Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Nettie Wells heard the horse thundering up the path from her bedroom and wondered who could be arriving at this hour of the night. She gazed at the clock on her nightstand and knew that it was well after midnight. For a moment, she entertained the notion that it might be JD Dunne but trusted Casey enough to know that her niece would not indulge in any inappropriate behavior with the young sheriff. Besides, if it were JD, his attempts at secret nighttime rendezvous left a great deal to be desired. Rising from her bed, the old woman got dressed and went to the corner of the room, where her trusty double barrel kept permanent residence. After Royal's attempts to oust her from her land, Nettie never kept the weapon farther away than arm's reach. While she had no idea if the rider coming towards the house was a source of danger or not, with a young girl in the house, Nettie was taking no chances.
Swinging the door open, Nettie heard footsteps coming from behind Casey's door and knew her niece had also heard the arrival of the stranger. Nettie put the gun down long enough to light a lamp when Casey emerged from her room. The teenager had wisely slipped into pants and was hastily buttoning her shirt when she appeared.
"What is it Aunt Nettie?" Sheshe asked in a hushed voice asthey heard the hoof beats stopped and the animal neighed its sudden halt outside their house.
"I don't know." Nettie replied unhappily as she handed the lamp to Casey and started towards the door, her gun raised and poised to fire in case whomever came through intended any harm to them. It was at times like this that Nettie wished they were in town or had the presence of a man about. Until Royal and his men had tried forcing her from this land, Nettie had never realisedrealized how vulnerable she and Casey were, so far away from town and help. If it were not for the seven men who taken a stand with her, Nettie knew Royal would have surely had obtained his wish of driving her away.
She heard the noise of a hasty dismount outside the door and then quick pace of steps that followed, running across the ground, crushing gravel underfoot. The steps were not loud but they were fast and very soon, Nettie heard them clatter up the stairs towards the door. Nettie kept her gun raised, aiming to fire if any violence ensued when suddenly the footsteps paused outside the door.
Her intruder knocked.
Nettie was confused and reacted by exchanging a bewildered glance with Casey, before their gazes shifted to the door again.
"Nettie, please open the door!" Aa familiar voice cried out. "I need your help!"
Both their eyes widened in recognition of who was behind it and Nettie lowered the gun as she hurried forward. The desperation in that voice was unmistakable and Nettie felt alarm and foolishness at the same time for her caution, even though it was utterly appropriate considering the lateness of the hour. Swinging the door open, Nettie found herself standing before the disheveled form of Alexandra Styles.
"Alex, dear what's wrong?" Nettie demanded stepping aside as she offered Alex entry.
"I need your help," Alex cried out as she hurried into the room as Nettie closed the door behind her and chased away the cold draft that had swept in with the beautiful doctor.
Nettie was accustomed to seeing the doctor calm and collected as she had been when she had put Ezra Standish together some months ago, or more recently when she had delivered Dulcie's calf. It always surprised her how any woman that age could be so deliberate anddeliberate, thus viewing Alex with nothing less than fear in her eyes was a sobering experience for Nettie Wells. After closing the door, Nettie went to Alex who was pacing the floor while Casey was watching the woman in astonishment. After the other day, Casey had come to admire the woman's poise and calm under the worst of circumstances, however, seeing Alex this way was just as shocking to the teenager.
"Alex calm down," Nettie said putting her hands on the woman's shoulder to make her stop pacing the floor like a caged cat. "Casey go make some coffee!" The woman ordered.
Alex knew she was panicking and she could ill afford to do so. As it was, she had a big favor to ask of Nettie but she knew of no other way to help Vin. "I'm sorry Nettie." She said forcing the hysteria into the place where her feelings were dispatched whenever professionalism was required.
"Are you bleeding?" Nettie noticed the dried blood underon her forehead as she made Alex sit down.
Instinctively, Alex reached for her forehead. "Its nothing." Shesaid abruptly. "Just some scrapes and lacerations. Head wounds tend to bleed a great deal, this one is no different."
Nettie was not about to argue with her. "What's happened? Who did this to you?"
"Were you at the dance?" Alex asked quietly, once her fear had subsided and she was in better control of her faculties.
"No," Nettie shook her head. "Although Casey did tell me that you had some trouble." Nettie did not add how pleased she was to have heard the news from Casey that Vin had escorted Alex to the dance. Vin Tanner was like the son Nettie never had and she had some idea about the deep feelings he had for the doctor for quite some time now. Seeing Alex and Vin together that day when Dulcie's calf was born had convinced Nettie how good they could be together when Vin finally got around to making his feelings for Alex known.
"The man whom Vin fought with is an old suitor of mine and he has not taken kindly that I have refused to marry him." Alex pausedhim" Alex paused, remembering the vile look of hatred in Randall's eyes when he realized her relationship with Vin was an intimate one. "He's orchestrated some kidnappings in town I'm sure to get Chris Larabee and the others out of Four Corners. I thought Vin had gone with them but Randall came to my house and told me that he had Vin delivered to some bounty hunters, who are as we speak, taking him to Tascosa to collect the reward. I managed to escape, but Chris is already on the trail of the kidnappers and there's no time to wait until he get back to go after Vin."
Nettie felt her heart tighten at the thought of Vin Tanner in the hands of bounty hunters greedy for a reward. Knowing Vin as well as he did, he would no doubt try to effect an escape despite the odds against him. Nettie could not imagine the lean young man absent from her life. She had grown accustomed to his weekend visits where he would mend fences or tend to some chore around the place that neither she nor Casey could manage. Nettie enjoyed how he would smile bashfully when she would order him in to supper, even though he claimed he was just helping out to get away from the town. Nettie knew it was more than that. She was the mother he had lost and somehow, they had filled a need in each other that she could not imagine doing without.
"I need your help Nettie." Alex said as Casey hurried out of the kitchen with a hot pot of coffee and poured her a cup. Alex took the steamy beverage and offered the young girl a smile before looking at Nettie again. "Nettie, I need either you or Casey to go to Four Corners and find Mary Travis. Mary knows where Chris is; she'll be able to get word to him. Randall has probably got men looking out for me; I can't do it myself. Chris needs to know about Vin."
