you all right? I heard a shot." Heath's voice floated over them. All he could see now were bulky shadows. "D'you need me down there?"

"No. We are coming up." Nick easily picked up the limp body of stricken young woman. They were both covered in slick gooey mud and Nick found his grip slipping once or twice as he slogged towards the edge of the ditch.

"Put your arms around my neck." He ordered gruffly. Any other woman would have done it automatically. Belle would have taken full advantage of the situation. The blonde's perfidy and callous disregard for others slid across his mind and his grip tightened as an arm slid cautiously around his neck. "Damn woman." he thought not realizing that he had vocalized the idea. A head which had begun to droop thankfully onto his shoulder jerked back. Nick shifted his weight as one boot became bogged in the sticky ooze. He stumbled and the both of them rolled in the sticky mud. Nick came up swearing trying to keep his balance and hold onto a rather sticky mud-covered Alanna. She remained unusually silent even through being lifted up the side of the ditch by Nick and hauled up by Heath. Getting Nick up the side of the ditch took a little more grunting and swearing by both of the cowboys.

Alanna very quietly took a canteen off one of the men's saddles and poured the contents over her head and hands removing most of the gunk covering her. She also took a swig of the tepid liquid. The men's low-voiced conversation about what had happened did not seem to impinge on her consciousness.

"Jamie umm Alanna can ride double with me. We are already covered in mud, no need for you to get dirty." Nick said swinging into his saddle to settle with an uncomfortable squish.

"'Preciate the thought big brother." Heath tried to lighten the mood.

Nick reached out his hand and for a long moment thought that O'Shannon wasn't going to take it. Then a small hand was inserted in his and he pulled her up to sit in front of him on the saddle.

They rode towards the ranch in silence. As the moon rose, lighting the way, the men coaxed their mounts into a quicker walk.

This was a hell of a mess, Nick thought. He was used to straight forward problems with straight forward solutions. Jamie looses his horse through the carelessness of a chicken-brained female (he had his own suspicions). But Jamie is not Jamie, but Alanna a young woman pretending to be a boy.

Alanna's thoughts were in turmoil. How did they find out? He is so mad at me. I feel ... so ashamed...he should have let me...no...

"I didn't mean to." It was the first words she had said since the she had turned the gun on herself.

Nick tightened the arm he held around her waist, feeling the still liquid mud squelch between them. He wasn't sure what she didn't mean to do or say or whatever, but he was smart enough to know that she didn't need any more grief.

"Yeah. I know. " He said simply and could feel the sag of relief in her back. Coco danced a little uneasily, the horse the first to sense the unnatural limpness that followed the sudden relaxation. "Hey! Jam...Alanna!" Nick said worriedly.

"What's wrong?" Heath asked pulling Charger in to ride by Nick's knee.

"I dunno. I think she's fainted or something."

"I ain't surprised." Heath leaned over to lay a hand on one very muddy cheek. "She's breathin' good. Could be just tuckered out. Couldn't have been easy, none of it."

Nick shifted a little in the saddle so that the curly black head rested on his arm. "Most men couldn't have handled all that has happened. Dammit Heath. How did we miss this?"

"Mother seemed to have an idea long before the rest of us." Heath said nudging Charger into a trot as the bright lights of home twinkled ahead of them.

"Mother will know what to do." Nick said firmly dipping his chin towards the sleeping woman.

"Yeah another stray to take in." Heath said ironically. "She's so good at that."

"That she is brother, that she is." Nick said as they caught sight of an anxious Victoria waiting by the front door holding a lantern up to light their way.

EPILOGUE

Like all good endings the start of something new...

"You gonna stare at that drink or do somethin' with it?" Heath teased gently as Nick sat slouched in one of the study's easy chairs. He was absentmindedly swirling a tumbler of whisky in his hand. When his brother didn't reply to the gentle tease he frowned slightly. "Nick?"

"Hmm? What?" Nick started from his reverie and took a healthy swallow from his glass and grimaced as the strong liquor burned down his throat.

"You sure thinkin' awful hard. What's on your mind brother?"

"Ah, nothin'." Nick said stretching his legs out lazily.

Heath smiled and waited patiently. Something was bothering Nick and he would chew on the problem until he came up with a solution.

"Getting kinda cold, figure we better think about moving the stock to winter pasture." Nick said thoughtfully.

"We'll need some extra hands. Maybe two more and someone to handle the remuda." Heath said not really sure if the fall roundup was Nick's real worry at the moment. "We have plenty of good mounts thanks to ones we bought at Alameda." He added and was rewarded by a frown of worry that crossed his brother's face. He should have guessed the problem right away.

"She is having a tough time settling in. " Heath said bluntly.

"Yeah." Nick drained the contents of his glass. "Think I'll turn in. See you in the morning." He left the library and moseyed into the kitchen to look for a slice of pie or a cookie that might be lying around. He found Alanna slipping an apple into the pocket of her skirt.

"Someone else looking for a snack?" He grinned at her as he took one for himself and took a big bite out of it. It had been several weeks since she'd lost her horse and lost being a boy. Victoria had been gentle but firm in getting her used to wearing skirts and learning to act like a woman. Jeans and a ragged shirt had been replaced by a long skirt and a simple white blouse. She nervously tucked a stray curl from her face behind her ear.

"It isn't for me." She began nervously pleating the skirt in her hands. "I thought mebbe..." She sighed and took the apple out and returned it to the bowl. " I suppose it isn't allowed."

"Since when?" Nick took the apple up and tossed it to her. She caught it neatly and for the first time her eyes met his. He thought she looked too pale, too strained. "Let's go see the horses." He strode out of the kitchen and smiled as she joined him matching his long strides with several of her own shorter steps. The skirt was held up rather higher than good taste dictated but how else was she to keep up? Nick stopped to light a lantern, but Alanna had gone straight to the horses and was patting noses and speaking gently to the steeds. She began carving bits of apple for the animals. Charger slobbered his bit of apple affectionately down her front. Nickers and whiffles from the horses greeted her as she went from animal to animal. Nick watched as she and the horses communed with one another. Fireball was leaning gratefully on her pinning her to the side of the stall as she scratched him behind the ears.

"Get over ye lazy beast." She slapped him on the withers and he reluctantly moved off but stretched out his head for another piece of apple.

"It's fair spoiled ye are." She scolded him and Nick could swear the horse look ashamed until he got an extra bit of apple.

"I could use a good wrangler..." Nick began. "Someone who knows horses. Interested?"

She whirled to look at him, "Nick! Could I?" There was life in her voice and even in the dim light of the lantern he could see her eyes light up. Funny how big and blue they were and with such long dark lashes.

"Yep. Mother will want you to do that female stuff, but I figger you'll still have plenty of time for the horses. You'll have to wear boy's clothes of course." He pointed to her once white blouse that had horse drool and bits of apple on it and the skirt that was rumpled from the horse leaning on her.

"You've got a deal! Thank ye Nick!" She said happily and stuck out a hand to shake. Nick took the hand and shook it but didn't let go immediately..

He held her hand and with his other hand gently traced the line of her soft cheek with one finger. She looked at him confusedly. "Bright and early tomorrow morning, all right? Well, go on get going." He urged letting her go..

"Aye boss." She grinned at him and picking up her skirts ran for the house.

Nick smiled as he saw her vault neatly over the water trough, not an easy feat in a long skirt.

When you got down to it Alanna was Jamie, basically the same person. Maybe with some changes for the better.

A faint smile curved on his lips. Yes, maybe a lot for the better.

To be continued in "Shatter the Vase"

You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will,

But the scent of the rose will hang around it still.

-Thomas Moore, Irish Melodies