Chris Larabee crouched low behind the boulder, his gun in hand, waiting for the right moment. He glanced to his left, locating Vin Tanner, the man's buckskins blending in amongst the small stand of scrawny trees and brush. Vin's eyes met his and they both nodded. Time was up.
"Jacobs! Might as well toss down your gun now. We're taking you in!" Chris called out. Spotting Vern Jacobs and one of his men had been pure luck. He and Vin had been heading out to Chris' shack to work on some fence when Vin had spotted smoke and the two had veered off the road to find out where it was coming from. They had located Jacob's camp easy enough and Chris had recognized the man from a new batch of wanted posters.
It had been Chris' experience that when two armed men faced a man, and the order to toss down your guns was given, one of three things would happen. The man's guns would be tossed down and he would surrender, he would fire his guns and a fight would ensue, or the man would turn tail and run. The latter is exactly what occurred as both Jacobs and his man turned and began to run in the opposite direction of Vin and Chris.
With a curse Chris took off after the men, dodging small rocks and scrub brush. He made a lunge to the left however, when Jacobs turned suddenly and fired, Chris dropping to the ground and rolling, before gaining his feet once more and taking a single step forward. That was as far as the man in black could go as a sudden loud snap and instantaneous pain brought him up short and a noise just short of a scream left his lips.
Vin had been dashing after the men as well and his mare's leg roared as Jacobs gun erupted. He paid no attention to Jacobs from that point on, confident that his shot had hit it's mark. In the back of his mind he could hear the second man reaching his horse and the sound of him riding off, but his concentration was on the sound of Chris Larabee in pain and he veered off in that direction.
Rounding a large shrub Vin skidded to a halt. Chris was down on the ground, sitting more on his hip, bent over in pain, his hands reaching down toward his left foot, where a large, rusted iron animal trap was clamped around his ankle. His lips pressed tightly together in a grimace of pain and a fine sheen of sweat covered the man's forehead.
"Looks like ya took a wrong step there, Cowboy," Vin said as he dropped to his knees and examined the trap. The release was rusted solid.
"Just get the damn thing off!" Chris grunted out between clenched teeth. His hands reached down to the trap.
"Don't touch it Chris. Ya just might make things worse by moving that thing around," Vin said, rising to his feet and looking around for a sturdy branch. He moved off toward the trees, but the only trees growing in the area were small and Vin found no branches strong enough or long enough that he could use to pry open the trap.
Returning to Chris' side he began to unload his prized mare's leg, carefully placing the bullets in his jacket pocket. Then he wedged the barrel between the teeth of the trap.
"Gonna need ya to move as fast as ya can. On the count of three," Vin said, studying his friend's face. When he received a nod he started counting. "One, two, three…" and he began to use his rifle as a lever to open the trap.
At first the trap refused to give, and Chris turned a deathly shade of white as the pain increased. Then the rusted iron released it's grip and the teeth of the trap tore out of ripped flesh and torn leather. A low growl filled the air.
"Pull yer foot out Chris!" Vin gasped as he maintained the pressure on the trap. Grabbing his leg behind his knee, Chris pulled the bloodied leg from between the teeth then rolled to the side, pain causing his eyes to squeeze tight. He barely heard the sound of the trap snapping shut, but he jumped when he felt Vin touch his thigh.
"I need ta look at it Cowboy," Vin said softly. The only reply Vin got was a nod. He silently pulled out his knife and slit Chris's pant leg up the side. Then without stopping he slid the knife between Chris ankle and boot, cutting the leather as gently as he could until he could pull the boot from Chris' foot, tossing the blood soaked item off to one side. Finally he removed what was left of Chris' wool sock.
Vin examined the ankle as quickly as possible. Blood still oozed from the torn and mangled flesh.
"I need ta get some bandages," Vin told the injured man. "And the canteens." Again Chris just nodded. Vin eased the ankle down so that it rested on Chris' right leg, then rose to his feet and trotted off to where they had left their horses.
But the animals were gone.
Angrily Vin stalked back to where his friend lay, stripping his coat off as he went. When he reached Chris he dropped the coat to the ground and pulled his shirt over his head. "We got trouble Cowboy," he said as he knelt down and began to rip his shirt into strips. "Horses are gone. Jacob's man might have swung back and chased em off or something might have spooked em. Either way, we're without a ride."
