Please See Chapter One For Warnings and Disclaimers
Author's Note: Though I have this outlined and know the direction I want this to take, I am just struggling with the writing. I write and re-write and it just doesn't seem to flow. My apologies to my readers if that is obvious as you read, but I figured you would rather have an imperfect update rather than wait. We are drawing close to the end of this story, however. Probably only another chapter or two (or maybe three).
Tears were streaming down Torie's face, and Chris pulled the girl into his arms ignoring her stiffness. "So much is a blur, but I remember the faces of at least three of the men. The first man that came to talk to Mama she called Cain. The man that hit me, they called Molson. Another one they called Lefty. I could see that one doing the yelling was scarred real bad, like he'd been in a fire. A lot of things are blurry. I'm not sure where it fit in but I know I remembered them talking about a ranch in Texas, near Palo Duro Canyon. I couldn't move. Couldn't so much as lift a finger."
Torie broke down into sobs, burying her head into Chris's chest and he held her tight, his heart breaking for his young daughter.
Chapter 9 – One month later
"Chris," JD's voice drew the blond gunman's attention away from the purchase he was making from Mrs. Potter. "There's a feller just got into town askin' after you and Torie. After that crew that rode in last night, I thought you'd wanna know right away. He's over at the hotel."
"Thanks JD. Would you round up Torie for me and keep her over at the jail with you for awhile?"
"She and the children were playing out behind the church," Mrs. Potter informed the men with a look of concern on her face.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Chris responded before turning back to JD to give the younger man a nod.
"I'll get her, Chris," the young sheriff assured the other peacekeeper as he headed out of the store.
"And send my young'uns home as well," Mrs. Potter called after him.
Finishing his purchase, Chris headed directly for the hotel. He walked slowly as he considered what the stranger's presence meant. The last month had gone fairly well and he had seen a definite improvement in his daughter. After a long talk with Torie, Chris had agreed to let Mary print the story with a few minor changes. The newspapers had then been intentionally mailed to several locations in hopes word would get to the right people. With the hope of bringing her mother's killers to Four Corners, Torie agreed (once again swearing on her mother's grave) to stay in town while they waited to see what would happen. Thus when Fury was ready to ride, she was allowed to do so with certain restrictions.
She and Billy Travis, who had returned to town for good, had become fast friends. They managed to find just enough mischief to be interesting without landing them in too much trouble. Honestly, Chris was just relieved to see Torie acting closer to her rightful age and having a little fun.
Of course he and the other six men who were charged with safeguarding the town were even more diligent in their watchfulness. Every stranger or traveling group was carefully scrutinized and monitored. Until the group of cowboys who stopped in at the saloon last night, no one had raised any suspicion. As Chris entered the hotel, he wondered if the rowdy group had anything to do with this visitor or not.
A well-dressed man was coming down the stairs and a smile spread across his face as he addressed the black clad gunman in a thick Texan drawl, "Mister Larabee I presume?"
"Yep. Heard you were looking me. Don't believe we've met before," Chris answered his hand resting casually on his gun.
"The name's Cain, Luther Cain," the Texan answered coming to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. "I've come on the behalf of my brother-in-law, Harold Melbourne. He wishes to make an offer on a property that you have inherited in North Texas."
"That so?" Chris's eyes were hard as stone upon hearing the man's name, but he remained calm.
"Indeed. After finally reaching the late Miss DeLauney's solicitor, he found that the property had been left to you."
"You make a visit like this to Ysebella the night she died?" Chris demanded ominously.
The smile slipped from the man's face as his hazel eyes took in Larabee's threatening stance. Cain's brow furrowed and his eyes darted to the floor as he answered, "Regrettably, yes, I did meet with Miss DeLauney that unfortunate night. I very well might have been the last one to see her alive other than her attackers, as I explained to the local law enforcement there in New Orleans."
"No, my little girl was," Chris replied through gritted teeth.
