Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Authors Note: This story is set between One Day out West and Working Girls.
Mary's mouth hurt.
She opened her eyes to the rumble of wagon wheels beneath her cheek and immediately felt the throbbing of her jaw. For a few seconds, memory eluded her and she struggled to remember how she had come to be here. Opening her eyes, the darkness did not leave her but extended instead to her surrounding. The air smelt dank and musty and upon raising her head, she found herself pushing up against a layer of calico that seemed to confirm that she was in a wagon. Instinctively, she tried to use her hands but found she was still bound tightly, evidenced by the pinch of rope into her skin. Her feet were rendered immobile in similar fashion and after a moment of trying rather unsuccessfully to free herself, she gave into the pain that warmed the side of her face and rested once more.
She could taste blood in her mouth and knew by the tenderness of her skin scraping the wooden boards below her that she was probably sporting a fair bruise that ran all the way up to her eye. She wanted to cry out but knew it was pointless, she was probably far from town or anyone who could help. Inwardly, she groaned at her own foolish trusting nature. Chris Larabee was right. She had no place being in the West when she was so ready to believe in the goodness of all people. Thinking like that in the Territory of all places was the most surefire way to oneself killed although she did not think she would have to worry about that too much when this wagon reached its destination.
She was such a fool, inviting a stranger into her house with no idea who or where the girl had come from. Allowing her to insinuate herself into Mary's life, into the lives of her friends, assuming that all was as it was instead of what might be. She had not suspected a thing, not at all until it was too late and she had woken up to find...
Someone was in her room.
Mary opened her eyes just to see a shape looming over her. She opened her mouth to cry out but a fist ended that effort rather abruptly. A small groan escaped her as she felt knuckles against her jaw, sending her head flopping to its side, into her pillow. The pain made her head swim and for a second she was aware of nothing but the shock wave the blow had sent through her system. In the midst of her disorientation, she felt those same knuckles grabbing her hands and binding them with room. The sudden feel of hessian against her skin returned some clarity to her.
"Vin!" She called out; hoping the tracker downstairs would come to her rescue. The action only earned her another blow, this one harder than the last until it was becoming hard to focus.
"Shut up!" A voice hissed and Mary's eyes flew open knowing that it was not the voice of a man. She looked up and found herself staring into the face of Jenny Miller.
Astonish flooded her psyche in less than a second as she saw the young woman staring back down at her with amusement, a satisfied smirk slashed across her face. Jenny's eyes had changed too. Before they appeared to be soft and unassuming but now there were hard and cold. They reminded her a little of Chris Larabee's glare but without the sorrowful humanity behind them. This was a creature who did not feel anything because of some past anguish but rather because she chose to be that way. Mary opened her mouth to speak because she wanted desperately to hear some reasonable explanation for what she did not want to be true.
She never had the chance to voice that question because Jenny stuffed a rag into her mouth, making the words muffled in her throat. Mary's eyes stared at Jenny in outrage and betrayal as she attempted to speak words that had no sound. Jenny's smile seemed to grow wider across her face as if she was enjoying the reaction a great deal and Mary's heart shuddered a little at that obvious relish in her eyes at having power over life and death over another person. God help her, Jenny was enjoying this.
"I'm sorry," she said after a few seconds of gloating. "I can't have you screaming and bringing your tall, dark and handsome gunslinger here, not when we have places to go and people to see."
Mary tried to respond but gave up when her words were unintelligible. She tried moving her hands released another groan of frustration when she realized that Jenny had finished tying her up and was helpless.
"Don't bother," Jenny retorted unimpressed by her attempt. "I tie good knots."
Where was Vin? Mary thought frantically as she glanced anxiously for the door. Could Jenny have managed to incapacitate him? Instinctively, her mind screamed impossible but then Mary remembered how Jenny had treated him and felt a surge of anger, realizing that her entire show of display for the tracker was false, a prop she had used to gain his trust. Just as she had used her innocence and shy manner to beguile Mary for the same ends. Mary felt collossally stupid for being taken in so easily and by such an obvious method of deception.
Almost as if she knew what was thinking, Jenny spoke again. "If you're expecting Vin to come rescue you, I'm afraid I've taken care of him." Jenny sighed. "He was a sweet boy but unfortunately, I have never cared much for sweet."
Suddenly, Mary heard footsteps coming from downstairs. Her heart swelled with hope that one of the seven had come to check on Vin. She began to struggle harder and only resulted in having Jenny strike her again. This time the blow was not meant to incapacitate her, merely a warning to keep silent. Her heart pounded as those steps came near and Jenny took up a flanking position by the door. A few seconds passed and the footsteps became more distinguishable. Inwardly, Mary prayed that it was someone who could help her. When the door swung open and Mary stared at the new arrival, she realised that there was no hope and perhaps never had been once Vin was subdued.
Ray Waldon entered the room.
Mary knew who he was because she had seen him on the street and had paid attention when she learnt from Chris that he was suspected of some complicity in the threat against her life. Unfortunately, as the days drew on after his arrival in town, the seven had become frustrated by his lack of action in that direction and had started to think that perhaps they were wrong. She wished she could tell them that their suspicions were correct, unfortunately it did not look as if she would be seeing the seven lawman anytime soon. The full scope of Jenny's deception unfolded before Mary when she saw the young woman leaning towards Waldon to give the man a bruising kiss.
