Half an hour later, Mark slipped out of the hotel room and made his way down to the telegraph office to find the clerk closing up.

"Sorry, but I still haven't heard anything. …Lines may be down out there. I haven't heard anything from Carizzo for a few days now."

"…Thanks."

Mark let out a heavy sigh and headed for the door, two riders passing him as he stepped out of the office.

"I don't know, Micah. I'll check over at the-"

"PA!"

Lucas whipped around, eyes growing wide as he saw his son running towards him.

"Mark!" The rancher jumped down from his horse, pulling his son into his arms as they met. "Thank God!" He pulled Mark closer, holding him for a long moment before putting a small amount of distance between them. "Are you alright?"

"I'm… Pa, what happened?!" Mark reached up to put a hand to the bandage on Lucas's head, only to notice the other bandage underneath his shirt. "Pa?!"

"I'm alright, Son." Lucas held his son's chin in his hand, turning the boy's face from one side to the other, noticing new bruises. "What happened here?"

"I'm fine… took a fall from a horse."

Lucas looked him over for a moment longer before again pulling his son into an embrace. "How long have you been here? When did Sam find you?"

"Hate to say it, but he's the one who found me." Father and son looked up to see Sam and Micah stepping towards them. "Seems Ryker saw the posse headed towards Carizzo and went back to get Mark. He ended up in a gunfight with another outlaw and they ended up killing each other."

Lucas looked down at his son in concern, Mark nodding his head. "I'm alright, Pa."

"…Has a doctor looked at your shoulder since your fall?"

"Fall?" Sam asked.

"Right before Ryker showed up, I took another fall." The boy looked up at Lucas as he went on, "The sheriff had the doctor look at it this morning. He set it again and said it'd be fine as long as I didn't try using it for a while."

Still seeing the concern in the father's eyes, Micah stepped forward. "Lucas-boy, why don't you go track down the doctor and see if he's still up? I'll take care of the horses. You and Mark both could probably use another looking over."

Mark started to protest, but he stopped as Lucas's hand fell on his shoulder.

"Thanks, Micah. We'll meet you two over at the hotel when we're done."

Finding the doctor just closing up for the night, Lucas asked the man to briefly look over Mark before giving into his own examination. Father and son then made their way to the hotel, where Sam told Lucas and Micah about finding the cabin, but not realizing Mark was there and heading on to Raton.

"I should have known better… I don't know why I didn't think to look around."

"…I don't think Hansen would have let you," Mark quietly said.

Micah looked at the boy before asking, "How did he and Ryker and Hansen end up in a gunfight? Doesn't make much sense for them to turn on each other."

"…They didn't."

When Mark didn't go on, Sam offered more details, trying to remember what the boy had said earlier that evening. "Another man Hansen used to work with showed up at the cabin… wanted to use Mark for his own leverage and killed Hansen before Ryker caught up."

"Why did…" Lucas quited, growing concerned at the look he saw in his son's eyes. He suddenly shook his head as if to dismiss the question. "…I suppose some things we'll never know. …It's getting late; we'll see you two in the morning."

As father and son settled into their room, Lucas allowed several minutes of silence between them. He finally sat down on the edge of the bed beside his son, carefully looking him over. "…Do you want to talk about it?"

"…I don't understand." Mark buried his head in his hands as he tried to push the images from his mind. "…He had no real reason to kill Hansen. He just… he just shot him. I… I know it's not the first time I've seen someone killed, but…"

"It shouldn't be any easier." A few moments passed before Lucas went on, "…What happened after that?"

"…He… he made me go with him. We stopped to make camp and… and that's when Ryker showed up and pulled his gun. …That man…" The boy shuddered at the thought, swallowing the lump in his throat as he tried to go on. "…He… he held me back and held a gun to me… threatened to kill me if Ryker didn't walk away. …I don't think either of them really cared at that point. …I could tell Ryker was gonna shoot and was able to pull away before he fired."

"…I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry you were in that position to begin with."

"…It wasn't your fault. I… I was the one…"

"This wasn't your fault in any way; you hear me?"

"…Pa… that other man… it… it was Mr. Reynolds."

Lucas stared at his son in confusion. "…What?"

"…Mr. Reynolds… he broke out of prison. He was the one that killed Hansen and Ryker. …If I hadn't interferred, he would have been hanged a long time ago."

The rancher placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, shaking his head. "Mark, what any of those men did is not your fault. And if things hadn't happened like they did… you might still be out there somewhere with Ryker." He hesitated before asking, "…Why didn't you tell me about Reynolds?"

"…Because you were right and I was wrong. …I didn't… I don't know if I'm ready to talk about it, because there's a question I still don't know how to ask."

There was confusion in Lucas's eyes as he studied his son. He thought for a long moment, finally letting out a deep breath. "…Does your question have to do with this week, or what happened before?"

