Never Too Far

by KRH

Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.

"Can't imagine any greater fear than waking up without you here.
Though the sun would still shine on,
My whole world would be gone. But not for long.
If I had to run. If I had to crawl.
If I had to swim a 100 rivers,
Just to climb a 1000 walls,
Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are.
There's no place that far."

— Sara Evans

Pulling to a halt in the darkness, Mary Travis slid off the tired horse and pulled the mare through the thick underbrush next to the rock face. It was a small area but still big enough for her and the horse to stay comfortably. Forcing tired arms upwards, Mary unbuckled the cinch on the saddle and heaved it off the mare wincing at the pain the movement caused. The weight of it made her stumble to her knees after a few steps. Far enough Mary thought to herself. Standing up, she took the horse's blanket and rubbed her down before turning to get herself settled.

Picking up the saddle bag, Mary began to pull out the carefully wrapped bundles of berries she had found earlier in the day. These, with the beef jerky, wouldn't be her first choice for a meal but they would suffice. Settling down, she flinched as the gun painfully jabbed into her bruised side. Funny, she had gotten so use to the feel of it strapped to her waist that she had forgotten about it. Settling into a more comfortable position, Mary began to slowly eat while listening and watching for anything or anyone who might stumble into her hideout.

It wasn't a cold night, but the dampness of the dew had put a chill into the air. Snuggling deeper into the coat she wore, Mary again thanked the heavens for leaving this horse in her path. Sardonically, she also thanked its owner for all of the provisions on it — a little food, an extra set of clothes, blanket, full canteen, even some extra shells. She had gotten very lucky... and she knew it.

Now if that luck could just hold out for a couple more days. She had told Evie that if she wasn't back to get Billy by today, to wire Four Corners and tell the seven where she had gone. If Evie had sent it today, and the men were in town to receive it, it would still take them at least that long to get to Cedar Bluff. It was dangerous to stay in the area and wait for them, but she couldn't risk missing them.... not if she wanted to survive.

Rubbing the grit from her eyes, Mary wished she could afford the luxury of several hours sleep but she would have to settle for another brief nap. She had already taken a big risk by unsaddling the mare. She just hoped she didn't regret it.

Putting some of the berries back into her saddlebag, Mary took a long drink from the canteen before pulling the pistol from its holster and laying it on the ground beside her within easy reach. Settling down, Mary wondered what Chris Larabee would say if he could see her now... sitting in the middle of no where... wearing stolen jeans and shirt... and wanted by the law.

Stomping out of the telegraph office, Chris disgustingly put his hat back on. That had been a waste of time.

"Anything?" Nathan asked the gunslinger as he approached the men on horseback waiting for him.

"Nothing that wasn't in the telegram this morning. 'Be on the lookout for one Mary Travis. Wanted for horse theft and attempted murder. Armed and dangerous." Chris recited from memory. When the wire from the sheriff in Cedar Bluff had arrived earlier in the day, he had read it over and over again, straining to find more in the words than what was there. Until then, he and the others had thought Mary and Billy were at the Judge's house tending to his sick wife Evie. How Mary had gotten from doing that to being wanted by the law was anyone's guess.

"And the judge?" Vin asked.

Larabee shook his head. "No idea what's going on. He's in the middle of a trial over at Saxton. Can't be at Cedar Bluff for a few days."

"We aren't going to wait that long are we?" JD asked.

Watching Chris pull himself into his saddle, Buck grinned. "Hell JD. In a few days we'll have Mary safe and sound back here in Four Corners."

Pulling to a halt a few miles from Cedar Bluff, Chris uneasily scanned the tree line and surrounding countryside. He estimated that is was only mid afternoon. The men had ridden hard to make it there, stopping for only a few hours during the night. All of them had wanted to get to Cedar Bluff as fast as they could and find out what had happened... for some explanation of how the gentle, refined lady that they all knew and cared about had become an outlaw.

"Ezra, Josiah. You two head into town. If Mary's been caught, one of you high tail it out here, the other keep an eye on her. Otherwise, see what you can find out about what happened. The rest of us are going to split up and see if we can find her trail." Chris looked at each of the men to see if they had any objections to his orders. Finding none, he continued. "There's an arroyo with a stand of trees beside it about five miles north of town. We'll meet up there tomorrow at noon."

"Watch yourselves." Vin directed at the two heading to town. "Last time I was there the entire town was run by some two-bit hustler named Robbins. Sooner shoot ya than look at ya if you cross him."

"Don't suppose that's what happened to Miz Travis do ya?" Nathan inquired.

"Run up against Robbins? Wouldn't surprise me none. If he took a shine to Mary..." the tracker trailed off watching Chris.

Flickering angry eyes past Vin, Chris pinned Ezra and Josiah with a hard stare. "Find out."

Nodding, the preacher and the gambler turned their mounts north and galloped towards town.

"JD and I'll head east." Buck solemnly said as he turned his horse.

Dropping back, Chris let Vin assume the lead as the remaining three turned westward.

Chancing a glance over her shoulder, Mary saw she was gaining ground against her pursuers. She could see the white puff of smoke and hear the report of the rifle, but the bullet fell far short of her. Regardless, Mary kicked the horse in the sides, urging it to go a little faster up the rise. If she could get over it, the creek on the other side could offer her a chance to cover her tracks for a ways. Reaching the top, Mary tore down the other side towards the water. Slowing as she neared it, she trotted into it and headed up stream.

A short ways up, she spotted a rocky crag coming into the waters edge. If she could get up out of the water on it, maybe... Urging the mare towards it, she kicked her hard to get her to climb the steep uneven surface. Balking at first, the mare finally lunged onto the rocks, then up the incline into the woods above.

Sitting quietly, trying to control her own breathing and pounding heart, Mary waited for the approaching riders. She could hear their angry exclamations at loosing site of her. As she hoped, the group had split up - one to go upstream, one down. Holding her breath, Mary quietly pulled the revolver from her hip and put a hand on the horse's neck to keep her quiet as the other horses passed their position.

Five... Ten... Fifteen minutes passed before Mary moved. Whew. Two days and that had been the closest one yet. Sitting up, she holstered the gun and patted the horse before turning it to pick her way back down to the stream. Reaching it, she let the mare choose her way back into the water and waded back to the point they had entered. Urging the horse up the bank and up the rise they had raced to reach earlier, Mary slipped over the top and continued on her search.

Setting up camp for the night, Chris hated the thought of Mary spending another night on her own. Although they had found signs of her passing in various areas, they still had not found her. They had even run into one of the posses looking for her. Feigning ignorance to Mary's predicament, Chris, Vin and Nathan had no qualms about sending them on a goose chase in the direction they had just come from. At least that was one group Mary wouldn't have to contend with.

Stacking the wood to make a fire, Chris just wished he knew what was really going on. What had happened to make Mary shoot a man, steal a horse, and go on the run? Whatever it was, it had to be a desperate situation to make her go to such lengths.

Watching the fire from the match catch the leaves and wood, Chris wondered how she was faring out. She wasn't totally unfamiliar with camping out, but this was different. This was hiding out. This was eating cold meals while sitting in scrub brush. This was days of hard riding and nights of not sleeping. This was jumping at every little sound, wondering if you had been found. This was a knot in the pit of your stomach, a taste of fear in your mouth. It was a hell of a way to live and Mary Travis wouldn't have to do it long - not if I have anything to do about it Chris thought as he moved aside so Nathan could start some coffee.

Pulling the mare to a halt, Mary tensed at the smell of smoke mixed with the aroma of food cooking. She flinched as the sound of her growling stomach seemed to roar into the night air. Sliding off the horse, Mary had to wait a few minutes for her legs to adjust before she could creep forward to get a better look at the campsite. Nearing it, she crouched low and made out the forms of two men by the fire. Recognizing them, she smiled and turned to retrieve the mare when the sound of a gun being cocked behind her stopped her in her tracks.

"Now what do we have here?" Mary heard a familiar and welcome voice drawl.

Turning her head slightly, Mary answered, relief evident in her voice. "It's me."

Chris was astounded. "Mary?"

Pushing the hat off her head, her blond hair tumbled with it to hang down her back. Lowering her hands, Mary slowly turned to face the gunslinger.

In a heartbeat, Chris had holstered his gun and had covered the ground between them. Engulfing her in a brief fierce hug, he slid his hands onto her upper arms and pulled her back so his eyes could search her face. Chris could see the relief and fatigue, even through the smudges of dirt on it.

"You alright?"

Nodding, Mary drank in the sight of him. "Just tired and hungry... and glad you're here."

Raising one hand to cup her face briefly, Chris nodded towards the fire. "Come on in."

Starting towards it, Mary paused. "My horse..."

"Vin'll get it in a minute." he assured her, starting her again with a hand on her lower back. Entering the firelight, the other two men rose in greeting.

"Mary." Vin said, tipping his hat.

"Sure good to see ya." Nathan grinned.

Acknowledging them, Mary sank to the ground by the fire and accepted the cup of coffee and plate of food held out to her. Chris quietly asked Vin to retrieve Mary's mare and to make sure she wasn't followed in. By the time the tracker had finished, Mary had finished eating and was trying to find the words to explain how she had gotten into her current predicament.

After rising to hand her dirty dishes to Nathan and to arrange her saddle and blanket, Mary settled back down. Leaning back, she bumped her bruised side hard enough to cause her to let out a hiss of pain. The slight sound brought the attention of the three men to divert solely to her.

Watching Mary, Chris saw her leaning trying to ease the pain in her side. Dropping to one knee beside her, he ignored her objections and raised her arm out of the way while taking his other hand to pull her shirt up. Raising it a few inches, in the pale firelight Chris saw a deep black and green bruise running down Mary's side. The upper and lower edges of it were covered by her clothes and Chris could see the sides spreading towards Mary's back and stomach. Clenching his jaw, Chris locked eyes with the blue eyes watching him.

