Chris and Vin woke first the next morning, both feeling fairly well-rested and ready to head home. Ezra and Josiah joined them over the next couple of hours. Larabee was embarrassed about passing out the day before, but they all assured him that it was understandable.
"Mr. Larabee, there is absolutely no need to be ashamed," Ezra remarked.
"Really, Chris, it's ok to be human," said Vin, who added with a wink, "at least this one time."
The men stopped in to see Sheriff Ken on the way out of town, and he insisted on calling in the local doctor to check them out. The four people who showed up in his jail today barely resembled the strong, capable men he sent up in the mountains a few days earlier.
The doctor examined them all, re-cleaned wounds, and gave Ezra a proper sling. He was amazed that Standish was walking, much less riding, with an injury like his and no pain medications.
Vin and Chris both ran slight fevers from mild infections in their bullet wounds, but the doctor praised Josiah for doing a good job with so little supplies.
He tried to talk the men into staying a few days to allow themselves to recover, but they were all itching to get back to Four Corners.
The doc gave Josiah some teas to brew at night to help the injured men sleep better and wished him luck at getting the men to actually drink them.
The four men dropped by the telegraph office in Denver and were given the wire that Nathan had sent a couple of days earlier. It said that Buck and JD were doing fine, and they hoped things were going well with the hunt.
Chris sent a short telegram back: Mission accomplished. STOP. Should be back in a few days. STOP.
Larabee, once again, made no mention of any of their injuries. Nathan would find that out soon enough.
They kept a slow and steady pace on the way home. Ezra's arm continued to throb and get jostled terribly on Chaucer, no matter how tightly he pulled his sling. The tea for pain was helping a bit, but the gambler had taken to adding some whiskey to the concoction for improved efficacy. Chris' and Vin's fevers were fairly high for a couple of days and then slowly started abating. Their healing wounds often broke open and bled through the bandages by the end of the day. Josiah was bone-tired; he was taking on the lion's share of the work: setting up camp, saddling/unsaddling horses, and doing his best to keep an eye on his friends and their injuries. He couldn't wait to turn them all over to Nathan and hide himself away in the church for a few days.
On the afternoon of the 12th day on the road, the four weary travelers rode their mounts into Four Corners. Nathan, Buck, and JD came out to meet them. Buck finally recovered from his illness and was back to his normal carousing.
Nathan could see that the men clearly ran into trouble. Ezra's arm was in a sling, Vin and Chris's pallor looked decidedly unhealthy, and Josiah appeared exhausted.
"So, you put away the Storm gang?" questioned JD.
"Yeah, they're all dead," Chris answered.
"Now that sounds like an interestin' story," remarked Buck.
"Well, if you wanna hear it, you're gonna have to come up to my clinic 'cause that's where these four are goin'," Nathan interrupted.
"We got checked out by a doc on the way home," Chris informed the healer.
"And I suppose he said you were all just fine?" questioned Nathan. "I think I'd like to see that fer myself...if you don't mind."
Once in the clinic, Nathan addressed Josiah, who the healer trusted most to tell him the truth, "alright, tell me what happened."
"Well, Ezra here single-handedly took out the entire Storm gang. Of course he also broke his arm and wrenched his neck in that avalanche he started," Josiah smiled at the reaction of Buck and JD, who eyes grew huge and shifted towards the gambler sitting on the bed.
Josiah continued, "I'm sure he's got a lot of other bumps and bruises under his clothes from tumbling down a mountain head over heels. He was out for a bit afterwards as well; not sure if that was from hitting his head or from the pain. Vin and Chris got shot by Storm's men: Vin in the thigh and Chris in the shoulder. Vin was made to march into their camp right after it happened and lost a lot of blood. He looked kinda gray for a few days, and he still has trouble walking any distance on that leg."
Nathan, JD, and Buck winced in sympathy at the injuries the men dealt with on the long journey home.
"Besides the shoulder wound, Chris come down with Buck and JD's cold on the second day of our trip, lost his voice for a while and coughed ever since. I think he also may have cracked a rib getting out of the way of the avalanche; been favoring his right side. Think that about sums it up."
