Thanks to my beta Judy who always wants to know what'll happen next :-)))))) Disclaimer can be found on the fanfic page or you can go back to the Chronicles Page where you can also find earlier parts of this story. Comments welcome.
Wolf Dreams
Size: Approx 200K
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Prologue
~~ Coyote ~~
Coyote was basking in the morning sunlight that fell high up on the south side of the mountain, his favorite spot while he was thinking about what to do next. He turned his head into the wind and sniffed.
Out of the many different scents that always travelled on the air currents he picked out three for closer study. One was rank and unappealing, the smell of a male white stranger, but the other two were familiar. Very familiar, and though they were also white males they were not at all unwelcome.
A dead tree stretched out its grasping limbs above and the sound of fluttering wings told Coyote that Crow had just settled on a branch above him. He called on Crow to soar down and search out the unknown man to see what he was up to.
Looking through the bird's eyes he found the stranger stretched out on a large boulder some way below Coyote but still ways above the two riders climbing the trail one third up the mountain. Unnoticed Crow settled on the edge of a rock outcropping some feet above the man's head. Coyote watched with interest at what was about to happen. He was close enough that the stranger's mind lay completely open to him and Coyote could follow the thoughts in there as they milled around like ants in an anthill.
The man lowered his spyglass and thought about what he'd just seen. Two of them, there were two of them coming. He'd been expecting Chris Larabee but Vin Tanner too.... Must be his lucky day, but it sure wasn't theirs.
No need to think any longer on this, the two riders were way up on the mountain trail and probably wouldn't go much further if they wanted to get back to Four Corners in time for the shipment to arrive.
If he wanted to take them by surprise now was the time to do it. He waited until they had carefully turned on the narrow trail and had their backs to his hiding place. One of them was turning to look back up the trail as if he sensed that something was wrong but it was too late.
Four rapid shots rang out loud and clear in the morning air and when he studied the scene through his spyglass again he could see that his aim had been true. The horses had bolted and they were both down, although he could see that one of them was still moving about some.
Well, the time it took him to get down to their position and check it out would probably rectify that little problem. If not, then he had plenty of bullets left for his rifle and if that didn't do it he could also tumble the body down a cliff.
He got his horse out from hiding and he was whistling as he went down the trail to check out the bodies. Everything was going better than planned.
When Coyote saw the stranger get closer to the two wounded men he moved for the first time and stood up, instantly ready to spring down the mountain. With ease he skipped across the uneven ground until he was nearly level with the three men. He grinned with anticipation as he slid into the brush, his fangs showing. Time to play.
When the rifleman got closer to his victims he discovered with dismay that he obviously wasn't as good a shot as he'd thought he was. Both of them were still alive and only three of the bullets had met their intended targets. One had gone right through Vin Tanner's chest, but it looked like the other two had just gouged Chris Larabee. One of the bullets had made a long, deep gash along Larabee's ribs while the other one had grazed his skull near his right temple.
So close, the shooter thought, but not close enough. Wouldn't have to wait much longer. Time to finish it.
The man drew his gun and aimed it at Larabee's head but looked up again when he heard a rustling sound coming from the brush. He listened and watched a while but nothing came through. It was nothing, he told himself, just some bird or so. Then he heard it again, this time right behind his back. He turned quickly, but just like before there didn't seem to be anything there.
Except there was and it was growling. Couldn't quite tell what it was but it sure sounded big as it moved around, circling him. He still couldn't see it but it sounded real hungry now. The smell of blood must have drawn it here.
He started to edge away from the wounded men. Didn't need to waste no more bullets on men that would soon be a prime meal for whatever was out there. No sense in him getting eaten too. No sense at all. His work here was done. Now, if he could just get hold of their horses before they ran all the way back home to Four Corners and alerted the other five.
His luck held true. On the way down he found that Larabee's horse had gotten its reins all tangled up in some branches when it bolted and couldn't get free on its own. Tanner's mean-spirited horse had stayed with its companion and it gave him a good bite in the arm, near enough broke it clean off, when he tried to grab the reins. With luck more than skill he finally managed to rope it in and could proceed with the two horses to the hide-out where the others were waiting. He looked up at the sun as he rode. The morning was gone, it was noon. There was still some time until the full plan would be set in motion.
