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Notes Chapter 12: Surely it's not too late for Mac?
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Dedicated to Blue Shadowdancer, on condition of stories being finished XD
Once Upon A Time In the Old West
Chapter 12: The Magnificent Nine
Adam:
Don't give up hope, Miss Stella, please! My heart's near enough breakin' hearin' her callin' to the Sheriff, remindin' him of promises made, and gettin' no answer. She's fallen silent now… We're all silent; all waitin'… The Sheriff's gonna be all right though; he's gotta be! Sure wish I could say that out loud to Miss Stella, but my tongue's all kinda' tied, and words won't come outta my mouth. Maybe it wouldn't be the right thing to be sayin' to her anyhow. She mightn't like me speakin' out. Might think I was bein' impertinent. Feel like I gotta make some kinda' noise though; and if I don't make a speakin' kinda noise, then I mightn't be able to stop a real bad kinda' noise comin' from me. Like a scream… Can't be screamin' though. Ain't a manly sort of a thing to be doin', screamin'.
Silence is gettin' real heavy now, weighin' us all down. Miss Stella's on her knees, bent right over that hole, so if she leans any further, she's gonna be fallin' down there. Can't have that happenin, no way. Already got the Sheriff injured. Reckon too he'd be real mad if Miss Stella was hurt. Remember in the summer how he kinda' flew across the bar when he thought Mr Gerrard had hurt her; but as it turned out of course, it was Miss Stella who ended up savin' his life, with a real sharp shot from her pistol….
Wonder how many pistols she's got with her now? Reckon Danny's wonderin' that too. Daren't catch his eye. Feel kinda' guilty for makin' bets on Miss Stella's pistols, but Danny tells me she ain't ever gonna know… Got my doubts about that though; seen her lookin' kinda' thoughtfully at him sometimes, and I got no doubt it don't bode well for him if she does know…
But what am I thinkin'? This ain't a suitable time to be thinkin' about bets and such! I'm ashamed at myself.
Hope no one's seen my blushes, reckon they're all concentratin' on other things though. Namely listenin' for any sound from the Sheriff. Miss Stella's still leanin' over. Don't think she's gonna fall though, 'cause her lantern's steady in her hand. Can't see no tremblin' in her fingers. She's bendin' but she ain't broken. She ain't gonna be breakin' neither. She's strong and brave, and so's the Sheriff. Both of 'em are gonna make it outta this situation.
'Cause Hattanville needs its Sheriff and its Saloon Owner.
"Mac!" She calls to him again.
Still no answer, and now the cold's startin' to get to every one of us. That's gotta be why the Sheriff ain't answerin'. The cold's gotten to him too, must've frozen up his vocal chords. Cold's gotta be the explanation for the shakin' that's buildin' up inside of me. But I ain't lettin' it out. No way. Gotta be strong. We're all relyin' on each other here. Sheriff's relyin' on all of us stayin' strong.
And we gotta get him out 'fore it gets too cold. Snow's blowin' through the gaps in the buildin' as we're all standin' listenin' for any kind of sound. My feet are startin' to freeze, but that ain't so big a deal. Can't be complainin' when Sheriff Taylor's in one heck of a dire situation. I'll just shift about a little, try and warm up, but real quietly - don't wanna be makin' noise to disturb the listenin'. Feels like we been listenin' for hours, but guess it's only been a few seconds. Amazin' how a few seconds of silence can feel like a lifetime.
Miss Stella's callin' again, "Mac!"
Still nothin'. I'm glancin' round at everyone, seein' looks exchanged now. Real grim looks. I know what they're all thinkin', but I ain't gonna be thinkin' that. Ain't often I don't do what 'most other folks are doin', but reckon this is time to make an exception. Even though some of 'em might've given up hope, I sure ain't!
But Sheriff Taylor still ain't answerin. Ain't a sound. Not a thing. Got my hat held in my hands now; maybe I can hear better if it ain't on my head. 'Cept now I got the sound of my blood rushin' in my ears…
"Please, Mac!"
Miss Stella calls again. My hat's twistin' in my hands. Don't wanna believe it, but reckon her voice is startin' to crack now. But if that happens, if she starts breakin', then what are the rest of us gonna do? This is real bad! Can't do nothin' to help and that cuts me hard; to hear her callin' and nobody answerin'. Mr Flack's standin' sorta' helplessly over her, his arms hangin' at his side. Guess he don't know what to say to her neither. Rest of us are standin' round the hole, lookin' down, waitin'.
