"The Judge isn't going to like it." said Chris as he blocked Ezra's exit from the saloon.
"Judge Travis is not here Mr Larabee." Ezra had thought that the best idea would be to inform Chris
of his plans but he was now beginning to think that he should have left a note.
"He is going to find out Ezra." Chris stood with his hands on his hips, his elbows pointed outward
trying to cover as much of the door as he could.
"How? Are you going to tell him?" A smile formed on Ezra's face as he now knew that he was going to
win this argument. He was going to use Chris's guilt. He raised his eyebrows at him and this caused
his smile to grow even more allowing the dimples to form on his cheeks.
Chris could not understand why Ezra was finding this so funny. He was still in shock himself as Ezra
had come down from his room three hours earlier than he normally did. It gave everyone a shock and
Chris had not yet recovered from it when Ezra told him that he was leaving. He couldn't even put up
a decent argument against the man. He was still trying to get over the fact that he had gotten up
early on his own.
"You know I wouldn't do that Ezra." Things had gotten better between them since they had returned to
Four Corners. The relationship was still trying at times but they had come to an understanding. They
were willing to give each other the benefit of the doubt instead of jumping to conclusions. The
others had taken bets on how long it would last.
"I am only going to be gone for three weeks at the most." Ezra watched as anger slowly replaced the
shock that had been written all over Chris's face. He knew that the anger was not because of him
leaving. It was because he knew that he was not going to win the argument.
"The Judge will be back before you are. He is going to find out." He knew that he had no hope of
stopping Ezra. He saw the smile on Ezra's face and it told him that he was going anyway and nothing
that Chris said was going to stop him. It also told him that he was wasting his breath arguing with
him because he was not going to win.
"Perhaps you can cover for me until I return." Ezra suggested knowing that they would because they
would be in more trouble with the Judge for letting him go than he would be for going.
Chris gave up. "Fine. Whatever. I'm not going to win this fight anyway am I." He threw his hands up
in the air as he stepped aside to allow Ezra access to the saloon doors. "Just telegram us when you
get there will you and before you come back."
Ezra had walked past him but he turned around to face Chris. The smile had gone from his handsome
features. "Do you think that this is some kind of ruse so I can get away from here and not come
back." his voice held no anger but he still regreted the words instantly.
"No Ezra I don't. Were all going to be worried about you and we want to know that you got there okay that's all. And we would want to know when to expect you back." Chris allowed the concern show on his face. Ezra knew that the concern was real as it had also reached Chris's steel blue eyes. "You know what happens to you out there." It was Chris's turn to smile.
"Alright Chris, I'll telegram you when I get there and before I come back." Ezra tipped his hat to him and walked out of the saloon into the bright sunlight. He felt the sun hit him and he stood there for a few minutes enjoying it's warmth. He had felt a lot better over the last few days as his dreams had finally left him and he had returned to his normal jubious self.
He had already packed a bag and it was attached to his saddle and his horse was standing in front of him waiting to go. It had not taken him long to find a good horse to replace the one that had been killed. He mounted his horse and headed out in the direction of Hampton Creek.
Chris stood at the door and watched him leave hoping that they would not have to ride out after him because something had happened to him. He stayed there until he could no longer see Ezra's red jacket. He then went back into the saloon for a drink and to try and work out what he was going to tell Judge Travis when he returned as he was serious when he told Ezra that he would put him in jail if he left the group and he may consider that it was what Ezra had done. Neither of them noticed the young woman who was watching Ezra as he left town.
Christy had been watching Chris Larabee for more than a week trying to find a way to get him on his own, preferably away from his six associates but she had not been able to come up with a plan. She had also watched his friends hoping that she may be able to use one of them but failed in that area also. She wanted to seek revenge against Larabee but knew that it would be difficult. She had gathered a small group of outlaws to help her but they also knew that it would be a difficult job to do what Christy wanted. She wanted revenge but she also wanted to get away with it.
Christy had then found out that Ezra Standish was leaving town to visit a friend. She had become close to the owner of the telegraph office, and quite a few other people in town but only the ones that would be able to give her information that she would be able to use against Larabee. A plan had began to form in her mind, she was going to get her revenge and she would use Standish to help her get it. She followed Ezra out of town knowing that she would meet up with her gang who were camped on the outside of town hidden from the seven lawmen as some of them were wanted men. They would then follow the gambler to his destination at a distance as they knew where he was going and once they got there they would find out the direct location of his friend.
Ezra had telegraphed Jean to let her know that he wanted to visit and if that would be alright. She'd sent him one back telling him that she looked forward to seeing him. He still needed to talk to someone about the things that had happened in the last few weeks and he remembered how easy it was to talk to Jean but they had lost contact over the last couple of months because of everything that had happened and he was worried that she would refuse to see him.
It was going to take nearly a week to get there and he decided that he was going to enjoy the outdoors for a change. He was not normally a person who enjoyed being stuck outside but sometimes the jobs that the seven had to undertake gave him no choice. He looked up into the blue sky and saw the clouds beginning to form in the distance and hoped that it wasn't going to rain. If Vin was here he would be able to tell him if it was as he had an uncanny ability to tell the weather. There were times when the sky was cloudless and in a confident tone he would inform everyone that there was a storm on it's way and he could usually tell you when to expect it. Ezra chuckled to himself at the thought.
The rain had held off and Ezra was able to enjoy his journey. He didn't run into any sort of trouble or any other people but he did see a fire a fair distance behind him on a couple of the nights when there was not a part of the land to hide it from him. He wondered if it was his friends following him. He realised that he used the term friends a lot easier now than he had been and he thought that he even enjoyed the term more. He had finally begun to accept it and made more of an effort not to push them away. He still found it hard to talk about things though but he knew that it would come in time. He decided that it wasn't his friends as they would not have given him such an indication that they were following him. It had to be someone else who was making the same journey. Little did he know that the people following him were going to endanger not only his life but Jean's and Chris's lives also.
Ezra rode into the small dusty town of Hampton Creek. It had been named after the man who had founded it six years ago but the creek that the name also refered to had dried up last year when the area went through a seven month drought. Jean had told him in the telegram that she had returned to him that she would meet him in front of the saloon as she assumed that it was where he was going to stay for the week that he was going to be in town for. As he rode through the town he noticed that some of the buildings had been boarded up. He didn't see a lot of people wondering around the dirt lined main street but the few townsfolk who were around looked upon him with distrust.
Ezra looked ahead and saw the reason why he had come. Jean had not changed at all since he had last seen her which would be nearly six months now. Even from a distance he could see the smile forming on her face which was still framed by the same light brown hair. He stopped his horse and looked down into her bright blue eyes. He hadn't realised how beautiful she was as when he had seen her last he was recovering from an injury and sickness. He got off his horse not sure how to greet her but he did not have to worry as Jean took him in her arms and gave him a bear hug. He could no help but return it.
"Ezra it is so good to see you. And look at you, your healthy to." she smiled at him as she looked into his green eyes, she had missed those eyes terribly.
"And you my dear are more beautiful than I remember." he smiled back showing his gold tooth. Jean was wearing brown trousers and a blue shirt but they did not hide the curves of her feminine body. He knew that he had made the right choice to come here.
"And you are more handsome now that I have seen you standing on your feet." she laughed at him. "Come on your going to stay with me and not in this dirty saloon." Jean grabbed his hand and started to lead him away. But he pulled her back and took both of her hands in his and looked into her blue eyes.
"I'm glad you allowed me to visit you Jean, I wasn't so sure as I have not returned your letters." he looked at the ground then not sure how she was going to respond.
"Josiah sent me a letter about a month ago telling me what happened. I wanted to come and see you but he thought that it would be best not to and that he would let me know when the best time was. But then I got your telegram saying that you were coming."
"Josiah wrote to you?" Ezra was shocked to say the least.
"You have good friends that care for you Ezra."
"Indeed I do." he agreed with her. She made to lead him away again but he still stayed where he was. "I can not stay at your home Jean. What would the town folk think of you?"
Jean tried pulling him along but she soon stopped and took his horse instead. He had no choice but to catch up to her. "There are not enough people here to worry about it. It's becoming a ghost town and even I will be leaving soon."
"What about your family then, what would they think?" Ezra was trying everything to change her mind but he did not realise that she was stubborn as well as beautiful.
"They left a couple of months ago but I decided to stick it out a bit longer." She stopped and turned around to face him. "Your only going to be here a week Ezra and we have a lot to talk about, you have a lot to talk about." she watched as his face took on an expression of sadness. "And we have a lot of fun to get through as well."
"My dear I believe that you are just as stubborn as I am but I will allow you to win this one argument but no more." his smile returned but held a hint of a challenge.
"We'll see about that Ezra Standish. Now come on my horse is at the livery." she took his arm and lead both himself and his horse to the stable.
On the way out of town they stopped at the telegraph office so Ezra could send a telegraph to Four Corners to let his friends know that he had arrived safely in Hampton Creek and he added a quick thank you to Josiah.
Five hours later Christy and her gang rode into the town and like Ezra they noticed how it would soon be lifeless. They also stopped in front of the saloon. "Dave you go into the saloon, Pete you go to the stable, Jack the telegraph office. You know what to ask, I'll wait here for you."
"Sure boss." said Pete as he noticed her hazel eyes turn that strange green clolour which they always seem to do when she was close to getting what she wanted. He knew never to cross her when her eyes had changed colour. He and the other guys did not mind taking orders from a woman particulary one as beautiful as Christy and she also paid them very well. Thirty minutes later they rode out towards Jean's home.
JD came running into the saloon with a telegraph in his hand and headed straight towards Chris who was sitting at a table in the corner with Vin and Buck. They were enjoying a game of poker and the reason they enjoyed it was because Ezra wasn't there to win every hand that they played. They were actually able to win money off of each other. Whenever they played Ezra they lost but for some reason they kept playing every time he challenged them hoping that one day one of them would actually beat him. But that day was a long time to come.
"JD what are you running for? Is Casey chasing you again?" asked Buck not looking up from what he thought was a winning hand.
"No of course not, why would I run from a girl!" he argued with Buck.
"JD what's up?" asked Chris who believed that he had a winning hand for a change.
"Iv'e got good news and bad news." he watched as they all looked up at once.
"Ezra?" asked Vin as he put down his winning hand.
"Yeah. The good news is that he sent a telegram letting us know he got there fine." He handed the telegram to Chris. "And the bad news is that Judge Travis just arrived back."
"What he wasn't supposed to be back for another week!" yelped Buck. Chris had told him and the others that they were going to have to cover for Ezra but it was going to be hard. It was going to be harder now that the Judge was back two weeks before Ezra was due back.
Chris stayed calm though. But he knew that going up against the Judge was going to be worse than facing a gunslinger. "Okay guys plan A." They all nodded and then continued on with their game of poker. JD sat down to join them.
"Finally got a good hand there Buck." JD ducked as Buck tried to hit him across the back of the head.
Ezra couldn't stop laughing at Jean's jokes. He had spent most of the morning telling her what had happened since he last wrote to her. He had become upset when he spoke of Rochelle and then angry when he told her what his friends had done. She showed concern and gave him every sort of comfort that she could both verbal and physical. She would use words when they were needed and she would use her hands at other times by placing them on his hands or arms or she would wrap them around him and now that he had gotten it out of his system she tried to cheer him up by telling him jokes. The laughter stopped though when she tried to tell him the one about the three legged doq who wanted to know who shot his paw.
"JD told you that one didn't he." he asked her with a serious look on his face.
"That bad was it?" she thought that she had said something wrong.
"Not if your'e drunk at the time of being told the joke." he smiled again.
She slapped him across the arm and watched as he pretended to be hurt so she hit him harder. "Ow!" he grabbed his arm in protest. Jean laughed at him and her eyes sparkled.
"You are going to help me get some fresh vegtables out of the garden and then help me make dinner and don't give me any of that not being made for menial labour stuff." she got up and made her way to the door and stood with her hand on her hips waiting for him.
"My dear Jean I have no idea what you are talking about." he stood and walked across the room to join her. Jean's home was not large but it was comfortable and clean. She opened the door for him and he stepped outside only taking a moment to register the beautiful woman standing on the porch before the butt of her gun hit him on the side of his head.
Chris looked up as the Judge walked into the saloon, he turned to the others noting that they too knew that he had come in. Buck threw down his hand frustrated that he wasn't winning. He thought that he was the next best poker player after Ezra but it was Vin who had all the money in front of him.
"Good evening gentlemen." The Judge looked around the room. "Where's Mr Standish?"
'He gets right to the point.' thought Chris. "He's in bed sleeping." answered Chris.
"Isn't it a bit early for him?"
"We all had a long day." Vin yawned. "Think I'll turn in myself." he collected his winnings thinking that he would have to tell Ezra about this when he got back and then got up to leave. Chris, Buck and JD also stood up eaching giving there own yawn with JD overdoing it as usual. Buck grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away. The Judge watched them walk out of the saloon and shook his head.
They stopped outside and watched the Judge just in case he decided to check up on Ezra, they wouldn't have put it past him but he went to the bar and got a drink. "Tomorrow it's plan B, you know what to do Vin and JD let Mary know so she can do her part." Chris told them.
"Ezra is going to owe us big time for this." Buck growled.
"It's the least we can do for him Buck." JD said to him.
"I didn't say that I wasn't going to do it JD." Buck started to walk away from him but JD went with him.
"Well that's not what it sounded like to me Buck." Chris and Vin shook their heads at each other as they listend to JD and Buck argue as they walked down the street.
The first feeling that Ezra had was the throbbing pain coming from his head so he didn't even bother trying to move it. He kept his eyes closed as they felt to heavy to open. He could hear voices around him and realised that they were both woman, he recognised Jean's voice as she argued with someone but he did not know the other woman's voice. He tried to remember what happened but he couldn't concentrate as he felt to tired so he allowed himself to go back to sleep.
The next thing he felt when he woke was the cool cloth that someone held to his forehead. He noticed that he was lying on his side. He tried to open his eyes again but they felt like they were glued together. He tried to say something so Jean would know that he was okay but it only came out as a moan. He heard her say his name and someone else asking if he was awake but he did not hear the answer as he feel asleep again.
He opened his eyes but his vision was blurry. He looked around the room squinting at the sunlight that came through the windows. He was still in Jean's home. He saw Jean sleeping in one of the chairs and noticed the other woman standing across the room looking at him. He wanted to ask her why she hit him but he was still to tired and his eyelids fluttered closed.
"Jean?" Ezra whispered, he needed to know that she was okay.
"I'm here Ezra." she pulled the bucket closer.
"What are you going to do with the bucket?" asked Christy.
"He's got a concussion which means that he will throw up and probably more than once." Jean did not look over her shoulder at her. The woman had still not told her why she had hit Ezra and what she wanted with them. She did not see the woman when she had opened the door and neither had Ezra. He didn't even have time to react before she hit him. Jean had watched as he collapsed to the floor and as the woman had two of her men drag him back inside and put him on her small couch. She had to argue with her to allow her to take care of him. Jean had she finally won the argument and when she checked his head wound she found that the skin had not been broken but there had been a large lump on the side of his head. She then put him on his side so he would be able to breath easier and put some blankets over him to keep him warm so he would not go into shock. She wasn't able to stop them from tying his hands behind his back though. He had woken a few times but had not been able to stay awake and she knew that this was a symptom of concussion.
"Ezra it's okay I'm here." he opened his eyes and looked for her. His vision was still blurry but it had improved since the last time he had woken.
"What happened?" he asked her.
"I hit you, that's what happened." Christy said from across the room. She hadn't moved any closer because if he was going to throw up she didn't want to be anywhere near him.
"And why did you do that?" he was beginning to feel sick.
"I felt like it." was her simple reply.
"Jean I think I'm going to be . . ." but he didn't finish. He felt her hand on his back guiding him to the side and threw up into what he hoped was a bucket. Even after his stomach was empty he muscles continued to contract. Jean used the damp cloth to wipe his mouth and then eased him back onto the couch. His head felt even worse and he fell back to sleep.
"How long is this going to go on for." asked Christy the anger showing in her voice. Dave who had been standing to the side looked at her and noticed the change of eye colour.
"He's like this because you hit him to hard." she moved the bucket away knowing that the smell of it could cause him to be sick again.
Christy stepped forward. "That didn't answer my question."
"He could be like this for hours or for days, it depends on how bad the concussion is." Jean did not like the look in her eyes. She was a beautiful woman but the look would be enough to scare any man.
"He's got till the morning then were going to back to Four Corners." Christy's eyes soon turned their normal hazel colour as she began to calm down. She moved closer to the couch and watched Ezra's pale face. "I didn't realise Mr Standish was such a handsome man. I have never seen him so close before." she ran her hand across his forehead feeling the slight temperature.
"What are you going to do to him?" Jean stood up and faced her as she was beginning to get angry herself. She would defend Ezra to her death if she had to.