"I'm fine." A silent war raged between the two during the stare. While Mary tried to convince him the bruise meant nothing, Chris fought the urge to scream at the top of his lungs that she wasn't 'fine' -- she had been hurt and nothing was "fine" with that.

"I think its time you tell us what the hell is going on." the gunslinger snapped as he finally relented, releasing her arm and allowing the shirt to drop back down.

Tucking her shirt back into her pants, Mary took a deep breath. "I take it you didn't get the wire from Evie."

"No. We got a wire from the Sheriff in Cedar Bluff telling us you were wanted." Nathan offered.

Understanding now that the men really had no idea what was happening, Mary started to explain.

"After Billy and I got to Orrin's, Evie was doing much better. A friend, Melanie Jamison, who I hadn't seen in years, came by the house. Melanie and I grew up together. We were more like sisters than friends. She even stood up with me when I married Stephen." a wistful look passed briefly over Mary's face before she shook herself to bring herself back to the task at hand.

"Melanie had actually stopped by to see the Judge, hoping he would have some suggestions on how to help her sister, Rachel. Rachel had met a man a few months earlier and had left with him. Melanie had tried to tell her he was no good but she wouldn't listen. A week ago, Melanie got a letter from Rachel begging her to come to Cedar Bluff to help her. Seems this man she had run off with was worse than anyone expected. He was basically holding her hostage and... beating her." A deep frown settled on Mary's face as she remember in detail what Rachel had written in her letter to Melanie.

"Did she contact the sheriff to see if he could help?" Nathan asked snapping Mary out of her referree.

"This man owns everything in Cedar Bluff, including the sheriff." Mary bitterly explained. "He certainly wasn't going to do anything to help her not if it meant going against his boss."

"So of course you had to come yourself." Chris snapped as he moved to stand away from the fire, hands on his hips, looking into the darkness. Flashes of the other times Mary had put herself in danger for a friend ran through his mind.

"And, what else was I suppose to do.. Tell Melanie that I know seven men who could help, but it'll be at least a week before they'll be available... that is if Rachel isn't dead by then." Mary snapped sarcastically at the gunslinger's back.

"This man have a name?" Vin interrupted the storm brewing between the two.

"Matthew Robbins."

"Go on Miz Mary." Nathan encouraged.

"When Melanie and I got to town, no one would even admit Rachel was there. On the third afternoon we found her. We got her out of the boarding house she was being held in, but she insisted that one of us go back for her mother's jewelry. I sent the other two off and went back. Before I got back out, Robbins returned."

Mary refilled her coffee cup before she continued. Chris, who had returned to the fire, sat quietly — but impatiently — waiting. Clenching his fists, he fought the anger caused by the unwanted images of what may of happened that popped into his mind. Catching the other two men glancing at him, he shared a moment before turning his attention back to Mary. Breathing deeply he mentally repeated the message he had just received from Nathan and Vin urging him to keep calm and hear the entire story before doing anything.

Staring into the cup, Mary again had a deep frown on her face. Her voice had a detached tone to it. "He wasn't really upset by the fact that Rachel was gone. Said he was through with her anyway and it was so nice for me to 'volunteer' to take her place." Chancing a glance upward, she saw three sets of eyes watching her expectantly. She was amazed they were being as calm as they were. Averting her eyes back down, Mary shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny and shakily continued.

"He told me that my first official "function" would be that evening and that I should rest up for it. Then he left. Several hours later, he came back and... began to undress...." Mary took a deep breath and locked eyes with Chris, silently looking for strength and understanding. "There was no way I was going to let that man touch me. So I fought him. During the struggle, I got thrown into the dresser. That's how I got my side bruised. The impact knock the wind out of me and he got a hold of me and threw me on the bed." Mary shuddered at the memory. "Once I got my breath back, I began to fight again. I don't even know how I got a hold of his gun but I did. And I pulled the trigger."

Mary's gaze drifted back to the fire. "I didn't even know if he is alive or dead. To tell you the truth, I didn't care. By the time I got to the hallway, I could hear his men coming up the front stairs so I went out the back. I grabbed the first horse I saw and rode out of town as fast as I could." Looking at the three men watching her, Mary tried to gauge the looks on their faces. What she saw ran a gambit from compassion to disgust to hatred. Surely, they couldn't condemn her for protecting herself. Could they? In the next few minutes she would know.

"Ma'am, how did you learn to hide out like you did?" Vin softly asked, admiration for her ability in his voice. "Not many, man or woman, could of eluded all of the riders we've seen around."

Mary allowed a small smile to tug at the edges of her mouth at the term of respect Vin had used. "Stephen and I use to play hide and seek on horseback sometimes. I got really good at hiding from him. It took me a while to remember how to do it, but obviously at least some of it came back to me."

"You hurt anywhere else Miz Travis?" Nathan gently prodded, bringing her attention to him.

"No Nathan, I really am fine. Just a few bruises and sore muscles from being on horseback for so long." Well, that's two out three.

Looking at the man who had yet to say anything, Mary saw a darkness that had nothing to do with the night shadowing his face. Antagonism radiated from him. It scared Mary far more than anything else had in her life.

"Chris?" For the first time since she started to relate the story, the men heard fear in Mary's voice.

Chris' thoughts were consumed by the many ways he planned to hurt Robbins for what he had done to Mary. The scared timber of her voice penetrated the darkness that had engulfed him. Snapping eyes upward, he immediately softened his gaze as they connected with the frightened blue eyes. Holding her gaze until the fear dissipated, Chris broke the silence that had descended.

"You did what you had to to protect yourself."

Externally, Mary reacted little to Chris' comment other than a slight nod and a lowering of her eyes. Inside, she wanted to cry out in relief. Nathan's voice forced Mary's attention to return to the men around her.

"So how do we prove this Robbin's fellow attacked Miz Travis and that other woman?"

"I've got my dress in the saddlebag. It's pretty torn up." Mary offered, not missing the clenching of Chris' jaw or the warning look he received from Vin.

"That'll help but you'll probably still have to testify ma'am." Vin acknowledged. "It'd be even better iffin your friend could too."

"Let's see what Ezra and Josiah found out tomorrow." Chris interjected throwing a hard look at Vin and Nathan. "Why don't you get some rest Mary. We'll worry about a trial if that time comes."

She couldn't nor wouldn't argue at this point. The warmth of the fire, combined with the meal, had made her feel her weariness even more than before. Unhesitantly, she removed the gun belt from her waist and curled up on the blanket. She implicitly trusted these men. They would protect her or die trying. For the first time in days, she knew she was safe. In a matter of minutes she was fast asleep.

Picking up his blanket, Chris draped it over the sleeping woman before moving away from the campsite. His anger at Robbins was so strong he felt he could reach out and touch it. Very few times before had he hated someone this much. Listening to and visualizing the ordeal Mary had gone through at his hands, Chris couldn't promise anyone that Robbins would live long enough to be tried for his crimes.

Nearing the horses, Mary saw Chris feeding his mount something from the palm of his hand. It took a few minutes to realize it was fruit from a nearby tree. Turning to hold one out to the mare Mary had been riding, Chris saw her approaching him.

"Morning. Feeling better?" he asked, scanning her face. In the morning light, he couldn't miss the fact that at least some of the dark patches on her neck and jaw line that he thought last night was dirt, were in fact bruises caused by fingers being pressed into flesh too hard.

Seeing Chris' lingering gaze on her neck and the frown on his face, Mary tried to divert his attention. "Your black sure has a sweet tooth." she observed, reaching up to scratch its nose. "I'm surprised he lets you give any to the mare."

Shaking himself out of the darkness, he finished feeding the horse and wiped his hands on his jeans. "He likes her."

Mary laughed at Chris' response. "And he doesn't like them?" nodding to Vin's and Nathan's horses a short ways away.

A teasing smile tugged at the gunslinger's lips. "Sure he does. But in a different way. They are his friends. She..." reaching up to pat the mare, "... well, let's just say he's pondering on being more than friends."

"And how do you know this?" Mary asked a little breathlessly, knowing they weren't only talking about the horses anymore.

"Oh, the usual.... the way he catches her scent on the air... watches her every move... likes spending time with her... relishes the feel of her next to him... " Chris had moved closer to her as he spoke.

The lilting caress of Chris' voice wasn't lost Mary. Neither were the eyes that seemed to strip away her every defense and stare into her soul. Standing on trembling legs and fighting the butterflies in her stomach, she stared back into the eyes before her trying to read what lay behind them.

Shaken by what she saw there, she barely remembered how speak. "And if she has to go away.. say be penned up somewhere... where he can't see her anymore?"

"He'll break her out."

Riding out to meet the approaching riders, Vin greeted the four and lead them back to the woods besides the gulch. Dismounting, they were relieved to see Mary waiting with Nathan and Chris.

Having to wait until the men had exchanged greetings with Mary and they were brought up to speed on her ordeal from the last several days, Chris was finally able to talk to the two who had been in town. "What did you find out?"

"Well, most you know from Mary. What you don't know is what happened after you left." Josiah said, turning momentarily to Mary. "You stirred things up quite a bit."

"What our esteemed man of the clothe is so delicately trying to say is that all proverbial hell broke loose." Ezra drawled while examining his nails nonchalantly.

Throwing Ezra a scowl, the preacher clarified the southerner's announcement. "Your shot, I'm sorry to say, only did minor damage to Robbins. After he got patched up, he called a "town meeting" to make sure everyone had your description and to offer a reward for your capture."

"A reward? How much?" Buck asked knowing the amount would make a difference in how much resistance they were likely to encounter when Mary finally went back into town.

"Two hundred dollars if brought in dead," Ezra offered, raising his eyes to see what reaction the rest of his announcement would bring. "One thousand if brought in alive."