As soon as the rifleman was gone Coyote broke through the leaf cover and trotted closer. He looked down at where Chris Larabee lay like a carelessly thrown rag doll in the brush. Tasting the scent of blood on his tongue Coyote listened to the small sounds of life still coming from the man's body.
Not gone yet. Still clinging tenaciously to life. Now, this was most interesting.
Perhaps something could be made from this situation. Something fun. But it would have to wait a moment. He had the other one to consider first.
Vin Tanner looked dead, covered with dust and blood. His eyes were closed but when Coyote went near he could see that the chest was still rising slightly with shallow breaths. Soon gone. All that fire within - banked now, barely embers left. It made Coyote feel almost sad.
While he himself could not die that didn't mean that he was completely untouched by death. He wondered again where they all went when they died. Even more baffling ... sometimes, just now and then, they came back, too. Not looking on the outside as they had in their old lives but their souls were the same. It was the greatest of mysteries and no matter how he searched he couldn't find a way to see into that hidden place and find the answers to his many questions.
Coyote remembered his conversation with Vin Tanner back in Ghost Country, almost a year earlier. He had thought the man would die then and there but human resilience had surprised him, like always. Vin Tanner had longed for a death out under the heavens then but when he'd been denied that he'd quietly settled for a lesser death. This time it wouldn't be so.
Coyote looked over at Chris Larabee who was stirring a bit, moving his head slightly. Larabee was in a bad way but not at all ready to give up. Human resilience, what a wonderful thing. Maybe he should test it a bit, find out what Chris Larabee was really made of. The secrets of his mind and soul. But first he had to see to Vin Tanner. The rest would have to wait until Coyote returned.
Coyote opened his mouth and started to sing. The words couldn't be heard by human ears, they left no echo, they didn't even make a sound. They just stayed in the air, shimmering, changing the shape of the world around Coyote and his prey. The sand shifted and swirled and when it settled again the mountains were many miles behind them and they were deep in the desert.
"I will give you a gift," Coyote said as he looked down at the man who now lay silent and unmoving in the shadow of a giant saguaro. "I will give you the death you so desired."
He lay down in the shade by Vin Tanner's side and waited to see what would happen next.
Chapter One
~~ Desert ~~
Sounds came back to him first. It was the sounds of animals and insects moving all around him. Next he spotted shadows appearing and disappearing as they moved across his closed eyelids. It felt like it took a thousand years but he finally gathered enough strength to open his eyes a crack.
Blinking against the blinding sun Vin watched the dark shapes that were circling the sky high above him. He knew that shape. Buzzards were gathering. He followed their flight with his eyes as they twisted and turned, figuring that they were up there waiting for him to bite the dust.
The air shimmered with heat above the desert floor and the ground felt scorching against his back. Every breath of hot air hurt going down his lungs. He felt like he was burning up and he could hardly move a fraction before pain shot through his body. Vin knew he was in bad shape, maybe even bad enough to outright kill him. The only thing that seemed to be working properly in him was his stubbornness. Hadn't given up. Wasn't about to.
Vin wondered briefly how he'd come to be in the desert when his last memory was of riding up a mountain path, but he was plumb tired and couldn't keep his eyes from falling shut again.
He drifted for an indeterminate amount of time until a cool shadow fell on his face and this time it stayed. Vin forced his eyes open again and looked up, right into familiar green eyes. Someone had come for him, but it was the last one he'd expected to see.
"Ezra?" Vin said, his voice just a hoarse whisper slipping out through cracked lips.
"Certainly not," Ezra - not Ezra - said. "Take another guess. You know me, Mr Tanner. We are old friends."
"What?" Vin croaked. His mind didn't seem to be working properly at the moment. He felt stupid and slow and couldn't follow what Ezra was saying. Vin wondered if he was just seeing a mirage, it happened quite often in the desert to over-heated minds. But it was awful talkative for some mirage.
