DISCLAIMER: See Part 1
Many thanks to my beta readers Judy and Winnie and to Adrian for her encouragement.
While their friends were suffering feelings of despair, even guilt, all the while praying for miracles, Vin and Ezra were slowly making their way to water. Not even the cool night breeze could bring them any relief. Both men were exhausted. They were stumbling, practically dragging one another along. Having each one eye swollen shut made walking in the moonlight less than safe. It was downright dangerous. Even though Vin knew the area, he still couldn't stop himself or Ezra from occasionally stumbling and falling over rocks and brush along their path. Their clothes were becoming more and more tattered as they went along. Their coats had taken the most damage.
It probably didn't matter to Ezra that he would never wear his coat again, but Vin was very attached to his coat. He'd had it for many years now, and it had always made it through the worst of times. This time, however, he didn't think his buffalo jacket would survive the abuse of a rockslide and all the times Vin and Ezra had fallen since they'd dug their way out of the rubble. It was torn and ripped in half a dozen places.
The wife of Vin's best friend had made the jacket out of hide from the buffalo that Vin and the Indian tracker had killed together on their last hunt. It was a reminder from one of the few times when he had felt like he had a family. He hadn't realized how badly he wanted to feel part of a group again until he'd come to Four Corners and met Chris and the others. Even when he was with the Indians, he had always known he wasn't one of them. He shared many of their beliefs, but his differences from them had only been emphasized when the soldiers had come to force them onto the reservation. Vin had been immediately singled out because of his hair and his blue eyes. He'd watched in horror as the soldiers had held him back, and then they had killed his best friend and his wife. The soldiers had laughed at the murders and actually expected Vin to thank them for setting him free. They never truly understood that Vin had freely chosen to live with this tribe. So instead of dying with them, Vin left and became a bounty hunter. He used his skills in tracking down men who murdered, raped, and robbed innocent people. It was as if Vin felt this was the only way he could honor his dead friend. He couldn't save him, but he could save other innocents from people who didn't have the army to use as their shield from justice.
Sometimes Vin wondered what higher power had sent him to Four Corners. He had found there what he had missed since his mother had died. If anyone had told him that he would find a family in that tiny dustbin of a town, he would have laughed. Then he'd looked across the street into Chris Larabee's eyes. Vin didn't know why, but he'd felt an immediate bond with this gunslinger. He knew instinctively that here was a man he could trust with his life. Their friendship was unique in that they complimented one another. Words weren't necessary when you thought along the same lines. Vin also found similar beliefs in the other members of the Seven.
Nathan and Josiah were two of the gentlest men he'd ever known. They could comfort the weak and the helpless and then turn around and destroy the people who caused the suffering without batting an eye. Vin understood them and accepted them like they accepted him. None of these men would let a bounty come between them. Loyalty and friendship meant the same to them as it did to Vin. Even JD put his friends before his own safety. Vin would never forget the way JD was going to face down a marshal to save him. He was almost embarrassed when he discovered he was afraid for JD, but Josiah had stepped in to keep the kid safe. Sometimes he wondered which of the six of them worried about JD the most, but he came to understand that was how older brothers felt about younger ones.
Then, there was Buck. Buck could drive Vin crazy with incessant talking. At first Vin felt like Buck only talked because he liked to hear the sound of his own voice. Then he discovered it was more because life was fun and exciting, and Buck just had to share it with the people he cared about. He didn't mind hugging you in public if he felt it was something that had to be done. He was just so full of living that he had to share it with you whether you wanted it or not.
Vin was rudely thrown from his silent reverie as he stumbled again. Ezra kept him from falling this time, but Vin had to shake himself to get his thoughts back to the present. If he didn't pay more attention, he could hurt himself or Ezra worse than they already were. Vin looked over at Ezra and tried to thank him, but he saw a rather vacant look in the gambler's one eye. It was almost as if Ezra was caught up in his own remembrances to notice the present. Vin stopped walking in order to let Ezra come back to their present circumstances. Besides they could use a breather anyway. He listened to their labored breathing in the cool night breeze. At least the air was cleaner here and not filled with dust like back at the rockslide. Vin leaned a little away to take some of his weight off of Ezra.
The gambler was someone Vin had never thought to call friend. He was a con artist, a man who would lie and cheat to profit off of people. Ezra was also a man who loved children and would go to any lengths to protect them. He was a man who would run out in the middle of a gun battle to even the odds against men like the Nichols brothers. He was also the man who had loaned Nettie Wells the money she needed to buy her mortgage and save her home. Vin realized that once he made up his mind, Ezra was just as stubborn as Chris Larabee. Loyalty and friendship meant more to the gambler than he would admit, but his actions spoke louder than words.
None of these men were perfect, they all had their vices and secrets, but when push came to shove, every one of the seven were there for each other. That was the one thing that was constant for all of them. They could disagree, they could insult one another, but they would defend each other with their lives. That was what made them so formidable. Theirs was a family based on acceptance of each other. Most of all, they liked each other.
Ezra was slowly putting a part of his past back where it belonged. The loneliness of his childhood had reared its ugly head on this silent march to water. It wasn't as if they didn't want to talk. It was the simple fact that neither man could find the energy to talk. Actually, their silence was the only comfortable part of this hellacious trek, and Ezra liked comfort. He didn't like to dwell in the past at all, and one reason was that it was so depressing. Unlike Vin, Ezra's mother hadn't died while he was a child, but there were times that Ezra felt that he'd been just as much an orphan as Vin had been. He remembered being dumped on numerous relatives who had made it quite clear that he was the interloper, the one who was cared for only for appearances. He often wondered if his mother would have truly missed him had he run off or worse died from many of the numerous diseases that tended to claim many a child. Not one to thrive on self-pity, Ezra did acknowledge that his childhood had given him an excellent education and a very early awareness of when he was on to a good thing. He was on to a good thing here with the six men he had chosen to ride with. Like Vin, he had a deep-seeded need to belong to a family. He wanted to be part of a real family, not just a mother who taught him how to live off of the stupidity of others. He'd found a family in Four Corners.
It was an odd assortment of brothers fate had chosen for him, but Ezra recognized that these were just the sort of men he needed to teach him what a family was truly like. He might tease Vin about his buffalo coat, but he also couldn't imagine the man in fancy, elegant clothing. Vin didn't pay attention to fashion. If you were his friend you could wear homespun or silk; it didn't matter to him. His loyalty was absolute. And then there were Buck and JD. Those two were always picking at one another, but through it all there was an undercurrent of affection and loyalty for one another that was contagious and didn't stop between the two of them. The affection and loyalty were extended to the whole group.
Josiah, Josiah didn't judge people for their pasts or for any future failings. He accepted who you were and listened when you needed a good listener. His advice if he gave you any was to listen to your heart for what was right. He trusted you to find the right path, and that trust was all you needed as encouragement. If Ezra wanted advice, all he had to do was listen to Nathan. Ezra knew that even when Nathan voiced his most vehement opinion against one of Ezra's schemes, that he could always count on Nathan to still be there even if Ezra strayed from his chosen role as protector of his less than intelligent fellow man. Nathan was a nurturer who couldn't leave you alone if you were suffering from any pain, physical or mental. Then there was Chris Larabee.
Chris could scare a demon into turning tail and running, but Chris was also a man who few people had been privileged to know. Chris cared too much about the world around him. Ezra saw that and knew that the icy exterior tried to protect the vulnerable man who couldn't stand to see some innocent fall victim to violence. Some might call Larabee weak for his willingness to accept responsibility for the world around him. Ezra knew it took a man of considerable strength and character to be willing to carry that responsibility. He respected Chris, but he also knew that Larabee was no knight in shining armor. He was a man who had lived through hell and was willing to face it again and again to save others from it. His armor was tarnished, but he was a better man because of it.
Ezra realized they had stopped. His breathing wasn't as harsh. Neither was Vin's. He looked through his one unswollen eye into the one mischievous blue eye Tanner had directed on him. "May I ask if we have reached our destination, or have you decided this is where big brother will find our bodies?"
"I was waitin' to see if you're still alive, or if I been draggin' a dead body with me."
"I believe I am still among the living. And you?"
"Never better, Ezra." The snort he heard beside him almost set him off into a fit of hysterical laughter until his one good eye actually focused on what was in front of them. 'Thank God!' "Uhm, Ezra, we're here."
