"Why were you running those horses so hard?" Lucas questioned, feigning hints anger towards his children.

Mark and Anna blushed, remembering the dozens of times he had told them not to gallop like there was no tomorrow unless it was an emergency.

"Sorry, Pa, but we’ve got something to tell you!" Mark said breathlessly.

Reaching deeply into their saddlebags, he and Anna pulled out the book reports they had both been working on for weeks.

"We got A’s, Papa!" Anna announced excitedly.

"Good girl!" Lucas said, delighted, before hugging her and Mark. His shining smile disclosed his evident thrill with his children's’ achievement. He gazed proudly at the neatly written papers, each with the considerably-sized red A in the top right corner.

"Pa, the teacher said ours were the best ones she’s ever read on Ivanhoe!" Mark grinned, ecstatic that such an awesome grade be given to such a horribly hard paper.

Lucas ushered his two children toward the door.

"Go show Milly what you made."

With that order upon their ears, Mark and Anna darted into the house.

"Look Mama!" Anna cried, waving her paper in front of Milly’s face.

"Hold that still! Let me see," Milly behested, her hands reaching to nab the moving paper from her daughter’s tight, excited grip. When the crumpled paper was still, she took it in her hands and looked quite pleased as her dark eyes briefly skimmed the paragraphs.

"Well, I’ll be. Lucas, did you see this? An A!"

Mark then handed his report to Milly, still gratified that his paper had on it the best grade you could get.

"See mine, too, Milly. It’s got an A on it too!" he smiled jubilantly, rather proud of himself.

"Yes, it does. Good for the both of you. Now, I’d say this would call for a celebration. Anna, honey, have you got any ideas?"

Anna jumped up and down until both of her feet were off the ground, and each time she landed as gently as a cat thrown from a hayloft.

"Oh yes yes! Let’s all go to town for supper!"

Lucas, Milly, and Mark all laughed at her enthusiasm, and Anna bounced off to her bedroom to change her clothes and brush her hair.

"Well, come on, will you? You all need to look nice, too. Now scat!" she commanded, sending the rest of her still-laughing family off to spruce up some.

****

Sometime around fifteen minutes later, the McCain's piled into their well-worn buckboard and trotted away to the small New Mexican town of North Fork. As the wagon rattled along, the happy children sang "Old Dan Tucker."

Anna and Mark sang the words expertly, laughing at the same time. Lucas’ strong baritone voice joined them for the chorus.

****

When they arrived in the growing little town, it was busy and bustling, for the afternoon stagecoach from Santa Fe had just rolled in.

"Whoa," Lucas called to the two horses drawing the wagon.

He jumped from the buckboard and tied the horses to one of the multiple hitching posts in North Fork. He then helped Milly from the wagon seat, and she smoothed out her full maroon-colored skirt.

Mark and Anna hastily jumped from the back, and scurried off toward Hattie Denton’s general store to expend the nickels Lucas had given them for making good grades on their book reports. Lucas and Milly laughed heartily at the anxiousness of the two youngsters to spend their money on candy.

A couple of moments later, North Fork’s marshal, Micah Torrance, ambled towards Lucas and Milly, tipping his hat towards one of the ladies he passed.

"Hello, Micah." Lucas said, lightly leaning upon a hitching post.

"Afternoon, Lucasboy. Knew you’d be in sometime today." the marshal responded.

Lucas’ eyes began to twinkle.

"Oh, you did, huh?" he said, smiling.

"Sure did. When school let out, Mark and Anna jumped on their horses and galloped out of here whoopin’ and hollerin’ like nothing else. I asked their teacher what it was all about and she said they’d both gotten A’s on some real tough book reports. So, I figured they’d run off like that to tell you and Miss Milly, and I expected you all to come back to celebrate or something."

Lucas grinned and placed his hand upon Micah’s shoulder.

"You know something, Micah? You’re absolutely right. We’re heading off to the hotel to eat supper right after Anna and Mark get their promised candy. Care to join us?"

Micah did not have to ponder long to make up his mind.

"You know, I think I just might."

Lucas smiled and said,

"Good. Let’s go."

The light-haired rancher took his wife by the hand, and the three companions strolled leisurely to the hotel to meet up with Anna and Mark.

****

Somewhere around ten minutes later, the McCain's and Micah were gathered around one of the hotel’s round tables, laughing and enjoying themselves. Anna was chatting rather lively, telling of various subjects, even though most of the time she was not being listened to.

Lucas heard the sound of two horses canter into North Fork, and, still chuckling, turned and glanced out the window. His face fell when he saw the horses’ riders. He remembered them, but only too well.

The riders were two men he had known back in the Nations. They had joined up with a very infamous outlaw, and they had known Lucas had disapproved of their choice, but they did not care.

One night in Enid, Oklahoma, the small town where Lucas had lived, the outlaw leader and Lucas’ ex-friends broke into the town’s bank to try to steal fifteen thousand dollars. Lucas had fortunately heard noises coming from the bank, so he had sneaked in the back door to try to stop them.

Now they were after him for revenge, not to mention the money Lucas had gotten for saving the bank. Lucas shook his head, transferring himself back to the present. Milly, Mark, and Micah had stopped laughing, and were looking at him worriedly, but Anna was still chattering along happily, not knowing that anything was wrong, or that anyone could be in danger.

