Chapter 11

As the door was shut, Tanka turned to Cody as if she knew the woman would not stay in bed for long. “That’s right girl” she said, the image of Mr. Tanner’s smile seared into her mind. She shook her head, trying to get her mind back to the task at hand. “I’ve got me a bounty to collect”.

Very carefully, Cody raised herself out of bed. Her ribs hurt her tremendously, but she was at least thankful that her head had quit aching. She dressed quickly, taking a white tailored shirt off of a nearby table. She assumed it was the good doctor’s. “It’s big” she thought as she began to button it. “but at least it won’t put pressure on my ribs like my vest would.”

Cody picked up her trusty gun belt and fastened it back in place. She felt a sigh of relief escape her lips at the comfort of having it back where it belonged. She had grown so use to wearing the belt that she felt off balance without it. Quickly, she braided her hair. She hated to have it down in her eyes. It was too dangerous that way.

From what Vin had said, Cody knew she didn’t have any time to waste. If Matt said that his men were coming, she knew him well enough to know it was the truth. They would not take kindly to Matt and Billy being incarcerated. That was why she knew she had to get them and get out of town as fast as she could. It was going to be difficult enough to get both of them back to Ft. Laramie by herself. She didn’t need to have Matt’s gang hot on her trail as well

Cody pull her hat down low and put on her duster. Just as she was turning to leave, she caught a glimpse of something green lying on the table. She stopped and went over to see what it was. As she approached the table, she realized it was her jade necklace. Immediately, her hand drew up to her neck to verify that the necklace was not there.

She reached down and picked it up. As if channeled by her mere touch, images filled her mind. She could smell the smoke burning her nose. She could hear the screams for help from her sister. Off in the distance was the bark of Tanka, and gunshots filled the night air. She could feel the whip as it tore at her back, ripping the flesh with each stroke. And that laughter, that drunken, heathenistic laughter that filled her heart and soul with rage...........

She shook her head, trying to send the memories back to those hidden crevices of her mind. She didn’t have time for this. She tied the necklace back in place and checked her weapon to make sure it was loaded. As she headed for the door, she caught of glimpse of herself in the small mirror on the wall. She stopped.

Looking back at her was the ghost of a woman she once knew. Her eyes once had sparkle; her smile had life. Her hair used to look as if it held the sun itself. The Carson family had taken that away from her. From their father, Butch, right down to the youngest son, Billy. They had taken everything she held dear. But she had made them pay. All of them except Matt and Billy. “And that is all about to change” she said as she looked closer at the mirror.

The reflection that peered back at her was so unfamiliar to her. Cody had always tried to avoid mirrors because what she usually found looking back at her, scared her. She only saw hate. Her skin was pale, dark circles surrounded her hard blue eyes. Her hair was hidden behind the hat, and her smile rarely ever existed. In the eyes of the woman looking back at her, she saw pain, and hate, and death.

Chapter 12

Matt had his head in his hands when he heard the door of the jail being opened. “Well, it’s about time, you two-bit sissy of a lawman. We’re starv.....” he was stopped cold as he looked up to see Cody Dalton standing before him, a gun in her hand.

“You no good piece of shit. It’s time I take you in and get my bounty” Cody said as she held the pistol in front of her. Just the sight of Matt made her fill with such rage, her finger twitched on the trigger. It ached to shoot him so full of lead, but she knew she would have to wait on that one. A dead outlaw would be a whole lot harder to move, especially with her ribs the way they were.

Matt must of noticed her twitching too. “Now Cody, you know these lawman ain’t gonna just let you take us back to Ft. Laramie. And if you shoot me right here in the jail, it will be you that’s hanging and I don’t think you want to do that. Come on girl” Matt said as he put his hands out in front of him. He stood up from his cot and slowly made his way over to the bars. “You know......”

“SHUT UP” she screamed through clenched teeth. Her voice carried so much hate and pain that Matt flinched from its raw power. Billy, who had been sleeping in the next cell, jumped awake. He quickly got to his feet, disorientation filled his eyes.

“What the hell...” Billy tried to get a focus on what was going on. “Cody” he said as he saw her standing before him, her gun drawn.

“That’s right you son of a bitch. It’s time to end this and take you two in. Boys” she said as she picked up the handcuffs from the desk and threw each of the men a pair. “We going to Ft. Laramie.”

“Cody, I think you have finally lost your mind. You will never get away with this. My gang are on their way. Old Brett and his men are coming......wait a minute. You remember Brett, don’t ya Cody?” he said as a nasty smirk crossed his face. “Oh yeah, I bet you remember him really well.”

Cody felt her stomach turn. She knew what he was trying to do. Cody took a deep breath. She had to remain calm. “Billy, you better get those cuffs on before I blow your brothers brains all over that cell. Do you understand me?” Cody looked at Billy closely.

