Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Upon riding into the locality of Coventry, Alexandra Styles came to one firm conclusion; she did not like the place.
If a town could reflect an inherent deterioration of its moral centre in the wooden walls of its buildings, in the paint that covered the store signs or in the fibre of dresses worn by the women sweeping across the dusty boardwalks, then Coventry reeked with the malevolence. After they had unhitched the horses from their damage carriage, Alex and Casey had ridden towards Coventry, despite Mary's continued protestations that this was a bad idea. Unfortunately, with the rain showing no signs of abating and nightfall approaching rapidly, the women of Four Corners were left with little choice but to resort to this course of action.
Having changed into fresh clothes and donning riding coats for trip, they were still nevertheless soaked by the time they entered town. Most of Coventry's residents were indoors but a few people poked their heads out long enough to observe their arrival. Their faces revealed intimidation and fear and Alex could not help but wonder how one man could inspire so much terror in the local populace and decided that she would heed Mary's advice to not encounter him if it was humanly possible. Coventry was not a big town. In fact, it was a good deal smaller than Four Corners with most of the businesses in town converging on the one street.
However, unlike Four Corners, Coventry did not appear to be thriving. It lacked the hustle and bustle of a community on the road to progress. Even on rainy days, there was still a lot of coming and goings at Four Corners, enough to remind everyone who lived there that the future was an endless string of possibilities waiting to come off the next stage. Coventry did not possess that vitality. What it did have was a pall of gloom that nestled over the town like a thick veneer of dust. If Alex was forced to put a name to the atmosphere, she would describe it as being stagnant as if held in place without hope of change ever.
"I don't like this town." Casey whispered as she let her eyes survey the town before her and felt something sinister about Coventry she could not define even though nothing had taken place that would indicate any danger.
"You and me both." Alex shuddered but tried to remain centred because Casey needed to see it. "Let's just find the livery and see about buying another carriage, I'll settle for a wagon if need be."
"Why?" Casey looked at her confused. "We only need a wheel."
"Yes," Alex agreed. "Unfortunately we'll need someone to change it and I prefer that we do not have any more to do with Coventry than absolutely necessary. I think Mary was right, the sooner we get out of here, the better."
Hearing Alex speak that way made Casey nervous because nothing fazed the doctor. In that respects, she was a lot like Vin Tanner, except that Alex did not take things quietly when things got the better of her. Casey had come to consider Alex like a big sister she never had because Alex was brave and smart and always willing to listen whenever Casey needed to talk. If Alex was afraid then Casey believed with complete faith that there was good reason to fear.
They did not get off their horses as they continued through town, knowing instinctively that while they were near their mounts, there was chance of escape. The duo continued to the livery, deciding that was no need to waste time with sight seeing and found the establishment in question soon enough. It was located to the edge of town where most places like this were often situated, mostly because the riders who stabled their horses and carriages here preferred to take the fastest route of Coventry once the decision was made to depart.
The livery was as ramshackle as the man who ran it. He was an old codger with missing teeth and was dressed in overalls that hung off his bony frame. He regarded the duo with a salacious leer that immediately made Alex's skin crawl as he approached them. Judging from the selection of wagons and buggy becoming rustier with each drop of rain that fell upon them in the open, Alex gathered they would be lucky to leave this place with something that could even be yoked to a horse without falling apart completely.
"What can I do for yer?" He asked, wearing that stupid grin that made Alex want to take her business elsewhere. Unfortunately, she had no choice since he appeared to be the only livery owner in town and Alex had a feeling he was more than aware of this fact too, which probably attributed to the smug expression he was wearing on his leathery face.
"I'm looking to buy a carriage that will take at least six people." Alex replied while Casey looked around at what was available. It had been decided prior to their arrival here that Casey had a better eye for what they were looking for than she did and Alex would be relying upon her knowledge to make the purchase. Aside from her small buggy, Alex had very little need for such things and would have no idea what would make a good acquisition based on her own judgement
"How far you're going?" He asked, still eying them both like they were tasty slabs of meat. His leering gaze made Alex uncomfortable and the doctor felt like she needed a bath to wash the stink of his lewd inclinations off her skin following this encounter.
"Four Corners." Alex answered, not wishing to let him know anything more than was utterly necessary. Four Corners was roughly the same distance from here to Sweet Water so if he was making the inquiry for reasons that might pertain to the kind of transportation they needed, it would be almost the same as telling them where they were really going.
"Hmmm..." He considered, running his thumb over his stubbled chin as he walked along the selection of wagons and buggies Casey was perusing. As noticed before, the selection was hardly impressive and appeared to be second hand goods that had been accumulated over time. They were left out in the open, forced to endure the elements with hardly any time spent towards maintenance. Alex had a feeling, they would come away from here with a wagon that was barely road worthy let alone comfortable.
"What about this one?" He directed her attention to a rather rickety contraption that did not look as if it would go ten paces with one person let alone the six that were required to make the journey to Sweet Water.
"Mister that thing is falling apart." Casey blurted without hesitation as she wrinkled her nose in disgust that he would try to pawn off such an obvious wreck upon them. It was insulting and demeaning to both her and Alex. "There are cracks in the wheel and it would just go to pieces the first bump we hit."
The livery owner frowned at the young woman darkly as he realised that he was not dealing with two uniformed women he could swindle out of their money with cheap goods. In an instant, all his hopes of making some profit out of this venture and ridding himself of what was normally immovable goods, were dashed with Casey's well informed response. "Well, it could use a bit of work." He muttered reluctantly, unable to think of anything else to say that would salvage his dignity.
"A bit of work?" Casey snorted derisively, unprepared to give him the chance and shook her head in disgust as she regarded another wagon located not too far from the one he was attempting to foist upon them. While it was hardly aesthetically pleasing too look at, it did seem to appear sturdy enough for their purposes, unlike the owner's preference whose condition was so dilapidated that it was danger to anyone who purchased it. "We'll take this one." Casey stated decisively, with a tone in her voice that required no argument from anyone. Upon making that statement, she glanced at Alex and offered something of an explanation regarding her choice. "I know its pretty old looking but I think its in good shape to get us where we're going." She avoided speaking their true destination since Alex had gone out of her way not to mention it earlier.
