JD had been talking to Josiah and had accompanied him to the church to fetch a book that the older man had promised to lend him. As they moved through the dim interior, the older man frowned and moved over to a dark corner, kneeling down and picking up something from the floor. Standing carefully, holding a cloth-wrapped bundle in his hands. Not, at first, answering JD's curious " 'Siah? Hey, what's that? Somebody left something here?"
Then, as the older man moved back into the light, his jaw dropped as the bundle moved slightly, on
its own. "Is that, I mean, is that... real? They're so small!"
Josiah smiled. "Babies are small, sometimes, JD and this little one's not very old, I don't think." The preacher's deep voice was amused. He sat down carefully on a nearby pew, the babe cradled in one big arm. A quick check provided the sex. "He's a boy."
"Wow!" The preacher smiled again at the awe in the younger man's voice.
The book forgotten, the pair walked out into the sun, Josiah still carrying the child - and headed for the healer's rooms. Where explanations were quickly given. "He's a boy. Somebody left him in the church. Alone." A tinge of sadness crept into the big man's voice.
A quick check over by the healer showed no injuries but produced a few gurgles from the now wide-awake baby, who looked up at the healer wide-eyed, making the man smile as he moved a finger around and watched the small, bright gaze follow it raptly. "He's fine but if he's not hungry yet, he's soon going to be." He turned to the other men. One of you want to head down to Mrs Potter's and ask her for a bottle and some milk? We can warm it on the stove, here."
Josiah looked at JD and smiled as he saw the boy's fascination with the little one. "I'll go," he volunteered, turning towards the door as footsteps sounded on the stairs. Quick and light, with an obvious sense of urgency about them. Nathan reached the door first and opened it to a surprised and slightly out of breath, Seth Potter. The young son of Gloria Potter, who ran the local store.
"Mr Jackson!" The boy barely paused for breath. "My Ma sent me over here to get you. There's a man passed out in the store!"
Nathan turned back to his friends with a resigned look on his face. "Everything always happens at once, doesn't it?" Then, looking at the boy. "Okay. I'm coming." He paused for a moment, looking back up at the stairs as a voice said his name.
"Nathan?" The voice belonged to Chris Larabee, who with Vin and Buck, had come up the stairs behind the boy, having been talking together and seen him running for the clinic.
"Boy here looked to be in a hurry and we wanted to make sure everything was okay." Wilmington added as explanation of their presence.
Jackson looked at the men and smiled slightly as he turned back to the clinic, speaking to the men behind him. "Josiah, why don't you come with me? JD can fill everyone in." With that the healer headed out past the trio, followed by the older man and the boy, who was still catching his breath from his previous sprint.
The newcomers walked into the clinic to find their youngest standing by the bed, watching wide-eyed over the occupant, invisible until they got a little closer. JD had risen to his feet, defensively, as the men entered but had relaxed on realizing who it was. Now sitting down again and looking back at his charge.
"He was left in the church a little while ago. Josiah and I found him," he said, looking down at the babe, who the others could now see, laying on his back and waving his arms and legs in the air, gurgling happily.
+ + + + + + +
In the small General Store, Nathan crouched down beside the unconscious man and felt for a heartbeat. Stiffening, just for a second, before turning and looking up at Josiah, who was standing behind him. "I think we'd better get them up to the clinic," he said. "Can you...?"
The bigger man nodded. "I think so." Crouching down, he lifted the slender body into his arms, rising easily, stilling slightly in his turn, as he shifted his burden into an easier position. Looking at the healer with a raised eyebrow and getting a silent stare in return, before the two of them left the store, Nathan holding the door for his friend and promising to let the store owner know how things went.
Stopping suddenly as they reached the street and telling Josish to go ahead without him. "Still need a bottle for the little one," he said turning back at his friend's nod.
Josiah continued on towards the healer's rooms while Nathan returned to a slightly surprised Mrs Potter, quickly summarising the events of the morning and outlining what he needed.
"Easily done." Milk and a small bottle were quickly found and handed over. - "You can pay me later. You've got a hungry baby to feed!" - and Nathan was able to reach the stairs just as Josiah was stepping foot on the landing above. Running up behind his friend and opening the door for him to enter the clinic.
Once inside, Josiah laid his burden down on the bed, its former occupant having been picked up by Buck when the other men came in.
"I think we've just found the little one's Mama," Nathan said.
"That's a woman?" JD was taken aback staring at the slender figure in male clothing, lying on the bed.
"That's a woman," Josiah confirmed, with a small smile. It was proving to be an afternoon of shocks for the younger man, he thought to himself.
"How do you know?"
Josiah looked at him, still smiling slightly, his eyebrows raised. "I carried her up here, JD, remember?" He said.
JD just stared for a moment, then flushed suddenly, as he realised what the other man meant. The woman's chest would have been, at least partially, against Josiah's as he carried her in his arms... All of a sudden he felt very young and more than a little dumb. Like the 'kid' that Buck was always calling him, in fact.
He was saved by the sound of hoofbeats heading in to the stable below the clinic - nothing unusual but this time they were followed by a familiar Southern drawl, talking to Yosemite, the stablehand on duty.
