"At least a couple days," Kate says, not stepping back from Miss Gibson until she's sure the woman isn't going to fall over. Once she is sure, though, she doesn't linger. If nothing else, she knows pride.

"I'm guessin' Miss Carter is a better woman to ask, but... a couple days, maybe several. Not as long as week."

She regards the older woman thoughtfully, with actual, genuine concern. "Do y'wanna go to your house, or to the Inn?"

She isn't going to insist either way. She knows pride, even and particularly the pride of the battered. "And what in the name of God has happened to you? Where did you go?"