"This one?" The man complained with a slight whine to his voice. The rig in question was one of his better pieces of stock and he knew that he could not bluff his way into acquiring an exorbitant price for it with this young lady who appeared to know what she was talking about.
"We'll give you thirty dollars for it and not a penny more." Casey met his eyes firmly and set her jaw firmly, revealing that she was not open to negotiation on this point. However, she did take a momentary glimpse in Alex's direction and was rewarded with a slight nod of approval from the doctor.
The man frowned unhappily because it was indeed a fair of price. Unfortunately, it was not the large sum he had hoped to trick them into paying and yet despite his chagrin at being outwitted out of his money, he was still too filled with greed to turn down what was offered. "Alright then," he grumbled, deciding that something was better than nothing and it was not as if customers were beating a path to his doors these days. "But you can hitch it up yourself." He retorted spitefully, still seething with annoyance that he had been outsmarted by a slip of a girl and wishing to dispense some revenge for her audacity.
"I can do it." Casey volunteered, taking away that meagre attempt to salve his wounded pride by showing him that she was not in the least daunted by the chore. Alex wanted a conclusion to this transaction as quickly as possible and followed the man towards what served as his office at the far end of the building. For some reason, Alex felt it wise to transact this deal with the appropriate amount of paperwork to prove the purchase.
"I'll be back in a minute." Alex replied, making her way down the dirt path that led around the livery as Casey withdrew to get their horses and harness them to the new wagon.
Leaving Casey behind as they rounded the building, Alex reaching into the pocket of her coat where she carried a good amount of cash with her in the event of an emergency. After their last trip to Denver where they had been stranded without money and she had been forced to play poker to keep herself and the other fiscally secure, Alex decided that she would not fall into the same trap again should anything happen during this trip. Thus Alex ensured that she had left Four Corners, she had done so with a healthy amount of cash in her purse in case of an emergency which in this instant had proved to be a fortunate undertaking.
Casey had just dropped out of sight by the time the strange man appeared out of nowhere. His presence immediately eradicated the expression of annoyance worn on the livery owner's face with one of apprehension and downright fear.
The man was in his early to mid thirties with dark coppered coloured hair and deep hazel eyes that bore into her as let his gaze sweep up and down her form. Judging by the slight curl of his lips, he approved of what he was seeing. He had well chiselled features that could be considered handsome if not for the hint of menace reflected in his eyes when he looked upon her.
However, it was the Silver Star pinned on the lapel of his coat that caught her eye the most.
Alex had to admit he was not what she had expected of a sheriff with a notorious reputation even if he did strike her as being somewhat predatory, although he was nowhere in the calibre of Chris Larabee who sent shudders down her spine by simply staring at her. For some reason, his attention was solely focussed on her which only served to make Alex more nervous but not as apprehensive as the livery owner next to her.
"Sheriff." The man said swallowing hard, unable to hide the anxiety in his trembling voice.
"Good evening." The lawman replied coolly without looking in his direction, his eyes never moving away from Alex even as he spoke. "What are you up today Roy?" He asked casually but that was danger in his voice.
"I'm just selling this young lady here a wagon, Sheriff." The old man answered nervously, licking his lips and avoiding all eye contact with the sheriff as he glimpsed Alex briefly before lowering his eyes to the ground...
"Really?" He said with a faint smile. "I ain't seen you around here before." His eyes took on a sparkle of interest Alex knew all too well and only served to increase the tension already easing into her bones.
"I'm merely passing through Sheriff." Alex replied politely, wishing nothing but to put the entire subject of Coventry far behind her when she rode out of this place.
"That's Sheriff Dylan Pierce." He added as if it was important that she knew his name.
"Please to meet you Sheriff." Alex continued to maintain her civility towards him before shifting her attention to the livery owner, who sensed something bad was coming their way but had not the courage to speak it. Alex wished only to conclude her business quickly so she could be on her way back to Mary and the others. With a sigh, Alex supposed it was too much for her to hope that their trip into Coventry was going to be anything but routine. "We agreed upon $30 dollars did we not?"
"Yes ma'am." The old man returned just as quickly, somehow appreciating her need to leave even if her reasons were diametrically opposed to his. The sheriff seldom took an interest in anything that did not serve his purpose in some way and his presence here did not bode well for the young lady or her companion.
"Good," Alex said with a faint smile retrieved the small purse with its snap lock from her coat. She prised it to reveal a wad of bills, she would sooner have kept a secret from either man. Unfortunately, with both standing so close by, she had little choice but to expose her financial state since she wanted to pay the livery owner and flee the inquisitive stare of Sheriff Dylan Pierce.
"Now where does a coloured girl like you get money like that." Dylan asked, making no attempt to hide the malicious intent of his words or the obvious insult.
Alex tensed immediately, sensing he was trying to bait her and choosing not to let him provoke her into doing anything foolish that may allow him to gain the upper hand. Her eyes met the livery owners and he conveyed a silent look of sympathy which did not bode well for the situation that she now found herself embroiled in.
"I inherited it." She said shortly, deciding that was all the explanation that was needed as she met his eyes unafraid of showing her contempt as his earlier jibes.
"Coloured people don't have enough money to live, let alone leave anything to their kin." He said with a sneer that was completely deriding and meant to engender some sort of reaction.
"I'm not a Negro." Alex said icily, denying him that satisfaction and continued to pay the livery owner his $30 dollars.
Wasting no time once the transaction was concluded, Alex turned away to leave when suddenly, a hand wrapped itself around her arm.
"You sure look like it to me." He replied, daring her to say something else he could use to his advantage, since he was enjoying this exchange and was not about to let end his fun just yet. He could see the spirit in her eyes, just waiting for the right amount of goading to bring it forth. He guessed that she was magnificent in her fury and he wanted to see for himself if what he imagined was true.
