Chris stared at his friend, his hand dropping in sheer shock. The name caused his own heart to hammer. Laura Badden. Hate blanketed Larabee’s face. Badden had attempted to destroy him and she had used Vin as the pawn to do it. Three months earlier, while escorting prisoners and fighting off desperadoes, Vin had developed what his companions believed was appendicitis. The fever and excruciating pain Tanner was suffering in his abdomen left Nathan reeling. The healer knew he didn’t have the skill or knowledge to remove an appendix. Thus, the Seven had rushed the ill man to the closest town so that the doctor there could remove the organ before it was too late. To their horror, the Tentafield doctor wasn’t in town, which meant that Vin‘s life was placed in Nathan‘s hands. Just before the healer started the operation, Ezra had realized that Tanner’s condition had nothing to do with his appendix but was a result of being poisoned by Laura Badden. *

Laura Badden. The name made Chris feel physically cold. Memories of Vin’s struggle for life as the poison pumped through his system accosted Chris. Larabee had come so close to losing his best friend... because of Badden - because of her hatred of him.

Chris could feel his control leaving him. Thankfully, common sense pushed the raw emotion away.

Chris placed his right hand on Vin’s shoulder. “She’s dead, Vin. She hung. Remember?”

“It’s her,” Tanner repeated, his eyes searching the street behind Chris.

Larabee lifted his left hand to Vin’s other shoulder and squeezed both firmly. The young tracker was trembling with undiluted rage. “Cowboy,“ Chris repeated, drawing Vin’s attention. “She’s dead.”

Vin shook his head. “Chris, she poisoned my meal. I tasted it.”

“What?”

“Vin, how do you know?” Buck asked as he and the rest of the boys crowded around Chris. They had overheard the last part of the conversation and all knew with absolute certainty that it was impossible. Laura Badden was dead! She had hung for attempting to murder Vin. Of course, it hadn’t been Vin that she had been after. She hated Chris with such a passion that she had wanted him to suffer and thus she had made him watch as his best friend died a cruel death. However, she hadn’t counted on Nathan or the rest of the boys. Despite the severity of Vin’s condition and the prognosis of experienced doctors, Vin had fought back - with a hell of a lot of help. Nathan’s refusal to give up on his friend had saved his life. All of the boys had played their part, in particular Chris. None of that changed the fact that it had been a horrific ordeal. It had taken Vin a long time to recover his strength.

“Vin, how do you know that your meal was poisoned?”

“I THREW THAT MUCK UP ENOUGH LAST TIME TO KNOW WHAT THE DAMN STUFF TASTES LIKE!”

Chris gripped Vin’s shoulders more firmly, capturing his friend’s full attention. He had seen Vin angry before, but never like this. This was pure and severe rage. “She was hung, Vin,” Larabee whispered. “We got word from Sheriff Walters that she hung.”

“It’s the same poison! I could taste it!” All of the sudden, Vin’s eyes widened. “She was the one in the room the other night!”

“Vin, you were filled up with Laudanum,” Josiah stated gently. “There was no one in the room. What you saw...”

Vin shoved Chris to the side and shouldered past the rest of the boys.

The group glanced at each other uncomfortably. Larabee began cursing in frustration.

“You better go after him, Chris,” Josiah prompted.

“I’ve never seen him so angry,” J.D. whispered.

“Go back to the restaurant. Get his meal. I want to see it.” With that, Chris strode out of the room and scanned the street. He caught sight of his best friend disappearing into the boarding house.

When Larabee caught up with Tanner, he was standing in the middle of their room, his chest heaving as he consciously allowed the rage he felt to the surface. Tanner was staring at the dresser with an intensity that he afforded few things.

Vin glanced at the gunfighter as he entered. “She came in and she was standing near the dresser.”

“Vin, if anyone came in here that night they had to come by Buck’s room. I would have seen them. No one but Father Tom came past.”

Tanner shook his head and then led Chris out into the hall. Larabee found himself jogging to keep up. At the end of the corridor Vin pointed. Hidden in the shadows was a second hall of six feet. It was at right angles to the main one. There was a door at the end. “It leads to stairs.” Vin opened the door and stepped out onto the steps. The tracker jogged down them and glanced around. “No one would have seen her, Chris. The alley is sheltered from everyone’s view.” Larabee remained at the top and watched as his young friend raced back up the staircase and closed the door behind them. “She came up them, slipped into the hallway from this end and then snuck into our room.” Vin hurried back to stand in front of the dresser. Chris frowned, following his companion.

