Author's note: Sorry for the long delay in updating. As I said in my last chapter, work has been very hectic, and I went out of town to visit my family. On top of that, this chapter hasn't been as easy for me to write as others have been. For some reason, the words just didn't want to come. I don't know if it's because this story is coming to an end or the emotional aspect of this chapter. Either way, I hope what I managed to get down in writing is satisfying to you, the reader.

Thanks for all of the reviews and alerts. They really mean a lot!

CHAPTER 14

"I need two rooms. One for me, and one for my daughter," Chris said to the desk clerk at the Miner's Hotel, one of the nicer hotels in Eagle Bend. He and Sammy had ridden all day and had been in town only long enough to see that their horses were properly cared for at the livery stable. They would spend the night in town then ride out to his property in the morning.

"Yes, sir," the desk clerk replied. The hard look Chris gave him convinced him not to question whether the young woman with him was actually his daughter.

"And I want those rooms next to each other."

"Yes, sir, Mr. . . ." the clerk turned the register around so he could read the name that had been written in it.

"Larabee. Chris Larabee," Chris said in a voice meant to carry to the other men lingering in the hotel lobby as he glanced around the room. He had a reputation that certain people would recognize and take heed of. He wasn't concerned for himself, but he wanted there to be no mistaking what would happen to any man foolish enough to attempt something with Sammy. Although Eagle Bend was in many ways more civilized than Four Corners, there was a certain element to be found in the town that Chris knew all too well. It was that element that he was most concerned about.

Sammy eyed Chris with speculation. He had told her that he would be introducing her as his daughter, so she wasn't surprised at that announcement. She was surprised, however, that the hostile attitude Chris had adopted since riding into town. She also couldn't help but notice the change in some of the men when Chris announced his name. In fact, more than one man quietly slipped out of the room.

Once they had stepped into the room that had been assigned to her, Sammy could no longer keep quiet. "What was all that about?" she asked, as she tossed her saddle bags onto the chest of drawers.

"Whatta you mean?" Chris had a pretty good idea what she was talking about, but he wasn't going to obligingly volunteer the information.

"Down in the lobby. The way you acted and making sure everyone heard your name."

Chris nodded and sat down on the bed. He motioned for her to join him. When she did, he looked at her steadily for a moment. "There was a time in my life, not all that long ago, that I would have just as soon fight a man as to look at him. A lot of men got hurt, some of 'em even died, during that time. Because of that, I earned a reputation as a man to be wary of." He was interrupted by shouts and the sound of gunfire out in the street. "This town is still rough, I didn't want anyone gettin' any ideas they shouldn't." More shouts and gunfire sounded, making his point.

He patted Sammy on the leg and stood, nodding in the direction of the wash stand and the pitcher of water sitting on it. "Get cleaned up. I'll be back in about twenty minutes to take you over to the restaurant to get some dinner."

After Chris left, Sammy used the water in the pitcher to wash her face and hands. She changed into a clean shirt and pants and sat back down on the bed to wait for Chris. While she was waiting, she thought about what Chris had told her. She knew from things he had said and talk she'd heard around Four Corners that he was a man that people either feared or respected, and often both. But, she hadn't known about his past as a gunfighter. In her mind, that new information explained how he could so easily intimidate people.

When Chris and Sammy passed through the hotel lobby on their way to the restaurant, he was unsurprised to find the sheriff of Eagle Bend waiting for him. However, that didn't stop him from cursing under his breath as the burly man approached him.

"Mr. Larabee?"

"Yeah," Chris responded shortly.

"You gonna be in town long?" the sheriff asked, with a glance at Sammy. Sheriff Stane remembered all too well his last meeting with the black-clad gunman.

"Just spendin' the night. My daughter and I'll be heading out in the morning." Chris stepped in front of Sammy and narrowed his eyes, giving the sheriff his infamous hard glare. "You got a problem with that?"

The sheriff took a step back in response. He wasn't too happy about being intimidated by Chris, and his displeasure showed in his next words. "No problem, but you'd best keep your nose clean while you're here. I've heard all about what happened the last time you stayed in town, and I'm tellin' you now, it'd better not happen again." He hadn't been sheriff in Eagle Bend when Chris Larabee and his friends had shot up the saloon and a gunman by the name of Cletus Fowler had died in a fire. But, he'd sure heard about it, especially after the brawl in Four Corners following the trial of Obediah Jackson.