Nettie looked in her eyes and saw the sheer desperation. Suddenly, it dawned upon Nettie just how important Vin Tanner was to Alexandra Styles. "Of course." Shecourse" she rose to her feet. "I'll get dressed and go immediately. Alex, you can stay here and get some rest."
"No," Alex shook her head. "I stopped here long enough to ask you do to this" she stood up. "I've got to keep going."
Nettie looked at her puzzled. "Go where?"
"I have to go after Vin." Alex answering simply with little more emotion as she might announce a trip to town.
"Alone?" Casey exclaimed because Nettie was too stunned to respond.
"Yes alone." Alex said firmly, not wanting to hear any argument on the matter. She knew precisely how dangerous it was, and the truth, the possibilities of all the things that could go wrong had plagued every leg of the journey here. However, there was no choice because the alternative would be do nothing and Alex was not prepared to do that. She was not prepared to let Vin die because of Randall's insane jealousy.
"You can't do this alone. These men who have Vin are dangerous! " Casey implored as Alex started towards the door.
"Alex, think about this." Nettie finally found her voice as the doctor started to leave. "You have no idea where he is at this moment."
"He's on his way to Tascosa, which in somewhere in the back and beyond of the Texas Panhandles. They've only got a few hours head start. Its too far a trip without making a stop somewhere and with the possibility that Chris may come after them, its logical to assume they'll find someplace away from the main trail to Texas. There can't be that many places."
"Alex, I know what you're feeling." Nettie stepped forward;forward, trying to be the voice of reason because she had no doubt that Alex would stop at nothing to find Vin, no matter how dangerous the consequences to herself. The look in her eyes told Nettie that the intelligent doctor was no longer thinking clearly, her emotions were clouded and decisions made with the heart could be ill advised in this instance.
"No you don't know!" Alex snapped, stepping away before anyone tried to talk her out of this. "Don't you think I'm not scared to death of going after him? I am a doctor for god's sake, I wouldn't know how to track a dog across street, let alone bounty hunters across the state, but if I don't and those men get him to Tascosa, they will hang him!"
"Wait for Chris," Casey insisted, understanding how frightened Alex was for Vin Tanner's life. However, this was madness, even she knew it. "It could not take that long to reach him."
"I can't wait!" Alex turned around and found she could not breach the doors without offering some explanation to Nettie and Casey. They cared for Vin just as much as she did but they could not understand what it was to know that this had happened to him because of her. Randall had punished Vin simply because Alex cared for him. She turned around and Nettie saw the tears running down her face. "I can't let him die Nettie, not now." She whispered quietly.
"You won't be letting him die," Nettie approached and tried to offer her some comfort. The turmoil in her eyes was self-evident. "Vin would not want you to place yourself in that kind of danger."
"No he wouldn't," she nodded, remembering his parting words to her. "But I'm still going to. I'm not ready to let him die because of me Nettie."
Nettie knew she was fighting a losing battle because the depth of Alex's feelings were utterly clear to her now and nothing was going to stop the doctor from walking out of this house. Nettie was to the point where she had to concede defeat because she knew exactly how Alex felt and understood had it been her own husband, she would be riding after him like a bat of hell, just like Alex intended doing very shortly. "Wait!" Nettie found herself crying out before Alex could twist the doorknob and leave the house.
Alex turned to meet her gaze, not wanting to depart with such ill feeling behind her but she would go if she had to. Vin's life mattered more than anything in the world did right now. "I can't waste any more time, Nettie."
"I'm not asking you too." Nettie replied abruptly, and withdrew to where she had placed the gun. Picking it up, she strode over to a side cupboard and rummaged through one of its drawers. A moment later, the old woman found what she was looking for. "Casey get me the old map at the bottom of my trunk, would you?" Sheshe instructed.
Casey stared, unable to fathom what her Aunt Nettie intended. Her hesitation only made Nettie snap impatiently. "Get along now," the woman prompted. "Quickly!"
Casey nodded wildly and hurried into Nettie's bedroom as Nettie continued the journey back to Alex. Handing her the gun and box of shell, Nettie looked at Alex and retorted. "Know how to use one of these?" She asked.
Alex met her eyes and managed a smile before getting to the serious business of answering her question. She took the weapon in her hands and nodded slightly. "I do." She replied, taking the box full of shells and jamming them into the pocket of her skirt. "Thank you Nettie."
"You'll bring my boy back to me safe, won't you?" Nettie replied with a faint smile. "He's still got the whole side of the barn to paint yet in exchange for some of my biscuits."
Alex felt her tough façade waver slightly as she embraced Nettie, even though she was carrying a gun in her hands. "I can't lose him Nettie." She whispered. "Not before I have a chance to tell him."
"I know." Nettie nodded, understanding all too well what it was to love so deeply and how awful it could be to have that kind of love snatched away before it had chance to have its time. Nettie did not want to see it disappear for Alex and Vin now that their feelings for each other were finally revealed. They deserved the chance to watch it grow.
"I got it Aunt Nettie," Casey returned, shattering the tender moment apart with her youthful countenance. The crinkled old map was rolled up into a long tube and appeared crushed by the weight of whatever it shared the space in the trunk with.
"Alright," Nettie said taking the map from her and quickly unrolling it across Alex's untouched cup of cooling coffee. "This map ain't the greatest but you'll have some idea of where they might be travelling." Her bony finger traveled up a dark line, flanked by notations of towns. "I don't think they'll take this route to Texas because it's a heavy traffic area. Railroad runs near it now, but this here," she gestured at Alex to look at a line that appeared as faded and forgotten as it resembled on this old chart. "I don't think it's used any more. There are still a few small towns along the way and it takes two days off the trip to Texas. If they're smart, this is the way they'll go."
Alex knew nothing about tracking or dealing with bounty hunters but reading maps and cross-country travel was something she was very familiar with. She had travelled across the world with her father to some of the most isolated places in the world with nothing more than parchment to lead the way. She could do this. Alex studied Nettie's directions and knew the old woman was worth her salt when it came to the advice she had just imparted. "Okay," Alex nodded as Nettie marked the route with a piece of drawing chalk before rolling up the map once more. Like the gun before, Nettie handed it to her once it was in its cylindrical form again.
"You better get going." Nettie smiled with a look of encouragement as Alex offered them both a silent look of thanks before turning on her heels to leave.