With an impatient sniff Ezra looked away from him and his whole body seemed to waver for a moment, then it changed back into its true form and there was nothing human left to be seen.
"Coyote," Vin said. Things were finally starting to make more sense.
Coyote looked at Vin with curious eyes and tongue hanging out of his mouth. He grinned.
"Should have known," Vin whispered and closed his eyes again. He wished that Coyote would go away if he just paid him no mind but it didn't seem to work. Instead he felt a hand impatiently shaking his shoulder, it didn't stop until he opened his eyes properly. He gave Coyote an irritated glance. Coyote was back to play at being Ezra again and taking great delight in concentrating on brushing off specks of dust from the sleeve of his immaculate green coat as he spoke.
"Wake up, Mr Tanner. I want to talk to you."
"What about?" Vin said tiredly.
"You made me welcome at your fire last time around. It's only fair that I return the favor. This is my home and you are most welcome to it."
"I thought Ghost Country was your home."
"I'm at home in most places," Coyote said smoothly.
"What do you want, Coyote?" Vin said, determined to get to the point.
"No need for this hostility," Coyote rebuked him. "I don't want anything really. Just to spend some time with you."
"What for?"
"I thought you'd appreciate the presence of a friend in your final moments. There are still so many things I don't understand about death. I was hoping you could tell me what you're experiencing."
"Ain't gonna die," Vin wheezed out through the ever growing pain in his chest. "Did you do this?"
"I can assure you that I had nothing to do with you being shot. I merely brought you here."
"Why?"
"Because you wanted it." Coyote made it sound as if it was obvious.
"Like hell!" Vin denied heatedly.
"Don't you recall the last time we met? It was most certainly on your mind then."
Vin opened his mouth to say it was all a lie when he was caught by a vague memory. It was so long ago and he'd been so sick that he'd almost managed to convince himself since then that what'd happened in that mine shaft had just been a fever dream. But now....
"I can see you remember it. You wanted to die out in the open, in the wild. Well, now you can. There's no one around for miles."
"Ain't gonna die just so you can watch it!" Vin replied angrily.
Coyote looked disappointed. "You're not very grateful," he said and frowned. "Maybe I should leave you to think it over while I return to Mr Larabee's side. He's been left on his own long enough. Hopefully he'll be more forthcoming than you've been."
Chris! Vin was struck by the sudden memory of how he'd been scouting out the territory together with Chris when they'd been ambushed. He thought he remembered seeing Chris fall out of the corner of his eye. Vin had no idea what had happened after that but if Coyote was involved it couldn't be good. He'd almost died the last time Coyote had interfered in his life and he didn't want the same thing to happen to Chris Larabee.
"You stay away from him," Vin warned Coyote as feelings of unease clawed at his gut.
"I'm just curious about some things. I won't harm him."
"You stay away from Chris Larabee!" Vin said with as much force as he could muster. "You stay away or I'll hunt you down, take your pelt, make a coat out of it and wear it. That's a promise. You hear?"
It was an empty threat and they both knew it. Vin found that it was almost beyond him now to raise his head even an inch away from the ground. Dying? Yeah, he probably was. Still, he meant everything he'd said and the impact of his words on Coyote was spectacular.
Something flashed by in Coyote's eyes. It was just there for an instant but Vin had seen it in Ezra's eyes enough times to recognize that look that spoke of being wounded and misunderstood. Then Coyote breathed out in sudden rage and power swept over Vin like a firestorm, he could find no shelter, could do nothing but endure it. When the fury finally ebbed it left terrible pain behind.
Vin fought to draw breath and tried to speak but found he couldn't. Coyote looked down on him with cold eyes. He was wearing Ezra's best poker face now, the one that carefully hid all feeling.
"Do what you want," Coyote said, almost impatiently. "You are on your own from here on. I'm tired of this game."
Like a howl on the wind he was gone and Vin's world went gray for a while. He came to again some time later and lay there listening to the silence and wondering if Coyote was coming back. Didn't look like it.