"…Before. I… I don't want to say the wrong thing, but…"

"Son, I think I know you well enough to understand what you mean to say, even if you can't put it quite right. But if you want answers, you're going to have to start somewhere."

"…I guess I should say first that I know I'm responsible for helping Mr. Reynolds, no matter how confused my thinking was. …I'm not saying it wasn't my fault, because it was. But while I know now… while I've known for quite a while that what I did was wrong, at the time I wasn't so sure."

Trying to curb his frustration, Lucas waited a moment before carefully asking, "…How could you have thought it was alright?"

"…Because three years ago, you welcomed a wanted criminal into our home, and as you were explaining to me why he could be there, you said, "He even saved my life once." …I know you've told me that one good deed doesn't make up for all the wrong a person's done, but… Mr. Reynolds had saved my life and…"

"Mark…"

"Pa, please just let me finish explaining. I don't understand how it could be, but maybe Mr. Birch was somehow different… I'm not saying I can use it to excuse what I did. But it was part of what I thought about while I was trying to figure out what was the right thing to do. I know now that Mr. Reynolds was trying to manipulate me… I hate the thought of anyone dying, but I understand now why the judge considered hanging as a possibility. But at the time, I thought I knew there was good in him… I didn't think he could have done anything worthy of hanging. I know now it wasn't my judgement to make, but I kept thinking back to when that posse wanted to hang you for horse stealing. You hadn't done anything wrong and I thought I was gonna have to watch them lynch you! That same sick feeling came over me when Micah said they were going to hang Mr. Reynolds and… and I didn't know what to do. Yes, letting him go felt wrong. But I just kept thinking about Mr. Birch and it felt even more wrong to betray someone I naively considered a friend. I know better now. I know we have laws set in place because what we "feel" is no way to measure what's right and wrong. …But before you left, you asked me why I let him go. …And I did it because I thought, if it had been a friend of yours, you would have done the same. …Again, I know how wrong I was, I'm not trying to say it was anyone's fault but mine. …But I was confused because I felt like if I called out… I was putting you on the wrong side of the law when it came to Mr. Birch… and I felt like I would be the one putting a rope around Mr. Reynolds's neck."

"…Are you done?"

"…Yes, Sir."

"…Son, I think you know now that Reynolds was the one who put a rope around his own neck. …But I can understand how you thought that if you didn't follow the example I set, it meant that what I did was wrong. …And I'm guessing that's the question you don't know how to ask. You want to know if I was wrong to let Tom stay with us?"

Mark slowly nodded.

"Legally, I was walking a very thin line. Morally, I should have turned him in. …Son, there are parts of my past that I still struggle to let go of. That doesn't make it right… and I reckon I owe you an apology for setting the example I did. Friendships… they're tricky because they can make things seem more gray than black or white. …But you were right when you said the law is there because we can't make decisions based on how we feel in a given moment. …I reckon I was so hard on you because I hated seeing you make the same mistakes I had. And because your actions put you and others in danger."

"I'm sorry I didn't call for you and Micah."

Lucas nodded. "I know you are. Just…"

"Remember the lessons," he finished with a sad smile. "I know."

Early the next morning, Lucas returned to the hotel room after seeing Sam and Micah off. He found his son standing at the window, staring out of it. Despite having discussed what had happened the night before, he couldn't shake the feeling that Mark was holding something back and was concerned by the possibilities of what that something could be. The rancher slowly approached his son and placed a hand on the boy's good shoulder, his voice tight as he spoke.

"…Mark?"

Mark continued staring into the street as he answered in a whisper. "…Do you remember that night Henry Trumble was killed?"

Lucas hesitantly nodded as the lines on his brow deepened. "…I do."

"That night, death became real to me in a way I can't explain. …Even after losing Ma… it just wasn't the same. I guess maybe because that time, I was facing death alone. It scared me in a way that… that scarred me."

"…I wish you hadn't been forced to see that."

"…That wound was reopened in Mexico earlier this year when I thought those bandits had killed you. …I know how frustrated you were that I couldn't let go of what had happened, but-"

"Mark, I wasn't frustrated with you. I was frustrated with the situation, because there was nothing I could do to take that hurt away from you. Even though I was still alive, I knew it was still going to take time for you to feel safe again. …I was frustrated, because I knew that trip opened an even older wound, and forced you to relive losing your mother. …And I didn't know how to help you heal from either situation."

Mark slowly nodded, trying to push back the tears that welled in his eyes. Lucas turned his son around, looking down at him in concern.

"Mark, what happened out there?"

"…Ryker… Ryker said you were dead."

"Oh, Son…" Lucas pulled Mark into an embrace as tears fell down the boy's face.

"I… I'm trying to forget… I know it doesn't mean anything now… I know you say we can't live in the past, but I… Pa, I thought you were dead!"

