(I notice that there are a few Canadians logging onto this story. Well, I just want you all to know, even though I've never been to Canada, I'm trying to give it the respect it deserves. If however I'm doing anything wrong, please PM me if you can. If you Canucks enjoy this story, please review to do so or to give out ideas and opinions.)
Rowan, Idaho, and Emery proceeded down the street. It was now full daylight, and everyone was surprised to find a whole team of Regulators here when there wasn't any here yesterday. They knew if there were Pine Riders here, it could only mean trouble.
Aside from this little surprise, they minded their own business.
The trio headed back towards the jail and Rowan stopped on the patio. "Joe!" He called through the open door into the office.
"Yeah?" the deputy's voice called from the office.
"We're coming in." Rowan called as he turned to look down the street.
"Come ahead." Joe called as the trio stepped into the office. Rowan saw Joe standing by the stove, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Rowan walked him and set his massive Jacoby rifle on the weapon shelf as did Emery with her Kalashnikov.
Dez and Zoë weren't there as they were posted in different spots of town. Dez was stationed in the Saloon to keep an eye out for any trouble there, while Zoë took up residence in the hotel also keeping her nose to the wind.
"How's our friend?" Rowan asked, referring to the incapacitated sheriff.
"Nary a peep. Not moved, not even in the last two hours." Joe said as Rowan tossed both Emery and Idaho a cup. "You sure he'll be alright, Row?" Joe asked as he then turned to the Regulator, who only shrugged.
"You'll have to ask Elena over there." he said pointing to Emery. 'It's her formula." Rowan said as he and Joe stared at the girl.
She merely shrugged and said, "I don't know how alright he'll be, but I can guarantee you he won't be drinking anything for a while." Emery said as she poured herself some coffee.
"How come?" Joe asked.
"Eh, it does something to a man's stomach so naturally it won't hold any liquor." Emery said as she took a sip of her coffee before blowing on it to cool it down. She then handed the pot to Rowan who stared at her.
"Are you sure?" He asked, sounding unconvinced.
"Well, of course I'm sure." Emery said defiantly. "Given he's human." She added shrugging.
"Oh, he's human alright." Joe said, then turned to Rowan. "He's got to be. No other critter on Earth would make such a damn fool of itself."
It was then the sound of rattling could be heard, followed by coughing. All four of them turned to source of the rattling and saw it was coming from the holding area. It was Mike.
"Hey Joe." He said groggily and slurred. He coughed a few times and said, "Come open this door!" Rowan scoffed.
"He's still drunk." he said to nobody in particular.
"Open it yourself! Ain't even locked." Joe hollered. A second later, the cell door flung open and banged against the bars. A few more coughs, and sheriff Michael O'Harrah stepped out.
He was a mess. He had a thick five o'clock shadow, his hair was greasy, his clothes torn, one of his pant legs was tucked into his boot, while the other was over the other boot. He was sighing, groaning, and blinking rapidly. His hands messaging his stomach.
When he reached the holding area's entrance, he leaned against the bars, and held on to the door he stared at Rowan, Emery, and Joe. He didn't seem to notice Idaho sitting in his desk chair. Rowan could see his eyes squinting, a typical sign of either a hangover or the beginning stages of one.
Mike sighed loudly, and nodded to the three. With one hand his belly, the other on the barred door, he said, "My friends. My dear good friends." He began, and Rowan and Emery braced themselves for what was coming. "You dirty, lousy, rotten, sheep humping-" He said and slammed the door shut behind him. He moved over to his desk and leaned against his desk.
"What did you do to me?" He moaned. "What'd you give me? I'm crawling inside." he said straightening up and holding his stomach. After a second, he leaned back over and began opening drawers in his desk. Idaho had rolled back in the chair to get away from the sheriff and kept his mouth shut.
"Just hang on sheriff." Emery said, and Mike raised his head, squinting while trying to find the source of the voice. "It'll fetch you round." She said carefully.
"Who are you?" Mike asked.
"We met last night." Em said, while grinning.
"Last night?" Mike said as he began opening drawers up again and ransacking through them. "When-when was that?" He asked.
Slapping the desk irritably he looked at Joe while turning to his other desk. "Alright, c'mon Joe. Where is it?" He demanded, looking around.
"Top drawer of your desk." Joe said and instantly the drunken Mike nearly threw the drawer out of the desk and pulled out a bottle of Wild Turkey. He unscrewed the cap and was about to lean back when he stopped and stared at RJ, Em, and Joe.
"Ain't nobody gonna try and stop me?" He asked.
Rowan only shook his head. "Nope." He was interested in seeing if Emery's statement would happen.
Sighing, Mike nodded. "That's good." He said and began chugging the bottle. After two large swallows, he screwed the cap back on, and set the bottle down. It was then he stopped. A sickening gurgling sound could be heard and O'Harrah nearly doubled over right there.
