"Sure is getting cold Buck," J.D whined, sitting outside the empty jailhouse. He tugged his coat around him tighter. The weather had begun to cool and the leaves on the trees in the vast prairies had turned gold, red, yellow and crisp. It hadn’t rained a lot, which made everything perfect for Buck.
"No rain, no heat, no sun," he gestured up towards the gray sky. Buck sighed and propped his feet up onto a barrel, " I wish the weather was like this everyday."
"I don’t." J.D shuddered at a gust of cool wind that whipped around him. He was about to say something, but lost his thought when Vin’s voice broke the conversation.
"Afternoon pards," he said as he casually leaned against the wooden pole. Buck nodded in acknowledgement and continued staring carelessly up at the sky. J.D broke into a silly grin and gave a wave. "Have any of you seen Chris lately? We might have some trouble coming."
Buck and J.D straightened and noticed the telegram in Vin’s hand. " Anyone we know?" they asked in unison.
"Judge Travis sent us this saying that a band of three that is wanted for robbery and murder will be riding through here." He showed Buck and J.D the telegram. Buck sighed in annoyance, his good day had been ruined. "Let’s see if we can round everyone up for a meeting." They walked over to the church, which was on the way to the saloon where they knew Chris would be; Josiah was inside busy with one of the walls. He stood up and gave the three a warm greeting,
"Afternoon ya’ll." Vin nodded and handed Josiah the wrinkled piece of paper. He looked at the paper and said, "I see, we’d best tell the others." The four men walked briskly out of the church and towards their next stop, Nathan’s clinic. He had been there all afternoon treating the old folk and young children with the cold. They stepped off the street and onto the boardwalk and through the doors. Nathan was just sending his last patient out, he looked up and smiled at his comrades.
"Hey there," he said. Nathan was in his ‘mother-hen’ mood and he looked at J.D’s thin coat and said, "J.D, you’d better get a thicker coat or you’ll be catching pneumonia."
"Uh huh, I know. I’ll have to worry bout’ that later though, Vin says we got trouble now," J.D looked at his dusty brown coat. He took the telegram from Vin and showed it to Nathan. His eyebrows creased in concern. Whenever any trouble came to town he usually the spent the next few days stitching up cuts, or patching up holes on the other six.
Nathan just nodded in response and said, "Let me get my coat." In no time at all there was five men walking towards the saloon to tell Ezra and Chris about their visitors. The temperature had grown even colder in just minutes, the sky was filled with icy winter clouds. As they walked through town past the houses they could smell the burning wood in people’s stoves.
When they got to the saloon, J.D fell behind them and sniffed the air. He jerked his head up and looked up to see the clouds flaking off into big snowflakes. He stuck his tongue out in vain and tried to catch one, much to his dismay, they only landed on his nose. He whirled around to catch up with the others in the saloon. The others were telling Chris about the telegram by the time he got in there. Chris’s lips were pulled in a tight line, he had a sober look on his face and was nodding to his head at Vin’s plans in agreement. J.D went over to their usual table and pulled up a chair between Buck and Ezra.
"Nice of you to grace us with your presence, Mr. Dunne," Ezra drawled, looking pleased with himself as he counted his latest winnings.
"It’s snowing outside," J.D said simply. Buck turned to him and grinned. Chris and the others looked up from their shot glasses, J.D thought aloud, "What?" The six men just nodded their heads and turned back towards the layout on catching the thieving murderers. Outside the saloon windows the sky was taking on more of a frosty gray look. The men could feel the frigid breeze that snaked through the door that was constantly opening and closing.
"When they get here, we’ll all be on watch for the men in the posters. They are dangerous, so don’t play hero all by yourself, and remember to stay on your toes," Chris gave a few pointers over his half-empty shot glass. He took out the sketched wanted poster and passed it around for all of them to see.
"They should be riding through here later tonight, or tomorrow. I’d be guessin’ on tonight, seein’ how they think they might be able to get past us," Vin said, looking from each of their faces to the next. He scanned his eyes carefully through the crowd of people coming in and going out of the saloon.
