Disclaimer: I don't own The Magnificent Seven. This was written for fun and I receive no monetary compensation.
Note: A Night in the Rain was written as the answer to a Tell Me Challenge on the TM7 list sometime in 1998. A Day in the Snow followed soon after. There's more to the story, the part in between these two vignettes, but I haven't written it yet. Real Life and other writing commitments have kept me from finishing it as of yet. As soon as I do, I will post it here. Long live The Magnificent Seven!
A NIGHT IN THE RAIN
I look up into the most incredibly blue eyes I have ever seen, eyes I have noticed watching me for several days, eyes that belong to a man that I am always aware of his presence anywhere near me. I had seen him earlier, over in the corner of the hotel restaurant, stealing glances when he thought I wasn't looking. But then I had stolen a few too, images to keep me warm during the cold nights. He had left his table abruptly, his meal half-eaten, just as thunder rolled in the distance but before the rain came slashing against the windowpanes.
I had finished my dinner, but I felt the disappointment of his departure like a knife in my heart. I had hoped he might ask to join me at my table, since we were the only two patrons eating alone. I had hoped...but dashed hopes were the reason I had come to Four Corners in the first place and why I would soon leave.
And now, he stands before me, his clothing wet, his dripping hat in one hand. From beneath the soaked poncho he pulls out a small bouquet of wildflowers. They are completely dry and uncrushed.
"For you," he says and smiles.
My heart flutters in my chest and I take the flowers, our fingers touching longer than necessary. I hold them close and breathe in the delicate scents from the blossoms.
"Thank you," I whisper because I cannot trust my voice. No one has ever given me wildflowers before.
"Would you like to go for a walk in the rain?" he asks.
The rain is a steady beat against the roof of the porch and the muddy street. The thunder has long since faded away. It is a temperate night, a good night to walk in the rain.
"Yes, that would be nice."
He holds the poncho over us and I make sure my precious bouquet is protected from the elements. We step off the boardwalk and head in no particular direction. But it is awkward trying to shelter two people with the poncho and we find ourselves laughing as it slips away once more. Finally, I take the poncho from him and use it to cover the flowers. Soon I am as drenched as he, but the rain is warm and is no more than a sprinkle by now.
"How long have you lived in Four Corners?" I ask.
In his succinct way, he tells me how he came to be here and why he has chosen to stay. "To keep the peace," he says and I can hear a hint of pride is his voice as he tells me how he and another rescued a man from a lynching, then saved an Indian village from destruction. He is a man of few words, but is never at a loss for words.
He stops and looks at me suddenly. By the glow of a lighted window, I can see the expression on his handsome face. He is surprised he has told me so much in such a short time.
"Why are you in Four Corners?" he asks.
But I cannot tell him the real reason I am here. I can never reveal the truth to anyone. I can only run and hide and hope no one ever knows my secret. So I spin a fabrication made out of the gossamer threads of desperation and wishes. Oh, how I wish my lie was reality so that I might stay here longer and learn more about this man. But I have very little time.
"I was supposed to meet my brother here, but I was delayed. He left a message saying he had to go on to Eagle Bend and will wait for me there. I'm staying in the house he rented. I wanted to rest a few days before moving on."
The lie is not as easy as those I have told before. I do not like lying to this man. But I try to keep it simple and pray that he does not know the owner of the house that I myself had rented but a few days ago. I thought perhaps I could stay longer, but I should have known it was impossible. When I leave here, I will go to Purgatorio and beyond, into my own personal purgatory.
He moves closer to me, his head bowing slightly, his lips parted, and I raise my head, ready for his kiss. His lips touch mine, gently at first, then more demanding as our mutual desire takes over. I want more than a kiss and the arms that glide around me, holding me close. I want this man. I want him to make me forget my tortured past and my uncertain future, at least for a time. My arms encircle him and I don't want to let go, but we are standing in the middle of the street for anyone to see. I pull away, with one last quick kiss.
I take his hand in mine and lead him to the end of the street, behind the livery. I could take him to the dry comfort of the rented house, but I want him here, now, all wet and wild with the rain and the night. I want a memory that will last me a lifetime.
Beneath the trees, the rain is little more than a drizzle and I carefully set the poncho aside, keeping the flowers inside safe. Tomorrow when I am gone, I will press them and in the coming weeks, months, years, I will occasionally take them out and remember.
He looks at me, an adorable half-smile curving his sensual lips.
