Mallory stopped by Mr. Bishop's house after work the following day. Mrs. Hanson opened the door and sent her off to the sitting room where Nathanial was sitting in a chair with his feet propped up, reading a newspaper, while Nick was standing by the window overlooking the garden.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important," she said from the doorway.

"Miss Quinn!" Mr. Bishop said, folding his paper and getting to his feet. "Come in! Come in!"

"Did you just leave work?" Nick asked.

"I did, and I came to tell you both some news!" she smiled.

"What news?" Mr. Bishop asked, picking up a blanket and some random pillows that were on the couch so she could have a seat. He lowered himself back down into his chair, leaving a place on the couch for Nick.

She sat down. "I met a friend of mine in town yesterday! She was from the same orphanage...," she waited for Nick to come over and sit down before telling them everything that had happened after she had left their house the previous day.

"She really stole files?" Nick asked.

"She's really going back?" Nathanial asked.

"I think Mr. Jake likes her!" Mallory smiled brightly. "But I also think she's going to put Ms. Desmond away for good."

"I certainly hope so," Nathanial said. "Did she say she was going to try to contact the other girls that had disappeared?"

"She's going to try."

"This Morgan sounds like a pretty smart woman," Nick said. "I hope she succeeds."

"So do I," Mallory said. Then she sighed. "I feel like this huge weight has been lifted."

"We should celebrate!" Nathanial stood up again. "I'll be right back!"

"Where is he going?" Mallory laughed, watching him hurry from the room.

"I have no idea." Nick said. He grunted softly as he felt a spasm in his side near his incision.

"Are you alright?" She quickly turned her attention to him. "I was so distracted, I didn't even ask."

"Getting better every day," he shifted to get more comfortable, but he was obviously still in some pain.

"Can I make you some tea again?"

"And put me to sleep so I miss all the fun?" he asked. "No way."

"I don't know that there's going to be any fun," She laughed softly. "I have no idea what your brother is up to."

"He's probably going to -,"

"I found it!" Nathanial returned with a bottle in one hand and three small glasses in the other. "I've been wanting to crack this one open for a while now."

"What is it?" Mallory asked.

"Probably something he's been hiding in the cellar for a few years," Nick chuckled.

Still not understanding, Mallory glanced back at Nathanial who had opened the bottle and was pouring it out into the glasses. He handed each of them one.

"A toast!" he said.

Mallory sniffed it. She still had no idea what it was but it smelled terrible.

"To Morgan Russell, the bravest woman we know. And to the downfall of Ms. Desmond and her minions, whoever they may be!"

"Here, here!" Nick lifted his glass and downed the entire thing.

Mallory laughed and lifted her glass, but only took a small sip. "Whoa! What is that?" she nearly choked.

"It's a twelve year Scotch I've been saving for a special occasion," Nathanial grinned. "I have more hidden in the cellar for other special occasions, in case we have any of those pop up in the near future," He glanced from her to Nick but neither seemed to grasp his meaning and he sighed.

"Oh dear, I hope not!" Mallory gasped. She handed her glass to Nick who laughed softly and gulped it down as if it was nothing. "How are your stitches?" she turned to Nick to ask. "I hope you're taking care of them like Dr. Washburn instructed."

"Nathan's been helping," Nick said.

"No infection so far." Nathanial said. "We should be able to have the stitches taken out by next week, I'd say."

"That's good," she said softly.

There was a knock on the study door and Mr. Hanson peeked into the room. "Mr. Bishop, the buggy's ready whenever you're ready to leave,"

"Thank you, Hanson." Nathanial said. He replaced the cork in the bottle and set it on the table nearby. "Well, I hate to interrupt this lovely visit, but I have an appointment with a business associate that I simply cannot reschedule. Miss Quinn, if you wouldn't mind keeping an eye on him for a short while until I return, I would be in your debt."

She smiled. "Yes, I think I can handle that."

"I'll be back shortly and then I'll see you home, if that suits you?"

"Yes. Thank you, Mr. Bishop."

She turned to Nick. "Do you feel up to walking?"

"To where?" he asked.

"I was thinking about walking down to the beach," she said.

"I can probably make it if we go slow," he said, slowly getting to his feet.

She jumped up to help him. "Are you sure? If you don't think you can-,"

"I can," he said. "And I probably should. But you may have to carry me if I can't make it all the way back."

"Alright," she agreed.

They walked slowly, resting when he needed to catch his breath, and when they reached the beach, he was able to sit against a large piece of driftwood. "It never gets old," he said, staring out at the water.

"It's so soothing," she said, standing beside him.

"Must be why Nathan had his house built right here where he can see it."

"I don't blame him." she replied.

"You like him, don't you?" he asked. His face was drawn.

"I do like him," she smiled. "He's not nearly as old or mean as I had imagined."

