Chapter 2
Larabee was furious. They had been ambushed! Most likely by the same rustlers they were suppose to be out looking for. The heavy fire had forced them to take immediate cover, resulting in a decided lack of assets. They had suffered because of it, barely getting off a round apiece. JD now sported a brand new bullet hole in his arm and Josiah had been nicked by slivers of rock that he was hiding behind. Chris could see that Buck was almost beyond control. Between getting shots off at their attackers, he was trying to keep an eye on the kid. Nathan was holding his own, keeping his large body behind some desert bush. The only positive thing they had going for themselves right now was the fact that Vin had been out ahead of them scouting when the fight started. From his position further up in the hills, Vin had managed to wing one of the men responsible. A small retribution to be sure.
Oddly, as quickly as it began, the gunfire stopped. All at once a deathly calm descended over the valley. After several tense minutes, they heard the sounds of hoofbeats approaching their location. Larabee cautiously left his cover and saw the tracker returning from his spot in the hills. Chris listened as Vin returned with news of his hit, sweeping the landscape for any sign of more danger. As he took stock of the situation, he realized that he had not seen Ezra since well before the gunfight. Angrily, he thrust his fingers through his wind tossed hair.
After assuring one another that they were fine, save for a few nicks and minor wounds, they set out searching for the wayward gambler, Nathan and JD making their way back towards the town. At first, Chris and the others assumed the worst. If Ezra was not there, he must be shot and unable to get himself to them. They searched the immediate area, looking for some sort of sign. Blood, a body, anything. Their search proved fruitless. There was no sign that the former conman had even been there.
And after a few hours, Chris had been forced to accept the only possible explanation.
Ezra had run out on them once again. They'd all trusted Ezra. Expected him to be there when things went wrong. And then, when they'd needed him the most, Ezra had took off! Larabee was disgusted.
The six exhausted men slowly headed their mounts back towards Four Corners.
"Chris?" Vin called out to the gunslinger as he sat down in the seat next to his friend. Vin's voice penetrated his liquor-clouded thoughts, but he refused to acknowledge the sharpshooter's unwanted presence. The tracker held out the tan colored slip of paper in his hand and tried again. "Chris?" He asked again, "This just come for ya. Telegraph office said it's urgent."
This caught the brooding man's attention. He tore the paper from Vin's grasp thinking that maybe it was word from Ezra. The whiskey did not help his brain to function clearly, making him struggle to sense of the words before him. Squinting, he read:
Chris Larabee. STOP. On way now. STOP. No need for chaperone. STOP. Arrive one week. STOP. Julian. STOP.
"Aww, shit!" Chris exclaimed. Suddenly he wished he had not already finished the whiskey. 'What else can go wrong?'
Nathan sat alone in the jail, disgruntled that he had to be stuck with night watch for the second night in a row. "Dammit. This was Standish's turn but he done run out before he could get to it." the healer grumbled to the empty room.
It was no secret that of all the men in their ragtag group, Ezra was not the one that he was closest to. 'Hell, he probably conned us all. He probably never changed,' Nathan thought as he aimlessly shuffled through the tall stack of wanted posters that were sitting on the small desk. It just didn't make sense to him. After all the time he'd spent with the man, Nathan had come to believe that the Southerner was changing. He thought that the gambler was no longer judging folks based on their look alone. The way Ezra helped that Chinese girl had improved Nathan's opinion of him greatly. Hell, Nathan almost believed Ezra wouldn't never run out on them again. Frustrated, he thrust wanted posters into the small desk drawer and shoved himself back away from the rickety desk.
"Guess I hoped too much," Nathan said to the air, settling himself more comfortably in the wooden chair as he prepared to spend yet another long night doing a chore he liked the least.
