DISCLAIMER: No profit is made in any way shape or form from this fan fic. All of the Magnificent Seven characters are the property of Mirisch, Trilogy, MGM, CBS, and now TNN. However I would like to state that I do not wish my characters borrowed without my knowledge or consent. If you are not certain a character is canon or mine, I will be happy to let you know. Just ask or look at my list of original characters.
It was nearly two weeks later when trouble hit Four Corners. Bull had made certain that the three boys returned everything and worked off their debts with everyone doing odd chores. Most folk were inclined to be kind since Dal and John Henry were smart enough to make certain they had Josh standing between them looking dutifully sorry as they apologized. Unable to stand the sight of the young ten-year old looking so miserable and having fallen for Buck's charming account of how the boys were only trying to keep their family together, most of the women folk chose to pay the boys for their work. In fact, Mrs. Potter happened to remark to Becky Jackson that she just couldn't resist the twinkle in those big brown eyes. No one had bothered to ask if the children were indeed Bull's grandchildren, and since no one had reported any missing children Judge Travis was content to leave them with Bull. He was trying to decide if there were any legalities against his turning full custody over the old man when the stage arrived in town.
Four men and one woman got off the stage one Wednesday morning. Vin had taken to sitting out on the boardwalk in front of the saloon. He hadn't felt like or been allowed to go any further than that since he had given his word to Chris that he would follow all of Nathan's directions. Staying put and staying quiet had been one of those conditions the healer had placed on him. That hadn't stopped Vin from encouraging Josh and John Henry into being as loud as they wanted within Nathan's vicinity, but it wasn't until the beginning of the week that Nathan had finally had enough and banished all three to sitting outside of the saloon. The healer decided that any noise they made would be drowned out by the sounds coming from within the noisy saloon. So there they sat with Vin smiling wryly at the mischief that oozed from the very pores of the two boys. Buck joined them as the stage came to a halt and stopped across the street in front of the hotel. Ezra arrived as if on cue and took the remaining seat vacated when he shifted Josh from the chair to the table on the boardwalk. He idly shuffled cards as he watched the passengers get off the stage.
The woman wasn't bad looking at all. Her nice figure and jaunty hat framing her handsome face made Buck sit up and take notice. Vin, knowing without looking that Buck had spotted fresh blood, looked up from under the hat shading his eyes. Ezra dealt Vin and Buck a hand each while the boys took up position to help them play cards.
"Easy on, Bucklin. I just got over takin' a bullet for ya. Don't aim to take another."
"Hey, I was innocent that time."
"That time ain't this time."
"Does Mr. Buck think that lady is purty, Mr. Ezra?"
"I believe that is the conclusion that any intelligent young man such as yourself would surmise." Ezra waited to see if either John Henry or Josh needed an explanation. They looked pensive for a minute, and then both boys grinned at Ezra.
"I think he meant yes, Josh." John Henry was beginning to figure this fancy gambler out. He turned back to Buck's neglected hand. "You need two new cards, Mr. Buck." Ezra flashed his gold tooth at John Henry in a dazzling smile. He hadn't been this entertained in a long time. He had caught Vin's remark less than a week ago that these two were the best explanation he knew of why Maude loved to use her son in a con. Having thought it over as Josh unconsciously manipulated the adults, Ezra had decided Vin was right in his assumptions. Children were natural born con artists, and Josh and John Henry were gifted. It had been an eventful two weeks, and although he had fussed incessantly about having to share Vin's morning patrols with the others, Ezra had enjoyed himself thoroughly. It was rather unsettling then when he saw not only Josh's eyes pop open, but he witnessed John Henry gasp in obvious distress and Vin's shoulders stiffen slightly. Ezra put down the cards to follow three sets of eyes as they lingered on one short and portly man.
"We gotta go." John Henry half-grabbed and half hauled Josh off the table and into the alley next to the saloon. They disappeared around the corner before any of the men could get to their feet. Buck started to protest when he noticed Vin getting to his feet and walking to the end of the boardwalk. He appeared neither to have noticed nor cared where the two young boys had run off to. He was staring intently at the portly man who had taken off his hat to reveal a bald-head and sour countenance.
"I don't believe it. I just don't believe that bastard could show up here now. Somebody should a killed him years ago."
It was their turn to be distracted. Vin's hate filled words stopped Chris and Josiah in their tracks. They all exchanged silent looks of stunned disbelief.
