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.
Ainsley and his men were buried while Maude slept uneasily on the ground under a tree with her head pillowed on Josiah's shoulder and his arms wrapped tightly around her. Once revived, she had flatly refused to re-enter the house. No one blamed her. The troopers camped out in the open with Maude situated right in the center near one of the fires. They were all tired and spooked, but none grumbled when the colonel ordered groups of five men to search for Winston. No one was to go alone anywhere, and the troopers willingly watched over their comrades while they slept. Whether he was wounded or not meant little to them. Horace Winston was a nightmare of which legends were made. He had killed seven healthy and well-armed men stealthily while they had slept. Their guard was up, and they all wanted to be the one who took the monster down.
Josiah had decided that he would take Maude back to Four Corners as soon as she had rested. Ezra and the others would be worried about them both, and it was best to let them know that Winston had not yet been found. They would start back that evening whether Winston had been found or not. The colonel had ordered half of his remaining troopers to escort them back while he and the rest of his men stayed to continue the search. At least that had been the plan until his best tracker returned with news that they had discovered Horace's trail on the other side of the stream.
The wounded man was easily followed to the stream's feed into the river that plunged downward in a showering waterfall. Nothing was on the other side but wilderness, and the swollen and violent river had prevented the troopers from crossing and following further. They felt there was no need with the evidence they had found. Making their way to the bottom where the falls poured into the river, they found pieces of bloody cloth caught upon the rocks. A knife was stuck between two rather sturdy looking boulders and slick blood trailed into the river rapids where it looked as if Winston had tried to hang on to the wedged knife but lost his hold and slid into the churning waters. They surmised that Winston had fallen victim to the falls and raging river.
The Army scout was tired as were the men with him, so no one saw the feverish eyes watching them from an opening at the base of the falls. Horace Winston was numb to all feeling. Still reeling from the one pure burst of sanity that had hit him when Maude struck him with the plank, Winston now knew the woman was not his mother. He had killed her himself with the kitchen knife with which she had threatened Rose. Rose, Horace had fallen in love with the meek young girl, but when he had told his mother that he wanted to marry her, she had gone very quiet. Mrs. Winston had agreed to meet the young woman who was to replace her in her son's affections. Then, when she thought Horace was busy elsewhere, she had pulled the knife out and threatened Rose with it.
Even worse, she had told her all the things she had taught her son. Rose ran in horror from the man she thought she knew and loved, and Horace felt an anger at his mother that he had never experienced before. He had been hurt and angry wanting to punish her as she had punished him, but her wrist had snapped easily when he had grabbed her hand to force her to relinquish the knife. He found out that her cries excited him more than anything else ever had and he cut her once. When she screamed in terror his excitement grew, and he did it again and again until he found a satisfaction that surpassed anything he had ever felt before. Too bad his mother's heart had failed. He knew that she had died too soon for his cuts had been short and shallow; otherwise he could have done this much longer. Horace had fled the police his mother's screams had summoned. Leaving St. Louis and all he knew behind he had traveled west with only the clothes on his back.
The second victim had been a traveling salesman who's clothing and money got Horace a job with a rival company. He was able to satisfy his lust for blood unchecked in the West where people disappeared all the time. It wasn't until he'd come to that little town with those seven lawmen that things began falling apart. He had heard Ainsley complain about them on the long ride here. He had listened but hadn't realized what Ainsley was really saying until the woman had betrayed his trust. She would pay for that. Those men had to die. They had die and so did that woman who had betrayed him just like his mother had. Horace would survive and take his revenge. He just had to wait until all these soldiers left. He had escaped from jail, escaped from those lawmen, and he would escape from this trap, too. He was strong. His mother had made certain of that. This pain and icy cold was nothing compared to the pain she had inflicted upon him or the cold dark places she had left him locked in when he was a child.
Let them look. Let them look everywhere for him. They wouldn't find him. He was invisible. Horace Winston could make himself disappear and reappear whenever he wanted. That is what he would do now.
Horace stayed hidden where he was until everything became quiet. He hadn't seen anyone in such a long time. No soldiers were looking any more when dusk fell, and he chanced leaving his hiding spot. The valley was empty, and there was no sign of life anywhere. There were only the graves of the seven he had killed. Horace stumbled into the house. He tore through it looking for any food and clothing that would keep him warm. He found a dull, worn looking kitchen knife and opened a few of the cans he had found. As he downed the contents he found some old clothing. They were too big for him, but they were warm and dry. Fed and clothed, Horace looked around and assessed his situation. He would rest and then look for a horse. It didn't matter though. He could walk to Four Corners if he had to. Soon, they would all pay for what they had done to him, very soon. Horace clutched the knife lovingly in is hand. When he finished, it would gleam in the sun. The blade only needed to be sharpened to a razor's edge, and he would be ready. He dreamed of revenge as he fell into an exhausted sleep.
