Lost
By The Chronicler
Casy laughed. "You are such a liar!" she accused, doubling up one of her little hands, and slugging J.D. in the shoulder, knocking him over a step.
J.D. held up a hand, partially to ward off another blow, partially to swear on. "Honest! It's the truth!" he assured, though he couldn't completely hold back his own laughter.
"Hello, Casy, J.D." Mary greeted as the couple passed her little news paper office. She didn't know what they were talking about, but couldn't help but smile at the young lovers. It did her heart good to see them together; young love in such a rough, dangerous life. It was simply beautiful!
"Hi, Mary." J.D. responded as he walked on.
But Casy stopped. "Hey, now, hold on." she called to him as she turned to Mary. "Mary, you're really smart."
The news paper woman blushed. "Well... thank you, Casy, but I wouldn't think of myself as particularly..."
J.D. stepped between them, quickly taking his girl by the shoulders and trying to turn her away. "Casy, we don't want to bother Mary with this."
Casy swatted off his hands. "Mary," she said over J.D.'s shoulder, "you ever heard of an orange an' blue frog?"
"She probably doesn't know." J.D. hurriedly explained, fearing his tease would be revealed. "They're very rare..."
"Well, perhaps in North America." Mary answered.
Both Casy and J.D. turned big, surprised eyes on the woman, exclaiming "What?"
Mary nodded. "They actually come from a rainforest region... I must admit, I don't remember exactly where... probably Austria or down in the Amazon."
"Really?" J.D. was awed for half a moment, before he remembered he wasn't supposed to be. "Yea! Really! See? Told you!" he cried in triumph, thunking himself in the chest. Standing taller, prouder, he started down the board walk once again.
"You are such a liar!" Casy accused again, standing where she was, her hands on her hips. "You didn't know it was the truth! You thought you were making it up."
"But... it was the truth." J.D. stopped to turn and face her. "So, I told the truth... even if I didn't mean..." He stopped, his eyes catching something behind the women, further down the board walk. His smile faded and his hand twitched toward his guns. "Casy, Mary, go inside." he ordered, his voice low, but urgent.
"Why should I?" Casy demanded, still thinking they were playing.
But Mary had seen Four Corners' seven guardians in action too often to need an explanation for that tone. She grabbed Casy's arm and pulled her into her shop with her.
"J.D. Dunne!" came a shout from a tall, gray, grizzly cowboy who walked along the boardwalk towards the young sheriff. He was flanked by four of his far-too-large, far-too-mean cowboys. Every one of them were armed and, no doubt, dangerous, though they seemed to be making a point of staying away from their side arms.
Figured, J.D. thought. They knew they couldn't win in a gunfight. But, considering he was standing there alone, with no obvious reason to draw his own gun... Shit! They were gonna try and beat the crap out of him.
He could already hear shop doors being slammed closed as the civilians retreated to safety.
"McKormick." J.D. answered, standing his ground.
"Where's Larabee!" the cowboy demanded.
J.D. shrugged. "Sure you could find him if you looked hard enough." No doubt someone was already busting through the swinging doors of the saloon, letting his friends know that there was trouble in town.
"Ha!" McKormick slapped his hands. "Smart ass!" He stopped his approach a mere five feet away from the boy and took his Stetson off. For a moment he glanced around while fiddling with the brim.
His men began to spread out, three of them stepping down into the street, the other stepping around him on the boardwalk. They were spreading out, getting into position.
Finally, McKormick sighed. He set his stetson back on his head, saying "Hell, son, why should I look hard when I know Larabee will come running if'n I left you all broken and bloody on the ground?" He suddenly stomped his foot, bringing his fists up.
J.D. jumped back, raising his hands to defend himself, damning the damn cowboy for not damn well drawing his damn gun and making this a damn gunfight! A gunfight he could win!
But, while his attention was on McKormick, one of his goons suddenly surged at him, catching J.D. in the side of the head with a powerhouse of a blow.
J.D. was sure his head had been splattered. Through the explosions of blinding sparks and black flashes, he could picture his skull laying on the ground, cracked open like a dropped water melon. But, when the world began to focus once again, he found himself laying in the street on what was left of the hitching rail, head still intact.
McKormick stood on the edge of the walk over looking him. Shaking his head, he admitted "I am disappointed, Dunne. How the hell have you lasted this long? Have you been spending all this time hiding behind Wilmington?"
Grinding his teeth, J.D. began to push himself up.
"J.D.!" he heard Casy cry out a warning.
