Round Robin continued

Authors:

JoLayne, Anthony, Dea, Maril, Eliza

PART 19

by JoLayne

ONE MONTH LATER

Tonight will be the night!

Robert brought out his shaving kit and set it up on the exam table. They had agreed to meet that night and be quiet about it. No interruptions, no aliases. Since it was almost completely dark outside, he would have to shave by lamp light. He had been busy all day with patients and didn't want to go outside to catch the last of the setting sun's rays to see himself in the mirror. No one else could see him getting ready for a special evening that wasn't anyone else's business.

"Damn!" He had nicked himself. Right on the chin. "Great!" He took a cloth to blot off the blood that kept flowing. He used spit to stop the bleeding. A few dabs with the cloth and he saw no traces, felt better. Looking back into the mirror, he was horrified. The razor mark was still visible, large. Huge! "Damn!" Nothing was so unattractive than a fresh cut on the chin.

He carefully finished the job then threw the razor in the wash basin and looked at the cut on his chin again. "Damn!" He tossed the towel on the floor and blew out the lamp. "I'll just tell her I'm out of lamp oil."

When he went back to his private room to change cloths, he heard the sound that he had come to hate. The clanking of swords. The fight couldn't be more than just down the street. A fight in town? One of the opponents could only be one person... He ran to the window and yelled, "There's nothing like revealing your presence!"

Robert ran out the back door to the street and saw two silhouettes in the midst of a heated sword fight. He lowered his head and slowly walked to the disturbance, all the while, looking to see if Montoya's men were going to make their appearance. A couple of heads were leaning out of their windows, but no one military.

As Robert drew closer to the battle, he realized that there was not one, but two Queen of Swords in battle. The only difference between how they dressed, how they moved, or what they looked like was that one had long black hair, the other one's long hair was as blond as corn silk. He incredulously asked, "What's going on?"

Both Queens stopped to look at him. Both were winded, both kept an eye on the other. Tessa yelled over her shoulder, "There's an imposter in our midst."

"Well, my work here is done," the other said. She looked off to her left and nodded, then back at the Queen.

Tessa was put off guard by that maneuver and had a time of it keeping an eye on the opposing Queen, expecting to have Montoya's men come out from hiding, and she couldn't take her eyes off that big red scar on Robert's chin. "What happened to you?"

"You should see the other guy," he told her and then yelled, "Duck!"

Tessa immediately did, the dagger flew through the air, just where her head had been. Robert swung his body to the side. That dagger could have gotten either of them. Before she could stand, the other Queen rushed up and kneed her in the face. Tessa fell to the ground, knocked out. Robert grabbed the dagger from the stucco wall it bored into and held it threateningly in front of his body, careful not to trip over Tessa.

"Who are you," he demanded to the other Queen, who only put her hand on her hip and stood there. A figure emerged from the shadows, from where the dagger had come from. Then Robert heard the tell-tale laugh that had made him cringe since he was a child. Gill. He was back. He had something to do with the woman just standing there staring at him, Robert just knew it.

"Well, little brother...," Gill gleefully said. "Have you missed me?"

"With all my heart." Even Gill couldn't mistake the dripping satire from that reply.

"You can give me back my knife now."

"Where would you like me to put it? In your stomach or in your heart?"

"You're still charming, I see," the woman said. Her English accent took Robert by surprise. When he walked closer to her, she didn't move. Robert reached over and grabbed the lace that covered her face. "Surprised?"

Robert stepped back, tripped over Tessa's body and stumbled for stability against the wall. "You? Why are you dressed like that?"

Gill said, his hand motioning to both Queens, "That one seemed to be your ideal, I thought you'd get a kick out of comparing them."

Ignoring Gill, Robert asked her, "Where have you been?"

"Texas. Looking for you." Victoria stepped over Tessa, closer to Robert, then put the blade of her sword to his neck. "I don't appreciate being left behind!"

PART 20

by Anthony
[email protected]

"Robert," Tessa asked, "who is she?"

