DISCLAIMER: No profit is made in any way shape or form from this fan fic. All of the Magnificent Seven characters are the property of Mirisch, Trilogy, MGM, CBS, and now TNN. The twins, however, are mine. Captain McNelly was an actual Texas Ranger during this time period. Sam Crockett is just a name.
Buck and Vin rode into town by late morning looking like they had been rolled in soot. Chris and the others were saddling up when they arrived. Riding with them was a woman who was just a filthier version of the woman most knew as the widow Melanie Jason. She looked as if she had been at the bottom of the same dirt pile Vin and Buck had. Vin had raised a jaded eyebrow when Buck had said he wanted to stop by her place, but Buck had sworn there was nothing going on between him and the widow. Her husband had been a friend during the war, and he would stop by and check on her periodically. He hadn't seen her in over a week and he wanted to check on her. Like Nettie Wells, Buck felt Melanie needed a man's help around her place every once in a while whether she wanted to admit it or not.
Nathan took one look at the trio and rushed forward to see if his skills were needed. Fortunately, Buck waved him off.
"No one's hurt, Nathan." He helped Melanie off of her horse. She looked as exhausted as Buck and Vin. Chris and the others walked forward to take the reins of their horses. The livery owner sent one of his boys to take the animals to the livery. "Me and Vin swung by last night to check on Miz Jason here and we saw her fighting a fire by herself. We were too late. Her whole house is gone."
Mrs. Potter had come forward to help Melanie, as did several other women. Alexandra Terrell, who had been waiting for Vin took charge.
"Let's get her to the hotel. I'm sure I have some clothes that she can wear." As the women made over the exhausted widow, Alexandra turned to look at Buck and Vin. "Vin, I need to talk to you."
Vin turned an exhausted, but puzzled eye on Alexandra. "Yes, ma'am. Hotel be fine after I've cleaned up?"
"Why don't you get some rest first. I'm sure it can wait till then." Nathan wanted Buck and Vin both cleaned up and rested before they fell flat on their faces.
Vin thought he saw both Chris and Ezra frown, but Alexandra just nodded. "After he rests will be just fine." Turning to Vin, she gave him one of her best motherly looks, the kind that said very sweetly, 'Don't be late.' "Come and find me when you wake up. Immediately, please?" Vin nodded and turned to ask Chris if he knew what was going on.
Chris avoided eye contact with him by turning to Ezra and JD. "Why don't you two go get some clean clothes for 'em." Chris wrinkled his nose at both men. "You both need a bath."
"Ya hear that? We need a bath, Vin. Now, I thought we smelled like we'd been walkin' through roses." Buck threw his best wounded look in Vin's direction. It distracted him from wondering what was going on that Alexandra Terrell needed to talk to him about, but then it had to be about the twins. Maybe that pinched-faced woman had decided to leave on the next stage out of town? He responded to Buck's joke.
"Well, Buck, if I smell half as bad as you, then we must stink purty bad. Let's go." He shoved the larger man in front of him towards the bathhouse. Nathan and Josiah joined Chris as they all walked over with Buck and Vin talking about the fire.
"How'd it happen?" Josiah asked the question before Chris could. He moved aside for Vin and Buck to go into the bathhouse ahead of him. Chris tossed the coins to the man at the door. He shrugged at Nathan's raised eyebrow as if to say it was the least he could do after insulting their two friends.
"Melanie said somethin' got stuck in her flue. Smoke backed up and then the fire just seemed to spill out. She tried to put it out, but it spread too quick. By the time we got there, it was too far gone. We got some stuff out, but not much. Left it in the barn."
"You think it was deliberate?"
"Nah, weren't any tracks or anything, Chris." Vin was taking his boots off. Soot dropped off his boots in little piles onto the damp floor. "Just an accident. Shame for Miz Jason, though. She's a nice lady."
"Been havin' trouble with the bank, I heard." Nathan had a troubled look on his face. He hated for anyone to lose their home, especially at this time of year.
Buck shook his head, sending more soot drifting to the floor. Then he took his shirt off, and even more soot followed. His skin looked starkly white against his soot-blackened face. He saw his image in one of the mirrors and grimaced. "Melanie used to be a teacher 'fore she got married. Maybe she can be the new teacher."
"We ain't got a school, Buck." JD spoke from the door as he and Ezra entered with clean clothes for both men.
