Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
When Nathan Jackson returned to Four Corners in the early hours of dawn, he was almost glad to see the dusty collection of buildings on the flat strip of land upon which the town was situated. The week he had spent in the Seminole village had gone a long way to dispelling some of the anger he felt towards Nicholas Serfonteine because his lover Rain had been philosophical about how he should deal with that enmity. Nathan found it extremely hard to refute anything that the young woman said because her personality was tempered with such unbiased honesty that her words spoke the truth no matter how much he may be despised to hear it. Rain's advice had been simple;
Forgive but never forget.
Nathan knew he would never forget how Rebecca had died in his arms or what she had meant to him. Those memories were burned into his mind like a branding iron whose mark would never fade away, no matter how much time had passed. Rebecca in her short time on this Earth had shaped him the way only someone truly extraordinary could ever hope to do. However ugly the crime that Serfonteine had committed in taking her away from him, Rebecca's effect on his life was eternal and with that realisation, Nathan began to give Rain's words some credence.
He returned to town feeling slightly better because even if Serfonteine was here, Nathan knew with confidence that he could endure the man's presence. He was not going to give Serfonteine the satisfaction of knowing that he was something malleable under the man's savage grip. The days when Nicholas Serfonteine had that much influence over his being was over and Rain had been correct in telling Nathan that he did not need to give his former master that advantage again.
Besides, what Chris and the others had tried so hard to convince him of, was right. He had a life now. Thanks to Alexandra Styles, the possibility of becoming Doctor Jackson was within his reach. He had people in his life he cared about, a future that required the sacrifice of his revenge to see fulfilled and not to mention Rain whom he wanted as his wife more than anything else. He wanted to marry her one day when he was finally a doctor. Nicholas Serfonteine was not worth risking his whole life.
Rebecca of all people, would understand that reasoning.
He wondered what had happened in town the past week and hoped Miss Julia was feeling a great deal better. Understandably, Miss Alex had not asked for his help when she was treating the young woman and in light of the situation, Nathan could appreciate why the doctor had asked for Mary Travis' assistance instead. Losing a child was no easy thing for a woman to bear and sometimes the best medicine was a little bit of empathy. Mary of all people, knew exactly what Julia was going through and could offer the woman the compassion she needed to get through this difficult time.
Of course, Nathan wanted to see how Ezra was doing. Even though he had not seen Ezra before he left, Nathan now realised why the gambler had been so preoccupied in the days before. Even though Ezra would have them all believe that Julia was just another woman to him, the rest of the seven knew better. No one discards someone like Alexandra Styles for a woman as questionable as Julia Pemberton for no good reason unless some genuine affection was at work.
Nathan had remembered how Ezra had been at the Seminole village during their first adventure together and recalled how the children had flocked around the southerner as he entertained them with card tricks and other amusements. He gave the impression to everyone present that despite his jaded facade, he liked children and enjoyed their company. Losing a child might be a painful thing to Ezra as well and Nathan reminded himself to pay a call on the man after he had got settled at home.
Upon entering the town, Nathan made his way to the livery first and stabled his horse. Nothing in Four Corners every seemed to change even though the place rarely seem to enjoy any prolonged periods of calm. There was an energy about the town, native to most places that was on its way to becoming something else. Four Corners had evolved significantly since the seven had arrived and the presence of law and order had brought about a relative boom of prosperity with people unafraid to settle down here rather than fleeing at the first available opportunity. Nathan was glad that he had been a part of all that. Commerce that was now finding this town a viable venue for establishment, brought work and progress that might never have been before that fateful moment when Chris and Vin had decided to save his life.
After ensured his horse was stabled, fed and watered, Nathan left the livery and made his way to his infirmary and home, carrying his saddle bags and looking forward to a few hours sleep after the lengthy ride. He had left the village not long before dawn had broken and had not broken his journey in his desire to get home. It was early afternoon in Four Corners and no one paid him much notice as they hurried along on their own way. He supposed at this time of day, most of the seven would most likely be in the saloon and it did not appear as if there had been trouble while he had been gone.
Passing by the hotel, he took note of Lars Johannsen replacing the glass on the window of the saloon and attributed it to some bar room altercation which was a way of life around these parts. He guessed he would hear all about it when he saw the others, that is if there was anything worth hearing about the event. Nathan approached the old building that was his current residence and the location of his infirmary where he traded his medical services to the good folk of Four Corners.
He made his way up the creaky stairs his front door since his part of the building was on the second floor. Mary Travis had talked Mr Rosken who owned the hardware store below, to let him lease the space since the only saw bones in town at that point needed a place to see patients. He rarely had anything to do with Rosken, seeing the man only when it was necessary to pay his leasing fees. Nathan arrived at the top of the stairs and fumbled for his keys, not an easy procedure when he had heavy saddle bags slung across his shoulders.
He did not see the note pasted sloppily across his door with glue until he had found his keys and was preparing to open the door. As his eyes skimmed over the contents, Nathan thought this has to be someone's idea of a joke.
NOTICE TO EVICT
He had never seen an eviction notice in his entire life and supposed that it was hardly surprising because he had never rented anything before this. The document offered little explanation beyond a statement declaring he had seven days to vacate and a signature by Mr Rosken that made the whole thing nice and legal. Nathan snatched paper from the door and left half of it still attached to the wooden surface where the glue had refused to yield. Shrugging his saddle bags from his shoulders, Nathan was hardly aware when they fell heavily onto the floor.
He hurried down the steps, demanding an explanation for this sudden ejection, having not even pause to think about what such a move would do to his life. It was not as if he could not find another place, he could with little difficulty but he had become accustomed to its premises. Sure, it was hardly the most lavish set of rooms to be found in Four Corners but Nathan liked it and he considered it his home. He could not understand why Rosken had decided to do this since the man had never shown any kind of dislike towards him. However, now that Nathan considered the matter, the man had never shown any thing to indicate he might like him either. Still, he had no right to simply force Nathan out of his home without so much as a word to explain why.
Fortunately, the store was empty when Nathan sighed Rosken behind his counter. He stared at Nathan behind his steel rimmed glasses and immediately straightened his stout frame, practicing some ageless ritual of posture when confronting some form of danger. Nathan forced himself to calm down, knowing that he ought to give the man the benefit of the doubt, that his eviction might have some purpose to which he was not privy to yet.
"Mr Jackson." Rosken replied coldly with obvious disdain and suddenly Nathan felt something very ominous on the horizon that was about to hit him with the weight of a freight train.
"Mr Rosken." Nathan said reminding himself to keep a level head. "I just found your note. I would like to know why you are evicting me."
