Chapter Five:
Sacrificial Lambs
It took a better part of the day but eventually, Vin found a way down the hills that didn't require travelling down the perilous track that almost succeeded in costing Alex her life. Although Vin offered to let her rest for a while, knowing what a shock she suffered when she was swept away by that landslide, Alex assured him she could continue, even if she felt a little shaky after the experience. Ironically, once Vin began searching for an alternate route down the steep and dense foliage that seemed to overwhelm as soon as they stepped off the known path, the rain dwindled from downpour to light shower.
Fortunately, Alex who was covered from head to toe in mud did not seem to mind as the droplets of rain cleansed her skin. With Calliope gone, she was forced to ride with Vin and felt self-conscious of being so near him in her present dishevelled state. Vin promised her they would stop at the river once they descended the hills, so she could get cleaned up properly although Alex would prefer they kept going. A wash in the river was not as enticing as a hot bath at home. Strangely enough, she no longer felt uncomfortable about riding double with him. After her ordeal, it was a relief to be able to wrap her arms around him and rest her head against his shoulder after he mounted Peso to begin their journey home.
Vin savoured the feel of her soft breath in his ear. The hair on his neck stood on edge each time a wisp of warm air caressed his skin. He wondered if she had any idea at all what it was she did to him. Despite cursing himself every time the thought came alive in his mind, Vin could not forget how it felt to touch her for those few short minutes in the cabin. Just the memory of her lips against his and the taste of her skin arouse Vin so badly he could barely think. He was glad these episodes took place while they were riding so she was unable to see just how much he was being affected. The embarrassment of that would be more than he could stand.
They spent most of the day, riding through the rain as Vin navigated Peso through the treacherous terrain of jagged rocks and creeping foliage threatening to topple the horse at any moment. Unlike the open plains, the vegetation that mastered these hills was tough and unyielding. Thick vines and sharp bushes with painful thorns scratched them as they moved by, while every patch of green threatened some form of danger, either in its density or the encroaching branches lashing at them as Peso struggled to get by.
After a while it almost felt like the thick canopy of green would never yield and they would be lost forever in this labyrinth of trees and shrubs. Despite her twisted ankle, the scrapes and bruises received during the landslide and their attempt to weave a path through this dense growth, Alex felt strangely at ease. Normally, in a situation where she found herself out of depth, and this certainly qualified, she would be frightened and agitated. Yet she felt no such fear and knew it was because Vin was with her. She found herself able to rely on him with complete ease and that was something she never allowed herself to do with anyone.
Thus, it was to no surprise when they finally escaped the hills and levelled off into flat ground, signalling their exodus from the treacherous terrain they had been forced to endure most of the day. Alex saw the open plains before her and despite it dull, grey pallor thanks largely in part to the rain, she found herself letting out a sigh of relief.
"River won't be far from here." Vin remarked simply, showing his own elation at leaving the mountains behind with one of those faint smiles of his.
"Thank god. I need to wash."
He looked over his shoulder and let his eyes moved up and down her body before muttering. "I don't know, you look alright."
"Coming from you, that's not exactly a compliment." She pointed. "You always look like you need a bath."
Which was true. Vin admitted he always looked like he had just come from a particularly hard ride even though he had spent most of the day in the saloon. He was just one of those men who always looked scruffy, no matter they were doing.
"I knew you being quiet was too good to last." Vin remarked as Peso started trotting at a faster pace, now that the ground beneath its hoofs was more solid. The animal was enjoying moving without fear of losing its footing thanks to the unstable found it had been forced to traverse earlier.
"I held out for as long as I could." She deadpanned. "I thought I'd give you a break after what I put you through the last two days."
"It's going to take a hell of a lot more than you just being quiet to do that." Vin taunted her in return.
"I'll buy you a drink at the saloon." Alex frowned, aware that he was baiting her, as he always doing for some unimaginable reason.
"That ain't going to do it." He declared without hesitation. "After having to put up with you for two days, I'm gonna need a wholebottle." The mischief in his voice was unmistakable.
Alex was discovering it took quite a bit to draw Vin into conversation. He was mostly quiet, always reserved and seemingly unflappable about most things, except her. Apparently, she was the only thing capable of making him vocal.
In some ways, she could appreciate how Vin could be that way, since she was no different. Her profession made it necessary to always wear a façade of detached calm. To be the cool, mercurial physician, Alex was forced to develop calluses around her emotions to maintain professional distance. It didn't always work, but it was there nonetheless. She did not know why Vin erected his walls, but she noticed when he lowered them, it burned hot. They had that in common too.
They were both feeling a little better, now they were out in the open plains and with the river not far in the distance, their tempers were better. For the first time, since this whole ordeal began, there seemed to some end in sight.
"I take it you're never going to let me live this down?" Alex asked.
"Not for a while," Vin answered in that soft voice of his. "Or at least you do something else that changes my mind you ain't a bad-tempered mule that needs a good whipping."
"Why thank you, for a minute I thought you were going to insult me." She laughed, horrified by the comparison but unable to keep from finding it somewhat funny. "You must have known I've waited all my life to hear man describe me as animal with an attitude problem."
"Actually," he grinned, enjoying this bantering himself because it dispelled the awkwardness between them. "I actually was thinking more in the lines of nag."
