Catherine the Great
By: The Scribe
By the time Catherine was finally shown to the offices of the Clarion News, where Mary both lived and maintained her livelihood, the editor of the Clarion News was somewhat calmer than when Catherine had last seen her. In truth, Mary felt somewhat embarrassed by her outburst and wished only to forget about the whole incident. Besides, what could she expect from Catherine? Her sister had made it an art of embarrassing her throughout most of her life. Mary could not see why things should suddenly change now. Most of Mary's ire had to do with the fact that Catherine had found it so easy to see what lay between her and Chris. Her sister always had the unfailing ability to see through her, not to mention meddle and Mary shuddered with anxiety at what Catherine might be planning after what she had seen.
"Where were you?" Mary asked as Catherine entered the office. She had been waiting for most of the afternoon for her sister to appear and would have been concerned if not for the fact that she knew Ezra Standish to be a trustworthy escort and that it was probably best that Catherine made herself scarce while Mary calmed down.
"Mr. Standish was good enough to show me around town," Catherine said as she lowered herself into a chair in front of Mary's desk. "I thought that after my faux pas earlier, it was best that I stayed out of your way for a time. He was very good company."
"You didn't have to do that," Mary replied, feeling even worse about her outburst now in light of that revelation.
"Yes, I did," Catherine reached across the desk and took Mary's hand in hers. "I did not mean to intrude in your private affairs, though I hoped you could confide in me at what is going on between you and Mr. Larabee. It's plain to see how he feels about you."
"Is it?" Mary almost snorted in derision. "I can't see it."
"Only because you are too close to him to notice," Catherine pointed out gently. "Is the feeling mutual?"
Mary hesitated to respond because she had never really confided in anyone regarding her feelings about Chris Larabee. The closest she had come to confiding in anyone about how she felt was with Inez and even then, she had never really come out and admitted it because Inez suspected enough to spare her the difficulty of saying it. She had kept her feelings about Chris so deeply buried because, for a long time, she had believed nothing would ever come from it except heartache. Only in the last year had she dared to hope that there could be more but it appeared she was wrong once again and the pain was like a gash in her heart that would not heal. As she met Catherine's gaze, Mary realised that her sister could see it and there was little point in hiding anything from Catherine.
In the end, Catherine the Great would always get the truth out of her.
"Yes," she spoke, her voice escaping in a soft whisper. She had been holding onto that for so long that, admitting it at long last, was like a weight off her chest.
"Now we are getting somewhere," Catherine replied. "You pick the most complicated men for your relationships, don't you?" She sighed.
"I like the challenge." Mary cracked a smile. "Although, I think this time I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I keep thinking that there is a future for us, but each time we come close to being more than we are, he finds a reason to keep me at arm's length. I don't know whether I can take the disappointment any longer."
"Maybe you shouldn't, Mary," Catherine declared. "There comes a point when you just have to accept that it's not going to happen. I know he is certainly very attractive, a woman would have to be dead not to notice that about him, but he strikes me as being difficult. If there is someone else who can give you what he can't, you owe it to yourself to find happiness."
"Meaning what?" Mary stared at her sister in confusion. "What someone else?"
"From what Ezra tells me, you and some tracker named Vin Tanner have been quite the center of gossip lately."
"Gossip?" Mary exclaimed aghast. "He had supper with me once! And only because he needed my help with some private matter that was perfectly innocent. There is no gossip."
"I hear he is very nice," Catherine pointed out.
"Vin's sweet but he's not Chris," Mary retorted. She wondered if Catherine had been sent here to drive her insane. The very suggestion that she and Vin were more than just friends was laughable! Whatever would Chris think? However, even as she thought it, a streak of defiance surfaced inside Mary, which posed the even more challenging question. Why should she care what he thought? He had made it plain that things were over between them, without even consulting her about it! Why should she feel self conscious about Vin?
"Oh," Catherine said softly, her expression crestfallen and something about the glimmer in her eyes made Mary very nervous.
"What?" Mary asked suspiciously, narrowing her gaze at her sister to ferret out what calamity Catherine had seen fit to visit upon her now.
"I invited him for supper," Catherine said gingerly.
"You've been here less than a day and you've invited him for supper?" Mary stared at her incredulously.
"Thanks to Mr. Standish, I encountered him on the street and when I heard that he might be your new paramour, I took the liberty of inviting him for dinner tomorrow night," Catherine answered nervously. In truth, she had seen the tracker only briefly and sent Ezra to make the invitation on Mary's behalf instead of hers. She did not doubt that the young man, (who was surprisingly handsome if somewhat scruffy), would take up the invitation since his friendship with Mary, according to Ezra, was something he valued greatly.
