Four.

Chris Larabee was not having a good morning.

He'd set off from the bar in good time, with high hopes of reaching Four Corners before the menacing silver-haired man and his posse, and had been making good time. However, any hopes he had been carrying, were ruined by the blow to the back of his head.

He hated being jumped, and as he lay in the dust with a hand to the tender throbbing bump on his head, he remembered exactly why that was. He heaved himself to a sitting position with a groan of exertion, and raised the tails of his jacket. There was a large bullet hole in the back. Chris smiled despite himself at another close scrape.

Everything had appeared to happen at once. A rider had come alongside him, asking for directions, as Chris turned to gauge his own bearings, the man had hit him over the back of the head, and as more riders approached, one had shot at him as he had fallen from the horse. Although it had missed him, Chris' unconscious state had convinced them otherwise, and the men, no doubt those looking for Ezra, had wasted little time in pushing towards Four Corners themselves.

They were in a hurry.

Using a small, dry looking tree, Chris pulled himself to his feet, and as his head pounded and his world spun, he resolved to give the bartender a good thumping next time he visited, for he was certain a man who knew of Ezra, also knew, by description or reputation alone, himself and the others also. He sighed as he cast around for his horse, which seemed long gone. Reputations had a way of spreading.

He touched his head one more time, and glanced up at the sun, it was still high, maybe one o'clock. He checked for his guns, which were still there, and, replacing his hat carefully, and covering his eyes with the shade of the brim, he set off, following the trails left before him.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Besides the morbid nature of the jail, the other thing that appeared to interest Hannah was flowers. This Ezra had found out whilst conducting 'day two' of the 'guided tour'. Both Catherine and Hannah had jumped at the idea of a leisurely walk, and right from the start, Hannah had been diving through the long grasses, holding up pretty flowers and inquiring as to what they were. Catherine had stayed quiet on the subject, and so Ezra had taken it upon himself to educate Hannah on local horticulture.

"What's this one Ezra?" for what seemed the hundredth time that afternoon, Hannah dashed towards them, clutching a small flower with pointed leaves. Both adults halted, and Ezra took the flower, studying its form carefully, with a series of serious sounding 'hmmms.'

"Why I do believe that particular specimen is known as the Devil's fork, due to there only being three leaves, and the deep red colour near the centre."

He handed it back carefully, and Hannah, eyes glowing with excitement, rushed off to find something new.

"I take it you don't really know much about plant-life either?" Catherine commented, fighting hard not to smile as she stared ahead, trying to look nonchalant. Ezra grinned at her roguishly,

"Madam, I have not the faintest idea."

Catherine laughed, and Ezra smiled, and looked down at the grass beneath his feet, pleased at having amused her. They carried on in silence for a while, both watching Hannah carefully parting grasses to examine flowers, before either disregarding, or picking a sample.

"Where we came from there was never much in the way of wildlife, or plants," Catherine commented. Ezra glanced at her, noting a change in her voice, a hint of sadness, "She loves it all so much, everything about the outdoors thrills her," she gave a nostalgic smile, "In that way she's very much like her father. He was never a city-boy either. But me, well, I'm different, New York born and raised."

Ezra thought for moment, his mind shifting through appropriate replies to make in the face of such openness.

"Surely this isn't you're first trip away from New York though. You seem to be well adapted to the travelling lifestyle."

She looked at him,

"You mean what Hannah said, about us being nomadic?" she sighed, "Sometimes, that's the way it has to be. We've moved around so much in the last two years that our feet have barely touched the ground. Never out this far though. I never thought it would suit us as well as it has," She seemed genuinely pleased, and glanced at him with a warm smile.

He smiled too, and turned to look ahead of him,

"Is it necessary for you to move on again?"

Catherine sighed again, her shoulders slumping a little, her face looking weary. Suddenly she seemed very small,

"I don't know," she shook her head, "Probably. Some day."

They walked on quietly together, Ezra desperately trying to piece together what he knew. There was something more that he wanted to find out, and he wasn't getting anywhere. Not that he wanted to force a confession from her.

"Mother look!" a voice emerged from a line of trees before them, and a rosy-cheeked Hannah dashed out from under the shade, "There's a pool!" she ran towards them grabbing hold of Catherine's hand excitedly as she continued, "And I bet it's got fishes and everything!"

Catherine laughed and shook her hand free, coaxing her forward with a gentle push,

"Well you'd better go and see what else you can find so you can tell us all about it when we get there."

