The house that Sarah Jo was in seemed awfully big and lonely with her in it all by herself. Methos didn't like it either. What if someone from the other side of the river came into town at night? Perhaps it would be best if for the time being, she move into the hotel. Spotting her eating a bite of lunch with Father Alec out under an apple tree, he decided to approach her on the subject.

Methos sauntered over. "Good afternoon," he said, nodding to them both

"Good day to you, Methos," Father Alec said pleasantly. "Would you care to join us? Sarah Jo made some delicious meat pies. We need to talk to you anyway about something."

"I'm fine, thank you," Methos said, sprawling bonelessly next to them. "And I was wondering if it might not be better for you to stay at the hotel till Katherine could be found." He was looking at Sarah Jo.

Sarah Jo blushed under his intent gaze, studying the ground she was sitting on. "I suppose it would be better for me than staying by myself in that big ol' house. But to tell you the truth, I ain't never been around men folk all that much. It was just me and Mamma Kat up in the mountains, and then I joined the convent."

Father Alec chuckled and told her that he was sure none of the men living in the hotel would bother her. Lupe would make sure of that.

"If we put her on guard, she'd bite the guy's hand off," Methos agreed.

Sarah Jo sighed. "I guess I will my things over later today then. Have you heard from Duncan yet? Has he found any trace of Kat?" A worried look covered her face. She still felt guilty for not going with Kat when she left the clinic. If she had, maybe she wouldn't have left town.

"Yes, and no. He's going out again. She didn't show up at the Ford, or in Esperanza."

"She might head to Holy Ground," Sarah Jo said hopefully. "She stressed that to me. Said I would always be safe there."

Methos looked pained. "Faia is at the monastery. I said I wouldn't follow her."

"Sarah Jo and I have been talking," Father Alec interjected. "She is a point in her life where she needs to make an important decision about which path to take. I suggested that a retreat at the monastery might be a good idea. She could talk to Faia while she is there. Is there someone who could escort her there? It's not safe for her to go alone, and I'm afraid I wouldn't be much use if someone was to try to accost her."

"It can't be me. You can ask Duncan if he'll take her, since he's on his way out of town again, anyway." Methos sighed. "My luck they're both there, swapping stories about how much they hate *me*."

"I've never heard Kat say anything bad about you," Sarah Jo said honestly, looking up at his with her wide, innocent eyes. "Ain't in her nature to do so."

He shrugged. "If that baby's mine, I'm not doing a very good job of being a father to it." And he turned to walk off, obviously looking for Duncan.

Behind him, Father Alec reached out to squeeze Sarah Jo's hand in silent support. He knew how much turmoil she was in right now, both emotionally and spiritually.

Duncan was easily found. He was having a long soak in a bathtub, washing some of the grime from his traveling away.

"I want you to take Sarah Jo to the Monastery," Methos said without preamble, even though the other man was having a bath.

"At least you could have brought me a beer. Why? Is she pregnant too?" he said tiredly. He hadn't slept in days and immortal or no, he was exhausted.

Methos gave him a look. "If she is, it's not mine this time. No, she wants some time to think about her vocation. And we thought Kat might be there."

"Wouldn't hurt to look," he said with a sigh. "Hell, I've covered just about every other direction. I actually had her trail for awhile, but that rain storm wiped out what little trace there was."

"And you can keep an eye on Sarah Jo, in case there's anyone out there," Methos added, standing. "When you're ready, she will be, too."

"So why do I get stuck babysitting the kid?" Duncan grumbled. "Not that I wouldn't mind being around her, but I could use a good night’s sleep."

"Then start in the morning. I thought you wanted to find Kat." And, with that, Methos stomped out of the room.

A soapy wet sponge caught him in the middle of the back. "She better not slow me down!" Duncan yelled. "Or try to seduce me in the middle of the night!" When Methos looked back at him, Duncan waggled his eyebrows and grinned.

Methos stood outside the doorway and shook his head. "And I thought I had a big ego," he said to himself before heading off down the hall.

Sarah Jo brought her things over that night, still uneasy about being in the hotel, but Lupe immediately took her under her wing, glaring at any of the men that even looked at the pretty young nurse. She was wearing a rather daring dress for her - it was a form fitting shirtdress with short sleeves, belted waist, and a softly flared skirt that fell to just below her knees. Katherine had made it for her, finishing it just before she had disappeared. Sarah Jo wasn’t used to having that much skin showing and was having a hard time not fidgeting. No men were around, a fact that brought her both relief and regret that no one was there to see her in it. Kat had told her that she would knock them dead in that dress.

"He told me you'll be leaving early tomorrow," Lupe said, stressing the "He" as if she'd know who she meant. She rarely spoke of Methos as a person - or even an animal, which would be higher in her book. "I will wake you in time."

"Thanks," Sarah Jo told her. "Father Alec had me go get a pair of Levi's from the mercantile. Thought they would be easier to travel in since we will be riding horses. Ain't never wore no man's pants before," she said with a blush.

Lupe looked at herself. She always wore loose-fitting dresses. "I usually don't wear anything to travel," she said seriously.

The statement caught Sarah Jo by surprise, and her eyes widened, then she realized that Lupe meant she usually went in one of her animal forms. "Oh," she giggled. "Do you need any help with dinner? I don't like just sitting around and doing nothing."

Lupe shrugged. "I make it early, so it will be there for whoever shows up to eat it. You need to get some sleep. He said you need to rise before dawn."

"No problem there," she said with a smile. "Been getting up 'fore the roosters just about all my born days." But even so, after talking a little while longer, she turned in to get some rest. The next day, she was up and ready before Lupe even knocked on her door. She was wearing jeans and a flannel shirt, her long hair done up in a braid down her back. Shouldering her pack, she went downstairs to where she would meet Duncan.