Once again one green eye met one blue eye. "Where are we?"
"At the stream. It's 'bout four feet in front of us."
He heard Ezra's mumbled, "Might as well be four miles."
Vin needed Ezra's sarcastic wit right now. "We made it this far, we ain't dying yet!"
"Death is beginning to sound like an attractive alternative to this. However, I'll wager I can crawl to it faster than you."
This time Vin snorted. They stumbled toward the waiting water. The four feet felt like an eternity, but they made it. They fell more than knelt by the stream and plunged their filthy, aching hands in the cold water. Then, with no regard for polite society, they plunged their swollen and bruised faces into the cold water and drank their fill. The cold water on their swollen eyes and hands was like heaven, and the water tasted better than anything either could remember.
"We'll just rest here for a while, OK?" Vin couldn't move. There was no way he could walk three and a half more miles tonight.
"Oh, I believe we have earned a respite, my friend. We'll move on in an hour or so. Certainly, by then we will have regained our strength."
Ezra pulled out a handkerchief and with a shaky hand put it into the water. He wrung it out and placed it on his swollen eye as he rolled away from the water. He lay on his left side where he could avoid putting his weight on his back and still tilt his head holding the wet cloth on his eye. Vin did the same with his bandanna. Both men fell asleep almost instantly. It was a little past midnight, and neither man had any idea that there were people digging through a hill full of rubble looking for their bodies.
Several hours after the two men collapsed into exhausted slumber, a miracle of sorts was becoming a reality at the site of the rockslide. None of the twenty men who had been digging would take more than a five-minute break before they returned to the rubble. They had managed to move and sift through almost all of the rocky debris. They were down to at least two sections that they attacked with a mixture of dread and excitement. No other bodies had been found in the debris in three hours since Gregson's body had been found. They located the two boulders, but they had found no other signs of the two missing men. The dark despair that had settled on Chris's heart as he sifted through debris and picked up rocks in various shapes and sizes began to be replaced by an almost frightened hope. He hadn't said anything, but he could feel that Buck shared his unspoken optimism. He jumped at the hand that settled on his left shoulder. He had been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice Tom Darcy walk up to him.
"We've managed to get through all this rubble, and we ain't seen no sign of those boys. You don't think that maybe?" Darcy was just as hesitant to voice any hope as the others. Around twenty-three men and women listened to the two men voice what they were all beginning to realize.
"We're just finishing this section. I think maybe they aren't here.' Chris smiled the first genuine smile he'd felt since the two horses had come running riderless and covered with debris into town. But if their bodies weren't here, where were they?
"Well, we know they were here cause TJ saw 'em runnin', but all we found were their hats. If they managed to get out alive, where are they?" JD voiced what everyone else was thinking.
Too many people were fighting against false hope. No bodies meant Vin and Ezra must have crawled out of the rubble alive, but where were they now?
"Surely, if they got out, they would have waited until help came?" It was the first time anyone had heard Casey speak all night long. She'd been unusually silent, but she had just asked the next question everyone else was thinking.
"Not if those two boys didn't know TJ had seen everything and was goin' for help. Were you in sight where Vin and Ezra could see you, son?" Chris could always count on Nettie to ask the right questions.
Larabee walked over to the wagon where the young man was helping pass out food and drink. He'd been too exhausted for anyone to let him do anything else. "TJ, do you think Vin and Ezra knew it was you that yelled to warn them?"
TJ thought carefully for a moment. Then he smiled brilliantly. His teeth were white against his dirty face. "We came up from behind 'em, Mr. Chris. I don't think they even knew I was here. I yelled and pushed Gregson just before the explosion. Might be they didn't even know it was me yellin'."
"Then they'd have no reason to wait on a rescue party, would they?" Mary's voice had been a little unsteady as she asked that question. A little ripple of excitement began to travel throughout the group. There had been no reason to assume that help was coming. That would mean that Vin and Ezra had probably decided to make their way back to Four Corners on their own. It was the only possible explanation.
"Then, why didn't we run into them on our way here?" Buck didn't want to ask that question. He didn't want to lose that feeling that his miracle had been granted, but he also couldn't understand why no one had spotted Vin and Ezra on the trail between the town and here. Two different groups had set out from town taking the same trail that Vin and Ezra had taken earlier that morning, or was it yesterday morning already? Buck had lost track of the time.
"It would stand to reason that someone would have come across them even in the dark. It'd be real hard to miss two men on foot if you're about to ride over them." Josiah was searching for possible explanations. He turned to see Chris and Nathan both frowning in deep thought. Everyone was waiting for a reasonable explanation, one that would keep hope alive.
"Nathan!" It was not quite a shout, more like a forceful request for attention, but everyone stopped to listen. "What are some of the things that could have happened to them?" Nathan frowned even more at Chris.
"Like maybe they got knocked on the head and wandered off?" Nathan wished he hadn't said that aloud, but it was the only explanation he could think of. "If that's true, then they could have gone off in any direction, Chris. They could be lyin' out there needin' help or worse." No one liked that possibility.
"Yes, but if they were hurt badly enough that they weren't aware of what they were doing, could they have gotten very far from this immediate area?" Nathan looked over and silently thanked Mary Travis.
"She's right. If they'd been knocked senseless, chances are they'd still be close 'round here." Josiah and Mary had both succeeded in giving Nathan a helping hand. It was up to him to resurrect hope.
"Well, I can't see them not being injured in some way. But, if they ain't here, that has to mean they were able to walk. They should be walkin' back home. Dependin' on how bad their injuries are, that's what'll decide how far they get. But that don't explain why no one saw 'em on the way here." You could only give so much hope before people had to face the truth.
Nathan didn't mention all the things that could have happened to two men on foot who were injured and disoriented. Everyone already knew the hazards of living in this area. There were too many dangers for healthy, well-mounted men. If Vin and Ezra were wandering out there on foot, they needed to be found fast. No one knew if either man could last another day without water or medical attention. The fact that they had gotten out of the rubble in one piece and managed to somehow walk away was in their favor. But, no one knew when their luck would run out.
"We need to know what direction they went in." Buck had one miracle; he wasn't about to let it get away from him. "Then we can go an' get 'em."
Everyone started talking about dividing up and searching, but Chris held his hand up, once. Everyone got quiet immediately. They waited for Larabee to tell them what to do. His calm attitude immediately made them calm down. Josiah nudged Nathan, then touched Mary lightly on the arm. They both looked up at the man and nodded their understanding. No one would ever know that Chris Larabee wanted to run and start looking immediately, but he knew they would never find the two missing men in the dark. He exuded authority, and everyone was prepared to obey without question.
"It'll be dawn in another two, three hours. We need to look for any tracks that might indicate where Vin and Ezra were goin'. Since we didn't see them comin' from town or Darcy's, we have to assume they were either between us or wanderin' around in the dark. We need five groups with all the lanterns we can spare till the sun comes up. Anyone see any tracks that look like two men on foot give a holler."
JD and Buck divided everyone into groups; each headed by one of the peacekeepers. None were as good at tracking as Vin was, but they knew enough to be able to recognize either man's boot print. They started sweeping the area around the rockslide using the moonlight and lanterns as their light. TJ got down from the wagon along with the four women present to help search. They were very slow and very careful, but no one had found anything yet, and it was nearly dawn.
Chris was getting impatient, but he knew that they had to be very thorough if they were going to find the missing men. He refused to even consider the possibility that they might not find them alive. He clung to the one fact that they had been able to crawl out of the rubble and walk away. They couldn't be that badly injured, and he knew if anyone could stay alive in the wilderness, injured or not, it would be Vin Tanner. Vin was just too stubborn to allow the elements to defeat him or Ezra. However, he knew they had already wasted precious time digging through the rubble. If it had been daylight when they arrived, they might have seen the tracks leading away from the rockslide sooner. His thoughts, usually so well concealed, had not gone unnoticed. Mary walked closer to him and spoke so softly only he could hear her words.
"We couldn't have known they weren't here. If they were fit enough to walk out of here then our chances of finding them alive are very good. Don't you think so?" She always seemed to know just what to say to him to make him feel like there wasn't anything he couldn't do.