"You seem to know that man, brother." Josiah put a hand on Vin's shoulder. The younger man seemed to come out of his hate filled reverie at the soothing tones of his big friend. He shook his head slightly as if to clear it and he took one last look at the man in front of the stage. The look on his face spoke volumes, and Chris and Buck stepped forward along side Ezra and Vin as if to form a protective guard around their friend. Normally, Vin used to watch the new folks coming to town to watch out for potential bounty hunters. Since he'd been pardoned, his interest had become a contest to see who could accurately assess each new arrival to town better, Vin or Ezra.
Today, it took all of Ezra's deductive powers to wonder why on earth two children and a man they had only met a short two weeks ago would be so upset by the arrival of just one seemingly harmless looking man. And that was the key to it. He thought it was impossible, but then who would have thought that Vin would turn out to be the long lost cousin of the Terrell twins when most folk including Vin thought he was just another unclaimed runaway. That was it. Ezra thought that had to be it as he saw Vin stiffen once more, but he had no time to ask the tracker if his deduction was correct. Two men were approaching them; the fat one was one of them.
"Who do you think he is, Vin?" Chris's question was soft, but it reminded Vin of where he was and who he was. He was no longer a little boy frightened and alone waiting for someone anyone to come and save him from old man Perkins. He was a grown man fully capable of taking on the most vicious of foes, and he had friends who were there to watch his back. Somehow the man walking towards them was no longer the ogre of his youth but just another man, a fatter and older one at that.
"It's old man Perkins." He said it softly, and his friends exchanged an astonished look among themselves. Ezra shook his head and Buck looked like he wanted to take a shot at the man walking towards them. Chris's green eyes turned icy and even Josiah's gentle eyes went cold. This was the bastard who had beaten and forced a little boy younger than Josh to run away from the home in which he had been placed after his mother's death. It was this man who had caused young Vin Tanner to run away when his family had been so close to coming for him. Because of this man, Vin had missed out on the love of a family that Neil Connors and his niece Alexandra Terrell would have provided for him.
"He don't look so old an' mean right now, does he?" The wry voice and lopsided grin reassured his friends that the adult Vin Tanner had returned to them. Not one to dwell on things he couldn't change, and not stupid enough to seek revenge on someone who was so obviously not worth it, Vin Tanner turned a disinterested face towards the man who had once so thoroughly scared him to death. The past wasn't worth the life he had now, and old man Perkins was in part responsible for the man Vin Tanner had become. Vin Tanner liked who he had become. He was content that he had grown into a man both of his parents could be proud of. He leaned against the pole and ignored the man in front of him. He concentrated on the man next to Perkins as Perkins demanded their attention.
"I understand you men are the law here." Vin smiled at the other rather nondescript man, but it never reached his eyes. It made the man in front of him take a step back.
The others gave Chris the unspoken consent to handle this man as he saw fit. Buck came to lean against the other side of the pole opposite of Vin. He smiled grimly at the two men standing there. Now both men were beginning to feel nervous on this cold afternoon. Josiah and Ezra took their positions as they allowed Chris to take his time answering the imperious man who grew more nervous as time went by.
"Why do you care?" The voice was soft, but the steal and menace in it were not lost on its victims. The other man looked ready to pass out. Buck's smile turned to unholy glee. He didn't care who these men were. One was responsible for bringing pain to a friend of his and Buck, like Ezra, figured this Perkins fellow must have had something to do with scaring the daylights out of Josh and John Henry. Perkins wasn't going to lay a hand on those children if Buck had anything to say about it. He saw Vin looking at him from the corner of his eye. Yeah, that Perkins fellow was in a bit of trouble if he intended any harm to those kids.
Francis Perkins was 57 years old and was a fanatic who believed orphans were orphans because God had deemed them unworthy of parents. He knew this to be true because his late and beloved mother had taught him this from birth. Why else would these children find themselves cast adrift upon the mercy of this harsh world if God had not already judged them to be the dregs of the earth? They were destined to be murderers, prostitutes, and thieves, and it was his duty to beat them into submission and accept that they would never be worthy to live among decent folk. The best they could hope for was a life of service to decent folk paying penance for their black souls in hopes of salvation upon their deaths.
Francis Perkins tried to regain the superior air he had maintained until the man in black and the other men at his sides had reduced him to a nervous wreck with their menacing silence. He resented the tone of voice the man in black had used with him. Obviously this man was as poor an excuse for a lawman as the rough looking men with him. Two were disreputable looking gunmen and the other had to be a man of chance. None of them were worthy of his notice, but this man in black had been pointed out as the law in this town. So be it. Francis was not a man to shirk his duty.
