"Snow?" Snow's eyes fluttered and opened to see her husband kneeling over her. He was smiling at her, yet he also wore a look of concern. "Snow, are you alright?" She suddenly felt cold, and in looking around realized she was lying outside in the snow. "Yes, I just...I felt dizzy. Lily was helping me back inside and...that's the last thing I remember." Mike helped her sit up, "Where is Lily?" Snow shook off her dizziness, "She isn't here?" "No. I didn't see her and she isn't inside." Mike helped his wife to her feet. Snow began to brush the melting ice and snow from her dress, "Maybe she went to look for you." Mike began to lead her inside. "Wait Mike, what's that?" Snow pointed at the ground to a spot that appeared red. "Mike, is that...blood?" Mike started over to it and then picked up a branch lying nearby, "I think so, and it's on here, too. Looks like someone got whacked with this." "Lily! Oh, Mike! She must be in trouble!" Mike stood quickly and pulled Snow close to him, "Shhh, please don't worry. We'll find her. She'll be alright." Looking over Mike's shoulder, Snow gasped, "Look! Lily's scarf!" Mike parted from Snow and approached the scarf. He observed footprints haphazardly heading toward the woods. They were difficult to make out completely, as the snow had begun to melt in the warmer weather and they hadn't had a snowfall in days. "We'll need some trackers. I'll get Ribold and Duncan and some of the others." Just as he was about to head toward their cabins, he turned back toward Snow as she slowly picked up the scarf of her sister from its icy bed. He wiped a tear from her cheek as it streamed down her face then grabbed her into him tightly. "You stay inside. It'll be OK. Don't worry." Snow clutched him tighter before letting him go. "Find her," she whispered. He nodded and kissed her hand before rushing off to get the others.

The ground was slippery, and despite her strong dancer's legs being able to run faster than the average person, Lily felt the Captain gaining on her. Snapping a few branches back into his face here and there seemed to keep him at a safer distance, although too close for comfort. "It's no use running, Lily! You're mine, remember! You always have been and you always will be, little gypsy!" His words were like a stabbing pain in her head. 'No,' she thought. 'It couldn't be.' She couldn't belong to him...not him, this monster! The very thought appalled her. Was it true? The horrible fact was, he was her first...and her last. What could she do? Could anything change that? She tried desperately to wipe these thoughts from her mind as she concentrated on the task at hand. Then she saw it, finally. The pond...the very pond she skated on with Neville. She leapt onto the surface, sliding dangerously toward the thin ice with the momentum of her running sprint. Dangling there in front of her was her lifeline...the rope she'd tied to a tree branch a few weeks ago. In the event she or Neville ever ran into a situation where they find themselves sliding towards the thin ice, they could just grab onto it and keep from sliding into the icy water. Never did she imagine that she would need it for this purpose...to save her in a chase from Phillipe. She reached out and grabbed the rope, then swung out and back with purposeful force until she could reach up and grab the branch. She lifted herself onto it just as the Captain started across the ice. As he was about to grab for the rope, Lily cursed at herself for letting go of it to grab the branch. But Phillipe missed the swinging line, sliding with a crunch and a splash into the icy water. Then, Lily grabbed up the rope and closed her eyes. She didn't want to see him at all. She held her lifeline close to her. How precious it was to her at this moment, whereas, she was glad she didn't have it that night when Thomas saved her...sweet Thomas. She wished she could go back to that night when he held her in his arms, safe from the Captain, safe from the wolves, safe from everything. She could hear Phillipe below and she wished she could close her ears as well as her eyes...to not hear his cries for help. She couldn't help but cry herself, as she thought back to that night when she fell into that very spot...freezing to death, gasping for air. She was saved that night, but what about this man? This horrible monster...why shouldn't he die? After what he did, why should Lily feel the least bit guilty about leaving him there to drown or freeze? But Lily did feel guilty. Her life with Anne as a midwife had taught her to save lives, and not to take them. She couldn't take his either, no matter how horrible of a person he was. He was a person after all, and not a monster...no matter what she believed. She had to save him...she didn't have a choice. She let the rope down to allow him to grab onto it. He tried but couldn't reach out to it...it hung too far in and away from the thinner ice. 'Maybe I could just go and get the others,' Lily thought. 'It isn't that far.' She didn't want to go down there, go hear him. Where Thomas was strong and able to pull her out of that icy grave, there was no way she was strong enough to do it. She tried to go, to get down and run back to get the others, but she couldn't move. It was like her arms were locked around that tree branch. Why? She wanted to move, but she couldn't. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She just kept saying it over and over whether Phillipe could hear her or not, "I'm so sorry!" She put her head to the branch and sobbed like a little girl. Voices! Then she heard voices in the woods. Surely, she could find the strength to call to them. She opened her mouth but only silence came out...nothing. No, not again! Wait, the whistle! Ritchie had given her his whistle, as they had run out of them before Lily or Neville came to the village. But She was still frozen with fear. 'Move, arm...come on!' Quivering, Lily gave all her strength to put that whistle to her mouth. 'Push!' She thought back to her commands that she'd give the women in labor to push out their babies...she herself just had to push out merely air. Did it! Loudly her whistle started to blow. She just kept blowing and gasping and blowing some more. She saw the men come. Half of them went to help Phillipe who was still alive and struggling, the other half started calling up at Lily from below. It just didn't register that she could stop blowing that whistle now. Getting no response from their hails, Neville quickly scampered up the tree and out onto the branch. Lily felt his gentle touch and finally stopped blowing long enough to hear his words, "It's OK Lily...we're here! You're alright." Lily managed to pry one arm from the branch to hug Neville. Thomas watching from below, was relieved to see that Lily was alright but saddened at seeing her in Neville's arms instead of his own. "Let's get you down from 'ere." Neville put one of Lily's arms around his shoulders while motioning for her to pull her other arm free of the branch. She looked back and totally forgot that she still clung to that tree. She pulled herself free and then turned to face Neville so that they could start down the tree. When she turned, however, it slipped her clouded mind that she was balanced on a thin tree branch and she lost her balance, now hurling toward the ice below. As he saw her slip, Thomas reached up to try and break her fall...and break her fall he did. Both of them went crashing down onto the hard surface. As Lily looked amongst the arms about her, she gazed into the face that they belonged to...Thomas! The emotional state she was in coupled with just the site of Thomas there with his arms around her was too much for Lily. She collapsed onto Tom's chest sobbing violently. Ending up on his lap, she wrapped her arms around him and clung to him tightly. Retracting her knees to curl in tightly onto his lap, Lily's surrendered blubbering was muffled by her face being tightly pressed against Thomas' chest. In return, Tom gathered her up and pulled her into him even closer. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "It's alright now Lily. Everything's alright. Shhhh..." Gently, he rocked her back and forth on the ice whispering any soothing thought he could think of close to her ear. She couldn't stop crying. How could Thomas know what she felt at that moment. She wished she could tell him...tell him just how much she had missed his touch, how his words were so soothing to her soul, how safe she felt in his arms. Those arms...she didn't ever want to leave them. But as she could hear the men pulling Phillipe out of the icy water, the others were ready to head back. "C'mon, Lily," Thomas soothed, "We're going home now. You'll be safe at home." Lily thought, 'yes, at Thomas' home'...but she knew he meant at her own home. She pulled slowly away from the embrace she longed for so much in her frightened state, as Thomas reached up to wipe her tears. Neville was just coming down from the tree and was slightly astonished at Lily's show of affection towards Tom. He brushed it off as simply the emotion of the moment. Mike and Neville helped both of them up as Duncan and the others managed to pry Phillipe from the ice. "Get Lily out of here!" Duncan yelled as he held a pistol on the Captain. He knew Lily didn't need to be subjected to this any longer. Mike and Neville along with Tom quickly rushed Lily back to the village as the men hauled Phillipe away to the jail.

As they came upon Mike's cabin, he assured Thomas and Neville that Lily would be better after a night's rest. Lily watched Thomas leave, keeping her silent desires to herself...her desire to stay with him, to be held by him even if just for one more moment. Her thoughts faded as she remembered, "Mike! Snow, she was..." "She's fine. She's resting inside. It's you we were both worried about. Do you want to talk about it?" Well, that was it. Lily broke down...she couldn't help it. She collapsed to the ground, sobbing. "Mike, she was sick. I followed her outside. She felt dizzy and then she just dropped, fainted I guess. And then...I thought it was you, but it wasn't. It was..." She looked up at Mike kneeling beside her as tears poured from her eyes, "I had to go...I had to get him away from Snow. He...he was gonna hurt her. I-I won't let him do that, not to her! I won't...I won't let her go through what I went through. Mike, I had to get him away from her. He said he...he was gonna..." Her voice faded into sounds that Mike could no longer comprehend as Lily convulsed with her sobbing. Quickly, Mike grabbed Lily, pulling her closely into him. "It's OK Lily. Shhhh." He kissed her head and rubbed his cheek across her hair as she continued to cry into his chest. Tears now streamed down Mike's face as he thought about her sacrifice. 'She led him away from Snow...at the risk of her own safety, she led him away. This man she fears so much, yet she risked everything to save her sister...to save his wife. This precious, precious girl...I will not let anyone harm this girl,' he thought. He continued to gently rock Lily there in the yard as a light rain began to fall.

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"Lily, really, if you want to stay here a little longer, it's OK. I totally understand." Mike could hardly believe those words had just come out of his own mouth. Lily smiled as she stuffed the last of her clothes into her overnight sack, "Thank you, Mike. I appreciate that, really. But they've got Phillipe in the jail, now. I actually feel safer with him there, than even yesterday when he could have been anywhere...and he was, wasn't he?" Mike nodded as they heard a knock at the door. "It's me, Neville." He opened the door cautiously, "I just wondered if you were ready?" Lily smiled, "Yes...packed and ready to go." "Wait, I'll go with you, Lily, " as Snow grabbed her shawl. Mike looked at Snow with concern, "Are you sure you're feeling up to it?" "Yes, I'll be fine. I want to make sure she's settled in." As the girls headed over to Yvonne's with Neville, Lily studied her sister's face and motions as she thought back to all of her symptoms lately. Lily began to consider that perhaps her sister was more naïve than she thought. With Phillipe in jail, things were a little less stressful in their lives. Perhaps it was time for a chat with her sister, thought Lily. "Neville, you know since Phillipe is in the jail, I'm sure you're relieved to not have to escort me around the village so much now, eh?" Neville gave her a puzzled look. But before he could respond, Lily continued her thought, "So, if you don't mind, I think Snow and I are going to go for a walk on this beautiful day. A nice 'sisterly chat' would be good for us. Is that alright with you? We'll be back shortly." Neville shrugged and nodded timidly, with a slight disappointment in his demeanor. But it was Lily's next statement that puzzled him.

Mike waited half a beat when Neville walked into the kitchen for some coffee to say 'hello' to Lily. But surprisingly, Lily wasn't with him this time. "Where's Lily? Lately you two have been practically inseparable." He tried to give his statement an innocent flair rather than give off the impression that he was accusing Neville of 'hanging' on Lily. In a confused tone, Neville offered, "Lily said she and Snow were going to go and visit 'Betty'." "Betty!" Mike's face was washed with a combination look of both horror and surprise. Certain memories flushed through Mike's mind as he pondered why on earth Lily and his wife would want to go and see Betty, and how they even knew about her. Neville hadn't been in the village long enough for anyone to introduce him to their leafy woodland 'friend'. In seeing the look on Mike's face, Neville couldn't hold his curiosity back any longer, "So who the hell is 'Betty'?"

The two girls burst into hysterical laughter as they got their first glimpse of the 'feminine-styled' tree. "What on earth..." Lily couldn't even finish her thought through her intense laughter, as visual images of the men paying their 'visits' to Betty flooded her mind. Snow was still giggling as she approached the tree. Suddenly she stopped. There was something...not right here. What? Was it anything? Had to be her imagination, she thought as Lily, grinning madly, approached the tree, "So, OK. I've got this visual in my head here. I'd venture to say that the guys come to about here and..." As Lily was about to place her hands on the tree's 'breasts', Snow spouted quickly, "Lily, wait!" Startled, Lily turned back toward her sister, who was now trying to think why she felt something not quite right here. "I mean...um..." in trying to come up with an excuse so Lily wouldn't think her out of her mind for not trusting a simple tree, her stomach again began to churn and she immediately had to turn and throw up into the brush behind her. 'That's it!' thought Lily! There's something going on here. Snow was inhaling deeply the fresh air when Lily approached her, hands on hips, "Alright, look. When you were sick with that ulcer, what were your symptoms EXACTLY?" Snow sniffed, still willing her stomach to calm down, "Well, I had stomach pains and then I threw up...just like now." "How often?" "Well, luckily we caught it early. Mike was so worried because I was throwing up blood then." "Blood?" Lily walked over to the brush and peered down. Snow gave her a look of disgust, "What are you doing?" "Looking for blood. I don't see any," as Lily folded her arms in suspicion. "No, there hasn't been any blood this time, thankfully. So I wasn't as worried about it, frankly." Lily nodded her head slowly, "You're right. You don't have to worry about that ulcer acting up, Snow. Not at all...because it's not." "It's not? How can you say that? I'm sick all the time." "Yes, you are. But that's not why, dear. Snow I've been trained as a midwife for years. I know the symptoms of pregnancy when I see them!" Lily gave Snow a beaming smile as she looked at her blankly. "Of what?" "You're pregnant, sis!" Snow's mouth dropped open and she stammered, "A-are you sure?" "Pretty sure. When we get back to the village, I'll give ya a looks over and what have ya...but I'm about 90% sure!" Snow gave a half laugh and a half cry as she hugged her sister, "This is so much better than an ulcer!"

