Vin was awake at his usual early hour. He stepped out into the cold morning air and stretched his sore limbs and back. "Maybe I really am gettin' too old for this," he thought.
As he performed his customary scan of the town, he didn't notice anything amiss….in fact, there wasn't a soul stirring, except himself and a man sitting on a bench outside the jail drinking a cup of coffee: Larabee.
As the lanky tracker limped across the street, he was hoping that Chris had decided to go along with him and Ezra to San Francisco. Vin had no doubt that he and Standish could handle themselves just fine, but there was always something reassuring about having Larabee along.
"Mornin' Chris," drawled Vin in his hoarse, morning voice.
"Figured you'd be up and along soon," Chris replied. "There's coffee made inside the jail."
Vin helped himself to the strong brew, then returned and plopped down beside Larabee. The two men sat in silence for a good 15 minutes, as the sun grew along the horizon.
"Well…have ya decided yet?" Vin finally broke the stillness. He turned his bright blue eyes to look to his right and his quiet companion.
"Talked to the boys last night in the saloon, and I'm sure you can guess what their opinion was – especially Nathan's," Chris paused to take another sip of coffee. "So, yeah….I reckon you, me, and Ezra are goin' on a vacation."
Vin couldn't help but smile.
"I told Buck that he would be in charge of the town, and JD's goin' to coordinate the bank robbers' trial with the Judge," Chris cleared his throat and looked to his left. "Are you truly lookin' forward to this, Vin?"
"Ah hell, Chris, I don't know," Vin answered honestly. "I think it'll be good for us, and it'll certainly be good for Ezra."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Chris looked around at the empty streets. "I just hope there's no trouble while we're gone."
"Buck, Josiah, Nathan, and JD can handle it," Vin said quietly, "probably better than you and I could right now anyway."
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The next morning found six of the seven men standing outside waiting for the stagecoach to arrive. Ezra had two bags, to Vin and Chris' one, but he only had one good arm so JD had made the extra trip up to Ezra's room to fetch the additional luggage.
Mary Travis, the blonde widow and owner of the town newspaper, had provided sandwiches for the trip, and the men thanked her graciously.
Nathan had packed a small medical kit and instructed Ezra to pull his sling tight and try not to jostle his arm too much during the bumpy ride.
Chris shook Buck's hand and said, "take care of the town for us, Big Dog."
"You can count on it, Pard," Buck continued to hold onto Chris' hand. "You take care of those two." Buck motioned his head towards Ezra and Vin, who were still talking to Nathan, "and stay out of trouble. Don't wanna have to come all the way to San Francisco to bail your butt out of jail."
Chris threw a crooked grin back at Buck and shook his head, as the stagecoach rolled into town.
This was the moment of truth; the last chance for Chris to change his mind. Buck was his oldest friend, and Larabee's official responsibility was to the town. He would never forgive himself if something happened to either of them while he was gone….the same for the other men staying behind. He worried less about Josiah and Nathan. They both had good heads on their shoulders and in all honesty were probably the best of the seven in weighing risk versus benefit in dangerous situations. Chris knew that Buck would take his responsibilities to protect the town extremely seriously, in fact he would likely take them right to his own grave if he thought that's what was required, and JD would follow Wilmington without a second thought…and that scared Larabee.
No, this was silly, he decided. They were all grown men, more than capable of taking care of themselves and the town…but as Chris approached the stagecoach he gave a quick glance up at the cloudless, blue sky and prayed they all stayed safe.
Once the coach was ready to depart, the three peacekeepers stashed their bags and hats in the storage area and climbed up into the crowded passenger compartment. There were already four folks onboard from a previous town, so one of the regulators was going to be stuck sitting on the middle bench. Most stagecoaches were equipped with three bench seats: one along each wall and one in the middle. The middle bench had no back, and the seats sat three passengers each.
The current passengers consisted of a large, well-dressed man of about 50, and three women who appeared to be traveling together. There was an older woman of about 60 and two younger women in their mid-to-late 20's….."maybe two sisters with their mother," Vin surmised.
Chris took the middle bench, since he was the least injured of his companions. Vin and Ezra crammed in next to the large gentlemen. Everyone exchanged a polite "hello" and the stagecoach jerked to a start.
Buck watched as the dust from the stagecoach dissipated, and his friends rode out of sight. He felt a strange mixture of emotions. Wilmington was proud that Chris has entrusted him with the town's care in his absence, but he was nervous about keeping JD, Nathan, Josiah, and the town folks safe. He had been a lawman before; he knew he had the skills, but somehow this felt different. He understood, for the first time, the pressure that his long-time friend felt, being the unofficial leader of their group. It was an enormous responsibility, and what made it a hundred times worse was that these were not just any people. They were folks who had become their friends, their brothers, folks who had saved their lives, folks who had laughed and cried with them. This was their home and family they were protecting.
"Hey Buck," JD interrupted the tall shootist's thoughts, "you comin'?"