He was alone. From what Coyote had said there was no use in waiting for anyone to come rescue him, it just wasn't going to happen. So he could either lay down and die or try and rescue himself.
Vin looked up at the sun. It was lower in the sky now and nightfall was only hours away. Time to get going.
Struggling against pain and weakness he managed to turn on his side, it was the only way he could try and get on his knees. It seemed to take forever, and it took a whole lot of cursing to get him through it, but he finally managed it. Getting from his knees to his feet proved more of a challenge. For a second on the way up he even blacked out, falling forward onto his knees again and only catching himself at the last moment with his hands in the sand before he ended up flat on his face.
Dammit! He stayed with his head bowed and his hands grabbing at the sand. His arms were trembling and it felt as if someone was hacking at his shoulder with an axe. Vin knew that he couldn't last long. The wound was quickly draining what little strength he had left. Singleminded determination was all that was holding him up right now and he let it carry him further until he rose unsteadily from the ground and looked around.
Middle of nowhere. Wasn't the first time he had been there in his life. At least there were some landmarks. Shadowy mountains where the sun was going down, had to be water somewhere near there. Vin shook his head and tried to figure out in what direction Four Corners could be found. He turned slowly around in a circle but his thoughts were few and far apart and it was as if nothing could make real sense to him.
He needed water, he knew that much. Vin thought about getting rid of his hide coat but decided against it. The desert could get mighty cold at night, he'd need it then. He was beset by a powerful thirst but tried not to think too much about it, knowing it would only get worse that way. Instead he thought about Chris. Had to find him. It was all that mattered now.
He became slowly aware that he was holding something in his left hand that he must have picked up out of the sand. It was a smooth, white pebble, just the right size for him to put in his mouth to keep it from drying out completely. He sucked on the pebble. It seemed to him as if it tasted faintly of the sea and he almost chuckled at this notion, for how could that be?
The sea was miles away. Everything was miles away and he had to get going.
Walking was easy, Vin told himself as he started out towards the mountains. You just put one foot in front of the other and took a step forward. That was all. Just one step and when you had done that you did it all over again.
One more step. He could do it.
Just one more.
Chapter Two
~~ Twilight ~~
Buck pushed the brim of his hat away from his eyes and sighed. The kid was going to drive himself crazy, but before that happened he was going to make the rest of them crazy too, and first in line was Buck. Ever since the sun had started to sink towards the horizon JD had become fidgety and now he was pacing back and forth inside the Sheriff's office. Buck had watched and waited patiently with his legs stretched out and his feet resting on the desk, but now he couldn't take it one minute longer.
"JD, you're driving me nuts," he complained. "Why don't you stop pacing for a while and go do something."
JD halted his pacing for a second so he could give Buck an annoyed look.
"Like what?" he asked.
"You can go get something to eat," Buck suggested hopefully.
"Not hungry," JD said and continued his pacing again for a short while but then he suddenly stopped and went over to the window. He looked out at the shadows that were building strange shapes all along the street.
"They should've been back by now," JD said and then turned to look inquringly at Buck. "Shouldn't they?"
"Well, these things can take time, JD," Buck said, but he didn't sound very convincing. He had been thinking the same thing. Chris and Vin should have been back by now.
Unless they'd run into trouble.
"Tell you what," Buck said. "Why don't you go round up Ezra and Nathan and Josiah and ask them to meet quietly here."
"Okay," JD agreed and seemed relieved to finally have something to do other than wait.
He quickly left and Buck was left alone with his thoughts. He looked out the window at the darkening sky and then let his eyes travel over into the corner and the small safe there. That damn package! He'd known it would be trouble for them as soon as he'd heard about it and now it looked as if it was coming true. When Chris came back he'd take real pleasure in saying to him, "I told you so."
But in the meantime there were things he had to do. Steps had to be taken.
He made his way over to the boarding house and waited a while to make sure no one had followed him before he knocked on the door to room number Seven.
"Mr Dancer?" Buck said quietly.
A middle aged man with steel grey hair and a handlebar mustache immediately opened the door and threw some quick glances up and down the corridor to ensure their privacy before he stood aside so Buck could enter.
