She woke in the night to the feeling of movement in her room. She opened her eyes and a strange face was looming out of the dark. There was a glint of steel in his hand. And she opened her mouth to scream. The man from Chicago clamped his hand across her mouth before she let out more of a squeak.

"Make one more sound and I will make this hurt. As it stands I only need to send a message, you to die, and I know how to make it quick and painless. That is not a requirement. Now I don't like hurting women-"

It was a lie. Rose knew it was a lie and she was not about to die here. She bucked her body against him and when he shifted his weight to hold her down she kicked out at the lamp on her nightstand. It bounced off the wall before it clattered to the floor.

"You bitch," he whispered "I will make-"

There was a shout and the door flipped open. She thanked her lucky stars Forrest was as light of a sleeper as she hoped.

The man from Chicago fisted a hand in her hair and used that and the knife at her throat to drag her off the bed and to her feet. He stood behind her, using her as a shield between himself and Forrest's gun.

Peter and Arthur were there seconds later both with guns in their hands.

The man breathed into her hair. "I knew I should have gone for the pretty one," he groused a second before he shoved Rose into the brothers and jumped back out the open window he had entered. Forrest and Peter caught her, but she still half stumbled and went down on one knee. Arthur jumped around them and chased the man to the window, She heard the man slide off the porch and hit the bushes below. Arthur leaned out the window and fired off five or six shots into the night.

The blood pounded in her ears as her eardrums ached from the shots. Peter pulled her roughly to her feet. "You hurt?" he asked trying to get a better look at her neck. Rose could feel the warmth of blood there, but he hadn't cut her deep. It was just from the pressure of his blade. Only a surface wound. She told him so, but Peter insisted on bringing her downstairs and cleaning it.

"You never know where the blade of that psycho has been," Peter said grabbing her wrist and all but dragging her downstairs.

Forrest was silent but he and Arthur followed her and Peter down and sat quietly at the table while Peter worked.

"So..." Rose said after a long silence. "Are we going to talk about this?"

Forrest slammed his fist down on the table.

Rose jumped, but contained her yelp.

"Maybe the good sheriff had a decent idea." Peter said idly, he didn't look at Forrest when he spoke the words instead he turned his entire focus to Rose as though if he didn't look at his brother it would ease the words.

"You think we should run?" Arthur raged, leaping to his feet.

Peter did look to his younger brother. "Not run. But Forrest and I were supposed to head up to the hollow to handle the stills and we can't leave you and Rose here alone. We have serious threats coming at us from two sides and they keep catching us by surprise. It wouldn't hurt to regroup someplace where we know they can't find us."

Arthur still looked mutinous but he slowly sat, turning his attention to Forrest for answers.

Forrest scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "We don't run," he said under his breath, though it was loud enough they all heard him. When his brothers didn't respond Rose figured they must have been giving him time to decide what to do.

"No, we don't." Peter agreed. He stood and began putting away the medical items he had taken out. He returned them behind the counter and turned to face Forrest frustration glinting in his eyes. "And in not running, how do you propose we deal with this? The stills can only wait a few more days. And it takes two of us to deal with the submarine still. No matter how you look at it, it would leave two of us alone here."

"The man from Chicago's alone. We sleep in shifts." Arthur said defensively.

Peter nodded. "That makes sense. And what about the Klan? They threatened Rose today in town, right under the nose of the sheriff. And so did the man from Chicago...if Forrest hadn't of yelled, I never would have heard a thing." The last he said looking down as though he were ashamed.

"He intended to kill me," Rose said softly. "He told me he was going to leave my body for you to find to change your mind." She reported quietly under her breath. The true gravity of what was happening was beginning to set in.

Forrest slammed his chair back and began pacing.

Arthur blew out a breath and put his hands behind his head. "Okay...so maybe we do need to get out of dodge for a minute..." he shook his head as though he hated the words that were coming out of his mouth.

Peter cut his eyes cut to Rose. There was regret there, but also something that might have been resolve. "It might be time to catch that train."

Rose felt like he had slapped her. "You want me to leave?" she asked, looking from one brother to the next.

Forrest stood. "She can't just leave. Everyone in this town knows she has been here with us. That she is more to us than just an employee."

"Then she can come with us." Arthur said standing as well. "The safest place for her will be to keep her with us."

"She doesn't have the proper gear," Forrest hedged and Rose felt more and more like she no longer belonged. Peter not wanting her to stick around was one thing. Peter was always over cautious with her. But Forrest...

"I'll just leave," Rose said, moving towards the stairs. "I'll disguise myself or, or something and take the next train out of here." She stammered, looking down at her hands.