Chris rewarded her with a smile, one he reserved just for her. It usually made a shiver of delight run right up her spine. She rather liked having this man make her feel special. "Oh we'll find 'em all right. And they'd better look tired and hungry and hurtin' all over, or I'm gonna make wish they were for makin' us dig up a hillside lookin' for 'em."
He didn't really mean it, but Mary giggled when he said it. He wasn't as angry or so full of grief he still couldn't threaten his two friends for being out here in the first place.
"You can't always keep the people you care about safe, Chris. Sometimes, despite everything you do, it's just not meant to be." Chris knew she was referring to her late husband and Sarah and Adam as much as she was referring to Vin and Ezra. He nodded, and she continued. "Do you really think that you could have stopped this from happening? Even if Vin and Ezra hadn't been here, we'd still be looking for TJ. And who knows, Gregson might have gotten away with killing the boy and still have found a way to get to Vin and Ezra."
"You're right, but that still doesn't make me worry any less. I thought they were dead for sure. Now I know they left here alive, but in what condition? We still may not. . ." Mary put her hand over his mouth to stop him.
"We will find them because you promised me I could help torture them for scaring the hell out of us." She grinned and felt Chris's mouth mimic hers before he took her hand in his.
"I never realized what a mean streak you had in you Mary Travis. Remind me not to ever make you mad at me." He never got to hear her answer because Buck interrupted them.
"JD and TJ have found some tracks, Chris. You best get over here."
Chris and Mary ran over to the group that had formed behind the young men; somehow no one considered TJ just a boy anymore. Josiah was leaning down with them examining the tracks. It was just dawn, and that light, plus the light of the lanterns had finally made the tracks visible. Josiah looked up at Chris and Mary as they came to an abrupt halt beside him.
"Tracks show two men on foot headin' south."
"South? Why south? That won't take 'em back to town." The livery owner was puzzled.
"Water. They went for water." Chris had taken the map out of his pocket that he had taken from Vin's room. He spread it on the ground and pointed to a spot on the map. "There's a stream 'bout a mile due south of here. Town's only three an' a half miles from there."
"Ain't that the same stream Vin showed us on that shortcut of his when we were comin' back from takin' that prisoner to Eagle Bend?
"Yeah, it is." Chris answered.
"That makes sense. They'd be needin' water, 'specially if they'd been without all day." Nathan was pleased Vin had been lucid enough to remember the stream. "Tracks show two men walkin', so's I don't think they're that bad off. We may just get to 'em fore anything worse happens." He looked over at his other friends and grinned. Hope was a very contagious feeling.
"We can catch up to 'em there." TJ felt really good all of a sudden.
"You ain't goin' nowhere 'cept home. Ma'am, it's 'bout time this boy was home in bed." Nathan knew how to deal with stubborn. His six friends brought a whole new meaning to the word stubborn, so one teenage boy was just an easy victory.
TJ didn't want to go home until Vin and Ezra were found, but he looked at his parents' faces and then at Larabee. There was no way they were going to let him go chasing after two injured men. He started to protest when Chris spoke to the whole group.
"We'll go on from here south to the stream. We think that's where we'll find 'em. What we need now is for everyone else to go back to town or back home."
Everyone started to protest at once. They had worked so long trying to find the missing men that they all wanted to be there when they were finally found. One group after another spoke up, and Chris listened with growing impatience until he just couldn't restrain himself any more.
"I understand, and don't think we ain't grateful for all you've done. But, we only think they've gone to the stream. We don't know for sure. If we can get everyone to fan out going back home, then we can cover the whole area between Darcy's spread and town. That way someone is sure to come across them."
No one had any argument against this plan. So, just as the sun began to rise on a new day, the searchers started on their ways home. They had fanned out in such order that there was no way two men on foot could be missed at any point from their starting point to Four Corners and Darcy's ranch. Anyone finding the two men were to fire three shots in the air to alert the others. Chris led his other four friends as Nathan drove the wagon. If Vin and Ezra were still at the stream or somewhere between the stream and Four Corners, the remainder of the seven would find them.
Ezra had only been asleep four hours when he was rudely awakened by a rough, warm, wet tongue in his ear. His one good eye shot open, and before he could speak he heard Vin Tanner from beside him.
"Um, Ezra, I like you an' all, but you ain't my type."
"Then may I inquire as to why you have your tongue in my ear if I am not you type, Mr. Tanner?" The tongue was removed.
"That tongue in your ear. It still there?" The tongue had found Vin's ear again, and he felt a rush of warm breath on the side of his face.
"No, may I inquire. . ." Ezra was cut off by the sound of alarm in Vin's voice.
"It's back in mine now. I think we...."
"...have company!" Ezra finished the sentence for Vin as they both jumped up as fast as their battered and bruised bodies would allow them.
Their abrupt movements and accompanying groans of pain had startled the creature that had been nuzzling both men. She backed away a few feet. It was the blood bay mare that Gregson had stolen. Searching for water, she had wandered right to the spot where the two men had collapsed. One blue eye looked at one green one, and despite the pain it caused, both men started laughing. They'd nearly been blown up, they were exhausted, they were scratched, bruised and hurt all over, and now a horse had been nuzzling both men's ears. The whole situation was just too ludicrous.
"This is one phase of our adventure we are not discussing with anyone."
"Hell, y'all are still givin' me grief over the twins tryin' to take me home with 'em. You think I'm givin' anyone any more ammunition you're crazy."
"Then the deal is, we say nothing about this to anyone."
"Done." Vin and Ezra almost shook hands, but they remembered just in time. They took one look at their hands and looked at one another. They stumbled over to the stream and plunged their aching hands into the still cold water. They drank again, and Vin managed to coax the mare over to them while Ezra discarded his tattered and torn coat. It finally dawned on Vin what Gregson had done.
"That bastard stole my horse!"
"Isn't this the same horse the seven of us are giving Miss Wells for her birthday?"
"Yeah, but we ain't given her to Casey yet, so she's still my horse. If that bastard wasn't already dead, I'd dig him up and shoot him full of holes."
"That would be far too kind. A horse thief and murderer deserves to be hung."
"You're right, Ezra. When I can breathe again without hurtin', I'm goin' back an' diggin' Gregson up just so I can hang him."
"I would be delighted to help you my friend. However, for the present, what do you suggest we do now that we have one horse?"
"I say we ride double back to Four Corners, sneak inside, bathe, get dressed, and only let Nathan look at our faces and hands."
"Now why do we want to pretend that only our faces and hands took the brunt of this escapade? I for one would like to have our illustrious healer try to ease my suffering all over."
Vin sighed. "That's how they do it. Ezra."
"Do what, Vin?" For the moment, Ezra could not imagine why Vin was acting much less talking in this manner.
"First they give you somethin' they tell you is good for the pain. Then when they've knocked you out with it, they strip you naked. Then you wake up, still in pain, naked in some strange bed. Then, they hide your clothes, and they keep you there forever."
"Now Vin, they didn't knock you out, you were unconscious from being shot. I am certain that no one is going to try and strip either one of us naked."
"Trust me, Ezra. Chris and Nathan and Miz Nettie will strip you down before you can say jackrabbit. They're just plumb mean when it comes to someone they know is hurt. They take it personal, like you did it on purpose to cause them worry. Our best bet is if Chris is really pissed with us. He'll just shoot us and put us out of our misery. Then Nathan and Nettie won't be able to strip us of our dignity."
Ezra hated to admit it, but Vin made a lot of sense. This was exactly what they had done to Vin the two previous times when he had been injured. The only way Nathan and the rest of them could keep Vin confined to bed until he had recovered was to take his clothes from him.
Nathan would hound them until they let him examine them, and Chris would take any steps necessary to ensure that whatever instructions Nathan said would benefit their recovery were carried out. Their only hope was to get back to town undetected, get cleaned up, and pretend they weren't bruised over seventy-five percent of their bodies. They just might get by showing Nathan their faces and their hands. Maybe the damage there would sidetrack Nathan from looking any further.
Ezra sighed, and Vin nodded in agreement. They both knew that somehow they would pay for their good idea. They were doomed either way. If Chris didn't shoot them straight out, Nathan would find a way to examine them and find all their bruises, and then the fat would hit the fire. There was no way short of a miraculous cure for bruises that they could keep any part of their dignity. They could barely see or stand or even breathe very well on their own right now, but they still had to find a way to get on the horse and ride back to town. They could only hope to delay the inevitable ruckus Nathan would raise when he saw the extent of their injuries.
