OCTOBER 26, 1861

Daniel saw the figure approaching him yet again. The nightmares were getting worse and worse. He hated not knowing who the girl was or the man for that matter. The man was always in the shadows. You couldn’t see him but you knew he was there. The black shadow of a man always showed up in his nightmare first and then came the girl. At the beginning she was far away, but as the nightmares progressed, he began to see more and more of her.

Every night she would creep closer until he could see her long flaming red hair and dark charcoal eyes. He wanted her to get closer still so that maybe he could see something more that would trigger his memory and tell him who she was, but every time he tried to walk closer to her, she would disappear and the dark shadowy figure would appear again. He would be off trying to run down the man to see his face to know who he was but of course it always ended where Daniel would end up losing the man and he would wake up.

But tonight was different. As the girl got closer, Daniel had this feeling that something peculiar was about to happen. This time the girl got closer, so close that he could reach out and touch her or so he thought in his dream. Her red hair becoming a bright bright red, and finally it changed to fire. As the blazing fire was licking closer and closer to him, he could hear the girl laughing and rubbing the beads that she wore around her neck. Then shapes began to appear in the fire. His baby, his son, DJ, then little Elizabeth and Grant appeared. The babies were crying, the fire was moving towards him, and just as it was about to engulf him, he jerked awake. He was sweating profusely. He felt guilty about Meg’s home, the children, misplacing Meg’s children and his own, he could never forgive himself for that. He quietly got out of bed and tiptoed outside. On the back porch he breathed in the cool air and tried to calm himself.

That girl! He suddenly remembered where he had seen that girl. He had seen her one day when he was heading out to Meg’s. The man, the man was the same man working at the bordello. He had stopped Daniel to try and hypnotized him. Could he have? No! It was impossible. Daniel didn’t believe in hypnotism. Or did he? Could he have been hypnotized into doing those bad things, setting fire to Meg’s home and getting rid of the children. But why? Why would anybody want to destroy him and/or Meg’s life? Unless! It had been Ian who was the one who had found him, and he had also helped him locate the babies in the orphanage. Could Ian have done it to get back in good graces with Meg? To try and win her heart again? Daniel was confused, but one thing was for sure, he now knew why Stone had looked familiar to him. Lots of thoughts were rolling around his brain. He needed someone to help him put it straight. He went inside put some clothes on over his long johns and headed over to the jailhouse to speak with Teaspoon.

Instead of knocking on the door, Daniel just walked right into the jailhouse. Teaspoon was relaxing in his chair with his eyes closed. As Daniel woke him, he yawned and then his eyes fluttered opened.

Teaspoon’s eyes focused on Daniel and then he immediately sat up straighter. “Daniel, what’s wrong?”

“Teaspoon, you know those nightmares I’ve been having. I think I’ve finally solved it.”

“You have?”

“Yes, that girl helped Stone trick me into being hypnotized, and that’s why I did all those strange things.”

“Stone?”

“Yes, the fella working as bartender at the bordello.” Daniel explained.

“I know who you’re talking about, but are you sure it’s him?” Teaspoon inquired.

“Yes, I know it’s him.”

“Who’s the girl?” Teaspoon was hoping that he wouldn’t say Jewel.

“I don’t know. I’ve only seen her that one time. She’s not around here unless she’s been keeping a very low profile, and I haven’t seen her.”

For another hour, Teaspoon and Daniel discussed the matter. Before Teaspoon could do anything, he would need proof. So that meant that Teaspoon would have to see if he could find the girl and get her to testify against Stone. He cautioned Daniel as he was leaving, “Daniel, don’t go accusing him or even go near him because if he suspects anything, he might leave before I can find the girl.” Daniel nodded. He would do his best, but how could he not look at Stone without hatred for what he had done to him.