Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Home | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Epilogue
Vin Tanner was in trouble.
He had been in trouble before and sure enough, this was how it felt. Although he had yet to decide how much trouble he was in, his preliminary findings were leaning towards pretty bad. Actually, in all honesty, he had to admit to finding himself in worse circumstances before this current situation. However, for some unknown reason, none of those circumstances would come to mind at present. It probably had to do with his aching head, a result of his hand to hand with one of Mrs. Travis' intruders. At this moment, he would give almost anything for a drink if it would dull the throbbing pain on the back of his head. Vin could not even examine the injury because both his hands were tied behind his back.
He wondered which was worse; the fact that he was going back to Tascosa to hang or that he would be delivered by four pathetic drunks who had the fever of two thousand dollars in their eyes. No doubt, his once glowing reputation as a professional bounty hunter was going to take a severe re-evaluation. Normally, he would have been able to keep himself from this embarrassing situation despite there being four of them. However, they were never interested in him to start with and were hell bent on getting their hands on Mrs. Travis. Vin could have held them off if he had not been so preoccupied with keeping them from the upper floors where Mrs. Travis and Inez were hiding. All it took was a momentary lapse and one of them had managed to sneak up behind him and deliver a halting blow.
Their decision to take him instead arose out of their apparent failure to reach Mrs. Travis for their master, the yet to revealed Mr. Wilkins or Willis, whatever his name was. Vin detected fear in their eyes when they realized that the commotion of gunfire and breaking glass had alerted half the town to their nocturnal intrusion. The bounty on his head was apparently the consolation prize for not kidnapping Mary Travis.
Vin's own consolation was in knowing that somewhere in the darkness behind them, his friends would be coming for him as surely as the sun rising in the horizon ahead. The question was how would he delay them until the others could catch up. Now they were riding hard and fast away from Four Corners. In that much, these men were not utterly incompetent. They knew that Vin Tanner had friends who would stop at nothing to retrieve him, and while they could not know Chris Larabee would not be among them, their fear of him kept up their pace.
The men who had captured him were the same men who had tried to nab him after he, Chris and JD had left the reservation. Apparently, Chris' warnings had fallen on deaf ears with these men, who were obviously unaccustomed to this kind of work, with their stinking whisky breath, their unsteady hands and beer guts threatening to spill over their belts. He had listened to their conversation as much as he could, despite the rushing wind and the thunder of hoof beats to know that someone had put them up to kidnapping Mrs. Travis.
Vin took stock of where he was, knowing that they were not very far from Four Corners. Instead of taking a more shaded route where there was a chance to hide in the scrub, the four had chosen to take the easiest and most direct path towards Tascosa. On the face of it, the plan was not a bad one. Once they reached Tascosa and unloaded him at the jailhouse, the others would have larger concerns than taking revenge on the men who had turned him in. However, for Vin's purposes, the idea could prove to be fatal for all of them.
They had been riding across the plains, covered with knee high grass browned by the summer heat. There were trees but not many, making visibility high for some distance. If Josiah and the others were on their way, it would not be long before they would come riding over the crest. Nevertheless, Vin saw the tree belt not far away and knew that once under the cover of the thick scrub, he had skill enough to even the odds significantly. The only problem in this plan of his was actually getting this caravan of horses to stop, and judging by the frantic way they were proceeding, it seemed unlikely.
Well there was one way.
Vin could think of no other way to separate from them, even if the risk to himself was extreme. He had known men who had broken their necks this way and even then; they had the use of both hands. Still, if one weighed the consequences of his actually arriving in Tascosa to hang, he would rather get it over and done here than in front of an audience with a low cost burial on Boot Hill. Vin waited until the entourage reached the closet point to the tree belt. His captors were so intent on getting to Tascosa with their hides intact they were paying very little attention to him. Probably because they did not think he would be stupid enough to make such a hazardous attempt to escape.
Vin was placed on the horse trailing the group because one of the other riders was leading his mount. Apparently, they did not trust him enough to allow him control of a horse. He watched them thunder ahead, keeping a close eye on the fast approaching tree belt. Occasionally, their leader, the man whom Chris had warned to return to Purgatory had looked over his shoulder to see if he was still with them. Vin had kept a vigil on these instances, noting that the length between each inspection was widening. He waited until the man, whose name was Glassop, cast another routine gaze over his shoulder, sneering at him with his rotten teeth when their eyes made contact briefly.
Vin let a few more seconds past after Glassop had faced front again before unhooking his feet from the stirrups of the saddle. Once his feet were free, Vin had to fight to remain seated, as he started bouncing about unsteadily. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself as much as possible before throwing his leg over the animal and feeling the rest of him roll over just as precariously. Vin hit the ground with his shoulder and felt something snap almost immediately. He did not stop rolling for a few more seconds and the dawn become a blur of color before he finally stopped.
The first thing he was aware of, beside the flaring pain in his shoulder, was the cries of the men who discovered his escape. Vin scrambled to his feet and started running as fast as he could. Although sunrise was eminent, there was still enough dark left to aid his escape if he could make it to the trees. Vin did not look back. There was no need to. Even as he made his desperate dash for freedom, he could hear the horses coming to a halt as the direction of the hoof beats changed abruptly. The voices were crying for him to stop and he expected the bullets would soon follow.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he heard the eruption of gunfire. None of the men had looked like very good shots but Vin hoped there was still enough distance between them to out range their weapons, just in case. His feet hurt from the blades of dry grass but Vin was beyond caring. He had barely had time to get dressed and grab his gun after hearing the first sounds of entry emanating from Mrs. Travis' parlor. A bullet whizzed past his ear and answered any remaining doubt as to whether he was out of their range. He began weaving as he ran; hoping the erratic movement would confuse their ability to target him. It was a grab at straws he knew, but the tree line was only a matter of feet away and he could not afford to be shot now.
They were closing in on him rapidly when Vin reached the cover of the first row of trees that thickened the deeper into the scrub he went. Things began to stab at the soles of his feet and for the first time, Vin allowed himself a moment to look over his shoulder. The horses sounded close and when he glanced over his shoulder, he learnt just how close they were. He had less than a minute before they would reach him, trees or not. He could not keep going because as adept as he was with the land, he did not know this terrain and was not about to gamble on with life on what may be. He almost tripped over a log that had been covered by grass and moss to such an extent that it was almost invisible in the thicket. Realizing the opportunity, Vin paused long enough to find its hollow entry before crawling into it. He managed to fit inside its narrow confines with just enough room to spare. It was not the best of hiding places but it would serve for the moment and give him time to recoup.
Vin held his breath as the horses thundered forward. He could see their rapid advance through a knot of curled wood that allowed a crack of the outside world. The men were staring ahead and did not look as if they intended to stop. He froze as the hooves pounded towards him and felt the ground rumble as the animals leapt over the obstruction without missing a beat or giving it any thought. Vin did not dare move although he could hear the horses continuing onward, the sound of their hoof beats, fading into the distance.
Vin let the silence continue for a few seconds more before he finally decided to move. His pursuers were not stupid. At some point in the chase they would realize that he was not ahead of them and back track. That narrow margin of time was all Vin Tanner had to formulate some kind of a plan. Despite himself, he hoped Josiah, Ezra and JD were on the way because without a gun or a knife, he felt damn vulnerable.
Which brought him back to his original assessment of this entire episode.
He was in trouble.
He had been in trouble before and sure enough, this was how it felt...
On other side of Four Corners, Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington were engaged in similar thoughts as they raced back to town after a hasty departure from Crest Falls. In light of Buck's discovery in the cemetery, there was hardly time to lose, if they were not already too late. As Chris tried to focus on reaching town, he forced away his fears for Mary's welfare and wondered how he could have placed her life in such danger for so long, without even being aware of its existence.
"Chris we have to stop and let the horses rest." Buck implored, knowing just worried Chris was. However, both their horses had been travelling for most of the night. If they did not break the journey by allowing the horses to rest and get watered, the animals would surely collapse from the exhaustion and neither of them would reach Four Corners in time.
"No." Chris retorted, unable to fathom such a delay as he dug his spurs into his horse and was rewarded with a strained grunt. With a sinking feeling, he could feel the animal desperately trying to keep up his pace and knew that that it could not. In fact, they needed to stop and soon.