"Ooh. You dirty-" He began clutching his stomach. His hand grasped the iron door and after opening it, he slammed it shut and ran back to the cell he came out of. The sound of retching was soon followed.
A few more hours had pasted by and Idaho, was standing in the doorway of the jail. Emery and Zoë had exchanged places as did Joe and Desmond. Since nobody knew Idaho, he made the perfect lookout.
"Rowan?" He said as he looked back into the jail towards the team leader. This prompted RJ to take the pipe out of his mouth and proceeded to the window. He saw a large group of riders making their way down the street. Rowan recognized who they were instantly. Especially the lead rider, due to her light red hair.
"It's the Cassidys." Rowan said, catching the attention of Zoë.
"They're here?" She asked looking out the window.
"Yep." Rowan said as he went over to the weapon's shelf. "I forgot they come into town every Friday afternoon." He said as he grabbed his Jacoby. "Though I wish this was one time they didn't." He said that to the fact that Van Ryan had not shown up yet.
"Hey Idaho?' Zoë asked causing the young man to turn around. As she grabbed her sniper rifle. "Think you and Dez can watch the road? Me and Row are gonna say 'hello' to Cassidy."
"Yeah, sure." Idaho said as he stepped away from the frame of the door. Both Regulators left the jail and proceeded down the right side of the street.
However they also noticed an equally sized group of riders rapidly approaching. As they began moving down the street, the Cassidy group noticed them as well as and began grabbing firearms. The group that just arrived began forming a half circle around Cassidy's group and also drawing weapons. However neither group made any aggressive moves and kept the weapons either pointed down to the ground or upwards.
A single rider made his way past the group that had just arrived and stopped right in the center of the two. He wore a black suit with a black broad hat, a silver chain hung from his pocket indicating a watch. Rowan noticed that he didn't have a handgun of any kind. He grinned and then started chuckling.
"Well!" He said in a thick Irish accent. "The great Nora Cassidy shows herself." He said, almost sneering.
Cassidy stepped forward and looked up at the rider. "Hello, Evan."
So. This asshole is Jessup, huh?
"May I ask what it is you come to mock about this time?" Cassidy asked, keeping a level head about this. Rowan decided to stop himself and Zoë so they weren't noticed. If Jessup knew he was here, he'd tell Van Ryan when he showed up and that would lose the element of surprise. Only if something happened would Rowan intervene.
"Just the simple fact that soon, your land will legally belong to me." Jessup sneered as he got off his horse. It was here a man began shouting at Jessup from Cassidy's group.
"That's never gonna happen, you ignorant Mick prick!" He shouted and Cassidy turned slightly, keeping her eyes on Jessup and the ten or so riders with him.
"Hull! That's enough." she said firmly. Rowan grinned at both of them as he kept a watchful eye. "However he is right. I'm not going to let you strong arm me out of land I worked hard for by someone who thinks because of Jet." Cassidy said. "Now I would appreciate it, if you got out of my face, and let me do my shopping."
Jessup nodded in admiration. "You're ambitious, Cassidy." He said and took hold of the reigns of his horse. "But you'd be better off, offering your feminine services in Empire." he said, causing his men to start laughing.
It was then Cassidy's men raised their weapons, causing Jessup's men to do so as well. "Hold it!" Cassidy shouted, and by some miracle the bullets didn't start flying on either side.
"I've found this little skirmish to be rather amusing, Cassidy. But I won't tolerate it any longer." Jessup said as he hitched his horse to a post and turned back to Cassidy. "Get ready for hell." He said menacingly. "Come on, boys." He said and walked inside to the saloon he owned.
Rowan sighed out of relief as he slowly de-cocked the hammer on his Jacoby. "You know what he meant right?" RJ asked turning to Zoë. She nodded and Rowan cleared his throat. "Reunion's gonna have to wait. Get over to the hotel and get Emery back to the jail. After that, get Idaho over here. I wanna talk to him."
"You got it." Zoë said as she quickly headed off for the hotel, as Rowan kept an eye on the Cassidy group. She had settled her men down and proceeded inside to the general good's store. This allowed Rowan to cross the street and take cover behind the back of the saloon out of side.
It didn't take long and Idaho walked over to him. "What's up, Rowan?" He asked. Rowan noticed he had a hand on the grip of that brand new 'street howitzer' of his.
"Well, Evan Jessup just rode into town, along with ten of his boys." Rowan said motioning to the saloon.
Idaho nodded. "Yep. Zoë just told me."
"Well, I need you to get in there and get Joe out here." Rowan said. This request seemed to perplex Idaho, as he squinted at Row.
"Why can't you do it yourself?" he asked pointing to the swinging doors of the saloon.
"Because, I don't want Jessup to know there are Regulators in town." RJ said. "If he sees anyone of us, he'll tell Van Ryan when that one eyed bastard shows up, and we'll lose the chance of surprise."
