Chapter 13

"It ain't safe for her to stay in town," Buck said. He leaned againt the post outside the sheriff's office. "Those feelers I put out? Got a wire back from down by Carters Pass a bit ago."

Vin felt himself tense. He kept his head down, let the brim of his hat hide any reaction to Buck's words.

"Group of riders passed through there a couple days ago. Match the description of Eli Joe and his gang." Buck looked down the street as if he might see them coming any moment.

Vin was silent, weighing the new information. At least they knew where Eli Joe was. Now they just had to make their plans accordingly.

"What do you think, Nathan? She up to riding back out to the ranch?" Vin asked.

Nathan frowned in concern. "I think she could if she had to. If she and Chris take it slow. She's had the day to rest, got plenty of broth and meals in her now."

Vin let out a long sigh. "I think she has to. We can't risk her bein' found."

Nathan nodded his agreement.

"Didn't sound like they were movin' fast," Buck said. "Taking their time with drinks and women. A lot of towns they might go through between Carters Pass and here."

Vin shook his head, thinking of the little he knew about his sister with Eli Joe. What that time had done to her. "She needs to get back out to Chris'. It's safest." He wasn't taking any risks with Lucy's safety. "I'll go let her know," Vin said, stepping down onto the street to head to the clinic.

"I'll get Chris. Fill him in," Buck said, heading in the direction of the saloon.

Vin made it to the clinic, feeling like every new person who caught the corner of his eye might be Eli Joe or one of his men. He shook his head, forcing the thoughts aside. Getting jumpy wouldn't help anyone. It wouldn't do anything for Lucy.

He knocked lightly on the door, pushing it open.

Ezra still occupied the chair he had been in most the day. He looked up, one hand near his gun, when Vin opened the door. He eased back in his chair when he saw it was only Vin.

Vin nodded a greeting to the gambler who was proving to be one of the most trustworthy men he had known. He looked at Lucy, propped against pillows, her face nervous.

"I really need to get back to the ranch," she said without preamble. Judging by the look on Ezra's face, it was something he had heard multiple times throughout the day.

"You're going now," Vin said. "Buck's getting' Chris."

Instead of relief, Lucy's face was drawn. She swung her feet off the bed and reached for her boots. Her bandaged hand made it difficult, but she waved Vin's offer of help away.

When she stood, she made Vin uncomfortable with her pallor, but she was steady on her feet. Vin put a hand on her back, guiding her to the door.

Lucy stopped at the door. "Thanks, Ezra," she said quietly, shooting a quick look towards Ezra before training her eyes on the floor again..

Ezra's expression softened. "The pleasure was all mine."

Vin checked the street before ushering Lucy down the stairs and toward the livery.

Chris and Buck were already there saddling Chris' two horses. Chris paused when Vin and Lucy came in. His eyes went straight to Lucy, assessing her.

"You up for the ride?" he asked.

Lucy dropped her eyes to the ground and nodded quickly. Vin felt the slight tremor that ran through her. He questioned again if this was what he should be doing to protect his sister. And again, he came up with no better option.

Vin was really starting to hate leaving his sister's side. But if Eli Joe was gunning for him, better he draw the man as far away from his sister as he could.

"You need anything?" Vin asked.

Lucy shook her head.

Chris was standing next to his stallion, his expression completely walled off.

"I'm headin' down towards Carters Pass," Vin said to Chris. "Gonna circle up behind them and get an idea of how many we're dealin' with."

"They're getting close?" Lucy asked, her eyes filling with fear and reminding Vin of a spooked horse, a wild look setting in.

Vin mentally kicked himself for saying anything in front of Lucy. "No, they ain't close," Vin assured her. "We just got an idea of where they are now."

Lucy's eyes darted around, between Vin, to Chris, quickly darting away and back to Vin. Her breath started to come faster. "And Eli—Eli Joe? He's—he's with them? He's on his way here now?"

Vin reached a hand toward her and Lucy jolted back as if he was reaching out to strike her. Her back hit the gelding Chris had for her to ride and the horse let out a snort, stepping to the side.

"I can't go back to—to him," Lucy said frantically, her terror building. "I can't—can't do that again. He's—the things he did—I can't—" Her hands curled into fists and Vin knew it had to hurt for her fingers to be digging into the sutures but Lucy didn't seem to notice.

"Luce," Vin said, trying to take a step toward her, but Chris' grip on his arm stopped him.

Chris shook his head slightly at Vin before looking at Lucy.

"They ain't getting to you," Chris said firmly. "You're not going back."

One hand crept up to weave into the horse's mane and Lucy closed her eyes like she was getting her bearings.

The only sound in the stable was the horses shifting their weight. Vin watched his sister, wanting to go to her, not knowing what to do with this new person she was. This person Eli Joe had made her into.

Lucy opened her eyes. She looked at Chris first before quickly averting her eyes, back over to Vin. "You'll be careful?" she asked.

"Always," Vin promised with a small smile. "Just gonna find out when we need to be ready for 'em. They won't even know I'm there."