Glancing back sharply, he saw one of the cowboys coming up behind him. Leaning forward on his hands, he kicked back, slamming his boot in the man's gut.
The cowboy was thrown back, slamming into the board walk.
J.D. scrambled to his feet, only to drop down again in a crouch, ducking a swing by another cowboy. Letting the arm pass, he rose up again and struck quick and low. Leaving the man doubled over and, if only momentarily, unthreatening, J.D. spun about, searching for the other cowboys.
McKormick shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "Alrighty, son. Lets not drag this out. Don't wanna spend all day puttin' you down. Got bigger squires to shoot."
"You shut up!" Casy snapped, yanking free of Mary's restraining grip so she could run forward and take a swing herself at the big cowboy.
McKormick caught her by the wrist and gave her a shove back. "Stay out of this, little girl." he warned, shaking a finger at her, then turned back to the fight.
Casy stumbled back to bump into the door frame. Setting her jaw, she double up her little fists and started back.
But Mary grabbed her arm. "Casy..." she hissed, pulling her back.
"But, Mary! They're gonna hurt him!" Casy complained.
"J.D. can look after himself... long as he's not looking after us." Mary answered, still pulling.
As if in demonstration, J.D. began pounding away at a cowboy. His blows weren't anything his opponent would of considered tough, but they were quick, sharp, and relentless, forcing him back and giving him no time to recover and even less to form an offence.
But then another stepped in from the side, delivering a powerful blow to J.D.'s side.
With a gasp, J.D. was knocked to the side and would of fallen if the cowboy hadn't grabbed him by the shoulder. The young sheriff brought his arm up to ward off a blow coming at his face. Ignoring the pain in his side (were his ribs broken?), J.D. swung back, his fist slamming into the cowboy's shoulder and turning him away.
Again he turned to ward off another cowboy, and again, another of the four struck him from the side.
This time J.D. hit the ground hard, hurting and out of breath. For a moment he laid there, untouched, trying to recover from the last blow.
Damn it, one on one, even two, he'd have a chance. Hell, Josiah had taught him enough power tricks, and Ez had taught him enough sneaky tricks, that he could win... if there were only two. But four...?
A boot caught him in the ribs, sending him up and dropping him on the ground a few feet away.
The air exploded out of his lungs, leaving his chest empty and burning. Fingers digging into the dirt, J.D. struggled to breath.
"J.D.!" Casy screamed. "Let me go! I gotta help him!"
Her voice seemed to cut through the fog that had engulfed J.D.'s head. Some how, through pain and dizziness and the struggle to breath, it accord to J.D. that he wasn't putting up a very good show for the girl he loved. Which pissed him off even more than getting jumped by a bunch of half plastered, uneducated, greedy, piss ant cowboys... sons of bitches!
His fingers wrapped around a post, a bit of remains of the hitching post. With a growl, his other hand flung up, throwing a handful of dirt up and through the air at the three cowboys coming in at him on his right. The post held tightly in the other, he came up swinging with all his might until the wood stopped with a thud against the fourth cowboy's head.
The man dropped like a sack of potatoes. Unconscious or dead, J.D. didn't take the time to check.
Swinging his weapon, he continued to spin about, swing on the remaining three, two of which were struggling to see through the dirt in their eyes. Not particularly caring who he hit first, J.D. swung his post, hitting one in the shoulder and knocking him into the second. Swinging the post back, he sunk it into the second's gut, doubling him over. Not bothering to watch the two drag each other to the ground, J.D. turned on the last one.
With post held over his shoulder, ready for a swing, J.D. froze. Pointed directly at his nose was the cowboy's six shooter, cocked and ready to blow his brains out the back of his skull.
"J.D.!" Casy screamed again, jerking free of Mary and rushing forward.
Even McKormick sounded a little startled at the direction this fight had just turned. He had wanted a fight with Larabee which beating the kid up would of given him. But, if they put a hole in the little poke... Larabee wouldn't stop until his whole crew was hanging from the nearest tree. "James! No guns!" he snapped.
But the cowboy ignored him. His three buddies were on the ground and he sure as hell wasn't gonna get whipped by some wise ass, pissing pup! Not today! Not ever! "Drop the stick, boy." he growled. "Just drop it an' take your poundin' like a man."
"Damn." J.D. set his post down, and leaned on it almost casually. "You're finally playing my game." He smiled, shaking his head slightly.
The cowboy frowned. "I'm gonna shoot your fuckin' head off!" he warned. "Drop the stick!"