"It's not what I am going to do to him, it's what he is going to do for me." Christy smiled enhancing her beauty even more.
"And what is that?" Jean's own beauty shown through even more as the anger showed on her face.
"I'll tell you both at the same time when he is more alert." she walked away then leaving Jean to wonder what sort of plans she had in mind for Ezra.
Jean continued to look after Ezra through the rest of afternoon and night seeing to his needs. And when he woke in the morning he had improved quite a bit. "You feeling better Ezra?" Jean asked him as she saw he had opened his eyes and was looking at her.
"A lot better thanks Jean, sorry to be any trouble. My head still hurts though." he tried to smile to reassure her.
"Do you think that your up to traveling?" she looked at around at Christy who was still watching them. She'd been there all night.
"Why are we going somewhere?" he tried to sit up and realised that his hands were tied behind him. Jean pushed him back down again.
"Your going back to Four Corners Mr Standish." Christy came to the side of the couch and crouched down on the floor. Like Jean she also wore trousers. She looked into his greens thinking that he was indeed a handsome man. "Your going to do something for me and before you argue let me tell you that you are not going to have a choice." she looked across at Jean and Ezra saw her eyes change colour. He did not like the look at all.
"You want me to what!" Ezra was angry.
"You heard me Ezra I want you to bring Chris Larabee to me." Christy had begun using his first name the day before.
"And if I refuse?" Ezra had heard her plan but he could not believe what she wanted of him.
"Then your friend here dies." she pointed at Jean who had been listening. She was as shocked as Ezra was. Christy watched Ezra's reaction and could see the anger burning in his green eyes. She had waited for a few days to tell Ezra what she wanted. He hadn't fully recovered from the blow to the head that she had given him which had caused them a few problems such as falling off his horse so they ended up tying him to his horse so that he would not fall off it again. He had thrown up on the first night when Jean had gotten him to eat something but since then he had been able to keep the food down and with the amount of sleep that he had gotten during the night and the food that he had eaten during the day he was nearlly back to his normal self.
Christy nodded to Pete who then went to Jean and placed a gun against her temple. "It's quite simple Ezra. Jean is now my hostage and if you want her released unharmed then you will bring Larabee to me. Do you understand?"
Ezra slowly nodded his head in understanding. He looked over at Jean not knowing what to do. His hands were now tied in front of him but there were six of them and he knew that if he tried anything that he would only get Jean and himself killed. He decided to wait to see if he could come up with a plan. He had plent of time as they were still two days away from Four Corners.
"Good we'll go into it in more detail when we get there." she smiled at Ezra and left him sitting there watching her back as she walked away. Ezra had begun to understand Christy's mood swings more as he had noticed that her hazel coloured eyes turned more of a green colour when she became angry. And when she spoke of Chris her eyes turned green. But when she smiled at him they went back to their normal colour. He worried about both of these moods.
Mary stepped out of the Clarion and straight into the path of her father inlaw. "Judge, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." she smiled at him as she placed her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun. She could tell already that it was going to be another warm day.
"Good morning Mary and how are you today?" he wasn't going to ask her straight away as he thought he would ease her into the conversation which is something that he did so well. The other hired gunmen had been avoiding him and he was beginning to think that something was wrong as he had still not seen Ezra Standish around the town.
"I'm fine thankyou. It's going to be another beautiful day don't you think?" she knew what he wanted and she had been told what to say. Mary was willing to go along with Chris's plan to protect Ezra from the Judge as she had known what Ezra had been through. She looked over the Judge's shoulder and saw Buck duck into the saloon.
"Yes it is." he turned to see what she was looking at but he missed it. "Mary do you happen to know where everyone is?"
Here it comes she thought. "As far as I know Vin and Ezra rode out of town this morning to help Nettie Wells and Buck just went into the saloon but I don't know where the rest of the men are."
"Thankyou Mary." he tipped his hat to her and headed towards the saloon to look for Buck but when he went in there he was gone. He stepped back outside to talk to Mary again but she to had dissapeared. "What the hell is going on here?" he said to no one.
Christy had brought everyone to a stop two hours outside of Four Corners so she could explain the plan in more detail to Ezra. She had two of her men drag Ezra from his horse and while he was under gunpoint they untied his hands and then tied them again behind his back. They then forced him to sit down a short distance from Jean. Christy then sat down opppsite Ezra.
"One of my men are going to go into town with you Ezra to keep an eye on you to make sure that you don't try anything stupid. Your going to leave now and you should get there by nightfall and I want you back here with Larabee by lunchtime tomorrow. Is that clear?" she watched as he nodded and then continued on. "My man is going to follow you back and from where we are I will be able to see you coming and if I don't see my man behind you then I will kill Jean there and then. Do you understand?" he nodded again as he looked over at Jean. She was watching them sitting opposite each other and knew what they were talking about. "When you bring him back I will then let you and Jean go."
"You expect me to believe that?" Ezra asked her.
"It's not you or your friend that I want Ezra."
"You won't want any witnesses left behind and that's what we'll be."
"Well you do have a point there Ezra." she smiled at him as her eyes changed back to hazel. "Why don't you bring him back and then well decide what to do. And if you don't do what I say then I will kill Jean and then you will have to live with her death. Do we have an agreement?"
"Yes." Ezra did not have a choice at the moment. When he got to town he would talk to Chris about this first as he would not be able to bring him here without telling him why and maybe together they could come up with a plan.
Christy leant forward and brought her face closer to Ezra's. She ran her finger down the side of his jaw, along his bottom lip and then ran it down under his chin. Ezra moved his head away but she cupped his chin in her hand and drew his mouth closer to hers. She closed her mouth over his. Ezra did not return the kiss but then he felt her tongue asking for an entrance to his mouth, he opened it slightly not realising what he was doing. He felt her tongue against his but she withdrew it just as quickly as it had entered his mouth and then he felt a sharp pain as she bit his bottom lip drawing blood. She leaned back slightly and then used her tongue to wipe away the blood that had begun to trickle down his chin.
"Dave come and untie him." she couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Ezra's face. "And bring his horse." she waited until Ezra's hands were untied and watched as he wiped his chin with the back of his hand. "We will see you back here at lunch time tomorrow Ezra."
Ezra looked at the back of his hand and saw the blood. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He got on his horse and looked across at Jean who gave him an encouraging smile. He didn't want to leave her here but he had not been given a choice. He turned and headed off to Four Corners hoping that Chris would be able to come up with a plan.
"He's not here." Buck tried to tell the Judge.
"Well where is he then?" Judge Travis had been looking for Ezra all day and he was beginning to think that the others had been giving him the runaround. He now believed that Ezra had left which is something that he told him not to do.
"You just missed him." said JD. Buck turned to him with an expression that said 'What are you talking about boy.'
"Where was he going?" the Judge turned to JD but Chris stepped in his way.
"He's doing a job for me." Chris explained to him. He had no idea what to say. JD had put his foot in it and now he had to get them out of it. They had been successful in making the Judge believe that Ezra was still in town for the last week but now he was becoming suspicious and they still had another week to go. "I asked him to go and help Mary with something."
"And what can Mr Standish help Mary with?"
"A story." Josiah said suddenly thinking of something. "She needed help with a story and Ezra knew something about it so Chris told him to help her."
"Well then I will just go and ask Mary." The Judge turned to leave the saloon but Buck stepped in front of him this time.
"Judge why don't you just sit down here," he pulled up a chair and tried to lead the Judge to it, "and we'll have a drink, maybe even a friendly game of poker perhaps."
"Mr Wilmington, please step out of my way or you will find yourself in jail." Buck stepped back from him. "Now if you will excuse me gentlemen I intend to find out if Mr Standish is still in town."
"Are you looking for me Judge Travis?" They all turned around at the sound of the southern drawl.
It was dark when Ezra rode into town, fires already lined the main street. He felt a slight chill but was not sure if it was caused by what was happening or if he was still suffering from the head wound as the weather was still quite warm. He looked behind him and saw Pete following him at a distance. He continued onto the saloon silently praying that Chris was still in town. He tied his horse to the railing and watched as Pete did the same thing, he then walked through the doors with Pete following to find the other gunfighters arguing with the Judge and that he was the reason for the argument.
"Are you looking for me Judge Travis?" Ezra moved forward putting on his best smile which caused him to wince at the pain in his lip. Everyone turned at the sound of his voice and the only mouth to stay closed was the Judge's. Ezra watched from the corner of his eye as Pete moved to one of the tables. They all saw the injury to his lip but Nathan saw more. He noticed that Ezra was pale and slightly flushed at the same time which was typical of a fever.
"Mr Standish you have finally decided to show yourself. Did you help Mary with her story?" asked the Judge.
"Her what?" asked Ezra he was to worried about Jean to understand what was going on.
Nathan stepped towards Ezra and while he moved him towards a chair he quickly looked him over looking for a injury that would cause him to have a fever. He removed his hat for him and noticed the dark purplish bruise above his left ear. Ezra reached up and took his hat from Nathan giving him a look at the same time.
"Her story Mr Standish, Chris said that you were helping her with a story." the Judge frowned at Chris thinking that he had been given the runaround again.
"Oh yes her story," he was trying to push Nathan away from him and give the Judge a story at the same time. "A gambling story, she needed some of the finer details of poker."
"Where have you been all week?"
"Around Judge, around." he took one last swipe at Nathan who finally stepped back.
"Well I expect you to see around more. And that is an order." The Judge then left the saloon intending to confirm this with Mary.
Nathan waited for the Judge to leave and then sat down next to Ezra. Chris had noticed the way Nathan was giving Ezra a quick examination. "Is there something wrong Mr Jackson?" Ezra asked him.
"Isn't that a question that I should be asking you Ezra?" he pointed first at the cut lip.
"Oh that." Ezra looked down at the floor.
"Jean a little to rough was she?" Buck laughed. Everyone saw the look that shut Buck up.
"And this?" he touched the tender area above his ear and Ezra winced and moved his head away from Nathan's steady hand. Ezra looked across the room and saw that Pete was watching them.
"Could you gentlemen please sit down as we are being watched." Ezra groaned as JD looked around the saloon. "Buck could you please take our young associate here for a walk?"
Understanding what Ezra wanted Buck lifted JD off his chair and gave him a look that said not to argue and led him out of the saloon. Once they were outside the agrument started.
"Mind telling us what's going on Ezra?" Chris watched as Nathan tried to feel Ezra's forehead and try was the correct term. He forcebly pushed Nathan's hand away from him.
"You got a bit of a fever there Ezra." Nathan told him but he was ignored.
"Mr Larabee do you know of a woman called Christy, I don't have a last name but she is about Mary's height, brown hair and her eyes are a hazel colour but they turn green when she is angry." Ezra watched as the recognition came over Chris's face.
"She did this to you?" Chris asked him.
"This and more Mr Larabee." he looked around the table. "Please do not react to what I am about to tell as I said before we are being watched." he took a breath to gather his senses together. "She has taken Jean hostage. And she wants to exchange you for her. She wants me to take you to her by tomorrow at lunch time or she will kill Jean."
"Well then we better give her what she wants." Chris smiled a cold smile.
Everyone did their best to keep their faces neutral and they were also glad that JD was no longer there. "Who is she Chris?" asked Vin while he watched Ezra, he could see the worry and concern for Jean etched on his face. Ezra usually had no trouble hiding his feelings but under these circumstances he was unable to and no would blame him. Ezra also watched but he was watching Chris seeing the concern on his face and this made him worry even more for Jean.
Chris looked up at Ezra and knew that he should not hold back what he had to say. His eyes took on a distant look as he relived a memory that he thought would not come back to him but it did and it had put an innocent person's life in danger and possibly more lives as well. He picked up the empty glass in front of him and twirled it around in his hands seeing the distant memory in the glass.
"I put her in jail. She must have gotten out." he looked back up at Ezra seeing the question in his eyes. "She was a bank robber, killed a few people as well. I stopped at a town called Bitters Hill about six years ago and stayed for a while. Christy was staying there as well and I got to know her, we became friends and then one day out of the blue she asked me to join her gang, said that she was bank robber. I thought she was joking and laughed at her. She got mad, it was the first time I saw here eyes change colour. When I next saw her she was robbing the bank, killed the teller and tried to kill me but I shot her. Didn't kill her, couldn't kill a woman. She survived and was sent to jail. I visited her once but she seemed to have changed. It was as though there was something wrong with her, like she had become crazy. She must have gotten out." he looked down again. "Sorry Ezra."
"It is not your fault Chris. Now I assume you have a plan because under these conditions I can't think of one." Ezra said to him.
"As always Ezra." he smiled again. "Where is this man who is watching us and why is he watching?"
"He is behind your left shoulder, brown duster and he has a mustache." Ezra noticed that Pete was not looking at them anymore. "You can turn and look at him now." he waited for them to turn back to him. "He is supposed to keep an eye on me and then follow us back to the meeting place and if they don't see him coming up behind us she will kill Jean." Ezra pulled his coat closed as he was beginning to feel colder.
"Looks a bit like Buck doesn't he?" Chris smiled at Ezra.
Ezra smiled back. "I never noticed that before." he shivered slightly but enough for Nathan to notice.
He stood up and leant over Ezra. "Come on Ezra you are going to bed and I am going to get you something so that fever doesn't get any worse.'
"I assure you Nathan that I am fine." he leaned back as Nathan towered over him.
Josiah joined Nathan. "I don't believe you have a choice Ezra." smiled Josiah.
Ezra looked up at the two of them a look of stubborness on his features. "After we work out what we are going to do." he growled at them.
"I'll let you know the plan in the morning Ezra." Chris nodded at Nathan and Josiah and they both took one of Ezra's arms and forced him up the stairs towards his room. Chris and Vin laughed at the protests that Ezra was voicing at his two friends. They then got up and walked towards the man that had followed Ezra into the saloon. They both stood either side of the man just as Nathan and Josiah had stood next to Ezra. The man looked up and choked on his whisky when he realised who it was standing next to him. Chris did not even bother asking the man any questions, he just took his head in his hand and slammed it against the counter. The man dropped to the dusty floor of the saloon. Vin quickly took off the man's duster so it would not get any of the blood that was bleeding from his head wound on it.
They dragged the man out of the saloon with only the strangers who were in town watching them as the townsfolk had gotten use to this as it had become a regular occurance and they knew that the men would have a reason for what they had done. Chris found Buck and JD waiting outside of the saloon. JD had a look of annoyance on his young face as he had realised what he had done. They were not suprised either by the man that they had between the two of them.
"Buck you and JD take this guy to the jail and then come back and I will let you know what's going on." Chris told them.
"Sure Chris, come on JD you heard what the man said." They took the unconscious man from Chris and Vin and continued to drag him to the jailhouse. The man's head had bounced off the steps of the Saloon as they were not being to gentle with him.
Nathan came through the doors of the saloon then with a smile across his face. He enjoyed these moments with Ezra as it was the only time that he could get the better of him.
"How is he Nathan?" asked Vin.
"He took a nasty blow to the left side of his head which would have probably given him a concussion, the bruise looks about a week old and he has a slight fever, I'm going to get something for him now." he made to walk away from them.
"You and Josiah okay?" smiled Chris.
Nathan laughed. "Yeah but Josiah might be able to use some help though until I get back." he shook his head at the thought of all of Ezra's protests but Josiah's strong hands had won in the end.
"I'll go up and tell him what I have planned for tomorrow, might help him relax a little if he knows whats going on." said Chris as Nathan began to walk away.
"Do you really think that she will kill Jean if you don't show up tomorrow?" asked Vin
Chris's expression became serious. "Yes I do."
They walked quietly into Ezra's room to find him lying on the bed on his side but his eyes were open so they knew that he was not asleep. "How are you feeling Ezra?" asked Chris.
"As I keep telling this man," he nodded at Josiah, "I am perfectly fine." he tried to sit up but Josiah pushed him back down on the bed.
"Why don't we let Nathan decide that Ezra." Josiah smiled down at him.
"Mr Jackson did and I disagree with his prognosis." he tried to get up again but it was a futile attempt as Josiah was there to stop him every time.
"You do as you are told Ezra as you are going to need your rest for tomorrow." Chris ordered him.
"And what is your plan for tomorrow." asked Ezra. Instead of trying to sit up he snarled at Josiah.
"As I said we are going to give her what she wants and instead of her man following us Buck will be. She shouldn't be able to tell the difference at a distance." Chris had sat down on the bed so he could look straight at Ezra instead of down at him. "We won't let Jean get hurt Ezra be sure of that."
"She has another four men apart from herself, do you think that we can take them without Jean getting hurt?" asked Ezra.
"She won't be hurt Ezra. Now do as you are told and get some sleep." Chris got up and left the room with Vin.