After what had happened in Agnes Doherty's cabin, they had crossed a line in their relationship. Ezra was still looming in the background, keeping a watchful eye over them even in his absence but at least Vin he wasn't alone in his attraction to her. While she may choose not to act on it, they could at least speak to each other without any awkwardness.
"Nag!" She exclaimed and slapped him on the arm. "You're lucky you don't need any medical treatment Mr Tanner, I would surely make you pay for that remark."
Secretly, Alex was pleased they were back to their former adversarial positions after what happened the night before. It was too easy for her to start replaying the events in the cabin when she was ready to throw out all good sense just to have him touch her. The thought made Alex blush and she dispelled it before it took any root.
"They're probably going crazy wondering what happened to us." Alex sighed.
"Maybe." Vin replied, knowing for a fact Chris was never quite happy unless he knew the whereabouts of his friends always. It was not that the gunslinger did not trust them to look after themselves, but Vin had this idea Chris was fiercely protective and considered it is his responsibility to keep a watchful eye over all of them. Understandable after Sarah and Adam's loss.
"I think Chris would be more worried about those outlaws actually." Alex pointed out, remembering the hollow look in his eyes when they brought in the boy. Although the young victim left them all outraged, Alex knew Chris felt the death most profoundly of all since he knew what it was like to lose a child to such violence.
"He has plenty of room to worry about a lot of things." Vin pointed out. "Besides, he knows I got a good sense of the land to keep us out of too much trouble."
"Oh really?" She peered over his shoulder and met his gaze. "We've made stunning progress so far."
"I could have left you buried under all that dirt." He reminded her pointedly and Alex had to concede defeat to him on that point because it was true.
"Okay," she whined. "You got me there."
Thinking about the landslide only serve to remind her that Calliope was gone. Alex had never thought she would become so attached to the horse even though she was not the best rider in the world. In fact, Calliope had spent most of her time ferrying Alex about in her small carriage. "I wish Calliope had made it though." She said sadly.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do nothing for her." Vin responded automatically. "Her leg was broken. It was better she went that way instead of suffering more than she had to."
Alex understood, aware he wouldn't have made the decision lightly. She trusted him enough to know that he did what he believed to be right. Alex shifted uncomfortably in the saddle, her body aching in places she had forgotten were there. Leaning, forward, she rested her head against his back, the full weight of her chest pressing up against him. Vin, who became very aware of her whenever she did that, had come to realise that this usually meant she was exhausted and needed to rest.
Except she was probably too proud and stubborn to admit it.
How could any woman be so beautiful and so exasperating at the same time? Vin asked himself and knew there was no adequate answer to that question. It had all to do with what made his blood boil with heat each time he scented her hair in his lungs and inspired such arousal in him whenever she was near. It was part and parcel of who she was, and Vin was accustomed enough to her moods to know how to handle it.
"Do you need to rest?" He asked. This had been a recurring theme all day. No matter how weary she was, Alex was adamant she not show weakness in front of him. He wondered why and guessed it had to do with her being a doctor. Maybe she had to be like that, so the men doctors would think she was good enough to consider her in their company.
"I'm fine." She said a little guiltily and quickly straightened up. "I'll get some rest when we stop at the river. I'll be fine to keep going after."
"No." Vin replied sharply. "When we get to the river, we're stopping for the night."
"I don't need it." Alex said hotly. If there was one thing she hated, it was being coddled because she was a woman. Of course, she was tired but so was he and he had been doing all the riding.
"Yes, you do.' He returned clearly annoyed. "We're taking a break."
The river appeared before them and Peso's excitement was reflected by the increased pace of his advance. The horse slipped into a smooth gallop, eager to taste the water and quench its thirst after the hard day's riding behind it. The sun was already starting to set. The rain was still teeming but the wind had died. For most part, it looked calm.
"I'm telling you I am perfectly capable of continuing on this journey, Mr Tanner." Alex insisted as they reached the banks of the waterway, with the current sweeping along in an almost lethargic flow.
Peso no encouragement as it waded into the water, allowing the swirling moisture to soothe the hooves forced to travel over jagged terrain for so long. Vin allowed his trusted companion to indulge itself while listening to Alex arguing she was more than capable of riding on into the night even though it was obvious to him she was exceedingly tired.
"I say we rest anyway." He stated weary of this argument because he knew she was being stubborn just to prove a point, just like she would not admit rushing off to Agnes Doherty's aid was a bad idea. Especially without checking to see if the woman was in town first. He wondered if the old lady had any idea what they were going through just because she failed to keep her doctor's appointment.
"Vin," Alex insisted, wanting to get home to Four Corners sooner rather than later. Yes, she was tired but spending another night out in the cold and dark, particularly with Vin Tanner, was temptation she would prefer to avoid. "I can make it. I don't need you to feel sorry for me."
"That's it." Vin growled, deciding enough was enough. He saw that Peso was almost knee deep in water and knew he was probably courting death, but this was one of those times where it was necessary to take the buffalo by the horns or in this case, the doctor.
Without warning, he gave Alex a little shove.
