Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
When Vin Tanner awoke, the first thing that came to mind was the realisation that the stagecoach he had been trying to catch would have reached Sweet Water by now. Despite the pain that attacked him in waves and the fatigue that seeped so deep into his bones that simple movement made him groan, Vin knew he had to get up. He grit his teeth and bit down hard as he tried to sit up. Even the thought impulse sent to his brain so that his body could carry out that instruction, rebelled in protest at the foolhardiness of that desire. Vin managed to do no more than shift slightly in his bed before he had to give up all together.
Vin lay back in his bed, the pain having properly humbled him to the reality of his situation and he took stock of where he was. It did not take him long to recognise that he was inside Alex's clinic and with that realisation returned his most recent memories of the events that had brought him to this place. Will Richmond' s face flashed into his mind as well as a memory of the ground awash with his blood. He knew without doubt that he had killed Charlotte's husband and that knowledge drew a small groan of despair from him. It was not his intention to take the man's life particularly when Will was been so wrong about Charlotte and him.
"Hey cowboy." A familiar voice said softly in his ears.
Vin's breath caught as he recognised Alex's soft tones in his ear. He tried to turn his head in her direction but felt her cool palm against his cheek as she leaned next to his bed and saved him the trouble. He was very weak and groggy and the pain in his body was making it difficult to focus his eyes but seeing her did him a world of good the way nothing else could. The relief bled into him as he saw that she was here and not in some hotel room in Sweet Water, trying to decide how to live her life without him.
"Alex." Vin managed to say. His voice was as weak as the rest of him.
"You know," Alex tried to smile but it was too hard to overcome her emotions when she was so damn pleased to see that he was awake. "You could just have said you were sorry. I would have forgiven you without you having to get shot."
"Well that's what happens when you throw me out your door." He answered quietly, still too weak to muster anything more than a soft whisper.
"I shouldn't have done that." Alex blinked, showing more regret in her eyes that he could ever know. "I'm so sorry Vin."
"No, I'm sorry Alex." He countered, his voice was little more than a soft croak. "I let her get to me."
"Don't talk," she held her finger to his lips. "You need your rest."
"Was I hit bad?" He asked.
Was he hit bad? If only he had any idea what she and Nathan had been forced to endure during the three hours it took to replace the damage section of artery with Will Richmond's transplant and then to remove the bullet that had almost killed him. Between Alex's attempts to make the fine sutures necessary for the transplant to take and Nathan keeping Vin's vitals steady throughout the duration of the procedure, the hours that ticked by were painfully slow. There were moments during the surgery when Alex thought that he was going to die on the table and the only thing that had kept all of them going was sheer stubbornness against letting a small piece of lead defeat them.
"Bad enough." Alex responded, deciding not to go into details he did not need to hear. At the present time, she was so grateful that he had energy enough to come out of his surgery induced slumber that she wanted nothing to spoil the moment. Alex had once thought operating on Ezra had been difficult but as always, Vin eclipsed that experienced easily. Fighting to keep him alive had driven home to her just how much she loved him and the unpleasantness wrought by Charlotte and her words were so far away, Alex could not imagine why she had ever let it get in the way of how they felt about each other.
"Vin, I love you." Alex whispered softly as she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. "I shouldn't have over reacted the way I did. I should have listened when you tried to apologise."
"I was being an dang fool." He muttered weakly. "I let her get inside my head and make me crazy." Vin admitted, unafraid to confess that it was the plain truth of the matter. He was so grateful that Alex was here he was willing to say anything to keep that from changing. Until that moment, when she had been ready to board that stage and leave Four Corners forever, Vin had never appreciated the effect she upon his life since entering it months ago.
"She made us both a little crazy," She said brushing her lips against his in a gentle kiss. He was not in much shape for anything else, she thought with a slight smile. "Let's just put it behind us okay?"
Alex did not want to spoil things by lingering too long on all the wrongs committed by Charlotte against the both of them. The arrival of Vin's past love had clouded so many things, their judgement most of all and now that they were given a stark reminder of what was really important, there was no reason to punish themselves over the past. As for Charlotte, she lost a great deal more than whatever affection Vin might have had for her, she had also lost a husband and retribution seemed pointless in the face of that.
"My clothes here?" He grunted painfully, trying to lift his head to look around the room.
"Lie back." Alex gently stopped him from continuing the attempt. He was extremely weak and although for all intensive purposes, the surgery had been successful Alex did not want to take chances. What she and Nathan had done was risky and there was no real guarantee that Vin's body would not reject the transplant. Until she had indications to the contrary, Alex was not going to let him exert the strength needed for his recovery. "You're jacket's here." She said looking around the room and located his buckskins draped across a chair. His shirt and bandanna had been too soiled to recover and was discarded during the procedure.
"I need it." He said leaning back, painfully aware that she was right about him not moving too much. Even that small effort had drained him and he started to feel the pull of slumber tugging at him again. However, Vin was not going to sleep until he had accomplished this one little task.
Confused at what could be so important, Alex retrieved the heavy skin coat and brought it to him. "What do you need?"
"Inside pocket." He strained to say and Alex fumbled through the insides of the coat, noting some stains of blood on the leather and reminding herself to have it cleaned for him later on.
It took a few moments for her to find what he intended to find but Alex knew what it was the instant her fingers made contact with the soft velvet. Removing it slowly, she stared at the small box for a long while before she dared to raise her eyes to meet his.
"I got that for you the day you were in Sweet Water." He responded, struggling to stay awake because he wanted to see her face when she opened it and he was unwilling to wait any longer before presenting it to her. "Open it."
She wanted to say that he need not have wasted his money on such tokens because she knew how he felt about her, now so more than ever. However, Alex remained silent and lifted the lid before she took in the sight of the delicate band of gold, with a single jewel perched on top. It glimmered the under the dim light of the room and to Alex, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"Its beautiful." She whispered, trying to hide how overcome she was by the thing and immediately removed it from the box and slipped it onto to the correct finger.
