Buck froze for a split second. He wasn’t about to give up his weapon. Just as he was ready to twirl around and take on Alan, his eyes honed in on Ezra and the gun being held to the gambler’s head.

“Yeah, that’s right, pard! You try anything and I blow his brains out the back of his head,” Jacob snarled. Wilmington flicked his eyes to Chris and then back to the bounty hunter.

Alan pressed the gun more firmly into Buck’s back.

Wilmington cursed, but like his companions before him, found he had no choice. While the gun was pressed into Ezra’s head there was nothing he could do. Shooting Jacob would cause a reflex convulsion. The bounty hunter’s finger would flex involuntarily, the trigger would be depressed and Ezra would be killed. He had seen it happen before. Buck dropped his gun.

J.D., who had been standing frozen, clutching a dead mammal in each hand, watched in horror.

“You too, boy,” Alan prompted, shoving Buck toward his seated companions.

J.D. looked to his leader. Chris nodded. There was no sense in the boy and Ezra dying to save one man... even if that man was Vin. Besides, the stakes had changed a little. The bounty hunters had already stated that they were going to keep Vin alive - at least until they got to Tascosa. There were a lot of miles between there and here and it looked as though Nathan would be going with Vin. The regulators had bought some time.

J.D. dropped the carcasses he held and withdrew his revolver slowly. Again, the boy glanced at Chris, waiting for some sort of instructions. Larabee’s head bobbed. J.D. dropped his gun. The youth, too, was shoved towards his seated companions.

Jacob waited until both Buck and J.D. had been bound, then he rose to his feet, leaning on Ezra to do so. As the bounty hunter moved off, Standish stirred.

“Well, that’s it. You still want to go out into this rain? I reckon we should wait for a while,” Alan commented. The pair could hear the driving rain outside. It certainly hadn’t eased.

“No,” Jacob disagreed, staring at Chris. “I want to put some distance between them and us. Don’t want this fella coming after us.”

The older bounty hunter directed his attention to Larabee . “I get the feeling he will anyway. Once he gets free.”

“Maybe we should make sure he doesn’t,” Jacob snarled, lethally.

Alan’s face flashed with surprise. He was happy to kill those who had been marked for death, but killing an innocent man? Was there a difference?

Ezra became aware of this throbbing head first. He grunted.

Jacob and Alan began to argue loudly. The younger man couldn’t see any reason not to kill Larabee and his men. No one would find them out here in the middle of nowhere, the bounty hunter reasoned.

Chris glanced across at Ezra, watching as the gambler’s head lolled to the side. “Stay still!” The words were air. I quiet warning. Ezra heard them through the haze of his returning consciousness. Standish waited for the buzzing in his head to ease so he could orient himself. His back was against the wall of the cave. He was laying on his left side. Voices? Voices he didn’t recognize. Men arguing.

Ezra forced his eyes open a slither. In front of him, about ten feet away, he could see the legs of two men. Standish scanned the cave with his slitted eyes. Nathan and Vin were off to the right. Ezra tilted his head back slightly. There he could see Buck and J.D. He guessed that Chris and Josiah were closer to him and therefore beyond the angle of his sight. Ezra noted immediately, that his friends were tied up. What the hell was going on?!

“Look, Jacob, I know what you’re saying, but... I mean, that’s murder.”

“You reckon they’re gonna think about that if they catch up with us later?” Jacob ranted. The pair’s argument became louder.

Nathan watched the two men carefully. He placed his hand under the blanket covering Vin, slid it down Tanner’s leg and reached into his companion’s boot. His fingers closed around the knife. Silently, he withdrew it and slid it up Vin’s body, slipped it out from under the blanket and clutched it in his hand on the ground behind his wounded friend. Nathan was ready.

All of Jackson’s companions had seen him retrieve the knife. They knew how deadly such a weapon was in Nathan’s hands, but equally, they realized a single knife alone wouldn’t be enough. With a blade Nathan could take care of one of the bounty hunters, but not two. The Seven needed a distraction.

Chris’ found his mind fill with thoughts of the night before. The gunfighter stared at Nathan intensely. Once he had the healer’s attention, he flicked his eyes to the ceiling and then back to Nathan’s face. Jackson nodded. He understood.

“I don’t know, Jacob,” Alan claimed, beginning to pace. “They know Judge Travis! Travis is an important man. They’ll be missed. Someone will come looking for them.”

“We don’t know that’s true. Look, do you want to spend the rest of you life looking over your shoulder wondering if they’re coming after us?! We have to kill them. We don’t have any choice!”

Nathan stared at Josiah, J.D. and Buck. All three men were focused on him. Jackson raised his eyes to the dark cavern above them. The trio understood immediately.

“A shrill whistle,” Buck muttered.

Ezra watched the scene unfolding. He moved his legs. He wasn’t bound... but what good would that do him? He was too far away from the two bounty hunters to attack. He flexed his arm and knew immediately that his derringer was missing. If only he was armed!

