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Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: Ain’t mine.
Summary: There's a serial killer on the loose.  Can JD discover who it is before one of the seven
becomes the next victim.
Feedback welcome! adamskm@aol.com

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The mid morning stage roared into Four Corners kicking dust up into the cool late March air as
the four massive steeds were pulled to a stop.  Mary Travis waited anxiously in front of the
post office as passengers started to disembark.  She returned the smile of an elderly gentleman
who quickly turned and walked away.  A middle aged man stepped down tipping his hat, he
paused a moment then continued as he realized she had no interest.  Mary's hand came to her
mouth as she stifled a cry, her excitement no longer contained.  An attractive dark haired woman
exited the stage her eyes lit up as she cried out, "Mary!" The two joyously embraced oblivious to
the people who stared and stepped around them.

Chris and Josiah sat outside the saloon, across the street, witnessing the interaction between the
two women.  Josiah calmly raised his head enough to peer out from below the brim of his worn
hat.  "What's that all about?"

"Beats me," Chris replied seemingly unconcerned.  He tipped his black hat back on his head and
brought his chair back down on its four legs.  Ezra and Buck stepped out of the saloon; Ezra
trying hard to ignore Buck's very animated conversation.  Buck stopped talking as he and Ezra
noticed that Chris and Josiah's attention laid elsewhere, they scanned the street to see what was
holding their attention so intently.  Their eyes alighted on the newcomer that Mary was so
joyously welcoming.  The four gunslingers continued to watch the interaction between Mary and
the very attractive dark haired woman.

Ezra began straightening his tan jacket, slightly dismayed that he wasn't wearing his favorite red
one.  Buck on the other hand was content to just get the dust off his hat. "Well, it appears
that Four Corners is being honored with the presence of yet another vision of loveliness and I
shall now in turn honor her with my magnanimous presence," Ezra boasted to his three
compatriots.

"Saw her first!" Buck yelled as he bounded across the street.

Ezra rolled his eyes at the boorish cowboy, Chris and Josiah just grinned. "I must teach that man
some etiquette," Ezra murmured as he stepped off the boardwalk onto the dirt packed road.

"Well, I guess we should go over and introduce ourselves," Chris mentioned as he stood up,
suddenly curious about the newcomer.

"Yep, I reckon we ought," Josiah replied trying to hide his own curiosity and interest in the
attractive woman.  Out of the corner of his eye Chris caught Josiah quickly smoothing down his
grayish hair.  Chris brought his hand to his mouth to hide the smile that couldn't help appearing.

Buck stepped up to the women interrupting their conversation. "Ah ma'am, Buck Wilmington at
your service."  As an after thought he removed his hat.  Even his mustache couldn't hide his
boyish smile which stretched ear to ear.  Ezra came up behind Buck placing his hand on Buck's
shoulder.  Both women smiled at the handsome men.

"Forgive my friend's rather rustic style," Ezra cut in, stepping in front of Buck who looked ready
to cuff the presumptuous gambler.  Ezra's southern drawl brought a delighted smile to the
dark hair woman's face. "I'm here to welcome you to our quaint little backwater town."  Ezra
swept his hat off and bowed gallantly.  It took all Mary's will power not to laugh out loud.

Ezra's southern hospitality was interrupted by Chris and Josiah who suddenly joined them much
to Ezra's dismay.  "Four is definitely a crowd," Ezra mumbled so only Josiah heard him.

The ex-preacher smiled at the woman and murmured out of the corner of his mouth to Ezra,
"Alls fair in love and war, brother Ezra."  Josiah's smile never leaving his face.

Chris tipped his hat towards the woman and stepped up next to Mary who clasped his upper arm
and interjected, "Mr. Larabee, I'd like to introduce Mrs. Katherine Hen...."

The dark haired woman interrupted Mary, her smile replaced with a somber frown, and a sadness
momentarily lit her dark eyes. "Mary, it's Miss Ashby again." For a moment Mary didn't know
what to say, then continued, some of her earlier exuberance gone.

"Ah, yes, Miss Katherine Ashby, she's an old school friend of mine."  Mary paused trying to
regain some of her composure, her voice returning to normal as she tried to dismiss the recent
uncomfortable moment. "Katherine, I'd like you to meet Chris Larabee."  Mary looked up into
Chris' rugged face. Katherine extended her hand, which Chris graciously took.

"Mr. Larabee, Mary has mentioned you quite frequently in her letters."  Chris gave a sidelong
glance to Mary, who glared good naturally at Katherine, then proceeded to introduce the rest,
ignoring Chris' smirking smile.

"You've met Mr. Buck Wilmington, and these fine gentlemen are Ezra Standish and Josiah
Sanchez."  All three tipped their hats. At that moment Nathan stepped out of the post office
carrying a package under his arm.  Mary immediately intercepted him.  "And this is Nathan
Jackson the town's Healer."