"I want Nathan and Josiah to check the hotel, and Buck and J.D to check the livery, and Ezra, Vin and I will watch around the saloon," Chris stated as the others pushed there chairs back, causing a awful scraping noise on the hard, wood floor. They walked out the double swinging doors and parted, hoping to find what they were looking for, or at least a hint. The temperature had fallen probably another ten degrees and J.D could feel a cold brewing inside of him. He decided he would take Nathan’s advice and get a thicker coat.
Buck took long strides towards the livery and could hear J.D’s clumsy, short steps close behind. They walked in silence until they both had reached the old stables. Buck lead the way around the front to see if anyone was in, or near the horses. Both of them poked their heads around the corner to find nothing but a few horses. Disappointment reared its ugly head, for there was no one for J.D and Buck to apprehend. They turned back to the saloon to tell Chris they hadn’t found anybody.
"When do you think-" J.D broke his statement with a few loud coughs "when do you think those men will be here?" He turned his head towards Buck’s concerned face.
"I honestly don’t know, probably tonight. You know, I think your comin’ down with the sniffles. You’d better get your thick coat out, it’s going to be a cold one," Buck’s voice strained when he said ‘it was going to be a cold one’.
"I thought you liked the cool weather for a change," J.D didn’t know what to say, he just stood there, feeling the frozen, early December ground with his boot. He looked back up into Buck’s disgruntled face and felt kind of stupid for asking that.
do, it’s just that I think the weather comin’ will be a little too cool for me. Somethin’ in the air just don’t sit right with me," he looked around and sighed, breathing in the calm, still air. He took another look at J.D and turned while motioning for them to keep heading back to the saloon.
the hotel, Josiah and Nathan patiently waited for the hotel manager to finish looking through the check-in book for any of the names. They had been waiting there for a while now, after being stalled by a new-arrival woman who needed help with their luggage. Josiah was growing impatient, he began taking long, slow breaths and tapping his fingers on the counter. Finally the man at the desk shut the book and looked up.
m sorry, but there are no people that have checked in under those names, try back later when the stage arrives," the discourteous man said in a snappy tone. He stared hardly at the men who had back up a line of guests waiting to be attended to. Nathan looked to Josiah, who just gave a tight shrug of the shoulders and began walking towards the door. He peacefully followed him, he felt a bit discouraged though.
”Guess we’d better head back to the saloon, Chris will be waiting to see if we have any leads or news," Nathan walked a little faster, in order to get back sooner. Josiah said nothing in response, he just mumbled something and continued walking. Upon getting close to the saloon both Nathan and Josiah fixed their eyes on a man that was unfamiliar to them enter the saloon. They picked up their rate of speed even more towards the others. After following the man in they went back to the table, Buck and J.D were already seated and telling Chris about what they had found. He was listening doggedly and looked worn from pressure. He was the leader and had to deal with criminals riding in their town, it made Chris feel uncomfortable not knowing where these men where, or what they planned to do when they got here. They pulled up a couple of chairs and sat down, listening to J.D.
"Excuse me gentlemen, but I couldn't help but notice we have an unaccustomed person who has just resided at the table over in the corner," Ezra broke in, he motioned to the same man Josiah and Nathan had seen walk in earlier. "The way he’s carousing his alcohol he’ll be inebriated before too long."
The man had ordered a couple of drinks and was finishing them both off, after he had finished the second he got another. When the waitress brought him his drink he grabbed her roughly by the arm and growled, "How would you like to go have a little fun with me?"
The waitress tried to wrench free, but he held her tighter making her cry out. All seven of them rose to teach the man a lesson, but J.D stopped them and said, "Let me take care of this, I’m the sheriff after all."
He stood up confidently a sauntered towards the man and his table. Chris and the others exchanged an amused look. When J.D walked up to the man, he looked at his badge and let the woman go, she rushed off back into the kitchen. J.D stood his ground as the drunken man jerked himself up from the chair and stuck his face into J.D’s.
"Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re causing too much trouble," J.D stated firmly, trying to look older and in charge. The man turned and started laughing, he grabbed a hold of the table and threw it over. The glasses crashed loudly on the floor.
"You really don’t think you can make me leave, do you?" J.D could smell the alcohol on his breath. The man stepped closer to J.D, he gave the young sheriff a small shove and repeated what he said. J.D realized he was in over his head, he could see that the man could see the panicked look in J.D’s brown eyes. Over at the table when Buck saw the man push J.D he started to rise from his chair and kick the hell out of the man. Josiah stopped him and looked at Buck.
