The summer sun disappeared over the darkening horizon, setting on a day most residents of Four Corners would gladly forget. The small town, while still badly shaken, was beginning to recover from the horrific ‘events’ of the early afternoon. Not only had the dust settled following the blazing gun battle, but most of the physical damage had been repaired and the citizens themselves had finally stopped trembling.

Earlier, Four Corners had faced a horrendous moment in its short history. The image of defenceless women and children with knives to their throats and six of the seven peacekeepers lined up on the porch of the saloon - standing atop of chairs, arms tied; nooses around necks - would cause disturbing recollections for a long time to come, not the least of which for Vin Tanner who had returned from a relaxing ride to find himself face to face with his worst nightmare.

The long and the short of it was, Guy Royal had hired a group of eleven ‘professionals’ to take down Four Corner’s peacekeepers… and it had almost worked. The attack had been meticulously planned and executed with clock like precision. The only factor Royal’s assassins hadn’t taken into consideration was Vin Tanner being out of town… well, actually, Vin Tanner returning to town in the middle of things.

The events unfolded something like this…

1:23pm: Royal’s eleven hired assassins rode into Four Corners, melted into the population, selected hostages from the women and children and took up premeditated positions around the town with knives to their captives’ throats.

1:25pm: The leader of the group called the Seven out and issued a very simple ultimatum. “Throw down your guns or we’ll slit their throats right here, right now.”

1:26pm: Larabee and his men appeared from various buildings, appalled at the scene awaiting them. Almost a full minute of silence followed while Chris Larabee glared at the thugs as he searched desperately for a way to rescue the hostages and overcome the mob. However, it was obvious to all that the peacekeepers were not only outnumbered, but had no chance of rescuing all eleven hostages without casualties… casualties in the form of women and children with their throats slit. Left with no choice, Chris walked out into the middle of the street and let his gun belt fall to the ground to the dismay of Four Corner’s residents. The other five peacekeepers in town followed his lead. A tense confrontation developed as the thugs demanded that the seventh peacekeeper be produced. Chris successfully convinced them that Vin was out of town with the words, “If he were here, he’d be standing with us now.”

1:28pm: Larabee and his men were bound and made to stand on top of chairs placed on the porch of the saloon… nooses around their necks... the end of each rope tied to the beam above.

1:31pm: Mary Travis stepped forward and rallied support with some fiery words, but threats to the town’s children had her and those willing to stand up to the mob, retreat. The citizens of Four Corners were left to watch helplessly as the atrocity unfolded.

1:33pm: The leader of the thugs approached Chris’s chair. Josiah began to pray aloud. The thug placed his foot on the stool and prepared to kick it out. Larabee’s eyes lifted to the heavens and the cry of, “No, don’t!” echoed from him. The thugs laughed, believing Chris’ outburst to be a cry for his own life. It wasn’t. Larabee had spotted Tanner on the rooftop directly across from him. When Vin had returned, Chris couldn’t be sure, but the sharpshooter was back from his jaunt into the wilds and the Seven’s leader feared that his best friend’s attempt to save his partners would end in innocent women and children being injured. Besides, even if Vin could pull off the miracle required to free his friends, the regulators were unarmed. It was a risk too great to take.

Larabee’s cry fell on deaf ears.

1:34pm: Vin Tanner opened fire. His aim was directed at the ropes around his companion’s necks. Six bullets were all it took to free his friends who leaped from their chairs and ducked for cover with their hands still bound. Stunned, Royal’s mob rushed into the street with guns drawn, searching for the missing peacekeeper. Four Corner’s astonished citizens raced indoors… they knew the drill - when bullets started to fly, lock all doors and windows and stay inside until the ‘all clear’ was called.

Using a rope, Vin swung down to the street and opened fire on Royal’s assassins, sending them scattering as he dashed across to the saloon. His blade flashed, releasing Larabee’s hands. While still peppering the town‘s attackers, whom had found cover and were returning fire, Vin thrust the knife into his best friend’s fist, yelling, “There are guns on the bar!” Larabee, Wilmington, Standish, Dunne, Jackson and Sanchez disappeared through the batwing doors and reappeared seconds later with an assortment of weapons Vin had collected and strategically placed earlier.