Casey and Nettie were still staring at the door after Alex had closed it behind her and disappeared out of the house.
"She must really love him." Casey said breaking the silence first.
Nettie smiled faintly.faintly, "That she does."
"Are you sure about this?" Randall Mason asked as he and Rihs descended down the flight of stairs leading from Alexandra Style's empty house. The foreigner looked at the henchman waiting for an answer that the latter did not feel inclined to answer. As it was, the situation that proceeded this drastic cause had taken place because Mason was foolish enough to believe that a woman held to marriage at gunpoint would simply agree to it while her lover was in danger and there was a chance to save him.
Rihs' disgust with Mason was beyond tolerance but the nature of the game had it that the man was his employer and Rihs had agreed to a contract between gentlemen. He was a man of his word and he disliked breaking it, no matter how stupid the other party might be. "Yes Mr. Mason, I am sure about this."
"She wouldn't even know where to begin." Randall exclaimed. "I gave her no such clues as to Tanner's whereabouts."
"Mr. Mason," Rihs spun on his heels and glared at Randall so the foreigner would understand him once and for all and cease this foolish prattling. "You better starting thinking of her as more than just a beautiful woman. She is a medical doctor, a position one does not attain without some measure of intelligence. In her case, I would say that is doubly so because she is a woman. If you keep underestimating her because of her sex, we will never find her."
Randall supposed Rihs had a point in that assertion because Alexandra had indeed escaped and was nowhere to be seen. Rihs believed she was no longer in town and Randall had to concede that point as well because she had managed to escape from right under his nose with her duplicitous tongue. "But do you really think she will go after Tanner?"
"Yes I do." Rihs replied feeling it in his bones with a gut instinct reinforcing that belief that made it virtually undeniable. "She knows if she goes after Larabee and the others in Purgatory, they will never reach Tanner in time to save him. Intelligent she may be, but she is also a woman in love and that does make her actions somewhat predictable. She will go after Tanner herself because the margin for her to narrow the gap between them is more tenable then it would be if Larabee attempted it."
"But she has no idea where they could be. This is a very big country." Randall pointed out and once again, called into question why Rihs was wasting time explaining.
"Unfortunately this is a very big country with very few places to water horses and get food and rest. If she's smart, she can track them easily enough. Tascosa is a long way from here but not that many alternate routes from which to approach it." Rihs continued as they moved through the darkened streets of Four Corners, oblivious to the town in every possible way, except the livery that held their horses.
"I want her back." Randall said firmly. "You will get her for me and if she reaches Tanner, perhaps we will dispense with the bother of letting him hang."
"That's your perogative."prerogative" Rihs retorted. "But let's just find her first."
Mary Travis heard the pounding on the door and wondered if Digger Sweeney was making another attempt on her life. It took her a moment through the haze of diminishing slumber to remember that Sweeney and his misbegotten carcass were now languishing at the undertaker's residence. Although the undertaker had removed the body promptly out of her house, Mary still felt uncomfortable about spending the night alone. At Chris' behest, she had rented herself a room in the lodging house, so anyone who came looking to make another attempt at her house would have a little trouble finding her.
Mary rose out of bed when she heard the familiar voice of Nettie calling out her name with an edge of desperation in her voice that drove the widow from the comfort of the warm sheets and running to open the door. This was certainly going to be far from a quiet night, Mary sighed as she pulled her robe over her as she went to answer the door.
"I'm sorry to bother you at this hour Mary but I've got news." Nettie said once Mary had allowed her access into the small room. The old woman managed to say all this in one breath as she burst into the room, swinging around to face Mary after passing through the door.
"Good lord Nettie, what's happened?" Mary asked, wondering what news could be so urgent to make Nettie ride out from her place at this time of the night to deliver it.
"Its Vin." Nettie announcedVin" Nettie announced, feeling the same urgency now that had propelled Alexandra Styles on her reckless course. Nettie wondered if she seemed just as mad to Mary Travis as Alex had done when the doctor had first announced her intentions. "The fella who he got into a fight with tonight over Alex had him captured by bounty hunters. They're taking him to Tascosa."
"But he was going to Purgatory...." Mary stammered, remembering what Chris had told her when they had met up in the saloon and the gunslinger had formulated his plans to retrieve Inez and Julia.
"He never made it." Theit" the old woman stated without hesitation. "Alex Styles escaped after this old beau of hers told her."
"Mason." Mary mused, understanding everything now that Randall Mason's name came into the picture. The man had wanted his vengeance on Vin Tanner for having the audacity to win Alex's love. What better way to get rid of his rival thenthan by feeding him to the bounty hunters whom would no doubt take him to Tascosa to hang. "Where is Alex now?"
"She's taken after him." Nettie said grimly, not liking to impart that information any more than Mary was going to like hearing it.
Her assessment of Mary's reaction was not far wrong. The widow stared at her in shock. "What do you mean, she went after him?" It was too much for Mary to believe that Alex could embark on something so foolish. "I tried to talk her out of it." The old woman implored for Mary to believe her. She had not liked allowing Alex to go but it had been like trying to halt the progress of a locomotive. "She wouldn't listen. Had it in her mind that Chris could not get to him in time and those bounty hunters would get Vin to Tascosa first."
Mary could not disagree with that assertion. If Vin had been taken shortly after Chris had sought him out, then it was likely that the men who held him captive had an extremely wide gap and by the time Chris got on the trail, it might have just been too late. Still, she hated to think what would happen to Alex or Vin for that matter, in the unlikely event that Alex did manage to catch up to such unsavory men.
"She sent me to find you," Nettie continued, unable to dismiss the dismayed look on Mary's face and felt guilty now that she had allowed Alex to leave instead of trying harder to convince the young woman to remain. However, Nettie knew in her heart, nothing she said would have been able to accomplish that feat. Until that moment, Nettie had never realized how much Alexandra Styles truly cared for Vin Tanner and she suspected, neither did Alex. "Said you could get word to Chris."
"He's gone to Purgatory." Mary gulped as it came upon her was now required of her. Outside her window, she could see the darkness of the night that was hours from being chased away by the dawn. The trip to Purgatory was dangerous at the best of times but a woman, alone in the night, it was asking for trouble. "He's expecting Vin to meet him there."