“She was standing here. Then she turned, came across to me and said something... DAMN LAUDANUM! If I‘d been awake I would have...

“Vin... I don’t know who you saw in here, but it wasn’t Badden. She’s dead.”

Tanner ignored his friend. He was focusing on the dresser. “What was she doin’?” The tracker began dragging everything out of the drawers.

Chris watched his best friend with concern. Vin was rushing and darting about like a man possessed. Larabee stepped forward and laid his hand on his best friend’s arm in an attempt to get him to calm and slow down. Tanner paused. Their eyes met.

“Let’s go and wire Tentafield. Find out for sure what happened to her.”

Vin swallowed. “It’s her.” Suddenly he started to cough. The fit lasted for several seconds, Tanner gasping to catch his breath.

Chris handed his friend a glass of water from the jug on the dresser. Vin took several mouthfuls and finally his lungs and throat stopped convulsing.

“Okay?” Chris asked.

“Yeah.”

“Come on, “ Chris urged. Larabee reached up and squeezed Vin’s shoulder. The tracker nodded, intentionally urging himself to calm. They left together. When they reached the first floor of the boarding house, they met the rest of the boys.

“Well?” Chris demanded.

“By the time we got back, they had cleared our plates.”

“Tipped it outside and now it’s gone. Washed away in the rain.”

“I want to wire Tentafield.”

“I have already taken the liberty of doing that. I have told the telegraph operator to seek me out the moment Sheriff Walters responds.”

The group became silent. It was not at all comfortable. Tanner was still pacing back and forth, unable to stand still.

“Vin believes that the woman he saw the other night was Badden,” Chris informed the others quietly.

“No one went into that room,” Nathan argued.

Vin inclined his head and led the boys outside and down the alley beside the building. He jogged up the stairs and opened the door. “Leads straight to the second floor. That’s how she got in without being seen. She didn’t have to come past your rooms.”

Tanner jogged back down to his companions. Again there was silence... except for the wheezing of Vin’s breathing.

“But she’s dead,” J.D. pointed out hesitantly.

“She’s alive,” Vin panted. “She’s the one behind the attacks. She threatened...” Vin blinked. The others actually saw the little colour the tracker still had in his face, drain away.

“Vin?”

Tanner’s stomach lurched. His companions watched shocked as he bent over and expelled his stomach contents. Nathan crouched beside his friend, placing his hand in the middle of the ill man’s back. “Easy, Vin. You’ve got yourself all worked up.”

The tracker glared at the healer as he straightened up. “It’s the poison.”

Nathan flicked his eyes to Chris and then back to Vin. “Vin, you’ve got a stomach full of food for the first time in days,” he explained gently. “You’ve been running around and you’ve got yourself all worked up. That’s why you’re vomiting.” Vin scanned the faces of his companions. They didn’t believe him! None of them believed him!

The confused tracker stared across at Chris. Chris?

We’ll know as soon as we hear from Tentafield. “I want to check on the one Ezra shot. Maybe he’s conscious and can give us some answers.”

I believe you think you saw a woman. I’m just not sure that you’re right this time. Chris knew that every word Vin was saying the tracker believed with passion. However, Larabee was certain that Badden was dead.

Vin continued to stare at his friend. Chris was doubting him?

Larabee read the look of dismay. Chris stepped closer to his companion. He offered his hand. Vin glanced down at it. The tracker swallowed, his eyes closing briefly in genuine relief. He lifted his arm. Chris’ arm snapped along Vin’s. They gripped forearms.

“I believe you.” The words were quiet and sincere. You know I believe you.

Vin nodded. The strain around the younger man’s eyes eased. The pallor didn‘t.

“Come on, you need to lay down.”

“No, there isn’t time. If she’s here, she’s here because of you. You’re her target, Chris. That bitch isn‘t getting anywhere near you!” There it was. The reason behind Tanner’s desperation and anger. He believed that Badden was after his best friend. “She’s attacked the rest of us to get at you, but once she realized we were on to her, she came after you directly with that gunfighter.” Vin dropped Larabee’s arm and turned to the others. “She’s in town somewhere. We haven’t been lookin’ for a woman. We’ve got to find...” Suddenly, Vin’s face went whiter. Again his stomach convulsed. As it did so, he dropped to his knees, doubled over. Chris and Nathan grabbed him. In that instant, thoughts of Badden - alive or dead - disappeared from the minds of every member of the Seven. It was obvious that Vin was in trouble. Who was responsible wasn’t important. Helping their friend was! Seeing Vin ill like this was more than confronting. It was horrifying. All of the men found themselves confronted with memories of Tentafield.

