Buck glanced at his oldest friend. “Ya reckon there could be an ant’s nest in his pants?”

Chris winked at the scoundrel and then the two of them rose to their feet and strode across the room to see what it was that had J.D. so worked up.

“Kid, if ya don’t learn to stand still you’re gonna die from exhaustion by the time you’re twenty-five,” Buck stated, his moustache dancing on top of his lip with mirth.

“Shut-up, Buck. Chris, Nathan just left the clinic.” The statement needed no explanation. Buck, Chris and J.D. crowded inside the doorway of the saloon and focused their attention on the small room above the livery. Any second now...

Vin Tanner appeared on the landing.

J.D. grinned. “He’s tryin’ to get back to his wagon again.”

The tracker glanced around nervously, drawing the blanket around him. He reached up to adjust the white bandage wrapped around his head.

Larabee shook his head with a mixture of annoyance and sympathy.

Vin’s eyes were squinted as he attempted to make out the images around him. The bullet that had grazed his head the day before had left his vision blurred. While his sight was becoming clearer, just as Nathan had assured him it would, his ability to see was still fuzzy and this fact more than worried the young man whose entire existence depended on his eyes.

Buck sighed. “Don’t look like takin’ his clothes worked.”

Larabee grunted. This was Vin’s third attempt to leave the clinic. It wasn’t that his friends liked to see him locked up against his will, but the tracker had lost a considerable amount of blood the day before - from both the head wound and a bullet in the side that he had failed to mention to J.D. who he was with. Thankfully, the youth had been able to return with the team healer before his companion bled to death.

The twenty-four hours since then had been long and arduous for both doctor and patient. Vin was fighting his fatigue - refusing to sleep. Nathan had tried to get the stubborn young man to understand that he needed to rest and to stay dry and warm. Vin had insisted that he could do both and more, sitting in the saloon or laying in his wagon. Larabee had vetoed such an idea and after Vin’s second attempt to abscond, had ordered that Vin’s clothes be returned to his wagon... without Vin in them. Needless to say, Tanner hit the roof. Being naked didn’t worry him in the least. “I ain’t got nothin’ I’m ashamed of.” However, he didn’t like being ordered about, nor relinquishing his independence to ’a mob of nursemaidin’ curs who ain’t got nothin’ better to do than to mind my business!’ Unfortunately, he was weak from loss of blood and no match for the combined strength of his concerned and equally determined friends.

“I’ll go put him back to bed,” Buck offered, stepping toward the door.

“Leave him,” Chris ordered.

“Huh?”

“Leave him.”

“But, Chris,” Buck argued, watching as Vin gradually made his way along the landing toward the stairs. “He’s too weak to make it down them steps.”

“I know.”

“He’ll fall.”

“No, he won’t,” Larabee stated with certainty.

When Vin arrived at the top of the stairs, he reached for the handrail and leaned on it heavily.

“Chris?” Buck pressed.

Vin stepped down onto the top step... then the next one. The tracker began to wobble.

“Chris?!” Buck repeated, his hand on the batwing doors ready to race out and up the staircase.

“Wait,” Larabee stated calmly.

“Dammit, Chris, he’ll fall!”

Vin stopped and stood for several seconds. The trio watching him could see his mouth moving, no doubt cursing his own frailty. A smile formed on Larabee’s lips as Vin turned, climbed up the two stairs he had come down and then moved back along the landing before disappearing into the clinic.

“How did you know?” J.D. demanded.

“Vin’s a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them,” Chris pointed out, shouldering through the door and heading up to check on his friend.

Larabee had considered going out there and giving Vin a piece of his mind when he had first seen the obstinate tracker appear on the landing for what was the third time in less than three hours, but he realized it wasn’t going to help. Vin had to find out for himself just how weak he was and once he recognized that, he would understand he was in no condition to be out of bed, let alone trying to climb down stairs.

“Shut-up, Larabee,” Vin grumbled as Chris entered the room. Larabee’s left eyebrow raised with apparent puzzlement. Tanner was sitting on the edge of the bed wrapped in a blanket. “I saw you, Buck and J.D. watchin’ me, you sons of bitches.”

“Was waiting to see if you dropped the blanket.”

“Shove it, Chris,” Vin mumbled as he attempted to lay back. His left hand gripped his side unconsciously.

Chris stepped forward and taking Vin’s shoulders, guided the young tracker down onto the mattress. The gunfighter grinned. “A bit weaker than you thought, huh?”

