Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" T.V. series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
There was a sense of quiet among all the children when it was all said and done.
They had found the prize and yet it was nothing like they had imagined though not any less valuable. Mike found himself looking at Elena Rose and remembered the beautiful woman she would some day be and the child she would give him. While he had always known she was going to be his wife, seeing it as he had was an entirely different thing altogether and suddenly, he had something to work for because until the day he died, he would give her the world. And Elena Rose looked at Mike with the same confirmation of feeling she had felt when they had first entered this labrynthian quest, that she was and always would be his and that he would indeed give her the world or at the very least, show her much of it.
Sam could only look at Peter in wonder when she was filled with the knowledge of what he would create in the future. Until it became a reality, the vision she had seen would follow her always. Even though the idea of what she would accomplish was so inconceivable at this time that it literally took the breath away, she knew that some day the sky would be her playground because Peter would make it possible for her. She still remembered the feeling of moving through the blue expanse like an untethered denizen of the sky, wind blowing through her hair and the heady knowledge that in the future she would be the sky's most ardent traveler. With an insight almost as powerful as the one that had allowed her to see that future, she also knew that Peter would always be there to catch her should she fall, even though he was the one who had raised her to such lofty heights.
Peter did think of Sam but only so far as to the fact that she would some day give him the son he had seen on that photograph who bore his father's face. In truth, Peter thought mostly of the future he had seen, of the machines that he would some day create that would change everything that they knew. He thought about rockets and chemical propellants, of speeds so incredible that it was like a lightning bolt streaking across the sky. He also thought of the moon. Of how it had always been an unobtainable dream and that he might have a small part to do with making its conquest the greatest achievement man would ever accomplish.
Unlike the others, Kyle's vision had not given him the enthusiasm that it had given the others. He did not know why he had been singled to be permitted such a grim preview of what was to come but even at his age, he knew that he would never be the same after what he had seen. A little part of his childhood had slipped away then; disappearing in that mud splattered field, seeping into the broken bones of the dead bodies that had laid bleaching in the sun, like uncovered graves waiting proper burial. The image had been seared in his mind and he knew that he would wait the rest of his life for that event to come upon him, to finally have the question answered upon whether he would walk away from that battle alive. However, it did end though, Kyle resolved to do one thing when he emerged from this place and that was to tell Billy how much he loved him and that he was glad to have him as a brother.
Penny kept glancing anxiously at the young boy behind the steel framed glasses trying to equate him with the image of the young man in his tuxedo who joined the stage with her. He had been so dashing and so unlike the Adam she knew that she wondered if perhaps it was the vision playing tricks with her mind. Yet as she continued to walk, leaving the Twin Lakes behind them, she found herself repeating to herself the words Penelope Dunne, as if trying the name on for size. To her mortification, she found out that it seemed quite natural. One thing for sure, she decided as she shook the thought out of her head, she would have liked that part of her future to be a surprise.
Adam was also deep in thought but mostly because he was trying to remember how the seven had actually met. His father did not like to talk about his initial arrival in Four Corners except to say that if not for Uncle Buck, he probably would have lasted his first day in town. Of course his mother was not so silent, she spoke of the wild adventures that included the town once being under siege, when the blight called the Ku Klux Klan had once appeared in town. His father and the men known as the Magnificent Seven had put an end to those dangers and the stories which he had half listened to most of his life, suddenly became the most important thing in the world to Adam Dunne. Important because he was going to start writing them down as soon as he got out of here.
When the future he had seen became a reality, Adam wanted to make sure he got it right.
Tommy told himself that if he ever got out of here alive and providing that his father did not kill him even if he did and ever permitted him to work in the lab again, he would listen to every word that Nathan Jackson had to impart. After seeing all those students in that classroom, staring at him with awe because of everything he had done in his life, Tommy knew that he was going to make that future a reality. He wanted that future and he was going to let nothing stand in the way of achieving it. They had looked at him with the same adoration that he gazed at his father whenever Nathan set to work in his lab, unaware of how much influence his life had upon his son. Tommy had always known that his father could do anything, and might have been anything he chose if the times were different. For himself and his father, Tommy who was unhampered by such limitations would change all that.
As he spied all the friends around him, Jimmy Wilmington decided that he liked the idea that years from now, they would still be together. Even though his vision had allowed him to see that they would all go their separate ways, his own future would give them a place they could always come back too so that they could remember what it was like to be friends who had grown up together. He also liked the idea that some day, he would be in charge of the Lucky 7 ranch. Jimmy liked nothing more than to see his father with Uncle Chris and Uncle Vin doing what they did at the ranch and knew that he would love it as much as they did when it was time for the torch to be passed. The ranch had been a place for the Magnificent Seven and some day, it would be a place for their children as well.
How did she go from Princess to doctor? Annette Dunne was pondering this question as deeply as the strange words that Kyle had said to her and immediately decided that she needed the counsel of someone more knowledgeable than her to answer it. Elena Rose who had been taking care of her most of the journey was walking next to her, holding her hand as they traveled through the dark cavern in which the Twin Lakes run parallel along side of them. Tugging at her hand, she immediately caused Elena Rose to look down at her.
"Ellie." Annette asked as they journey along.
"Yeah sweetie?" Elena Rose looked down at the younger girl with a smile. Annette was such a sweet child that she found herself wondering why her mother and father could not produce a sister instead of a brother. Girls were so much easier to handle and they smelled better too.
"When I drank the water, I saw things." She remarked, her face tightening into a frown of puzzlement.
"We all did." Elena Rose nodded in understanding.