Vin and Ezra both knew that the healer was fully capable of insisting they be incarcerated until he deemed them healthy and fit, and Chris would be in the mood to back him up. They couldn't rely on the others to help them out even if they could convince Buck, Josiah, and JD that their idea had worked perfectly. The fact that Gregson had nearly killed them would not be an acceptable excuse. The others weren't going to be happy when Vin and Ezra drug into to town looking like death warmed over. Then there were Mary and Nettie Wells. Mary and Nettie would manage to make both men feel guilty over any worry they might have caused them. If they were lucky and got back soon enough, maybe neither woman would have heard of their escapade until they were safely back.
Vin looked at Ezra with his right eye. Ezra returned the look with his left. They were both trying desperately to come up with an explanation for how they ended up being blown up without having to tell Chris and the others what they had been up to. Then it hit them at the same time.
"They don't know,..." Vin started.
"...what we were doing out there." Ezra finished the sentence. It was getting rather spooky that these two were somehow finishing one another's thoughts. This development wouldn't surprise Chris Larabee, but if it continued it might just shave a few years off his life.
"They don't know Gregson snuck up on us from behind." Vin looked triumphant. Ezra was equally pleased.
"Might I suggest that Gregson saw our approach and set a trap for us?"
"That sounds like a real good idea, Ezra. We can tell 'em Gregson stole the mare and saw us comin' along."
"He falsely assumed we were after him, no he assumed we would come across him on the trail."
"That sounds good. Now, we just need a reason for us being out there."
"What if," Ezra paused to think, "we were trying to locate a gold mine some unfortunate was trying to use as collateral to repay the debts he accrued in a game of chance?"
"Yeah, he said he had to go to Eagle Bend to get the deed, and we were takin' a short cut to get there before him."
"Excellent, my friend. No one will ever deduce what we were actually doing. However, I suggest you let me weave the tale. We know big brother has a nasty habit of being able to discern when you are prevaricating or not."
"You sayin' I can't be subtle?"
"I am saying, my friend, that you and mendacity go together as well as oil and vinegar."
"Ezra?"
"You are an extremely bad liar, Vin."
"Am not." The tracker was indignant. Everyone was always telling him he couldn't tell a lie. 'Where did they get these ideas?'
"I have witnessed you terrorize men twice your size and twice as disagreeable into surrendering, but when it becomes a matter of lying to a friend, you, Mr. Tanner, could not cut your way out of a wet paper bag with a sharp knife."
Vin couldn't argue with that. Ezra had him dead to rights, so Vin just stood there leaning against the mare. Besides, he hurt too much to continue arguing with Ezra. The gambler was just as stubborn as Chris when he wanted to be.
"All right, have it your way. You tell Chris what happened, and if he ends up shootin' us remember I'm gonna be sayin' I told you so all through eternity. Get on the horse."
Chris would have appreciated watching the inept attempts of these two trying to mount a skittish mare in the moonlight when they could barely move. As it was, only the mare heard the moans, groans, and language that accompanied the three times they tried. Finally, they made it. It wasn't a happy partnership, since there was really no way either man could find a comfortable way to ride the horse with their injuries.
"Ow, watch it. That's my rib cage you're tryin' to crush."
"Would you kindly remove your elbow out of my one good eye."
"Well, if you want to walk, be my guest." Vin was just as sore, hot, tired, cranky, and hungry as Ezra. Buck and JD would have appreciated the scene immensely.
"If you would remove that rag that you call a coat, it would be much more comfortable. It is probably so full of debris that this poor animal will collapse under the weight of it before we go a mile."
"I'll dump you on the ground fore I'll dump my coat. Someone special made it for me."
"Well why didn't you say it held sentimental value? Mind-reading is not in my sphere of talents!"
This running dialogue continued only until Vin and Ezra finally started the agonizing trek back to Four Corners. Neither man spoke after that as they both had to use all their strength and concentration to stay on the horse. They had no idea that not only did Chris know what they had been doing, by this time he was also hot, tired, cranky, and just one step behind them.
Three and a half miles seemed an eternity to Vin and Ezra. They held the mare to a walking pace because they didn't want to tire the horse and end up on foot again. However, the only parts of their bodies that did not hurt were their feet. They wanted to keep it that way. Riding was sheer agony, and there was no comfortable means of riding the horse as bruised and battered as they were. Mrs. Potter and Inez, who had stayed together watching Billy and the Potter children as they waited for the searchers to bring the bodies back, were standing in front of Potter's store. It was Billy Travis who spotted the two dismounting very slowly in front of the bathhouse.
"Miz Potter, Inez, look!" He didn't wait as he ran toward his two friends. "Vin! Ezra! You're alive!" He would have jumped both men if Inez hadn't caught up at that moment and stopped the eager boy. She realized the slightest movement could topple the two men into a heap on the ground.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. They smelled as bad as they looked, but she was happy to see them alive. "Where are the others? They have been looking for you since your horses came back yesterday afternoon."
"We didn't see anyone. We figured no one knew where we were, so we came back on our own." Vin didn't offer any more. His one goal was to wash the dirt and debris off, and then soak for a long time in a tub of hot water. He knew it would ease his aching body, and he wanted to do that before he put his clothes back on to hide his bruises from Nathan and the rest. For some deluded reason he thought if he had his clothes on, then they couldn't take them from him. Ezra didn't have the heart to disillusion the tracker by telling him that he had been fully clothed prior to the last two times the others had stripped him of his "dignity".
Mrs. Potter joined them and immediately started fussing over the two. "Oh thank God! You poor dears, we were so worried that you were dead, and look at you! Those eyes must hurt terribly. You need a bath, food, and rest. Inez and I will get your clothes. Jake, you get these boys inside and help them. Billy, you wait here for their clothes. Come along, Inez. We'll take care of their eyes and hands while they're eating."
Inez looked like she wanted to question both men, but Vin and Ezra took the escape Mrs. Potter offered them. Jake started to usher both inside while Billy waited for their clothes. Ezra paused a moment.
"Mrs. Potter?" She turned immediately, and Ezra asked a favor. "Would you mind bringing me two silk shirts, please?"
"Two, Mr. Standish?"
"Yes ma'am, please." The gambler smiled, and Mrs. Potter beamed despite the poor picture he presented at the moment. Inez rolled her eyes at the blatant manipulation of the sweet woman. Ezra used his left eye to wink at her. Now, Inez knew the two were up to something. She would be sure to alert Mary and the rest when they returned.
Even Jake Sutter, the man who owned and ran the bathhouse, insisted on fussing over the two men. It seems he was mighty glad to see the peacekeepers alive and in one piece, also. Several others stopped by and offered to help both men into the building. Everyone near them kept mentioning how good it was to see them alive. Vin just shyly nodded his thanks and ducked inside the building as quickly as he could. Ezra seemed to inhale the attention before making his departure from his adoring public to follow Vin.
Vin checked with his right eye to see who entered the building. He had that hunted feeling, and he knew who the hunters were. He was going to be very careful and not let Chris sneak up on him. He relaxed when he only saw Ezra walk very carefully into the bathhouse. Jake had insisted on helping Vin with his buttons and his boots when he saw the condition the tracker's hands were in.
"That's got to hurt a lot, Mr. Tanner. Holler if'n ya need more help."
Vin finished taking his torn clothing off and sunk into a tub of hot water. It stung at first, but then his aching and sore muscles began to respond to the heat. It felt like heaven, and Vin didn't really care if Chris came in and shot him now. He'd die happy. Then he remembered what Inez, Mrs. Potter, Jake, and the others said. He looked over as Jake helped Ezra with his buttons and boots. It didn't take all that long as the gambler's clothes had been in the same sad shape Vin's clothing had been in. He waited until Jake left the bathing room.
"Ezra, you hear what everyone was sayin'?"
"I heard them mention they were very happy we were safe and alive. It really is quite endearing of them, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but don't you find that a bit odd?"
"Certainly not. After all we have done for this town . . ."
"I ain't talkin' bout that. What about this bit that they were glad we're alive?"
"Let's ask young Master Travis when he brings our clothing the latest gossip concerning us." Ezra hadn't bothered to look up, yet. He was too busy concentrating on how wonderful the hot water would feel.