The duo appeared very familiar with each other and Mary began to understand how cleverly they had all been played. In retrospect, it made perfect sense. Jenny and Waldon had arrived in town together. In order to detract suspicion from herself, she played the helpless young woman in need, feigning attentions on a tracker who did not have much experience with women, who would be taken in by her gentle disguise. It was Vin who had brought her into the house, thinking she needed help and knowing that Mary was big hearted enough to welcome the girl into her home. In the meantime, Waldon continued to appear as suspicious as the seven knew him to be, ensuring their attention was fixed on him and not on Jenny who was doing the real damage.
"Is he tied up?" Jenny asked when they had parted.
"Yeah," Waldon nodded. "He ain't going anywhere. I've got the wagon outside so we'd better make a move on."
"Good," Jenny glanced in her direction. "Our package is ready for travelling."
Waldon walked over to Mary and eyed her appreciatively with a leer that made the newspaperwoman shudder in revulsion. She struggled harder to free herself of the ropes around her hands as he did so but it was a futile effort. Jenny had not lied about tying good knots. She was true to her word and in being so, ensured that Mary was trapped helplessly in her unfortunate circumstances.
"Pretty little thing," Waldon remarked, reaching for Mary's hair. Mary flinched at his touch but did nothing to deter him. A second later and he was rubbing strands of her hair through his fingers, savoring the feel of them as Mary showed her disgust in her expression.
"Am I having some competition?" Jenny inquired as she came along side of Waldon. There was no sign of jealousy in her face, just curiosity. Mary wondered what the nature of their relationship was and decided an instant later, she could live without knowing.
"Never honey," Waldon grinned and left Mary's hair alone in favor of kissing Jenny passionately again.
Once more, Mary's heart went out to Vin even though she was in more trouble than he was. The tracker had genuinely cared about her and it infuriated Mary that Jenny had taken advantage of that affection. Thankfully, their display did not continue for much longer and they soon returned their attention back to Mary much to her dismay, realizing that they could not waste any more time. Waldon immediately wrapped his arm around Mary's arm and tore her from her warm bed. She struggled desperately in his grip not about to make his job any easier. He feet were not tied up so she tried kicking him so that she could break away.
"Stop it!" Waldon growled.
"I'll handle this," Jenny said sharply and Mary looked up just in time to see Jenny coming at her with one of her leather bound books.
The woman wasted no time and smashed the books in the side of Mary's face for enough force to send her ears ringing and an explosion of pain coursing through her mind that brought with it the black of unconsciousness.
Now she was here. Travelling to parts unknown without any idea whether or not Chris or any of the seven for that matter knew that she was gone. Her face throbbed as the wagon continued to travel and Mary tried not to feel terrified even though she had ever reason to be. She strained to listen to any conversation her captors might be having but there was only silenced which served to unnerve her even more. The rumble of the wagon wheels made it hard for her to give into the unconsciousness her body yearned to feel. The gentle jostling beneath her each time the wheel turned saw to it that no such respite was afforded her and her wakefulness only allowed Mary more time to dwell on what would happen to her once they reached their destination.
Mary wondered if Vin was still alive. Jenny had been pretty confident that he would pose no threat to her when she had been kidnapping Mary. Jenny was more than capable of maneuvering Vin into a vulnerable position considering how he felt about her. Had it been enough to kill him? Mary hoped not. Jenny had not said that she worked for Stuart James but Mary could not imagine any other reason for this abduction. Mary knew now how an intruder had entered her house without Chris Larabee being aware of it. There had been no intruder, just Jenny cleverly disguised so that Mary would not recognize her. The man whom Chris had killed was no doubt one of Jenny's agent, playing a part to convince everyone that Jenny was an innocent caught up in affairs beyond her control.
Now all Mary could thing about was Jenny's threat that she would be strung up by her neck and if so this journey could only end with a hanging.
Namely hers.
On the floor of the Travis parlor room, someone else was being awakened just as rudely as Mary Travis had been before her ordeal began.
Vin Tanner heard his name exploding in his ears and was torn abruptly from the comforting darkness he had lapsed into when Jenny Miller had drugged him. The usually quiet voice of his best friend became as loud as a thunderclap and Vin's eyes flew open at its sharp impact upon its consciousness. Once he heard Chris calling his name again, the rest of his mind snapped to attention, a flood of memories crowding in on him like flashes of light. With Chris still calling his name in the background, the images replayed swiftly for him before finding its focal point. When the pictures in his brain stilled, it did so on one face and that was enough to suffuse his being with the need to respond to Chris' cries.
"Vin!" Chris called out as he helped the tracker from the floor of Mary's parlor.
"Chris," Josiah interrupted his efforts of rousing Vin upon inspecting the contents of the mug that had dropped to the floor near the tracker. Josiah had taken the whiff of the mug's dried contents and immediately scented something that did not at all smell like chocolate and milk. "Something is in this."
Chris's jaw tightened as he understood. "Josiah, get Nathan."
Josiah did not have to be told twice and started out of the room. Vin was alive but that did not mean whatever he had been drugged with had not harmed him in some way.
"Vin, wake up," Chris cried out again, this time pulling Vin's arm over his shoulder and heaving the tracker to his feet.
Vin's feet struggled beneath him as he groaned out loud, much to Chris' relief. It was the first sign of life that the gunslinger had received from his friend. Chris dragged him to the nearby divan and lowered him into it, which was just as well because it did not appear that Vin was going to make it there on his own. Somewhere during the journey from the floor to the divan, Vin's legs started to work on their own and he supported himself awkwardly as Chris led him to the seat. Vin said nothing for a few minutes. His verbal displays nothing more than sharp grunts. Chris did not want to press but he needed to know what had happened. With both Mary and Jenny missing; an explanation was tantamount. Vin dropped heavily into the soft cushioned seat when Chris finally relinquished hold of him. The tracker was still rather disorientated and Chris could tell that he was struggling to regain control of his faculties.