"There might be some trouble brewing," Buck continued as soon as the door was closed and locked behind him.
"Why? What's happened?"
"Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner left early this morning to look around some. They should have been back by now but they haven't returned. I don't like it."
"Neither do I," Dancer said and looked very thoughtful. "You know about the telegram I received this morning, I suppose."
"About the new route you're supposed to take tomorrow before meeting up with the army? Yeah, Chris told me before he left."
"It was very unfortunate that I was so delayed so much that I missed my previous contact and had to request a change of the route. The longer the journey, the more chance that someone might find the whole thing out."
"Looks like they just might have done that already."
"Indeed. What do you suggest?" Dancer's sharp blue eyes searched Buck's face.
"I'd like to bring the others in on this," Buck said but Dancer looked hesitant.
"I can vouch for all of them," Buck assured him.
"Even Standish?"
"Ezra won't be any trouble, I can tell you that," Buck replied and hoped it wasn't just wishful thinking on his part. "Judge Travis would too, if he was here."
"I'm not happy about this situation at all," Dancer said as he put aside his grey eastern style coat and put on a carefully selected western outfit that would blend in perfectly with the current style of frontier towns and wouldn't raise any eyebrows.
Buck played his trump card. "If something really has gone wrong then we're going to need them."
"Very well," Dancer conceded as he checked to see if his ivory handled Derringer was loaded before putting it in his coat pocket. "But I have to send a telegram to keep my superiors apprised of the situation."
"We can do that on the way," Buck said and they left Dancer's room.
The street was dark and mostly empty now and the Telegraph office was just about to close for the night when Buck and Dancer stepped inside. Buck waited patiently while Dancer carefully wrote down the coded message. The clerk checked it through twice before placing his hand on the key to start transmitting.
"That's strange," he said, after just a few strokes. "Wire must be down."
"What do you mean?" Dancer said sharply, immediately alarmed.
"There's no signature, no reply, not anything," the clerk replied as he tried again and again to raise someone on the other end without success. "Wire must be down somewhere near here. We're completely cut off from the outside until we can get it fixed."
"How soon can that be?" Buck broke in.
"Soon as I can get a proper look at the break. It has to be near town, otherwise I'd be able to reach at least someone. Of course, first I have to find it and that is a bit harder to do in the dark." He looked apologetically at Dancer. "Gonna be some hours at least, mister."
"Fine," Dancer said, clenching his jaw. "What's your name?"
"Pete Jackson."
"Do what you can then, Jackson."
They retreated back to the street while the clerk closed and locked the office and started to walk towards the Sheriff's Office.
"Coincidence?" Dancer asked. It was a completely rhetorical question.
"Not hardly," Buck said. "There hasn't been a storm today that I've noticed. Wire wouldn't be down unless it's been tampered with somehow. Must have been deliberately cut."
"I thought so also. This is most worrying."
"You can say that again," Buck said as he opened the door to the Sheriff's Office to find Ezra, Nathan, Josiah and JD all waiting inside. Ezra was the first to open his mouth as soon as the door was closed again.
"So, what's the reason for this nocturnal, and from what JD let us understand, clandestine meeting?"
"Clan-what?" JD protested. "I never said that." He would have continued but the look the others gave him quickly shut him up.
Dancer frowned slightly as he gave them all, and Ezra in particular, a searching look before speaking.
"I'm going to tell you something in strictest confidence, not a word of what I'm about to say must leave this office. If it does and I can trace it back to someone in here I can guarantee that you'll get at least ten to fifteen years in prison."
Ezra's green eyes flared rebelliously for a second before he wryly asked, "On what charge?"
"Anything from Interfering in a matter of importance to the State to Treason," Dancer said. "Whatever will get you put away."
"And you are?" Josiah asked.
"My name is John Dancer. I'm an agent working for the Treasury." He briefly showed them his credentials. "I've been entrusted with the task of transporting a certain item to San Francisco. Your job is to ensure that I get to my next meet up point with the item and hopefully also myself intact."