Vin winced when he caught the sight of Ezra's back as he gently lowered himself into the tub. If his back matched Ezra's, Nathan was going to have a fit. He'd let the gambler savor the luxury a moment more before they discussed what the others were talking about.
Vin closed his eyes; it felt so good just to relax in the hot, soothing water. He didn't notice Billy come in and set the clothes on a bench by the wall. Neither did Ezra. The water was cooling when Vin abruptly woke up. He'd heard what he thought was the pounding of horses' hooves, but he relaxed when he didn't hear anything more than Ezra's steady, even breathing. In hindsight, he knew he should have heeded his first inclination and thrown his clothes on and run.
Having one eye swollen shut didn't make keeping an eye out for danger very easy, and Vin missed the black apparition that appeared almost immediately in the doorway. He picked up the soap and gingerly began lathering his hair with it. The soap dripped down his forehead obscuring his vision even further. He and Ezra had better get cleaned up and dressed before Chris and the others got there. Vin caught a movement from the corner of his eye as he reached for one of the buckets of clean water by the tub, and then he heard a voice that literally scared the hell out of him.
"Need some help rinsing off?" The ice in the voice cooled the hot water that splashed over his head rinsing it. There was no place to take cover. He should have known Larabee would somehow find a way to catch him off guard. If he had just stayed awake he might have avoided this. Somehow he figured this was Ezra's fault.
"Aw hell!"
The combination of Chris's voice, the drops of water that had splashed on him, and Vin's resigned voice woke Ezra from a blissful repose, well as blissful as his bruised body would allow. Ezra looked up in time to see the room fill with four other very filthy and angry men and two very angry women. He knew how Vin felt. There was nowhere to run, and they were in a very vulnerable position. He gave a very weak smile to the crowd before him. There was wisdom in taking the offensive.
"I believe there is enough room for you gentlemen, but Mrs. Travis and Mrs. Wells might prefer a little privacy. I know Mr. Tanner and I both value ours."
Mary had the grace to turn a bit pink, but as usual, Nettie stood her ground. "You boys feel like you look?"
There were two people Vin Tanner didn't want to cross. Chris Larabee was one; Nettie Wells was the other. He knew they knew, so he decided to play on their sympathy if he could. No way was Ezra's silver tongue going to work now. Vin just wished he knew how they had found out everything so quickly. He decided honesty really was the best policy. "Worse, Miz Nettie."
"Good!" Nettie turned to Chris, "Let me know when I can have my turn with them." Chris grinned, and Vin felt a shiver run up his spine. He heard Ezra gulp next to him when Mary gave her parting shot.
"Remember, you promised I could help you torture them." The two women left them alone with their five friends, but somehow the two men didn't think friendship would keep them alive very long. If looks could kill, Vin and Ezra might have preferred staying buried beneath the rubble. Chris had the same look on his face he usually reserved for some miscreant whose absence the world wouldn't mourn too much.
The soapy cloth suddenly became very interesting as Vin broke contact with the five glares directed at him and Ezra. He sighed loudly as he continued his bath and a stool was drug between them. Chris sat down between the two tubs of water and the two men who suddenly were very intent on finishing their ablutions and exiting as quickly as possible.
Chris looked over the bruises, scraped knees and hands, and the swollen eyes. Inwardly he winced and thanked God his two friends were safe and apparently in one piece. It wasn't going to prevent him from making them squirm a little more, but he'd decided he wasn't going to kill them right off. That would be a kindness, and Chris wasn't feeling kind after spending the night moving a hill of rocks and suffering all the emotional agony he and the others had suffered. He was just going to make Vin and Ezra suffer slowly over the years as he and the rest of their friends made sure these two didn't get any more good ideas. He nodded to Buck to begin the torture session. He didn't trust Nathan to be 'mean' once he saw the extent of their friends' injuries. As it was, Nathan was more menacing standing glaring at the two with his arms crossed.
"Well, they look purty good for two men that had a hill a rocks drop on top of 'em."
"Felt more like a mountain, Buck." Vin didn't think he heard too much sympathy in Buck's voice, and then there was JD.
JD was just standing there with that satisfied, 'You're gonna get it now!' look on his face. Vin couldn't sneak a peak at Chris's face because the man was sitting on his left side, and Vin would have to turn his head to look at Chris. He really didn't want Chris's undivided attention right now, so he looked over at Josiah. There was no help to be found there judging by what Josiah said next.
"The Lord does take care of fools and idiots."
"Well, we got one fool and one idiot." Buck was really enjoying himself. He was just so happy to see Ezra and Vin alive that he just had to share his good mood with everyone. Of course the fact that he was amusing himself at his two friends' expense only made it better.
"I'd say you were right, Buck."
JD laughed in sheer relief at Chris's response. He'd been so relieved to find the tracks of two men leading to the stream that his optimism had just grown until it was nearly bursting out every pore in his body. He hadn't lost two of his friends, his brothers after all, but he was still mad at them. Gregson could have killed them, and they had scared the hell out of JD and everyone else. Besides, they hadn't confided in him, and JD thought their idea really was a very good one. Maybe if he had been with them, he could have saved them from being buried under all that rubble.
"You boys want to tell us what happened?" Chris took Vin's chin in his hand and turned the reluctant tracker's head so he could look in Vin's unswollen right eye. Vin decided that ignorance was much safer than the lie he and Ezra had worked out earlier. Chris certainly knew which egg to crack first.
"Don't rightly know, Chris. One minute we were standin' there mindin' our own business, then, 'Boom!' Next thing I knew I woke up under a pile of rocks. I dug me and Ezra out, an' we came home soon as we could." There, he hadn't lied to the man in black, but he hadn't told him what they had been up to either. Ezra would be proud of him. The icy glare left Vin and focused on the gambler.
"Vin is correct, Mr. Larabee. He thinks he saw Gregson, that new hand from Darcy's ranch we had the misfortune to run across day before yesterday. I myself didn't even know anything was happening until Vin yelled for me to move. I only revived after our friend removed the debris that was trapping me."
Ezra was sticking with the truth, also. After looking into those knowing eyes he now understood the reason Vin Tanner couldn't to lie to Chris. It was something lurking in the back of those cool, green eyes that demanded the truth. Ezra knew the paltry lie he and Vin had come up with wouldn't help them out at all. So far neither one of them had lied to big brother, and Ezra felt like pleading ignorance was the best course to head off the storm that was threatening to consume the two vulnerable men. His optimism was short lived, however. Chris smiled at him and then turned to Vin.
"I'm not talkin' about Gregson. We know he tried to kill you and TJ Darcy, too."
A worried Vin jumped on that lifeline. "He had TJ? The boy all right?"
Ezra was just as concerned but equally happy for the respite. "You mean that mendacious bastard kidnapped that fine young gentleman? I trust he is safely in the care of his loving family at this moment?"
"The boy's fine, much better than you two. It was him that yelled and saved your sorry hides." Buck knew what Vin and Ezra were doing, so he told them all about TJ. Now, they could return to the real matter at hand. He smiled at the two men trapped in the tubs. Buck would've enjoyed a bath himself, but right now he was having a grand time watching Vin and Ezra squirm under the Larabee inquisition.
"What we want to know is why the two of you were out there in the first place." It was Josiah's turn again.
Neither Vin nor Ezra had missed the fact that Nathan had yet to say a word. He was still standing in the doorway, but his hands were on his hips now, and he was checking the two of them out right now as he stood there staring at them. That and his silence made both men nervous. He hadn't seen their backs, yet. Both men were fascinated by the glare in the healer's eyes. He was almost as formidable as Chris in this state. Vin envisioned a long incarceration. He'd be lucky if Nathan didn't lock him and Ezra in the jail naked for the next two months. This big brother thing wasn't much fun right at this moment. He always thought Nathan and Josiah each had a good sense of humor, but they weren't showing it now. Vin sighed, and Ezra echoed it as Josiah spoke again.
"TJ told us a very interesting story about the two of you, some dynamite, and a slingshot. Care to explain?"
They were dead men. Vin looked around Chris at JD hoping to head off the execution. "That bastard must've stole our horse, an' took TJ when the kid called him on it. But we got her back, JD."
No one but Ezra seemed interested in that deduction. Vin had to turn his head again, so he could see what look Chris had on his face. He wished he hadn't bothered. It was hotter in the room all of a sudden, even sitting in a cooling tub of water. That might work to their advantage. "They're plannin' on killin' us with pneumonia, Ezra, makin' us sit here in tubs of cold water."
