WELCOME

[Kate Morrison]

Kate couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned on the narrow cot, too hot even when she'd kicked the blankets off and peeled off all layers of her clothing, right down to her petticoat. Grace had given her the corner of an upstairs room in the jail as her own, and a cot that was narrow but otherwise comfortable. Certainly more comfortable than the ground. No, Kate couldn't sleep because it was hot, much too humid after the recent rains...and she'd just lost her father.

Trying desperately hard to keep her mind off her father -- they had buried him the day before, under the watchful eye of the circuit preacher who'd come in early -- Kate finally rose from her cot and grabbed for her dress, draped over the rickety chair nearby. She buttoned it up -- thankfully made of cotton, the lightest dress that she owned -- and moved carefully down the stairs, not wishing to wake anyone up.

Outside was only a little cooler, and Kate stood on the porch, glancing around the silent main street before she moved to step down, picking her way down the street. There was a horse trough full of icy water in front of the clinic, into which she dipped her hands and splashed her face -- it felt good enough to make Kate wish she could dip her entire head in, but instead she sat down against the trough, trailing a finger through the dirt.

Her parents were gone, and she was stuck here. The thought made a lump rise in the girl's throat; what was she supposed to do here? She was young, too young to have learned a trade yet -- and anyway, what trade could a girl do, much less a woman? Well...she supposed she could learn to doctor people....

Sighing, Kate leaned her head back, closing her eyes. Maybe Grace would know.

[Amelia Burns]

The lights and sound coming from the saloon was possibly the only thing at this time of night active- though even that was beginning to die down around the time of the night. Down the street, various individuals- in varying shades of drunken stupor could be seen wandering their ways to their respective homes and horses. Usually- Amelia was among these, helping those that needed it back over to the boarding house before heading to bed herself for a short few hours of sleep before heading back to the clinic early. But tonight, things were different.

Usually, Amelia would head straight back home from the saloon to the boarding house- but.. she'd realized halfway through the night that she'd left her hat at the clinic- and with the rain as heavy as it was now... she quite certainly needed it.

She stopped short however, when she noticed Kate sitting around in the dirt, outside- of all things. Midnight was hardly a time for a girl her age to be out and about, especially in town and even more especially alone. It was only Sweetwater, but you never knew with the times as they were.

"Kate... you really shouldn't be alone outside... It's not the safest place." Amelia quietly kneeled next to the girl- looking around quietly before sighing.

[Kate Morrison]

Sitting there against the trough, Kate was becoming steadily more aware of the activity around her. She'd thought at first that the town was quiet, down for the night, but this was definitely not the case. She sat very still, listening to the sound of voices down the street, though of course it was impossible to hear what they were saying.

Yet as much as she was listening to the conversations down the street, Kate was surprised to hear a voice speak directly to her. She looked up, peering at Amelia shyly. She'd seen the woman at the clinic before, Kate remembered hazily, but the memory was fuzzy due to the fact that it had been near the time of her father's death.

Kate moved to sit on her heels, unsure at first of what to say. "Sorry...I just needed some fresh air." She finally said. "The night's hot...reckon it's cause of the rain?" The girl tilted her head back, staring at the sky -- it was foggy, from all the extra rain that they had received, but the heat was still present. She purposefully left out the idea of her father, not wanting to broach the subject. It was still too raw, too painful.

"Why're you about?" She asked abruptly, not meaning to sound pushy; rather, she was just inquisitive. "Ya need air too?" Kate flinched as there was a crash from inside the saloon, followed by the howls of a drunken man.

[Brice Bird]

Brice disliked drunks. He'd been among them long enough to know that they led to problems. Violence, rape, murder, thievery and other such vices could all be traced back to alcohol. Even if the drunk wasn't violent, they where loud, obnoxious and rude. Even if they were peaceful and quiet they were bound to get into trouble. Even now the faint homage too alcohol spread over town, the last few singers returning home. Brice couldn't believe how his nurse could possibly stand to deal with them.

Brice was just finishing a chapter in a new medical book he'd purchased, unfortunately it was new in the sense to Sweetwater Falls, but it must have been published nearly half a year ago. But such is the price to pay for peace and quiet.