Vin, jaw clenched and his hand gripping his carbine, shook his head. "Well, that explains why we seen so many riders around."

Buck let a long whistle and threw a knowing look to Chris.

JD's jaw dropped. "Why so much if alive?" the youngster pondered.

Nathan, outraged by the news, snorted in disgust before turning to stare out into the countryside with a deep frown on his face. When he spoke to answer JD's question, derision dripped from his voice. He had seen too many men like Robbins when he was a slave. "Always best to bring a runaway slave back alive so he can suffer for his "crime" and keep making money for the Master. If he can't be, well... his corpse is a warning to others that iffin they try it, they'll end up dead too."

Nodding, Josiah confirmed Nathan's conclusions. "Robbins said he had plans for her including making her pay for shooting him." Josiah tensed at the blackness on Chris' face and the fear on Mary's.

Suddenly Mary's head snapped up, the fear replaced by deep concern. "Rachel and Melanie... did they get away?"

Ezra and Josiah shared a look before the gambler answered in a gentle tone. "I must regretfully report that some brutes — no doubt with questionable parentage — found them and took them back to town. From what we were able to ascertain, they are locked in a room above the saloon."

Spinning to go to her horse, Mary was stopped by Chris' hand grabbing her wrist. Pulling it in a vain effort to get loose, she continued to try to get to her horse.

"We have to get them out of there before Robbins kills them." she exclaimed frantically.

Chris finally managed to get a hold of Mary firmly enough that she quit fighting. "We will, but you're not going" his tone leaving no room for argument. "You'll stay here with Buck where I know you'll be safe."

"Perhaps it would be better if Vin stayed with her." Ezra drawled from behind.

"Why Vin?" Chris threw over his shoulder, still not trusting Mary enough to let go of her.

"Because the owner of the horse Mary took is a Texas Ranger."

"This trip just gets better n' better." Buck drawled dryly.

Shit. Chris thought, dropping his head. That's just what we don't need... for things to get more complicated. "Okay, Vin you stay with Mary. The rest of us will get Rachel and Melanie out of town and see if the Judge has arrived yet."

Turning his eyes back to Mary, he look appraisingly at her trying to interpret her body language to see if she would stay here or follow them. Receiving a look of acquiescence from her, Chris gave a nod and finally released her.

"How will we know your friends?"

"Melanie has auburn hair, green eyes, about my height and age. Rachel is several years younger, brown hair and eyes."

"Once we find 'em, given the situation, they may not be too willing to go with a bunch of men they don't know" Nathan threw out.

Bitting her lip, Mary hadn't thought of that. She couldn't blame them, not after what they had undoubtable been through. They would need some reassurance that these men were safe.

Staring at nothing in deep thought, Mary suddenly nodded to herself and darted to the horses. Grabbing the saddlebag containing her dress, she desperately hunted for the item she was seeking. Finally finding it, she moved back to the men and held her hand out to Chris. In her palm lay a hand-carved cameo on a chain. "Give Melanie or Rachel this. They'll recognize it. It was one of the pieces I went back for."

Standing beside Vin watching the others ride toward town, Mary couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that things were going to get worse before they got better.

Riding into town side by side, the six men presented a formidable picture for all who saw them arrive. This was not a group of men thrown together for their own purposes. These were men conditioned to riding together - each knowing how the other would move, think and react. These were men riding together for a unified purpose. They exuded an aura that said they were trouble if you crossed them.. and from the looks on their faces, someone had crossed them.

Dismounting, the men scanned the street memorizing the layout of the buildings and streets. They also took a quick assessment of the town's occupants judging which ones would attempt to interfere with their plans and which would flee for the safety of the buildings. The information could come in handy later.

"Ezra. Buck. Nathan. See if you can find out which room the women are being held in. The rest of us are going to find out if the Judge is in town. Anybody finds out where Robbins is, you come find me immediately. Otherwise, we'll meet in the saloon in a half hour or so."

Nodding at JD and Josiah to send them in different directions, Chris set off in another. Striding down the board walk, the cadence of his steps disturbing the dust and causing it to settle on the legs of his black pants, he abruptly turned so he could enter the hotel lobby. Pausing inside the door to let his eyes fully adjust to the change in lighting, he scanned the room before stepping up to the counter and running appraising eyes over the attendant behind the desk. He was a younger man and reminded Chris of JD. Smiling a wicked smile as he stood there, Chris knew just how to handle this youngster.

"Looking for someone who may of checked in during the last day or so. Name is Travis." Chris said with a slight edge to his voice to let the man know he wasn't in the mood for any games.

Rattled by the danger that stood in front of him, the counter man hesitated momentarily. When he spoke, his voice shook a little. "Ain't had any Travis check in, sir. Here." shoving the registry book across the desk top, "look for yourself."

Spinning the book, Chris scanned down the list of patrons. The kid was telling the truth, no Travis. But another name leaped from the pages at him. Pointing at it, he flashed his eyes upward. "This man. He still here?"

Daring to dart his eyes downward to look at the signature being shown to him, the young man nodded fervently. "Yes, sir. Room 212. Up the stairs to your right."

Pushing away from the counter, Chris took the stairs two at a time. Stopping in front of the door marked 212, he knocked briefly and waited. Hearing the shuffle of footsteps behind the door, a familiar voice called out, inquiring who was there.

"Larabee." Chris said loud enough so the occupant could hear. Glancing up and down the hall to see if anyone was interested in his business, Chris turned his eyes back in time to see the door before him open. Inside the room stood the Honorable Judge Orrin Travis.

Moving past him, Chris waited for the Judge to close the door before he spoke. "Howdy Judge 'Larabee'"

Raising one hand in the air as an apology, Orrin did have to smile briefly. "Didn't think the name Travis would be too popular around here right now." Sobering he continued. "How bad is it Chris?"

Pushing his hat off his head so that it dangled down his back, Chris ran his hand through his hair and raised somber eyes to the man before him. "It ain't good Judge."

Pushing open the swinging doors, Chris spotted the location of his five compatriots as he moved towards the bar. Ordering a beer, he waited until the barkeep had left before speaking quietly to the man beside him, apparently enthralled with the young woman in his arms.

"Any luck?"

Nodding, Buck inconspicuously changed positions so that he could talk to Chris without drawing attention to it. "Becky." nodding slightly to the woman on the other side of Chris "and Lucy here says they're in the fourth room on the third floor. Guards on the stairs and outside the door."

Chris glanced over at the woman who had sidled up to him and was holding onto his arm. "What about down here?"

"The two sitting with JD and Ezra. Josiah and Nathan are covering the four at the table to their left."

"Back stairs?" Chris casually inquired while throwing a look over his shoulder to confirm what Buck had just said.

"Ain't none."

Turning back, Chris took a swig of beer and grimaced. That could make things messier.

"Robbins?" The way it was said, it seemed as if Chris was spitting a foul taste out of his mouth rather than saying a name.

"Rode out of town with that Texas Ranger this morning. Ain't come back yet. Did you find the Judge?"

"With the horses outside." Draining the beer, he stood upright and slapped a nickel on the bar as he spoke. "Let's do it."

Causing a commotion, Buck swung Lucy over his shoulder and laughed loudly as he headed for the stairs. Chris wrapped an arm loosely around Becky and followed after a few minutes. As he approached the steps, he nodded at the others to let them know to be ready.

Topping the stairs to the second floor, Chris dropped his arm from Becky and nodded for her to go with Lucy into the safety of a room down the hall. Pulling his gun, he looked at Buck to let him know he was ready.

Peeking up the stairway to the third floor, the two could see the legs of one man at the top of the stairs. Creeping up, they were almost upon him before a creaking board alerted him to their presence. Reacting quickly, Chris lunged and grabbed his arm and swung him around where his chin met Buck's forearm. Slumping unconscious, Chris let the man slide to the floor.

The activity alerted the men standing guard outside of the room. Yanking their guns, the outlaws began to throw shots at Chris and Buck. Diving for the minimal cover available, they returned the gunfire.

Hearing the sound of Ezra's derringer and boom of Josiah's 45, Chris knew time was short. Rolling into the middle of the hallway, he snapped off several rounds at the guards and grunted with satisfaction as he watched them both fall. Jumping up, Chris and Buck ran to the fourth room in the hallway. Kicking in the door, Chris went in while Buck watched for any opposition.

Chris' eyes fell immediately on the two women huddled together in the corner of the room, their terrified eyes locked on the gun in his hand. Raising it so that the barrel was pointed towards the ceiling, Chris raised his other hand motioning to the women to remain calm. "Easy now. I'm not going to hurt you. Mary Travis is a friend of mine. She sent me here to get you out."

Neither Rachel nor Melanie made any move. Chris could read the doubt and fear on their faces as they debated whether they should believe this stranger. Reaching into his pocket, he held the cameo in his outstretched hand as he slowly approached the women. "Mary said I should give this to one of you."

Slowly, Melanie reached out to take the necklace. Showing it to her sister, Rachel was about to get up when Melanie stopped her. "How do we know you really know Mary? That this isn't some kind of trick?" she asked warily, suspicion replacing the fear in her eyes.

Chris bit off the explicative that was in throat. They really didn't have time for this. Thinking hard, he tried to come up with some way he could convince them to come. "You were in Mary's wedding.. stood up with her, right?" Getting a hesitant nod he continued. "So you know her father in law." Another nod. "The Judge is in the street below waiting for us. If you go to the window and look out you can see him with the horses."

Tensely, Chris watched as Melanie told Rachel to stay put with a squeeze of her arm before she carefully moved past Chris to the window. Finally taking her eyes off of him to look out, Chris saw her shoulders slump in relief. Waiving for Rachel to come to her, Melanie took a step towards the gunslinger. "Is Mary alright?" she asked anxiously.