Victoria smiled a humorless smile. "'Robert'?" Looking down at Tessa - still dressed up as the Queen - "I'm his fiance." Seeing that Tessa was fighting to keep her features calm and collected. "He neglected to tell you about me, did he?"

Standing safely out of swords-reach, Gill "tsk"ed sadly at it all.

PART 21

By Dea
[email protected]

"Oh Robby, deceiving not one, but two women? You are a braver man than I...'hell hath no fury' and all that."

"I wasn't trying to deceive anyone!" Helm sputtered still very aware of the knife at his neck.

"Well for not trying you certainly did a bang-up job of it!" Victoria replied passionately. Then her shoulders slumped and she seemed to lose her earlier bravado. The hand holding the dagger fell to her side. Turning to Tessa, who had recovered from her fall, she explained, "We were to be married when Robert returned home from the war."

Victoria turned back to Robert and added, "Only he never came home. I thought you were dead, Robert!"

Helm started to speak. "Victoria, I--"

"No one had heard from you...what was I supposed to think? When you finally did write home, you wrote to your mother. You never wrote to me. You never explained anything to me!"

"A lot happened during the war," Helm cut in when she paused to take a breath. "A lot happened to me! Things I just...I wasn't the same person! I couldn't just go back home and act as though nothing had happened!"

"The war made you stop loving me?" she accused, her blue eyes bright with unshed tears. "No, Robert, you did that all by yourself."

"I never meant to hurt you, Victoria," he swore as he reached a hand out to her.

She pushed his hand away. "But you did, didn't you? I loved you so much Robert. And you just abandoned me."

In the now silent night, Tessa stood quietly by, her emotions a mix of shock and hurt and confusion. She felt sympathy for Helm but at the same time she could empathize with Victoria.

Gill was still snickering.

"And do you know what else, Robert?" Victoria asked softly, lifting her chin so she caught the doctor's gaze. "You didn't abandon just me. You also abandoned your son."

PART 22

By Dea
[email protected]

Helm felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. For a moment he found it hard to breathe. His eyes wide and his mouth agape, he hoped desperately that he had heard Victoria wrong. A child? They'd only been together one time right before he'd left to join the battle.

As if reading his mind, Victoria quietly replied, "It only takes one time, Robert."

Tessa was just as speechless as the doctor. Robert and this woman had had a child together...one he wasn't even aware of! She was assailed with so many emotions she didn't know which to run with. The horrified expression on Helm's face decided for her. What she did next, she didn't know if she did out of a desire to comfort him or to somehow claim him in the face of this woman.

She reached out and put a steadying hand on his arm and squeezed gently.

He turned his gaze to her and somewhere beneath the pain and shame of the night's discoveries, he saw one shred of light. She still cared about him. The relief of that realization was almost enough to cushion the blow of Victoria's revelation. Almost.

Robert slowly turned back to his ex-fiancé. "Where...where is he?"

The tears that now welled up in her eyes did not promise a pleasant response.

"Oh Robert, he...he came early," she replied helplessly. "The doctor couldn't do anything."

For the third time that night Helm thought he was going to pass out.

Tessa gasped softly and tightened her grip on his arm as much to steady herself as the doctor. Would the horrors of this night never end?

Gill just stood there gloating. He'd finally seen his dear brother knocked down a few pegs and he was reveling in it. Feigning concern he suggested, "Perhaps if Dr. Robert Helm had been there, things would have turned out differently?"

Tessa snarled at Robert's brother. She wanted to rip his lips off! But before she could act on her desire she felt Helm pull free of her grasp and saw him launch himself at Gill. Both brothers hit the ground and rolled with Robert ending up on top. He then landed half a dozen punches to his brother's face before Tessa managed to pull them apart, although she had half a mind to just let Robert pummel him into unconsciousness.

"What is going on here?"

They all looked up to see a bedraggled Montoya in a robe that must've been hastily thrown on followed by Grisham, his pistol drawn and clad in his breeches and undershirt.

