Allie grabbed her suitcase and opened her bedroom door, wincing as it creaked on its rusty hinges. She looked up and down the deserted hallway and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't hear anyone else stirring. She tiptoed quietly down the stairs and out the front door.

The city streets were deserted at this early hour. A thick fog was in the air and Allie's skin and pink traveling dress became damp within seconds as she walked at a fast pace down the road. When the train station came into view she reached into her pocket and closed her hand around the money she had stolen from her parents.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and walked into the station. The clerk looked sleepy as she walked up to the counter.

"What can I do for you, darlin'?" he asked politely.

"I need a ticket to Great Valley, Montana." she said in a quiet shaky voice. The clerk's blue eyes widened behind his thick glasses and he looked around the empty station.

"Where are you parents?" he asked. Allie just shrugged and felt panic creeping in. She did not know what she would do if he refused to sell her a ticket. She had to get out of Virginia and get to her sister in Montana before her parents had time to go through with their plan.

She had heard them talking just a few nights ago. They were getting in too deep with their debts again and while Allie was too young to be sold into marriage like Lily had been, she was not too young to be sold into servitude and that was their plan.

"How old are you, darlin'?" he asked gently.

"Thirteen."

"Darlin' you need to go on home." he said matter of factly. Allie shook her head and pulled all the money from her pocket and threw it up on the counter. The man's eyes widened when he saw the pile of bills and coins.

"Please help me. I can't go home… I need to get to Great Valley, Montana. That is where my older sister is. She is nineteen and she can take care of me." The man studied her for several long minutes with sympathetic eyes and she prayed that he wasn't going to turn her away.

"Put your money away, darlin', I'll take care of your ticket. You remind me of my daughter and I don't know what has you so scared but I want to help you out." Allie nearly cried with relief.

"Thank you so much." she gasped.

"The train will be here in about an hour but I'm afraid it won't take you all the way to Great Valley. They don't have any trains out there. You'll have to take the train to Helena, that's a ten day ride and then take a stage coach to Great Valley. It's about three or four days ride northwest I believe." The man handed her a ticket for the train and Allie thanked him again before walking out the back door of the train station and sitting down on a bench to wait on the train.

"Darlin?" Allie looked up and realized the man had followed her outside.

"Yes?" she asked, wrapping her arms tight around herself.

"Why don't you tell me your sisters name and I can send word to Great Valley that you're coming. It would make me feel a heck of a lot better about sending a little girl out on her own."

"Lily Jackson… No I mean Lily Yeary. She's married now." The man nodded and handed her something wrapped in brown paper.

"Some bread and sausage links. My wife made them and I can promise you now that you've never had better."

"Thank you for everything you've done for me." Allie replied. He nodded again, gave her a warm smile and then walked back into the station.

An hour later after Allie was settled into her seat she thought about her older sister. Allie had never met the man that their parents had basically sold Lily too. All she knew about him was that his name was Nathan Yeary. She hoped that her sister had found happiness and she hoped that Nathan would welcome her into their home.

She looked out the window as the train started down the track and rested her head against the cool glass. She would have plenty of time for resting and sleeping during the ten day train ride to Helena.

888

Lily winced as Nathan walked into the kitchen and slammed his fists into the table as he sat down. He was in a terrible mood this morning thanks to the headache he had awakened with. Lily was quite literally walking on eggshells and hoping not to anger him and give him a reason to punish her.

"Why isn't my breakfast ready yet?" he demanded. Lily poured a cup of coffee and sat in on the table in front of him. She clutched at the front of her apron with her hands and stared down at the floor the way he had taught her to.

"You said you weren't feeling well this morning. I can warm up some bread and steak if you like." Nathan took a big drink of his coffee and nodded.

"Yes. Scramble me up some eggs as well." Lily bit her lip.

"I will have to go out to the chicken coop and gather some eggs, I haven't had a chance to do that yet this morning." she said. She didn't tell him that she had been too busy vomiting all morning to get much of anything done. She had seen her own appearance in the mirror several minutes ago and been shocked.

She was ghostly pale and had dark circles around her eyes. She wondered how he could be close to her and not notice how sick she was but then again even if he did notice that she was sick he wouldn't care.

"How many times have I told you that I won't tolerate laziness?" he demanded as he slammed his coffee cup on the table.

"I'm sorry." Lily said quickly.

"I know you're sorry. Your parents couldn't have possibly saddled me with a bigger pain in the ass. Get your fat ass outside and get me some eggs." Lily quickly grabbed a bowl off the counter and ran out the door. As she gathered up the eggs she prayed that Nathan would have some reason to leave the house today because with the foul mood he was in she would never make it through the entire day without sending him over the edge.

She was scrambling his eggs and had his steak and bread heating on top of the stove when the scent of the eggs caused waves of nausea to pass through her. She ran past Nathan, who was sitting at the table, and out the door to the outhouse where she lost even more of the bread and water she had tried to eat for breakfast.

When she walked back into the cabin the smell of burning eggs assaulted her nostrils. Nathan was still sitting at the table and his blue eyes were angry and locked on her. She ran to the stove on shaking legs and removed the ruined eggs.

"I'll make more…" she said keeping her back to him. Her heart fell to her feet and her stomach tied into knots when she heard him stand and walk toward her. He grabbed her by the upper arm, digging his fingers into the already bruised flesh and causing her to cry out in pain. He spun her around and his palm stuck loudly on the side of her face.