"I do believe death by pneumonia may indeed be their purpose, Vin. A bullet would be too kind a means of death. I believe our friends are bent upon revenge. They do not appear to care that we are suffering terrible pain and agony at this moment."
"Oh, trust me. We can see how much you are suffering. Having dug up every rock and piece of dirt searching for your bodies, I can imagine just how much you are suffering. Tell me, do you feel like you've inhaled half a mountain of dust and are wearing the rest? I know we do." Chris's voice was a combination of ice and anger. It was completely effective inducing additional shivers up their spines. It even succeeded in sending a few shivers up the spines of the other men in the small room.
Vin turned a pleading look at his best friend hoping for some sort of reprieve. He saw that nothing less than the full truth was going to get him out of the tub of water and to the nearest bed. He really did feel like hell. Ezra caught his eye. The gambler was just as miserable, and he nodded to Vin to give Larabee and the others what they wanted. It was their dignity or their lives, and both men were survivors.
Vin sighed and began, "Me and Ezra had this really good idea." Without looking he knew Chris had raised his eyebrow like he did when Buck or JD had done something he thought was outrageous. "Well, it really is a good idea if we're facin' some real bastards."
"And just what was this good idea?" Nathan finally spoke.
"Mr. Tanner and I felt we could use dynamite to even the odds when and if we ever face numbers larger than those we have faced together successfully. A sort of Ace in the hole if you will." Ezra gave a lame smile at his allusion to his gambling skills.
"You're tellin' us that you were playin' with explosives for our own good?" Chris made it sound like Vin and Ezra had been caught playing with matches and had burned the barn down.
"Weren't no playin' involved." Vin was righteously indignant now. "Ezra would sling the stick of dynamite in the air, an' I'd shoot it. You shoulda seen it, Chris. It worked real good." Chris had to fight to keep from smiling. Vin could talk quiet a bit when he was nervous or excited.
Ezra couldn't help but add, "Vin would hit the dynamite wherever he wanted it to explode. He never missed one shot. He is truly the finest marksman I have ever had the privilege to know."
Buck had to walk out of range to hide his smile. He'd already heard this story from TJ, and he was very proud of both Ezra and Vin for coming up with the idea. It beat the one he and Ezra had used against that Irish bastard who had tried to steal that land from the settlers. Josiah made sure neither one of the culprits could see either his or JD's appreciation of their idea. It really was a good idea when you had a sharpshooter like Vin Tanner and a devious mind like Ezra Standish. However, Josiah was beginning to agree with Chris. Sometimes Vin and Ezra thought too much alike not to worry what their next idea might be. It sure would be fun finding out what it was, though. Josiah had never wanted to die from boredom anyway, and being in this diverse group promised very little future boredom.
Chris appeared speechless at Ezra's enthusiastic endorsement of Vin's marksmanship. He should have known those two together would finally start noticing the things they had in common, especially that similar knack they had for ideas that no other person he knew would come up with. He looked in disgust at his two friends and finally motioned Nathan over to see their bruised backs. The only colors Chris could see were dark blue and purple splotches starting from the bases of their necks to spread out across their backs and only disappearing into the water. Chris had a good idea that those bruises probably extended much lower than he could see. Both men saw Nathan approach, and Vin and Ezra waited for an even bigger explosion than the one that had dropped a hill of rocks down upon them. It only took one glance, but that glance was enough to set off the usually quiet and genial healer.
"Dear God in Heaven! Do those bruises go all the way down your backs?" Vin would rather face an irate bear and Ezra a dissatisfied mark.
Nathan had knelt down behind Ezra and was examining his back looking for any cuts and abrasions. He motioned Chris to do the same to Vin. When he didn't find any, and Chris indicated neither did he, Nathan started issuing orders.
"I want y'all both as clean as you can get, so's I can check you both out. Y'all could have internal injuries or worse. And look at those eyes. Y'all are both lucky you didn't lose anything! Don't look at me like that. I'm gonna check for broken ribs, internal bleedin', everything." Nathan paused in his tirade long enough to take a breath. "I'll help this fool, an' Chris you better help that idiot." Nathan had just decided who was the fool and who was the idiot Josiah said God took care of. "I better not see either one of y'all do anything I ain't said you could do. Understand?"
"Now Nathan, I am quite capable of making these decisions for myself."
"It won't work, Ezra. I told you this would happen." Vin had already accepted the inevitable. Ezra would find out surrender was easier than fighting Nathan. The healer could and would play dirty.
"You will do what Nathan says, or I will not only let Miz Nettie have a piece of you, but I'll wire your mother."
Ezra sputtered at Chris's threat, "You wouldn't."
"He would." Ezra barely heard Vin over the laughter that erupted from the other men. The gambler decided that like Vin, he would bide his time until he could make his escape. Only this time, it was Vin who knew that escape was next to impossible when Nathan and Chris were involved. Ezra would just have to learn the hard way.
It hadn't taken long for Vin and Ezra to finish bathing, especially with their friends' help and encouragement which meant that both men felt the best way to shut their friends up was to get out of the bathhouse as quickly as possible. Ezra knew exactly what Vin had meant earlier when he had stated that Chris and Nathan could be more than disagreeable when enforcing their will on others. Before any of the others would succumb to their desire for a bath and food, they made certain that their two friends had been thoroughly examined by Nathan. The others had waited, watched, given helpful tips and comments, and finally laughed at the two totally ungrateful men. Secretly, all were relieved that the two really looked worse than they were actually injured.
Nathan had sent JD for a bottle of carbolic acid, some bandages, and the jar of herbal cream he used for bruises and had put it on the shoulders of both men. He did allow them to spread the cream all along the rest of their bruises, but he kept a stern eye on them while they followed his orders. Next, after he declared that the only internal injuries he could find were bruised ribs, he examined each swollen eye. He was particularly upset with Vin.
"It's always the left side, ain't it? You ain't got a lick a sense, an' I'm getting' real tired of patchin' you up every few months." Vin had borne Nathan's poking and prodding in silence up to this point, but when the healer started poking at his knees, enough was enough.
"I never got hurt every few months till I met y'all. Hell, I hardly got hurt at all. Y'all are just plain bad luck. Ow, Nathan! That burns! I hate that stuff!" Nathan had poured some carbolic acid on Vin's knees. Vin hated carbolic acid. It burned like hell on the raw skin. Ezra reached for his pants only to find them yanked out of his grip by a feral smiling Josiah. Nathan looked over at Ezra before he continued with Vin's scraped and swollen hands.
"You stay right there. You're next." He poured some carbolic into a small basin supplied by the ever-helpful Jake, who was supplying information to the crowd who had gathered outside.
The townspeople weren't so worried about the two men since they had turned up alive as they were having a wonderful time listening to their ordeal at the hands of their friends. The general popular feeling was that Tanner and Standish deserved whatever Larabee and the rest of the Seven were dishing out, since both men had scared everyone into thinking they had both been killed. Quite simply, they were all feeding off of the happiness everyone felt that their seven peacekeepers were all present and accounted for. They hadn't lost any of them yet, and that alone was cause for celebration. The other men who had toiled with them digging through all the rubble had already told the crowd how worried and then relieved the others were when no bodies had been found. Ed, the livery owner was particularly fond of the story TJ had told of Tanner's expert marksmanship. So while the general public gossiped and discussed their peacekeepers, Nathan and the others continued torturing Vin and Ezra inside the bathhouse.
Ezra winced as Nathan ordered Vin to put his hands into the basin with the carbolic acid. Vin almost balked at the command until he felt rather than saw the black clad figure move to his side. He turned his disgruntled eye to Larabee but only received a smile and an unspoken promise if he didn't voluntarily stick his scraped hands into the basin. Vin did as he was ordered, and his quickly suppressed hiss only served to make Ezra vow that the next time he had an idea, he would not verbalize it to anyone for any reason. He wasn't surprised when Vin turned looking at Ezra as he spoke.
"I ain't never tellin' you any more good ideas I get."
Ezra inhaled sharply as Nathan began pouring carbolic on his scraped knees. "That my dear Mr. Tanner is fine with me. If you never have another good idea again, I for one shall be forever grateful."
