DEAD MEN PAY THEIR DEBTS.

STORMCLOUDS ON THE HORIZON.

Could it be? He doesn't know, but his mind is racing, his hands trembling. He looks down at the remains of poor Annabelle again and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"What did you say, darlin?" Colt is asking, his voice low and soothing.

Elizabeth's lips move, but no sound comes out. She draws in a deep breath, and then closes her eyes. "Bury her. Please."

Colt nods slowly as he straightens up. He jerks his thumb up at the road, and the men standing around Annabelle reach down and heft the body on their shoulders. The group makes their way up the incline. They're followed by Lillian and Colt on either side of Elizabeth, who are murmuring quietly to them. 

Jesse watches them leave. He doesn't look away until the last of them disappear from his view. Once they've finally gone, he hurries over to where the cow's body had been. The grass where Annabelle had lain is crushed down, dried blood streaking the green.

The river roars next to him as he kneels down, inspecting the grass. He had told Colt that it was probably an animal, but now that he had seen Annabelle's body in person...

He looks over the grass, at the river, at the trees around him. But try as he might, Jesse doesn't find anything wrong.

He swallows, looking down at the nearest specks of blood dotting the grass. He reaches out - and then pauses, his fingers hovering over the spots of blood. But before he can touch it, a voice interrupts him.

"Jesse?"

Casey is picking his way down the incline, brows furrowed in concentration. His steps are delicate; he's almost deer-like in his movements. He makes it to the bottom just as Jesse stands up hurriedly, dusting his hands off.

"Casey? What are you doing here?" All of a sudden, Jesse feels awkward. He clears his throat, reaching up to straighten his hat. The bright sunlight isn't doing much to help his pounding headache, and he closes his eyes for a second. "I...it's Sunday. Shouldn't you be at church?"

Casey's hand drifts to his chest, and Jesse knows he's feeling for the necklace under his clothes. "I had to come down here," he murmurs. "It...it's odd, ain't it?" He casts a glance down to the riverbank, down at the grass.

Jesse lets out a terse laugh. "Barns believes it's demons," he says shortly. "And I reckon Nicolas believes it too."

Casey huffs out a laugh, but Jesse doesn't miss the way his eyes dart away. "Demons? Why would a demon come after a cow, of all things? If there was a demon here, for whatever reason, I reckon it'd be here for something bigger."
Jesse slides his clammy palms into his pockets. "Yeah. Something bigger."

The two of them stand for a moment in silence, but Jesse can't help but look into the woods. Maybe he's imagining things, but...

"We should go back," Casey says softly. He plays with the edge of his waistcoat, his gray eyes darting up to Jesse's and then away again. "I...they told me you were here. So I came down here to...to..." His voice trails off, and all of a sudden, Jesse is desperate to know what he was about to say.

"Yeah," he says, instead. "Let's go back up."

The two of them begin to walk back up the slope, silently, but Jesse knows he isn't imagining the tension radiating off the two of them. The rest of the walk into town is silent, or at least, the two of them are.

Most of the townspeople have gone back to their daily routines, but there's a jittery air around them, so thick that Jesse can taste it on his tongue. Ahead of them, slowly, Lillian walks with Elizabeth, an arm around her shoulders.