"Vin," Chris spoke after a moment. "What happened here."
Vin did not answer at first but Chris saw his jaw tightening and the vague expression on his face turned sharp. The tracker stiffened and sat up straight, his fist clenching at his sides.
"Is she gone?" He asked after a few seconds had passed. His voice was like ice.
"Yeah," Chris nodded somberly. "Mary's gone. It doesn't look like much of a struggle took place." The gunslinger attempted to keep the anger out of his voice at the absence of the lovely newspaper editor. He tried not to let the worry he felt for her become more than it should.
"I mean Jenny." Vin repeated himself. Once again, his voice was cold with an edge to it that was more than just anger at Jenny being kidnapped alongside Mary.
"They took her too," Chris answered, having no wish to lie to Vin about this. He deserved the truth.
Vin raised his eyes to Chris' sharply as if the gunslinger had said something wrong. "Jenny wasn't taken." He retorted.
"Yes she was," Chris replied, misunderstanding Vin's words of denial about her loss. "Vin, we'll find her."
"Chris," Vin started to speak but the words failed him. He felt so ashamed and used, he could barely think. Never in his whole life had he been played so easily and for someone as naturally cautious as he, the situation was wholly unacceptable. What hurt most was that he truly cared for her and now it appeared that the object of his affections was an illusion. Clever trickery disguised by a sweet smile and lying words. He had been such a fool. If it was possible to hide away in mortification, he would have done it but the truth was, he had not that luxury.
"Vin, what is it?" Chris asked, his gut tightening as his suspicions regarding that strange smelling cup of hot chocolate began to take shape.
"It was Jenny." Vin finally responded, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth as he said them. He tried to hide the shame in his eyes as he told Chris the truth but it was impossible. There was guilt all over his face and in his eyes. "She drugged me. Gave me a cup of hot chocolate. I didn't know what hit me."
Chris nodded slowly, expecting as much. Ezra was right about her. She had used Vin in order to reach Mary and Chris cursed himself for allowing his hopes for Vin cloud his judgement. He should have listened to Ezra more closely. The gambler had been suspicious of her from the start and Chris should have acted before it came to this. In attempting to protect Vin, he had only ended up hurting the tracker even more. "Its okay Vin," Chris patted him on the shoulder, knowing his friend enough to know that it would not help. "She fooled us all."
"How could I have been so stupid?" Vin asked himself as he stood up form the divan a little shakily. He did not care how awful he felt at the moment, he was going to make amends for the foolishness that had allowed Mary Travis to be spirited away from Four Corners right under his nose.
"Vin, it wasn't your fault." Chris countered his argument, expecting something of the sort eventually. "She played us all for fools."
"She played me Chris," Vin hissed angrily. "She played me because she knew that the rest of you would trust her because I did."
Chris flinched and Vin was alert enough to catch the flicker in his eyes.
"You knew?" He stared at Chris in accusation.
Damn it! Chris swore inwardly, however he could not lie to Vin. He refused to. "I suspected."
"You suspected?" Vin's expression turned from accusation to a hurt even deeper than what Jenny had inflicted upon him. "You suspected and you didn't say anything?"
Chris swallowed thickly, knowing of no way to explain this that would not make him look as if he had stood by silently watching Vin being tricked into caring for Jenny when he had the power to instill the younger man with some caution regarding her background. However, the truth was just that. He had known and he could have warned Vin about it. Ezra had feared this very possibility and had wrestled with how to tell Vin and Chris' solution was to their dilemma was to hold their judgement until more solid evidence surfaced against the lady.
"We didn't know for sure." The gunslinger stammered. "We suspected something....."
"We?" Vin barked. "Whose we?"
"Me and Ezra," Chris volunteered reluctantly and made a note to apologize to Ezra for his bad handling of the subject with Vin.
"You both knew?" Vin's eyes filled with shock as well as hurt. "Neither of you could tell me?"
"There was nothing to tell Vin," Ezra Standish entered the conversation, having arrived just in time to hear Vin and Chris' discussion with the rest of the seven. Josiah, Buck, Nathan and JD remained silent, having no wish to be in the position that Chris and Ezra now found themselves. They too had believed Jenny to be exactly what she claimed to be and were just as shocked to learn otherwise. Nathan had hoped Ezra was wrong about his suspicions because at the time they seemed unfounded but now there was no denying it, much to Vin's misfortune.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Vin demanded staring at both Chris and Ezra in anguish. "Even if there was nothing to it, you should have told me! I had a right to know!"
"We thought you cared about her, " Chris started to say. "We didn't want to be wrong."
"No!" Vin snarled. "You just didn't think that I would trust you enough to think that you might have been right, that I would have put a woman I just met over you!"
"Mr. Tanner, that is my fault." Ezra found himself speaking out and hating himself for being so noble by trying to spare Chris. "I was the one who advised Chris we should be cautious. I had a feeling about her but I did not wish to jeopardize your happiness on so flimsy a suspicion. If there is anyone to be blamed in this matter, it is I."