Nathan tipped his hat. "Ma'am."

"I'll have to introduce you later to JD Dunne our Sheriff and Vin Tanner," Mary added.

"Don't count on it," Josiah remarked with a grin, "after being cooped up all winter Vin usually
needs to go and commune with nature for awhile."

"Well, I can certainly understand why Mary stays here in this dusty town," Katherine added as
she eyed each one of the handsome men standing around her. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you.  I
hope to get to know each of you better while I'm here."

"Do you plan on staying long?" Josiah asked.

"Well, that depends." She looked over at Mary. "I do plan on staying on for awhile."

"Come on let's get you settled in at my place, I'm dying for you to meet Billy." Grabbing her by
the arm Mary eagerly urged Katherine away from her infatuated friends.  She turned her head
and called over her shoulder, "Oh Yeah, someone get her bags!"

The five looked at each other a moment then Buck shrugged and grabbed both bags only to have
one taken by Josiah.  "Why you old dog, you," Buck snickered.  Josiah ignored him and hurried
after the two women.  Nathan shook his head and smiled as he walked off.

Chris turned to Ezra.  "Ezra, I thought you of all people would lend a hand to a beautiful woman
and take advantage of the situation."

"Good things come to those who wait, Mr. Larabee and anyway I try an avoid menial labor as
much as I can." Ezra smiled and headed back to the saloon.

Mary was anxious to talk to her friend and after both Josiah and Buck extracted a promise of
dinner from Katherine she shooed them away.  Mary poured coffee as Katherine admired her
small glass figurines that adorned a shelf in her living room.  Mary sat down on the divan placing
the pot of coffee on the table.  She picked up her cup trying to subdue her curiosity.  She noticed
that Katherine looked worn and older then her thirty years.  Katherine turned and sat down on the
other end of the divan picking up her coffee. The silence was deafening.

Finally, Mary couldn't stand it anymore and put her cup down looking straight at Katherine.
"Okay, what happened?"

Katherine took a sip of coffee then slowly lowered her cup and her eyes; it was a moment before
she raised watery brown eyes to meet Mary's crystal blues ones.

"Frank left me," she answered matter-of-factly.

"I don't understand, why?" Mary asked, she could feel her friend's pain and wanted to understand
what happened.  She'd known Mary since they attended school in St. Louis.  Both had
married their childhood sweethearts, Mary and her husband came out west shortly after.
Katherine and Frank stayed in St. Louis. Katherine was of a very affluent family and Mary
always believed that Frank only married her for her family's money.  But Katherine had loved
Frank deeply and Mary kept her thoughts to herself.

Katherine took a deep breath. "He left me for some bar room trollop, I still can't believe it."
Katherine stood up and went back to the figurines picking up a delicate glass doll.  "We'd
been having problems for about a year now.  I wrote you earlier that we were trying to have a
baby.  Well we hadn't had much luck.  I think Frank blamed me.  He started hanging out at the
saloon a lot."  Katherine took another deep breath and continued, "I couldn't stand the looks or
the talk behind my back so I left. I telegraphed you from Tucson before coming here.  I just
needed a place, some hideaway."

"Oh Kat, I'm so sorry,"  Mary replied plaintively her heart went out to her friend.

Katherine raised her hand.  "Please, Mary that's why I left St. Louis I couldn't stand another
you-poor-thing from anyone."  Mary shook her head in understanding.   When her own husband
had died she felt the sad eyes upon her as she walked down the street.

"You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you like," Mary added.  Katherine turned to
Mary her face showing the gratitude she felt.

"Thank you.  It's been a long time, since my marriage to Frank, we have a lot of catching up to
do."

                    *****

The next day, Mary brought Katherine into town and left her in the store looking at material
while she headed over to the church. She found Buck, Chris and Josiah in the process of
replacing a rotting beam.  All seven of the gunslingers routinely worked on refurbishing the old
church.  None really knew why they did this it just seemed like the thing to do.  When Mary
entered the three took a break.

"How's your friend?" Chris asked taking a drink from a canteen. Every time Mary came near
Chris her heart fluttered she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but wasn't
sure how he felt so she kept her feelings to herself.

"She seems to be doing okay, considering," she said. "Her husband left her."

"Sorry to hear that," Josiah voiced, wiping the dirt off his hands, his graying hair covered in dust.
Josiah was the one who initiated the repair work on the church, everyone believed this
was some type of redemption or penance he felt he had to do and they were more than willing to
assist.

"I need to ask you all a favor, please make her feel welcome.
She's come a long way and I think she wants to start over." Mary turned and glared at Buck. "But
not that welcomed, Buck."

Buck put on his most innocent smile, but before he could voice his objection Chris added,
""Don't worry Mary, I'll make sure the men behave themselves,"  His blue eyes turned directly to
Buck, who slumped down in the pew defeated.

