DISCLAIMER: I do not own or make any kind of profit off of these characters. They belong to Trilogy, MGM, Mirisch, CBS and now TNN. However I would like to state that I do not wish my characters borrowed without my knowledge or consent. If you are not certain a character is canon or mine, I will be happy to let you know. Just ask or look at my list of original characters.
NOTE: Special thanks to Adrian who allowed me to bounce some ideas off of her and to Judy, Wen, and Paula for their efforts in beta reading.
RATING: PG13
It had been quiet the past few months. No one had tried to rob the bank, no drovers trying to start a barroom brawl, no dissatisfied gambler trying to take his frustrations out on anyone and everyone because one of the town's peacekeepers could spot a cheat blindfolded and drunk. Four Corners was almost becoming civilized, and Chris Larabee was getting nervous. He was spending more and more of his time out at his shack. Building, he was actually turning the shack into a house. It wasn't a conscious effort on his part, but an outlet for pent-up energy. Like Josiah working on his church. Chris wasn't as restless cutting and sanding wood. There was something satisfying about it.
More often or not, Vin was there helping him. The silent camaraderie they shared often made talking unnecessary, but every once in a while Vin would make an observation that made Larabee stop and burst into laughter. It wasn't that Vin was so funny, it was just that the tracker had a way of looking at things that made Larabee see the absurdity life handed you. You could let life defeat you, or you could throw whatever it had dumped on you right back in its teeth. That was one of the reasons Chris Larabee had found a kindred spirit in Vin Tanner.
The only other person Chris had ever known who could find something humorous in the worst of times had been Sarah. They were totally different with the exception of two very important things. First, Vin like Sarah always expected Chris Larabee to do what was right. He didn't take it for granted, didn't expect it, he just accepted that Larabee couldn't just stand there and watch justice be stomped on. Just as Sarah had, Chris knew that Vin understood and would back him. They had never talked about it, but the knowledge was there.
The other thing about Vin that reminded him of Sarah was his sense of humor, especially when it came to Larabee. Sarah'd had a wicked sense of humor, nothing mean or malicious, just a quick one that would pop up when you least expected it. She would sometimes look him in the eye on the rare occasions she disagreed with him and smile at him. It made him wonder what she was thinking, and eventually she would tell him. Then, he would join in on the joke because he could see where she had been so amused. She wasn't a bit scared of the Larabee glare. The fact was that she found it amusing, always knowing the reckless man she'd tamed would never turn his temper on her or Adam. Hell, she had even giggled right during their wedding. Chris had looked at her like she was crazy until she had asked him in am almost inaudible whisper if he was going to pass out on her. The fact that the man who was Chris Larabee was scared shitless of getting married had amused Sarah to no end.
Vin was a lot like that. The Larabee glare didn't affect him at all. In fact, when he could glare all of his friends down, he would more often or not find Vin grinning at him. Vin said what he thought and was willing to take the consequences for his words or deeds. Chris liked that honesty. In fact, it caused him to think twice about his own decisions the few times Vin disagreed with him. Vin was like the brother he'd never had, as close as Buck was to him, but totally different. Sarah would have loved all of his friends, the men who had become his family.
Most of all, Vin was the type of man he'd wanted Adam to be. Not devil may care like Buck or reckless like him, but solid and true like Vin. That's how Chris saw Vin as someone he could always count on. The quiet tracker didn't give his trust and loyalty to many, but when he did it was forever. He was a man to ride the river with. That's what Chris had recognized in Vin. Someone searching for a safe harbor where he didn't constantly have to watch his own back. Someone you could drink with, shoot the bull with, talk with when you were a mind to, or just plain sit there in silence just listening to the world.
Vin was his friend, plain and simple; and, to a man like Vin Tanner, friendship was a sacred bond. Maybe it was the fact that Vin had seen as much tragedy in life as Chris had even though he was a good ten years younger. Vin didn't talk much about his past, but when he did mention something, Chris had learned to listen and watch Vin's face as he entrusted a piece of himself to his friends bit by bit. Vin wasn't an open book like Buck and JD. He was more guarded like Ezra, both having learned at a young age that life would take everything you loved most from you if you let it.