"He's liable to be in for a long wait." Nettie pointed out as Mary pondered her options in silence.
Chris was going to absolutely kill her for this, but she hoped she could explain to him later how she had not had much of a choice. At this moment, Alex was out there in worse trouble than Mary could possibly imagine, riding into the dark maw of danger. If it were Chris, Mary would be doing the same thing. She knew with complete certainty that she'd ride across Perdition's fires if it meant saving his life. Love had no boundaries when it was in the blood and burned so hot that the heart easily overcame good sense. She had been there for Chris before, and she would probably be there for him again.
"I'll have to start riding now." Mary said decisively, searching for the clothes in the dim light of her room.
"You can't go to Purgatory at this hour!" Nettie exclaimed, wondering if there was something in the water that was making reckless behavior a staple tonight. "You should not be going alone at all." "I've done the trip before," Mary said firmly, knowing all the arguments as surely as she could hear Chris' voice pointing them out now. However, Alex was right about one thing; if Vin reached Tascosa, he was as good as dead. Mary had no wish to see Chris' eyes when he learnt that he had been absent when his best friend needed him the most. Chris Larabee would never forgive himself if he could not stop Vin Tanner from hanging.
For the second time that night, Nettie Well was forced to sit by and let another young woman ride off into the darkness.
Something was wrong.
"Chris," Buck Wilmington said after making the rounds of Purgatory as they all had been shortly after their arrival in the shantytown. Ever since arriving here some hours ago, the lawmen had spread out, trying to seek out anyone who might have some idea why Digger Sweeney might have made the attempt on Mary Travis' life. So far, their search had proved unsuccessful as no was in the mood for talking. However, it was not the silence that bothered Chris Larabee so much. The silence was incidental because until this point, the questions had been polite. It was a state of affairs that would not continue when Chris employed alternate forms of persuasion.
He stood at the counter of one of the numerous all night saloons in Purgatory, waiting for the others to arrive as they had arranged earlier. Buck entered with JD and although the tall man had been initially furious when Ezra dragged him out of some woman's bed, he soon changed his tune when he learnt Inez was missing. Nothing made Buck Wilmington more focussed or alert,focused or alert than the possibility of harm towards the sultry Mexican senorita. Chris had some idea of how Buck felt about Inez, so he knew that his old friend would leave no stone uncovered, in his search for her location.
"Vin ain't here yet." He said unhappily.
"I know." Chris nodded because that was what bothered him so intensely. Vin should have been the first one here and yet he was not. After their initial intelligence gathering procedure had yielded little result, Chris has asked the others to look around for the tracker who might have been more successful. Unfortunately, not only was Vin nowhere to be seen it also appeared that he never arrived.
"Are you sure he said he'she'd meet us here?" Buck questioned. Vin was difficult to understand and Buck had never been able to get a handle on the nuances of the sharpshooters' behavior. While Buck was open and vocal about things, Vin was shy and quiet, keeping counsel to himself. It was understandable that Buck might have cause to doubt Vin, even though that doubt was very minor. "You know how he is when he picks up the scent."
"He knows better than to try and take on all of them on his own." Chris said automatically, sipping the whiskey in his glass as he turned around in his chair to face Buck and JD.
"He's right Buck." JD admitted, knowing Vin's habits a little better than his older companion. "Vin ain't prone to stray when it's something this important. Maybe he found something out."
"He would have had to arrive to have found it though." Chris frowned and let his eyes scan the room. The faces at the bar and tables were almost completely inebriated at this hour of the night and some remained standing by their bootstraps and not much else. There were drunken men lying with their faces flat on the table and the general tone in the room indicated that this was probably the slowest point in the evening patronage. "And I don't think he did."
"I agree with Mr. Larabee's assertion." Ezra walked in, having heard the tail end of the conversation. "However, Mr. Sanchez and I have not come up completely empty." The dapper gambler glanced at Josiah beside him.
"You find something?" Buck demanded, glad that at least someone was doing some good. Somehow he was not surprised that it would be Ezra who would manage to find some news. Despite Ezra's outwardly calm manner, he was worried as all hell about Julia Pemberton and Inez. While Buck could not say that he was overly fond of Miss Pemberton, aware of what manipulations she had conducted to win Ezra from Alexandra Styles, he wished her no harm. However, if anyone were to lay a finger on Inez, he would ride into hell after them just to feed them their hearts.
"Nothing about Mr. Tanner unfortunately but I did learn that a fair haired stranger was in town rounding up some men to ride."
Fair-haired. The description snapped Chris into full alertness. He met Ezra's eyes and knew the gambler had come to the same conclusion. "Rihs." He said simply.
"Rihs." Ezra nodded in agreement. "Thanks to my entire week's gambling earnings, I was able to coax a Mr. Dandridge, who is currently enjoying the company of a working girl thanks to my donation, into telling me that a fair haired stranger has been spending considerable purse rounding up some men for an undisclosed purpose."
"How many men?" Buck inquired.
"About twenty." Ezra retorted. "Those men moved out early this evening, and I believe Digger Sweeney was in their number."
"That's when they grabbed Inez and Miss Pemberton." JD guessed, understanding something about the situation regarding Doctor Styles' unwanted suitor. "But why?"
"Because it was necessary to get us out of town." Chris swore under his breath, wondering why he had not seen it sooner. "Randall took the women because he knew that we'd go after them, leaving Alex alone in Four Corners! Godammnit!"
"Oh shit!" Buck cursed. "What are we going to do? We can't let that bastard have her, but Inez needs us!"
"And Miss Pemberton." Ezra frowned, reminding Buck that it was not merely Inez that was kidnapped. He knew if the situation required it, Julia could probably find some way to keep herself alive, but he shuddered at what those methods might entail. He loved her dearly but he knew she had no scruples when it came to saving her own skin.
"Stay calm for starters." Chris glared at him and silenced the tirade before it could begin. "Josiah," he looked at the preacher who had until now remained silent. "Ezra said you had something too." Right now, Chris was taking anything he could get to help him come up with a course of action that would not require sacrificing either Julia and Inez or Alex.
"It does not solve our conundrum unfortunately," Josiah responded with that heavy look of somber deliberation. "However one of the men who went with Rihs was a young man named Jeter. He apparently wishes to be an outlaw, you know the usual type, loud and arrogant, thinks he's good with a gun cause hishe killed a man or two. Jeter was said to have been overheard making statements about going to hide out in Wickestown."