"Thank you." Mary smiled up at Chris. "This is hard for her, her family is very prestigious and
I'm sure it was an embarrassment. She's never been a very strong woman, she's always needed a
man."

When Mary returned to the store to meet Katherine she was stunned to see her walking down the
boardwalk with Ezra, listening intently to his southern drawl.  She was tempted to intervene in
case Ezra had other intentions, but then decided against it. Maybe this was just what Katherine
needed she thought.  Katherine did seem stronger than she used to be, the old Katherine would
have been in constant tears and probably just run to daddy. Katherine had always picked the
wrong men to latch on to.  Maybe this is just what she needs to bolster her self-confidence.

                    *****

The days slowly grew longer as the sun tried to warm the last icy breath of winter that still clung
to the air.  The cool air was invigorating and gave Chris a little extra stride in his walk.
Things had been quiet for some time now and Chris knew it wouldn't last, trouble always found
the seven.  As he crossed the street something caused him to turn and look down.  He grinned at
the long haired, buckskin rider coming in, the grin left his face when he noticed Vin leading
another horse with a body draped over the saddle.  Chris met Vin outside the sheriff's office as he
shouted for JD.  JD came out stretching like he had just rose from a nap.

"Where'd you'd find him Vin?"  Chris asked.

Vin dismounted, as JD approached he answered, "I found him just outside town over by the
cliffs.  Strange, it looked like he was preparing for a picnic or somethin'.  His horse was tied and
he had a blanket and some fancy food in the saddlebag."

JD examined the body. "It looks like a single shot to the chest, close range," JD announced. Chris
also took a look.  "You didn't see anyone else out there,  did you Vin?" JD asked.

"Nope, its been just me and the coyotes all week and any tracks were washed away by last night's
rain," Vin replied loosening the cinch on his horse's saddle.

"Well, I guess I'll go and get the coroner."  JD walked off. This was the part of his job he hated
most, now he'd have to find out who this dead guy was and notify his next of kin.

Chris took one last look at the dead man as Vin tied the horses up in front of the jail and the two
headed over to the saloon. Death was nothing new to either man, but they hated when someone
was killed in their town. "You goin' stay awhile?" Chris asked his solitary friend. Even though
the two men were a lot alike.  Chris could not understand Vin's desire to be totally alone for
weeks at a time.  Chris kept his distance with his friends, but deep down he still needed them
close.

"Nah, I'm going to head on out after a drink."

In the afternoon the saloon was more a social gathering place than a house of ill repute or devil's
drink, as some of the more respected members of the town called it.  As the two entered the
saloon they saw Buck and Katherine sitting at a corner table deep in conversation.

"Whose that?" Vin asked.

"A friend of Mary's, she's visiting after her husband left her."

"Looks like she's recovering pretty good," Vin said noticing the smile she was giving to Buck.
Vin picked up the mug of beer and took a much-anticipated swallow.

Chris turned to watch the two and said mostly to himself, "It does doesn't it?"  Chris watched as
Buck smoothly placed his arm across Katherine's shoulders. Something caused Buck to look up
where he was met with Chris' reprimanding glare.  He gave the abstruse gunslinger a weak smile
and removed his arm from Katherine's shoulder. Chris just smiled and turned back to the bar.

                         *****

Later that evening, Buck and Nathan entered the sheriff's office to find JD sitting behind his desk
his feet propped up intensely involved in a book.  Buck grabbed the book.  "Hey," JD shouted
almost tipping over in his chair.

"What's this?  Something more than a dime store novel."  Buck rifled through the pages.  "Look
Nathan more than ten pages. This is a real book."  Buck glanced at the cover ignoring JD's
perturbed looks. "Sherlock Holmes?"  JD grabbed the book, checking to make sure it wasn't
damaged by his crude friend.  Nathan smiled at Buck's school aged antics.

"What's it about?" Nathan asked sitting down on the corner of the desk.

"It's about this great detective in Scotland," JD defended.
 
"Scotland! What's that?" Buck scoffed.

"It's a country over there with England," JD stated as if this explained everything.  Buck looked
to Nathan and shrugged.

"Why are you reading something like that?" Buck asked walking over to the rifle rack, he was on
duty in a few minutes and decided since there had been a recent murder he was going to
carry a little more firepower.

"Hey it might help me to crack a case someday," JD explained.

Chris entered the office, his presence felt as soon as he entered the doorway.   "JD I have a
telegram for you from the sheriff in Tucson."  Chris handed the telegram to JD, looking over at
Buck and Nathan.  "What are you two doing?"

"Well I'm on duty soon," Buck replied checking his rifle.

"And I'm keeping him company," Nathan added with a smile.  Chris stared at Buck knowing he
was probably giving JD a hard time.  The cocky gunslinger took great joy out of ribbing the
young sheriff.