"I do not see why I have to give you a reason." Rosken said stiffly and moved to the other end of the counter where he proceeded to take count of the money in the til.
"I've lived in the place for almost two years!" Nathan barked, unable to suppress his annoyance at the man's indifference. "I have a business there. I think that at least gives me the right to an explanation."
He looked at Nathan and let out a sigh as if dealing with some undisciplined child. "I had a better offer for that space." He said finally. "More than you've been giving me and certainly more than I can turn down."
Nathan felt his stomach clench in anger, thinking that all this had come about because of money. He swallowed hard and asked quietly. "How much more?"
"More than you can afford." The shit eating grin with which he delivered his statement more than confirmed how pleased he was with himself.
Nathan suddenly understood that even if he did have the money to match his unseen rival, Rosken would not take it anyway. "I see," he nodded, understanding things clearly now, feeling his heart sink. "May I ask who you're renting the place to?"
Rosken looked uncomfortable for the first time as if the answer might cause him some unspeakable harm. "It's none of your damn business!" He snapped defensively and only made Nathan more determined to know the identity of the person who was responsible for turning him out of his home.
"That's alright Mr Rosken." A familiar voice responded behind them and immediately forced Nathan to face the speaker.
"If it would induce you to stop harassing my new friend Mr Rosken, I have not difficulty allowing that information be made public." Nicholas Serfonteine said with a smile.
He had noticed Nathan returning to town and knew that this confrontation would follow when the man discovered the note on his door that would see him unceremoniously forced from his home. It had been relatively easy for Nicholas to wave enough money under Rosken's nose to have the man agree to evict his tenant whom it appeared the landlord had little affection because of his colour. Apparently, the charming Mary Travis had convinced him against his better judgement to let Nathan Jackson lease the premises even though he had not liked the idea. However, Nicholas could understand why it was so hard to say no to the fair Mrs Travis.
"You rented the place to him?" Nathan was so livid he could barely speak. He glared at Rosken who was now starting to think that this was a very bad idea since it appeared he had unwittingly played the part in some vendetta between the these two men.
"Yes he did." Nicholas answered before Rosken could. "I have decided to make some investments in this area and I believe I shall need office space." He sounded almost gleeful as he continued speaking. "I am so sorry that this inconveniences you Mr Jackson but I'm certain a medical man such as yourself will have no trouble finding alternate premises."
Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you angry.
Nathan told himself that repeatedly as he swallowed the bile of rage that had formed a lump in his throat and was making it difficult to talk. "No trouble at all." He said staring Serfonteine straight in the eye with his head held high. "This ain't the only place in town."
With that, Nathan cast a look of disgust in Rosken's direction and swept out of the place before good sense left him and he tore out Serfonteine's throat like his baser instincts desired so profoundly at this moment.
That's the fifth one today.
Alexandra Styles glanced at the clock on her wall and decided that Mrs Wallace was half an hour late for her appointment and was most likely not coming. Cancelled appointments were nothing new, they were part and parcel of a having an office. People often felt uncomfortable about consulting a doctor and were known to falter at the last minute, no matter how resolved they were to get medical aid. Still, five cancellations was not the norm and Alex could not help wondering why that was so. It was not to say that she had not seen any patients today but the ones who were absent had left her concerned.
Needing some fresh air, Alex closed her appointment book and stepped out from behind her desk. Outside, the sun was shining and was telling her that despite it being autumn, she had no business being confined on a day like this. Her next appointment, if they showed was almost an hour away and Alex decided she might as well spend the time running some errands. Locking up the door to the clinic behind her, Alex stepped into the afternoon heat and relished the warmth on her skin.
Her face still throbbed from Lamont's attack but at least the swelling had gone down and she hid her eye underneath a pair of dark glasses she had bought during her last trip to the city which was before making her arrival in Four Corners. She wondered what Vin was doing today and gathered he would no doubt be at the saloon or the jailhouse. Wherever he was, she had no wish to intrude like some clinging woman. He had promised to take her out to the creek near Nettie Well's place for a bit of moonlight supper and Alex could wait until then to see him. For a man used to such a rough and tumble existence, Vin could be exceedingly romantic when he wanted to be.
Alex had made her way into the heart of town when she first noticed a few strange looks she was receiving from some of the townsfolk. At first, the odd behaviour had slipped past her because for every odd stare there was also a pleasant greeting from someone walking in her direction or simply coming across her path as people tended to do in small towns like this. However, when she noticed more than one or two people glaring at her with what appeared to be hostility, Alex started to pay attention.
Then she noticed the whispers.
At first they were not very loud at first and certainly not spoken by everyone she happened along. However, as she began taking greater stock of what was going on around her, Alex saw the furtive glances in her direction by some men but mostly women, who spoken in hushed tones as she happened by them. Alex was becoming decidedly uncomfortable as she stepped onto the boardwalk that took her to the general store where she had resolved to do some shopping. Suddenly, she caught sight of Frannie Jacobson who had been one of her appointments that had not shown. Mrs Jacobson was a stern faced woman, devoutly religious and hardened by a lifetime as a farmer's wife.
"Mrs Jacobson," Alex said as she approached her. "You missed your appointment with me."
Mrs Jacobson who was accompanied by her young daughter Susie, held the child close to her as Alex stood before them, almost as if she were attempting to protect the child from harm. Judging by the grip around the young girl's shoulder Mrs Jacobson was adamant that Susie stay where she was and not stray from that position. Susie, whom Alex had treated for measles some months ago, seemed apprehensive about offering the doctor a friendly smile and Alex met her mother's gaze to discover the cold stare she was receiving from Mrs Jacobson.
"I'm sorry, Doctor." Mrs Jacobson said sharply.
"Doctor?" Alex looked at her with surprise. "I thought we had gotten past that Mrs Jacobson, you had agreed to call me Alexandra." Alex had been too informal for Mrs Jacobson's taste and they had reached a compromise with Alexandra.
"I'm afraid I'll be taking my business to Sweetwater from now on, Doctor." The woman all but ignored Alex's earlier remark.
It took a moment for Alex to guess what she meant by business and then it dawned upon her what Mrs Jacobson was telling her. "You're seeing a doctor in Sweetwater?" Alex said in a calm, measured voice, hiding how much Mrs Jacobson's manner was upsetting her.
"Yes," the woman said stiffly. "I prefer to see another doctor."
Alex swallowed and asked quietly. "May I ask why?"
"May I be frank?" Mrs Jacobson looked at her with hard eyes.
