Chapter Five
Mrs Kincaid

Vin Tanner had only one dream when he dreamed about Alex.

He dreamed about the day she walked into his life with no warning about the impact she was going to create upon her arrival. How that incredible feeling of attraction reached out of nowhere and shoved his heart into a box, hand-delivering it to her forever. When Alex had stepped off the coach that first day, she had captured all their attention. They had stared at her like schoolboys, watching her sweep out of the carriage, skirt flouncing behind her with wavy jet worn loose around her shoulders shimmering as she walked.

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen as he watched her go about her business, determination in her face as she surveyed Four Corners for the first time and decided with a resolution of spirit this was her home. He was only ever so affected by any female once before, and that was Charlotte. Yet seeing Alex for the first time made the experience pale in comparison. He sat at the table with the rest of the seven, trying to look appreciative but not overly concerned, hiding the fact that inside his chest his heart was beating with the pace of a runaway train. He had wanted nothing but to go out there and introduce himself before the stark terror of actually speaking to a woman of this calibre impressed itself upon his brain. In light of what happened later on with Ezra, it was a decision Vin would spend many nights regretting.

Sometimes the dream would alternate between how it had been to how he would have liked things to have gone. There were times when he did have the courage to leave the table and introduce himself to her. Vin pictured himself interrupting Buck in his fruitless pursuit, tipping his hat to Alex as he revealed his name with no difficulty whatsoever in overcoming his shyness at that point. He envisioned Alex meeting his eyes and then giving him that smile, the one capable of making him melt in his boots with the knowledge she loved him too.

In the dreamscape, she would have eyes for no one but him. Alex would ask him to escort her to the hotel and then invite him upstairs to her room. They would make such fiery and passionate love the sheets would literally be set on fire. After which they would lie together in a tangle of sweaty, warm flesh, breathing in the heady scent of their lustful pleasure in the aftermath of their a soul-searching encounter. He would hold her in his arms and tell her he loved her and hear the same words from her, spoken with the sincerity he dreamed of always hearing when he first realized his soul mate had walked into his life.

"Wake up Tanner!"

Vin opened his eyes as the sharp voice tore him from Alex’s warm arms back to the cold reality of his jail cell. He heard Ritter dragging a tin cup across the bars of his cage, creating a sound to wake the dead if they had not already risen from their graves. Flinching as the fog of sleep drifted from his mind, he lifted his head from the lumpy pillow of his cot and raised his eyes to the man, giving Ritter a dirty look for rousing him from such a satisfying dream.

"I’m up," Vin grumbled as he saw Ritter standing before his cell staring down at him with the same contemptuous expression he had been wearing since Vin placed himself in his custody. Ritter’s mood had not improved with the arrival of Vin’s lawyer the night before. The man had amazingly given Vin some measure of hope by his pointed questions to the sheriff about the calibre of the gun used to kill Jesse Kincaid.

"Thank you, Sheriff Ritter, for that charming wake-up." Ezra Standish who had spent the last hour in the chair dozing lightly had been aroused from his repose just as abruptly. The gambler stretched in his chair before standing up to adjust his rumpled clothing.

"You got a visitor," Ritter muttered unhappily, giving the gambler a dark look as he walked away.

A visitor? Vin immediately sat up in bed and exchanged a glance with Ezra who shrugged his shoulders, being just as mystified at who it might be. There was one brief moment when a surge of hope surfaced inside Vin, thinking it might be Alex before his senses returned and he told himself he did not want to see her and suspected she knew him well enough to make the determination on her own. However, as he heard approaching footsteps, his gaze shifted to Ezra, who caught first sight of his guest, who appeared pleasantly stunned by the new arrival.

"Why Madam, this is a surprise." Ezra burst into a smile of genuine pleasure.

"Howdy boys." Nettie Wells stepped in front of his cell to his utter amazement.

"Ma’am." Vin immediately stood up, unable to deny it was good to see the lady even in this unfortunate circumstance. "What...what are you doing here?" he stammered.

"Alex sent me here," Nettie explained as Ezra immediately vacated his chair and brought it forward for her use.

Somehow it did not surprise Vin. If Alex could not be here herself, it was natural, she would send Nettie because the old lady had a tendency to make him feel better when things were at their worst. This situation certainly qualified.

"How is she?" Vin asked when Nettie had seated herself down.

"She’s doing okay," Nettie replied, holding a neutral expression on her face, remembering Alex’s instructions to not let Vin know she was here in Tascosa just yet. Although Nettie disagreed with Alex on this point, she was not about to betray the young woman’s trust and could almost understand her reason for wanting her presence here to remain a secret. "I assume you’ve met the lawyer she got you by now."

"Yeah," Vin nodded. "Seems smart enough."

"According to JD, the man had the sheriff properly cowed," Ezra informed Nettie since Vin was never too specific about these things. "It does appear he may have some kind of legal defence prepared to counter the charge of murder."

"She did say he was the best she could find," Nettie remarked. "She’s mighty worried about you Vin, but she was holding together the last time I saw her." Which was ten minutes ago, Nettie thought inwardly.

"Good," Vin nodded, trying to hide the longing he felt at wanting to see her from Nettie and Ezra. "I don’t want her here in case anything bad happens."

"Now, don’t talk like that," Nettie said firmly, not wanting to even contemplate the possibility of Vin Tanner coming to such an end. She cared about him dearly, and the idea of him hanging was making her so fraught with worry she could barely stand it. Nettie could not even imagine what Alex must be going through and hoped it would not come to that. Nettie was not sure how Alex could endure losing Vin in such a terrible way, if at all. "You’re going to get out of here, and you’re gonna be with Alex in no time at all. She believes it and so should you."

"I do agree with the lady on that account," Ezra agreed, hating the idea of Vin trapped in this place or ending his days at the end of a rope. "You must not abandon hope, Mr Tanner, none of us have."

As much as Vin might like to believe it, he was too much of a realist to assume hope alone would free him from this cage. Even though he did not wish to express it to anyone, he utterly hated being inside this cell and wanted more than anything to escape these walls. He had spent the most of last night staring through the small barred window of his cell, trying to see the stars in the sky above, praying his last view of it before his death would not be from inside this prison.

"How long are you staying Nettie?" Vin asked, wishing to avoid this particular subject now because he had no wish to share with them just how pessimistic he was about his chances of escaping this place alive. Despite Alex’s employment of a lawyer for him, Vin knew there was no real evidence to prove he did not kill Jesse Kincaid no matter how cleverly the man might use his words. He did not want to feel any false hope, only to learn later it was a wasted effort, to begin with.

"Thanks to that gal of yours, I can stay as long as you need me," Nettie said firmly.

It did please Vin to hear that much. If Alex could not be here, it was nice to know Nettie would be around. "Does Alex plan on coming here at all?" He tried to keep the hope out of his voice, but he could not help it. He wanted to see her badly, and yet he did not want her to be here at the same time. He could not bear for her to see him like this, and yet he ached not being with her. She was the only thing capable of making his tenure inside this hell of stone and steel bars tolerable.

"I don’t know," Nettie remarked. She felt her insides ache at having to lie to Vin, but she had promised Alex. "She thought it would make it harder for you if she were here."

"It would," he said softly, trying not to let the disappointment show in his eyes even though Alex was right. It would make it so much harder, not only to see her but also to live with the decision he had made to stand trial and face judgement. However, it ended. She was the only reason he had not put Four Corners behind him and made some attempt to clear his name before Jamieson had come for him. "Well, when the time comes and this thing don’t go my way. I don’t want her here."

"Vin..."Ezra started to say.

"I mean it, Ezra," he said firmly and looked both Nettie and Ezra in the eye when he made this statement. "If it comes down to it that I’m gonna hang, I don’t want her to know until it's over. That’s one thing I don’t need to have her see."

"You cannot make us promise something like that Mr Tanner," Ezra said just as firmly. "You may love her, but as her friend, so do I, and she would never forgive any of us if we were to keep that information from her. I am afraid, if it does come down to it as you say, that is one task you are going to have to do yourself."

Strangely enough, Nettie said nothing to back Ezra’s statement when everything about her told Vin she would have. In any case, the gambler was right, with or without her supporting his statement. He could not ask his friends to perform a task like that for him, as this was one thing he had to do on his own. He just wished he did not have to look Alex in the eye and tell her when all hope had drained, and there were nothing left for them but farewells, it was time for her to let him go. Vin prayed he dared to do that and Alex had the same to endure it.

***********

While Nettie was visiting Vin at the jailhouse, Alex took the opportunity to seek out Chris Larabee. The gunslinger had not been surprised to see her in Tascosa, particularly after hearing from JD she had hired a lawyer for Vin’s defence. Chris had more or less expected such action from Alex, once the doctor had recovered her senses enough to act. Alexandra Styles was the most capable woman Chris had ever met, except Mary Travis. He sometimes sensed she was more held together than his best friend, even though it served her to let Vin think otherwise. While she could be an emotional creature, after all, she was female, Chris had found her to be quite resolute when she pulled herself together.

He had been in the saloon when Alex found him, the lady not caring at all a bar was no place for her. She was viewed mostly with distaste by the patrons public who saw her as nothing more than a coloured woman. Chris spotted her immediately upon her entering the establishment, and felt some measure of relief in seeing her, knowing it would undoubtedly raise Vin’s spirits to have Alex here. He spotted her first because it was his nature to keep an eye on anyone coming through the door of any new place he happened to be situated.

"Alex," Chris called out as he neared her.

Alex, who looking about her self consciously as she moved deeper into the premises, let out a sigh of relief at seeing her lover’s best friend. "Chris." She said with a faint smile. Without thinking about it, she gave him a hug, perhaps needing it. Chris returned the embrace warmly. "How is Vin?" she asked immediately. Gideon Dunwillhad told her last night Vin appeared in good health, but she could not rest easy until she heard it from Chris.

"He ain’t happy about being locked up, but he’s alright for the moment. He’ll be happy to see you," he remarked.

"No, he won’t," she shook his head. "Chris, I don’t want him to know I’m here, not yet," she said quickly, wanting this established before any further conversation. "I don’t want anyone telling him I’m here either."

Chris did not have to ask why he understood well enough. It would be too difficult for Vin to see her, especially if the trial did not go well. Vin was proud, and having the most important person in his life see him in jail was something the tracker could not abide. Obviously, Alex loved him enough not to make him endure such pain. "All right," he nodded quietly. "I’ll tell the others."

"Good," she let out another sigh, glad she did not have to discuss that particular topic in further depth. She was having enough trouble keeping herself from going to the jailhouse and being with Chris without having to debate the decision with his friends. "Can we talk? I don’t feel particularly comfortable here."

Chris could appreciate that and quickly replied. "Wait outside," he instructed. "I’ll be there in a minute."

Alex complied immediately and disappeared out the batwing doors as Chris returned to the others and appraised them of the situation. While they were confused about why Alex did not want Vin to know she was in Tascosa, they did not question it. Especially since Chris seemed to be supporting the decision and believed it would make Vin’s incarceration all the more difficult. Before leaving the saloon, Chris gave orders as to what they needed to do while he was with Alex. Certain events had piqued his interest after the near lynching the night before. Chris was starting to believe the town of Tascosa was a place of secrets, and at the heart of it was Jesse Kincaid.

To save Vin’s life, they had to uncover those secrets.

"So tell me," Alex said, once Chris had joined her outside the saloon and they started walking to the hotel where she was staying. "How is Vin really?"

"Not good," Chris confessed. "He doesn’t think he’s going to leave that cell."

Alex let out a heavy sigh, wishing she could be there to offer him comfort. "God, I wish he had never come here." She tried to keep her emotions under control, but it was impossible. "I wish he had just kept going. Anything would have been better than coming here to face judgement like a sacrificial lamb."

"He couldn’t keep running forever Alex," Chris said gently even though he knew if the roles were different and it was Mary running for her life, Chris would feel the exact same way as Alex.

"I know that," Alex nodded, trying to sound brave but not quite managing it. "I just hope Mr Dunwill can help him."

"That’s the lawyer?" Chris inquired, having heard about Mr Dunwill’s conduct from JD the night before. He was glad they had a legal expert to work in Vin’s defence because when it came down to it really, that was Vin’s only real avenue of escape in the light of Ely Joe's death.

"Yes, he’s waiting for us in the restaurant," she replied as they reached the boardwalk across the street from the saloon. The hotel was only a few yards further up the footway. "I thought it might be a good idea for you to meet him, maybe you can give him some insight into what happened with Ely Joe that could be useful when the judge finally shows up."

"Good idea." he agreed. "The evidence against Vin is pretty ironclad. The sheriff based his guilt entirely on Vin finding the body and using it to impersonate Ely Joe for the reward money."

"You know these towns better than I do," Alex replied, shrugging her shoulders, unable to think of any argument that could be used in Vin’s defence, other than ignorance. "They don’t exactly follow the rules of due process here."

"Not when it wasn’t so long ago they used to lynch people for murder," Chris admitted as they reached the hotel.

"Yes," she nodded grimly. "I heard they tried to do that to Vin last night."

"We stopped it." Chris pointed out, not wanting her to worry herself any more than she already was.

They entered the hotel restaurant, which was mostly empty at this time of day since the breakfast crowd had gone and the staff were preparing for the dining hall for the patrons soon to be arriving for lunch. Gideon Dunhill occupied a table for four in the centre of the room, the immediate space before his cup of coffee was covered in books and papers as he scoured all the information on the case before him. He had glanced upwards long enough to see his party arriving and immediately called out to Chris and Alex as if either of them could miss him.

"Doctor Styles!" He waved them over.

Alex and Chris exchanged glances, and she could tell the gunslinger was not particularly impressed despite JD’s glowing report. Then again, when was Chris Larabee ever impressed about anything, she thought to herself as they proceeded to the table and introductions were made all around. Gideon and Chris regarded each other as if they were two different creatures, from different worlds for that matter. Alex remained silent, even though she was tempted to smile at the difference between one man who looked as if he belonged in a library in his tweed suit and bow tie. At the same time, the other was nothing less than predatory and downright menacing in his clothes of black.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance Mr Larabee." Gideon extended his hand and did not complain when Chris merely tipped his hat in his direction and sat down.

"So," Alex said to Gideon once they had were all seated. "You’ve gone through the case, what do you think?" She asked him mostly for Chris’ benefit. While outwardly most people would think Chris’ intelligence extended only as far as the bullets in his gun, his friends knew better. Chris had one of the sharpest intellects Alex had ever known, and one of the most honed instincts as well. The man could smell a lie a mile away and spot a con even faster than Ezra could try to slip an ace up his sleeve.

"I think we have a good chance of acquittal if we can move the trial elsewhere," Gideon answered, taking off his glasses and starting to clean them with the big white handkerchief he had just retrieved from his pocket.

"Why?" Chris asked shortly.

"I do not think Mr Tanner can receive a fair trial in this community. If the doctor I spoke with to get the report on the ammunition removed from the body, and the sheriff are any indication of public sentiment in this town, finding twelve impartial men to preside over this case is going to be next to impossible." Gideon replied.

"Well, they were ready to lynch him last night." Alex pointed out. "That’s hardly an impartial community."

"Precisely," Gideon agreed. "We’re going to need to move the trial to another locality. I am aiming for Amarillo. It's close enough to Tascosa for the adjournment to be no more than a few days and far enough to keep gossip from hampering juror’s prudence." His gaze shifted towards Chris. "That means..."

"I know what it means." Chris gave him a look.

"I apologize." Gideon cleared his throat, not missing the menace in those eyes. "If we move the trial to Amarillo, it is possible we have a chance of freeing Mr Tanner. As I indicated to you before, the question of ammunition is an important one. Mr Tanner’s habits, from a dozen witnesses in the surrounding towns where he claimed bounties before hunting Ely Joe, indicate he was always partial to using a Winchester 30 –30 bolt action rifle. In fact, he is so averse to using any kind of any other firearm, he usually models his rifles to be used as a handgun, does he not?"

"He does." Chris agreed, aware the first thing Vin had done after acquiring himself the rifle he would take to the Seminole village was to saw off the barrel and fashion a holster so the weapon could be worn on his hip, like a handgun.

"Excellent," Gideon said pleased with that response. "If we can prove to the jury Mr Tanner is not likely to abandon the weapon of his choice to use a gun with a 45 calibre bullet to kill Mr Kincaid, we might be able to plant a question of reasonable doubt."

"Reasonable doubt?" Alex looked at him, puzzled by the term.

"It means," Chris spoke up and surprised them both. "That there might be enough suspicious circumstance around the death to bring up the possibility Vin might not have done it."

"Exactly," Gideon said with a smile, impressed with Chris’ understanding of the situation, as well as his emerging acumen. "Also, the gun has yet to be found, which means Mr Tanner might have disposed of it which is a redundant gesture since the ballistic of the bullet is very clear to anyone who might look, or simply its true owner might still have it."

"There’s something else," Chris brought up the subject of something bothering him since the incident of the previous evening. "Last night, someone tried to stir up a mob to lynch Vin."

"I heard." Alex shuddered at the news, grateful Chris and the others were here to prevent it from happening.

"Yes, frightful business," Gideon remarked, clearly disapproving. "Unfortunately, not unusual in small frontier towns like this."

"I don’t know about that," Chris did not want to go into a discussion about the law in small towns, considering his unique position in Four Corners as a lawman. "But the man who fired everyone up was gone when the mob when to the jailhouse."

"What do you mean gone?" The lawyer looked at him, not understanding.

"He stirred them up, but he didn’t lead them to the jailhouse. Someone else did."

"That’s strange," Alex said with her brow knitting in confusion. While the whole idea of a lynching sounded just plain awful, particularly when it related to the man she loved, she could see Chris’ concern. "Why go to all that trouble?"

"Unless you wanted Vin to die before he went to trial, so no questions were asked." Chris pointed out because this was where his ruminations had led him. "I’ve been thinking lately about what if Ely Joe didn’t kill a random victim? He came out of his way to Tascosa to frame Vin, he could have just done it because he had reason to kill someone here."

"I say, that is an interesting point," Gideon remarked, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he sat up in his chair and started scribbling in his notebook. "If we could prove a third party might be involved, even to the slightest degree, it would assist our cause quite considerably. Are you able to find out who the person instigating the action last night might be?"

"The sheriff gave me a name," Chris answered automatically. "Caleb Patterson. He's a rancher in these parts."

"Mr Larabee," Gideon looked at him thoughtfully, confident now he was dealing with no fool, and the gunslinger might be able to ferret out information invaluable to his friend. "It might be prudent to see if there is any history between Mr Kincaid and Mr Patterson. If there is a reason why Mr. Patterson does not want questions raised at a trial, it would serve us very well to know that they might be."

"I’ve got Buck asking around" the gunslinger replied, having given those instructions to his old friend before his departure from the saloon earlier. "Buck tends to be kind of easy-going, so people don’t mind talking to him."

"In the meantime," the lawyer replied, closing his notebook after making more notations. "I shall attempt to gain an interview with Mrs Kincaid. While your associate attempts to get information from the town, I will see about questioning the widow Kincaid on that same point. She may know something incidental to her but of great assistance to us if Mr Patterson is somehow involved in foul play. I believe her name is Amanda, she owns an establishment called Amanda’s Sewing Circle."

Chris looked up sharply. He remembered the woman who had been watching Vin closely as they rode into town. There was something about the way she had stared at the tracker had captured Chris’s notice almost immediately. When everyone else had been glaring at the tracker in unmasked dislike, she was different. She had merely stared at him with something akin to compassion and sorrow, and Chris had come away, not understanding why that would be. In light of what they were learning about Patterson and Kincaid since arriving in Tascosa, had that look been engendered by a secret knowledge that might shed light on Vin’s innocence?

"You do that," Chris said quietly. "I think you’re right," he said, not knowing why he was so absolute on this. "I think she does know something."

***********

"Amanda, you don’t get to do this," Ritter said to her as she stood before his desk.

"I have the right to see my husband’s killer." Amanda Kincaid replied firmly as she stared at Ritter’s face, full of determination to have her will done. This argument had gone on for a few minutes now, ever since she had entered the jailhouse and made her intentions known. "Please Joshua." She repeated herself. "I need to see him."

Ritter did not like this. He cared a great deal for Amanda, who had managed to pull her life together following the death of her husband, Jesse. Although she was always a quiet little thing, he respected her ability to endure in a place like Tascosa, where most women of her ilk would have packed up and left for greener pastures where a woman might get along better. Not Amanda. Following Jesse’s death, she only improved her situation by selling his farm and starting herself a little business was doing quite well.

"All right," he conceded, unable to see any reason to deny her request and she was right, she deserved the right to face Vin Tanner. "Just for a few minutes."

"Thank you," she smiled slightly, and that was quite a display for Amanda for she was always so silent and so devoid of happiness. He figured she must have really loved Jesse and not recovered from his death.

Ritter led her to the cells where Tanner’s coloured friend sat watch that nothing unfortunate took place while he was in custody. Although Ritter was offended by the insinuation, the man in black was absolute on this point, and Jamieson had ordered him to tolerate the imposition just to keep the peace.

"On your feet, Tanner," Ritter announced their arrival as he reached the cell in question. "You got another visitor, and you better be on your best damn behaviour for her, or there’ll be hell to pay."

Vin did not recognize the woman as he got to his feet and saw Nathan do the same, overseeing the proceedings as she came before his cell. She had difficulty making eye contact, and Vin recognized her as the one who was staring at him when he had first come into town.

"This is here is Amanda Kincaid," Ritter said gruffly. "The wife of the man you murdered."

Both Nathan and the widow Kincaid flinched at the term, and the healer threw the sheriff a look of disgust at making Vin endure this punishment, especially when he did not commit the crime of taking this woman’s husband from her. She met Vin’s gaze with her soulfully blue eyes, and Vin found himself thinking she was indeed a fragile-looking creature who looked as if she needed protecting. However, there was no anger in her eyes, no hatred or any visible hostility, which only served to confuse him.

"Josh," she said quietly, not meeting the sheriff’s gaze when she spoke. "Do you think I can have a moment with him alone?"

"Amanda, I don’t think that’s such a good idea......." Ritter started to protest.

"Please Josh?" she asked, turning those eyes on him and losing him in their blue depths. Vin could see submission in the older man’s face as soon as she looked at him.

"Sure." He nodded and turned to Nathan. "That means you too."

Nathan did not like leaving Vin, but the tracker did not sense danger from this woman and quickly spoke up to reassure him. "Its okay Nate," he answered, uncertain what made him believe that. "I think I’ll be all right."

Nathan frowned, disliking the idea, but not wanting Vin to think he had no control over anything and complied reluctantly when he proceeded to follow the sheriff out into the next room.

Amanda did not speak until the two were gone, and she was alone with Vin. Vin let her talk first because it was she who requested this audience. He expected her to ask for an apology for her husband’s death and hated to disappoint the woman, but he had no intention of admitting he killed Kincaid when he had not.

"I am sorry," she said softly and left him speechless for a moment with her words.

"Sorry?" Vin stared back at her in confusion once he had recovered enough to respond.

"I am sorry you were caught." Her voice became slightly louder, and he had the impression she did not speak much. There was a reservation to her voice he could identify with, and it reminded Vin of how he used to be when he had first joined the seven. It had been exceedingly difficult for him to converse with the others when he was so used to being alone all the time. A flash of insight told Vin she so soft-spoken because like him, she was accustomed to staying in the background where she would not be noticed. There was something inside of her learned great restraint in her lifetime, and Vin wondered why that was.

"Why?" Vin managed to ask perplexed by her apology. "I’m supposed to have killed your husband" he pointed out.

"They said you killed him," she continued to speak just as quietly as before. "I don’t know that you did. I didn’t see it with my own eyes, so I’m not going to accuse you. I just wanted to say I’m sorry you got caught."

This was confusing him. "I don’t understand."

"He wasn’t a good man," she said softly, her lips quivering when she made this admission as if it was something deeply personal and difficult to reveal. "When he died, I was free for the first time in a long time, and I am grateful for that." Her eyes started to fill with tears, and she couldn’t look at him any more, needing to turn away from him to compose herself.

And suddenly Vin understood.

"Did he hurt you, ma’am?" he finally asked, once she faced him again. Her cheeks were still damp, even though she had wiped the moisture away. Vin Tanner knew nothing about Jesse Kincaid despite being accused of his murder these past three years. Seeing his widow now explained much about the man, and Vin decided perhaps in some way, though not beneficial to himself, Kincaid deserved what he got.

She stepped away, unable to answer, even though her eyes told him everything. "I am sorry, Mr Tanner. I hoped they would never catch you. I was just happy to have him gone."

With that, she hurried away, leaving him new questions and no answers.

***********

When Chris returned to the others inside the saloon, he had decided perhaps Alex’s selection of a lawyer was indeed the best chance for Vin’s eventual freedom, even though he had not been entirely impressed with Mr Gideon Dunwill, to begin with. However, Dunwill’s suggestions and attention to the minor details most might forget was quite logical and astute. While Chris did not know this was altogether enough to secure Vin’s freedom or capable of clearing his name, the gunslinger had to admit he had more hope of that happening now than he did this morning.

When he returned to the saloon, Chris learnt Buck had gone to take his turn guarding Vin at the jailhouse but had spent the hours before quite productively in his search for information about Caleb Patterson. As expected, none of the townsfolk had been willing to talk to them because they were Vin’s companions. However, Buck had used his incredible charm of his to coax several working girls and one barmaid to impart what was known about the man in regards to general gossip.

As Chris bought himself a beer and sat down to join the others at their table, he noticed the furtive glances and icy looks had yet to fade away. Tascosa still saw them as nothing more than outlaws protecting a murderer, but last night’s display had ensured tangling with any of Vin Tanner’s companions was a fatal mistake. The gunslinger nestled himself back in his chair, preparing to listen to what Buck’s digging had turned up since he had passed the knowledge acquired to those at the table before leaving.

"So what do we know about Patterson?" Chris asked, eager for some information Dunwill could use in a court of law.

"Well, the man is a rancher, but also a rather wealthy landowner. His spread has swallowed up several smaller properties in recent years, including the Kincaid place." Ezra said, reciting what Buck had told him before the man’s departure when he had gone to assume his turn at guarding Vin Tanner.

"His wife must have sold up after he passed on," Chris commented, assuming that was the natural order of things when a woman alone was left a property like this.

"Apparently so, but, Patterson was after the place for quite some time," Ezra said exchanging glances with Josiah and the others at the table, which immediately incurred Chris’ immediate suspicion.

"Why?" he demanded, wondering if this was the history Dunwill had mentioned earlier.

"If Mr Wilmington’s information is to be assumed as correct," Ezra continued after taking a sip of his beer and wetting his throat to proceed. "Four years ago, the only source of water on the Patterson place went dry, and the ranch found itself in dire straits by not having an adequate supply of water for its livestock. This state of affairs caused quite a bit of difficulty for Mr Patterson and a few of the neighbouring homesteads, except for the Kincaid place, whose water supply did manage to survive the drought."

"Makes things kind of interesting, don’t you think?" Josiah drawled meeting Chris’ eyes with a clear gleam of suggestion.

"Very," Chris agreed. "Go on."

