Finding a Place
By Abs and Donna

The two travelers found the town of Edan easily enough, but the place seemed
almost deserted. Sarah Jo kept turning around, looking at the dark buildings.
"They all look empty! Where is everyone?" she asked, shivering slightly,
remembering that some of the treasured dime store novels she had read had
contained stories of western ghost towns. This sure looked like one to her!

"No, look, there are lights.  Just not in very many buildings.  See?  The
hotel/saloon is lit up."  Phoenix smirked.  "Always is."

Sarah Jo walked up to a nice looking house, trying the door. It creaked open,
and in the moonlight she saw a lamp on a table with a box of matches.
Striking the match, she lifted the globe and lit the oil fuel lamp. Its glow
lit up the entryway. "It's furnished, but no one has been in here a long
time," she said, running her finger through the layer of dust on the table.

"Strange," Phoenix said.  "Do you want to stay here while I see what's up at
the saloon?"

Sarah Jo looked down at her nun's habit. "Me going into a saloon might be
asking for trouble, don't ya think? 'Sides, ah haven't slept in three days.
Ah'm one whupped puppy, even if ah am Immortal."

Phoenix nodded.  "How many bedrooms does this place have?"

Sarah Jo climbed up the stairs, poking into the rooms. "Three up here. Plus a
fully furnished kid's nursery. We won't be needing that, now, will we?" she
giggled as she came back down the stairs. On the bottom floor they found a
large kitchen with wood burning stove, a sitting room, dining room, and a
library. And wonders of wonders, a quaint bathroom with a flush toilet! 

"Okay, then I'll be back.  Awfully large place for a nun to have," she joked,
and she went across the square to the saloon.

After the older Immortal left, Sarah Jo went back upstairs into the simplest
of the bedrooms, and after pulling off her habit, she undid her braid and
brushed her hair with a brush she had found on a night stand. Out of force of
habit, more than anything at that moment, she knelt by the side of the bed
and said her prayers before falling almost instantly asleep.

Meanwhile, Phoenix strode into the saloon to get the surprise of her life! 
(Well, one of them.  No, make that two.)  First, a black furry blur came out
at her, knocking her off her feet.  She shoved the wolf off, laughing, "Lupe,
you darling!  I missed you!"  When she managed to stand, she ruffled her
friend's mane.  But the happiness was almost instantly overshadowed -
literally - by a tall man coming close to look at them.  "Hello, Faia," he
said.

She went back onto her rump again, totally speechless for several seconds. 
When she was able to speak she said, "So this is where you've been all this
time?"

Methos grinned.  "No.  I only just got here.  As, I assume, you did as well?"

"A few days ago."  He put his hand down and she refused it, standing on her
own.  "You son of a bitch.  Did you look for me at all?"

Methos shrugged.  "I was always surprised I never ran in to you again.  I
thought . . . well, nice to see that you are all right, then."

"You thought I was dead, didn't you.  Why you bastard . . ."

"Hey!  I didn't kill you!"

"You didn't come back, either."

"Let's just say I wanted to get out of Greece quickly."  Phoenix made a face
and Methos explained, "I had just locked Kronos in a dungeon.  I was not
going to go off searching for you."

"Gee, you make me feel so *wanted*."

"Come on, Faia.  You're a big girl.  You could take care of yourself.  It's
not like it meant anything . . . or did it?"

The Egyptian Immortal scoffed.  "What, you and me?  I'm still ticked off cos
you left me alone to go back to the Horsemen.  Off to play with the boys
while I had to stay home."

Methos laughed.  "Oh yes.  The Four Horsemen, and One Woman."

"Sounds like fun to me," she insisted.

"He'd have had your head - no, wait, he would have fucked you to death, then
taken your head.  Please.  Be logical."

Lupe had been sitting there, watching them both, still in wolf form.  She
chose this time to change forms, saying as soon as she was human, "Her
feelings are anything but logical."

"Who asked you, girlfriend?  Remind me to put something in your kibble."