"Chris!" Buck cried out again, matching his horse pace for pace. "We have to ease up now!"
"Damn it!" Chris swore as he pulled the reins abruptly and the horse came to a near screeching halt, kicking its hooves at the sharp pull of the bit in its mouth. Buck repeated the maneuver and soon both animals were at a stand still. Both animals were breathing in loud, labored breaths.
Buck had wanted to stop here because he had caught sight of a narrow creek that had enough volume to provide their mounts with water. For the pace the animals had been keeping because of the urgent need to return home, Buck knew they required quite a bit. Chris was not happy to stop and Buck could see him fuming even as he dismounted his horse and led it to the edge of the water. However, even Chris had to acknowledge their limitations. Pushing the horses would only injure the animals and keep them from reaching Four Corners at all.
"I should have know that there was something strange about that whole outfit." Chris muttered under his breath.
"How?" Buck retorted sarcastically, never having patience with his friend when he was like this. "It was an Emporium, hell I didn't think there was anything strange about one going up in town."
"Why would anyone want to set up in a place like Four Corners?" Chris countered. "It's barely livable now! Why set up a business in a town where there are gunfighters and shoot outs and God knows what else!"
Buck rolled his eyes knowing when Chris was starting to panic. "Chris!" Buck shouted. "You gotta calm down or you're not going to be any use to her!"
The words felt like lashes against his skin and Chris knew Buck was right. He was panicking and that was not a good state to be in when there was so much at stake. Mary needed him alert and in control, not like this! Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Chris Larabee forced away the turmoil of emotions into that place where they could do little harm. As he felt the emotion subside inside him, he began to feel the detachment return with welcoming relief. He was back now. He had been gone for a time there, but now he was back and focussed.
"Okay," he said facing Buck a great deal calmer. "Let's think this through. They came to town, set up residence and got people to trust them."
"Opening up a business like an Emporium is likely to do it. The women in town have been absolutely thrilled since the doors opened." Buck agreed, regulating his horse's drinking.
"Meanwhile," Chris continued without sounding like he had been at the raw edge of panic only a short time ago, "they watch me and you closely and get to know the others we ride with. Getting to Nathan is easy as we already guessed, he's black and other than us, no one really cares what happens to him, even if he is a healer."
"A few might." Buck protested disliking the idea that it would be so easy for Four Corners to shrug off Nathan's death after everything he had done for the community. "But not enough." He had to agree begrudgingly.
"Yeah," Chris nodded. "Him, they shoot because they can. Vin on the other hand, has a death mark on his head. No one would be willing to go against the seven of us for just $500 but $2000? That's different. They figured offering the reward money would send enough hired killers to Four Corners to collect. Maybe it would cause enough trouble that the town itself might want Vin to leave."
It was a plausible deduction Buck decided. Small towns had a way of making an about face when their personal safety was threatened. While they may enjoy the peace that the seven men brought to Four Corners, the majority of the town viewed the seven with some trepidation. If Vin's bounty were to create the kind of danger that Chris believed, Buck did not doubt that there would a town meeting and a quick decision to drive the mountain man out of town. "So once this is over, we get Orrin Travis to pull some strings at Tascosa and let them know that the bounty is back to $500."
"I'd say we have to prove that there is no reward to collect." Chris retorted and then phrased what he had to say next with a little more tact. "Getting back at you was easy as we both know."
"Inez." Buck nodded not requiring Chris to say it out loud. "After Alice, they knew that would drive me crazy. Killing her would just make me mad but leaving her alive, where I would be reminded every day of what happened to her. It takes a special kind of genius to feel that much hate."
"Well they've had a long time to plan it Buck" he answered softly, remembering the haunting words of Damien Westbrook that had echoed in his mind ever since the name Saul Willis had been mentioned. Until the visit to the cemetery, everything had been speculation. He knew he was grasping at straws when he connected Mary's description of the unseen Mr. Wilkins with Saul Willis. When Inez was raped, it had felt like the past had caught up with him that had brought forward some unlikely suspects. He and Buck had ridden to Crest Falls more out of a need to eliminate the possibility than actually believing Willis could be behind their present troubles after all these years.
"Which brings us to you." Buck declared finally.
Chris turned away, staring at the stream of water meandering past him. "That's easy." He said without even needing to consider the question in any depth. There was only one thing that could hurt him more than anything else in the world. "Mary."
"Mary." Buck nodded without any disagreement. She was Chris Larabee's Achilles heel. Even if there were nothing between them, it would have still been the case. Chris had been risking his life for the widow ever since he arrived in Four Corners. Buck had lost count of just how many times Chris had gone riding off to her rescue. That alone convinced the residents of Four Corners just how much he regarded Mary Travis. Suddenly, another thought entered Buck's mind. "You know Mary said it was the Kendall woman who brought the news of those rumors to her. What if it was Willis who was doing the spreading?"
Despite keeping a tight control over his emotions after his earlier display, Buck spied an involuntary tightening of Chris' jaw as that subject was brought up. "It doesn't matter." Chris said coolly. "Everyone still knows about us."
"What do they know?" Buck countered. "If we can prove that Willis has a personal vendetta against you to everyone, why wouldn't they believe that he was slandering Mary to get to you?"
"That would still imply she means something to me." He retorted.
"True," Buck conceded, not bothering to deny that point. "But there's a hell of a difference between her meaning something to you and you sleeping with her, isn't there? Enough to clear her good name and keep her reputation in the community."
Buck was right, Chris found himself realizing. There was a huge gulf between him caring for Mary and Mary conducting an improper relationship with him.
Buck waited for Chris to respond to that but the gunslinger remained silent. He guessed correctly that Chris was considering his words carefully. Mary's reputation and her standing in the community meant more to him than his own life. He was proud of what she was able to do, although he did not always agree with her stubborn need for independence. She was spirited and her will was indomitable. Chris did not want to see her name dragged through the mud because of some enemy from his buried past.
"Come on," he turned to Buck. "We better get going."
There was not a lot of dusk left as Mary and Alex sat in the saloon over a pot of coffee. After the night's excitement, neither found they were able to sleep and spent most of the night talking at the table normally occupied by the seven. Inez was asleep in her room upstairs and Nathan was similarly indisposed. Mary was pleased that at least some of them were able to rest. The shotgun that normally resided in her office was propped up against the table in anticipation of any new danger. Although Mary and Alex and had not spoken about the seven who absence at the table was profoundly felt, the men were never far from their thoughts.
"It's almost dawn." Mary sighed, peering out the bat wing doors at the veil of amber trailing the indigo colored sky. "I wonder if they've caught up with Vin?" Her blue grey eyes surveyed the scene outside the door and it was hard to imagine that there could exist such violent amongst such peace.
Alex shrugged, unable to answer that question. Her own thoughts were not far removed from that of the editor of the Clarion News. Despite her determination not to worry needlessly, she found herself concerned about how Ezra Standish and his friends were faring. After being on her own for so long, it was a new experience to be sitting around worrying about so many people. Until his death, Alex's world had included only herself and her father. Now it was only her, and she found herself caring about a whole slew of people, not the least of which was a smooth talking con man and gambler with a tendency to sound like a dictionary.
Life could be very strange.
"I don't know." Alex mused, not really wanting to imagine what the men were up to at this point. She did not know how she could maintain her professional cool if she had to put Ezra back together. "This town is more than I bargained for." She found herself confessing instead.
Mary did not show the smile that stole across her face at Alex Styles remark but after a moment, she stepped away from the doors and returned to the table wearing an expression of complete understanding. "It sneaks up on you." Mary replied, sitting down at the table again. "I never thought I'd get used to living in a place like this."
Memories of her first days in Four Corners flashed through her mind as she recalled those distant times. "When I first got here, I hated it. I thought Steven and I had gone mad to leave Boston for this place. I couldn't keep the dust off anything, everyone thought I spoke too much for a woman and no matter what I did, I couldn't make jam to save my life." She laughed remembering how Steven would hold her in his arms while telling her with utmost confidence that he believed in her. He had been certain that she would have something to contribute to their life here. He always had faith in her, no matter how disillusioned she became. In that way, Chris Larabee and Steven Travis were very much alike, except Chris had more faith in her than he had in himself.
