Dear Melissa,

It's been weeks. Weeks since I last saw you, talked to you. Weeks since I had a lead on you. I have no clue where you are at the moment, maybe you're dead? Maybe, you're alive? It doesn't matter at the time, because for whatever reason you don't want to be found. I would know because I've been searching for you for weeks now with no success. I even went back to your hometown, Georgetown, but no one seemed to have seen you. They all said that Melissa Summers, either died a long time ago or ran away to another country. But a woman named Jade Winchester had been asking about the Summers family recently. Asking about the man who murdered them. Jade Winchester. I knew straight away it was you because you're smart Melissa, you don't want to be found. I don't even know if you get my letters, I send you, if you even read them. Maybe you just don't care? Maybe you just want me to let you go?

It would be so much easier if I just let you go, wouldn't it? But, Melissa, I can't do that. You want to know why? It's for the same reason I told you in my last letter, the same reason I have told you before. Because you're my family. The only family I got left. I don't know if that even matters to you anymore. But it matters to me. So, I'll find you, I will, and when I do, I will either drag your ass back home or be killed trying to. You see, just like you, I can't be stopped. I can't. Nobody can stop me. As I've said before,

Remember who the real enemy is.

Always yours, Sam

Sam glanced at the letter before giving it to the postman who rode away. He looked back at the post office where his letter now would be shipped away. It had been weeks since he had a lead on Melissa. He hadn't found nothing about her, except that she had used a fake name in Georgetown and asked around for this Jack Tannen who apparently was the murder of Lilly and Matthew Summers. He looked over the hill where the post man had rode away with his letter, hoping that it would reach Melissa, not that he thought that his words would change her mind in any kind, but he was hoping that she at least would write him back so he would know if she was alive or not.

But somehow, his gut feeling told him that she was alive, and his feeling also told him that he needed to find her before she did anything more stupid than she already had done.

John Wilkes was of course the new Sheriff in Grand Junction and he wanted to find Melissa because of Sheriff Hinton. But Sam had somehow talked him into not going after her at the moment, that he would take care of Melissa if he found her. Although, this was a lie, because if Sam found Melissa, alive and in one piece, he wouldn't bring her back to Grand Junction, he would go with her to start over someplace new, even if he thought what she had done was wrong, but family forgives and Melissa was the only family Sam had left.

Sam mounted his horse Bob as his mind was still in the wind, worried for Melissa who he thought would never be seen again.

He rode the long and empty path home, where he knew it would be even more lonely. When he reached the farm, he stopped and looked at it. A big sigh left his body as he jumped down from Bob and led him into the pasture. While patting Bob's neck he noticed a man further down, coming riding towards him. He could tell straight away who the man was. John of course, or, Sheriff nowadays. He had a regular habit of coming to Sam's farm, either to chat or to bring him work to do. Sam walked out of the pasture as he waited for John to reach him. The horse he was riding was big, black and strong, the same black mane as John had. Looked like they made a perfect team. As John reached Sam he stopped, jumped down from his horse and took a step forward.

"John." Sam said as he looked at him. John smiled a little as he fixed his brown hat.

"Sheriff, if you may." John said as he smiled. Believe it or not, the two boys had grown friends. Sam still thought that John was a stubborn and weird man but the many jobs they had worked together had made them friends.

"Nah. You'll always be just John to me." Sam said as he chuckled a little and rested against the fence, looking over at Bob and the view of the open landscape. John followed his lead and leaned against the fence.

"Anyway, Sheriff John, what brings you here?" Sam joked a little. John looked at Sam who kept his eyes over the open landscape.

"We....we found a lead Sam." John said as he looked at him.

Sam looked confused at John, with big eyes, filled with hopes. Had they found Melissa? Was she dead?

"Melissa?" Sam asked. John nodded. "Where?" Sam kept going.

"Outside Silverton." John said as he looked at Sam once again.

"Silverton?" Sam asked as he looked confused at John, that was pretty far away from where they were. John nodded.

"Two bodies of men were found outside Silverton and as you know, I've been keeping contact with other Sheriff's in other towns and Sheriff George Matthews had apparently found two bodies outside town yesterday." John said as he scratched the little beard he had.