"Don't mean we can't get one iffen we ask the right person. Think Mary Travis would like to have a real school here?" He looked at Chris as he realized what he had said. The man closed up a little. Buck regretted that, but Chris needed to make peace with Mary even if it took groveling on his part. He stared right back at Chris when he glared at him.
The others were distracted when Vin, after washing the soot out of his hair looked over and told JD in no uncertain terms, "You wanta close that door 'fore some of us freeze to death?"
JD looked over at Vin before he left the bathing room. "Sorry, Vin. I gotta go back to the jail and let out old man Jenkins." JD seemed a bit nervous around the tracker. He had since last night. Vin was getting a bad feeling things were not right. First Alexandra Terrell had to talk to him, Chris and Ezra seemed to know about what but were disinclined to discuss it, and now JD was looking at Vin like he was walking around town wearing his boots on his head instead of his feet. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what. That made him nervous, but he was too tired to figure it out now. Maybe that was it. He was too tired to eat and too tired to talk. He'd sleep on it. Things would turn out all right.
Vin woke with a start. He'd been dreaming about his ma again, but right before he woke up, she'd turned into Alexandra Terrell. Why on earth was he dreaming that Alexandra was his mother? He liked the woman, admired her, but dreaming of her as his mother? It was the final straw. Something was definitely wrong. Rolling over in bed for what seemed the sixth time was enough. Vin decided it just wasn't worth it. Exhausted as he was, Vin just couldn't sleep. For one reason, it was daylight. He never could sleep during the day, especially in a noisy town. Second, that nagging suspicion that something was not right had been eating at him ever since Mrs. Terrell had said she needed to speak to him. Vin made a decision. He got up, put on his boots, strapped on his mare's leg, and grabbed his coat. As he put it on, his stomach growled. Since it was noon, he figured he'd kill two birds with one stone. Alexandra always served the best food. He headed out the door hunting answers, and Vin Tanner rarely came up empty when he went hunting.
As he walked through town, he saw people getting out decorations that were rare in the West with the exception of big towns and cities, but the railroad was moving closer to Four Corners every day. They were Christmas decorations. Little hand cut paper snowflakes, red and green paper holly berries and greenery, and little religious figurines depicting the nativity were cropping up in different shops. Vin spotted Mrs. Potter placing two identical looking rag dolls in the window. They had yellow yarn for hair and bright blue buttons for eyes.
Vin had to grin as he immediately thought of the twins. They probably had all the most expensive toys, but he'd never seen them with rag dolls they could just play with without worrying about getting them dirty. He was never one who thought much about Christmas, but he decided to buy them the dolls. They would be something just from him to the twins. He just knew they would love them because he had given them to the twins. Vin Tanner was a bit on the shy side with most of the female sex, but he knew exactly where he stood with the twins. They were just as high on his list as well.
He walked into the store thinking that it wouldn't take that long to buy the dolls, and then he'd keep his promise to Mrs. Terrell. Gloria Potter looked up from her customer looking a little flustered. She smiled when she saw Vin Tanner.
"I'll be right with you." Vin nodded his thanks and leaned against the door looking down the street, watching it.
"Don't you have anything that looks more expensive? I really want this to be as elegant as he is."
"These are silk handkerchiefs, Miss Jones. Mrs. Standish asked me to keep them in stock as both she and her son use them."
Vin shook his head. Miss Jones was a real pain in the ass. Now Mrs. Potter didn't carry the handkerchiefs she wanted. He didn't notice how Lilith Jones looked taken aback, but he did hear her loud and clear. There was no mistaking the whining screech that resonated out of that woman's mouth.
"Mr. Standish is married, with a son???" Lilith was astounded. She had been led to believe the heir was unmarried and available. All her hopes and schemes began to unravel. She saw Vin turn slowly around and stare at her. She really did hate that ruffian, but she was too scared of him to say anything to him directly. However, he seemed to enjoy her consternation. She made a note to find a way to make him pay for this.
"Ezra ain't married." Vin couldn't resist. Miss Jones was up to no good, and Ezra seemed to be the object of her schemes. As his friend it was Vin's duty to watch Ezra's back. He'd just find out what this woman wanted.
"This lady just said he was." How dare this man interrupt her business! He really needed to learn some manners.