"Certainly." Alex answered deciding she had to hear this. Suddenly, she felt a bombshell about to drop right into her lap. She almost refused but was too curious to keep Mrs Jacobson from speaking her mind. Besides, if the woman felt that the quality of service she was receiving from Alex was less than adequate, Alex would like to know why.
"I do not wish to be associated with someone of your questionable morals." Mrs Jacobson announced with clear distaste in her voice.
Alex thought she was joking but the expression on Mrs Jacobson's face showed that the woman was nothing but completely serious about her outrageous statement. "Questionable morals?" Alex stammered, almost unable to respond out of utter astonishment and stunned disbelief.
"A Christian woman does not lay with a man that is not her own and certainly before she is wed. I do not want that kind of wanton anywhere near my Susie." Mr Jacobson said with no attempt to be kind. "Now if you will excuse Doctor, I think this conversation is over."
With that, Mrs Jacobson turned on her heels and walked briskly away in the opposite direction, dragging little Susie with her and leaving Alexandra Styles to shocked to say a word in light of her abrupt departure.
It took a few minutes for it to sink in and when it did, Alex suddenly understood what those looks on the street had been all about. A few more minutes passed before she had presence of mind to continue walking, although she was almost moving in a dazed stupor. The shock had still yet to fade from her encounter with Mrs Jacobson as her mind descended into chaos as it scrambled to understand what had just taken place. Eventually, Alex tried to think how this could have happened. She and Vin had been very discreet when it came to their intimate relations. Vin always ensured that no one saw him coming and going. While it was commonly known that they were courting, Vin and Alex had been careful by not allowing anyone to assume that their romance had not progressed into the bedroom.
She continued walking towards the general store, no longer paying attention to the people who might or might not be staring at her with accusing eyes. Why would this surface now? Alex thought to herself, oblivious to everyone around her. She and Vin had been sleeping together for months now and Alex found it beyond the realm of possibility that any impropriety should become a point of contention now. Had all her cancellations today been due to the fact that the entire town considered her some sort of wanton?
"I always knew that there was something strange about her." Someone said.
Alex heard the voice state clearly as she neared the main entrance of the shop. It snapped her out of her reverie and made her stop in mid step. The group of women who were congregated together and gossiping like a gaggle of geese did not see her and continued speaking, offering colourful insights into the subject they were discussing with such passion.
"I mean do you see how she behaves around him?" Another woman added. "I wonder how long its been going on?"
"For months I hear." The first woman answered. "I mean first she took up with Ezra Standish until of course he wised up and left her for that nice Miss Pemberton."
"I would suggest you ladies keep your vile opinions to yourself." The voice of Mary Travis spoke up and silenced the others immediately. "Alexandra Styles has always comported herself with complete propriety and you should all be ashamed of yourself. There was never any hiding her relationship with Vin Tanner and those of you who have made it more than it appears to be, are the ones who have behaved improperly!"
Alex had turned away, uncertain she was willing to face a friend right now, even one who had defended her so ardently. Her privacy was something she guarded fiercely and to hear that her relationship with Vin was being discussed with such contempt and likened to some tawdry dime store novel was more than she could stomach. She heard Mary's footsteps behind her and realised with dismay that she was not going to escape unseen.
"Alex." Mary exclaimed seeing her hurrying down the boardwalk. Mary threw a venomous look at the women who had been speaking so callously about Alex, with no knowledge that the doctor had heard every word of their conversation. Mary did not wait to see their reaction and went after Alex, who no doubt must be mortified by what was being said about her.
It did not take Mary long to catch up with Alex, who did not look up as she neared her. Instead, Alex seemed determined to ignore Mary and everyone else around her.
"Leave me alone." Alex said as she walked towards her clinic, distress in every step she took.
"Alex, please stop." Mary implored, knowing how hurtful it was to hear all those awful things said by those insipid collection of troublemakers.
"Is everybody talking about this?" Alex stopped long enough to ask of Mary. Her face was almost pale through her dusky colouring. Mary had never seen her so bereft of composure and it shook her to the core.
"I don't know," the pretty blond widow confessed. "The first I heard of it was in the store just then."
It was the truth but it was not a truth that Alex could listen to and frankly Mary could not blame her. Alex was an extremely private person after the very public way she and Ezra had parted company. Since, she had kept her relationship with Vin on a discreet level and while the affection between them was obvious, it was no more than to be expected of two people who were openly courting. However, Mary was well aware of what vicious rumours could be spread by people with nothing better to do. In some ways, the smartest thing Mary Travis had done was to come out in the open about her own relationship with Chris Larabee for it finally put to rest the innuendos people had been making for the lack of any real knowledge.
Still, none of that was of any help to Alexandra Styles who was moving so fast that she was quickly leaving Mary behind as she continued her journey back home. Mary noticed that not everyone was placing the doctor under scrutiny and only a few local gossips were taking note of her distraught state. Alex professed to not caring about her reputation but like Mary, her livelihood depended on her standing in the community. People thinking she was a loose woman were going to damage her credibility substantially.
She lost sight of Alex as the young woman rounded the corner into the street where her home and clinic was situated. Mary was afraid to leave Alex alone and wondered if fetching Vin was not a bad idea. However, no sooner than the thought had crossed her mind, Mary realised that would only succeed in giving those who cared the fuel that would feed the fire of Alex's supposed indecency. For the moment anyway, there was no need to give the scandalmonger's of town any more ammunition.
Mary rounded the corner and saw Alex frozen in place a few paces before the front door to her clinic. The doctor's eyes was fixed on a point only she could see and only when Mary neared the building and was able to follow her line of sight, did the widow realise what had captured Alex's attention so completely. Scrawled in angry red letters across the door of her clinic and some of the wall was one word.
But it was enough.
W H O R E
The lawmen had spent most of the day on a particularly notorious piece of land which unfortunately was in the path of a cattle trail that led to prime grazing land. Ranchers usually tried to avoid taking this route because of all the rustlers who were known to frequent this area because of its high canyon walls and good vantage points in which to launch an ambush. Sometimes, however, the detour could not be afforded and the herd had to be taken through this dangerous route. On this particular occasion, the rancher in question had approached the seven to provide escort as he moved his herd across this perilous terrain.
With the exception of Nathan who was due to return from the Seminole village today and Ezra who wanted to remain close to town in case Julia needed him, the whole group had occupied their day on the dusty trail. They had kept an eye out for rustlers that might be lurking in the shadows until the herd was safely delivered to its grazing pasture before they returned to Four Corners as the sun began to set behind them.