He felt rather than saw the unholy grin on Vin's face when he had to plunge his scraped hands into the now cleaned basin filled with the rest of the carbolic acid. The absurdity of sitting wrapped only in a towel while a crowd laughed at their predicament outside and his friends tortured them inside finally hit the gambler. He found himself realizing why Vin Tanner was suddenly grinning at him like an idiot. Trust Vin's odd sense of humor to spring up just when Ezra was feeling his worst. It was contagious as he saw Chris then the others one by one succumb to the happiness that they were still seven in number. The fact that he and Vin had survived the murder attempt with so few injuries was not just pure luck. Ezra was beginning to believe that his new family had a purpose to fulfill, and that a higher power than Lady Luck was somehow responsible. He joined in the amused smiles that had started out quietly and then built into a relieved but raucous laughter. The fact that he and Vin had to hold their bruised ribs while they laughed didn't deter them. They were alive and very happy about it. It was good to be home and surrounded by family, even if that family was intent on killing them slowly by treating all of their injuries.
Nathan wrapped Ezra's hands as he had for Vin earlier. Ezra gladly accepted his pants as Josiah handed them back to him. He also accepted Buck's help in dressing. He looked over and spoke before Chris helped Vin put his shirt on.
"I have an extra silk shirt. Mr. Tanner might feel more comfortable in that fabric instead of his usual attire." Chris grinned at Ezra and accepted the extra shirt Josiah had found with Ezra's other clothes. Vin started to say something, but Chris gave him a look that silenced the tracker.
"Say thank you and put it on." Chris held the white silk shirt out for Vin to put on. The tracker looked at it like it was carbolic acid. Vin didn't want to mention the fact that he didn't know silk from any other fabric Ezra might wear.
"It will feel better and cooler against your bruised back, Vin." Ezra explained his generosity.
"I'll get somethin' on it for sure."
"I have plenty of silk shirts, but very few friends and even fewer brothers." That part hadn't been as loud, but it was still audible to every one of the men in the room. Buck grinned ear to ear and poked JD in the ribs who ducked to hide the moisture that had gathered in his eyes. Nathan smiled, relaxing for the first time since this whole thing began. Josiah relaxed into a beaming smile as Chris favored the gambler with a very knowing and understanding look.
One blue eye twinkling despite the moisture, he must have gotten some carbolic in it to make it water like that, met the equally watery green one. "Aw hell. Thanks, Ezra."
"Now, ain't that sweet? Chris, you can't kill kin." Buck decided he'd rather have Ezra and Vin alive. Life would certainly get duller if those two weren't around to wreak havoc on the former gunslinger's nerves.
"He ain't worried 'bout killin' kin, Buck."
"Oh, and what am I worried about, JD?" Chris wasn't quite ready to let those two off the hook so easily. He still had a mind to wire Maude about her son's foolishness and to ask Vin how his reading lessons were coming. He waited for JD to tell him just why he should show any mercy to the two men who had caused him a hell of a lot of grief and discomfort.
"You promised Miz Nettie and Mary they could help torture Vin and Ezra. They ain't gonna be happy with you if you don't let 'em get a few licks in."
Chris Larabee burst out laughing. The others joined him, everyone except Vin and Ezra. Both men had forgotten they still had to get past Nettie and Mary. Vin looked for a back door. Ezra looked at the window covered with heavy cloth. Chris was happy to point out there would be no escape.
"Oh, I don't think I have to help Nettie or Mary. They said somethin' 'bout jail cells, locks, and losin' the keys. Still sounds like a really good idea to me." He smiled as the tracker and the gambler gave him dirty looks. Let them pout over his use of their phrase against them. He reached out and helped Vin pull his suspenders up over his shoulders. The bandaged hands and bruised ribs made the simple act of pulling one's pants up and adjusting suspenders very difficult. Chris smiled at Vin's disgust of having someone help him with his buttons and such. "Need some help with those socks and boots?"
"Y'all are enjoyin' this too much, 'specially you. I told you he had a mean streak in 'm." Vin turned to look at Ezra. The gambler wasn't in the mood to argue a moot point.
"Just goes to show you," Chris addressed the two men who really looked like they could fall onto a bed without any help. "You shouldn't piss Big Brother off!" He turned and walked to the door as two mouths dropped open in surprise. The others started laughing again at the matching looks of pure astonishment. Vin gave a disgusted snort, and then straightened up as Chris ushered Mary and Nettie into the room. Ezra put on his poker face. Neither man was going to go down without a fight for their dignity. Both women looked incredibly clean and fresh, not like they had been worrying all night over the two of them.
"Well, they don't look much better now than they did before." Chris had clearly placed Nettie in charge of them.
Vin looked over at Mary waiting for her to pounce. Ezra remembered that Vin had said the beautiful blonde widow deserved Larabee because she was just as mean as he was. Ezra had scoffed, but after all of Vin's other warnings had proven correct, the gambler waited for her first words with some trepidation.
"We have their rooms ready. Mr. Parker insisted that we put Ezra and Vin there until Nathan pronounces them fit. We thought adjoining rooms would make it easier on Nathan." She smiled smugly at the two men who had started scowling at the first mention of adjoining rooms. Adjoining rooms were like adjoining cells, just more comfortable. They knew they were going to have put up with a "jailer", namely Nathan, Chris, or Josiah until Nathan declared them healthy. JD could be talked into most anything, and Buck was really too softhearted to make Vin and Ezra do anything they didn't want to do.
"I don't need," Vin started to protest but was cut off by a stern look from Nettie. Ezra sighed, knowing any protest was going to fall on deaf ears. If Vin couldn't get Nettie to show a crack in her armor, Ezra surely wasn't.
Chris added all the incentive they needed. "You two are going to do exactly as you're told, aren't you?"
"Got along fine all my life on my own, now I got some know-it-all telling me what I get to do." Vin was clearly disgruntled at the news he had to stay confined in a room again until Nathan told him he could leave it. It went against his very nature to be confined anywhere for any length of time. He just couldn't help but protest, and the gambler was getting the idea that it was much more fun to be the one dictating to the injured than being dictated to.
"I do not think we have much choice at this moment my friend. I suggest we go quietly before we find out what big brother is prepared to do to us if we are uncooperative."
"Huh?" JD wished sometimes that Ezra would speak English.
"He said I best shut up and go quietly, or Chris'll shoot me."
Josiah had some sympathy for the two men as they both looked like they were sacrificial lambs going to the slaughter. "You boys need any help walkin' over there?" He laughed at the two dirty looks he received. So much for sacrificial lambs. More like two angry bees about to be swatted.
The others joined in his good mood as he opened the door with a flourish and watched as Mary and Nettie took Vin and Ezra each by an arm and ushered them out the door. Their audience had any number of helpful souls, but Vin and Ezra managed to thank them for their concern and make the arduous trip to the hotel without mishap. By the time they got to the rooms, Vin silently crawled onto one bed in one room while Ezra took the other bed in the adjoining room. Nettie and Mary didn't have to say much to them. Vin let them help him off with his boots, and Ezra did the same falling asleep almost immediately. Vin had one nagging concern before he would surrender to exhaustion.
"My coat's still at the bathhouse."
"That thing? Son, that coat has seen better days. Best get a new one." Nettie didn't have time for this foolishness.
"I need to get it 'fore someone throws it away. It can be fixed."
Mary responded to the plea in Vin's voice. "I'll make sure no one throws it away. I'll go get it now. Just lie back down."
"Ought to be burned. That coat's so full of dust and dirt it could walk on its own. Boy needs a new one."
"I want my coat."
"She said she'd go get it. Now hush and get some sleep." Nettie shook her head and pushed Vin onto the bed again. He was so tired it didn't take but a nudge before he sprawled on the bed. She put a gentle hand on the right side of his face and patted it like she would a sick child. He was the closest she came to having a son of her own, and she let him hear the affection in her voice. "I'll see what can be done to save that danged coat. I don't think nothin' will save it from what I saw, but you know we'll try. Now, go to sleep."
Vin closed his eyes and slept. He didn't wake up until he felt someone put something down on the bedside table near him. It was late afternoon, and Chris was standing by the bed. He'd brought a tray of food, and Vin responded to his stomach's reaction to it. He was stiff and sore, but the silk shirt really did feel incredibly soft. He'd never felt anything like it. Then he noticed what was under the tray. The tablet he'd been using in his lessons with Mary. He looked with his right eye suspiciously into the two green ones staring solemnly back at him and waited for Chris to embarrass him by asking about the reading and writing lessons. Instead he got something entirely different.