"You worthless woman!" he hissed angrily. "What has gotten into you this morning?" Lily felt tears filling her eyes and tried to blink them away.

"I'm not feeling well today." she replied quietly hoping to soothe his temper. Nathan raised his hand to his own head and dug his fingers into his temple.

"You're not feeling well today?" he demanded, his voice seething with rage. "What makes you think I give a damn how you feel?" Lily forced herself to stand straight and look in his eyes. He was going to beat her either way, she might as well stand up for herself.

"I am your wife. You should treat me like a treasure." she replied, remembering Hawke's words from the night before. She regretted her words instantly when she saw the rage on his face. He sneered at her and wrapped his hand tight around her throat, cutting off her air.

"You don't think I treat you good enough?" he hissed. "How about I show you just how mean I can be and then you'll realize just how good you've had it!" He threw her to the floor and she gasped for air as she crawled backwards.

"I'm sorry, Nathan." she said as she pushed her back against the wall. "Please don't hurt me."

"You have to be punished." he said with a cold smile that made her blood freeze in her veins. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her feet before slamming his fist hard into her face. Light exploded behind her eyes and the pain made her gag. Nathan had never punched her this hard in the face before.

"You are my wife and you live to serve me! If you don't serve me the way I see fit then it is my duty to punish you!" He punched her again and pain exploded in her head as blood began pouring from her nose. The world went black for several moments and when she regained consciousness she was in the fetal position on the floor and his feet were connecting solidly with her back, head and legs.

The pain was nearly more than she could take and she squeezed her eyes shut to keep the blood that was covering her face out of them. She screamed over and over as he kicked her. She knew she was going to die… She had finally pushed him over the edge and he was going to kill her. She felt panic fill her when she thought of Allie… What if Nathan went after her?

Suddenly the kicking stopped and Lily opened her eyes just enough to see Nathan walking toward the door.

"Hello the house!" a voice came from outside.

Nathan cursed under his breath as he walked out the door. Now was not the time for company. He recognized Marshall Yale riding up on his large buckskin gelding with the star on his chest shining in the sunlight.

"Hello Marshall, what can I do for you?" Nathan asked good naturedly. The Marshall smiled and jumped down from his horse. He shook Nathan's hand and then patted his horse on the neck.

"I was actually passing through. I have to go to Helena for a few days but you had a message waiting for you in town and I decided to bring it out to you and check up on you and the missus. Out here we have to look out for each other." Marshall Yale reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Nathan took it from his outstretched hand and looked regretfully back at the cabin.

"I'd invite you in for breakfast Marshall but I'm afraid my wife isn't feeling well this morning." The Marshall smiled and shook his head.

"I don't have time for breakfast anyhow. I really do have to get going." He jumped back up in the saddle and tipped his hat to Nathan.

"I'll see you around and I hope your wife gets to feeling better."

"Thank you Marshall." Nathan replied and he watched Marshall Yale ride away into the forest before opening the telegram. He cursed as he read over it. He had unfinished business with an account in Virginia that required his presence to deal with.

He thought about Lily lying in the house covered in blood and knew that he could not take her back to Virginia with him. Damn these stupid gamblers that refused to pay their debts. Now he would have to go deal with them and leave his wife here alone.

He rubbed his aching head, regretting the amount of whiskey he had drunk the night before. Hell he couldn't even remember how he had ended up on the kitchen floor. Apparently the part of Hawke that was white was the part that handled liquor because he had definitely handled the stuff better than a savage should have.

Thinking of Hawke gave Nathan an idea. He would stop by Hawke's cabin on the way to town and ask him to look after Lily while he was gone. He knew his friend would keep his wife safe for him and he wouldn't question Lily's beaten appearance because Hawke was a savage and was bound to approve.

Nathan walked into the cabin and found the kitchen and main room empty. He walked into the bedroom and found Lily covered in blood and sobbing on the bed in the fetal position.

"Quit your damn crying." he snapped as he started throwing clothes into a bag. "You brought all that upon yourself."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I have some business in Virginia. Because of your appearance I think it's best if you stay here but I'll make sure that you're looked after so don't even think about trying to run away or doing anything stupid like that because I can guarantee that I can make Allie's life a living hell when compared to yours." Lily sniffed and just wrapped her arms tighter around her legs and lay there in silence.

After Nathan finished packing he walked over to the bed and grabbed Lily's face roughly in his hand.

"Be a good girl, Lily." he hissed and then he pressed his lips against her bloody ones roughly, causing pain to shoot through her bruised and welted face and disgust to swirl in her stomach. He released her quickly and turned and left the room. She heard the door to the cabin close and knew that he was gone.

Still she did not move. She hurt too badly to move. It had taken all of her strength just to get herself to the bed. Her legs, her arms, her head, her back…. Every part of her body hurt. She knew she was covered in blood from her nose but she did not care. She thought about the baby growing inside of her and cried harder. Was it still there? Or had its father ended its tiny life before it even got started?

Lily wondered if she would die if she just laid here long enough. Nothing in her life was worth living for… The pain she was in was the worst she had ever felt and she closed her eyes. Death sounded nice and she figured laying here and waiting for it to come was worth a try.