A/N: I guess the last chapter was a bit confusing. Ezra, Buck, and Chris went to Purgatory while Josiah and the others took the kids to the Widow's ranch. Kids were doing chores supervised by Josiah. THEN the next day, all of the men went to rescue the other young ladies that had been kidnapped. I will admit that the beginning of this chapter is a bit forced – not my best work – but I really wanted to push through to get this completed.

PLEASE SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS

Chapter 24

Rhianna shared a knowing look with True and then turned her eyes to Naomi to make sure the dark haired girl was on board. They really didn't need many words.

"We do not have much time," Rhianna stated for Creed and Conall's benefit. "Creed, the widow has a shotgun inside the house. Slip around back, explain to her that there's danger and see if you can get her to hide in a closet. Lock up the doors barricade them with a piece of furniture and cover one with the shotgun. She doesn't speak much English but tell her "Mucho peligro," the blond girl advised, repeating the phrase and mentally reinforcing it so he could remember. Conall, you are good with your rifle. See if you can get a high vantage point to cover us."

Conall looked at the younger girl and contemplated arguing but knew there was very little time. The teen also knew that she was right. He was a very good shot with a rifle and though he had never taken a human life and didn't relish the idea, he was prepared to do in defense of his friends.

"I want that Fitz SOB," True stated darkly, pulling a knife that she had appropriated during a quick covert trip into the ranch house the day before. "After that, I'm willin' ta take what's leftover."

Naomi nodded, less concerned with the man that had caused her harm than the one she had seen molest two of the other young women. "I want the swarthy one, with the silver streaks in his hair."

"I would like to attempt to persuade the newcomers to leave. They've no investment, so might not think the effort worthwhile," Rhianna explained.

"Hell, this ain't hardly gonna be no fun with them odds," True complained, causing Rhianna to roll her eyes.

As much as he might not like it, Creed knew that his assignment was really the best for him. He had absolutely no experience and quite frankly he was more than a little bit scared right now. Before leaving for the ranch house, however, he stopped True. "You aim ta keep yer promise ta me?"

True looked at her best friend, wanting to cuss him up one side and down the other, but using the most self-control she ever had in her short life, she bit her tongue. Remembering how hurt and upset Creed had been when she was shot, True gave him a curt nod, "Do my best, but this ain't really nuthin."

"It's sumthin ta me," he said quietly. "Don't go givin' in ta that darkness True. Just do what ya gotta do and be done with it."

"Course," True nodded, thinking this was a pointless discussion as obviously that was exactly what she was going to do. "We ain't gotta get all girly an' mushy an' shit now, right?"

Creed just rolled his eyes and headed off toward the back of the house.

***M7***M7***M7***

Actually, the stand-off was anti-climatic to say the least. Upon seeing Naomi and the other two girls, the kidnappers were more than ready to add to the gold they expected to get for the other captives. Rhianna offered her ultimatum with a little mental push and one of the unknown men decided to heed her advice, taking off back toward Purgatory.

When the men rushed the girls, Conall downed one with a shot in the leg and put another in his gun arm when he went for his weapon. True was on the one called Fitz before he even knew what was happening and any hope he might have had of surviving the encounter was crushed when he pointed his gun at Rhianna. Having jumped onto his back, True buried her knife into his jugular with frightening precision.

Naomi, had a bit more trouble with her opponent, not having a weapon at hand. Honestly, it looked more like she was dancing than fighting at times. With a quick look, and an eye roll, True allowed her clan member the courtesy of leaving him to her, at least for the time being. She went for one of the other newcomers, just as Rhianna brought down the man she had been fighting with.

Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over. There were two dead and three wounded. By the

time the widow's ranch hand returned from the north pasture for the midday meal the survivors were tied up and stowed in the smoke house.

Unfortunately, the children were then left with the morbid thought of informing their caregivers of their antics.

"Well, it's not like we had much choice is it?" Naomi demanded when the topic was brought up.

"They are unlikely to see it that way," Rhianna explained.

"We shoulda jest killed an' buried 'em all, then no one'd be the wiser," True complained."

"True," Creed started but was cut off by his friend.

"Nuh uh, don't ya dare! I did as ya asked and now look at the trouble we got. Ain't like yer gonna be in fer it. Yer Pa can't complain about what you did."

"Mine's not likely to be upset either," Conall said with a shrug. "It isn't like we went looking for it. They came to us."

"I suppose I could send the survivors back into purgatory, but the widow is unlikely to keep this ordeal a secret, and I am loathe to give myself a migraine if it is not going to buy us anything. I think that the best we can do, is to finish the chores we were assigned and hope for the best," Rhianna suggested.

