Miss Rose startled awake, disoriented and terrified. It took her a full minute before she remembered she was no longer in that horrible room. And another minute to realize she was too warm instead of too cold. It was still dark, and it took her several tries before she was able to get her shaking, sweaty hands to light a match. She lit the lamp beside her bed and looked at her watch. It was almost 4:30 in the morning. She shed the jacket and collapsed back against the sweat damp pillows. She fought to control her breathing.

Her name was Miss Rose.

She was staying at a small boarding house in Harken, Tennesse.

She would be catching the train in the morning.

She was safe.

When the sun came up at six Miss Rose was already dressed and packed, ready to head down to the station. She didn't want to risk missing her train. The walk back to the station was miserable and while her shoes had dried the night before, they were completely ruined by the time she sloshed back onto platform.

Floyd was sitting in his booth and waved cheerfully. Miss Rose waved back but didn't approach the booth. Not wanting to speak with him Miss Rose arranged herself on the bench, pulled a beat up book out of her bag and waited for her train.

Hours later, with the sun beating down on her a slow drop of sweat rolled down her back. She looked down and the mud on her heels and the ground around her had harden and dried. She sat on her bench beneath the blistering overhead sun and lamented the loss of her umbrella the night before.

As she watched, the door to the post office opened and the boy ran across the street to Floyd once more. They spoke for only a few moments before the boy left and Floyd began his slow, shuffling walk towards her.

"I have bad news again ma'am," Floyd said regretfully. He pulled his hat off his head and swiped at beads of sweat on his forehead with an old handkerchief. "We got another call and it don't look like the train is gettin through for another couple days. Must be some storm out there," he said shaking his head.

Miss Rose stood and nodded. "Thank you Floyd," she said smiling gently at the kind old man, even though she felt like crying. "I'll just head back to the boarding house, I'll see you tomorrow Floyd."

Mrs. Hudson was out tending her flowers when Miss Rose came up the walk. Mrs. Hudson glanced down at her watch. Miss Rose did the same and noticed it was only a little after noon. She felt like she had been awake all day. Her feet hurt from her wet heels, her arms were sore from lugging her bag around and she was exhausted. Physically and emotionally exhausted.

"Did you miss your train?" Mrs. Hudson asked, she stood and dusted her hands off on her apron.

Miss Rose shook her head. "The train is not coming today. May I book the room for another night?" she asked hopefully. She didn't know what she would do if Mrs. Hudson turned her down, but she couldn't be sure of her reception after the previous night's confrontation with Peter.

"Of course dear," Mrs. Hudson clucked her tongue in sympathy and ushered her back inside and got her settled once more.

Sitting back in her room Miss Rose found for the first time in as long as she could remember she had time to herself. She was tired, and a nap sounded nice, but she was afraid of the nightmares returning. Besides, she couldn't remember the last time she got to choose what she did with her day. She dug in her bag and pulled out her book, it's tattered cover was soft from use. But as she sat back to begin reading her eyes fell on Forrest's jacket.

It was a long walk back to Garrett's. It took her nearly an hour but it was a beautiful day and in the shade of the ancient trees she was almost able to forget who she was, and why she was here. She had always lived in the city, but she could see why people would want to live out here. It was so peaceful. She could pretend she was safe here in this sleepy little town.

Several cars passed her, but no one stopped or bothered her. It was nearly two in the afternoon when she crossed the small covered bridge. The thin black man was sitting in his chair by the pump again, only now his hat was pulled low over his eyes and his chin rested on his chest.

There were only a few cars parked out front of the store and Miss Rose suddenly felt foolish now that she had arrived. She should have just given the jacket to Floyd. What if there was no one here? Or what if it was only Forrest? What would she say? Her palms began to sweat and she hugged the jacket to her chest. As she hesitated in the drive she noticed Forrest was sitting in a chair on the porch, sipping from a coffee cup and watching her beneath the brim of his hat.

Steeling herself, she lifted her chin and marched up the drive towards the store. Forrest watched her over the rim of his cup as he continued to sip his coffee. She stopped a few feet from the porch and rocked nervously on her heels when he didn't say anything.

She licked her lips and flashed him a smile; though it faltered and she dropped her gaze when he didn't respond. "I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Garrett," she told her shoes. "Your brother loaned me this jacket and I came to return it."

Forrest rose slowly from his chair. "You walk all the way up here?" His movements were tight and controlled as though he were taking extra care not to move too fast. It reminded her of the way one moved around skittish horses.

Her eyes flitted up to him but she found she couldn't hold eye contact with him. "Um, yes my train-" she said gesturing over her shoulder in the general direction of town.

"Forrest who you talkin too!"

Miss Rose recognized Arthur's boisterous voice from inside the store and she breathed a sigh of relief. The door was thrown open and Arthur came swaggering out. He froze when he saw her, thrown for only a moment before he recovered, shook his hair out of his eyes and flashed a cocky smirk. "You miss us already sweetheart?" he asked jumping down from the porch.

Arthur's appearance gave her the necessary confidence to regain her composure and retake control of the situation. Miss Rose smiled her most charming smile at him. "No train today, but I wanted to return Forrest's jacket."

She could see Forrest out of the corner of her eye and she turned to face him. "Thank you," she said holding it up to him.

Forrest looked at her a beat longer than was polite, and she didn't think she had him fooled for a minute. He reached out and took the jacket from her. Once he took it, she nearly skittered back away from him.

She faced Arthur once more and gave him another smile. "Well, I best be heading back."

The door banged open again and Peter stood next to Forrest. "Miss Rose," he said by way of greeting.

Arthur looked around, "Did you walk all the way up here?"

Miss Rose blushed under the brothers' attention. "It is a beautiful day," she said softly under her breath. "I enjoyed the walk."