They passed Nathan on the stairs and then headed towards Buck and JD as they entered the saloon. Chris told them what happened and what the plan was for tomorrow. Buck agreed to the plan as Chris had once told him about Christy and he would also do anything to get Jean away from her safely.
Ezra walked down the stairs into the quiet saloon to find his friends waiting for him. They knew that he would be up early and ready to go. He moved to the table and sat down in the empty chair. He was worried about how Chris's plan was going to go. He had to many questions. What if Christy had already killed Jean? What if she shot Chris straight away? What if Buck did not get there in time to help? But the one he worried about the most was if Jean was still okay.
JD moved a plate of food towards him, it consisted of eggs and beans but Ezra turned his nose up at it and pushed it back to him. He helped himself to some coffee and sat in silence. Buck was wearing the slicker that Vin had taken off Pete and Ezra had to admit to himself that at a distance they would not be able to tell that the rider behind them wasn't Pete.
"Are you alright to do this Ezra?" Chris asked him.
"I'm fine, I am concerned about Jean." he smiled knowing that it was a weak smile and that it would not fool any of them. His fever had improved but it hadn't left him. He took his guns out while he sat there and started to reload them as Christy had taken the bullets out before she gave him guns back. At least they would have the element of surpise there.
He did not move his head away as Nathan placed his palm against his forehead. "You still got a fever Ezra, not as bad as it was but it's still there." Under other circumstances he would have forced Ezra back to bed but he had a job to do and this was probably why Ezra did not complain when he checked his temperature. But as soon as he got back he would send him to bed and he will not have a choice in the matter.
"Guys could you let me have a word with Ezra for a moment please." Chris did not ask it as a question it was more of an order.
"Well make sure that the horses are ready." said Buck. They got up and walked out of the saloon looking over their shoulders at Chris and Ezra.
"Ezra before we go I just wanted to thank you for telling us about this." Ezra looked up at him not sure what it was that Chris was trying to say to him. "Usually you would have kept it to yourself and then tried to resolve the situation on your own. It shows that you are finally accepting that we trust you and are your friends."
"I wouldn't go to far in your assumption Mr Larabee." But Ezra smiled as he said this. He hadn't realised what he had done until Chris just told him. He had finally accepted them and would no longer try to push them away. Except maybe Mr Jackson when he tried to induce medical care upon his person.
Chris got up and slapped him on the back. "Let's go Ezra."
Ezra stood up and followed him out through the saloon doors. It is going to be another warm day thought Ezra as he looked up into the cloudless sky. Vin brought him out of his thoughts.
"You guys better hurry back as it's going to rain this afternoon." he was frowning up at the sky but turned when he heard Ezra laughing.
"Something wrong Ezra?"
"No Mr Tanner, you just reminded me of something, I will tell you about it when I come back." he hoped that they would all come back unharmed.
Chris and Ezra got up on their horses. "Follow us in about ten minutes Buck but if you hear shooting don't rush in. If were okay I'll wave to you and if you don't see me then come back for help. You got that?" Chris just about glared at him.
"Yeah I got that." he grimaced.
"The rest of you follow Buck but give him at least a thirty minute head start." Vin nodded in acknowledgement. Chris knew that he would do as he was told but he wasn't so sure about Buck but they didn't have anyone else who looked like the man who was told to stay with Ezra.
Chris and Ezra rode the two hour journey in silence neither of them needing to say anything. Ezra had noticed the clouds starting to build up in the sky. Vin had been right as usual. He looked up towards the area that he knew Christy was holding Jean. They would be there within ten minutes. Christy looked down to see Ezra returning with Chris Larabee just like she knew he would. She motioned for her men to get out of sight and to take the woman with them. She wasn't even going to give them a chance to react to the situation, she was going to deal with Larabee straight away and then have some more fun with Ezra before she killed him and his lady friend. She hid behind a tree and waited.
Chris and Ezra rode into the area where Ezra had told him Christy and Jean would be but they saw no one. They got off the horses and drew their guns just in case. Chris and Ezra looked at each other and as they did Ezra saw Christy step out from behind a tree with her gun aimed at Chris's chest. Ezra fired his gun and stepped in front of Chris at the same time, he saw Christy go down and in the same moment he felt the tearing pain of the bullet entering high in his right shoulder causing him to drop his gun. The force of the bullet pushed him back against Chris and they fell to the ground.
Chris struggled to get Ezra off him and he felt him trying to help, he hadn't lost consciousness yet. Chris could see Christy stand up and lift her gun towards him. Ezra's bullet had hit her left arm. Chris pulled his own gun but heard the sound of three other guns cocking. He looked to his left and saw three of the four men that Ezra had spoken of.
"Don't even think about it Larabee!" Christy yelled at him. He was supposed to be dead now. She walked over to them her left arm hanging useless at her side. She looked down at Chris and then at Ezra who was staring back at her with pain filled eyes. Christy brought her gun up and aimed it again at Chris. She thought that Ezra was now usless and not able to defend himself or Chris, she was about to pull the trigger when Ezra's boot kicked her arm but it caused the gun to go off and the second bullet entered Ezra's shoulder close to the first wound. He rolled off Chris leaving him open to Christy if she chose to fire again. She made the mistake of hesitating as she looked at Ezra's back seeing only one exit wound. The sound of another gunshot echoed through the air and Chris saw one of the other gunmen go down. He jumped up and grab Christy's gunarm and used his own that was still in his hand to fire on the other two while using her as a sheild. He took one of them down and a second bullet from Buck's gun took down the third. He then took the gun from Christy's hand.
"Ezra!" he heard Jean yelling and looked over to see her struggling to get away from a man who had his gun pointed to her head.
"Drop your gun or she's dead." the man said calmly.
Chris quickly stood and pulled Christy in front of him. "Tell your man to let her go or I will kill you." he growled at her. He was in a standoff that he did not believe that he was going to win. He wanted to look down at Ezra but he didn't dare take his eyes off the man that had Jean.
"And if he doesn't I will." Buck had stepped out from behind the tree that he was using as cover. He stood to the side but between Jean and Chris. He had arrived just after hearing the first gunshot because he had ignored Chris's orders and hurried his own pace so he would arrive not long after them. He had seen Ezra and Chris go down. He watched as Ezra tried to kick the gun out of the woman's hand and heard the gun go off again but he didn't know if Chris or Ezra had been shot. He took a quick glance at Ezra but it was enough to tell him that if they did not hurry he was going to bleed to death as the blood had already begun to form a puddle around his right shoulder and side.
"Then kill me because I am not going back to jail." Christy smiled but only Buck could see it as Chris was behind her. "What about an exchange?" Chris didn't answer her. "Decide quickly Larabee or else Ezra is going to die if we stay in this situation much longer."
"I know what your capable of Christy, how do I know that you won't try and kill us anyway?" Chris asked her. He had not taken his eyes off Jean. She was watching Ezra's still form hoping for some kind of movement to let her know that he was still alive but so far he had given no idication of life.
"I told you that I am not going back to jail but if I can manage that and stay alive at the same time then I will but it is up to you as you have a lot more to lose than I do."
"Do it Chris, we can go after her later. We need to look after Ezra." Buck kept his gun on the man holding Jean but he started to side step towards Ezra, he needed to know if he was still alive.
"You send Jean over and I'll send your boss at the same time. Got it?" Chris removed his gun from Christy's temple and moved her forward. Dave did the same with Jean who wanted to run to Ezra but kept her calm and her eyes on Christy as she walked towards her. Chris aimed his gun at Dave hopping that Jean would stay to the side and not get in his direct line of sight, he had to admire the women for keeping her calm as she did exactly what he wanted her to do.
Christy thought about grabbing Jean on the way past but knew that it would only result in her own death so she kept walking knowing that she could come back later and kill Larabee and Ezra for messing up her plans. She reached Dave and turned around and with her good arm she tipped her hat to Chris and stepped backwards into the woods. Once she was in the cover of the trees she turned and ran to the horses and rode off with all intentions of returning.
Once the exchange started Buck took his eyes off them as he knew that Chris's gun would not falter until they were out of sight and he hurried to Ezra's side. He didn't move him straight away as he was afraid that if he turned him over he would be dead and he couldn't face that thought at the moment. He could see the side of his face and how it had paled considerably, he could see the spots of blood that stood out on his face, the split on the now pale lip, the exit wound on his shoulder. Jean's hands pushing him away brought him out of his shocked state. Her effcient hands gently turned Ezra over revealing the two gunshot wounds that were close to each other in his right shoulder.
"Buck have you got any material in your saddlebags or anyone else?" She had seen Ezra go down and then take a second bullet. Her heart had dropped, it had taken all of her strength to stay in control. And now she was near breaking point but she had to keep herself together for Ezra's sake.
Chris knelt down beside them but did not stop his eyes from scanning the area just in case Christy came back. He knew that the others would be here soon especially after hearing the gunshots but until they did he would not allow himself to look at Ezra but he did not know how long he would be able to stop himself. "He still alive?"
"Yes at the moment." Jean didn't ellaborate on the statement but instead yelled out to Buck to hurry. He came back with one of his own shirts and two of Ezra's. She took them from him and rolled them into balls and then placed them against the front of Ezra's shoulder and the back and pressed down hard. She did not fail to notice the lack of response from Ezra. "What about blankets Buck? We have to keep him warm in case the blood loss causes him to go into shock."
Chris listened to what Jean was saying and could not help himself as he took a quick sidelong glance at Ezra. He only looked for a second but took in everything, the paleness, the blood and most of all the lack of response to Jeans treatment. Buck returned with two blankets and placed them over Ezra's legs and waist keeping them away from Jean's hands. He then stepped back and waited.
"Buck I'm going to take a look around see if they are still here." Chris didn't wait for Buck's answer but he did notice that he had pulled his own gun out and stood over Jean and Ezra protecting them from anything else that may happen.
Jean continued to press down hard on Ezra's shoulder while not taking her eyes off his handsome face, his head was leaning against his left shoulder at an awkward angle. She could feel that the shirts were now soaked with Ezra's blood but she wasn't going to take her hands away until she felt condfident that the blood flow had either stopped or slowed. She kept this up for five minutes but her arms began to tire with the force that she was placing on his shoulder.
"Buck I need you to take over my arms are getting tired and there needs to be more pressure." he didn't hesitate but instead of putting his gun away he placed it on the ground next to Jean. She used one of her hands to guide his and put them on top of the shirts. "Don't worry about hurting him as he is not feeling anything at the moment. She saw his look of concern and could see the worry in his eyes. "Press down as hard as you can, I think that the bleeding has nearly stopped but I will give you a few more minutes and then I will check the wounds."
Chris returned five minutes later to find Buck leaning over Ezra and Jean keeping guard over them. He knelt down next to him. "There gone, I could see them riding away and I saw the others, they will be here in about five minutes." he took a deep breath before asking the question which he feard the answer to. "How's he doing?"
"He's been shot twice, one of the bullets went straight through but the other one is still in there, he's lost a lot of blood so far and will probably loose more and that may cause him to go into shock which could be just as bad." Jean tried to be calm but she could not help the small sob that escaped her mouth. Chris put his arm around her to comfort her, he could feel her shaking under his arm.
Jean moved forward and Buck allowed her to remove his hands from Ezra's shoulder, she then pulled his jacket to the side. After undoing the buttons of his vest and shirt she pulled them off his shoulder, then moved the blankets up further to cover his stomach to try and keep the cool air off him. The air had become chilled due to the storm that was moving in from the North.
The flow of blood had just about stopped but she knew that it would start again when they removed the bullet. She placed her hand on his chest feeling his pale clamy skin, she could also feel his rapid heart beat. "He's going into shock." she told both Chris and Buck. "Help me roll him onto his side." Once they had done that she put the shirts back against the wounds and pulled his jacket over them, she then adjusted the blanket and pulled it up against his chin. Jean then had Buck press against the front and back of Ezra's shoulder again. "We'll wait for Nathan, he'll be able to do more for him."
Christy rode away from the disaster that she did not think would happen. She had planned everything and then Ezra had messed it up by being a hero and saving Larabee's life. She had aimed for the heart but because the gambler was shorter than him the bullet had entered higher in his shoulder as he moved across in front of him. And then did it a second time by trying to kick the gun out of her hand which resulted in a second wound. Under other circumstances she may have fallen for the man and tried to make him hers. She had enjoyed the kiss that she had given him and wanted to do it again after she killed Larabee but everything went wrong. Never mind she thought to herself, she would give them a few days to think that she had left the area and then she would go back for both of them.
Vin and the remaining hired gunmen pulled their horses to a halt as they heard the sound of gunshots shatter the silence the hung in the air. They only waited a moment to take note of which direction the sound came from and then urged their horses into a gallop each holding in their own fears as to the meaning of the gunshots. It took them a long agonising ten minutes before they reached the area where Ezra told them they would be and what they saw shook them to the core. They saw Chris, Buck and Jean leaning over someone that they assumed was Ezra, he was covered with a blanket and because Buck sat in the way they could not see if the blanket had been placed over his head. They quickly dismounted and ran over to them each releasing the breath that they had held when they saw Ezra's pale face against the green grass that covered the ground beneath him.
"Nathan help him please." Nathan could hear the pleading in Jean's voice, he turned to JD who had already gone back for his saddle bags.
It was Nathan who removed Buck's hands this time and Chris helped him roll Ezra onto his back. He pulled the blanket and Ezra's clothing aside and wondered how Ezra managed to get himself shot twice. Chris answered his unvoiced question.
"He saved my life, twice." Chris knew what Nathan was thinking when he saw the two bullet wounds. "One of them is still in there."
Nathan took note of the amount of blood on the shirts that they had used to try and stop the bleeding and what had begun to soak into the soft ground. He noticed the pale colour that his skin and taken on and the way it was cool and clamy to the touch, he leant down and felt his rapid breathing against his own cheek. All of this told him that Ezra's body was in shock and he was already in a weakened state due to the fever that he still had. Nathan knew that if the shock was not dealt with correctly it could kill him. He would have to keep him warm which Jean had already started doing and make sure that he drank fluids when ever he woke up which was going to be hard because the shock would also cause him to be unconscious most of the time and that he could also just throw it back up again when they did manage to get him to drink something. At least the blood had stopped leaking from the wound and that was something he was grateful for.
Josiah could you go and get me some more blankets." Nathan took the bags from JD and took out the bandages that he would use to wrap the wounds. At the moment his first thought was to deal with the shock that Ezra's body was suffering from and then he would deal with the wounds once they got back to town. He quickly placed some herbs and balm on the open wounds to try and stop any infection from developing. Josiah returned with some more blankets and placed them over Ezra. Nathan then had him lift Ezra up gently so he could bandage his shoulder. This took Nathan only five minutes to do.
"I can't do anymore here we have to get him back to town. He's in shock from the loss of blood." he didn't say anymore.
"You may have to find him some cover Nathan as it's going to be raining before were even half way home." Vin was looking up into the sky. It had begun to darken with the storms clouds that now filled the sky.
"Shit." Everyone who was looking at Vin turned to Nathan who did not usually use profanity so just that one simple word told them how serious Ezra was.
"Vin is there anywhere near here that we could go until the rain eases?" Chris asked him.
"What about Nettie's place, that's only an about hour from here." JD answered before Vin could. They all turned on him, he felt Buck slap him on the back and this caused him to smile as it meant he said something right because Buck would usually hit him on the back of the head when what he said was the wrong thing.
"Can we get there before the rain starts?" asked Nathan with the hope that he felt sounding in his voice.
"We might but I can't say for sure." Vin looked back up to the sky. He thought that the rain might hold off for that long, well he hoped it would for Ezra's sake.
Nathan stood up and started giving out orders. "Josiah I want you to take Ezra, I want him to stay wrapped in the blankets and your arms would be the longest here. I'll stay close in case he wakes up because he's going to need fluids and to make sure that he doesn't get to hot, we just have to maintain his body temperature. Vin you ride ahead and let Nettie know what's going on and she will get things ready for us." Vin rushed off to his horse and rode out hoping that when they reached Netties farm behind him that Ezra would still be alive, the way Nathan was talking had made him worry that Ezra was not going to be okay.
"Okay Josiah go and get your horse." Nathan bent down and with Chris's help they gently lifted Ezra off the ground. They could hear the sickly sound of his clothing seperated from the blood that had soaked the ground underneath his body.
Josiah rode his horse back to Nathan and Chris who were both holding Ezra in their arms. Chris had him by his arms with Ezra's head leaning against his shoulder and Nathan had his legs. When he reached their side Chris lifted Ezra up into Josiah's waiting arms and then he positioned Ezra into a more comfortable position and laid his head in the crook of his shoulder. When he had placed his hand against his forehead he could feel that Ezra was cool and that this was the reason for the blankets. It made a strange change from the other times he had been hurt when a fever had usually begun to rage through his body. 'Ezra must have lost a lot of blood.' he thought to himself. He wrapped his arm around his waist and headed out after Vin.