“Stuff you, Chris.” Larabee assisted his friend to get comfortable and then sat down in the chair beside the bed.

“How are you feeling?”

Vin sighed. “Still can’t see proper.”

“But it’s getting better?”

“Yeah. Can almost make out your ugly, smilin’ mug.” Vin shifted uncomfortably.

“Your side giving you trouble?”

“Naww. Just stiffenin’ up a bit. How’s the Judge?”

“Still resting at Mary‘s. Wanted me to pass on his thanks.” The elderly man’s ordeal had taken a great deal out of him, but Judge Orrin Travis was ‘a tough old bird‘. It would not be long before the incident with the Macray brothers was forgotten, but he would never forget what the Seven had done... nor the shots Vin Tanner had made to save his life.

“J.D. come down to earth yet?” the tracker asked, attempting to direct attention away from himself.

Larabee smiled. “Pretty much. Ezra’s still talking about promoting your sharpshooting skills.”

“Ya mean he‘s still lookin’ for a way to make a quick buck,” Vin grunted, his eyes closing. A tired sigh echoed out of the tracker. Chris patted his friend’s arm - a signal that he intended staying... a signal he was gong to be there to watch his companion’s back.

For several minutes, Larabee watched Tanner’s chest rise and fall. His friendship with this young man perplexed him. What did they have in common? Larabee had grown up in a large family; Vin had been orphaned at five. Larabee had turned forty; Vin was yet to see his mid-twenties. Chris’ entire life had changed as a result of something that was beyond his control... so had Vin’s. Chris had pushed his friends away, Vin had never allowed himself any once his face had started decorating the walls of sheriffs’ offices. Chris Larabee didn’t trust easily... Vin found it difficult to trust at all. Chris needed a reason to start living, rather then existing. Vin needed to know that his life meant something. In a single look, Larabee had viewed the young man’s soul. In the same look, Vin Tanner had glimpsed the gunfighter’s. Strangely, the tracker had not recoiled. Rather, he had pledged his loyalty and offered Larabee a friendship that came without demands of any kind.

The gunfighter settled himself in the chair and pulled his hat over his face. He knew Vin only truly relaxed when ‘he’ was sitting here and so here he would stay for a few hours. It wasn’t a matter of Vin needing someone sitting by him, it was the fact that Vin couldn’t settle. The bounty on his head had left him wary of everyone and everything - always looking over his shoulder waiting for a bounty hunter to collect. It had been a long time since Vin had allowed himself a decent night’s sleep. However, since he had signed on to defend Four Corners, his nights had been a little more restful. He had six friends who were prepared to stand beside him... in front of him, if he asked them too. Unfortunately, injured and without his vision, he felt more vulnerable than ever. All of this, Chris understood. It wasn’t something the two had ever discussed, it was just something that Larabee sensed. Since Vin‘s eyesight had become distorted, he had refused to succumb to his body’s need for rest... unless Chris was sitting in that seat. With Larabee by his side, the cautious tracker knew he had nothing to fear. No one would be collecting the bounty while Chris was close at hand and thus, Vin Tanner permitted himself to rest... and rest was what Nathan insisted he needed.

**********

“If you can, try to keep him in the clinic!” Nathan called to Mary as he took the reins of his horse from J.D. and pulled himself up into the saddle. “If I ain’t back tonight, change the bandage on his head, but leave the dressing on his side wound.“ Mary Travis nodded.

The Seven had just received the message that bandits were attacking the Paulson ranch. Paulson and his ranch hands was driving his cattle to market so that left only his wife and kids at the homestead.

Chris Larabee strode out of the clinic, climbed down the stairs two at a time and mounted his horse. “We ready?“ he demanded. The others nodded. Larabee’s eyes flicked skyward. Vin was standing on the landing squinting down at his companions. He was leaning heavily on the railing and his eyes were screwed up as he attempted to clear his vision enough to make out his friends below.

Pigheaded mule. Larabee had just ordered his injured companion to stay in bed, but there he was, holding a blanket around himself with one hand and his throbbing side with the other. It was less than thirty minutes since Vin’s third attempt to escape to his wagon. He had grabbed twenty minutes of restful slumber with Chris at his side. At least it was better than nothing.

“What the hell are you doing out of bed again?!” Nathan yelled.

Tanner made some sort of grumbled reply that didn’t carry down to the street.

“We won’t be long,” Larabee called up to his friend.

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“Try to get some rest.”

Vin grinned. They both knew there was little chance of that.

