Winchester West

Disclaimer: I have no claims to the show Supernatural, the characters or themes. I also mean no insult to any and all Indian tribes, people etc. I just like to play with the characters, tease, torture, caress and the rest!!

CHAPTER 10

Previously: When Mary finished, the townspeople where seriously thinking of hanging them anyway, but the priest calmed them down and convinced the sheriff (who was actually making a noose at the time), to escort them to the wagon and out of town.

Samuel was beside himself, after listening to the truth, he admitted he wanted to hang them himself. A restraining arm on his shoulder stopped him two steps from where his father stood. Martha to was angry but she now had hope, and she was determined that Samuel would not end up in jail, for killing his father, however much the bastard deserved it. She motioned to the sheriff and the crowd parted allowing John and Mary to leave. Mary turned to Samuel before leaving, "When you have calmed down, and returned to the Doctor's office. You'll understand that this is for the best. We'll talk then." Samuel could not believe his ears, and it was at this moment that his life changing event occurred. "I am not moving back to the Doctor's, I am staying to find my brother." Mary straightened her back and holding her head proudly high, turned and walked away. Samuel was left shaking with anger, as Mary and John left. Sarah was left in tears and Martha, well she never wanted to see her daughter ever again. That was how John and Mary left New Stand, leaving the town hating them, and the area within days loathing them, when the truth about Dean spread.

Martha insisted that Samuel stay with her in the mansion. For Samuel, his much wanted life in the big city faded to disgust for what he had done. He wondered if he could have helped or changed things, if only he had stayed as his parents wished him to. Samuel regretted deeply, his choice of heading off to the big city. What was he thinking. He should have stayed, maybe then he could have helped. Martha found him crying his heart out for what he had lost. He only now realized that other then Martha, Dean had been the only one who cared for him. To think he had thought of Dean, just what his parents had thought of him. They thought him a savage, who was more interested in Indian life then normal life. A boy who would never fit into the upper levels of society that Samuel wanted so badly to be in. Mary had taught Samuel well. Samuel had thought him a fool for taking chickens and pies for goods, when bad times meant that little money was around. Samuel's dreams of high society living where now dashed on the rocks of reality. Samuel remembered the last words, he had told Dean. He remembered how he felt when he saw Dean crying, when the wagon left, taking him to the big city and he realized how much he regretted leaving.

Martha tried to give him comfort but Samuel was desolate. Maybe the Indians would have taken him instead, that night. He was older, he could survive better whatever the chief had in store for him. He deserved no less in his opinion, he had deserted his family. He had deserted Dean. All Samuel understood was that now somewhere out there, he knew Dean was paying the price for that desertion. Dean who had never done anything against anyone. Dean who's only thought had been for helping his family and the town. God, Samuel blamed himself for what had happened, he was the elder brother. He was responsible!

Martha was also sad and unhappy. She had lost the one person she thought was someone worthy of her family. Now she looked at Samuel and saw that maybe, sadly this had shocked him into reality. She knew that there was no hope in searching the area for Dean, the Indians would be long gone and Dean with them. Her only hope was the store, maybe when Indians passed by, she could ask questions of them. It had been now 4 weeks since Dean had vanished, and three days since Mary and John left. Martha would cry later, now she had a store to open and Indians to find.

The next morning, Martha was determined to talk to Sarah about the store and what would happen now. She could not it seemed get Samuel out of his sad mood, she determined to try to ease her own by working, which was how she had dealt with her husband's death. She had literally worked her fingers to the bone to make sure the business, his business succeeded. Now she would do the same for Sarah, whom she thought was in probably a worse state then Samuel. Martha realized Sarah was Dean's wife, the love of his life, and she was going to make sure Sarah was taken care of. With that thought in mind she left Samuel to his sadness and went to bed. Tomorrow she would go into town, she figured she would have to convince Sarah to reopen the store but she would do it, if she had to she would open the store herself.