Just as the girls approached the village, they ran into Neville and Mike heading over to see Betty. Neville just wouldn't let it go, and Mike was anxious to pull his wife from such an embarrassing situation as quickly as possible. Of course being married, he had no reason to visit Betty, now...although lately the thought had crossed his mind. "Hey!" Lily cheerfully skipped up to them when she saw them, followed by Snow trailing behind her. Neville gave a huge smile to Lily in seeing her bliss, as at first glance he thought it was in seeing him. Lily stopped, looked at Mike, then turned to Snow. Snow smiled at Mike then looked back at Lily. Lily motioned to her as if expecting her to say something. Snow stood as though she'd forgotten how to speak. "Well, sis? Are you going to tell him?" Mike smiled, "Tell me what?" Snow nodded and turned back to Mike. She opened her mouth to speak, but found trouble getting any words to come out in her utter giddyness, "I..." Lily gave her a strange look and she tried again, "W...." Sighing heavily, Lily couldn't take it any longer. She grabbed both Mike and Snow's hands and spouted, "You're having a baby!" Mike's jaw dropped and this time it was his turn to have trouble getting words out as Snow giggled happily. So instead, he grabbed up Snow and twirled her around as he loved to do. Quickly, he set her down and looked at Lily, "Oh dear...that wasn't bad for the baby, was it?" Lily laughed "No! You're fine! I was going to give Snow a check-up of sorts, but under the circumstances, I think it can wait. You two deserve some time alone together. Mike smiled and kissed Snow softly as they both headed back to their cabin. "So you wanna grab a cuppa...as Mike would say?" Lily looked back at Neville whose eyes were focused on hers. She smiled sweetly back, "Sure." As they made their way across the village to the hut, Neville swallowed hard and tried to bring up casual conversation, "So, I guess with the weather getting warmer, we won't be going ice skating any more, eh? But you know...that's OK, because there's always canoeing on the river...or what's even better is boating out on Willows lake!" Neville smiled as an image came to his mind of he and Lily in a peaceful boat all alone on Willows lake, when he noticed that Lily suddenly wasn't walking with him. He turned to find her stopped a few feet back. Oblivious to the words Neville had said, Lily simply stared off to the right. Puzzled at the meaning in the look on Lily's face, everything became clear to Neville when he looked in the direction of her stare...it was the jail. Her eyes were wide and focused on the small building and her mind appeared to be a million miles away. Feeling a sudden chill go though her, she shuddered and wrapped her shawl around her a little tighter. Neville approached her with caution, "Are you OK, Lily?" Shaking from her haunting thoughts, Lily looked at him blankly. After a second to gather her bearings, she smiled at him finally, "Yes. I'm alright. Thank you." As they started back toward the main hut again, they noticed a very distraught Stevie bustling about the side of the hut. He appeared frantic, like he was looking for something. "Stevie, you OK?" Startled, Stevie quickly turned to Lily. In seeing that it was her, he sighed in relief, "Oi Lily! It's you! I was afraid you was Snow. She's gonna kill me dead for sure!" In going back to his searching, Lily rested her hand on his arm, "What's wrong, Stevie?" He stopped and sighed, trying to catch his breath, "I was playin' wit me car this mornin', and the trees was castin' shadows like they do in the afta'noon, ya know? Well, I had a piece of that magic mirror of Margurite's and I was usin' it ta shine the rays onta the car panel thing...but I can't find the mirror bit now! I gotta find it, Lily! Snow told me ta keep in a safe place so's it wouldn't fall inta the wrong 'ands!" Lily smiled and patted Stevie on the shoulder in an understanding fashion, "I'm sure we'll find it. Snow won't find out...will she Neville?" Lily turned to Neville and gave him a look that screamed 'do not say anything to Snow'. He sputtered quickly, "No, of course not. We won't say nothin', Stevie." Lily turned back to Stevie as she continued with a sly grin, "Besides, Snow and Mike are...kinda busy right now. You won't have to worry about her for a while I don't think." With that, she gave Stevie a friendly wink.

As Mike shut their cabin door, Snow rushed over to the mirror and began to examine her midsection in the mirror. She turned side to side inspecting her profile, and then lowered the elastic waistband of her skirt down below her waist exposing her belly, "Am I showing yet, Mike?" Mike chuckled, "No, not yet. Did Lily say how far along she thought you were?" "I think she was waiting to examine me for that." Mike came and put his arms around Snow and gently patted her stomach, "It won't be long though..." he then began kissing her neck. "We should take advantage now, while we still have the chance," he said in jest moving his kiss up to her ear. Snow sighed and turned towards him, "Mike, do you want a girl or a boy?" Mike tucked his hand beneath her hair and began to kiss the front of her neck this time, "Right now, I just want you." She giggled and he pulled away from her and smiled. Mike then bent his ear down upon her belly and listened, "Nope...sound asleep. I think the coast is clear." With that, he proceeded to pick Snow up into his arms and set her gently down upon the bed. Snow again giggled and then whispered in jest, "What are you doing?" "Celebrating, " was Mike's reply as he lowered her onto the pillow with his kisses. With all the innocence and sincerity of Snow she offered, "This isn't bad for the baby, is it?" Mike couldn't stifle his chuckle, "No, sweetheart. This isn't bad for the baby...but it could do wonders for us." Again she giggled and smiled lovingly as she looked into his eyes that longed for her so desperately, "I think you're right, my Prince."

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"Great! So now there are TWO would-be rapists in the village! Perfect! I think that should just be my cue to get the hell out of here!" As Karen stormed out the door of the hut towards her cabin, Ivanhoe rushed out of the hut after her. "So now what?" Neville folded his arms and glared out the window toward the jail as the men sat discussing the present situation. Duncan stood at the head of the hut sighing heavily at Karen's outburst. "Well, we have to decide what to do about the Captain. We have to think of the people in the village, of the women in the village. What happened with Nigel was bad enough, but now there's this..." "What are you suggesting, Duncan?" Ritch raised an eyebrow in wondering what they'd possibly do with the new stranger they had locked up in the jailhouse. Neville brought his gaze and his thoughts back in from the window, "Well, we either leave him there or kill him. What other options have we?" Raif spouted quickly, "We can't kill him, Neville!" "I know that...that's why I said we'd have to leave him there." Bart shook his head in thought, "Can't we punish him or something? We can't just have our jail occupied for all eternity." "We don't know anything about this Captain. There's no guarantee that any level of punishment would do any good. We certainly can't risk releasing him around our women," as Ribold cringed at the thought. "I say we have to leave him there for now. It's the only option. I just put a new lock on the jail last week...it will hold indefinitely," Thomas was surprised at himself for his next statement, "So, I'll have to go with Neville on this one...to keep him there until we figure out what to do. Maybe that witch will come looking for him or something." Again, Eddy shuddered at the thought of Margurite returning. He quickly began making plans to start hiding at the fishing hole more often. "Speaking of, " Mike rose and headed toward the kitchen, "I'd better get the Captain's meal tray prepared, " he said in a rather unhappy tone. Neville stretched and yawned, "Well, doesn't make any difference to me. Either way, I think it'd be best for Lily to have an escort...just to make sure she feels safe at all times," as a childish grin formed on his face. Thomas suddenly stood wearing a scowl, "If you all don't mind, I'm quickly growing tired of this subject. I'll be getting some work done at the shop if anyone needs me." He quickly left the hut slamming the door behind him. Neville nearly jumped at the forceful slam of the door, "What's eating him?"

"So what do you think?" Snow looked to her sister with eyes twinkling with happiness. "I think you're having a baby, alright!" Snow squealed and hugged her sister once again. "Congratulations." The two girls were startled by the salutation given them from the next room in the surgery. Although they couldn't see him, they could hear the sincerity in Nigel's voice. Snow noticed that Lily's smile quickly faded, but Snow would always return a courtesy with cheerfulness as she looked at her sister, "Thank you, Nigel." Lily smiled at her with an uneasiness and shrugged. Although Nigel had never acted in a threatening way with Snow or her sister, Snow knew that it was merely the thought that bothered Lily...it wasn't a conscious uneasiness, it was just there. Although Yvonne was due any moment to bring Nigel's lunch, Snow still felt more at ease to make sure Nigel was alright. After all, he had been badly beaten, "How are you feeling Nigel? Can we get you anything?" Even though the offer was from the next room, the sweetness and sincerity in Snow's voice was always evident. "No, but thank you Snow. I'm feeling better today. How's that morning sickness?" Both girls giggled at this, "It's there!" Snow couldn't help but to get down from the table and go and speak with him face to face. This talking through the wall was just too awkward. She gave a look to Lily as if asking for approval. Lily nodded, "It's OK. We're done here. You check out alright, sis. Just don't go climbing any trees for a while, OK?" Snow giggled and nodded as Lily left the surgery. As Lily was making her way over to the hut, she thought no doubt her 'escort' would soon be looking for her. All of the men would be at the hut no doubt talking about what to do about Phillipe, so she couldn't really go there. They would never continue their discussion in her presence. As she slowly passed a few meters away from the jail, she couldn't help but watch the building itself. Laughing at herself, Lily knew the silly thing wasn't going to jump out and grab her, but something did catch her eye. In the sunshine, she caught a glimpse of something shining over by the window. She hesitated, then cautiously moved a little closer...it looked like a small mirror. Stevie's mirror! He'd lost it yesterday...that must be it. Without thinking, she started right for it. Suddenly, she stopped just short of the window. 'What am I doing?' Lily thought. The window of the jail cell is right there. He will see me there for sure. Quickly, she slid up against the wall of the building just inches away from the window. 'I'll just tell Stevie it's here.' After a pause, 'No!' she scolded herself, 'I can't be this way any longer...scared for the rest of my life. I need to just get that mirror for Stevie!' Slowly, Lily slid down the face of the building and under the window. She crawled the few feet over to the mirror bit as quietly as she could. With most of the snow now melted, the leaves on the ground were now quite crisp again and made crunching sounds beneath her. "Hey! Is someone there? What's a guy gotta do to get a meal around here?" The gruff voice penetrated Lily, as if her bones quivered in it's vibration. Quickly she slammed her back up against the wall under the jail window out of his sight. "Are you people in the habit of starving your prisoners or what?" Lily swallowed hard. She could see the mirror piece just a couple of feet away, but she felt paralyzed. Not again! 'I just can't seem to get over this!' Perhaps she could just wait until they bring Phillipe's meal. That would distract him long enough for her to get away. But how long would that be? Lily began trembling and tears began to form in her eyes. Across the way, she saw Thomas heading for the shop. She covered her hand to her mouth as her tears streamed down her face. She couldn't let Phillipe hear her cry...she couldn't let him hear her at all. What if she just made a run for it? She wanted so badly to run to Thomas, to run into his arms. She knew she couldn't do that, but she could at least go talk to him. Yes, of course! Why not? Now would be the perfect time to tell him how she felt...tell him that she remembered what happened at the mill, and how she thought about him all the time. There was no one around...they were all still in the hut. "Hey! C'mon! I know someone's out there! I heard ya!" That was it. Lily reached over, grabbed the mirror piece and took off running as fast as she could. She didn't run fast enough however, to not hear Phillipe call out after her, "You're mine, Lily! As soon as I get out of here, you're mine!"

"Anyone seen Yvonne? She usually takes Phillipe his meal, here." Mike stood in the main hut holding a tray of food while the men in the room frowned at the thought that their precious food supply was being wasted on this prisoner. Duncan replied casually, "She went to check on Nigel. She'll be back shortly." Mike shrugged, "It will be cold, but oh well." Neville formed a mischievous grin, "I'll take it to him." Mike chuckled and shook his head, "No. We already have two accused of attempted rape...we don't need another up for murder by poisoning!" Jennifer tutted and strolled over slowly, "I'll take it ovah. I ain't afraid a no Cap'n." Ribold shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "Jenn, maybe you shouldn't..." She didn't let him finish, "It's alright! He's locked up, ya know...can't do me any harm. I'll take that." She took the tray from Mike and smiled. As she left the hut, she gave Ribold a reassuring wink and tilt of her head.

