The land was parched. Rain had not graced this area for so long that a full generation of birds had never experienced water falling from the sky. Searing heat rising from the ground had burned off most of the vegetation that had survived the drought to this point.

The land was cracked and brittle. Life was dying. Water had been absent for almost ten months.

Above, the sky was a blaze with buzzards circling, searching endlessly for a meal. Below, the parched earth was host to a weary group of men making their way home. They were unlikely companions, but fate, or perhaps destiny, had brought them together. A gunfighter with a tragic past, a kid who wanted to be a hero, a scoundrel with a love of women, a gambler with a conscience, a healer looking for acceptance, a preacher searching for peace with his faith and an ex-bounty hunter with a price on his own head. They’d had little in common when they first met, except a willingness to defend the weak against the strong. Now, they shared far more. Chris Larabee and his men had become more than friends. They were partners, comrades in arms and perhaps even shared elements of family.

In the past couple of months, the Seven’s reputation had spread far and wide. That was the reason their help had been requested so far from home. Judge Travis had sent them on two errands, though it was a brave man who used such a term in association with Larabee and his men. The first ‘errand’ saw them ride to a town called Dusty Nowhere. Never had a settlement been named more aptly. Outside of a saloon, a blacksmith and a sheriff’s office, the only other building was a coach stop. Needless to say, Ezra had been appalled with their overnight accommodation and had ensured that all were well informed of his discontent. Thankfully, it had only been an overnight stay.

The motive for the Seven’s journey to the remote settlement lay in a request from an old friend of the Judge‘s. This friend owned the coach stop and he had been robbed by bandits five times in less than a week. Thus, he had wired Travis and Travis had sent Four Corners’ peacekeepers to ‘deal’ with the situation - and deal with it they had. The bandits had ridden into town less than twenty minutes after the regulators had arrived... the bandits would not be causing any further problems for the people of Dusty Nowhere.

The Seven hadn’t escaped completely unscathed, however. They had been heavily outnumbered. J.D. had taken a severe blow to the head that saw him lose consciousness for several seconds. Josiah had dislocated his arm when he had rolled off a balcony while locked in combat with three of the team’s adversaries. Both injuries were painful, but far from serious. There had been some tense moments when a bandit had raised a club above Nathan’s head. Thankfully, Vin had intercepted the deadly weapon. Unfortunately, while he had been preoccupied, a thug swiped him with a broken bottle. The wound to his left side was deep and could have been fatal, but for the quick actions of the team‘s healer. The blood flow had been stemmed quickly and the wound stitched and bandaged efficiently. Thus it was a little sore and bruised that the seven rode out of the small settlement.

Dusty Nowhere was over a six and a half day ride from Four Corners. The journey there had been hot and tiring, but basically the group had enjoyed the opportunity to get out of Four Corners for a few days. After leaving a town Ezra described as “a place easily forgotten“, the group headed off to carry out their second ‘errand’. They had to go to the town of Peter's Gap to supervise the signing of a land lease. Apparently, there was some hostility between several interested parties and the judge wanted the boys to be present to ensure everything went smoothly. In particular, to ensure that the man signing the lease would live through the ordeal.

However, on the journey to Peter‘s Gap, the men had been forced to stop at Purgatory Hill. Purgatory Hill could only be described as Purgatory’s twin. They were identical in every sense except location. One was on the flats and the other on top of a hill. However, both settlements seemed to attract only the worst the world had to offer.

The reason for the Seven’s enforced stay had little to do with the fact that Ezra had flatly refused to sleep ’out in the wilds’ another night. The motive could be found in the fact that Vin Tanner was showing signs of illness - an illness his companions had already experienced. Almost three weeks earlier, Four Corners had been hit by an epidemic. At some stage, every member of the population contracted the illness which involved achy joints, fever, headaches, coughing and generally feeling miserable. Most found themselves bed-ridden for days, more because of the skull-crushing headache and see-sawing fever than anything else. It was the most severe influenza Nathan had ever seen. In fact, three elderly folks in the surrounding area actually lost their lives to it.

One by one, each of the Seven too had gone down, but not Tanner. While Nathan had been perplexed, Vin didn’t seem surprised.

“I never get sick,“ he had stated simply. Unfortunately, such a claim was proven erroneous on this occasion. On the journey to Peter‘s Gap, he had started coughing.

