It had been two weeks since they brought Ezra back home, he still was not talking. He uttered a single word here and there but did no real talking, held no conversations with anyone. He didn't smile, not a real one anyway. Everybody else was getting quite depressed themselves just being with him. Buck stopped making jokes to try and break his mood. Josiah stopped trying to get him to talk. Chris stopped being angry with him. JD stopped trying to get him to play a game of poker with him. Nathan stopped trying to heal him. Vin stopped trying to get him to get him to do something to occupy him. They had all stopped because nothing they did helped him. They had tried getting angry with him but that did not even bring out a response from him. They had tried being sympathetic but that had not worked either. They had tried being nice to him but that had not helped. They even tried getting Mary to talk to him. But she had left his room crying, she had not seen him like that before and could not handle what she saw in his eyes. They had tried everything but nothing had worked. They gave up. Nathan thought that he would have come back by now. But Ezra hadn't.

Both Vin and Chris were sitting with Ezra on the porch of the saloon. It was a warm day and they wore only their shirts but Ezra still wore his dark green jacket. Chris and Vin looked up as they heard the coach come into town. Ezra though kept his gaze towards the ground. It was were he always looked as he did not want to look at anyone else. They watched the stage pull up in front of the hotel and waited to see who would come out. After the driver jumped off he went and opened the door. They saw a young lady step from the coach.

"Buck will be showing up any moment now." smiled Vin. He looked at Ezra giving no response to the remark.

"Yep Buck always show up when there is a beautiful woman around." agreed Chris.

Ezra had still not looked up. He had heard all of there conversations over the last two weeks, heard all of their questions. But he did not talk back, didn't answer. He did not want to talk to anyone, didn't even want to tell them to leave him alone. He had to many thoughts going through his head that he needed to sort out. To many emotions that he did not know how to deal with. Nothing that they could have said to him would have helped, they probably would have just made things more confusing for him.

He was completey shocked when he saw his Uncle enter that room. It was bad enough what he went through with Jack but to have to go through it again. His mother had never left him with Eric but that Uncle had visited his brother a lot of times and he often watched as Jack beat him. He did nothing to help Ezra at those times. He just watched and laughed at the twelve year old boy as he was beaten. Ezra never understood why he did that. He also still hadn't been able to deal with the guilt that he had over the death of George Lascon. It both saddened and angered him that an innocent man had died. He still hated himself for that.

"There he is." said Chris as he saw Buck running across the street, he was in a hurry to reach the woman who had just got off the stage coach.

Ezra finally looked up. He saw the woman standing there being confronted by Buck. She had a polite smile on her face as they she was just putting up with him. Ezra could see the slim figure, the shoulder length brown hair, the smile he thought was quite catching. She turned towards Ezra and the others, he could see the long face with the high cheekbones. The flawless complexion, he was not able to tell the colour of her eyes though. He then looked down back at the ground occupied by his own thoughts again.

Buck had seen the woman exit the stage coach and immeadiately ran over to her intending to help her with her luggage and anything else that she wanted. "Well good morning there pretty lady." he smile at her and tipped his hat.

"Good morning." she replied smiling slightly at him.

"The name is Buck Wilmington and I would like to escort yourself and your luggage to the hotel."

"Why Mr Wilmington the hotel is right there in front of us. You do not need to escort me there." she continued to smile.

Buck was slightly confused for a moment, but only a moment. "Well then perhaps I can carry them to your room for you?"

"That you may do Mr Wilmington." she proceed up the stairs to the hotel and Buck followed her in carrying her luggage. He followed her up to the front desk. He heard her give her name to the man at the desk.

"Rochelle Hamilton, now that is a beautiful name." said Buck as he followed her up the stairs to her room.

"Why thank you, I was named after my Grandmother." she smiled back at him.

"So what has brought you to Four Corners Miss Hamilton. It is Miss isn't it?"

"Yes it is and I am just stopping for a couple of weeks, then I will be moving on. I am on my way to visit family but I thought I would make a trip of it, stay a while in some of the smaller towns between here and San Fransico." they had reached her room. She opened the door and allowed Buck to go in before her but she waited outside till he came back out.

"I will be glad to show you around town if you like, introduce you to some of the fine people here." he bent down and reached for her hand, he raised to his lips and kissed it. He had seen Ezra do this plenty of times and it always worked for him. A slight sadness came over his face at the thought of his friend.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Sorry, just thinking about a friend." he smiled. "May I escort you to dinner tonight?"

"Yes you may and perhaps this friend of yours could join us?" she asked.

"Huh." said Buck.

"The expression that you had when you thought about him was sadness, is there something wrong with your friend?"

Buck could see that she was sincere in what she was saying. "I'm afraid that Ezra would not be much of a conversationist. He hasn't really spoken much lately, we can't get him to talk."

"Why don't you ask him anyway, perhaps you should ask some others to join us as well, I may be able to get him to talk. I mean he would not ignore a stranger would he, especially a woman."

Buck smiled. 'You must be a very special woman.' he thought to himself, he also hoped that she was right. "I shall come and get you around seven then."

"Looking forward to it Mr Wilmington." she smiled back at him.

When Buck came out of the hotel he looked towards the saloon thinking that Ezra would be in there. He saw him sitting on the porch with Chris and Vin. He walked up to them with a big smile on his face as he finally had hope that someone could help Ezra.

Vin saw him coming. "Looks like Buck got what he wanted." Vin saw the smile that crossed his face.

Buck tipped his hat. "Boys." He looked at Ezra and noticed that he did not even look up at him to acknowledge his greeting. "The young lady who just arrived in town has invited us to dinner."

"She what?" Vin was stunned that Buck could accomplish so much in just one visit. "How did you manage that?"

Buck smiled. He winked at them and then looked at Ezra. "That invitation includes you Ezra. Are you going to come?"

"No." was all Ezra said. He still did not look at him.

"She is going to be very dissapointed that you will not be there. She wanted to meet all of us."

He didn't say anything else, as far as he was concerned the subject was closed with that one word answer, but the others did not seem to think so.

"Why don't you come Ezra, the rest of us will be there it's not like your going to have to make any conversation with the lady." smiled Buck knowing that she was going to try and make him talk anyway but Ezra did not need to know that yet.

"I said No!" he scowled at Buck and then stood up and walked into the saloon.

They watched him go. They were quiet for a moment then Vin spoke up trying to lighten the mood. "So how did you get her to invite us all to dinner?" he asked Buck.

"I didn't, it was her idea." he saw their puzzled looks and continued. "I asked her to dinner with me not you guys but I sought of let something slip about Ezra and she told me to bring him and anyone else that I could think of. Said that she would try and get Ezra to talk, seems to think that he wouldn't ignore a lady who had just arrived in town.

"Why would she do that, she does not even know him?" Chris was suspicious already.

"She is a remarkable woman." smiled Buck.

"That's not your heart or your head talking there Buck." laughed Vin.

"Well anything is worth a go, anything that would get Ezra talking again." he protested. "I hate watching him like this knowing that there is nothing that I can do to help him." he sighed and sat down in the seat that Ezra had occupied.

"Your right Buck, come on let's go and talk him into it." said Chris as he got up.

The three of them went into the saloon and walked straight to the table that Ezra was sitting at.

"Ezra we are not going to take no for an answer." said Buck.

"Your coming with us even if we have to drag you there." Chris watched him, hoping that he would at least get angry at them but he didn't even seem to be listening to them.

"Ezra did you here what we said?" asked Buck.

"I am not going." Ezra stated. He took a swig of whisky wincing at the taste as he always did.

"Oh yes you are, you can't dissapoint the young lady like that, she is expecting all of us." argued Buck.

"And we are not going to leave you alone until you say yes." warned Chris.

"You don't leave me alone now." muttered Ezra.

"Yeah, well this time we will keep talking to you." Chris smiled, he knew that that would be the last thing that Ezra wanted.

"On one conditition." he said.

"What?" asked Chris.

"That you leave me alone after the dinner, and I mean completely alone." Ezra looked at each of them.

Chris frowned at that and thought for a moment. "Sure we can do that." he lied. There was no way that they were going to leave him alone. Ezra would not hold it against him for lying. Not for long anyway and if he got mad over it then he may even say something, get some of the emotions out of his system.

"We meet at the restaurant at seven then. Gentlemen I bid you farewell as I am going to take a bath." Buck left them alone. He wanted to look his best for Rochelle.