The patients were getting restless, and they were all giving Nathan fits. He had moved them upstairs to the two adjoining rooms that contained accommodations for all five. He put JD and Buck in one room and Ezra, Vin, and Chris in another. He should have put them in jail. The same morning that Maude was pitting her wits against Horace Winston, five of the seven were plotting their escapes from their doctor's gracious incarceration. Nathan caught JD and Buck trying to hop quietly down the stairs. It would have been quiet except for the gunshot.
Buck didn't need to hop, but he was trying to show JD how to do it quietly. It was, as Ezra later detailed it for Chris and Vin who were both trying to locate pants for Chris and thus missed the event, a lot like General Sherman on a Georgia plantation. Both were bootless and in their long johns, Nathan having wisely hidden their pants, and the stairs were cold and slippery. JD nearly shot Buck's other leg off when he lost his balance from laughing too hard at Buck's tippy-toe limp and slipped. The gun belt he was carrying went flying out of his right hand, and he caught it with his left hand. Unfortunately, his flailing grip happened to fall right on the trigger of one of the guns.
The gun went off; the bullet went buzzing past Buck's good leg close enough for him to feel it. His eyes went wide in alarm, and JD, once he realized the bullet hadn't hit Buck, succumbed to the look on Buck's face, falling down at Nathan's feet laughing his head off. That angered the bigger man who proceeded to chase the fast hopping JD back up the stairs. Ducking behind Ezra's bed did nothing to save the young man as Nathan came barreling through the door on Buck's heels. Nathan appeared calm, too calm according to Ezra's account to Vin and Chris later. He didn't yell once, until he saw two others were missing.
Ordering JD and Buck both back to bed with a promise of a morphine-induced nap administered with a very large and dull needle, Nathan left them to the mercy of Ezra's witty repartee. Nathan caught Vin and Chris down the back stairs near the entrance. Vin had appropriated a rather nice pair of black pants for his friend that actually fit very well and both men were in the process of finding shirts in the freshly laundered linens and clothes that had just been delivered from the laundry down the street. Chris was trying to hold one shirt out for Vin to get into, but between his arm in a sling for his shoulder and Vin's bandaged ribs, they were having a rather difficult time of it. Both men were so intent on getting enough clothes on to get them unnoticed through town that neither had noticed the irate healer behind them.
"Y'all goin' somewhere's?" They both spun around to face the angry man. They must have spun too quickly for the one arm Vin had finally managed to get into the shirt sleeve was now wrapped tightly around his mid-section and pinned there by the other end of the shirt Chris was holding. He looked a like a top getting ready to be spun. Chris saw the predicament and dropped the sleeve he was holding. Vin managed to get the shirt unwound. Both grinned sheepishly at Nathan.
"Hey, Nathan! You sleep well?" Vin was concerned that his friend was not getting enough rest for why else would he have that strained look on his face.
Chris glared at Vin as if to say, 'Well hell! Is that the best you could come up with?'
Vin looked back with a, 'I don't see you sayin' anythin' to help out here. We wouldn't have gotten caught in the first place if you woulda held the shirt better.'
Nathan actually glared this time as he pointed up the stairs, and even Chris Larabee was wise enough to go meekly. He did pause long enough to glare at Vin who gave him an equally disdainful look. Neither one was impressed with the other right now. Chris started to say something, but Nathan shut him up quickly.
"I'll tell you like I told them. Morphine, big, dull needle."
Vin practically shoved his injured friend out of his way. Nathan looked mean and angry enough to do it. Vin not only hated needles, but he'd rather the Comanche torture him than to let Nathan inject him with morphine. Hell, he'd rather drink that damn ditch water Nathan said was good for what ailed you.
Chris had to have the last word though. He caught Vin's eye and mouthed, "Coward." He got a lopsided grin that traveled all the way to Vin's eyes. The tracker was enjoying having Nathan fuss at someone else. Chris had to admit he was no longer dying of boredom. At least he had pants, something Buck, JD, and Ezra could beg for but not receive right now. He made a point to mention how faded Buck's long johns were. His comment was met by guffaws that quickly changed to protests as the door opened and the Army doctor entered.
"I'll have your guards posted soon, Mr. Jackson. I am certain that we won't need to chain these men to one another as you suggested."
"Hey! Don't chain me to Buck. He got us caught!"
"Caught? I got us caught? You nearly blew my damn leg off, boy!" Buck wasn't really angry, but he thought maybe he could get past Nathan and out the door if he directed everyone's attention to JD. He bumped into something solid. It was the big Irish trooper who made Josiah look short. "Hey there, big fella." Buck smiled at the expressionless man and limped back through the door Nathan was holding open for him. "I know, big dull needle." He flopped on the foot of Chris's bed where Vin and Chris were sitting since JD had thrown himself across Vin's bed. Chris and Vin both shoved him onto the floor with their feet. Buck grabbed his back and swore it was broken. Chris looked at Vin and JD. All three threw pillows at Buck nearly burying him with them.
