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. 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.
"Vin, you all right?" Nathan was next to the bed patting Vin on the face trying to wake him up.
"I never should have left him. I knew better." Vin opened one eye to see both Nathan and Chris leaning over him worried expressions on their faces. If they weren't so damned blurry at the moment, he could have made out the faces of the others as they crowded around him.
"What the hell are y'all doin' wakin' me up an' all? Hell, first Nathan and Chris both tell me to stay here and sleep an' look what happens. I do what ya tell me and then ya go an' slap me around just to wake me up from the sleep you said I needed." It was more than Vin normally said in a week, but it had the desired effect.
"I'd say he's all right, Nathan." Chris was grinning ear to ear at the tirade.
"I am amazed at the number of words our friend has in his vocabulary."
"You've never heard yourself when someone wakes you up, have you brother?" Josiah's booming voice had been lowered out of consideration for Vin's head. Josiah had received a graze like that once and knew that his young friend would have a headache for a good two weeks. No sense in making it hurt worse if you could help it.
"I think he's just sore he missed out on all the fun." JD was certain he was right.
"Well, I think y'all smell like you been drug through a wet forest right after a fire."
"Now that's gratitude for ya. We come runnin' to save you from God only knows what an' you're lying there bitchin' at us like we just shot your horse or somethin'." Buck wasn't sure if he should be indignant or sorry that he was the cause of Vin's trouble in the first place. "Anything missin' that's important, Nathan?" Buck smiled at Vin to soften the insult, but all he got was a gesture that caused the others to start laughing. Vin even smiled.
Nathan walked over to the cupboard noticing several jars were gone. "You sure you didn't see anyone steal this stuff?" He looked at Vin as if the man had hidden the willow bark and ginger himself, but he knew that couldn't have happened. Vin could hardly stand right now because of the nausea and dizziness caused by the concussion.
"What's missing, Nathan?" It was Chris who asked this time.
"The mixin's for the ditch water." Nathan's suspicions of Vin were now explained.
Chris looked at his friend and grinned. Then he looked at the others. "He didn't trick one of you into starting that fire to get rid of the willow bark and the ginger, did he?"
Buck burst out laughing. "Now Vin, I knew you hated that stuff, but to try and burn down the livery just to get rid of it? Now that's downright unfriendly of ya."
"Real funny. Why don't you boys go to the saloon an' let me die in peace?"
"You ungrateful wretch. Gentlemen, I propose to return to my residence in order to affect a change in my attire. I do not believe I wish to catch pneumonia and have to be confined in this room with such a boorish lout."
"I'm gonna remember that, Ezra." Vin's threat fell on departing ears as Ezra made good his resolve to go and change his clothes. "You take the rest of ‘em with ya, an' I won't tell Chris about that message from Mary you forgot to give him last week."
"What message?" Chris looked up at the gambler standing by the door.
"I have no idea what he is alluding to, Mr. Larabee. It must be the concussion making him incoherent. Gentlemen, our friend needs his rest. Shall we?" Ezra managed to get the others out of the room, all except Chris, Nathan, and Buck. The ladies' man had seen something in the corner by the chair. Tiny footprints in the dust. He walked over and deliberately obscured them with his own boots before he left. Vin knew something and he was going to find out what. Those were a kid's footprints and knowing Vin's penchant for helping those in need gave Buck an idea. However, he felt since Vin's injury was mostly his fault, even though he was innocent, he decided to wait until tomorrow to ask him about it. He owed his friend that much. Besides, if there was any real danger, Vin would have let them know immediately. That meant whoever was doing this was more in need of help than punishment. Buck knew Vin that well that he could make that assumption. He'd learned to pay attention to the tracker's instincts almost as much as he respected Chris's ability to assess any situation. Buck decided to wait until he could speak with Vin alone. Then, he would decide whether to tell the others about the little footprints in the dust.
It was really very easy once you knew what to look for, and Buck now had a clue. He went back to Mrs. Bridger's, and sure enough he found one muddy footprint. It was larger than the two that he'd seen at the clinic. So there were three of them. Judging from the size, it was a boy around thirteen give or take a year. Buck smiled. No wonder the thefts had been small items. None of his quarry was big enough to carry that much. It explained a lot. Why the fires were always small and more smoke than anything else. These must be some good boys on bad times else they wouldn't be so intent on making sure no one got hurt. It also explained why Vin hadn't said a word. It was true that he might have slept through it all if it hadn't been for his missing saddlebags.