"She waitin' for you. Let's go." was all Chris would say as he started the women moving out to the hallway. Reaching it, Chris nodded to Buck to lead the way out. Coming down the stairs into the saloon, they could see Ezra and JD covering four of the six outlaws at gunpoint. The other two lay on the floor dead. Pausing, Chris barked out "Where's the others?"

"Covering the outside." JD threw back over his shoulder.

Satisfied it was safe, Chris, Buck and the women headed for the door. JD and Ezra paralleled their movement across the room, while still covering the subdued men.

Happiest when he can make a 'grand exit,' Ezra couldn't pass up the opportunity. "Gentlemen, I do want to thank you for the money you so serendipitously donated, but I believe that I and my comrades have worn out our welcome so you'll understand our abrupt departure. Good day." the southerner drawled as he backed out the batwing doors.

Spinning before the doors had even traveled half the distance backwards, Ezra jumped on his mount and followed the others as they tore out of town.

Signaling the group to stop, Chris yanked hard on the reins to spin the black around. Scanning the landscape behind them, he could see the distant dust being stirred up by the approaching riders. Damn, they're gaining.

Looking at the tense faces around him, Chris knew he had to think of something fast. There was no way the women were going to make it much further. They had simply been through too much. The Judge wasn't use to this either. Making up his mind, he began to snap out orders.

"Josiah, Ezra and JD. See if you can draw these riders off the rest of us. Nathan, Buck, the Judge and I will take Melanie and Rachel over to that groove until they pass. We'll meet later at the campsite." Throwing another look at the approaching posse, he screamed "Go" scattering the group into their ordered directions.

Halfway to the wooded area, Chris slid his horse to a halt. Grabbing the rifle from the scabbard before jumping off, he slapped the horse's rump sending him with the others. Taking cover behind a rock formation, Chris mentally prepared to pick off the riders if they didn't follow Ezra, JD and Josiah. He didn't want to kill these men, but if they gave him no choice....

Tensing, Chris brought up the rifle and took aim as the posse halted, torn as to which way they should go. He could see some of them gesturing towards his position. Suddenly a shot rang out in the opposite direction. Snapping his head up, Chris saw the riders surge away from him.

Following their progress, he spotted what they were after: Ezra, JD, and Josiah had backtracked and had fired the shot to draw the rider's attention to themselves. Now they were leading them away. Just don't do anything stupid Chris mentally threw after them as he eased the hammer back down on his rifle. Standing, he turned and trotted towards the others.

Nodding to Buck on guard, Chris slapped him on the shoulder as he passed. Crouching by Nathan, who was tending to a cut on Rachel's arm, he gratefully accepted a canteen from the Judge. Sipping some, he recapped it and glanced around.

"We'll rest here a while then head over and meet up with Vin and Mary."

"What did you find out about Robbins?" the Judge finally had the opportunity to ask.

"Rode out of town with the Ranger this morning. My guess is they went looking for Mary." Chris said handing the canteen back.

"If he finds her..." Melanie threw out, shuddering at the thought. "All Robbins has talked about was what he was going to do to Mary for shooting him."

"Is he capable of going through with his threats?" the Judge asked, eyes locked on the two women sharing a similar look.

"Go on Rachel. Show them what type of man he is." Melanie urged, squeezing her arm encouragingly.

Hesitantly, Rachel unbuttoned the top buttons and slowly pulled her dress aside to reveal her collarbone and shoulder area. All of the men drew a sharp breath and bit off explicatives at the sight before them. On Rachel's body, in various stage of healing, were numerous cigar burns.

Wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulders and hugging her, Melanie said "They are all over her body."

Staring at nothing, Rachel began to softly speak as she rebuttoned her dress. "It was his favorite way to hurt me. The first time it happened, I was asleep and he said he was reaching for something and dropped his cigar. The next time, he said he had 'accidentally' bumped into me, but then said I should of been more careful of where I was walking. By last month, he didn't even bother to pretend. He didn't care how much he hurt me. Sometimes I think the more it hurt, the more he like it." Looking at her sister, she explained "That's what kept me from fighting back — I knew he'd just enjoy hurting me more." Turning empty eyes to look at the men before her, she hoarsely finished "He's evil. If he doesn't kill her, believe me, he'll hurt her until she wishes she were dead."

Nathan finally broke the silence that had descended after Rachel's revelations. "He ain't gonna hurt you anymore ma'am... and we ain't gonna let him hurt Miz Mary neither." the healer vowed in a gentle voice. "Now you just rest easy."

Moving several feet away from the women, the men gathered and shared a look between themselves. All had met men like Robbins before. From their experience with these other men and Rachel's injuries, none had any doubt that if Robbins caught Mary, he would cause her great pain.

Buck spoke up first. "Maybe one of us should head over and back Vin up."

"I was thinking the same thing." Chris said, running uneasy eyes over the landscape. "If that Texas Ranger is any good at tracking, he could lead Robbins straight to 'em." Chris looked back at the others. "Give the ladies an hour or so and then follow me. The camp is only about four miles west of here so hopefully they'll make it without stopping again." Seeing the others nodding in agreement, Chris mounted his horse and headed towards the campsite where Mary and Vin were to be waiting for their return.

"No! Vin!" Mary cried out as the tracker dropped to the ground unconscious after being hit in the side of his head with a rifle. Struggling against the ropes that made it impossible for her to get up, she screamed at the Texas Ranger "How can you just stand there and let him do that? You're supposed to uphold the law not break it!"

Mary's words seemed to goad the Ranger into action. Stepping forward to grab Robbins, he stopped when Robbins spun and leveled the rifle at him.

"Whoa there Ranger. You've served your purpose finding her for me. I wasn't going to kill you, but maybe now I should being that your turning squeamish on me." Robbins grinned wickedly at the shocked look his comments elicited from the Texan.

"This was never part of the deal. You asked me to find the woman who had tried to kill you so that you could see justice done. Beating this man senseless doesn't have anything to do with justice." the lawman said uneasily knowing he could never draw his gun fast enough.

"It does in my world. He kept her from me. No one stands between me and what I want." Robbins snarled waiving the rifle to indicate the Ranger should move away from Mary.

Stepping backwards, hands in the air, the Ranger mentally kicked himself for being duped by this man. He knew the appearance of decency didn't automatically equal morality in a person. Yet, Robbins had seemed so legitimate in his quest for justice. Too bad it was all a sham. Desperately, the lawman tried to think of some way to get the gun away from Robbins without getting himself or someone else killed.

Crouching next to Mary, Robbins spoke to her in a lilting voice. "What do you think my dear? Mmm? Should I kill both of them or let them live?" Not waiting for an answer, he pulled the trigger.

Mary watched in horror as the impact of the bullet spun the lawman. He fell face down onto the ground and didn't move.

Standing up, Robbins walked over and nonchalantly nudged the Ranger with his foot. Not receiving any response, Robbins grunted. "It is always a shame when one who swore to protect and serve can longer perform his duties." he mocked sarcastically.

Moving over to Vin, Robbins squatted and looked at the amount of blood that had run down his face and onto the ground below him. "This one... mmm... time is going to take care of him for me I think." Turning his attention back to Mary, he smiled. "Now, I think its time for us to be on our way, my dear, before those others show back up."

Pulling Mary upright, Robbins shoved her towards the horses. He didn't seem to care that the bindings on her legs made if virtually impossible for her step more than six inches at a time. Growing impatient, he finally drug her over to the mounts and threw her up so that she was hanging over the saddle of his horse. Pulling himself up behind her, Robbins spurred the horse so that it would gallop away.

Mary's last sight of the campsite was of two men — one a friend — laying dead or dying.

Squeezing her eyes closed, Mary tried to fight the nausea caused by a combination of the pain in her bruised side from the jostling of the horse, the amount of time she had spent with her head downwards, and the fear that clutched at her. She had seen the worse side of men before... the wickedness... the greed... deceitfulness... but never like this. Never had she faced such abject disregard for others. It was incomprehensible to her. It was... evil.

Opening her eyes, she looked through the hair hanging below her face and noticed that the ground had become rockier. They were climbing. Being bounced between the saddle horn and Robbins, Mary just wished they would stop. Finally reaching a flat stretch in front of an outcrop of rocks, Mary got her wish. Dismounting, Robbins grabbed her by the waist and pulled her from the saddle. Her numb legs wouldn't hold her upright so she had no choice but to sit heavily on the ground.

Tossing her head to clear the hair from her face, Mary looked around. She could see they were about halfway up the side of a rock formation that looked down over the path they had just ridden. It seemed the perfect spot for an ambush. Her suspicion was confirmed when she saw Robbins pull his rifle from the scabbard on his saddle and sit down a short distance from her facing the trail below.

"Why are we stopping here?" Mary asked uneasily, scanning the countryside for the sight of any rider who may be approaching.

"Just being cautious." Robbins quipped over his shoulder. "You see, while you spent the last couple days eluding my riders, I spent them checking up on you. I found out some very interesting things."

"Like?"

"Like you appear to be the pillar of decency. A beautiful widow trying to keep her husband's newspaper running while taking care of a young son. Billy, I believe is his name. Then there's all the time you spend taking care of the town's affairs. Oh, there's the meetings to go to, the decision to be made. Do we build a school and hire a teacher or let kids learn on their own? How do we get the ranchers and the farmers to quit their in-fighting? And what do you do about all those decadent women who keep threatening the sanctity of our families?" While his tone was serious, there was an amused, almost mocking undertone that grated on Mary. "But I found out something else too. It's all an act."

"Why do you say that?." Mary asked, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Those others. Those men. The "Magnificent Seven" I believe they're called."

Still confused by what he meant, Mary couldn't help herself. "And?"

Snorting, Robbins seemed skeptical of her confusion. "Come on. You can't fool me. Hanging around with men like that. No decent woman would be so forward."

Mary wasn't quite sure what insulted her more — the slight against herself or against her friends. "You don't know them or me. You are so wrong." she said angrily, shaking her head in disbelief at his irrational train of thought.

