Mexican Standoff
By: Rhicy
Tuesday morning: Before sunrise, Four Corners
The wake up call
"Come on kid, get up."
"Huh?"
"We gotta get up and open up the saloon for Inez, remember?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, JD, I ain't doin' this alone -."
"What the hell are you talking about Mister?"
Buck nearly fell over when he heard the deep voice. Realising his mistake, Buck whispered, "Hell - sorry mister. Wrong room."
He quickly backed out of the room, closed the door and then sprinted down the stairs in case the stranger decided to see who was waking him up at 4am. Buck leant against the railing outside the boarding house, catching his breath after the adrenaline pumping run. "Damn that kid!"
"You didn't really expect me to fall for it twice, Buck."
Buck just about leapt three feet in the air as JD surprised him, the young man's voice floating as if out of nowhere. "DAMNIT JD! I've done told you not to do that to a man - Vin is bad enough but I ain't having you sneaking up on me too!"
Grinning widely, JD laughed at Buck's puffing face, his hand clutched over his heart dramatically. "Some of us actually learn from our mistakes, Buckey. I switched rooms last night."
"Buckey? BUCKEY?" Buck hissed loudly and leapt at JD who easily dodged Wilmington and took off at a gentle run down the street. Buck soon caught up to the kid and was about to grab him in a headlock when JD expertly dodged in time to miss Buck's arm and Wilmington found himself stumbling forward as he struggled to stop his momentum.
"JD!"
Buck's shout was filled with exasperation and warning but the kid just laughed even more, "Told you Buck some of us learn from our mistakes!"
JD, in turn, yelped in surprise as a big arm wrapped itself around his neck, capturing him in the hated headlock and as he was bodily marched down the street, he heard Josiah's deep voice rumble, "That's true, John Dunne, and some of us learn quicker than others."
"Aw hell, Josiah - let me go already!" came JD's muffled plea as Buck passed the pair, laughing. Buck was walking backwards, watching JD struggle in the preacher's grip, trying to think of some way of paying the kid back.
Nathan came up behind Josiah and JD and saw Buck walking backwards. "Buck, that's not a good idea, you might …"
'Too late,' Nathan thought as Buck's boot heel connected with an unseen rock behind him and the ladies man fell down in a heap. As JD passed him, the young man lashed out and nudged Buck in the thigh. "A little help here please?"
"Oh sure - now you want my help. After scaring me twice in less than five minutes, calling me Buckey, and then making me land on my ass. I don't think so kid - you're on your own!" Buck shouted from the ground, still laying sprawled across the street.
Josiah laughed as JD continued to squirm, Nathan just sighed and Buck contemplated going back to bed and waking up Molly again. A window from the boarding house was thrown open and a large, bald man stuck his head out and shouted at Buck, "Will you shut up! Some of us are trying to sleep!"
Scrambling to his feet, Buck tipped his hat at the shouting man and ran for the saloon, just in case the angry bald guy was the same one he had woken up earlier.
Tuesday: Before sunrise, outside Giant Falls
Suspicions
About three miles ride from Giant Falls, on a gentle rise, grew an enormous oak tree. Its trunk was so broad that three men holding hands could not circle its girth. Branches reached towards the heavens, an abundance of leaves decorated the arching bows, providing ample shade in the summer sun.
Vin had left Inez and Helena to wait under the tree, the night time shadows obscuring the presence of the two women. Inez was fuming, her attention divided between watching the trail and her cousin. Because the moment Vin had ridden back to Giant Falls, Helena had tried to leave.
After sending a telegram to Inez from Giant Falls desperate for help, Helena had told her cousin a very similar story to Inez's own. Don Diego wanted to 'marry' Helena but she did not love him and had run away. The Don, furious at her rejection was now hunting her down, determined to force a marriage.
Even though Inez had not seen or heard from her cousin for nearly 10 years, she had no reason to doubt Helena's story. Fortunately for both women, Ezra was in Giant Falls for a poker game and he had agreed to help Helena escape the Don. And when Chris and Vin arrived in town after escorting a prisoner to White City, Inez had been sure that everything would be alright.
