November 24, 1900

Black Diamond. 

I rode out to the office in Black Diamond and found the place burnt to a crisp. The wood was smouldered into rubble and the smoke was still rising from the ground. I tried not to panic as I went to investigate inside, being careful of my step. Between the chairs by the desk I found a note that read, “Tell me where Irish is or things are going to get worse.” I swore under my breath and tried desperately to hold back my emotion. I hopped on Phoenix and rode back to town, hoping someone would be there. 

Tombstone. 

I rode into town in a panic and had tears streaming down my face as I said, “I need… Law.” 

“We take care of our friends at Kate’s Miss.. please relax and have some fun,” Cas invited me. 

“I bet I am needed,” Jess said from where she was dancing nearby. 

“No Jess.. Just law... no one hurt.. yet..” 

“That’s good.” 

I ran out of the saloon, knowing no one there could help me, and found Pet in front of the hotel. “Pet!! Pet he... and it... and…” 

“Child, what’s wrong?” she asked with concern and looked over at the man sitting there. 

“My office.. It’s burned to a crisp! The one in Diamond!” 

“What???” Pet said and looked up and down the road. 

“He left a note. Damn it. Damn it... I knew….” 

“Who? What? When?” Pet scratched her head. “Huh? He left a note at the fire?” I shakily showed her the note and she asked, “Well, is it signed?” 

“It doesn’t need to be. I know who wrote it,” I said, trying to calm down as anger took over the shock. 

“How can you be so sure?” Pet asked. 

“Because he told me he had unfinished business with my cousin and has been tryin’ to ask me where he is since he got to town. But I wouldn’t tell him where and I wouldn’t tell him Irish is my cousin. And now this.” I looked around, half expecting him to pop up out of nowhere. 

“So if he doesn’t know your connection with Irish, how would…” Pet shook her head. “Oh, never the matter. Do you know why he’s after Irish?” 

“He has some... unfinished business from their childhood over some horses that Irish stole once. He confessed to it and everything but I guess Bear’s still upset about it. The man was at the dinner yesterday, Pet... Bear Makaid..” 

“Oh dear.... they hang a man for stealing horses on both sides of the Mississippi. Goodness no…” 

“Yes. That’s why I went into the church... to pray…” 

“He seems so... pleasant.” 

“And I hardly ever go to the church anymore,” I looked down. 

“Yeah, I noticed,” Pet smirked. 

“My office is burnt to a crisp. Last I heard there’s no law in Diamond.” 

“Did you report it to law?” 

“All I can do is report it to Kris or a ranger at this point.” 

“Well this territory has a US Marshal…” 

“Where’s Wedge... damn it?”

“File a report for the US Marshal.” 

“Only one is Kris, right?” 

“I am so sorry this happened,” Pet shook her head. “Tater, I mean Ansar.” 

“Or… of course! Ansar!” I exhaled a bit. 

“He’ll solve this and bring that scoundrel to justice, you watch,” she said and I nodded, still shaking. Pet looked over at the man who’d been waiting quietly and said, “Um Mister, I don’t believe we have met.” She looked at me and asked, “Do you know him?” she thumbed towards Jack. 

“Don’t think we’ve met,” I shook my head. I looked at the man, my nerves shaky. 

“Hmm got a name cowboy?” Pet asked him. 

“Ah, sorry… you asked to me?” the man rose his eyebrows. 

“I’m Petra Karu, usually called Pet or Preacher round here. Yeah I did. Who might you be, Mister?” 

“I need to... see if Thomas is here…” I said, looking around. 

“Yes, if I will remember my parents got one to me… when I was born,” the man laughed. “Sorry, maybe is not the right moment to tear you a smile… I’m Jack…” 

“You be careful,” Pet told me. 

“Yes ma’am,” I nodded and then saw Thomas over by the sheriff’s office. "Thomas!" I shouted and ran over to fall in his arms. 

Thomas looked up at me and asked, “What’s going on, dear?” 

“Thomas he... and my office... and it...." I cried and shook against him as he caught me in his arms. 

“Fire! What fire? Where? Who?” 

“The Pinkerton office... Black Diamond... Bear set it on fire... Left this note,” I said and showed him the note that was left behind. 

Thomas read the note and shook his head. “DAMNIT! What the heck is up with people lately!” As I cried against him, trembling, he asked, “How do you know it was this Bear fella who wrote this? I don’t see a signature on it. Are you sure it was him?” 

“Who else would it be? Bear’s been asking to find Irish since he got to town,” I said as Thomas held me tight, caressing my shoulders to calm me down. “Damn it, Thomas... It’s all... just black…” 

“Have you seen Bear anywhere?” 

“Not since the Thanksgiving dinner yesterday,” I shook my head. 

