- A drifter due to be hung offers a deal of information about the murder of Chris's wife and child to avoid the rope. The Seven, followed by an annoying writer go hunting for answers and a killer.
- After three years, Chris gets a lead on the men who killed his family from a man scheduled to be hung who wants to trade information for his life. Chris and the others track down the killer, Cletus Fowler, and Chris tries to learn who hired Chris to come after him.—Gislef
- Judge Oren Travis postpones passing the hanging judgment on a horse-thieving drifter as he convinces Chris having witnessed the farm torching which killed his wife Sara and kid son Adam. The seven taken him back yo the crime scene, followed by a clingy New York dwarf 'researching' his Wild West stories, who is willing to pay Ezra and the Mexicans in the legendary thug town. The mates must control Chris's family father fury, but find evidence there is a master criminal there, Cletus Fowler, who mobilizes his thugs to cover all tracks. A showdown is inevitable, luckily with some tricks on the seven's sleeves.—KGF Vissers
- Judge Oren Travis walks through Four Corners with writer Jock Steele, and Jock is thrilled to be in a real Western town that he's written about but is only visiting for the first time. He asks Oren about hanging, and the judge briefly describes it as "short rope, long drop".
Jock asks Oren about the man who is going to be hung, and Oren says his name is John Blackfox, and Indian drifter and horse thief. He got caught, and Oren sentenced him to be hunger. Jock is thrilled to be writing about a real-life case, and Oren isn't interested in getting a copy of Jock's most recent dime novel.
When Oren goes into the jail, J.D. tells him that the prisoner would only speak to Oren. Blackfox tells Oren that he has information and he'll give it to Oren if the judge calls off the hanging. The prisoner says that three years ago, he was at a murder but didn't do nothing. He tells Oren that there were two murders, of a woman and a boy, and they burned in a fire. The woman's last name was Larabee.
Chris soon hears about Blackfox's information, and goes to the jail. J.D. "takes a break", gives Chris the keys, and leaves. Chris unlocks Blackfox's cell door and confirms that he witnessed the Larabee killings. He says who he is and punches Blackfox.
Taking Blackfox out, Chris holds him under in a water trough and says that the woman and boy were his wife and son. Blackfox says that he didn't kill them, but he was hired along with two other cowboys for $50 each to scare some folks off of their land. By the time they got there, Blackfox had sobered up and told the others he'd stand guard, and got scared and ran off when he saw the flames. Chris doesn't believe him, and figures Blackfox is tailing "jailhouse lies" to save his skin because everyone knew about the fire.
Blackfox insists that he's telling the truth, and describes the house in detail. Chris shoves him back in the jail.
Jock interviews Nathan and Josiah and how they're part of Chris' "gang". Chris comes out of the jail and Jock introduces himself, saying he's going to make Chris a very famous man by coming along on Chris' "search for justice". Chris tells Jock that he's not coming with them, and the three men ride off with Blackfox. Jock runs to his horse loaded with camera equipment and rides after them.
As they ride along, Chris tells Blackfox tell him about the two men who rode with him that night. Blackfox says that he's never seen them before and never seen them again, and all he remembers it that one man had a single spur. The one who hired him was a hard man who rode a big horse like Robert E. Lee's. Chris realizes that it was a big gray, and a rider comes up behind them. It's Buck, who joins them and tells Chris that he heard Chris was going back. When Chris says that Buck doesn't need to come along, Buck reminds him that he's the one who talked Chris into staying in Mexico the night of his family's murder. Chris advises Buck to let it go, and Buck says that Sarah was a friend of his and he thought a lot of Chris's son.
That night, the group makes camp and Chris unhandcuffs Blackfox but tells him that if he runs, he'll hang him himself. Someone moves in the nearby forest, and the four gunmen draw and aim. Josiah and Nathan stay behind to watch Blackfox while Chris and Buck go into the forest. When Josiah sets down his revolver to pick up a rifle, Blackfox reaches for it. Nathan spots him and throws a knife into the ground at Blackfox's fingers. Josiah says that he was going to shoot Blackfox's hand off.
Chris and Buck find their stalker: Jock. He explains that he has to get the story, and hears a coyote howl in the distance. Buck jokingly offers to shoot Jock, then turns when he hears someone and tells Jock to run away.
The next morning, the group arrives at the old Larabee homestead. Chris looks at the tombstones where he buried his wife and son, and remembers the past when they were still alive, and Buck was there. Chris tells his son Adam that he has to go away for a while, and Adam should take care of Sarah, and then rides off with Buck as Sarah and Adam wave to him.
Chris tells Blackfox to tell him what happened the night of the murders. Nathan calls Chris over, saying that they found something. At the stream where the soil has washed away, there's a boot with a single silver spur next to the corpses of the two men, Nathan confirms both men were shot in the back of the head, execution-style, and figures the shooter was left-handed from the shot pattern. Chris says that they're going to the saloon in Eagle Bend to find a left-handed shooter with a big gray house.
In Eagle Bend, Chris and the others go into the saloon. The bartender isn't interested in talking, and tells Chris to go somewhere else if he's looking for information. Undeterred, Chris asks about the left-handed man. The bartender threatens to throw him out, and Chris disarms him when he goes for his shotgun behind the bar. when some of the locals try to get involved, Josiah and Buck draw their guns on them.
Chris questions the bartender again, and this time the bartender says that the left-handed man comes along once in a while. However, the bartender doesn't know the man's name. He gives a description, including the man is very clean and has a withered hand. Chris says that they're taking rooms in the boarding house next door, and tells the bartender to contact him if the shooters show up. Josiah says that he's staying in the saloon for a while, and the others leave.