Lily tried to shake Phillipe's words from her thoughts, which resounded in her head like a crash of thunder. When she spotted Thomas, it was like all her fears melted. Her heart leaped into her throat as she slowly approached the shop. He looked rather sullen, polishing some aluminum plates for Travis, sitting there all by himself. What was he thinking? How did he really feel about her? Still grasping the mirror piece, she caught a sharp edge of it, bringing her concentration back to the moment at hand. Quickly, she shoved the bit into her pocket. Upon hearing the shuffling of her dress material, Tom turned around to see her standing there. Surprised, he didn't know what to say at first. He found himself just wanting to gaze into her eyes for a moment. "Lily, hello." Again, words completely escaped the gypsy girl as she stood staring wide-eyed at Thomas, still haunted by those last words spoken by the Captain. "I-I didn't mean to disturb you." "No, you're not disturbing me...not at all. Come in." He quickly scrambled to see if could find her a seat. He grabbed some rags from a stool and set them on the table, "Here you go. These were clean. Please, sit down." Lily smiled weakly and sat on the stool. Tom eyed her with concern until finally noticing her eyes were moist and slightly red, "Lily dear, have you been crying?" The word 'dear' coming from Thomas made Lily's pulse race just a bit faster as she then furiously wiped at her eyes, "No, I'm fine. It's nothing." Tom casually made his way back to the bench, "I know a lot has been happening, and now that he's here..." he motioned toward the jail, "I know that it must be hard for you. Would you like to talk?" Lily nodded. Tom smiled, "I'm a good listener." He started back to his metal polishing. Lily willed herself to not let the words escape her this time as she physically pushed them out, "But I don't want to talk about that. I need...I want to talk about...the mill." Tom stopped and looked up at her. The mill? Tom knew she meant that night at the mill...the night she'd been so uncomfortable with afterwards. He didn't know where this discussion was going, but he was just happy to have Lily here with him alone, without her 'escort'. "Tom I...well, a while back I...remembered things. It like came back to me." She took a deep breath, " I remember what happened at the mill." Tom swallowed. She'd been told what happened, but Tom had no idea that she actually remembered it. Was she more afraid, now? Was she ashamed? "You say it just came back to you?" Lily nodded and averted her eyes to the ground. She surely didn't want to tell Tom that she remembered their kiss because Neville had kissed her at the pond...that just wouldn't be a good idea. Tom wiped his hands on a clean rag and approached her, "Lily, I only did what I did because you were freezing." Without looking at him, Lily quietly added, "You kissed me." Quickly Tom spouted, "Yes, but I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry, I just...I'd never do anything to hurt you Lily. It was just an impulse. I didn't mean it." Lily shook her head and her tears began to flow again. "That isn't what I want to hear Thomas." Tom didn't know what to do. He was confused by her words, and he certainly didn't want her to cry. He whispered softly, "What is it, Lily? Please tell me what I can say to make things better. I just want you to feel safe here in the village, Lily." He took her hands in his and she lifted her gaze. She could feel her heart pounding harder and harder. 'He's holding my hands,' Lily thought. 'What do I say now?' The sight of her tears broke Tom's heart. Lily tried not to let her voice break when she spoke, "I just want to know how you really feel...about me. Honestly." Tom squatted down there in front of her and tenderly rubbed her fingers with his. He looked into her misty eyes and smiled warmly, "I love you, Lily." She broke. Desperately, she reached out and hugged him, sobbing onto his shoulder. Gently, he pulled her down from the stool and onto his lap on the floor. Through her sobs, he had to concentrate to make out her words as she spoke behind him over his shoulder, "Neville kissed me at the pond...but all I could see was you. I remembered...everything. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't...I didn't know how you felt. Then HE came back and he...I just wanted to come and find you...to be with you. When I sleepwalked to your cabin, I kept wishing that...when he grabbed me...I kept wishing that I would wake up with you...I kept wishing!" Finally her words were incomprehensible and Tom tried to calm her by stroking her neck and kissing her scarf-covered head, "Shhhh...it's alright. You're safe now, Lily. " As he pulled her in tighter, Lily's sobbing quieted and she made the conscious effort to stop. Slowly, he pulled back to look at her. He wiped one of her tears and then traced her face with his fingers, "I just didn't want you to be afraid of me, Lily." She took his hand and held it against her cheek, "How can I be afraid of you, Thomas...I love you." Tom sighed with joy and slowly leaned in to kiss Lily when they were both stunned by a sudden scream, followed by a bunch of yelling from the men. It was coming from the jail. Quickly Thomas helped Lily up as Stevie came running over, "Oi Tom! The Cap'ns gone! Jenn went to bring 'is lunch an' he wadn't there!" Tom's surprised look became that of disbelief, "That can't be! I double checked that lock myself!" Stevie pointed in the direction of the jail, "Duncan's formin' a group to go an' look for 'im." Tom couldn't believe this! He just put a brand new failsafe lock on that cell, just in time for them to put Phillipe in jail. How could this happen? He had to go and check it out. "Stevie, would you please take Lily home and stay with her!" Stevie nodded as Tom rushed off toward the jail. When Stevie looked over at Lily, she'd sunk down the wall of the shop to the ground, hugging the edge of the structure. She sobbed as she watched Thomas running away. "Lily, c'mon. I gotta take ya 'ome, K?" He reached down and helped her up. Her body was reluctant and quivering, "Home?" "Yeah, c'mon les go 'ome. I'll stay wit ya. They'll get 'im, Lily! Don't worry!"

The lock was fine...no breakage or sign of forced entry or exit anywhere. It was just simply unlocked. "That's impossible! I'm the only one with the key!" Tom pulled the key out of his pocket. "I don't let this thing out of my site...I even take it to bed with me!" Travis standing in the doorway couldn't help but chuckle, "Man, are you ever hard up!" "Alright," Ritchie began, "who's going on the hunt with Duncan to track down this man? Ribold is getting the horses ready now." Tom glared at Travis and shoved the key into the lock, "I'm going. I just need to check on something on the way." Bart, Neville and Travis went with Ritch, while Thomas started toward Lily's cabin. He was met by a frantic Stevie, "Tom! I tried to stop 'er! I told 'er we was goin' 'ome, an' she said she wanted to, but that this wadn't it an' that she was really goin' 'ome. Then she ran away, Tom. I wanted to come tell ya right away. She ran s' fast, Tom! I couldn't run that fast!" "Where, Stevie? Which way did she go?" Stevie pointed off in the direction of the woods past the shop. 'Home?' thought Tom. The mine! She was going to try and go through the mirror, to her home back with the gypsies. In part, he was disappointed that Lily would rather leave the Willows for her old life, but Tom also knew it had to mostly be because of Phillipe. "Stevie, tell the others I won't be joining the manhunt, OK? Go on." Stevie nodded and ran in the direction of the barn. Tom in return ran in the direction of the mine.

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Her tears blinded her as she ran. In the back of her mind was of course the thought that Phillipe was now out of the jail and could be anywhere. But the only thing on Lily's mind at that moment was home. She wanted to go home...her home. The Willows was just not her home. Although the people were nice and she did love her sister, she missed Anne and Nika and the other girls so much...and this recent bout with Phillipe was the last straw. She'd fought her homesickness long enough, but she couldn't fight it any longer. Lily's emotions had gotten the best of her and she wanted to be back with her friends and family...the only family she'd ever had. She would be safe with them. For the five years after the attack travelling within the gypsy band, Phillipe had never found her...until she came to the Willows. She just didn't feel safe here. As her thoughts would go back to Thomas, she consciously pushed them aside, keeping her focus on getting to that mine and slipping through the mirror. How lucky, she thought, that she had just found Stevie's mirror piece. She clutched at her pocket as she ran just to be sure it was still there. For without it, according to Snow, she wouldn't be able to get through the mirror at all. Tripping over branches and twigs, Lily ignored the painful scratching as they tore at her legs. She kept her pace at a full sprint until a hole hidden by leaves grabbed her foot and she fell to the ground in a tumble. As she rolled back into a sitting position and caught her senses, the pain finally reached her and she clutched at her foot. Sharp pains were shooting throughout her ankle, and she realized it was a sprain. She tried to spring back up to her feet, just to fall back down again in pain as she shook out her foot a few times to try and release the pain, "No, not now!" She'd sprained her ankle a few years back and was unable to dance for over a month. Lily couldn't yet tell how badly she'd sprained it this time. She just prayed it wasn't that bad. She crawled over to a nearby tree and used it to pull herself to her feet. She scanned the area for a branch of any kind to use to limp on. She had to get to that mine. As she spotted something that might work, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her heart leaped into her throat as the adrenaline surged through her body. On instinct, she tossed back her arm with a force, turned and began flailing her arms and screaming. "Shhh...it's OK, Lily. It's me, it's Tom!" Trying his best to dodge her arms, he gently grasped her wrists with his hands. Upon seeing it was Thomas, she immediately stopped. She couldn't think of a sight she'd rather see. She leaned her face to his chest and began sobbing. He let go of her wrists and brought her in closer with his arms. She moved her foot to hug him and the pain shot up her leg, "Ouch!" Quickly, she let go of him and leaned back up against the tree hunching over to rub at her foot. Tom looked at her with concern. "I sprained it. It's pretty bad, I think." Tom knelt down to inspect her ankle, "It's already swelling up pretty good." As he very gently touched her leg to inspect the damage, Lily put her hand on his back to balance herself. Her other hand she found had wondered over to stroke Thomas' golden-red hair. Tom stopped at the feel of Lily's gentle touch. Slowly he looked up at her and held her gaze for a moment. Her eyes wore a sadness like he'd never seen in them before. Did she miss her home so much? Lily felt another tear form in her eye as she thought of the sacrifice of her life as a gypsy...it would be a life without Thomas. "We need to get you back to have this looked at." "No!" Lily jumped back against the tree, "I'm going home. Anne can take care of me. She's nursed dozens of sprained ankles in the past with all of us girls. I have to go home Thomas." She pulled Stevie's mirror piece from her pocket, "I have the mirror piece and I'm going through that mirror. I'm going home." Tom stood up and touched her arm, "So nothing can change your mind, then?" Lily shook her head reluctantly as she looked into Tom's sad eyes. He reached up and caressed her face with his hand as he whispered, "Then take me with you." Lily looked at him surprised. Surely, she misunderstood his meaning, "You mean like an escort?" "No, I mean let me go with you to live. That way I can protect you, be with you...always. There's plenty of men in the Willows...they don't need me here. Won't you take me with you? That is..." he lowered his gaze to the ground, "...if you need me." He didn't know what her answer would be, and would just as soon not look at her to hear it. Tears filled Lily's eyes and with her hand she brought his eyes to meet hers. She nodded and whispered back, "I need you. I need you." He smiled with a sigh of relief and hugged her boldly. Throwing her arms around his neck, Lily felt as if nothing in the world could harm her now and she shut her eyes tightly and sighed. Tom, on the other hand, wasn't so confident. He parted from their embrace and squeezed her hand, "We need to get going. He could be anywhere. You can lean on me." Lily nodded and put her arm around his shoulder. Tom helped her to the mine as quickly as she could limp comfortably. Lily thought of her sister and she and Mike's baby. She would have to find a way to let her sister know what happened to them. She didn't know exactly how. Surely Anne could think of something, Lily thought. She couldn't worry about that now, though. As she tried to minimize the pain in each step by leaning on Tom's strong shoulders, she was relieved to see the entrance to the mine. Again, the mine door was open and there was no sign of Ben or Max. "There's a mine shaft over there. It's probably the easiest way down to the bottom with me like this." Tom assisted Lily over to the mine cart, where Ben and Snow had given her a ride to the bottom just a few weeks ago. Tom climbed into the cart and then gently lifted Lily in, setting her in front of him. As Lily prepared herself for the ride to the bottom, she felt Thomas' arms wrap around her waist. Where she had been apprehensive in thinking about the rough ride down, she suddenly felt quite warm inside. Images of racing through the darkness of the mine with Thomas' arms wrapped around her like this, left her feeling rather giddy and she smiled in spite of herself. As Tom was about to press down on the lever to release them, Lily leaned back against him, resting her head against his neck. Feeling a strong desire to remove her scarf and brush his hand through her hair, he resisted the temptation. He knew that they needed to get away quickly. Instead he pulled her in tighter and then let the lever fly. They took off slowly at first, as Lily grabbed the sides of the cart, then the ride grew faster and faster as they raced deeper into the darkened hole. Lily felt her scarf begin to inch away and she grabbed at her head to keep it on. Thomas gently placed his hand upon her head to assist her. With only one of Thomas' arms around her waist now, Lily could feel the cart jostling her around more forcefully. With one large bump, she let go of the other side of the cart, and instead grabbed Thomas' leg beside her. Thomas pulled her in tighter with the one arm and brushed his cheek against her head. With Lily between his legs like this, Tom silently hoped she hadn't noticed his arousal. As they began to see light up ahead the cart slowed, and Tom felt a slight disappointment. Lily felt the same. The cart came sliding to a halt inside the lower cabin. As Lily turned to see Ben's wall lanterns still lit as usual, she couldn't help but notice it when her lower back brushed up against Tom's lap. She stopped and slowly turned to look at him. As her eyes caught his, Tom knew that she had noticed it. He wondered what she was thinking...if she was frightened. But the look her eyes was not that of fear, but of something else. He couldn't quite read it. With Thomas' arm still holding her waist, Lily gently removed her hand from Thomas' leg, placed it on top of his arm and rubbed it with tenderness. 'What now?' Lily thought. She knew Thomas had become aroused over her, and yet she knew he was too much of a gentleman to act on it, especially knowing Lily's past. She loved him all the more for this, but at the same time, he just had no idea. As Phillipe's haunting words again flooded her mind, Thomas had no idea what she was feeling...what she needed, Lily thought. For all of these years, she'd felt used and dirty and ashamed. Ashamed for something she couldn't stop, ashamed for who she was. Who was she? Phillipe declared that she belonged to him. No! She didn't want to believe it. But, it was no use how much she denied it...it was true. She did. All of these years, she couldn't find it in herself to fall in love because she had that lingering doubt...that sense of belonging to someone else, someone she did not chose to belong to. A belonging she was forced to relive over and over through her dreams. A feeling that made her sick. She didn't want to feel this way anymore. She wanted to change it. She could change it. For the first time in her life, she realized she had the power to change this circumstance...this thing that had haunted her for years. She had that power now...not Phillipe. But what should she do? Some of the strands of Lily's red and black hair had fallen around her face, and gently Tom began brushing them back up into her scarf. Lily grasped his hand with hers and brought it to her lips, kissing his fingertips. The dark cavern dimly lit with the flickering lanterns was as romantic of a setting as anywhere else. In looking around, they were indeed alone. But what now? Lily's kisses were too much for Tom and he slowly pulled his hand away. "Can you show me where the mirror is?" Lily nodded and he stood and helped her from the mine cart. Focusing her thoughts back to her original purpose, she followed the cavern's path to the lower chambers. She still limped with Tom's assistance, but somehow the throbbing in her ankle had subsided. As their feet walked across loose dirt and rocks, Lily was puzzled, "This wasn't here before? It's almost like they had a cave-in, or someone has been digging down here?" A loud and close 'whack' resounded in Lily's ears and immediately her body tensed. "Thomas?" Whirling around, she gasped as she caught a glimpse of her true love dropping unconscious to the floor, blood oozing from the side of his head. Before she could move, she heard the clanging sound of a mining hammer hit the rock floor as a strong hand pulled her in by the arm. She tried to scream out to Thomas, but as Phillipe's other hand clutched her throat, he pulled Lily's back up against him and whispered in her ear, "We're finally alone again, my little gypsy. It's time."

