Hunted
By: The Scribe
ACT THREE
It was cold that night.
His fingers ached as he flexed them again, wishing he could warm them with gloves but the dexterity required for the moment made that an impossibility. Those who spoke about the heat in Texas obviously had not visited the panhandle during winter. When the night fell, the temperature dropped drastically and was more than capable of piercing the skin with bitter cold. He supposed he should not be complaining when it could be snowing as well as being this cold.
Although there was a full moon above him, the night seemed unconscionably dark. Vin Tanner how much of this was a state of mind rather than actual fact. From his vantage point in the trees, he could see the homestead before him, thanks to the cast of moonlight above the spread. As homesteads went, it was nowhere in size or prosperity to that of the cattle barons that ruled here in Texas. He had seen a few head of cattle on his way here and surmised that the owner probably made a modest living, if that.
The situation bothered him considerably though he could not say for certain why.
He had followed the prey across two states and could not deny that the man he was tracking was one of the craftiest and more resourceful outlaws he had ever met. It was a bad combination in one who took life without thought or remorse and Ely Joe was all these things. At first, he had been just another job, no different from so many others that Vin had undertaken since abandoning buffalo hunting for bounty hunting. However, as the pursuit continued and took far longer than any other chase before, it became a matter of principle for Vin to capture the elusive outlaw.
There had been so many near misses where he had almost had the man in his grasp, but soon enough and like a phantom, Ely Joe slipped away with relative ease. Vin had never seen the man up close but the tracker had an eye for detail that knew the outlaw's characteristics and committed the scant details Vin had observed into memory. Vin wondered what Ely Joe thought about their game of cat and mouse. For Vin knew that in any confrontation between them, one of them would walk away and one would not. Vin had no fear of dying but he would hate to lose.
Now he was here, staring across the landscape, to a house where all the lights had been dimmed. There was no trace of life anywhere and Vin suspected that Ely Joe might have been and gone already. The thought disturbed him because he was certain he had seen the man arrive at this place earlier in the day. He hoped Ely Joe had not hurt the family that lived here because the outlaw was notorious for killing innocent bystanders to protect himself. It was part of the reason why Vin had chosen to wait him out. Vin had hoped that Ely Joe would take what he needed from the place and move on, allowing Vin to move in once he was far away from the people who lived there.
Unfortunately, it appeared that he might have been too late. Vin debated whether or not he should move to investigate the situation. If Ely Joe had done his worst, then it was likely he would be long gone by now, though how he managed to slip past Vin was a point of consternation to the tracker. If he was in there lying low, then Vin had to help the people trapped with him before they became new victims. If he were a bounty hunter of any note, he would have not cared about the innocents, just the bounty. However, his personal code of honour would not allow him to behave so callously.
Finally, he decided that he would try and see if the people in the homestead could be saved. Emerging from his hiding place, Vin unholstered his gun and made his way across the terrain, towards the small house in the distance. His eyes scrutinized every shape and movement in the dark, having acquired a rather developed sense of night vision from his buffalo hunting days. Animals were far harder to track than men, though the latter would like to think otherwise.
Nothing stirred as he made his advance. He watched windows and doors very closely, because he knew how vulnerable he was while out in the open with no trees or structures to offer cover in case of an ambush. His stomach was a tight knot as he crossed the space between the tree line and the house, straining to hear any sound and finding, rather disturbingly, nothing.
Approaching the horse trough near a hitching post, Vin suddenly saw the reflection of the moon on the surface of the water. Instead of a seamless, even reflection of the moon overhead, the image was undulating as if there were something just beneath the water surface. It struck Vin as strange and though he ought to be concentrating on where Ely Joe was at this moment, he could not help but be compelled to investigate further.
Cautiously, he made his way to the trough and took a closer look at the water. It did not take him long to discern what it was that had produced such an odd effect. The man's body had been forced into the cramped space. Judging how well he fit, Vin deduced that this had taken place after the man's demise, when the killer encountered no resistance in the uncomfortable positioning of the body. There was no doubt that he was dead, he could not be alive after remaining under water for so long.
