Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Chris Larabee and the rest of the seven, except for Nathan rode into Coventry during the hours of the early afternoon the very next day after their women's dramatic escape from the jailhouse. Nathan had opted to stay in town and play doctor with Alex's absence from Four Corners. Of course, they proceeded into town with no knowledge of that incident, led here only by the trail that had been left behind when Vin Tanner found the damaged carriage abandoned on the main route to Sweet Water. Despite the fact that Vin had investigated the surrounding area where the carriage had been found and discovered the tracks of a wagon and the horses that had been yoked to it leading away from the crash site, Chris could not help feeling apprehension at the whole state of affairs.
Its not that he worried that something happened to his wife and her friends following the accident where their carriage had lost its wheel, it was just that such calamities usually followed an entire string of such incidents whenever his wife was concerned. If it were at all possible for her to fall into an outlandish situation, he had no doubt that Mary would somehow manage to accomplish it. Now with the added element of Maude Standish's presence, he dreaded to think what Mary was embroiled in. Sometimes, he wondered whether he had given up the simpler life when he had chosen to get married. Whoever said domestic bliss was something to be cherished had obviously never been married or completely insane.
Thus by the time he and his party entered the town limits of Coventry, they were ready to find the nearest saloon for a drink. If luck were with them, they would find Mary and the others still in town where logic dictated they would be resting following their ordeal in the carriage. Unfortunately Chris knew better and figured that the chances of that happening were about as remote as Buck entering a monastery and swearing to a life of celibacy. Leaving their horses at the local livery since the animals had been on the trail for quite some time and needed water and rest, Chris and the others had started to leave the place when they noticed the collection of wagons and carriages for sales. It stood to reason that the wagons the girls had taken had to come from somewhere and this was as good a place as any to start.
The young man who tended their horses could not answer their questions regarding the purchase of any new wagon that might have taken place the night before but helpfully directed them towards the saloon where his father, the owner of the establishment was known to inhabit. The young man did add that it was likely that a sale had been made recently since his father was only known to visit the saloon when he had the money to spare and business had not been that brisk lately. Casting his gaze over the dreary town, Chris could well believe it and wondered about the gloomy pallor of the community, which seemed no different from Four Corners and yet suffered, a malaise of stagnancy that seemed hard to explain.
Upon entering the saloon, all eyes shifted to them, as was the practise in so many others like it. The patrons of the establishment glanced briefly at the new arrivals, paying little more than a few seconds of attention before returning their eyes back to their drinks, the working girls who were perched on their laps or to their card games. The bartender, a traditional type with slicked hair parted in the middle, while wearing clean crisp clothes hidden behind an apron, regarded their approach with a little more interest.
"What can I get you boys." He asked politely.
"Red Eye." Chris answered.
"Me too." Vin added with the others all giving their preferences to the man who promptly went away to fill their orders.
"Not exactly a thriving little community is it?" Ezra remarked as he let his gaze sweep across the room and noticed the dour atmosphere of the place. Something was wrong but Ezra for the life of him could not put his finger on it.
"No," Josiah agreed as the bartender returned and started pouring their drinks into shot glasses. "Looks a little dead around here."
"Kinda strange actually," JD answered feeling a slight shudder, unable to explain the uneasy feeling in his bones. This place reminded him of Jericho, the sinister little town where weary travellers pausing for a good night's rest could find themselves permanent guests of the local prison by the time the dawn broke the next day.
"Well let's just find this Parsons and keep going them," Vin drawled and prompted Chris into motioning the bartender towards them again.
"I'm looking for a man called Parson?" Chris asked once the bartender reached him.
"Over there." He gestured to the livery owner who had taken residence with a saloon girl at a table at the far corner of the room.
Chris glanced in the man's direction and nodded. "Vin, come with me." Chris instructed. "The rest of you stay put. Don't want to spook him if all of go up to him."
"I am certain that you will handle the matter with your usual tact." Ezra retorted, returning his attention to his drink. Ezra had been in a foul mood for most of their journey with his normally acerbic remarks laced with an edge of annoyance that was hard to ignore. The truth was despite his desire to find Julia and Maude as well as the rest of their party, he was in no hurry to face Julia. If he knew his redhead at all, she was not going to be entirely thrilled when they met again. In fact, if he should come away from the encounter alive, it would be quite an improvement to the fate he had imagined for himself. He could not blame her anger of course, he should have told Maude and could not to this moment, understand why he had not. However, he had just about as long as it took to find her to come up with a reasonable explanation.
Ezra's remark barely registered as Chris and Vin approached the livery owner's table. Besides, they were used to the gambler's foul mood and knew it had to do with his impending death when Julia got her hands on him. The man was so engrossed in the plump beauty he was trying to charm with his money that he did not see the two lawmen until they were almost on top of him. Although it appeared to Chris and Vin that while he had the money, he was more or less assured of a sure thing and need not have bothered. Still it was impolite to point such things out especially when they needed information from him.
"You Parson?" Chris asked as he and the tracker pulled a chair each and sat down at the table, not bothering to wait for the man to respond.
Parsons broke away from his intimate murmuring in his lady friend's ear and looked at them both, taking note of the guns carried by both men and wise enough to know that it was best to cooperate. "Could be." He said after a moment, swallowing hard and telling Chris by that one action that this was a man who spent most of his time cowering under one rock or another. "What do you want?"
"Just a couple of questions." Vin said politely, being the more approachable of the two. Chris could be intimidating even when he did not wish it and at this moment, they needed Parson's help in their quest to find Alex, Mary and the others.