So when Vin shared a memory or two, the others listened. More often or not, it was some experience that had shaped Vin Tanner into the man he was. Sometimes the memory was so sad. When Vin had finally told Chris why he was so attached to that damned buffalo coat, only he and Ezra had actually heard that the coat was the only thing he had left of his Indian family. Chris wasn't the only one who wanted to hunt some men down after seeing the pain in Vin's eyes. It was written all over his face as he told them how the soldiers had separated him from the others because of his blue eyes and made him watch while they slaughtered his friend, the wife, and their family.
"You gonna saw straight through till tomorrow?" Chris looked up and saw Vin standing in front of him, sleeves rolled up, a hammer in one hand, and a bunch of nails in the other. "Don't know 'bout you, but I'd like to go have me some dinner, maybe a drink, lose all my money to Ezra, you know, have some fun, cowboy." The younger man grinned at the insult. Sometimes Chris wished he'd never told that James fella he hated being called a cowboy.
"Mrs. Bridger ain't gonna want to cook us any dinner late as it is. Just what do you have in mind fer supper?"
"Well, we're real close to Nettie's. I bet we show up 'fore dark, she'd feed us."
"And what makes you think Nettie wants to cook for us?" Chris had seen Vin speaking to Nettie and Gloria Potter earlier that day. Now he knew the tracker had been ripe for Nettie's home cooking. Shy as he was, Vin seemed to thrive under Nettie Wells' affections, and he figured if he was going to be bullied by motherly love, then it was only fair that his best friend share the torture with him.
"She said she was cookin' a pot roast, and that she'd made a peach cobbler." It was the cobbler that had sealed his fate. Vin Tanner loved peaches. Didn't matter if they were fresh, canned, preserved, cooked in a pie or a cobbler, Vin Tanner loved peaches.
"Well now, why didn't you say she had peach cobbler? What are we waitin' for?" They were packed up, cleaned up, and sitting at Nettie's table in less than an hour.
"You boys want some more of this cobbler? Not much left, an' I'd hate it to go to waste." She winked conspiratorially at Chris. He looked over at Casey who put on the best poker face he'd seen since Ezra cleaned out the pompous lawyer from Eagle Bend.
"I couldn't eat another bite, Aunt Nettie."
"Me, neither, Nettie. Vin? You think you could finish that cobbler off?"
Vin knew they knew he wanted the rest of it, but there had been times in his life when he'd been so hungry snake was the best he could do. So, if Nettie wanted to try and fatten him up, who was he to argue?
"Well, iffin it's gonna get left, I'll eat it." He flashed Nettie that crooked grin and she shook her head and laughed.
"You do that, son." The boy could have eaten the whole cobbler, and Nettie would have let him. It just didn't seem possible that a man with his appetite could stay so skinny, but he did. Nettie poured both men another cup of coffee.
"Well, you come by more often, I could whip up some more of that cobbler."
Vin looked up and grinned. "Yes, ma'am." He finished the last bite and rose to join Chris who was trying to help Nettie.
"Both you boys, go on an' git. I been doing my own dishes since fore I could remember. Only thing a man's good for in the kitchen is to eat somethin' or break somethin'." She turned and faced both men with her hands in her hips. "Now, you've already eaten, so's all that left for you to do in my kitchen is break somethin'. I like my dishes just like they are."
"Yes, ma'am. I guess we'll be goin'." Chris Larabee knew that the one place a man could lose the war was in a kitchen. "C'mon, Vin. Let's go get Buck to buy us a whiskey."
"Thanks, Nettie. Super was real fine." He tipped his hat and held the door while Chris did the same. "How 'bout I come by later this week and fix that wobbly post on the porch."
Nettie smiled. "You do that son, and I'll see if I got me enough peaches left to make you a pie." Vin's answering grin traveled all the way to his eyes.
"Peach pie? For peach pie, I'll come by and help, too."
