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Rating: G
Disclaimer: Do not own, just abuse, I mean use.
Feedback welcome! Maria.Mogavero@optiva.com
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Vin raised his sharp eyes to meet those of his friends.
"Before you give me your answers you best understand what you may be
openin' yourselves up for.
I'm willin' to take the risk for myself but the backlash from this
group could be ugly. 'Specially for
Chris and JD, judgin' from the way they've treated the three of us
in the past."
Chris shifted his focus to the shot of whiskey before him, answering in a low tone. "Never backed down from the threat of retaliation before, don't figure I'll be startin' now."
JD offered a shrug and a weak smile, "What can they do to me that they haven't already done?"
"I do not believe, Mr. Dunne, that that is somethin' we are eager to discover," replied Ezra, never looking up from the cards he shuffled effortlessly through his slim fingers. "However, if you gentlemen expect to be successful in this endeavor as Mr. Tanner has laid it out for us, you will definitely be requirin' my skills.
"Ain't nothin' gonna happen to JD, Ezra," stated Buck firmly, " 'Sides, I'm the only one around here allowed to whomp on the kid."
Nathan shook his head and sighed, "Guess it's a good thing I restocked supplies this week, got a feelin' we gonna be needin' 'em."
"I'm of firm belief, Brother Nathan, that whatever angels have looked over us this long won't be abandoning us now. But a few extra bandages won't hurt."
"Inspirin' words, Josiah," mumbled Buck.
Vin stood, the wood legs of his chair making a harsh scraping sound in the repose of the near-empty saloon. "Then I suggest we get a good night's sleep, it may the last for awhile."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"C'mon JD, not just unbuttoned, it's gotta be all the way off."
The youth shrugged out of his dusty white shirt, joining Buck, Josiah and Nathan in their state of half-undress. The four men had gathered at Josiah's church less than half an hour earlier. They made a show of pulling off their shirts in the heat of the noonday sun before focusing on the seemingly unending task that the preacher had taken upon himself.
"This is humiliating!" JD growled under his breath.
"It's the one way that's guaranteed to get their immediate attention and keep 'em distracted at the same time."
"You don't think it's just a little obvious?!"
"Trust me, kid. They ain't gonna be thinkin' straight, they'll be stumblin' over themselves to get here. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't on their way right now."
As if on cue a familiar female voice interrupted the hammering.
"Hey guys, fancy meeting you here."
"Yeah, right," JD mumbled, only to receive a sharp nudge in his ribs from Buck.
"Afternoon, ladies." Nathan laid down his hammer and flashed a warm smile at the six girls now standing before them. "Come to help or just passin' by?"
"Uhh-huuh," replied Penny slowly as if in a trance. She had yet to take her unblinking eyes from JD's youthful, muscular build.
Dunne shot Buck a pleading glance, feeling for all the world like a turkey the day before Thanksgiving. But Buck didn't acknowledge the look; instead he stepped forward, taking the hand of a blond in the group. Lifting it to his lips he kissed the back of her hand lightly.
"Miss Cassie, if I could have you deliver that stirrin' greetin' to me each day, I would never desire to even look at any other woman for the rest of my days."
Cassie was only vaguely aware of the fact the she had just completely forgotten how to speak. But any reply she could have managed would have been drowned out by the pounding hoofbeats of Ezra's breakneck approach on horseback.
The gambler half jumped/half fell from his saddle and stumbled only a step before collapsing to the ground.
"Dear Lord," Judy gasped, verbalizing the group's shock as they took in Ezra's condition.
His dark hair was damp and windblown, his fair complexion now appeared almost ghostly against the smudges of dirt across his fine features. He wore neither jacket nor vest. But worst of all, a huge red stain blossomed like a crimson flower down the front of his white shirt.
Nathan knelt beside Ezra, lifting the gambler's shirt to assess the wound. His lips pressed tightly together and a mixture of sadness and anger filled his dark eyes. A small shake of his head told the group there was nothing he could do. He pulled Buck's coat from nearby and draped it as a blanket across the small form lying before them.
"What happened?" blurted Kim. The fanfic writers tried to join the healer at Standish's side but Josiah held them back. "Don't," he whispered.
Buck attempted to fill them in. "We got a telegram this mornin' from Sweetwater, several men robbed the bank there and were last seen headed in the direction of Four Corners."
He paused briefly, crossing his arms over his chest and running a hand over his tanned face. "Chris, Vin an' Ezra headed out on patrol to make sure they caught 'em if they tried showin’ up ‘round here."
Resting against Nathan, Ezra stirred with a moan and struggled to speak, "We met up with them in the lower hills...I believe there were at least four. Almost had them..."
He paused, holding his arms tightly around his chest, his eyes closed, pain lining his face.
"Then Vin went down...bounty hunters, I believe. Out of nowhere. Shot in the back...four, maybe five times."
Maggie's eyes reflected the horrible shock she felt.