Forrest walked across the room to stand in front of her. He looked resigned. "You're too pretty to blend in anywhere you go. You'll come with us. Tomorrow morning at first light we will leave and head up into the hills and see to the stills. Should be enough time for things to settle down a minute. Go upstairs and pack your warmest clothes, pack enough for a couple days. Arthur has an extra nap sack you can use. We are traveling light."

Rose lifted her chin. "I know how to pack light," she said a little miffed that he seemed to be implying she was too girly to know what was appropriate to pack.

Forrest leaned in so he was speaking near her ear so only she could hear him. "Last time you packed you brought $300,000," Forrest said sardonically. "That's far from light."

Rose sniffed indignantly and turned on her heel and headed up the stairs.

She could hear Forrest continuing to give his brothers instructions.

Ten minutes later Forrest rapped lightly on her open door. She was laying out a pair of faded trousers and several shirts to wear beneath a warm sweater. He laid a thick, worn jacket on the bed. "It's a bit old," he said, "but my newer one isn't as warm."

Rose nodded as she took it from his hand. "Thank you," she told the floor. She couldn't help feeling like she was being a burden. Arthur had given her a knap sack. He at least had seemed as though he wanted her to be with them. Forrest was simply resigned.

Forrest turned to leave but she reached out and grabbed his arm. "I'm sorry Forrest," she said in a quiet voice.

"What are you apologizing for?" he looked genuinely confused but that did little to make Rose feel better.

"Everything, me. You having to bring me with you. You guys having to leave because of me. Being a burden. I never wanted that...I only wanted to help you." She turned away from him and refolded the clothes she had set out. They were already folded to perfection but she needed to be moving. She needed to be touching something and doing something not standing in front of him feeling exposed and vulnerable.

Forrest chuckled once and stepped further into the room. "If anything we owe you an apology. It's because of our business that you can't leave and that you have been put in danger time and time again."

Rose sniffled, her back still to him. "I'm the one who shot first at the Klan. I escalated that situation. Who knows, maybe they would have just left peacefully."

Forrest came over and sat in front of her on the bed, right on the clothes she had been fidgeting with. He touched her hands, very gently, giving her the option to pull away. He wasn't sure how shaken up she was from the attack earlier. He never pushed. Since he learned what happened to her he had never put her in a place where she felt uncomfortable. "Rose, if after all your time with us you think one of us wouldn't have escalated that then you are the dumbest person I know."

Rose snorted and closed her eyes as she felt herself smile.

"Once things blow over a little, we will get you safely on a train if you still want to leave."

Rose leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Forrest's. "Of course I don't want to leave."

Forrest stepped back and nodded. "Good." He moved to the door. "I think we are safe enough for the night. Try to get a couple hours of sleep. We are going to head up the hollow a first light."

"What about the Klan? Why not leave tonight?"

Forrest shook his head. "Even knowing these hills as well as we do, it's too dangerous to move around up there in the dark."

Rose let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. If they could all just make it through tonight they would be safe up in the hills. She hadn't realized how worried she was about the boys until there was actually hope on the horizon that they would all be safe. While the danger had kept coming and she was there for it she wasn't afraid for herself. She was afraid for them, and angry their enemies seemed to be continuing to use her against them. She needed to be strong enough to take care of herself so they could worry about themselves and not her.

Forrest mistook her relief. "Just gotta get through tonight and we can all sleep easy tomorrow night. No one but us know where our stills are. You'll be safe."

"Forrest, I'm not worried about me."

Forrest smiled sadly at her. "Me either," he leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead then left her alone.

Rose finished packing and pulled on the warm clothes she had laid out so she would be ready in the morning. The store was quiet and dark, but she didn't think she could sleep if she tried. The brothers deserved to sleep though. Leaving her nap sack on the bed she crept downstairs. She moved behind the counter and pulled out the shotgun. She set it on top of the counter and moved to sit at a stool. She flinched when she finally spotted him. He was sitting in a chair in the dark, his pistol on the table along with a half finished jar.

She took the shotgun and slid it onto the table top and sat down across the table from him. She reached out and took a sip from the jar. It burned going down and she started coughing and hacking. Her nose began to run and she could hear the blood pounding in her ears.

Minutes later when she finally stopped coughing she slid the jar back across the table. "That's terrible," she croaked and started another round of coughing.

Forrest smiled. "Lucky for us our customers don't feel the same."

Rose nodded. She motioned towards the guns. "We had the same thought."

Forrest nodded. "As you can see, you can get some sleep. I'll stay up tonight."

This was the most relaxed she had ever seen Forrest. He was leaning back in this chair, the liquor made his limbs loose and his eyes soft. It made her wish very much that they were not in the position they were, that they were not in the fight for their lives, that they were alone.

"I'll stay up with you, I don't think I could sleep if I tried."