"Uhm, no, Miss Jones. I said that Mrs. Standish and her son requested that I stock these items. Mr. Tanner is telling you the truth. Mr. Standish is not married." Gloria Potter didn't really care for this young woman. For one thing she was rude. For another, she was calling Vin Tanner a liar, and Gloria Potter would go to her grave knowing that Vin Tanner was an honorable man. Men like him did not lie. Why he was hired by Judge Travis to be the law in this town, and the Judge did not hire liars. When Miss Jones started to tear into Gloria Potter for her impertinence, Vin interrupted her once more.
"Like Miz Potter said, Ezra ain't married." He enunciated each word carefully making certain this woman understood plain English.
They were beginning to draw a crowd as Alexandra Terrell was ushering Melanie Jason into Mrs. Potter's store. Mrs. Terrell was determined to make Melanie's loss as easy to bear as possible. The woman had nearly lost everything, and she needed her personal items replaced. What good was money if you couldn't help people with it? Her father would roll over in his grave if he knew how she felt about his most prized possession, money. Alexandra could have cared less about the stuff. She wasn't a hypocrite and didn't mind the position and life style it provided her with, but she also knew that money made a very poor substitute for a loving family and home.
"You just said that these were the same handkerchiefs Mrs. Standish buys for her son. It has to be Ezra's wife and son because I know for a fact that he is an orphan."
"An' I know for a fact he ain't. Maude Standish is his mother, and she is alive and well." Vin Tanner actually walked up and got in Lilith's face. Neither noticed their audience.
"That shows what you know, you insufferably ignorant ruffian. Ezra Standish's mother's name was Annabelle not Maude. Dr. Connors himself told me that he was the son of Mrs. Terrell's dead sister, Annabelle Connors." She stood up and actually advanced on Vin when she saw him go absolutely white and step back from her.
For a fleeting second, Vin Tanner couldn't breathe, couldn't think. Then it all fell into place. The feeling that he knew Alexandra Terrell, the dreams where he saw her face instead of his ma's, the feeling of being absolutely comfortable and at home with her and her family, JD's outburst from the night before, and then the way Chris and Ezra were acting when Alexandra said she needed to talk to him. They knew. Why else would they have acted that way? Why else would she be so insistent that she speak to him as soon as possible? His world was crashing down around him as he felt the betrayal from all sides. He turned to find an exit, a route of escape from the woman spouting all this poison. He turned and looked directly into the shocked and sad eyes of Alexandra Terrell. He saw confirmed in her eyes, on her face, the truth. The Jones woman was telling the truth. Why hadn't she told him herself? Why hadn't his best friend told him? If JD knew, that meant they all knew, didn't it? And not one of them had had the decency to tell him.
Alexandra saw the disaster unfold before her very eyes, and there was no way, absolutely no way, she could think of to avoid it. Melanie noticed the woman next to her stiffen and the blood drain from her face. She stood glued to the spot as she watched Lilith Jones literally take a knife and twist it into Vin Tanner without even realizing what she was doing. She saw the hurt, the betrayal, and the pain in his eyes. These were the very things she had tried so hard to avoid, and it had all happened because of one selfish, virulent woman. Alexandra wanted John here. He would know what to do, but he wasn't here with her now. She stepped forward and put her hand out to touch Vin on the arm to say something to stop the pain in his eyes, but he shook her off. Looking at her like she was someone who had just committed the worst crime he could possibly imagine, he brushed past her without speaking or waiting for an explanation. He stalked past her and disappeared out of the door. Alexandra was too distraught to do anything but sink to the floor of the store and clutch her hands over her mouth to prevent the sobs that threatened to pour out of her. Melanie and Gloria both went to her aid. Lilith stood there bewildered, not understanding what had happened. Somehow her triumph over the scruffy tracker had gone terribly wrong. Miss Jones knew that somehow she had caused this, and that John Terrell was a man who forgave no one if they hurt his wife. She was doomed, and she didn't even know why. She did the only thing she knew how in times of dire trouble. She slumped to the floor in a dead faint. The others ignored her as they attended to Alexandra Terrell.
"Get John. Get my husband. Get Chris Larabee." She managed to tumble the words out of her mouth. She saw Lilith Jones on the floor as Gloria Potter sent her young daughter after John Terrell and Chris Larabee. If Alexandra wasn't so distraught over the loss of the nephew for whom she had searched for seventeen years, she might even have enjoyed the grim sight. However, Lilith Jones wasn't worth her time or trouble.
