Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. No money has passed hands. Pure enjoyment only, just decided to carry the torch like so many others before me.

Warning: Cussing and such. All previous warnings apply – see first chapter for those.


Chapter 3

"So, Buck's charms outsmarted ya." Tanner ribbed the gambler.

"He did no such thing."

The younger lawman interjected. "Nah, Buck opened his mouth first and beat him to it."

"Does this beauty have a name?"

"Daphne Whitfield." The way it rolled off of Ezra's tongue told the others he had it as bad as Buck.

"Can't believe we lost two that fast." Nathan shook his head at Ezra's love struck expression.


Buck continued to exude his charm upon Ms. Whitfield for the better part of the day.

"Now what brings a beautiful woman like you out to a town like this."

Her answer raised Buck's eyebrows. "I'm on holiday, Mr. Wilmington."

"Holiday. What do you do Ms. Whitfield?"

"You might say I have a long range of abilities." She politely answered.


Buck had many plans for him and the young and beautiful woman after dinner. As with all best laid plans, they went south since the Judge requested that he, Vin, J.D., and Josiah ride over to a nearby town and help the sheriff with a particular situation. Ezra kindly offered his services to entertain Ms. Whitfield. Buck, of course, was none too pleased with that especially when the next few words out of that conman's mouth were intended for his ears only. "All's fair in love and war, Mr. Wilmington." Ezra touched the brim of his hat as he escorted Ms. Whitfield down the boardwalk.

Later that same evening a certain gunman and his son leisurely walked from the hotel to their room at the boardinghouse. They had spent an enjoyable dinner with Mary, Billy and Judge Travis. Chris tilted his head not sure if he saw what he thought he saw. Sure enough he did.

"Why are you grinning?"

Times like these were the best for Jesse. He loved to tease his pa whenever he could get the chance. The good natured ribbing from time to time was good for their spirits. "Come on pa."

"What?" Chris would've been lying if he wasn't at least mildly curious.

Jesse rolled his eyes in disbelief. Some days his father was as dense as a thick fog. "When are you going to ask Mrs. Travis?"

He had a feeling what Jesse was getting at, but he wasn't ready to give in that easily. Playing dumb he said, "Ask her what?" A slow smirk crept over his features.

Before an exasperated teen could answer an ominous click of a hammer being cocked was heard on the still night air.

Chris reacted quicker. "Jesse, get down!" He launched his body barreling into Jesse knocking him and himself to the ground. The bullet buried itself into a nearby hitching post. The time for explanations had passed as Chris got both himself and Jesse out of the openness of the street. In the act of self-preservation, Chris flipped over a small table to act as their shield. They were both hunkered down. To be exact they were pinned down and peppered by a steady stream of bullets. One shooter was bad enough, but two certainly spelled certain doom.

"Where are the shots coming from?" Jesse asked, becasue he didn't dare lift his head for fear of it being shot off.

"Damned if I know!" Chris was in the same position as his son. He couldn't even squeeze off a shot. "Stay down!"

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Jesse shouted over the din.

"They're going to need to reload, that's when we'll move."

"Fine by me. Ya think Ezra and Nathan are on their way?"

"Should be. Not sure if they'll see anything better than we can at the moment."

"Probably better since they're not pinned down."

A slight bit of a pause had Chris motioning to Jesse to move. As quick as they could they tried to find better cover. Jesse inadvertently stepped upon some debris lying in the street. He fought to gain purchase, which resulted in more slipping and stumbling. Eventually he lost the battle and hit the ground hard. A bullet intended to end a life embedded itself where moments ago Jesse had been standing.

Horrified by his son's almost imminent death, Chris yanked him up by the arm and once again dove for cover behind another object. "You alright?"

Breathless Jesse replied. "Yeah." He tried to gulp down a few more deep breaths in between. "That was too close."

"Close doesn't even cover it. That bullet had your name on it."

Realization dawned upon his son. ""What?"

"It's got her signature all over it. She's after you and I'm going to do my best to keep you safe. I've buried one son I'm not ready to bury another."

More gun shots broke out, but this time they were aimed elsewhere. There was no doubt Ezra and Nathan had joined the fight. Shortly thereafter silence soon followed.

"Chris! Jesse!" Nathan called out.

"We're over here, Nathan!"

"Thank God. Ezra! They're alright."

A sigh of relief from the gambler was heard as he approached. "Sorry, Chris, the darkness of the night allowed those devils to escape. We're thinking there were at least two."

"They're after Jesse."

His statement stunned the two men into silence. "Then that means she's back."

"I hate to say it, but yeah."


The next day found Chris and Ezra rehashing the night before last. "I understand your concern, but we both know how independent your son can truly be. I'd say he will put up with your plan for approximately a week and then begin a rebellion that will rival hell's fury."

A defeated sounding sigh escaped Chris. "Quit remindin' me. Don't think I haven't thought about it. I hardly slept."

"How did Jesse sleep?"

"Like a rock."

