Angels Walk In

a story in the The Gambler’s Heart Series by Setcheti

Disclaimer: Much thanks to the Rock Ridge outlaws for lending their badness to this story, even though it was Hedley who did all the work. Don’t own any of them, c’est la vie.

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In a small adobe jail cell in a long-abandoned ghost town, five men sat disconsolately on the hard earthen floor and stared at everything and nothing, but mostly at a sixth man who lay unmoving in one corner. “Any change, Nathan?” Chris asked, not removing his eyes from the rough ceiling overhead.

“I already told you no, Chris,” the healer said wearily, not lifting his own head from against the wall or opening his eyes at all. “I don’t know what they gave him so I won’t know if he’s all right until he comes out of it—even if we were back in town at the clinic that’s all I could do. And anyway, you all keep starin’ at him so you’ll probably know before I do.”

“He’s got ya there, pard,” chuckled Buck, twisting one end of his moustache. “I know, why don’t you just order him to wake up?”

“’Cause then Ez would stay asleep just to spite him,” Vin drawled, but his blue eyes showed deep concern in spite of the light words.

“Certainly not,” the man in question murmured. “You wound me, Mr. Tanner.” Green eyes opened partway and squinted against the dim light, then closed again. “Aw hell, ah was hopin’ it had all just been a bad dream.”

He was immediately surrounded. “Ezra, open those eyes again, don’t you go back to sleep now,” Nathan ordered.

“Ah’ve no intention of it,” the gambler countered tiredly. “But if you wish me to open mah eyes you had best be provided with an appropriate receptacle to contain the results of that action.”

Chris scowled and was about to say something but Nathan’s upraised hand stopped him. “No, I understood that – and now we know that his brains ain’t scrambled either. I don’t have nothin’ here like that, Ezra, so jus’ don’t move too much until your stomach settles down. You remember what it was they dosed you with?”

“No.” Ezra rolled from his back onto his side, curling up slightly and wrapping one arm around his middle. “Ah know ah don’t think much of it, though,” he groaned. “How long…”

“Not quite two days,” Chris answered him. “You been out the whole time?”

“Mostly,” was the answer. One eye cracked open just long enough to look up at Chris. “It was Lamarr, Hedley Lamarr. Ah do remember hearin’ him order his minions not to allow me to awaken, he seemed to think ah would invariably escape and thwart his plans if given the slightest opportunity.”

“An’ he was right,” Vin chuckled, patting his friend’s shoulder gently. “That’s exactly what you would’ve done.”

“Ah’d like to think so,” Ezra replied. “But that speculation is immaterial now. Would one of you gentlemen mind fillin’ me in on the events followin’ mah abduction?”

“From what these outlaw fellas let slip, we think the original plan was for them to take you and JD at the same time and take off in opposite directions, split us all up tryin’ to rescue the two of you,” Buck said after receiving a silent go-ahead nod from Nathan. “The kid got away from ‘em and we started trackin’ the ones that had you. Lamarr must’ve had a backup plan, though, ‘cause they ambushed us and brought us back here. Took our guns and horses and locked us up with you. We been watchin’ you sleep ever since.”

“Think they sent the horses back to town with our stuff yesterday evening,” Chris continued. “They want to take over Four Corners and they’re usin’ us as hostages. Near as we can tell they ain’t got a response yet.”

Ezra sighed. “Mr. Sanchez will certainly know better than to capitulate to their demands, ah just hope he does not try to mount a rescue attempt in his condition.” Josiah had crossed paths with a stray bullet a few days earlier, and while he hadn’t been seriously hurt the resultant blood loss had kept him laid out in bed ever since. “Do we know what is planned if the demands are not met?”

“They aim to start sendin’ bodies back, one at a time,” Vin told him quietly. “Or maybe just heads, they been arguin’ about it.”

“Ah see.” Ezra’s mind was whirling faster than his stomach now, and he bit back another groan. “Whichevah of you gentlemen has the good fortune to make it back, then, please do me the very great favor of takin’ care of mah wife and children.”

“Ya didn’t have to ask, Ez,” Vin reprimanded gently, patting his shoulder again. “You know we’d look out for Miz Julie if anything happened to you.”

Ezra shrugged and sniffed. “Don’t mind him, it’s whatever they give him talkin’,” Nathan told them, although he was a little concerned that the gambler didn’t seem to remember he had only one child. “You go on back to sleep, Ezra, you’ll feel a whole lot better when you wake up again.”

“If ah wake up again,” the gambler muttered under his breath, but he was asleep almost between that breath and the next.

Hours dragged past; long, boring and hot, the silence of the desert afternoon broken here and there by the soft drone of a passing fly. Ezra woke up for the second time feeling much more alert, and for a little while the monotony was broken as he paced around the small cell trying to work out the stiffness that had settled in his limbs from lying so long on the hard ground. Now, however, he was sitting against the wall with his arms folded on top of drawn-up knees and just staring off into space. They’d gone over every inch of the little adobe prison again and found no possible means of escape, although JD was gamely digging at the base of one wall with his boot just to feel like he was doing something. Even overpowering the outlaws who would eventually come to get them – or one of them, anyway – wasn’t an option, because the outlaws had been well drilled by Lamarr not to so much as approach the cell without him present. Luckily they’d been allowed to keep their canteens, but even what water they’d had would be gone by tonight thanks to the relentless heat.