"Do what I can." The man answered clearly relieved and started to gesture to his shapely companion to leave when Vin interjected quickly that she could stay if he liked. The allowance pleased Parsons who offered the tracker a nod of appreciation as he waited for their questions. "What do you need to know?"
"I'm wondering if you seen any strangers in town yesterday. A couple of women." Chris asked. "Their carriage hit some trouble a couple of miles from here and it looks like they might have come into town to buy a wagon."
His faced changed immediately. "Those are your women?" He asked with a hush.
Immediately Vin and Chris exchanged brief glances. "You saw them?" Vin asked quickly, suddenly expecting the worse because with Alex, Mary, Julia, Inez and now Casey and Maude, one could not imagine anything else.
"Two of em," Parsons responded, remembering the encounter well and wishing it had gone better for the ladies in question. He hated bringing bad news to these men but then he had felt guilty himself that he had been unable to do anything about it except take their money and warn the younger one to leave while she could. "Came into town to buy a wagon. Young girl picked one of my best ones. Shrewd little negotiator she was."
"Casey." Vin said to Chris automatically.
"Well the other one, I can't say what she was but I don't think she was a nigger."
Vin immediately tensed and Chris spoke out before the tracker did anything foolish because Parson's remark had not meant to be offensive, just an observation. "Easy pard." Chris said putting a hand on the tracker's shoulder.
Seeing Vin's reaction told Parsons, just what Alexandra Styles meant to him and he was more guarded with what he said next. "I didn't mean to be rude," he apologised quickly. "Just didn't know what she was that's all."
"Go on.' Vin said tersely. "What about her?'
"The sheriff put her in jail." Parson replied remembering how guilty he felt that he could do nothing to stop him but not amount of chivalry however rate the emotion might emerge in him was going to make him face Dylan Pierce.
"I'm going to kill him." Was all Vin could say and started to rise out of his seat.
"She ain't there now!" Parsons quickly exclaimed, just as aware as Chris that the tracker was about to march straight over to the jailhouse and demand her release, probably at gunpoint.
"What do you mean?" Vin glared at him. "Where is she?"
"They escaped. A bunch of nuns broke her out of the jailhouse. Locked the sheriff up in his own cell and took off."
Chris could only stare. "A... bunch... of... nuns?"
"Yeah," Parsons nodded and continued. "Craziest thing I ever heard but Frank Welker tells me that's what he saw. These four nuns and a pregnant lady went into jailhouse and rescued your lady friend." Parsons looked at Vin.
"Four nuns?" Vin turned to Chris and thought exactly the same thing. "You don't think..."
"It was them." Chris groaned. Of course it would be them! Was he ever wrong about Mary's capacity for trouble?
"You know these nuns?" The woman at the table finally dared enough to speak.
"One of them is my wife." The gunslinger sighed.
"Mister, that's sick." She retorted and Vin found himself biting down on his lip to keep from laughing when he saw the expression on Chris Larabee's face at that remark.
"She ain't a nun." Chris barked back at the woman and prompted her to be silent once again. "I gather they left town after that." He said with a weary sigh.
"Yep," Parsons nodded and then added. "Mister, if those are your women you better find them cause you sure as hell don't want the sheriff to get there first. He was plenty mad that they got the drop on him and he rode out after them meaner than hell itself. Dylan Pierce ain't your regular law abiding Sheriff, if he finds them first he'll hurt em. Only reason I'm telling you this now is cause you look like you got as much to lose as I do."
"When did he ride?" Chris asked, the tone of his voice shifting from annoyance to pure menace with that single piece of information.
"Early this morning," Parsons answered automatically, noticing the change and deciding that this stranger in black was no one to cross at any time. He only hoped that the grim son of a bitch could kill Sheriff Pierce and free Coventry from the lawmen's chokehold on it.
"We better get going." Vin declared, already having risen from his chair.
Chris could not argue with him. If Dylan Pierce had harmed one hair on any of the women the seven were pursuing with such vigour, then there was not a corner on this earth the man could hide before they tore out his heart.
Mary stared out the window of the dining carriage on the train to Eagle Bend and felt strangely content that nothing out of the ordinary had taken place in the last 12 hours. This trip had already become more than she bargained for and the only thing that saved it from complete disaster was the fact that they had managed to board the locomotive without incident. She had been half expecting Dylan Pierce to pop out of the woodwork somewhere, to make them pay for his humiliation imprisonment inside his own cell. Unfortunately, the sheriff had not made an appearance and they were able to reach Sweet Water without incident and check into a nice hotel where a good nights sleep was had by all. Predictably, Maude had made inquiries about catching a train to Eagle Bend the next morning and thus they were here, resuming their journey if somewhat later than anticipated.
"I still can't believe what we did last night." Casey declared as they all sat at their table in the dining carriage, watching the sparse terrain of the Territory rumble while enjoying lunch. "I never thought we'd get away with it."
"I know I wish I could freeze the moment." Alex grinned, unable to remove the smile across her face each time she saw her friends dressed up in the holy habits of a nun.
"Don't remind me." Julia groaned, pouring herself another cup of tea and trying to hold the pot steady as she did so since the carriage rattled slightly. "I'm amazed I remembered any of those prayers."
"Oh but we must give credit where credit is due," Inez declared having finished her second plate of sausages and presently picking off everyone else's dish. "Maude, you were outstanding. I loved it when you made everyone kneel and pray."
"Why thank you." Maude replied graciously, unable to deny that she was somewhat amused by what they had done last night. She had not had so much fun playing such a simple game of trickery in a long time. "This is after all what I do."
"Well you do it well, "Mary added her voice to Inez's compliments. "I think you had Pierce so off balance he had no idea what was happening."