Once, long ago, he had relaxed his vigilance and lost one runaway who could have provided Francis and his mother with a luxurious life. His mother had been convinced that if Francis had only prevented that Tanner boy from running away, the Connors family would have paid them handsomely for their brat. That rude young woman deserved the angelic looking but devilish child who was proof orphans were unworthy of parents. Wilma Perkins and her son were convinced that the boy was totally evil for why else would God take such a fine Texas Ranger as Jeff Tanner was supposed to have been or the loving wife and mother as Annabelle Tanner had been described. That boy had been the bane of Perkins' existence; no wonder he had become a murderer.
No, Francis Perkins would not allow one more murderer loose upon the world if he could help it, and he was not dealing with one more runaway. He was dealing with four. The two youngest boys had almost been tamed when that hussy and her brother had been delivered into his care. The oldest boy had become the leader who instigated further defiance from Josh and John Henry. And that young girl, she was so obviously the devil's temptress. Young and innocent looking she had tried to manipulate him. Poor Francis had almost succumbed to her flirtatious ways and had actually tried to taste her carnal delights. She was nothing better than a whore and her brother and friends were no better. They needed to be beaten soundly and often as his mother had taught him until he had beaten the devil out of them. There was no hope for the whore, for how else had the runaways been able to elude him for so long if it were not for the girl using her wiles to seduce poor God-fearing men such as himself? Had he not been the strong and holy man his mother had reared him to be, he too might have succumbed to her enslaving beauty. Now, he had heard rumors that the law in Four Corners had sent telegrams asking about three young boys who might be runaways. Francis just knew it had to be his three and brought Gerald Pitts, a lawyer for the foundation who ran the orphanage, with him to demand the return of the children to his custody. Francis Perkins took a deep breath and tried to convince himself that these men didn't frighten him. The one with the long hair and blue eyes was strangely familiar, but Francis did not have time for trips down memory lane. He had a duty to perform and perform it he would.
"I am looking for four runaways and was informed you had knowledge of their whereabouts. I am. . . ."
"Perkins. Francis Perkins. Figured you'd be dead of pure meanness by now." It was the man with the long hair who was standing between the man with a mustache and the man in black.
"My name is Perkins, but I don't believe I know you. How dare you...."
"You used to beat the crap outa me an' all the other kids. Kept tellin' us we was all goin' to hell. I'm real hurt ya don't remember me." That last statement was said with so pure a venom that it made Perkins take another step back and he planted his right boot heel on Gerald Pitts' left foot. The resulting yelp startled Perkins and this time he stepped forward. Vin deftly moved out of his way and Perkins nearly fell face first on the ground. His composure gone, his temper unleashed, Perkins forgot his dignity. Why was he being treated this way?
"Who are you? I don't know him." He turned around and looked at everyone who had gathered expecting their help, but no one seemed too concerned about the way this man was treating him. Judge Travis had appeared with Nathan, JD, and Mary. What they hadn't heard had been quickly and quietly filled in by Ezra. Judge Travis had upheld the law for years, but there was no way he wanted to turn the children over to a man like Perkins. He'd seen men like him before, little men who abused their power in the belief that they were doing God's work. Travis shook his head in disgust. If there was any way he could save those four children from Francis Perkins he would. And, as long as Vin Tanner kept his cool and his hands off of Francis Perkins, the judge would allow him this moment to confront the man.
"You know me." Vin walked around Perkins forcing the frightened man to follow him. "You used to tell me that no one was comin' for me cause I was bad. Told me I was the cause of my ma's and pa's deaths. Said God didn't want me to have a ma an' a pa cause I was so bad. How can any decent man tell a seven year old boy somethin' as mean as that?"
Gerald Pitts looked at Mr. Perkins like he had grown two heads. He knew the patrons who funded the foundation that had hired Francis Perkins to run their orphanage. One of them was a wealthy woman who had herself been an orphan. Marriage to a man twice her age had resulted in more money than she knew what to do with now that her own children were grown and married. She had decided to create a foundation in her husband's memory and fund an orphanage to care for all the children who had been left homeless due to disease or violence. Had she known that Perkins felt it was his duty to abuse these orphans, she would have taken a whip to the man. Mr. Pitts thought he might have helped her.