Vin Tanner had looked like a man possessed. If he left now, he might not be here when Judge Crockett arrived from Texas to listen to his version of the Tascosa incident. Alexandra had met this no nonsense judge. If Vin weren't here to testify on his own behalf, he might not receive his pardon. Then he'd still be at the mercy of all those bounty hunters. Alexandra might never be able to convince her nephew that they had loved and searched for him until they finally found him. He had to know that. He just had to.
Vin didn't know where he was going, and he didn't particularly care. He'd gone straight to the livery and took the first horse the owner had saddled. Seeing the look on his face, the man tossed Vin the reins and let him go. Vaulting into the saddle, he went tearing out of the livery like the hounds of hell were after him. In a way they were. And who did he nearly run over as he headed out but Chris Larabee. Vin pulled the horse up short and turned back to look Larabee in the eye.
The gunslinger saw the pain and confusion and anger fluctuating on his friend's face. No words were needed. In that one look, Vin knew as sure as he knew he'd hang in Tascosa that Chris had known all about this, and Chris knew that Vin had found out from someone else. The feeling of betrayal washed over Vin again consuming him, making the maelstrom of emotions erupt into action. With a look that made the gunslinger flinch as if he'd been shot, Vin turned and gave the horse his head. He rode out of Four Corners and left everything and everyone behind. He had no desire to see them, much less listen to any excuse they might have for their betrayal. He had to get away and think.
The last coherent thought he had before he succumbed to the blind need to run was that it was all so ironic. Here he was riding out of the place he had come to call home just as fast as he had run for his life out of Tascosa. The only difference was the men who would be tracking him were his friends and family. Hell, he should have known not to let his guard down. Every time he ever had, something bad had happened. Well, no more. They could hunt him from dusk to dawn. They would never find him unless he wanted them to. He kept running until he had to stop and rest the horse. He was near the reservation, but he walked the horse towards a stream away from Kojay and Chanu. He wasn't ready to speak to anyone. The thoughts were tumbling around in his head, and he needed time to sort it out and think it through. He wanted answers, but he didn't want to look any one of his so called friends in the eye until he could do it without his mind reeling from one thought to another without his control. He needed to be in control. He'd never felt more helpless than he did at this moment because the control he valued so much was nowhere to be found.
How could they have betrayed him like that? Why hadn't Alexandra Terrell told him? She probably didn't want some man who wasn't an educated gentleman as her nephew. No wonder Miss Jones figured Ezra was the nephew. Hell, he couldn't even read very well, though Mary said that he was learning quickly. But she had never acted like she cared if Vin wasn't a fancy man like Ezra or educated like Josiah. She had always treated him special. That was it. She musta felt sorry for him. Well, he guessed he couldn't fault her for that. She was a kind and generous woman, but she never shoulda let that bitch make a fool of him in public. It was no one's business if he had kin or not, 'specially when the kin didn't know a damned thing about it.
Then there was Chris. The man was like the older brother he'd always wanted but never had. They understood one another, they enjoyed the same sense of humor, and more importantly they watched each other's backs, or so Vin had believed. But what he'd done by not telling him what he knew and just how long Chris had known and said nothing was an even worse betrayal. How could he have let some stranger dump all this on him? Was that what Larabee thought of their friendship? Something they shared when Larabee needed someone to watch his back, but only when it was convenient for him? Chris had told him off when Vin had come to him and warned him of Ella's betrayal, but Vin had thought that was behind them. An unpleasant memory much as Charlotte had become, just another mistake Vin Tanner had made that he wasn't proud of. Hadn't Chris and the others willingly risked their lives and walked into the fire to save Vin in Sorrow Canyon? Was their friendship one based only on a need to survive? Did it mean they could only trust the others with their lives? Didn't the friendship they had mean they could tell one another the truth without fear of retaliation or rejection? Vin had trusted Chris and the others with knowledge of some of his best-guarded secrets, but not one of them could tell him they knew something about his past that he didn't?
And did the others know at all? Was he being unfair to his other friends? He knew Chris knew, and, by Ezra's reaction when Alexandra had said she needed to talk to him, Vin was pretty sure Ezra had known also. Then, there was JD. The kid knew something, but maybe he just stumbled onto it? That would explain the way he'd been acting like a skittish colt ever since dinner the other night. But the others, Josiah, Nathan, and Buck, did they know, too? He didn't think so, but he wasn't sure.