Lucy nodded. She looked at Chris again, moving her eyes back to her horse. She reached up to grip the gelding's mane, her bandaged hand reaching for the saddle. She winced when she gripped the saddle, but Vin fought the instinct to go to her.

Next to him, Chris was watching Lucy. Once she was settled in her saddle, he went to mount up on his stallion. Lucy waited for Chris to leave the stable before following after him. Neither one looked at the other, and neither one spoke. Vin hoped with everything in him things would go better for Lucy at Chris' this time around. Looking at the slump of her shoulders, the way she avoided looking at Chris as they rode away, Vin didn't have a lot of optimism left in him.

He turned from watching his sister ride out of town and went to his wagon to get his gear and prepare to track Eli Joe and his gang down south.

#

Lucy rolled over, opening her eyes to the dim sunlight coming in through her bedroom window. She immediately regretted the movement when her hand started throbbing.

"Ow," she whispered to herself.

She looked down at the dress she had slept in. Her nightgown had been covered in blood last she had seen it and had been nowhere to be found when she and Chris had arrived back at the ranch late the evening before.

Chris. Her sore hand forgotten, she quickly got out of bed. She didn't bother with her broken comb, just quickly rebraided her hair and hurried out to the kitchen. It was well past time for the breakfast she tried to have on the table early.

She moved quickly to the kitchen, hoping he had also overslept after the events of the night before. She turned the corner into the kitchen and drew up short.

Chris was standing at the washtub, filled with soapy water on the kitchen table and scrubbing at something.

The sight of the man in his dark clothes, his gunbelt hanging from the back of a chair, scrubbing away at laundry, was so incongruous Lucy would have laughed if it was anyone else. Or if it had happened a lifetime ago, when she could still laugh. As it was, she felt the stirring of a threat.

"I didn't know you had laundry that needed doing," she said, and apology ready. "I can do that." She hesitated before moving toward him, knowing she would need to get within arm's reach to take over the task.

Chris looked up from his job, his eyes moving down to look at her injured hand. Lucy self-consciously adjusted the bandage, wanting to reassure him she wouldn't let it keep her from her duties.

Chris went back to scrubbing, pulling the white fabric from the soapy water to examine it and frowning. "Don't think it's salvageable," he said.

Lucy blinked in surprise at the sight of her nightgown in Chris' work roughened hands.

"Tried to get the blood out, but it ain't working," he said, frowning.

Lucy couldn't find words.

Chris didn't seem to notice her silence. He dropped the nightdress back into the water. "You'll have to wear another one until we can get back to town to replace it."

"I don't have another," Lucy commented absently, still reeling at the idea that Chris had been out here trying to get the bloodstains out of her nightgown. Doing her job without complaint or comment. When she looked up from where he had dropped the nightdress, Chris was studying her. Lucy dropped her head. "What is it?" she asked submissively. She needed to know so she could fix whatever had him looking at her like that.

When Chris didn't answer immediately, she risked another look at him. He was looking at her dress. Lucy looked down at her faded calico.

"How many dresses you have?"

It was such an absurd question for a gunfighter to be asking her, Lucy just shook her head.

"You have a spare one at least?" he asked gruffly.

Lucy nodded, keeping her head down.

Chris grunted. "That'll have to do for now. Next time we're in town, you get what you need."

It sounded like an order so Lucy nodded, though she had no intention of spending any of Chris' money.

She looked up when she heard water sloshing. Chris was picking up the wash tub.

"You can—you can leave it," she said timidly.

Chris looked at her, but didn't set it down. Lucy felt her heart thundering away in her chest.

"As—as long as you have the—the water ready, I—I can do any washing you might—you might need done." Lucy laced her shaking hands together, hoping she hadn't spoken too much. She instantly unlinked her fingers at the pain it sent through her hand.

Chris kept moving toward the door with the water. "No laundry," he said. "No dishes. I'll take care of those. Nathan said to keep those stitches dry."

When the door closed behind Chris, Lucy allowed herself the luxury of a small breath, leaning against the wall before her quaking legs gave out. She felt like she had just navigated a battle, trying not to upset the man her brother trusted.

#

Chris found himself going into the house throughout the day to make sure Lucy didn't get it into her head to do any dishes, scrub floors, or any other fool thing that would get her sutures soaking wet. Thankfully, she seemed to have set up camp at the edge of the porch, allowing the sunshine to reach her, as she worked her way through a pile of his clothes, mending and replacing buttons.

Chris didn't want to admit how much the news that Eli Joe's gang was getting closer had him on edge. It didn't help that the girl was jumpier than a jackrabbit around him, avoiding looking at him at all costs. Chris scanned the horizon in all directions again, though he knew there was no way Eli Joe or his gang could have made it to Four Corners this quickly if Buck's information was correct.

Chris had stayed on the far side of the barn as soon as Lucy had ventured cautiously outside after breakfast, not wanting his very presence to drive her into the house. She looked halfway at peace with the sun setting her hair alight, her hands steady as she did her work. He went to the edge of the barn on the pretense of needing a different pitchfork and looked toward the house.