But now she wasn't so sure. The Don had not acted like Don Raphael at all - arrogant and proud but that didn't mean he would not force himself on her cousin. No, Inez's misgivings had started with Helena herself. Helena was not the shy, timid child Inez had known as a girl but that was to be expected - she was a grown woman now. Something had not rung true with Helena's story about Don Diego, but Inez had been willing to give her cousin the benefit of the doubt. That was until Helena had refused to let Inez contact her mother, Inez's Aunt Angela. Instead Helena had insisted that Inez's 'friends' escort her to Sweet River - immediately.
Helena's unusual behaviour had been momentarily forgotten in the rush of making plans and the sudden arrival of the Don's men. During Ezra's 'distraction' outside Sally's Luck Saloon, Vin had snuck the two ladies, dressed in men's clothes, out the back. To any of the residents who noticed the trio during the excitement of the fight, it would have seemed that three 'men' had left town.
Vin had not been gone two minutes, before Helena announced she was leaving. Despite Inez's initial surprise, she had managed to intercept Helena and snapped, "What?"
A rather vocal argument had ensued, one that Buck would have loved to watch. Two feisty, beautiful women shouting at someone - other than him. Helena had eventually subsided into a sulky silence, reluctantly agreeing to wait for the three men to arrive.
And now Inez's nerves were stretched taut as time dragged by and when the sound of a large number horses thundering down the trail reached her, Inez dragged her cousin further back into the shadows and watched as the Don, who was looking decidedly nervous, and his men rode by. Unsure if they were looking for Helena or not, Inez stayed hidden and was relieved that at least Helena was now prepared to stay put.
Ezra, Chris and Vin arrived a whole lot more quietly than the Don and almost before Inez knew it, the three peacekeepers were riding up to them.
"Oh thank goodness it's you! The Don rode past a few minutes ago and he looked like he had the hounds of hell on his tail!" Inez exclaimed.
Ezra literally seemed to puff up with delight at the news that the Don was still running scared. "Never fear, my dear - all went according to plan and it is unlikely that the foul Don Diego will return to trouble your fair cousin," Ezra tipped his hat at Helena, who gave him a dazzling smile. Helena had the same dark, beautiful look as her cousin, but where Inez radiated spunk and fire, Helena seemed more demur and composed - until she lost her temper that is, and then heaven help the poor soul who stood in her way.
"Gracias Senor, I would never have been able to escape that … man without your kind help," and she turned to include Vin and Chris, "and of course you Senors as well. It was very brave of you." And she graced both men with equally dazzling smiles.
"Our pleasure ma'am but we best be moving on quickly, in case the Don decides to come back," Chris replied already legging his horse forward, eager to get home to Four Corners.
Ezra looked a bit affronted that Chris felt the Don might not 'stay' duped and was about to open his mouth and complain when he caught the worried look Inez gave her cousin. Quick as always to catch unspoken nuances, Ezra quashed his complaint and sighed, "Indeed Mr Larabee, it is definitely time to go home."
"Then here is where we part ways, Senors. Inez," Helena said, guiding her horse away from the four friends. "Thank you again for …"
"Oh Helena, maybe you should stay with us at least until Four Corners," Inez tried to say but Helena shook her head exclaiming, "Oh no cousin! I couldn't do that! I've taken up far too much of your time as it is. I'll be alright from here - the Don isn't looking for me right now and I'm better off on my own."
"Perhaps one of us could escort you to Sweet River, like you asked before Miss Demarco?" Vin asked quietly as he watched Helena edge further and further from the group.
Frowning at him, Helena stammered, "No. No. It's okay senor. I don't need an escort - I can take care of myself." And before anyone else could say anything about the matter, Helena had cleared enough space from the others and she spurred her horse into a flat run - away from her cousin. Inez's horse danced backwards as the sudden movement spooked it, and it backed into Chris and Ezra, cutting them off from following. Vin simply stayed put, watching Helena disappear into the distance.
"What the…?" Chris shouted, reining his big black in, as it tried to bite Ezra's chestnut in retaliation.