"Let him handle this, he can do it." Buck stopped and stood there, watching the man mouth off to J.D with a pure hatred in his eyes. The drunken man hastily extended his arm and shoved J.D against one of the support beams and took a death grip on his throat. Buck jumped from his seat and thundered across the rampageous room towards J.D. The townspeople had broken out into a fight, they were some of the regulars who just wanted a little spice in their Friday night. Vin and the others leapt from their seats and behind Buck.
A man, who had been punched by another, went reeling into everyone but Buck. The whole bar had broken out into a drunk man’s fight, Vin and Chris, along with their comrades started to break up the fights and herd the people outside and send them home. In all the chaos, Buck had managed to find the man still strangling J.D. He bounded up to the drunk man and punched him square in the face causing the man to break his grip on J.D, who was going pale. He fell to the ground gasping and coughing, he ducked just in time when a flying chair whizzed over his head.
People were attacking each other everywhere; J.D looked up and saw the man that had choked him get a hit on Buck. The man was very large, at least a couple inches taller than Josiah or Buck. The man picked Buck up and threw him down onto a table, breaking it into pieces. The man pulled a knife from his belt and raised it high above Buck’s midsection. J.D didn’t have time to think he instinctively launched himself onto the man’s back and started kicking him and punching him.
"Get off me you little bastard!" the man yelled while twisting and turning, trying to get J.D off him. J.D hung on for his life until Buck could recover enough to see that he needed help. The man lunged backwards and rammed into the same support beam, J.D felt a hot pain in the back of his head. The man kept smashing J.D again and again, J.D lost his grip and fell off the man and into a hazy blackness.
Buck shook his head and saw the man with J.D on his back ramming him into a pole. J.D hung in there as long as he could while Buck tried to get up. Buck saw J.D finally fall off unconscious. The strange, soon to be in very big trouble man didn’t stop there, after he turned and saw J.D on the ground, he reached for his gun belt and drew his weapon. Right as he pointed it at J.D the gun was knocked from his hands by another bullet. Chris stood there and watched the man clasp his hand and howl in pain. Josiah and Vin handcuffed the man and started leading him towards the jail, jerking him roughly and swearing at him.
Nathan rushed to J.D and checked out the cut in the back of his head. Buck stood up and rubbed his bruised back. He felt lie he’d been ran over by a stage coach, but as soon as he saw J.D lying on the ground unmoving, with Chris and Ezra crouched beside him with Nathan, he forgot about himself. Buck walked faster over to J.D and knelt beside him asking, "Is he going to be okay?"
"Yeah, he’ll be fine. Might have a nasty head ache when he wakes up, but it don’t look too serious," Nathan replied, while moving J.D’ s head limply around trying to wake him up. His head lolled around easily and J.D’s eyes fluttered open.
"Ow, my head is killing me. What was that man’s problem anyhow?" he sat up very slowly, holding a blood-soaked rag to the back of his head. Buck helped him up and over to a chair where Chris and Ezra and Nathan were. He walked up to Chris to thank him, Nathan had explained the whole story, "Thanks Chris," J.D said tiredly and gratefully to the man clad in black.
"Anytime," Chris nodded and continued to look at J.D. He thought about how the man did anything to prolong the fight, which included trying to kill J.D, "Did that man say anything, or have anyone else with him?"
"Huh uh." J.D winced at the pain in his head. "Let’s go to the jail and ask him what he was doing." Chris nodded again and got up, everyone else following him. They walked in silence to the jail, when they got there Nathan had just finished patching up the man’s hand. Chris walked up to the bars and asked in a threatening tone, "What is your name and why did you start that fight?"
"John Muller is the name and you’ll see why soon enough," he said with a nasty smirk on his face. Chris narrowed his eyes and stared at Muller, the man obviously had a plan. Chris turned and motioned for Ezra and Vin to go and take watch outside the jail. They turned and walked out into the rusty sunset, the sun was receding quickly into the horizon and the temperature was freezing. Propping one of the wicker chairs up against the side of the building, Ezra sat down and pulled his coat around him. Vin just propped himself up and against the wall beside Ezra and stood there watching the sky. The town was serene and restful, the weather had forced the people back into their warm homes. Both of men stayed there, watching for movement among the town and also watching the sun vanish behind the horizon. Only an odd gray glow lighted the sky, the full moon could be seen creeping through the clouds and the stars were beginning to come out high above the tops of the clouds. The site alone was breathtaking. Then door bust open and J.D strolled out loudly and paused beside them for a moment.