"Jean you can ride Ezra's horse." Chris told her. She nodded and went and got Ezra's horse, she then caught up with Josiah as she was not going to leave Ezra's side. Jean rode close enough to Josiah that she was able to place her hand on Ezra's leg hoping that it would give both herself and Ezra some comfort even with the amount of blankets between her touch of affection and his leg. The others had also caught up and Nathan rode on Josiah's other side.
"Ouch, be more carefull will you." Christy growled at Dave who was trying to take the bullet out of her arm. Her eyes had turned green when she saw Chris Larabee and they had not changed back yet so Dave tried to be careful. They had travelled for an hour and then stopped as Christy was beginning to find it difficult to stay on her horse, they also needed to find some kind of shelter as they could tell that it was going to rain. But the best thing they could find was a thick group of trees which they hoped would keep most of the rain off them.
"There it's out. I'll just clean it now and then bandage it." He saw her nod so he continued. "So are we going to go back after them?" he asked her.
"Of course we are. Both of them if Standish is still alive. We'll wait a few days so I can get my strenght back and in the meantime I will just have to come up with another plan."
Dave watched as she smiled and thought that she really did have a smile that could scare men because at that moment he was scared of her.
They all rode in silence only hearing the occassional sound of thunder that reminded them of the rain that was threatening to fall down on them. They all hoped that it would hold off until they arrived at Nettie Well's farm as it was the last thing that Ezra needed at the moment. Every now and then one of the group thought that they felt a drop of rain on a hand, on a face or some other part of the body and feared the worse but at the time it was only their imagination.
Chris, Buck and JD watched the area around them carefully watching for any sign that Christy was following them as Chris believed that she would not give up so easily. While they did this they stole quick glances at Ezra who was still lying, unmoving within Josiah's strong arm, his pale face bouncing against his shoulder.
Jean and Nathan had stayed close to Ezra, Jean for support and comfort and to hold off the fear that she knew she would feel if she wasn't close to him and Nathan was there in case he woke up. Ezra had still given no sign of life since he was shot the second time. They had all believed what Chris had said about Ezra saving his life twice, they knew that he would risk or give his own life for any of them as they would also do the same for him or any other member of the group.
When they had first met him they believed him to be a liar and a cheat who only took care of himself and they knew that he was still a liar and a cheat but now for different reasons. Now he did it to protect other people, to protect his friends and he never thought of himself as number one any more but one of a group of seven, all of whom needed help or protection at some time over the last eight months and these traits that had been taught to him by his mother were able to get them out of more than one dangerous situation.
Josiah was thinking of what Ezra had done trying to take his mind off what the result of his actions might be when he felt him finally move within his strong arm and he kept a firm hold in case he began to struggle. "Nathan." he felt him move again. "Nathan I think he's coming round." The soft moan that came from his mouth confirmed that he was waking up. Nathan moved closer to Ezra and the others turned to watch as he tried to bring him to a conscious state.
"Ezra can you hear me?" he leaned over and placed his hand against the side of Ezra's face still feeling the cool clamy skin. Ezra tried to move his head away from Nathan's touch but could not go far due to Josiah's large shoulder. Nathan removed his hand as it seemed to be causing him some sort of discomfort. "Ezra if your awake open your eyes for me." he waited a few moments and watched as Ezra frowned as if in concentration.
Ezra's body had shut down due to the shock that his body was suffering from trying to protect and heal itself but the constant motion of moving had begun to make him feel ill. He didn't want to come out of the darkness as there was no pain there but the need to throw up was stronger than the need for the comfort of the darkness. It was a struggle to leave it behind, he tried to say something to the person who was moving him about but all that happened was the own movement of his body which made him feel worse. He tried again but with the same result. He finally managed to make something come out of his mouth but it was a slight moan.
He was about to give up when he heard the familiar voice of Josiah talking to someone. He then heard Nathan's comforting voice and felt something against the side of his face, he tried to move away from it but couldn't and then the warm touch was gone. He tried to open his eyes when Nathan asked him to but he couldn't, they were to heavy, he tried harder but it was to much of a struggle so he tried his voice again.
"Stop." was all he could manage.
"Ezra I'm going to get you to drink some water for me. Okay." They continued to keep moving so they would not loose any time. The sky was black and they didn't need Vin to tell them that it was going to rain at any moment and they were still thirty minutes from the farm.
"Stop. Please." Ezra managed to say again.
Josiah pulled his horse to a stop as he finally understood what Ezra was asking of them. "What's wrong Ezra?" he asked him but Ezra did not answer him straight away as he was waiting to see if the bile that was in his throat was going to return to his stomach or not. After a few moments he no longer felt the need to throw up but he still felt sick.
"I feel sick." he moaned as he pressed himself more into Josiah's shoulder who then strengthened his own grip giving Ezra the comfort that he was seeking.
"Ezra," Nathan put his hand on the blanket covered shoulder, "I want you to drink some water."
"No, I feel sick." he no longer tried to open his eyes.
"Ezra you have to drink some fluids or you are going to get worse."
Ezra shook his head in indignation and pushed himself even further into Josiah's body away from Nathan. His stomach was beginning to feel better but he knew that if he drank water it would make him sick and then throw up and he wasn't going to do that in front of anyone. It happened in front of Jean on more than one occassion after that woman had hit him but he had no choice he couldn't stop it but he could now by refusing the water. When it had happened before he felt shamed, it had made him feel like a child when his mother used to degrade him for being sick particulary when it had stopped them from pulling a lucrative con.
Jean moved closer to him and placed her own hand against his face where Nathan had put his but Ezra tried to move away the hand as he didn't know who's touch it was. "Ezra will you please drink some water for me?" she asked him. She felt hurt by him shying away from her touch.
Ezra heard Jean's voice but it was distant as the darkness had begun to take him again. "No." he then fell into unconsciousness again. Josiah could no longer feel him pressing against him nor could he feel any warmth coming from the figure in his arms.
The others had watched and they saw Nathan's shoulders sag. "Well try again when he wakes up next time." They did not hear th confidence that his voice usually held. They began to move on again and twenty minutes later they all felt the rain begin to fall and this time it was not their imagination.
Nettie Wells looked up as she saw a rider coming in fast. She was about to go inside to get her rifle when she recognised the rider as Vin Tanner. She frowned wondering what he was doing out here when a storm was about to start and why he was in such a hurry. She waited till he stopped his horse in front of her before she said something but was interrupted before her first word had even been voiced.
"Nettie, Ezra's been hurt and we need to get him somewhere warm because it's to far to town and he will only get wet and that will make him sicker so JD thought about your place so they sent me ahead and they are following . . ."
"Slow down Vin, take your time." She could see the concern written all over his face and this meant that the gambler man must have been hurt pretty bad.
"There about twenty minutes behind me, we have to get things ready for Nathan, a bed and boiling water." he looked at Nettie knowing that she would not refuse him or Ezra.
"You go and put your horse in the barn and I'll start getting things ready." Vin started to walk his horse towards the barn. "Is he hurt bad Vin?"
"Nathan seems to think so." he didn't turn and look at Nettie but kept moving. It was going to be a long wait and he was not looking forward to it. He didn't even know if Ezra was still alive.
"Christy you should sit down, you lost a lot of blood and you need to rest." Dave tried to tell her but he knew that she would not listen, not when she was in this state. They had stayed where they stopped the rain now falling from the sky above them. The trees gave them some protection and Dave had managed to start a fire that was strong enough to defend itself against the small amount of rain that did managed to filter through the roof that was made up of trees.
"What I need is to kill Larabee and then deal with Ezra." She wanted to kill Larabee outright but not Ezra, she had more things planned for that handsome man. She put her hand to her lips remembering how soft his lips had felt, she remembered the taste of his mouth, the feel of his tongue and she wanted more, a lot more. "Well stay here until tomorrow night and then head into Four Corners when everyone is sleeping and then find them."
"What if he's dead?" he did not need to use a name to identify the person he was talking about.
"Then we will just have Larabee to deal with. One quick shot from an alley way should do it." she smiled and gently squeezed her injured arm enjoying the pain that it caused her.
Dave watched her and actually felt sorry for Larabee and hoped that the other man was dead.
Vin was standing on the porch of Nettie's small home looking into the distance through the rain hoping that they arrived soon. It had been raining for nearly ten minutes and everyone would be soaked to the bone by now. He had helped Nettie start a fire so that they would be able to get warm and she had gathered together some dry clothes, they had smelt of dust but they were clean.
"Can you see them yet?" Nettie had come out onto the porch and she put her hand on Vin's shoulder.
"No, they should be here by now." He was becoming very worried. The longer they took the more worried he become, he didn't know if they were taking their time because Ezra had died or if something had gone wrong. His thoughts clouded his mind and his vision. It was Nettie's voice that brought him back.
"There they are." she had seen a group of riders coming out of the trees in the distance. Vin made to run out into the rain but Nettie kept a firm grip on his shoulder, she didn't need another one getting wet. It took another five minutes until the horses were brought to a halt in front of the house. Nettie then let Vin go and watched him as he ran to his injured friend.
"Is he still alive?" there was almost a pleading sound in his voice.
"Yes." Josiah told him seeing the relief on his face. "Here take Ezra for me will you." He lifted Ezra down into Vin's arms and heard him moan as his injured shoulder was placed against Vin's chest.
Vin looked down into his friends face, Josiah's hat had covered most of his head and face but it had fallen off when he took him from Josiah's arms and now the rain was falling onto his face and his hair was beginning to cling to his scalp. He suddenly felt Ezra shiver violently under the blankets.
"Get him inside Vin, quickly." Nathan yelled at him bringing him out of his umovable state. He turned and ran as fast as he could onto the porch and Nettie then guided him to the room that she had prepared for them earlier. She ignored the rain water that was dripping from both the blankets and the still form within them. Nathan and Jean followed them into the room both leaving more water trails behind them.
"Don't put him on the bed yet, we have to get rid of the blankets and wet clothes." Nettie told Vin as he was about to place Ezra on the bed. He looked at her with an expression that said 'Well were can I put him.'
"On the floor Vin." Nathan quickly moved to his side. "Could you ladies give Ezra a bit of privacy." he heard them leave as he unwrapped Ezra from the blankets and then removed his clothes. He could feel the coldness of his skin and it was still clamy, he placed his hand on Ezra's cold chest feeling the rapid heart beat. He stood up and pulled the blankets back and then Vin helped him lift Ezra onto the bed. Nathan then placed the blankets over his cold body and pulled them up under his chin. "Vin go and ask Nettie for some more blankets."
"Nathan is he going . . ."
"Just do it Vin!" Nathan raised his voice, he didn't mean to. He was feeling hopeless. He wasn't able to get Ezra to drink fluids and now he was in a worse condition and he blamed himself for it.
Vin returned a few minutes later with more blankets and towel and while Nathan put the blankets on the bed he began to wipe Ezra's face and hair dry. Nettie came into the room then and stood beside the bed and looked down at the man that she still had trouble trusting. He had once lent her money to save her farm but only under pressure by Vin and he had asked for interest back. He was thinking of making a profit instead of helping her but Casey kept insisting that he had changed, that he would have done it anyway.
"Nathan do you need some help with his wounds?" She had given the others some towels and warm clothes, Chris and Buck and stayed outside to take care of the horses but she left what they needed.
"All I am going to do is gently clean them and then leave him be." Nathan explained.
"Your not going to take the bullet out?" asked Vin.
"Vin he is suffering from shock, his body has shut down to try and heal itself, if I do anything it will just make it worse. He won't be able to take anything more until he improves, it could kill him. I need to get him warm and to get fluids into him and until that happens the bullet stays in there."
Vin nodded in understanding. "He's that bad?"
"Yes he is." Nathan wiped his hand across his face.
"Nathan why don't you go get out of those wet clothes, I'll watch him until you come back and then we'll clean his wounds." Nettie gently pushed him towards the door. When he stepped outside into the larger room he felt the warmth of the fire and the eyes of everyone in the room upon him. He did not look back at them. They knew that his silence meant that they would have to continue to wait, their eyes returned to the floor. Jean came out of one of the other rooms in clothes that were to large for her. Nettie had left out an old dress as Vin had told her that there was a woman among the group but Jean had left the dress there and had taken a pair of brown trousers and a white shirt. She saw the forlorn look on Nathan's face and walked passed him into the room where Ezra was.
Vin looked up as Jean entered the room. He had finished drying Ezra's hair and was now drying his own. Jean came over and sat on the bed and wiped the strands of hair off Ezra's pale forehead feeling that his skin was still cool. She knew that Nathan would not do alot about his wounds until he came out of shock. When he next wakes up they will have to force him to drink some water. She put her hand under the heavy blankets and place it on his chest, his heartbeat was rapid, his skin cool. She felt him shiver beneath her hand and she quickly wiped away the tear before it fell. Nettie moved to her side and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
The Judge quietly stepped into the saloon quickly using his eyes to scan the room for Ezra and any of the other hired lawmen. He now knew that they lied to him about Ezra helping Mary with a story, her reaction to the subject was enough to convince him. He saw the bartender look at him and then start to sneak away from the bar. "Not him as well."
"Uh?" an unruly man sitting at a table next him asked.
"I am not talking to you Sir." the Judge growled at him.
"Huh?" the man looked up at the Judge wondering why someone who had just walked into the saloon was talking to himself, it usually happened when they were on their way out.
The Judge just shook his head at the man and headed towards the bartender before he was able to sneak away. He reached the end of the bar just in time to stop him. He gave the man his most fearful look. "Where is Mr Standish and the others?"
"They rode out this morning." he squeaked as he pulled his shoulders up around his ears.
"When will they be back?" he growled at him as he realised that his expression had scared the man.
"Tonight maybe I don't really know." he started to draw back from the Judge. He was as bad as Larabee he thought to himself.
"Now if you do not answer my next question truthfully I am going to put you in jail. Do you understand?" he loved using that threat, it always got most people to talk, even Ezra.
The man nodded and pushed his glasses back onto his nose as they began to fall off. The last thing he wanted to do was go to jail and he knew the Judge would honor his threat.
"Has Mr Standish been in town the last two weeks?" he waited for the answer not taking his eyes off the man who had now begun to shake.
"No. Can I go now?" he didn't wait for an answer, he ran away just as he had done that time with Mr Standish after spiking the drinks for his mother.
"Well, well Mr Standish it looks like you are going to be in a bit of trouble when you get back."
"Huh?" the unruly man was now at the bar getting another bottle of whiskey. The Judge gave him a look and left the saloon.
Ezra was comfortable in his own world, he could hear voices around him but he ignored them, he felt their warm touch against his skin which he also ignored, he felt the pain and it was a struggle to ignore it but he managed to. He was cold where he was and hoped that he would warm up soon as he hated the cold. He stayed this way for a while enjoying the dark and quiet but then he began to feel sick again. He didn't want to feel sick but his stomach seemed to have a mind of it's own and it was telling him that it wanted to be sick. He ignored it but it rolled in protest, demanding that he wake so it could do what it wanted. He refused it as long as he could but it was stronger than he was. As he allowed the need to bring him out of the darkness the light invaded his ming. He screwed his eyes tighter hoping to keep the light away as long as he could but it was no good he had to give in to the need and the light.
"My stomach wants to be sick." he croaked to anyone who was with him. He felt warm hands turning him onto his side and as before he hoped that there was a bucket because he was still not able to open his heavy eyelids. He allowed his stomach to do what it wanted and hoped that there was not to many people watching as he hated doing this in front of anyone. For something that protested so much it didn't really do a lot. When he finished he was put onto his back and then hands helped him sit up. He felt something against his lips and turned his head away from it as he knew what it was.
"Ezra if you don't drink it for me I will force you to drink it." Nathan told him.
"It will make me sick and I don't like feeling sick." his voice was husky and he realised how dry his throat was but he still wasn't going to drink the water.
"I'm sorry Ezra." he felt someone place their hands against the side of his head and then someone else pinch his nose, his mouth automatically opened so he could continue to breath but instead of air entering his dry mouth it was water, a small amount at first and then his mouth was forced shut, he had no choice but to swallow it. He waited for his stomach to heave but it didn't. He felt his nose being pinched again and more water was poured into his mouth, the process was repeated four more times. His struggle had tired him and because his stomach did not protest against the invasion he fell back into the welcoming darkness.
Chris had been standing to the side of the room never taking his eyes off Ezra's pale unmoving face, Vin had explained to him what Nathan had said about Ezra's body shutting down to heal it's self. He had watched as Nathan cleaned the wounds on his shoulder and then bandaged them, he had watched as Ezra did not respond to anything. They stayed in the room with him each not wanting to leave and after a while they saw his face grimace as if in pain. Then they all heard the simple statement that he was going to be sick and they helped him onto his side. Nathan had asked Nettie to bring in a bucket for this reason. Once he was finished Nathan had Chris and Jean lift him up and he placed a cup against his mouth but he refused it as a child would refuse medicine. But they were prepared for this as Nathan had told them what he wanted them to do. Chris sat behind Ezra and took his head between his hands while Jean pinched his nose so Nathan could force him to drink the water and they continued to do this until the cup was empty. Nettie had brought the bucket up onto the bed in case he was going to be sick again but he kept the water down. They laid him back down on the bed and pulled his covers back up.