JD looked at the others, and smiling, turned towards the door. Reluctantly tearing himself away from the group around the baby. Stating, "That's Ezra. I'll let him know what's going on," and heading down the stairs to find his teammate.
As Nathan tended to his newest patient, the milk was carefully warmed and poured into the accompanying bottle. Chris threw an old towel over his shoulder and with the expertise of practise, picked up the baby and sat down in a chair to feed him. The others watching with varying degrees of surprise and Buck a reminiscent smile.He remembered when Chris' son was small and his old friend would help out by feeding him and letting his exhausted wife nap. "She's less cranky if she has some sleep." He said, with a smirk. At least that was the outward reason. Buck knew that Chris just flat-out loved spending time with the child and any excuse would do.
After the bottle was empty, and the baby burped - again with a degree of proficiency that surprised the others - Chris sighed and just looked at the bundle in his arms with a slightly sad smile. He'd never admit it out loud, but he missed this. This feeling of awe and protectiveness, of being responsible for such a tiny life.
"My turn, Cowboy." Vin took the bundle from Chris' unresisting arms. Breaking the silence that had fallen. "I ain't held a baby in years."
"You've obviously done this before." The blond eyed the easy way his friend held the child.
"Yeah. When I lived with the Indians. Used to make myself useful where I could. Wasn't old enough to hunt, at first, but I was old enough to help look after the little ones, sometimes." He waggled his fingers in front of the baby's face. Smiling at the look of rapt concentration he received in return.
Buck spoke up as Ezra entered. "My turn, next."
Chris smiled to himself. Underneath that mustache, his old friend was as soft-hearted as they came. Especially where anything small or helpless was concerned. His smile turned bittersweet as he remembered Buck with his son, Adam. The boy had practically had two fathers for all of his short life. Although, actually, no. One father and one doting 'Uncle' Buck, who spoiled him even worse than his father did. He came back to the present in time to hear Ezra commenting on the game of 'Pass-the-Parcel' going on. "Or maybe that should be 'Pass-the-Baby'," he added as the infant was reluctantly handed on
"Hey, you want a turn?" Buck, grinning, held out the gurgling bundle in his arms, to the quickly backstepping Southerner.
"I think not, Mr Wilmington. Thank you all the same." He eyed several spots on Chris's shirt, where the towel had not completely contained everything. "Between one end and the other, babies are not entirely conducive to keeping one's attire pristine."
"Hell, Ez, you ain't exactly 'pristine', now." The tracker eyed his trail-dusty friend, with a grin. Ezra grimaced, but made no comment as Wilmington laughed and cooed at the baby again, bouncing him slightly and eliciting another gurgle.
"Careful, Buck.You'll make him sick. He's just been fed, remember?"
Admidst the chuckles, they almost missed as the woman woke. Frightened eyes looking at the men grouped around the room. Settling on Buck and the child in his big hands. A small gasp escaping her.
Buck noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked around. Stepping over to the bed as he realised the woman was awake. "Here you go, Ma'am. He is yours, isn't he?" The mustached man asked softly as the child was quickly taken from his grasp.
"Yes, he is." Brown eyes met blue. Scared but still defiant, even as the others moved closer. Pulling her son close to her.
"It's alright." Wilmington spoke soothingly, taking the chair next to the bed and putting himself on a level with the woman. "He's not hurt and he's just been fed a few minutes ago, so he's not hungry, either." The woman loosened her grip slightly to look down at her now wriggling son.
"What's his name, anyway?" The Texan waggled his fingers in front of the wide blue eyes.
"Daniel Francis. He was named after his grandfathers. Michael's father and mine." Her eyes softened as she looked down at her son, her mouth shutting with a snap as she looked up again, realising how much she was saying to these strangers.
"I'm Buck Wilmington and the scruffy one here next to me is Vin Tanner." He ignored the glare than earned him from the tracker, continuing on around the room, naming everyone to polite nods of recognition. Finishing up with JD "Our local Sheriff. He looks young but he does a good job," and Josiah. "He's our preacher, here in town and he and JD found little Daniel this morning. Brought him over here.
"So he's okay and so are you. JD might be the official Sheriff but we all share the peacekeeping duties - and we don't let anyone hurt pretty ladies - or their sons." Watching the woman relax just slightly as the monologue had its intended effect. Reassuring the woman and letting her know they were not only harmless but there to help. Her attention moving back to her son, who was once again drifiting off to sleep as Nathan spoke up for the first time.
"How old is Daniel, anyway?"
She looked up. "He's three months old. I left him in the church, because... " She looked away again "I couldn't bring him into town with me. Not ... dressed..."
"Dressed like a man. Yeah. Man with a baby attracts attention. More even than a woman with a babe. People remember things like that." Vin's voice was soft. Even as the woman's gaze dropped. Her eyes closing for a second, before looking back at her son once again.