They all waited in the restaurant for Buck and his new lady friend to arrive. Vin and explained the situation to JD, Josiah and Nathan and they knew what to expect. Chris had made sure that Ezra was not left alone during the afternoon so they could make sure that he did not change his mind. Ezra sat on the side of the table at the end hoping not to be noticed. The others talked while they waited, Ezra sat quietly hoping that the evening would end quickly.

Buck arrived five minutes later and introduced Rochelle to everyone making sure that he introduced Ezra last that way she could sit near him. Ezra stood up when Buck introduced him. He noticed how beautiful Rochelle was, he kissed her hand and looked up into her eyes. He did not say anything to her though. Everyone had noticed this, Ezra would never ignore a beautiful woman.

Rochelle had walked into the room with Buck holding her arm. She greeted each of the men that were at the table. She had noticed the man at the end straight away. He was looking down and had stayed in that position until she had reached him. He then stood up and took her hand. After he kissed it he looked up into her eyes. Two things shocked her at once. The first being that saw looked into the most beautiful pair of green eyes that she had ever seen. The second was that those green eyes were so full of pain. He seemed to be able to hide the pain and emotion from his face but he could not hide it from his eyes. When Ezra looked away and sat down she looked at Buck who shrugged at her as if to say I know that's what I was talking about. She sat down next to Ezra not being able to take her eyes off him for a few moments.

"So how long are you staying in town for Miss Hamilton?" asked Josiah.

Rochelle took her gaze away from Ezra's face. "A few weeks and please everyone call me Rochelle."

The dinner began with everyone talking but they soon quietened to allow Rochelle a chance to talk to Ezra. "So Mr Standish I see from your attire that you perhaps are a gambler?"

"Yes." he did not say anything else, he did not even look at her when he spoke.

"Are you any good?"

JD chuckled at that. Buck nudged him in the side and he stopped.

"Apparently." he answered.

"Maybe we can play a game after dinner as I play a little myself. I may even suprise you by winning a few hands." she saw the smile that played on his lips but knew that it was being forced as she could also see that his eyes were still the same. She wondered what he went through to make him like this.

"Perhaps."

"Do you always answer a question with one word Mr Standish?"

"At the moment yes, I don't feel like long conversations." he looked at her wondering why she had all of a sudden taken an interest in him. He looked around the table to find everyone watching them, they looked away quickly, a little to quick Ezra thought. He was not stupid, he realised what they were doing. They seemed to think that he would talk to this woman. He got up from his chair. "If you will excuse me as I seem to have lost my appetite."

Rochelle began to protest but he was out the door before she could really say anything. She saw the others as they watched him go. She saw the expressions of concern on their faces. She decided that she was going to do what she could to help them and their friend.

"What happened to him?" asked Rochelle.

"If we told you that he would never talk to us again. He's very touchy about that sort of thing." answered Josiah.

"Then I will have to just to talk him again, this time alone that way he won't think that you have something to do with it." she smiled.

"Rochelle, I don't want to be rude but why are you doing this? You don't even know Ezra or us for that matter." questioned Chris.

"Let's just say that I once knew someone who went through the same sort of thing that your friend seems to be going through. Besides I don't like to see someone go through life with so much pain in his heart. It's not right."

They all agreed with that. They quietly finished their dinner though no one seemed to have much of an appettite left. They bid each other good night and Buck escorted Rochelle back to her room.

"Buck where would be the best place to talk to Mr Standish on his own?" she asked as they stood outside her room.

"The only place Ezra seems to be at the moment is either in the saloon or sitting outside the saloon on the porch. He spends a lot of time alone in his room but that would not be appropriate for you to talk to him there.

"I will be there in the morning then, perhaps I may even invite him to breakfast." she listened as Buck laughed. "And what is so funny?"

"Even with what Ezra is going through he still doesn't get up until at least ten in the morning."

"Well then it might be better if we had lunch then."

"Rochelle." Buck looked down at the floor. "Do you really think that you could help him?"

"I can only try Buck." she smiled at him.

"Were you able to help that friend of yours that you were talking about at dinner?"

It was Rochelle's turn to look down. "Yes in a way. Maybe I will tell you about it sometime. Goodnight Buck." she closed the door behind her.

When Rochelle walked into the saloon at eleven thirty the next morning she saw Ezra sitting on his own at a table in the corner. She could see that he was already half way through a bottle of whisky. She walked over to him and smiled at the men that she had dinner with the night before as she passed their table.

"Do you mind if I sit down Mr Standish?"

"If you want a conversation I suggest that you sit somewhere else." he muttered. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone. The others had at least kept their part of the bargain and had left him alone but now he was beginning to think that it was so this woman could try and talk to him again.

"I just wanted to apologise for last night. I did not mean to offend you in any way in front of your friends."

"What made you think that you offended me?" he was slightly confused as to what she was talking about.

"You seemed to be offended when I told you that I would beat you at poker." she smiled at him even though he was not looking at her.

"You would only beat me as I would not be able to concentrate on a game."

"And why is that?" she did not think that he would answer that but he suprised her.

"To many other thoughts going through my head at the moment." he finally looked at her. He saw the same large brown eyes that he looked into the night before.

"Can I sit down now?"

"I assumed that you were going to anyway." he looked back down. "Did my colleagues put you up to this?"

"No it was all my idea. They just agreed with me." instead of sitting down across from him she sat next to him.

"Oh really?"

"So do you want to try and play a game of poker. Only if you want to that is, I mean I do want to beat you fairly." because he would not look at her she leaned down underneath him and looked up into his eyes. She had to force herself to keep the smile on her face as she looked into his pain filled eyes. She wondered how much more handsome he would be if he did not have this pain. She wanted to see him smile.

He looked away from her. "Perhaps another time."

"Sure. Would you like to have lunch then instead?"

"Are they paying you to do this?"

"Of course they aren't!" she showed anger that she did not feel and stood up and pushed her chair away. "What ever it is that you are going through it does not allow you to offend me in that manner." she went to walk away hoping that he would say something to stop her but he didn't. She knew that she could not walk back to him because that would just prove his point.

Ezra watched her go. He was sorry for what he said but if he told her that then she would have stayed and then would have expected him to have lunch with her and he did not want to. Rochelle walked out of the saloon and sat down on one of the chairs. She would wait a while and then go back in and try again. She did not have to wait though as a few minutes later Ezra came out with the whiskey bottle in one hand and a glass in the other.

"I'm sorry I didn't realise you were out here. I'll go back inside." said Ezra. He had come outside expecting no one to be here as the others were sitting inside. He wanted to be somewhere where they were not looking at him. He did not expect to see Rochelle sitting out here.

"You don't have to go back inside Ezra, I will leave if that's what you want." she got up out of the chair and stood to the side of it so he could sit down. But instead he sat in the other chair.

"Perhaps we can compromise?" he poured himself a drink. "We both sit out here but do not engage ourselves in conversation." he smiled slightly.

Rochelle melted into the chair. 'He smiled.' she thought to herself. 'He actually smiled.' and she also realised that even though it was only just a small smile it was not a forced one. So she agreed to the compromise and did not talk. The smile at least was a start. She would get him to talk later.

"If I was to say what a beautiful day it was, would that be a conversation?" Rochelle asked as she looked up into the blue cloudless sky. The day was even warmer than it was yesterday.

"Only if you expect an answer." commented Ezra.

Rochelle looked sideways at him. "Why don't you want to talk Ezra."

"Becuase it hurts to much." he turned to look at her and she could see the sadness as well as the pain that filled his eyes.

"It always hurts to talk about things Ezra but in the long run it might make you feel better." she said gently.

"If you will excuse me I need another bottle." he got up and walked inside.

Rochelle let him go hoping that he would come back out. She waited five minutes and then followed him in. She looked around for him but could not see him. She saw the others though and Buck nodded towards the stairs. He had gone to his room. She went and joined them at the table.

"I got him to smile." she said to them.

Buck's mouth dropped opened. "You what, you only spoke to him for ten minutes. You got him to smile." he couldn't help but laugh as he slapped his thigh.

"It was only a little one." showed practicaly squeezed her thumb and forefinger together. "It's a start though. But he left when I tried to get him to talk."

"Did he say anything at all?" Josiah was courious.

"He said that he had to many thoughts going through his head and it hurt to much to talk about them." she sighed.

"Well it's more than he has said to us." nodded Nathan.

"People tend to talk more to strangers." she got up from her chair. "Now gentlemen if you will excuse me I am going to Mr Standish's room." She saw their expressions. "After I get him some food of course. That's a good enough reason to go knocking on his door is it not?"