Alex snatched her arm viciously from his grip and glared sharply in his direction as she prepared to walk away. "What I am in none of your business. I have broken no laws and I appreciate you let me be on my way."
Alex made another attempt to draw away when she felt him renew his grip on her arm. This time, there was no mistaking that he was not about to let her go anywhere. She forced herself not to get afraid or unduly alarmed or worse yet, lose her temper because the consequences of that could only make things worse and escalate what was already transpiring now. "What do you want?" She asked slowly, hoping that there was someway to reason with him.
By now, the livery owner had taken his money and had chosen wisely to withdraw, leaving her to the ministrations of Sheriff Pierce because he had no wish to be caught in the Sheriff's latest game of cat and mouse. Particularly, when the young woman before him was the mouse. Alex saw him depart hastily and took note briefly that he was heading in the direction they had just left Casey. She did so hope the bastard had enough courage to tell Casey to get out of here before this situation deteriorated any further, although judging by the firm hold that Dylan had on her, Alex had a sinking feeling it was already there.
"I'm afraid it is my business," he said taking a step closer, his voice was almost husky as he maintained his vise like grip on her arm with such power that she could feel his nails digging into his skin. Like he was speaking to a lover, he lowered his lips to her ear and said almost seductively, "I think you stole that money and I'm obligated as a servant of the law to arrest you on suspicion of theft."
"What?" Alex stared at him in mixture of disbelief and pure astonishment that he would make some an outlandish charge. "I am medical doctor and you have no right to assume that just because I am coloured that I cannot have earned that money on my own!"
"A doctor?" He recoiled long enough to snort in derision as he met her gaze, with clear amusement in his eyes at the statement. "There are ain't no coloured doctors, least of all one that's a woman. Now the only way that you could more earn that money on your own is on your back and I'm guessing," he let his eyes move up an down her body making no attempt to hide the hunger he felt for her before adding. "That you're pretty good at it."
Alex lost her temper and slapped him hard across the face in outrage. His head snapped back in pain but he recovered almost immediately. Reacting swiftly, he took hold of the hand that had delivered the blow and pinned it to her side where it could offer no more injury or insult. "Now in my town, prostitution is illegal and will get you thrown in jail, plus I confiscate all your ill gotten gains." He almost grinned with pleasure as he made that statement.
"I am not a working girl!" Alex cried impotently, knowing that there was nothing to stop him from locking her up in his jail if he was determined to do it. This town was his exclusive domain and Alex started to understand why everyone was so terrified of him. If she had any sense about her, she would have felt the same but there was too much defiance in Alexandra Styles to capitulate to anyone, even this man who had the power to shoot her down dead or worse if he felt like it.
"Prove it, darling." He grinned and before Alex knew what had happened, a set of handcuff snapped around her wrist and brought home just how trapped she was.
When the liveryman had told her to get out of here quickly, Casey had ignored him because she could hear the commotion in which Alexandra Styles seemed to be at the centre. Refusing to abandon Alex, at least until she knew what was going on, Casey crept to the side of the building and peered around the corner with the stealth she had learnt to use when hunting with JD. As she looked over the edge of the building and saw what lay beyond, Casey discovered a scene that gave her great cause for concern. Alex was at this moment, arguing most rigorously with a man who was dragging her away from the livery, almost kicking and screaming with handcuffs binding one of her wrists to him.
Casey saw a glint of metal on his chest and immediately withdrew, knowing that Alex had fallen into the hands of the notoriously corrupt lawman that Mary had warned them about so strenuously. Her first instinct was to rush out there and lend her assistance to the doctor but after a split second later and a moment of careful reflection, Casey decided that was a bad idea when it was likely the man would arrest her too. That would not help Alex one bit and worse yet, with both the horses in her keeping, the others would have no idea what had happened to either of them or have any way of getting help.
As she saw Alex being dragged further and further away, the doctor's voice of outrage soon became distant and Casey came to an agonising decision when she heard it fade away completely. Casey could only hope that Alex would understand why she had chosen to abandon her for the moment. Glancing at the horses hitched up to the wagon, Casey knew that the best hope Alex had of freedom now was if she were to reach Mary Larabee. Mary would know how to best proceed in freeing Alex. If Casey went half cocked, she was only going to make things worse and the situation did not need any help from her in its deterioration.
Hating herself as she withdrew, Casey hurried to the horse and wagon waiting for her and rode out of Coventry, hoping that she could summon help for Alex before it was too late.
"I knew it!" Mary Larabee swore when Casey returned to her with news of Alex's incarceration. "I just damn well knew it!"
"I didn't know what else to do." Casey exclaimed, mistaking Mary's distress at the situation with anger directed at her.
"Oh no Casey," Inez quickly spoke up as they remained inside the shelter, taking refuge from the rain as this new predicament reared its ugly head amongst them and demanded attention. "You did the right thing by coming back here."
"Casey I'm not angry at you," Mary replied, realising that Casey had misconstrued her anger completely. She reached for the girl's hand so that Casey would see that Mary was not at all furious at her but at the situation. "I'm angry that this has happened." Mary had foreseen all this taking place just as surely as if she had observed the entire incident through a crystal ball. If there was someway for trouble to find them, Mary was certain it would, even if they sought sanctuary on the moon to escape it.
Unfortunately, berating herself or cursing at how these things always seemed to happen to them was not helping Alex. The doctor's incarceration in Coventry could not continue even though Mary at this point had no idea how to free her. With Chris and the rest of the seven out on the trail, even if Mary and the others were to return to Four Corners, it would be a pointless gesture because the men would not be there to help them. In the meantime, under no circumstances was Mary prepared to leave Alex in the hands of that son of a bitch wearing a badge in the town of Coventry.
"Mary, what are we going to do?" Julia asked her from across the carriage. Outside, the sun was rapidly setting and it would be a pitch black night indeed with all the rain clouds blanketing the light from the stars and the moon when twilight was finally came upon them. The rain had abated somewhat but the chill in the air was from more than just the cold. "We can't just leave her."
