I started thinking about how Ezra would be as a father, then I thought about it some more... and some more... and then I started writing! :) I hope you like it and review. If you don't like it... well, you can still review! Oh, and Clementine is meant to be pronounced Clementeen in this case.

"Drinks are on me, gentlemen." Ezra Standish grinned as he raised his glass.

"Sure you can afford it?" A disgruntled cowboy asked sarcastically. He and his buddy had just been cleared out by the southern gambler, and they were anything but happy about it.

"Now, now, gentlemen. It is not polite to ask about another person's financial situation, but since you and your compatriots appear to be so distraught, Ah think it safe to disclose to you that mah winnings are of a substantial amount to furnish you two with drinks." Ezra finished what was to him a normal sentence, while the other men sitting around the table gaped at him.

"What the hell did he just say?" The younger one asked, staring at Ezra as if he was a being from a different planet.

"Whut?" His friend swayed drunkenly, staring at him through hazy eyes.

At a table in the corner, Vin and Chris chuckled.

Ezra grinned as well and started to get up. "Well gentlemen, I believe it is is time for patrol. It was immensely enjoyable playing with you men; perhaps we will run into each other again soon. Good day."

"You can't leave now!" Jake grabbed Ezra's arm.

"Yeah, you have to give us a chance to win our money back!"

"Mistah Williams, Mistah Johnson. If you would care to read the rules of this game, Ah believe you would find that a man can leave a table whenever he chooses to." Ezra looked with contempt at the hand clamped down on his arm and shook it loose.

"Now Mister Fancy-Pants. We wouldn't want things to get ugly here, would we?" Ezra could feel the barrel of a six-gun in his back and slowly raised his hands, at the same time getting a good grip on his little Derringer that he wore up his sleeve along with a couple of aces. He didn't think he'd need it with his friends so close by, but he couldn't help not trusting even his closest friends with his life, yet. Plus both Williams and Johnson were more than a little unsteady from one too many drinks, so he figured he wouldn't have any trouble exterminating them. "Why don't you just sit back down."

"Your wish is mah command." Ezra counted till five under his breath, then whipped around, pushing the Remington away to point at the ground, and landing a solid fist in the man's face. He went down, and before he could recuperate, Ezra had a boot on his left wrist, keeping the gun on the ground. The down man's friend, Williams, drunkenly reached for his gun, but Ezra already had his Derringer pointing at him. Both men slowly looked around; Johnson from a slightly different angle. Vin smirked and shook his head slowly, his mare's leg pointed straight at Johnson's head, and Chris just gazed on, his gun resting comfortably on his knee, but ready to take action if circumstances demanded.

"You know, Ez, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you gambled just to make some excitement for us," Chris commented dryly.

"Point duly noted. Now Mistah Larabee, if you don't object, Ah imagine Ah should take these men over to the jail to cool off." Ezra took his boot off of Johnson's wrist and kicked his gun away before motioned for him to get up.

Vin got up as well. "I'll go with you, Ezra."

Ezra nodded his agreement, and he and Vin escorted the two men over to the jail. JD was sitting with his feet up on the desk, looking through some wanted posters that had arrived a couple of hours before.

"What happened?" JD jumped to his feet, eager at the thought of some excitement after weeks of just sitting around.

"Just a couple of fools who dared play with Ezra and want their money back." Vin pushed the men into the same cell and locked the door.

"Oh." JD sighed, clearly disappointed. "Well, Ez, tell me what happened, and I'll write up a report."

"Why, of course, Sheriff. Ah see you have settled into your position as sheriff of this quaint little town very well."

"Yes, sir!" The young sheriff beamed proudly, as he swaggered back to his desk.

Ezra leaned toward Vin. "Remind me to never again compliment a certain Mistah Dunne."

Vin chuckled and hung the keys on the peg. "I'll go get the horses ready. We have first patrol."

"Wait, Vin." JD stopped him before he got out the door. "I need a witness's signature. You'll do fine."

After JD got all the information he needed, Ezra and Vin headed over to the livery stable.

Ezra went straight to Chaucer's stall. "Good morning, mah gracious sir." He scratched the chestnut's white star. "Ah trust the establishments are to your liking?" Chaucer nuzzled his face, and Ezra laughed. "Ah shall take that as an affirmative."

Vin, saddling Peso, his black gelding, chuckled.

Ezra slipped Chaucer's halter on and led him out of his stall. Then he ground tied him and went off to get his tack. When he got back, he was happy to see that Chaucer hadn't moved a single hoof. He gave the horse a rub on his neck and quickly saddled and bridled him. Then he pointed to Chaucer's front right hoof. Chaucer picked it up, just like Ezra had trained him to. Ezra picked out all of the horse's hooves, then got him to bow.

"That was exceptionally fine, Chaucer." Ezra praised as he fed the eager horse a couple of jelly beans.

"If you keep feeding that horse candy, his teeth are gonna start falling out," Vin said as he swung into Peso's saddle.

