See Part one for Disclaimer :
Part 6
Ezra looked up, surveying the land in front of them. They had been walking around since they had left their cave. They had ducked men on horses several times. When he spotted the two horses on the horizon, he was about to dive and hide again with the boys.
Just as the two horsemen started towards the group, and Ezra was looking for cover, Buck piped up. "Its Da and Vin."
Ezra frowned. "Are you sure?"
Chris backed up Buck's shout. "Yes, it is! Its Da and JD! They found us!"
Standing where he was, it took a few more minutes for Ezra to recognize the two men. With a sigh of relief, Ezra waited with the boys.
As Vin and JD reined in their horses next to the group, Ezra was rather amazed that Buck and Chris waited for the two men to dismount and head towards them before they darted to the two men.
The yelps of the boys calling to their dads, and almost barreling over the two men, made Ezra almost burst into laughter.
After several minutes, the reunion quieted down. Buck's voice spoke up. "Uncle Ezra is hurt. He got knocked out."
JD turned to Ezra, frowning. "How bad?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Ezra smiled. "It isn't that bad. It was when they first took us. It has faded to just a headache."
Buck and Chris, from the arms of their dads, both piped up at the same time. "He was unconscious for hours and its a bad headache. He doesn't like looking into the sun."
Ezra stared at the two boys. "How?"
Chris grinned. "We're observant and Uncle Nate told us to watch for these sort of things, cause people don't always say when they're hurt."
Three men shared a look. At least now they know how Nathan always know they did something. He'd turned the boys into spies on their health. Vin broke the silence. "We should head back to town. Josiah and Nathan should be there by now."
Ezra sighed. "Oh, Joy."
Vin grinned. "Don't worry, Nathan won't be too rough with you."
Ezra glared at the comment. "Very funny. So, who do I get to ride with?"
Buck piped up. "You can ride with Da and me."
Vin grinned. "Sounds good. You up to it?"
With a sigh, Ezra nodded. "You could have brought my horse with you."
Snickering, JD shook his head. "Your horse is more prickly than you in the morning. We like our lives."
"He isn't that bad. He just knows that getting up before dawn is bad."
JD got up on his horse with Buck in front of him. " Like horse, like owner. So, do you want a ride, or would you rather walk?"
Mumbling something about friends and why did he want them again, Ezra got on JD's horse. "I'm ready. Let's get away from here."
With a grin. Vin made sure Chris was settled on his horse, and the group headed back to town.
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As the last rays of the sun disappeared into the dark night, two men rode into Aeaea, dropping their horses in the stable. As they settled their horses, they spotted Ezra's horse. Walking over, Nathan petted Chaucer. "We at least know they'll be coming back."
Josiah shook his head. " You worry too much, Nate. We just need to wait for them to come back."
Before Nathan could say anything, the two men heard voices. Sharing a look, they both recognized the voices. Moving to the entrance of the livery, Nathan and Josiah released a held breath as they saw that everyone looked fine.
Buck turned and spotted the two. Rushing towards the two Uncles, Buck alerted the rest of them to them. "Uncle Josiah and Uncle Nathan. You're here."
Picking up Buck, Nathan grinned. "Are you okay?"
"Yep, so is Chris, Uncle Ez got hit over the head and was unconscious and he still has a slight headache."
"Yes, we've all learned that you've trained the boys to spot and tell on our injures." Ezra snarked at Nathan.
The healer just shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't matter if you know or not. You can't hide it from those two."
The two boys grinned at the praise. Josiah chuckled, "Well, I think both of Nathan's little spies need to get something to eat and a bath."
Chris and Buck turned to look at their Da's and Uncles. Chris was the first to chirp up. "But we don't need one!"
Vin grinned. "Yes, you two do. I can't tell where the dirt stops and you start."
The two boys shared a look, then both let out a long suffering sigh. Buck looked up at JD, "If we have to."
JD grinned, "Puppy dog eyes aren't going to work. Now let's get to the bath house. We have some clothes for you both in our saddlebags, and we'll let Nate check you all over."
Both boys turned towards their Uncles, looking for help. Meeting chuckles, the boys allowed themselves to be taken off to the bath house.
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Later that night, while the boys were tucked into a bed sleeping, Vin turned to Ezra. "You want to let us know what this is all about?"
Ezra shuffled the cards in his hands for a moment longer. Then, with a sigh, he started his tale. "Have any of you heard of Karl Rosewood?"
JD nodded. "Yes, he's supposed to be a big time rancher. He wants more power. He isn't just happy to have the biggest ranch in the territory . What does he have to do anything?"
"He wants the boys, or at least Buck, now. It seems that Chris is a little too headstrong and stubborn for him to mold into what he wanted."
Josiah unleashed a slight breath. "An heir?"
