The sound gun shots sent the residents of Four Corners diving for cover. It had become an all too frequent occurrence in the small town which seemed to be a center for criminal activities. But unlike the past where the sheriff would be as corrupt as those whom he was suppose to arrest, the seven law men presently in town were made of better stuff.
Mary, in an all too practice movement, ducked down behind her desk, the large glass windows of The Clarion offering far too much opportunity for a stray bullet. She said a small prayer that none of the men she knew would be harmed. She seemed to be doing a lot of praying these days. The men had a habit of attracting trouble, each situation more dangerous than the last.
The sound of gunfire raged for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes. When she heard silence, Mary cautiously poked her head out from under her desk. She stood up and cautiously went to her front door. Standing on the front porch she scanned the street.
Her eyes moved further down and she saw a clump of men standing together. She recognized them immediately and she did a hasty count. There were six standing men and they appeared to be standing over something. Or someone.
She didn't know she was moving, so focused was she on the group before her. Her legs moved in stiff, jerky movements as she ran towards the men. Buck, Nathan, Ezra, JD, Vin and Josiah. Oh God. Nathan moved a little and she saw the black shirt, his blond head turned away from her. He was lying on the ground.
"Chris!"
The scream was torn from her throat as she began to run with all her might towards them. The men looked up and she saw Vin break away and come towards her. He stopped her fifteen feet from the body.
"Mrs. Travis," Vin choked out. "I'm sorry. He's gone."
"Oh no, no, no," she whimpered as if denial would make it all go away. "It can't be." She struggled against Vin and he nearly lost his grip on her.
"No! Don't look," Vin urged her. "Chris took a bullet to the face. It ain't pretty."
Josiah had moved towards them and she saw the track of tears on his face. He helped Vin hold her back.
"Mary," the big man said gently. "Perhaps he has finally found that peace he has been missing for so long."
She began to cry loudly as she realized that Chris was dead. Her limbs lost their strength and she collapsed onto the ground. Vin picked her up and carried her back to The Clarion as Josiah followed. The other men took care of the body.
+ + + + + + +
The tears had finally stopped and Mary stared listlessly at the wall before her. They would bury Chris today, but she wasn't certain how she could face standing there as they lowered his body down into the cold ground.
What could have been.
She had buried one husband and now she was burying someone she had come to consider a close friend. And in time, perhaps he would have been more.
Many had thought him cold, heartless and cruel. But she had seen the other side of him. With Billy, he was only gentle and kind. He had helped her child and he saved her life. The image of the heartless gunslinger did not reconcile to the man she knew.
Slowly, she stood and put on her hat. It was time for the funeral.
What could have been.
+ + + + + + +
The service was brief. Chris would have liked that. He never was a man of many words. Besides Mary and the six surviving men, a few townspeople had also shown up. As the coffin was lowered into the grave, the tears started again and Mary slowly sank to her knees sobbing. She felt arms help her to her feet and realized it was Vin again.
The Texan looked at his friends and they all wore similar expressions of guilt and sorrow. Mary tried to think of something to say to let them know it wasn't their fault Chris had been killed, but she was too overwhelmed by her own grief.
Vin escorted her back home.
+ + + + + + +
"You're all leaving?" Mary asked in confusion as she stared at the six men.
"Yes ma'am," Buck mumbled. "I know we're leaving you in a lurch here, but," and a spasm of pain crossed his face, "there's just too much bad memories here."
She had expected some of them to leave. Chris had been their leader after all, the glue that held them together. But for all of them to leave, that was just one more blow.
She nodded understandingly. "When will you leave?"
"We'd like to get started at daylight ma'am," Vin said. "Nothing here keeping us anymore."
"Okay," she said quietly. "I'll wire Orrin today. I'm sure we'll be fine for a few days until Orrin can bring in a replacement." She stood up and held her hands out to the men. "Thank you for everything. I can never tell you how grateful I am or how much I'll miss each of you."
She saw the guilt written on their faces again. Mary smiled reassuringly as they each grasped her hands in turn as they left.
Gone. All gone.
She folded her arms over her chest as she watched the sun set later that day. Perhaps it was time to take Orrin up on his offer to live with him and Evie.
Four Corners held nothing but ghosts for her now. Let the whole damn place burn down.
+ + + + + + +
The six remaining men left at dawn. The next few days passed in a blur for Mary as she went through the motions of living. Four days after the men had ridden out, she was sitting at her desk, staring at the blank sheet of paper before her. Once again, gunshots rang out and by pure reflex, she dove under the desk.