"I think you all did." Alex laughed, unable to hide her gratitude that all of it had been done for her. "I know I shall never be able to forget it."
"And we will not be telling any of the men about this." Mary declared firmly, her eyes moving across the table so that they would get the idea that she was not joking. "After what happened to us the last time, the last thing we need is for the men to know that we broke Alex out of jail dressed up as nuns. Chris will never let me leave town again with you ladies, if he were to now."
"Yes," Alex seemed to agree with that assertion. "I promised Nettie that I was taking Casey on a nice trip to Eagle Bend, not turning her into some kind of jail breaking outlaw."
"Aunt Nettie would never let me leave the farm if she knew that." Casey nodded her approval to Mary's plan even though she found what they had done terribly exciting and wished she could tell JD, if it was not for the fact that he would tell Buck and eventually it would get back to Chris.
"I'm just glad its over." Julia sighed. "I'm just looking forward to some shameless pampering when I get to Eagle Bend."
"I want to go shopping." Casey spoke out. "I'm sure I'll get a nice dress there for the dance."
"Oh that's right," Julia remembered Casey's determination to upstage the young ladies at the schoolhouse dance next week. "Don't worry Casey, you and I will scour the shops until we find something that will bedazzle JD and rub it in that snotty girl's face." Julia who knew everything there was to know about humiliating other women when it came to competing for a man's affection, found some satisfaction in being able to use such evil powers for good.
"And I need maternity clothes." Inez spoke up, having decided that she might as well take this opportunity to do some baby shopping as well.
"So while you two are attempting to conquer the gaming tables," Mary looked at Maude and Alex, "we'll be roaming the boulevards of Eagle Bend shopping. I think it's an amicable arrangement for us all."
Suddenly, Mary saw Maude's expression shift to one of quite amusement to that of fear. The change in the older woman's eyes was slight but Mary caught it and immediately looked over her shoulder at the direction Maude's attention was firmly placed. The man who entered the dining carriage was well dressed and in his late fifties, with dark eyes that were set close together and his eyes was as firmly fixed on their table as Maude's was upon him.
"Maude what is it?" Mary asked immediately, feeling apprehension in the level of concern being displayed by the woman who rarely seemed unfazed about anything.
Maude did not answer as Jethro Lewisham approached the table slowly. Maude swallowed, having suspected that he might have followed her but not knowing for certain until now. She had travelled to Four Corners hoping that Ezra would come with her to Eagle Bend as a little bit of insurance just in case the man had opted to pursue her. She remembered how badly he had taken his defeat at her hands in New Orleans and had suspected that his rage might not be so easily satisfied without vengeance. In the chaos of everything that had taken place prior to her departure from Four Corners, Maude had completely forgotten that he might still be after her.
"Maude Standish," Jethro announced himself upon arriving at the table. "What a pleasant surprise."
The look of fear she had worn briefly was quickly discarded and Maude faced Jethro with a charming smile as if they were nothing more than two friends who had come across each other on the way to Eagle Bend. "Why Jethro." She said with a smile. "How nice to see you again."
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your beautiful companions?" He asked, letting his eyes move across the faces of the women were present at the table, giving them predatory looks as well as one of appreciation because they were all singularly lovely in their own way.
"You are such a charmer." Maude said injecting as much casual ease into her voice as possible but Mary could tell that it was forced and decided to play along with the facade for now. For some reason, Mary had this premonition that it was a good idea to do so.
Introductions were made all around and Jethro regarded the ladies with polite and atypical southern charm, barely batting an eyelash at Inez or Alex who would have been something of an affront to the atypical southern gentlemen unless he was very liberally minded. "Well you keep yourself in most fetching company Maude," Jethro said with a smile as he remained standing. It was not lost upon anyone that Maude had not asked him to join them at their table. "You left New Orleans rather quickly," Jethro continued. "Am I to assume that you are also going to Eagle Bend for the game?"
There was no point in denying that Eagle Bend was her location when it was clear that Jethro had every intention of intercepting her when she appeared at the tournament. "That's right." Maude replied. "You know I cannot resist a challenge."
"I hear the opening stake is quite substantial." Jethro continued. "How fortunate that your luck at the tables in New Orleans paved the way for this little trip." While there was no bitterness in his voice as he made that remark, Maude knew better. He was still seething in rage at his public defeat and Maude knew that he was here for a reason although she could not guess what that might be just yet.
"Yes it was," Maude said with a smile, still trying to feign the same facade she had played in New Orleans.
"I expected to see your son with you." Jethro remarked, meeting her firmly in the eye with a look of predatory deliberation that made Maude shudder. "I hear that he is quite the gambler as well. It must run in the family."
"Ezra will be joining us in Eagle Bend sometime today." Maude said quickly, realising that he must have investigated her background thoroughly to be able to track her here as well as learning about Ezra.
"I do hope so." Jethro answered and flashed a smile that bore no warmth or humour. "I look forward to meeting him." With that he tipped his hat at them and continued to the far end of the room and took a table for himself, where he could observe.
"What was that about?" Julia hissed in Maude's direction once he had gone. "Ezra's not meeting us in Eagle Bend." She declared.
"What's going on Maude?" Mary asked, knowing that man was not a friend under any circumstances. "I don't think his running into you was a coincidence."
"He gave me the creeps." Alex added helpfully.
"Well," Maude sighed, having no choice but to tell them her history with Jethro Lewisham since it appeared that he was going to be following them all the way to Eagle Bend, with whatever sinister scheme he had in mind, no doubt encompassing her travelling companions as well. "I met Mr Lewisham in New Orleans and we played a series of poker games, which I took care not too win, initially."