Vin cursed under his breath, knowing that he had arrived too late to save this unfortunate and it was most likely Ely Joe that had killed him. Steeling himself for the cold, Vin reached in and remove the man from his watery grave. The weight of the water made the body twice as heavy as it should have been and Vin had to put his back into lifting the corpse out of the trough. Water splattered in all directions as Vin dragged the man to the house, unwilling to leave the body out in the open just yet.
He hoped he would not make a similarly grisly discovery inside the home.
Despite the weight, Vin managed to drag the body into the homestead. Once inside, he found a lamp and lit it to illuminate its confines. When the light flooded the room, Vin saw that he was alone except for his dead companion. A quick investigation of the premises drew a sigh of relief from the tracker when he found no other bodies. The place was as he suspected earlier, rather modest with accommodations for one. It was highly likely, Vin realised, that the occupant was not a family man. It was only when Vin turned his attention to the body, that he made a rather startling discovery.
The man on the table was Ely Joe.
Although Vin had never seen the outlaw's face, the clothes, the hair and the crushed hat around his head, were features of Ely Joe's Vin had seen a dozen times before. This appeared by all outward appearances to be the man he had been chasing for so many weeks. A further investigation told Vin that Ely Joe had been killed by a series of bullet wounds across the torso. No doubt he had probably tried to force his way into this person's home and suffered deadly consequences.
However, if this was indeed the case and Ely Joe was dead, where was the man who had pulled the trigger?
With Ely Joe's record as an outlaw, a judge would undoubtedly find that the man had acted in self-defense. Perhaps that was where he was now, clearing this up with the law. There was a small town not too far from here, a place called Tascosa. Vin pondered what to do for a moment because it appeared that his hunt for Ely Joe had come to a premature end. A part of him felt disappointed that it had ended this way but he supposed not all hunts were meant to go smoothly or as anticipated.
Deciding that there was only one thing to do, Vin prepared to take the body into town to collect his bounty. Ely Joe, as formidable as he was in life, was now a job done. Once Vin had delivered him to the proper authorities, the tracker would be on his way again to hunt new prey and Ely Joe would become just another memory.
***********
The first thing that Vin became aware of was the fact that he was moving.
The throbbing pain in the back of his skull where he had been cold cocked into unconsciousness came second and soon drove away any thoughts of the first to the back of his mind. Lying on his side, he could hear the rumble of wagon wheels beneath him and the slight bumps and jostles that came from travelling over irregular ground. Accustoming himself to the pain in silence, he remained still as the spinning slowed to manageable levels. He did not count on the pain when he opened his eyes and found himself glaring into the sun's intense noonday gaze.
“Damn,” he groaned quietly before falling absolutely silent when he heard the pull of a gun hammer not far from him.
Shifting his gaze towards the sound, he saw a rather stocky looking man seated against the back tray of the wagon, chewing tobacco while regarding him with steely eyes and an even more formidable twelve gauge. The man said little to him but was watching him very closely and took note of every move that Vin made, even if it was as slight as lifting his head off the buckboard.
“Can I sit up without you shooting me?” Vin asked, intending to do it whether or not the man gave his approval.
“Don't see why not,” he replied. “I guess I don't have to tell you that if you make a move, I'm gonna blow your head off.”
“No, you don't,” Vin replied and lifted himself off the buckboard into a sitting position.
The tracker did not make any sudden moves but did take a few minutes to evaluate his situation. He was presently in the back of an uncovered wagon, flanked on either side by two men on horseback, both carrying guns and made certain he was aware of it when he glanced their way. While the man with the shotgun was guarding him, there was another seated at the head of the wagon driving the team of horses pulling it. However, what Vin noticed most about them, whether or not they carried guns or were on horseback, was the fact that they were all sporting tin stars, in particular those worn by Federal lawmen.
“Are you real lawmen or just another bunch of Ely Joe's friends who plan on hanging me once we get far enough away from Four Corners.”
“Hanging's not up to us,” the man retorted. “That's for Tascosa to do. We're just bringing you in.”