***M7***M7***M7***

Silence. Absolute and total silence resonated in the barn where the seven peacekeepers, plus two fathers, faced the five children who had just explained what had transpired earlier that day.

Finally, Buck broke the silence. "Well, I don't know 'bout the rest of ya'all, but Naomi and I got a discussion that's long overdue," he said with a seldom used grim tone. "We're gonna be using the bunk house for a spell if no one has any objections." With that he grabbed hold of the dark haired girl and ushered her out of the barn.

"Rhianna and I'll be taking a walk to the woodshed," Chris stated darkly, causing the girl to lose all color in her face.

The others started slipping away. Both Mr. McGowan and Mr. Tucker had decided to take their respective sons for a walk. Though neither man believed there was the need for a physical chastisement they wanted to be sure the boys understood the levity of the situation. JD, Josiah, and Nathan had volunteered to take the prisoners to Purgatory and figured there was no better time than the present.

"Well, guess that's it then," True said with a shrug heading for the exit, but Vin was quick to grab her around the waist.

"Not so fast, Sunshine."

"What?" she demanded with as much attitude as she dared under the circumstances.

Vin turned the girl to him, pinning her with a piercing look from his blue eyes. His voice was quiet and level but there was no denying that he was beyond angry. "Anythin' ta add ta whatch'y'all tol' us?"

"N-n-no, not really."

"And ya agree that all that was said 'as true and right?"

"Ah, yeah," she answered hesitantly, feeling as if she was in a trap she just didn't quite know how to avoid.

He held out his hand expectantly, "Knife."

She winced at his sharp tone, but pulled out the knife and gave it to him.

"Where'd ya get it?"

"Ah, well –"

"The truth."

True looked down at her boots. "The ranch house," she whispered.

He lifted her chin. "We talked about stealin' ain't we? And handlin' weapons?"

"Yeah," she answered her eyes not meeting his.

"And puttin' yerself in danger when ya don't gotta?" Vin's eyes flashed at this, remembering the gunshot scar she now had underneath her clothes.

"But Vin-"

"Answer me."

"Yeah," she huffed, not happy with where this was going.

"And last time didn't ya get shot doin' exactly that?"

"W-w-well…"

"So there's no reason ya wouldn't be expectin' to get her backside tanned right now."

"But Vin-"

"True, you arguin' with me ain't gonna make this any better. Now we still gotta talk 'bout ya leavin' town ta go after Naomi when we get home and ya got 15 comin' to ya with the brush on top o' that. Think it's best we jest deal with this now."

True looked up with her big baby blues. "Please, Vin."

The sharpshooter steeled himself. "That ain't gonna work," he informed her pulling the girl to the nearest hay bale and unfastening her trousers. He pulled them down and was seated with True over his lap before she could put up too much of a fight. Vin then unfastened the buttons to her union suit and bared her bottom.

With a resigned sigh, True decided to take solace in the fact that Vin had not taken his belt off. As much as his hand spankings sucked, they were nothing compared to his belt. When the first smack landed, however, True's breath was taken clean away and when her lungs finally filled with air she exclaimed without thinking.

"Motherfuckin' son of a –"

Another swat landed on her thighs, stopping her tirade.

"Watch yer mouth True," Vin warned as the girl looked back, wide eyed, to view the wooden monstrosity that Vin held in his hand. The widow kept her washboard just inside the barn in the wash basin with the accompanying paddle hanging right on it and Vin had grabbed the implement without True's noticing. The weathered piece of solid pine, used to scrub dirty clothes across the board, was plenty adequate to impart the lesson Vin was trying to get across.

With the next smack, True's eyes filled with tears. DAMN that thing hurt like nobody's business! She was reduced to sobs in no time at all, kicking and promising to be good. Vin once again hardened his heart, knowing that True only learned things through hard lessons, though he was careful and measured with his strikes. When he paused to let her catch her breath, he exhaled slowly.

"I'm gonna do ya a kindness True, though ya might not see it as such. Ya got fifteen comin' with the brush, I'm gonna give ya seven more with this here paddle since it's a mite heavier and call the slate clean."

"N-n-n-noooo!" True whaled. "D-d-don't w-want yer kindness!"

Vin steeled himself, knowing that it would be better for True to get these out of the way. The next six swats were actually quite mild, as the sharp shooter figured True wouldn't really notice the difference. The final one however, was the most powerful yet and aimed right at the juncture between her thigh and the curve of her buttocks. True howled.

