Disclaimers: Don't own them; don't make any profit off of them. All of the Magnificent Seven characters belong to MGM, Mirisch, Trilogy, and CBS. The original characters belong to me. Please do not use them unless you ask. Thank you.
Special notes: Thanks to my beta readers Judi, Paula, Linda, and Lyn.
Special, SPECIAL THANKS to Linda Backer for allowing me to refer to two of her fics. If you will notice, the twins and their family do not exist in this story, since I am using the background Linda Backer created from her fics "Dragons" and "Baggage".
All original characters portrayed in every fan fiction on this website, including characters' names, are fictitious and have no relation to nor reflection upon anyone living or dead.
The sky had finally cleared after the early spring snowfall. The folks, especially children, who had never seen snow were outside wondering at the white, icy wonder. Most of the snow from a particularly late cold front from northern Canada would be melted by the next afternoon, but it would stay blanketed there the rest of the day and night. It would surely melt by noon the next day, so anyone who could was out marveling at it and playing in it. Most were at the end of town in the meadow they mostly used during spring and summer months for picnics and other town activities. Men who had stayed in the area for the last ten years were busy telling anyone who would listen that they couldn't remember a snowfall like this since back before the town was even settled.
"Must have near ten years back when we last got snow. It was right after that one Apache raid on the first settlers in Eagle Bend." Yosemite had the clearest recollection having settled in Eagle Bend before moving on to Four Corners. "Didn't last, though. Just melted as it hit the ground."
"Yep, but about 8 years after the Mexican War, I was through here tracking some renegades who'd attacked a wagon train," Big Foot was standing next to Yosemite. Both men were surrounded by children who were listening impatiently as they were itching to get back into the snow. "That time it was 'bout this time a year an' the snow stayed almost two days. Then, the rains came and washed it all away." Noticing his audience was about to rebel, he smiled knowingly at Yosemite. "Bout time you younguns were building some snowmen, don't ya think?"
"We don't know nuthin 'bout buildin' no snowmen." Young Josh was leaning against the tree bundled in the warm coat he'd worn all winter. Dallas was leaning on the other side, typically quiet but listening intently. He turned to Josh and nodded toward John Henry, who had finally broken away from the others and was busy sticking his mittened hands in the magically white substance along with Billy and the Potter kids. The feral grin on Dallas's face boded such mischief that Josh seemed to understand without words. Both leaned over, rolled a ball of snow each, and then let the snowballs lose with piercing yells. Both snowballs hit John Henry right in the face as he turned around to see what had made his friends yell.
"Josh, Dallas, I'm, gonna git you both!" The snowball fight erupted with much yelling, shouting, and laughter. Dallas and Josh put up a brave fight, but John Henry had been joined by Billy and the Potter kids. Their superior numbers were able to make and throw more snowballs, but Josh and Dallas were more accurate in their shots. Big Foot and Yosemite, laughing uproariously were about to call the snowball fight of '76 a draw when John Henry let loose a rebel yell and threw the final snowball right at Josh and Dallas. Both boys ducked as Dallas barely touched the icy sphere with the tip of his fingers doing little more than rerouting the snowball's trajectory. He turned around to see his handywork when he stopped and pulled Josh behind him. Everyone stopped in deadly silence as the snowball hit Chris Larabee right in the center of his beloved black hat that had been pulled low over his forehead barely allowing his icy green eyes to be seen. No one moved. No one made a sound. The six men and four women who had followed him and Bull Sampson down the street to hear what all the commotion was about stood completely still. Vin Tanner, who was standing on the other side of Chris when the frozen projectile had hit him, had immediately dropped his head and was staring at the ground trying desperately to contain the laughter that was threatening to erupt. The look on Chris's face was worth a bullet, but somehow he managed to wipe the grin from his face as he turned to watch his best friend grab the rest of the snowball from his hat with a growl.