The slow clop of horse’s hooves on the hard-baked ground outside startled everyone, and it was Buck who first climbed to his feet and wandered over to the small barred window set into their prison’s thick door to check it out. A boy in ragged ill-fitting clothes was leading an equally shabby looking horse up the rutted street; a bulky shape wrapped in a dirty blanket was slung across the animal’s back. Blood-stained pants and battered boots protruded from underneath the crude shroud, and more blood had stained the horse’s sooty hide. The boy was dusty and limping, his hat pulled low over his face to shield him from the blazing sun, narrow shoulders bowed with weariness. “Wonder what that’s all about?” he mused.

“Something going on?” Chris pulled himself upright and joined his friend at the door. “What’s up?”

“Some kid packin’ a body along,” the ladies’ man replied, moving aside to let Larabee have a look. “Least we know it ain’t one of us.”

“Yep, too small to be Josiah,” the black-clad gunslinger agreed. He squinted out the window, frowning. “Damned if that nag he’s leadin’ don’t look familiar, though. Vin, come take a look at this.”

The tracker drifted over and peered out between the bars; the others saw his lean body tense suddenly. “Aw hell,” he swore, startling the other five men. “Of all the damn fool stunts…”

“What is it, Vin?”

His harsh chuckle surprised the man in black. “Ain’t no kid, Chris—and it damn sure ain’t no boy.” That brought all of them crowding around and he stepped back, shaking his head. “Gotta hand it to ya, Ez; ya shore didn’t marry no ordinary woman.”

“WHAT!” Ezra pushed past him to look for himself. He leaned his head against the bars and groaned. “Oh lord, Juliet; why did I evah show her Orpheus’ hand signals?”

“That can’t be Miz Julie!” Buck protested. “You know sign, Tanner, but I know women—and that there kid is obviously no woman.”

“Socks.” Everyone looked at Ezra, who had slid down the wall and buried his face in his hands. “Those are socks, Mr. Wilmington—a favorite trick of women disguisin’ themselves as men.” He groaned again.

“Thought I recognized the horse,” Chris said with a faint smirk. He took another look at the slowly moving pair outside and shook his head. “Must be a distraction,” he mused slowly. “We’d better be ready.”

“Distraction away from who is what I’m wonderin’.” Nathan grimaced. “Josiah’s in no shape to do anything.”

“Wouldn’t stop him,” Vin retorted, grinning. “He damn sure wouldn’t let Miss Julie come out here without him.”

“I can’t believe he’d let her come at all!” JD exclaimed. “Josiah knows this ain’t no place for a woman!”

Ezra lifted his head and sighed, then slowly regained his feet. His poker face was back in place, but just barely. “Knowin’ my wife, there is a good possibility that Mr. Sanchez is oblivious to the situation.”

“Wouldn’t put it past her,” Larabee agreed unhappily. “Uh-oh, something’s happening; she stopped.” The other five men all converged on their leader, waiting; Buck put a reassuring hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “Now the body fell off…she’s doing something to it, maybe she can’t lift it.” The gunslinger’s frown deepened as he watched, then abruptly became an expression of openmouthed shock. “What the…she just took off like a bat out of h…shit! Get down!”

The large explosion from the street was echoed by a smaller one that demolished the back of their cell. A familiar voice called through the hole, “Get out of there quick, guys! They’ll figure it out any second!”

“Meg?” Buck lost no time scrambling over the rubble to stand blinking in the afternoon light, closely followed by the others. He blinked disbelievingly at the young woman in men’s clothes standing in front of him. “Meg, what the…”

“Not now, Mr. Wilmington,” a second voice reprimanded. Mary was facing away from them with a shotgun in her hands, keeping watch. She grinned over her shoulder at Chris, who just stared; she was wearing pants too, and he had to admit he admired the view. “Get your guns and let’s get out of here before they figure it out. We’ll explain later.”

The six men did as they were told, taking their gunbelts from Meg and quickly strapping them on before following the two women away from the buildings and over a small ridge to a place where they found their horses waiting. Ezra stopped dead. “What about Juliet?”

“She was afraid they might follow her,” Mary told him. “She’s circling around, and she’ll meet up with us back at our camp.”

The southerner nodded, but his already pale face had gone chalk white. Vin mounted up and reached out a hand to him. “C’mon, Ez; you can ride with me.”

Ezra shook himself and accepted the outstretched hand to mount up behind Vin. “Thank you, Mr. Tanner,” he almost whispered.

“No problem, pard,” the tracker replied. He started to offer reassurance and then realized he had none; instead he squeezed the arm anchored around his waist and galloped off after Chris and Mary.

Nettie and Casey Wells were waiting at the camp, along with a small wagon and a stockpile of guns and ammunition. “I guess it worked,” the old woman called out as they reigned in their mounts. “Maybe we should be the ones makin’ that dollar a day, girls.”

Meg laughed and slid off of Nathan’s horse before Buck could get there. “This wasn’t so fun I’d do it again.”

“I believe once was enough for me, too,” Mary admitted, allowing Chris to help her down. “I’ll stick to writing the news, if you don’t mind.”

“I’d kind of prefer it that way,” Chris said seriously, dropping down beside her. He tipped his hat to Nettie. “Ma’am. Should I ask what you and Casey are doing out here?”

“Since you’re standin’ here to think about it, I’d say you probably don’t need to,” Nettie threw back at him. “All of you in one piece?”

