Buck was late.

Buck was never late.

But for some reason on this fine morning, Buck was late.

He wasn’t just a little bit late either. He was coming on two hours late and while Chris could be a forgiving man - and he knew that Buck had a lady friend visiting - two hours were more than Chris was willing to put up with. He’d already sent JD out on Buck's rounds and now was just wondering what on earth could be keeping his old friend so occupied.

Who was he kidding. Buck was probably still entertaining his ‘friend.’ Well, it was now coming on noon, and Ezra was going to be up soon. It was time for Buck to get his ass in gear. With determined steps, Chris was soon at the door of Buck’s room in the boarding house.

Five minutes of pounding on the door still hadn’t gotten a response. Now Chris was starting to get worried. What could have happened? He opened the door to a room in chaos. It wasn’t that unexpected, but the fact there was no Buck on the bed was.

With a frown on his face, he walked back down the stairs and started questioning everyone he ran into about the whereabouts of the errant law man. Walking down the street he saw Mary Travis, trying to keep her temper with the Mayor. They had been fighting over the new school for some time now, and with the new teacher due in town, Mary had been butting heads with Mayor Wilkins even more.

“Mary.” Chris tipped his hat in greeting and Mary’s eyes filled with relief at the interruption.

“Chris I was just on my way to find you. I’m sorry, Mayor, but our discussion will have to wait. There’s something I have to discus with Mr. Larabee.” With that curt dismissal, she latched onto Chris’s arm and quickly walked away. “I swear that man is the most tight fisted, penny pincher in the territory.”

“What was it this time?”

“Oh he wanted to deduct living expenses from the new teacher’s salary. I can’t believe he’d do that. We had enough trouble getting a teacher to come here in the first place and before you know it, he’s going to drive her away. Anyway, that’s not why I wanted to speak with you. Buck asked me to find you.” She was surprised as Chris suddenly stopped.

“Is he okay?” he asked, wondering why on earth Buck would send Mary to find him.

“Oh, he’s fine, he just had some… unexpected company last night.”

This was getting weirder and weirder. He decided to keep his questions to himself and let Mary pull him into the Clarion and around back to the living quarters. There in the middle of the kitchen was the missing ladies man, fast asleep in Mary’s rocking chair, with a baby snuggled in his arms.

 ***

“And there he was, looking about ready to shoot himself, with the poor child screaming in his arms. It was possibly the most pathetic scene I’ve ever witnessed. Well, not the most pathetic, but he did make a sorry sight with the milk dripping out of his hair.” Mary finished the tale, with a quiet laugh that Chris couldn’t help but join in. Mary had painted a vivid picture of the sight that greeted her last night as the frantic lawman beat on her door in the middle of the night and the ensuing chaos. “By the time he and the baby fell asleep I didn’t have the heart to wake him. I knew he was due for rounds this morning and I was on my way to talk to you when I ran into the Mayor and, well, you know how that ended.”

Chris was about to ask about where the baby had come from when a quiet curse followed by a panicked call from help came from the kitchen.

“I’m not changing his diaper again, Buck, I think you’re quite capable of doing that yourself. You watched me do it enough last night.” Mary called back to him.

“It would help if he was the only one that needed changin'.” was the cryptic reply that had Chris heading over to the kitchen to see what the problem was.

Buck was holding the baby away from him with a disgusted look on his face at the spreading wet stain, and the other stain that was, shall we say, only slightly more solid.

“I thought the whole point of putting a diaper on was to prevent this sort of thing.” Buck finally looked up at the doorway and was startled to see Chris instead of Mary. “Aw, shit, Chris. I’m late aren’t I.”

“Since you have your hands full I think I’ll forgive you this once.” Chris’s hazel eyes lit up with humor and a wry grin. “Besides, JD's probably back already.”

“I’m that late?”

“Yup.”

By this time, the child had started wailing again and Buck noticeably winced. Mary, taking pity on the big gun hand - again - gingerly took the child and proceeded to clean up the mess from the less then effective diaper. Buck immediately stripped off his shirt and looked around for something to clean up the embarrassingly placed stain on his pants. Chris led him out the back door to the water pump and proceeded to pump out enough water for the big man to clean up. That finally gave him the opening he needed to find out what, exactly the whole story was.

“What happened?” Two little word that opened the flood gates.