Chris stared at Ezra with some measure of surprise, taken back that the gambler was willing to accept the responsibility of what had happened and suffer the consequences of it. Suddenly, he was reminded of Vin's words to him about Ezra, that Ezra was trying hard to be counted as one of the seven, overriding his baser instincts to be a friend that they could rely upon. Sometimes he stumbled, his love of money could not be easily discarded for anything but he was trying and never more than at this moment was Chris more certain of that fact.
"I didn't think it was a good idea either," Chris added his voice to Ezra's, not about to let the gambler take the fall for him. He was just as responsible as Ezra about not telling Vin and he was not to be a coward and let someone else take the blame.
"You should have told me," Vin whispered, not caring which of them was more responsible, just the fact that they had hidden something so important no matter how unsubstantiated it was from him. "You should have told me before I started to care." With that, the tracker walked out of the room without saying another word.
Chris felt his heart sink as he watched Vin leaving, suddenly struck with the fear that the tracker might simply get on his horse and leave Four Corners for good. He cursed himself for remaining silent about what he should have told Vin instantly, before the tracker became too involved with Jenny Miller. A surge of rage frothed up inside of him when he thought about the young woman who had been the cause of so much pain to his friend and knew that he would not rest until he caught up with her. She was going to pay for what she had done to Vin and to Mary, Chris made a solemn oath to himself on that point. However, first things first; they had to find her.
"Someone should go after him," Nathan spoke first after Vin had gone.
"No," Buck shook his head. "Let him be."
"Let him be?" Nathan stared at the ladies man in shock. "His heart's in pieces and you want to let him face that on his own."
"Some things you have to face on your own," Buck stated firmly. Of anyone in the room, it was Buck Wilmington who had a better understanding of the heart than anyone present and Chris knew from experience that he was seldom wrong about such things.
"He's smarting some," Buck explained over Chris' thoughts. "He just needs a little time to deal with what's been said and what's happened. When he's ready, he'll come back to us."
"Buck's right," Chris said softly and made his old friend's gaze
For a few seconds, nothing was said as the two old friends stared at each other and Chris conveyed as best he could that he would always need Buck's friendship even if it was not what it once was. Buck swallowed thickly, hiding how much Chris' support meant to him. For the first time since coming to Four Corners, Buck had a sense that perhaps their friendship might survive the fire. It was a glimmer of hope that he latched onto because his own heart was too big to be angry for very long or capable of discarding hope that easily. If there was a chance that their friendship might evolve into something else, perhaps something even better than Buck would not abandon his affection for Chris. Especially when it appeared that the feeling was returned.
"Vin needs some time alone," Chris continued to talk, glad that things were on the mend between himself and Buck. They still had a ways to go yet and that would be attended to once they dealt with the present crisis but Chris was confident that they had reached a watershed and from this point on, their friendship had weathered. "He'll join us when's his ready."
"So do we have any idea what happened?" Ezra Standish inquired.
"Vin didn't tell me much but I'm guessing Jenny drugged him and went after Mary," Chris said grimly He tried not to think about the newspaper editor or what could be happening to her now.
"There was no sign of a struggle," Josiah offered. "But that doesn't mean anything. Jenny could have had help. The man who broke into the house was obviously let in by her, that's why he was able to get past us."
"It was a ruse," Ezra added. "A little bit of deception to make us let down our guard about her. I think she may have suspected that I had doubts and moved quickly to ensure that she was seen as a victim, not a possible threat."
"Well it worked," Josiah snorted derisively, disliking how Jenny had taken advantage of Vin's affections.
"Well at least now we know for sure that Waldon's involved," Buck added bitterly.
Chris nodded. There had been no time to tell Vin what had brought him to the Travis place to begin with. Even though Waldon had made no move towards Mary since his arrival in Four Corners, it was obvious that he had some sinister purpose in town. For days, he had inspired their suspicion by his manner and invited their scrutiny for almost every instant that he was in town. The seven had been watching him closely, becoming frequently frustrated by the certainty that he was up to no good without any proof whatsoever to substantiate that belief. However, an hour before Chris had found Vin unconscious on the floor of the parlor room, Waldon had disappeared. The seven had scoured town searching for the man to no avail. Now it appeared that Waldon had an agenda of his own that required him to be at the last placed they had thought to look.
"Someone has to tell the Judge," Josiah met Chris' gaze.
The gunslinger flinched at the thought. Orin Travis had asked them to protect Mary and it appeared now that they had failed spectacularly. There was no doubt in his mind that Stuart James was behind all this. If so, Chris did not even want to imagine how terrible a fate awaited Mary once she was delivered to the rancher. James wanted to make Orin suffer as he had suffered when he was forced to watch Lucas die and Chris had a feeling that whatever James' plan, Orin would be taking an active part in it. Since they had no idea of where Mary might have been taken, it seemed that the seven might be able to use that to their advantage. James was not foolish enough to take Mary to his ranch since that would be the first place they would seek her out. No, wherever she was taken would be private where he could do to her what he wished without interruptions.
The thought of what he had planned for Mary made Chris shuddered.
"Well at least we know what Mr. James plan was;" Ezra sighed as he lowered himself into one of the wing chairs in the room. "Miss Miller and Waldon came to Four Corners together."
"It make sense if they're working together," Josiah agreed. "He blows into town, drawing our suspicion, making us focus all intention on him and in the meantime, Miss Miller plays the part of the helpless young woman, stranded in town with no one to help."