"Ezra helped me pick it." Vin eased back into his pillow with a satisfied smile on his face at her reaction.
"You both have good taste." Alex replied leaning over to kiss him again on the lips when suddenly she heard the familiar voice of Chris Larabee behind her.
"I'm guessing he's feeling better." The gunslinger remarked as he stood at the entrance to the room with the rest of the seven.
Alex withdrew immediately and threw a smirk in his direction. "Very funny." She retorted. "He's doing better, but nowhere out of the woods."
"How you doing Pard." Chris said stepping forward to Vin. Chris' greetings was soon joined by a chorus of similar salutations and well wises from the others. Alex stepped out of the room as Vin was surrounded by his friends, wishing to change out of her soiled clothes and to get cleaned up.
"I've been better." Vin replied, glad to see his friends again. "I guess I ain't as good as Buck when it comes to avoiding pissed off husbands."
"Well that takes a special knack and life time of know how." Buck grinned, glad to see that Vin was well enough to joke.
"And the ability to jump out of windows like a jack rabbit." Josiah commented with a rugged smile.
"I ain't ready to try that yet." Vin chuckled and regretted that much exertion as soon as he did it. The pain registered in his face and quickly prompted Nathan into response.
"Now let that be a lesson to you," Nathan declared. "You ain't gonna be moving out of that bed for awhile and you're going to have to take it easy. Miss Julia says she'll lend a hand and look in on you while you're here."
"Mr Tanner, I weep for you." Ezra found himself admitting, unable to imagine even to the slightest degree Julia playing nursemaid to anyone. As it was, he was somewhat amazed at how Billy Travis had taken to her.
"We're glad you're okay Vin," JD responded, not as jaded as the rest of his companions to hide how he really felt about knowing the tracker had survived the gun battle with Charlotte Richmond's husband.
"Thanks JD," Vin smiled weakly at the younger man before turning to Chris again. "Any word on Billy?"
"No," Chris replied tautly. "Nothing."
"Its like they've fallen off the face of the earth." Buck muttered unhappily. "No one has seen them and if they had, they ain't talking."
"And we've been mighty persuasive." Josiah added.
Vin looked at Chris and saw just how tormented his friend was about this and knew that Chris was now bitterly regretting not pulling the trigger when Ella had been in his sights. At the time, Vin had voiced his opinion that Chris should have killed her because women like that had a tendency to come back. Something in her eyes had told Vin that she was not going to give up so easily and she was just crazy enough to try it again. Chris had not been her first victim. There had been many and some how, her past lover became objects of her obsession. She pursued them relentlessly and did not let them go until they had lost everything or she was forced to kill them. Vin knew she had not reached that stage with Chris yet but with Billy in her hands, it was terrifying to them all what she was capable of doing.
"I wish I could be of some help instead of being stuck here." Vin complained.
"Its okay pard," Chris said quietly. "This ain't your fault. Its mine." The gunslinger retorted, moving away from the tracker, trying not to show everyone just how badly he was feeling about Billy even though he was certain they all knew anyway.
"You weren't to know she'd come back Chris." Buck replied automatically, always quick to absolve Chris of his guilt because he felt so much already and was being consumed by it.
"It doesn't matter," he retorted and continued walking out of the room, before pausing long enough to cast a glance in Vin's direction. "Take it easy, I'll drop by later."
A heavy pall remained in the room after Chris had made his departure. No one spoke of it but there were all aware of the cloud that hung over them and would remain as long as Billy Travis remained abducted. Vin ached for his friend and it was a pain worse than what he was feeling now. He was aware as they all were, that Mary and Chris had not spoken since the night Billy was taken and Vin could understand the widow's rage and her terrible fear. Ella Gaines had not misgivings about burning a five year old in his bed when she had sent Fowler to kill Sarah and Adam, she would have less hesitation about Billy who was by her reckoning, not even Chris' child.
"We've got to find Billy." Buck exclaimed in frustration. "The longer things stay like this between Chris and Mary, the worse its going to get."
"You cannot blame the woman for feeling the way she does Mr Wilmington," Ezra responded. "He is her only child and forgive me for saying this, Mr Larabee should have told her about the deranged Miss Gaines."
"Look," JD spoke up. "We can argue about this to kingdom come but it ain't gonna change nothing. We got to find Billy to make it right again. Before its too late."
"Out of the mouth of babes." Josiah threw the young man a proud smile. "I think Vin needs his rest and I can sure use some food." The preacher replied, deciding this argument as JD had stated so pointedly would avail them nothing.
Nor would it bring them any closer to locating Billy Travis.
Mary saw Chris return to town through her window and saw her son was not with him.
Mary watched him as he made his way down the street towards the saloon and knew that he was forcing himself not to look in the direction of the Clarion as he walked by. She observed his progress down the board walk in the shadows of her darkened bedroom window and was able to tell as he moved in that sinewy way of his that he was hurting as much as he was. It was a struggle for her not to want to throw herself in his arms and allow him to tell her that things would be all right. Despite her longing for him, Mary Travis was still furious that he had not told her about Ella. They were meant to marry in three days and it right now the possibility of that happening was extremely remote.
Mary followed Chris until he disappeared into the saloon before she turned away from the window and started moving through the house with almost wraithlike substance. The silence of the walls around her seem to be even more overpowering as she found herself drawn to Billy's room. Mary knew she ought not to be going in there but her state of mind at the present moment was precarious to say the least. She wanted her son with her so badly, she could force herself to do nothing else but think of it. Attempting to throw herself into her work had done little or no good because she could not stand the quiet that allowed her to do it.