"Oh hell," Alex groaned, realising what Maude was getting at. "Maude, did you hustle him?"
"Hustle is such a crude term my dear." Maude pointed out. "I prefer something a little more civilised, like say 'saved the best for last'."
Julia rolled her eyes. "That is not a man who takes defeat well." She did not know Jethro Lewisham at all but she knew his kind because Julia had ample experience with men, to know the ones that were dangerous and the ones who were paper tigers. Jethro was no paper tiger. The intense dislike and hatred in his eyes was apparent and when he spoke to Maude earlier, he had practically smouldered. "I did not like the way he said he was looking forward to Ezra coming here. Why would he?"
"I wondered about that." Maude met her gaze, admiring Julia's acumen in latching onto that point. "If revenge is what he is after, Ezra being here would serve no purpose."
"Unless his revenge involves Ezra." Casey blurted out as she drained the contents of her cup.
Maude stared at her, realising that he child might be correct and disliking that idea a great deal. Her son though capable of looking after himself, was still her son. It was one thing playing with his mind and torturing him with some of her more creative schemes but she would not let anyone hurt him or place him in a position that might endanger his life, particularly because of her. "Thank God, he was not in Four Corners." She said clearly relieved.
"That does not help our situation." Mary retorted. "If this man can't get to you through Ezra, we'd better be doubly careful about keeping him from you. I think we're safe in numbers," Mary continued, thinking a solution out of their problem. "I'll go see Orin when we get to Eagle Bend and see if he can't help us out of this situation."
"I do so hate bringing the law into this." Maude frowned unhappily.
"We don't have much of a choice." The editor of the Clarion stated. "You yourself, know this man is capable of harming you. Would you really want to risk it?"
Despite herself, Maude knew Mary was right and was grateful that Ezra had not indeed told her about Julia Pemberton before her arrival in Four Corners. If Maude had let that slip during their card games, she would have made Julia just as much a target as Ezra was now. "All right, if you think if best." Maude relented on that much because she did not wish Julia to know that she might be vulnerable.
"You know for once," Inez sighed as she eased back into her chair, having picked everyone's plate clean by now. "I would love it if we could go somewhere without getting into trouble. I mean what it is with us?"
"Its like," Alex tried to think of someway to articulate what was on her mind. "We are the supporting cast of a greater drama and occasionally, when we get the focus, it has to be a fun filled adventure to prove that we are more than just pretty faces."
"Absolutely." Mary agreed with a sigh.
"I wouldn't know," Casey replied, "it's the first time for me."
"My life is a never ending adventure." Maude retorted before the group turned their attention to Julia and waited for an answer. The redhead shrugged her shoulders and merely retorted.
"I don't care where I am in the scheme of things as long I get to kill Ezra at the end of it."
Dylan Pierce arrived in Sweet Water late in the afternoon.
Once he had been freed from his shameful imprisonment inside his own cell, only one thought encompassed his mind with absolute conviction. He was going to find the women responsible for this and make him pay. He had guessed by now that they were not nuns and worse yet, wherever they were at this moment, they were laughing at his captivity. Nobody laughed at Dylan Pierce. Nobody. Least of all some coloured whore with her equally deceitful friends.
It did not give him pause that they were from Four Corners or that they might have some connection to the Larabee gang that protected the town. He had faced far worse in his life than seven lawmen and come out alive and kicking. Besides, he would have dealt with those women long before they ever had the chance to return to Four Corners and tell anyone about him. Following his release, Dylan had proclaimed to his deputy that he would be gone for a few days, hunting the fugitives who did this. Of course Waylon had been smart enough not to make any comment, since the entire town had seen the departure of the women even if they did not know that he was trapped inside the jailhouse.
It was easy enough to find their trail once he talked to Parsons whom had declared that they were on their way to Four Corners. Having found their damaged carriage on the main track towards that town, it was soon obvious that the ladies had been coming from Four Corners, not going towards it. Thus it was easy enough to come to the conclusion that they were going to Sweet Water, not Four Corners. His anger had made his journey to the Sweet Water pass quickly, since he pushed his horse beyond its limits in the desire to sate his anger.
It had been a long time since he had done anything out of vengeance instead of pure profit, however, it had been a long time since anyone had inspired the rage that the woman called Alex had inspired. It was made worse by the fact that he had wanted her and perhaps let his desire for the woman force him into the situation where Waylon had to let him out of his own cells! Dylan remembered his days in Kansas City when he was working along side James Bracken, one of the meanest men he ever knew. Bracken had taught him everything he knew about the life and killing for money until one day he came up against Jack Nichols who more or less ran the town and did not take too kindly to Bracken's efforts to usurp territory. The resulting blood bath had more or less annihilated all of Bracken's gang. Dylan had escaped but barely.
Determined that he would not die by the Nichols' hands, Dylan fled Kansas and rode out west, finding Coventry not long after he arrived in the Territory. The sheriff was an old man and Dylan made short work of him before assuming the badge the man wore and calling himself Sheriff Pierce. Yes, he had liked the sound of that very much and decided that Coventry would be his very own fatted calf, carving it piece by piece over the years as he gathered enough money to quit the west forever. The people in Coventry had resisted at first and it required a few dead men before the point was put across finally that he would not be leaving unless he was in a pine box. As of yet, there had been no one in town that could make this a reality and so he stayed.
Truth be known, things were starting to get a little routine until he saw that extraordinary creature with her golden coloured skin he knew was not that of a Nigra but could not think of what she might have been. He knew if he did not act, she would have run out on him and there was very little that Dylan Pierce wanted that he did not get. From the moment he had seen her, he had wanted and her and had decided that much without any doubt whatsoever, even if getting her to stay would be something of a problem. Except he had more than he bargained for because she was a doctor. Despite the ruse that had tricked him into his cell, the bag he had seen did belong to a physician and she handled the instruments the way he handled his guns, with familiarity.