A gulp was finally heard. Josh stuck his head out from behind Dallas, his eyes huge. John Henry gulped again. He was going to get it now. Standing by himself with Billy and the Potters standing between him and Yosemite and Big Foot, John Henry saw his brief life pass before his eyes. He was about to drop to his knees and beg Mr. Larabee not to shoot him when he heard a snort of a giggle cut off by Dallas's hand pressed over Josh's mouth. The aborted giggle was followed seconds later by a louder snort of laughter. Vin Tanner had lost the battle to control his laughter as Larabee shaped what was left of the snowball back into a small icy sphere. He knew what was about to happen, and he stepped to the side to give Larabee room to maneuver. Everyone erupted in laughter as the gunman nailed John Henry in the middle of the forehead with the remnants of the snowball that John Henry had thrown at him. John Henry's answering giggle had just a bit of hysteria to it, but he quickly recovered and ran up to the laughing man in black and gave him a spontaneous hug around the legs. Larabee lifted the giggling boy by his belt and raised him to eye level. His grin widened as he saw the glint in John Henry's eyes.
"You shot my hat, son. You know what I've done to men who've even tried to shoot my hat?" deadpanned Larabee.
"Sorry, Mr. Chris. I was aimin' for Josh an' Dallas."
Larabee grinned at John Henry; and, then, winking at him, Chris gently dropped him to the ground. He screwed the boy's woolen cap onto his head covering his eyes and spinning him. John Henry pulled his cap up and ran off still giggling to join his friends. The kids had all surrounded the newcomers laughing and trying to get everyone's attention at once. Mary patted Larabee on the back as she walked towards her son and Mrs. Potter's children. She had no doubt the rest of the town had already heard them shout that they and not the others had won the snowball fight. Mrs. Potter and Inez were listening to each of the children without showing the damage their ears were undergoing that their shouting surely must have caused. No one heard the whispered discussion between Tanner and Larabee.
"You know what I call 'em, don't ya, Vinnie?" Chris had made Vin buy him a new hat just because Chris's hat had been shot off of Vin's head and sent flying into the river with Vin still wearing it when Vin had saved Chris's, Mary's, and Billy's lives from the killers after Larabee (*see Linda Backer's "Dragons"). Vin still thought Chris was being unreasonable about the hat, but for the most part he thought the incident was funny now that it was all behind them and all involved were safe.
"You're an ungrateful sonovabitchin cowboy. I saved your sorry ass, n' look at the thanks I get."
"You lost my hat."
"I bought you a new one, didn't I?"
"Not til after you came back drunker than a skunk an' yellin' at the top of your lungs trying to keep Buck quiet about it."
"It was Bucklin's idea not ta tell ya. Sides, I got shot and like near broke my neck savin' ya. I brought your duster back in one piece."
"It had a hole the size of Texas along with your blood all over it."
This argument had been a regular event ever since Vin had come back from Texas with Chris and Josiah. There was never an end to it, both men doing their best to get the final word. This time, Buck stopped the argument before it ended in its usual bottle of whiskey being shared by the two men in companionable silence.
"Hey, you boys come over here. JD's gonna show these boys how to build a big ole snowman like he used to build back in Boston."
"Ain't got much snow left here to build a snowman, Buck." JD saw the disappointed faces in front of him when Josiah walked up.
"Plenty of snow between the hotel and the church. Built up a real nice pile of it sweeping it off the boardwalk this morning. Probably hasn't melted any what with it being in the shade."
"We could build him on the bench right outside the church. Can we, Mr. Josiah?" John Henry was over any fright his earlier mishap had caused. The others agreed, and soon everyone had made the walk back into town. Chris took up his seat outside the saloon with Vin leaning against the post to the left of him, since Buck had commandeered his regular chair to the right of Chris. The ladies' man winked at Inez as she walked by him. She tossed the wet rag she had been carrying when she had left the saloon right in Buck's grinning face to investigate what was causing the ruckus.
Buck turned to the two men who were laughing at him. "She wants me."