She twisted the knob to the room at the other end of the hall from her own bedroom and pushed the door open. Stepping inside, she could see through the faint light emanating from the hallway, his toys in an ordered mess around the room. Apparently Billy's idea of cleaning his room was to shove toys and anything he did not consider clothes under his bed. She saw an opened book on the nightstand next to his bed and picked it up for examination. Peter and the Wolf. Flicking through the pages filled with illustrations of Russian landscapes and wolves bearing sharp teeth. It was the sort of thing a little boy would love she supposed as Mary found herself sitting on his bed.
She noticed a shirt strewn on the polished wood floor and reached for it. Mary started to fold it, not knowing why she was doing this in the dark but requiring something to do. For reasons, she could not explain, she lifted the cotton shirt to her nose and took a deep breath of it. The material smelled like cookies and dirt. What her mother used to affectionately call 'little boy smells'. She breathed it in and for a moment could almost be forgiven for thinking that Billy was in the room with her.
Something inside her snap and the damn that held back the full measure of despair escaped her in like heaving of machinery or a gale breathing in deep just before it started to storm. Mary started to sob loud and unashamedly, terrified of finding her son the way Chris found Adam, knowing that she was not as strong as he and would not be able to recover should she have to bury her son like she had to bury Stephen. Mary wept uncontrollably, unable to stand this helplessness that held her in her grip. She wanted her son back and she wanted things to be the way they were with Chris too. She was angry with him but she also missed him and until Billy came back there would be no way to bridge the gulf over the rift that had forced them apart.
Mary did not know how long she let her tears run as she buried her face against Billy's pillow, the scent of him doing more harm that good because it was a stark reminder of his absence. She was visited with so many memories of Billy and they seem to spin out of control in her mind, the closer she came to believing that he would not be returned to her in one piece. Mary kept replaying things in her mind, his first steps, the way he would smile at her and how he would fall asleep to the sound of her voice. These were things that she was not ready to give up and what made the whole situation unbearable was that if this was the end of her son's life, then he would go to it alone and without his mother or his friends.
Suddenly, Mary came to a decision. She could no longer bear to wait here and let Chris find Billy because it was becoming painfully obvious that the gunslinger had no idea where her son might have been taken. Mary was also knew that she was sure as hell not going to let Ella used Billy as bait to lure her into another trap. Mary Travis was not helpless and she had resources at her disposal. If Chris' efforts to find Billy were unsuccessful then perhaps a different avenue of attack was required. Drying her tears, she stood up from the bed and hurried out of the bedroom, determined that this was still going to Billy's room for a long time to come.
Hurrying down the stairs, Mary started to let her journalistic instincts do the thinking for her. Too long had she been wallowing as the wounded mother when her son needed the resources and the intelligence of an investigator. Mary descended into the lower floor of the house and knew that the answer to finding Ella Gaines was in her files. Vin had asked her to make some inquiries about the woman when she had first appeared in Four Corners. The tracker had not trusted Ella from the very onset and had been dubious about the sincerity of her feelings for Chris.
Although Mary had confessed to feeling some jealousy at Chris' interest in Ella Gaines, she could not begrudge him wanting to move on after his wife's death and there had been nothing himself and Mary during that period. Mary reached her office and started searching for the folder with all the information she had garnered about Ella for Vin's perusal. Even though she had to explain most of it to the tracker's whose reading skills had been rudimentary at the time, despite her reading tutorials, what they had learnt had been enough to convince them both they were dealing with someone quite formidable.
Mary pulled open the drawer and sought out the particular file, praying that she was correct in assuming that the clue to finding Ella Gaine's present whereabouts was in her colourful past. Rifling through the list of folders kept neatly in alphabetical order, Mary found Ella's file easily enough. The file was not exactly thick and Mary wondered if there was enough information within it to be useful but she was sick and tired of leaving things to the seven. Easing into the chair behind her desk, Mary scanned through the documents and telegrams that had been collecting dust since Ella's departure from Four Corners all that time ago.
Of course none of it held the most important facts about the mysterious woman, that she was fully fledged psychopath who became fixated on the men she had known throughout her life to the point where she was forced to murder in order to ensure her access to them. Mary found herself shuddering at the insanity that would drive a woman to have done this terrible thing to ten men, not just Chris. She wondered how terrible it must have been when Chris made the discovery after long last that Sarah and Adam had been killed for such an unimaginable reason.
Mary glanced through the file, sifting through the documents that told revealed the ownership of Culpepper mines around which of the drama regarding Ella had unfolded during her stay in Four Corners. The woman did not just own that piece of property. There were several that held her name on the titles and it appeared with that Ella, however she made her money was extremely good at it. Mary saw small textile stores, a few shares in a railway and several investments in eastern factories. It appeared that should Ella chose to retire, she could do so and still live very comfortable for the rest of her life.
No doubt, it was how she had paid an assassin to steal Billy, Mary thought bitterly.
A money trail like this had to leave traces Mary decided and quickly jotted down the names of the various holdings into a note pad, the deeper she went into the file. There had to be some way of tracing this back to a common denominator. Ella lived in shadows but to live the way she did and afford the things she had, there had to be someone out there she trusted to take care of all this for her. Mary had contacts in some of the places Ella had businesses and perhaps someone knew something that they did not know now.
In any case, it was worth a try because Mary was getting her son back, one way or another.
Billy Travis was afraid.
He tried not to be because he was not a baby any more and boys were not supposed to be scared. Try as he might to keep this thought in mind, he found that it was easier said then done and no matter how hard he tried to be brave, he still wanted his ma. Billy wanted to feel her arms around him, the way she held him when he used to have those terrible nightmares about his pa's death. He remembered how she would hold him close and whisper in his ear that everything was going to be all right.
Right now he really needed to hear that.