All this time Ezra sat pensively quiet. Not even seeing Buck sprawled on the floor pretending he was sorely wounded covered in pillows could get a smile out of him.
"She's all right, Ezra." JD looked over at the gambler who managed to duck his head to avoid looking at his comrades.
"JD's right. Josiah won't let anything happen to Maude." Chris said it like he knew it for a certainty.
"Sides, Ainsley can't afford to let anything happen to Maude now everyone knows he took her. It's gonna take him a while to decide what to do with her to save himself." Vin made as much sense as Chris had.
"Hell, Ezra. Maude's probably cleaned Ainsley and his men out and they'll let her go just to get back what's theirs." Buck made better sense than any of them. Ezra could see his mother turning the tables on Ainsley. He smiled finally in acknowledgment of that fact.
"An' I'm goin' out with some of the troopers now. Josiah will want to get Maude back here soon as possible so you don't worry." Nathan waited until he had everyone's attention. "Figured I'd get me some rest and ride out to them." What he really wanted to say was he had to leave before he shot all of them. He couldn't remember a less cooperative group than these five.
Vin got up at that. "I'll ride with ya. With Winston still out there you'll need someone who can read sign and shoot."
Buck turned a skeptical eye on Vin. "You're stayin' here. I told you I wasn't gonna carry your sorry hide when you fell off your horse tryin' to ride with three broke ribs. Nathan, let's ride." Getting up, he looked to see Nathan gone and the big Irish fellow standing between him and the door. Buck looked back at his other friends. "We can take him." Two more pillows hit him in the face.
Nathan never made it out of Four Corners. Mrs. Bridger's eldest daughter Ruth went into labor before Nathan left the hotel building. Matt Roberts, her husband, met Nathan at the door. The expectant father didn't have to say a word as his incoherent babbling alerted Nathan to the situation. He joined Mrs. Bridger and sent Glory with her brother-in-law after the Army doctor. Nathan didn't want any surprises or difficulties arising with one of his favorite patients. So while his five friends fidgeted, played cards, argued, and tried to con, cajole, and even intimidate Trooper O'Dey into setting them free, Nathan spent the next twelve hours delivering a healthy baby boy who was named Matthew Jackson Roberts.
Dragging into the hotel several hours after the soldiers were leaving Ainsley's hideaway, Nathan was in no mood to hear anyone's demand for freedom. Empty plates of food were all stacked on treys in the middle on one of the tables. Off to the side was an untouched plate piled high with several roast beef sandwiches.
Between bites, Nathan got Buck first. "Shut up, Buck. I let you out an' Vin will be on me like white on rice. Now, sit down an' let me have some peace an' quiet." Buck looked over at Chris who just shrugged his one good shoulder. Vin and Ezra were smirking, and JD was trying to hop from the adjoining room into the bigger one.
"What did Ruthie have? They okay? Was Casey there? How's Matt doin'?"
"Boy, yeah, just got there, and passed out an' hit his head. He'll have a headache but he'll live."
The others watched fascinated as the usually affable healer ate a quick and silent meal. Then he began checking on the last of his patients with the examination of Chris and JD first. Satisfied they were fine with no infection brewing, Nathan checked Buck next. Then, he reversed his earlier statement and told him he could have his pants and his freedom in the morning as long as he didn't ride for the next week.
When Buck frowned Nathan paused for a few seconds and then deadpanned, "A horse, Buck, you can't ride a horse for a week." As the others burst out laughing Nathan moved on to Ezra totally ignoring Vin who now wanted to know when he could leave. "I want you to drink this laudanum and sleep some tonight Ezra. You lost a lot of blood an' need to get your strength back. Aint' gonna be no good to Maude if you can't even shuffle a deck." Ezra gave him a slightly worried smile and drank the laudanum without comment. Nathan left it at that. Buck had already told him the worrying was getting to the gambler despite everything they had done to distract him, but they all knew that sitting and doing nothing was eating at all of them. Nathan finally approached Vin who was so stir crazy at being confined that he had that stubborn set to his mouth that promised to give Nathan nightmares with what he would be planning if not released.
Nathan checked the bruises and his head. Then he checked the bandages around Vin's ribs. Finally, he looked at Vin and made a decision. "You can leave now an' go to your own room if you give me your word you'll do what I say. You can't go to the saloon or the livery. With them busted ribs, you even look cross-eyed at a horse, an' I'll lock you in the jail an' throw the key away." He waited while Vin tried to find a loophole before giving his word. Nathan lowered his voice so only Vin could hear. "Course you could stay here an' help out keepin' Ezra from doin' somethin' stupid." Nathan looked Vin in the eye giving him a good dose of guilt.