Billy was unsure of what to do. He looked at Cody with big haunted eyes. He could see that she meant business. He took the handcuffs and placed them around his wrists.

“You fucken sissy. You scared of a little girl? I swear Billy sometimes I think I would be better off if I put a bullet in your stupid ass myself.” Matt said with disgust. He looked at Billy, shaking his head.

Billy was not a real smart guy, but he wasn’t stupid either. Matt never could figure out why he did some of the things he did. There had been times when Billy would desert him right before a robbery or wouldn’t take part when they were roughing someone up. Other times he would.

‘Well’ Matt thought to himself ‘at least he would be our watch’. When Matt really let himself think about it, he couldn’t ever remember Billy taking part in any of the things he and his gang had done. He just rode along.

“Put them on Matt or I will fill brother dearest so full of holes.” she said getting impatient. Vin had only gone to get her some food. He would go back to the room soon, and when she wasn’t there, he would surely go looking for her. Matt only stood laughing at her. “Billy, you better tell him to put them on or I will just shoot you both and be done with it.”

“Matt, I think you better....” Billy said, trying to reason with his brother.

“Shut up asshole” he shouted as he turned his attention to Cody. “Come here sweetheart. I will make you feel so good. I’ll give you some of this” he said as he grabbed his crotch, flicking his tongue in a licking motion. Cody’s skin crawled with disgust.

“You bastard” she screamed and with lightening speed, she struck Matt in the side of the head with the butt of her pistol. He drew his hands to his head, howling in pain. His stance was shaky. Cody watched as his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell to the floor.

“What the hell.....”

Cody jumped at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned quickly to see Vin standing in the open door of the jail. His weapon was drawn on her. ‘Damn’ she said to herself. He motioned for her to hand over her weapon. Reluctantly she did. Once he had her gun in his hand, he lowered his rifle. “What happened in here?” Vin turned his attention to the blonde man in the cell. He stood with his hands held up. They were securely shackled in handcuffs. Looking to Cody, ”Mind telling me what you were doing in here?”

But Cody said nothing. Instead, she began surveying the room, looking for something to use in her defense. To her right she spotted a small wooden chair. Vin had turned hi attention to Matt. Blood poured from the man’s temple were Cody hit him with her pistol. Just as Vin turned his back to her, Cody grabbed the chair. With every ounce of her energy, she hit him across his back and head.

Vin fell forward. He tried to grab on to the cell bars for balance, but only succeeded in hitting his forehead as he went down. He was out cold by the time his head bounced off of the stone floor.

Chapter 13

Cody wiped the sweat off of her brow. She felt light headed and her vision felt shaky. She reigned her horse to a halt in front of a small stream. She needed a drink. As she dismounted her horse, it took every ounce of strength to keep from wavering. Billy was watching her closely and she knew that if she showed any signs of weakness at all, he would be all over her before she could ever try and stop him. He was afraid of her, but he wasn’t stupid. If she remained strong, she had a chance of getting them back to Ft. Laramie without too much trouble.

She drank greedily from the stream. The ice cold water tasted good to her parched lips. It was fresh and clean. She dipped her handkerchief in it and pressed it to her head. It was a hot day and she had exerted far too much energy helping Billy get Matt onto the horse. Her ribs were in tremendous pain, but she made no movement at all to indicate that she felt anything. “Can I get some of that to drink?” Billy said from atop of his horse.

“No” she said without even looking at him. It had taken her and Billy almost ten minutes to get Matt draped over the horse. He was out cold and weighed a ton. Matt was a big guy anyway. He was at least 6’4” and weighed well over 250 lbs. Billy, on the other hand, was 6’ even and only about 180 lbs. He was lanky, but still relatively muscular.

“Come on Cody. Don’t......” he stopped when she shot him a look that said ‘Just try and push me’. He knew he had no right to ask anything from her, but he tried anyway. He was so thirsty. His lips felt blistered by the sun.

When they had left the jail, Cody had taken Vin’s rifle with her. He was still lying on the floor, a small pool of blood around his head. When she had first noticed the blood, she got frightened because she was afraid that she had really hurt him. Billy had seen this and it pissed her off to no end. She had checked Vin’s pulse and the gash and determined that he was just a bleeder. Cody and Billy, with Matt over his shoulder, then proceeded to get to the livery and out of town without being seen.

Tanka ran through the water, cooling herself off. She ran up to Cody and licked her face. Cody smiled and rubbed her head. She could feel eyes on her and she turned to see Billy staring at her with a nasty smirk on his face. She narrowed her gaze on him, daring him to say something, anything. But Billy wasn’t entirely a fool. He smartly decided that he had better not push his luck.

