**********

Buck and J.D. heard the roar and took off like the hounds of hell were after them. Ezra, who was at the other end of the street, had heard his team mate’s unrestrained explosion of anger and spun in that direction. Nathan and Chris raced out of the clinic, searching wildly for any sign of Josiah - for when Josiah lost his temper, mountains quaked!

They spotted the enraged preacher directly below them. His face was white with rage and his hands were encircling the throat of the man he had up against the wall of the livery.

"Josiah!" Buck shouted, as he and J.D. appeared and tried to pry the enraged preacher’s hands from his prisoner. "Let him go!"

"Dynamite! In his saddle bag!" Josiah managed to get out. He wasn’t consciously thinking. He’d seen the dynamite and it had been like a red flag to a bull.

"Josiah!" Larabee thundered from above. The huge preacher glanced up and then gradually released his victim. The man collapsed. Buck and J.D. grabbed an arm each and reefed the suspect to his feet.

"You’ve got dynamite in your saddle bag?" J.D. growled.

"He’s mad! Keep him away from me!" the terrified man gasped.

"The dynamite?" Ezra demanded, stepping up in front of the terrified cowboy. "Is it yours?"

"Yeah, I have a claim out at Patterson Ridge."

"You’re a miner?"

"Yeah. What the hell is wrong with all of you fellas?"

Buck released the man and inclined his head toward the remains of the saloon.

"Jesus!" the miner murmured.

"Just because he says he’s a miner, doesn’t mean he is," Josiah panted. His breathing was coming under control.

"Confiscate his dynamite," Larabee called, before turning and heading back into the clinic.

"What’s goin’ on?" Vin asked sleepily.

"Josiah found some guy carrying dynamite."

"Doesn’t mean he’s responsible."

Chris smiled. "Don’t reckon Josiah took the time to consider that fact. How are you feeling?" It had been several hours since Nathan had administered the laudanum. Vin had slept on and off during that time, but it hadn’t been true sleep. Chris could see that his friend was having trouble settling and getting comfortable despite the drug that was supposed to knock him out.

"Feel like shit, but the pain’s okay." Meaning it was still there.

"Remember seeing anyone?"

"Nope."

"How did you know there was dynamite in the saloon?"

"Smelt it. Smelt it burnin’. Knew it must have been lit."

"We’re damn lucky you did."

Vin smiled. "Ezra would have caused a hell of a fuss if that jacket of his got singed."

"It got singed," Chris stated - gnawing guilt clawing at his soul again. "The boys raced back in there to get you out." Raced back into the fire. Fire. Unconsciously, Larabee shuddered. "They almost didn’t make it, I hear."

Vin’s brow creased with concern. "They ran back in after the explosion?" Of course, they must have. Vin hadn’t really considered how he had gotten out of there. "Stupid bastards could have been killed."

Chris stared down at his selfless friend. "You would have been if they hadn’t."

"Reckon I owe them a lot."

"Reckon you do." Vin grimaced. Larabee frowned. "You hurtin’ again?"

"I’m okay." It was little more than a quiet grunt as Vin attempted to dismiss the subject.

"Not what I asked, you stubborn bastard. Are you hurting?"

Vin swallowed, glanced up at his friend and then turned away. He couldn’t lie to Chris. The words would come out, but Chris would see straight through them.

"Dammit, why didn’t you say something?" Chris snapped. He caught himself immediately. This was more than Vin’s independence or stubborn nature. This was about Vin admitting he was vulnerable. Since the age of five he hadn’t allowed himself to be. Not in front of anyone. Chris sighed. "Listen, you don’t have to..." Larabee stopped and sighed again. If he were lying in that bed, he wouldn’t be acting any differently. Like two peas in a pod.

Vin glanced up at him, his pained blue eyes searching his friend for the understanding he desperately needed. He found it. Larabee understood - maybe more than Vin understood himself.

I know. "I’ll get Nathan."

"Ain’t much he can do, Chris."

Nathan was sent for, despite Vin’s insistence that he just needed to ‘rest’.

"I need you to tell me how bad the pain is, Vin," Nathan instructed. His patient shrugged. "I mean it, Vin. I gotta know. Is it a dull ache, a burning pain or just pain, pure and simple."

"Hell, I don’t know, Nathan. Guess it’s okay. Ain’t got no right to complain."