Vin was supposed to take Alex to supper by the creek at Nettie's when he decided to stop by the clinic and let her know that he would come for her after he had a bath because the trail had left him covered in bull dust and sweat. Although he normally took the stairs at the side of the building to her kitchen door, Vin would still have to pass by the entrance taken by most of her patients through the front door. What he saw as he strode past, made him stop short.
The letters were faded now but there was still indelible enough to read clearly. Thanks to Mary Travis, Vin no longer had as an acute a reading problem as he used to when he first arrived in Four Corners. Mary had taught him how to read and although the lessons were not as frequent as they used to be, Vin now could read well enough to get by as opposed to not at all. In this instance, however, it was a mixed blessing because the words scrawled on Alex's door that had been obviously scrubbed in an attempt to remove it made his stomach clench with anger.
After reading it, he ran up the stairs without further hesitation wondering what Alex must be thinking after finding the vicious message that was clearly meant for her. Her door was unlocked when Vin burst through and found her seated at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea in her shaking hands. She was clearly distressed but as always, was attempting to hide it beneath a practiced mask of personal detachment.
"You read it." She said quietly guessing from the look on his face.
"What happened?" He demanded pulling up a chair and sitting down. The pain he saw in her eyes forced much of his anger away and he reached for her trembling hands, enclosing them with his as he tried to offer comfort.
"They know about us." Alex responded, trying not to cry. She had spent a better part of the afternoon trying to scrub that vile mark of her front door which left its stain upon the paint as if someone had wished to put a branding iron to her skin and found it to be the next best thing. "They think I'm a whore!"
Vin grimaced as the words passed her lips, knowing that this was not a simple matter of her reputation, it was her livelihood. If she could not doctor in Four Corners, then she could be forced to leave the town. "That ain't true." He replied automatically.
This was too much of a coincidence for Vin to accept. After what had happened with Lamont and the trouble that Nicholas Serfonteine was stirring up in Four Corners, Vin was certain that this was the result of some form of attack by the men who were too cowardly to come at them directly. "Its Serfonteine." Vin said firmly, without conviction or doubt.
Alex met his gaze. "You think he started these rumours?" She asked somewhat horrified that anyone could go to such lengths to destroy her reputation.
"I'd bet on it. Once we run them out of town, everyone will know that they've been listening to lies by men who got more to hide than anyone. This will pass Alex," he reassured her with a smile and a genuine belief that it would indeed happen once Serfonteine had seen his last of Four Corners. Secretly however, Vin made a mental note to tear the man's tongue out of his head for casting such aspersions on Alex's reputation during that final departure.
Alex wanted to believe him and it was difficult not to when she stared into those perfectly blue eyes that held that belief with such conviction that it was impossible not to be swept away in it herself. "You think so?" Alex smiled, unable to feel better that he was here and telling herself firmly that she did not regret any of it. She loved him and everything that he was, there was no shame in that, no matter what people might say.
"Now, you got any paint around here?" He asked.
"Some." Alex answered, remembering the half full tin she had in the basement of the building. "Why?"
"I thought I might do some painting on your front door." He replied with a warm smile as he held her hand to his lip and showered it with a small kiss.
"That would be good." Alex said brightening up a bit. "Although, people might talk about what you're doing there. After all, its not like there's any formal understanding between us anything."
Vin looked at her strangely and then asked in a quieter voice. "Would you like there to be?" Until now, they had never really discussed what this thing was between them. Obviously, they were in love and having an affair but no formal declaration had been made and perhaps it was the ambiguous nature of their relationship had been partially responsible for this.
"I don't know Vin," Alex sighed, uncertain of whether she wanted things to change between them now that she was faced with the possibility. As much as she wanted to believe that he was right, that things would change once Nicholas Serfonteine was banished from Four Corners, Alex was still concerned. If Mrs Jacobson's reaction was endemic of the entire town than her entire future would here would have to re-evaluated.
A future that might not involve Four Corners.
"You should have just let me shoot him." Nathan Jackson declared as he sat inside the jailhouse, still seething in rage over what Nicholas Serfonteine had done to him. He should have guessed that Rosken would only be compelled to evict him if he had been offered a great deal of money by someone who liked nothing better than to use his affluence to inconvenience Nathan as much as possible.
Chris Larabee sighed, knowing that there was little he could say that would pacify Nathan at this point. In truth, he could not blame the healer's sense of outrage. Driving a man from his home was no easy thing to swallow and Chris could not be so certain that he would not be similarly infuriated if someone had done the same thing to him. Still, empathising with Nathan's situation certainly did not help it. "We'll think of something, Nathan. I promise." Chris tried to sound reassuring but knew that was not one of his best qualities.
"I can't believe Mr Rosken would do such at thing." Mary exclaimed, in almost as much shock as when Nathan had received the news and the discovery that he was being evicted on the account of Nicholas Serfonteine.
The pretty widow sat at the edge of the desk, next to Chris' chair shaking her head in disbelief. It was Mary who had acquired Nathan the premises to begin with; realising how unlikely it was that Four Corners would get a real doctor any time soon and the town needed the services of a healer. She had convinced Mr Rosken that he would be performing a public service by allowing Nathan to set up a clinic of sorts in the unused premises above his hardware store. She could not believe that he would be so willing to forget all that just because someone waved enough money under his nose. While she knew he had been reluctant initially to have a tenant who was a Negro but with Nathan becoming one of the town's protectors, Mary had thought Rosken would overcome that particular hurdle.
"Every man has a price." Buck frowned, unhappy that Nathan would be treated in such a way after all the help he had given this town before Alexandra Styles had arrived. Buck could not even count the number of times Nathan had gone off to fix someone's broken leg or help some trouble child into the world. How could people's memory be so short as to forget all that good work just because one varmint creeps into town and starts stirring up old prejudices that should have been wiped out with the last war. "I guess we know what Rosken's is."
"I say we go down there and beat the crap out of him." JD said heatedly, seriously offended that anyone could treat someone he admired so greatly so reprehensible. "We ought to pound him silly until he gives that Serfonteine his money back and let's Nathan stay."
The older people in the room, smiled faintly at their younger counterpart's enthusiasm and while they could not do what he asked, every one of them shared his sentiments. "It's a nice idea JD," Josiah smiled. "But that aint' the way to beat this thing."
"No," Chris shook his head in agreement. "There's only one way to stop men like Serfonteine and that's to bring him out into the open."
"Yep," Josiah answered. "Men like these use the shadows to do their dirty work. Hiding makes them feel safe to do whatever it is they do without worrying about who is going to point the finger. Even when they don't wear masks, they're still hiding behind the law or carefully placed words that don't stand up too much under scrutiny. To stop them, we're going to have to find out who they are."