Christy dreamt when she finally did lie down to rest, she dreamt of the prison where she had been held. She remembered the pain that had been inflicted upon her by the other inmates, the beatings and other things that she would never have thought of doing to another person. She didn't know why they had done it to her but after a while she had begun to use the pain to get through the days. The pain had stopped her thinking about the things that would have driven her crazy, she would not admit to herself that she had already been driven crazy. After a while the pain had stopped and she found that it was something she needed, something that she had begun to enjoy, to crave, so she began to do things to be punished so she could continue to recieve the pain. It was the pain that had allowed her to get through the day and at night time it was the dreams of killing Larabee that got her through the darkness that surrounded her cell.
Her dreams turned to Chris Larabee, she smiled as she saw him strung up between two trees his arms being pulled in different directions. She saw the whip in her hand and began to use it enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She felt the blood from his back on her fingers as she ran them along the tears in his skin. Christy's dreams changed again, this time she was enjoying the taste of Ezra's mouth and he was returning the kiss using his own tongue to explore her mouth and his hands to explore her body. She ran her still blood soaked hands through his hair imagining how it would feel. She felt the pain as he bit her lip returning the injury that she had given him. Her dreams changed and they continued to do so throughout the night.
A violent shiver wracked Ezra's body causing a bolt of pain to be sent through his shoulder. His eyes flew open, the heaviness of his eyelids no longer apparent. He clenched his teeth as his body continued to shake. He felt warm hands trying to hold him still and he looked at the worried faces before him. His hands gripped the sheets beneath him. The pain began to leave as his body finally began to relax. He became aware of the nauseous feeling in his stomach and he thought he was going to be sick again. He rolled over on to his left side and brought his knees up as far as he could thinking that it would stop the feeling that he disliked so much. He closed his eyes and could feel his shoulder protesting in pain at the movement but he ignored it and waited hoping that the sickness would pass. He felt a hand on his forehead and tried to move away from it but it caused both the pain and nausea to worsen and for a moment he thought that he was going to throw up and not have a choice in the matter, he kept his head still and allowed the hand to stay where it was.
"He's feeling a bit warmer." Ezra heard Nathan say to someone. He felt another hand against his throat feeling his pulse. "His heartrate has slowed to." he also heard relief in Nathan's voice.
"When are you going to take the bullet out?" It was Jeans voice this time.
'Bullet, what bullet.' thought Ezra. He wanted to voice the question but they would only force him to drink water and he still felt sick and water would only make him throw up.
"I'll do it in the morning." answered Nathan, he sounded apprehensive though.
The thought of the pain that Nathan would cause him made him moan and when he realised that he made a sound he moaned again knowing that they would now make him drink more water and he did not look forward to it especially if they did it the way they did last time.
"Ezra? You awake?" asked Nathan as he knelt down so he could look into Ezra's pale face.
"No." Ezra did some of his own protesting, if his stomach could do it then so could he.
"Ezra you need to drink some water." Nathan moved his hand from Ezra's forehead down to his arm
"I feel sick Nathan, I don't want any water, I keep telling you that." Ezra mumbled as he was beginning to feel tired again.
"It will make you feel better and you won't feel sick anymore." Nathan wasn't sure if it would make him throw up or not but he needed to get him to drink as he needed the fluids to help him to continue to recover from the shock. He didn't want to do what they did before as he knew that Ezra resented it and it wasn't pleasant for any of them, especially Ezra.
Ezra opened his heavy eyelids and looked into Nathan's brown eyes, he could see Jean standing behind him. "I don't believe you."
"Why won't you drink it Ezra?" Jean came forward and Nathan moved to the side to give her room.
"Because it will make me sick." he told her.
"There is nothing wrong with being sick Ezra. You won't be able to stop it, you need to drink the water. She put her hand under the blanket and took Ezra's hand in hers.
"I can't be sick, it will show how weak I am." Jean saw the look of hurt in his eyes and knew that he was not talking about being physically weak.
"Who told you that?" she asked him.
"Mother." he closed his eyes, he needed to sleep again.
"Could you leave us alone for a while please." Jean asked the room. She waited until Nathan and Chris left. "Ezra would you drink it for me, you know I won't think that of you."
He forced his eyes back open and looked into her eyes and gave into her, he nodded his head. He rolled onto his back and groaned at the pain that went through his shoulder. Jean then helped him sit up and put some pillows behind his back so he could lean back. She then filled a cup with some water that included herbs that Nathan had put in it. She held the cup while Ezra slowly drank the water. He waited a moment thinking that it was going to stay down but his stomach was only trying to fool him. It revolted and brought it all back up again causing his stomach muscles to spasm, it also caused a lot of pain in his shoulder.
"Let's try again Ezra." Jean said soothingly but Ezra shook his head. "Please Ezra just once, if it doesn't stay down we'll leave it till later."
"Promise." he grimaced, the pain had not eased in his shoulder and he knew that if he threw up again the pain would become unbearable.
"Promise." she agreed with him.
Jean helped him drink the water again silently praying that he was able to keep it down and she smiled as the seconds passed and her prayer was answered. She pulled the pillows out from behind Ezra's back and helped ease him back down onto the bed and sat with him for a few minutes until he fell asleep again. She could tell by the feel of her hand against his skin that Nathan was right about him warming up. The shock that his body was suffering from was beginning to ease.
She left the room to talk to the others who had been patiently waiting in the other room. Everyone looked up as she quietly closed the door behind her. "I managed to get him to drink some water, he couldn't hold down the first amount but he was able to keep it down on his second try. He's sleeping now." she smiled at them.
"Good." said Nathan, the relief not only sounding in his voice but also showing on the faces around the room. They were worried as Ezra had not reacted like this to an injury before. Nathan explained to them that the shock was something that could cause his death and that until Ezra improved he was not going to take the bullet out of his shoulder. He then turned to the room.
"I need someone to go to town for me to get some things that I am going to need to remove the bullet from Ezra's shoulder." he looked around the room at the faces that held worried and anxious expressions.
"I'll go." offered Josiah.
"I'll go with you." added Vin. "The rain should let up in a couple of hours, we can go then."
Nathan nodded and then went back into the bedroom to stay with Ezra through the night, Jean followed him into the room as she did not want to leave Ezra's side for to long.
Chris watched as Josiah and Vin rode out to Four Corners after the rain had stopped, they would be back by morning and then Nathan was going to finally take out the bullet that was still lodged in Ezra's shoulder. He went back inside past JD, Buck and Nettie who were discussing something but Chris was not listening. He was to worried about Ezra, all he could think of was how he had always treated him and now Ezra had gone and done something else that proved he was loyal to the group and that they all could trust him with their lives. He would never doubt Ezra again.
He stepped into the room quietly to find Nathan trying to get Ezra to drink some more water. He moved to the side of the room and listened to the argument while allowing a small smile to spread across his face. The arguments between Nathan and Ezra always amused him for some reason.
"Jean will you have a go please as I seem to be wasting my breath." It was Jean that Nathan spoke to but he growled at Ezra who was just lying on the soft bed looking at him with painfilled eyes.
"Ezra you probably won't be sick this time." Jean sat on the bed and took the cup full of water from Nathan who then went and stood next to Chris.
"Most stubborn person I have ever met." he whispered to Chris.
"I still hurt from the last time." Ezra's whisper was even quieter than Nathan's and Jean had to strain her ears to hear him.
"For me Ezra please."
"No." he did it for Jean last time and all he got out of it was a lot of pain that he did not want to go through again.
"Ezra."
"No."
"Nathan will force you to drink it again if he has to." Jean knew that he would but she didn't want to see that happen to Ezra again.
"Let him try." he tried to sound convincing but he did not succeed.
"Ezra please." Jean pleaded with him. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
Ezra smiled at her, but it dropped off as he saw Chris come towards him. "Are you gonna drink that Ezra or am I going to have to force you and you know I will." Chris smiled at him.
"No." but Ezra did not sound so sure any more.
"No you won't drink it or no I won't make you." Chris continued to smile as he was actually enjoying himself even thought he knew that it was a serious situation.
Ezra looked at Chris then at Jean who was standing next to him with a smile on her face and then to Nathan who was also smiling down at him. "Alright already but if I throw up it will be all over you Mr Larabee." Ezra threatened him but he knew that it was an empty threat. Ten minutes later Ezra was asleep again after drinking two cups of water and keeping them both down.
Vin and Josiah rode into Four Corners just after midnight, the streets were deserted and the fires that were lit by the townsfolk were now just smoldering embers. They headed straight to Nathan's room, they tied their horses to the railing at the bottom of the stairs and then made their way up to the room. Nathan had given them a list and told them where to find certain things and once they had collected what he required they returned to their horses.
"Good morning gentlemen." smiled the Judge.
Josiah spun around at the voice and dropped the bag that carried everything that Nathan had requested. "Judge, what are you still doing up?" he was shocked.
"Couldn't sleep so I went for a walk." he looked from one hired gunman to the other. "Where's Mr Standish?"
"He's uh, spending the night at Nettie's with the rest of the guys, and were uh, heading back there now." Vin explained to him, he didn't exactly lie but he wasn't going to tell him the whole truth either.
"Is that true Mr Sanchez?"
"Yes it is Judge. We were helping Nettie with some things and then it started raining so she invited us to stay." Josiah bent down and picked up the bag that he had dropped hoping that the Judge could not tell that he was lying.
"Then why are you here?" He knew they were lying about something but it was obvious that they were not planning on telling him the truth.
"JD cut himself pretty bad and Nathan wanted a few things to fix him up." Said Vin.
"When you return please tell Mr Standish that I know he has not been in town in the last two weeks and I will deal with him when he comes back. And gentlemen make sure that he does return who it will be you that I will speak to." The Judge turned on his heel and went back to his rooms.
Josiah and Vin took one look at each other and then got on their horses and rode back to Netties and on the way back they took wagers on if and how Ezra was going to talk his way out of this one.
Nathan sat quietly in the corner watching Ezra sleep, he couldn't understand why a mother would make her own child feel ashamed of being ill. Now he understood why Ezra would not normally admit to feeling ill or suffering any sort of pain from his wounds and why he always tried so hard to stop him from helping when he was sick or injured.
"Nathan?" Ezra groaned from the bed. Nathan got up quickly and moved to the side of the bed.
"Are you feeling sick again Ezra?"
"No not anymore. I'm sorry Nathan." he tried to roll onto his side to change position as he was getting uncomfortable, he felt Nathan's hands help him roll over.
"For what Ezra?" He was slightly suprised as Ezra did not usually apologise for things that he had done.
"For being a pain in the ass."
"That's alright Ezra, you wouldn't be you if you weren't." this made Ezra laugh and he began to cough causing the pain to rip through his shoulder. "Take it easy Ezra."
"And how do you propose that I do that Mr Jackson?"
"There you go Ezra, being your normal self again." Nathan tried to keep him still as he laughed again.
"Ahg!! Will you stop doing that!" Ezra growled at him.
"Sorry." smiled Nathan. He stayed at his side waiting for Ezra's pain to subside. "Think you could drink some water?"
"Don't start that please."
"Why don't you get some more sleep Ezra, your going to need it in the morning." Nathan watched as he closed his eyes grateful that he didn't have to look upon his painfilled gaze anymore. He placed his hand on his forehead and then cheek feeling that he had returned to his normal body temperature. He hoped that it wouldn't change again after his took the bullet out.
Vin and Josiah arrived back at Nettie Wells farm a few hours before dawn and JD came out to take care of the horses. When they went back inside Nettie gave them each a cup of coffee to warm the bones that would be chilled due to the cold night air. Josiah took his coffee and the bag that they had brought back for Nathan into the room where he knew he would still be. He opened the door and entered the darkened room seeing the still form under the blankets. He could not see Ezra's face in the darkness and was grateful as he did not like to see him so pale and sick.
"How is he?" asked Josiah as he quietly moved to the side of the room towards the figures that were sitting against the wall. He could see three of them outlined in the filtered light of the lamp.
"Better." whispered Nathan. "He has drunk more water and he is back to his normal body temperature." he took the bag that Josiah handed him. "He's sleeping now."
"That's good. Chris we ran into the Judge back in town and he says that he knows Ezra hasn't been there." He could feel Chris's face go hard, you could always feel the tension around Chris, you didn't have to see his face to know what he was thinking or feeling.
"Thanks Josiah." Chris watched as Josiah took his own place against the wall so he could wait with them.
A few minutes later Vin stuck his own head around the door to see how Ezra was doing. "How is he doing?" Vin asked.
"I would be doing a lot better if you people stopped interrupting me." groaned Ezra.
"Ezra's right everyone, why don't you wait outside." Nathan got up and started to usher everyone out of the room. Nathan did not ask Jean to leave as he knew she would refuse to leave. Ezra was asleep again before Nathan even went back to the bed to check on him. He sighed and went back to sit next to Jean.
"Don't you think that you should get some sleep as well Nathan, you will also need your strength for the morning." Jean put her hand on his and squeezed it gently. He nodded to her and leaned back against the wall closing his eyes and he to was asleep within minutes.
Chrisy continued to dream of torturing Chris and having her way with Ezra, the dreams began to interchange and she dreamt of punishing Ezra for stopping her when she tried to kill Larabee, she was inflicting pain upon him and enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She wanted to kiss that mouth but for some reason she was enjoying his screams more. She didn't use a whip as she had with Chris she did different things to Ezra. She first started by breaking some of his fingers as she knew that he was a gambler and that it was one of the worse things that you could to them. She then decided to go all the way and actually cut off his forefinger of his right hand. He really screamed in protest at that one. Christy smiled in her sleep, she really was enjoying her dreams now. Her dreams soon changed back to getting her pleasure from Ezra and she smiled even more at the enjoyment not being able to decide which she enjoyed more. Inflicting pain upon his person and taking enjoyment from his body. She decided that when she finally found him she would try both and then make a decision.
"Chris I want you to lean across his chest so he doesn't move his shoulder about to much and Josiah you lean on his legs. He will probably wake up as soon as we roll him onto his back so be ready." Nathan had woken a couple of hours after dawn to find that there was plenty of light in the room so he decided that after a cup of coffee he would remove the bullet. Chris and Josiah were now in the room and were prepared to follow his instructions. Jean also sat close so she could reassure Ezra, not that she thought he would listen to her under the circumstances.
Nathan and Chris gently rolled Ezra onto his back hearing his groan of protest. His eyelids fluttered open and he saw them leaning over him. "Is there something wrong?" he asked the group. His voice was only a whisper as he was not fully awake or aware of what there intentions may be.
"Nathan has to take the bullet out Ezra." Jean explained to him and she saw his eyes open wide as he understood what they were doing.
"What now?" he growled at them. He was fully awake now and started to struggle causing the pain to erupt in his shoulder. He clenched his teeth against it and felt the weight of Chris Larabee across his chest.
"Yes now Ezra." Chris said back to him and he saw the fear in his eyes, fear of the pain that was to come. If anyone said that they could just clench their teeth and take it they were stupid. He understood Ezra's fear and hoped that Nathan would be as quick as possible.
Ezra moaned through clenched teeth as Nathan probed the two wounds in the front of his shoulder and the one in the back to determine which one on the front would have the bullet in it. After working out the angle he knew which one it was. Nathan then picked up the instrument that he would use to open the wound, Nettie had boiled water for him so he could sterilise the instruments that he would use, he didn't look into Ezra's eyes but instead spread the wound open. He felt Ezra tense up and he then used another instrument to probe the wound causing Ezra even more pain. Ezra turned his head to the side and pressed himself into the bed, he tried to struggle against the pain but he was to weak to fight Chris's and Josiah's weight which was holding him down. He felt someone's hand brush the hair from his forehead and then wipe the sweat that was beginning to form there.
Ezra's moan's became louder as the pain grew worse, he hoped that he would at least blackout soon but he was not so lucky, the pain continued. He could feel Nathan probing around in his shoulder, he could feel it through every nerve ending and they screamed in agony at what was being done to them. He wanted to relax and given in to the pain but it wouldn't let him, he could no longer feel the weight on him or feel the touch on his face as he was now in his own world of pain and it was getting worse with each second.
His shoulder was screaming at him and he couldn't stop the pain. "Nathan!" he managed to say through clenched teeth hoping that he heard him.
