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Vin had wanted to go into town. He had worked extra hard for his Pa, doing extra chores that he could do, hoping Pa would let him go in the wagon with him. Vin had six pelts. He had trapped and cured the beaver himself and wanted to do some trading. His Ma's birthday was coming up and he wanted to get her something purty, somethin' store bought. He wanted to show his dad, too that he could trade, and not with just the Indians.

His Ma had spoken up for him to go. "Zach…the boy needs to go with you to learn. He's a sharp boy, good with tracking, and there is none better with a rifle and he's good around the animals. But he needs to be around more people." She saw her husband nod, he'd been a silent man when she'd met him. It had taken three days for him to say hello to her when they first met.. And living with her all these years, her coaxing hadn't changed him any. He was a loving man in his own way, but a man of few words.

She had an idea what her son had been up to these long months.She looked into those smiling blue eyes, and smiling back at him, she winked. She reached out and pushed back his unruly blond hair. "You mind your manners. Remember them folks in town don't look kindly on us." She stopped to cough; she'd been coughing more and more these last few weeks.

Her husband was hard on Vin, "He's got to learn life ain't easy." He looked over at his wife They had had this discussion several times.

And she'd stare into her husband's cold blue eyes and reminded him. "He is twelve years old, and he has been working by your side since he could walk and understand." She waited until he looked away.,Then she reached out and drew her son to her "Stay with your Pa and mind what he does." She looked from her son to her husband. "You're a Tanner, remember that…" She coughed again.

Vin helped harness the team. He was so excited Pulling his horse over to the rail and crawling up on it he slipped and pushed the harness over the big horses body. He practically had to crawl onto the big blond horses back to get the right side hames over the massive neck and the tugs on each side of the hips. They were a pair of Perchrons and he usually had to harness both of them by himself, but his Pa was in a hurry. He scrambled back onto the railing and walked himself along the railing toward the massive head. Taking the collar off the hook he carefully leaned way out. Speaking to the big horse, it turned its head and put its nose out to accept the collar. With practiced ease Vin scooted the collar over the horses nose and head and along the neck and into place against the shoulders. He made sure it was in its proper place before he moved back and grabbed one side of the brass hames and tugged it up over the collar. Reaching out over the horse, he grabbed the other one and did the same. He could see his father waiting for him out of the corner of his eye. Vin dropped down off the railing and went down in front of the horse. His head came to about the bottom of the collar on the massive horse. He struggled to get the hames on the right side to lie correctly. He couldn't get it to drop into place on the collar and he struggled with it, pulling and tugging.

Vin saw his father moving toward him, seeing the look on his father's face he moved back, dropping his head down. He slid a glance at his father's back, seeing the stiffness that was there. He had angered him, not being fast enough. He knew better than to apologize, that would get him a backhand. Now was the time to be silent, to stay out of arms reach and move quiet as a mouse. He watched as his Pa adjusted the right side hames and it fell into place. He buckled the straps to hold it into place against the collar.

His father turned and looked down at him. "Seems you need to be faster, 'morrow I expect 'em ready afore break of day." His Texas drawl edged with irritation. He turned around and led the horse away from the railing, grabbing the lead line on the other horse as he walked pasted him.

Vin followed behind the horses, head down, scuffing the dirt. He'd have to be up 'afor there was even a hint of light in the sky. He wanted to glare at his Pa, but if he did that, his Pa would know and he'd not get to go…He trotted over to the railing and grabbed both headstalls and the driving reins and hurried to catch up.

The team on their own, stepped into place over the wagon tongue and waited. Their heads were down, waiting for Vin to put their bridles on. Vin slid to a halt, looking up expectantly at his Pa. He saw his father's calloused hand reach out and Vin, lowering his eyes, quickly stepped up and handed him the headstalls.

"Get to the wagon seat, I'll hand ya up the reins." His father's drawl was a little softer. He quickly bridled the horses and ran the driving reins though the rings and laying them out. He walked toward the seat where his son sat and he handed them up to him. He finished hooking the horses to the wagon.

Vin had expected him to crawl up into the wagon, but his Pa turned and walked back into the barn. Vin waited silently glancing over toward the house he could smell the bread dough his Ma was setting out for rising. He heard his father coming out of the barn and he tried not to show the surprise on his face. His Pa had strapped on the Colt 44, and was carrying the single action Spencer rifle they used for hunting. Vin took the rifle as his Pa handed it to him and moved over as his Pa came up into the wagon seat. Vin knew his Ma was always sad when Pa wore his gun.

His Pa took the reins from him and asked the horses to move out with a light shake of the reins. "Move up." He called out to them, the massive horses put their weight into the collars and the wagon started forward.

Vin looked over his shoulder toward the porch and saw his Ma come out and wave. He waved back with his free hand.