"Well, I got me a barn that needs some fixin' up. You bring the rest of that motley group of yore's an' I'll make a coupla peach pies, maybe an apple one, too."
She was assured they would be there. As they rode out Vin looked at Chris. "Y'all ain't touchin' one of them peach pies. It's mine."
"One of these days, Tanner, I'm gonna have to shoot ya."
"Well, just make sure you just need one shot. Ain't one for lingerin' round where I'm not wanted."
Larabee burst into laughter and spurred his horse into a canter. It was nightfall, and he could use a drink with his friends, even a friend who didn't want to share his pie with anyone. Vin followed grinning. It was a good night for riding in the moonlight, or so he thought at the time. Something whizzed past his face, and he saw Chris slump over in his saddle. Then he was struck on the back of his head, and he saw nothing more.
He had to stop drinking with Chris and Buck. Damn, his head hurt. He tried to touch the back part of his head where it hurt, but he couldn't. Tentatively, he opened one eye. He was lying on his side in a wagon, trussed up like a turkey at Thanksgiving. Chris was lying next to him, tied in a similar fashion. That's when the momentary panic set in. Bounty hunters, it had to be bounty hunters. They'd taken him and Chris with them.
"Chris? Larabee? You okay?" No answer. Vin twisted and turned as much as he could. He was sore all over like he had been drug and banged about. His head was throbbing and his shoulder hurt like he'd fallen off his horse onto it. What was he thinking? Of course that's what he'd fallen on when he was knocked unconscious. It felt like a rock or a small stone had been the weapon. Who the hell had them? Then he heard voices.
"Ma's gonna strip our hides for this!"
"Well, they can lead us to the others."
He couldn't believe it.
"Chris? Damnit, Larabee, wake up!"
"Do you have to yell?" The words were a welcome relief to Vin even if the voice answering sounded murderous. "What the hell happened?"
"I think we been knocked out, tied up, and tossed in a wagon." He couldn't help himself. He just had to grin at the thought of that vein throbbing right in the middle of Chris's forehead. Chris brought a whole new meaning to the word pissed.
"I swear, as soon as I get my gun, Tanner," Chris didn't finish his empty threat. Trust Vin to find amusement in their predicament. Then it him. They hadn't been shot. There were no bullet wounds. How did they get taken without getting shot, and why did he have dirt in his mouth? Someone was going to pay for this. He'd kill them with his bare hands.
"Rocks."
"What?" came the incredulous reply. "Are you saying we been knocked out by rocks?"
"Yeah, I figure someone's got a real good throwing arm or a slingshot."
Chris twisted around until he was facing Vin. The blue eyes were dancing in merriment. "What the hell are you findin' so damned funny?"
"Think about it, Chris. Would a man, any bounty hunter or gunslinger worth his salt, use a slingshot and then have to drag us and bang us around puttin' us in this wagon?" He looked into green eyes in which awareness was slowly dawning. Awareness and an anger that meant some heads or butts were going to be getting blistered just as soon as Chris Larabee got free. Any response Chris may have had was cut off.
They heard voices. Their captors were arguing. Both men turned their heads in the direction of the noise to listen. They finally started making sense of the words.
"It's not the same men! You got to let them go!"
"Then they'll come after us for sure! We gotta keep 'em tied up! Ma, stop it! They're gonna be real mad an' shoot us like they shot Dad!"
"They are not the men who shot yore pa. I seen these two before. Miss Nettie knows them. Now, I'm gonna let them go, an' iffen one of 'em wants to take a birch strip to yore hide, you'll take it. Ya coulda killed 'em with those stones!"
Vin relaxed. It was a mother and her son, and from what they were saying they sounded like they were in some kind of trouble, but he still didn't like what the kid had done. He just might help Chris take a birch strip to his hide, but somehow he got the feeling that help was what was needed, not a whipping. Sounded like the boy had done all this to take care of his ma.
