SOME HOURS LATER

“Everyone okay here?” Chris asked.

Buck nodded. “How’s Vin?”

“Fine,” Chris dismissed. Vin had been up front most of the morning. He was setting the pace for the wagon train and every now and then, he’d scout ahead. The rest of Larabee’s men were evenly spaced along the length of the wagon train. All shared the same uneasiness. There was no way a man like O’Shea was just going to let them ride out of the valley alive.

“You speak to him?”

“None of you damn business, Buck.”

Abruptly, the wagon train came to a halt. Chris swung about, brow furrowed. He spotted Vin heading up the side of the hill beside them. Larabee searched the area above Tanner and identified movement. “Buck, J.D. Go,” Larabee roared.

The pair nodded and circled back and up the side of the hill. “Everyone get inside the wagons!”

Josiah, Nathan and Ezra set about ensuring the order was carried out.

Chris dug his spurs in and headed toward Vin who had dismounted and was racing upward on foot. Tanner paused, his eyes darting about frantically.

Chris drew. Puzzled, he watched Tanner fire at the ground. The ground?

Above, there was a rally of shots centred on the tracker. Vin ignored the danger, stood his ground, took the time to aim and fired a second time. This shot found its mark.

A fuse. Dynamite! Vin had averted a tragedy. Larabee reached the spot directly below Tanner and dismounted. Horrified he spotted a stick of dynamite hurled at Vin

“VIN!”

Tanner spun at the sound of the warning. The dynamite landed only feet from him and exploded before he could react. Vin was thrown into the air. He landed with a sickening thud, but his momentum sent him flying and bouncing over and over. Out of control, he tumbled down the slope, his body slamming mercilessly against the ground and rocks as he fell. He stopped only once he'd reached the bottom of the hill.

Chris raced toward his crumpled friend, his heart lurching into his mouth. “Vin! You all right?” He literally picked Tanner up off the ground.

“Most of me,” Tanner gritted through clenched teeth. His world was spinning in a blaze of red and black pain.

Chris eased the injured man to his feet. Vin drew away and stood, hunched over, one arm across his chest.

“Vin?”

“I feel better than I look.” His voice was strained and laced with discomfort. Larabee’s hand settled on his friend’s shoulder. Vin kept his face down, hidden under the brim on his hat which had miraculously remained on his head.

Above, there were some shots and another explosion. Chris was distracted by J.D. and Buck riding toward the group.

Nathan rushed to Tanner‘s side. “Vin?”

“Take it easy, Doc,” Vin growled, knocking Nathan’s probing fingers away and moving out from under Larabee’s hand. Tanner straightened a little and then started to limp toward his horse. “Dickie O‘Shea and I have some things to take care of.“

“We gott ’em,” J.D. cried jubilantly. “And look what they left behind,” the youth added, showing Chris a bag of dynamite like it was a Christmas gift.

“Chris!” Wilmington’s insistent warning sent Chris searching behind him.

Vin was moving in the opposite direction - swaying from side to side.

Larabee lunged and caught Tanner as his legs buckled. “Whooh.” He threaded his arms around Vin's chest and held him loosely until Nathan arrived and between them, they lowered the injured man to sit on the ground. Unable to remain upright, Vin slumped against Chris. For a few moments he struggled to pull himself up but his strength had deserted him.

“Hey, hey, hey,“ Chris cried, giving his thrashing friend an encouraging squeeze. Whether Vin heard Chris and consciously allowed his body to come to rest against the gunfighter or whether he simply collapsed, Chris couldn’t be sure. “Easy.”

Vin blinked at the strong man who held him.

Now Larabee could see bruises forming on Vin’s left cheek and blood trickling from under his hat. “Feel better than you look?” Chris accused with annoyance, adjusting his hold to make Vin more comfortable.

“I lied,“ Vin grimaced. His head was spinning, his chest throbbing and his shoulder burning.

“No kidding.”

“I’ll be okay in a minute. Help me up,” Tanner insisted.

“Hush, there,” Nathan scolded, peeling open Tanner’s coat to reveal a bloodied shirt and a shoulder at an odd angle. “You be still.”

“Chris?” Vin growled, once again beginning to struggle. It appeared they had taken his ’help me up‘, as a request. It hadn’t been.

Chris understood Vin‘s need to get back on his feet. It was an innate, yet learned instinct. A man on the run couldn‘t afford to show weakness. “I‘ve got your back. Relax.”

Vin frowned at Chris.

Vin understood the silent message. He did trust Chris, but relinquishing his control of the situation… placing his life into the hands of another.... was foreign and flew in the face of everything life had taught him.

“Let Nathan do what he needs to,” Chris whispered.

“Cuts and bruises. Dislocated shoulder. Couple of broken ribs,” the healer diagnosed. “You were lucky you weren’t any closer to that explosion, Vin.”