"So, that's that then? You've made up your mind about him?"

"Well, I suppose I have," she knew what he was asking.

"Mallory," he said gently.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't tease him, not about something so serious as his heart, and she turned to face him. "No, I'm not going to marry him," she said softly. "How could I?"

He reached for her suddenly, tangling his fingers in the loose knot at the base of her neck. He leaned in close, his eyes searching her face as she drew in a soft breath. "That's a very good question," he whispered. "Since I want you to marry me," 

Her eyes widened. With his other hand, he brushed several strands of loose hair away from her face and softly caressed her cheek. With a smile, he leaned closer and pressed his lips to hers.

He held her for a long time, and they watched the sun set over the water. "I suppose we should head back before it gets too dark and we can't find our way," he said.

She laughed softly as he took her by the hand and led her back towards the path. "Do you suppose your brother is back from his meeting?" she asked.

"He might be." Nick replied, "But I'll be seeing you home myself."

"Is he going to let you borrow his buggy?"

"I'll walk you home if I have to," he said. They reached the gate to the garden and Nick held it open for her. They were both smiling when they walked inside the house and were surprised when Mrs. Hanson rushed over.

"There you are!" she exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you Mr. Warren. A telegram's come for you. The messenger said it was urgent!"

He took the telegram and tore the seal, unfolding it and reading what was printed. "I have to go," he said. "It's my mother."

"What's wrong?" Mallory asked. "What's happened to her?"

"She's never had the best health," he said, tucking the paper into his pocket. "The doctors don't think she has much time left. Mrs. Hanson, has Nathan come back from his meeting?"

"He's just now pulling up out front," she said.

Nick looked down at Mallory. "If I hurry, I can make the eight o'clock train," he said. "I'm sorry, I won't be able to see you home this evening."

"It's alright," she said. "I understand. Don't worry about me. You should go pack. Do you want to tell your brother, or should I tell him on my way out?"

"Would you mind?" he asked. "I don't know if I'll have time to explain."

"I will. Go on with you,"

He leaned down and kissed her. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he promised. He seemed hesitant, but finally turned and went up the stairs to his room to pack a few items before he'd have to rush off to the train station.

Mallory took a deep breath and headed for the front door, catching Mr. Bishop as he stepped down from the buggy. "What's wrong?" he asked, surprised to see her coming down the steps without Nick.

"Nick just received a telegram about his mother." she said. "She's very ill and he's going to try to catch the late train,"

"Oh dear," he said. "Is he alright? I don't know if he should travel in his condition!"

"I don't know that you'd be able to stop him," she replied. "But he seems alright. Just worried."

"I'm so sorry, Miss Quinn, but under the circumstances-,"

"I was already walking myself home," she smiled. "Please don't feel bad. I'll be just fine. But perhaps you wouldn't mind driving Nick to the station so he doesn't have to walk."

"I'll do that." he nodded. "Good evening, Miss Quinn."

She walked slowly home to the boarding house and climbed the stairs to her room. Mrs. Brown was busy with some of the other boarders, and she didn't really feel up to talking just then. She wasn't sure what kind of health problems Nick's mother had, but it must have been serious for her to send for him. She hoped he was able to make it back to Texas in time.

Over the next few weeks, she worked to keep her mind busy. Nick didn't write, but she didn't expect him to if he was busy caring for his mother, and himself. Mrs. Guthrie had received more dress and shirt orders than she could keep up with, so Mallory worked an extra two days a week to help her keep up with the sudden demand. The extra pay was nice and she was able to put extra away in the bank, but she knew she would be glad when things slowed down again and went back to normal.

Normal. She'd only been there for a few months and she already had a 'normal'. She laughed at the thought. Who would have guessed just a few short months ago.

It was Friday and she had finished up her extra work a few hours early, so she walked to Mr. Bishop's house, hoping perhaps that Nick had sent a letter or a telegram to his brother. She had been worried about him, ever since he'd left on the train while he was still healing from a gunshot wound.

"Miss Quinn, how are you?" Mrs. Hanson smiled when she opened the door.

"I'm well," she replied. "Has there been any word?"

The housekeeper shook her head but opened the door for her to come inside. "Not that I've heard." she said. "But Mr. Bishop is in the study if you'd like to go in."

Mallory tapped gently on the open door.

"Ah, Miss Quinn!" he stood up from behind his desk. "Come in! Come in!"

"I didn't want to interrupt anything important," she said.

"Oh, it's just paperwork. I can finish it up later," he said, motioning over to a set of chairs in the corner. "Have a seat. How have you been?"

"I'm fine," she smiled. "I've just been worried about Mr. Warren. Have you heard anything?"

"No. I'm afraid I haven't, which is actually quite troublesome. He insisted he was feeling well enough to travel, but I know him well enough to know that he will sometimes push himself beyond what he should. If his mother is so ill, he may not rest while he's caring for her."