The two outlaws entered the hotel, and glanced around. Lucas turned in his chair so he might see their faces. The men had looked into the hotel’s dining room, so their eyes caught Lucas’. For a long moment, they just stared at each other, and Lucas could see their eyes well enough to be able to tell they wanted blood. The yellowish glow in them sent a strange chill up his spine, and he shuddered. One of them leaned over to the other, and Lucas strained his ears to catch what they were whispering.

"You sure...him...ain’t...we...kill...or..." was, unfortunately, all he caught.

Still, the word "kill" made his ears perk up. By now, Anna had caught on, and was not laughing happily anymore.

"What’s wrong, Papa?" she whispered, worry clouding her beautiful bright blue eyes.

Lucas tried to smile, but his daughter knew that it was just not a real smile, because his forehead was furrowed slightly. She hastily grabbed his left arm in her small, warm hands.

"Please, Papa. Tell me," she begged.

Her father sighed, longing to keep his daughter from knowing how terrible the outlaws really were.

"They’re outlaws. They’re killers. They’re after me."

Both Mark and Anna’s eyes widened, and they quickly looked at each other in worry.

"What for, Pa?" Mark wondered aloud.

Slowly, Lucas told the story of why the men wanted to kill him. His children, wife, and best friend listened intently.

"But Papa, you haven’t told us their names!" Anna exclaimed, anxious to know the identities of the scoundrels who would dare try to murder her beloved father.

Lucas sighed, and said reluctantly, "Their names, Anna girl, are Rex and Pine Morgan."

Micah sat up straighter in his chair, recognizing the names as those of deadly outlaws.

"The Morgan Brothers! I should’ve known. There’s a two thousand dollar price tag on their heads. I ought to go and lock them up so they don’t bother you none, Lucas."

Lucas motioned with his hands for Micah to not do that.

"It might make trouble, Micah."

The marshal resumed his relaxed sitting position, but only because the look in his friend’s eyes was one that said, "No bloodshed, Micah. Not with my family here."

In silence, the family and marshal finished their meal, before rising from the table and exiting the hotel. The Morgan's watched them go, before signing the hotel register and retreating to their room to plot against Lucas.

As the two mercenaries rudely stomped up the stairs, their attire was extremely noticeable to anyone who cared to see it.

Their clothes were ragged and worn, and the leather on their gun holsters was beginning to crack. Rex’s pants had rips and tears in them, and the cuffs of Pine’s were faded out and frayed. Their hats were dusty, and their boots were covered in caked-on mud and......blood. The blood of others they had brutally murdered.

They looked just like the evil they were. Their eyes burned with anger, and if one looked closely enough, it was possible to see the years of hate that had eaten away at their merciless souls.

Once in their room, Rex Morgan collapsed on the crisp, clean, wrought iron-framed bed and sighed before laughing hysterically. His beady eyes darted around the cheery blue and white room, noticing even the smallest detail.

"What’s so funny?" His slow-minded brother asked.

"Oh, nothin’. Just we’re gonna get back at that McCain for what he done, killin’ the Boss an’ all," Rex replied.

"I say we find out where he lives, get out there, and just kill him!" Pine exclaimed impatiently.

"You worthless brother!" Rex said, leaping from his lounged position on the bed and cuffing his brother in the jaw. "What’s the matter with you? I say we just hang around. Make him sweat a little, you know? Rile him up a bit. Then, we can kill him."

He laughed an evil laugh, and Pine massaged his jaw, which now had a red mark on it from where Rex had thoughtlessly slapped him.

"Sure, Rex. Whatever you say."

****

The next afternoon, Lucas rode into North Fork to retrieve his children from school. School had not ended yet, so while he waited for Anna and Mark, he decided to talk to Micah.

He dismounted his horse, and strode into Micah’s office. The marshal was filling out his paperwork, and there were stacks of "WANTED" posters to his left. He looked up at his friend, and put down his pencil.

"Howdy, Lucas," Micah said.

"Micah," Lucas replied, nodding a return to the greeting.

Micah returned to his work, the pencil making little scritch-scratch sounds as it swiftly moved across the paper. Lucas perched himself upon the marshal’s desk and began to roll one of Micah’s pencils in his hand. Micah looked up from his paperwork to Lucas and said,

"You look worried."

Lucas dropped the pencil back into the pencil jar, and replied,

"I hate to admit it, Micah, but I am."

"Want to talk it over?" the lawman questioned.

Lucas nodded slightly, and answered bluntly,

"I’m worried about the Morgan's, Micah."

Micah nodded, agreeing, and looked at Lucas to tell him to continue. Lucas needed no hints, and kept speaking.

"I want to get them out of town, but I don’t want to have any gunplay around Mark and Anna. More than anything, I want to keep them out of this."

Micah stacked some papers on his desk, then stood to tack some of the "WANTED" posters to his bulletin board.

"I know how you feel, Lucasboy. I’d like to see those Morgan's locked up as much as you would. You know, maybe they’re....."

He left his sentence unfinished. He did not have to say anything. Lucas knew what he was going to say. He was going to suggest that maybe they were just passing through. Lucas made no response, but the look on his face spoke for him. It said that he knew they were not just passing through.