"No right?" Nathan shook his head and crouched down beside his friend. "Vin you’ve been badly hurt. This ain’t a question of having a right. Hell, we all know you’re hurting. I need to know where, and how bad, so I can help."

Chris was standing back several feet. Vin’s eyes lifted up to meet his friend’s.

"For Christ’s sake tell him, Vin!"

Tanner sighed. "Reckon I’m hurtin’ a bit."

Nathan Jackson couldn’t help but smile. Vin Tanner’s face was purple and swollen. His chest was black and blue. His shoulder recently dislocated. He head split open and now stitched. "Hurtin’ a bit, huh? Can’t think why."

Vin grinned. In that moment, he relaxed. He didn’t know why he had been up tight. He trusted Nathan, so why was he tryin’ to protect himself? He was no longer on his own. He didn’t have to fight every battle himself. He could afford to let his guard down here, in the safety of the clinic, with Chris standing there ready to shoot any bastard who threatened him. "Reckon I could use a bit more laudanum, Doc."

"Reckon you could be right, Vin."

**********

Night came and went. Chris Larabee posted two men on duty throughout the evening, the boys walking the streets with rifles clearly displayed. Nothing out of the ordinary occurred. However, the thick uneasy feeling that blanketed the town was starting to become oppressive. Would there be more explosions? Would more of their town be reduced to rubble? Would someone else they knew loose their life or be injured?

The overt presence of the Seven provided tentative reassurance. The people of Four Corners trusted Larabee and his men. If anyone could protect them from this monstrous enemy, it was the Seven. However, some weren’t sure that even their hired guns were any match for power of gunpowder.

At dawn, Mary arrived with breakfast for Chris, Vin and Nathan. As she entered the clinic, Nathan signaled for silence. Vin had just slipped off to sleep - finally. The night had been a long and arduous one as the tracker’s body stiffened up as a result of his broken ribs and the severe bruising to his back and chest. He could not move at all now - even using his arms caused enough distress to see him gasp and Vin Tanner had a high tolerance for pain. Despite everyone’s best efforts, the tracker had been unable to settle. There was no position that gave him respite from the pain that abused him unmercifully.

In the last 50 minutes, however, Vin had slipped off to sleep - well, drugged slumber. Nathan had been careful not to overdose his friend on laudanum, but Vin had certainly had a great deal and at last it appeared to be working. The tenseness about his face was gone. For the first time, he was truly resting.

Chris Larabee sat and glared at the wall across from him, the truculent emotion attacking him from within clearly displayed on his severe face. Larabee had descended into another world. His anger was almost tangible. Nathan had attempted to appease his leader’s rage, but he had realized that any and everything he said was not penetrating the armor surrounding Larabee. The only time the thick cloak of hell fell was when Vin spoke to him or needed his friend’s soft reassurance, but since the injured tracker had fallen asleep, the rage in Larabee had been building unrestrained. Nathan Jackson knew Chris... but the man sitting across from him now was not Chris. It was someone the healer didn’t want to know.

Mary handed the tray to Nathan and then inclined her head for him to leave the room. The two went out onto the landing.

"How is he?"

"He’s hurtin’ a lot. Went to sleep a little while ago." Nathan stared out at the saloon shell, memories of being inside the burning building filling his exhausted mind.

"But he’s going to be okay?"

"Yeah, Vin will be."

Mary frowned. She understood what Nathan was implying. "Chris appears to be..." She couldn’t find the correct word.

"I’ve never seen him this angry," Nathan conceded. He had once heard Buck say that Chris had the temper of the devil himself and he had seen evidence of it first hand. When they had been tracking down the man who had murdered Larabee’s wife and child, Chris had been at breaking point. Nathan could see evidence of the same rage now. A rage that consumed Larabee.

**********

Buck entered the clinic just after 7:00 am. Mary had sought him out and passed on her concerns. The scoundrel had assured the woman that everything was fine. Of course, he wasn’t sure he actually believe that. Buck had seen it coming, but he had hoped that staying in the clinic with Vin would have provided Larabee with something else to focus on. Unfortunately, he hadn’t realized how much pain Vin was in. Every involuntary groan or grimace fueled the wrath that was swelling in Chris. Sooner or later the fury would need to be freed and that was no going to be pleasant for anyone who happened to be around at the time.