"Mr Kincaid was not one to let a golden opportunity slip by him and was willing to allow his neighbours access to his water, naturally at a tidy profit. The monetary restitution was reasonable, to begin with, but as time progressed, Kincaid became enraptured by avarice and began making more exorbitant demands. Patterson, who had the most to lose by this, eventually offered to buy the property for a very generous amount."

"Let me guess," Chris remarked, stopping Ezra for a moment because he could just imagine what was coming without having to hear it from the gambler. "Kincaid refused."

"Kincaid refused, much to Mr Patterson’s annoyance," Ezra confirmed his supposition somberly. "Patterson, as most men trapped in a corner are inclined to do, employed more aggressive methods of convincing Kincaid to sell but the man held fast."

"Then along comes Vin, supposedly," Nathan took over the narration. "Kills Kincaid and Patterson’s problems are over. Within a month of his death, Mrs Kincaid sells the place to him. He was good enough to keep the original offer on the table, so she got a lot of money for her losing her husband."

"So there’s the connection." Chris mused, seeing it all come together with that bit of information.

"What connection Chris?" JD asked, never seeing the big picture unless it was explained to him. He assumed when he had few more years under his belt, he would see the darker side of things as these men did so effortlessly.

"That lawyer of Vin’s reckons there might have been some history between Kincaid and Patterson. Might explain why he was so fired up to get Vin lynched last night and not take part in it." Chris replied. "It makes sense if he had something to do with Kincaid getting killed. Now we put it on the table Ely Joe might not have picked his victim at random. What if he didn’t?" The gunslinger looked at his friends with that suggestion "What if Ely Joe was paid to kill him?"

"He wanted to frame Vin to get him off his back, so he used the victim he had to kill anyway to do it." Josiah nodded, theorizing out loud. "Makes things mighty convenient."

"It certainly does," Ezra agreed with their line of reasoning. "Unfortunately, how do we prove it?"

"Trust you to rain on a perfectly good plan." Nathan frowned because there was no easy answer to that question.

"But he’s right," Chris sighed. "We do have to prove it."

"There’s something else though," Nathan mentioned, now they were on the subject of proof and possibilities. Vin had told him something of the encounter he had earlier that day with Mrs Kincaid when she had come to see him at the jailhouse. "I don’t know what it means if anything at all, but Kincaid’s wife came to see Vin today."

"At the jailhouse?" JD inquired somewhat warily, unable to imagine that meeting would be anything but unpleasant for Vin.

"How unfortunate." Ezra sighed. "Is Mr Tanner alright?"

"He’s fine," Nathan said, realizing they expected the worse and quickly continued to alleviate any concerns about Vin following the meeting. "She told him she was sorry he was caught, and she had prayed he would stay free."

"That’s weird," JD exclaimed. "I kind of thought she would be mad at him."

"You would not be wrong in that assumption, JD." Josiah looked at Nathan quizzically. "Strange behaviour from a woman mourning her husband."

"Unless there was no reason to mourn," Nathan replied. "She told Vin she was freed when Kincaid died, so she was not that sorry to see him go."

"What a man does with his wife behind closed doors is for no one to know," Chris said quietly, starting to understand now the sadness and tragedy etched in the face he had seen. She had appeared to him so wounded, and with her description of Kincaid’s death as her freedom, he could appreciate why that was. "I’ve known wives who suffered a lot of things because they married the wrong men."

"Then she’d be likely to help Vin if she could," JD remarked.

"I don’t see why not," Chris replied. "If Patterson had something to do with the murder, the more I know about him, I’m becoming pretty sure of it, she could be the only person who could get Vin out of this mess."

***********

Gideon Dunwill and Alexandra Styles found themselves outside the establishment known as Amanda’s Sewing Circle later that day. Judging by the number of women entering and leaving the premises, it was apparent the business was making brisk trade. It was a rather cozy looking establishment with beautiful brush script printed across the glass window and a blue awning stretching across the walkway. Through the window the duo could see Amanda herself, dealing with her customers, and waited until the room had emptied considerably before choosing to enter themselves.

"She’s doing well," Alex commented as they watched the patrons coming and going, all wearing expressions of satisfied service on their faces with their departure. Amanda had not noticed the two strangers who were outside her door and had disappeared into the backrooms, taking momentary advantage of the solitude to tend to some business beyond the main shop floor.

"She has had considerable time to perfect the art." Gideon pointed out. "She’s been on her own for almost three years, I suppose it must have been necessary to develop a good business sense."

Alex could not argue with that. Living in the west had taught her one thing very quickly, the weak did not survive long in such harsh frontier territory. That Amanda Kincaid had survived well enough to arrive at this point was a testament to her mettle. Alex sincerely hoped she would be able to give Gideon some information that might assist Vin in his upcoming legal battle. Alex knew she probably should have stayed in the hotel room and let the lawyer handle this on his own. Still, Alex insisted on accompanying Gideon to this interview with Kincaid’s wife because she was going crazy with nothing to do. While Nettie kept a vigil on Vin in jail, Alex could do nothing but linger inside her room, too many thoughts screaming the futility of her actions in her head to tolerate.

The bell attached to the door announced their presence when they walked through, and by then, she and Gideon were the only ones left in the shop. The main trade was made in the knitting, darning and other garment repair services provided by the proprietress and as they entered the establishment, she emerged from the backrooms to greet them from behind the counter.

Gideon had instructed Alex to let him conduct the interview prior to their entrance here. While he understood his client’s need to occupy her mind, he did not wish her to complicate matters by any unsolicited opinions at this delicate encounter. She was an intelligent woman, this Doctor Styles and was able to appreciate the need for her silence. Thus while Gideon took centre stage, she busied herself by browsing through the selection of material that made up the store’s merchandise.

"Can I help you?" Amanda asked in a too-soft voice that made Gideon’s skin tingle for a reason. She was not what one would call a stunning beauty, but there was something about her left one thinking she was ethereal in her appearance.

"Yes," he replied politely. "Permit me to introduce myself, I am Gideon Dunwill. This is my associate, Miss Alexandra Styles." Alex turned around enough to offer a slight nod of greeting at Amanda before fading into the background and allowing Gideon to continue.

"I am acting legal counsel for Vin Tanner, the man accused...." Gideon started to say.

"I know who he is," she answered automatically, that mask of passive indifference holding firm over her face even though her eyes were fluid with emotion.

Alex said nothing as she observed Gideon and Amanda without offering comment, pretending to keep her focus on the merchandise instead of their conversation. It was understandable of course if she held some hostile emotions towards the lawyer and Vin, after all, it was her husband who was killed, and Gideon was the one defending the man accused of that crime.

"I know it is a terrible imposition, but I wonder if I could have a moment of your time. I need to ask you a few questions about the day your husband died." Gideon responded contritely, hoping she was not going to be too distressed by the request. He expected a refusal or some protest because it was usually the way with spouses. Two decades of experience had taught him that much. However, she displayed no signs of anger as she nodded slightly in that unassuming manner making him wonder why she was so reserved and what forces had taken place in her life to drive the spirit inside her so deep beneath the surface.

"What do you need to know?" she responded to his surprise and Alex’s.

"Uh," he shook his head, recovering from her unexpected cooperation. "I just need to hear from your recollection, what you remember of that day."

"All right," she nodded slowly as she looked away, attempting to bring up the information that would help him. "There is not much to tell, though." She began slowly and took note of Mr Gideon’s companion, paying very close attention to her words, having forgotten all about the floral pattern she had been busily perusing.

"Anything you can remember will assist us," Gideon remarked quickly.

"I doubt it," she shrugged. "I got up early that morning because I had some errands in town. Jesse said something about fixing a broken fence or gate," her brow knotted as she tried to remember what exactly had needed mending that day. "He took off before I left, and he seemed fine then. It was the last time I saw him," she concluded, turning away for a moment as she made the statement.

"I am sorry for your loss." Gideon offered with genuine sincerity.

"Thank you," Amanda said quickly, taking note of his associate who was watching her closely as she made that response. "But he’s been gone for three years, and you get accustomed to putting things in the past."

"I can understand that." Gideon nodded. "I suppose you did not see anyone about that day who might have stood out in your mind. Anything unusual at all?"

"No," she shook her head after giving it another moment of consideration. "Nothing at all."

"Well, we did try." Gideon glanced over his shoulder at Alex.

"Do you think you will be able to convince a judge he did not do it?" Amanda inquired with more interest in her voice than there should be.

"We’re going to try," Gideon answered, somewhat surprised by her inquiry. She was taking it rather well and showing Mr Tanner an inordinate amount of cooperation, considering he was accused of killing her husband. Even Doctor Styles had noticed it, also though she was keeping her opinions silent, content merely to observe the proceedings. "It will be difficult, of course, and dire if we fail."

"Yes," Amanda seemed troubled at the thought. "They’ll hang him if he is found guilty."

Instinctively, Alex reacted, even though she had not meant to reveal her relationship to Vin. Just the idea of him being strung up like an animal for a crime he did not commit, made her sick to her stomach, and the anguish she felt showed in her face. With that one instance of surfaced despair, she revealed to Amanda Kincaid precisely what her relationship was to Vin Tanner. "We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that," she said quickly, hoping to cover her reaction.

"You’re his wife?" Amanda asked, sure of what she had seen in Alex’s face.

Alex exchanged a look with Gideon in which she conveyed a silent apology to the man for revealing herself to Amanda this way. However, there did not seem to be much reason to lie, especially when it was apparent to Amanda what the truth was. "Not yet, but we were hoping soon." She swallowed hard and forced away from the sadness in her heart.

"I’m sorry." Amanda found herself saying. "It must be very hard on you."

"It is, but no more than it must have been when you lost your husband," Alex replied, grateful Amanda was so generous with her compassion. She would not have expected it from someone who believed the man she loved to be a murderer.

"I’ve coped with him being gone, but I am sorry about Mr Tanner. They say he killed him, I don’t presume to make that judgment myself." Amanda admitted.

"That’s very good of you," Gideon replied, having said nothing all this time because he was keeping Mrs Kincaid under tight scrutiny. He had not been pleased with the nature of Alex’s relationship was revealed to Amanda, but her reaction was not what he would have expected. In fact, nothing about Mrs Kincaid seemed to make any sense. "Thank you for your time, Mrs Kincaid, Alex, it is time we were leaving."

"Yes," Alex offered the woman a look of warmth. "Thank you for your help."

"If I remember anything," Amanda offered, feeling sympathy for the sadness she saw in Alexandra Styles’ eyes because it was apparent she loved Tanner very much. "I’ll be sure to find you, Mr Dunwill."

"We would appreciate that," Gideon said with a smile. "We have lodgings at the hotel. Anything at all would be useful, no matter how insignificant it might seem."

"I’ll keep it in mind." Amanda nodded, feeling her breath quicken and her heart start to pound as she watched the duo take their leave of the shop. For a few seconds, after they left, she continued to feel the heavy rumbling of her heart moving along at its juggernaut pace. It took a few minutes before she felt settled enough to continue her day, but the fear when it had come was palpable and paralyzing at the same time.

"Why did he give himself up!" Amanda exclaimed out loud, daring to speak because no one else was in the room with her. For thee years, she lived a blissful life of forgetfulness where she did not have to think about Jesse or the hell that was her life before his death. Amanda had walked away from that cursed farm a woman with a small stipend allowing her to purchase this building and set up her business. It was all as perfect as she had always dreamed. Why did it all have to be dredged up again? She did not want to have to think about Jesse or his death!

When she had seen Tanner this morning, she had looked into his face and knew he had not killed Jesse. Though Amanda had always known it was Ely Joe who had been responsible. However, meeting the tracker for the first time changed her perspective considerably, and no matter how she tried to dispel the thought his fate had nothing to do with her, Amanda knew better. It had everything to do with her, and she was the only who could keep him from hanging. It did not help matters that he was a good man. Amanda could tell by how fiercely his friends defended him, not merely by their action of keeping a guard on him to ensure no harm came to him in Ritter’s custody but also by how they had accompanied him here to Tascosa. They were determined he had his day in court so he could be proven innocent. However, even Amanda knew with Ely Joe dead, that was going to be near impossible.

Unless she spoke up.

But she could not! Her guilt was eating her inside out, but despite it, she could not bring herself to bring the truth out in the open. No one knew what Jesse had been like behind closed doors. Part of her entrapment was the clever way he had carried out his torture. Jesse seldom left bruises where they could be seen, and when he had, he ensured she did not come into town until they healed. Outwardly he behaved like the doting older husband with the young, beautiful wife. Amanda had heard the whispers about how Jesse was a wonderful husband, not knowing he was a monster.

How many times had he raped her when she had said no to him, like she was some possession who had no rights, not even upon her on own body? How many beatings and cigar burns did she have on her body? How many times had he made her scream until sheer despair almost drove her to suicide? She was never strong enough to end her life because there was inside of her something refusing to give up on herself or her life, even after so many years of abuse. How could she tell people what she had endured and face their disbelief? How could she tell them all when Jesse died it was not a day of mourning for her but relief? 

She could not because they would never believe her. They knew Jesses was a cold and greedy man for holding them ransom over the water on the farm, but they had not the slightest concept of the terror she had experienced during her marriage to him. And now, because she was not strong enough to face their doubt, an innocent man was going to die. Worse yet, she had now met the woman Tanner was to marry, and the pain she saw in Alexandra Styles was not the false projection she displayed to everyone when news of Jesse’ death became known. The grief felt by Tanner’s woman was real, the kind of affection she longed to feel for someone until Jesse drove away any need for a man in her life ever again.

Amanda wished she could be that selfish. She wished she could forget the love she had seen for Tanner in his fiancée’s eyes and forget in a few days, a judge would decide his fate and sentence him for a crime for which he was not responsible. Tanner was young, not much older than she was actually, and his entire life would end because she was too weak to make a choice to save it.

Even in death, Jesse Kincaid still knew how to hurt her.

***********

"I am sorry about what happened in there." Alex apologized to Gideon once they left the building behind them and made their way back to the hotel.

"Its perfectly all right." Gideon said gently, not wishing to admonish the young woman when she was already so troubled about her fiancé’. "If I were in your position, I could not say I would fare much better."

"Thank you Gideon" she answered, genuinely touched. "I’m trying not to give up hope or to let it get to me, but I love him, and every moment he is in that cell just tears me apart." Her voice dropped an octave as the emotions threatened to retake hold of her. "He has to be acquitted, Gideon. He can’t be hung for something he did not do, and he cannot be caged up for the rest of his life either. He’ll die in a cell, just as surely as a hanging would kill him."

"I promise you," the lawyer said with uncharacteristic feeling. It was not his habit to become so emotionally involved in his cases, but his clients, both Alexandra Styles and Vin Tanner, had touched the sentimental side of him more than he would like to admit. "If it is all possible, I will not allow that to happen."

"I know you won’t," she said, turning away from him to compose herself while they continued walking to the hotel. "Vin has lived most of his life outdoors. He gets nervous if he has to spend more than an hour inside four walls. I can’t imagine what he must be feeling trapped inside that jailhouse." Alex knew she was losing her battle to contain her overflowing emotions, but Gideon did not seem to mind, and it was strangely liberating being able to talk to a stranger who had a fresher perspective than most things.

"Why don’t you go see him?" he asked, knowing Tanner would very much like to see his ladylove, judging by the way he spoke about her. He was as much in love with her as she was with him. Gideon, who had been married for ten years to his dear wife Anica, could appreciate the intensity of such affection between two people."

"No," she shook her head, not even willing to contemplate the possibility. "No matter what he says, it would kill him for me to see him like that. Vin’s proud, and I won’t take his dignity from him no matter how much I want to see him." And she did want to see him very much, but each time she told herself she was going to the jailhouse, Alex reminded herself it was not her feelings she had to consider, it was Vin’s. "Besides, I could not stand to see him caged up like that. It would tear me apart," her voice started to tremble a little. "And I’m no good to him if I don’t hold together. What I have in here is what he needs right now most of all." She gestured to her head. "If I lose that, then I can do nothing to help him, and that would be almost as bad as letting him die."

Gideon nodded in understanding and made a tactful change in the subject so she could collect herself once more. "Well, I think that the interview with Mrs Kincaid was quite productive. I must admit her reaction was not at all what I expected" he confessed.

Alex nodded in agreement, in complete understanding of what he was talking about. When they had initially made the decision to see the woman, they had not expected as much as they had received in her cooperation. In fact, Alex was sure they would be turned out on their ear as soon as it was announced who they were and what they required of Mrs Kincaid. Amanda Kincaid had surprised them both with her response. "I know what you mean. I really expected her to throw us out."

"Quite," Gideon replied, thinking along those lines himself. "However, Mrs Kincaid’s reaction was..." he paused briefly while attempting to find the right word to describe the entire encounter. "Interesting."

"Yes," Alex nodded, having noticed that with far more clarity than Gideon could possibly imagine. "It was very illuminating." Wheels in her mind began turning, and suddenly what was previously assumed about the murder had taken on a very different aspect.

"She knows something." Alex declared with more certainty about this than anything else that happened since this whole situation came to light once again.

"What makes you say that?" Gideon inquired, prepared to be astonished by Alexandra Styles once again. She had been a revelation upon revelation since their meeting, and he was starting to be unsurprised about anything she came up with.

"Call it instinct if you like," Alex replied, unable to describe her perceptions with any more clarity. What she suspected was taking root and bringing forward a facet of Jesse Kincaid’s murder no one had previously suspected. "I think there is more to it than she’s telling."

Chapter Six
Midnight in Tascosa

Chris Larabee could not sleep.

There was a time when the only requirement he needed to fall asleep was a bottle of whiskey in his hand and a space large enough to accommodate him when he finally passed out. Inwardly, he knew the reason for his restlessness as much as he might loathe admitting it, was the possibility marriage might make him accustomed to soft living. Still, as he lay tossing and turning in this unfamiliar bed, he was unable to deny he had such difficulty lapsing into slumber was because of Mary’s absence next to him.

Even though they had spent nights apart since their marriage, he could not deny he missed having her in his bed and feeling her warmth beside him. He could not count the number of times he relished the feeling of rolling onto his side before draping his arm across her delicate waist before nuzzling up to her and breathing in the scent of lavender soap lingering on her skin. Chris had on many a night drifted to sleep with that heavenly fragrance in his lungs. Chris confessed part of the reason he was noticing Mary’s absence so intensely this time was mostly because he had the feeling she wanted to tell him something before his departure from Four Corners. With everything transpiring at the time, the chance was lost in concerns over Vin’s safety and Alex’s state of mind. Hopefully whatever she had intended to reveal to him could wait until he returned home and Chris made a silent vow he would ensure he made time for conversation.

He finally gave up trying to sleep and got out of bed, searching through the darkness for the bottle of whiskey still remained in its brown paper bag on top of the bureau. Chris grabbed it and unsealed the bottle because drifting to the window and staring beyond the glass at the quiet streets. Nothing was stirring at this hour of the night, and in the twilight, he found Tascosa did not seem like such a bad place. Of course, he had obvious reasons to be so adverse to this community since it was from here Vin Tanner’s troubles had originated.

Chris tried not to worry about his best friend even though things were looking up considerably since this whole situation began. The murder of Jesse Kincaid had followed Vin for as long as Chris had known him. If they had not chosen to take a break in Four Corners following their first adventure together in the Seminole village, it was likely Chris would have accompanied the tracker to this town almost three years ago. However, events in Four Corners had kept them there, and both men were unknowingly on the verge of significant change in their lives. At the time, Chris would have gratefully left Four Corners forever, sensing the shift in the wind told him his life was catching with him even though he was counting the minutes to his death. He had known he was at a crossroads the first time he had laid eyes on Mary Travis.

It had taken longer for Vin but eventually the tracker who had lived a nomadic existence most of his life had been just as lost when Doctor Alexandra Styles made her arrival in Four Corners. Chris had to admire her mettle and knew if it were not for Mary, he would have found Alex just as exciting a creature as Vin obviously did. He was impressed by how she had regained her natural resilience to provide assistance, not even Chris could manage. Alex knew better than they all did except for Chris himself Vin needed a lawyer from the very beginning. Though she never spoke of it to him, how quickly she retained the services of Gideon Dunwill and had him travel to Tascosa was proof she had given some thought to Vin’s situation long before Jamieson had arrived.

Chris always knew the price on Vin’s head would catch up with them and confessed to becoming complacent because things had settled so nicely with all the men lately. Buck, married and with a new daughter, who have figured that? Certainly not Chris since Buck’s roving eye for a fresh piece of tail was almost like a force of nature. Just like Ezra, who finally regained his beloved saloon and loving every minute of it now, he was Inez’s boss after she managed the place for so long. Not to mention someday soon, they would have to address Nathan Jackson as Doctor instead of plain old Nate. That really did please Chris because finally, the healer was going to get the recognition he deserved. Meanwhile, Josiah’s friendship with Audrey King was moving along a lethargic yet healthy pace for a man who was more of a romantic about the ladies than anyone else. At the same time, JD was becoming a man right before their eyes.

Chris was ruminating on such things when he heard footsteps coming down the hall outside. Instinctively and out of sheer habit, he retrieved the pearl-handled peacemaker from his gun belt hanging on one of the posts of the bed head. Chris cocked the weapon quietly, listening for the footsteps, which were advancing down the corridor, past all the other rooms and appeared to be definitely closing in on his. He held his breath, moving deeper into the darkness as he saw the crack of light beneath his door, obscured by the intruder’s shadowy approach.

A loud crack of snapping wood followed the door swinging open abruptly after it suffered a swift and powerful kick tearing the lock from the doorway. Light poured into the room as a man brandishing a shotgun appeared at the door and was about to fire when Chris who already had the drop on him, even though he did not know it at this point, remarked rather calmly in great deference to the present situation.

"Can I do something for you?" Chris asked coolly as he stepped out of the shadows and appraised the man of his present circumstances.

Realising the situation had altered drastically than from what he previously envisioned, the man’s shoulders slumped, repeating the gesture a moment later when the shotgun barrel sagged in his hands as well. Staring into the eyes of the man he was sent to kill, he was realistic enough to know the target would put a bullet in him before he even had a chance to pull the trigger far enough back to fire his gun.

"Drop it on the bed," Chris ordered in a low voice.

The intruder let out a deep breath and advanced far enough to put the gun down on the unmade bed before Chris came forward and retrieved it, his own gun never wavering from the man’s chest as he did so. Once the weapon was firmly in his grip, Chris gestured toward the door.

"Shut it." He instructed just as calmly. "Then you and I are going to have a little talk."

***********

It was a secret truth known only to gamblers that poker was the universal bond capable of transcending all racial, economic and religious barriers to unite greedy men in search of quick money. This adage was never more apparent when applied to his present situation where he found himself seated around a felt-covered table, indulging the previously hostile inhabitants of Tascosa in a friendly game. It appeared while his choice in riding companions might leave something to be desired, that still did not make him pariah enough to be excluded from sitting in on a couple of games.

Unfortunately, it became very apparent, particularly after the first hand the new arrival did not merely look like a professional gambler with his fancy clothes but actually was one. By the time this dawned on the players, they'd lost too much already to leave the carnage without losing face as well as profit. Ezra continued at his juggernaut pace for the rest of the night, seeing no reason why he could not indulge himself after the tension gripping them all since becoming temporary residents of Tascosa.

Faces changed at regular intervals at the table with everyone wanting to take on the professional card sharp convince they were the one who could make him cry defeat with his money in their pockets. Ezra kept an eye on all of them, aware it was never wise to let one’s guard down when he was taking their money. Though most men could accept the luck of the draw, there was always one or two who would resort to name-calling and even more drastic measures to regain their lost currency.

The big man with the rotten teeth and the eye patch was not a resident of Tascosa. This much Ezra could tell when he sat down at the table. The other players regarded him with unfamiliarity, and from the moment he sat down, his eyes were fixated on Ezra alone and throughout the evening as the game progressed, the man’s gaze seldom shifted from Ezra or the gambler’s hand. Ezra came very quickly to the conclusion the man suspected him of cheating and made no attempt to even let the notion cross his mind to prove his accuser right.

In the meantime, however, Ezra took the opportunity to learn more about Jesse Kincaid as per Chris Larabee’s instructions. On the advice of Vin’s lawyer, the seven were attempting to garner as much useful information as they could muster about all the players in the little drama presently being acted out in Tascosa. Little was known as about Jesse Kincaid, and Chris had stumbled upon the idea, which Ezra agreed with, the dead man’s sole possession of water in the immediate area must have made enemies of many of his neighbours. There was no reason to assume it was merely Patterson who had engineered Kincaid’s murder.

"So tell me," Ezra drawled as he cut the deck and prepared to deal. "Mr Kincaid must have made a small fortune before he died. I understood his piece of property was one of the few farms in the neighbourhood to turn a profit after the drought."

"Bastard made money alright," one of them remarked, a rather easy-going if somewhat grizzled man who had the look of a prospector past his prime. "Son of a bitch bled everyone dry. If your friend hadn’t killed him, someone else would have."

"Really?" Ezra said, pretending to be uninterested but still needed to ask. He shuffled the cut deck and started distributing the cards between the players. "I gather Mr Patterson was most inconvenienced by this state of affairs?"

"Yeah," the old-timer continued, more concerned about the hand he was being dealt rather than divulging sensitive information about his powerful neighbour. "He had to put down half his livestock because he didn’t have enough water for all of them. Made him plenty mad if I remember correctly. Then Kincaid died, and his widow sold up quickly. For a long time, some folk thought Patterson put your friend up to killing Kincaid, maybe to get a payoff as well as a reward."

"My friend is unnaturally honest," Ezra remarked automatically. "Whether or not you good folk may choose to believe it, Mr Tanner found the body and assumed it was Ely Joe. Until we confronted the brigand in Four Corners, Mr Tanner never met the man faced to face. Ely Joe was most clever about using it to his advantage."

"Don’t know about that," the old-timer shrugged, not about to get into a debate over the matter particularly when he did believe Tanner had been Kincaid’s killer. However, a poker table should always be considered neutral territory, and he had no wish to anger the gambler, preferring to play instead.

"Everyone knows your friend is a killer!" The man Ezra had been aware of watching him all night finally made his move. Ezra was not surprised, but he was not about to act rashly either, allowing this man to play his hand before he made his own counter-offensive. "He couldn’t catch the real Ely Joe, and so he killed some innocent farmer to git his money!"

"That is one opinion," Ezra said coolly, his hand made no move to the gun in his holster but instead prepared to use the derringer carefully hidden beneath the frilled cuff of his sleeve. "How about we resume our game Sir, this is hardly the place for a gun battle."

"Mighty smart-talking ain’t ya," the man sneered derisively even though he had secretly taken note of where Ezra’s hand was, the gambler noticed. "Let’s see if you’re smart enough to talk your way through a bullet." He pulled out his gun and was about to fire at Ezra, but the gambler was faster. The mechanism holding the derringer snapped into place, and the handle of the small weapon slid into Ezra’s waiting hand easily. With faster reflexes than this huge lumbering oaf would ever possess, Ezra pulled the trigger without batting an eye.

The bullet slammed into the centre of the man’s forehead, blowing the back of his head outwards and causing a slight spray of blood behind him before he tumbled to the ground. A few screams were heard, these mostly came from the saloon girls. Other players jumped away from the table when the altercation had turned deadly. Ezra watched the dismay and shock in the crowd as the dead man lay on the dirt-covered floor, blood spreading out in a crimson crown around his head.