"I saw Kyle but he wasn't like he was now. He was big, like his daddy." Annette pointed out.
"He was all grown up." Elena Rose nodded, wondering what Annette's future with Kyle would involve.
"I don't understand what he saying." Annette remarked with clear indication that the problem was troubling her.
"What did he say?" Mike who was next to Elena Rose asked.
"He said that I was trying to turn him on."
Elena Rose's eyes widened and Mike had to choke back a laugh. The devilish snigger that came out of his mouth only served to make Elena Rose jab him in the ribs to behave as she threw him a look of annoyance.
"What does he mean?" Annette asked with no idea how volatile that question was.
"You're on your own." Mike retorted chuckling as he faced front again and Elena Rose gave him a look that she would get him for this later.
"I think," Elena Rose cleared her throat, trying to phrase this carefully. "That he likes you a lot, like a mommy and daddy kind of like." She had no intention of telling Annette about the birds and the bees, not when the girl was five years old. Hell, she was not entirely sure of what it was either but she could not be around Buck Wilmington without having some idea.
"Eww!" Annette wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Elena Rose rolled her eyes and hoped that would satisfy Annette's curiosity when Mike leaned over and whispered in her ear. "He'll grow on her."
Anything Elena Rose was about to say in response was cut short when Peter who was walking ahead of them, called out. After claiming their 'treasure' at the twin lakes, the children had continued walking along the narrow space of land that ran between the water. Since there was no way for them to retrace their steps because of the chasm that waited behind them, Mike realized they had no choice but to go forward. He refused to believe that those who had found this place and made a map of it would not have a way to leave. The map said nothing about how to get out and its guidance seemed to have ended with the discovery of the treasure, thus Mike tended to think that the way out must not require much difficulty to find.
Mike hurried forward and soon found that the lakes converged into a large pool of water in a vast cavern. What had made Peter so excited was the discovery of a water wheel that was being powered by a cascade against the wall. Unlike the one they had seen in the underground lake prior to their arrival at the gateway, this one was not man made. The surge of water that gushed from it indicated that it had more than enough power to set the wheel in motion, which was at this moment being held in place by a lever. The water wheel appeared to be only one part of a mechanism that was attached to a set or ropes that ran up the height of the cavern, disappearing into a narrow aperture in the rock that was just wide enough to carry a man. It was a system of pulleys and ropes and although they could not be guaranteed as being any safer than the rope bridge they had encountered a short time ago, it was nonetheless a way out.
"That's it." Mike exclaimed. "That's our way out."
"Are you sure?" Peter looked at the thing dubiously, even though he was not very sure about it. "Those ropes across the bridge weren't very safe and this might not be either."
"Yeah I know," Mike studied the mechanism carefully. "It looks like those levers control which way the rope goes."
"I noticed those." Peter replied as he heard the other approaching behind them. "I also notice that one person has to work them while the others go up unless...." His mind drifted off and he found himself gazing back at the cavern from which they had just emerged.
"What is it?" Mike said starting to have all kinds of faith in Peter's ability to find them out a way out of a difficult situation.
"Rope." Peter met his gaze. "We need rope."
It took no more than an instant for Mike to catch on to Peter's plans. "I'll backtrack and get some," Mike said retreating towards the narrow passageway. "You get the others up and going."
"Mike!" Elena Rose exclaimed, "we're not just going to leave you here. We got together."
"Elena, don't be such a girl!" Mike said barely listening. "Get going!"
"Such a girl!" She cried out hands on her hips in outrage. "Ooh!" She fumed in exasperation, honestly wondering why she bothered some times. "Why do I even care?"
"Give it up," Sam said prompting her to keep going, knowing that Mike's determination for them to go on ahead was mostly from his fierce desire to see them safe, now that they were so close to a possible escape. "He's a lost cause anyway."
She continued to watch him disappeared up the walkway between the twin lakes and decided that Sam was right and Mike would not let them wait, even for him now that it looked like they had discovered a way out of this underground world. Not that it had been fascinating but after what they had seen, Elena Rose was certain she spoke for everyone when she said she wanted to go home.
However, she also wanted all of them to get there as well.
It did not take Mike long to retrace his steps back to the ledge where they had almost lost Sam to find the tattered remains of the bridge that had borne most of them across in safety before it had chosen to inconveniently to give out. He supposed he could not blame the structure for its bad timing for who knows how long it had hung suspended in place during the years. Reaching the space that would have been the stepping off point for the bridge had it still been intact, Mike immediately began working on the ropes that had saved Sam's life and unraveled the knots that held it in place. Quickly, he began pulling the length of hessian from the darkness below, estimating that it would be just the right height to be of use to him.
Once he had gathered it all in a bundle, he hurried back the way he came, hoping that Peter had begun the process of sending the others up the lift Ð water wheel mechanism. The idea that the end might be in sight for this long journey filled him with relief but not as much as the fact that they would reach it alive and unharmed. Although secretly, he was thrilled by the dangers they had faced, he told himself resolutely that the next time he embarked on such an escapade, he would be doing it alone. He was never endangering the lives of any of his friends ever again.
It did not take him long to return to the others and as he re-entered the final cavern in this leg of the journey, he saw Sam helping Penny into the small wooden step as her hands wrapped around the handle that was a little further along the rope. Although the little ones would have to be content with just hanging onto its length since the handle was too far apart from the step to reach, Mike did not foresee a problem. Peter stood at the device, awaiting Penny to get ready for the journey up before he pulled the appropriate levers. Elena Rose, Tommy, Kyle, Jimmy, Adam and Annette had already gone and all that remained were himself, Sam and Peter.