“Trin, I got to tell you something. This is the first fire. There have been like 3 in the last two days.” 

“But... my office… Thomas, I’ve been here almost two years. Not ONCE has MY office been set on fire like this.” 

“I know baby, I’m just saying. There is a slight possibility they could all be connected.” 

I hid against him, feeling the anger rise and tried to rally myself. “Okay... let’s... take one at a time. We need to go through details of these as much as we know. Can we sit somewhere?” 

“Let's go inside. I don’t want all ears and eyes on this.” 

“Okay,” I said and we walked into the sheriff’s office. “We have three fires to talk about. Information will help me relax.” 

Before we walked in, Thomas looked across the street and asked, “Trin, do you know that man over there?” I looked towards the man and shook my head. “He looks familiar to me for some reason, but I cant place him.” 

“I don’t know, dear.. .I just.. I need to sit.” 

“Come on dear,” Thomas said and led me into the office. 

We sat down at the desk and closed the door, taking out our notebooks. “Okay… The fire at Dutch Annie’s. Let’s start there. On the 22nd you told me that it involved the Wild Bunch and Steve Itano. That’s all I know.” 

“Ok, Dutch Annies..ok, Paisley told me that Steve entered Dutch Annie’s leaving a little present, a horse head.” 

“Recently dead or stuffed?” I nodded. 

“I believe recently dead, because he had done the same thing to Mrs Zan at the clinic.” 

“I saw that one,” I nodded. 

“Ok, after he left, Paisley said she left for a bit, came back, and he did it again. Then when he left, she went to tell someone, who I don’t know...and before she came back, someone set fire to Dutch Annie’s, and left a flag out front with the Wild Bunch on it” 

“Sounds like Steve,” I sighed. “But until we have solid evidence we don’t know for sure.” 

“I was in here doing paperwork, when I heard Steve say Dutch Annie’s is on fire..as if it was nothing to worry about.” 

“Darling... have you written this in a witness statement?” 

“No, I haven’t. I guess I need to huh?” 

“Should get one from Paisley too. Anyone else around that you know of for that one?” 

“I am so far behind on paperwork, I may never catch up.” 

“That’s what tonight is for, dear,” I looked at him. 

“It will help us both calm down. And it will stop me from thinking about all the repairs I need to make on that damn office.” 

“No, I can’t think of anyone else who was around that day.” 

“Okay. So just statements from you and Paisley for that one then.” 

“Yeah, that sounds right I guess.” 

“Next fire? Or do you want to go get Paisley’s statement right now? Then move on to the next one?” 

“Let’s go over these next two fires, cause they are pretty much dead in the water I think.” 

“Alright. Though I know who did my office. But…” 

“The fire at the Russ.” 

“Yes. Ok this is what I know.. I’ve got my witness statement done, but it only is useful because of my conversation with the other Bear, the one who has the bear on his head. I started to talk to him to find out his name and recognized his voice as the one that had been shouting. He said that he was afraid of fire so that was why he didn’t help put it out.” 

“Oh yes, that man. I have some paperwork to do on him too.” 

“I asked him why he was sitting in front of the building next door from the fire events and he just laughed. He wouldn’t tell me his name until I told him mine. I finally told him my name and he said his name was ‘Bear’. Not really evidence that’ll win a trial but... right now it’s all we’ve got. You, Zeth Draconia, Kate, Prudence, Grant Cole and Paisley helped put out the fire but they didn’t see anyone set the fire.” 

“Yeah, he loves mischief I believe.” 

“But again, all we have there is circumstantial. Like with Dutch Annie’s.” 

“True.” 

“And I don’t know who else to ask for statements.” 

“Was any evidence found at the Russ?” 

“Not that I know of,” I shook my head. “I looked around and saw nothing.” 

“Ok, well shall we move on to number three?” he asked and I nodded. “The fire in Benson at their saloon.” 

“Oh that one... I don’t have anything on that yet.” 

“Ok, Jimmy, Nat, Jeffery and Aspen all were the first to find it,” he said and I couldn’t help but smile with pride. “Then Zan, Baylinda and Abigail saw it, along with Kris and then Chris.” 

“Okay…” 

“From what Jimmy and Nat told me, there was a bottle of what looked like moonshine outside, a cross, and a picture of an old woman named Carrie Nation, who is a Temperance leader.” 

“Hmm…” 

“But with everything thats been happening the last few days, it has me thinking there is something else other than Temperance behind it, Jimmy said Mr. Chris made the comment that it’s where his new church is going.”

“I don’t think Chris would commit arson... He and Zan finally have their lives on track. Sounds like I need statements from Baylinda, Abigail, Kris and Chris and Zan.” 

“I wouldn’t either, but he didn’t seemed shocked from what Nat and Jimmy said.” 