Hope the Sheriff don't make Miss Stella wait too long. He's gotta answer her soon… But if he's still down there, still alive, then why ain't he answerin'?
Everything's kinda' frozen. All of us sure are, 'cause I can see nothin' but white cold faces and shiverin' bodies. Feels like the snow and the silence has sorta' wrapped us up, got us trapped…
Ah heck, this ain't no good at all! Surely this can't be happenin' for real? The Sheriff can't … can't be… No, no way! Not Sheriff Taylor! I ain't gonna say it! He can't be gone, he… he can't be! It ain't what's meant to happen! We're gonna find him, get him outta here, and take him back home - that's what's meant to happen, that's what's gonna happen. Then he's gonna get back to health again, with the help of the Doc, and Miss Stella will be makin' sure of him gettin' better too… Then we're gonna figure out some way to sort out those no-good folks of the railroad company, 'cause we got all sorts of people real good at figurin' out, includin' the Sheriff. Don't know rightly if I'm so good at that, but I'll do what I can. Do what I can to help get everyone happy again…
"Mac!"
That last cry does it.
Can't stand it no longer; can't bear to hear Miss Stella callin' out and no one answerin'… Before I know what my feet are doin', I'm kinda' leapin' over to her, droppin' down beside her, and I hope I ain't gonna offend her by doin' this, her bein' a lady and all, but I put my arm round her shoulders, and hear myself speakin'.
"Miss… Miss Stella, it's gonna be okay! Really. I… I know it is, 'cause the Sheriff's a fightin' sorta' man, and he won't have given up… He'd never be givin' up on you…"
Heck! Words sorta' slipped outta my mouth before I could stop 'em! Can't take 'em back now they've been said. Can't do that with words, once they've been said, they're said, and you gotta take the consequences…
Feel a blush creepin' into my face now, and even though it's warmin' my cheeks, reckon I could do without that kinda' heat… I risk lookin' at Miss Stella, and very slowly she turns to face me, and I get a feelin' the consequences of my actions are about to be faced… Can see her eyes are kinda' glassy lookin' and she's real pale. Gotta hope I've done the right thing by speakin' to her. Can't entirely guess what she's gonna say, so I kinda' hold my breath and grip the brim of my hat real tight…
But there's the faintest smile appearin' on her lips, "Thanks, Adam. Appreciate you sayin' that." She says, and I let out my breath in a kind of whoosh. Duck my head too; feel real embarrassed now, but mighty glad that I've maybe been somethin' of a help to her. If that ain't of course an arrogant thing to be thinkin'…
Then she turns away again, holds her lantern down as far as she can and swings it back and forth, making patterns of light that sorta' dance about in the darkness. It's so quiet I can hear the breath Miss Stella takes in before she calls out in a voice that seems a little louder than a moment ago.
"Mac! You gotta answer me! Everyone's waitin' for you, me especially. Remember somethin' I said to you not so long ago, right after we dealt with Gerrard and his gang? I told you not to keep a lady waitin'!" She dashes a hand across her eyes, "Remember that? Don't you be keepin' me waitin' any longer, Mac Taylor! We waited long enough before…"
Ain't nothin' movin' but a whirl of snowflakes round our heads. Can see 'em catchin' the lantern light as they sink down slow as anythin' to the floor. Everything's still.
We're waitin'. Still waitin'…
And then, far below us, somewhere deep down in all that darkness, we hear a sound. Real soft, sorta' like someone sighin' far below us. But it's a sound…
Not a one of us dares to move for a second. Guess we're hardly darin' to believe we heard what we thought we heard. Surely it weren't just our imaginings and hope? Surely we really did hear somethin' from down in that dark hole the Sheriff's gotten himself fallen into?