“As near as to make no never mind,” Buck told her, but his eyes strayed to Ezra when he said it and there was a hint of uncertainty in them.

Nettie didn’t miss the look, or the way the Southerner staggered slightly when he slid off Peso’s back. She marched right up to Ezra and stared hard up into his eyes, then snorted and shook her head. “No wonder he ain’t talkin’,” she observed. She grabbed the startled gambler’s arm and started dragging him farther into the rocks that protected their camp. “The rest of you take care of them horses and then come get some coffee over at the fire, I’ll see to this one.”

Ezra halfheartedly tried to protest. “Ah assure you, Madam, ah am perfectly fine…”

“Not when your eyes look like that you ain’t,” was the implacable reply. “Don’t you argue with me, boy…”

Mary and Meg trailed after the pair, and the five remaining men looked at each other and grinned as they started unsaddling their horses. “Guess that takes care of that, then,” Chris chuckled. “He won’t argue with Miz Nettie. Now we need to set a watch, after all this the last thing we need is for someone to get the drop on us…”

In the end they decided to take turns keeping a lookout so that everyone could get something to eat, and so it happened to be Buck who spotted Orpheus coming in almost an hour later, and soon after that the blowing, lathered horse covered with soot stumbled to a stop beside the rocks, his dust-covered rider clinging to the saddle for dear life. The battered sombrero had obviously been lost someplace along the way, and long black hair was spilling down the ‘boy’s’ back and over Orpheus’ filthy coat. “I think I lost them,” Juliet gasped. “But I can’t be sure. We’d better keep the guns ready just in case.” She slid down out of the saddle almost right into her waiting husband’s arms. “Oh Ezra, are you all right?”

“Ah am now,” he murmured into her hair. “Are you?” He felt the nod against his chest and tightened his arms around her. “Whatevah did you think you were doing? You could have lost …you could have been killed!”

Her head lifted and tired indigo eyes looked deeply into his. “You would have been,” she whispered. “No one else in town would help us.” Her head dropped back down to rest heavily against his chest. “They were goin’ to let you all die. We had to come.”

He sighed; so the other women had told them, although the lawmen were still having trouble accepting it. “And we’re very glad you did; ah just wish it hadn’t been necessary. You took an awful risk, darlin’.”

“A risk well worth it if it means our family isn’t missin’ a member,” Juliet countered, and stood up on tiptoe to give him a kiss before pushing away with a small groan. “I need to get out of this disguise, ma cher.”

Ezra tried to pull her back, not willing to have her out of his sight just yet. “Ah’ll help you…”

“You need to see to Orpheus,” she interrupted. “He’s not happy and I doubt he’ll let anyone else near him.” She reluctantly pulled out of his grasp and followed Meg into the shelter of the rocks with Mary close behind them.

By the time Ezra was done taking care of his horse with JD’s help, Juliet was already back in women’s clothes and curled up sound asleep on a blanket a few yards from the fire. He sat down beside her and passed a shaking hand over her neatly rebraided ebony hair. Noticing a slight bulge under her right sleeve he trailed a questioning hand across it, feeling…bandages, wrapped around the slender arm from wrist to elbow. Ezra paled. “What in God’s name…”

Mary hurried over when she heard him, saw what he was looking at and patted his shoulder. “Oh, that; the derringer rig just scratched up her arm some, it’s nothing serious.”

“My derringer rig?” He looked at his sleeping wife and then back up at the newspaperwoman. “Why was she wearin’ my rig?”

“No other way for her to carry a gun,” Nettie supplied, poking at the fire. “She was ready to come out here without one, but we insisted—just in case.” The old woman shook her head. “I wasn’t sure what to make of her before, but after this…well, I think a lot more of her than I do of the rest of Four Corners now. Seems to me that them town people’ve forgotten why they’re so safe and secure these days, started thinkin’ all high and mighty. It’d serve ‘em right if you boys just pulled out and left ‘em hangin.”

“Don’t think I ain’t considered it,” Chris said darkly, walking up behind Ezra with Vin at his side. He looked down at Juliet and frowned. “She okay?”

“Tired,” Mary reassured him. “It’s been a long two days.” She looked up into the gunslinger’s face, studying his expression with concern. “You’re considering it?”

Chris nodded. “Sounds to me like Four Corners thinks it’s gettin’ too good for the likes of us.”

“And I reckon that’s the other way around,” Buck chimed in, approaching from the other side. “No offense, ladies, but any group of able-bodied men who’ll send women out to do…somethin’ like this, well, they just ain’t worth spit in my book.”

“They didn’t send us,” said a small, sleepy voice. Juliet sat up, rubbing her eyes. “They tried to stop us coming, as a matter of fact—and they certainly did nothing to help.” She covered a yawn with one dainty hand and leaned against her husband. “We’d best head back at first light; we managed to stop the new sheriff from declaring you all dead…”

“I’d say you stopped him,” Mary said, only slightly reproving. “You pulled a gun on him, Juliet.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that good-for-nothin’ Jones was comfortable tellin’ you ‘no’ while he was lookin’ down the barrel of your husband’s gun.” Meg added, grinning a little at the gasps from the shocked lawmen.

“Well, the gun isn’t there now,” Juliet replied in her practical way, her eyes half closed. “If I didn’t know that the horses need rest I’d say we should start back tonight. I know Inez will hold the bon a rien batard off as long as she can, but the longer we’re gone…”

JD scowled. “Nehemiah Jones is the new sheriff?”

