Two days later and Tessa was reading over the Telegram her neighbor had sent her. The farm was gone. Trigger Jones had burnt it to the ground and killed all the livestock after finding that Tessa wasn't there. While Tessa was sad to know that what her father had worked so hard for was gone she was also relieved because that meant she wouldn't have to lie to Richard.

She had been fully prepared to tell Richard the farm was gone and have her neighbor secretly sell it and wire her the money. She could tell by watching Richard in this town, interacting with the people that this was his home and her home was wherever he was. She had not been willing to let him give up something that made him happy for her especially when she really didn't care about the farm anymore anyway.

She walked outside the post office to find Richard standing on the porch waiting for her.

"I thought you said you'd be busy most of the day." she said as she walked up to him. He held up a piece of paper.

"You ready to become Tessa Helms?" he asked. Her eyes widened.

"You got it already?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yep." he said. Then his eyes narrowed. He could tell there was something wrong with her.

"Did you get a telegram back today?" he asked. She nodded and handed it to him. He read over it quickly, his eyes growing angrier with every word.

"That son of a bitch!" he exclaimed bringing a gasp from a woman walking by with a toddler on her hip. She glared at Richard and he offered her an apologetic grin.

"Sorry bout that, ma'am." he said. The woman shook her head and walked away. Richard looked back at Tessa.

"That bastard burnt the whole farm to the ground." he said. Tessa nodded.

"I know. I read the damn thing too." she replied.

"Guess we'll just have to rebuild it." Richard said folding the telegram and the marriage license and putting both in his pocket. Tessa shook her head.

"I was actually wanting to talk to you about that." she said. Richard took her by the hand and led her over to a bench on the wooden walkway and they sat down.

"What?" he asked.

"What would you say about settling down right here around Gatesville? I mean this is where my pa was wanting to move to anyhow."

"Not much land for farming around here." Richard told her. Tessa shrugged.

"I'm about farmed out." she replied. "Besides do you even know how to work a plow?" Richard chuckled and rubbed his chin.

"No, I reckon I don't but I was gonna learn." he said. Tessa smiled.

"You weren't made for that life. You were made for living out here." she said.

"What about you? What were you made for?" Richard asked.

"Being wherever you are." she replied. Richard looked at her to see if she was lying but she seemed to be telling the truth. He was relieved to say the least. He would have gone anywhere with her and done anything she had wanted him to but Richard didn't know the first thing about working a farm.

"How'd I get lucky enough to end up with a woman like you?" he asked. Tessa grinned.

"You're just blessed I guess." she replied. Richard chuckled.

"Bout as blessed as a cowboy who squats on a cactus in the dark." he said. Tessa glared at him.

"You are such a charming gentleman." she said. Richard shook his head.

"No, I'm just a gunslinger. If you wanted a gentleman you picked the wrong man." he replied.

"Well I ain't no lady so what use would I have for a gentleman?" she asked.

"You are perfect." he replied. "You gotta get busy planning that wedding." he reminded her. She shook her head.

"I don't want no wedding." she replied. "We can just go on down to the church and let the preacher marry us today." she said. Richard shrugged.

"Works for me but don't all women want a big wedding?" he asked. Sarah had wanted a big wedding and her parents had been happy to put it all together in the short week they'd courted.

"Apparently not." she replied.

"Well let's go then." Richard said standing up and pulling Tessa to her feet.

"Are you in a hurry or something?" she asked. Richard pulled her close to him.

"I've been waiting my whole life for a woman like you." he said. "I don't' want to wait another minute to have you as my wife."

888

A month came and went and Richard had never been happier in his life. He'd used some of the money he still had from Shade and his men's bounties and bought himself and Tessa a small house just outside of town. Richard found it hard to believe that it hadn't been that long ago when he hadn't cared if he lived or died. His life had been so empty and meaningless before Tessa had come along and turned it upside down.

They were just coming into town one morning when Richard noticed a bunch of unfamiliar horses hitched outside the bank. Alarms went off in his mind at the eerie silence that had fallen over the usually busy little main street of town.

"Tessa, go home." Richard said. Tessa looked over at the bank and then back at Richard.