They smiled as she left the saloon. "She is something special and I actually think that she is going to do Ezra some good." If only Buck knew how wrong he was.

Twenty minutes later the guys looked up as Rochelle returned with a tray full of food. She stopped at the table on the way past. "So which room will he be in?" she asked.

"Room 5." answered Josiah.

"Wish me luck gentlemen." she walked away and headed up the stairs to Ezra's room.

"Your going to need it." smiled Chris.

Rochelle made her way to room number 5 and holding the tray in one hand she knocked on the door. She waited a few moments and then knocked louder. She still did not get an answer so she banged on the door and before she stopped the door flew open.

"What?" Ezra practically yelled at her. Ezra had been sitting on his bed when he heard the knock at the door but he had ignored it. The knock came again. He hoped that they would go away but then they started banging. He got up and opened the door intending to tell whoever it was what they could do with themsleves. But when he opened it he saw Rochelle standing there and did not say anymore than what he already had.

"Since you did not want to go to lunch I thought that I would bring it to you." she smiled at him.

"I'm sorry but I am not really hungry." he went back into his room and tried to close the door. He couldn't though because Rochelle had forced her way in. She moved to the bed and placed the tray on it.

"Miss Hamilton, what are you doing?" Ezra stayed beside the open door thinking that if she didn't leave he would.

"It's Rochelle and I brought you some lunch." she smiled from her position on the bed. She had to be carful what she said as he looked like he wanted to walk out the door and leave her sitting there. "I am not going to push you to talk so why don't you just come and have something to eat."

"That's what you said out the front of the saloon. But you still asked me." he growled at her. But he couldn't stay angry with such a beautiful women. He looked into her eyes and only saw sencerity there. He sighed. "One word and I am leaving." He walked to the bed and sat down.

Ezra only ate a small amount of food as he had told her the truth when he said that he was not very hungry. When they had finished she got up and moved to the door and stood with her back to it. "Ezra, you know when I said that I wouldn't push you to talk. I lied and if you want to leave then you are going to have to go through me." she smiled at him.

Ezra was astonished, he watched her smile though and could not help but smile back at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't like seeing you like this."

"But you don't even know me, you would have to have a better reason than that." he stated.

"I do but that is another story and I want to hear yours first. Then I will tell you mine. Deal!"

"I don't know if I can tell you everything." he said as he looked at the floor.

Rochelle saw the sadness come over him again. "Of course you can." she moved over to him and sat on the bed next to him. She placed her hand on his. "You just start talking and I will listen."

"My mother taught me not to show my feelings or talk about them, she drilled that into me. It has become part of my personality. I don't seem to be able to change that."

"Well why don't we try something else then." he looked up at her. "Instead of telling me how you feel why don't you tell me what happened to you. And then we could go from there."

Ezra got up and moved to the wall and stood with his back to her. If he was going to say anything he did not want to look at her. He stood like that for five minutes trying to decide if he wanted to tell her at all.

Rochelle sat on the bed and watched Ezra. She looked at his back which to her looked as though it would be strong, the back of his head and the short style of which his chestnut coloured hair was cut. She did not want to force him to talk. In the end it was up to Ezra if he wanted to say anything at all. She sat there quielty waiting to hear his voice hoping that he would be saying what she wanted to hear and not something that told her that he had refused again to accept any sort of help from another person.

He spoke so quiet to start with that she did not hear him at first. He spoke of someone called Hanley and how he how killed a woman that he had once loved - still loved. And how he had nearly died from his encounter with him. He spoke of how his friends had not trusted him and how they believed Hanley when he told them that Ezra had killed her. It seems that only JD had wanted to help him.

She continued to watch him and listen with tears in her eyes. His head was leaning against his chest and his arms were wrapped around himself. She could see how hard this was for him. She wanted to go over and hold him but she knew if she did that he might not say anymore.

He then spoke of an Uncle whom he met again a few months ago. This Uncle had beaten him as a child when his mother had left him with him. He told her of the fear that he had felt for him. A fear that he could not control as an adult. How the man wanted to beat him again and how he could not tell his friends who he was and what he did. That he had to actually show them by having him hit him. He just could not use the words to tell them, it was to hard.

Rochelle had to controll herself, she had never known anyone who had gone through so much but what shocked her was that there was still more that he had not told her. She wiped the tears that fell from her eyes and continued to watch him as he talked. Sometimes she saw his body shudder at the memory.

Ezra then told her about his second Uncle what he had done, how he had watched as he was beaten as a child and how he had someone else beat him. He told her how he had lost control and shot the man twice and then for some reason had shut himself down. He had not spoken to Nathan yet so he did not really know why this happened. It was something that scared him. But he knew that it had passed. He then started to tell her about George Lascon. He had to stop though as he was loosing control of himself. He turned around and Rochelle saw the tears that had fallen from his eyes. She went over to him as he slid to the floor hugging himself. She sat down beside him and looked into his eyes. She brought one hand up to wipe away the tears that were falling down his cheeks.

"Go on Ezra. Please."

"It's my fault that he is dead." he muttered. He kept his gaze on the floor. He couldn't look at her. He felt her hand on his face and he reached up and wipe away what was left of his own tears.

She moved and sat in front of him. "How was it your fault Ezra, you said that you had lost your memory. You did not know what you were doing."

"I helped them pull the bank robbery by distracting the others." he would not bring his gaze up to hers.

"Did you shoot him?"

"No. But I stopped the others from stopping them."

"Ezra look at me please." she waited a moment. "Ezra please." he finally looked at her. She bit her lip at the pain that was in his eyes. "When did they find out that the bank was being robbed?"

He thought for a moment a look of confusion on his face. "When they heard gun shots." he finally answered.

"There you go then. Even if you hadn't distracted them they would still not have known that the bank was being robbed and George Lascon would have still died. Did you tell them to rob the bank, did you drag them to Four Corners. No they brought you here, they robbed the bank, they shot the teller. If you were not with them the same thing would have happened Ezra. He still would have died. There was nothing that no one could do." She watched him as what she said went through his mind. "Ezra it was not your fault. You need to believe that."

"I want to but I feel to guilty about what happened. An innocent man is dead because of all this. Someone has to be blamed for it."

"Yes Ezra but that someone is not you, it's the man who pulled the trigger. Does anyone else in town blame you for what happened?"

"No they don't."

"Well then Ezra it seems that you are the only person who thinks that it was your fault. Now answer me truthfully. Was it your fault? And I warn you if you say yes then I am going to hit you."

Ezra looked up at her seeing that beautiful smile on her face again and tears in her eyes. For some reason he knew that she would. He continued to stare at her. He actually felt better after telling her nearly everthing. He had not told her about Jane only because that was something that did not bother him and he didn't tell her about his mother, that was a longer story for another time.

"Okay it was not my fault that he died." he looked down again.

"I know you don't believe that Ezra but it is a start. Would you stand up for me please." she took hold of his hands and stood up trying to pull him up with her. He pushed himself up and looked down into her eyes. She put her arms around him and held him. She could feel his heart beating against her own chest but she did not pull away. The stood that way for a while even though Ezra did not fully return the hug. She pulled away. "I am going to leave you alone now so you can think about what you told me and then I will come back at seven. You are going to take me to dinner and we are going to talk some more." she smiled and then went to the bed and picked up the food tray and left Ezra standing against the wall.

The others had been sitting at the table waiting for Rochelle to come back, she had been up there for nearly two hours. There were times that Buck and Josiah had gotten up to go and make sure that Rochelle was alright but they sat down again not really wanting to disturb them just in case she had gotten him to talk. Buck was starting to get up again when he saw Rochelle coming down the stairs.

Rochelle went straight to the table and slammed the tray down in front of all of them. "Why didn't you trust him!" she nearly yelled at them. She looked at Chris. "He almost died because you would not trust him, do you know how much that hurt him?" she could not say anymore. She fell into a chair and began to cry.

They all looked at her. They were both shocked and glad that he had spoken to her. They did not say anything, could not say anything. Buck moved his chair towards her and took her in his arms as she continued to cry for Ezra.

After she had gotten control of herself she looked each man in the eye waiting for an answer to her question. "Well?"

Josiah explained. "Ezra was a different person when we first met him, he did something that caused us not to completely trust him. We were protecting an Indian village and he ran out on us. He came back though but since then we kept expecting him to do it again and when Hanley arrived we had only known him for about a month. He was, is a difficult person to get to know therefore we found it hard to trust him. Because of this we just assumed that he had done it ." he saw Rochelle look at him. "He also admitted that he did it Rochelle."

