JD walked into the saloon. He looked around the room for Buck and Ezra. He knew where Ezra would be. It had been nearly six weeks since he had that run in with Marshall Hanley and he was just beginning to be his old self again making his usual sarcastic comments at everyone and playing poker. The haunted look in his eyes was finally gone, being replaced by his usual mischievous glint. JD was glad because he had been really worried about him along with everyone else. Things had also improved between Ezra and the others. He had forgiven them but he also told them that it was something that he would not forget. They had all nodded their heads in agreement to this as they could not blame him.

Now finding Buck was another thing. He heard loud laughter from above. He looked up and saw Buck and one of the bar girls wrapped around each other. JD ran up the stairs looking forward to the look that was going to replace the smile on Buck's face.

"Hey Buck. Chris wants us all in the Sheriff's office in ten minutes." yep JD thought, that's the look.

Buck had been smiling and laughing with Sarah and now the smile dropped off his face and it was replaced by a scowl.

"JD can't you see that I'm busy."

"Sorry Buck but Chris said it was an order. He's got a job for us."

"If you will excuse me Sarah duty calls again." Buck turned towards JD who was still watching Ezra playing poker. "Well come on then, lets get it over with so I can get back to what I was doing."

"In a minute, I just have to get Ezra away from that poker game." JD smiled.

Buck looked down towards Ezra. Saw him laughing with one of the other players. "Good to have him back isn't it JD."

"Sure is."

JD followed Buck down the stairs and then headed towards the poker table. Ezra looked up when he arrived.

"Mr Dunne have you come to partake in this excellent game of chance?"

"No. I've come to let you know that Chris wants you in the Sherrif's office. He wants a meeting with everyone. We've got a job that he wants us all for. Something about the stagecoach that just arrived."

"I will be there shortly once I have won all of the money from these gentlemen." Ezra smiled as he looked at the other three men at the table.

JD saw the looks of confusion on their faces. They had no hope against Ezra.

"Ten minutes then Ezra."

Ezra laid his cards on the table and without waiting to see what the other men had he picked up the money that was in the center of the table and left. It wasn't because he had cheated, his card playing skills were just better than theirs were. Their shocked gazes followed him out of the saloon. When Ezra left the saloon he saw Vin and Josiah entering the jail. He walked across the street to join them inside and as he walked up the steps he glanced down towards the stage coach that had just arrived in town. The one that JD had been talking about. He saw three men on the sidewalk talking amongst themselves. One of them turned slightly towards him. He only saw part of the man's face but he recognised him instantly. Ezra felt his knees go weak beneath him. If he had not grabbed hold of the wooden railing he would have fallen to the ground. He stood there in shock hoping that the man that he could see talking to the other two men was not his Uncle.

Ezra closed his eyes for a moment hoping that when he opened them again the man would not be there. But he was still there. Ezra was in shock. He was shaking with fear. The same fear that he had felt when he was twelve years old, waiting for his Uncle to come home. He did not feel this fear everyday, only when he did something wrong in the eyes of his Aunt Helda who would tell her husband when he arrived home. He would then go to Ezra's room and punish him for what he had done. The beatings that this man had inflicted on him had scared him for life. And now seeing him here had brought it all rushing back to him. But as he stood there watching him other emotions began to rise in him as well. He also began to feel the anger and hatred that always followed the fear. Ezra struggled to control all of these emotions.

"Just great, first Hanley now Uncle Jack. Has someone got something against me." he wondered.

JD had said the job had something to do with the stagecoach. Ezra hoped that did not also mean his Uncle. He did not know if he could cope with this not after what he had just been through with Hanley and the others. Ezra took out his flask and after a long swallow placed it back into his coat pocket. He then took a couple of deep breaths to try and pull himself together and walked into the jail.

Ezra had not noticed but his Uncle had also seen him. He had turned around fully when Ezra was no longer looking towards him. He knew that it was Ezra Standish, he was the spitting image of his father. He saw him go into the jail and knew that this meant that he was one of the hired gunmen that was going to escort the coach to Rock Falls. He had seen the fancy red coat, the gun slung to his hip and then watched as he drank from a silver flask that he had taken from his coat pocket and he instanly disapproved of the man that Ezra had grown into. He had never approved with Maude's way of life either and knew that her son would grow up to be just like her. And he was obviously right. He had tried to change Ezra while he stayed with them for six months but he had been very stubborn. He turned back to the other men knowing that shortly he would re-enter Ezra's life.

Ezra headed straight for the unoccupied chair in the corner of the room. He looked down at the floor afraid that they would see the fear and anger in his eyes. If they knew something was wrong they would be all over him as they were those first few weeks after the Hanley incident. He knew he had to look at them sooner or later but he had to control his emotions first so they would not see them. He needed to put on his best poker face but at the moment the emotions that he was feeling were so strong he could not control them. He sat down in the chair and took another drink from his flask. He thought that if they did realise that there was something wrong they would assume that it had something to do with what had previously happened and not because of the man that had just arrived in town.

But they had all noticed the way he walked in. The slump in his walk, the hanging of his head, the way he did not look them in the eye. They had watched him be like this for four weeks. They knew that something was wrong. Knew that what ever it was his poker face was not able to hide it. They had learned a lot about Ezra's emotional states over the past six weeks and were able to read him a lot easier than when they had first met him a few months ago.

Chris shook his head at the group telling them to leave it for now. They had learnt not to push him. Ezra would tell them what was wrong when he was ready. JD felt the worry return, Ezra had been laughing and playing poker ten minutes ago. He was about to say something when he saw Chris shake his head.

"So what's up Chris?" asked Vin trying to break the tension that had instanly filled the room when Ezra walked in.

"Judge Travis wants us to escort the stagecoach that just arrived in town to Rock Falls. Including the three men that came with it." he answered.

"Good Lord." Ezra muttered for the second time in six weeks. He was really starting to believe that someone hated him.

Everyone turned to look at him. But he did not return their stare. He kept his head down as he was still unable to control his emotions particularly after that last remark from Chris.

"Something wrong Ezra?" asked Chris.

"No." was the simple answer.

Chris frowned but he continued with what he was saying. "Apparently there is a witness to a crime on the coach but he wouldn't say which man it was. Said it was best that none of us knew. Supposed to be giving evidence at a trial in Rock Falls. So we'll escort them to Rock Falls and then hand them over to the Sherrif when we get there."

"Did he at least tell you who the bad guy is that this witness is supposed to be giving evidence against?" enquired Buck.

"Martin DeAblo." Chris saw the expressions that the other men gave him, all except Ezra that was, who still had not lifted his gaze from the floor. "The guy that rob the bank in Sanchez and killed the bank teller. They managed to get him but his gang is still on the loose and that is why the Judge wants us to protect who ever the witness is."

"How can we protect him if we don't know which one he is?" JD asked this as he watched Ezra. He couldn't understand what could have changed his mood on his way to the jail.

"The Judge seems to think that it's best this way." answered Chris.

"And when do we leave?" Vin asked.

"Half an hour. First we will make our introductions and then Vin, Josiah, JD I want you to get the horses ready and then grab anything that you need for the trip and meet us back here. Okay."

Ezra was the first one to rise and leave the room. When the others followed they noticed that he had stayed on the porch staring at the three men standing next to the coach. He did not look at any of them as they passed. Chris was the last to leave but before he stepped down onto the street he heard Ezra's voice.

"Mr Larabee do you really need the seven of us to escort the coach and it's passengers?" he asked.

"Yes I do Ezra why?" Chris frowned. Ezra did not look at him when he spoke, he was still staring at the three men. Usually he would have also thought that Ezra was running out on another job to leave the other six to risk their lives while he sat somewhere safe. But these days he knew better than that. Knew that Ezra would risk his own life to protect all of them. He thought that there had to be another reason.

"Is there no way that I could get out of this assignment? I am still feeling the after effects of my physical condition and feel that a long journey like this would not help." he hoped that Chris still felt guilty enough to allow him to stay behind even though he was not sure if he would be able to even if Chris said that he didn't have to go.

"I already checked with Nathan on that one Ezra and he said that you would be fine. Even said that the fresh air would probably do you good."

"And how would Mr Jackson know what was good for me?"

"Something is wrong." thought Chris. He also thought that he may need to be a bit more firmer on this point. "I need everyone on this job Ezra and that includes you. You're coming with us and that is the end of the subject."

Ezra finally turned and looked at Chris. "And if I refuse to go."

Chris saw the emotion on his face and it told him that something was really wrong. It also told him that he was not going to leave Ezra here on his own where no one could keep an eye on him.

"I know you better now Ezra and I know that you won't do that because you would not be able to stay here while we were out there risking our lives to protect someone."

"I must say Mr Larabee that the answer you just gave makes a change from your usual comment of 'Figure yourself dead if you do.' " smiled Ezra. But it was a forced smile and Chris noticed this. "Shall we go then." He knew that Chris was right, he would not be able to sit here while they were out protecting someone that they did not even know. He would never forgive himself if something happened to one of them all becuase he was afraid to deal with his Uncle.

As they walked down the street towards the two men and Ezra's Uncle he could not help but think about the beatings and the smile that was on his face while he delivered them. He had no idea how he was going to get through this.

When the introductions were made Jack had used his real name and was glad he did. He enjoyed the confused expressions on their faces when he introduced himself as Jack Standish. Saw them look at each other. None of them made any comments though about the fact that he had the same last name as one of their group. Three of them had then excused themselves, something about having to get the horses ready. This left two of them, one of who was a coloured man. He did not like the idea of this man being part of the group. He decided that he would have to speak to Ezra about that before they left. Jack turned to see the remaining two lawmen walking towards them. He could see Ezra's red coat behind the man in black and was amused to see that he might have been hiding from him hoping that he would not notice him.