She let out a short scream before hitting the surface, her entire body was swallowed up the river for a few seconds until she appeared again when her feet touched the ground. The water was deep enough to cushion her fall and give her a good soaking at the same time without there being any danger of being trapped by the river's currents. Alex sputtered in fury as she struggled to stand, the weight of her wet clothes making it hard to do so.
Vin knew he should not smile because it was exceedingly dangerous to do so, but the smirk appeared on his face anyway.
"You bastard!" She cursed as she struggled to her gain her footing, trying to brush the wet strands of her dark hair from her face. Alex glared at him in nothing less than fury as he looked at her smugly.
"You did say you wanted a bath." He looked down at her without one wit of repentance.
"I suppose I did." She smiled sweetly before reaching for him and yanking him forward by his coat. He hit the water beside her with an even louder splash that made Peso move away in caution, in case the insanity displayed by its master and the female with him was catching.
Alex watched in smug satisfaction as Vin rose to his feet and gave her the filthiest of looks. He snatched his hat that was attempting to float away and put it on his head, only to have its brim sag down around his ears.
"That wasn't funny." He grumbled as he waded towards Peso.
Alex was still smirking as she remained where she was. Although she was not going to admit it, she did need to get cleaned up. There was mud in the most uncomfortable places on her person and Alex wanted to look partially civilised when they reached Four Corners.
"Strange," she grinned. "It seemed funny to me."
"Keep it up and you'll be walking home." He muttered under his breath.
Chris Larabee stared into the amber depth of whisky for the second straight minute without touching the glass. He was doing that a great deal today and if he was forced to coin a moment of when these sudden lapses had begun, Chris knew with confidence that he could pin point its arrival to the second.
"Are you going to drink that?" Inez inquired, having noticed he had not touched the glass since she set it down minutes ago and went to serve other customers. When she returned to the corner of the counter he occupied, she found him still staring at the golden fluid as if trying to find some secret in its slack swirl of its content.
Chris looked up at the curious gaze of the sultry bartender, who was standing imperiously before him, with her hands on her hips, while grasping a serving tray. She who was Mary's best friend stared at him with concern.
"I'm just thinking." He said pleasantly, knowing her friendship with Mary made Inez concerned for him.
"Those must be deep thoughts. I thought you'd be celebrating your victory with the rest of your friends." Inez looked in the direction past his shoulder.
Chris glanced over to see Buck and Josiah engaged in a hearty drinking contest, with Nathan and JD urging both competitors on to new lows of inebriated behaviour. Ezra was absent because he was escorting Miss Pemberton back to her hotel and mentioned something about dinner. Mary was busy writing her article and Chris found himself here alone with these thoughts for company and a nagging feeling that just would not let go of him.
"They'll make up for me being here." Chris replied, still distracted by the sharp intellect that allowed him to make the conceptual leaps of logic most were denied. Tonight, he could have done without it.
"You deserve to celebrate a little," Inez pointed out, leaning against the counter when she poured herself a drink to join him for a moment. It had not reach the peak of custom yet in the saloon, despite the riotous behaviour displayed by his comrades. The evening crowd would come in soon enough and Inez did not particularly miss their presence at this moment. It gave some measure of latitude before she the rush began. "Those men have paid for their crimes."
"Yeah they have." He agreed but did not appear very convinced.
"Are you worried about Vin and Alex?" Inez asked, knowing Chris felt strongly towards Vin Tanner whose relationship with the gunslinger was the closest in the group.
While they were always seven, Inez knew from her friendship with Vin the group really formed when Chris Larabee gave him a subtle nod across the street, without ever speaking the words, they were not going to let a bunch of drunks hang Nathan Jackson. From that silent understanding, so much had changed.
"I am." He admitted but the gnawing at his insides was not originating from any fear for the tracker or the doctor. Vin could take care of himself and he was more than capable of taking care of Alexandra Styles as well.
Besides, the reality of the situation was simple to cope with if one looked at it through Chris Larabee's eyes. If something terrible had befallen the duo then it would make no difference if he worried or not. It was already too late. However, Chris preferred to think that Vin was holed up somewhere until the bad weather passed. Now that it was starting to diminish, he did not doubt they were on their way home and expected to see Vin any time soon.
No, his uneasy feeling came from Julia Pemberton's identification that the man she'd seen was not among the dead outlaws. Where was that fifth man? That along with everything else in this whole situation was strange. Chris usually had some idea of the men they were chasing but these outlaws left him bewildered because he could see no sense in what they were doing.
Inez frowned as she began to understand it was not Vin and Alex that concerned him. She studied him for a moment, this intense man who inspired such fear and loyalty at the same time. He and Mary were the centre of their world, those of them who counted themselves as the seven and their ancillaries.
"You want to know why, don't you?" She asked after a moment.
Chris met her gaze; bewildered for a second that she could have made such an accurate guess. Women's intuition, he snorted silently to himself, he had seen it at work before. Sarah and Mary had it, Alex almost certainly did as well as Inez. He wondered what this power was that allowed them to know so confidently how a thing could be. A question for another time he supposed.
"I guess I do." He nodded.
"Is it not good enough that they are caught and made to pay for their crimes?" She asked.
"No, not until I have my answer. Chris had no idea why he felt such importance in the absence of one man. For all he knew, the missing man could have left early or might have been killed by his partners, scum like this had no trouble turning on each other when the lure of money became too tasty. He decided Inez would be a good sounding board. Normally it would be Vin, but God only knows where the tracker was. The friends behind were celebrating and he didn't want to intrude while Mary was probably hard at work on her article.
