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Josiah and Chris were sitting in front of the fireplace when the false dawn signaled the end of the long night.
Vin was now lying on his side, the wooden box containing the cards and Pony clutched tightly in his hands.
"I wish he'd go to sleep. The kid must be exhausted." Chris grunted, taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee.
"He is asleep," Josiah said as he looked closely.
"His eyes are open," Chris pointed out.
"They might be open, but Vin's in REM sleep. Rapid Eye Movement, it's the period when the mind dreams," Josiah explained.
"I'm going to try and open the door. If Vin is consciously sealing us in, it should open now." Chris rose quietly.
Josiah watched intently as Chris attempted to force the French doors open without any luck before moving into the hall and trying to open windows. Larabee shook his head when his efforts were to no avail. Heading back, Chris stopped and frowned down at Ivy before moving back to Josiah.
"Remind me to get Nate to look at Ivy later, she's twitching and whimpering like she' in pain," Chris sighed as he returned to his chair beside Josiah.
"Hey, I've got to go!" Cedric called from his sleeping bag cocoon.
"You can wait," Chris snarled.
"I'm gonna have an accident, dammit," Kilkenny protested loudly.
"I'm up!" Tony abruptly sat up. Blinking a few times, he registered the situation in his sleep fogged mind. "Problems?"
"Think you and Josiah can escort that piece of . . ." Chris trailed off, feeling Nettie's censoring gaze on his back.
"Sure," Tony scrambled to his feet.
Josiah and Tony soon had Cedric freed and on his way to the facilities.
Nettie sat up painfully. "I'm fine; I just stiffened up is all. Let me check on Fancy Pants and I'll start some breakfast." Nettie noted hurriedly, in an effort to cut off any questions on her health.
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"It would be easier to cook if I could use the kitchen," Nettie said quietly after she returned from the bathroom.
Chris frowned thoughtfully, looking from Tony and Josiah to Cedric and back.
"I can use the boy in the kitchen; he can lift and carry for me." Nettie suggested. "Send the Preacher and Tony to keep an eye on him."
"Josiah?" Chris asked.
"It will provide Nettie with kitchen help, while Tony and I provide security for both of them without dividing our group too severely," Josiah responded.
"Keep an eye on Kilkenny," Chris scowled.
"I'm duct taping him to a chair," Tony smirked, holding up a roll of tape. "He can stir or whatever Nettie needs that doesn't require being around knives or something."
"Do that," Chris relaxed. "Get back here if anything seems 'wrong'."
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Buck sat up and looked around as Nettie and her kitchen staff left the room. Cedric carried a cooler while Tony played out a hank of rope as they went.
"Where are they going?" Buck asked with a yawn.
"Making breakfast," Chris yawned.
"Did you get any sleep at all?" Buck grunted.
"Not much," Chris sighed.
"I was laying here studying something before I went to sleep," Buck stretched and stood up.
"What's that?" Larabee asked.
"Did you notice the ceiling in here?" Buck looked up.
"Not as high as in the rest of the house. Wonder why it comes down like that over the cabinets?" Chris asked thoughtfully, staring at the cabinets just to the left of the fireplace.
"We're all twisted around from where we started, but I'd be willing to bet that's the bottom of the main staircase and the chimney is part of the support for it." Buck flopped down in Josiah's vacant chair.
Chris studied the wall for a long moment. "I think you're right. Mary said that the main staircase never moves," Chris reminded.
"I figure this room doesn't either." Buck grinned weakly. "I'm wondering just what might have happened if Junior hadn't scouted things out and got us in here last night. Only the one ghost too, and he seems awful protective of Junior," Buck's cheerful tone seemed forced.
The two old friends sat quietly as everyone but Mary, Ivy, Vin, and Ezra began to stir. JD, Casey, and Nathan followed the rope to the kitchen to help out, while Bruce and Jock began to roll up the abandoned bedding and straighten the room.
A rather nervous looking Crooks jumped up from his sleeping bag. Staring down at the bearskin rug, he hurried into the bathroom without a word to anyone.
"Guess he had to go," Buck smirked when Sydney seemed to take an inordinate amount of time in the facilities.
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"Now the electric comes on," Bruce huffed as the lights in the room suddenly came to life.
Chris and Buck lurched to their feet when the yelling and screams carried from the kitchen. Ezra woke and rolled from the table, landing on his feet with a pool cue in his uninjured hand.
"I'll stay with this bunch. Go!" Buck took charge of the game room, leaving Chris free to head for the kitchen.
"What's happening?" Sydney stumbled out of the restroom, fastening his pants.
"Hell if I know. Chris has gone to check it out," Buck growled in frustration.
"He shouldn't have gone alone." Bruce chewed on his lip worriedly.
"The rest of us are staying here for now. Chris is the safest person in the house," Buck grunted. "She won't hurt him. Wants him for herself, but she's not strong enough to take him yet."
"How do you know that? And who is She?" Ivy sniffed in disbelief.