“Nehemiah Jones is an idiot,” Nettie snorted dismissively. “I wouldn’t trust him to guard my hen house.”

“He appointed himself to the position,” Mary added. “Just pinned on the star and said he was sheriff - said the town had to have law.”

“Well, as far as that goes he was technically correct,” Ezra commented. “But havin’ seen Mr. Jones in action a time or two in the saloon, I’d say the first tinhorn who passes through will most likely be notchin’ the butt of his gun to mark the man’s unlamented demise.”

“Save us some trouble if he does,” Vin said. “I just hope that Lamarr and the rest of his gang don’t come through before we get back.”

“Yeah, they’ll cut the town to ribbons,” Buck agreed. “And I for one would like to get my stuff out first.”

“That kind of talk we don’t need,” JD snapped, startling everyone. “I’m not going to abandon my responsibilities as the sheriff of Four Corners just because a bunch of scared people got themselves into a panic – this is the first time in near to five years they haven’t been protected, they ain’t even got Cole and the boys since the Slash Five is out riding roundup. And no offense to you ladies,” he tipped his hat to the openmouthed women, “but if they’d really been serious about stopping you they would have; I think at least some of them must have figured you were their only hope of gettin’ us back.”

Buck just stood there staring at the younger man with his mouth hanging open. “He’s right, Buck,” Chris said slowly, his eyes not leaving JD either. “We’re all mad right now, but we shouldn’t be shootin’ off our mouths and making a tough spot even tougher.” Finally he glanced over and locked eyes with his oldest friend. “And Josiah’s still back there and not in any shape to do anything, they could have handed him over when the outlaws brought the horses but they didn’t.”

Mary looked relieved, to say the least. “That’s right, they didn’t,” she confirmed. “And no one went to bother him before we left, either. He may not even realize we’re gone yet.”

“I’m sure he’ll figure it out,” Nathan observed unhappily, having just come down from his lookout perch; Vin quickly left to take his place. “And once he does, he’s gonna be ridin’ out after you.”

“Not if Inez has anything to say about it,” Meg countered with a grin. “She’ll make sure he stays put.”

“Somehow I don’t doubt that,” Chris agreed. “And much as he might want to come out here, he won’t leave the town unprotected to do it.” He frowned, knowing that his next question wasn’t going to sit too well with Buck but also knowing it was information they had to have. “Miss Meg, did Cole tell you when he thought they’d be done with the roundup out there?”

Sure enough, the ladies’ man’s mouth set in a thin line and he abruptly stalked off to the other side of the camp; Meg colored slightly. “He thought it wouldn’t take more than a week,” she told Chris. “He said the cattle have been ‘all bunched up’ because of the winds we’ve been havin’.”

“That they have,” the gunslinger agreed. “Which means he and the boys could be heading towards town any time now, that’s good to know.”

“Yeah, Josiah will have someone to help him out if there’s trouble,” Nathan said with relief. “I’d have to agree with Vin an’ Ezra when it comes to that Nehemiah Jones, the man is all talk and nothin’ to back it up.”

“Mr. Willis at the bank is no better,” Mary observed, but a twinkle of amusement appeared in her blue eyes. “Except for trying to convince Juliet not to go, though, he mostly kept his mouth shut this time.”

“Ah yes, the fear of God is nothin’ compared to the fear of a McLaughlin.” Ezra’s dry observation drew chuckles from the other men and a snort from Nettie; it was never very far from the pompous bank manager’s mind that Juliet’s brother Jesse was one of the richest men in the country, a preoccupation they’d been able to exploit more than once. “Maggie May and Billy are with Mrs. Potter, I’d assume?”

“I sent Alice to help her until we get back,” Juliet told him. “She wanted to come with us but we wouldn’t let her – we five can all fire a gun, Alice can’t.”

Vin’s voice suddenly cut through their conversation. “Riders comin’ in!”

Everyone scattered to take up defensive positions and Chris hurried to pull himself up beside the tracker. “How many have we got?”

“Two, comin’ in hard.” But Vin, inexplicably, was smiling. “If that’s who I think it is, though, then we ain’t got nothin’ to worry about.” He sat up a little higher on the rock, making himself more visible to the coming riders. “All right, everyone, you can keep ‘em covered but don’t make any threatening moves or you won’t like what happens to ya. Ol’ Jim’s a little twitchy on the trigger sometimes.”

“Jim? You know these two?” Chris asked.

“Yep. Bart used to be the sheriff over to Rock Ridge and Jim’s his partner, they’re the ones that busted up Lamarr’s pack of outlaws the first time. Don’t really surprise me to see ‘em out here considerin’ what’s been goin’ on.” He waved at the approaching riders, and after a moment the taller one waved back.

Vin slid down off the rock with Chris beside him as the two riders pulled up their mounts in front them. The palomino’s rider, a handsome black man dressed in close-fitting buckskin, immediately swung down from the saddle and held out his hand to Vin. “Glad to see you’re all in one piece, Tanner,” he said jovially. “Weren’t sure what we were gonna find out here.”

“You can say that again,” his companion drawled wryly, dismounting as well. He was about the same size as Ezra but dressed like Chris all in black. “Four Corners is stirred up like an anthill with a boot on it, they haven’t even buried the sheriff yet.”