"Well, that's very interesting," Ezra commented. "Is there any special reason why you particularly need our help?"
Before Dancer could answer the faint sound of gunfire echoed back from beyond the town.
"What the hell?" Buck muttered and took a look out the window, seeing nothing amiss out there. "I'll go check it out," he told the others. "You stay with Dancer," he said as he quickly disappeared out the door to search out the disturbance. JD still followed him like a shadow on his heels. Almost immediately they were approached by a man on a horse returning from the edge of town. It was the telegraph clerk and he was nearly falling out the saddle as he reined in his mount.
"Sheriff, thank God!" Jackson said. "I was ambushed on my way out of town."
"Are you hurt?" Buck asked as he watched the man dismount with a grimace of pain on his face. As soon as he was on the ground he grabbed his left arm just above the elbow and there was a dark stain spreading under his hand.
"Just winged. It's no more than a scratch."
"JD, take him to Nathan and tell him to take a look at it."
"What are you going to do?" JD asked.
"I'm gonna go check out the main road," Buck said as he swung up in the saddle. "You don't mind me borrowing your horse, do you?"
He barely waited for Jackson to shake his head for no before he was off. Buck rode hunched low, careful not to make too big a target. He'd barely gotten more than a hundred feet outside town before a warning shot tore a strip of cloth out of his sleeve. Too damned close!
Buck turned the horse around and rode like the Devil was after him back to town. No one seemed to be about when he rode through but he searched the shadows carefully anyway. Coming out on the other side of town his horse was spooked for a second by something big and grey, a stray dog most likely, that ran across the road too fast for him to get more than a glimpse of it.
It saved his life. Just as his horse shied away a bullet went past him, near enough that he could feel the heat from it as it buzzed past his left ear.
He whipped the horse around and quickly made his way back to the Sheriff's office where Jackson was just coming out the door with his left arm in a sling. He looked weary and relieved at the same time.
"Did you get them?" he asked as soon as he spotted Buck.
Buck shook his head. "No. Look, you'd better stay in town while we get this thing sorted."
"I can still handle a gun," Jackson offered. "If you need help that is."
"I'll keep that in mind," Buck said and Jackson picked up the reins, nodded goodnight and disappeared with his horse towards the livery stable.
Everyone in the room looked up and silently stared at Buck as he walked in. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
"Did you tell them?" Buck asked Dancer.
"I haven't told them anything. Jackson was in the room with us, so I couldn't. He told them about the wire so they know about that at least.What was the gunfire about?"
"There are men stationed on either side of the town, taking shots at anyone leaving by way of the main road. Lucky thing we've never had many travellers by night here. Didn't have time to check for other ways to leave town but I guess they've got them covered too. The moon is rising, giving them plenty of light to see by and the brush gives them cover. Whoever it is has us boxed in for the moment."
"So, we can't get the wire repaired," Dancer said and frowned.
"No," Buck replied. "And as long as we can't fix the wire, we can't send for outside help either."
"What are they after?" Josiah asked.
Dancer pursed his lips together. "I'm not at liberty to divulge-"
"You don't have to divulge anything, Mr Dancer," Ezra broke in. "I bet you ten dollars right now that I can name the item in question that has to be protected. If I'm right you don't even have to say yes or no. Just pay me."
For a second Dancer stared incredulously at Ezra, before he turned towards Buck.
"Does he mean it?" he asked. Buck shrugged non-committally. Dancer turned back towards Ezra. "What do you think it is?" he said.
"Printing plates."
Dancer's mouth fell open for a second before he caught himself and snapped it shut again. He slowly reached into his waistcoat pocket and pulled out a gold 10 dollar coin that he threw to Ezra. Snatching it out of the air Ezra looked at it with something akin to surprise in his eyes, obviously he hadn't expected to get his suspicions confirmed.
"Well," Dancer said with a hint of dry humor surfacing for the first time in his voice. "At least I can say that you didn't hear it from me. Care to explain how you knew this, Standish?"