The rest of the boys gathered around their fallen friend.

“I've got your gun, Vin,” J.D. assured.

Tanner’s eyes darted above and feeling exposed, he instantly tried to sit up. Gasping, he tumbled back against Chris. Momentarily his eyes rolled back in his head before he grabbed onto the final threads of consciousness and dragged himself back. In his mind, he was literally fighting for survival.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Nathan chastised. “Be still or you’re going to hurt yourself more than you already are.“ The healer removed Vin’s hat and probed the back of his unwilling patient’s head. “Split your head. A bunch of lumps. Them eyes of yours are a dilated. You’ve a concussion.”

“Stop fussin‘,” Vin muttered. He gagged at the salty taste of blood in his mouth. “Just give me a minute. I’ll…” he started blinking. He was losing the battle against the nausea and darkness settling over him. “… be…I’ll be…” Tanner twitched. Knowing what was happening, Vin’s eyes widened and he shot Chris a silent cry for help.

Larabee learned down over Vin and spoke firmly. “Hey.“ It’s okay. “Just lie still.” I’ve got your back. “I’m giving you an order.”

Tanner’s breath shuddered out of him and the side of his mouth rose in a smirk. An order?

Relax. To get to you, they’ll have to come through me. The pledge was unspoken, but since the day they had met, they hadn’t needed lots of words to communicate their trust and faith in each other. Reassured, Tanner’s eyes closed and his head limply tumbled against Chris’ shoulder. He had done battle with himself and won. He was prepared to concede control to Chris. It hadn’t been easy, but something more powerful than his instinct to survive had given him the strength to do so.

“Nathan?” Larabee demanded.

“He’s pretty badly banged up. No tellin’ what internal injuries he’s got. Could be bleedin’ on the inside. We need to move him into one of these wagons out of the sun so I can get a better look at him. I‘ll need my bag.”

**********

Buck paced at the back of Gerard’s wagon.

“He’ll be okay,” J.D. assured his agitated friend.

Buck paused, glared at the youth and resumed his pacing. “What’s takin’ so long? Nathan’s been in there with him for half an hour.”

“He said he was pretty banged up,” J.D. pointed out as Mary appeared with more hot water.

“I’ll take that, Ma am,” Buck offered, snatching it from her, pulling back the flap and climbing up into the silent wagon. Vin was lying on his back on a small cot, his chest and head heavily bandaged. Crouched beside him was Chris, one of his hands resting on Vin’s shoulder.

Nathan, kneeling next to Larabee, turned and smiled at Buck. “Thanks.”

“How’s he doing?”

Nathan sighed. “He’s unconscious. Hit his head hard a couple of times has he rolled down the hill. I’ve done what I can. With head injuries you just have to wait. I’ve put his shoulder back in and bandaged his ribs. Stitched his head. No hardness in his abdomen, so I don’t think he’s bleeding on the inside. Can’t be sure.” As he spoke, Nathan dipped a cloth in the warm water, wrung it out and laid it over Vin‘s bandaged chest. “The heat will help to bring out the bruising.”

“He going to be alright?”

Nathan turned to Buck, his face shadowing. “Too early to tell. Like I said, with head injuries you just have to wait. He could wake up in ten minutes or in a couple of hours. Then again, he may not regain consciousness at all. I just don’t know.”

Chris exhaled noisily, squeezing Vin’s shoulder. “He’ll make it.”

Buck studied Vin’s pale, bruised face and then directed his attention to Chris, who was staring with some intensity at the blank canvas wall of the wagon. “What are we going to do about O’Shea?”

For several moments Larabee didn’t move. Slowly he turned toward Buck. His expression was unreadable, but the unsettling tone of his voice left no doubt in Buck‘s mind. Larabee wanted blood.

“O’Shea’s mine.”

“You got it, but if we want to take him, we need to be doin’ somethin’ soon or he‘ll be wonderin‘ where the powder man and the rest of this boys are.”

Chris glanced down at Vin. The earlier pallor that had started under Tanner’s eyes had spread to his entire face... the bruising on his right cheek standing out in stark contrast. Vin expected him to watch his back, but perhaps the best way to do that was to take O’Shea down sooner rather than later.

Buck eyed his oldest friend. Chris had become close to Vin... closer than Buck had realized. Wilmington stepped around Jackson and laid his hand on Larabee‘s shoulder. Chris glanced up at Buck and nodded. “Okay. Nathan?”

“Ain’t nothing else I can do for him, Chris. We just have to wait. I’ll get Mary to sit with him. You boys are going to need every gun you can get. O‘Shea outnumbers us three to one... more, without Vin.”

Chris grunted and rose as much the confined space would allow. “Let’s go.”