Ezra, sitting calmly on his horse despite the beast snapping back at Chris' Diablo, mused aloud, "I think there is a great deal more to Ms Demarco's story than we originally thought."
Inez looked like she wanted to ride after her cousin and give the ungrateful woman a piece of her mind. She turned to her three friends and said sharply, "I don't know about you Senors, but I do not like being lied to and I think my dear cousin, " Inez's voice fairly dripped with sarcasm, "has lied to us."
"Maybe so … or maybe not," Vin replied, his eyes still tracking Helena's disappearing figure. "I'll follow her, see where she goes, make sure she's alright."
Chris, eager to find out for himself what was going on, disliking the fact that he may have been duped, frowned as he weighed the thought that Helena may actually need help and either she didn't trust them or felt she might be better off alone. Or she had tricked them all into helping her escape the Don, who may have a real grievance with her. But none of them knew the truth and he and Vin were already overdue back in town. Better to let Vin follow her and then catch them up while they got Inez back to town.
Inez seemed to read Chris' thoughts and hissed, "Senor Larabee I do not need to be protected, I can look after myself. We can all go after that lying …"
Ezra placed his manicured hand on Inez's and murmured quietly to her, "My dear Ms Recillios, as you are no doubt aware, you look a great deal like your cousin, in fact, " and the realisation seemed to have only just sunk for Ezra as well, "you could almost be mistaken for her at a distance. Perhaps enough to have the Don pursue you while your cousin got away safely."
So furious that she was rendered speechless, Inez just stared at Ezra and Chris, who were also looking angrier and angrier by the second. How much of this situation was Helena's careful manipulation, getting Inez to come to Giant Falls, concocting a story close enough to Inez's own past to get her sympathy. Had the unexpected arrival of real friends thrown Helena's plans awry, necessitating this sudden escape?
"Vin, follow her - find out what she's up to and get back quick as you can. I don't like this."
Nodding in agreement, Vin spurred his horse after Helena, soon leaving the trio behind.
The wiry little Mexican had been waiting for nearly a day and twice he had actually packed his saddle-bags and prepared to leave, until at the last moment he changed his mind. It wasn't a sense of loyalty that endeavoured to keep the little man in place, it was a healthy fear of Don Diego de la Vega. More than a few hombres had under-estimated the Don, thinking his bad luck and stupidity with money extended into the rest of his life. But the Don may have inherited his family's misfortune with money, but he had definitely inherited the ruthless cruelty that had initially established the family. No one crossed Don Diego and lived to tell of it. Once you were sworn into his service, the only way you left it was in a pine-box.
Juan Gomez may not have sworn an oath of loyalty to the Don, but he had promised to find Helena Demarco for him. He had, in both San Juan and Santa Fe, until the trail had headed north. The Don had insisted that Helena would try to hide out in a small western town, but Juan had been charged not with finding Helena's whereabouts but her end goal - and he had.
After waiting impatiently at the small cross-roads, Juan saw by the approaching dust-cloud that his patròn was finally here. Just as Vin, Chris and Ezra met up with Inez and Helena, Don Diego rode up to his scout.
"Gomez. What news do you have?"
Smiling genially at the Don, Juan simpered, "Oh a great deal Don Diego, a great deal. I know that Helena Demarco is riding to meet her lover in Denver and she's going to sell your deed to pay for the train fare."
Don Diego swore viciously, "I'm going to wring her scrawny neck! Who is she selling it to?"
Gomez shrugged, his face nearly disappearing into the folds of his filthy poncho, "That I don't know Senor. The telegraph operator didn't know who picked up the telegram, just that Helena was going to meet them in Sweet River."
One of the Don's men said, "That's directly north Don Diego - if we ride through the mountain trails, we'll get there sooner than if we stayed on the coach line."
"Si, si, " Juan said eagerly, "That is the way I came senor."
Don Diego gathered up the reins of his horse, and snarled at his men, "What are you waiting for, idiots? Let's ride! And you," Diego pointed a long finger at Juan, "can come along to show us the way."
As the twenty odd gang of men rode north, Juan Gomez trailed behind reluctantly, muttering to himself, "Si senor, whatever you want senor, it's not like I have anything else to do, senor!"