Maybe a fresh perspective was what he was needed. "There's just something wrong about all this."
"Yes, there is." Inez nodded, latching on to the most obvious reason.
"No," Chris shook his head, seeing where her own logical mind was taking her. "Why kill all those people? There ain't no reason for it. No one saw them to identify them. There was no point gunning down every one of the passengers when their faces were hiding. Hell, Vin was framed for killing a man and they got a $500 bounty on him. Why risk killing so many and risk being marked for life?"
Inez could understand his confusion. In fact, it mirrored her own bewilderment over these senseless killings.
"I mean why shoot a child?" Shooting a kid is going to make sure every lawman will be hunting high and low for your hide even if they don't know who you are. Killers like that have a way of being caught."
"Maybe," Inez replied, thinking hard. "Maybe, the child's death was to make a point."
"A point?" He stared at her, unable to imagine what message that tiny dead body could convey to anyone other than rage and revenge. It would make everyone rabid with anger, until a demand for justice went screaming from every town and its lawmen. The hunt for the men responsible would be relentless, there would be no pause until the guilty were brought in. Hadn't that taken place exactly? Wasn't Eagle Bend, Bitter Creek, Sweet Water and Four Corners mobilised to stop the carnage? Suddenly it occurred to him why the boy had died.
"What if," Chris said softly, the light starting to glow in his piercing blue eyes as the understanding reached him or at least the revelation of a first step to the truth. "What if, that's what they wanted? To drive every lawman crazy?"
"For what purpose?" She leaned forward, intrigued by how his mind worked and how quickly it locked onto a train of deductive thought, once an idea was introduced.
Chris started drumming his fingers along the counter, letting the thought gain momentum in his mind, knowing that he had made a vital first step in coming to an answer. "Money?" He ventured out loud.
"They would have received a great deal from all those robberies." Inez pointed.
"Would they?" Chris questioned. "Some folk travel with a lot of money on the stage and some don't. With the telegraph and all, it ain't necessary to carry lots of cash. Banks have a way of transferring things around on you. But say it's about money, how would they know who was on the stage with what? If you wanted fast money and weren't afraid to kill, there are surer ways of doing it, instead of gambling on what might be on a stage."
"I don't understand." Inez confessed. "If they did not rob and kill those people for the money, why bother at all?"
An idea formed in his head.
"It has to do with money," he said finally. "Just not on the stage."
With a grin, he knocked back the half empty shot glass on the counter. Swallowing down the whisky, he leaned over the counter and pulled Inez to him before planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Why Mr Larabee," Inez laughed as he started moving away from the counter. "People will talk."
"Let em." He grinned and swept out of the saloon before she had a chance to say anything else.
Chris was so fired by his discovery he went straight to the Clarion News because the writing of Mary's article could wait. Now that the idea had formed, it would not let go. Stepping out into the evening air, he looked up at the sky and noticed the darker storm clouds amassing once again. It looks like they had only pass through the eye of the storm as the rumble of thunder promised more inclement weather. Strangely enough, the eye of the storm seemed applicable in this situation as well.
"Mary!" Chris called as he went through the office entrance of the Mary's home and newspaper office.
She was at her desk when he entered the front door, putting the finishing touches to her headline article for the next edition of the Clarion News. She had written the tale of the capture with a sombre note to it, since the conclusion of the outlaws' spree had only been more death. There was nothing to gain by making their capture sound like an epic of grand proportions. With so many innocent people dead because of these men, ending their bloodbath was more a question of justice rather than victory.
Mary heard Chris' arrival and immediately rose from her chair as he came striding through the door. For a moment, she wondered what had happened? She did not want to think another crisis had emerged so soon after putting down this latest situation. Was Four Corners some sort of magnet for this kind of trouble?
"What is it?" She asked, hoping nothing was indeed wrong. Worries about Vin and Alex surfaced in her mind.
"I had an idea." He said pulling up a chair and sitting himself down. "What if we were set up?"
Mary's eyes widened as she returned to her desk. "What do you mean?"
"For two weeks, we look under every rock and hole in the wall joint for these outlaws and we find nothing. "Chris eased back into his seat, allowing his mind to fully travel the wild speculative course he had latched upon. If Vin were here, he would be throwing this hypothesis at the tracker because Vin possessed as much a honed intellect as himself or Mary Travis. In Vin's absence, Chris had to break his own rule about bringing any unpleasantness to her but right now, he needed her help to think this through.
"They hardly left any clues for us to find them." Mary pointed out. She'd seen his eyes blaze like this before and was delighted by the almost youthful wonder in them. Chris Larabee was never more alive than when he had a challenge before him. "They were very thorough."
"Were they?" He asked pointedly. "They ransacked all the bags and trunks for money like a bunch of amateurs. There was stuff everywhere. Maybe it wasn't to find anything but for show."
"For show?" She questioned. Chris had never let her anywhere near the murder scene, but she knew they were brutal. No one who came across the aftermath of the robbery murders was left unscathed. The visual impact of what they had seen was etched in their faces. Was that meant to be a desired effect?