"Disturbing the peace, Dr, Helm?" the colonel asked gesturing to the bruised and bleeding man laying in the dirt. "And look Grisham. Not only is the good doctor now beating up his patients instead of treating them, we are being graced by her majesty's presence. What an exciting night this has become."

PART 23

By Anthony
[email protected]

Victoria took the opportunity to reach up to her own face, whether in shock or sadness or feigning something. Tessa felt something lodge in her throat - was this new 'queen' going to help or hinder?

"He's more than a doctor, El Colonel," Gill called out; "he's also a husband who abandoned his wife and infants," at which Montoya and Grisham's faces hardened.

Montoya could be said to be many things, but even he valued the sanctity of a family.

NEXT??

[ooc: so, is Victoria going to pretend to be the Queen? did the other infant survive? is the Helm family escaping a scandal? am I forgetting questions again?].

PASS THE SOAP...
PART 24

By Maril
[email protected]

Tessa recovered quickly from her shock to realize the danger she was in. She threw herself against Grisham who fell onto Montoya, and both men landed hard on the ground. She vanished into a dark alley and seconds later the sound of retreating hoofbeats could be heard.

Montoya's face as he got up and dusted off his robe, was livid with anger. "Once more, Grisham, you let her escape. Is there no end to your incompetence?" He turned on the others, his voice low with wrath. "Now we still have to deal with these street-brawlers and this lady impostor. The explanation had better be good for getting me out of my comfortable bed where I was dreaming of how I would hang the Queen of Swords."

He smiled thinly and waited. No one volunteered so he spoke to Helm. "Who is this fellow you were beating, Doctor?" Glancing between them, Montoya saw the family resemblance; the patrician nose, the lanky body, and the green eyes. "Your brother, I would guess?" Helm nodded silently. "Obviously, you are not your brother's keeper. What is this about... a family squabble?"

"I suppose you could say that. It's a family matter. Nothing to concern yourself about, Colonel," Helm replied.

"Disturbing the peace---my peace---is a concern. And what about this lady dressed as the Queen of Swords. How do you explain that?"

Montoya turned his pale gaze on Victoria and she suddenly felt as if a magnet was pulling her toward him. She took in a quick breath, and watched his eyes change to a knowing look. He knew the effect he had on women... the aura of power that attracted them. "Just a little game we were playing, Colonel Montoya," Victoria said with a coy smile. "No harm was intended but things got a little out of hand, that is all. Please forgive us for disturbing your rest."

The colonel glanced around the small group, then with a disgusted snort, said, "Go home and don't let me catch any of you at this again, especially you," gesturing to Victoria. "Dressing like that could get you shot." He strode back toward his villa, with Grisham trailing shamefacedly behind.

"Well, Gill, for someone who was trying to hide from the law, you've certainly made a good start. Montoya knows who you are now, and make no mistake, if he wants to get you, he will." Helm began brushing off the dust, then straightened. "If you want your face cleaned up, come over to my office. Don't keep me waiting. I'd like to get some sleep if that's still possible." He turned to Victoria. "I don't have much in the way of accommodation, but if you want, you can finish what's left of the night in my room. I'll sleep elsewhere."

"I have a room at the hotel, Robert. We'll talk tomorrow," Victoria said, touching his cheek tenderly, then placing a gentle kiss on his lips. Watching as Helm left to return to his quarters, her eyes hardened with hatred. She whirled on Gill with a malevolent expression.

Gill crossed the small space and embraced her fervently. "We did it, love. He bought it all. The fool!" He drew her into the shadows of the nearby alley, and kissed her with passion. His ardour was returned and soon the two were entwined and oblivious to their surroundings. Gill pushed back, a bit breathless and laughed. "Robert will never dare show his face in England again, and Father will have no choice but to reinstate me as the heir to the title and estates. I'll be the apple of his eye once Robert writes to say he gives up the claim to everything. And we will marry, Victoria. Your family and mine will be so grateful that I have retrieved the family honour, who knows what fortunes they may give us." Gill planted an ardent kiss on her lips, and added, "And what an actress you turned out to be! After you told him that bit about his lost son, he was putty in your hands." Gill threw his head back and laughed.