"Well, hell, Nathan! If I gotta go to my room an' stay there why bother leavin' here at all? Might as well stay an' see who shoots Buck first, Chris or JD." He winked at Nathan letting him know that the Nathan had won this round, and that paybacks would be hell.
A sleepy but still awake Ezra even grinned at Vin's statement. "I'll wager," his statement was interrupted by a yawn, "that JD shoots him first especially if Buck asks Mr. Dunne the date when his nuptials to Miss Wells will occur one more time when the young lady is within hearing."
Nathan took a quick look at the men in the room with a raised eyebrow. "I missed somethin', didn't I?"
Chris, bored and needing a distraction, leaned over and told Nathan how Casey had been coming through the door helping Miz Nettie bring them lunch when Buck asked the first time. Casey turned bright red and gave JD a dirty look before she slammed the tray of food down and stormed out. They had been trying to give JD advice on how to get back into Casey's good graces, but JD had told them that he didn't need their help. That started the discussion all over again. Even Ezra, who was by now fighting the laudanum that threatened to put him into a deep and prolonged slumber, had to get his opinion added to the general atmosphere before he succumbed to the drug and started snoring softly. The others quieted down and let the gambler sleep. Their conversation continued as they quietly took it into the neighboring room. JD took his bed with Vin sitting in a chair with his feet propped up on it. Chris did the same with another chair and Buck's bed. Buck shooed Nathan into the chair that Nathan had carried in from the other room. The tall man lowered himself gingerly onto the floor in front of the fire.
"I ain't lyin' down in bed or sittin' on it. Bed's only good for one other thing sides sleepin'. Why I remember a time. . . ."
Before he could expound on that statement he was once again pelted with pillows and a chorus of, "Shut up, Buck!"
The talking and bantering went on until Nathan nodded off from sheer exhaustion. He was slumped in the big chair with his feet extended the full length of his legs in front of him. His head was back and he was snoring softly.
"Wouldn't be fair to sneak out on 'im when he's too tired to put up a fight." Vin looked for someone to contradict him.
"Sure could use a shot a whiskey." Chris looked like a man in need of a medicinal shot of whiskey.
"I hear it can keep infections from starting." JD sounded sincere.
"It's good for dullin' the pain, too." Buck was climbing to his feet. "Saloon?"
Three voices echoed, "Saloon." They all started towards the door heedless of their lack of clothing or boots or weapons. Buck turned the doorknob quietly and smiled at his coconspirators when the door opened without a sound. They returned his smile. Then they all stopped, JD nearly falling over when Buck stopped dead in front of him and Vin walked into his crutch. Chris groaned when Vin bumped his shoulder trying to back out of the way of JD's crutch that was now waving in the doorway barely missing Buck.
"Goin' somewhere, boys?" Miz Nettie stood there with her arms crossed and she was frowning worse than Nathan.
"Heard a noise in the hall." Vin snorted at Buck's lame excuse until Miz Nettie turned her disapproving gaze on him. Without a word, he turned around and walked into the other room. He sat on his bed with his arms folded over his broken ribs. Only Ezra sleeping in this room and Nathan sleeping in the other kept him from muttering out loud what he was thinking. He caught Chris's eye as Chris followed him without comment. The lanky gunman nodded his head in agreement with Vin. Then he sat on his bed and wrapped his good arm around the sling holding up his injured shoulder. He frowned. He really wanted a shot of whiskey. He was getting as tired of Nathan's ditch water as Vin was.
They heard Buck and JD head for their beds and Miz Nettie waking Nathan. She got no argument when she ordered the healer to take the room across the hall and get a good night's sleep. Standing in the opening of the door to the adjoining rooms, she spoke to her adopted sons.
"I'm not gonna have to sit out in the hallway all night guardin' you boys, am I?" She sounded very much like a mother grounding her brood.
"I need a shot a whiskey to dull the pain, Miz Nettie." Vin was grinning at her looking very much like a boy who knew just how to sweet talk his ma into anything. Chris nodded and smiled at her, too. She turned to see Buck and JD with the hopeful looks on their faces. She rolled her eyes, snorted, and pulled a half-empty bottle of Kentucky bourbon from her coat pocket.
"Well, I don't see how a spot of this fine bourbon would do any harm. One drink and I got your word you'll all stay put for tonight?" She smiled in pleasure as she got their solemn word they would stay right there. That Nathan was a sly one. She wondered as she poured a generous amount for each man who would realize Nathan had told her they would do this and planned accordingly. They wouldn't hear it from her. She was rewarded with a wink from Chris Larabee as she slipped him another shot before she left. She really was proud of her boys. All of them were just devious enough to make life interesting. She smoothed the covers over the sleeping gambler before she left.