Cody mounted her horse again, feeling much more secure and started back out to the trail. She wanted to put as much distance between them and Four Corners as she could before night fall. She still wasn’t sure what she was going to do when Matt woke up. He was a handful and he knew exactly how to push her buttons. ‘I guess I will just have to take it as it comes.’

Chapter 14

An eagle soared above Vin’s head and he watched in amazement. “Such a majestic creature” he thought to himself as he tracked the bird’s path across the sky. “So noble”. Vin looked around him. He was standing on a ridge that overlooked a small creek. Confusions clouded his mind.

“Where am I?” he thought to himself. Off in the far distance, he could hear someone shouting. He turned toward the sound of the voice. There were others. Vin started to walk toward the voices. He paid no attention to the scenery around him as it began to fade and grow dark. He concentrated on the voices.....

“Vin....Can you hear me?”

Yes, he wanted to say but the voice was too far away. He knew he had to get closer. He started walking faster, but realized that he wasn’t walking at all. He was being pulled, sort of drawn out of the depths of darkness that had replaced his beautiful hillside.

“Is he gonna be okay?” The voice sounded so familiar to Vin....and so close. He again tried to speak, but still nothing would come out. Vin tried to move his body, but he couldn’t. He felt as if he were lying in stone. He struggled to break free from whatever was holding him and finally felt the snap as control of his limbs was finally returned to him.

He heard a low moan and realized that it had come from him. He started to move his head from side to side to shake out the cobwebs from his mind, but was stopped by the shooting pain in the center of his forehead. It felt as if a knife was being twisted into his skull.

“Vin, can you hear me? Come on Vin, say something,” Chris said, concerned for his partner.

“Man, look at the lump on his forehead.” He recognized the second voice as belonging to JD. Vin could feel hot breath on his face.

“JD, would you quit breathing on me”. Vin said slowly as he opened his eyes to see Chris and JD right in front of him.

“What happened Chris?” a voice said from the doorway of the jail. Vin could see the healer making his way over the remnants of the broken chair before he knelt down by Vin’s side.

Chris started to speculate when Vin cut him off. “Cody hit me with the chair ‘fore she took them fellas”. Vin winced from the pain in his head as he tried to sit up.

“Cody? She could barely stand herself. How’d she get the strength to knock you out and take them fellas too?” Nathan was suspicious. Seemed to him that she must have been playing worse off than she was. But he didn’t think that was possible. Her head injury had been pretty severe.

“Well, either she wasn’t’ as hurt as she let on....” Chris said as if plucking the thought right out of Nathan’s mind.

“Or” Vin said as Nathan gentle probed the tracker, searching for any injuries. “She was so hell bent of getting her bounty for them men that she would risk it.”

“Which is worse” Chris said as a dark expression crossed his handsome features.

“How so Chris?” Vin asked as he tried to stand up. Nathan had finished poking him and determined that the only side effects to Cody’s attack would be a bad headache.

“Well” Chris said as he considered the matter closely. “For one, if her vision is still bad, them men may be able to get away. We don’t want that. And if they do manage to get loose, that one she kicked in the mouth could inflict some serious damage to her. And worse, what if she runs into these supposed “men” he’s got coming? I would think it would definitely be her death.”

“Well, what are we waitin for? Let’s ride” Vin said as he gained control over his balance and started to head for the door.

“Oh now wait a minute” Chris said as he put a quick hand up to stop Vin from going anywhere. “I already have Josiah, Ezra and Buck out looking for any signs of them. They couldn’t have gotten far. The rest of us are going to go help them search.”

“But you need some rest,” Nathan said as he cut off the black-clad leader. “You took a serious blow to your head. It’s gonna take a couple of days ‘fore you start feeling like your old self.” Nathan stood before Vin, the statue of determination. Vin knew it would do no good to argue. He held his hands up.

“Okay, okay. I’ll get some rest”. Vin looked from Chris to Nathan. He hated the idea of staying behind. He had been the one most deceived by the woman. He had been the one to get knocked out. He had been....

::wavy blonde hair that framed her delicate smile::

.....suckered into believing that she couldn’t move very well....

::eyes so sharp and clear, they pierce right into a man’s soul::

.....She had deceived him and the others.....

::the smell of wind in her hair::

Vin knew that he could no more stay cooped up in some room as the sun could keep from setting. He decided that his abilities were needed in finding Cody. As the four gunmen exited the jail, Vin noticed almost immediately two sets of foot prints that lead to the far side of the jail into an alley. ‘An alley that leads to the livery’ Vin thought to himself.

One set of footprints were large and dragged as if the individual were extremely heavy in weight. ‘Or perhaps carrying an unconscious brother,’ Vin thought to himself as he looked to the others to see if anyone else had noticed the tracks. They hadn’t.