Buck knew Vin had stuffed his poker winnings in one side of them, but Vin had said nothing of his missing bags. On the pretext of making certain her door was secure, Buck went out the back of Mrs. Bridger's kitchen. Sure enough, just where the glow of the light from the open door fell, right under the eaves where the rain didn't turn the dirt to mud, Buck found another more defined boot print. The boy was missing part of his left boot heel. Buck smiled when he saw the boot print was headed in the direction of the clinic. Making a show of locking her back door securely, Buck said his goodnights and went round the back to see what else he could find.
He came up empty because of the falling rain until he got to the clinic. Sure enough, there were prints under the stairs where the ground was drier. It was here Buck found three different sets of prints. The youngest had to be just a boy, no more than ten if he was a day. They must have been something special to get Vin Tanner to let them get away without so much as a peep out of him. Not that Buck blamed Vin. He had heard bits and pieces of Vin's past that made him thank God his own mother had taken such good care of him. She might have been a working girl, but she'd been the very best of mothers. Buck had often been thankful he hadn't been saddled with one of those women who did nothing but scream at her children. No, Buck knew that part of why Vin had let the boys get away was that they had struck a cord, made the tracker remember a time in his life when he'd been all alone. That was it! Buck was certain he was dealing with boys who'd run from home, no a home. He just knew they were orphans, and that was why Vin had remained silent. It was a shame he couldn't share his discovery with the others just yet. The voice above him startled him.
"It appears that our brother has found something we missed."
"Looks that way, Josiah. Only other time I've see that self satisfied smirk on his face is when he's just made another female conquest."
"What's up, Buck?"
Buck looked up into the darkness of the area just outside the clinic door. He saw Chris and Josiah as they moved out of the darkness to become shadows in the dawning light. How long had they been there?
"You find somethin' you want to share with the rest of us, Buck?" Chris's question wasn't as casual as Josiah's had been. His question had a bite to it, meaning that Larabee was in no mood for any of Buck's stories. Saying a silent apology to Vin, Buck motioned the two men down the stairs.
"Found some prints in the clinic. Got a hunch and followed it." The other two men joined him. They knelt by Buck as he knelt and held the lantern above the prints.
"We're lookin' for kids?"
"Looks like three young boys to be sure, Chris." Josiah pointed to first one and then the other two sets of prints. They rose and walked in the direction the prints had taken. They found nothing until they got to the end of the alley. There were the prints again along with what looked like the prints of a mule. They looked at one another.
"Figure they're close enough to town to get where they're goin', but far enough to hide easy." Josiah and Chris both nodded their agreement of Buck's assessment.
"You think our injured brother knows about them?"
"I not only think he knows, I think he was gonna keep it to himself, too."
Chris shook his head. He and Josiah had already reached the conclusion that the boys must be some kind of runaways for Vin to have kept quiet. They knew for certain if he had decided the boys were trouble or a real threat, Vin would have had all of them after them before they could have gotten in the door. Chris smiled ruefully.
"Anyone ask Vin if he saw any boys stealin' Nathan's concotions?"
Josiah and Buck laughed.
"Don't recollect anyone askin' him if he saw any runaway boys."
"Nope, none of us asked that particular question, so he really didn't lie to us. And with that headache and blurred vision he's got, would we have believed him any way?"
"Josiah's right, Chris. If Vin had told us we were after hardened criminals who were shorter than JD on his knees, we'd of laughed at him."
"He's a clever cuss, ain't he?" Chris was grinning.
"Sometimes, he's as good as Ezra makin' folks believe just what he wants ‘em to, only he does it without sayin' a word."
"I believe, brother Buck, that you are correct." Josiah was amused now that he knew their quarry was not a lethal band of criminals.
"Damn straight he's right. Vin's sneakier than a Comanche when he's got it in his head someone needs protectin'." Chris looked at the other two. "Josiah, what say you ask Vin some real particular questions next time he has to wake up and drink Nathan's ditch water?"
"Oh no you don't. I figured this out; I get first crack at ‘m."
"All right, Buck. You ask him, but I want to be there to see the look on his face when he finds out we know."
"You and me both, brothers. We got a few hours. Want a drink to calm our nerves? I'm certain Ezra's still up. We'll let him buy."
"Josiah?"
"Yes, Chris?"
"I like the way you think." Chris grinned at the big man. Buck started laughing as they walked to the saloon.
"Me, too. You're my kind of man, Josiah."