“That’s gonna be a frustrating case. I can tell already.” 

“Yes, which now leads me to the fire at your office in Black Diamond.” 

“Okay well… Bear came to the saloon in Bisbee during my gig last week… Said he was looking for Irish. Had some unfinished business with him.” 

“I am with you on the note, but as with everything else, its circumstantial until we can prove it.” 

“I know… I need to include this in the timeline though because I believe it’s all connected. He came up after and said he was looking for Irish, saying that he needed to settle some old business. I didn’t tell him that Irish was my cousin or that I knew where he would be. A couple of days later, I talked with Irish about Bear. He said Bear’s real name is Brian. His dad called him Bear because he was a big kid. He was mean as a snake and threatened to whip him till he was raw or get him hung as payback for stealing his horses when he was young. He was always a bully.” 

“Hmmm....sounds like the sooner I meet this Bear fella, the better...and you said you haven’t seen him today?” 

“Then... the other day he came to me in front of the sheriff’s office and asked again where Irish was. He told me that he had business to attend to and I’d better stay out of it if I knew what was good for me.” 

“Well we both know, there’s nothing I can do until he screws up here in Tombstone. Which sucks, cause if he is involved in the Benson burning, or anything outside of town, he may get away with it.” 

“He insisted he had a promise to keep to Irish and he intended to keep it.” 

“Why don’t we make our way down to Dutch Annie’s, and see if Paisley is there, maybe get a witness statement, see if anyone else might be hanging out we can talk to?” 

“When I asked what the promise was, he said that it was for him to know and for me to stay out of if I knew what was good for me. I warned him that if he did anything criminal, he would be going down. Yeah, good idea. We need to find Paisley,” I said and put my notebook in my pocket and stood with him. 

“Baby you got to be careful. You and I both know he could rob someone right in front of you, and not a thing you could do law wise.” 

“Thomas, just don’t let him know Irish and I are related.” 

“He will never learn that from me, I give my word.” 

We walked into Annie’s and I saw Paisley dancing naked in front of Bear and stopped short as she greeted us. “What can I do for you two?” Thomas stopped in his tracks beside me and I inhaled deeply. 

I put a hand on Thomas’ shoulder and whispered to him, “That’s Bear... Bear Makaid…” I tried hard not to look at Paisley as she danced. 

“What is it with you and men named Bear Trin?” Paisley asked then as Thomas’ eyes grew wide at my words. 

“Well mine is a nickname,” Bear grinned. 

“Paisley.. we uh.. need a witness statement from you,” I coughed. 

“Oh? A nick name?” Paisley asked and looked at us. “For what?” 

“For the fire here the other day. I just need a statement from you on what happened before the fire and what you saw,” Thomas said. 

“Yes for Brian.. my Father didn’t like it so he called me Bear instead,” Bear said. 

“Thomas saw more on the fire than me,” Paisley said and nodded to Bear. “Brian is a nice name.” 

“But you still saw some,” I told her. “We have hardly any witnesses here. All we’ve got is you and Thomas. Unless you know of anyone else around.” 

“Miss Trin I saw some of what happened if you would like to have my statement,” Bear said. 

“I’ll bet you did," I muttered, trying to hold in my anger towards the man. 

“I can tell you what happened before I went to tend to the stage coach,” Paisley said. 

“I don’t remember seeing you around Mister,” Thomas said. 

“You... talk to her. I can’t... I need air,” I said to Thomas and walked out of the building. I tried to calm down and heard them talking inside, since the window was open. 

Bear and Thomas introduced themselves and Thomas was asking, “Have you ever been to Black Diamond sir?” 

“Yes I went to see Doc Cole about my horse.” 

“Ah. Mr. Cole is a good man and a good vet. Were you there earlier this evening, say around 5 or 6 pm perhaps?” 

“As I don’t carry a watch I am not sure what time it was when I went by his office.” 

“Were you in Black Diamond today though?” 

“Yes I was… like I said.” 

“Ok, I must ask you..did you write this note?” he asked and handed Bear the note we found at the fire. 

“Yes I did ..but it was after the fire I think…” Bear confessed and I blinked. 

“Oh, so you know about the fire at the Pinkerton office then?” 

“Yes I did see that there was some fire damage…” he said and I rolled my eyes, unable to take it anymore. 

I stormed back into Annie’s as Thomas was saying, “Why would you leave a note like that on a burned office building, or anywhere for that matter? We don’t take kindly to threats in this town Mr. Bear.”

“You did it! You... You set my office on fire!!!” I cried to Bear as I stormed in. 

Thomas grabbed me and held me back. “TRIN! Shush, and let me handle this!” 

“It was already burned ..and as for the note I asked about a friend and have been lied to and avoided about him since I got to town…” Bear shook his head and I rolled my eyes, looking at Thomas as he went on. “Why anyone would protect a thieving breed is beyond me..” 