"What's wrong?" he asks. He has sensed my desperation and need but I do not want him to question me anymore. If he asks again, I might tell him. I do not want him to wade into the quicksand of my life.
I shake my head and laugh. "Everything is right."
And this one night in the rain, it is the truth.
I go into his arms once more and hold him as I have never held anyone before nor will again. We sink onto the carpet of grass and find our way to one another. My eyes fill with tears but they mingle with the rain and he does not notice. Tomorrow I will be gone, but I will have left my heart here and taken his with me.
****************
A DAY IN THE SNOW
I look up into the most incredibly blue eyes I have ever seen, eyes that watch me with a tenderness I have never known, eyes that belong to a man I will cherish as long as I live. He lays a blanket around me as tiny snowflakes drift lazily through the air. He tucks the ends in securely, but he doesn't fuss over me. I could not bear it if he treated me differently because he knows most of my secrets. He has killed to save me, but the killing should have been mine. I feel no satisfaction that the sin stains his soul. I wish I could take it from him, but the deed is done.
We are on our way to Four Corners and we have many miles ahead of us. He came a great distance to find me and kept searching long after the trail had grown cold. I owe him my life and my sanity, but it is not why I go back with him. I go because I want to be with him for whatever time I can have. I know this cannot last. My past and what he had to do for me will come between us eventually. If only I could have kept my life from him. If only he had let that one night in the rain be enough. But we cannot change our destiny no matter how hard we try.
Yesterday, he noticed the clouds and sensed the coming snow. He felt it best if we take the time to build a shelter and wait out the storm instead of trying to make it to the next town. We still have enough supplies to last us several days and he is handy with a gun.
It is Christmas day and the shelter we built out of branches against an outcropping of rock is frosted with snow. It looks like an enchanted dwelling where magic might happen. Because of him I can believe in magic again.
"You're shivering. Come inside," he says. It is not a command, just his way. This man is short on words but long on meaning as he makes his point.
I shake my head. "Not yet."
He smiles and I turn so that my back is against him. He wraps his arms around me and I feel his kiss atop my head. He understands.
I do not know what he thought that summer morning when he discovered I had left without saying good-bye. Or when he learned I had lied to him. What we shared that night caught in the tangles of his own scarred soul and in the end he came after me. In finding me, he found my troubles. He would not leave me even when I fell to my knees and begged him to go. His lips curved into a sweet knowing smile as he lifted me into his arms. "You are my heart," he whispered and held me as I wept.
I cover his hands with mine and nestle closer to him. "Merry Christmas," I murmur as the snowfall thickens around us.
"Marry me," he says quietly.
It takes me a moment to hear the words and comprehend their meaning and hate myself for what I will say. I pull away from him and know I must face him. I look into his tender eyes and my heart breaks.
"You know why I can't."
"I know why you will," he says and sweeps me off my feet and into his arms before I can think to protest. He carries me into the shelter and sets me down on the bedroll. He brushes the melting snow from my hair and brow. His long, slender fingers frame my face. His blue eyes sparkle in the firelight and I see no hint of the disgust and hatred he is sure to feel some day, the day he hears the rest of my story. He only thinks he knows the worst, and he is aware there is more. But he has no idea what else I have done.
He takes the blanket off my shoulders and spreads it over us. Beneath the blanket we come together, the first time since that night in the rain. And afterwards, he holds me close and whispers once more into my ear, "Marry me..."
My eyes burn with unshed tears. "You know that I can't ever--"
"I know. Don't matter."
I shake my head. It will matter to him one day.
"Nothin else matters. I love you. That's enough."
Could it be enough? I trust him with my life, but can I trust him with my heart? Will he never look at me and wonder how I could be driven to do what I did? Will he never despise me because he had to kill for me? Will he never regret the children that I can never give him?
"I love you too," I say and if that's true, then maybe nothing else does matter. "And yes, I will marry you."
Peace settles over me and in that instant I know I have done the right thing. If it turns badly later, then I will have at least had some time with him. I will have known the love of an honest, decent man. I can thank God for that much.
"Don't think it's gonna snow much. We'll be movin on in a day or two," he says and lays his head against mine. "We'll get married soon as we get home."
Home. I nod and close my eyes. Soon, I hear his even breathing in my ear. He is asleep. I bask in the warmth of his love and embrace. I am treasured and he is the chest that holds me so that no one else will ever touch me again.
The End