It angered him to know that she was beyond his reach. The tracker that she had spoken about was none other than Vin Tanner, Chris Larabee's trusted second whom Dylan knew to be one of the best bounty hunters in the business before a price was put on his head that no bounty hunter has yet been brave enough to collect.
Arriving n Sweet Water, it did not require much time to question the local hotels and find that she and her friends had arrived late the night before and left early the next morning, with instructions to the porters to send their bags onto the railway station. There was only one train departing from Sweet Water at that time of the day and its destination took it to Eagle Bend. Although he debated maintaining the pursuit since he could not be away from Coventry indefinitely, he knew that he would have no other chance to reach her unimpeded if he did not confront her at Eagle Bend. Once she returned to Four Corners, Dylan had no illusions that he would be set upon by the Larabee gang, in particular, by her paramour, Vin Tanner.
Dylan was neither afraid of such an eventuality nor did he care. He had faced far worse odds in his lifetime, during the war in Kansas City, he had found himself in even more untenable situations to be ever afraid of anything ever again. No, he wanted to reach her without interference, he would let nothing get in the way of his revenge and in this life, there were few things that Dylan Pierce found himself a slave to. The need to satiate a wrong was one such thing.
And that one thing would make him chase her to Eagle Bend and perhaps even to hell itself.
It was late afternoon when the ladies finally arrived at Eagle Bend, carefully avoiding any possible contact with Mr Jethro Lewisham even though Mary did not believe that evading the man was going to a worth while expenditure of time since he knew exactly why Maude was in town. It was getting late in the evening and she knew both Alex and Maude were eager to get to the hotel that was being host to the gamblers and confessed some measure of curiosity to seeing the gathering for herself. It might make for interesting reading in the Clarion, particularly since one of the players were a regular visitor to Four Corners. Mary had a feeling Alex would like her involvement to remain discreet.
Eagle Bend's Desert Sands Hotel was everything that an oasis was meant to be in the sense that it was luxurious and welcome sight for weary travellers. From the extravagance of the main lobby, to the porters and bellhops running about in their maroon coloured uniforms, ferrying luggage of hotel patrons up and down the carpeted floor, the hotel reeked with opulence. It was exactly what Mary needed, considering their journey here had been fraught with so much drama.
The Desert Sands Hotel was a multi storied structure with steam powered mechanical lifts carrying passengers to the loftier levels of the building. As Mary and her company entered the front lobby, she saw a layout of the hotel and took note that it boasted an in house restaurant and theatre and extensive gambling hall which held the most interest to Maude. Approaching the front desk, Mary looked forward to soaking forever in hot tub with running water and room service. She felt slightly ashamed at her decadent predilections but she doubted that anyone of her companions had thoughts that did not alter too differently from hers in that regard.
There was also every indication that the gambling tournament Maude had travelled so far to attend was in full swing as they entered the premises and saw the men in their sharp suits and dapper manner strolling up and down the place, leaving no doubt as to their profession. Mary never thought she would say this but she now realised that Ezra was atypical of a professional gambler and wondered how the southerner would take to knowing that he looked like any other card player. They came in every type, some wearing expensive clothes and some not, but they all looked the same nonetheless. Surprisingly, the game was not terribly indiscriminate and Mary spied some ladies in the stable of gamblers present.
Upon arriving at the front desk, it did not take the clerk long to find the reservations made prior to their departure from Four Corners and hand them their room keys. Maude had taken care of her own accommodations earlier and secured herself a private room, while Julia and Inez shared a double, while Alex took a suite for herself, Mary and Casey to cut costs since Alex knew that like Inez, Mary was a on a budget these days.
"This is so exciting!" Casey gushed as the young woman swept through the rooms of the suite as if she were a little girl in a carnival, dazzled by the lights and everything about it. In this instance, Casey had examined every room carefully, enjoying everything from the richly coloured draperies, to the large bay windows that gave a magnificent view of the city below, not to mention the bathroom which was a religious experience for both Mary and herself.
"I'm glad you like it," Alex said stretching out on the divan and taking a moment to catch her breath now that she was finally able to put her feet up. "Its nice to know that my money is good for something."
Although Mary had offered to share the cost of the rooms, Alex would hear none of it citing what good was her money if she could not put it too good use, besides she liked indulging herself and her friends and knew that Mary needed this time away. The editor of the Clarion News took so much on herself that it was easy for Four Corners to forget that she had a life of her own. People often looked upon Mary as the reliable and responsible community leader, who could be counted upon to remain strong whatever the situation. They tended to forget that her energy was not inexhaustible and sometimes, the burden of all their hopes could be a terrible weight even on her formidable shoulders.
"This is quite a suite," Mary commented. "Thank you for this."
"Don't mention it," Alex smiled, considering Mary Travis Larabee one of her closest friends and being privileged to know someone who could often be a force of nature almost as awesome as her husband. "I'm glad to see you and Casey having some fun. Besides," Alex laughed. "If I am going to do something as sinful as play in this poker game, I might as well do something positive to offset that."
"You think you can win Alex?" Casey returned to one of the wing chairs near the divan that Alex and Mary were presently occupying in similar states of weariness.
"I don't know." Alex answered honestly. "It's more the fun of playing really than actually winning. I used to get so sick and tired of hearing people say 'she can't play cause she's a woman'. Believe it or not, whether its here in America or across the globe, it all comes out the same way."