"Wickestown?" Buck exclaimed. "I thought that place folded when Wickes died?"
"The business remains as always Buck," Josiah retorted. "It's only the master that changes."
"It's a good place to hide two women for awhile." Chris pointed out. "It's worth a look."
"That's all well and good," JD spoke out since everyone had forgotten to mention one vital thing that he did not seem to understand and wished enlightenment. "But can someone explain to me where Vin is?"
No sooner had JD uttered the words than Chris Larabee's attention was captured by a series of loud whistles and wolf calls coming form outside the tent. It was far too late for Purgatory to become so excitable at this time of night and instinctively, he and the others wandered to the open part of the tent to investigate. Chris was still carrying his glass when he looked down the narrow path meandering through the collection of tents and corrugated buildings and saw Mary Travis coming in his direction. Her eyes were searching the area carefully, even though she was extremely apprehensive about her present situation. She pulled her cloak closer to her skin as if hoping the dark material would hide her from the stairsstares of the men who viewed her with less than honorable intentions.
Chris almost choked on his drink as he slammed the glass down on the nearest table and strode out of the place in disbelief.
"Chris!" She exclaimed upon seeing, her face showing obvious relief.
"Mary!" Chris declared in a higher than normal pitch. "What the hell are you doing here? Did you ride out here all by yourself?" He demanded, allowing her no chance to answer his questions as he fired them at her.
"Now before you get mad at me, I have a perfectly good reason for being here." She spoke in between the momentary pause while he caught his breath. She recognized the thundercloud that was forming behind his eyes.
"Mrs. Travis," Ezra saw her and understood why Chris had suddenly stormed out. "What on earth are you doing here? Surely you did not make the journey here alone?"
"I was doing the asking." Chris growled, glaring at Ezra over his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you insane? Do you know what could happen to you in this place alone?"
"Trust me," she returned with just as much intensity. "I don't like being here any more than you like seeing me here but I didn't have much of a choice. Vin's gone."
"I know that." Chris declared, wondering if she had risked life and limb to ride to Purgatory just to tell him this snippet of news?
"Oh really?" Mary folded her arms in seething anger at his stubbornness. Did he think she enjoyed the trip to this place, terrified of every shadow, pushing Homer so fast that the horse was almost dead from the exhaustion of trying to reach this hellhole so that she could find him? "Then you know Randall Mason had him delivered to bunch of bounty hunters who are at this moment taking Vin to Tascosa."
"What?" Buck roared before Chris could say anything. "That low down bastard!"
"What about Alex?" Ezra said knowing that Randall could not have done all this without forgetting that minor detail. Alex had been the entire reason why Mason had put this sequence of events into motion.
"He tried abducting Alex but she managed to get away from him. Chris, she's gone after Vin. She intends to reach him before he gets to Tascosa."
Well this was just getting better by the minute, Chris Larabee thought with a slight groan and an increasing headache that he was just going to shoot someone to alleviate. What he did not voice the others did so promptly.
"Alone? She went after Vin alone!" Ezra exclaimed wondering if Alex had taken leave of her senses by such a dangerous action.
"She thought that it would take too much time to reach you," Mary explained. "She felt that if someone didn't go after him, you would never get to Vin in time to keep him from a noose."
Chris did not like it but Alex was correct on that point. The men who had Vin had several hours start already and were no doubt anticipating trouble so they would ride hard and fast to reach the Texas border where Vin was wanted for murder. She was probably going to get herself killed if she actually found Vin with these men, but for what it was worth, Chris had to admire her courage. He decided then and there he was not going to sacrifice either Vin Tanner or Alexandra Styles. He thought quickly as the question he could not answer before suddenly produced a solution in the light of this latest intelligence.
He looked at Ezra and the others. "I want you to keep going to Wickestown. I know the odds are tough but Rihs paid for men who spend most of their time liquored up. I think you guys can handle it."
In truth, he did not know that for certain. However, at this point there was little room for debate. Vin needed his help and Chris was sure as hell not going to let his best friend swing or a crime he did not commit. They could deal with Randall Mason later but for now, Chris had to get going to find Alexandra Styles before she actually found Vin and his captors.
"You're going after Vin alone?" Buck looked at him uneasily. He did not like the idea of Vin reaching Tascosa any more than he did but Chris going off alone always made Buck nervous. In fact, any situation, which did not have all seven of them, present made him uncomfortable. There was a certain security in having them all together, something unspoken that they all knew but never spoke of a loud.
"I ain't got no choice." Chris said abruptly. "I ain't letting him hang."
And that was precisely what would happen if Vin Tanner arrived in Tascosa.
She had not idea how long she had been riding through the darkness, only that she could not stop. Despite the fear of what might await her when she found him, Alexandra Styles kept Vin Tanner firmly in her mind, never straying for a moment from theabject belief that he was alive and awaited her rescue. As she rode through the flat plains, with the moon keeping a vigil over her, the cool air went some way to keeping her refreshed and alert.
When had it happened, she asked herself?
Probably after she had cut into Ezra and found herself standing by that creek at Nettie's place, trying to decide whether or not the power to heal was all that it was meant to. She had stood there weeping in silence with self-pity when he had come out of nowhere. Until then, he had been more of an annoyance than he had been a friend, always questioning her medical ability even though she sensed no real malice in him towards her. Alex never understood the reason for his hostility, not at first for he seemed on first impressions a fairly shy sort of man, not prone to giving opinions. She had expected Vin to laugh and make her feel stupid for her typical female outburst when suddenly, he had reached for her trembling hands and enclosed with his, sending a lightning bolt through her skin from his fingertips. Alex had felt it then, the powerful surge of undefined feeling that awakened every sense in her at his touch. There had never been that kind of feeling at any point with Ezra.
Alex had stood there, flinching under the gaze of his blue eyes, while she tried to shrug it off as some fluke. Unfortunately, it had never been that simple and she stayed away him, frightened by what he represented and still committed to Ezra because it was not fair to shift her affections like a wanton schoolgirl. That night in Agnes' cabin she had as much cause as he to regret pulling away from him. When his mouth had slid over hers, it had never felt more right his being there. The suspicion that had nagged at her was more or less confirmed by the time they returned home to Four Corners.