"Latching onto Vin and making him care for her so that we would overlook her as a danger," Nathan shook his head in disgust, remembering how he had been taken in when she had supposedly been attacked by the intruder that Chris ended up killing. The tenderness with which he had treated her as she looked at him with eyes fluid and afraid, drawing emotion from his heart with each word she spoke, confessing her fear. How much worse would it have been for Vin, with whom the emotion would have been more intense, bordering on love? To learn in a single shattering moment, that it had all been a lie and he was he had been used? Nathan suddenly felt the desire to go seek out the tracker once more, so that they could help him understand that his failing had been being human and was nothing to feel ashamed of.
They all saw his expression and shared the emotion that engendered it. The urgency of the situation could wait for a few minutes as they silently contemplated how much pain Vin must be feeling. Josiah, who knew what it was too love and lost, ached for the younger man. It was part of life to feel and be hurt. It was a rule written somewhere, a song sung by so many poets and written by even more. Yet, to feel it in the reality was terrible and angered Josiah beyond words. Buck thought about the women he had loved in his life and there had been so many. He loved the company of women, worshipped at their altar often enough but to lie to them, to tell them one thing and then do something else entirely was beyond him. It was wrong. He had never walked away from any woman leaving her desolate as Vin must have felt now. He gave them pleasure and told them that he cared but he never lied to them, never told them that he was theirs because that was too cruel.
Ezra cursed his own weakness and his inability to stop this when he had a chance. What did he care if the tracker hated him? As long as Vin was spared the anguish he was feeling now. That should have been Ezra's only concern. If he had been a better man, he would have been able to do that. Now there was only regret because it was too late. JD did not say much throughout most of it because he had no idea what to say except that he was just as taken with Jenny as the rest of them. He had not looked closely because he thought that if the others trusted her, then he ought to as well. Now he saw that they were just as capable of making mistakes as he and it was a sobering experience for the boy. It taught him to rely on his own instincts because sometimes, no matter how much it might appear to be so, things were not always what they seemed to be.
And then there was Chris who knew best of al what it was to have one's heart broken.
The gunslinger wanted to go badly after the tracker, to find the words in himself that would take away Vin's pain but he could not. He had no words to soothe the loss that Vin felt. If he had that power in him, he would have been able to erase the pain he lived with constantly and its remaining presence within him was testament enough to what he was helpless to do. Now, he felt another ache almost as deep as the loss of his wife and son and it terrified the hell out of him. Mary meant nothing to him and yet knowing that she was in trouble that her life could end was something he could not cope with let alone brush ruthlessly into nothingness, the way he had been doing for the past three years.
"We don't have much time," the gunslinger said after a moment, tearing their empathy from Vin back to the situation at hand. "They're probably taking Mary to James now."
"So we're going to the ranch?" JD asked.
"No," Ezra responded before Chris could. "Mr. James is no fool. He would be aware that his ranch would be the first place we would seek out Mrs. Travis once we've ascertained her disappearance."
Chris did not respond. A course of action had presented itself before him. It was risky and something of a gamble with the consequences being extreme if he was wrong but there was no other alternative. Orin Travis was the key to this whole situation. He had been the one that had pressed for Lucas to stand trial. It had been his sentence that saw Lucas swing with James forced to watch it helplessly. Whatever revenge James was about to take, it would be aimed squarely at Orin, with enough potency to cut his heart out as James' own had been when Lucas died. That was why Mary was not killed outright. Simply murdering her was not enough, James wanted to Orin to suffer as he had and Chris had a terrible feeling he knew how that was to be accomplished.
"Saddle up," he said suddenly. "We're going."
"Going?" Buck stared at him. "Where?"
"Eagle Bend."
Chris' answer drew now measure of small surprise from his companions with Buck asking the inevitable question. "You sure that's where she's been taken?"
"No," Chris retorted as he stared at them all with slight sweep of a gaze that touched all their faces in an instant. "She's not being taken there but the message to the Judge will be."
"I don't get it," Buck replied and was about to delve deeper into the question when Ezra, understanding what Chris was inferring replied first.
"He wants the Judge to be there when they kill her." Ezra whispered, his face twisting with horror as the truth exposed itself in all its ugliness.
"Yeah," Chris nodded, impressed at the gambler's acumen. "James will want him to watch her die just as he had to watch Lucas die. If we get to the Judge before that message comes, we might be able to stop James from killing them both."
Vin Tanner had not gone far.
He got no further than the hitching post outside the office of the Clarion News office before he had was forced to catch breath. Despite his anger at Chris and Ezra for harboring their secret, it was his foolishness that had allowed Mary to be kidnapped by Jenny. Foolishness and wishful thinking that someone could look at him and see more than he was; a wanted ex-bounty hunter who could not even read or write his own name. What arrogance had made him believe any woman, any decent woman would want him? He was mortified by his own gullibility because in his wish to be accepted by a woman, he had let down his guard and allowed a friend to be abducted when he was responsible for her protection.
Now Mary was out there somewhere, captured and held captive by someone he had believed to be true. He had been the one who suggested Jenny stay with Mary while she was finding her feet, giving him access to her prey with even more efficiency then ever before. He could not be more responsible for what mischief was now taking place if he had chosen to take a gun and place it to Mary's brow himself. He had no business helping anyone when he was so easily deceived. Vin's eyes swept across Four Corners and wondered how he could be trusted to enforce law in this town when his behavior was not better than a love sick schoolboy. If this had happened to JD, at least there was an excuse. He was a grown man. He should have been able to see through her guise.
Vin was torturing himself with such thoughts when he heard steps behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Chris standing behind him.
