It was night time. The campfire was dying out and Sam Chisolm was fixing up his sleeping mat to go to sleep. Vasquez had clocked out about half an hour ago, a bottle of liquor in his hand. Next to him, Red Harvest was sanding his bow. All three of them sat in uncomfortable silence amongst each other. It had been two days since the battle at Rose Creek. Two days since the Magnificent Seven became the Magnificent Three. Red Harvest was probably the most uncomfortable. He never talked much to begin with, much less connect with either him or Vasquez. "How are you doing?" Sam asks him in Comanche. The Indian shrugged.
"Okay I suppose." He answers in his native tongue. "My grief for our friends still hangs heavy on my heart."
"Same here." Sam agrees in the same language and stares up at the heavens, imagining Josh, Billy, John and Goodnight watching over them from beyond.
"They were good men." Red Harvest says in English.
"Amen." Sam says and takes his head off. Suddenly they hear a shout off in the distance and gun shots. Sam and Red Harvest jumped up and Vasquez quickly woke up to the noise and scrambled to get out of his bed. The three of them looked around to find the direction of the noise.
"It came from the East." Red Harvest answers quickly and mounts his horse, the other two men following and they rode off in the direction of the noise.
Soon they saw the glow of a fire and found a village with a few buildings on fire. The men's horses neighed and they saw weak, scraggly looking villagers being shot. The memories of the injustice that plagued Rose Creek came flooding back to their minds and they quickly rode off into the town, guns and bow and arrow ready to deliver more justice. Without a second thought Vasquez shot some of the shooters, Sam taking care of the rest, while Red Harvest jumped off of his horse onto the balcony of a building, shooting more of the attackers with his bow and arrow. Soon the men started being shot at themselves but after what they had to do in Rose Creek, this was child's play. All of a sudden the Indian heard something next to him. He saw a man being forced out of a door, and a woman in a pink plaid dress pushing him out. "Just what do you think you're doing Daisy!" The man grunts as the woman known as Daisy holds him in a choke hold and he grasps her arms to try to pry her off. "I work for your father! You're on our side"
"He may be my family but that doesn't mean I agree with what he's doing!" She answers and the man rips her arms off of his neck and pins her up against the wall.
"You should know your place missy..." He sneers and Daisy struggles in the man's grip. "A beautiful girl like you's only got one thing to worry about...what good man are you going to marry and bear children for like the good Lord intended you to do? Hm?" He starts to press his entire weight on her and she squirms more, her breasts heaving in her corset that was now being pressed tighter against her. "The Lord never asked for the woman's opinion on it and therefore your opinions clearly don't matter. Those who think otherwise need to be put in their place, or else they go to Hell." He starts to feel her up and her struggles get more frantic.
"And that is why I do not believe in your Lord." Red Harvest says and points an arrow at the man. He snickers and releases Daisy from his grip.
"And who are you? Some feral injun with your little feathery arrows?" He mocks and laughs. "I don't fear you savages." And those were his last words. Red Harvest released his arrow and it went straight through the man's head. Daisy paled and shuffled away from the body on the balcony and closer to the Indian.
"Thank you." She tells him. "For saving my life." He shrugs.
"Do not thank me. I would have killed him anyway." Red Harvest says. "He was an evil man."
"Yes he was." Daisy agrees and looks at his body. "He tried to hurt some children in there." Daisy says and smiles as two small children, a brother and a sister come running out onto the balcony and she kneels down and embraces them both. "He threatened to kill them if they didn't tell him where their parents were." Red Harvest was about to ask another question when he heard Sam calling down to him.
"Hey Red!" Sam yells. "We could use some backup down here!" The Indian nods and jumps off of the balcony before Daisy can ask him another question. He takes out his pistol and shoots some of the other men that are shooting at his friends and other villagers. Soon they kill off the last of them and all of the villagers come out of hiding. The men receive words of praise for their help but it is short lived as soon as more light is brought over by the lanterns of the people and they get a better look at their saviors they gasp and cower in fear when they see the red face paint on Red Harvest.
"Injun!" The men shout and raise their guns at him.
"That savage will kill us all!" Another says and soon the Comanche Indian finds himself in the center of a circle of hostile white people, who think of him as a savage monster who wants to kill them.
"Hey hey." Sam says and holds up his hands and stands by Red Harvest to get the men to lower their guns. "Now we're not looking for no trouble here and this man is no feral beast. He just saved half of your asses from those goons who were trying to burn your town down."