Then fate took a hand and changed her world entirely with Julia Pemberton's announcement that she had bedded Ezra. Alex had been furious by the betrayal but it was not that which ached so much. By his own action, Ezra had thrown her headfirst into the uncharted waters that was her relationship with Vin Tanner. With Ezra standing between them, it had been easy enough to make excuses for staying away from each other. However with the end of her relationship with the gambler, she was forced to confront her feelings for Vin and what she saw there terrified her.
Alexandra Styles knew that once she fell in love with him, there would be no turning back. This was not the mutual affection she had shared with Ezra. This was powerful, raging love that poets sang sonnets about and artists went insane trying to portray on canvas. It was all consuming and utterly draining but completely fulfilling.
And it scared the hell out of her.
But it became easier and easier to be with him and discovering who he was under that faint smile became a challenge she soon looked forward to with each encounter. When he made love to her, she knew without doubt in the aftermath that it was too late. Whatever he did, wherever he went from that day forward, she was and always would be unconditionally his.
Which is why she had ridden half the night, stopping in every little dirt town forgotten by the time and the world, searching for any signs of the men who might have taken him. She had no idea what they looked like but knew Peso would have been taken as well. Leaving the horse in town would have immediately alerted Chris and the other's to Vin's difficulties. It made sense to remove the animal and besides, Vin would have to need something to ride to Tascosa.
It was almost dawn when she rode into the town.
It was not much of a town. Just a collection of old Spanish type buildings, dilapidated and worn by the desert sand. Texas was still some distance away from this place but she had stopped in every town before this point and knew that the men who had Vin had not rested yet. This place was large enough for a group of bounty hunters to go unnoticed with their charge but not small enough to hide them from someone that was looking. Alex knew she was playing a dangerous game and she was aware of the consequences to herself if she failed, but she had a plan, or something of plan anyway. It was not much of a plan and the odds of success were slim but she was a woman with few resources and she had come away from Ezra Standish learning how to gamble on the improbable.
Besides, she had no choice.
She was almost ready to rest for the night when she saw the animal. For a moment, Alex felt her heart stop as she saw the familiar black gelding with the distinct flare of white on his forehead and the one white sock, on his right hind hoof. Alex had ridden with Vin enough times to know that the animal was Peso for the saddle on its back was one she recognized just as clearly. She counted four other horses next to it and had some idea now of how many men she would actually have to deal with.
They were tethered outside what appeared to be a cantina. As it was almost dawn, there were very few people on the street and certainly no one who seemed sober enough to take any notice of her. The moon was rapidly fading away in the amber of dawn breaking in the horizon as she nudged her horse to another hitching post situated at what appeared to be a general store. Alex dismounted the mare and tethered it to the rail as she rummaged through her saddlebags for what she would require for this insane plan of hers. After a moment, when she had collected everything she required, Alex took a deep breath to calm herself.
She walked along the darkened street, mindful of every shadow until she reached the cantina. To her annoyance, other than the main entrance, there was no other way to see into the saloon without passing through the doors. Alex walked around the building and saw a service entrance probably for the staff that led into the building but offered no view of the main floor. It did not matter, the alternate entry would serve her purposes for the moment.
The back entrance led into a kitchen that was far from sanitary. kitchen. Inside a Mexican woman was wearily preparing a meal of tortillas and beans, if her understanding of Mexican cuisine was accurate. She looked at Alex with question when Alex held her finger to her lips and pleaded for her to remain silent, at least until she had a chance to explain. The woman was in her fifties at least, of Hispanic origin and stared at Alex with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
"Please madam," Alex said, speaking in the woman's language. Her Spanish was extremely rusty and she hoped she was talking with enough clarity to be understood. "I need to know if the men who own those horses outside the cantina are in there." She gestured to the room outside.
"Si Senora," the woman nodded. "They are five of them, drunk and dangerous. The cantina should have closed hours ago but they will not let my husband or I go home. They want food and more drink."
"I am looking for a gringo with them." Alex explained reaching into her pocket and producing the wad of money she had ransacked her room to find prior to her departure. The woman's eyes widened at the sight of the bills as Alex pressed a twenty-dollar note in her hand. "The gringo is young, long dark hair, wears a skin coat?"
"Si, he is there. He is the one who is tied up." The woman said eagerly, "they have beaten him."
Alex felt her stomach hollow even though she had expected that, and hoped Vin was not too badly hurt to be able to make a hasty get away. As it was, she had no idea if she could even free him ifhim, let alone wrestle with the difficulty of transporting an incapacitated man all the way to Four Corners again. However, she would deal with one hurdle at a time. "Is this food for them?" She glanced at the meal of tortillas.
"Yes," the woman nodded, wondering what this beautiful young woman intended. She was obviously a lady of refinement even though her skin was a deeper bronze than most Mexicans were. She must have been from some far away place indeed.
After a moment of quick thinking, Alex looked up at her. "Call your husband in here, tell him anything but you two must leave. I will take care of these men for you."
The woman looked at her in disbelief as Alex made the announcement. "Senora, thisthese are bad men. They will hurt someone so beautiful like you." The woman implored, trying to make this generous stranger see reason.
"They won't hurt me," Alex said with confidence she did not feel. "They won't have the chance to."
He did not know what was worse.
The fact that he was on his way to Tascosa to hang, or the idea that at this moment, Randall Mason was doing God only knew what with the woman he loved. Vin Tanner found himself tied to a chair at the corner of the room under the watchful eye of the four men who were determined to collect the $500 reward on his head. His head still throbbed from when someone had knocked himout unconscious and by the time he had come to, Four Corners was already far behind.
His stomach kept knotting at the thought that Chris and the others would be in no position to help Alex because they would be on their way to Purgatory, trying to find Inez and Julia Pemberton. He had promised to protect her from Randall Mason and had failed spectacularly. He was so infuriated at himself, he was hardly aware of the cruel taunts and jibes of the men who held him captive while they waited for their food to arrive within the local cantina at this nameless town.
