Josiah eyed the man before him seeing recognition in his eyes.
"Ain't you the..." the man began.
Sanchez belted him with his left hand and caught him as he fell. "Shoulda prayed when ya had the chance," he said with a grin.
Buck Wilmington ducked under the laundered clothes and came up short as a gun was cocked next to his left cheek.
"You can move or you can live," the man holding the gun said just before he sank to his knees.
Buck looked at Nathan as the man holding the gun slumped to the ground. Nathan smiled and walked away. "That was gonna be a tough choice," Wilmington said as he moved away from the downed man.
JD opened the tent flap, his eyes widening and his mouth opening as the lady opened her robe.
"Oh... come on in, Honey," she said.
JD Dunne smiled and turned away.
Mary lay on the dirty bed in Wicks' tent. Her eyes wet with unshed tears as she struggled against her bonds. A sudden noise at the tent flap drew her attention and she watched as one man hit another, instantly recognizing the man who stepped into the tent.
Chris Larabee hurried to the bed and began untying the ropes that held the blond woman captive. He looked into her eyes as he asked. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm alright... I'm fine," she said her voice sounding strange as she fought to hold the tears at bay.
Chris continued to remove the ropes that entrapped her, all the while seething at the man who'd done this to her. He pulled her up from the bed, holding her against his body. He held her tightly as they made their way through the open tent flap. The sound of a gun being cocked to his right grabbed his attention and Chris turned his body shielding the woman from harm.
Wicks stood before them, gun held straight out in front of his body, aimed directly at the two fleeing people. "Welcome back to Wickstown," he laughed harshly.
Chris shoved Mary behind him as he faced the angry man who'd abused his 'Whores' and taken Mary as a bargaining chip to get them back.
"This is almost too easy," he laughed as he pulled the trigger.
Chris felt the bullet enter his chest as he turned to protect Mary. The pain was instantaneous and he cried out as his legs gave way and he felt his body folding to the ground. He heard Mary scream beside him as more gunshots rang out. He thought he saw Wicks fall but couldn't be sure his eyes didn't deceive him.
Pain was everywhere. It invaded his senses becoming his whole world. His chest constricted as air struggled to gain entry to his lungs. A deep burning sensation took control of his upper body. "Mary," he cried, remembering she was still in danger. He tried to get to his feet and protect the woman. It was his fault she'd been kidnapped in the first place. He'd told her the girls had a right to live in Four Corners if they wanted to. Now she was in danger because of that boast.
"It's ok, Chris, Wicks is dead" Mary cried, unable to stop the tears from flowing as she tried to hold the man down.
Vin Tanner knelt beside the trembling woman. "Nathan!" he shouted as the gunfire that had been a constant in the past five or ten minutes died down. Suddenly the only sounds were the soft sobbing of the terrified woman and the moans from the injured man she held. "Nathan!" Tanner yelled again and this time was rewarded by the sight of the healer hurrying towards him.
"Let me take a look, Ma'am," Jackson said as he knelt beside the injured man.
Mary looked into the eyes of the healer and wondered if he'd be able to help the man she held.
"Josiah, get her out of the way," Jackson ordered as he watched Vin lift Chris's upper body from her arms.
"No! Please I want to stay," Mary Travis cried.
"We're in the way, Mrs. Travis. Nathan needs room to work," Sanchez said as he led her away from the gruesome site.
"S...sorry, M...Mary. M...my fault," Chris said as he held his left hand over the bullet wound in his upper chest.
"Don't try to talk, Chris," Jackson warned as he pulled the hand away, causing the injured man to cry out.
"There's so much blood, Nathan," Tanner said worriedly.
"I know," Jackson said as he tore open the dark, blood soaked shirt. "Hold him still, Vin."
"Chris!" Wilmington cried as he and JD joined the others in front of the tent. An anxious look from Nathan Jackson warned him his friend was in bad shape. "Who did this?"
"Wicks," Tanner said as he watched the healer work on the wound in his friend's upper right chest.
"Damn that man! Where is he?" Wilmington asked.
"Dead," Tanner answered.
"Oh, God, h...hurts," the injured blond cried out as Nathan lifted him to check for an exit wound.
"I know it does, Chris. JD get my saddlebags," Jackson ordered. "We have to get him off the ground. The bullet's still in there and I need to get it out."
JD looked at his mentor and without a word hurried towards the horses.
Ezra Standish hurried to the huddled group of men. He could see Mary Travis crying against Sanchez's chest and knew things were dismal.
"Mr. Jackson."
"What, Ezra," Jackson asked as he tried to staunch the flow of blood.
