Violence: This is a western, so….yeah, lots of violence but no more than the usual Xena ep.
Sex: Once again, it is a western. And it does involve Xena and Gabrielle lookalikes. So either leave now or….well, stay.
Part 3
February 19th
"Mmmmmm….." Candia mumbled. Her head hurt and she felt dizzy when she tried to open her eyes.
"Hush now." She heard a voice and groaned again as a wet towel was pressed against her forehead. Morgan drew the cloth along Candia's throat and stopped as she remembered how aroused she had been last night. How she had gone to meet with a saloon girl, leaving Candia to the care of an elderly lady staying in the room opposite. She also remembered how she had not gone and returned to her room to sleep alone. Alone. Her body was alone, longing for the woman who was asleep in the bed, but her thoughts had not been. Candia opened her eyes.
"Daniels?"
"Is dead."
"Good." Candia closed her eyes again, "I'm glad."
"You may be glad, but it can't be all that good." Morgan paused, "Candia?" Candia's eyes flickered open. "I….erm….I've got something to tell you. It's…..Jake and Hank may be headed this way. And…last night, I found Bobby in the gaming rooms downstairs. He challenged me when he found out who I was and….well, I drew on him because he was sloppy and didn't even get to his gun….some 're saying that I murdered him." Candia reached her arms out to draw Morgan into a hug.
"Its ok….really. I'm glad that you told me." Suddenly she tossed the bedclothes aside and stood up. "We've got to get out of here." She swayed a little as she stood and Morgan grasped at her to stop her falling.
"We? They won't want you. You can go someplace else and I'll get Jake for you."
"You don't get it do you!" Candia cried, "He killed my fiance! He killed him….I've got to get him…." Morgan drew her in and let her cry against her shoulder.
"Ok, fine. But you take your horse out the back way of town and I'll meet you an hour down the track." Candia agreed to this and they packed their belongings quickly. Candia slipped out the back entrance of the hotel while Morgan strode out the front, daring people to confront her with her eyes. No one did though and she succeeded in saddling Argo. A whistle brought Cleo bounding over to her and they passed out of town without causing a riot, although many wanted to challenge the outlaw as well as see her in jail.
Candia, meanwhile, slipped out the other side of town and began to ride along the track at her own pace, clutching onto her mounts mane with all the muscles in her arm.
Morgan made a big circle around the town and pushed Argo to go faster so that she could catch up with Candia.
She pulled up against her companion within the hour and they rode on a little while longer. Eventually, Candia decided to confess something to the outlaw. She had held this information in as to stop the stoic woman from becoming mad. But something had to be said.
"Morgan?" She began. Morgan turned to smile a crooked smile in her direction, "I….heard something as I left. Apparently theres a Texas Ranger after you. And a reward on your head."
Morgan cursed out loud and Candia cringed. "No wonder they didn't arrest me for killing Bobby!" She raged and cursed for a little longer before Candia finally worked up the courage to stop her again.
"Theres something else."
"What?"
"As I was leaving, I saw the sheriff and told him that I was Jacobs' kin. He gave me a box of his belongings." Candia smiled triumphantly.
"Let me see."
"Please."
Morgan sighed heavily. "Please."
Candia handed over the box and watched Morgan rifle through its contents. A leather vest, a hat, some gold pieces and a small pouch of papers. Morgan directed her attention to this and sorted them out.
There was a bill for a room in Jemin, a note about shoeing a horse and a bill for horse feed. The last paper was a telegram. There wasn't much on it, but it was all Morgan needed.
Meet me in Christi StopHank in New Mexico Stop
Will meet in two weeks Stop
Jake
"Jake is in Christi!" Morgan declared and passed the telegram to Candia to read. Then she hardened. "You can't go."
"Why not?" Candia asked, looking up.
"Christi is a hard town. It isn't safe. I'll put you on a train." Morgan declared.
Candia began to get upset. "Will you never understand? You can't just boss me round! You didn't see my brother trampled to death under a horse thanks to Jake Daniels!"
"By the gods." Morgan muttered.
"No, they weren't there to help." Candia snapped. Tears began to run freely down her cheeks. "You weren't sent to a convent. You aren't going to have to marry someone else…because the only man you've ever loved is dead."
"The only man I've ever loved IS dead, Candia!" Morgan cried. "And it takes years to get over, but the pain lessens after a while."
Candia reached over to tug Morgan's sleeve. "Who?" She asked softly.
"My father." Morgan replied, turning away and kicking Argo into a faster pace. Candia's sobs subsided after a while but they didn't talk again for the rest of the evening.
February 20th
"How long until we get there?" Candia asked.
