Chapter 3

Vin walked around in front of Ella Gaines who was still hanging from the ropes. She was sagging down, almost to her knees, but the ropes kept her from falling to the ground. He leaned down and picked up a small, shallow bowl made of buffalo bone. He dipped it in the water nearby and lifted it to her mouth.

"Drink this," he said. Ella opened her mouth and greedily swallowed the cool liquid. He did this several times, until she'd had her fill.

Breathing heavily, she looked up at him. "Are you going to let me go now?"

He shook his head. "Just wanted you able to speak. Someone here wants to talk to ya."

Vin looked over Ella's shoulder, where Larabee stood behind her. Chris was staring at her back, at the damage that had been done to her skin. He raised his eyes and met Vin's. Tanner could see the sudden indecision in his face. He cocked his head, the silent question obvious.

Chris nodded. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. Then he moved to stand next to Vin.

"Chris! Oh, Chris, you came!" Ella cried. "Cut me loose! We have to get out of here." She straightened up, as if seeing Larabee gave her strength. Her smile was marred by the cuts and bruises on her face, her ratty hair blown across her features by the slight breeze.

For several long seconds, Chris could only stare at her. His eyes move from her face down her body, to her dirty bare feet, then back up to her face. His eyes locked with hers.

"You killed them. You killed my wife and son." His voice was flat, unemotional. He shook his head, as if he couldn't quite comprehend that this woman was the cause of the pain he carried in his heart. Even now, just thinking about his dead family caused a soul-deep ache.

"Chris, I explained that to you. I only did it so that we could be together. It was for the best. It was necessary. For our love…"

"Love?! Love?" he shouted. Closing his eyes, he clenched his fists and took a deep breath. "You don't know what love is." He opened his eyes again and moved closer. He reached up and placed his hand on her cheek.

Ella turned her face toward his hand and kissed the palm.

"You came for me, Chris. That must tell you something. I know you love me." She smiled at him.

Larabee smiled, even as his hand moved down to the side of her neck. He brought his other hand up, placing it on the other side. He slid his thumbs to her throat.

Ella's smile disappeared as he slowly began to squeeze. Her breath became ragged as his grip tightened and cut off her air. When he could see the fear in her eyes, he released her.

"You are a monster. You're worse than anyone I have ever met in my life."

"And yet you slept with me," she said, her voice raspy.

"Yes, to my eternal shame. The thought of lying with you sickens me," he snarled, feeling the bile at the back of his throat. "If I'd known then what you had done, I would have killed you."

"Then why didn't you?" she asked, the smile returning. "You had the chance and didn't take it."

Chris closed his eyes. How could he answer that question when he didn't know the answer himself? He heard Tanner move closer and felt the hand come to rest lightly on his shoulder. After a long moment, he nodded and opened his eyes. He glanced at Vin, silently expressing his gratitude for his friend's presence.

Ella's voice interrupted the moment.

"Chris, cut me loose," she pleaded. "We can still have a life together. Once you understand that what happened was for the best…"

He slapped her. Hard. The imprint of his fingers quickly showed on her left cheek.

"Shut up," he growled.

"Chris…"

"SHUT UP!" he screamed, hitting her again, this time with a backhand. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" he yelled three more times, each yell accompanied by another hard slap.

Chris was pulled away, Vin's arm wrapped around his waist. He struggled briefly, but then allowed his friend to put some distance between them and Ella. But when he looked up at her face again, his anger just intensified. He twisted out of Vin's hold. At the same time, his hand slid the knife from its sheath on Vin's belt.

He quickly stepped up to Ella and thrust the blade into her shoulder. He heard Kanahe and White Dove yell, but couldn't understand what they were saying.

She cried out in pain and shock, not expecting the attack from her former lover. She tried to reach for the knife before realizing that her arms were still tied to the trees.

Chris pulled the knife out, then thrust it into her other shoulder.

"Don't say another word, you bitch! One more word and I will forget the promise I made and slit your throat!"