"Don't be looking at your Ma. If'n you watch her until she goes out a sight, you'll never see her again." There wasn't anger in his Pa's voice. It was more of a matter-of-fact tone, like everybody knew not to do it except Vin.

Vin's arm dropped like he'd been struck. He jerked around, looking at his Pa. Fear screamed though his mind, but he knew better than to ask his Pa. He cradled the rifle in his arms and wondered if he had just cursed his Ma by waving goodbye. It was a long silent ride into town. Vin would have to wait until he got home to ask his Ma about it.

Vin had been here twice before, both times it had been with both his Ma and Pa. He thought the town was getting bigger, there were two more building then he remembered.

His Pa drove the horses down to the General Store and pulled the team to a halt. He reached down in the bottom of the foot well under the wagon seat and dropped the thirty pound tie weight to the dusty ground. "Put that 'tween the horses and tie both of 'em to it."

Vin crawled over the side of the wagon, onto the wheel and then down to the ground. He hurried around the wagon, and grabbing the weight, he half-drug half-carried it to the front of the horses. Setting it between the horses, he walked back around to Skipper, the horse on the left and looked up at the lead rope. His Pa had looped the lead up over the top of the hames. Vin wished he were taller. He reached out and touched Skipper on the side of the shoulder and jumped up catching a hand hold on the harness, brass hames and harness straps as high as he could go. He felt Skipper brace himself and allowed Vin to pull himself up hand over hand until he could reach where the lead rope was held and un-loop it from around hames. As he dropped back down, he saw his father glance at him just before he went into the store. Vin took the lead and tied it to the weight. He had to repeat the process on Sally. If he had put the bridles on, he have tucked the leads down lower, where he could have gotten ahold of them with out having to go through this.

He moved back to the wagon's front wheel, crawled up it, got back into the wagon seat and grabbed his little bundle that he had stashed under his seat early that morning. His hand ran over the outer pelt, he had worked hard at cleaning and scraping and curing these. These were excellent beaver pelts. He got down out of the wagon, watching all the people walk by, seeing them look at him and the wagon.

There were a couple cowboys who walked by, looking him and the wagon over. One of them, wearing a blue shirt spit toward him and the wagon. "Damn sod-busters, ruining the land." He slapped his companion on the shoulder and laughed, his other hand waving toward Vin. "Hell even their get is ugly…"

Vin figured they were making fun of him, but his Ma had made him promise to mind his manners. He lowered his eyes from the two men and waited for them to walk on. He sighed heavily. They went into the General Store. He stepped up onto the walk and slowly followed them in.

He stepped into the store and walked over to where his father was standing talking to the store owner. Vin remembered the man from the last time, Mr. Arnold. He had been nice to Vin's Ma and had offered him a piece of hard rock candy. His Pa had given him a harsh look and Vin had politely refused. Once outside, his father had pulled him over to the back side of the wagon, real hard, twisting his arm. "Ya don't take nothing from nobody, never be beholding to nobody, nothing is ever free…" His Pa had let go of him and he had staggered a bit. When he got home that night, he had bruises on his arm.

Vin watched and listen to his Pa as he and the store owner talked about what his Pa had brought into town. Vin had kept a watchful eye on the two cowboys who were, looking at the leather goods. He now knew the one in the blue shirt was Dan and his companion was Matt. Both were loud and twice he had seen his Pa and the store owner look over at them. Vin had only seen the side of his Pa's face but he he knew his Pa was angry at them. His Pa and Mr. Arnold stepped out and went to the wagon, Vin silently followed them. He listened to his Pa as he dickered for a good price. He watched as Mr. Arnold looked the goods over, countered with an offer, his Pa shook his head and countered with another offer and a deal was made. They shook hands.

"I'll get Toby to unload the goods." Mr Arnold turned and was heading back into the store when he saw Vin standing there with his pelts. Looking at the boy's expression he knew he wanted something. "Hi Vin, got something to trade today?" He saw the blue eyes widen.

"Yes Sir I's do…Got me some good pelts here." He beamed up at Mr. Arnold, surprised that Mr. Arnold had remembered his name.

"Well sir, lets go into the store and I'll get Toby to unload while I'm having a look at these pelts here." He walked by Vin, headed into the store, he laid a gentle hand on Vin's shoulder. "So how many you got there son?" He slowed his pace to stay in step with Vin.

Vin looked up into Mr. Arnold's green eyes. "Six Sir." He tried to lengthen his step out, seeing Mr. Arnold was keeping pace with him. His Ma would do that, but he'd never had a man do that. His father always left him, so Vin would either lag behind or have to trot to keep up. They walked into the store and over to the counter.

Mr. Arnold frowned; Dan and Matt were trouble makers. "Toby, would you go unload the wagon out front please." Mr. Arnold spoke to a boy who was trying to sweep the floor.

