Sam told the boys and Teaspoon what Wayne had said.

"Pete. That lying son of a …." Jimmy started

"Jimmy now calm down. I need to go pick him up, and bring him back here." Sam said.

"We're going too," Cody volunteered the group.

"No, you boys have helped enough and I appreciate it, but I think.." Sam said

"Sorry Sam, but this is for Buck. We're going" Ike signed.

"What did he say?" Sam asked.

"This is to clear Buck's name. We go with you or we go ourselves." Kid explained.

Sam threw his hands up in defeat. "Ok, But we handle this peacefully." Sam said hoping it would be peaceful.

The Rock Creek saloon was where they found Pete, and Jimmy figured the man had never left that barstool, as they all walked into the saloon. Sam neared Pete and the smell of alcohol that resonated off of the man made him take a step back. "Pete Hansen you are under arrest."

Pete took a swig of the whiskey he had in his glass and turned to look at Sam. "Fer what?" He slurred.

Sam waved his hand in front of his face to get the smell of Pete's breath away. "Horse theft" Sam said with a cough.

Pete stood and looked at the boys that surrounded Sam. Buck was standing on Sam's left and Jimmy on his right. Pete looked at Kid who stood behind Jimmy. "At least he's awake this time." Pete said with a hiccup. He took a step to try to avoid Sam and started to fall. Buck caught Pete before he hit the floor.

"Get your hands off me, Indian" He spat out as he pushed Bush to the floor.

Buck got to his feet just as Pete swung a punch at him. Buck ducked the punch and proudly subdued the man with a punch to his stomach. Pete was furious and drew his gun, pointing it at Buck. "Damn you."

Sam and the other riders had their guns aimed at Pete. Sam watched as the saloon suddenly emptied. He was thankful because he wasn't sure how this was going to end.

"Put the gun down Pete." Sam pleaded.

Pete had hate in his eyes. Jimmy wanted answers.

"Why Pete? Why blame Buck, he covered your rides several times while you were here glued to that stool. Hell we all have." Jimmy wondered what had made a good man turn to the bottle.

Pete looked at Jimmy then back at Buck. "They're all alike. Theivin' savages. "

Cody held Ike back as a frustrated Jimmy said "What about the horses Pete. Buck had nothing to do with that. You did."

Pete drunkenly smiled and swayed a bit lowering his gun.

"You know I had a problem. I needed some money to pay what I owed to Ed. So I figured if Frank wagered the horses I could convince Ed to sell the horses for what I owed. The only problem was Frank wouldn't do it so I had to… well let's say I convinced him it was in his best interest to bet the horses." Pete had a satisfied grin on his face.

Jimmy was getting more irritated with this man "So you just threw Buck's name in the mix?" He said.

Pete nodded "The Barkley's should have killed him when they had the chance."

Ike tried to push his way to Pete but Buck put a hand on his friend's chest. Ike looked at Buck in concern and Buck just shook his head.

"What, I'm not makin' you mad 'nough Buck. Indian's get mad easy. A group of 'em attacked my brother several months ago. All he was doin' was ridin' his horse; yeah maybe it was some sorta sacred ceremonial land but whatever. Do you know what they did to him?" Pete asked with venom in his words.

Sam wasn't buying his story. "You can't blame Buck for what other Indians did." He said calmly trying to defuse the situation.

Pete looked at Sam and said "Maybe but I don't have to look at him." He raised his gun to Buck and pulled the trigger.

The shots echoed through the saloon, when the smoke cleared, Pete's body laid slumped on the floor. Sam knelt to check for a pulse but knew there wouldn't be one. "So much for this being peaceful." He said as he stood up. He turned and looked at the boys that stood behind him. "I won't ask who shot because I don't wanna know." He walked through the boys and out the saloon door with a small smile on his face and a smoking gun in his hand.

Jimmy put his smoking gun back in its holster. Ike held his smoking gun in his hand waiting for it to cool a bit and Cody smiled as he blew the smoke off the end of his gun barrel before holstering it. Buck smiled at his friends and knew that even if he hadn't gotten a shot off; Justice was served. The Barkley's would be hung. The horses would all be returned to the Rock Creek station and he could go home and finish healing and put this all behind him.

THE END


A/N: Okay this story took me on a long ride that I wasn't prepared for. Thank you for joining me and I hoped you enjoed it. Sometinmes the character have a diiferent idea on where a story should go. I had some help with the ending and I couldn't decide how to do it so thank you Jennifer, Anita and Kristina. - Vandy