"He don't even know Patterson." One of them remarked as they stared at the grisly scene. "He ain’t from around here."

"He was not," Ezra remarked, aware of what the man was all about. "The gentleman was waiting for an opportunity to do this, Patterson’s name being mentioned appeared as good an opening as any. What the gambler did not add was this was no random attack. The man had been after him specifically, masking the intent to kill by a display of mock offence at the sullying of Caleb Patterson’s name. It suddenly occurred to Ezra whether or not he was the only one facing such attack.

"Gentlemen," the gambler said coolly to his opponents. "I think I will call it a night." He tipped his hat at them before hurrying out of the saloon, determined to find his friends before they were made similar visitations.

***********

"Go on JD," Buck Wilmington said to the younger man as he stepped into the jailhouse. Ritter was on hand as always, trusting none of them with his prisoner since he was forced to tolerate them in his jailhouse. "Get some sleep."

"Thanks, Buck," JD remarked, feeling a little bit of a knot in his back at having to remain so long in the chair near Vin’s cell. The tracker did not sleep much, spending most of his time staring outside his window although whenever JD felt the need to talk, he had listened patiently. JD had the feeling Vin was afraid even though it was not in the man’s nature to show it. "I’ll see you tomorrow Vin," JD said glancing at the tracker in his cage.

Vin was still awake and reacted just enough to look away from the window and offer the young sheriff of Four Corners a parting look of farewell.

JD slipped both his guns back into his holster as he walked past Ritter’s desk since the only way the man would allow them to keep their vigil with Vin was to remain unarmed while they were inside his jailhouse. Knowing they were allowed to stay only at the sheriff’s sufferance, the peacemakers from Four Corners were not about to argue the point.

JD yawned upon emerging into the night air.

In truth, he did not mind Tascosa really, mostly because it did not look all that different from Four Corners. He rather thought all small towns looked the same now he knew enough of them to make the distinction. Although the others would not readily admit it, mostly because their opinion of Tascosa was based on the effect the place had on Vin Tanner’s life, JD found Tascosa to be pleasant enough. It was probably as tight-knit a community as Four Corners was when faced with difficulties. While it was obvious not many people really liked Kincaid, they still felt inclined to defend the man even in death. It would be no different if anyone had killed someone in Four Corners, he was confident the town would band together to demand justice as the townsfolk of Tascosa had done although he was not as assured a lynching would be on the agenda.

He left the jailhouse, eager to return to his lodgings as he walked the quiet street because fatigue had caught up with him and he wanted to sleep. He gazed at the stars above and marvelled at the crystal clear blue beauty of the sky above and hoped their departure from this town would not be under worse circumstances from when they had arrived. JD could no more stand it than any of his older companions if he were forced to see Vin Tanner hang and if the outcome of his trial was anything but satisfactory tomorrow, that was the nightmare they would be facing.

He took note the saloon was alive and jumping as he closed the distance between it and himself, frowning a little because his lodgings were above the establishment and would only keep him awake. Taking a deep breath, he decided there was nothing for it but to grin and bear his situation since it was his own fault for thinking it fun to take a room in the saloon when the others had opted for a lodging house. The lights of the saloon beckoned him through the darkness when suddenly he heard something in the dead of night made him react immediately.

There was only one thing capable of making a sound like that, and with everything Buck Wilmington taught him, JD immediately dropped to his knees as the shot rang out. The bowler hat he was wearing was whisked off his head as the bullet missed his skull by a fraction, the speed and inertia of the projectile sweeping the headwear with it. JD saw his favourite hat tumbled to the dirt, smoking where the bullet had entered the fabric and left a hole. He felt his chest constrict with fear and then relief at the realization at how close he had come to dying.

JD kept low to the ground, trying to discern where the gunshot had originated and knew the angle of the bullet’s entry into his hat indicated it was high. His eyes scoured the darkness through the windows of the surrounding buildings and saw not even the sign of movement. He scrambled through the dirt quickly, just in case the sniper was still trying to get him within his sights again. If Chris were here, the gunslinger would be next to livid that someone had come after them in such an underhanded way. There was one thing Chris Larabee could consider worse than shooting a man in the back, that was hiding like a coward while doing it.

The shooter reloaded and more shots rang out as JD felt dirt and gravel flying in all directions inches behind him as he crawled away for cover. He could feel the roar of bullets attempting to claim him, and he knew it was only luck allowing them to keep ahead of him, that and probably the fact he was small enough for his size to be an advantage.

"JD!" He heard Nathan cry out. "Stay where you are!"

JD, who was now hiding behind the water trough he had managed to crawl behind, peered over the edge to see Nathan running into a building directly opposite him. The healer was armed and burst through the door of what appeared to be the local hotel. JD also saw Ezra trying to reach him, the gambler’s eyes were trained on a window of the hotel facing him, and the youth gathered it was where his would-be assassin was making his attempt to kill him.

A moment of silence followed when suddenly, shots rang out in quick succession, someone screamed, and to JD, it sounded like a woman. The scream was cut short by the overpowering sound of glass shattering as a body fell through the window, landing hard on the awning above the door and smashing through the wood with a terrible crash. JD held his breath and knew Ezra was doing so as well until Nathan appeared at the window, alive and well.

"It's okay," Nathan signalled to the men on the ground. "He was alone."

Both men exhaled loudly, and Ezra turned back to JD, walking towards the young man now it was safe to do so. He bent over and picked up JD’s hat as he approached taking note of the hole and when it had entered.

"Mr Dunne, I trust you survived that encounter better than your hat?" Ezra asked, hiding the depth of his concern with a typical glib remark.

"Yeah," JD swallowed as he got to his feet, dusting himself off, still slightly dazed by everything that took place in the last few minutes he needed to recoup his senses. "What was that all about?"

"I am not entirely certain, but I do believe a concerted effort is being made to tell us we are not welcome in this community. I had a brigand scowling his way into a card game with me and then selecting the flimsiest of reasons to make an attempt to shoot me."

"You okay?" JD asked, concerned.

"Obviously," Ezra remarked, replacing the hat back on JD’s head who promptly adjusted its positioning. "I sought out Mr Jackson and found he had already dealt with the man who came after him. Likewise, with our religious friend."

By that, JD assumed he meant Josiah. However, JD looked around and noticed the preacher was conspicuous by his absence. "Where is Josiah?"

***********

Josiah Sanchez feared the worst.

He saw the door to Chris Larabee’s room with all signs it had been broken into. Someone had barged into the gunslinger’s room violently and let himself out again after it was all said and done, shutting the door behind him and promoting the illusion of peace inside the room. There was no light emanating from the crack beneath the door or any signs of movement. The preacher’s heart became cold inside his chest as he neared the door, thinking in a surge of panic he was too late. Instinctively, it made sense Chris would be the first one attacked since the gunslinger had proved himself time and time again to be the head of the pack whenever they faced danger. Removing Chris would be to deliver a mortal blow indeed to the fellowship and ensure the group be splintered forever.

Josiah forced himself to ignore such fears since he knew nothing was for sure until he saw the irrefutable evidence before his eyes left no doubt. Upon reaching the door, Josiah pushed it open slowly, poised to jump out of the way if Chris’ attacker was still present and felt inclined to take another one of them down. His guns preceded him as he took another step forward, ready to fire instantly, it the need arose. The door swung, breaking into a loud creak once it got half-way open. 

The gunfire meant to erupt did not come, and Josiah called out tentatively.

"Chris." His deep voice resonated in the darkness and felt hollow in the prelude to what he feared he would find if there was no answer.

"Come on in Josiah." Chris Larabee’s voice responded with typical laconic understatement, a sharp contrast to the tension running through the preacher at this moment.

Josiah let out a sigh of relief and stepped into the room to see Chris Larabee was sitting on the sill of his bedroom window, allowing only the light of the full moon through the glass to illuminate the darkened space within. On the bed, his would-be assailant sat before the gunslinger, trembling with fright. Josiah could see beads of sweat running down the man’s forehead even through the darkness and the preacher looked up at Chris in question, wondering what the leader of the seven could be doing to this man to engender such fear.

"Shut the door Josiah," Chris ordered, and the older man complied immediately.

Only when they were alone, did Josiah speak. "I take it this is your midnight visitor," Josiah remarked, stating the obvious.

"Yeah," Chris nodded, his eyes still on the man. "Everyone all right?" He assumed from Josiah’s arrival here revealed the attack on his life, was not an isolated event.

"As far as I know," Josiah answered, pulling up a chair and sitting down since Chris was making no move to leave his present position by the window. "Ezra took care of his in the saloon and thought something was up. He came and found Nathan and me before the two of them went to find JD. Buck’s still in the jailhouse, so I think he’s safe enough for the moment. No one is dumb enough to try and take him in there. Ritter’s a bastard, but I don’t think he’d stand for murder."

"I agree." Chris nodded. "I’ve been having a little talk with our friend here. He ain’t being too helpful."

"You’re fucking crazy!" The man shouted fearfully, the desperation and terror in his voice apparent. "That’s what you are! Crazy!"

"Maybe," Chris nodded as he cocked the gun in his hand and prepared to fire. "But you’re running out of time."

Josiah thought Chris intended to scare the man and did not really believe the gunslinger was going to shoot until he heard the hammer of the gun pulled back and Chris showing no intention of desisting. The preacher’s mouth dropped open in shock as the gunslinger’s finger tightened around the trigger and completed the journey.

"Chris!" Josiah exclaimed, unable to believe Chris Larabee would resort to a cold-blooded execution like this.

The chamber clicked into place, but no bullet emerged.

The sound of an empty gun cocked echoed through the room, and the would-be victim let out a soft cry of relief when the understandable fear as the death he anticipated did not come. Chris met Josiah’s gaze and flashed a predatory smile which told Josiah immediately, he need not have feared. "You’ve got only another chance at this," Chris said to his prisoner. "I’m not usually this lucky at Russian Roulette, but if you don’t tell me what I want to know soon, I’m likely to wait out this lucky streak and see how far it goes before a bullet actually fires. You got a problem with it, Josiah?" He did not look at the preacher when he asked that question.

"It seems to me if a man is low enough to kill another in his own bed, he brings on the wrath of God on himself. Ain’t my purview to make a comment on how the Almighty wishes to dispense justice." Josiah offered Chris a smile of amusement and one of support and made a silent note to the gunslinger to continue.

"Who hired you?"

"I ain’t telling!" The man barked back, but the edge of his fear was unmistakable, he was close to cracking, and they both knew it.

The surge of defiance would be brief, Chris could tell by his wide eyes the stark terror displayed by his victim was just about to overwhelm him, and it would take only a nudge to send him tumbling over the dark abyss. Well perhaps not a nudge, Chris thought with a sinister smile, more like the pull of a trigger. Without giving him any further warning, Chris cocked the gun once again. The man let out a cry of horror as he saw the chamber shifting into place. He stared down the barrel of the weapon, almost ghostly white with fear as Chris brought down the hammer of the firing mechanism….

And discharged nothing but a loud click of metal coinciding with the man erupting with hysterical cries of fear as the defiance left him.

"Patterson!" He screamed, so frightened Chris could not distinguish where one word began, and another ended. "It was Patterson! Patterson hired us all to kill you and your friends!" The acrid odour of human waste began to exude from him, and Chris wrinkled his nose in disgust as he lowered the gun, even though the shotgun was still poised to fire in case the man experienced a resurgence of defiance.

Chris glanced at Josiah and remarked with a faint smile. "I think I’m going to need to change rooms."

"You probably do." Josiah had to agree, unable to deny the gunslinger was if anything, effective. Chris’s would-be assassin was breathing hard, wiping the sweat from his brow, trying to gain some measure of dignity after his humiliating display of defeat while glaring at his tormentor with unmasked hatred.

"By the way," Chris stared back at him dispassionately and pulled the trigger again, making both Josiah and his intended victim jump when the sixth chamber of the gun registered the sound of emptiness. Josiah started to laugh, realizing he should have known better. Chris was too crafty to take chances with a man’s life, even one who had tried to kill him.

"You bastard!" The man started to shout at the discovery when he saw Chris empty the chamber to begin this little game of Russian roulette, he had mistakenly believed one bullet still remained when in actual fact Chris had removed all of them. "You tricked me!"

"Shut up." Chris stared at him with a cold look in his eye and pulled the trigger of the shotgun he was still holding. "You ain’t gonna be so lucky with this thing." He gave the man a look stating clearly this time it would be no ruse. The man gulped visibly and fell silent again. Chris turned to Josiah once more. "Come daylight, I think its time we paid Mr Patterson a call."

***********

Unfortunately, while Chris and the others were all in favour of riding to Caleb Patterson’s ranch the next morning, they were soon reminded Vin would be facing a judge on this day. Chris had no intention of allowing Vin to face trial on his own. While Chris sorely wanted to make the rancher accountable for his coordinated attempts to murder them all the night before, the gunslinger was not about to be absent during Vin Tanner’s day in court. As it was, the tracker was feeling gloomy enough about his fate and pining away for his lady love who unknown to him, closer than he might have believed, without Chris and his friends abandoning him for the retribution afforded a day’s delay.

The courthouse was located directly across the street from the sheriff’s office and as a place of legal judgement, was not particularly lavish with its hewn wooden benches and tables provided for the parties arguing their cases. At this time, there was no opposing defence, and no trial as such was scheduled to begin. As Gideon Dunwill explained to the lawmen before the commencement of the proceedings, today was just to establish a plea of guilty or innocent. The actual trial where the case would be argued with a prosecutor representing the State of Texas would take place after. 

Judge David Stoner sat behind his bench or the wooden table passing as one, overseeing the proceedings with a steely eye. He appeared to a sharp-witted man, and though his manner seemed gruff, he had the worn look of someone who had seen much in his time and learnt even more from it. He raised somewhat of a curious eye at the number of people inside his courtroom, considering the hearing, once it was underway, would be brief. The defendant had a lawyer, and that meant the judge’s input would be minimal until the trial was ready to commence.

Gideon Dunwill sat at the desk provided for him and his client, away from the spectators. The lawyer had his notes before him as always and a leather case which he occasionally rummaged through while waiting for Sheriff Ritter to arrive with his client. Chris studied the faces in the room and saw some of the folk prepared to lynch Vin their first night here present and waiting just as impatiently as his own men. JD was fidgeting with Buck nudging him to be still and in doing so inspired a battle of nudging and prodding between the two until Chris heard Josiah hiss at them to be quiet. Ezra met Chris’ gaze, and the gambler rolled his eyes in sarcasm at their behaviour while Nathan and Nettie were engaged in quiet conversation.

Several benches back, Chris saw Jamieson and Langstrom tipping their hat at him in acknowledgement of greeting before their eyes faced front again. Chris wished things would get started. He hated all the pageantry required when deciding a man’s fate, especially when that man was his friend. Chris feared the worst for Vin. He liked it even less than the one person who should be here was probably in her room, going through her own private hell while she waited to hear whether she would have the chance to spend her life with the man she loved. Chris made a mental note to see Alex after the courtroom formalities were taken care of. In Vin’s absence, Chris felt obligated to see if she was all right because, in his place, Vin would do the same.

It felt like an eternity before Vin was finally ushered into the room with reactions being mixed at his arrival. The natives of Tascosa hissed at the tracker as he strode into the court. Vin showed no response to their jibes and accusations of being a murderer before the judge brought down his gavel and threatened to turn them out if order was not maintained. Eventually, Ritter released Vin into Dunwill’s custody and Vin took a seat next to his lawyer.

As Stoner brought the gavel down on the wooden bench once more and made the opening statements to get things off to a start, Vin looked over his shoulder and met Chris’ gaze. The tracker did not have to speak for Chris to understand what he was attempting to say. No matter what the outcome of the trial, Vin was prepared to abide by the decision made and wanted to let Chris know it was alright if things did not turn out the way they hoped. He made a choice and wanted none of his friends to regret the decision to let him come here and face judgement.

Chris nodded silently at the tracker, understanding it was the way Vin wanted things and hoping when the time came, he could accept it too.

***********

She wanted to be there so badly she almost ached physically.

Alex paced the floor of her hotel room, feeling the walls shrinking around her as if she were vermin trapped inside a cage. She could not count how many times she had gone to the window of her room hoping to catch a glimpse of Vin as he was brought to the courthouse even though she knew the hotel was not near enough to offer her such an opportunity. The futility did not stop her because the action gave her something to do. Each torturous second passing as she waited for Gideon to bring her news seemed to make her question the reasoning keeping her inside this room and not at Vin’s side, offering him her support.

Finally, Alex could stand it no more because it was driving her insane with the longing to run out of this room and burst into the courtroom and tell him she was here in Tascosa and had always been. Emerging from the hotel, she felt the need to walk and clear her head of the thoughts swirling inside her mind with images of Vin and the dreams they had shared of the future. Alex was not ready to give up on them yet and forced herself to believe Gideon’s assurances an acquittal was possible in light of the evidence they were uncovering in Tascosa. However, she did not fool herself into thinking his guarantees made it a reality either. As much as she needed hope, Alex could not delude herself into believing the illusion of faith until it something tangible, not wishful thinking.

Leaving the hotel behind her, she noticed it was not long after midday and knew the hearing had well and truly commenced by this point and reminded herself, again and again, her appearance would serve no purpose but to make Vin feel worse than he already did. No matter what he might think when he first saw her, eventually, the shame of his circumstances would sink in, and he would hate, she saw him like that. Alex loved enough to spare him that shame by keeping away. She continued her trek through town, trying to focus herself on anything other than Vin Tanner.

When Alex arrived at Amanda Kincaid’s store, she had no idea if her journey here had been intentional or not. She was so intent in not thinking about Vin she kept walking from one end of the town to the other. Alex tried not to seem inconspicuous even though everyone in Tascosa knew she had something to do with Gideon Dunwill, the man defending Vin for murder. So far, it appeared Amanda had not revealed to the rest of the community Alex Styles was in fact, Vin’s lover and fiancée to which the doctor was grateful.

She entered the familiar surroundings of the store she had visited earlier for no reason other than the fact Alex was driven there by instinct and now more than ever she missed the solidarity and friendship of Mary, Inez, Rain, Julia and Casey. As women who loved unusual men and were themselves unique in their mettle, Alex found life long friends it would have been her privilege to have even if they were not bonded by the men whose hearts they had won. She had seen something of sympathy inside Amanda Kincaid when the woman learnt of her attachment to Vin enough to believe it might just be nice to talk to the woman. Perhaps she might learn something to help Vin but mostly because she did not wish to be alone.

The store was empty except for Amanda, who was behind a pedal-operated sewing machine, running the length of white floral fabric under the rapidly moving needle. The machine made a low whirring sound was not loud enough to mask Alex’s entry into the place, and Amanda paused when Alex entered. Remaining seated as the new arrival approached her, Amanda wondered what Alexandra Styles wanted of her.

"Hello." Alex greeted, trying to sound pleasant and not as pained as she felt. "I’m surprised to find you here. I thought you might be at the hearing."

Amanda shook her head, showing no hostility at the inquiry. "Jesse is gone." She said with that same quiet manner. "I don’t need to know who killed him. It don’t change anything."

"I guess not." Alex had to concede agreement on that point.

"Why ain’t you there?" Amanda asked thinking of the two of them, this exotic looking woman would be the one who had the most reason to be present at Vin Tanner’s courtroom appearance.

"It would hurt him too much for him to see me," Alex said unafraid to lie on this point. "Vin would not want to see him like that. I haven’t seen him at all since he came to Tascosa. He has no idea I am even here."

"You really love him, don’t you?" Amanda looked at her, touched by the pain Alex had driven into submission to cope, even if its reflection could still be seen in her eyes.

"Yes," Alex swallowed, feeling a tidal wave of emotion surface with that simple admission. "He’s my life. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost him."

Amanda did not want to hear this. She wished Alexandra Styles would go away, but there was too much compassion inside her heart to chase away the woman when Alex so clearly needed comfort. "Would you like some tea?" Amanda asked with that too soft voice once again, aware of the danger she allowed by this simple act of kindness.

"Yes I would," Alex said with a smile, promising herself she would not take advantage of Amanda’s kindness by probing her for information during the invitation.

Amanda nodded shortly and went to the front door where she secured the lock and placed the sign saying ‘closed’ in the window before she withdrew into the backrooms and gestured for Alex to follow her. One of the small storage rooms in the shop was converted into a small kitchen with a table, a stove and pantry. As Alex sat at the small kitchen table, admiring the patterned table cloth covering the rough surface, she thought the room though small was actually quite cosy. It must have been Amanda’s refuge when she needed a moment’s rest from the day’s work. Alex could well understand a need for such a sanctuary since her own home was situated in the rooms above her clinic.

Amanda said nothing as she prepared the tea and Alex had a feeling it was not because the woman was unfriendly, simply because the situation between them was awkward. Alex had an insight, perhaps Amanda was not, in general, very sociable. She was pouring hot water in a pretty ceramic teapot when the cuff of her dress rode up her forearm a little, and Alex caught sight of her skin.

"What on earth happened to you?" Alex blurted out, her doctor’s instincts kicking in immediately when she saw the scars on the lady’s arm.

"Its nothing!" Amanda said defensively pulling the fabric over her arm once more, mortified Alex had seen the remnants of Jesse’s cruelties on her person. "Just a little burn, that’s all." She swallowed hard, but Alex was already on her feet and took her arm without even hearing the protest.

"A little burn?" Alex looked at the arm, noticing the burns were the size of coins against the skin. She was sure by the level of scarring left behind the wounds were third-degree burns when they were fresh. "This must have been terribly painful, you would have taken weeks to heal. They’re almost third degree."

"It was an accident," Amanda said fearfully, unable to meet her gaze as she made the admission.

Alex realised they were on the verge of uncomfortable territory, and she had just stumbled upon something important. She could not afford to alienate Amanda any further if she was to learn any more. "I’m sorry I can’t help myself. Being a doctor and all...."

"You are a doctor?" Amanda exclaimed with genuine surprise. "I didn’t know there were lady doctors."

"My father was a doctor, and he was pretty determined I became one too," Alex replied, returning to her seat and continuing to widen the space between the uncomfortable topic of a few moments ago. "I studied in England and got my degree, but there was no room there for someone like me to be a doctor, so I came out west."

"It must be something to travel like that." Her hostess sighed with a hint of longing far removed from her usually dispassionate manner. "I’d love to see the ocean just once."

"It is beautiful," Alex could not deny it. "When you see the sea as far as the eye will let you, you almost think that nothing bad exists anywhere."

"I’ve never felt like that," Amanda’s gaze dropped.

The sadness Alex saw in her eyes surfaced then, and something tugged at the doctor’s heart. Alex saw the deep, intense pain Amanda Kincaid must have surely carried with her, every day of her life since whatever demons plaguing her now first shattered her fragile spirit. "Amanda," Alex spoke up firmly, forgetting Vin for a moment because the doctor inside her recognized someone in pain and was compelled to act. "Those burns on your hand, they’re cigar burns, aren’t they?"

Amanda could not meet her eyes but managed a slow nod. "Yes." She answered and was a surprise it felt like the weight pressing upon her chest for so long had been lifted.

Alex simply nodded because this was not a unique story no matter how odious or terrible it must have been for Amanda to live it. "How long were you married to him?" The doctor asked quietly, not even requiring confirmation it was her husband who inflicted such injuries upon Amanda.

Alex simply knew.

Tears began to fill Amanda Kincaid’s eyes. "Ten years." She whispered. "Ten long years."

Alex closed her eyes, trying to imagine what it must have been like to live with someone who would use a lighted cigar to amuse himself on his wife’s skin. She had suspected something of the like when she had first encountered Amanda’s indifferent manner to her husband’s death but until she had seen those burns, did not understand the extent of abuse the poor woman must have endured. "I am so sorry. I gather you had nowhere else to go for help?" Alex asked gently.

"No." Amanda shook her head slowly. "No place at all." She said hoarsely, remembering her mother’s indifference to her plight, caring only about her own selfish needs and not about her daughter who was enduring her own private hell. "Momma said that’s the way marriage was. You obeyed your husband in all things, and you put up with him because you swore an oath to God to do so."

Mary would beg to differ, Alex thought quietly but did not voice it. "You don’t need me to tell you that is not how it is at all. I’ve never been married, but I’ve met others like you, not a lot but enough to know it is definitely not how it's supposed to be. I can’t imagine what you must have been through."

"No, you can’t," Amanda met her eyes with a tear-filled gazed. "Your man loves you. He ain’t never going to do nothing to hurt you. When he touches you, it’s a beautiful thing. When Jesse put his hands on me, all he ever knew how to do was hurt me and keep hurting me, inside and out. God, how I hated that son of a bitch! Every filthy degrading thing he could do hurt me, he did and if you wonder why I can’t feel anything for him its because I was freed from hell when he died! I’m sorry about your man but Jesse dying was the best thing that ever happened to me!"

Alex looked at the dark mask of hatred in Amanda Kincaid’s eyes and knew, without a doubt, the lady had the key to Vin’s freedom. However, Amanda had lived with her ordeal for a long time, suffering almost a decade of abuse capable of driving a lesser person to the grave. It would be difficult to convince her it was time to speak the truth about what she knew about Jesse Kincaid’s death.

Somehow, Alex was going to have to manage that minor miracle because Amanda was Vin’s only hope.

***********

Vin sat next to Gideon Dunwill at that exact moment listening to Sheriff Ritter informed the court about the events leading the tracker to this instance in time. During his narration, the locals offered their opinions by heckling at regular intervals until Judge Stoner made it plain the next person to cause such disruption was going to find himself or herself in contempt of court. Eventually, such instances disappeared entirely, and the hearing continued smoothly while the preliminary specifics of the case was laid out before the judge.

When Ritter had concluded his story, the judge looked at Dunwill. "Mr Dunwill, how does your client plead to the charge of murder?"

Dunwill rose to his feet and motioned to Vin to do the same as they faced the judge behind his bench. "My client pleads not guilty," Dunwill said firmly.

"A plea of not guilty is so noted." Stoner nodded, anticipating this from the moment he had realised Tanner had a lawyer to defend him. He gestured at Vin and Dunwill to retake their seats and prepared to speak further when Dunwill interrupted.

"Your honour," Dunwill cleared his throat and added, aware his next statement was going to cause disturbance from almost everyone who believed in his client’s guilt. "I move to recommend a change of venue for the trial."

A rumble of dissent followed the courtroom as those who understood the lawyer’s fancy words, reacted immediately to it as he had suspected. As the dissent gained momentum, Stoner was forced to silence the room once again, bringing down the gavel on the wooden surface of his bench. "Order." He demanded, and a hush of silence fell over the room as he turned to Dunwill for an explanation.

"On what grounds?" He asked.

"I believe my client’s safety is in question in this community. Two nights ago, when my client had voluntarily surrendered himself into the sheriff’s custody, some of the members of this locality had attempted to conduct a lynching. Had it not been for the timely intervention of Federal Marshall Jamieson, the outcome would have been most unfortunate."

Dunwill glanced at Chris Larabee briefly, hoping the gunslinger would understand why he had credited the protection of Vin’s life to the Marshall since a legally appointed lawman would carry more weight with the judge than six hired gunmen from another state. The gunslinger nodded slightly at the lawyer from his seat with the rest of the courtroom attendants, showing his approval with that single gesture. "I believe Sheriff Ritter can confirm this to be true since he was present at the time."

