Ezra left his room at the ungodly hour of 6:30 the following morning. He'd tossed and turned most of the night, only partially due to a bed that had more lumps in it than could be found in JD's oatmeal. His instincts were telling him something was off about this tournament. He should have followed up on it in more depth before ever leaving Four Corners, but the rush to his ego over being invited in the first place had blocked any common sense. He could hear movement as he passed Chris's room, but didn't bother to stop. Checking at the desk he was disappointed, but not surprised to find no messages waiting.

It was then a surprise to see the operator from the night before walking toward him as he left the building. "Got one response for you pal." He handed over the message and walked off, not waiting for a reply. Ezra opened the envelope and once again was not really surprised at the response. Marcus 'King' Walker knew nothing of this tournament. That was impossible. There wasn't a card came anywhere west of the Mississippi, regardless of the stakes, that Walker didn't know about. Things were definitely not as they had appeared a mere 24 hours earlier.

He headed toward the livery to check on Chaucer and rouse Vin, who most likely was camped nearby. Actually, it was more likely he would find the man preparing his own ride before searching out some kind of breakfast.

The livery door was open a crack, and Ezra heard muted voices from within. The tone set his sixth sense for trouble on high alert. Peaking cautiously through the opening, he spotted the same two scruffy men from the tavern the day before. It was painfully obvious they were up to something, and likely something no good. As he got close enough to hear specifics, his concerns were confirmed. He could see an unconscious man in the corner of the livery, and from the clothing, he knew exactly who it was.

"I'm telling you that's Tanner, just like that feller reckoned yesterday. He's got $500 on his head." The bearded member on the duo scratched on his chin as he spoke, smiling slyly. "That's easy money for the rest of the trip to Frisco."

"Not so easy," replied his friend. "The guy is slippery from what I heard. And we'd have to go to Texas to claim it all. Plus, I heard the bounty might not even be on him anymore."

"Poster's still out, so it counts. And we can turn him in along the way to some other lawman."

"You know they always take a cut – we could lose half the money. And like I said, he's slippery."

"Yeah, but the money is good dead or alive. That would make things easier." The bearded man began to reach for his weapon.

Damn. No question now, it was time to intervene.

"Gentlemen, I do believe I have an offer that will make your lives easier." The two hunters turned quickly, hands on their guns, though neither drew. "I could not help but overhearing. Clearly you have no desire to retrace your travels to Texas when your intention is a direct route to the west. Therefore, I propose that I pay you the reward sum of $500 and I will claim the bounty to reimburse my investment. You have your funds with no further delays."

"What's in it for you mister."

"Merely the satisfaction of being of assistance to fellow hunters."

"You ain't no bounty hunter. So I figure you have some other reason for this. Maybe this guy's worth more than the poster says?"

"No such luck gentlemen. It is simply a case of good timing. I wish to "head out of town" as you would say, and claiming this bounty will give me the excuse needed. Works out best for all, except of course this Tanner fellow."

"500 each."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You want us to leave it's gonna cost you $500 each. Whatever this is about, it looks like it's worth it to you." The second bounty hunter grinned, showing several gaps where teeth should be. Ezra made a point of not returning the smile and showing his gold tooth for fear the cretin would add that to his demands. He sighed to himself, realizing he had overplayed his hand. He should have offered low and made it look like he was doing them an invaluable favour. Dreadfully out of practice with the art of the con in would seem.

"$600. I need the balance of my funds for supplies."

"$900 not a penny less."

"$700."

"We'll take him ourselves."

"$750?" The duo looked at each other and nodded, as Ezra sighed to himself in relief. He would have handed over every penny if need be, and had that not worked, he was ready to do whatever was needed. This solution, while painful, was at least quiet. Gunplay would have drawn far too much attention. "I assure you gentlemen, if I encounter you again, or you tell anyone else of either this deal or Tanner's presence in the area, you will not survive long enough to spend any of these funds."

"Hey – we made a deal. We ain't about to cheat you."

Ezra merely huffed in response. "Oh – one more thing. Who told you of Mr. Tanner's presence? I like to know who my competition is."

"Nobody told us. We was in the saloon and heard some guy say to another guy that your guy looked like a guy from the poster." Ezra took a moment to decipher that. "Fine. Wait here for 5 minutes and I shall return with your money."

It took only half that time for him to retrieve the funds from his boot. He looked longingly at the hard won cash. He had no intention of changing his mind about the decision, he just desperately wished he'd had time to develop a second plan. But he knew he had to rid the town of these two before others became aware of their presence. Much of the population here appeared to be far less than honourable, and clearly news of Vin's pardon had not reached the area. The trouble that might arise from the confrontation was exactly the sort of incident he had promised Chris they would avoid on this trip, not that such a detail seemed all that relevant at the moment.

"Here you go. Now, on your horses gentlemen."

"We weren't planning on leaving town right away."

With a quick movement of his arm Ezra's derringer popped out of his sleeve, aimed directly at the bearded man's head. "Then I think you will be changing your plans."

"Reckon we will." The two turned and quickly mounted with Ezra watching every movement. He'd lowered his arm to make the weapon less obvious, but a look at his body posture showed he was ready to fire if the need arose. Fortunately, it didn't, and a few moments later the bounty hunters were riding off.

Ezra hurried over to the unconscious man in the corner, greatly relieved to see signs of movement as he arrived. Vin lashed out at his touch, but stilled when Ezra spoke. "I think you would be best served to save your energy for recovery rather than attacking me."

"Ezra? What happened?"

Clearly Vin had heard nothing of the deal brokered on his behalf, and the gambler could see no purpose in getting the man agitated about it in his current condition.