“Well, remember Molly Hass, over in Arlington. Well, about a year and a half ago, well, you can guess. She was the sweetest little blond you could ever imagine. Had those sparkling eyes and all the right curves. Anyway, she stayed in town and had little Eddie over there and she needed someone to look after the tyke while she went over to help her ma.

“Her ma’s been ailing the last month and asked for Molly to come help her out a bit. And well, Molly didn’t want to bring the kid into a sick-house so when she was passing through, she kinda asked if I could look after him for a week, while she got her ma back on her feet.

“I thought, a little tyke like that? How much trouble could he be? I mean he was sleepin’ and all, and lookin' so cute. Hell, if I knew kids were this much trouble…

“Well, I couldn’t exactly say no to her and all, since I was the one who got her into this and all.”

Buck managed to get most of the mess out of his shirt, but his pants were hopeless under the circumstances. He wrung the shirt out, unwilling to look Chris in the eye.

“Aw, Hell. I didn’t know I’d gotten her in any trouble! If she’d just let me know I could helped her out some. At least found her a place where everyone in town wouldn’t look down their noses at her. The last year hasn’t been easy for her. Not that she said anything mind you, she just has that look in her eye. But she loves Eddie and wants what’s best for him, I guess. Figured, that even though the town is always putting her down at least it was a safe place to live.

“Her ma asking her to come out must have been the best news she’s had in a while, but no one in town wanted to look after some whore’s bastard.” Buck’s face took on an ugly cast as he spat out the last words. “She was gonna take him with her, and hope one of the ladies near her ma could take him in.

“Small hope in hell, I say. Well, since she was passing through anyway, she stopped by and well, she looked up at me with those blue eyes o’ hers and well, I crumbled. Listen I thought I could take care of Eddie, and have someone watch over him when I had to patrol or something but…”

“I think you can spend some time with your son.” Just saying that felt weird to Chris. Buck had a son. It just wasn’t something that you’d normally think about in regards to the ladies man. Sure, he loved kids and he was great with them, but Buck having one of his own? It seemed like a harbinger of change.

“Thanks Chris.” Buck looked down at his feet, seemingly lost in the thoughts that were rambling around in his head. His head popped up at the sound of another wail, and one of his big grins spread across his face. “That kid’s sure got a fine set of lungs, don’t he.”

 ***

That afternoon found Buck in a much better mood. Eddie had been cleaned up, with Mary’s generous help, and was back to the engaging kid who smiled at everyone and loved grabbing the hands held out in his direction. He was also more than willing to drool on whoever would pick him up, giggling an infectious laugh that had just about everyone in the town enchanted. And Buck wasn’t shy about introducing his son around town. Some of the highbrow of town were curt  in their greetings, but Buck didn’t care. He was happy to let everyone meet his son.

He strolled around town with the boy in his arms, happily tipped his hat at all who passed and set about letting everyone in town know his good news. The reactions of the other seven where varied, from an uneasy glance at the kid as he chewed on Vin’s tassels, to Ezra’s big grin as he bounced the boy with surprising ease. JD just thought it was great and set about making funny faces at the kid. Josiah raised an eyebrow as Eddie grabbed a finger and stuffed it in his mouth.

Nathan was the only one he didn’t see on his way around town. Come to think of it, Nathan hadn’t been around town much lately at all. Most of his free time seemed to be spent at the Seminole village, visiting Rain. Buck’s grin got bigger as he thought of the two lovebirds. They wouldn’t admit, but those two were head over heals. All you had to do was mention Rain and the healer would blush. Which is saying a lot considering his dark complexion.

Making his way over to the bench in front of the saloon (not even Buck would bring a baby in there) he thought about how lucky Nathan was. After a visit to the village, Nathan’s face was all lit up and it was like the man was floating through air, with his feet inches above the ground. In a way, Buck envied him that.

Now Buck loved women. He loved all women, that was his problem. He loved the way their skirts swayed when they knew a man was watching, the way they could look up at you through their eyelashes. Nothing warmed the soul more than that little grin a woman gets just before you kiss her and, well, what comes after that was ‘warming’ as well.

But he’d never been able to stick around for more than a little while. He never left a woman heart broken - he wasn’t one to tread lightly on a woman’s feelings - he just never seemed to get that involved and the women he was with knew that. He’d never found a woman that made him want to stick around.