"Yes, I heard she had also been attacked." The man shook his head, "Such a tragedy. Has she fully recovered from her injuries? I understand she had some memory loss directly following the ordeal."
"Torie's doing fine. So you didn't see anything that night?"
"No," Cain shook his head. "As I told the Sherriff, her attackers must have been watching for me to leave."
Chris had to restrain himself from lunging across the room to throttle the truth from the Texan, but he wanted to make sure Torie was safe first and foremost. "So what is it this Melbourne wants the land for?"
"He has a large ranch in the area and wishes to expand his holdings. There was small silver mine on the property, but that has long since been mined out."
"Why wasn't Ysebella willing to sell then?"
Cain's eyes darted to Chris's face, surprised at the other man's knowledge, but rather then deny the claim he answered with a shrug, "I hardly know. Women can lack reason at times. I understand she was ill, perhaps that affected her good sense."
"I'll think it over. Your boss have a dollar figure in mind?"
After sharing the offer, Mr. Cain retired to his room and Chris exited the hotel meeting Buck as he did.
"Well?" his tall friend demanded.
"Black as sin, but not willing to get his soft hands dirty. Need to talk to Torie."
The two headed over to the jail but finding no one there went in search of JD and Torie. They met up with JD coming out of the Clarion building.
"Chris, I can't find Torie anywhere. Mary said she and Billy were goin' ta Mz. Potters, but Mz. Potter says they went ta play behind the church. Josiah said they talked to him about going to the restaurant, but they ain't there either." JD threw his hands up. "Fact is they talked to nigh everyone this morning about going somewhere, but they ain't in any of the places they said they was goin'!"
Removing his hat, the blond gunfighter ran his hand through his hair considering the unpleasant possibilities. The land deed was nothing to him; he'd give it over in a heartbeat if it were demanded as ransom. However, if it was known that Torie could finger her mother's killers, she was as good as dead. He had refused to allow Mary's article to divulge that Torie knew specific names or faces; it stated only that she had regained some of her memory. Still, men that would beat a sick woman to death and leave a little girl for dead, probably wouldn't pause in taking another life just to safely cover their tracks.
"We'll find 'em, Chris," Buck assured his friend.
Mary joined them, worry written all over her face. "Billy and Torie aren't in our rooms, or anywhere at the office."
Chris put his arm around the blond woman, pulling her close and trying to offer her comfort he couldn't find himself as he echoed Buck's words, "We'll find them Mary, don't fret."
Just then Vin appeared at a run, his blue eyes locking with Chris's. "Fury's not at the livery. Them fellers from last night are back over at the saloon agin. Ezra's got some of 'em pulled inta a game a cards."
Breathing a sigh of relief Chris, nodded. If Torie took Fury, she had undoubtedly disappeared of her own volition. "JD, you keep an eye on Cain, over at the hotel. Buck, round up Josiah and Nathan. Help Ezra keep a watch over those cowboys. Don't know if they're part this yet or not." Chris looked down at Mary. "Vin and I'll go get the kids and bring 'em back. They're most likely just off lookin' for mischief. Can you wire the judge and let him know that we might be needing his services?"
"Of course," she answered.
Vin had no difficulty picking up Fury's tracks. The trail led them just a few miles out of town to a small ravine. Fury and a black gelding were carefully tied to a tree, but Billy and Torie were nowhere to be seen. A series of loud shots had both men pulling their guns and spurring their horses to a gallop. As they rounded a large boulder, they found the source of the noise. Billy, Torie, Jake MacKenzie, and another boy the men vaguely recognized were standing in a semi circle, lighting off firecrackers.
With a grin, Vin holstered his weapon. Putting his own gun away, Chris's look was not so jovial, especially when he noted two pieces of dynamite sticking out of one of the packs at his daughter's feet. "What the hell are you kids doing?"
Spinning around the four children looked up at Chris in shocked terror. Torie was the first to recover. "Ah, well, we were setting off some bangers that I had put away from last New Years."