Nathan had insisted on getting his young friend out of the night air and so the men had foregone sleeping under the stars as they normally did and headed for the closest town. Regrettably, that was Purgatory Hill. Despite the risks Chris knew were associated with Tanner staying in a town like Purgatory Hill, the Seven’s leader had decided that the risks were worth it. Any bounty hunter seeking the 500 dollars, or past bounties seeking revenge, would have to face all seven men and there weren’t many who would do so in these parts.

As it was, it wasn’t Vin who was recognised by the less than law abiding citizens, but Ezra. A group of disgruntled past opponents spotted the gambler and made the mistake of threatening to ‘shoot your lousy carcass full of holes‘. There had been a short, but lively and vicious battle that saw the Seven victorious and Ezra’s adversaries cut down or run out of town.

During the men’s overnight stay in Purgatory Hill, Vin’s coughing had become a little worse and while he hadn’t admitted it, it was obvious he was developing ‘the’ headache. A headache like no other any of them had ever experienced. Every now and then Vin was closing his eyes and grimacing. Nathan and the rest of the Seven recognized the signs.

“How are you doing, Vin?“ J.D. asked as the men prepared their horses the next morning. All of the group knew that the key to enduring the illness was rest. Those who had ignored their body’s needs and left their beds had only worsened and lengthened their condition. Peter’s Gap was several hours’ ride in the hot sun - not exactly what any of them would term ’resting’. Thus, as the group of peacekeepers prepared to leave the town, Tanner found himself the victim of well meaning concern.

“Vin, how are you feeling?” J.D. repeated.

“He’s sick,” Nathan murmured.

Vin rolled his eyes. “I got a cough.”

“That’s how it starts.“ The healer knew full well how his friend felt... or would feel once the illness took hold.

“I’m okay. Just a bit of a cough,” Vin repeated.

“It’s a bit more than that,” Larabee claimed in his hushed voice that could peel paint from walls.

Chris and Vin stared at each other intently.

Head’s fine.

The men knew better than to push the point. Nothing would be gained. Vin would only dig his heels in.

**********

The heat was trying, but Buck and J.D.’s playful debates sufficed to keep all of the men entertained and their tempers below boiling point.

Ezra wiped his brow with his handkerchief. “I would give a million dollars for a bath.“

“Come over here and I’ll tip my canteen on you,“ Buck offered.

“Don’t tempt me. Look at me. I am covered in three inches of dust! The things I endure for this team.“

At the front of the group, Chris and Vin were riding side by side as they always did. Larabee glanced at his best friend. Tanner was squinting into the sun. He had started doing so some time back. ‘Stubborn bastard.’

An hour after leaving Purgatory Hill, the group stopped under a grove of trees to stretch their legs, have a drink from their canteens and get out of the sun.

Vin sat down next to Ezra and leaned back against a tree, supporting his side with his hand. Chris dropped beside him. The heat was exhausting and appeared to be building.

“We’ll have to get a storm out of this,“ Josiah commented.

“Yep,“ Vin agreed. The young man coughed several times, reaching for his canteen to help sooth his irritated throat. His companions exchanged a glance but continued with their conversation.

Standish, who had been wearing a vest, shed it and began rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. “I am saturated. Not only that, the dust layer appears to have attached itself to the very pores of my skin. I would give my soul for a bath.“

“Thought it would have be long gone, Ezra,“ Buck chuckled, rinsing his face with water from a canteen.

“Soon as we get back, I’m going down to the watering hole for a swim. Who wants to come?“

“I just may take you up on that, Mr. Dunne.“

“Me too,“ Nathan claimed, wiping his brow with the back of his sleeve.

“Chris?“

Larabee simply smiled.

Vin grimaced. Unconsciously, he reached for his brow and began massaging his temples. All six of his friends pounced. Every one of them had been watching him like a hawk and now their suspicions had been confirmed.

“Your head’s aching.”

“He’s getting it!”

Vin snorted.

“You’re ill,” Nathan claimed softly.

“I’ve just got a bit of a headache. It ain’t that ba...“ coughing drowned out the rest of the sentence. The dusty young man took out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. The attacks were becoming more frequent. “We’ll be home the day after tomorrow and then I can lay down if I need to.“ With that, Tanner rose to his feet and headed toward his horse. “We should be getting started.”