When Chris and Ezra reached the group Ezra pulled all his courage together and stood beside Chris all the time looking at his Uncle. After the second lot of introductions were made they stood there looking at Ezra. Seeing the poker face that he was finally able to put on. He had gained control of his emotions and had put up his usual defences.

"Do you two know each other?" Chris asked wondering if this man was the reason for the change in Ezra's emotional state.

"Yes we do." replied Jack. "It's been a long time Ezra. I haven't seen you since you were twelve years old."

When Ezra did not say anything he continued. "I am Ezra's Uncle." he smiled. "And we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we Ezra."

"Uncle?" Chris raised his eyebrows at Ezra. "Ezra can I talk to you for a minute please?"

Ezra stood there for a moment and then followed Chris to the side.

"Is he the reason that you wanted to stay in town and not come with us?"

"I told you the reason, I did not know my Uncle was here until just now." Ezra had begun to notice that the longer he knew these men the harder it became to lie to them.

Chris looked at him not being able to see through the wall that he had put up around himself. "Are you sure, seems more than a coincidence that your mood changes after he arrives."

"I assure you Mr Larabee that my Uncle has nothing to do with my mood, which is my business anyway so if you will excuse me." scowled Ezra who then turned around and headed back towards his Uncle, he wanted to get this over and done with. He needed to face him and now was a better time than any.

Chris nodded to Buck and Nathan to join him.

"You think there is something going on there Chris?" asked Nathan as he watched Ezra walk back to his Uncle.

"I don't know but I think we should keep an eye on them just in case."

"Uncle."

"Nice to see you after all these years Ezra."

"I wish that I could say the same thing." Ezra grimaced at some of the memories that were flowing through his mind at that moment.

The smile dropped off his Uncle's face. "Now don't get smart with me boy!"

Ezra though was determined not to let his fear show. "I am not your boy."

Jack clenched his fists in front of him making sure that Ezra saw them, knowing that this used to shut him up as a child when he was being stubborn and using his wise crack remarks to hide any fear that he was feeling. Ezra looked at them and said nothing, he knew what it meant even though he also knew that his Uncle would not do anything in front of his friends. They were used as a warning to show that if he kept going that they would be used on him.

"Right then now that we have sorted that out I want to talk to you about that black man over there, I don't want him coming along."

Ezra looked over at Nathan and noticed that the three of them were standing there watching them.

"It's not my decision to make. Nathan is his own man and he decides what he wants to do as the rest of us do. He is part of the group and if he wants to ride along with us I can not stop him." Ezra was glad they were being watched because if they were alone his Uncle would have reacted by now and it would have been a violent reaction. Ezra stood his ground and looked his Uncle in the eye. "And he is also a friend."

"You are being very brave in front of your friends Ezra, I think we will discuss this more at a later time when we are alone and then we can make you see how wrong you are when it comes to choosing your friends." growled Jack.

He saw Ezra flinch and smiled. He turned and tipped his hat to Chris, Buck and Nathan and left to join the other passengers. The four gunmen then split up to gather things for the trip. Ezra headed towards his room in the saloon to collect some things for the trip. He also decided that he was going to have to take an extra few bottles of whiskey - as he was going to need them.

As the stagecoach, driven by JD and Buck, and the other five gunmen left town they were watched by a couple of men standing outside the general store.

"The man we want will be one of those three in the stage coach. And because we don't know which one we will just have to kill all three of them and anyone else who gets in the way." They then got on their horses and headed in the opposite direction of the stagecoach to let their boss know what was happing.

Ezra had kept to himself most of the morning while the others had split into their usual groups - JD and Buck, Nathan and Josiah, Chris and Vin. JD and Buck mostly talked about women, which one of the men in the stagecoach was the witness and of course the main topic was Ezra's Uncle. Chris and Vin talked about the job at hand and went over the plans they had for guarding the group of men that evening when they made camp as there were not any cabins between Four Corners and Rock Falls. They would have to sleep in the open and that meant posting guards all night and they also talked about Ezra and his Uncle. Josiah and Nathan talked about what repairs they would make on the church when they got back and had also included Ezra and his Uncle into their conversation while they took their turn driving the stagecoach. They were all curious about him and the relationship that they seemed to have which they had noticed was not very friendly. Chris had said that it was best that they did not question Ezra about it at the moment but instead watch him.

The rest of the morning had gone by without any trouble. They had not yet noticed the men that were following them at a distance far enough for their dust not to be seen. They had stopped and made camp at lunch time so they could rest and feed the horses. Nathan and Josiah had also prepared some food for everyone. They all noticed how Ezra had refused the food saying that he wasn't hungry, that he was tired from the ride, said that it was probably because he was still not back to his full strength and that he still tired easily. They also saw how he sat to the side of the camp on his own but within sight of everyone as though he did not want to be completely alone. And as he sat there he drank from his flask until it was finished. Chris did not like the idea of Ezra drinking while they were on a job.

"You're not going to get drunk on me are you Ezra? We are going to need you if something happens." Chris had walked over to join Ezra on the rock that he was sitting on.

"No Mr Larabee I will not be getting drunk. You know that it takes more than this to intoxicate me."

"Are you sure you don't want anything to eat. Drinking that on an empty stomach isn't going to make you feel to good later." Chris was wondering if maybe Ezra was right when he said that he may not be up for this job. He did look tired. "Are you okay Ezra?"

"I have already told you Mr Larabee that my mood does not concern you!" Ezra wished that Chris would just go away and leave him be.

"I was asking because you don't look very well. You want me to get Nathan to check on you, make sure your alright?"

"I would be better if you would just leave me alone thankyou."

Chris was determined not to get angry with Ezra. He knew that it would not help the situation any. He decided to leave him be but would get Nathan to somehow check on him without him knowing it.

Ezra tried to spend the afternoon riding on his own again but the others kept bothering him. They wanted to talk and because the conversation did not include his Uncle he assumed that they were checking up on him. They had taken turns at this as they had been taking turns at driving the coach. There was always two on the coach, one with Ezra and the rest would watch the surrounding areas to make sure that there wasn't any trouble heading their way. That last member of the group was Nathan. He was going to do what Chris had asked and that was to make sure that Ezra was alright physically. Nathan looked at him sideways and noticed that he was slightly paler than he usally was and that he also looked tired. He might suggest to Chris to allow Ezra to sleep through the night instead of taking a turn at keeping guard. He knew that Ezra would not like this but he would have to if he was given an order and by looking at him now he could tell that he was going to need the rest. Nathan had thought that Ezra would be up to this trip but it seems that he may have been wrong.

"And what is it that you are looking at Mr Jackson?"

Nathan had to think quick, he knew Ezra would be angry if he found out what he was really doing. "Just looking to see if there was any resemblance between you and your Uncle. Is he a relative on Maude's side of the family?"

"No. He is my father's brother. And now if you have finished checking up on me for Mr Larabee you can go back and tell him that I am fine." Ezra looked at Nathan with a cold stare that told him not to ask anymore questions.

Nathan nodded, seems that he could never fool Ezra. He stopped and let him ride on ahead of him.

"Well?" asked Chris as he caught up with Nathan.

"He does look tired as you said and he also seems to be a bit pale to me. I was thinking of not letting him stand guard during the night. Let him get a decent nights sleep."

"He won't like that Nathan. But if you think that it would be better for him then I will just have to make sure that he does. It will probably make his mood even worse though."

"Do you think that his change of mood has something to do with his Uncle?" asked Nathan.

"Yes I do." answered Chris as he watched Ezra up ahead of them. Wondering what it was between himself and his Uncle that had made him so moody.

That night Ezra still refused to eat but Nathan had managed to talk him into eating something even though it was only a small amount. Once all the others had finished they decided on who was going to take shifts guarding the camp. They were going to split into pairs and do three hours each.

"And why have I not heard my name mentioned?" asked Ezra beginning to feel like he was being treated as sickly child who could not take care of himself even though deep down he was glad of the idea for reasons of his own that were different to Chris's.

"I don't like the way you look Ezra and I want you to get a decent nights sleep. If your feeling better tomorrow night you can do a shift then." Chris was a bit stunned by the fact that Ezra did not argue with him. He thought that it was because he was feeling poorly when the real reason was that it meant that he would not be left on his own. Because if he was his Uncle would confront him about his behaviour that morning and he didn't know what he would do to him. Ezra did not know if he would fight back or take the beating as he had done as a child. Ezra had simply nodded in agreement and went towards the sleeping area that he had prepared for himself.

Once everyone was settled Nathan and Josiah took the first watch. Buck and JD were going to take the next one followed by Chris and Vin. Neither of them protested about the fact that Ezra would not be taking a turn as they agreed with what Chris had said about him not looking well.

Later that night after the change of shifts when Ezra had thought that his Uncle was asleep, he got his flask which he refilled earlier and got up. He had not been able to sleep at all and thought that a drink would help. But he did not want to drink it here in case Chris woke up and saw him. He also needed to think and sort out the thoughts that were going through his head. He went in a direction that he knew Buck or JD were not near. He thought he would be safe becuase his Uncle was asleep.

But Jack was not asleep. He saw Ezra get up and leave the campsite. Making sure that no one was watching him he got up and followed him.

Jack stood back for a while and watched Ezra drinking from his flask. He was about to move towards him when he saw the one called Buck walk towards Ezra.

"What are you doing out here Ezra? You should be asleep." Buck enquired noticing that Ezra looked even worse than he had earlier.

"I could not sleep." answered Ezra hoping that Buck did not hang around to long. He had also hidden the flask under his coat when he heard Buck coming.

"Ezra I know it's none of my business but . . ."

"You are right Mr Wilmington it is none of your business, now don't you think that you should be getting along with what you are supposed to be doing." stated Ezra in a voice that said he did not want to talk about it.

"Uh, sure." said Buck moving away from Ezra.