The next morning Martha managed to convince Samuel to go with her to town, maybe it would help him get out of the state he was in, if he saw that Sarah was in a worse state. It was on the way to town that she was informed that maybe she had underestimated Sarah. It was the priest full of worry, on his way to Fort Hill, that informed her of this. He did not mean too. He had actually hoped that Martha would side with him and convince Sarah to close the store for a time and take time to deal with Dean's disappearance. He was grossly disappointed. Martha though was ecstatic. No wonder Dean loved her. Unlike Samuel, Sarah though shocked, saddened and angry, now felt alive again. Ever since Dean had been declared dead by his parents, she had seemed lost and alone and all she did was cry. She worked at the store but even the chickens stopped laying and the bread she made just wasn't right anymore. Now, well now she had hope. The very next morning, after John and Mary left, she opened the store. Her mother and father thought that maybe she was moving too quickly but Sarah was determined, she would open the store, she would make deals, sell bread, trade with anyone i.e. exactly what Dean and her had been doing for ages. Sarah thoughts where along the same line as Martha's, only she was quicker at it.

Martha was impressed, Sarah was a suitable addition to the family. Of course Samuel did not see things the same way. He was shocked that Martha wanted to re-open the store, but on learning that the store was not only already open, but trading, he was furious. He stormed into the store, closely followed by Martha, and started yelling at Sarah that she had no care at all for his brother and she was just as bad as his parents. You would have thought that after losing Dean to the Indians, and having to re-open the store alone, along with the all the rest of the events that had occurred, because of those events, Sarah would be in tears. You obviously do not know Sarah. She was fuming, how dare Sam tell her this and she told him exactly what he could do with his attitude, his thoughts, his quarter of the business (which she offered to buy) and that until he was calmer, she did not want to see him in the store again. His temper got the better of him and the ensuing shouting match, was heard by the entire town. Maureen came running from the stables to find out what was going on. Martha decided that she was not getting involved and dragged Lynda out of the store. "they need this!". Martha realized that both Sarah and Samuel needed to let go and this was letting go.

Maureen though unaware that this was just something that needed to happen, had unfortunately come in the back door, and on seeing her little sister being shouted at by Samuel, who had picked up a pie that was close by, stepped in-between them, at totally the wrong moment. Now Samuel would never truly understand why he had done what he did but on seeing a flash of anger in Sarah's eyes, and having been doused with flour, he reached for anything that he could throw at her, that would not get her injured but might make his point that she was too young to run the store, and that the store should be sold. Thus he picked up a pie. On seeing this Sarah picked one up too and you guessed it, Maureen stepped right into the middle.

Now the sight of a teenage boy dashing out of the store covered in flour was something that Martha and Lynda would remember for years. But it was the sight of Maureen stalking out of the store seething with fury, literally wanting to hunt Sam down, that had them laughing. Maureen had apple pie on one side of her and blueberry on the other and she hated them both. She literally chased Sam down the street and unfortunately for him, she caught him. It was a very wet Sam with a black eye and nursing his jaw that arrived later back at the Doctor's house, hoping that Maureen had calmed down. It had not been raining but getting dunk in a horse trough does get you wet and Sam realized, it also helped ease the pain, he was feeling. Sarah, on the other hand, had hidden behind the counter hoping that on seeing Maureen chase after Samuel, she was safe. I mean Maureen was her sister, right, she should be safe. But feeling that she should make herself scarce, she decided to sleep in Dean's room at the store, and really that was where she stayed. She moved out of her home and into the store, and after that Sarah never looked back, only forward. Forward to the day when she and Dean would be together again. She and the store would be waiting.

Samuel too had come to a decision, after escaping Maureen, he had met a few of the fort soldiers who mentioned that a Doctor's assistant position was going at the fort. Next day, Samuel went to the fort and with Henry backing him up, he signed up as a soldier and Doctor's assistant. Later he also learnt about tracking and hunting and one or two Indian languages. He was determined to find his brother and becoming a Indian tracker was his way of doing it. Maureen also wanted to find Dean, for her sister's sake, but she could not live the regimented life of the army, so though she too learnt to track, she used her skills to hunt. Henry wasn't surprised at the fact that Maureen turned Bounty Hunter and Bartender. He had know she would grow up to be wild the moment she was born, all that red hair meant trouble and her temper made it official - she was trouble with a capital "T". Henry though was surprised when Samuel joined the army, he had never been one for taking orders and yet finding his brother turned out to be far more important then his pride and Henry though sad, was proud of the man Samuel was becoming. As for Sarah she kept the trade store open, trying to find out information and spread the word to every Indian that came in. She was kept up to date with how both Maureen and Samuel where fairing in the search and she kept them up to date on how her research was going. The only problem was that, so far nothing was being found. It was as if Dean had vanished off the face of the earth. In her heart she knew he was still alive, but it seemed obvious that this was going to be a long search.

Next: We find out what Happened to Dean and why no Indian will say anything about him.