"Hey, boys. How’s he doin’?" Buck asked softly.

"He’s resting," Nathan explained.

"Everything was quiet last night, Chris. Josiah still believes that that miner could be our man, but Ezra reckons that it don’t make sense for a miner to go around blowing up the town." Buck waited for a response. Chris didn’t move. He continued to stare at the wall above Vin’s bed. Buck knew he had to give Chris something to focus. The other man was just stewing over what had happened. "The miner only had a couple of sticks of dynamite anyway," the scoundrel stated, pushing one into his friend’s hand.

Larabee dragged his eyes from the wall and glanced down at the dynamite. "Have you checked out his story?"

Buck felt relief flood him. Chris was still capable of rational thought. At least that was something. "Yeah, a couple of locals know him but apparently he’s had some run-ins with the town before."

Chris glanced up at Buck. "Over what?" There was a low moan. Nathan, Buck and Chris turned their attention to Vin. Larabee reached out and squeezed his friend’s shoulder, hoping that Vin would settle and continue to sleep but the tracker’s blue eye appeared out from under his heavy lids.

"Whatcha all starin’ at? Ain’t you never seen a man in bed?"

Chris smiled. "Not one with a purple face."

"Shove it, Larabee." Vin moved, gasped and froze, soft curses escaping his white lips.

"What are you tying to do?" Nathan asked, leaning over his patient. How many times had he told Vin that if he wanted to move he just needed to ask and they would help him? "Don’t try to move. You’ve stiffened up during the night."

"No kiddin’," Vin muttered. "I want to sit up."

"Don’t think that’s a good idea," Nathan argued.

Vin glared at the healer and then attempted to do so. His face drained of color, his hands balling into fists as agony ripped through his bruised and battered body.

"Dammit, Vin, just for once will you listen to me!"

"Need to sit up for a bit," the tracker insisted.

Nathan recognized the quite determination and stubborn nature that was characteristic of the young tracker. The healer knew he was destined to lose this battle and so he forfeited. "Chris, give me a hand."

Buck watched as Chris and Nathan eased Vin as gently as possible into a sitting position. Vin was panting as the scoundrel slipped several pillows behind his friend’s back. Both Larabee and the healer held Vin in place waiting for him to recover from the ordeal of sitting up. Now, Buck understood. He simply hadn’t realized how much pain his young friend was in. He could tell that Larabee’s blood boiling. That didn’t surprise Buck. After witnessing this episode, his own was getting heated.

Finally the tracker nodded and his friends released him. Vin moved slightly to make himself more comfortable, groaned and then settled.

On his lap was the stick of dynamite that Buck had handed Chris. Larabee had put it there when he had helped to shift the injured man.

"Where’d this come from?" Vin asked, gingerly picking up the explosive.

"That miner Josiah tried to kill yesterday," Buck stated, grinning. He wanted to lighten the atmosphere for Vin’s sake.

Vin studied the dynamite and then shook his head. "It ain’t the same stuff."

"Huh?"

"Wrapper is different from that bit you found in the rubble. This was made just over at Rock Falls," Vin stated, pointing to the cover. "The other stuff was made in San Francisco."

"So why would whoever is planting the dynamite in town have brought it all the way from San Francisco when you can get it locally?" Nathan pondered.

"The railway gets all of their stuff from San Francisco," Vin reflected.

"Rupert Browner!" Chris and Buck exclaimed at once.

Chris rose to his feet staring down at Vin’s startled face. "That’s the name you said. Rupert Browner." Browner - the crooked rail boss who had been skimming the wages of his Chinese workers to line his own pocket. The Seven had put an end to that and ensured that Browner was sent to stand trial.

"Yeah, but Browner was convicted and was being transported to..."

"He must have escaped."

"And he’s come back for us." Larabee turned to Buck. "Find him!"

**********

The town sprung to life very quickly when people realized that the Seven were making preparations to leave. Buck had several eye-witness reports of a man fitting Browner’s description riding out and heading for Mexico. That was enough for the Seven. They would find him and make sure he faced justice. In this case, Buck had the feeling that ‘justice’ was in human form and wore black. At some stage, Browner would have to face Chris Larabee.

