Italic = thoughts

Lost and Found – Part 8

He's dreaming again, talking in his sleep. I hate this.

Vin was dreaming, rolling in his pallet of blankets. It made no sense. A soft, gentle voice in his head, a caressing touch on his cheek. Buffalo running, dust billowing behind them, the thunder of hooves. Hunting. Hunting men. Indians. Green eyes looking at him across a dusty street. Confederate soldiers, an Indian village. He woke with a start at the hand on his shoulder.

Catherine was kneeling by him, her hand shaking his shoulder gently trying to wake him. "Vin," she called softly.

He woke, blinking at her in the dim light of the fire's embers. The images were still in his head, clouding his mind. It took a moment to realize where he was. "Y'all right?" he asked, his voice husky and gravelly with sleep as he rose up to his elbows.

The sound of his voice made her shiver. "You were dreaming. You alright?"

He raked a hand through his hair, rubbed his eyes, and sighed, "Yeah."

"Don't sound too sure. Wanna talk about it?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She was always concerned, her voice always warm and tender. "Nothin' to tell. Images mostly. Don't make no sense."

Catherine lowered her head. "Your memories are trying to come back."

Her voice was wistful this time, and he looked at her sharply. In the dim light, he thought he caught the glint of a tear as it fell. He sat up abruptly and turned to her, the ache in his leg flared but he ignored it. He scooted closer, reached his hand out, and tilted her chin up with his index finger to see her better in the dim light. "What's wrong?"

She closed her eyes and felt his breath feather across her face at the question. She shook her head slightly as a tear ran down her cheek.

He clearly saw a tear this time. Brows furrowed in concern he gently gripped her arms. "Catherine?" The choked whisper declared his distress. She shook her head again and tried to move away. He gripped her tighter, pulled her closer, and searched her face. "Open your eyes." Even blind, they told her emotions. When she did not comply, he shook her gently and demanded more firmly, "Open your eyes."

At the harshness of his voice, her eyes fluttered open, and she tried to move away again, but he held her firmly. Her hands came up to push against his chest, but she found herself nestled against him instead, unsure how. Strong, loving arms encircled her, and she sobbed out her grief and fear within their safety.

He just held her, slowly rocking side-to-side, trying to calm her, soothe her. He still did not know what had upset her. Right now he needed to hold her, to give back some of the kindness she had bestowed upon him.

The ache in his leg was hard to ignore now. He stopped rocking her a while ago before it started shooting jagged pain to his toes. He sighed when he realized she had fallen asleep in his arms. There was no way he would be able to lift her or carry her back to her bed. Trying not to wake her, he maneuvered her as gently as possible beside him on the blankets. Laying down seemed to ease the ache in his leg, and he pulled her close and drifted to sleep.

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He did not know what woke him. It was still dark out, but the sky was starting to gray in the east. Catherine still slept, tucked in beside him. Carefully, he removed his arms so he could watch her sleep for a minute. Even without prior memories, he felt sure, she was the most loving and gentle soul he had met on this earth. It angered him to think of her here in the middle of this land without anyone to care for her. She deserved to be loved, cherished, and cared for. Yet, at the same time, watching her sleep, he was glad she was hidden away and that he had found her. His hand tenderly fingered her coppery tresses away from her face and gently caressed her cheek. Her eyes fluttered open, confused, and he softly whispered, "It's Vin. It's alright."

She gained her bearings with a searching hand and sat up. Blushing shyly at their closeness, she turned questioning eyes to him.

"Nothin' happened," he assured her gently. He could tell she was recalling the events of last night and asked, "What upset ya?"

Sadness enveloped her features. She turned away from him but again he caught her arm to see her face. "Is the sun up yet?" It was a mere whisper.

He looked at her, confused by the question, but answered it anyway. "Should be comin' up in a few minutes."

"Put your boots on," she said as she tried to stand but he still held her arm. "Please." Her eyes pleaded, and he released her to do as she wished. She moved to her bed to retrieve her own shoes, went back to him, and held out her hand for him to take. Still confused, he took her hand and let her lead him outside to a large rock that sat away from the house. Sitting on the rock and looking east expectantly, she asked breathlessly, "What do you see?"

Vin looked down at her and then at the eastern sky just starting to light up with the oncoming sun. Sitting down next to her, he pulled her onto his lap and held her in front of him. She did not complain or protest, and he started to describe the sky and the rising sun.

She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder; eyes closed, and listened to his colorful illustration with tears running down her face. He stopped when the sun was fully visible over the horizon and held her. When she felt the first warming rays of the sun on her face, she turned into him, her hand coming up to find his face and cup his jaw and cheek gently. The tears on her face stabbed at his heart. She looked so forlorn. "I don't want you to be my sunrise or sunset, Vin." Her voice was so soft he almost could not hear her as close as she was. Her welling light brown eyes roved side-to-side as if searching his face. "I don't want to lose you too."

Vin's eyes watered with his own tears as he looked at her and swallowed to ease the tightness of his throat. She loved the sunrise and sunset, and she lost them with her blindness. Was she saying she loved him? Roughly, he scrubbed his tears away before he cupped her face with his hands and tenderly kissed her eyes and then the tears from her face. "I'll give ya as many sunrises and sunsets as ya want," he said huskily and gently kissed her lips and pulled her into his embrace.

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The Corkrin brothers were not happy. The three strangers in town had taken them to hand, and the brothers were plotting their revenge. They watched the three men leave town every morning and return in the afternoon, so they followed the black clad gunslinger and his friends one day. Now they sat watching the little homestead. They grinned evilly at each other at what they saw.