He roughly jerked the knife from her body, causing more pain, which he relished. He then jabbed the knife tip up against the bottom of her chin, daring her to speak again. The sharp metal dug into her skin, a trickle of blood joining the wet blood already on the blade.

She began to tremble and tears gathered in her eyes. But no sympathy could be seen in Chris Larabee's eyes. She began to open her mouth, but stopped suddenly when the angry man put more pressure on the knife, pushing her chin up a fraction of an inch.

The muscles in his arm tightened. He had to physically stop himself from smashing the knife upward into her brain. A hand wrapping around his on the hilt of the knife drew his eyes to his friend.

Tanner slowly drew his hand, and the knife, away from Ella. He gently loosened Chris' grip and took the knife from him. He wiped the blade clean on the tatters of Ella's dress and slipped it back onto his belt.

When Ella began to speak again, Vin slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Ya heard what he said. I can always give him the knife back," he threatened.

She swallowed and then nodded. He removed his hand slowly, watching to see if she would try to speak again. She lowered her eyes and stared at the ground.

"Chris, why don't you get some rest. Nothing will happen tonight."

Chris nodded and walked away, not sparing another look at the woman who had destroyed his life. He stopped, then headed away from the village, out into the dark night.

Vin turned back to Ella, then looked over to his left.

"Stay with him, Buck," he said. Wilmington came out of the trees and walked up to Tanner and Ella. "He may need ya."

"How'd you know I was there?" Buck asked. Vin didn't answer. "Never mind," the big man said before he walked off to follow his oldest friend.

Tanner turned back to the woman who hung before him. "I'll have someone come and bandaged your wounds."

"Why bother? Why not just let me bleed to death?" she asked, her voice betraying her pain.

"Ain't my place to say when you die. That's up to White Dove. And Chris."

Without another word, Vin turned and stepped up to White Dove and Kanahe.

"Chris still feels much pain," he said, trying to explain.

White Dove placed a hand over his mouth.

"It is good that he releases his pain. He may share my justice if he wishes."

"I will tell him. Thank you."

He turned and headed back to Kanahe's tipi.

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Chris walked away and kept walking, needing to get as far from Ella Gaines as he could. His walk quickly turned into a staggering run. He didn't realize he was crying until his vision blurred so badly that he stumbled and dropped to his knees.

Panting, he fell forward, his palms slapping the ground. A vision of Adam and Sarah sprang up before him, waving goodbye the day he and Buck had left on that cursed trip to Mexico. Then the vision was shattered, bringing to terrifying clarity another, more horrible image, of two charred bodies.

He couldn't stop the bile this time. His stomach heaved and he vomited. It took several minutes for his gut to settle again.

He sat back on his heels, taking deep breaths, trying to regain control. He looked up at the blue sky, soft white clouds slowly drifted past. Sarah had always loved this time of year, when it was closing in on fall and the days were just slightly cooler.

He gasped as the pain stabbed into his heart again. His beautiful Sarah would lie on her back in the grass and watched the clouds. Oftentimes, Adam was there with her. They would call out the different shapes they'd see in the clouds.

"Oh, God, Sarah," he cried. "I'm so sorry. You and Adam didn't deserve this." He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, clutching at the strands, not feeling the pain that seemed infinitesimal compared to that which seared his soul. He brought his hands down, now clenched in fists. He pounded his thighs before he dropped both arms in defeat.

"Saraaaah!" he wailed, his face upturned, tears running in rivers down his cheeks. His sobs turned slowly to whimpers and he slumped back. He leaned against a large rock behind him, his legs pulled against his chest. He wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face against his knees.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there before he noticed that someone had joined him. Looking up, he fully expected to see Tanner, but was only mildly surprised to find Buck Wilmington leaning against a nearby tree.

Buck turned his head to look at Chris, then held out the canteen he carried in his right hand. Chris took it and swallowed the cool liquid, soothing his throat. He pulled off his kerchief and wet it from the canteen, then wiped his face.

