Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
He supposed it was always going to come to this.
From the moment he had seen Nicholas Serfonteine step out of the stage coach carriage into the town of Four Corners, Nathan Jackson had seen this moment flash before his eyes even though he did not understand the significance of it. The past had been making itself felt most profoundly since the arrival of his master and long buried hatreds forced into submission because Nathan wanted to be a better man, had emerged with a vengeance.
Perhaps Fate allowed no one escape no matter how good the intention. When he had held Rebecca in his arms that terrible night, watching her life bleed into the soil, Nathan had known in a way only those who experienced it could know, that this point in time would arrive. No matter how much he had changed in the journey to becoming a man, at the heart of everything he was, still remained that grief stricken boy who watched his sister die helplessly. On that night he had made a vow to call no man master and the more secret oath, which he told no one, refusing at saner moments to admit it existed even to himself, to have his retribution.
The years that had taken him from that day had not change the vehemence of that secret desire. When he had first been free of bondage, it used to warm him at nights and at times when death was so close he could smell it, that vow had kept him alive. He could not go, not before Serfonteine understood that it was more than just a slave he had raped and murdered but a person, a human being that deserved life more than he ever would.
For a long time that unconscious need for revenge had seeped into his being until everything he did was a challenge to Serfonteine and those like him that a man with black skin could be better than them in heart and in deeds. Nathan was a healer and later on when Chris Larabee decided to save him from those drunken Texans hell bent on stringing him up, he became part of something even greater. The six men whom he rode with were more than just his friends even though getting any of them to explain it would be just as difficult for them as it was for Nathan. They were all in some way, outcasts in a world changing so rapidly it was hard to think what place it would have for them one of these days. Still, in their exile they had found brotherhood and the family that emerged from that first bonding still endured and drove away the need for vengeance that had dictated so much of Nathan's existence.
When he woke up that first time and saw Alexandra Styles looking over him, Nathan's heart practically leaped into his throat. She stared back at him with Rebecca's eyes and the more he came to know her, the more he started to believe that Rebecca had come back to him somehow because Alex was just like her. Nathan loved her but not as Vin Tanner loved her, he loved her as the sister that had somehow crossed time and space and the place beyond where souls went when they died to return to him. Alex recognised it too because their friendship was far deeper than anyone understood. When he had been given her father's copy of Grays Anatomy, he realised how much she cared for him. She had once said that he was like her brother and it took everything for Nathan no to weep because he had told no one about Rebecca. Josiah suspected but he did not know for sure because the pain of Becky's death was something that had been impossible to speak of when he was first freed. Even now, he could not voice it with any detail.
Serfonteine had effected Alex's kidnapping because he wanted Nathan to relive that nightmare again. He wanted his slave to know that he could keep doing the same evil thing over and over again because he was white and he was better. Nathan had listened to what the others said and had forced his vengeance away because they were right, he did indeed have a life that was far better than fate would follow him if he had given in to his desire.
It had been hard swallowing his pride and a lifetime of anger for a sensible course but he had managed it because he did want to be Doctor Jackson and he did want to have Rain as his wife and his friends in attendance when he danced at his wedding. Nicholas Serfonteine was not worth ruining his entire life and so Nathan had walked away.
Except Serfonteine was not prepared to let him do that.
He had pushed and pushed, striking at the one person he knew would break whatever resolve that remained inside Nathan to keep from taking this final step into oblivion with no idea that it would be Serfonteine himself that would be tumbling over the abyss not Nathan. Like all men of arrogance who thought themselves better than another simply because of physical attributes, in this case skin, Serfonteine had crossed the line.
In his stumbling through the dark recesses of Nathan Jackson's soul, he had awoke the dragon.
A huge droplet of rain impacted on Buck Wilmington's hat as the six lawmen rode out of Four Corners, leaving the fires to the townsfolk to tend to because elsewhere in the night, an even greater atrocity was awaiting occurrence, if it had not taken place already. He glanced at Nathan Jackson who was on his left and saw the healer deep in thought as he stared ahead on a path, Buck was certain they were not seeing the same track ahead of them. He glanced instinctively at the length of a wooden case attacked to Nathan's saddle and wondered if any of the others had noticed his existence.
Vin Tanner did not see anything, could not see anything that the woman he loved and now more than ever Buck realised just how young he was. The fear in his normally impenetrable eyes was obvious because he was no longer controlling it for the benefit of his comrades. Vin did not look so much older than JD now as they thundered along the trail, with the rain gaining as much momentum as their mounts were closing the distance between themselves and their destination.
Speaking of JD, the youngster had not said much after he and Julia Pemberton had arrived at the clinic while they were searching for tracks left by Alex's abductors and presented them with the information the duo had garnered from Violet Serfonteine. JD's discomfiture was noticeable to everyone because the kid was an awful liar and Julia had done all the talking. Although Chris had been a little sceptical about the information provided, Julia had been most adamant that what Violet had told them was her truth. Buck had seen JD shudder slightly when Julia had declared how certain she was regarding the validity of the information.
Chris had finally accepted it after JD made a quite plea to the gunslinger to accept what the Emporium owner was telling him. Although Chris did not believe that Julia would lie since it now appeared that Ezra might be in the hands of the same men that had taken Alex, Chris did not wish to waste time on a wild goose chase if they were wrong. Time was of the essence here, they all knew it but somehow Buck knew that Julia was not wrong and only JD could explain with any clarity why that was.
"JD," Buck asked as he inched his horse next to the young man's. "Level with me, how did you get Violet to talk?"
JD glanced at Buck briefly and then looked ahead once more. "You don't want to know Buck." He said loud enough to be heard over the rumble of hoof beats but still more quietly than usual.
"Come on JD, it can't be that bad." Buck insisted.
JD was not about to tell anyone what had transpired inside the room with Julia Pemberton and Violet Serfonteine because he was still ashamed that he had allowed it to happen. He was not proud of the part he had played in acquiring the location of where Alex and Ezra might be held even though it was for a good cause. "Let's just say, only a woman knows how to get another woman to talk."
Buck partially understood and realised that Julia Pemberton was more talented than anyone of them might have realised. Looking up into the clouds above, the grey cumulous had more or less overtaken the night sky. Buck could not see any stars above his head, just rain teeming down from the heavens above. He thanked whatever he believed in for the rain because it would make short work of the fires in town. He knew that two of the inferno's had been brought under control but the other two buildings were still blazing in destructive rage. When they had departed town, it was with the knowledge that it was possible that if the fires were not subdued, it was likely to spread into the rest of town. There was not enough water in all of Four Corners to save it, if that happened.
"At least we don't have to worry about the fire!" Buck cried out to Chris and Josiah.
"That's something." Chris retorted but his mind was not on the fires. Buck could see that Chris was mostly concerned about Vin's present state of mind. The tracker was holding himself together, despite his fear. However, if anything happened to Alex, both Chris and Buck were aware of what that would do to Vin.
Buck had seen something similar before and Chris had lived it.
Alex ran because she did not know what else to do.
The shack had been far enough away from the main concentration of Klansmen to make her escape into the woods unnoticed. She fled from the scene like a terrified child, wearing nothing but her underclothes and bare feet, feeling inordinately ashamed for having abandoned Ezra Standish to those monsters. Yet she had no choice and he had wanted her to go because he knew what they had planned for her and Ezra was too much of a gentlemen to allow her to endure that torture.