"You don't have to tell me." Mary remarked, completely aware of what Alex was talking about. "When I decided to become a newspaper woman, that's all I heard about, especially after Steven died. They knew they could I could write but running a paper, that was something else." She frowned, recalling all the objections and words of discouragement she heard during those first few months. It seemed about the only person who did not think she would fall flat on her face was Nathan Jackson. Back then before the arrival of the other members of the seven, Nathan was the only one who believed in her and Mary had never forgotten it.
"Is it always going to be like that?" Casey asked, wondering if women would always be treated as frail and weak when their very survival in the west should have been proof enough that they could survive any calamity. "For women I mean? I can ride, shoot and hunt like any man and yet, they all think I'm strange because I can do all those things. Am I really?"
"Of course not." Alex said automatically and genuinely meant it. "I'd love to be able to do some of the things you do Casey but I was not brought up that way. My father wanted me to experience as much as any man but he still raised me to be a proper young lady. He even tried sending me to boarding school, for all the good that did."
"Likewise." Mary added. "I grew up in Boston where my mother spent her days with society ladies, having tea and kinds of things that meant nothing to anyone but themselves. I hated it because I was only meant to look pretty until someone married me. Having thoughts in my head that went beyond marriage and high society was not acceptable as far as my mother was concerned. Thank god for my father."
"So are your parents still alive?" Casey asked, having never heard Mary speak about her family back east.
"My father died a few years ago." Mary confessed, trying not to feel sadness at the memories of the man who raised her and allowed her the freedom to experience his world of words and truth. "My mother is just fine where she is, playing court over my sisters and their children. I was always the odd one out anyway."
"Has she ever been to see you?" Alex inquired, wondering if Ezra was not the luckiest one of them all when it came to family because for all her vices, Maude seemed determined to be apart of his life.
"No." Mary said trying to hide her disappointment the last time she wrote and made an invitation to her mother to visit. Actually, although she told no one about it, Mary had invited her mother and sisters to her wedding even though she was not surprised when the reply came back declining the request. She had thrown the letter away, too upset to continue reading the almost obligatory response that cited the difficult journey or the season was not quite right for such a trip. "I don't really want to start explaining my life in Four Corners to her anyway."
Sensing that there was more to it than just that, Alex decided a tactful change of subject was required. "Well," she looked at Mary. "If you want to take that bath, I might go see what Julia and Inez want to do for dinner. I'll have to go register for the game and put down my stake. Casey, do you want to come with me?"
Casey who was more than eager to explore the rest of the hotel did not turn the offer and gave an enthused answer to the affirmative.
"All right you two," Mary called out as Alex and Casey started to leave, "don't get into trouble."
Alex rolled her eyes and threw Mary a look as she and Casey were walking out the door. "Look who's talking."
Casey had never been inside a gambling hall like this one and the experience fascinated her like everything else during this trip. Unlike the seedy gambling rooms in Four Corners, there was some measure of respectability as she wandered through the carpeted room, with its felt covered table and luxuriant surroundings. The men and women sitting at the tables were dressed elegantly in evening gowns and such making Casey who was still clad in her travelling clothes, feel somewhat plain. She wished more than ever she had more than one dress that she could wear so that she would blend in and not be so conspicuous.
She knew she should not wander off but could not see the harm in it since she was still remaining inside the confines of the hotel, besides, Alex was busy registering for the tournament which Casey understood would take place in a matter of hours. In the meantime, Casey saw no reason why she could not conduct her own exploration. She walked through the gambling hall and soon arrived at the empty stage where the evening performances had yet to begin. The billboard displayed the shapely image of a chanteuse who went by the name of Cynthia Watson. Judging by the expressive rendering of Miss Watson, she appeared to be quite the beauty and Casey wondered if she was truly that enchanting in person. Somehow she doubted it.
"Hello Miss Wells." A voice said behind her as she was studying the play card and made Casey spin around in surprise, when the voice was undoubtedly masculine. Casey looked behind her and found herself staring at Mr Jethro Lewisham, the man whom had given Maude Standish such cause for concern earlier.
"Hello." She said quietly, trying not to show that he made her nervous.
"I apologise." He remarked graciously, eying the young woman carefully as he spoke and knowing that if any information of use was to be had, she would be the easiest one of the group from which to extract it. "I did not mean to startle you. I merely came to say hello since I recognised from our earlier encounter."
"Oh." Casey answered and then added. "You didn't scare me," she said quickly. "You just caught me by surprise, that's all."
"Of course." He answered smoothly and then regarded the play card she had been studying prior to his interruption. "She is quite the singer, Miss Watson." He remarked.
"You seen her sing before?" Casey asked, her curiosity getting the better of her and she thought to herself that it could do no harm to be civil to the man. After all, he did not seem to making any threatening moves towards her.
"Once in New Orleans." He replied with a faint smile, pegging her for an atypical country farm girl who had never really been anywhere in her life until now. This was going to be easier than he thought. "She does a rendition of Red River Valley that brings tears to your eyes, you should attend her performance."
"Maybe I will." Casey said evasively. "It depends on what the others are doing."
"Naturally, you must adhere to the planned agenda." He replied, with no sense of malice in his voice. "I'm assuming you will be at the gambling tables when Maude decides to clean up?"
"No," Casey shook her head because Aunt Nettie would definitely not approve of that and she did not have much interest in watching cards being played all night. "That's for Maude and Alex only. I'll probably go with Mary, Julia and Inez."
"Yes," Lewisham recalled the other women in the stable he had encountered. "I am assuming this trip to Eagle Bend was just a short respite from the dreary life at Four Corners."
