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Italics = thoughts
Lost and Found – Part 5
The next three days, Chris, Josiah, and Nathan took turns watching the run down homestead. The morning of the fourth day, they compared what they had seen over breakfast.
Every morning, Vin headed to the stream behind the house and was gone consistently for about an hour. After that, he stayed around the buildings doing repairs. Nathan noticed Vin favored his right leg and wanted to see just how badly he had been injured that he was still affected so long afterward.
The three men agreed, the only chance they had to talk to the woman was the next morning while Vin was away from the house. They also decided it would be best for Nathan to see what he could find out while Chris and Josiah kept an eye out for Vin. None of them wanted a repeat of their last encounter with the Texan.
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Catherine worked on the wash at the back of the house while Vin checked the traps. Humming to herself while she worked, she did not hear the horse come to the front of the house or the person walk towards her.
"Miss?" Nathan called out from the corner of the house.
Catherine quickly turned toward the voice, surprised.
"I don't mean ya any harm, ma'am," Nathan tried to reassure, his hands held up to show he meant no threat as the woman turned toward him, fear clearly on her face.
Catherine swallowed trying to dislodge the lump of panic in her throat. "What… what do you want?" Her voice trembled as she took a step toward the house.
Nathan watched her intently. He did not want to scare her off; he needed to know about Vin. He took a step closer as he spoke. "I just want to know about Vin, the man here with ya."
"He's not far away." She took a few more steps toward the house. "You need to go. He won't like you bein' here."
"Ma'am, I just want to know what he remembers and how bad he was hurt." Nathan watched her as she moved toward the house. If she made it inside, they would not get any information. He could see Josiah as he cautiously approached the back door from the other side of the house while Chris came up behind her. The girl was scared enough of him, but they needed to know about Vin.
At the foot of the few steps into the house, she heard a soft voice come from the direction of the back door.
"We aren't going to hurt you, ma'am. We just want to know about our friend." Josiah had made it onto the porch without drawing her attention. He winced when he saw the fear on her face as she swung her head in his direction.
She backed away from the steps and stopped at the not so friendly voice several feet behind her.
"We're not leaving without you talking to us."
Catherine whirled around, her heart thumping loudly in her ears.
Chris hated to scare the woman, but they needed answers. He watched as her fear-filled eyes never came to his face. Shit. She's blind. No wonder Vin is so protective of her. The sound of a rifle lever chambering a bullet stopped any more thought. Chris tensed.
The deadly calm voice of Vin Tanner growled, "Back off and keep your hands where I can see 'em."
Chris moved his hands out away from his body and slowly turned around to face a wary Vin. "We just want to talk."
"Ya wanna talk? Drop the guns." Vin watched the three men as they reached to remove their pistols. "Where're the others?"
Shit. "No one else," Chris said calmly.
"Six of ya the other day. Three missin'. Where are they?" He motioned Chris to walk away with the end of his hog leg.
Chris backed away, hands still held open wide. "They're not here."
"Sure." He didn't believe the man in black. He motioned the man on the porch over by the black man.
"They're not here, brother." Josiah tried to appease their riled friend.
"They went back to Four Corners," the black man said next. "Do you remember Four Corners, the town we protect?"
The three men stood together now, and Vin moved over to Catherine. She could feel his presence before he spoke softly to her. "Catherine, stay behind me." She reached out to him, moved behind him and to the right a bit, and kept her left hand lightly on his back.
"They're not here, Vin." Green eyes met his, and they looked at each other intently. "Buck, JD and Ezra aren't here."
The voice was quiet and calm and somehow seemed familiar. The man was not lying. He shifted his gun to a less threatening position but still held it at the ready. "Ya wanted to talk. Talk."
Chris was not sure where to start. They wanted to talk, but now that they had the opportunity, he was not sure what to say.
Nathan and Josiah seemed to read his mind and Josiah spoke up in his warm baritone, "We need you home, Vin. We've been worried about you."
Vin looked suspiciously at the three men. "That my name? Vin?"
The man in black nodded his head. "Your name's Vin Tanner." The three men watched the longhaired man closely.
Blue eyes widened at the gentle but firm voice he heard in his head, 'Boy, you're a Tanner. Don't you ever forget that'. Confusion crossed his face as his mind searched for more to the memory. His head started to hurt again, and it was getting hot out in the sun.
Chris moved toward Vin, but stopped when the gun threatened him once more.
Vin narrowed his eyes at them. "I got kin? Family?" He studied them, looking for lies.
"Just us, brother," Josiah said softly.
"We brothers?"
"Not by blood," Nathan said.
"By choice," Chris added.
"What're your names?" Vin shifted his position slightly, his right leg starting to ache from his stance.
Nathan started to walk forward, "Ya alright?" Always alert for injuries, he noticed Vin's movement. The gun shifted to halt his advance along with Chris' hand on his arm and the almost whispered, "Not yet." Nathan retreated to his former position. "I'm a healer, remember? Nathan. Nathan Jackson."
A lightning flash of memory tore across his mind too quick to grasp. Again, confusion crossed his features as he looked at the tall black man. His eyes shifted to the larger man and met his blue eyes.
"Josiah. Josiah Sanchez. You've saved my life more than once, brother."
The sincerity in his eyes and voice flashed another fragment of memory. Why could he not latch on to them? Why were they so damn quick? He turned his gaze to the man in black.
"Chris Larabee." Chris simply said his name in the quiet voice he used when Vin was hurt.