"An honorable trait, if he weren't injured." she smiled.

"Precisely."

"How are you?" she asked. "I'm sorry I haven't stopped by. Poor Mrs. Guthrie's work load just doubled these past few weeks and I've been working every day she's open to keep on top of the orders. I didn't mean to disappear,"

"I apologize as well," he said. "I have been meaning to call on you as well and business has taken up most of the past two weeks."

"Seems we're both destined to be adults," she laughed softly. "I wonder if that was another contract Ms. Desmond had me sign."

He laughed heartily. "Can you stay for supper?" He asked. "I'm sure Mrs. Hanson knows you're here, so she'll likely set a place for you anyway."

"Yes, thank you." she replied. 

Mrs. Hanson had indeed set another place in the dining room and the two enjoyed a relaxing meal together while they caught up on everything that had happened in the past couple of weeks.

"I shall walk you home, Miss Quinn," Nathanial said when she finally realized the time and stood to leave. "It's a fairly safe town, but it's almost dark. Can't have you walking alone at this time of the evening."

"Thank you," she said.

"What have you got planned for today?" Mrs. Brown asked when she came down to the common area the next morning. "Any adventures?"

"No, not that I know of," she smiled. "Although I usually don't see them coming,"

Mrs. Brown laughed. "Well, perhaps you'll just have a relaxing Saturday to yourself. I'll bet that hasn't happened in a while."

"I'd like to say it has, but the past few weeks I ended up going to work to use the sewing machine. Mrs. Guthrie suggested I use her new patterns for my new dresses and I think they came out really nice."

"Is this one of the new ones?" the woman asked.

"Yes, what do you think?"

"I think it's lovely. It looks very nice on you, but then you have one of those figures that everything looks nice on," she chuckled. "Did you pick the material? I think the gray and the blue together are so classy."

"Thank you." she said, letting out a relaxed sigh before sitting on a nearby chair. "I think I might just read for a while. I nearly got to the end of my favorite book when we were traveling here and since then, I've forgotten to finish-,"

"Is that someone at the door?" Mrs. Brown asked. They had both heard something outside and looked toward the door at the same time, but it wasn't exactly a knock.

"I'm not sure." Mallory followed her to the door and both of them gasped when she opened it. 

"Nick!" Mallory pushed past Mrs. Brown and knelt beside him. "He's burning up!"

"Help me drag him inside," Mrs. Brown said. "We can lay him on the couch and I'll go for Dr. Washburn!"

They managed to get him to his feet well enough to get him inside and helped him lay on the couch in the sitting room where he'd be left alone more than in the common area. Mallory rushed to the kitchen where she filled a bowl with as cold of water as she could get from the well pump and pulled a washcloth out of one of the cabinets.

"Why does he look so pale?" Mrs. Brown asked when she returned.

"I don't know," Mallory said, pushing his hair back from his forehead to feel his skin again. "He's really hot."

"I'll fetch the doctor," Mrs. Brown hurried from the house while Mallory soaked the washcloth and wiped his face and neck.

She'd been sitting there for a few minutes when she smelled something terrible and she looked around the room, thinking perhaps Seth, the youngest of the boarders had left a rotten apple laying around again. Then she realized it was Nick and she reached down to pull his shirt free of his pants. She gasped when she saw the dark lines spreading out and away from the gunshot wound. It looked like it had almost healed and then possibly become infected, or, she thought, the bullet may have nicked his internal organs and Dr. Washburn hadn't caught it during surgery.

Running to the kitchen, she searched every single cupboard, reading every label until she ran out of things to check. Her hands were shaking as she struck a match and tried to light a lantern, and finally the wick took. Turning it up as bright as it would go, she carried it down the cellar stairs, nearly tripping over her own feet in her haste.

There were rows and rows of canned goods and she checked each label, until finally she found the two items she was looking for. Carefully carrying them upstairs, she blew the lantern out, nearly sloshing the kerosene as she set it clumsily on the counter. Thankfully, it didn't fall and she hurried to the cabinet with the tea cups.

"Dr. Washburn will be here as soon as he can!" Mrs. Brown said, bursting into the kitchen a moment later. Mallory was pacing the kitchen as she waited for the kettle to come to a boil. "What are you doing?"

"He's septic," she said, her voice giving away her worry. "I don't know if there's anything Dr. Washburn can do,"

"What are you doing?"

"I hope it was alright, I helped myself to your cellar," she said. "I'm making a tea out of quinine and honey. I just hope he's not too far gone, or there's nothing I can do."

"Oh, dear," Mrs. Brown said. "You help yourself to anything you need to take care of him. I've got plenty more where that came from. You just say the word and I'll go down and get you another bottle. And I'll make sure all the boarders know that the sitting room is off limits for the time being. Not that anyone uses it much anyway. But at least you'll have a bit of privacy with him."