"If Ah am not mistaken, you, my good man, eat candy." Ezra mounted his horse.

"But I brush my teeth."

"Are you positive that Chaucer doesn't get his teeth brushed?"

"You wouldn't..." Vin started, but Ezra's Cheshire cat grin told him all he needed to know. "Just when you're sure he can't get any crazier, he tells you he brushes his horse's teeth," Vin muttered to himself.

The two men rode the perimeter of the town, making sure that there wasn't any trouble.

"Figure we should go check on Nettie and Casey?" Vin asked when they were about to head back to town.

"Ah believe it would be helpful for a certain pair of lovebirds if we left that duty to Mistah Dunne and Mistah Sanchez on evening patrol." Ezra hinted with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"You have a point there, Ez." Vin grinned, thinking about Casey and JD.

They loped back to town and went straight to the saloon.

"Can Ah interest you in a game of chance?" Ezra asked hopefully as they dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching rail.

"Nope, I learn pretty fast. Buy you a drink, though." Vin answered.

"We have an agreement."

They entered the saloon. Josiah was sitting at a table with a bottle of whiskey in front of him. His chair was tipped back against the wall, he held a half-empty shot glass, and his face had the expression of a man deep in thought.

"Hey, Josiah." Vin greeted the former preacher, as he and Ezra seated themselves at his table.

"Oh, hi boys." Josiah looked up.

"Can I get you anything?" Inez called from the bar.

"Two beers," Vin called back. Inez nodded and brought two mugs to their table. "Thank you, Inez." She nodded, took the money he offered and returned to the bar.

"Did anything at least a little exciting occur in our absence?" Ezra took a long gulp from his beer. He took off his hat and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Nope. Nothing worth mentioning." Josiah sighed. "I've started working on the church again. If things go on like this, we'll be having church every Sunday again."

"Chaucer knows every trick possible for an equine to execute flawlessly, and if it weren't for mah extraordinary skill in gambling, Ah would have been cleared out a long time ago from buying candy." Ezra shook his head, mock sadly.

The three men sat in silence for a while, sipping their drinks halfheartedly.

"Stage is late again." JD came in through the bat wings and joined the other three.

"Are you expecting trouble?" Vin asked.

"Would it sound stupid if I said that I'm hoping for trouble?"

"Yep, it would," Josiah answered. "But then, we're all hoping for trouble, I guess."

Buck came down the stairs, yawning. There were a couple of rooms upstairs, that Ezra had furnished when his mother added drinking facilities to her hotel across the street. She had sold the hotel and left town again like she always did, but Buck still preferred staying at the cheaper establishment over the saloon.

"Mornin', all you early risers." He greeted the others, stumbling over to the bar.

"If mah eyes do not deceive me, it is already noon." Ezra shook his head exasperatedly.

"And I thought Ezra was a late riser," JD said, wondering how the older men could sleep so long.

"Half the day is already over, brother." Josiah admonished.

Just then Chris and Nathan came into the building. "Stage just came in," Chris said.

The seven peacemakers got up and went outside to greet the stage.

"Hey, Bart. Run into any trouble?" Chris called to the driver.

"Nope, just delayed mail." The driver started throwing down bags to the shotgun rider, who was already on the ground.

Then the passengers started getting out and stretching.

First was a young couple with a little boy, then an older man got out, followed by a man in a business suit. Then a little hand appeared on the door, and a little girl, probably about seven years old, climbed out.

She sat down on the boardwalk and rested her head on her hands.

Ezra was inviting the wealthy looking man to a game of cards and didn't see the girl. Vin, however, noticing how lost she looked, went and sat down beside her. She had long, wavy brown hair, and wore a blue dress.

"Hi." Vin offered quietly.

The girl looked up. "Hi." She answered tiredly.

"Where's your ma and pa?" He asked.

"Mah ma is in Albuquerque, and mah pa is somewhere in this town." The girl said with a southern accent.

"What does your pa look like?" Vin asked, wondering what kind of a person would send such a young kid across half the state by herself.

"Ah don't know. Ah've never seen him." She explained, finally looking at Vin.

"Well, let's go find your pa, okay?"

The girl nodded, and Vin took her hand, before leading her to the other peacemakers.

"Boys, this girl is looking for her pa," Vin said. He started to say more but stopped when he saw Ezra's face.

Ezra was staring at the girl in such shock, that everybody turned to stare at him.

"No," Ezra mumbled under his breath. "It can't be... But she looks so excruciatingly much like her. It can't possibly be. She wasn't... Was she?" He knelt in front of the girl and stared into her beautiful green eyes. "What's your name?" He asked breathlessly.

The other men exchanged confused glances at the gambler's normal language, but the girl's answer got everybody's undivided attention immediately. "Mah name is Clementine Standish."

Sorry to kinda leave you hanging like that at the end. I hope I'll get out at least one more chapter tomorrow!

Cheers!