Victoria pulled him back into her arms. "Are you going to join me in my room, my love?" she whispered.

"This is a small place, Victoria. If Robby hears I spent the night with you, all our plans are overturned. So, for now, we must keep a chaste distance. It won't be easy," he said close to her ear as he clasped her closely once again.

A little further down the alley, a dark-clad figure pressed herself into a doorway. As she listened to the laboured breathing, the murmured endearments and the rustling of clothing, her face burned and her body grew heated. Closing her eyes was no help. A vision of herself and Robert in such an embrace rose up in her mind's eye to torment her. But for now, she was helpless to move without alerting the lovers to her presence. Like a pair of alleycats, she thought disgustedly as they finally moved toward the hotel, passing within feet of her in the darkness.

She tried to focus on what she had heard. They had betrayed Robert, making him think he was responsible for an infant's death. Played upon his already burdened conscience. It was too easy to do. And he would feel honour-bound to give up his inheritance by ostracizing himself from his homeland and his family. I must tell him, she thought. Warn him of their treachery. Will he believe me? Tessa thought over the whole scene played out earlier as she remained hidden, waiting for Victoria to enter the hotel, and for Gill to go back to whatever rock he had crawled from under. There is no love lost between those brothers. What happened to create such hatred? And what about how he treated Victoria. Did she deserve it? If we become lovers, will Robert treat me so callously? Tessa crept from the alley, undecided whether to return to her hacienda or go to Helm's quarters.

ONE WHISKEY, ONE SCOTCH, ONE BEER
PART 25

By Dea
[email protected]

Robert entered his small office and pushed the door shut behind him. What have I done? he thought. What kind of man abandons his own son? But I didn't know...I didn't know. Now he's gone. Perhaps if I'd been there...

He sighed heavily and sunk into a hard wooden chair by the small round table that served as both kitchen and dining room. The bed would be too comfortable, and he wouldn't be comforted in his penance.

He had so many thoughts fighting for purchase in his head that he felt it would burst open. Why had he not returned home after the war? He knew the answer to that, but was it an excuse for the pain he caused Victoria, his family...his son? He'd had a son! For one brief second following Victoria's revelation he had been overjoyed--he had a son! Perhaps there was time to go to him, get to know him. But her next statement had shattered all his hope.

And Gill had known about it, and had been only to happy to heap his sins on his head. Was this the real reason he had come to Santa Helena? To humiliate him, make him suffer? Well he'd succeeded on both counts.

Lifting his head, the doctor noticed the unopened bottle of bourbon on a shelf above the table. It had been a gift from one of the dons whose daughter he had tended a month ago. It was fresh off the supply ship and the don had insisted he take it. It looked very appealing to him at the moment.

And what must Tessa think of me now? he asked himself as he grabbed the bottle and opened it. Not bothering to find something to pour it in, he took a huge pull from it, wincing as the liquid burned its way down his throat. To discover I could do something so callous to a woman I had professed to love, to whom I'd purposed marriage...If she felt revulsion she hadn't shown it earlier, but give her time. Just give her time.

Tilting the bottle, the doctor gulped down the bitter brew he hoped would make him forget, if even for a little while.

PART 26

by Anthony
[email protected]

It was halfway through his second bottle - a very generous don indeed, in his exaalted opinion, your Majesty - when he saw a familiar shape step out of the shadows. "So, come tooo yeelll at meee?" he asked, slurring some words.

"I want answers," she told him. No mask, the barely-functioning military part of him noted. "Who is she?"

"That?? Thaat'sss eassyy. Ssshee's Victoria Emelia Prynne, daughterrrr offf Jane Rose Prynne...sister of Cecelia Mary Helm," and took another swig to wet his throat with the fire.

"Is that how you always are, Robert?" Tessa asked in a definately-not-intimate voice. "You court a woman, get her pregnant, then vanish as soon as there's a bare hint of war somewhere?!?"