“All right. One of the townspeople said they saw a woman and a man leave town on horseback very shortly after Vin made his way to the jail. They were heading south” Chris said as he shifted his gaze between JD and Nathan. “I sent Buck and Ezra......”

Vin turned his attention back to the prints. The other set of prints were smaller and different from the first. The second ones were obviously made by a woman because of the deep impression that was made at the ball of the print. Common since a woman’s body focus comes from her hips unlike a man who leads from his shoulders.

“We will meet back here in an hour....”

Vin scanned the area around the footprints for the last shred of proof he needed. A smile spread across the tracker’s handsome features as he spotted what he was looking for. The soft even prints of a dog were not more than 5 ft from the female prints.

“Vin? You okay?”

Vin turned quickly at the sound of the young sheriff’s voice. JD stood before him, a puzzled look on his face. “You were staring. Something wrong?” said JD as he started to turn his attention to see what had captivated Vin.

“JD” Vin said as he put his arm around the young man and turned him away from the tracks. Together, they headed to where Chris and the others were mounting their horses. “I reckon I am just tired, is all. I was thinking about the danger that woman’s gonna face if them men get loose.”

“You don’t have to worry about that Vin. We’ll find her. In her condition, she couldn’t have gotten far,” JD said as he smiled at the tracker. Clapping Vin on the back, JD turned and mounted his horse.

‘That’s what I am counting on,‘ Vin said to himself as he watched Chris and Nathan head southeast out of town while JD rode southwest to catch up with Josiah.

Chapter 15

Brett inhaled deeply on the fresh evening air. The rank, smoky saloon air still assaulting his senses. His eyes were blurry and irritated by all the cigar smoke he had been subjected to during his 3 hour poker game. He looked at the saloon as he shifted his stance. “Oh well” he thought to himself. The $78 he had won more than made up for a little smoke irritation.

Brett smiled as he thought back on the last three hours. He wasn’t sure whether he was just really lucky tonight or that he had just gotten really good at poker over the last 5 or 6 years that he had been riding with the Carson boys. He seemed to be able to read his opponents to the point of almost knowing what each had in their hands.

A female resident of Hawk’s landing walked past Brett, eyeing him with a shy smile. Her demure attempt at flirtation didn’t go unnoticed. “Evenin’ Ma’am” came the deep rich voice that Brett fancied when he wanted to impress the ladies. He tipped his hat at the beautiful young woman and smiled his most charming smile.

The young woman blushed slightly, giggled noticeably, and hurried on toward the general store. Brett shook his head. He knew he was good looking. Never had any problems getting women to notice him. With his solid 6’2” build and his dark hair and eyes, it wasn’t difficult for him to find entertainment for an evening. His skin was nicely tan and his muscles strong from all the years of working out at Butch Carson’s ranch. No, he had no problem getting the attention of women.

Brett’s problem often rested with the fact that he didn’t really want their attention. Brett had only ever really loved one woman in his life, Cody Dalton. And that had gone so horribly wrong, he had never really tried again. The truth was that he still loved her. The pure unadulterated hate that filled her eyes whenever he saw her only succeeded in breaking his heart even more.

Matt liked to rib him that he was a “funny cowboy”, but Brett didn’t much care what Matt thought. The only reason he really even stayed around was to try and watch out for Billy. He knew Billy wasn’t all bad. Matt just had too much influence on him.

Brett had known the Carson’s all his life. Brett’s dad had worked for Butch out on his ranch. When Brett’s parents were killed in a wagon accident, it had been Butch and Sandra Carson that had taken him in. They raised him right along side their own 4 boys and treated him like one of the family.

Butch Carson was a fair but tough man. He never played favorites with the boys and always demanded respect. It wasn’t until Brett turned 18 that things began to change. That was when Sandra died of Fever.

Butch had loved his wife almost more than life itself. He was so devastated by her death that he took to the bottle. Drinking became his whole life. He turned ugly and mean. He was bitter against the whole world and took it out on everyone, especially the boys. He would fall into fits of rage and would proceed to belittle, beat and even whip whichever boy had the misfortune of being too close to him.

The turning point for Butch came one summer evening when his loneliness had set in really strong. Brett made the mistake of being a smart ass to Butch and ended up with a 10” hunting knife to the base of his left ear. Only it didn’t stop there. Butch ran the knife down the length of his neck, breaking open the tender skin.

Billy had come into the barn while the assault was taking place. Frightened by all the blood, Billy attempted to pull Butch off of Brett. Big mistake. Butch was so furious that anyone would dare question his actions that he turned on Billy like a mad dog. He then proceeded to beat Billy to within an inch of his life. It took Matt, Brett, and Matt’s two older brothers, Travis and Tom, to get Butch off of him.