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She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she couldn't cry. She was barely aware of anything except Thomas lying there helpless on the floor, bleeding. Still grasping her throat, Phillipe clutched at her breasts and pulled her closer, following her gaze to the floor, "He won't bother us. It's just you and me...like it was meant to be." He slid his hand down past her hips and began to hike up at her skirt. Lily was frozen. God, what could she do? In her mind, she could still see her gun sitting on her night table. She knew things had been difficult for Jennifer, so she didn't want to bother Ribold about finishing her holster. She now wished she'd bothered him about it more. The tears that welled in her eyes, spilled over when she closed them. 'Thomas.' She'd just think of Thomas. Then when it was all over, she could get him back to the Willows for some help. She just hoped he was alright. "What the..." Suddenly, Phillipe dropped her skirt and loosened his grip on her throat. Upon hearing a growling sound, Lily pulled away from him and saw the Captain's distraction. There was a wolf attacking his leg, pulling at him and dragging him away. Was it Max? No, Max was much darker...this was the mother of the wolf cubs upstairs! She was attacking Phillipe! Lily gave a sigh of relief as she watched Phillipe frantically fighting off the angry animal. As much as Lily would have loved to stay and be the cheering section for the mother wolf or even give her a big hug and kiss of 'thanks', she had to get away. But Phillipe and the wolf were blocking the entrance in their struggle. She looked down at Thomas. She had to get him some help. She quickly turned and ran toward the back chamber...the one with the mirror.

She stood facing the large mirror. As she took the small mirror piece in her hand and held it closer to the glass, an image began to form in the mirror's reflection. It was a large and fancy bedroom. 'This must be a room inside the palace,' thought Lily. It was too beautifully decorated with expensive furniture and draperies not to be. She moved her arm toward the mirror's surface and it rippled like water. She pushed harder and her arm went right through it. Her mouth dropped in astonishment...she'd never seen anything like it. When Snow brought her back to the Willows, they fell through a hole in the forest, so this was Lily's first exposure to how the mirror itself actually worked. Swallowing hard, she quickly stepped through the glass to the room on the other side. It was marvelous. There were carved wood moldings around the top and bottom edge of each wall. Adorning the walls were paintings and tapestries of all different types and colors. In the center of the room was a large, tall, majestic-looking bed. The frame and headboard were of the same carved wood as the wall's edging. The sun was shining into the room through a large rounded bay window also edged in the fancy wood. The draperies were of velvet and the bedspread of fine satin. The nightstands and dressing table were outlined with gold trim and jewel insets. Lily was captivated. She heard the sound of a door opening and quickly shoved the small mirror bit back into her pocket as she turned to greet the visitor. She quickly began preparing in her mind the most believable story she could think of. Standing before her, was a familiar-looking gentleman with a friendly face. Upon seeing her, he produced a warm smile. 'The man in the painting!' thought Lily. She blinked a few times, feeling a stinging sensation begin in her eyes, 'This is my father.' Her mind thought back to the letter Snow found from their father, about how he'd searched for Lily everywhere. She felt the stinging turn to tears welling up in her eyes. "My little Princess! I almost didn't recognize you. What do you have on your head, silly girl?" He chuckled and came over to hug Lily. 'He thinks I'm Snow,' thought Lily. Her hand instinctively moved to her necklace. The piece of the crest... if he saw it, he'd know! She had to hide it. Quickly she threw it behind her neck, exposing only the silver chain. Then she met him in his stride and hugged him. "Papa!" She was hugging her father! How many years had she wished and waited for this moment? She couldn't help but cry. Upon hearing her sniffling, the King slowly pulled from their embrace, "What's wrong my Princess? What would make my little girl cry?" As if giving her the excuse she needed, a pain shot through her sore ankle and she shifted all of her weight over, "I-I sprained my ankle. That's all. I was just coming to get some water and a wrap for it." She motioned over to the basin that was thankfully just across the room. "I'm so sorry, dear. Do you need some help with that?" Lily smiled, "No, but thank you, Papa." The King gave her a puzzled look. "Funny, I don't think you've called me 'Papa' before. That's very sweet. Are you sure you don't need any help?" Lily's shook her head as her smile faded. She didn't dare say anything else that may be incorrect. The King kissed her forehead and then walked passed her over to the bed picking up a belt and sword. "I just came to get this. Can you imagine that I'd forget my sword of all things?" He chuckled to himself and bid Lily good-bye. As the door shut, Lily let out the breath she'd been holding in order to not say something else that may get her caught. 'Daddy!' Lily thought, 'Daddy is what Snow calls him!' Still, she smiled to herself. She saw her father today. He hugged and kissed her! She will treasure this day always. She thought back to that day when she came to the palace to see him and Snow. She so desperately wanted to find her family, to tell them who she was. It was seeing Phillipe that scared her and she ran away, and never tried again after that day. Suddenly, she remembered, 'Thomas! Phillipe could kill him!' She quickly went over to the wash basin and wet a nearby hand towel with water. She wrapped it around her ankle and tied it on with a string of beads. Knowing that the beads belonged to Margurite, she didn't think twice about using them. Then she grabbed a dry face cloth and headed back to the mirror. As she held the mirror bit in her hand, she turned back toward the door and smiled, "I love you Papa, and my sister." She closed her eyes and thought, 'I love Thomas too...and I can't leave him. I won't leave him.' With that thought, she pushed the mirror bit into the mirror and stepped back through to the mine.

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There was no sign of them anywhere...no wolf, no Phillipe. To Lily's relief, Thomas still lay on the floor. As she rushed over to him, she collapsed on the floor next to him as the pain still shot through her ankle. Gently she pressed the dry cloth from her father's bedroom to Tom's bleeding head, "Thomas? Thomas, please wake up. Please be alright." She caressed his face with her fingers, tracing around his cheeks and his lips. She wanted him to wake up so badly. She felt selfish, in that she wanted him to take her into his arms and kiss her and never let her go. But she couldn't let her emotions overcome her. She had to get them both out of there. Phillipe could return at any moment. She wasn't about to leave Thomas there, not even to go and get help. What could she do? She surely couldn't carry him. Even if her ankle weren't sprained, he was too heavy to even drag out of there. She looked around for anything that may give her any ideas. Wait...what was that? There was a wheel barrel over in the corner and next to it...a wagon. A wagon! It was so far-fetched, but she just had to try. She crawled over to the wagon to give her ankle some relief and pulled the wagon back over to where Tom lie. She then slid over to where his head rest on the floor, and placed it in her lap. Softly, she caressed his face in her hands, and then bent down to kiss his forehead. She scooped him up under the arms and rose to her knees, placing him into a sitting position. "I could really use the help of an escort about now." She rose to her feet, placing her weight on her good leg, then lifted Thomas into the wagon. Her first heave was more of a rehearsal to give her an idea of how heavy he was...quite heavy to be sure. Her second heave was by far the most difficult and left him hanging halfway out of the small cart. Lily was glad he wasn't awake, as it didn't look too comfortable of a position. With one more heave, she had him in the wagon. Sitting down for a moment, Lily stopped to catch her breath. As she leaned against the wagon, a turn of her head brought her face to face with the sleeping Thomas. She smiled and touched his cheek, thinking how handsome his features were even as he slept. With one more deep breath before starting her venture out, she leaned over as if to kiss his lips. She then changed her mind and merely kissed his cheek. Using the wagon for support she rose, again putting most of her weight on her good leg. Limping severely, she pulled the wagon over onto Ben's elevator. She grasped onto Thomas to secure him and then pulled the lever. They quickly shot upwards through the darkened mine. She thought back to the cart ride they shared through the mine shaft just a while ago, and she wished they were there again. The ride upwards blew a breeze past her face and she closed her eyes. She remembered with fondness her startling discovery at the end of their cart ride earlier. As she looked down at Tom's sleeping form, she bit her lip and smiled in thinking that being with her had actually aroused him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the jolting halt of the elevator reaching the top. Cautiously, she looked around, but saw no one. 'Where was he?' Lily thought. 'Is he still fighting with that wolf?' She began to pull the wagon down to the mine's entrance. The door was still wide open, but no sign of anyone around. 'Just as well.' As she got the wagon out the door and onto the path, the resistance of the twigs and leaves on the ground made pulling the weight of the wagon very difficult. Still limping severely, the pain was excruciating in her ankle. She stopped for a second to get the weight off of it. As she removed the wet towel from her ankle, she gasped as she inspected it. It was three times its normal size, at least. "I can't pull this wagon all the way to the Willows. I don't think I can even walk to the Willows at this point." Water...she heard water. It was the stream...the wooden carved bridge was up ahead. Lily remembered Ritch nursing his blistered feet and how his only salvation while hiking on his searches for Kahlua was to immerse them in the stream. The water would still be very cold from the melted ice and snow and should also feel very good to Lily's ankle. Plus, as an afterthought, she thought perhaps a little water might help Thomas wake up. She drudged the length to the stream and found that being off the path was of course worse than being on it, as she dragged the wagon over to the side of the bridge. She merely glanced at the artwork of the missing dwarf, as she leaned on the railing for support. As she pulled Thomas from the wagon, it slid out from under him and sailed down the embankment into the stream. Lily wasn't too worried. She hoped that Thomas would wake up...if not, she could probably manage to dig the cart out of the stream to get him back to the Willows. The cart had sunk like a rock, but it wasn't too deep. As gently as she could, she dragged him down into the cold water of the stream and then on underneath the bridge to shield his eyes from the bright sun. Immediately, she felt relief for her ankle from the water cooling her feet and also taking most of Thomas' weight from her arms. Where they were sitting, was about waist deep under the bridge. She leaned him against the embankment and then rested her head on his chest to catch her breath. He was so warm and inviting to her weary body, that she just had to close her eyes for a moment and savor it. It may have been for only a moment, or perhaps it was for an hour as far as Lily knew. But as her head rested upon Tom's chest, she suddenly found his arms wrapped lovingly around her. Surprised, she looked up and found Thomas' warm smile looking down at her. She smiled and sighed in relief, "Thomas! You're alright." She wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling warm despite the cold water surrounding them. "I have been for a while, but I didn't have the heart to wake you. You looked exhausted. How did we get here?" Lily turned and looked in the direction of the sunken wagon, "Well, it's not really visible, but to be honest, I put you in Ben's wagon." Thomas looked in slight disbelief in the direction of the submersed cart, "You put me in a wagon and dragged me here to the bridge?" He shook his head and chuckled as he tenderly rubbed her back. "What about your ankle?" Lily rested her head back onto his chest as she immersed herself in his massaging touch, "The water's making it feel much better." As were his comforting hands, thought Lily silently. "Maybe we should just sit here a little while longer." If it had been up to her, they would have been there all day with Thomas rubbing her back like that and the cool water soothing her ankle. She sighed dreamily as Thomas continued massaging her back and kissed her head. He moved his hand up to massage her neck, and then over to caress her cheek. Lily lifted her head slowly and looked at Thomas. With his hand he brushed across her cheek and smiled. Suddenly, his smile faded and he looked upward at the bridge. "Shhh...I hear something." They heard a horse trotting toward the bridge. Lily smiled and sighed in relief, as she turned and looked upward. Someone from the Willows had come and could now go and bring back more horses for she and Tom. Just as she was about to call to the visitor, Tom predicted her actions and gently put his hand to her mouth. She looked at him startled, and found he did not look so relieved. "Easy girl. It's alright, Sal." That voice...it will forever haunt her thoughts. It was Phillipe. Somehow, he'd gotten himself a horse. 'Sal?' They didn't have any horses in the Willows named Sal, Tom thought. So thankfully the Captain hadn't stolen one of their own. He must have gotten the horse from Margurite. Thomas could see the terror in Lily's eyes at the sound of the Captain's voice. She put her own hand over her mouth to cover any sound she might make. "What are you doing here?" Lily froze at the question posed by her assailant. Who was he talking to...the horse? "I would ask you the same question, Phillipe." Now they heard two voices above them on the bridge, a man and a woman. "You know those good-for-nothing Willows men are on a manhunt for you. I got you out of that jail this time, but I am not going to be at your beck and call whenever you get into trouble." "Then I can ask you why you're out lingering about in the woods, yourself?" Margurite tutted, "I certainly don't have to check in with you, now do I? So...you're after that silly gypsy girl again, aren't you? I'm sure she's just as annoying as her sister. You and your stupid games!" "Look, Margurite, I..." "Spare me, Phil! Spare me the pathetic excuses this time. I grow tired of them. If you're not careful, I'll grow tired of you as well." Lily had heard so much about Margurite. Ever since the witch had chased she and Snow through the woods before they jumped into the Willows, Lily had taken caution of Snow's apprehension towards Margurite. Lily's frightened quivering became more and more evident, her breathing faster and faster as she and Thomas heard the couple arguing above. "What about Natalie? I overheard the folks in the village talking. She's still missing, you know." The witch's voice soared, "I don't EVER want to hear you mention her name again! Is that understood!" They heard the Captain's horse move uneasily above them at the witch's raised voice. Her tone then calmed but remained stern, "Now, I'll be at the mine. I expect that you won't be too long, Phillipe. I'll be waiting...we have work to do." Thomas wondered what they could have possibly meant about Natalie, as his thoughts then focused back on Lily. Sensing her heightening uneasiness, Thomas began rubbing her arms up and down never parting from her gaze. With his eyes he pleaded to her, 'Look at me, Lily. Focus on me.' Lily did just that. She wouldn't take her eyes off his, but she could still feel the whimpering start to swell within her. As they heard the trotting of the Captain's horse's hoofs start across the bridge, Lily's whimpering began as a quieted whisper. She clamped her other hand over her mouth as tight as she could. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she control her fear? Now! It was imperative that she do it now! She took several large breaths as quietly as she could. Thomas watched her efforts, as if he knew what she was fighting back within herself. He knew that if she broke, Phillipe would hear her, and Tom was no match for Phillipe's sword, not to mention whatever magic Margurite may be holding. What could he do? He could see her trembling. How could he help her...help them both? The deep breaths didn't seem to help Lily, and then as if she were apologizing in advance to Thomas, she shook her head. She knew she was about to break. Thinking quickly, Tom pulled Lily's clasped hands from her mouth. He then grabbed her behind her head and pulled her into a passionate kiss. Lily's trembling turned into a lifeless surrender, as she melted under his kiss. Feeling her begin to go limp, Thomas moved one hand to her waist and then pulled her closer to him. Even with her eyes closed, Lily felt dizzy, like the whole world spun about them. Their movement within the water was masked by the 'rock band' across the bank, as the stream babbled its way over the stones. Tom heard Phillipe's horse's trotting getting fainter and fainter as he rode off into the woods. Finally gathering her bearings, Lily placed one hand upon Thomas' wrist as he cupped the back of her head and then put her other arm around his neck. He caressed the small of her back and slowly moved his hand from behind her head over to gently cup under her cheek. Lily tenderly traced her finger down his wrist and then put her arm over his shoulder, clasping her hands around his neck and pulling him even closer. Still on their knees in the water, Thomas gently leaned Lily against the bank of the stream and deepened their kiss.