"Then one day, I'm sitting out my porch and it's a warm summer evening. Steven was gone by this point and Billy was with his grandparents. I had lived here for almost eight years with hardly any awareness that so much time had gone by. I was staring at the sunset when I realized that I would never see one like it in Boston. Its quite something you know," Mary spoke with a fondness in her voice that revealed her deep affection for the town. "The first time you're settled enough in a place to enjoy the quiet and hear the crickets making their noises while the birds sing far above your head. That's when I knew Four Corners was my home."
"I never had a place to call home." Alex admitted with a faint smile. "I didn't mind really because that was the way things were. My father was a doctor and he had this dream to write a book about world medicine. We went half way across the world, interviewing recognized practitioners, medicine men, witch doctors, soothsayers and Chinese acupuncturists. I could speak a dozen languages by the time I was fifteen, and most of what he compiled is in my head somewhere. He wanted me to be a doctor and I wanted to share that dream with him bad enough to go to medical school." Alex swallowed, feeling an aching loss in her heart for the man. It was almost two years since his death, and while she had become used to him being gone, Alex still missed him dearly.
"Did he write his book?" Mary asked fascinated by the prospect of such a globetrotting endeavor. She was almost envious at some of the things Alex had no doubt seen in her travels.
"No," She shook her head sadly. "He was a wonderful doctor but not much of a writer. Most of his notes are in one of the trunks I have yet to unpack."
"You miss him a great deal don't you?" Mary said sympathetically, understanding the pained look in her eyes all too well.
"I do." Alex confessed without embarrassment. "But you know something, I didn't realize how displaced I was until after he died. When we were moving around from place to place, there was never any chance to discover how much our lives were devoid of people. We never stayed anywhere long enough to make friends or attachments. Even when I went to medical school, I was a bit of pariah because I was a woman."
"I can understand that." Mary retorted, knowing exactly what it was like to be underestimated or excluded simply because of gender. "Being a newspaper woman can be almost as discriminating."
"The funny thing about Four Corners is that I've been allowed to practice more medicine in the past two days on my own, without some man hovering around me to make certain I made no mistakes, than I have since leaving medical school!" She exclaimed with a look of wonder on her face at how this small town in the middle of the infamous Wild West could fulfill so many unspoken dreams. "I just cannot believe it."
Mary was about to answer when she saw a figure approaching the bat wing doors. Instinctively, she reached for the shotgun and stood up as she took aim. Her finger tightened around the trigger prepared for anything while Alex took up position behind her. The doctor did not want to be anywhere near that weapon when it discharged. However, when the doors swung open, Mary and Alex found themselves staring at Victoria Kendall who was staring down the double barrel with a mixture of surprise and shock.
"Victoria!" Mary exclaimed, lowering the weapon immediately.
The owner of the Emporium was visibly shaken and stammered a reply and did not relax until Mary had removed her from the weapon's sight. "I heard about the excitement at your home earlier and I felt compelled to see if you were alright." She replied moving deeper into the saloon, now that she was confident that the danger had passed. Victoria was dressed in riding clothes and Mary had no idea she was such an early riser. Then again, a great deal remained a mystery about Victoria Kendall.
"I'm fine." Mary reported, grateful that she had not pulled the trigger in haste. She dreaded to think what would happened if she had actually fired. With her reputation already in tatters because of her illicit affair with Chris Larabee, it would be the height of scandal to be labeled a murderess as well. At the very least, the Clarion's circulation could drop sharply, Mary thought absurdly. "You should not have troubled yourself Victoria," Mary said putting the gun down on the table as she went to greet the woman. "Especially at this hour."
"Nonsense," Victoria smiled amiably. "I often go riding early in the morning. Besides, I had to know you were alright. We are after all friends."
Although she was touched by the woman's concern, Mary hardly considered them friends, more like acquaintances. They had barely spoken to each other a dozen times since Victoria Kendall's arrival in Four Corners. However, Mary was never one to turn down and overture of friendship. She did wonder however, if Victoria was aware of Mr. Wilkins' terrible past and considered enlightening her on that subject.
However, judging by the sallow look of her, Mary wondered if Victoria had guessed her associate's part in the drama that had been playing for most of the night, and on a larger scale during the past 48 hours. Mary crossed the floor of the saloon to meet Victoria's outstretched hand when suddenly, the woman grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward before she had any idea what was happening. The action caught her by such surprise that Mary was unable to respond until he felt an arm close around her throat.
She saw Alex reacting almost instantly. The doctor made a desperate bid for the gun on the table as she jumped to her feet and reached across the table for the weapon. The chair she had been occupying fell backward and made a loud bang against the wooden floor on impact. Unfortunately, Mary was soon aware of the decidedly loud click of a gun bolt in her ear.
"I wouldn't." Victoria warned coldly, pressing the barrel of a pearl handled pistol hard against Mary's temple just to illustrate the point.
Alex swore under her breath and slid back from the table, realizing that she was too late to help either Mary or herself for that matter. Mary could see the rising anger in her face as Alex withdrew her advance, feeling terribly helpless as she met Mary's frightened gaze.
"That's it," Victoria goaded as Alex returned to her original position near the fallen chair. "Nice and slow."
"Victoria, what is this all about!" Mary demanded furiously, trying to break the chokehold on her throat. Her struggle only prompted Victoria to shove the cold steel deeper into her skin forcing Mary to wince in pain. Part of her felt incredibly stupid for walking straight into this dangerous situation. There were times Mary wished that she would take stock of Chris' warning that not everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt. With Victoria's connection to Saul Willis, it was the height of gullibility for Mary to assume that she was not involved in his crimes.
"Shut up!" The woman hissed sharply. Victoria glared at Alex and then took a tentative step backwards, moving towards the doors. Trapped in her strong grip, Mary could do little to resist with Victoria's forearm digging into her throat. She was already finding it a little difficult to breathe and Victoria's grip seem to tighten as they moved backwards. Mary had no illusions that Victoria would drag her if necessary. When the woman reached the bat wing doors, she called out into the night.
"You can come in now Saul, its clear."
Alex contemplated going for the shotgun during this brief distraction but abandoned the idea when she saw the appearance of the big man that stepped through the door. Judging by his bulk and size, Alex did not doubt he could overpower her easily without breaking a sweat. If first impressions were anything to go by, then Alex was of the firm conclusion that she did not want this man angry with her. Despite the fact that he was wearing a dark brown suit and a tan duster, the sinister glint in his eyes negated any trace of civilization in his demeanor.
Without even knowing why, Alex knew this man was a killer.
He stared at her for a moment with a hard expression and instinctively, Alex knew that he was following her gaze to the shotgun and was completely aware of her intention to retrieve the weapon. He dropped his hand to the gun belt around his waist and grazed the butt of his gun with the tip of his fingers, a clear enough indication of the consequences should she make the attempt. He flashed a small smile and then shook his head as if to reinforce the warning.
He need not have bothered, Alex decided she would not risk it and abandoned the idea.
"Get the shotgun Saul." Victoria instructed immediately. He looked almost ready to snap to attention at her orders, stepped forward without question, and liberated the shotgun from its resting-place. As he slipped the weapon under his arm, effectively robbing Alex and Mary of any chance at escape, it did answer the question of who was in charge here.
Once she was assured that herself and her companion were the only ones armed, Victoria released Mary, shoving her forward. Mary staggered forward before dropping to her knees, her hands clutching her sore throat as she hit the wooden floor. Without thinking, Alex ran forward immediately, her healer's instincts taking precedence before any thoughts of her personal safety. The prolonged grip around Mary's throat had turned the widow a pale shade gave and Alex cause for concern.
Both Victoria and Saul stared at both women dispassionately, with weapons pointed.
"What do you want?" Alex asked because Mary could not. The widow was still on the floor recovering as Alex helped her to her feet.
"I had not meant to make you a part of this little drama." Victoria retorted, staring at Alex with unconcealed hatred. "You're just a half breed passing through town, not at all of any concern to me."
"How disappointing." Alex retorted, not about to give this woman the satisfaction of reacting to her vicious remark about her parentage. "I am going to feel left out."
Victoria's eyes narrowed as she was robbed of the provoked response she had desired. "However, after the way that bastard Standish spoke to me, I think I will include you after all. If only, just to displease him. Perhaps I will give you to Saul the way I gave him the Spic to play with."