Larabee accepted the reins of his horse from J.D. His face portrayed no emotion. His eyes were cold and hard. The gunfighter had been in two minds about going, but Nathan was more than capable of protecting Vin and the town while the others pursued Browner.

After all, the threat to Four Corners had left and Vin wasn’t ill or in any danger. His body just needed time to heal. The tracker was still in considerable... enormous pain and his body was so stiff that independent movement was practically impossible - but that hadn’t stopped him from insisting on getting up and going to the privy. It had been an almost comical scene as Chris and Nathan had half lifted him from the bed and more or less carried him between them toward the door. When Vin’s legs had buckled for the third time before they reached the landing, Larabee put an end to the foolishness. Tanner had complained bitterly about granting a man some dignity as his two friends had steered him back toward the bed, but he quickly realized that he was wasting his breath and unhappily he resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t in any condition to be up and about... just yet. At least, not while these two bastards were around.

The decision of how many men to leave in town and who they should be had not been easy. Actually, it had been Vin who had ended up making up Larabee’s mind. They had discussed the plan - which was their usual practice...

"No tellin’ how many men Browner has with him." A single statement that summed up the situation. Vin was right. The Seven couldn’t take the chance that Browner had a half dozen or more hired guns. In which case, Larabee had to send as many men as possible, perhaps leaving only one to ensure the safety of the town. He had almost decided to stay in town himself but once again, Vin changed his mind. Despite Chris not voicing his decision, Vin seemed to recognize that that was his intention.

"Don’t need no damn nursemaid, Larabee. Stick the laudanum beside me. Man might be able to start makin’ his own damn decisions if you and Nathan are gone." Then Vin’s eyes become serious. "If the bullets start flyin’ out there, the boys will need ya, Cowboy. I’ll keep an eye on the town." For a split second, the anger Chris felt disappeared. Vin was so serious. He could barely move, was drugged out of his brain, but ‘he’ would keep an eye on the town. Hell, he probably would too.

"Reckon I’ll leave Nathan to give you a hand."

"Pick someone else," Vin muttered. Abruptly, his face lit up with a sly grin. "I reckon you should leave J.D. He’s the sheriff."

Chris smiled. Unlike the older men, who would make Vin stay in that bed, J.D. would easily succumb to Vin’s demands.

"It’s either Nathan or me."

"Awww, hell."

The crowd watched as the men made their preparations. The mutterings became louder.

Ezra stepped up to Chris. "Mr. Larabee, the natives are becoming restless."

Chris nodded. The citizens of Four Corners were scared. He couldn’t blame them for that.

"Ya can’t just ride out and leave us!" one man called.

"What happens if there’s another explosion?"

"We’re going after the man who was setting the explosions," J.D. explained with an air of authority that came with youth.

"But there may be more than one?"

"He’s right!"

"You fellas are hired to protect us." They were working themselves into a frenzy.

"Nathan and Vin are going to stay," J.D. offered.

"Mr. Tanner is injured and Nathan is a good man, but he ain’t no gunfighter."

Chris flicked his eyes around the mob. These people were more than scared. The entire town was now collected around the regulators. Nathan, who had been watching from the landing outside the clinic, made his way down to join his companions.

"Mr. Larabee, may I make a suggestion?" Ezra asked.

Chris knew what it would be. "I can’t do any more than Nathan," the Seven’s leader pointed out.

"That may well be true, but it is not your ability that is required. We have already decided that the threat to our town is riding toward Mexico. These people need a symbol and like it or not, my friend, you are that symbol." Larabee’s face remained expressionless.

"I can show you what to do for Vin. It’s just a matter of administering the laudanum every three hours and making sure he don’t get it into his fool head to start moving around." Nathan paused and stepped up closer to Chris so that the gunfighter would be the only one to hear the next comment. "You’re the only one that can get his mind off the pain anyway, Chris." Larabee flicked his eyes to Nathan and then up to the clinic. It was the one thing that had been gnawing at him. Vin had put on a brave face, but the pain was almost unbearable. It only seemed to ease when Chris was talking to him, providing him with something to focus on.

"All right," Chris agreed. "I’ll stay. Get your things together Nathan. J.D., saddle Nathan’s horse."