He’d seen what Chris and Sarah had. There was a part of him that wanted that. But a part of him was scared. It was easier to keep a distance, to not get involved, to be able to get up and leave when the mood struck. When Chris had gotten married, their carefree days of riding together were over. No more drinking at the saloon till the wee hours just because they felt like it. No more staying out on the range just cause it was a clear night. Hell, that trip to Mexico was one of the first he and Chris had taken together in years. That was half the reason Buck had pushed to stay just a little longer. He’d regretted that ever since.

The destruction that greeted them when they got back destroyed Chris. For over a year the man had tried to find solace at the bottom of a bottle and when that didn’t work, he tried to get himself killed. The man had a death wish that seemed to scare away Death himself. Through it all, Buck watched his back and tried to make sure Death stayed scared away. Wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

Buck had watched what his friend went through with the death of his wife and child, and again, felt that life was just a whole lot easier if he enjoyed the woman he was with and didn’t get involved beyond that. That was half the attraction of a married woman. He KNEW there would be no attempt at finagling a further commitment beyond the here and now.

He looked down at the child in his arms and wondered how he could be so stupid, not to think that even if he only thought of the here and know, how could he think he wouldn't end up leaving a permanent reminder. Eyes, the mirror of his own, stared up at him. Every action had a consequence.

How many other little consequences did he have running around that he didn’t know about? He had never been one to stick around in one place too long and aside from regular visits to Chris while Sarah was still alive, he'd seen a different town every week. He’d pass through the same one occasionally but by the time he made it back, there were different women around and more often than not, anyone he knew had already moved on. Oh, he’d met up with women from his past often enough, but he just had to wonder.

He’d grown up the son of a working girl and been spat on more times than he wanted to remember. As a kid, he’d been beaten up because he didn’t have a dad. Well, until he learned to fight back. After that, most people left him alone. He wasn’t bitter about it or any thing, well, not much at least, but did he have a kid somewhere that was being kicked in the ribs cause his Dad didn’t have a clue that he existed?

Looking down at the boy on his lap, he felt something flip over in his chest and it scared him. It scared the hell out of him, more so than he thought would be possible. Molly was just another girl a year and a half ago, but now, she was the mother of his son. He didn’t love her and knew she didn’t love him. That was beside the point. But he didn’t want his son growing up wondering who his dad was. He had no doubts that this little boy was his son. Even if Molly hadn’t said anything he would have known.

What that would mean for the future, he didn’t know. He had a week to think about it and than he could sit and talk with Molly. He knew she wasn’t happy, for all she tried to hide it, and people’s prejudices could make life a living hell that no physical torture could match. He knew that and he didn’t want his flesh and blood to have to live that particular hell. Life was hard enough as it was.

*** 

The week had passed quickly for Buck. Learning to take care of Eddie had its challenges. Who knew how hard it was to get a diaper to stay on? Or just how far a kid could spit mashed carrots. Mary had been a life savor, but she wasn’t going to look after the kid on her own, so Buck had learned a few fast and hard lessons regarding the care and feeding of a young infant in the frontier. JD had been enlisted to help and was surprisingly good at changing a diaper.

Fortunately for both of them, the laundry lady took pity on them and, for a bit extra, took the dirty diapers away with the rest of the laundry and returned them as soon as they were washed. Another of those mysteries was just how many diapers a kid could go through in a day.

The town had been quiet and aside from having the seven go chase a few cattle rustlers who gave up without a fight, there hadn’t been anything that could tear Buck away from Eddie’s side. There were a few ladies in town slightly peeved, but everyone knew the child would only be there for a week and so the lonely ladies consoled themselves that today, the stage was due, the kid would be gone and they’d have Buck back to themselves.

Buck viewed the end of the week with a mixture of relief, trepidation and that peculiar flip in his chest that scared him. He was going to have a long talk with Molly and, well, maybe some of those ideas bouncing around in his head could be explored. He had some money stashed away in various places from the jobs he’d pulled with Chris before they’d signed up here, and despite what people thought, he didn’t loose everything he earned to Ezra’s pockets and the woman of the week.

There was enough to help Molly get established in a more tolerant town, where the fact that Eddie didn’t have a father wouldn’t be the stigma it was in Arlington. Hopefully, there was a good place close by so that he could visit easily. There were even a few places in town that were nice. Granted, this wasn’t the safest town in the territory but it was getting a lot better than it used to be. There hadn’t been a shot fired in town for over two weeks! Granted, that was a record.

