When Chris opened his eyes again, he realized he was laying on the floor, with a pillow under his head and most of the blankets pulled over him. Vin sat on the floor next to him, cross-legged, with his hands in his lap. He stared at the far wall of the cabin. The sun had set outside the windows, and a lamp burned in the holder on the wall.
"Well, you said if I fell you wouldn't put me back into bed." Chris said. "I guess you meant it." Vin took a deep breath before turning to him.
"You're a mite heavy, and I'm a mite dragged out." He rubbed his eyes with the heel of one hand. "Lord I'm tired.," he breathed. "You think you might be of some help now, I'll get you back into bed." Chris took a trial movement of his limbs.
"Reckon it'll work." He managed to push himself into sitting up. "How long I been out?" Vin shrugged as he got to his own feet.
"Two-bits of an hour I guess. I'se gonna make a run for Nathan, but y'just seemed to be sleeping after the first scare wore off a'me." He pulled the blankets off Chris and set them aside before leaning down to hook his arm under Chris' shoulder. "You feeling okay?"
"I think your Padre must've whacked me for getting you riled."
"Ha." Chris was surprised to hear a genuine laugh out of Vin, a sound mixed of relief and tenderness. "He'd do it too." A few awkward movements had Chris back in bed, and he waved off Vin's effort to get him to lie down.
"Let me sit up a bit. Get my head clear."
"I'll get you some water." Vin piled the blankets onto the foot of the bed then went back to the table for the water. The oversized shirt bunched across his back and under his suspenders, and he was rolling up that one sleeve again.
"I got a couple clean shirts that'll fit you better than that one." Chris said. "That looks like Buck's shirt."
"Nah, this one'll do me." He brought a cup of water back to Chris. "Didn't have another clean shirt when me n'Buck got to the bath house, he let me have the loan of this one." After Chris took the cup, Vin laid his hand on Chris' forehead. "Still got the fever." He sounded worried. "I might take myself that run to Nathan anyway. Might be he's got some better remedy."
"I figure I just don't rile you again, then your Padre won't whack me again." Chris said. He could see Vin wanting to say something, and nothing was coming out. Finally he turned away to pull a chair close to Chris' bed. He sat down in it with the slouch of a person who didn't want to answer the questions he knew were coming.
"He saved me." Vin said simply. "They was set on killing me and he saved me."
"Who?" Chris demanded. "Who was trying to kill you?"
"Folks." Vin shrugged. "Folks in town."
"But your - your -" Chris stalled on saying it, but he said it anyway. "Your parents, didn't they...well hell - didn't they care? Didn't they do something? Anything?"
"No. My p-." Vin ducked his head in embarrassment. "My - Pa - he sent me to work for a family when I'se six or so. Farmed me out, sold my labor. They was all right, treated me okay, 'til I let on one time how I'se made. I didn't mean to," he said and in his voice Chris could hear all the anguish and confusion of that six year old. "I knew I wasn't supposed to say nothing, but the missus one day got me talking about my family and before I knew it I was just blurtin' out how he was Pa to both of us. She turned real hard after that. Wouldn't say nothin' to me 'less there weren't no way to avoid it. Finally she just told me I couldn't work there no more and she took me back..."
"What happened?"
Vin shrugged again.
"She pushed me outta the back a'the wagon like I was a stinkbug, and she kept sputterin' at him 'how dare you?' and sayin' the whole lot of us should be tarred and feathered, then she tore outta there like you never saw."
He tried a few times to keep talking, but nothing came out. Finally, a soft, anguished sigh shuddered out of him.
"You know what it's like?" he asked. "Standing there, he was just starin' at me. She - my Ma - she was hollerin' at me, calling me names, calling me stupid. Sayin' I never could do nothing right, I was always making trouble for her. And my Pa just stood there, not saying nothing. She just kept on and on, calling me bad names. She grabbed hold a'the back of my neck and pinched on it real hard and shoved me down into the dirt, hollerin' at me still. And he just stood there. And he didn't make her stop. He never made her stop."
M7*M7*M7
Chris was appalled - both at what had happened to Vin, and at the almost casual way he related it. Vin quirked a sad half-smile.
"She wore out after a while, I learned that. I just had t'hold on till she was done squalling at me. It just hurt so - being called names all the time. Feelin' my heart drain out right under my ribs, wanting so much for her not to be that way no more." He rubbed the heel of his hand across his eyes again. "She was always yelling at me."
"What the hell was she taking it out on you for?" Chris exploded. "When the man who did it to both of you was standing right there. Somebody shoulda tarred and feathered him -." His tirade was cut short by Vin.
"Please don't yell at me."
"I - what? Ahh hell, Vin." Chris drained the water and gripped the cup in his hand. "I'm not yelling at you."
"Well I'm the only one here...look Chris -." Vin bent his head down and took another couple of twists on that sleeve. "You're tired, I'm tired. We had us a long hard day. I aim to build up the fire and bed down next to the stove. I need to know you're set for the night 'fore I can sleep. All right?"
"All right." It wasn't so much exhaustion as agony that Chris saw on Vin's face. He agreed because Vin needed him to, not because he was ready to give up the conversation. "We should get some sleep."
M7*M7*M7*
Chris laid on his side, and didn't sleep in the dark cabin. The cracks in the stove let out enough fingers of firelight that he could see Vin not sleeping as well on his bedroll on the floor. Chris' mind was busy with a dozen trails of needing to figure it all out - what had happened to Vin then and what was happening to Vin now. And everything that might have happened in between.
He figured he could guess what Vin was thinking about, but if he could choose, he hoped Vin was thinking on good memories with his Padre. It wouldn't do to have him facing down his attackers alone, even in his memories.
Tomorrow, he'd ask Vin to fetch Nathan to the cabin, and maybe see if he couldn't ask him to bring Josiah without Tanner figuring out why Chris wanted him. If nothing else, Vin wouldn't not bring Nathan, and Chris could ask Nathan to send Josiah if Vin wouldn't. Vin needed somebody to talk to about all this, and Chris sure felt like he was doing a piss-poor job of it so far.
Satisfied with his plan, Chris settled himself into the bed and continued to watch Vin. He didn't let himself fall asleep until well after he was sure Vin was asleep too.
to be continued