Stoner turned to Ritter. "Is this true?" He questioned.

The sheriff frowned, appearing not at all happy about the prospect of letting Vin out of his jailhouse but had no choice and was forced to begrudgingly speak the truth. "Yes your Honor," he nodded reluctantly. "They were aiming to lynch the man."

"You see your honour," Dunwill continued, mounting a formidable case for his client’s removal from Tascosa. "Even the sheriff cannot guarantee my client’s safety. The facts of this case are ambiguous, to say the least, and my client should never have been arrested, let alone be brought to trial. It is my contention until the facts are revealed at the proper time for his freedom to be granted by a court of law, we should at least try to keep him alive."

Stoner shifted in his seat as he considered Dunwill’s words, brushing aside the man’s attempt to sway his judgement with the possibility an innocent man could lose his life if he were forced to remain in Tascosa.

Vin stared at the man behind the bench, wondering how one came to the decisions he did when so much depended upon it. While the tracker did not say much during the hearing, he was singularly impressed by the argument Dunwill made to save his life and declare his innocence. For once, he was glad Alex’s money had brought this stranger here to speak in his defence, and Vin hoped the faith he was starting to place in Dunwill was not a wasted effort.

He looked over his shoulder and met Chris’ eyes who was not as overt about showing his admiration for the lawyer but was nonetheless pleased by the way things were progressing, Vin was sure. Ezra flashed the tracker a dimpled smile of encouragement, while Buck winked at him while JD offered a small wave with his fingers, Josiah tipped his hat, and Nathan nodded in Vin’s direction. Beside the healer, Nettie smiled warmly and told him without a saying a word, they were here for him. Knowing that made Vin feel better, even if the judge did not rule in his favour.

"Mr Dunwill," Stoner spoke finally and brought Vin’s attention back to him. "You will cease from making such obvious attempts to curry my favour in your claim of Mr Tanner’s innocence. That is for a jury to decide."

"I apologize, your honour." Dunwill shrugged, aware he had gone too far when he had said it but was required to make an effort nonetheless.

"However," the judge continued after a moment. "You have made a sufficient case in regards Mr Tanner’s continued safety should he remain here in Tascosa, therefore motion to conduct the trial at Amarillo is carried. You will have your opening arguments ready two weeks from today. Mr Tanner will remain in custody until preparations can be made to transfer him to Amarillo. Court is dismissed."

With that, he brought down the gavel once again as the room erupted with discourse over his decision.

"Well," Dunwill let out a sigh as the rumble of dissent rose around his ears but determined not to allow the anger displayed by the natives of Tascosa from dampening the victory of clearing his first hurdle in what was never going to be an easy process. "I say that went well."

"I ain’t hung yet, so its gotta be good." Vin joked aware his troubles were far from over.

Dunwill looked at him. "Mr Tanner, do you think we could for a little optimism?"

***********

Patterson should have known the lawyer was trouble he moment he heard the man was in town preparing to defend Vin Tanner for the crime of Jesse Kincaid’s murder. While he had not been so restrained dealing with Tanner’s comrades, Patterson knew to make a move against a high priced lawyer such as Gideon Dunwill was to invite trouble on a scale he could not hope to cope with. It was one thing hiring outside talent to wipe out a bunch of troublesome gunmen but another thing entirely to kill a lawyer. Not even Ritter would stand for it, and Caleb Patterson knew it.

However, his situation had not improved by the failed attempts at ending the threat of Tanner’s comrades or the determination by the court the trial should be held in Amarillo. In Amarillo, without the weight of local opinion against him, the chance Tanner might be acquitted was a real possibility, and Patterson would not stand for it. When he had arrived in town the morning of Tanner’s trial and learnt the six men guarding him were still alive, and the lawyer had succeeded in having the trial moved to Amarillo, Patterson knew it was time for a new plan.

Patterson had learnt enough about Gideon Dunwill to know the services of a lawyer from Silver City did not come cheap. He did not believe for one moment Tanner could afford the legal eagle without assistance. Dunwill had not arrived in Tascosa alone, and Patterson had to assume the proud elderly woman who was a frequent visitor of Tanner at the jailhouse was paying his fees. After all, if she could afford to have a nigger maid travelling with her, she could afford to hire a lawyer too. The hotel register had her listed as Nettie Wells, but it did not mean she was not related to Tanner in some way.

The rancher made his way up to the jailhouse determined to see Tanner following his trial and make him aware the man still had weaknesses that could be exploited, no matter how invincible his friends might appear to be. No doubt, Tanner would have been delivered to the jailhouse following the court proceedings, as arrangements to move him to Amarillo would take days to set in motion. Thus Patterson still had the opportunity to resolve this matter before he was forced to escalate the situation. He was not going to endure the uncomfortable questions raised by a trial.

If need be, he would have the tracker killed on his way to Amarillo.

However, as he made his way up the steps to the jailhouse, Patterson knew he had another bit of ammunition still remaining in his arsenal capable of Tanner a little more pliable to his desires. He did not relish the idea of hiring more men after the dismal effort by those he had sent after Tanner’s comrades. As it was, he was glad most of them had been killed, so he did not have to pay them for such incompetent work.

He entered the building and found Ritter in his customary position behind his desk. The lawman rose to his feet as Patterson came.

"Caleb." He greeted. "What can I do for you?" Ritter’s voice seemed taut, and Patterson had the feeling the sheriff believed him responsible for the shootings the night before. Well, he could believe what he liked, Patterson snorted, proving it would be an entirely different thing since Tanner was not the only one who had access to expensive lawyers.

"I’m here to see the prisoner, Josh," Patterson said smugly, feeling a hint of triumph knowing he was impervious to whatever suspicions Ritter might be harbouring.

"I don’t think that’s such a good idea," Ritter replied automatically, not merely because of his suspicions but because Larabee was with the prisoner at the moment. Ritter had enough sense about the man in black to know Patterson would be stupid enough to provoke the man into acting.

"I want to see him now." The rancher declared with even more insistence. "You can’t stop me from seeing him."

"No, I can’t," Ritter shook his head and felt his own feelings in the case of Jesse Kincaid becoming clouded with the appearance of Patterson and the events of the previous night.

For a long time, the sheriff had clung to the belief it was Vin Tanner who killed Jesse. It was an opinion he had refused to abandon even though there were circumstances before the death casting doubt on that possibility. The midnight attacks on the Kincaid ranch for instance and all that trouble over water rights. Kincaid had come to him on numerous occasions, demanding action on the acts of terrorism Patterson had been subjecting him to blackmail him into selling his place. The rancher was always smart because there was never evidence left behind would allow Ritter to make any charges hold up under scrutiny. For a time, Ritter was sure things were going to escalate to a point where one of them would wind up dead. Yet when it had happened, it was nothing like what the sheriff had expected.

He supposed it was more convenient to believe someone else had killed Jesse Kincaid then one of his own neighbours. Ritter wondered whether his stubborn belief in Tanner’s guilt was a result of that. While he was determined when Tanner had ridden back to town with his friends, to believe it was a murderer he was locking in his cell, too many inconsistencies were starting to appear. It was making him feel slivers of doubt burrowing into his skin.

"I do know something is up Caleb and the only reason you ain’t in jail right now is because the man Larabee brought in here has refused to name you even though he squealed earlier."

"Careful sheriff," Patterson warned with sinister intent. "You ain’t exactly untouchable either. You got a family in this town, best to consider them."

Ritter straightened up and glared at the man. "Is that threat Caleb?" He asked without a hint of fear in his voice, he would not give the man the satisfaction.

"It’s a reminder." The man retorted and started towards the cells, not waiting for the sheriff to give him permission.

While Chris Larabee knew immediately who Caleb Patterson was by sight when the man stepped into the narrow walkway between the jail cells, Vin did not. The tracker stared at the new arrival in question but recognised the look in Chris’s eyes to know this man was not a friend. Thanks to the incidents the night before, Ritter no longer demanded their guns while they were in his jailhouse, having decided they were willing to let the law determine Vin’s fate and not take matters into their own hands. Chris rose to his feet immediately upon seeing Patterson approaching the tracker’s cell.

Vin and Chris had been talking about the ranch and how well the hearing had gone when the sharpshooter noticed the sudden tension in gunslinger’s gait and the hardening of his jaw immediately signalled trouble. Part of the exercise had been to lift the younger man’s spirits, although all of Chris’s efforts were for nothing with Patterson’s arrival. Following Chris’s sharp gaze, he saw the man approaching and guessed it must have been the rancher Patterson because Vin knew no one else in Tascosa who could engender such a reaction from Chris Larabee.

Patterson paused long enough to see the other prisoner in the first cell on the walk. The man did not speak as he met Patterson’s gaze, but a silent nod of understanding passed by them and the rancher continued his advance. It was apparent they knew each other even if none were willing to speak to incriminate themselves.

"Do something for you, Patterson?" Chris asked smoothly, his eyes fixed on the rancher like sharp points of a knife. "Or did you come to see your boy in there?" He gestured to the assassin. "I’d be careful if I were you, man has a weak constitution."

"Fuck you, Larabee!" The man in question shouted in anger at the insult.

Chris did not respond, but a little smirk crossed the gunslinger’s face as he kept his eyes trained on Patterson who appeared nonplussed about the revelation.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Patterson said, showing no signs being baited as he reached Vin’s cell and looked the sharpshooter over distastefully. "So you’re Tanner."

"You’re Patterson," Vin replied eying the man who in all likelihood, had as much to do with the death of Jesse Kincaid as Ely Joe. While he might not have pulled the trigger, he certainly had quite a bit to do with the aim.

"What do you want?" Chris asked gruffly, sure Patterson was not here for a social call. After last nights failed attempt at trying to kill them all, Chris wondered what Patterson’s next move was going to be.

"Just hear to have a friendly chat with Tanner and to tell him the way things are," Patterson said with a sly smile and turned his attention to Vin. "I don’t suppose we can’t have a little private conversation?" He glanced at Chris, not really expecting his request to be granted.

"You supposed right." Vin retorted shortly. "Now get on with it."

"Not much to say really," Patterson shrugged, not at all perturbed by the man’s demeanour. "Just don’t assume a smart-talking lawyer is going to save your ass. Everyone knows you killed Kincaid and by the time I’m done with you, everyone in Amarillo will know it too."

"We’ll see about that," Chris spoke up before Vin could.

"It might just be easier if you just confessed Tanner," the rancher continued, getting to the heart of the matter. "It'll save everyone a lot of grief, all around. You’re gonna be found guilty anyway, why not spare the bloodshed and just admit it."

"I didn’t kill Kincaid." Vin hissed, the man’s relaxed manner while making his speech angered Vin more than it ought to especially since it was more than likely Patterson hired Ely Joe to kill Kincaid in the first place.

"Of course you did," Patterson replied. "You killed Kincaid, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll get rid of that fancy lawyer and just admit it."

"Or what?" Chris stiffened, inches away from beating the daylights out of the man for the sheer satisfaction of it even though it would avail him nothing and probably land him a day in the cell next to Vin. Then again, some things were worth that kind of trouble and Patterson was quickly qualifying as being more than valuable in this respect.

"Or who knows what would happen?" Patterson continued his verbal barrage. "It’d be a shame if anything happened to that nice old lady and her nigger maid."

Shit.

Chris swore under his breath as he saw the realisation dawn upon Vin about what Patterson had inadvertently revealed in his threat. The tracker forgot all about Patterson and immediately shifted his gaze to Chris. "Alex is here? When did she get here?" He demanded, even though this was the absolute worse time in Chris’s opinion to carry out such a conversation.

Chris threw Patterson a venomous look and then decided perhaps a day in jail was not such a waste if he got to beat the crap out of this sneering bastard. Vin was waiting for an answer, and Chris could not bring himself to lie "She arrived the same day Nettie did," Chris admitted reluctantly. "She thought you’d hate if she saw you in here, so she made us all promise not to tell you."

"So the nigger ain’t no maid." Patterson grinned, stumbling onto valuable information. He should have suspected it by the description given to him by one of his men who had been positive in his praise about her appearance being quite extraordinary.

"Don’t call her that!" Vin reacted swiftly, slipping his hand through the bars so fast Patterson did not have time to move away until the tracker’s fist had knotted around his duster and slammed him up against the bars. Patterson’s head made an ugly whack against Vin’s cell, and the tracker leaned in close to offer a warning of his own with a voice so cold it sent a shiver of ice down Chris’ spine hearing it. "If you hurt either Alex or Nettie, I’ll come for you, and by God, I’ll get you. Make no mistake on that."

"Tanner let him go," Ritter ordered, attracted by the commotion and stepped into the narrow walkway to see Patterson’s face pressed against the bars of the prisoner’s cell.

Vin glared at Patterson who had realised in that instant just how dangerous the tracker was on this point by the menace the rancher saw in the dark points of his eyes. "I’m in here," Vin added. "Because I want my name cleared. Don’t mean I can’t get out if I don’t set my mind to it. I find you’ve done anything to Alex, I will kill you, and it won’t happen as quickly as you made Ely Joe do for Kincaid." With that, he released the man who stumbled back shaken, right into Chris.

Patterson whirled around and stared at the gunslinger’s face. "If he doesn’t get you, I will," Chris added with just as much lethal intensity for Patterson to know he risked by making any move against either Alex or Nettie.

Ritter intervened at this point; allowing the two lawmen from Four Corners to have their say and was somewhat pleased to give them the opportunity after his own confrontation with Patterson earlier. The sheriff tried to stifle a smile as he looked at the rancher. "I think you’re done here, Caleb."

Patterson stepped away from the cell and Chris Larabee as Ritter waited to escort him out of the building. He threw both men a look and reminded them of his own warning, even if it sounded less impressive this time around. "Just remember what I said." He swallowed, sounding somewhat feeble as he stumbled out of the room with Ritter following closely after him.

When they were alone again, Vin turned to Chris. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"She made me promise Vin," Chris replied, feeling no guilt about what he had done because Alex was his friend too.

Vin nodded in understanding even though his desire to see Alex was even more potent now than it was earlier if such a thing was possible. In retrospect, it should not have surprised him to learn Alex was in Tascosa, realising she would never have consented to stay behind and let Nettie make this trip alone. While he was pleased she was here, more than satisfied actually, ecstatic Alex was within reach even if he could not see her, Vin suddenly feared for her life.

"I’m sorry Chris," Vin surprised the gunslinger with an apology when it was Chris who was keeping things from the tracker.

"I shouldn’t have let him know how things are between Alex and me," he continued. "He’s going to go after her now."

"Yep," Chris nodded, seeing no reason to lie about that. "But you don’t get to worry about it. I won’t let anything happen to Alex or Nettie."

Vin looked at the older man and knew he could be assured of this much and was secretly glad to know when he looked out at the stars tonight, Alex would be doing the same.

Chapter Seven
Secrets and Lies

Chris left the jailhouse with Josiah taking his place and decided it more than past time he and Caleb Patterson had a private chat about the death of Jesse Kincaid.

After his thinly veiled threat against Alex and Nettie’s life trying to coerce Vin into confessing the crime, thus eliminating the need for a trial, Chris was more than convinced Patterson somehow orchestrated the murder. Forcing Vin to confess would prevent any anomalies from being raised at the subsequent proceedings, enough to imply someone else might have been responsible. This, in Chris’s opinion, was evidence enough to convince him of the man’s guilt. If he could not prove it in a court of law, then he was going to turn the tables on Patterson and show the rancher he was not the only one who was capable of coercion.

Besides, Patterson had no idea what he was playing with when he made those threats against Alex and Nettie. Chris had the gift of evaluating an enemy and sizing him up as being a worthy opponent and his instincts told him Patterson was not accustomed to making threats or hiring murderers to do his bidding. There was something about his actions to give off just a whiff of panic, and Chris knew it would not take much to push him over the edge if the right amount of pressure was applied. Patterson’s action of hiring men to kill them the night before had just enough desperation to make Chris believe the man was pliable to such tactics.

Besides, Chris was mindful of the threat Patterson made to poison the minds of those in Amarillo before the trial reached the town. The whole basis of Dunwill’s purpose in moving the proceedings to Amarillo was so Vin could stand trial without the weight of public bias and personal friendships with Kincaid against him. If Patterson were to taint those waters before the people of Amarillo had a chance to hear the facts, then Vin’s chances of an acquittal would be nonexistent. As it was, Chris was actually starting to believe than Dunwill might pull off a verdict of not guilty. The man had a sharp and logical mind and while he was probably useless with a gun and saddle, what he was doing for Vin gave Chris a healthy respect for him.

Thus he was going to give Dunwill every assistance in pulling off this feat of legal magic because Vin needed to be free of this price on his head and Chris could not bear the thought of his best friend hanging for a crime he did not commit. It was almost two hours after Patterson’s departure before Chris left Vin with Josiah and returned to the saloon with a definitive course of action forming in his head. The tracker’s spirits had lifted a little, knowing Alex was in town even though he respected the decision she had made for both of them by staying away. As much as he wanted to see her, Vin couldn't bear it if she did so through the bars of a cell. He had too much pride for that.

Chris made a mental note to go see Alex once he was done in the saloon. Dunwill would probably tell her the outcome of the hearing, but Chris wanted to check on her anyway. It could not be any easier for her to be here and unable to do a thing for Vin, not even to see him, when the possibility Vin could die hung over her head. Besides, she had to be told Vin was aware of her being here and he did not want her to hear it from anyone but him as Vin learnt it from Patterson.

Chris entered the saloon and found himself stepping into the eruption of dissent and dislike upon his arrival. Judging by the glares he was getting by some of the patrons, Chris came very quickly to the realisation they were not very happy about the court proceedings today. However, no one was about to voice their discontent to the stranger in black whose imposing manner and intimidating stare was enough to make the bravest of them quiver from fear. Instead, they limited their anger at the hearing today to silent stares and quiet whispers amongst themselves. They allowed the gunslinger to join his comrades, who were at a table in the far corner of the room, unimpeded.

The rest of the seven were already congregated at the table they occupied during most of their stay in Tascosa, keeping a close eye on the other patrons in the establishment lest the mood of silent intolerance led to a more physical reaction. The atmosphere in the saloon despite the lack of real courage was smouldering with tension, and it would take only a nudge to inflame it into a situation as Patterson had clearly demonstrated was possible, the first night they were in Tascosa.

"I’m guessing no one’s very happy about the trial being moved to Amarillo," Chris remarked as he sat down at the table and gestured to the barmaid passing by to bring him a beer.

"The mood is decidedly ugly," Ezra answered his eyes scanning the room, searching not for easy marks this time but for anyone who might be a danger to them. With the amount of hostility being generated inside this room at present, an unexpected attack was not impossible.

"They actually think Vin is going to be freed," Nathan added.

"He could, though." JD declared with more excitement than he ought to be feeling when nothing was certain, no matter how skilled Dunwill might appear inside a courtroom. Legal trickery was not going to free Vin; they needed evidence for that. "That lawyer Dunwill looks really smart and some of the stuff he said to the sheriff shut Ritter right up."

"Kid’s right," Buck agreed, taking a sip of his beer. "I notice after last night though, Ritter ain’t as hard-nosed as he was when we first got here."

"Probably because he’s starting to believe there might be a chance Vin’s innocent." Nathan volunteered. "What with Patterson trying to kill us and everything."

Chris tended to agree with the healer’s assertion since Ritter had lifted his ban on their being armed when they were guarding Vin. Although Chris felt it safe enough to leave Vin in Ritter’s custody without any of them being present, he was taking no chances with the tracker’s life. Especially when Vin was behind bars and unable to defend himself should Patterson get it into his mind to end his problem that way or if they were wrong about Ritter’s loyalties.

"Well, at least we know Jamieson will be responsible for moving Vin to Amarillo," Buck informed Chris, who was unaware of this fact. The Federal Marshall was in the saloon earlier and told them he would assume the transportation of Vin to the jailhouse in Amarillo. The sheriff of that town was a fair man so they could be assured of Vin’s safety. Although Buck had thanked the man, he knew Chris would not be willing to take Jamieson’s word on it alone and would insist upon accompanying the man when journeying to Amarillo.

"Jamieson’s a good man," Chris remarked which was about the highest praise anyone could get from the gunslinger. "We’ll still be there, though." He added and was a surprise to no one at the table who knew Chris Larabee with any depth.

"In the meantime," Chris straightened in his chair as he made his next announcement. "I think its time we paid Caleb Patterson a call. He was in the jailhouse earlier trying to get Vin to confess."

"Son of a bitch..."Buck’s expression darkened.

"Obviously, Mr Tanner was not about to fall prey to such coercion," Ezra said automatically.

"No, he didn’t," Chris frowned as he replayed the incident where Patterson had unknowingly let the news slip about Alex. "But he told Vin Alex was here."

"Aw hell," Buck swore because Vin would not have been happy to learn they had all been keeping that information from him. They were his friends and would have expected them to keep no secret from him. Especially when it involved Alexandra Styles.

"It’s okay," Chris said quickly as he saw the faces around him showing their guilt at being forced to keep that secret from their comrade and their distaste at being found out, mainly because of Caleb Patterson. "Vin understands, but he let it slip he and Alex are together, so Patterson knows he can use her."

"Which means he might go after Miss Alex," Nathan concluded out loud.

"Right." The gunslinger nodded grimly. "So we’re going to see Patterson and have a little talk to him, maybe convince him it ain’t such a good idea to bother Alex or Nettie for that matter. I have a feeling if he can’t get the trial stopped, he may try for them or even Dunwill to cause trouble. He’s got a lot to hide, and we’re gonna find out what that is."

"A little show and force?" Ezra said with a little smile, liking the workings of their illustrious leader's mind.

"More than a little," Chris answered, returning Ezra’s smile with one of his own only he did not appear amused or cocky as Ezra’s always did but somewhat menacing. Some men were reduced to gibbering wrecks on the strength of that sneer alone. Chris could be that intimidating. The infamous Larabee glare was known to all of them, and they were his friends. It could be utterly merciless when aimed at someone he did not like.

"I’m all for that." Buck nodded. "Should we get Josiah?"

"No," Chris shook his head. "I don’t think I want to leave Vin alone even if Ritter is starting to believe he could be innocent. I’d be happier if Josiah was keeping an eye on Vin just in case Patterson’s hired more talent than we know about. Besides, him finding out about Alex was an accident, but I don’t want to gamble he has not sent someone after her already. If trouble comes, Josiah can handle it."

"Perhaps we may even coax Mr Patterson into revealing something of assistance to Mr Tanner’s legal predicament," Ezra suggested, checking the derringer under his sleeve whose presence was not a secret to anyone after last night’s incident.

Chris looked up at the gambler and nodded slightly even though he had every intention of going to the Patterson place and shaking the truth out of the man if it was necessary. He was confident Patterson was at the bottom of everything. While Amanda Kincaid might know something and be afraid to reveal what she knew for whatever reason, Chris was sure she was covering up for Patterson. He could not understand what that could have been, but he had no wish to attack the problem from that avenue. Amanda Kincaid appeared wounded enough as it was, and he had no desire to cause her further heartache.

"Never can tell," Chris remarked tautly as he rose to his feet and prompted the others to do the same. "Let’s saddle up."

***********

After her encounter with Amanda Kincaid, Alex had come to a conclusion she did not like and would have even greater trouble proving if she was right. All this time, Alex had been operating under the assumption Amanda had a secret in her stead that would liberate Vin and clear his name entirely of the murder charge, however, now she was unsure of anything. While she was glad Dunwill’s efforts at the hearing had proved to be so successful, and the possibility Vin might be acquitted was becoming very real, it was still too much of uncertainty.

Dunwill had a lot of inconsistencies in the case might shed doubt on Vin’s involvement, but the fact he was the only suspect made it difficult for him to be completely exonerated. Alex knew for Vin to be freed, they needed a name to place their accusations or else they would never see past Vin’s possession of the body to believe he was innocent. Alex left her hotel room, making her way to the saloon where she was certain Chris Larabee would be if he were not at the jailhouse. Although she had explained her suspicions to Dunwill, the lawyer was more interested in what he could prove in a courtroom and not something as intangible as her instincts.

Chris would understand Alex thought as she crossed the street. While she found the gunslinger intimidating at the best of times, they had reached an understanding with each other. Bound by the mutual affection for Vin Tanner, Chris and Alex stood on neutral ground most times. He knew never to cross her when it came to the medical health of any member of the seven, himself included and those in their tight-knit circle. At the same time, she understood as the leader, he had to make hard decisions at times which she might not agree with but nonetheless respected.

Alex was halfway across the street when she saw him emerging from the saloon and let out a sigh of relief; she did not have to enter the establishment to seek him out. As they strode purposefully past the batwing doors, it appeared something was happening or was about to happen. For a moment, her heart tightened at the awful possibility something might have happened to Vin to precipitate the grim expression on Chris Larabee’s face. Lifting up her skirts, she hastened her pace until she caught up with the lawmen from Four Corners.

"What’s happened?" Alex demanded as she hurried alongside Chris and stopped the man in his tracks as he turned to face her.

"We’re going to go see Patterson," Chris said shortly, not wishing to be delayed now he had made the decision to go. "I’m going to get the truth out of him one way or another."

"Are you sure?" Alex looked at him sceptically; not believing Patterson was responsible for Kincaid’s murder even though he was guilty of something.

"Mr Larabee has good reason to believe so Alexandra," Ezra spoke up. "Mr Patterson tried to coerce Mr Tanner into confessing to the murder by threatening your life and that of Mrs Wells."

Alex stared at Chris. "Vin knows I’m here?" She gasped, not wishing this at all. Now the urge to go see him was even worse and she wondered if Vin was angry with her for keeping away, even though Alex was only acting this way out of love for him.

"I’m sorry Alex," Chris apologised, feeling sincerely regretful about that. "Patterson let it slip you were here, I had no choice but to tell him."

Alex’s expression melted into dismay, and Chris could see this troubled her. "He isn’t mad, Alex," he quickly responded to reassure her. "He understands why you kept away, but Patterson knows you’re here and what you mean to him, so we have to go and make sure he doesn’t try anything."

"Maybe get the truth out of the bastard as well." Buck snorted, feeling just as eager to get started. He hated the idea of Vin being trapped in that cell as much as Chris did, even more so now they had started a business together, and Buck had a more sense of the man than he ever did after two years of riding together.

They continued walking, leaving Alex a few steps behind as they headed towards the livery to get their horses when she quickly caught up with them again. "Chris, I don’t know whether that’s such a good idea."

Chris did not stop walking. "You got any better ones, I’m listening." He did not bother to hide his annoyance at her questioning him like this.

Alex knew she was prodding a lion with a stick, but she had to say what was on her mind. "Chris, I don’t think he did it."

He stopped in mid-stride then and turned to her slowly. "What do you mean?" He demanded his voice little more than a low hiss.

"No one sends men after someone if they ain’t guilty of something, Alex," Buck pointed out before she could answer.

"I know that," Alex sighed, feeling all their eyes on her and unable to deny she was intimidated. "He might be guilty of something, but I don’t think he is responsible for Jesse Kincaid."

"Why?" Chris asked sharply, his lips thinning into a taut line which made Alex feel like she was ten years old, forced to tell her father the reason the dog had gone to sleep was that she was playing with his ether.