Vin just didn't know what to think. He was tired, hungry, cold, miserable, confused, and betrayed. Too tired to think, too cold to sleep, too hungry to not to stop and find some food, Vin just couldn't seem to control his runaway thoughts. It was like, hell, it was the same panic he'd felt when he realized his ma was gone for good. He was cast adrift once more in a world that did its best to beat you down. As the horse cooled down and got its wind back, Vin was tempted to light a shuck out of there for good. But he couldn't seem to make his feet move. The best he could do was look for a warm place to camp where he could think this through, think of what to do next. He couldn't go to Nettie. That would be one of the first places besides the reservation they would look for him, if they even bothered.
Hell, did Nettie know, too? He didn't think so. She was more likely to take a board to Larabee and Standish for keeping this from him. He actually smiled at the thought. For some reason the old spitfire reminded him of his ma. Vin didn't remember much about her accept her eyes, her smile, her fire. She lit up any room she was in, and she was strong. Thinking of her made him think of Alexandra Terrell. She was like that. No wonder he'd been dreaming of her face when he thought of his ma. That was why she had seemed so familiar, why he was drawn to her, why he liked and trusted her so much. She reminded him of his ma, and that made the pain worse. It was like his ma had betrayed him.
Why couldn't he be strong like his ma and face this? That was it, the reason why he hurt so much. The reason he felt so betrayed. If his ma'd had family, why had no one come for him? Why hadn't she told them she had a son? Why had he been left alone? He didn't think, no he knew she loved him. So, she had to have told someone about him. What was wrong with him that no one had wanted him? Why had they waited until now? And would they have even had anything to do with him if he hadn't met the twins and saved Alexandra's life? His head hurt. He had a headache like he'd been drunk for a week and just woke up. It throbbed and made thinking even more difficult. He found a cave upstream, a place where he could bed down and get some rest. Maybe if he could sleep, his head would clear and let him think. But did he really want to think, to ponder any more on this? Was he even closer to the truth, or was he just trying to find a way to forgive these people?
Vin worked the fire until the cave was softly illuminated by the light of the fire dancing and bouncing around the walls. If there were any restless spirits in this cave it was just too damned bad. Vin Tanner didn't have the time or the inclination to deal with them. He threw the saddle on the floor after taking care of the horse. Then he wrapped his new coat tighter around him and lay down next to the fire. If he weren't so tired and so cold, he'd take this new coat off and burn it. He'd been so proud of it. His friends had gone to a lot of trouble to get it for him. His friends, Vin dropped off to a restless sleep thinking about them. Throughout the few hours of exhausted sleep, he would toss and turn, murmuring things with no one to listen but the horse and the small creatures with which he shared the cave.
Chris Larabee was standing silently listening to Alexandra Terrell sob quietly into her husband's shoulder. He was as livid as Chris was, and the subject of their anger was still trying to explain herself. Terrell had needed no explanation other than the look on his wife's face before she threw herself into his arms. Alexandra just did not break down in public much less show any weakness. John knew by the look on her face that somehow Miss Jones had stumbled onto the truth and told Vin Tanner. Without a second glance, he fired Lilith Jones on the spot. That sent her into her second swoon. Nathan reached the store just in time to check on Alexandra as Gloria and Melanie waved him from Miss Jones.
Chris Larabee's jaw tightened in anger as he heard Alexandra sobbing and talking to John at the same time. She kept babbling that it was all her fault and that she had ruined everything. Vin would never speak to her again, and the twins would hate her for hurting him. John just held her and talked to her. As Miss Jones was revived by the other two women in the store, Chris glared at the woman sending her off into yet another swoon. Chris didn't give a damn. The look in Vin's eyes and the way he'd ridden out of town like there was a pack of hungry wolves after him had already told Chris that somehow Alexandra Terrell had not been able to keep her promise. How had it all gone so wrong? He was trying to do what was best for Vin, but who was he to say what was best for a grown man. He never should have listened to anyone else. He should have tracked Vin down the minute he knew and told him everything. But no, he'd listened to others who didn't know Vin as well as he did. They'd already clashed and said things he'd thought might have hurt their friendship, but they had gotten past it as all good friends did. They might not like to be hit in the face with the truth, but if a man wasn't man enough to tell his best friend the truth what kind of man was he? No, Vin might have lashed out at Chris for being the messenger, but at least he wouldn't have been humiliated by some pinched-faced woman who lived to make other people miserable. Only the knowledge that the judge would hang him for sure kept Chris from shooting the woman and putting the world out of her misery.
Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Jason were trying to make sense of it all when the two men descended upon them in the store. Gloria's son had been sent to fetch the rest of the seven while his sister had been sent to tell Henderson to take care of the children, the Potter children included. The rest of the seven stood lining the doorway discouraging anyone from entering the store until Chris gave the okay. Something bad had gone down. JD had seen Vin light out of town, and the look on Vin's face had sent shivers of fear up and down JD's spine. He'd never seen that look on Vin's face before, and he hoped to God he never did anything to have it directed at him. The guilty looks Ezra exchanged with Chris and John Terrell made him think the discovery he'd made the other night was involved, and now he felt guilty as well. If only he'd been able to mask his surprise and keep his mouth shut. The fact that none of any of this was his fault did nothing to lessen the guilt he felt. JD still felt he'd let Vin down somehow by not telling him what he'd stumbled across. He didn't have to listen to Chris and not say anything to anyone until Chris found out what was going on.
Josiah and Buck stood clueless as Nathan's healing instincts overrode his dislike of Lilith Jones, and he knelt on the floor to check her out. He also had no idea of what was going on, but somehow he had gotten the impression that Miss Jones had caused pain for both his friend and Alexandra Terrell. Ezra was standing as far from Lilith Jones as he could get and still remain in the store. Somehow he knew this woman had spitefully told Vin what she'd known about his relationship to Alexandra. It didn't matter that he had stumbled onto the truth. He had a voice, quite an eloquent one at that. But somehow Ezra knew that no amount of eloquence could stop the pain of betrayal Vin was feeling right now. He knew from personal experience how hard it was to believe you had friends you could trust with more than your life.
Friends who accepted you as you were with all your faults and idiosyncrasies and encouraged you to continue being the man you were. Friends with whom you could share a joke, a word, a look, and not have to worry if they understood or not. Ezra knew how hard it was to believe that you could be so fortunate to have friends, not just one or two, but six men who would ride with you into hell and still accuse you of cheating when you proved yet again you were the better gambler. He knew Vin must feel totally betrayed by Chris and Ezra even though both men were trying to do the right thing by him. Ezra really should have known better. Every time he'd tried to do the right thing in his life, it always had gone awry. Why did he think now would be any different?
They had to find Vin in order to tell him the truth. If he still felt betrayed by them, then so be it. Ezra knew Tanner to be a reasonable man, and they had only withheld the information until Alexandra Terrell could speak to him. She'd waited all night for him to return and had only put it off because he was exhausted. Surely, Vin would understand they had kept quiet for only that reason? No, Vin would only understand that two of his friends had learned incredible news about him and decided not to tell him. Ezra shook his head as he caught Chris's eye. It dawned on him that both he and Chris were accepting full responsibility in order to spare the others. Maude would literally expire from heart failure if she knew her only son was accepting responsibility for someone else; however, it was he, Ezra Standish who was spending his valuable time worrying over a scruffy, uneducated tracker because he was his friend.
"What the hell happened here, Chris? JD says Vin lit a shuck outa town." Buck was not happy. The dream he'd been having included several beautiful women in various states of undress showing Buck why they appreciated him so much. That was just the way of the world. Buck no sooner found him a slice of heaven than his friends would do something to interrupt it. 'Damn, Vin had better have a good reason for interrupting that dream, a really good reason. And what in the hell had happened between him and Miz Terrell? It all seemed to have to do with that woman who couldn't keep from fainting.'
Josiah knelt in front of Alexandra holding her hands in his big ones as she leaned against John. They were talking quietly, but you could hear the rumblings of Josiah's soothing voice working to calm Alexandra. For one moment, he looked taken aback. He sat back on his heels and stared at Alexandra hard for just a moment. Then, he shook his head and smiled at her. "I take it Vin found out from someone other than you?" Alexandra's eyes filled again and she just looked at Miss Jones who was coming to once more. Josiah looked up at John Terrell. "Why don't we take this discussion to the hotel. Then we can all discuss what to do." He helped get Alexandra to her feet. Melanie Jason and Gloria Potter were still at a loss. Josiah took charge.
"Ladies, we need to leave you for the moment. If you could call on Mrs. Terrell later this afternoon, I am sure she would appreciate it."
John Terrell agreed with Josiah. "Thank you for your help. Can you get Miss Jones back to her room?" Both women nodded.