"Oh I am, am I? I don't know them or you?" Robbins parroted back, seemingly amused by Mary's comeback. "I know they'll come after you. Especially that one... that gunslinger Larabee."

Robbins laughed again as he watched uncertainty replace anger on Mary's face as she realized exactly what Robbins' target was going to be. "What makes you think he'll follow or that any of them will for that matter?" Mary asked again, trying to cover her uneasiness.

"I told you, I spent the last couple days finding out about them... and you." he reiterated with a smile that sent a shiver of fear through Mary.

Nearing the campsite by the arroyo, Chris immediately knew something was wrong. Three horses were grazing in the area. There should only be two. Company had arrived.

Stopping his horse, Chris pulled his rifle and checked it before he nudged his horse forward. Riding closer, he scanned the countryside. He was still 200 yards out when he spotted the bodies on the ground, one of which he immediately recognized. Kicking the black, he covered the distance quickly and leaped from the horse.

"Vin?" Chris called as he knelt and swallowed hard at the amount of blood on the ground by his friend. Reaching out, he felt for a pulse. Blowing out a breath in relief when he found a strong beat, Chris cut the ropes binding Vin and then began examining his head wound.

Stirring, Vin flinched away at the fingers probing his head. Still dazed and not opening his eyes, he reached up and tried to brush away the hands causing him pain. "Leave me alone." Vin mumbled, continuing to try to move away from the source of discomfort.

"Easy Vin. Let me see how bad this is." the gunslinger chided, trying to push Vin's hands out of the way.

The tracker finally opened his eyes and tried to focus on the faceless voice above him. "Chris?" he asked tentatively. Realizing it was indeed Chris, Vin struggled to sit up and look around "What happened? Where's Mary?" the tracker asked groggily finally giving up and closing his eyes.

"Whoa there. Lay still til you get your bearings. As for what happened and where's Mary, I was hoping you could tell me."

Fighting to clear his head, the tracker eyes suddenly flew open again. "Robbins... the Ranger... Mary...." he said straining to look around Chris.

"Lay still" Chris ordered before he threw a look over his shoulder. Chris felt a slight pang of guilt over not having even checked if the other man was alive. Moving over to do so now, he rolled him over and saw that the man had been shot at close range. The bullet had gone into his upper chest. Given the fact that he was still alive, Chris guessed it had missed vital organs on its passage. Seeing that the bleeding had stopped, Chris decided to leave things alone and let Nathan take care of him.

Returning to Vin he looked appraisingly into the lucid eyes watching him. "He's alive. You remember what happened yet?"

Nodding toward the lawman, Vin's voice was part anger, part trepidation when he spoke. "He lead Robbins straight to the campsite. Got the jump on us and tied Mary and me up, then Robbins went berserk. Started screaming something about justice. Guess his idea of justice is different from everyone else's cause he pronounced me guilty and then slammed a rifle into my head. Don't know what happened after that but he must of shot the Ranger and took Mary someplace."

Chris felt desperation beginning to well up in him. Fighting it, he fired questions at the tracker. "Did he say where he was going? Any idea which direction they went? How long ago did they leave?"

Vin hated it but all he could do was shake his head after each question. "I just don't know."

"West. They went west." the ranger interjected into the conversation painfully moving himself so he could see the men talking. "Left about an hour ago."

"Why should we believe you?" Vin threw out. "You lead him to us in the first place."

"Didn't come out here to bushwhack you. Didn't come out here to get myself shot neither. And I sure don't want no part of hurtin' that woman."

Looking between the two men, Chris hated to leave them, but he really didn't have a choice. "The Judge, Nathan, and Buck will be here with the women in a little bit. The others where leading a posse away from us but they'll probably be here soon too. When they make it, tell them what happened and have some of them follow me."

"Shouldn't you wait..." Vin started to call after the gunslinger moving towards his horse.

Pausing, Chris threw the words over his shoulder desperately. "I can't Vin. He'll..." The gunslinger couldn't finish the thought. Moving to his horse, he jumped on it and took off without looking again at the men he was leaving behind.

It was late afternoon and the shadows had begun to stretch out onto the trail. Mary shivered slightly from the coolness caused by the lack of sunshine on the rock face. Looking across the plane below, she knew the lowering sun would also obscure the vision of any riders to the danger posed up in the rocks.

Working to loosen the bindings on her feet and hands, Mary hoped the movement didn't draw too much attention. If she could only get her feet loose so she could get on the horse...

Mary froze as Robbins once again turned his head to look at her. The way his eyes scoured every inch of her body made Mary want to curl up in a ball and hide from the undressing she knew was occurring in his mind. She had no doubt that he was going to hurt — probably rape — her before this ended. The longer she was with him, the more convinced she became. Besides, he had told her several times she had to be punished for defying him. Mary just prayed that Chris could make it here before then. If not, then she hoped that Robbins would at least let her live.

"It's getting late. Looks like they aren't coming after all. Don't you think we should be getting back to town?" Mary asked nervously, trying to divert his attention to something other than herself.

"In time my dear. I'm not quite ready to go back yet." Robbins said, laying his rifle down and rising to move closer to Mary. Coming next to her, he crouched down to stroke her face and then began to absentmindedly play with a lock of her hair. "Such a shame." he said under his breath, but still loud enough for Mary to hear.

Flinching at his touch, instinctively she tried to lean away from him. "What is?" Mary asked, her voice trembled slightly when she spoke.

"That you weren't the one. If you had just done like you were suppose to..."

"You mean let you continue to hurt Rachel..." Mary snapped, interrupting him.

Mary saw anger flash across Robbin's face, but couldn't get away far enough to avoid the blow she knew was coming. Her head snapped sideways from the backhand she received across the face. She could taste blood from a cut in her mouth.

Defiantly she turned back to stare at him and continued her sentence "...or rape me."

The second blow was hard enough to knock her over. Seizing the opportunity, she rolled away from him. Stopping momentarily to get her bearing, Mary started rolling again but this time toward the rifle Robbins had left on the edge. She had only made it a little ways when she was stopped by Robbins pouncing on her. "No... Let me go!" Mary said between clenched teeth trying to push more than double her body weight from on top of her.

By the time Robbins got Mary's arms pinned above her and her legs pinned with his, he was breathing heavily. "Now why'd you go and do that. You're just gonna make it worse."

Breathless from struggling and the weight of his body on hers, Mary still managed a strangled "Go to hell."

Sneering at her, Robbins reached back and pulled a knife from under his coat. Mary froze when he slowly ran the tip of it down her face leaving a red scratch.

Turning her head and closing her eyes, Mary felt an overwhelming sense of dread welling up in her. Oh God she whispered as Robbins shifted his body enough that he could continue to drag the knife down her neck and upper body, stopping his progression only when he realized that in the struggle Mary's shirt had been pushed up revealing her stomach.

She could feel the cold metal on her skin as she fought the urge to vomit. "Please don't do this." she pleaded, tears blurring her vision.

Consumed by fear, it took Mary a minute to realize that Robbins was no longer on her. It was only after she had blinked rapidly to clear her vision and rolled up to her knees to locate him did she realize that he had grabbed the rifle and was aiming it at someone. Crawling on her knees and forearms to the edge of the rock, she looked down to see a familiar form in a gray shirt riding a black horse.

A blood curdling scream erupted from her. "Chris!" At the same time, her mind registered the sound of a rifle being fired beside her. She watched in horror as Chris jerked and fell from the saddle, rolling out of sight. "No. Chris." Mary whimpered in disbelief and despair.

Looking down to once again check the ground for signs that he was still on the correct trail, Chris clenched his jaw thinking about the amount of time that had passed. Mary could very well be dead by now. The thought made his stomach curl into a huge knot.

The trail had become rockier and it was getting harder for him to see the signs. The increasing shadow weren't helping any either. It wasn't that he couldn't track someone, it was just that he had come to the realization long ago that he wasn't as good at it as Vin. Chris found himself wishing that the tracker was here now to help him.

Feeling the coolness of the early evening air, Chris contemplated stopping and putting on his coat. The thought made him realize that Mary probably didn't have hers. He shook his head trying to clear his vision of the collage of pictures that had appeared in his mind. Images of Mary smiling...

walking down the street in Four Corners laughing...

snapping her head sideways infuriated with him...

the last time he had seen her, standing beside Vin with her arms crossed in front of her as if to ward off something, apprehension and encouragement warring in her eyes...

A shiver ran up Chris' spine as he heard Mary's voice screaming his name. The shiver had barely reached his neck when the bullet ripped into his shoulder sending him backwards off the horse.

A deviant laugh of glee erupted from Robbins as he watched the gunslinger fall. Turning to taunt Mary, he saw she had laid on her side curled into a ball, knees to her chest, arms covering her head. "Your lover came after all now didn't he. I told you he would." he said smugly before again scanning the land below looking for movement. Uneasily he stopped smiling as he realized the shadows that had minutes before been to his advantage were now a detriment.

Torn as to what to do, his eyes flickered between the landscape and his sobbing hostage. If he knew for sure the gunslinger was dead...

Making up his mind, Robbins stood up and moved over to Mary. Nudging her with his foot he said "Come on my dear. Time for us to find someplace else to finish our business."

Not getting any response, he reached down and grabbed the collar of her shirt. "Don't make me drag you..." he threatened.

Still, she did not give any indication she heard his commands. At first, Mary could feel the rocky ground through her clothes as Robbins drug her towards the horse. She soon however became oblivious to it and everything else around her as the force of her grief drew her deeper and deeper inside herself. Nothing mattered any more. Chris had been killed because of her. As far as she was concerned, Robbins might as well as put a bullet into her too. That way at least, her body would be as dead as her soul felt.