Ezra stared pointedly at her, "He didn't fall, though. At least...not until the mountain lion hit him. Vin was attemptin’ to reach Mr. Larabee, who also had received several gunshot wounds, a knife in the leg and had fallen from his horse. Chris struck his head but was able to dispatch the two bounty hunters and let us know he had cracked several ribs and broken his leg before he succumbed to unconsciousness."
"Mr. Tanner made a noble effort to get to him, that was when the big cat leapt...I'm sorry, Miss Maggie. He might have survived if he hadn't stepped in that bear trap before falling down an incline. I thought if there was any hope for Mr. Larabee it would rest in my effort to get back here to you gentlemen. But I fear the two remaining criminals from Sweetwater are not far behind..."
He trailed off, his head slumping to one side.
"Ezra??" Nathan felt for a pulse at the throat but his heavy exhale of air gave the group their answer even before the healer pulled the makeshift blanket over the gambler's face.
Carolyn's hands flew to her mouth. 'Two maybe three of our boys gone,' she thought. 'This can't be happening, and without even a character death warning! What the hell is going on?'
Buck wrapped an arm around her in an attempt at comfort.
Kim and Carolyn exchanged glances, Carolyn knew the other had had similar thoughts about who could be responsible for this travesty.
No one noticed Josiah staring intently at the horizon. "Riders coming." The preacher reached for the gunbelt that held his Smith & Wesson .45, he continued to speak as he checked the chamber.
"I want you ladies out of sight. Get yourselves back that way," he motioned toward an unfinished pew. "Keep quiet and keep down."
His tone restrained yet firm, it was clear he didn't want any argument. But Maggie stepped forward, her eyes sweeping the other regulators as they readied their weapons.
"We're not about to run scared, Josiah. I think we've probably written you guys out of tougher spots than this."
Cassie reached forward, putting a steady hand on her friend's shoulder. "Maggs, that's only when we've been the ones to write them into those spots. We don't know where this is coming from."
Penny swallowed hard. "She's right, Maggie. I don't like
it either but I think we should take cover."
JD made sure the girls were safe behind the cover of the heavy wood and stepped to join his friends as the pounding of horses thundered in. Judy ventured a look, curiosity and worry overriding common sense. She whispered back a report of the eerie tableau.
The four remaining members of Chris Larabee's group stood spaced throughout the half-built church, weapons aimed at the newcomers.
Two filthy cowboys, one dressed in a ratty pelt coat, the other draped in a weather-beaten fringe garment. They each wore soft, wide brim hats pulled low over their eyes. Bandanas wrapped around their faces, though to protect them from the dust of the ride or from recognition, Judy wasn't sure.
The two riders stood just as firmly as the peacekeepers, a pistol in each hand balanced out the number of weapons.
JD, lowering his voice and trying to muster his best impression of Chris, broke the tense silence.
"Why don't you boys put those guns down. You're outnumbered."
One of the men answered, his tone almost a whine. "Looks like we're doing a good job of balancing those odds."
He nodded to the unmoving form on the floor, still covered with the provisional shroud. "Let's see what the next hand holds."
As the room exploded with gunfire the six fanfic writers squeezed themselves tighter behind the blockade, hands pressed tightly over their ears.
Only a few seconds passed before the volley of shots ceased and the room fell silent, the scent of gunpowder permeated the air. This time it was Carolyn who risked a look.
"Oh no," she whispered.
The others responded to the tightness of her voice and raised from their cover. The scene left them speechless. JD lay sprawled on his stomach, completely still. Buck had fallen in a heap near him, curled and unmoving, pistol still in his limp grasp. Josiah and Nathan dropped where they had stood and, like JD, lay motionless face down.
"Sorry you ladies had to witness that," the whiny-voiced cowboy apologized insincerely, reholstering his pistol and leaning against one of the church benches.
Maggie stormed forward, "Not as half as sorry as you're gonna be you son of a b--"
"Maggs, wait!" For the second time that day, Cassie held her friend back.
"No, Cass! Did you miss what just happened?! They're worse than CBS, for God's sake!"
Cassie whispered fiercely to her friend. "The one in the pelt coat, he's leaning."
"So what? What the hell are you talking about?!"
"She's right," Judy interrupted with an awed whisper.
"Take a good look, Maggie. I didn't say he was leaning, I said he was LEANing."
Maggie spun around to face the two cowboys.
As the men pulled the dirty bandanas away from their faces the 'dead' bodies on the floor around them began to stir.
A slow grin spread across Vin's face. "Gotcha. How's it feel?"
Kim was the first to regain her voice. "Could someone please tell me what the heck is going on?"
"Just funnin' ya a little," responded Buck with a wicked smile, standing now and helping JD to his feet.
"It was Vin's idea," offered Nathan, looking a little worried as he noticed the fire still burning in Maggie's eyes.
"Mr. Tanner felt that you ladies have been a bit hard on us as of late and concocted this scheme hopin’ you might realize how it feels to not have control of a situation one finds oneself placed in."