Chris pulled a chair close to the bed and spoke. "Thought I was gonna have to go to Tascosa with just your body, cowboy. I didn't like the way it made me feel."
"So you sayin' I owe you five hundred dollars?" Vin remembered making Chris promise to take his body and collect the bounty if he ever got killed, so he could have the last laugh when a friend collected. Who better than the man he considered a brother to profit off the lie that had made him a wanted man? It made Vin feel like he'd won if Chris got the money even though he knew his best friend would never use it.
"I'm sayin' you ever make me feel like I lost my best friend again, I just may have to shoot you. When we go to Tascosa, it will be to clear your name. And we all ride out alive, understand?"
Vin thought a moment and smiled. "I'll do my best to stay alive if you promise to do the same. I got no need to bury anyone else I care about." He knew Chris knew he was referring to the gunman's habit of walking straight into the bullets daring one of them to hit him. He'd be damned if he'd watch his friend be so careless with his own life.
The man in black thought for a moment and then looked into Vin's one good eye. "Tell you what. You promise to do your best to stay alive, and I'll do the same." Vin acted like he was thinking about it, and then he nodded his assent. He and his friend were in complete agreement. Their family meant too much to both to jeopardize any member of it foolishly.
Then Chris looked serious again. There was something that he wasn't telling Vin. "What's wrong?"
"Well, pard, I just don't know how to tell you this real bad news."
Vin's heart dropped to his stomach. What had happened while he had been asleep? Vin looked at the open door to Ezra's room. He could see the gambler's back rise and fall as he slept.
"What's happened?"
"Your coat. It died, Vin." Chris couldn't keep the serious look on his face any more. He grinned and kept that stupid self-satisfied smirk on his face even after Vin threw a weak punch with his bandaged hand.
"Y'all threw it away, didn't you?" Chris knew how attached the tracker was to that coat, but he didn't realize how much until he saw Vin's reaction. "I want my coat."
"Now, hold on. Nettie, Mary, Inez, and Miz Potter all tried to work on that coat, but Vin, it really is hopeless. It's practically shredded. You want to tell me why we just can't get you a new one?"
Vin hated explaining personal stuff to other people. Sharing part of himself made him feel vulnerable. It meant someone else had the ability to hurt him, and he hated that feeling even if it was Chris who was asking. But Chris had found out that Mary was teaching him to read and write, and he hadn't used that to tease him with. Vin realized that Chris wouldn't have teased him about the coat either if he had known why it meant so much to him. He took a deep breath and decided to trust Larabee with just one more piece of himself.
"Remember I told ya when I lived with the Indians my friend taught me to track?" When Chris nodded yes, Vin continued. "The last time we went huntin', 'fore the army came to round 'em up an' force 'em on the reservation, we killed that buffalo. His wife made the jacket for me. Army killed both of 'em. Coat's all I got left of 'em."
Chris knew what it had cost Vin to tell him about that part of his past. "I'll make sure no one throws the coat away. You might not be able to wear it again, but you'll still have it." He rose to go, but Vin stopped him with a hand on his arm. The touch was light, but it got Chris's undivided attention. "What?"
"It's okay. I don't need the coat to remember 'em. I got 'em where it counts."
Chris understood that and what it had cost his friend to let part of his past go. That's exactly what Chris needed to do. Put one part of his past to rest at last, too. He sat back down and looked at his hands for a while. Vin waited silently knowing that he was going to get something back in return. He hadn't expected it, but Chris Larabee was about to show Vin how much he appreciated that Vin had confided in him.
"When I was a kid, I had a friend. He was a cross between you and Buck. Had a way of getting' me to do stuff I didn't really want to, but we always ended up havin' a hell of a time. He was the closest I had to a brother."
Vin still remained silent, letting Chris get to the point in his own time. He didn't have to wait long. That was one reason why Chris and Vin were so close. The tracker knew when to push his friend and when to let him have the time he needed. Now, he needed time to tell Vin what was on his mind.
"We joined up together durin' the War, but his pa took him in his unit. They blew up stuff." Now Vin knew why Chris had reacted so strongly to dynamite. Somehow he knew what Chris was going to say next. He saved him from having to.
"He got killed, didn't he?" Chris looked at Vin and nodded.
"Some fool got careless. A bunch of good men died cause one man got cocky. I found him. There wasn't a mark on him, but he was dead."
Vin was silent. He'd known Chris had lost a large part of himself when he'd lost his wife and child, but he didn't know that Chris had already faced grief before. Vin understood grief and how it made a man want to protect himself from the pain of losing someone by pushing others away. Vin also knew how lonely it was to live like that, and what it cost Chris to tell him this. Both men were silent as they digested what each had confided to the other. Then, finally, the Tanner humor pushed itself out to lighten the mood.
"Hell, me an' Ezra are lucky you didn't shoot us on sight."
Chris appreciated Vin's attempt to lighten the mood. Things had been too close this time, and the pain of nearly losing two people he had come to care for as much as he had his childhood friend was still too fresh in his memory. Actually, talking about his friend's needless death made him feel better. It was easier to remember the good times instead of the one last time he had seen the body.
"You just make sure you stay outa trouble for a while. I'm getting' too old to be diggin' people who don't have a brain between the two of 'em out of a hill of rocks."
"I don't know, cowboy. Who else is gonna help Ezra make that vein in your forehead throb when you get really pissed?" Chris didn't have to find an answer to that outrageous remark because his short burst of laughter at what Vin had said had been loud enough to wake the man in the next room.
"May I ask what it is that is so amusing that you must interrupt my repose?" A rumpled Ezra stood in the doorway. He still looked like he'd been run over by the same stagecoach that had run over Vin. Chris gave him a companionable smile and indicated the food tray.
"Nathan said he was coming up here to check you two out again. Said you both had better eat a good meal cause he's bringing the carbolic and you'll need your strength." The friendly smile turned feral.
Ezra, however, wasn't really impressed this time. He saw Vin sitting on the bed grinning at him and knew that Larabee was no longer on the warpath, for this infraction at least. "I suggest, Mr. Tanner, that you and I had better feast while we are still able to do so with some modicum of dignity."
Chris set the tray of food on a table in the middle of the room. There was more than enough food for Vin and Ezra. Chris grinned at them. "Oh, did I forget to tell you that the others are coming to celebrate your return to the fold as Josiah would put it?"
"What's that mean?" Vin was suspicious of Chris. He'd gotten that look in his eyes again.
"Nettie, Mary, Inez, Mrs. Potter, the Darcy's, hell just about everyone in town is comin' by this evening to see you boys. That's why Nathan's comin' by to check you out. He wants to make sure you boys can come to the party the town's throwing you. Course, it's really a party to congratulate TJ for bein' a hero, but we thought you two might like to come downstairs and thank him. Go ahead, eat up. Oh, I forgot again. Must be getting' old. Either one of you need your meat cut up? Kinda hard to do that with your hands like they are."
"You are right, Vin. Mr. Larabee does take it as a personal insult when someone he knows has the misfortune to find himself injured."
"I know it. He thinks he's being real cute here. I say we ignore him. Otherwise, he'll just get Nathan to help him make us more miserable."
Chris walked to the door laughing at the two men. He paused a moment before he exited. "By the way. That idea of yours? Might work better if you use one of those things they shoot those clay pigeons into the air with instead of a slingshot. Get more distance with that, and if you got someone who's a fairly decent marksman, you might just have a really good idea." He shut the door on the two dumbstruck men. He really was enjoying this big brother stuff. It was a pure joy to torture younger brothers and put them in their places. Life was just getting better every day. Sarah and Adam would have liked these two. Chris sure did. He walked down the stairs whistling. Buck was lounging by the stairs waiting on Chris. The leader looked at the scoundrel and grinned. Buck saw the old devil may care Larabee standing before him and returned the feeling to his oldest friend with a matching smile.
"What say I buy you a drink 'fore we go up and watch Nathan torture them some more."
"I'd say that was a really good idea, Buck."
The hotel clerk smiled as the infectious laughter drifted over his way. Things sure had changed for the better in Four Corners since the Magnificent Seven had come to town. This was becoming a really nice place to live.
FINI
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