Dead or Alive
Vin Tanner woke to a start as the sound of a stage pulling up filled the night air. Getting out of bed, he looked out the window of his rented room and looked out onto the streets below. The stage was stopped directly in front of the boarding house. Three men got out, and Vin saw that they wore rugged clothes, and appeared to talk amongst themselves for a second. Then one of them pointed towards the boarding house, and they pulled their guns out of their coats and headed for the door.
"Damn," Vin muttered under his breath. He moved away from the window quickly and reached for his gun that lay on the nightstand. Taking the gun and moving to the door, he listened. He could hear the three men walking up the stairs. Stepping back as he herd them head towards Vin's room, he pressed his body against the wall. He didn't have to wait long. Within 30 seconds, the door was kicked open loudly and in the barged in. Vin quickly came out from behind the door and put his gun in the small of the nearest ones back. This caused the man to yell. His companions turned quickly and saw their friend being held by the man they came for; Vin Tanner.
"I don't take kindly to people I don't know bustin into my room with guns, now you wanna tell me who you are and what the hell you think you're doin?!" Vin's voice was loud and serious. The tallest man spoke up.
"I don't think that's any of your business, Tanner," the man snapped.
Vin shoved his gun harder into his prisoners back. "Well, it is now," the man groaned at the pain, prompting the man to speak.
"I'm Tatom Wells, and these are my boys. We're here to collect the bounty on your head. So you better come nice. Your warrantdoes say 'dead or alive'., and right now, I'm leaning more towards the latter." Wells' voice was sharp, and Vin knew he was serious.
Unsure of what to do next, Vin hesitated. For only a second, but it was enough. The man that he was holding turned sharply to the right and gave the others a window to charge Vin. The four men fell to the ground in a heap. They wrestled for a second, until Wells overpowered a tired Vin and grabbed his gun and pointed it at Tanner's head. All the men got up but Vin stayed on the floor. Behind the three men, the door to Vin's room burst open and in stalked a very angry, and very armed Chris Larabee. His gun was at arms length pointed at Tatom's head. His voice came out in a sharp bark.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Chris' words were easygoing, but his tone was not. He still had his gun extended, unshaking. The youngest man obviously recognized Chris, because he quickly dropped his gun and took a step back, his mouth open in fear. Just then, Buck, Nathan, and Ezra barged in the room, and they pointed their guns at the bounty hunters.
Ezra spoke up. "Now, you best answer the man's question." Wells looked at the four men who facing them, and then to Vin on the floor. "We want Tanner here."
Chris glared. "Well that's too bad. 'Cause he's not goin anywhere with you. Not today. Not ever."
Wells knew that the man in front of him was serious, and there was no way he'd win this one. They'd just have to come back later when he wasn't here.
Wells and the other man put their guns in their holsters. The youngest man still stared at Chris, his gun on the floor where he dropped it. Slowly, pulling his gaze away from Chris, he leaned down an picked it up off the floor. Chris knew he unnerved the kid, who looked like he was no older than 20, so he stared right back at him, even as he bent down to pick up his gun.
"Come on Tommy. Let's go." The younger man followed his fathers orders. And quickly walked out of the room, followed by the other man. It was now just Wells, Chris, Buck, Ezra, Nathan and Vin, who got up from the floor. "We'll be back," Wells said as he approached the door.
"Not if you know what's good for you," Chris said easily. And with one last dirty look to Vin, the men were gone. A minute later, the sound of horses hooves on the ground faded away. Vin looked to the four men standing before him. "Thanks guys." Vin's voice was tired.
Vin looked up and saw a smile on Chris' face. "What are you grinning at Chris? I almost got arrested!" Vin was unnerved.
Chris shook his head slowly. "That was a fun way to start the day." His smile faded immediately, turning his expression hard. Looking at Vin, he squinted his eyes. Turning, he walked out and back to his room. Ezra looked at the other men. "What did that mean?"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Vin sat in the saloon, drinking a cup of coffee at the table in the corner. He was nervous about what would happen when Wells and his two sons returned, and he knew they would.
"You okay?" Vin jumped at the sound of Chris' voice. Looking up, he saw the gunfighter standing above him. Moving, Chris sat down in the seat across from Vin, and threw his hat on the table. "You look a little jumpy."
"I can't run from this forever Chris. They're getting closer all the time. If you hadn't come in when you did this morning, I'd be on my to jail right now, or 6 feet under."
"You look okay to me," Chris said calmly, taking a cheroot out of his duster and put it in his mouth, then taking out a match from the same pocket, he lit the tobacco and took a long drag..
"Yeah. Sure."
Chris smiled. "Don't worry, if they come back for you, which they probably will, we'll be ready for 'em. You're not goin anywhere." His words were full of confidence. He seemed to no doubts whatsoever. Vin was glad one of them did.