Early Tuesday morning Four Corners:
Playing House
"I'm bored."
JD was sitting behind the bar, his chin resting on his folded arms as he waited for the first customer of the day. From the kitchen came the sound of pots banging together and the occasional thud as pot met flesh. "Out! Out!"
A flustered Buck Wilmington emerged from the kitchen, clutching his backside. "Sheesh, Josiah - watch where you swing those pots."
Josiah's voice echoed from the kitchen, "Just stay outta my kitchen Buck Wilmington - I'm not going to ask you again."
Nathan's breathless laughter could be heard vaguely over the continued noise in the kitchen. Buck ambled up to JD, resting his arms on the other side of the bar. "You're a little keen - Inez don't usually serve alcohol until lunch time."
JD sighed and turned his face a little to look up at Buck, "When is Inez going to get back? Do you think she's in trouble? She dashed out of here real quick the other day."
Buck shrugged and said, "Don't know JD, but Inez can take care of herself."
Frowning JD mused, "But that's not what you said when she was leaving - you were going on about her needing protection and how a lady can't be riding out on her own these days. She got pretty mad at you too, as I recall."
Dismissing JD's words with a flick of his hand, Buck harrumphed, "Inez was just worried when she said all that stuff about me - I know she loves me. Just you wait JD, she'll come round any day now - realise that I'm the man of her dreams."
"More like her nightmares!" JD scooted away from Buck as the big man lunged for him. "What is with you this morning kid - you ain't stopped sassing me since you opened your little eyeballs."
"Aw hell, Buck it's too easy picking on someone so stupid."
Buck roared in anger and vaulted over the bar but JD was quicker and ran out of the saloon doors. "Kid, you better sleep with one eye open tonight!" Buck stood out on the saloon porch and watched as JD disappeared into the early morning shoppers. "Kid's getting too slick for his own good."
Tuesday Morning, Mountains near Giant Falls:
Suspicions Confirmed
Helena rode away without looking back, urging her horse to go faster as the morning sun climbed higher in the sky. Although the local town's name professed a large waterfall in the area - this was not in fact the case. The area surrounding Giant Falls may have been mountainous enough to warrant a waterfall, but the town got its name from the large cliff-face that an inexperienced geologist had incorrectly identified as a dead waterfall. Despite future, more knowledgeable claims to the otherwise, the name had stuck and Giant Falls remained a misleading attraction.
The foothills of the mountains north of Giant Falls were criss-crossed by trails and footpaths, the area a popular hunting ground for the local ranchers. It was also an ideal location for outlaws and other souls reluctant to be noticed to hide out. A careful man could easily pass through the entire area without being noticed, even by those well familiar with the terrain. It meant that a posse and the hunted could easily lose each other - or in the unfortunate case of the ill-fated Hanson Gang, turn a corner and run straight into the pursuing posse.
As Helena rode quickly along her chosen trail, thinking that she had gained enough distance to have lost both the Don and her cousin, she let her concentration lapse as the steady rhythm of her horse's hooves on the ground lulled her into a false sense of security. And like the Hanson Gang, she turned a corner in the trail and ran smack into a group of riders.
The trail widened out into a small valley below her, but the five men blocking her way did not seem keen to let her past.
"Well lookee here, a fine little filly out riding on her own! Right careless of her owner to let her loose like that."
"Turner, keep that fat slob away from me!" Helena shouted, backing her horse away from the tall, greasy man who was leering at her. Alvin Turner, leader of the five men, just grinned as Gunther continued to make lewd suggestions.
Helena was blushing so badly at what Gunther was saying, that she looked like she was going to boil over. The youngest of the five men, a tall smartly dressed kid, in an eastern style suit eventually said, "Knock it off Gunther!"
Gunther turned on his companion, and sent the young man flying from his horse with a hefty shove. "Shut your yap Carpenter, I ain't telling ya again! You wanna ride with us - shut the hell up!"
Ignoring his squabbling men, Alvin Turner stepped his horse towards Helena, not bothering to hide his lingering gaze at her shapely figure, even disguised as it was by baggey men's clothing. Helena kept a watchful eye on both Turner and Gunther and it wasn't until Josh Carpenter leapt to his feet and charged Gunther that she directed her full attention to Turner. "You were supposed to wait in Sweet River!"