Gerald Pitts removed himself to the boardwalk leaving Francis Perkins to face the angry man in front of him. He knew Judge Travis and knew that no physical harm would come to Perkins. He acknowledged the judge's raised eyebrow with a nod. They would have a private conversation very soon, right after Gerald Pitts relieved Francis Perkins of his position as the orphanage's administrator. He made a mental note to investigate all of the people hired personally by Perkins since his tenure. If they shared his mindset, they too would be gone. Pitts would himself oversee the orphanage until someone could be hired who shared his benefactress's opinion of orphans. After all, Gerald Pitts had lost his own parents to typhoid and had spent ten years of his life as an orphan. He had no sympathy for Perkins or any desire to stop this man from intimidating Perkins.
Vin stopped and stood behind Perkins. He looked up at his friends and realized that as much as he hated what this man had done to him, he would probably never have met any of them if he hadn't run away from the orphanage. He never would have met his Indian family, never learned to love the wilderness and its overwhelming beauty or its stark existence. He might never have met the six men who stood beside him as close as any brothers would. Hell, his aunt might not have met and married John Terrell and the twins, his twins, might never have even been born. No, as much as Vin hated Perkins, as much as he didn't want Perkins to get those four children under his control again, Vin realized that Francis Perkins had inadvertently been responsible for some of the best things in his life. He'd be damned if he ever admitted aloud to anyone, but acknowledge it he did. He looked up and saw Chris watching him intently. They exchanged a look and Vin knew that Chris had already considered the same thing.
Then, he looked at all the people who were letting him confront this man and lay the demons of his past to rest. Six men with whom he trusted his life, another man he respected more than he thought possible, a woman who was as strong in her loyalty as she was stubborn, and a man he didn't know but sensed felt the same outrage over Perkins' treatment of the innocents placed in his charge - all of these people were allowing him this moment. It was with this knowledge that Vin knew he could let it go. Francis Perkins wasn't worth his effort. Men like him wouldn't change and knowing who Vin was wouldn't change what Perkins had done to him and countless others. But, Vin could make this man squirm, make him feel the same fear that Perkins had used to terrify children and make them feel alone and betrayed. Who Vin was and if Perkins remembered him wasn't as important as making this little man realize that for every child he terrorized, there was an adult who could seek revenge. If he could scare Perkins into leaving his profession, then it would be a victory worth putting his personal life on display.
Vin leaned forward and spoke to the man who was sweating profusely on this cold February day. "Don't matter who I am anyways. All you got to remember is that for every child you beat, there is an adult might come gunnin' for you later." Perkins gasped in outright terror. He looked near tears, but Vin left him with one more thought to ponder. "If I was you, I'd watch my back old man. Lots a folks don't hold with a man who'd beat a little kid for no other reason than they ain't you." With that, Vin Tanner walked off leaving Perkins sweating in the street. He needed to go and get Bull in order to help him get the kids out of Four Corners before Judge Travis had to intervene and give the kids back to Perkins. No one tried to stop him, and Vin took that to mean the judge was giving him a head start. He finally noticed he wasn't alone. Buck and Josiah were walking with him towards the livery where Bull was making repairs on the wagon.
"You got that man so sacred I thought he'd piss all over himself." Vin laughed, the tension draining from him as Buck's humor washed over him.
"In my mind you let him off easy, brother." Josiah winked at Vin.
Vin shook his head, embarrassed they had read him so easily. "Y'all gonna talk all day or ya gonna help me get them kids away from Perkins?"
"Sometimes, Josiah, I don't think this boy appreciates us. Here we come to help him, an' he tells us to shut up."
"I know, Buck. He's as ungrateful as you are."
Vin snorted and shoved both men ahead of him. Then, he caught up and joined their laughter. Vin felt good right at this moment. He'd just put one more bad guy out of work. Sometimes he really liked this job.
They walked round to the back of the livery to find Bull standing there holding Josh up by his belt off of the ground and John Henry tossing their belongings haphazardly into the wagon as quickly as Jules could hand them to him. Dal was trying to pull a stubborn Bob and Dewdrop into their harnesses. Finally, Bull raised his voice, something rarely heard when he dealt with the children.
"I said we ain't runnin'! Now, all y'all stop and simmer down! This Perkins ain't layin' so much as a finger on ya, an' if he looks cross-eyed at Jules I'll kill 'im!"