"No, I -" Robert started to say, his hand raised with the bottle.

"Oh big man you are," Tessa mocked. "Takes a big man to hit a woman, or throw things at her, doesn't it?"

Robert Helm lowered his hand, staring at the bottle.

PART 27

by Dea

When he looked back up Tessa had disappeared and in her place stood Victoria. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying as she knelt down in front of what looked like a small mound of dirt. Suddenly a black rose was in her hand and she placed it gently on the ground. The spectral image of his ex-fiancee then raised her eyes to meet his and mouthed the words, "Your fault, Robert."

Robert gasped loudly as he quickly raised his head from the table. Panting and looking around wildly he realized that he'd fallen asleep at the table, the bottle of bourbon still clutched in his hand. And what horrible things he'd seen!

"Damnit!" he exclaimed and threw the bottle to the floor where it shattered into tiny pieces. "Pull yourself together!"

A sigh escaping his lips, he rubbed a hand over his face and then started to unbutton his shirt. The night's heat and the liquor he'd consumed were taking its toll. In his breeches and undershirt he pulled open the front door and walked out into the night. Hoping to clear his head, he picked up the bucket by the front door and made his way to the well.

Scooping up a fair amount of water he grasped the bucket and poured it over his head. The lukewarm, although still refreshing, liquid drained over his head and down his neck and chest in rivulets, leaving the man shaking his head not unlike a canine. Dropping the bucket to the dusty ground he sat on the edge of the well. With elbows propped on his knees he ran his hands through his drenched hair until they clasped the back of his neck.

From the shadow under Helm's bedroom window, the Queen watched as Robert sat frozen on the side of the well. She felt so bad for him. Never before had he looked so pitiable and vulnerable. He'd always been the master of the quick comeback, the witty retort. Now he seemed lost with no direction. She couldn't allow him to stay mired in such self-loathing, especially when it was all for nothing.

Tessa stepped out of the shadows and walked toward him.

Robert heard the soft footsteps and looked up to see the Queen (Tessa, he reminded himself) walking across the square. Wonderful, he thought. Will she say the same things her dream-self had? If she did, he wouldn't blame her.

"Robert," she said, "we have to talk."

"Is there really anything more to talk about?" he asked dully, wiping his hands over his face, removing the last drops of water that clung there.

"I think so," she replied then motioned to the well. "May I?"

"Be my guest," he said as she sat down next to him on the stone wall of the well.

"Tell me why you didn't go back home to Victoria after the war," she spoke softly but firmly.

Helm sighed and almost laughed grimly. "We are the glutton for punishment, aren't we?"

"I know you'd never do something like that without a reason," she replied. "I just want to know why you felt you couldn't return and marry her."

He shook his head. "You already know how what I did during the war affected me. Thinking I'd become this monster, this thing that killed so easily and efficiently...what could I have offered someone like Victoria, or any woman. Nightmares kept me awake for years after. I'd wake up in the middle of the night screaming and flailing--not a pleasant way for your partner to be aroused from slumber."

"You're not a monster, Robert," she said as she laid a comforting hand on his forearm.

"Tell that to my son," he replied.

"Robert, you didn't cause the death of your son," Tessa stated.

He began to protest but she took his chin in her gloved hand and turned his face toward her. "Listen to me. There was no son. Victoria made it all up. With the help of your dear brother, they planned all of this to make you feel guilty enough to relinquish your name as well as your inheritance."

Helm's mouth hung open. "How do you know this?"

"They're very indiscreet," she chuckled. "Right after you left tonight I heard them conspiring together about how beautifully the plan had gone. And then they complained about how hard it was going to be to keep their hands off each other for the next couple of days."

"Gill and Victoria!" he exclaimed, then lowered his voice. "Gill and Victoria?"

The shock of his brother and his ex-fiance having an affair slowly gave way to the sudden importance of the rest of what Tessa had said.

"It was all a lie?" he asked incredibly.