"They might head back to town on their own," Chris said as he raised his head and studied his friend. The tracker continued tearing fabric, outwardly calm now. "The others would start looking for us then."
"Yep, but we left the road. They might not think ta look fer us here," Vin replied as he reached up to his shoulder and yanked on the sleeve of the soft cotton long johns shirt he wore. The sleeve broke free and Vin removed it, then sliced it in half lengthwise. Taking one half of the softer fabric, Vin wrapped it around the mangled portion of Chris' ankle, saving the other for later if needed. His fingers gently prodded the ankle, ignoring the hiss that came from the gunslinger.
"I think it might be broken Pard." Chris nodded again, not trusting his voice at that point.
Vin took the strips of fabric from his shirt and bound the ankle up tight, holding the softer fabric to the wound and adding pressure to stop the bleeding. He looked around the area. The small stand of trees would afford a little shade. Not much really, but it would be better than leaving Chris out in the sun. "Let's move you under the trees. Then I'll go for help. Maybe I'll get lucky and find the horses."
Chris shook his head. "I'm going with you."
"If that ankle's broken you wouldn't be doin' yerself any favors by tryin' to walk on it. Not that you'll be able to walk at all."
"I'll walk." The two men exchanged looks. Vin knew there was no point in arguing, or even discussing, the matter further. They both knew all the reasons why Chris wanted to move on. The blood would attract animals, Jacob's man might come back, or any number of others might stumble upon the man and try and gain some fame from taking the gunslinger down. Not to mention that the wound desperately needed cleaning and Vin could hopefully get Chris to water faster than he could find water and bring it back.
Reluctantly Vin stood and found two strong, short sticks, then bound them on either side of Chris' ankle with another piece of his shirt. After pulling his coat back on over his now sleeveless long johns, he then squatted next to his friend and placed Chris' arm over his own shoulder. Together the men stood. Vin let Chris gather his balance as he wrapped one arm around the gunslinger's waist.
"Reckon your shack is closer than the road," Vin said as they took the first step forward. "You know of any water between here and there?"
"Nope," Chris replied, keeping his tone as even as possible as he put the first bit of his weight on the ankle. He tried to let Vin take most of his weight and within a few steps the two found some sort of rhythm.
+ + + + + + +
A walk that should have taken an hour took three times that, but finally they reached Chris' shack. Vin was practically carrying Chris by that time. The man's ankle had begun bleeding again almost immediately and he had given up putting weight on it less than an hour after they had started walking. The joint was swollen and, Vin discovered when he unwrapped it during a break, a bright red.
Both men were near collapse by the time Vin opened the door and the two staggered to the bed. Vin sat on the edge, pulling Chris down with him. He pulled Chris' duster off his shoulders, then stood and shifted the now feverish man until Chris was lying down, propping the ankle up with the folded up coat. Once he felt Chris was as comfortable as possible for the moment, he went after water, propping Chris up long enough to drink, then wiping down his face while more water heated on the stove. When the water was warm enough, he unwrapped the foot and began cleaning out the debris left by the dirt and leaf covered trap.
+ + + + + + +
Buck stepped out of the saloon, his hand absently scratching at his chest as he looked down the street, first one direction, then the other. It had been a fairly quiet week, quiet enough that boredom was setting in. Vin and Chris had headed out to work at Chris' shack that morning. Josiah was still hammering on something over at the church. JD had spent the day hanging out at the jail, moving from the desk to a chair outside and back again, over and over. And Ezra was sitting in the saloon playing solitaire after cleaning out Buck's small amount of pocket change. Buck himself had offered to play the man, knowing he would lose, but bored enough that it seemed a small price to pay for a few hours diversion.
But having lost what little money he had, Buck had grown restless once more, and watching Ezra play solitaire had quickly lost it's charm, so the lady's man had finally left the saloon late in the afternoon and gone looking for something else to keep him occupied. He paused and leaned against a support post, acknowledging Nathan's approach as he studied the two horses standing outside the livery.
"Chris and Vin come back already?" Nathan asked.
"Somethin' doesn't look right," the rogue answered, then pushed away from the post and started down the street, Nathan by his side.
"Chris? Vin?" Buck called out as he reached the horses and saw no sign of the two men. Buck began looking the horses over as Nathan took a look inside the livery. He came out lifting his shoulders in a shrug.