"How do they know that it's Melissa?" Sam asked, hoping that it wasn't her who had killed them.

"Well, because the men weren't just shot, they were robbed as well."

"So?"

"So, their money and values were gone, and the general stores owner said he had a woman, dressed like a man in the shop who threatened him, and he saw a gold pocket watch on her. The same pocket watch, one of the men had." John said.

"Maybe she found the watch." Sam said, not wanting to believe that it was Melissa.

"Come on Sam, not even you believe that."

"Yeah, well still, it's not a big lead." Sam said as he walked away a bit.

"The biggest lead we got yet." John said, following him. Sam stopped in front of the farmhouse. "Look Sam, I know you want to believe that Melissa didn't shoot them, but right now it looks like that's the case." John said.

Sam closed his eyes as he breathed in. He knew that John was right. It might as well be Melissa. It damn well sounded like her in that general store where she had threatened the store owner.

"Melissa is innocent until we prove it the other way." Sam said as he grabbed Bob once again, preparing himself to leave.

"Melissa is not innocent Sam. She killed Sheriff Hinton in case you forget." John said with a cold tone in his voice.

Sam mounted Bob as he opened the gate and walked over to John.

"Yes, she did, but less we forget, Sheriff Hinton shot James, an innocent man. He wasn't better himself. I'm not saying that what Melissa did was right, but just because she shot one-person doesn't mean she's guilty to this." Sam said as John mounted his horse and looked at Sam as he rode a bit away from him.

"Just be prepare Sam, because if we find her and she is guilty to those murders, you know we have to put her down. And just so you know, if it comes to that, I don't care if you know her or not, putting down criminals is my job, you should think of what your job is." John said as he galloped ahead of Sam.

Sam knew that John wasn't joking, he was serious. They were friends now, sure, but that didn't mean that John respected that Sam was protecting a criminal. John took his job very serious and he didn't want to let any criminal walk this earth. Sam knew he had to go with John, he had to make sure that John didn't lose his temper and shoot Melissa. But Sam also realized that John may be right. Maybe Melissa killed those men and then, she would be guilty of three murders, there was no turning back form that. Sam breathed in once again as he gave Bob a little kick and followed John. His mind in deep thinking of what John had just told him.

Hurt and bruised of the horse fall Melissa sat down by a small river to splash water on her face. Belle had been spoked of something and had left her on the ground where she had hit a rock and bruised her head. She touched her forehead where some blood came running down.

"Shit." She mumbled to herself as she realized she needed to stop the bleeding. Looking around to search for Belle she found a huge leaf that would do for now as a bandage. While calling Belles name Melissa stumbled around in the forest. Surrounded by tall trees, a smooth wind and the suns lights that shined through the branches. As she reached an opening from the forest Belle was spotted in the fields, calmly eating grass and enjoying the winds whisper. Melissa sighed out of relief when she spotted Belle and started walking towards her.

"Hey! Enjoying your time while you left me all by myself, bruised and hurt over there?" She said while patting Belle softly on the neck. Checking that Belle hadn't been hurt by something was obvious for Melissa. Seemed like Belle was free from any injury, unlike herself.

Tired and sweaty, Melissa sat one foot in the saddle as she swung herself up again on Belles back.

"Come on girl, let's find those men." She said as she patted her once again and then gave her a gentle kick into trotting.

They trotted over the huge field, into some rocky mountain path where they reached a view that took Melissa's breath away. She stopped Belle and looked at the view. Some clouds were gently rolling on the sky as they now and then covered the sun on the sky. By the edge where they stood tall trees and wild open fields could be seen. It seemed like an untouched place, not yet touched by any human being. Wild, free and open. Just like it should be. Melissa found herself smiling for the first time in a long time. The view was stunning, it was something she never had seen before. The wind sung in her ear as she closed her eyes and heard some birds that flew softly over the sky. When she opened her eyes once again, she saw something moving further down in the distance. They moved fast and the sound of their steps sounded like an earthquake. She cheesed her eyes to see better and saw a huge flock of wild horses.