“You stay in the clinic until we get back,” the healer ordered.

“I’ll try to remember that, Nathan.”

“You’re too weak to be attempting them stairs, you hear me?”

“I hear ya.”

“Ya ain’t gonna get back your strength unless ya rest.”

Vin sighed and nodded. He had finally realized that. He just couldn’t believe how weak he felt, but then, he’d lost a hell of a lot of blood. It was time to follow doctor’s orders.

“You boys be careful,” the tracker called before turning and disappearing into the clinic.

Larabee stared at the empty doorway for several seconds. He’d done the right thing allowing Vin to attempt to negotiate the stairs. Now the young man had realized exactly how enervated he was.

“Alright, boys. Let’s ride!”

**********

“They took one look at us and knew they didn’t have a chance!” J.D. crowed, watching as the bandits rode away in a cloud of dust.

“They took one look at that stupid hat on your head and raced off in fright,” Buck boomed happily. There had been no gun battle. The Seven had approached the ranch with guns drawn and their quarry had turned tail and run without so much as firing in their direction.

Ezra glanced at Chris. “I find their actions most curious. They outnumbered us two to one.”

Larabee was staring after the dozen retreating men, his hard green eyes narrowed with deep thought.

“Obviously, they knew it was us!” J.D. repeated, dismounting and prancing around with a confidence that came from knowing he had six guns to back him up.

Nathan and Josiah appeared out of the ranch house. “Everyone’s okay. Mrs. Paulson and the kids are a little shook up, but they’re fine.”

“The bandits demand anything?” Larabee asked, his suspicious nature causing the back of his neck to prickle.

“No. Just started riding around and shooting in the air.”

Buck flicked his eyes to Chris. “Something isn’t right.”

“Should we go after them?” J.D. asked with excitement, leaping into the saddle without using the stirrup.

“Mr. Dunne, if you don’t mind. I am feeling fatigued just watching you.”

“It’s almost as if they wanted us to follow them,” Buck commented, mounting his grey.

“A trap?” Josiah inquired.

“So, do we go after them, Chris? They’re getting away!”

“No, we head home,” Larabee growled. He had a bad feeling... a really bad feeling.

**********

“Can I help you?” Mary called to the four hard looking men who had begun to climb the stairs to the clinic.

“Not just at the moment, sweetcakes,” one of them stated grinning at her. “But maybe we could have some fun later.” He licked his lips in anticipation.

Mary recoiled inwardly, but she still stepped forward. “Mr. Jackson isn’t up there.”

The four men continued their ascent, their six companion still on horseback, laughing loudly at the statement.

Mary didn’t know who these men were, or why they needed to go into the clinic, but she knew she had to warn Vin. The concerned woman raced along the ground and stopped directly below the door to the small room. “Vin, visitors!” she shouted. Mary Travis wasn’t sure how much help the warning would be. Vin was so weak. True, the moment his fellow regulators had ridden out of Four Corners, the devious tracker had asked Mary to collect his clothes. The newspaper woman had been suspicious, but Vin knew how to flash those baby blues and Mary had found herself giving in to him before she knew what she was doing. She had left him to change but when he didn’t emerge from the clinic, she had returned to investigate. It appeared the task of dressing had left him exhausted and sound asleep on the bed. Mary had attempted to cover him with a blanket, but had Vin awoken with a start, his hand snapping around his mare’s leg. Seeing her, he smiled an apology and drifted back to sleep immediately. At the time, Mary remembered hoping that Nathan and the others would return before Vin awoke again.

The young woman glanced toward the road out of town praying to see Chris and the boys returning. The track was empty. “Vin!” she cried again.

The four men closing in on the clinic door drew weapons and glared down at her. The element of surprise had just been stolen from them. The mounted thugs encircled the blond woman, leering at her with a mixture of hatred and annoyance.

“You’re gonna regret that, bitch!“

The group on the landing glanced at each other. “He can’t see,” one assured the others.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“If he really made those shots...”

“I’m tellin’ ya, he can’t see. Got shot in the head yesterday.” This man had not ridden in with Macray’s mob. He’d already been in Four Corners studying the Seven.

“Vin!” Mary screamed, her fear for the young tracker‘s safety outweighing her concern for her own welfare.

One of the thugs lashed out at the selfless woman with his foot. The boot caught Mary’s shoulder and spun her to the left, an involuntary yelp escaping her paled lips as she stumbled to the ground.