"That's where you come in JD." Chris responded. "You've got to get Serfonteine's sister to talk to you about who he's seeing around town because sure as hell he's recruited by now."
"Yeah boy," Buck teased. "You're going to have to turn on that charm double."
"Buck." Chris glared at him and stopped his old friend from antagonising JD because what they were discussing was serious. "I mean it JD, you've got to make her talk to you. You need to find out who in town that Serfonteine thinks enough to see more than once. I'll stake my life that he's already got people joining his little group. We need to know who they are and expose them."
"You can convict a man on his beliefs." Nathan pointed out.
"That is true," Ezra spoke for the first time. "However, riding around in the night and hurting people is a cowards' game and no one likes a coward, especially in the Territory. It is one thing to say the things you say and do about someone. Unfortunately, it is not so easy if they know you are saying it and you have to look them in the eye every day with that the knowledge. Then it becomes harder to live with. Expose these Klansmen to their neighbours and to the town and you will find that the membership for the local chapter will drop significantly."
"Well we need to do something." Mary retorted. "They're crucifying Alex's reputation with the rumours they've started."
"I know," Buck grumbled. He had almost gone to blows with the talk he had been hearing from some men across town about Alexandra Styles. At the moment, she was considered little better than a harlot and with the same disregard that Mr Rosken had given Nathan, Alex was being similarly vilified and all her works in town since her arrival was blatantly ignored. "I don't know what's more sickening to hear; that she's a harlot because she's sleeping with Vin or the fact that she might produce babies with a white man."
Chris' jaw tightened at that remark and said quietly. "That's has definitely got Serfonteine's hands all over it."
"I would say it's a little homage to his buddy Lamont after Vin almost kicked his teeth out." Buck added.
"He's doing it because of me." Nathan said quietly and immediately captured everyone's attention with disbelief.
"That's not true." Josiah replied automatically. "He's doing it because Alex is a doctor and she's not white. It's a purely racial thing. That's why Lamont went after her. If there's any non-white in the community who is in higher standing than you, its Alex. Its just strategy."
However, Nathan would hear nothing about it. He knew better and he understood why Serfonteine had targeted Alex in particular. It might have something to do with her altercation with Lamont and it might have something to do with how Vin Tanner had defended her. It was even possible in an abstract way, it could be conceived that her standing in the community had something to do with this, but Nathan knew better. Serfonteine wanted to take away the only other woman in his life he had loved like Rebecca.
"He's doing it because he knows she reminds me of Becky." Nathan uttered a small laugh devoid of any humour. "First time I met her, she reminded me so much of my sister, I just couldn't help feeling something for her. Don't get me wrong, I don't love Miss Alex the way I feel for Rain but Miss Alex always had this special place in my heart cause she was so much like Becky used to be. Serfonteine has been asking around and he knew what me and Becky was like before so he guessed that's how things are with Miss Alex too."
"Bastard." Buck found himself saying. He knew exactly how Nathan was feeling. Wasn't that what Victoria Kendall had done to him by orchestrating the kidnapping and rape of Inez all those months ago? The woman had known that he had lost Alice to such violence because the rape she had endure at Damien's hands had forced to her to take her own life. To revisit him with the same pain by inflicting it upon Inez, whom he cared for like no woman since Alice, was the ultimate in vengeance. Serfonteine was doing the exact same thing to Nathan, to make him endure watching another woman he cared for endure the same pain.
"It's a good thing that Vin is with her." Josiah stated. After Nathan's statement and how Lamont had come after Alex in broad daylight and now with her reputation all but destroyed, there was no telling what else Serfonteine had in mind for Alexandra Styles.
"That does not help Alex's situation." Mary pointed out. "How can you expect her to hide away and let this just happen to her, waiting for you seven to protect her? There are some awful things being said about her and we know that even if Serfonteine leaves town, its not going to change. You should have heard some of the townsfolk talking about her."
"Alex is a fighter." Ezra declared. "She is far too strong to be intimidated by waving tongues and I believe once we expose Mr Serfonteine for the villain he is, those who were so quick to accept intelligence from him may be forced into re-examination once that happens."
"I hope you are right." Mary replied, unhappy by what lay ahead for her close friend. "I know what gossip is like, I've seen it destroy good people and while I may have avoided that particular minefield, Vin and Alex have a greater hurdle to face then just her reputation. Serfonteine has brought to full ugly light the possibility of racial integration. People may find the idea of them having children offensive, no matter how Christian they may think themselves to be."
"This is so sick!" JD said standing up from his chair and pacing the floor like a child who has been told there was not going to be any desert following supper. His stomach knotted at the talk of such things because he had believed Four Corners was beyond such nonsense.
"Let's deal with the problem at hand first," Chris quickly spoke up because tempers were starting to get frayed. He himself wanted to go with JD's suggestion about beating the crap out of this bastards, he wanted to pound them into lumps of bloody flesh until such dangerous rhetoric was driven completely from Four Corners. This was the world that Mary had wanted to bring Billy into and he could see from her face that she could not do this thing now, not like this. She wanted her son back badly but not to a place that believed in such evil ideas.
For Mary alone, Chris was willing to kill the entire Ku Klux Klan and bury their way of life under a ton of earth.
"We're going to stop them." Chris said with a confidence he did not feel. "Sooner or later, they'll overplay their hand, they always do."
Unfortunately, nobody wanted to know what more could go wrong.
Night descended over the town of Four Corners like a damp, mist moving over the moors of some bad Gothic novel. It crept through the empty streets, snaked through the meandering alleys and drifted into homes, ever unseen yet always expected. Tonight, the dark and the cold seemed thicker somehow, as if there was something carried in the moist air and the feeling of dread permeated the atmosphere of the town like the harbinger of something terrible awaiting emergence in the blackness.
It was at its most silent, when even the saloon's usual noise and bustle had died down to a few drunken stragglers on the verge of being ejected from the premises that the slight rumble of hooves could be heard against the dirt ground. The town was asleep and so the midnight riders were unseen as they thundered into the heart of town, their white robes flowing behind them. Anyone who witnessed the arrival might think Four Corners was being intruded upon by a collection of ghosts escaping from some ethereal plane of which they had no understanding.
The riders came into the centre of town; all armed with torches that created orange streaks against the canvas of the scenery. They converged in the centre of Four Corners, across the street from Gloria Potter's store and the Clarion News. Lingering for a moment as their principals barked orders among themselves, while their horses stamped their hooves beneath them in impatience, the group soon divided themselves into smaller numbers.