"Yes. I thought... If I left him at the church... He'd be safe there. I wasn't intending to be gone long. Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes. Just long enough to buy some supplies. He was asleep, so he wouldn't make any noise and even if anybody did find him, they wouldn't hurt him in a church. The Lord wouldn't allow anyone to hurt a baby in His own house, would He?
"No, He wouldn't," Josiah's deep voice reassured the young woman. "And He didn't. Little Daniel's fine - and safe. You both are." He gently reached out and ran the back of one big finger down a tiny cheek. A soft smile on his lined face.
"Now, he's Daniel, but we don't know your name, Ma'am," Nathan said.
The woman froze, her hand hovering protectively over her son. After a moment, she licked dry lips and spoke quietly and hesitantly. "My name's Rose." They all noticed she gave no last name.
Buck broke the moment with a smile, saying, "Pretty name for a pretty lady," making the woman blush slightly and turn to look down at her son.
"Well this pretty lady needs to rest and she's not going to be able to do that with all of you tromping around in here, so out. All of you. Now." The woman bit back a smile as Nathan waved a hand at the other men. Pointing towards the clinic's door.
"Alright, but we do need to know what we're dealing with here." Chris' voice was serious as he turned back from the door. "No offense Ma'am but ..."
"It's not usual for women to run around dressed as men. Or hide their babies where they can't be seen," the woman answered sadly. "It's alright. I understand and well..," her voice trailed off, her face making her dilemma obvious.
"It can wait until you've had some rest," Nathan spoke up again, his voice softer, more reassuring this time.
"No, I don't think it can." The woman had obviously come to a decision. "I don't know how far behind me... How much time I have. I may as well tell you now. Get it done with." She looked down at the babe, now sleeping peacefully in the crook of her arm. "I'm a widow. My husband's name was Michael. We were only married for a year before he..," her voice broke on the words but before any of the men could do more than make a move, she took a deep breath and continued. Squaring her shoulders and looking resolutely straight ahead.
"Michael died - it was a fever - just a few weeks after Daniel was born. Then, not long after that, his father's men came knocking. They said they worked for Michael's father and they'd come for Daniel. They didn't want me, they only wanted my son. They said they'd take me along to care for him on the trip, but they made it plain I wasn't really important to them.
"I convinced them that he needed to be fed and they let me go into the bedroom alone for a few minutes. I'd been going through Michael's things, his clothing and I dressed in that. We were much the same height and his clothes were only a little big on me. I just grabbed a few things for Daniel and, then... I ran. I couldn't let them take him. I couldn't!" Her eyes as she looked up at the men were filled with tears. The baby shifted in her ams, picking up on his mother's distress and she looked down, again, soothing him with hand and voice, "Shhh, little one. It's alright now. Shhh," before looking back up at the men. Making an obvious effort to control her emotions.
"I know you probably don't believe me, but it's true. All of it." She sank back on the pillows. "Michael's father never wanted him to marry me. I'm a nobody, less than a nobody and Michael could have done a lot better. He cut Michael off almost completely, but I know Michael wrote to him after he found out I was - we were - expecting... a baby and then again when Daniel was born. Telling him that we had a son. He had a grandson. Said he had a right to know...
"Somebody must have told him that Michael had died, because it was just two weeks later that... that the men... turned up." She closed her eyes, biting her lip, before looking down at the baby once more and continuing softly, brokenly. "He... my father in law... he says I'm ... " Her voice faltered " 'Just a whore who lay down with his son'. I'm not! We were married! Properly! I've got the papers to prove it!" Her voice showed how near she was to tears.
"You have these papers with you?"
"Yes. They're - they were - in the pocket of my coat. An envelope. I don't know if they're still there, but they were. I... I wasn't going to let go of them. They were my only chance..," her voice trailed off again, brokenly and Nathan nodded. Turning to where he'd put the woman's clothing after they'd brought her in. Running a hand down one side of the coat and then the other. Stopping as he felt a crinkle of paper under his fingers.
Turning the coat over he pulled an envelope from an inside pocket and looking over to the woman in the bed for permission, opened it. Pulling out and straightening the folded papers. Laying them on the table for everyone to see. A marriage certificate, a baptismal certificate for Daniel Francis Helston and some smudged charcoal drawings, were revealed.
The first drawing showed a man and woman standing in front of a second man dressed as a preacher. From the poses and the woman's attire, it was clearly a wedding ceremony. The second showed the man's and woman's faces, side by side. Hers still framed by her veil. Underneath were the words Michael and Rose Helston, along with a date nearly two years earlier. The woman was the same one now occupying the clinic's bed. A little younger and a little less careworn, but clearly the same woman.
The third picture showed the same two people again, but this time the woman held a babe in her arms. Obviously little baby Daniel.They looked blissfully happy and Chris' face hardened as he remembered the same occasions in his own life.
His own wedding and the birth of his son, Adam. Sarah had been radiant and he, himself, had been so full of joy he'd felt his heart would burst.
He was brought back to the present by the woman speaking again. "Michael paid a man to make the drawings. We didn't have a lot of money, but he said he wanted something to remember our wedding by." She smiled, blinking as the tears threatened once again. "He had the last one done just after Daniel was born. Just before he got sick. A 'family portrait' he called it. I couldn't leave them behind. I just... couldn't. They're all I have left of... of..." The tears spilled over and she curled into a ball, sobbing as if her heart would break.