Lucas tightened his arms around Mark, shaking his head as tears fell down his own cheeks. "That pain… that's something that takes time to heal, no matter how safe either one of us are." He again looked down at his son, placing a hand on his shoulder. "…I can't tell you how many times I had to look at your bed last night to assure myself that you were alright. You're here… you're safe… but that doesn't mean it never happened. …No, I don't want you to live in the past, but that doesn't mean you have to ignore the pain you feel now. It's going to take both of us time to heal… but you don't have to do it alone."

Mark nodded, trying to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "I… I didn't want to believe him… I couldn't let myself believe him… but… but then Mr. Morley came and-"

Hearing the anxiousness in his son's voice, Lucas gently led him to sit down. "Just start at the beginning, Son. Talk me through it."

The following afternoon, Mark followed his pa out of the hotel. "…You're not taking the stage home just because of me, are you?"

The rancher let out a short laugh as they started down the boardwalk. "No, Son. Don't misunderstand me- if I hadn't been shot we still would be taking the stage, but two days in the saddle wasn't going to do either one of us any good."

Mark nodded, hesitating his stride as he saw the sheriff's office down the street.

"Something the matter?"

"…No. I'm just glad that what I thought was true, wasn't. I… I didn't know what I was gonna do."

"I'm glad you didn't have to figure that out."

"…What did happen during the trial? All Ryker said was that Mr. Morley "stopped cooperating." …What did that mean?"

Seeing the stagecoach come to a stop outside the depot, Lucas gestured towards it. "I'll tell you on the way home."

"Pa? …Pa?" Mark shook his pa awake, then pointed out the coach window. "We're home."

Lucas stretched his tall frame as the stage came to a stop outside the depot. He followed Mark out of the coach, smiling to himself as Milly ran up and started mothering over his son.

"Oh, thank God you're alright!" She gave the boy a short embrace before looking up at his father. "And you, Lucas McCain…"

"Me? What did I do?"

"If it wasn't for Mark being out there…"

"We both made it back in one piece," he assured, putting an arm around her. "…Son, why don't you go see where Micah left the buckboard?"

"Sure, Pa."

Milly and Lucas both chuckled at the knowing look in the boy's eye as he ran off. The store keeper's quiet laughter then turned to a heavy sigh as she again looked up at Lucas.

"…Are you both really alright? When you left…"

"We're fine, I promise. Mark's shoulder will take a month or two to fully heal, but mine should be fine in another week or so."

"And your head?"

Lucas removed his hat, revealing the lack of a bandage. "Just as big as ever."

She gently smiled, pressing close to Lucas as he again wrapped his arm around her. "…I'll never understand how men could be so cruel. Holding up at your ranch for days on end… shooting you and then… then taking Mark…"

"I'm just glad it's behind us now."

"…I suppose you and Mark are anxious to get home?"

"I don't think either one of us feels like going back to our own cooking quite yet. I thought we would eat supper at the hotel first, if you want to join us?"

"The hotel? You'll do no such thing. I'll have supper on the table in an hour."

"Milly, you really don't-"

"After all the worrying you've put me through this last week, the least you can do is let me get a decent meal into you. Find Mark and Micah and bring them over."

He smiled, then bent down to give her a brief kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Lucas watched as Milly walked away, then headed after his son. He found the boy at the jail talking to the marshal.

"Buckboard's around back, Pa. Micah said he'd help us hitch the team when you were ready."

"Well it seems that can wait a while. The three of us are due at Milly's for supper."

"Oh, boy!"

"You head on over; Micah and I will be right behind you."

The rancher watched as his son hurried out of the office, then turned back to the marshal.

"…Something on your mind, Lucas-boy?"

"…I know you've said you understand about Tom Birch… but I don't think I ever apologized to you for what happened. I'm sorry I let our friendship affect my judgement. At the very least, I should have told you he was in the area."

"I've had my own lapses in judgment… you aren't the first man to do a favor for a friend, and you won't be the last." A few moments passed before the marshal went on, "…Lucas, I got a copy of Mark's statement from the sheriff right before we left. I didn't have a chance to read it until this morning. There's something I think you need to know."

"Reynolds?"

Micah's brow furrowed at the question. "How did you know?"

"Mark told me after you left."

"…How's the boy handling it? I'm sure it only confused his feelings about the man even more."

"No… as a matter of fact, it finally helped him see the kind of man Reynolds really was. The experience still has him shaken up some… but I think it gave him some much needed clarity."

The marshal nodded, finishing his cup of coffee before placing it on the desk. "Well, we best be getting over to Milly's."

"Say, where's Sam? I'm surprised he didn't meet the stage."

"He said to tell you he was sorry he couldn't stay, but he needed to catch the stage to Saint Louis this morning. Said he and Beth would visit as soon as they could."

Lucas smiled, suddenly letting out a long laugh.

"What?"

"Just never thought I'd see the day when Sam would settle down."

"Love, Lucas-boy. You should know better than anyone else, it'll work miracles."