Andy grunted a little and tried to roll away as he felt something nudging his leg. He wasn't ready to get up yet. "Five more minutes, Slim. I promise I'll do the chores."

"Andy, wake up," his brother whispered in his ear, and that low tone, that sense of urgency and wrongness, had Andy awake and alert quicker than a shout. The memory of everything that had happened came crashing back, and disappointment thudded through him as he remembered where he was and how he got there. He felt a little better as his eyes landed on Slim, but even that disappeared as the fresh bruises on Slim's face and the handcuffs keeping Slim's arms wrapped around a tree came into view.

"Keep quiet," his brother whispered. "They're all asleep, for now, but we haven't got much time."

Andy nudged a little closer, trying desperately to make as little noise as possible. "You got a plan, Slim?" He was almost afraid to feel hope – he'd been disappointed a lot lately. But Slim's plans were usually pretty good.

"You're getting out of here. Tonight."

And that made Andy's heart soar. Tonight. In the next twenty-four hours, they'd be free and clear. After everything that had happened, it was almost too good to be true. "How?"

Slim nodded to his feet. "They didn't do a great job of checking me. I've still got a small knife in my boot. Once you get yourself free, take my horse – he'll recognize you, he won't raise a fuss. Get back to Jess. If you ride hard, you'll make it in time. You'll have to ride bareback, but you're pretty good at that." He grinned at his brother, as if hoping Andy wouldn't see the worry in his eyes. "Guess you had a good teacher."

It sounded good to Andy. He'd be willing to take a bigger risk than that to finally, finally be free of Skeenan. Except…

"What about you?" Unease blossomed into urgency in his stomach as he realized exactly what Slim was suggesting.

Slim shrugged and shifted his hands, still wrapped around the tree and handcuffed together. "Can't be helped, Andy. There's no way I'm getting out of these cuffs, and this is our last chance to get away from here and get help for Jess."

"I'm not gonna do it, Slim." Andy could feel panic building in his chest, pulsing his heart and threatening to burst out of him. "I'm not gonna leave you here with a bunch of murderers."

"You've got to, Andy," said Slim, and the urgency in his voice was a reflection of Andy's own racing pulse. "You may be Jess's only chance."

"But don't you see!" Andy knew he was coming close to wailing, and he knew, by the quick glance Slim sent back to the sleeping outlaws, that he was too loud. He tried to lower his voice. "You're doing the same thing as Skeenan. You're making me choose between you and Jess, and I can't do it!"

He cut himself off, knowing that if he kept going he'd be too loud, too panicked, and then they'd be in even more trouble. He bit his lip and looked at the ground. The past few days had been some of the worst in his life, but this moment took the cake.

"Andy. Look at me." His brother's voice was quiet but sure, the same no-nonsense voice Andy had learned to take seriously, and Andy looked up.

Slim was looking at him, clear and steady. "Andy, a lot of things have been telling me lately that you're a man, but I just didn't want to believe it. I'd rather you stayed my little brother." He smiled a little. "I guess we both know that can't happen.

"And this is one of the things that comes with being a man. You have to make tough choices. You have to make a call and accept the consequences. And you do the best you can, so no matter what happens, you can live with yourself."

Slim sighed a little. "Andy, there are two options here. You can stay here with me, and we'll both get to the Canadian Pass. There's a chance someone else will find Jess, and a chance these men'll let you go eventually. Or you can leave tonight and get back in time to save Jess."

"Leaving you here to…here with them."

"They need me to get them to Canada. I'll be all right." They both heard the unspoken ending: "At least until we make the Pass."

There was a blanket of silence, until Slim said, "It's your choice, Andy. You're a man, with a man's responsibility and a man's right to make his own decisions. I'll stand by whatever you choose."

Andy stared at him helplessly. On the one hand, Slim was his big brother, the only family he had left. Slim was the one who made him do his chores, and took care of him when he was sick, and made sure they still had Christmas after Ma died. He couldn't leave him here, to be used and beaten and eventually killed by these men.

But Jess was his brother, too. Jess took him fishing, and let him have the last cookie, and showed him how to hang off the side of a horse so no one could shoot you. Jess had been his friend when even Slim didn't seem to understand him. Losing Jess would be the same as losing family.

It was an impossible choice, and Andy didn't want to make it. He wanted to be told what to do, and he wanted everything to work out all right. But that wasn't going to happen. He had a choice to make, and it was like Slim said: all he could do was make the best choice possible and live with the consequences. Andy bit his lip and studied the ground and tried to think through his options.

Neither one was good. Both choices ended with someone he loved probably dead. And he was sharply, painfully aware of Skeenan's "last choice."

But Slim was free, to a certain extent, and he had a little time. He was also smart, and resourceful, and he was right – these men did need him, at least until they made it to the Pass. Jess was tied up, and there was no reason for anyone to come by looking for him. There was a chance he could get out of the bonds, or find some water to keep him alive, or that someone would come by…but the odds were stacked against him.