When Buck had left Ezra took out his flask and took another drink. He heard a noise behind him and thinking that it would be JD he turned around ready to say something that would convince him not to partake in any sort of conversation. Instead he saw his Uncle's fist before it connected with his jaw. Ezra recoiled from both the blow and the look on his Uncle's face. Saw the evil in his eyes and the enjoyment that he always seemed to have in them when he beat Ezra as a child.

"Don't you ever talk to me that way again. When I ask something of you, you do it. Do you understand me?" but Ezra did not answer him. Instead he stood face to face with his Uncle. His defiance showing and this made his Uncle more angry. He was determined to wipe the look off Ezra's face. He decided to try it with words first. "You know your father used to drink like you do. He was drunk most of the time and it was you and your mother that drove him to drink. He did not like the idea of having a family. He only married your mother because she was pregnant with you. The whole family thing drove him crazy and the drink eventually killed him. So you could say that you both killed him."

He saw Ezra hesitate as the words hit home. Saw him blink in disbelief and he took this moment of confusion to finish what he started - to wipe that look off his face. He put more force behind the blow this time. Ezra was so confused at that moment about what his Uncle had said that he let his defences slip. He saw the fist coming but he was to slow to react. Felt it make contact with his jaw a second time and this time the force of the blow threw him hard against the rock that he had been sitting on, he hit his head against it and fell to the ground unconcious. His Uncle watched him lying there bleeding from the head wound.

"That should teach you to defy me Ezra Standish." and with a smile on his face he walked back to the camp. No one saw him return either and he quietly slipped back under his sleeping blanket next to the fire.

It was an hour later when Ezra came to his senses. He tried to lift his head but felt the pain and dizziness about to make him pass out again. He laid back down until the ground seemed to stop spinning. Once he felt ready, he slowly sat up and leaned back against the rock wondering how long he had been out for. He noticed that he had fallen behind the rock and that was probably why nobody had found him, either that or he had only been out for a matter of minutes. He felt the sticky blood on his face and took out his hankerchief and soaked it with some of the expensive whisky from his flask. He then placed it against his forehead where the wound was. He let out an involuntary grimace of pain. As the pain eased he began to wipe away some of the blood from the wound. When he thought that he had most of the blood cleaned off he tried to stand up. He had to lean against the rock for a moment to steady himself. Once he had some sort of control he walked slowly towards the camp hoping also that no one would see him. He did not want to have to explain this.

When he got back he noticed that Buck and JD were still on patrol so he could not have been out too long. He saw that his Uncle was asleep next to the fire, knew that he would do the same thing that he always did as a child after one of his beatings. He would do nothing as it would only cause more. Ezra was confused as to why he would react to this the same as when he was twelve. He was an adult now, he should go over there and deliver the same sort of punishment as his Uncle handed out. But something inside stopped him. He did not know what it was, fear, shame that his Uncle had done this. Maybe it was because if he reacted then his friends would find out what happened and he did not want to discuss any of this at the moment. He was confused, his emotions were out of control.

Ezra went to his blankets and gently laid himself down. Once he was able to get himself more comfortable he started to think about what his Uncle had told him. He was shocked at first, did not know if he should believe him. His mother had told him that his father had died but that his death was caused by a sickness. He did not know which was the truth as his mother was also capable of lying to her own son. Ezra eventually fell asleep while these confusing thoughts and emotions rushed through his head.

Buck awoke to the smell of coffee, bacon and beans. He went over to join the rest of the group including, Langton and Forster who were the other two passengers on the coach. On the way he noticed that Ezra was still asleep and had his back towards the group and his hat over his face.

"I see Ezra finally got some sleep." he commented to no one in particular.

"What do you mean?" asked Nathan.

"I found him on the edge of the camp last night somewhere around midnight. Said he couldn't sleep. He was drinking too. Tried to hide his flask when I showed up but I noticed it before he put in under his jacket. Also saw him when we changed shifts and he was tossing and turning. Maybe his nightmares are back." thinking this caused him to worry and that maybe he should have said something more to Ezra last night instead of leaving him alone.

"We'll let him get some extra sleep then and wake him up half an hour before we leave." said Chris looking at Ezra's back. He was going to have to say something to him about his drinking. He knew there was something wrong with the gambler but his drinking could could get someone killed.

"And make sure that he has something to eat." added Nathan.

While JD and Buck went to saddle the horses Josiah went to awaken Ezra. Jack watched wondering if Ezra was going to say something to them when they found out what had happened. Josiah gently kicked Ezra's feet hoping that it would wake him up. When he did not show any movement he bent down and slowly shook his shoulder. He heard Ezra mutter something under his breath about leaving him alone or he would shoot him.

"Ezra, it's Josiah. You have to wake up now, where getting ready to move out. Ezra?" Josiah removed the hat that was covering his face. Ezra often slept this way so that the sun did not wake him up to early. Ezra flinched away from the light and opened his eyes. Squinting at first at the bright light but opening them further as they adjusted. He looked up at Josiah with a scowl on his face. He attempted to sit up but fell back down again as he felt the pain in his skull scream in protest.

"Chris, Nathan you'd better come and have a look at this."

When they stood behind Josiah they saw the bruise and cut on Ezra's forehead and the fellow bruise on his jaw.

Nathan knelt down to examine him more closely.

"It is nothing Mr Jackson, I merely fell over and hit my head on a rock." Ezra continued to grimace in pain as he pushed Nathan's hands away from his face.

"You may have a concussion Ezra, let me have a look." Ezra gave up knowing that Nathan was not going to accept his refusal of help this time. "Are you feeling dizzy or sick?" he asked him as he looked into his eyes to see if there was any sign of a concussion.

"No, I just have a very bad headache."

"Headache or hangover?" growled Chris.

Ezra looked at Chris with raised eyebrows, asking the question of what do you mean.

"You've been drinking haven't you Ezra, you got drunk and fell over your own feet didn't you."

Ezra decided that at the moment lying would be better, he did not want to explain the real reason yet. "Something like that."

Chris gave him a look of disgust. "I don't want it happening again Ezra. You might get one of us killed next time.

Ezra nodded his agreement. Chris and Josiah then left Nathan to clean Ezra's wound. "You feel like something to eat?" asked Nathan. "I could get you something if you want. I mean you haven't really eaten much since yesterday"

"Maybe later thankyou Mr Jackson."

When Nathan finished he helped Ezra to his feet to make sure that he was okay with his balance. He then informed Chris that he was okay physically but he felt that there was something else wrong. "There's something wrong with him Chris and it seems to be eating away at him. He's not eating and he is drinking to much. It's like before with Hanley. I think that someone is going to have to talk with him. I know you don't want to push him but we might not have a choice."

"I didn't tell you that he did not want to come on this job. He asked me if he could stay in town but I told him that he had no choice. And now he's going through all this again because I made him come along. I would sure like to know what it is between him and his uncle." Chris said this knowing that Nathan was right. He was going to have to try and force Ezra to tell him what the problem was. "I'll have a talk with him later."

On top of the hill to the West the same two men that were watching the seven lawmen in Four Corners were watching them again. They waited as the group packed up camp and headed out to Rock Falls. The two men returned to the gang that counted in all, fourteen.

"We'll wait till they get to the pass and then we will take care of that witness and the others." growled John DeAblo. He motioned for his gang to mount up and they then headed in another direction towards the past.

Langton, Forster and Jack Standish were riding in the stagecoach discussing the seven men that were escorting them to Rock Falls. Only two of them knew the real reason for the escort. One was the witness and the other worked for the DeAblo gang. He had hoped that one of the other two would slip up in their conversation and say something that might let him know which one it was. They had all kept to themselves and stayed away from the gunmen not wanting to let them get a chance to work out who was who. And now they were sitting there - one hoping to get to Rock Falls alive and the other waiting for the DeAblo gang to attack.

While they were dicussing their situation fourteen men were getting closer to the pass that the stagecoach was going to go through. They were hoping to ambush them, thinking it would be easier as they knew the reputation of the seven gunmen and did not want to take any chances.

And while Vin and Josiah drove the stagecoach, and the others kept their eyes open, Chris tried to speak to Ezra who had been riding behind the coach ever since he had his turn driving it with JD. Chris had nodded at Nathan as if asking for good luck and then hurried his horse on to catch up with Ezra.

"Ezra." greeted Chris. He wanted to start off on a good foot, if he got on the wrong side of Ezra he would never get anywhere with him and that meant not finding out what was wrong.

"Mr Larabee what can I do for you?" Ezra asked knowing what the conversation was going to be about.

"Just wanted to know if you are feeling any better since this morning. Has the hangover gone?"

Ezra winced at this, more in memory than in pain. "I am fine thankyou. I seem to keep telling you this but for some reason you do not want to believe me." he looked at Chris "Now what do you really want?"

Chris looked straight back at him making sure that none of the frustration that he was feeling showed on his face. He was determined not to get angry. He understood Ezra more now after the Hanley incident and knew that showing any anger just made Ezra's defences stronger and harder to penetrate.

"I would like to know what is going on?" Ezra continued to just look at him. "You just got back to your normal self but ever since your Uncle showed up you have been very distant. You have hardly eaten anything and all you seem to want to do is drink from that flask of yours. Now usually I would just let you get over it but were on a job here and your mood and drinking could get one of us killed." Chris returned the stare.

Ezra looked away. He still did not want to tell anyone about his Uncle. He still felt ashamed and was also beginning to think that they would think that he was a coward for not standing up to him. So he decided to give Chris a different story.

"I told you that it has nothing to do with my Uncle. You may have noticed that we do not get on but that is not the problem. I also told you before we left Four Corners that I did not feel up to this job. Maybe I am suffering some sort of relapse, I do not know. But there is not really a lot that I can do about it as you made me come along anyway."

"Now why don't I believe you Ezra."

"Probably because you still believe me to be liar." retorted Ezra.

Before Chris could give him an answer he heard Vin call out that they were nearing the pass.

