Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven and characters are the property of MGM Television, The Mirsch Corporation, Trilogy Entertainment Group and CBS. No profit has been made off of this work and I unfortunately don't own them. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 14
Vin looked down at the group of outlaws that were trussed and sitting on the ground; out of the ten that Boggs had employed three had ridden off before they could be stopped, four were dead, and the remaining three plus Smith's two sidekicks were waiting to be taken to Eagle Bend for collection of any outstanding rewards. "Well I'm glad that's over, can't says as I've been as ready to get back to Four Corners as I am today."
"Buck's out on the porch with Chris and Ezra; I'm gonna head over and check on the damage, if you three have everything here." Nathan advised as he grabbed up his bag of medical supplies.
"We've got it, Nathan, you go on ahead. Think Josiah and I'll start on back to Eagle Bend so the sheriff can get out here to tidy up, so to speak."
"Oh you're done now, Stud. Nathan looks to be in full mother hen mode to me." Buck laughed as leaned against the porch railing and watched Nathan make his way to the house, and ascend to the porch where the walking wounded had taken up residence.
Nathan looked over at Ezra and gave him a quick once over. "Got some salve that'll take the sting out of the lash marks; you got a fever going there, we'll get ya cleaned up; nothing a few days in bed won't cure. Not gonna lie to you Ez, some of these marks on your back are kinda deep, probably gonna a scar up."
Buck gave Ezra's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he stated, "Don't sweat it Ez, give you a good story to tell the ladies, they'll think you're all mysterious." Buck smiled and waved to Vin who was working his way over to the house, after checking the other outbuildings for outlaws.
Ezra looked up at Buck and rolled his eyes, "Mr. Wilmington, I do not feel the need to embellish my attributes to please the ladies; if that is what aids in your conquests, I salute you."
"Was that an insult? I think he just insulted me." Buck sulked as he sank down next to Chris. "Well at least I still have one friend left in the world." Buck announced as he wrapped the gunslinger in a bear hug.
Chris squeezed his eyes shut as he grimaced in pain, "Ow, Buck, I'm injured remember?" at the drooping of Buck's mustache he added, "you may hug, but not so hard, and definitely not in front of the ladies. Don't need them clucking away at my expense."
Buck gave him a small squeeze for good measure; slapped him on the shoulder and cracked, "just trying to make you smile some, or maybe if I'm lucky, a laugh?"
"Hurts too much to laugh right now, maybe later; if something's really funny." Chris replied and turned to face Vin Tanner who was currently staring at him with a perplexed look on his face, "Yes? You see something interesting?"
Vin continued to look at Chris as he gained the bottom stair, and said in disbelief, "Wow Cowboy, you run into the wrong end of a shovel? You are an accident waiting for a place to happen. Where's Boggs and that lady?"
Chris hooked his left thumb over his shoulder, "Quite the chatterbox aren't you? They're inside, in the parlor, deader than dead. The woman was Ella, and Boggs shot her." Chris frowned as he realized that his dealings with Ella were truly over, he had wanted closure, his way, "Kinda wished I'd been the one to pull the trigger. Wanted her to know who had the last word; and that, after learning what she'd done to my family I'd never love her blackened heart." He growled and slapped the stair with his wounded hand, "Ah, damn it!" he groaned cradling his hand; he looked back at Vin, "Guess it don't make no never mind now, she's dead and she'll stay that way."
Nathan looked up at the house and scratched at his chin, "Think we should go inside and make use of the kitchen, get ya'll cleaned up." Nathan looked down at Chris who was staring up at him. "What? We'll head back after I'm done, need to clean Ezra's back and –" he stooped down pushing Chris's hair back to look at the gash. Chris tried to jerk out of the way, but Nathan had a grip on his head, "that needs stitches. All right let's go inside."
"Nathan, I'm fine, nothing a little soap and water won't cure." Chris groused and pulled himself to a standing position. He made to go down the stairs but Vin came up grabbing his arm and directing him back inside.
"Not so fast there, Cowboy, you look like ten miles of bad road. Let Nathan clean ya up, you'll thank me later." Vin pulled him through the door and followed Nathan back through the hallway in search of the kitchen.
"Yeah, well at least I'm not some scruffy tracker who smells the back end of a horse" Chris shot back.
"Is that so? Well you obviously haven't sniffed yourself lately, better stay downwind; don't want to frighten the flies." Vin snapped back and pushed Chris through the door into the kitchen.