"Your folks know where you are?" Chris demanded of Jake and the other boy.
"Kind of," Jake answered, not meeting Chris's cold glare. "I suggest you get on home and make sure they know exactly where you been and what you've been doing. I'll be riding out to talk to them myself when I get time."
The two teens scrambled to do the ominous man's bidding, not wanting to incur the wrath of one of the scariest men in town. Chris dismounted and approached the two remaining children purposefully. Neither met his eyes and Billy was nearly in tears. Chris was his hero and he hated the thought of being in trouble with the man. For her part, Torie knew good and well she was in deep trouble, and she couldn't even pretend that she had a reasonable excuse.
Stopping well, within an arms reach, Chris crossed his arms and leveled angry glare at the duo. "Start talkin'."
"Well," Torie started, twirling her hair nervously around her finger. "I found the firecrackers in my trunk and thought it would be fun to set them off, but knew it wouldn't be smart to do it in town. Jake knew of a good place, so we all kind of decided to meet up."
"Are you supposed to take Fury out without permission?"
"No sir."
"Are you allowed to leave town without permission?"
"No sir."
"Are you supposed to go places without telling anyone where you're at?"
"No sir," this last was uttered in a barely audible whisper.
"How 'bout you Billy?"
"No sir."
"We weren't trying to cause any trouble," Torie explained. "Just wanted to have some fun. Thought we would be back before anyone noticed we were gone."
With a swift motioned, Chris reached down and grabbed the dynamite. "And this?"
"Ah, well, um we ah, kind of found it, ah, we weren't gonna light it," Torie's southern accent became very pronounced, a sure sign of her agitation.
Tossing the dynamite to Vin, Chris swiftly grabbed Torie's arm and before she even had time to protest she was bent over his hip. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
"If I ever catch you with dynamite again, I'll be cutting a switch. You could blow yourself to kingdom come without even trying!" He lectured as he continued to pepper her bottom with hard swats. Setting her straight again he pinned her with an angry glare stealing himself against the repentant tear-filled eyes. "This discussion is far from over, young lady," he warned drawing her into his arms for a hug before turning to a quaking Billy Travis.
Without thinking much about Mary's reaction, Chris stepped forward and took hold of the boy as he rested his boot on a small rock, pulling Billy over his knee. SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! "The same goes for you young man! You had your mother worried sick!" After about ten swats, Chris eased the crying child down only to be nearly bowled over when the boy threw his arms around his waist.
"I'm sorry, Chris," Billy sobbed.
"I know you are, Billy," Chris answered as he held the boy close, running a hand through the lad's hair, "But that don't mean I'm not gonna talk to your Mama about handling the rest of your punishment. You need to understand that what you did today is dangerous." The boy's face went white at the prospect, but he nodded nonetheless.
***
"Mary?"
After a stern lecture, Billy had been sent to his room and Torie to Mary's. Chris had explained what he and Vin had found as well as his response with both of the kids. He then recommended that she let him see to the rest of Billy's punishment. Giving no response, Mary had turned and was looking out the window. After several minutes, her quietness grew concerning to the gunman.
"I'm sorry if what I did-"
"No, no, that's not it at all," she said spinning around. "I probably would have done the same thing if I had seen those sticks of dynamite," she smiled, "Well, maybe not, but I guarantee his father would have, or Orin for that matter. It's undoubtedly what he needed." Mary looked down at the floor, trying to hide the tears that came unbidden to her eyes.
Taking a step forward, Chris wondered what was bothering the normally confident newspaperwoman.
"I shouldn't have brought him back. It was selfish of me."
Laying a hand on her shoulder, Chris shook his head. "Mary, a boy's bound to find trouble in his life. Where ever he's living."
"He needs a father."
"You regret not accepting Whitman's proposal?" Chris asked softly.
"Yes. NO! I don't know." Mary stepped closer and rested her head on Chris's chest before turning confused green eyes up to his. "I didn't love him."