"We'll continue with this later Ezra." Chris rode on to the front of the coach that had stopped about a mile from the opening of the pass.

"What do you want to do Chris, go on through or go around it." asked Vin. "Seems to be the perfect spot for an ambush."

"We'll go around it. It will put an extra half a day to the trip but better safe than sorry."

The men on the stagecoach heard this and one of them had hoped to himself that DeAblo would take this situation into consideration. They needed to get the witness before they got back to town.

DeAblo hadn't thought about it. He and his gang had reached the pass about half an hour before they expected the coach to arrive. He had though, brought a pair of binoculars so he could watch it as it got closer. And it was through these binoculars that he saw the stagecoach change direction. They were going to go around it.

"Shit!" he muttered to himself. "There going around."

The rest of his men just looked at him. They knew that he was not as smart as his brother and they were only following him so they could help their real leader out.

"Were just going to have to go after them. Probably won't work but we have to try something. I want six of you to go on through the pass and wait for them in case we don't get them." he growled. The other eight rode after the stagecoach.

"Chris there's dust coming up behind us." yelled out JD.

They all looked behind them and saw the dust. They all knew instantly that riders were coming on fast. Because the DeAblo gang had come from within the pass they had not seen the dust until they were nearly on top of them.

"There is no cover here so we are going to have to try and outrun them. Let's go."

Vin whipped the horses on and the others urged their horses into a gallop as they took their guns out of their holsters. JD felt the first bullet that was fired whiz past his ear. He turned on his horse and returned fire. Josiah was also returning fire from the roof of the stagecoach using the rifle that was kept there for such a reason as this. He saw one of the riders that were chasing them fall from his horse. This left seven that continued to chase them and fire upon them. Chris watched as another fell after being shot by his gun. Buck felt a tug at his coat sleeve, glad that the bullet did not actually draw any blood. Another gang member fell, this time due to Ezra's gun. The bad guys were beginning to be out numbered but they continued the chase. They were determined to get what they wanted. Vin continued to urge the horses on. He looked behind him to see the men that were chasing them. The others kept themselves between the stagecoach and the gunmen that were chasing them. Josiah fired upon the ones that wondered to the side of the coach making sure that they were not able to get a shot into the coach.

The man in the stagecoach gripped the handle of his gun. He would shoot the other two here and now but it would only mean his own death at the hands of the remaining lawmen and he did not want to die yet. So he waited for an opportunity where he could take control of the situation.

After another one had fallen from his horse the gang leader pulled the others to a halt. There was only four of them left. They were now completely outnumbered. The leader decided to allow the stagecoach to go on and that they would follow at a distance until the coach ran into the rest of the gang because with them in front and the remaining four behind, the coach and lawmen would not have anywhere to go.

Chris saw the gang stop, turn around and head back the way that they had come. He motioned to Vin to stop the coach. He wanted to make sure that the passengers were okay. The man inside had decided that this would now be his chance to get the upper hand thinking that the coach had stopped because of his boss's brother. Ezra was the first to reach the coach. He jumped off his horse without bringing it a halt first. He opened the stage door only to find Langton's gun pointed directly at his skull. Before Langton could blink Ezra had ejected his own derringer and pointed it back at him. The others came to a halt to find Langton and Ezra standing face to face with their guns pointed in each other's direction.

Vin and Josiah watched what happened and knew that there was nothing that they could do to help Ezra. If they tried anything the man would simply shoot him. Maybe Ezra would also get off a shot but they were not going to risk it. The others had also come to a stop next to the coach and watched as the dangerous situation unfolded. They knew that Ezra was quick with the derringer that he kept up his right sleeve but they were amazed by his reflexes and how quickly the derringer had appeared in his hand. They watched as Langton stepped down from the coach, his gun still pointed in Ezra's direction. Ezra stepped back not letting his gun waver. The others had no idea what to do, they actually felt totally hopeless. They knew that only Ezra could get himself out of this one.

"Well Sir, I guess that we are going to have to decide amongst ourselves which one of us is going to die." drawled Ezra.

"Huh." the other man said. He was lost for words. He thought that he was going to get the upper hand but instead found himself in a life or death situation. And by looking at the expression on the other man's face he thought that it was going to be his own death. He was totally shocked by his actions, he thought that he would simply step back from him and then he was going to use him as a hostage. But instead he had pulled a gun on him with lightening speed. And now he had no idea what he was going to do. And then the other man spoke as though this was something that he did every day.

"I said that you and I are going to have to decide which one of us is going to die." repeated Ezra.

Langton still did not say anything. Ezra started to move in a direction that took Langton's gun away from the direction of any of the other men so when he made his move no one else would be accidently shot. Langton followed him not allowing Ezra to move out of the sight of his gun.

"Who is it going to be then. I myself am not ready to die, are you?" Ezra asked him.

Langton was completely dumfounded. How can the man be so calm. "Um, no." was all he could say.

"We are certainly in a predicament then are we not." smiled Ezra. "Well may I have your decision or would you prefer that I make it for you as I can see that you are not capable of doing so at the moment. Although I would prefer that you made your own choice, I mean it is your life we are talking about are we not. "

Langton did not answer. The other six lawmen watched as they held their breaths hoping that the worse would not happen. Forster and Jack had stepped down from the coach and were also watching the scene. Ezra had noticed this out of the corner of his eye but he was not going to let his Uncle effect the outcome of what he was planning. He knew that everyone's eyes were on him. He was calm on the outside but inside he could feel the tension mount. He did not really feel any fear as he had been in worse situations as this. He could see by the other man's face that he was scared and this gave Ezra the upper hand. And he used it to his advantage. He saw the sweat starting to form on Langton's forehead. Ezra decided to make his move.

He quickly lashed out with his left hand, grabbing Langton's right wrist and forcing the gun down and way from his face. But before Ezra could get it clear of his body the gun fired tearing a hole in his left upper arm but he did not have the time to feel the pain as he lifted his right arm and slammed the butt of his derringer against Langton's forehead who collapsed to the ground. Ezra left him there in a heap and stepped back finally feeling the pain in his arm. He flicked the derringer back into it's hiding place and grabbed his arm to try to ease the pain that he was feeling. He could feel the blood oozing from the wound between his fingers.

"My God did you see that?" JD asked Buck as they got off their horses and headed towards the gambler. He was amazed at how quick Ezra was. One minute they were standing there in a stand off and the next Langton was on the ground.

They all stood around Ezra with their mouths hanging open. They could not believe that he got out of that situation with only a flesh wound.

"Buck, JD will you take care of Langton. Tie him up and throw him back into the coach." said a concerned Chris. "We'll have words with him when he wakes up."

"Sure Chris." said Buck looking at Ezra's face before he turned around and headed back to the coach with JD.

"I am going to help you take off your jacket Ezra so I can have a look at your arm." Nathan said this as he looked into Ezra's green eyes seeing the pain there. Ezra nodded and gave Nathan the help that he needed. He winced in pain as Nathan pulled the sleeve off his left arm. He tore open Ezra's shirt to get a better look at the wound.

"It's not too deep. I'll just have to clean it up and bandage it. It'll be pretty sore for a while though Ezra." Nathan walked away to get his medical things out of his saddle bags.

"Are you okay Ezra?" Chris was looking at him.

"Mr Larabee, I wish that you would stop asking me that question."

"I'm sorry Ezra but you seem to be giving me a lot of reasons to ask it lately." Chris smiled.

Ezra changed the subject. "Do you think that Langton had anything to do with the men that just attacked us?"

"Yes and we will find out more later.

Nathan came back then and Josiah, Vin and Chris stepped back and watched as he cleaned Ezra's wound. They watched him grimace in pain as Nathan put some herbs on the wound to stop any infection. He then bandaged it. Chris bent down to get Ezra's jacket and took out the flask that he knew was there and handed it to Ezra who gratefully took a long drink from it. "Ezra you can ride in the stagecoach so you don't bounce your arm around to much." said Nathan.

They all saw the change of expression that came over Ezra's face.

"No thankyou Mr Jackson I will not ride in the stagecoach."

"Now Ezra . . ." Nathan began but Ezra gave him a look that said the matter was closed and not to be discussed anymore.

Ezra then stood up to go to his horse but he had gotten up to quickly and began to loose his balance. Chris and Vin grabbed him and lowered him back down again.

"You can be a stubborn mule when you want to be Ezra." smiled Vin trying to break the tension that had started to build within the group.

Ezra just looked at him. He was not going to ride in that stagecoach with his Uncle and there was nothing they could do to convince him to. He looked over at his Uncle, saw him return the stare. There was no expression on his face. He had not come over to express any concern for his Nephew and this was something that had not gone unoticed by the rest of the men.

"Are you sure you can manage riding your horse Ezra." asked Nathan also thinking of the head wound that he recieved the night before. Something tugged at his mind about that but he could not yet put a finger on it. Something to do with the wound and the bruise on his jaw. He left it alone for now as he knew it would eventually come to him.

"Yes I am." He lifted his jacket up and began to put it back on with Nathan's help. He then got up and headed back to his horse not looking at his Uncle as he passed him.

"Nathan, you ride with him. Make sure he doesn't fall off his horse. Everyone else keep an eye out as these guys are bound to try again." he had never known anyone so stubborn except maybe himself but even he was not as bad as Ezra could be.

Buck and JD took their turn at driving the coach. Nathan rode with Ezra making sure that he was okay. Ezra resented the fact that they would not leave him alone. He could not think of a time when they had actually allowed him to be alone for a long period of time during the day since JD, Buck and Nathan had gotten him out of the jail six weeks ago. Even over the last couple of weeks they had stayed close while he played poker in the saloon. They thought that he hadn't noticed and he didn't let on that he had. He did not realise that having friends could be so suffocating.