“Jones is dead?” JD demanded, pushing past Chris. “Who’s in charge now?”

“Well, no one was when we first got there…Sheriff.” The smaller man smiled and tipped back his hat; he’d recognized the proprietary instinct of a lawman committed to his town the moment the boy had opened his mouth. “But when we left your fellow regulator Mr. Sanchez was over at the jail and the bar manager said she’d be watching his back.

“That Miss Inez is some woman, that’s for sure,” Bart added approvingly. “Speakin’ of some women, though, I believe you boys had a little help gettin’ away? Did all of them make it out here in one piece?”

Nettie stepped around a rock, shotgun in hand. “Why, did some of those fools back there think we wouldn’t?”

The former sheriff of Rock Ridge tipped his hat to her and grinned. “I’d say it’s more likely they’re feelin’ a mite guilty, ma’am, and more than a bit afraid for the future if any of you come back in different shape than you left in. Mr. Sanchez wasn’t exactly jumpin’ for joy when he found out what had been goin’ on.”

“He seems to think some of the houses and the bank need repainting in yellow,” Jim said with a twinkle in his eye. “I told him the smell of paint didn’t agree with me but I’d sure be willing to notch a few ears here and there just to help out. Things got pretty quiet after that.”

“I just bet they did,” Vin chuckled. “Any sign of Lamarr?”

Jim snorted. “We were going to ask you the same question. He didn’t come back to where they were holding you?”

“Not that we saw,” the tracker answered. “They had us up at what’s left of Emmettown and most of the time they stayed away from the jail, but I don’t think they would have been carrying on like they were if he’d been there.”

“Most likely not,” Bart agreed. “He’s a hard man an’ just as cold as ice – I saw him gut-shoot a man once for chewin’ in front of him.”

“I’m kind of surprised those boys of his haven’t showed up here yet, then,” Chris said with a frown. “I expected them to be hot on our trail, trying to get us back before Lamarr found out what happened. I know Miz Julie thought she lost them…”

Bart was suddenly all business. His brown eyes raked over the group, taking in Casey and Mary standing just behind Nettie. “Which one is she?”

“This one.” Ezra appeared, his arm around his wife’s slender shoulders and with Meg hovering on the other side. “Do we have another problem, gentlemen?”

Jim and Bart looked at each other. “Ma’am, you…you were trying to decoy them away?” Jim asked unhappily. At Juliet’s nod he made a face. “How exactly did you get them to follow you?”

“A stick of dynamite and a fast horse,” Juliet told him matter-of-factly. Ezra flinched and she leaned a little closer into the protective circle of his arm. “It was the only way, ma cher.”

“And did you ladies share the details of this plan with anyone else in town?” Bart wanted to know.

“We didn’t make a secret out of it,” Meg answered. “’Specially not Julie’s part, we had to hunt around to find boys’ clothes and the hat for her disguise.”

“The only one we really hid anything from was Mr. Sanchez,” Mary added. “We couldn’t risk him trying to come after us, he was in no condition to make a trip like this.”

“Nope,” Bart agreed. He looked around thoughtfully at the women again and shook his head. “This beats anything I’ve ever seen, town turns its back on its lawmen and then stands by and watches while the women ride out to save ‘em – and I know a couple of you’ve got children back in town too.” Ezra murmured something under his breath and the former sheriff of Rock Ridge stiffened. “What do you mean, not just in town?” he demanded.

Everyone froze. Juliet drew herself up to her full height – only about a quarter-inch higher, if that – and looked him straight in the eye with calm defiance. “It means that I’m not willin’ to sit at home and let my husband die, because both of our children deserve to know their father.”

Jim’s voice cut through the exclamations that statement produced with flat, deadly precision; all the good-humor had left his face, and he suddenly looked very dangerous. “Who knew?”

“We only just found out ourselves last week,” Ezra said quietly, looking just as defiant as his wife. “We hadn’t told anyone yet.”

“Good,” Jim said in the same flat tone. Without another word he tipped his hat to Juliet and then caught up the horses’ reins and led them off into the rocks.

“I’d have to agree with my partner,” Bart said evenly. “I don’t know if those so-called men back there would have let you come if they’d had all the facts, but I’m glad we didn’t have to find out. Now, how about we help you with the camp and the watch in exchange for some of that dinner I can smell cookin’?”

“Sounds like a fair trade,” Nettie agreed before any of the men could say anything. She scowled at Chris when he raised an eyebrow at her. “Look here, boys, you ain’t cooked that dinner so you ain’t in a position to give it away. Now you girls all get back on over to the fire – ‘cept for you,” and she pointed at Juliet. “You’re goin’ right back to your blanket and stayin’ there, you hear me?”

The women all obediently filed back into the rocks, Juliet standing on tiptoe to kiss her husband’s cheek before hurrying off with Meg, already speculating out loud on what else they could make to be sure there was plenty of food for everyone. Bart chuckled. “You got yourself a handful there, looks like. Now I’m thinkin’ you must be the one they took first, am I right?”

Ezra nodded. “Ezra Standish, at your service. Sheriff Bart of Rock Ridge, correct?”

“Used to be,” Bart told him. “Right now me and Jim are just kind of ridin’ around, though. We heard Lamarr had been seen out this way, and what with the railroad maybe comin’ through here we knew Four Corners would look mighty invitin’ to him.”