"I’ve been talking to Kincaid’s wife Amanda, and I’m telling you, she’s hiding something. Something terrible." Alex lowered her voice as she made this confession. "Something she’s utterly terrified to let anyone find out."

"That doesn’t mean she has anything to do with Kincaid’s death." Chris softened a little because when he had first laid eyes upon Amanda Kincaid, he had been confronted by similar suspicions and could understand why Alex would come to that conclusion.

"I disagree," Alex continued, sure she was right even if it was supported by nothing more than just her vague and undefined suspicions. "Chris, when we were having tea in her shop, I saw burns on her arms."

"Burns?" Nathan asked immediately, his brow furrowing. "What kind of burns?"

"Judging by the look of them, I would say they were cigar burns."

"Jesus," Ezra whispered, unable to hide his disgust. "Our Mr Kincaid might have deserved the death he received."

"Alex that don’t prove nothing." Chris continued, just as determined as she was he was right about his own conclusions regarding Patterson. Spousal abuse as disgusting as it was, was not uncommon. It happened a lot more than people would like to admit, and in the frontier where women were considered second class citizens, it happened even more often. "What he did ain’t right, but abuse like that don’t translate into murder."

"How the hell would you know!" She hissed angrily because he did not understand what she was trying to tell him. All he could see was Amanda was hurt with no concept of the psychological scarring left behind after such prolonged abuse. "You’re a man for god sakes! Have you ever had to have sex with someone you couldn’t stand? I don’t think so." She said not all padding her words for their benefit because they had to understand what could drive a person to commit murder.

"No?" She looked at them when they did not answer and saw Chris staring at her with some measure of shock. "Well then imagine what it's like to have sex with someone for ten years whose only use for you is as the receptacle for his seed and when he’s not having sex with you, amuses himself lit cigars and belt buckles. Do you have any concept at all of what that does to a person? It wears away at the spirit and the mind. People kill themselves for less."

"Christ," Buck capitulated first because he knew men who indulged in that kind of cruelty, and he knew the women left broken in pieces after such experiences. "Kincaid did that to her?"

"And more, I think, but she won’t tell me." Alex swallowed; glad someone had an idea of what she was trying to impart upon them. "She’s been through ten years of hell, and right now, something is frightening her. She feels a tremendous amount of guilt, which I don’t think, is just because she was happy to be rid of the bastard. There’s something more, and you could be making one hell of a mistake if you ride over to Patterson’s, trying to make him give you answers that might not have anything to do with Vin."

"It still doesn’t explain why Kincaid would come after us." Chris countered even though her words did penetrate. Perhaps Amanda did know something about Patterson’s involvement and was too afraid to speak them out. "Alex, he threatened your life and Nettie’s so Vin would confess to the murder. That ain’t the actions of an innocent man."

It was pointless trying to convince him, Alex sighed. He was determined to believe Patterson was responsible because Patterson was an enemy he could fight. As passionately as she felt about her own suspicions, there was a kernel of doubt gnawing at her she might be wrong. After all, Patterson had proved himself to be capable of murder, why was it not possible he might have something to do with Kincaid’s death?

"I suppose," she said reluctantly. "Just don’t get too heavy-handed, will you?" She sighed. "The last thing Mary needs in her condition is you getting thrown in jail."

Chris stared at her. "Condition?"

Alex groaned inwardly. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

"A new bride and all." Alex cleared her throat, hoping to cover the mistake she just made and wondered if this was going to be how the rest of the day would go. Damn! So much for doctor-patient confidentiality, she scolded herself for as many times she could cram into the seconds after she blurted out Mary’s secret so inadvertently.

"Even I ain’t buying that." JD quipped, and Alex threw the young man a dark look and sent him withdrawing behind Buck to avoid her murderous glare.

"What condition?" Chris repeated himself, and this time his voice had a hard edge that more or less told her he wanted an answer, and he wanted it right now.

"She wanted to tell you herself, but with everything happening with Vin, I guess she never got around to it." Alex sighed unhappily; unable to believe she could have simply blurted out Mary’s secret like that. Mary was never going to forgive her or let her forget it for that matter.

"Tell...me...what?" He said slowly, with even more menace than previously if it was possible.

"That she’s going to have a baby in spring."

Chris’ eyes widened, and then he fell silent.

"Hey!" Buck burst out grinning before he could stop himself. "All right pardner! Congratulations." He slapped Chris hard on the back before the gunslinger looked over his shoulder and shot him a look that immediately stilled his exuberance.

"She’s pregnant?" Chris was finally able to respond.

"Two months," Alex said reluctantly. "She found out the day before Jamieson came to town."

Chris swore under his breath because he had suspected there was something on Mary’s mind when he departed Tascosa she never got to tell him. He had believed it could wait until he got back and assumed it could not be very urgent since she had not insisted on telling him. Suddenly, Chris remembered the special dinner she had prepared the evening Vin had been taken and had questioned why she had sent Billy to Julia, believing she had been planning an intimate evening. Well she had, he supposed, just not for the reasons he thought. He did not even notice when the vein in his temple, the one he had secretly called the ‘Mary vein’ had started throbbing.X

"Try and contain your enthusiasm when Mary tells you," Alex replied, wondering why he was rubbing his temple like he had a headache.

"I guess I ain’t the only one who’s going to be up to my ass in dirty diapers." Buck grinned.

"You paint a most inviting argument for fatherhood, Mr Wilmington," Ezra remarked sarcastically, his face tightening into a wince of distaste.

"A spring baby is good luck," Nathan added, trying to sound just as enthused by the news even though Chris did not seem to be able to say much on the subject after that initial inquiry.

"Yeah, Billy will be thrilled to have a baby brother," JD said, knowing this for a fact after numerous conversations with the child on the subject in the past.

"Enough," Chris said, harshly with more intensity than he intended. He could not deal with this at the moment. The idea of another child brought with it emotions Chris did not want to deal with. It had taken him long enough to get used to the idea of marriage after the tragic way he had lost Sarah and Adam. Chris was not a man who accepted change well and having a family again was taking some getting used to even after the many months he and Mary had sealed their union.

A part of him was happy he was going to be a father again. He remembered holding Adam in his arms for the first time and thinking to himself there was nothing in the world he would not do for this child and delighted in the incredible years that followed. Bathing this tiny form relying solely upon him for everything, feeding him even though food never seemed to stay in his mouth long enough to be swallowed and the sheer joy of seeing that cherubic face looking up at him and call him pa for the first time. His heart had melted on the spot when Adam said those words to him, and Chris who was never an emotional man had almost felt tears in his eyes when his son looked at him and knew Chris was his father. Chris kept Adam in his mind in every vivid detail, he could remember whether or not it was cold or hot outside the day Adam had taken his first steps. Apart of him looked forward to experiencing all of it again. He missed it for Billy, but there were firsts there too.

Unfortunately, another part of him was terrified.

Terrified because with all those pleasant memories were not such happy images. It was strange the betrayal the mind could perpetrate upon someone by leading them down poignant memories before bringing them to a place of utter horror. That same smiling face, the one calling him pa burned beyond recognition until its skin felt like paper and Chris was forced to watch as dirt-covered it forever. Chris had spent the next three years trying to block the image out of his mind with as much liquor as he could drink, and it was still never quite enough. Chris was not sure he wanted to go through that again, but it looked like he had no choice now. When Mary fell pregnant before, there was so much going on at the time. Chris was more concerned about her being unmarried to think about the child itself.

Things were different now. They were married, and children were always going to be a natural extension of their union. He knew this was a possibility when he chose to become a husband again, but until this moment, had not realized how truly little he had given the matter any real thought. Well, according to Alex, he was going to have at least seven months to think about it.

"We don’t have time for this." He said after a moment. Even though it was second since he had spoken, it felt longer. "You get back to the hotel." Chris looked at Alex, deciding he would deal with his feelings on impending fatherhood later.

The tone in his voice told Alex not to argue with him. She felt awful enough as it is about telling him about the baby at a time like this. "Okay." She swallowed.

"I want you, Nettie and Dunwill to be on the lookout." He continued. "I won’t put it past Patterson to come after you this soon. Anything goes wrong, you go find Josiah at the jailhouse. Understand?"

"Yes," she nodded obediently, not about to argue with him after what she had done. Alex was mortified beyond belief she had betrayed Mary’s confidence. "Chris, I’m sorry...." She started to say.

"Don’t." He said, abruptly cutting her off because he did not want to hear it, not now. He glanced over his shoulder and looked at the others who recognised the Larabee glare daring them to say a word. None of them was game.

"Let’s go." He ordered and started walking, black duster trailing behind him.

Alex watched him go and then thought to herself, Mary is going to kill me.

***********

The ride to the Patterson placed took less than an hour even though it would take nearly a day to cross the wide expanse of the rancher’s property once they had reached it. Nevertheless, the journey was silent with the majority of the seven, excepting Chris of course, feeling awkward and at a loss at what to say to the gunslinger since the news of his impending fatherhood was received with anything that could be remotely described as enthusiasm. Despite their belief, such news ought to be a cause for celebration, they could very well understand why the gunslinger was having such difficulty with the prospect of being a father to a newborn in light of the family he had lost before the creation of the fellowship.

Buck Wilmington was possibly the only person who could approach Chris’ on this subject because he had seen Chris Larabee at his absolute worst. His oldest friend was capable of handling anything Chris said to him and sidled his horse alongside his old friend. Even though Chris was a mask of concentration, only Buck knew him well enough to see through the façade of indifference to know turmoil was churning inside his guts. Chris was never silent for a reason. Even when one would think he was at peace, he was pondering his dark, sombre thoughts. There were times when Buck believed Chris was never any other way.

"You okay, Chris?" Buck asked, knowing Chris needed to be focussed on dealing with Patterson for them to get anything out of the man when they finally confronted him about Jesse Kincaid and his association with Ely Joe. As it was, Alex’s words had effected the lawman more than he would like to admit. After the doctor’s impassioned argument, even Buck felt the rock-solid contention of Patterson’s guilt wavering. He needed to hear Chris was sure they were doing the right thing but knew Chris was in no condition to make that determination while his mind was elsewhere.

"I’m fine," Chris said tautly, not wishing to discuss this matter with Buck or anyone for that matter because he knew what Buck was going to say. Buck was all fired up on the dazzle of being a new family man to have no concept of how utterly devastating it could be to lose a wife and child the way he had. Chris prayed Buck would never know that kind of agony and secretly excused his old friend for trying to help even if his empathy of Chris’ feelings could not translate into understanding.

Glancing briefly at his friends, Chris felt a stab of guilt that the mood of the group was so dismal. He knew it was his fault that was forcing them to tread around him like they were walking on eggshells, recognizing he had descended into one of his black moods and it was not wise to provoke him with meaningless attempts at conversation. Chris felt sorry for that, but he was not about to apologize for himself.

"It ain’t so bad, you know." Buck pointed out. "I never thought I could do any good as someone’s pa." He confessed, unable to deny the last two months had been something of a revelation to him. All his life, Buck had searched for a family even though he refused to settle down, believing himself too much of a ladies man to ever find love with just one woman. Inez had changed all that and shown him he was capable of much and Elena Rose had sealed his doom with little more than a gurgle and a smile. After so many years trying to pull Chris from the abyss of sorrow after the death of Sarah and Adam, Buck could finally sympathize with what it was leaving his friend so distraught when Chris lost them. Now more than ever, could he appreciate how difficult it must have been for Chris to decide to live after that loss because Buck was not sure he could if he was faced with the same horror.

"I don’t want to talk about it," Chris said firmly, knowing from experience Buck was too stubborn to let the matter rest, at least without a good deal of pummeling to the side of the head.

"Okay, I understand," Buck replied.

Chris looked over his shoulder and growled. "No, you don’t," he countered. "You’re just saying you do, but in real fact, you don’t understand at all. You’re just trying to get under my skin."

"Whatever you say, Chris." Buck rolled his eyes as if he were humouring him, which only served to anger Chris more.

"Damn straight." Chris nodded and faced front. "I am fine, and I don’t care if you don’t understand or if you think you understand or whatever. You’ve been at it for two months. Wait until its eight years and everything that defines you is your family, and even the thought of being without them makes you sit up at night in a cold sweat. When you can do that and then be faced with losing them, you’ll know what I’m talking about."

"I ain’t arguing with you on that Chris," Buck said with maddening complacency which only served to infuriate Chris even more. How did he do that? Chris thought with smouldering annoyance as he forced himself to keep silent and listen to what Buck had to say because he would not let the matter rest until he did so.

"I’m just happy for you, that’s all," Buck replied. "Mary’s a fine woman, and you are a great father to Billy as you were to Adam. I think when you get over the fear that’s eating you inside, you might actually start to enjoy being one a third time."

With that, Buck kicked his heels in and pushed his horse a few paces forward, leaving Chris behind him to contemplate his words.

***********

Alexandra Styles decided against returning to the hotel following the departure of Chris Larabee and the others, stinging in anger at her blatant stupidity in allowing herself to reveal to Chris that Mary was pregnant. A part of her flared in outrage at how he took the news mainly since Mary was so ecstatic about the new arrival. Walking along the boardwalk of this dusty old town, garnering looks ranging from indifference to pure dislike by her attachment to Vin Tanner even though they did not know how for sure and by the fact she was something of a curiosity to them. This was nothing new to Alex, and she went on her way, making conversation and hurdled their initial hostility until she soon wore them down enough to get them talking.

Alex seldom let racial prejudice get in the way of what she wanted, and she had dealt with enough times in her life to become quite adept at forcing people to see past her the colour of her skin. It was no different in Tascosa, and it was no different when she had first arrived in Four Corners.

They had not known what to make of her there either. Neither coloured but not white either, she was a paradox of something different while retaining all the airs of a gentlewoman. It did not help she was also the only other healer in the place other than Nathan Jackson, or she walked the line that only Mary Travis had dared to traverse until then being unmarried and both financially and socially independent. She had been accepted eventually because of Mary and Inez but mostly because of her association with the seven. When she mended their wounds and pulled bullets from their flesh, she had shown everyone in Four Corners, Alex was a healer worth her salt and then some. She was not just a healer who dealt in herbs and other exotic remedies, nor was she a sawbones but an honest to god, physician borne of one of the best medical school in Europe.

Alex had not thought she would be so passionate about the place when she first arrived, considering that Alex journeyed to America and this lonely place in the Territory because there was decided lack of doctors in that part of the frontier and she needed to practice somewhere. Sweet Water and Bitter Creek had their physicians, but Four Corners was devoid of proper medical expertise, and so she had chosen the town, known to her only by its name to build a life for herself. Perhaps in anticipation of the difficulty, Alex would always have because of her mixed heritage, her father ensured Alex would never have to worry about money by the time he passed on. So she knew she never really needed to earn a living in the town, just a find a place to be the doctor she always dreamed of being.

In Four Corners, she had done that and more. She discovered she was not only a qualified physician, but she was also a damn good one, and if she were a white male, she would have been something great. However, it was the effect upon her personal life that Four Corners really left its mark. For as long as she could remember, there was herself and her father, William Styles. They had been each other’s best friend as they journeyed throughout the world, and when he died, a part of her went with him, she was sure she would never get back. However, her father raised her strong, far more than he ever thought, and she accepted that the loneliness would be the rest of her life.

The family she found in Four Corners was more than just a surprise, it was a revelation.

They all held a place in her heart even though she seldom admitted to anyone just how deeply she cared for each of them. From the kinship she shared with Mary and Inez Recillos for being women who lived life on their own terms, ignoring tradition and society idea of what a woman should become what a woman could be. Even though they had a rocky start to begin, she had come to feel the same about Julia Pemberton, who thumbed her nose at convention with more disregard than any woman Alex knew. Julia was one of those rare individuals who made those around her do nothing but stand back and gape in awe at the sheer strength of character, allowing nothing to get in the way of what she wanted.

This was the family she had always dreamed of having and the seven men upon whom she did her best work were also apart of that circle. Nathan, who was her friend and her confidant, the brother she always wanted, the sister he lost. Nothing pleased her more then being able to help him realise his dream of becoming a doctor. Josiah whose calm, serene manner had the tendency to soothe her worries with his recitals of poetry when they were all lying at ease in the sun, had the amazing ability in his voice to show them all just how much they had. Buck Wilmington who was incorrigible in all things playful and mischief, who seemed to make her laugh no matter how inappropriate the moment. JD, who would reluctantly ask her questions about women even though he would go bright red each time he was forced to make the inquiry and often beside himself when he received the answer.

There was Chris Larabee, who sat at the head of their family. He infuriated her and frightened her at the same time. She admired Mary’s ability to see past the hardened exterior to see the soul beneath. Lord knew Alex could never do that herself. Frighten her he may, but in a crisis, save her father and even superseding her fiancée, there was no one else in this world in whom she had more faith. When Chris took a hand in a situation, one could be assured things would right itself. The power of the man was blinding at times, and one would question why he would content himself with the life he had when the mind behind those intense eyes could do anything or be anything.

Ezra.

Best to leave that alone. There was a part of Alex that would always care for him, but she also felt guilty that by the time Julia had entered their lives, her affections for him were nowhere what they were. If she had remained with him, it would not have been a kindness. 

What had she thought about Vin Tanner when she first saw him?

He had nice eyes.

There was something slight but not enough to shift her affection from Ezra the first time she met Vin Tanner. But when it seeped into her bones like ink on a fabric, it's left a mark that was forever. Slowly it evolved into something even now Alex could not fathom and once overwhelmed by it could not imagine how she survived so long without. He was not just her lover, her friend but everything that made the dark inside her fade away. When she was with him, even being a doctor meant nothing if she could be at his side. She loved him more than her life and knew it was no idle claim.

If he were taken from her, Alex would never recover, and she knew it.

The idea that he could die in this decaying town was driving her insane with worry, no matter how much hope was starting to filter through the cloak of despair that wrapped itself around her since the moment Federal Marshall Jamieson had appeared at her door. Alex knew there was a way to save him, to keep the dreams they whispered about in the soft, tender moments following their passionate lovemaking. She took this walk because she knew it was Amanda Kincaid, who was the key to his freedom despite what Chris believed about Patterson. The gunslinger needed an enemy he could fight because he was just as wracked with worry, and though Alex dared not voice it to him, Alex was thinking more clearly than he was. If Vin died, he would be losing his best friend, she, on the other hand, would lose her reason to live.

The urgency of that pressing against her made things more evident because she simply had to be to save him.

Of course, knowing she had to save Vin and being actually able to do, it was two different things, no matter how imperative it might be. Alex did not know how long she walked as she debated with the course of action Alex was about to embark, knowing only it was Vin’s last hope of freedom and praying she would be able to live with herself after. In truth, Alex felt sincere sympathy for Amanda Kincaid, too much in fact for her to ever really feel comfortable with what she intended to do especially what the consequences would mean to the woman if Alex’s desperate gamble had the results she expected.

Ever since she left Amanda Kincaid’s presence, Alex debated the connection linking her to the murder of her husband. In the beginning, Alex believed Amanda had something to hide and was justified in her opinion her secretive ways were mostly to conceal the abuse suffered at her husband’s cruel hands and her lack of remorse for his death. However, the more Alex spoke to Amanda, the more her instincts told her there was more to the widow’s guilt and Amanda did indeed feel guilty. Compassion was not usually shown to the lover of someone who was suspected of killing a loved one.

Alex suspected then and certainly believed it now with very little doubt Amanda Kincaid’s dark secret was far more sinister than only keeping a secret of what had transpired the day her husband died. The more the doctor thought about the matter, the more evident it became Amanda endured her husband’s abuse, believing no end in sight until Ely Joe happened upon Kincaid and killed him. Was it a coincidence? Alex did not think so. During her travels across town later that day, she spoke to people about Ely Joe under the pretence she was from a town similarly terrorised by the outlaw. While people viewed her with trepidation, some saw little harm in gossiping about their most infamous son.

Ely Joe came from Tascosa and was a bad seed from the day he was born. The only child of a drunken father who took to beating on his child as drunks often did, Ely Joe was taught from an early age force was the way of the world. He was always getting into trouble in one shape or form throughout most of his teens until the school would no longer take him back and then he was left to roam the streets, escalating the severity of each new crime. When he robbed the bank and killed the people inside the premises, it was of no surprise to anyone although the town’s desire to see him hang was intense, mainly because he had lived among them.

At first, Alex could not imagine why Ely Joe would come back here. In this town, he was known. To be spotted would mean being shot on sight by angry townsfolk. While it made sense to make this the perfect venue for his framing of Vin, it was still risky. Chris mentioned something about a lame horse that Ely Joe had been passing Tascosa at the time his animal threw a shoe. Kincaid was not killed until the next morning, almost a good twelve hours from the time Vin first discovered the tracks to the point where the warm body was first located. No horses were stolen from the ranch, and except the dead body, everything seemed intact. Alex could not imagine Ely Joe killing Kincaid and then stopping to fix the shoe of his horse. He would need tools for that chore, devices she doubted a hardened outlaw would have on him, especially when he was accustomed to being on the run.

Thus Alex was led to the conclusion Chris Larabee would rather disregard because Patterson was the more obvious suspect. What if Ely Joe sought aid at the Kincaid farm to shoe his horse? That would explain much. Kincaid was not from Tascosa originally, and it was altogether possible he might not have recognised Ely Joe when the man first appeared on his doorstep. If Kincaid did not know him, Amanda might have, and the lady seemed too indifferent to make an issue about it unless she saw the arrival of this outlaw, known for his callous disregard for life, as a means of escaping the brutality of her life. If Ely Joe was already looking for a victim to frame Vin, Amanda’s offer to say nothing if he would only rid her of her husband would have been inviting indeed.

It was more to it than just that. Ely Joe was a hardened criminal, and Alex doubted he would not have attempted to turn the situation to his advantage. The question remained on how Amanda managed to convince him? Ely Joe was a brutal savage, no different in some respects from Kincaid and far worse by all accounts, what would induce him to help a widow escape her bondage? Alex doubted Amanda would have had much money to pay him if Kincaid was that abusive. Knowing Kincaid, allowing his wife to have some measure of financial independence would be too much; after all, Amanda was young and beautiful while Kincaid was almost twenty years older.

Then it hit Alex with perfect clarity and understanding just how Amanda had done it.

In retrospect, it should have been no surprise as odious as it might seem to her. After Kincaid, how much worse could it be for Amanda to use that as a last resort? Perhaps it might have even been better since Ely Joe might not have the propensity for physical abuse Kincaid did. He was a professional criminal, and the man described to Alex in her inquiries around town did not fit the profile of a sadist just a ruthless outlaw. He killed because it was expedient to do so, and there was no particular evidence to prove he enjoyed it. Given a reason that suited him, Alex believed Amanda could have swayed Ely Joe into making the decision that saw him use Kincaid as the instrument of his revenge upon Vin Tanner.

With this in mind, a plan took shape in Alex’s psyche of a risky gamble to bring the truth out into the open. She needed a corroborating witness to be present when she put this plan into effect because no judge would believe her if she were to make her claim, not merely because of her relationship to Vin and her racial differences. It would be her word against Amanda’s. Unfortunately, none of the seven could be relied upon to provide this collaboration either, for almost the same reason. Their relationship with Vin would make them unreliable as Mr Dunwill would no doubt point out at this juncture. She needed someone who was beyond reproach.

The sheriff was out of the question. As far as Alex knew, the man was convinced he found his killer and there was no reason to trouble the widow of the victim. Besides, just the mere suggestion of her impugning Amanda Kincaid’s name would probably result in having herself thrown into jail cell next to Vin, hardly the way she envisioned their reunion to take place. No, Alex could not go to Ritter for assistance. Suddenly, she remembered that Marshal Jamieson was in town. Jamieson proved himself to be a fair man from her previous experience with him. He could have been very heavy-handed with Vin when he came to apprehend him in Four Corners, but Jamieson had shown himself to be quite compassionate. Even when Vin broke free and escaped, Jamieson allowed Chris to go after the tracker and bring him to Tascosa without any further bloodshed. Alex was confident if she brought forward her suspicions to Jamieson, he would help her. Jamieson appeared to be a man who would see justice done.

Alex hoped it was justice she was seeking, not a sacrificial lamb to take Vin’s place at the altar.

***********

Patterson was expecting them.

No, that was unfair. The rancher had not really been expecting them as such but was anticipating some kind of trouble. It was plain to see by the men stationed across the homestead, Patterson was taking no chances. Unfortunately, the place was wide open as most ranches and not at all defensible when nestled on the flat terrain of the Texas Panhandle where everything was even without even the advantage of large hills to keep an intruder from getting a lay of the land.

Although their number was weakened by the loss of two, five was still a number of power. Though devoid of the mystical energy of the seven, they were still enough of a force to be reckoned with. It was not quite dark when they reached the homestead, with the sky pulling the sun into the horizon as the canvas of black descended steadily. Arriving shortly before the twilight had come, Chris had an opportunity to see the battleground while there still something of the day left. It was at this point he discovered Patterson had his home fortified against several men who were well-armed and appeared ready for trouble.

Chris was not about to risk his friends in any full-frontal assault, so they held back until the darkness had descended entirely while he took the time to formulate his strategy on how they would confront the man. He wanted it done with as little bloodshed as possible, despite what he initially told Alex about getting the truth from the man. During the journey here, he had reason to do some deep thinking, some of which had related to his own personal demons but also on the question of Patterson’s possible innocence. Chris considered himself a fair man and the fact of the matter was, Alex, sowed enough seeds of doubt in his mind to question the desire for all-out aggression.

They waited until dark so they could move in unencumbered, but with men watching in all directions for intruders, Chris knew Patterson’s hired guns would spot them even through the darkness. What they needed to get into the grounds of the homestead without bringing themselves to the attention of Patterson’s men was a distraction. As Chris sat astride his horse watching the ranch in the distance under the cloak of night, he reached into his coat and produced the pocket watch that was always with him, whose existence unlike Buck's own ornate timepiece, was really an heirloom. He glanced at the worn glass face, considering with silent pride that the mechanism still ran well even though it had survived almost twenty-two years in his possession and occasionally needed maintenance to keep perfect time.

He recalled briefly the day he received it and the person who gave it to him. As surprised as he had been to receive the gift, it was one of the few times in his life when he felt proud to be on the receiving end of such affection. He rarely felt such kinship or bonding with the man who presented him with the timepiece, and despite what would happen between them later and the enmity that followed, Chris still cherished the moment though he would admit it to no one, not even Mary.

Chris stared at the clock face and saw enough time passed for him to make his move at last. Even though he could not see his comrades, he knew they were crossing the terrain between himself and Patterson’s ranch and would soon be at a point where they would become visible to the enemy. It was time for him to move, and he dug his heels into the sides of his animal, causing the horse to break into a robust gallop when it surged ahead.

As he rode forward in plain sight, unafraid of being seen by anyone, Chris thought to himself, it felt odd to make this journey without Vin at his side. He was so accustomed to seeing the younger man next to him, his absence was disconcerting. Chris continued forward, noticing the faces in the dark that were discovering his advance from their places where they took point in watching for intruders. It was just as Chris wished when he thundered forward, unafraid of falling under their notice. It was the entire point of the exercise that their attention be firmly fixed upon him.