No one moved.

Vin scanned his friend’s faces, shook his head and twisted swiftly. As he did so, he turned directly into the sun. “Ahh,“ he yelped, slamming his eyes shut as the light exploded through his skull like a white hot poker.

“You’re not sick?“ Josiah asked gently.

Vin sighed, but he kept his eyes closed. For some reason, that helped to ease the pain. “I’ve got a bit of headache,” he grumbled.

“Come on, boys,” Chris urged. The men responded immediately. Vin waited for a few seconds, pulled his hat down low over his face and only then opened his eyes. Chris was standing in front of him, holding Peso’s reins.

“Thanks. I...“ A coughing fit drowned out the rest.

“You’re sounding worse,” Larabee murmured.

“I feel okay,” Vin claimed honestly. “Just a bit of a headache.“

“Alright, boys. Let’s get going. I’d like to be in Peter‘s Gap by lunch.”

“Is there no end to his heat?” Ezra murmured.

“Sure is hot,” J.D. agreed.

Within minutes, the group was back on the trail.

A silence blanketed the men for several minutes but was relieved by the ever-reliable Buck. The scoundrel set about insulting Ezra which led to an argument between the two and in no time the jovial mood had returned.

“Mr. Wilmington. I feel it my duty to...”

“Blab, blab, blab.”

“You are the rudest, most common and coarse man I have ever had the misfortune to ride with.”

Buck made a disgusting noise with his mouth, which sent his friends into stitches of laughter.

“Need I say more?”

“You don’t need to, but you will.”

“What the hell is this? Pick on Ezra day?”

“Better than pick on J.D. day,” the youngest member of the group chuckled.

“Hell, no. Let’s pick on J.D. It’s so much more fun!” Buck cried.

“I hate to interrupt, but...” Josiah inclined his head to the east. Huge, dark storm clouds were massing.

“Looks bad,” Nathan muttered. Chris stared up at the sky, his eyes narrowing as he judged the distance and direction. Vin’s hat tipped up an inch, his searching blue pools assessing the massing clouds.

“The rate it’s moving, it’ll be on us in a couple of hours,” Buck agreed.

“It would appear we have a choice. Either we can return to Purgatory Hill, which is just over an hour behind us, or we can continue on to Peter’s Gap, which is still quite a journey,” Ezra pointed out.

“We’re not going back to Purgatory Hill,” Chris stated in a hushed voice.

“We aren’t going to make it to Peter’s Gap. And I don’t want him getting wet,” the healer muttered, glancing at Vin. “There‘s no sign of the fever yet, but it‘s only a matter of time.”

“The rain’s circling around. In half an hour, it’ll be ahead of us, boys. We’re gonna be riding into it.”

“But I thought Peter’s Gap was that way?” J.D. stated, pointing.

Vin shook his head. “We circle back toward the range.”

“Then surely it would make sense to return to Purgatory Hill?”

Again Vin shook his head. “We don’t want to be stranded there.”

“Stranded?”

“The rains could set in for up to three weeks.

“THREE WEEKS!”

“Yep. Looks like the rains are early this year. Usually another month before they hit. It gets almighty crowded in Peter’s Gap when the rains arrive.”

“How far is it?” Chris asked.

“Four hours. Maybe a little more. We should hit the rain in about three.”

**********

Peter’s Gap. It had been settled over fifty years earlier by those seeking a new life in the west. Unfortunately, many of the original settlers had moved discovering the romantic stories they had heard were a far cry from the realty of living in a harsh land. Nestled in the ‘gap’ in Simpson range, the settlement had a transient population - that is to say, most who worked in town didn’t live there. Rather, they had settled on one side of the range or the other, but came into Peter’s Gap to trade and do business.

The collection of buildings that constituted the community had gradually increased over time making it one of the largest in the region. A virtual metropolis it wasn’t, but it was certainly an oasis in the middle of what could be a unsympathetic land when the weather turned nasty... like today. The population of Peter’s Gap had tripled in the last hour and the locals knew this would only be the start. Travellers on either side of the range would seek shelter in the town. It was obvious the rain had set in. Not wanting to be cut off, the outer-laying residents would leave their cabins and ranches and temporarily move into the various boarding houses in town. It always flooded at this time of year and the surrounding inhabitants had come to realize the sense in moving into Peter’s Gap for a couple of weeks until the water subsided.