"How did it go?" He asked as he dropped off the edge of the walkway into the water and started splashing towards his friends.
"It looks like a wild ride!" Sam grinned and Mike rolled his eyes, wondering how the girl could be so devil may care about anything after her near fatal brush with death.
"You're crazy!" Penny retorted just as Peter activated the lever that started pulling the ropes up. "Oh gosh!!!!!!" She cried out as she was spirited far above their heads in a matter of seconds, disappearing into the ceiling and out of sight.
"We sent Elena Rose first," Sam informed dutifully as he approached her. "The rope seems to be pretty strong, Adam was able to take Annette up with no trouble at all. Tommy took Jimmy."
"That was risky." Mike remarked but supposed if the rope could take Elena's weight then it ought to have no trouble with Tommy and Annette who were smaller than her. "Did Kyle go up there alone?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded with a hint of concern on her face that Mike could instinctively read just as easily as he was able to tell what Elena Rose was thinking even though his friendship with Sam was a different thing all together. "He said he could manage on his own but...."
"But you're worried about him." Mike nodded, understanding completely. Ever since Kyle had looked into his future, there was something about him that had changed. It was a look he saw in his father's eyes enough times and it disturbed Mike to see it in his eight-year-old brother. "Me too. I don't know what he saw but it scared the hell out of him. I'll have to talk to him later. Meantime, you're next." He gestured to the rope as the handle came back once again.
"Great," she beamed brightly as she waited for it to reach her. "Where do you think it goes?"
"Who knows?" Mike retorted as she put her foot on the step and secured her grip on the handle. The device was obviously made for an adult because Sam had to stretch her arms a little to utilize the foot and handholds. "As long as it gets us from out of here."
"No kidding," Sam grinned. "As it is, I'm going to have to bring out the big artillery when I get home."
"The big artillery?" Mike looked at her.
"Yeah," she smiled and then allowed her features to melt into an expression of pure regret. "Oh daddy, I didn't mean to be late. Please don't be mad at me." She finished the performance with an exaggerated sound that might have been a sob.
"Does that actually work?" He asked in disbelief.
"On my mom, that's a maybe." Sam replied. "On my father, all the time. Penny's not the only one knows about acting."
Mike shook his head in amusement and retorted. "Get up there."
"Ready?" Peter called up.
"Yeah!" Mike answered, waving at him as a signal to begin. Peter nodded and no sooner than he had pushed the appropriate lever, the ropes became slave to the power being unleashed upon it by the water wheel, rotating with the strength of a waterfall behind it. Sam was lifted upwards and he heard a cry of exuberance as he continued looking up at her, until her overalled form disappeared into crack in the ceiling.
When she had disappeared, Mike went over to Peter since they were the only two remaining. The younger boy gave Mike quick instructions on which lever to pull and did not even bother to argue the point that he was next to go. Knowing Mike, he would not let any of them stay behind especially when the last person going would have an interesting time of it.
"You got those instructions?" Peter asked as he turned to the rope when it finally returned without Sam."
"I got them," Mike nodded. "Now get on that thing." He ordered.
"Alright," Peter replied wading through the water and climbing onto the step when he reached it. After securing himself in place, he turned to Mike and called out. "See you up there."
Mike's response was to throw the lever and to watch as Peter Standish disappeared into the air. He watched the younger boy as far as he could and then felt overcome by a sense of apprehension at being alone for the first time since this all began. Strange how the sound of all their voices could leave such a void and he told himself he was being foolish since he would be with them soon enough.
When he saw the handle returning, Mike knew what he had to do. Tying the rope around his waist, Mike waited until the handle was within reach before he tied the rope around it, hoping that it was strong enough to hold him before he waded back to the lever. There was every possibility the rope could snap from the tension, which was why Mike would allow no one else to do this in his place. He reached the lever and made sure that he had a clear path to the ropes when the mechanism was activated. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for what would happen and tentatively pushed the lever forward.
Immediately, he felt the pull of the ropes dragging him forward and running at top speed was all he could do to keep up with it as the pulley system kicked into play. In a matter of seconds, he was right at the foot of the ropes and the next thing he knew, he was being lifted up in the air, all the while holding his breath as he prayed silently that the rope would hold.
Or else this was going to be one very short trip.
At about the same time that Mike was making his ascent upwards, Billy Travis and Lilith King found themselves staring across the abyss that separated one ledge from another as they stood at the edge covered in mud. Like the children before them, they had taken the tumultuous journey down through the gateway and down the slope into the pit of mud that waited at the end of it. Staring at the chasm, not to mention the damaged remnants of a bridge sent stark horror into both of them.
"God Billy," Lilith tried not to think the worst but the evidence before her was too much. "You don't think....."
"No," Billy swallowed hard and did not know what to say until he sighted something before them. "Wait a minute! Look at the other side!" He pointed.
She immediately followed his gaze but could not see what he was alluding to her with such hope in his voice. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to believe that the children were safe. "What?"
"The ropes," Billy said exuberantly. "There are ropes on the other side, on the ledge itself."
"I don't understand..." she started to say.
"Don't you see," he pointed to the remains of rope that Mike had cut away earlier in order to make his escape. "There are pieces of rope on the other side, that means someone had to put them there."
"Oh thank god!" Lilith exclaimed because even that minute fragment of hope was better than nothing.
"The question is," Billy looked across the wide gap that separate one end of the cavern from the other. "Is how do we get there?" He gave her a little look. "Got any ideas? I solved the last one." He said with a smile.
"All you did was stick your fingers in five holes," Lilith rolled her eyes. "That did not take much effort."