"Why?" she asked. Before he could reply they saw Neil Hawkins limping his way toward the bank with his pistol drawn.

"Dammit woman just do what I say." Richard said. Tessa shook her head.

"Not without you." she said. Richard sighed and jumped down off of Horse leaving him standing loose on the street. Tessa hitched her mare to the post in front of the general store beside them.

"Stay behind me then and keep your damn head down. If bullets start flying you high tail it out of here and don't' stop till you're locked in safe at home." Tessa nodded just to make him happy and he knew she was lying. He knew damn well the stubborn woman wouldn't run off even though that was what she needed to do.

"Neil, what's going on?" Richard asked quietly as he and Tessa jogged up to the old man. Neil stopped walking and led Richard and Tessa over to the cover of the gunsmith porch.

"Damn outlaws are in there robbing the bank." he replied. "They got a bunch of men, women and children in there for hostages. I guess that's all that's keeping the men from fighting back is fear that the women and children will get hurt. Everybody else in town done ran for cover."

"Do you know the gang that's holding it up?" Richard asked. Neil nodded.

"Hell yea. It's that damn Trigger Jones. He's got about four men with him in there."

"Trigger Jones?" Tessa demanded looking up at Richard. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Robbing the bank." Richard replied with a shrug.

"Do you think he knows I'm here?" Tessa asked and Richard could hear the fear in her voice.

"I won't let him hurt you, Tessa. Don't you worry that pretty little head about that." he said.

"What can we do?" Tessa asked. Richard shrugged.

"Stay out of sight of the watchman they got standing in the doorway there." Richard said pointed to the cowboy who was smoking a cigarette and looking up and down the road. Richard, Tessa and Neil were not visible from where they stood on the gunsmiths porch.

"And?" Tessa asked. Richard glared at her.

"And you're doing nothing else. You are gonna stay out of sight. When they come out Neil and I will deal with them." Richard said and Neil nodded in agreement.

"A lady ain't got no business involving herself." he said. Tessa glared at the old man and she stuck her hands on her hips angrily. Richard sighed and shook his head. The damn old man had just said exactly the wrong thing to his high tempered, proud, independent wife.

"Well I ain't no damn lady and if my husband is going to be chasing after damn bank robbers and the man that killed my pa then I reckon it sure as hell is my business." she whispered angrily. Before anyone could say anything else the doors to the bank opened and five armed men walked out and met up with the watchman.

"Look at this ,Trigger!" One of the men said holding up his saddlebag which was about to burst with the amount of money he'd stuffed inside. "We'll be living high on the hog for the rest of our lives after this score!"

"That's right, Franks." A man replied. "I told you it would pay off to ride with me." Richard looked at this man. So that was Trigger Jones? He was hardly what Richard had expected. Trigger wasn't an inch over five and half feet tall and he was skinny as a rail. He was older than Richard would have guessed as well and his thin face was covered in gray stubble.

"That's Trigger?" Tessa whispered. Richard nodded.

"Just think, honey. You could have been waking up beside that beautiful face every morning." he replied. Tessa glared at him but said nothing.

"Trigger Jones!" Richard yelled. Trigger's head whipped around but he couldn't see who had yelled.

"Who's there? Why don't you come on out and face me like a man?" he demanded.

"Cuz I'm just one man and there are six of you." Richard replied. Then he looked at Neil. "Go around the back way Neil and come up behind them. I'll keep him talking." he whispered. Neil nodded and walked away surprisingly fast on his old legs.

"Well if you don't mind me and my men will be on our way." Trigger said walking toward his horse while several of his men mounted their own. Richard looked at Tessa.

"Stay here." he said sternly. Then he walked onto the street as Tessa watched in shock and horror.

"I can't let you do that Trigger." he said as he took a wide legged, relaxed stance about one hundred feet away from the robbers. Trigger laughed.

"Why is that?" he asked finding this thoroughly entertaining.

"You got money that don't belong to you inside them saddlebags." Richard replied. "And I happen to know there is a five thousand dollar bounty on your head."

"So what are you then? Some kind of bounty hunter?" Trigger asked.

"Names Richard Helms." Richard saw the anger flash across Triggers face.

"You're the son of a bitch that killed my brother." he spat. Richard nodded.