Mustangs, thoroughbreds, wild stallions, you name it. They looked magnificent, running free over the huge open field just underneath where she and Belle stood. In the front, a black stallion could be seen, seemed like the leader of the flock. Slowly, he took his flock, further and further away from where they stood.

"I wonder how it must feel to be free like that. To have nothing but the open landscape in front of you." Melissa mumbled to herself. She looked at the wild flock as they galloped further away until they couldn't be seen anymore.

When they were gone, Melissa sat up straight in the saddle and kept following the current path they were riding on. She was currently in Wyoming, several days of traveling through deep forest and open landscapes, wild and dangerous animals and of course some outlaws tthat tried to rob her had taken her all the way until she was finally in Wyoming. Now, it was only a matter of time before she would reach the town Cody. The outlaws that had attempted to rob her had of course failed. She woke up a few days ago to a manly voice telling her to raise up her hands and give them all her values. A rusty shotgun was pointed against her face when she opened her eyes. Three nasty looking fellers with dirty teeth's and faces smiled a creepy smile to her. Luckily, Melissa always kept her gun close to her, especially when she slept outside like that. She had managed to grab it and shot the feller who pointed the shotgun at her. After that, she had been shot in her leg by one of the men before she shot them both in their heads. Luckily, the bullet in her leg had went clean through, but she was badly wounded. The last few days she had been struggling to walking. But Melissa knew how to take care of a wound, thanks to her mother and her experiences with James, so she had managed to keep the wound clean so it didn't get infected.

Thinking back on the last few days made Melissa once again be reminded of her mother. Belle kept walking while Melissa looked up to the cloudy sky and squeezed her face in a painful way. She could almost hear her mother's voice in her head, asking what the hell she was doing? But Melissa kept ignoring it, she knew that what she was doing, was right, because she did it out of love. She did it for them, for James. She did it for all her losses and for the people she loved.

Melissa was dirty, tired and hungry. The last couple of days had been rough for sure, but the one thing that kept her going was that she was going to shoot the man who destroyed her entire life. Make him suffer the way she did. Melissa couldn't wait for the moment when she would stand there in front of him. Like a ghost, that had come back for revenge. He would be scared, and she would smile to his fear. She would laugh at his fear, look straight into his eyes and then, she would make his eyes go out. She would make his heart stop.

The path seemed endless, Melissa didn't even know if she was going the right way. But a sign they rode past a while ago, said Cody and pointed straight forward, so she guessed it was the right way to go. Her mind had been so caught up in everything that she didn't realize how far they had ridden because further down there was a sign that once again said Cody. Melissa smiled as they reached the sigh. It pointed to the left. She kicked Belle into gallop out of excitement and rode off. The wind howled in her ears as she galloped through trees, through open landscape, through some rocky mountain. Through everything. Maybe this was the town? Maybe this was here she would finally put down the horrible man? Melissa smiled as she realized she was getting closer to town, because further down, she saw it. The town. Right outside, there was a sign that said Welcome to Cody, Wyoming. Melissa held Belles reins right outside town as she inspected the few people she could see walking around on the street. They seemed different somehow, although, she couldn't tell why they were. They just seemed more happy, free, than others she had met.

Melissa took a deep breath as she walked into town. The town was surrounded by beautiful high mountains. Seemed like the mountains almost touched she sky. The air was fresh and the sun warm. The town itself was a typical small town, nothing that Melissa hadn't seen before. It had everything you expected it to have. A saloon, a stable, a general store, even a gun store. There was houses all the way down streets, until you came to a crossroad that either took you towards the stable or the saloon. As usual, Melissa knew she had to start off by the saloon. It had become a habit to her to always visit the saloon. As she road through town she felt proud somehow. Here she was, riding through town, looking for the man that took her whole life away in a breath. People was looking at the new face they saw riding through town and Melissa ignored them. The old her had probably been nervous about all the long faces inspecting her from top to bottom. But the new her wasn't someone you messed with. Being away for so many weeks on her own, where she had even killed some men and survived had taught her one thing. You can't trust no one but yourself. She was tougher than she had ever been before and she knew that finding Jack Tannen would bring her peace, it would make her happy no matter the costs she had already paid.