"He is not my paramour!" Mary exclaimed in frustration. "He is a friend!"
"All right then," Catherine replied. "I will just tell Mr. Standish to rescind the invitation."
"You will do nothing of the kind!" Mary almost barked. "I will not hurt Vin's feelings by making him think he is unwanted but no more, Catherine, I mean it. Things are crazy enough between Chris and me for this gossip with Vin to make things worse."
Catherine did not answer but she thought silently to herself.
You don't know the half of it yet.
Ezra wondered how he got roped into this.
While he was more than supportive of any plan that saw Chris and Mary reconciled, he had never considered getting involved directly. If he had interfered at all, it would have been to offer some advice or something subtle, (that would not get him shot), to Vin regarding the rift that had formed between himself and Chris over the affair of Ella Gaines. Now, thanks to Mary's somewhat spirited, and might he add, devious sister, he was going to be playing a little game of ball with his friends. He coined the word 'ball' because before this was over, everyone was going to be bouncing against each other in what could only be considered a Shakespearean farce.
Just call him Puck.
Within the confines of the Standish Tavern, the establishment was already starting to fill with the onset of evening. Inez was holding court behind bar, both serving and supervising the other barmaids that were sweeping across the floor, taking care of customers. The defenders of Four Corners, except Chris, were congregated around their usual table. Chris was finding more and more reasons to ride out to his shack lately, ever since Ella had met her end. Although he did not shirk his responsibilities to Four Corners, he seemed to wish solitude more than anything. Ezra tended to think it was so he could perfect his brooding skills and started to believe that Catherine might be right, that Chris was not happy unless he was feeling miserable.
The mood among the group was sedate and, though they were having a good time in each other's company, it was clear that there was a pall over the loss of one in their number. Vin tried not to look self-conscious but in trying, he just seemed to stand out more. The tracker's blue eyes seemed deep in thought and no one at the table had any doubt that he was thinking about Chris and the downturn their friendship had taken ever since he had killed Ella. Ezra debated briefly, whether or not he ought to be meddling like this but he was convinced that if Chris could be made to see sense about Mary, it might just be the impetus needed for him to reach the same with Vin as well.
In any case, this was as good a time as any for him to carry out his part in Catherine's plan.
"Tell me, Mr. Tanner, how was dinner with Mary?" Ezra asked in a perfectly innocent voice, devoid of innuendo of any kind.
Vin shifted uncomfortably in his chair, clearly disliking the question because he did not wish anyone to know that the widow was giving him reading lesson. "Fine," he said in a clipped tone, hoping Ezra got the picture that he did not wish to discuss this any further.
"Yeah, how come you're having dinner with Mary, Vin?" JD asked, reacting in exactly the way that Ezra had anticipated one of the seven would have regarding the subject.
"I don't know," Vin muttered, his mood souring by the minute. "She asked me, so I went."
"She must have found you pleasing company," Ezra drawled. "After all, you are joining her tomorrow night."
While Buck was aware of Vin sharing supper with Mary Travis the night before, he had been completely taken by surprise by this latest invitation. The ladies' man stared at the young tracker, wondering what exactly was going on with him and Mary. Buck's mind was 'trying to avoid the most obvious answer because of what it would do to Chris if the gunslinger were to find out that his best friend and the woman he loved were turning to each other.
"Its just dinner," Vin replied, trying to fight the embarrassment that was starting to show on his face and failing. He had no idea why the second invitation had been made and the possibility of Mary starting to develop feelings for him frightened the hell out of him. However, it could be that she simply wanted the company and, considering how Chris had been treating her, it was not unreasonable for her to ask him since they got along well, though not that well.
"I don't recall Mary asking me to dinner two nights in one week," Buck retorted suspiciously.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Buck," Nathan spoke up for the first time. The healer had known Mary the longest. Nathan had unshakeable faith in the woman's nature to know that there was nothing ulterior in her motives for inviting Vin to supper. Considering that they were both in emotional exile from Chris Larabee, it was almost logical that they should share some form of kinship.
"Well said," Josiah rumbled, seeing how uncomfortable Vin was becoming with this whole discussion. Personally, Josiah did not see anything wrong with Vin sharing supper at Mary's table and even if there was something between them, it was Chris' fault for allowing it too happen.
"It ain't right though," Buck stated, not about to let the matter rest. "I mean Chris maybe a right bastard when he wants to be and sure he probably deserves it if Mary decides to finish things with him but it shouldn't be to start up with you!'
"FOR THE LAST TIME!" Vin stood up, fairly roaring in fury, displaying a very uncharacteristic display of wrath as he glared at the big man and spoke in a much lower voice, full of menace, "there is nothing going on between me and Mary. We're friends!"