Without answering, Chris touched the brim of his hat as he nodded and, taking Sammy by the arm, turned and walked out of the hotel lobby onto the wooden boardwalk.

"What was that all about?" Sammy asked, surprised at Chris' rudeness. During the months she had been living in Four Corners, she had never seen Chris act that rude to someone. Sure, there had been times when he had been hostile to someone, but never that blatantly rude.

"Nothing that concerns you," Chris responded, his eyes scanning the street for any sign of danger.

* * * * * *

It was a bit cooler the next morning when Chris and Sammy saddled their horses and, gathering the reigns to their pack animals, headed east out of Eagle Bend toward Chris' ranch. As they rode, Sammy noticed that the hostile attitude Chris had adopted in town seeming to be vanishing, only to be replaced by an air of sadness and grief. She realized the source of that sadness and grief about an hour later as they rode into the ranch yard. When she spotted the burned out shell of the house and the two graves, Sammy suddenly remembered Chris telling her about having lost his wife and son in a fire.

Chris rode over to the corral and dismounted, tying the reins of his mount and the pack horse to the top rail of the fence. Sammy quickly followed suit, but remaining standing by the horses as she watched Chris make his way over to the two graves.

As he made his way over to the rough-hewn fence that surrounded his family's graves, Chris removed his hat and ran his hand through his dark blonde hair. Over the ensuing years, he had managed for the most part to tamp down the feeling of guilt about not being home that night to protect Sarah and Adam. But, every once in a while that guilt surfaced, and he usually ended up doing something he later regretted. The gunman stood looking at the wooden crosses bearing the names "Sarah Larabee" and "Adam Larabee" and considered the advice Josiah had given to Sammy. Maybe it was time to talk to their spirits and finally apologize for what he saw as a fatal mistake on his part.

"Sarah, Adam," he addressed the two grave markers. "I don't think I've ever actually apologized to you for not being here that night." Chris leaned forward and braced his weight on the top rail of the split-rail fence that surrounded the small cemetery. "I can't help but think if I'd only ridden back that night instead of stayin' down in Mexico, maybe I woulda been able to stop what happened."

He glanced up as a gentle breeze ruffled his hair. "I can hear you now, Sarah, tellin' me that it wasn't my fault." Chris shook his head and chuckled. "You always were one to see the best in me."

Chris closed his eyes and paused to gather his thoughts. "I know you wouldn't have wanted me to seek revenge for what was done to you, but the man who killed you is dead. He walked into a burnin' building to avoid tellin' me who hired him. But, I found out anyway. It was a woman I knew more'n a dozen years ago. She's gone crazy and wanted me for herself. She's still out there somewhere, and I don't know exactly what I want to do about that."

Tears came to his eyes and make his voice rough as he continued. "I'm startin' to have trouble picturing your faces in my head, and that bothers me. I don't ever want to forget you, either of you. The happiest years of my life were spent with you, and I've been so afraid of going on without you. But, I think maybe it's time for me to start tryin' to do just that."

Again, a gentle breeze blew through the clearing and ruffled his hair. In his heart, he felt that it was Sarah, telling him that it was okay to move on with his life. A dove landed on the rail next to his hand and eyed him intently. The bird was a rare sight, and Chris' thoughts immediately turned to Adam. The boy had loved animals and, more than once, had watched in fascination as birds flew overhead. The man and bird stood watching each other until, finally, with a soft coo, the dove took flight and disappeared into the nearby woods. Breathing out a heavy sigh, Chris nodded. He couldn't help but wonder what Josiah would have said about what had just happened. He figured his friend would say it was a sign that Sarah's and Adam's spirits had heard his words and were letting him know that they wanted him to move on with his life.

"A lot's changed for me lately," he started. "I've met someone. I think you'd like her, Sarah. She's a widow and runs the local newspaper. Her son's about your age, Adam." Chris again shook his head as he thought about how to describe Mary Travis. "She's stubborn and independent. I think she would have given you a run for your money in that area. Billy, her son, reminds me an awful lot of you, Adam."

He turned to glance over his shoulder at the corral and Sammy sitting on the top rail of the fence. "I've got a daughter now, too. I was named her legal guardian a few months back. She nearly got herself killed tryin' to bring the outlaw gang who killed her parents to justice. I see a lot of myself in her, especially the anger." He ducked his head. "I think we're helpin' each other get through our losses. Maybe it's because of that, but I already think of her as my own child. She's havin' a hard time dealin' with her parents' deaths, especially her ma's. A friend of mine, Josiah, used to be a preacher. He suggested she go someplace quiet to talk to her ma's spirit. I thought I'd take her to that hidden valley on the north end of the property. You know the one, with the pond and all the flowers."