Alan stared at his partner. Slowly, he nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

Jacob patted his friend’s arm. He turned toward the men seated against the cave wall and smiled evilly. “Well, pards, this is the end of the line. We can’t leave you alive. Reckon you mongrels would try to come after us.” The four faces were set like stone.

Alan smiled, suddenly deciding this looked like it could be entertaining. “Which one first?” he chuckled.

Nathan adjusted his grip on the knife. Jacob reached down for his holstered gun.

“Reckon the fella in black.”

Abruptly, a long, high-pitched whistle from five men filled the cave. The heavens above came to life! Bats! Hundreds of bats came streaking out of the darkness, flying toward the entrance of the cave. The standing bounty hunters were momentarily engulfed by a wave of flapping wings. Nathan raised his knife.

“You bastards!” Alan cried, realizing what Larabee and his men had down. “Kill them, Jacob. Kill the bastards!“ Alan drew is revolver. The blade in Nathan‘s hand shot through the air with deadly accuracy. The weapon entered the bounty hunter’s chest.

Nearby, Jacob pulled his gun from his holster. Buck and J.D. launched themselves at the man, bodily slamming him. It was all they could do with their arms and feet tied. All three went down in a heap, the gun spilling out.

Ezra dragged himself up onto his backside, but pitched sideways, his whole world spinning at a dizzying rate.

Jacob shoved the two bound men aside. They couldn’t fight back. The colony of bats disappeared. The bounty hunter roared with rage. He grabbed his weapon, which had been jarred from his hand. Buck and J.D. stared up at him wide-eyed. They were on the ground at his feet with no way to defend themselves. However, it wasn’t them that Jacob was interested in.

The enraged bounty hunter glanced over at his partner. Alan’s eyes were staring straight up at him, totally lifeless. Jacob turned towards Nathan. “You bastard!”

“No!” Chris shouted, realising what was about to happen.

Ezra heard the shout and tried to right himself. He was too far away to help and he couldn‘t stop his head from spinning!

The bounty hunter raised his gun.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ezra spotted it!

“You killed him!“ Jacob screamed. He cocked the weapon. Nathan swallowed and drew himself backwards, away from Vin.

“Don’t!” J.D. screamed. Time slowed.

Ezra’s hands darted out, grabbing the sling shot and a large stone. It was his only hope.

Jacob aimed at Nathan’s head. His finger depressed the trigger.

In one movement, Standish lifted the sling, aimed and fired! Ezra watched the stone sail across the room. It struck the bounty hunter’s gun and sent it spinning from the murder’s hand as he fired. The bullet’s direction was altered a couple of degrees, but it was enough. The slug whistled over Nathan’s head harmlessly!

Ezra leaped to his feet, crossed the distance between himself and the shocked bounty hunter in two strides and tackled him. The pair went down, wrestling for the upper hand. Buck crawled across to the gun that had been knocked from Jacob’s hand.

Despite his hands being bound, Buck was able to pick it up. He fired the gun once. The two wrestling men paused.

“GET OFF HIM!” Buck roared. Jacob shoved Ezra away, the gambler rolling onto his back, panting. His entire world was rotating. The nausea he felt caused his stomach to lurch with a vengeance. His head felt like it was splitting down the middle.

Without warning, Jacob produced a knife. He dived at Ezra, the knife arcing through the air and descending toward the wounded gambler. Buck fired. The bullet struck Jacob in the middle of the chest and catapulted him to the right. The bounty hunter hit the ground next to Ezra. Standish scrambled backwards. Jacob gasped once before death claimed him.

For several seconds, the only sound in the small cave was panted breathing. Ezra raised his eyes to Buck. “Mr. Wilmington, your timing was impeccable... which is quite unusual.” Buck took a long deep breath. Gradually, a smile consumed his face. Ezra’s too succumbed to his relief in the form of a smile.

“Well, don’t just lay there, Ezra! Get up and come and untie us all!”

Standish snorted, dragged himself up and then paused, waiting for the cave to stop spinning.

“Ezra?” Nathan asked.

“I am okay, Mr. Jackson. I just need a moment.” Seconds later, Ezra walked - somewhat unsteadily - to the collection of weapons on the far side of the cave and withdrew one of Nathan’s knives. Then, he strode across to Chris and sawed through the ropes that held his leader.

Larabee took the knife from his friend and without a word, helped Ezra to sit down. The gunfighter smiled at the gambler. Ezra nodded. Yes, they had cheated death again... and they’d it done together - again. Chris patted his companion’s arm and then set about freeing the rest of the group.

Nathan grabbed his bag and rushed across to his wounded friend. “Double vision?” he asked.

“No. Just a splitting headache. Oh, and the cave is revolving, which is somewhat disconcerting.”

“You’ve a concussion.”