"The house and she's already said so," Buck's eyes settled on Mary Travis.
Mary was sitting on her sleeping bag. Her normally pale blue eyes appeared to be almost black in color as a pleased smirk lifted the corners of her mouth. Buck's skin crawled as Mary began to hum the disturbing tune once more. Mary's humming stopped as she became fascinated with the now waking Tanner.
"Gentlemen, I fear we may have a dilemma." Ezra laid down his pool cue. "Mr. Tanner may become quite distressed at waking in an unfamiliar locale with no 'family' in attendance."
Vin sat up and held Pony tightly, while looking around.
"Ms. Nettie will be right back," Bruce knelt down and waited for Vin to acknowledge him.
Vin began to rock jerkily, petting Pony's mane with agitated fingers.
"You're alright, Junior." Buck gently lifted Vin's quilt, placing it over his shoulders and wrapping it around the slender youngster, making certain not to prevent Tanner from rocking or disturb his grip on the wooden toy.
"Get it off! Please get it off," Angel was sobbing hysterically as she was led down the corridor by Nettie and Casey, escorted by a shaken Tony and JD.
"Ms. Nettie?" Buck stepped out to speak with the older woman.
"There was an … 'accident' in the kitchen, Buck," Nettie's troubled eyes caught and held Wilmington's.
Buck nodded wordlessly, taking in the blood splatters across Nettie's shirt and face. The front of Angel's shirt was crimson and the others were splattered to one degree or another.
"Chris wants you, Buck," Nettie said softly after Casey had coaxed the shaken Angel into the restroom. "We thought it best not to try and clean her up in the kitchen."
Buck nodded and took off down the hall in a lope.
"Buck, there's no need to hurry," Nettie called after him shakily.
"Bruce, would you get everyone some clean clothes?" Nettie asked the young man as he peered out of the Game room.
"Ms. Wells, may I inquire as to the nature of the accident?" Ezra Standish asked calmly.
"Kilkenny's dead," Nettie closed her eyes tightly. "He was coming after Vin again. Josiah, Nathan, and Tony tried to stop him. When he couldn't get past them, he jumped onto the table . . ." Nettie shakily covered her mouth then continued. "The ceiling fan came on . . ."
JD gagged and rushed into the restroom despite the girls already being there. Tony leaned against the wall and kept swallowing hard.
"It decapitated him," Nettie choked. "Angel was hit by his head." Nettie wiped the tears off her cheeks and hurried into the restroom.
"He had a knife," Tony muttered. "He was going to kill Vin . . . . He had a knife . . . . We only tried to stop him . . . . Nobody wanted him dead." Tony looked dazed as the words tumbled out. "Ceiling fans can't do that . . . . Sure they can give you a good smack, but they can't do that . . . Can they?"
Bruce tapped gently on the bathroom door, "I've got clean clothes."
Casey stuck her head and a bare arm out to take the clothes.
"Casey, can you get me a wet towel or something that I can clean Tony up with?" Bruce asked calmly.
"Yeah, just a second," Casey turned away, letting the door close behind her.
Shortly, the door reopened and JD was gently pushed out, still looking green and holding several wet towels.
"Why don't you help me with Tony," Bruce urged JD into motion. "JD, you need to wash up as best you can too. You don't want to upset the girls any worse than they already are."
JD nodded and began to briskly scrub his face with one of the wet towels.
"Go ahead and take your shirt off. I have a clean one here for you." Bruce coaxed Tony.
Ezra nodded respectfully toward Bruce and stepped back into the Game room. Turning around he glanced at the shocked faces. Ms. Travis is not distressed in the least. VIN!! Where's Vin?
"Where is Mr. Tanner?" Ezra demanded sharply.
"In front of . . . ." "Right where you left him . . . ." The responses trailed off as Tanner's absence registered.
"Where could he have gone?" Jock blurted.
"There's only the one door." Crooks reminded.
"I guess he opened the French doors," Ivy snarled.
Mary Travis sprang to her feet looking around wildly. "Where did he go?"
"That is what I'm attempting to ascertain at this time, Ms. Travis," Ezra snapped.
Ezra studied Vin's nest while the others argued over who was to blame. He seemed very attached to this quilt, and the dragon is still here. So where have you wandered off to this time Mr. Tanner.? Ezra leaned down, spotting something tucked protectively under the dragon's front feet. A clue? What significance does the seven of clubs hold for you, I wonder? Ezra smiled, spotting another of his antique cards, this one face down and partially hidden by the bedding. Then another lying in the shadow cast by the hearth. I believe he's left a trail of breadcrumbs, as it were.
Exiting the bathroom, Nettie threw down the armful of bloody clothing as the gist of the argument registered. "Vin's missing?"
"I believe he has left us a trail this time," Ezra pointed to the cards lying against the baseboard at carefully spaced intervals.
"He's gonna run out of cards in a hurry," Nettie huffed, starting down the hall.