He wasn’t sure. All he knew, was that he wanted to be a part of his son’s life. He finished packing up the last of the diapers (leaving them within easy reach, he’d learned that particular lesson the second night) with the clothes that Molly had left, and closed the carpetbag. The small case that held the remainder of Eddies things was already packed and sitting by the door.

Buck looked around the room, the cleanest it had ever been since he first moved in, and picked Eddie up from where he was standing against the bed. That kid could get around far more easily than Buck would give him credit and had managed to pull things onto the floor with ease. A few of those things broke, like the water basin that Buck had to replace twice. That had forced Buck to clean up.

The crib that would be returned to the Potters tomorrow was the only thing that still stood out. All the little toys that Eddie had accumulated, from Mary, the Potters and a surprising number from the other members of the seven, were carefully packed away except for the wooden rattle Chris had carved. It was amazing what that man could do with a knife and a chunk of wood. With everything so quiet, the broody gunslinger had more time than he knew what to do with, and as a result, Eddie had two carved animals and the rattle that quickly became his favorite.

It was five inch stick with three rings that where held on the handle with a round ball on either end, all carved out of one piece. The rings where small enough to chew on, but the whole thing was big enough not to choke on. Eddie was sucking on one of the rings before waving the rattle around to his evident delight.

“You really like that thing don’t ya.” Eddie's answer was to stuff it back in his mouth and gnaw on the round ball on the end. “What you say we go wait for your ma downstairs. I’m sure everyone’ll want to say good bye 'fore you leave.”

Again there was that little flip in the center of his chest as those words left his mouth.

“Maybe we can convince your ma to stick around for a few days. Think you’d like that?” Buck was rewarded by a happy giggle and a wet rattle waved around. “Guess you would, huh.”

*** 

By the time late afternoon rolled around and the stage still hadn’t shown up, Buck wasn’t the only one worried. Now the stage being late was never that big a deal. The closest anyone could get on predicting the arrival was a six hour window of morning or afternoon. Unfortunately, the stage coming in was supposed to be the morning stage. By the time darkness began to settle over the small town of Four Corners, Buck had dropped Eddie off at Mary’s and was with the other seven, getting ready to head out to find the missing stage.

The full moon would give them an opportunity to travel at night or they otherwise would have to wait till the next morning. With an uneasy feeling blowing on the wind, nobody wanted to wait that long. Riding out in the fading light, they all kept their grim thoughts to themselves. The peaceful reprieve they’d been enjoying the past two weeks was coming to an end.

It took five hours before they finally found the stage standing by itself in the middle of the trail. The horses were long gone, as were the meager contents of the strong box. The driver was found a hundred yards off, his death mercifully quick as was that of the other male passenger. Both had been injured before a bullet in the head ended their mortal strife. The two women on the stage were not so lucky.

The sight of their bodies, dragged from the stage by force was not pretty and JD wasn’t the only one whose pale face was grim with anger and frustration. While it was light enough to follow the well established trail and spot the stage, they wouldn’t be able to follow the bandits who'd hit the stage, until morning.

Molly was carefully wrapped in a blanket and placed beside the other woman, whose name they would never find out. The driver, a regular named Curtis Black, was placed beside the two women, as was the other man, George Haskell, a salesman from Packard Merchandise.

The luggage that had been strewn about was reverently gathered and separated as well as the seven men could guess before it was again packed up on top the stage. JD went back to town, to gather up some horses so they could take the stage in, while the others waited patiently for the sun to rise so they could gather more information and decide on a course of action.

As the sky started to grey, the camp was long since busy. A fire had been lit and coffee made though little was drunk. Out on the trail, JD was still hours away, ponying the horses that would bring the unfortunate souls back to town. He’d volunteered to go, his horse being one of the fastest.  He also knew that chances were they’d send him back anyway. In this case he didn’t mind the others trying to protect him. In all honesty, he didn’t know what to think.

At first he was just trying to keep the contents of his stomach in place, but then, he’d just gotten a cold knot in the pit of his stomach. There was something seriously wrong with a person who could do that to another person. They had to have something missing from them, some part of their soul ripped away to make them that… sick. Picking his pace up some more, he tried to shorten the time it would take him to get back to the others.