The flap was pulled aside revealing a woman near forty. She was a handsome woman tall with fiery red hair and sharp brown eyes. She was frowning, and Vin suddenly thought it was a brave young man to argue with this woman. She pulled a knife from her skirts as she approached Chris. Vin raised his head to look directly in her eye. She drew back a bit, fear quickly masked by a stern look.
"My son thought you were someone else. He didn't mean to hurt you or yore friend. If I let ya go, will you leave him alone? Us alone?" Two heads peeked around the flap. It was a girl all of thirteen and a boy who looked about ten. Just as Vin was going to answer the woman, two more heads appeared. The boy must have been sixteen, but the child he held was a little girl around five. Damn, she had blue eyes just like the twins. Vin hoped to God she didn't have a twin. He'd never make it out of here alive if twins were involved.
Chris saw the children and knew what Tanner's reaction would be. He was just as soft-hearted when it came to kids as the rest of them. The two children disappeared as the mother shooed them out with the older boy. "You can let us go, ma'am. My friend and me won't do ya any harm. You got my word."
"Well, you ain't got mine." Chris grinned at Vin in unholy glee. He had decided to give the tracker some trouble for making him figure out what had happened on his own.
Vin threw a look in Larabee's direction. The older man barely nodded, but he kept his mouth shut. Vin tried again, smiling at the frightened woman who was beginning to think that letting these men go wasn't a very good idea. Before she backed out and left them trussed up, he spoke again.
"Don't pay him any mind, ma'am. He's got the temper of a grizzly that's been shot and left out to rot." He felt the Larabee glare pin him to the spot, but Vin didn't have time to face Chris right now. If there were men out there who'd shot this woman's husband, then they could all be in serious danger.
"I'm Vin Tanner and this here is Chris Larabee. We keep the peace in Four Corners. Miz Nettie'll vouch for us."
The woman looked over at Chris, who had managed to wipe the glaring scowl from his face for a neutral, closed look, and then back to Vin. He saw her make up her mind in a matter of seconds. She leaned over and sliced the ropes from Vin's hands. Then as he rubbed his wrists and leaned over to pull the ropes from his ankles, she cut Chris loose. Vin saw the ugly bruise on the side of Chris's face where the rock had hit him. Vin tried to control the anger he felt. He tried to remember that the kid had been trying to protect his family, but the man he considered a brother could have lost an eye or been killed if that rock had been an inch closer to the center.
"My son thought you men were with the ones who shot his pa. His pa sent us into the woods when those men came up." She had noticed the changing look on Vin's face from quiet reassurance to hard, cold anger. It was Chris who stepped in this time to smooth the ruffled feathers.
"We ain't gonna hurt your boy, ma'am, but we would like to have a talk with him. Your husband?" The woman looked outside to the fire.
"He's been shot bad. I never had to cut a bullet out, an' I," she couldn't finish. Both men responded to the blatant fear in her voice.
Chris looked over at Vin, silently asking if the tracker was all right. He got his answer with a raised eyebrow. Larabee returned the nod. Neither man had anything more serious than a headache and too many bruises to count or even think about..
"I'll take a look at him, ma'am. Had me some experience with cuttin' bullets outa people. We can get our doctor friend to lend a hand if need be."
The grateful woman stepped out of the wagon to allow the men to get out. She bumped into the shotgun her son was holding on the two men. "Arty, put that thing down. These here are lawmen. Keep actin' like this an' they'll put ya in jail fer sure."
The boy frowned, but he did as his mother said. He started to speak, but Chris spoke first.
"I can understand your wantin' to keep your family safe son, but you just can't go off half-cocked. What if you had killed one of us and then found out we were innocent?"
Arty turned bright red and looked like he was about to cry, but he didn't. He drew himself up and looked Chris right in the eye. "I'm sorry, mister, but ma said the man that shot pa was wearing black. You were about to ride into our camp, so's me an' Emmy took out our rocks and sling shots."
"Who's Emmy?" Larabee had to admire the boy's grit, but at the mention of another assailant, Larabee wanted to know any potential threat.
"She's his sister. I'm Martha Simmons, an' this here is Arty, Emmy, Bruce, and Mary. My husband's name is Matthew." The other children gathered round the two men and looked them over. Emmy glared at the men.