“Sheriff, the McKenzie boys just rode in,” one of three duties claimed as he and his companions rushed into the saloon. Their leader, a large man with small piercing eyes was watching the swelling crowd with prudent expectations.

“We’re in trouble,” one of the other deputies muttered.

Sheriff Brewer glanced at the younger men. None of them had been in town long enough to have experienced this phenomenon before. Brewer, on the other hand, had been sheriff of Peter’s Gap for seven years. He knew what to expect when the rains came.

The experienced lawman studied his three deputies. Mark Jones and Aaron Daley were both in their late twenties and had worked as lawmen before. Brewer felt lucky they had ridden into town a month earlier. The two men had become good friends and had proved themselves the best deputies Brewer had ever had. The other deputy, David Flynn, was little more than a boy out of his teens. He too had arrived in town only a few months earlier but with nothing more than the clothes he stood up in. Brewer had noted he was good with a gun and so hired him in preparation for the rainy season when he knew he would need as many deputies as he could lay his hands on. “Relax and keep your guns holstered.”

“I think it’s going to take a little more than that.”

The sheriff glanced at the speaker and then handed him a piece of paper. The telegram had arrived only a few minutes earlier.

“They’re coming here?!” Daley exclaimed.

“Says they left Purgatory Hill a few hours ago,” Brewer stated in his gravely voice. “They should be here around lunch.”

“Who?” David asked, moving around to read the message. “The Seven! Coming here?! But why?” he asked. He, Mark and Aaron had often discussed the peacekeepers from Four Corners but they were at odds in their opinion of the group. Mark and Aaron insisted that Four Corner’s regulators were nothing more than guns for hire. Men who worked for the highest bidder and who would change their allegiance if the money were right. David disagreed - perhaps because he was still young enough to believe in the law and what it stood for. He wanted to believe in heroes and ‘The Magnificent Seven’ were definitely heroes in his eyes. “Sir? What makes you say the Seven will come here?”

Sheriff Brewer inclined his head to the rain outside. “They’ll come here for shelter.”

“And you think they’ll sign on to help control this rabble?” Aaron inquired.

Brewer shrugged. “They’re lawmen.”

“Where did this come from?” Jones asked curiously, eyeing the telegram. The sheriff reached for the piece of paper, thrust it into his pocket and left without replying. He wasn’t about to answer that question. Brewer had a ‘friend’ in Purgatory Hill whom he paid to keep him informed, but he didn’t want that to be common knowledge. The wily sheriff liked to know when trouble could be coming the Gap’s way and so he had found it was worth the couple of dollars a month he paid to the lowlife resident of their neighbouring town so that he knew what was going on in Purgatory Hill. After all, the hellhole was only a couple of hour’s ride and that was just a little too close for comfort.

Brewer stepped out onto the veranda and watched the rain. It was pouring. It hadn’t rained like this since last year. No one would stay out in this longer than they had to. The Seven would head for here. There was nowhere else to go. Brewer was certain that Four Corners’ regulators would come and then he would have all the help he needed to control the increased population.

**********

“You ever been to Peter‘s Gap, Buck?” J.D. asked curiously.

“Yep.“

“Unusual sort of town. Full during the day and practically empty after dark,” Josiah commented.

“Why?” J.D. asked intrigued.

“Ain’t you ever heard the stories?” Buck asked.

J.D. shook his head. Nathan exchanged a look with Ezra, the two men shaking their heads. J.D. was caught hook, line and sinker. Would the boy never learn?

“Geez, I thought everyone had heard about it.” J.D. shook his head again, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

“Reckon we should start from the beginning,” Buck suggested.

Josiah was nodding slowly. He paused and glanced at Buck. “Maybe we shouldn’t. Don’t want to scare the boy.”

“Who you calling a boy? I can handle it. I don’t scare easy.”

“Alright, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. I suppose it all started about fifty years ago when the town was first settled. A group of families arrived in a wagon train and built the place with their bare hands. Built it from nothing. Everything was fine for a couple of years, but...” Josiah’s voice faded out, the older man’s eyes narrowing as if he was having trouble recalling.

J.D. brought his horse closer to Josiah. “But?”

“I’m not sure. There are a number of different versions of course.” Again Josiah settled into a thoughtful silence.

