Simon sat huddled in a corner of a cell, muttering darkly. Marshall Lee Jackson spat a glob of chewing tobacco through the bars at him, then he eyed Clay warily. Marshall Jackson was a stooped man in his late fifties, a veteran of the frontier lands. His years of living on the edge of civilisation showed on him- from his heavily scarred face, to his limp, to his quick draw and his rabid hatred of Hans Muller. He blamed Hans for the death of two of his sons- one in a bad mining accident, the other Hans had sent out to inspect a bridge he knew to be faulty. Both accidents were caused by faulty building material. Hans had used substandard material and kept the rest of the investor's money for himself, claiming it went on building material.

"So, if I let you take Simon, you can clean out Thieves Springs and get to your Uncle?" he asked.

"Probably. Let's just say he can get us some leverage over anyone who would come after us."

Marshall Jackson smiled grimly and said "I wanted to clean out that town for years."

"I thought it was out of your jurisdiction?" Clay asked, his tone joking.

"Don't go sounding like those east coast big city boys. Everyone out here knows my jurisdiction stops at the barrel of the gun of the man I am meant to be arresting. If I let you take Simon, do me a favour? Plant your Uncle so deep you could hand him over to the Devil in person."

With that, he unlocked the door and hauled Simon out.

"Come on then Simon. You have gotten a reprieve."

Simon looked up at them, stroking his dirty yellow-white beard and giving them a crooked toothy smile.

"From what? No Judge saw me. Dirty, dirty pricks."

Andrew grabbed his filthy shirt.

"Your brother, the lawyer, sent me to get you. You are going to help me find some documents."

"Why should I do that?"

"You wanted to dig up my dead father. You don't help me, I'll put you in the coffin beside him and seal the lid again."

Simon considered this for a moment. "Can I get my violin before we go? I likes playing tunes."

Marshall Jackson handed over the instrument and smirked as Clay dragged Simon from the office. Seth was waiting outside.

"Keep an eye on him," Clay said. "I'll get Patrick and George."

As Seth manuvered Simon to the back of the wagon, Clay bounded up the stairs two at a time and entered the room he had rented for the night. Patrick and George were still fast asleep, with George using Patrick as a body pillow. Clay ripped the blanket from them to find them completely naked. Patrick had one arm thrown around George's shoulder, the other rested around his narrow waist.

"Come on guys," Clay said, shaking them awake. It took a few minutes, but finally Clay had them both up and dressing, despite Patrick having a bad case of morning wood. As they walked through the bar, they picked up speed. Two men stood at the bar glowering at Marie, who had a double barrel shotgun in her hands.

"Don't lie to us, bitch, we knows you are renting out a room to some queers," one of them bellowed at her.

"I don't know what you are talken about, Frank. Now piss off before I let you both have a barrel each."

(break break break)

They had set out again across the plains. It was late evening and the burning heat of earlier had eased off to something that passed as cool in this part of the west. To the east, the sky was a deep blue, to the west, the sky was a deep crimson and the clouds looked like dollops of vanilla. On the wagon, Simon had started up some old sea shanty on the violin and was singing.

"Look, fiddler on the corn," Seth whispered. Clay stifled back a laugh. Seth grinned up at him.

"You think Papa has stopped looking for us?" he asked after a moments silence.

"No a chance. He's probably tearing Thieves Springs and Kelly to shreds looking for us. I wouldn't be surprised if he has sent people out looking for us."

"But why is he so desperate?" Seth asked.

"From what I have been finding out, he has swindled a lot of people out of their money. He has bribed, blackmailed and bullied a lot more. He has forced people off their land, gotten people killed through his negligent actions and basically tried to make himself the de facto government of this state. In short, he has pissed off a lot more people than he has made happy and we are going after his only safety net."

"If more guys do come after us?"

"We will take care of them," Clay said with total confidence. Seth still looked nervous. CLay reached accross and ruffled his thick hair.

"You will get to see Mary again," he promised the younger boy, who smiled.