The sickly pale horse's hooves thundered throughout the canyon walls, giving the starry night sky a more ominous and mysterious quality. The rider, dressed in a finely tailored elegant suit, muttered soft encouragement to his steed as the horse neighed strenuously. Gunshots echoed and bullets zipped around the rider, some missing him by mere centimeters. Silently cursing, the rider gave his steed another kick, urging him to move faster.

"Come on, come on," Jack was beginning to panic. The buzz of the passing bullets getting closer and the gunshots beginning to get louder as they got closer until finally the canyon gave way to open pasture, full of tumbleweeds and sagebrush. He drew his Mauser Pistol, twisting in his saddle and steadied his aim. He focused, homing in on his targets forehead, compensating for the gallop of his horse and gently exhaled as he squeezed the trigger.

BAM! The blast gave way as a single projectile carrying Jack's hopes for salvation into the skull of his mark. A small smile threatened to tug at his lips as his adversary's body was carried by the force of the bullet off of his horse. He gave a sigh of relief and continued to ride on, holstering his weapon. He turned the reigns to his fallen enemy's body, dismounting right next to the corpse.

Jack knelt next to the body, and inspected it for anything useful when he found the last thing he had ever wanted to see in the world.

The shiny silver star, polished to a sheen, glistened in the dark canyon as Jack gave an inwards groan. The Law had been chasing him, he had suspected it to be a common bandits, but he should have known that gunning down a former federal agent not half a mile away from his brother would have drawn plenty of attention, even in the dusty desert plain of Rio Del Toro. This isn't good, Jack thought inwardly.

He needed a place to hide, a sanctuary to wait out the coming storm. Gunning down a lawman would only attract attention to himself, and he was bound to have a bounty on his head. His fears were immediately confirmed as more gunshots, more distant than the last, echoed from afar. Undoubtedly they were aiming for him, so Jack mounted his horse and forced into a sprint, trying to remember any nearby safe havens his father had talked about.

Casa Magruda, it's the closest, Jack thought, confirming it with a quick glance at his map with one hand on the reins. Gunshot echoes brought him back to present, and he kicked his steed again. He chanced a quick look back, now three lawmen chased him instead of one and they were gaining ground fast.

They'll run me down before I make it to Casa Magruda, Jack cursed to himself. Taking out his Henry Repeater, he pulled his horse to a stop and took careful aim.

"Now son, don't forget that when you're shooting elk, patience is important." His father muttered softly from behind him. The soft green canopy of the forest offered shade to Jack's eyes, cutting out the glare from the sun. "You can't hunt anything if you're in a hurry, just take your time. Don't forget to breathe….." Jack took several deep breaths and the rifle barrel straightened out. "…..and now, gently, squeeze the trigger.

BLAM! The gunshot echoed through the land and the bullet zipped like a bumblebee straight through the center of the man's chest, knocking him off of his horse. Jack discharged the shell and took aim again.

"Don't forget, Jack. We only kill what we need to survive, never hunt in excess. Mother Nature always finds out a way to even the score in the end. Try and remember that you can really mess up somebody's day with an accident, so don't let any stray bullets go into….."

BLAM! Through the man's eyeball.

"…..anything that you don't mean to put down. And remember that this rifle is yours. If you take this thing out…"

Jack cocked the hammer back, taking steady aim again, his nerves steel and his hand steady.

"…it means that you're putting down whatever is on the other side of it down for good."

BLAM! And the third man fell to the ground.

Jack holstered his rifle, and continued his journey. The ride was hard, and long, eventually bringing him to the brothel of Casa Magruda. The shanty looked unpleasant, but his father had claimed to own a room in the building. Hitching his horse to the post, Jack tried his best to look as inconspicuous as possible, thanking the night sky for the blanket of darkness that covered the world with sleep.

He walked into the room and immediately recognized it as his father's. An old wash bin next to the bed, and a familiar scent that comes after one has spent the entire day in the saddle. Jack hung his hat and began to undress, taking out his pistol and placing it on the end table making sure that it was loaded and chambered. He placed his hunting knife beneath his pillow, dousing the lamps and drawing the blankets to his chin and surrendered his body to the peace and serenity of sleep.

His dreams came in a sudden rush of memories. A series of distant gunshots, his mother saying they had to go back to the farm, his father's mangled body riddled with bullet wounds, his mother slowly losing the will to live, the feeling of the shovel in his hands as he dug yet another grave, the sneer on Edgar Ross's face as he spat insults to Jack, the burning rage Jack had felt, and the grim satisfaction as he unloaded his pistol into Ross's body.