"Hey, you try coming up with that piece of inspiration when there's fire shooting through the room." He retorted.
"Oh stop complaining," she flashed him a bemused smile and regarded the space he wished for them to cross. "I'll get us across."
"How?" He asked, guessing by the way she had gotten them past Hank and his gang that her skills as a conjurer were far more powerful than he had ever imagined. He had no doubt that she would be able to get them across, even if he could not imagine in what form she would accomplish it.
"I've got a little trick I've been practicing but I haven't tried at the scale that it will need to be for us get over to the other side," she confessed.
"It's a long drop for a first time attempt," Billy retorted, glancing anxiously at the darkness below them. "You sure about this?"
"No but I'm gonna try anyway." She answered and stepped to the edge of the chasm, before dropping to her knees and making contact with the ground as her palm pressed into the earth. Billy stood back and allowed her to do what she had to, once again hearing her chant those odd words to the trio of Goddesses to whom her power seem to come.
Billy felt the same frosty chill in the air that often signaled that she was beginning her spell even more acutely than the words she spoke when invoking the incantation. However this time, there was something more at work. The air was cold but as he started to breathe, he could see vapor coming from his mouth as hot air turned into gaseous state. It was not until he observed Lilith did he understand why. From the place where her palm was resting on the ground, ice particles had started to expand outward, covering the ground in frost before surging ahead with more potency.
In fascination, he watched the frost become ice and it surged past the edge of the narrow ledge and kept going, flying through the air, like water being poured from a glass. He saw it stretch across the gap and then latching onto the ledge on the other side, immediately bonding to the rock with enough volume behind it to be utterly secure. The bridge that had been created was not very wide but appeared strong enough to carry them both from one end to the other. As Billy marveled in what his bride was capable, he suddenly noticed that she was breathing hard as if the feat had been exhausting.
"Lily?" He quickly rushed to her side. "Are you okay?" He demanded, suddenly fearful at the repercussions for using her abilities as much as she had today.
"Yes I'm fine," she nodded as he took her arm and helped her to her feet. "Its drains you a bit sometimes."
"Are you sure you're alright to carry on?" He asked tenderly, affection and love bleeding into his voice as he asked the question. While what she did sometimes frightened him, Billy would not have her any other way. What she did brought an element of wonder to his life and he could never find it in himself to abhor her for that.
"I'm sure," she met his gaze with a heartfelt smile, appreciating the warmth she saw there before gazing at her handiwork. "That worked better than I thought."
"If you don't mind," Billy replied looking at the bridge of ice that waited for them to cross. "I'll go first. You built the thing, the least I can do is try it out for you." He gave her a wan smile as he stepped forward and put the weight of one foot down on the smooth surface. Aside from crushing the thin layer of frost on it, there seemed to be no ill effects suffered by the construction of ice and Billy took another step forward.
"Billy be careful," Lilith could not help cry out. Her powers were great but if he were to fall, there would be no way she could save him and the idea of his death was something she could not even begin to imagine.
"Trust me," Billy answered as he continued to move father and farther along the ice, at the same time, keeping his eyes focussed on the ledge and not what was waiting for him should he fall. "As Ezra would say, I am not lost to the gravity of the situation."
When the rope finally came to a stop, the children found themselves in a cave but unlike others before it, this was not a huge cavern leading deeper and deeper into the earth nor was it new and unfamiliar cavern signaling the beginning of another trial. When they had first entered the mountain, there was little chance for exploration since the cave in question was populated by a large number of insects that had required them to move quickly through it for the sanity of the females in their party. If they had, they may have discovered an obsequious crack along the slime-covered wall that might have given them the suspicion that might lead to another chamber.
When she had first climbed off the step, Elena had taken the time to examine her surroundings and found herself in a narrow passage whose entrance was covered with thick vines, other creepers and moss. It required her to brush most of this aside to penetrate it and it did not help that it was almost pitch black. However, not even the darkness was able to keep her from realizing it when she was confronted by the escape route taken by the insects whom Tommy had frightened away with the torch in the beginning of their journey beneath the earth. Elena almost screamed her head off until she realized that following the passage they occupied would no doubt lead her out. Remembering that she had to do this sometime and because she had to find out what was out here before the others arrived, Elena Rose closed her eyes, braced herself and kept moving until she was past the swarm of bugs. She forced herself not to come undone by the sound of their scraping noises against the rock or think too much abo
ut how they would feel on her skin.
The most beautiful sight in the world greeted her when she finally survived that trial and emerged into that familiar place where this had all began, the sight of night sky twinkling beyond the uneven fissure that was the way they had come in.
They had made it!
"Elena!" She heard a voice calling behind her and knew immediately that it was Tommy. "Are you there?"
"Tommy," Elena responded. "Follow my voice. We've made it! We're back at the cave where we started!"
Elena could hear Annette's squeals of horror upon discovering that the journey out would necessitate passing those bugs again and found herself unable to sympathize entirely with the little girls' fear.
Once she heard Adam approaching, Elena stepped out of the entrance and took her first breath of fresh air in what almost felt like forever. Overhead, it was well into twilight but she had expected that and the scent in her lungs of night air, felt like nothing else in the world. She was so happy to be out in the open air that she almost did not mind what hell to pay there would be when she and Jimmy finally got home.
"Oh boy," Adam exclaimed when he poked his head out of the cave entrance. "I never thought I'd be so glad to see the sky again."
"Me too." Annette agreed with her brother with a definitive nod. "I want to go home."
"Okay," Elena replied, seeing no reason why the others could not begin the trek down the ridge. "Why don't you start down." She urged. "I'll wait for the others."