Chris paused to put his hat back on his head. "I thought while I was here, I'd take Josiah's advice myself. I guess it's helped. I'll be back to see you before we return to Four Corners. Until then, I love you and I miss both of you more than you could ever imagine."

With that, Chris turned and walked back to the corral. He actually felt like some of the burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He knew he would never completely get over the loss of his family, but now he felt as if living with it might just be a bit easier.

When he mounted his horse, Sammy jumped down from the fenced and climbed aboard her own animal. She remained silent as they traveled north out of the ranch yard, figuring that if Chris wanted to talk, then he would be talking. The man and teenage girl continued to ride in silence for half an hour until they came to a narrow canyon between two low lying hills. To Sammy, the canyon looked barely wide enough for her horse to pass through. Once through the narrow opening, though, the canyon opened up into a breath-takingly beautiful valley. A thick carpet of grass covered the valley floor, and a large pond dominated the far end. A riot of wild flowers encircled the pond in colors so vibrant that they didn't seem real.

As Chris pulled his mount to a stop, he turned to speak to Sammy for the first time since they'd entered the ranch yard. "Let's set up camp over there in that stand of trees," he said nodding to indicate a stand of cottonwood and mesquite trees off to the side of the valley. "Then, there's something I gotta talk to you about."

Those words, spoken in Chris' soft voice, caused Sammy's mouth to go dry. She was almost too afraid to find out what they meant. Still, she followed Chris to the stand of trees and, dismounting, removed her horse's tack. Once the animals had been tended, she gathered firewood while Chris worked to clear an area for a fire. He figured that once they got settled and he'd shared Josiah's news about Sammy's mother, he would go hunting for their dinner while Sammy explored or did whatever else she wanted to do.

"There's somethin' I gotta tell you," Chris said again as Sammy dropped an armload onto the ground beside the clearing he had made for their campfire.

"Yeah, what is it?" Sammy responded, little defensively.

Chris chose to ignore the girl's attitude and motioned for her to take a seat beside him. "I had a talk with Josiah a while back -- right after your little adventure, in fact."

Sammy nodded. "So?" Chris had repeatedly told her that he wasn't going to leave her or send her away, that a little kernel of fear that that was exactly what he was planning on doing lodged itself in her mind.

Yeah, this is going to be easy, Chris thought. "He said he'd told you he'd do some checking to see if he could find out where your ma is buried."

Sammy had forgotten about that part of her conversation with Josiah. "Did he find out anything?" Now she wondered why he had given Chris the information instead of coming to her with it.

Chris relayed the information that Josiah had given him. When he was finished, Sammy's eyes were filled with tears. He pulled her close and held her tightly while she cried out her grief. Finally, Sammy calmed enough so that she could speak.

"If only I'd gone back to Iowa, Mama won't have traveled alone, and I could have been there when she was buried," she said into Chris' shoulder.

Chris thought about how he felt after talking to Sarah and Adam. Maybe it was time that Sammy did the same thing. After all, that was the purpose of their trip. He pushed Sammy back so that he could look down into her tear stained face. "If your ma was anything like the woman you've described to me, she would understand that you did what you felt you needed to do."

Sammy gave him a watery smiled and nodded.

"Good. Why don't you take Josiah's advice and tell her how you feel. It helped me." He indicated the pond at the far end of the small valley. "That pond 'd be a good place to do it. While you're over there, I'll see if I can't hunt us up something for supper."

Chris picked up his rifle and walked off into the woods, and Sammy stood. Not knowing what other creatures might decide to explore the pond as well, she reached moved over to Chris' saddle and pulled his revolver out of its holster. Given the circumstances, she figured he would understand.

She walked to the pond and, finding a boulder that jutted out over the water, she sat down. The revolver was laid on the rock beside her hip, and she drew her knees up to her chest. Sammy sat there for several minutes, letting the sounds of birds chirping in the nearby trees and the sound of the water wash over her.

She had probably rehearsed what she was going to say a hundred times in her head. Now that she was here, Sammy didn't know if she would be able to say those words aloud.

