Candle In The Dark

      By: Megan
     Disclaimer: I do not own the Magnificent Seven.     
     Characters: Chris and Buck
     
      Night of the fire that killed Sarah and Adam

It had been a dark day with steady rain. Due to the rain, Buck and Chris had to find some shelter to hole up for the night since they were still several hours away from Chris' ranch. As the night grew darker, they lit a fire. After a while, they allowed the fire to burn down to just the glowing coals. Chris and Buck had been spending the night talking about Sarah and Adam.  Well, Chris talked about Sarah and Adam and Buck listened to Chris talk. The two men spent the relaxing evening talking and listening to the rain and horse nickers.

Finally, the talking died down and the two laid down on their bedrolls. Chris and Buck were lying at right angles to each other. Buck, having closed his eyes, was startled when Chris spoke up. Chris had lain facing the cave wall. When he saw a shadow hitting the wall, he could make out a head and shoulders. Not wanting to move, he called out to Buck, "Buck go to bed.  You can't sneak up on me."

Blinking, Buck frowned. "Chris, I'm not sneaking up on you, I'm trying to sleep."

Chris frowned. "Are you sure? I have a shadow here that isn't mine so it has to be you."

Buck turned towards the fire, he had been facing a different wall. Turning to face the embers of the fire, he looked over toward Chris and frowned. He was  about to say something when the words froze in his mouth. All he was able to sound out was a stuttering, "Chris...."

Chris closed his eyes for a second. "What?"

Buck swallowed a couple of times. Finally he was able to say something. "Chris , I think you need to turn around. There is a candle floating behind you."

Chris hearing this, frowned. "A candle?"

He slowly turned himself around. As he turned, he stopped and stared. There was a candle floating between him and the dying embers of the fire. The candle's flame was flickering due to the wind that was weaving itself into the cave. The wax from the candle was dripping on to the cave floor. Both Chris and Buck could hear the wax hitting the floor. Frozen in place, they watched the candle floating in the air. Finally, after  several long minutes, the candle seemed to flicker for a second and then it slowly died out.

The cave was plunged into darkness. 

Chris and Buck just stared at the spot that the candle had hung. They stared for several seconds before Chris spoke up, "Did you see that?"

"If you are talking about a candle floating in midair, then yes."

Chris nodded. Taking a deep breath he spoke. "So, I wasn't imaging it."

"Nope."

Chris nodded, and closed his eyes. Finally, he puffed out some air. "Good. I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

"Sounds like a good plan, I think I'll join you with that."

Both of them closed their eyes, and fell into a restful sleep. The next morning, they both  gathered their supplies, and they didn't mention anything  about  what had happened the previous night. They loaded their horses and made their way towards Chris' ranch. As Chris and Buck rode towards the ranch, they talked about what had happened the previous night. After an hour of talking, neither of them could find an answer as to what they had see last night was real or just a shared dream. As they rode over the hill to the ranch, they stopped and stared at the burned out frame of the house. All incidents of ghosts were forgotten in the sight of ruin.

After that day, the incident with the candle was never mentioned again.
 

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