Previously

Between reward money and the pawning of jewelry that no longer had meaning for Bette since it belonged to a woman who wasn’t really Bette’s mother after all, a saloon was bought, the homestead was built, livestock, horses, and other sundries were acquired, Sonya was hired, gardens were started, Johnny was rescued, David went off to study medicine and Tina “moved into David’s room” from the boarding house.  Life was lived with its ebbs and flows of good and hard times but for the most part things were good and the Porter/Ayecock/Kennard household was solid.

Bette and Kit were trying to find the money to send David to Paris.  It was only in Paris that a man of color could truly learn modern medicine or surgery, he had learned as much as he could in New Orleans and was back in WeHo.  Bette set off to track down a particularly dangerous outlaw with a big bounty on his head.  Tina had never quite gotten used to Bette’s calling, being separated for weeks at a time not knowing if her family or friends would come home alive did a number on her central nervous system and heart.  Tina grew very close to Kit over the years even though Kit often stayed in her old apartment on top of the saloon.  They both shared the experience of living a secret life and waiting like a captain’s wife, wearing a path on the porch looking in the distance for a sign that their partner has returned safely home.

Sheriff Porter and her posse had been gone almost a month when Night Wind came galloping home with Bette slung over her horse barely alive.  If David had not been there that night she would have died.  Bette had been shot in a wild shoot out with Franklin and his gang and her faithful horse took off full speed towards home.  Ivan, Shane and Lightfoot came riding through shortly thereafter, their own horses unable to keep up, they were battered, bruised and grazed but all in one piece.  Horses were dismounted, took to be fed, watered and cleaned by Johnny.  Sonya boiled water for David, offered ale and nourishment for the others but nobody could really eat as everyone waited anxiously for word of Bette’s condition.  Tina was distraught but David got her to focus and she assisted him while he removed the bullet from Bette’s side and bandaged her in an effort to stop the bleeding.  He wasn’t sure if Bette would survive she had lost so much blood and if she should get an infection he doubted if she would be able to fight it off.