"I think it would be prudent if we got Mr. Larabee out of here. Wicks' associates are already talking about a lynching."
"Can't move Chris like this, Ez," Jackson said as he lifted the cloth from the wound.
"We have to get him somewhere safe or those men will kill him," Standish said.
"G...go," Larabee's pain filled voice ordered.
"Let's get him in that tent," Jackson said as he pointed to the tent Mary had been held in.
"No! G...get out of h...here," Chris told them.
"Ain't leavin' ya, Pard," Tanner said as he continued to hold the older man.
"H...have to," the blond mumbled as he went limp in Tanner's arms.
"Nathan!" Wilmington cried.
Jackson felt the blond's neck and was relieved to find a pulse. "It's ok, he's just passed out."
"Here you go, Nathan," JD said as he returned with the healer's saddlebags.
Jackson took the saddlebags and turned to the others. "We need to get him inside where I can work on him," he said. "Vin, Buck, you two take his head. Ezra, JD, you two get his legs. Come on move it!" he ordered.
Even unconscious Chris cried out as his body was lifted off the ground and carried into the bed he'd so recently rescued Mary Travis from. His shirt was removed, revealing the bullet hole for all to see.
Mary pulled away from Sanchez and hurried to Chris's side. "What do you want me to do, Nathan?" she asked.
Jackson took in the haggard look on the blond woman's face and asked, "You sure you're up to this?"
"Yes," the woman assured him as she placed her hand on the injured man's cheek.
The other men noticed the intimate gesture and averted their eyes.
"Alright," Jackson said as he laid out his instruments. "Ezra, you and JD get me some water and whiskey. Josiah, help me move the bed into the middle of the room. Buck, Vin, I'm going to need you to help hold him down when the time comes. He's gonna buck like an untried horse when I probe for that bullet."
"We got trouble!" JD shouted as he followed Standish back into the tent. "Wicks' men are coming this way," he said as he turned and pulled his gun.
"How many?" Wilmington asked as he joined the younger man at the flap.
"Half a dozen or so," Dunne answered.
"Larabee, you and your men better get out here now!" a man shouted as Sanchez, Standish, and Tanner joined Wilmington and Dunne.
"What are we gonna do?" Dunne asked.
"I'll talk to them," Sanchez said as he moved past the other men.
Tanner looked to the injured man and back to the ex-preacher before speaking softly. "I'm coming with you, Josiah. You guys watch our backs."
Sanchez and Tanner stood before the six angry men. "What do you want?" Sanchez asked.
"I know you you're the preacher guy. We want Larabee. Send him out here now!" the leader of the motley group ordered.
"Can't do that," Sanchez said.
"Why not? Is he a coward?" the leader said, gaining confidence as he heard snickers from his own men.
"Chris ain't no coward," Tanner said.
"Then tell him to get out here!"
"He can't. Wicks shot him," Sanchez told him.
"Is he dead? Cause if he ain't he soon will be and so will the rest of you," the leader snapped as he drew his gun and aimed it at the two men.
Tanner dove to the right as a bullet ripped through his sleeve. He felt it burn as it tore a furrow across his arm.
Sanchez dove to the left as bullets passed over his head.
Wilmington, Dunne, and Standish fired from their position just inside the tent. Buck watched as two men, including the man who'd been doing all the talking fell to the ground.
"G...get me up."
"You're not going anywhere, Chris," Jackson snapped as he pushed the man back into the bed.
"D...Damnit, Nathan, I...I can h...help," the pale blond stammered.
"Not now, Chris, let the others handle it. You need to lay still till I get that bullet out."
"S...shoulda left me here and got away. Wicks has a lot of men working for him. A...angry men. G...get Mary outta h...here," he ordered as he grimaced in pain.
"One of you get over here. I gotta get the bullet out and stop the bleeding," Jackson called over his shoulder.
"You go, Mr. Wilmington," Standish said as he fired at the retreating men, smiling as another man dropped to the ground clutching his arm.
"You two watch it," Buck snarled as he hurried to help Jackson with the injured man. "What do you want me to do?"
"Here, Chris, drink some of this," the healer said as he poured a small amount of Laudanum into the man's mouth. "I'll need you to hold him down now, Buck," Jackson said as he heard more bullets exchanged outside. He worried about the two men who'd gone out to speak with the group, but set it aside as he lifted a probe from his instruments. "Chris, I'm gonna have to get that bullet now,"
"K," the blond said weakly.
"Bite down on this, Pard," Wilmington said as he placed a folded clean cloth between the man's teeth.