Lucy was still seated on the top porch step, bent over one of his shirts that had ripped a seam all the way up the arm, thanks to a good sized brawl with a drunk ranch hand in town.

Something in the distance drew Chris' attention. A movement in the distance. The sound of hoofbeats. Any passing thought of Lucy at peace was driven from him and replaced with a readiness to fight.

The horse and rider were unfamiliar and Chris didn't waste time trying to figure anything more out. He crossed the yard quickly, keeping his eyes fixed on the incoming rider, tracking the approach.

"Lucy," he said sharply.

From the corner of his eye, he saw her look up, sensed the way she tensed at his presence. But he couldn't worry about that now. He had promised Vin he would keep his sister safe. More than that, now that he knew even a little of what Lucy had suffered at the hands of Eli Joe and his men, he would kill before he let her go back to that.

Chris was on the top step. "Let's go. In the house," he said, adrenaline making his words sharp.

Lucy set the mending aside and quickly rose, but not quickly enough. The rider was making good time, nearly to the edge of the yard.

Chris' focus narrowed, the way it always did when threatened. Everything became sharply clear, every movement deliberate. He reached over and put a hand around Lucy's arm, pulling her behind him at the same time his free hand drew his gun. He pushed Lucy behind his back, noting her scared intake of breath, the trembling behind him, but not letting it affect him. Not now. His attention was on protecting her from the rider, nothing else.

"Move," he said. He kept his back to her, himself between the rider and Lucy and propelled her into the house, moving her to the side of the door, towards the sitting room. "Stay down," he ordered.

Lucy was shaking and her nod was almost lost in the tremors wracking her.

Chris went to the door, keeping his gun out of sight as he called out to the lone rider who was approaching the porch. He was ready to do whatever it took to keep Lucy safe.

#

Lucy couldn't slow the shaking. When Chris had strode across the yard, when he had reached down and grabbed her by the arm, propelling her where he needed her to go, it had terrified her. But not as much as whoever was outside right now.

"You must be lost," Chris was saying to the man on horseback.

"A man can't be lost when he don't have no destination," the stranger answered easily. "Just passin' through, lookin' for work. You have any jobs need doin', Mister?"

Lucy heard the click of Chris' revolver, saw the way he kept his finger on the trigger.

"Don't have any jobs," Chris answered. "Best you move along now."

Lucy could hear the smile in the stranger's voice. "I'm a hard worker. Will do anything that needs doin'." She pressed her back farther against the wall, hoping he was as innocent as he sounded.

Chris was apparently past hoping. Lucy watched him pull the revolver out from behind the door and aim it directly at the man.

"Already said I don't have work for you."

Lucy risked a look towards the window and could see the man raise his hands. He was unfamiliar to her, not one of Eli Joe's gang. "Ok. Easy there. I'm movin' on."

"Good plan," Chris said.

Lucy closed her eyes and held her breath, everything in her coiled and ready to jump at the crack of a gunshot. But all she heard was hoofbeats. She waited until they had faded before she opened her eyes. Chris hadn't moved, his gun at the ready, watching until the stranger was out of sight.

Satisfied the drifter was gone, Chris uncocked his gun and holstered it again. He looked over at Lucy. "You ok?" he asked.

Lucy nodded quickly.

"You sure?" Chris asked, looking at her intently. He looked at her arm, where he had gripped her. "I didn't hurt you?"

Lucy's eyes flew up to meet his. "I…no," she faltered. Her hand moved to her upper arm, rubbing lightly where Chris' hand had been, realizing how gentle his touch had really been. Even in the panic of the moment, he hadn't hurt her. Her brow knit and she looked at him.

Chris looked unsettled. "What?" he asked.

Lucy realized what she was doing and dropped her eyes. "Nothing. I'm—I'm sorry."

Neither one spoke.

"Stay in the house today," Chris said. "Just in case." He didn't have to say in case of what. They both knew full well what the threat was looming over them.

Lucy nodded. Chris looked out the door. "Going to get my tools from the barn. I have things I can work on in the house for today."

Lucy watched him go. She touched her arm again, not feeling any bruising. Still seeing how quickly he had moved to protect her. How he had kept her behind him, every move intent on protecting her. On putting himself in the line of danger to shield her.

Unbidden, thoughts of Eli Joe came and the way he would shove her towards his men when she provoked him. It was a complete opposite of the instinctive reaction Chris just had.

Lucy watched him stride across the yard, on the alert to every movement and noise.

She couldn't reconcile the Chris Larabee who had come into the kitchen the night before with gun drawn, face hard, ready for a fight, with the man who attempted to wash her nightgown this morning and the hardened gunfighter who managed to keep her safe from his own actions as he got her to safety just now.

Lucy pushed the hair that had fallen free from her braid back from her face with still trembling hands. She wanted Vin. She wanted all this over. She didn't want to be teetering on this unbalanced edge with Chris Larabee, uncertain of who this man was that she was married to.

#