"Think about it," he said in that smooth voice of his. "You kill a bunch of people and have every lawman in the Territory chasing after you. When they're nasty like these robberies had been, so most won't try to bring you in alive. Set the whole Territory chasing after a gang. Everyone so fired up about finding them, we don't look at anything else. Maybe its not about all the stages, just one particular one."
"God Chris," Mary gasped at the horror of it. "Are you thinking they killed all those people to act as a decoy?" She could not imagine anyone using that innocent boy for such a callous reason. It made the killing even worse, that they were killed for no good reason other than to inspire outrage. It sickened her.
"I'm wondering if those four bastards we killed were as much victims as the passengers." Chris nodded, staring at her intently to see if she could find fault with his analysis of the situation.
"The fifth man." Mary mused as she latched onto the same thought now that he had provided her with enough theories on the why of the situation.
"What if Buck didn't stumble onto that information?" Chris pressed on. "What if he was meant to find it? I mean this fifth man, he's smart. He managed to keep quiet enough to commit three stage coach robberies. You think he's doing to be dumb enough to let someone from Purgatory get into his business, and pass it on?"
"So, you think this mysterious fifth man planted the working girl with the information." Mary guessed, following the pattern of his thoughts enough to know where he was going with this. "But why?"
"Because the other four are loose ends," Chris pointed. "They were sacrificial lambs and with them dead, we wouldn't be so fired up to find him because the robberies and the murders would have stopped. He could fade away with the money."
"Except Julia has seen him."
"What does that matter now, if he takes himself across the country to say California or the east?" Chris countered. "She can identify him, but we need to find him first and that ain't going to be easy to do."
"All this for less than ten thousand dollars?" Mary sighed, unable to imagine the estimated haul of money for the robberies being worth the death of so many people. Bank robbers had stolen more for less effort. It was perplexing.
"It might be more," Chris replied. "We just don't know how. I think it has to do with a lot of money, but I can't imagine how he would have made it. There haven't been any bank robberies in the past two weeks, no army shipments that might have been ambushed. In fact, nothing has been going on that would need that much of a distraction. "He grumbled, knowing that in this instance, his fountain of ideas had run dry.
Mary could see his genuine confusion and she shared in it wholeheartedly. Mary was often impressed by Chris' ability to work such problems out. What would he have done with his life had he not chosen the path he had?
Mary and Chris sat quietly for a moment as they tried to untangle this problem together. Chris's fingers were drumming on the desk softly, his eyes far away as his mind sought an answer. Mary wished she could help him unravel the mystery before him. Despite his belief in her intelligence, she had no answers for him. He was the one able to see through lies and deceptions, but it was a talent that emerged from the darker side of him, one she could never understand.
Mary found herself thinking about all the lives that would be changed with the deaths during these past few weeks. All the fathers and mothers, now absent from someone's life. The boy who had died had the consolation of knowing he would have no parents to mourn him, for they had fallen right beside him. She wondered how many homes across the Territory and the East who were mourning relatives that would never return to them, so many changes that would take place because of ….
Her mind trailed off as the thought fixed itself in her mind.
"Chris." She said suddenly because she had it. She had it!
Chris met her eyes and recognised the glimmer. "What?" He asked almost with afraid to breathe.
"The victims, Chris." Mary whispered. "We don't know anything about the victims."
Chris nodded and grasped what she was trying to say. "Can you wire the Bitter Creek, Sweetwater and Eagle Bend tonight?"
"Yes," she said with a widening smile. "I'll bang down the door until Franklin lets me in, but I can."
"Good," He nodded rising to his feet. "You get everything you can on the people who died, even the ones who don't come from the Territory."
"Where are you going?" She asked as she saw him making his way to the door.
"I'm going to Purgatory." Chris replied as he swung open the front door. "I've got a date with a working girl named Elisa."
"Just what every fiancée wants to hear," Mary deadpanned.
Chris flashed her a grin and headed out.
"I don't believe this!" Alex complained as the rain pelted down against the small tent serving as their only protection against the elements.
Vin kept silent, trying to maintain his stoic calm as Alex went on a tear. It did seem as if they were jinxed. Shortly after convincing Alex the sensibility of stopping for the night, he'd set up the tent for her because the rain had been light at the point. No sooner after she'd washed up, the weather shifted again, and the light shower was banished in favour of the heavy downpour threatening to bring down the tent over their heads.
"What's next?" She said exasperated, feeling cold and uncomfortable in her dirty clothes. "A cyclone?"
Vin listened to her tirade, unable to blame her for her anger. It did seem nature was taking some special delight in making their journey back to Four Corners as long and torturous as ever.
"Settle down." He growled, impatiently. Did she think that he was any happier with the situation?
"Settle down? You try doing that in this!" She gestured to her clothes, sodden in mud and wet. The rain was so heavy, they couldn't even light a fire and the way the wind was blowing outside their tent, it was not going to be long before the gale made short work of the temporary shelter.
"Look, I ain't any happier about this than you are but there isn't much we can do about this. SO CALM DOWN!"
Vin's unflappable façade collapsed with a resounding crash. After the last two days, it had it coming. Did she think she was any happier about this? All Vin wanted to do was climb into his wagon back in Four Corners, where he would be warm and dry and be allowed to drink himself into a suitable stupor that would allow him to forget this entire miserable experience.