"We got bored darlin' and decided to mosey on over and make sure you were alright."
Carpenter managed to pull Gunther from the saddle and the two men began trading blows. Turning her horse further away from Turner's advancing horse, Helena sneered, "Somehow I doubt that, Senor. Where's my money?"
Cocking his head slightly at her, Turner grinned darkly, "Where's the deed?"
The remaining two members of the group, Pete Dempsey and Joe Swanson were moving to get better views of the fight and cheering Carpenter on as he punched Gunther in the face. The over-weight man shrugged off the blow and flattened Carpenter with another solid punch.
"I got it," Helena replied, pulling the corner of a leather wallet out of her saddlebags, "the money?"
"Right here, darlin'" Turner drawled patting his groin and pulling out a small money bag from the front of his trousers. He tossed her the bag and Helena gingerly caught it, her disgust plain as she in turn tossed the deed to Turner, who immediately opened and read it.
Gunther succeeded in knocking Carpenter out cold and was about to kick the unconscious man in the ribs, when Turner pulled out his gun and pointed it in the large man's direction. "Gunther, leave the boy alone. He's got a job to do later and I ain't having him laid up cos' you can't keep your mouth shut."
Backing away from the prone body, Gunther snorted noisily and spat at young man, "Idiot."
Having pocketed her money, Helena tried to manoeuvre her way around the group, keeping as far from Gunther as possible. "Nice doing business with you Alvin, but I'll be going now."
Still facing Gunther and his men, Turner grinned nastily and pivoted in the saddle, bringing his drawn gun to bear on Helena. "Now, now my dear. I promised Gunther here at least a little morsel to make up for that slap back in Sweet River."
Paling at the implications of what Turner was saying, Helena tried to back down the trail, only to find that during the tail end of the fight, Pete and Joe had positioned themselves behind her. "In fact, I think everyone wanted a 'taste' of your oh-so-fine delights," Turner sneered as he and Gunther completed the circle around Helena.
The Watcher
It had been easy to follow Helena's trail through the hills, and when she had taken a well-travelled path that Vin knew often twisted around blind corners, he decided to take the high road and follow her on the scattered trails over the hills. Vin had eventually spotted Helena below him, as the young lady travelled along the winding route.
Fighting a yawn, Vin lost sight of Helena momentarily as she turned another corner and Vin suddenly found his way forward blocked. The trail over the hills deviated from running parallel to the trail below and Vin had to ride around a towering mound of rocks before he could see the trail again. When he finally circumvented the rocks a good 15 minutes later, the sight below made his blood run cold. Not only was Helena surrounded by some rough looking men, whose intentions were very clear judging by Helena's terrified expression but coming up the trail, unseen by the group surrounding Helena, was Don Diego and nearly twenty men.
But Tanner had to focus on Helena's more immediate problems before the thought about the approaching Don. A large, very greasy-looking man had dismounted and as Helena backed away from him, she unwittingly backed right into the grasp of another member of the gang, who grabbed her hair and roughly pulled her backwards off the horse.
Acting swiftly, Vin crested the small hill, pulled out his rifle and sighted down the weapon. The greasy weasel was trying to reach Helena, who was scrambling on her hands and knees, keeping the horse between her and her attacker. The rest of the group were laughing and jeering, moving back enough to give Helena room to manoeuvre - for a while.
She had never been so terrified in her life. Gunther made another grab for her but she managed to escape his grasping hands and keep her horse between them. But the horse was getting more and more skittish as the humans continued to scramble around its feet. Any second now, the horse would bolt and Helena would have nowhere to hide.
It all seemed to happen at once, her horse bolted through the gap left between Turner and Pete, and then Gunther was on her, grabbing her oversized shirt and pulling her towards him. And then a single, resounding shot echoed through the hills and Gunther, still with an excited grin on his face, toppled over, a neat bullet hole in the side of his head.