"It's three days from Dulce, so we should be there by tomorrow." Morgan replied in a flat monotone.
Later, as the sat around a makeshift campfire, Candia apologised for what she had said.
"It wasn't you." Morgan sighed. "I shouldn't have forced you to do something you didn't want to. Its just….I know what revenge can do to people. It tears you up inside. It turns your world upside down until you don't know whats right or whats wrong. It…it makes you hurt people that you would never have thought of hurting before."
Candia crept over to rest her head on Morgan's shoulder. "It happened to you, didn't it?"
"Yes. And I don't want that to happen to you. I wish that you would take a few days to mourn before we go ahead and do this. But I can't fit it in. I've got to sort my life out and get back before the 20th of next month."
"Why?"
"You wouldn't want to know."
February 21st.
"We're getting nowhere fast in this fog." Candia called. Morgan cursed and tried to sooth Argo. Cleo had disappeared somewhere and she hated to admit it, but they couldn't push on in this weather.
"Let's set up camp!" She called. A thick fog had settled around them and the usually warm Texas afternoon was unnaturally cold. Candia shivered and Morgan sat down with her arm around the other woman.
"Tell me a story? Please?" She asked.
Candia couldn't help but smile and nod. "I sing of Xena, a mighty warrior princess…." Candia went on to describe the friendship between Xena and her friend Gabrielle. She even went so far as to describe what they got up to after they had finished rescuing villages and slaying monsters. Her vivid descriptions had Morgan blushing and she wondered why she couldn't even try to compare what the two friends did with what she was notorious in doing like one of her men.
"….and so they went on to live an exciting and adventurous life….each following their own paths to happiness, but always being linked." Candia finished eventually. Morgan was idly stroking her wolf's head but directing her attention to Candia. She sighed softly at the end of the story.
"Time for bed." Candia whispered. She drew a blanket up over her shoulders and tucked herself under Morgan's arm.
"Comfortable there?" Morgan asked sarcastically. Candia nodded and when she smiled, Morgan knew that she couldn't deny her.
February 22nd
Christi
"I see what you mean…." Candia whispered softly. Everything that Morgan had told her about Christi was true. It was a devils lair, housing everyone from petty thieves to Jesse James. "How do you propose finding Mr Daniels?" She asked just as quietly.
"I have many skills." Morgan replied. She ignored the leers of the men around them and steered Candia gently over to what looked like the cleanest building in the street. It turned out to be a hotel. "Now you stay here….I'm going to get some information." She sat Candia down in a plush armchair, on a sudden impulse, she leaned over and placed a slight kiss on the girls forehead. Candia looked up, surprised and Morgan stalked off, cursing herself under her breath.
The tavern across the road was crowded but Morgan managed to squeeze in. "A whisky." She told the bartender. He reached for a glass and began to pour. One of the saloon girls came up behind her and tapped her shoulder.
"Looking fer some fun, honey?" She asked softly.
"In your dreams, sweetheart." Morgan replied. She wouldn't pay for what she could get from Candia. Morgan caught herself just in time - Candia wasn't hers yet….but she will be, a little voice in the back of her mind said. But Morgan couldn't mistake that familiar throb in her loins. And anyway, this girl may know something about Jake Daniels.
"Actually…. some fun might just be useful to me." Morgan drawled. She threw the whisky back and placed the glass back on the bar. "Lead on."
They walked up a small flight of stairs to a group of rooms. The walls were painted a ghastly shade of pink and the doors in an equally sickly shade of yellow. "13." Morgan said, noticing the number on the door. "My lucky number." The girl laughed gaily.
They entered and the girl bolted the door behind her. "What's you name, Mister?" She asked.
Morgan shook her head. "I'm not a mister." The girl took a sharp intake of breath as she noticed the feminine features. "My name's Morgan." The girl reached a hand out for the doorjamb but Morgan halted her with a swift kiss.
"Don't do that." She led the girl to the bed and began to unbutton the dress that she was wearing, placing a light kiss where each button had been. The girl turned, her dress slipping off her shoulders. "May I?" She asked, indicating Morgan's boots. Morgan nodded and watched as the girl first wriggled out of her dress and then began to undress Morgan in the same manner in which she had just been undressed.
Hours passed slowly by as Morgan and the girl lay together in the bed. Eventually, Morgan sat up and began to dress herself once more.
"Who's Candia?" The girl asked softly. Morgan jerked her head round.
"How do you know about her?" The girl shrugged.
"You screamed out her name. What could I say?"
Morgan ignored her and continued to dress. She buttoned up her pants and threw some coins on the bed. "Get yourself a proper job sometime." She said before slamming the door. She hated to admit it, but if she was already screaming names, then this girl was most definitely under her skin.
