“Where?”

Tanner pointed to the back of the livery. His arm dropped immediately. He began to cough. His vision blurred. He couldn’t breathe.

J.D. leapt to his feet and raced toward the back door.

“J.D., no! You’re not going after him on your own!” Buck bellowed, at the same time trying help ease Vin’s coughing by clapping him on the back.

The coughing fit abated, allowing Vin to continue dragging air into his starved lungs. The ill man was wheezing badly. Buck frowned with concern. Tanner tried to get up, but collapsed back onto his backside. He would have fallen backwards, but for Buck holding him. The room was spinning. His chest was burning. His side was throbbing like hell and his head felt like it was splitting down the middle.

“Easy, pard. You just rest there. Try to breathe slowly. J.D., go and get... Father Tom?!” Buck cried.

J.D. spun around, following the line of Buck’s shocked vision. Father Tom bustled into the livery through the back door, shoving a scar-faced man in front of him. The huge minister had his arm around the other’s neck holding him firmly. “I spotted this unfortunate soul racing out of here. Saw the scar. Bear said you were looking for a man with a scar.”

J.D.’s eyes were popping. Father Tom had always appeared so gentle, but there was nothing gentle about his demeanor at the moment. His face was severe, his eyes intense. The scar-faced man he held was struggling futilely. He didn’t have a hope of getting free. Father Tom hadn’t been called Brute for nothing.

The preacher’s eyes moved from the rope in Buck’s hand, to the welt around Vin’s neck, to the tracker’s ashen face. “He harmed your friend!”

Buck nodded, his own eyes wide with amazement.

Father Tom applied pressure to his captive’s neck. The other man’s eyes grew wide and he began to gasp. “Son, begin to pray. Pray for your soul. Judgment day is fast approaching. I turned a blind eye once when a friend was in need. I won‘t do so again!”

Vin tried to get up again, but his whole body was trembling and wouldn‘t respond to his commands.

“Easy, Vin. Easy,” Buck soothed. “Just sit there and get your breath.“ Tanner’s face was so white that his blue lips looked like they were glowing. “J.D., go find Nathan.”

J.D., who was half way to the door, paused, wanting to hear the answer.

Vin forced his legs under his body, determination alone enabling him to do so. Buck grabbed his friend and helped to lift him.

“Vin?“ Buck asked with concern.

“I suggest you answer him,” Father Tom growled.

“Was... it... a... woman?”

“Go to hell!” O’Brien snarled. Vin attacked. Buck grabbed his friend and dragged him back. Father Tom pulled O’Brien out of Vin’s reach.

Vin slumped against Buck, his legs buckling. The tracker’s world lurched. He found himself falling. Buck laced his arms around his friend and lowered him to the ground.

“Vin, relax! We‘ll get the information out of him. Leave it to us.” Wilmington could feel his friend’s fever rising.

“He’s trembling,” Father Tom noted, watching as Buck tried to settle the injured man. “He may be going into shock. We need to get him warm. Pass me that rope, youngster.” J.D. scooped up the discarded cord from the ground. “Tie this heathen’s hands, son. Make it firm.”

Vin‘s chest had started heaving. “It’s okay, Vin. Just relax,” Buck whispered, removing his coat and placing it under Tanner’s head. The young man was blinking unsteadily.

“We’ll find out. You just lay there and rest.”

J.D. coiled the rope around O’Brien’s hands and pulled it tight.

“Tie the other end to that post.“ Father Tom ordered. Once the youth had done so, the preacher shoved O’Brien to the ground roughly and then dropped beside Buck. Hastily, he removed his jacket and covered Vin with it. “He needs a doctor.”

**********

Flames licked the inside of the four rooms that were alight. Thick black smoke filled the second floor corridor and streamed in under the doors of the closed rooms.

Ezra stirred. He sucked in a deep breath and instantly began coughing. The gambler lifted his head, but fell backwards immediately, his world spinning out of control. The injured man’s mind was moving in a vacuum. He opened his eyes to see swirling smoke above.

Rolling onto his stomach, he pushed himself up onto all fours. Nausea swept over him. His head was reeling. In front of him he could see smoke gushing in under the door.

All of the sudden, he remembered. He’d been attacked... and he remembered seeing others rushing in Nathan‘s direction. “Nathan?!“ Ezra called hoarsely. “Nathan?!“ he choked out. “Nathan, are you okay?!“ Standish pulled himself to his feet and covered his mouth and nose with his hand. He had to find Nathan! His friend may have been attached as well! Ezra staggered toward the door. “Nathan?!“

Ezra reached for the handle and pushed, but the door wouldn’t budge. Standish pushed his shoulder against it, but the wood outside was wedged tight. The situation became very clear. He was locked in! “Nathan?!”