Her daughter needed little encouragement, and was off across the grass like a racehorse.

Ezra grinned as he shouted after her,

"See if you can't catch us something appetising! We appear to have missed lunch!"

Catherine laughed, colour flushing back to her cheeks. He held out his hand to her as the ground began to slope awkwardly to the trees,

"Shall we?"

She took it, and, noting Hannah waving to them from the tree line smiled,

"I think we must."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

To anyone who didn't know better, it would have seemed that Buck was asleep. Sitting back in a chair outside the saloon, feet resting out across the boards on top of one another, hat pulled down low.

Vin stepped up beside him, his voice low, eyes resting on the road into town,

"Riders coming in. Eight of 'em,"

Buck smiled, pushing his hat up lazily with one thumb,

"I like those odds,"

Vin gave a wry smile, his eyes still on the riders. They were coming in fast, already thundering past the first few wooden structures of the town.

Across the road, JD stepped out of the jail, his hat in his hand, wiping a sleeve across his forehead. He stepped into the road, before glancing down and noticing something lying in the dust, glinting like a piece of gold. He looked closer, it was a bracelet. He picked it up, placing it in his palm as he examined his winnings. Smiling as he turned over each of the individual charms.

It was therefore, something of a surprise for him when eight horses charged past, not inches from his face. With a yell of fright he stepped backwards, and tripped over the boardwalk, landing on the wood with a thump as the riders skidded to a steady halt.

Buck was up on his feet at once as he and Vin wandered across the dusty street to check on their youngest comrade.

"That boy is gonna get himself killed one of these days," Buck was muttering as they stood and watched JD pulling himself to his feet with a look of sheer indignation. He brushed himself down haughtily, snatching his hat back from Vin, who'd picked it up from the ground,

"They nearly ran me down!" JD pointed angrily at the riders, who, still mounted, were regarding the threesome casually.

Buck snorted,

"JD! You were standing in the road!"

"Well...I...I..." JD stopped, sensing failure, and satisfied himself with disgruntled huffing as he brushed dirt from his clothes.

Vin looked up as a silver-haired man broke away from the group, and walked his horse sedately up to them. Beside him, Buck was doing the same as he was, and making a point of having his guns on display. The man didn't seem too intimidated however, and simply shot them a thin smile,

"Afternoon 'fellas,"

JD shot him a healthy death-glare, but managed to control his temper as Vin inclined his head slightly.

The horse shifted underneath the man, who turned slightly to get a better view of them,

"We're looking for a man. Goes by the name Standish,"

All three of them bristled instantly, on full alert. The man however, either didn't notice or ignored any changes and carried on, "Know anyone by that name round here?"

There was a small pause as Buck, and Vin eyed the man cautiously. JD, still significantly annoyed, chipped in the from the back,

"Who's asking?" he snapped as he shoved on his hat. The man however simply ignored him,

"I'm asking because I have it on good information he was travelling with an..." he paused to consider his choice of words, "...an, acquaintance of ours. A woman, small child with her."

"Your sister is she?" asked Buck, in a voice that implied he wasn't going to believe any answer but 'no.'

The man smiled again,

"No. But we go back a long way."

There was an eerie silence as Buck, JD and Vin tried to decipher the meaning behind the last line, before Vin answered for the group,

"Standish you said? Well, I reckon if I see a Standish round here, I'll tell him you're looking for him, and as for a woman and child, well, we have our own fair share around here, so unless you're willing to be more specific, I don't think we can help," he tipped his hat as beside him, a satisfied smile spread thinly across Buck's face, his eyes though, still cold, "Good day."

The silver-haired man regarded the group for a second, before narrowing his eyes and nodding his head, as if in bitter understanding. He managed another insincere smile however, before turning back to his group, and leading them off.

JD blew out a long breath,

"Well, what was all that about then?"

Buck sighed and shrugged,

"Damned if I know," he sat down on the boards and grinned, "Though trust Ezra to be at the centre of it."

JD eyed the group of riders as they sped up out of the town,

"Think they'll be back?"

Buck nodded,

"Oh I know it."

"Well? What will we do then? What about Catherine and Hannah?" asked JD. They all knew who the man had been after.

Vin shook his head,

"We'll just have to watch out, and be ready for when they do show up again."

Buck chuckled,

"Well, you can hardly separate Ezra from those two the last few days so he'll be as good as any to look out for them."

Vin nodded, "I hope so."