"We're not going to leave her." Mary stated firmly and pushed herself off the seat. Her ankle still ached but she could move on it now, albeit her steps were tainted with an uncomfortable limp but the pain was beside the point at this time. Helping Alex out of her prison was. Climbing out of the carriage, Mary stepped out into the rain and had to admit the teeming rainfall against her skin aided in settling her furious emotions. She could feel the wet almost sizzling off her crimson cheeks as she tried to think of some way of this conundrum.
"What are you suggesting we do?" Maude inquired from inside the carriage. While she was not unsympathetic to the doctor's position and would surely miss her presence at the table at Eagle Bend, Maude was sceptical as to what five women were able to accomplish in the face of the crisis at Coventry. "It is best that we ride on to Sweet Water and enlist the aid of the local lawmen there. They should be able to extricate the doctor from her unfortunate circumstances."
Mary whirled around and sent a glare of ice in Maude's direction. "We... are... not... leaving... Alex." She said slowly, pronouncing every word with mercurial fury just so the older woman would make no mistake about her feelings on this subject. "This man is dangerous and he arrested Alex for no good reason other than he could which suggests to me, he might actually have more sinister plans for her than we might think. Whatever those intentions are, I do not wish to know and I am certainly not going to tuck tail and pray some lawman at Sweet Water can get Alex out of if before she finds out first hand, do I make myself clear?" Mary's eyes blazed as she spoke.
Maude swallowed, realising how intent Mary was and while she might be dubious as to what they could do to extricate Alexandra Styles from the clutches of the vile Sheriff Dylan Pierce, she could not ignore the fierce determination in her voice. "I certainly did not mean any offence, Mary." Maude quickly recovered from the dressing down, with the skill that could only be exhibited by a cat landing on its feet. "I am just doubtful of how we can help Doctor Styles."
"In that much I share you concern." Mary frowned as she looked up into the sky, feeling the cool rain against her skin strangely soothing, even if it did not help with a solution to their immediate problems. Mary tried not to fear for Alex and hoped the doctor was unharmed and knew that she would not remain that way indefinitely if she was. After a moment, she faced her companions still under the shade of the carriage. "I think we should ride into Coventry."
Four faces looked at her blankly.
"You must be joking." Predictably it was Maude who spoke first. "What do you wish to accomplish by all of us going into that godforsaken community? You already saw what he did to Doctor Styles, how can you assume that any of us will fare better?"
Mary had braced herself for the protests and was hardly surprised that Maude would be the most vocal detractor of her plan. The others however, did look similarly concerned as to the possible result of such a flimsy plan. In truth, Mary had no idea what to do about freeing Alex. She did know that they could not remain hidden here, sitting on their hands as they tried to come up with a plan. "We will fare better because we are white. From what Casey tells us, all this started because Pierce knows that Alex is vulnerable because she is not Caucasian."
"You are assuming a lot." Maude stated.
"Yes she is," Julia nodded. "But Mary's right." Julia like all of them was not blind to the difficulties endured by Alex at times simply because she was not the picture of white purity. "He would not have done this to Alex if she was a white woman. We may be in danger going into Coventry but we'd be no different from anyone else in the place."
"So we're going to save Alex?" Casey said feeling infinitely relieved that decision was finally made because she was still not very happy about leaving the doctor behind and god only knew what Alex was enduring in her incarceration.
"Something like that." Mary shrugged. She had no plan, no idea of how to free Alex once they entered the town limits. All she had was this overwhelming urge to do something. The rest would come later.
Hopefully.
Alexandra Styles did not feel afraid even though she found herself behind bars.
What she felt was rage, pure unequivocal rage at this shocking situation she found herself in. Pacing the floor like the caged animal she was, she was a thundercloud trapped in the cramp confines of a cell inside Coventry's jailhouse. The room stank of urine and God knew what else and Alex was reluctant to touch anything let alone rest her body on the filthy mattress that passed for a bed in her dungeon. Through the thick bars of her cell, she glared at the man who was responsible for her incarceration, wishing more than anything that she were a man so she could beat the crap out of him.
Where was Vin when you needed him?
He watched her. Eyes keeping pace with her as she bounced back and forth from one end of the room to the other almost fascinated with what he was seeing. He knew that she was no whore. She did not carry herself as one did but there was something about her that was hardly conventional. Neither did she appeared to be coloured. There was something in her features that did not look Negro and he was mesmerised by what she was being neither coloured nor Creole and yet unable to distinguish what she actually was.
"You might as well cool your heels Darlin'" he said with a faint smile as he observed her, the way the spider watches the fly trapped irrevocably in its web. "You ain't going nowhere."
Alex glared at him as he sat at his desk, feet resting on the table while he examined the engagement ring Vin had given her with interest. Prior to forcing her into this cell, he had relieved her of any jewellery that was on her person, including the bracelet that her father had made a present to her before he died and her engagement ring. The loss of both inspired her utmost fury and she could bear the absence of neither. Even the trouble she now found herself in was minute in comparison to that desire.
Alex did not answer him when he spoke, choosing instead to continue her pacing as an act of defiance as well as a way to temper her anger. She had no idea what he want even though he was studying her carefully, taking note of everything she was doing inside his jail with mild interest. It could not be just about the money, Alex thought to herself. No one goes to so much trouble for a hundred dollars. True it was a good sum of money but hardly princely. She held no fears of a prolonged incarceration because Mary and the others knew she was here and would summon help soon enough. Still, it was the mystery that made her all the more apprehensive.
"This is a pretty fancy ring." He commented, still studying the bauble with great interest. "Wedding ring?"
Alex looked at him sharply. "Engagement, if you must know."
"Expensive." He remarked. "Too expensive for a nigger to afford. Sure you didn't steal this too?"
Alex let out a cry of exasperation and declared. "What Stone Age rock did you climb out of to assume that any person whose skin is not white is incapable of making money?"
"Never met any that didn't have two bits to his name." He said simply.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better that ring did not come from a Negro." Alex retorted, hoping the information would satisfy his curiosity and would go some way to helping her get the ring back. "It came from a white tracker." Alex hated describing Vin this way but knew of no other way to convince the man that she was not a working girl.