The main group thundered towards the Standish Saloon, only a few hundred yards away from where they had chosen to confer. At this time of night, the establishment would be seeing off most of its last customers for those who had chosen to move against the place had done their research well. There was no need to kill just yet. That strategy would be utilised soon enough, however for the moment the purpose was not to injure but to warn.
Inez heard riders outside in the street and paid little attention to the noise. She was far more interested in helping the last two customers presently passed out on the floor of the saloon, onto their feet and into the rooms above the bar. There was no way that either man could attempt to ride home in the present state of inebriation and knew they were more than capable of affording lodging for the evening. Both were regulars she had seen from time to time and other than an overindulgence of drink were mostly harmless.
"Come on Senor," Inez puffed as she pulled one of the men from under the table. "You need to rest up to pay the bill tomorrow." She groaned as she heaved his large bulk from where he had passed out. Her customer was in such a complete state of intoxication that he did nothing but mutter incoherently as she dragged him across the wooden floor, his body creating a trail of dust and cigar butts.
Suddenly the horses she had given deemed inconsequential at the time, seemed to be right outside the door. She could hear their hooves stamping against the floor boards of the side walk outside and looked up to see shadows moving past the bat wing doors.
"What the hell... " She started to say when suddenly something smashed through the window with such abruptness that she lost her grip on the drunk and fell backwards in shock. The wooden torch moved clumsily through the air after making its dramatic entry through the window, trailing glass and broken wood in its wake. It landed on a table that was already wet with liquor spilt and immediately set the piece of furniture on fire. Inez had barely time to breathe when a second torch made a similarly noisy arrival, sailing over the front doors to land next to a wooden beam.
"Madre mois!" Inez exclaimed as she yanked off her apron and started beating out the flames that had nearly engulfed the table. Flames were moving down its four legs, setting alight the litter hay and other flammable material, using these to reach the chairs surrounding it. The alcohol on the table gave the fire sufficient fuel to gain momentum until Inez's attempts to kill the flames became more than she can handle.
She heard a gust of heat behind her and spun around to see the wooden beam almost completely ignited in an amber glow that cast flickering shadows across the saloon. She heard the dull thud of something landing on the awning outside and something else. Instinctively, she ran out of the door into the night air to see what it was and call for help because it was starting to become evident to her that she would soon need it.
As she burst through the swinging doors, she stopped abruptly at what lay waiting for her when she did emerge. Her jaw went slack with a mixture of horror and confusion at what these four men were supposed to be. They wore their white robes and their pointed hats, looking like wraiths against the black of night. They sat on their horses watching the destruction they had wrought, with guns in their hands.
Inez had no idea what to make of them but could feel the sinister intent in the way they regarded her. In the distance she could hear breaking glass that did not come from the saloon and the sound of men and horses moving through the streets. Suddenly, it occurred to her that these white robed strangers were not alone. Whatever havoc they were attempting to create, they were not confining their activities solely to the saloon.
"Who are you?" Inez demanded, unable to keep herself from asking as her fury started to escalate at this cowardly attack. "Why have you done this?" She rushed out on to the street, glancing over her shoulder long enough to see that it was another torch that they had thrown on the awning and the fire was quick to spread over the breadth of the canopy. There was no time to deal with these men, she had to get help and quickly before the entire saloon was razed to the ground.
"FIRE!" Inez screamed at the top of her voice. "FIRE!"
"Shut up you Spic bitch!" One of the men rode over to Inez as she continued to call for help, having deemed these riders a secondary importance. He kicked out one foot which struck Inez in the chest and sent her to the ground. As she hit the dirt, she could hear them laughing.
"Tell you and the rest of your kind that they ain't wanted around here no more! Four Corners is for decent folk, not for scum from south of the border." He shouted and as if to make his point clearer, he aimed the double barrel shotgun he was carrying in her direction.
Inez felt her heart stop as she stared down the barrel of the weapon and saw him pull the trigger. She clamped her eyes shut and waited for death as she looked up at the unwavering direction of the gun. She was not going to beg for mercy, especially from the likes of him who would not grant it anyway, if she was to die, she would do so with her dignity intact. The explosion of sound from the gun tore through the air made Inez instinctively cover her head with arms but the bullet did not find its mark on her person, instead she was pelted with uprooted dirt and soil as the ground he had fired upon.
"Remember!" He hissed again. "Or the next time won't be a warning shot!"
"Come on!" She heard another one shout and noticed that Four Corners were coming alive with townsfolk waking up from their beds, lights were appearing in windows and excited voices could be heard in front and behind her. Some of them were coming from the saloon itself, where the working girls and their customers were soon discovering that the building in which they were enjoying such rapture was burning down around them. The other shouts came from the rest of Four Corners, from townspeople who had emerged to investigate and seen the danger. Nothing inspired greater fear in any community than the word 'fire'.
In any case, the men who had created such destruction had no intention of remaining to see the chaos that ensured their handiwork. No sooner than one of them had made the call to withdraw, the white garbed collection of wraith like riders dug their heels into their mounts and rode away into the night, like spectres disappearing into the mist. Inez watched them go, feeling no confidence to turn her back on them until she was sure they were well and truly gone, unable to deny the chill that run down her spine at the sight of these men.
This was just a warning for her and her kind. What were they capable of when they truly wished to harm someone?
It was a question she rather not delve into too deeply and in honesty there was no time for it. Inez spun around and ran back up the stairs into the saloon, even though the awning was burning out of control and the covering above the boardwalk was now a canopy of flames. There were still people inside the saloon and with a great deal of effort, perhaps they could save the saloon before it burned completely to the ground. The fire was not out of control yet, it almost was but there was still time.
"Inez!" Buck Wilmington exclaimed, as he stood at the foot of the steps, ushering a number of working girls out of the establishment. Most of them were barely clad but were decent enough not to offend as they ran frantically down the stairs, emerging from their rooms. "Are you okay darling?" He asked as he left the stairs and ran to meet her in the middle of the room. "I thought I heard gunshots." He was clearly relieved to see that she was safe.
"You did," she nodded quickly, "but I'm okay. Can you help me with these two men? They're out cold."
She referred to the two drunks she had been attempting to help to bed when so abruptly interrupted. They were still lying on the floor, drunk to the world with no idea that around them, they were sleeping their way to a fiery death. "Jesus!" Buck said shocked. He had been so busy evacuating people from the upper floors that he had not seen them at all. He dreaded to think what would have happened if Inez had not told him...