This time green eyes flashed in his head before the man even spoke his name and that name resonated within him. Chris. Still, the memories were too fast, too few, and his head was seriously starting to hurt now.
Catherine sensed Vin's pain. She could not help but notice after taking care of him this long. He was reluctant to reveal his discomforts, and she had used her blindness against him in that regard.
His eyes narrowed against the overly bright sunlight even with his hat on. He was starting to sweat and his leg ache even more. He needed to sit down. The mind trying to open his memories teased him. He needed to think.
Nathan and the other two men watched Vin. They could tell he was weakening before them but still wary of the gun he held. A wounded or cornered Tanner was just as dangerous, if not more so, than when he was whole.
Catherine stepped forward beside Vin, a hard look came to her face. "That's enough." She was no longer scared of these men, her voice hard-edged. "Leave. Now."
Nathan stepped forward. "I can help. He's in pain."
"No." Her voice sounded cold to her own ears.
"Look, lady," Chris stepped forward, his tone angry. The hog leg, leveled at him again, stopped him abruptly. Damn. She's as protective of Vin as he is of her.
"Ya heard her." Vin eyed them angrily. "Leave."
"Vin, we can help you." Larabee was not about to leave now.
Josiah put a hand on Chris' shoulder. "Let's go, Chris. We can't help him like this." He turned to Nathan and saw he was just as reluctant to leave as Chris was. "Nathan, we'll come back. He needs time right now." Chris and Nathan relaxed slightly and looked at Josiah. He was right. "Mind if we get our guns?" Josiah asked, looking at Vin once more.
"Get on the porch," Vin said softly to Catherine and they moved together up the steps and onto the porch. To the three men he called, "Get your guns and git."
"We'll be close by," Chris told them as he retrieved his weapon.
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Inside the house, Vin watched them leave the front yard, walking their horses up the hill and onto the road before he sat down heavily and re-holstered his gun. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall with a sigh.
Catherine appeared before him several minutes later with a cup of tea and the tin of liniment. "How bad is it?" she asked in her soft voice.
He smiled at her, even though she could not see it, and gratefully took the cup of tea. Her tea always made his headaches better, and it tasted pretty good too, not like Nathan's skunk water. That thought stopped the cup halfway to his lips. His memories were trying to rise again. He just wished they would hurry the hell up and stop teasing him with bits-and-pieces. At least they were coming back, he hoped. He sipped at the tea and saw her smile.
Catherine stepped closer and reached a hand out to cup his cheek. "You have a name now. Vin Tanner."
Her hand was warm and gentle on his face, and the way she said his name caught his breath. She had said it with such reverence and Tanner rolled off her tongue in her faint Scottish accent sending uncoiling warmth through his chest. He could not take his eyes off her smiling face, full of genuine sincerity and happiness for him. He swallowed hard, nodded his head, and took her hand in his.
"You should rest now," she said and stepped away from him.
"I'm fine." It came out automatically, and his mind filled with voices that railed against other 'I'm fines' he had spoken. He closed his eyes, hoping to hold onto the memories without success.
Catherine sighed at that and turned away to start lunch.
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Chris and the other two men stopped along a stream down the road from the homestead. They let the horses drink and settled in the shade for lunch. Chris eyed Nathan wanting answers.
Nathan sighed. "I don't know, Chris." He thought a moment. "He was getting a headache. His eyes change when he gets one. All squinty and narrow like the light hurts 'em."
Chris just nodded. He had noticed it too. "His memory?"
Nathan shook his head. "I don't know. I think we sparked something. Just don't know what or how much."
"We shouldn't push too hard, Chris." Josiah looked at his companions. "We don't want him fighting us. He's still healing too."
"He was favoring that right leg," Nathan agreed.
"Shouldn't he be healed by now?" Chris asked with concern.
"We don't know how badly he was injured. That's why we wanted to talk to the woman," Nathan reminded. "If he was hurt bad, it'd take a while."
"He looked good otherwise. Didn't he?" Chris eyed the healer for confirmation.
"Yeah, he did." Nathan looked at the others, "Wonder if he gives her as much trouble as he gives me."
"He is a stubborn man," Josiah chuckled.
"'Course, losin' your memory can make ya act different. Seen it in the war." Nathan's brow furrowed at the recollection. "Ya just never know 'bout head wounds."
They sat in silence a few minutes and ate the rest of their lunch. Josiah was deep in thought on how to approach Vin without him drawing his gun. The others must have been thinking on it too.
"Well, we know this much. He didn't know who he was or if he had family. It's likely he don't remember anything before being here." Nathan looked at the others. "We need to keep trying to talk to him, help jog his memory."
Chris nodded. "How do you suggest we do that?"
"Knock on the door," Josiah said simply with a small smile on his face.
Nathan nodded his head in agreement. "Ya got a point, Josiah. We keep goin' in there all piss and vinegar, we'll just make him mad."
"Yup."
"So you want to go back and knock on the door?" Chris looked at them skeptically.
"Why not?" Nathan shrugged. "What do ya normally do when ya pay someone a visit?"
"Alright," Chris agreed. "Let's head back there." He started to rise and gather the lunch items.
"Hold up, Chris." Josiah remained seated leaning against a giant oak tree. "I think we should give him today. Like Nathan said, I think we sparked some kind of memory. Let's come back tomorrow." Chris looked as if he was about to argue when Josiah added, "Might remember us better in the morning."
Chris thought on that. He had a point. Sighing at the thought of another day without Vin in their midst, safe and secure, he headed toward the horses.