JD stood up suddenly, his chair scraping the floor. "Wow, this is something!"

Chris' eye brows raised, which was the only sign of interest on his otherwise impassive face.

"What?" Nathan asked, hoping for a little excitement it been rather dull lately.

"The sheriff is letting me know about an unsolved murder.  This guy was found outside town
shot once in the chest.  And get this he was apparently on a picnic."  JD looked up at Chris.  "Just
like the guy Vin brought in."  JD grabbed his book and started flipping through the pages.  "Here,
oh my gosh, we might have our first serial killer."

"What's a serial killer?" Buck asked skeptically as he loaded his rifle.

"Someone who kills numerous times usually the same way for the same reason. I just read one of
Sherlock's cases concerning a serial killer and how he caught him."

Buck gave JD a dubious smirk.  "C'mon JD it's just a coincidence and anyway that man was
killed in Tucson that's a little off the beaten path from here."

"Well, maybe, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out, would it Chris?" JD commented looking to
Chris for affirmation.
 
Chris thought a moment then replied, "No I can't see any reason not to check it out, go to it
detective."  Chris smiled and left.

                         *****

The next morning Chris stopped into the Clarion News office to find Mary diligently at work on
the next day's copy.  He watched her for a moment noticing how fresh and vibrant her face
looked. He finally cleared his throat to announce his presence.  "Chris, hello what brings you
here this morning?"

"I was just wondering how your friend Katherine is doing?"

"Chris it's amazing, she seems fine, although..."  Mary turned around in her chair and looked up
into Chris' icy blue eyes.  Small lines appeared around her eyes in worry. "She never brings
up Frank and I've tried."  Mary pushed a hair back in place. "I'm a little worried, it's like he never
existed, but she seems to be adjusting okay.  In fact I think she's having breakfast with Josiah
right now.  Maybe I'm old fashion but I wonder if she's not rushing things a little.  I mean the
guys have been great and all."  Chris smiled at Mary's rambling until she realized what she was
doing.  "I'm sorry Chris I probably sound like an old mother hen."

"Nah, just a friend," Chris quietly replied.  The two locked eyes for just a moment then Chris
pulled away.  He smiled tipped his hat and walked out.  Mary let out an exasperating breath,
sometimes she just couldn't understand him.  She knew he was still hurting from the death of his
wife and son.  Mary wondered if he would ever get over it enough to let someone else into his
life.

The saloon was unusually busy for a Thursday night, which delighted Ezra to no end.  Chris and
Josiah relaxed against the bar as Buck and JD continued to argue about Sherlock Holmes.

"Listen Buck this is the future of law enforcement! Detectives solve the crimes after they happen.
Every crime leaves clues you just have to know what to look for," JD tried to explain to his
doubting friend.

"Bull, what kind of clues could someone leave that would tell you who committed the crime?"

"Well, like boot prints or maybe they drop something at the scene of the crime," JD replied
knowingly.  Buck just shook his head at JD's fantasies.

"So Josiah how was your breakfast with Miss Katherine?" Chris asked the solemn ex-preacher.

"It was okay,"  Josiah replied taking a swig of beer. "A little strange, she talked a little about
Frank, but it was like she was just on a vacation and would be returning home soon."

"Hmmm that is strange, Mary told me she never talks about Frank, it's like he doesn't exist,"
Chris replied.

In the center of the bar room a disturbance rose.  "You're a cheat!"  A heavyset man yelled across
the table at Ezra.  Ezra calmly raised his eyes to meet the man's glaring stare.  The other two
players slowly pushed their chairs back, out of the line of fire.  Katherine had quietly entered the
saloon and stood just inside the doors watching the scene unfold.

"Sir, I have no need to cheat someone who plays as bad as you," Ezra replied to the accusation in
a rather sardonic tone.

The man stood up clearly angered at the insult.  "Why you no good.."  Just as the man touched
his gun Ezra's derringer sprung out and was pointed directly at the stunned man's belly.  A
second later the man heard four more guns cock around him.  He slowly turned his head to see
JD, Buck, Josiah and Chris calmly pointing their guns at him.  The room had become deathly
quiet.

"It's your move, sir?"  Ezra stated coolly.  The man gave a weak smile and slowly removed his
hand from his gun.

"Ah, sorry my mistake," the man reluctantly replied his voice somewhat shaky.  He quickly left
slamming the bat wing doors to either side as he exited the saloon.  The bar room noise slowly
rose as everyone resumed their previous activities.

Ezra collected up the cards and the sizable pot of money and called out, "We have a seat open!"

Josiah and Chris returned to their beers, glad that the situation ended peacefully.

Buck saw Katherine across the room and stood grabbing his hat off the table. "Well, JD as much
as it would pleasure me to discuss this with you all night I have a date with Miss Katherine."  He
stepped up to the waiting woman.