Ezra shook his head. "Worse. A play toy. Something to bring out to show his business partners how much of a kind hearted man he is. He just wants a boy he can make into the perfect sales point, and use to seal deals."
The soft growls of displeasure from the other men made Ezra smile. "Yes, those were my feelings. We need to take the man down. He isn't going to stop until he has Buck."
Getting up to look at the two sleeping boys, Vin finally turned back to the other men. "We have to stop him. If Ezra's right, then we need to figure out a way to get him in jail."
JD sighed. "We have him for kidnapping."
Nathan nodded. "That's good, but how are we going to get to him? I'm going to assume that he has guards and hired guns."
Ezra shook his head. "I don't think we're going to have to worry about those hired guns or guards, I have a feeling that they will come looking for us. Karl is not used to having his things taken from him."
Ezra spat out.
The rest of the men fell quiet for a long moment. JD, finally spoke up. "If you're right, then they'll attack us in the town. Try to take Buck before we can leave."
Vin grinned rather wolfishly. "Then if that's the case, we should plan to receive them. Wouldn't want them to feel that we don't like visitors."
Josiah nodded. "I take it you have a plan."
"Yes, I have one. He's after the boys, so all we have to do is keep them away from them until we can get to Karl."
Leaning forward, the others listened to the outline to Vin's plan.
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Dawn was breaking and two pairs of eyes, one pair hazel and one pair dark blue, stared at two sleeping men. Finally, one of the men started to stir. A lone blue eye slowly opened, then - with a frown - the other eye soon joined it. "Boys, you okay?"
Chris spoke up, "You're here."
"Yes, you thought we were a dream or something?"
Buck shrugged his shoulders. "We weren't for sure."
Sitting up, Vin pulled both boys into a hug. "We're here and we aren't leaving."
Both boys clung to Vin for a few seconds, then they both started to squirm. With a grin, Vin let them go. "You two better now?"
Both boys nodded. Chris piped up. "Yes, can we have breakfast?"
Grinning, Vin reached out and ruffled Chirs's hair. "Lets see what we can find. Maybe we can bring back food for everyone."
With nods from each of the boys, Vin got ready to go. Just as the three were leaving the room, JD spoke up. "Where are you three going?"
Buck grinned. "We're getting food."
JD grinned. "Need another hand?"
Both boys bounced slightly, "Please?"
Vin grinned. "Hurry up, I don't want to wake up the other three."
Very quickly, JD was ready to go. The rest of the men stayed sleeping. Slipping out, the four went to the local hotel and grabbed breakfast.
On the way back to the hotel, Buck looked up at JD. "Da, can we go home now?"
JD looked down at Buck. "Soon, we just have to make sure that the bad guy doesn't come back after you."
Buck was quiet for a few seconds. "None of you will get hurt?"
JD stopped and looked down at Buck. "We will do our best not to get hurt. But we have to make sure that you two will be safe."
"But none of you will get hurt?"
JD sighed. "We will do our best. But you and Chris have to stay safe."
Buck smiled. "We can do that."
JD nodded. "Good. Now, I think we need to get the rest of the breakfast back to the rest of the guys."
With a nod from the young boy, the two joined Vin and Chris, who had been waiting slightly in front of them.
As they rejoined Vin and Chris, the group made their way back to their rooms.
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After breakfast and cleaning up, the boys - after checking on Ezra and making sure Nate said that he would be okay - drifted back to staying close to each of their Da's.
The other men shared a look. They needed to get the boys back home. This wasn't good. The boys weren't getting more then an inch away from Vin or JD, and when they did, they were clinging to one of the others. Josiah eyed the time, turning to the boys, he spoke up.
"Chris and Buck, can you both come over here?"
The two boys, frowned, but came over. Chris shared a look with Buck, then asked. "What do you need, Uncle Josiah?"
"You do know we're going to have to leave you two here for a short time?"
Chris sighed. "Yes, so you can make sure the bad men don't come back. But we don't like it. You could get hurt."
Josiah grinned, "Yes, but we don't get hurt. It's you two I'm worried about. You could get hurt."
Chris and Buck both shook their heads, "We can't get hurt. We aren't going to be fighting. We'll be hiding. They won't find us."
"That's good, I want you two to promise that you two will stay in this room. No matter what you hear."
The two boys shared a look. After several seconds, Chris looked at Josiah. "We promise, we will stay in here. No matter what."
Josiah nodded solemnly. "Good, now we have to get going. You two stay here. Be very quiet."
The two boys nodded, giving each of the men hugs. When the last of the men left the room, and the door shut, Chris turned to Buck. "I need your help. We need to move the dresser in front of the door. Then, we get ready."
Looking away from the closed door, Buck nodded. "Anything else we have to do?"
Chris shook his head. "That should be enough."
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