'That was good to know,' Vin thought silently. This meant he could live long enough to escape though it did appear that this bunch weren't taking any chances.
“It really takes four of you to bring me in?” Vin asked. His questions were merely exploratory. It helped to know how much up to his neck in trouble he actually was.
“No, four of us to keep you from your friends,” the man replied. “Apparently, the Marshal thinks they might have a little trouble letting the law take its course.”
“Any Marshal I know?” The tracker returned sourly, unhappy that these men seemed to have done their homework and were prepared for the contingency that the rest of the seven might free him.
“Marshall Campbell,” the man volunteered, seeing no reason to keep any information away from the prisoner. Besides, the Marshal seemed pretty sure that Tanner was innocent and while Vess had yet to make up his mind, there was no reason to behave like an ass.
“Campbell,” Vin mused and then realised who he was talking about. “You mean Baker Campbell?”
“The one and the same,” the driver of the wagon, who had apparently been listening to the conversation, added before the man with the shotgun could.
Vin's mind raced for a few seconds as he became accustomed to the news. For months Baker Campbell had been a regular fixture in Four Corners, having fortuitously arrived in the same town where his old friend Chris Larabee was staying. Vin had thought nothing of it because Baker seemed a nice enough fellow and Chris obviously trusted him enough to disarm any concerns Vin might have about the man. However, learning the truth now filled Vin with a sense of outrage and, oddly enough, it was not because the man was delivering him to Tascosa to hang, but because Baker had used his friendship with Chris to trap him.
”Son of a bitch,” Vin hissed angrily.
“Just keep a civil tongue in your head about the Marshal,” the man with the shotgun warned.
“Go to hell,” Vin bit back sharply, preferring to die by a bullet by a hanging if he had a choice. “Son of bitch lied to Chris to get to me! I don't mind being caught, just my friends getting used.”
“Marshal's doing what he had to do,” the man retorted, but even Vin could sense that was a trace of discomfort in his voice, as if Baker's conduct in Four Corners was somewhat deplorable. “You got a murder charge on your head and six men willing to die to protect you. Odds like that need interesting ways to get around it.”
“I didn't kill anyone!” Vin shouted and made his guard tighten his hold on the shotgun. Indeed, the outburst brought forward the other two riders to investigate.
“There a problem here, Vess?” Roman Klein asked as he nudged his horse next to the wagon.
“I ain't got a problem with you, do I, Tanner?” Vess turned to Vin.
“You won't have a problem with me until I see the Marshal,” Vin said, glaring at him and meaning it. “It ain't right to use a friend the way he did.”
No one could refute that statement and decided to let it pass. The Marshal had explained a little about the circumstances involving Vin's capture and had to admit that while it was necessary, it they could understand the reason for Vin's anger, especially if the former bounty hunter was an innocent man they were taking to the gallows.
*************
Chris entered the jailhouse and found Baker still waiting for an answer regarding what he was going to do with Vin. A part of Chris fought the urge to tell his “old friend” to go to hell, but at the moment, Vin's fate was too important to the gunslinger to succumb to his baser instincts. Despite the intention to give Baker's way a fair hearing, Chris also wanted to know exactly where his best friend was at this time. In all reality, the best course of action was to have Baker lead them to Vin and then rescue the tracker before he ever set foot in Tascosa. The trouble with that was, instead of just Vin, they would all be wanted men and Chris was certain that the tracker would rather turn himself in then allow them to sacrifice their futures for him.
Vin could be very exasperating at times.
However, Chris also kept in mind the possibility that Baker's plan might succeed in clearing Vin's name, and until he spoke to the tracker, he was unwilling to do anything that might jeopardize that. Unfortunately, agreeing with Baker's plan meant having to trust the man, who for months had used their friendship to ambush Vin Tanner, was a little more difficult to manage. While Baker claimed that his actions were dictated by his duty to the law and that it was not his intention to deceive Chris, the fact of the matter was, he still did and Chris was not about to forget that any time soon.
If ever.