Jack woke, the rooster crowing in declaration of a new day. He washed, and dressed in his fine suit, put on his gun holster and put his knife at its rightful location. He walked out the door into the warm sun, observing the hustle and bustle of people coming and going, on horses and carriages, the local working girls giving him cat-calls. The methodical clockwork of the small community interrupted by a piercing scream into the morning air, Jack immediately judged it to having come from the back of the building and raced towards it.

Near the bottom of the staircase, a man held a struggling woman by the throat, the man uttering threats in Spanish as Jack approached.

"Si tu ere punta!" The man growled as he gave the woman a harsh slap to the face, knocking her to the ground.

"Hey, amigo, give it a rest!" Jack intervened forcefully. The woman was a heap on the ground, giving several gasps for air. "Enough." Jack's voice was harsh and his stare was straight in the man's eye.

The man's accented voice was full of contempt. "Excuse me, gringo," he said, attempting to give a snide respectful tone.

Jack didn't pause. "Stop hittin' the girl." He ordered.

The man scoffed and swung a kick to the woman's stomach, launching her a few inches in the air. "There, you happy now?" He scoffed.

Jack shook his head mournfully, "You're low, brother." The woman gave more desperate gasps for air and struggled to get up.

The man shrugged. "You like her? You can have her." He offered nonchalantly."Eh, she's pretty clean, but pretty dirty, too," He gave a small, malicious grin. "She's yours for…." He gave pause for thought. "Two hundred American dollars,"

"Mario," The woman began crawling back to the man, "you're evil!" she cried.

"No, Eva," the man growled hatefully. "I'm just a cow herder who can no longer afford the cattle!" He motioned to kick her but stopped short.

He turned back to Jack. "You want a cow, cowboy?" He offered, motioning to Eva.

"Holy Mother," Eva cried, finally rising to her feet. "Save me from this man!"

Mario ignored her, keeping his eyes on Jack. "Come on," He whispered. "Two hundred dollars, man,"

Jack took out the necessary moneys, having looted Ross's body after he had shot him.

"Take the money, you bastard," Jack said venomously, shoving the cash into Mario's chest. Mario received it, counting the cash intensely. He suddenly grabbed Eva by the arm, shoving her towards Jack.

"She's all yours, okay." Mario sneered snidely. "enjoy her,"

"Gracias, senor. Thank you!" Eva cried to Jack.

Mario, walking past Eva, whispered, "Will you miss me, mi amor? What are you goin to do now?" He demanded, continuing on his way.

Eva turned to Jack, "I will go to Las Hermanas, the Sisters there, they will help me!"

As she ran away, Jack couldn't help but admit that she did look truly beautiful, and vowed to check on her in a couple of days time.

A Couple of Days Later

Jack had finally convinced himself that he heat had laid off and that it was time to leave Casa Magruda, after cleaning out the local players at the Poker table several times over. It was time to make good on his promise to catch up with Eva, the prostitute he head rescued before. After a day of hard riding, Jack finally found himself at Las Hermanas, the Catholic church. A safe haven to those who believed in any type of God in this unforgiving country. He walked through the big wooden doors, and Jack had an instant feeling of uncomfot. It was almost as if the Sisters of the church could smell the murder on him, with their suspicious glances and silent whispers all around him. He made his way deeper into the church, finally coming to a nun bowing before the statue of Christ on the cross praying.

The room, he had to admit, was beautiful in it's own way. The Cathedral was the only one he had seen in his life, and his earlier uncomfort was slowly melting away, replaced by a steadily growing feeling of warmth and peace. He had never felt such an overwhelming feeling of security in his life, a feeling of support and reverance, a feeling to which he would almost compare to being in a womb.

He approached the praying nun, reverently and respectfully drawing her attention. "Excuse me, Sister," He said, trying to remember his manners.

The nun turned, stopping her praying. "Yes, sir?" She replied, equally courteous as if she had never had any other way to talk to someone. "Can I help you?"

"I was looking for a girl by the name of Eva, I think," Instantly regretting that he had spent two hundred dollars buying a girl's freedom without officially getting her name. "I wanted to see if she was doing okay."

The nun rose, drawing herself to her full height, "Are you one of her..." The nun squirmed uncomfortably, "special friends?"

"No," Jack corrected suddenly, not wanting the Sister to get the wrong idea. "I just helped her. She said she was coming in here."

"Oh," She said, her eyes recalling Eva, "she came and went. A man came for her. Turned out maybe he was her calling after all?" She finished somewhat questioningly.

Jack knew when a cause was lost, and had a gut feeling that Mario had been unsatisfied by his decision to sell her. "Okay, thank you, Sister," He turned to walk away.