"I am not entirely certain, but it appears I startled a couple of miscreants who presumably intended you harm. They rode out in a hurry, much to my relief. I think we would be best served to make a similar departure. Are you feeling up to riding?"

Vin stood, a bit dizzy, but overall feeling better than he'd expected. "Yeah, I'm OK. Why were they after me?"

"Were I to hazard a guess, I would go for the obvious – the bounty."

"But I ain't wanted anymore."

"Yes, but not everyone is aware of that change in your status. And as the original poster did indicate your continued good health was not a requirement, I think it is best we assume there will be many out there who continue to operate under the belief that a bullet in your direction will earn them $500. It would seem these gentlemen were willing to at least attempt to take you alive."

"Well, thanks for the rescue Pard. And you're likely right. Sticking around town may not be the best plan. Besides, the faster we get on the road, the sooner you get to your big game. I'll get the others."

"Fine, I shall start to prepare the horses," he spoke to Vin's back as he left to gather the team. He would wait till they were all together to share the news that there was no game. He strode over to Chaucer, gently greeting his four-legged friend.

"You must promise me that you shall never let word of this out to another." The steed gently nuzzled at his owner's neck, sensing the mood. "Three months of games and gambles, saving every penny for just this weekend, and now I am again virtually without funds. What has become of me my friend? It was so much easier when I cared only about the two of us."

He reached across the stall to get the bridle and settled it into place.

"But, I will concede, it was lonelier. Not that you aren't a cherished companion, but these one sided conversations do get a bit tedious. Although most of the others I ride with are really not much more talkative. Including the gentleman at the centre of my latest folly. No, that's not fair. This was my idea, not his. I am sure Vin would be quite mortified to discover I had bought his freedom with my reserves."

"If mortified means mad as hell you got that right!"

Ezra spun rapidly at the angry shout, almost falling in his haste. "It really is not polite to eavesdrop Mr. Tanner."

"Cut the Mister crap Ezra. What do you mean you bought my freedom?"

"Nothing, I assure you. A poor choice of words is all."

"You don't make poor choices when it comes to your words." Chris now stood behind his friend, and Ezra could see the others approaching as well. "This have anything to do with why we're leaving town so sudden?"

"You didn't scare of them hunters – you bought them off didn't you? Dammit, answer me Ezra."

"I did what had to be done. They were discussing the dead or alive clause on the poster, and there wasn't time to get the others."

"So now you have half what you need to get into the game. How am I supposed to get you $500 in the next two days?"

"You aren't Vin. This was my choice, and you have no accountability in the matter whatsoever."

"Bull. This is on me and I'm gonna figure it out."

"It's on us." Chris corrected him. "We should have been more alert, and what you did, you did for the good of the team. It's on all of us."

Ezra tried to argue, but one look at the faces staring him down told him the futility of such an action.

"There is no game."

"Sure there is. We can figure this out. Got to come up with $500. Maybe we could get some games going here…

"No gentlemen. I mean there is no tournament. It is a con of some kind. I don't know if it was targeted to get me to River's End, or to get us out of town, but I have learned there is no tournament."

The men stopped digging in their saddle bags and looked at the gambler. Even his poker face couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes as he made the statement.

"There are," he continued, "likely easier ways to get my attention, so I can only assume we were being lured away. I sent a message to Mr. Dunne to be on the lookout for trouble, but I think we should return home with due speed."

Chris turned to Buck. "I'll get your ride ready, you go find us some grub."

Vin walked over to Ezra, hand out holding what cash he'd had on him. "Ain't much, but it's a start. Twenty-eight dollars. Don't fight me on this – you won't win."

Ezra reluctantly took the cash, knowing he was destined to have a discussion about this in the future.

"Aren't you going to add it to your stash?" Vin watched his friend closely, knowing Ezra was holding back information.

The southerner had been hoping to avoid drawing out the other funds, but having no excuse not to, he removed his boot and tried to quickly add the new cash to the roll. He had barely pulled his remaining funds free when Bucks hand covered his.

"I'm no banker, but that doesn't look like $600 dollars." He pried Ezra's fingers from the grip they had on the few bills there. "$105? Thought you said you had $1100?"

"He did – I saw it." Chris confirmed.

Vin looked at him with a blending of anger and guilt. "You paid them more, didn't you? Keep them quiet – chase them off. You paid them $1000? That's almost everything you have. Dammit Ezra – why would you do that?"

The response was barely above a whisper. "They were going to kill you. What else was I do to?" He stepped away and returned to saddling Chaucer. He felt Chris's hand on his shoulder and shrugged it off, not wanting to have to deal with any of them at the moment. This was not the way this was supposed to happen. The scene he had tried to ignore was playing out in front of him.

Vin thought he would have preferred to be taken by the bounty hunters than look Ezra in the face right now. They all knew how badly the gambler had wanted to be in this game. Now the game was gone, his money was gone and they knew trouble was waiting at home. Ezra's dream had turned into a nightmare, and it wasn't over.

Buck returned a few minutes later to a quiet group of riders. Not breaking the silence, he handed out biscuit and eggs sandwiches he'd had made up at the saloon, and mounted up, leading them out of the stables. As Ezra rode past Vin, he spoke again quietly. "Wasn't $1000. They got $750." He was not about to admit to bartering, but he need to add one other comment. "I would have given them all of it if I'd had to." He said nothing further as he spurred Chaucer into a faster gait, pulling ahead of the others. Vin watched, speechless. Chris rode by, patting him lightly on the shoulder. "Guess we really don't get him – do we?"

TBC

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