Andy hated it, but Slim was right. Jess needed him more. He looked up at his brother, and he wished he could say something, anything, but his throat swelled up and he could barely breathe, let alone talk. Instead, he just nodded.

But Slim knew what he meant. Slim always knew. His brother smiled.

"All right." He lifted his right boot. "Get started."

Andy pulled out the small knife and started cutting into the ropes. As he worked, he realized that he agreed with Slim about something else, something other than the plan to rescue Jess.

Andy wished he could stay Slim's little brother, too.

XXX

Night had worn on, minute by anxious minute, and Slim had stayed awake and alert for most of it. He had only just fallen into a restless sleep, face pressed against the rough bark of the tree when he was awakened by a solid kick to the side.

His body contorted around the sudden bruising pain, but a moment later, a hand grabbed his hair and his head was slammed against the tree that had been his bed. Before he could so much as groan, the hand fisted against his scalp yanked his head up, and he was staring into the fanatical eyes of Bill Skeenan.

"Where is he?" roared Skeenan, covering Slim's face in spittle. "Where's the kid?"

Despite the new gash on his forehead and the unexpected spit shower, Slim smiled. They hadn't gotten him, then: Andy was safe. He'd thought as much last night, after Andy had left and there was no sign of additionally stirring. His hopes had only grown in the hours he'd stayed awake after his brother's departure, watching and praying, and Skeenan's outrage was the final confirmation Slim needed. Praise God, he thought, and meant it.

Stars exploded in front of Slim's eyes as Skeenan tightened his grip on Slim's hair and slammed his head against the tree again. "Think it's funny, do you? Think you're gonna make it out of this with even an ounce of your hide left?"

Slim kept smiling, but it had turned into a wolfish, feral smile. "I think it's gonna be hard to turn Andy against me when he isn't even here."

Judging by the look on Skeenan's face and the knife that came up to Slim's throat, those were going to be his last words, but at that instant Charlie shouted from across the camp.

"Bill! We're all set, we gotta get going! We'll need all the time we can get now."

Skeenan glared down at Slim like he wanted to peel his skin from his bones. The pressure of the knife made that a distinct possibility, but after a moment it sliced downward without cutting Slim's throat. To Slim's relief, the knife was soon replaced with the key to the handcuffs.

Skeenan pulled Slim to his feet and he almost fell over; sitting in one position against a tree all night had done his legs no favors. Using the tree for balance, he tried to get his blood flowing, at least enough to move freely, while the rest of the gang sat or stood beside their horses and watched him with more or less amusement.

At least, thought Slim as the blood prickled through his legs like chaps of nettles, he didn't have to entertain them by getting shot.

"All right, you're right enough," said Charlie gruffly. He grabbed Slim's arm and, despite the pained limping, hauled him toward the horses, every one of which – except Charlie's – was already carrying a passenger.

Slim grimaced. It had occurred to him last night that when Andy took the horse he had been riding, he would be in trouble. It hadn't mattered then, as long as Andy got away safely, but it mattered a little to him now. Especially as he tried to figure out who he'd have to double up with. He hoped it wasn't Skeenan.

But when Charlie pulled down his lasso and started tying Slim's hands together, he started to think that riding double with Skeenan might not be the worst option.

"Who do I ride with?" he asked, even though he already suspected the answer.

It was Skeenan who replied. "Ain't you noticed? We had a terrible misfortune last night. Some no-good horse thief ran off with your horse." He grinned blood while the other men snickered. "But don't you worry. We catch him, we'll hang him, for sure. In the meantime, you're gonna have to walk."

Slim's jaw tightened, but he didn't respond. He'd already figured as much. He watched as the rope was tied to the pommel of Skeenan's saddle. "I'm not going to be able to lead you very well if I'm the only one walking."

Skeenan's horse lurched forward, taking Slim by surprise and pulling him to his knees. "Sorry, Sherman – didn't catch that."

Slim gritted his teeth and pushed himself back to his feet, but before he had regained his balance, Skeenan's horse lunged forward again.

This time Slim was laid out flat, to the jeers and catcalls of the group. He was sore and bleeding and fighting mad, and just about ready to take on Skeenan regardless of whether he was riding a horse, but Charlie put an end to the game by calling out, "All right, let's get going. The sooner we're out of this country, the better."

Reluctantly, Skeenan let Slim find his feet. "You're gonna wish you had a horse by the end of all this, Sherman. I'm gonna make you regret everything."

Except the horse had gone with Andy, which was the only reason Andy was going to get out of all this alive. And Jess, too, probably. There was no way on God's green earth that Skeenan, even with all his cruelty and spite, could make him regret that. Andy was free, and Slim would live a hundred days of torment for his little brother. Or, as looked to be more likely, only one or two.