"Well, while we're passing out compliments, I'd have to say you're real good at figuring things out. You ever think of a career in the law, Buck?"
"Hell, no, Josiah! I wore a badge once. Once was enough."
"Yea, when it got to the point where he had to arrest himself for stealin' other men's women, he gave up his badge." All three men started laughing at Chris's joke. The knowledge that they had no dangerous criminals around was enough to make them relax a bit. That and the fact that they were going to grill a friend in the morning made them all enjoy the idea of a good stiff whiskey. It was going to be a good day, for them at least.
Ezra had been as amused as JD indignant when they found out that Vin had deliberately let the children escape. Nathan was a bit surprised when five men walked in carrying various trays from Mrs. Bridger's for breakfast. He looked at them as they filed in and put the tray of hot biscuits within sniffing distance of Vin next to a steaming pot of hot coffee. So far the tracker was sound asleep, the bandage obscuring part of his face. He actually looked better than he had since he'd gotten the concussion yesterday. Josiah had assured them that once the initial shock of the concussion had worn off, Vin would still feel woolly, but he'd get his appetite back. He never would forget that he'd woken ravenous the morning after he'd received a similar wound.
"Granted boys," he'd said, "He's gonna have a pounding headache for about two weeks and some buzzin' in his ears, but I recollect wantin' to eat the next morning." Josiah had grinned evilly. "It's only fair we give the condemned man his last meal."
"Yeah, he sure loves those biscuits with peach preserves on 'em. I say we tell him that Mrs. Bridger ain't got no more of the preserves." JD had been put in charge of the jar of peach preserves and the tray with the plates and utensils.
"It is a shame Mr. Tanner must suffer so harshly for just one indiscretion. I myself feel we should allow him at least this one meal."
JD decided Ezra had a point so he ceased trying to hide the peach preserves. It didn't make him want to let Vin off the hook, but he decided to hear his pitiful reasons first. JD was sure Vin had turned soft on them what with this habit he had for championing children.
They had kept this up as they approached the clinic. Nathan, discovering what was up, let them start dishing out breakfast. The noise and the smells indeed had Tanner waking in very little time at all. He was hungry, the nausea finally leaving him alone. His head was still pounding, though. And, he had this buzzing in his ears. Vin gingerly moved to sit up. He took his time expecting the nausea to return at any moment. Nathan and Chris helped him sit up. That's when he noticed everyone was there. He looked at their faces one by one. 'Damn, how'd they find out this quick?' He sighed. They all started laughing.
"You feelin' better Vin?" Buck was gloating. He had to be the one who had figured it out.
"Been better. Why?" Vin asked warily.
"Just needed to ask you some questions about last night."
"I told ya I didn't see nobody."
"No, as I recollect, you told us you didn't see any men."
"That's right." The floor was very interesting all of a sudden, but Vin was not going to give in so easily. He was going to make them work for it.
"And the only stuff taken was some medicine?"
"Yeah?" Vin looked at Buck. The man was having too much fun. The others were smiling at him like cats turned loose in the hen house. He saw JD get a slight nod from Chris.
"Hey, Vin? Where's your saddle bags?"
"Why?"
"Cause I want to know if you can still let me have that five dollars you said I earned helpin' you and Ezra with that guy the other night."
Vin looked at the kid and saw the evil grin on his face. Vin never thought JD would do this to him. The boy was getting more like a cross between Buck and Chris and Ezra every day. Vin was going to have to work harder to keep the kid from going to hell in a hand basket.
"I ain't got it any more."
"It get stolen, too?" JD was like a dog with a bone, not wanting to give up so easily.
"Naw, I gave it away to some friends."
"That was very noble of you, brother." Josiah smiled benevolently down on Vin. It didn't make the tracker feel any safer, though.
"Well, Mr. Tanner is such a Robin Hood, I would hazard a guess that these friends must have needed the money desperately."
"Well, needin' to get Casey a present so's she won't be mad at me for not tellin' Miz Nettie right off that Vin got shot in the head is makin' me desperate."
"You told Miz Nettie I got shot in the head?" 'Damn that hurt.' Vin leaned back letting the pounding and the buzzing drop to lower levels. His head ached again, enough to make him a little queasy. He was really going to have to shoot JD for this. First the kid was helping them grill him, and then he made his head hurt worse. It would be a shame and Vin would regret it, but the kid needed a lesson. Vin was deciding which leg to shoot JD in when he was handed a plate.