It was entirely possible he could have been shot as he progressed towards the ranch, but Chris would reserve the unenviable position as a decoy for no one but himself. Even though he had as much to lose anyone else, Chris would risk none of his friends to become target practice, since it was, in all honesty, his plan, to begin with. As Chris narrowed the gap towards the main gates, the gunslinger could see rifles being raised and aimed at him. Men were shifting from roles as sentries to those of defenders, and Chris unbuttoned the flaps of both his guns as he continued forward.

When the house came into clear view, he saw the main doors swing open and Patterson emerging from the house, flanked by two of his men as the rancher came further away from his home to see the intruder approaching fast. Chris made no threatening moves, aware that his entire plan relied upon him penetrating the fortress without harm. Patterson had to believe he was here to talk and in actual reality, it was not far away from the truth. As the plan was formulated to breach its walls, Chris suddenly found himself again nagged by doubt at what Alex had said before his departure from Tascosa about Amanda Kincaid.

He had intended to come here with threats and bluster, but the more he considered her words, the more the possibility became plausible. If Vin was cleared, then it might be possible Sheriff Ritter would suspect complicity by another person. Considering all the bad blood between Patterson and Kincaid, it was quite conceivable the rancher feared that suspicion might be shifted to him since he did have the motive. Was that fear enough to precipitate the threats and coercion he attempted? Was it possible that Patterson was behaving like this out of some knee jerk reaction to avoid implication?

That disturbed Chris greatly because if Alex was right and Patterson was innocent, then their chances of freeing Vin was negligible at best.

Chris arrived at the timber fences surrounding the Patterson Homestead. He slowed his horse to a light trot as he passed through the gate and immediately saw several hired hands closing in on him, surrounding him with their guns drawn. Patterson however, was barking orders to hold their fire, which gave Chris some measure of relief because it appeared the man was willing to hear him out.

Chris kept his hand poised on his gun though, unwilling to believe that accidents did not happen as Patterson walked through the group of men before him, staring at Chris in a mixture of confusion and suspicion. He knew that Chris was placing himself voluntarily in danger by coming here alone and wondered what the man was up to.

"Mr Larabee," Patterson approached his horse as Chris remained in the saddle, unwilling to dismount just yet. "What a surprise." Of course, his tone indicated that it was not one that was pleasant but rather opportune, considering he tried to have the man killed the night before.

"We gotta talk," Chris said shortly. "I didn’t have to come here alone, but I think we need words saying to each other." The gunslinger met his gaze.

His unexpected response threw Patterson. Until this moment, the man was planning his strategy, trying to decide what was the best course of action to take concerning his troubles with Vin Tanner and Jesse Kincaid’s murder. "Like what?"

Chris exhaled loudly. "I don’t think we can speak this out in the open." He remarked, allowing his gaze to sweep over the faces around him. "This needs to be done between us alone."

"So you can kill me?" Patterson declared sceptically. "Not likely."

"I ain’t here to kill you," Chris retorted automatically. "I’m here to say I don’t think you were responsible for Kincaid’s death. In fact, I don’t think you had anything to do with it or Ely Joe at all."

Of all the things he could have said to the rancher, this was the one response Patterson least expected. He blinked twice, uncertainty draining into his face as he considered his options before remarking. "Come inside." He said abruptly and turned on his heels. "Let him through boys." He issued the order as he strode back to the house, not waiting for Chris to follow.

Chris dismounted quickly and was given right of way as he moved through the men keeping sharp eyes on their employer and until he saw their faces, he thought them to be hired guns. However, now as he had a closer look, he suddenly realised these were not hired guns at all but hired hands. These were not men who killed for a living but rather men who herded cattle and lived out on the land. Suddenly, Caleb Patterson was not the only one who was surprised.

Chris entered the luxurious home and found it to be no different from any belonging to a wealthy rancher. As he came to the house, he heard Patterson ushering his wife and children out of the parlour and waited to receive his unexpected guest with two of his men standing close by in case this was some attempt at a ruse. Chris did not mind, admitting that in Patterson’s place, he might be just suspicious of his intentions as well.

"All right Larabee," Patterson urged, taking a seat. "Talk."

"Like I said," Chris remarked. "I don’t think you did it."

"You think Tanner did it?" The man looked at him with astonishment.

"No," Chris shook his head and started to realise something else, Patterson really did not have any idea who was responsible for Kincaid’s death. "I think it might have been his wife."

Patterson’s look of genuine astonishment more or less confirmed his innocence. Chris, who knew how to spot a lie better than any person alive except Ezra Standish, realised the man was telling the truth. However, innocent or not, he still had something to hide he was willing to kill for, and Chris wanted to know what that was.

"Amanda?" Patterson snorted in disbelief. "You’re insane. That little girl wouldn’t hurt anyone."

"She would if Kincaid was beating on her," Chris added, suddenly becoming more and more convinced of his innocence.

A look of distaste flooded into Patterson’s face as if the idea of any man treating a woman that way was abhorrent to him. Chris marvelled at the sentiment would make it permissible for him to allow the murder of a man in his bed but would still have a moral objection to the physical of a woman. He supposed that some things were even too much for some people to tolerate, especially a family man like Patterson appeared to be. "How do you know this?"

"A friend of mine seen burns on her hands of the kind that are left behind by a cigar." 

"Then, he deserved to die." The rancher sneered viciously. "The man was a bastard.’

"I don’t argue with you there," Chris added. "But since you didn’t have nothing to do with Kincaid dying, why you so hung up and proving my friend done it?" The gunslinger narrowed his eyes as he put forward that question to the rancher who shrugged uncomfortably as he searched for a response.

"I wanted to see justice done."

"Bull shit." Chris retorted sharply. "You tried to have me and mine killed, I want to know why. More importantly, I want to know why it is so important to you Vin confess to murdering Kincaid if you didn’t have anything to do with it."

Patterson eased back in his chair and started to gloat. "I don’t have to tell you anything Larabee," he gestured to the two men who were behind him. Both men brandished their guns in a display of force to impress upon Chris that he was alone and they were prepared to kill him. "You ain’t with your friends now. What’s to stop me from killing you?"

"Not much," Chris said unperturbed as he faced the rancher, confident the enemy misjudged the situation considerably. However, men liked Patterson always did, until it came up bit them on the ass and reminded them otherwise. Caleb Patterson was about to get a rude awakening. "Except I wouldn't assume anything when it comes to my friends or me."

Patterson’s brow furrowed as he tried to decipher what Chris’ enigmatic words meant before the roar of gunfire explained it with perfect clarity. As the noise erupted, Chris spun around, both guns blazing. It was still his intention not to kill anybody, so he aimed carefully and Patterson’s men though armed, were easily distracted by the shots outside the home as Chris’ contingency plan moved into full effect. Coupled with the screams of Patterson’s wife and children from the upper floor, no doubt moved to fright by the violence taking place outside, the hired hands were not quite fast enough to outshoot the gunslinger who was better at this than they were. One bullet slammed into a shoulder, slicing through the nerve keeping fingers around a gun. The weapon clattered to the floor noisily as the man clutched his injured arm. His companion screamed in when his palm oozed blood from where the second bullet penetrated and exited without serious injuries.

Chris wasted no time in retrieving both weapons before he turned his attention to Patterson, who was still somewhat dazed at the sudden change in circumstances. Chris motioned the two men to join their employer and waited patiently as they obeyed, throwing angry gazes at him while holding their injured limbs. Finally, they nestled in a position where Chris could keep a close eye on all of them and begin his interrogation. Outside the shooting continued and Chris moved to the window to try and gauge how it was going. It was difficult to see, and finally, he decided his time would be better served if he returned his attention to Patterson.

"Now Patterson," Chris Larabee said with that infamous smile of predatory ice. "You don’t got to tell me nothing, but there won’t be anything to stop me from killing you either."

Chapter Eight
The Very Best of Intentions

Alex found Jamieson in the lodging house he had taken up residence with the rest of his men, during his stay in Tascosa for Vin’s trial. The man was sitting down to supper provided by the landlady when Alex was shown into the dining room. Jamieson was present with most of his men at the table, including Langstrom and some others she did not recognise. As it was expected of them at the arrival of a lady into the room, the men rose to their feet and offered a polite greeting, which Alex returned, before she turned her attention to Jamieson.

"What can I do for you, ma’am?" He inquired as he stepped away from the table.

"May I speak to you outside Marshal?" She asked, feeling a little intimidated by all the eyes on her. Not just those belonging to his men, but the other guests at the table and a hostile landlady who was not shy about hiding her dislike for someone closely associated with Vin Tanner.

"Sure." He nodded and led her out onto the hallway, curious as to what she wanted of him. He had not spoken to her since his appearance outside her door when he came to arrest Tanner that first time in Four Corners and though he had seen her about Tascosa since the opportunity for conversation had never risen. He knew that she was mostly responsible for the employment of Tanner’s high price lawyer since he had on occasion been to Silver City and knew of Dunwill’s reputation. He had to admire the intelligence of the woman to have hired the best legal mind in the area for Tanner’s defence and supposed that love would do that to most people.

Once in the hallway away from prying eyes, Alex felt herself relax a little although the nature of this visit could never truly put her at ease. Not to mention how he was going to react to her proposal afterwards. Still, Alex believed she had a good sense of the man. Marshal Jamieson was not a shoot first think later kind of peacekeeper, and while he almost always brought in his quarry, he had a reputation for bringing them in alive. Jamieson avoided killing in the advent the accused were actually innocent, which explained why he allowed Chris to bring Vin to Tascosa, instead of going after the tracker himself.ere

"How are you?" He asked full of genuine concern because of the feeling he saw between Tanner, and the woman did not indicate any fleeting affair. It couldn't be comfortable being in the town that loathed Tanner for the crime he was accused. Especially when she loved him.

"I’ve been better," Alex was touched by the inquiry. "Thank you for asking." A small smile of gratitude stole across her features as she responded.

"So, what is this about?" He asked once more, sweeping aside the usual civilities to get to the heart of the matter.

"Marshal, I need your help, and I don’t know whether or not you will be willing after I tell you why."

Jamieson’s curiosity was piqued correctly and gestured to the door leading out of the house since it sounded what needed discussing might be best spoken of in privacy without anyone eavesdropping. They walked down the hall and stepped out into the night air. As most things were in Texas, the air outside was hot and dry, and Alex felt a most profound longing to be home in Four Corners at that moment.

"Well ma’am," Jamieson leaned against the post of the side porch of the house. "What have you got to tell me?"

Alex took a deep breath. "Marshal, do you believe Vin is guilty of murdering Kincaid?"

Jamieson shrugged, not liking the question put forward to him and chose the standard stock answer he gave in such circumstances. "It ain’t my place to say, ma’am."

"I know it isn’t." Alex sighed, unsurprised by the answer, but she was a woman determined. "But I’m not asking you as Federal Marshal or someone appointed by the court, I am asking you, Buford T Jamieson, private citizen. Do you think he is guilty?"

She made a compelling argument and Jamieson could not deny that it was hard to separate himself from the job. He searched himself for the answer and tried to force away the instinct to remain neutral and detached from the case. Nevertheless, Jamieson could not deny aspects of this entire affair bothered him from the beginning. If Tanner was the killer, then he was the greatest liar Jamieson ever saw to pull the wool over so many eyes they were willing to die to protect him. There was nothing in the man’s background to indicate such a level of duplicity even if he was a bounty hunter once. Finally, the answer escaped him, like the rising stench of fumes from foul water.

"No, I don’t think he is." He finally admitted and saw her let out a visible sigh of relief, almost as if she had been holding her breath.

"That’s something anyway," she nodded and then spoke again. "I think Amanda Kincaid might be responsible for the murder."

Jamieson’s eyes widened, but he held the scepticism threatening to seeped into his face at bay. "Why?"

Alex explained the entire situation to him, starting from Amanda’s visit to the jailhouse to Vin and her expression of sorrow at his apprehension, right down to the compassion shown to the lover of her husband’s killer and the awful scars that Alex glimpsed on her body. She related to Jamieson, Amanda’s confession of spousal abuse. She knew by his expression he understood better than Chris and the others, how terrible such a crime was upon the victim, the emotional scars it left behind. Alex supposed during his time as a Federal Marshal, he must have seen crimes like this before. Alex revealed her suspicions about Ely Joe and watched as his scepticism wavered enough to consider it. Jamieson said nothing until she concluded her speech, and when she was done, Alex held her breath in anticipation of his response.

"You’re going to have a hard time proving it." He answered finally.

"I know," Alex nodded in agreement, but there was more to this meeting than just to voice her suspicions about Amanda Kincaid. "But I think I can with your help."

"My help?" Jamieson’s brow shot up in reaction. "How?"

"I have an idea," Alex replied after a moment, revealing the plan she crafted in her head before her journey to see him. She had to convince him, there was no other choice. "I just need you to be present as a witness."

"A witness?" 

"You’re a Federal Marshal, and if need be, your testimony can stand up in a court of law. I am hoping if what I propose is successful, it will not come to that."

Alex outlined her plan and Jamieson had to marvel at its simplicity, even if it was a long shot. However, the little lady was a doctor which meant she was plenty smart, not to mention she loved her man enough to be very confident of what she was doing. Jamieson could understand why Alex believed what she did about Amanda Kincaid. If even half of what Alex had described to him was true, then Amanda’s complicity in the murder of her husband might have run deeper than they suspected.

Jamieson saw enough women in prison to know what Amanda may have been driven to do was not uncommon. 

"Alright, Doc," Jamieson finally agreed, wanting to help if there was a miscarriage of justice in the process. "What’s your plan?"

***********

While gunfire continued to erupt outside at intermittent intervals, the exchange of ammunition detracted the men defending the Patterson ranch from a far more intense confrontation taking place inside the main house, between the respective commanders of both opposing camps. Unfortunately for Caleb Patterson, it would appear that for the moment, that Chris Larabee had the advantage.

The gunslinger stared at the defeated enemy with steely eyes, having won the physical battle and was now waging a mental confrontation. His guns were aimed at Patterson and the two lackeys with him, unwavering in its determination to impress upon them the reality of their situation so that they would remember their place. Outside, a gun battle was still raging, and while victory could go either way during this juncture of the combat with the possibility that Chris might find himself in the on the losing end, he was still in the position to kill them before help arrived.

Chris checked on his friends’ progress in their advance towards the main house by taking an occasional glimpse out the window. He could see that the plan was being followed under his instructions with Buck and JD drawing most of the fire from Patterson’s men, offering a second layer of distraction on top of the one he provided while Nathan and Ezra crept up behind them. Both men were moving stealthily through the dark, attempting to get a drop on all the guns rallied against them. Josiah, in the meantime, would be covering their advance, protecting them as they tried to diffuse the situation without killing if all possible.

As the rest of his friends played their parts in the unfolding drama, Chris had his role to play. While Patterson had gone a long way to convincing Chris he was innocent of killing Kincaid, it still did not explain why Patterson was so determined to see Vin swing. It should make no difference to a man who was responsible for the crime if he had nothing to do with. A small glimmer of hope inside Chris prayed the answer might be something they could use to exonerate the tracker of the murder charge. The reason had to be compelling, Chris told himself because the rancher was to kill them all, not to mention stoke his neighbours into a frenzy to lynch Vin.

So far, Patterson had not volunteered any information. The two men with him remained close-mouthed themselves, mostly because Chris suspected they knew nothing about the situation anyway. They had taken to aiming hateful glares at him for the injuries inflicted but could do no more than that as they sat on the floor near Patterson, nursing their wounds and trying to hide their fear. Despite their best efforts, Chris could see through their mask of indifference to tell they were apprehensive because their concern was palpable.

"What do you boys do?" Chris inquired, regarding them for a moment while he took his attention from Patterson temporarily.

"None of your damn business." Patterson barked in response.

"I ain’t talking to you," Chris shifted his gaze enough to send a scalding glare at the man that silenced him immediately before he added with equal icy deliberation, "yet."

Patterson licked his lips in anxiousness, unable to comprehend how the tables had turned so quickly but remained silent, not daring to provoke the man who could fill him full of lead for past insults offered already. 

"I’m just a cowhand." The younger of the two answered nervously, perhaps attempting to take Chris’s attention away from his employer. Chris had put a bullet through his hand, and he was still clutching the wounded appendage as it remained wrapped in the rapidly saturating coat he used to stem the bleeding. He stared up at the gunslinger, trying to hide his fear or the gun pointed squarely at him. Nevertheless, Patterson was still his boss, and the young man felt obligated to defend him, even against this predatory looking stranger.

"I thought so," Chris nodded and then announced to both men to put their mind at ease even though such claims had a minimal effect when being delivered from the end of a stranger’s gun. "I ain’t gonna hurt either of you. That’s not what I am here for. I just want some answers from your boss here."

"I ain’t gonna tell you nothing." Patterson hissed defiantly from his position on the chair.

Without warning, Chris kicked his foot into the centre of the man’s chest, pushing him backward with such force that he tipped onto the rear legs of his chair before toppling him over. Patterson let out a small cry of fright as the chair slammed into the floor with a loud thud. Both cowhands reacted enough to display a surge of bravery as they moved slightly towards Chris. He ended that threat quickly when he cocked his gun in their direction, driving back to their seated positions once more with a cold stare.

"Don’t." He uttered a single word warning more than enough to send them promptly into retreat without any further resistance.

Once Patterson had recovered enough from his fall, Chris circled the space where the chair had landed, watching dispassionately as the man groaned in pain because his head had hit the hard surface of the polished wooden floor upon impact. The injury Chris was sure, was more to his pride than any physical wounds, but Chris was not above inflicting those if Patterson did not start cooperating. He would have an answer or he would Patterson’s head. Chris reserved the right to put that picture in the rancher’s head if the man continued his resistance.

"You son of a bitch." The man snarled as Chris dropped to the floor next to the rancher. Resting his weight on his haunches, Chris still maintained his aim of both guns at the occupants of the room to accommodate his new position.

"Now," Chris said growing impatience at the wait and looked at Patterson with a glint of his eye indicating that any further protestations were going to be made at extreme risk to his life. "Start talking before I start shooting things off." He cocked his gun pressed the barrel hard against the man’s shoulder. "I got enough experience with these things to know where to shoot a man,, so he don’t die straight out. I can fill you full of lead without you ever being in danger of kicking off on me." Chris smiled chillingly.

"You wouldn’t dare!" Patterson roared in outrage and rising terror which was soon quashed when he saw Chris’ finger tightening around the trigger.

"Shoulder first," Chris continued his threat. "Then,, maybe lower." He dropped his gaze to the man’s solid gut.

"I didn’t kill Kincaid!" Patterson screamed defiantly, still clinging to the last remnants of stubbornness and pride as he made a last-ditch effort to reason with a crazy man. Unfortunately, the effort might have proved successful if he was dealing with a mad man, which Chris was not. Therefore he remained unmovable in his purpose despite Patterson’s frantic words.

Chris could tell by the fearful look on his face that Patterson was near breaking point. He was fast approaching the place Chris needed him to be; confident once the rancher crossed that vital threshold, there would no longer be any secrets between them.

"I didn’t say you did," Chris responded to Patterson’s cry. "That wasn’t my question. Tell me what I want to know." Chris repeated himself, putting enough pressure on the finger around the trigger to send one of his men into a panic.

"Tell him, Boss!" One of the men on the floor suddenly erupted, fear etched in their faces as they watched their employer teetering on the brink of death at the end of the lawman’s gun. "It can’t matter now!"

"No!" Patterson cried desperately, using the last reserves of courage that remained inside of him.

Chris responded by pulling the trigger. The explosion of sound sent shudders of fright through the two men before him and pulled a terrified scream from Patterson at the discharge. The bullet blew a small hole in the space not far from Patterson’s shoulder, digging into the wood and sending splinters in all directions. Any closer and the man would not merely be picking pieces of wood from his shoulder but lead. Needing no further incentive, his cry of fright proceeded a long string of words spewing from his lips without pause.

"I couldn’t help it!" Patterson wailed terrified as he stared frantically at Chris with nothing less than terror in his eyes and no illusions Chris was bluffing. "You gotta understand Larabee, my stock was dying! Everything I built on this land was starting to disappear before my eyes! I had to do something! Kincaid let us use his water at first, but he wasn’t dumb. He made us believed that he was neighbourly when all the time he was sinking his claws deeper and deeper into us! By the time we knew what was happening, it was too late! We had no choice but to pay him his money. He bled us dry!"

Chris could well believe a man who would enjoy brandishing his power over his wife by brutalising her to the point of madness would take as much relish in being in a similar situation with those around him. More so when they were men like Patterson, ranchers and landowners who were not used to being supplicants. Kincaid would have milked the moment for all it was worth; unaware one could only push people so far before they began pushing back. Ironically for Kincaid, the man never anticipated the wife he supposedly cowed into submission was the one person who would break him.

"Go on," Chris urged, now they were getting to the truth.

"I tried to buy him out, but he refused." Patterson continued, anger and frustration etched in his face as he remembered how desperately he implored Kincaid to be reasonable. "Then he upped the price on the water. He knew I had it to pay, so he pushing and pushing until it got so bad I would have had to let men go just to make the payment. I wasn’t going to do that."

"He was no saint, Mister." The young cowhand declared, trying to help his boss past the painful revelation.

"I don’t care about Kincaid," Chris answered. "I just want to know why you were out to have my friend hanged. He didn’t kill Kincaid, but he’s going to die for it."

"I couldn’t have any questions asked," Patterson asked. "Because to this day, I don’t know whether or not I am responsible for Kincaid dying."

Chris stared at him, unable to decide whether or not the man was formulating a new strategy. "How can you not know if you had someone killed?" The gunslinger demanded, uncertain for the first time. "You either did, or you didn’t."

"I don’t know because I paid someone to kill Kincaid the day before!" He shouted, revealing the secret he locked inside of him for so many years, trying to live with his conscience and realising with sadness after he sent those men after Tanner’s friends, how easy it was to have someone killed after that first time. "I couldn’t take any more so I hired a man to do it and paid him in advance. He said he was going to get it done and when Kincaid showed up dead, it looked like he had done it until I found out Tanner was the man responsible."

"Vin didn’t do it," Chris replied, understanding at last what fears drove Patterson to behave as he had. He hired someone to kill Jesse Kincaid, but unfortunately, the paid assassin was usurped by Ely Joe when the man killed Kincaid to frame Vin. "Ely Joe killed Kincaid. He paid some men to kill Vin a couple of years ago and just as much admitted it before he died."

"Then…." Patterson started to realise. "The man I hired really didn’t do it?"

"No," Chris shook his head in answer and was mildly surprised to see Patterson’s face draining with relief. The man was honestly glad he was not responsible for the murder tainting his actions for the last three years. "Ely Joe killed Kincaid."

"But you said Jesse’s wife had something to do with it." Patterson pointed out, suddenly liberated by his confession.

Chris did not answer for a moment because he prayed Patterson would give him something he could use to free Vin but now it appeared no such miracle would take place. His heart sank, knowing proving Vin’s innocence would almost be impossible. If Alex was right and Amanda Kincaid was genuinely responsible for inciting Ely Joe to murder her husband, then proving it would be beyond Chris Larabee’s ability to accomplish.

And he would see Vin hang knowing he failed his best friend.

***********

Light poured through the open shop window of Amanda’s Sewing Circle and drew Alex and Marshal Jamieson towards it like fireflies attracted to a campfire glow. Once both outlined their plan and how it should be executed, there was no reason to put off the task before them. It was never going to be easy to carry out the feat of magic they were attempting, but a man’s life hung in the balance, and thus there was no choice but to try. Alex told herself once more as they approached the front door leading into the shop, it was for the greatest good that she was doing this.

Telling herself that and knowing it was two different things.

Alex felt intensely guilty for what she was about to do. Almost as guilty as Amanda felt about keeping her silence when Vin was in the jailhouse not far away from her shop. Amanda Kincaid was not an awful person, and Alex swore to herself that if everything transpired according to plan, she was going to do everything in her power to keep Amanda from undergoing the ordeal to follow alone. Amanda was driven to this because no one would help her. Alex was determined she was not facing a repeat once things were set into motion. Dunwill had proved himself an able lawyer, and Alex was confident he could find a loophole for Amanda, at least on the grounds of extreme physical cruelty. Kincaid had forced Amanda to take the only chance of escape available to her. She should not be punished for it.

"You ready?" Jamieson asked as they prepared to enter the premises.

Alex nodded feeling butterflies in her stomach and tried to force the uneasiness away because she needed to be absolutely composed if this thing were to play out the way it needed to. She met his gaze with an expression of anxiousness before taking a deep breath to expel the emotion. Alex told herself she was doing this for Vin. Beyond that, nothing else should penetrate, no matter how much sympathy or compassion she might feel for Amanda Kincaid.

"I’m fine." She answered, her words dripping with indifference she did not really feel. She hated this whole thing and only wished it to be over and done with.

Jamieson could see her distaste for the situation and found himself eager to undertake the task just to be able to put behind him once it was done. He opened the door for her and Alex swept inside the shop first, with Jamieson following her once she cleared the entranceway.

Alex had no idea how to proceed as she entered the room and saw Amanda emerging from the back room. The woman stiffened immediately at the sight of Jamieson behind her, and if it was possible, she became even more impassive than ever. Without seeing the accusation in her eyes, Alex could feel it. A surge of shame surfaced inside the doctor as she once again, questioned what she was about to do.

"Hello, Amanda." Alex greeted, even though there was no warmth in this room, not any more.

"Alex." She said quietly, aware something dark and terrible was closing in on her. "What can I do for you?"

"I’m afraid I made Miss Styles bring me here," Jamieson spoke up, taking control of the situation and sparing Alex the need to explain what was happening. "We need to talk Mrs Kincaid."

"What about?" She asked, trying to sound natural; however, Alex could see the anxiety filling her eyes.

Jamieson let out a breath as he recalled the prepared speech he and Alex devised before coming here. If he was unconvinced by Alex’s theory before this, the fear he saw in Amanda Kincaid’s eyes now told him the doctor was right. The poor widow looked at him as if she were a helpless animal caught in a hunter’s sights and knew it was an expression he saw on many criminals, coming to grips with their capture. "Almost two years ago, I was responsible for the capture of the outlaw named Ely Joe." Jamieson began watching Amanda’s expression to see if there were any signs of recognition.

The flicker was slight but enough to prove he was known to her. Even Alex was able to see the name shook Amanda’s resolve as if hearing it aloud had some strange power over her, she could not endure. Jamieson did not wait for her to respond. There was answer enough on her face, and he continued with his rehearsed speech. "I wanted to bring him in alive, but Ely Joe was a tough customer. In the end, I had to kill him."

"He was not a good man," Amanda’s voice became a low whisper, and it stabbed at Alex with more emotion than it should, seeing the sorrow in her eyes as she stood on the periphery of a disaster like Ophelia preparing to die. "You did what you had to."

"I kept telling the Marshal you could not possibly have anything to do with an animal like Ely Joe," Alex spoke up, playing her part of the deception she and Jamieson were conspiring to use upon Amanda. They were manipulating poor Amanda’s emotions and fears like expert puppet masters and made Alex feel all the more loathsome for it. "However, he was most insistent on being brought here to meet you."