The men on the landing collected around the entrance to the clinic. One of them nodded. The group burst into the room, their revolvers thrust out in front of them. There were resounding explosions from a sawn off rifle. Mary screamed. The vile creature, who had turned her stomach earlier, catapulted out of the room never to insult another woman.

Below, the citizens of Four Corners were collecting in doorways and on the street. Mary covered her mouth as the sounds of a struggle wafted down into the street. “Vin,” she whispered unconsciously, her eyes once again drawn to the trail out of town. The thugs around her dismounted in stunned, but disgruntled silence - all except one.

“Get out there, you bastard!” a harsh voice roared from the clinic. To Mary’s sheer disbelief and relief, Vin appeared on the landing alive, but tightly held between two thugs. One had a rifle thrust under his chin, ensuring his cooperation, the other held Vin’s arm up behind his back.

“He killed Tom and Jono!”

“You’re gonna pay for that, sharpshooter!”

“Bring him down here,” the large man still on horseback snarled. It was apparent from the way the other men reacted to his demand that he was in charge.

Mary climbed to her feet and edged away from the group, watching horrified as Vin was roughly forced along the landing. The weakened tracker stumbled as he descended the stairs - but for the two men holding him securely, he would have fallen.

Mary started to step forward. “No, Ma’am,” Vin stated firmly. “Go inside.”

“He’s hurt!” she cried as she backed away as instructed. She could see Vin was weaving. It was apparent that his legs were not going to hold him for long.

“So you’re the fella I’ve been lookin’ for!” the mounted man snarled. Vin said nothing. The thug holding Vin reefed the wounded man’s arm hard, causing Tanner to draw in a sharp breath, but no sound came out of his mouth. The man holding the rifle under his chin ripped the bandage away from his injured prisoner’s head.

“Told you he had been shot in the head. He can’t see real well either,” the thug added shoving Vin toward his leader. Vin stumbled and went down onto his knees, cursing the fact that he was so damn weak. A boot caught him in the middle of the back and while pain exploded through his wounded side, Tanner made no sound as he struggled to remain upright.

“Leave him alone!” Gloria Potter shouted.

“Ma’am, go back inside and lock your door,” Vin called through clenched teeth. “All of you!” The people of Four Corners remained on the streets. They had come a long way since the day Vin and Chris had rescued Nathan from a lynch mob. They had learned pride and a sense of community and Vin Tanner was a member of their community.

“That’s real good advice. I suggest you listen to him, or I might just decide to let my men have some fun,” the leader of the mob snarled. His massive shoulders flexed as he shifted in the saddle.

“Go on inside! All of you!” Vin repeated. The tracker could make out the fuzzy shapes lingering. “Ain’t nothin’ you can do. Go inside!“ The people glanced at each other and moved to comply with their protector’s wishes.

“Toby, find him a horse.”

“Okay, Jack,” the thug closest to Vin acknowledged, rushing off to carry out his leader’s request.

“We’re going for a little ride, sharpshooter.”

“Where to?” Vin snarled, forcing himself back to his feet. He gripped his side unconsciously and grimaced. He could feel blood seeping from the wound. So much for following doctor’s orders!

Jack smiled. “Oh, it ain’t far. You don’t know who I am, do you, boy?”

Vin suppressed the urge to say exactly what he thought. Instead, he shook his head slightly.

“I’m Jack Macray. You murdered my brothers.”

“They kidnapped Judge Travis and were going to kill him,” Vin muttered.

“He sentenced and hung our brother!” Jack Macray roared. The thug nearest Vin slammed his rifle into the young man’s stomach. Tanner doubled over, his legs crumbling beneath him. There were several gasps and shouts from those indoors. Vin gritted his teeth waiting for the blinding pain to pass. Nausea lit up his stomach. He could feel unconsciousness calling him. Damn his head wound to hell! Damn his weak body. If he wasn’t so enervated he would... what? He was outnumbered ten to one. He needed to bide his time and wait for the others. They would come - it was only a matter of time.

Toby reappeared with a horse from the livery.

“Get him on that nag. And find out if that bastard Travis is still in town. I want him to hang right along side this murdering bastard.” Vin was grabbed, dragged to his feet and shoved toward the small brown mare. Through the haze of his pain he heard the instruction to find the Judge. Travis was yet to recover from his ordeal. The tracker knew he had to draw Macray’s attention. “The Judge left this mornin’. Escortin’ the bodies of your brothers to Purgatory where scum like them will feel at home.”