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As Thomas deepened their kiss, Lily gave a slight giggle. Pressed against her, Tom assumed that she again felt his arousal despite the cold water, and then was afraid he'd gotten carried away with such a passionate kiss. He knew this wasn't something Lily was used to and slowly pulled out of the kiss to look at her. She was just opening her eyes and smiling at him warmly. Tenderly, she cupped his face with her hands and moved inward to give him soft and tender pecks to his face and then moving to his neck. Again, he rubbed her back and inhaled her scent...the floral shampoo in her hair and her scarf. 'He'll be back soon,' Thomas thought, 'to return to the mine.' He hated to do it, but he knew they needed to get back to the Willows. His head probably needed stitches, and Lily's ankle also needed attention. "This water could really give you a chill. Let's get back. You can lean on me." As if reality snapped back into Lily, she quickly looked above her. "They're gone, sweetie. It's alright." Lily realized that the Captain's horse had ridden by minutes ago.

She just didn't want to let go of the moment...let go of their kiss. Thomas helped Lily up the bank and cautiously scanned the area for Phillipe or Margurite...nothing. It seemed to be such a long way back to the Willows. His head ached a little and the wound stung a bit, but it didn't bother him too much. He tried to aid Lily back to the village as quickly as he could, but not too quickly that her limping couldn't keep up. He wanted to carry her at one point, but Lily wouldn't hear of it with Tom's own injury. As they grew closer to the village, finally the pain was just too much for Lily. Judging from their surroundings, she knew they weren't far from the mill. "I can't, Thomas." She stopped, favoring her sprained ankle, "It hurts! The mill, can we please rest over at the mill?" Thomas immediately swept Lily up into his arms and headed the few meters toward the water mill. As he carried her up to the small building, she again looked down at his lips in an effort to capture that moment in her mind of their kiss at the stream...their union. Union? The image began to invade her thoughts. A union with Thomas...the image produced in Lily a sweet yet apprehensive chill and she shuddered as he set her down. "Lily, are you cold? I was afraid that water may give you a chill." But it wasn't the water that caused Lily to quiver, she thought, as Thomas rubbed her arms with his. As she looked up into his warm smiling face, her soul melted and instantly, she knew. She knew that he could heal her pain, not in her ankle but in her heart. A heart that had been broken and empty for so many years...a feeling of betrayal and belonging to the wrong person. Thomas could fix all of that...the kiss at the stream was a step in the right direction, sealing it for Lily. She wanted to be truly loved by someone, and to belong to someone that she truly loved in return. Thomas. It was Thomas. "You're still shivering...I'll get a fire going." "No." Her cry came out almost like the yelp from a small child. "No fire...please just hold me." Thomas smiled at her and took her into his arms. Lily put her arms around his neck and curled up into his lap. Her shivering quickly turned to a warm tingling covering her from head to toe. She shut her eyes tightly, willing the moment to go on forever. Thomas rubbed his hands up and down her back. She wasn't shivering any more, "Are you warm enough, Lily?" She pulled back to look at him and smiled, resting her head on his shoulder, "I'm always warm in your arms, now Thomas." Tom felt his heart beat a little faster as he saw the look of love in her eyes. He felt a little dizzy, and wasn't sure if it was this moment with Lily or his head injury. With her on his lap, his arm brushed across her leg and he remembered about her ankle. "How is it?" He brushed her skirt across enough to see how the swelling was. "It still looks pretty bad. I don't think you'll be dancing for a bit." "I suppose you'll just have to carry me around for a while." Her statement put the disturbing thought back into his mind and he sighed as he brushed her skirt back down over her ankle, "What about Neville? He's taken on the job of being your escort." With Tom's hand on Lily's leg, she placed her hand on his, "Thomas, it's you I love." He brought his gaze up to meet hers. "It's you I want to be with." She stared down at her hand holding his, rubbing his fingers, "I want to love you, belong to you." She lifted her eyes back to his and met his startled expression. 'What does she mean?' Lily brought her hands up to Thomas' neck and caressed it with her fingertips, then brought them down to fidget with the ties on his shirt, "I want...you to make love to me, Thomas." Timidly she looked back up into his eyes. Still startled he said nothing, but continued to gently stroke her back. "Will you say something?" she asked quietly. Thomas smiled and brushed a strand of hair from her face. 'Why would she ask that?' thought Thomas. When just nights ago, she was still having nightmares and jumping when someone touched her. She couldn't be ready, he thought. She just couldn't. Phillipe was still around...how could she be thinking about this now? Thomas wanted to be with Lily...he wanted her so badly he could taste it, but why would she suddenly be willing now? After years of fighting the haunting memories of the attack...Thomas didn't want Lily to do something she'd regret. He didn't want her to have nightmares about him, after all. True, he was married to Beth when they first made love, as Snow and Mike had been. Perhaps this wasn't as much of a concern for Lily, but Thomas couldn't help feeling that it just wasn't the right time for Lily...for either of them. It was too soon. As Lily began adorning his neck with soft kisses, Thomas felt he needed to speak up quickly, lest he give into his passion for her as he so wanted to, "Lily, I don't think you're ready for this." Suddenly, she stopped. Confused, she pulled back to look at him. He sighed in thinking of what he could say, "Why the urgency? You've been through so much." She blinked as the tears started stinging her eyes again as they came, "Urgency? I just want to belong to you, Thomas...be with you. You don't?" "No, of course I do." He removed her scarf and brushed his hand through her hair, "I just know that things are so crazy in your life right now, that you couldn't possibly feel...comfortable in doing this." Thomas was discovering that finding the right words was difficult, especially in seeing Lily's confused face and watering eyes, "Sweetheart, I don't want you to feel like you have to do this for me. It's still so soon. I'd rather things be right for us. I'd rather you feel more comfortable around the Willows...around me." The tears began to stream down Lily's face and she took a deep breath to get all of her words out, "But I do feel comfortable around you! I'd rather be with you than anywhere. I want to belong to you Thomas! I need to belong to you...and not to him!" Him? Suddenly it all came clear for Thomas. Of course! It's Phillipe! She feels entrapped by him, owned by him...as he was her first. What a horrible thing to have lived with all these years. Now, Thomas understood that Lily wanted to be loved, instead of just owned. She wanted to be loved by him. A look of realization came over Thomas, and he wanted simply to grab Lily up tightly into his arms and never let her go. He never wanted her to feel used or owned ever again. He wanted her to feel loved, as she should be. How honored he was that Lily had chosen him to give her this gift, this treasured gift of love. However, a disturbing thought entered Lily's mind. Why was he not responding as she had expected? What if she'd been wrong? What if he didn't feel that way about her at all and only meant he loved her as a 'friend'? But the kiss...what about the kiss? Of course, she thought herself such a fool. The kiss was only to mask her whimpering so that Phillipe would not find them. How could she have been so blind...blinded by love, maybe? Quickly, she pushed herself from Tom's lap, feeling embarrassed and stupid. Startled, Tom tried to embrace her but missed, "Lily, what's wrong?" Without looking at him, she scooted away from him toward the other side of the room, stammering, "No, I-I'm sorry. I've made a terrible mistake. I didn't mean it really. I'm sorry." It hit Thomas that Lily must have thought he'd just spurned her affections, which was not the case at all. "Lily, wait I..." Suddenly, they both heard the sound of a horse outside. Frantically, Lily scampered to the wall near Travis' generator, tripping in her crawl over something long and slender hidden under the large rug. Quickly, she scanned the room for a weapon of any kind. As she was about to go for whatever it was she tripped over under the rug, the mill door opened. Quickly dodging Thomas' lunge at him, Duncan stepped to the side sending Tom hurling to the floor. "What the?" Tom looked up and sighed in relief, "Duncan, it's you! What are you doing here?" "We're still on the manhunt for Phillipe." As he curiously looked over at Lily crouched in the corner, "So what's going on?" Tom got up and began brushing the mill dust from his clothes, "We saw him talking to Margurite. He was heading back to the mill if you want to try and catch him." "You saw him?" Duncan spotted the large gash in Tom's head and reached up, "What happened to..." "It's nothing..." he waved his head back away from Duncan, irritated at the interruption, "Long story. I'll tell you everything later." Travis had entered the mill and had taken a good look at Tom's head, "No way! We need to get you back to the surgery. I'm sure Karen will need to give you stitches for that." As Travis took his arm, Thomas sighed in annoyance and then motioned to Lily, "She sprained her ankle pretty badly. She needs a horse to get back." "I'll take her." Bart stepped into the mill and began to help Lily to her feet. Thomas watched as Bart helped Lily limp out to the horses, as she still wouldn't look him in the eye.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can get you, Lily?" Bart stood smiling in Lily's cabin doorway as she sat wrapping a cool rag about her ankle. "No, but thank you Bart. I'll be fine." She gave him the most sincere smile she could muster at the moment, although she was far from being happy. Bart seemed to take her smile at face value, tipped his head to her and closed the door. Quickly, with a wince of pain, she scampered to her nightstand. She had no intentions of staying in her cabin like a sitting duck, just waiting for Phillipe's next pounce. She began loading bullets into her gun, as many as the chamber would hold. Snapping it closed, she grabbed a small purse of Yvonne's and placed the gun inside. She'd just have to explain to Yvonne later that she needed the purse until she could get her holster. But right now, she just wanted to be alone...to find a nice peaceful place to sit and cry.