"Speaking of the lad, am I to understand Nathan drew the short straw this morning. He really takes to the role of babysitting. After all…"

A booming voice disrupted their conversation. "Babysitting! Shit. Shall we add that to the growing list?"

"Back so soon?"

"Buck, what are ya jawing about?"

The rogue of a ladies' man continued. "I'm talking about the wild goose chase we were sent on. That's what I'm talking about." He nodded for emphasis.

"Hell, finding a wild goose would've been at least something." Josiah added.

The incredulous tone couldn't have been mistaken for anything else. "What? I thought the Judge got a telegram from the Sheriff." Chris' gut already churned from the most recent events, now this added to it.

Buck didn't even bother to hide his irritability at the situation. "Sheriff Jameson said he had not sent a telegram. Whatever the Judge received did not come from him."

"One and a half days for nothin'." A disgruntled J.D. moaned.

Chris' concern grew with each bit of news he received. "This proves it's her."

"Where's Jesse?" Buck asked noticing for the first time that the kid was nowhere to be seen. Dread crept over him.

Chris waylaid his friend's fears. "He's with Nathan. However, after last night things are going to change. We need to keep an extra close watch on him."

So far Vin had remained quiet. He finally asked, "What happened?"

Ezra filled the rest of them in on the details from the previous evening. "We had a couple of shootists who decided to use Jesse as target practice. Thanks to Chris' quick thinking they came out of it with nothing but a few minor scrapes."

"I'd hate to envision what could've been if Chris had not been with him." Josiah spoke his thoughts out loud.

Chris outwardly shuddered after Josiah's last comment. That was the thing that kept him awake for most of the night.

"So the plan is to keep Jesse under our watchful eyes until Ms. Gaines and her hired help are placed under lock and key or buried six feet under. Is that correct?" Josiah surmised.

Their quiet companion finally couldn't contain his feelings on the subject. "Hell Chris! Ya'll be lucky if he lasts more than two weeks. If he lasts any longer I'd be surprised. We've seen how he reacts to his freedom being ripped from him. It ain't going to sit too well with him and ya know it."

"Care to make a small wager, Mr. Tanner?"

Chris' tone held a warning when he said, "Ezra."

"I'll take that bet if Vin doesn't." Buck interrupted. "Put me down for a week."

J.D. couldn't help but follow Buck's lead. "Make mine eight days." He smugly thought he one upped his mentor after Buck frowned. "Vin, are ya in?"

Vin had been carefully watching Chris' emotions, yet he decided to trust his instincts. "Yeah." Everyone in the room watched as Chris' mouth fell open from surprise. "It's an easy bet. Ya can put me down for two weeks."

"Preacher?"

"Hmm, it would seem all the good ones are taken." Josiah closed his eyes and looked to the heavens for guidance. Reaching some kind of a conclusion whether it was blessed or not he finally opened his eyes and said, "Put me down for one day shy of a week."

"Chris, care to place a bet?" Ezra prodded.

"It's not my place to put down a wager; however, I do believe Vin will win this bet."

Ezra smiled wholeheartedly. "What better way to assure that then by placing a small monetary donation to increase the winnings."

J.D. asked, "Why do you think Vin will win?"

"Because he's attuned to the way the man thinks. That's why." Buck replied.

Josiah was just as curious as J.D. "Vin, how did you figure two weeks?"

All eyes were now on Vin. He felt slightly uncomfortable being the focus of their attention. He managed to speak, but was a little quieter than usual. "First week's a given."

"Why's that?" Buck inquired.

"He's scared."

Josiah then asked, "And the second week?"

"The second week he'll mind his pa in order to save his backside. After that, I expect all hell to break loose. Not sure if Chris or any us will be able to contain the fall out once it begins."

Chris shuddered again, although this time someone was paying attention.

"You got a chill, Chris?" Josiah was quick to ask.

"Nothin' Nathan can fix." Chris truthfully answered.

"Thinking about Jesse?"

"Yeah. I guess it shows."

The big man nodded in agreement.

"Hey Ezra! I didn't hear your wager!" Buck shouted.

The gambler nonchalantly answered. "Oh, I agree wholeheartedly with Chris and Vin. Yet I might add that the second week will produce a very sulky and taciturn individual."

Again Josiah saw Chris shudder. "Chris, are you sure you aren't coming down with something?"

"What I'm coming down with is…"

"Jesse-itis." Buck quipped.

Not too long after that is when Nathan and Jesse arrived. They looked to each other and then again to the men standing or seated around the jail. "Kid, I do believe we missed something." The six men readily burst out laughing, even harder than moments ago.


A/N: A big thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, alerted, etc. I apologize ahead of time for not responding to some of you lately. It's been really difficult for me to even get my laptop to power up lately, let alone get on the internet. So, yes, laptop woes continue to plague me and regrettably I don't have the money to get a new one just yet. So, if you will, please bear with me as my updates will be few and far between as I must bow to the whims of my ill-fated laptop.