Buck reached out a hand. Chris looked at the hand, then at Buck's face. Returning his gaze to the outstretched hand, he reached his own up and grasped Buck's. He allowed Buck to help him up, but rather than release his grip, his slid his hand up Buck's arm.

The two men clutched forearms for a long moment. Although no words were spoken each could see the emotions in the other. Their shared pain was tempered by a lasting friendship.

Chris had never been more grateful to the big man for continuing to be a part of his life.

Wilmington gestured over his shoulder. "Feel like walking back or you want to stay for a while, watch the sun set?"

Chris looked around, suddenly confused. He couldn't remember coming out here.

Wilmington sighed. "We came quite a ways, Pard. Village is about two miles back."

"Aw hell," Chris muttered, which caused Buck to laugh, hearing Vin Tanner's favorite expression coming from Larabee.

"Guess we best get a move on if we want to get back to the village before dark," Chris said. The two men began to stroll back, not really in any hurry.

After about five minutes, Chris glanced over at his friend. Buck had been silent during the walk, highly unusual for the normally effusive man.

"You don't have to stay," he said.

Wilmington stopped and briefly looked at the sky. Nervously he reached up and smoothed down his mustache.

"I know, Chris. And truth be told, I'm not sure I can. I understand how you feel, truly I do. I'm just not sure I can watch it...listen to it...to her...screaming like that." He grimaced, the distaste evident on his face.

Chris nodded. "I know. But I need to be here. I gotta see it through. I made a promise to Sarah and Adam," he said, his voice cracking when he spoke their names. "I made a promise to myself."

"Do you think this is right, what they're doing?" Buck asked.

Larabee sighed. "I...I don't know. I know how you feel about women being hurt. But, this...the horror that she's set loose...I keep seeing their blackened bodies..."

Buck gripped his shoulder, squeezing tight.

Chris continued, his voice almost too soft to hear. "God, Buck. I had finally been able to get that image out of my head. Finally able to see them again like they were before, but now..."

"Ah, Chris. Hell, maybe we should both leave and let Vin and these Indians do what they gotta do."

"NO!" Chris replied vehemently. "No! I have to stay. If she's gonna die here, I have to stay. I have to see her...I have to be sure..."

"...be sure she's dead? Really dead?" Buck offered.

Chris nodded. "I have to know it's over. I know how that makes me sound."

"You sound like a man still in pain, still grieving the death of his family."

Larabee rubbed his face. "I bedded her, Buck," he said quietly. "I thought about staying on at that ranch, raising horses. Hell, I even thought about having a family again. Now, I get sick just thinking about it."

"Chris, you didn't know. None of us knew. It ain't wrong to want some happiness in your life. God knows you've had too much pain already. Sarah wouldn't want you to drown yourself in grief for the rest of your life. She'd probably be pissed you spent this long grievin' for her..."

Buck raised a hand to stop the angry protest he could see getting ready to erupt from his friend.

"I know. You have to grieve in your own way. I'm just saying, Sarah wouldn't want you to be sad forever. Anymore than you would want her to, if the situation was reversed. I wish..." Buck dropped his hand. "I just wish I'd never asked you to stay that night."

"Don't, Buck. Like I told you before, I coulda rode home alone. Nobody forced me to stay."

"But still..."

Larabee moved to stand directly in front of his oldest friend, glaring up at the taller man.

"Fine, you blame yourself. And at first, maybe, so did I," he said angrily.

Buck flinched, surprised. Although he always thought that Chris blamed him, the other man had never said so in words, not even during his most drunken moments.

Larabee grabbed both of Buck's arms as he saw the other man start to back away.

"I should have said this years ago," he said, "but you know how bullheaded I can be." The two men exchanged small smiles. Chris tightened his grip.

"It. Was. Not. Your. Fault. I. Don't. Blame. You. But if you don't believe that and if you need to hear the words, I'll say them. Buck Wilmington, I forgive you. And I'm sorry that I treated you like so much dirt those first few months, hell years, after they died. You were always there when I needed you. I pushed and pushed and you still stuck around."