"Mama, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm sorry. It's my fault you were on that stagecoach when it was robbed. If you hadn't waited to make sure my piano was properly shipped to Four Corners, you would have been already there with me and Daddy when that stage was attacked." She paused to wipe the tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. "Daddy tried to send me back to Iowa, but I left the stage and went back to Four Corners. I'm sorry I didn't travel back with you. You shouldn't have had to make that trip alone, and you shouldn't have been laid to rest without your family there. But, all I could think about was helpin' Daddy get revenge."

She paused to gather her thoughts and ignored the breeze that suddenly came up to stir her hair. "The men who killed you are dead. I don't know if you know it, but Daddy died, too, trying to bring them to justice." She thought it would probably be better not to mention the fact that she was almost killed as well.

"I'm still living in Four Corners. This judge appointed a legal guardian for me. His name's Chris Larabee. He and his friends are peacekeepers in the town. I think you'd have liked him, Mama. He's a hard man, but he's been good to me. I think he understands what I'm goin' through."

Sammy sat in silence for a few more minutes before rising, picking up the gun, and making her way back to the campsite. She was surprised to find Chris there waiting for her with a rabbit roasting on a spit over the fire. She hadn't thought that she'd been at the pond all that long. The gunman raised an eyebrow in question when he spotted the revolver in Sammy's hand.

"I didn't know what kind of critters might also be checking out the pond. Thought it was better to be safe than sorry."

Since Chris couldn't fault that logic, he merely nodded. "You okay?" He was a little concerned as Sammy seemed a bit more subdued than usual. He knew the emotional impact of what she had just been through.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. After returning the revolver to its holster, she moved to sit down beside Chris. When he put his arm around her shoulders, she leaned into his side. "That was harder than I thought it would be – a lot harder than talking to Daddy was. Maybe it was because I was angry at Daddy, but I felt guilty about what happened to Mama."

Chris didn't miss her use of the past tense when she spoke of her feelings about what had happened to her mother. He didn't know if that was intentional on her part or not, but either way he figured it was a good indication of her state of mind. "You want to talk about it?"

He felt her shake her head against his shoulder. "Not really. I feel some better about it, but there's still a lot I gotta work through in my head."

Since Chris understood completely, he remained silent as Sammy continued to lean against his side. He had the same feelings about his conversation with Sarah and Adam.

* * * * *

It was late afternoon two days later when Chris and Sammy rode into Four Corners. Vin and Kevin were sitting on the porch of the boarding house, where Kevin was busy doing the homework Miss Bishop had dropped off earlier in the day. Although his arm was still in a sling, Kevin had healed well enough that Nathan had said the boy could begin attending classes the following Monday.

"Just where do you think you're goin'?" Vin asked as Kevin set aside the plank of wood he'd been using as a desk.

"Over to th' livery to see Chris and Sammy." Kevin wouldn't have admitted it if he'd been asked, but he had missed the black-clad gunman and the teenage girl.

"Don't think so." Vin pointed to the homework Kevin had set aside. "You need to finish that. Our deal was you'd do your homework if'n I let you stay outside. Now either do it or we're gonna go inside. 'Sides, Chris and Sammy'll be over here before you know it."

Kevin had learned the hard way not to sass Vin when he'd been told to do something, so he only mentally stuck out his tongue at the tracker. He repositioned the makeshift lap desk over his knees and picked up his pencil and resumed retracing the letters on the page. At the same time, he kept one eye on the door to the livery stable, waiting for the moment when Chris and Sammy appeared. His thoughts were brought back to his studies when he felt Vin's booted foot gently nudge his hip. If this is what school's like, he thought, I'm not so sure I want to start goin' on Monday.

He looked up in surprise when Vin, seeming to read his thoughts said, "it won't be so bad. You'll have fun." Kevin shrugged and returned to his work. However, a few minutes later, he couldn't stop himself from shoving the lap desk aside and running toward the livery when he spotted Chris and Sammy leaving the stable.

When Kevin skidded to a halt in front of him, Chris reached down and hoisted the boy up into his arms, being careful of the arm still in the sling. He settled Kevin on his left hip, and putting his right arm around Sammy's shoulders continued on his way to the boarding house, where he saw Vin waiting for them. This is what life is all about, he thought. Family.

* * * THE END * * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have decided to end this story with this chapter. I will eventually return to this series, probably with a story about Kevin's experiences with school and maybe a budding romance between Vin and Nancy Bishop. But, I've got an idea for another Firefly fic that won't leave me alone. Since it's probably better to follow where the muse leads me, I want to write it next.