"T...thanks," Chris said as he braced himself for the new torture about to begin.
Nathan Jackson pressed the tiny instrument into the wound. He heard the muffled cries coming from his patient and bit his lip as he the probe sank deeper into the wound. "Hold him tight, Buck! Mrs. Travis talk to him!" he snapped as he continued to search for the elusive bullet.
"Mr. Larabee, you promised you'd be there when Billy comes home next month," she said as she fought the tears that streamed from her eyes ever since the blond had been shot.
Chris concentrated on the woman kneeling at his left side. He felt each movement of the probe as his friend continued to search blindly for the tiny piece of metal that caused him so much pain. Her voice soothed him as he looked into her caring eyes.
Buck watched Larabee's eyes, hoping the glassy appearance was from the laudanum and not blood loss. Even to his untrained eyes there seemed to be too much of it and he hoped the man he held would find the strength to make it through.
"Easy, Chris, I got it!" Jackson exclaimed as he pulled the smashed metal from the wound.
Chris cried out in anguish as the bullet popped from the wound.
"Hey, Stud, all done," Wilmington soothed.
"Buck, we need you over here. Vin and Josiah are pinned down," Dunne yelled.
"Go ahead, Buck, I can handle it from here," Jackson said.
Wilmington moved back to help the others, shocked by the amount of holes in the canvas tent. Even more shocked that no one seemed to have been hit. "Where are they?"
'Vin's on the right, Josiah's on the left," Dunne informed him.
"We've got those miscreants pinned down but they've also got us pinned down," Standish said.
"I'm gonna go around back, see if I can come up behind them," Wilmington told them. "You guys try to keep them where they are."
"Be careful, Mr. Wilmington," Standish said.
"I will," Buck assured the gambler as he headed for the back of the tent. He didn't miss the worried look the blond man threw his way.
"I'm almost done, Chris," Jackson said as he finished cleaning the wound.
"G...gotta get M...Mary outta here," Chris pleaded. "T...they'll h...hurt her."
"I'm fine, Mr. Larabee," Mary assured him as she used a cloth to wipe away the beads of sweat on his brow.
"Try to sleep, Chris," Jackson said as he watched Buck take his tiny knife and cut through the heavy canvas.
"No, gotta h...help," Larabee gasped as he tried to get off the bed.
"Oh, no you don't. You're stayin' put," Jackson ordered. "So help me, Chris, I'll tie you down if I have to."
"Then go help them."
"I've got to finish cleaning the wound," Jackson said. "The others are taking care of it."
Buck pushed through the opening he'd made and began to move around the side of the tent. He could hear the sounds of gunfire from the front as he crept from one tent to the next.
Two men crouched behind a water trough firing at the men protecting Chris Larabee, Nathan Jackson, and Mary Travis. "Drop em, Boys," Wilmington snarled. He fired quickly as the two men turned their guns on him. Neither man had a chance to get a shot off as Buck's bullets struck them both in the chest. "That's two down," he said with a grin.
"Hold it right there."
Buck turned to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Don't try it," the lone man ordered. "I'm here to offer you and your men a way out."
Buck looked at him suspiciously, "Who the hell are you?"
"It's not important who I am," the handsome man told him. "You and your friends did me a favor and I always return favours in kind."
"What favour," Wilmington asked suspiciously.
"One of you killed my partner," the man grinned. "Oh, don't worry I'm not gonna do anything to you but Wicks's men probably will. I'll get them out of the way and give you time to get out of here."
"We've got a seriously injured man in that tent. He can't be moved."
"Then you'll all die," the man said as he turned away.
"Wait," Buck snapped, seeing the chance to get them all out of here slipping away.
"What?"
"We'll leave. You just make sure you keep Wicks' men away from here."
"I told you I would. Go get your friends and clear out while I get those two out of here," the man said as he hurried in the direction of the shots.
Buck watched him go and turned back towards the tent where his friends were waiting. He slipped back inside through the opening he'd made. "Hold it, Nathan, it's just me," he hissed as he heard a gun being cocked.
"Good way to get yourself killed, Buck," the healer told him.
"I'll try to remember that. How is he?"
"I'm fine, Buck," the blond answered.
"Sure you are, Stud," Wilmington looked at the front of the tent as the gunfire suddenly stopped. "JD, tell Vin and Josiah to get in here. Ezra, keep an eye on things."
"What's going on, Buck?" Jackson asked.
"I'll explain everything when Josiah and Vin get in here," as he said it the two missing men stepped into the tent.
"Well?" Jackson asked.
"We got to get out of here."
"How? There's no way we can move Chris," Jackson said angrily.