The six men flanked the Terrells as they walked to the hotel. Melanie offered to stay with Miss Jones until she was well enough to return to the hotel. She had a feeling that the woman would be on the next stage tomorrow for parts unknown. After all Vin Tanner had done to help her the night before, she couldn't find much sympathy for the woman whose theatrics had caused all this mess. Melanie was tempted to throw a bucket of cold water on the woman who kept avoiding reality by fainting. Melanie shook her head at such foolishness. She and Gloria Potter did their best, and Miss Jones was back in her room within the hour.
The door to the dining room was shut and locked and voices could be heard. Melanie shook her head and walked to the room where she knew Henderson and Mrs. Davis were feeding the children. Having taught for several years before she married, Melanie had taken a shine to the precocious Terrell children. She offered her services to the willing Henderson. Staying in the room the hotel had given her would only leave her room to brood over her loss, and Melanie hated dwelling on things she couldn't change. Children would be just the thing to keep her attention from her troubles. She wasn't prepared for the first question from the twins.
"Where's Ours?"
"Is he here, yet?
"We wanta go play."
"Ours promised to take us lookin' for bugses."
"Miss Jones won't like it none."
"Are you 'fraid of bugses?"
"Ours isn't here to take you. Don't worry about Miss Jones any more. And I actually like bugs. They all have different names you know. Shall I tell you about some of them?"
Henderson and Mrs. Davis looked at one another and smiled. This lady was the first bright spot in today's disastrous events. They were sorry for her loss of her home, but she was a godsend to them. Miss Jones was out from what the Potter children had told them, and this lady seemed to know just how to handle their young ladies. It was time they set things in their household back to order. As soon as the twins and Jamie were occupied with Mrs. Jason and the baby asleep, Henderson and Mrs. Davis would find out all about Mrs. Jason. They'd start with Mr. Wilmington. He was with Mrs. Jason and Mr. Vin when they had arrived this morning. Then, they would take care of things while Mr. Terrell and Mr. Larabee set things right between Mrs. Terrell and her nephew. When had John Terrell ever failed to give his wife what she wanted?
"We'll split up and check out the reservation, Nettie's, that spot he always goes to." Chris stopped when his eyes settled on Buck. The man was shaking his head at Chris. Already angry at himself, he erupted in a fit impatience. "What? You don't think we should go after him? He's gotta be here for that judge. He may never get another chance like this again."
"Naw, I ain't sayin' we should leave him be, Chris." Buck waited until he was sure Chris was listening. It wouldn't do for him to flare back at Chris. Losing their tempers wouldn't get Vin through this. "I'm sayin' he'll know we'll be comin' after him, an' if he don't want to be found, he won't."
Chris shook his head in frustration. He knew Buck was right, but he had to find Vin. He saw Ezra and JD felt the same way. They needed to find Vin and talk to him, make certain he was all right, make certain he didn't think they'd done this on purpose.
"Buck's right, Chris. Vin's mad right now, but he knows how to hide from folks if he's a mind to. He won't go anywhere he knows we know about. The man's smarter than that. Wouldn't have lived this long if he weren't." Josiah added his calming voice to the group. Having found out that a judge was coming to question Vin and a possible pardon was in the works, Josiah felt the urgency as much as the others. Vin wasn't going to be happy about getting pardoned for a crime he didn't commit, but it would free him from the constant threat of death from anyone wanting to collect on five hundred dollars.
"Yeah, Vin won't go anywhere he'll think we'd look first." Nathan grinned then, a look of pure devilment in his eyes. "He can be as devious as a snake when he wants to. R'member what he did to Buck's grey cause he and JD were bored, an' how long it took Buck to figure out he was behind it?" Nathan looked right at Ezra then, so did the others.
The gambler had a feeling he knew where this was going, but he couldn't help the innocent protest anyway. "What? You talk devious and you immediately think of me? I am emotionally at a loss as to why. . ."
"Ezra!" Chris's growl was one mixed with frustration and amusement. For the first time since the incident in the store, Alexandra Terrell smiled. She realized just how much these men were bound to one another, how very much like brothers they were. They could snap and threaten one another and still come back with some joke to lighten the mood and work together to find a solution, no matter how dire the situation seemed. She relaxed just a little, which in turn made her husband relax.
"Are you insinuating, Nathan, that Vin can be as devious as Mr. Standish?"
"John, that boy couldn't lie his way out of a wet paper bag when he's tryin' to, but you let him get in a tight spot where someone's life is in danger, and he can come up with some idea that will scare the hell out of you it's so devious." Nathan was right, and they all knew it.