"I know that and Ezra knows that but he was hurt by the way you so easily believed him. Apparently you did not even doubt him or question him in regards to the whole thing. And by the time JD got you to help him you were nearly to late and you men wonder why he won't talk to you."

"We learnt our lesson Rochelle." said Buck. "So what did he tell you?"

Rochelle told them about what Ezra had said. They already new most of what she said but they were again shocked when they learnt that the man who had arranged to have Ezra taken with Vin was Jack Standish's brother and that he was a part of what happened to Ezra as a child.

"Jesus." muttered Vin. "I was there. I knew that his face seemed familiar but I couldn't place him."

"So how is he now?" asked Buck.

"I don't know. I left him so he could think about things and I am going to talk to him later, I will see how he is then." she got up to leave but turned around to face them. She seemed to look mostly at Chris though. "You should trust him more, he is a good man. Seems that he just does not want people to know it." She then left them alone also to think about what she just said.

Ezra had slept most of the afternoon away and when he woke up he found that he felt better than he had in a while. He remembered that he was having dinner with Rochelle and he prepared himself so he would be ready when she came for him. He actually looked forward to seeing her and talking to her again which suprised him. He hadn't wanted to talk to anyone for quite a while. After he shaved and dressed he went downstairs to wait for her. He saw the others sitting at a table and went to join them.

"Gentlemen." he greeted them. He looked up as Buck nearly choked on the swig of beer that he had just taken. He smiled at that.

They smiled back at him. They could see that he seemed better, some of the pain had gone from his eyes. They did not say anything in return but waited to see if he said anything more. He didn't though.

"Hey Ezra you dressed up for something special?" asked Buck waiting to see if Ezra was going to give a one word answer or actually take part in the conversation.

"Rochelle insisted on taking me to dinner." he answered.

Buck's smile grew. "Are we invited?"

"No you are not." Ezra smiled at him.

Buck couldn't stop himself. "It's good to see you smiling again Ezra." he saw Ezra's smile falter at the comment though and he quickly changed the subject. The rest had nodded in agreement at what Buck had said but they too saw the smile slip from Ezra's face. "Um so why is she taking you to dinner and not the other way around?"

"She wanted to talk again."

"She told us what you said." JD leaned towards him. "About that man being your Uncle and all." The rest of the men gave JD a look that said if Ezra was not sitting at the table they would have all clobbered him.

"If you will excuse me I think that I will wait for her outside." he got up and left without saying another word.

Buck did hit JD then. "Why did you go and do that for JD?"

Rochelle arrived at the saloon to find Ezra on the porch waiting for him. "Ezra what are you doing out here. I thought that you would be waiting for me inside." she smiled at him hoping that he would smile back at her but instead she saw another expression cross his face.

"It seems that you have told my associates of our conversation."

"They needed to know Ezra, they can't help you if they don't know what happened or how you feel." she went towards him but he got up and moved away.

"If I wanted them to know I would have told them myself." he growled.

"I'm sorry Ezra. I thought I was doing what was best for you. You can't get through this on your own."

"I was managing just fine before you came along."

"No you weren't. And by the way has anyone told you how stubborn you are."

Ezra turned and looked at her. She stood there with her hands on her hips. He had not noticed when she first arrived how beautiful she looked. Her hair was tied up with small whisps of hair hanging down the side of her face. Her brown eyes were actually glinting with anger. She had a pale blue dress on that hugged her slim figure. He went and sat back down again.

"I'm sorry. Your right, I would have told them if I could."

"I know you would have Ezra. Now come on your going to buy me dinner."

She watched as a smile crossed his face, it also reached his eyes and she knew that he would be more handsome when he did finally smile she just did not realise how handsome he would be. He took her breath away.

"I believe young lady that you were going to take me to dinner." he couldn't help but smile at her. For some reason she had made him feel better about himself, made him realise that it was not his fault that George Lascon was killed.

"Take yes, buy no. Your are going to do that Mr Standish. What would the town think if I was to buy you dinner." she laughed enjoying his smile. Ezra even laughed himself and she saw the smile on his face grow even more. She took his arm and they headed to the restaurant for dinner.

During the following week Ezra and Rochelle had gotten to know each other a lot better. They spent a lot of time together and talked alot. He told her about his mother and his childhood and she told him about her family and why she was in Four Corners. Ezra kept himself from his friends though and he had asked Rochelle not to let them know that they had become so close. When she had asked him why he told her that he just needed a bit more time. She made him promise though to tell his friends about them. She had also decided that she was going to delay her trip to see her family.

At the end of that week a man arrived in town. A man who would change both Ezra's and Rochelle's lives forever.

Ezra returned to the saloon after enjoying a long lunch with Rochelle. He enjoyed spending his time with her, loved to see her smile, to listen to her laugh. She was beautiful, intelligent, funny and he thought that he was in love. He tried to ignore the feeling as he was only just sorting out and dealing with the feelings that had caused him to shut down from everybody. He was in love though and he could not ignore it for much longer. He thought that Rochelle felt the same way. Ezra was sure of it.

He sat down at the table which also seated Buck, Josiah and JD. "Want a drink Ezra?" asked JD.

"Thankyou Mr Dunne." smiled Ezra. "It would be just as easy for you to buy me a drink than it would be for you to loose your money to me in a game of poker. Speaking of which can I interest any of you gentlemen in a game." he pulled his cards out of his pocket. He had started carrying them a couple of days ago but had still not played a game.

Buck and Josiah could not help but smile. It was so good to have the old Ezra back again. His was beginning to be his normal self and now he wanted to play poker and they could not refuse him. They had little money but to loose it to Ezra would be worth while. "Sure Ezra, a good game of poker is just what you need." laughed Buck.

Ezra looked at him and Buck had thought that he had said the wrong thing and he expected Ezra to walk away but instead Ezra put on a serious look. "I assure you Mr Wilmington that you gentlemen are not capable of playing a good game of poker but I do not have a choice as there is no one else here who would be able to give me a challenge."

Buck pretended to be hurt by the remark but smiled at Josiah when Ezra was not looking. JD returned with the drinks. "Mr Dunne do you have any money left to loose?" asked Ezra.

"Huh?" said JD not thinking that Ezra was talking about poker as he had not seen Ezra play a game in a long time.

"Come on JD, Ezra wants to play a game." said Josiah hoping that JD was not going to say anything stupid. He didn't, he just smiled also and put his money on the table.

They did not notice the stranger that had walked into the saloon. He walked straight up to the bar and ordered a bottle of whisky and began to drink straight from the bottle.

Chris and Vin came in shortly after to see Ezra and the others playing poker. They smiled at each other and then pulled up a couple of chairs and watched as the others lost their money to Ezra. "I think that it is your turn to buy the drinks Ezra." Buck threw down his cards.

"Why certainly, it's the least I can do after you men have so kindly lost all of your money." he smiled his wicked grin at them. Buck would have accused him of cheating like he always did when Ezra won all their money but he was not sure how he would react. Ezra got up and went to the bar.

"Rochelle has certainly done a lot for him hasn't she." commented Josiah.

"She certainly has." agreed JD.

They watched Ezra as he was getting their drinks. He no longer walked with a slump as though he carried the weight of guilt on his shoulders and with his eyes down cast. He looked people in the eye now and they could see that the pain had gone from his eyes. They had a lot to thank Rochelle for. When Ezra returned Josiah made a suggestion and the stranger at the bar had heard the name Rochelle mentioned so he continued to listen to what these men were saying.

"I think that we should all take Rochelle to dinner tonight to thank her for what she has done." he watched Ezra carefully in case he reacted but if he did he kept it to himself. Ezra knew that Josiah was talking about what she had done for him. He thought that she would enjoy that so he did not say anything.

"Well seeing how I don't have any money left to play, why don't I go and invite her." said Buck as he got up and left before anyone, especailly Ezra could protest. The stranger followed Buck out of the saloon intending to find out if the Rochelle they spoke of was the same one that he was looking for.

Ezra had become quiet then. He wanted to tell them how he felt about Rochelle but thought that he would do it later. He did not feel like listening to them congratulating him when he was not even positive that Rochelle loved him as well. He thought that she did but he would rather wait until he knew for sure, he did not want to be hurt again. And he knew how the others would react if he told them how he felt about her and she did not return his feelings.