He was all ready to go. Lupe handed them each a paper-wrapped parcel and a canteen. "It is not far," she said. "But you will need refreshment before you get there. Do not press the horses to get there too soon."

Sarah Jo nodded, ducking her head shyly as Duncan looked her over. She sure looked different in jeans. Not very nunlike at all! It was incredible how a woman could be treated more like a lady in jeans than a dress. When he held the saloon door open for her and offered to hold her bundles, Lupe almost smiled.

There were two horses waiting outside, and Sarah Jo swung up easily onto Gideon's little gelding. He had offered him to her for the trip so that she did not have to walk. "I'm ready," she said shyly, still not meeting Duncan's eyes. This was going to be one of the few times outside of the clinic that she was going to be alone with a man and she was a little nervous. Especially when the man was as drop dead gorgeous as Duncan MacLeod. Katherine had teased her from time to time about having a crush on him, which Sarah Jo had always hotly denied.

"Can you ride?" he asked, looking at her "seat." It made him turn away quickly and readjust himself in his own saddle. He had to get *that* off his mind!

"Sure," she said. "Kat taught me when I was knee high to a grasshopper. She had a lady's saddle, but I always did prefer riding this way. But when I started growing up, I had to start behaving. Wasn’t fitting to be riding astride in a dress. Not that there was anyone around up in the mountains I grew up in. Nearest neighbor was a fair stretch of the legs away."

"Most of us lived in a time when we used nothing but horses to get around," Duncan agreed. "Helps us now, I suppose." He looked a little sad.

Sarah Jo nodded, turning the little gelding away from the hotel. They rode in silence for a while, but then, biting her lip, she spoke up. "This ain't easy for me," she said. "I've talked it over with the padre, and he said that it is up to me whether or not I stay a nun. There isn't a convent here anyways." She sighed softly.

"Never could understand nuns," said Duncan. Then, embarrassed, he added, "No offense. Just that you don't have to give up love of other humans to love ...well, you know. God."

"I know that," she said, risking a quick glance at the man riding beside her. "Kat loves God, but she sure ain't no nun! Sure, she played the role when she had to, but she had no vocation for it. She told me one time that a woman isn't complete until she has found the other half of her soul."

"So, what's to decide?"

"I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing," she said. "It ain't as if men are falling all over themselves to come a ‘courting me anyways." She blushed, ducking her head.

"Well, you haven't exactly been asking for it," Duncan said frankly. "For example, how you dress. Those things you were wearing . . ." He saw her looking and he quickly changed to, " . . . what you're wearing now is much nicer."

Her demeanor instantly changed, and her eyes glowed fiercely at him. "What's wrong with the way I dress? My clothes are good and proper like. Can't be dressing like no floozy when I'm at the clinic anyway." She blushed again, remembering how some of the streetwalkers were dressed that used to come to the convent on occasion for help.

Duncan lifted his hands in defeat. "They're fine! Just not what you'd wear to attract a man. We all figured . . . hands off."

She looked hurt for a moment, but then she pushed it aside. She had thought her dresses were nice and ladylike. "Maybe a little shorter? Something that shows a bit of my leg maybe?" She couldn’t believe she was saying that!

"If you look like you're making an effort, word would get around. It's not that you're unattractive; we just don't want to insult you. You were practicing to be a nun, after all."

She was silent for a while, obviously thinking things out. "Mr. MacLeod?" she asked in a shaky voice. "Maybe I'm way out of line here, but seeing how you have had a fair bit of experience with the ladies, I was wondering...." She bit her lip, rapidly losing her nerve. "Could you maybe..."

Duncan looked at her, embarrassed. "Could I what?"

"Ah heck with it. Might as well say it outright. Would you mind giving me a bit of a kiss?" She blushed crimson at her outspokenness, regretting the words as soon as they were spoken. But she just wanted to have an idea of what she had been missing out on. What harm would a little peck on the lips be?

Duncan pulled his horse in so tightly the beast almost reared and knocked him off. He was certainly bowled over! "Just a kiss?" he asked, obviously wanting to know his limitations. They were mostly HIS limitations, not hers.

"Yeah. Just a kiss, that’s all. Don't you be laughing at me, you hear? I know you are probably thinking I’m being terribly forward right about now." She pulled up her horse and swung down, her legs trembling. Closing her eyes, she waited, feeling incredibly embarrassed, foolish and excited at the same time. What if he wouldn’t do it? How could she ever look him in the face again? She didn’t know what would be worse, him laughing at her, or just flat out refusing in the first place. She was afraid if she opened her eyes, she would see him high tailing it down the road.

He sat there, wondering. Then he followed her down off the horse. Going up to her, he looked at her sweet freckled face, upturned to his like a child. He took her upper arms with each of his hands, and then, pulling her close, he kissed her.

Duncan MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod was not one to do it half way either. He started out gently, feeling how nervous she was, but then as she relaxed and started to kiss him back, he deepened the kiss, pulling her into his arms and wrapping them around her. To his joy, she didn't pull back, but with hesitant hands, reached up and put them on his broad shoulders. Taking a chance, he pushed the kiss a little more.

He was considering what could come after this and was thinking of falling into the soft spring leaves when he pulled away. "That's it," he said, "if all you want is a kiss."

She was shaking, her eyes big as she looked up at him. Sarah Jo was almost completely overcome by the experience. "Man alive," she whispered. "That was sure enough something else! I ain’t never felt anything like that in all my born days!"

"It could be more," he whispered.