Nathan pulled out a kitchen chair and lowered a whimpering and gasping Ezra into it. He dropped his bag onto the table and started pulling out medicines, salves, and bandages. "Vin fill that pot over there and let's get some water boiling."
"Please tell me that you have come properly outfitted for the task at hand. I am in quite a bit of discomfort here, having suffered for Mr. Larabee's cause." Ezra griped as he turned to address the gunslinger as he bumped into the doorframe, "No offense meant." Chris just gave Ezra a half hearted glare.
Vin chuckled, "Sure thing. All right, Cowboy, take a seat and relax." Vin pushed Chris down into another chair and went to get the water set up, then went in search of the ladies man who had conveniently disappeared.
"So Ez, how did you end up in the clutches of Boggs?" Nathan asked as he worked at cleaning the cuts and abrasions on Ezra's face.
Ezra grimaced at a particularly sensitive cut, "Well, Mr. Smith and his cohorts had been acting rather suspicious after our game, so I decided that I should investigate further. My lapse of judgment had me going down one of the side alleys and he snuck up on me."
"Ez, how could you fall for that, it's the oldest trick in the book?" Chris asked as he leaned forward in the chair to rest his head on his folded arms, "He called your bluff and you fell for it."
Ezra huffed and continued on, "Be that as it may, I was pistol whipped and next thing I know I'm tied across the back of a smelly beast, blindfolded. Not the most comfortable mode of travel, I assure you."
A loud thump from the front of the house could be heard and seconds later Vin was yelling, "Hey, I said I was sorry. What are you complain' about anyway, he can't feel it, he's dead! No, I don't want the head, that's the heaviest part, why can't I have the feet?" Chris raised his head and shot a questioning look down the hallway, groaned and started to pull himself out of the chair.
"I know you don't think yer getting' outta that chair. Just sit yourself back down. They're adults they can handle it on their own." Nathan scolded as he wrapped Ezra's wrists.
"Whoa, Mr. Jackson those are attached to my person. Don't take your frustration with Mr. Larabee out on me." Ezra complained as Nathan wrapped one wrist particularly tight. Nathan sighed and re-wrapped the wrist.
"Nate—," Chris started only to be interrupted by Nathan's glare and quick reprimand. "Don't you 'Nate' me. Sit! Don't you move outta that chair until I say you can. I'll be done with Ezra soon and then it's your turn."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Chris groused and laid his head back down.
Ezra scowled and announced, "If you two are through chewing on each other I'll continue. So, where was I? Oh yes, they kept me in a room below the house for, probably two days. The care Mr. Boggs had imparted had not been deplorable, only boring. Until one day he came to the room and was quite vexed. Next thing I know I was being taken to the woodshed to be lashed like a common brigand on a sailing vessel. To say the least I would have preferred to walk the plank." Ezra sighed dramatically, "Be that as it may, I was kept in that hovel until right before your arrival."
"I need to work on your back now, Ezra; this is going to sting a little." Nathan advised before he began cleaning the wounds.
"A little?" Ezra hissed, jerking up straight and holding his breath as Nathan continued to work on his back, Ezra tried to slide from the chair but Nathan held him firm. "It feels as if you are using a scouring brush on my back." He gasped weakly, trembling under the healer's ministrations. As Nathan continued on his task Ezra could feel fluid running down his back and tried to turn to look over his shoulder.
"Ezra be still, you can't possibly see your back, so stop trying to. The blood is washing away now, so once I finish wiping it up I'll pack your wounds with the salve. It's an old recipe and I've always found it to be very soothing."
"Well, Mr. Jackson, I sure hope you are correct, because I don't think I can stand anymore of this unpleasantness." Ezra moaned as Nathan started packing the wounds. His skin was so touch sensitive it felt as if Nathan were laying hot pokers to his back. Ezra bit his lip to keep from crying out until he tasted blood. The agony kept intensifying until he thought he would literally combust from the pain. Nathan finally stopped packing the wounds and patted Ezra's shoulder in sympathy. "Sorry, Ez, had to be done." Ezra just nodded his head in understanding.
After a few minutes Nathan stepped away to clean the salve from his hands and turned to Chris, "Your turn. Ezra, why don't you go somewhere and rest, this may take awhile."
Ezra shook his head no, turned the chair, and straddled it backwards. "I wish to stay and see how Mr. Larabee fares under your ministrations. He is the whole reason we are here, if memory serves."
"Suit yourself. This stubborn fool is gonna wish he'd stayed in bed for a week when I've finally got him tended to my satisfaction." Nathan stated as he reached for Chris's damaged hand.