"Chris sent me to get some wood for the stove, he wanted you guys to come in and warm up a bit," J.D said while heading towards the back to get the chopped wood. Vin and Ezra got up slowly and walked back into the jail.
Buck and Josiah were seated at the table, as were Chris and Nathan. Josiah got up from his seat and suggested, "I’d better go help J.D carry in the wood." He got up and walked out, letting in a nippy gust of cold wind.
Josiah walked fast around to the back and immediately got a handful of wood from J.D without having to say a word. He trudged back to the front and was just about to walk in when he noticed a dark cloud moving roughly towards Four Corners very fast. He’d seen enough of them to know what it was, he burst through the door causing Buck and Nathan to jump. He quickly threw the wood on the already lit stove and said, "There is a blizzard movin’ in fast."
As soon as he said that, a roar of wind shook the foundation and it started a snowstorm so thick they couldn’t see the other buildings down the street. Buck hit his feet and shouted worriedly, "J.D is still out there!" He was about to march out the door for J.D when it suddenly burst open, letting in snow. Buck looked down in a sigh of relief, but what was standing in the door was not J.D.
The three men pointed their guns at the six men outside the cell, Chris and the others quickly exchanged glances remained seated. Without any words the men walked over to the desk, one of them swept their eyes over it and shook his head. He turned towards Vin.
"Where’s the keys to the prison cell?" he asked in a low dangerous voice. He paced slowly, then looked at Muller, in the cell.
"We ain’t got them, I’m afraid our sheriff has them, he ain’t here," Vin drawled, looking bored with the men. He stretched a little then crossed his arms over his chest.
The man let out a growl and yanked out the desk drawers looking for the keys. He ran his hands along the bottom of the desk until he found what he was looking for. The man grinned, he jerked his arm and held up the spare key for Muller to look at. He then walked over to the cell and opened it. Muller walked out and smiled, "It’s good to be out of that awful imprisonment, the service is poor. Good to see you again Harrison!" He greeted the man that had got the keys with a handshake.
Harrison returned the handshake and then glared towards Chris and the others. He slowly walked to the cell bars and said, "Well, now what will we do with our lawmen friends?"
"Lock them in the cell and burn down the jail, make it look like a stove accident though," Muller stared coldly at Chris. Chris Larabee gave the man a soul-piercing look that made Muller turn away, "Get in the cell, now, or I’ll blow you away before you get to burn," Muller continued.
The other two men that were with Harrison shoved them roughly into the cell, they both shut and locked the door. Muller began to throw kerosene around the exits and windows. In the cell, each of the men stood against the bars watching, wondering how they would get out of this one. Vin glanced at Chris, he stood there eyeing the men with a murderous glint in his steely blue-green eyes. When Harrison, Muller and the two unknown men were finished they crowded at the front door and took out a match.
"My, I hope you gentleman keep warm and toasty in this dreaded cold weather. It’s so very cold out… I hope your sheriff is okay," Muller mocked, then he struck the match and threw it into the corner. He threw the keys into the smoky corner and turned to walk out the door.
"See you later, you stupid son-of-a-bitch!" Buck cursed through the bars and over the flames. Muller just smiled them disappeared out the door into the storm. Buck stepped up to the bars and shook them in frustration. He looked at the others, worry evident in their eyes. He saw something in Chris’s eyes that he hadn’t seen since the day they found Sarah and Adam. He drew in a shaky voice to ask what the plan was when J.D burst threw the door.
"Oh my gosh—" he started to say looking at the men in the cell. J.D searched his pockets for his key and mentally kicked himself; he had left them in his thin coat over at the boarding house. He scurried over to them and pulled the door.
"The men threw the keys over in the corner J.D, see if you can get to them. Be careful though," Vin said through the bars. The room was filling fast with the suffocating smoke and the flames that started in the corner were licking up and around the door and windows.
