ON YOUR HORSES, BOYS

Part 22

"Vin, get outta there!" Sanchez shouted as he hefted another bucket and spread its contents over the flames consuming the Clarion.

"Just a little more, Josiah," Vin answered hoarsely.

"No, no more. It's time for us to leave!" The preacher looked up. Although they had managed to slow the fire's progress towards the back of the newspaper office, they hadn't been able to stop it finding a new path to travel.

"I think I can work my way 'round. Keep that water comin'!"

The smoke was so thick Josiah could barely see. "The fire's climbed its way into the rafters!"

Tanner stubbornly made his way deeper into the office and disappeared.

"Vin, we gotta go!" He waited but the tracker didn't answer. "Vin!" Fearing the worst, he ran to the water bearer near the door, grabbed the bucket he was offered and rushed to where he'd last seen Vin standing. "You better answer me, son, or I'm comin' in after ya!" His heart beat hard in his chest as he prepared to enter the dense smoke. Just as he drew the bucket back to toss the water, he heard a hacking cough.

"I'm here," Vin choked out, then stumbled forward, rubbing watery eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just hard to see. You're right about the flames; we need to stop 'em reachin' the roof."

Josiah took his arm and pulled him toward the door. "Come on. Let's clean those eyes out."

Vin didn't protest as he was guided from the building and leaned over a bucket of clean water.

"Mr. Tanner, Mr. Sanchez!"

Both men turned to see Archie run from the bath house.

"Mr. Tanner, there's been an explosion!"

Vin wiped the water from his face. "An explosion? I didn't hear anything."

"It happened while you were inside. It was probably too noisy in there to hear anything. A couple of men have already gone to take a look."

"Where?"

"At the jail. You'd best hurry; it's most likely those men you're lookin' for."

"Damn it! Will you take over here?"

"You know I will. Just you two be careful. We don't wanna see any more of you boys gettin' hurt."

"Thanks, Archie," Vin replied and ran with Josiah towards the jail.

M7M7M7M7M7M7M7

Peter stepped over Nathan's unconscious body on his way to the bed in the middle of the room. He bent close to Ezra and whispered, "I told you you'd never get away from me," but the gambler was beyond hearing. Lying on his side, fist twisted once again in the sheet, he stared blindly as his shattered mind tried to comprehend what had happened.

"Hey," Luke said, "Look at this. It seems our little spy was telling the truth. Larabee was hurt back at the hotel. It looks like he took a bullet to the stomach."

Peter scowled at Ezra before he left the bed. "Good. It'll make our job a lot easier." He stepped close to the cot. "Ma wants him dead… so do I."

Luke drew his gun and aimed it at Chris.

"No, wait," Peter said and pushed the gun away.

The gunfighter groaned. His eyelids came open for just an instant then closed despite his best efforts to keep them open. Another moan and his hands twitched restlessly at his side.

"He's coming 'round."

"Well then let's just shoot 'em both and get out of here," Luke said.

"Nobody's shooting him," Peter replied, pointing at Ezra, "he's going with us."

"What're you talking about? Why would you want to take him outta here?"

"We have unfinished business."

"Listen, ma didn't saying anything about kidnapping that gambler."

Peter narrowed his eyes. "I'm sayin'."

Luke shook his head but knew better than to argue. "Okay, so we haul him outta here. What about this one?"

"I think we should give Mr. Larabee here a little taste of the hereafter."

Luke caught the glint in his brother's eye and smiled. "Well now I reckon it'll have to be a mite warmer in here for that."

Peter eyed the lantern. "Yes, but we wouldn't want him to miss anything." He stepped closer to the cot and struck the gunfighter hard across the face. "Time to wake up, Larabee!"

Chris' drug-induced stupor slowed his reflexes but his twitching hands instinctively came up to protect his face.

The younger of the Nichols leaned around Peter to get a better look. "I don't think you're getting through to him."

"Then I'll just have to try harder," Peter replied as he reached for the rifle Nathan had propped against the back wall.

"I thought you didn't wanna shoot him."

"I don't." He raised the weapon over the cot, aimed the stock at Chris' bullet wound and hammered it home. The action had the desired effect; the semi-conscious man bolted upright and came awake with a howl of pain that satisfied Peter to the core.

M7M7M7M7M7M7M7

JD fell back to the floor and pounded his fists against the heavy beam across his legs. He had pushed until he simply couldn't push anymore. He wiggled and squirmed but still couldn't pull himself free. The weight on top of him felt as if it had tripled in the past few minutes and a serious ache was beginning to replace the numbness in his legs. "Damn it," he swore as he twisted at the waist to search for something he could use as a lever. There was nothing, absolutely nothing within his reach. He would have to wait for help, but how long would that take? How long before…

"JD!" He heard shouted from the street. It was Buck.

"I'm here," he cried, "back here!" He craned his neck around and saw long legs climb over the debris to reach him.

Wilmington hurried to his side. "JD, are you alright?" He ran a hand over the young man's head.

"I'm okay. I just need to get this danged pile of wood off of me. I tried to move the beam, but I think something's holding it in place."

"Is anything broken?"

"I don't think so. My legs feel kind of funny, but it's more like pins and needles."

"This thing's cut off the circulation," Buck said, patting the large piece of timber. "Let me check it out." He did a quick inspection and found JD was right – two big crossbeams straddled the rafter, clamping it to the floor. The other end had driven itself into the softer wood of the walls. The best approach would be to free the lower end, but he'd have to be careful.

"How's it look?" Dunne asked with a grunt.

"Not too bad. I'll have you outta there in no time."

JD raised himself and caught the look of doubt on Buck's face. "Yeah? You and what army?" he asked nervously.

"Will we do?"

Buck drew his gun but quickly lowered it when he saw Vin and Josiah enter the room. "Perfect timing," he answered, greatly relieved to see the two men. "You can help me get this thing off JD."

Josiah helped Buck loosen the end of the rafter pinned to the floor while Vin sheltered the young sheriff from falling rubble loosened by the removal of the crossbeams. Once the heavy timber was hefted a few inches it was a simple matter of sliding JD clear. Vin settled him against the wall and carefully examined his legs. Aside from a few scratches and bruises, they appeared to be unharmed. "You look okay," he announced.

"That was close," Dunne said just loud enough for the tracker to hear.

Vin felt him shake and put a reassuring hand on his arm when he noticed JD was fast losing the rush of adrenaline he'd used to survive the attack. "It's okay, you're alright."

Dunne swallowed hard and looked at Vin in astonishment. "They're crazy!"

"JD?" Tanner felt a hard shudder beneath his palm.

"Who the hell blows up a jail with their brother inside? They didn't know where he was, they just started blasting!"

Wilmington moved fast to squat next to his friend. "Take it easy, JD."

"No, you don't understand."

"I do understand. You just had the life scared outta ya!" He took hold of the young man's fisted hand but JD snatched it away.

"Buck, stop it and listen to me. The Nichols aren't just mean and evil… they're insane!" He looked back and forth between his fellow lawmen. "How the hell do you fight something like that? How do you stop people who are absolutely out of their minds?" JD waited for an answer. Several panicked breaths later, he was still waiting.

TBC

A/N: Okay, we're heading into the final few chapters! I hope everyone is still hanging in there with me!