"Thank you," Mallory hugged her tightly before she heard the kettle start to whistle. "Oh! It's ready."

She had already poured quinine and honey into the teacup and she poured the hot water over it, stirring gently for a moment before carefully carrying it to the sitting room. It was far too hot to have him drink yet, so she set it on the small table at the end of the couch and continued bathing him with cool water.

"Mrs. Brown," Mallory said softly when the woman peeked in to check on her. "Will you send for his brother please. I think he should know he's here. And he should come, just in case."

"I just saw Seth come in. I'll see if he'd mind. Do you think Mr. Bishop would still be at the bank?"

Mallory glanced at the old grandfather clock in the corner. "Yes, he'd still be there." she replied.

Seth was happy to ride over to the bank and fetch Mr. Bishop, since he was on his way past there anyway. He left his horse tied up out front and went inside, only to be called up to one of the teller windows right away.

"What can I do for you, sir?"

"I need to see Mr. Bishop. It's an emergency. It's about his brother."

"Oh, yes of course. Follow me down to the end of the counter there and I'll announce you."

He walked to the end and she opened a large office door. "Mr. Bishop, there's a young man here to see you. Says it's an emergency."

"Yes, can I help you?" Nathanial stood up and walked around to the front side of his desk.

"Sir, Miss Quinn sent me. Your brother showed up at the boarding house but he's in real bad shape. She said it was important that you come. Right away."

"Thank you. I'll head that way immediately." he said. "Doris!" he called the woman back over as he followed Seth out of the office. Seth continued on, and rode off to take care of his own business. Nathanial told the head teller to go ahead and close down the bank at the usual time and to lock up. "I have to go, at once. I'll explain later!"

He had walked to work that morning and sprinted down the boardwalk towards the boarding house. Thankfully it was fairly late in the evening and there wasn't a lot of foot traffic through town. He ran up the stairs of the building and threw open the door. "Miss Quinn!?" he called.

"She's in the sitting room." Mrs. Brown came out of the kitchen to meet him. "It's good that you came. He's pretty serious."

Dr. Washburn was also there by this time and although he had offered to do some bloodletting, he wasn't sure if Nick was strong enough to survive it. Mallory had made the decision to continue feeding him the quinine honey concoction.

"Mr. Bishop," the doctor said quietly, pulling him off to the side. "I don't think he's been tending that wound as well as he should have been. Miss Quinn was wondering if the bullet had struck any internal organs, but I checked very thoroughly and I'm sure it's just a case of letting the wound become infected. Miss Quinn is actually quite right to give him what she's giving him. If anything can save him now, it's that and his will to live."

"Thank you, Doctor," Mr. Bishop said.

"If he gets any worse, come get me, but I think Miss Quinn has it under control."

"Mallory, how is he?" Nathanial walked over and knelt by the couch as the doctor left.

"Oh, you came!" she looked very worried. "The doctor was here but the only thing he said he could do was to bleed him and I don't think that's what he needs right now."

"What are you giving him? He said you had some concoction?"

"It's just quinine and honey." she said. "I've seen it work before, but it's been a long time and I don't know if he's further along than that person was. Nathan, I'm so scared it's not going to work!"

He pulled her into his arms. "If anything can work, even the doctor said this would. We have to give it a chance,"

She wiped her tears and nodded.

Nathanial reached over and felt Nick's forehead. "He sure is burning up," he said.

"I've been trying to cool him off since he showed up," she said. "I think I probably need to take his shirt off, but I can't sit him up by myself."

"I can help with that," he said. He stood up, sliding his arms underneath Nick's shoulders and lifting him into a sitting position. His head dropped forward onto Nathanial's shoulder, but as he held him up, Mallory was able to peel the shirt down off his arms and she dropped it onto the floor. She would launder it later when there weren't other, more important things to do.

Nathanial lowered him back onto the couch and Mallory dipped the washcloth back into the cool water.

"Have you two been up all night?" Mrs. Brown came down to make breakfast the next morning and found Mallory still mopping Nick's forehead and arms, and Mr. Bishop coming back from refilling the bowl of water.

"Yes," Mallory said, sleepily. "I'm afraid I've almost used up that whole bottle of quinine,"

"It's alright. I have plenty where that came from and it's easy enough to make more."

"Here's some fresh water," Mr. Bishop set it on the small table beside the couch.

Mallory let out a weary sigh and reached over to feel Nick's forehead. "He feels warm still, but better than last night," she said.

"Maybe that means he's over the worst of it?" Mr. Bishop said. "Why don't you go get some sleep. I'll take care of him for a few hours and you can relieve me once you've gotten some rest."

She nodded. "Alright, but only because I don't think I could keep my eyes open for much longer. Please come get me if anything changes,"