The men looked at each other helplessly, uncomfortable in the face of female emotion. In the end, Josiah stepped up to the bed and sitting on the edge of the mattress, took her in his arms. Holding her and rocking her as if she was a child. Rubbing her back and soothing her much as she had done her son.
The other men looked away uncomfortably, turning their attention back to the papers Nathan still held in one hand. Vin picking up the baby, little Daniel, as he started to wake and fuss, upset by his mother's distress. Retreating with him to the far side of the small room.
"Awww, Hell." Buck flushed as he realised what he'd said and shot a guilty glance towards the woman, before looking away again uncomfortably. Looking down at the infant now quiet once again, in Vin's arms. Unheeding of the tension in the room and his mother's upset.
Chris was standing at the end of the bed and and now spoke up for the first time. "Nobody is taking your son away from you. Nobody."
Looking up at cold eyes in a face turned suddenly hard, the woman could see the shadows of old pain even as she realised that the blond's hand was now resting on his gun. Possibly without the man even realising it himself.
A few minutes later, after the men had finally left, Rose turned to Nathan. "He's a father isn't he? Or he was. The blond man," she clarified.
"Chris. Yes. He was. Lost both his son and the boy's mother in a fire when the boy was about 4 or 5 - but it's not really my story to tell," Nathan responded quietly, even as the woman nodded.
"That's okay. Thankyou." She lay back and closed her eyes, keeping, the healer noticed, one arm curled protectively around her son.
Meanwhile the others had scattered. Ezra retreating to his room to change while JD stopped to talk to a friend and the others met at the Saloon:
"You know, you looked awfully scary up there. Wonder you didn't scare the lady out of her growth." Vin smiled, teasing his friend, who didn't return the sentiment. Staring into his glass, his eyes distant.
"All I could think of was somebody taking Adam away from Sarah."
"And you'd have killed anybody that tried that." Buck's voice, uncharacteristically serious, came from behind the two. Chris looking over his shoulder as the big man pulled up a chair, made no reply. Just looking moodily back at his drink. Downing the shot and pouring another.
Two sets of blue eyes met over the blond's head, a small nod emphasizing the truth of the previous statement and another acknowledging it without surprise.
+ + + + + + +
Later that afternoon, they all congregated back up in the healer's rooms.
JD had sent some telegrams trying to find out more about Rose's father-in-law and they were waiting on the answers.
The lady herself was still pale but looking more refreshed for having had a nap and a change of clothes - which Mrs Potter had brought over from the store. Stating over Nathan's protestations that "Don't try to tell me you don't need them. I know a woman when I see one, Mr Jackson. Even if she is dressed as a man!"
Hearing faint giggles from behind him, Nathan had realised he was outnumbered and had given in. Letting the storekeeper in and introducing her to his current patient. Leaving them to it and joining the other men for drink at the Saloon. "I need it," he'd said. Making the others laugh out loud at his explanations.
Rose now sat up in the bed, with baby Daniel lying in a hastily found cot by her side. A rope now also stretched high across the middle of the room with a draped blanket pushed to one side on top of it, which the older men had noticed but not commented on. JD opening his mouth to ask when Rose turned to look at him.
"You're the only one hasn't held him yet," she said, picking up the baby and passing him to the young man. Giggling as he froze.
"Dang, Kid, you look like somebody's just handed you a lit stick o' dynamite." Buck laughed at the expression on the younger man's face.
JD blushed and looked down. Gently shaking the tiny hand that had wrapped itself around his forefinger. "Hey Daniel," he said, softly. "Ignore Buck. He can be pretty silly, sometimes. You know, I reckon you've got a good name there. 'Daniel'. I'm a Daniel, too. I'm John Daniel, but they call me JD for short." He gave a smile at the gurgle he got in reply.
"Seems like he likes you, JD," Josiah's voice sounded next to him. "You really need to shift your arm just a little, though. Support his head. There. That's it." The bigger man made a gentle adjustment to JD's, still somewhat tentative, hold on the baby. Smiling at the picture they made. The kid would make a good father some day, he thought, looking at the mix of awe and unrestrained delight showing on the younger man's face. Mixed with just a touch of fear.
Turning, a minute later to panic as the child wriggled and started to cry.
"I think he's getting hungry," Chris commented. "Here." He gently took the baby and handed him back to his mother and Nathan moved across to the draped blanket. Pulling it across and effectively shutting off half of the room from the other.
"Give the lady some privacy," he commented to the smiles of most of the men and a confused look from JD.
"Why?"
"She's going to feed him, JD," Vin said gently. "Don't need to embarrass anyone, this way."
"But it's just a bottle. Chris had it earlier and he wasn't embarassed!"
The older men looked at each other and back at JD, realising he was serious. He truly had no idea.
"Aw, Hell! Come here, Kid!" Buck took hold of the younger man's shoulder and all but pushed him out the door.* Leaving the other five men trying hard to contain their laughter.