Vin grinned as all activity ceased. Buck quickly smothered the laughter that was threatening to burst out, and Josiah added his calm words to Bull's. He managed to divert the storm of arguments threatening to spring forth with a few carefully chosen sentences.
"No one is going to let Mr. Perkins do anything to any of you. Judge knows what kind of man he is, and now so does Mr. Pitts. Thanks to Vin, here, I don't think Mr. Perkins is going to have his job too much longer."
That got Josh's attention. "You shoot him?"
"He can't go round shootin' folks!" John Henry's voice was hopeful even though he knew Mr. Chris would never let Vin shoot Mr. Perkins just because he beat some orphans. Then again, Mr. Chris sure had taken a liking to Josh. Nah, no way Mr. Chris would let Mr. Vin hang for shooting old man Perkins even though he deserved to be shot twice in the head because the mean old man didn't have a heart.
Dal's eyes narrowed speculatively. "What'd you do?" All the men seemed confident that they would be safe from Perkins, so Dal relaxed a little bit. These men in Four Corners didn't make empty promises. Vin looked at Dal. They stared at one another for just a moment, and Dal knew that Vin had once been where he was now. "You run away from Perkins' too?"
The other children gasped in astonishment when Vin nodded curtly.
"Did Mr. Chris and Mr. Josiah find ya?"
"Nope, Comanches did. Chief adopted me. Was a coupla years younger than Josh here when I ran." The four children nodded sagely. Mr. Vin had run and survived just like they would.
"You said he ain't gonna touch us. That mean we can stay with Bull?" Dal wanted all of the truth.
"Don't now 'bout that. Judge seemed to know the man with Perkins."
"Mr. Pitts?" Jules didn't often say much, but when she chose to speak, most listened to her. "He's the lawyer who makes sure the money is spent on the orphans and not the people workin' there. He used to be an orphan. Told me so."
"Well then, Missy. I'd say you got yourselves a champion in your corner." Buck smiled and Jules beamed.
"I wanta shoot old man Perkins. He'll just weasel outa trouble an' go somewheres else." Josh was standing on the barrel Bull had dropped him on earlier.
Vin just nodded his head in agreement with Josh. He dropped down to eye level with the angry little boy. "You're right. Old man ought to be shot, but then that would make you just as bad as he is. He ever tell you that you were going to hell?" Josh nodded yes, tears welling in his eyes, and he ducked his head so Vin wouldn't notice his shame. Vin lifted the boy's chin and wiped the tears with his thumbs. "I learned one thing from old man Perkins that I ain't never forgot. The day I start believing folks like him is the day I become a low down scum like he is. Don't you never let him ever make you believe you were bad an' that's why your folks are gone. You hear me?" Josh's big brown eyes searched Vin's for the truth. Then he nodded.
"Still wanta shoot him."
Vin burst out laughing and grabbed the little boy and swung him around in the air. Josh was giggling when Vin stopped.
"So do I, but iffen we shoot 'im, things 'll get ugly, an' Buck hates ugly." Josh went off into a peal of laughter as Buck grabbed the boy and swung him over to Josiah. Bull patted the others two boys on the back. He turned to look at a smiling Jules.
"C'mon, girl. Let's take these wild boys an' see what the judge has decided for us. You reckon he wants these three trouble makers?"
Josh took exception to that. "I ain't no trouble, Bull. Mr. Ezra says me and John Henry got the gift."
"Gift, hell boy, you two rascals scare me and Dal most days and just confuse us the rest. Now, quit playin' around an' let's go see the judge."
They were nearly at the hotel when a voice rang out from inside the hotel.
"You can't fire me! You would take the word of a lowlife like that gunman? I only did my duty! How dare you! I shall tell Mrs. Brandon, and you will be the one looking for employment."
They filed inside the lobby and heard Judge Travis speak to Gerald Pitts effectively stopping Perkins' protestations with a raised eyebrow and the Larabee glare with which Chris was happy to supply.
"Mrs. Brandon, isn't she the woman whose parents were killed in a fire when she was the only fifteen, and she married one of the richest men in Texas?"
"She is that Mrs. Brandon. In fact she hired me because I, too, had been an orphan. She paid for my education as a matter of fact, Judge Travis. Mrs. Brandon will be most displeased to learn that the man to whom she entrusted these children was in fact physically abusing them for no other reason than they had the misfortune to be labeled orphans."