Toby set his broom down and hustled out front, making sure he stayed out of the two cowboys reach, they had been trying to back him into the corner to give him trouble.

Vin saw the relief on the older boys face. He also noted how he went out of his way to stay away from the two cowboys.

"Well, Vin, lets see what you got to trade?" He put his hands out, asking to see the pelts.

Vin forgot about Dan and Matt and smiled up at Mr. Arnold.

Vin handed him the pelts. He watched as the storekeeper untied the bundle and laid them out. He sensed his Pa step up behind him, but he didn't turn toward him. He kept his eyes on Mr. Arnold, he watched as the man ran his hands over the pelts, looked at the backs. Seeing the hide was soft and supple, he flipped them back over and checked the edges, seeing that even the edges had been worked and trimmed properly. He had watched his Pa enough times to know how to do it right.

"Did you cure these, son?" Mr. Arnold ran a hand over them again, a smile on his face.

"Yes sir, I catched 'em, skinned 'em and cured em." He saw Mr. Arnold nod.

"I'll give you three dollar a pelt; these are the best I've seen all year." He ran his hand over them again, "Just might keep them for myself…"

Vin looked at Mr. Arnold, three dollars a pelt was a lot of money, but his Pa had not taken the first offer. He looked down at his feet and then back up at Mr. Arnold.

"Three and a half." He saw the look Mr. Arnold gave him, felt his Pa move behind him, getting closer. He saw Mr. Arnold's eyes look behind him, and then he was looking back at him.

"Three and a quarter." Mr. Arnold smiled.

Vin smiled and put his hand out, like his father had. "Done!" He saw Mr. Arnold's hand come out and take his. They shook on the deal.

"You got yourself one fine boy here.You can be right proud of him."

Vin didn't turn around, all he heard was his Pa's gruff response. "Yep."

"What you gonna buy with all that money Vin?"

Vin smiled up at Mr. Arnold. "Some'um for my Ma, sir, some'um purdy for her." Vin saw the smile change on Mr. Arnold's face, like Vin had said something right. He saw Mr. Arnold look up.

"Mr. Tanner, you and I can settle up and then young Vin and I can square our account." The merchant went over to the bookkeeping area and pulled a large ledger out. He set it on the counter and opened it up, thumbing through the pages.

Vin's Pa stepped up to the ledger. "Put the boy's money on our account, it just about ought to pay for what we owe ya."

Vin looked at his Pa's back, he saw the surprised look on Mr. Arnold's face.

Vin felt the shock. "Pa I---."

Tanner turned. "Get to the wagon, now."

Vin stood there half a second, a stricken look on his face. Anger started to replace the look. His Pa leaned toward him and he turned and shot out of the store, hot tears streaming down his face.

Vin ran out of the store and over to the horses, seeing that Toby was at the back of the wagon still unloading the goods, he only had a little left to unload. Vin moved in between the horses, he stood next to Skipper's left front leg. He wrapped his arms around the horse's leg and cried against Skipper's foreleg.

Vin didn't see the hand that snaked in, grabbed him by the shoulder and jerked him out from between the horses.

He gave a startled yelp, expecting to see his dad at the end of the hand, but it was the Dan, the cowboy with the blue shirt. He looked up into the dark eyes and tried to get away from the hand that held him. "Let me go…" He struggled against the hand that was clamping down harder and harder

"Awh... poor little sod brat don't get no---."

Vin decided he was going to have to break his promise to his mother. He jerked back and then with his left foot kicked Dan, directly on the center of his shin with his work-boot.

He heard Dan yell and then a hand hit him up along side the head and sent him spinning to the ground underneath Skipper's body. Vin saw stars explode in front of his eyes and his world spun. He lay sprawled under Skipper. The horse stood still, unmoving.

"Damn brat I'll teach you---"

Vin had enough senses left to move away from the voice that was moving toward him. He wasn't too sure where he was scrambling too; his vision was still a little blurred.

He scrambled to his feet, felt the under belly of one of the horses and went for the tongue of the wagon, moving up onto the doubletrees as his vision cleared. He slipped past a hand that grabbed at him; it was Matt. Vin ducked and moved up the tongue of the wagon, balancing between the two horses.

Dan's face showed between the horses heads. "You brat, I get my hands on you and---."

"Leave 'em be!" It was a commanding voice.

Vin looked over the horse's back to see his Pa standing just outside the door to the store. He could see those hard blue eyes staring at Dan. Vin looked at Dan seeing him move back away from Sally. He saw the look on the cowboy's face change and he looked at his Pa. He knew why the look on the cowboy's face had changed.