1:36pm The battle that followed didn’t last long. During it, one of the thugs lunged at Molly Moreton who was cowering in an alcove. Vin Tanner appeared from nowhere and shoved his mare’s leg under the thug’s chin. “Miss Molly. This fella ain’t botherin’ you, is he?!” Tanner’s brilliant blue eyes flashed with fire and passion at the pathetic man who had threatened the defenceless woman.

1:38pm Those members of Royal’s select group who had survived the fray were locked in the town jail.

1:39pm Vin Tanner rode out of town without a word.

The entire incident had lasted less than twenty minutes from the time the thugs rode in, until the final bullet was fired, but it was twenty minutes that would haunt many for a long time.

As night fell, two very different groups collected in the restaurant for a meal. On one side of the room, a gathering of the town’s women folk sitting with cups of coffee. On the other side, with bottles of whisky littering the table - something that broke the restaurant rules, but no one was prepared to comment - the six peacekeepers who had rope burns around their necks. Both groups were discussing the same thing… but from a slightly different perspective.

*****

“He’s got incredible eyes,” Molly cooed of her new found hero. “They are sooo blue.”

“I know. Like the sky.”

“On a cloudless day,” Allison agreed, wistfully.

“They see straight through you,” added Jean.

“He tipped his hat to me the other day and his eyes just… I honestly thought my knees were going to collapse under me!” All of the women sighed long and deep. Despite the differences in their ages, all agreed that Vin Tanner had a way of looking at a woman that left her reeling.

*****

“He’s got an incredible eye,” Josiah commented, shaking his sagging head.

“Something we should all be thankful for, my friends. For if he had missed…” Ezra couldn’t finish the statement and it hung uncomfortably for several long seconds as each man at the table revisited that moment standing on the chair about to meet his maker.

“He shouldn’t have taken the risk,” Larabee muttered, staring into the dark liquid in his shot glass. If it had gone wrong… Chris couldn’t think about it.

“I, for one, am very pleased that he decided to take the risk, Mr. Larabee,” Ezra snorted with disdain, his blood shot eyes providing a disapproving a look.

“I’ve known some good sharpshooters in my day, but none of them hold a candle to Vin,” Buck agreed, taking a swig from one of the almost empty bottles. His nerves were still unsettled. It was as close as he had ever come to cashing in his chips. He had stood on top of the chair with the noose around his neck for a full minute knowing there was no way out.

“Not many men would have done what he did,” Nathan added, quietly. Jackson was not a great drinker, but he had indulged tonight. Like Buck, Nathan knew how close he had come to losing his life.

“With those sort of odds and with what was at stake...” Ezra agreed.

“True strength of character,” Josiah proclaimed.

*******

“True strength. I mean, I saw him the other day when he was changing his shirt,” Beth whispered.

“You didn’t!”

“I did. You should see his chest… and his back. All bulging with muscles. Wow!”

“Beth!” Gloria Potter scolded. “Young ladies should not comment on such things.”

“Why not? I’m only saying what you’re all thinking.”

Gloria sighed. She didn’t understand girls today. Had she made comments like that when she was young, her father would have horse whipped her.

“He lifted me down from my carriage the other day like I was feather,” Allison added.

“And did you see the way he swung down from the roof?” All of the woman nodded with another collective sigh.

“Like a guardian angel.”

******

“Like an angel of doom,” Josiah murmured into his whisky. He was well and truly drunk. “He swung down from that roof like an angel of doom.”

“For Royal’s mob maybe,” J.D. agreed. The boy was the only one who was sober. He had drawn the short straw and thus it fell to him to keep a clear head so he could deal with any trouble should it arise. “I had no idea of what Vin was going to do. I really thought that…” The rest of the sentence choked in J.D.’s throat. The young man had faced his own mortality standing on that chair.

Buck reached out his hand and placed it on J.D.’s shoulder. “Yep, I think we all did, kid.”