Once again the rifle was sent rocketing into the middle of Vin’s back... this time, a gasp slipping from the tracker’s now colourless lips.

“Get him on that horse. Don’t worry, sharpshooter. We’re heading for Purgatory ourselves. And once we get there, we’re gonna have us a little hangin’!”

Roughly, Vin was forced up into the saddle, the stitches in his side pulling in protest. “Tie him into the saddle.” The injured tracker was only vaguely aware of what was happening. The pain chorusing through his body was causing large black patches to appear in front of his eyes. Pain exploded in his side without warning as the man securing him on the horse shoved him roughly. The last thing Vin was consciously aware of before darkness swallowed him was Mary Travis’ voice.

“Leave him alone!!! You won’t get away with this!”

Chris is gonna be pissed when he gets back... and with that thought in mind, Vin succumbed to oblivion hoping that when he awoke his vision would have returned, he wouldn’t feel so damn weak and the boys would have arrived.

**********

“Chris!!” Mary yelled, rushing out into the street. She, along with the rest of the town, had collected to await the return of their peacekeepers. They knew that each passing minute put Vin further away from rescue. Macray’s gang had stolen all of the horses from the livery to ensure that no one could follow them or attempt to rescue the injured sharpshooter before they had a chance to...

Larabee reined his horse up directly in front of Mary. His eyes shot to the clinic. “Vin?!“ The name echoed off the walls of the silent town. Guilt flooded the faces of men and woman milling around the men on horseback. Chris cursed, his chest tightening as images to explain the tracker’s absence filled his mind. The gunfighter’s attention returned to the woman in front of him.

Mary’s face contorted as she tried to find the words. “They took him,” she whispered emotionally.

“Who?” Buck roared, leaping out of his saddle. “Who took him?!” The citizens of Four Corners recoiled. They were not used to seeing their resident scoundrel enraged. Buck was always laid back and easy going. Even during a gun battle, Buck, while serious, rarely showed true anger.

“Who took him?!“ Josiah demanded dismounting. Neither man had actually yelled ‘at’ Mary, but their worry saw them forgo the customary niceties of gentlemen.

The crowd began to back away nervously. Never had they seen the faces of the Seven become so harsh. These were men they trusted. Men who had protected the town on a number of occasions, but right now, it appeared that the town was the object of their anger.

“The eldest of the Macray brothers rode in with a dozen men and took him,” Judge Travis quietly informed the regulators as he stepped out of Mary‘s house. The old man had been asleep when Macray had attacked. Only after the gang had ridden out had Mary woken him and explained what had happened. Orrin Travis had a very bad taste in his mouth. From what his daughter-in-law had told him, the young tracker had taken punishment to protect him. That did not sit well with hard old man.

“When?” Ezra demanded, his usually calm dulcet tones replaced by harsh apprehension. “When did they leave here?”

“Over an hour and a half ago.”

“And you just let them take him?!” J.D. asked of the two dozen people still collected around the Seven. He couldn’t believe that they had stood by and watched as Vin was kidnapped. There was no way that Vin could have defended himself. Hell, Vin had been so weak he hadn’t even been able to walk down the stairs!

“Easy, Son,” Buck murmured. “They’re townsfolk, not gunfighters.”

“But he was hurt. He couldn‘t have...”

“Did they say where they were taking him? Nathan demanded. There would be time for such a discussion later. Now, the men had to find Vin and find him quickly.

“Tascosa, I imagine,” the Judge stated.

“No, Purgatory,” Mary stated quickly. “Macray said that when they get there they’re... they’re going to hang him”

“What?!” five voices exploded as one. Larabee’s green eyes reflected the pits of hell. No one was going to hang Vin!

“Mary, how did Vin look to you?” Nathan asked. The healer knew how weak his patient had been.

Mary opened her mouth to reply but as she looked up into Chris’ face she discovered she couldn’t utter the words that Nathan had requested.

“They kept beating on him,” Gloria Potter wept. “He didn’t cry out or anything but... he passed out when they were tying him to the saddle.”

Chris Larabee, who had not said a word since arriving in town, roared an inhuman sound. There were no words, just an explosion of pure anger. Without a word, the Seven’s leader wrenched his reins and sent his horse racing out of town. His men followed close at his heels.

“Judge?” Mary asked, watching as the town’s protectors raced off to rescue one of their own.