"Oh, dear!" Ezra's head was bent, one hand covering his eyes.
"Yeah." Chris was looking anywhere but at the other men. "You know, I remember Sarah explaining things to me and Buck. I think Buck already knew something about it, but it was all new to me and... yeah." The expression on his face was equal parts amused reminiscence and embarrassment, as he obviously tried not to laugh.
"Weren't you farm bred, though?" Vin asked with a frown. Tilting his head to one side. "Seem to remember you saying somethin' like that."
"Yeah. I knew about animals, but women were a mystery."
The men's laughter was joined by a low giggle from behind the curtain. "It's not really that different."
"I know that now. I didn't know it then." Chris' voice was rueful.
+ + + + + + +
Buck pushed JD outside and stood, humming and hawing for a moment. How was he going to explain this? "Umm... she's not feeding him with a bottle, JD."
"Huh? What's she using then?" JD's face was a study in confusion as he looked at his friend. Confusion that only grew when he realised Buck was going red and wouldn't look at him. That Buck was embarrassed. Buck was never embarrassed - especially by anything to do with women! Some of the stories he told even made 'Siah blush! "Buck?"
"Ummm... put it this way, kid." Buck still wouldn't look at the younger man. Staring out over the street, instead. "You've seen Mama cows with their calves haven't you?"
"Yeah. So?"
"And how the calves suck on their Mama's udders to get the milk."
"Yeah." JD frowned. What did this have to do with anything? "So?"
"Well... ladies do much the same thing."
"But women don't have udders." JD was even more confused than before.
"No, kid, they've got bosoms, instead. Aw, Hell," Buck looked at his younger friend for the first time. "I'm screwing this up." He ran a hand through his hair. Taking a deep breath. "Look, JD, when a lady has a baby, she makes milk in her bosoms, just like a cow does in its udders. Okay?"
"Yeah, okay." JD was starting to see where this was going, now. "But, how...?"
"I'm getting to that, Kid. Ladies have nipples on their bosoms. just like you and me do on our chests. The baby sucks on those, like a calf on its Mama's teats and they get the milk that way."
"Oh. Okay - and Nate rigged that curtain because..." JD's eyes widened as what his friend had said started to sink in and all of a sudden things started making sense. Not just this, but other things, from back home, when he'd been young and a friend of his mother's - another one of the servants at the big house - would disappear periodically to 'feed the baby'. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but... "Oh."
"Yeah. Exactly."
"Oh."
+ + + + + + +
A few minutes later, after Buck and JD returned, JD's face still a little red, voices were heard, preceding a knock on the clinic door.
Nathan opened the door to find a couple on the landing and he sighed inwardly, while putting a polite smile on his face. Mr and Mrs Weyland.* Mrs Weyland was known to the whole town as a big woman with a big heart - who didn't always take 'no' for an answer and who often got her way simply by dint of sheer determination.
Mrs Weyland opened the conversation. "Mr Jackson. We heard somebody talking about an abandoned baby and we wanted to say that we'd be happy to take him or her home with us."
"We have three already and there's always room for another." The smaller man looked at his wife and smiled lovingly.
His wife was more voluble. Cutting back in. "What kind of mother abandons a child, anyway? Especially a little baby. Some people! She shouldn't be allowed to have any, is what I say! Probably some young girl who got herself into trouble," she snorted indignantly, as Nathan tried to get a word in. "Well, as Robert says, we'd be happy to take the little one and give them a good home. With a decent mother! A proper mother who won't just dump them off, somewhere, like a sack of grain!"
Nathan tried again to break into the flow of words and was saved by Josiah's calm tones from behind him. "Now, Mrs Weyland, there's no need to get upset. Little baby Daniel was never actually abandoned and he has a very good mother."
"Oh! Reverend Sanchez. We heard...," Mr Weyland began
"We heard that he'd been abandoned. Just left behind like an unwanted parcel," his wife broke in again, indignantly..
"Not true at all."Josiah assured them. "Daniel was left at the church while his mother came into town for some supplies. She became ill while she was in town. I didn't know and I didn't really know what to do with a baby, on my own..." He tried to look a little sheepish and received understanding smiles from both of the couple. "So I brought him over here to Nathan.
"That's really all there was to it. His mother is a widow," he added. "She's on her own. She left little Daniel at the church and like I said, she became ill unexpectedly and couldn't get back for him. That's all."
"Oh! The poor woman." Mrs Weyland's ire was completely gone, now. Replaced with sympathy. "Well, if there's anything we can do, you let us know. We'll be happy to help."
"I'll do that." Josiah smiled as the two took their leave.
"Good people," he commented to Nathan, as they turned back inside the clinic. Shutting the door behind them as the couple left.
"Yes, Just a little... forceful," his friend agreed with a small laugh. The two of them retreating insaide, where Vin, Buck and Chris were waiting, smiling at what they'd overheard. Vin holding baby Daniel, rocking him gently in his arms.
"Forceful is definitely a good word," Buck said, chuckling.