Tanner snorted at Buck's wishful thinking, but Larabee turned a knowing eye on Buck. "I reckon when Inez slapped you yesterday that was a sign that you were the only man for her, stud." Larabee smirked at Buck's glare while Tanner shook his head, the grin on his face getting bigger if that was possible.
"Don't look at me, Bucklin. I just naturally duck whenever you try smooth talkin' Inez."
The ladies' man decided to ignore his two friends and change the subject. "Look at that sorry snowman. Ain't even big enough to sit on that bench. He needs something special." Grinning ear to ear, Buck sauntered across the street to give some moral support and even more unwanted advice. Vin lazily took his vacated chair and proceeded to lean back precariously on its hind legs.
"You're gonna end up on your ass one day sittin' like that."
"Thanks for the warnin', dad." Tanner didn't even bother to look at the glare directed in his direction due to the heated discussion across the street. "Looks like Buck's got JD's dander up agin."
"Yep, might as well go see what he's up to. He gets them kids all upset, 'n Mary's gonna take it outa your hide."
"You'd like that wouldn't ya?" Larabee knocked Vin's hat off as he walked by him. Knowing the younger man would follow as soon as he had retrieved his hat, Chris walked over to where JD and Buck were arguing back and forth while Ezra, Josiah, Nathan, and the other children stood grinning ear to ear.
"It's a snowman, Buck. A snow man!," JD enunciated every syllable like Buck was deaf as well as acting like an idiot. "We ain't gonna put a dress on it."
"Well, then at least give 'em your hat to use. If it's a man, he needs a hat. Course that sorry excuse for a hat would look as funny on that snowman as it does on you." JD tugged his hat back and shoved it on his head glaring at Buck. "All right, keep your sorry hat." Looking at Chris, Buck got an evil grin on his face. He turned JD to face Chris. "We need a black hat, JD. Everyone knows snowmen wear black hats."
"I believe it is a stovetop hat, Mr. Wilmington," said Ezra, knowing exactly whose hat Buck wanted to put on the weak little snowman.
"Well, we ain't got one since Mr. Daniels went over to help out in Eagle Bend at that funeral for their undertaker. Chris's hat's the only black hat we got handy."
"You lay a hand on my hat, an' I'm gonna shoot ya, Buck."
The children looked shocked as Buck continued with his plan. "C'mon, Chris. This little fella needs somethin' to make him look mean. Your hat would do it. Hell, we just put a black scarf 'round his neck 'n put a gunbelt on him with a cheroot in his mouth. Folks'll take one look at him, recognize ya, and flat die of fright. What'd ya say? Can we use it?"
The answer was a glare that would have melted the biggest snowman in Boston, but Larabee wasn't budging from his earlier stand. His hat was staying right where it was, on his head. He didn't care if there was a whole army after him. It had taken him months to break in that new hat Vin had given him to replace his old one. Chris knew Buck, and his mind was full of the probable things Buck might do. 'No way Buck's gettin' his hands on it. Damn idiot'd probably put red dye or cow shit in it an' laugh like hell when I put it all trust'n' like on my head.'
Ezra prevented any murders in front of the children by using all of his charm. Turning to Buck, he said, "I believe Mr. Larabee does not desire this symbol of his unique character to absorb any more melted snow, Mr. Wilmington. As a man who appreciates a fine chapeau, I am sure you can understand Mr. Larabee's reluctance to allow his to be used to decorate this unique snow, uhm," Ezra looked at the children and repented his choice of words, "this finely crafted snowman." The children beamed at him while the vein in Chris's forehead began to throb.