Ezra was carefully studying the sparkle the coin made as it travelled through the air when he let it bounce from one hand to the other and Dancer was just about to repeat his question when Ezra looked up and said, "Money is my business."
"Aha," Dancer said. "Guess that makes two of us then. Perhaps you could tell me a little more than that."
"Simple case of deduction. A Treasury agent going to San Francisco. Where there's a Mint. With a highly important mystical package of some kind. Mints make money, hence the need for printing plates. Put it all together - Ergo."
Dancer looked a bit sheepish as he dryly commented, "Yes, sounds as if I've been perfectly transparent then."
"Not quite," Ezra admitted generously with a somewhat smug little grin. "Before you told us I had no idea who you were or what you were doing here. And I still don't know why you're transporting printing plates to San Francisco. My impression was that they only handled coins, not bills."
"Mostly they do," Dancer said. "The San Francisco Mint was founded with the primary function of turning the large amounts of gold bullion from the strikes into coins of which there was a distinct lack of in the same area. This was foremost to accommodate the miners who neither wanted or trusted other means of payment. But recently other interests in California have made it clear that they want a safer and less cumbersome way of paying than having to ship gold coins back and forth when trying to expand their businesses eastwards. Bank notes are more easily transported and at a lesser cost than the same amount in gold. A secret try-out period was agreed upon and I was contacted to pose as a simple businessman from the east and Judge Travis was contacted to smooth the way for me. Obviously I've failed in my endeavours. The whole thing is wide open and Tanner and Larabee are missing."
"Wait a minute," Nathan shot in. "Vin and Chris are missing? No one told us that. What do you know about it?"
"No more than you do at this moment," Dancer said and looked to Buck.
"They both went out this morning to scout out the road Dancer's supposed to be taking tomorrow. It's been too long and they haven't come back." Buck swallowed hard as his throat suddenly felt tight. "Doesn't mean that anything's happened. But with everything else ... well, one wonders."
The silence was heavy in the room as everyone thought over the full implications of what Buck had said. They were under siege and two of their friends were missing. It was a lot to take in all at once.
Dancer watched Ezra flip the coin around some more but looking as if he was miles away in his mind and his hands were acting completely independently.
"You know, you're lucky Wilmington thinks you're trustworthy. Otherwise I'd have shot you instead of paying you," Dancer told Ezra. "I have a Derringer hidden in my coat."
"How very interesting," Ezra said, not the least bit thrown. "So have I."
Their sparring was interrupted again, this time by a knock on the door. Buck was standing closest to door and when he opened it there was an old man standing there. He looked uneasy, continuously tramping in one spot and not stepping into the room.
"Buck, I need to see you right away," he said nervously.
It was Luke Hardin, the old man that loved horses so much that he helped out at the livery stable almost every night, whether he got paid or not. He didn't like crowds and couldn't stand being in a room with people he didn't know so Buck stepped outside instead.
"What is it?" he asked Luke.
"I've been training a boy to help out at the stables. He's new in town and don't know Peso and Pony by sight, so he didn't notice anything was wrong."
Buck could feel a cold shiver of apprehension run up his spine. "What are you talking about?"
"Peso and Pony were brought to the livery stable and left there some hours ago by one man who left on another horse. I didn't come in to check on things until 10 minutes ago so I didn't find out until then."
"The man - was it Chris or Vin?"
"That's just it, the way the boy described him it didn't sound as if it was either one of them but someone else. Boy said he had a Raccoon tail on his coat collar and it looked like the man were missing some fingers on one hand."
"Which hand?" Buck's mind was racing now, trying to take it all in and make some sense out of it. That description sounded awfully familiar. Hadn't he seen it just recently somewhere? Yes, he had, but where? On a wanted poster?
"Was the outermost fingers on his left hand, boy said," Luke told him.
"We'll need to see the horses," Buck said.
"All of you?" Luke asked uneasily.
"Yeah," Buck said. "Sorry, Luke."
"I'll just be outside for a while then," old Luke sighed as he walked away towards the stables Buck went back in to round up his gang.