I'm hopin so; hopin' with all my heart, 'cause I don't… don't rightly know what we'd do without Sheriff Taylor. Don't rightly know what Miss Stella would do 'specially. That ain't to say o' course she's a woman who can't get along without a man, no, that ain't what I mean at all… Heck, I'm gettin' myself all flustered up here with my thinkin'. Guess what I'm meanin' is that the two of 'em kinda… kinda' belong with each other, and one without the other somehow don't seem right…
She's hangin' over the edge where the floorboards've kinda' broken off. Can't see nothin' but shadows down there. Makes me shiver, 'cause even though I'm a grown man, I can still recall bein' scared of the dark... But I'm grabbin' hold tight of my hat in my hands, and it stops my hands from shakin'. Can't let anyone see that, no way, ain't gonna show my fear. That ain't gonna help a soul. Anyhow, I ain't afraid. I ain't where the Sheriff is, trapped under a great big beam, all alone in the dark…
"Mac? Mac!" Miss Stella cries, "If you're hearin' me, you gotta let me know you're there! Just another sound, Mac, please!"
Ain't nothin' for a moment. Mr Flack's on his knees too, leanin' over the other side of the hole, got the rope from round his shoulders next to him on the floor…
Then the sound, quiet as anythin', a rustlin' sorta' sound comes again, and we all look at each other, and I see somethin' that weren't there a moment or two ago in folks' faces.
Hope.
We gotta take action now. Plenty of us to be gettin' the Sheriff out. I'm real proud to have been asked to be part of the rescue group. There's Danny and me, Doc Hawkes and the new lady in town, and John Carter, Hank Gibson and Lenny Cody. Reckon them three are the biggest men you're likely to see anywhere in the West. Standin' near to 'em makes me feel kinda like a mouse; ain't never seen muscles the size of the ones they got! Reckon they got more strength than pine trees in their legs. Got the height of pine trees too; Lenny makes even Mr Flack seem on the short side, and that's sayin' somethin'. He's a mighty tall man, Mr Flack, gentleman too, and he ain't never had a cross word to say to me. Sheriff Taylor ain't ever spoken angrily to me neither. Won't ever forget his goodness and justice over all the troubles I got into that day back in June.
Guess it's okay to be thinkin' it, just to myself, but that day I was… well, I was scared for my life. When Stan Gerrard told me he was gonna… gonna hang me; if it hadn't been for Sheriff Taylor's speakin' up for me, don't rightly know what might've happened to me. Reckon he saved my life that day.
And I know, that without Sheriff Taylor, Hattanville wouldn't be the same town. It'd be a town in a real sad state. Guess we're in somethin' of a sad state though anyhow, and I gotta wonder if we're still gonna have a Hattanville for much longer. Heck, guess all of us had almost forgotten about the threat from the railroad company in all this situation with the Sheriff…
But the sound down there's gotta be proof he's alive! Reckon Miss Stella's got the same idea too, 'cause there's fire blazin' in her eyes again.
"Mac, I'm comin'! Hang on!"
Seems she's about to leap into the darkness, but Mr Flack grabs her before she can.
"Oh no you don't Stell! Ain't no way you're goin' back down there - you damn near froze to death earlier, and you're still near enough frozen now." He pulls her round to face him, gently though. "Sorry to say this, but reckon you're gonna need some tough words to be persuadin' you; you mightn't realise it, but you had one hell of a lucky escape earlier - few more minutes lyin' out there, and it would have been your corpse the Doc and me were uncoverin' from the snow. I'm tellin' you, you're lucky you ain't lyin' cold and stiff in one of Hammerback's pine coffins right now…"
But she ain't havin' none of it.
"Maybe I was lucky, but fact remains that I ain't frozen or dead at Hammerback's, I'm right here, and I'm fine Don. I have to get down there! Mac's down there, he's alive, we gotta get him out!"
"Yeah, we gotta get him out, and at this moment, 'we' don't include you. That ain't any judgement on your capabilities, it's a friend tellin' you that you ain't in any fit state to be climbin' down there!"
She's got a look of anger in her eyes, and I'm real glad her gaze ain't turned on me; reckon if looks could do damage, Mr Flack'd be catchin' fire right about now…
"I appreciate you bein' concerned for my welfare, but Mac needs my help! He's what's important here…"
Doc Hawkes steps forward then, and stands in front of Miss Stella, "Flack's speaking sense, Stella; you go down there and you might not come out alive." Got a real gentle voice, the Doc has, but there's a whole heap of strength hidden in there. He ain't gonna be easy to disagree with.
