Ernest strolled out of the hotel. He had decided the day after he arrived in town that instead of seeking out the sheriff first, that he would just try and blend in and see what he could learn. Unfortunately nothing was coming to light. Since he hadn't found out anything about the one him and John called 'Kitten', he had decided to go straight to the sheriff and see if he could shed some light on the subject without Ernest giving away any information about Kitten.

Ernest had tried the subtle way by describing the girl to a few folks in town to see if they knew who he was talking about, but he hadn't any luck. In fact they were evasive, and wanted to know why he wanted to know about the girl he was describing. Of course he couldn't tell them the real reason, so he had lied saying that someone had mentioned her to him.

Now as Ernest walked out of the hotel, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was her, but how . . . but why? Ernest quickly scanned the town hoping to see John, but his employer was no where to be seen. Oh no, he thought, she's heading towards the jailhouse. What if she had decided to turn herself in? Maybe she had found out that he had come here, and she had decided it was time for her to turn herself in . . . that she couldn't run any more. He couldn't let Kitten turn herself in, so he hurried across the road and quickly grabbed her by the arm.

Startled by someone grabbing her, she jumped and wide-eyed she turned to see her assailant. At first when someone grabbed her, she thought, oh no it's Jake, but when she turned and saw this strange man attached to her arm, all she wanted to do was scream. Seeing that Kitten was about to scream, Ernest covered her mouth with his hand. "Shhh, Kitten don't scream." He quickly moved her over to the side of the jailhouse. "What are you doing here?"

"What?" It was the only thing that she could think to say.

"You shouldn't be here. You don't need to turn yourself in. John and I will protect you . . . whatever it is." Ernest said, as he kept a lookout making sure that no one saw them.

She didn't know what to think. What the heck was he talking about? Obviously he thought he knew her. What should she do? Better yet what should she say?

"We have to get you out of here." Ernest looked up and down the road again, and since there was no one on the street, he decided to take the chance. "Come on we need to talk. I need to get you off the street before someone sees you."

Oh boy, now what should she do? Should she play along with him or try to make a run for it? He was pulling her by the hand, but then he saw the door of the jailhouse open, and he quickly shoved her backwards. She fell and landed on some rocks. It hurt her bottom, and she almost let out a yelp, but immediately thought better of it. Wide-eyed she looked up to see the man with his arm leaning against the building. She didn�t quite understand why he had shoved her, but she watched as he had his other hand behind his back waving at her. She assumed that he meant for her to stay back there because for some reason, he didn�t want someone to see her. She decided she would play along with this strange man until she found out what he wanted and who he was.

"Howdy, anything wrong?" She heard Teaspoon ask.

"No, no sir, sheriff. Everything�s fine. I�m just resting." Ernest replied.

Teaspoon nodded and then started across the street to the saloon. He turned back and watched Ernest several times and decided to sit in front of the saloon instead of going inside. He wasn�t sure about Ernest. He was a stranger, and Teaspoon wondered if he had any connection with the outlaws that he had holed up in jail.

This was her golden opportunity to get away from the strange man. She stood up quietly and backed up until she got to the end of the building, then she went around it and scooted off down the way. But where should she go? She couldn�t go around and back on the street. If she did that the man would definitely see her and might try to grab her again. She didn�t want Teaspoon to get involved, at least not until she found out who this strange man was. So she did the first thing that came to her mind. She went inside the bordello from the back door.