Brett shuddered at that long ago memory of Billy, blooded from head to toe. He had so many broken bones that he had been laid up in bed for almost two months. And it had all been because Brett always had to be a smart ass. That was why Brett felt so responsible to look after Billy.

After that night, Butch decided that instead of taking his anger and pain out on his boys, he would take it out on the world around him. And he started with the nearest town, Cedar Falls.

“Brett!”

Brett pulled himself out of those long ago memories. He turned to see Justin Thompson, a member of what Matt liked to refer to as his “gang”, running up the boardwalk toward him.

Brett, Justin and 3 other men made up “the gang”. They all rode with Matt and Billy to assist and back up the Carson brothers whenever they were needed. They also helped with things like bank robberies, roughing people up, and just being general menaces to society. Brett didn’t like it one bit, but what was he to do. He had to keep his eye on Billy. He owed it to him.

Matt was not the smartest guy, but he was mean so that made him the leader. He planned most of the jobs that they pulled, but it was Brett and Justin who always wound up cleaning the messes that Matt always created.

“Something wrong Justin?” Brett asked casually. He already knew the answer to his question. Matt and Billy were late. The gang was supposed to meet up with the brothers in Hawk’s landing three days ago, but they still hadn’t shown. He was sure Matt had a reason why they were late. He always did stuff like that.

“I just got word that Matt and Billy were arrested in a town called Four Corners bout a days ride west,” Justin said trying to catch his breath.

“Arrested? Oh man. Get the others and prepare to ride. If a judge gets a hold of them, they will surely hang,” Brett said as he jumped down off the boardwalk, heading to his room.

“Brett, that ain’t all.”

Brett stopped, and turned back to face Justin. “Well?”

“Cody’s there too.”

Just the mere mention of her name made Brett’s heart race. He knew that if given any chance at all, she would kill them. No questions asked. But he also knew that she was more determined to take them back to Ft. Laramie to face trial. She wanted to make them pay, just as she had made the rest of the family.

“Well Justin, we better ride fast then.”

Chapter 16

“Don’t move Cody,” Vin said from the far end of the clearing where Cody had stopped for a rest.

Cody immediately drew her gun, startled by the deep sound of the voice in the silence of the desert around her. She turned her horse quickly to see Vin standing before her, a rifle trained on her head.

“Put the gun down Cody. I’m taking you and the Carson boys back to Four Corners” said Vin, his voice strong and steady.

“I’m sorry Vin, but I can’t let you do that”, Cody said as she slid off of her horse, her gun held steady with Vin in her site. “I’m taking them back to Ft. Laramie. They are going to stand trial for murder. And there ain’t nothing you can do to stop me.”

Vin shook his head. He had her dead to rights and yet she still felt as if she had control. “No Cody, you’re not. We are going back to Four Corners. Throw me your gun.”

Cody laughed, loud and heartily at that. She regarded Vin with sympathy. “No Vin, you don’t understand. I am taking them to Ft. Laramie. You are welcome to join me, but it will be over my dead body that you will take them back to Four Corners. Brett and the others would have been there any time. He would have gotten them out and I have been chasing these two for too long to let them get away again. Can you understand that? It’s not like I am going to take them out in the desert and kill them. I am taking them back to Ft. Laramie to stand trial.” She watched him with curious eyes. It was his move and she was prepared to defend herself any way that she needed to.

Vin lowered his rifle and looked at her with bitter amazement. “You mean that you would die rather than let your bounty get away. Is that what you are trying to tell me?”

Cody’s smile faded as her eyes grew very dark. “This has nothing to do with a bounty Vin. It’s much more than that. Of course the money doesn’t hurt, but this is about justice.....about vengeance....about retribution. Come with me Vin.” she said as she began to see the possibilities of Vin actually helping her. With her ribs the way they were, she could use it. She had been careful not to let the Carson boys see that she was in pain, but her ribs were throbbing.

Vin could see the physical pain that she masked by that cold, calculating stare. He shook his head as he lowered his mare’s leg to his side. He knew he was going to regret this.

Chapter 17

JD hurried to the saloon. He and the others had spent the whole day scouring the surrounding area for Cody or the Carson men but to no avail. They had returned exhausted and in desperate need of a drink. JD had been designated the one to go check in on Vin.

“Chris is not going to like this,” JD told himself as he pushed through the batwing doors.

The others were gathered at a table near the back of the saloon, discussing the strategy for finding that woman. Buck looked up at his partner as he entered the saloon.

“Sleeping like a baby huh?” Buck said, a smile across his weary face.

“Uhm...not exactly. Chris, Vin’s gone. I checked the livery too. His horse is gone.”

Chris turned abruptly. “WHAT?”

“Uhm...I said he..”

“JD, I heard ya the first time.” Chris hissed as he turned back to the others. “What the hell is he doing?”