“It’s looked that way to a lot of people,” Chris ground out. “Lot of people found out different. You think Lamarr is still around?”

“He’s not in Four Corners, we turned over ever rock,” Bart assured him. “Think he was there a couple weeks ago, though; found one of the names he likes to use in the hotel register and the lady that runs the place remembered him fussin’ at her about room service.”

“You think he took off?” Vin questioned. “Because if he did, we should go after those boys of his before they scatter.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Chris pushed back his hat and squinted at the lowering sun. “If we left now, we’d hit ‘em just about dusk. They’ve been drunk most of the time, I think seven guns would be enough to do it.”

Ezra cleared his throat. “And just who, pray tell, are you plannin’ to leave behind?”

Chris shook his head. “You’re staying here, Standish – just because the women have been all right up until this point doesn’t mean I’m going to leave them here on their own again.”

“And you ain’t exactly a hundred percent right now yourself,” Nathan added with a frown. “Probably be best if you went back to the blanket by the fire too.”

The gambler rolled his eyes, but before he could fire off a comeback Bart had stepped back in. “Seems to me,” the former sheriff drawled, raising an eyebrow, “that if my little woman rode out here with a fast horse and a stick of live TNT in her hands like that I wouldn’t want to be lettin’ her out of my sight for a good long while. She might just take it into her head to follow me again, baby or no baby.”

Ezra’s annoyed mask fell off; underneath it he was tired and worried and really didn’t look like he wanted to go anywhere except back to the fire. Vin took his arm and tugged. “C’mon Ez, let’s go tell Miz Nettie that we’re ridin’ out – and I’ll bet ya a bit she says you’re stayin’.”

“Ah don’t take sucker bets,” Ezra answered. He rubbed at his eyes. “Very well, ah will hold down the fort until you gentlemen return – do try to be expedient, if you would, ah don’t fancy bein’ kept waitin’ here indefinitely. ”

“Do our best,” Chris told him, knowing that was the gambler’s way of saying he hoped they wouldn’t get killed. “Now get your ass back to that fire and keep it there, and don’t eat all the biscuits or I might just have to shoot you when I get back.”

Ezra saluted him with two fingers and then Vin dragged the gambler off without any more protests. Buck and Nathan had already headed after Jim to get the horses ready, and JD had taken up Vin’s perch on top of the lookout rock. Bart had pushed back his hat and was looking around. “They sure picked a good spot, these Four Corners women of yours.”

“That they did.” Chris had noticed it too. The camp was well situated, as well as he or any of the other men might have done it, and the fire had been positioned in a spot where the rocks would conceal its light and break up its smoke. “Was quite the rescue they pulled off, too. Those boys who had us thought it might be easier just to start sendin’ back heads to make their point.”

Bart shrugged. “Lamarr probably told them to say that – not to say he wouldn’t have done it, but usually he don’t go for the messy stuff. You’d think a peacock like him would stick out around these parts like a sore thumb, but unless he’s complainin’ folks either don’t seem to take much notice of him at all or they think he’s just a wonderful nice guy. Until he strikes, that is, and then it’s too late.”

Chris nodded. “Had one of those of our own around here, up until last year,” he said. He shrugged himself when Bart looked a question at him. “Maude Standish – Ezra’s mother. Woman could out-snake a snake.”

“Heard of her,” Bart said, and raised an eyebrow. “Heard she got taken into federal custody, too, you boys have anything to do with that?”

“Miz Julie’s uncle did,” Chris told him. “He works for the government, wasn’t too happy when Maude tried to go after his niece. She won’t be goin’ free any time soon, that’s for sure.”

“One more off the trail,” Bart agreed, and changed the subject. “So what plans have you got once you get back to town, or are you workin’ it out as you go?”

The gunslinger sighed. “I think I’m with Jim on notchin’ some ears, I don’t like the smell of paint either. But probably what we’ll have to do is just look mad enough to put the fear into a few people and then wire the judge about what happened.”

Bart knew what he meant, and sighed himself. “West’s changin’,” he said. “Ol’ Jim and I, we’ve had to be mighty careful of late not to run afoul of the law ourselves.”

“It ain’t easy,” Chris agreed. He and his men had done some things over the past few years that came pretty close to the line too – they’d been necessary things, but the country was getting civilized and often now it was the letter of the law and not the spirit that decided things. “Travis understands how things go, but he’s an old man. Once he’s gone…well, it’s gonna get even harder.”

“Ain’t it just.” Bart pushed his hat back and looked out over the desert floor toward the setting sun. “I guess we’ll just have to take out all the evildoers we can before that happens, won’t we?”

Chris grinned at him. “Works for me.”

The outlaws never stood a chance. The seven riders swept into Emmettown just about the time the setting sun was changing from golden retirement to blood-red farewell. Which was fitting, considering. The outlaws had apparently not noticed that their prisoners had escaped, and although a few ill-kept horses carelessly tied outside the battered adobe saloon gave mute evidence that some sort of pursuit had gone out and come back, the noise from within the adobe suggested that the pursuit’s failure was being soothed with rotgut. Drunk and taken by surprise, the first few men to try to draw their guns fell where they stood and the rest surrendered. Five more, slightly more sober than the rest and fearing Lamarr, tried to escape and died as well, leaving only three prisoners to be dealt with. There didn’t seem to be much fight in them, and closer questioning back at camp revealed that they were more afraid of being caught by their boss than they were of hanging – and that even drunk as they were they were afraid to so much as twitch in the wrong direction in front of Jim.