"It wasn't just those goons!" A villager says. "It was injuns! Injuns with red face paint like him! They've been trying to kill us all ever since we settled this town! They set our stores and homes on fire! We just can't help but be scared..."
"Well you don't need to fear him I promise." Sam says and looks around at the villagers. "Now who's in charge of this here town. My friend here needs medical attention from a wound he got two days ago." He gestures to Vasquez who was holding his arm, the upper arm wrapped in some bandages that had started bleeding through again from having to fight.
"Joseph Darling." One woman answers. "He lives in that house up yonder." She says and points towards a hill with a large white house sitting on top of it. A large corn field in front of it.
"I'll take you up there." A voice says from behind the three men. Red Harvest recognizes the woman he saved.
"Much obliged ma'am." Sam says and tips his hat at her.
"What's your name?" Vasquez asks and eyes her. "Surely a flawless woman such as yourself has a perfect name." The girl rolled her eyes.
"Daisy." She answers. "And what are yours?"
"Sam Chisolm." Sam says.
"Vasquez." Vasquez says and kisses her hand. "At your service." And winks at her.
"Red Harvest." Red Harvest says and smiles at Daisy. She smiled at the man that had saved her earlier. The two children that she had saved stood at her sides, holding her hands and looking scared at the men in front of them.
"It's nice to meet you all." Daisy says and starts to walk ahead of the three men. "I'll take you to my house."
"You live up there?" Sam asks as he and the others follow Daisy up towards the corn field.
"Yes. It's my father's house." Daisy explains although she doesn't seem too happy about it. Red Harvest can't help but notice the corn looks strange. He touches a leaf and rubs it in-between his fingers.
"Why does your corn die before harvest?" He asks and Daisy stops and looks back at him.
"We don't know." She answers and turns and continues to walk the men up towards her house. "That seems to be one of many problems with this town." She reaches the door and knocks on it.
"Father are you in there?" Daisy asks. "We have some men here who need your help." She stands back as her father opens the door. A man dressed in fine clothes and smoking a cigar appeared in the doorway.
"My darling Daisy." He says and opens his arms for the girl. She hugs him and he chuckles, then frowns at the two dirty children behind her. "Who are these heathens?" He asks and Daisy's jaw sets.
"They're children who's parents have gone missing." Daisy explains. "I wish to keep them in my care until they turn up."
"Very well." Her father says and steps aside. "At the very least it will be good practice for when you get a husband at have children of your own." He jokes and laughs as she walks inside with the kids. Red Harvest gripped his bow. He did not like how this man was treating his daughter. "My name is Joseph Darling, I have a doctor that can take care of that arm for you." The man says and lets in Vasquez and Sam. Then he steps in front of Red Harvest. "And just what do you think you're doing?"
"Seeking shelter with my friends." He answers.
"He's with us." Sam informs Joseph. "He's not one of the Comanche that have been terrorizing your town." Joseph frowns at Red Harvest.
"I still don't like savage animals in my house." He says and slams the door in the Indian's face. Red Harvest would not have even needed face paint now, because his anger was making his face as red as the paint. He took out one of his arrows and scratched it across the door in a large "X" in his anger. Suddenly he heard his name being called from an open window. He turned and saw Daisy's kind face.
"I apologize for my father's language." She says. "Not everyone in this household agrees with him though." She says and the two children's smiling faces appear beside her. "Sneak in through the window." She suggests and the Comanche makes his way over to the window that Daisy opened and climbed in. The kids look slightly fearful of him, but Daisy remains calm, so the children warm up a bit. Sam and Vasquez are in the room as well.
"Damn your father is cruel." Vasquez notes.
"He's not cruel. He's just very closed minded." Daisy explains.
"He's still an asshole." Sam says and Daisy smiles and laughs.
"Yes he is." She says. "You can hide in one of the guest rooms upstairs." She tells Red Harvest. "I'll make sure none of my father's servants go in there so you're not disturbed or thrown out."
"Thank you ma'am." Red Harvest says.
"Please don't call me ma'am." Daisy requests politely. "Just Daisy is fine."
"Thank you Daisy." Red Harvest says, with some difficulty. He had never said the word "Daisy" before. She smiles at his struggle.
"You're welcome." She says before taking the children up to a room and everyone else retired as well.