It was just one of those times when everything was at peace. No one to chase after and no strife wished to claim the town of Four Corners. It was all just deathly boring for the adventure-seeking. After the little trip to Jericho to rescue o' fearless leader Chris, everything seemed to have settled down. Chris' wounds have long since healed and he hung out in the saloon like all the other men. Ezra, on the other hand, found himself sitting outside of the saloon more often than not. There was nothing different being outside or inside except the amount of sunlight one received. Ezra still got the alcoholic drinks which he sought after, with the lack of company. However, drinking alone tend to dampen one's spirit quite a bit.
Ezra didn't know why being alone all of a sudden bothered him so much. He was alone for most of his life. Conning a vulnerable town out of its cash and move on. Ezra didn't make many friends. That changed with Four Corners. Somehow, he managed to made six of the bestest friends he could ever hope to make. Men who were willing to risk their necks for him when Ezra himself might not in their place. Ezra Standish was no longer alone, so why was he now?
Maybe it was because friendship happened due to the conflicts that often scarred this town, or just because of the need of a good shot. Maybe Ezra just happened to be around when he was needed. Now that the dust seemed to have settled, maybe Ezra was no longer needed. Maybe it was time for another relocation. He may not have gotten his financial gain, but Ezra suddenly wasn't so sure of this strange human quality known as loyalty that he now had.
Leaning back on a wooden chair with a bottle of whiskey beside one leg, and a glass in one hand, his hat on the wooden floor, Ezra pondered on his future usefulness to Chris and the others. If it was aim, Vin could probably outshoot the gambler. If it was charm, Buck certainly had buckets full. If it was enthusiasm, no one could beat JD on that. Leadership? Chris. Faith? Josiah, and Nathan had the medical skills that Ezra didn't possess. All Ezra had was a Southern gentleman front and a large vocabulary. The only thing he was good at was rendering men moneyless and women speechless.
Ezra tried to shake those pessimistic thoughts of his head but there was no discouraging them after they got started. All Ezra could possibly be was an extra gun, an extra hand, and maybe even a liability. He downed his full glass of whiskey and closed his eyes for a brief moment. Reaching down, he pulled the bottle up and refilled his glass. There was a distance between him and the rest of the men. Buck, Chris and Vin were tight friends. Josiah and Nathan were their own separate category. But JD.... Well, the young pup was a different matter. He looked up to everyone, even the cardsharp. The sheer wonder and admiration in the kid's eyes when Ezra pulled something spectacular was enough to make Ezra think twice about leaving. JD had asked time and again for Ezra to show him some of those card tricks. He actually complied once and taught JD a fairly simple slight-of-hand. The delight on the boy's face brought a grin to Ezra's face.
Ezra himself never really had the chance in his childhood to look up to anyone. Hell, he didn't even have a childhood. Being hauled place to place, used in cons by his mother, then delving into the art himself. That was no way to live. One day, the other guy was going to be ready with a .44 and Ezra would end up with nothing but a shallow grave. He shut his eyes tight, trying to remove the image of his cold dead body being tossed into a freshly dug grave. No one would know who was buried there, no headstone, no marker. An unknown passed through life without being noted. Four Corners was the chance for Ezra to make something of himself. So why was he thinking of leaving?
Ezra tipped the bottle. Empty. He didn't want to go into the saloon. JD was in there. It was only two in the afternoon and Ezra really didn't want JD to see him already drunk, not to mention depressed. The thought intrigued the slightly inebriated gambler. Before Four Corners, Ezra really didn't gave a damn about what others thought of him as long as it didn't hurt the con he was working on. Now, it was a completely differently matter. This thing known as responsibility weighed on Ezra's shoulders.
It suddenly occurred to Ezra that this was some sort of a broken wire. His life was undisrupted until Chris and the others intervened. Suddenly, he was a part of their lives and theirs in his. He couldn't go back to the days long past when he could just pick up and leave. Ezra had a life here now, just because it seemed a little bleak now, he couldn't just pretend everything that had happened never did. It would be cruel of him to do so. He made an impact to each of the six men's lives and he couldn't just walk out as if nothing happened, as if this was just another in-and-out scheme. He should have realized this when he refused to go along with his mother's scheme when she visited. Ezra had changed, changed for good. He still played that occasional unfair game of poker, but he had changed. The wires have made contact with the ground and they couldn't go back to its existence off the ground. A bond had been made, leaving now couldn't sever it.
Ezra could have easily left Chris, Buck, Vin and the others to Colonel Anderson, but he returned. He had an obligation to them, as a comrade and later friend. Ezra Standish actually cared for once in his life. Just the thought made him breath a little harder. He had friends now, people who cared about him, about his well being. Friends who would be willing to die for him, and now, Ezra truly realized that he would do the same for them.
"Ezra!" JD called out to the gambler, bursting out of the saloon.
"What's the matter son?" Ezra stood up. The whiskey wasn't that strong after all.
"Well, I'm playing this really good game of poker with this new guy in town. I won the first round but...."
Ezra cut the young man off, "But now you're losing and you want professional help?"
"Yeah." JD answered, slightly sheepish. Ezra grinned.
"C'mon JD. Let's go see if this 'new guy' could defeat me." JD rushed back in enthusiastically.
Ezra paused, staring at the dark coloured liquid in his shot glass, the last drops from the bottle. He smiled at his slightly warped reflection in the glass before emptying it. Broken wires... he hoped that neither he, nor the others, would get too tangled. Ezra Standish picked up his fallen hat and walked into the saloon gallantly, determined to vanquished the newcomer.
The End