“I don’t know Chris, but he did spend a might bit more time with Miss Dalton than the rest of us did. Maybe, he got some information that he thought would find her while we was gone.” Nathan offered as his only explanation.

“JD, any idea which way they went?”

“Yeah Chris, the stable boy said that he seen Vin take off north. Said he seemed to be in a real hurry.”

Chris sighed. He knew that if Matt had been telling the truth about his “gang”, there was no telling the trouble that Vin and Cody would be in. But he also knew that his men were tired, and with a quick glance to his pocket watch, he knew it was too late for them to head out anyway. Chris looked around at the eager faces awaiting his order. “We ride out at dawn.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the six continued to discuss their plan for finding Vin and Cody, Brett Masters had heard all he needed to hear. They had gone north.

He and the other members of the gang had made it to town around 6 in the evening, a few hours before the lawman had made it back.. It hadn’t been difficult at all to find out what had happened. Seemed Four Corners was a real friendly town. “It’s amazing what people are willing to tell ya with a coin or two,” Brett thought to himself..

A kind, Christian woman at the hotel had told Brett all about the indecent blonde bounty hunter that had been flaunting herself around town in her too tight leather vest. And a generous stable boy had told him all he wanted to know about the jail break and the escape as if it were the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

The bartender had been able to fill in the gaps with information about the lawman that protected the little backward town.

Brett pulled himself from the table that he had so discreetly been occupying. “Let the lawmen wait till morning,” he thought to himself. That gave him ample time to find Cody and get the Carson’s before the lawmen ever knew what happened.

Chapter 18

“Why do you want them back in Ft. Laramie so bad?” Vin asked as he stared straight ahead. They had been riding for about an hour in silence. Matt had stirred a little, but Billy had remained silent, like the cat that ate the canary. That worried Vin, but Cody didn’t seem to think anything of it.

“Because they have to stand trial. Justice must be done.”

Vin turned to her. She looked so strong in her belief that it was the true and only way that the Carson’s could be handled. “Justice for what?” Vin asked watching her closely. For a only a second, Vin saw such pain in her eyes that it made his heart ache for her. But it lasted for only a second as she quickly regained control.

“You ask too many questions.”

“I never thought I would say this, but I wish Ezra was here to make some conversation. I don’t like all this infernal silence,” Vin said, frustrated that she was so closed off.

Cody continued to looked straight ahead. She simply had nothing to say.

“Why don’t we make camp? It’s getting late and the horses could use some rest.” Vin said, noting the clearing that they had just entered. “This would make a good spot here.”

Cody looked around at the clearing. There was a lot of coverage that would allow them to build a fire. “Sounds good” she said as she dismounted her horse. She stretched her arms over her head, glad to be able to move around. She whistled loudly. Vin looked at her puzzled. Just then Tanka burst through a nearby bush, panting and wagging her tail.

“Can I please get down? I have to piss somethin’ fierce,” Billy said, the urgency of the situation apparent in his voice.

“Awh......my head”

Cody and Vin both turned their attention to the Carson’s horse. Matt was beginning to stir. Billy hadn’t been able to get him up very high on the saddle so when he began moving, he slid right off and hit the ground with a resounding thud.

“What the hell?” Matt said as he looked around at his surrounds. Trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind, he looked up at Cody. “You bitch!” he yelled as he jumped to his feet and lunged for her.

Cody was quick, but Vin was just a little bit quicker, pulling his rifle and training it right at Matt’s head. “Don’t move Matt,” he said calmly.

“Please Cody, I have to take a piss,” Billy begged, still atop the horse.

Cody was tired. She still wasn’t to full strength and the events at the jail had taken their toll on her. She sighed heavily as she drew her Colt, her stride toward the horse held an air of confidence. Grabbing Billy by the arm, she yanked hard, sending him tumbling from the horse.

“Shittt!” he yelled as he landed on his back, the wind knocked from his lungs. Cody could hear Matt behind her, cursing her and promising to bring the wrath of Matt down on her. She tuned him out. Matt liked to talk, and Cody had a short temper. If she allowed herself to listen to him, bad things would most likely happen. He brought out the very worst in her.

“Get up, asshole.” Cody reached down, and yanked Billy up by the back of the hair. She just didn’t have the patience to deal with him at the moment. Her ribs were beginning to hurt her again. She was starving, and all she wanted to do was sleep.

Pushing Billy in front of her, she followed him a very short distance to the edge of the camp. “This is far enough,” she said, with her pistol positioned in between his shoulder blades. Billy stopped, his hands still tied in front of him.

“Aren’t you gonna let me out of these ropes?” Billy asked as he glanced over his shoulder. “I can’t pee with my hands tied.”

“Well, I guess you better learn quick. You have till the count of ten. 1....”

“Come on Cody, you got a gun to my back. Where am I gonna go?”