Back at the camp, Josiah had watched over the bodies as the others waited. He didn’t want those poor souls to be alone now as they had been during their death. He prayed for them and asked God to ease the troubled spirits of the women. No matter what they did on earth, they deserved the peace of heaven. His prayers were interrupted as Nathan passed him a cup with coffee, which he gratefully accepted. The hot liquid soothed some of the cold that had seeped into him since he had found the body of the nameless women.

Nathan sat beside him, silently sharing his thoughts and prayers, while offering up a few of his own, praying fervently that this would never happen to the woman he loved. He’d seen the shattered eyes of women who’d been raped while he was still a slave. He’d seen them cringe from any touch and those were the ones who’d survived. From what he could tell, neither woman had been dead when the bandits left. Nathan hoped that they had succumbed to the peace of darkness long before their final breath.

Chris watched the two as they sat vigil over the bodies. His eyes were cold as they turned to the horizon, damning the sun for taking its time in rising this morning. Tension rolled off of him in waves as the anger that resided in his soul found an outlet in the search for justice. Being forced into idleness grated on him and made his temper uncertain. Since everyone was lost in their own thoughts, he was left to deal with the madness alone. He didn’t even attempt to get any sleep, but stared into the night daring the bastards who did this to show their faces so he could rip them off.

Vin was stretched out, patiently waiting. He didn’t feel patient, but he knew getting frustrated would not make the sun rise any faster. As the east finally started to lighten, he was up, rubbing his horse down and getting ready for the ride that at least some of them would soon take. Who else would come, would depend on the story that was written in the dust. When they caught the bandits, then it would be time to unleash the rage that was bubbling away under his calm façade.

Ezra was trying his best to pretend he was asleep. He was sure he wouldn’t actually get any, but he knew the rest he got now would be needed in the hours ahead. If only he could stop the flashes in his mind when he closed his eyes. He’d seem many things in his life and this atrocity was added to a long list he didn’t want to remember. He was all too familiar with the evil sickness that invaded some people. While he didn’t understand it, he’d been forced to know it. Pushing the images back, he gave up on feigning sleep and pulled out a deck of cards, hoping to lose himself in the mindless tricks as the card flew through his fingers.

Buck, on the other hand, was numb. While he hadn’t been in love with Molly, maybe he had loved her and he’d known her. He’d known her strength and the sparkle in her now empty eyes. When he’d found her body, something inside him stilled and an empty calm settled over him. He picked her up and carefully brought her to the inadequate protection of the other people on the stage. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t enraged. He wasn’t even sad. He was just numb. He absentmindedly took a sip from the cup in his hand, not even noticing that it was empty until he’d tipped it all the way and nothing came out. Giving it an odd look, he put it down on the ground beside him, not noticing the worried glances that Chris shot him.

As the sky finally started to lighten up enough, Vin was already scouting around. After a quick whispered conference with Chris, Buck was startled out of his empty thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. For all the rage that was coursing through Chris, he had a pretty good inkling of what was happening to his old friend.

“There were five of them. They rode off to the south. Someone needs to wait for JD.” Chris was half ready for a fight, but was surprised when Buck nodded absently. That wasn’t good. “You help him take her back.”

With those few, empty words Chris set about getting the others ready to ride after the five bandits.

 ***

Buck knew it was a long ride back to town, but he didn’t remember much of it. That numb feeling just melded one minute into the next. He didn’t snap out of it till they got to town and stopped at the Undertaker. Buck had a feeling that the poor man was going busy for some time to come. The peace that had invaded the town for the past few weeks was now gone and it was back to the usual round of violence and gun play.

The bodies were quickly transferred and gently placed in a back room to be prepared for the funeral that would soon occur. JD headed off to the telegraph office to make inquiries and then went to the jail to prepare it for the prisoners that would soon grace its cages. Buck just waited for the undertaker to finish for the moment, so he could say good-bye to Molly.

He didn’t… he couldn’t do anything more than sit there earlier, waiting for JD to get back, and now he wanted a few moments alone with her to make peace. In a way, he knew she wasn’t there any more and that what he wanted to say, should have been said before she left. But this was the last chance he’d get and he was gonna take it.