"A white man gave you this?" Dylan said with a raised brow. "Must be pretty special for him to spend all this money."
"So he tells me." Alex replied sarcastically.
"You really a doctor?" He asked, putting down the ring on the desk with the rest of the personal effects he had absconded from her upon tossing her in her cell.
"Give me a scalpel and I'll prove it to you."
He laughed shortly and stood up from his desk. Walking across the floor, he joined her in front of the cell and looked through the bars at her. "Maybe you ain't no working girl. You sound like you got a lot of book learning so I might be inclined to believe you?"
Alex stopped pacing and took a step towards the bar, standing close enough to reach him. She could almost guess what was coming but held her tongue to see if he was just as predictable as she believed him to be. "How nice." She tried to hide the sarcasm and disbelief from her voice as she spoke. "And pray tell what do I have to do to convince you."
"I don't know," he let his eyes shift over her in unmistakable hunger. "You're a smart woman, you'll think of someway to make me believe it." His voice was husky as he made that loaded statement.
Alex decided to play the game just a little more and took another step towards the bars, until she was close enough to reach him. Running her tongue over her lips, Alex purred as she saw him respond to the change in her body language. After a moment, when his eyes were mesmerised by the action of her lips, Alex spoke with seduction oozing off each word.
"I... would... rather... rot... in... here."
His expression turned dark and he stepped away, furious that she had managed to pull his desire for her out into the open. He was not a rapist but he wanted this exotic looking creature and was determined to break her, one way or another. "Well see if you feel the same after a month in that cell." He retorted viciously, his pride obviously stinging from what she had done and unwittingly gave Alex a great deal of satisfaction by his angry response.
"I can hold out. Can you?" Alex demanded. "I have people who will come looking for me including the tracker who gave me that ring. How are you going to explain it to them when they tell you I really am a doctor and that money you confiscated was stolen from no one?"
"This is my town." He glared at her, still angered from when she had tricked him earlier. "No one walks out of my jail unless I let them go and trust me, no one will come looking for you by the time I'm done with you."
Something in his words chilled Alex to the bone and she questioned the wisdom in baiting him and secretly prayed that Casey had reached Mary and the others and summoned help. She did not know what Sheriff Dylan Pierce had in mind but Alex was quite certain that she did not wish to find out.
They were almost to Coventry and Mary was no closer to coming up with a plan to rescue Alex as she had when they had first set out to help her. She knew her silence as Casey rode the wagon closer to the town, was disturbing the others because they looked to her for answers since this was her grand scheme and she had none to give them. As it was, Maude had been a constant thorn in her side, making offhanded remarks at how this was a fool's errand, as if Mary was not aware of this fact yet. She was perfectly mindful that they were four women against a sheriff who was armed while they only had Julia's derringer as protection. She wished more than anything that Chris was here but understood that she could not rely upon him to protect her from everything.
The rain had stopped and the stars were starting to appear through the grey clouds that had followed them most of the journey here. With the presence of moonlight, they were finally removed from the pitch-black darkness they had dogged them all the way here, which also did little for their already depleted morale. This trip to Eagle Bend was already more than any of them had bargained and although none of them spoke it, they were all worried about Alexandra Styles.
"I do not suppose you have come up with an idea of how to help Doctor Styles?" Maude Standish asked once again and just as regularly, Mary had to stifle the urge to throttle the woman.
"I'm working on it." Mary muttered in annoyance, wondering just how much more of this she could take before her temper flared.
"You better work on it fast." Maude retorted. "We're almost there."
"Maude will you just shut up!" Julia finally snapped and surprised them all by being the first one to lose her temper. "We are not leaving Alex in the hands of that sheriff! The poker game can wait already!"
"Well," Maude huffed in annoyance at the sharp rebuke. "I'm starting to understand why Ezra did not wish to tell me about you."
Mary could see Julia's ire being well and truly inflamed by that remark and the redhead's temper was about to flare in the display that Mary had been trying so hard to keep under control herself when Inez broke into the conversation.
"Alright you too," Inez said firmly. "This is not the time or the place to get into this argument. Maude, Mary will think of something and Julia, you can kill Ezra later. For the moment, we are in enough trouble without the two of you behaving like children."
"Sorry Inez," Julia cast a dark glare at Maude, telling her in that one look this conversation was by no means over, merely postponed.
Confident that the clashes of personalities had passed for the moment, Mary turned her attention to the road ahead and let her gaze sweep across the terrain when suddenly, through the darkness she spotted a building in the distance. The darkness made it difficult to see what it was but there were pinpricks of light shinning through the windows.
"What is that?" Mary asked because the place did not look like a homestead and it was rather far away from town to be a mere dwelling.
"Oh that's the convent." Casey declared as she continued to take the reins. "Alex and I passed by it when we went to town the first time. Its full of nuns."
"Nuns." Mary mused for a moment, letting an insane idea take shape in her mind and tumbling inevitably towards a plan that was just as absurd but strangely enough, one that might actually work. "Casey, take us there." Mary instructed.
Casey looked at her in obvious bewilderment. "Why Mary?"
"I have an idea." Mary replied, as Casey directed the wagon off their path to Coventry and started traversing down the gentle slope that led towards the building of brick and mortar.
"What's on your mind?" Inez asked at the realisation they had taken a detour.
"Well," Mary said reluctant to reveal her plan just yet because she wanted no one to try and talk her out of it just yet. "I'm not sure but if we're going to get Alex out, we'll need a little distraction."
"Like what?" Julia inquired, just as curious to what Mary had in mind.
Mary paused, trying to decide whether or not she should tell them what she was planning and decided that she had little choice but to do so since she could not accomplish the undertaking without their participation. Mary outlined what she had concocted in her mind briefly and saw their faces take on expressions that bordered somewhere between astonishment and amusement.
"You are insane!" Maude exclaimed. "I will not do it."
"Okay," Mary said prepared for Maude's declaration well in advance. "We'll let you off the convent and pick you up on the way back. We don't really need you for this."