After getting a letter from Oren, the sheriff agrees to let Chris lock up Blackfox in the local jail. Blackfox tells Chris that he didn't know anyone died in the fire, and is sorry about the deaths of Chris' family. Later in jail, the killer whispers to Blackfox from the cell window. Blackfox says that he's trying to save his neck, and the killer isn't thrilled that Blackfox brought Chris there. The prisoner insists that Chris hasn't found out anything, and tells the killer to murder Chris and then they'll both get what they want. The killer, Cletus Fowler, says that Blackfox has turned into a rat, and he hates rats. Cletus walks away, and Blackfox sits down on his bunk.
Chris goes to his room , and sees blood under the jam of his closet door. He opens the door and finds the bartender, dead and hanging on a closet hook. The local undertakers haul the body out, and the sheriff tells Chris to avoid trouble in town. Josiah has sent a telegram to the others. Chris goes to the saloon, and Cletus watches him go.
The next day, Chris gets angry with Josiah who is patiently waiting. Jock comes in, and Chris sees him and storms off. He admits that he followed them because they left him in the forest without food. Josiah goes to the general store to see if the killer has his gloves custom-made, while Nathan goes to the horse livery to find the big gray. Jock goes with Nathan, and wants to ask him a few questions and write a story about him.
In the street, four men open fire on Chris. Chris' friends come to his aid, while Jock stands out in the street confident that they're not shooting at him. Once of them shoots Jock's notepad out of his hand, and Josiah pulls him to cover.
A wagon pulls up, and J.D., Ezra, and Vin open fire from the back. They take down one gunman and the other three ride off. Vin shoots one in the shoulder with his rifle, and the Seven ride off after the other two. The tracks lead to Purgatory, and Jock follows them and is thrilled to see Purgatory after hearing so much about it.
As the Seven rides into town, Ezra confirms that Jock is a writer and asks if there's monetary recompense for the real-life main characters. Jock is eager to talk to Ezra and take his car.
The Seven have brought Blackfox with them, and Chris drags him into the cantina. Ezra warns Jock that the locals have some prejudices against people from New York, but Jock would rather meet some of the wanted men there.
Chris spots the gray outside the cantina, and tears up the outside of the cantina while demanding to know where the horse's owner is. A man directs Chris to a rented room, and Chris storms in and grabs the man on the bed and demands to know who hired him. The man says that he didn't try to kill Chris, and Chris draws his gun on the man and demand answers.
Nathan comes in and says that the horse hasn't been ridden in a while. The man says that he hasn't been out of town in over a week, and Chris releases the man and growls in frustration.
Outside, Buck, J.D., and Vin spot a man in a coffin. He has a bullet wound in his shoulder like the one Vin put in the gunman's shoulder, and they hear a gunshot. They go to the cantina and Ezra "welcomes them to the festivities" while holding bundles of cash. Jock is taking statements from the locals, and he told them that he's willing to pay anyone who will tell him about murder and mayhem.
Jock comes over and says that it's better than he ever dreamed. Ezra congratulates him, and the outlaws call Jock over to take more photos. Chris, Vin, and Nathan come in and Buck tells Chris that he found one of the shooters, dead. Meanwhile, Jock shows the Seven the photo he took, and Vin spots Cletus in the background of it. Jock confirms that it was taken an hour ago, and Blackfox confirms that Cletus hired him.
Chris goes over to the bar, shows him the photo, and asks if he knows Cletus. The man gives Cletus' name, but Chris has never heard of Cletus.
The group rides back to Eagle Bend, but no one can point them to Cletus. Chris goes to get a drink, and Vin joins him and says that some of the locals have agreed to help in the search for Cletus. Vin figures that Cletus has left town, but Chris doesn't believe it. He tells his friend that when he was ranching, a mountain lion kept killing his stock so he tracked it in the mountains. The cat was behind him the entire time, watching him, and Chris figures Cletus is doing the same. Vin wants to get Cletus first, and Chris suggests that Vin stay and have a drink.
Later, Chris stays behind and the others split up to search the area. That night at the saloon, an apparently drunk Chris yells for Cletus to show himself, and fires his gun at the ceiling. Once he runs out of bullets, Chris tosses his gun away and collapses on the floor, passed out. Cletus comes in, gun drawn, with three other armed thugs. Cletus tells Chris that he's found him, and that the money was right for him to kill Chris' family.
Cletus says that he guarantees the anonymity of his clients, but he was hired to go after Chris and his family got in the way. He was going to kill Chris, but Chris ran off. Chris asks about Blackfox, and Cletus says that he eviscerated Blackfox in his cell.
Chris staggers to his feet, and Chris "sobers up, grabs a gun he hid under a table, and shoots at Cletus. The others are hidden in the saloon and emerge, guns drawn. Cletus goes for his gun and Chris wounds him, and he goes down as the two sides exchange shot. Cletus crawls out the door, and Chris tells the other not to kill Cletus and to cover Chris while he goes after the killer.
Chris runs outside and sees Cletus go to the livery. He goes in after his family's killer and yanks him off the horse he's mounted up on. Chris beats Cletus, who grabs a pitchfork and fights back. they knock over a lantern and start a fire, and Chris disarms Cletus and tells him to get up. After a brief struggle, Chris punches Cletus half-unconscious and then drags him out.
On the street, Chris tells Cletus to tell him who hired him. Cletus gets up and starts to speak, then tells Chris to go to hell and walks back into the burning stable. It collapse around him, as Chris screams in anger and frustration.
Later back in Four Corner at the church, Josiah ponders whether Chris would ride with the Seven again. He walks out past Jock's dime novel about the Seven.
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