The blanket he’d wrapped her in earlier was still covering her, though her face was now exposed, the bruises on her cheek a sharp contrast to the grey cast of her skin.  He pushed a few strands of hair from her eyes, grateful that they were closed. He didn’t want to see that haunted look in her eyes that had greeted him when he found her. He smoothed her hair back, noticing the marks around her neck.

“They took your locket, Molly. I’m sorry." He paused for a moment, swallowing hard before continuing.

“Eddie’s fine. Mrs. Potter is looking after him right now, she’s really taken a shinin' to the boy. She lets him walk around her kitchen and bang on her pots and pans. Makes quite a racket when he does that. He’s a happy boy Molly. You did good.

“I wish you’d told me though. I could of…

“Hell, I don’t know. Chris and them, they’re finding who did this. They’ll get 'em and when they do those bastards will pay. I’ll get your locket back. Eddie should have something of his ma’s I figure.

“He’s gonna grow up good Molly. I promise you that. Nobody’s gonna spit on him and he’s gonna be happy. Don’t know how I’m gonna do that though. Don’t know that much about kids.” A rough chuckle broke through his monologue, almost more of a sob than a laugh. “Guess I’ll be finding out real quick. He’s a smart kid. Already figured out how to climb up my dresser to get at his toys.

“You rest easy. I’ll take care of Eddie now. Don’t know what kinda father I’ll be, but I’ll take care of him. It’s the least I can do.”

He smoothed her hair one last time and left to go see his son.

 ***

Mary looked at the morose man that was sitting in her rocker. It was a scene similar, but so different from the one that greeted her and Chris over a week ago. On the surface, it looked the same, but this time, Buck had a hard look in his eye and Eddie was awake, seeming to sense the sudden change that had befallen his life. They clung to each other, Buck staring blankly at the wall, while Eddie dug his little hand into Buck’s shirt, not soothed by the absent minded hand that rubbed his back.

The entire town was shocked at what had happened to the Stage. It was one thing to have the stage robbed, that was a common enough occurrence, but to kill everyone and the way it happened. Mary often took the stage herself to visit the Judge and to visit Billy when he was in school. How close had she come to being one of those bodies they'd brought back?

And Buck. 

Eddie’s mother had been on the stage and it seemed to have shocked the big gunslinger to his soul. Mary had been privy to some of the plans that Buck had tentatively made in regards to Molly and her son. She’d even made a few (very) discrete inquiries into some of the abandoned properties in town.

She’d seen the joy the ladies man had taken in Eddie’s antics, the pride he had in how smart and happy his son was. She didn’t know what he was going to do know. Would he try to look after Eddie himself? That was not going to be easy, for either of them. Nor was everybody going to look very kindly on it. There was a conservative element in town that frowned on anything it considered morally suspect. They frowned at her friendship with the seven gunmen. They frowned on her running the paper! How would they react to Buck, who they consider nothing more than a hired thug tolerated only to keep the other thugs in line, raising the son of prostitute?

They might try to send Eddie away. There would be a lot of grief if they tried that. Either that or they’d try to place him in a ‘good Christian home.’ Mary believed in God, but a number of ‘good Christian homes’ hid horrors that made her stomach turn. No, she wasn’t going to stand by and watch Eddie taken away from his father. There were a few other people in town who would side with her on this and she knew of six good men who would stand by Buck.

If Buck decided to find a good home for Eddie, she’d help in anyway that she could; she knew of some good families near Eagle Bend and there was a couple over near Billings that had been trying to have kids for years. But if Buck decided to keep Eddie, she’d fight tooth and nail to make sure that he could do so in peace.

The silence of the late evening was broken by the sound of horses in the street. Buck’s head snapped at the sound that filtered to the back of the Clarion and without a word handed Eddie to her. She was pretty sure that it was Chris and the others, so she took the boy and followed him out the door. Sure enough, she was right.

The five lawmen were divided between wearily herding two men into the jail, and taking the three bodies slung over the back of their horses to the undertaker. Buck headed directly to the jail, with a look in his eyes that Mary hadn't seen before. He reminded her of Chris at that moment.

She watched as he tried to get at the men but was held back by Chris and Josiah. After a good struggle, in which only Josiah's size kept the gunslinger away from the two robbers, Buck turned away in disgust and headed to the saloon. There was anger and loathing radiating off the normally congenial man that had people ducking out of his way. The last she saw of him, was Buck slamming the batwing doors of the saloon so hard they swung back and forth for a good ten minutes.