Rochelle heard the knock at the door, she thought that it would be Ezra but when she opened it she found Buck standing there with that smile on his face. "Good afternoon Buck." she tried to hide the dissapointment on her face but Buck saw it.

"Afternoon Rochelle, something wrong?" he asked her.

"No I just thought that you were someone else." she smiled at him.

"Ezra perhaps." he guessed. He saw her blush and knew that he was right but he did not want to embaress her any more so he continued before she could answer him. "I have come to deliver an invitation on behalf of myself and my colleagues. We would like you to join us for dinner tonight."

"Dinner?" she raised her eyebrows at him.

"Yes, we would like to thank you for what you have done for Ezra."

"I would be honoured Buck, would Ezra be there?" she blushed again. She couldn't help herself, she had fallen in love with him.

"Yes he will be. I see that you feel more for him than friendship." he said to her noticing the look that came over her face each time Ezra was mentioned. He had not seen this before as during the week that she had been here she spent a lot of time with Ezra and they had not seen a lot of her.

"I am in love with him Buck." she announced.

Buck smiled. "I am happy for both of you, Rochelle you are exactly what Ezra needs. But does he feel the same way about you?" he asked her.

"I am sure that he does but I am not going to push him on the matter. He is only getting over what happened so I will give him a bit more time before I say anything so would you please make sure that you don't tell him or anyone else yet. Please." she looked in Buck's eyes pleading with him.

"Of course I won't. So I will pick you up at seven again young lady." he kissed her hand and left her standing in the doorway.

Rochelle smiled and went back to her room to get ready for dinner. She knew she loved Ezra and knew that he had feelings for her but she just was not sure what those feelings were. Buck went down the stairs passing a man who had been standing in the corridor. He thought that the man was a guest so did not think any more of him.

The man had followed Buck to Rochelle's room and he saw that she was the woman that he had spent the last month looking for. He had finally found her. He listened to their conversation and when Rochelle had told the man that she was in love with someone called Ezra he muttered to himself. "We will see about that!"

They had all gathered for dinner at the restaurant and Buck had Ezra and Rochelle sit together in between everyone else. The night was spent eating, talking and laughing. Buck watched Rochelle and Ezra and thought that if Ezra also loved Rochelle then he was hiding it pretty well becuase he was not able to tell. They still had not noticed the stranger sitting on his own at one of the other tables eating his own dinner. The man had heard the name Ezra mentioned and he knew that it was the fancy dressed man that Rochelle had fallen in love with. Well he was soon going to put an end to that.

The dinner carried on till late in the evening and once they had finished they went their separate ways, each thanking Rochelle on their way out. Ezra was the last to leave and he had told Rochelle that he would escort her to her room. They didn't notice the man that had followed them out.

Ezra had taken Rochelle's arm as they walked towards the hotel. "You still have not told me your story." Ezra glanced sideways at her, he was still amazed by her beauty.

"My story?" she turned and looked straight into his eyes.

"Remember, in my room you said that you would tell me your story. Now is a better time than any." he smiled.

"Why don't we wait till we get inside though." she lead towards the hotel and once they were inside they sat at one of the tables and Rochelle told him her story.

She told him how she was in love with a man whom she thought was a good man, he had treated her well. They were going to be married. Ezra listened to this without interrupting her. "He came to see me one day and he was drunk, something had happened but he would not talk about. He had started drinking a lot and became a very angry man. I still don't know why. I tried but could never get him to talk about it. I still don't know what happened. I couldn't take it any more so I left. That is one of the reasons why I am going to visit my family." she looked up at Ezra and could see the understanding in his eyes.

"That's why you wanted to help me?"

She nodded. "I couldn't help him but I knew that I could help you. Well actually I was not sure but as we sat outside the saloon that day I knew I could. I thought that Joseph was a good man. But I know that your are a good person Ezra, you should show people that side of you more often."

Ezra laughed. "My mother would dissaprove." Ezra became serious. "Do you know what happened to this man?"

"No. I knew he would be very angry at me leaving. I just wish that I could have helped him. He changed just like that and I have no reason as to why." she looked down at her hands.

"You did the best that you could Rochelle." he took her hands in his. "There is only so much you can do for a person. They want to have to accept the help that is offered or they can't be helped." he saw the look of 'Do you know what you just said'. "I know, I wanted help I just didn't know how to accept it until you came along. You didn't really give me a choice so I had to accept your help."

"What do you mean didn't give you a choice?" she playfully hit his arm.

"You threatened me with physical abuse and from that punch you just threw I know that I did the right thing." he watched her laugh. 'Yes I believe that I do love you Rochelle.' she returned his stare but before she could say what she wanted he continued. "Let's get you to your room, it's been a long night and you are going to need your rest for tomorrow as I am going to take you up on that game of poker."

"Ezra, that was another lie. I can't play poker, I thought it would get you to talk."

"Well then my dear I will just have to spend the day teaching you then won't I." Rochelle loved the thought of spending all day with Ezra.

They walked up the stairs to Rochelle's room and stood outside the door for a moment. Rochelle opened the door but before she went in she gently kissed Ezra's cheek. She smiled at him and then went inside. Ezra stood there for a moment and placed his hand where she had kissed him. Her lips had felt so soft against his face. He walked away and went downstairs and sat at the table that he and Rochelle were just sitting at. He needed a moment to think. A man walked pasted him and went up the stairs.

Rochelle was preparing herself for bed when she heard the knock on her door. She thought that it was Ezra. She rushed to the door but it was not Ezra. She gasped in shock and tried to slam the door shut but Joseph forced his way in. Rochelle backed away from him as he walked further into the room.

"I finally found you Rochelle." he smiled but it was an evil smile. He had followed Rochelle for a month after she left him and now he finally found her. "Why did you leave me?"

"You know why Joseph, you changed. Something changed you and I didn't love the person that you had become. I don't know what happened to you but I couldn't marry you. I tried to tell you this but you wouldn't listen to me."

Joseph grabbed her by the arm. He saw the pain on her face as he squeezed to hard. "You are still going to marry me Rochelle whether you like it or not. You agreed to that and you are going to carry out that agreement."

She tried to pull her arm away but she couldn't so she slapped him with her free hand. She saw the mark that her hand had left and she also saw the anger in his eyes grow even more. He drew his fist back and hit her. Rochelle fell to the ground. He pulled the knife from his belt. He pulled her up from the floor.

"Don't you ever hit me again Rochelle. Now I want you to pack your bags we are leaving." he pushed her towards the bed.

"I am not going anywhere with you Joseph. I don't love you anymore." she was crying now. This man that she had once loved now scared her.

"I suppose that it has something to do with this man called Ezra." he saw the look of suprise on her face and he lifted his knife in front of him. "If you don't do what I say then I will take care of him." he threatened her.

The thought of this man hurting Ezra made her angry and she ran to him intending to hit him again with all her force.

Ezra had decided that he was going to tell Rochelle how he felt about her. He got up out of his chair and went up the stairs. He was going to tell her that he loved her and then hoped that she would return his love. He made it to the top of the stairs before he hesitated. He had become doubtful. He didn't want to be hurt again. While he stood there he thought about Charlotte and how she had died because he had loved her. He did not want to be hurt again by Rochelle not loving him. But he had to tell her. He took a deep breath and continued to her room.

Joseph had brought his knife back down and Rochelle ran straight into it. The knife entered high in her chest puncturing her left lung. She looked up at Joseph. He looked down at her not realising what had happened until he saw the thin line of blood drip from her opened mouth. He pulled his knife out and dropped it to the floor. He lowered Rochelle and saw the blood bleeding freely from the knife wound on her chest. He was going to try and help her but he heard a knock at the door and someone calling Rochelle's name.

Ezra knocked on Rochelle's door knowing that she would not be asleep yet. But he received no answer so he knocked again and called her name. He knew that she couldn't be asleep already so he tried her door and found it to be unlocked. He opened it and walked into her room calling her name at the same time. He saw her lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

"Rochelle!" he yelled as he ran to her. He turned her over and saw the wound. "Rochelle!" He held her in his arms for a moment but he had to get help, he had to get Nathan. He got up and turned but as he did so he saw someone out of the corner of his eye and before he could do anything to react the man hit him across the side of his head with the butt of his gun. Ezra fell to the floor next to the woman he loved.

The hotel clerk looked up as a man ran past the desk. He saw the blood on his shirt and knew that something must have happened in one of the rooms upstairs. He knew that one of the lawmen had gone upstairs and wondered if he had something to do with this man being covered in blood. He did not really want to go upstairs and find out so instead he went to look for one of the others. He went to the saloon as he knew that's where they usually were. He saw Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner sitting at one of the tables. He ran to the table.