Ezra was not adverse to throwing kerosene on the fire if it set that vein throbbing in Larabee's forehead, but bloodshed in front of the children would have Judge Travis swoop down upon them like the proverbial dragon breathing fire. No, Larabee must not be allowed to shoot Buck no matter how deserving the ladies' man was, nor how fascinated Vin and Ezra were at how they along with Buck and JD could set off the twitch Larabee would get when apprised of one of their many escapades. The fascination lay in what the rigidly controlled Larabee might do one day when his four younger friends had finally driven him over the edge. A healthy dose of fear intermixed with that fascination had not yet succeeded in stopping the four of them in the slightest from their ongoing wager as to who would finally get Larabee to snap. Well, six men and two women had an ongoing wager. They had been forced to allow Josiah, Nathan, and the ladies in on it, since they had been threatened with the exposure of their harmless wager to Larabee, whom Vin had said would not be pleased at all. Concurring with Tanner, Ezra had graciously allowed Misters Sanchez and Jackson, Mrs. Travis, and the 'wizened crone', Nettie Wells, to lay their own wagers. Not that any of those friends and dear ladies had even the remotest chance of victory. Ezra and Vin had already estimated just how far they could push 'big brother' before the infamous Larabee temper would explode. They were adventurous, not stupid. Neither man wanted Chris's wrath visited upon their heads. They enjoyed the fireworks prior to the explosion, but they always made certain never to push that last button. Vin was right when he had remarked once that it was a great deal like baiting a wounded grizzly. However, both men enjoyed the spice living on the edge afforded them.
Billy broke into Ezra's reveries. Not wanting his idol to get hung for shooting his friend over a hat, the young boy jumped in.
"I got an old hat my dad used to wear sometimes when we went fishin'. I'll go ask my ma for it." With that the youngster ran off returning shortly with a very old and misshapen hat that had stains on it that looked suspiciously like mud and grass stains. Obviously his dad was a messy fisherman. Finally, the children had run happily off to super, certain that they would get to see their snow sculpture the next morning. Their peacekeepers had promised to keep it safe. Those same peacekeepers and town folk then retired to their respective businesses or homes for the evening. JD had been heard to mutter to Buck that if he had only kept out of it, JD and the children could have talked Chris into loaning them his black hat. As it was, the snowman looked more like a scarecrow left drunk in the yard during a light snowfall. His charcoal eyes were sunken in like he was suffering from a terrible hangover. Even his carrot nose was twisted like someone had punched him in the nose and broken it. All in all it was pathetic compared to some of the snowmen JD had built throughout his life. Chris heard JD's comment, just as he heard Buck tell JD not to worry, that he had an idea how to make the snowman look formidable.
Chris nodded goodbye to Vin as the younger man mounted up and went on his patrol. He wasn't expected back until morning because he had promised Nettie he would swing by her place before dark to feed her livestock and then stay until first light before he came back. Nathan was going to allow Casey to go home within the next two days depending on how her ankle was. They had been staying with Mary, since Casey had sprained her ankle after the altercation between two drunks who had been shoving each other just inside the front door of Mrs. Potter's. Someone else besides Chris had heard JD and Buck as they argued, as quiet as they could, how to make the snowman look bigger, stronger, and fiercer instead of the skinny, scrawny, pathetic looking, lopsided, mashed up, disfigured snowman that he was.
It was done. There was no turning back now. The course was set; let the chips fall where they would. In less than half an hour, Chris Larabee would awake and see the sick joke that Vin was gazing at now. Someone had moved the bench in front of the church with the pathetic looking snowman into the middle of the street. It would be the first thing anyone leaving the boarding house would see. He had seen it as he had ridden in. The apparition had drawn him from the front of the livery to ride his horse around it. Yosemite, just opening the livery, followed Tanner, curious as to why the man had stopped, looked down the street, did a doubletake, and then ridden in that direction. The curiosity would be the first thing Chris Larabee would see, and Vin surmised that before the day was out, Chris Larabee was going to shoot someone.
The little snowman looked anything but pathetic now. It looked downright comical. Someone, some intrepid soul or some idiot with a death wish, had somehow gotten Larabee's black hat. Right in front of Vin stood the comical representation of a snowman sporting Chris Larabee's hat tilted at a rakish angle but managing to barely hide two green eyes. Vin snorted in laughter as he took a closer look. Brussel sprouts, someone had used brussel sprouts as eyes. He pulled on the reins, sitting back in the saddle to prevent the horse from trying to get the leafy green vegetables.