"Go away." Vin said listlessly.
"Sorry I can't," Chris returned automatically. "I need you."
"For what?" Vin almost barked at him. "For someone to get Jenny in his sights before going to complete pieces if he has to shoot her?"
He could hear Chris draw a labored breath behind him. "No, I need the best tracker in the Territory, who just so happens to be my friend."
"If I was your friend, you would have told me," Vin spat back.
"I should have told you," Chris conceded, not about to deny that. "I was wrong not too. You were right, I didn't want you to chose her over us if we brought you what we thought about Jenny. If it makes you feel any better, my doubt went away when we thought that stranger was going to kill her. After that, I told myself that she was innocent. I never considered it was just a ploy to make me think just that."
"She was smarter than I was," Vin returned softly, his face turned away from Chris so the gunslinger could not tell how hurt he was even though Chris could feel it in every word he spoke.
"She tricked all of us Vin," Chris replied. "Not just you. You have no reason to feel guilty over what happened. It could have been anyone of us. She just picked you for some twisted reason."
"Because I was easy to fool," he answered. "I want you had Chris. I want a wife and family someday even though I got a price on my head. I want those things but it's hard for me. I ain't got Buck's charm or Ezra's fancy way with words. I ain't got much in the way of schooling so what else is there left for any woman to want. When she looked at me, I thought she cared. I really thought that finally someone could see me for what I was. She made me believe that."
Chris' rage at Jenny Miller began to stir and if she were here before him at this moment, he would have strangled her for using Vin so thoughtlessly and breaking his heart. "Vin, when the right woman comes along, she'll know you straight away. It won't matter who you are or what you say, she'll just know you."
He was never good at these things but he remembered how it was for Sarah and him. He had only to meet her eyes that one time and suddenly, nothing else in the world seemed to exist for them. It had been that perfect. He wished for Vin to know that feeling and he wished the tracker could have been spared this experience but unfortunately, he could not afford to spend too much time salving Vin's bruised heart. They had to get moving to Eagle Bend this instant. He had sent the others along with some specific instructions for Ezra but he would have to join them soon and he intended to have Vin with him.
"Vin," Chris continued speaking. "I wish I could leave you alone. I wish I could let you get out your hurt the way you need to but I can't. They've got Mary and if we don't find them soon, they'll hang her the same way Lucas James was hung. I need you to come with us and I need you do it now."
Vin took a deep breath, trying to will the hurt away but it would not go so easily and in truth, he had no business expecting it to dissipate, not if he cared about Jenny the way he had. It would take time and yes, he too wished that Chris would leave him alone but it was his foolishness that had allowed a murderer into Mary's house and he intended to do everything to rectify that mistake. He had no idea how it would be when he faced Jenny again. He supposed he would find out eventually because any search for Mary would ultimately lead to that end.
Vin exhaled loudly and turned around to face Chris once more. "You can count on me."
"Thanks Vin," Chris said genuinely pleased that Vin was coming him.
As much as he needed Vin at his side for the plan ahead, he did not wish to leave the tracker alone either. There was something within Chris that feared what the tracker might do if left to his own devices. He did not wish to return from Eagle Bend only to learn that Vin had taken off to Tascosa or worse yet, left Four Corners for good. The thought of the tracker disappearing out of his life as suddenly as he had appeared in it left Chris with no small measure of panic. After so many years of shutting people out of his life following the death of his wife and son, Vin had managed to penetrate the fortress he had built around himself. The tracker seemed to understand what he needed to hear and their friendship though new was strong and binding.
Chris just hoped it was strong enough to survive when Vin found himself facing Jenny Miller again.
After what seemed like a whole day of travelling though it could have been easily just a few hours, Mary finally felt the wagon coming to a halt. The side of her body lying against the floor of the wagon was almost numb and she shifted again, hoping to ease the burden on her shoulder. The wagon jerked forward as it came to a stop, rolling her onto her back abruptly, forcing her to stare at the calico overhead. Her throat was dry from the gag in her mouth and the throbbing at the side of her face had diminished to a dull ache that was superseded by the pain in her shoulder and neck. However, she was not entirely grateful that their journey had ended. Considering what they had planned for her, she knew that her arrival at their destination only meant that the sands on her life were running out even faster.
Throughout the journey she had heard the intermittent voices of Jenny and Waldon in conversation. They were careful not to say where they were headed, certain that she would probably eavesdrop when she awoke, as if she had any choice in the matter when she was trussed up like a fatted calf in the back of the wagon. They spoke of incidental things like where they would go after this, apparently New Orleans and how they would luxuriate with their hefty reward for delivering her. She did discern however, that Jenny and Waldon were in fact agents of Stuart James, confirming the rancher's involvement once and for all.
She heard other voices now that the wagon had stopped and felt her heart pounding with fear as to what it would mean to her fate. Mary did not have long to ponder the question because no sooner than she had considered that point, she heard footsteps against gravel approaching the wagon as well as the scuffle of feet that came with those climbing out of one. The calico was suddenly torn from over her head and a burst of light from the morning sky blinded her temporarily by its glare. Mary flinched as she tried to focus and saw Waldon and Jenny standing at the edge of the wagon, presenting her like a prize to Stuart James who was staring at her dispassionately.
"As promised Mr. James," Jenny smiled triumphantly at their newly acquired prize.
Stuart James looked down at Mary. His expression stony as he stared at the woman who was to be his instrument of revenge. "She doesn't appear as formidable as she usually does." He pointed out.