A few moments passed in silence before Lucas rose from his perch upon Micah’s desk and stepped towards the door.

"Well Micah, I’m going to go wait for Mark and Anna to get out of school. Maybe I’ll meet up with the Morgan brothers and talk to them."

Micah followed him to the door as he left.

"Be careful, Lucasboy. Try not to rile them."

"I know, Micah. I know."

****

After Lucas left Micah’s office, he strode down North Fork’s streets to wait until Anna and Mark finished school, but the Morgan brothers appeared from the hotel first.

"Well! Luke McCain," the oldest, Rex, exclaimed upon seeing him. "If’n you ain’t a sight for sore eyes!"

Lucas turned apathetically and eyed them cautiously.

"Yes, Morgan, it’s been a while."

Rex seemed to be slightly insulted by Lucas’ curt reply.

"Why Luke, ain’t you glad to see me an’ Pine?"

"Let’s just say I didn’t think I’d ever see you two again."

Pine Morgan approached Lucas and tried to warm up the chilly atmosphere by saying,

"Why don’t you join me an’ Rex in a little drink, hm?"

Lucas nodded slowly, and Rex Morgan said blithely,

"All right then! Let’s go."

The three of them strolled down the street to North Fork’s saloon, and when they strode up to the bar, Rex rapped upon the counter with his knuckles to call Sweeney the bartender to their service.

"Hey barkeep, get me a bottle of whiskey an’ three glasses."

Lucas cocked an eyebrow at the outlaw, then turned to Sweeney and said,

"Make that two glasses, Sweeney, and get me a beer."

He looked over at the surprised looks on the faces of the Morgan brothers, and lifting an eyebrow again, added,

"And I’ll pay for it."

Sweeney nodded and turned away to retrieve the order.

"No whiskey?!" Pine Morgan asked, in shock that a man the size of Lucas McCain did not drink what he called "the best stuff two bits can buy".

Lucas nodded, and noticing that his drink had come, picked it up and took a small sip from it. Rex Morgan moved a little closer to him and said,

"Do you know what we come for, Luke?"

Lucas just stared at his glass, and focused on it. His eyes moved neither to meet Rex’s in a cold stare, nor once did they blink.

"I know," he said, his voice low and deep.

"Good," Rex continued. "And you’re going to cooperate?"

"I didn’t say I would."

"You know what’ll happen if you don’t....?"

Lucas quickly snapped his head around and glared at Rex, his eyes flashing.

"Is that a threat?"

Rex’s face seemed defensive now, and he took a slightly frightened step backwards.

"Did I say it was?"

"Well if it is," Lucas muttered. "you’re not going to shoot me down in cold blood right in the middle of the street where the lives of you and your brother will be in jeopardy."

Pine Morgan’s hand went for his holster. Lucas saw him, and stood up straight. His right hand quickly grabbed his rifle from the counter and pointed it directly at the outlaw.

With his left hand, he motioned for the outlaw to drop his gun upon the counter, which he did as fast as he could.

"I wouldn’t try that if I were you. And, I advise you and your brother to get out of this town and my sight before you make a mistake you’re both going to regret."

Tossing some money down upon the bar counter to pay for his drink, Lucas glared at the brothers and strode out of the saloon. Rex’s face burned with hate, and quickly moving to the saloon doors, he clenched his fists, and looked out into the street to watch Lucas stroll down the street towards the schoolhouse.

"I’ll get you good, Luke. I’ll get you good."

****

At exactly three o’clock, Mark and Anna sped from the schoolhouse along with many other children. They ran a little ways to where their father was waiting with their horses, and when they reached him, effortlessly jumped on their gentle "steeds".

"Anything bad happen, Pa?" Mark questioned, hoping all was peaceful and quiet.

"No, son. Nothing bad." Lucas replied.

Anna studied her father’s face for a few moments before saying knowingly,

"Papa, you talked to them, didn’t you?"

Lucas knew he couldn’t hide the truth from his sometimes startlingly acute daughter, so he sighed and answered,

"Yes, I talked to them."

Anna glanced momentarily at Mark, then looked back to her father.

"And they said....?" she prodded.

Lucas sighed again, and replied,

"They didn’t say it right out, but they meant to say they would kill me if I didn’t hand over the money the sheriff gave me when I shot their gang leader."

Anna and Mark gasped, and her eyes widened.

"No....no! They can’t do that!" she exclaimed decisively, furrowing her eyebrows and pounding her fist on the saddle horn.

She leaned to the left from her saddle to clutch her father’s arm.

"You....you won’t let them, will you?" she asked, worried.

Lucas smiled slightly, and said,

"No, I’ll try not to, Anna."

Temporarily reassured, Mark and Anna spurred their horses into a gentle, rocking lope, and Lucas followed as they left North Fork for home.

****

For two more days, the Morgan brothers antagonized Lucas whenever he went to pick up his children from school, or went to do anything at all in North Fork. Sometimes it was so terrible that Lucas just wanted to clench his hands around their necks and squeeze.

Other times, their nerve-wracking actions and crude remarks just about drove Lucas to the breaking point. The presence of the galling outlaws was even driving Anna and Mark to the brink of insanity, and the entire town of North Fork to extreme fatigue and annoyance.