"Is this a daily occurrence?" Katherine asked nodding towards Ezra who was already dealing out
new hands.

"Only when Ezra's playing."  Buck grinned as he took Katherine by the arm and led her out of the
saloon.  Katherine looked over her shoulder and caught sight of a saloon girl hanging on Ezra's
shoulder.

Chris glanced over and caught a look that passed over Katherine's face, it left her face so quickly
he wasn't sure what he saw, but it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Josiah asked noticing Chris' mood had suddenly changed and he was
staring out at nothing.

"Ah, nothing Josiah, it was nothing."  Chris took another swig of his beer trying to convince
himself it was nothing.

                         *****

The next morning a tall, wiry man with ash-gray hair walked up to the jail leading his horse and
yelled, "Sheriff!"  JD and Buck came out.

"Hey Dirk what's up?" Buck asked then stopped as he noticed the body draped over Dirk's horse.
JD walked over to the body as Dirk tied up his roan.

"Found 'em down by the river," Dirk explained scratching his grizzled face.  "Strangest thing, it
looked like he was on a picnic or somethin', had a blanket all spread out and everythin'.
couldn't find his horse though."

"Hey Buck, it's Harry Blakely," JD exclaimed as he examined the body.

"I need to go to the Mercantile can you take care of this guy?" Dirk asked.

"Sure Dirk we'll take care of him," Buck replied looking over at JD.  Chris and Nathan came up
to JD nodding as Dirk walked towards the store.

"Another one?" Chris asked.

"Yep!"  JD turned to Buck an I-told-you-so smirk on his boyish face. "Okay Buck you still think
it's a coincidence?"

Nathan tried to hide a smirk as he realized Buck would have to admit that JD could possibly be
right.

"Okay, so what does that book of yours say?"  Buck grudgingly replied giving Nathan a warning
glare in the process.

JD raced inside and grabbed his book. He returned quickly thumbing through the pages until he
found what he was looking for. "Ah, okay, we need to find out what all the victims had in
common?"

"They all have holes in them," Buck replied sarcastically.

JD was not amused.  "What does it say, JD?" Chris asked pushing his hat back on his head.  He
was getting a bad feeling about all this and he wasn't sure why.

"It says even the smallest detail could be important,"  JD added. "Look Buck, I need your help we
need to find out who saw these people alive last and I need to telegraph the sheriff in Tucson
and get a description of the man killed there. There's got to be a connection."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Nathan injected.  "JD, what was the name of Sherlock's partner
again?"

"Ah, Watson," JD replied.

Nathan gave Buck a smug smile and was about to say something when Buck cut him off, "Don't
say it, Nathan."

Chris and Nathan headed for the church having promised Josiah they would help repair the roof
which was damaged during the last storm.  Chris could not shake the feeling of dread which had
suddenly rooted itself in his gut.

JD headed for the telegraph office to wire the sheriff in Tucson, he wanted to get as much
information as he could on the man who was killed there.  Buck decided to start asking around
town  to see if anyone knew anything about the two dead men.

                    *****

Chris and Josiah entered the quiet saloon, they didn't expect to see anyone, it was to late for the
social crowd and to early for the regulars.   As they were just about to sit at a table Chris
noticed JD sitting at a far table engrossed in some papers. Josiah shrugged and they strolled over
and sat down.  JD didn't even acknowledge their presence his brow furrowed in concentration as
his eyes went back and forth between three pieces of paper.

"How's the detective work going, JD?" Josiah asked breaking the concentrated silence.  This was
the first time that anyone had even seen the sheriff since Harry Blakely's death two days ago.

JD leaned back in his chair.  "I don't know, these murders sure are bizarre."  JD ran his hand
through his dark hair in frustration.  "Maybe I'm not cut out to be a detective, there
should be something to connect all these deaths but I just can't seem to find it.  I know none of
these men knew each other."

At that moment Nathan and Buck entered the saloon.  "There you are, I've been looking all over
town for you, JD," Buck complained.  He grabbed a chair from the next table and straddled
it backwards, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why don't you read to us what you have, maybe you just need some fresh minds,"  Chris
remarked.  JD shrugged, not sure how this could help.

"Okay this is what I have so far."  JD picked up the three pages and looked at them.  "Three men
the one in Tucson was only there a month. His name was Thomas Cantell he was from back east
somewhere.  He was medium build, about 5'10" with brown hair and green eyes, clean shaven,
liked to frequent the saloons."  JD flipped over to the next page. "Next, Harry Blakely, owned a
small ranch just north of here.  Also medium build with brown hair and green eyes.  Has been in
the area for 2 years, was seen a couple times in the saloon."  Chris' brow furrowed as JD
continued, "Samuel Dillon, only been in town a couple weeks, again he was also about medium
height with brown hair and green eyes, clean shaven and had been seen hanging around the
saloon."  JD laid the papers down and looked over at Chris and Josiah and continued, "So they all
looked the same and liked the saloon.  They were all killed on what appeared to be a picnic, but I
can't find anything that would of gotten them killed." JD paused clearly dishearten. "I still have
no clue as to who might of killed these three men and why."