Chris grabbed his hat from the table and put it on. He remained seated for a second. "Plus, they'll have to go through our fearless Sheriff." Chris smiled and got up. "No one would dare face him." His face serious, but Vin knew he was being sarcastic. Vin had to smile. Chris could be almost… funny when he wanted to be.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Mary Travis squinted against the afternoon sun as she saw a man wearing black exit the boarding house. Knowing it had to be Chris, who else would wear black in this weather, she walked up to him.
"Mr. Larabee! Can I have a word with you?" She said to get the mans attention. He stopped and turned, waiting for her to reach him. As she did, he tipped the brim of his hat. "Yes, Mrs. Travis. What can I do for you?" Chris' voice did not sound at all enthused to be asked for a favor of any sort.
"I heard about the situation that occurred this morning with Mr. Tanner. Who is this Wells person?"
Chris waited. He looked at the woman silently, making her uneasy.
"Would this be for the newspaper?"
"Not that it matters, but as a matter of fact, yes it is." Without comment, Chris turned and walked into the direction he had been heading. Sighing, Mrs. Travis turned and walked back to the newspaper office. Swearing under her breath about how stubborn the men in Four Corners were.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As night fell, the usual crowd began to fill up the saloon. The seven men were found at their usual table in the corner, where they could be left alone, and also where they could see who was coming or going. This evening, Vin was especially quiet, but the others decided it would be best if they just left him alone with his thoughts.
Josiah had just downed another shot, when the doors to the saloon opened and in walked Wells and his two sons. Tommy and the other one, who's name they did not know. The three men walked to the middle of the saloon and saw the seven men sitting at a table. As they approached, six of them stood up, hands reflexively moving to rest on their guns.
"We come back to arrest Vin Tanner. This time, if you get in our way, you'll all be arrested."
Vin's hand wrapped around his gun, but did nothing. From behind the wall of six men, Chris still sat at the table. Seeing that Tommy was looking at him the same way he had that morning, Chris decided to have a little fun. Staying silent, he turned his head away, then quick as a shot he got up, shoving his chair back, making it grind the floor, making it look as if he was going to attack. The sudden movement made Tommy jump, and he ran out the door. JD stifled a laugh. Walking over to his friends, he spoke to Wells.
"You know, I'm just curious why it is that you're so intent on arresting an innocent man. I guess a man who has no courage to face the real criminals will get pretty desperate at times." Chris glared at Wells. The bounty hunter's face grew angry, as he stared at the seven men. Now it was Ezra's turn to smile. Chris sure does have a way with words.
"You know what, I'm going to arrest Tanner here, and the warrant does say dead or alive, so…" Wells pulled out his gun, and was about to fire when Vin fired first, shooting the man intentionally in the arm. Wells screamed out in pain as customers of the bar scattered, ducking down to avoid any further bullets. Wells took a few steps back and came to the center of the Saloon, where his other son took aim at Vin and this time got a shot off, but missed his target. The two men were immediately tackled by six men, not wanting to kill them, so that no there false charges could be brought against any of them. As JD arrested the two men and tied them up, Chris Larabee stepped forward. Nathan noticed that he looked a little pale. Standing in front of them, he snapped. "You've got one chance here, if you agree that you and your sons leave here and never return, and never try to arrest Vin Tanner again," Chris bent down so that he was face to face with Wells, "And I'll forget that you shot me."
Every set of eyes in the room grew wide and focused on Chris.
"Deal," Wells quickly replied. He just wanted to get out of this town.
JD released the two men and they walked quickly out of the Saloon, and rode away with Tommy, who had been waiting outside.
With the three of them gone, six pairs of eyes focused on Chris who was now stumbling over to a chair. As Nathan approached, Chris shrugged off his duster and gingerly touched his side, revealing a rip in his shirt and a bloody side. Nathan took a quick look and pulled Chris out of his chair.
"Come on. That's gonna need quite a few stitches." As Nathan led Chris towards the door, Vin raced up and Gave Chris support on the other side. The three men walked towards the clinic.
"How the hell did you manage to get shot this time?" Vin asked.
Chris shook his head. "Just my luck. A kid can't aim, and I end up with one in the side. Just great."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Chris sat at the bar the next day, working on his third whisky of the afternoon. As he took a long sip, Vin strode up behind him and sat down. The two men were silent for a while. Vin's voice came out in almost a whisper.
"They might come back."
"I hope not. 'Cause I sure as hell am not getting that many stitches for you again. You're just going to have to think of another plan," Vin laughed. It was the first time in days, and it felt good.
"Yeah. Maybe next time, I can use our fearless Sheriff." The two men laughed even harder.
The End