"Think you can eat this biscuit?" Chris was holding a plate with a biscuit dripping with butter and peach preserves and a hot cup of coffee. Vin relaxed. At least one of his friends knew how to take care of him. He took the coffee cup in both hands and took a drink of it. It tasted like a bit of heaven. Then he picked up the plate Chris had placed next to him and took a big bite out of the biscuit. His stomach thanked him by emitting a mighty growl.
"You sound like you're a bit hungry. You ain't feelin' sick no more?" Nathan was the healer as always. Vin could always count on Nathan. Vin smiled at him. He was in ecstasy. The biscuit completed his tour of heaven. He actually forgot the inquisition as he savored the melted butter mingled with the peach preserves and hot biscuit. He could die happy now. He closed his aching eyes and savored the tastes.
"You want to tell us if you saw any little boys? Two to be specific?"
The piece of heaven turned to paste in his mouth. Vin's eyes flew open and he looked right into the knowing eyes of one Buck Wilmington. Buck was gloating all right. He had the smirk on his face he usually wore the morning after. Vin swallowed the rock he'd been chewing on. His piece of heaven was shattered by a man he trusted like a brother. Vin decided he'd have to do something really mean to both JD and Buck at the same time. He just might have to write a letter to the twins.
"What do you mean, did I see any little boys?"
"Well, might have been three actually, but I only saw boot prints of two of 'em over where your saddle bags were last night 'fore the fire at the livery was started." Buck paused as Vin realized he'd been cornered and now it was time to surrender and face the consequences. "You could have told us they stole your saddle bags with your money in them."
"Mr. Wilmington is correct. We wouldn't think any less of you being robbed by such a dastardly duo of miscreants." Ezra grinned at Vin. Vin squirmed. Ezra's smile grew.
"They didn't steal my saddle bags. I gave it to 'em so's the medicine wouldn't get all wet and ruined." He regretted betraying Josh and John Henry, but he couldn't have his friends thinking the boys had stolen his money. "They didn't even know there was any money in them."
"When were you going to tell us this, Vin?" Chris's voice was that quiet, deadly voice that would not take any nonsense from anyone. He wanted the truth, and he wanted it now. Vin looked at Chris and held his glare with a defiant look. Larabee's face broke into a grin at the tracker's stubbornness. He'd seen that same look on Adam's face when the boy did something Sarah had just told him not to do.
"Weren't no reason to tell. They were in trouble. Stealin' was the only way they could help whoever it is that's sick. They were desperate."
"Don't make it right," Josiah added.
"And not trusting us ain't right neither." JD was indignant.
'That's right, pard. Can't expect us to help ya if ya don't trust us enough to tell us what's goin' on." Vin was reluctantly beginning to see Buck's point.
"I believed we were beyond this, my friend." Ezra rubbed salt into the wound. Vin was feeling guilty as hell for not trusting his friends enough to trust them to do the right thing by the boys. Friendship was just so hard to live up to sometimes.
"Them boys had someone sick? I need to go see if what they took is the right stuff."
"And if they're reduced to stealing food, they're gonna need us to help them get settled somewhere where they can get a roof over their heads and some food." Buck wanted to do right by the boys.
"They runaways?" Chris asked the last question. Vin looked around and no longer saw anyone trying to grill him. Now they were all ready to help the boys. Vin smiled. He should have known better and trusted his friends, but he just hadn't thought they would be this understanding of the desperate need for a frightened child to escape and run away. He had a feeling the boys had not been placed in any home that taught them any compassion, but a home that made them desperate to run as far from it to save themselves as they could.
"They were good kids. Didn't see no harm helping them out if it would stop them from stealing before they got caught." The others nodded in understanding. Vin was hit with a panicked thought. "Y'all didn't send no telegrams askin' 'bout any runaways, did ya?"
He saw the guilty looks on their faces. "Hell, how we gonna help them if the folks they're runnin' from show up? What if they're the ones who caused them boys to run in the first place?" Vin tried to get up too fast and the room shifted. He sat back down with a thump, knocking the coffee and the plate with the biscuit on the floor. He felt someone settle him against a pillow and put a cup to his lips. It was the damn ditch water again.
"C'mon. It'll help your head." Nathan was determined that Vin would drink it, and Vin felt bad enough to drink it without comment. He suddenly felt the panic he'd once felt when he was seven and he had just run away from old man Perkins and the orphanage. No child should have to live with that fear that he remembered now as vividly as the day it happened all those years ago. He opened his eyes and saw Buck standing there looking as sad as Vin knew he must be looking.