'Damn! There was even a half-smoked cheroot dangling from the snowman's mouth.'
Trying not to double over and fall off of his horse, Vin couldn't help himself when he saw the little leather strap tied around what should have been the snowman's waist with what looked like a wooden toy gun tucked neatly between the strap and the black vest that had been draped over the snowman.
"Someone's gonna die today." Yosemite came to stand by Vin as he sat spellbound on his horse.
"Yep. Sorry you had to walk down here after my horse, but I couldn't believe that what I was seeing was really this." Vin motioned at the icy rendition of Chris Larabee. "He ain't gonna like this at all."
"No sir, he ain't. It's kinda funny lookin', ain't it?"
"Oh yeah, you gonna stay around 'til he sees it?"
"I think if Roy's up, I'll come back after I take your horse down to the livery."
"Don't take long. He oughta be here pretty soon."
"Who ought to be here soon?" Josiah walked up, not seeing the object of scrutiny because Vin astride his horse blocked his view.
"Mr. Larabee." Turning to Vin while Josiah took the few steps to see the apparition, Yosemite continued speaking to Vin. "You see who did it?"
"Nope, but I'd like to tell him ta run, an' don't stop til he's got the ocean between him an' Larabee. He's gonna be pissed." Vin was trying hard not to grin every time he looked at it.
"Don't look much like Chris." Josiah had stopped laughing long enough to add his two cents worth to the conversation.
"Nope, but if that ain't his hat, I'll eat mine. Someone got his hat outta his room while he was sleepin'."
"He's gonna kill 'em, brother. I best go prepare for a funeral. Later though. Might as well stay here an' see which one he's gonna shoot first."
"Yep," Vin said as he stepped down from his horse. "Obliged, but ya'd better hurry, Yosemite."
Yosemite grinned and took the horse by the reins. Since there was food in the livery, the man had no trouble getting the horse to pick up its pace. "Be back in a flash."
"Think I got time to go get Nathan?"
"Oh yeah. I'll save you a good spot."
Vin walked across the street, choosing to lean against the post where he could have a good view. It was a shame Ezra was sleeping late, but he had no doubt the gunshots would wake the gambler. It was fifteen minutes to the time that Josiah, Nathan, Yosemite, and a few other curious people had joined them to observe the strange little snowman. It was tilting even further as the late cold front that had brought the snow had dissipated leaving the air merely cool. Little drops of water were dripping on the ground. The ink was drying on the first page of the morning newspaper, the rest of the day's printing coming to a halt. There were about five other people moving around when Chris Larabee appeared at the door of the boarding house. The look on his face forced the others to try and control the grins and laughter threatening to burst forth. He was hatless, his blond hair shining. Dressed in black, he looked as if he had a golden halo encircling him. However, his facial expression did nothing angelic for him. In fact, anyone standing close to him could see the vein throbbing in his forehead. Vin saw it. So, too did the group around him.
"SONOVABITCH! BUCK! JD! I'M GONNA SHOOT BOTH OF YOU AN' LEAVE YER SORRY ASSES FOR THE BUZZARDS!"
"I hope they got their horses saddled an' ready to ride. I sure don't feel like diggin' no bullets outta them two idiots."
Nathan had barely gotten that out than the side show began. JD, having been left by Buck to take his duty at the jail, jumped out the door with guns drawn though he was somewhat bleary-eyed in the sunlight.
"What's wrong, Chris?" Then, words left him as he saw what was left of the rapidly melting snowman. "Ain't that your hat, Chris?" His eyes bulged as the Larabee glare pinned him to the spot. His heart slamming in his chest, JD threw back his head as Chris stalked toward the melting snowman. "BUCK?? YOU GET OUT HERE, NOW!"
Grabbing his wet hat before the melting snowman toppled over, Larabee never once took his eyes off of JD.
"I swear I didn't do it, Chris. I swear. Buck tried to get into your room last... Uh oh," gulping, JD turned and ran as fast as his legs could carry him straight into the alley just as Buck came through the saloon doors.