"I believe if you find the why the rest will be easy," Josiah replied in a low voice, going over in
his head everything that JD had said.

"Someone who didn't like clean shaven, brown haired saloon men," Buck replied with a laugh
which he cut short as he noticed the rest didn't share in his humor.  Buck quickly tried to redeem
himself. "Look JD, I talked to everyone in town, no one saw any of those men before they died or
know of any reason someone would want to kill them."  JD leaned back in his chair totally
discouraged.

Chris tipped his chair back, crossing his arms.  "They were all shot at close range so they might
of known their assailant and weren't afraid," Chris stated.   Something in the back of his
mind started to itch and he started to get that bad feeling again.  JD came to attention as everyone
started theorizing.

"You said all three appeared to be on a picnic or somethin', either they were shot while waitin' for
their party to join them on the picnic,"  Nathan added.

"Or, the joinin' party shot them," Josiah cut in.

JD started to get excited.  "Yeah, Yeah that makes sense."

"And who would you be having a picnic with?" Buck added knowingly, but not liking the
connotation.

"A woman?" Josiah remarked causing ambivalent looks to appear on his friend's faces.

At that moment Mary came running into the saloon.  She ran straight up to Chris waving a
telegram.  "Chris! has anyone seen Katherine?  I just received this telegram from her sister,
apparently she didn't tell anyone where she was going.  Her sister has been looking all over the
country for her."  Mary stopped to catch her breath.

"Easy Mary, calm down," Chris said standing to relinquish his chair to the agitated newswoman.
Mary quickly sat down pushing some stray strands of hair back on her head.

"No you don't understand, something terrible has happened." Mary paused and swallowed. "They
found Katherine's ex-husband Frank and his mistress dead, they were on a picnic and someone
just shot them."

A cold hand gripped Chris' heart and twisted.  Mary noticed the strange look that suddenly came
over Chris' face  and furrowed her brow.  "What's wrong?"

Chris knelt down beside Mary taking her hand. "Ah Mary, what did Frank look like?"  Chris
dared to ask, afraid of the answer.

"What did he look like?" She repeated somewhat perplexed by the question.  She turned and
looked at everyone's face feeling that  something wasn't quite right.  "Well, he was medium
height, brown hair, clean shaven.  I think he had either green or hazel eyes."

"Did he like to frequent the bars?" Josiah casually asked.

"Well, he ran off with a bar maid if that tells you anything," Mary answered sharply, not
understanding what was going on.

"Didn't you tell me she came by way of Tucson?"  Chris continued to question her.

"Yes, but I don't know how long she was there."  Growing fear caused Mary's voice to rise in
annoyance.  "What's this all about, Chris?"

"I'll explain it to you later Mary, we need to find Katherine, has anyone seen her lately?"  Chris
looked towards Buck and Josiah.

"I had breakfast with her this morning before I went on duty," Buck explained.  "But that was the
last I saw of her."

Everyone turned to the sound of Vin coming over to the group.  No one had heard him enter the
saloon.  "I saw her and Ezra leaving town on a buckboard about half and hour ago, they looked
like they were going on a picnic," Vin remarked innocently slapping the dust off his jacket.

"SHIT!" Chris exclaimed turning and heading for the door followed by Josiah who was voicing
astonishment in his own eloquent way.

JD, Buck and Nathan sat stunned for a moment, staring back at each other, until the realization
sunk in.  "Son of a bitch, it can't be!" Buck stated for all of them and the three charged out.

"Will someone tell me what this is all about?" Mary yelled after them, she looked towards Vin
who only shrugged, then she ran out. Vin fell in behind totally lost but realizing something was
terribly wrong.

                    *****

Ezra was a little taken aback when Katherine asked him to join her on a picnic.  He found
Katherine very attractive and intelligent enough, but she didn't really seem his type and he
had assumed that her interest lied with Buck or Josiah. But he had promised Mary and Chris that
he would show her every courtesy so he accepted the offer fully expecting Buck and or Josiah to
eventually interrupt as usual.

At first it was pleasant enough, though there was a slight bite in the air the sun was warm and
Ezra could smell the chicken emanating from the basket.  He pulled the wagon to a stop a few
yards from the fast moving river and offered Katherine a hand to help her down.  He grabbed the
basket and blanket and the two walked over to the shelter of a grove of trees.  Ezra laid the
blanket out then looked over at Katherine who stood staring out over the rushing water.  It was
the first time Ezra had noticed the hand bag that Katherine clutched tightly to her chest.