“But you have made open threats to Trin here. She doesn’t know where the man is. She has no obligation to tell you anything. As for the Pinkerton officer, right now you are the only suspect in the arson. So you best not leave town anytime soon,” Thomas informed Bear and I felt my anger rise, knowing I was a half-breed too. 

“I have no intention on leaving until my business is done…” Bear insisted. 

“Just what exactly is your business with Irish?” Thomas asked him. 

“That is my personal business and nothing to do with the law…” 

“Like hell it doesn’t,” I muttered. 

“When you go round threatening folks, out for vengeance, it becomes a matter for the law, and as you see, I am the law in this town,” Thomas told him. 

“Ma’am I am sorry your upset but it is truly none of your concern… and sir have I done anything illegal beside leave a note…” Bear said. 

“NONE of MY concern?!??!!? YOU LEFT A NOTE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIRE SCENE!!! MY OFFICE!!!” I shouted at him. 

“I may have been a bit harsh with my wording ..for that I am sorry..” Bear said and kept his focus on Thomas. I rolled my eyes and started to pace. 

“Mr. Bear, as a citizen, no, I have no proof that you are guilty of foul play, YET! But heed my words. If you have a problem with Trin, then you got a problem with me. She is my significant other. So if you think you will manhandle her, then you better grown some a.. in yore britches. Cause if you harm one hair on her head, you better give your soul to God, because your ass will be mine. With that said, I am done,” Thomas insisted. “ou are free to go for now Mr. Bear, but I am sure we will be seeing each other again. “

“I did see the stranger throw something in the hotel the other day and he did have what looked like a bear head hat on,” Bear said and I blinked at that. 

Paisley finished writing her statement and then handed it to Thomas. “There you go.” 

“Thank you Paisley,” Thomas said to her and looked back at Bear. “Do you mean the fire at the Russ the other day?” 

“Yes… I came around the corner just as he threw what ever it was inside…” Bear said. 

“Are you sure it was the Bear Man?” Thomas asked. 

“Guess we need a witness statement from him then,” I muttered and avoided eye contact with Bear. 

“If he wears a bear hat… yes I am sure,” Bear nodded. 

“Hmm...where may I find you if I should need to speak to you about that?” Thomas asked him. 

“I have a small Cabin just inside Bisbee the first one on the right as you come into town.” 

“Ok, I may be by to get a statement from you about what you saw. I must check with Sheriff Angel about it first.” 

“Fine, I will be around…” 

“Alrighty then, Well you have a good night Mr. Bear and we will see you around I am sure. Trin, you ready to head out?” Thomas asked me. I nodded to him without a word and Thomas turned and let me walk out first without another look at Bear. When we stopped in front of the sheriff’s office, I was still fuming as he said, “Ok, you’re right dear. He’s as guilty as can be. But we still have no proof yet.” I nodded, knowing he was right, and kicked the post of the sheriff’s office in anger. Thomas took my hand and held it tight. “Baby, we will get him don’t worry. At least he admitted to writing the note. Its like he is telling us, come get me if you can. Do you want to go get a drink dear? I think you could use one, and I know I could use one.” 

“Let’s just... Not Kate’s. Not in the mood for a crowd right now.” 

“The Oriental?” he asked and I nodded, following him to the saloon down the street. He poured a whiskey glass to me and I took the glass, pouring it back in one gulp. “Take it easy dear, no good to get wasted, it wont make you feel any better.” 

I set the glass down and looked at him. “He set my office on fire. Practically admitted to it. And there’s not a damn thing we can do about it until we find Ansar.” 

“Baby, I don’t care about that office. Everything in there can be replaced. I am just glad you weren’t in it. He will mess up somewhere, and we will get him, I promise,” Thomas held my hand and looked into my eyes. 

“He’d better. Just be glad I keep copies of everything. Krell made that office for me.” 

“I know love. It pisses me off he would go that far, but until we get proof, we can’t do anything, and I don’t want you trying to catch him doing anything on your own either. It will only cause trouble for you, me, and everyone but him.” 

“I so wanted to punch him right there in Annie’s,” I nodded and reached for Thomas’ hand, trying to calm down. 

“It will be ok dear. We just have to be careful how we go about catching him,” he hugged me tightly and I hugged him back, finally relaxing. 

“I just want proof, damn it. We can’t even use his statement in the russ fire, can we?” 

“I am afraid not. Unless he and that Bear feller knew each other, it would not be submissable in the courts.” 

I sighed and scratched that from my incident report. “It was all we had... from a criminal.... Who practically admitted arson. Can we go home dear?” 

“Sure love, it’s time to go home and rest,” he said and we headed home.