"Yes, Robert," she smiled, so grateful to know he would no longer be beating himself up about this. "You may have left Victoria, but not a son. And from what I've seen of your lovely ex, I can safely say you made the right decision."

"I can't believe this," he said as he rose from his seat on the well. "They went to so much trouble...the little buggers!"

"What are you going to do now?" Tessa asked as she rose up beside him.

PART 28

By Anthony

El Colonel Luis Montoya stepped back inside silently, neither the Queen nor the Doctor noticing him leaving. He mulled over how to handle this turn of events.

An idea came to him, and he had a servant go and fetch Captain Marcus Grisham...

When Grisham arrived - his uniform unwrinkled, as though he hadn't been rolling in any hay, as the Americanos so oddly put it - Montoya spoke. "I must apologize for waking you, Capitan, but some most disturbing news has come to my attention."

Grisham just stood there, listening and waiting. Montoya continued: "It has come to my attention that another assasin has come to kill our dear pueblo's only doctor - who is also the only doctor you or I have as well," just in case it didn't hit Grisham what he meant. "I believe this to be either of the new visitors to our peublo who we met with tonight."

"You mean the doc's brother?" asked a confused Grisham. Sure, I may not like my brother, but that doesn't mean...

"Precisely. Who would be under less suspicion than such a person? Or a jilted fiance, perhaps, having justifiable cause to kill him, without raising suspicion that someone else planned it all."

"The woman," Grisham got it. "That blonde with the British accent." Montoya nodded.

Grisham nodded. He could understand the logic behind it, even if he'd never stoop so low himself.

El Capitan Grisham walked out, intent on gathering up his soldiers - and taking those two under guard and into captivity.

And if they resisted arrest...well, he'd tried...

ooc: you see what happens? I turn the 'bad guys' into the 'reasonable guys'.

PART 29: Temptation

By Dea
[email protected]

Grisham strode out into the square and crossed the street. He wasn't sure where Gill Helm had gone to, but he was pretty certain the woman had gone into the hotel. He'd bring her in first, then take his men and go after the doc's brother.

He and Dr. Helm had had their share of run ins--the time at the mine during the fever epidemic came to mind--but he'd be even worse off if they had no doctor at all. And he didn't really think Helm would be much of a problem, what with Montoya calling all the shots. With a grin he thought, In fact, after us squelching an assassination attempt on the doc's life, he would be in debt to us.

Grisham climbed the stairs of the hotel and stood outside the room Victoria had taken. Knocking sharply on the door he announced, "This is Capt. Grisham. Open the door ma'am."

As he listened he heard a keep turning in the lock and then the door slowly opened. Victoria stood there in a red, silk robe, her loose blond hair backlit by the oil lamp on the bedside table.

"Why Capt. Grisham," she said. "This is a surprise. To what do I owe the honor of this nighttime visit?"

"I'm sorry ma'am but I'm under orders to bring you into custody," he answered trying to avert his eyes from the flimsy material that sheathed her body.

"Whatever for?" Victoria asked with a laugh.

"For conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Helm," the captain replied formally.

Victoria felt a bolt of panic shoot through her but schooled her expression into one of nonchalance.

"Capt. Grisham, Robert may have left me to fend for myself, but I don't intend to kill him for it," she explained with a smile. "In fact, I came here to try and settle things between us. Alas, it seems he's no longer interested in me."

Victoria sighed dejectedly and ran her hands over the front of her robe enticingly. "Although I can't understand why. Can you captain?"

Grisham cleared his throat and repeated. "I have to bring you in."

Trying another tactic, Victoria suddenly dropped her head into her hands and began to weep.

"Oh Capt. Grisham! You've discovered the truth!" she cried. "Robert's brother Gill is trying to kill him! He made me help him!"

Grisham glanced around quickly certain this woman's bawling would wake the whole town.

"Why does Gill want to kill the doctor?" he asked hoping to stem the tide of her tears.

"Because Robert was always the favorite, don't you see?" she explained as if it should have been clear to him.