Chris tried to scowl at Nathan but realized it just hurt too much to give it any kind of effort. He sighed in resignation, "Have at it, if it will get you done quicker so we can go home."
Nathan carefully scrutinized Chris fingers, noting the unnatural ridge along the joints; he used his left hand to hold Chris's wrist and wrapped the fingers of his right hand around the injured right finger. Chris was tensing as he watched Nathan carefully, so in an effort to distract him the healer looked up suddenly and said, "What?" Chris looked over to where Nathan had directed his attention and yelped when Nathan yanked the finger; releasing when he felt the bones slide apart, and back into alignment.
Chris surged out of the chair, almost knocking Nathan over, grasping his hand and hollering at the top of his lungs, "Holy Mother Full of Grace! Holy—ah, you trying to put me into a fit of apoplexy?" Chris sent a glare at Nathan as he sank back into the chair and reluctantly held his shaking hand back out. He wiped the perspiration from his upper lip as Nathan completed binding the fingers on his right hand together and snapped, "That was low, Nate, coulda told me that's what you were gonna do."
"Yup and you would have tensed up, worked much better this way." Nathan smiled and started in on Chris's scalp. "How'd this happen?" Nathan dug through his bag to pull out a needle and cat gut to sew up the gash. Chris eyed the needle glumly.
"Oh, that? Compliments of Ezra's friend, Smith, I think?" Chris looked over at Ezra and he nodded his head in agreement. "Appears the man has an affinity for pistol whipping; caught me by surprise when I knocked on the door."
Ezra got a confused look on his face, "Where is Smith, by the way? I haven't seen him since Bogg's dying lament."
"Don't know, what'd he look like?" Nathan asked as he continued to try and clean Chris scalp. The gunfighter was not cooperating. "Stop pulling away, you're making this take longer than it should.
"If you didn't make it hurt so much maybe I wouldn't." Chris complained as he leaned away from Nathan and put his hand up to block the healer again. "I've had about as much tending as I can take."
Ezra loudly cleared his throat, "If I may impart the information I have and you want. He is a large burly fellow, bad teeth and breath that would knock over a fly; oh, and a beard and mustache."
Nathan thought for a moment, "Nope, didn't see him in the group J.D. and Josiah took to Eagle Bend; didn't see him among the dead neither." He poured alcohol over the needle and thread in preparation for the ten plus stitches he would need to place in the gunfighter's scalp.
"We'll look for him when we leave here." Chris advised as he winced when Nathan put in the first stitch. Chris tried not to shudder as he felt the needle and thread pierce and pull through his flesh over and over again.
"Re-phrase that Larabee, you and Ezra are going back to Four Corners to heal up. The others can go chasing Smith all over the territory." Nathan growled as he continued to stitch.
They heard the front door bang open and clomping feet coming back down the hallway. Buck came through the doorway, grabbed an available chair and flopped into it. "Whew, I'm beat. Vin and I put those bodies in the springhouse. Figure they'll keep until the sheriff can come out here. How's it comin', we almost ready to hit the road?"
"Just hold yer horses, Buck, still tending to the wounded here. When I'm done we'll see how they're feeling. Once those aches settle in they may not want to head out. I'm sure there are plenty of beds in this place." Nathan huffed as he worked on Chris's face.
Chris pushed Nathan's hand away, "We will stay here over my dead body."
"That can be arranged, as I recall you are pushing your luck already, Mr. Larabee, lest you forget the parlor incident." Ezra yawned behind his hand. "I myself would love to have a restful night's sleep in a bed and not in the dirt."
Chris glared at Ezra as best he could with one eye, "Fine, you all stay here, enjoy the beds, I'm leaving. I will not sleep under this roof or on this property. I would be more willing to spend the night in one of Eagle Bend's hotels." He would not be able to rest comfortably knowing that the woman who had murdered his family had stayed within these walls. Ella had slept under this roof; she'd obviously been intimate with Boggs in these rooms. This house oozed of those two and it made his skin crawl to even think of them.
"You would, really, be willing to stay in Eagle Bend?" Nathan asked.
"Yes!" Chris snapped.
"All right then, Eagle Bend it is. We'll stay there awhile, let you heal up and then go on to Four Corners." Nathan smiled and clapped Chris on the shoulder.
It was then that Chris's heart sunk as he realized just what he'd agreed to, staying in Eagle Bend to recuperate under Nathan's watchful eye. "Damn it!"