Vin pointed to the vultures circling ahead. "Bad sign."

Buck swore quietly.

Following the tracks, Vin led the group on. They found Ezra's horse lying dead on the ground.

"Where's Ezra?" JD asked worriedly.

"Over here." Vin dismounted and felt for a pulse. "Nathan, he's gonna need ya. He's alive, but he's hotter than a Franklin stove."

Buck pounded on the door.

"For heaven's sake, leave the door on its hinges." Marina opened the door. "Buck, what is it?"

"Got some bad news, ma'am."

Her face went pale. "Ezra?"

"He ain't dead. But he's hurt, hurt bad. The others are bringing him in. I rode ahead to warn you." Buck took a deep breath. "Don't blame Chris for what happened to Ezra, ma'am. It's my fault."

One eyebrow rose. "I'm going to want to hear all about it … later. Right now, tell me what I need to do to get things ready for Ezra."

Marina was pale, but calm, when she opened the door. Nathan and Vin carried Ezra in. "This way," she said, her voice carefully controlled. She led them to the bedroom. The bed cover was already pulled back.

"Let's get him settled," Nathan said. He and Vin laid the unconscious gambler on the bed. Nathan began checking his forehead. Vin pulled off his boots. "Fever ain't no worse, thank Heaven."

"How bad is he?" Marina asked.

"Won't lie to ya, Miz Standish. He's hurt mighty bad." Nathan pulled out the stethoscope he'd bought in Jericho and listened to Ezra's heart. "But I don't wanna scare ya, neither. Ezra's a fighter. He don't give up easy. He's got a good chance of pullin' through."

Marina inhaled sharply. 'Good chance' wasn't a promise of recovery.

"Don't ya fret none, ma'am." Vin laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Ezra's too darned stubborn to die."

Marina nodded, not entirely convinced.

"Let's get him as comfortable as possible," Nathan said. "Vin, could ya help me with his clothes? Ma'am, ya might want to go to the parlor."

"He's my husband," she pointed out. She reached down and began unbuttoning his shirt. "What's wrong with him? What happened?"

"Concussion, fer sure. I'm worried about the chance of lung fever," Nathan confessed. "Near as we can tell, his horse threw him."

"You mean he's been out in the wild all night?"

"Yes'm," Vin muttered. "He – "

Vin and Nathan exchanged embarrassed glances as she reached for the belt buckle of his pants.

"Ma'am, could you heat some water for me?" Nathan asked.

"It's already hot. I'll fetch it." She quickly left the room.

As soon as she was gone, the two men quickly stripped Ezra and arranged the blankets over his naked form. She returned in a minute with a teapot full of hot water.

"Thank ya, ma'am." Nathan glanced at the bedside table. He saw a pile of bandages waiting for him. From the bits of lace on them, he suspected Rina had cut up one of her petticoats to make the bandages.

They heard a knock on the door. "Excuse me," she murmured.

Chris and Buck stood at the door. "Came to check on Ez," Chris said. Both took off their hats.

Rina stepped back so they could come in. "Nathan is tending to him." She looked up at the two men, both of whom were more than a head taller than she was. "Chris Larabee, you have some explaining to do."

"I told ya, ma'am, he ain't to blame." Buck took a deep breath. His dark blue eyes were filled with guilt. "I am."

"I'm listening." She did not invite them to sit down.

"We were chasing some rustlers. They split up, and so did we," Buck began awkwardly. He turned his hat in his hand, crushing the brim without even noticing what he was doing. "Then the group we were chasing split up again. Ezra wanted to stay together, pick one trail and follow it. I overruled him, told him that we'd do better if the three of us – him an' JD an' me – each went after a different man." He fell silent.

"And then?" Rina prompted.

"When he didn't show up this morning, I thought he was sleeping in – you know how he hates early rising – or was just hiding so he wouldn't have to pay up on our bet," Buck explained sheepishly. "Wasn't till you sent Billy to fetch him home that we realized nobody had seen him. Found him a bit ago, laying unconscious on the ground. From the way his horse's leg was all swoll up, I think she was snake-bit and threw him." The tall man took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I should've listened to Ezra, kept the three of us together."

"You're not entirely to blame." She turned to the blond gunslinger. "If you didn't keep him so late on the judge's errands so often, Chris Larabee, I wouldn't have taken it for granted when he didn't come home last night – again. I'd have sent someone out to search for him hours ago."

"You know he has responsibilities to the judge and to the town," Larabee retorted gruffly. "If you can't handle that, you should've agreed to the annulment when Judge Travis gave you the chance."

Marina took a deep breath. Larabee was right, but she had no intention of admitting that right now. "And Rocinante?"

"Dead," Buck said.

"Damn," she muttered under her breath. He thought more of that mare than he did of me. "You'll excuse me, gentlemen, if I don't offer you a cup of coffee. I need to help Nathan nurse my husband." She turned her back on them and walked back to the bedroom.

Buck exhaled. Marina felt obligated, as Ezra's wife, to uphold the reputation of southern hospitality. They'd never stepped across her threshold without being offered something to eat. They'd never ended a visit without being escorted to the door.

Larabee touched Buck's arm lightly. "Let's go. She's got enough on her mind right now."

Buck followed him to the front door as they let themselves out. "You think Ez will be okay?"

Larabee nodded. "St. Peter would never let him through the Pearly Gates, and if he went below, Old Nick would be afraid he'd win the place in a poker game and be running it within a week."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily, Ezra Standish," she muttered, wiping his fevered brow with a cool, damp cloth. "You pledged till death do us part, but we're not parting. I'm not letting go of you."

In her heart of hearts, though, she knew she couldn't hold on to him by sheer stubbornness. If his wounds were more than Nathan could heal … She took a deep breath. If the Henshaws found out Ezra had died, they'd fetch her home in a heartbeat. She could take Ezra's money and go east, get out of the territory before her stepcousins learned she was alone in the world. Maybe go back to Chicago, or even immigrate to Jamaica, if Ezra left her a wealthy enough widow.

Or she could remarry before Gram could forcibly marry her off to Carl Henshaw. Buck and JD both felt guilty about what had happened to Ezra; she could manipulate that guilt into wedlock. But JD was younger than she was, and Buck, although handsome, just wasn't the settling-down type. Mary Travis wouldn't thank her if she tried to set her cap for Chris Larabee. She wasn't sure if it would be legal to marry Nathan. That left Vin and Josiah. Vin was young and strong, good-looking, although a trip to the barber wouldn't hurt him. He was a superb marksman; he'd be an excellent protector and provider. But she'd go crazy listening to his poor grammar day after day, and she doubted he'd appreciate her nagging him about saying ain't and dropping G's. Josiah wasn't handsome by any stretch of the imagination, but he was kind, and he didn't move his lips when he read.

She dipped the cloth into the basin of water again, then wrung it out. Her decision was made. If Ezra didn't make it, she'd set her cap for Josiah Sanchez. She wiped Ezra's forehead again, and cursed Gram for teaching her to be so cold-blooded.