"Yeah," Casey nodded. "Mary's the editor of the newspaper and she has so much to do sometimes, I think she just needed to get away and Inez wanted to shop for the baby but mostly I think they wanted to get Julia out of town. She was still pretty mad at Ezra on the account of his not telling Maude about her at all since he's her beau and all."
"That would make any woman most upset." Lewisham smiled, showing no signs that the young lady had revealed anything significant. As far as he was concerned, her words were exactly what he needed to know. Initially, he had intended to use Ezra Standish to make Maude capitulate to his desires, however with the absence of the gambler, those plans had been placed in jeopardy until now.
If he could not have Ezra Standish, then Julia Pemberton would do just as nicely.
Chris was hardly surprised when he and the other arrived at Sweet Water earlier that day and found that Mary and the rest of the women had hoped on a train to Eagle Bend. On horse back, the journey would not take much longer but it did disturb Chris to learn that Dylan Pierce had also made inquiries after the ladies and was also making way to the Eagle Bend in pursuit. A man so determined to find his quarry, did not harbour good intentions and increased the urgency of the lawmen to get to Eagle Bend before it was too late.
Riding out of a Sweet Water after a short respite where they had taken food and allowed the horses to rest, Chris did not feel the annoyance he normally felt at Mary for taking off like this and as per usual getting herself into all kinds of trouble. He supposed that is why he loved her so much, that ability of hers to make his life completely unpredictable in a time when he had become so jaded about everything that transpired within it.
"You know," Ezra remarked as they rode on the trail to Eagle Bend. " I think I have heard of this Dylan Pierce."
"From where?" Vin asked automatically, having a bone to pick with the man for the insult offered to Alex.
"I think he use to run with James Bracken." Ezra replied.
"James Bracken of Kansas City?" Chris looked at him.
"You know him?" JD asked.
"Only by reputation." Chris answered, remembering what he had heard about the man in the days when such things held interest for him. "I know that he was carving himself a nice slice of Kansas City."
"Precisely." Ezra took up the reins of the narrative. "Unfortunately, he ran into the charming Jack Nichols whose progeny we are all terribly familiar with. Nichols did not appreciate the competition and apparently embroiled Kansas into a war where Bracken did not emerge victorious, let alone alive. I believe that Pierce was one of his men. As far I recall, Pierce disappeared from Kansas and had not been seen since."
"Well I guess we know where he went." Josiah replied. "When you don't succeed in a large town, what's to do but to move on to some place smaller?"
"I can't understand what he wanted with Alex though." Buck added. "I mean Parsons said she had money but not enough to lock someone up and bring down the kind of trouble that he's doing now. Look at him, he's following her all the way to Eagle Bend. Why?"
"I do not know about you Mr Wilmington, but most lawmen who are locked up in their own jails by a group of women dressed up as nuns can be somewhat offended by the gestured, not to mention humiliated. To someone like Pierce who had been ruling Coventry supreme for the time he has been there, it can be somewhat damaging to the ego." Ezra pointed out.
"I can't believe Casey got dressed up as nun..." JD mused, unable to picture his girl in a habit and playing such a dangerous game with the Sheriff of Coventry.
"I have to confess that I would have dearly loved to have viewed that performance." Ezra replied, unable to keep the slight smirk from his face as he pictured Julia and Maude both in nun's habits.
"I think you're going to even love the performance even more when you have to explain to Julia why you didn't tell Maude about her." Buck could not help but remind that gambler of that tiny little fact.
"Do not remind me." Ezra remarked, not looking forward to that episode when it finally came upon him. He was not looking forward to giving his explanations to the woman he loved, when even he had no idea why he had not done it.
"What were you thinking Ezra?" Chris asked, having been married long enough between Sarah and Mary to know that what Ezra had done was a hanging offence to most women. "You know what women are like. I once forget an anniversary and almost got killed for it."
"Chris it was your first one." Buck pointed out, remembering the incident well.
"You would remember that wouldn't you?" Chris gave him a dark look.
"What happened Buck?" JD asked eagerly. Chris rarely talked about those years of his life. Since marrying Mary Travis, he had become more forthcoming with his past even though it took some prodding to discuss those things. JD guessed that being with Mary had eased Chris' pain in remembering the family before her and now made it possible for him to look back upon those memories without feeling the anguish of their loss.
"She threw me out of the house." Chris said with a fond smile, images of Sarah in her spectacular rage surfacing in his mind with bittersweet poignancy. It was becoming easier to talk about her and Adam now and while he was hardly a fountain of revelation, Chris found he did not mind looking back on his life with her and sharing those memories with his friends on occasion.
"Spent the next week trying to make it up to her." Buck added with a wide grin.
"And you're still in a lot more trouble than I was Ezra." Chris said with an evil smile across his face when he noticed Vin had not spoken. The tracker's mind was more focussed on reaching Eagle Bend and getting to Alex before Dylan Pierce. His mood served to remind Chris that Mary too was in danger and Chris nudged his horse to come along side of Vin's.
"We'll get to her in plenty of time pard," Chris assured the younger man.
Vin did not answer but hoped Chris was right. From what he had heard about Pierce not only from the residents of Coventry and now with this new information from Chris and Ezra, Vin had reason to worry. Dylan Pierce was fixated on Alex for a reason and while he might take his vengeance on all the women for their humiliation of him, Vin was certain Pierce was reserving his worst for Alex.
"I hope you're right," Vin remarked. "Or there'll be hell to pay."
"Actually," Chris said with something of a faint smile crossing his face as he thought of what his wife and her friends were capable of when left to their own devices. "I'd be more worried about what they'd do to him."
It was time to put his plan into action.