JD shook his head in agreement. "That idea him and Ezra came up with to help out the Jorgenson's when that silver guy wanted to take their land, I still don't see how they pulled it off."
Ezra grinned. "Mr Tanner does have quite an imagination and a flare all his own." Chris rolled his eyes and found himself grinning despite himself. He remembered how Ezra and Vin acted as hired guns for the headman of the mining company who wanted to cheat the Jorgenson's out of their land because of the silver on it.
Judge Travis had wanted them to look in on it, and Vin had stumbled onto the fact the miner was looking to hire some guns. He'd accepted the job for him and Ezra, putting them both on the inside. It was Vin who had suggested they make it look like they had killed the rest of the seven and Judge Travis in order to get the man to admit the whole plan.
Vin and Ezra had worked the man like they had done this sort of thing all their lives. The thought of their devious minds unleashed still gave Larabee nightmares. He didn't have to worry about a bullet killing him. That's what he had friends like Vin and Ezra for, to torture him to death continually worrying about the next time they thought to come up with a plan for something. He'd be damned if he let some pinched-faced, embittered woman ruin that for him. They had to find Vin and make him come home.
"If a man wanted to throw people off, how would he do it, Ezra?"
Chris looked from Ezra to Buck as he realized that Buck had already answered the question for them all.
"Vin's gonna hold up in some town until he sorts this all out. It'd be the last place we'd look for him because we know how much he hates the noise an' the crowds." Ezra had reached the same conclusion before Chris had finished speaking. It was really getting a bit uncanny the way these men were reading each other's minds, but it also made Ezra feel a part of some grander scheme than he had ever felt before. It was almost comfortable in a way to know someone as well as they knew you. Maude would perish at the thought. Poor Mother. He must find out if she was coming to Four Corners for Christmas.
"You got it, Chris. He's gonna hide right out in the open, so we won't even notice him. Bet he thinks we're all huntin' him at the reservation and Nettie's while he finds him some quiet spot in some big town where we won't look. He'd pick the last place we'd look for him." The more Buck thought on it the more sense it made.
JD got excited then. "He wouldn't hide in Purgatorio, would he? They'd kill him for sure there on his own."
"Naw, JD. Vin wouldn't go there. He needs someplace where he can blend in and no one's lookin' for 'im. Someplace he'd think was safe. He's hurtin' right now, an' he's smart enough to know he should hold up until he can think straight. Runnin' around frettin' don't do nothin' but get ya killed." Buck was on a roll now. He just knew he was right.
"They know him in Laramie, so he wouldn't go there. He doesn't have any use for the sheriff over in Dowling, so he'd shy away from there, too." Josiah was sensing Buck was on the right track, too. It just felt like Vin would do this to throw them all off his trail. They just had to catch up with him before he got to thinking straight and figured out they had already figured him out.
"I believe our friend might be found in either Eagle Bend or Brecken, and knowing his admiration for Sheriff Johnson, I would place a hefty wager on Brecken." Ezra looked at Chris and the rest as they all shook their heads in agreement.
"I think you're right. It'll be Brecken. With all the people comin' an' goin' on the trains, a stranger wouldn't stand out at all. I'll wire Eagle Bend just in case and ask them to let us know if he shows up." Chris looked at each man. "Then we head out tomorrow morning. With any luck we'll be there 'fore he figures out we're on to him."
"Judge Travis and Judge Crockett are due on the train tomorrow evening in Brecken. I think I will join you, if that's all right?" John Terrell knew he was doing the right thing by going with them. Alexandra would trust him to plead her case better than anyone else could, and he knew she didn't want to leave the children here with just Henderson and Mrs. Davis. The death grip Alexandra had had on his hand turned into a gentle squeeze as she indicated her agreement with this decision. She turned her gaze on Chris, and he felt once more the powerful pull of the eyes that he now knew reminded him of Vin Tanner. How had he ever thought they were just familiar looking when they were like looking right at Vin Tanner?
"Nathan, can you, Buck, and JD take care of things here? I don't want to leave Alexandra and the children here unprotected." All agreed except Josiah.
"No, I think I'd best stay here, Chris. Buck seems to be thinking the same way as Vin. I'd say he'd best go in my place." Chris nodded. Somehow Buck was thinking just like Vin leaving him wondering how Buck did it.
"It's a plan, then. We ride in the morning."
Continued in Part Five
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