"Take away the pen and paper, she's just another loud mouth woman with too much time on her hands and no man," Jenny sneered.
Mary glared at her, wishing to speak for herself in this matter but prevented by the gag. She chose instead to look away, not wishing to let the assassin know that her taunt had affected her any. Instead, she took a moment to study her surroundings. Judging from the sparse vegetation around them, Mary guessed they were deep in the barrens of the Territory. There were tracts of desert in the Territory, inhabited by Indians who knew how to survive and generally shunned by homesteaders because of the lack of water. The area in which she found herself was no different. There was nothing for miles around except a small cabin that appeared to have been a way station for a stagecoach when the route still traveled through this vicinity.
The number of horses congregated near a small pond indicated that James had come with a good number of his men. Mary guessed that even with Jenny's supposed silent escape from Four Corners, James was not about to take the chance in case she had been followed Mary swallowed thickly, wondering if the seven had any idea of where she was. Jenny had no mention of what she had done to Vin Tanner and so Mary was left with the anxiety of believing that she might have killed the gentle young tracker in order to kidnap her. The possibility of that weighed heavily upon her mind and she thought of what effect his death could have on Chris Larabee.
Without even thinking twice on the matter, Mary knew that it would be devastating.
Chris had already lost so many people in his life and she was not blind to the deep friendship shared with the tracker. It would hurt Chris immeasurably if Vin were dead and Mary was certain that whatever rehabilitation Chris was undergoing in his return to the land of the living in Four Corners would surely end if that were to happen. He would be driven so far into himself that the rest of the seven would never be able to pull him out of it.
Mary did not want to consider what effect her death would have upon him.
"Get her out of the wagon," her attention was returned to James when he issued that order.
Mary felt arms around her and started struggling when Waldon reached for her and started dragging her out of the wagon. The gag shook loose from her mouth and Mary gulped air greedily as she licked her lips, trying to wet her throat so that she could speak.
"Let me go!" She cried out hoarsely and winced because her throat hurt from being forced to work after such a prolonged silence.
"Settle down!" Waldon growled.
"You bitch!" Mary took the opportunity to snipe at Jenny. "I invited you into my house!"
Jenny stared at her as if she were an over indulged child and laughed a little. "And I appreciate it. It was so much easier to do my job."
"What is your job? Whore?" Mary found herself saying viciously. "You didn't have to do that to Vin in order to stay in my house. What do you call that, a perk?"
Waldon stared at Jenny in bewilderment at her words and Mary realized that Waldon was unaware of how Jenny had acquired the seven's trust. Even though it would avail her nothing, Mary was furious enough with the woman for what she had done to risk a few bruisers by telling him the truth.
"Didn't you know?" Mary asked Waldon snidely. "That's how she got the others to trust her. She was all over Vin Tanner, made him think that she wanted him. I wonder how far she went."
"Shut up!" Jenny hissed, slapping her across the face, much to the amusement of James' men who were watching the proceedings close by.
"What's she talking about?" Waldon stared at Jenny.
"Nothing," Jenny said nervously, pointing daggers at Mary's direction.
"It wasn't nothing to Vin," Mary added, wishing Jenny to pay some retribution for exploiting the tracker's vulnerability. "You made it sound like you were so in love with him."
"I said shut up!" Jenny screamed and pointed the gun had in her keeping directly at Mary.
"Don't even think about it!" James retorted, grabbing her hand and shoving the weapon away from Mary. "She's my property do you hear me? I'll decide how she dies."
Jenny was fairly seething with rage, particularly when Waldon was staring at her hard. Mary smiled contently to herself, pleased that she had managed to vindicate Vin in some small way, even though ultimately it would avail her nothing. Still, after the way Jenny had played her and so many others for fool, Mary was satisfied that she had sowed the seeds of discord at Waldon, who was obviously very jealous of his lover.
"Just as long as I get to do it," Jenny said finally, her eyes still fixed on Mary. "I want to be the one to make her swing."
"I think I can accommodate you," James said amicably as Waldon carried Mary to the old cabin, leaving them behind. "In the meantime, you have other tasks to take care of if I'm not mistaken?"
"Yes," Jenny nodded, grateful for the pleasure of snuffing out Mary's life herself. As it was she had a good deal of explaining to do to Waldon, who was no doubt smoldering at the what the bitch editor had told him. "It's all apart of the service."
"Good," James said with approval. "Just you make sure that Travis knows that if he doesn't get here by tomorrow noon. We'll kill her instead of him."
Jenny nodded. "Don't worry, I'll see to it that he knows exactly what's at stake."
Less than a day later, Orin Travis found himself staring at the note that had been delivered to him at his home in Eagle Bend. If he had not suspected that there would be some fall out resulting from his sentencing of Lucas James, he would have been surprised but he was not. Ever since he had arrived in Four Corners and arrested the young man for murdering a shopkeeper in cold blood and learning whom his uncle was, he knew that there would be consequences for his determination to see justice was done. However, he could not bring himself to turn a blind eye to the murder, no matter how powerful the forces rallied against him might seem. He knew he was being stubborn and it could cost him his life but Travis cared little for his safety when it was placed in the defense of an ideal.