Whether or not Amanda believed her was something Alex could not say for sure, but the widow merely nodded and turned her attention back to Jamieson. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Quite a bit ma’am." Jamieson with his stern, authoritarian voice which Alex had been on the receiving end of once and knew how intimidating it could be when applied in this way. "I went through Ely Joe’s things after he died, mostly to see if anything could be sent to his family. Appears he had none."

"He only had a father," Amanda whispered, dropping her gaze to the floor, no longer able to meet Jamieson’s eyes. "He died years ago."

"That’s what we figured out later," Jamieson continued, convinced now that the woman knew Ely Joe a great deal more than what local gossip was able to manage. "Anyway, there wasn’t much fit to leave to anyone once we went through it. Except for this letter." He reached into his thick coat and produced a worn letter browned over time. Jamieson made no attempt to hand it to Amanda for her perusal, keeping a firm grip on the folded piece of paper further deepening Amanda’s growing dread of discovery.

"It was never delivered, and we figured he must have been carrying it for some time. It's addressed to you ma’am, care of your old place out of town." He replied, watching closely at her reaction.

"To me?" Amanda stammered, not understanding. "Why would it be addressed to me?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that ma’am." The marshal probed deeper, aiming his question with skills that Dunwill would have been proud to own, Alex thought. Amanda took a step backwards. The enormity of what he was suggesting was too much for her to accept. "I didn’t think much of it at first because of there about a million Amanda’s in this country, and then I heard Doctor Styles here tell me that your name was Amanda."

"Tell him its just coincidence," Alex exclaimed, hoping she sounded convincing to the terrified widow whose eyes looked as if her entire world was crumbling before her as Jamieson continued his interrogation. A part of Alex almost wished Amanda would irrefutably deny what the Marshall was implying, even if it meant disastrous repercussions for Vin,. Still, she knew with total confidence Amanda could not deny it. Every fibre of her being told Alex she was right, Amanda Kincaid was the instrument of her husband’s death.

"Amanda, tell him." Alex urged quietly, holding her breath to see what the woman would do.

Amanda looked at Alex with the eyes of a cornered animal. She was losing her battle to remain composed and knew to relent was to invite her own doom to come for her after three years of sleepless nights and dreading the moment when she was finally discovered. Yet as Jamieson stared at her with his penetrating gaze, looking through her as if she were made of glass as if he knew everything, Amanda knew not what else to do. She loved her life, what she had of it now, and she would hate to lose it, but these past few days gnawed her insides with guilt.

"It’s just a coincidence." She stammered, still clinging to whatever vestige of control she had left. "I never knew Ely Joe."

"Ma’am," Jamieson countered immediately, almost as if he were expecting this answer. In truth, he was, but his response was part of a play written before he arrived here Now he faced this tragic woman, who in her eyes convinced him with more certainty than he ever thought possible, she was the elusive architect of Jesse Kincaid’s death. "The letter was addressed to you, and it sounds to me like something that a man might write to someone he loves and cares about. Looks like he thought a lot about what was in it."

"How could he?" Amanda cried out, staring at Jamieson as she heard the words knowing they were a lie. They had to be! That night had meant nothing! It was an exchange of services, like paying for something at a store! "He didn’t care about anything in his life! Ely Joe was a murderer! Just ask anyone around here who knew him! He didn’t care for me! He didn’t even know me, not really!"

"What do you mean Amanda?" Alex asked, feeling like a part of a wolf pack closing in on a helpless and wounded creature, preparing to feed on her weakness for their own ends. She forced away her disgust and told herself again that this was for Vin. She had to do it. "Did you know Ely Joe?"

"Yes," Amanda nodded, tears starting to run down her cheeks. "He remembered me from school. He thought I was pretty."

"When did you meet him again, Amanda?" Jamieson continued, taking the second part of the two-pronged attack.

"I didn’t!" She began to cry, fighting off their words, feeling it sink into her bones like fire, burning away all the lies she had been telling these past three years. They were getting to the naked truth of it now, and she could not stop it.

"But you said...."

"I know what I said!" Amanda cried out. "It ain’t true! I never meant anything to him! Not a damn thing! He said liked how I smelled, and it was a long time since he’d been with a woman. He wouldn’t have written that letter to me because he never came back after!"

And there it was, the admission that both Alex and Jamieson had been waiting hear.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as the words escaped the fragile woman when all the walls were finally torn down after three years of anguish and guilt. It spilled forth in a torrent of emotion from the dam she was building inside herself for so many days and nights. For years, Amanda had kept it inside her, the hurt and abuse of marriage to Jesse Kincaid, the silent agonies of her life no one could understand even with the sadness always in her eyes. She buried away feeling and hope, allowing none of it to surface until one night when Ely Joe, notorious outlaw found himself on the doorstep of the Kincaid homestead.

"After what?" Alex forced herself to ask even though she knew they had pushed Amanda far enough to reveal the rest of her tale. The doctor cringed inwardly; hating herself for she was doing to this tortured woman who should have been helped not trapped like an animal to reveal her secrets.

However, if Amanda felt any enmity towards Alexandra Styles, she did not show it. The words escaping her felt strangely liberating, and the balloon inside her chest, growing turgid and pressing against the walls of her soul was deflating. The feeling was numbing, and it was just how Amanda liked to feel, numb. In that state of limbo, nothing could hurt her, not Jesse, not even the consequences of her complicity in his death. She had three years of peace, and those were as close to heaven as she would ever know. She was sorry to lose it, but she did not really mind because it had been enough.

"After he killed Jesse," Amanda whispered as she met Alex’s gaze and wondered briefly what it must have been like to love someone and knew they loved you back. She envied the doctor and felt saddened she never knew love like that.

"How do you know that ma’am?" Jamieson asked, needing these question answered concisely before he could go to Ritter and tell the man to cut Tanner loose.

"Because I asked him too." She replied listlessly, as if not caring every word was damning. "He turned up the night before Jesse died," Amanda continued, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she made her confession and could not understand how something that ought to be difficult was flowing from her with such ease.

Alex found her breath catch with each word Amanda spoke, hearing the loud turning of a key inside her head as the woman told her story to Jamieson. Alex took a step forward and held Amanda’s hand in a gesture of friendship and understanding, wishing the widow to know no matter what her crime, Alex was not going to abandon her. She was surprised when Amanda offered her a warm smile and squeezed back.

"He said his horse had thrown a shoe and he needed a place to stay for the night," Amanda replied, recalling the events clearly in her head. She played them in her head almost every night following Jesse’s death and more than that in recent days ever since Vin Tanner was brought into town. She wished she could be devoid of conscience, but Amanda was allowed no such luxury. "Jesse wasn’t too sure about it at first cause he thought Ely Joe was one of Patterson’s men. Caleb Patterson had been trying to buy the place for months, and when Jesse wouldn’t sell up, he got pretty nasty."

This part of the story Alex knew already from the man’s attempts to kill Chris and the others, not to mention how he tried to have Vin lynched the day the tracker had arrived in Tascosa. Much of what Amanda was telling them did not surprise her. She expected something of the like even though the details were vague. Alex could see Jamieson absorbing every word, committing it to memory to relay the specifics to Sheriff Ritter when it was time for Vin to be released. Just the thought of that alone made this entire episode bearable because the guilt stabbing at her was almost as terrible as what Amanda must have surely enduring now as she made herself accountable.

"I changed his mind and said I knew Ely Joe from school, even though I didn’t tell Jesse exactly who he was. He had supper with us that night, and as usual, Jesse drank too much so by the time it came for bed, he was more or less passed out from the liquor." Amanda quivered remembering how peacefully Jesse lapsed into slumber on his favourite chair, a half-empty bottle of the moonshine he brewed still in his hands when she took it away.

"I knew he wouldn’t wake up and Ely Joe thanked me for covering up for him." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she moved onto the next part of her story, hoping they would not judge her too harshly for what she had done later that night. She held Alex’s hand even tighter, grateful the doctor was offering friendship even now, even though by her actions, Amanda had almost condemned the man she loved to die.

Well, she was changing that now.

"He liked me, I could see that much." She continued after she had composed herself. "And I didn’t want to make trouble because he could kill both Jesse and me if he took it in his mind to so I let him touch me." Even though the event was years in the past, Amanda shuddered at his touch on her skin. Despite this, she also remembered how different the entire experience was in contrast to her intimacies with Jesse. "It wasn’t as bad as Jesse, I think Ely Joe even tried to make it better for me but he didn’t realise until he saw the scars later I’d been hurt before. He said something about how a man who did that to a woman shouldn’t be fit to live…" Her voice faltered then because when he said those words, she knew.

Even though she never actually come out and told him to do it, Amanda knew he was going to kill Jesse simply because she would be better off without him and to her shame, Amanda said nothing to stop him.

"I didn’t stop him when he said that," Amanda’s voice had become a soft whisper. "He just knew without me even needing to say it I wanted Jesse dead. All he did was tell me to leave the next morning and don’t come until late. He said he had something else to take care of anyway and Jesse would do just as well any other." She blinked, and fresh tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. "You know, I really think he wanted to help me too. I never had a man do that for me, so when it came out that Jesse was dead, I couldn’t bring myself to say it was Ely Joe."

"Ma’am," Jamieson found his voice. "A man has spent the last three years with a murder charge hanging over him. He didn’t do anything to you or to Jesse, it wasn’t right to keep that silent."

"I know," she nodded, unable to deny that her thoughts had been focussed on that very issue for a long time, with far more depth than his words could ever manage to express. "I’m sorry, Alex," Amanda looked at her. "You’ve been good to me even though you knew I held something back."

"I can’t imagine what you went through Amanda," Alex answered her immediately. "If it was me in your position, I can’t say I would have acted differently. You did the best you could to survive Jesse, no one will judge you for that."

"But they will judge me for being part of Jesse’s murder, won’t they?" She said soberly and stared at Jamieson as she asked that question. "I didn’t come out and tell Ely Joe to kill Jesse, but I might as well have. He wouldn’t have done if it wasn’t for his knowing how Jesse treated me."

"Ma’am," Jamieson said sombrely, "I need you to come down to the jailhouse with me." He tried to be gentle, but an innocent man was sitting in a cold, dank cell in which he had no business being. He felt sorry for this widow and wished she could be spared the trials to follow, but this was something there was never going to be any avoiding once she revealed herself.

"I understand." She nodded, disengaging herself from Alex. "Do you think I could have a moment alone?" She asked the lawman as she glanced down at her apparel. "I’d like to change into some fresh clothes before I go out and get a few things together if that’s all right."

"Of course, it is," Alex replied quickly before catching Jamieson’s eye to impart upon him what possible harm could be caused by allowing the lady a moment to herself. Besides, it would be the last time Amanda would be in her shop for quite a while once she admitted her guilt to Ritter and was taken into custody.

"Sure thing ma’am," Jamieson agreed with the doctor’s assessment and wanted to spare her any more humiliation than was necessary. By morning, everyone in Tascosa was going to learn about Amanda Kincaid’s complicity in her husband’s death and the sordid details of her encounter with Ely Joe. There would be vicious gossip and nasty whispers behind closed doors, but the truth would still be there like the morning mist after a stormy night.

"Thank you," Amanda said gratefully and withdrew into the backroom.

***********

The mood was less than exuberant when the six lawmen returned to Tascosa after their evening’s adventure at the Patterson Homestead. They had all gone there in the hopes some news would be garnered from their interrogation of the rancher to help them exonerate Vin Tanner once and for all, but with the confession they received from Patterson himself, that hope faded further and further away into the depths. It now looked as if Vin would indeed go to trial and it was a gamble if he would walk away from the proceedings with his life. No one was in the mood for talking with the pall of that hanging over their heads, and Chris, in particular, was in a black mood.

The weather had broken on the journey back, and rain had started to teem to the ground, washing away the sweat accumulated from the humidity of the day’s ride from all their skins. Chris wanted nothing more than to drown his sorrows in a good bottle of whisky and felt it permissible if he allowed himself to get blind stinking drunk tonight and then tackle the problem of Vin’s situation tomorrow once more. Now it rested with Amanda Kincaid, Chris would need to reformulate his strategy. As the dim lights of the town became evident in the distance, Chris wished he was riding home to Four Corners, not some drab town in the middle of the Panhandle. In Four Corners, the light was a beacon for home and all things warm and happy about his life. In Tascosa, it just meant death was coming for his best friend and Chris could do nothing to stop it.

They rode into town and found the streets quiet for the time of the night. The rain drove most people indoors, and so they were able to ride at a suitable pace down the main street as they headed for the saloon. Each member of the seven was cold and wet, and they welcomed the heat a drink would provide before the enchantment of food and fresh clothes. Chris reached the hitching post first and dismounted, not waiting for the others as he strode down the walkway towards the saloon’s batwing doors. He knew they would be following him soon enough anyway.

He stepped through the doors and once again faced the scathing glares and whispers heralding his return amongst them, although the intensity was slightly less than what it usually was. Chris scanned the room, as instinct often required him to do and realised there was good reason for the tempering of their hostility towards him. Standing at the bar, creating all kinds of scandalous talk by her presence alone, was Alexandra Styles. A small island formed around her as people stole furtive glances in her direction over their glasses of beers. It was clear they were wondering what a lady of her ilk, was doing in this establishment. Even the bartender was watching her with a sombre impression. Chris crossed the floor in a matter of seconds and was soon at her side.

On the counter, before Alex was a half-empty bottle of whiskey and half-filled shot glass. She was staring at it impassively and did not look up when he approached her even though she knew it was him. Instead, Alex continued to fill the glass to its brim and deepened Chris’s concern something terrible had happened. It was only when she raised the glass to drink did he see the blood staining her fingers. Splotches of red covered her hands, the front of her vest and even the cuffs of her sleeve.

"Alex, what’s happened?" Chris asked tautly, not daring to touch her at first because he thought she might be hurt. For a moment, Chris thought something terrible happened to Vin, but she allayed those fears with her sudden but expressionless voice.

"Vin will be freed within the hour," Alex responded quietly. She still did not look at him. "Sheriff Ritter’s a little busy at the moment, taking care of some arrangements but Vin should be released soon. All charges against him have been dropped."

"Dropped?" Chris exclaimed, unable to believe her at first, especially when she was in the state she was presently in. News like this should be a cause for celebration, why was she behaving like this? "Why?"

"Because of this," Alex answered automatically and produced a folded enveloped crusted with blood.

His brow knotted in confusion as he took the paper from her hand, forcing her fingers to relax her grip as he removed it from her. The blood on her fingertips let imprints against the yellowed paper. He unfolded it and read the ungainly handwriting on the paper and discovered that it was contained a verse of poetry, nothing more. However, Chris recognised the handwriting as belonging to Vin Tanner’s. The tracker learned to read and write thanks to Mary, but his penmanship was still childlike.

"What is this?" Chris finally asked not understanding the significance as he noticed the others walking into the saloon. Their faces soon mirrored his own confusion when they noted Alex’s presence and approached stealthily, trying to understand what was going on without intruding too much on Chris’ efforts. Buck took up the space on the other side of Alex and noticed the blood on her hands and on her clothes.

"Jesus, what’s happened?" He demanded.

"They’re letting Vin go," Chris replied before Alex could answer.

"Letting him go, why?" This came from Nathan, who had joined them. Chris motioned the others to remain silent for a moment, allowing Alex to explain.

"Alex," he put his hand gently on her shoulder. "What does this paper mean?"

"It’s just a poem Vin wrote to me once," she whispered hoarsely. "But Amanda Kincaid thought it was a letter Ely Joe wrote to her. I had Jamieson go to her and tell her it was a letter he found on Ely Joe when he was shot and killed. It made it sound that they were lovers."

"Christ," Buck gasped slowly, unable to believe Alex capable of such duplicity, not to mention Amanda having that kind of connection to Ely Joe. "What happened then?"

"She admitted it was true." Alex swallowed and blinked. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she gazed into something only she could see, and Chris felt his heart torn, seeing her like this. It was disconcerting seeing a woman so strong, so wounded. He would feel the same way if it were Mary. To the others, her demeanour sent a chill run down their spines. "Ely Joe was at the Kincaid place the night before Jesse died. He went there to shoe his horse. While he was there, Amanda recognised him but didn’t say anything in case Ely Joe decided to kill them both. Kincaid didn’t know who he was so Ely Joe had supper at the house after which Kincaid passed out drunk, Amanda was left alone with him." She did not need to clarify what that meant because the implication spoke for itself.

"You mean the villain forced himself on her?" Ezra exclaimed with disgust.

"No," Alex shook her head. "He didn’t. I think ElyJo actually liked her enough to think he was doing her a favour. He and Amanda spent the night together, and he saw the scars left behind from what Kincaid did to her. I think in his own way, Ely Joe thought he was helping her out by killing Kincaid. He got the body he needed to frame Vin, and she was free of the bastard."

"Alex, the blood." Chris urged more concerned about the blood all over her rather than the specifics of her ruse. "Tell me about the blood."

"It's not mine," she spoke in almost a whisper and then as if needing the courage to go on, she threw her head back as she downed the contents of her glass and resumed speaking. "I thought she seduced Ely Joe into killing Kincaid for her, so I told Jamieson to take this letter and confront her with it, saying that it a letter from Ely Joe. I actually stood there in front of her and told her to prove him wrong, that it couldn’t possibly be true, but in the end, she did exactly what I hoped she would do, she confessed to the whole thing."

"So Jamieson took her in?" Buck asked, feeling some measure of sorrow for the woman but could not help feeling some relief at what this would mean to Vin Tanner.

"After she had told us everything," Alex took a deep breath, and her voice started to shudder as she continued speaking and Chris noticed more tears spilling down her cheeks. She stopped a moment trying to compose herself, but it was a losing battle. Her control was starting to slip, and the more she continued her narration of what transpired while they were dealing with Patterson, the harder it became to rein in her emotions. He could sense the liquor was the only thing that was keeping her together at this point. Something terribly ominous was coming at them, and he could feel it snaking up his spine like tendrils of ice.

"After she told us everything," Alex cleared her throat and began again. "She asked for a moment alone, and I told Jamieson there was no harm in letting her have it since he was taking her to the jailhouse. I didn’t want her to suffer any more than she was going to." She wiped her tears from her cheeks, but they were soon replaced by more and Alex gave up altogether trying to stem the tide. "She went into the back room of her little shop where we had tea this morning and wrote herself a nice letter of confession, putting everything she had told us on paper. It was all elegant. She even wrote something in there about being sorry for everything she put Vin through."

"Oh, Christ…." Chris started to say, realising at last what was coming.

"Then she put a gun to her head we didn’t know she had, and killed herself."

"Oh my god." Nathan gasped, the healer’s face twisted into an expression of horror and dismay that was soon shared by the others as well.

"By the time Jamieson and I reached her, it was too late." Alex's voice started to crack because the pain was more than she could take bare. "I wanted Vin freed so badly, I was willing to do anything to have her tell the truth about what she knew."

"Miss Alex," Nathan spoke firmly, the healer pushing himself between her and Buck. He made her face him and saw her eyes were almost bloodshot from trying to keep the tears in. "You couldn’t know this was going to happen."

"Yes I did," Alex answered, refusing to allow herself to be relieved of the responsibility for her actions. "I knew she was feeling guilty, and I preyed on it. Amanda was so afraid of being discovered, of being trapped again, but she was the key. She was the only thing standing in the way of clearing Vin’s name, so I pushed and pushed. I got Jamieson to help me tear down all those walls she used to protect herself, while I stood there pretending to be her friend. I knew what I was doing Nathan," she lifted her eyes to meet his. "I knew I might have been pushing her too far, but I couldn’t see past getting Vin out of jail."

"You did it for the very best of intentions. Alexandra," Ezra added his voice and hoped it would help even though he doubted it.

"Yes," she said ruefully. "The very best of intentions."

Chris did not waste time with words. He wrapped his arms around the doctor and drew her close. She did not protest as she buried her face into the crook of his shoulder and started weeping the torrent of tears struggling to break free ever since she raced into the room and stared in stunned silence at Amanda Kincaid, lying dead on the floor. A pool of crimson was expanding around her head, creating a macabre crown of red in stark contrast to her rapidly darkening blond hair. The gun, a small derringer, was still in her hand, tendrils of smoke rising into the charged air while Amanda’s soulful eyes, so filled with haunting pain, stared into nothingness.

"It's alright," he whispered into her hair as he held her close, looking at his friends, sharing the same shock they all did, as well as the admiration for what she had done, no matter how tragic the results. "You did what you had to do Alex," he said knowing his words would offer no comfort but then he supposed there was going to be very little that anyone could say that to Alex that would actually give her solace. All they could do was be there for her.

"Just like Amanda did what she had to." Alex swallowed, feeling no better at that realisation.

"Yeah," Chris nodded. "Sometimes, its all anyone of us can do."

He did not know whether that would help, but at least it was the truth.

***********

Vin Tanner knew something was happening.

He could not say what for certain and even Josiah who was entertaining him through the bars of his cell with a deck of cards Ezra donated specifically for the purpose, seemed affected by the excitement taking place in the front part of the building. While they could not hear the specifics of the conversation beyond the cell corridor of the jailhouse, the two men could feel a sudden shift in the air.

Earlier, they heard a single gunshot before Ritter barked his order for them to stay put while he went to investigate. Both Vin and Josiah knew a single bullet meant trouble because a couple of rowdy customers at the saloon at this time of night would not limit themselves to a single shot. Vin saw Josiah fighting the urge to investigate himself before he finally decided to let the sheriff handle since Tascosa was not their town. The tracker could not blame Josiah for feeling this way since he was accustomed to being on the other side of the bars instead of waiting judgement for a crime Vin did not commit. Still, after nearly a week trapped inside the four walls of this tiny dungeon, Vin had to admit he was a little more accustomed to the place than his first night here.

He knew that part of the reason that his spirits had lifted was that Alex was here in Tascosa. Although he could not see her, just knowing she was in the same town was more of a tonic for his soul since his incarceration began. Still, he could not forget the six friends, who ensured he was never wholly alone throughout his entire time enduring Sheriff Ritter’s hospitality.

"What do you think is going on?" Vin asked laconically as they continued playing.

"In this town, who knows?" Josiah remarked, discarding a card from his hand and disapproving what he picked up to replace it.

Both were mutually silent men who said little at the best of times, and so they continued this way for a few more minutes, not voicing their curiosity at what was taking place beyond the walls of this human cage. However, their desire to know was satisfied by the arrival of Sheriff Ritter and Marshall Jamieson. Both men appeared at the head of the corridor, with an expression on their faces that immediately put the two men from Four Corners on guard. Instincts kicked in, and Vin dropped his cards on the makeshift table Josiah fashioned with a flat piece of board and rose to his feet, expecting the worst. Josiah remained seated, but his attention was also fixed on the men coming towards them.

Ritter was carrying the keys to the cell, and for a moment, Vin did not understand what was happening because it seemed too unreal after everything he had to live with for the past three years, But then Ritter paused at the cell door and started unlocking it. The look in the man’s eyes was pained, and Vin wondered what on earth happened.

"You’re free to go, Tanner," Ritter announced somewhat hoarsely. "Amanda Kincaid signed a confession Ely Joe was at the Kincaid place the night before Jesse died and admitted she put him up to having Jesse killed."

For a moment, it did not register.

After three years of living with the spectre with of Jesse Kincaid hanging over his head, dogging his every move in any decision he wanted to make with his life, the idea he was free to go was more than Vin could handle. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to maintain his calm, unflappable facade instead of submitting to the emotion of intense relief he felt at finally hearing this nightmare began the day he found Kincaid’s body was finally over.

Fortunately, Josiah was more composed to answer. "Mrs Kincaid just decided to confess?"

"Well no," Jamieson spoke up then. He was reluctant to give the answer to that question considering what happened. "Your lady friend came up with an interesting way of getting her to confess, and she did. Seems Mrs Kincaid and Ely Joe were a lot friendlier than we knew. She confirmed he was there, and then she put him up to killing Kincaid."

"I know he mistreated her." Vin managed to say. "Are you gonna lock her up?" It distressed the tracker intensely to imagine such a fragile creature behind the bars of a cell, not unlike the one he was presently trapped. Considering how her husband had treated her, it was not Amanda’s fault she was driven to escape any way she could.

"We can’t," Ritter replied, unable to meet Vin’s gaze and there was something in his voice that made the fine hairs on the back of Vin's neck stand on end. "She killed herself right after she wrote and signed the confession."

"Oh, Jesus…" Vin muttered, closing his eyes at the news, feeling shards of pain he had no idea mirrored Alex’s own agonies when she had discovered Amanda’s body with Jamieson. Vin was still reeling from the news, replaying the image of that poor woman inside his head on the day she came to visit him, wondering what kind of animal would bring pain to such a beautiful woman, when he heard Ritter’s voice again

"Ain’t much I can say to make it right, except a good woman is dead." The sheriff said before he swung the cell door open. The man seemed just as shaken as Vin about Amanda Kincaid’s death and offered no apology about the wrongful prosecution or the bounty following Vin around for the last three years. Vin did not expect it since the only thing he cared about was the end of the murder charge when he grabbed his buckskin coat and draped it around his shoulder to step out of his cell.

"Good to see you on the right side of the law again, brother." Josiah smiled faintly, unable to offer any exuberance than that in light of the circumstances of Vin’s freedom.

"I wish it had gone that good for Mrs Kincaid," Vin said sourly and kept walking, wanting to put Tascosa behind him as quickly as possible.

The rain had become a fully-fledged downpour when Vin stepped out of the jailhouse, but he did not care as it battered him senseless. Large droplets soaked him to the skin in a matter of minutes and to Vin, it felt purifying, like he was reborn into a new life. 

Josiah had run on ahead, beaconing him to follow but Vin held his ground for a moment and stared at the sky, mesmerised by the droplets coming down from the heavens above. Vin could see no stars, but he smiled knowing they were up there and he was going to be able to wait them out the next day and the day after that, without being trapped inside a cell.

Vin did not know how long he was standing there before his hat started to droop in front of his head from saturation, but when he finally dropped his gaze from the sky, he saw he was not alone. She stood before him, not too far away but not close enough for him to touch either. Alex's hair was plastered against her face, and even though her skin was wet from the rain, he knew her cheeks were mostly that way from tears. They stared at each other for a moment, not daring to spoil the moment with words until he willed himself to move.

When they finally touched, Vin swept Alex up in her arms and embraced the most precious thing in his life before their lips met in an urgent kiss of greeting. For an instant, there was nothing else for Vin but her lips on his, her warmth pressing against his own while forcing away the cold, cold place that had been the world while they had been apart. He spent so many nights since being pulled away from her in Four Corners, dreaming of this moment, telling himself over and over again it was not a futile hope they would be with each other again. Vin held her tight in his arms with such fierce determination to never let her go, he did not even realise she was sobbing into his shoulder.

"Hey Darlin, it's okay. We’re okay." He grinned when he put enough space between them so he could look at her, blinking away the rain that was in his eyes.

"Yes we are," she nodded, still crying. "I thought I’d lost you forever." She whispered, happy to see him even though there was a well of grief inside her locked away for the moment because she wanted nothing to spoil the joy of having him back again. After what she did tonight, his freedom was the only conclusion worth the price Amanda Kincaid had paid. Alex pulled him to her again, needing to taste his mouth on hers, needing to feel the closeness of his body to make the pain go away.