As Billy was whisked away into the darkness from his bed to places unknown, he had tried to remain very quiet so his captor might forget he was there and not hurt him. He had recalled clearly what Chris had said once when they were in a similar situation when the men who had killed his pa came for him and Chris at the old house. It was with shame that Billy revealed to Chris the secret that had been buried inside him for so long and he expected the tough gunslinger to tell he was coward for hiding away when the devil took his father. However, Chris had done nothing of the sort and told him that he had probably done the smartest thing by staying put and being quiet. Thus Billy resolve to do just that because Chris was never wrong about anything.
No matter how frightened he got, Billy kept reminding himself that Chris would come for him because Chris loved his ma and he was Billy's friend. He was Billy's best friend and maybe even his new pa. Billy wasn't so sure about the second part but he believed Chris when the gunslinger promised that he would never let anything bad happened to Billy or his ma. Not just Chris though, he knew Vin, JD, Buck, Nathan and even Josiah felt the same way. They would come; he knew this with an unshakeable faith that was only common to children. He just had to sit tight until they did.
In the meantime, his kidnapper had not said much other than to ensure that he had remained silent throughout the journey with no ideas of escape. Billy did not know where he was and the stranger kept far away from towns so there was no way he could get help even if he did dare to run away. The man seemed to know where he was going but he felt no inclination to tell Billy or to get too familiar with him. He fed Billy a meal of beans during the breaks in their journey but beyond that he did not speak to Billy other than to bark a few stern orders.
They travelled for two days and Billy did not see any sign of Chris and the others but he was sure they were looking for him. He knew they had to be and thought he was very afraid to be alone, he was glad that the man did not capture his ma too. Billy had no idea where they were as they moved further and further across the flat plains of the Territory but he knew he had to very far from Four Corners because they had not stopped in two days of travel.
When their journey finally ended, Billy found himself being taken to a house on a hill that overlooked a town he did not know but did not seem very different from Four Corners. The man led him into the house and Billy noticed that there were many women walking around the place. They regarded him with confusion as Billy was taken upstairs into a room that looked like his ma's parlour but was bigger and seemed to have more expensive things. More expensive but not any nicer, he decided.
"You were supposed to bring Mary Travis." The woman who sat at the divan looked at the man critically, her eyes looked hard and the way her chin set made Billy think of one of his meaner teachers at school.
"There were complications." The man answered. "I told you that it would be difficult bringing them alive. That is not what I do. Normally, its simpler to expedite things by eliminating them on the spot."
She shifted her eyes towards Billy and stood up from her chair. Her head tilted slightly as she observed him at length and then remarked. "He is a handsome child isn't he?" She stopped in front of Billy and reached out for him.
Instinctively, Billy stepped back, knowing enough about this woman and her manner to know that he did not want her hands anywhere on his person. There was something about her that was frightening, something he could not define but know it to be true. She did not seem offended by his reaction but since he backed into his kidnapper, she knew that he had nowhere to go. Billy cringed as she reached for him again and could do nothing as she lay her hand on him... .
... . and ruffled his hair.
"I see Chris in him." She said enigmatically.
"He's not Larabee's child." The main pointed out.
"Doesn't matter," she said in a sing song voice. "Chris was going to be his new father. Isn't that right Billy? Your mother was going to set up a nice little arrangement for Chris using you as her lure."
Billy did not understand what she meant with all this talk of lures and arrangements. He could only associate the word lure with fishing but could not comprehend what that might mean in relation to her conversation about Chris and his mother
"How do you intend to bring his mother here?" She shifted her attention from him and turned her eyes to the man once again.
"That's easy enough," the man replied automatically. "If you had seen the way she pursued me to get her son back, there's no doubt that all we have to do is tell her where and she'll come willingly just to get him back."
"Such strong maternal instinct," she snorted derisively. "Chris seems to like them that way. You should have heard Sarah before she died." The woman smiled in way that send shivers down Billy's spine like he felt whenever he had to go get potatoes for grandma down in the fruit cellar where it was dark and cold. "She begged Fowler to let Adam go, right until the last minute. She breathed her last begging for the life of her brat. Of course it was too late by then, the fire was too thick and no one was getting out of that house, even if Fowler wanted to help her."
Billy saw the man stiffen as if he did not like hearing that and his eyes became darker than hers and Billy knew that he was a little afraid of her too. For a brief instance, he and the man shared a strange sort of empathy for each other. "I have moved people into place that can approach Mary Travis without the lawmen becoming privy to it. If it is done properly, then she will come to us before Larabee and his group have any idea that Travis gone."
"Good," the woman seemed satisfied by that. "In the meantime, I'll keep this one locked up here." She turned her attention to him again. "Perhaps, we can even get acquainted."
Billy did not know what that meant but he did not like the sound of it at all. Neither did he like the idea of his ma being led her because of him. He had no idea how he was going to do it but he was going to escape this place somehow.
He was not going to let this woman hurt his ma.
Chris Larabee had a plan.
He was going to drink himself into a heavy stupor that would make it easy for him to fall asleep when he finally chose to retire. It was not the most complex of stratagem he had devised in his life but for the moment, it would seem to suffice. As he steadily made his way through the bottle of whiskey on the counter before him, Chris decided that he would keep filling up his glass until the ache inside of him was dulled into submission by the alcohol. It was a good plan and one he intended on following through no matter what. It was the same plan he had utilised after realising that had he chose to return home that night instead of remaining in Mexico with Buck, in all likelihood Sarah and Adam would still be alive.
Always go with something you know, Chris decided.
He intended to follow through on this plan until he could stand knowing that it was he who placed Billy in this kind of danger and shattered the trust that the woman he loved had in him. He could not berate Mary for her anger because he had let Ella get away. Not only had he let Ella escape after learning what he had about her hiring Fowler but he had kept that information away from Mary. It had never occurred to him that Ella might come back now after such a period of silence but supposed it made perfect sense when one really thought about it. Chris knew precisely what had drawn Ella out after all this time.
The wedding.