McKormick's eyes went big as he realized that the boy sheriff was not going to back down. This was not what he had wanted. "Now, hold on, Dunne. Don't you try an' out draw him!" he cautioned. "Don't be a fool. He's already got lead in you, son."
But J.D. ignored them. His back to the walk, he focused wholly on the gun and the man holding it. Zone out everything else. Find the spot his bullet was going to hit. Zero in on that one, little spot... just like Vin had taught him. Take his time. Deep breath. Remember: it isn't how fast; but how accurate.
James' finger tightened around the trigger.
"J.D.! Get out of the way!" some one down the board walk shouted.
"Chris! Buck!" Mary cried.
J.D. dropped the post. It hit the ground with a thud.
James flinched, his eyes following the fallen weapon.
J.D. grabbed for his gun, drawing it and aiming from the hip as he turned to one side.
James fired.
J.D. felt the burn as the bullet cut through his shoulder, exiting out the back.
Then he fired.
His bullet did not miss its mark.
The cowboy stumbled back. A look of confusion passed over his face as he looked down at the little red spot on his shirt front. as it grew, he tilted his head to one side and looked across at his opponent. "We's were only gonna muck you up some." he whispered. Then his knees buckled and he fell to the ground, where he died within two gurgling breaths.
"You little bastard!" one of the other cowboys roared as he found his feet and went for his own weapon.
But Josiah slammed into him, knocking him to the ground, where Vin cocked his sawed off and took aim.
"Enough!" Chris snapped, busting in on the scene.
Nathan was already checking on the dead man, then moving on to the one J.D. had hit first with the post. He still laid, motionless, on the ground.
"Damn, J.D." Buck whistled his admiration. "You got yourself a temper." Despite his comments, his attention focused on J.D.'s wounds. "Are you alright? How bad you hurt? Nathan... he's bleeding!"
Ignoring all of them, J.D. spun about, searching for the source of all this, searching for the man who made him kill a man for no fucking good reason. "McKormick, you yellow bellied cow..." He stopped cold.
McKormick wasn't there.
Only Mary, kneeing on the board walk. Casy's head was on her lap. The girl's chest was covered in a deep, blood red.
"Casy!" J.D. shouted, dropping his gun and leaping up onto the boardwalk.
So sudden and unexpected was his move, the other six men jerked to the ready, guns drawn and ready.
J.D. dropped down beside Casy. "Oh, god." he whispered. "How... Why wasn't she inside?" he wanted to know, but didn't listen to the answer.
Mary said something about "... James' bullet ... She wanted to help you…"
J.D. could only see and hear Casy. Her suddenly gray pale skin; her lightly closed eye lids; long, damp lashes; light pink lips, open slightly; her still, smooth throat speckled with grisly red spots; the horrifying red that completely covered her front; her unmoving chest...
"She's not breathing!" he gasped. Scooping her up out of Mary's arms, he held the tiny form against his chest.
Mary rose up and yelled for help. "Nathan! Nathan! Casy's been shot! Casy... oh, dear god, Nathan...!"
"Come on, Casy girl." J.D. breathed softly, though he already knew she couldn't hear him. "Come on girl." He dropped his head to hers, his lips brushing her temple. "Casy, I love you." he whispered.
"I got her, J.D." Nathan spoke up, appearing across from him. "Lay her down. Let me see."
J.D. obeyed, gently placing the girl down on the board walk. He took a moment to brush the bangs away from her eyes.
Mary couldn't hold it back any longer. Practically leaping to her feet, she hurried away a few steps and buried her face in her hands. She didn't need Nathan's diagnoses to know. She had seen it far too many times.
After a quiet moment to examine her, Nathan glanced pass J.D. to where Buck and Josiah stood close by. He shook his head.
"Oh, man." Buck groaned, turning away and slamming his fist into the wall.
Josiah set a big, comforting hand on his friend's shoulder for a breath, before leaving him to step forward. "John..." he started softly.
J.D. was suddenly on his feet and stepping off the side of the board walk again.
Startled, Nathan rose to his feet and, along with Josiah, watched as the boy scooped up his fallen gun. Taking long, meaningful strides. J.D. directed himself towards the three remaining cowboys that Chris, Vin, and Ezra were bundling up for the walk to the jail house.
"Oh, shit." Buck cursed, jumping off the walk and taking chase. When he saw his friend's gun come up, he shouted a warning "Chris!"
Chris spun about just in time to slap J.D.'s gun hand up, sending his bullet harmlessly into the air. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he demanded, grabbing the boy's wrist and twisting it, hoping J.D. would let go before he actually broke his wrist.