Without another word, Buck ran forward and grabbed the first man on the floor, he was lying under a table that was ignited and was about to collapse on his face. Carefully, Buck pulled the man from under as the flames in the room seemed to get higher and the smoke was no longer something that exerted its presence merely by smell, but by sight. Thick clouds of grey drifted through the room as Buck hauled the man up to his feet and dragged him towards the door.
Inez went for the second man who was leaning against the counter, the top of which was covered in flames. The surface of it which had been weathered alcohol seeping into the grain of the wood burned easily with the substance as a fuel. The fire ran across the counter, into the narrow passageway where Inez moved from one end to the other and was snaking up the bottles of liquor behind it.
"Inez!" JD Dunne burst through the batwing doors and searched through the cackling of flames and the thickening smoke to find her. The young man had just run into Buck who had ordered him to come in and help Inez with the second man as Buck tended to the first. The smoke's effect on JD was immediate and he started to cough a little. Like the rest of the town, he had heard the commotion and his first thought was to reach the saloon where Inez and Buck would still be.
"I'm here JD!" Inez cried out as she tried to pull the drunk she was trying to save to his feet. Unfortunately, she did not possess Buck's strength and so the endeavour was proving to be harder than she envisioned. It did not matter before because she had the time to slowly help him upstairs but now with a virtual wall of flames forming before her, she was starting to panic as any creature would panic in the face of such an old enemy.
"I'm coming!" JD called out as he waved the smoke out of his face in a futile gesture. He could feel its harsh fumes stinging his lungs as he tried hard not to breathe it in. Relatively small in frame, JD was nonetheless spry and in seconds he was next to the bartender and helping her with the man who was too drunk too know how close he was to dying. Suddenly, an explosion of glass erupted behind them, sending shards in all directions. Inez squealed and covered her eyes, while JD's heavy jacket protected him from most of the spray of glass and liquid.
"It's the liquor!" Inez declared as the bottles of alcohol on the shelves had been superheated to such temperatures that they could no longer be contained in their glass receptacles. The fire that had enveloped the shelves were bubbling the fluid within the bottles to critical mass and the explosions that they created were only sending more fuel into an already raging fire.
As she spoke, another bottle exploded and another, until they were deafened by the sound of breaking glass that was creating new tendrils of flames to start where there had been none before. Inez and JD did not stay around to see the entire liquor collection do their worst and quickly made an exit. Hurrying out the door while coughing so hard because the smoke had made it impossible to see through the tears of their stinging eyes, Inez heard the heaving of something that was not the roar of flames of exploding bottles. Looking behind her, she saw the saloon whom she and Ezra worked so hard into success being destroyed systematically as fires completely engulfed the room. The heaving sound she heard came from the stairs and as she observed fires in every crack of wood in the structure, she knew that its support structure was burned away.
No sooner than that thought had crossed her mind, the entire stairway collapsed spectacularly. Flames forced forward by the displacement of air at the impact expanded outwards as sparks and embers fly in all directions. JD and Inez ran out of the doors at the moment, deciding they would not remain to see what the building would do for an encore. In the final moment as they were about to slip through the doors, Inez hoped that no one else was in the building for with the stairs gone, they would be trapped in the upper floors.
"Inez! JD are you all right?" This came from Ezra who had just arrived.
"Where have you been?" Inez demanded, wondering why he had not been here sooner. This was his saloon too and even though he did not lodge here, he should have been here sooner than this. Ezra was half-dressed, seeming not at all like Ezra without his jacket and hat, even though he still wore his customary waistcoat.
"This is not the only place on fire tonight, Inez." Ezra said quietly as his eyes fixed on the flaming building before. "The entire town in mobilised to fight a war. There are at least four other places in town currently battling the same condition as our saloon here."
"What!" JD exclaimed in horror because Inez was too dumbstruck to speak. Now she understood why there were so few people gathered outside the saloon trying to form the water brigade that included Buck and Vin.
"At this moment, Chris Larabee is battling a fire at the Will Jefferson's place." Ezra informed dutifully as he took the arm of the man Inez was propping up and continued to the space where Nathan Jackson was presently examining people for smoke inhalation.
"The blacksmith?" JD asked, remembering Will Jefferson from the number of times he had need his horse shoed. It was hard not to remember an almost seven foot tall black man who made one feel like a dwarf. Jefferson always had a wide smile for him and called him Mister Dunne, even though JD pleaded with him to just call him JD.
"No Sir, you're the Sheriff and I reckon you be needing all the respect you can get."
"Is he alright?" JD was almost afraid to ask as Jefferson's familiar words rung in his ears.
"He's fine," Ezra said grimly as they reached Nathan. "He managed to get his family out of the house before the fire spread too quickly but I am afraid his establishment took the brunt of this inferno."
"He taken in a lot of smoke." Nathan declared of his patients as he put down his statoscope and regarded the next patient that they were bringing him. The man he regarded was still very much unconscious but the ragged breathing they heard for coming from him seemed to prove Nathan's prognosis that the man was probably suffering the effects of smoke inhalation. "Since I don't got no infirmary any more, we're going to have to move him to Miss Alex's."
"This man was lying next to the fire for a long time Nathan," Inez replied as Ezra and JD set the man down. "I do not like how he breathes."
Nathan nodded and quickly started unbuttoning the man's collar and shirt, to get at his chest unencumbered by fabric. The healer worked deftly with the three of them watching in mild fascination as Nathan made a quick check of the man's breathing passages. The man's breathing was laboured, almost as if he was an eighty-year-old wheezing for his next lung full of air.
After a moment, Nathan looked up and found himself agreeing with Inez's. "You're right ma'am," he nodded. "This one's taken a lot of smoke and I don't think enough air is getting to his brain. We need to move him right now. JD, you best help me." Nathan instructed. "I reckon the rest of you will be needed here to deal with this fire. The one at James Freeman's is out of control and it's almost razed completely."
"Not Jimmy Freeman's too!" This was getting too much for JD. Unlike most people in Four Corners, who sometimes felt it inappropriate for the black and white community to become too personally involved, JD did not believe in such conventions. In his opinion, Nathan was the standard by which he judged all black people, even though he thought to himself, he should not be doing that at all either but he did know Jimmy Freeman who was the local carpenter. They had gotten to know Jimmy when the man was building some shelves for Mary Travis since Chris confessed to being lousy at that particular chore. Jimmy was a nice man whose wife Bernadette owned a bakery that had the nicest pies, according to Alexandra Styles who could not cook to save her life.
"They're attacking all the black people." Inez declared.
"Unfortunately yes," Ezra nodded, since it was pretty damn evident now.
