Vin’s Box

Ezra smiled embarrassedly up at his thunderstruck team leader.

Vin pulled the sketch from Chris’s hands, gave it back to Ezra, still smirking, and remarked, “Anything you want to tell us, Cowboy?” Chris sent a killer glare at his best friend, but only replied with a grin. After a few moments, Chris broke down and chuckled. Ezra slipped the picture back into the box and closed it, smiling at the byplay between his friends.

As he moved to Vin’s box next, the rest of them sat down on a convenient piece of floor in a circle around him. Again Ezra began narrating about the things he pulled from the box.

“Vin Tanner of the 1870’s was the sharpshooter of the bunch, a bounty hunter and buffalo hunter before he joined the rest of them in Four Corners. There was one glaring difference,” Ezra pulled out a small frame, unwrapped it, then turned it around and placed it in Vin’s hands.

It was a well preserved wanted poster. Vin Tanner wanted for murder dead or alive, with a reward of $500!

“Tanner was framed for murder by one of the bounties he had been hunting, a murder by the name of Eli Joe. When the man appeared in Four Corners, Larabee was forced to kill him in order to save Tanner’s life. A couple years later, a young man that had been working in the vicinity came forward and confessed that he had seen Eli Joe kill the man, but had been to afraid of him to testify, and the Seven were able to clear his name.” Ezra could feel the tension that had fallen on the room dissipate as he explained. It was inconceivable for Vin to kill in cold blood and the idea that his counterpart might of didn’t sit well either.

Setting the wanted poster to the side, Ezra pulled out sawed off Winchester. “Tanner’s side arm,” Ezra said simply, waving at the painting before handing the weapon to Vin to inspect. “I have thought about having the holster recreated, but I have as yet.” After each of them had had the opportunity to look over the gun, Ezra started pulling out sketches as he had for Larabee. Again he was couple in various poses and with different people, one eve had him stand beside a Conestoga wagon! JD was the one to catch something odd when they finally made it to him.

“Hey, Ezra, who’s this he’s talking to in this’n?” JD pointed to an older gentlemen dressed in a black suit that was turned partly away from the viewer.

Ezra sighed before answering, “That was Judge Orrin Travis, the circuit judge that originally hired the Seven to protect the town of Four Corners.” Six sets of eye were glued to his face. The Assistant Director they reported to was named Orrin Travis!

Ezra ignored the in favor of pulling the last item from the box. Grinning he unwrapped it, a glint of deviltry in his eyes, Ezra presented the leather bound book to Vin with a great flourish.

Vin’s expression betrayed his trepidation, he knew that look. And it did not bode well for him. Vin opened the book to the first page and took a look. He immediately slammed it shut again, an aghast look on his face.

“Vin?” Chris asked, amused at Vin’s reaction.

“It’s nothin,’ cowboy. Just a journal,” Vin prevaricated as he tried to stuff the book back in the box, only to have Chris intercept it. Vin’s face flamed red as Chris made a great show of investigating its contents.

A down right frightening smile crept across Chris’ face. “Well, I’ll be. Vin, was there something you wanted to tell us?” Chris took great delight in parroting Vin’s earlier words back to him as he passed the book to Buck. Each of them looked at the book before passing it to his neighbor, each taking a friendly jab at the quiet man.

It seemed his counterpart had a fondness for writing poetry!

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