DISCLAIMERS: This is an original amateur story based upon the characters and situations created in the TV series, The Magnificent Seven. No profit will be made from it and no infringement upon any copyright held by any individual or organization is intended.
RATING: PG-13 for adult themes, language and violence.
WRITTEN: May 21-June 4, 2003.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: This is in response to the challenge offered by Lara Frank of the Ezras_Littleverse list on May 18, 2003: "Ezra (12) is on his way to meet Maude in Four Corners but the sheriff of another town doesn’t approve of a minor travelling alone and puts him into a strict orphanage. There Ezra meets Buck (7) whose mother just died and who has a very bad time in the orphanage. After a few horrible days Ezra runs off, taking Buck with him. Chased by the people from the orphanage who think that Ezra’s mother is rich and will ‘pay’ for her son, the boys meet grown up Chris and Vin."
My second go at writing a Little Ezra character (somewhat older this time), and my first at a Little Buck: once again the teamup was too much to resist! In this Universe, for reasons you’ll discover as you read, there is no Colonel Anderson, but the Seminole village exists.
The sickness Buck describes his mother as dying of is what we would call appendicitis; up through the late 1870’s it was known as peritonitis or inflammation of the bowels, couldn’t be operated for, and was generally fatal--but, of course, not contagious. Measles information from http://www.webmd.com; traditional folk treatments from http://www.folkmed.ucla.edu, a site indispensable to anyone writing Nathan!
Buck’s pet, Climber the ringtail, can be studied more closely here: http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/tmot1bassastu.htm. Ringtails are closely related to raccoons (which, as any reader of Sterling North’s classic Rascal knows, can make delightful pets) and coatis (which are often domesticated in Mexico); as Vin says, they were frequently used to control vermin in the Southwest. Vin’s prayer is adapted from the liner notes to two CD’s in my collection--David and Steve Gordon’s Sacred Spirit Drums and Douglas Spotted Eagle’s Closer to Far Away.
SIZE: Approx. 400K
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Comments to: sevenstars39@hotmail.com