Alex felt her stomach hollow in disgust when she realized Victoria Kendall's crude reference was to Inez. Immediately she glared at the man who was wearing a greedy look of desire as his eyes moved over the length and breath of her body. "You're going to have do a lot better than that to scare me, Mrs. Kendall." She replied defiantly. Insults had very little power over Alex.
"How could you!" Mary found her voice at hearing that. "How could you do that to another woman? How could you hurt Inez that way?"
"Not I," Victoria said triumphantly enjoying Mary's outrage at least. "Saul and some of his friends. I believe you almost met some of them this evening."
The men who had taken Vin, Mary realized. "Why are you doing this?" She demanded. "Him, I understand but you?"
"My reasons are not for your hearing, Mary." Victoria retorted. "All you are is the instrument of my revenge. The worm need not know the fisherman's reason for the catch."
"I'll die before I let you use me as bait for Chris." Mary spat angrily at her.
"Bait?" Victoria turned to Saul and they both started laughing, giving both Mary and Alex the ominous feeling that their situation was declining rapidly unless help came very soon.
"Is that what you think?" Victoria turned her vengeful gaze on Mary. "I don't want Chris Larabee dead. I want him alive. What good is killing him? I want him to suffer every day for the rest of his miserable life knowing that everything he cared about has gone up in flames. I did not have the fortune to deal with him before his wife and son were killed. I would have liked to have been responsible for that, but you, my dear Mary, you are his whore. You will do just as nicely."
Mary cringed at those words knowing that if Chris discovered he had come too late to save her life he would blame himself for the rest of his days. The possibility of him living his life burdened by such guilt was more terrifying to Mary then the dying itself. The pain would be brief for her but eternal for him.
"Why?" Mary found herself with nothing left to say but that one thing. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because she's related to Damien Westbrook." Alex answered before Victoria could. Suddenly, Chris Larabee's story had come to her in a flash of insight. He had taken Damien Westbrook at Christmas, which usually meant the entire family had to be present. Westbrook's family would have had to know who had taken him in to hang.
Mary's eyes filled with understanding upon that realization. "Of course." She said almost calmly. "That's why you want Chris to suffer, because you suffered. Is that it?" Her voice filled with pity.
"You don't know anything!" Victoria stepped forward abruptly and struck Mary across the jaw, with the gun in her hand. Mary hit the ground, feeling a haze of red descending over her as she felt the pain of a dislocated jaw.
"Do you know what he did!" Victoria snarled, almost frenzied in her rage. "He killed them all! Your precious Chris Larabee! He murdered my father and my two brothers and then he got his forty pieces of silver when he sent Damien, my baby brother to hang!"
Mary wanted to respond but she could not. She could feel blood filling her mouth and Alex was on her knees beside her, trying to examine the damage. Despite the pain, she refused to believe what Victoria was saying. Whatever Chris Larabee was capable of, Mary knew he was not a cold-blooded murderer.
"Don't try to talk," Alex said ignoring the ravings of Victoria Kendall while she tried to do something for Mary. "I think your jaw might be broken." The discoloration was quickly spreading across her creamy skin in tendrils of indigo and red.
"That's enough!" Victoria grabbed Alex's arm and pulled her away from Mary, shoving her aside. "It doesn't matter what's broken!" She said viciously, motioning Saul forward. The big man came forward and hauled Mary off the floor roughly while Victoria used her gun to prompt Alex to her feet.
Mary let out a grunt of pain as she felt her jaw starting to swell and the pressure building up against the side of her mouth. As she looked into Victoria's eyes, Mary knew without doubt the woman was insane and she met Alex's worried gaze, it was obvious that the doctor knew it too.
With daylight fast approaching, Vin Tanner was aware that it would also see the end of any advantage he would have over his captors. As expected, it did not take long for the men to realize that he had tricked them and begin backtracking. Vin had squeezed out of his narrow hiding place, trying to think of a plan that would allow Josiah and the others the time to reach him before the men recaptured him.
Running in the opposite direction from where the horses were heading, Vin began widening the distance between him and the riders. He did not want to risk coming out into the open where he could be seen easily. However, this did bring forward another dilemma. How would Josiah know to come this way instead of continuing onwards to Tascosa?
Suddenly, he heard the rustling of leaves and branches behind him and realized that a horse was coming in his direction. Vin thought quickly, finding no place he could hide despite the density of the flora around him. His eyes found a strong length of branch running above the trail the horse would surely follow and came up with a desperate idea. Finding the tree it originated from, Vin scaled the tree as quickly as he could, ever aware of the approaching hoof beats closing in on him. The bark dug into his bare feet and Vin wished more than ever that he had taken time to put his boots on.
As it neared, Vin was able to identify only one rider coming his way and that simplified matters a great deal. He reached the branch in question, just as the horse ran across the track beneath him. Vin remained poised until the time was right and then let himself fall over the edge. He dropped squarely onto the rider, sending them both crashing to the ground. The horse stumbled by the sudden displacement of its owner before recovering enough to take off.
The man on the ground was momentarily dazed and Vin did not give him a chance to recover to pose a threat. He could already see the man's fingers moving towards the gun in his holster. Throwing his fists forward, he felt his knuckles connect with bone as he struck the man's jaw. The man fell backwards with little resistance and Vin jumped on top of him, pummeling him with blows until he no longer moved. When it was apparent that there was no fight left to subdue, Vin relieved him of his gun and ammunition. The tracker would have preferred to have the man's horse too, but he was grateful that he was now armed at least.
"Andrews!" Vin heard a voice call out in the distance. "Where hell are ya!"
Vin immediately bolted for the cover of some bushes as he heard the approach of another horse. Somehow, he did not think the same trick would work twice, however he took cover behind a nearby tree to decide his next move. Holding his breath, his eyes searched for a place to run, knowing that if they saw him, they would wear him down like a pack of wolves running a dear to exhaustion. Hidden behind the tree, he saw another rider break through the thick wood to investigate the whereabouts of his comrade. He recognized this man as the one who had given him the deep gash on the back of his skull and the one to whom Chris had made his warning the day before. While Vin was confident he could take the man in unarmed combat, the time do so was something Vin did not have in abundance.
Aiming carefully, he waited for a clear shot and aimed for the man's arm. He fought the impulse to shoot to kill. Vin did not want to provoke the others. The bounty on his head was non-specific as to how he should be delivered to Tascosa. These men would lose nothing by choosing to kill him if he caused them enough trouble. Vin pulled the trigger and shattered the silence of the morning air by sending a bullet through the man's shoulder. His would be hunter uttered a short cry of pain before falling off his saddle and onto the ground.
Vin did not wait around to see how he was, hurrying towards the horse before it could bolt as the other had done. Grabbing the reins, he cast an obligatory glance at the wounded man, seeing the angry red stain of blood expanding from his injured shoulder. Vin was a good enough sharpshooter to inflict worse had he desired, and he wondered if the man knew how fortunate he was that Vin had not chosen otherwise. It took a few seconds for the mountain man to settle the animal, since it had been badly frightened by the sound of gunfire.
He knew the others in the hunt would not be far behind now that they had heard the gunshot. He mounted the animal to vacate the area as quickly as possible. Nestling himself comfortably into the saddle, Vin kicked in his heels and grimaced at the feel of the hard metal stirrups against his bare feet. The mare broke into a gallop just as he began to hear the rapid approach of the injured man's companions. He drove the palomino at full gallop, keeping his head low in expectation of the inevitable gunfire that would follow. There was only a narrow lead between them, and Vin was painfully aware of how far away Four Corners was. While he hoped Josiah and the others were coming after him, Vin knew better than to rely on them until he actually knew that.
He glimpsed over his shoulder and saw the other men arrive. They were leading the horse that had escaped him earlier. The injured man was on his feet by now and shouting orders to the others as he climbed onto the saddle. Very soon, the three were riding hard after Vin in pursuit. Deciding his only hope was to keep ahead of them, Vin renewed his efforts to widen the distance between them. Digging his heels into the mare's sides, he heard the sound of gunfire erupt in the still quiet of dawn when he broke through the tree line and returned once more to the open plains.