Miss Stella's sure givin' it a good try though as she folds her arms across her chest, "I got myself up outta there, so ain't no reason I can't go back down the same way! And we're wastin' time here by arguin'…"
With just a hand on her arm, the Doc stops her, "I can take a guess at how you're feeling, but you've got to listen to us on this, for Mac's sake as well as your own."
"I ain't gonna be standin' around whilst you all put yourselves at risk!" She protests, but he ain't put off.
"I know you're not, and that's not what we're suggesting. You're right, Mac needs help, but as you said yourself, you can't shift the beam that's got him trapped, so we need someone down there who can. It isn't any weakness, Stella, simply a matter of practicalities. We'll go down there and meantime, you'll be right here to help when we get him out. You and Kelly can get coffee and blankets ready, as I reckon Mac's going to need them when we bring him up."
Miss Stella's shakin' her head though, "I promised him, Hawkes, I promised I'd be back to help him, to get him outta there!"
"And that's what you've done, you got help, you brought us all here."
Gotta agree with the Doc, wouldn't none of us be here if Miss Stella hadn't made it back to town. Take my hat off to her in admiration of that. Least I would if my hat weren't already in my hands…
"Let us go down, Stella. We can shout back up, keep you informed of what's going on, and you'll be helping Mac at the same time up here."
There's a few moments whilst Miss Stella's got all kinds of feelin's showin' in her face; don't think she knows entirely what to do, can almost see her fightin' with herself. I ain't gonna be sayin' a word though, the Doc and Mr Flack are the ones doin' the talkin' here. Guess they got the right sorta' wisdom to know what to say.
Finally, Miss Stella rubs her hand across her forehead, and looks between the two of 'em, "Guess you ain't gonna let me win on this one, huh?"
"May come as somethin' as a shock to you, but no, this time we ain't." Mr Flack says.
"All right." She sighs, "You got me beat, but only this once, and only 'cause it's the best thing for Mac. You understand me?"
Both the Doc and Mr Flack nod their heads.
"Understood." The Doc says, and Miss Stella gives them both a hard stare.
"Well then what're you waitin' for? Get yourselves down there, and me and Miss Higgins'll see to some blankets and coffee."
"Y'all can rely on me." The young Texan lady speaks up, "Though I say it myself, I'm real good at warmin' coffee and blankets, been a necessity in some of the places I been to. I'll go fetch what we need." With a touch of her hat to everyone, and a smile to the Doc, she's as good as her word. She's given an admirin' look by the Doc as she goes - don't reckon his eyes leave her till she's outta the door. Real good thing to see that; reckon the Doc's been a bachelor long enough. He's a real good man, and the whole town'd be more than happy to see him settled with a lady to be carin' for him. Reckon he deserves carin' for, after all the carin' he does for all of us…
Mr Flack's speakin' again, "Doc, we'll need you down there; Mac's gonna need medical help, you up for it?"
"Ready and willing." The Doc answers, "How're we going to do this?"
"Ropes." Mr Flack picks up the one he was holdin' previously, and kinda' shakes it at him, "Some of us'll stay up top and lower the others down. Reckon we're gonna need some brute strength down there too, get the beam shifted off of Mac." He turns to the rest of us, "Who's up for that?"
'Course, none of us are shy about volunteerin', and everyone answers him. Brings a smile to Miss Stella's face which I'm mighty glad to see, Mr Flack ain't lookin' so grim neither. He points to Lenny, Hank and myself, and I gotta confess, I get a real feelin' of pride that he's picked me…
"You three and the Doc for goin' down. Reckon that shares out our strength near enough evenly, so we'll organise it this way - me, John and Danny'll lower you down, then soon as you've got Mac free, we'll haul you back up. Then we'll go from there. That gonna be fine with everyone?"
Sounds a fine plan to me. Wish I was someone who could come up with plans like Mr Flack. Guess that's why he's Deputy. Get to thinkin' some days I'd like to be doin' somethin' real important too. Maybe some day I'll get my chance…
Danny speaks up then as he peers down the hole, "Seems pretty safe up here, but it don't look good down there." He pushes his hat back to scratch his head, "Guess you're gonna have to be real careful not to upset the loose stuff."
"We'll be careful." Lenny rumbles. Got a voice sorta' like rocks rollin' round, real deep and slow. Moves sorta' like a rock too. He ain't one for rushin', but he's real solid and dependable. He tips his hat to Miss Stella, who he towers over, even though she's a tall lady, "Don't you be frettin', Miss Stella. We'll get your Sheriff outta there no time at all."