Methos was grinning.  "You did miss me, didn't you?"

"No.  Not a bit."

"If there is a reason I haven't gutted you," said Lupe casually, "it is
because she was searching for you."

"Were you?" It was difficult to keep the smile from his face.  Not that he
made the slightest effort to do so.

"I was NOT.  I was wondering why you left me behind.  Sort of like going to
the movies without me."

"Ah.  Well, this was a terribly gory movie, Faia.  Be glad I left you.  Now,"
he smiled, "why don't we go to my room and talk about it?"

"In your dreams!"  But Methos looked confident, and even Lupe got up and went into the kitchen, knowing full well her own reunion would have to wait until later.

***

Phoenix stole across to the house SJ had taken for them.  She felt incredibly
guilty - not something that was normal for her.  What if her *roomie* was up
already?  What if she saw how late it was?  Damn, she never should have
fallen for his line.  She wasn't a child; she knew they weren't going to his
room to *talk*.  And it had been incredible.

But she couldn't stay.  Couldn't start it all over again, even if they were
in a new world without Horsemen.  He *clearly* didn't feel what she felt;
he'd just wanted a good lay.

Okay, a VERY good lay.  She tried to remember the last time she'd gotten
some, but it wouldn't come to her.  Putting the intensity of the emotions
down to that, she snuck into the house and up the stairs.

The young nun had been awakened by the rumbling of her stomach. She was
starving! Sitting up, she felt a moment of disorientation. This was not the
small cell that had served as her sleeping accommodations for the last three
years. As she jumped out of bed, she felt the tingle of another one of her
kind approaching her. "Phoenix, ah surely hope that is you," she said softly,
wrapping her hand around a brass candlestick holder just in case it wasn't.

Phoenix ducked into the next bedroom and jumped into the bed.  "Of course
it's me!" she said, pulling the blanket up to her chin to hide that she was
fully dressed.  What she didn't count on were squeaking bed springs!

"Ah'm hungry enough to wrassle with a bear and skin it with my bare hands,"
Sarah Jo chuckled, putting down the candlestick. "Ah'm going to check out the kitchen to see if there is any sort of food in it at all."

"If not, they have some over at the saloon," Phoenix said, the sheet up to
her chin.

With a sigh, Sarah Jo slipped her habit back on over the coarse woven under
dress she wore, wondering if she even had a right to wear it any more. Her
fingers caressed the simple wooden cross she usually wore, but she left it
laying on the nightstand. Her whole life felt topsy turvey. It was as if she
suddenly had no purpose for her life anymore, no focus to guide her. Sighing,
she slipped her feet in the black work shoes and laced them, then headed
downstairs.

After a visit to the bathroom and a quick wash, she went into the kitchen,
opening up all the cupboards. There were pots and pans, and a set of dishes
hiding behind some cobwebs, all with the same thick layer of dust covering
them. But no food. It took her a few minutes to prime the pump, but she soon
had water flowing. It was fresh and clear at least. Rinsing out a cup, she
took a deep swig of the water, relishing the taste. It was just like the
water from the deep artesian well back at home in the mountains.

Remembering what Phoenix had said, she went out of the house and into the
street.  The day was just dawning.  She felt foolish going into a saloon, but
what other option did she have?  Just then she saw a man come out of a large
building and cut across the square, heading for another building back behind
the hotel/bar.

Curious, Sarah Jo followed him, her hands tucked neatly into her habit as
usual. She hadn't bothered putting on her veil, and her hair gleamed in the
sun with a soft, fire like glow. As the man put his hand on the door, he
sensed that someone was watching him, and he turned around.

"Well, hello sister," said Robert Helm.  "Care for some bacon as well?"

Her stomach growled at the words, but she firmly chastised it, telling it to
be quiet.  "That would be nice," she said, suddenly feeling very shy. "Ah'm
Sarah Jo McCants, late a novice at the Sisters of Mercy Convent and
Hospital." She shrugged, as if trying to dismiss that part of her life.

