It was dark when Josiah and Buck caught up with their quarry. The tracker eyed them quietly from under the brim of his hat. This was the reason why he hadn’t stopped to make camp. The reason why he was still riding, despite the overwhelming fatigue that was clawing at him. Emotional more than physical fatigue. He had been determined to put as much distance between himself and Four Corners as he could so that ‘they’ wouldn’t be able to come after him. Still, deep down he knew that they would. Or at least they would try.

"Vin. Vin you gotta come back."

"Sorry, Buck. I can’t."

"Why the hell not!" Buck roared angrily. It didn’t make any &*%@ing sense. Vin cared enough about Chris to be prepared to stand in the middle of a gunfight for him. So why the hell would he leave?

"Buck," Josiah soothed. "Brother Vin. You made the decision to leave in anger. When the anger goes..."

"I’m not angry, Josiah." His voice was soft. Emotionless.

"Then why the hell did you leave?"

"I have my reasons."

"It is sometimes easier to understand your reasons when you share them," Josiah coaxed.

"Chris was right. I interfered and I had no right to."

"Arrr hell, Vin. Chris was talking crazy. He was still delirious from the fever and... "

"Don’t change the fact that he was right," Vin murmured.

"Son, Simpson would have killed Chris."

"I know."

"Brother, are you saying that it was wrong to stop that."

"Nope. If it happened again, I’d do exactly the same thing."

"Then why is your horse headin' this way, instead of back home?"

"Home," Vin chuckled bitterly. Yeah, for a while he had almost considered Four Corners home. He’d never stayed in one place long enough before to become attached.

"Look, Vin. I know Chris hurt ya but..."

"He didn’t hurt me."

Buck glanced across at Josiah. In the bright moonlight he could see the preacher’s face creased with concern. Vin Tanner had clamed up. He had moved into survival mode. The young man was protecting himself. And the only way men like Vin did that was to shut the world out.

"I’m askin ya to come back," Buck whispered softly. "I’m prepared to beg if I have tah and the only other person I’ve ever begged in my entire life is Chris."

Vin reined his horse to a stop. "You’re a good man, Buck. Chris is lucky to have you. But you have got to understand that Four Corners was just a place I was passin' through. I never intended stayin'. Reckon now is as good as any other to get back to what I was doin'."

"Heading for Tascosa?" Josiah asked.

"Yep. A man can’t spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder. Time I did somethin about it. It’s better this way. This way I don’t get any of you hurt in the process." Buck glanced at Josiah again. This wasn’t working. Well they’d talked, begged and reasoned, and all of that had failed. Only one thing left to do.

Silently Buck withdrew his revolver. "You ready Josiah?"

Vin turned his head away from Buck as he offered his hand to Josiah. Under normal circumstances, he would never turn his back on another man, but the person behind him was someone Vin trusted his life with. It was when the quiet tracker turned that Buck arched his arm up and slammed the butt of his gun against the back of Vin’s skull. Vin slumped sideways straight into Josiah’s waiting arms.

"Good catch, Brother," Buck chuckled.

"Hell, you hit him hard enough, Buck. He’s gonna have a hell of a headache when he wakes up."

"Yep. And be almighty mad too. But that’s okay. I’ll tell him that you did it."

Vin became aware of his pounding head first. And then the fact that someone was holdin' him. Instantly he began to struggle.

"Easy there, son." Josiah’s voice? "You just sit still, I’ve got you."

"Josiah?"

"Yep."

Vin forced his eyes open. It was dark. He was sitting in the saddle in front of Josiah who was holding him up. "Why am I ridin with you?"

"Well... " Josiah started.

"Your horse got spooked by a rattler. Threw you," Buck lied quickly.

"A rattler?" Vin’s head pounded, his mind fuzzy and unfocused. "Peso, okay?"

"Yeah, he’s fine. Now you jist sit there. You hit your head pretty bad. Only rock for miles and your head found it."

"I don’t remember."

"That’s pretty normal after a head wound," Josiah stated. Vin’s hand came up to feel the damp bump under us hat.

"I hit the back of my head?" Buck glanced at Josiah nervously. Normally a man hit the side of his head when he came off a horse.

"Come on son," Josiah soothed, removing the young man’s hand. "You rest back against me and don’t worry about it."

"I feel alright , Josiah. Can ride the rest of the way myself."

"No, Brother. You took a real hard hit. Could be more damage there than we know. You’re gonna stay right where you are until we git you back for Nathan to look at." Josiah could sense Vin’s confusion. That was good. If Vin got to thinking on things too hard he just might remember that he hadn’t actually been heading for Four Corners.

"I tell ya, I feel alright."