"I'm trying to be as quick as I can Ezra." Nathan was having trouble finding the bullet, he hoped that Ezra would have passed out by now but he hadn't. He pulled the wound open even more and heard Ezra voice his pain again, he looked up at his face which was half buried in the pillow and was distorted by the pain.
"Your doing fine Nathan, keep going." Josiah reassured him.
Nathan turned back to the wound, he used a cloth to wipe away the blood which was now flowing freely from the wound and he thought he saw a glint of metal, he moved the instrument towards it and felt it press against something hard, he gripped it and gently pulled. The instrument came out with the bullet clenched between it's tongs, he put in on the side table and then began to clean the wounds. This caused Ezra even more pain.
"Nearly finished Ezra." Once he had cleaned the wounds he had Chris sit Ezra up so he could bandage his shoulder. Ezra still moaned at each touch to his shoulder and even when Nathan had finished and he was laid back down on the bed his shoulder continued to protest against what it had just been put through. Jean continued to wipe the sweat off his face.
"Nathan's finished now Ezra." Jean told him.
"Then why hasn't the pain stopped?" he grimaced through clenched teeth. "And why is everyone still sitting on me?"
Chris and Josiah got up off the bed and left the room to tell the others that Nathan had finished.
"I'll give you something for the pain Ezra but it means that you are going to have to drink some water."
Ezra moaned and reluctantly drunk the mixture that Nathan gave him. "That Mr Jackson is going to make me sick again." after all that pain the last thing Ezra wanted was to be sick.
"It will help you sleep Ezra so you won't have to worry about that for a while." Nathan watched as Ezra's breathing became a steady rhythm as he fell asleep. He pulled the blankets back up over his chest and sat down again in the chair next to Jean and hoped that his condition would continue to improve and not worsen.
Christy kicked Dave's hip hearing him grunt at the interruption. "Get up Dave, were going into town." She walked away intending to saddle her horse, she knew that doing this would cause the wound to open and bleed but she didn't care, the pain would get her through the day as the dreams she had that night had gotten her through the darkness.
"I thought that we were going into Four Corners tonight?" he grumbled at her, not realising the mood that she was in. He heard the gunshot and felt the dirt and grass kick up into his face which was still lying on his right forearm. He quickly sat up and spat out the dirt that had found it's way into his open mouth. He had always slept with his mouth open, it was an old habit that began from an early age.
"I changed my mind, I've got this feeling so we are going now!" she growled at him from her horse. She used both arms to tighten the cinch and grimaced at the pain and then smiled as she enjoyed the ache that stayed in her arm. Once the horse was saddled she mounted it and then sat quietly waiting for Dave to saddle his. She enjoyed watching him hurry and fumble with what he was trying to do. She scared him and she enjoyed doing that, she liked to scare people, especially men. But Larabee and Ezra had not been scared of her, Ezra had only done what she wanted because she threatened the life of his friend. She licked her lips at the thought of Ezra, the taste of his mouth and the blood that she had drawn from his lip. She decided that Dave could catch up to her. She headed off the Four Corners savering each moment that it took to get there.
Ezra jerked awake at the gentle touch of someone's hand against his forehead. He lifted his heavy eyelids to find Nathan watching him. He lifted a weak arm to try and push him away but it fell back to the bed and Nathan's warm hand was still pressed against his head. Jean came towards the bed and replaced Nathan's hand with a cool cloth, he tried to remove it but Jean took his hand and pulled his arm back to the bed which was not hard because he did not have the strength to fight her.
"Nathan," Ezra found it hard to talk through the pain, "remind me never to apologise to you for anything I do again." he noticed how Nathan just nodded at him and not smile at the comment. 'Something is wrong.' Ezra thought to himself but before he could ask the question out loud he was asleep again.
Nathan looked up as he heard the door open and saw Buck sticking his head around the door, they had been taking turns all morning to check on how Ezra was doing. He didn't need to voice the question because everytime a face appeared at the door Nathan told them how he was.
"He's gone back into shock and he now has a fever." Buck nodded and stepped back out from the room closing the door behind him.
Jean sat by the bed and continued to wipe the sweat off Ezra's cool clamy skin while Nathan checked the wound under the bandages, they were still clean and no infection had set in so he hoped that the fever that Ezra was suffering from would not get any worse and would hopefully be gone soon.
Ezra lay quietly in his darkened room, he could hear no sounds around him , no voices, no movement but he could feel everything. He felt the pain in his shoulder and back and it spread through out his whole body causing every part of him to ache. He felt cold and warm at the same time and when the shivers went through him they caused the pain to worsen. He also began to feel sick again, he moaned at the thought.
"Ezra?" Jean called to him softly.
Ezra did not hear her though, all he could think of was the pain and the thought of throwing up again. He moaned a second time and then heard a voice calling him.
"Ezra?" Jean tried again, she could hear him moan in his sleep and they needed to get him to drink some water again so she tried to bring him around. She watched as he pressed his head further into the pillow, a grimace emerging to replace the slack expression that had been on his face for the last two hours. "Ezra?"
Ezra could hear Jean's voice calling him but he had some trouble responding to her, he tried to move but only his head managed to change position, he tried to open his eyes but the lids were to heavy. He felt the pain get worse as he became even more aware of it. He tried to say someting but only a croak came out of his dry throat.
"Come on Ezra wake up." Nathan said to him in a voice that was louder than Jean's. He had moved to the side of the bed and gently shook Ezra's uninjured shoulder.
Ezra finally managed to open his eyes but was confused as to why he could only see out of one of them but he realised that his head was pressed into the pillow, he turned his head but felt the dizziness go through his clouded mind. He blinked trying to focus his sight. His eyelids fluttered closed again.
"Ezra wake up." Nathan shook him again.
Ezra's eye opened again and focused on Nathan. He saw the look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" he croaked.
"I want you to drink something for me." he saw Ezra grimace at the idea. "It will help the pain and your fever." Nathan explained. "Jean pass that cup will you please."
Ezra felt his head being lifted and groaned at the nausea that he felt, he then felt the cup against his dry lips and forced himself to swallow it. He felt it hit his stomanch and knew instantly that it was going to come back up. he struggled to roll onto his side. "Nathan . . ." he didn't finish the sentence as he felt the bile fill his mouth. He felt his stomach muscles spasm and his shoulder scream. When he was finished Nathan helped him back onto the bed. Ezra's face was contorted with pain.
"Let's try it again Ezra." He didn't even have to time to react as his head was lifted again and the water filled his mouth, he swallowed, this time choking on it and he felt his chest constrict in pain as a coughing fit wracked his body. When it finally passed he relaxed back into the bed not realising that he no longer felt the need to be sick, he was soon asleep with Jean and Nathan sitting on the bed by his side.
Christy and Dave stopped on the edge of town, tying their horses to one of the railings in front of the old building that now had floor boards covering it's windows. Christy looked around the mainstreet seeing people continue on with their everyday lives. Christy pulled her hat further down to cover her face and began to walk down towards the saloon where she thought the hired gunmen would be. They kept to the boardwalks using the people who also travelled them to be their cover. They were passing the local newspaper office when she heard Ezra's name mentioned, she pulled Dave to the side and with one facial expression told him not to say anything and she listened to the converstaion and learnt the whereabouts of Ezra Standish and Chris Larabee.
"Standish is out at Nettie Wells farm and has been since yesterday!" the Judge growled at Mary.
"Maybe he has been there for a reason." Mary tried to explain to him.
"Don't defend him Mary, he has gotten you and everyone else to lie for him, to cover his lack of attendance in this town and when he gets back he is going to pay for it."
"Don't be to hard on him Judge, you know what he has been through."
But the Judge wasn't listening. "And the others who are still with him are also going to pay for it, hell I might even put all of them in jail and then let them see what it's like to go against me. They will rule the day when they lied to me."
Christy wasn't listening anymore, she tapped Dave on the shoulder and nodded him towards the direction of the telegraph office that they had already passed earlier. Once they had gotten the information that they required they headed out in the direction of Nettie Wells Farm.
It was Chris who opened the door quietly and showed his face to the room. He saw Ezra still sleeping with Nathan and Jean sitting in the chairs against the wall. Chris walked over to them watching Ezra's white face as he went, he couldn't get over how pale he was. "Why don't you two go and get something to eat, I'll sit with Ezra for a while." He knew it would be hard to get Jean to leave Ezra but she hadn't eaten since last night and he knew that it was because of worry. He hadn't eaten himself because of worry and guilt. It was his fault that Ezra was in this condition.
"I'll stay." Jean did not look up from Ezra's slack face.
Nathan stood up and took Jean's arm and dragged her out of the room. "If you get sick Jean then Ezra will blame me and I am not going to give him an excuse to have a go at me." grumbled Nathan as they left.
"Nathan I don't want to leave him, what if . . . " the closing of the bedroom door shut out the rest of the conversation.
Chris sat down in the chair and watched the gambler sleep. Nathan had come out of the room and told them that he had drunk some more water but apart from that his condition hadn't improved. He leaned back in the chair not taking his eyes off Ezra. He sat that way for a while but then got up when he saw Ezra move under the blankets. He sat down on the bed next to him and waited for him to wake up. He nearly gave up and went back to his chair when Ezra's head rolled to the side and his eyes blinked open. Ezra's eyes continued to blink for a few seconds as he tried to focus on the person sitting next to him. "Chris?"
"Yeah Ezra it's me." he smiled down at him. "How are you feeling?"
"How do you think I feel." Ezra retorted.
"Like hell." Chris stated.
"Worse." Ezra rolled his head back to rest on his shoulder and he closed his eyes again.
Nathan and Jean came back into the room again seeing Chris sitting on the bed. "He awake?" asked Nathan.
"He was a minute ago but I think he's asleep again." Ezra kept quiet and did not prove Chris wrong. "He going to be okay Nathan?" Chris was still worried about him but then that always seemed to be the way with Ezra lately and most of the time he thought that the reason for him being worried was his own fault. Chris blamed himself for a lot of the things that happened to Ezra. He had sat with the others in the other room and watched them as they to worried about him, even Nettie was worried and she didn't particularly like Ezra but Casey seemed to be turning her more towards liking him for the man he was becoming, had become. Casey often told her the things that Ezra had done but she still wasn't sure about him but when Buck told her that Ezra had taken two bullets for Chris she was stunned and had seen him in a new light. This told her that he was not the selfish man that she thought he was, if a man would give his life for someone even though he found it hard to lend someone else money it did not make him a selfish person.
"His shoulder is fine, it hasn't become infected but I am still worried about the shock and fever, neither have improved yet." Nathan answered him. Jean sat back down in the chair and leaned to her right to look around Nathan so she could watch Ezra. She had nibbled on some of the lunch that Nettie had made but she wasn't hungry.
"Is he as bad as he was this morning?"
"No." Nathan sighed as he placed his hand against Ezra's forehead still feeling the heat there. "But if he doesn't improve then he may end up in the same way again."
Ezra was quietly listening to what Nathan was saying, he felt his hand against his face and wanted to move away from the touch but forced his head to stay where it was. He still felt slightly sick but not as bad as he had before, he didn't even feel as tired as he had been and he had finally begun to warm up but it still didn't mean that he wanted to drink water. He wasn't going to do that until he was sure that he would not throw up. He finally felt Nathan's hand leave his head but he felt the blanket being lifted from his shoulder and Nathan gently lift the bandage to check the wound. Ezra couldn't stop the small gasp as it escaped his throat.
"I see you weren't asleep after all Ezra." smiled Chris.
"You know what this means don't you Ezra, more water." Nathan said to him.
"Next time." Ezra opened his eyes and looked directly at Jean who was sitting across from him.
"If you don't drink it Ezra there may not be a next time." Nathan explained to him. Ezra looked at him with a questioning expression on his pain lined face. "We nearly lost you this morning Ezra." The questioning look stayed on his face. "You went back into a state of shock not long after I took the bullet out but it was a lot worse than before." Nathan looked into Ezra's eyes seeing the pain that he had caused still there. "I'm sorry Ezra, I should have waited."
"It is not your fault Nathan, you did what you had to do, I feel better now if that helps." Ezra tried to smile to reassure him but couldn't manage it.
"No it is not your fault Nathan, it's mine."
"And why do you assume that Mr Larabee?" Chris looked at him but he saw that his eyes were closed again.
"Because Ezra those bullets were meant for me." Chris stated simply.
"Perhaps you should be blaming the person who pulled the trigger." Ezra told him. He opened his eyes again and stared at Chris. "It was not your fault either, you didn't push me in front of that bullet, it was my own choice to do what I did." Ezra left it at that as he knew it was hard to convince Chris that he was wrong when it came to blaming himself for what happened.
"You gonna drink this water Ezra?" Nathan had an expression of determination on his face and after what he had told him he thought that he better do as he was told. He nodded and allowed them to help him sit up and help him drink the water. They laid him back down again and he waited for it to threaten to come back up. But it didn't. He closed his eyes and this time he did sleep.
Christy brought her horse to a stop at the edge of the trees and dismounted her horse, Dave followed her as she hid herself behind one of the trees. They both stared at the house in the distance knowing that the men she was after were in there. All she needed was a plan to get past their friends and to keep them away while she killed Larabee and spent some time with Ezra. She turned her gaze towards the barn near the house and thought of a plan to get them out of the house.
When Ezra woke again later in the afternoon his fever had finally broken and his body temperature was nearly back to normal, he found it easier to open his eyes as they no longer felt heavy but the pain in his shoulder continued to make a noise. Although it no longer screamed at him it did continue to yell, it had become very stiff and he had difficulty moving his arm so when he tried to push himself up into a seated position he had to do it with one arm, that was until Jean came over to help.
"Ezra why don't you wait for me to help you." she chided him.
"Because Jean I do not wish to be a burden." he grimaced at the pain as his shoulder decided to let out a scream. The effort caused the sweat to form in droplets on his forehead and they slowly began to fall down his face. Jean quickly used a cloth to wipe it away.
"Ezra I am not your mother, you don't have to be stubborn about this. Your sick and injured, you need help." She replaced the cloth with her hand and gently wiped his cheek while looking into his eyes. "Let me and the others help you."
"I'll think about it." he smiled at her but Jean did not see the humour in the situation.
"Ezra Standish, if you were not already injured I would hurt you myself!" Jean got up and left the room slamming the door behind her.
The door opened again a few seconds later and Nathan walked in to see the stunned expression on Ezra's face. "What was that about Ezra?" he moved to the bed and tried to feel Ezra's forehead but Ezra weakly pushed his arm away. Nathan forcefully put it back. "Your fever has finally broken." he smiled.
"Good perhaps you can stop touching my head." Ezra grimaced at him.
"You still haven't told me why Jean is so angry at you." Nathan sat on the bed where everyone else had also sat throughout the day when they wanted to spend time with Ezra. They had known that he would be asleep but they wanted to sit with him just in case.
"She thinks I'm stubborn." Ezra muttered knowing that Nathan was going to agree which he did.
"You are and you don't have to be Ezra, were you friends, you don't need to feel embarrased about anything."
Ezra's mood darkened. "Try telling my mother that."
"Your mother isn't here Ezra." Nathan could tell that talking about this hurt him so he tried to change the subject. "Nettie says that you can stay here a couple of weeks until . . ."
"A couple of weeks, you have got to be kidding. That woman does not even like me." Ezra interrupted him, there was no way he was going to stay here that long. As soon as everyone left he would follow them.
"There you go again Ezra thinking that people don't like you." Nathan didn't like to hear Ezra put himself down like that, it actually made him angry to think that he had no self worth. He always seemed to exude confidence and yet sometimes he gave you reason to think that it was all an act and that deep down he needed the assurance that he was worth something, that he was liked and needed by people. "Nettie is quite impressed by what you did for Chris, we all are."
"Yes well none of you should be." Ezra looked away from Nathan.
"Alright Ezra I won't make you stay that long, why don't we wait a few days and then if I think you can travel to Four Corners then you can go home." Nathan got up from the bed. "Oh and it will also give you the chance to work out what your going to say to Judge Travis as he found out you haven't been in town." Nathan could not help but laugh at Ezra's expression. "Now I am going to get you something to eat, a bit of soup which you should be able to keep down."
"And if I was to tell you that I wasn't hungry." Ezra asked him a little to harshly.
"Then we would have to force you to eat it and you know what that will involve." Nathan said firmly.
"Oh great!" Ezra leant his head against the bedhead as he could no longer hold his head upright. He closed his eyes and hoped that he fell asleep before Nathan came back but the cry of fire stopped him from doing so.
Christy had waited until later in the afternoon and both she and Dave slowly crept towards the barn. If they heard gunshots then they would know that they had been seen but it there was no response then they would be able to carry out her plan. Dave headed towards the barn while Christy crept to the side of the house. The second window that she looked into showed her where Ezra was and that he was still alive. 'Good.' she thought as she could now still have her fun with him.