Vin had been watching them for some hours now, getting drunker which each fresh bottle of whiskey, believing that he was more injured than he looked and not having one iota of knowledge on what it took to be a real bounty hunter. They were descending further into their inebriated state and Vin estimated it would not be long before they would pass out completely in a drunken stupor. Of course, he was hoping that they would not decide to leave before then. The night, or in this case the early dawn, air might actually have a refreshing effect on them and he would be back to square one. Vin was waiting patiently for them to falter so that he could make his bid for escape.
Somehow he had to get back to Four Corners and Alex.
Suddenly, he noticed the cantina owner, a rather fat greasy looking man answer the call of his wife in the kitchen. Vin's captors barely noticed the man moving out of the room but there was something in his eyes that made Vin pay attention. The man disappeared through the kitchen doors just as one of the would be bounty hunters started screaming for his food. The man, who Vin had to know as Blake rose shakily to his feet and started towards the kitchen, no longer content to wait for his meal's arrival. However, before he arrived at the doorway, a slender figure emerged onto the floor.
At first, Vin could not believe it. He blinked to make sure he was not seeing this but doing so only confirmed the impossibility of what was before him. The tracker's eyes widened in utter astonishment as he saw Alexandra Styles emerged from the kitchen, carrying a tray full of food.
Jesus Christ, Vin thought, too amazed to speak.
She was carrying a tray full of tortillas, wearing the same dress that they had made love in only hours before. The men immediately forgot about their complaints as their eyes fixed on the beautiful woman who just walked amongst them. Vin could see the lustful intentions seeping into their drunken gazes and wondered what in god'sGod's name Alex had been thinking. Vin could not even understand how she had come to be here, let alone the game she was embarking to play.
"Who're you?" Blake asked in a slurred voice full of lascivious intent.
Alex smiled at him. "Why I am the cook," she said in a best imitation of a Hispanic accent. For a moment, she did not seem to unlike Inez. "Your meals are ready." She said with a wide smile carefully avoiding meeting his gaze as she moved past Blake and set the tray of food down on the table.
Vin was still too astonished to react as Alex moved through the room serving them their meals. When she was done, she straightened up and let her eyes scan the room briefly. Her eyes met his for less than a second but she conveyed to him all she needed in that one look. Vin was confused but he understood that it was necessary to play along.
"You just are the prettiest little cook, I'd ever seen." The leader of the group smiled, slapping her on the rump as she turned away from the table.
Alex let out a girlish giggle that seemed completely inappropriate coming from her lips in Vin's opinion because he was so accustomed to seeing her confident and so refined. It took every ounce of composure to keep himself seated instead of doing something stupid, like kicking the living crap out of the bastard. However, Alex merely gave the man one of those killer smiles of hers that was capable of reducing the most celibate of men to quivering wrecks. Vin ought to know she had done it to him several times tonight already.
"Now eat up Senors." She said pleasantly. "You boys look like you need your strength." There was enough suggestion in her voice and eyes to promise them all sorts of things and Vin looked quickly to the faces of the men who were utterly mesmerisedmesmerized by her. He had never seen her use her sexuality so blatantly before and was frankly amazed at how potent a force it could be. She was one of the most beautiful women in town but she never used her beauty to get anything because Alex relied on her skills and her intelligence. Now Vin knew why. If she were to use it as Julia Pemberton used it, he'd have to beat a path to her door.
"What about your friend in the corner?" Alex asked, "does he not need food?"
"He ain't gonna live long enough to starve." One of the men chortled loudly, while heartily consuming the cuisine she had served.
Vin noticed something else as Alex withdrew to the far end of the room. Retreating behind the bar as if she prepared to assume the bar tendering purposes, she kept her eyes trained on the bounty hunters. Vin could tell by the intent way she was watching these men that there was more going on in her performance as a cantina cook and once again, he found his gaze switching to the men. Vin knew that as soon as the food was eaten, the men were going to get a taste for something more and Alex, in any shape or form was a tasty morsel indeed. He started to panic, unable to fathom what she was planning but completely aware that if any of thisthese varmints trytried to lay one hand on her, he would kill them. With their attention, solely on their meals, Vin started working the ropes around his wrists, hoping against hope that he could loosen it enough to be of some assistance to Alex when they turned their attention to her.
Suddenly, Blake tried to stand up. He rose to his feet shakily, staggering forward with such ungainly mobility that the others started laughing at him. He turned around at them and glared angrily. He tried to speak because Vin saw his mouth trying to form the words but they did not come. He took two steps back to the table before collapsing against a chair in a loud heap. The others assumed he was drunk and started chortling at their friend's condition.
"You could never hold your liquor, Blake!" One of them laughed.
"Just like his women!" Another one cried out.
However, the leader with the gold teeth was not smiling. He was wearing a similar look on his face as he tried to take a step towards Blake's unconscious body. His eyes shifted at Vin as some terrible realization was made and he pulled out his gun. However, his ability to aim was severely compromised as the gun swayed, as if he was unable to make his mind where he wanted to aim. His two companions were still laughing, too stupid to realize that this was more than just a matter of alcohol.
"Pull that trigger and you're all dead." Alex suddenly spoke.
All eyes turned to her as she emerged from behind the counter and took a few steps forward, examining them with cold detachment. "You alright cowboy?" Sheshe spoke to the tracker for the first time. Her voice was calm, like it was when she was performing surgery. However, he could see how happy she was to see him by the relief in her eyes.
"I reckon I am." Vin said with a smile as he started to understand what she had done to the four men.
"Who are you, you bitch!" The leader cried out, aiming his gun at her now but was no more capable of keeping his gun aimed at her than he had at him.
"That's Doctor Alexandra Styles to you." Alex stared at the man coldly. "I'd drop the gun before you hurt yourself."
"Alexandra?" He recognizing the name. "You the woman that Mason fella wants so badly?"
"Apparently so." She replied, with no trace of fear in her eyes thatand Vin felt a swell of pride at how magnificently she was conducting herself. "Now tell me?" She said with absolutely no expression in her voice. "Is it becoming harder to see? Your limbs should be getting tired by now."
Vin saw the nervousness in their eyes more or less confirm her questions. The leader in particularly was straining to focus, even though the gun was swaying side to side as he tried to aim at her with little success. The two who had gone to see how Blake was doing were struggling to their feet but they kept buckling like newborn colts that had not quite found their legs to stand. Vin watched in a mixture of horror and fascination as they scrambled on the stone floor, their boots scrapping underfoot as they tried to stand.