Before Helena even had time to breathe a sigh of relief, the sound of more horses approaching tore her gaze from the dead body lying beside her. Don Diego, his long black hair slicked over his skull and a hard smile on his face, rounded the corner.
Don Diego waved his hand forward and motioned for his men to surround the little group. No one had noticed that Carpenter was coming to, but just as the groaning young man sat up, his friends exploded into action, all four of them running before the Don could surround them.
Caught unawares, Carpenter wasn't prepared for Pete to grab his arm and hoist him up onto his saddle as they rode past, Turner in the lead. Shouting in pain as Pete's inept hold on his arm nearly dislocated his shoulder, Carpenter found himself on the back of Pete's horse, bouncing like a bundle of baggage.
"Get them you fools - Now!" Diego shrieked as the four outlaws rode away, leaving Gunther's body sprawled next to Helena. About ten of the Mexicans charged after Turner and his men, whooping and firing their pistols.
Helena realised she had jumped from the frying pan into the fire without making a move, as the rest of the Mexicans circled her and Gunther.
"So Helena - it seems you have run into a little trouble. Not quite what you planned 'eh?" Diego snapped as he guided his horse towards Helena, who scrambled backwards to escape the horse's hooves. The Don's horse was a massive Grey, nearly seventeen hands. Don Diego's father had trained the animal himself and it obeyed its rider's directions without hesitation. As the impressive animal loomed above her, its deeply muscled chest and legs coming closer and closer, Helena could not help but notice how big its hooves were.
"Diego I never meant…"
"Shut up! Where is the deed?"
Shaking almost uncontrollably, Helena stammered, "Turner, Alvin Turner has it - the man who rode away first, he has it."
"Damn you! You will pay for your treachery!"
"Please, Diego, please - I had no choice, I didn't want to," Helena cried, tears streaming down her face as the Don continued to advance on her, his horse casually crushing Gunther's hand as it passed the body.
Diego's face was a mask of fury, his eyes boring into Helena and his hands white-knuckled on the reins. "You lying, thieving whore! I will personally see you dead!" Diego shrieked, shaking his fist at Helena, his hair falling into his face.
Helena couldn't stop the small scream that emerged and she scrambled right up against one of Mexican's horses' legs behind her, "Please Diego - please!" Helena begged, trying to find some way out of this predicament. Her pleas only seemed to enrage the Don further and he shouted at a couple of men, ordering them to dismount and grab her.
As a pair of Mexicans obeyed their patròn and stood in their stirrups to dismount, Helena searched the faces above looking for any sort of help. All of the men stared back at her, offering no sympathy, a few of them laughing at her.
The first Mexican to dismount, his left foot still in the stirrup, was jerked off his feet when his horse reared as a series of shots snapped into the ground in front of it. Two more of the Mexicans were unseated as bullets thudded into the ground, incredibly missing any horse-flesh.
Helena reacted fast enough to dodge the flying hooves and surged to her feet. More shots echoed and one of the Don's men fell to the ground even as he struggled to get his horse under control.
Through the wheeling horses, and shouting men, Helena saw a rider on the top of the hill that rose above them. Three more shots were fired, puffs of tell-tale smoke rising from the hill, adding to the confusion as the Mexicans, including the Don, tried to restrain their animals. Not even the Don's highly trained Grey would stand still as bullets came too close for comfort.
And then the rider plunged down the steep hillside, his black horse running unerringly down the slope. The black gelding's hooves side-stepped loose rocks and sand, finding a clear path toward the bottom of the craggy hill. His rider lay back over the saddle, counterbalancing his horse's weight in the full tilt run. The pair moving in unison, working together made the difficult run look beautifully easy - the sure-footed beast trusting his rider to keep him balanced, the rider letting his steed run unhindered, keeping the reins in a loose hold.
Before the Don could react to the gunman riding exposed to return fire, he was among them, riding right through the startled Mexicans, leaning forward on his saddle. The big black horse sped past the Don and its rider leant down like an Indian and grabbed the startled lady's arm and swung her up behind him. Then the pair disappeared around the corner, in a clatter of hooves.
Momentarily stunned, the Don realised that Helena had escaped him again.
"NO!"