“It’s a four-hour ride to Purgatory from here,” Travis answered instinctively understanding what Mary was asking. Four hours - which meant that the boys were going to be at least two hours too late to save Vin from the horrific fate that awaited him. Orrin Travis dropped his head. Tanner was going to hang for saving his life. The circuit judge found himself feeling very old. When he had been a young man, he had been able to handle things without help. Now, he depended on Larabee and his men and it appeared that his dependence had cost a good man his life.

**********

The six men rode hard, five of them reflecting on the fact that there was no way they could catch up with Macray’s mob before it arrived in Purgatory... which meant that Vin would hang. There was a numbness spreading over their bodies. A feeling of total and complete helplessness. None of them had experienced such a brutal emotion. They knew anger and despair and feelings of loss, but this was worse than anything they had ever known. Vin was going to die and there wasn’t a thing they could do about it.

In the past weeks, the seven men had shared a strength few had ever known. They had started as seven individuals, but at some stage had amalgamated into something more. The thought of Vin being dragged from his bed, injured, weak and unable to see what was happening around him, left his companions reeling. Their friend was going to die alone. They had let him down. Vin would not look at it like that, but his companions could not dismiss the guilt that was attacking them from within.

Only one man was not experiencing the debilitating helplessness. His mind could not process the thought that Vin was going to die. They would get there in time! They had to! He had promised Vin that he would not allow him to hang. He had given Vin his word that he would mind his back.

When Chris had shot Eli Joe and effectively destroyed any chance Vin had of ever clearing his name, the gunfighter had made the young tracker a solemn vow. Larabee’s mind drifted back to that moment when he and Vin had been sitting at Simpson bluff watching the sun set.

“No matter what happens in the future, Vin, I‘ll mind your back.” It was the first word either had spoken in over an hour. Immediately following Eli Joe’s death, Vin had ridden out. Larabee had followed him. He knew where his friend would head.

“Chris, this ain’t your fault. I picked up the bounty without your help. If you hadn‘t shot that bastard today, I‘d be dead.”

“I know that.” For several minutes they returned to silence, both men entertaining his own thoughts.

“I need to ask a favour of you, Chris. It ain’t somethin’ I can ask anyone else.” Chris stared the young man beside him. Tanner’s expressive blue eyes reflected great anguish. Larabee knew he wasn’t going to like what was to follow. “If... if I end up with a noose around my neck, I want you to promise you’ll give me a bullet.”

“Vin...” They stared at each other.

Tanner dropped his head with shame. “I hope you don’t think badly of me, Chris. Dyin’ don’t worry me, you know that. I gotta go some time, but it... I don’t want to hang. I’ve seen men hang before. Kickin’... gaspin‘... strugglin’. I... I ain’t proud of the fact that I’m scared of hangin’. Wouldn’t tell no one else that, but... I hope you don’t think I’m a coward.”

“Vin, I’ve never met a braver man,” Chris whispered.

“Reckon I’ve got a real hide askin’ my best friend to...“ Vin paused, reflecting on his own words. ‘Best friend’. The tracker’s face flushed with emotion. “I ain’t never had a best friend before, Cowboy.“

“Well, you do now.“

“I’ll understand if ya say no, ‘cause...”

“You have my word.” Chris would not let Vin hang, even if it meant having to kill his best friend to prevent it. It was what Vin wanted. Larabee had no trouble making the promise. His and Vin’s friendship was based on absolute understanding, trust and loyalty. Vin was asking Chris to give him a dignified death. He didn’t want to die ‘like some mangy dog.’ So long as Chris Larabee had breath in his body, he would honour that promise.

The tracker looked into the gunfighter’s hard eyes and saw the understanding that he was now accustomed to seeing. “Thanks, Chris.”

Larabee urged his panting horse on. The gunfighter’s mind filled with Gloria Potter’s words. They kept beating on him. He didn’t cry out or anything but... he passed out when they were tying him to the saddle.

By God someone would pay for very blow!

**********

Vin regained consciousness in a blaze of red. Disoriented, but aware that he was being dragged, the young tracker instinctively began to struggle. The hands that held him were strong. A sharp, but not fierce, blow to the side of his head sent the clear message that he should cease his resistance. As Vin’s senses returned, his mind began to make sense of what was happening. Forcing his eyes open, the regulator scanned the area around him. Thankfully, his vision had improved considerably. It still lacked the sharpness that allowed him to see things clearly in the distance, but at least he could see. The first thing his eyes informed him was that he was in Purgatory.

The gutter rats that resided in the town watched with interest as the tracker was dragged toward the saloon between two men. No one said anything. In Purgatory, it paid to mind your own business.