The others rode in silence. They were still in shock about what had just taken place - their friend could have been killed - and that for some reason Ezra was not concerned about the fact they he may have lost his life. But then he could have been hiding it all behind his poker face, they couldn't tell at the moment with Ezra but they were learning, there were some things they could now understand about him but sometimes his defences were very strong and now was one of those times. And they knew that the harder it was to read him the worst the problem was.

They continued on heading in the direction of the waiting six outlaws with the other four following them.

Jack had watched as Ezra had taken complete control of the situation. He thought that he had done a stupid thing risking his own life like that. It was just the sort of thing that his father would have done. He had hated his brother for being the family favourite, always the brave one, the smart one, the handsome one while he was always the opposite and he had always resented his brother for that. And he now hated Ezra for he was just like his father. He sat quietly and watched Langton as he lay on the other seat thinking to himself that he may be able to use this man to get back at Ezra. And after what Ezra had just done to him he would be easy to convince. Ezra had humiliated him, made him look like a coward - just like he had always felt while he was around his brother - and he was sure that Langton would want to get his revenge. He would help the man escape when the opportunity arose. Which would be sooner than he thinks.

"Mr Jackson as you can see I am not going to fall off my horse so I do not need you to keep me company." Ezra told Nathan in a tone that was not very friendly.

Nathan ignored him. "You know you could have gotten yourself killed back there Ezra." They all knew that Ezra took risks when he did not really have to. Nathan thought that it had something to do with his personal defences as Ezra would always either do something or make a smark remark when he knew that his life was in danger or some else's for that matter. This usually resulted in some sort of physical injury to his person. And he always took this punishment as though he was used to it. Sometimes the person on the other end just stood there not knowing what to say or do as Langton had done.

"I am getting very tired of everyone's concern. All of you have not left me alone for the last six weeks. Anyone would think that I was a child who could not take care of himself." Ezra looked at Nathan with a sudden sadness in his eyes. "I have had enough of it."

"I'm sorry Ezra, I didn't know that you felt that way. You should have told us sooner. We were and still are worried about you. Your not yourself at the moment and we know that there is something seriously wrong." Nathan could not help but notice that he was also becoming more pale which would be due to the gunshot wound and the loss of blood that he suffered from. He needed rest but for some reason had refused to ride in the coach.

Ezra scowled at the look of concern on Nathan's face. It was as though what he just said had fallen on deaf ears.

"Nathan would you PLEASE leave me alone!" Ezra was becoming very angry.

Nathan knew that he was reaching breaking point by the use of his first name. He decided to let him be and pulled his horse away from him and moved off to join Chris.

"How's he doing?" asked Chris.

"He said that he has had enough of us worrying about him and he's becoming very angry about it. Maybe that is what his problem is. And he is right, we haven't left him alone since we got him away from Hanley. Said that he is sick of all the concern that we are showing." Nathan glanced over at Ezra. "He's not use to this sort of friendship, maybe we have pushed it far to quick, we haven't given him time to adjust to it all."

Chris raised his eyebrows. "And you think that's the problem." he still wasn't so sure that it did not have anything to do with his Uncle. It was just to much of a coincedence to him.

"Could have a lot to do with it."

"We better give him some space and time then." It was going to be really hard to break through Ezra's defences now.

The other six outlaws sat behind a group of rocks that they intended to use as cover when the coach arrived which would be shortly as they could see the dust that it was causing as it headed their way. They had chosen this place because of the cover that it gave. Once the coach arrived the lawmen would seek their own cover not knowing that the remaining outlaws would be behind them if there was any left that was. That's what they hoped anyway. The coach was still coming because the others had failed.

They prepared themselves and took aim with their rifles. Each putting a lawman in their sights but before the coach got within range it had stopped. Five of the men had gotten down off their horses and moved towards the rocks keeping themselves down so it was harder to get a shot at them. They must have known that they were there.

Buck had pulled the coach to a stop on Chris's order.

"If they had been waiting at the pass and saw us go around then they may have sent some ahead to wait for us. Buck, JD you stay with the coach and keep an eye on Forster and Ezra's Uncle." he looked at Ezra as he said this but Ezra was looking in another direction. "The rest of us will go on ahead on foot to see if there is anything up front.

As they crept closer Vin saw a reflection off something that was metal. "There's guns up ahead." he nodded.

No one questioned him as they knew that he would be correct in what he saw. They all got down behind the rocks. The members of the DeAblo saw this and one of them fired off a shot thinking that he could get one of them before they got behind cover but he was wrong. All he did was confirm that they were there. The hired gunmen returned fire. Two of the outlaws fell instantly. Vin felt a piece of rock cut his forehead as it richoched off the rock that he was behind. He wiped the blood out of his eye and continued to return fire. Ezra was firing with one gun instead of his usual two.

Buck and JD watched from the coach wanting to get involved in the fight but also knowing that they had to stay with the passengers. While in the coach Langton had come to his senses and knew that the gang were trying again. He looked across at Standish and saw the smile on his face. Jack turned to Forster and told him that they were best leaving the coach as a stray bullet might come through one of the windows. Forster believed him and nodded in agreement. He left the coach and Jack followed him but not before cutting the ropes of the prisoner with a small knife that he kept in his boot. He then gave him the knife.

"You owe me one for this and I want payback." he growled at him.

Langton nodded at him and began to pull the loose ropes from his hands and then cut the rope from his feet. Standish and Forster moved behind the coach so the other man would not see Langton leave. JD saw movement from out of the corner of his eye and saw Langton running behind one of the rocks.

"Buck, Langton just went behind one of those rocks." JD informed him.

"How the hell did he get out of those ropes." Buck was confused. He had tied those ropes himself and knew that he would not be able to wiggle out of them. He must have had a knife. But they had searched him for any weapons and found none. "Chris, Langton just got away." he yelled.

Chris turned around and saw JD point in the direction of the rocks to their right. The area was open between them and him and he knew that if he sent one of them after him they would only get shot. The gunfight continued around him and he turned back to it knowing that at the moment there was nothing he could do about Langton. Another three of the gunmen had fallen during this time and it left only one. But it was that one that was determind to survive all of this. He snuck away heading towards his horse knowing that there were enough rocks around to keep him covered. The lawmen got up as they heard the horse gallop off with the remaining gunman.

"Vin, Josiah go and see if you can find Langton, he got away. And don't ask me how, I don't know."

They moved off in the direction that Chris had pointed at. Nathan went towards Ezra to check on him but remebered what he had said and decided against it. Chris went to the coach to find out what happened. He knew that it was not Buck or JD's fault as he told them to stay with the other passengers and their protection of the witness came first. He went up to Forster and Jack.

"What happened?" he asked them.

"Don't know?" said Forster. "We thought it would be safer if we went behind the coach. We left Langton inside. He was still tied up."

This was the first time that Forster had a lot to say about something. He had hardly said a word since they left Four Corners.

"Are you sure?" he asked again looking at them both with a cold stare.

"Yes were sure." agreed Jack.

Chris left it at that. He was not sure how he had gotten away. Maybe he had kept a knife in the coach. Vin and Josiah returned then saying that they could not find him as the rocks had covered his tracks and it would take more time than they actually had to find him. Chris told Vin to have Nathan have a look at the cut on his forehead which Nathan quickly cleaned and put a bit of balm on it.

"Okay we'd better keep moving then." growled Chris becoming frustrated that they could not get the answers that they wanted now that Langton had gotten away. They left the five dead gunmen where they were intending to send some men back to get them once they reached Rock Falls.

As they moved away Langton watched from above. He had to keep moving because they sent two men after him. But now that they were gone he stopped and watched them move out. "Getting this witness is becoming a lot harder than we thought." he said to himself.

DeAblo and his remaining men had reached the area of the gunfight and find five dead gunmen.

"Shit." he said to himself again.

He looked around and saw Langton heading towards him with a look of disgust on his face.

"They are still headed towards Rock Falls with the witness. We have to deal with them in town now. There is no other choice." Langton said as he drew closer to DeAblo.

"What are you doing here and not riding with the coach like you are supposed to be." he questioned Langton.

"I drew a gun on them but one of them got the better of me. But one of the other passengers helped me escape which now tells me who the witness is." a look of hatred crossed his face at the thought of how the man named Standish had done that and he then thought of the other man also called Standish that had allowed him to escape.

"How long ago was this?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

"We are going to have to come up with another plan then aren't we." he was becoming more angry. He knew it would be difficult but the seven lawmen were starting to make fools of them and he did not like this.

"Maybe the one who helped me get away can help us. We should find him when we get to town."

DeAblo smiled at this. Maybe they had another chance after all.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. There were no more attacks by the gunmen. But they did not assume that they had given up.They made camp out in the open so that no one could sneak up on them. Nathan had checked Vin's head wound again stating that it was just a scratch and that he would be fine apart from the headache that had developed. He also checked Ezra's arm, cleaned it again and rebandaged it. Ezra was quiet the whole time. He did not say a word. He did not even look Nathan in the eye. This concerned Nathan. And as he sat there looking at Ezra he realised what the thought was that would not come to him earlier.

"Ezra I want you to have something to eat tonight. You will need it after the amount of blood that you have lost. Okay?"

Ezra nodded still not saying anything. Even his facial expression did not give anything away.

Nathan moved away from him and he looked for Chris wanting to discuss the thought that had just occured to him. He found him with Buck taking care of the horses.

"Chris, something has just occured to me about the injury that Ezra recieved last night." before Chris said what Nathan knew he would say he continued. "I don't think that he got them both in a fall."

Both Chris and Buck looked confused. "What do you mean Nathan?" asked Chris.

"Neither his head wound or the bruise are on the same side of his face. I knew that there was something about it but I could not put my finger on it. If he fell the bruise on his jaw and the cut on his forehead would be on the same side."

"Are you saying that he didn't fall?" asked Buck.

"I think that he got the head wound in a fall but I don't think that the fall caused the bruise on his jaw. I think someone hit him and that made him fall and that is where he hit his head."