Alex knew she was working herself into a righteous wrath and putting his patience to test but the anger she was usually able to control would have none of it. She wanted to be in her home, with a warm bed and a good book. She was tired and hungry and another night in these cramp surroundings with only Vin Tanner as company was leading to a situation she might not be able to walk away from. She had no intention of repeating the incident at the cabin.
"This tent is not going to hold." She pointed out, not about to be cowed.
Vin rolled his eyes in similar annoyance. Of course, he was aware that the tent was not going to hold! It was not meant for this kind of weather. It was meant to protect him from a light drizzle because most people had sense enough to get shelter before the harder stuff came down.
"I know that." Vin retorted tautly. His voice was now a thin line of anger, pressed firmly under the weight of his desperate attempt to keep rein on his own temper. She was sitting before him cross-legged, hugging her arms around her knees as she raged on about how unfair this was. Vin who had tried to get some rest had stretched out, on the off chance he might get some sleep. However, with Alex's complaining the way it was at this moment, not only was he not going to get any sleep but also, he was going to be treated to a full-blown tantrum.
"How can you be so calm about this?" Alex demanded.
She felt butterflies in her stomach just looking at him, trying not to become intoxicated by the sight of his handsome face, even if it was hidden underneath stubble and wet hair. She wanted to snuggle up to him, wanted him to keep her warm and with his too soft voice caressing her ear.
"There's nothing I can do about it that's why." Vin glared at her for a moment before lying down to sleep, so she'd get the hint.
"Are we going to spend the entire night out here?" She questioned again and proved otherwise.
Vin tried not to swear under his breath and he opened his eyes again and said with an increasing tension to his voice. "For now."
"Is it safe out here?" Alex inquired again. If they kept talking then perhaps they would not be engaging in any other activities. Who knows what could be running through his mind right now?
"Okay," Vin let out a frustrated sigh and threw his hat on the ground as he raised himself to a sitting position. "We're going." He stated icily.
Alex looked at him in surprise. "Now?"
"Yes now!" He snapped as he crawled out of the tent.
Alex scrambled after him but did not emerge into the rain. "But it's raining out there!"
"Really!" Vin barked back as he began to dismantle the tent around her ears. "I hadn't noticed!"
"We can't go out like this!" She declared as Vin started to pull the small stakes holding the tent to the ground swiftly. At this point, Alex realised may have been a little unreasonable.
Vin shoved the stakes covered in dirt and mud into one of his saddlebags before dropping to his knees. "Get on the horse." He ordered in a voice that indicated he was not in the mood for an argument.
"No." Alex said somewhat timidly, not liking the sudden shift in his manner. She was used to him being restrained and this side of him intimidated her slightly. "It's too wet to ride."
He grabbed her arm and fairly dragged her out of the tent, which collapsed behind her by the sudden action. Alex let out a short squeal of outrage as she was forced into the open air. With his hand firmly around her wrist, Vin headed towards his horse pulling Alex along who was too astonished to put up a fight until he was halfway across the campsite towards Peso.
"Vin Tanner, let me go!" She cried in protest.
He said nothing as always and paused only when he reached his horse. Without saying another word, he put his hands on her hips and lifted her up, so she could mount Peso. Alex climbed on, dismayed at his behaviour while at the same time furious.
"Are you insane?" She called out. "We can't ride in this!" The rain was all through her now and Alex had to brush the wet strands from her face to see him.
Vin ignored her and continued dismantling the tent. In a few seconds it was completely collapsed, and Vin continued with the work of gathering his things. He was tired of everything, tired of her complaints and damn near ready to shoot her unless they did not get back to Four Corners first. He needed a drink so badly that if he did not get one tonight; he was not going to be responsible for his actions.
"Mr Tanner, we can't ride in this weather!" She declared as he completed his work of clearing the campsite and strode back to Peso with an unreadable look in his dark eyes. She could see the line of his jaw set firmly as he climbed onto the horse.
"We're going." He said simply.
"But…" Alex protested but Vin cut her off before she could say anything else.
"I don't want to hear it." His voice was sharp. He dug his heels in and prompted Peso forward through the pouring rain in the direction of the river. The water was choppy, but the horse was used to swimming through worse. Vin was certain that it would have no difficulty in traversing the distance. If Peso was not up to it, well drowning was not such a bad way to die either. In any case, it would be quiet at least.
"What's gotten into you?" She asked innocently as they edged towards the embankment.
Vin resisted the urge to shove her off the horse again.
He knew he should not be making the journey alone, but he had to know if what he and Mary had guessed. The weather was starting up again and Chris wondered if the rain was linked symbiotically to his state of mind at the time. Without offering any explanation to his companions, he mounted his horse and started the evening ride to Purgatory. After the day he had put in, Chris knew it was wiser to leave the journey until the next day when the rain had eased off slightly. However, what he and Mary had stumbled upon tonight could not wait. Chris needed his answers and he needed them now.
All this time, they had been operating under assumption that the victims of the stagecoach murders were random, unfortunate in their lot because of where they had found themselves during the robbery. It had never occurred to anyone that perhaps the victims themselves were the key to the whole mystery. As he had confessed earlier, Chris had never been able to understand why it was necessary to kill all the passengers. That point had stuck in his mind because no matter how much he looked at it, it made no sense.
