Hey all! Here is yet another challenge fic for the LJ Mag7Land community, this one for the challenge of "circus." I ended up doing a different style for this one, and was totally thrilled to find out I tied for 1st place with it!
As always, I own nothing except a total respect and delight for these characters and a legally bought copy of the series boxset!
Raisin' the Big Top
Strongman:
Josiah couldn't rightly figure why the barn raisin' was drawing such a crowd already. Granted some of the benevolent ladies of the town were providin' one hell of a spread for the shindig after, but now, there wasn't anythin' to do but watch as the men labored away.
He shrugged and hefted another armful of boards on his shoulder and pushed the thought away.
He ignored the gigglin' from Mrs. Potter who sounded more like a girl half her age. And he certainly didn't hear Nettie Wells mention anything about a "fine figure of a man in his prime."
Clown:
Buck just knew what the crowd of onlookers thought of him now: just a clumsy oaf of a womanizer who could hardly hold a hammer without breakin' somethin'. So far the big guy'd managed to drop a load a lumber, kick a pile of roof shanks, and all but gone ass over tea kettle into a nearby fence.
But damned if it were his fault! Could he help it if Miss Millie'd sashayed by right when he was lifting the lumber? Or if Inez tripped him up wearing that swishy skirt of her's?
Damn women just distracted a man.
Trick Rider:
J.D. Dunne could, in fact ride. And damned if he couldn't get his little gelding to do just about anything he asked. So far, the young man had barely left the saddle since the seven had arrived to help with the barn: from his seat, he and his horse had aided in dragging lumber, holding posts while the other hammered in the cross pieces, and even fetched bandages for Nathan after one of the other predictably managed to injure themselves.
But this new trick was truly impressive: man and horse were lifting a wall all on their own.
Magician:
Ezra, help with such menial labor? Certainly not. He simply could not be expected to risk his fine jacket to such a task.
No, he'd much prefer to sit there on his chair and do card tricks. He did need to cultivate his tactile sensitivity, after all. Had to keep his hand in, as it were.
If such parlor tricks attracted the attentions of the younger generation, well all the better! A showman needed a proper audience.
And if those tricks kept the children safely clear of any danger from the haphazard construction; well it was hardly his intention.
Acrobat:
They'd all seen Vin pull some feats in their time as peacekeepers, but somehow this little stunt still surprised 'em. The wild and wooly once-a-bounty hunter simply shimmied up the skeleton of the barn and up and up and up 'til he reached the roof proper. It was a damned sight worse to watch than even ole Josiah working on his church roof. Damned fool hadn't even used a ladder!
He'd been more than a mite cocky about the whole thing too: walking easily across one bare board to the next, just grinnin' like a loon up that high.
Juggler:
Their resident bounty hunter had miscalculated when he climbed up there. Without a ladder, there wasn't any way to get supplies up to him. Not 'less somebody tossed 'em, anyway.
Nathan hadn't let the others even attempt it. "Damned fools'll just drop was ever they're tossing right back on themselves," he'd said.
No, if anybody was goin' to do somethin' that foolish, it'd be him. Least he could guarantee whatever he threw would get where it needed to be.
And they did: hammer, shingles, even a bucket of nails all landed right in Vin's hands, easy as you please.
Roustabout:
Chris kept out of the center of things. Didn't need to be there with a job like this. The men were keepin' out of trouble for once, and he wanted to work. He'd built enough walls in his life to know how. Board there, nail here, watch your hand, see if the studs were in place, lift, push, pull, breathe.
He turned to watch the building come together. It'd be a good barn: strong enough to withstand all weather, and big enough for a growin' farm. Or a growin' family.
He blinked away memories. It'd be a good barn.