"Oh, yeah. Mrs Weyland is a force of nature, alright," Vin agreed. Making the others smile as Josiah looked over towards Rose, realising that she wasn't smiling along with the rest. That she was in fact, crying, instead.
"Rose? What's wrong? Are you feeling sick?" He looked around towards Nathan, who was standing back with the others, trying not to crowd the bed and who now stepped forward with a concerned expression on his face.
"No. I... The.. the lady outside," Rose blurted out, tears starting to fall in earnest, now. "She said... she said I'm a bad mother and it's true! And he's going to take Daniel away from me!"
"Nobody's going to take Daniel away from you." The preacher's voice was a reassuring rumble. "There's seven of us here and we can all testify that you're a good mother and how much you love him."
"But I... I'm not a good mother. I abandoned him! I left him behind!"
"You left him in the church for twenty minutes. In The Lord's care. I don't think you can get a better babysitter than Him." The humour in the words making the woman look up and seeing the smile on the big man's face, she started to giggle. Laughter slowly replacing the tears, as she was pulled into a gentle embrace.
"Thankyou." The woman's voice was muffled against Josiah's shoulder, but she made no attempt to pull away.
"You're welcome. He rubbed her back. "Most people don't think straight when they're under a strain. I'm just glad I can help." He held the woman for a few moments longer, before laying her gently back against the pillows.
A minute later, after the big man had gotten up and moved away to talk to Nathan, and Vin was placing the now sleeping infant in the cot next to the bed, he realised that the woman was crying again, softly, her face pressed into the pillow to muffle the noise. He looked around for help, and then sat awkwardly on the edge of the bed and reached out a hand, touching her lightly on the shoulder. Trying not to startle her, speaking softly. "Hey now, come on. You heard what 'Siah said. Nobody believes you're a bad mother," he attempted to reassure her. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable. He never knew what to do when women cried.
"It's not just that." She looked up and then away from him, rolling over onto her back. "Not that anybody's going to believe me, anyway. I'm a nobody. Worse than a nobody."
He realised she'd said that before and he put a light hand on her wrist. "Hey. That's not true. You're Daniel's Mama. That's not nobody."
She smiled at him wryly, just slightly, before looking away again. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
The woman looked over at Nathan, on the other side of the clinic and back at him, again. Looking him in the eye. "Alright. My grandmother was black. She was light-skinned, apparently. Creole, Papa said once. I never actually knew her, but she was a slave. She was... taken, by the son of the house and when she realised she was pregnant she ran away. Managed to escape North. She must have been an incredible woman, because she raised her son - my father - on her own. She never married as far as I know." Her eyes grew distant, staring at the far wall, as she looked back in time.
"Papa took after his father apparently. He was even lighter skinned than his mother was. Enough so that after his mother died when he was in his teens, he was able to pass himself off as white. He even married a white woman. I can remember him telling me how it took all he had not to bust out laughing in the middle of the ceremony - the half-caste son of a black slave being married in a white church, by a white preacher.
"He thought it was hilarious. Said he kept imagining the looks on all the good folk's faces if they somehow found out the truth." Her smile as she looked up at the man was reminiscent and slightly mischevious; echoed by the men around her - even Nathan not being able to keep a smile off his face, despite the parallels to his own story and the disturbing memories it evoked.
JD sniggered from behind the tracker. "Bet at least one of the ladies would have fainted."
"Now, that is a bet that not even I will take." Ezra's drawled comment had the other men chuckling out loud. He and JD had come in at the beginning of the woman's tale but had kept quiet until now, not wanting to interrupt.
"I got some replies to my wires," JD spoke up when things had quietened down a little. "Daniel Helston is a cattle rancher. Lives just outside of Green Falls - about three, four days ride from here. He's a widower, lives alone, although by all accounts he's a decent man. Pays fair wages and looks after his men. Had a grown son, Michael - they apparently had some kind of falling out a year or so ago and Michael left town. He's written his father a few times but hasn't actually been seen, since."
A hush fell over the listening men. They all knew the reason Michael hadn't come back - and why he now, never would.
"Well, it does tend to verify the lady's story," Ezra spoke up.
"Yes. Alright. Well, if Helston does turn up here, we're all here and if he tries to start throwing his weight around..." Chris' voice was serious.
"Yep." The others nodded in agreement as Rose listened, pale but calm. Holding Daniel tight in her arms.
"Thankyou."
The little that was left of the day after that, was quiet. The men leaving for dinner and patrols. Eventually heading for bed and a much needed night's sleep.
+ + + + + + +
The next day brought drama.
Nathan was clearing away the dishes from breakfast when Rose turned her head towards the window and the voices coming up from the street below. Her face going stark white. "That's him!" she managed to get out, her breathing accelerating as her fear grew. "The man who... who tried to take Daniel. He's here. He..." She looked around the small room, her eyes panicked.
"Mrs Helston! Rose!" Nathan stepped over to the bed, taking the woman by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him. Using her first name to get her attention. "He doesn't know you're here. No," he spoke again as the woman went to speak, to protest. "He can't. There's no way. No-one has seen you since you got here and no-one's seen a woman."
