From the moment Ezra dismounted at the livery Vin maintained a spot at the gambler's side.  He didn't speak, just offered an
arm in a subtle fashion and gave direction when necessary.

Standish's exceptional silence on the trip back to town did not go unnoticed by Tanner.  Whether it was reflecting a good mood
or a bad one, the southerner was usually far from reserved when it came to vocalizing his opinions.  And while Vin would
normally have welcomed the quiet companionship, now it just managed to rekindle the concern he had been able to extinguish
after effecting Ezra's release earlier in the evening.

With reluctance borne of that same concern, Vin left Ezra and Nathan in the gambler's hotel room.  But not before finding
reasons to stay and help as Standish slowly stripped off his boots, jacket and various weapons.  Tanner noticed for the first time
the slice at his friend's throat and the tentative manner with which the southerner moved and felt a familiar anger rising.

The tracker found himself regretting the death of the two bounty hunters simply because it would have been satisfying to return
the punishment inflicted upon himself and Ezra that evening.  Vin knew Standish would toss off any inquiries regarding his well
being so Tanner exited the room with a simple parting, but one that he hoped his friend would read the intended meaning into.

"I'm across the hall.  See ya in the mornin'."

Nathan offered a tired smile, "Good night, Mr. Tanner."

And an equally tired, but hopeful sounding drawl, "Thank you, Vin."

The tracker didn't turn around for the second response but smiled as he closed the door behind him.
---

Ezra awoke the next morning silently cursing the sunlight that streamed through the thin curtains of his rented room.  And exactly
four seconds after he opened his eyes an uncharacteristic whoop reverberated off the walls of his room; waking the young
Easterner asleep on the floor and an unsuspecting elderly gentlemen next door.

When Vin met up with Ezra and Nathan for breakfast the tracker refrained from saying 'I told you so', but he didn't bother to
hide the grin which said it for him.  And Ezra was so positively elated to be able to see that smug smile, he didn't even bother to
try to make it go away.

The gambler had been in an exquisite mood since waking and Tanner almost pitied the deputy as Ezra headed off to weave his
web of half-truths and five-dollar words.  While the tracker was not usually one to approve of his friend's less than upstanding
tendencies, Vin regretted wholeheartedly his inability to witness the fleecing of the lawman.

Ezra's self-appreciating grin was even more obvious as he greeted Vin and Nathan saddling the horses at the livery.

Vin finished filling the canteens as he raised an eyebrow at his friend.  "Guess there weren't any problems."

"It is almost disturbin' to think that the sheriff left such a rube in a position of authority.  The man's about as sharp as a box a'
squirrels.  However, I have not managed to maintain my well bein' for this long by underestimatin' anyone, so if you gentlemen
are ready…"

He lifted himself into Chaucer's saddle and accepted his water-filled canteen from Vin.  As they rode out Nathan couldn't help
but question the ease with which Standish was able to assure the deputy that nothing was amiss.

"You're sure he believed you?"

"Mr. Norwich, there are week-old barn kittens in Nebraska that I would have had a more difficult time convincin'."

"But what if…"

"Ah-ah, it is futile to worry over that which has not occurred.  We shall burn that bridge when we come to it."  Ezra flashed a
smile wide enough to show his gold tooth and spurred Chaucer into a trot.

The other two men followed suit, Vin grinning and shaking his head at his friend's cockiness.  "Don't worry, kid, you can believe
him.  'Sides, ol' Ezra's slicker than a newborn calf."

The gambler shot a disgusted look at Tanner.  "I will assume that was intended as a compliment, Mr. Tanner, and that I may
accept it as such."

Nathan had witnessed several verbal exchanges of this sort between the two men and got the distinct impression that this was
their way of expressing their friendship.

"At least calves are appealing, Mr. Standish.  There are worse slick things that he could have equated you to."

Vin snickered quietly, "Nothin' he ain't been equated to before, prob'ly."

Ezra turned a sharp eye on both them, "I believe the road to Texas is still an option."

Nathan assumed the comment was meant only for him and did his best to suppress a smile while focusing on the scenery ahead.
Vin just laughed again, the attempted threat seeming even more harmless as he thought of Ezra's unwillingness to admit to his
most recent effort of helping someone.
----

They rode on through the afternoon, stopping briefly along a snaking river to rest and water the horses.  Ezra and Nathan had
talked through most of the day, discussing the finer points of literature, cuisine and the south.  For the most part, Vin
unconsciously blocked them out, riding along, silently absorbing the scenery.

Though he did find it ironic that here was a fella from the south by the name of Nathan that Ezra had still not managed to run out
of things to talk about with.  Yet you get the gambler around another fella fitting that same description and they have a hard time
finding enough in common to fill a bread sack.

Norwich's voice broke Vin from his trance.

"Smells like rain."

Ezra stared at the young man riding next to him.  "Smells like rain?  What on earth does that mean, 'smells like rain'?  You see
rain, my dear boy.  You feel rain. It is not traditionally somethin' that is recognized via one's olfactory senses."

Vin smiled at the southerner's showing of his city upbringing.  "It's that smell that gets kicked up when the rain hits real dry
ground.  Look up ahead, you can see it movin' north, south, crossin' our path a few miles up."

Dark, hazy skies and gray vertical streaks were evident over the horizon where the sun had begun to set.

"Well, then," Standish countered, "one should say 'it smells like rain hittin' dry ground'."

Nathan looked at Tanner, "Is he always like this?"

Vin tipped his hat away from his eyes and offered a small shrug, "Usually he's worse."

Tanner ignored the dark glance cast in his direction and looked down the embankment on their right to where the river flowed.
"Looks to be a decent place to make camp.  Rain should be gone by mornin', and the sun'll be settin' soon; no sense ridin' in
bad weather and the dark if we can avoid it."