Nettie might not have had much to do with Maude or approve of the way she had raised Ezra, but she did grudgingly admit that Ezra had learned his Robin Hood tendencies from someone. Since he rarely mentioned his pa, Nettie assumed that Maude had inadvertently impressed on her son that only those deserving to be conned should be conned. If that wasn't stealing from the rich to give to the poor, Nettie didn't know what a real Robin Hood was. She decided to make it a point to get to know Maude Standish a lot better than she did. Nettie refused to believe any thing other than she would get a chance to know Maude better.
The knife sliced at his throat as he struggled with Horace Winston with his one good arm. He knew he didn't have the strength for a prolonged struggle. Then he saw the destruction that had left him all alone. His mother was staring at him, her unseeing eyes still wide with fright staring from a head lying to one side at an impossible angle. Her dress was blood red. Vin lay half on the bed, one arm hanging off the side blood dripping down from the wound in his throat. Chris was lying in a heap by the bed having fought Horace with his last breath to no avail. Blood pooled out from his limp body. JD was lying in the doorway, his hand out stretched as if trying to grasp a lifeline or give a warning. His blood began to mingle with Chris's. Ezra wondered where Buck was as Horace finally got his knife embedded into the soft tissue at Ezra's throat. Someone was screaming in pain. He tried to open his eyes and focus so he could see who it was, but all he could see was a blood red haze.
Then, the gambler's eyes popped open. He was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat. It was a dream, just a dream. He looked around the room and heard the low moan coming from the other side of the room near the door. He could see Vin's profile as he began thrashing about in the bed. Ezra struggled to his feet. He managed to get to Vin's bed with minor difficulty, but the tracker hadn't broken through the dream yet. He put his hand on Vin's shoulder as the man gasped and flung his arm up to ward off an imaginary blow.
Something was wrong. Vin could feel it. Someone was in the room with him, walking as quietly as only Vin could. Opening his eyes he saw the blade flash in the moonlight. Throwing up his arm, he felt the blade slice right through it and into his throat. He heard the laughter as blood gurgled up choking him as he fought to breathe. Someone was trying to call his name. He looked over and Chris was clutching his exposed throat as Horace Winston moved over to Ezra's bed. He never saw the knife slice the gambler's neck open, just like Horace had slit his.
"Vin, Vin, wake up." He sat straight up, the pain in his ribs making him gasp at the sudden movement. He looked up disoriented in the moonlight to see a man standing right beside his bed. Well, wobbling was more like it since the man was Ezra and he was trying to keep from falling over. Running a hand through his hair to push the damp strands from his sweat covered face Vin looked up at his friend. Ezra looked like hell. Vin decided to keep that information to himself. No need to give Ezra grief when he was so worried about Maude. Besides, Vin was still breathing too heavily to get any words out.
"You were thrashing about so much I feared you were in dire distress."
Vin looked over at Chris for a moment to make certain his dream wasn't real. The gunman was lying flat on his back, but his arm was thrown across his face just like Vin's had been in his dream. He was moving restlessly. Then, just as suddenly, he was sitting straight up in bed looking around the room as if searching for something or someone. He eyes found Vin and Ezra as Vin stood up to help Ezra stay on his feet. Silence reined supreme as the three men looked back and forth at one another and around the room until Vin broke the eerie silence.
"Looks like I ain't the only one been havin' bad dreams." His lopsided smile did little to alleviate the tension in the room. He carefully lit one of the lamps. It would be dawn soon, and all three men were wide awake. Vin snorted in derision at himself.
Ezra, having used up most of his energy crossing the room to wake Vin from his nightmare, sat down on the chair Vin pushed over to him with his foot. "Just what do you find so amusing at this ungodly hour?"
"Us. Hell, seven of us've faced a damn regiment without so much as a blink, but one man has us wakin' up in the dark like scared kids."
"Winston's not like anything I've ever seen before, an' I've seen things during the war that would scare the hell out of you." Chris looked over at both men who nodded their understanding.
"What that man does with a knife to his fellow man." Ezra shook his head in disgust. "He mutilated that man, and he's out there somewhere close to my mother. I can feel it."
"Me, too," said Vin as he looked up at Chris who finally acknowledged his apprehension by nodding at Vin.
"I've had that feelin' that Winston's been close ever since he escaped." Larabee stood and walked across the room to the adjoining door. He quietly opened it and peered in only to see a light in there, too. "Looks like we ain't the only ones runnin' spooked."