J.D. turned to Buck. “Buck?”

“Like Josiah says, it’s a bit of a strange one. Apparently, this girl fell in love with some stranger visiting the town. Her family was horrified and put an end to the courtship. The man was run out of town,” Buck claimed.

“So what happened?” J.D. demanded.

“The young woman, Elsa, was heart broken. She ended up taking her own life.”

Ezra glanced at Nathan.

The dark skinned healer had turned and was nodding. “I’ve heard about that,” the healer claimed quietly. “She hung herself from the top of the church tower.”

“You mean this twaddle is actually factual?” Ezra demanded.

Nathan nodded. “That part is. As for whatever else they’re gonna tell J.D....”

“Now, hang on a minute, Nathan. This is the Gospel truth, isn’t it Josiah?”

“Truth is an interesting interpretation of fact. I am truthfully relaying the story as I have been told it. Whether the story itself is true is another matter.”

“So, there‘s got to be more?”

“Sure is,“ Buck stated. “After Elsa’s death, the settlers left the town because...“ Wilmington’s voice took on an eerie quality. “They say the ghost of Elsa returns every night to mourn the loss of her lover.”

J.D. began chuckle. “Yeah, right.”

Josiah glanced at J.D. “Don’t be so quick to dispute the unknown, Son. A lot of people are said to have seen Elsa’s ghost.”

“Them’s just stories to scare people,” J.D. insisted.

“Perhaps, but the minister in Peter’s Gap is an old friend and he claims to have seen the ghost.”

The smile fell from J.D.’s face, his eyes enlarging. “Really?”

Josiah nodded. “Swears that he’s seen her wandering the streets after dark. Apparently, she’s searching for her lover ‘James‘. Looking for the love she lost.”

Silence settled over the group. “Is this minister friend of yours known to drink?” Ezra asked curiously.

Josiah shrugged. “The mind often sees what it wants to. I guess we’ll probably find if there’s any truth to it soon enough. If this rain is set in, we’ll have to move on to Peter’s Gap and then...”

J.D. swallowed. “You think we’ll see her?“

“Anything is possible.“

“You reckon she’s dangerous?”

“Only to fellas wearing ridiculous hats!” Buck shouted grabbing the hat from J.D.’s head and tossing it to Josiah.

“Oh, shut-up, Buck! And give me back my hat!”

Chris glanced at Vin. The tracker had his head lowered, trying to avoid the sun. He was also moving uncomfortably in the saddle.

“Your side aching?” Chris asked.

Vin grunted.

“How’s your head?” Nathan inquired.

“What head?” Vin mumbled. “I still got a head?”

“Would you like to stop for a few minutes, Brother?”

“We need to keep going,” Vin stated simply. Josiah frowned. The huge preacher’s memory of the headache that had plagued him for almost a full week made him grimace. There had been times when he had been certain that his head was going to split right down the middle - days when all he had been capable of doing was lying in bed and praying that God would take the headache away. “You tell us if you’d like to stop for a break.”

“So, what does she look like?” J.D. asked, out of the blue.

“Huh?”

“The ghost. What does she look like?”

“According to Father Tom, she is very young. Her hair is raven black and her eyes a brilliant blue. She always wears the same clothes. A white top, green skirt and a simple shawl over her shoulders.”

“Father Tom sounds like he took an appraising look,“ Ezra chuckled. “So, does the young lady converse with those with whom she crosses paths?” Ezra inquired.

Josiah glanced at Ezra and snorted. “A man should keep an open mind, Ezra. I haven’t decided if I believe it yet, but it’s important not to close oneself off from the possibility that the unexplained exists.”

“Oh, please. Mr. Jackson, you don’t believe any of this malarkey do you?”

Nathan shrugged. “There are some things we aren’t meant to understand.”

“Fantastic. I’m the only sane person here. What the hell am I saying? I’ve known that for months!”

“Josiah, you didn’t say if she says anything,” J.D. pointed out, dismissing Ezra. Four Corners’ young sheriff was enthralled with the entire story. A real ghost! He couldn’t wait to get to Peter’s Gap to check the story out.

“Apparently, she looks like she’s talking but you can’t hear what she’s saying. Not everyone sees her, mind you. Some do and some don’t.”

“Some are intoxicated and some aren’t,” Ezra insisted.