"What have you done to us!" Theus?" the leader cried out and squeezed the trigger. Alex ducked slightly as the bullets slammed into the wall far away enough to do little but startle as they tore into the brick harmlessly.
"The drug is called curare." She said simply. "It comes from South America actually," Alex explained into the men like she was giving a lecture on the subject. "Jungle Indians like to use it to bring down game. It's pretty effective in the use of heart treatment. Slows things down to a stop." Alex met Vin's gaze. "Just a little dose of it makes people sluggish because it drops their heart rate to a crawl. You're still alive but only a doctor can tell. Everyone else who comes across you four will think you're dead."
"You bitch! You poisoned us." he snarled.
"And you were going to deliver him to hang." Alex glanced at Vin. "I don't see the difference."
"What do you want?" Hehe demanded impotently.
"I don't want anything," Alex said as she started towards Vin. She paused by Blake's unmoving body and reached for the blade sticking out of the man's boot. The other two were completely immobilized by now and Alex had to admire the leader's endurance in still remaining conscious. "This is not a negotiation. I only came for the cowboy." She replied taking the knife and coming towards Vin. "If you're lucky, everyone will think you're having hangovers and leave you alone until it wears off, and if you're not, they may just bury you alive."
She reached Vin and cut him loose. No sooner than he was free of his bonds, Alex threw her arms around him and embraced him hard. "Are you okay?" Sheshe asked, all trace of her icy demeanour disappearing from her voice as he wrapped his arms around her. Their mouths met passionately and Vin was never more grateful to be alive thenthan at this moment when he felt her lips against his again.
"Yeah." He smiled unable to believe that she was here and that she had actually rescued him. "I'm not as pretty as I used to be but I'm okay." He reassured her as she noticed the bruises on his face incurred by the beating he had received at Randall's hands. However, Vin also noticed the blood under her hair.
"Did he hurt you?" Vin demanded, gritting his teeth as he felt the fire of rage bubble inside him at the thought that Randall might have harmed Alex in any way. The threat he had made to the man in the livery was not an idle one. He would kill anyone who tried to harm her. As it was, he was going to ride back to Four Corners and teach the man a lesson in humility that Randall Mason was not likely to forget very soon. Not to mention the good Mr. Rihs.
"Its nothing." Alex sighed, having forgotten all about the lacerations on her forehead in light of everything that had happened since her departure from Four Corners.
"Come on," Vin said taking her hand, wanting to be away from here as soon as possible. "You can fill me in when we're ride back to Four Corners."
Alex was not about to argue with him because she was just so damn grateful that he was alive and unhurt. She had barely stopped to examine her actions since she embarked on this insane venture and knew that she was lucky that her recklessness had not cost both of them their lives. Hurrying towards the door, Vin took note of the four men that had planned to deliver him to Tascosa. All were strewn across the floor, seemingly dead to the world as Alex had predicted. The tortillas that had carried the poison were almost completely consumed which explained to Vin why Alex had waited patiently for it to take effect until she made her move.
"Are they dead?" Hehe looked at her as he retrieved his sawed-off Winchester rifle that one of the men had liberated from him and replaced it back in its holster.
"No," she shook her head. "I don't have any curare. I just gave them enough sedatives to put down a buffalo. They'll sleep for a month and wake up refreshed."
Vin met her gaze with a slow smile stealing across his lips. "You were bluffing?"
"Of course," she said as a matter of factly. "Did you think I learnt nothing from Ezra?"
He could only laugh as he ushered her forward and they passed through the doors to emerge outside to find the pale amber light of the sunrise staring at them from the horizon. The air outside that dingy cantina felt intoxicatingly fresh as Vin strode over to Peso and untethered his horse from the hitching post.
"How did you get here?" He asked.
"I stole a horse." Alex admitted, gesturing to the mare hitched in front of the general store in the nearby distance.
"You're doing pretty good today." Vin smiled. "We'll leave it. We need to make time fast. Randall know you were coming after me?" He asked as her as he mounted Peso and extended his hand towards her.
"I don't know." Alex said honestly as he lifted her into position behind him. "When he said that he had given you to those men, I just didn't know what I was thinking. I convinced him that I'd go with him and that I needed to get dressed and pack. I knotted some sheets and went through the window before taking a couple things I thought might come in handy."
Vin said nothing as Alex wrapped her arms around his waist, thinking hard as to what they would do. Randall was a hotheaded bastard who was too full of jealousy to think straight but Rihs was not. Rihs may guess Alex might be determined enough to try and find him and if so, chances were good that they would run into a party of Rihs men. If it were just him alone having to face the odds, Vin might have risked it but Alex was with him and her fate if they were ambushed was not as simple matter of dying. Randall would keep Alexandra Styles alive so that he could make her pay throughout her entire existence on this earth for the sin of loving another. Vin was not condemning her to that kind of nightmare. For the first time, he understood what had driven Buck to accept Don Paulo's challenge even though he had no reason to defend Inez.
"We may have to hole up a spell somewhere." Vin said as Peso started galloping out of the dusty town that was starting to awaken with the light of dawn. "If he guesses you're coming to help me, we're likely to run into him on the way back. I just as soon as not let that happen."
"Where do we go?" Sheshe asked, glad that he was here to make thesekinds of decisions. Alex was still trying to cope with the knowledge that she had actually managed to save him from those bounty hunters but she was not about to test her new found limits so soon.
"There's a little village not too far away from here in the mountains." Vin answered as they left the town behind them and crossed the flat track of land that surrounded it in all directions. "We did a favour for them some time ago and I think they'll be willing to hide us out for a day or two."
"Okay," Alex sighed, resting her head against his shoulder because she was exhausted from riding all night. "You can lead this safari. I've had all the excitement I can take today, cowboy."
Vin smiled as he enjoyed the familiar softness of her hair against his back. "I don't know." Heknow" he said with some hint of teasing. "It seems you were doing alright without me. I was starting to feel a little ineffectual."
"Don't worry," Alex laughed softly. "You can prove yourself when I get you somewhere alone."
Vin met her suggestive gaze and drawled. "You're an animal, Miss Styles."
"I know," she returned his smile. "And I used to be such a mean ol' spinster woman too."