Baker sat up as he saw Chris, hoping that the gunslinger had come here with news that did not involve he and Chris staring each other across a gun. As hard as it had been to arrest Tanner, facing Chris Larabee as an enemy would be harder. Although judging by the way Chris was glaring at him, Baker guessed the decision may already be out of his hands.
“Chris?” Baker asked when Chris halted at the door of the jailhouse, staring at him with the eyes of a stranger.
“All right,” Chris nodded, “we'll do it your way, for now. We'll be ready to ride within the hour.”
Baker let out a sigh of relief, grateful that things were not going to get ugly. “It's the right decision, Chris, for all of you.”
Chris looked up sharply, something about Baker's words, cutting him to the core and surfacing the anger that was still inside of him like the sudden swell of the ocean. “You are the last person to tell me what the right decision is, Baker.”
“Chris, I didn't mean for it turn out this way,” Baker implored, trying once again to explain himself now that they were free of an audience, not that had really mattered earlier on. “I didn't know you were here when I first came to Four Corners. I was told that Vin was here and that was all.”
His words had little effect on Chris who returned with a sharp counter argument, “You didn't exactly tell the truth when you did find out, Baker, and that's worse than what you did. If you had arrested Vin there and then, I could understand because it was your job as Marshal. I may not have liked it but I would have understood it. You lied to me and I thought we were friends after what happened in the past for you to be able to tell me the truth, no matter how bad it was. I guess I was wrong.”
“Chris, we've known each other a long time,” Baker declared quickly, able to see where this was going and he did not wish their friendship to end this way, even though he knew after his actions, it was more or less inevitable. “Don't let it end like this. I'm sorry for what I did. I really am. You're right, what I did was wrong but when I saw you were here and that Vin was your best friend, I had no idea what to do. I knew you wouldn't stand by a killer but that ain't my call to make whether he's innocent or not. I was just supposed to bring him in.”
Chris shook his head in disgust because this was the friend he had trusted and whose life had once been in his hands. There were not many people in Chris Larabee's life that he trusted as much as those in the seven but he had always counted Baker as one of those. This betrayal of Vin incensed him to the core, not simply because of what Vin faced in Tascosa but because Baker had used him to do it. Chris could not help thinking that if he and Vin were not friends, Vin would not be in this trouble. The tracker had trusted Baker because Chris trusted Baker and now that trust saw him facing a hangman's noose.
“You have a choice, Baker, and you didn't take it,” Chris replied coldly. “You should have known me enough to guess that this was the last way I wanted things to happen. You didn't say nothing because you thought that I wouldn't let you take him. You're right there, I wouldn't have but we could have work something out, we could have done something that wouldn't have brought us to where we are now.”
“I couldn't take the chance,” Baker said firmly, aware now that nothing he said would exonerate him in Chris' eyes.
Chris shook his head and met Baker's eyes with a hint of sadness. “I guess we'll never know, will we?”
***********
After saying goodbye to Mary and ensuring that Gareth Winstanley would be awaiting them in Tascosa, the remaining members of the Magnificent Seven began the ride out of town with Baker Campbell added to their numbers. The tension between the group was thick, with an island forming around the marshal, as the rest of the seven made their dislike plain. They rode in stony silence, with Baker being sensible enough to guess that it was best that he remained silent, considering how his riding companions felt about his deception in ambushing one of their number. However, it was Chris' aloofness that hurt Baker the most, though he hid it well.
Buck, however, was having real difficulties trying to be civil to either Chris or Baker, since he did not hold with the plan that they should let Vin face a judge in Tascosa, when in all likelihood, the tracker would be lynched before he ever got to the gallows. Unfortunately, JD's argument to see what Vin wanted to do about the situation had won the day and now they were being taken to Vin, who was undoubtedly guarded closely by Baker's deputies. As much as Buck admired JD and the man that he had become, the kid could be annoyingly sensible at times. He supposed he should have been proud about this fact, since Buck had more to do with this maturity then any other member of the seven, still it was difficult to do so when JD's reasoning meant Vin's continued incarceration.