"Yeah."
"You ok?" Buck seemed to be off in a world of his own.
"I'm fine, JD." Wilmington finally looked at his young friend, and the two of them headed off to the saloon for breakfast.
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The two young women on the stagecoach were indeed sisters. Both possessed the same wavy, auburn hair and dark brown eyes. They had always been close, so the young women easily understood each other's silent glances that said "what do you think of our new companions?"
The elder of the sisters, Katherine, temporarily averted her gaze out the window and tried to act uninterested, but she found herself to be intrigued by the shortest of the three men. As she once again glanced around the stagecoach, she noticed that this man appeared more civilized than his two companions. He was clean-cut and looked dashing in his dark green coat. She wanted to ask him how he hurt his arm but was afraid that her older traveling companion would find that improper.
The younger sister, Elizabeth's attention was absorbed by the other two, more dangerous-looking men. The one with the long brown hair looked completely wild. He was dressed kind of like an Indian, but he had the bluest eyes she had ever seen. The third man sat just in front of her on the middle seat, and his long, lean legs kept bumping into her skirt. Despite the soft, wheat-colored hair and pale, green eyes, he emanated a deadly aura and was dressed almost completely in black.
The old woman with them was their aunt Mabel. Mabel's husband had passed away a couple of years earlier, and her children had grown and moved away. Katherine and Elizabeth's own father had just recently died, and their mother was not in the best of health. They were escorting their aunt back to live with their mother – two other sisters reunited after years apart.
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The coach stopped off to change horses after a couple of hours, and the cramped patrons dismounted to stretch their legs. The two young women appeared flustered when they returned to the area just outside the coach.
"Aunt May is not going to be happy that we have returned empty-handed," Katherine said to her sister.
"Is there a problem?" the darkly-dressed gunslinger approached and asked.
"The station restaurant is closed today, so we are unable to purchase a meal for our aunt who is traveling with us," Katherine looked up at the tall, blond-haired man and replied.
"A friend of ours in Four Corners prepared some sandwiches for us this morning. You're welcome to take them if you want," Chris offered his bag, which had two sandwiches in it. Vin walked over and offered his as well.
"We can't take your food," the younger sister Elizabeth replied.
"Really, it's fine. We ate a late breakfast just before we boarded the coach," Vin smiled.
"We insist," Chris continued to hold out the bag to the young ladies.
Katherine and Elizabeth reached out and took a bag each, and Katherine said, "that is so very kind of you. Thank you Misters…." She questioned the men for proper names to thank them.
"Name's Vin Tanner, and this is Chris Larabee. Our hungry friend over there is Ezra Standish," Vin motioned to Ezra who was sitting on a bench eating one of his sandwiches.
"It is very nice to meet you, Mr. Tanner and Mr. Larabee, and again – thank you so very much for the sandwiches. I'm Elizabeth Barker, and this is my sister Katherine. Our aunt's name is Mabel Trenton."
In a few minutes all parties re-boarded the stagecoach.
"I'll trade with ya this leg, Larabee," Vin said, straddling the middle bench and giving Chris his seat on the front bench. Chris took the window, which left Ezra to be squished in between Larabee and the large businessman for the next few hours.
"How's your arm holdin' up Ezra?" Chris asked.
"It is unappreciative of all the bumps, but the pain is tolerable," Ezra replied and pulled out his deck of cards to pass the time.
The two women and their aunt enjoyed Mary's sandwiches, and Elizabeth offered half of hers to Vin. She had noticed that he was limping a bit when they got off the coach earlier and figured that Mr. Tanner and Mr. Standish's injuries likely were related. "Were they lawmen?" she wondered to herself. At her insistence, Vin finally gave in and took the sandwich. It was good, and he was hungrier than he had let on at the station. Neither Chris nor himself had actually had breakfast that morning, unless you counted the bite of an apple that he had shared with Peso before he left.
Elizabeth was going to offer the extra sandwich back to Larabee, but he had already fallen asleep against the coach window.
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Chris was awoken to Vin yelling, "riders coming up fast," and he quickly scanned their surroundings. There were five riders bearing down on the left-side of the stagecoach.
Within seconds, all three peacekeepers had their guns out and ready. The stagecoach driver pushed the horses hard, but he could not out-run the individual riders. So, he eventually pulled the wagon to a stop.
Chris had secretly climbed out the right side window and positioned himself behind the luggage on top. Ezra and Vin had their guns trained out the left-side window. They instructed the other passengers to crouch down as low as possible inside the coach behind them.
The riders started firing when they were about 50 yards away, and the three regulators began returning fire as well. Chris and Vin each took out a man, but by then the remaining three thugs were upon them. They shot the coach driver, and one man opened the stagecoach door and pulled Ezra roughly to the ground at his feet. Standish was struggling to get up with his one good arm, and Chris and Vin watched in horror as the man put his gun to the back of Ezra's head and pulled the trigger.
"NOOOOOO!" Chris screamed.