Morgan, being familiar with the intimacies of Dodge City, was able to easily lead the group to the church. Only four blocks away, it felt like twenty as they moved through the milling crowd that packed every street. Eventually though, they came to the building they were looking for. Fittingly, the closer they got to the church, the less they had to face in the way of crowds.

The Union Church was a medium sized church building that had the markings of no particular denomination.  Upon entering, one could see that while the insides were well kept and well maintained, it was not obvious to the naked eye exactly what kind of church was there.  However, one paying minimal attention would note a bronze plaque on the wall that read:

          The Union Church was built and founded here in the year 1874 for
          community worship of the Lord and Savior by various Christian
          denominations.  All are free to gather here in His name.

Looking further into the room, the church appears to be rather empty, but for a man in the garb of a catholic priest, kneeling in prayer before the altar.  Hearing the commotion, he stood up to his full height, showing that he was nearly seven feet tall and of a muscular build, despite graying hair. Around his neck hung a large silver crucifix, and in one hand he held a rosary, keeping a copy of the Holy Bible in the other.

"Laudetur Jesus Christus. What brings you to the house of the Lord this day, my friends?" he asks with a smile, his mastery of English clear despite a pronounced Spanish accent.

Korpi's hackles rose a little on finding herself almost eye-to-eye with the tall dark stranger. She turned, pushed off and flew into the rafters, settling with great precision and little grace where she could see the maximum amount of the interior at once.

Her brother lingered a moment at the threshold behind the others, returning the Japanese god to his hood and pulling down the mercifully dark snow goggles to lie over his bandanna, glinting beside the tin star. Keeping quiet, the shaman inclined his head a little to the priest and paced along the back wall, pausing at the right-hand corner to run his hand over it before moving on, his attitude curious and wary.

Daniel pinned the tin star to his duster on the way out of the saloon. He looked around at Dodge City as they passed through the streets during the light of day, curious about the nearby areas they would be patrolling as well as the general vibe of the town.

As they entered the church, Daniel respectfully removed his fedora as he entered the place of worship. He quietly looked around, allowing awe of the presence of the almighty take him as he stood there. He smiled at the priest as he approached. "May th' peace of th' Lord be with ya too, padre. An' may James ever light yer path."

He looked to his associates then back to the priest, "A few of us heard talk o' somethin' bad happenin' in Hays. We'd liketa get ta the bottom of it, make sure it don' happen 'gain no more. Rumor has it that th' only witnesses o' what happened are seekin' sanctuary here."

He studied each of them in turn, spending more time looking at Daniel than the others, giving the young man a nod. "Wyatt Earp has chosen a strange group of deputies, though it would not be the first time he has done so, though he had not taken a keen interest in the matter at Hays as I last spoke to him. Come, sit," he said, gesturing toward the empty pews. The large priest sat on the edge of one of the pews, facing sideways, and turning his head towards them, so they could sit more comfortably facing forward and still talk to him.

"I am Father Iglesias. It is true that the Union Church has given sanctuary and shelter to three of the Lord's children who were delivered from evil unto our hands. We have all been taking care of them and seeing to their needs, both physical and spiritual. There is a woman and her son, and another girl who has been orphaned by this conflict. They are very shaken up already, and I do not wish to stir up those painful memories again without cause. What is it that you plan to do with the information you get from them?"

Clementine followed Gabby, Danial, Morgan, and the man with the fascinating horns and scent into the church. She watched the birdie flutter upward, and began to bark, excited by the motion.

"Hush, Clementine!" Gabby whispered, petting his wayward dog. "We're in church now."

Gabby turned to the priest. "The Hays incident's got people a bit spooked, which don't bode well for the comin' festivities." he says. "This matter has the attention o' the US Marshals, though." He points to Caleb. "So technically, this is his show, not Mr. Earp's."

He follows the priest to the pews. "Well, catch the sons o' bitches what done it, for one." he says in reply to the priest's question. "Ensure that justice gets done, so they can sleep easier."

Clementine, in the meanwhile, starts sniffing around the church, following any interesting smells that catch her attention.

He looked down upon Gabby with an imposing gaze, and frowned slightly, but spoke politely, addressing the four of them. "I ask that you watch your language in the House of the Lord, sir, even when speaking of such wicked men. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. I give thanks that there are such good men sent by the Lord, to do His work, though I fear your errand may be an unwise and perilous one."

He turned to Morgan, and spoke to him for a moment, but again kept his audience well attended with attention. "Perhaps, though, with the resources of a United States Marshal and other willing hands in service of this worthy cause, such a thing can be accomplished. Still, from all I have heard and gathered, you will need a great many. I do not know that it is worth the bother, but I will go to bring little Laura. She seems to be the least affected by the tragedy, though her loss is perhaps the greatest. Please wait here."

The priest stood up and left the church building, returning within a few minutes with a young girl holding his hand as they walked along.

The girl accompanied the priest into the room and plopped herself down on one of the pews. "I'm Laura. Who're you?" she asked simply, not looking at any of them in particular, though she did seem to study each of them openly.