Rolling into the underbrush, Chris came to a halt against a large rock. Wincing at the pain in his shoulder, his mind registered that the bullet had gone through and exited out his back. He could feel the blood running down his shirt on both sides of his body.

Ignoring the pain, Chris raised slightly to scan the rock face in front of him trying to locate where the bullet had come from. Not having any luck at first, he finally caught a slight movement about half way up the wall. It had to be them.

Raising to a crouched position, he began to move towards the wall, using the shadows to cover his progress. Reaching it, Chris shoved his gun back into the holster before reaching up to an outcrop to begin the climb up. Gritting his teeth, he had to fight the shooting agony when he raised his injured arm to grab hold.

Numbing his mind to the screaming muscles and lungs, sweat poured down his body to mix with the blood after a few minutes. He was making good progress. He knew he had to. Otherwise, Robbins might get away again. Nearing his goal, he could hear Robbins snarling angrily at someone

"I said stand up!"

Silently pulling himself up to the plateau, Chris tried to control his breathing so as to not give himself away. In front of him, Robbins was having trouble trying to get Mary's limp body up on the horse that kept shying away from them. Was she hurt...? Alarm flashed through Chris' mind before he shut it down. He couldn't allow himself to think about that possibility.

As Chris neared the two, he quickly ran over his options. Shoot Robbins, but risk Mary getting hurt in the process... Attack him and hope he could divert the fight away from her. Chris saw Robbins shift Mary's body to one side so he could again reach out and grab hold of the horse to draw the mount closer. Chris used the opportunity to attack.

Hitting Robbins, Chris grabbed his outstretched arm and let the momentum of the attack carry them to the ground. In his peripheral vision, he saw Mary crumble as she was released and curl into a ball. He didn't have time to worry further about her as Robbins realized who had him and had begun to pull his gun. Wrestling over it, Chris threw two quick rights to Robbins' chin while trying to get the gun loose with his left. Taking a forearm in the face, Chris shrugged off the effects and brought his head up to slam into Robbins nose. Blood began to gush from both men. The blow, however, did stun Robbins enough to allow Chris to knock the revolver from his hand and send it skidding away from the grappling men.

Having lost the weapon, Robbins grabbed Chris by the throat with both hands. Trying to push the outlaw away from him, Chris began to see black spots appear in his vision because of his limited oxygen intake. Desperately, he heaved his body upward and flipped Robbins off. Sucking in gulps of air, Chris rolled over in time to meet the hurling body that slammed into him.

The weight smashing into him made Chris loose all of the air he had so desperately inhaled. Rolling again to try to gain the upper position, Chris jammed his fists into Robbins' ribs several times. He could feel the bones shift under his hands and heard a satisfying grunt of pain emit from the outlaw. His glee was short lived however as Robbins retaliated by punching Chris in the shoulder wound. Pain coursed through his chest while his arm went numb from the blows.

Breaking away, Chris finally gained his feet and back peddled a few steps to give his body time to absorb the oxygen it so desperately needed. As Robbins came upward, Chris saw him reach under his coat and then saw the glint of a knife blade as it was waived in front of him. Crouching into a knife fighters stance, the gunslinger waited for Robbins thrust.

Blocking the knife parry, Chris slammed a hard cross into Robbins' mouth, sending him reeling backward. Pausing, Robbins ran a hand across his face to wipe away the blood pouring down his chin. Chris could see the rage boiling in the outlaw's eyes. He knew he had to finish this soon before his strength completely left him. Maneuvering around, he prepared for the next attack.

When Robbins shot forward, Chris quickly sidestepped. Placing his hands on the outlaw's back Chris shoved him as hard as he could. The added momentum sent Robbins careening out of control off the cliff side.

"LAAARRAAABEE!" echoed off the surrounding rocks. It abruptly ended as the outlaw slammed into the ground below.

Staggering over to the side, Chris fell to his hands and knees to look over. He saw the body below him. Watching for a few minutes to make sure it didn't move, Chris finally hung his head fighting the fatigue and pain that coursed through every part of his body. Forcing himself upward, he staggered over to Mary who was still on the ground where Robbins had dropped her.

"How much farther do you think they got?" JD asked anxiously scanning the countryside for any sign of Robbins, Mary or Chris.

"Don't know for sure," Josiah answered trying to calm the young sheriff, "But I think we'll catch them before too long. At least Chris."

"Think he's found Mrs Travis?"

"Sure he has." Buck conjoled, not liking the uneasy tenor of JD's voice "He isn't gonna leave Vin and that Ranger laying there hurtin' like that and then not catch that bastard Robbins and make him pay for shootin' em." Silently he added 'or for hurtin' Mary.'

Pulling up suddenly, Josiah pointed ahead of them at a riderless horse meandering at them. "Isn't that Chris' black?"

"Damn it." Buck swore, spurring his mount.

Easing down beside the woman still tightly wrapped in a ball, Chris lowered his head to try to get a glimpse at Mary's face hidden behind her arms. "Mary." he breathed softly trying to pull her arms from around her head. He could see a red line down the side of her face. He could also see the tracks where tears had streamed. Her eyes were scrunched close like a small child trying to hide from a monster, real or imaginary. "Mary, come on. Open your eyes and look at me." Chris coaxed again as he cut the ropes on her hands and feet.

Not getting any response, Chris dropped his head in despair. He hadn't made it in time. Robbins had done his worst to her. Turning her so he could wrap his arms around her back and knees to surround her, he pulled her close to his chest and laid his head on top of her bowed head. Slowly he began rocking and talking to her.

"I got you Mary... he can't hurt you anymore.... you're going to be alright... " Pausing, Chris swallowed hard trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. Not quite succeeding, his voice was rough with tears as he began again. "I'm sorry Mary...I tried to get here earlier... before he hurt you....Oh God, I'm sorry..." he trailed off ignoring his own pain as he hugged her tighter.

He wasn't sure how long they sat like that before he felt her begin to stir in his arms. Raising his head and loosening his arms, Chris saw her begin to open up like a flower. First she lowered her arms and then allowed her legs to relax away from chest. Slowly she eased her head upward.

Chris could finally see the other side of her face and the fresh bruising on her cheek. Reaching to gently turn her face upwards, he wanted to look into her eyes. They had always been so bright and expressive — what would he see there now?

He winced at the shock and desperation reflected there. Then he saw a dawning recognition...

"You're not dead." her whispered words were part question, part prayer.

Watching her struggle to fully comprehend what her senses were telling her, Chris chuckled slightly in relief at the light that erupted back in her eyes. "Well, that's still up in the air." he teased softly as she raised a hand to the cut on his cheek and then to the gash on his forehead.

Suddenly she tensed. "You were shot." she said pulling back to look for the wound. Seeing blood on his shirt, she shifted to her knees to get a better look at it. Sucking in her breath at the grunt of pain from him when her hand found the exit wound, she checked both sides to see if it was still bleeding. Finding it had stopped she sat back in relief.

Now that she was satisfied he was still alive, Chris had to know. "Mary, how bad was it? Did he..." Her hand on his lips stopped him.

"It doesn't matter." she whispered leaning her forehead against his.

"It does matter." his strangled voice responded, pulling her back so he could see her face.

Mary shook her head no, as tears again rolled down her face. "Your alive. Nothing else matters." Mary wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

"Chris! Mary! Where are you?" The words echoed up from the trail below.

"Sounds like the others have finally made it." Chris observed as Mary pulled back and glanced in the direction Buck's voice had come from.

Rising, Mary limped over to the side. Seeing the three standing around Robbins' body, she yelled down. "Buck, Josiah, JD. Up here." Waiting til they located her she continued. "There's a trail to your right. Chris has been shot."

Raising his hand up to point at Mary, Buck started backpedaling to his horse while talking. "Okay now Mary... you... you just stay there... we'll be right there."

Finishing another pass around the perimeter of the camp, Ezra returned to the fire for a quick cup of coffee. Crouching down and balancing the rifle across his legs, he gratefully accepted it from the Judge, while sharing a look with the older man.

"I take it Vin has yet to see the futileness of arguing with the good doctor." Ezra dryly drawled sipping the hot liquid and looking towards the two men.

"Now I told you earlier. You go movin' around too much and you'll set that head a bleedin' again and I ain't goin' feel sorry for you iffin you do." Nathan scolded the tracker.

"All right then. I'll rest tonight but if Chris and them ain't back by mornin'..." Vin trailed off, his threat having no effect on the healer walking away from him.

Grinning and shaking his head, Nathan joined Ezra and the Judge by the fire.

"You know he's right. If Chris and the others haven't shown up by first light we'll need to go looking for them." the Judge said quietly, he eyes moving between the two men sitting with him. He didn't like to think of them not coming in tonight. The longer they were out there, the greater the possibility that Mary or one of the men had been seriously injured.

"I know." Nathan said shaking his head. "But no sense in him." tossing his head back towards Vin "trying to head out tonight."

"How's the Ranger." Ezra asked, contemplating what they were going to do if a search did prove necessary.

"Oh, he'll be okay. Don't need to be ridin' cross country for any length of time though. Neither do them women."

"And therein lies the dilemma my friend. Who of us will stay with them and who will go in search of our wayward compatriots."

"Let's worry about that in the morning shall we." the Judge interjected. He needed a few hours to gather his arguments on why he should be one of them to go searching.

Nodding Ezra dumped the rest of his coffee. "Well, back to my sentry duties." he said rising. Moving into the darkness, he paused as he heard the sound of horses coming. Cocking the rifle in his hands, he stood firm, allowing his eyes to roam the shadows.

Smiling into the night, he released the hammer as he recognized the shape of the riders. The smile quickly faded and Ezra had to swallow hard when he realized the fifth horse coming in had a body slung across its back. Good Lord, is that Mary he couldn't help wondering.

