Disclaimer: M7 does not belong to me but to MGM, CBS and Mirisch.
”Atchooo” the sound echoed in the room, followed by a loud sniffle. JD tried desperately to contain the next one with out much success. “Atchooooooo” Could you try not doing that quite so loud the next time Mr. Dunne. My head hurts quite enough as it is. And you really must learn to use a handkerchief the way it was intended. I swear that last glop hit the mirror. Ezra looked at the wad of mucus sliding serenely down the mirror and shivered. Yes it did. An epidemic of sniffles, fevers, coughs and sore throats had hit Four Corners a week ago. It had run its course with the only fatality being Mrs. Potter’s stock of peppermint drops and handkerchiefs. The latter of which JD unfortunately had not partaken in. The Seven had thought themselves lucky as the epidemic rolled past the town until JD and then Ezra had gotten feverish.JD was the first one caught though. He made the mistake of coughing in front of Nathan, and before the bewildered kid could even start to formulate an explanation like it’s really dusty in here, Nathan or the good old oopps, that whiskey sure was strong, forgetting for the moment that he was drinking milk, he found himself bundled up to Nathan’s clinic and tucked into bed.
Ezra however was a lot wilier than that and managed to avoid Nathan’s attentions by the simple expedient of volunteering for the afternoon patrol. And I would have gotten away with it as well if only Chaucer had behaved himself. I swear that horse is to intelligent for his own good. Ezra had made a stop at Mrs. Potter’s and stocked up on peppermint drops in the hope of keeping his sore throat at bay. Unfortunately, Ezra had forgotten Chaucer’s keen nose. The fever must have befuddled my mind.
Chaucer had found the roll of peppermint drops in Ezra’s jacket pocket, peppermint being one of his favourite treats, by the simple expedient of poking his whole nose into it. That in itself was not to unusual and happened often enough for Ezra to have had Mrs Potter reinforce that particular pocket with some extra stitches, so that when Chaucer’s sweet tooth kicked in he would not tear the jacket. This time however there was more than just one roll in the pocket, and when Chaucer realized that the extra stitching didn’t stand a chance. The end result was that of the content of the pocket taking a leisurely arc over Chaucer’s neck and ending right in front of Nathan’s feet. When Nathan recovered from being bombarded with flying peppermint and realised that there was 5 rolls of peppermint laying at his feet the game as they say was up. And Chaucer got the sixth roll, he was salivating over it even as I was being dragged up the stairs.
“ Whinnyyyychooooo”. What the devil ?????. “ Whinnychooo-hooo-hoo “. I could have sworn that sounded like…. Ezra turned his feverish and aching body toward the window and slitted his eyes against the bright light. A shivering horse stood underneath it and looked up on him with accusing, rheumy eyes. What do you know, Ezra thought to himself, there is some justice in the world after all.
Ezra turned back to his pillow and snuggled deeper into the bed. I guess I should really ask Nathan to take a look at him…later…I’ll just close my eyes a bit first. Ezra drifted to sleep with a smile, listening to JD trying to breathe through a stuffy nose and thinking how good it was to be in a place where the fact that he was sick meant somebody would take care of him…and his horse for a while.
THE END
Comments
I have no idea what a horse with a cold sounds like so please forgive any
mistakes J