“2....” she said louder, the seriousness of the situation nipping at the edges of her voice.

“Fine,” he said as she continued to count. He knew she was too smart to fall for that, but he had to try. Matt would have beat the hell out of him if he didn’t at least try.

“8.....”

“I’m done. Quit your countin’,” he said as he turned around to face her, a smirk on his face.

“Get movin,” she said as she pushed him along back toward the camp. Vin was able to get Matt tied to the tree nearest them. Relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with him, she motioned for Billy to join Matt in his current position against the large tree. After she had secured his ropes, she was able to breath a little easier.

Physically and emotionally exhausted, Cody couldn’t understand what she had been thinking. How did she think she was going to handle them all by herself? Vin was preparing a fire for the evening. He methodically dug the small trench and laid the wood, arranging each piece just so. His concentration on the task was amazing. Watching him, Cody realized just how grateful she was that he arrived. She never would have been able to handle the situation on her own. She had been so intent on getting Matt and Billy before Brett got there that she didn’t really think about anything else.

Vin must have felt her eyes on him because he looked up at her, in the middle of his task, as if summoned by her thoughts. Cody smiled, blushing slightly, but hating that she had been caught staring at him. Yes, she was grateful, but she would rather rot in hell than tell him how much she had needed his help.

Chapter 19

“Has Vin returned from his scouting?” Mary asked as she shifted the small bundle of papers that she held in her arms. She and Chris had been discussing his having supper with her and Billy.

Chris watched as a small group of riders passed by him. He had never seen any of them before, but from the amount of firearms that the men carried, he figured they meant business. He had to tell the others.

“Chris? Did you hear me?” Mary said as she tried to position herself in his line of view.

“Huh?...Oh, I’m sorry Mary. I was preoccupied. What did you say?”

Mary laughed, brushing a stray strand of golden blonde hair that decided to pester her at the most inconvenient time. Shifting the papers again, she pushed it out of the way. “I said, did Vin return from his scouting yet?”

Chris glared at the riders with a sharp intensity that left Mary speechless. He didn’t like the looks of them. As the last of the riders rounded the corner heading north out of town, Chris felt a knot the size of his fist tighten in the pit of his stomach. “Mary, did you see those men that just left town?” Chris said turning his attention back to her.

“I did. Why?” she asked very puzzled by his reaction to them.

“Do you have any idea when they got into town?” he asked resting his callused hands on the well worn gunbelt.

Mary brushed at the same piece of hair, turning up her lip and blowing at it. “Um...let me think. I believe they came in this afternoon, around 2pm I would say. They were in and out of most of the shops, talking to people. Just passing through as far as I could tell,” she said with a warm smile, but her smile quickly faded as she took in the seriousness of Chris’s expression..

Mary took in every gesture that the leader made. His intense gaze to the north end of town made the hair on her arms stand up on end. “Chris, what is it? Is something wrong?”

Something was wrong all right and Chris Larabee didn’t like it. Not just Cody taking the brothers or Vin going after her.....but something else. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was there and he wasn’t about to ignore it any longer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ezra sat at his usual table, idly shuffling his cards. The town had grown quiet with the absence of the female bounty hunter.

“Mr. Wilmington, why don’t you and Mr. Dunne join me in a game of chance?”

Buck and JD had taken a position at the bar, each trying to get the attention of the new barmaid. “Aw heck Ezra, I ain’t got enough money to be losing it to you. Maybe you need...”

The young sheriff was stopped short by the entrance of the black clad gunmen. A gloomy look darkened the handsome features of Chris’s face. “Vin went after the girl by himself. He’s headed north,” Chris said as he headed to the bar. A shot of whiskey was set for him. “I just seen a bunch of riders heading that way too. And they looked like they had enough ammo to take out a small army. My guess is that Matt Carson wasn’t blowing smoke after all. And if that was his gang, and they find Vin and Cody before we do, Vin could be in for some serious trouble.”

“Chris, you sure it’s them....Matt’s gang, I mean.” JD said, his throat dry and hoarse. He swallowed hard. Matt and Billy were wanted men so that made them dangerous. They had nothing to loss.

“I’m as sure as I can be.” Grabbing the whiskey, Chris downed the shot, gently setting the glass back on the bar. Turning to face his men, “Gentlemen, let’s ride.”

Chapter 20

Cody stared intently into the fire, watching the flames dance from log to log. The smell of smoke drifted toward her nostrils and the shrill sounds of screams echoed in her mind. She shook them out. She was too tired to let them resurface.

“You want to share whatever’s on your mind?” Vin said, watching her closely.

Cody turned toward the handsome tracker, her eyes bloodshot and dark. “No!”

“She don’t much like fire, do ya Cody?” Matt said tauntingly, still tied to the tree.