"You are not leaving me in the hands of those pious spinsters." Maude retorted automatically.
"Well make up your mind because we're almost there." Mary answered as the wagon rapidly approach the stone fence that surrounded the building. The nunnery or church, whatever it was, appeared to have been in its present location for quite some time and was easy to overlook because it did not seem very large. Mary had heard one of these places in Vista City but not so close to Four Corners. She supposed even in the Territory, there was still a need for such refuges.
"Mary, do you honestly think this will work?" Inez asked, having heard her part in the plan and was to confess to feeling some reservations in her ability to undertake it.
"I can't say," Mary replied honestly, "unfortunately, it's the best idea I have at this time. If anyone's got any better ideas, I'd like to hear them and I do not mean any suggestion that involves abandoning Alex and continuing to Sweet Water to catch a train."
Instinctively, everyone looked at Maude.
"I will adhere to your insane scheme." Maude answered with a slight huff to her voice. "However I do so under protest. I have played many roles in my life however, this is not one of them."
"Don't worry Maude," Julia said with a faint smile. "If I can pull it off anyone can."
"I'll say." Inez smirked.
Julia gave her a look and retorted sarcastically. "Wanton." She teased Inez who promptly responded in kind.
"Tramp."
"Children." Mary interrupted this scintillating conversation as they crossed the threshold of the convent's fence line. The convent building was surrounded by a sizeable vegetable garden and Mary saw the shape of a barn in the near distance, no doubt where their animals were kept. Although the sun had set, it was not that far into night and hoped the inhabitants of those hallowed walls would not be too annoyed by the arrival of strangers who had an unusual request to make of them.
Alex finally relented and decided she would get some sleep. Although lying on the bed made her skin crawl, Alex had little choice because she could not keep pacing indefinitely, no matter how angry she was at the situation she now found herself in. As she lay against the wafer thin mattress, she tried not to think about who had last occupied this bunk or pay attention to the musty smell that emanated from it. Her jailer remained at his desk, shuffling through paperwork and occupying himself with the minor details of law enforcement as if he was afraid to walk out and leave her alone.
Alex could not fathom his reasons for keeping her imprisoned like this. She knew he was attracted to her because she could see it in his eyes and in the response that had engendered so much anger when she had tricked him earlier. However, if he was attempting to seduce her by these actions, then his method seemed to leave a lot be to be desired. It was not to say that he was not handsome. He was actually very handsome but not in the way that held any interest for Alex, who considered Vin Tanner to be the ideal in her mind and knew by comparison no one else could ever compete.
As she tried to go to sleep, she wondered where Vin was at this moment and wished more than anything to have him here because he would make short work of this upstart sheriff who presumed to think her a whore and had stolen away her most treasured possessions. Even from where she was lying against the lumpy pillow, she could see the glint of metal through at the edge of his desk that was her engagement ring. Instinctively, Alex reached for the finger it was normally worn and felt naked without it being there. She had not taken it off since the day Vin had given it to her and she really hated that she had been forced to remove it like this.
Alex wondered how long he intended to keep her for he seemed very confident that no one would come searching for her when it was obvious to all that eventually someone would. He could not be so stupid as to maintain his belief that she was a working girl, not after he had examined all her personal effect carefully and must have surely come to the conclusion that she could not be that at all. He remained in the jail house keeping a vigil over her, as if he had captured something he was uncertain of what he would do with now that it was in his power.
Unable to sleep with on the uncomfortable bunk, Alex finally sat up in the bed and gave up altogether. "What do you want with me Sheriff?" She broke the silence in the room.
He paused what he was doing and met her gaze. "I do believe you committed a crime in my town."
"I committed no crime and we both know it." Alex answered, surprising herself with the lack of anger in her voice as she addressed him this time.
"You ain't prove that yet." He challenged as he returned her stare. "When you do, I'll be happy to let you out."
"Just how am I supposed to do that?" Alex countered sarcastically. "Without surrendering my virtue that is?"
"I'm sure you'll come up with something." A slow smile ran across his face, filled with suggestion. "It depends on who gives in first."
Alex almost snorted in derision. "I have been told that I am as stubborn as a mule so I would not hold my breath if I were you waiting for that to happen. Then again on second thought," she eyed him wickedly. "Perhaps you should and I can get out of here when your replacements shows."
"My, my, my, you are quite the firecracker ain't you?" Dylan laughed, finding amusement in her attempts to insult him and only succeeded in strengthening Alex's resolve to keep him from what he wanted.
"I've heard that once or twice in my life." She sighed, lying back on her pillow since it was obvious she was not going to get any answers from him. Perhaps when she woke up, she might find this entire situation to be nothing more than a very bad dream because she had no wish to retain any memory of Sheriff Dylan Pierce.
"So you got a name," he asked, unprepared to let her rest now that she had started him talking. "Doctor?"
"None that I care to tell you." Alex replied automatically.
"Come on what could it hurt?" He prompted. "You're gonna be here awhile I'm sure you're gonna get sick of me calling you 'hey you' after a spell."
Alex flinched and supposed it would not be such a terrible admission if she could just get him to shut up. "Alex."
"That's a boy's name." Dylan sat up in his chair and leaned towards her.
Alex rolled her eyes. "Its short for Alexandra."
"Fancy name." He commented. "I'll call you Lex."
If anything could break the calm that she had been attempting to maintain, that was it. Alex sat up in her bed against and fairly roared. "Don't you ever call me that! No one calls me Lex you hear me! No one! Least of all some crazed hick sheriff who's got delusions of godhood because he's wearing a fucking badge!"
"My goodness," he said thoroughly enjoying her fury in all its fiery splendour. "Did I strike a nerve, Doc?"
Alex fumed, feeling furious at herself and him for her outburst. She had not meant to become so angry but when she had heard him call her Lex, an appellation only her father had the right to use, it had snapped whatever resolve she had been struggling so hard to maintain in the face of this bastard's unjust imprisonment. She wanted to hurt him for everything she had endured this day, not only in her physical confinement but the insult made to her pride. She was a doctor, not some working girl! She had a right to have money just as anyone in the world without being arrested because it was unfathomable to this fool that someone with different coloured skin could acquire money legally.