There was no good reason to kill all those passengers other that the ones he and Mary had implied earlier. Her intuition that the victims might the reason for the killings now brought new possibilities to light, particularly about the fifth man. Even before arriving in Purgatory, the leader of the seven knew what he would find there. Buck's lead had come too easily. He realised that now. Before this afternoon, there had been no chance to question it because the need for it to be right was too compelling. After the losses during the first three robberies, the lawmen had needed to believe Buck's news was genuine.
But if it was not genuine, if the information had been planted and they were set up, then they had fallen into a well-placed trap and allowed the mastermind of these crimes to escape without suspicion. The idea that the bastard who engineered the deaths of so many escaping with all his loot and unscathed, made Chris Larabee sick to his stomach. It reminded too much of the man that had ordered Sarah and Adam killed, whom still roamed at large and was protected by his anonymity. Chris was not letting the mysterious fifth man have that pleasure.
Chris arrived in Purgatory a short time after leaving Four Corners. He had ridden at full gallop using Mary's horse instead of his black gelding because the animal was exhausted after the run from Bitter Creek. Homer was fresh and although he was not very fast, the horse was reliable and could take being forced to endure this pace. Chris knew from Buck that Elisa was one of Lydia's girls and he was familiar with the area where Lydia ran her business. He had not seen the working girl for some time now since Mary had become more than just a figment of his nightly fantasies. Chris had no difficulty staying faithful to one woman. He had managed to do so for all the years with Sarah and found it easy to slip into old habits now that Mary was a part of his life.
It was easy enough finding Lydia's tent but not easy to face Lydia. He had no idea why he should feel anything, after all, theirs had been a purely business arrangement. He hoped she was not with anyone for he did not wish to barge in on her. Chris found the tents that were occupied by Lydia's girls. It was not far away from the saloons that were little more than a few beams of wood, holding up some sheets of tin. Chris approached the thick canvas of Lydia's tent and listened closely. It was quiet inside and there were no sounds of speech or anything else that might indicate she was conducting business. After a moment, he lifted the flap and slipped inside.
The woman who looked over her shoulder at him had light golden hair, not the white gold of Mary's but close enough. Her face registered surprise as she put down the brush with which she was using to comb those long, sensuous strands of hair, which he knew from personal experience were luxurious to the touch. She was dressed in a robe that was open, revealing the undergarments beneath.
"Well as I live and breathe." She said with a genuine smile. "Chris Larabee."
"Hello Lydia." He tipped his hat lightly and allowed the rain gathered on his brim to dribble slightly.
"I hear you're courting that Mrs Travis in Four Corners," she said rising from the dresser she was seated at and sauntered over to him. Chris ignored the seduction in her eyes as she approached.
"Yeah." He nodded in answer, seeing no reason to lie. It was public knowledge now.
"I never figured you for going respectable on me." She smiled, placing her hands on her hips as she regarded him.
"Never happen." Chris shook his head and returned her smile, glad that she held no hostility towards him.
"She's a good woman." Lydia commented with genuine sincerity. "You're lucky to have her."
"I know." He agreed. "Lydia, I need your help?"
"Let me guess," Lydia smiled. "You want one of my girls for that friend of yours, what's his name. Tanner?"
Chris looked up at her. "No." He said quickly, wondering what on earth gave her that idea? "What makes you think that?" He really had to ask.
"Only one of your men I ain't seen here." She replied, surprised that it was not the reason. "I guessed it had to be cause he's shy or something."
Well she was halfway right, he supposed. Chris had never seen Vin here. For some reason, the tracker stayed away from working girls, even before Charlotte and Alexandra Styles had come into his life. He could not understand the man's hesitation for he was young and must have needs but this was not Chris' reason for coming here and frankly, discussing his best friend's sex life or lack of, was making him decidedly uncomfortable.
"I need to a find a girl name Elisa." Chris responded instead.
"Sure," Lydia went to the flap and pulled it apart. "She's in that tent over there." She pointed to one of the tents situated directly in front of the saloon. "I think she's got someone with her."
"That's too bad.' Chris reached into his pocket and took her hand to place some money into her palm. "This will make up for whatever I'm going to do in there."
Lydia looked at him fearfully. "Chris, I won't let you hurt her." She said firmly, ensuring that he understood that clearly. Lydia was extremely protective of all her girls and Chris had no wish to incur her wrath, but he was going to get his answers.
"Neither am I." He replied leaving, but she's going to answer me, one way or another."
While Lydia had been free when he had entered her tent, upon approaching the canvas shelter where Elisa conducted her business, it was obvious that she was not similarly unoccupied. Chris hated to barge in on anyone in such a vulnerable position but at the moment he did not care. He was certain that the woman in that room had played him and his friends as fools and was paid for her trouble. As he approached the tent flap, he could hear the heated breathing and pleasured sighs coming from two distinct voices but allowed nothing deter him as he strode into the shelter, dripping rain as he entered.
Elisa looked up at him and screamed.
The man beneath her did the same as well.