“Shut up Matt” she said as she closed her eyes. ‘Please don’t let him do this now. I don’t think I can take it’ she begged to whomever was listening.

“Fires bring up bad memories, don’t they girl? It was a simple little fire that made Cody grow up and become such a bad, mean bounty hunter. Ain’t that right Cody?” Matt taunted, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“SHUT UP MATT!!!!!”

“Cowboy.....did she tell ya how she got them whip marks on her back? She got what she wanted, didn’t ya Cody?” his voice taking on a vulgar tone.

“Matt, maybe.....”

“Shut up Billy. I will damn well say what I want. I ain’t scared of that bitch,” Matt yelled at his younger brother. “Hey Cody, how’s your niece?”

Vin threw a disgusted look at Matt. “I reckon he’ll get what’s coming to him sooner or later” he said to himself as he turned his attention to Cody. He just didn’t realize that it was going to be right then. One minute Cody was sitting before the fire. Her eyes were tightly shut, her teeth clenched so tightly together Vin feared that she would break them. And in the next minute, she was up and on Matt Carson like a dog on a bone.

Vin was stunned to his spot. He sat watching as Cody used the butt of her pistol to beat Matt in the face and head. Vin couldn’t see much of what was going on because Cody’s body blocked his view, but he could see the blood that flew from the pearl handled Colt as it was brought down again and again.

There were several different screams that Vin heard all at once. First from Matt, pleading for his life and crying out in pain. Next from Billy, terrified at the sight of Cody and her rage. And finally from Cody herself, the years of pain and heartache finally being vocalized.

From out of the corner of his eye, Vin caught sight of a large figure jumping through the bushes, and then he heard the bark. The bark from Tanka had broken the spell that had held Vin in place as he watched the gruesome scene unfold. He ran to Cody, careful to duck her gun and wrapped his arms around her. Holding as tight as he could, he pulled her back from the half conscious bloody pulp that had once been Matt Carson. Tanka, who had taken up stance at Cody’s side, was now barking feverishly at Vin.

Cody struggled like a wild cat caught in a trap. It took everything Vin had to keep a hold of her. Her strength was amazing to him. Her ribs were still fairly bad and she had looked so exhausted, but the adrenaline that now had control over her body was intense. Vin didn’t think he could hold her much longer.

“CODY STOP!!!!!!”

Finally, he felt her struggle begin to fade until she was almost limp in his arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Vin let go of the hold he had on her and she immediately crumpled to the ground. She landed on her knees, her head in her hands. Vin stood behind her, watching as her body racked with sobs.

“Cody? You all right?” he said as he kneeled down beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

Cody jerked her shoulder away and quickly regained her stance. Looking at the blood coating her hands as tears still flowing down her cheeks, Cody began to walk. She turned her back to Vin and began walking in the opposite direction.

After such a frightening display of anger, Vin wasn’t about to let her just walk away. “Cody, wait. This ain’t over. We need to talk,” he said as he started after her, Tanka on his heels.

Cody looked over her shoulder at him. When she saw him coming after her, she began to run. She couldn’t handle the situation at the moment. She couldn’t and wouldn’t talk to him or anyone else ever. She had to deal with this her own way.

Vin saw that she had no intentions of stopping and ran to catch her. It wasn’t too hard. She was tired. He could see that. She didn’t get more than 25 feet away from him before he caught her.

“Cody, wait.” Again he had to grab her around the chest. She struggled but there wasn’t much fight left. ‘Whatever it was that Matt had triggered in her was gone now,’ he thought to himself as he felt her body shaking against his. Vin turned her around to face him, still holding tightly to her arms.

Cody drew her hands up to her face. She had never let anyone see her cry after that night her family was murdered. Not even when Matt and Billy had held her captive. But now she wasn’t strong enough to fight it. Instead she let the tears flow.

Vin pulled Cody to him, wrapping his arms around her. No words needed to be said. He rubbed his hand lightly across her back and gently kissed the top of her head. “It’s all right Cody. I ain’t gonna hurt you. You’re safe. Sometimes you don’t always need to be strong.” Tanka sat at their feet, whimpering at her master’s sorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Less than thirty minutes later, the six gunmen were saddled and ready to ride. They had decided to meet at the livery and ride out together. The sun was getting ready to set, and the usual desert chill was nipping at the air.

There was an unusual quietness about the group. Each man busying himself with the necessary steps to get his horse ready to ride. As Chris looked around at the faces of what he had come to refer to as his family, he could see the tension and suspicion that the men felt.

Normally, Chris Larabee didn’t like to leave town at night, especially if they were looking for someone. It was too hard to track. This was different. Something wasn’t right. Chris feared that the tracker would be in terrible danger, if he wasn’t already, if they didn’t find him soon. Little did he know how right he was.