Family Ties Part 17
Family Ties
Part 17:
It was a somber group that left the clearing a few hours later. With plenty enough light to see, Chris was eager to catch up to Vin and bring retribution onto the men that cut a boy down in his youth. It was a true waste of life; the boy was just a bit older than Ezra, no more than twelve if even that. No child ever deserves to be killed, but what upset Chris the most was the manner in which the child had to suffer. It was well known that a gut shot was a slow painful death, to leave a child in that much suffering was eating away at the rough gunslinger. He knew the others were just as disgusted as he found himself. The tense and dismal mood of the others would foretell what awaited the gang. Seeing JD dismount his horse to check the trail left for them brought him out of his thoughts. “Problem JD?”
“Looks like one of the gang split off here. Vin followed the single rider. Think it’s an ambush?”
“Could be.”
“Well Vin left a clear indentation to head this direction. Should we split up or follow Vin?”
“Follow Vin”
JD nodded before jumping back on his horse and following the easy trial Vin left for him. He was glad the tracker left such an easy trail; he found his thoughts going back the child they had tried to save. If the trail was as difficult as Vin had been teaching him lately, he didn’t think he would be able to concentrate on it. He needed to get back on task; it wouldn’t do him any good loosing an easy trail.
Vin didn’t think he was as happy to see the group of riders as much as he was at that moment. Ezra hadn’t regained consciousness during the ride and he was feeling warmer. Pulling his horse to a stop he waited for the others to meet up with him.
Chris felt his heart lurch and throat dry up as he saw the slumped figure within Vin’s embrace. Oh God no, not Ezra. “Vin?”
Vin heard a thousand questions in that one word. “Been shot and running a fever.” He barely had the words out before Chris was reaching for his brother.
“Easy boy, I’ve got you” Chris heard the small moan as he pulled his brother to him.
Vin smiled as he watched Ezra mold himself into his brother’s arms. Small legs wrapped around his waist as small arms encircled his neck. His head lay on the gunslinger’s shoulder.
Nathan quickly made his way over to Ezra. “Let me take a look at him Chris.”
Chris had no intentions of releasing Ezra to anyone and it seemed Ezra had no intention of giving up his hold on Chris. Nathan had to work around the hold the brother’s had on each other. Taking a look at the gunshot wound, he noticed it was clean without infection. He decided to put a poultice on it to help it heal and keep infection at bay. “He’ll be okay Chris, just lost some blood and exhausted. Fever should come down shortly. He just needs some fluid and rest.” Satisfied that Ezra would be fine he left the two brothers and helped set up around camp.
The other’s watched as Chris paced back and forth with Ezra asleep in his arms until he finally came back towards the others.
Josiah saw his eyes search for the bedroll set up for Ezra and he spoke up. “Over here Chris, we have a spot set up for him.”
Chris grunted his thanks as he laid the now limp boy down. Once he was settled Chris joined the others by the fire and accepted the hot coffee Buck handed him. “Thanks”
It could have been the warmth that finally woke the small figure, or it could have been the lack of motion, but more than likely it was the sounds of voices that pulled him from his deep sleep. The voices were familiar but his muddled mind was having a hard time understanding what was being said. He felt himself start to go into a light doze when he heard the angry words drift towards him.
“I’m going to kill him!” Boy does Chris sound mad, Ezra thought to himself. He couldn’t pick up the quiet tones of whoever was speaking to him, but sure hoped they got him calmed down before he got to him. He wasn’t feeling to great and didn’t think he would be able to handle a beating at this moment. He thought about playing possum but knew from prior beatings that it only made it worse. Pulling himself up he was unprepared for the pain that flowed into his side. He yelped as his grabbed his side and tried to ease his breathing as the pain eased. He then felt the warm hand on his back moving in slow circles and the warm voice telling him to take it easy. Before he could do anything a cup was put to his lips and the voice encouraged him to take a drink. As he finished the noxious brew he felt himself lifted into a warm embrace.
“Feeling better?”
Ezra nodded into the warm chest. As vile as the concoction he drank was its pain numbing qualities were well worth the indigestion. He felt the pull of sleep seeping into him as he curled closer to the body holding him.
Chris felt Ezra curl up closer to him and made himself more comfortable on the ground. The anger he had felt just moments before had seeped away as he helped ease his brother’s pain. He decided to make himself comfortable for the night seeing as Ezra was fast asleep on his chest. “What am I going to do with you little brother? You scared the life out of me today.”
“I’m sorry Chris”
Chris smiled he thought the boy was fast asleep. “It’s alright son, we’ll talk about it later. You need to get some sleep.” Chris’ words were lost on the small boy that had fallen into a healing slumber. It was then that Chris realized it was the first time Ezra didn’t call him mister. Feeling his heart lighten he followed his younger brother into sleep.