Larabee’s soft command was overheard and passed like wildfire. The mob dispersed. That was all they needed to hear. Chris Larabee was staying to protect them. Realistically, or unrealistically, the people of Four Corners believed that Larabee could do so. After all, who would even consider crossing Larabee in the mood he was in?!

Chris inclined his head once Nathan and J.D. returned from their tasks. His men gathered around him.

"I want Browner." A lethal whisper. Buck Wilmington eyed the snarl on Larabee’s face... but it was his friend’s eyes that told the story.

"We’ll get him, Chris."

"’I’ want Browner." There was a long pause as Chris deliberately made eye contact with each and every one of his men.

"We get the message, Mr. Larabee." All too clearly, the other men got the message.

**********

Chris watched Vin writhe on the bed - not quite asleep, but heavily drugged enough to not really be awake either. Caught in limbo where he could find no relief from the pain. Larabee reached out and patted his friend’s arm. Vin settled and tried to force his eyes open.

"Rest. Try to sleep," Chris encouraged quietly.

Tanner continued to fight his heavy lids with stubborn determination, finally succeeding in lifting them a slither. "What’re you doin’ here?"

"Nathan went."

Vin frowned. They had decided that the boys would need Larabee’s deadly aim.

"Town’s scared, " Chris offered in explanation.

Vin considered the reply and nodded. His eyes closed. "Must reckon that icy look of yours’ll be able to put out the flames." Chris grinned.

Vin grimaced as he shifted yet again trying to find a position that may alleviate his discomfort.

"Try to sleep, Cowboy."

"Can’t. Can’t get comfortable."

"You need more laudanum?" Nathan had said to administer it every three hours and Vin has been due thirty minutes earlier but had flatly refused to take any of the pain-numbing liquid. It made him feel ill. He would only take the laudanum when the pain got to the point that he could no longer manage it.

"Reckon I could use a whiskey." Vin’s eyes open. "What do you say?"

"I say no."

Vin grunted and closed his eyes. "Where’s J.D. when I need him?"

Again Vin began to squirm on the bed. Larabee watched his friend with helpless frustration. He reached out and encircled Vin’s hand in his own. What else could he do? God, he’d be prepared to do anything!

Tanner sighed. "I’m okay, Cowboy."

"You lie because you want to or because you can’t help yourself?"

A smirk crossed the injured man’s face, but his eyes remained closed. "’Cause I know it pisses you off, Larabee."

"Don’t know what to do for you," Chris muttered.

"Ya here." As far as Vin was concerned, that said it all. Chris was there for him. He knew that the town wanting Chris to stay had just provided Larabee with the excuse he needed to remain in Four Corners... but there was only one reason why Chris would choose to when he had a chance to get his hands on Browner. Hell, if Chris had really wanted to go, nothing would have stopped him. The gunfighter was sitting there because he knew Vin needed him... and Vin did need him - more than Vin had realized... more than he had ever needed anyone for a long time. "Reckon I could use some more laudanum," Vin finally conceded. The pain had got to the stage that he felt like he might be physically ill.

Larabee collected the bottle and gently lifted Vin’s head. The tracker gasped, nodded his reassurance that he was okay and then drank the drug that both prayed would give him the relief he deserved.

Vin lay back and stared up at Chris thoughtfully. "Browner gave in awful easy."

"What do you mean?" Larabee asked, replacing the bottle of laudanum and returning to his seat. They needed to talk to give Vin something to focus on until the drug stated to take effect.

"He came after us and left after blowin’ up two buildin’s." Larabee frowned. Vin was right. "Boys could be headin’ into a trap."

"They can handle themselves," Larabee stated with confidence.

"Maybe you should follow on behind them."

"You tryin’ to get rid of me?"

"Reckon I got a better chance of gettin’ a whiskey with you out of town." The two men exchanged a grin but both were still contemplating the situation.

Vin sighed and began to blink.

"Don’t fight it, you stupid bastard. Go to sleep."

"Might miss somethin’."

"All of the action has left town."

**********

Rupert Browner melted into the background, listening as the people of Four Corners discussed the latest happenings. So five of the seven had departed to pursue him. How convenient, considering that the two who had remained where the two he had come for. They had been the ones who had entered his rail car and accused him of being a criminal and thus his downfall had to have been mostly their fault.