Vin sensed the urgency in her kisses but did not question it. Right now, she wanted him to hold her and even if they were in the middle of the pouring rain, hanging on to each other like a couple of lovesick kids, that suited him just fine. He was free and with Alex was in his arms, things did not get much better this.

Epilogue
Homecoming

They were done with Tascosa.

With Vin cleared of all charges of Jesse Kincaid's murder, there was no reason to remain, and in all honesty, none of the party from Four Corners wished to be in Tascosa any longer than they had to. What happened in this town would be with them for a long time. Vin was liberated, but none of them could honestly say it was without a price. With Dunwill remaining in town a few more days to ensure Ritter and Jamieson submitted the paperwork taking the bounty off Vin's head now the charges of murder were no more, Chris decided it was time to go home. They had a life in Four Corners awaiting them, and Chris knew Vin wanted to leave immediately as well. For Alex's sake.

The doctor said very little to anyone about Amanda Kincaid or how she felt on the matter of the woman's death. After her initial display of grief, she buried the rest of her pain inside herself as she did all things and maintained her demeanour of professional detachment. None of the seven thought her any less for her actions, Chris as a matter of record, thought she was the only one to keep her head and to do what needed to be done, no matter the personal cost to herself. He had a feeling none of them would ever know what the price was, not even Vin. Alex kept her pain to herself; she was one of the most guarded people he knew, which was why she and Vin were so good together.

They were so much alike in that respect.

Nettie Wells had already left on the stage for Four Corners, preferring the creature comforts of a Concord than riding out in the open with a bunch of men. Alex, on the other hand, had no wish to trapped that way and opted to travel with Vin. Considering what she did to aid his release and how close she had come to losing him altogether, none of the seven could begrudge her for wishing to stay close to the tracker. Nettie who frowned slightly in disapproval as a respectable old matron, could do nothing else but keep her comments to herself appreciating that the couple had been through something of a trial during their stay in Tascosa.

As the seven readied their horses at the livery, Alex remained close by having lost all taste for Tascosa and could not wait to depart. Vin knew that there was a part of Alex that would never leave this place. It was trapped here as Amanda Kincaid was trapped in her loveless marriage to Jesse. As Vin saddled Peso and prepared the animal for two, he stared at Alex and for a long while, trying to imagine what it was she was going through at this moment and feeling somewhat guilty because it was for him, she had embarked upon her course. Vin wanted to help, but he had no idea how.

"She'll be okay Vin," Chris caught the tracker's concerned expression as he stared at his lady.

"I hope so," Vin said softly. "I never wanted her to put herself through this, not for me."

Chris, who was in the process of saddling his own horse, nodded in understanding. "She loves you, Vin, sometimes it ain't a matter of wanting to do something but having no choice. If it were me, I would have done it too. Just it was like Amanda's choice to die."

Vin wished it was that easy to accept, but it was not, and he knew it. "She paid for the funeral, you know." He turned away from Alex to meet Chris's eyes as he tightened a buckle on the saddle. "It seems Amanda's kin left town years ago, and no one knew her well enough to make the offer. Said it was the least she could do since no one else gave a damn about her until she died."

Chris was hardly surprised by that. It just seemed like the kind of thing Alex would do. "It wouldn't surprise me," Chris answered seeing the extent of Vin's worry and tried to offer some advice, not that he was the authority on such things, but he did know something about guilt. "Vin, she's hurting, but the best thing you can do for her right now is to be there. There are some things she has to take care on her own. You can't do it for her. Alex is tougher than most men, she'll come through this."

"I know," Vin sighed, looking at Alex again. The doctor was dressed in riding clothes, loitering about aimlessly as she waited to leave. "I just hate seeing her like this. I thought the day my name was cleared would be the best day of my life, but I don't feel too much like celebrating if Alex is in pain."

"She ain't gonna be like this forever," Chris reminded. "The sooner we get out of Tascosa, the better off she'll be." He answered.

That much, Vin knew for sure.

"You ready to go pard?" Chris asked after a moment, securing the last straps on his saddle.

"Hell yeah," Vin answered voicing more enthusiasm than he previously confessed. He wanted to leave this place once and for all and never think about it again. He only hoped when he and Alex rode away from Tascosa, she could do the same as well.

"Good," Chris nodded. "I'll so see about the others." The gunslinger remarked, not needing to tell Vin it was time for him to go get Alex. Even though Chris did not say it out loud, he felt inordinately pleased Vin was leaving this town with them. He shuddered to think what would have happened if things had not gone the way they had.

Vin left Peso and strode out of the stable, seeing Alex staring into the distance at something only she could see. He need not ask what precisely because he had a fair idea of what was occupying her thoughts. Walking up behind her, Vin announced his arrival by sliding his arms around her shoulders and rubbing his cheek against her ear.

"Hey, Darlin'." He greeted warmly and was encouraged when she leaned back into him and shifted her head slightly so he could get at her neck. Her entire body seemed to melt against him, and for a moment, it seemed everything would be all right as he kissed the smooth skin tenderly and heard her sigh.

"Hey, cowboy." She answered, feeling so much better when his arms were around her. Vin was the only thing to make what happened the last week in Tascosa better. He was the only person who could make her bear the guilt of what she had done. Alex knew he was concerned about her but chose to be evasive any way. She was not sure when she would be ready to talk to him about Amanda but rest assured when the time came, Vin would be the only one to whom she would bare her soul.

"You out here for the scenery or did you want something?" She teased with enough warmth in her voice to convince him she might come through this ordeal okay.

"Oh, I thought I come out here and keep you company some." He nuzzled his cheeks against her hair, delighting in its silky texture. "Now I'm respectable and all, I've got to keep a tighter rein on you." He winked at her and saw her chuckle slightly. It was good to see a smile on her face. Vin wondered how she would have taken it if he told Alex her eyes seemed as haunted as Amanda Kincaid's had been.

"You can dream...." Alex said sarcastically before her expression melted into that of warmth. "I love you, Vin." She said quietly.

"I love you Doc," he said, holding her tight and willed his strength into her body so it might lessen the burden of her guilt. "We'll get through this," he slipped his arms from around her and made Alex look at him. "I promise you."

Alex wanted to cry as she stared into the depth of his blue eyes that until now was able to drive away any terrible thing that might seek to harm her. How many times did she allow herself to be drowned in those depths knowing he would always be there for her? "I know we will," she swallowed, trying to keep the emotion from overwhelming her. "It's just hard to think about...things."

 She could not even bring herself to say, Amanda.

"Then don't." He ordered. "Let it go until you're ready and we'll deal with it together."

Alex embraced him hard, knowing at that instant no matter how much pain and guilt she felt, he was worth it. Every sliver of anguish she had or would endure was a small price to pay in comparison to having this man in her life. Knowing that made it easier to accept, and in time, she might even forget.

"Are we ready to go?" She asked finally, aware that the first step to recovery was to leave Tascosa behind forever.

"Yeah," Vin nodded, sensing her urgent desire to depart. "We're ready."

"Good," she broke away from him and started walking into the livery where Peso was waiting with the rest of the seven. "Let's get the hell out of here."

***********

WARNING: ADULT SCENE

Buck Wilmington was happy to be home.

The others kept going towards town and no doubt their number would lessen the closer they reached Four Corners with Vin and Alex most likely breaking off from the main group when they approached the ranch on their way to town. He was pleased things turned out so well for the tracker, but like every member of the seven, his thoughts were filled with the woman whose sacrifice cleared Vin Tanner's name.

Buck had not realised until he saw his home and stepped into the familiar smells of the evening meal still lingering in the air from hours ago and the fresh scent of cut flowers, how much he missed being here. It was late into the night, and he assumed Inez would be asleep by now. As Buck acquainted himself with being home, he wondered how Inez spent the week without him. Finally, he decided to turn in and paused at this nursery on his way to the bedroom, tiptoeing through with the stealth acquired from a good many years, sneaking out of homes when a husband made the unexpected return home.

Elena lay in her crib, asleep and oblivious to her father's presence. He watched his daughter slumbering in her cot and reached for her small hand. No sooner than his finger had grazed her palm, she enclosed her tiny fist around it and pulled the digit to her soft lips, identifying it even in sleep that it was something worth suckling. Buck felt his heart leap in his chest as he saw his little girl nursing on his finger, unaware a smile had stolen across his face. He let Elena nibble on his fingertip a bit longer before withdrawing his hand and continuing to the bedroom.

Buck found Inez lying comfortably on her side in bed. She wore a nightgown, but the heat forced her to kick the covers into a thick bundle at the foot of it. He watched her for a long time, thinking about Amanda Kincaid and how her husband never gave her a moment of happiness. Buck did not ever want Inez to feel that way. He watched her for a while, basking in the rise and fall of her breasts as she slept. Undressing quietly, Buck discarded all his clothes except for his long johns and climbed into bed. As he settled beside her, she nuzzled closer to him and reacted to his warmth by rolling onto her back.

Fluttering her heavy-lidded eyes, Inez broke into a dreamy smile as he saw his face above hers.

"When did you get back?" She whispered, happy to see him.

"Just a few minutes ago," he spoke quietly. Both of them were adept enough at being new parents to know that silence was golden with a baby in the house.

"I missed you," she changed position once again so that she was now facing him.

"I missed you too," he said with a smile and covered her mouth with his to initiate his gratitude at being home with more succinct expression.

The kiss sparked the memory of their lovemaking all those months ago, culminating in the precious bundle now lying asleep in her crib. It reminded Inez just how sensuous Buck could be and how easy it was for him to bring out the desire in her. Inwardly, she had craved for him to touch her again and longed for the intimacy of that night more times than she could count. Inez recalled with warmth how he made her feel beautiful and loved when they conceived Elena Rose, and despite all the fear and insecurity that followed later, Inez had known at that moment, she loved him and always would. Even though they were married for almost two months, Buck respected her need to recover from Elena's birth and did not push her into a physical relationship until she was ready for it. While it was true, she did need the time, Inez could not deny she dreamed of being with him again, wanting to run her fingers through his dark hair and feel his lips against her own.

Buck felt his heart beat faster when she allowed him to continue. Sliding on top of her, he gazed into her eyes and saw the naked lust mirroring his own. A surge of excitement coursed through him at the realisation, filling his cock with the anticipation of finally sinking into her depths. Even now, just the feel of her soft, warm body pressing against his, hardened Buck beyond belief. For so many nights, he dreamed of pleasuring her again, repeating that moment of perfection between them when they finally surrendered to each other.

Buck knew that the reason he had the success he did with women was mostly due to his determination to make them feel as if they were more to him than just a night's dalliance. In his own way, Buck tried to make every woman he bedded come away from the evening feeling as if for the one night, she was the world.

 With Inez, however, it had been different because she had given him the world.

"You are so beautiful," he whispered in her ear as he lowered his lips to her neck, his hands exploring her body as if she were a new discovery he was allowed to touch. Immediately, she responded to his touch with. For a few minutes, Buck did nothing but glide his hands over her body, worshipping every inch of dusky skin and heightening his pleasure knowing she finally trusted him enough to let him love her this way again. He nuzzled on the soft skin of her ear lobe, extracting a pleasured sigh from her lips as his tongue teased the tender flesh until he could feel her pushing harder against him until the full length of his erect cock was pressing into her belly. The sensation of that was enough to make Buck bite down harder, forcing him to remain focused on what he was doing.

Inez shuddered as he felt his teeth on her skin, alternating between gentle nips on her neck to moist laving by his tongue. Her fingers dug into his back as the sensation coursed throughout her body, sending shivery tendrils of tingly delight that awakened every nerve in her body. Her palms slid over the velvet steel of his biceps, circling the curve of shoulder blades before riding the slope of his back to grasp the firm muscles of his rear. She squeezed the flesh in her hands and let out a slow, languid moan at the sensation of taut sinew and muscle.

Achieving mutual pleasure became a need so urgent after so many months apart, both Buck and Inez knew this display of passion could be no other way but savage. Snaking his hand through her luxurious hair, he forced himself to her mouth again and delivered to her a kiss of jarring intensity. No sooner than she had time to breathe, she felt his tongue slid past her teeth once more, searching the warm recess for her own while pulling at her nightdress. When it did not come away quickly enough, Buck ripped the fabric apart and saw her eyes become glassy with lust from that brutality of that action. Buck grinned, realising with perfect clarity how she wanted to be touched.

Inez raised felt his mouth leave hers and felt a surge of anticipation as his mouth started to move down her neck. He tasted the flesh so hungrily; she felt teeth biting into her skin. The pain aroused her even more. Her nails raked across the powerful muscles of his back, generating heat between her thigh at the sensation of taut, firm flesh under her palms. When his lips suddenly ceased its downward descent, the emptiness she felt was maddening. Meeting his eyes, she saw the animal hunger in them despite how tender and mindful he was her needs be met. Impatience, however, forced him to shorten his progress downwards. When he fell down hungrily on her breasts, all other thoughts were pushed from her mind.

He nursed on her hard, not allowing her to become accustomed to the sensation since her soft cries of pleasure gave him all the incentive he needed to increase his pace. Buck continued to suck her nipples past his teeth and swirled his tongue around the erect flesh. Inez was unaware of anything but that tantalising mouth driving her insane with pleasure and unconsciously, her legs parted to give him a more comfortable position between them. Suddenly one hand left her breast, sliding past her stomach. Buck's fingers drifted over the hair of her mound, poised and ready to touch her swelling, erect centre. She arched her back languidly as she felt fingers spreading open her folds and probing her gently.

"Damn, you feel good." Buck manage to whisper as his finger slid inside her.

In truth, she felt more than just good, she was beautiful. When Buck felt her tight inner muscles clench immediately around his finger upon penetration; he almost went dizzy from the sensation. His cock was bursting from the sheer anticipation of embedding itself into that hot, wet channel of heaven. He had to rein in his rampant desires because he wanted this first experience of lovemaking as a married couple to leave an indelible impression in her mind that all their nights would be like this. He wanted Inez never to regret choosing him. Buck could hear her groaning below him, her body moving in waves of undulation as she rode his hand, a slave to the pleasure he was giving her.

Suddenly, he withdrew his hand and tore a sob of disappointment from her. He was soon sliding down her body, tracing a wet line of kisses with his tongue before his hands wrapped reached her thighs. When the rough stubble of his cheek caressed her belly, he felt her shudder before she became still, tensing in anticipation for the pleasure he was about to visit upon her. Buck looked at her for an instant as he was poised over her aching sex, a slow smile stealing across his face that promised her nothing but heart-stopping ecstasy.

Inez felt her breath quicken and could only close her eyes when his mouth finally lowered. Her entire body tightened with pleasure as he burrowed into her quivering sex. His tongue quickly found her erect centre, his lips nipping at the tingling flesh while the stubble on his chin and moustache caressed her outer folds, causing her to groan louder and with more abandon. She felt his tongue probing her slowly, spearing its way inside her as it pressed hard against the hard nub of flesh that drove her insane with feeling each time that he sucked it past his teeth.

Buck's large hands held her hips firmly, forcing her to stay still even though she squirmed in pure sensation. He continued to draw the small node of flesh into his mouth with hard suction. Teasing it between his teeth and laving its tip with the heat of his warm tongue, he could feel her metamorphosis from a woman into a mass of tingling nerve endings. He relished the sounds of every moan and every incoherent plea. Just the taste of her hardened his cock and promised the most shattering climax of his vast experience. He could feel the tightening of his loins bracing itself for the pleasure of sinking deep inside her.

"Oh, Buck!" She gasped as the full vent of her orgasm came upon her and swept her away helplessly. Her body tensed with such raw need, Buck almost came himself when her taste started to fill him. He lapped her juices like a thirst that needed quenching, pleased to know that he had inspired her enough to bring her to this. Giving her little time to recover, he slid upward again covering her body with his. The throes of her passion had strained his control almost to breaking point. The need to satisfy himself was all-consuming as he felt his cock slip through her legs and prod insistently at her slick opening. He braced his hands on either side of her and felt his mouth go dry with aching desire when her legs wrapped around his waist, inviting him to join with her. Inez looked at him, her eyes burning.

"Make love to me, Buck." She sighed, her lips quivering with expectation.

Buck smiled, happy to oblige as he pulled her against him hard, impaling Inez with the full length of his hardness. She cried out softly when he penetrated her ruthlessly, needing more of him, as much as he could fill inside her. Buck rammed into her with all the force he could muster, until the full length of his cock was buried inside her throbbing folds and he could enter no more. He ground his teeth from crying out himself, overwhelmed by her heat, grabbing and teasing him as he started to thrust into her.

Buck did not think making love to her could get any better than it already had. Sliding into her was the most incredible sensation he ever felt, and he had more than enough experience to tell the difference. Inez made the others pale in comparison, but any further thought was swept away by the juggernaut of sensation produced when he started pumping into her body. Until now, it had all been foreplay, shadowy facsimile dogged by doubt and insecurity. There was none of that any more. There were just them and the passion of a lifetime waiting to be extinguished in nights like this.

For Buck, this was not the consummation of his marriage; this was a new existence.

Each stroke into her was pure, unadulterated pleasure, the likes of which made his groan each time he slid into her and ached each time he pulled back to thrust again. Buck became so hard that he was almost sorry for the muscles of melted honey and what they were enduring. He rammed harder, feeling her thighs tighten around his waist until she was biting down from the force of him. Her nails clawing at his back, and the pain created a rush of added pressure that ripped his control asunder. Buck grunted softly, but the constant rhythm of his cock pounding through her wet, oh so damp sex forced him to start gasping or else he would have exploded. The heat of their raw sexual power burned like fire as he pounded into her, harder and harder until he could not think for the sheer pleasure of her body

"Oh, Jesus!" He cried out, unaware that a cry had even passed his lips.

Her resolve disappeared, hearing him. "Buck! Buck! Please don't stop!"

The plea sent him over the edge. Buck went tumbling gratefully, not caring when he had reached the point where he could endure it no more. Giving in to the sensations that had taken him just as fiercely as it had taken her, no matter how desperately he tried to maintain his grip on the shredded remains of his restraint, Buck felt his defences give way. Finally, with an exhausted, almost guttural groan of pleasure, he let himself go.

Buck emptied his seed into the deepest centre of her being. His entire life and soul escaped as he released a torrent of heat into her body and continued to pump as he started descending from the tight plateau of pleasure they had both been carried away. Inez tensed beneath him and then shuddered, her nails sinking into his back and Buck felt warmth around him that was more than just him squeezing out the last drop of his desire into her. He uttered a loud satisfied growl the moment he heard her soft moans became kittenish purrs of delight and collapsed on top of her.

The bones in his body felt as if they had disappeared when he lay against her breast, hearing the soft murmur of her heart beating under the skin. Both their bodies glistening with sweat despite the cool of the night. He could feel her soft breath against his neck while her hands caressed his back with contented satisfaction.

"I love you." She whispered in his ear with a smile.

"I love you, Inez," he pushed himself onto his elbows so that he could look into her face. "I don't ever want you to think that I don't. I feel lucky to have you and our daughter."

She gazed at him curiously, wondering what had brought such sentiment on, even though the moment was profound for both them. Still, these were things he had said before, but now it felt deeper somehow. "We're lucky to have you." She said with a smile. "No," she corrected herself after a moment. "I'm lucky to have you. We've been married only a short time, but I've come to realise just how lucky I am."

Buck rested her head against her chest once again. "I'm the lucky one." He whispered under his breath. "I'm the lucky one."

***********

God, she felt sick.

There had to be some advantage to having delivered one child in a person's lifetime to make the next one a little easier to cope with. As Mary Larabee found herself seated at the kitchen table, trying to down a cup of tea in the strange hope it would not make her violently ill, she wondered if the next seven months was going to be an ordeal of vomit and nausea. As it was, her nerves were shot to hell, and her temperament was even worse. For the last three days, morning sickness as it was laughably called made its arrival into the Larabee household. She supposed she ought to be mildly grateful she did not have to endure this humiliating experience with Chris in the house as well.

Just one humorous remark made at her expense would have gotten him killed with his own guns.

As she sipped lightly at the steaming cup of team, which she had begrudgingly made without the benefit of either sugar or milk, since the taste only tipped the precarious balance her stomach existed upon for the worst, she wondered when Chris would be home. The telegram she received from him this morning revealed the good news Vin had been cleared of all charges. While Mary burned with curiosity at the specifics of his freedom, Mary was more concerned about when Chris was getting home. She did not get the chance to tell him about the baby before his departure and now wished she had. The last week left Mary wondering how he would take the news of a new baby. After all, they had not been married for very long, and it was a big step.

She swirled the teaspoon within her cup and wondered if there was anything left to eat since her stomach was a minefield of nausea one moment and ravenous hunger the next. Since the cycle had her on hungry, she pushed herself away from the table and went to the pantry, rummaging through the shelves for anything fit to eat and found to her pleasure there was still some marble cake leftover from dinner two nights ago. It was a little stale, but with copious amounts of jam, it could be edible. Gathering to her anything to make the confectionary taste better, Mary withdrew from the larder. She was carrying a collection of jars in her hands while supporting the cake plate in her mouth.

Mary had not taken more than a step back towards the table again when she stopped short at the sight of Chris standing at the doorway to the kitchen, watching her progress with arms folded and an expression on his face she could only call indifferent.

"Ch...........!" She exclaimed through the plate between her teeth. 

Chris, who was carrying a brown paper bag, came forward and pulled the plate from her lips before putting it on the table. Without batting an eye, he leaned forward and kissed her gently. "Cravings started already?"

Mary met his eyes and exclaimed. "How did you know?"

"Alex let it slip," Chris admitted, wondering if she had any idea how much he wanted to frame this moment. "Don't be too hard on her, she's had a tough time." He said quickly so Mary would not be upset.

"It's okay," Mary frowned as she motioned him to help her with her collection. "I wanted to tell you before you went but with everything that happened..."

"I know," he said casually, having come to terms with a lot of things in the last few days to know a baby was not as frightening as he thought and as long as Mary was with him, he could handle anything. "Everything was a little crazy with Vin's trouble and all."

Mary sat down and stared at him puzzled, expecting a different reaction from the one she was receiving. He appeared to be very at ease with it when she expected all kinds of demons to emerge with this kind of news. Instead, he took his hat off and draped it at its familiar corner on one of the kitchen chairs before retrieving one of the cups in the cupboard, sitting down to join her, still holding that brown paper bag in his hand. Finally, curiosity got the better of her and Mary had to ask.

"Chris, say something."

"Ain't much to say." He replied as he continued to pour himself tea. He was glad it was not coffee. At this time of the night, he would never get to sleep, and he needed a few good hours after riding in the saddle all day. "Baby's coming."

"Are you okay with it?" She started feeling nervous about his manner. Goddamn! She hated it when he got all enigmatic like this. Even after almost of year of marriage, Mary could never see past that particular mask when he chose to wear it.

"You know when I was in Tascosa," he started to say. "I had to buy supplies for the trip home, and I was listening to these two women talking."

"Chris!" Mary exclaimed exasperated, knowing her frustration had as much to do with her pregnancy as it had to do with his being completely evasive. She did not want to know about local gossip in Tascosa but rather his opinion on their new arrival in spring.

Chris seemed unperturbed by her outburst and continued speaking. Now that he was finished with pouring his tea, he began picking up the jars in front of Mary and sliding them to the other side of the table idly, as if his hands were looking for something to do. "They were mostly talking about women's stuff, you know dances, whose going with who, who got married and whose having kids. I didn't pay much attention to it."

"Then why are we talking about it?" She groaned. "I want to know how you feel about the baby!"

"Seems to me they all had these funny opinions on what was the best way to get through pregnancy." He continued as if he had not heard a word she had said.

"By not infuriating your wife." Mary glared at him with menace.

"I picked enough to know that these," he took the last bottle away from her and then to her horror the cake too, "are gonna make you so sick you will be puking your guts for the next month." He said firmly and pushed the brown paper bag in her direction.

"What's this?" Mary frowned, hating the fact that he was right because she knew that piece of matronly advice herself from when she had been carrying Billy.

"Open it," he ordered and expected to be obeyed, no matter how temperamental she was.

She gave him a look through narrowed eyes and reached into the bag, before discovering that it was filled with plain biscuit crackers. "Crackers? You're making me eat crackers?"

"Get used to them." Chris smiled deviously. "You're going to be eating a lot of them for the next month."

***********

TWO WEEKS LATER...

"Now you are sure you've kept an eye on our clothes this time?" Alex stared at Vin sternly as they wallowed inside the cooling water inside the water tower at the ranch.

"Will you quit worrying?" Vin retorted. "I told you, they're safe." This time Vin had taken the extreme precaution to let no one know they were coming out here tonight. However, after Alex's revenge upon Buck, Ezra and JD, Vin seriously doubted they would be facing a repeat of that incident. Tonight, it was just the two of them under a clear sky with the stars out in force. Once again, they found themselves, naked and alone, which was a good thing to be when they were young and very much in love with nothing but time on their hands.

For the rest of the night at least.

"Okay," she relented, relaxing enough to enjoy being here with him, trying to get past the insecurities engendered by her last visit to this watery confines. "I trust you." She said with a smile and swam towards him. Vin enclosed her wet body with his hands as she neared him and for a few minutes, lost all sense of time as their mouths met in a playful dance of passion. 

"So," he said when he was finally able to leave those beautiful lips to put forward the question on his mind ever since they returned from Tascosa. "Do you still want to marry me, now that I'm sort of respectable?" He was careful to stay away from the subject of Amanda Kincaid, even though Alex was feeling better about it now that she was home.

Chris had been right about that.

Alex had started to feel better once she returned to Four Corners. Being home did a great to alleviate the guilt she still felt and allowed her to come to terms with what had happened in Tascosa, especially with her friends rallying around her and offering their support. Today was the first time in days Vin had seen her actually relaxed enough to suggest they have this little interlude alone. He wanted to discuss their future, now they were in a position to finally do something about it.

"Hell yeah, cowboy." Alex chuckled, wondering how he could even imagine that would ever change, no matter what had happened in Tascosa.

"We're done courtin' long enough."

"True." Alex agreed with him on that point. "I'm sick of you creeping out my house. I want you legally obligated to be there." She teased and started kissing him again. For a few seconds, Vin indulged her passion as her mouth devoured his and felt himself stiffen in excitement.

"Aw hell, when you put it that way," he mumbled through the heavenly taste of her lips on his.

"It's all in the asking," Alex laughed and started nibbling on his ear when she suddenly asked. "By the way, where did you put our clothes?"

"Someplace, no one will ever think to find it." He said proudly and fell silent abruptly as if he had made a most unpleasant discovery.

Alex tensed. "Where did you put them, Vin?"

Vin did not answer once again and prompted Alex to push herself away from him so that she could look him in the eye when she repeated her question. He looked back at her troubled.

"Where did you put it, Vin?" Alex demanded, more insistent about knowing now.

"I forgot." He said reluctantly.

"You're kidding me, right?" She squeaked in horror.

"It will come to me in a minute." He assured her and wondered whether this water was deep enough for drowning. He better pray it was not.

"In a minute! This from the man who's supposed to be the best tracker in the Territory!" She sputtered furiously. "Tanner, if you don't find my clothes in two minutes, you will not be finding anything EVER AGAIN!"

"It will come to me.....!"

THE END

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