"He's dressed in black just like you said, Ma."
"I said all the men were dressed in black. Since when did tan become black? These ain't the men I saw shoot your pa. Now, you go over an' sit. Behave, Emmaline."
Vin winked at the woman. He motioned her over to her husband where the other children were gathered round. The man was lying by the fire covered in blankets. He was pale, but he was awake. Vin took that as a good sign.
"Where's he hurt, ma'am?" He'd learned some about gunshot wounds being alone as much as he had been all his life, but he was no way near as good at treating them as Nathan.
Nathan had a healer's touch. It was almost as if the gentle man had a way of making folks better just by laying his hands on them. Vin had seen medicine men with the same touch as Nathan. He'd been told he had a bit of the touch, but Vin knew his hands were more for animals than people. He could never find the words to calm a wounded man the way Nathan did. He could calm a mountain lion with soft nonsensical whispers, but people were a mystery to him. It was with that in mind that Vin moved toward the wounded man.
A little hand stopped him before he could pull the blanket down to find the wound. "You gonna hurt my daddy?" It was the little blue-eyed five-year old. Vin knew Chris was standing behind him grinning. There was something about little girls that turned Vin Tanner into melted candle wax. The Terrell Twins just got some competition.
"Nope, I'm gonna see iffen I can make him feel better. Can I look at him?"
"Yeth thir." Chris Larabee melted right along side Vin. Tanner threw him another of those knowing looks that said welcome to the party.
"Ma'am, you got any whiskey?" Mrs. Simmons scurried off to get the whiskey.
"You don't need no whiskey, mister!" Emmaline was adamant. Chris turned to the thirteen-year old.
"He needs it to clean the wound young lady. Ain't for him to drink." He knelt on the other side of the man as Vin pulled a bloody bandage from his shoulder. "You know what you're doin', pard?"
Vin looked up at Chris. "Yep, I ain't Nathan, but I know how to get a bullet outa shoulder. This is gonna hurt, Mister. Want some whiskey first?"
"Name's Matt, an' hell yes I want some whiskey." Chris and Vin both nodded and grinned at the man.
"Name's Vin Tanner. This here's Chris Larabee."
"Four Corners?"
"Yep." Vin looked at Chris. "I'm gonna need this knife put in the fire and then in boilin' water like Nathan does. Need some clean linens for bandages." Arty and Emmy jumped up to help their pa. "Doesn't look like the bullet's in too deep."
Vin took the bottle of whiskey and pulled the cork out of it with his teeth. He handed the bottle to Martha as he lifted her husband up enough for him to take a generous swig of the liquor. Then, he helped the man lie back down. "Chris, I'm gonna need you an' Miz Simmons to help. Arty, why don't you go keep a watch out?"
Arty looked at his ma and pa to see if he should follow Vin's orders. "Go on, boy. Emmaline, go put the young ones to bed." Chris looked over to Vin as if to say, 'Glad I'm on her side.'
It was well after midnight, and Chris and Vin didn't expect the night to get any better.
The night didn't get any better, but the day got worse. Vin was able to get the bullet out and the bleeding stopped, but there was still the chance of infection. Vin would feel better once the Simmons family was safe in Four Corners with Nathan tending Matthew, but he and Chris were not going to be escorting the family. At first light, he and Chris were going after the men who had robbed the family of their savings and five thoroughbred horses. The Simmons had heard such glowing things about Four Corners since the seven men had come in to clean up the town that they had sold everything and invested their money in a line of good breeding stock. The thieves had stolen the rest of their money and their stock, and Chris and Vin had decided to get it back for them. They knew Nettie would send for the others as soon as possible and that the Simmons would point out the direction in which they had gone. Chris was as eager as Vin was to start after the men before they got too big a lead.
First light saw Matthew Simmons with a slight fever, but no more than would be expected. He had admitted that he was lucky that they hadn't killed him, but he hadn't fought them very hard scared as he was for his family. The two peacekeepers had assured him that was indeed what had saved the family and sent them on their way to Nettie's.
