As the men made their way across the few miles to where Larabee believed Ezra had been held, they were all painfully aware of the silence left empty by the absence of Ezra's usual nervous banter. Vin had moved out slightly ahead to get the lay of the land knowing that the others would quietly follow him. Finally, in the distance the light from a low burning campfire shone like a beacon. The six men grimly strode directly into the camp with practiced ease. There, they found three men deeply asleep in the early morning air, snoring loudly in the pre-dawn quiet. Not for long though. All of a sudden chaos reigned over the campsite.
"Where is she?" Chris demanded, hauling the closest man to him off his bedroll and into the air. The man, after a moment of disorientation, just smirked at Chris, refusing to answer the question.
Chris's steely gaze flickered over to meet Vin's. "Kill him. We got the other two."
The terrified man jumped when he heard the cocking of Vin's mare's leg, feeling the cold steel of its barrel resting behind his ear. In that moment, after seeing his life race by, he decided that loyalty was one thing, living was another. Taking giant gulps of air into his quaking body, he told Larabee everything he wanted to know.
"Julian!"
The exhausted girl was startled back to reality at what she thought was the sound of her brother's voice calling out to her. 'No,' she admonished herself. 'It is just my mind playing tricks on me again.' She had laid in the dark cell for days praying that Chris would find her but as time went by and no rescue came about, she began to lose hope. After Ezra had been taken away, she'd received no food or water. Nothing. Except their unwanted attentions on her bruised and torn body. Shuddering in disgust at the memories, Julian began to retreat back to her semi-conscious state as the door to her cell flew open, flooding her hell with precious white-gold light.
"Julian?"
Yes, she heard the cry again, only closer now. And now, an angel looking ever so much like her brother appeared before her. Well, it appeared that even God had a sense of humor, she thought . Chris, an angel!
Her brother, correct that, the "angel", carefully picked up her emaciated, bloody from from the dirt floor and brought her out into the larger room where the light was much brighter. Because she had been deprived of any light during the duration of her captivity, her eyes could not take the assault on them. With a faint cry escaping from her cracked lips, she buried her face in the angels black cotton shirt.