"Something has happened at the hotel." he said to them.

"What?" Chris got up.

"I don't really know but a guy covered in blood ran out of the hotel but I didn't go up and check." he said.

"You didn't check?" growled Chris as he and Vin walked past him. "Which room was he in?"

"I don't know, he wasn't a guest."

"So in other words we are going to have to check every room." Vin said to Chris.

They ran to the hotel and up the stairs. They were about to start checking the rooms when they saw one of the doors open. They stood outside the door and pulled their guns from their holsters. There was light coming from the room. They went in quietly not knowing what they were going to find. What they saw was Ezra lying in a heap on the floor and Rochelle next him. Chris rushed to Rochelle while Vin checked on Ezra.

"He's alive." Vin told Chris. He looked at Chris hoping to hear the same about Rochelle but Chris shook his head indicating that she was dead. There was to much blood on the floor around her.

"I'll go and find Nathan." said Chris. He checked Ezra on the way pass and the look that crossed between Chris and Vin said everything. They were worried about how Ezra was going to react to Rochelle's death.

After Chris had gone Vin picked Ezra up and placed him on the bed. He checked him for any other wounds apart from the obvious one on his head. When he first checked him it was to see if he was alive and now that he knew he was he checked him more carefully. He found no other wounds. He saw that the head wound was still bleeding. He found one of Rochelle's hanky's lying on the chest of drawers and used it to put pressure on the wound. A few minutes later Chris returned with Nathan with Buck running in after him. Buck took one look at Ezra lying on the bed and then ran to Rochelle. Chris had told him that she was dead but he had to see her. He saw her grey face, her lips were beginning to pale already. He took her hand in his and sat with her. He didn't want her to be alone. He knew that the others would take care of Ezra.

"I couldn't find any other wounds on him Nathan." Vin had not taken his eyes off Ezra, he didn't want to look at anyone else, they were all thinking the same thing.

"Let's move him to my room, I don't want him waking up here to find Rochelle like this." said Nathan.

"I think he has already seen her." they turned around and looked at Chris. He had bent down to the floor and came back up with a bloody knife. "We need to find out who that man was that ran out of this hotel."

Nathan and Vin carried Ezra to Nathan's room while Buck and Chris carried Rochelle to the undertaker's. They didn't say a word to each other. Once they had done that they went to find Josiah and JD to tell them what had happened. When they had found them they returned to Nathan's room while Josiah went to take care of Rochelle - she had deserved that.

Nathan had taken care of Ezra's head wound. After cleaning it he found that it did not look serious. Once they knew that he was going to be okay Chris, Vin and JD went out looking for any sign of the man that had killed Rochelle. They returned an hour later stating that they had not found anything. Chris said that they would question the hotel clerk later. They all then waited for Ezra to wake up as he might also be able to tell them something. But that was not the reason they stayed. They did not want him to be alone when he woke up, they weren't sure how he was going to react. Buck had an idea though but he was not going to tell them that Rochelle had loved Ezra and that he thought that Ezra felt the same way about her. Not yet anyway.

It wasn't until morning that Ezra had woken. Most of the others had fallen asleep including Josiah who had joined them after he had the undertaker do the right thing by Rochelle. Buck was awake when Ezra came round.

"Ezra."

"She's dead isn't she?" asked Ezra.

Buck looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry Ezra. She died before we found you. Nathan couldn't do anything to help her."

Ezra rolled over on to his side with his back to Buck and said no more.

Buck let him be and went and woke the others to tell them that he was awake. He woke Chris first who then went to Ezra, he wanted to know what happened. He sat down on his knees in front of Ezra.

"Ezra I need to know what happened. Did you see the man that killed Rochelle?" Ezra looked at him but did not answer the question. "Ezra?"

"Go away Mr Larabee."

"Ezra we need to know so we can find the man that did this. You were there you must have seen something."

"Go away and leave me alone." Ezra's voice was steady but firm.

Chris was about to say something else when Buck grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Ezra. "Not now Chris."

"Buck we have to find out who killed Rochelle and he is going to tell us what he knows." he went to go back to Ezra but Buck held onto him.

"Chris not now!" Buck pulled him away.

Nathan then moved to the bed. "Are you feeling okay Ezra?"

"Just a headache Mr Jackson." he answered.

Buck listened to what he said and knew that he was telling Nathan how he felt physically and not what he felt inside. But that was okay he was going to talk to Ezra himself later, he wasn't going to let him end up the way he did before.

Nathan ushered everbody out of the room then thinking that it would be best to leave Ezra alone. Buck and Nathan stayed outside the room while Chris and Vin went and questioned the hotel clerk. Josiah went to the saloon to see if any strangers had booked a room there in the last few days, and JD went to check with the stable hand to see if anybody had left a horse there.

Chris and Vin entered the hotel to find the same clerk behind the desk. They walked up to him and the man behind the desk drew back from them.

"What did the man look like?" he growled. He was not going to put up with any nonsense from this man. He wanted answers and he wanted them now. He had been suspicious of Rochelle when she first wanted to help Ezra but he had grown to like her and he could not understand why someone would want to kill her.

"Huh?" he was terrified of Chris Larabee. He knew what kind of man he was and what he was capable of doing to someone.

Chris leaned across the counter and grabbed him by his shirt front. "What did he look like?" he yelled into the man's face.

"Oh, um, he was about your height, dirty looking brown hair that was short. Solid build and he clothes were dirty so I couldn't really tell you what colour they were. That's about all I can tell you."

Chris let go of him. "Was he a guest at this hotel?" asked Vin.

"No." said the man looking at Vin. "But I did see him here once before, I thought that he was visiting one of the guests but he was only upstairs for about five minutes. That was when the other lawman visited Miss Hamilton."

"Ezra?" asked Chris.

"No the other one, Mr Wilmington and that was yesterday."

"Buck. That means that he might have seen him." Vin said. They both turned and walked out of the hotel hoping that Buck would remember the man.

Josiah and JD also returned to Nathan's room and found Chris questioning Buck. "He said that the man was upstairs when you went to see Rochelle yesterday. Do you remember seeing anyone that looked like he had been travelling for a while?" asked Chris.

Buck thought for a moment. It then clicked in his mind. He remembered the man that had been standing in the stairway when he left Rochelle after inviting her for dinner. He couldn't give a better discription though because he didn't take much notice of the guy.

"He had a room at the saloon. Arrived in town a couple of days ago but he hasn't been seen since last night. Name of Joseph Hawkings." they all looked at Josiah. "He is either hiding somewhere or he has left town. I stopped at the telegraph office on the way over, gave his name and a description and asked for it to be sent to the neighbouring towns in case he showed up."

"Good work Josiah. JD?" he looked at JD hoping that he did not say what he didn't want to hear but he did.

"Seems that there was only one horse left, guy looked the same, but the horse was not there this morning so it seems like that he has left town." JD hung his head.

"Shit!" muttered Chris as he slammed his fist against the wall. He began to walk away. "I am going to take another look around town just in case."

Buck and Nathan stayed behind again. They knew what Ezra was capable of doing and did not want to leave him alone. Ezra was still lying on his side when Buck went back in. He walked to the bed. "Ezra, I want to talk to you before you shut yourself out again. I am not going to let the same thing happen to you." Buck looked at him. Ezra returned his gaze and then began to get up. "Where do you think you are going?"

"I want to go and see Rochelle." he muttered.

Buck could hear the sadness in his voice. "Do you think that is a good idea at the moment Ezra?" he wasn't going to stop him but he wanted to make sure that it is what Ezra wanted to do.

"I need to see her Buck."

"Sure Ezra, I'll come with you." he could not help but notice how Ezra did not protest or demand to be left alone.

Nathan protested though as they came out the door. "Ezra what are you doing? I want you to stay in bed do you hear me?"

"It's alright Nathan I'll bring him right back. He wants to see Rochelle." Buck said to him. Nathan nodded in understanding.

They reached the bottom of the stairs when Ezra turned to him. "Where is she Buck?"