They all came, armed with as many lanterns as they could grab so they could get a good look at the horses who stood quietly eating their oats. Pony and Peso were both reassuringly unharmed but they seemed wary and tired.
Pony nickered gently when he saw Buck. "What've you done with Chris then?" he whispered to the horse as he stroked his mane and Pony looked as if he really wanted to be able to answer at that moment. Peso snapped at Dancer when the man came too close but he tolerated being petted a bit by Josiah after he had been given an apple.
After seeing to the horses they went over to study the the gear, gathering their lamps so it would be easier to see if something wasn't looking quite right. It didn't look as if anything was missing but something was definitely out of place. Nathan let his hand touch the smooth leather as he leaned in closer to study some small dark stains on Chris's saddle and saddlebags.
"There's blood on Chris's saddle," he stated without the slightest bit of hesitation. "It's not much but it's there."
"Vin's too," JD said.
"Chris has been hurt before," Buck said. "Could it be from one of those times?"
Nathan shook his head. "No. Sorry, Buck, but it looks recent to me."
It was Josiah who spotted the small note tied to Peso's tail. He carefully cut it loose and opened it. His lips pressed together into a thin line as he silently read the few words written there.
"What does it say?" JD asked.
"Two down. Five to go," Josiah read out loud before he gave the note to Buck.
Buck could feel all the blood drain from his face as he read the words over and over.
Well, that was it then.
He felt a hollowness spreading through his body. Buck had only felt that one time before, when he'd realized that Sarah and Adam had been inside the house when it burned. He'd thought he'd never feel that hurt ever again, but now he did.
Chris was gone.
The drops of blood, the horses, the wire being cut - it all added up to something bad. The note was most likely true. Even if it wasn't, there was nothing he could do about it right now and that would probably make it all too late.
It hit him suddenly with absolute clarity - Chris wasn't coming back.
Rage seeped into the hollow in Buck's soul and filled it up.
"Now what?" JD said and sounded almost as if he was about to cry. The kid was looking at him, lost and scared. What the hell for? Buck didn't have any answers. He looked at the others but they didn't seem to know what to do either. All of them were shaken to the core, he could see it on their faces. Even Dancer seemed upset.
Chris and Vin were gone.
Someone needed to step in and start picking up the pieces, otherwise they'd all be lost. The rage that had burned so hot in Buck suddenly changed and grew into something much colder but equally strong and infinitely more dangerous.
They were gone. Really gone.
"Now?" Buck said. "We plan. And we wait."
He crushed the note in his hand as if it was the heart of their unknown enemy.
"Then we make them pay," he promised.
*******
Vin had stumbled on some mule tracks and followed them for a while but they had just led him deeper into the wild and not to water. He'd fallen hours ago and hadn't been able to get back on his feet. After he'd fallen he had crawled on his hands and knees for a good while but then even that had taken too much effort. Now he could do nothing but lie still on his back and wait.
He was glad he'd kept the coat after all, the night chills were creeping in on him now and long shivers up his spine made his whole body twitch involuntarily at intervals and he could do nothing to control it.
There was a soft rustling sound nearby as some creature moved across the sand. New creatures came out to hunt at night, it could be something small that just sounded bigger. Vin hoped that was it.
He'd been pretty sure that he'd been followed by something big for several hours before he'd fallen. There had been a shadow in the corner of his eye as he walked and he'd felt watched but nothing had happened after he'd fallen so maybe he had been wrong. Surely a predator would have come out at least to sniff at him before now? He was glad it hadn't for he knew he'd lost all ability to fend for himself.
The sky was full of stars in the desert and he lay on his back looking up at them. So coldly shining, so far away. Real pretty. Was a sight a man could take with him into eternity without regrets.
Just like earlier in the day a shadow suddenly fell on his face as something was blocking out the light. He felt a presence nearby but he couldn't identify the shadowy figure bending over him.
A hand traced gently over his eyelids, closing his eyes like he was already dead.
"Sleep," a voice told him quietly. "When you wake everything will be different."
All urgency was gone now as his body was giving up. Vin let himself fall asleep without knowing if he'd ever see another day.