"Hospital?  Then you are a nurse?"  Helm opened the door to the
slaughterhouse.  It was chilly inside, being the only place in town hooked up
to a refrigeration unit.  Helm did not question this miracle; he just enjoyed
the fresh meat.

"Yes," she said, a smile lighting up her freckled face. "Ah completed my
training a year ago. Since then ah've been on the surgery ward. One of the
Docs there wanted to train me for his assistant, but Mother Superior didn't
think it was a good idea."

"Thought you'd give up the order, huh?  Run away and start a family?"  He
rooted around in the refrigerator.  "This amazing contraption keeps it until
you want to use it!"  He shook his head in awe.  "Oh, and I am Dr. Robert
Helm.  I'd shake your hand, but it's a little greasy at the moment.  I could
use a nurse's help in my practice."

Sarah Jo ducked her head, the feeling of loss washing over her once more. "Ah was supposed to take my final vows today," she said softly, her eyes misting. Shaking away her self-pity, she stood up straight. "Ah'd be more than happy to help you out," she said with a smile, sad though it was. 

"Well, if you still want to take those vows, Sarah Jo, God will find a way
for it to happen.  Meanwhile, I have to say I owe him a candle, or
something."  He laughed.  "Church of England."  He indicated the meat and
said, "You had better cook your breakfast - while I go burn mine.  Lupe's
brought eggs in from Grey's farm, you can get them over there," he pointed at
the Saloon.

"Where is your surgery?" she asked as she tucked the bacon that he had
wrapped in wax paper and handed to her into her habit. "And is there a church
here in town?"

Helm pointed to the building he had come out of.  "We have rooms upstairs for
patients to recover, and for me to live in.  Plenty of room for other staff,
as well.  And there is a mission down there."  Again he pointed.

"Thanks," she said with another grin, this one a bit happier. "After ah fill
my belly, ah'll come by and help you out." Helm nodded and turned away, and
Sarah Jo headed to the saloon, pausing nervously at the door.

Finally, she worked up the nerve to step inside. "Excuse me," she said
softly. "Dr Helm told me ah could find some farm eggs in here someplace?"

Lupe looked her over.  "You know Phoenix," she said definitely.

"We met last night. Ah'm going to fix the two of us some breakfast," Sarah Jo answered. "My name is Sarah Jo McCants. You must be the one Doc called Lupe, right?"

Lupe nodded and took her hand.  "Faia and I have known each other for more
than 2,000 years.  I am glad you got her to town so I could see her again. 
So these eggs are for her . . . and yourself?"

"Yes," Sarah Jo said. "Have you found any coffee or tea? Ah stashed some
fruit in my pocket last night, so push comes to shove, ah can always squeeze
up some juice."

"There is both coffee and tea," Lupe said.  She handed the tiny novice a jug.
"But this is fresh milk with cocoa.  For my Faia.  Tell her I am not angry
with her for last night. I do not approve but she chose him once."

"Ah'll tell her," the young novice said as she tucked the eggs and a couple
other things that Lupe offered her into the unseen pockets of her habit.
Cradling the jug to her chest, Sarah Jo smiled. "It must be nice havin' yer
friend here with you. If she wants to stay here with you, ah understand. Dr
Helm wants me to help him at his surgery, so ah'll be fine."

Lupe laughed.  "Try to keep Faia in one place.  I've roamed with her all
these years, because I was searching, too.  But my prey is close; I shall
stay here."  She glanced upwards, as if indicating the upstairs rooms.  "If
he cannot keep her still, nothing can, and she snuck from his bed before
daylight.  She is still restless, even after finding him."

Sarah Jo nodded. "Ah'll try." And with that, she turned to go back to the
house that she left Phoenix in, Lupe's words buzzing in her head.  She wanted
to discuss them with her new friend - it sounded like Phoenix had spent the
night with a man!  But Phoenix was sound asleep when she returned.