Despite the air rushing past him, Vin could hear their hoof beats thundering loudly behind him as the bullets flew by. He returned fire of his own and made every shot count as he had only a limited amount of ammunition left to him and it was a long ride back to Four Corners. Although he feared injury, he feared losing his horse to the bullets meant for him even more. The mare was all that stood between him and the men who would drag him back to Tascosa dead or alive. Judging by their efforts to shoot him down, it was more or less a foregone conclusion that they had opted on the former. Vin disliked driving any animal to such a state of exhaustion but at this point, he had little choice for both their sakes.
Slowly, the horse begin to make some headway, descending the crest of plain before them with enough speed to leave the bounty hunters further behind. Vin glanced over his shoulder one final time when suddenly, he became aware that one of them was taking aim at him with a rifle...
Vin had honestly believed none of those men capable of making the shot. Whether it was attributed to skill or blind luck, the discharged bullet slammed into his chest with such force that he barely had time to cry out. Despite the expanding core of agony that swept him up in exquisite waves, Vin managed to stay on his horse, however the damage was done. A brief glance at the wound saw his shirt becoming saturated with blood. He could feel its slick wetness running down his sides and down his stomach. Each step forward forced a groan past his gritted teeth.
Vin knew he was having difficulty controlling the mare when the reins threatened to slip out of his weakened grip. He knew the injury would cost him dearly and he did not need to look over his shoulder to know that they were regaining all the distance he had placed between them earlier. Vin was not prepared to die, but faced the possibility as he faced everything in his life, with unflappable calm. He wished he could disconnect things the way Chris did and force it some place where it would not harm him. However, Vin Tanner was not Chris Larabee and the pain coursing through him would not be willed away, however much resolve he possessed.
"Okay," he whispered to himself. "If that's the way its gotta be, so be it."
He could accept dying but he was not going out alone.
On the face of it, the threat probably sounded melodramatic and somewhat idle since he was in little shape to take on three men, armed or not. Nevertheless, by the time he was through with his pursuers, they were going to have an object lesson on the real value of two thousand dollars.
Somehow, without his guidance, the mare had made it across the next field although the gunmen were bearing down on him rapidly. Coming to a firm decision, Vin decided he was not going to play a game of cat and mouse with these men. He was going to end this thing right now. Pulling the reins up abruptly with the strength was left to him, Vin was almost thrown off the palomino when it reared on to its hind legs at the action. The mare neighed angrily as the bit dug into her mouth, protesting further as Vin made the animal turn around to face the oncoming riders.
With considerable difficulty, Vin loaded all the remaining bullets he had into the chamber of his gun and raised his arm to fire. He felt no fear at the possibility of dying. A man could die any time, but not many could choose the way in which they would go. He decided that he was going to have that much at least. He raised his arm and placed the enemy in his sights.
With almost serene calm, Vin Tanner pulled the trigger. The bullet discharged from the weapon knocked one man's hat off his head. Vin saw the rabid gleam of greed in his eyes suddenly whither into a new emotion, fear. Without drawing a second breath, he pulled the trigger again and this time, there was no close shave. The bullet smashed into the man's naked forehead. From that range, it did not make a spectacular exit as Chris Larabee had done for their companion Dawkins. However, Vin felt some satisfaction at seeing a spot of red flare into a thick rivulet of blood that ran down his face an instant before he fell from the horse and disappeared into stalks of sunburnt grass. Although the other men were reaching point blank range, Vin did not allow that factor to cloud his measured calm.
It would not be long now, Vin decided, before one of their bullets found its way home and finished the grisly work partially begun.
Choosing not to waste his ammunition, he continued firing until he reached his last bullet. Without hesitation, Vin pulled the trigger for the final time when suddenly, a new eruption of fresh artillery exploded around him. The sounds whizzed past him like before except these were not coming at him but from behind him, instead. Vin turned around as he heard the fresh chorus of gunfire like it was the sweetest sound in the world. It was almost with a smile that he saw Josiah, Ezra and JD riding forward with guns blazing. He faced front again and he saw what remained of the bounty hunters cut down like straw. Only their horses continued the journey while their masters fell into the field of gold like weights disappearing to the briny depths.
"Took you long enough." Vin said weakly, when the others finally reached him.
"Your captors were determined to make it to Tascosa in one day's ride." Ezra pointed out, nudging his horse forward so that he could take control of Vin's own. Although he hid the concern in his eyes, Ezra could see the blood soaking through Vin's shirt.
"Vin, you're hurt!" JD exclaimed, never one to miss the obvious.
"Its just a scratch." the mountain man replied, trying not to show the pain he was in despite the severity of his injuries. In that way, Vin was like Chris Larabee, who seemed to have difficulty allowing anyone to witness such displays of mortality.
"Can you ride?" Josiah asked firmly, knowing the question was obligatory. It would take time to reach Four Corners and Vin did not appear to have much strength left in his wounded body.
"I'll probably need some help with the reins." He mumbled.
"I got it." Ezra said taking the strips of leather in his hands. "Try to hold on Mr. Tanner," the gambler remarked. "We'll have you in the ministrations of good Doctor Styles in no time" he said, trying to sound confident even though he was just as worried about Vin's condition as Josiah and JD.
"Now that's something to look forward to." Vin sighed as he slumped forward in the saddle, finally giving in to the pain and the black that had been on the edge of his consciousness.
She had heard the yelling and the muffled crashes through the crack of her bedroom door. She had listened as Mary argued before a sound that could only be flesh being struck violently. She forced the gasp that escaped her throat into silence, listening in rising fear to the scuffle of feet that soon evaporated into the nothingness of quiet.
Inez remained where she was, too afraid too move but unwilling to cower in fear either. She knew her friends were in trouble and she was witness to enough of the proceedings to know what fate the enemy had planned. Nathan was in no position to be of any help. She knew the men were gone and realized with almost agonizing frustration that she was all that stood between Mary Travis, Doctor Alexandra Styles and death.
How could anyone expect this of her? After what she had been through? She remained crouched by the door, trying to sum up the courage to stand up and do what was needed. Her arm still ached and her ribs were in no shape to allow her to perform any activity, let alone carry out any rescue. However, as the seconds stretched into minutes, she knew that there was no one else. Part of her was terrified to venture out of this room, to face what lay in the world outside. The memory of what was done to her was so fresh in her mind, she need only close her eyes to see their faces laughing as they...
Stop it!
Inez screamed silently in her mind. Stop it! This is what Paulo had wanted from her, what men always seemed to want. Now they had it, lavishing themselves to the point of euphoria on the nightmare she would endure for the rest of her life. A nightmare that might be marginally tolerable with her friends offering her comfort. If she remained where she was, hidden in the dark, in fear of her own shadow, she would lose those friends and the hurt would never end.
It was not a trade she was willing to make.
Inez rose to her feet and stepped out of the room, feeling her body throb as she padded towards the staircase that led to the floor of the saloon. Mary and her captors had left a few minutes ago but Inez had heard enough to guess where they were going. Victoria Kendall wanted Chris Larabee to know pain the like of which he could never endure.
To do that, she intended to leave him a legacy of fire and pyre on which Mary Travis would burn.
The law had cleared him of any wrong doing in the deaths of James, Timothy and Isaac Westbrook, citing he had acted in self-defense. Bitter Creek authorities had been so incensed by the loss of their much-loved Sheriff and the dozens of lawmen that had attempted to bring Damien Westbrook in to justice, they were willing to exonerate Chris of any responsibility in what had happened. While the law had not found him culpable, Chris did not find it as easy to absolve himself. For a man who was accustomed to keeping most things in his world under strict control, he could not imagine how the situation that night had spiraled so badly out of control.
Despite his practiced demeanor of cool detachment, Chris found the incident had plagued his mind for months after. Eventually it faded from memory, although in the darker moments of despair after Sarah and Adam's death, he had entertained the notion whether or not his family had died for that particular sin. Chris had no cause to think about the Westbrooks until Inez had been violated yesterday. The way she had been brutalized brought back memories of Alice, and with Alice, Damien Westbrook would immediately follow.
He supposed that a reckoning was always inevitable. For a long time, the possibility of incurring someone's wrath had hardly bothered him enough to care. However things had altered considerably in his life during the last year. The sudden appearance of people in his life had shifted the balance of his carefully guarded existence.
And then there was Mary.