**********

THE BOYS RIDE OUT... THAT FANTASTIC SCENE WHERE THEY RIDE TO THE TOP OF THE RIDGE WITH THE MUSIC BUILDING BUT ONLY SIX... NOT SEVEN

*********

Mary patted Vin’s arm. He was showing signs of regaining consciousness. Nathan had told her to keep him still and to get him to drink some water and laudanum. The healer had added, ‘Probably best not to tell him where we’ve gone. If I know Vin, he’ll try to follow us.’

The injured man made a long deep sound in the back of this throat and his face twitched.

“Easy, Vin.”

Tanner’s eyes moved restlessly under the lids and finally, he began to blink unsteadily.

“It’s okay, Vin.”

Tanner swallowed and focused his vision, shifting it across to the indistinct outline. “Mary?”

Travis smiled. “Welcome back.”

Vin frowned. “What happened? Where‘s my gun?

Mary placed the mare‘s leg onto the side of the narrow cot and laid Vin‘s hand over it. Instantly, his fingers curled around it like a vice. Chris had instructed the woman to do so if Vin awoke. “It’ll reassure him.”

Tanner looked around groggily. “Wagon?”

“Yes. Nathan wanted you out of the sun. You’re in Gerard’s wagon.”

“Why?”

“You don’t remember?”

Vin’s brow furrowed. Images flashed in front of his eyes. The fuse. The explosion. Tumbling. Chris. “Where are they?”

“Nathan? He... ahh.... he... um...”

“They’ve gone after O’Shea, haven’t they?” Tanner attempted to draw himself up onto his elbows, but his shoulder collapsed under him. He hissed and then cursed. The sharp throbbing in his skull paled in comparison to his protesting ribs and burning shoulder. Nausea rose and fell in his stomach like waves.

“Vin, you need to rest.”

“Did any of the settlers go with them?” Vin demanded rubbing his hand across his eyes.

Mary licked her lips. “Gerard and some of the other men wanted to, but Chris refused their help.”

Tanner nodded and winced. “Sounds about right. Where’s my shirt?”

Mary’s face flushed. “I can’t allow you to go, Vin.”

Tanner tilted his head to the side and smirked. “And how are you intendin’ to stop me, Mrs. Travis?”

The woman bristled. “Vin, you’re hurt.”

“My shirt.” It wasn’t a request.

Mary stared into his determined blue eyes. He wasn‘t going to take no for an answer. The woman sighed and handed the bloodied shirt to him. “Chris isn’t going to be happy with me.”

“Don’t fret ma am. He’ll be so busy breathin’ fire at me, I guarantee he won’t give you a second thought.”

**********

Mary and Gerard watched as a very unsteady Tanner prepared Peso. The bandage around his head was gone and Vin had refused a sling for his injured shoulder. He was favouring that arm considerably, but it wasn’t slowing him down. “How long ago did they leave?”

“About twenty minutes.“

Vin looked down to check his mare’s leg. As he did so, his entire world spun out of control. Before he knew it, he was falling. Peso moved and he stumbled into the horse, grabbing onto the animal to right himself. The movement jerked his injured shoulder and he cried out. Panting and gasping, he pushed his feet under himself, and supported the elbow to take pressure off his shoulder. Then his stomach lurched, he bent over, his ribs bit and he expelled his breakfast.

“Vin, please,” Mary begged, rushing to his side. “You’re hurt. You aren’t going to be any help to them.”

“That’s a matter of opinion, Ma 'am.” Vin wiped his mouth with his sleeve and slowed his breathing. Straightening up, he gave Mary a reassuring nod. “I’m all right.”

“Your leader told you to stay here,” Gerard pointed out, confronting Vin.

“My leader?” Vin asked, curiously.

“Larabee.”

Vin snorted.

“He’s your leader isn’t he?”

“Reckon it might look like that sometimes,” Vin muttered. “You standin’ in my face for a reason? You aren’t thinkin’ of doin‘ anythin‘ stupid, like tryin’ to stop me, are ya?”

Gerard breathed out slowly. “I was hoping to make a friend see sense, Mr. Tanner.“

Tanner smiled. “Thanks, but I’m goin’.“ With that, Vin slipped his foot into the stirrup and hauled himself into the saddle with an uncontrollable gasp. He started to sway and Gerard grabbed him, preventing him from falling. Vin remained hunched over for several moments, his good arm across his chest in a futile effort to support his ribs. Vin squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the spinning to abate.

“Vin, please,” Mary appealed.

“Let me help you down, Mr. Tanner.”

Vin opened his eyes and straightened up in the saddle.

“Don’t you be worryin’ none about me, Mary.” He tipped his hat to the worried woman and nodded his thanks to Gerard, before digging his spurs in.

“Stubborn man,” Gerard commented, placing his arm across Mary’s shoulders.

“I should have stopped him.”

“I get the feeling that even Larabee would have had his work cut out for him.”