As Brice turned the last page on chapter five he rewarded himself as he always traditionally did when he got to the end of a particularly dry tome, with a shot of gin. He picked up the bottle, feeling significantly lighter now than at the beginning of the night, and watched as the miracle liquid flowed into the glass. After the glass was empty, he returned to his book, hoping the drink would get him through another damn chapter on childbirth. But more sounds from the outside world interrupted him, this time much closer. He closed the book loudly and stood up, taking a swig out of his bottle to steady his nerves, damn drunks.

Brice walked to the door, realizing how close the vagabonds actually were. He swung the door open, casting a dark glare across the street, looking in the darkness for miscreants. He, of course, only succeeded in spotting to perfectly innocent young ladies.

In a flawless recovery Brice quickly changed expression. "Well hello ladies, what are you two doing out so late?" he addressed the two women with a quick smile

[Amelia Burns]

"Probably. It feels hotter because of the humidity. You know Texas weather. Never works out what it wants to be until after it's gone" she smiled, shifted and looked across the street; really, Kate hadn't been in any danger; but still- she was a young girl. Being exposed to that sort of deviant behavior- even harmless behavior- wasn't exactly Amelia's choice activity for the young girl. Really, midnight. The crash in the bar seemed to startle her enough. This wasn't the farm. No wandering about in the middle of the night in Sweetwater.

"I left something at the clinic and needed to come back for it" Amelia offered, pleasantly looking down towards Kate. "You know, it's really not advisable for you to wander about." Ah- words. Everything that Ms. Burns seemed to mutter just drenched itself in northern dialects.

Her attetion turned from Kate, however, as Brice neared- well aware of his state, and well aware of the gin- she didn't quite mind. He was a far sight more pleasant than a few in the saloon, and while none seemed to really bother her, she'd be lying to say there wasn't a small amount of miscreant teasing that happened within the saloon. Ah well though- such was life.

"Kate needed air, and I really just stopped by to pick something up. How about yourself?" She questioned- politely of course.

[Kate Morrison]

Rearranging the skirts so that they fell around her knees -- after a quick and furtive glance up and down the street to make sure that no one of the male persuasion would see -- Kate sighed. She hated long skirts and the constrictive clothing that she had to wear in public. Oh, it had been all well and good to wear slacks when she was just with her father, especially on the trail, but here...no chance.

Despite her discomfort, the girl had to grin. "Yeah. Texas weather is strange, stranger than Kansas." Kate's grin faded, but she shrugged it off a bit and looked around.

She knew fully well the dangers of wandering around at night. Every time that they'd ventured into a town for supplies, Kate had gotten a stern lecture from her father not to go anywhere near a select list of areas (namely, the saloons and brothels). But now...now it almost seemed unimportant compared to everything else.

Kate opened her mouth to ask a question when a man made his presence known; blushing furiously, she yanked her skirts back over her knees, embarrassed that he'd seen that bit of pale skin. It was inappropriate, she'd always been told.

"Hello." The girl murmured, beet-red as she tried to find something for her eyes to focus on. She thought she recognized him from around the clinic, but she wasn't sure and didn't quite want to carry on in that train of the thought -- it would ultimately lead her to thinking of her father again. "Yeah...it's too hot inside."

[Brice Bird]

Brice leaned against the door frame, suddenly tired. Yawning as he rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to drive out the fatigue that was over taking his body. Apparently it was later than he thought, or maybe he'd had more gin then he'd expected. Either way the effect was the same, the only difference would be his condition in the morning.

Brice smiled at the two women, half smiling as the younger flushed as she quickly recovered her knees with her dress and mumbled a greeting. There was something familiar about her, Brice was positive she'd been in the clinic before but he mainly remembered his patients.

"Kate needed air, and I really just stopped by to pick something up. How about yourself?"

Kate, apparently was her name, still unfamiliar. But Brice decided not to press the subject, making sure to avoid embarrassment if he was supposed to know her. So he decided to field Amelia's question.

"Here for some light reading, I just received a medical journal before I was about to leave. I guess I let time get away from me, impressive since the book was especially dull. If I can give you some advice" Brice was now looking at Kate " never enter the field of medicine. Endless dry tomes you're obligated to read, all practicality the same." Brice sighed as again he leaned his head against the door frame. "But you said you were looking for something?" Brice asked, turning his head to Amelia.