"They're not in there," he said, even though his reaction had made the statement obvious.
"Where's Chris, boy?" Buck asked the horse as he took one last look around for their friends. "Get the others Nathan. I'll get the horses saddled. We'll head out toward the shack, see if we can find them."
With a nod, Nathan trotted off down the street and Buck entered the livery.
+ + + + + + +
"Chris, it's all your fault. If you hadn't taken up with her in the first place she wouldn't have come after us."
"It was before I met you, Sarah. I had no way of knowing…"
"That doesn't matter. Because of you we're dead."
"And so is your best friend," a new voice joined in. "Or he will be one day soon. He can't hide forever."
Chris turned slightly to one side. Eli Joe appeared in a fog even as Sarah faded away. "Eli Joe, you son of a bitch. Vin's innocent and you know it."
"I know it. But the people of Tascosa don't. And it's your fault I'm not around to tell them…" and Eli Joe faded away.
"You took my little girl from me."
"Hank?" Chris turned again.
"It's your fault. She's dead and it's your fault. You took her away from me…"
"I never…"
"Yes you did Papa. You took mama away from her pa. If you hadn't done that she'd still be alive."
"Adam? No…it wasn't like that at all. We loved each other. We…"
"And see what happened? She died. Mama died because of you. And so did I."
"Adam! No!" Chris screamed as Adam faded away into the fog.
"Easy there cowboy," Vin murmured as he gently pushed his friend back down on the cot, then picked up the damp cloth and mopped Chris' face. The man had been tossing about for the past thirty minutes or so, fever causing him to murmur and mutter words that, for the most part, Vin couldn't understand. But the last two words had been crystal clear.
What was left of the afternoon had passed slowly and Chris had quickly slipped off into a fever-induced sleep. Vin had been able to rouse him slightly to drink some water just to have him fade away again. Vin had been wiping him down with cool water over and over, but it didn't seem to be doing much to help the man.
And now evening had come, and with that the loss of daylight. Vin rose and stoked the fire in the stove. Checking once more to see that Chris had settled down for the moment, he grabbed up the bucket and stepped outside, staring toward the road in hopes that the cavalry would come riding in to help. Then he turned away, taking the bucket to the pump and filling it before returning to the shack. Taking one last look at the road, Vin re-entered the room. Chris' head was tossing back and forth once more.
It was gonna be long night.
+ + + + + + +
As darkness descended, the five riders turned off the main road. They had been mostly silent during the ride, even JD tempering his normally chatty personality.
"How much further?"
"Fifteen minutes or so."
"Do you think they'll be there?"
The question went unanswered as the riders urged their horses on a little faster.
+ + + + + + +
Vin heard them, but years of hunting and being hunted made him cautious. He lowered the wick on the lantern next to Chris bed, then moved to the furthest window from the light and parted the curtain to look outside. Once his eyes adjusted he relaxed as he recognized the men drawing closer. Checking on Chris first, he opened the door, resting his mare's leg on his shoulder as he stepped outside and on to the porch.
"Glad yer here boys. Chris could use your help Nathan."
"What happened?" Buck asked as all five dismounted and Nathan grabbed his black bag. JD and Josiah grabbed reins and took the horses to the corral as the others entered the cabin.
"Bear trap," Vin replied. "We went ta check out some smoke. Found Virgil Jacobs camped out over near Baker's Bluff. Jacobs decided to shoot it out and Chris found the trap when he dodged a bullet."
Nathan was already unwrapping the damaged ankle as Vin continued his story. "Don't know if the horses spooked or if they were set free, but we found ourselves on foot."
"The horses found their way back to town," Buck said as he watched Nathan. Ezra had moved over to the stove and poured hot water into a basin, then placed it near Nathan.
"Figured as much. The trap was pretty rusted and dirty. Fever set in mighty fast."
"You did a good job of cleaning this out Vin," Nathan said as he began pulling things out of his bag and set to work.
"Let's see if we can rustle up some supper." Buck wandered over to the shelves that served as a pantry, looking for a distraction.
+ + + + + + +
Dawn found five of the men sitting on the porch, downing coffee like it was a life giving fluid. Nathan still hovered over Chris' bed. The men had spent the night trying to cool the man down, even carrying him down to the creek several times and submerging him into the cool water, then wrapping him in warm, dry blankets. It had all paid off when the fever had broken just as the sky began to lighten.