She found her way around the back of the house and waited for Dave to complete his part of the plan. She dindn't have to wait long, after a few minutes the smoke was already starting to float out of the barn doors. After another few minutes she heard someone yelling out fire. She watched from the corner of the house as eight people ran out to the barn. It seems that no one thought that it was a diversion. Christy moved quickly around the other side of the house and made her way through the front door and head to the room that she knew Ezra was in.
JD walked onto the porch to get a bit of fresh air and to stretch his legs, they had all stayed in the main room of the house not wanting to go anywhere until they were sure Ezra was going to be alright. He had given them all quite a scare that morning when he had almost died. Nathan had said that his heartbeat was so rapid that it migh cause him to have a heart attack, it was a very frightening three hours that they all had to wait. He looked over to the barn and saw the smoke.
"FIRE!" he yelled out. "FIRE!" he didn't wait until the others came out as he knew where Nettie kept the buckets. He ran into the barn and collected the four buckets that were kept just inside the door and ran to the well. The others ran out to see the barn on fire, they didn't think twice, even Jean and Nettie joined in on the fight against the fire. No one stopped to think about staying with Ezra.
Christy made her way into the room to find Ezra struggling to sit up. "Why don't you just make yourself comfortable there Ezra while we have a bit of fun." Christy smiled. She had him alone and all to herself.
Ezra's head spund around a little to quickly and he felt the dizziness threaten to take him. But it passed. "Good lord." he groaned.
"He's not going to help you Ezra." Ezra could not help notice that her eyes were green.
Ezra did not bother to call out as he knew that there was no one in the house, Christy would not have been able to get to this room if there was. He watched as she moved closer to the bed, she had her gun drawn and was pointing it at him. He noticed that she was favouring her left arm. He collapsed back onto the bed as the struggle to get out of it had weakened him even more that he was, he would be to weak to even fight this women. Christy reached the side of the bed and sat down.
Using her injured arm she slapped Ezra across the side of the face snapping his head back against the bed head. "That was to show you that I can still use this arm." she transferred the gun to her left arm, the pain making her enjoy herself even more.
Ezra winced at both the pain that he felt as his head hit against the wood and the nausea that had returned to his stomach. "What are you going to do?" Ezra thought that if he could stall her long enough the others might realise that he was in here on his own and they would send someone in to see how he was. He just hoped that it wasn't Jean. He didn't want her hurt.
"I told you Ezra, I'm going to have some fun. I have a decision to make." she smiled at the confusion on Ezra's face. She was really enjoying herself now. Ezra was still sitting up so she did not have to lean to far forward and as she moved closer to him Christy place her gun against his side. "If you do anything stupid I will shoot you." she whispered in his ear and then gently kissed it feeling how soft his skin was against her lips.
Ezra looked into her eyes as she drew her head back and knew that she would do what she said. He could see it in her eyes, she felt no fear, just by looking into her eyes he was able to see into her soul and he knew that she had become crazy and now he was alone with her and he was to weak to defend himself. She leaned forward again this time moving closer to his face, she ran her tongue along his dry lips. Ezra turned his head away from her but she gripped his jaw in her hand as she had done before and roughly turned his handsome face back to her.
Christy squeezed Ezra's jaw harder enjoying the grimace that crossed his features she continued to put pressure on Ezra's jaw forcing his mouth to open. Her kisses were soft at first but then she began to be more forceful, she felt Ezra's lips soften from the moisture of her own mouth. She used her tongue to explore his mouth, running her tongue along his teeth, feeling the gold tooth. She could also feel him struggle against her grip so she pressed the gun harder against his ribs feeling him try to move away from that as well. She nibble against the healing split in his lip and bit into it causing the healing scab to break open and it began to bleed slightly. She started to suck on it tasting the blood.
Ezra was finally able to bring his arms up, the weakness he felt making it difficult and he tried to push her off him but he didn't have the strength, so he tried to move his head away but she had just pressed the gun harder into his ribs causing another pain to join the others. He felt her tongue in his mouth, pressing against his own and he felt the pain as she bit his lip again, hated this, he felt so helpless that this woman could do this to him and he couldn't stop her. Ezra decided to use his own teeth and bit her back.
Christy gave out a little cry and sat back drawing her face away from Ezra's. She put her hand against her mouth and when she looked at it she saw the blood. 'Just like in my dream.' she used her thumb to wipe the blood from Ezra's mouth. He winced as she pressed against his lip. "Well Ezra I would say that I enjoyed that very much. Now why don't we try it the other way and see if I enjoy that more."
"Try what?" he asked her. He was trying to stall her again. He could here the shouts coming from outside as the other hired gunmen and two women tried to stop the fire and he began to wonder if they would come back in time. He could not allow himself to think that this woman was going to kill him while his friends were outside.
"Patience Ezra, I will show you in a minute." she slowly pulled the blankets down to his waist and ran her fingers along his chest admiring the strong muscles that had developed there. Ezra shivered against the cold and the touch. "Are my hands cold Ezra?" she asked him but Ezra didn't answer her. Christy's fingers crept up towards the bandage that was wrapped around Ezra's shoulder. She pressed gently at first and heard Ezra's quick intake of breath. "Does that hurt?"
"Why don't you just do it and get it over with." Ezra growled at her. God he hated this, why did he have to be so weak, he was unable to defend himself.
"Your friends are taking a long time to put out that fire don't you think?" she waited for a response but did not get one. "Dave should start picking them off one by one." She watched as Ezra's expression turned from anger to fear for his friends. "Except for Larabee that is because he is mine. And he will come in here when he hears you start screaming." she watched as Ezra's face changed again. "Has anybody told you have wonderful facial expressions?"
"Huh?" Ezra was really beginning to become confused now, she seemed to be changing all the time. First screaming then facial expression.s
"I said . . Oh never mind, it's not like we have a future together or anyhthing like that." she pressed harder into his shoulder. This was the other thing that she need to do before she made a decision.
Ezra clenched his teeth against the pain and knew their was going to be alot more. He lifted his arm up to try and push her away but Christy easily pushed his arm back down. She pressed even harder and enjoyed the pain that now crossed Ezra face, distorting his handsome features. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were squeezed shut against the pain. Christy let up on the pressure a bit, but only a bit. He opened his eyes and she could see the pain in them. She pressed her fingers into the two wounds and Ezra could not keep the scream from escaping. Christy laughed. It was going to be hard to make her decision.
Chris stopped what he was doing and turned around, he thought he heard a scream. He turned to see Vin looking in the direction of the house as well. "Shit, Ezra." he dropped his bucket and started to run towards the house but halted in his tracks when he heard the gunshot and felt it's breath against his face.
"It came from the front of the house." Vin told him as he ran back into the barn which was not longer threatening to burn down.
"Christy must be in there with Ezra." Chris growled. He felt stupid for not realising that this was a set up. There may be only one or two gunmen but he had them pinned down. The only thing they could do was draw the person's fire and hope that they showed themselves. They heard another scream come from the house.
"Chris you have to do something!" Jean said to him.
"I am going to draw their fire, if they show themselves shoot them." Chris got up and went to the door, he took and deep breath and then began to run to the back of the house. He heard a gunshot and expected the bullet to hit him but it didn't so he continued to run. He reached the back of the house and made his way to the door. He opened it quietly and stepped inside. He kept his gun in front of him as he opened the door to the bedroom that Ezra was in. He thought that he would have the element of surprise but Christy was waiting for him. She was sitting on the bed next to Ezra with her gun pressed against his left temple.
"Well Mr Larabee, so nice of you to join us." Christy smiled at Chris. Once Ezra had screamed out in pain she knew that it would only be a matter of minutes before he came in looking for Ezra. "I'm sorry Ezra can't welcome you, he's a bit indisposed at the moment." She nudged Ezra's head to the side but it fell back against her gun. "He's unconscious, couldn't take the pain I guess."
"What did you do to him?" Chris could see that Ezra's shoulder was bleeding again, he could see the blood soaking the bandage and the bed sheet beneath his shoulder. He decided at that instant that he was not going to kill her, that the punishment that would best suit her would be to go back to jail. He smiled his coldest smile.
"Perhaps I can show you." she used her free hand and pressed her fingers into Ezra's shoulder for the third time. He jerked awake the scream held behind clenched teeth.
"Let him go!" Chris yelled at her.
Christy's fingers continued to apply pressure against Ezra's shoulder but she released her grip just as she thought he was about to pass out again. "Ezra dear we have a guest." she took a handful of hair and pulled his head back. Ezra cried out as the jerk caused the pain to flash through his shoulder.
"I said let him go!" Chris told her again but he was wasting his time as she seemed to have not intention of stopping what she was doing. He had to do something or else she would end up killing him and he couldn't allow that to happen. "If you don't let him go I will shoot you." he warned her.
"Shoot me all you want Larabee, it will only mean that Ezra here," she pulled his head back as far as it would go before he hit the bed head, "will die with me."
"I didn't say I was going to kill you." Chris explained his intentions in more detail. "I am going to let you live so you can go back to jail."
Ezra felt the grip loosen so he pulled his head away from Christy's hand. He could feel the darkness threatening to take him away but he had to hold it off so he could help Chris. He looked at Chris trying to show him the condfidence that he knew he didn't have but if he could make Chris see it then he would think that he could help him and he wouldn't hesitate to try and stp her before she killed either of them. He winced as he felt the gun press harder against his head. "Chris would you just shoot her." he muttered. Ezra felt the fist as it slammed into his shoulder and he cried out. He tried to double over but Christy just pushed him back against the bed causing his head to hit the bed head. Ezra blacked out again, his head falling against his shoulder.
"Sorry." Christy apologised.
Chris stepped towards her raising his gun to her chest. Christy knew that if she mad him mad enough that he would kill her, she wasn't going to go back to jail. And she was going to take one of them with her. It would have to be Ezra because if she turned her gun towards Chris then she would give him the opportunity to shoot and he would have plenty of time to aim.
"It's me you really want so leave him alone." Chris growled at her.
"But I seem to be having more fun with Ezra." she smiled and tried to proved her point by squeezing Ezra's shoulder but she did not get the same sort of response. Ezra rolled his head and groaned at the touch. She was dissapointed. "Well I was. He's not doing to well is he?" she asked Chris.
Chris was scared for Ezra, he had to do something and he had to do it now. Christy did not have her gun actually pressed against Ezra's skull anymore, there was a gap and he noticed that when Ezra's head rolled it moved away from the gun so if it went off the bullet would miss, he hoped. "Looks like Ezra is doing okay to me, he's very stubborn you know."
"We will just see about that." She hit Ezra in the shoulder again and he grimaced at the pain and rolled his head again. Chris grimaced with him but also pulled the trigger at the same time, the bullet hitting Christy in the right shoulder slamming her against the wall. But her relfexes also took control and her gun also fired, Chris watched in horror as Ezra was flung onto his side and the blood flowed from his head wound.
Vin had watched as Chris made it to the back of the house, he hoped that he could get to Ezra and take care of the woman that they were afraid was with Ezra. He turned his attention back to the front of the house. Whoever had been there was no longer firing but he couldn't be sure if the man was biding his time or if they had shot him. They did not have enough cover to leave the building to find out, he couldn't risk himself or one of the others being shot. That was until he heard the two gunshots coming from the house.
"Vin do something!" Jean yelled at him. She was upset and angry, Ezra couldn't die, she had been angry at him and walked out of the room, she didn't want that to be their last moment together. She did not want him to die thinking that she was angry.
"We'll split into two groups, Nathan, Josiah, JD you head to the back of the house while Buck and I got to the front. Jean, Nettie once we reach the house then you can follow but not before." Vin told everyone, he was worried sick himself now. Two gunshots could either mean Chris and Ezra were dead or Christy and one of them were dead. He didn't wait any longer to find out. "Let's go." he ran out of the barn with the other four gunmen following and then they split up. He ran to the front of the house with Buck following, he expected to hear the gunshot as he ran but there was none. He reached the house with Buck close behind to find Dave lying on the porch with a bullet in his arm and his head bleeding. The bullet must have knocked him to the ground where he hit his head. They then ran into the house and went straight to the room, he heard the others coming through the back door. Vin and Buck stepped into the room.
"Where's Nathan!" Chris yelled at them. He was holding Ezra in his arms rocking him back and forth. "Someone get Nathan!"
Nathan had heard Chris yelling for him and he ran to the bedroom with Josiah and JD running behind him. He ran into the room straight into the backs of Vin and Buck, he pushed them aside. He could see Chris sitting on the bed with Ezra in his arms. He could see how limp Ezra was, the blood was flowing freely from a head wound. He quickly moved the bed and tried to take Ezra from Chris.
"Chris let me take him." Chris held on. "Please let him go."
"I killed him Nathan." He whispered.
"Chris let me check him." Nathan turned to Vin and Buck, they moved to the bed. Buck pulled Chris away and Vin helped Nathan lay Ezra back down on the bed. He could see the whiteness of Ezra's face, the blood standing out against the paleness of his skin. He quietly stepped back and waited to see if what Chris had said was true.
Jean and Nettie came into the room to see the same sight that everyone else had seen. Nettie stood back with the others while Jean ran to the bed. She grabbed Ezra's left hand and used her right hand to wipe the already damp hair from his forehead, she feel that his skin was cool. She looked up at Nathan and waited for an answer with everyone else.
Nathan was feeling for a pulse in Ezra's neck, he could feel one but it was rapid and weak. Because he hadn't fully recovered from the shock his body found it easy to shut itself down again. He grabbed one of the bandages from the table beside the bed and pressed it against the bleeding wound and looked up at Jean and then the others.
"There is a pulse but it's weak and rapid." He looked back at Ezra and said no more. Chris sighed with relief but the worry and guilt did not lessen any.
The five gunmen knew what that meant, another waiting game for both Ezra and themselves. They were going to go through the same thing as they had after Nathan had taken out the bullet. Ezra had gone into shock again and it was going to be touch and go again as to wether he was going to get through it.
Josiah took JD's arm and led him towards Christy. "JD why don't we take this woman into the other room."
"There's another one on the porch." Vin told him.
Josiah nodded. He and JD lifted Christy and took her into the main room. While JD tied her hands he brought the other man in and together they roughly took care of their wounds. Once they had done that and were satisfied they were not going to die they returned to the room to see how Ezra was doing.
Nathan had finally managed to stop the bleeding, he wasn't sure if Ezra would make it this time, he had lost a lot of blood through these injuries and a body could only loose so much. Once he had cleaned the wound he gathered the things he would need to stitch it as the graze was deep, although it was not as bad as the last gunshot wound to the head that he had recieved a few months ago it was bad enough on top of what he had already suffered from.
Once he had finished stitching the wound he took care of Ezra's shoulder. The bleeding had already stopped so it was only a matter of cleaning it again and putting a new bandage around the shoulder. When he finished he sat down on the side of the bed. Jean stayed on Ezra's other side and the rest of the men found their own places in the room. Nettie went and made plenty of coffee. The waiting game had begun again.
Nathan had pulled the blankets up to Ezra's chin to try and keep in any warmth that he had left in his body and he knew that it would not be much. Ezra's breathing had become rapid and his heartbeat was still fast. It was just like before, he continued to wait with the others in the room. They had heard Christy scream out to them a few times but they ignored her. She couldn't have been in such bad shape as she had used a lot of profanities. She also continued to threaten to kill Chris and Ezra if he wasn't already dead.
After a couple of hours Ezra developed a fever and he went downhill from there. Between the shock and the fever Ezra's body was finding it hard to fight. He had become colder and his pulse weaker. This time they all knew he was going to die. Chris was not coping at all. He was going into his own state of shock, he had killed his friend. He sat in the corner watching Ezra thinking that it would only be a matter of time before his friend died because of a something he did. He wouldn't be able to go on knowing that he had caused another death. He would climb into the bottle again and stay there until it had taken him as well.
Nathan held onto Ezra's wrist feeling his weak pulse waiting for the final heartbeat. He could feel the heat of the fever and the cool claminess of his skin. There was nothing more he could for him and he hated himself for that. He should have been able to keep him alive. He didn't think that it would be much longer now.
Ezra was back in the dark place again but this time there was something different, it was still cold and he still felt sick but there was something . . . It wasn't just his mind that was there, his body was also there now. He could no longer feel any sort of pain but he felt scared, he didn't know what was going on. He could hear people whispering around him and he knew that it wasn't any of his friends. Ezra felt as though he was being pulled somewhere but he didn't want to go, he sat down where he was and pulled his knees up under his chin and ignored the voices. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye but when he looked there was nothing there. He was really becoming scared now.
The whispers were becoming louder and he heard his name being called, he didn't know who was calling him, he didn't want to go with them, he wanted to go home. 'Nathan.' he began to call. 'Chris'. He stood up again and started to walk aound the darkness. 'Jean'! he yelled. 'Buck'! There was no answer. '!Anybody, you guys can't leave me here!' He yelled out. 'I'm not going to let you leave me here, my mother always did that and I am not going to let it happen with you.' He screamed into the darkness. 'I won't let you!' Ezra allowed his stubborness to come through and fight for him. He wasn't going to be left alone in this darkness.