"It's beautiful here."  At first Ezra doesn't know what to say he'd never been much of a nature
lover.

He stood just behind Katherine and tried to admire the wilderness. "Yeah, in a primitive sort of
way."  Ezra turned back to the picnic  basket his mouth watering as he realized it had been a long
time since he ate last and even longer since he had a good home cooked meal.

"Why'd you'd do it Frank?"  Katherine murmured.

Ezra stopped short not sure what he heard.  "Excuse me, Katherine?"

She smiled at him, but not a smile that brought a good feeling, this smile brought the hairs on the
back of his neck straight up.  She looked at him like she didn't recognize him for a moment.

"Katherine?" Ezra spoke quietly.

"You brought her here didn't you?"

Ezra rubbed his chin not sure how to reply. "Ah, who?"

"You never cared about me, all you wanted was my money," Katherine sneered.  Ezra was
surprised by this, partly because her words spoke an underlining truth. He sometimes thought he
would marry a woman with money, but he also hoped he would love a woman with money.

"No, Katherine I cared." Ezra thought this was an appropriate answer to a rather odd question.
She was staring at him with dark glassy eyes.

"LIAR!" She yelled, causing Ezra to step back as her face contorted in anger.

"Listen maybe we should go back to town and you can talk to Mary," Ezra calmly said.  This
seemed to confuse her and she turned her back to him.  Ezra saw the shudder that went through
her body. She opened her hand bag and reached inside.

"Katherine are you okay?" Ezra finally asked, genuine concern in his voice, he wasn't sure what
was going on but he knew Katherine was not a well woman.  She turned back towards him.  Ezra
stared at the strange woman before him, her eyes wild, her mouth in a twisted sneer and a gun
pointed directly at his chest.  He slowly stepped back as his eyes went wide.  He quickly searched
the surrounding area wishing Buck's usual interference and impeccable timing would come to his
aid.

"How could you do that to me and my family, you made a fool out of me," she stated, her voice
now calm and determined, which unnerved Ezra more than her ranting.

It seemed his only avenue of escape short of shooting the deranged woman was the icy waters of
the fast moving river. He decided to try one more time to reason with her. He spoke
quietly and tried to keep his voice even.  "Listen, Katherine, I'm not your husband, I'm Ezra, Ezra
Standish, remember?  Now put the gun down."

Katherine licked her lips as a sadness came to her voice,  "You're all the same, leave me for some
bar room whore."  The anger grew in Katherine's voice and Ezra realized there was no
reasoning with her.  He still could not bring himself to use his own gun on the addled woman,
he'd never shot a woman and wasn't about to start.

At the same time she fired Ezra dove into the icy river.  The bullet caught him in the shoulder,
but he didn't feel it as he hit the frigid waters and was swept down stream.

                    *****

Nathan, Chris, Buck, JD, Vin and Josiah road fast and hard the trail made easy by the wagon ruts.
Mary clung to Chris still not sure what was going on, but knew that for some reason Chris was
very worried for Ezra.

The six stopped as a wagon rounded the bend coming towards them. Katherine pulled up, a smile
on her face.  "Gentlemen, what a surprise!"

The six men stared at her completely dumbfounded.

"Where's Ezra?"  Chris demanded, his horse prancing, sensing his owner's anxiousness.  For a
moment Katherine stared at Chris like he just spoke a foreign language.

"Well, Mr. Larabee I assure you I have no idea," she answered rather indignantly.  Josiah edged
his horse next to the wagon and leaned over, grabbing Katherine's handbag.

"Hey, that's personal property!"  Josiah gave her a weak smile and opened the purse pulling out a
small gun and checking the chamber.

"It's been fired," Josiah stated looking over at Chris.

"Katherine," Mary gasped her eyes going wide. "Katherine what have you done?"

"Only what I should of done a long time ago." Katherine suddenly became very defensive.  "He
deserved it after what he did to me."

Chris helped Mary slide off his horse.  "JD, you and Josiah stay here.  Vin, Buck, Nathan you're
with me."  The four spurred their horses into a gallop.

                         *****

Ezra was a good swimmer, you had to be when you gambled on the Mississippi river boats,
sometimes you were asked to depart the boat before it docked.  But the icy water crushed the
breath from him and his whole body went numb.  He tried to get his legs to work and make his
way to the shore, but he couldn't get them to obey.  He managed to keep his head up and saw a
tree stretched across half the river up head. As he came upon it he thrust his good arm into the
tangle of branches and hoped they held.  He was exhausted and was just glad he was no longer
tumbling around in the frigid waters.  The rushing water pulled at his jacket as he hung onto the
tree.  Actually, the river didn't feel as cold to him anymore, if he could just rest a moment, then
he could make his way over to the shore.  This was his last thought.

Vin was off his horse examining the tracks.  He'd found Ezra's boot prints and followed them to
the river's edge.  He stood up looking down river.  "He must of jumped in to escape,"  Vin
stated as he mounted his horse.