“Indeed. My attire is quite a mess as well.” Ezra lowered his eyes to his favourite red jacket. “Look at me! I‘m covered in mud!”

Nathan examined the cut on the back of his companion’s head. “A couple of stitches and you’ll be fine.”

“Indeed. By the way, did I ever tell you how truly fond I am of bats? Wonderful creatures!”

Nathan stopped and smiled. His and Ezra’s eyes met. “You saved my life, Ezra.”

Standish grinned. “Fear not. I will not let you forget it, my friend.” Nathan offered his hand. Ezra took it. “We make quite a team, Mr. Jackson.” The words were sincere and the same ones he had spoken the day before when they had combined to save Vin’s life.

“That we do, Southern Boy. That we do.”

Chris dropped beside Vin. Tanner’s eyes were open, though it was obvious he was struggling to remain awake. “Hey.”

Chris nodded.

“Ezra?”

Larabee glanced over his shoulder.

“What on earth... that is stinging! I am not a Thanksgiving turkey. Where on Earth did you learn...”

“Sounds okay to me,” Chris commented, grinning. He picked up Vin’s hand and squeezed it.

Chris opened his eyes and nodded. “That sounds good to me. How are you feeling?”

“Lucky.” Damn lucky I got you and the boys watchin’ my back.

“In your ass, Chris.”

A shadow fell over the pair. Josiah towered above them, his face blanketed with guilt and self-reproach. “I’m sorry. I led them straight to you Vin. I...”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Chris added. Larabee glanced at the complaining gambler. “None of us did. Not while they had their gun on Ezra.”

Josiah nodded. “I didn’t think we’d get out of this one.”

“Sit still! For God’s sake, Ezra!”

“No, for my sake, Mr. Jackson. What the... just how blunt is that needle?!”

“I’m done. I just have to bandage it!”

“I don’t want a bandage. Its unsoiled whiteness clashes with the muck on my vest and the grime on my trousers!”

“You’re having one!” Nathan wrapped the dressing quickly and then stood up, admiring his work. Ezra scowled.

Jackson turned to Chris. “How’s Vin?”

“No problem!” Buck cried. “J.D. and I have caught a feast!”

**********

Four hours after the men had escaped death, they were saddling their horses. They had buried the dead bounty hunters and eaten well, but in silence. The threat to their lives had been extremely brief, totalling ten minutes from the time Josiah had returned to the cave, to when Jacob Manning’s eyes had closed for the last time. However, it had been a torturous ten minutes. The bounty hunters had used the life one of the Seven to secure the cooperation of the others. As the men contemplated all that had happened, each realized just how close they had become. Their friendship, faith and loyalty to one another were their strength, but it would appear, their weakness as well. Thankfully, they had turned the tables by doing what they did best... work together as one.

The moment the rain had stopped, the peacekeepers had packed up and headed for their horses. All they wanted to do was go home.

Vin was placed back on the travois, gently. The tracker had slipped off to sleep the moment he had finished the broth Nathan had prepared. He had barely stirred when his friends had lifted him. Tanner knew he was safe and in the care of those who were willing to give their lives to protect him. It would have been very easy for the others to simply hand him over to ensure their own survival. Never at any stage did Vin fear this would be considered. He had never trusted others like this. Content, but exhausted, Tanner had succumbed to his body’s need for rest.

Buck helped Ezra onto his horse. “I am fine, my friend. My head is feeling much better... and if you even consider commenting on my unfortunate appearance I will shoot you!” Despite having attempted to clean himself off, the mud still clung to the disgusted gambler’s clothing and hair.

Chris was the last to mount his horse. He coaxed the animal to the front of the group. On his signal, the seven regulators from Four Corners started on their short trip home. Buck and J.D. began to argue, Josiah started giving advice and Nathan chuckled contentedly. The ten minutes of hell they had experienced was already fading in their minds. However, those ten minutes had strengthened the friendship, faith and loyalty they shared. Larabee and his men were no longer seven strangers who rode together out of convenience. They were one team who chose each other’s company and accepted all the responsibility, joy and heartache that went with it.

Chris brought his horse along side Ezra’s. In the last few days, Ezra Standish had genuinely proven he was far more than he allowed others to believe.

Out of his pocket, Chris withdrew a child‘s small toy. The gunfighter reflected on what had happened. Ezra had grabbed the sling shot and stone, aimed and fired in one movement. All while he was lying on his side. All while suffering from a concussion that left his world spinning. Most amazingly, the stone had not only crossed the distance, but also hit the gun, knocking it from the murder’s hand in time to save Nathan’s life. Chris had never seen anything like it.

The gunfighter smiled and handed the ’toy’ to the gambler.

“Hell of a shot, Standish.”

Ezra glanced at the other man and smiled. “Yes, indeed.”

Chris patted his companion’s arm, his grin developing into a relaxed smile. “Hell of a shot!”