She ran through the bushes and trees, so frightened out of her mind by everything that had happened since Lamont broke into her house and tore her from it that her reason had snapped into a thousand fragments. In her frantic thoughts, she was struck with the awareness that she become what she always hated to be; a terrified woman running for her life. She ran as fast as she could, oblivious to the fact that the branches clawing at her were digging into her skin as she ran past or the rain beating down on her was chilling her to the bone. Alex did not even notice the jagged rocks and broken twigs underfoot that were tearing into the soles of her feet with each step she took.
All she knew was that she had to keep running because he could still be behind her.
She was a healer by nature and thus rarely hated anyone so much that she wanted them dead. With Randall Mason, it was a matter of self-preservation because she knew that she could not have a moment's rest in her entire life if he were alive. His passion for her had driven him mad and the only way to stop a mad dog was to put it down. However, with Francis Lamont, despite the terror that kept her running, the emotion he evoked was darker and certainly more intense. She wanted to kill him. She did not know how but she wanted to make him twist and scream with pain before he died.
She could only hope that Vin would be willing to do that for her.
Alex paused for a moment in the clearing of land, drawing deep breaths as she stood surrounded by trees, an assortment of scratches and cuts marking her skin as if the bruises inflicted by Lamont were not enough. She was clad in nothing more than a chemise, a corset, a petticoat and pantalets beneath which were now soaked and clinging to her skin as the rain increased in its intensity. Surveying the terrain before her, she did not know where she was going only that it had to be away from the direction she had come. It was all thick wood before her and behind her was more or less of the same. Man had cleared this patch of land because she could see the nub of tree stumps protruding from the earth, covered in moss and weeds. Whatever purpose the land had been readied for had never eventuated for it was mostly overgrown.
Alex looked at the direction she would have to keep going and saw little past the large droplets of rain that was almost a wall before her. It battered down against the ground relentless, forcing loosened drop of sand and dirt into the air with each pelt of rain. It was nearing winter and so the raindrop were like icicles on her skin, biting into her with cold. As she panted, the heat of her breath condensed into swirls of mist with each exhausted exhale of air.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!"
The voice made her stand up right immediately and sent her heart pounding with even more speed than before. Alex recognised the voice and knew that it was not far away. Despite herself, the sound of Lamont approaching forced tears of fright as she realised that he was coming after her to make good on the promises he had made earlier, before Ezra had arrived.
Ezra... .
The realisation that Lamont was here and Ezra was not brought forth a small whimper of anguish as she realised that her one time love might be dead. Although she no longer felt that emotion for him any more, Ezra had become her friend and his place in her heart was still closer than she liked to admit. She prayed that he was still alive and merely incapacitated.
"I'm coming for you Doctor!" Lamont's voice called again and forced Alex to forget the gambler for the moment. Not wasting another second, Alex started running again. She disappeared into the thick growth, knowing she had to lose herself within the dense woods because that was her only chance of eluding Lamont. The man was a pure psychopath, the kind that she had read about in textbooks at medical school but had been fortunate enough to avoid most of her life. It was bad enough that he was sadistic by nature as he had proven when he had attacked her on the street but coupled with the fact that he was now drunk, there was no telling what he was capable of doing to her before he finally killed her.
Alex had no intention of finding out.
Ezra Standish knew he was in trouble.
After Alexandra had made good her escape or at least he prayed that she had escaped, Nicholas Serfonteine was determined that Ezra pay the price of his betrayal not only to the cause he was offered membership but to everything southern he had rejected for what Serfonteine called 'nigger loving'. It angered Ezra to the core as he was being dragged out of the shack by Serfonteine and his Klansmen that this was the future of the south. Thanks to these fools in their white robes and their racist notions that should have died with the war, the south was going to be perceived as a haven for backward thinking and intolerance. These men were going to create a stain that would envelope the entire world on how Southerners should be viewed.
The rain had started to come down as he was led from the shack. As they trudge over quickly muddying ground, someone slipped a rope around his neck. The rain had doused the bonfire in the middle of the clearing and Ezra now found himself the centre of attention as all the Klansmen gathered to watch his arrival. Through the hiss of water raining down on the earth, he heard all kind of profanities being thrown at him, feeling the chill of water soaking his skin more profoundly than ever because he was in the company of savages who were planning a most painful revenge he was certain. Serfonteine was their god, Ezra noticed as the southerner swaggered before him, presenting him like a spoil of war. The men flanking him spat occasionally, wetting his skin further with bile and tobacco. Ezra held his chin up in his usual dignified manner, allowing no one to take that away from him. Even now.
The Klansmen converged around him and although he could not see their faces, he could see the frenzied madness in their eyes. Serfonteine had ignited their innermost fears and given it direction, the fire of hatred that burned as a result of that focussed attention would justify any atrocity from men who by day were churchgoers, family men and hard working individuals. By night, hate had turned them into monsters and at this moment, he was the canvas upon which they would work their evil.
"Since you're such a nigger lover," Serfonteine said squinting as water plastered his hair to his face and ran down his nose. He glared at Ezra with nothing less than disgust and hatred as the gambler was taken to a large tree with an unusually thick trunk; "maybe you ought to be treated the same way."
Nicholas nodded to one of the men who were guarding Ezra's during his journey from the shack. The robed Klansmen immediately took hold of the robe around Ezra's neck and pulled the gambler towards the tree. His companion shoved the gambler hard against it, ensuring his body was pressed hard against the bark. Once Ezra was in position, the Klansmen took his hands and tied the rope around his wrists binding him to the tree. Behind Ezra, the Klansmen watching this take place made their approval known by their robust insults berating his loyalty to a black man and turning against his own kind, whatever that was supposed to mean.
Ezra tried not to feel fear even though he know he was perfectly justified in doing so. After what he had seen the Klan do to that poor man years ago, Ezra knew that even death might be a better fate that being burned alive. Still as the Klansmen before him tightened the ropes around his wrists with Serfonteine watching closely, Ezra did not think that an incendiary end was what Serfonteine had in mind. Once he was secured to the tree, the Klansmen stepped back and Ezra heard Serfonteine approach him.
"I could have made you one of us." Nicholas said leaning close to the gambler's ear. "You could have taken your place in a cause that was greater than yourself but you're too weak." He chided. "Too weak and corrupted by these liberal ideas that a nigger is a man like we are. You honestly think that a nigger is better than you? Do you Mr Standish?"
Serfonteine's voice hissed low in his ears. Ezra swallowed thickly, shaking the wet out of his hair and eyes so that he could meet the man's gaze. "I know he is certainly better than you, Mr Serfonteine."
Serfonteine reacted swiftly, slamming Ezra's forehead against the hard surface of the tree. Ezra saw stars as he impacted against the bark, feeling its rough texture dig into his flesh, tearing skin as he pulled back. Blood and water made a slick mix that ran into his eyes and made it even harder to see. He probably should not have been so provocative but Ezra was not going out of this life grovelling before the likes of Nicholas Serfonteine. He raised his head after a moment and glared at the Klansmen, showing him in no uncertain terms that not only was he unperturbed by the man's violence but Ezra was not going to give Serfonteine the pleasure of seeing him broken.