"Don't forget to tell her the direction to tell the boys."
"Yes, sir." Arty had decided these two men were okay in his book.
"Bye, Mither Vin and Mither Chrith." Little Mary had already decided she liked these me who had taken care of her daddy. Bruce liked them, too, because the man in black had actually winked at him before they left. However, Emmy hadn't decided if these men were good or not. She was reserving judgment to see if these men got their stock back. Money didn't mean much to her, but that black filly meant the world to her. If those two men could get Wildfire back for her, she'd be their friend forever. Better yet, she'd just borrow Casey's horse and help them out. They were, after all, men, adult men, which meant they were only marginally smarter than her brother Bruce.
Vin picked up the trail quickly as he munched on some hardtack the Simmons had given to both men before they set out. Mrs. Simmons had packed some cheese, biscuits, and coffee as well as some shells for Vin's rifle. They had no need to stop at Chris's cabin to get more. It was hard to hide the trail of ten horses, five that were being ridden by the thieves. The fact that the thieves didn't expect anyone to follow them made them sloppy.
As they rode, Chris decided that Vin was in too good a mood. This was just his type of adventure, helping a family in need and bringing scum like those men to justice. Sometimes being on the right side of the law had its advantages. Chris liked a good fight, the more the merrier. "Did you see that scowl on that girl's face?"
Vin looked over at him. "Girl? Oh, ya mean that little slip of a thing? She'd look like her ma she weren't always frownin' an' scowlin' at folks. Girl's got a disposition like yours."
"I ain't always scowlin' at folks."
"Sure, they're all just scared of your reputation and the company ya keep."
"What'd I tell you 'bout pissin' me off, Tanner."
He heard Vin's laughter as the tracker spurred his horse into a gallop. Chris did the same, figuring he could get himself a bottle of whiskey once this whole mess was over. He smiled thinking how surprised Vin was going to look the day he shot him. Then he laughed, too, knowing full well the tracker knew he'd never do it.
Four hours later, Vin could be seen checking on the thieves' camp from a ledge looking down into the canyon from his spyglass.
"Still just five of 'm?"
"Yep. They're just settin' around laughin' an' drinkin'. Don't seem to have a guard posted or anything. Take a look." Vin handed the glass to Chris and watched his face as the former gunslinger took in the same information he had.
"They're gonna be mighty drunk in a little while they keep on drinkin' like that."
"What say we eat us somethin' an' rest a spell. You look like you could use a nap."
Chris turned a feral grin on his friend as he handed Vin the spyglass. The tracker was eating a biscuit with a large slab of cheese in it. He motioned Chris to take one of the other biscuits as he set his spyglass down beside him.
"I been ponderin'."
"Yeah, 'bout what?"
"How you'd look with this glass here shoved. . . . . ."
"That ain't polite, Mister."
Both men nearly fell off the ridge in surprise. Emmaline Simmons had followed them. Vin looked over and saw that Emmaline had taken the mare that the seven had given Casey Wells for her birthday. The horse was winded and lathered with sweat. Vin had seen the horses the thieves had stolen from the Simmons, especially the little black filly. This girl needed to be taught a few things.
"So, you figure someone stealin' yer horse gives ya the right to steal someone else's?"
The belligerent look got surlier. "I came to make sure ya got our money and our stock back. Ya may have my ma and pa fooled, but you ain't got me fooled. You ain't no better than them." Emmaline pointed to the camp below.
Vin walked right up to the girl and stared her down. She backed up a bit, but a rock kept her from moving back any further.
"I never stole a friend's horse nor left my ma needin' help while my pa was shot." His voice had dropped to a menacing growl. Vin wanted to scare the girl. She could have gotten herself killed or worse chasing after them. Chris was even angrier than Vin.
He moved to the side cutting off her exit as she cast a furtive glance over her shoulder. Somehow her idea had seemed so reasonable when she followed them, but their combined anger had destroyed her bravado.