"Not even a little?" Chris asked with a smile as he repeated the question he had asked Mary so many months ago about Gerhard Whitman. At the same time he gently wrapped a comforting arm around her.
"As a friend, but nothing more. I can't help but to wonder if that was selfish of me, though. A boy should have a father."
"Seems to me a man would want a woman to marry him for her own feelings toward him, not because he could be of some use to her."
Mary nodded. "It's just," she shook her head. "I really want to do what's best for Billy and I worry that I won't be able."
"Well, let me deal with it this time."
Mary smiled and met Chris's steady gaze. "And what about next time? Am I supposed to call you every time Billy finds some mischief."
Chris gave a shrug and grinned. "I wouldn't mind."
Mary laughed. "You wouldn't either. You're so good with him. He positively adores you. When he arrived, I had barely gotten a hug before he was looking around for you and then he stayed in your arms longer than mine," she said with a mock pout.
"Jealous?"
"Yes!" Mary replied, but the sparkle in her eyes revealed the lie in that statement.
"He's a good boy. Don't worry so much."
"It's a mother's prerogative." Chris chuckled, and the two stood in companionable silence for a time.
"Thank you, Chris," Mary said softly though she was looking down when she did so.
"No need for thanks between us," he replied tipping her chin up so that he could meet her eyes wondering why she had chosen to look away. What he saw in her light green orbs nearly bowled him over, and he almost turned away, unprepared for the depth of feeling evident in her gaze. It spoke louder than words could have and the gunfighter realized it was time to make a decision. Every night he fell asleep trying to remember the face of his wife and son, trying to hold on to a visage of the woman he had loved. Was he ready and willing to let her rest?
Slowly he let his lips descend, hoping he didn't curse himself tomorrow. Still he could not refute the attraction that had been growing toward this woman almost from the moment he had laid eyes on her, standing in the middle of the street with a shotgun, defying the men who were attempting to hang Nathan. They'd had their spats, to be sure, but when all was said and done, he couldn't deny that he had feelings for her. The kiss deepened and her arms went around his neck.
They pulled away at the same time, both seeming somewhat dazed by the line that they had just crossed. Chris grinned and Mary offered a little smile. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
"I've got a couple of kids that still need to be dealt with," he said with a note of regret.
"I'll be here waiting," she replied softly.
With a nod, Chris headed up the stairs. He went to Billy's room first. The boy sat forlornly on his bed. When he looked up, for just a moment, he had the same look of excited pleasure that he always wore when he saw Chris, but this faded fast, as did all of the color in his face.
Chris moved forward and sat beside Billy. Laying a hand gently on the boy's shoulder, he asked, "You know that what you did, was wrong?"
The boy nodded before whispering a barely audible, "Yes, sir."
"Tell me why."
"I'm not supposed to go places without tellin' Mama where I'm at, and I'm not supposed to go outta town without askin', and the firecrackers and dynamite, well I know that was wrong too."
"Then why did you?"
"Well, when I lived with my Grandpa and Grandma, I didn't have much chance to get out and have fun with my friends, and well," the boy shrugged. "It just sounded like fun. I'm sorry, Chris."
"I know you are son, and so does your mama, but I need to do something now to make sure you remember just how important the rules are. Rules are made to keep you safe you know. Your mama would be heartbroken if something happened to you…and so would I."
"You would?"
"Yes I would."
Chris then tugged the boy over his lap, and proceeded to light a fire in his rear end. When he stopped Billy was crying so hard that his "I'm sorry" was barely even understandable. Chris gently lifted the boy into his lap and rocked him, until he calmed down. "I think your mama's gonna be up to check on you soon."
With a nod Billy climbed off of Chris's lap and ran his arm across his face to dry his tears.
"I love you, Billy," Chris said, ruffling the boys hair, "But you do anything this foolish again and it'll be my belt not the flat of my hand, understand?"
"Yes, sir," the boy reached in for one more hug. "I love you too, Chris."