On the night of the third day, after Anna and Mark had, of course, reluctantly gone to bed, Lucas and Milly stayed up talking. Lucas was nervously pacing the floor, knowing that after so much antagonization, the Morgan's would try to murder him.

Milly sat by the roaring fireplace, quietly patching up a hole in one of Mark’s work shirts so it might last another six months or so.

"Lucas, you’ll wear a hole in the floor. And I can’t stitch that up so it’ll last another six months."

Lucas sank into his armchair, and, putting his forehead in his hand, breathed a huge sigh of anxiety.

"I’m sorry, Milly. It’s just that I’m so worried."

"About what, Lucas?"

"About the Morgan brothers. They’ve been real nuisances for the past three days. And I know that they know they’re wearing me down, so when they want to kill me, it’ll be real easy for them to make it look like I was annoyed and tried to draw on them."

"Lucas, you don’t mean that?"

"I’m not sure. Why else would they try to force my hand? Oh, Milly. I don’t want to have any gunplay when we go to town tomorrow for supplies!"

Meanwhile, Anna had been awakened by the conversation and had crept from her room, down the hall from the bedroom extension to the main part of the house, and had hidden behind the bookshelf that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Oh my goodness," she said to herself. "Papa’s afraid! He doesn’t want to go to town tomorrow because he’s afraid of those darned Morgan's."

For the first time in her life as a McCain, she was doubting her father. Why? Because of the tone in his voice. She listened carefully to the rest of the conversation, being cautious not to let herself be seen or heard.

"Milly, I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I’m actually a little bit afraid of the Morgan's."

Anna, having known it all along, leapt up from behind the bookshelf and rushed into the living room.

"I knew it! You’re afraid of them, Papa! You’re afraid of two men. Two men who aren’t as good as you!"

Milly sharply spoke.

"Anna, go back to your bed! You’re not supposed to be up!"

Gently, Lucas quieted his wife, and turned his attention to Anna.

"You know what Anna? You’re right. You are right."

Only then did Anna realize the raw fierceness of her words, but it was too late. The words had left her mouth and had landed on her father’s heart. She desperately wished she were not such an impetuous girl, but there was nothing to be done about it. At least, there was no remedy for it that she had heard of.

"Oh, Papa, I’m so sorry for saying that! I didn’t mean it! Honest I didn’t!"

Lucas held up his hand, a command for her to be silent.

"Of course I’m afraid of them. They’re threatening my life and the lives of my wife and two children. Why shouldn’t I be afraid?"

He leaned against the mantle over the fireplace, and ran a hand through his hair, a clear picture of his stress.

"You shouldn’t be afraid of them, Papa!" Anna exclaimed, her blue-grey eyes flashing and red hair sparkling supernaturally. "Why, they’re just a couple of no-good outlaws! Wicked men is all they are! You’re better than they are, Papa!"

Lucas turned quickly and spoke sharply.

"How many times have I told you that no man is better than another, girl?"

Anna’s eyes stung with tears as the piercing tone of her father’s voice sank in. She turned to go back to bed, her shoulders slumped. Lucas realized the harshness of his tone of voice, and held out his arms.

"Anna, come here."

Anna obeyed, and walked into her father’s strong arms.

"I didn’t mean to speak that way, Anna." he said quietly, smoothing her hair.

"It’s all right," she answered quietly, trying to at least sound cheerful.

But, it was obvious her spirit had been broken. The tone of her father’s usually kind voice had pierced through her heart like William Tell’s arrow through an apple.

"No, it’s not. No father should ever speak to his child that way. It’s just that...well...."

"I understand, Papa," Anna said, looking up at him, trust and love shining, and Lucas’ spirit burning, in her eyes. "Really I do. The only thing is that you ought not be afraid of them. They’re just a couple of no-good outlaws that long for the blood of others. You’ve no need to be afraid of lousy scum like that."

Milly’s eyes flashed at the words "lousy scum," and her lips quivered with some kind of reprimand. Anna noticed her face.

"Sorry, Mama."

Lucas pondered her words, and said thoughtfully,

"Anna, you’re right again. I shouldn’t be afraid of them. Because, if I am, it’ll make them think that they can make me fear them, and that will make them feel all-powerful. So tomorrow, we’re going to North Fork to get those supplies and not worry about the Morgan brothers!"

Anna smiled happily, and as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss Lucas good-night, whispered in his ear,

"Make sure your rifle is loaded, just in case."

Lucas laughed, and shooed her off to bed. She scurried off to her room, and a few moments later, he and Milly heard her door click shut. Assured that both children were asleep, they too went to bed for some shut-eye of their own.

****

The next morning, Lucas awakened before the rest of his family to prepare the buckboard wagon for the supply trip to North Fork, and to complete his chores.

Somewhere in between fifteen and twenty minutes later, he gave the horses pats on their backs before plodding up to the house for his breakfast. When he entered the house, he found it was almost complete chaos.

Anna and Mark were running around as fast as they could to try to set the table, and Milly was wearing out her skillet to try and make enough pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon to provide her children and husband with an adequate meal.