"Oh!" Her voice came from behind. "I think they said they were going to El Sepulcro, but who knows?" She shrugged her shoulders in defeat. "She wasn't much of one for the truth."

A location changed everything, Jack knew he had to get to El Sepulcro as fast as he could, he couldn't let a monster like Mario still remain in possesion of a beautiful young woman like Eva and sleep well at night. He stormed out of the church, back on his horse, and rode towards El Sepulcro as fast as he could, kicking dust in his wake.

Something about that girl's face had reached into Jack's chest and wrenched at something in there. Something buried deep within that reminded him of his mother in a morbidly attractive way. Shaking his head of these thoughts, he kept his mind on the matter at hand, his horse galloping across the open prarie as if it's heels were on fire.

The cemetary's white headstones finally got closer and closer until Jack dismounted and searched the maze of graves. Finally, Jack came across Mario, with a beaten, bruised, and hog-tied Eva gasping for breath on the ground before him.

"Well, this looks familiar," Jack said, approaching the pair. Two pairs of eyes instantly locked on him, one pair desperately hoping for salvation, the other viciously analyzing a threat. "Eva, I thought you were going to stay at Las Hermanas?"

"I was, senor, but this pig, this grande perro kidnapped me!" Eva cried desperately.

"And you!" Jack rounded on Mario, "I bought her freedom from you, fair and square!" Jack shouted angrily. "What happened to our deal?"

"No, no, no! A good whore never leaves, man!" Mario attempted to reason. "You left and now she's mine again!"

Jack's temper begain to rise, something about Mario calling Eva a whore stirred a monster of emotions and made his face turn to one of contorted rage.

"Do I get my money back now, or after I've killed you?" Jack growled dangerously.

Mario's look became threatened, as each man took a step back, Eva still on the gound in between them.

"Eva, just stay down, I'm taking you out of here," Jack growled, his eyes never leaving Mario.

"Over my dead body, gringo," Mario hissed, putting his hand over his revolver. The air was tense and the world seemed to stand still and the only sounds were of Eva's whimpering.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Jack snarled, drawing his gun with lightning-speed and the trigger back , unloading it into Mario's torso.

His body hit the ground dead and bleeding into the earth, the gunshots echoing throughout the land and the smoke from Jack's pistol whithering into his nostrils.

He slowly holstered the weapon and walked over to the corpse, stepping over a shocked Eva and rummaging through Mario's pockets, eventually finding his blood-stained two hundred dollars.

"Damn," he murmered. "Bullets shredded it to confetti," He threw the shreds of blood-stained money to the air. He went back to Eva, using his hunting knife to cut her bonds.

"Are you alright, did he break anything?" Jack demanded gruffly.

"No, senor," she whispered feebly. Jack tried not to, but couldn't help but notice that she had a gorgeous figure, dark and gorgeous skin perspiring in the sun. Her face had blood on it, a cut lip and dried blood coming from her forehead.

"If you'll permit me, ma'am," he offered, taking out a handkerchief and a canteen of water.

She nodded, clearing her hair from her face as Jack poured the water onto the cloth, tabbing it gently enough to not cause any pain but firmly enough to wash the blood away. They each caught each other staring into the other's eyes and Jack couldn't help but observe how breath taking those deep pools of brown were, her dark hair framing her face perfectly, and her full lips.

"Senor, I never learned your name." She spoke softly.

"Jack. Jack Marston," He replied. "Eva, right?"

She nodded her head, "Si, me llamo esta Eva," she smiled slyly, "I suppose that now that you own me I had better learn English better,"

Jack chuckled, "You've been doing pretty good so far, I wouldn't worry about it. Or about me owning you, you're a free woman, Eva," Jack smiled. "And now you don't have to worry about Mario any more,"

They hadn't yet realized that they were still in close proximity of each other, "Well, I don't suppose you go around, rescuing working girls from puntos like him." She said with a chuckle.

"No, you're the first one so far, ma'am," Jack smiled in return.

"Well, I suppose if I ever get into trouble again, I'll know just who to talk to to help me again," Her face was getting closer, her eyes beginning to close and Jack felt his face grow warmer.

"If I'm in the neighborhood..." Jack's eyes closed and he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly. Her hand found the back of his head, pushing their kiss deeper as she slid her lips across his and sliding her tongue into his mouth.

They broke the kiss and leaned their heads against each other. "Now that's a promise," she murmered, smiling.

"Your English is good, but I think you're strong suit is with your French," he joked, they both laughed. "Come on, I'll take you back to Las Hermanas," He helped her to her feet, and then again onto the back of his saddle. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful the sunset was as they rode off towards Las Hermanas, wondering if he would ever be able to settle down.