Jimmy pushed Brady away from him and moved forward to where Juliet stood on a chair a noose around her neck and her hands tied behind her back. "Jules..." He said it menacingly, trying to intimidate her, "Just tell me where the goddamn money is and we'll let you go honey." Then he gave her a look telling her exactly what he was going to do to her if she told him. So she kept her lips tightly sealed and just stared down at him, her brown eyes blank. "Jules-" He stopped himself and pulled out his gun, he stepped back and shot one of the legs out, so her chair wobbled.

She adjusted herself, to keep her balance, and opened her mouth, not to tell him what he wanted but to spit at his feet. "You can kill me you redneck bastard, but you'll never get your money."

Angry he raised his leg and pushed the chair out from under her feet, just as she was going to fall and probably have her neck snapped in two; three shots rang out in succession. She toppled to the ground the rope having been shot into pieces, her hands still behind her back she searched for the horse she knew was coming. As soon as it got close she hopped up on top, and smiled maliciously at Jimmy, then kicked her feet into the sides of the horse. After leaving the town behind she saw her friend waiting for her, the one who'd saved her life. "Reagan..." Grinning she sped up, careful to keep her balance and made her way to the blond haired girl.

As she got close enough, Reagan smiled widely, "Damn, took ya long enough." Reagan rode up behind Juliet and pulled a knife out of her boot and cute the ropes on her hands. Pulling back she grinned at Juliet and put the knife back, "Thought they had gotten ya again."

Smirks, absently takes the ropes off from around her wrists and neck. "No, but it sure took ya long enough to help me out. Damn near though they were actually gonna succeed in killin' me." Laughing she started her horse off at a gallop alongside Reagan.

"I couldn't just storm in there, gun's blazin'. They prob'bly would'a shot me dead then had their way with ya." Snickers as they both ride off towards the plains, neither noticing the rider that had followed them surreptiously.

Over the course of the next few weeks Juliet and Ragan kept to a carefully charted out plan, they rode a certain amount of miles each day and made camp at the same time each night. It’d become a routine of theirs and when they were only two days ride from what they called home right now they decided to make camp a little earlier than planned. But that night Juliet’s excitement took over and she couldn’t seem to sleep, but Reagan dosed as soon as her head hit the pillow. After a few hours of tossing and turning Juliet made her way to a near by stream that they’d found earlier. She cupped a handful of water and threw it onto her face before completely dunking her head into the stream.

Laughing she pulled her head out and shook excess water off, then she stood and wrung out her hair, quickly braiding it. She made her way back to camp but paused at the edge of it at the sight she saw before her. A tall, well built, and all too familiar man stood above Reagan a gun aimed directly at her head. She couldn’t hear the whispered conversation but from the way Reagan sat stock still she figured it wasn’t anything good. Juliet crept around to where her horse was tied and slowly pulled the shotgun out that was hanging at the side of it. Not wanting Reagan to get hurt but also not wanting to blow her only chance she waited and waited for just the right opportunity.

As she did, bits of the conversation came to her and she realized it was about her, well her and the money they’d stolen from him. Finally she heard the clip in the gun start to rotate and she flew out of her hiding spot and behind the man. She bashed him on the back of the head with the butt of the shotgun and smiled ferociously as he crumpled to the ground in front of her. Juliet couldn’t even count the number of times he’d laughed in her face when she’d done that after a good beating from him. From the man she’d escaped from only days before, from Jimmy Capone.

Her beating for him didn’t stop there; she kept bashing the butt of the gun into his head or other body parts. Finally, Reagan came up behind her and gently wrapped her arms around Juliet’s trembling body. Soothingly she pushed hair from her face, and ran her hand up and down Juliet’s back. “I… I… I just-“ Juliet couldn’t even finish the sentence, she couldn’t say what she’d done, even though she knew she must have killed him.

Reagan just nodded and held her tightly, “I know what you did, but always remember what he did to you, again and again. Always remember that Kaleigh and know that what you did was the right thing. There was no way around this and we both knew that it might come down to this sooner or later.”

When Juliet didn’t respond, Reagan walked her away from the body and forced her to sit down; then she went back to where Jimmy lay and took out her knife. She had to make sure it was done because neither one could afford Jimmy not being dead and deciding to come after them again later on. She pulled his head back and slit his throat rather quickly; then she pulled the body towards the stream. Washing her blade in the river she stuck it back in her boot and began to dig a grave a few feet away. It took her a few hours but once it was done she had no qualms with kicking the body into it and piling the dirt back on.

She knew that they’d better get away or they’d end up dealing with Anthony and police which was another thing neither needed. Going back to the camp she realized that Juliet must have been thinking along the same lines because their things were packed and there was no trace of them having been there. Reagan mounted her horse and waited for Juliet to get back from wherever she’d gone. With that finished and Juliet back they both rode off towards home, more quiet and more sullen than they had been when they’d gotten to that camping spot.