But this time there was no one to return fire and protect the town. Mary closed her eyes and willed the tears not to come. Had Chris's death been for nothing? Could she let the cycle of terror start up again? Could his sacrifice be rendered meaningless?
With steel in her blue eyes, Mary scrambled for the shotgun she kept near her desk. Checking to make sure there were cartridges and adding a few extra ones into her dress pocket, she crawled out from under her desk and inched cautiously forward on her hands and knees towards the front door. Crouching down low, she slowly opened the door and looked out into the street.
About eight men were around or coming out of the bank. She took a deep breath and walked down the street towards them. "Stop right there!" she ordered in a not too strong of a voice.
The men spun around and stared at the lone woman standing before them with a rifle. They laughed.
"Step aside woman, or we'll cut you down," snarled one man.
"Nah, that be a waste," leered another. "Let's take her with us. We can have a fine old time with her."
Two men moved forward. Mary pulled back and raised her shotgun, drawing back the hammer. "Stay back," she yelled.
The men continued forward. She took aim but before she could pull the trigger, a hand fell upon her shoulder and yanked her back. Two shots were fired and the two men who had tried to attack her fell to the ground.
The sun was overhead and directly in her eyes so all she saw was a dark shadow. Gun fire erupted again and she felt the shadow drag her towards cover by some buildings.
She was thrown against a wall as the shadow crouched down beside her and peered around the building to watch the fight. She was still blinded but she recognized the voice that chastised her.
"That was a damn fool stunt you tried to pull!"
Chris. It was Chris's voice. Her eyes adjusted and she stared at his profile. The blood drained from her face as she watched him fire a few more rounds. She couldn't see what was happening but there were suddenly no more shots and Chris yelled out, "We've got you surrounded. Throw down your guns now!"
They must have done as they were told, for Chris, oblivious to her now, stood up and moved back into the street. Mary peered cautiously around the corner of the building and to her amazement, saw six more figures emerge from various hiding places to surround the four surviving men who were now on their knees in the middle of the street.
Dumbly, she got to her feet and moved forward towards the group of men. It was frighteningly similar to what had happened a few days ago as she moved towards the group of men gathered in the street. But unlike that time, there were seven men standing. And in his black duster, dressed all in black as he was the first time she met him, stood Chris Larabee.
She drew up towards the group. JD and Ezra had handcuffed the robbers and they looked up to see her approach. The other men turned to look at her too.
She could feel the confusion and disbelief on her face. Nathan was the first to respond to her unasked question.
"You see," he said gently, "We knew they were going to hit the bank for the new shipment of government subsidies for the farmers. This gang has been roaming around these parts terrorizing towns, but avoided Four Corners because of a run in they had with Chris a while back. So we decided the best way to lure them here was to make sure Chris was dead. So we staged his death last week and then hightailed it out of town so they thought they would have a clear opportunity to rob the bank."
She looked blankly at all of them.
"It was all a ruse Mary," Josiah added his gentle voice to Nathan's.
Mary remained silent. The men looked at each other and shifted uncomfortably on their feet. Chris moved forward and reached out to grasp her arms.
"Mary-," he began.
Chris never made it to her or finished his sentence. Mary's fist shot out and caught him square on the jaw in a solid blow. Chris started toppling backwards and was caught by Vin and Buck.
She stared at them all, trembling with fury, but still silent. She turned on her heel and stalked back towards The Clarion. Chris stood upright and rubbed his jaw.
"I told you we should have told her," JD said.
Chris ignored the young man's comments and hurried after her. He opened The Clarion's door.
"Mary-," he began again. He ducked just in time as something heavy and metal came flying at his head. He thought it was part of her printing press.
Mary picked up something else and hurled it at him all the while screaming.
"I cried for you! I mourned for you! My God! I collapsed by your grave! And it was all a ruse!" A dictionary and the inkwell went flying. "I hate you! I hate you all!"
By ducking and dodging, Chris inched his way forward towards Mary. Another book glanced off his back. Outside, the other men could hear her screaming and see some of the objects she threw flying out the front door.
"Shouldn't we help Chris?" JD asked hesitantly.
"I ain't going in there," Vin said emphatically.
"I rather like my life too much to face Mrs. Travis when she's upset," agreed Ezra.
"Well," Buck said as he turned towards the others. "It was Chris's idea. Let him handle it. I say we get this trash over to the jail and then get a drink."
The other men agreed and hauled their prisoners to their feet. As they made their way down to the jail, they could still hear Mary Travis screaming at the top of her lungs.
"I wish you were dead! I should shoot you myself! How dare you do that to me!"
Buck smiled. "Ol' Chris is going to have his hands full with that one."
The End
Sequel: Best Laid Plans II: Mary's Revenge
