"Shall we deal you in?" Ezra asked as Lily set the bottle of whiskey on the table.? Chris nodded in thanks.? She laughed and shook her head.? The saloon was empty but for their table.? Snow and wind blew outside.? Lily wrapped a shawl around her shoulders. ?
"I've never seen weather like this."? This was the first time Lily had seen snow.? From what the mean had said, it was rare even in this part of the country. The door burst open, snow and wind chilling the room.? Buck pushed the door shut behind him, brushing snow off his shoulders. ?
"Can't see a damn thing out there.? I was going to go over to make sure that Mary and Molly are settled and can't see across the street."? Anyone who had spent any time on the prairies knew stories of folks losing their way in the few feet between their house and the barn and dying out in the snow.
"She ain't with Ms. Travis."? JD spoke up from where he was camped by the stove.? "She's at the school."
"At the school?" Buck hit JD with his hat.? "Why didn't you bring her over here?"
"She asked me to help take the kids home. But she wasn't alone." JD nodded toward Lily.? "Lily's friend was there."
"Deacon? Deacon is with her?" Lily's brow furrowed.
"Yep, so at least she ain't alone."
Emma had lost track of the time.? She'd only meant to go to the shop to collect some handwork and pieces that she could work on in the saloon.? The wind and snow had come on so quickly. She could make the faintest outlines of the buildings across the street. Taking a peek out the back had been even worse.? It was a landscape of blowing snow, white swirls blocking out anything. Fear gripped her chest as she remembered wandering the storm months and months ago.? She had could wait out this storm in the shop.? It couldn't last more than a few hours, she assumed.? It wasn't the first time she'd seen snow.? She'd come from Chicago, snow was part of every winter.? But this was different. The front door rattled and swung open.? Cold air filled the room before the door was shut again.
"Miss Emma, what are you doing in here?? You ought to be over at the saloon." Nathan rubbed his hands together.
"I could say the same to you." She took his arm.? "Come stand by the stove. What are you doing out?"
"Was headed that way when I saw you in here.? I dare say Ezra's going to be beside himself in worry."
"I was going to head there, but then," she stared out the window. "I thought I'd just wait it out."
"Probably best." Nathan held his hands over the heat of the stove. "Person could get lost out there."
"You must stay too."
"Uh, I don't know, ma'am. Not sure what folks would say about that."
"I care little about what they might say. I could not live with myself if something happened to you. Were it not for you, I'd probably be dead."
"Are we to assume by that look that you do not feel that our young schoolteacher is safe in the company of Mr. Kay?" Ezra asked as he shuffled cards. Ezra had a sense of the man in the time he'd spent in Four Corners.? There was something about him that he didn't quite trust, though Lily certainly did.
"What? Oh no, it's not that... I just...," she stalled her words as she stared out at the raging storm.
"Just what?" Chris hadn't trusted Deacon Kay from the moment he stepped off the stagecoach.? He hadn't done anything while he'd been in town, but the feeling he gave Chris made him distrustful.? He was a little too polished; too quick with a smile. Chris had known too many men like that, men that in the end would sell you out to save themselves.? Ezra had been that type of man when they first met.? He didn't hold the same opinion of the gambler anymore. Ezra had proved himself many times.
"Oh it's nothing," Lily tried to smile, "Deacon wouldn't overstep any boundaries, but he can be a bit of a scoundrel."
"What's that mean?" Buck huffed up his chest.? He was already burning to race into the storm to fetch Molly.
"Mr. Wilmington, I would think if anyone would know the definition of the scoundrel, it'd be you." Ezra smiled and stood from the table.? "Excuse me a moment, won't you."
"How long do you think the snow will fall?" Emma poured a cup of tea for Nathan and took the seat across from him.? She'd set up the two chairs she had and a small table near the fire.? Nathan cut up an apple and placed half on the saucer of her cup.
"Don't rightly know.? Never seen a storm like this.? Never saw snow like this before."
"At least neither one of us has to be alone in this."
"Where is Emma?" Ezra raced down the stairs two at a time. ?
"She's not upstairs?" Lily asked. "When she heard about the storm, she was going to fetch some handwork from the shop, something to keep herself busy. I thought she'd returned before and was just upstairs."
"She's not stupid. She wouldn't try to go out in this." Buck tried to reassure him even as he contemplated doing the exact thing himself. Lily's description of her friend did nothing to dissuade Buck's worry about Molly.
"Gentlemen, may I suggest we all sit down. I have some soup and bread.? We can eat and wait out the storm." Lily smiled at them all.? It was going to be a long night.