"It'll be all right. We ain't gonna give those boys up to anyone who's not gonna do right by them."
"You can't promise that, Buck. Judge'll make sure the law is followed." Chris wasn't making any false promises to his friend. Sometimes he didn't like it, but they had promised the judge that they would follow the law on this one.
"We ain't givin' them boys to anyone who don't treat 'em right, Chris."
Buck faced Chris and stood his ground. There was no way in hell he was going to give any child to any man or woman who wasn't prepared to do right by them. He hadn't been there to save Adam or to help JD or Vin when they were young and scared and needing someone to help them out, but he could help these boys that Vin had taken such a shine to.
Chris studied Buck's face silently.
"I believe I must agree with Mr. Wilmington." Now Ezra was determined to back Vin.
"Me, either, Chris. I ain't gonna give those little boys to anyone who ain't gonna treat 'em right." JD stood next to the bed where Vin was lying. He looked like Chris would have to go through him to get to Vin. Chris had to admire the kid's courage. He also secretly agreed with them.
"What about you two?"
"We're with you, brother." Josiah stepped forward.
"Count me in on helpin' those kids. They must be pretty good kids if they'd go to all this trouble to help someone they cared about."
"Then we'd better find them and get the truth out of them before the judge gets here. If we can help them without breaking the law, then I'm in."
Vin smiled in relief. The panic died down along with the pounding in his head. He tried to get up. Buck and Chris beat Nathan in holding Vin down on the bed.
"Whoa there, pard. You ain't goin' nowhere." Buck had a stubborn look on his face.
"You want us to help those boys? Then you're gonna lie still an' do everything Nathan wants you to do." Chris had the same stubborn look to him.
Vin looked at his friends. They were all waiting on his cooperation. "All right. I'll do whatever Nathan says, but you tell Josh and John Henry that you're my friends and you're there to help." Vin paused as he watched Nathan put his supplies in his bags. "And watch out for Dal. He seems to be the one who's oldest and the other boys follow him."
Josiah put a soothing hand on Vin's shoulder. "Don't fret, my friend. If Ezra can't talk them into submission, I'll eat JD's hat." They all started laughing at that, but Vin still had a strange sense that all was not right.
It was Ezra, Buck, and Nathan who eventually tracked down the wagon. It wasn't hard once they knew what they were looking for and where the best place to hide a wagon close to town would be. They spotted it by using Vin's spyglass.
"It's them all right. Just saw me two younguns the right size." Buck handed the glass to Ezra who passed it on to Nathan after he looked. Closing it with a snap, Nathan started to move forward but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "I promised Vin we wouldn't spook 'em. Let me go in first. They musta seen me with Vin last night."
Nathan and Ezra agreed to wait until Buck signaled them. He rode off down the hill toward the wagon that was surrounded by a thick grove of trees by the water.
"He's libel to get his fool head shot off."
"Either that or he will find some damsel in distress who is wealthy beyond words and just as willing as she is beautiful." Ezra had Nathan snorting in laughter at that statement.
"Only Buck could be that lucky, Ezra."
"I have often found that life is not always fair, my friend." He flashed a grin in Nathan's direction that had the much desired sunlight glinting off his gold tooth. They passed the time in companionable silence while they watched Buck approach the wagon. They heard him clearly in the crisp morning air.
"Hello, the camp!"
Watching from the hill, they managed to spot one figure scurrying back into the wagon. It was the smallest boy of the group. An older boy appeared carrying a shotgun. He held it up leaning against his shoulder as Buck approached. Another boy ran up to stand beside him. The oldest boy waved Buck on and would have lowered the shotgun except for the two younger boys. One placed his hand on the oldest boy's shoulder, and the youngest jumped from the wagon and ran to Buck's side. It took a few more minutes of intense arguing when all three boys turned toward the wagon. In just a second, the shotgun was lowered and Buck turned to wave at Ezra and Nathan. They entered the camp moments later to see Buck helping an old man from the wagon. Even from where they were dismounting, they could see the old man looked like he had been really sick. Nathan didn't hesitate. Gathering his supplies, he quickly hurried over.
"They got a sick girl in the wagon, too." Nathan would have knelt by the old man, but he waved him toward the wagon.
"Take care ta girl. She's still purty sick. That med'cine ya sent's put me on the mend."