Ella believed he was his as she had believed the same about all her previous victims. She had eliminated Sarah and Adam as if they were some kind of malignancy that had to be removed from her perfect illusion of their so called love. The idea sickened Chris to the stomach and made him wish he had pulled the trigger. He still did not know why he had not and as Vin had stated at the time, he should have. The months with Mary in his life had been a bliss that had lulled him into complacency, making him believe that the threat of Ella was gone for good. He should have known better and now he was in a situation where Billy was to be the next victim for Ella's insane passion for him.
In some ways, he had not been surprised to learn about the extent of her dementia. Even during their love affair almost fifteen years ago, it had been a madness for both of them. There was passion and fire and everything a torrid romance was meant to have but underlying it all, Chris had to admit to seeing the extent of her mania in the ferocity of her love. Loving her was like doing a balancing act on a knife's edge and after awhile Chris had found that it was simpler to give up altogether and move on. Breaking it off had not been easy but she had displayed none of the venom that would let him for an instant to believe that she would seek out his wife and son ten years later and murder them.
That's your problem right there, Larabee, you're always assuming things with Ella.
For a man who was known to always have all angles thought out before disaster could strike, it was hard realising that he had underestimated Ella's obsession of him. He should have told Mary about Ella and the danger she represented. Chris was not ashamed to admit he did not like discussing that subject with Mary, not simply because Ella was responsible for Adam and Sarah but because a part of him was unable to believe he could have cared for someone so twisted inside.
"Chris." He heard her voice and swung around immediately in his stool to find himself on the receiving end of a gaze from her blue-grey eyes.
"Mary." Chris swallowed, surprised that she had sought him out.
"I think I know of a way to find Ella but I can't do it alone." She stared at him trying to be aloof but not quite managing it.
He could tell that she was still angry with him but not to the extent she was the night Billy was taken. It surprised her that she had come to the saloon at this time of night but then when it came to Billy, Mary was never concerned about convention. Until he saw her face to face, Chris did not realise how much he missed being with her and her eyes reflected the same thing as she regarded him. The past few days had been private nightmare where he had fought the urge to do as Buck said, to go and apologise because he knew that gesture would have more weight if he could bring Billy home to her. Unfortunately, his efforts to find her son were laughable and Chris was starting to believe that he would never recover Billy and his days with Mary Travis were done.
"How?" Chris asked, breaking the pause of his ruminations.
Mary took up the stool next to him, oblivious to the looks she was getting from some of the patrons. Even Inez was wise enough to stay away at the other end of the counter although her best friend did look up at them periodically to see if things were still remaining civilised. "When Ella first made her appearance in town, Vin came to me and asked if I could look into her background."
Chris was hardly surprised by that statement because he knew for a fact that Vin had never really trusted Ella when the woman had first come to town. Understandably, Chris' judgement had been somewhat clouded when it came to Ella at the time but Vin had a scent for trouble that was almost as strong as his own. From the onset of Ella's reappearance in her life, the tracker had been cautious of her intentions and had made private inquiries of his own. He had not thought that Vin would bring Mary into it but then considering Mary's connections out of town, it was only sensible that he would.
"What did you find?" He inquired.
"I don't know what the situation is now but when she came to Four Corners she had a small fortune. She owns deeds to factories, mines, big city stock, Ella was quite the business woman." Mary said with a hint of bitterness because it was all this affluence that allowed her to hired assassins to kill Chris' family and possibly hers as well.
"She always knew how to land on her feet," Chris muttered, wishing it were anything but so.
"Most cats do that." Mary retorted sharply.
Despite the grim situation, Chris could not help but let a smile steal across his features at the venom in her voice. There were women who became very shrewish when they were angry but not Mary Travis. In her rage, she was a sight to behold and Chris found that he could seldom feel his ire raised when she was suffering fits of outrage at something or another. Remembering that she had come here for a reason, he kept his mind centred on this plan of hers.
"Anyway," Mary continued. "There's a lot of money being moved from place to place to buy these business. I am assuming she can't have done all this herself because... ." She presented Chris with all the paperwork she had on the subject of Ella Gaines "This is a wide area we're talking about, scattered throughout most of the Territory."
Chris was never one for paperwork since he relied on what was before him, not on hearsay to be found on scraps of paper. However, his time with Mary had made him a partial believer and as he scan the documents before him, he came to the conclusion she did. Ella had been doing brisk business across the Territory, buying up small shops and investing in businesses in boomtowns. She had made herself quite wealthy in order to keep up with her extra curricular activities.
"I don't think she travelled to these individual places herself, she has to earn her money if what you told me about her was true. I think she has someone who deals with all this for her. Perhaps a lawyer or an accountant, in any case I think if we dig deep enough, we can find a name. Whoever this person is, she must trust him to place all her affairs in his hands and since she has to be in hiding now, it would make sense that she would still be using him. After all, someone new is someone she'd have to trust and I don't think she's stupid enough to do that."
It was a long shot. Chris could tell that even Mary knew this for a fact because they were dealing in suppositions and assumptions that there was someone in Ella's Gaines past who hid in the shadows and conducted her business affairs. Still the truth of the matter was such that they had no choice. Neither Mary nor Chris was willing to wait until Ella's assassin made an attempt on Billy's life and that was coming. From what Mary had related about the assassin's words to her, Ella wanted Mary and Billy alive so she could be present when they died. That was the only bit of good news that Chris had from this whole miserable situation because he knew Ella was patient, she would wait until Mary was brought to her before doing anything to Billy.
"Assuming he exists, how do we find him?" Chris put forward, intrigued by Mary's deductions on this matter. He had to admit that her journalistic instincts were a treasure onto themselves sometimes.