"They hang horse thieves." Larabee added the glare to go with his words. Emmaline looked ready to burst into tears, but both men wanted her good and scared. Grit was one thing. Stupidity could get you killed quickly, didn't matter if you were male or female.
"Well then, I'll just git. Didn't think you were brave enough to face them fellas for our property. All yer doin' is settin' here eatin'." She made it sound like Vin and Chris had joined the thieves. She turned to go, but Vin grabbed her.
Emmy panicked and started to yell, but the tracker put his hand over her mouth and whispered in her ear, "Hush, they'll hear. Why don't ya just run over there and wave at them?"
Emmaline decided biting the man called Vin wasn't smart, but she wasn't ready to admit they were probably right either. She pulled away from him as he slackened his hold, and backed right into Chris. Mr. Larabee wasn't in an accommodating mood.
"You are going to take care of Casey's horse with as little noise as possible. Then you are going to sit down and be quiet. You will not move and you will not open your mouth until we tell you that you can. Do you understand?"
Emmaline opened her mouth to say something, then thought before she spoke. She was smart enough to know that she had just baited two grizzlies in a cave. She was thirteen, not stupid. The unrepentant teenager went to do as she was told. This time.
Nathan stayed behind at Nettie's to make certain Matthew Simmons was all right. The rest rode off with the knowledge that a thirteen-year old girl was in a lot of trouble. If Vin and Chris didn't tan her hide, her parents would. When she got back safe and sound that is. Miz Nettie assured the Simmons that the most the two men would do to the disobedient girl was scare her from ever wanting to trail after any man again.
That was fine with Martha Simmons. Her daughter had been a sweet child until the day she turned thirteen. She'd been hell on a broomstick since then bucking authority, sassing her parents, driving her brother to the edge of sanity, lording over the younger ones. If Larabee and Tanner could scare her back into her sweet daughter, or at least teach her a little respect, then Martha Simmons would owe those men everything. She just wanted her sullen daughter back in one piece, so she could kill her.
Vin would help her. The girl had sat there silently scowling at both of them for the last two hours. Vin knew it was only a matter of time before she started yapping at them, but one look at Chris had convinced him that he didn't want to waste precious time and words arguing with a girl who was pricklier than a bear with a beehive up his butt.
She'd taken good care of Casey's horse, though. Vin Tanner did give the girl her due. She knew horses. He suspected that pretty little filly he'd seen was the reason she was here, dogging their every move. Chris had already told him they would wait until the men had gotten good and drunk before the two of them ventured down to their camp. By that time the others should have arrived. Vin moved to go and take a look. It only took a few steps to get a good look at the trail behind him, but Vin never got any further than pulling out his spyglass. The piercing shriek of an enraged animal thundered out of the canyon. Before either Vin or Chris could catch her, Emmaline was on Lady riding break neck into the canyon screaming the name Wildfire.
"So much for simple! You take the left!" Chris tossed Vin the reins to his horse and both men barreled down after Emmaline.
The five men were drunk, but not so drunk that someone riding toward their camp screaming in rage as loud as the skittish filly didn't alert them to danger. They started firing at Emmaline. She wasn't smart enough to know what to do, but Casey's mare shied away from the debris that the bullets had kicked up. Lady turned a hard right and lost her balance. Emmaline was not so lost to sense that she didn't remember to kick her feet free of the stirrups as they both went down. One of the men ran forward and grabbed the screaming girl. It only caused the filly to answer her with more noise. The men, seeing their visitor was a young girl relaxed and started arguing what to do with her.
"Well lookit here. We got us a girl!" His foul breath poured all over Emmaline.
The fury that had driven her from safety to this camp had been replaced by cold, stark terror. The two men were nowhere in sight. Her ma and pa were nowhere in sight. She was alone with the men who had tried to kill her pa, and she could see that Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner were nothing like these men. They had scared her at first, but she had known that they wouldn't harm her. These men scared her. One grabbed her arm and pulled her from the other man.
"What say we have us a party, girl?" His fingers bruised her arm as she tried to draw away from him. The others stepped behind and around her and pushed her towards the man who was missing several teeth.