Her eyes widened as the words sank in. She hadn't left the clinic since she'd been carried up up the day before, after she had passed out in the town - in male guise...
She visibly relaxed, her breathing slowing and deepening. "You're right. Thankyou." She aimed a small, grateful smile at the healer as he straightened and backed away. Nodding gently.
"Welcome. Just take it easy now. You go getting upset, you'll upset Daniel, too." He looked at the baby currently sleeping peacefully, next to his mother. Blissfully unaware of the drama surrounding his tiny life. "You just stay quiet for a bit. No-one's going to take Daniel. We've told you that. Now, why don't you try and get some more sleep before he wakes up hungry again?"
"Alright but... the lady from the store. Mrs Potter. She brought me clothes." She looked down at the nightgown and wrapper she wore before looking back up at Nathan.
"We'll ask her not to tell. She's a good lady and she won't say anything if we ask her not to," Nathan reassured her.
"Alright. Thankyou." Rose closed her eyes and relaxed, seemingly slipping into sleep alongside her son, even as the healer watched.
Quick footsteps on the stairs a minute later, drew him to the door. Meeting a bright and cheerful JD. "Morning Nathan. How's Mrs Helston? I just wanted to check on her and Daniel before I go and get breakfast." He craned his neck trying to see around the bigger man
"She's fine JD - and so is Daniel." He smiled at the younger man's enthusiasm. "They're both asleep at the moment, so keep your voice down."
"Okay." JD slumped slightly only to perk back up at the healer's next words.
"You can take a quick look and then maybe, you can do me a favor." He moved aside, so JD could see into the room, smiling again as he noted the younger man's gaze going straight to the baby. JD was fascinated by the little one, he thought. Clearing his throat to get his attention, then drawing him out on to the balcony and repeating what the woman had told him earlier about hearing the voice of her pursuer and then being worried that the storekeeper would give her away.
"So if, you could go ask Mrs Potter to keep quiet about there being a woman here?" He asked,
"Sure, I can do that. That's a good idea. I'll go down now." JD started rapidly back down the stairs, leaving Nathan shaking his head at the boy's energy. "He's going to break his neck one of these days and I'll have no idea how to fix it," he snorted slightly as the younger man reached the ground safely and turned to go back inside to his patient.
He mentioned the interlude to the other men when they came to check on his guest at various times a little later. Commenting, "You might want to keep your eyes and ears open," to serious expressions and nods all around.
After talking to Mrs Potter, JD took his leave. Passing, without really noticing, the rumpled, dusty figure standing just outside the open door, who had heard every word of the conversation inside. A twisted smile of triumph on his face.
Buck, coming out of the Saloon later that morning, noticed the shiny tin star pinned to JD's coat.
"Just in case," he said, when the older man looked at him with eyebrows raised questioningly, obviously amused by the addition. '"If the guy that was chasing Mrs Helston really is in town, it can't hurt."
"Okay. That's fair." Wilmington refrained from teasing his friend, recognising the sense of the statement. While they all held the unofficial title of 'Peacekeepers', JD was the ony one with any kind of outward identification of office - though he rarely wore it. Sometimes leading less-then-peaceful rowdies to believe there was no law in the town.
Only discovering the truth - to their regret - later on.
+ + + + + + +
Ezra was - grumblingly - on morning patrol when things came to a head later that day. (He grumbled even more on hearing what he had missed.)
Nathan had walked downstairs to get some fresh air and exchange a few words with Yosemite at the stables below the clinic, when all of a sudden there was a woman's scream from above.
Turning and running back up, he was accompanied by the other members of the Seven, who had been coming to the clinic for a conference with the healer, having been informed by JD over breakfast, of the latest developments.
They entered to see a grizzled man in trail-dusty clothes and with a sour looking sneer on his lined face, picking up the baby from the cot beside the bed. His mother crying out in protest, trying to scratch him and reach for her child at the same time, then screaming again as the man slapped her, hard, across the face.
Buck was the first one inside and he pulled the man around and away from the bed. Not bothering to be gentle.
The others coming in behind, all knew that the child in his arms was the only reason he wasn't on the floor, sent there by Wilmington's fist in his face. As it was, he was grasped from behind by Josiah, pulling him away from a furious Buck, even as the babe was pulled from his arms.
He continued to yell even as he was dragged away. "Who needs women, anyway? Nothing but trouble, they are. They're all whores. Man's better off without 'em!"
"And I think I'll be better off without you." The speaker was an older man who had come in on the heels of the Seven. Just soon enough to catch the other man's rant. . Well dressed, plump and quiet-voiced, although from the way he carried himself and a certain look in his eye, they could all see that he could be ruthless if he chose. This was a man who had made his own life, rather than having things handed to him on a platter.
As things settled, Chris turned to look at the stranger. "Mr...?"
"Daniel Helston - and I believe that's my grandson you're holding." He nodded to Tanner, who now had the child in his arms, having taken him from the older man's grasp, as he was subdued by the others. Handing him back to his mother as his would-be kidnapper was held securely by Josiah and they figured out who this new man was and whether he, too, was a threat to Nathan's current guests.
