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The Marshal grimaced.

"Yeah, I know him. I, um, well, he's just not going to be too happy to see me," she said, urging her horse forward. "Or me him, for that matter, the lying McMuffin."

"Hold on just a second, I gave you his name, its your turn. Who are you to him? Wait just a minute, were you two a thing? Hold up, you're her aren't you, holy crud! Mercy, you're supposed to be dead!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not, and you should thank your lucky stars you aren't disposable at the moment, but when I'm done, I'm gonna kill him, and then I'm gonna kill you, and then I'm gonna kill him again because it apparently doesn't stick," she glowered. "Why are you stopping? Jed's only going to chase Caldwell so long, and then our window closes, and if I don't have Char safe and sound back at home by then, you'll see a side of me no one wants to see, you rotten little toads."

It was unclear if the last comment was directed at Abby, or at Abby and Daniel, or just Daniel, or the universe in general.

"Well as I don't particularly want to die tonight I reckon we'd best be going then," replied Abigail as she spurred her horse into a trot. "Seriously though, when this is through, you two have some serious catching up to do."

Mercy vaguely grunted in reply, and the two rode on in silence. They dismounted at the edge of the encampment, which was largely vacant, as they had hoped, and loosely tied their mounts to a hitching post. The Marshal pulled her hat down as low as she dared, and signaled Abby to lead on.

Abigail squared her shoulders, stood tall and proceeded to stride confidently through the encampment. Her presence drew stares rom the remaining garrison, those left behind to guard the gear while the others chased Jedidiah and Caldwell across the barren landscape.

"You got a new friend, McKinley?" Inquired a particularly nasty-looking fellow with the last name of Danielson, he was often left behind during events such as these. Between his fat gut and wooden leg, he wasn't much use during a chase. The man had a head for numbers and letters though, she assumed that's why they kept him around.

"None of your business, ugly. Where's the boss?"

Danielson grunted, taking offense at the truth. "He's in his tent, fooling around with that gal from town I assume. Why, are you jealous?"

Abigail ignored his offhand remark and pushed past the cripple, leading Mercy towards Daniel's tent. When they finally arrived at their destination, she turned to the Marshal, "maybe I should go in first, give him a bit of a warning, yeah?"

"Yeah, the less attention drawn, the better," the Marshal muttered. "The less we get shot at, the better things will be. Oh, and we should probably make sure Char keeps her mouth shut."

"Sure thing," Abby replied, pulling the flap back and ducking to step through. "Hey boss. I've an acquaintance of yours who's come to visit."

Daniel frowned, and motioned for Char to stay put.

"Is this someone I want to see?" he muttered, standing. "Because--"

And he stopped, mouth slightly agape. The Marshal held out her hand.

"Feng Shui. It seems we still hold a common interest."

He continued to stare.

"Well isn't this a wonderful reunion. I'm sure you two have a lot to work out, but now isn't the time. Jed isn't gonna be able to distract these savages for long, we need to get Charlotte back to town, time now."

"Right. Ok. Right. So. Out." Daniel shook his head. "Let's rewind here. What's going on?"

"Oh, I pushed Caldwell out the door, waves a shotgun at him, and then set the sheriff and his posse on him," the Marshal clarified. "Didn't you notice your little camp lost about 2/3rds of its population?"

"Seriously? How do you propose to get her," Daniel jerked his thumb over at Char, "out of here unnoticed?"

"You think I let her sit on her thumbs and grow up like a blonde?"

"Of course not, you had to meddle, because you can't leave good enough alone."

"Neither can you."

"Really? You're really going to go with that?"

"Because you totally didn't bring it up, at all."

"Really wasn't planning on talking with dead people tonight, thanks."

"Aw, is Scrooge afraid of the past?" the Marshal pouted. "If we don't get our hinys moving, we'll be the ghosts of future past, and I'm not much into that."

"Ghost of Christmas future, not future past. Try to learn some English at some point."

"At least I remember my birth language. Better than some folks."

"Are you two done yet? Now listen, unless any of y'all have got a better plan, I say we just waste of these morons on our way out of here and call it a day, yeah?" Abigail was impatient, she had an agenda of her own and this side quest was really derailing her own personal plans. This outlaw gang had a sizeable booty under lock and key, if given the opportunity during the chaos, she planned to seize it for herself.

Daniel shook his head.

"No noise unless we need it. How'd you get here?"

"Flying dragon," the Marshal replied crisply. Daniel glared at her.

"There's two mounts hitched toward the southeast," Abigail said.

"Good. Abby, take Char down to the river. She needs to wash her face, or whatever. Circle around and take those two back to safe haven. You're with me, oh holy and mighty one."

Leave it to Daniel to screw up her plans, thought Abigail, grimacing. Now she'd be laden with the responsibility of babysitting the girl, it wasn't a deal breaker, but it certainly would make things more difficult. "What's your plan boss?"

"...to get everyone out of here alive?" he replied. "Just get back to town as quick as you can. The window Mer....shal bought us isn't a big one."

And thus, dear reader, the chronology of the saving of Sagebrush Crossing ends. I am sure that something was done to rescue Jed and Caldwell's flea-ridden hide from the jaws of danger, but what, exactly, was done, is something not for us to know at this time. So to, is Char's rescue, although sources have assured me it was successful. The Marshal and Daniel seem to have a long row to hoe themselves, but given their past abandonment issues, it is entirely likely that they might both jump ship and hand their hoes--and the row--on to the next generation, in Jed and Abby.

No one retired to a beachfront condo, although Char did grow up to be a much more level-headed human being than most expected. Jed quit sheriffing--probably due to the impact of a certain redhead--and Caldwell either escaped over the Blue Mountains, or he and the Marshal teamed up for a con-filled life of earning bounties and playing hooky (I once heard the Marshal could pick a jail cell lock with her toes, but I highly doubt even her dexterous toes could be that successful).

In short, they all lived happily ever after until they died.

Thanks for writing with us, folks! We've got new writing threads coming out sometime soon. Stay posted in Ditto Town for further updates!