The sun was just beginning its journey across the afternoon sky when they crossed the sparse, dry desert terrain towards Texas. Each member of the seven reflected on their own feelings on what should be done but could not refute the argument that ultimately it was Vin who needed to make the choice to dictate what action was to be taken. Despite the general consensus that it was time to resolve the terrible legacy Ely Joe had left Vin, the possibility that he might hang in the absence of any real evidence proving him innocent, filled the seven with considerable doubt.
As comrades in arms for the past three years, they had faced situations that most friends never ever see each other through in a dozen lifetimes. The circle of their fellowship had been formed purely by chance and a random set of circumstances that could never again be repeated. They all knew that there was a mystical quality about being seven and if they lost Vin, it would be broken forever and none of them would ever be the same again.
These thoughts and others like it plagued Buck Wilmington.
Absurdly, his thoughts centred on the practical jokes that he and the tracker took delight in inflicting upon the other members of the seven. For a tracker who appeared most of the time, like a younger version of Chris Larabee, Vin had the mindset of a juvenile at times and it surfaced during the playing of these pranks. The ladies' man smile stifled a smile as he remembered the time they exchanged the contents of Ezra's flask with Nathan's constipation remedy or how they used the cover of Josiah's favourite bible to trick him into reading an entirely different book that was not an accounting of the testaments. Some fellow named De Sade wrote it and possessed an equally biblical title 'being the 100 days of Sodom'. Josiah had been plenty mad but, strangely enough, unseen for the next three days.
The preacher was similarly engaged in thoughts of his own regarding the young sharpshooter. Of all the seven, it was Vin who had readily believed him innocent when Josiah had been accused by a Pinkerton detective of being some kind of psychotic killer. Even Chris had reason to doubt, and though Josiah had been too mired in self-pity to notice, Vin had apparently taken great exception to the gunslinger's reticence. It was beyond Vin's ability to accept that anyone who rode and fought at their side for so long could be responsible for the horrific crimes. Even when Josiah had told Vin to leave it alone, the tracker had ignored him, determined to save Josiah from himself. Vin had learnt the truth about his sister Hannah and how helpless Josiah had felt in being unable to protect her from their puritanical father.
Thanks to Vin's efforts, Josiah had been proven innocent and the preacher was able to do something that he should have done long ago -- talk to someone about the guilt he felt inside. While the pain did not fade away, it became decidedly more bearable after Josiah voiced the hurt he felt at his perceived failure to save Hannah from her descent into madness. As Baker led them to Vin, Josiah wished more than anything that he were capable of proving the tracker's innocence, the way Vin had done for him
Nathan saw Chris Larabee riding ahead, appearing as if he was ready to put a bullet into the marshal who had gave them a very start reminder that one of them had an unresolved problem that had been allowed to fester for too long. Nathan could not say he blamed the gunslinger for he felt similar feelings of hostility towards Baker, who had pretended to be a friend to them all, but was secretly conspiring behind their backs to ensnare one of their own. Nathan knew what it was like to be accused of murder. In fact, in his lifetime, he had endured that indignity twice.
The first being the incident which saw Vin and Chris coming to his rescue. He had been accused of allowing a trail boss to die, even though his illness was too far along for anything to be done. His men had been prepared to hang Nathan and, if it had not been for the intervention of Vin and Chris, he would not be alive today. The second more recent episode occurred following his inability to save local farmer Bill Alderson. Alderson had provoked a fight in the Standish Tavern after making some racist remarks about Nathan in the company of the seven. In self-defence, Chris had been forced to shoot the man and the resulting wound was fatal. Although Nathan had tried his best to save the man, Alderson had died and consequently, his son had accused Nathan of letting him die. The trial that followed had enflamed Four Corners and had nearly led to the seven walking away from the town for good.
Nathan had walked away with the support of his friends and after lawyer Gareth Winstanley of Bitter Creek had proved, without shadow of a doubt, that not even a fully qualified physician could have saved Alderson. Mary had informed them just before they left Four Corners, that she had contacted Winstanley by telegram and instructed the Englishman to meet them in Tascosa. After the man's efforts on Nathan's behalf, Chris believed, rightly so, that the lawyer might manage the same miracle for Vin concerning the murder charge that awaited him in the small Texan town.