"Yeah that’s what you said before. Before you almost fell out of the saddle the first time." Vin’s eyebrows drew down. He couldn’t remember the rattler. Couldn’t remember being thrown. Couldn’t remember fallin' out of the saddle.

"I fell out of the saddle?"

"Almost. Josiah caught ya."

"Thanks," Vin whispered gratefully.

"Now you just sit back and rest. We’ve still got another hour or so till we get home."

Vin sighed but stubbornly refused to rest back against the huge preacher. Unfortunately the gentle rocking of Josiah’s horse, coupled with Vin’s minor concussion and emotional exhaustion, finally saw him surrender and he dropped off to sleep, Josiah’s huge arms wrapped around him securely. The contented preacher couldn’t help but smile. He was returning this lost sleep back to the flock. Back to where he belonged.

"Put me down, Josiah. I already told ya, I’m okay!"

Chris Larabee’s face lit up with relief at the sound of the annoyed voice from the stairs. Nathan glanced at Chris curiously and then moved to open the door.

"Now you just stop struggling," Buck ordered bursting into the room. The big man winked at Chris and then turned and waited for Josiah. Moments later the huge ex-minister entered the room carrying the disgusted tracker.

"Where do you want him, Nathan?"

"Over here. What happened?"

"Fell off his horse and hit his head on a rock."

"Fell off his horse!" Nathan repeated amazed. Vin Tanner rode like he was born in the saddle. For some reason the idea of Vin ‘falling’ off his horse sounded ridiculous.

"Hit his head real bad."

"Lose consciousness?" the healer asked, snapping into action.

"Yeah for about thirty minutes. Slept most of the way back." Nathan collected the lantern so that he could examine his new patient.

"I don’t know what the hell you’re all fussin' about," Vin grumbled. Nathan held the lantern over Vin’s mass of long bedraggled hair. A bump and small cut. Nothing to be concerned about and clearly not the result of a fall. More like... and the healer’s eyes widened as he turned to eye Buck suspiciously.

"It sure looks like a nasty wound, hey Nathan." Buck prompted, his eyes flicking to Chris, back to Vin and then to the spare cot.

‘What?’ Nathan mouthed, realizing that the animated scoundrel was trying to tell him something.

Buck rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I was just saying to Josiah, that a head wound like that can get a might serious if it’s not cared for proper. I expect you’ll want to keep him here in the clinic for a while." Again Buck’s eyes danced suggestively from Chris to Vin to the extra cot.

"I’m afraid Buck’s right," Nathan agreed earnestly. Buck glanced skyward in an unholy thank you.

"Quit your fussin'. It’s just a little bump," Vin complained.

"Now you let Nathan be the judge of that," Josiah scolded. Chris had dragged himself up to get a better view. He couldn’t understand the thousand silent signals flying around the room but that didn’t matter. Buck and Josiah had brought...dragged...carried Vin back. "Well Buck and I better be going. Let you get some rest, Vin."

"Hey, fellas." The two men paused just in the doorway. "Thanks," the tracker called softly. "I don’t even remember coming out of the saddle. Probably still be lying out there if you hadn’t found me." The preacher and the scoundrel glanced at one another suddenly feeling guilt wash over them like the plague. Swallowing, both flicked their eyes to Chris who nodded an unspoken and heart felt thank you. Somehow Chris suspected what they had done and he knew that he would forever be in their debt.

"Now sit still while I bandage this and then I want you to lay down and get some rest," Nathan scolded.

"Hell Nathan, I already told you. It’s just a little bump."

"And I’m telling you that I’m the doctor here. Head wounds are not to be taken lightly. There, you can stop your squirming, I’m finished. Now I’m gonna go down stairs and get Mrs Travis to bring you something to eat. And if you get out of that bed between now and then I’ll get a rope and tie you to the cot. Got it." Vin scowled at the healer and then lay back muttering obscenities about nursemaids and the like.

For several seconds there was silence in the small room.

"You never said good-bye." Vin seemed startled by the voice. He had known that Chris was there, but he honestly hadn’t thought that the gunslinger would be prepared to talk to him.

"Asked Josiah to."

"Yeah, he gave me the message." Silence again. Of all the hundreds, no thousands of silences the two had shared in the past weeks, this was the first one that had ever been tense and uncomfortable.

"Vin, I reckon I'm not much good at saying thanks or sorry. But thank you. You handled the situation well. And you saved my life. And I’m sorry that I... I’m sorry." Chris waited for a reaction, but received nothing. Not even a grunt. Vin Tanner was laying in the cot across from him staring up at the ceiling, his brow creased with concentration.

"It’s night."

"Huh?"

"Damn it to hell it’s night. There ain’t no rattlers at night. That lousy sonofabitch pistol whipped me!"