Ezra watched as the youngest boy who'd been shadowing Buck took Nathan by the hand and literally drug him to the wagon. He started chuckling at the little boy's determination. No wonder Vin had liked him. He turned to watch the oldest boy watching him, sizing him up.
"You're the gambler."
"Ezra Standish at your service. And you?"
"Dal."
"Short I presume for Dallas? Would you by any chance have another name you would like to tell me?" Ezra watched as the other boy came to stand beside the taller one. He was grinning ear to ear while the other was still standing silently watching him.
"Nope." His answer was to the point.
"Aw Dal, I told ya they was friends of Vin's, you know the feller that helped us. Mr. Buck said Mr. Vin sent them to help us an' nothin' else." He looked at Ezra and grinned. "I'm John Henry. I ain't never met no fancy gambler 'fore." His remark earned a grin from Ezra and a glare from Dal. He stepped back once, but then he squared his shoulders and met the older boy's gaze. "I'm tellin' ya it's okay."
The two boys reminded Ezra so much of a younger version of Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington he almost laughed out loud. That would not ingratiate him to the boys, so he refrained. They wouldn't understand his amusement anyway. Before he could try and convince Dal that they were indeed here to help, the youngest one reappeared. Ezra hadn't heard him approach. Neither had the other two boys.
"Damn, Josh. Ya gotta stop sneakin' up on folks. You're gonna cause someone to shoot ya or somethin'." Dal's glare didn't affect the little boy at all. He hooked his grubby fingers into the rope hitching up his too big pants and grinned at the older boys.
"Y'all gotta stop bein' so jumpy. I told ya Mr. Vin would hep us."
"Help us." John Henry shook his head but grinned at Josh. Ezra took his opportunity then.
"May I say that is an honor to meet three such resourceful young men. Is there anything I might do to alleviate your burden?"
"Huh?"
"He's fancy talkin' for helpin' us." Dal was smart. John Henry and Josh still had their noses wrinkled at Ezra questioning his vocabulary.
"That what you really said, Mister?" Josh cocked his head sideways looking at Ezra. "You a friend of Mr. Vin's, too?"
"I have that honor. I now know that you young man are Josh and your compatriots are Dal and John Henry. Might I inquire the name of the young lady and your, hmm, grandfather?"
"He's Bull, Bull Samson." Josh decided any friend of Vin's was a friend of his. He put out his hand to shake Ezra's. It was hard to deny the twinkle in those big brown eyes.
John Henry was not to be outdone. "Girls name is Jules, an' she's Dal's sister."
"Is she now? Well, I know that whatever her ailment, our Mr. Jackson will find a remedy for it."
"We were in a town that was havin' some sorta demic." Josh was happy to help if it would make Jules quit heaving her guts up. Jules' puking only made Josh want to puke with her.
Ezra looked over quickly at Buck who was talking quietly with Bull. Buck had caught the word 'demic' and was questioning Bull about it as Ezra approached.
Bull took a sip of the tea John Henry handed him from the pot steeping on the fire. "Man at the general store in Grover's Hill said people in town were catchin' some kind a sickness that made ya break out in red spots all over and could cause ya to go blind. I turned Bob and Dewdrop round an' skedaddled outa there like Satan hisself was hanging on my coattails. Storekeep wasn't sick, an' neither me or the kids broke out in red spots." He took another sip of the tea. "Damn stuff tastes like ditch water, but it works. Helped settle my stomach so's I could et a little. Much obliged to ya."
"No trouble, my good man. We are here to help, but we need to ask you some questions. Do you mind?"
Bull looked at Ezra suspiciously. "What kinda questions?"
"We just want to know if ya know what your boys have been up to lately to help you and your girl out?"
"Been too sick to wonder too much, but come to think of it, we been etin' good but I still got my money." It dawned on him what the boys had been doing. "Well hell, why don't you three hellions just go rob a bank next?"
Buck started laughing at the look on all three boys' faces. They looked like they wanted to run but knew it would do no good. They respected Bull and would take whatever punishment he decided to give them.
"They been stealin' from folks?" Bull sounded mad, real mad. Buck saw Josh wilt just a bit, but then the boy stood up straight. Now Buck knew why Vin had let them go. They had more spunk and guts than most men Buck knew.
"Yes sir, but it was only food and some money. We couldn't get the money box opened an' we was starvin'. We didn't know folks like Vin an' his friends would help us. We had to get med'cine and food for you an' Jules, too. I made 'em do it." Dal was not about to let the other two get a beating if he could help it.
