"Buck!" Chris bellowed, "Ambush!"
Chris's words had no effect on Wilmington, determined to get some answers. It was the two men who responded. They dove from their horses; went for their guns. Buck mirrored their dismount as he fired and hit one in the upper thigh.
This series of events saved Buck. A bullet meant to take his head off sent his hat sailing across the grass instead. Several men opened fire on the posse from the boulders on the higher cliff. Bullets bit at JD's heels as he ran to join Buck.
Vin splashed his horse across the thin rivulets of spring water in the otherwise dry creek bed before he threw himself from the saddle. He slammed against the base of the cliff and waited. No bullets came his way. The men above couldn't get an angle on his position. Then Josiah was there beside him. The preacher could move when needed to.
Vin and Josiah looked around for their friends. They saw Ezra wrench his rifle from the scabbard as he reined his mount to a dancing halt; then slap the gelding's flank to hurry him out of the line of fire. The gambler sought the first shelter he could find. The low boulders were little protection from their attackers who had the high ground and a good angle on everything below. Nathan was pinned down in a similar position to Ezra. All he could do was try to stay behind cover. Any attempt to get off a shot would make him a certain target.
Near the creek bed, the largest of the boulders where Buck and JD took refuge was easily four feet tall. A gnarled oak tree, partially protected by the stones and established before the creek bed shifted, had somehow survived the years of flash floods. Buck stood behind the oak. JD crouched behind the boulder.
Buck's brilliant smile reflected a reckless, adrenaline induced euphoria. This gunfight was an outlet for darker emotions he refused to analyze. These men, murderers, the enemy, not friends, they could be an outlet for his anger.
Chris recognized the near self-destructive look on his friend's face as he dove for cover behind the smaller boulders on JD's left. As was too often the case lately, it was Chris's anger that led him to his oldest friend's side.
As he snapped off another shot, Buck playfully reached down and threw JD's bowler to the ground between them. "Told ya, Kid, keep... "
JD unthinkingly dove for the hat as Buck spoke, "Damn it, Buck... "
Chris caught JD's arm and pulled him back against the boulder. It was the only thing that kept the next volley from above them from hitting the young man. "Damn it, Buck! Think! Before you get him killed like... "
There was a moment frozen in time. The unfinished sentence echoed in Buck's mind Like Sarah and Adam...like Sarah and Adam... like⦠Chris's earlier reference to that day was still too fresh. Buck, who had just stepped from behind the oak to take a shot, couldn't move. Their eyes met. For too long, Chris had conditioned himself to displace worry and care with anger. And so it was anger Buck saw reflected back at him. To JD's horror he realized his best friend had broken cover and made no move to return. Chris held the boy tight as he struggled to get to his friend.
Larabee had reproached Buck angrily, "Damn it, Buck, think! Before you get him killed like you're tryin' to do yourself... "
The look on Buck's face brought even Chris Larabee up short. He had no way of understanding that the real words he said never registered in Buck's mind, never filtered past what his own blame and regrets had him hearing. like Sarah and Adam... like Sarah and...it wouldn't leave Buck's head.
A ricochet bit into the tree by Buck's temple. Wood and shrapnel pelted him, brought forth pinpricks of blood and reawakened him to his surroundings. He grabbed JD's second gun from its holster and, both blazing, ran at and up the shale lined escarpment.
Larabee held JD in place. "Let me go!" The youngster demanded as he struggled to follow and at the same time lay down cover for Buck.
The others, however, backed Buck's reckless move. Nathan and Ezra left cover, scrambled, zigged and zagged to confuse those shooting at them. Bullets nipped at their feet as Buck, Ezra and Nathan ran forward. A bullet bit at Buck's shirtsleeve and tore away some cloth. Ezra stumbled and recovered when a bullet splashed water from directly in front of his back foot. Josiah and Vin offered what cover they could when the ambushers would lean out into their sights, but it was clearly only a matter of time before the men above got the range. Vin and Josiah backed away from the cliff, rifles blazing trying for better shots. An acrid smudge filled the air. Chris methodically fired at muzzle blasts and puffs of smoke when they came. JD was too busy covering his friends to continue the attempt to follow them. Nathan's shot felled the second of the two men who had originally dropped the body.
Josiah began to despair when the sounds from the rifles above them suddenly doubled. Until he noticed that the number of bullets hitting near his friends immediately decreased. The firing stopped.
Josiah and Vin cautiously scaled the upper bank to find nothing but dust from retreating horses. Blood on some rocks and grass told the tale that some of their bullets had hit their marks. That the ambushers would not leave dead or wounded behind presented several possible conclusions. Reading of any other sign was cut short as first Josiah then Vin turned back to the angry voices below.
"Damn it, Buck, you're not bullet proof!" Chris was yelling. He never had to raise his voice, in fact, the lower it got, the more threatening it became. But his old friend had always been able to get him yelling. "What were you thinking?" Chris continued to demand. Buck turned to walk away. Chris grabbed his arm and spun him back around. "I want an answer."
"I was thinking I wanted to take on people I knew were trying to hurt me. I now how to handle that." Buck breathed as he swiped at the blood that trickled down the side of his face. He only succeeded in smearing the coppery red across his temple.
"What are we gonna do, Buck? I don't want a friend getting killed because they were stupid enough to back your damn fool play." Buck tossed the lethal gunslinger an enigmatic smirk that threatened something deep in his heart. Larabee refused to show it had touched him. Finally Buck wordlessly turned and walked away.
Larabee's head didn't move, but his eyes shifted to Tanner who had come up during the rather one-sided confrontation. He read the question in Larabee's eyes - what was that look he just gave me?
"He's your friend, too." Was all Vin said.