"Reckon he'll stop runnin' long enough to stop an' get a horse, brothers?" Vin and Nathan started laughing. Larabee tooks his eyes from Buck long enough to shoot them a withering glare. The others just started laughing harder.
"What the hell is goin' on, Chris?" Buck paused to pull on his other boot. He had one arm in his sleeve, his faded red long johns exposed from his unbuttoned pants to his half pulled on shirt. "What the hell is that ugly thing? That the pathetic little snowman? Hey, would you look at that? Someone gave him a cheroot like you smoke. Hey, Chris, why you lookin' at me like that? Chris?" Ezra walked up grumbling about the noise disturbing his repose when he caught sight of Chris stalking a bewildered Buck.
"Is that apparition the pathetic excuse for a snowman?" He got no further when Larabee's growl interrupted him.
"Someone put my hat on him. They snuck into my room like the dirty, low-down polecats they are an' stole my hat an' put it on that damned hunk a ice you an' JD called a snowman. I'm thinkin' it was you, Buck. You an' JD."
"Me, now wait a minute, Chris. It weren't me. I was with Molly last night." Chris halted his advance for just a moment. He looked at the empty space the guilty JD Dunne had just vacated running like the hounds of hell were chasing him.
"Now, Mr. Wilmington, didn't I hear you and your paramour outside in the wee hours of the morning taking what I imagine was a moonlit walk before dawn?" Ezra was grinning at Buck. Buck's eyes widened as far as possible as he looked at his former friend.
"I was walkin' her over from my room. Ain't safe for a woman to be out after dark." Buck was just warming up when he saw Chris begin stalking him again. "Now, stud. It wasn't me. You get that look outta your eyes right now. Ya can't shoot me. We've been friends since before the war. You know I wouldn't pull a stunt like that on you." Buck's words fell on deaf ears for his audience all knew that this stunt was indeed one that he would pull on his oldest friend. Seeing no help and Chris getting closer, Wilmington did the only thing he could do. He took out running down the same alley JD had escaped down. By that time, JD had both of their horses out of the livery waiting on Buck. Some kind soul had taken the forethought to saddle their horses for them. JD was already at a trot leading Buck's moving horse behind him. Buck took a running jump to his saddle with Larabee right on his heels. With a yell that woke up the rest of the town, Buck Wilmington and JD Dunne barely escaped the grizzly by the name of Chris Larabee that was chasing them. They were so scared at the time that they just fled for safety, never once bothering to ask why the other had not let him in on the joke played that had been played on Chris.
Meanwhile, Chris turned and shot the brussel sprouts that had been used as his eyes. The bullets lodged into the bench. He turned his glare onto his audience. The children who had so gleefully built the snowman were standing partially dressed staring with their mouths wide open. It hit Chris that he had just shot what was left of their snowman.
"Yep, cowboy. You sure taught that thievin' puddle of water that you don't take kindly to no one stealin' your hat." Snickers and snorts of laughter were abruptly cut off as Larabee turned slowly around to stare at Vin Tanner.
Then, the man in black started grinning. Wise men started backing up in fear, but all Larabee did was look at his remaining friends and ask a question, "You think they'll stop runnin' sometime tomorrow long enough to wonder where I am?" Everyone burst out laughing as the man in black joined them.
"I had no idea Mr. Wilmington could run that fast without an angry father following behind with a shotgun."
"Hell, I didn't know JD could either, brothers."
"They won't stop till they get 'cross the border." Nathan slapped Josiah on the back.
"Reckon they'll notice you ain't chasin' by the time they get to Purgatorio," Vin drawled.
"Naw, I say Mexico City is when they'll stop runnin' long enough to notice I ain't chasin' 'em."
"Anyone care to place a wager on that?"
"I do," Nathan said the same time as Josiah's, "Count me in."
"How much, Mr. Tanner?"
"Whatever Chris gives ya."
"Me? Why am I givin' Ezra money for you?"