A coughing fit overcame the gambler. Ezra turned toward the window. He needed fresh air. The struggling man stumbled across the room.

Coughing violently, Standish dropped to his knees. His lungs began to convulse. His thoughts were with Nathan - praying that somehow his friend had got away. Darkness swallowed him gradually. The regulator pitched forward, still trying to drag himself to the window and fresh air. Somehow he made it to the wall. His right hand stretched up for the catch, but he didn’t have the strength to twist the stiff latch. Overcome with coughing, Ezra sank forward and was swallowed by unconsciousness.

**********

“Easy, brother. Just try to breathe slowly,” Father Tom urged Vin.

“J.D.,” Buck ordered.

The youth nodded and raced from the stable. He had taken less than three steps out into the rain when he froze. At the end of the street, there were people rushing out of the boarding house. Smoke was billowing from the windows of the second floor.

“BUCK!”

Wilmington rose to his feet. “What is it?”

“Our boarding house’s on fire!”

“WHAT?” Buck started for the door but stopped. He couldn’t leave Vin!

“Go on,” Father Tom urged. “I’ll get Vin to Doctor Holstein.” Buck lingered. “You need to trust me, brother.” Buck frowned. When it came to Tanner’s life, he wasn’t prepared to take any risks.

Buck raced back and started to pull his friend up, but it was obvious that Vin‘s legs had no chance of carrying him. Father Tom stepped forward and assisted Buck to hold the injured tracker on his feet. Tanner was swaying, his knees buckling once again. His body had been through too much in light of his condition. This time, stubborn determination wasn’t going to be enough.

Wilmington found himself in two minds, caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t leave J.D. on his own, but he couldn’t leave Vin, and by the look of Tanner, he needed Nathan in a hurry.

Buck shook his head. “Vin, you’re hurt.”

“BUCK!” J.D. bellowed again.

“Enough of this,” Father Tom cried, taking charge. “Buck, you go on. I’ll get Vin to Dr. Holstein’s clinic.”

“Go on, Buck. I’ve got him. Once I’ve delivered him to Dr. Holstein, I’ll come back for that piece of shit who attacked him. I‘ll get your answers for you. I‘m very experienced at getting things out of people. It‘s been a while, but I‘m sure it will come back to me.”

Wilmington smiled. Vin appeared to trust the preacher and Tanner had good instincts. Buck patted his friend’s arm, nodded his thanks to Father Tom and then raced outside.

“BUCK!” J.D. bellowed. The youth was already half way down the street.

“We need to organize a bucket brigade!” Wilmington cried, catching up with his friend. “Our saddles are in there!”

“I can’t see Ezra or Nathan!” J.D. yelled. “They went in there a few minutes ago!” Buck’s heart skipped a beat. J.D. was right! The two regulators frantically searched the growing crowd.

“They must still be inside!”

“Oh, God!”

Buck removed his kerchief and tied it around his nose and mouth and indicated for J.D. to do the same. Without further hesitation, the two men ploughed into the building and up the stairs.

The smoke on the second floor was thick and choking. The heat was scorching, but the flames hadn’t spread beyond the rooms they had started in. Instantly, Buck and J.D. spotted the blocked doors.

J.D. yanked one the boards away and wrenched the door open. Inside, there were three bodies on the floor.

“Nathan?!” the boy cried, recognising his friend’s distinctive figure. The youth stepped over the body in the entrance, noting the knife protruding from his chest.

J.D.’s eyes fell on his companion. He shook Nathan, yelling his name, but Jackson failed to move. The frantic regulator knew he didn’t have time to check to see if Nathan was alive. He had to get his friend out of the building before he was overcome by smoke himself.

With tears streaming from his stinging eyes, and lungs beginning to protest, J.D. dragged Nathan up and then rolled the unconscious man over his shoulder. The boy staggered to his feet and stumbled toward the door. Buck passed him in the corridor with Ezra slung over his strong shoulders. J.D began to weave his way toward the steps. Nathan was heavy and J.D. was finding it difficult to carry his larger friend.

Out of nowhere, Josiah burst into the hallway. He relieved J.D. of his burden and the pair powered toward the stairs.