With that the gunman made his way to Mary's bedroom where Torie awaited, sitting nervously on the bed. Her eyes darted up to meet her father's as he entered the room. Though this was certainly not the first time she had been trouble with the man, this was the first time it was strictly mischief. She deliberately disobeyed him for no other reason than to go off and have some fun. Still she was doing her very best to try to find some justification for her actions.
"No one got hurt or anything," she blurted out as he approached.
Chris stopped and crossed his arms, glowering at his daughter. "I think Billy just might disagree with you on that. Fact is I think you might be disagreeing with that soon."
Torie met his gaze as long as she could but soon looked down to her stocking feet. Mary had insisted that the children remove their dirty boots before heading upstairs, though Torie noticed that Chris still wore his black boots.
"You're older than Billy. You should be setting a good example, not showing him how to find trouble."
More silence followed as Torie battled with the guilt of getting her new friend in trouble. Not that he had shown any reservations, but he was a few years younger after all.
"Cain showed up in town today."
The girl's head shot up at that and she started to get up but Chris held his hand up. "Sit right back down."
"But-"
"No. Don't say one word. What you did today was all that more dangerous considering we didn't know where you were. Someone could have grabbed you. You and Billy both."
Torie's eyes narrowed in anger. She could only wish to get "grabbed" by the men that had killed her mother. "Little girl," Chris's sharp tone cut through Torie's thoughts of revenge. "We had a deal and if you aren't gonna keep to it I'll send you out to Nettie's until this whole thing has blown over."
With great effort Torie reigned in her defiance. She was well aware that her papa would carry out that threat, given the slightest provocation. Having left his gun belt downstairs, Chris's hands went to the buckle at his waist, unfastening it and removing the leather from the loops of his pants. The last of Torie's rebelliousness fled.
"Papa," she whispered as a quiet plea.
With a shake of his head Chris took a seat beside his daughter. "Tell me exactly why you deserve this spanking, Torie."
She did not want to answer. Really she didn't, but her lips began to move despite her wish to remain stoically quiet. "I disobeyed you and left town without asking. I took Fury out without asking. I didn't tell anyone where I really was. I, I guess I did something that might be considered dangerous."
"Might be?"
Torie sighed. "Was potentially dangerous," she amended. In the back of her mind she still thought he was overreacting. Really what were a few bangers, and she was more than old enough to ride a ways out of town with her friends. However, Torie had learned a thing or two since coming to live with Chris Larabee and she had the good sense to keep that opinion to herself.
With a nod, Chris pulled the girl across his lap and brought the folded belt down hard on her trouser-clad backside. He made sure her entire bottom was aflame as he brought the leather down again and again. He did not lecture, figuring everything had been discussed as much as it needed to be. Not surprisingly Torie was bawling by the time he finished and drew her into his arms and gently onto his lap.
"I'm sorry, Papa."
"You're forgiven, angel. I'm glad you have friends and want to spend time with them, but try to stay out of mischief, okay?"
"Yes, sir," she sniffed. After several minutes sitting cuddled in his strong arms, Torie stirred. "So Cain's in town?"
"Yes, and you are not to go anywhere near him. In fact I want you staying here with Mary."
Torie's eyes grew hard as steel and Chris noted a look that he hadn't seen in them for some weeks now.
"Torie, you are going to let me handle this."
"Yes, sir," she answered automatically, but Chris could tell that she was just appeasing him. He turned her sideways and landed a swat on her already sore behind. She yelped.
"I mean it, little girl. You stay clear of this or the tanning I just gave you won't even compare."
Torie frowned, but finally gave a resigned nod, "Yes, sir."
With a kiss to her forehead, he laid her on the bed. "You aren't to leave this room unless Mary gives you leave and you mind Mary while I'm gone."
"Yes, Papa."
With that Chris left the room and Torie began plotting. She would be damned before giving up having a hand in bringing down the men that killed her mother.
TBC...