WHEN IT RAINS . . .
Summary: An attempted jail break brings a few surprises to the Seven, including one in the form of an angry teenage girl. Are they up to the challenge?
WARNING: This story will contain the disciplinary spanking of an adult and a teenager. If you are offended by this, don't read it.
Disclaimers: I don't own the characters and setting of The Magnificent Seven. I'm just borrowing them for a while and promise to return them relatively unharmed, although Mary Travis may not be too happy with me when I'm done with her.
Author's note: The title is a reference to the idiom "when it rains, it pours." I had a hard time coming up with a summary and title that would do justice to this story without giving too much of it away. I'm not quite sure I succeeded. I've also taken some liberties with some of the geography of the town of Four Corners and its surroundings. I had to rearrange the location of some of the buildings in town to make the story that was unfolding in my head work.
All reviews and comments are welcome. Seeing the reviews in my inbox make the time and effort I put into this worthwhile.
CHAPTER 1
"Jed Slater, the jury has found you guilty of five counts of murder." Judge Travis looked squarely at the man seated in the defendant's chair. All during the trial, the man had exuded an air of arrogance that the judge, and evidently the jury, had found distasteful. "I, therefore, sentence you to death by hanging – to be carried out within 48 hours."
The courtroom erupted into chaos, the men crowded into the Grain Exchange cheering the decision. The seven men who served as protectors and peacekeepers for the town of Four Corners moved forward from the various locations around the room where they had been standing. As Chris Larabee moved forward to take Jed Slater by the arm and escort him from the courtroom, he saw a man he didn't recognize slip out of the courtroom doors. He had a bad feeling about what that meant.
Meanwhile, Judge Travis was pounding his gavel on the table that served as his bench, demanding that order be restored to the courtroom. "Mr. Larabee, you and Mr. Sanchez get this man out of here and back over to the jail. If we're not careful, we're going to have a lynch mob on our hands."
Chris nodded to the other men as he and Josiah escorted the convicted man out of the room. The others stayed behind to establish peace, and would soon meet them at the jail.
Less than an hour later, Judge Travis entered the jail, followed by Vin, Ezra, Nathan, Buck, and J.D. Chris and Josiah were sitting at the only desk in the room, ignoring the shouts and threats of retribution coming from the man in one of the two cells. Judge Travis looked over at Jed Slater as he entered the room. "Mr. Slater, I've heard just about enough out of you. If you don't shut up, I may just shoot you myself and save this town the trouble of building a gallows." He then turned to look at the seven men he had hired to protect the town. "Let's step outside. There's something we need to discuss."
When the eight men had made themselves comfortable on the jailhouse's front porch, Judge Travis lit a cheroot. He contemplated the burning tip for a moment before speaking. "Mr. Larabee, I assume you saw the man sneak out of the courtroom after I pronounced Mr. Slater's sentence." At Chris' surprised look, the judge chuckled. "I assure you, Mr. Larabee, there is not much that happens in my courtroom that I am not aware of."
"You're thinking he was one of Slater's men, gone to report back to the others," Chris said, straightening up from where he had been leaning against a post.
"And that is the reason for the short time frame for carrying out the execution." Ezra was beginning to see where this conversation was going, and he didn't like it. "You are of the opinion that the miscreant and his associates will attempt to liberate our prisoner before the hangman can earn his fee."
Judge Travis nodded and pointed his cheroot in Ezra's direction.
Vin stood up. "I'll ride out and track him, see if I cain't locate their camp. Find out how many of 'em there are."
Chris nodded. "Good idea. I expect they'll try and strike at dawn tomorrow – try and take us by surprise. We need to get ready for them." The other men nodded, already mentally planning their preparations.
"What about the town folks?" J.D. asked. He still wasn't quite over having accidentally killed a woman while attempting to stop a bank robbery and didn't want a repeat of that tragedy. Buck reached over and squeezed J.D.'s shoulder, giving him a silent show of support.
"We'll order all of the women and children to stay indoors, away from doors and windows, until it's all over. Any of the men who want to help will be welcome." Chris also sent J.D. a look that said the gunfighter knew and understood the young man's concerns.
The men discussed their plans and preparations for the anticipated attack the following dawn. When they finally decided on a plan of action, Judge Travis dropped the butt of his cheroot to the porch and ground it out with the toe of his boot. He slapped his leg, and stood. "Well, guess that settles it. Everybody know what they're supposed to do?" The seven men nodded. "Let's get busy. We've got a lot to do before dawn."
"We?" J.D. questioned.
"Yes, 'we', young man." Judge Travis smiled at J.D. "You don't think I'm going to let the seven of you have all the fun, now do you?"
J.D. laughed. "Nope, guess not."
Six hours later, Vin rode back into town from his scouting trip. Barricades had been erected along the street to provide cover from flying bullets. A number of the businesses already had "closed" signs hanging in their windows and the merchandise that would normally be lining the sidewalks in front of the stores had been put away. The town looked as though it was well prepared for the battle to come. He dismounted and took his horse into the livery stable, where he removed the saddle and brushed the animal down.
As Vin left the livery to go in search of the others to report his findings, he spotted Chris and Mary standing in front of the Clarion office. Their raised voices carried easily, broadcasting their argument to anyone who cared to listen.
"I don't see why I am expected to hide away like a coward. This is my town, just as much, if not more so than it is yours. I should be allowed to defend it." Mary was standing toe to toe with the black-clad gunman, seemingly oblivious to the anger that was radiating from him.
