Summary: Vin comes across a runaway boy, and his life is changed forever. Meanwhile, Sammy begins to deal with the changes in her life. Part of the When It Rain series. WARNING: This story will contain the spanking of a minor in later chapters.

Author's Notes: This story takes place after the events in When It Rains . . ., but knowledge of that story isn't necessary. This one isn't about Sammy; however, she will make an appearance or two.

Update (3/15/10): Originally Sammy was to play only a minor role in this story. However, as I've written it (at the time of this note nine chapters have been posted), the story has become as much about her has it is about Vin and his young friend.

All reviews and comments are welcome. I enjoy writing these stories for the pleasure of putting the images I have in my head into word, but finding reviews and comments in my inbox is very gratifying.

I do not own The Magnificent Seven or its characters.

CHAPTER 1

Vin Tanner couldn't believe his eyes. He was returning from gathering fire wood when he spotted a small figure near his bed roll and saddle bags. Having grown restless in town, the tracker had taken off to spend a few days in the hill country and was on his way back to Four Corners when he stopped to make camp for the night.

He quietly laid the fire wood on the ground, pulled his gun from the holster strapped to his thigh, and moved up behind the figure. As Vin drew closer, he was surprised to see that his quarry appeared to be a young boy. He holstered the weapon and, remaining alert for any signs of danger, stepped up behind the intruder. He was amazed that the child did not seem to notice his presence. "Just what the hell do you think yer doin?" Vin demanded in a voice that carried a touch of anger.

The child let out what could only be described as a squeak and, dropping the saddle bags, took off running. Vin cursed and took off after the child. The child moved quickly, but Vin soon caught up to him. Wrapping his arms around the boy's middle, Vin lifted him off his feet. He nearly dropped him when the boy cried out in pain. Vin knew he hadn't grabbed the boy hard enough to hurt him. Something was wrong.

The boy began struggling, attempting to break free of Vin's hold. Given his earlier cry of pain, Vin was afraid he might hurt himself further, so he set the boy on his feet, keeping a firm grip on his upper arms.

Once he was on his feet, the boy began struggling to break Vin's hold. "Let me go, you son-of-a-bitch." He aimed a kick at Vin's knee and bent his head to the side, trying to bite Vin's hand.

Vin dodged the kick and gave the boy a slight shake. "Calm down. I don' wanna hurt you." The note of authority in Vin's voice filtered through the boy's fear. He stopped struggling and turned frightened eyes to Vin's face.

Vin crouched down so that he was on the same level and the child. "My name's Vin. What's yers?"

The boy looked down at his feet, no longer willing to meet Vin's gaze. "Ain't tellin' you."

Vin let go of the boy's arms as a gesture of trust. After all, he reasoned, he could easily catch the boy if he decided to try running again. "You ain't gonna tell me, huh? Why not?"

"'Cause." The boy looked uncertainly at Vin and then glanced around his surroundings as if he was considering his chances for escaping.

Vin chuckled. "Yeah, that's a really good reason." He pushed his hat off so that it hung down his back and scratched his head. "Well, I s'pose if you ain't gonna tell me, I'm just gonna have to come up with something to call you." Vin though for a minute, trying to come up with the worst name he could think of. "How 'bout I call you Horace? You look like a Horace to me."

He refrained from laughing at the disgusted look on the boy's face. "Yep, I'll call you Horace." Vin paused a moment before continuing. "Unless you want to tell me what your real name is."

"My name ain't Horace. It's Kevin."

Vin held his hand out to the boy. "Hi, Kevin. It's nice ta meet you." Kevin looked uncertainly at Vin's hand for several seconds, trying to decide if there were some sort of trap involved. No one had ever offered him their hand in greeting before. Finally deciding that there was no immediate danger, he accepted Vin's hand and shook it.

Vin stood. "I'll make you a deal, Kevin. You promise not to run and help me gather up that firewood I dropped, and I'll cook up that rabbit I caught. I'll share it with you and you can bed down here tonight." He gave Kevin a hard look so that the boy would not misinterpret his next words. "Either way, you ain't goin' anywhere. If'n you don't promise ta stay put, we'll sit there starin' at each other an' that rabbit'll go to waste. Don't know 'bout you, but I'm awful hungry and I don't relish the thought of sittin' out in the cold when I could have a warm fire."