As she reached the crossroad, she turned left towards the saloon. She rode past some women, dressed in fancy clothes, looking at her like she was venom. She also rode past a little boy that held some newspaper.

"Sheriff Thomas Hinton shot dead in Grand Junction! Read all about it!" He screamed out as he waved with the newspaper. Melissa stopped right in front of him, her eyes wide open and confused. She jumped down from Belle as she looked at the small boy. He couldn't be more than eleven or twelve.

"Did you say Sheriff Thomas Hinton?" She asked as she stood in front of him.

"Yes, ma'am, awful ain't it?" He said as he looked into her eyes. He had clear blue eyes, he seemed so innocent.

"Not really." She mumbled.

"I'm sorry ma'am?" He said as he didn't hear what she said.

"Nothing, nothing. How much for a paper?" She asked and gave him a smile.

"Fifty cents." He said and gave her a paper. Melissa shoved her hand down her satchel as she picked up a dollar instead. She gave him the whole dollar as she smiled and blinked at him.

"Thanks kid." She said as she mounted Belle again. He smiled a so happy and bright smile when he looked at the dollar that Melissa felt good in her heart for the first time in a long time.

"Thank you, ma'am! You have a great day now!" He said as he bowed and shoved the dollar in his pocket.

Melissa waved at him as she smiled and kept trotting down the street. She had made someone smile for the first time in a long time and to be honest, it felt good to do something for someone else for exchange.

She trotted by some more people, some smoking, some laughing and some others riding horses past her while she looked after a sign saying, Saloon.

After passing some more houses, she finally found it, the Saloon. She closed her eyes and smiled. With hope in her eyes and her heart she jumped down from Belle, hitched her by a hitching post outside and walked in. As she opened the swinging door a man bumped into her and fell, his bottle of whisky broken on the ground in front of him. Melissa looked at him confused when he gave her a mean look.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" He asked as he stumbled up and looked at her. He was tall and black clothes covered his body. A little beard shoved under his cheeks and a mean look in his eyes, he had black hair that reached down to his shoulders. Melissa just looked weirdly at him while he looked like he was going to punch her.

"You walked into me." She said and was just about to keep walking into the saloon when he grabbed her hand and spun her around.

"You owe me a new drink!" He said as he held her close to himself. Melissa tried to get loose, but his grip was to tight.

"Let me go!" She said right into his eyes, but he just smiled at her with a mean face. Something familiar then reached Melissa as she looked into his eyes. She remembered those eyes, they weren't Tannen's eyes, but one of the two men that had been with Tannen when he killed her parents. She then punched him so hard in his face that he fell backwards down the stairs. People on the street seemed to notice what was going on and gathered around them. He stood up as he touched his face, noticing some blood running down from his nose. Melissa jumped down from the stairs with a mean look in her face.

Perhaps even meaner than his face had been right before she had punched him. He stood up, angry about the fact that she could punch him like that.

"You asked for it woman!" He screamed as he swung a fist right into Melissa's stomach and she fell on her knees out of breath. He kicked her face, so she fell on her back in the muddy sand. Coughing and searching for air. He sat down on her as he grabbed her shirt and held it tight.

"I'm going to teach you a lesion!" He said as he smiled. Melissa took one closer look on his face, and she knew, she knew so damn hard that he was one of them. He was one of the killers. A rage so strong and hard filled her body and she smiled. He punched her one more time in the face and some blood covered her face. Melissa then kicked her knee right between his legs, and he kneeled in pain so she could get up. People had gathered like a circle around them, watching intensely what happened. Melissa kicked his face, so he fell backwards into the mud once again. She then kicked his stomach, making him squeal in pain. Then she grabbed his shirt and dragged him towards her.

"Remember me?" She said, smiling and looking straight into his eyes. He laughed while some blood covered his teeth as he spit in her face.

"No. Never seen your damn face." He said. Melissa took away the spit as she once again punched his face, then she kicked his stomach once again. She didn't care about his scream, she wanted him to suffer.