As the murderous rail boss had been doubling back to town, he had barely avoided the other determined peace keepers. Luckily, he had seen the dust cloud produced by their panting mounts and thus had hidden while the five men rode by on their way to Mexico. They had been galloping like the wind, so no doubt they would come across his useless hired guns within a few hours... but by then, Browner thought with satisfaction, ‘I will have exacted the revenge I deserve!’

**********

The shocking world of ‘what if’. What if Vin hadn’t realized there was dynamite in the saloon and warned everyone? What if the boys hadn’t rushed back into the flames? What if the beam had broken Vin’s back? What if Vin had died before he had got back to Four Corners?... What if he hadn’t gone off with Buck that night? What if he had been home when the fire had started?

Chris Larabee had waded down knee deep into the Lake of Lost Souls.

Would he have been any use to his wife and child? Could he have saved them?

Larabee took another step. The Lake began to churn around him. It knew this man. It knew him intimately. He had resided in the waters for three long years.

Would he have rushed back into the flames to rescue Sarah and Adam? Larabee had seen the scene so clearly in so many of his dreams. The flames consuming the house. Sarah calling to him. He unable to move. Rooted to the spot. Terrified. Too scared to respond.

The waters tugged at Larabee. The Lake wanted this man. It was not accustomed to handing souls back.

"Chris?" Larabee turned. Vin was standing on the bank. "Come on, Cowboy. You don’t belong in there."

"What if I had been there and I had let them die?"

"You weren’t there," Vin stated simply.

"I should have been."

"Can’t change what’s happened, Chris."

"It could have happened again... to you."

"It didn’t." Chris closed his eyes. But what if it had? What if flames had stolen Vin? He’d have lost everything again. It was too hard. He couldn’t go through that again. Maybe he should replace his defenses and return to here. Return to the Lake where he was safe from the hurt of caring.

"Chris?" Larabee opened his eyes startled. Vin was standing in the Lake beside him.

"What are you doing here?"

"You gonna leave us, Cowboy? You gonna shut me out?"

"Get out of here. This isn’t for you."

"You came here when you lost your family. Reckon I will too if I lose mine." A profound statement Larabee realized. Vin was referring to losing him - losing him to the Lake.

"What if I let you down like I let Sarah and Adam down."

"You ain’t ever let anyone down, Chris. Sometimes things happen that we can’t stop. If you had been there that night, either you would have died yourself or died trying to save them. I know that. Now, come on. I ain’t gonna stand by and let you go back in there." Vin offered his hand. Larabee stared at it. It had been that hand that had drawn him out of the Lake the first time. "I need ya, Cowboy."

Need you too. Chris and Vin’s hands snapped together in a full forearm shake.

Chris opened his eyes. Vin’s hand was on his arm and the young tracker was staring up at him curiously.

"Reckon I’d like to sit up for a bit."

"No."

"Wasn’t askin’ for your permission, Larabee," Vin growled, making an effort to draw himself up.

Chris carefully placed his hand on Vin’s good shoulder and pinned him to the bed. "I said no."

"What makes ya think I care what ya said." Vin struggled against the hand and his largely non-responsive body. Without warning, he gasped and his body shuddered.

"You had enough, or are you going to keep going until you pass out with the pain."

"&*%@ you, Larabee," Vin panted. "Woulda made it if you weren’t holdin’ me down."

"You want somethin’ to eat?"

"Yeah, you do downstairs and get me something to eat," Vin suggested.

Larabee smiled, reached for the tray of lunch Mary had brought in a few moments earlier. Vin had been sleeping and so Chris had decided not to disturb him.

"Suppose you think you’re smart," Vin grumbled.

"Boys have been gone for almost three hours."

"If Browner hasn’t realized their comin’, they should be closin’ the gap between them," Vin agreed.

"What do you feel like?" Chris asked. The tray had fruit, cold broth, bread, meat, cheese and two slices of blueberry pie."

"Pie."

"After you’ve had the broth."

"&*%@ the broth."

"Nathan said..."

"Then let Nathan have it then. I want pie."

"Broth, then pie."

"I ain’t hungry." Why did Chris suddenly feel like he was having an argument with a child?

"If you eat the broth, I’ll let you sit up for a while."

"Well, that’s damn kind of you. Reckon I need to go to the privy anyway."

"You aren’t’ leavin’ that bed."

"I’m feelin’ better now. Reckon I could make it."

