Jimmy galloped for about a mile before he slowed down. Priscilla was too unstable behind him. There was no way he could keep any kind of pace up with her dangling off the end of the horse. God, what were they going to do? He knew a large group was not too far behind them. He slid off the animal, pulling Priscilla off too. Then he gave the animal a good swat, hoping that the just a few hoof prints going elsewhere would buy them some time.

“What?” Priscilla asked him, her breath coming quickly. When she looked at Jimmy, he was mildly surprised to see that her eyes were not full of fear as he had expected. They were simply overly bright.

“Are you okay?” he asked cautiously.

Priscilla nodded. She looked at her feet, shifting her weight between them. “Thanks,” she said quietly.

“It was my fault they took you,” Jimmy told her, his voice full of regret.

“They obviously made a lot of assumptions,” Priscilla snapped. “Sorry,” she continued, her voice dropping. “I – um – I mean - ”

“Tell it to me later,” Jimmy said quickly. “I hear them. Run!”

He pulled her hand and together they ran into thicket. Together they crouched, watching, waiting, and worrying. It was not a good hiding place, Jimmy realized. Anyone looking hard enough could spot them easily. He pulled out his gun and peeked out of the thicket. He expected to see men on horseback. What he saw was one man on a horse and another on a wagon which was being pulled by a team of two horses. A supply wagon! He had forgotten - Rolling Meadows was a mining town. It was populated primarily by miners and the men who supplied the mine. No wonder it had been so empty earlier. All the men were working.

“Let’s go,” he whispered, pulling on Priscilla’s hand once more.

She looked at him, her eyes full of questions. But Jimmy knew he did not have time to answer them, nor could he. He did not know where they were going. He only knew that they needed to go. Now! He tugged on her hand once more and she followed him. They hurried to the wagon and he gave her a boost and she slipped under the white tarp covering the moving flatbed. Holding the tarp firmly, Jimmy swung his legs inside and slid inside the wagon. He crept forward and lifted the edge of the tarp so he could see outside. Priscilla soon slid next to him. And when he glanced at her he found her eyes riveted to him.

“If you hadn’t of come …” She stopped, her eyes filled with tears.

Jimmy put his hand over hers and held her fingers tightly.

“Thank you,” Priscilla said simply.

Jimmy turned her hand and kissed her palm gently. He felt Priscilla rest her head against his. He lifted his head and smoothed her hair from her face, his eyes locked with hers.

“You are welcome,” he replied, slowly lowering his lips toward hers. But a bump in the road stopped his movement.

Jimmy trained his eyes back on the road. He needed to keep focused on what was going on around him. He could now see where they had been. Where they were going was a whole different question.