They all had the same thought at the same time. Ezra's Uncle.

"Are we going to talk to Ezra about this?" asked Buck.

"Not yet. We'll reach Rock Falls tomorrow afternoon, we will talk to him then. I don't want to do it out here because we don't know how he will react." answered Chris.

They watched Ezra pick at his food in silence. Both he and Vin went to bed early. Vin because of his headache and Ezra because he did not want any company. They had all become very concerned about him. He had not said a word since the gunfight that afternoon. They saw that his Uncle did not seem concerned about the way Ezra was behaving. They knew that he did not know him very well as it had been a long time since they had seen each other. But Ezra had seperate injuries, he did not speak to anyone and he hardly ate. Even a complete stranger would ask if there was something wrong. But not Jack Standish. They had decided that Ezra's Uncle was the problem. They also decided to keep him far away from Ezra. At least until they found out what was going on. They would corner Ezra tomorrow and then not leave him until he told them everything. Again they took turns at keeping guard noticing Ezra's restless sleep as they changed shifts. It was just like before.

There was no trouble during the night from the men that were chasing them. Ezra again was the last to get up that morning. He helped himself to coffee and went and sat on his own. He wanted to add some of his whiskey to it but if Chris saw him he would have something to say about it and at the moment Ezra wanted to speak to no one. He did not want to even look anybody in the eye as he knew that every emotion that he was feeling was showing on his face. He was completely confused and he had no idea what to do. His emotions were out of control. He was angry at everyone because they wouldn't leave him alone, they may not be sitting with him but their eyes were always watching him. He was angry at himself for not standing up to his Uncle. It also made him feel ashamed and a coward. He faced Langton yesterday without any fear and he had a gun pointed at his head. The only weapon his Uncle had was his fists and for some reason he was scared of him. And this really confused him. He did not know how the others would react if they knew what was going. That had thought him to be a coward once and he did not want them to think it again. For the first time he actually wished that his mother were here. He felt for some reason that he would be able to talk to Maude about this.

He was jerked from his thoughts as he heard someone call his name.

"Ezra were moving out now." called Nathan. He watched Ezra. He still looked very tired but that was to be expected after the night that he had. They knew that he was having nightmares again but they were not sure if they were the same ones. He still looked pale. He did not care what Ezra had said the day before, he was going to stay close to him for the rest of the day. Whatever was causing the emotional stress was also effecting his health. And he did not want Ezra to be sick again.

Ezra nodded in acknowledgement and got up. He walked past Nathan not looking up at him. But Nathan saw his eyes and saw that the haunted look had returned to them.

"If Jack Standish is responsible for this then he is going to pay." thought Nathan.

Later that afternoon they finally reached Rock Falls. Josiah stopped the stagecoach in front of the jail. The Sherrif came out and shook hands with Chris. After introducing himself to the group he told them who the witness was. It had been Forster. The sheriff then told them that he was going to keep Forster in the jail but he would appreciate it if they could stick around till the trial which was in two days. Chris agreed, it would give them the excuse to allow Ezra a few days to rest. They then left Jack Standish by the coach and headed to the saloon. They all needed a drink and Chris wanted to talk to Ezra. Jack followed them in to get a drink but once he had his bottle he took it outside. He no longer wanted anything to do with these men. Only Ezra and that would come later now that they were going to be in town a few more days.

Chris got a bottle of whiskey and nodded to Nathan to follow him to the table that Ezra had sat down at. Ezra had hoped to be left alone but Chris had other ideas. Ezra did not look up when they sat down.

"Here we go again." he thought to himself.

"What are you doing here Mr Larabee, you know that I don't want to talk about it." muttered Ezra.

"We know that it is your Uncle that is causing you to be like this." said Chris.

"Oh really and what brought you to that conclusion?" Ezra asked still keeping his gaze down.

"We also know that you did not fall the other night because you were drunk, you fell because your Uncle hit you." Nathan watched for a reaction and he got one.

"What the hell gives you the right to keep butting into my personal business like this." he nearly yelled at them.

The others had heard Ezra's outburst as they had sat at a table near him. They looked up in concern.

"We are your friends Ezra and that gives us the right." Chris kept calm. "And we are not going to leave until you tell us."

"But I will." growled Ezra as he got up.

Chris grabbed his arm and pulled him back down.

"No your not." Chris said back to him.

"And what are you going to do to stop me, are you going to use physical force." Ezra smiled at this.

"If I have to."

Ezra looked at him and stayed in his chair. It only took him a moment to decide. He had enough. If they wanted to know then so be it. But he won't tell them, he was still not ready for that so he decided to show them instead.

"Fine then, if you really want to know then come with me."

Chris and Nathan frowned at each other but got up and followed Ezra out the door where they were joined by the rest of the group. Ezra looked around until he saw his Uncle near the stagecoach. The rest of the group were confused and Chris was beginning to worry about what Ezra was going to do.

"If you would wait here you will be enlightened to the situation in a moments time." said Ezra as he moved away and headed towards his Uncle.

Jack Standish glanced up as he heard someone call his name. It was Ezra. What did he want. As he got closer Ezra drew in a deep breath and prepared himself. He walked straight up to him and stood facing him hoping that the look on his face was enough to get his Uncle angry.

"I believe that you lied about what you told me in regards to my father." said Ezra hoping that this would get a reaction so his 'friends' who would not stop pushing him could find out what the situation was. He saw his Uncle clench his fists. Ezra knew that he now had to push harder to get a reaction in public. "Becuase I think that you are a liar and a coward."

That did it. Ezra saw the raised fist and waited for the blow. It came hard and it knocked him off his feet. Chris and the others dropped their mouths open in shock. They did not expect this. Ezra got up and stood in front of his Uncle who then knocked him down again. Ezra hit the ground three times before the others reached him just in time to stop Jack Standish from using his feet.

"You good for nothing son of a bitch!" Jack yelled at him. "Your father was no good and neither are you. You got what you deserved as a kid and if your friends were not here to help you I would teach you a lesson that you would never forget just as I taught you when you were a child!"

Ezra hung his head. He knew that what his Uncle just said would be enough for them to understand what the problem was. He actually felt better now that it was out in the open. As he wiped the blood from his split lip he turned towards the others. He looked directly at Chris.

"Now you know." he began to walk away.

"Ezra why didn't you just tell us." muttered Chris. He could not believe what had just happened. From what Jack Standish said and done told them that he had beaten Ezra when he was a child.

"Becuase Mr Larabee it is easier for me to do this than it is to tell you." Ezra headed back to the saloon with every intention of getting drunk.

While all this took place the rest of the DeAblo gang rode into town. They saw what was going on and stayed back so they would not be seen.

Langton pointed out Jack Standish. "That's the one that helped me escape. We will contact him later and find out if he is willing to help again."

Chris went to say something to Jack Standish but the others held him back. Jack smiled at him.

"I take it that the little show that Ezra had me put on was for your benefit?" he asked.

"Yes it was and I assume from your reaction that you use to do that sort of thing to him alot. Do you always beat defenseless children?" growled Chris wanting to wipe the smirk off his face.

"Only when they disobeyed me and that was something that Ezra did a lot of. Could never do what he was told for some reason. Always so stubborn, just like his father was."

Chris struggled to get away from his friends. He wanted to do to this man what he had done to Ezra. But he could only return the physical pain and not the emotional pain that Ezra had gone through as a child and is now being made to go through again thanks to this man.

Standish walked away with his own intentions in mind - to pay Ezra back dearly for what he had just done.

That's what's been bothering Ezra, he has been going through his childhood again?" enquired JD glad to know that his childhood was a good one.

Nathan nodded. "I just don't understand why he had to tell us this way instead of just using words."

"I think that we should find out." stated Chris.

"I will go and talk to him." said Josiah. "He won't talk if everyone is standing there listening."

"Okay." agreed Chris. "But I want answers Josiah, Ezra is not going to go through this on his own this time, I don't care how often he refuses to talk to us."

Josiah had watched Chris talk to Ezra after he had healed physically from the wounds that both Hanley and Chris had inflicted upon him, but Ezra had not opened up to Chris. Josiah hoped that his luck would be better.

Langton watched Standish walk away from the group of men towards the hotel. He followed him inside and confronted him in the lobby. "What are you doing here Langton, someone might see you?"

"I thought that maybe you might want to help me again." he smiled.

"You already owe me one Langton. Don't you think you should return the favour?" he asked, a plan already developing in his mind to get back at Ezra.

"I'll owe you two then won't I."

"Why don't I go and get a room and then we can discuss the matter." Jack could not help himself. The grin could not be wiped off his face by anyone at that moment.

When Jack got his room key he motioned to Langton to follow him. They entered the room that he had been given and Langton began to tell Jack how he could help him. And after he had finished Jack told him exactly what they could do and who they could use to get the job done, but he wanted Langton to do one thing for him first.

Josiah walked into the saloon and saw Ezra sitting alone at a table in the corner of the room. He walked over and sat down in one of the empty chairs.

"Ezra." he said.

"You are not going to go away are you Josiah?"

"No I am not Ezra." he said in firm voice. "Why did you not just tell us Ezra?"

"It's was just too hard to talk about." Ezra wiped his hand across his eyes. "It's just too hard."

"But you need to talk about it Ezra, look what it's doing to you. It's eating you up inside."

Ezra smiled at that thinking back to when Chris had said that in the saloon in Four Corners. "Now where have I heard that before. Did they make you come or did you volunteer?"

"It was either me or all of us." answered Josiah.

"I have never had friendship like this before Josiah. All the concern everyone keeps showing. I am not use to it, I don't know what to do with it." muttered Ezra. He kept his face down because he knew that if he looked at Josiah he wouldn't be able to say anymore.

"Why don't you just accept it Ezra." Josiah smiled. He was not going to have to force him to talk after all. Ezra finally wanted to tell someone. "Now why don't you tell me what happened between you and your Uncle."