Vin sauntered over and saw JD looking out the window and Buck sitting beside the lamp with a book opened. Chris shook his head when Buck looked up sheepishly and motioned them in the room. Vin could see the book was upside down. He grinned at Chris and then looked back at Ezra. "Can you shuffle a deck?"
"Mr. Tanner, I could shuffle a deck of cards with both hands tied behind my back whilst standing on my head."
"Yeah, but can you limp in here?" Chris grinned at Ezra's response to Vin's question. Securing his own arm in a sling, he moved to over to help Vin help Ezra make it into the other room. Buck had cleared off the table by the time they got there and had set out a new deck of cards.
"JD, you wanta play?"
"Nah, I'll just stay here for now." Practically sitting in the open window with his leg propped up on a chair, JD seemed disinclined to move. He kept watching the road as the others played poker. An hour later saw Nathan sitting at the table cards in hand. The silence was replaced now and then with a word or a comment, but mostly the men concentrated on the cards and the game. All thoughts led back to Winston and Maude. Even Nathan had decided that if Buck and Vin wanted to try and ride out, he would go with them. Josiah should have sent word by now. The silence was interrupted by JD. He sat forward with a shout and was gripping the windowsill as he precariously leaned out of it to get a better look.
"I think they're back!"
Nathan tossed Vin his spyglass that he had brought up with some of Vin's and Buck's clothing. The tracker caught it and proceeded to hang out of the window next to JD as far as his ribs would allow him.
"Yep, it's the Army all right. And Josiah's right up front." He turned around grinning ear to ear. "Hey, Ezra! Maude's ridin' double with Josiah."
Ezra relaxed visibly and returned his friend's mischievous smile. "As long as my dear mother is in good health, she could be riding naked down Bourbon Street in Nawluns. Of course I shall deny that statement if any of you mention it to her."
"Hell Ezra, a man can't go round talkin' to his friend's mother 'bout her ridin' nekkid. It just ain't decent." Buck was a scoundrel, but he was a decent scoundrel. The others were laughing in relief. The seven were still complete and Maude was safe. Now they waited impatiently for news of Horace Winston. JD asked what they all were thinking.
"You see Ainsley or Winston, Vin?" The tracker took another look through his glass in the early morning light. He spotted Maude and Josiah easily enough, but then all he saw was a sea of Army blue. That's when the hair on the back of his neck began to stand on end. He remembered his nightmare and an involuntary shudder went up his back. He looked at Chris before he answered JD. He knew Chris felt the same as he did.
"There's no sign of Ainsley or Winston. Maybe they never caught up with either one?"
"And maybe both are still on the loose." Chris had a bad feeling about all of this.
Maude was still tired as she entered the hotel leaning heavily on Josiah's arm. She hadn't slept much at all since she had heard the Army tracker say he thought Horace Winston was dead. Maude knew he was alive and waiting for his chance to kill her for she could feel his presence. Horace Winston was alive out there waiting for his moment to strike because that was the last thing she had seen in his eyes. His eyes had cleared right before he had crumbled on the ground. They promised retribution and death. No, Maude knew he was not dead, but Josiah had said her son still lived. Ezra, Maude had never been so excited at the thought of seeing her son since his birth. He was the only person Maude truly cared about next to herself. Her son was alive. Clay Ainsley had not succeeded in taking him from her. With renewed energy she walked up the stairs of the hotel, her back straight, her steps determined.
Worry and exhaustion would not keep her from seeing her son. She saw her reflection in the hotel lobby mirror and gasped. Ezra would never let her live down her disheveled appearance. She took the hairpins from it shaking out the still glorious locks around her face. The men stopped to admire her beauty. She smiled as she twisted her hair up and pinned it in place. Then she pinched her cheeks. Josiah even smiled at her insistence that her grooming be impeccable at all times. Like mother like son.
If she had but known her son was under similar distress she would have scolded him for being too sentimental. After all neither Winston nor Ainsley had succeeded in killing either one of them, so Ezra had no reason to fret. One had to remember appearances. Any display of sincere affection between mother and son could be used to someone else's advantage. No, it was better no one knew how much mother and son cared for one another. It really was safer that way.
Ezra flatly refused to meet his mother dressed in his underwear. A gentleman was always properly attired no matter what the circumstances were. He raised an eyebrow at the offer of a loan of Vin's or Buck's shirts and pants that Nathan had brought with him.
"My thanks, but I cannot greet my mother dressed as one of you gentlemen. God only knows the horrors she has been through, and I absolutely refuse to cause her further distress by adding to her burden by assuming I have gone native, if you understand me?"
"I think he just insulted us, Vin."
"Don't think, I know he did." Vin and Buck started laughing at their friend. It was one thing to play cards in one's underwear when the other participants were all incarcerated in equal states of undress, but it was quite another to greet one's mother in one's underwear while one's friends were in the adjoining room in similar fashion. Both men knew how Ezra was and they knew Maude. "I could distract her with my shabbiness 'til someone gets ya some clothes fit for Maude to see."