"She's at the undertakers. Josiah made sure that she was okay." Buck did not take his eyes away from Ezra, he did not want Ezra to think that he did not want to talk about it because if he thought this then Buck may not be able to get him to talk to him. He followed him to the undertakers and they both went in. The undertaker showed them where Rochelle was. Ezra walked into the room with Buck behind him. Ezra did not move any closer to Rochelle he just stood there looking at her. Buck stood behind him and looked at Rochelle himself. Ezra saw her brown hair that had been tied back with a few whisps against her face. He saw her blue lips and pale face. He saw how her chest did not go up and down as a person's did when they were breathing. Josiah had the undertaker put a clean dress on her. It was the pale blue one that Ezra had loved to see her in. He wanted to see her eyes but they were closed.

"You loved her didn't you Ezra." it wasn't a question as Buck knew that he was right.

"Yes." Ezra didn't turn around.

"She loved you too, she told me yesterday when I went to see her."

Ezra turned around then.

Buck continued even though he saw that Ezra was upset. "She was going to tell you, she knew that you felt the same way, she just wanted to wait a few more days to make sure you were over what happened."

He turned back to Rochelle. "She loved me?"

"Yes she did Ezra." Buck did not know what else to say.

A lone tear fell down Ezra's cheek.

Ezra heard the gentle knock on his door. He went and opened it to find Buck standing there ready for Rochelle leaving. He had contacted her family and they asked if she could be returned to them so they could bury her with her family. Ezra of course had agreed. He was not going to go with her. The others would not allow it so Buck was going to go with Rochelle. Ezra could not understand why they would not let him go, no one actually gave him a reason. He just assumed that they were either showing to much concern or they did not really trust him to come back. He hoped that it was due to their concern for him. But he knew that it also had a lot to do with the fact that Chris did not trust him to return to Four Courners.

"You ready Ezra?" asked Buck showing his concern for his friend. Ezra had not shut himself within his wall of defence. He talked when spoken to. He answered their questions of concern. Buck was suprised in regards to all of this. Ezra seemed to be coping but then again he could hide his feelings very well so they all kept an eye on him just in case it was all an act. Buck hoped that Rochelle really did make a difference to him allowing him to deal with his feelings instead of shutting everyone out. But then this had to happen. They had still not found the man that had killed her.

"No but let's get it over with anyway." Ezra had wanted to say goodbye to Rochelle before she and Buck left. He closed the door behind him and followed Buck down the stairs. They walked towards the church as that was where Rochelle was. Josiah was going to hold a church service for the friends that she had made in Four Corners.

Ezra arrived at the church with Buck following close behind. He saw the other five gunmen in the church. Mary was also there with a few other people that she had come to know. They had come to pay their respects. Ezra moved to the front knowing that all eyes were on him. They had known that he and Rochelle were close but only Buck knew how they really felt about each other and Ezra wanted it to stay that way.

Josiah gave a wonderful sermon, everybody had thought so. When it was over they left the church with four of the lawmen carrying Rochelle's coffin out to a wagon. Buck was going to drive the wagon to the closest town to the railway and then go by train. He promised Ezra that he would also stay for the funeral. Buck did not think that it was right that the others told Ezra that he would be best to stay behind, he was also suprised that Ezra had not argued with them. Ezra had said his goodbyes privately so he stood back as they put her on the wagon. Once that was done Buck turned to Ezra.

"Take care of her Buck." said Ezra.

"You know I will Ezra." he smiled to reassure him. "I will be back in a couple of weeks. I'll tell you all about it and her family."

"I'd like that. Thanks Buck. For everything."

"What are friends for Ezra." he saw Ezra smile finally accepting his friendship and help. So Buck thought. Ezra turned his back on Buck and the woman he loved and went to the saloon. They others said their goodbyes to Buck and followed Ezra.

Two days later Ezra completely changed. He was walking towards the Clarion when he saw JD running towards him with a telegram in his hand. He ran straight to Ezra and stopped not sure wether he should tell Ezra first or the others. He remembered what Ezra had been like the last week and thought that it would be safe to tell him.

"Where are you headed JD?" Ezra asked as he stood in his way.

"I got a telegram for Chris about that guy who killed Rochelle."

"May I read it please?" Ezra put out his hand waiting for JD to give him the telegram hiding the anger and hatred that he felt towards Rochelle's murderer behind his poker face.

"Uh sure Ezra." he handed it to Ezra and watched as he turned towards the saloon thinking that he was going to read it on the way back but instead he turned into the alley. JD followed him not sure what he was doing.

The telegram had told Ezra what he wanted to hear. The man that had killed Rochelle had been arrested in Hills Rock a town about three days ride from Four Corners. Ezra held down his anger. He felt more than heard JD come up behind him.

"Some good news isn't Ezra?" commented JD. But he was not prepared for Ezra's fist connecting with his jaw.

Ezra had all intentions of going after the man once he had been found but he had to do it without the knowledge of the others or else they would have either gone with him or would not have allowed him to go at all. He had kept checking for telegrams on a regular basis hoping to get the news before anyone else but JD had beat him to it today. Unfortunately JD was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ezra did not hesitate. He turned and hit JD knocking him to the ground. He then picked him up and half carried him to the stables making sure that no one saw them. Once he got to the stable he place JD in one of the stalls hoping that he would be out long enough for him to get a headstart. Ezra saddled his horse and rode off after the man who had murdered the woman that he intended to spend the rest of his life with.

Chris and Vin were sitting in the saloon three hours later when JD walked in slamming his hat down on the table. Chris could see that he was angry about something. He could also see the bruise that was developing on his jaw.

"Who hit you JD?" Chris smiled at Vin. "Wasn't Casy was it?"

"No it was Ezra." he said angrily.

Chris got out of his chair. "What did he hit you for and where the hell is he?"

"He's gone." JD explained about the telegram and how it had said that they had arrested Joseph Hawkings in Hills Rock.

"Vin get the others were going after him before he does something stupid."

"Chris he left about three hours ago. He knocked me out and left me in the stables." JD was looking down.

"It's not your fault JD, he fooled all of us. The question is why would he want to do something so stupid on his own." If Buck was there he could have told them and then they would have understood and not be so angry with Ezra for what he did. But instead they thought that he had only been friends with Rochelle like the rest of them.

They all meet at the stable and got their own horses ready then gathered some food for the three day trip. They wondered if Ezra had thought to take food and water with him. They then headed out after him with Chris intending to give him a piece of his mind when they caught up with him.

Ezra was not concerned with food or water as he always kept his saddle bags full in case he had to leave town in a hurry. It was an old habit that he would never break. He had to make sure that he kept up a steady pace. He did not want to tire his horse out because that would mean that the others would catch up to him. He knew that they would be following him by now and he also knew what Chris would probably do to him when he did catch him. He managed to keep ahead of them for the three days. He did not know how far behind him they were so when he did arrive in Hills Rock in a couple of hours he was going to do what needed to be done before they could stop him. What he didn't realise was that he had gained an extra two hours lead which gave him a total of five hours.

Chris and the others had kept a close eye out for any sign that would show how far in front Ezra was. When they had stopped for the night they did not see any fires in the distance. They had started one of their as they were not worried if Ezra saw it because he would know that they were after him. In the morning when they started out at first light they had to ride for two hours before they found sight of where Ezra camped. This meant that he had continued riding when they had stopped. It also meant that they now had to ride harder to catch up with him. Chris realised it was not going to happen. He knew that Ezra would reach the town hours before they did. He just hoped that he did not do anything stupid. But then he always seemed to think that lately when it came to Ezra.

When Ezra arrived in the town the first thing he did was take care of his horse. He took it to the livery and paid someone to rub him down and feed him. He then checked his guns and went the sheriff's office. Ezra walked into the office looking towards the cells to make that the man behind the bars was the man he wanted. He recognised the man by the desription that they had been given.

The man sitting in the cell had looked up when he saw someone enter. He saw that it was the man that came into Rochelle's room after he had killed her. It was the man that she was in love with. Joseph knew that he was a dead man. The expression on Ezra's face told him that.

"And who are you?" asked the sheriff as he got up from his chair. This man had walked in and gone straight to the cells without introducing himself.

Ezra put a smile on his face and turned to face him. "I'm Ezra Standish." he shook his hand as he introduced himself, keeping the smile on his face. "I'm from Four Corners, the town which sent out the telegraph regarding this man and the murder of Rochelle Hamilton."

"Really you got proof of that." he asked.

"Did I not just give you proof." stated Ezra still with the smile on his face.

The sheriff frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

"I would have to be one of the hired lawmen there, how else would I know about this man and the murder. I am here because of the telegram that you sent us."

"Have you come to take him back?" he asked glad to be rid of the man. He was sick of hearing his apologies for killing the woman.