"I have contacts in most of these towns," Mary said taking a deep breath. Franklin had not been too impressed with her when she dragged him from his dinner and made him send a series of telegrams across the Territory. However, the man had been quite understanding when he realised that this was for the recovery of Billy although he did require an extra piece of cake at the wedding as payment. "I've asked my contacts to talk to the people who owned these business previously. Perhaps we can find this man by learning how contracts for sale were exchanged. Was the transaction conducted through the post or hand delivered? That sort of thing. I am hoping I will get answers to by the end of tomorrow."
Chris was impressed by her efforts and had to admit he would have never considered going down this route to find Ella. However, Mary's resourcefulness never ceased to amaze him and when she was properly motivated, like she was now, she could be a juggernaut of relentless determination. It made him all the more sorry that he did not tell her about Ella because Mary would have been able to take precautions with Billy.
"What do you need me for?" He asked. "You seem to have things well in hand."
Mary shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying not to notice the sorrow in the ice blue depths of his eyes. She could tell how much pain he was in despite the indifferent mask he wore on his face. Now more than ever, Mary felt ashamed of how she had treated him that night, even though she was justified in her anger. Since she had embarked upon this course of action in finding Ella, Mary had the chance to let her anger dissolve somewhat and she knew that she still loved this man even though he had wronged greatly by not telling her about Ella. What she had been seeing in his eyes the last few minutes told her that he was feeling more guilt than she could ever make him feel. Not just for Billy but for Sarah and Adam as well.
"If we find this man, I don't think he'll just tell us where Ella is." Mary said softly, hiding her softening heart from him for the moment. "If he's as loyal as I believe he is, he'll try to protect her."
"Not necessarily." Chris pointed out. "He may be handling her business affairs but he may not know that she's crazy or a murderer."
"Arguments I'm sure you can use on him when the time is right." She returned. "In any case, I don't think I'm going to make him talk. That's your job in this expedition."
Chris nodded slowly, ready to agree to anything if it meant bringing Billy back to her. "When you get a name, I'll be here." He said shortly and reached for the bottle before him.
She stopped his hand before he could reach it.
"Chris," Mary took a deep breath and met his surprised gaze "Have you eaten?"
"Not hungry." He grunted.
Which actually translated into a yes but Mary knew when he was just being difficult. It was impossible not to love this man with the passion she did and not know anything about his habits. "I've got some dinner on the stove," she said gently, finding a hint of amusement in his brooding manner. Mary could tell he was sulking a little. "Why don't you come share with it with me."
"Are we friends again?" He asked trying to hide the hope out of his eyes.
"Yes we are," she nodded slowly and decided to be honest with him about how she felt at the moment. That was the only way either of them was going to get past this. Mary did know that she loved him despite everything that had happened and that he loved Billy almost as much as she did. Their love should bring them together at a time like this, not force them apart. If they could not endure this hurdle before they even reached the altar, how on Earth would they survive the next fifty years together?
"Chris I am still mad at you for not telling me about Ella. You should have but I know you love Billy too and you would never intentionally let any harm come to him."
She saw the emotion drain into his eyes even though a stranger would be hard pressed to think that he was staring at her with anything but indifferent eyes. "I don't know why I didn't tell you about Ella. Maybe I was a little afraid." He admitted.
"Why?" She asked puzzled. "The woman is a psychopath. It's not your fault she fixated on you."
"Maybe if I walked away fifteen years ago, maybe Sarah and Adam would still be alive." He whispered, admitting something to her what had been tumbling around in the darkness of his mind ever since he learnt the truth about Ella and her part in his family's murder.
Mary placed her hand on Chris' cheek and felt her heart ache for him because that was a terrible burden to carry around and suddenly, her anger at his not telling her diminished even more. "Chris, there was no way you could know she was capable of that. She's done this to ten other men which she means she's very good at hiding her obsession. I said things the night Billy was taken that I wish I had not because I was angry. He's my son and the only thing in the world I have left of Stephen, when I found out you knew what she had done and you had let her go, I just snapped. I love you Chris, I always will and right now, we need to be clear on that if we're going to find our son."
Chris was somewhat surprised that she had used those words, that she considered them both Billy's parents. However, he welcomed the description because it was true. It had been true since that first afternoon when Billy had spied him carving that wooden horse. They had regarded each other quietly, completely aware of the secret bond that had made them both offer faint smiles to each other, both so filled with secret pain and bridging a gap within one another that been left unbreached for so long. It had been more than just the fact that he was Mary's son that had drawn Chris to Billy, it was seeing that same pain in his eyes as being powerless to stop a loved one from dying. Chris had seen that look in Billy's eyes each time he looked in a mirror and it had rocked the hardened gunslinger core to know that pain existed in a child's eyes where it had not business being.
"We will find him, Mary. I promise you." Chris said firmly because Adam was gone and Billy was still alive and before he let Ella take their child away from them, he'd kill her a dozen times over. This time there would be no pause or reprieve for Ella Gaines. When they met, it would be for the last because she was sure as hell not taking another family from Chris Larabee again.
Billy stared out the window and saw the town in the distance at some Mecca he would never reach. He was kept in the attic of the house and shared the space within the huge room with dusty old things and the spiders who built their homes in the corners that allowed for web building. He rummaged through the collection of boxes, filled with an assortment of things, ranging from clothing to hats, books yellowed with age, the odd bit of furniture that seemed terribly ornate to be left in such humble surroundings. Some of the objects were interesting and helped past the time away but nothing that could help him out of his present predicament.
He was still trying to be brave like Chris told him he was once but somehow, the fear kept creeping in despite Billy's best efforts to ignore it. As the darkness loomed and the shadows crept their black tendrils around the candle and beadroll that had been provided for him, Billy felt it clench his heart and paralyse his thoughts. In those moments, he wanted his ma so badly that he was almost driven to tears. Only Chris' words that he was brave had held back the tide of tears.