Again, Kevin contemplated Vin with uncertainty. He was on his own in a totally foreign environment. He was used to the city and had survived this long out in the wild only by sheer luck. Not to mention, he was hungry. He had gotten used to fairly regular meals during the last couple months, and it had been a long time since he had eaten. The thought of finally getting some food won the debate that raged in his head. "All right, I'll help you gather the firewood." He paused to look Vin in the eye, hoping the man hadn't notice that he hadn't said anything about not running. "But, you better not try anything, or I'll fucking kill you. I know how to do it, too."

Once again, Vin forced himself not to chuckle at the boy's bravado. He hadn't missed the fact that Kevin hadn't promised not to try running, but Vin was willing to over look that for the time being. He took a hard look at the boy. Kevin couldn't be more than eight or nine years old and was reed-thin. A good strong wind could pick him up and carry him off. Vin couldn't help but wonder at the circumstances that found the boy out in the middle of nowhere by himself. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Vin was determined that he'd be taking Kevin with him back to Four Corners in the morning, even if he had to hog-tie the boy and throw him over his saddle.

"I promise I won't hurt you. I just want to help." Vin turned and started walking toward the dropped wood, hoping it looked to Kevin like he didn't care one way or the other if the boy followed him. Seconds later he heard the boy moving behind him, and he glanced back to see Kevin reluctantly following.

Later, the tracker and the boy sat beside a warm fire, enjoying a shared meal of roasted rabbit. Vin passed Kevin a canteen of water and watched the boy as he drank deeply.

"How'd you hurt yer ribs?"

Kevin jolted in surprise and nearly dropped the canteen. Vin caught it and, replacing the cap, set it aside. His gaze remained level on Kevin's.

"I don't know what the hell you're talkin' about, Mister. I ain't hurt." Kevin was suddenly growing suspicious.

"Uh huh," Vin responded. "If you ain't hurt, why'd you cry out when I grabbed you around the rib cage earlier?"

"I was surprised."

Oh, the kid was good, Vin thought. If he hadn't been watching closly, he never would have realized the boy was lying through his teeth. It made him wonder, once again, about the life Kevin had lived before he wandered into Vin's camp. "That weren't no cry of surprise, kid." Vin paused for a moment, watching Kevin intently. The boy's expression never wavered. "But, I'll let it go for now."

Vin stood and walked over to where his saddle bags and bedroll were resting against his saddle. He pulled out the bedroll and an extra blanket from the pile of tack. Vin could feel Kevin's eyes following his every move. Turning back to the fire, he held out the bedroll to the boy. "It's late, why don't you spread this out by the fire and bed down fer the night."

Kevin stood and dusted off the seat of his britches. "Nah, I'll just be on my way. Thanks for the meal, mister."

Vin tossed the bedroll down beside the fire and crossed his arms over his chest. "Jest where do you think yer goin'?"

He sighed heavily when Kevin took off running for the nearby brush. The boy was quick, but Vin was quicker. He caught Kevin after only a few strides. Just like earlier, Vin wrapped his arms around the boy's ribcage and lifted him off the ground. Again, as before, Kevin cried out in pain.

"Thought you said you weren't hurt." Vin stated. He ignored Kevin's struggles and curses and carried the boy back to the fire. Once there, Vin set Kevin on his feet and knelt so he could look the boy in the face. "Now, I'm gonna tell you exactly what's gonna happen here. I'm gonna check yer ribs to see how badly yer hurt. Then, yer gonna take that bedroll and bed down next ta the fire for the night. In the mornin' I'm gonna take you with me to Four Corners. You understand me?"

Kevin struggled to break Vin's grip on his upper arms, but a quick shake had him standing still. He glared at the tracker, refusing to answer. The boy gasped in surprise when Vin landed a hard swat to his backside. Although the single swat had stung, it had surprised him more than anything. He'd never been spanked before. Until recently, there had never been anyone in authority who had cared enough about him or his actions to take notice of what he did.

"I asked you a question, and I expect an answer," Vin demanded. Several seconds of tense silence followed. "I don' wanna have to do it, but I'll tan the seat a' yer britches if'n I gotta."

