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Rating: G for Good Grief she’s back
Disclaimer: They ain’t mine.
Warning: Okay, the beach trips over and Maggie is in some serious
pain, so who better to take
her frustration out on, you guessed it pards. Its time the evil one
carry on with her sadistic ways.
-D
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“Hey, Chris, you seen today’s Clarion.” Buck Wilmington jumped onto
the saloon porch and
took the vacant chair near Larabee.
“Nope. Why?” The gunslinger glanced at his longtime friend in confusion.
Buck very rarely read
anything, especailly the newspaper.
“Seems there maybe a storm headed this way. Ms. Travis got a telegraph
that a twister hit Eagle
Bend yesterday and might be on its way here.”
Chris snorted. “Hell, the only twisters I’m afraid of are on vacation.”
Wilmington laughed at the leader’s derogatory adjective of their worse
nemesis’, Maggie and
Cassie. “Yeah, feels good don’t it?”
Larabee let a rare smile cross his face. “Your right there. And if we’re
lucky, they won’t have
enough energy for at least a couple of weeks to torture us.”
The two men shared a quiet smile as they reflected on the uneventful past four days.
Vin Tanner exited the saloon and immediately noticed the grins. “You
boys know somethin’ I
don’t?”
“Nope. Just thinking about the peace and quiet.” Chris glanced at his best friend.
“Yeah, its kinda nice for a change. Although, I heard a few of the townsfolk
talking about a
storm brewing near by.”
“Maybe. A twister is what they say.” Buck leaned back in the chair and
propped himself against
the wall.
Vin started to reply when he felt the shift in the air current around
them. He turned a sweeping
gaze around the town and noticed the tumbleweeds were moving a bit
faster and the windows
were beginning to shake.
“I’d say they were right.” Tanner was about to yell a warning but wasn’t
in time. The shingles
flew across the streets like frisbees floating with ease, the buildings
rattled as the wind shook
there very foundation. The three men on the porch had no time to even
think about shelter, when
they were each wrenched from there positions and thrown about like
ragdolls.
But, as sudden as it had began, it stopped. The air quieted once more
and the silence echoed with
a roar.
“What the hell happened?” J.D. Dunne staggered out of the jail grasping his bleeding forehead.
“J.D., you alright?” Nathan Jackson had ran down the steps of the boardinghouse
as soon as the
wind died.
“Yeah, I think so. My head hurts, but I don’t think its that bad.” The
youth attempted to meet the
healer half way but was assualted by a wave a dizziness and decided
to sit on the steps and wait.
“Okay, let me take a look. Yeah, its just a scratch. A couple days rest
and you’ll be good as new.”
Jackson took a cloth from his medical bag and dabbed at the teen’s
forehead. Just as he was
about to apply a bandage, a shout aroused his attention.
“Nathan, you alright?” Josiah Sanchez exited the church and saw the
two men crouched near the
jail.
“Yeah, Josiah. Its J.D. who’s hurt, but its not that bad.” The preacher
heaved a sigh of relief and
came to stand with the others.
“Good. What about the others?”
“Don’t know. Haven’t seen anyone else.” Nathan cast the bigger man a concerned look.
“I think I’ll go take a look then.” Sanchez turned to go but was stopped
by the sudden appearance
of a tattered and battered Ezra Standish.
“Ezra, what happened?” Josiah rushed to help the gambler over to where the healer waited.
“I do not recall at this time, Mr. Sanchez. The last thing I remember
was extracating a large
amount of monetary funds from some out of town guests, when the ceiling
began falling on my
head.”
“Your lucky, Ezra. None of these cuts are too deep. You’ll be sore for
a few days, but other than
that you’ll live.” Jackson had been examining the southern while he
had explained his
unfortunate accident.
“Glad to hear it, Mr. Jackson. What of our young protege?” Standish
pointed to the dazed form
of J.D.
“He’ll be fine.” The gambler nodded at the healer’s confident reply.
“Now, to find the lost sheep.” Josiah turned once again to begin his
search, but a gasp from J.D.
stopped him.
“Something wrong, son?” Nathan and Sanchez rushed to the youth’s side.
“Look!”
The three older men followed the line of sight the teen was indicating
and also gasped in
astonishment. About 25 feet from them covered in planks of wood, lay
three prone figures. All
four gunslingers’ rushed to the scene and began throwing debris in
all directions.
“Chris, Vin, Buck, can you hear me?” Nathan squatted near the black
clad man and felt for a
pulse.
“Nathan?” Larabee slowly blinked his eyes into focus. “What the hell happened?”
“Twister. Sweep through the town, but looks like nobody was seriously
hurt.” Jackson helped the
gunslinger sit up and then went to check the other two.
“Damn, that smarts.” Buck clutched his leg where a plank had sliced the top layer of skin.
“Don’t look like you’ll need any stitches, but I suggest you stay off it for awhile.”
Wilmington nodded his understanding due to his inability to talk over the pain.
“Vin, how you doing?”
The tracker pushed himself up and examined his body. Nothing. No ripped
clothing, no blood,
not even a headache.
“I’m fine. Not a scratch.”
Six eyes turned startled gazes to the bounty hunter.
“You sure?” The healer finished his ministrations on Buck and hurried to Tanner’s side.
“Yeah, doc. I’m okay.”
Nathan sat back on his heals and shook his head in wonder, but then
his eyes took in the town
and he got a sudden sinking in his stomach. No buildings where destroyed,
no townspeople
where out and about in the streets, and nothing had been damaged except
where the seven men
had been.
“Uh oh.”
The protectors looked Jackson with confusion.
“What do you mean, uh oh, Nathan?” Chris had gotten to his feet with a little help from Ezra.
“I mean, look around. The only thing harmed was us.”
Each man swept their surroundings and also felt a sudden queasiness.
“You don’t think.....” J.D. turned pleading eyes to the men around him.
“It couldn’t be, could it?” Vin stood up and walked over to his best friend with a hint of fear.
“Its the only explanation.” Larabee glanced at Tanner and saw the terror
cross his face. “But, you
weren’t hurt, so maybe its just a fluke.”
The tracker relaxed a little as he thought about the gunslinger’s words.
“Right. If it had been
Maggie, I’d been at least bruised up a bit.” Vin started to smile but
thought better of it when a
maniacal laugh reached his ears and floated around the group.
“Oh if only that were true.” The voice seized each man’s heart in an
iron grip. “But, I’m afraid
your wrong.”
Suddenly the wind picked up again and the men where assualted with dirt
particles and debris,
but then the air began to take shape until it resembled that of a woman.
The seven blinked as the
form solidified and smiled at them.
“Sorry, boys. I just wanted to give you a warning of sorts that Cass
and I are back and its time to
carry on.” The dark haired girl started to laugh but winced in pain.
“But, you may have a few
more days of freedom. At least, until I get rid of this damn sunburn.”
Maggie sighed heavily and turned with a wince to slowly walk away, cursing
her forgetfulness of
her sunscreen, and her best friend for getting the cute lifeguard.
“I kinda feel sorry for her.” J.D. gave the retreating girl a sympathetic look.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you. She may look human, but she’s pure evil
son.” Buck grabbed the teen
and pushed him behind him in hopes of protecting him from future harm.
Its the thought that
counts, I guess.
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The End.
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