"You're not mad, are ya?" JD asked sincerely.
"Mad?" exclaimed Penny, louder than she intended. "No, I wouldn't describe us as mad. Scared half to death and pissed off, maybe..."
Kim interrupted, "But the gunfire, Ezra's wounds?"
"Did you actually see anyone get hit?" posed Josiah with raised eyebrows. "Although," he added, looking to his friends, "I hope I'll have some help removing the bullets from the walls."
"And I," added Ezra, "am happy to report that cherry juice is not as fatal as it may appear."
Carolyn shook her head back and forth in disbelief as the realization dawned on her, "We just took Nathan's word you were dead."
"I can't believe you guys would do this to us." said Judy in a small voice.
The seven men scanned the varied expressions of the M7 fans and wondered if maybe they hadn't misjudged the effect of the prank.
It was Ezra who saved them.
"Ladies, please accept my words sincerely when I say we never meant to show any kind of disrespect towards you. And if you are unsure of this perhaps it would help to ask yourselves who else in this entire world would I allow myself to be put into such a state of disarray for?"
The women stared at Ezra as he held his arms out in a wide shrug. His hair stuck up in several directions, his 'bloodied' shirt now adhered to his chest with the drying cherry juice and the smears of dirt across the gambler's face rounded out his pathetic appearance.
Carolyn broke first, "He's got a point. Did you ever think you'd see the day when Ezra would ruin a perfectly good shirt on purpose?"
"Thank you, Miss Carolyn."
Chris shot a glance at the gambler, "What are you talking about, Ezra? That was Nathan's shirt."
"I never said it wasn't," drawled the southerner, trying to look innocent.
"Speaking of shirts," JD piped in, the 'trapped turkey' look reappearing in his eyes as Penny sidled up next to him. "Can we get dressed now?"
Buck tossed his friend the white shirt the young man had worn earlier, "Here ya go, kid. Worked like a charm, Vin." He added with a wink.
"We just happened to be in the area." Cassie stated. "I can't believe you think we are so shallow that we would only stop by to see you guys half dressed."
"If I didn't know you ladies better, I'd almost believe that delivery," retorted Chris, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth.
Josiah gave Ezra a light slap on the back, "She could almost rival your acting."
"I dunno," interjected JD, "he almost had me believing he was on his deathbed."
"Oh, c'mon, kid," Buck exclaimed with a laugh. "Sheep have less wool over their eyes than you. But that was kinda creepy, Ezra."
Standish replied with a smile wide enough to show his gold tooth. "Why thank you, Mr. Wilmington."
"Well, I think you guys owe us lunch," replied Kim, "it's the least you could do for that little stunt."
Vin drew himself up to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest, "If that's the case, what do we get for all them times you've had us shot?"
"Or stabbed," interjected Buck.
"Or down with fever," JD added.
"Or beaten up." This from Josiah.
"Don't forget broken bones," Nathan offered.
"Or attacked by wild animals," drawled Ezra.
"Or blown up," stated Chris in a low, sarcastic tone.
"Aw, c'mon, guys," confessed Carolyn with a pleading glance, "Look how many websites we've devoted to you, the fan clubs, the letters, the ad in Variety for Pete's sake! We love you boys."
JD shoved his hands into his pockets and snorted, "Much more love li ke that and I'm not gonna live to see 20."
Maggie matched Vin's crossed-arm stance and cocked her head to one side, "And have you guys ever thought about what you'd be doing without us? You'd be bored silly."
"Josiah and Nathan might be able to handle the peace and quiet but Buck; you, Chris and Vin would be at each other's throats outside of a week. JD wouldn't get any closer to a getting a life than those dime store novels and Ezra would probably wind up on the end of a rope in no time without you guys continuing to be around to help him find his conscience."
Standish opened his mouth to say something but decided better of it and remained silent.
"Now quit your complaining and take us to lunch."
The seven men exchanged glances, looking slightly like schoolchildren that had just been reprimanded.
"Well," Buck said finally, "I've never been one to say no to a lady." He bowed low and gestured to the street.
"I shall join you momentarily," voiced Ezra, running a hand through his disheveled hair, "I must make myself more presentable if I am to be seen with such divine company."
As he passed Vin and Chris, he wrinkled his nose with a sniff and a distressed look.
"You gentlemen may wish to join me. I don't know where you acquired those clothes but I, for one, would not be willin' to bet that Mr. Tanner's overcoat could be prevented from rearin' up and attemptin' to attack one of us."
Chris raised an eyebrow at Vin, "Did he just insult us?"
"I believe he did, Mr. Larabee," replied JD, catching the cue and responding as he had all those months ago.
"At least once." Ezra drawled back at Chris, returning the raised eyebrow but adding a sly smirk.
Josiah guided the ladies out and off toward the saloon, pausing long enough to add with his own smile, "He hates that."
Fin
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