“Easy, Vin,” Chris soothed, the gunfighter desperately seeking an explanation from Nathan.

“Let’s get him upstairs,” Nathan ordered, his voice firm, but calm. Between them, the gunfighter and healer lifted their ill companion to his feet.

“I’m okay.” Even as the words tumbled out of his mouth, his stomach convulsed again, causing him to grab it. Instantly, his companions snapped into action.

“Ezra, go to Dr. Holstein and get some Syrup of Ipecac!”

Standish nodded and ran!

“I want to know who prepared his meal!” Chris snarled to Buck.

“I‘m on it.” Wilmington bolted back to the restaurant.

“J.D., go ahead of us. Get his bed ready. Josiah, we’re going to need a bowl, some water and towels.“ Both men raced off.

Nathan and Chris looped Vin’s arms over their shoulders and then assisted him up the back stairs that led to his room on the second floor.

“Chris, hold him,” Nathan ordered when they entered the room. “I need to get his coat off.”

“I’m okay. I can stand,” Tanner insisted, forcing Chris to give him some room.

J.D. watched helplessly as Nathan and Chris assisted Vin. “Anything I can do?”

“Go and help Buck, Kid” Vin suggested quietly. J.D. moved to the hallway and lingered for several seconds before rushing off to join his other friend.

Once Vin was free of the coat, he sat down on the edge of the bed and began rubbing his stomach.

“Sore?”

“A little.” Chris and Nathan pulled their friend’s boots off and then both helped him to lay back.

“I’m okay, fellas. Haven’t had as much of the damn stuff this time. Stomach has settled a little.”

Josiah appeared, juggling a jug of water, towels and a bowl.

“Put them on the dresser,” Jackson ordered. He leaned over Vin and placed his hand on pale man’s brow. “Your fever‘s up.”

“He’s been running around,” Josiah pointed out.

“Do you think it‘s the poison?” Chris demanded.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to take any chances. The Syrup of Ipecac will make him throw up anything that’s in his stomach.”

Moments later, Ezra appeared, the bottle of syrup in his hand. “How is he?”

“Okay. If the food was poisoned, it will still be in his stomach. This will bring it up,” Nathan explained, lifting Vin’s shoulders and tipping the bottle to his lips.

“So I get to spew my guts up again?” Vin asked.

“It won’t be like last time, Vin. I promise.”

The young man sighed as Nathan lowered him back to the pillow. Chris watched with real concern. It couldn’t be poison. It couldn’t! No man deserved what Vin had gone though in Tentafield.

“It will be a few minutes before it starts working.” Nathan patted Tanner’s shoulder and smiled. “It’ll be alright. It will only be the once. Nothing like last time. Close your eyes and relax. Let me know when it starts. I’ll be in the hall with the others.” Nathan inclined his head for Josiah, Ezra and Chris to follow him into the corridor.

“Chris,” Vin called, pushing himself up onto his elbows. “Be careful.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Vin. Relax. Lay back and rest.” Tanner didn’t move. “Relax,” Chris repeated.

“I will once we get her.”

“If she’s alive, we will,” Chris assured his companion as he and the others moved outside.

“He’s worried about you,” Josiah whispered. It wasn’t surprising.

Chris glanced back into the room, watching as the topic of concern lay back. The tracker placed one hand on his stomach and lifted his other arm up to rest across his brow.

“Nathan?”

“I really don’t think it’s poison, Chris I’m just using the syrup as a precaution.”

“Why’s he throwing up then?” Josiah asked.

“We’re talking about a man who not only has a severe dose of influenza, but was slashed by a bottle a couple of days ago. The wound got infected, he developed a raging fever and has eaten nothing solid for days. He fills his stomach up and then starts rushing around causing his fever to rise quickly. He overheated. That’s why he was throwing up his lunch.”

**********

By the time Buck and J.D. returned, Vin was sound asleep. The syrup had done its job and Tanner’s stomach had been well and truly emptied. Not surprisingly, the ordeal had left him weak and exhausted. Nathan had encouraged him to rest but the tracker refused to do so, actually climbing to his feet and attempting to pull his boots on. Tanner’s concerns were for his best friend’s safety and nothing anyone could say to him was going to prevent him from being there to watch Larabee’s back. Laura Badden would not get anywhere near Chris!