Milly’s soft black hair was not fixed up like it normally was, Mark’s light brown shirt was only half tucked in, and Anna’s copper-red hair was tousled and falling out of her lavender hair ribbon. Lucas looked somewhat shocked, and Mark noticed him.

"Oh, hi, Pa. We were wondering when you’d come in. Sorry we all look like this, but we got up later than we shoudda, and we want to hurry up and have breakfast so we could get to town."

Lucas nodded, understanding, before heading towards his and Milly’s bedroom. On the way, he tousled Mark’s hair so it stood up like unkempt grass, and kissed Anna on top of her head. She giggled, then continued to set the table.

"I’m going to wash up before breakfast," he said.

"All right, Lucas," Milly answered. "No hurry here."

"It seems there is!" he exclaimed, causing Anna and Mark to laugh together.

Smiling, he turned and exited into the bedroom, and shut the door.

****

Only a couple short minutes later, Lucas returned to the main part of the house. His strawberry-blonde hair was neatly combed back and a fresh, powder blue cotton shirt had been put on.

The hustle had slowed down by now, and his wife and children were sitting at the table, waiting patiently for him.

"We wondered when you were gonna get here!" Anna giggled.

Lucas smiled and sat down at his place. Milly gave him a plate of steaming pancakes, complete with a pat of butter on top.

"Looks good, Milly," he said.

"Thank you, Lucas," Milly replied modestly, before serving Mark, Anna, and herself.

The family said Grace together, then they began eating.

"Well, I guess today’s supply day," Lucas began.

"Oh Pa, do we have to?" Mark cut in.

Milly eyed Mark, warning him not to interrupt, but he seemed as though he did not notice.

"Yes, Mark, we have to go. Milly needs some material to make you a new shirt, and we need some oats, flour, wire, and gun polish." Lucas answered.

Noting Mark’s worried expression, he continued,

"Thinking about the Morgan's?"

For a moment, the room was quiet. Then Mark nodded. Anna grinned and piped up,

"Don’t worry, Mark. Nothing bad’ll happen."

Mark was then reassured, and breakfast continued.

****

When the meal was finished and the dishes washed and dried, and Milly was satisfied that her children looked all right, the McCain's piled into the buckboard. Well, Mark and Anna piled. Lucas, being the gentleman he was, helped Milly ascend to the wagon seat. The children were indeed raring to go.

"All set?" Lucas asked.

"Ready!" Mark and Anna chorused.

"Okay, then," Lucas replied, slapping the lines across the backs of the horses.

With a lurch, the family set off towards North Fork and what awaited them there.

****

When they arrived in town, the streets were very quiet, except for a few brave souls zig-zagging between the buildings.

"Where is everybody, Papa?" Anna asked, carefully eying the almost empty street.

Lucas jumped from the wagon and tied the horses to a hitching post before answering.

"I don’t know Anna. You, Mark, and Milly go get what we need, and I’ll go see if Micah knows anything about this."

He grabbed his rifle from the floor of the wagon and started towards the marshal’s office.

Anna and Mark jumped from the back of the buckboard, and Mark helped Milly slowly descend from the seat so her skirt would not become entangled in the wagon.

"Shouldn’t have worn a skirt, Mama," Anna laughed, teasing her mother.

Milly placed her hands on her hips and replied,

"You know darn well I always wear a skirt when we come to get supplies!"

Anna and Mark skipped into Hattie’s store, and Anna called over her shoulder,

"Unlike me!"

Milly sighed, knowing it was impossible to get Anna to dress up, except on Sundays and special occasions, before following her and Mark into the store and proceeding to purchase the supplies they needed.

****

Meanwhile, Lucas was talking to Micah inside the small marshal’s office. One of the windows was cracked open some to let in some cool air, and the café curtains Micah had on his windows were blowing gently in the breeze.

Sunshine streamed in through the door, but all that light was not enough to shoo away the dark feeling that was hanging over North Fork.

"Why’s the street so quiet, Micah?" Lucas asked.

"Why?" Micah replied. "The Morgan brothers."

"The Morgan brothers?" Lucas exclaimed, mixed emotions shadowing his face. "What’d they do?"

"They got real drunk last night and ran around bragging to kill you today. Most folks took them seriously and left town in fear of them."

Lucas sighed and nodded affirmably.

"I should’ve known. They were wanting to get their hands the cash that I got when I shot their gang leader."

"You be careful, Lucasboy. I don’t want you to get hurt."

Lucas nodded, agreeing to be as careful as possible. He opened his mouth to say something else when a gunshot rang out.

Quickly he and Micah grabbed their guns and rushed out of the office. Standing in the middle of the street were Rex and Pine Morgan.

"The Morgan's," Lucas muttered under his breath.

"Well, Luke! We wondered how long it would take!" Rex said, laughing menacingly.

"Morgan, you’d better not be shooting that gun off," Micah said warningly.

"Aw, shut up Marshal!" Rex’s brother Pine yelled, hints of the previous night’s drunkenness still obvious in his movements.

Rex turned sharply and smacked his brother.

"Didn’t I tell you to shut up once today?" he yelled, his index finger pointed in his brother’s face.

Pine put up his hands in defense of himself, and stepped back a few steps.