Chris glared at the big preacher and followed with, "what Josiah failed to mention is that he damn near fell over a 500 foot cliff and has a number of cuts and bruises too."
Nathan sighed. He didn't really know where to start. "Alright, Josiah, Chris, Ezra – off with your shirts. Vin, you get in the bed 'cause you need to remove yer pants."
"Buck and JD, why don't you get them some food and something to drink," Nathan requested.
"Yeah, Buck, you know what kind of drink we would appreciate," Chris smiled.
"No way. Maybe later if you're all as healthy as you claim to be," glared Nathan.
Josiah's body bore a few bruises but mostly old cuts and scrapes. They were healed enough that Nathan didn't bother them. He re-bandaged the largest cut on Josiah's temple, and then let the preacher get dressed again.
Ezra and Chris' upper bodies were badly bruised. Both of them had clearly gotten knocked around violently during the avalanche. Nathan could see exactly where the rock stopped Chris' journey downhill. A large area on his right-side ribcage was a deep purple. He agreed that there was one maybe two cracked bones under the bruise, and proceeded to wrap Larabee's ribs. He felt around carefully on Ezra's bruised ribs as well but although they were sore, none seemed to be broken.
Ezra's left arm, however, was a different story. The broken bone in his forearm was set properly as far as Nathan could tell, but his arm and wrist were still swollen and tender. "That's likely from all that jostlin' around on your horse," Nathan guessed. The healer fashioned a more rigid splint to put within the sling and hoped that would help…..and he ordered no riding or patrols for Ezra for the next 3 weeks. "The only good news in all of this, "Ezra thought to himself. He always hated doing patrols, especially the early morning ones.
Buck and JD showed up with some grub, so Ezra was re-clothed and allowed to eat with Josiah. Nathan still needed to check out the two bullet wounds.
Nate believed both Vin and Chris still felt a bit warm, so he re-cleaned the wounds and applied fresh dressings. He could tell that the bandages had not been changed for a couple of days at least and both were covered with dried blood, again likely due to the bumpy ride re-opening the wounds.
"Vin, I'm gonna give you some crutches, and I want you to make sure you keep weight off of that leg for at least another week," Nathan ordered.
Chris' lungs still sounded a bit congested, but he thought Larabee would only have to suffer through another few days of coughing to clear it all out of there….IF he took it easy.
From their coloring, Nathan figured both Chris and Vin could use a good meal. So, he helped them into their clothing, and allowed them to partake in some of Inez's fine cuisine as well.
After the men ate and started to head out to their respective locations, Nathan finished with, "next assignment - Buck, JD, Josiah and me are goin' and there ain't gonna be no arguments. You three," he continued as he pointed to Larabee, Tanner, and Standish, "have gotten yerself hurt, sick, or both on the last two trips. You didn't even put back on all the weight you lost last time, and now you're probably down at least another five pounds."
"I think Nathan just called them three sickly and scrawny, Buck," JD smiled.
"Sounds about right to me," Buck laughed and Chris rolled his eyes at the teasing peacekeepers.
"As I recall, Mr. Wilmington, " Ezra approached the taller man, "you were not exactly the picture of health yourself when we departed Four Corners two weeks ago."
"Yeah, and I seem to recall havin' to take a number of patrols for an ailin' JD as well," Vin slapped the seven's youngest across the top of the head, as he walked to the door of the clinic.
As the men made their way onto the deck outside of Nathan's clinic, Mary Travis was on her way up the stairs. "I heard about what happened," she started.
"Buck," Chris coughed, making sure the big ladies' man heard him. Buck must have run into Mary on his way to or from the saloon. Everyone knew how much Wilmington liked to tell exciting stories to captive female audiences.
"I'm glad the gang is taken care of but was sorry to hear that you gentlemen were injured," Mary continued. "I know this may not be the best time, but the judge sent a telegram for you, Chris. It sounds like there may be trouble."
All seven men sighed collectively. A dollar a day was not nearly enough…..
THE END!