JD seemed to find that funny for some reason, and late that night sharing watch with Vin he responded to the tracker’s pointed request for information with a quiet laugh. “I recognized him – that’s the Waco Kid,” the young sheriff said in a low voice, not mean to carry off their perch. “If even half of the stories about him are true, he’s near twice as fast as Chris.”

“Faster than that, but not by much – watchin’ him draw is like watchin’ a rattler come at you, one blink and you’ve missed it,” Vin told him. He answered the younger man’s questioning look with a shrug. “They say they’re just ridin’ around after what’s left of the Rock Ridge gang, but they hunt bounties too. I’m not in any danger from either of ‘em,” he reassured JD quickly. “I ran into them on the trail once, before I got to Four Corners, and they know me. You can ask Bart about it, he’ll tell you.” The tracker grinned. “He’ll prob’ly be glad to tell you all the way back to town, Bart likes talk – likes to sing, too, but he won’t do that in front of the women.”

Mention of the women turned JD’s amused grin into a frown. “I can’t believe she rode out here and did that, Vin.”

“I can’t either,” a new voice intruded, and Jim pulled himself up on top of their lookout perch and settled in. He’d been silent for most of the evening before everyone had turned in, but several times he’d been seen to be watching Juliet with a question in his eyes; Ezra had been too tired himself to notice, but Vin hadn’t. “I’ve seen a lot of damn fool luck work for a person – especially after ridin’ with Bart for so long.” He grinned when Vin laughed. “Yeah, kid, he’s got to be the luckiest bastard ridin’ the trail except for this one right here,” he told the wide-eyed JD, yanking a thumb in the tracker’s direction. “I’ve seen that man pull off things that the devil himself couldn’t make work. Why I shudder to think what would happen if he and Tanner here ever rode together for more than a couple of miles.”

“You ain’t shy on luck yourself – or of findin’ trouble and gettin’ out of it, either,” Vin retorted. “And the three of us together for more’n a week…” His blue eyes sparkled in the moonlight. “Well, I ain’t too sure this country could take it. But I’d have to agree with ya about Miz Julie, she’s got luck and to spare.” He cocked an eyebrow at the older gunslinger. “You were sittin’ there tonight wonderin’ if it was the first time and if Ez knew what he’d got, am I right?”

“You know you are.” Jim chuckled and made himself more comfortable. “Figured it wasn’t, the first time that is. And your Mr. Standish has got himself a tiger by the tail, I kind of wondered if he could see anything there but a kitty cat.” His expression darkened suddenly. “Momma cat, that is.”

JD had tensed at the sudden change, but when Vin didn’t react the young sheriff relaxed again, although he didn’t relax all the way. One thing Buck had taught him was that a rattlesnake that isn’t rattling is still a rattlesnake. Vin just shrugged. “Momma cat’s almost as dangerous as a mountain lion,” he observed calmly. “And Miz Julie may be a lady but she ain’t like a regular lady, when she sees somethin’ that needs to be done she just jumps in and starts doin’ it.” He winked at JD. “Kind of like Casey.”

JD blushed, but he couldn’t deny it. Given similar circumstances, he was pretty sure Casey would have been riding out with a shotgun in her hand and one of their babies strapped to her back like an Indian with a papoose. Nettie was like that too. “I guess it’s not exactly too bad of a way to be,” he murmured with a shrug of his own. “But I’d still be mad that she did it, and it would scare the livin’ daylights out of me.”

“The day it doesn’t, you’ve got a bigger problem than havin’ a strong-willed woman on your hands,” Jim advised him. “That’s why I’m still not so happy with those fellas back in your town; it’s no kind of a decent man who’ll let a woman ride into that kind of trouble when he’s able-bodied enough to do it himself.” Pale blue eyes caught and held JD’s brown ones; he wanted the younger man to understand. “You see, Sheriff, I know those so-called men know what outlaws like these do to women, just like I know you do, and they let your women come anyway, didn’t even try to stop them. You’ve got to watch men like that, you can’t trust ‘em at your back or at your side because they’ll turn on you in a New York minute. It’s not a good situation you’ve got there in Four Corners, not good at all.”

JD nodded. “I’ve been thinkin’ about that myself, but I don’t know what to do about it. I’m not sure there is anything I can do about it, to tell the truth. It’s because of the way they are than I’m sheriff in the first place – none of them would take the job so the judge gave it to me.”

Jim grinned at him and winked. “That’s how Bart got to be sheriff of Rock Ridge, too, only it was the governor who gave the job to him. Those people were inbred all the way to stupid when he got there and I remember telling him his second day on the job that maybe in ten years time he’d be able to shake their hands in public if he let ‘em put their gloves on first. But even after he’d saved their piss-ant little town twice, I still had to watch his back around those people – and he had to watch mine too. Wasn’t too long after that that we rode out for good.”

“I know some of the boys are thinkin’ about that too,” JD responded seriously with a sidelong glance at Vin. “And to be honest, I can’t say part of me doesn’t agree with their reasoning. But there are good folks in Four Corners too, and the idea of leavin’ them unprotected doesn’t sit too right with me. Those people look to me, to the seven of us, to keep them safe, and if we leave there won’t be anybody else there who can do it.”