"I am humbled you would sacrifice yourself for me in such a fashion, Mr. Tanner. Why, it brings moisture to my eyes." Ezra was grinning now. It was strange how excited he was to see his mother. It was almost as if he were a child again waiting for her to appear from one of her long absences. No one had noticed that Nathan had disappeared from the room until the door opened and he reappeared with a large stack of clothing.
"Here, y'all might as well get dressed. No way I'm gonna keep all y'all down now, and I ain't even gonna try. Set one foot near a horse or the saloon, though, an' I ain't gonna be responsible for any more aches an' pains. Y'all understand?"
They were too busy separating their clothes to answer, but silence from Nathan's direction got their attention.
"I'll shoot the first one that gets hurt again, I swear, Nathan." Chris needed help getting his shirt on. So did Vin and Ezra. Nathan looked at the three of them struggling to get wounded shoulders and broken ribs to cooperate and threw up his hands.
"Buck, you help Ezra. Chris, stop that right now. Let JD help you. Boy's already dressed." Nathan grabbed the shirt Vin was trying to get into without raising his arms too high. He held it out for the tracker to slip both arms into the sleeves. "How y'all got along without me, I'll never know. Here, you can do your own buttons. I'll check on Maude while y'all get Ezra ready." He was still mumbling as he left the room. Vin happened to look over at Ezra who was being helped by JD and Buck now with Chris giving instructions.
"Hey, Ezra. Want me to warn Maude that Buck and JD helped dress ya?"
"It might explain my current appearance. I do not understand why Mr. Jackson failed to give me my coat. A gentleman, . . ." he never finished as the door was thrown open.
Maude swept into the room and walked right up to her son. "Why aren't you in bed?"
Ezra was taken aback at his mother's first question. Surely she didn't think he would greet her from a bed just because he was clumsy enough to get shot twice? He saw the room begin to clear automatically as his friends deserted him. Speechless for once in his life he watched as the rats deserted the sinking ship leaving him alone with his mother. He started to say something when Nathan shut the door on them. Then he did something he hadn't done since he was a child. Despite the pain in his shoulder, he threw his arms around Maude and hugged her to him. This time she didn't bother mentioning he was wrinkling her dress or mussing her hair or he was behaving most inappropriately. This time she hugged him fiercely to her. This time she actually checked him out to make certain he was all in one piece. This time he actually realized that Maude had been worried sick about him. Then it hit them how utterly emotional they were being. They dropped their arms from round one another immediately and took a step back. Ezra bumped into his bed, and Maude somehow managed to push him onto it.
"Mr. Jackson says you should have stayed in bed for several more days. Why aren't you following doctor's orders?" Her voice shook ever so slightly. Ezra looked closely at her. Maude had been through an emotional wringer and he decided that he needed to know what had happened to her. If Ainsley had put one hand on her, he would kill the man.
"I shall be happy to follow doctor's orders when I am satisfied with your well being."
Maude actually sat on the bed next to him. The cover was suddenly of great interest to her. Ezra saw her struggle by taking a deep breath. He put his hand under her chin and raised it until he could see her eyes. They were clouded with things he did not know if she could articulate.
"Mother, tell me what happened to Ainsley."
Her hands twisted together and Ezra put his hand over hers. She grabbed it and held on to it tightly. "I, he, oh God, it was horrible! He killed him; he killed all of them!"
Ezra knew from the expression on her face and the way she said it that she was not referring to Ainsley. Horace Winston had found them. "Do you mean Winston was there?"
"He was with us all along Ezra. Do you remember that one who was riding next to Ainsley?"
"The one who kept staring at you?"
"Horace Winston. It was he, Ezra, he came with us. He thought I was,. . ." Maude stopped and gulped back a sob. "He thought I was his mother! Oh God the things he said she did to him when he was a boy!" Maude put her hand over her mouth as if to keep herself from being sick. She was actually perspiring, something Ezra had never witnessed.
"You don't have to tell me about it." He said gently as he took her into his arms. Maude had never seemed so vulnerable or fragile as she did now. It was a side of her Ezra didn't think he ever wanted to see again. His mother was always on top of things. Nothing had ever seemed to defeat her, but this had come incredibly close to doing just that. Maude was human after all. Had he found this out under different circumstances, Ezra would have gloated, but Winston made even men like Chris Larabee and Vin Tanner have nightmares, and his mother had escaped from him in good health. It was her emotional well being that concerned Ezra now.