Adam was more than happy to comply although now that they were back on familiar terrain, he was suddenly struck with the idea that he would be required to do some explaining when he faced his father next. The darkness of the sky indicated that it was well and truly past suppertime and no doubt, his mother would be going out of her mind with worry.
Very soon, everyone with the exception of Mike had made their appearance and Elena Rose could not help feeling a sliver of worry at his absence. However, Peter soon put those fears to rest when he reported that Mike was coming up next.
"Look Elena," Sam said aware that Elena was torn between her affections for Mike and her responsibilities towards seeing Jimmy safely home. "I'll wait for Mike, the rest of you head on down and we'll meet you there."
Elena Rose nodded begrudgingly and decided that it was the best course of action of the moment and the small troop of adventurers descended down the ragged slope that had been the start of this journey and now would be the end of it as well. In the same manner in which they had scaled it, their descent followed the same pattern with the older children walking behind the younger ones to catch them if anyone slipped. Elena Rose kept looking over her shoulder to see if Mike had yet to emerge but with the darkness as pervading as it was, she soon lost sight of the entrance all together when they finally stepped onto even land.
"I'm glad that's over." Penny exclaimed with a sigh of relief.
"Hey it was fun!" Tommy grinned and in retrospect, it was fun. Fun, heady and dangerous, everything a real adventure ought to be.
"You say that now." She met his gaze with a little smile.
Tommy was about to respond when a new voice broke into their hearing.
"Well little lady, I'd be interested in hearing all about it." Hank Young replied as he emerged from the shadows with the rest of his men and added when the children found themselves more or less surrounded "Real interested."
Mike thought his arms might just tear off at the sockets as he made the arduous climb up the last few feet of the rope's journey. Climbing until he reached the handle, Mike was able to use its strength to drag himself over to solid ground. His arms still ached painfully afterwards and his palms stung with rope burns but he had made it and judging by the silence around him, so had the others. He looked around his new surroundings and found the same exit that Elena Rose had used to reach the outside world again. The middle Larabee child was about to make his advance through it when Sam came bursting through it.
"Mike!" She gushed.
"What's wrong?" He demanded, wondering what calamity had befallen them now.
"Men!" She exclaimed and then paused to catch her breath. "There were men down there waiting for us and they've got the others."
"Oh what next?" Mike threw his arms up in exasperation. "Ten lousy plagues?"
"We've got to do something!" Sam declared. "Those must be the men you took the map from."
"I know that," Mike groaned and knew that it was most likely Hank Young down there. "Did you see which way they went?"
"Of course I did." She looked at him somewhat offended. "My father is a tracker you know."
Mike did not even bother to comment and merely ushered her towards the passageway she had just come through. "Let's go."
They were in trouble.
They had thought they were in trouble when they were underground but cryptic clues and booby traps had nothing in comparison to the danger posed by men with nothing but greed in their eyes. As she and the others were brought back to the camp, it was obvious that the men had been waiting for them for sometimes. The little ones were very afraid and while Tommy and Peter's defiance was bursting to surface, Elena kept them in check, aware that such a response could have fatal repercussions. She was a child of the Territory long enough to recognize what could be deemed as 'bad men' and the hulk that led them could snap Peter and Tommy's young neck like kindling.
Something else was bothering her too.
She noticed the way Jesse Young kept staring at her and she did not like it. For some reason, she felt a shudder run down her spine at his deep gaze and wondered what he had in mind that made her such a point of interest. She had an idea that she should never find out.
"Where is the map?" Hank finally approached her as they were forced to the ground surrounded by his men, keeping a close eye on both them.
"The map?" Elena spoke for everyone, she did not trust the anger she saw in either Tommy or Peter. Adam was more restrained mostly because he was trying to keep Annette from crying. The little one was very afraid and Elena could understand that because her arms were wrapped firmly around Jimmy's shoulder.
"The one you little thieves stole from me!" Jesse barked angrily at her, still with that strange glimmer in his eyes.
"We don't know anything about it." She said defiantly and before she could even think about what the consequences for that action might be, she felt a sharp blow to her cheek than sent her falling backwards.
"Leave my sister alone!" Jimmy shouted just before he sank his teeth into the man's arm.
Hank howled in pain and shoved Jimmy away easily but not before milk teeth were enough to cause considerable pain. He felt down on the ground next to Elena Rose and whimpered a little because the fall was hard. Peter and Tommy were on their feet as Elena felt the stars in front of her eyes dissipated. In all her life, she had never been struck by anyone. She could feel blood inside her mouth and the flaring pain at the corner of her lip.
"Tommy, Peter, no!" Elena recovered enough to shout.
"Listen to the girl," Hank glowered at the two boys. "I ain't never shot children before but a man's gotta try some things at least one."
"We found the map Mister," Penny spoke up suddenly, unwilling to let anyone else get hurt. "We found it in the school house." She swallowed fumbling into her satchel and producing the scroll of paper that had began all this.
"Penny no!" Peter retorted.
"Shut up boy!" Hank silenced him with a growl. He took a step towards the girl with the red curls and took it from her.
"Why did you do that!" Peter hissed at Penny as Hank handed the map to Jesse who immediately unrolled it with nearly fevered excitement.
"Because its not what he thinks." She returned. "He thinks that the map leads to a gold mine but we know that it doesn't. There isn't anything he can steal and all he'll get is a glimpse into his future like we did. That's if he can even reach it. Besides, he's already hurt Elena Rose, I don't want to see what else he'll do."