"Then how come she's only inviting you to dinner?" Buck challenged, not about to let the matter rest when all he could see coming from this was disaster. Chris would never forgive Vin if he and Mary got together and that would destroy not only their friendship but would splinter the bond between the seven irrevocably.
Vin drew a long, deep breath to calm his intense need to strangle Buck and rid him of this ridiculous notion of impropriety between himself and Mary. He was willing to tell everyone the truth since it would quash such speculation immediately but Vin was not yet at the point where he was willing to tell everyone his shameful secret. He could not believe the compromising position he now found himself because of one invitation to supper. Okay, two invitations to supper, he reminded himself. As it was, he could not fathom why the second invitation had been issued. Mary had said nothing about it when they finished his lessons for the night, other than to make another appointment in a week's time. If she wanted him to share supper with her again, why had she not asked him then? Why on earth did she have to ask Ezra to do it?
"I think she wanted Vin to meet her sister," Ezra offered before Vin did anything rash, like use his sawn off Winchester to do the talking.
"Really?" Vin turned to him in surprise because it was as much a surprise to him as it was to anyone else. "Why?"
"She might like scruffy buffalo hunters," JD quipped and instantly received a stern glare from Josiah, who did not think this was the time for such remarks.
"Watch who you're calling scruffy, short stuff," Vin bit back.
"I ain't short," JD returned defensively.
"No, you're under tall," Nathan added, trying to inject some levity into the moment because this conversation was becoming all too explosive for his liking.
"Actually, I think Catherine was sort of interested in seeing the country around here," Ezra spoke up, glad to see his ability to make things up as he went had not been dulled since his arrival in Four Corners. If anything, Catherine's little play was allowing him to exert his con man skills beautifully. "I think you might end up being a guide."
"I don't know." Vin lowered himself into his chair and stared at the gambler dubiously, "I don't think that's such a good idea. I mean I'd be glad to help Mary's sister and all but it ain't proper for me to be escorting a lady like her around the Territory."
"I think you will find that you will most likely be escorting the both of them," Ezra replied. "Mary is even more concerned about propriety than you, Vin. I doubt she'd allow her married sister to go anywhere with you alone."
"You know what they say about them rich society ladies, Vin." Buck grinned, successfully convinced now that there was nothing going on between Vin and Mary.
"Do I even want to know?" Josiah stared at the younger man, his face preparing to slip into grimace at any moment.
"I'll bet she's probably just waiting for some scruffy buffalo hunter to tame her." Buck winked.
"How do you manage to get the women you do with lines like that?" Ezra asked, genuinely mystified.
"Do you really want to know?" Buck leaned closer. "It's got to do with the size of ….."
"NEVERMIND!" Five voices barked in surprising harmony and silenced the ladies' man before he could finish the sentence.
Buck eased back into his chair and grinned triumphantly, "you asked."
When Chris Larabee rode into town the day after Vin's second dinner engagement with Mary Travis, he could not deny feeling less than neighborly towards the tracker. The first invitation was enough to rouse his suspicion about what lay between the woman he loved and his best friend, a suspicion he had been quick to dispel because he refused to believe that either would betray him with a love affair right under his very nose. No matter how badly he behaved, he knew both Vin and Mary well enough to know that they were the most loyal people he knew and they would never willingly be party to deceiving him. Even though the supper invitation had bothered him more than he would like to admit, Chris had given them both the benefit of the doubt.
Until he learned about the second invitation.
Chris could not understand why Mary would invite Vin again so soon. She had never shown any interest in Vin other than in the name of friendship. The impression one got when seeing them together was a feeling of sisterly affection, not romantic love. The only one who seemed to inspire that in Mary was him, Chris thought bitterly, at least he had thought so. However, logic assailed him once more because Mary certainly would not invite Vin for a romantic supper when her sister was in the house. As Chris felt the sun on his back as he rode into Four Corners, that thought occupied his mind more than he would like to admit.
Was it possible that she wanted her sister to meet Vin because he was special to her?
The idea twisted his insides so much, Chris could barely think. However, he could not ignore the fact any longer that something was happening between Vin and Mary. Is that why Vin suddenly wanted to leave Four Corners? Did he want to go because he realized that something was developing between himself and the lovely editor of the Clarion News? Did he fear Chris, knowing what would happen if Mary were to develop feelings for him? Or was it worse then that? Was Vin actually reciprocating those feelings?
Chris did not wish to think too deeply about this and brushed such thoughts away as he reached the jailhouse. Overhead, the sky looked clear as morning but there was just enough breath in the wind to convince the gunslinger that the sunny weather would not remain the same way for too long. He was rather surprised to see Ezra resting comfortably on a chair against the wall of the place, the gambler's feet stretched languidly as he entertained himself with his favorite deck of cards. Seeing the gambler up so early in the morning was rather surprising considering that most days it required blasting powder to get Ezra up any earlier than noon.