Pulling to a halt at the firelight's edge, the gathering men could tell by the way Chris was riding he was hurt. Josiah's and Buck's close presence on each side of him confirmed it. It wasn't until Mary moved behind him did they even realize she was there. She had been leaning against him dozing. When she sat up straight the others saw that she too had the slow movements of someone in pain.

She must of said something to Chris, because they saw him turn his head slightly and nod. "Nathan. Help Mary down will ya." he said to the man who had moved to the black's side.

"Easy Miz Mary." Nathan said to the woman sliding off the horse. "Get your legs under you now." Running appraising eyes over the injuries on her face, he softly asked "Where else you hurtin' ma'am?"

"I'll be okay Nathan. It's Chris that needs your help." she said walking with him towards her father-in-law. Glancing quickly at Nathan to say thanks, she moved into Orrin's welcoming embrace.

Turning around, Nathan saw that Buck and Josiah had managed to get Chris off the horse and were helping him towards the fireside. By the time they had him settled, Nathan had gathered his medical supplies and was waiting for him.

"I take it that other one is beyond helping." the healer asked to no one in particular, referring to the body JD was taking away from the camp. While he was talking he had expertly managed to get Chris' shirt off of him.

Chris grunted a response as Nathan began probing the bullet's entry and exit wounds. "He didn't want to be civil. Ouch. You gonna run that thing all the way through me or what?"

"You hush up. Hmph. Come in here half dead and not expect it to hurt when I'm patchin' you up." the healer chided half under his breath. Chris looked over at the tracker who was now crouching beside him. The smile on Vin's face reflected that both men knew Nathan only acted this way with them to cover his concern.

"How you doing?" Chris asked Vin looking at the bandage around his head.

Waiving it off, he cocked his head at Chris. Running his eyes over the black eye nearly swollen shut and the various scraps and bruises, Vin finally answered. "Better than you. Damn Chris. What'd you do? Beat Robbins to death with your face?"

Snorting, Chris asked "That bad?"

"Seen men who have been stomped by cattle look better."

"Drink this." Nahan interrupted, giving Chris a bottle of whiskey. "You gonna need stitches in your shoulder and in that gash on your forehead."

Pointing the bottle at Nathan, Chris asked Vin "He been like this all day?"

"Pretty much." the tracker replied smiling at the cutting look the healer threw his way.

"Now I can do these stitches with or without you having anything for the pain. Don't make no difference to me." the healer threatened, reaching for the bottle Chris still had not drank.

Grimacing at the memory of how much that hurt, Chris got the message. Swigging down the whiskey, he did pause long enough to ask where Mary had gotten to. Looking over his shoulder, Vin frowned before answering. "Over with the other two women. What'd Robbins do to her?"

"Wouldn't say at first. Said it didn't matter. She was in pretty bad shape when I got to her though. Wouldn't say anything, then seemed shocked that I was alive. Did get out of her later that he didn't rape her, but... he hurt her some way besides hitting her. I do know that."

"There are a lot of ways a man could hurt a woman like Mary." the Judge observed joining the men and overhearing what Chris had just said. "One of the worse would be to kill someone she cared about. If she thought you had died because of her, it would damn near destroy her."

Reading the shocked look on the gunslinger's face, the Judge changed the subject to give him a moment to gather himself. "Sorry if this was a private conversation. Just wanted to come over to thank you for bringing Mary back alive. She said that if you hadn't shown up when you did, Robbins would've killed her."

Nodding acknowledgement to the thanks, Chris took a slow drink contemplating the Judge's words — someone she cared about... He was roused from his referee by Nathan's voice. "All right now. No offense Judge, but I need some room to work here iffin Chris is ever gonna get fixed up so he can get some sleep." Although he didn't say Vin's name when he was talking, he threw the tracker a look to make sure he knew he was included in its meaning.

As the two men moved off, Nathan paused with the needle just above Chris' shoulder. "This is gonna hurt some..."

The following afternoon, Mary reluctantly threw her saddlebag onto the mare's back. Although she knew they had to eventually go back to town to get the charges against her cleared, she wasn't relishing the thought of doing it.

She had eagerly agreed with Nathan's quietly issued order this morning that Chris needed to sleep in. She smiled again remembering the look on the gentle healer's face when he informed the group that they would have to deal with him if they woke Chris up. And she had to admit that Chris did look better and said he felt better when he did finally get up. By the time Nathan had rechecked his wounds and was satisfied that all of the injured were strong enough to travel, it was almost lunchtime, so that had delayed the start a little longer.

Now the inevitable trip into town was coming nearer and nearer, and as much as it pained Mary to think about it, going to town could mean someone getting hurt again. Especially if they met resistance of any kind. She knew that despite his injuries, Chris would be the one in the lead and in the most danger. If anyone was going to be hurt, the odds were that it would be him. She didn't know if she was ready to witness that again...

"You all packed?"

Vin's voice startled her. "Oh.." tumbled from her mouth as she jumped nervously at the sound.

"Sorry Mary. Should of made more noise comin' up on you." the tracker said regretfully.

"No... It's alright." Mary quickly replied, trying to ease the self-recrimination she saw on Vin's face. Shaking her head and looking down she continued "I was just someplace else, that's all."

"Robbins ain't ever gonna hurt you again." the tracker reassured her softly, taking a guess as to what Mary had been thinking so deeply about.

"I know." she said looking up at him. "It isn't him actually. It's the next one that concerns me now."

"The next one?." Vin asked perplexed.

"The next one waiting to knock you unconcious or maybe shoot Josiah or JD or Nathan or ..." Mary hesitated to clear her throat and look at the black dressed man overseeing the campsite activity "...kill Chris because of me... because I jumped into something I had no business getting in the middle of and got in over my head."

"You were only trying to help your friend. There's nothing wrong with that..."

Snapping her eyes back to him, she cut him off in a tormented voice "And if Chris had died yesterday..." Mary halted and closed her eyes at the thought. Taking a deep breath and staring at the ground she continued in a low voice "Robbins said he had taken the time to find out about me.. knew what would hurt me the most... and he was right. I can't go through that again Vin... seeing Chris get shot, thinking he was dead... I didn't think about Billy... Orrin... or anyone else... I just wanted to die too." Shuddering, she tried to cover up how much the memory hurt and lighten the moment by giving Vin a half-hearted smile and joke. "And not to mention, you'd have fewer headaches if I didn't, as you so delicately put it, try to help my friends."

Vin knew the bitterness in her voice wasn't directed at him. Looking around while trying to decide what he could say to help her, Vin spotted Josiah heading towards the horses. "Josiah." the tracker called, indicating with a nod he wanted the preacher to join them.

"Mary here thinks it would be better if she weren't around." Vin told Josiah as he walked up.

"What? When we go back to town?" Josiah asked confused.

"No, in general." the tracker clarified. "Says it's her fault I got cold-cocked and that Chris was hurt." He didn't think it was his place to relay Mary's feelings.

Josiah adjusted the coat drapped over his arm before responding. "And how would your leaving change what already happened?" he asked watching the conflicting emotions flickering in her eyes.

It wouldn't Mary had to admit. Still... "If I leave now, hide while you take Robbins body into town and until the Judge recinds the wanted posters... it could stop it from happening again."

"For now, yes, if someone didn't find you while we get the rest of this mess cleaned up." the preacher said. "But what about later, after we get back to Four Corners? One of us could get hurt in any number of ways."

Breaking eye contact with the two men, Mary looked at the ground. Nervously she made a confession "Since yesterday, I've been thinking that it would be best for me to not go back to Four Corners."

"I see." the big man said looking at nothing in particular in the woods. Turning his eyes back to Vin, he shifted his stance and began to speak as if Mary wasn't there. "Well then... guess we better get stuff ready for Chris. I still got a clean shirt and I think there's some flour and sugar left. If you've got any extra jerky that will help. I'll check with JD for shells. You see if Buck has any pants to give him and get Ezra's extra bottle. Gather up at much oats as you can for the black. Then tell Nathan he better pack up whatever Chris'll need to make sure his stitches don't get infected. We'll probably both need to talk to the Judge to make sure he ain't too mad with Chris for leavin' his duties at Four Corners." Vin solemnly nodded at each phase of Josiah's plan.

Watching the two men, Mary couldn't figure out what they getting Chris ready for. Finally she couldn't contain her confusion. Touching Josiah's arm she tensely asked "Where is Chris going?"

Looking at her, Josiah answered Mary as if the answer was right in front of her and he was shocked she didn't know it. "Why... to where ever you're going. Otherwise, Vin or I might as well shoot him now and get it over with. Couldn't stand to see him die a little more each day if you ripped out his soul by leaving. Could you Vin?"

"Nope." the tracker said before he walked away with Josiah leaving a stunned Mary behind.

Pulling to a halt just outside of town, Josiah eased Rachel to the ground to join Melanie and the Ranger to wait under a stand of trees. Giving the Ranger his rifle and pressing an extra pistol into Melanie's hand, the big man made sure they had enough shells in case they needed them.

"With a little luck, we'll be back for you within a half hour or so." he assured them.

Moving back towards the others, Josiah mounted and pulled his own weapons to check them while listening to Chris bark out orders.

"If we run into trouble, Buck, you and Vin find someplace high. The rest of us will get Mary and the Judge to cover. Regardless, I want Mary surrounded. Nobody gets to her.."

"No." the widow interjected cutting him off. "It's better if I'm out front."

Shocked by the words coming from beside him, Chris twisted his entire body in the saddle to look at the speaker. "No. It's too dangerous." Doing this, he missed the look that passed between Josiah and Vin as they realized they were only partially successful in calming Mary's fears.

"That's exactly why I should be out front." she countered. "I got all of you into this..."

Shaking his head while she was speaking, Chris again told her "No."

"Chris..." Mary began, desperation creeping into her voice.