"Yer gonna stop puttin' yerself in danger little girl, even if I hafta take ta paddlin' ya every day, ya hear?"

"I'm soooorrry! Y-y-ya don't gotta d-d-do that!"

"So this is a lesson you've learned then?"

"YES!"

"Okay then, I'm gonna hold ya to thet." Vin set the paddle down and righted True's clothing, carefully pulling the girl into his lap to cry out her pain and sorrow. He gently rubbed her back and rocked back and forth. "I love ya Sunshine. I can't bear ta think about ya takin' another bullet."

"Love ya too," she whispered.

***M7***M7***M7***

"What in the hell were you thinking?" Chris growled arms crossed as he leaned against a stack of wood in the small outbuilding.

"We couldn't just let them go on their way."

"That is EXACTLY what you should have done! Damnit! It's like you've taken total leave of your senses since Naomi ran off. Vin would have tracked them and we'd have caught up with them. There was no need for you to get involved."

"We are all perfectly fine," she replied tersely. "We were trained for much worse than that."

Chris's eyes narrowed at Rhianna's flippant comment and his hands went to his belt. "You are a little girl, Rhianna, not a soldier, or a warrior, or a spy or anything else that clan of yours trained you to be and I am going to get that point across to you even if I've got to tan your hide every day for a year."

The blond girl's face lost all color as she realized what indulging her temper might have cost her.

"Take yer britches and underthings down," he ordered in a voice so low that the hairs on the back of the girl's neck stood up. As she complied, he put his leg up on the chopping block and pulled the girl over his knee. He wouldn't have quite the full swing but he wasn't going to have her lay over the wood pile bare either, knowing that would likely result in scratches and slivers in unseemly places. Besides, the precarious position would undoubtedly unsettle the girl, despite his secure hold around her waist.

With the first strike of leather against her bare skin, Rhianna would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that his swing suffered very little. She was gasping after only the fourth smack. There was no question of her remaining stoic during this punishment. Chris had her bawling in short order and her striped backside was crimson.

"Are you a soldier or any other kind of warrior?" he asked bring the belt down on her thighs

"NO SIR!" she gave him the answer he wanted instantly, hoping the bring an end to the painful blows.

"What are you?" the stinging leather fell on her thighs again.

Rhianna sniffed once, but didn't dare hesitate, despite being loathe to give the answer he sought, "A little girl."

"Exactly. And you are gonna start behaving like one or we're gonna be doing this a whole lot more. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir."

Chris dropped the belt and set Rhianna upon her feet, holding her steady so that she didn't crumble to the ground. He helped her fix her clothing and then enveloped her in his strong arms and let her cry. "I love you darlin' and I know was hard on you, but this is a lesson you need to learn once and for all."

"I have got the message loud and clear," she sniffed.

"Even so, I'm sorry to say this isn't the last of it. We'll be having another discussion when we get home."

"That really is not necessary," she assured him.

Chris kissed the top of her head. He wasn't going to argue but neither was he going to change his mind. Her safety was too important to him.

***M7***M7***M7***

Buck pushed his charge down on the bunk and retrieved an old wooden chair so that he could sit directly across from her. He pulled something wrapped in brown paper from his coat pocket and gave it to her.

Naomi was bewildered to say the least and gave Buck a quizzical look as she hefted the solid item.

"Open it," he nodded. He'd picked the gift up in Purgatory when the rest of the men had been taking the rescued girls to a church outside of town.

She opened it, and inside was the most beautiful, not to mention largest, hair brush she had ever seen. The beautifully polished Mexican Cocobolo Rosewood was polished to a gorgeous sheen and quite nearly matched her mahogany locks.

"Figured you could use that while yer gettin' yourself cleaned up," he explained softly before his voice took on a hard edge, "After we use it for another purpose."

Tears burned in Naomi's eyes. The hair brush was positively lovely and she would have been absolutely thrilled with the gift if she did not know that the very heavy implement would soon be used on her tender backside. She was torn between thanking Buck and cursing him.

Before she could do either, Buck asked in a stony voice, "So before ya took off you was playin' me for a fool."

"No, Buck, it really wasn't like that. That time we spent was really special to me. I just couldn't bear to see you end up dead. Anyone I ever care about ends up dead."

"And how do you think I'd 've felt if you ended up dead, or worse?"

"I had no idea that they weren't what they claimed."

"That's EXACTLY why ya don't run of with STRANGERS! You are a little girl and until you're growed, you need someone taking care of you. From here on out, that's ME. So no more lyin' or sneaking about, no more running off, and no more putting yourself in danger! You got worries or nightmares, you come talk to me you DON'T go off half-cocked!"