He was let out of his prison twice a day to take care of his toilette and had sought desperately for escape during those times. Unfortunately, the sour face young woman who had been assigned to keep an eye on him was sharp as she was nasty and she made certain that no such opportunity availed itself. He saw nothing of the woman to whom had been responsible for his incarceration but he knew everyone of the women in the large house was afraid of her. Billy did not understand why this was so since they all chose to live with her. Of the man who had stolen him out of his bed Billy had seen nothing. It frightened Billy to no end to think that if the man was not here then he must be trying to find his ma and do those terrible things the woman said he had to do.
Billy had tried to escape from his room but the door was always kept locked and the window that afforded him his view of the town at the bottom of the hill was also a long way from the ground and would kill him if he fell out of it. Effectively trapped until Chris and his ma found him, he did not know what to do and kept staring out that window longingly, knowing that some time soon, he would see Chris riding over the horizon with Vin, JD and all the others. His mother would hold him in her arms and tell him that she loved him of the house and Julia who smelled so good would let him eat ice cream with her again and talk to him like he was her beau not Ezra.
Billy would work that complication out later.
He was still staring out the window when he suddenly heard the door open behind him. It was night and he did not expect anyone to come in until morning, when his minder would bring him breakfast. Billy cringed against the glass, wondering what was the reason for this unexpected visit. Maybe they were not going to wait for his ma to get here; maybe they were going to kill him now! Billy had worked himself into a proper state of exhaustion when Ella Gaines stepped through the door and let her gaze sweep across the boy's prison to seek him out.
"Hello there." She said pleasantly, carrying a plate in her had that was covered with a dishcloth.
Billy did not speak and his eyes started at the plate, wondering if she intended to poison him with what she had hidden.
She stepped towards the bedroll where he slept and sat down before the candle. Billy watched her as she nestled herself on the floor and uncovered the plate that held a tasty selection of pastries with cream and sugar. Despite himself, Billy felt a twinge of interest as the assortment. She met his gaze once she had become comfortable.
"I'm sorry the accommodations aren't better." She replied as she motioned for him to come forward. "Unfortunately, the situation requires your presence here is kept anonymous for the time being."
Billy did not know whether or not he should answer her since she was trying to make friends and it might help him to escape if he responded to those advances. Slowly, he crept away from his position at the window sill and approached her cautiously, his eyes never moving from her as he finally neared close enough to sit down across her.
"You're not much of a talker are you?" She smiled almost warmly. "Take one." She gestured towards the platter of food. When he did not take one, she picked up a piece herself and bit into it, proving to the boy that she did not intend to harm him with anything she would not partake of herself. Only after she had done that, did he reach for a piece of pastry and started nibbling at it in conservative bites.
"You're a cautious one." Ella commented. "Just like Chris."
The mention of Chris sparked Billy's interest and he wondered how she knew the gunslinger. "How do you know Chris?" Billy asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Mr Larabee and I go way back," Ella smiled, pleased that she had received some kind of reaction from him. He was such a beautiful child she thought. He looked so much like Chris with his golden hair and his blue green eyes. Even though Chris did not have any part in conceiving this child, Ella could see the gunslinger in him. "I knew Chris when he had just gotten out of the army. Do you know Chris fought in the war?"
Billy shook his head in response. He had not known but then Chris did not like talking about the past. Billy had come to know that much about the gunslinger during the time together. Still, he was not surprised that Chris was once a soldier.
"He was so handsome," Ella mused. "Utterly beautiful to look at. Back then he was still the fastest man with a gun I knew. We were both so much prettier then." She smiled and offered Billy another look of remembrance. "Chris used to fight anyone who looked my way wrong. He would usually win."
Well that did not surprise Billy either. Nobody could beat Chris at anything, Vin maybe but no one else that Billy had seen or heard. "He still does." Billy said quietly.
"We could have gone anywhere," she sighed as she continued her reminiscing. "Seen the world and done anything. You like to see the world Billy?" She asked.
Billy nodded because he was eight years old and the world he knew was small. There had to be more out there and Billy had to confess that he did want to see it all some day. Vin always told him that there were more than just towns and farms. There were hills that ran so far into the distance; they looked like an ocean of green and mountains so tall that you could reach the ice in just a day. Buck told him there were places were the wine was cheap and the women were cheaper. He did not know what that meant but he was glad to hear it since most of the dollar his grandpa had given him for the journey to Four Corners was gone.
"I knew it." She smiled brightly and pushed the plate at him to take another pastry. "I think that if you helped me, we can convince Chris to come away and see the world like he was meant to."
"What about my ma?" Billy blurted out.
Her expression darkened then, just a fraction but enough for Billy to know he should not have made mention of his mother. He feared what would be the consequences of this error and held his breath until she spoke again.
"You ma doesn't count." Ella said neutrally. "Chris loved me first and he will love me last."
"But he's marrying my ma." Billy pointed out, wondering why she was so mistaken about that point.
Ella leaned closer to him as if she were about to divulge some great secret that only he could hear. "Chris is marrying your ma because of you. No other reason. He doesn't love her, not the way he loves me anyway and the only reason he ever gets married is because of children. So this time," she smiled as she said this. "He'll come to me for sure because I have what he wants."
"You have a child?" Billy asked, even though it was becoming terribly clear to him what she meant by that declaration.
Ella Gaines looked at him with a smile and confirmed. "Of course I do, silly. Its you."
In light of Mary's plan, Chris had send the others out to continue the search for Billy while he remained in town. The waiting was driving Mary crazy and the only way she could cope with her anxiousness was to throw herself into work. When Chris had left her, she was busily immersing herself in writing a letter of confirmation to the local school board that a teacher had been found for the new semester. Chris was grateful for anything that would take her mind of this relentless waiting game and found himself similarly distracted once she was occupied. With the others gone, Chris found himself visiting Vin at the clinic where the tracker would be convalescing until he was well enough to be moved to alternate lodgings.
"You think it will work?" Vin asked after Chris had told him the details of Mary's plan.