Well at least she'd stopped crying.

"Gill convinced me to take revenge on Robert for deserting me," she continued. "But I never wanted any harm to come to him!"

Grisham pursed his lips and thought a moment. What was he supposed to do now?

"Captain, there is a way we can stop Gill," Victoria smiled, all traces of her earlier distress gone.

"There is?" Grisham replied, recognizing the calculating look in her blue eyes.

"Oh yes," she answered. "I could tell you all about Gill's plan, and together we can foil it. I'm certain that your colonel would be most grateful to you."

Victoria slowly backed up a few steps and then let the red silk robe fall from her shoulders to pool around her feet.

"And so would I."

ROUND ROBIN #1 - CONCLUSION

By Eliza
[email protected]

Robert had returned to his office while Tessa left to find her horse. She had left Chico on the edge of town and had crept back in on foot. She didn't want to leave the poor horse waiting there if they were going to spend the rest of the night planing what to do about Gill and Victoria. Robert was tempted to just give them what they wanted -- just to get rid of them.

He heard a soft rap on the door and his first thought was that Tessa had returned. Then he realized, she never knocked. All of his former training came into play as he found the pistol he kept "just in case". He carefully opened the door and trained the weapon between the eyes of his older brother.

"I know you're mad, Robby. Can I come in so we can discuss this?" Gill sounded calm but he was watching the gun so closely he was cross-eyed.

"No." Robert moved forward and Gill back peddled to keep the barrel from touching his nose. As Robert stepped over the threashold, he set the pistol on the chair by the door and then closed the door behind him.

The square was quiet. It was after midnight, it should be quiet, but even the guards were noticeably absent. Still, the whole melodrama had been played out on this stage so Robert saw no reason why it shouldn't continue here. Before Gill could start his speech, Robert simply said, "You were seen."

That stopped Gill cold. "What do you mean?"

"You and Victoria were seen. You went to a lot of trouble and told a lot of lies and then you were careless enough to be seen."

The fact that he had been caught out finally registered with Gill. "You disappeared! You left Victoria in a position where it was next to impossible for her to marry and then you vanished."

"How long after I left did you start 'comforting' my fiancé?"

Gill smirked. "Oh, so that's what's bothering you."

"More than the death of my non-existent child!" Robert snarled. Gill looked embarrassed at that and Robert had the feeling that the lie was Victoria's. But Gill had taken the lie and had ran with it, Robert could not forgive him that. "What is really bothering me is the fact that my brother is a liar, a vicious bastard and a philandering hypocrite."

"You are hardly one to talk considering the way you were snuggling up to the beauty in the black underthings. Though she is a lovely piece of ..."

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Robert took a couple of steps toward his brother and Gill moved to meet him.

"Enough! I could hear you across town." The Queen came out of the shadows to separate the two brothers before they could come to blows. "You are behaving like a couple of children and you are going to wake the guard."

"It's the Queen!" Came the call from the watch.

"Not again," she grumbled and jumped onto Chico's back. She called back over her shoulder, "I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't do anything stupid." A few random shots followed her out the gate as the guards mounted their own horses in pursuit.

Robert and Gill were left standing in the now empty square. They sized each other up for a long moment and then Robert launched himself at Gill for the second time that night. This time Gill was prepared and what had resulted in a pummeling earlier became a more evenly matched brawl. Eventually, the anger burned itself out and two brothers were left sitting on the ground - tired, dirty, and sore.

They continued to glare at each other until Robert finally said, "Was all of this necessary? You couldn't have just sent a letter? And what about your last visit? New South Wales?"

"I needed a believable excuse to confirm that you were here. Victoria was waiting in Texas to help convince you that a return to England would be a bad idea. The beauty in black was just an interesting piece of information that I passed on. The disguise was her idea." Gill laughed under his breath but as he gaze refocused on Robert his tone became serious again. "The parents were always acting as if you were about to walk in the door, not even considering that you never would. Always looking to the ghost of the golden son and ignoring the one that was there - the rightful heir. If it weren't for..."

