AUGUST 2, 1861

Marta left the hotel and walked over to the saloon. It was her night off, and she had promised Desiree that she would attend her singing performance tonight at the Rusty Trigger Saloon since she hadn't been there for a couple of weeks due to work, but tonight Walter was attending to the customers at the hotel dining room while Ted did the cooking, and Jennifer was attending the hotel desk in case anybody needed a room for the night.

Marta rarely went to the saloon, but she had sort of made it a routine habit on Thursday nights to support Desiree, but fortunately the saloon wasn't very crowded on Thursday nights, and that suited Marta just fine. As she walked in Richard smiled at her, and she smiled back. She stopped at the bar, and Richard sat a sarsaparilla in front of her. That was the only thing that she ordered since she had been coming there. Marta looked around and was startled to see so many people there. It was actually crowded on a Thursday night. Most of the people she hadn't seen before.

"They just came in a little while ago. They must just be passing through and decided to get a drink." Richard explained. Marta nodded to show that she had heard him. She smiled at Richard and then picked up her glass and walked down to the other end of the bar. She wanted a good view of Desiree, so that she would know that she was there supporting her. Usually she would sit at a table near the stage, but since the room was full tonight, she decided to stand and watch.

"You know you shouldn't be alone in here, so I'll be your fella tonight." The man beside Marta said as he grabbed her arm and nuzzled her neck. Marta could smell the alcohol on his breath, and she tried to pull away, but he was much stronger than her even when drunk. He pulled her closer, and she tried to push him away as he kissed her cheek.

Meanwhile down at the other end of the bar, Richard had just poured Caller Bob a drink. Due to the abundance of men at the bar, Caller Bob couldn't see what was happening at the other end of the bar. After chatting with Caller Bob a few seconds, Richard moved back to see if anybody at the bar needed another refill. That's when he saw the man grappling with Marta. But before Richard could make it down there to assist her, Aaron was already on the job.

Enraged Aaron walked up and pushed the man away from Marta. "Sir you need to learn some manners. You don't paw ladies like that, especially when they don't want to be pawed."

"Aw, I was just being friendly, wasn't I doll." He moved closer to Marta, and she moved back.

"I don't think so." Aaron stepped in between them.

"Now looky here, you go find your own girl. This one is mine." He tried to push past Aaron, but Aaron was fed up with him. He grabbed the man's arm and twisted it behind his back.

"I think it's time for you to go sleep it off." Still holding the man's arm behind his back, Aaron pushed the man through the saloon and through the batwing doors. He gave him a hard push and let go. It sent the man through the air to hit the ground at the foot of the boardwalk. "Go home, sober up and don't come back tonight." Aaron sternly said.

The man was tired and wasn't dumb enough to go up against a man half his age, so he slowly got to his feet and strolled off in a zigzag pattern. Aaron returned to the saloon. He saw Richard and Caller Bob talking to Marta, so he joined them.

"Ma'am," Aaron tipped his hat as he stopped in front of her. "Are you all right?"

Marta nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome ma'am." Aaron replied.

"You two haven't met yet, have you?" Richard inquired. Marta shook her head. "Marta, this is Aaron Senclair, he's our new bouncer. He's been here a couple of weeks. Aaron this is Marta. She works at the hotel."

Aaron greeted her, "Please to meet you, Marta."

"Please to meet you Mr. Senclair." Marta smiled at her savior.

"Please just call me Aaron." He grinned. Marta nodded. Aaron strolled off to keep an eye on things, but he mostly kept his eye on Marta to make sure no one bothered her the rest of the evening.

Caller Bob stayed by Marta's side for the same reason that Aaron kept her eye on her. Since the mayor was beside her, no one else bothered Marta that night. She was glad that Caller Bob had stayed by her all night because besides keeping other men away from her, she also enjoyed his company.

After Desiree's performance and since most of the cowboys had left, Aaron asked Marta if he could walk her home. Marta accepted the escort. Aaron opened the door to the hotel and Marta walked in. Jennifer saw her and was about to say hello and ask her how Desiree's performance was, but as she saw Brandon, she held her tongue.

"Hi Jennifer," Marta said.

Jennifer smiled, "Hi Marta." Brandon just tipped her hat to her, but he didn't say anything. She watched as he followed Marta up the stairs. Jennifer wondered who the man was, but she didn’t want to pry into Marta’s life. If Marta wanted her to know who he was then, she would tell her in her own time. A few minutes later, she spotted him at the head of the stairs, so she hung her head low as though she was preoccupied with the papers in front of her.

Aaron saw the desk clerk intent on something in front of her, so he didn't say goodnight. He went down to the livery, got his horse and rode home, to the bunkhouse at Joker's Wild Ranch.