“You’re right about that – although I’d say it’s more that what’d be left won’t do it,” Vin agreed. “I bet they’re all shakin’ in their boots right now, though, for fear someone’s gonna be ridin’ back with drawn guns. We can use that; just gotta walk around town for a while lookin’ like we’re not too happy with any of ‘em, their own yellow streaks’ll do the rest.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Jim was grinning in earnest now. “You should have seen that fat banker when I started fingering my gun, I’ve seen milk that wasn’t that white.”

“Sorry I missed it,” Vin grinned back. “Bet he’ll be whiter than a jackrabbit’s tail when he sees Chris come ridin’ back into town tomorrow. He don’t like that Larabee glare much.”

“Guess he’s got some smarts then.” The gunslinger cocked an eyebrow at the tracker. “So why don’t you tell me about this fine banker’s daughter I hear has roped and wrangled you into a promise of matrimony, Tanner?” He laughed at Vin’s surprised look. “Oh don’t you try to deny it, I’ll have you know that pretty little girl came right up to Bart and I before we rode out and asked us to make sure her ‘fiancé’ got back to her safe and sound. She was right happy when we told her you were a friend of ours, invited us to the wedding and everything.”

Even in the moonlight it was apparent that Vin had turned bright red.

They set out just after dawn the next morning, taking turns leading the three live outlaws who were tied to their horses and tethering the horses bearing bodies behind the wagon. It was a slow trip, but true to what Vin had told JD Bart did like to talk and had kept the day lively for them all along the way.

It was mid-afternoon when they rode into Four Corners, and before they could even get off their horses half the town was out in the street to meet them. And more than just the townspeople; it appeared that the Slash Five riders had gotten back from their roundup in the Seven’s absence. Matthew Cole left a beaming Josiah on the jail porch and strode up to Chris as the gunslinger was swinging down out of the saddle. “We were just about to ride out lookin’ for you boys.”

“Can’t say I’m not glad to hear that.” He was, too. Chris lifted Mary down and then held out a hand, which Cole took with a firm grip and a smile. Chris smiled back. “I think the one you want is ridin’ with Nate, Cole.”

The smile became a grin, and the young cowboy took off. Chris watched him lift Meg down from Nathan’s saddle and then swing her around with a whoop; the gunslinger shot a look at Buck, but his old friend just gave him a shrug and a half smile and started leading the horses off to the livery.

JD was already snapping orders at anybody who got too close; the young sheriff had been soaking up advice from Bart and Jim all the way back home, and he was ready to let his yellow-bellied townsmen know that the real sheriff had returned – and that he wasn’t any too happy with them at the moment. “Get those horses behind the wagon untied and take them over to the undertaker,” he told three men who were standing in front of the boardwalk. “And you two over there with nothing better to do, you can help unload those bodies for him. Get movin’! These outlaws aren’t gettin’ any fresher out here in the sun. Gabe, you and Will,” he called out to two waiting Slash Five hands, “you two take the three live ones and lock them up in the jail. Mr. Silas over there can watch them once you’re done, we’ll need to talk to Josiah and we might need you out here too.” He’d already given Casey a hand down from his own saddle, and after giving her a hug and a smile he gently pushed her in Nettie’s direction. “I’ll be over to help with the wagon in a minute, or someone else will,” he told her. “Just let me get all the rest of this settled first.”

Chris could remember a time when either the help or the comment would have had the girl mad at JD for a week, but this time she just kissed his cheek and ran off to help Nettie. He shook his head; hadn’t they both just been kids not too long ago? And over there in front of the dry goods store Ezra, the man Chris would have bet good money wouldn’t have stayed in town more than a month, had an armful of his baby daughter while Mrs. Potter fussed at he and Juliet both. The gunslinger wondered if they’d told her about the coming baby yet, then saw the storekeeper gasp and knew he’d just seen it happen. Janey had come out of the hotel to see that Juliet was all right and then had stopped to say something to Nathan before going back inside; Chris noticed that the healer’s eyes followed her as she walked away from him, although the man made no move to go after her or call her back. Not that Janey would likely have responded well to either, Nathan still had a pretty steep hill to climb if he wanted the hotel’s strong-minded cook to be his woman. Miss Alice, on the other hand, had run out into the thick of everything and all but yanked Vin off his horse so she could make sure he was all right, and then she’d followed up a scold for his scaring her with a kiss that made a few people’s eyes widen – including her father’s, but when the bank manager saw Jim looking at him he quickly found something else to be interested in.

Chris turned and looked at Mary, who was still standing next to him, and he realized something; he realized that standing in the street watching his men pair off wasn’t what he wanted to be doing right now, and he realized that a woman who was willing to leave her son behind and ride out after a pack of outlaws to save her man’s sorry hide didn’t deserve to be standing there watching either. It was a problem with only one solution. He pushed off his hat, dropped to one knee, and said, “Marry me?”

All of the other noise in the street suddenly seemed to stop, and Mary’s blue eyes widened. Then she smiled at him. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask.”

Chris was back on his feet in a heartbeat and gathered her in for a kiss. “Almost gettin’ killed has a way of makin’ up a man’s mind,” he told her, pushing a loose tendril of golden hair away from her face. “I’m just glad you waited for me. And you are never, ever to wear these pants in public again.”

Mary’s smile widened and she kissed him back, murmuring against his lips, “They’re your pants, you know.”

Chris laughed out loud.