"I got confidence in all of you." She smiles up at him and gives his arm a squeeze, even though her hand don't even meet half-way round it.
"You all ready then?" Mr Flack asks, "Who's gonna go first?"
Before I kinda' realise it, I'm volunteerin' myself…
Then the rope's tied round my waist and I'm bein' lowered into the gloom, a lantern hooked to my belt, but it's still real dark and I daren't look down, I just daren't… I'm keepin' lookin' up so I can see the faces of everyone up there, but even so, my eyes are kinda' drawn to all the broken bits of wood and rubble below me.
Seems to take an awful long time to get down, guess 'cause they're lowerin' me real carefully. Can feel the sweat on my hands and on my forehead, drippin' down my nose, itchin' me, but I can't take a hand off the rope, 'cause then I might fall… Can't be doin' that. Can't be fallin' - that'd cause nothin' but trouble for the others and for the Sheriff…
"We're gonna lower the Doc down now, Ross!" Mr Flack shouts.
"Go… go ahead! I'm almost there!" I shout back. Real glad to hear that, was gettin' a shivery sort of feelin' at bein' the only one down here, in the dark… 'Cept I ain't the only one of course! Mr Taylor's down here, and he's gonna be alive too! I know he is, I know it…
The Doc's comin' down now, and I can see him sorta' bumpin' against the rubble and holdin' on grimly to the rope. Can see Miss Higgins too, standin' over the hole with her hands pressed real tight together.
"Just y'all keep a tight hold on that rope!" She says to Mr Flack, John and Danny, "And don't you be lettin' go neither, Sheldon."
Don't reckon the Doc's got any intention of that, and with a lady such as Miss Higgins tellin' him that, he's got even more reason to be careful with his life.
In no time at all, we've both reached the ground, though it sure ain't solid or steady. We're splashin' in water up to our knees, real cold water, can feel it soakin' through my boots already. Ugh, ain't gonna be a comfortable ride home like this… Don't matter though. We got more important things to be thinkin' of…
Takes us a moment to kinda' get our bearings and balance ourselves again after the journey down. Shake my head a bit to clear the dizziness, and it strikes me then what a time Miss Stella must've had climbin' all the way up. I got a real swell of admiration for her doin' that.
And 'cause of her doin' that, we're here now, and we got a man to find and bring back up, so the Doc and me shine our lanterns through all that mess and gloom…
Only takes a moment to spot where the Sheriff is; can see the faintest glow of a lantern about to die out, hangin' from a beam as we splash and scramble over and see that Mr Taylor looks in a real bad way…
"We found him, Stella!" The Doc shouts up as he crouches beside him. He's real pale, white as anythin', got his eyes closed, and there's blood on the front of his shirt; real nasty lookin' gash he got. And that beam lyin' over him ain't gonna be doin' him any good at all…
"How is he? Hawkes, tell me!" Miss Stella yells down. Glancin' up, I can see her at the edge of the hole, hair hangin' down and her face as pale as moonlight. I kind of gulp as I turn back to the Doc, who's checkin' the Sheriff over. Got a concentratin' look on his face. Looks kinda' severe when he's doin' that…
Oh, I'm hopin', I'm hopin'… got my fingers twisted up and crossed so many times don't know if I can get 'em undone again. Guess it's a childish sorta' thing to be doin', don't know what else to do though. Already been kinda sayin' a prayer in my head as we were ridin' here, seemed the right sorta' thing to be doin', 'cause the Sheriff's a good man…
"Hawkes! Please!" Miss Stella calls again, frantic now.
Come on Doc; please, please…
He takes his hand away from the Sheriff's wrist, and there's a look I can't figure on his face. Then he looks upwards, takes in a deep breath and calls out, and it's only then I realise I'm holdin' my own breath and my chest feels like it's about to burst with all this waitin…
"He's alive, Stella! He's hurt pretty bad, unconscious, but he's alive!"
Suddenly I can breathe again as cheers and a cry of relief comes from above. The Sheriff's alive! We weren't too late. He's alive!
Now all we gotta do is get him outta here…
Wow, not quite a cliff-hanger! But please review, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know! Thanks, Lily x