"No." Ezra turned and looked at Joseph the smile dropping from his face. "I just want to ask him a few questions first if you don't mind."

"Sure. But I will be glad to get rib of him. He has been nothing but a pain ever since he gave himself up."

Ezra turned back to the sherrif with a look of confusion on his own face. "He gave himself up, you didn't arrest him? The telegram said that you had arrested him."

"Yep he gave himself up and I have heard nothing but regret ever since and to tell you the truth I'm sick of hearing it." the man moved to leave. "I leave you alone with him for a while then. I will be in the saloon down the street if your looking for me when your done." He walked out of the building leaving Ezra looking at Joseph Hawkings with a look of confusion on his face.

Ezra went back to the cell. He was confused, he had come all this way expecting to find a murderer. But instead he found a man who regreted what he had done. "You gave yourself up." Ezra repeated.

"You can kill me if you want. That's what you came here for isn't it?" he looked up at Ezra. "I was just trying to scare her, I had my knife in front of me and she ran at me. I told her that I was going to hurt you and she got angry. She ran straight into the knife, I didn't even know what happened until I saw the blood. I didn't mean to kill her. And then you came in. I had no idea what to do. I hit you with me gun and then I ran. I ran until I got here. I will never forgive myself for what I did. I loved her to once."

Ezra could not believe what he was hearing. He grabbed the chair behind the desk and sat down, he couldn't stand up anymore. "She was scared of you. She said that you had changed, she was afraid that you were going to kill her. How do I know that what your saying is true?" asked Ezra. He didn't want to believe it but the man had given himself up. He would know that he would be hung for the crime.

"I did change, I gambled to much and lost money that I could not pay back. They asked for payment another way. I had to help them rob a bank. Two men were killed. I couldn't handle it and took to the bottle. It ate away at me and I took it all out on Rochelle. I should have told her what happened but I couldn't. I'm sorry, if I could change everything I would."

Ezra watched him. He was stunned. From what this man had just told him it could have easily been Ezra on the other side of those bars. He couldn't face this man anymore. He got up and left.

The remaining five lawmen finally arrived in town and they headed straight to the sheriff's office expecting Rochelle's murderer to be either dead or badly beaten but when they entered the building they found neither. They found him to be alive and well. He looked scared though to see them. He must have thought that they had come to do what the other man had not and that was to kill him. But he would welcome death, he couldn't handle the guilt anymore.

"Where is he?" asked Chris.

Joseph of course knew he was talking about. "He was here but he left. I don't know where he is now."

"He's in the saloon." said the sheriff.

They all turned at once at the sound of the voice that came from behind them. They saw a man standing in the doorway. Chris did not say anything. Instead he clenched his fists and stormed out of the sheriff's office.

Ezra was sitting at a table in the corner of the saloon when he heard them enter through the doors. He thought that they would have been here sooner. He waited until they reached his table before saying anything. "Well Mr Larabee I thought that you would have been here sooner." he smiled up at them.

"What the hell do you think your doing Ezra!" Chris said to him trying very hard to keep his temper in control. He could see that Ezra had had to much to drink.

"Can't you see that I am having a libation or two." Ezra answered him.

"You know what I am talking about Ezra. I want to know why you came out here. Were you intending on killing that man?"

Ezra laughed at him. He couldn't help himself. He thought of Rochelle and how that pityful man had accidently killed her. Of course he had all intentions of killing him but one look at him told him that he would suffer more staying alive than dying. Ezra couldn't stop laughing.

Chris lost his temper then. "What the hell are you laughing at Ezra. I asked you a question and I want an answer." demanded Chris.

"Did he tell you that he gave himself up. Did he tell you that it was an accident, that he didn't mean to kill her. Did he?" Ezra was still laughing. The woman he loved was dead because some stupid man was trying to scare her.

"Is that true Ezra?" asked Josiah.

"Pitiful isn't it." Ezra finally stopped laughing. He went to take another drink but Chris knocked the glass out of his hand. Ezra sat there staring at the space where the glass had been.

"Why did you hit JD and come out here on your own? Why didn't you wait for us." Chris leaned down towards him.

Ezra returned his stare. "Because you would not have allowed me to kill him." he stated simply.

"You got that right." said Chris smiling at him but it was not a pleasant smile. Ezra had not taken his eyes off Chris. Everyone else had stepped back. There was something else going on here with Ezra and they waited to find out what it was.

"You know Mr Larabee, it seems strange to me that you have no problem seeking revenge against the man who killed your family but when it is someone else who wants revenge it seems to a different story entirely."

Chris grabbed Ezra's jacket and pulled him to his feet. "You mention my family again and I will kill you myself." Chris growled into his face.

"Go ahead." smiled Ezra.

That seemed to stop Chris in his tracks. He threw Ezra back down into the chair that he had pulled him out of. Ezra grabbed another glass from the table and poured himself another drink. Josiah moved to the table and sat down next to him.

"You still have not answered Chris's questions Ezra. Why did you come here on your own?" They could all see how differently Ezra reacted to Josiah than he did to Chris. He did not show any anger towards Josiah like he had Chris. In fact everyone saw the change that came over his face. They saw the sadness that his expression and eyes now held.

"I loved her Joisah." he looked into Josiah's eyes. "I loved her. And now the second woman that I have loved is dead." Ezra drank the whisky that he had poured himself while everyone watched him. They had no idea how he felt about Rochelle.

"Did Rochell love you?" asked Josiah.

"Yes she did. Buck told me. She told him when he invited her to dinner. She just didn't want to tell me yet because I was feeling to sorry for myself." he was turning the glass around in his hand and he suddenly through it against the wall. "But I wouldn't tell her so she didn't know I loved her. " Ezra looked down at his hands. The others wanted to say something to him but thought that if they did he would stop talking. They were suprised that he had said so much already.

"Ezra I am sure that she knew how you felt about her." Josiah put his hand on Ezra's shoulder but he moved away from his touch. He put his head in his hands. Ezra did not say anything else. He was quiet from then on. Josiah looked up at Chris who was standing near the table with his own head down. Chris had no idea how Ezra had felt about Rochelle, none of them had and he came in here showing anything but concern for Ezra. He was angry and he let Ezra know it.

Nathan moved over to him. "I'm sorry Ezra we didn't know."

"I don't want your pity!" Ezra yelled at him. He stood up so quickly that he knocked his chair over. "She's dead and there is nothing that I can do about it to bring her back."

"It's not pity Ezra." Josiah stood up with him. "Were your friends and we are concerned about you."

"Oh really and that's why Chris just threatened to kill me. Out of concern was it Chris. You were so worried about me that you came in here yelling at me and threatening me. That's real concern isn't it?" Ezra spat out at both Josiah and Chris. He was angry now and he let it all out. He was angry that Rochelle died. He was angry that he did not get to her room sooner to stop her from being killed. He was angry about the type of concern that his friends showed him. They either showed it through anger or pity and he didn't know which one was worse. He pushed his way through them and left them standing there watching his back as he left the saloon. Josiah looked at Chris.

"I'm sorry Josiah I didn't know."

"There you go again Chris, telling the wrong person that you are sorry." JD spoke up for the first time since they walked into the saloon. Chris looked at him and nodded. JD was right it was Ezra that he should have been apologising to. He walked out of the saloon to look for him but he didn't have to go far. He saw him standing in the alley way with his arms folded around himself and walking in circles. He looked lost. Chris went up to him.

"Ezra I'm sorry I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't." he didn't look at Chris but kept his head down and continued moving about in the same spot.

"I should not have gotten angry at you. I should have asked you first." Chris said to him.

"Yes you should have."

"Ezra would you please stand still and look at me." Ezra did stop but he did not look at Chris. "Ezra look at me." When he did look at him Chris could see the tears in his eyes. "I do know how you feel Ezra and I thought the same way as you do. I wanted revenge and look what it has done to me. I don't want you or anyone else for that matter to end up like me. Full of hatred for the rest of their lives always looking for the man who murdered a loved one. That is why I was not going to let you do it. It wouldn't have made you feel any better."

"And here I was thinking that it was because you disliked me so much." Ezra looked back down and wiped the tears away. He hated anybody seeing him cry especially this man.

"You are never going to change are you Ezra?"

"I certainly hope not Mr Larabee."

"Come back inside Ezra and I will buy you a drink." Chris turned around hoping that Ezra would follow him.

"In a minute Chris. I just need a minute."

"Sure Ezra." Chris smiled at him and Ezra nodded in return.

The End

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