“We shall see, brother. We shall see.”

**********

The three weary riders urged their horses into the Peter’s Gap livery.

“I’ll go see if I can book us a room,” one stated, dismounting. “You two take care of the horses.”

“What about this guy who‘s hiring us?”

“Telegram said he’d be in town waiting for us,” the third shivered. “I’m freezing!”

“We’ll get dry and have something to eat and then worry about finding this fella.”

“I want to know about who they are and why we're being paid to do this.”

“Who cares? The telegram said he's gonna pay us more than we’ve seen in the last year, so I don’t care why!”

**********

Group consensus saw the peacekeepers from Four Corners stop for another brief rest. It would not be long before they rode straight into the tempest. Buck and Chris exchanged a knowing glance. They could now clearly see the swirling black cloud ahead - a cloud that was massing and covering the sky for as far as you could see in every direction. The pair had ridden in such ’rains’ before. Neither relished the thought of doing so again.

The men collected under some sparsely leaved trees. If anything, the closer to the rain they got, the more intense the heat.

Vin grimaced as he sat down. All of the movement was causing the stitches to pull and his side to throb. The young man settled, cross-legged, his head down in an attempt to avoid the direct sunlight.

Buck flicked his eyes from Vin to Nathan and back again. The scoundrel began making odd gestures - Buck’s way of subtly suggesting that Nathan do something to assist their friend.

Vin snorted, noting the performance out of the corner of his eye. “Head’s killin’ me, if that’s what you’re askin’, Buck.”

“We know,” Ezra confirmed quietly. “Relax and keep your eyes closed. I found that helped when I was afflicted with that bout of devil‘s aches.

“You need some laudanum?” Nathan asked his friend. He had noted Tanner reaching for his wound several times.

Vin sighed and then nodded. Jackson smiled.

“What?”

“Nothin’.” Nathan tried to force the smile from his lips but it refused to budge. Vin willingly admitting he needed some laudanum would have been out of the question a few weeks earlier. Now, Tanner was comfortable enough with all of the boys to declare when he was ill. That alone signalled the great trust Vin had in his six companions.

“Hate this stuff.”

“I know.”

“Makes me sick.”

“I know.”

“Can’t think straight.”

“I know.”

Vin eyed Jackson and scowled. “You’re enjoyin’ this.”

Nathan smiled. “Now what gives you that idea?”

“Go to hell, Nathan.” With that, Tanner accepted the bottle and took two swallows of the foul tasting liquid. “Damn, I hate that.”

Jackson removed the laudanum and watched as the young man rested his head back against the trunk of the tree. Vin took a long shuddering breath. His head honestly felt like it was exploding. Nathan reached for his friend’s brow to check for fever. It wouldn’t be long before it appeared.

“I ain’t sick, Nathan. I’ve just been out in this damn sun too long,” Vin mumbled. It was clear he was trying to convince himself.

“Yep, that’s how it starts,” the healer agreed.

Vin swallowed. “So, you reckon I’m gettin’ it?”

“I think it would be safe to say, you’ve got it, pard.”

“Damn. I don‘t normally get sick.”

Nathan patted his friend’s arm. “Close your eyes. The darkness will help with the headache. The laudanum should kick in shortly and give your side some relief.”

Tanner glanced at Larabee. Chris’s head bobbed once. Yes, he would keep watch while Vin rested. As the tracker closed his eyes, a soft groan echoed out of him. His friends look on in sympathy and understanding. They knew exactly what he was going through. Larabee rose to his feet and stood over his friend, blocking out the blazing sun.

“Thanks,” Vin mumbled.

Chris smiled. In the last few months, his outlook on life had changed considerably. For too long he hadn’t cared about anyone or anything. As a matter of fact, after the death of his wife and child he had set out on a whiskey fuelled journey of revenge. Following sixteen weeks of cracking heads, interviewing low-lifes and doing everything humanly possible, Chris realized that tracking down his family‘s killers was a hopeless cause. He had exhausted all leads and in doing so, obliterated his will to live. For some time after the realization, he had drowned his grief and depression with alcohol. Heartbroken, he saw no reason to dwell in the world of the living and so he consciously set off to attain death. Turning to the gun on his hip, which he could draw faster than most men, Chris sought death by not avoiding gunfights. The name ’Larabee’ soon evoked terror in the hearts of men.