Ezra winced at the thought but he began to give Joisah the whole story. Once he started he couldn't stop himself, he gave him every detail and when he was finished he looked up at Josiah who was sitting there in stunned silence.

"Ezra why don't we see if the saloon has room, I think that you should get some rest. I am going to talk to the others."

Ezra looked at him. "I seemed to have given you an even worse impression of myself."

"No Ezra, I was just too stunned to say anything. I do not think any different of you. And I know that you are not a coward. You can't blame yourself for what he did or the way you are reacting now. Anyone of us would react the same, I am sure of that. The fear that you had as a child is what is controlling you at the moment. It's that fear that you need to stand up against. Now come on, we will go and get you a room."

Once Josiah got Ezra into the room the gambler fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Josiah looked at him in sympathy wondering why a man would put a child through that sort of torture, he was beginning to understand Ezra a lot more now. He turned around and left the room, locking it after him. He went to look for the others intending to tell them everything.

Josiah had found the others waiting for him outside. They all looked at him waiting for answers.

"Well?" asked Chris.

"Why don't you come inside, I could use a drink after that." said Josiah as he turned around and headed back inside.

The rest of the group followed him waiting for Josiah to tell them what happened. They saw that Ezra was not in the saloon.

"Where's Ezra?" asked Nathan.

"I got him a room upstairs. He's sleeping at the moment. He told me everything. Didn't even have to push him. Finally wanted to get it off his chest I suppose." Josiah looked at each member of the group wondering how each one of them was going to react once he told them Ezra's story. He took a deep breath as Ezra had been doing the last couple of days and began.

"Maude left Ezra with his Uncle for six months when he was twelve years old. He said that the beatings started after one week. His Aunt was very strict and thought that just about everything he did was wrong. If she thought that he needed to be punished for something she would tell her husband when he got home who would then go up to Ezra's room and beat him until he thought he had convinced Ezra that what he had done was wrong. Apparently this could have been anything from spilling a glass of milk, breaking a plate, not doing his chores correctly or even not eating his meals. Sometimes it was just the expression on his face. On weekends when his Uncle was home during the day Ezra would be punished as the day went along. A punch here, a kick there, it did not matter to his Uncle just as long as he taught him his lesson." Josiah paused here and looked at the others, there faces showing the anger and sympathy they felt for their friend. They could not understand why a man would beat a twelve year old boy like that.

"Ezra said that during that six months he almost died once because the beating was so bad. They got worse the longer he stayed with them. I think this was one of those times in his life where he learnt to use his words to hide his fear. He did his best to show his Uncle he was not afraid of him by using his sarcastic comments and this also made things worse. But he was stubborn, he wouldn't give in, he wouldn't show him his fear." Josiah keep his eyes down. They all looked ready to kill.

"He didn't tell Maude what happened. He thought that it was his fault and that she would blame him. He knows better now but he has still never told her. He said that he couldn't tell us as he thought that we might think him a coward for not standing up to him now as an adult."

"He's wrong." growled Chris.

"He knows that, but he also finds it to hard to express his feelings. Maude always taught him to hide them. It has become a way of life for him. A habit that he finds hard to break. Now that he has told us we will probably never hear another word about it."

Chris, Vin and Buck stood up. All with the same thought in their minds. Josiah knew what they wanted to do.

"Chris you have to let Ezra deal with him or he will never be able to face his fear."

"But we can't just sit here and do nothing, not after what he has done to Ezra."

"You beating him or even killing him is not going to do Ezra any good."

"Fine, but as soon as Ezra does face him, I am going to kill him." promised Chris.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. And they all knew how they would kill him. They were going to beat him to death. Give him his own punishment.

Ezra had slept through until the next morning. They had checked on him through the night just like they had before. The routine was beginning to repeat itself. He awoke with a bad headache. He got out of bed wincing at the pain. "I need a drink." he thought to himself.

He made his way down to the saloon and saw the others sitting at a table in the corner. The same one that he was sitting at yesterday. He remembered his talk with Josiah and thought that it would be the main topic at that table. He decided to go over there anyway. He couldn't put it off any longer, he had to face them. He just wished that he could face his Uncle as easy as it was to face his friends. He was still not comfortable with that term, he would just have to accept it as Josiah had said.

"Gentlemen." he said as he sat down. He waited for the questions but was relieved when no one asked him one.

They had seen Ezra come down the stairs and expected him to sit on his own but were surprised when he headed their way and sat down at the table with them.

"Ezra." Chris said gently, "Josiah told us what happened. It took a lot of guts to open up like that and tell him the things that your Uncle did." he saw Ezra wince but went on. "We just want you to know that we are behind you with whatever it is that you want to do. It's up to you."

"Thankyou." Ezra replied quietly. It was then that the questions of concern started, but they did not make him angry. He knew that they were showing concern for a friend so he answered them as best he could. Yes, he did sleep well. No, he was not hungry. Yes, he was still tired. The questions stopped after a while and they all sat in a friendly silence and drank together.

"Well did he agree to help us?" DeAblo wanted to know.

"Yeah he did, he even had a plan for us. Want's us to grab one of them for him. Said we can then demand an exchange. The lawman for the witness. Seems to think that they are concerned about one of them at the moment and thinks that they would not say no to an exchange." said Langton.

"Really now. And which one does he wants us to grab."

"The same one that pulled a gun on me." smiled Langton. He was going to get his revenge after all. "The fancy dressed one they call Ezra Standish."

"And when does he want us to do this?"

"Today." he answered. "And then we keep quiet for a day so they can worry, then make our demand for an exchange."

"Sounds good to me." said DeAblo. "But how are we going to do it."

"Standish said that he would get him on his own and then we grab him."

"Standish?" questioned DeAblo.

"Yeah, he wants us to take his Nephew. Would you believe it." laughed Langton.

Jack Standish had no idea how he was going to get Ezra on his own. He had thought about it all day. They had kept a watch on the saloon to see if he would come out on his own but he hadn't. And one of the other lawmen had always been with him. There was only one other thing to do but he did not want to do it because it was to risky. But time was running by and if they did not get him tonight they might not get him at all. They decided to wait till later that night and grab him from his room. He hoped that the others at least left him alone there.

Ezra had stayed inside the saloon all day while someone sat with him. The others kept an eye on the town as the Sheriff had requested. Ezra had improved through the day as a great burden had been taken off his mind. He even had something to eat which was a relief to Nathan. The day had been long for him though and he retired early for the night. Making his excuses to the others he went to the room that Josiah had rented for him the day before. He entered his room and walked towards the bed. He heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see his Uncle standing in front of the door as though to stop him from getting out. Another noise made him turn towards the window and he saw Langton aiming a gun at him.

Ezra had removed his derringer from his right wrist so was not able to return the favour as he did the last time Langton put a gun in his face.

Langton walked up to Ezra and smiled at him. "Where's your gun this time fancy man."

Ezra was about to make a retort but the butt of Langton's gun against his forehead stopped him. Ezra crumpled to the ground as the darkness overtook him. Jack opened the door and looked out to make sure no one was watching. He motioned to two men to come into the room. They picked Ezra up off the floor and carried him out of the room. They headed for the back stairs. Once they were at the back door Jack once again checked to make sure that nobody was watching. They put him on a horse and headed out to the abandoned cabin where the DeAblo gang were hiding.

Ezra had woken by the time they reached the cabin. Langton dragged him from the horse and took him into the cabin where he roughly shoved him into the corner. Ezra grunted at the pain as he hit the wall hard and fell to the floor. The wound on his left upper arm re-opened and it started to bleed again. He knew that there was also going to be a large bruise on his shoulder tomorrow. He made himself more comfortable and wondered what the rest of the night had in hold for him. He looked up at his Uncle as he walked in through the door. He had no idea why his Uncle was with Langton and then it accured to him that he must of helped Langton to escape from the coach. He decided to voice his views and regreted it instantly.

"You helped him escape didn't you?" he nodded towards Langton.

Jack Standish walked towards Ezra. He looked down at him and smiled. Ezra recognised that smile. The muscles in his stomach tightened as Jack landed two hard kicks to his side. Ezra felt one of his ribs crack. His grimaced in pain but did not cry out as he knew that any noise would only make what he was doing more enjoyable.

"Nobody asked you to speak. You should know better than that Ezra."

Langton came over then and saw the pain on Ezra's face.

"Mind if I join in." he asked.

Together they beat Ezra until he lay unconscious on the floor in the corner of the cabin. They had used their feet so most of the damage was to the lower part of his body until Jack landed a hard kick to the side of his head.

"Ezra's not in his room and his bed hasn't been slept in." called Nathan from the stairs of the saloon.

"Do you think he's gone after his Uncle?" asked Buck.

"I don't know Buck but we are going to search this town to find out just in case he didn't leave of his own free will."

The others frowned at this as they did not think that Ezra's Uncle would go that far not with all of them in the same building.

Chris moved towards the door. "Look everywhere you can think of. JD check the stable to see if his horse is still here. We'll meet back here in an hour. Let's go." Chris was worried, he didn't think that Ezra would go after his Uncle - not yet anyway - something must of happened to him.

They had not yet considered the DeAblo gang.

"How are we going to let them know we have him? That's if he's going to be any use to us that is. It looks like you nearly killed him." DeAblo looked over at Ezra. He hadn't woken up yet from the beating they gave him the night before.

" We will just send them a message. Simple as that. And then the messenger will return with their answer." said Jack.

"And who is going to do that and when are they going to do it? The trial is tomorrow." asked DeAblo.

"I am going to deliver it and I will do it tonight. I want to see their faces." smile Jack. He was enjoying himself. He had finally given Ezra the lesson he wanted to for the last four days. He looked over at Ezra. Saw the blood on the side of his head, a result from his boot. There were not many marks on his face as they had used their boots on him. But he knew the pain that he was going to be in when he woke up.