Jack Macray glanced back over his shoulder. “So you’re conscious? Good. Someone wants to meet you.”

The small group entered the saloon and moved toward the back of the room. The residents of the establishment glanced up curiously before returning to their drinking. Macray stopped near a table that had only three occupants. One was impeccably dressed in a suit with silk waistcoat. Vin found himself thinking that Ezra would be impressed. The well-dressed man was almost as out of place in Purgatory as the Good Lord. The other two men were gunfighters - that was clear. Their holsters bulged at their sides in an overt sign to others to keep their distance. They, unlike their boss, fit perfectly in the soulless hellhole.

“Mr. Henderson,” Macray greeted. “I told you I’d be able to get the murdering bastard who shot my brothers. As soon as you’re finished with him, I’m gonna hang the cowardly sonofabitch.”

One of the men holding Vin began to chuckle. “Gonna enjoy watching you hang, boy!”

Henderson ran his eyes up and down Vin with thoughtful discrimination. “Are you sure this is the one?”

“Yep, this is the sharpshooter that killed my brothers,” Macray snarled.

Henderson pursed his lips thoughtfully. Without a word, he dismissed the two men who were restraining Vin. “Leave us,” he ordered Macray.

Jack Macray wanted to argue, but he was very aware of the two gunfighters that were glaring at him. “Alright, but as soon as you’re done, he hangs.” Macray glared at Vin and then moved off to the bar.

Tanner stretched his back and noted with relief, that his legs appeared happy to hold him... if only for a while.

“Is it true that you shot three men from more than a mile out?” Henderson demanded. Vin stared at the expensively attired man and his minders. Why would someone like Henderson be in Purgatory?

“Did you hear, Mr. Henderson, or are you just too dull to understand the question,” one of the gunfighters snarled.

“I heard him.”

“We’re waiting for an answer, stinkweed,” the gunfighter pressed.

Henderson raised his hand to silence his hired gun. “Young man, it is a simple question. Did you shoot the Macrays from the top of Patterson Ridge?”

Vin nodded once. He didn’t know where this was going, but at least it was using up time. He had to stall until the boys got here... he just prayed it wouldn’t take them long.

“You are a remarkable sharpshooter if there is any truth in what I’ve been told.”

“You look like the type of man who would have checked it out before wastin’ your time gettin’ Macray to bring me here.”

Henderson smiled. So the dusty pile of rags had a brain in his head. “What would you say if I offered you a job?”

“Doin’ what?” Vin asked. The earlier energy was deserting him rapidly now. He needed to sit down soon or his legs would crumple beneath him.

“I need you to make several shots like the ones you used to kill the Macrays. What do you say?”

“Reckon, I’d like to sleep on it.”

“Sleep on it?” one of the gunfighters chuckled. “You don’t have that many options, shit for brains.”

“At least I’m not a lap dog,” Vin growled. The gunfighter started to rise to his feet. Henderson casually held up his hand and his hired protector dropped back into his chair, the hatred he felt for the tracker radiating out of him. “He roll over and beg too?” Vin snarled.

Henderson laughed with true amusement. “You’re a cocky sonofabitch aren’t you? What’s your name?“

“What do you want it to be?“

Henderson nodded. He was impressed. “So you want to sleep on it?”

“Yeah.”

The well-dressed man eyed the wound at the side of Vin’s head and then his eyes dropped to the blood staining the dusty man’s shirt. Henderson could see the pallor spreading across the sharpshooter’s face. He’d heard the young man had been hurt the day before. “Alright. If you’re as good as I’ve heard, I want you working for me. Take an hour to clear your head then I’ve got a job for you.”

“You want me to kill someone?”

“That’s right. Long range shot.”

“How long?”

“Long.”

“Who’s the target?”

“We’ll discuss that later.

“What about Macray? I ain’t exactly his favourite person,” Vin pointed out.

“You let me worry about Macray. Do you need a doctor?” Henderson asked without emotion.

Vin smirked at the other man, amused by the lack of sentiment. “You must really need me if you’re offerin’ a doctor.“

“Let’s just say that when you eliminate the people I ask you to, my life will be much easier. You didn’t answer the question. Do you need medical attention?“

“No, just need a few hours rest.“ Just a few hours to give Chris and the boys time to get here.

“Culltrain, get him a room. Stay with him. If he tries to take off... kill him.”

The gunfighter smiled and rose to his feet. “Come on, stink weed.”

“Culltrian, if anything happens to him, I’ll hold you responsible.”