Another few hours had passed and it had begun to darken in the room. Nettie had brought in some more lamps so there was plenty of light in the room. She kept glancing at Ezra on her way around the room noticing how his face seemed to be paler than the pillow. Nathan was still sitting on the bed with Ezra and Jean was also still on the other side, neither had moved. She offered food but everyone had refused.
Nathan thought he was imagining things, he had to be. He looked across at Jean to see if she felt it too. The smile on her face said she did. "Ezra's pulse just got stronger." He placed his hand on his forehead still feeling the heat of the fever but also thought that his skin was not as clammy as it had been. "I think he's coming out of the shock." He laughed, he couldn't help himself.
"So he's going to be okay?" Chris asked not wanting to be happy about what Nathan had said unless he was sure about it.
"The shock is what I was worried about and he's coming out of it so he's going to be okay."
"What about the fever and the head wound?" Chris wanted to believe him.
"The fever would be from the head wound, it will eventually leave him as well, the injury to the head will give him a bad concussion so he is going to throw up a lot again." He smiled. Even though he was still worried about the fever and head wound he thought that Ezra would be alright. He had to be. The blood loss and shock had been the worst of it.
"Your sure?" Chris still doubted him.
"Chris he's going to be fine now." Jean smiled at him. Chris smiled back, Jean wouldn't have smiled if she thought that Ezra was still in danger.
Ezra could tell that the darkenss was fading, it seemed to be getting lighter around him. The voices suddenly stopped and new ones replaced them, familiar ones. People that he knew, friends that he knew he now had. Friends that would do anything for him as he would for them. Maybe he was pushing that, they certainly wouldn't help him pull a con unless it was to help someone. The light continued to grow stronger and the voices louder. He tried his own. "Nathan." It came out as a hoarse whisper.
"I'm here Ezra. Your going to be okay now. Do you hear me Ezra?" The darkness was coming back.
"Nathan I don't want to go back, don't let them take me." Ezra muttered as he fell back to sleep.
He sat in the darkness again expecting to hear the voices calling for him but they didn't. He did though feel the pain and the sickness calling him. He wasn't scared anymore as he knew he would not feel these things if he was dead. He didn't know how long he spent in the darkness again before the light and voices came back. He tried moving this time and before he could try his voice he felt his head lifted and the water that was poured into his mouth. He then felt the bile coming back up in protest. More water filled his mouth and when it stayed down his head was placed back on the pillow. He went back into the darkness.
The tension had left the room once they knew Ezra was going to be okay, it was only going to be a matter of time. It was decided that Josiah, Vin and JD would take the prisoners back to town and inform Judge Travis what had happened. Nathan had still been sitting with Ezra when he heard him whisper his name and then something about not wanting to go back.
"Nathan don't you find it strange that everytime he is awake he doesn't want you doing anything to him but when he's waking up your usally the first person he asks for?" asked Chris.
"Yeah I did." Nathan was glad of that, it's what made it easier for him to deal with Ezra when he was awake.
"Maybe he thinks of you as a motherly figure." Buck laughed.
"I'll tell him you said that when he is more coherent." Stated Nathan seriously.
Buck stopped laughing, now he was worried. "You wouldn't?"
Nathan saw Ezra move and he grabbed the cup of water and then lifted his head and poured the water into his mouth. He knew that Ezra would be to weak to fight him. Jean was ready with the bucket in case he threw up which he promptly did and Nathan then poured more water into his mouth and waited a moment. When nothing happened he laid his head back down.
When Ezra next woke he was able to open his eyes and he looked around the room to find most of his friends sleeping. Chris and Nathan were the only ones awake. Even Jean was asleep. "Ezra?" He looked up at Nathan and tried to focus but his vision was a bit blurry. "How many fingers do you see?" Nathan asked him as he held up one finger.
"Two." Answered Ezra.
"Want to bet on that Ezra. You loose and you have to drink some water, I loose and you have to drink some water."
"Nathan, humour does not work with you." grimaced Ezra.
"Either way Ezra you are going to drink some water." Ezra didn't argue with him.
After another few hours had passed Ezra's fever had broken and he slept through the rest of the night until late morning. Jean had sent Nathan and Chris out of the room to get some rest and something to eat. Ezra stretched himself trying to get some of the stiffness out of his muscles but stopped when his shoulder and skull both screamed in protest.
"So Ezra, do you think that there will ever be a time where we can spend some time together without you getting hurt?" she asked him as she helped him drink some water.
Ezra was about to answer her when Buck stuck his head around the corner. "Good your awake, you have a visitor." He smiled his most wicked smile not realising at the time that it was going to effect him and the others as well as Ezra.
"Who?" Ezra asked. He wasn't sure if he could stay awake long enough to talk to anyone and he had no idea who it would be.
"Me." Said Judge Travis as he pushed Buck out of the way and made his way into the room.
"Good lord." groaned Ezra.
"No two ways about it Mr Standish." The Judge answered Ezra's comment and smiled at the man lying on the bed who had seemed to have paled even more after he entered the room. He saw the bandage that was wrapped around both his shoulder and his forehead. He stepped closer to the bed. "Now do you have an explanation for me in regards to leaving town when I told you not to."
Ezra's wall flew up around himself, this man had managed to get him to talk once but he wasn't going to allow him do it again. Ezra didn't know why but he continued to treat the Judge the same way as he had before. He had finally allowed his friends to get closer to him but he was not ready to allow anyone else to break through his wall yet, especially the man who had threatened to put him in jail if he left town. Ezra felt his eyelids becoming heavy again, he needed to sleep and the last thing he wanted was to argue with the Judge.
"No." Was his simple reply. He made his way back down into the bed as though he wanted to get away from the Judge. He grimaced at the pain that it caused to his shoulder.
"We are not going to start that again are we Ezra?" The Judge had begun to think that maybe he should have waited a bit longer before speaking to Ezra. When Josiah had approached him in the Clarion he told him what had happened to Ezra and that he had been near death on two occasions due to his wounds. The Judge had doubted him until he walked out onto the porch and saw Vin and JD taking the two prisoners into the jail. The woman had been screaming at JD and throwing abuse at him, threatening that she would come back and finish the job that she had started. She seemed quite mad to him. He had ridden back to the Well's property with them so he could see Ezra for himself and then get some answers from him as to why he had not been in town. He was shocked at the sight of Ezra as he lay in the bed when he entered the room but he hid it behind a smile.
Ezra watched the Judge as he stood by his bedside. The Judge was staring at him, taking in his appearance and his wounds. Ezra turned and looked at Jean as a way out of this predicament. He had told her what had happen with the Judge and the ultimatum he had given him. He turned back to the Judge.
"Yes we are. But I'm to tired to go through this now." Ezra told him and waited for Jean to resuce him as he knew the Judge would continue to question him.
Jean had seen the pleading look in Ezra's green eyes and knew what he wanted. She place her hand on his arm and squeezed it gently reassuring him that she was here for him. She stood up and made her way around to the other side of the bed.
"Judge Travis." She smiled up at him. "Can you do this later? Ezra is really tired and he needs his rest." She took his arm and began to lead him out of the room. The Judge turned back though and looked Ezra in the eye seeing him flinch back from his stare.
"I'm not going anywhere Mr Standish and when you are capable of it we are going to have a chat." He smiled and then allowed Jean to walk him out of the room and into the main room where the others were waiting. She returned to find Ezra asleep.
The six hired gunmen looked at the Judge waiting to find out if Ezra had managed to talk his way out of things like he usually did. They knew it would be harder to do with the Judge but they would not put it past him. Neither of them spoke and a heavy silence filled the room.
"Well?" The Judge asked them.
"Well what?" Buck asked back and regretted it instantly when the Judge turned his glare in his direction.
"I would like an explanation as to why you gentlemen allowed Mr Standish to leave town." He looked at each man in turn grateful that they finally stood by their friend but they were still going to pay for disobeying his orders and he knew the perfect punishment for all of them, including Ezra. He just wanted to hear what they had to say before he told them what he was going to do. He was lookng forward to their reactions.
"I was the one who allowed him to leave." Chris spoke up.
"Why?"
"Because I owed it to him, he needed some time to get himself back together and to talk to someone." Chris explained knowing that the Judge would not accept it.
"And who's decision was it to cover his absence?"
"We all agreed to do that." Vin told him. He wasn't going to let Chris take all the blame for what happened.
"Well then I believe you that you have partnered Mr Standish in his crime and therefore should also be punished for that crime." He watched as they all stared at him to shocked to make any arguments at this time but he was sure they would start once they knew what they had to do. "I will of course finish speaking with Mr Standish and then I will inform you gentlemen of what it is I want you to do." He smiled and walked back into the bedroom leaving them to question each as to what it was he had in mind.
He entered the bedroom thinking that Ezra would still be awake but found him to be sleeping heavily on his left side facing the woman who was sitting with him. He quietly moved over to the chair and sat down. He glanced at the woman beside him and could see the concern that lined her beautiful face.
Jean turned to the Judge when she realised he was watching her. She smiled at him. "I'm sorry I rushed you out like that Judge Travis but Ezra did need to rest, he's been through quite a lot and he is going to need plenty of time and rest to recover." She nodded at Ezra to emphasis her point.
"And I will make sure that he get's that time and rest . . ." He left the statement hanging in the air waiting for her to tell him her name. In all the confusion that had happened no one had told him who this woman was.
"Jean. I'm the reason that Ezra left Four Corners. I sent him a telegram asking for his help. He was the only person who could help me, I asked him not to tell the others as the situation was embarrasing for me." She lied.
"My Dear, I am a Judge, it is my job to know when people are lying." He held up a hand to stop her protests. "It's quite alright." He reassured her. "I am actually glad that Mr Standish now has friends who will defend him like this. It's the first time it has happened as far as I know." He looked at Ezra's slack face as his slept. "And I am sure that he will be grateful for what everyone has tried to do for him."
Jean smiled and turned back to watch Ezra. "I am sure that he is." She agreed with him.
They both sat back in their chairs and watched Ezra sleep. Jean knew that the Judge was right about his friends, they had backed him all the way and will take what ever punishment the Judge gave them, she just hoped that he would not put Ezra in jail like he said he would. The Judge watched Ezra closely noticing that his sleep was calm and hoped that his nightmares had finally left him. He watched and waited for Ezra to wake up.
Ezra woke with a moan escaping his lips as he tried to stretch his body to get the cramps that had started to form out of his muscles. He stopped and waited for the pain in his shoulder to subside. He opened his eyes and blinked at the darkness, he must have slept into the night. He looked around the room but could not make out any figures in the darkness. If someone was there they must have been asleep. He took the opportunity to get out the bed that he had spent the last few days in. He couldn't see any clothes in the dark so he would wrap a blanket around himself. He tried sitting up first and had to wait a few moments for the dizziness to pass, he then carefully swung his legs out of the bed and waited another couple of minutes. He kept expecting someone to come in and force him back into the bed, well if they did they would get a mouthfull for their troubles. He pulled the blanket around himself and stood up then quickly grabbed the bedpost so he wouldn't fall. Once the nausea had passed he took a deep breath and headed to the door.
Everyone looked up from their dinner when they heard the bedroom door open and watched as Ezra made his way to an unoccupied chair but Nathan was up and taking his arm before he could get to it. Ezra shrugged him off and continued to the chair and sat down heavily wincing at the pain in his shoulder. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a moment knowing that everyone else's eyes were on him. After a couple of minutes he brought his head forward and looked around the room at everyone and Nathan who was standing over him.
"Is any of that food for me." Ezra asked as he realised he was feeling hungry. Jean smiled and got up and went to the kitchen to get him a plate. When she returned to the room she couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ezra slapping Nathan's arm away.
"Ezra let me help you back to the bedroom and I'll get some food for you." Nathan was trying to grab Ezra's arm but he was not having any success. He scowled around the room at the others but they were not ready to help him, they could see the expression on Ezra's face. He wasn't intending on going anywhere yet.
"I've spent to much time in that bed." Ezra growled. He looked at the Judge and wondered why he had that big smile on his face. "Something funny Judge Travis?"
"Not yet." The Judge answered him. He smiled even more as Ezra frowned at him. The colour was beginning to return to the pale face that he had watched sleep. It was now time for the punishment. He was going to really enjoy this. "Now how about that explanation that you were going to give me yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Ezra's face showed the confusion that he felt.
"You have been asleep since yesterday morning Ezra." Nathan explained to him.
"Yesterday?" Ezra repeated. Jean came over then and placed a plate of food in his hand. He looked down and saw the soft vegetables and looked up at her.
"No meat yet Ezra." She smiled at him. Jean was going to enjoy herself to as the Judge had told her what he had planned for Ezra and his friends. Ezra knew that smile.
"Is there something going on that I don't know about?" He asked her but Jean just smiled back down at him so he looked around the room for an answer, the frown on his handsome features showing that he was quickly returning to his normal self.
"Don't look at us Ezra, we don't know either. They have been walking around all day with those smiles." Buck answered his questioning look.
"I am waiting Ezra." The Judge informed him.
Ezra looked back at him then around the room at the others again asking for their help and then back down at his plate. He wasn't hungry anymore so he put the plate down. The Judge saw this and hesitated a moment but thought that it would be best to get it out of the way. He was sure that Ezra would see the funny side of it afterwards.
"I told him to go." Chris was looking at Ezra but spoke to the Judge.
"No you didn't, I went by my own choice." Ezra argued.
"Only after I told Chris to talk you into going." Stated Buck. Both Ezra, Chris and the Judge looked at him, all with a look of confusion on their faces.
"Yeah well don't forget that I gave you the idea Buck." JD chided him. Their stares turned to JD.
"I must confess that Ezra talked to me about it to and I told him that it would be a good idea to leave for a while." Josiah spoke to the group. No one bothered to look at him but instead looked at Vin and Nathan waiting for their comments.
"I saddled his horse for him." Vin didn't know what else to say. They looked at Nathan.
Nathan just shrugged. He tried to think of something but couldn't. "I . . I can't remember what I did but I'm sure I would have done something. I just can't think of what it was."
"They didn't do anything. It was my idea. Chris tried to stop me but I was intent on leaving." Ezra told the Judge. He suddenly felt good inside as his friends tried to take the blame for him. He never had that happen to him before. His mother didn't even back him up when he needed her to. She had even blamed him for things to get herself out of trouble and he had to spend the time in the town's jail.
"I hope you realise what these men are doing for you Ezra." He watched as Ezra nodded to his question, he was looking smug. The Judge was about to change that. "So you are not going to try and talk your way out of it?" He asked.
"No." Ezra looked at him challenging him to do what he said he was going to do.
"Well then I have no other choice but to arrest you." The Judge held the expression that was trying so hard to crack. Jean laughing in the corner was not helping him.
"What?" Chris asked. Ezra did not say anything as he knew that the Judge would do it.
"House arrest." The Judge finally smiled. "Three weeks in Nathan's clinic."
Ezra finally said something. "Nathan's room! You can't do that!" Ezra was shocked. He couldn't spend three weeks stuck in Nathan's room, he would go crazy. "I won't stay there!" He growled at the Judge.
Judge Travis looked around at the other hired gunmen watching as they quickly shut their mouths. "And you gentlemen are going to make sure that he does stay there for the three weeks."
"What!" They all said at once, then looked at Ezra.
"But Judge you can't do that, I mean, do you know what Ezra is like. He's grouchier than a mountain cat with a sore tooth. He'll drive us crazy." Buck took on a serious tone. "You can't make us do that Judge."
"What do you mean drive you crazy?" Asked Ezra. "Do you know what you are like, all of you?"
"We ain't any worse than you are Ezra." JD told him.
"I am a perfect gentleman under those circumstances." Ezra growled at him. They all turned to Jean and Judge Travis who were both laughing at their argument. Ezra sighed he thought that it was a joke. "Real funny joke."
"Oh it is not a joke Mr Standish, you are going to spend three weeks under house arrest in Nathan's clinic and the others are going to guard you. They will not leave you alone for a minute."
"Good Lord." Groaned Chris. Ezra shot a look at the man who had stolen his line. Chris shrugged at him.
Christy paced up and down in the small area of her cell. Dave was watching from the cot in the cell next to hers. They were told that they were going to be tried in another town because the two men that they had tried to kill were from this town and might not get a fair trial because of that. She stopped at the bars that separated them. "We are going to get away from here Dave, I swear it." She continued to pace and then stopped again. "We are going to escape and then come back and kill them. Both of them." She yelled at him. "They are both dead if it's the last thing I do." Christy had all intentions of escaping the rope and the bars that kept her from the world. "Especially Ezra Standish."
The End