"There's no choice, Nathan, if we don't leave now none of us are gettin' outta here."
"What makes you think we can get outta here now?" Tanner asked as he knelt beside the injured man.
"Wicks had a partner," Wilmington informed them and watched as his words sank in.
"Damn!" Chris swore from the bed. "Y...you guys gotta g...go," he gasped.
"I ain't leavin' ya, Chris," the tracker said.
"No one's leavin' him, Vin," Wilmington promised. "We're all going together."
"And just how do you propose to do that?" Jackson asked.
"I'll carry Chris in front of me," Wilmington answered.
"He shouldn't be moved," the healer said as he watched the blond grimace as he moved on the small bed.
"Nathan, I'm telling you there's no choice. We've got to get outta here before those men come back with reinforcements."
"He's right, N...Nathan. Get me up," Larabee ordered.
"Now just wait one damned minute, Chris. Ya jest stay put till we figure this out," Tanner snapped.
"I think it would be prudent if I were to bring the horses to the back of the tent. That way we can leave without anyone seeing us. If we are leaving that is," Standish said.
"We're leaving," Larabee assured him, his voice edged with determination.
"It's gonna be hard on you, Brother," Sanchez said.
"There's no choice. Buck, help Ezra with the horses. We'll be ready when you get back," the blond said keeping the pain out of his voice as he struggled to get off the bed.
"Lie still, Chris, if we're gonna do this thing then you have to let us do all the work," Jackson said.
"Alright," the blond said as he looked up at the young man kneeling next to a quiet Mary Travis. His eyes showed his shock as he noticed Vin's arm for the first time. "You're hurt," he said as he reached for the younger man, only to be overcome with pain from his own injury.
"Just a scratch," Tanner assured him.
"Let me take a look, Vin," Jackson ordered, all healer once again.
"It'll keep, Nathan."
"Do you guys know how tired I am of hearing that? Just shut up and let me take a look," Jackson snapped as he helped the younger man out of his coat. "Mary, pass me the whiskey," he said as he saw the deep furrow in the tracker's upper arm.
"Here you are, Nathan," Mary said as she passed the healer the half bottle.
Nathan poured a liberal amount over the wound and heard the sharp intake of breath from his second patient. "I'll just put a bandage on it till we get back home. It'll probably need stitches."
"Thanks, Nate. Anything happening out there, JD?"
"Nothing," Dunne answered as he kept watching for signs of trouble.
"Keep your eyes open," Tanner ordered.
"I will, Vin," Dunne told him.
"You boys ready to go? Oh and you too Mrs. Travis," Wilmington asked as he stuck his head through the tear in the canvas.
"No, but we don't seem to have much choice," Jackson said as he looked at his patient. "Remember what I said, Chris, let us do all the work."
"Yes, Sir!"
"Josiah, Buck, help me get him on his feet," Jackson ordered. "Vin, you stay back with that arm."
Buck placed his arm under the blond's shoulders from the right side while Josiah placed his under from the left side. The two men lifted Chris into a sitting position, ignoring the almost silent moans.
Nathan lifted his legs and pulled them over the side of the bed. "I'm gonna give you a little more Laudanum, Chris, but it's still gonna hurt when we put you on the horse."
"N...nothin' you c...can do b...bout that, Nate," the blond stammered as he tried to catch his breath.
"Drink this," Jackson ordered as he placed the bottle in front of Larabee's mouth.
Chris swallowed the foul tasting liquid and shuddered. "Can't they make that stuff taste better?" he asked, causing the others to laugh.
Jackson draped the black shirt over the man's shoulders and helped him put one arm in the sleeve. He knelt in front of him and did up the buttons, then signalled for Wilmington and Sanchez.
"Lean on us, Brother Chris," Sanchez said as they helped the injured man to his feet.
Chris did as he was told, not because he wanted to, but because he had no choice. He didn't have the strength to stand on his own two feet let alone walk to the horses. He bit his lip, tasting the coppery tang of blood, as he tried to stop any sound from escaping his mouth.
"Come on, JD," Tanner said as he held the canvas for Buck and Josiah to help Chris through.
"Coming!"
Vin helped Mary Travis through the tear and then held it while JD escaped. By the time he stepped through Nathan and Josiah were lifting the injured man onto Wilmington's horse.
"Lean back, Stud," Wilmington said as he wrapped his arms around his friend.
"You can ride with me, Mrs. Travis," Sanchez offered as he climbed on his horse.
"Let's ride," Tanner said as he mounted his own horse. The thunder of hooves marked their exit from Wickstown.
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