Chris shook his head. “He never should have done it.” There were woman and children on the street. Women and children like Sarah and Adam.

“Don’t ask me how, but he just seemed to know exactly what to do. Exactly what shot to take,” Nathan marvelled, his mind whirling in sea of whisky.

“Yes, Mr. Tanner is quite intuitive when it comes to facing off against heathens.”

*****

“He just seems to know exactly when you need help.”

“He’s very intuitive,” Gloria agreed. “The other day I was trying to get a box down off a high shelf and he appeared out of no where.” To this, there was vigorous nodding.

“Oh, I know what you mean. I was having trouble with my horse, and there he was.”

“He never pushes himself upon you. He is such a gentleman,” Allison swooned.

“And despite how he looks, he…” Jane started

“What’s wrong with the way he looks?! I think he looks just fine!“

“Beth!” Gloria snapped again. “Keep your voice down.”

“Don’t you think he looks handsome?” the girl challenged.

“That is not the point. Young ladies should…“

“Oh, hosh posh. Come on, Mrs. Potter. Don’t you think he’s handsome?“

Gloria found herself wilting under the intensity of her audiences' gazes. “Mr Tanner is certainly… he…” Beth smiled with triumph. “He is easy on the eyes,” the older woman conceded with a smirk.

“He sure is,” Beth agreed. She shot a look at Jane. “So what is wrong with the way he looks?”

Jane rolled her eyes. “Let me finish. Mr Tanner… well, he sort of dresses rough, but despite that, he holds himself very well. I mean, he isn’t rough at all. He’s a real gentleman.”

******

“I just wish Vin wouldn’t hold it all in the way he does,” J.D. commented. “I mean, he just rode out without saying anything.”

“Each man must deal with things in his own way,” Nathan explained. “Holding it in is his way. Can’t have been easy for him, riding in to find what he did.”

“He shouldn’t have taken the chance,” Chris repeated.

Buck grunted in exasperation. He had been trying to ignore Chris' negativity all evening. “You’re probably right, Chris, but he did and I don‘t see too many people complaining. Vin wouldn’t have attempted it if he didn’t think he could pull it off.”

“Mr. Tanner certainly has a number of assets I am particularly thankful for this evening,” Ezra offered in Vin’s defence. While Ezra wasn’t quite as inebriated as Josiah, he was certainly beginning to show the effects of drinking far more than he usually allowed himself.

“Hell, he was quiet. I didn’t hear him when he rode in or when he placed the guns on the bar,” J.D. murmured.

“Yeah, quiet… like a rattler waiting to strike,” Josiah slurred.

*****

“Oh yes, he is so quiet and unassuming. I think that is so sweet.“

“Maybe he’s shy?”

At this, Gloria Potter laughed. “I doubt that. Mr. Tanner is simply a reserved man. He chooses not to show a lot of emotion.”

“I think he’s gorgeous!” Beth cried with a burst of unrestrained teenage passion.

*****

At that moment, the topic of conversation entered the room. Instantly there was dead silence as every eye in the restaurant turned to him, guilt filling the stillness like an all consuming mist.

Vin stopped, realizing he was the centre of attention. His eyes narrowed and flicked suspiciously from one group to the other. The women’s faces flushed scarlet. The boys’ eyes widened, fearing their friend had heard part of their discussion. Vin Tanner didn’t like to be the topic of discussion and they knew it.

For a full five seconds Tanner stood. Then he cursed, spun around and strode out of the room muttering, “Ah hell.” This brought smiles of amusement and relief from both the male and female occupants of the restaurant.

Buck raised his glass and saluted loudly, “To Vin Tanner and all his assets.”

Beth raised her teacup. “I’ll drink to that.”

The women burst into fits of giggles leaving the men studying them curiously.

“So, you reckon they know what Vin’s assets are?” J.D. whispered with surprise. The idea of women truly appreciating Tanner’s skills and abilities was difficult to believe.

Buck eyed the embarrassed, coy and sly looks on the faces of the ladies and smiled “Yep, kid. I reckon they know exactly what assets that boy has. Pards, ole Vin has got it made!”