Nicholas did not speak but instead withdrew beyond Ezra's line of vision. The gambler was going to be hard to break but Nicholas was determined to make him pay, not only for his betrayal but for the death of Micawber who deserved better than to be gunned down by a traitor. He leaned over to one of his Klansmen and made a quick request that the robbed minion was quick to disperse to fulfil. When the order had been given, Nicholas returned to Ezra.
"You killed a good man Mr Standish and that has to be accounted for." Nicholas declared.
"Well, if you take me to the law, I'll be happy to confess to that crime." Ezra responded, unrepented about the death because the man had been an animal who was about to sit by or possibly indulge himself as well in the rape of a helpless woman.
"You're never going to stand before any Yankee court Mr Standish," Nicholas grinned as the Klansmen he had bestowed the order to returned with what he required. Stepping forward, he slipped the lengthy blade under the silk of Ezra's waist coat and pulled back savagely. The material tore easily and fell away to reveal the white shirt underneath. Nicholas repeated the procedure once again, ripping the shirt apart so that Ezra's back was exposed to the rain teeming down on them. "The Klan has its own way of dispensing justice." Nicholas informed dutifully, feeling a surge of anticipation at what he was about to do.
"Really?" Ezra said trying not to show that Serfonteine's mania was starting to shake his resolve. "I did not think you pointy head morons had any concept of the word."
"You got a smart mouth Standish." He heard one of the robed Klansmen standing next to Serfonteine declare. Ezra knew the voice immediately. "You and your friends walk through town like you own it, letting all kinds of scum in to breed like rabbits. That's going to change now," the man said with complete belief in his words. "We're going to fight back."
"You see Standish," Serfonteine declared triumphantly. "We will change things back to the way they should be and it will be a glorious day when the white man rules once more. My only regret is that you will be stone cold dead in the ground before that happens."
"Then shoot me and be done with it." Ezra snapped, letting his anger get the better of it. "The pain cannot be worse than enduring another instant of your vile diatribe."
Nicholas laughed and said with a smile that Ezra could not see because he was standing directly behind the gambler now. "You really think that the nigger is an equal don't you?" He sneered. "Well, let's help the perception along, shall we?"
Through the laugher and the sound of rainfall, Ezra could no longer hear Serfonteine. He heard sounds behind him but the jibes and taunts being hurled at him made it difficult to hear. Ezra tried to look behind him but being tied to the tree the way he was made it impossible to see however far he craned his neck. Not knowing when the pain would come increased its potency a thousand fold and the expectation of it started to make Ezra's chest pound with fear.
It tore through him with a sudden snap.
It came so quickly that Ezra let out a surprised cry at the suddenness of the sharp pain that tore through his back. His fingers tensed and his body spasmed, feeling his skin burn with a pain that was almost unbelievable in its intensity. He bit down hard, realising that he recognised the snap of leather to be the distinct sound of a whip. The first lash of the whip had torn through Ezra's back mercilessly spilling blood from torn flesh. Some of it splattered on the clothes left hanging on his back but the most of it ran flowed thickly down Ezra's back, saturating his pants.
The excruciating pain tore through Ezra in waves of agony that at the feel of the second lash, he almost screamed. Somehow the gambler managed to hold it back, because the pain had yet to strip him of his defiance. They knew as well as he did, that the show of resistance would not last long. However, Ezra was determined to keep that vestige of satisfaction from them. He forced himself to keep his eyes clamped shut, griding his teeth together as he felt the exquisite agony tear through him. The rain made some effort to sooth the injury but it did not come quick enough and all their laughter faded into some unknown place in his mind as the pain became his entire reality. He knew without having to see that it was Serfonteine wielding the belt because of the man's earlier threat.
Serfonteine wanted him to know the same pain that a nigger endured and the best way to do that was to show Ezra how disobedience to the master was rewarded.
The third lash impacted against his back but Ezra refused to cry out because he knew somewhere amidst all this pain was Serfonteine waiting for him to utter that submissive cry of defeat. He would not give anyone that satisfaction, no matter how much it hurt. And it hurt a great deal. Each time he felt the it, the pain attacked with even more ferocity, washing his unmarked skin with sluggish rivulets of blood. He could smell it in his lungs and taste it in his mouth as he bit down hard, trying to detach himself from the agony and to keep himself from screaming.
As the lashes continued at its devastating pace, the pain that wracked through his body was beyond comprehension. Almost as unimaginable as what was happening to him. The scream that Serfonteine wanted to hear had eventually escaped his lips without Ezra even being conscious of it.
Alex did not know how much farther she could keep going.
Thanks to his shouting obscenities and posturing threats at her, she knew exactly how far behind Lamont was. Unfortunately, this information gave her little advantage. After being abused both mentally and physically for hours, without an end in sight or hope for that matter, Alex was nearing complete exhaustion. The only thing pushing her forward was adrenalin and her fear of what Lamont would do to her if he caught up to her.
She had been moving blindly through the trees trying to lose him but he was relentless, half driven by rage and an overpowering need to satisfy some sadistic lust for her. Her skin was stinging in pain as cuts acquired by overhanging branches and sharp twigs were bathed in blood and rain as she ran. Alex felt her legs starting to falter and the realisation drew an anguished cry of frustration from her. The soles of her bare feet cut and bloody were screaming out in protest and she wondered how much longer she could keep ahead of him.
Alex was so focused on where he was that she almost did not see where she was going. She was almost ran into the structure before she realised that it was there. Alex skidded to a halt as she came to a stop at the foot of the stone well she had stumbled upon. It was covered in moss with wooden pulley above the covered in vines and lichens. By the looks of it, no one had drawn water from its depth in quite some time. Even the rope that disappeared into the chasm appeared frail and worn, ready to snap if it were require to hold any weight at all.
Rolling over and scrambling to her feet, Alex continued past it, disappearing into the cover trees once more. In front and behind, it was dark and the rain made it even more difficult to see. After a while, Alex started to panic because she had no idea where she was going and what was ahead of her. No sooner than that thought had presented itself in her mind, Lamont appeared out of nowhere. As if an animal trapped the sights of a hunter, she froze. He slowed down, breathing hard as he took tentative steps towards her, wearing that sinister leer promising plenty of harm. "You are spirited Doctor," he said panting. "I'll give you that."
Alex did not wait to hear any more than that when her senses returned and she bolted forward, hoping to get past him before he could think to react. Lamont was not that drunk and the chase had made him alert enough to down her in one swift tackle. Both of them slammed down on the muddy ground hard with the Lamont rolling on top of her. The weight of him on her drove her into a frenzy and she twisted sideways hard, hoping to throw him off her body. However, he had grabbed her flaying arms and was staying where he was no matter what he did.
"If you stay still I promise it won't hurt to bad!" He sneered and then added. "Maybe you should struggle just a little bit."
Alex brought her knee up and missed his groin by a few inches. It caused enough pain for him to move his weight off her body.
"You bitch!" He stopped her with a vicious blow to her cheek.
Alex clutched her face in pain and looked up at him as he lowered his face to hers. "I'll kill you Alex but not before I give something else to remember me." His hand slid under the petticoat and made contact with skin. It snapped Alex's reason completely and she threw a balled fist into his face, sending him sprawling backwards as she scrambled to her feet with more agility then she had ever possessed in her life.
Alex paused long enough to looked him in the eye. "If you put anything inside of me that's yours, I swear to god I'll kill you myself!"