Of course, the Morgan’s gunshot had attracted the attention of the folks that were in town. Anna and Mark were standing outside Hattie’s store, watching the scene with wide and frightened eyes, like those of a scared jackrabbit’s.

"What do you want, Morgan?" Lucas asked.

"You know what we want, McCain."

Lucas rocked back and forth on his feet and answered,

"Yes, I do, but you’re not going to try to get it right here and now, are you?"

Pine Morgan went for his gun, but his brother whispered,

"We won’t get anywhere by shootin’ him right out."

Rex walked closer to Lucas and said,

"You know somethin’, Luke? Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’d be better if we just dropped the whole subject."

He lifted his hat from his head, and swept it in front of him as if making a polite and gentlemanly bow. He quickly looked up while feigning the bow, and seeing he had Lucas off-guard with his words, he pulled his fist back and punched Lucas in the stomach.

Lucas yelped, reeled backwards, and sank to his knees. His rifle fell from his hand and clattered on the wooden boardwalk.

The jab had caught him off-guard because his thoughts had been centered on how to get the outlaws out of town, and how to keep his family safe.

"Lucasboy!" Micah exclaimed, kneeling to see if his friend was all right.

Lucas’ hair was fallen into his eyes, and he coughed, trying to regain his breath.

"I’m all right, Micah," he whispered, for the wind had been knocked from him.

Micah tried to help Lucas to his feet, but Rex pushed him away.

"He can get up on his own, Marshal,"

Lucas staggered to his feet, but before he got a chance to regain himself, Rex Morgan threw his fist at Lucas’ jaw, and Lucas tried to shake the punch off.

The sharpness of the outlaw’s knuckles had been just enough to draw blood, so a tiny trail of it was now trickling down from the corner of Lucas’ mouth. His hand touched the corner of his mouth, and when he drew it away, he saw the red on his gloved fingers.

"You think you’ll get the money this way, Morgan?" he asked, out of breath.

Rex laughed cruelly.

"Nothin’ gets past you, huh?" he taunted.

Meanwhile, his brother had sneaked up behind Micah and had brought his pistol down hard on the back of the marshal’s head. Micah groaned and slumped to the ground. Anna and Mark made a dash for Micah, but Pine spun around, his gun drawn on them.

"I suggest you get back by that store, kiddies, cause you might not want to be around when things get nasty."

Anna and Mark glanced frightendly at each other, then looked towards Lucas for instruction.

"Do as he says," Lucas said, rubbing his throbbing and bleeding jaw.

His children glanced at each other again, and turned around to return to the store.

Lucas turned his attention back to Rex Morgan, only to be greeted by another punch in the jaw.

This time, Lucas retaliated, and shoved his fist into Rex’s stomach. The outlaw tumbled into the street, and Lucas followed him, grabbed him by the shirt collar and hit him in the jaw, just like he himself had been punched.

Pine watched the fight, his pistol pointed at Micah to be sure he would not get up and defend Lucas. Anna and Mark also watched, scared to move anywhere.

For what seemed like hours, the fight continued, until Rex got the upper hand and almost beat the life out of Lucas.

"Pa," Mark whispered, his voice breaking and eyes filling to the brim with tears.

Anna could not speak. Her eyesight became blurred by oncoming tears as she watched in horror what had happened to Lucas. The outlaw had hit her father so hard, he was just a crumpled pile in the middle of the street.

She thought quickly and hard, trying to think of some way to help her father. As she thought, both Micah and Lucas began to regain consciousness.

Lucas sat up, and shook his head, trying to shake off the cloud of pain and dizziness that hung over him. He blinked, and looked around. He noticed that the Morgan brothers were laughing at him. Micah was also awake now, but he pretended to still be knocked out.

"Well, Luke! That didn’t keep you out of the game, I see," Rex Morgan taunted.

"You call this a game?" Lucas asked weakly.

He tried to stand, but he had been hit so hard, he was too weak. So, he just crumpled back to his knees. Mark hastily sprinted towards Lucas, and gently tried to help his father rise to his feet.

"Are you all right, Pa?" Mark asked in a hushed whisper.

Lucas patted his son’s shoulder, and replied just as quietly,

"Yes, Mark, I’m all right."

Mark gently helped his father stand, his hand tightly gripping Lucas’ elbow. He then kindly made sure Lucas could stand on his own two feet without toppling over, then returned to the general store, casting a loving glance at his father .

The outlaw brothers were laughing brutally at the slight damage they’d done so far. Suddenly, Rex turned to his brother and said,

"Pine, it’s your turn,"

Pine smiled evilly and drew his gun.

"My pleasure."

Pulling the trigger, he began to shoot at Lucas. As best he could, the rancher tumbled to hide behind a water trough as bullets ricocheted off the water. Micah then quickly sat up, and threw Lucas’ rifle towards him as hard as he could.

"Here, Lucasboy!" he cried as he released the rifle into the air.

The rifle twisted through the air, and landed only a few feet away from its owner. Lucas quickly reached out to get it, and no sooner than he had, a bullet bounced off the dirt. He cocked the gun, and began firing at Pine Morgan.

Now there were bullets whizzing through the air and making holes in the windows and doors of the buildings on either side of the street. Strangely though, neither man fell. Not yet, anyhow.