"I hope he got out quick," Nathan voiced his concern.  "That water is to cold, he'll freeze to
death."

The four started combing the river bank, carefully searching both sides looking for any sign of
their friend.

"Over there!" Buck yelled pointing to the tree which laid across the water.  Buck and Vin jumped
from their still moving horses and ran into the icy water.  "OH MY GOSH! this water's cold!"
Buck complained as the icy water soaked his pants leg up to his waist.

They reached the unconscious man, not knowing if he was alive and grabbed his arms dragging
him out of the tree and up onto the bank.

Nathan was at his side immediately trying to find a pulse.  It seemed like time had stopped.
Ezra's lips were blue and his skin looked an icy white. "C'mon," Nathan murmured.  Vin, Buck
and Chris stood still their hearts sinking.  Nathan bent down and placed his ear on Ezra's chest he
sat back up and yelled,  "C'mon Ezra, don't you give up on me."  With that he struck Ezra in the
chest with his fist once then twice.  It was a moment, but Ezra gasped and his eyes opened wide
in shock and he started shaking all over.  "We need to get him back to the wagon, quick."

Ezra could hear his friends, but nothing worked. He couldn't even control the violent shaking
which seem to encompass his whole body.  He was so cold and tired and his muscles ached.

The four rode back to the waiting wagon.  Vin held the limp, cold form of Ezra on his saddle.  As
they reached the wagon, Nathan leaped from his horse and scrambled into the back of the wagon.
"Quick get his jacket and shirt off."  Vin and Buck stripped Ezra to the waist and placed him on
the wagon.  Nathan wrapped him in the blanket.  "Now take his pants."  Buck pulled off his
water-logged boots then Vin and him each grabbed a pants leg and pulled.  "Okay now I need
everyone's coat."  No one argued and all handed Nathan their coats.

They all stood shivering as the cold wind bit into them.  They watched as Nathan tried to save the
near frozen gambler.  "Okay we need to get back to town as quick as possible."

Josiah was already in the driver's seat next to Katherine who sat dumbstruck, not sure what was
going on.  She looked down at the near frozen man.  "You should of let him die," she murmured
only loud enough for Josiah to hear.  He looked over at her.

"Madam, that's not your husband, you already killed him."  Katherine turned bewildered eyes up
to the candid ex priest. Then she brought her eyes back to Ezra as if seeing him for
the first time.  She gasped and covered her face with her hands sobbing quietly.  Mary came up
and sat next to her placing a comforting arm across her shoulders.

As they traveled back to town, Nathan put one coat at time on Ezra's frozen body trying to warm
him up slowly, in between he rubbed his arms trying to get the blood moving.  He'd seen
it in the war, if a man's body temperature got to low there was no hope.  He also knew that as
soon as Ezra started warming up he would be in considerable pain.   When they got back to town
they took Ezra up to Nathan's room where he continued to warm the near frozen man.  He was
starting to hurt all over and Nathan brewed up some herbs to help with the pain.  When he felt
that Ezra was past the worst of it, Nathan left him sleeping peacefully under several quilts and
headed downstairs.

Everyone was waiting down in the bar room for word on Ezra.

"How is he?" Vin asked.

"I think he'll be okay as long as pneumonia doesn't set in.  The bullet wound wasn't bad and the
cold water actually slowed down the bleeding so he didn't lose too much blood," Nathan
explained. He sat down across from Chris who passed him a bottle and a shot glass.  "What about
Katherine?"

"Mary is with her over at the jail, I don't think she even realizes what she's done," Chris sadly
remarked.

"I guess its pretty certain that she killed all those men," Nathan remarked tossing back the shot of
fiery liquor.

"She thought she was killing her husband, over and over again.  The mind is a strange thing,"
Josiah thoughtfully remarked.  "I think her sister is coming to get her, hopefully they'll be able
to get her the help she needs."

"Well JD, how's it feel to solve your first serial murder?"  Chris stated.

"Me?" JD asked in disbelief.

"Well yeah, if you hadn't collected all that information and put it together we never would of
guessed it was Katherine in time to save Ezra."

JD's face lit up as he realized that Chris was right. Buck moaned as he realized he'd never hear
the end of this. "Well I guess some of credit has to go to Sherlock Holmes, I couldn't of done it
without him," JD replied smugly.

"JD, can I borrow that book?" Josiah asked.

"Yeah, me too, kid," Buck added rather meekly. "Maybe I can catch the next murderer."

"Sure, Buck, but there's no pictures," JD replied with a grin already out of his chair and heading
towards the door as the fun- loving gunslinger took a swipe at him and took up the chase.  The
rest of the men laughed at the two gunslingers' antics and settled back down for a quiet evening.
 

THE END (Jul 1999)