"He is right. I am certain, however, that the judge will settle for restitution since there were extenuating circumstances."
Bull and the boys looked from Ezra to Buck. They gave a collective "Huh?"
"He means if the boys are willin' to make good on what they took an' pay for the food, most folks will understand they were tryin' to take care of their family."
"They'll make good on it, Mister, but are you two the law?"
"Not exactly. It's a long story, Bull."
"Well I ain't goin' nowhere till that girl an' me get better. Why don't you boys rustle up some of that stolen food and fix us somethin' to et?"
Nathan emerged from the wagon in time to hear that. "I got a better idea. Let's go on into town an' get these folks to the clinic. They can get better there while these boys go and return all they took."
"It safe to do that, Nathan? They ain't got that fever from Grover's Hill?"
"That was measles, Buck. Bull here and Jules had food poisonin'. I saw some of that canned meat that made some folks sick in town last week. Musta gone bad or somethin'. Girl should be fine with a few more days rest, Bull, too."
"We can't go into town!" Dal was adamant. "What if?"
"What if what, son? What if we find out you're runaways? Know that already. Vin figured it out first, then I did."
"He told ya?" Dal just knew this Vin fella was a no good skunk.
"He didn't have to tell me, boy. Any fool could figure it out, else ya woulda come into town and asked for help instead of lurkin' round and stealin'. Now, we ain't here to hurt ya, an' we ain't gonna let anyone who don't do right by ya to so much as lay a hand on any of ya. You got our word on that." Buck made good sense, and Dal relaxed a bit. Maybe these men were all right after all. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to trust any adult but Bull. His ma had said she would come back for them after she found their pa, but that had been a good six months ago. Dal was thinking his ma and pa were both gone for good. Then he had met Josh and John Henry at the orphanage they had put him and his sister in. It had been the best day of his life when he'd met those two. Now they had a family with Bull, and Dal was determined to keep it that way. Maybe these fellas could help him out. Dal did something he hadn't done in a long time, six months to be exact. He prayed for a miracle for someone to help him out. He didn't realize yet that he had seven guardian angels ready and willing and already waiting to help.
They arrived in town an hour later. Buck and Nathan helped Bull up the stairs to the clinic, and Josiah carried Jules. Josh scurried between Ezra's legs, wove in and out between the men up the stairs, and disappeared past Chris into the clinic. Ezra caught John Henry by the collar to prevent his mad dash up the stairs. Dal stood at the bottom of the stairs. His eyes locked with Chris's and man and boy sized each other up. Ezra watched in amusement and put his hands to his lips to keep both JD and John Henry quiet.
The staring contest lasted just under a minute, Dal breaking off eye contact first. Ezra caught Chris's eye and both men grinned. Chris had a feeling Ezra was amused by something other than a staring contest between Chris and a thirteen year old boy. He backed out of the way as they brought the new patients in. Chris looked in at Josh who was already sitting happily on Vin's bed chattering away telling him everything. He stopped abruptly when Buck and Nathan brought Bull through the doorway. Vin and Bull looked at one another, and Vin managed to sit up and focus clearly on Bull.
"Aw hell. That you, ya bullheaded old man? No one's scalped you, yet?"
"Well as I live an' breathe if it ain't the blue-eyed Komanchee. They ain't hung you, yet?"
Josh's head swiveled back and forth between the two men he thought pretty much walked on water trying to figure out if they were enemies or not. He relaxed when he saw both men grinning.
"I take it you know Vin from when he lived with the Comanches?" Buck was just as curious as Josh and the others.
"You was a Comanche? Wow, wait'll I tell John Henry and Dal." Josh ran right between Buck's legs nearly toppling Josiah and Jules. Chris caught Josh by his rope belt and lifted the boy up and out of the way. He held him up to eye level. Josh gulped, finally face to face with the man who could scare the devil out of hell.
"You think you could settle down long enough to let Josiah bring the girl in here?" Chris looked as stern as he could, but there was something about this little boy that made him want to smile. One corner of his mouth started to turn up. Josh broke into a huge grin. His brown eyes twinkled as he giggled. Chris shook his head and deposited Josh on the bed next to Vin. "You two bad boys keep each other company." He didn't smile until he turned around and heard the snort of disgust from the bed.
Bull decided that he'd been sick enough and refused the cot Nathan was pulling out for him.