"Ms. Wells, please allow me to join you. I've procured a rope and flashlights. Mr. Dunne, if you would be so good as to inform Mr. Larabee of our situation," Ezra ordered.
"I'm going with you," Angel's shoulders squared and her back straightened.
"That's my brother," Casey growled.
"You might need something moved, or carried. Vin might have found himself another toy," Tony chuckled weakly.
"I'll play out the rope so Tony can carry," Bruce said, sliding the rope off of Ezra's shoulders. After he tucked several more flashlights into his cargo pants pockets.
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"Shouldn't he have run out of cards by now?" Chris muttered as he, JD, and Buck joined the searchers.
"Mr. Tanner seems to have acquired additional cards. This is the two hundred and third offering on this trail. They appear of the same era as my own," Ezra smirked.
"Sure he didn't copy yours somehow?" Buck asked.
"Quite certain. One deck was daubed. That is a form of marking cards using ink on the backs," Ezra explained. "This particular deck is marked using small identifying nicks on the edges," he continued, chuckling to himself.
"What's so funny?" JD demanded.
"I was simply admiring the appropriateness of using juiced cards as a trail, and querying their relevance." Ezra smirked, as he moved forward.
JD's questioning eyes met Buck's, "Juiced?"
"Yeah, 'juiced', or marked, JD. Seems Standish is 'showing us his hand', I wouldn't recommend joining him in a 'friendly' game of cards." Buck explained, grinning and shaking his head at the Ezra's retreating back.
They continued to follow the trail of cards, each placed neatly against the baseboard and spaced a foot apart.
"Look, they're going into that room," Casey pointed. "It looks like he ran out of rooms to go any further."
"Vin Tanner, what in the world has gotten into you, taking off that way," Nettie fussed shakily. The old woman hurried to check on her lost chick sitting on the floor in front of the window.
"Aunt Nettie, it faces east. We didn't take Vin to see the sunrise. You know how much he likes that," Casey reminded.
"I forgot didn't I, son. So you went and found the sunrise yourself. Found yourself a nice place to watch from didn't you?" Nettie sighed and stroked the soft curls as Vin's eyes never moved from the window.
As the group stood watching the 'reunion', Angel turned to Chris and asked shakily, "Cedric?"
"We sealed the kitchen off. It's a crime scene. It's the best we can do until the police can get here." Chris answered gently.
"Yeah, I guess so. Do you think he suffered?" Angel murmured, not really expecting or wanting an answer.
"How's Josiah?" Nettie demanded, her eyes never leaving Vin.
"Nate's not concerned. He put five stitches in the gash Cedric gave Josiah. When we left, they were headed back to the game room. I've got a feeling Josiah's gonna be real attached to that ice pack for a while, though," Buck grunted.
"Ice pack?" Bruce asked curiously.
"Cedric kicked him where it hurts. That's how he was able to get to the knives," JD muttered uncomfortably.
Casey approached Ezra and requested, "Mr. Standish, unless you have a problem, could we leave the cards? It's one of those quirks of Vin's. If we move them now, he'll drive us crazy trying to 'fix' his cards. He'll get distracted soon and you can have them back then."
"That will be acceptable, Ms. Wells," Ezra agreed easily.
"Once we get back to the game room, you need to tell us about Vin's quirks," Chris requested. "I'd rather not get taken by surprise again."
"Vin, time to go." Chris gently touched Tanner's shoulder.
"What has he found?" Bruce asked, noticing for the first time that Pony's head was sticking out of Vin's shirt and something else was in his hands.
"May I see, Honey?" Nettie coaxed.
The slender youngster stood up and carefully lay what appeared to be an old badge on the window sill before turning around and allowing Nettie to take his hand and lead him towards the door.
"It's an old sheriff's star, looks like a real one. Now where in the world did he find that?" JD started to pick up the old badge out of curiosity, only to pull his hand back as if burnt, causing the badge to drop to the floor with a clatter.
Vin pulled away from Nettie, turning around, he scowled then picked up the badge and laid it carefully on the window sill once more. Walking back, he took Nettie's hand in a gentle grip and followed her out of the room.
"JD?" Buck asked sharply.
"I died," JD blinked, backing away. "I saw me die. I was wearing the badge."
"Mr. Dunne, if your talent is in anyway similar to mine it is not an exact science. It is quite probable you envisioned yourself in the place of a previous owner," Ezra suggested calmly.
"Yeah, that must be it." JD turned, shaking off the feeling of dread as he turned to join the others as they filed out of the room.
"He was older, but he could have passed for JD's father," Buck said.
"I know, Mr. Wilmington. I did not envision any value in allowing Mr. Dunne to fret over the situation," Ezra drawled, stalking towards the door, closely followed by Buck.
"Surprised Mary didn't tag along," Buck muttered.
"She knew we'd be back," Chris growled.
"The house is now quite aware of Vin's location," Ezra shuddered. "She gained a great deal of strength from Cedric's demise."