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Neville inhaled the sweet floral fragrance of Lily's scarf. He remembered how it matched perfectly the green Irish pinafore Snow had made for Lily for the St. Patrick's Day party that week. He sighed as he stretched out across the barn loft's soft bed of hay, while the men were still out hunting for that monster of a Captain. Duncan thought it best Neville come back to the village after he heard a noise in the brush and went on a shooting rampage, yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs. When they checked the smoking brush, they found a badly mangled deer with so many bullets in it, it would take Mike hours to dig them all out to cook it. Smiling uneasily, he patted Neville on the shoulder and sent him home. Neville chuckled as he thought back, slightly embarrassed at his outrage in front of the other men. Just as well, he thought. Perhaps this would prove to the others how he felt about Lily. Travis called it a 'schoolboy's crush'. What an insult! The men treat him like a child, second only to the juvenile way they treat Stevie. Quite frankly, Neville was tired of it. Perhaps the outburst would show the others that he was truly a force to be reckoned with. Who was he kidding? He could still hear them all snickering as Duncan sent him home like a kid being grounded, only more politely. He sighed as he decided to change his train of thought back to the St. Paddy's Day party. Although, Lily seemed to have made it her mission in life to be the primary waitress at the party, Neville enjoyed watching her bustle this way and that smiling and laughing...anything to take her mind off Phillipe. How could anyone be so barbaric? He shook the question out of his mind as he thought of Nigel lying in the surgery. But still, Lily was only fourteen and the Captain was not drunk, yet he chose to defile an innocent young girl for no reason at all. Neville gripped the scarf tightly in his hand as if he was trying in his own mind to protect Lily. Where was she now? Was she alright? He rolled these questions in his mind as he rolled over in the hay and fell asleep.

"Papa." Lily couldn't help but think back to seeing her father earlier that day. When he held her in his arms, she felt loved by her true family. Of course she knew Snow loved her and Lily loved Snow dearly, but this was different...this was her father. She wiped the tear from her cheek as her thoughts drifted back to Thomas. How could she face him now? She'd made a fool of herself, throwing herself at him like that. And now what could she do...she had fallen for Thomas. Hadn't she? Maybe the whole thing was just her mind playing tricks. Perhaps she had mistaken her appreciation to him for saving her life for falling in love with him. That was it, surely. Wasn't it? Lily was so confused, she'd almost forgotten where she was headed. Then through her tears, she saw the large structure...the home of her favorite isolated spot. She limped in and closed the large door, then pondered how she would climb that silly ladder with her ankle in the shape it was. She'd just have to take it one small painful rung at a time, but she was determined to make it up to her favorite spot...the barn loft. "Ouch." She whispered it meaningfully yet softly to not spook the horses. She smiled as she peered down and saw the young 24Carrots swaying back and forth as he slept. He was growing up to indeed be quite a handsome young stallion. She grasped the top of the loft, pulling herself up with her arms to ease up on that one bad foot. Throwing her other leg up onto the loft and heaving herself up, she sighed as she rested at the top feeling the softness of the hay beneath her fingers. As she turned, she gasped in surprise. There in the loft with her, was Neville. He was sound asleep. Quietly, she crept past him towards the corner so as not to disturb him, when something caught her eye. Her green scarf...the one Snow made for her for the St. Patrick's Day party. It hadn't even dawned on her that it was missing. But then she remembered. She had removed it when Raif spilled his ale. Just as she was about to wipe it up with the scarf, Neville took it from her hands and replaced it with a rag from the kitchen, saying how it was 'too pretty to be wasted on Raif's clumsiness'. So why did Neville keep it, she wondered? She then thought back to her and Snow's conversation days ago about being courted by Neville. Practically everyone in the village had been telling Lily what a crush Neville had on her. She even told her sister she was considering a more serious relationship with Neville. Of course, after the incident where Phillipe chased her to the pond and then was thrown into the jail, she'd forgotten all about the possibility of a relationship with Neville. The thought of Phillipe made her shudder again. She looked over to Neville's peacefully sleeping face and how he had her scarf cupped up by his cheek. How handsome he was for certain, thought Lily as she smiled at his sleeping innocence. He'd been so kind to her, and since the moment she came into the Willows, he'd shown his interest in her. He'd volunteered to be her escort in the village, after saving her from Phillipe and being injured himself. At her sudden remembrance of his claim in writing that Guns 'N Roses song, she giggled, then quickly slapped her hand over her mouth in silence. Her efforts were too late. In hearing a noise, Neville stirred and opened his eyes. When he saw her sitting there, he quickly sat up. As he noticed the green scarf he held in his hand, he shoved it behind him stammering, "Lily! You're here...I mean you're alright! Did they find him? I mean, it's great that they found you, but I..." Lily giggled at his sincere attempt to hide not only her scarf but also his nervousness...a quality she found quite enticing as she crawled over to him with a teasing smile, "Hmmm so what do we have here?" She yanked the scarf away from him and inspected it, "This looks an awful lot like a scarf I have. Come to think of it, I haven't seen that scarf lately. What a coincidence." "I - I was going to give that back to you, but I just forgot." "Oh really? Well it doesn't seem like you're in a hurry to get it back to me up here." Neville looked at her quizzically, "What are you doing here?" Lily's tone became more serious, "This is my favorite place to come and think about things...be alone." Realizing, he started to get up as if to leave, "Oh, well you know what...I'll just go over to the..." Lily put her hand up to his chest to stop him, "Hey, I didn't mean you had to go." She regained her teasing tone, "I'm not letting you get away that easily mister!" Neville stopped and gazed into Lily's eyes for a noticeably long time, not quite knowing what to say. She smiled sweetly and sat back against the wall, "Come and talk with me for a while." Giddy like the schoolboy the men so often liken him to, he shuffled through the hay to sit over next to Lily, "So what happened?" Lily quickly shook her head, "I'd rather not talk about it at the moment if that's alright. Maybe later, OK?" She looked at Neville and he nodded giving an understanding smile. With him still watching her eyes, Lily held his gaze for a moment, then sighed and glanced down at her green scarf, "This has been the strangest few weeks of my life, Neville...I can't begin to tell you. One minute I'm in my gypsy band with Anne and the girls, and the next minute I'm popping into another time with my long-lost sister whom I had just met and then running from a witch on top of that! It's just been a strange couple of weeks for me. I'm still trying to believe it myself." She mumbled under her breath, "I never even got a pup out of it." Neville blinked and looked her with curiosity, "A what?" "A pup. See, I always wanted a puppy. But since we were always travelling around, Anne would never let us have one. She said it would be too much trouble." She sighed in the memory then glanced down at his wrist. Inquisitively, she took his arm and touched the black and white bracelet he wore with her fingers, "What's this?" He started proudly, "That's what they call a surfin' bracelet. Where I come from it's the latest rage on the coast. Originally, they was for identification so if your body washed up on the beach, they'd be able to tell who ya was." He chuckled as Lily winced. "But now they're just a fad thing, really. This one was from me best mate, Carl." He shook his head sadly, "A shark got 'im." Lily gasped, "Oh, Neville! I'm sorry." He laughed, "Oh, he ain't dead. It was a baby shark. But it scared him so bad, he never went surfin' again...shame really. 'Cause he was really good. But he gave me this bracelet. Said it was a good luck charm. My response to him was that I guessed it wasn't very good luck against sharks, eh?" Again, he chuckled, "Somehow, he didn't find my humor very funny." Lily giggled and turned his wrist in her hand to inspect how the bracelet was made. In lifting her gaze back to his, she found his eyes waiting for her. He then took her hand from the bracelet and held it, rubbing her fingers tenderly with his. Her eyes couldn't help but glance upon the way the strong frame of his chest and shoulders perfectly filled out the colorful T-shirt he wore...at least she thought that's what they called them. Again, Lily nervously looked back down at her scarf thinking quickly of a subject to talk about, "So, you ever have a time in your life that a lot of strange stuff was happening?" Without thinking, he spouted, "Yeah, surfin' in the ocean and endin' up in a tree in the middle of friggin' winter!" Lily laughed at the straight-faced way Neville replied. "No, I mean before the Willows? I think everyone here would probably venture to say that coming to the Willows was their strangest adventure. But what about before...in your real life?" Still holding her hand, Neville leaned back against the wall and stretched out his legs, "Oh yeah. See, there was this one time where...Geez!" He spotted her abnormally sized injury. "What did you do to your ankle?" He quickly sat up and gently touched her right leg just above her ankle. Lily gave an irritating sigh, "Oh, I fell and sprained it. It'll be OK eventually...I just won't be dancing for a while." Neville grinned, "I guess I'll have to carry ya around a while, eh?" Lily chuckled half-heartedly as she thought back to this same conversation she'd had with Thomas. Not wishing to think about it she persuaded, "So you were saying?" Neville sat back, "Oh yeah. Well, see I worked for this older couple in a little surf shop near the coast." "No wonder you know so much about surfing." He tutted, "Nah! I knew stuff 'bout surfin' since I was just a kid. In fact, it helped me land the job. Nice couple, too. Once night all these strange things happened, though. The worst thing was that Mrs. Penny was killed, and then they blamed her husband...but he didn't do it, see." Lily gasped, barely able to keep up with Neville's quick paced story, "The wife was killed? The lady you worked for?" "Well, actually I worked for her husband, Sam. So, their son Joshua and I did everything we could to try and get to the bottom of the whole thing...it was a mess! It turned out that Mrs. Penny was actually a witness to another murder that night, so the murderer killed her next and it looked like Mr. Penny did it 'cause someone heard them arguing earlier. But there was this girl who saw the whole thing an' then she got killed, and so her twin sister got real scared of course. Joshua sent her away to make sure she was alright. It was all very dangerous! The killer even broke me leg! Had to have surgery an' everything." He rubbed his leg where the old wound had healed. "He could've broken my neck I s'pose. We got into all sorts of bouts wit' trouble over that one...me an' Josh did. The worst part, I think was the snakes." "Snakes?" "Yeah...can't stand 'em!" He shuddered suddenly, "I'd rather not talk about that part." Lily stared at him wide-eyed with astonishment at his story, "So what happened? Did you ever solve it? Did you ever find out who the killer was?" "Oh yeah...good thing, too. 'Cause it wadn't lookin' too good for Sam there for a while. It turned out to be a copper! Can ya believe that! A copper! There was an accident that the police chief was involved in an' one of the other cops was helpin' to cover it up...but he jus' went too far, you know? One thing led to another. The guy was nuts, anyway." Lily shook her head in disbelief, "The whole thing sounds like a nightmare!" Neville smiled distantly as he became lost in a memory, "Well, not all of it. It wasn't all of it bad." Lily pursed her lips into a grin as she watched Neville's mood change, "Hmmmm....so there was a girl, eh?" Neville looked up surprised, "Huh?" Lily pursued, "A girl...there must have been a girl, by that look in your eyes!" "What look?" Neville asked innocently. "OK...spill it! I wanna hear it!" Neville shrugged, trying to hide the quickly growing grin on his face, "What? I don't know what you're talking about." Lily leaned into him, "But you see if you don't tell me..." she slithered her hands up his waist to his ribcage area, "then a snake's gonna come and...Bite ya!" Quickly, Lily gave him a quick tickle to the ribs, causing Neville to jump where he sat. "Oh, ho! So you're ticklish, eh? You know, snakes know it when you're ticklish, and they'll just keep on and keep on!" To Neville's fearful eyes, Lily began tickling him until he gave it up, "OK...OK there was a girl...Savannah. Her name was Savannah. She had some information that helped us with the case." "Tell me more." "What do you wanna know?" "What happened?" "Er...well...I dunno...just stuff. She helped us out. I dunno. What do you wanna know?" Again, Lily began tickling him making hissing sounds like a snake, surrendering him to the floor of the barn loft. "Uncle! Uncle! I give up!" She stopped as she giggled, then became captured in his stare as Lily lie above him in the hay. Her hands lie on either sides of his waist from her tickle torture, while his were pressed against her shoulder to try to keep her back. But he no longer wanted to keep her back, as he brushed a strand of hair from her face. He suddenly noticed she wasn't wearing a scarf at all, as she'd left it back at the mill. Her flowing two-toned hair fell about her shoulders. Neville touched her face, "I can tell you that you're far prettier than she was, Lily...far prettier." As she held his gaze, he took her head gently in his hands and brought her face down to kiss him. Again, Lily felt herself melt in the kiss. She just wanted to be loved. In all her life, that's all she wanted. Then as if she couldn't help it, she began to cry. It was Neville who pulled away first. Upon seeing her crying, he was deeply afraid that he'd scared her. She'd been through such an ordeal, "Lily, I'm sorry." Gently, he sat up, lifting her with him. He softly stroked her face, wiping a tear, "I shouldn't have done that." She waved her hand furiously to cut him off, "No! No, you should have! I wanted you to! I don't know why I'm crying...I'm just a silly girl...a lonely girl! That's what it is! I feel like I've searched all my life to actually be loved by someone instead of tossed away by someone once they're done using me...but I'm too afraid. I've just been too afraid." Neville eyed her with astonishment and surprise as she sat and cried. Someone so special should never have to feel this way...should never have to be afraid. He didn't want her to be afraid. To love Lily would be the most wonderful thing in the world, Neville thought. But if she just needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on...he'd be there for her. He lifted her head with his hand, "What can I do for you Lily?" She stopped crying and looked at his face, that sincere and handsome face. His eyes were warm and gentle...but something else. Lily could see it...see it in his eyes. Neville was in love with her. He loved her...he truly did. She didn't even have to hear the words...she knew already. She took his hand and rested it against her cheek, "Will you hold me?" Immediately, he took her into his arms and held her and rocked her there in the hay. He pressed his face to her hair, inhaling her floral scent. "I love you, Lily." He whispered it quietly in her ear. She sighed with a quivering in her breath. She was right...he did love her. She needed to hear it so badly. She needed to be loved...she needed him. His soft carefree hair brushed across her face and she rested her head upon his shoulder. Softly, she kissed him, bringing her kisses up his neck to his ear. Slowly, he pulled back to look at her. She smiled at him and caressed his face. He leaned in to kiss her gently. It was Lily who deepened their kiss into a passionate one. Neville's pulse quickened, as Lily had for the first time returned his affections. But Neville had waited for her this time. Although a little stunned by her passion, Neville was deliriously happy as he pulled her closer to him in their kiss. It was Lily's whimper of pain that made him pull back quickly. She lifted her sore leg away from between them where they sat and outward towards the wall. She was cursing and rubbing her ankle as she brushed away her skirt. "I'm sorry, Lily." He softly touched her leg above where she rubbed at her foot. His touch was like medicine within itself. With a nervous sigh she moved her hand up her leg, slowly sliding his hand upward to her thigh. When she looked up to meet his questioning gaze he asked quietly, "Are you sure?" Hesitating, she nodded and smiled. Tenderly, he touched her cheek, then being careful to avoid her sore leg, he pulled her close into another passionate kiss. The hay crunched beneath her, as Neville gently laid Lily down onto its soft bed. Its softness matched that of Neville's kisses and tenderness to Lily. In such a cruel world she had experienced she knew somewhere out there, there had to be gentleness--there had to be caring. With no more screaming and no more nightmares, the only sounds in Lily's world now were the winnies of sleeping horses and the sighing whispers of love. She was finally loved and loved truly...now she could belong, now she could sleep, now she could love.