"Put ta girl in that there bed. I'll settle twixt these bad boys here." Sitting down on the overstuffed chair Chris had vacated, Bull leaned over and slapped Vin on the back. The tracker grimaced as his head decided it didn't like the force of the blow. "Ain't seen you in a coon's age, boy. Must a been four years ago when you brought in Cutter Williams."
"Cutter Williams? Wasn't he the man who cut the ears off of ten men before he slit their guts open and left ‘em to die?" JD's eyes were as big as all three of the younger boys by now.
"Sure was, son. Vin here had a slice right down the back a his ear where Cutter tried to take him. Boy sliced Cutter's ear off with his own knife. Cutter was still howlin' ‘bout it when the sheriff took him to jail. He musta been twice as big as Vin and uglier than a grizzly."
The room was packed now, and Dal was standing at the door with Ezra and JD blocking any escape route. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't glaring like he had been earlier. That man in black had given him a momentary pause, but the revelation Vin knew Bull made Dal begin to relax. Maybe these men meant it when they said they were only there to help. He watched silently sizing up each man as Bull told the others about his first meeting with Vin while Nathan made Jules more comfortable. He'd said her fever was going down rapidly now that the tainted meat had been purged from her body, but she was week and curled up in a ball falling fast asleep. Bull actually toned his usual roar to a softer voice no one would have thought possible from the gruff old man. He interrupted his story with sips of tea, but he kept his audience still and quiet, hanging on his every word.
"Well, I seen this big old grizzly tryin' to get up the side of this rocky incline. It was battin' an' swattin' at somethin' jest above its reach. It was madder ‘n hell and twice as mean. I was downwind of him so's he didn't notice me. I got my rifle an' got closer. That's when I heard ‘im, cussin' up a blue streak an' throwing any rock he could get loose at it. Injun boy, Komanchee I thought from the buckskins on ‘im, couldn't been older ‘n Dal." The others were all looking at Vin smiling at him. Even though his head still felt like there was a beehive fighting with canon fire for space in it, he had a slight smile on his face. "Thought it was real odd a Komanchee could cuss so good, but I'd got so close tryin' to listen that damn bear noticed me. I shot it, then I looked at the boy scramblin' down the rocks. Biggest blue eyes I'd ever seen, brown wavy hair, kinda curly. Knew he weren't no Komanchee. Nearly got scalped that day cuz all of a sudden all these braves were surroundin' me. Come out of nowheres. Boy ran up to one of ‘em an' jumped on the horse with ‘im talking in Komanchee all the time. Big man smiled all of a sudden an' he motioned the others to leave. Said the boy was his son an' thanked me fer savin' the rascal's life."
"Ya didn't save my life. Ya just got me home in time for dinner." John Henry and Buck both snorted their disbelief and slapped their knees in delight. Nathan shushed them and his stern look had everyone trying to scramble out of the room to get out of his way. Nathan could turn grizzly when he thought his patients were being needlessly disturbed. He even threw Josh and Dal from the room winking at the youngest as he had to literally pick little Josh up and hand him to Chris.
"Y'all can come back later this afternoon. All these folk in here need to sleep. Now git on out a here ‘fore I get myself a branch off that tree yonder and use it as a switch."
"Could use some whiskey when ya get back."
"Shut up, Bull. Ya can't have no whiskey till I say so. Don't even say it, Vin. Both a y'all just hush up and go to sleep." When Nathan was satisfied that all of his patients were following directions, he went out on the porch for some fresh air. He nearly stumbled over Josh who was sitting right in the doorway.
"Where's everybody?"
"They're all over t' jail. Dal told me to wait here for when Jules an' Bull wake up." Josh yawned. "They gonna arrest us an' put us in jail?" Nathan picked up the little boy and looked at him.
"I don't think folks'll be too happy with us throwing a little boy like you in jail. Bet they'll be happy to get their stuff back and the other paid for. You tired?"
Josh had already put his head on Nathan's big shoulder, his mind at ease now that Nathan reassured him that John Henry and Dal weren't being kept in jail. Nathan took the boy and put him on the bed next to Vin. Vin took one look at the kid and threw part of the blanket over him. He grinned at Nathan when the healer told him not to say a word. He stepped back out on the porch leaving the four people sleeping quietly in the next room. He sat down and decided to just shut his eyes for a minute. Buck was supposed to bring over lunch from Mrs. Bridger later, and the sun was making a cold day actually pleasant. He nodded off himself. Days like this just couldn't get any better. They could get worse, but they usually didn't get better.
Continued in Part Three
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