Maude looked at her son and drew strength from him. Somehow she felt safe with her son and his unusual friends. She recognized the bonding that held them together and for the first time truly understood how fortunate her son was to have found such friends. Damn Winston; he was turning her into one of those emotional women! Maude straightened her shoulders, and Ezra marveled at his mother's remarkable self-control that transformed her from the fragile woman into Maude Standish. He welcomed the change for it allowed him to listen to her objectively and understand everything she told him. Her strength added to his as his added to hers. They were unaware of the emotion that held them bound to one another as only a mother and son could. Ezra listened as Maude told him everything. He asked questions and got answers in a rational voice. He didn't even notice the time pass when he heard a knock on the door.
Maude was finished telling him everything except that she thought Winston was still alive and close, waiting for his chance. Maybe she was just too tired or emotional to realize he was dead, but her gut instinct told her she was right.
Vin Tanner opened the door and looked discreetly around it as if he was checking to see if it was all right to enter. The boy did have manners after all. Maude actually smiled at him. Vin returned it with a smile of his own. Ezra saw the respect behind the smile. Maude had impressed the tracker with her ingenuity and survival skills.
"Ma'am, we got you a room with a hot bath. Your trunks arrived from Brecken, so's if you'd like to go and freshen up?" He waited until Maude looked at her son and back at him. Then he added, "Only the door leads into it. Me an' Buck'll be right outside while you rest, an' Miz Nettie says she'll stay inside your room with her Spencer carbine." It was then that both Maude and Ezra noticed the gun slid into the belt at Vin's waist. He might not be able to handle his mare's leg right now with broken ribs, but the man was just as deadly with a six gun. That's when it hit Ezra.
"You think he is still alive, then?" Vin nodded at Ezra and Maude who had visibly relaxed.
"Josiah says Maude senses he's close, an' he agrees. Me an' Chris feel just like y'all do. Somethin's not right. Got to be Winston."
"I didn't think anyone would believe me." Maude said it quietly and with just a little wonder in her voice. She actually laughed when she heard Vin Tanner's next statement. Well, it was more like a growl.
"Ma'am, you say you got a feelin' he's alive an' close, I believe ya. Be dead if I didn't listen to my gut when it tells me somethin's wrong, an' it's screamin' right now." Maude and Ezra both nodded in understanding.
"You will not be guarding me by yourself?"
"No ma'am. JD's gonna sit outside the door with me an' Buck. Josiah's gonna come in here an' sleep. We intend to keep as many awake an' watchin' our backs as we can. Army'll be here for a few more days, so we rest while we can. We ain't leaving you alone until we get Winston."
Satisfied that she was safe for the moment, Maude rose from beside her son. She patted him on the cheek. "I suggest you get the rest Mr. Jackson deems is so important for your recovery while I go enjoy a nice, hot bath. I feel quite safe with your friends." Ezra smiled at her retreating form. He gave a two-fingered salute to what would have been the brim of his hat to Vin.
That fragile creature of a moment ago that he found a complete stranger was gone. His mother was back and he found he was infinitely grateful for that. No one else could have lived through what she had and come out of it whole. Maude was truly a wonder. He lay back in bed thinking of the look on Vin's face. He had seemed so pleased that Maude had returned unscathed, and Ezra remembered that this was a man who still held his own mother as an ideal. It was then that Ezra realized how much Lady Luck had been smiling upon him when he made his way to this backwater town. There was no way in hell that Horace Winston would lay one hand on his mother while one of the seven lived. It was with that thought that Ezra relaxed into an untroubled sleep for the first time in days. He had no doubt that the seven could handle Winston when Ainsley's men and the Army had been unsuccessful, but he had no idea that Horace was a little too close for comfort. For just at this moment, a very feverish man was barely sitting astride a horse on the hill looking down at the town below.
Horace Winston had been able to come across a couple in a wagon going west just outside the canyon that held Ainsley's grave. Telling them his lies, he had been given food and had his wounds cleaned and bandaged. The woman's close resemblance to his beloved Rose had made him spare the couple. Instead, he had given them the remaining five hundred dollars he had stolen from the trader and one of his victims for clothes, a horse, a gun and other supplies. The knife he stole while the couple wasn't looking. It was a new butcher knife with which the young woman had cut the bacon. When the young man had protested the money was too much, Horace had simply smiled and dropped it on the ground at his feet. "Keep it. I won't need it." With a maniacal laugh Horace turned and road off for Four Corners only hours behind the slow moving troopers. The young couple finally sensed the evil that had visited them in the night. Frightened, they struck camp and headed back to Brecken to alert the sheriff.
Now Horace was within reach of Maude and the men who had bedeviled him and ruined his life. He would rest and regain his strength. Then, when the Army had left, and they began to think it was safe, then Horace would attack. He found a cave close by and began sorting through his supplies. With bread and cheese there was no need for a fire. He settled back to wait for his moment of triumph.
Continued in Part Five
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