"I'm not going to hurt anybody," he continued. "Let alone Mrs Helston. You are Rose, aren't you?" He turned to look at the obviously frightened woman. Giving her a small but friendly smile. "I'm Michael's father. I think that makes you my daughter-in-law."
He approached the bed to be met with a scared but defiant. "You're not taking my son!"
"I wasn't planning to," came back the surprising - and slightly surprised - reply.
"I think there's been a miscommunication somewhere. I don't want to take your son." He turned back to the men grouped by the door. Obviously noting the star on JD's coat. "You can take 'that' away and if you need a witness to his assault of this lady, please, let me know. I'd be more than happy to testify."
He watched as the other man was taken away by JD and Josiah. ("You're under arrest for assault and the attempted kidnapping of baby Daniel.") before once again turning to the woman, under the watchful eyes of the men who had stayed behind.
"Rose. Can I call you Rose? I'm Daniel." He smiled, once again, at the baby in the woman's arms. "Just like my grandson." He raised his eyes back to meet hers and offered his hand, which was taken tentatively. "And I think we need to talk."
A moment's silence and the woman's gaze moved to the door and her now departed assailant. "He said you wanted my son. Not me, just my son. He..."
Helston sighed and pulled up a chair next to the bed. "I actually sent Davies to get you both. Ask you to come live with me. Us. At the ranch. I knew he didn't have much time for women since his wife left him, a few years ago but I never thought that he'd try to separate you. He wired me and I decided to join the search, after I heard you'd run. Thats probably why we didn't find you before. They were waiting for me to catch up." He paused, looking at the woman uncertainly. "The offer's still open if you want it. I've got money. I'm not as wealthy as some but I'm doin' alright. I can make both you and Daniel pretty comfortable. If you want to come," he added.
"You may not want us."
"Why wouldn't I?" He frowned.
"I'm a quarter black - my grandmother." The woman raised her head high. Defiantly. Looking her father-in-law in the eye.
"Well, touch of the tar brush never hurt anybody, far as I can see. No offense, Mr... Jeffson, was it?" The man looked around at the healer, standing across the room
"Jackson. Nathan Jackson," the healer corrected him, quietly. An odd expression on his face.
"Mr Jackson." The older man nodded and turned back to his daughter-in-law. "Michael was my son. Yes, I was angry at first, but we... well, we did patch things up. Sort of. We were in touch. He wrote me, let me know how things were going. I didn't write back as often as I should have, I admit that, but ...," he sighed.
"Michael never told me. I knew he wrote you, that he told you we were married and that we had a son, but I never knew you were writing back." She burst into tears. Setting off baby Daniel at the same time, who sensing his mother's upset promptly started crying, himself, making his mother sob even harder as she cradled him tight against her.
The uncomfortable silence was broken by Wilmington, who stepped forward and said "Here, Ma'am, why don't you let me take him for a bit? Take him out on the balcony, get some fresh air, might calm him down a bit." He took the baby from his reluctant mother and headed outside, followed by the woman's tear-filled gaze, talking as he went. "Come on Daniel, we'll go outside and I'll tell you all about how to get attention from the ladies"
"Seems to me, he's got that one down, already," JD remarked, laughing, as he trailed the bigger man outside, waggling his fingers at the already quieting babe. "Start screaming and they're all over you."
The older man watched as the door closed behind the two, cutting off any reply and he looked back at his still crying daughter-in-law, her face now hidden in her hands. "Oh, Lord. Don't cry." He awkwardly slid an arm around her shoulders. "Michael didn't mean any harm by not telling you we were talkin'. He thought it might upset you, that's all. Especially after... once you were... Aw, heck. Come on now, please don't cry." He rubbed the woman's back, looking for help to the other men, who had discreetly found other things to look at. Tanner, for some reason finding Nathan's medications shelf particularly fascinating, while the healer himself fussed with something on the stove. His back to the two people at the bed.
"I'm sorry... I..."
"It's okay. Helston, obviously still uncomfortable, tried clumsily to reassure her. "Women cry. I know that. Heck, my late wife - Michael's mother, God rest her - she used to get upset all the time when Michael was born. Almost any little thing would set her off." He grimaced. "I usually made myself scarce. - 'Course I was usually the reason she was crying - I said or did something wrong - but still..."
Rose giggled, hiccuping slightly as she tried to get herself under control. Leaning forward to put her arms around her father in law in a hug. Helston, looking surprised but obviously pleased, awkwardly returning the gesture.
Several hours later, after more talk and more tears, things were thrashed out and Rose had tentatively agreed to go live with her father-In-law - with the agreement that she - and Daniel - could leave at any time and he wouldn't try to separate them.
Davies remained incarcerated in the local jail awaiting Judge Travis' next stop in town.
All Seven were on hand to see the small group off two days later, after Nathan had decided Rose was up to travelling and she had acquired som more suitable clothing from a pleased Mrs Potter. Mother and child riding inside the closed coach with Daniel Senior. The men who had accompanied him, riding escort, with the spare horses tethered behind.
FINIS