"No Mary." came out again, only this time from across the circle of horses. "Chris is right. It'd be best if you were in the middle." the Judge firmly told his daughter-in-law. Holding up a hand to stave off her renewed protests he continued. "I know what your doing and why you're doing it, but you're not thinking this out. You being in front would be an invitation for every two bit hoodlum left in that town to start firing. They'll see Robbins is dead so the only way you're worth any money is to be brought in dead. If you're in the middle, we're sending them a message that you're not to be bothered. Hopefully, they'll listen and this can end peacefully."

"And if it doesn't and one of these men die?"

Looking at the others for an answer, the Judge watched as each of the men looked at the other and had a silent conversation of their own. It was finally Buck who broke the silence. "Well then Mary, it'll be our time. And nothing you do is gonna change that." he said before turning his big gray mare towards town.

Waiting for Mary to follow the men moving in front of her, Chris couldn't miss the war of emotions on her face. He didn't know why, but he had the distinct feeling she was contemplating turning her horse and running far away from Cedar Bluff and everything that had happened since she first arrived there.

"Mary, you ready to go?" he asked in a calm voice, not wanting to inadvertently spook her. Finally getting a hesitant nod, Chris watched as she nudged her horse to follow. He didn't miss the fact she couldn't look him in the eye as she did it.

Nearing the outskirts of town, Chris eased his arm from the sling and flexed it trying to loosen the muscles in his shoulder. Riding beside him, Nathan watched the pained movements.

"Don't suppose it do any good to tell ya it'd be best iffin you left that on." the healer said, already knowing the answer.

Pulling the sling over his head Chris gave Nathan a smile as he handed it to him. "Here you can give it back when Vin gets his bandage back." the gunslinger said, which Nathan knew would be never.

>From the other side of the group, JD perked up. "Hey Chris. How much can you see out of that eye?"

It was a fair question. Although Nathan had managed to get most of the swelling down around his left eye there was still enough to be noticeable and to interfere with Chris' periphial vision. "It's not too bad." Chris answered reaching up to touch the area around his eye. "Only thing I can't see is from here back." he said, moving his hand to just even with his eye. "And if anyone gets that close behind me, they better be yelling out who they are." he said in a voice loud enough for all to hear.

Ezra, who was at that moment in the area Chris had just identify, turned to look at the others to ask a silent question — who would be responsible for covering Chris' blind side? Receiving the answer, the gambler turned his eyes back towards the town they were entering before speaking. "It seems I have been chosen to ensure anyone in the vicinity of your diminished visual acuity is a comrade in arms. Therefore, please remember to announce any intention to shoot in my direction before doing so." he drawled.

Riding past the first building leading to main street, Chris' only answer was a slight movement of his head as he pulled his coat back behind the pistol. Around him he could hear rifles being pulled and the shuffle of horses as the men made sure Mary was covered from all sides.

Pulling the group to a halt in the middle of the street, Chris' mind registered that the town was virtually void of life except for the twenty men standing before them. Running appraising eyes over them, he knew their attempt at an indifferent attitude was only a front. Their slouched postures did little hide the tenseness evident in their eyes or the guns strapped low on their legs. This wasn't going to be easy.

Beside him, a voice broke the stillness that had descended on the street. "I'm the Circuit Judge, Orrin Travis. These men work for me and this woman is in my care. Your boss here," throwing a thumb over his shoulder towards a blanket wrapped form draped over a horse behind him "is dead. So you boys drop your guns and move away and there won't be any trouble."

"Travis?" one of the men near the front called out. "Ain't that her name too?"

Before Chris could tell the man that it was none of his business, another of the outlaws answered. "Yea it is. But don't make no difference anyway. Robbins left the reward money for her before he left town. Now all we got to do is get her away from these two bit gunslingers and we get it — even if she's dead." he sneered.

Chris pulled his pistol as the men made a break for cover pulling their guns and snapping off shots as they did so. Trying to control his horse spooked by the sound of the gunfire and trading rounds with the men intent on getting to Mary, Chris was just about to snap at the Judge to get Mary to cover when he heard the hiss of a bullet as it passed inches from his head. Ducking instinctively, he barely located the sniper and yelled "on the hotel roof." before he spun his horse and threw himself at Mary, taking both of them to the ground. Grunting at the pain radiating from his shoulder in protest, Chris rose to his feet snapping off more rounds as he pulled Mary up and directed her towards the cover of a stack of crates. While moving, he instinctively located where the others had reached cover at since they had been forced to scatter to avoid the bullets flying over them.

Pushing Mary down behind the crates he saw that Orrin had made it to the boxes beside them and was now firing at the outlaws. Sliding down beside Mary, Chris ran his eyes across the trembling woman. "You okay?" he tautly asked.

Getting a nod indicating yes, Chris reached for the bullets in his gun belt while listening to the barrage of sounds around him. He could distinguish the sounds of Vin's carbine and JD's colts from their nearby position. That meant Vin hadn't made it to higher ground to give cover.

Spotting the gun still on Mary's hip, Chris reached for it after pressing his empty gun and loose cartridges into her hands. "Reload it." he snapped before turning his attention back to the men trying to kill them.

Pressed against the crates by Chris' body shielding her, Mary tried to force her trembling fingers to hold the bullets to put them into the gun. She had loaded a pistol before, but never while someone was shooting at her. It didn't help that she wanted nothing more than to start screaming "Stop it." at the top of her lungs. Stop it before one of them is hurt or killed. Swallowing the bile that rose in her throat, Mary tried to block the thoughts running through her mind. Chris needs me to load this gun she kept telling herself over and over.

Pushing the last bullet in, Mary eased the hammer back down to the cylinder. She had done it. Looking up from her completed task, Mary caught a slight movement behind their position. Tensing, she was still trying to decide what she had seen when a man appeared raising his gun to shoot Chris in the back.

"Nooo!" Mary screamed as she launched herself from the corner, pulling the trigger of the gun in her hand. Three bullets flew in the direction of the would-be assassin.

Two more bullets quickly followed from the gun in Chris' hand. Startled by Mary's scream and the sound of shots being fired so close to him, Chris threw himself flat on the ground to locate who or what had caused Mary to shoot. Watching the man fall, Chris heard the firing in the street behind him diminish to only random shots. Turning his eyes back to Mary, he eased himself up so he could reach her.

Gently laying a hand on her arms still holding the pistol out in front of her, Chris could feel her earlier trembling threatening to change to violent shaking.

"Mary. It's over. Let me have the gun." he gently coaxed while running his hand down her arm to retrieve the pistol from her grip. Finally releasing it, Mary turned terrified, tear-filled eyes to him. Laying down the gun, Chris reached up to cup the side of Mary's face while sending her comfort and assurances with his eyes. As a whimper escaped her lips, Chris slid his arms around her to bring her close to him. Hugging her, Chris caught Orrin's concerned eyes for a brief moment before lowering his head besides Mary's.

Watching the stagecoach driver and Vin load luggage on top of the coach, Chris was glad to be leaving Cedar Bluff. It had been three days since the gunfight in the street and during that time, apart from some minor skirmishes by some late stragglers still looking to collect the bounty, all of the trail weary Four Corners residents had taken the time to rest and begin to heal from their ordeal.

The Judge had wired every law man within a two hundred mile radius notifying them that the arrest warrant for Mary had been rescinded. He had gone so far as to order each of the sheriffs to wire back a confirmation that they had received his message to be sure. Still he wanted someone to escort Mary, Rachel and Melanie back home. That job fell to Chris and Vin. The others would stay in town for a few more days to keep an eye on things while the Judge found a new sheriff.

It's not that either Chris or Vin minded leaving early. For the most part, Mary seemed to be coping with the trauma she had experienced. Most of the time, her fiery bright eyes were clear. But there were still enough times that Chris had caught something in them — flashes of fear, regret, worry, a nervous restlessness — that he wasn't ready to let her leave without him. Vin seemed to sense something in her too and had volunteered to travel with the group. Besides, even though Vin hadn't said anything, Chris knew he wanted to get away from the Texas lawman before he was recognized.

And it will get me away from Nathan's watchful eyes, Chris thought chuckling to himself. During the confrontation in town, Chris had broken open the stitches in his shoulder when he and Mary had hit the ground. Since then, Nathan had been keeping a close eye on him, looking for any signs of infection. While Chris appreciated why Nathan was doing it, Chris was ready for a little space.

Helping the women into the coach, a voice behind him made Chris pause. Turning he saw the Texas Ranger coming up to him, a hand stretch out before him. "Just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings about what happened." Looking up into the coach at Mary, he continued. "Ma'am, I am truly sorry for leading Robbins out to you like I did. I just didn't know what type of man he was."

"I understand." Mary said as her eyes drifted over to look at Rachel. "He fooled a lot of people." Looking back at the Ranger, Mary continued. "I feel I must also apologize to you for stealing your horse the way I did and ruining your clothes. And thank you for not pressing forward with the charges against me."

Waiving it off, the Ranger chuckled. "And have this group after me?" throwing a thumb back towards Chris and the other men standing on the boardwalk.

Turning to walk away, the Ranger stopped after a few minutes. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out several folded papers and handed them to Chris. "Guess I won't be needing these anymore" he said before taking a step toward Vin. Looking up at the tracker sitting on the coach seat, the Ranger pursed his lips. "I hear tell there's a man who's wanted for murder by the name of Vin Tanner who's been seen around Four Corners. If you run across him, tell him not everyone in Texas thinks he's guilty and that I know some of Eli Joe's boys. Let him know that when I find 'em, I'll contact him."

Looking down into the Ranger's eyes, Vin gratefully nodded his head to the man before he walked away. Turning his eyes to Chris, Vin cocked his head to ask what the Ranger had given him. Unfolding it, Chris separated the papers and ran his eyes over two wanted posters — one of Mary and one of Vin. Showing them to the tracker, Chris smiled as he folded them and stuffed them in his pocket before he climbed into the stagecoach to head home.

The End

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