Through the water streaming down his soot-covered face, J.D. spotted Buck and Chris ahead, the two men carrying Ezra between them. As the men staggered out into the fresh air, others rushed to their aid. The group was guided out into the middle of the street, the crowd parting and then encircling them.

Sheriff Brewer arrived on the scene and started bellowing instructions. He needed to mobilize the largely stunned crowd if they were to put out the fire. Under his direction, the citizens and visitors to Peter’s Gap rallied together to save the building. Men climbed to the roof and began levering the iron off the top to allow the driving rain in. Others formed a bucket brigade.

Buck and Chris lowered Ezra to the ground and then collapsed to their knees coughing. Buck dropped his head to Ezra’s chest. “He’s alive,” the scoundrel panted. He and Chris peered across to J.D. and Josiah who were also on their knees in the mud. Sanchez nodded, relief beaming from his face. Nathan, too, had survived.

“They had blocked the doors so they couldn’t get out,” Buck coughed. Larabee’s face hardened. Before they had been simple attacks, but this... this was getting personal!

Chris gently turned Ezra’s head to the side and examined the gambler’s bloody hair. “Hit him first. Bastards! We should get him out of the rain. His breathing doesn‘t sound real good.”

“Out of my way!” a voice boomed. Chris glanced up. Dr. Holstein dropped beside Ezra and began examining him in a flurry of movement. “Not burned, thank, God. His breathing is a little shaky. Try and wake him up. I’ll go and check on the other one and then I‘ll be back.” The doctor rushed across to Nathan who was lying only three feet away.

Chris gently shook Ezra. “Ezra? Come on Ezra, we need you to wake up.“ Larabee glanced at Buck.

Wilmington was cursing softly. Like Chris, he felt that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “Chris, when I get my hands on whoever it is, I swear I’m gonna choke the life out of them with my bare hands!”

Chris simply grunted. There would be a time and a place for anger. Right now, they had see to Ezra and Nathan. While the rain was refreshing after the heat of the fire, it was also drenching. “Let’s get him out of this rain.“

Wilmington nodded. The two men lifted their unconscious companion and carried him to the porch of the saloon. As they lowered him to the floorboards, Standish stirred.

“Easy, Ezra.“ The gambler blinked and then began coughing. Chris and Buck raised him. Ezra opened his eyes and blinked at his two friends as he tried to expel the smoke from his lungs. “Easy, pard.”

“We got him out. The doctor’s with him.“ Buck’s face clouded with terror. The doctor? Vin?! Father Tom was supposed to take Vin to Dr. Holstein! The big man leaped to his feet. “VIN!“ If the doctor was here, where was Vin?!

Chris’ head jerked in Buck’s direction. “Vin?”

Buck nodded, turning and racing toward the livery. “Vin was attacked. I left him with Father Tom! He said...”

“Father Tom brought your friend to my clinic. He is quite safe,” Dr. Holstein called. Buck stopped and rapidly gave loud, relieved thanks as he returned to Ezra and Chris.

“Yeah, but he’s okay.“ Buck glanced across at Chris. “It knocked him around, though.“

Standish struggled to stand.

“I don’t think so, Ezra.”

“The doctor is with him. How are you?”

“And I can honestly say, you look dreadful,” Buck chuckled. Ezra’s hair was matted to his head. His clothes were wet and covered in mud. His face was streaked with soot.

Ezra swallowed and nodded. He felt weak and breathing was not easy.

Dr. Holstein appeared on the porch and knelt beside the soot-covered gambler. “Good to see you’re awake.”

“Asking about you.”

“That’s enough. Rest now,” Dr. Holstein ordered. The doctor examined the lump on the gambler’s head. “Nathan has a matching one,” he muttered. He looked up at the anxious faces above. “They both have concussions. I have two beds in the clinic, but your other friend already occupies one of those. I‘ll have to get another moved in. I‘d like them taken there so I can treat them.”

“Buck, I want to go and check on Vin,” Chris stated suddenly, rising to his feet. Something was prickling his concern. Perhaps it was nothing. Then again... “Vin shouldn’t be on his own. You stay with Ezra.”

“He’s not on his own,” Holstein stated. “I left him in the capable hands of my nurse.”

“NURSE!” Chris thundered. Buck and Chris’ eyes met.

“OH, GOD!“

A nurse. A woman. Badden?! Larabee catapulted to his feet and shot across the street toward the ‘Holstein Medical Clinic.’ Badden! It wasn’t Badden. It couldn’t be Badden! Chris knew she was dead and yet Vin was so certain that the woman was alive and responsible for the calculated attacks on the men... and calculated they were, Chris now realized.