Chris looked at him with a faint smile and tipped his hat in the direction of the startled man in his mid-forties, who had thrown Elisa off him and was now struggling to find his clothes. "Good evening Reverend." Chris greeted the spiritual leader of Bitter Creek, as the man's face melted at the shock of his identity being discovered.
The gunslinger shifted his gaze away from his nudity as the good Reverend grabbed his clothes and hastily slipped on his pants. Whatever sexual ardour may have been in his mind prior to Chris' abrupt entry was almost certainly quashed by the time the man stumbled out of the tent, too choked with horror and humiliation to say anything at being caught in such an embarrassing and highly scandalous position.
"You bastard!" Elisa said covering her nakedness with a sheet as she glared at him. "How dare you just come in here! He was a paying customer."
"I wouldn't bother." Chris took a step towards her, which made the girl take a step backwards in fear. Her dark brown hair was tousled around her face and judging by the shapely curves beneath the sheet, he could well understand why she was so popular. "I've already paid Lydia for your time." He said shortly.
"What do you want?" She demanded suspiciously.
Chris could see fear in her eyes, but it was fear mingled with recognition. She knew who he was and that was surprising considering how he had never laid eyes on her before. He crossed the room in two strides and took her arm firmly, just in case she had it in her mind to run. He had no patience to try and find her should that happen. "Who paid you to tell Buck about the horse trader?"
Her eyes narrowed enough for Chris to know that she was perfectly aware of what he was referring to. Chris almost expected the lie that would soon come from her lips. "No one paid me. I told him because he put the word out with Lydia."
"I don't have time for this." He glared at her with those intense blue eyes that indicated this was no time for her to be making any attempts at deception. He was able to reduce men to quivering mounds of terror with that high-powered gaze of his that saw all and reflected the predatory danger inside him. "I know you were paid and I know you were paid specifically to tell Buck about the horse trader." His voice bristled with threat.
His hand dug into her forearm with such force that she released a slight gasp of pain. "I don't know anything!" She whined.
"Okay." He nodded but did not relax his grip. "I'll just take you back to Four Corners and have you charged as an accessory to several counts of murder. By the time, you get out, you'll be too old for this game." He started dragging her towards the tent opening before adding. "If you get out that is."
"No!" She pleaded. "I didn't do anything!"
"Don't misunderstand me," Chris stared at her with hard eyes. "I am not offering you a choice. You tell me what you know now, or I will take you back to Four Corners. This ain't no negotiation."
She started to cry a predictable tool in her arsenal and one, which had little effect on him. Frantically, she looked around, trying to decide what to do as they approach the opening in the canvas. She knew she was not strong enough to deal with life behind bars and was also aware of Chris Larabee's reputation. If she decided that she was going to jail then Elisa did not doubt she would arrive there, unless she acted quickly.
"Wait!" She cried out finally, hating him for forcing her to capitulate.
Chris paused as a gust of cool wind blew in through the opening of the tent. The rain outside was still fierce and he had no wish to drag this girl through the downpour, so he did hope that this was a genuine attempt to give him what he wanted and not some desperate act designed to trick him in to releasing her. Chris did hope she knew better than that or his reputation was going to need serious work.
"Who paid you?" He asked once more, slowly and deliberately, pinning her fear with an icy glare.
"I don't know his name!" She exclaimed. This time the tears coming down her cheeks did not seem false, but Chris was in no hurry to release his grip of her arm. "He only started coming here a few weeks ago. He was young, about twenty or twenty-five I think." Elisa was speaking faster now, the truth spilling from her lips now that the barrier that held her silence in place was gone.
She went on to offer a description that was not too dissimilar from that given to Chris by Julia Pemberton. Elisa's account was more descriptive since she had spent several sessions with the young man.
"Sometimes he came alone and sometimes he came in with four others. I've never seen them around either. I think they were from up north. I heard them talking about the Rockies and Canada. He didn't seem to be like them cause he sounded like an Easterner and his hands were soft not like working man's hands you know?"
Chris did know. It was easy to tell what vocation a man was in by simply glancing at his hands. Soft hands indicated a life spend in ease, without having to work or ride for that matter. Leather reins tended to leave its mark on skin, especially over the years of prolonged use. "Go on." He urged.
"Early this week, he came up to me and offered me some money. Said that there'd be more on the way if I did this little favour for him. He said if anyone came asking, I was to tell them about this one particular customer I had, one who bred horses."
And there is it was.
A perfect plan to get rid of his partners while allowing the law to believe that the murders were over since the guilty had been punished to the fullest extent of the law. There was almost a beauty to the symmetry of that plan and how easily Chris Larabee and his friends had danced to this secret play without ever realising they were on someone else's stage.
"Alright, I believe you." Chris said letting her go, convinced that she had told the truth. No doubt, if he chose to seek out the horse trader, Chris would find the same story coming from a different person. He was certain the man had been paid to tell Buck about the stage so that the seven would go riding after the outlaws and bring about the very same result that had taken place today. He hated being anyone's tool but that is exactly what had happened. They had been used. All of them. Himself, the friends he rode with, this foolish young woman with her promises of money and god knows what else and most of all, the fools who had trusted this unseen enemy and paid with their lives when they did his dirty work and allowed him the perfect escape.
This was not over, Chris decided as he started back to Four Corners.
Not by a long shot.