Mary with her golden hair and a smile that was capable of sending his heart aflutter like he was a teenage boy with his first crush. When he was with her, the walls around his inner self seem unnecessary, almost hindering. She was capable of bringing him out of his protective shell with so little effort that he wondered what the power was she had over him. If it was a spell she had cast over him, Chris could not care less. He could think of worse ways to spend eternity than being wrapped in the blanket of warmth she provided.
If anything was still capable of sending him into utter waves of panic, it was the possibility of her being gone.
Part of the reason he had stayed away so long was because she was an exploitable weakness. Anyone who wanted to hurt him could use her to do it. It had taken a long time for him to overcome that fear and brave a relationship with her. Since the moment of their first night together and every day since, Chris had never found cause to regret that decision.
Until now.
Chris let his gaze move across the wreckage of Mary Travis' parlor and knew that he and Buck had returned too late from Crest Falls to be of any help to her. There were spots of blood on the floor and the walls were riddled with bullets. Judging by the state of the room leading to the stairs, someone had broken in through the front door before engaging in a firefight. There did not seem to be a lot of blood, certainly not enough to have come from a gunshot wound.
Refusing to think the worse, he started up the steps only to be greeted by Buck who had gone up to investigate while Chris was occupied downstairs.
"No one's up there.' Buck offered as he came down the stairs, wearing a grim expression on his face. "I found the door to one of the rooms partially barricaded but no sign of anyone or anything. I don't think they got up that far, I didn't see no bullet marks."
"Which doesn't answer the question where they are." Chris said abruptly and spun on his heels before striding out the door.
"Well if there was trouble," Buck hurried to catch up with him. "Vin wouldn't have let them stay here. They may have gone to the saloon or some place safer."
Chris had already thought of that and was making his way towards the establishment even as Buck let the words escape his lips. Once again, the panic that had threatened to overwhelm him during his journey back to Four Corners reared its ugly visage in his mind. "Assuming," Chris responded as they walked up the street. "That Vin isn't hurt himself. I saw blood on the floor."
Buck's color changed and Chris saw the worry in his eyes thicken so abruptly that he had to turn away from Chris. "If they've hurt Inez again, I'll kill them." Buck swore under his breath.
They arrived at the saloon to find it empty, which was expected at this time of day. It was just after dawn and the saloon had closed hour ago. However, Chris saw a pot of coffee on the table and went straight for it. Feeling the smooth surface of the pot with his hand, he noticed that there were still some traces of warmth left in the quickly cooling beverage.
"Its still warm." Chris looked at Buck. The table had all the signs of being recently occupied but the saloon was just as empty as Mary's house.
"Ezra!" Chris head Buck call as he ran up the stairs to find the gambler.
Enough of this, Chris decided. He was not about to waste time trying to find the others when Mary and Inez' life could be in danger. He hoped the others were not here for a good reason and he had to believe that Vin was absent because he was with Mary and Inez. Having charged the mountain man to protect the two women, he was certain that Vin would not shirk that responsibility even under the threat of death. Chris sincerely hoped it had not come to that.
Buck reappeared a moment later, looking bewildered and concerned. "Nathan is up there asleep but no one else is." He reported. "I don't understand this, where are Josiah, JD and Ezra? They should be here!"
"They should be," Chris nodded. "But they aren't, so we're just going to have to deal with this ourselves and work out the details later."
"That's all well and good," Buck retorted. "But we don't know where anyone is or if anything has actually happened to them."
As unlikely as the possibility that the absence of his friends and the woman he loved could be explained rationally, Chris did not believe it for a moment. "Doesn't matter," Chris retorted turning back to the bat wing doors. "We're going to the source of the problem now."
Buck found he could not disagree with that. It was time that Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington finally met Mrs. Victoria Kendall.
"I can't understand a word you're saying." Alex retorted as she struggled with the ropes that kept her hands tied around her back. "And would you stop speaking, you have a broken jaw." She had no idea why she was concerning herself with Mary's injuries when it seemed to be a moot point at this moment. If Victoria Kendall was allowed to feed her insane desires for revenge against Chris Larabee, a broken jaw was the least of Mary Travis' problems.
Mary had been trying to speak through her broken jaw, and for obvious reasons, was not very intelligible. Although if the level of her anxiety could be measured by intensity of her muffled words, Alex would then surmise the widow was very unhappy indeed.
"What damn difference does it make!" Mary snapped. Forcing her mouth to co-operate in spite of the pain of the fracture inflicted by the steel of Victoria's gun, Mary's words sounded slurred. As soon as the words left her sore mouth, she felt slivers of pain from the action and groaned.
"I have no idea!" Alex answered with just as much vehemence. "I am trying to remain calm under pressure."
Mary rolled her eyes in disbelief as she contemplated their situation. Victoria and Saul had taken them to the newly constructed Emporium and left them in the basement, bound and helpless. Surrounded by faceless mannequins and other items that would never see the light of day, the two women were kept out of sight while Victoria carried out her plans for vengeance. Mary could hear their footsteps across the floor above her head and the sound served only to heighten her apprehension.
Victoria was determined to make Chris face his worse nightmare once again by losing another women he loved to a fiery death. At the moment, it was far more important to Mary that he did not endure that fate then the risk to her life.
"All the gunslingers in the west and we have to get one who knows how to tie knots like a sailor!" Alex complained angrily as she felt the coarse ropes rubbing her wrists raw each time she renewed her efforts to loosen them. "I can't even get this knot to budge!"
"We better think of something." Mary grunted an answer, wincing once more as she spoke through her injured mouth. "I had a list of things to do today, none of which involved getting burned to a crisp."
"I admire your ability to joke at a time like this." The doctor said sarcastically and then added with less calm. "What is it with you newspaper people? Stop talking!" Alex declared. "That jaw is never going to heal!"
"Thank you so much Doctor." Mary quipped although she knew the woman was right. Her jaw ached terribly and she shuddered each time she felt the grating of bone against bone. She felt as if a weight was pressing up against a cheek and the pressure inside her mouth was growing by the minute. However, in the rare instances when deranged family members were attempting to murder her in vengeance of a loved one, Mary Travis preferred not to go quietly.
With Chris and Buck at Crest Falls, Josiah and the others trying to find Vin Tanner, there was no help coming, and their bantering reflected this seeming hopeless situation. With growing realization, Mary and Alex had come to the conclusion that they would only extract themselves from this present predicament by mans of utilizing their own resourcefulness.
At the moment, neither was rising to the occasion with any dignity.
"She's insane you know." Alex remarked unable to forget the deranged gleam in Victoria Kendall's eyes as they were brought here. She did not know the man in black with any familiarity. Everything about him seemed to say 'go away' and for good reason. She had no doubt he was as dangerous as he looked even if he wore a seemingly civilized exterior. Throughout all this, there was only one question that Alex had hesitated in asking. However, if she was going to die because of him, she did feel the right to know the truth. "Do you think he did it?" She asked finally. "Do you think Larabee murdered her family?"
"Chris is a lot of things," Mary said with soft voice that had nothing to do with her injury. "He is not a cold blooded murderer though," she sighed heavily. "He usually has impeccable timing."
"I wouldn't mind seeing that for myself about now." Alex commented unable to deny Mary's conviction in his innocence was infectious.
The footsteps overhead ceased abruptly, followed by an uncomfortable stretch of silence. For a moment, neither Mary nor Alex spoke as they waited in rising anxiety for some new threat to appear on the horizon. Victoria had stated her intentions with such relish that the captives knew the quiet was merely a prelude to the final act in Victoria Kendall's play of vengeance.
A drop of fluid appeared through the fissure of floorboards, unnoticed at first until it grew to a large droplet that made a soft but noticeable sound as it impacted on the ground in front of them. More droplets followed in quick succession until it resembled a leaky roof during a rainstorm. When the droplets had formed sufficient quantity to become a pool, a strange odor wafted through the air. Its stink was pungent and somewhat disorientating.
"Oh my God." Alex exclaimed, identifying the smell first. "It's lamp oil."
Through some miracle, Inez had made it into the building without being seen. Having peered through one of the glass windows of the Emporium, she witnessed in rising horror the sight of Saul and Victoria Kendall emptying bottles of lamp oil over everything. The thick viscous fluid was soon smeared over walls and cabinets, dripping off any surface that was smooth enough to allow it flow. With a sinking realization, Inez guessed that Mary and Alex were probably imprisoned somewhere, helpless while the building around them was in preparation to become an inferno.