Morgan stalked back to the hotel where she had left Candia, cursing herself that she had been so clumsy as to not get the girl a room.
Candia was nowhere to be seen in the hotel lobby. Morgan checked the register for a familiar name but couldn't see any. "I believe that the lady is upstairs." A man behind the desk said. "Room 5." Morgan nodded her thanks and headed up. The man called after her, "And I fed your dog. So cute. But I will be charging extra because of the nasty bite that she gave me."
"She's not a dog." Morgan growled.
She continued up the stairs and found the room without much difficulty. She knocked softly on the door and waited patiently for it to be opened.
"I was wondering when you'd turn up." Candia scowled. "Did you get the information?"
"Yes, in between scr-…yes, I got the info." Morgan caught herself just in time.
"So?"
"So, he's staying at a hotel down the street but spends all day in the saloons. I've got a plan." Morgan replied. "I'm going to get a job at a saloon and wait until I can lure him into bed."
"But how do you know that he'll be sleepy?" Candia asked, giving Morgan a quizzical look.
"He won't be. That's the point." Morgan replied.
"Oh." A pause as Candia sat down and Morgan averted her gaze from the legs under the nightdress. Gods, if I could just….
"Have you eaten?" Morgan asked suddenly. Food was a better subject to think about. Yummy tasty food. Hmm, I wonder what Candia tastes like…..Stop it!
"I'll go and get us something to eat."
"We've got some wine." Candia said loudly. "The manager gave it to me."
Morgan turned, noticing Candia's eyes for the first time. Sure enough there was proof that she'd been drinking.
"Uh-huh. Well, you just stay here and I'll be back in a few minutes."
Morgan hurried downstairs and ordered some food from the kitchen. She returned within minutes carrying a large tray laden with food, which she placed on the edge of the bed. "Candia?" She called quietly, not seeing the other woman. "Dinner." She walked slowly to the balcony. "Candia?"
Candia was sitting in a large chair, a bottle of wine pressed firmly to her lips. She looked up. "Itsh you….thish wine itsh very del - del…..yum." Morgan snatched the bottle away angrily. Candia glared at her.
"Come on." Morgan said firmly, her features softening as she looked at the younger woman. She scooped Candia up into her arms and carried her easily towards the bed. "I suppose that you don't want anything to eat huh?" She asked sarcastically. Candia shook her head.
"Nope….will you come to bed now?" She asked softly. Morgan suddenly lost her hunger for food. It was replaced with a hunger for something else.
"Sure." She whispered, her mouth dry. Silently, she moved the tray to a small table and began to slip out of her boots. She climbed into the large bed and leaned her head back against the pillows.
Candia shifted, "You must think that I'm really foolish….and….childish."
Morgan leaned up on her elbow. "No….hardheaded maybe, but not foolish….or childish."
Candia smiled. "You must say that to all the women you have in your bed."
Morgan grinned back. "Only the beautiful ones."
Candia leaned up too, "Do you think that I'm beautiful Morgan?" Morgan nodded, unable to say a word. Candia giggled, she felt dizzy. Morgan thought that she was beautiful! "How much?" She asked.
"What?"
"How much do you think I'm beautiful?"
"Every bit of you is perfect." Morgan whispered. Candia looked down the length of Morgan's body.
"Me too." She whispered softly. She glanced down at her own body. "Do you think that my breasts are too small?" She asked.
"No. They're perfect."
Candia put her hand to her chest. "Don't feel perfect." She muttered. "You feel." She took one of Morgan's hands in hers and placed it lightly on her chest, keeping her own hand over it in case Morgan pulled away.
"Candia, I-"
"I love your hands." Candia interrupted. "They're so gentle." She ran her fingers up and down the callused hand, "You'd be good on a farm with your hands. You could hold the cows, or the sheep, or me." She sighed. "They're wonderful. Like when you held me last night….did you know that you rolled over and touched me here?" She placed Morgan's hand over her secret place. "I thought that I was going to die."
Morgan's hand tensed at Candia's words. "Ummm, yes, just like that…." Candia muttered.
"Candia, stop it, you're-"
Once again she was interrupted. "I wish that you'd kiss me Morgan. I betcha you're good at that too."
"I'd like to kiss every part of you." Morgan whispered.
"I'd like that."
"Yeah, well, you'll have to wait. And it ain't gonna happen until you're sober." Morgan rolled over with her back to Candia. A moment later, she felt the younger woman curl up against her back. Within minutes, she also felt her rhythmic breathing. "Goodnight Candia." She whispered softly.