Following the conversation with the young Miss Wells and discovering just what Julia Pemberton meant to her son Ezra, Jethro Lewisham could finally put into motion his plans regarding Maude Standish. He was determined to win back his honour and proved to all those present that he was better than her and always had been. The slight to his ego at being defeated by a woman was more than someone of Lewisham's stature could endure and he had followed her to Eagle Bend in order to reclaim his honour and mollify his wounded pride.
Upon learning all there was to know about Maude Standish, Jethro formulated a plan of sorts that depended on the presence of her son Ezra for it to work. Unfortunately, when he encountered her on the train to Eagle Bend, those plans had been put astray when he learnt that her gambler son was not accompanying her in the journey. Something in her guarded manner on the train, told him she was afraid of something and trying hard to hide what that might have been. For a time, Lewisham had debated at what he was going to do, unwilling to let this go until satisfaction was received.
Until Miss Wells had unwittingly revealed Julia Pemberton's importance in the whole affair.
The saloon inside the hotel was as lavish as the rest of the premises and the man who waited to meet him seemed out of place in his dark coat and fearsome scowl. As Lewisham jointed him at corner booth, it was easy to see his vocation in the craggy lines of his face and the southerner was able to deduce quite a bit of the man without hearing him speak a word. No doubt, he had spent much of his life on the wrong side of the law. There were enough scars on his face to prove that he had been in trouble at one point or another, even to the extend that Lewisham would venture a guess and say he had spent some time behind bars.
Whatever his background may have been, their association had been established by a mutual friend who had recommended him as a man who got things done and was willing to do so whatever the task if the money was right. With what Lewisham had in mind, he needed someone who was trusted and absolutely reliable. His honour demanded nothing less. Sliding into the darkened leather seat at the far end of the room, he ordered himself a drink as his new associates awaited for the trivialities to be dispensed before they could get down to business.
"Mr Coltrane." Lewisham spoke to the grizzled man in his late forties, whose face was hidden under the stetson he was wearing and whose bulk made people keep their distance. He was burly in stature and was a bear of a man by all accounting. "You come highly recommended."
"Atkinson says you have a job for me." He replied, chewing on tobacco as he spoke.
"Nothing terribly dangerous but slightly illegal." Lewisham drawled in typical southern charm. "Is that a problem for you?"
"Not if the money's right." He retorted, his voice sounding a deep rumble that never quite articulated into speech in his throat.
"We'll discuss price later," Lewisham said impatiently, more interested in seeing if Coltrane could carry out the undertaking he desired. The plan was for nothing if the huge man could not accomplish what was required.
"What's the job?" Coltrane asked after a moment, seeing the southerner was hurry to get a move on and guessed that there was some time factor at work here.
"I need you to kidnap a young lady." Lewisham dropped his voice an octave as he made that admission, unwilling to let anyone hear what he was proposing.
"For how long?" The man asked without batting an eye lash. This was not the most heinous request that had been made of him and in his time, he had done worse. Only his victims could attest to how much more if they were alive to make the complaint.
"Just for the evening." Lewisham answered. "You see what's going on around here?"
"Some kind of poker game." Coltrane remarked, letting his gaze sweep across the saloon and spotting at least a dozen known card shark common to the Eagle Bend locality.
"It's the poker game." His new employer declared. "I care not that I win this little match but I do intend to beat one woman in particular and to do that you must perform a little kidnapping for me. I want her held captive for as long as it takes for me to finish my game with the lady in question and then you may release your prisoner."
"Shall I take her out of the hotel?" Coltrane inquired, not adept at unravelling the entire machinations of Lewisham's plans but not particularly bothered about doing so either. His part in the drama had been explained and beyond that, he was not overly concerned with what Lewisham intended to do or was hoping to achieve.
"Not necessary." Lewisham shook his head and saw a number of problems with taking that route. "Just keep her in one of the rooms. We don't want to cause any more trouble than necessary." He wanted to defeat Maude Standish and humiliate her in public as she had done him in New Orleans and thus made him a laughing stock of high society. This would not only vindicate him but would also prove to Maude Standish what it was to trifle with the likes of him. He doubted that she would show her face in New Orleans after he had trounced her completely at the gambling table, particularly when she was coerced into it. That would give him a great deal of satisfaction indeed.
"Is woman alone?" Coltrane asked referring to the unwilling charge he would soon be assuming control of.
"No," the Southerner shook his head in response. "She has friends but they are all women. I would not consider them to be a formidable presence although I would recommend that you take her when she is alone to avoid complications."
"How long do I keep her under wraps?" The big man inquired further as a barmaid brought them another rounds of drinks after Lewisham had finished his own and motioned for another serving.
Waiting until she had served them their drinks and departed, Lewisham did not answer until they were left alone once again. "However long it takes for me to beat Maude Standish." He said firmly, as if there were no room for negotiation. "When you leave here, you will do immediately what I ask and find Julia Pemberton." He continued. "She is in Room 435 with another lady. I have procured you a room on another floor where you will keep her hidden until I return after the tournament. Following the match, we will release Miss Pemberton and you and I will go our separate ways."
Out of curiosity, Coltrane found he had to ask. "What's so important about this girl anyway?"
"She's the key to my victory over Maude Standish." Lewisham said with a smile of barely concealed malevolence. "She humiliated me before everyone I know in New Orleans and unless she lets me win when I face her at the tournament, I will make Julia Pemberton disappear and ensure her son knows that his mother allowed the woman he loved to die. I trust if it came to that eventuality, you will not have a problem with it?"
Coltrane shook his head and answered before downing the contents of his glass. "As long as the money's right, nothing is a problem."