"How do we know its still there?" Jesse suddenly asked. "You kids found it didn't you?" He glared at them and brought Hank's attention away from the map to his captives.
"There was nothing to find," Elena Rose answered before Penny could do. She was allowing no one else to get hurt because she did not doubt it when she heard him threaten to shoot them. "Just a moldy old pool of water that we wouldn't drink."
"But you got to the end." Jesse said excitedly and faced Elena again with that look.
"Yes," she nodded slowly. "We got to the end and then we got out again. We didn't find anything."
"I want to talk to this one." Jesse said coming towards her and grabbing her arm. "Alone." He only had to cast a short glance at Hank for the man to understand what he meant by 'talk.
Strange, Hank had never thought Jesse's taste ran that way, however the girl was very pretty. A couple of years and she would be quite the looker. Besides, the distraction might keep Jesse busy for awhile as he pondered what he was going to do with his captives now that he had the map. Releasing them was not an option for the moment because no doubt there would be repercussions for taking them captive and Hank wanted to go after the gold unhampered by local law enforcement.
"Leave her alone!" Hank heard the kid next to the girl cry out when Jesse dragged his sister to her feet and took her out of the camp.
"Settle down," Hank barked at him and silence the small boy into submission, using the girl's circumstances to keep them all in line. "He ain't gonna hurt her." Hank remarked and then added with a sneer. "Much."
Suddenly, there was a sharp sound in the air.
He heard what sounded like a rock being thrown in the distance. Hank immediately turned it its direction and listened closely for it, wondering if it would repeat itself and answer the question of whether it was a random event or something more focussed. He did not have to wait long because the bottle of whiskey sitting next to one of his men exploded spectacularly when a large pebble was flung into it, sending a spray of glass in all directions.
"Damn!" Branson swore as he shielded his eyes from being cut to pieces by glass.
The camp did not have time to recover as more and more stone projectiles were flung at them. Objects were knocked over, Miller got caught in the cheek with a sharp jagged edge and was gushing blood from a gash across his face and was none too happy about the injury. The projectiles were aimed with remarkable accuracy and always met its target.
"There's more of the bastards around here!" Hank growled. "Fan out!" He ordered. "Go find them."
His order followed his men dispersing in all directions as they went to search for the unseen children who was surely responsible for this. Hank himself began skirting the perimeter of the encampment, attempting to catch out the child responsible for the damage. He kept his captives in the corner of his eyes, determined that no halfling was going to get the better of him.
In the meantime, Peter and the others knew that this attack was no doubt the handiwork of Samantha Tanner and their chances of finding her were next to impossible. The young girl was indeed her father's daughter and the undisputed champion of hide and seek in their number knew how to go to ground. They could search all night and the children were confident they would not find her. Sam had the uncanny ability to find the most impossible places to conceal herself and no doubt this occasion would find her at her most creative.
Mike sneaked in as close as he could get to his friends without being seen by either Hank or his men. Thanks to Sam's little distraction, he only had to worry about their behemoth leader even though that did not make things any easier. He took refuge behind the shrubs and was relieved when he saw Tommy in sight because he had something of a plan and only Tommy could make it work.
"Tommy." Mike hissed.
Tommy started to turn around, following the sound of his voice when Mike said sharply. "Don't look at me."
"Okay," Tommy answered and upon realizing who he was talking to, the faces of the others flared up in hope that their leader might yet help them to escape.
"Tommy, do you still have that medicine you used to start the fire?" Mike asked carefully, his eyes following Hank's movement throughout all his instruction.
Tommy instinctively looked at his satchel and knew that he did. "Yeah, why?"
"I want you to start a fire with it." Mike asked. "Can you do that?"
Tommy thought carefully and then responded with a little smile as an idea formed in his head. "Leave to it to me."
As Mike withdrew back into the bushes, Tommy turned to Penny. "Penny, I need another one of your linens."
"Oh will this nightmare never end?" She grumbled out of habit more than anything else but did not waste any time handing over her last handkerchief.
Fascinated, Peter watched as Tommy took the scrap of white cloth and shoved part of it into the bottle of alcohol that he used to light their torches during their journey through the caves. The boy ensured that the end he placed inside the bottle made contact with its contents, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Hank because they had only once chance at this.
"Get everyone ready to run." Tommy said to Peter, passing on the details of Mike's simple but hopefully effective plan at getting them away from Hank and his men.
A quiet whisper went throughout the group, beginning with Peter and then ending with Adam, who quickly wrapped his hand around Annette's and Jimmy's while Penny did the same with Kyle, preparing to move at a moment's notice when Mike gave the signal. Tommy continued with his task, creating the makeshift explosive device with his bottle of alcohol intended for use to clean cuts and bruises, not to create chaos. Hank had his back still turned to them, glancing occasionally in their direction to ensure they were still where they were. Tommy had made sure that he could not been seen clearly and sat hunched a little behind Peter who was shorter than him but had enough bulk to hide what he was doing.
"Okay here goes nothing," Tommy said finding the matches that had since dried out after all the abuse they had taken today and immediately set to work lighting the piece of linen. Once the fabric began to burn, its advance to the alcohol inside the bottle was swift. "Everyone, on Mike's signal." He added finally and the others nodded, poised to move.
"Now!" Mike gave the signal and Tommy threw the bottle as far away from them as possible, making sure it landed on some saddlebags that were lying on the ground. The bottle fairly exploded when it hit its target, glass shattered and the flammable liquid expanded outward, creating a small inferno, as it became to consume the saddlebags. The children scrambled quickly to their feet and started to run as Hank swung around cursing and then saw the fire blazing before him.