Chris couldn’t help but let a grin leap onto his face. "So are you staying?"

"Reckon I have to. Reckon I owe Buck. Owe him big time."

"Reckon I do too."

Vin’s head rolled to the side and he regarded Chris with his haunting blue eyes. And then a half smile touched his lips. You tell him to bring me back? No words, but Chris could see the question.

Uh-huh. Told him to do whatever it took.

"The bastard pistol whipped me."

Chris smiled. "Buck’s not fancy, but he does get the job done."

Before Vin could comment, Mary walked into the room tentatively. When she saw the smiles on the two men’s faces she felt the tightness leave her shoulders. There was something very disquieting about seeing these two in conflict with one another. Somehow she knew she was interupting. Quickly the relieved woman lowered the tray onto the table between Nathan’s patients and then headed for the door. Before slipping out she whispered...

"Looks like you two have just had your first fight."

Reckon it won’t be our last, Vin’s eyes relayed to his friend.

"Hope not," Chris murmured and then grinned.

Vin smirked back at him and then swung his legs off the bunk. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to speak to a man about a headache." The tracker got to the door and paused. Without warning he wheeled around and walked back to stand directly above Chris. There was no actual offer of his hand. Rather, his and Chris’ arms snapped together as one.

"Reckon I owe you an apology," Vin breathed.

"How the hell do you figure that?"

"Well first off, I shot you."

"You did it to save my life. Besides it’s just a scratch. Didn’t even need to be stitched. I’ve cut myself worse shaving. You knew what you were doing. And you’re damn accurate." Chris detected that there was much more on his solemn friend’s mind. He could read the turmoil in Vin’s troubled blue eyes and somehow he knew that unspoken messages were not going to suffice this time.

"I’m sorry, Chris. A real friend wouldn’t have high tailed it out of here at the first sign of trouble, but I ain’t really had friends before so I ain’t had much experience in these matters. Felt I had to leave... Was afraid I had let you down... Overstepped the mark... Think too much of you to hurt you. Thought it was best if I just left you alone. Couldn’t stand it if I was responsible for hurtin you. Kill anyone else who did... And I reckon that if I’m honest, I was trying to protect myself too." His voice dropped to a heart-felt whisper. "Last person I let myself really care about was Mamma and she left me when I was five... Didn’t want you rejecting and leaving me. I’m sorry. I give you my word, I won’t be so cowardly again."

Their hands were still clasped. Vin went to release the sacred pledge, but Chris held on a few more seconds.

"You made two fatal mistakes, Vin. One, you aren’t a coward and what you did wasn't cowardly. And I’ll shoot any man who says it was. And two, you called me friend. We aren’t friends, Vin Tanner. We were once, but not any more." Chris felt the strong grip on his hand go limp and drop away from his grasp. Vin’s blue eyes flushed with sorrow and deep regret. "No, we aren’t friends any more. We’re brothers, Vin. Maybe not by blood, maybe not by years spent together, but by actions."

A relaxed smile appeared on Vin’s embarrassed and emotional face. "Reckon you’re right." He paused to take a deep breath. For several seconds the two men stared at each other in exhausted silence. Both were men of few words. Both found it difficult to express their emotions. The fact that they’d revealed their inner most thoughts and feelings was a rarity.

Chris grinned. "I can’t believe you shot me."

"You think you were surprised. I thought that J.D. was gonna keel over with shock. And poor bloody Simpson... " Vin grinned without finishing the sentence. The tension was gone. Once again, silence was comfortable. "I gotta go. Reckon I got a cousin that needs tendin to." Vin’s blue eyes twinkled as he ripped the bandage away and strode out of the clinic.

Yep, Buck was in for it now, Chris thought happily. The gunfighter lay back contented and contemplated what his best friend had said. Vin had left because he had thought he had let Chris down and because he was afraid of being rejected. My God, we’re alike.

Some moments later, the Seven’s leader heard Buck’s deep voice echoing over the town.

"Now, Vin!... Vin you just relax there, boy... You’re gonna get yourself all upset and hurt your head!... Vin?... Sometimes a man don’t have a choice... and you didn’t leave me no choice, son... besides, it was Josiah that hit ya... VIN!"

And Chris Larabee laughed. Not a chuckle, a good belly laugh. What a wonderful thing it was to have family.

---

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© April 2000 Aussie Lass : This relates only to the creative property in this story. The distinctive way the story unfolds, the specific dialogue and unique situations are mine. I acknowledge that some of the characters and settings belong to the owners of “The Magnificent Seven” and I thank them sincerely for turning a blind eye so I can borrow them. (g) No infrigement of copyright was intended and no profit has been made from this story... so, please don't sue me. It wouldn't be worth your while.