She circled the building, opting to enter through the rear entrance, utilizing the same path Mary and Alex had been forced to follow on their way to their prison. Fortunately, their captors had left the door unlocked, giving Inez a way onto the premises. Every step she made was one she felt as her body protested to the activity that she was forcing it to endure. Inwardly, she was in little condition to effect any rescue but the reality of the situation saw no other alternative.
Inez was terrified of encountering the man who might have been responsible for her rape because one of the voices had seemed familiar. She had no idea what she would do if forced to face him again and the thought sent shivers of fear down her spine that almost forced her to run back to the saloon and hide. Inez forced away such thoughts, remembering the friend and the doctor who were in dire need of her help.
Navigating through the smaller rooms, she kept clear of the main room, while testing every door and inspecting every room for some indication as to where the duo might have placed Mary and Doctor Styles. It was not long before she found herself at a door leading to the basement and heard the frightened voices behind it. With a surge of excitement, Inez realized that she knew those voices and reached for the handle when suddenly; she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Victoria Kendall asked and Inez felt her heart freeze in her chest. Turning around slowly, she swore under her breath and made a silent apology to Mary and Alex for failing them.
"Saul!" The woman screeched, beckoning her companion from the front room.
Inez' eyes widened as she saw him approach. Deep wells of hatred rose from the pit of her stomach in the knowledge that this was the man who had made her feel like less than nothing. Seeing him in the flesh, instead of the dark faceless figure that had tormented her in her nightmares, surfaced a powerful surge of rage that Inez could ill contain. Without warning, she rushed at him with a speed she did not know she possessed, moving past Victoria in a blur of color before sinking her long nails into his face and raking as much flesh she could on recoil.
He uttered a painful cry and lashed out fiercely, striking her bruised face with the back of his hand. Inez fell to the floor with little effort on his part but she hardly felt the pain in light of the immense satisfaction of seeing his face torn by her hand. At the very least, he would never be able to look in the mirror without remembering who had scarred him this way.
"Bitch!" He snarled and moved towards her, with every intention of killing her.
"Saul, we don't have time for this!" Victoria stopped him in mid-stride. "Let's just light this place and go! We can watch them burn when we ride out of this godforsaken town. Throw her in the basement with the others..." she ordered with an icy glare the man could not refuse.
Saul glared at Inez, seething from his injuries and unsatisfied that his desire to kill her with his bare hands would not come to pass. He started toward her when suddenly; they heard sharp rapping against the glass of the main doors. The sound froze the moment and Inez strained to look at who the unexpected visitor might have been. What she saw renewed her belief in her God and allowed her the insane thought of believing that a more wonderful sight than that of Buck and Chris waiting for someone to answer the door, could not exist.
Without hesitation, Inez saw her chance and took it. "Buck!" She fairly screamed.
"You little whore!" Victoria Kendall swore and sent her boot flying into Inez' tender ribs. The kick wrenched an agonizing scream from the fallen woman that almost eclipsed the first. Inez rolled onto her side in pain, feeling the pain tear a sob from her body as she curled into a fetal position before everything went to hell.
Chris heard the scream and met Buck's gaze in instant recognition. "Buck, around the back!" He ordered as he ran forward, smashing through the glass and wood with little thought of injury to himself. Trailing shards and splinters, Chris entered the Emporium just in time to be greeted by a series of gunshots. Throwing himself behind some shelves, he scrambled to the edge of the wooden constructions and began returning fire. It was at this point that he noticed an all too familiar odor. Fortunately, he had none of the inflammatory material on himself and was tempted to shout a warning not to shoot before it occurred to him that its presence might be intentional.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than the sparks from their weapons did what he feared. The inner half of the main floor burst into flames, fire running up the length and breath of the room, following the trail left by the oil that Saul and Victoria had used so indiscriminately to douse the place. As a bullet slammed into the ceramic pots behind him shattering them into a thousand pieces that rained on his back, Chris chose to deal with the more immediate problem. He peered past the safety of the shelf to see Saul firing at him with both guns blazing. He waited for a pause in the volley of bullets before returning his own fire.
Bullets whizzed past his head, striking the shelves behind him and splintering wood in all directions. The glass windows behind him had shattered spectacularly and the sound of gunfire being exchanged was becoming deafening. He heard Saul scrambling forward when Chris was force to reload his weapon. He was uncertain how much ammunition Saul had, but knew his own supply was not inexhaustible. With the fire quickly consuming everything before him, Chris was suddenly struck with the possibility that Saul did not mean to kill him but instead delay him from reaching Mary.
Where the hell was Buck? He cursed under his breath as he saw the fabric in that section of the Emporium ignite with such flawless tenacity that it was almost beautiful. The smoke was becoming thicker now and Chris could feel it burning his eyes slightly. He heard coughing somewhere and gathered it was Saul. Realizing that time was against him, Chris sought a faster way to end this firefight.
The flames were quickly finding fresh fodder to feed their insatiable lust, as more and more items were ignited. The veil of smoke drifting past Chris that previously obscured his vision was now making it hard to breathe. This could not go on much longer, he had to reach Mary. Chris looked at the shelf behind which he was hiding and then noticed several more leading up the aisle to where his nemesis was taking cover. Some had already fallen prey to the fire, but most were still intact and standing.
An idea borne of desperation sprung to mind when Chris realized that they could continue firing at each other until they ran out of bullets or die in the flames that were engulfing everything around them. Chris could accept the dying if it meant doing so would not doom Mary to the same fate. Taking the chance at ending this quickly, Chris shoved hard against the shelf until it teetered on its edge. A final push sent it over, and in its descent slammed hard into the others down the aisle. Taking the chance while he could, he ran down the aisle, as Saul became aware at what was coming at him.
As the enemy crawled to get out of the way of the shelves collapsing upon each other like dominoes, he forgot about Chris Larabee for the moment. The lapse lasted no more than a minute but it gave Chris enough time to bring him down in a full body tackle. Saul fell backwards, his gun flying out of his hand as he landed on top of a table containing some glass bottles of perfume. The older man recovered quicker than Chris gave him credit and elbowed Chris in the chest. The gunslinger fell backwards and kicked out his foot, striking the man's jaw and sending him reeling.
Elsewhere, Victoria Kendall watched and waited.
Buck hurried around the Emporium, unknowingly taking the same route Inez had done earlier. Her terrified scream was seared into his mind and despite the urgency of the situation, he had felt some pleasure when she had called, not for Chris whom she would have seen first, but him. Buck burst through the rear entrance, guns drawn as he moved carefully through the corridors that meandered through the rooms in the building. He generally knew where he was going but it was difficult to see now that the fire was raging out of control. There was thick smoke billowing through the passageway and Buck could see tendrils of orange flames running along the rafters above his head.
"Inez!" He called out, trying to fan the smoke from his obscured vision so that he could find her. He had heard her scream not once but twice and he was sure she was in agony the second time. He did not know what frightened him more, the fact that she was in the hands of such vile folk as Saul Willis and Victoria Kendall or that she had actually screamed in terror. He had never heard her scream in fear of anything. She was his proud, defiant and outrageously brave Inez and anything that could frighten her, frightened him.
"I'm here!" Buck heard her cough in response and thought it the sweetest sound in the world.
She was still on the floor, doubled over by a door, hugging her legs in pain. It was an instant later that Buck was aware that there were other cries for help emanating from the entrance. With a surge or relief, he knew that it was Mary and Alex. Dropping to his knees to help her, Buck moved to pick her up when she waved him away.
"Not yet," she groaned. "Mary and the doctor are down there!"
"What are you doing here honey?" He asked as placed his hand against her cheek. He could feel the heat of fire against her skin and knew that the flames were coming closer to them.
"I had to help them." She whispered. "She was going to burn them like Chris' wife and son."
Buck's jaw tightened hearing that, needing no further incentive to smash his boot hard against the lock and tearing it from the wood. It slammed open against the wall and recoiled but Buck shoved it aside and hurried down the stairs. The basement was filled with grey smoke and when he reached the floor; he saw the faint outline of Mary and Alex coughing wildly, their faces covered in soot.
"Thank God!" Alex exclaimed with obvious relief. "Get us the hell out of here!" She shouted in unconcealed panic. Mary's eyes reflected the same sentiments but her eyes searched the stairway behind him to see if anyone else was coming.