"You have lunch?" Peter asked, his brow was pulled down and she couldn't tell, but he seemed concerned.

Miss Rose shook her head, "I'll eat dinner when I get back to boarding house." She assured him.

Peter snorted and stepped off the porch. She tensed as he approached, even though her head knew he had never done anything to hurt her. "Don't be silly, Miss Lilly still has a few plates set aside from lunch. You come on in and have a cool drink. It may be nice but it's hot and that's a tough walk up the hollow, 'specially on these roads. And in such a warm sweater."

Miss Rose self consciously pulled at the sleeves of her sweater, making sure her wrists were covered before she followed Peter inside. 

Miss Rose didn't know what she was doing here. It had been her goal to travel as unnoticed as possible. She should have sat in her room, read her book and kept to herself. She attempted to placate herself by telling herself no law man would ever come near the Garrett's. Not even to find her.

Arthur led her to the same table. He pulled out her chair for her and flipped his own chair around backwards and sat facing her.

Peter stuck his head in the kitchen and grabbed a cola from the cooler. He popped the top off it and placed it in front of Miss Rose before he joined her and Arthur at the table.

Forrest drew Miss Rose's attention but he did not join his brothers. He glanced once in her direction before moving to the counter. He reached over and placed his jacket on the other side. As he reached his shirt pulled up revealing a small revolver tucked in the back of his trousers.

Miss Rose quickly looked away. What was she doing here? She had set out to start a new life for herself, to get far away from men like this, and here she was having lunch with men not unlike those she had left.

She turned back to Arthur, "I'm sorry, I missed what you said."

Arthur smiled good naturedly "I was asking where it is this elusive train is taking you."

She swallowed back her unease. "I'm headed south to visit my extended family."

"Where do they live?" he asked.

She forced herself to breathe. Arthur was just being curious and making polite conversation. There was no reason to feel as though the walls were closing in on her. "Florida," she responded after a moment. "My aunt."

"I've always wanted to visit Florida. I think I would like the beach," and just like that Arthur took over the conversation and Miss Rose didn't have to say another word about herself.

A few minutes later Peter stood and returned from the kitchen with a plate of food. He set it in front of Miss Rose and gave her an encouraging smile. He set off across the room and spoke with Forrest at the counter in quiet voices. Forrest pulled out a pocket watch and glanced at its face before he nodded at whatever Peter said.

"So where do you live?" Arthur's question pulled her back into the conversation with him.

Miss Rose picked up her fork and took a bite of the food to give herself a moment to think. She swallowed and took a sip of her cola. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until the food hit her stomach. She was nearly dizzy as her stomach cramped. Thinking about it, she realized she hadn't eaten since she had been here last. Sleeping through dinner the night before and she had been so anxious to get to the train station this morning she had skipped the breakfast Mrs. Hudson laid out for boarders.

"I grew up in Memphis," there was no use lying about it, her accent betrayed her. "But I plan to stay with my aunt in Florida." She took another bite and it was heaven. Miss Lilly really was the best cook she had ever known.

"Do you have any family other than your aunt?" Miss Rose looked down at her food again, she didn't like the idea of lying to Arthur, he had been so generous but these were question she could not answer.

"Is there any other way to get to the city?" Miss Rose asked changing the subject. "I mean other than the train?"

Now it was Arthur's turn to lean back in his chair. "Not many people driving in and out of the Holl'ers this time of year, roads being what they are. And it's a fair piece to a town of any real consequence – closest is probably Memphis."

"Do you ever go?"

"To Memphis? Yeah I have been up to Memphis before," he hedged, which made Miss Rose suspicious. Arthur seemed pretty straight forward. Now he was the one dodging answers. 

"Have you ever been up to Chicago?" she tried to seem casual in her question but she couldn't help thinking about the piles of wooden crates that had been in the back of their truck the day before. She needed to know if they were in any way affiliated with the men from Chicago. 

Arthur shook his head sadly. "Can't say that I have. Not really my type of town."

"Arthur," Forrest's voice made her jump. "Stop pestering that lady and let her finish her lunch. We got work to do."

Miss Rose felt some of the tension leave her as Arthur stood and passed her a cocky grin. "Duty calls I'm afraid."

When she finished her lunch Miss Rose cleared her own dishes, placing them on the counter. The room was empty but she could hear Miss Lilly moving around behind the kitchen door. She pulled out a five dollar bill and slid it beneath her plate, leaning over the counter she found a small pad of paper. She quickly scribbled a note thanking them for the lunch. She slid it under the plate as well and slipped out the door.

She could hear voices in the trees up the drive, but could not see anyone. She set off down the road. The sun was high overhead now and it was hotter than she realized. She wished not for the first time that she could take off her itchy sweater. As she walked down the road, her heels slipping in the mud as she moved she began to regret her decision to visit the Garrett's. It had seemed like such a great idea this morning when the prospect of sitting in her room alone had been daunting and endless. But now it seemed foolish, what had she been hoping to prove.

She was a lady, and traveling as such and visiting places like the Garrett's was both dangerous and foolish. The sight of Forrest's gun was proof of that. She was fairly certain she understood Arthur. She had known boys like him her entire life. Flatterers and charmers; used to girls throwing themselves at them when they offered little more than a smile. His heart seemed to be the right place though. There was also something about Peter, his quiet confidence and his persistent determination to take care of her. Forrest however, was a mystery, and there was something unsettling about him she could not put her finger on.

A truck passed her on it's way up the hollow. Miss Rose paused and squinted at the driver. It was an open backed truck, empty and the drivers were wearing expensive looking suits. They had the slicked hair look of men from the city. Miss Rose quickly looked away. The truck disappeared around the bend and Miss Rose began to walk faster.