The tracker guided Peso down to the water, this time ignoring the vocalization aimed at him.  "Come now, Vin, you'll lead this
young man to believe that doin' things that make sense is somethin' you're accustomed to."
----

Nathan helped gather wood for a meal fire and was impressed when Vin came back from the brush with a rabbit and some
form of prairie bird.  The young man was considerably less delighted, however, when he caught glimpses of Tanner skinning,
gutting and cleaning the creatures.  He'd never really thought about how the animals got from nature to his restaurant dinner
plate.

Ezra had even assisted Vin with part of the process and though the tracker raised an eyebrow when the gambler took up the
bird for plucking, he held his tongue, not wishing to discourage the help.

Standish, however, caught the move and responded without looking at his friend.  "Contrary to popular belief, there have been
times when I have been required to sustain myself on less than exquisite fare."

Vin, too, kept his attention focused on the task at hand, "Don't doubt that, just never thought I'd witness it."  The tracker
watched Standish skillfully strip the bird of its top and pinfeathers.  "Shoot, our Nathan is gonna wanna check my head and eyes
when I describe this one."

"He'll be checkin' your pulse first.  Because it you dare attempt to breathe a word of this to anyone…I'll shoot you."  The light
tone in the southerner's voice was more than apparent.

The two men fell silent again but Tanner had a strong feeling that Ezra's willingness to assist with the less-than-gentlemanly chore
was due mostly to one or two realizations that may have come to him since his bout with sightlessness.  Vin smiled to himself,
'Yeah, Ezra, I'm glad you're alright, too.'
----

A hard boot nudged Ezra's leg for the third time.

The gambler had made an unconscious effort to disregard the first two attempts to wake him.  But the third, accompanied by a
familiar, albeit impatient, voice finally pulled him from sleep.

"Ezra, if ya'll don't get up now, ya ain't gettin' any breakfast."

Standish didn't bother to pull the blanket from where he held it up over his head.  "All you've done is light a fire."

A small smile turned one corner of Vin's mouth up, "Yeah, and I'm goin' now to get somethin' ta eat.  And the only way I'm
gonna share is if there's coffee when I get back."

Ezra muttered something which was muffled by the thick wool of his blanket.
 

"If you show me where it is, Mr. Tanner, I'll be happy to get it started."

The tracker looked over his shoulder to see Nathan sitting up and doing his best to look awake.  Vin would much rather have
seen Ezra get up and contribute but he figured it would be more trouble than it was worth so he conceded to the boy.

"In my bag.  And the name is Vin, kid."  The tracker shook his head as he left camp, 'Larabee, you owe me for this one.'

Norwich rolled from his spot on the ground and gathered up his blankets before seeing to the coffee.  Ezra did his best to return
to the dreamless repose he had dwelt in before Vin saw fit to nudge him awake, but to no avail.  He eventually rose, moving
with a stiff slowness as the strain of his bruised ribs made itself apparent once more.

The southerner settled himself next to Nathan who was staring at the fire's flames as they licked up around the brewing pot.
Ezra observed the dark shadows under the boy's eyes and the slightly creased brow that registered as a worried confusion.
The gambler found himself speaking aloud the conclusion he had drawn.

"You may have them for a considerable time."

Norwich turned his head toward Ezra, a quizzical expression on his face.

"The dreams.  I assume your subconscious self decided to recognize your actions of the other night."

Nathan swallowed hard and stared again at the fire.  "I didn't even think about it yesterday, it's like it...didn't seem real."

He pulled absently at a lock of his shoulder length hair, "Last night, I was there, all over again."  His voice fell to a whisper, "I
could feel the knife going in...God, it was a dream, how could it seem so real."

"Because it was, my dear boy.  And now you have two choices, either you accept what happened and believe that what you
did saved the life of a good man.  Or you dwell on it and wonder for the rest of your days what you could have done that would
have made the outcome more palatable.  Neither is easy, but one will keep you sane."

"I killed a man...the Bible says--"

"The Bible says a great many things, but I, however, have never been in a saloon and found the Good Book in a dark corner
attemptin' to erase with whiskey the memories of its actions."

Ezra paused and for a brief moment wished Josiah were there.  For as convoluted as that man could be he certainly had the gift
for putting things into perspective.  But the preacher wasn't there and Standish would be damned before he'd allow this boy to
let the saving of Vin's life become some sort of albatross around his neck.

So the gambler drew from his own experiences and spoke softly to the young man.  "I certainly don't profess to know the
unequivocal definition of what is right and what is wrong, but I do know that those dreams will go away in time, that they will
seem less vivid.

"You may, at some time in your life, do somethin' to cause them to resurface.  But how you deal with them now, that I do know,
will effect you for a very long time."

Ezra rose from the ground and stretched carefully, "I, personally, am glad you killed the son of a bitch.  Otherwise it would be
one of us out there attemptin' to retrieve some form of breakfast from this wasteland."

The southerner made his way to the edge of the river to wash and hoped that his words would help guide the boy in a good
direction.

A shot suddenly echoed across the plain, followed closely by a second. 'Yes, sir. Very glad.'
----

Vin returned with two birds and as Nathan stood staring at them, the boy came to the conclusion that he wouldn't have been
able to name the fowl if his life depended on it.  Of course, excluding chicken and duck, Norwich wasn't sure what other game
birds he would be able to identify.

But a lack of knowledge hardly deterred the boy, and he offered to help Tanner pluck and clean their breakfast.  And while it
took Nathan double the time to strip his bird, Vin made sure to let the young man do it himself, offering only the occasional
word of assistance.

--------

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