Buck watched his friend, desperately wanting to join him, but Ezra needed his help.

Plagued with memories of Laura Badden’s final threat - ”Until next time” - Chris scaled the stairs in one leap and burst into the doctor’s examination room.

His friend’s desperate gasps met his ears. “VIN?!“ Chris ploughed through the waiting room, his mind frozen in horror. As Larabee burst into the clinic, his worst nightmare met his aghast eyes. Badden! She was leaning over Vin, the tracker gasping for breath!

“NO!“

**********

“I hate to point this out, but there’s your bed,” Buck murmured, inclining his head to the smouldering building. Once the roof had been removed, the fire had been put out quickly. Smoke filled the air, but the danger had passed. The big man had half of his mind on Larabee. There had been no sound from the clinic.

“You may think that you’re okay, but your body has suffered great shock. I want both of you in my clinic so I can keep an eye on you for a day.”

“Alright, gentlemen. Bring them this way,” Holstein called, leading the way to the clinic.

**********

Chris roared with rage and shoulder charged Badden, knocking her clear across the room. His only thought was for his friend.

“VIN?!” Larabee grabbed the weak man, desperately pulling him up. Had she been trying to choke him? Smother him?! Was he alright?! He’d kill her if Vin had been harmed! “VIN?!” Tanner’s face was white, his lips blue, and his eyes wide with surprise. It was only then that Chris realized the reason Vin was gasping was because he was coughing violently. “Vin?”

For a split second, Chris stared at his friend confused. The gunfighter shot a look at the woman sitting on her backside staring up at him in terror. It wasn’t Badden. Chris Larabee shut his eyes and allowed the relief to wash over him. Vin was alright. It wasn’t Badden.

Vin continued to cough and try and get his breath, all the while watching Chris with concern. Larabee opened his eyes.

“Water?”

Tanner nodded. Chris turned and collected the glass of water on the table behind him. No doubt the nurse had collected it and had been helping Vin up so he could have it just at the time Chris had rushed into the room. Vin sipped the water. Gradually, his coughing abated.

“Okay?”

“Yeah.“ Chris turned to the nurse who was sitting on the ground studying the two men. She had worked out that the one in black had thought she was trying to harm the ill one. “Ma’am, I’m sorry. I...“

The woman raised her hand for him to stop. “Just help me up.“ Larabee drew the woman to her feet. His face was awash with a genuine apology.

“I’m going to get a cloth and some water. First we need to get his temperature down and then we can deal with the rope burn.“ With that, she moved across to the other side of the large room and began fiddling in one of the cupboards.

“It’s been dealt with,” Chris mumbled, eying the red welt around his friend’s neck.

“What?! Did he do this to you?!”

Chris eased him up. “Enough talking.” Larabee waited for the attack to ease and then lowered Vin down. Tanner opened his mouth to say something, but Chris cut him off. “No more talking. Just lay there and be ill.”

Larabee could feel heat radiating from his friend. The nurse returned and ushered Chris out of the way so she could begin tackling her patient’s temperature.

“As soon as the others get here, I’ll go and see to the scar-faced man,” Chris murmured, watching as the woman dipped the cloth.

“Poor bastard. Chris...”

“The others will watch my back,” Larabee whispered, knowing what Vin was thinking. Tanner still firmly believed that Badden was after Larabee. Chris knew his friend had to be assured or he wouldn’t lay there and rest. “I won’t go on my own.”

You have my word.

Tanner’s eyes closed. He felt relieved. In that unguarded moment, the ordeal he had been through rose up and consumed him. This time, he allowed it to. Chris had given his word that he wouldn’t go alone and Vin knew he could trust his friend. As for the scar-faced man, Chris would see to him. If Badden showed her face, the others would be there to protect the gunfighter.

Tanner groaned softly as he relaxed.

Chris stepped closer to the bed and laid his hand on Vin‘s chest. “Rest, Cowboy. Leave the rest of it to us.” The nurse watched curiously. She had not imaged that the man in black was capable of such gentle words. The middle-aged woman waited for Chris to remove his hand and then she began to unbutton Vin’s shirt. Tanner’s eyes snapped open.

Lilly Holstein had been assisting her husband for more years than she cared to remember and she had seen that look many times. “Now, don’t you start, young man. I’m a nurse. There isn’t anything you’ve got that I haven’t seen a thousand times before. Like your friend said, just lay there a be ill.” Vin flicked his eyes to Chris. Larabee’s face was plastered with an amused smirk.