He shook Buck. "I cussed you. I beat you. I threatened to shoot you on more than one occasion. But you were still there in the morning to make sure I ate and to hold my head as I threw up the liquor from the night before. You were my friend then and you are my friend now. And I hope you will always be my friend. And I'm sorry for not paying attention when you tried to talk about them. I guess I just didn't want to think about how much you had lost too."

Chris dropped his hands. "I drank to forget, but I couldn't...they wouldn't let me go. No matter how much I wanted to forget...No, I didn't want to forget them. I just wanted to forget how they died. I didn't want to remember that they weren't there anymore. And you were a constant reminder. I'm sorry. I just wanted to forget..."

Buck reached up and wrapped his big hand around the back of Chris' neck. That caused the tears to start again. He pulled the crying man close, his other arm going around Chris' back.

Chris' sobs wracked his body, his hands finding their way to the front of Buck's shirt, grasping the cloth and holding tight. Buck held him, his own tears falling silently.

Finally, Chris pulled away, wiping his eyes. He looked up to see Buck doing the same. His eyes met his friend's and both began to smile, a huge weight now lifted from both hearts.

Chris jerked his head. Buck nodded, and both men turned once again to the trail heading back to the village.

Five minutes later, the rounded a large boulder and found both their horses tethered to a tree, saddles on the ground nearby.

"Vin?" Buck asked.

"Vin," Chris confirmed.

The two men grinned at each other.

"I swear, that boy gets spookier by the day," Buck remarked.

"Yep," Chris said, as he picked up his saddle. He set it on his horse's back and cinched it up.

"But he's a good man," Buck added, picking up his own saddle and doing the same.

"Yep," Chris repeated, as he mounted.

"And good with a rifle," Buck said, pulling himself up onto his mount.

"The best I've ever seen," Chris told him, guiding the horse onto the trail.

"I like him," Buck said.

"Yep," the two men said together.

Laughing, they nudged their horses into a gentle trot.

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Buck Wilmington sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. He sipped at a cup of the strong tea that Kanahe's wife had brewed.

He let his gaze wander around the village. He watched the women putting together the morning meal. The kids were just off to his right, playing a game of some kind. Letting his eyes move around the area, he spotted Chris just coming out of the tipi that Kanahe had given the two men to use. Thinking about it now, he wasn't sure where Vin had slept the night before. Buck smiled. Probably found him some squaw...then he shook his head.

Vin would have his head for sure. The tracker hated when people used that word when talking about Indian women. He'd explained to Buck exactly what the word meant and Buck agreed it was derogatory, but old habits died hard. He just prayed he never used the word here in the village. They'd string him up right next to Ella Gaines. And he knew that Tanner would be the one doing the torturing then.

Ella. Crap. He was so confused. He knew what she'd done to Chris' family. To the young Indian boy. But he still couldn't condone the treatment she was receiving. He remembered seeing her skin all cut up and the bruises on her body. He hadn't heard any screaming during the night. He wandered if maybe they let her rest during the night. Surely Little Dove had to sleep sometime.

He hoped the reason she was silent wasn't because she was dead. Then again, maybe if she was, it would solve his dilemma. He could see how much this was tearing at Chris. Maybe if Ella just died they could call this chapter finished and go back to Four Corners, where they belonged.

Buck sighed. He wanted to just grab his old friend and ride out. Leave Tanner and these Indians to their business. But he couldn't, in good conscience, leave Ella in their hands. Orin Travis had hired them to keep the peace. Not to allow someone to be subjected to all that pain.

As if to punctuate his thoughts, a loud scream echoed through the village. No one seemed to pay it any mind. Buck shook his head. Had these people gotten so used to it that it didn't even register any more. He glanced over at Larabee.

On second thought, Chris seemed to have heard it. He was staring off in the distance, facing the direction where Ella was tied up. Buck couldn't see his face clearly from that distance, but he could tell by Chris' stiff posture that the screams bothered him, too. At least, Buck hoped that's what he was seeing.