She refused to answer him any further, nor was she going to cooperate in any way with his lustful intentions to have her capitulate before him. Before that day came to pass, she would see herself damned in hell for all eternity first. Alex remained where she was on her bunk bed, seething with fury and praying for the time when Vin and the seven would arrive and ram that smug smile down his throat. As a person who possessed almost boundless compassion, Alex was shocked by how much that thought sustained her.
Suddenly, the door to the jail house knocked and the triumphant smile he had worn upon engendering her outraged response quickly faded to a more serious tone. The knocking on the door was not a light tap, but a heavy rapping that indicated some urgency for whomever wished entry into the place. He immediately jumped out of his chair and hurried to answer the door, casting a glance of suspicion at her as he hurried away. Despite herself, Alex sat up in her bunk, hoping against hope that perhaps Mary had found way to extricate her from her present difficulties.
No sooner than he had swung the wooden door open, a female voice that Alex immediately recognised as Julia's filtered into the room. "Sheriff Pierce, I understand you have our doctor here?"
Alex could only stare as she saw them enter the office, barging in with such speed that the sheriff himself could hardly offer protest as their entry into his jailhouse was met with jaw agape. As she saw her friends playing out a scene that looked straight out of a page from Shakespeare's lesser known comedies, Alex had only one thought in her mind.
Well that's something you don't see every day.
Mary, Julia, Maude and Casey were garbed in the sombre clothes worn by nuns and appeared to be playing the part as well as Julia and Maude entered first, offering a supportive arm to Inez who was dressed in the same thing Alex had last seen her.
"Sheriff you've got to let Doctor Styles go!" Mary implored as Julia and Maude led Inez to the chair in front of his desk.
Inez was muttering in Spanish, grasping her swollen and obviously pregnant abdomen in pain as Julia and Maude fluttered around her, crossing themselves and utter prayers to God for her prolonged safety.
"What the hell is going on?" Dylan demanded, unable to fathom how his normally quiet office could suddenly descend into this chaos.
"We were travelling to Mexico when our wagon ran into trouble!" Mary said hastily, hoping her act sounded as convincing as the insanity they were attempting to perpetrate. "We are expected a mission across the border and we sent our doctor to purchase a new wagon. It was all the money we had from our orphanage fund, except she never came back and now Inez, the daughter of patron in the town we wish to set up has gone into labour! You must release the doctor now."
Just to make her point, Inez let out a harsh cry of pain that made Dylan jump with fear as she clutched her belly and made her agony heard most vocally.
"She's really a doctor?" Dylan looked at Alex, not having really believed his prisoner's outrageous claim completely until now.
"One of the best!" Mary implored further. "This is her medical bag." Mary presented the familiar worn leather case that Alex carried around with her and was an inheritance from her father. Snapping open the bag, she showed the startled sheriff its contents that included instruments that could only belong to a physician.
"It hurts!" Inez continued to wail, sending Maude and Julia into an even more frantic fit of praying and crossing.
"Oh you must let her out!" Maude came to him and started pulling at his lapel. "She's in terrible pain. She can't hold out."
"For Chris sake Dylan!" Alex had jumped out of her bunk and ran up to the bars so that he could see her, now that Alex had found herself part to play in this charade. "Let me out so I can help her!"
For a moment, he was torn at what to do as he was surrounded by nuns, a pregnant woman crying out in pain and a lady doctor who was prepared to have his hide if he let her anywhere near him. Still, he could not deny that the woman in his chair did appear to be in agony and there was no mistaking that she was in the family way.
"I can't feel the baby any more!" Inez squealed again, deciding the Sheriff needed just a little more of a push to do what they wanted.
"Oh No!" Casey brought her voice to the fray and started whimpering in fear. "She's going to lose it and we'll neve be allowed to set up our mission!"
"Alright!" Dylan exclaimed in frustration, unwilling to let a pregnant woman die right before him especially with a roomful of nuns bearing witness to the whole affair. He hurried to Alex's cell, pausing long enough to remove the keys that were hanging from a rough nail embedded in the nearby wall. Alex stepped back in the cell as he came to the door and slipped the heavy key into its slot, opening it with a heavy twist of his hand and snapping the locking mechanism out of place. The door swung open and Alex did not waste any time emerging from her prison and making her way directly to Inez, who was giving the performance of her life.
"Sister... Mary," Alex turned to Mary who was advancing upon her as she knelt down in front of Inez. "I need my bag."
"Of course." Mary nodded as she hobbled forward, trying to hide the injury to her ankle and not look even more ridiculous than she already felt in this costume. When she had informed the Mother Superior at the Convent of the Blessed Heart what she intended, the lady had been most cooperative, being aware of the sheriff's reputation. Although the nun had thought Mary's plan bordering on the insane, it also seemed to be the general consensus of everyone who knew of it. Mary knew this could work if enough insanity could be thrust in the face of the good sheriff to confuse him long enough to spring their trap. A momentary distraction was all they needed and with Inez being six months pregnant, her condition seemed tailor made for the occasion and the plan Mary had conjured in her mind was out of desperation more than anything else.
Alex lifted Inez's skirt and pretended to perform and exploratory examination, an action which only made the sheriff recoil further away in a mixture of derision and outright nervousness. Men were never very good in situations like this, Mary had guessed and the plan further proved its viability, the more anxious the sheriff appeared to be.
"She's dilated." Alex exclaimed to those who were presented.
"What's that mean?" Dylan demanded, unfamiliar with such medical terminology.
"It means, she about to go into labour." Alex retorted.
"Oh praise the Lord," Maude gushed. "To be present in such an hour. Sisters I believe we need a few more Hail Marys to christen the birth of new life."
Almost on cue both Maude and Julia lodged into a recital of prayers that only drew a groan of exasperation from the sheriff as he tried to come to grips with everything that was happening around him and wondering if any of this was real.