Francis Perkins collapsed into a chair that Ezra had conveniently slid under the portly man. JD handed Ezra a gold coin and scowled at him. Buck poked Vin in the ribs when he saw the exchange of money. Both men grinned at their youngest friend when he scowled at them, too. Josiah shook his head at their antics and moved a little to the side as Josh and John Henry crept from behind Josiah and Bull to face the man who had made this last eight months a living hell for them. Dal stepped forward in front of the boys to protect them and to confront the man who had tried to abuse his sister.
"He did more than whip us. He put his hands all over Jules and tried some funny business with her." It took every bit of strength Josiah, Nathan, and Ezra had to keep Bull, Buck, and Vin from going after Perkins. A look from Chris and word from the judge had Vin and Buck in check, but Bull was still steaming. If looks could kill, Perkins would have been skinned, spitted, and basting over an open fire by now.
"This true, young lady?" Judge Travis's voice softened as he spoke to the young girl who was blushing furiously and studying the pattern on the worn rug on the floor directly beneath her feet.
The answer was barely audible, so Josh encouraged her. "Member, you said he called you his vessel of light." Jules kicked him in the shins for his pains. "Ow, Jules, that hurt!"
"That little whore tried to seduce me!" Perkins had to interrupt to defend his honor. "I rejected her advances!"
No one had to do anything. Chris walked up to Perkins and pulled him out of the chair by the scruff of his neck. Green ice scared the hell out of Perkins as Chris's voice gave words to the feelings of everyone present in the room.
"She's nothing but a child, an' you call her a whore?" He tossed the babbling man back into the chair and leaned forward trapping Perkins to the chair like he was a bug Chris had just pinned to a board. "You make me sick. You're supposed to be protectin' these children and here you are beating and abusing them. And you call yourself a man doin' the Lord's work. Mister, you're nothing but trash. You'd best get on the next stage outa here and go anywhere we ain't, cause if I look at you one more time I might just shoot ya." Chris never raised his voice or changed his facial expression from the contempt he felt for the man sprawled in the chair in front of him. He stepped back and allowed the terror stricken Perkins to run for the stage.
"Hey, cowboy. That stage's goin the opposite direction from where Perkins came." Vin was grinning ear to ear. Part of Chris's fury was because he had been powerless to protect the child Vin Tanner. Vin knew that, but as practical as he was, he knew it was no use worrying over the past. He had decided to let it go, but now he needed his friends to do the same. "Reckon he'll get halfway to China 'fore it dawns on 'im none of us'll waste a bullet on 'im."
"Really? I wager the fool will arrive in the capital of China before he realizes that our illustrious leader would not risk hanging for the trash he is."
"Don't look at me. I ain't got no more money. Ezra already cleaned me out."
"Ezra, you takin' that boy's money again?" Nathan was laughing too hard to make Ezra feel guilty, which the con man had no thought of guilt any way. It was Ezra's duty as a friend to teach JD the misfortunes of gambling.
Judge Travis cleared his throat. "I believe we have some legal matters to discuss. Mr. Sampson, I appreciate you decided to stay and see this through. I would have considered you a less than admirable father figure had you chosen to run as Mr. Tanner and Mr. Wilmington wanted you to do."
Vin and Buck exchanged guilty looks. Bull snorted in derision. "I ain't never run from trouble yet. I got plenty of money to see these kids through school and more. Need themselves an education they can't get on the run."
"I believe then that we need to talk with Mr. Pitts. Gentlemen, would you mind escorting the children to lunch while the three of us have a discussion?"
Chris nodded and swept the others from the room. Dal wanted to stay but he lost a second staring contest with Larabee. That man in black sure had a way of getting folks to do whatever he wanted with just a look. Dal decided he had to get himself a glare just like Mr. Larabee's.
Bull had been an hour behind locked doors with the judge and Mr. Pitts. During that time John Henry and Buck had convinced Mrs. Bridger that the only thing that would make their day perfect would be one of her chocolate cakes. By the time it took Josh to turn those liquid brown eyes on the poor woman and smile at her, she was up to her elbows in cake batter. Ezra and Vin were showing Dal how to spot a cheat, and Jules was learning how to treat fevers from Nathan. Chris and Josiah were sitting with them at the front window of the boarding house drinking coffee.