J.D searched through the smoke, but he couldn’t see at all. He became dizzier with every lung full of smoke he took in. J.D got down onto his hands and knees and ran them over the floor. He finally found the extra keys he desperately needed to get the others out. He started to crawl back towards the cell and almost go there, but the dizziness and smoke became too much for him. He threw the keys from where he was into the cell and passed out.
"J.D!" Buck yelled from inside the cell as Chris unlocked the doors and shoved through them. They ran through the doors, on the way out, Josiah and Buck ran to J.D and carried him through the flames and out the door.
The wind had stopped and the large snowflakes fell silently to the ground. They drug J.D away from the burning jail and set him down. He gasped and coughed trying to clear his lungs. Buck patted his back and said, "You did good kid, we all owe you one."
J.D nodded his head still coughing and looked up and grinned at the men standing around him. The air was a deathly cold, at least the wind had stopped. The seven men knew what they had to do, they had to saddle up and ride after the wanted men. Each of them stalked huskily to their rooms through the thick, deep snow to get the extra clothing they would need. They also filled their canteens with warm water and took extra ammo along. They met again at the livery.
"Everyone ready to go?" Chris asked grimly, his breath had frozen in the air as vapors. The other six stiffly nodded through the layers of clothing, "Let’s ride then."
"I’ve never chased bad guys after a blizzard before," J.D said, his youthful exuberance shining through, even in the worst situations. The others rode on, each of them felt a small grin tugging on the edges of their mouths. The tracking wasn’t the hard part in finding the criminals, all the seven had to do was follow the horse tracks in the deep snow. Avoiding the biting cold wasn’t easy either. The horses had begun to tire only a few miles out of town, they frequently needed to rest.
As the seven lawmen entered the woods they saw fit to go on foot for awhile due to thick over grown brush that would scratch up the horses. Vin and Ezra got two of the lanterns and lit them, they led the others with Chris trudging between them. Vin shined his light ahead of the others, he pointed to a huge crevice in the ground where the snow had fallen in.
"We’d best go around it, no telling how deep it is," Nathan advised from behind everyone else. Chris took the healers word into consideration and nodded his head.
As the seven men moved around it, J.D pushed past Buck, Josiah and ran to Ezra and Vin, wanting to be first. All of the sudden the men heard a loud crack and the earth opened up like the other crevice taking Ezra, Vin and J.D into it’s depths.
The others immediately stopped in their tracks, Chris grabbed the rope out from inside his duster he was carrying and ran with it around the nearest tree. He tied the other end around his waist and peered over the rocky edge into the dark hole.
"Vin?! J.D?! Can you hear me? Were coming down after you!" he stared down into the hole, he could only see piles of snow dimly lit by one of the lanterns that was still going. The hole wasn’t too deep, maybe thirteen feet, but it still wasn’t something you’d want to fall into.
"I want the rest of you to follow me down slowly, stay alert, more snow come in at any moment," Chris said through gritted teeth as he lowered himself down into the hole. Buck followed Chris, then Nathan and finally Josiah. Once at the bottom Chris rushed over to the piles of snow and began digging for the others. As he kept on digging the figures under it began to stir. Chris was so intent on digging to Vin, Ezra and J.D out, he didn’t notice the others also around him digging.
They uncovered Vin who was already trying to get himself out, then they dug out Ezra. Both of them so far looked unhurt hurt except for a cut above Ezra’s brow and Vin had a bloody lip. Ezra shook himself and stood up, only to be told to sit down again by Nathan.
"Sit down Ezra, let me check and see if you have any other injuries," Nathan ordered gently. Ezra did as he was told and sat back down again.
"Thank you for assisting me in my removal from the assemblage of snow. I was beginning to think my dissonance was getting to me," Ezra drawled in his southern accent. All the meanwhile, the others were trying to find J.D.
"Where is he?! He fell in the same hole Ezra and Vin did, why ain’t he here?" Bucks’ worried voice filled the hidden cave. He tried looking through the dark and saw nothing, "J.D!" he called, trying to be loud, but trying not to cause a cave in. Buck finished digging up the last pile of snow when a groan came out of the darkness. He whirled around with the lantern and found J.D lying atop a pile of snow.
"There you are!" he helped J.D into a sitting position. He looked around dazed and then looked at Buck, finally at the pile of fluffy snow he was sitting in.