He looked at his Pa and saw the difference. Those cold blue eyes had come alive. He was standing different. There was tenseness to his body. He seemed to almost vibrate. His right hand was down, just about level with the handle on the 44.

Vin glanced at the cowboy and saw the look in his eyes, saw his hand reach for his gun and as he looked back at his father he heard two shots, so close together that he had a hard time telling them apart. His father was still standing there, his gun in hand, but the gun was pointing to his right.

Vin looked to his left and saw the other cowboy, Matt lay sprawled on the ground, blood seeping into the ground, a gun held in his outstretched hand. He looked to his right and saw Dan lying on his back in the dirt. His hand clutched to his chest, blood spreading across his fingers and shirt. Vin looked back at his Pa as his Pa walked into the street toward Dan. Vin glanced at the cowboy to his left and saw that Matt had not moved. Vin dropped down off the tongue onto the ground and slipped under Sally's belly and stood looking at Dan

Dan's lips were drawn back in pain. He stared up at the man who had shot him. Who had, in one fluid movement, outdrawn both of them.. Home-made shabby clothes, brogan boots, a sod-buster, but the rig he wore around his thin hips wasn't a sod buster's. It was a gun slingers holster. Tied down, worn low, he saw the practiced ease as the 44 colt was placed back into its holster. His eyes went up to the sodbuster's face. Seeing those cold blue eyes that had come alive, he tried to swallow. "Who…" He felt something warm move into his throat and mouth as he spoke. "are… you…?"

Vin looked at his Pa.

"Names Tanner, Zachariah Tanner…"

"Zachariah…Tanner…out of ….of…" He gasped for air. "The Brazos…?"

Vin looked back at Dan, seeing pain, surprise and then fear. He didn't see his Pa nod.

"You're…dead…? Dan gasped for breath.

"No…Just a sodbuster…"

Vin looked back at Dan and saw him take his last breath. He stood staring at the man, seeing the life go out of him. He looked over at his Pa. For one brief moment he saw sorrow touch his Pa's face and then the blue eyes changed.

"Get ta the wagon." Zachariah Tanner moved toward his son. He saw Vin turn and run for the side of the wagon, as Zachariah reached for the tie weight, picked it up and untied the team. He tossed the ropes across their massive backs. In three strides, he was in the wagon, dropped the weight in the foot-well and grabbed the reins that his son handed him. He stepped the horses out at a trot. The wagon had been unloaded.

On the way home, Vin kept stealing glances at his Pa. Vin wanted to ask his Pa so many things, but he knew better. His Pa had always been quiet about his past. He had asked his Ma all sorts of questions about her and her family, and she would answer the questions. But when he would ask his Ma about his Pa, she would get sad.

He could sense anger. Vin glanced over at his Pa, wondering. There was so much he wanted to know but was afraid to ask. They were just now turning onto the road to their homestead.

Vin saw his father glance sideways at him, he felt fear as he saw the look. He didn't move away, he just waited.

"When we get to the house, want you to saddle Red for me"

Red was his Pa's horse, he was tall and built for speed. His Pa only rode him occasionally and his Ma was always complaining about feeding a horse that would never pull a plow or a buggy. There was always tension between them about the big red colored stallion. But Vin had seen his father around the horse, saw the way he would touch or scratch the horse. His Pa would talk around the horse. Vin had learned that if you took care of an animal, it would take care of you. It was how he had learned to handle Skipper and Sally. He had also learned that sometimes a good fast horse was needed. He'd heard his Pa mumble that under his breath a time or two after an argument with his Ma. He had also learned how to teach a horse to stand ground tied from his fathers examples around Red.

"You hear me boy?"

Vin came out of his reverie, looked at his Pa's eyes and nodded. "Yes Sir…"

"Put the saddle bags on and my bedroll, both canteens and the Spencer Rifle."

"Yes Sir…" Vin saw his father glance at him and then his Pa pulled the wagon to a halt. Vin just about panicked as his Pa reached for him, grabbed him up in a big hug.

"What I did today was wrong, I let my anger get a hold on me, But no one, lays a hand on one of my own. Don't you ever let someone lay a hand on you in anger. If'n you get in a situation and you'll know what I mean some day and you have to draw a gun, do it." He pulled back from his son and looked into his eyes. "and yer watch their eyes, eyes tell ya what their going to do, when their going to draw afore their hand moves."

"I know I been hard on ya, and I love your Ma more then life it'self, but now if'n I stay, there'll be trouble, big trouble. Yer Ma knew who I was afore she married me." He grabbed his son in a hug again. "You stand up fer yer Ma, Women are to be treated with respect. Don't let noone take advantage of ya."

He felt his Pa trembling, shaking.

Zachariah Tanner glanced away, looking toward the homestead then back at his son, looking him in the eye. "I ain't got much to leave either of ya, but my name…and it's a good one."

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