Amelia was a nearly perfect nurse for Brice. She had all the normal desirable traits, skill, kindness, knowledge, and other such niceties that make a good nurse. But more importantly for Brice she knew how to keep to her own business, not trying to fix Brice as if he were a broken doll, like others had tried and failed.

[Grace Britton]

Ever since Kate's father had passed away, Grace had taken the young girl under her wing...sort of. The Sheriff really wasn't the mothering type, but she recognized a strength in Kate that she had in herself, and sympathized with the hardships life had thrown at her. Grace had lost her mother at an early age, lost her father later on, and she could only imagine what it was like for Kate having lost them both so young.

So Grace had invited Kate to stay with her and let her live in the apartment above the jail with her, at least until they found a more permanent place for her. She'd borrowed a cot from the Sister's at the nunnery and rigged up a curtain partition around one corner of the room so as to allow the girl some privacy. Her only concern was that she had so little time to actually spend with her during the day, but Kate had adapted well and found ways to entertain herself.

How Kate had managed to slip past her without waking her up, Grace would never know. The girl must've been quiet as a mouse, or maybe her exhaustion had finally caught up with her. She'd been at the Saloon for most of the night, keeping the patrons quiet. Since the rains had started Grace had been battling a bit of a cough, and by a bit she meant a deep, hacking sort of thing that came mostly from her lungs. She was used to it by now though, used to covering it up, and a bit of tea with honey did wonders for her.

What stirred her from her sleep that night, she didn't know, but suddenly she was awake and staring up at the bare rafters of the ceiling. She thought she'd heard a noise and lay very still for a moment, straining to hear something, but it was quiet, and she rolled onto her side with a bit of a sigh. It was then that she spotted Kate's empty bed and immediately sat up, eyes searching the dark apartment for her. There was no sign, and she noticed that the young girl's dress was missing from the chair back where she'd laid it earlier.

"Damnit," she muttered to herself as she climbed out of bed and changed into her clothes, pulling on her jeans and buttoning up her shirt. Downstairs she stepped into her boots and grabbed her coat but didn't pause to strap on her holster. Sweetwater wasn't a particularly dangerous place -- she made sure of that -- but Kate was new here and didn't know her way around quite yet.

The town was dark and quiet as she walked down the main street, eyes scanning for any sign of Kate. As she approached the clinic she spotted Amelia and Brice and immediately headed over, intent on asking them if they'd seen Kate. Before she reached them, though, she spotted Kate sitting by the trough and immediately slowed to a halt, letting out a relieved breath.

Instead of appearing angry, though, she gave Kate a little smile. "You are quite sneaky, y'know that?" she said with a quiet laugh, shaking her head slightly. Looking up to Amelia and the doctor, she gave them a small nod, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Evenin'. Glad to see you two were keepin' Kate here company...when I woke up and she was gone I nearly had a heart attack," she joked with a good-natured smile.

[Kate Morrison]

At the mention of a book, even an "especially dull" medical journal, made Kate's head lift. She was excited, though she didn't dare show it. Books? This town had books? The thought made her absolutely giddy. Kate was a self-proclaimed book worm, though there were no books in the wagon barring a worn copy of the bible (which the girl had read from cover to cover, out of want for anything to read rather than a particular religious drive).

"Do you have any other books?" Kate asked, feigning casual interest even as she watched him hopefully. Maybe he would let her read some of them -- heck, for the chance she would wash her hands after every page, if he thought it would make her more worthy.

It was just when Kate was drooling over the thought of new books that she realized something. She hadn't told Grace where she was going. This revelation came not from the book thoughts, but the voice that spoke up.

Aw, heck. Kate turned red as she realized her mistake. It hadn't been on purpose, her leaving the apartment. Not really, anyway. She certainly hadn't meant to worry Grace. After all, the woman had looked after her after....and she had no wish to upset her.

"Sorry, ma'am." She blushed, staring down at her bare, dusty feet. "Didn' mean to make you worry, or anythin'." Kate plucked at the hem of her skirt, cursing it for the umpteenth time. Stupid skirts...