Reagan didn’t even have to ask because she knew that that incident hat changed something in Juliet, she just didn’t know what. When they got to the house, she climbed off her horse and walked it to the barn. Smiling she looked around for the bright smile she’d come to expect once she got back, but what she saw stunned her. It was massacre, pure and simple; there was Henry and he was strung up in the barn. Reagan didn’t even bother to wait and see if anyone else was there she took off running for the house. As she ran in the door slammed against the wall, “Devlin? Dev, where are you?”

At first she didn’t hear him, but then the whimpers grew louder and she dashed up the stairs and into Devlin’s room to find him sitting on the bed, crying. She rushed over and pulled him to her, rocking back and forth gently, “Oh baby…”

Suddenly Juliet came to a stop in the doorway, she looked from Reagan to Tale and back again. “You know he can’t be raised in this Reage.”

Reagan only held Devlin tighter but she nodded a yes to Juliet’s question. She knew what she had to do and she would do it, to protect her son. “Devlin?”

When he pulled back and looked into her eyes, her heart broke into a thousand pieces, “Yeah?”

“You’re going to go with Jules for awhile.” Reagan quickly pulled away from him before he could do anything or she could stop herself from doing this. She strode out of the room and downstairs, back to the barn, unhooked her horse, and rode off without looking back once. Juliet stood in the doorway and watched as Tale finally began to understand that Reagan wasn’t coming back; she knew exactly when the tears were going to start. And she quickly made her way to his side to hug him to her and to comfort him in the only way she thought would help him. She rocked back and forth, holding him in her lap and began to sing. As he fell asleep in her lap she kissed the top of his head, “Tomorrow is a whole new day, sleep well little one, sleep well.”

And it was a whole new day; Juliet knew that this was the start of something good, something that could possibly help them get through what had happened. She just needed Tale to know that she was there and that she would never let anything happen to him because that was her biggest fear; that she wouldn’t be able to protect him in the end. She kept all this in mind and she packed their things, she wanted it all ready to go before Tale woke up. Quickly she threw their bags in the back of the wagon and rummaged through the house for any money, or things she could sell for money. There wasn’t much but it would be enough to get them away from here, bringing the horse around to the wagon she tried to ignore the bodies but it was hard to see her childhood love strung up in the barn.

Biting back a sob she climbed up to the overhang and brought out a knife she’d tucked in her boot and quickly sliced away at the rope keeping him there. Climbing back down she arranged Henry so that she could see his face; then she kissed her fingers and touched them to his already cold lips and stood. There was nothing she could do and mourning what is wouldn’t help Tale any, and standing there she made a promise to herself, to always protect him, to put him first, to show her love constantly, and to keep her friends secret, no one would find out that Tale wasn’t her little brother.

With the horses tethered and their belongings in the back of the wagon, everything was ready to go; except Juliet. It was hard to leave all of this behind because they’d worked so long for it and given up so much, but it was necessary. Wiping her hands on the front of her skirt she climbed the stairs to Tale’s room and saw that he was sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the wall. It was strange to see a boy of five looking so mature and so somber, she never wanted to see that look on his face again and she’d do everything she could to keep from seeing it.

“Devlin, honey…” Her sentence came out with a deep southern drawl, much more intense than it usually was; mostly because all of her emotions were getting to her and deepening her accent. When he looked up at her she cringed slightly having those empty eyes stare up at her, “It’s time to go.”

He stood and walked over; he must have sensed something because he gently placed his hand in hers and looked up waiting for her to start walking. She squeezed his hand lightly and then began walking towards the wagon, happy that she’d remembered to shut the doors to the parlor so he wouldn’t have to see the bodies again. Leaning down, she kissed his cheek and then picked him up and placed him in the front of the wagon before climbing in herself and taking the reigns. “Kay…” She looked over as he spoke her name softly, “Will Mommy ever come back?”

“Of course she will baby, she could never leave you.” With that she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and he leaned against her and closed his eyes, obviously exhausted. They traveled for awhile, sleeping where they could, eating what they could find, and occasionally selling something or buying something. One look at the horses told Juliet that they wouldn’t last much longer, but she didn’t need them too, the train station was just a town over and that’s where they were going.

Once there it wasn’t hard to figure out where to go, a big city, with lots of people. The first choice that came to mind was New York and that’s exactly what the tickets were for. This was it; this was her new beginning, hers and Tales. It was time to move on to forget about her past and to put her old ways behind her. Climbing onto the train she could just feel that this was going to be a great adventure but there was also a sense of overcoming dread in the pit of her stomach and she didn’t want to know what it was about; at least not yet, but whatever it was she’d make damn sure that Tale was okay and that he always would be okay.

more to come...