"I ain't gonna argue with you about this, Mary. All women and children are to remain inside out of danger until we say otherwise. And that includes you." He removed his hat and ran his hand through his dark blond hair. "There'll be a lot 'a bullets flyin' around, and we don't want anybody getting' hurt by accident. I told you once that Billy's already lost his father, he doesn't need to lose his mama, too. You think about that." Chris turned and walked away, leaving Mary staring after him, her mouth agape in surprise.
As Vin entered the saloon, he spotted Ezra, Buck and J.D. sitting at a table in a corner of the large room. He ordered a beer from the bartender and moved to sit down and join his friends. "So what's the plan?"
"We're meetin' over at the jail in a bit to finalize everything," Buck told him.
"Spotted Chris arguin' with Mary as I came over," Vin reported to the other men. "Sounds like she don't want to play it safe in the mornin'."
Ezra laughed. "Ah, yes. The intrepid Widow Travis. She's bound and determined that she will participate in the coming confrontation. I half expect our Mr. Larabee will have her bound, gagged, and tossed into a root cellar somewhere before morning."
The men continued to chat before deciding to move their discussion to the porch of the jailhouse, where they could be sure they didn't have an audience for their discussions. Vin reported that he had trailed the member of Slater's gang to a camp about two miles outside of town, where he'd counted a dozen men. The seven peacekeepers, along with Judge Travis and few other men from town finalized their plans to meet well before dawn the next morning.
* * * * * * *
The next morning saw the men stationed at various locations around Four Corners. Judge Travis, Vin, and Josiah had taken up positions around the jail. Chris had positioned himself behind some barrels beside the Clarion office. He had a good view of the jail and livery stable, and wanted to be close to the newspaper office. He couldn't shake the feeling that Mary was going to take it into her head to disobey him and attempt to join the coming gun fight.
They didn't have to wait long. As dawn broke over the eastern horizon, the sounds of approaching horses filled the air. At least a dozen men road through town toward the jail. Chris watched with curiosity as two of the riders broke off from the group and headed toward the livery stable, but returned his attention to the remaining men. The plan was to wait until the men approached the jail before taking action. Sure enough, the men dismounted and moved toward the jail. As the first man reached the jailhouse door, Judge Travis stepped out of his hiding place and leveled a sawed off shot gun at the man, demanding that they all drop their weapons and raise their hands. Just as they had anticipated, the outlaws reached for their guns. Judge Travis dove for cover, and bullets started flying.
The movement of the Clarion's door caught Chris' attention and drew his attention momentarily away from the battle.
"Damn it." He'd been right. Mary was crouching low in the partially open door, a rifle in her hands. He watched as she moved from the doorway toward the overturned wagon at the opposite end of the porch. Chris quickly reloaded his gun and returned his attention to the battle being waged in the street. He knew the instant one of Slater's men caught sight of the woman.
"Ezra!" The gambler looked over and instantly read the situation. He laid down cover fire as Chris ran across the porch, grabbed Mary around the waist and dove for cover, seconds before a bullet slammed into the wall behind them. Once behind the wagon, he yanked the rifle out of Mary's hands and shoved her none too gently to the ground.
Mary was frightened. She had been bound and determined that she would help defend Four Corners. But once she stepped outside the newspaper office, she wasn't quite sure what to do. This wasn't her first gun fight, but some how this one seemed so much worse. It hadn't helped matters any when Chris Larabee had appeared out of no where and jerked her off her feet. It had startled her so much that she had missed the bullet hitting the building behind her.
She moved into a crouching position and reached for the rifle that Chris had tossed into the dirt a few feet away.
"Leave it." Chris hadn't even looked up from reloading his gun, but the hard edge to his voice convinced her to obey. Then, as quickly as it started, the shooting stopped. As silence weighed heavily in the air, Mary took a chance and looked around the side of the wagon toward the jail. Dead or injured men lay in the street. She watched as the judge, Vin, and Josiah led two men toward the jail at gun point. Other men started emerging from their hiding places and began taking stock of the damage.
Her attention on the events unfolding in front of the jail, Mary had momentarily forgotten about Chris. She was startled when he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to her feet.
"What the hell did you think you were doing," he demanded, his face inches from hers. She had never seen Chris Larabee that angry. Before she had the change to reply, Chris gave her a hard shake. "You could have gotten your damn fool head shot off. I thought I told you to stay inside." Apparently, she didn't respond quickly enough because Chris gave her another shake and demanded, "well?"
"I told you I had the same right as any man to defend this town." Mary knew instantly that was the wrong answer. She wouldn't have thought it possible for Chris to look any angrier than he already was, but his face hardened even further. He pulled her behind him up the porch steps to the door of the newspaper office.
"You get in there and wait for me. I've got to take care of this, then I'll be back to deal with you." He gave her a slight push so that she entered the office. "If you know what's good for you, you won't make me have to come looking for you." With that he slammed the wooden door so hard it rattled on its hinges. As Mary sat down at her desk, she gave a shudder. She was in big trouble, and she knew it.
As Chris moved to step off the porch he spotted a kid running from the livery stable. He started to take off after her when J.D., followed by Buck, gave chase. Chris wasn't sure, but he thought the kid was one of the two riders that had split off from the main group before the shooting had started. He watched as J.D. tackled the fleeing boy. J.D. moved off the boy, and Buck hauled the kid to his feet.
"Take him over to the jail," Chris yelled to his two friends. He shook his head as the gunmen dragged the struggling youngster between them back in the direction of the jailhouse. "Just one more thing to deal with," he mutter to himself. "When it rains, it pours."
TBC