Ezra Standish's feelings were not so optimistic.
He knew the kind of justice practised in small towns. Four Corners was no different and Tascosa, in the heart of the Texas panhandle was a law onto itself. He had not been swayed by Chris' belief that they should use this incident as an opportunity to clear Vin's name. Personally, he was of the notion that they ought to find out where Vin was being held and affect a rescue. While Ezra did not profess to be a lawyer, he was somewhat familiar with the law since he had spent much of his life exploiting it to his advantage. Baker's claim that Vin's name could be cleared was optimistic if not somewhat unrealistic. There was no evidence of any kind to support Vin's claim of innocence. The only person who might have been able to prove him innocent was Ely Joe. Unfortunately, the outlaw had taken his secrets to the grave and had doomed Vin to follow him on the end of a hangman's noose.
What made the whole thing worse for Ezra was the fact that Vin had known something like this was going to happen. The night before seemed almost an eternity away as Ezra recalled how Vin had revealed his feelings of worry. It appeared his nightmares were not so much bad dreams but a grim premonition of things to come. Ezra should have known that Vin did not worry without good reason. Last night was the uneasiest that Ezra had ever seen the unflappable tracker and Ezra wondered why he just did not tell Vin to run. It would have been far simpler than the course they were now embarked upon.
All JD Dunne could feel was anger. Even though, he had suggested that they talk to Vin before acting, JD wanted to rescue Vin as badly as the others. Despite his supposedly mature opinion regarding the matter, he could not help thinking that this wasn't fair. Vin had done a great deal of good since coming to Four Corners, not just a member of the seven but as a member of the community. Sure the tracker often believed that the town was too big for him and he would be just as happy to be away from it if he could, but when push came to shove and Four Corners needed him, he was always there. That was the way Vin was, JD realised, always there.
Whenever Chris was particularly surly or angry enough about his life to take it out on someone, Vin was there to calm the gunslinger. When Buck and Chris were going head to head, Vin made sure that they still remembered they were friends. When Nathan got too critical of Ezra, Vin made sure that the healer was reminded of how much good Ezra had changed since joining them and when Josiah needed someone to believe him, Vin was equally read to step in. JD could not remember the number of times Vin had rescued him when Buck was becoming particularly overbearing. When one thought of how much Vin contributed to the way the seven regarded each other, JD could not begin to imagine how they would ever do without him.
For Chris there were no illusions about what was to be done.
Vin was not going to hang and that was all there was to it. He had meant it when he told Mary that he would never stand by and let his best friend hang, despite the consequences to himself. Chris had been riding the edge of respectability for a long time anyway. If he crossed it, he honestly did not think it would matter too much. The only thing that mattered was the survival of those in his life. Even if the cost was his becoming a wanted fugitive alongside the tracker, then so be it. Chris was not going to fail another person he cared about when it mattered the most.
Despite what he had told Baker about their intentions, Chris had his own agenda to fulfil. For the moment, he would watch and see how far this thing played out. If it was possible to clear Vin's name, then Chris was going to do everything possible to see it happen. However, if it turned out that after all deliberations were done and Vin still found himself in the same predicament, Chris was going to take action no matter what the outcome. Vin meant too much to his life for Chris to ever want to know how to live without the tracker being in it. Vin Tanner was the first person Chris let into his life after wandering an emotional wasteland for the two years following the death of Sarah and Adam. Not even Buck, whom he had known for almost fifteen years, could penetrate that shield of self-loathing he had surrounded himself.
Vin's friendship had done what bullets and booze could not; it had made him start to care.
If it were not for Vin, everyone and everything he had gained in his life since coming to Four Corners would never have materialised. He would never have stayed long enough to find the seven or Mary and would have most likely ended his life at the end of another man's bullet. No, he thought resolutely as he allowed Baker to lead them onward, there was no way in heaven or hell that Vin was going to face that noose.
No way at all.