Korpi took advantage of the priest's absence to shuffle along the beam and return a fair imitation of Clemya's barking: "Woof! Waf! Waf! Ka ka..."

Sky Dog had kept to his moccasined pilgrimage around the inside wall of the church, investigating all corners; by the time the priest and child returned both siblings were drinking from Sky Dog's cupped hand at the font. Both looked up, wary as wolves.

Korpi hopped up to Sky Dog's shoulder and half-walked half-climbed onto the shaman's head as he straightened under Laura's gaze and pointed at himself. "Me?"

Laura nodded, and spoke honestly and guilelessly, as children are wont to do. "Yeah, you. And them too I guess. You talk funny. Is that your pet bird? How'd you train it to bark like a dog? That's funny."

Sky Dog came over, taking Korpi on his arm and settling cross-legged beside Laura's pew: Korpi kept up, stepping lightly on and around the bones of his forearm as he gestured as though she were a juggler's ball or a bubble. "I am Sky Dog, I am seeking where the world is wounded, so I come here from the top of the world, where the summer-sun goes at night. The bird is my sister Korpi, who does not speak your language, and they are Dalix, Uncle Gabbiclark, Clementine and Marshal Morgan, who was probably a shaman in a previous life."

Sky Dog let Korpi step up onto the side of the pew, his tin animals whispering and glinting against each other with the movement. "-They wish to ask you about the killing, if you saw the men or horses. Do not be afraid of Korpi, she is very gentle,"

"Korpi," Korpi introduced herself, dipping her head low then studying the girl, still wary of the priest and his big hands.

"-perhaps if you are still, she will preen your hair and make you more beautiful, yes?"

Daniel nodded when the priest suggested that he didn't want to rile the survivors any more than they already were. He stood quietly by as the others provided details and some gentle probing. When Laura sat down and introduced herself, Daniel slowly dropped to a knee nearby, though not so close as to frighten.

"It's nice to meet you, Laura. I'm Daniel." He smiled, and turned to the others to see if they'd like to introduce themselves as well.

Gabby watched Danial and Sky Dog talk to the girl. Three talking to the girl would be too many, and he was a bit embarrassed for forgetting himself in church, so he hung back and let Sky Dog introduce him, though he couldn't resist one small correction. "Most folk just call me Gabby. Or uncle. Uncle Gabby's fine, too."

Clementine was only encouraged by Kopi's mimicry of her bark, and barked some more. She hustled up to the little girl and began to sniff her, excited by the little girl smell.

Morgan had remained quiet, listening carefully to Father Iglesias. He thanked the father politely when he went to retrieve little Laura Palmer. The father's words lingered with him. "I fear your errand may be an unwise and perilous one." Even if he was vastly outnumbered and set upon a fool's errand, Morgan knew he had to try to bring the men that had done this to justice. For him, there was no choice.

The girl's appearance sent a pang through Morgan. So young. Younger than either he or his brother when Quantrill descended on Lawrence. It pained him to have to ask questions of the girl. To force her to recall the terror she had experienced. Still, he reminded himself that what she could tell him might help halt further massacres.

Dropping down to one knee, Morgan tipped his hat to Laura. "Laura, my name is Caleb Morgan. I'm a United States Marshal. My job is to find bad men, men that have broken the law, and put a stop to them."

He paused, trying to frame his words gently. "Laura, my friends and I, we're trying to find and stop the men that attacked your home. We want to make sure they can't do what they've done to anyone else. I know this will be hard. Harder than I can imagine. But I need to ask you to tell us what you remember about what happened in Hays. What you remember about those bad men. It may help us catch them and stop them."

Her eyes widened at Sky Dog's tale, or maybe just the beginning of them. Laura was captivated by the strangeness and wonder of a man from the top of the world where the sun went at night, and her eyes sparkled with a thousand questions unasked. To her, it didn't seem strange at all that the bird should be his sister, and she stood very still at his instruction, though it was a fleeting sort of stillness.

"I like the name Sky Dog. I wish I had a name like that. Mine is boring. Nice to meet you too, and you too Daniel and Gabby." Her stillness melted away as Clementine neared her, and she laughed merrily, kneeling down to pet the dog with both her hands playing with it for a moment.

As Caleb knelt down near her, she looked up at him, and nodded, her expression growing gradually more and more solemn as he spoke. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Morgan. I guess I can try and tell you what I remember..." She stood up again and sat in the pew, leaning back, more solemn but still somehow buoyant.

"Well, we were playing hide and seek near the edge of town, over by the trees and the mill and the around some of the houses. It was just some of the kids, but sometimes one of our moms comes to make sure we don't get lost in the forest or something. Well, Mrs. Johnson came to watch this time. Well, I was the one seeking and I had found all the kids, except Xavier who was still hiding. He hid himself real good. He's the best hider. Anyway, he's Mrs. Johnson's son. So it got dark and we were still looking for him everywhere. Behind the houses, inside empty barrels, inside a trough. I even looked in the well, though I knew he wouldn't be there, but I had to check. That's when stuff started to happen." She gave a little shudder. All the joy and the delight was gone from her face and voice as she trailed off, looking down at her hands.