"This way!" Mike ordered them towards the ridge once again. They had no more than a few seconds to keep ahead of Hank who was struggling to make a choice over putting out the fire or going after them. Somehow Mike had a feeling he would opt for the latter. In any case, they only had to make those seconds in the narrow margin between his debate and his decision count and gain as much distance as they could.
"Get up the ridge!" Mike told Peter and the others as he herded them in the direction he intended. "Get into the cave, he's not small enough to fit in there!"
"Mike," Peter declared, "they took Ellie."
"What do you mean they took Elena!" Mike demanded feeling his heart race. "Where did they take her?"
"They went that way." Peter answered, understanding the fear in Mike's eyes all too well. It was the same feeling he had at the moment, praying that Sam could stay ahead of Hank's men. "He had glasses on and he said he had to talk to her alone."
Something about the way Peter said that struck cold fear into Mike's heart. They did not have time for him to debate this at length and he knew what he had to do. "You get going with the others. Make sure they get into the cave and go all the way to the underground lake if you have to."
"Okay," Peter nodded. "What are you going to do?"
Mike's jaw tightened. "I'm going to go get Elena."
When the commotion had started, Elena Rose had hardly any awareness of it because she had a feeling that her own situation was far more urgent. As Jesse forced her to talk, threatening life and limb to Jimmy and all the others, about their journey following his map, she knew that once she had given him every piece of information, he would act upon the sinister intent in his eyes. She did not know what it was that he intended exactly but the look of him made her skin crawl. While everything had gone to hell around them, Jesse remained focus asking his questions as if nothing else mattered except finding what was at end of the map.
"I told you everything I know." Elena declared trying to hide her fear but she a little over twelve and it was starting to frighten her this sense of intuition she had about him. "I want to go back to my brother."
"Not for awhile." Jesse said coming closer to her and Elena Rose instinctively backed away. He reacted to her retreat by grabbing her roughly by the arm and pulling her across the distance away. She had absolutely not the strength to fight him and just to make sure she would not recoil, he sank his fingers in her hair and pulled her even closer. He stood taller than her but Jesse lowered his face and took a breath of her hair, savoring the smell.
"You're a very beautiful girl," Jesse started to say. "You know that."
Something about the action snapped the reason inside of her and she reacted by sinking her nails in his face and raking back hard.
"Bitch!" He screamed and delivered the second backhanded blow she received that day. Elena hit the ground again, feeling the same stinging pain doubled because he had struck the same patch of bruised skin on her mouth and let out a soft cry of pain.
"We could have been friends." Jesse started to say as he leaned over and grabbed her wrist, taking advantage of her disorientation to regain his hold on her. "We could have made this easy. Now it's just going to be hard for you anyway." He added salaciously.
"Please..." she started to cry, becoming frightened for more than just her life. "Don't hurt me."
"Beyond that now girl," Jesse started to grin.
"Hey!" A familiar voice suddenly captured his attention. Jesse turned around in time to catch a belly full of shovel as Mike swung it hard, connecting the face of the spade against the man's torso. The pain forced Jesse to release his grip around her wrist and Elena Rose scrambled away. She watched wide-eyed as Mike swung the shovel neatly into an arch before he took another swipe at Jesse who was doubled over in agony. Mike gave him little chance to recover and smashed into the side of his face, downing the man completely. When Jesse hit the dirt, he was no longer conscious.
Mike was breathing hard, never having allowed his fury to take control like this before. When Hank had been searching for the others, Mike had sneaked into the camp and grabbed the only thing he could find that might suffice as a weapon. He was certain that he would not have an easy time of it rescuing Elena but when he saw Jesse throwing his fist into her face, he was overwhelmed with rage and had hardly considered what he was doing until he saw Jesse lying at his feet, out cold.
"Oh Mike!" She cried out and embraced him hard, never been so relieved to see him in all her life.
"You alright?" He asked tenderly, feeling a renewed sense of rage at seeing the ugly bruises on her cheek.
"I'm fine." She nodded. "Let's just get out here."
Both of them turned around to find themselves staring at Hank.
"I don't think so." Hank replied barring their way. "You made a good try boy." The older man had to say as he glanced past the two teens and saw the heap that was his brother. "I'll give you that. I'll bet you're the one who probably sent my men running with that little distraction of yours and almost burned Patterson's saddle to a cinder to get my attention away from your friends." His hand remained poised on his gun, indicating to both children that he would shoot if they attempted to move. "I'll even give you the fact that you had every right to be sore at Jesse. I ain't got taste for young meat myself but Jesse ain't never been quite right, ain't never been much of a man either but..." Hank remarked as he unsheathed his gun and pointed the barrel point blank at Mike's face. "He's still my brother."
"And he's mine." The audible click of a gun hammer being pulled back was heard as Billy Travis emerged from the shadows. "You pull the trigger and you'll be dead before he hits the ground."
Hank froze and turned around slowly to see a younger man with the eyes of granite glaring at him who did not appear to have any hesitation over pulling the trigger, holding a gun aimed clearly at the back of his head. Next to him was a willowy blond that Hank had seen around Four Corners during his time there.
"You got any more brothers waiting to come out of the shadows boy?" Hank asked Mike with clear anger in his voice.
"No," Lilith answered before anyone else could. "But trust me, getting on the wrong side of their father is a mistake of biblical proportions."
Sam had been doing quite well until she saw Hank Young's men going after the others as they made their way up the hill towards the cave entrance. As she watched Peter safely from the branches of the tree she had climbed up and was presently hidden from sight, Sam's stomach hollowed seeing a group of men making fast tracks to her friends. They were converging on Peter and the others and he did not even know it. She could not see Mike to ask him what to do and so she came to the conclusion that whatever was to be done would be up to her alone.