Standing from the porch step, Vin stretched, then leaned back with one hand placed on his spine, bending until his back cracked.
"Doesn't that hurt?" JD asked tiredly as Buck grimaced at the noise.
"Nope," came the simple reply. "We need meat. I'm going hunting." Vin shouldered his sawed off rifle and strode off around the side of the cabin.
Josiah stood. "I'll go with him. Make sure he doesn't shoot his foot off. The boy looks ready to drop."
"I'll build up the fire in the stove," Ezra said as he also rose.
"Reckon we could use some more water," Buck added.
"I guess I'll check on the horses." Even JD had lost his energy throughout the long night, moving stiffly off the porch. But he stopped after taking just a few steps and turned around. "He's gonna be okay now isn't he Buck?"
"Yep, I think he's gonna be fine now JD."
With a nod, JD headed to the corral.
+ + + + + + +
"Easy cowboy," Vin said softly as he helped Chris upright. Nathan stood next to him with a crutch, which he eased under the man's arm as soon as he was erect. His foot was still wrapped tight with splints on either side of the ankle and he held it off the floor by bending the leg at the knee.
Chris had been stuck in bed for the better part of two weeks. The fever had returned briefly and the torn and mangled tissue had become inflamed and swollen to the point where just moving it was extremely painful. Nathan had spent several days worrying about gangrene or worse, lockjaw. But the flesh had finally regained more of it's normal color and the swelling had gone down. It even looked like the wound might heal with a minimal amount of scar tissue.
It took a few moments for Chris to get his bearings and the dizziness to pass. But once it did, he took the second crutch from Buck and took his first tentative step forward, slowly followed by a second, then a third before dropping into a chair at the table.
"Feels good to be up," he groaned as Nathan helped lift the leg and place his foot and ankle on a pillow in a second chair.
"I brought the whiskey!" JD yelled as he burst into the room.
"Really, Mr. Dunne. Can you not enter a room at a respectable rate of speed and sound?" Ezra asked as he set plates on the end of the table next to the forks and spoons already placed there.
"The boy only knows one speed, Ezra. Thought you'd have figured that out by now," Josiah replied as he handed Ezra a plate heaped with light, fluffy biscuits, then turned back to the stove where a large pot of stew bubbled.
The meal was quickly served and the banter continued while it was eaten. Whiskey and coffee were poured. Chris ate as much as he could then leaned back in the chair and sipped his whiskey laced coffee while he listened to his friends. Before long he nodded off.
"They're good men."
"Sarah?" Chris looked up. She stood just beyond Buck near the end of the table.
"Of course it's me silly. Who else would it be."
"I'm so sorry Sarah…"
"For what Chris?" she asked as Adam appeared at her side.
"For what happened to you. It's my fault."
"No it isn't Chris. How could you have known?"
"But the last time you were here…"
"The last time was just the fever Chris. I would never blame you."
Chris studied her. She was beautiful. She had always been beautiful when she smiled.
"It's not your fault Papa. It was the bad guy's fault."
"Adam. My son…"
"It's okay Papa. We're happy here. Not as happy as we would be with you. But it's real nice and Mama says we can wait here for you, when it's your turn to come."
"That would be great, Adam. I can't wait."
"But not too soon Papa. Mama says you and the other men have too much to do first. That the town needs the Magnificent Seven and that the Magnificent Six just doesn't sound as good. So it has to be seven."
Sarah laughed gently, like the sound of bells carrying on a gentle breeze. Chris smiled.
"You men do fit together well," she said. "As different as you all are, you just seem to fit."
"Yes, I guess we do," Chris answered as he looked around the room at his friends. The men were still talking as though Sarah wasn't even there.
"They're good men, Chris. Watch their backs and they'll watch yours." Sarah and Adam began to fade. "And we'll be waiting when it's time…"
"Sarah?"
"Chris?'
Chris jumped and his eyes snapped open. Nathan knelt by his chair, the other five men looking on with concerned expressions.
"You okay?"
"Yeah." Chris scrubbed at his eyes then looked around at his friends. "I'm better than I have been in a long while," he added, then lifted his cup in a small salute.
"To good men and better friends," he heard Sarah say.
The End