She bolted backwards from the direction she had come, knowing that there was an avenue of escape and hers even considering it, showed how desperate she was to escape him. Alex knew she had something of a head start but not much. The rain and dark would hinder him but not the sound of her moving through the woods, snapping twigs and branches with every step forward gave him some idea of which direction to take it his pursuit.
Alex returned to the patch of clear land where she had run into the well. She stopped at the stone edge, feeling distaste in what she was about to do but finding no other choice but to take this last avenue of escape. Vin was not coming and even if he was, she doubted he would find her in time to keep Lamont from doing what he intended. This was the only way. Swallowing hard, she climbed over the edge and tugged the length of rope disappearing into the darkness experimentally. The wood heaved in protest as she pulled at it and tiny strands of hessian fibres strained at the tension.
Alex looked into the darkness and felt her heart pounding in her chest so hard that she could barely stand it. She had never tolerated dark or enclosed places very well and that she was even considering this was a testament to how terrified she was. However, to remain here was not an option. Lamont would do more than just kill her and Alex was willing to overcome this particular fear to avoid that nightmare.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes as she lowered herself over the edge and descended into the darkness. As the walls of black enclosed around her, Alex immediately felt childhood terrors crawling up her spine and it did not help that she could see nothing below her and the sky above was grey with falling water.
Please Vin, she thought as she disappeared deeper into the chasm.
Please find me.
Once the six lawmen arrived on the Jacobson spread, it was not difficult to find where the Klan gathering was taking place. At first, they had though the sound to be the howling of wind which was not unusual in such inclement weather but as they neared it and were able to define it with more clarity, they realised with hollowing stomach what that awful noise was or who.
It was Ezra.
At least they thought it was Ezra because the screams descended into shrieks of mindless agony and all familiarity was driven from it completely. Chris Larabee dug his spurs deeper into his horse, unable to forget that terrible cry as they penetrated the fence line of the Jacobson spread. The rain splattered underfoot as they rode past the main house, knowing now in which direction those screams had originated. Chris felt his jaw tightened at the torture that must have been inflicted upon the gambler to drag that scream from him and felt a rage frothing inside him that could know no end until he found those responsible.
Like the others, he unbuckled the flap on his holster and retrieved his gun. Checking the chamber carefully as rain dribbled off his hat onto the chrome finish of the peacemaker, Chris saw the weapon fully loaded and had ever intention of using every bullet to put an end to Nicholas Serfonteine and his Klansmen. The horses rode up the track and even in the darkness, Vin could see the obvious signs of a trail leading to those they sought in the muddy ground beneath them.
"This way!" Vin pointed his Winchester in the direction of a clearing they could see in the distance.
Chris squinted as he stared at the place Vin was indicating and realised the tracker was as always correct because he could see the white robes moving about, no doubt alerted to their presence by now.
"Listen up!" Chris shouted as they approached. "We're going to do this hard and fast. Go in there shooting. We don't know how many there are, so we are going to stay on the horses for as long as we can."
"What about Ezra?" JD exclaimed, having heard the screams and no longer feeling any guilt about what he had allowed Julia Pemberton to do.
"We can't help him until we've taken care of those bastards." Chris retorted and then turned to Nathan because he was the one that gave Chris most concern, even above Vin's current state of mind. "Nathan, we do this together!"
Nathan met Chris' eyes with an expression the gunslinger could not fathom. It was not quite compliance but not exactly disobedience either. "We do this together." Nathan nodded, confirming it that much at least.
"All right," Chris nodded as they closed the distance. "Let's do it!"
Nicholas Serfonteine heard the sound of horses on fast approach too late. The rain had masked most of the sound because he had been too busy savouring every delightful moment of hearing Ezra Standish scream as with the rest of his Klansmen. As they saw the six riders breaking through the line of trees that encircled the clearing, the group scattered in all direction, white robes flowing behind them as they ran for their guns. Those who had them already began firing immediately but they were wide in the open and easy targets for men who were better at it than they were.
Nicholas took refuge behind the same tree that Ezra Standish was dangling unconscious from. The gambler made no movements to give his position away as Nicholas hid behind the tree and decided to make a run for it. He did not know how they had found out the location of this congregation but he did not intend to stay and be apprehended or worst yet killed especially when they discovered their comrades in his present state.
Nathan saw Nicholas Serfonteine because as he entered the clearing, there was only one face he sought. Even though he was true to his word, shooting anyone who raised a gun to him as they rode forward, his only interest was in finding the man who was responsible for more sins that Nathan could even begin to count. A Klansmen aimed a rifle at his direction but Nathan barely saw him as he rode towards Serfonteine. Pulling the trigger with cold ruthlessness, he sent the man tumbling to the ground with a well-placed bullet through the chest.
Tonight, he was no healer.
Tonight, he was Rebecca's brother coming to claim retribution.
Chris saw where Nathan's attention was focussed but instead of simply seeing Serfonteine as Nathan did, Chris was more interested in the bloody figure tied to the tree. He had to blink to contain his fury as he saw the gambler leaning against the tall elm tree, his back a mess of ruined flesh while his head hung back lifelessly, unconsciousness allowing him a merciful respite from what must have been agonising pain. Chris cleared a path to Ezra, shooting anyone who was foolish enough to raise a gun to him. He dropped two Klansmen in mid step, killing one instantly when he went for an ever reliable head shot and delivering to the other a more prolific chest shot that signalled his death in a widening stain of crimson against the white robes he was willing to die for.
Chris horse more or less trampled the bodies as he rode past them. He saw Serfonteine running into the woods with Nathan in close pursuit. As much as Chris wanted to stop the healer from killing the man, seeing what had been done to Ezra was enough to force such good intentions away. Serfonteine like all men who was only as strong as the fools willing to believe in his dangerous litany of hatred, was running in a desperate attempt to escape. The gunslinger reached the tree and saw Vin Tanner taking Peso off in a completely different direction. A shack lay in the distance and Chris guessed that if Alex was being held anywhere that was as good as any place to begin the search.
"Buck!" Chris shouted at the Buck who along with JD was firing at a particularly persistent lot of Klansmen who were attempting to escape into the woods by covering their retreat with a hail of bullets. "Cover me!" He shouted.
Buck immediately left JD and Josiah to deal with the Klansmen when he saw what Chris was attempting to do. The tall man came riding up in seconds as Chris dismounted, ensuring his old friend's back was covered as Christ went to help Ezra. Chris made sure that his horse stood between him and Ezra as he climbed out of the saddle and hurried to the tree. Buck rode his own mount close by, keeping an eye on any Klansmen who were still foolish enough to make an attempt to fight it out instead of fleeing like the rest of his companions. The clearing was starting to become covered in bodies garbed in robes of white that were now stained with dirt and blood.
Chris felt his inside fist in anger as he approached Ezra. The wounds on his back were next to barbarous and the gunslinger could not see how deep they ran because of the blood that literally covered Ezra's skin. Ignoring that for the moment, he quickly cut the gambler free and Ezra more or less slumped to the wet ground, his clothes becoming even more soiled from the dirt and blood intermingled. A chill run down Chris' spine as he saw Ezra's blood seeping into the water on the ground and creating pools of crimson that meandered away from them.
"Ezra can you hear me?" Chris asked amidst the sound of gunfire in the background.