Then she grabbed his shirt once again, dragged him towards her as he coughed and squealed in pain once again.

"September 19th, 1891. Lilly and Matthew Summers. Does it ring a damn belle somewhere?" She said as she held him tightly and looked with her mean eyes into his. He was one of them, the killers. He had killed her family and now, she was going to kill him too. First, he seemed confused of what she was talking about. But, when he opened his eyes and met hers, he finally remembered, he knew who she was. Melissa looked at him as he coughed up some more blood. She enjoyed his suffering.

"Oh, yes. You're right, it does ring a belle. Matthew Summers, the little coward we burned and killed on his own farm and his wife....It's a shame Jack killed her, she was real pretty." He said and laughed.

Melissa got so angry that she punched him several times on his face and then kicked his stomach once again. People gasped and some cheered as Melissa kept beating him. He could barely open his left eye by the time she grabbed his shirt once again and drew a knife on him. She dragged the knife on his cheek as he screamed in pain and Melissa enjoyed his screams.

"Where's Jack Tannen?" She asked with a mean and deep voice and her knife against his neck. He smiled and laughed once again as he coughed some more.

"Now I see what this is about." He said as he looked with his right eye into hers. "Never took the innocent little girl we hunted for the revenge type." He said as he smiled once again.

Melissa punched him once again.

"WHERE is he?" She said as she stabbed the knife in his leg. He screamed in pain as the people around them looked at each other. One man ran away.

"You whore!" He screamed and Melissa smiled. She put her knee on the knife wound and pressed it so hard that he screamed out in pain.

"I asked you a question. WHERE IS JACK TANNEN?!" She screamed as she punched him in his face once again. He didn't laugh, nor did he do anything else. He just breathed heavily, and Melissa pressed his wound once again and he screamed out in pain once again.

"He's up north! In a c-c-camp!" He stumbled in pain.

"Go on!" Melissa said as she pressed his wound once again.

"He's planning a t-t-train....r-robbery....J-j-just follow the p-p-path....north...you'll find him...." He stumbled and fell backwards, closing his eyes and breathing heavily. Melissa dropped him and stood up. She then grabbed her gun in her holster and loaded it.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" She said, still with a mean voice. The man coughed and looked at her as she aimed her gun towards him. The people around them looked confused and some scared.

"This is for my mother and father." She said and then pulled the trigger. A shot landed in his forehead and Melissa blew the smoke of her gun as the people around her gasped.

She had been so caught up in her revenge that she didn't realize how many people there was that watched her do that. Now she was in real trouble. She looked at the man who had helped destroying her life and she felt good, more than good. She felt amazing to have seen him suffer like that.

Suddenly, she heard a gun click behind the people straight forward. The people moved aside, and Melissa looked up. Three lawmen stood and aimed at her, looked like the Sheriff in the middle and two of his men by his side. Reminded her of Sam, what would he had thought about all of this?

"Drop the gun and put your hands up!" The Sheriff screamed with a northern accent. All three of them aimed at her, but Melissa had no intentions going to jail, she was going to head north and find Tannen. Not be hanged because she took her own justice. She raised her hands slightly and then ran towards the saloon where she ducked behind the stairs. Some shots were made from the lawmen and people ducked and screamed while they ran away. Melissa had to get out of there. She couldn't go to jail, she just couldn't.

She raised her gun and aimed at one of them, then she pulled the trigger. The man to the left fell to the ground. He had been shot dead and something stung a little in Melissa's chest. She shot an innocent man, he had no business with her, but she killed him. Melissa thought for some seconds. But he had blocked her run away, so he needed to be shot otherwise she wouldn't get out of there. When he fell to the ground and the other two screamed his name Melissa took her chance and jumped up on Belle and galloped away. Shots were flashing by her side, but all of them missed. She could feel the shots that was so close they almost hit here. The shots kept shooting at her until she galloped out of town and into the open landscape before reaching some mountains. She galloped so hard and long to lose the men and she did, she did lose them.

Melissa smiled at the wind that blew in her hair as Belles hooves covered the ground with sounds and her mane flipping in the wind. They were on their way, on their way to justice. On their way to freedom.