“I understand, Sir.”

“I want him back here in an hour.”

**********

“Buck?” J.D. shouted. The youth could feel his horse’s discomfort. The animals could not keep up this pace.

“Chris!” Buck yelled. “We’re gonna have to slow down for a few minutes, again.”

“NO.”

“Hell, Chris, the horses will drop under us!”

Larabee swore, knowing his friend was right but the leader of the Seven also recognized that he and his men could reduce the amount of time between them and their quarry if they continued to ride hard. The mob that had kidnapped Vin would not have been riding fast.

“Chris?!“

The gunfighter reined his mount in. The animal slowed to a walk. “Just a few minutes.”

J.D. glanced at his best friend. He was at a loss as to what he was supposed to be feeling. Buck nodded reassurance to the youth, but J.D. could see that Buck too was being accosted by the same feelings of horror and shock. They had been riding for just under three hours, which meant that Vin would have arrived in Purgatory by now... and if that was the case...

“Mr. Larabee?” Ezra asked, manoeuvring his horse closer to the gunfighter. “What exactly is our plan?”

“We find Vin and get him to safety. Then we go back.” The last part was a lethal whisper.

Nathan and Josiah exchanged a glance. Both realized that Chris was not even contemplating finding Vin dead.

“Chris,” Josiah called, his voice permeated with that tone he saved for counselling the bereaved. “They would have arrived in Purgatory by now.” Larabee continued to stare straight out in front of him. “Friend, if Mary was right and they...” The preacher sighed. It was important that Chris know what he was riding into. The other men couldn’t afford for their leader to fall apart once they arrived. “I hate to say it, Brother, but we’re going to be too late.”

Chris glared across at Josiah. “He’s still alive.” The other five men were amazed by the certainty in Larabee’s voice.

“How can you be sure?” Nathan asked.

Chris took a deep shaking breath. “I don’t know. I just... know.”

“Then let us pray he stays that way for another hour and a half,” Ezra stated softly. The gambler knew they were still a considerable distance from their companion. Around ninety very long minutes. True, they could reduce that if they rode hard, but how much longer could their tiring mounts do so?

“Come on,” Chris growled, urging his horse to pick up the pace. Buck watched his friend pull away from the group.

“He isn’t going to cope when he sees...“ Ezra was unable to finish the phrase. He could only hope that by the time they arrived in Purgatory, the bastards had cut Vin down.

“Come on,“ Buck urged, sending his horse galloping after Chris. Wilmington did not pray often, but he found himself calling to the Almighty at that moment. ‘Lord, I don’t ask for much, but I’m asking you to keep Vin alive until we can get there.’ The prayer was not for his own sake, nor, if he was honest, for Vin’s. It was a prayer to save Chris Larabee.

Not that long past, Buck had seen Chris live though hell - worse than hell. What Larabee had suffered was a torment that would have broken another man. It hadn’t broken Chris, but it had come damn close. After the murders of Larabee’s wife and child, Buck had watched helplessly as his friend had spiralled down into an aggressive pit of self-loathing. The scoundrel had tried everything he could think of to rescue Chris from himself, but anything he did sent Larabee further into the abyss. Devastated, Buck resigned himself to the fact that Larabee would be lost forever... thankfully, he had been wrong. Something remarkable transpired. One day, in the small town of Four Corners, everything Chris Larabee had become, changed. For a reason Buck could never completely understand, Chris had returned from the pit that had tried to claim his soul, but he had not returned alone. He had emerged from the gloom with a man standing at his right shoulder. Since that day, the two had stood side by side, if not physically, spiritually. Vin Tanner and Chris Larabee shared a relationship that could not be characterized by the word ‘friendship‘. It was something more - something that neither fully comprehended but both men clung to. In each other, they had found the three things they had been searching for. Someone they could trust. Someone they could depend on. But more importantly, they had found family.

Over the three months the men had been together, Buck had continued to be amazed by the astonishing friendship the pair shared. Two minds, one soul, Josiah had once stated. If anything characterized the relationship between Buck’s two friends, it was that phrase. Each had a mind of his own and the two certainly didn’t always agree on everything. As a matter of fact, they had some damn fiery arguments, but none of that changed the fact that Vin and Chris had become as close as brothers.

Buck jammed his spurs into his tired horse. They had to get to Purgatory before anything happened to their injured friend. For if Vin died, Chris would die right along with him. Larabee would not survive knowing he had once again been absent when those he cared about needed him.