"You can't tell me what to do," Kevin responded. He wasn't quite sure what Vin meant when he had said he'd tan the seat of his britches, but Kevin wasn't anxious to find out. Still, he hadn't gained a reputation for his smart-mouthed attitude for nothing.

Vin sighed and hung his head, praying for patience in dealing with the boy. His temper back under control, Vin looked into the boy's eyes. "I don't know how you came to be out here by yerself, but this ain't no place for a kid. I done told you that I don't wanna hurt you. That's the God's honest truth. I jest want ta help you, even if that means goin' against yer wishes." Vin stood and started walking back to the campfire, pulling Kevin along behind him. "Now, yer gonna do as yer told. It's up to you whether it's done the easy way or the hard way." They came to a stop at the campfire and Vin reached down to pick up the discarded bedroll. "Well, which is it gonna be?"

Kevin thought for a moment. He felt he could trust this man, but the lessons he had learned early in life about not being able to trust strangers were well ingrained. On the other hand, he had no idea where he was or how he might get back to some sort of civilization, and his ribs did hurt something fierce. The thought occurred to him that he could go to this Four Corners with Vin and get away from him there. Surely, from there he could find someway to get back east.

Kevin tried to pull his arm from Vin's grasp, but the tracker's hold was too firm. "Okay, I'll do what you say. Don't mean I gotta like it, though."

Vin grinned. "Never said you had to like it. Jest that you had to do it." He tilted his head toward the fallen log where they had sat earlier while eating their supper. "Let's go take a look at those ribs, then you can bed down fer the night." When Kevin hesitated, Vin once again took him by the arm and led him over to the log. Once there, Vin sat, drew the boy between his legs, and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. Even in the dim light given off by the fire Vin had no trouble seeing the large, dark bruise that spread across the left side of Kevin's ribcage.

"What the hell happened to you?" Vin demanded. Kevin moved away from Vin and began buttoning his shirt. Vin grasped his arm and turned to boy back to face him. "Who did that to you?" Finally noticing the fear that had crept into the boy's eyes, Vin let go of Kevin's arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean ta scare you. But, you gotta tell me who did that ta you."

Kevin was confused. He couldn't understand why Vin cared how he had been injured. Nobody had ever expressed anything but token concern for him before, and that had only come during the last few months. He finished buttoning his shirt and looked up into Vin's worried eyes. "Nobody hurt me. I got hurt when I fell on some rocks yesterday."

Vin nodded. He wasn't sure why, but he believed what Kevin had just told him. The kid didn't act like someone who was the victim of abuse. But, he knew there was more to the story than the boy was letting on. "What are you doin' out here in the middle 'a nowhere?"

Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "I ain't gonna tell you."

Again, Vin nodded. He knew better than to push at this point. He suspected the boy was more running to something than running away from something. The boy wouldn't tell his story until he was good and ready, and it would destroy the very fragile trust they had established if Vin pressed the issue now. Vin reasoned there would be time enough to delve into that once they reached Four Corners.

"If you don't wanna tell me now, that's okay." Vin stood. "Let's get some sleep. I wanna head out early in the mornin'."

He helped Kevin arrange the bedroll next to the fire where the boy would be nice and warm during the night. Vin sat with his back against the saddle, his long legs stretched on in front of him. He had tossed his spare blanket over his legs and sat, watching the stars overhead. Vin wasn't sure he could trust the boy not to attempt to run during the night, so he planned on staying awake. It wouldn't be the first, and he was sure, the last, time he would go a night without sleep. The boy needed looking after, and he would be damned if he would let Kevin sneak off during the night.

Stretching and settling himself more comfortably against the saddle, Vin let his thoughts wander to what might happen the next day. He supposed once they learned the truth about why Kevin was out here on his own, a decision would have to be made about the boy's future. Vin suddenly found himself contemplating taking the child in, just as someone had once taken him in after his mother had died. He owed his life to the Indian tribe who had raised him from a boy into a man. Looking at the now sleeping child, Vin realized that the idea of taking in this child and caring for him didn't seem to be such a bad one. It hadn't been all that long ago that he had admired Chris Larabee for being so willing to completely change his life by taking on the legal guardianship of Sammy. He had watched his friend with the teenager and knew Chris was a good father. Vin only hoped he could do just as good a job as his friend.

TBC