"Wow," he whispered to himself. He wandered how he landed on top of a snow pile when Ezra and Vin landed on the ground, "See Buck, I don’t always have bad luck."
"Dang it J.D, nearly got yourself killed again and that’s all you have to say," Buck said, exasperated that the fool kid couldn’t think of anything better to say. Then again, he was also thankful that the kid was still alive after that fall. Buck and J.D got up and wandered back to the others. Their worried faces broke into grins when they saw J.D walking a little stiffly, but unharmed back to them. Nathan had already checked over Vin and Ezra, now he was checking J.D to make sure that his health was as good that he said it was. The men were about to exit the cave when they heard a noise from way inside of it.
"What was that?" Josiah asked, holding up the lantern so they could see. The tunnel led a fairly long way until it had a turn. The passage was only wide enough to fit single file through.
"By the looks of it I’d say the men were after also fell in that other hole. They must have went this way trying to find a way out," Vin took a long look around then sighed. All of them were tired and probably wanted to rest, but if they were this close on the men’s trail they had better keep going.
"Let’s follow the tunnel then. I doubt the men, if they’re in here, will fire at us until they are clear of the cave," Chris led the way, the others followed single file down the dark passageway. As they followed they tunnel they heard faint footsteps. Vin could tell that it was Muller and his men by the sound of it. When they rounded the turn they saw a small, dim glow, knowing it was a lantern. Chris sped up, almost rushing ahead of the others. He wanted to kill the men for trying to burn them alive in the jail. Being burned alive… he would never know the feeling. He thought of the day Sarah and Adam had died, the fire had been meant for him. It had meant for him to be burnt and killed, but instead, his heart and soul died with it. He felt a rage inside him and his eyes stung, he pushed back the thoughts and concentrated on the wanted men.
Muller and his men were headed straight for the exit of the cave, which was just in front of them. Since they didn’t know that Chris and the others were following them, they didn’t look back. When they reached the outside of the cave the hooted and hollered quietly in triumph. At least that what they, Muller had no idea that the others were just a little ways away.
Chris quietly signaled with his hands where he wanted everyone to scatter and take cover in case Muller opened fire on them. Then the seven men calmly walked out of the cave with their weapons trained on the four other men.
"I would cast down your arms and bide yourselves from moving," Ezra stated in low dangerous voice. Then men stopped in their tracks and looked at the seven men standing in a ‘V’ shape. Muller smirked and pulled his weapon quickly, aiming it on Ezra.
He was fast, but not as fast as Chris, who had already trained his weapon and fired. His bullet caught Muller in the chest, then he fell to the ground with a dumbfounded expression on his face. A fraction of a second later Harrison and the other two men opened fire.
Vin and Chris dove behind a fallen dead tree, with Buck and J.D above over the mouth of the cave. Josiah and Nathan had safely positioned themselves behind a fairly large boulder. Leaving Ezra taking cover behind a tree. The men would pop up and fire, then take cover again. Vin took aim on one of the men, whose name they had not known, and fired. The bullet hit the man in the side and he fell in the snow with a thud.
Suddenly, the other man, who had snuck around the tree Ezra was hiding behind, jumped on him. Ezra seized the man by the back of the coat and flung him tot he ground. Ezra punched him square in the jaw and then the man crumpled down to the cold, snow-covered ground. The firing ceased and the seven crept from behind their cover spots. J.D handcuffed the only man left that was still alive and the others loaded the three dead bodies on top of the horses.
"I guess they won’t be stealing anymore horses or hurting others for awhile," J.D stated. He hoisted himself into his horse’s saddle and waited for the others. The seven men rode back to Four Corners and took care of the dead men and wired the judge. The weather began to warm up again and the deep, powdery snow soon melted in the heat. Days later J.D and Buck were found in the same spot outside the jail.
"Well, I’m sure glad the weather has warmed up," J.D said, kicking his feet up and letting his hands rest behind his head.
"I liked the weather better before the blizzard," Buck replied.
"Did you ever see a blizzard in this state before? Or wait, let me guess, it was before my time right Buck?" J.D grinned, teasing Buck. In return he got one of Buck’s long lectures on how he wasn’t that much older than J.D.