"Chris?" She managed to ask.
"Upstairs dealing with Saul." Buck said abruptly, more interested in cutting away the ropes that held them than answering any questions. He had managed to forget about Chris fighting Saul Willis and Victoria Kendall in his haste to free the women. Now, he was suddenly concerned that he ought to go find his friend. However, first things first. The long bladed knife that had been a gift from Vin cut the ropes easily, snapping each tough fibrous strand with little or no effort. Alex was freed first and she got to her feet almost like it was a race she could not run fast enough.
When Mary was freed, they hurried up the staircase with Buck leading the way. When they reached the top, he dropped down and swooped Inez in his arms with one swift movement.
"Inez!" Alex exclaimed. "How did you get here?"
"I couldn't let them hurt you." Inez responded, her arms sliding around Buck's neck and finding comfort in being able to hold him close.
"Thank you Inez," Alex squeezed her arm warmly. "You are the bravest woman I know."
"Come on ladies," Buck interrupted as his eyes searched the smoke for Chris, disappointed when he could not see his friend. He did not want to leave Chris behind but the women had to be taken to safety and he knew Chris would want him to do that first, before any attempt at helping him. The fire had snaked its way further down the ceiling of the corridor and was starting to turn the powerful beams of wood into cinders. It would not be long before it all came down. "We've got to get moving."
Following Buck's lead, the group hurried down the corridor; trying not to breathe in any more of the noxious smoke and ignore the flames that were following them in close pursuit. When they finally emerged into the morning air, its untainted scent went a long way to lifting their frightened spirits. Outside, the residents of Four Corners were becoming aware of the fire and some of them were gathering on the streets, trying to mobilize the town's fledgling fire fighting force with some difficulty.
It was Alex who noticed that Mary was not with them.
The blade caught his skin and cut open a sizeable gash in his arm. Chris winced slightly but managed to catch Saul's hand before the man could sink the blade into another part of his anatomy. Saul had produced the Bowie from inside his boot and had so far managed to avoid all attempts Chris had made to remove the weapon. Around them, the ceiling was on fire and threatening to collapse at any moment.
"You'll never get to her in time." Saul smiled maliciously as he lunged at Chris with his other hand. "She'll burn like the other one burned."
Chris ground his teeth, forcing away the man's taunts because he knew better. Buck would find Mary. He had to believe that or else not even his life would matter. He blocked Saul's blow and slammed his forehead hard against the bridge of the man's nose while keeping a firm grip on the hand holding the knife. Saul recoiled in pain, blood gushing from a shattered nose. Taking advantage of his disorientation, Chris forced the blade backward in one final and conclusive show of strength.
The blade impaled Saul Willis so completely, sliding through his chest like a hot knife through butter that Chris felt its sharp tip strike the floor beneath him. Saul's eyes widened in an expression of surprise before the life drained from him completely and his face contorted in a silent cry of agony. Chris felt his body slacken before his head rolled back, hitting the wooden floor in a final death knell.
Breathing hard, Chris rose to his feet and turned to find Mary when suddenly, he heard the familiar click of gun cocking. Through the smoke he saw her for the first time, eyes glaring at him with venomous hatred that had been raging with more heat than this fire could ever imagine. She stepped out of the smoke, gun pointed firmly at him with every intention of killing him in the next few seconds.
"Hello Lucy." Chris said without any sign of fear. He had a feeling it would not get him very far even if he did feel the fear she wanted to see in his eyes.
"I'm honored you remembered." She said coldly, approaching him slowly. Before he died, she wanted to see his eyes. The flames were all around them. She supposed hell must feel this way. It gave comfort to her universe to know that he would go first.
"I didn't." Chris answered honestly. "Not until I went to Crest Falls with Buck and he saw the Westbrook family plot."
"You were always thorough." She smiled without a trace of humor. Her eyes were dark pits of hatred he was intimately familiar with. Chris wondered for how long she had fantasized this moment in her mind, replaying the scene of vengeance she would create for him. "I suppose I should have expected it."
"Why Lucy?" Chris found himself asking. "Why now after 13 years?"
Her eyes narrowed as the question bounced off her. With a slow smile, she her fingers tightened around the trigger and responded. "Why not?" She said coldly. "Do you think there is a statute of limitation on what you did? You murdered my father and my brothers for what? A little whore that probably had it coming? You hung Damien for that?"
"Damien deserved to be hung." Chris said with no intention of saving his life by lying. "He raped and murdered a whole lot more women than just that little whore as you called her. I wasn't going to hurt anyone that night but I was going to bring an end to him, one way or another. I gave your father and brothers a choice. You may not remember that but I do." Strangely enough, when he was berating himself over their deaths the past few years, that was a detail he had never actually considered, that he had given them a choice at life. It was more of an opportunity than the Westbrooks had ever given anyone.
"A choice!" She glared at him, as if the notion was preposterous. "You think that offering my family a chance to serve a Westbrook as a sacrificial lamb is a choice!"
"I gave them as much of a choice as they gave the law who tried to bring your brother in." Chris replied, unmindful of the inferno that was blazing around them or the ceiling that was on the verge of collapsing the entire building around their ears. The fire was eclipsing the smoke. Chris could feel the hot flames prickling his skin and the rising temperature was running sweat down his forehead. If he had been any farther away, he might have tried to escape her but Chris had the premonition that if he even moved an inch, she would shoot him without hesitation.
"Do you know what it's like to watch your mother wither away and die?" she demanded, showing the first weakness in the mask of fury she was wearing. "When you killed my father, you should just killed her. Instead you made her suffer the agony of burying her husband and her sons! I suppose I should feel something, knowing that you suffered the same, but it's not enough!" She snarled fiercely, riding high on a surge of adrenaline from which there was no return. "I want you to scream from the pain the way you made my family suffer! I'm going to put you through hell!"
"Victoria." A new voice called out calmly.
Victoria looked over her shoulder just in time to feel a cast iron pan slam into the side of her head. The force of the blow almost lifted her off her feet as she fell backwards. She went down without a sound or a shriek, the concussion of sound vibrating through the crackling air for a few seconds after. Mary watched her fall dispassionately before dropping the pan onto the floor with a loud thud.
Chris who was staring at her with a widening smile of relief when she looked up at him and returned his grin with the best disjointed smile she could managed with her fractured jaw before replying. "No one is going to put you through hell but me."
He let out a short chuckle and then came forward to grab her hand. "Come on." Chris said pulling her towards the open door. He took note of the ugly bruise on the side of her face and reminded himself to ask about it later. "We've got to get out of here."
There was no time for warm reunions; the Emporium was a fiery death waiting to happen. The heat and smoke were starting to overwhelm them, and he was surprised that neither of them had succumbed to it. He hesitated, remembering Victoria lying in the heart of all that fire and knew that he would not allow her to die. He was not going to be responsible for the death of another Westbrook.. "You go on," he urged Mary as he took a step towards the unconscious woman.
Suddenly, any good intentions he might have regarding Mrs. Kendall ended with the powerful crack of a ceiling beam giving way. He looked up to see the beam of wood bearing down on them before he was forced into moving by Mary's strong grip on his hand. They ran out of the Emporium, barely a step ahead of the descending rain of wood and flaming debris. Crashing through the door, neither was aware of the glass and splinters that clung to their skin until they had cleared the building.
There was already a small crowd forming outside the Emporium, with frightened faces trying to comprehend the drama unfolding before them. The building was ablaze with a fire so thick that no amount of water was going to save it. Thick columns of black smoke rose into the blue morning sky. Chris and Mary watched the sign over the door curling with heat before engaging in a warm embrace, not caring whether the entire town was watching or not. All that was important was the fact that they were alive and the ordeal of the last few days had finally come to a close.
So much for the Emporium, Chris sighed. Good, he hated the place anyway.
"You're hurt." She mumbled through her injured jaws, seeing the slash on his arm after they had parted.
"Its nothing," Chris replied, far more interested in the discoloration on her cheek. "What happened to your face?"
"Alex thinks my jaw is fractured."
"And you're still talking?" He looked at her in concern.
She glared at him through narrowed eyes and starting walking back to the flaming building.
"Where are you going?" He called out.
Mary did not return his gaze and retorted. "I'm going back for the pan."
Home | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Epilogue | Top