"Cuz I ain't got none, cowboy."
"I ain't got none. Hell, Tanner, you probably got the first dollar you ever made."
"If he does, brothers, he's got it hid real good."
"I'm with Josiah on this one, Chris. I think Vin's been connin' y'all makin' y'all think he ain't got no money. I say he's got a bundle his somewheres we don't know about."
"I take umbrage to that character slur, Mr. Jackson. I can not be conned."
"Sure, Ezra. Whatever you say. Since you're up so early today, you get to buy breakfast." Nathan looked at Ezra grinning. The gambler returned the smile his gold tooth glinting in the sun. This, too, was an argument that had no end. Besides, breakfast was free to the seven men courtesy of Four Corners.
"Why, it would be my pleasure, Mr. Jackson. Mr. Larabee, my fellow compatriots, could I interest you gentlemen in a small repast?"
The discussion continued down the street into the dining room. Not one of the men seemed to hear Mary Travis's question of who was going to move the bench back in front of the church. Yosemite's laugh drew her attention, and her eyes swung to him. Sighing in exaggeration, the man lifted the bench and carried it back to its spot in front of the church. He grinned walking down the street wondering who had slipped in earlier to saddle those horses. Had to be someone the horses trusted; someone who could sneak up on a fellow or into a building without anyone being the wiser. Yes, it had to be someone who was just as good as any thief conning those horses into remaining silent, or someone raised by Indians. Only two people came to mind who would be brave enough to chance Larabee's wrath without anyone being the wiser. Yosemite walked back to the livery grinning ear to ear. Four Corners sure had improved a lot, since the seven came to protect their town. Even the entertainment was lively and fun. However, he was not the only one to wonder at who had really gotten Larabee's hat onto the snowman without the gunman being any the wiser.
"You think Buck and JD really did it, Mary?"
"No, Nettie, I'm thinking the same person or persons you're thinking about did it."
"He's a wonder, my boy, ain't he? And him with that other rascal are just this side of dangerous."
"I'd think they were both yours if I didn't know you never had any sons, Nettie." Both women walked arm and arm back to the Clarion. They knew who the culprits were, but they doubted that anyone else would for a long time. Well, Chris might, but he would never say a word for it had been worth the use of his hat to see JD and Buck light out of town looking as scared and as guilty as only those two did.
Vin Tanner took a sip of hot coffee and managed to catch the eye of his fellow conspirator across the table. Ezra Standish merely returned a smirk in his direction. They had done it, managed to carry it off. No one would ever figure it out because they had planned it to the last detail. It had been Tanner's idea, and had been so brilliantly planned in so short a time, that the Southerner had no choice but to join in. It was, in fact, the best pay off for all the practical jokes JD and Buck had been pulling lately. Neither Buck nor JD would ever know that Tanner had actually conned Larabee into helping them carry out the deed. Buck and JD had been truly had this time, and it would take a long time for them to retaliate even when they discovered who had set them up.
Vin had decided the best way to get Larabee back over the 'Vinnie' (See Linda Backer's "Baggage") incident was to get him through his hat. And what better way than to do that than with a willing victim? For Vin and Ezra owed Buck and JD even more for three miserable weeks of their lives. However, that had been minor compared to what Buck and JD had done to Vin and Ezra.
Vin leaned back in his chair. He was feeling good right now, and he knew Ezra was feeling just as satisfied as he was at how well their little plan had gone. He paused to wonder if that English fellow by the name of Shakespeare was not really the one to blame for this whole mess. But giving Vin a copy of Shakespeare's LEAR was Bucklin's fault. He had given Vin the copy about a month ago. Vin had been riveted by the play, marveling at the way Shakespeare used the written word to express such betrayal, loss, and even the redemption of facing the truth about oneself and the world. It had inspired the tracker to write about a subject he was often loathe to discuss once he had understood the magnitude of what he had helped to destroy. Seems the poem Vin had jotted down about his sorrow for the killing of the buffalo on the corner of Mary's newspaper had been found by one Buck Wilmington. So touched was he by the eloquent but simply stated sentiment, Buck had shown it to the applicant for the town's school teacher position claiming he was the poet.