There was blood running down the corner of his lip and Chris blinked away his fury when he realised that it was coming from where Ezra had bit his lip in an effort to control the pain. "Come on Ezra," Chris tried to find some sign that Ezra was still with them. "You can't go just yet remember, you're not facing God with empty pockets."
Gunfire had ceased and Chris looked up long enough to see that most of the Klansmen were either dead or scattering into the woods, obviously six armed men were more of a challenge then an unarmed one. He made a mental note to take the bodies back to town and unmask them because it was the only way to convince people how close to home the problem was. This did not end here because the hatred that Serfonteine had infected Four Corners with would not disappear completely, no matter how odious it might be to most of them. It would linger as these things lingered, waiting for someone with enough hatred to bring it forth again.
"Mr Larabee."
Chris dropped his gaze and saw Ezra looking at him. "As always your timing is impeccable. Do you think in this instance that you might have arrived just a little sooner than usual? I would have appreciated it."
"Chris," Buck arrived, leaving JD and Josiah to continue pursuit of the Klansmen that had run off into the woods. "Is he alive?"
"Barely," Chris replied and did not need to explain when Buck's eyes widened at the sight of so much blood flowing from the two men at the foot of the tree. The puddles of rainwater took on the almost biblical appearance of a river of blood. "Where's Nathan?"
"He went after Serfonteine." Buck answered as if that were a surprise to anyone.
"Ezra," Chris looked down at the gambler whom he was holding, "did you see Alex?"
Ezra was fading in and out of consciousness but that snapped him back to clarity. "She's out there!" He hissed. "Alexandra is out there with Mr Lamont. You have to find her... " he strained to say as the pain started to penetrate the haze of his exhausted mind, "you did not see what he tried to do to her... "
"Go." Chris ordered and did not even need to finish before Buck was on his feet, running to find Vin.
Vin burst through the front door of the shack and paused at what lay inside the small confines.
He saw Micawber's body where it had fallen, a large puddle of blood having formed under his head where Ezra had put a decidedly large hole with a small bullet. On the far end of the room, another Klansmen in robes was in a similar state of health. However, none of this captured his attention as much as the scraps of cloth in the middle of the room. The tracker ran forward and saw the tattered remains of the dress he had seen Alex wearing the last time they were together. He blinked slowly, trying to tell himself that it meant nothing. There was no body or evidence that what he suspected had befallen her, all he had was this dress.
Vin dropped to his knees and picked it up, almost afraid to touch it for a moment as he held the fabric to his face and could still smell the faint scent of her perfume in the pattern of roses embroidered upon it. Deny it as he might, what lay before him was too much to ignore and the idea that she was dead caused his mind to descend into a well of ice from which there was no return. His hands clenched into fists around the cloth as his brain started shutting down from the sheer despair that she might be gone. He did not believe in God or any of the deities that the Indians believed in but at this minute he was willing to beg them all for her life.
"Vin!" Buck's voice boomed into his consciousness instead of the Almighty giving him his answer. "We need you to find Alex, Ezra's says she out there somewhere!"
Vin was on his feet in seconds, the dress completely forgotten as he ran towards Buck so that the older man could explain this miracle. "Where is she?" He demanded, never more relieved in his entire life.
"I don't know," Buck confessed. It did not matter because if she was out here in the woods somewhere then Vin could find her and he would. Furthermore, wherever Lamont might happen to be at this moment, Vin hoped the man had made his peace with his own god because Lamont would be making a personal appearance soon enough.
Get me out! Get me out! Get me out!
Alex started screaming inside her mind as she felt the walls inching closer and closer to her, until she did not know where they were began and where she ended. She looked up at the sky and saw no stars that she could cling to for comfort, only a canvas of grey that rained down on her. She saw the puddles forming on the floor of this dried out well. Suddenly she was struck with the fear of what would happen if it rained for forty days and nights, like it had done in the Bible. What if it rained that long and she was still here, trapped inside these walls, unable to decide whether rape was any worse than what she had chosen by entering this black hell.
What happened if nobody found her?
Alex started to shake as the thought gripped her already terrified mind and felt her resolve to remain inside snap as she scrambled for the rope that dangled in the centre of the floor, offering salvation in its worn strands. She did not care any more what happened if Lamont found her, she just knew she could not stay in here! Wrapping her trembling fingers around the rope, she tugged at it once, testing its strength before attempting the climb that would require it to support her weight.
It broke.
Alex watched in horror as the length of rope tumbled towards her after snapping off at point far above her head that was beyond her reach. As it landed in the ground, Alex snatched it up again and examined the fray end that doomed her to this unfilled grave in the middle of nowhere. It began to dawn upon her what kind of a lingering death that would be as she saw a spider crawling slowly up the brick. It seemed oblivious to her plight and seemed to mock her with its ability to scale the wall while she was left trapped like some animal. Her ears picked up the sound of movement on the floor, as crawling things moved about in the darkness.
Alex dropped to her knees; her lips quivering in fright as this darkness tightened its deathly grip around her mind and forced all sanity from her world. She started screaming, out of sheer desperation. Anyone who heard her might have thought at animal was in pain or dying, crying out is death knell it a pitiful wail of terror before the end finally descended. Alex screamed until she was hoarse, praying someone would hear her because she could not bear this. She would happily endure anything except death in this cold, dark place.
"Well hello there." A voice responded.
Alex looked up and saw someone at the top of the well staring down at her. "Help me please!" Alex begged, not even caring that it was Francis Lamont that was peering down at her because she could not stand being inside this place any more. She had not idea what possessed her to think that she ever could! "Please get me out of here!"
"Are you asking for my help Doctor?" Lamont laughed as if finding this extraordinarily funny. "I think I ought leave you in there." He grinned, unable to see her but being able to tell from that frightened voice just how desperate she was.
"Help me you bastard!" Alex shouted in fury, tears running down her cheeks. "Please I'm begging you, get me out of here!"
"I don't think so." Lamont smiled, leaning over and digging his hand into the moist ground softened by rain and retrieved a handful of mud. "I don't have the time or the inclination to go to all that trouble." With that, he released the clump of wet soil into the well.
It splattered on Alex's shoulder and she squealed as he started throwing more mud into the well. Alex started screaming again, whatever strength left in her fragile psyche, shattering completely as mud and water rained down on her, threatening to bury her alive.
Vin and Buck looked at each other as they heard the screams. Unlike Ezra's which were filled with pain, this one was even more desperate if such a thing could be. It was not difficult to track Alex down even through the rain once Vin knew that she was out in the woods somewhere. Tell tale signs of footprints in soft mud and rips of white material crusted with dirt and blood pointed the direction she might have gone. Vin saw both two sets of footprints quickly dissolving with the increasing rain and was able to follow the other signs of where Alex had been headed and how closely behind her pursuer had maintained the chase.
When he heard the screams, he knew that Lamont had reached her and he started running blindly, not even caring to look for her tracks, requiring nothing now that he had heard that terrified scream to guide him to her. Buck followed closely behind, keeping Vin in his sights because there was no telling what the tracker would do when he found his lady or the men that had caused her to cry out with such fear. Alex had always been the one thing that could make Vin throw caution and good sense to the wind and he could not blame the young man because Buck knew it if it was Inez, he would be no different.