“You need to lay down before you fall down! Look, I’m not going anywhere, Cowboy. I’ll be right here and Josiah, Nathan and Ezra will be outside the door.” That still wasn’t enough. Only when Ezra promised, “I shall become his shadow, Mr Tanner. He will not even use the privy without me beside him. I promise.”... Only then, did Vin give in to his body’s fatigue.

Seeing Buck and J.D. arrive, Chris rose to his feet and joined them in the hallway. The other boys, who had been lounging in the corridor, collected together.

“There was a woman in the kitchen. They hired her a couple of weeks ago,” Buck explained quietly.

“A woman?“

“Yeah, she left just before Vin rushed in there.”

“And now she’s disappeared,” J.D. added.

All of the men started shaking their heads. “It can’t be Badden,” Josiah muttered.

“The description could be her. Then again, it could be any woman. No one knows anything about her. They don‘t know where she‘s staying. Apparently, she was quiet and didn‘t speak to the others a lot.”

“It can’t be Badden. She’s dead. This woman has nothing to do with any of this.”

“She’s probably terrified if she‘s heard we‘re looking for her. Doubtless she’s gone into hiding.“

“I want her found,“ Chris stated in a hushed voice.

“We know Badden’s dead, Chris. Even Nathan says it wasn’t poison that made Vin sick.”

“I said it probably wasn’t. I can’t be sure.” The others glanced at him uncomfortably. Nathan shrugged. “I wish I could be sure, but I can’t.”

“There was no blood in what he expelled this time,” Ezra offered.

“It wasn’t in his stomach long enough... if it was poison.”

“But you don’t think it was?” Buck clarified.

“No.”

“I want Vin to see this woman to put his fears to rest,” Chris informed the group. After listening to Nathan‘s thoughts, Chris found himself feeling reassured. Badden was dead, he had no doubt about that. What he needed to do now was convince Vin of that fact. “Don’t frighten her, but find her.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find her, even if we have to search every room in town!”

*********

Buck and J.D. left the butcher’s shop and paused on the porch. “Whoever she is, she’s disappeared into thin air,” J.D. commented.

“Someone has got to know something about her.”

Abruptly, J.D.’s face lit up. “If anyone knows anything about her, it will be Mrs. Von Otter. She knows everything about everyone!”

Buck clapped the youth on the shoulder and the pair set off for the general store. As they walked in, Mrs. Von Otter almost attacked them.

“Wilhelm just told me that you’re leaving!”

“Tomorrow, Ma’am.”

“But why? What about us?” There was real fear on her face.

“Ma’ am, we have to return to our own town to protect the citizens there.”

“Mrs. Von Otter, we’re looking for a woman who was working in the kitchen at the restaurant. Apparently, she’s not a local but she’s been working there a few weeks. Do you know her?”

The old woman nodded thoughtfully. “Quiet, girl.”

“How old?”

“Younger than she looks. Probably in her mid thirties.”

“Do you know where she’s staying?”

“No, love. I can’t help you there. She’s been a bit of a mystery in town. Says little even when you try to talk to her. Had a hard life that one.”

Buck and J.D. exchanged a glance. That certainly could describe Badden.

“Have you seen Elsa?” the old lady asked out of the blue.

“No. I’ve even stayed up late.”

“Elsa chooses the time and the person.”

“I was talking to Mrs. Schultz. She said that Elsa was going out with several boys at once.”

Buck rolled his eyes and moved to the door.

“Young man, I’d be careful what you believe from that one.”

“What do you mean?”

Mrs. Von Otter lowered her voice. “Bridget was after a husband and John Schultz was the richest boy in town. She would have said anything to turn his eyes away from Elsa.”

“J.D., we ain’t got time for this,” Buck called impatiently.

“Sorry, Mrs. Von Otter. I’ve got to go.”

“How is your young friend?”

“Pardon?”

“Dr. Holstein was in here a few minutes ago. He said that one of your friends was unwell and he sent some medicine up for him.”

“Upset tummy,” J.D. stated casually.

“Tell him that Dr Holstein is a good doctor. It’s in his blood. His grandfather looked after us all first and then his father and now he does. I could make your friend some broth.”

J.D. grinned. “Vin don’t like broth.”

“They never do, but if he’s unwell, broth is what he should be having. You tell him I said so.”

“I will, Ma’am. Thank you.”