"Go on, girl. Why don't you give Spivey here a kiss." The man behind her threw his head back and laughed when Emmaline spit in Spivey's face. Spivey drew back his hand to hit her when a shot reverberated through the canyon. Spivey lost his grip on Emmaline, and she watched in horror as he looked down at the red spot blossoming on his chest. He lost his grip as the men behind her turned to find the threat. All Emmaline heard was the man with the growly voice yelling at her to run. She ran as fast as she could, two of the thieves right on her heels. Another shot rang out and only one man was actually chasing her.
So intent on her, the thieves had never noticed the two men descending on them with guns blazing. Chris and Vin had split up, Vin taking the shot that killed Spivey before he could hurt Emmaline. Chris, as usual, rode straight into camp. He shot one of the remaining men, wounding him, as Vin shot one of the two men chasing Emmaline. The other split off from his wounded comrade. Chris heard a hammer cock, and he turned in a blaze of speed and shot the man on his right. Then he felt the bullet hit his shoulder. He dropped one gun as he put his hand to the wound in his shoulder. He turned as a boom went off, and the man he had wounded earlier lay dead on the ground. He turned and saw Buck at the top of the ridge with a smoking rifle in his hands. Chris looked around for Vin and Emmaline as he sank to his knees. The others were coming, but Vin and Emmaline needed him now. Struggling to his feet and disregarding the fire in his shoulder, Chris picked up his gun and moved in the direction in which Vin had chased the fifth man. Where were they?
They were near the horses. Charlie had almost caught Emmaline twice, but each time the slippery girl had eluded him. Not as drunk as the others he knew his only chance was to get the girl before the man chasing him got him in his sights. That man didn't miss, so Charlie figured the girl would be his ticket out of here. Only problem was, she was fast. There she was. He'd have to break cover to grab her, but he figured they were too well hidden by the horses to present too big a target to the man with that sawed-off Winchester. He just had to wait a few more seconds. Now! He had her. Pressing his gun to her forehead he turned with her to see Vin standing four feet away, Winchester aimed right at him. Charlie grinned.
"I'll kill her, Mister. You jest put that sawed-off down on the ground."
"I put it down, you kill us both. Kill us, my friends hunt you down an' kill ya slow. You let her go an' just maybe I won't kill ya."
Vin's voice was low almost a growl, but somehow Emmaline just knew the man wasn't gonna let this man hurt her. She looked over and saw two men fanning out behind Vin Tanner. She felt the man tremble beside her.
"I believe my compatriot is correct. Harm him or the young lady and we will extract revenge."
"Huh?" Charlie wasn't that smart. He saw the huge man smile at him, and the man with the mare's leg grin. Charlie felt like a turkey Thanksgiving Day. None of the men dropped their guns. His friends were dead; Charlie knew that when he saw a big man with a mustache and a younger man holding one of two pistols help the wounded man in black line up next to the other three men facing him.
Without taking his eyes off of the man holding Emmaline, Vin spoke again.
"You get hit?"
"Shoulder. You gonna let me bleed to death while you decide to take the shot or not?"
"I'm waitin'."
"What the hell for?"
Vin never took his eyes off of Charlie, "For Emmaline to ask me nice."
"Will ya just shoot him? He stinks!" Charlie thought the girl was too scared to move. Having a brother three years older had taught Emmaline that there were ways to break a hold if you used your head. She lifted her foot and stomped her boot full on Charlie's foot. As he let go of her and she felt the gun barrel stop pressing against her temple, she threw herself to the ground. Charlie's gun went off.
Over the roar of firing guns, Emmaline could have sworn she heard Vin Tanner yell, "Shit!" She wasn't sure because she was face down on the ground with her hands over her ears. She felt rather than saw Charlie's lifeless body thump to the ground next to her. Then she didn't hear any more as the enormity of how close she had been to death hit her. She tried to look up, but the roaring in her ears made her vision spin round and round. She heard someone ask her if she was all right. Then everything went black.
Continued in Part Two
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