They broke into the clearing and saw Lamont standing at the edge of an old well, throwing lumps of earth into its depths and the echoing scream that ascended from it that could only belong to Alex. Lamont turned to them and narrowed his eyes as he saw Vin approach. He stepped away from the well at that moment, wiping a wet strand of hair from his face as he regarded the tracker.
"Alex!" Vin called out.
The screaming stopped abruptly. Both Vin and Buck held a breath as they waited in anticipation for an answer, all the while staring at Lamont, daring him to make a run for it in the interim. The southerner did not such thing for he knew there would be no escaping this particular confrontation.
"Vin... ?" Her frightened voice called out.
"Yeah Darling it's me." Vin replied, never feeling so grateful for anything in his entire life. Buck saw the relief drain into his face as he was exhaled loudly, closing his eyes in sheer gratitude that she was alive. It took no more than a second before that relief was replaced with something else and Lamont who recognise the gleam in Vin's icy coloured eyes, knew with complete certainty what was coming.
Vin ran forward and downed the man before Lamont could even blink. They both landed on the wet ground hard with Vin having the advantage. "I warned you!" Vin hissed as the full vent of his fury escaped him like a cascade of fire. He did not know what this man had done to Alex and in truth he did not care because Lamont had made her scream and that was enough for Vin to desire inflicting a most painful lesson on the son of a bitch.
"Buck, help Alex!" Vin emerged from the red veil of rage long enough to make that instruction.
Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, Lamont threw a punch in Vin's jaw. The tracker reeled from the blow slightly before shaking it off like he was shaking off water from his buckskins. His rage was such that the jab barely registered and he slammed his fist into the southerner's rib, feeling bone crack as his knuckle met flesh. Lamont let out a cry of pain as he tried to fend off Vin's punches and to his credit managed to do so even in his drunken state but Vin was fired up with the vindictive fury at what this man had done to the woman he loved.
Vin rammed his fist into the side of the Lamont's head, hardly feeling the pain as his knuckles flared from the delivery of so many punches. However, he barely cared that he was not pulling his punches because Lamont deserved no better. Alex was everything to him and to hear her scream like that was beyond agony to Vin. She was the bravest woman he knew and understood that something truly awful had happened to wring that cry of absolute terror from her. For that alone, Vin was prepared to kill this bastard. Vin ignored the rising pain in his limbs as he struck blow after blow. He felt his knuckles connect but the point soon arrived when the pain faded away. It disappeared to a distant place in his mind, just as forgotten as the ache in his body and any moral dilemma that still remained that this thing was a man. Not since Randall Mason, had Vin encountered anything as vile and he was damned if he was going to Lamont live to do this to some other woman.
He finally stopped when Buck pulled him off the unconscious form of Francis Lamont who had stopped fighting long ago. Vin stepped back, aware that the man was alive but unrepentant that his face was now a complete mess of bloody flesh and the convalescence required to heal those wounds would most likely take place inside a prison hospital.
"Vin!" Buck shook some sense into the tracker firmly, knowing what compelled Vin to behave as he did but Alex did not need that right now. She needed him. "I can't get her out!"
"What?" Vin pushed away and hurried to the edge of the well. He could hear her inside, still screaming and remembered something she had told him once about being afraid of small, dark places. His heart chilled knowing what terrors she must be facing now and forced him to glare at the unconscious form of Lamont in hatred.
"The rope ain't strong enough to pull her out." Buck replied as he stared into the darkness that Vin was trying to see into. "I've got to go back to the horses and get some fresh rope. You have to talk to her, tell her you're here."
"I know," Vin nodded quickly, reason returning to his mind when he realised Alex needed him calm instead of barking mad with vengeance. "Hurry Buck."
Buck nodded and ran off into the night as Vin turned his attention back to Alex. Her shrieks had dissipated into pathetic whimpers and he took a deep breath, steadying himself as he tried to reach that frightened soul lost in the dark. "Alex, its Vin."
"Vin get me out of here please!" Alex cried out.
Vin blinked, trying not to let her anguished cry effect him more than it already had. He had to be strong for her. "Darlin, listen to my voice. Calm down and listen to my voice. We're going to get you out but the rope's weak, we need to get fresh rope."
"I don't care!" She wailed. "I have to get out of here! Please Vin! Please get me out of here!"
"Alex," Vin said firmly, his nails digging into stone as he forced himself to stay focussed. "For me Darlin, I need you to stay calm. Buck's coming back with the rope and I'm not going anywhere. Just listen to my voice and this will be over soon."
He could hear her sobbing in the darkness and wanted more than anything to put his arms around her and hold her close to him, so that he could drive away all these terrors she was seeing there in the black. "Alex, I love you and I won't leave you, just listen to me and this will be over soon enough, I promise." He repeated once more, hoping that his efforts would allay her fears.
"Okay Vin," she said softly. "Just keep talking to me please, I'm not my best in the dark."
Vin smiled despite himself, remembering those words said during another time. Swallowing hard and forcing the emotion in his voice, he answered just as quietly.
"I think you'd do just fine in the dark"
Nicholas heard the gunfire and the screams and knew that he had to get out of here as quickly as possible. As he ran for escape through the teeming rain, he suddenly became aware of hoof beats closer than the clearing he had just left. He looked over his shoulder long enough to see the horse that was bearing down on him. It took a second longer for him to realise that it was Nathan riding the animal. Nicholas faced front just in time to see a log stretched across his path but not in time to keep himself from tumbling over it, head first. He landed on the damp mud and leaves, scrambling to his feet as he saw Nathan's horse sail over head. Nicholas covered his head with his hands as the horse landed in front of him, splattering him with mud as its hooves dug deep into the moist earth.
Nathan watched Nicholas getting to his feet and brandishing the gun he believed would save him. Before the man could even raise the gun to fire, Nathan had aimed the barrel of his own gun in Nicholas' direction, shaking his head slowly and indicating to Nicholas to not even bother with the attempt.
"Throw it aside." Nathan ordered.
"So you can shoot me unarmed?" Nicholas shouted, furious at him for having the advantage.
"I ain't no murderer." Nathan repeated himself and waited until Nicholas had reluctantly discarded the weapon before the healer would even dismount his horse. He had his own gun trained on the man in case Serfonteine made any cowardly attempt to flee as he had done when his Klan gathering had been discovered. He stared at Serfonteine through the rain, thinking how he had for years thought the man to be some terrible creature in his nightmares. However, as Nathan looked down at him now, he saw nothing remotely like that. Nicholas Serfonteine was just a man.
"So what are we going to do now Ajax?" Nicholas asked just to bait the healer as they both stood in the rain, facing each other without any others present. "Are you going to take me to the law?"
Nathan shook his head again. "No," the black man said in a small voice. "There ain't no court that will try you, I ain't stupid. I know that."
Nicholas' eyes narrowed as he realised that there was more on Nathan's mind then just arrest. "Out with it nigger, what do you have in mind?"
With his gun still aimed at his former master, Nathan unpacked the long wooden case that had been attached to his saddle. He tucked the polished wood box under his arm and approached a few paces away from Nicholas before dropping it onto the soft ground of mud and rotting foliage. It splattered slightly on impact but landed, as it should.
"Open it." Nathan ordered once more.