Naomi's dark eyes were wide as saucers at Buck's stern lecture. She really never expected him to get quite so angry. The girl had no knowledge of the sleepless nights he'd spent while looking for her, imagining the horrors she might be facing without him there to protect her.

"We best get this done," he said with a sort of firm resignation as he reached for the brush and pulled the girl up from the bed, taking her place.

Naomi blinked back tears and tried to pull away. "Buck, please," she pleaded. "Not with the brush. It'll hurt too much."

"It's going to hurt and you won't be settin' easy for a while that's for sure, but it's no more than what you got coming. You fight me, and you're just gonna make it harder on yourself."

Setting the brush beside him, Buck pulled her forward between his knees and moved to unfasten her trousers. Naomi desperately slapped at his hands, but when Buck turned her sideways and brought one of his large hands down twice on her rear she ceased her struggles. Within moments, the dark haired girl was over his lap feeling the cool air move across her bare bottom while Buck picked up the beautiful hairbrush. Unlike last time, when the first smack of the brush had barely hurt at all, Buck cracked the piece of wood smartly across the middle of the girl's backside, eliciting a surprised yelp from Naomi. Only too aware of what could have happened to the girl, not to mention the other kids who put themselves in danger to save her, Buck was inclined to make a strong impression. He might not like his role as disciplinarian but he wasn't about to see her hurt or dead due to her own foolishness either.

So Buck proceeded to pepper Naomi's bare bum with powerful swats, not saying a word, having said his piece beforehand. Naomi yelped and squealed with every smack, trying to move her posterior away from the punishing brush but Buck had a good grip on her and her efforts were pointless. Soon she was begging and promising him anything if he would just stop. When her wiggling and kicking became a little overzealous, Buck cracked the brush down on first one thigh and then the other. "That's enough. I know it hurts but settle down. We aren't done yet."

Before long, Naomi just collapsed into sobs. Buck paused, setting the brush down, he held his hand over the top of her bottom which was radiating heat. "I want to know what you've learned," he said bring his hand down twice.

"Not to run away," Naomi answered in a hitched breath.

Another swat, "And what else?"

"N-n-not to lie or sneak around," she whimpered.

Buck's hand came down yet again. "And?"

"No-no d-dangerous s-situations," the girl sniffed pitifully.

"Okay, then I reckon we're done for now," he replied, flipping her up and helping her dress before pulling the girl into his lap. Naomi curled up against Buck's chest and let her tears soak his shirt.

"One more thing, sweetheart, I love you, more than I can say and I don't ever want anything bad to happen to you," he whispered placing a soft kiss on her brow.

***M7***M7***M7***

They stayed at the ranch two more nights, giving everyone a chance to rest and recuperate a little. The evening before they were to depart the kids had gathered around the corral.

"Been quite the adventure," Conall quipped, shaking his head.

"That's what ya call it?" True demanded.

Naomi cleared her throat. "I want to thank you all, for coming to rescue me. I know you all got in a lot of trouble and True, you even got shot. I just wanna say I'm sorry, and thanks."

True snorted, "Ah, can it, Guppy. Beats school any day o' the week."

"Indeed, however, shall we cope with the hum drum of normal life again," Rhianna added dramatically earning a dirty look and half-hearted punch from True. "No doubt we will all be grounded until Christmas," she added more seriously.

"I'm kind of looking forward to being home," Creed admitted.

"I might be looking forward to it a bit more if I didn't have an appointment with my Da's strop as soon as I get back."

"Least ya don't gotta ride back on a sore ass," True replied, "And I still got more hanging over my head."

"I do as well," Rhianna added.

"Sorry guys and if it makes you feel any better I think I do too, from something Buck told me this morning."

"Yeah, actually, that does make me feel better," True laughed.

"So," Naomi looked around. "We're all friends then?"

"Sure," Conall replied quickly and Creed nodded in agreement.

"True Friends," Rhianna said smiling at the small group that had grown so close.

"Fuck!" True exclaimed. "Friends are people ya choose ta like. Yer family, Guppy. I ain't got no choice in it even though ya are a shithead."

"True Tanner, ya watch yer language or ya won't be able ta sit a horse tomorrow mornin'," They heard Vin call from the bunkhouse, causing the whole group to break down laughing.

THE END

A/N Wow! Years it's taken me! But it is FINI. I don't know when I will be writing more True Verse and if I do, I do not know if Naomi will be included or not. This might just have been a one off. Only time will tell.