"We're going to need water, lots of it." Alex continued to play the part as she rummaged through her bag noisily. "Unfortunately, I do not think she can deliver this baby naturally."
"Goodness!" Mary cried out and looked at the faces of her sisters, trying to convey her shock. "What is to be done doctor?"
"I have to cut her open, now." Alex said firmly.
"Cut me open?" Inez squeaked, hoping to God their plan had reached fruition by the time that particular bluff needed to be called.
"I'm afraid you are going to need a caesarean and very soon." Alex looked at Dylan and added. "I'm afraid Sheriff, its going to have to done here." Without saying another word, she brushed all the paperwork on his desk to the floor and thumped its surface as an indicator of where she intended to perform the surgery.
"On my desk!" Dylan exclaimed in nothing less than horror. "You can't operate on her on my desk!"
"There's no other choice!" Alex retorted fiercely. "If I don't cut her open in the next three minutes, the baby is going to die! You have to let me do this!"
"Aw hell..." the sheriff declared unable to believe how he had stumbled into this position. "Alright then, get on with it!" He said in exasperation, not having much choice in the matter.
"Sisters, me must pray!" Maude motioned Julia and Mary on their knees and as Mary started to descend, she who was closest to Dylan pulled the sheriff by the arm in an entreaty to join them. Unable to think of an argument to decline and not wishing be rude to a bunch of nuns, because as corrupt as he was, he still had some principles. Meanwhile Maude continued on her prepared speech, delivering her lines with all the aplomb that it took a life time as a grifter to accomplish.
"Oh heavenly father," she looked to the sky with almost angelic fervour in her eyes. "Let us pray that this arduous undertaking comes to pass and that the child to be born will enter its life through your grace and glory." She cast her gaze at everyone present and declared. "Repeat after me."
No one was paying much attention to Casey.
Casey Wells who throughout all this commotion had been moving unobtrusively behind the sheriff, once they had discovered he was alone in the room, found herself in place to act finally. Dylan's attention was gravitating between the praying going on while he was on his knees and the birthing about to take place on his desk. Either way, he was a man who looked utterly confused and totally distracted by everything that was taking place around him, particularly when the circumstances were a little above the ordinary. It was not everyday a man could confess to being invaded by a group of nuns and with a pregnant woman about to have her baby in his office.
He hardly noticed her slipping into position behind him or seeing her remove the derringer that she had secreted under the heavy robes that she was wearing. Casey who was better with a gun than any of them, though she seldom had a chance to prove it, swiftly retrieved the weapon and took a step forward with the weapon aimed firmly in Dylan's direction. The sheriff had no inclination as to what was coming his way until he heard the audible click of a trigger being pulled in his ear.
"Don't move or I'll blow your head off." Casey said firmly.
Dylan froze as he felt cool steel against his head. "What the hell is going on here?" He demanded as his eyes moved across the faces before him. The praying ceased immediately following his heated question and without missing a beat, Mary reached around him to retrieve the gun that was nestled in his holster. Alex immediately stepped back and Inez put an end to her performance as the troubled woman in labour, when she rolled off the desk.
"Sheriff." Alex said with a smile. "I'd like to introduce you to my friends, Sister Mary, Sister Julia, Sister Maude and Sister Casey, who has a gun to your head and knows how to use it. Oh and lest I forget, kudos to the pregnant lady, the dazzling Miss Inez. Inez take a bow."
As a storm cloud started to form on his face, Inez did a slight curtsy in his direction, inflaming his anger even more until his jaw tensed in rage. Still, he was not about to argue the point with the weapon pressed firmly against the back of his skull. Alex dropped to her knees and picked up the handcuffs that were lying strewn on the floor when she had brushed everything off his desk. Tossing it to Mary, the orchestrator of this charade immediately snapped one wrist band around the sheriff's hand.
"Get up." Mary ordered as she turned his own gun on him.
"How far do you think you bitches are gonna get before I hunt you down?" He declared impotently even though it was a futile threat and they knew it. He could feel his bile rising in his throat as his fury bubbled at what was taking place inside his own jailhouse, not to mention his own town! The indignity of it was more than he could stand.
"Not far." Mary retorted as she gestured him to the cell that Alex had just vacated. "However, it might be wise that you know who you're dealing with. You come after us and it won't us you'll have to deal with, you better be prepared to deal with Chris Larabee and his men."
Dylan Pierce might have been a self important and dangerous man but he knew of the seven who were charged to protect the town of Four Corners, in particularly Chris Larabee, the gunslinger whose fearsome reputation from all accounts was richly deserved. Reluctantly, he moved towards the cell having no choice to comply. "So you whores are from Four Corners."
"Shame on your Sir," Maude returned swiftly. "Speaking that way about nuns."
With both Casey and Mary keeping their guns trained on him, they ushered the sheriff into the cell and slam the door shut behind him.
"Come to the bars." Mary instructed and when he refused, cocked the gun once more, convincing him that even through she was a woman, it was not wise to underestimate her. Mary was more than prepared to shoot him, completely aware that no one in Coventry would mourn the loss and might actually award her a medal for carrying out a public service. With just as much hesitation, Dylan came forward and Julia who had some idea of what Mary intended when he came close enough, immediately snapped the other band of the hand cuff around the thick metal bar.
Once that was done, Mary lowered her weapon and turned to her friends. "Let's go." She ordered.
Alex who was seeking her ring and bracelet, spotted her treasured possessions through the mess of paperwork on the floor and stashed both items into her pocket as Julia, Inez and Maude started towards the door.
"Well Sheriff," Alex could not resist saying as they departed. "I guess you'll never know who can hold out longer."
"This ain't over!" Dylan growled as he glared at her with rabid fury through the bars of the cell he was effectively trapped within. "I'll find you! I promise you!"
However, the words were lost because Alex was already out the door with Mary and Casey following close behind. In front of the jailhouse, the wagon waited for their arrival. Julia was already taking the reins and waiting long enough for them to climb into the back tray before she snapped the length of leather hard and sent the horses surging forward at top speed into the night leaving the town of Coventry far behind them.