Nicholas had some idea what was coming and so he was not hesitant to obey the order, although he disliked being given it by a nigger nonetheless. He unlocked the latch on the side of the box and swung open the lid to find two rapiers gleaming in the dim light, their blades quickly moistening as the raindrops pelted its smooth metal finish. The blades had been given to Buck after his infamous duel with Don Paulo and had remained where they were since then, tucked inside with red velvet and polished wood on the outside.
"You remembered." Nicholas said as the memory of Ajax's role on Avalon returned to him. It felt almost like nostalgia if the implications were not so deadly.
"It's hard to forget that I wasn't supposed to win." Nathan declared.
"I was better than you." Nathan looked up in anger at that statement. How dare this insolent nigger claim that he was anything that a master swordsman? Nicholas had fought enough duels in his time to know that he was good and Nathan was lying.
"There weren't no slave that was stupid enough to be fencing partner to the master and try to win." Nathan reiterated. "I took my licks because a couple of cuts was sure better than a whipping if I had beaten you."
Nicholas could not deny that was exactly what would have happened if Ajax had beaten him during their sparring matches but that did not mean that Nathan would have any ability now. Nicholas still fenced and although his sparring partners were no longer slaves, he still manage to let them know the price of defeat.
"Pick one up." Nathan instructed and it was an order Nicholas was most happy to oblige.
"You're throwing away your advantage Ajax," Nicholas sneered "You know I can cut you to ribbons this way." The Klansmen picked up the blade in his hands and felt the weight of it in his hands as he stepped back and took a few experimental swipes to see how well the weapon handled.
"Maybe you can," Nathan replied approaching the box once Nicholas was a suitable distance away from it. "But this is the way it's going to go. We're going to do this so we both have an equal chance of coming out of this alive. If you kill me, my friends will know that it was self defence because Buck will remember I asked him for these blades."
"I will kill you." Nicholas said firmly. "Make no mistake on that."
"Perhaps you will," Nathan dropped to his knees, his gun still pointed in Serfonteine's direction as his other hand groped for the hilt of the blade. An instant later, his fingers enclosed the cool metal hilt and he rose to his feet once again. "If I kill you this way, it's not exactly murder and its not exactly self defence. I can live with that grey in between."
Facing each other with swords in hand, Nathan holstered this gun back into its holster and securing the flap, before discarding his gun belt altogether. To win, he had to be fast and the weight of the guns would only slow him down. Completely unarmed except for the rapiers in hand, Nicholas and Nathan faced each other what both knew instinctively would be the last time. The rain that came down on them was heavier but neither seemed to notice, as all they could see was each other.
Both men encircle each other without even being aware that they were doing it. Nathan watched Nicholas closely, his rapier held to parry any sudden thrust the man made because it was amazing how old lessons returned to his mind as he stood in this familiar place once again. He remembered much about Nicholas' habits while sword fighting and Nathan had learnt enough about it on his own to know that a defensive posture was always the best to take in the beginning. There would be no hotheaded attack for Nathan Jackson in this battle; there would careful movements laced with deliberation.
Serfonteine lunged forward first as Nathan expected he would. The healer side stepped the thrust easily, blocking it and forcing the blade away as Serfonteine stumbled back slightly, surprised by the skill in the execution of that most basic manoeuvre. Nathan waited once again as Serfonteine reassessed how he should come at his opponent, calculation etched in the man's face as he realised that perhaps Nathan was not all that unskilled.
"You've kept up your lessons." Nicholas commented as they circled again.
"I've been waiting a long time to have a shot at you Serfonteine." Nathan responded.
"Well its good to have the things you want before you die." He retorted and then renewed his attack once more with a series of thrusts.
Nathan blocked these just as effectively although easy was no longer a variable. Serfonteine was fast and Nathan found that his memories had underestimated just how fast the man had been. The clanging of swords followed every parry he made to deflect the blows and eventually, he was in a position to riposte with the same intensity. The rain was not making it easy to see but Nathan never took his eyes of Serfonteine as their swords met with murderous intensity. Nicholas tended to swing wide and every time he did so, Nathan took the opportunity to slow him down. As he ducked Nicholas' last swipe, Nathan dropped down low enough to kick the man's knee out from under him.
Nicholas hit the muddy ground and Nathan brought the blade down over his head. The man had barely enough time to roll away as the edge of Nathan's rapier swooshed part the space his neck would have occupied. He rolled onto his knees and blocked the next blow that Nathan delivered, holding the healer's blade pressed against his own as he threw a punch into Nathan's rib. Nathan staggered backwards but did not lose grip of his weapon.
Nicholas came at him again; knowing now that this would not be a simple matter of gentlemen's fencing tournament. It had started to dawn on the southerner in the last few minutes of fighting that Nathan actually had the skill to win and winning would mean Nicholas' death. Realising now that he was fighting for his life had put an edge of fear to his attacks and he knew the time was past for toying with the opponent. It was time to put him down now.
As Serfonteine took the offensive, Nathan blocked all the thrusts that came in his direction, knowing that there was almost a tinge of desperation nestled amidst all this ferocious attack. He parried them easily, never taking the offensive because unlike Serfonteine, Nathan knew how to beat him. He had played this battle in his mind for so long now and Nathan would not have challenged Serfonteine if the healer did not believe he could win.
And to do that, all Nathan had to do was to wear the man down.
Vin kept speaking.
It was the most verbalisation he had ever done in his life but it was necessary. Alex had to hear his voice. He could not see her where she was inside the well but he knew she was listening closely because she was no longer screaming. He knew she had never liked dark places and understood how much pure terror had been in her heart to seek this place out as a refuge. Instinctively, he glanced at Lamont who was still very much unconscious not far from him and the well. Vin saw the blood running out from the wounds he had inflicted upon the man and felt no remorse for anything he had done. As far as he was concerned, all of it was deserved.
Buck returned soon enough with a length of rope in his hands left over from their day escorting cattle. As the tall man approached the well, Vin called out into the well. "Alex, Buck's here with the rope. We're going to get you out of there Darlin'."
"How's Ezra?" Vin asked Buck quietly as he threw the edge of the rope over the stone edge and dropped it down into the darkness.
"Not so good." Buck answered, his jaw tightening as he thought about the state of the gambler when he had last seen him. "They whipped him."
"Christ." Vin found himself swearing. "What about Serfonteine?"
"I don't know." Buck shook his head. "Alex, its Buck!" He called out. "I'm dropping a rope to you honey, I want you tie it around your waist when it reaches you."
"Thank you." Came a soulful whimper and Buck's stomach hollowed at the terror in that voice. It made him lower the rope even faster and the echo of relieved sigh drifted upwards when Buck felt an insistent tug on the other end.
No sooner than Alex had tied the rope around her waist did Vin and Buck start pulling together, hoping to get the job done as quickly as possible. Alex had gone very quiet and judging by the tightening in Vin's jaw, Buck knew the young man was afraid for Alex's state of mind. The rope scraped along the stone as they pulled the doctor from the bottom of her own private hell. Strands of hessian left its mark at the edge as the robe was worn slowly away by the uneven brick surface. With Buck and Vin's strength pulling collectively, Alex's weight seemed light and very soon, they could her sobs of relief when she was treated to her first sight of them.
As Buck held on alone, Vin hurried forward and linked his arm around her waist as he pulled her towards the edge of the well. He tried not to be shocked at how she looked or the bruises and scratches over her body, or even the fact that she was clad in her underthings. Nothing mattered now that he had held her in his arms once more.
