Mary sat up and ran her hands back over her hair pushing it away from her face. She extended her hands in front of her and saw by the bright moonlight that they were shaking and that goose bumps ran up her arms. The nightmare had seemed so real. She'd felt the sticky red blood drying on his shirt-front, cradled his lifeless body in her arms, and felt the hot tears of grief run down her cheeks.
She quickly reached out a shaky hand and touched the sleeping form beside her assuring herself that he was alive and her breathing instantly became less labored and her heart beat slower.
Chris stirred and sleepily asked her if she was alright. Mary brushed her hand across his cheek and quietly told him to go back to sleep. She then scooted back down into the bed and spooned herself next to him afraid to close her eyes.
In the days that followed Mary was plagued with visits of the same nightmare. She wanted to tell Chris what she dreamed and have him reassure her the dream would never become a reality. But she could not put into words what she dreamed. When she thought of telling Chris a feeling of foreboding and dread would well up inside of her and she took it as a warning to remain silent. She knew that speaking of the nightmare would give the nightmare life and a reality that could only lead to tragedy.
There were times during the light of day when Mary thought her reasoning not to tell Chris totally irrational. But no matter how irrational she thought her reasoning she could not bring herself to tell him. She would not become responsible for his death.
Out of great concern and fear she begin to question Chris closely regarding his movements. She needed to know where he was every minute of the day and what time he would be returning. How else would she know where to go and rescue him if she didn't know where he was?
During the day she repeatedly made trips to the Clarion windows to watch for him and at night paced the floor until exhaustion overwhelmed her and she lay down on the bed only to lay awake sometimes far into the night waiting to hear the familiar jangle of his spurs cross the kitchen floor. On the nights he did not stay in town or business took him out of town she hardly slept and barely got any work done during the day.
Chris begin to wonder if Mary thought he was seeing another woman. He tried to reassure her that she was the only woman in his life and that he loved her very much. He tried to spend more time with her during the day and at night he stayed in town more and less time at his shack outside of town. It only served to make Mary even more vigilant over the one she loved.
Chris began to worry about her as she begin to look tired and haggard and had asked her several times if she felt ill. She had mumbled something about going and seeing Nathan soon and that extra work at the Clarion was wearing her out.
One night when the nightmare was upon her she had kneeled beside the dying black clad gunslinger and stared at the blood fascinated by the different colors of red coming from his body. She had watched the gaping hole in his chest spurt dark, deep almost maroon colored blood in time to his heart beat and saw bright red trickles of blood run from his nose and ears. The blood from his mouth was the lightest in color as it mixed with little foamy balls of spittle and ran out the corners of his mouth.
She had put her hands over the gaping chest wound and felt the rhythm like spurts become slower and the pool of blood seeping out from under her hands becoming smaller. She started to open her mouth to scream when she awoke to Chris sitting up in bed holding her, making quiet shushing noises to her and telling her everything was alright.
He'd asked what was wrong and her only answer was that she'd had a bad dream. He'd then asked her what the dream was about and she had refused to talk about it. She'd then pulled him down beside her and held onto him as if his life depended on it.
The nightmares became more frequent and begin to occur not only during the night but during the day as well. While working at the Clarion Mary would suddenly find herself staring at Chris laying in the dirt dying and then the image would fade and she would physically shake herself to rid herself of the fear and coldness that gripped her heart not only because of the image but because she knew that Chris Larabee would soon be dead.
Mary awoke one night and out of habit reached out to touch Chris but felt nothing but a cold sheet and emptiness. Her eyes flew open and she frantically sat up and looked into the darkness but saw nothing but the blackness staring back at her. She bolted from bed and ran from room to room calling his name and but was answered with silence. She lit a lamp, glanced at the clock and saw it was past midnight, well past the time he said he would be by.
She hastily pulled on her clothes and with some difficulty her shoes and ran out the door to the saloon. She swooshed though the batwing doors out of breath and glanced from one side of the saloon to the other not finding one of the seven she sought. She turned and ran up the street to Nathan's and without knocking burst in the door yelling his name. But he wasn't there. Where was everyone?
She would have to ride out and find him herself. She ran to the livery and hastily saddled her horse and headed for Chris's shack. The moonlight was bright and she had no trouble spotting the prone figure in the dirt along the road.
She could see the dark form laying on the ground his face turned to the side and covered with grime, blood spurting from his chest. She dismounted her horse before it came to a complete halt and ran to his side and knelt down. She had reversed this scene many times and knew the ending but couldn't stop herself from acting out the scene to the bitter end.
"Mary." She heard her name being called far off in the distance and she felt she should call out for them to come and help her but she realized no one could help her or Chris. The blood had nearly stopped flowing as his heart beat slowed and then ceased beating and all she could do was cry.
"Mary." She felt a hand on her shoulder and when she opened her eyes saw Nathan standing next to her gently shaking her and repeating her name. With a start she realized she was in her own bed and that night had fallen.
She closed her eyes and all that had happened flooded back into her memory. She reopened her eyes and tears begin to slide down her cheeks and all she could get out was the word, "Chris."
She watched as Nathan walked to the other side of the room and shake someone sitting in a chair from sleep. The only oil lamp lit was very dim so Mary could not make out who it was that sat in the chair. She could hear Nathan murmuring to the person in the chair and then saw him walk out of the bedroom shutting the door behind him.
Then Chris was kneeling along side of the bed brushing tears from her face and telling her she was going to be fine. Mary tried to stop crying but all she could do was repeat his name and grip his arm as if never to let go. As she tried to explain to him that she thought he had been killed her speech became rapid and the sentences tangled up and all Chris could make out was something about a nightmare and not telling anyone.
Finally he gently put a finger over her lips to quiet her. He sat on the bed and removed his boots, and then as he lay next to her on the bed began to tell her where they had found her and what had happened.
Earlier in the week a telegram had arrived describing a gang of bank robbers that were headed for Four Corners. All of the seven had been on the alert for them and had been ready for their arrival. When the robbers had finally arrived they had tried to make a run for it. Shots had been fired in the chase killing three of the robbers and wounding one other. While the others had taken the dead back to town he and Vin had tracked the fourth man and to their great surprise found him dead along side the road with a woman laying next to him.
When Chris got to this part of the story he paused momentarily, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Inwardly he shuddered as he remembered the fear that had shot through him as he had realized that the woman laying so still and lifeless next to the bank robber was Mary. After a moment of silence he began once again to relate the story to Mary.
They had been unable to bring her around and had taken her straight to Nathan upon reaching Four Corners. Nathan had diagnosed her as being totally exhausted and need of bed rest for at least the next three days.
Mary stirred next to him and as Chris shifted so he could wrap his arm around her he asked her about her nightmare.
Mary was quiet for so long Chris thought she had fallen asleep, then quietly Mary told him of the nightmare and why she felt she couldn't tell him. She then asked him if he thought she had been wrong not to tell him? He had answered, "No".
How could he answer any other way? He who had been plagued for so long with his own nightmares and demons in the night and knew their power over ones mind and soul.
He repeated again the word, "No", and held onto Mary a little tighter.
The End