"What are you doing up?" Chris asked after he had tethered his horse to the hitching post and joined Ezra on the porch.
"I had trouble sleeping," Ezra retorted, which was a lie, because inwardly, he was pining for his feather bed. However, he and Catherine were playing highlights from the novel Vanity Fair and that required an early rising, although Ezra wondered when was the fictional character Becky Sharpe ever compelled to wake at this ungodly hour for the sake of her friend.
"Yeah;" Chris nodded. "I know what you mean."
"Care to talk about it?" Ezra offered on the off chance that Chris might actually decide to confide in someone and perhaps end the action that he and Catherine had been forced to take to make Chris see the light.
Chris opened his mouth to speak but the words would not come out.
"No," he said after a moment, unknowingly dashing all of Ezra's hopes with his answer.
Fine, Ezra thought to himself. You asked for it.
"I was going to accompany Mr. Tanner on patrol but it appears that he has other engagements," Ezra said nonchalantly as Chris took a seat next to him and aimed his sharp gaze to the increasing activity that came with morning on the streets of Four Corners.
"Other engagements?" Chris stared at the gambler, keeping silent the unspoken question he wanted to ask that at what point had the shy tracker become such a social butterfly. Keep this up and Chris was going to have to buy the sharpshooter a diary to keep abreast of his active social life.
"Yes," Ezra remarked with perfect innocence as if he might be commenting on the weather instead of some inflammatory piece of information that would see to it that the gunslinger's jealousy reached boiling point. "Apparently, he is taking Mrs. Travis and her sister riding today."
"Riding?" Chris bristled. "He's got work to do in town."
"I made some mention of that," Ezra said offhandedly, "but you know how stubborn he can be and I do not think he wished to disappoint the ladies."
Ezra did not employ the term in the singular but his tone more or less implied it and Chris was smart enough to notice. The gunslinger's jaw tightened but he said nothing.
"Have they left yet?" Chris asked after what was a very noticeable pause.
"I do not believe so," Ezra replied, perfectly aware that Chris was nearing the place where Catherine and he needed the gunslinger to be. Ezra still had fears that he might be shot for his trouble but he had gone too far to stop and he was starting to believe that this insane plan of Mary's sister might actually work.
Chris' gaze shifted to the front door of the Clarion News and did not move again until the object of his affections deigned to make her appearance. Fortunately, he had not long to wait because Vin Tanner soon rode up the street from the direction of the livery. Vin glanced in their direction as he rode by, tipping his hat at them in silent acknowledge. Ezra kept a close eye on both of them and saw that neither was prepared to say anything to each other, beyond the acknowledgement of presence. Ezra wondered which of them was more stubborn and was decided that it would take a wiser men that him to make the distinction.
Vin climbed off his horse and went to Mary's door, needing to knock only once before Mary answered it. The widow was dressed in her riding clothes and with her was Catherine. Of course, this outing had been pre-arranged by Catherine and Ezra long before the dinner invitation had been made and Ezra felt a little sense of smug satisfaction seeing everything fall into place so swimmingly. Chris was doing a pretty good job of hiding how he felt. Ezra doubted that anyone could see through that façade of indifference the gunslinger wore about him to hide his feelings. However, the gambler had made a career of being able to see through the masks people wore and he could tell by body language alone that Chris was nearing breaking point.
"Mrs. Travis looks lovely today," Ezra commented as Mary stepped out of the door with Catherine following closely behind. Privately, Ezra thought Catherine looked rather spectacular but crushed the thought with an expertise that would have made Chris proud, had he known.
Chris did not answer. Apparently Mary had anticipated the tracker's arrival for two horses were already saddled and waiting for her and her sister at the hitching post. He watched in barely controlled fury as Vin helped Mary into the saddle and he was certain that she knew he was watching because they were all laughing and talking to each other as if they were old acquaintances. Chris could never remember Vin being so vocal around any female, even Charlotte. Yet, he appeared to have none of that reserve and seeing how good he and Mary looked together felt as if a fist had clenched around Chris' heart.
It was not long before he had reached breaking point and could stand to watch no more. The gunslinger stood up abruptly and stormed away without another word. Ezra watched Chris make for the saloon and felt a hint of sympathy for Inez who would have to deal with Chris in such a foul mood. However, his reaction was exactly what Ezra was hoping for and he prayed that the jealous flame ignited within Chris Larabee would burn a lot hotter before it was finally quelled.
Ezra just hoped he would not get consumed in the inferno.
