Three Stage
Attack
October 26, 2012
Answer
to 1 hour fic challenge on Vin F&D list
Universe: OW
Summary
- write a story in 1 hour using the
theme ‘stage’
Length: 1063 words
*******
Stage
One
Vin
crept past the back door of the jail and peeked in the window. Ezra was leaning
back in the chair, feet propped on the edge desk as he indifferently tossed
card after card into his upturned hat on the floor.
Vin
smiled and retreated the way he had come, Ezra none the wiser.
JD watched for Vin to exit
the alleyway beside the jail. Vin gave JD a
two-fingered tip of his hat and sauntered over to the front door of the jail.
JD nodded and ducked back inside the saloon.
Stage
Two
Vin
entered the jail from the front, frowning.
Ezra glanced up, bored to tears watching a jail that
held no prisoners. He nodded acknowledgment of Vin’s
entrance and tossed another card before Vin’s serious demeanor sank in.
“Mr. Tanner? Is there a problem?” he asked,
straightening in his seat.
“Need ya to come with me to check out some unusual
tracks out by Nettie’s place. Chris said he’d take over here,” Vin replied.
“Very well, allow me to change…”
“Ain’t got time for that,
Ezra,” Vin demanded. “Gotta ride.”
Ezra’s eyebrows rose, but he nodded and followed the
tracker to the livery. He saw Chris leaning against the post outside the saloon
and received a brief nod from the man in black. Within minutes, he and Vin were on their way toward Nettie’s ranch.
Ezra rode beside Vin in
silence for some time. “What sort of tracks are we looking for?” he finally
asked.
“Ain’t sure,” Vin said. “Nettie just asked me to come take a look, could
be cougar,” he added gravely.
Ezra nodded. A cougar coming this far into cultivated
lands was dangerous. The animals usually avoided man like the plague. Only sick
or injured animals that couldn’t hunt wandered into civilization in search of
easier prey and they weren’t too picky about what that prey was either.
They reached Nettie’s ranch and Ezra frowned. The
team of horses and her wagon were missing. The frown deepened when Vin didn’t go to the house to greet the old woman as he
normally would.
“Is Mrs. Wells not home?” Ezra asked.
“In town,” Vin said, unhooking
his sawed-off from its holster, “safer there til we
can figure out what’s going on here.”
“Lead on,” Ezra said, pulling his rifle from its
scabbard and following the Texan around the back of the barn.
“Nettie said she saw some unusual tracks out behind
the barn and heard the chickens put up a fuss.”
“None of the birds were missing?”
“Nope.
Think she might’ve scared it off… fired off a shot in the air,” Vin said, kneeling down to look at the ground.
Ezra looked over his shoulder, then around at the
dirt and short cropped grassy area. All he could see was their boot marks and a
few piles of manure.
“Hm,” Vin
hummed, then scooted over and fingered another spot in the dust. “Yep,” he said
to himself. “Gonna need the boys for this,” he said as he stood and dusted his
hands on his pants.
“Is it a cougar?” Ezra asked, his eyes darting
around the yard to every shadow.
“It ain’t something we can
handle on our own,” Vin said. “Best git back to town and find the others.” With that, Vin strode back toward their horses leaving Ezra to cast yet
another cautious gaze around the yard.
It only took a second for him to realize that Vin had left and Ezra jogged to catch up.
Stage
Three
Vin
dismounted, tossing Peso’s reins over the hitching post rail. “You’d best go to
the jail and tell Chris,” Vin said. “I’ll get the
others and meet you in the saloon,” he added then he strode quickly down the
boardwalk toward the church.
Ezra shook his head to himself, but headed for the
jail. “Tell Chris what?” he mumbled.
Vin
looked over his shoulder, saw Ezra’s back and darted across the street to the
saloon.
Ezra opened the door to the jail and stopped at the
sight of the empty room. He frowned. “Now why did I have to sit in here and
watch an empty cell, when Chris is, no doubt, over at the saloon enjoying his
turn on watch with a libation?” He huffed to himself and left, tugging the door
shut behind him.
Ezra pushed the swinging doors open and stepped into
the room, pausing for a second for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light.
A sudden shout had him stumbling back, triggering
his derringer and pointing it at the room in general.
“SURPRISE!”
Then gasps and several shouts of ‘get down’ were
heard throughout the room.
Ezra blinked, looking around at the people in the
saloon. His six friends were there as well as many of the townsfolk that he’d
come to know in the last few years, including Mrs. and Casey Wells, Mary and
Billy Travis, Inez, the Potters and…
“Happy Birthday, Ezra!” JD said, breaking the uneasy
silence as Ezra lowered his gun and everyone stood back up.
The others chimed in and Ezra ducked his head,
fumbling to reposition his derringer in its rigging.
Vin
stepped up beside him and touched his arm to get the embarrassed gambler’s
attention.
Ezra looked up at him. “No cougar?”
Vin
grinned, “Nope. Sorry, but it was the only thing we could think of to keep you
out of here long enough.”
Ezra shook his head and looked around again, this
time seeing the small ‘Happy Birthday” banner strung above the bar as well as
the cake and other refreshments sitting on one of the tables.
“How on earth did you find out it was my birthday?”
he asked in amazement.
Vin
grinned. “Maude sent you a telegram and,” he paused, blushing just a bit, “well, um I sort of read it. Not on purpose, I had been
practicing and…”
Ezra smiled. “Quite all right, Vin. I’ve been known
to accidentally read a few things in my day as well.”
Vin
chuckled. “Come on, let’s get this party going. I want some of Nettie’s cake,” he
said, tugging gently on Ezra’s sleeve to get him to follow and join the others.
“Chocolate, I presume,” Ezra said, standing and once
again following his friend.
“Of course,” Vin said with
a broad smile. “Only the best for the birthday boy.
Happy Birthday, Ez.”
The end.
Feedback is greatly appreciated. JudyL