"No."

A string of curses echoed out of Vin and wafted down the into the street below.

"Mr. Tanner is sounding stronger," Gloria Potter commented with a grin.

Mary smiled when she heard Chris’ raised voice. "Don’t even think about it, Vin!"

Five seconds later, Vin’s laughter echoed out of the clinic. This was followed by silence. If there was one thing that hurt the young tracker’s injured chest, it was laughter. Several minutes later, Chris appeared on the landing. Mary made her way up the stairs and found herself grinning. The front of the gunfighter’s shirt was saturated.

"We could use another bowl of broth, Mary. If you don’t mind."

"Of course not. How is Vin doing?"

Larabee glanced down at the front of his shirt. "Oh, he’s enjoying himself." Chris winked at Mary and then answered seriously. "He’s hurting a lot. Started to laugh before and almost passed out from the pain."

"And the broth?"

Larabee grinned. "Bring two bowls. One for him to drink and one for ‘me’ to tip on ‘him’."

**********

"WHERE’S BROWNER?" Buck was not a happy man. The five regulators had Browner’s hired thugs covered with their rifles. When none of the eight men offered an answer, Josiah reached for the closest one and bodily lifted him off the ground.

"You ever been to hell, brother?"

"I do suggest that you answer our questions!" Ezra growled.

"I reckon we should just shoot them. Browner ain’t here," J.D. commented to Nathan.

"Save us having to worry about trials and things," the dark skinned man agreed thoughtfully.

"You can’t shoot us in cold blood!" one of the men screamed.

"Then tell us where Browner is," Buck thundered.

"He wanted us to set one more explosion, but we refused so he went back to that town to do it himself."

"WHAT? When?"

"A couple of hours ago. He must have passed you on the way here."

"Where’s he setting the dynamite? Ezra demanded. "WHERE?"

**********

The clinic was silent. Vin had drunk his broth but actually fallen asleep before he could eat any pie. The simple act of eating had left him exhausted. Thankfully, he was sleeping now.

Chris had just left the room, Mary taking his place for thirty minutes. Larabee wanted to run his eye over the town. He had a strange feeling prickling the back of his neck.

Browner gave up awful easy. Those words kept echoing over and over again in his mind.

Mary glanced down at the young tracker whose uncanny senses had saved the lives of so many people. The left side of his face was purple and swollen, the right was a stark white. His breathing appeared shallow, but then, considering the damage to his chest, that wasn’t surprising the woman decided.

"Ma?"

Mary turned. Billy was standing in the doorway. The newspaperwoman coaxed her son over, placing a finger to her lips.

"What is it?"

"Mr. Williams wants to put an advertisement in the paper."

"Tell him I’ll be down in about thirty minutes."

Billy shock his head. He had already explained to the man that his mother was looking after Vin. "He said he’s leaving town in a few minutes and if you want his business ya have to come now." Mary felt her blood begin to boil. Williams was a powerful man in the area and liked to throw his weight around. Mary was tempted to tell him to take his advertisement elsewhere, but then he probably would and she could use the money.

"I’ll stay with Vin," Billy offered. Mary smiled and shook her head. The last thing Vin needed was to wake up and be assaulted by one hundred and one questions from the youngster.

"Come on." Mary rose to her feet and led Billy down the stairs. She wouldn’t be gone long. It would only take a few minutes to record the details of the advertisement.

Chris spotted the woman and headed over to her immediately. "Something wrong?"

"I’ve got a client. I’ll only be a few minutes. Vin’s still sleeping."

Larabee nodded and turned to resume his investigation of the town.

There was a roar of sound and an explosion of heat! The earth shook! Chris spun around. An explosion! The clinic! The clinic above the livery had just exploded! It was ablaze, flames leaping feet and feet into the air.

"VIN!" Before Larabee knew it, he was running. The only thought in his mind was getting Vin out of there!

**********

---

Aussielass_site@outlook.com

Return to Home Page

Return to "Old West" index

This page is for fan enjoyment and review. I do not own any of the pictures. They remain the property of their original owners. No infringement of copyright is intended. I am making no money from this site... I wish! If you see anything on this page (or any other page on my site) that you believe belongs to you and you would like me to remove it, please just let me know and I will take it down immediately or, if you prefer, acknowledge you in full. (g)