Buck watched as one of the Indian women approached Chris with a bowl of whatever they were serving for breakfast. The young Indian girl who had been so enamored with Chris that first day followed. The girl carried a cup that Buck figured contained the same strong tea that he'd been given that morning. Chris smiled at her, then sat down in front of the tipi and began to eat. The girl sat down beside him as the woman went back to her work.

"Hungry, Buck?" Wilmington looked up to see Tanner standing next to him, holding two bowls.

"Depends. What's for breakfast?"

Vin handed him one of the bowls and a spoon then sat down, cradling his own.

"Sometimes it's best not to ask," he remarked, using a wooden spoon to dish up what looked like a mush of grains and berries and some little black things that he couldn't identify.

Buck looked into his bowl. "No bacon and beans?"

"Nope. Try it, it's actually pretty good."

Wilmington grimaced, but dipped the spoon into the concoction. He tentatively raised it to his lips. Flicking out his tongue, he took a small taste. And was pleasantly surprised. He slipped the spoon between his lips and tasted more.

"Not bad."

Vin nodded and swallowed before he replied. "Amazing what a little honey will do for berries and bugs, huh?"

Buck stopped, spoon poised before his mouth. The look on his face told Vin that he wasn't sure whether he would be able to keep down what he'd just swallowed.

Tanner chuckled. "Just kidding, Bucklin. It's berries, corn grain and bit of jerky."

"Not funny, Tanner." Wilmington glared at the man who sat beside him.

"Oh, I don't know. You shoulda seen the look on your face."

Buck didn't reply, just continued eating the mush. For the next several minutes neither man spoke as they finished their meal. Then Vin set down his bowl and picked up his cup.

"I know this is hard for you, Buck. Hell, it's hard for all of us."

Wilmington nodded. "I just...Vin, nobody deserves to be put through that. She should be brought back to Eagle Bend for trial."

Vin hunched forward cradling his cup in both hands. "Buck, you were a lawman once. Do you really think there's enough proof to convict her of killin' Sarah and Adam?"

"What do you mean? She admitted it."

"Yeah, to Chris. To us." He smiled sadly. "Do you really think she's gonna admit it in court? We got nothing that connects her to the murders. We got nothing that connects her to Fowler."

"She had Sarah's locket."

"Be hard pressed to prove it was Sarah's," Vin said.

"We all saw that room, with all those pictures of Chris, with Sarah cut out of the picture. The newspapers about the fire."

"That just proves she was obsessed with Chris. Doesn't proved she had his family killed."

"It'll have to be enough."

"You willing to stake Chris' sanity on that? Cuz if she ain't convicted...if she's allowed to go free...it'll kill 'im. He won't be able to live, knowing who killed his family and not seeing justice done. He'll end up killin' her himself and he'll be the one hung. Is that what you want? And what about Little Dove? Isn't she entitled to some justice?"

Buck sighed. "Vin, you and I both know that she won't ever be convicted of killing that Indian boy. It ain't right, I know that. It's just the way things are."

"So, she gets away with three murders."

"We gotta take her back and give the Judge a chance."

"Ain't gonna happen, Buck. I'll fight ya on this one."

Vin turned his head and looked at Wilmington. Then he stood and started to walk away. Wilmington jumped up.

Buck grabbed his arm and spun him around. "You gonna shoot me to keep her here?" he asked, having finally realized what he had to do. "Cuz that's what you're gonna have to do. I plan on taking that lady in for trial. If I have to go through you to do it, I will."

"You're outnumbered here, Buck. You'd never get her out of the village," Vin stated calmly.

The tall man smirked. "Damn, Tanner. The more I get to know you, the more Indian you seem."

"Thanks for the compliment, Bucklin." Tanner turned and started to walk away, but turned back. "Oh, one more thing. Little Dove has decided the manner of Ella's death. She'll die by fire. Little Dove thinks it's only fitting. It's her way of honoring the memory of Chris' wife and son. It's just too bad you're willing to let her own son's death go unpunished."

Vin left without another word, leaving Buck to wonder if he'd ever really understand the enigmatic tracker.

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