"Its something." Chris replied as he stretched out on a chair next to the tracker's bed. "We ain't got any others leads so far."
"Ella knows how to go to ground." Vin had to admit, remembering how impossible it had been for him to track Ella after she fled from Four Corners the last time.
"So how long do you plan on being lazy like this?" Chris asked with a hint of teasing, knowing how much Vin hated to be in bed, well alone any way, or indoors for that matter. According to Alex who was away at the moment running errands, Vin's condition was still precarious and would most likely be out of commission for weeks.
"Very funny," Vin scowled, his voice was just raspy enough to tell Chris that he was still very weak from the surgery the day before. Even now, he seemed balanced on the edge of slumber and Chris would have left if not for Vin's request that he remain at least for awhile. "A couple of weeks, says Alex." Vin frowned unhappily at the idea that he would be immobile for so long but the nature of his injury was nothing to take lightly.
"You're gonna drive her crazy." Chris joked. "It's a good thing you two made up."
On that note, Vin found himself curious about something not so dissimilar. "Things between you and Mary okay?" He inquired instead, pleased to know that the duo had reached some sort of compromise. He hated to think that they would be at odds with each other at a time like this.
"They're better." Chris replied, unable to deny the pleasure in his voice knowing that Mary did not feel him responsible for Billy even though she was still annoyed that he had kept Ella's part in Sarah's death a secret. Chris could not begrudge her that even if she did understand better why he had done it. "Have you seen or heard from Charlotte?"
"No," Vin shook his head, not wishing to see her either. "Alex told me she called in to see if I was okay but that's it." In truth, Vin had no desire to see Charlotte at the moment. He was still angry at how she had tried to manipulate him and even angrier that he had been placed in a position where he was forced to take Will Richmond's life.
Chris would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that encounter.
"I don't want to see her." He admitted to his best friend. "I ain't happy that I had to shoot Richmond especially when there was no reason for it. There weren't anything going on between me and Charlotte and he died for no reason. No reason at all."
"It wasn't your choice Vin," Chris said sympathetically. "It was his. At least you and Alex got things sorted out. I saw her wearing the ring." He had noted the bauble on the doctor's finger on her way out and had to admit that Ezra certainly knew how to pick jewellery. It almost made him wonder if he should have dragged the gambler along when he had been selecting Mary's wedding band.
"Yeah," Vin nodded, smiling for the first time. "It only took me getting to shot to have the sense to give it to her."
Chris was about to respond when he heard the door burst open and frantic footsteps running through the length of the clinic, approaching them rapidly. Chris and Vin exchanged glances briefly as the gunslinger let his hand drop instinctively to his peacemaker when suddenly, Mary Travis burst into the room breathing hard. She was clutching a number of telegrams in her hand as she hurried to Chris.
"I've got it!" She said breathlessly. "I've got the name."
"Who?" Chris asked as Vin attempted to sit up and winced when he could not.
"His name is Betts." Mary replied as she unfolded the telegrams crushed in her palm. "He was the middle man in at least three business transactions that Ella conducted over the last two years. He apparently is a lawyer who deals mostly with business and commercial law."
"Where is he?" Vin asked, wishing he could be some part of this other than lying her uselessly. He got injured way too often for his liking.
"Eagle Bend." Mary looked at Chris with a smile on her face that exuded nothing but pure triumph at this first solid lead since Billy was abducted days ago.
"If I start now, I could make it by early afternoon." Chris mused as he looked at the information provided about Mr Betts.
"You mean we." Mary stated firmly.
Chris looked at her. "No I meant we." He repeated himself with as much resolve. "Mary, it's too dangerous."
"You're going to talk to a lawyer, not take on Ella and her hired goons! I'll be perfectly safe," she protested, hands on her hips which mean that her mind was set on this matter. Chris realised with a familiar knot in his stomach that she would not be deterred from this point. "You are not leaving me behind Chris Larabee, not this time. Besides, you know me, I'll be out of sight and mind at the first sign of danger."
"I do know you Mary," Chris returned. "And I also know that you have never been able to stay out of trouble at all. Mary, Ella's crazy and this is not a good idea."
"Chris," Mary said wishing to do this privately and not in front of Vin but this could not wait. "I cannot stay at home waiting to find out if either you or Billy are safe. Please, I need to go and I promise you, I'll stay out the way. I only want to be there when you talk to Betts." Her eyes implored him in that irresistible way she knew he could not ignore.
Vin tried not to smile as he watched Chris succumb to the lure of those blue-grey eyes. He agreed with Chris that Mary should stay here in Four Corners where it was safe but Chris had as much chance of that happening as he had convincing of Alex that he should accompany the gunslinger to Eagle Bend.
"All right," Chris groaned, conceding defeat because she had a right to be there and he could not imagine anything worse himself to wait around while waiting to hear if the two most important people in his life were living or not. "But once we get what we need from Betts, you are to go home, understand me?" His eyes met hers with burning intensity, which Mary returned in kind.
"Chris," she said properly riled by his superior tone of her voice. "You are not my lord and master, not yet."
"Mary... " Chris repeated, his voice starting to become just a little menacing.
"Okay," she grumbled. "I'll come home as soon as you've spoke to Mr Betts."
"Thank you." He sighed, wishing she did not have to make things so difficult some times.
"Hey pard?" Vin called out softly as Mary and Chris said their goodbyes to him and started out of the room. "Good luck."
Chris tipped his hat at the tracker. "We'll find Billy." He said with confidence he did not feel but needed to believe at the moment.
"I meant travelling together to Eagle Bend." Vin teased because the mood needed some alleviation from its present atmosphere of tension.
"I hope you get bedsores." Chris retorted and continued out but did so with a faint smile on his features.
Vin watched them go and told himself that if neither returned by nightfall, he was sending Buck and the others after them. Even confined to this room, Vin was sure as hell not going to let Chris face that deranged woman alone.