Alex wrapped her arms around Vin and refused to let go as she stepped off the well's edge. She held on to him and started to sob, weeping as he had never heard her cry before. He could only look helplessly at Buck as he tightened his hold around her trembling body, stroking her damp hair in an effort to convince her that she was safe.
"Thank you for finding me." She whispered in his ear through her tears.
"I wouldn't have stop looking until I did." He answered, never more grateful for anything in his life at this moment.
She was safe and that was all that mattered.
Nicholas lunged again and like before, Nathan stepped out of reach of the thrust that would have been deadly to a lesser opponent. The rain and cold was starting to effect him as he felt the moisture in his clothes dragging at him like a dead weight. Nathan was still watching him closely, looking not at all effected by the weather and that further served to infuriate the southerner who renewed his attack with rage and savagery melded into a potent mix.
Nathan parried this latest series of lunges, making careful to avoid being cut even though he was in better shape than Serfonteine at the moment. The man had always gone on the offensive, fighting to win in the first few minutes of the game so that his opponent would not have time to launch a formidable defence until the end came. Nathan's entire strategy had been based on not finishing him off immediately but rather to allow Serfonteine to expend all his energy trying to reach his own ends. Nathan exerted enough stamina to not get himself killed because he would need his strength when Serfonteine's finally faltered.
And that moment was drawing close.
"She was delightful you know." Nicholas paused as he withdrew for the moment to catch his breath. They circled each other, like two wolves about to fight for the last scrap of food, eyes blazing as they regarded one another as a lesser being, undeserving of life or limb.
Easy Nathan, the healer told himself, knowing that Serfonteine must have been desperate indeed if he was resorting to such jibes to provoke Nathan into doing something stupid. Once again, Nathan reminded himself to stick to the strategy he had laid out when he had chosen to embark upon this final showdown with Nicholas Serfonteine.
"The best I ever had." Nicholas grinned, wiping more water from his brow even though his cuff was almost as soaked as the rest of him. "And she loved every minute of it."
"Then why was she begging you to stop?" Nathan retorted, fighting to remember that this was nothing more than underhanded tactic to make him abandon his so far calm and deliberate manner.
"They all beg to stop," the man replied with a smile. "Don't you know that about women Ajax." He met Nathan's eyes with a perfectly evil gleam in his eyes. "They beg to stop but the tone is different. She wanted me Ajax, she always did. She just didn't dare to say it."
"I'm sure you believe that too," Nathan shook his head with disgust. "Does it make you feel better knowing that it was her tone that asked for it as opposed to the stinking animal that you are? At least your slaves knew when they were allowed to rut because you wouldn't let them unless you gave permission? I guess being the master means you don't have to control your own lust, doesn't it?"
"I gave my nigras everything!" Nicholas growled and swung his blade hard at Nathan. The healer raised his sword to counter the blow and the resounding clash of metal would have created sparks if not for the rain. "You were well fed and well looked after!" He swung again, driving Nathan backward with the force of the powerful thrust. "Becky wanted it! They all wanted it!" He swung again, determined to put an end to this insolent nigger once and for all. How dare he presume to call Nicholas Serfonteine, the master of one of the finest Georgian families, a rapist!
Nathan was almost driven to the edge of the clearing when suddenly, he parried the last powerful swing delivered by Serfonteine and riposted with an expertly delivered manoeuvre which sent his former master in retreat. "They did not want anything!" He shouted finally, allowing a lifetime of pent up rage to escape from its long exile inside a forgotten corner of his heard. "We well looked and after and fed all right but that's all we had!"
This time it was Nathan on the offensive and the returning blows that Nicholas was now struggling to fend was delivered with the fury of a thousand wounds. Each impact of steel against steel was bringing to home just how close to the end Nicholas was reaching. In his rage, his opponent had become very fast and very strong, as if his anger was not making him more agile instead of clumsy. Nicholas could feel his grip weaken with each resounding impact of Nathan's rapier against his. In desperation, he was forced to sweep Nathan off his feet just to get a momentary respite.
The healer fell down on his rear as Nicholas raised his weapon to deliver what would have been a fatal blow through the chest if Nathan was not fast enough to roll onto his knees and block the attack. He shoved Nicholas back by sheer strength alone and panted hard as he spoke. "We had nothing, no name of our own, no dignity, not even the right to marry without permission and our daughters, God," Nathan felt the emotion welled up inside of him. "Our daughter's were your unwilling harem. It is better being a dog or a mule instead of being a nigger slave Mr Serfonteine because at least a dog or mule knows its mother or wife or its sister ain't going to be used as the master's whore!"
Whether or not Serfonteine could see the tears was beside the point, Nathan was weeping not only for Becky now but also for the mother who killed herself for the same reason Becky was now dead, because being a Negro slave was being less than human but not quite animal. Men like Serfonteine who strove to rekindle that sickness did not deserve to leave and it was time to end this. This time it was Nathan who lunged and as he trusted the blade forward, Serfonteine attempted to fight defensively, a thing he was unaccustomed to doing. Normally in any sparing match, he usually went on the offensive because the slave he was fighting was not stupid enough to attack unless he had to. Nathan knew that from experience.
Nathan channelled all the rage into perfecting his blows, until not even all the parrying and riposting that Nicholas Serfonteine could muster was enough to keep him from wearing his former master down. Nathan waited as he fought, watching Serfonteine's movements getting sluggish as the exhaustion started to seep into him and with the fear of death suddenly thick in his nostrils, the man was becoming clumsy.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the others approach through the trees, no doubt having been attracted by the clanging of metal. Vin, Alex and Buck broke the line of leaves to step into the clearing and Nathan had only to glance at Alex, wearing Vin's buckskin coat over her underclothes and her wet face with tears and bruises to realise that he had one more thing to fuel his anger. He had only now to wait for the opening that would allow him to finish this. It came soon enough and Nathan had one last parting word for Serfonteine as he swung.
"Die."
The blade sliced through cleanly. Nathan was looking at none of his friends as he delivered that final blow. Serfonteine stood where he was, his hands dropping immediately with the sword still in his grip. His eyes drained after the pain had registered and then it seemed to empty completely. Nathan stepped away from Serfonteine as the first drops of blood started to seep through the cracks of skin across the man's neck. It started as drops and then began to flow freely as the body tumbled backwards and Serfonteine's severed head landed a few feet away.
Nathan watched Serfonteine's lifeless form with little or no feeling. The ground was completely covered with his blood and Nathan turned away, his own rapier falling from his hands onto the ground. He met the gaze of his friends, uncertain of what to expect after what they had just seen.
"I had to do it." Nathan said softly, his eyes on Alex most of all, whose appearance upon closer inspection made him, feel doubly certain that he had done the right thing. She looked so broken that Nathan's heart went out to her and hardened his resolve that Nicholas and all those like him should be dead.
"We understand Nathan." Buck replied with typical understanding that only Buck was capable.
"If you didn't, I would have." Vin said firmly with enough intent in his eyes to convince Buck that he meant it.
"I had to end it." Nathan started to turn away when suddenly, he heard Alex speak.
Nathan quickly turned to her and saw that she had lifted her face away from the crooks of Vin's shoulder long enough to whisper.
"Becky can rest easy now."
Nathan could almost believed that was true.