Micah ducked as a bullet sailed through one of his windows, and quickly ran to where Anna and Mark were standing. Anna was still thinking of something to do. As she thought, Mark and Micah were trying to think of their own ways to get rid of the Morgan's.

As the bullets from Lucas’ rifle and Pine Morgan’s pistol crossed paths, Rex was just standing around watching, an evil smirk upon his face.

Micah and Mark were still trying to think of ideas, but one by one they were decided against.

Suddenly, the shots stopped, and Anna looked up, fearing for the worst, but saw exactly the opposite.

Pine Morgan was lying dead in the street, and his brother was standing over him, blood glowing in his eyes. He turned like a savage dog towards Lucas, yelling through clenched teeth,

"My brother! You killed my brother!"

In an instant, his gun was drawn from its holster, pointed at Lucas, and again bullets began to fly towards Lucas.

"No!" Anna cried, and jumped up, wondering why she hadn’t done anything before.

"Anna, don’t!" Mark yelled, but she was already trying to wrestle the gun away from Rex Morgan.

All the muscles in Anna’s small, slender body were straining against two-hundred pounds of outlaw to try to get the gun from his hand so he could not shoot her father, because she knew he would.

"No! Don’t shoot my Papa!" she cried, childhood fear and Lucas’ stubbornness covering her face.

The outlaw pushed her away, and pointed the gun at Lucas, but Anna regrouped and charged back into him, again reaching for the gun. Twice it was just within her reach, but every time it was jerked back.

Lucas, who had been resting from the fight and shootout, heard his daughter’s yells, stood up, and ran towards the outlaw. He grabbed Rex’s wrist, and began to wrestle the gun away himself.

"Go, Anna, go back to the store," he commanded.

Anna obeyed, and let go of the gun, but as she turned away, Rex Morgan managed to free his wrist from Lucas’ grip and pull the trigger.

The world felt so quiet and still, the gunshot seemed to echo off the buildings as if the town were deserted.

Anna’s eyes closed tightly in pain, and she slumped to the ground, her tiny frame crumpled into a ball. Blood appeared on the back of her shirt, just beneath her shoulder blade, and she lay still.

For a moment, Lucas stared in shock as his daughter fell to the ground, then, realizing what had just happened, turned on Rex Morgan. His hands clenched tightly around the outlaw’s neck, choking him.

"You lousy scum, you shot my daughter!" he yelled, teeth clenched and hair again fallen over his eyes.

His brilliant blue eyes were flashing. They seemed full of lightning and fire. His pulse raced, and his mind only thought about hurting Rex Morgan. He did not even think of going to Anna’s side yet. Mark was there. He only thought about hurting the outlaw who hurt his daughter.

His grip tightened around Rex’s neck, and when the outlaw could hardly breath any more.....Lucas let him go.

Morgan fell to the ground, and Micah jumped up and dragged him to a jail cell.

"He won’t be going anyplace for a while," Micah muttered to himself.

Lucas did not make any response to Micah’s remark, because now he had to attend to Anna. He knelt beside his daughter, and gingerly picked her up. Mark looked up at his father and down at his sister.

"Pa! Will she be all right?" he asked, concerned for his sister’s welfare.

He had never worried about anyone other than his father before, but for some reason it felt natural to worry for Anna. Perhaps it was because he was three or four years older than she, but he did not know. All he knew was that she had been hit by a bullet, and he worried over her.

Lucas looked Anna over, then his face turned grim.

"That Rex Morgan shot her in the left side of her back."

Mark’s heart sank to his boots. She’s dead, he thought to himself.

"Is it really.... that bad?" he asked, fearing the worst.

Lucas gently laid Anna’s head in his right arm, picked up her limp and barely-breathing body, and stood up.

"I don’t know, son. It’s pretty deep somewhere in there. It’s going to be close," he said worriedly, before trudging down to Doc Burrage’s office to see what he could do for his daughter.

He entered the office, and Doc Burrage exclaimed,

"Luke! What happened to Anna?"

"She got mixed up in the gunfight out there."

The Doc prepared his equipment, and put his stethoscope around his neck.

"I heard it. Is she hurt real bad?"

Lucas laid his daughter on her stomach upon the bed in the office, and replied,

"I don’t know. One of the outlaws out there shot her in the left side of her back."

Doc Burrage looked her over, and said,

"It’s probably real close. I can’t tell yet."

By now there was, of course, a hole and a huge red spot on the back of Anna’s sage green shirt where the bullet had gone in.

"I’m going to need to get started right away, Luke. You mind waiting outside?"

Lucas shook his head, and opened the door to leave. Milly ran to her husband and cried,

"Lucas! Is she all right...?"

Lucas put his arm around Milly, and answered,

"I don’t know yet. Doc has to check."

Just then, Mark, who was sitting in utter shock by Hattie’s store, jumped on his horse and galloped out of town. Lucas and Milly looked up, and Lucas said gently,

"I’ll go see what’s bothering the boy. Why don’t you go sit with Anna?"

Milly nodded, entered the doctor’s office, and shut the door behind her. Lucas pushed his hair into place, strode to his horse, mounted, and cantered from the streets of North Fork.

