A/N The story is finally heating up. Hope you enjoy!

Follow the Lights Home

Chapter 5 Step into the Dark

"When you get to the end of all the light you know and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly."

― Edward Teller

"Buck," someone was calling his name," Buck, please wake up."

Wincing he tried to open his eyes but the sun shining off the snow blasted into his head. Groaning he felt the cold from the snow he was lying in. He couldn't figure out why he was sleeping in the snow or why someone decided his brain made a good drum. Someone was shaking him again; his eyes had closed again. He couldn't figure out what was going on, nothing was making sense to his rattled head.

"Buck, where is your uncle and the boy?" the question started to clear some of the fog in his mind.

His Uncle Chris had gone up to check on a…fire on the ridge. He had left Buck in charge till the cavalry got through to take them into town. But then some armed men had come first. Buck sat up abruptly causing the person standing over him to stumble back. Vin! They had come for Vin. Buck had tried to stop them, he told Vin to run. All he remembered after that was running at the goons then pain.

"Buck," a steadying hand grabbed his shoulder as the teenager's world began to swim.

"Ez, they took him," Buck gasped out in horror to his best friend.

"Who? Buck what the hell happened?" the concerned southern demanded.

"Vin, I let them get Vin," Buck mumbled.

"Where is your uncle? Did he go after them?" Ezra was growing tired of being out of the loop.

"No he went up to check…" Buck trailed off as a new thought occurred to him; then he continued speaking, "It was a diversion. Dammit!"

Buck tried to make his way to his feet. Stumbling he landed on his knees. He felt helping hands assisting him to his feet. Once up he glanced around the yard trying to come up with a plan of action.

Spotting Ezra horse standing patiently beside them he started to develop a plan, "Ezra I need you to ride up to the ridge and tell Chris what is going on."

"Of course. But you my friend need to stay here and rest from your injuries," Ezra tried to stop Buck before he could plan to do something stupid.

"I need to go after Vin. I just need to…" Buck trailed off glancing over at the snow mobile tracks that outlined Vin's trail.

"Buck?" Ezra grew concerned at the prolonged silence.

"Here's what we're going to do," Buck's determined blue eyes hardened as he outlined his plan.

Buck watched his friend lead his struggling horse up to where his uncle was. Letting out a sigh he turned and finished saddling his own horse. With a final firm yank he finished his task; he glanced one last time towards the ridge and then down the road. He felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness settle on his shoulders, he wished the plow would get through already.

He didn't think he was out cold very long but he defiantly had to get going in order to gain lost ground. Grabbing his hunting rifle from the gun cabinet, he'd gotten it for his birthday a few months back. He also grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch on the way out the door as an afterthought. He hurried back to his mount. Securing everything onto his saddle he mounted and spurred his horse out of the yard. He didn't dare look back again worried he would lose his nerve; he had a job to do. He couldn't go as fast as he'd of liked, trudging through the fresh snow drifts.

Buck didn't know how long he'd been riding. He'd stopped a couple of times to rest his horse who was feeling the strain of making a path through the snow. The tracks had kept to the road for the most part. As the hours ticked by they started to veer into the wooded areas; Buck began to worry about those that would follow behind. His uncle and the others wouldn't be able to find them if it began to snow again. Determined Buck dismounted; removing his well-used pocket knife he marked the nearest tree's trunk.

Riding several yards he repeated the process. The farther he went the longer he waited to mark again. He could feel his unease grow as he felt the delays continued to increase the distance between his and Vin. He pushed his horse harder; he would not be too late, again.

Snow began to fall about the time when the sun approached its noon position. Pulling his collar up and hat lower he climbed once more into his saddle after marking another tree. He glanced behind him hoping to see reinforcement riding up to the rescue. With a sigh he headed down the path, hoping they would stop soon before he lost them in the snow.

It was becoming harder and harder to get off his horse. His fingers and face were going numb. He'd nicked himself with his knife a few times when his frozen fingers refused to cooperate. His horse was flagging if he didn't find them soon he'd have to camp for the night. He didn't even know for sure if he was heading the right way. At this point, with the storm, he was just going on a hunch, a guess really. They'd passed by most of the homesteads in the first few hours. There were only a few places they would be going by the direction they were heading. There was an old pioneer saw mill, an abandoned mine and a haunted house. The mill was torn down to bricks really and the mine was collapsed; that left the old Royal homestead. It was rundown but habitual, only being abandoned for a few decades.

He came to the last ridge before he would be in sight of the house. Dismounting once more he crouched down, keeping low as he made his way up the hill. Crawling up on his belly through the snow the last few feet, ignoring the wet chill making its way through him. Hesitating right before his head broke the surface he held his breath and sent up a quick prayer. He lifted his head and looked down at the house through the falling flakes. He let out a sigh of relief as he sees a light burning in the window. In its beam he can just make out two shadowy snowmobiles. He wants to run down there, but he holds himself back as he sees a tall armed figure standing in the front doorway. He drops his head to the snow, nothing was ever easy.

A/N How is Buck going to save Vin? Was Ezra able to find Chris? Will Chris be able to find the trail? Will the cavalry arrive in time? Stay tuned…