"I knew this was going to happen," Nathan said in a quiet voice. "The moment Serfonteine came to town, I knew this was going to happen." Nathan wished more than anything now that he had killed the man even if reason told him that it was wrong. After everything that had happened today, Nathan's previous calm had fled him and he wanted his revenge so badly he could taste it.
"Take it easy Mr Jackson." Ezra warned. "The situation requires a healer at this moment, not a vigilante. As much as I hate to admit this, we have no proof that Serfonteine was responsible for this. Now you have a patient, I say deal with him first and leave Serfonteine and his bunch of arsonists for the moment."
"You're right." Nathan said being filled with renewed vigour now that he had been reminded that his true calling was not that of a murderer. "Come on JD, help me him." He replied as JD stepped forward to assist Nathan with the patient that was lying on the dirt, with his chest exposed and his breathing sounding even more thready than ever "We'll take him to Miss Alex's, I think she has a respirator there."
Ezra and Inez watched Nathan and JD disappear into the night towards the direction of Alex's clinic when Ezra remarked still staring at Nathan. "He wants Serfonteine so badly, he can taste it."
"Can you blame him?" Inez returned. "There are some things that cannot be forgiven Ezra, not for anything."
"I know that." Ezra sighed, turning away and meeting her gaze. "But there comes a time when a man has to decide whether his pride is more important or the future of his life."
He was not prone to such philosophical mutterings and Inez wondered if his own troubles with Julia lately had been the cause of such soul searching.
"Ezra I saw them." She responded, wishing in part to tell him what she knew and also to move him from such melancholy thoughts for the moment.
His eyes widened. "Let me guess, they were in white robes?"
Now it was Inez's turn to be surprised. "Yes!" She exclaimed in shock. "How did you know?"
"Jefferson described the men riding away from his place to look like ghosts." Ezra stated, remembering how the man had described the arsonists. Jefferson was not very educated as most former slaves tended to be disadvantaged in such things and somewhat prone to superstition and Ezra supposed it was not such an unreasonable description. "I think they are appropriately called ghouls."
"It doesn't sound much better." Inez deadpanned.
"Ezra, Inez," Buck stepped forward from the long chain that was formed between the saloon and the nearest water pump. "We're gonna need all the help we can get if we're going to save the saloon."
Inez and Ezra turned their attention to what Buck had been up to since depositing the drunk at Nathan's feet earlier. The tall man had organised people into a chain that led as close to the fire as possible without endangering the lives of the firefighters. Buckets were being passed along as those assembled struggled to contain the fire. Among the number present, Ezra could see Vin Tanner and concluded, Josiah must be helping Chris Larabee with the fires on the other side of town. Buck had even enlisted the working girls he had pulled out of the burning building to join in the battle. At the moment, the ladies were attacking the fire with blankets, attempting to stave out the flames that were to far from the main chain.
Ezra looked at the bodies working to save his saloon and felt somewhat overwhelmed by the sight of all those people trying to help for no good reason other than they were needed. It touched the core of him that such solidarity existed in the same world where men wore white robes and felt the need to spread so much hate in a twisted litany of racial impurity.
Unfortunately, the appearance of the ghouls tonight was just a preview of things to come. Without knowing how he knew, Ezra was confident that things were about to get a great deal bloodier before any end was in sight.
God help him, he was going to get just as dirty to bring that about.
Nathan and JD arrived at Alexandra Styles' clinic and noticed that the entrance to the clinic was wide open. The vile letters that Mary Travis had described to them earlier were still etched from on the wood; despite Alex's bests attempts to eradicate its stain from her home. Nathan's stomach hollowed seeing those words and knew that the only reason this was here was because Serfonteine was somehow responsible for promoting the rumours that branded Miss Alex a wanton. He also knew that Serfonteine had been asking questions, gathering all sorts of information. He had struck at Alex because he knew how much she meant to Nathan.
"Those bastards." JD found himself swearing with uncharacteristic venom as they came upon the door.
"Yeah," Nathan agreed with a slight nod but he was more interested in the door that was wide open. It was conceivable that Miss Alex had forgotten to lock it and was probably out and about in town at this moment, rendering aid the way only healers with the calling could do when people were in need of it. "They're just trying to get to us." Nathan responded and did not add that this was more directed at him then anyone else. He supposed however, that it could be true that Lamont wanted revenge after Vin had put him through a glass window and broken the nose and that now 'not so pretty' face.
"It's working." JD grumbled, wishing he had more progress with Serfonteine's sister. Violet had successfully manage to hide their liaison from her brother, which was just as well for he did not need to know that she might be a source of information to his enemies. Still, Violet was starting to talk more and more about her brother's dealings and JD did not think it would be very long before she started talking about his Klan affiliations. Chris was more interested in the membership of the group in Four Corners more than anything else. Since Nicholas had visited almost every white person in town about the Klan, it was difficult to pin who might be a member or not.
Chris believed that the key to unravelling the entire movement was unmasking these men who preferred to ride in the night, committing all kinds of heinous crimes with impunity mainly because their identities kept them safe. If it were not so, if they were made to face their victims unmasked and exposed, Chris believed they would fade away into the night, like cockroaches scurrying in the light. Even Nathan had been forced to agree with this assessment and once again, JD was reminded why Chris Larabee was their leader.
The two men stepped into the open door of the clinic with their patient and immediately made their way in the darkness to the clinic's infirmary. In the same bed that Julia Pemberton had occupied a week ago, Nathan set down the man. While Nathan settled his patient into bed and started looking for the lamp to illuminate the room, JD noticed something.
It was quiet.
Not merely silence as if no one was speaking but the kind of quiet that seemed sinister in the light of the darkness that pervaded this room. "Nathan," JD asked as he went up the stairs, feeling the floorboards creak as he made his way into the home where Alex Styles resided whenever she was not healing.
"What?" Nathan asked as he finally got some light into the room when the lamp under his ministrations started to burn brightly, illuminating things with an amber glow.
"Have you seen Miss Styles anywhere?" JD asked as he disappeared up the staircase.
The question made Nathan pause immediately. Suddenly, his heart began to fill with dread and he left his patient without second thought and ran up the stairs in pursuit of JD, who was investigating upstairs. The kid was right, he had not seen Alex at all. He had assumed that she would be where Chris was but then Vin had said nothing about it and so Nathan's mind began to see more terrible possibilities.
When he reached the top of the stairs, the signs of violence could clearly be seen. Alex had given whomever had intruded her home a good fight. The broken furniture and upturned table was certainly evidence of that. A curtain rail hung precariously, where it had been snapped in two and the hallway mirror was smashed to pieces.
JD met his gaze and could only say in hushed tones. "Nathan, Alex is gone."