The law was not simply a codex to which society was to be maintained. It was a principal and an ideal that should never be contested. It was the written word of justice and Travis believed in both most passionately. As a young man, the law was words in a courtroom, with cases argued and points made. When he came to the West, he learnt that it had to be fought for and sometimes paid in blood. His son had been that way and Stephen had been sent into the world, willing to fight for what was right. Perhaps he did not do it as Travis himself did, with the law but rather in the simple telling of truth as any newspaperman might describe it, but it was justice that his son championed. Travis was proud of his son and equally proud of the daughter in law he married. If Stephen's convictions was strong, then Mary's were damn near invulnerable.
Stephen had died because of violence and the absence of law and it had become Travis' mission in life to ensure that what happened to his son would not happen to anyone else. His arrival in Four Corners was the first step in bringing the law to the town and he knew that he would face stiff opposition. In a hundred towns across the Territory, there was always someone like Stuart James, who thought that wealth gave them the right to make a mockery of justice when it suited them. Lucas birthright did not frighten him and no matter what the consequences, he was determined to see the man pay for the misery he had caused. Then Fate took a rather curious hand in the situation and offered him assistance in the form of seven men, one of whom reminded him so much of Stephen that it broke his heart anew to see him. Chris Larabee was in many ways like his much loved son but he was also different and together, they found they could reach each other.
It was his words that convinced Chris to stay with his six companions and together justice became more than just wistful thinking in Four Corners. Perhaps that was why Travis had been lulled into a false sense of security in thinking that Mary was safe. He had relied upon the seven to protect Mary after his sentence on Lucas James was carried out, forgetting that there was no way to completely protect someone, if another person was determined to harm them. As much he believed in Chris, Travis knew his daughter in law and she could be too headstrong for her own good at times. Travis had no doubt that Chris tried to protect Mary but as always, she was determined to do things on her own and had somehow fallen into James' hands much to his utter horror.
Now he was in a position of having to pay a terrible price for trying to bring justice to Four Corners. It was one he would not accept, even if it cost his own life. He had no guarantee that James would not let her go even if he did turn himself over to the rancher but Travis had no choice, he had to try. He could not allow Mary to be harmed because of his choices. His grandson Billy could not be allowed to lose another parent. The boy had been traumatized enough by the death of his father, precipitating Mary's decision to send him to Eagle Bend, far away from Four Corners so that he could forget the night Stephen had been killed. Travis did not even want to imagine what it would do to Billy if he were to lose his mother as well.
Taking a look around his home, Travis immediately began preparations for travel to the rendezvous point named by James' agent. The instructions had also been clear that he was not to be followed or else Mary would be killed. Travis had no intention of reneging on any of those instructions, at least not yet. No doubt, James had people in Eagle Bend keeping an eye on his movements, ensuring he did nothing to alert anyone to his difficulties, for instance any member of the seven. The Judge was grateful that his wife Evie had chosen this weekend to take Billy to visit her sister because Travis had no wish to explain to either of them what he intended to do.
He did not take much with him, just enough to ensure he arrived at his destination. He took a gun with him but he was certain he would never have the chance to use it. Normally, he traveled by stage but on this occasion, his own horse was needed since his destination was nowhere on a stage's route and he doubted James would be impressed by his arriving at the scene of a murder in a Concorde. Travis' preparations were brief and when he ventured out of his house, it was late evening. He had until noon tomorrow to arrive at his destination and if he wanted to make it there, he best get a move on. Leaving a note for his wife to explain what he had done, Travis left home and began his journey.
From a distance, Chris Larabee watched Orin Travis leave his home through Vin's spyglass.
The seven had been in Eagle Bend for sometime now and had taken up point to watch the Judge's house, certain that eventually, James would make contact with the older man to tell him about Mary. For James to have the vengeance he desired, he needed Orin Travis present when he carried it out. However, whatever bargain he struck with the Judge would be a lie. Chris knew as well as Travis and James' himself, that no one could be alive to implicate the rancher. James made it a habit to remain beyond the reach of the law and despite his craving for vengeance, Chris was certain that he had taken into consideration the consequences for murdering either Mary or Travis. No doubt he would have offered Travis some kind of exchange but the truth was, neither Mary not Travis could be left alive.
"The Judge is moving," Chris announced.
"You were right," Buck pointed out. "They did want him to be there personally."
"Well James was mad enough to want something unreasonable and crazy like that," Chris shrugged, continuing to watch the Judge riding across the terrain before their vantagepoint. "I figured at some point he would try and reach Travis. Probably blackmailed him into thinking he could exchange Mary for himself."
"I find that extremely unlikely," Ezra drawled from behind the rock they were hiding.
"He can't afford to leave witnesses behind," Josiah replied in agreement. "He'll let Travis watch it first and then kill him too."
Suddenly, Chris stiffened where he was standing and his breath quickened. Vin could tell immediately that the gunslinger's second theory had just been confirmed.
"Someone's following him." Chris stated with almost a hint of satisfaction.
"How many?" Nathan automatically asked.
"Just one," Chris replied and he blinked as the spyglass told him who it was. For a second, he debated whether or not to tell Vin but then came to the conclusion that they had been hiding enough things from the tracker already. "Vin, its Jenny."
Vin fought the natural impulse to snatch the spyglass away from Chris and see for himself. He reminded himself that there was a larger issue here and that was the safe rescue of both Mary and the Judge. He would hold Jenny to account over her actions later. Right now, his friends needed him and he was not about to become any more of a handicap then he had already been. Conscious of everyone trying no to look at him in concern, Vin slowly commented, "she's making sure no one follows him."
"Yeah," Chris nodded. "Too bad, she didn't make sure none of us weren't following her."
It was time to go. They had a hanging to stop.