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Tom sat on the surgery table feeling extremely antsy to get away. He wanted to talk to Lily. But everyone thought it such an emergency for him to get stitches for this silly head wound, that he was given no choice but to sit and let Karen work on him. "Hold still, Tom! You are the most wiggly person!" "How long does it take to give stitches, anyway?" "Well, it would be less time if you hold still!" Her statement seemed to convince Tom to keep still long enough for her to add the last two. The pain didn't even phase him so much as wanting to make sure things were set straight with Lily. He needed to speak with her. He just wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be alright. At the same time, Thomas preferred to keep her 'escort' away from her for a while as well...at least until he had the chance to talk to Lily.

She wanted to be alone...she had to think everything over. Once again, Lily locked herself in the vacated jail, not even bothered by the thought that its last tenant was Phillipe. It didn't matter now. She'd always like the jail...the thought that you could lock out the evil things, or merely lock in the good ones. With her face buried in her arms, she lie face down on the jail floor. Of course, its surface was much different than the soft warm bed of hay, Lily thought. She had crept out of the loft as quietly as she could, as Neville lie sleeping soundly. It seemed to take forever just to peel Neville's arm from around her. He held her so tightly to him, as though he'd never want to let her go. Luckily for Lily, he was a sound sleeper, and she was able to move away unnoticed. She smiled in thinking of the last kiss she gave him before the painful climb down the loft's ladder. She just had to be alone for a while. She had to think of the situation as things were. So what would happen now? Would the men find Phillipe? She now felt a boldness and a courage that she'd not felt before. He can't hurt her anymore...she believed that, she knew that. But, would he hurt someone else, someone she loved...Snow, Mike, Neville? It occurred to Lily that if the men did find Phillipe, they'd bring him there to the jail...right where she was. Just as the thought entered her mind, she heard someone come into the jail. "Lily?" It was Thomas' quiet voice. She couldn't face Thomas right now, after throwing herself at him like a fool. Instead, she didn't answer him. With her face still buried within her arms on the floor, she pretended to be asleep. Thomas sat quietly on a nearby bench and watched her. "I guess it's better if you're asleep, because this will be difficult for me to say, and it'd be better for me to have some practice." He sighed deeply before he continued, "At the mill, you thought I didn't want to be with you...that I was rejecting you. I wasn't. Lily, you have to believe that I wasn't. From the time you first came here to the Willows, I couldn't take my eyes off you. Yes, I realize that probably applied to all the guys...as when a new woman comes to this village but...You know what it was? It was you with Grace and the baby at the cabin near the mountain. Watching you with them...you were so wonderful, so caring. I knew then, that I'd fall for you. Then when I pulled you from the ice pond and thought you were dead...I thought I would die with you. When you began choking and sputtering for air, I swear it was the most beautiful sound I ever heard...you were alive. Holding you there in the mill by the fire...the feel of your soft skin, the gentle sound of your breath as you slept...I never wanted that night to end. Ever since that night, I've wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time. Then today, when you told me you loved me, and then you pulled me from the mine and we kissed under the bridge. If the water had been warmer, I'd have just held you there for hours...I wanted to. Then at the mill, what you said...I thought I was dreaming. To love you, Lily, could only be the most beautiful dream one could have...but I wanted to be sure. I know you've been through so much, and I know you've been scared. I've been scared with you. I couldn't imagine him getting to you again. I wanted to be there to protect you, always. I wanted to go back home with you to be with you, to love you. You should never have to be afraid...you should only be loved, Lily. Today, before the men came to the mill, I wanted so badly to take you into my arms and tell you these things...but what can I say?" Tom rolled his eyes, "The timing around this village has never been the best. So I wanted to find you as soon as I could to tell you, Lily. I don't want this keeping us apart anymore. Let me be yours, Lily. Let me love you, precious lady. I don't want to wake you, so I'll just wait for you." He smiled, "You've always been a joy to watch sleep." Lily felt she was drowning all over again. She held it back...she held back her crying, her whimpers, her sobs. In holding back, she found herself choking on her own tears. With one deep inhale, she couldn't hold it now. Her face still buried in her arms, her body suddenly trembled with her sobs and her crying broke the silence. "Lily? Are you awake? Are you alright?" Thomas quickly went to the door and shook the cell where the lock was fastened, but it was locked. "Lily, do you have the key? Lily?" At this point, Thomas wasn't sure if Lily was awake or having a nightmare. "Lily! Lily, wake up! It's alright! Wake up, please!" Through her uncontrolling sobs, she heard him. 'He thinks I'm dreaming,' thought Lily. What could she do? His words melted her soul, but at the same time broke her heart. She had been right all along about his feelings for her, but now she knew she still couldn't face him. It was too late now...she had given her heart and her self to someone else. How could she tell him? She couldn't, she just couldn't. She felt confused in her feelings now. Just minutes ago, her heart felt warm and her soul was light...she was in love with Neville and in return, he loved her dearly. It was all so very simple. She finally felt as if she didn't have to be alone anymore. But now...now her feelings were all confused again. Where earlier, she had rationalized away her feelings for Thomas as merely a gratitude for saving her life because she thought he didn't share her feelings. But he does. So now her rationalizing was more a lie to herself...that she really does love Thomas. But what about Neville? God, why did this all have to come down like this? Simply put, she loved them both. But she can't, now can she? Life just doesn't work that way. Lily was an amateur at love. It wasn't fair to put her in a position like this. It's supposed to be simple. Suddenly, Lily wished she'd stayed in that mirror and went on home anyway. 'I can't deal with this,' she thought. As Lily continued to hear Thomas try and wake her, the sounds were almost muffled to her ringing ears...but still, she heard him. She was going to have to play this one out somehow, and figure out what to do later. Quite simply, she wanted to go home after all. Life was much simpler there. She willed herself to stop her crying and slowly lifted her head. "Lily! Are you alright?" The sincerity in Thomas' voice again tugged at Lily's heart, as she wondered if she had the word 'harlot' stamped across her head, "I must have been dreaming again." "Lily, do you have the key?" Clasping her fist tighter, she knew she had the key in her hand. But she also knew that if she gave it up, surely he would rush into the cell and hold her, and she didn't know if she could take that. However, she knew that she couldn't sit in that cell all day. Slowly she opened her hand. Lying in the center of her palm on the floor was the cell key. Thomas sighed with relief. Almost reluctantly, Lily handed the key to him through the bars. Quickly, he unlocked the cell, and just as she feared, he rushed in and scooped her into his arms on the floor. Keeping her silence, Lily merely surrendered to his embrace...a decision that was not that difficult to make. She wanted to indulge herself in the thought of his arms around her, but stopped as she thought of Neville. "Lily?" As if sent from God, she heard her sister's voice call to her. Pulling back from Tom's embrace, she smiled at the sight of Snow. "Snow!" Quickly, Snow entered the cell and hugged her sister, giving Thomas a concerned look. He sighed, "She was having another nightmare." Lily gave a silent 'thanks' in Snow's arms as she heard Thomas had accepted her explanation. Partly saddened that he didn't know she heard his every word, she was glad to not have to deal with this particular situation at the given moment...perhaps later. Or, if she could get away with it...perhaps never. Helping Lily to her feet, Thomas gave her a warm and loving smile. She did love Thomas, but she also loved Neville...truly she did. "Thomas, would it be alright if I spoke with Snow for a few minutes? I wanted to tell her what happened with Phillipe and Margurite." "Margurite?" Lily had gotten Snow's attention, and while Thomas nodded and tipped his head in goodbye, Snow's wide-eyed expression was focused on her sister. As Lily watched Thomas exit the jail, she glanced at the sun's position outside. For never had she experienced such a long day. Bringing her thoughts back into the cell, she found her sister's eyes waiting for her words. "What happened, Lily?" Lily told Snow about the mine and the mirror, taking careful consideration to leave out minor details regarding the cart ride. But her words about their father brought them both to tears. Snow continued to wipe at her eyes as Lily went on about the wagon and the bridge, minus a few more unimportant details. She told Snow of the argument between Margurite and Phillipe. Like Lily, Snow was perplexed at the couple's mention of Natalie. What could that possibly mean? But now Phillipe had a horse as well. Lily continued, "He called her 'Sal'." Snow was horrified and spat out in a high-pitched voice, "Sal! That's MY horse! Margurite gave him MY horse? What'd she look like?" Lily blinked a few times, startled, "Well, I don't know. Thomas and I were ki...hiding under the bridge. We didn't see the horse." "Arh! That's it! That's MY horse, and I WILL get her back! She was a gift!" Snow folded her arms and pouted next to her sister as an afterthought hit her memory, "Oh, that reminds me...Neville was just looking for you." Lily's head snapped around to look at Snow, "Neville?" "Yes, let's see if I can remember what he said...he was quite dramatic about it. He said he was 'going to obtain for you the gift you'd never gotten.' Or something like that." Lily looked at the floor in thought and repeated, "The gift I'd never gotten....gift. Oh, it's got to be the pup!" "The pup?" "Yes, I told him I'd always wanted a puppy. I couldn't ever have one in the gypsy band though, because we were always travelling. But I can't imagine where...oh, God. Oh God!" Snow was frightened at the look of horror on Lily's face, "What is it?" The only puppies we know of are Max's...and they're at the mine! God Snow, Neville went to the mine! I never got a chance to tell him! We have to stop him!" Lily jumped up just to tumble back to the jail bench in pain, "Damn this sprain!" Snow stood and helped her sister to her feet, supporting her weight with Lily's arm across her shoulders, "Should we get Thomas?" "No, " Lily spouted quickly. "Mike...we need to get Mike. Did he go on the manhunt?" Snow shook her head. "Then let's get him and any remaining horses, quickly!...Wait!" Lily leaned back and grabbed her purse, then checked her gun. "OK...let's go."

