1867: Dublin, Ireland
"So you want to be startin' over in America, eh?"
"Aye, sir."
"And you'll be needin' passage fer yerself and
the boy?"
"Aye."
"Now, ye understand that this means ye have to
work for this family for ten
years? Once you sign this contract that's it."
"Aye, I understand."
"Very well, just sign this paper right where I've
marked it. The boat
leaves in half an hour, be sure you and the boy
are on it."
"Thank you, sir."
"Ah, don't be thankin' me, missy, thank your new
boss when you see him."
The woman then bent over and gathered up her six
year old son.
"Come on now, JD. We're goin' to America."
Ten years later: The town of Four Corners
"I'm telling you it will be fun. A nice little
vacation from this town."
"Buck, it's a good idea and all, but not now, okay?
We just finished with that
whole Lucas James deal."
"That's exactly why we need this break. It's
perfect; we'll all just go
down there for a day or two. Have a few drinks,
meet a few ladies, play
some cards. Look, you've seen the bickering,
Chris. If we don't take a
break from this soon I don't think it's gonna
last. Hell, Nathan and Ezra
are liable to kill each other first!"
Chris sighed and leaned back further in his
chair. He had to admit, if just
to himself, that Buck was right on at least one
count. Their little group
was falling apart.
"You think this will really help?"
Buck tried to smother the smile he could feel
about to take over his face.
"Yep, I think a nice vacation is just what the
six of us need."
Chris glanced at Buck from the corner of his eye.
"Wipe that grin off your face Buck and go tell
the others that we're taking
a trip to Wickestown."
Buck let out a loud war whoop and jumped off the
jail's porch to go let the
others in on the good news.
They were guided to a table near the rear of the
tent. "Have a round on me boys, and if you see anything
that pleases the eye,"
here Wick winked slyly at the men, "I'm sure a
liaison can be arranged."
Once the six men were all seated Wick turned to
the bar "Boy,"
he called and
a young dark-haired boy came towards them
carrying a tray.
"Take these men's order, the first rounds on the
house."
And with that Wick was off. His eyes glued to
the floor, the young man asked
the men for their orders.
"A bottle of whiskey and six glasses will be
fine kid,"
Buck responded.
With those words the boy quietly disappeared into
the crowd.
"Well, I don't know about you boys, but I'm damn
glad to be out of that town
for awhile. Man needs a vacation every once in
awhile."
"Amen, brother,"
Josiah responded.
It was then the wraith reappeared with their
drinks. He quietly placed a
glass in front of each of man until he reached
Vin. As he stretched towards
the table from behind Vin his sleeve rode up to
reveal a circle of bruised
and raw skin. Vin reached out and grabbed the
boy's forearm as he pulled
his hand back from the table. Surprised, the
young man glanced up from the
floor and met Vin's eyes. A long moment passed
while the two looked into
each other's eyes and the rest of the table fell
silent at the
confrontation. Then the boy blinked and came
back to himself, he calmly
pulled his arm from Vin's grasp and walked away.
"What the hell was that all about Vin?"
Chris
asked while watching their
waiter walk back to the bar.
"Somethin's not right here,"
Vin stated.
"Look, Vin, it's probably nothing. We're here on
vacation, leave it alone.
So the kid's underage, he's just a bartender,"
Buck pleaded.
"How many bartender's you know that gotta be tied
up?"
Vin replied.
"Perhaps you were mistaken Mr. Tanner, this
establishment is quite reputable
from what I've heard,"
Ezra said, trying to quell
the rising argument.
"I know what I saw, that kid had rope rash and
bruises the like I ain't ever
seen,"
Vin growled as he banged his fist on the
table in frustration.
"Cool it cowboy,"
Chris hissed from across the
table. "We believe you. Look
we'll finish our drinks and then take a look
around and see if we can't ask
that kid some questions."
"Brothers, I believe the questioning will be
unnecessary,"
Josiah said as
he motioned for the others to turn around.
The
scene that greeted them was
an unpleasant one. The topic of their discussion
was struggling in the
grasp of a man whose size rivaled that of
Josiah's and one of Wick's girls
had a hold of his arm and was arguing with the
behemoth.
"I'm sure I could show you a better time,"
the
girl pleaded.
"That's alright darlin, I got what I need right
here. Wick!"
the man shouted
as the owner came striding towards the scene.
"Seems your boy here doesn't
want my company."
Wick turned to the struggling
boy.
"You'd best go with him, son, unless you want me
to add another six months to
your contract,"
he hissed.
"Please no, he hurts me!"
the boy pleaded in
desperation.
"You'll do as I say boy! Now go!"
Wick
responded as he shoved the young
man towards the exit.
The men watched as all the
hope drained from the boy
as he was dragged out of the tent.
"Boys,"
Chris said as he stood from the table. "Let's go."
The five
remaining men all stood as one and strode angrily
towards the exit. As they
emerged from the bar Vin unstrapped his mare's
leg and cocked it as the
others all pulled their weapons in preparation of
the oncoming
confrontation.
"I believe the kid said no,"
Chris shouted as he
raised his gun towards the
would-be rapist. The man turned and gazed coolly
at the gunfighter.
"Well, I believe that this is none of your damn
business,"
he replied.
"We're making it our business,"
Buck growled as
he too leveled his weapon at
the man. The man's smirk disappeared as he
noticed the multitude of weapons
aimed in his direction.
"Let the boy go,"
Chris demanded.
"What's the problem? If you boys want him, you
can have him when I'm
finished."
"The problem is your refusal to take
no for an answer,"
a Southern drawl informed the man from behind as
the barrel of a gun was
jabbed into his back. The man raised his hands
in surrender.
"C'mere kid. We ain't gonna hurt you,"
Buck
said as he gestured for the
boy to walk towards him. The young man nearly
tripped over himself in his
haste to reach his saviors.
"Look out!"
the kid shouted as he ran towards the
men. The men turned as
one and realized Wick and his men had gathered
behind them. The young man
barreled into Buck just as the first shot was
fired. In the flurry of
gunfire that followed none of the six realized
that the boy hadn't gotten up
again.
"I believe we have overstayed our welcome
gentlemen,"
Ezra shouted over the
noise.
"I think what our resident conman is trying to
say is that it's time we got
the hell out of here!"
Josiah translated.
"Hey kid, it's time to go,"
Buck said as he
nudged the prone body. "Kid,
you alright?"
Buck asked as he rolled the young
man over. "Shit! I need
some help over here boys, the kid's down!"
Buck
shouted as the blood staining
the young man's shirt was revealed. Josiah ran
over and scooped up the
unmoving figure as the group ran towards their
horses. It wasn't until they
were a good ways from the camp that Nathan was
able to check their injured
guest.
"Bullet hit him high in the shoulder, but he
should be alright,"
the healer
predicted. As he prodded the wound a low groan
emitted from his patient.
"He's waking up,"
Nathan announced. Buck came
jogging over at the
announcement and glanced down as brown eyes
fluttered open.
"Who're you?"
the young man slurred.
"Name's Buck kid, you saved my life."
"You've given me back mine," the kid responded
as a brilliant smile broke
over his face.
"What's your name, son?"
Chris
asked as he knelt beside the
kid.
"Name's JD Dunne, sir."
"Well, JD Dunne, welcome to our little group,"
Chris said as he shook their
newest members hand.
The End