If Larabee had been inclined to pursue the statement, he was stopped as Nathan dragged the injured man up to him. "The other one's dead." Larabee took in the stranger, including Nathan's quick handiwork on the thigh wound
"Anyone hurt?" The brooding man in black asked without taking his eyes from their prisoner.
"Nothing bad." Nathan replied as he watched Buck hunker down by the meager spring, put water to his bandanna and clean the already drying blood from his temple. It didn't look serious, but Nathan would check it to be sure, now that he didn't have to get between Buck and Chris to do it. Before he turned back to the prisoner Nathan saw JD had retrieved Buck's hat and offered it to him. Buck's genuine smile at the relieved look on the boy's face had Nathan shaking his head and laughing to himself. That boy was always the best medicine for their other overgrown kid.
Nathan's attention was drawn back by angry questions thrown at the prisoner. "Who are you? Did you kill that man? Who do you ride with?" No answer.
The man's face showed anger. His stance showed defiance. His lips held a smirk. Not as full of hurt as Buck's had been, but still... Chris swung his right fist around and knocked the man to the ground, right out of Nathan's grasp. That's one smirk I can wipe off one face. He strode away with nary a backward glance. Five sets of eyes drifted back and forth between their two friends who had their backs to each other and distance between them.
"Why would they kill those men?" JD asked as he and Buck joined the others.
"Maybe we'll get some answers, now," Josiah suggested as he cleaned his fingernails with his massive Bowie knife and glared meaningful at their prisoner.
"Any ideas who backed us from up there?" Nathan asked.
"Nothing close in. I could scout further out." Vin offered.
"Not yet." Larabee's voice broke into their conversation. He used the toe of his boot to nudge the man Nathan had killed. "We find out who this one and the other one are, we may get closer to what's goin' on."
"Admirable strategy. If we are able to ascertain what the stakes are before we ride in, it will proportionately increase the odds that we will all be able to ride back out."
"Round up their horses. Load up the bodies." Chris referred to the murdered man. "His family deserves to have him back."
"I am able to assume, then, that we will be returning to what this rustic region of the back country refers to as civilization?" Ezra drawled.
"We'll all go to Sweetwater tonight." Larabee decided.
"Be harder to get answers from him once we get there. Sheriff Turner's right ornery about keepin' his prisoners alive and in the same condition he receives 'em in." Buck observed.
"You want to stay out here? Who was shooting at us? Who was shooting at them? How many men got away from us? How many can they bring back?" Chris demanded.
"Just meant I could take the bodies to Sweetwater. Ya'll could head on home with the prisoner." Chris was surprisingly uncomfortable now that he knew these hunters of men were within his borders. "We ride to Sweetwater." There was no way one of his men would ride alone.
Buck shrugged indifferently. On the trail, he was a little too loud, a little too boisterous as he amused himself at JD's expense. It was almost an act of defiance. A show that Larabee's dark mood didn't touch him.
The seven and their prisoner rode into Sweetwater well after sunset. The bodies had been divided among the horses that were rounded up after the shooting stopped. The street fires sent their long shadows dancing across the buildings' facades. Few lights still burned except for the inevitable beacons of the night, the saloon and the jail.
Chris and JD led their prisoner to the lockup. Buck and Vin led the horses to the livery. Josiah took the bodies to the undertaker. Nathan and Ezra made for the saloon. They would order and have supper waiting when the others arrived. No one seemed to be much in the mood for conversation.
Chris and JD found their way to the saloon after telling their story to Sheriff Turner. Chris entered and stood to one side of the batwing doors; a solid wall to protect his back as he took in the feel, sound and looks of the unfamiliar yet familiar environment. Even though he knew at least three of his men, his friends, were here and had already done the same, he scanned the smoky, loud, gaudy bar for potential danger. JD stood beside him proudly, and tried to see the room as Chris Larabee was seeing it. The youngest of the seven knew it could save his life someday.
A man materialized in front of them. He confronted Chris Larabee by his mere presence; looked him straight in the eye. His face was weatherworn and creased beyond its years. It came across as ruggedly handsome rather than aged; tanned instead of leathery. He had pounds on the deadly shootist, maybe an inch or two. He wore a black hat and bandanna, a bright white shirt buttoned at the neck and a knee coat. His long black hair was pulled back at the nape off his neck. His attire appeared rakish compared to Larabee, but his presence was just as deadly.
If this stranger sensed the other three who now formed a semi-circle at his back, he didn't acknowledge them. The man's eyes flickered to JD. Chris didn't move. JD forced himself to meet the man's deep brown eyes. He resisted the temptation to push his bangs away from his face, as the action would move his hand away from his gun. Keep yourself ready. Buck's voice whispered through his mind. Was his face staying as impassive as he hoped?
The dangerous looking man cut his eyes back to JD's taller partner. "Hell, Larabee, never knew you to be in the habit of picking up strays, except for... oh, goddamn... " the man blurted out as Buck entered followed by Vin. "See?" He taunted with undisguised relish, "Once you feed 'em, you can't get rid of 'em."
A hint of a smile threatened Larabee's lips as he took in the source of this man's observation. "Clay." He acknowledged, rather socially.
"How ya been, ya Old Dog?"
"Managin', I reckon."
"And Buck? You still managin' him, too?" The big man circled his arm around Buck's neck and pulled him into a brotherly hug. Buck begrudgingly returned the embrace and smiled.
"This is just what I need," Buck mumbled; forcing a good-natured tone into his voice. A little too abruptly, he brushed aside the heavier man. He grabbed JD by the neck and pulled him along. "You gents come up with supper, yet, or what?" He called to Ezra, Josiah and Nathan.
"I believe we have found a repast at least filling, if not the most palatable, I've enjoyed."
"Well, hell, that sounds good enough to me."