"He's not taking this well." Chris came up to her, his face serious.

"No he's not." Mary absently bounced Eddie, who'd started softly crying.

 ***

He didn't drink much. He didn't want to get drunk, cause he knew that wouldn't help anything. The numb feeling he'd had since finding Molly had left and was replaced by a rage he couldn't quite understand. So he didn't try. The whiskey in front of him was just something to do while he waited for someone to make a wrong move or say the wrong thing. With the feeling in town what it was, it wouldn't be too long before someone started a fight and if they didn't, he could always start one himself. Then he could do something about the anger that was coursing through him.

Knocking back the drink he poured himself another, watching as the amber liquid sloshed around the glass. Chris had come, trying to talk to him, but Buck didn't want to talk. He wanted to break something. If something didn't start soon, he was gonna start it. A ruckus started up behind him and a smile grew on his face that scared the bartender.

When a body knocked into him he turned around and threw a fist in the offending body's face. The poor cowboy dropped like a rock. Buck grabbed the nearest body, not really caring that the guy wasn't even involved in the fight and threw a punch to his midsection. The guy woofed in surprise, but came back with an uppercut that brought stars to Buck's eyes. A little while later, though, this guy joined the cowboy on the floor.

Still feeling the rage, Buck waded into the thickest part of the brawl, hitting anything that moved. Unfortunately, it was over all too soon when Vin and Nathan came in. A few shots into the ceiling and things quieted down much too quickly for Buck's taste. He just glared at his two friends and stalked out of the room, ignoring the twinge of bruised ribs, and the throb in his jaw.

JD looked up in surprise as Buck came in the jail.

"I wanna talk to them."

"Buck…"

"JD, I ain't gonna do more than talk."

JD muttered under his breath, something to the extent of when pigs fly, but unlocked the door to the cells anyway. He took the keys to the cells themselves back with him. Buck, more calm than he was earlier, went up to the one cell and glared at the men inside.

One was young. Far too young to be mixed up with something like this, but he had a sick look in his eyes that caused the rage in Buck to flare. The other looked like a typical bandito, right down to the dirty poncho that he hid his hands under. The young one, strolled over to the bars, casual like and with a grin asked if there was anything he could do for the law man. Much as Buck wanted to strangle the arrogant smirk off his face, he smiled instead. It was the same smile that had scared the bartender. This guy, though, was too stupid to realize what it meant.

"Now that you mention it, there is something you can do for me. I'm looking for a locket. Gold, about so big." Buck held his thumb and finger about three quarters of an inch apart. "Maybe you'd come across it in your travels."

"Nope, can't say that I have." The guy's smirk just grew as he fingered his pocket. That was all Buck needed. He knew the locket wasn't among the possessions the others had retrieved, so these two either still had it, or had sold it already. Buck was betting that they hadn't had time to sell it yet.

His had snapped out and grabbed the young bandit by his throat, cutting off the guy's air. His other hand dug in the guy's pocket, pulling out a chain that was soon followed by a small, oval locket. He looked it over, making sure it was the right one and then looked again at the young man who was starting to turn blue.

"Much obliged." With that, Buck yanked his hand back, smacking the guy's face into the bars, and then letting go. The guy fell in a heap on the floor, unconscious.

 ***

It took a week before the Judge could get to town, but it didn't take more than an hour for him to find the two men guilty of Murder and Rape, and sentenced them to hang. During that week, Buck became more like himself, though he was usually found with his son in his arms. As Mary predicted, there was some talk of finding a more suitable home for the child, but nothing had come of it. Those who were too vocal about it found themselves facing the cold stares of six other men. Mary simply went around town, remarking how good it was, seeing a man take responsibility for his actions. And who better to raise a son than his father. She also dropped a few subtle hints that alienating the seven peacekeepers wouldn't be the wisest thing to do in these turbulent times.

Buck got a larger room at the boarding house and though his duties often took him away, he would always try to  spend as much time with his son as possible. It wasn't easy. Buck's red rimmed eyes, and the sometimes constant wailing from the corner room testified of that. Yet, Eddie soon became a normal fixture in the town of Four Corners. Fortunately for everyone's sanity, it was with the generous help of Mary and Mrs. Potter.