Eagle Bend had offered blue-eyed Miss Jansen forty dollars more a year to teach in their school, so Four Corners and Buck had lost the beautiful young school marm before Buck had had a chance to woo and win her. She had given Buck the copy of Shakespeare's sonnets just before the stage had whisked her off to her new home and job. The book was a remembrance of her for him just as she would always treasure the lovely poem he had written for her. The frustrated ladies' man had tossed Vin the small leathered bound book when the tracker had told Buck it served him right to only get a book and not the departing kiss Buck had hoped for.
"A man ought not to steal another man's words," was Vin's comment to Buck.
The ladies' man had retaliated by telling Christine Milton that Vin was sweet on her. The fact that she was as homely as a horse but as promiscuous as a cat in heat was only made worse by the fact she had three brothers. Not one, no, she had three brothers the size of Josiah and meaner than a wet cat tied in a bag and left to starve. It was enough to send Vin into hiding. The dang seventeen-year old, love-sick girl had followed Vin around town for a week and a half finding all his hiding places with the help of Buck and JD until Vin had managed to set her cow eyes on Ezra. 'Hell, what good were friends if you couldn't torture them once in a while?'
Just watching the doe-eyed Christine simper at Ezra was just recompense for Ezra always using those big words around him. Vin had taken to looking some of them up in the dictionary at the Clarion office just to be sure the con man was not insulting him. Thus, Vin's vocabulary had increased tenfold. He liked plain speaking, and no big-worded friend like Ezra was going to change him. But some of those damned words were so perfect in expressing the way Vin felt, they just sorta tumbled out of his mouth without his knowing it.
The girl had taken to following Vin everywhere. Buck and JD had pointed out every place Vin must have been hiding as he had tried desperately to avoid Christine. She had even tried to enter the bathhouse with Vin in order to scrub his back before Vin had come up with a plan to foist her off onto Ezra. Chris had kept his head down and covered by the new black hat that had caused Vin a world of trouble, but Vin had seen Chris's shoulders shaking from the laughter Larabee was trying to his best to keep hidden. Larabee might have managed to control his mirth and thus avoid being drafted into Vin's best payback, but Chris had lost it when JD had spit the big gulp of milk he had just ingested all over Ezra's new coat. Ezra's shocked rush to save his coat had been the only thing that saved him from Vin's revenge, that plus the fact Vin had managed to pawn Christine off on him. He had even managed to con Ezra into thinking that Buck had sent the Milton she-cat after the Southerner.
Josiah and Nathan had been away at the reservation rendering medical aid to Chanu's father and several others from a weak virus that had caused fever and nausea. The tribe had lost too many people, young and old, from the bad case of flu that had hit Four Corners and the reservation in November. Nathan had calmed many people's fears by telling them that whatever the Indians had, it was not deadly. The illness had merely rendered the victims very uncomfortable and very weak for a week or so, and then it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Nathan and Josiah thought it had to do with tainted food supplies from the Army that the Indians had eaten. No one would ever know what actually had caused the illness, but it had kept Josiah and Nathan off of Vin's list of friends who needed to be taught a lesson.
Oh yes, their friends had to pay and pay dearly. Vin Tanner was not a man to be trifled with. Neither was Ezra Standish one to stand idly by while someone was having a great deal of fund at his expense. So with complete disregard to his own health he had set up their revenge at the last minute. The late snowfall presented the perfect opportunity, and his friends were feeling safe. Josiah, or was it Ezra, was right when he had said revenge was a dish best served cold. Or was it that Shakespeare fella? Vin figured it was the bard himself, since only he could say something so powerful in so few words. Ezra would have said enough to fill a book when he was being profound, and Josiah's was just plain confusing sometimes when he was teaching a lesson with words. Well, didn't matter much who'd said it, Vin just thought they were right.
Fini
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