Her slingshot had provided Mike the distraction he needed to get close enough to Tommy and the others early on in the rescue and she hoped that it might well again do the same. Carefully ensuring that no one saw her descent, Sam climbed down the branches of the tree, which had served, so well as her hiding place. Upon touching the ground, she immediately collected more ammunition in the form of sharp, round rocks and pebbles, before searching a vantagepoint from which she could launch her attack. Almost trembling as she collected them, Sam did not mind admitting that she was plenty scared and she had a right to be. These men were killers and if she made a mistake, she could get herself killed or worse yet, someone she cared about.
Using the stealth that she had been taught most of her life, Sam made her way across the terrain, keeping a close eye out for any stray members of Hank's gang that were not presently engaged in attempting to corral Peter and the others. She knew she had to distract them with the rocks she had gathered for the purpose and soon found herself the perfect position to use them. Hoping that the same trick would work twice, Sam made her way to the top with the skill of someone who had been accustomed to the practice most her life, sneaking in and out of her room.
Suddenly, she saw something that made her forget all that.
Seven riders were approaching fast in the distance and even though it was dark, the number was too coincidental to be anyone else. With her heart beating fast, Sam forget about what she was doing and immediately climbed down the tree when suddenly, there was a loud sound which she recognized as gunfire. The thought did not even have time to fully register itself on her brain when she felt the searing pain smash into her arm. Sam did not even have time to cry out as the bullet had knocked the wind out of her and she tumbled to the ground, snapping branches as she made her descent. When her head smacked the length of a particularly large branch, she knew nothing else.
"I got one of them!" Patterson shouted as he closed in on the unconscious young girl that he had managed to force from her hiding place in the trees. Branson, still clutching a bloody rag to his cut cheek joined him as they perused their find. She was lying on her side, dark hair splayed about her face and blood oozing through the sleeve of the dirty shirt she was wearing from the bullet wound he had inflicted upon her.
"This the little bitch that cut my face?" Branson demanded, glaring at the girl who was starting to stir after her fall.
Sam was not certain of anything but supposed that this was a good a distraction if any, since she did not hear the voices of any of the others except these vile men. As they closed in around her, reveling in their capture of her as if she were some sort of trophy, Sam was conscious of what they were not in their arrogance. Through the dizzying pain in her head, the stinging pain of a bullet passing through her flesh and what felt like a broken rib by the jagged agony that shuddered through her each time she moved, her senses were remarkably clear. She could hear the approach, even if her captors did not.
"You cut my face!" Branson grabbed Sam by the hair and made her look at the oozing cut on his face.
Sam blinked once and then remarked in a low whisper. "You were ugly to begin with anyway!"
"Why I oughta...." He raised his hand to strike her when his companions spoke up.
"Come on Branson," the man said quickly. Patterson was many things in his lifetime but he was not about to add child killer to that list just yet. Even a man like him had some limits. "She's just a kid and it looks to me like I might have winged her when I shot her out of that tree."
"Better listen to him Mister," Sam gasped, trying not to show this man she was in pain and a lot of it. "You better let me go! My daddy is the best tracker in the Territory, if he knows you hurt me like this, he'll gut you from neck to nuts!"
"Oh yeah?" Branson laughed. "You got a mouth on you kid and your daddy ain't here to do nothing. Even if he was, we'd a put a bullet in him just as fast we put one in you."
"The problem is," Chris Larabee said very coolly. "Her daddy usually don't go anywhere alone."
Branson and Patterson looked up to find themselves staring down the barrels of seven guns aimed in their direction as well as seven equally angry and worried fathers behind the triggers.
"Daddy!" Sam cried out.
"Mister," Vin Tanner said barely restraining himself as he saw his daughter in the man's grip. "If you don't get your hands off my daughter right now, I will blow your fucking head off."
"Mr Tanner," Ezra remarked automatically with a hint of smirk in his voice. "Such language in front of your daughter."
"Drop your guns!" JD ordered sharply. "Before you do something we kill you for." Despite all their bravado, the seven men were worried sick about their children and the gunfire they had heard had struck cold fear into their hearts when it had tore through the air during their approach. JD was just as enraged by the idea of these men firing upon children as the rest of the seven and it was only the star he wore on his lapel that kept him from using them for target practice.
"Let her go!" Patterson barked at Branson, not preparing to die for a map or for harming a child any more than he inadvertently done already.
Branson cursed under his breath and released Sam, who dropped to the ground with a soft cry when she landed. She hit the ground just about the same time their guns hit the dirt. She groaned in pain from multiple wounds and heard Vin's footsteps running towards her in a matter of seconds.
"Sammie," Vin dropped to his knees long enough to scooped up his daughter in his arms, having seen the slick of blood on her sleeve or the fact that she was groaning in pain as she struggled to get to her feet. He had never been so grateful to have his child back as when he wrapped his arms around her and embraced her, careful not to cause further aggravation to her injuries. God only knew what Alex's state of mind would be when she saw this.
"Its okay sweetheart, you're safe now." He whispered gently, holding her as he had when she was a baby, fragile and soft. "Nathan, she's hurt!" He called out to the doctor with more than an edge of panic in his voice when JD and Buck moved into take charge of Patterson and Branson.
"Oh daddy, I didn't mean to be late. Please don't be mad at me." Sam looked at him and said weakly with a little smile on her face.
"You know," Vin returned her smile with one of his own. "I'm just worried enough about you to let you get away with using that line on me this time."