Jack left for town six hours later. He took one last look at Ezra who had still not regained consciousness. He didn't care if he woke up again or not. It even seemed deserving that he might die the same way his father did. His father had disappeared, never to be seen again. People thought that he had run off after trouble with a poker game but Jack knew better.

The remaining six gunmen were gathered in the saloon. They had searched for Ezra but they could not find him. JD had found his horse still in his stable and after checking his room a second time Nathan found his guns including the small derringer. They did not know what to do. There was no trace of him. No one had seen anything. They were worried sick that Jack Standish may have had something to do with his disappearence. They were about to get up and leave to search for him again when Jack walked into the saloon. He saw them all sitting at the same table and walked over to them. Chris saw him coming but before he could get up and hit him he spoke. And what he said froze Chris and the other's in their seats.

"If I don't return to the DeAblo gang within an hour Ezra is a dead man." he was still smiling. He saw the expressions he was expecting to see. "Now what we want is an exchange. Ezra for the witness." he looked at Chris and saw the cold stare that he had seen so often during the trip to Rock Falls. "Tomorrow at 9am on the western side of town. You bring the witness and we will bring Ezra." he began to turn around but stopped. "Oh, and if you try to follow me he will be killed." he left them all sitting there with those expressions still on their faces.

What are we going to do Chris?" asked JD.

"There is nothing we can do at the moment JD except wait till tomorrow and hope that they haven't done anything to Ezra." But Chris knew that Ezra's Uncle wouldn't be able to help himself.

Jack arrived back to find Ezra awake and in a lot of pain from his injuries.

"Nice to have you back with us Ezra."

Ezra did not say anything, he just returned the stare and Jack saw that the stare lacked something. Fear, he longer saw any fear in his eyes. He looked away from him.

"Did they agree to the deal." asked Langton seeing the exchange of looks between Jack and his Nephew.

"Yes tomorrow morning at nine. Make sure that you have your men posted well before then."

Ezra listened to the conversation as best as he could. He was in a lot of pain. Especially his head. His headache was really bad. He also felt pain in his legs and his sides and the flow of blood from his arm had only eased. He knew that he now had more than one cracked rib. He was in no condition to try and get away and warn the others. He would have to think of something to do tomorrow. He didn't know what the agreement was but he knew that it was going to be a trap. Jack saw Ezra watching them and he did not like the look that was in his eyes. He moved over to Ezra who had not taken his eyes off him. Jack reached down and hit Ezra hard enough to smack his head against the wall. Jack watched him slump to the floor once more. He preferred Ezra to be in this condition.

Early the next morning most of what was left of the DeAblo gang left so they could get into their positions on the outside of town and be ready for the ambush. They hoped their boss knew what he was doing this time. Ezra had woken but he was groggy. They managed to get him on a horse and kept him there while they rode towards town.

What DeAblo didn't know though was that the hired gunmen had the same thing in mind. They were already set up and waiting. Chris and Vin would be in the open with Forster. They had managed to get the sheriff to agree to this by assuring him that Forster would be safe and the gun in his face helped convince him.

They silently waited all hoping that Ezra was okay.

From their vantage points on the roofs of the buildings at the edge of town they could see members of the gang heading towards town.

"Riders coming in." called JD. "But Ezra and his Uncle aren't with them."

"We'll have to take them out quietly so the others behind them don't hear what is happening." Chris called back.

Everyone ducked down. Chris and Vin moved Forster out of sight. There were only four riders left of the gang and it didn't take long to deal with them. Nathan heard one climbing up onto the roof that he was on.

"Seems to me that we have the same idea here." the outlaw looked at him in suprise. Nathan pushed him off the roof and he landed on the ground without a sound coming from his mouth. And that's where he stayed.

Buck didn't even let the guy know that he was there he just hit him across the back of the head and then left him lying there. He then returned to his positon and waited like the others.

Another decided to go down the alley that Chris and Vin were hiding in. The man came face to face with Chris Larabee. He wanted to ask the man about Ezra but knew that there wasn't time. So he hit him twice and lowered the man to the floor. Forster looked at him glad that he was not part of the gang that they were intent on destroying.

Josiah took care of the last one. He had also climbed to the roof and instead of finding it empty he found Josiah standing there with his gun pointed at him. The man thought that he was dead but instead Josiah hit him with it and dragged him onto the roof.

It only took five minutes. They all then motioned to Chris that they had taken care of them all. Fifteen minutes later they heard JD informing them of more riders and that this time they included Ezra. Chris and Vin moved back into the street.

As they drew closer they saw the blood on Ezra's face. It seemed that he was only managing to stay on the horse. Langton had his gun pointed at Ezra' head. Jack Standish got down off his horse. He then covered Ezra with his gun while Langton got off his own horse. Jack then reached up and dragged Ezra out of the saddle. Ezra fell to the ground in a heap. He let out a cry of pain but he didn't move. Both Langton and Jack kept their guns pointed in Ezra's direction. Vin looked at Chris and knew that Jack Standish was a dead man.

"Are you ready to swap?" called Langton.

"No were not." Chris answered.

Langton looked at him and smiled. He then glanced up to the roof tops expecting to see his men up there but instead he saw the other hired lawmen. His mouth dropped. DeAglo noticed this and looked at what he was seeing. And what he saw was not his men. Langton reached down and dragged Ezra to his feet, which was difficult because the man was not capable of standing on his own. He pointed the gun at Ezra's temple.

"You tell your men to back off or I will kill him." he snarled.

"You kill him and your a dead man." returned Chris. "Looks like your in another standoff Langton."

Langton was determined to win though this time. He nooded to DeAblo to backup and he tried to drag Ezra backwards but he found it difficult with Ezra's weight collapsing beneath him, he legs dragging along the ground.

Chris and the others could see that Ezra was not going to be able to help. He nodded to Vin to take at shot at Langton. He trusted Vin to only shoot when he had a clear shot at the man. Vin returned the nod to indicate that he was ready. The others also noticed and knew that things were about to go down. Jack saw the exchange and tried to warn Langton and DeAblo but he was to late. Vin fired his gun as soon as he had a clear shot at Langton. He was struggling to keep Ezra on his feet and he shifted his body to get a better hold. It was this opening that gave Vin his chance. The bullet hit Langton low in his right shoulder. He let go of Ezra and his gun at the same time and then they both fell to the ground together. Langton yelling abuse at them and Ezra lying motionless next to him. DeAblo did not know who to point his gun at as he knew that they would all shoot him if he did manage to shoot one of them. So he dropped his gun, he had no hope against six of them. His brother was going to be mad at him when he joined him in jail but he preferred his anger than a bullet from one of the six guns pointed at him.

Jack showed himself to be the true coward that he was. He let his own gun fall to the ground and dropped to his knees. "Don't kill me, they made me do it. They threatened Ezra's life I had no choice."

It only took a matter of minutes before everyone was gathered around Ezra. Buck and JD had gotten DeAblo down off his horse and kept their guns pointed at him while Nathan knelt down beside Ezra. He saw the large bruise that had formed on the side of his head where Jack had kicked him. The cut itself was only small but it had caused Ezra to loose a lot of blood. He checked the rest of Ezra's body for injuries. Ezra grimaced and moaned at nearly every spot that Nathan tested.

"The worst is his head wound and some cracked ribs. The rest is bruising but they are all over his legs and sides. They must of used something to beat him with." Nathan looked disgusted by the injuries that they had caused to Ezra's body.

Chris turned to Jack Standish who was still kneeling on the ground. He kicked him. "Is that what you did to Ezra?" Chris kicked him again. "You kept kicking him didn't you."

Jack was afraid. He knew that this man was going to kill him. And Chris had every intention of doing so until he heard Ezra ask him to stop. He turned to Ezra confused as to why he did not want him to return the favour.

"Don't Chris." Ezra was looking up at him. He struggled to sit himself up.

"Stay down Ezra." said Nathan.

"I'm all right Nathan and no I am not being stubborn, I'm just sore mostly." He looked back at Chris.

"The man deserves what he gets Ezra." growled Chris.

"You told me that you would be behind me in my decision of what I want to do. And I don't want you to beat him."

"Why not?" asked Chris beginning to understand what Ezra was saying.

"Because I have faced my fear of him, I am no longer afraid of him and if you do to him what he has done to me then you would be just like him and I don't want you to be."

Chris thought for a moment and knew that Ezra was right. He if beat him to death then it would be the same, the man would not be able to defend himself after a point. They would have to settle with seeing the man spend the rest of his life in jail. But Chris gave him one last kick anyway and it landed squarely on the side of his head.

"That was for Ezra." he told the unconscious man.

Ezra could not help but smile at this. It brought a grimace of pain though from the wound on his own head. Buck, JD and Vin had DeAblo half drag and half carry Jack Standish to the jail while Langton had to managed on his own under the cover of one of the lawmen's guns. Once they did this they intended to go back and get the rest of the gang. The others helped Ezra to his rented room at the saloon where Nathan saw to his injuries. After Nathan cleaned and bandaged his arm, head injury and strapped his ribs and made sure that he was okay emotionaly he left Ezra to sleep.

It was another two days before Ezra came down from his room. He had spent most of those days sleeping. Nathan had said that he was going to be fine. He wasn't going to go through the sort of thing that he did last time. It was another week until they began the journey to return to Four Corners.

Martin DeAblo had been convicted and sentenced to hang in three weeks. His brother and Langton were going to spend their remaining days in jail.

Jack Standish who was also to spend the rest of his life in jail died two years later, never to be convicted for the crime that he committed twenty eight years ago when Ezra's father disappeared, as another prisoner had beaten him to death over the theft of some food.

The six hired gunmen returned to their duties when they got back to Four Corners with Ezra secretly hoping that he never sees another person from his past that would cause the same sort of trouble for him, he'd had enough of it over the last two months to last him a life time.

The End.