"Yea that was me." he replied. Then he saw Neil slip into position behind the gang. Richard smiled. He knew Neil was a damn good shot and that between himself and Neil they could make short work of this gang. He kind of felt sorry for them really… At least until he reminded himself that this man had killed Tessa's father, burnt Tessa's farm to the ground and had some kind of sick fascination with her.

His plans were ruined when the doors to the bank burst open and several of the men who had been held hostage inside ran out with their guns drawn. Richard cursed as bullets went flying everywhere at once and chaos ensued. Trigger's men, the men from the bank and Neil all firing shots at the same time. Richard ran for cover on the other side of the street. He didn't want to go back to Tessa and show Trigger where she was.

Just then he saw Neil take a bullet in the leg and go down. Richard aimed his pistol and shot the man off his horse that had shot Neil. He shot two more of the men and Trigger jumped onto his horse. Richard ran down the dusty street keeping low to the ground to avoid being shot.

Tessa watched in horror. She wanted to help but didn't want to distract Richard and she knew if she jumped out right now Richard would be too worried about her to keep himself safe. She watched in disbelief as one by one the men that had run out of the bank to kill the robbers fell to the ground.

She saw that Richard was almost to Neil. Then she saw Richard nearly fall to the ground as a bullet struck his lower leg. He continued on his way to Neil firing a shot at the man who had shot him.

Tessa saw the man named Franks coming up behind Richard but before she could scream a warning  he brought his gun down hard on the back of Richard's head. Richard fell to the ground and Franks put the barrel of his revolver to his forehead, quickly kicking Richards' gun from his hand and removing Richard's second revolver from his gun belt and tossing it aside.

"Should I kill him, boss?" he asked. Trigger shook his head from atop his horse and looked around the blood covered streets. Three of his men were dead and the old man who had come up behind them was laying on the ground unconscious and bleeding to death quick enough and the other men that had come at them from inside the bank were dead as well. The street was now silent and Trigger was feeling better than he had in a long time. There was nothing like killing a bunch of men to put a man in a great mood.

"Naw I want to have some fun with that one." Trigger replied. Franks stood up straight and holstered his gun.

"He's out cold." he said matter-of-factly. Trigger nodded.

"Tie him to your saddle horn Franks, and we'll take him back to the fort and teach him what happens when you kill Trigger Jones brother."

Tessa watched helplessly while Trigger and his two remaining men rode out of town. Franks was dragging Richard's body behind his horse. Tessa had known if she had jumped out to help Richard she would have been killed and then there would have been no hope for Richard. But now she knew she had at least a little time. She ran to Neil and slapped him across his face to wake him up.

"Wake up, old man!" she yelled. Neil's eyes opened and he looked around.

"What the hell happened?" he demanded looking down at his bloody leg.

"You got shot." she replied. "And they're taking Richard to that fort outside of Deadwood. Do you know how to get there?" Neil nodded.

"Yea but I ain't in no shape to….." Tessa cut him off with a whistle. Horse came trotting over and Tessa took a knife from her boot and cut off a long strip of his saddle blanket. She tied this tight around Neil's leg while he gasped in pain.

"Suck it up. We gotta save Richard." Tessa said. Neil glared at her.

"You're one bossy woman!" he said. "Why don't you try sucking it up with a bullet in your leg. This hurts like a son of a bitch."

"If I ever have a bullet in my leg I won't whine half as much as you." she replied as she helped him to his feet. She walked him over to his horse at the sheriffs office as the streets starting filling back up with people coming out to survey the mess and the damage.

After a brief struggle she managed to get Neil up in the saddle. He wiped his sweaty brow and made a painful moan.

"I'm getting too old for this shit." he said. Tessa walked over to the gunsmiths store and walked inside. The gunsmith was currently lying dead on the street so Tessa walked behind the counter and helped herself to several sticks of dynamite. She walked back outside and put the dynamite into Horses' saddlebags. She found both of Richard's pistols on the ground and reloaded them with ammunition she found in the saddlebags before sticking them into the waistband of her pants.

"You ready, Neil?" she asked. The old man was pale and sweaty but nodded.

"Let's go kick some ass." he replied and they rode out of town.