"Your criminal behavior?" Robert used the edge of the fountain to help him get to his feet. "There was a reason you were disinherited, Gill."

"I've changed. I have been there for Victoria for the past years. I want to marry her. I want the life that I was born to. You obviously don't want it any longer. All you have to do is officially give up your claim and then we can all get on with out lives."

Robert could see his brother's point. But if Gill thought he was going to be rewarded for being a sneaky, son-of-a-bitch, he was sadly mistaken. "And what are you going to do if I don't? Kill me?"

"Yes," came an answer from behind him. Robert turned to see Victoria standing just outside the shadow of the hotel. As he noted the way the moonlight reflected off her hair, he also saw the gleam off the pistol in her hand. Her eyes became colder than the steel as she raised it to aim at his chest.

Hell, I was being sarcastic. Robert was becoming very uneasy as he watched her move slowly toward him. "Victoria, it isn't worth this."

"Oh yes, it is. When I came here I thought the money would be enough. Now I realize that it is not just retribution that I want, but revenge." She stopped and cocked the pistol.

"NO!" Gill came up behind his brother. "He will give up the estate, Victoria. There's no need for this. We can't have the life we dreamed of if you are a fugitive."

"The life you dreamed of, Gill. Do you really think that I could spend the rest of my days looking at you and seeing him?" She took a deep, steading breath, as if preparing to fire.

When a shot rang out both brothers flinched, then looked at each other in surprise. The surprise was mirrored on Victoria's face, as she fell to her knees and then face down in the dirt. The blood on her back only slightly darker than the silk of her robe. Gill raced to her side and gathered her in his arms, crying words of denial - denial of her death, her hatred, her lies to him.

Robert could only watch. He had been through too many emotional upheavals tonight to deal with another. All he could do is mourn the loss of yet another life by the hand that pulled the trigger. He had seen the movement in the shadows behind Victoria, and had been expecting the sound of footsteps, when he heard them approach. "You didn't have kill her." He was surprised at how calm he sounded.

"Didn't I?" Robert looked up at the vehemence in Montoya's voice. Blue eyes focused on green as the colonel continued, "You, Doctor, committed the worst crime possible against a woman - you made her love you and then you abandoned her. You left her to the care of your brother. She would never have forgiven you and would never have stopped until you were dead. A brother may be reclaimed, but a woman you have wronged you can never be safe with again." Montoya's face was grim as he took one last look at the body then turned away. He paused, before heading back to his home, and spoke over his shoulder, "Trust me, Doctor. This was for the best."

Just as Montoya had reached his door, he turned around. He strode back out into the square and took a good look around, the fury obviously mounting. "Where are my guards? And where is Captain Grisham?!"

*****

Robert was following the same prescription he had given his brother earlier -- the willow bark medicine. It should dull the pain and swelling from all the bruises they had given each other the night before. He had also given some to Grisham. The captain had been found unconscious in Victoria's room with a nasty bump on his head. The doctor had also made the suggestion of bed rest which Montoya had made an order. Robert suspected that it was to make Grisham easier it find whenever the colonel wanted to yell at him. He chuckled at the thought, then let out a soft curse. It hurt to laugh.

The door opened behind him and he put on his best professional face. When he saw who his visitor was he allowed himself a small smile and relaxed.

"I'm sorry I didn't get back to you last night. When I made it back to town the square was in an uproar with Montoya furious at the guard and Victoria..." Tessa let the sentence trail off. Her concern was obvious and confirmed by her offer, "If there is anything I can do..."

The warmth in her eyes helped ease the pain as much as the medicine, but Robert didn't need another complication at the moment. He took her hand and kissed it. He continued to hold it as he said, "No. At least, not right now. I need to settle things with Gill and sort some things out in my own mind."

She nodded her understanding as she disengaged her hand, then moved to the door. "Well, you know were I am. And I know where your door is."

"But you still haven't learned how to knock on it."

She gave him a brilliant smile as she shut it behind her.

THE END