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The men had taken most of the horses out on the manhunt for Phillipe. Mike put Snow and Lily on one horse, and then he himself took one. Lily kept the purse with her gun close to her, as she prayed that Neville was alright. They just had to get to him in time. He was defenseless. She wished she'd told him earlier in the loft about what happened. He asked about it, but she told him she 'didn't wish to talk about it'. She scolded herself for being so stupid. When Mike mentioned about Thomas coming along, Lily just shook her head, but would not offer an explanation. Both he and Snow were confused, but respected her decision. Haunting images flashed through Lily's mind as they neared the mine. Would Phillipe kill Neville? Would he torture him? Her eyes became misty at the thought of sweet and kind Neville suffering in some way. He'd given her nothing but kindness and love...and how does she repay him? By putting him into danger like this. She'd never forgive herself if anything happens to him. 'Can't this creature go any faster', she thought? She didn't want to say anything aloud, lest it raise questions in their minds about she and Neville. Lily sighed at the thought. What would she do about that? What about Thomas? He knows nothing about it, which Lily would prefer it to remain, but how long can anything remain a secret in this village? She chuckled to herself...not long, she thought. Then maybe it would be best if she were to follow her original plan and leave the Willows. But would she go alone? Thomas already offered to go with her, but how could she just leave Neville here brokenhearted...but how could she leave Thomas either? She couldn't bear to leave either one of them, truthfully...unless she were to make a clean break, a thought which broke her own heart. Of course, no one would be going through that mirror for a while, with the 'unholy duo' living at the mine. And what did they do with Ben...a question that had been asked by all involved? Of course she couldn't think about these things, now. There were important things at stake...important people. Neville. Why does he do so much for me, thought Lily? Why does he go to such trouble? Even since the very beginning when he had the ice skates made up for the two of them. Then Lily remembered it was Thomas who made the skates in the first place. Lily wondered if Thomas knew that the ice skates were for she and Neville when he made them? Surely not, since Thomas confessed to her at the jail that he'd had feelings for her since Grace and the baby. Of course, he thought she was asleep when he made his confession to her. Stop it, Lily! There you go again! You can't think about this stuff now! Focus on the task at hand...focus!! "Neville!" The small group began calling out to him in the hopes they'd catch him on his way to the mine. "Neville!" There was no answer to their hails. "STOP! STOP, STOP!" Lily yelled, startling Snow and the horse they were riding. Mike whirled around on his horse, "Lily, what is it?" They were fairly close to the mine by now, and Mike didn't want any loud noises to bring Phillipe or Margurite out of their hiding place. Lily's eyes were full of fear as she stared down at the clump along the pathway. Lily quickly threw her good leg over the back of the horse, leaving Snow to steady the mare at the reins. She landed on her good leg, but was just off balance enough to fall to the ground in a heap. Not seeming to notice or care about her fall, she cautiously reached out to the object on the ground, as if she wanted to touch it, but was afraid to. Strewn for about a foot, was a trail of beads, black and white in color. Lily gathered the mass up into her hands, and as she did her tears welled up upon spotting the blood. "This was Neville's bracelet...IS Neville's bracelet!" she corrected emphatically. "Is that blood?" inquired Snow in her usual sweet tone. Lily nodded, as another tear rolled down her cheek. She looked up at Mike with pleading eyes, "We have to find him, Mike!" Suddenly, the group heard the winnie of a horse nearby. To Lily it sounded like the winnie she and Thomas had heard on the bridge that day. Mike led his horse over to Snow, "Darling, you two stay here. I'm going over to check it out." Snow nodded. As Mike left, Lily quickly grabbed up all of the beads from the ground and stuffed them into her skirt pocket, dirt, blood and all. She then grabbed the gun out of her purse and scampered to her feet, with the help of a tree's trunk. Her breathing was quickened and Snow became worried at her sister's quick and seemingly erratic behavior, "Lily, what are you doing?" "I'm going to finish this, once and for all. I'm going to get that bastard!" As Lily began to limp painfully and quickly in the direction of where Mike went, Snow panicked, "Lily, wait! Stop! Mike told us to just wait here!" Snow followed along side Lily with her horse. "Snow, this is personal. No offense to my brother-in-law, but you have to answer to him...I don't." "Lily, please. You'll be hurt. You already are...look at you. You're limping terribly." Lily's face remained purposeful, her gaze stayed straight ahead, "Well, like Ritchie says, 'No pain, no gain.'" "Lily! Stop, please!" As they reached the clearing, they found Mike's horse loosely tied to a tree. Over at another tree, he was gently petting a lovely black mare. "Sal!" Snow's gleeful cry caused Mike's head to turn sharply, "Shhhh! They'll hear." Snow dismounted her horse and rushed over to greet her old friend. "What are you two doing here?" "I tried to stop her, Mike, but she..." Before Snow could finish, Lily started toward the mine's entrance just a few meters away limping as fast as she could. Mike grabbed her and held her against him as she kicked out with her bad leg and flailed her arms, one of which still held the gun, "Let me go! I'm ending this! I'm killing the bastard once and for all! Bastard! You'll pay for this Phillipe! You'll pay for everything!" Fearing that she'd be heard inside the mine, Mike clamped his hand over her mouth and offered in a loud whisper, "Shhhhh, Lily! We don't want them coming out here! Calm down! Come on, you're not Rambo!" Lily stopped flailing, but was too deep in her anger to ponder the 'Rambo' reference...whatever that was. She merely aimed her pistol at the cave's entrance with both hands stretched out far in front of her. From the determined yet wild look in her eyes, she reminded Mike of Clarice Starling in 'Silence of the Lambs'. Carefully, he made sure to stand out of the line of fire of her weapon, "Lily, this isn't going to work. Look, we'll get him...but not now." Lily's tears began down her cheeks again, "But what if they have him? What if he's in there? We can't just leave him there!" "Lily, we came out here to try and intercept him before he reached the mine...not go in after him. If he's indeed their prisoner, it's going to take a lot more than a cook, a pregnant girl, and a walking wounded to get him out." Snow giggled as she petted her horse, as Lily shot her a 'what's so funny' glance. "Come on Lily, please give me the gun. You're really making me nervous. I'm right about this and you know it." Lily took one last look toward the mine's entrance and sighed, surrendering the gun. "Good girl." Lily wasn't so sure she like the 'good girl' reference at this point in time, but ignored it and started over to her horse, "Let's just go back and get the others, then." Mike frowned as he looked up toward the sky. It was getting closer to dusk, and he knew the men would be returning from the search for Phillipe and wouldn't been very keen on turning right around and going back out. But he knew that if he said anything to the contrary, Lily could fly on another rampage, so he left it at that. He really didn't know what had gotten into Lily, being so emotional all of a sudden. Perhaps she had become closer friends with Neville than Mike thought. "Mike, what about Sal? She's mine. I want to take her back with us." "I don't think that's such a good idea, honey. That would make Phillipe quite angry and...wait. You know, that's actually quite a good idea. We've got our bait right here!" He patted the mare. "If we take Sal with us, he'll more than likely come to the village looking for her. Then we can nab him in our own territory. All of our weapons would be right there close by." Lily wiped her wrist across her nose and limped quickly over to Mike reaching for her gun, "Then I want my gun back!" Mike stepped back and pulled it away, "OK, Lily. But wait till we get back to the village, alright?" She scowled and turned on her good heel back to her horse, "Snow, get on Sal and let's go, then." Lily mounted the other mare and started toward the village before either Mike or Snow could even get upon their horses. Mike threw a questioning glance towards Snow, to which she merely shrugged with sincere innocence in reply.

Sending her horse into a rushing gallop, Lily had just about left her senses behind with her sister and brother-in-law, so it seemed. As she rushed into the village, the first thing her eyes spotted was Stevie. But it was what Stevie was holding, that made her yank her mare to a halt, as it winnied. From a few meters away, Stevie was kneeling in front of a large basket. Lily couldn't believe her eyes. As she noticed sitting next to Stevie was the mother wolf from the mine, he then tenderly pulled from the basket a small wiggling wolf cub. Lily clumsily dismounted her mare, forgetting again about her sprained ankle. She clutched the horse's reins for support as she led the mare to where Stevie sat. "Stevie..." her voice cracked, barely able to get the words out. Opon seeing her, Stevie's eyes lit up with pride and he beamed a friendly smile, "Oi, Lily! Aren't they cute? Neville brought them back with their mum, 'ere. She's real gen'le, she is. Nothin' from what ya'd expect from a wolf, eh?" Lily's lip quivered, but she managed to get out her desperate question, or at least part of it, "Neville...where?" "Oi, he's in th' surg'ry. Got a nasty bite on 'his arm. It was a mountain lion, he said! Can ya believe it! We've never seen one of 'em 'ere! He was after the pups, an' Neville beat that cougar with a stick he said, while the wolf mum bit 'im an' bit 'im! I think they're best friends now, ya know? Neville savin' her cubs an' all." Lily barely heard what he said except for 'surgery', "Stevie, will you help me to the surgery? I just want to be sure Neville's alright." Lily used Stevie's arm for support as she limped her way over. Stevie was perplexed at her desperate pace, wondering that it must have hurt her ankle all the more to limp so quickly. "You'll be so surprised, Lily! He left ya a present in yer cabin!" Lily didn't seem to hear him, as her determination was somewhere else. Upon reaching the surgery, Lily clumsily fell up the stairs and threw open the door whilst grabbing the doorframe to keep herself from falling into the room in her state of desperation. As the surgery door came flying forcefully open, Karen jumped slightly and whirled around to see Lily clinging to the doorframe. Her wide-eyed expression was desperately searching the room for something. "Lily!" Neville beamed a proud smile upon seeing her. When she saw Neville, she sighed in relief and smiled back, "Neville, you're alright!" Ritchie was in the surgery helping to carry in some extra supplies. He considered Lily's behavior quite strange. But it was Karen who found the incident to be most curious and looked at Lily with some suspicion, eyeing the look between she and Neville, "Lily, you ought to have me take a look at that ankle, hon." As if shaken from her trance, she looked at Karen, re-pasting in her mind what Karen could have possibly just said to her. She saw the inquisitive look in Karen's eyes and then looked to see the same curiosity in Ritch's face as well. Thinking quickly she grabbed Stevie's hand and stuttered, "Um, no. Thank you. I'm fine. I just need to rest it. Stevie and I were just coming to check on Neville is all." She gave a more casual look over at Neville, "Good to see you're doing alright, Neville." Quickly, she turned and closed the door. It was the quiet sigh and dreamy look of Neville's, as he continued to smile at the surgery door that spoke volumes to Karen.

'Finally, I see the end of this day,' Lily thought. She never experienced such a long day in her life. It was a day mixed with emotions of good and bad, of love and fear, of contentment and confusion, all rolled into one. After Stevie had helped her to her cabin after leaving the surgery, Lily noticed that sitting there waiting for her on her bed was another basket. As she approached the bed, suddenly the basket 'yipped'. Inside was the cutest puppy Lily had ever seen. Obviously the runt of the wolf cub litter, Neville had chosen for Lily the cutest of the bunch. Pinned to the basket was of course a note from Neville, 'Dearest Lily, As you are a beautiful gift in yourself, I wanted to get for you the gift you'd never gotten, but always wanted. I hope you like her! See you soon. Love, Neville'. Lily smiled and lifted the basket down onto the floor, taking the little puppy in her arms. "Gypsy. I shall call you Gypsy." "That's a perfect name, Lily,' commented Yvonne, as she turned down her bed for the night. Lily got some water for her new little pet and was fluffing an old blanket into the basket for a bed when there was a knock at the door. In the back of her mind, she knew who it was...unless of course it was Duncan coming to visit Yvonne. But it wasn't. As she leaned her head against the door's edge, she grinned at Neville. His simple 'hi' still came out as a stammer across his lips. "Yvonne, I'll be back in a minute." Lily closed the door behind her gently as she stepped outside, "Neville, thank you. She's wonderful. You shouldn't have, though. It was too dangerous." "Nah! You're worth it Lily. Did you think of a name for her, yet?" Lily leaned against the door, "Gypsy." "That's a perfect name for a dog of a gypsy dancer, Lily! How's your ankle?" Lily nodded distractedly, "It's OK." She then tenderly touched above where Neville's arm had been bandaged in surgery that day by Karen, "What happened to you today?" He looked down at his arm, "A mountain lion...at least I think that's what it was. He came after the pups. So, me an' ma wolf fought him off together. Made a great team, frankly. I whacked 'im with a stick while she bit into 'im an' hung on, you know?" He raised his arm slightly, "This was just a casualty of war, as Duncan would say." "You lost your bracelet?" Lily offered inquisitively, as she knew she had the thing hidden in her pocket to be repaired later. Neville sighed, "Yeah. But at least the pups are safe." Lily smiled and nodded, "That was quite brave of you, Neville." This casual conversation they were engaged in was making him quite nervous. She was acting nervous herself. What was she thinking? Did she regret what happened? Is that why the air seems slightly tense between them? Neville shifted his weight uncomfortably to his other leg, "You left the barn so quickly today. I didn't even realize you had gone." Lily directed her gaze down to the wooden slats in the porch, "Yes, well...I had some things I really needed to think over, you know." Neville took a deep breath, halfway afraid to hear the answer to his next question, "Are you sorry, Lily...I mean, do you regret what happened?" Lily looked up to him right away. "No, Neville. Of course not." Lily really didn't know if that was her real answer or not, but it seemed to suffice for the moment. A splash of relief came across Neville's face and he sighed softly and smiled. She took his good hand in hers, "I made that decision today, Neville." She continued to look down at his hand, as he lifted her gaze to his with his other, "But I know what you've been through, Lily. And I didn't get a chance to talk to you...you know, after. The next thing I knew, you were gone and I really wanted to make sure..." "Shhhh...it's OK," she reassured. "Everything's fine, really." She smiled and hugged him. Neville pressed her in tightly, breathing in her scent, her hair. He wanted her again so badly, but he would never tell her. He didn't have to, though...she knew. Lily knew how Neville felt. Even now, she could sense through his embrace, the desire he had for her. Although she loved Neville, she wasn't ready to make this kind of a decision...choose one over another. She couldn't stop thinking of Thomas, but at the same time she cherished the kindness and generosity that Neville had shown to her. Both men had professed their love to her...something totally new for Lily. For someone who knew many different types of pain, Lily didn't want to hurt anyone. So what can she do? While Lily enjoyed the safety and warmth of being held in Neville's arms at that moment, she also felt her confused feelings begin to bubble inside her. Earlier, she felt panicked when she thought Neville was hurt, but now suddenly in his arms, all she can see is Thomas. What's wrong with me, she thought? She certainly didn't want to lead Neville on, so she gently pulled away, "It's been an extremely long day for me today, and I'm very tired. Thank you so much for Gypsy, Neville. She's wonderful." He smiled, hiding his disappointment. He wasn't quite sure what his disappointment was, though. He certainly didn't expect them to both rush back over to the barn, although he'd never object to that. "You're very welcome, Lily." What about a goodnight kiss, he thought? Should he attempt it? 'Oh, the hell with it,' and gently but swiftly he pulled Lily's face into a soft but loving kiss. "Goodnight Lily." Before being tempted with another thought, he turned and walked away quickly back toward his cabin.

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