He cantered about a mile or two out of town, and he saw Mark sitting curled up beside the pond where all the boys liked to go fishing.

Lucas tugged on the reins, and his horse halted. He dismounted and wrapped the reins around a tree limb, and walked over to Mark.

He sat down beside his son, and asked gently,

"What’s the matter, Mark?"

Mark lifted his head from his hands, and Lucas saw that his son’s face was streaked with tears.

"Anna’s dead, isn’t she Pa?"

"Oh no, Mark. At least, I hope not. Even if she is, she’d have died for a good reason. If she’s dead now, it was for good. She ran out there to try to wrestle the gun away from Rex Morgan because she loves you, me, Milly, and Micah, and if she is dead now, it was a perfect example of your sister’s selfless love. But no, she’s not dead!" Lucas replied.

His eyes were welling up with tears, but he choked them back. He just could not bear to think of his Anna as dead, so in his mind he told himself it could not be so.

"But what if she IS dead, Pa? I was getting pretty jealous because you'd adopted her and it seemed like you forgot all about me."

Lucas looked in shock at his son.

"Mark, you were jealous? Haven’t I told you not to be?"

"I know, Pa, but when she came, I thought she was only going to be at our place for a few weeks! I didn’t think you and Milly were going to adopt her! I didn’t mind you adopting her so bad, but after you did, it seemed like the only person you cared about was Anna! Anna this, Anna that. You seemed like you were forgetting all about me and only loving her!"

Mark put his head back into his hands, and sighed heavily.

"Mark, I don’t believe what I just heard. I didn’t trade in my love for you for her! You see son," Lucas replied, putting one of his strong, loving arms around his son. "in Boston, she was living with her aunt and uncle, and they didn’t give her the time of day. Her aunt only cared about her social status, and only cared about dressing up her girls to be better than anyone else. So, no one back in Boston gave her any love. I was only trying to make her feel welcome and make up for the lack of love she was given. Son, I could never love Anna any more than I love you, or you any more than her. You both hold equal places in my heart, boy."

Mark looked into his father’s eyes, and whispered,

"I sure hope she’s not dead, Pa!"

He burst into tears, and Lucas grabbed his son into his arms in a loving, consoling hug.

****

After Mark had had a good cry, he and Lucas rode back into North Fork. The town was still quiet, and Mark was rather solemn in anticipation of learning whether or not his sister was alive. As their horses cantered into town, Mark’s dark brown eyes caught sight of Anna standing in the doorway of Doc Burrage’s office.

The sunlight was shining through the windows and was forming a prism on the floor. Anna’s shadow stretched far into the building. Her face was illuminated by a big smile, and her left shoulder was bandaged and resting in a sling. Milly stood behind her, patting her hair, and was also smiling.

"Anna?" Mark whispered, almost doubting, his eyes slightly squinting. "Anna!"

Quickly he leapt from the back of his moving horse and ran towards his sister, while Lucas dismounted and tied both his and Mark’s animals to a hitching post.

Anna smiled, watching her brother come to her. She knew how he had been feeling, so she walked out of the shade of the doctor’s doorway to meet him.

Mark tried to stop himself before he reached her, but he had gathered too much speed. He threw his arms around his sister, and she staggered backwards, for he had almost knocked her over. Her right arm patted Mark on the back as she regained her footing, and she could tell her brother was sobbing. She knew what he was crying about.

"Shh, Mark, it’s all right." Now her eyes were becoming moist, and she bit her lip to keep from crying. "It’s all right Mark, don’t cry. Don’t cry."

Lucas and Milly watched the tender scene, and their hearts were touched. Lucas hugged Milly, and kissed her on top of the head, and Milly wiped her eyes with her index finger.

Even Micah had been drawn from his office at Mark’s joyful cry. Finally the heart-tugging hug was broken up, and both Mark and Anna sniffled and wiped their eyes.

"Anna, I have something to tell you," Mark began.

Anna put her good hand on her brother’s shoulder, and replied,

"You don’t have to, Mark. I already know."

Mark stared at her in surprise.

"But....how? How did you know what I was going to say?"

Anna laughed buoyantly.

"Some folks might call it intuition, but let’s just say a little birdie told me, shall we?"

They both laughed, knowing she meant Milly, and Mark said,

"I’m sorry I was jealous, Anna,"

"It’s all right, Mark. I forgive you."

They hugged again, before walking to Lucas, Milly, and Micah. Micah gave Anna a grandfatherly hug, and Lucas suggested,

"How about we all go over to the hotel to get something to eat?" he looked around at everyone around him. "This time, without outlaws riding in to ruin it."

He looked down at Anna, whose eyes were sparkling, and taunted,

"Guess that shirt’s ruined now!"

Anna rolled her eyes. She knew he meant that her favorite shirt now had a hole in it and a pretty good-sized spot of blood on the back, and she also knew her father was going to get a lot of mileage out of teasing her about her shirt being soiled.

"I don’t think it shows THAT much," she twisted her head to try to see. "Does it?"

Everyone laughed, and Lucas pushed her hat forward on her head, and then he pushed Mark’s hat forward on his head, too. The happy family and Micah strode to the hotel’s dining room, with Mark and Anna skipping in front.