Summary - Missing Scene: Takes place after The Trial - short epilogue.
JD shook his head as he took another swig of milk. He had found himself back at the bar with Ezra, back in the same place they'd been when the whole crazy mess with Mrs. Standish and that Wingo guy had started. He shook his head again. "I can't believe she stole his rig," JD said, turning from the bar to look at Ezra who sat on the stool beside him. The gambler was looking up at the gaming table, his back to the bar, elbows propped on it supporting him awkwardly. "Doesn't she know he'll come after her?"
Ezra blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, blinked again, and then shrugged. "I never claimed to understand my mother, JD," he replied, leaning to one side so he could reach behind him to grab his glass of whiskey. "I don't understand why she didn't pick the lock to her cell and leave that first day while we were gone to collect Mr. Jackson's father."
JD's eyebrows went up, then he sighed and nodded in agreement, his shoulders slumping. "Still can't believe you threw your own ma in jail, Ez."
The gambler chuckled. "Oh, JD, if only you knew how I've dreamt of that moment." He took a sip of whiskey, a huge, satisfied grin on his face. "I knew she wouldn't stay there long, whether guilty or not, it was a sheer delight to see her face when I arrested her though."
"She's your ma!" JD exclaimed. "I mean, I know she's not exactly... well, you know, but she's still your ma. How can you be so... 'delighted' at getting to throw her in jail?"
Ezra straightened on the stool and set his glass down on the bar. "JD, Maude may be my mother, but she's never been much of a parent. I have seen her break out of more than one jail in my time, sometimes I was even at her side. A few times... she left me to take the fall and find my own way out of incarceration. I do not believe she begrudged me the opportunity to 'get even,' as it were."
"I thought you were gamblers," JD said. "Why would you get arrested so much if you were just playing cards?"
Ezra sighed. "My young friend, not every town appreciates professional gamblers. Many, like Mr. Jackson, consider us to be cheats, they don't consider the fact that we practice our trade, that we are actually trying to make a living at it, just as they might be making a living at farming or ranching or tending a store." He shook his head. "No, I fear gamblers are fair game for false accusations and that often leaves us at the mercy of the courts. Little wonder we have other skills that might aid us to remove ourselves from unwanted accommodations."
JD frowned, digesting Ezra's words and finally deciphering what he meant. "Okay, I guess I can see what you mean." He paused, another question coming quickly to mind. "But how did you get out of jail all those times? I mean, weren't they keeping guard? We don't usually leave prisoners unattended... and if you can pick locks so good, why didn't you do it when Judge Travis arrested you when we first came back to town?"
Ezra inhaled, hoping JD hadn't used up all the oxygen in the room, as he collected his thoughts. He wasn't sure why he hadn't high-tailed it out of town when Judge Travis tossed him in jail, and he wasn't sure he was ready to answer JD's questions about it either, so he'd have to divert the boy's attention. "Smoke and mirrors, son... diversion. It generally helps to have someone distract the guard for you, but on occasion it is necessary to cause your own distraction." He grinned at a memory. "Remember, if you ever want to keep my mother in jail to make sure she doesn't have access to anything that could be used as a pick, nor have access to an open flame."
"Why's that?" JD asked raptly.
"Well, one time, Mother was being held for having 'cheated' the son of the mayor of some little town at cards," Ezra said, warming to his tale. "They tossed her in jail, but made sure that she was not concealing anything by making her change into a plain prison dress in front of the sheriff's wife. Mother was unable to take any sort of pick into the cell, they even searched her hair for pins. Never-the-less, they had open flame lamps on the walls just outside the cells. Mother managed to reach out with a piece of cloth torn from a blanket, catch it on fire and proceeded to set her bedding on fire. When the guard opened the cell door, Mother fled."
JD's jaw hung open causing Ezra to smile broadly. "Of course, there are much more subtle ways to distract the guards and steal the keys, fainting, a game of cards, but Maude does like to be original."
"Wow," JD said, shaking his head. "You'll have to tell me some of the other things you and Maude have done to escape jails, that way I know what to look out for."
Ezra turned surprised eyes on his young friend and could only nod. JD was indeed learning.
"But you still haven't told me why you didn't pick the lock and leave after we got back from the village," JD continued.
The gambler dropped his chin to his chest in defeat. Yes, JD was indeed learning, his smoke screen hadn't worked. The young sheriff knew there was fire behind all the smoke that had been blown his way. The question was, how could Ezra answer a question that he didn't know the answer to himself?
Ezra picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. "I do apologize, Mr. Dunne, but I seem to have forgotten a previous engagement. I must be leaving, it's been a pleasure," he said as he pushed up off the bar stool and quickly exited the saloon.
JD leaned back on the bar, a small grin quirking his lips. "Not very subtle there, Ez. Think you should pay more attention to your ma's lessons," he chuckled to himself as he looked around the bar, figuring one of his other friends would be around to share some words of wisdom with him.
The end
Feedback is greatly appreaciated. JudyL
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