JD sat down at their table for lunch when he saw Bull exit the hotel with Judge Travis and Mr. Pitts. The slight movement forward to the table by Chris alerted the other men who remained quiet. Dal leaned forward and saw Bull. He watched the old man walk towards the boarding house trying to read the look on his face or that of the other two men. Then he saw Bull look up and see him sitting in the window. Bull Samson held up a piece of paper and grinned. Dal relaxed and picked up his cards. The impassive look on his face began to crack. Ezra nudged Vin. Both men leaned toward the boy.
"You know, Mr. Tanner, I have often found that every once in a while it is simply impossible to keep an impassive look on one's face." Ezra placed two cards in front of Vin.
Picking them up, Vin nodded sagely. "Yep, every once in a while somethin' happens ya just gotta smile 'bout. Like when you got a full house." Vin laid his winning hand down and raked in the matches. Then he grinned at Dal. "You know, your face won't crack if ya smile."
"And smiling once will certainly not wreak too much havoc on that intimidating glare you are perfecting." That got a quick glare from Dal before he suddenly beamed. His smile alerted Jules and the other two boys.
"Dal, ya think?" The chocolate cake was momentarily forgotten. Josh looked from behind Buck. He had cake batter on his chin. He wiped it on Buck's pant leg as he ran past the big man to stand between John Henry and Jules. His question was answered as Bull walked through the door.
"Where are my younguns?" The kids gathered round as he stood there. He smiled at Mrs. Bridger.
"Ma'am, you think you can fix us somethin' to celebrate my getting custody of these here kids?"
There was nothing Mrs. Bridger liked better than cooking for large groups of people, especially for a party. She wiped her hands on her apron. "Well, I have a nice chocolate cake in the oven and a pot roast ready to eat. Will that do?"
"Pot roast? Mrs. Bridger, iffen you weren't married, I'd camp out on your doorstep."
"Go on, Mr. Sampson. You're getting as bad as Mr. Wilmington."
"Lord, I hope not. I don't think Four Corners could handle it, ma'am." Chris grinned at Josiah's statement as he made room for Judge Travis and Mr. Pitts.
"I take it you gave the kids to Bull?"
"Why yes, Mr. Larabee, is it? Once I had ascertained that Mr. Sampson has a lucrative bank account in Denver and has decided to retire in a town where there are the proper schools for these children, I had no objection. The judge informed me of his character and insistence that the children take responsibility for their actions, and I was impressed."
Vin nudged Dal. "I told ya the judge would see you were taken care of." Dal permitted his smile to grow if that were possible. Then, Mrs. Bridger brought in the pot roast. The lunch ended with JD, Vin, Dal, and Ezra resuming their lessons. This time JD had been elected the main cheat. Buck was calling directions to JD while he supervised the two youngest boys as they delegated themselves the chief bowl lickers for the chocolate icing Mrs. Bridger was spreading on the cake.
"Now, JD, you're not supposed to giggle like a girl when you're the cheater. You got to act swave and deeboner like Ezra."
"That's suave and debonair, Mr. Wilmington." JD's imitation of Ezra's southern accent had everyone in the boarding house grinning. Ezra dealt JD a hand that contained one ace, a two of spades, a three of diamonds, a seven of clubs, and a nine or hearts. He grinned evilly at his young friend which in turn caused JD to glare at Buck. "Buck, remind me to tell Vin about the new lady you ain't seeing."
"Oh great. Anybody wanta take patrol with Buck tomorrow night? I sure ain't."
"Now that gunshot to your head was not my fault this time. It was these little fellers." Vin waited until Mrs. Bridger wasn't looking and threw a roll at Buck. It hit him square in the face. When he picked it up to return the missile fire he had the roll snatched out of his hand and Mrs. Bridger standing over him with a glare that would rival Chris's. Buck was no coward. He pointed to Vin immediately. "He threw it at me first."
Mrs. Bridger rolled her eyes at Buck. "Now, don't tell me nice Mr. Tanner did that. Why that poor boy's been laid up two weeks because of your foolishness." She smiled benevolently at the nice young man whose poker face rivaled Ezra at his best. Buck looked at Chris and Josiah for help, but they only nodded sagely at Mrs. Bridger. Buck had absolutely no choice in the matter.
"Yes ma'am. No more throwing any of your delicious rolls anywhere for any reason. I don't know what came over me." He flashed his best grin at Mrs. Bridger. "Forgive me, please?" Vin even looked over and smiled at her, too. When the remainder of the seven all smiled at her, she gladly forgave him. After all she had seen Vin throw the roll, and she knew Buck was innocent this time.
FINI
Feedback to Author