"Get the hell off of me!" J.D. roared right back, not letting go. "Blow their fuckin' heads right off! Fuck, that's too good for them! But I don't know how to kill any other way!"
"J.D.!" Buck grabbed him from behind and yanked him about. "Damn it, stop it! You ain't a killer!" Between his jerking, and Chris' grip, J.D. finally released the gun.
Chris quickly grabbed it and, freeing the other from his holster, tossed them to Vin. "Get them locked up." he ordered, indicating both the cowboys and the guns.
J.D. shoved Buck away. "Fuck you!" he shouted. As if his stunned mind couldn't think of anything else to say, he said it again "Fuck you!"
"John..." Josiah stepped in, offering a hand in friendship and comfort.
But J.D. backed away. "Don't do it, Preacher. Don't you say there's a fucking reason for everything. Or some crap about destiny." He shook his head violently. "Don't you fucking well try an' make sense out of it! 'Cause it doesn't... make sense! It doesn't! It ain't right! There's nothing' the fuckin' well right about any of this goddamn shit! It's wrong!" His voice raised until he was almost screaming. "IT'S WRONG!" He spun about and stomped away toward the stables.
Buck started after, but Josiah grabbed his arm. "Give him a moment." he advised.
"To do what?" Buck challenged. "Put a bullet in his own brain?"
"Chris has his guns." Josiah reminded him. "Sides, he's angry right now. He won't be heart broken until the anger subsides."
"Heart broken? Some one wanna tell me what the hell is going on?" Chris snarled, his tone more than a little dangerous.
Josiah looked at Buck, but the man turned away. There was no way he was gonna say it. Buck knew the moment the words left his mouth he was gonna have to believe it... and he just wasn't ready to believe that that pretty little girl, so full of life and hope and dreams and love and energy... "Oh, man." He rubbed a hand over his face. "She's dead, Chris." Buck finally answered.
"She?"
"Young Casy Wells." Josiah supplied.
Chris felt as if he had been mule kicked in the gut. "What?" His head jerked about, searching for the girl, sure he would find her bouncing about, on her feet, maybe with a bump on the head, and explaining "oops, my mistake." But, what he saw was Mary, leaning against the wall crying and Nathan covering up Casy with his own jacket.
"How the hell did that happen?" Chris demanded. There had to be some vicious, brutal trick here. Some under handed, bloody plan to rob the bank or steal cattle, or chase people off their lands. This little girl did not just die because some arrogant ass hole wanted to prove which rooster ruled the hen house!
Sniffing, Mary wiped her eyes and explained again. "She wouldn't stay out of it. She was afraid J.D. would get shot. She ran out. and, when they shot, James' bullet went through J.D. and hit..." She stopped, her eyes darting to the girl's body, then quickly away. "Chris... we gotta get her off the street... and her aunt... Neddie..."
Chris nodded. "Yea..." he breathed. Stopping he rubbed his eyes. Despite the explanation, he still couldn't seem to grasp it.
There was a dead child on his street!
"I'll take care Casy." Nathan quickly offered. "'Saih?" he called to his friend as he carefully scooped the dead girl up in his arms.
"Yes, of course." Josiah answered and stepped up to help his friend. "Lets put to rest our sweet, little sister."
Wiping her eyes, Mary stepped down to the street. "I will go and talk to Neddie." She took a deep breath. "May I borrow Vincent. He and Neddie..."
"Yea." Chris answered, nodding. "Yea." He dragged his hand down his face. "Yea. I'll send to find you."
Mary nodded. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she turned and started after Josiah and Nathan.
Suddenly there was a yell down at the stables.
Both Buck and Chris spun about, hands dropping to their weapons.
J.D., on the back of his horse, shot out of the stables and raced out of town.
"Oh, shit." Buck breathed. "That can't be good." He started to head towards the stables.
"Buck!" Chris called after him.
Buck stopped, spun about, and opened his mouth to argue. But he stopped when his friend passed him by, heading for the stables himself.
"I'm going with you." Chris explained over his shoulder.
Buck sighed with relief. Damn, that was good to hear. He sure as hell wasn't looking forward to tackling the kid on his own. "Mary, let Vin know!" he quickly said as he took after Chris.
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NOTE: just a scene I had to get out of my head so I could go on with other projects. No plans to continue, but if anyone wants to pick it up and finish it, please do so. just let me know so i can see how things turn out.--The Chronicler