"I suppose that makes sense." Idaho admitted.
"Exactly. Now tell him to get out here." Rowan said as he kept his rifle close by and watched from around the corner as Idaho went inside. Since Jessup didn't know Idaho, he would simply slip by and sure enough both himself and deputy Joe walked out and headed for his corner.
Joe seemed surprised to find Rowan leaning against the wall. "Row? What are you doing out here?"
"Joe. I don't need to say that Jessup just rode into town. Unfortunately so did the Cassidy bunch." RJ said calmly. Joe nodded.
"Yep. Saw the whole thing." Joe said as the three stood around and individually kept watch.
"Well, I need you to keep an eye on the Cassidys. In case there's any trouble." RJ said. "We'll shack up in the jail until something happens." Joe nodded and raised up what looked like a small brass bugle.
"If there's any trouble, and I need ya, I'll toot my bugle and you come running." He said, turned around and proceeded back into the Saloon.
Both men seemed to find that statement amusing and began chuckling to themselves.
"'Toot my bugle.'" Idaho said grinning from ear to ear.
Rowan gave his shoulder a firm pat. "C'mon." He said and motioned for the both of them to return to the jail.
Night had fallen, and the five were trying to entertain themselves in anyway they could. Idaho was showing Dez a few card tricks his brother had taught him. Zoë was sorting through the weapons, in an attempt to replace her aging sniper rifle. Emery had her hat down over her eyes as she laid on the small cot next to the weapon shelf. Rowan, once again had taken up position by the window, his hand on the shutter should he need to close it.
As Dez unscrewed a canteen of water, the sound of clanging could be heard from the holding area. All eyes turned and saw sheriff Mike O'Harrah stepping out.
He looked much better, if that word applied to this man. His pant legs were now both over his boots, his shirt properly buttoned up and tucked in, and he stood a little straighter. He was still sighing and squinting, but Rowan could tell he was a little more alert, albeit suffering a massive hangover.
Emery watched as he held onto the bars closest to her and lean on them. Rowan grinned as he closed the shutter and said, "Hello Mike." O'Harrah kept one hand on his stomach and squinted at Rowan.
"Hi." He said simply, not realizing who he was talking to. Rowan shook his head and stepped away from the window and around the stove so he was now closer to the sheriff.
"Can you see a little clearer from here?" RJ asked, his hands in his duster's pockets.
Mike squinted hard now and chuckled. "Hey Row." He said simply again. He stopped himself and squinted quizzically at RJ. "Rowan? Wha-When'd you get here?"
"Oh. We got in late last night." he said pointing out all his men, including Idaho. O'Harrah looked around and groaned. It was here he held up his hand to his face, nursing a rather large red mark on his chin.
"Hey Row. Uh-Did we-did we have a uh-a fight or something?" He asked.
Rowan chuckled as he held up his bruised right hand, still sore from 24 hours ago. "Or something." He said humorously.
O'Harrah scoffed, and grinned. "Yeah." He said and moved over to his desk, next to Idaho and Dez.
"Like some coffee?" Rowan asked him. O'Harrah only grimaced at the mention of the word.
"So tell me, Row." He said opening the drawers of his desk. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
Rowan sat down and poured himself some coffee. "I'm waiting for a fella." He said and stared at O'Harrah. "Nelson Van Ryan."
The sheriff turned to face RJ. "Oh? Nelse Van Ryan with the-" He began and drew his finger down the left side of his face. Rowan nodded.
"That'd be him." Rowan said. "I met him in Empire. Said he was hired for some work. Range war. But he said it would be a snap, all he had to worry about was a...drunken sheriff." That made Mike stop rummaging through his desk and stare at RJ, a little sensation of worry in his eyes. Rowan grinned and held up his cup of java. "Sure you don't want a cup of coffee?"
"Ugh." Mike groaned. He left his desk and began piecing the story together in his head as he stood before Rowan. "He's working for Jessup?" Rowan nodded.
"Yep. That's what he said."
Mike then belched gently followed by a groan. When he straightened up, he looked at Rowan. "Then why are you here?" O'Harrah asked.
"Orders." Rowan said simply. "Top sent us up here to make sure things didn't get too out of hand." He said, then frowned. "Plus I owe Cassidy. Now is that enough for you?"
"Yeah, that's-that's plenty, Row." O'Harrah said hoarsely as he nearly doubled over and gripped the bars shamefully in front of Rowan. He then turned back to Rowan with heavy, but widened eyes. "Row-I-I need a drink." He said, almost sounding frantic, as he went over to an armoire. This move right next to her caused Emery to sit up.
"You won't find anything here." Rowan said. This caused Mike to turn and face him.
"Why?" He asked.
"I told Joe to throw it away." RJ answered. He then held up his cup of coffee again. "Now would you like a cup of coffee?"
Mike gritted his teeth, almost looking like he was in pain. "No, I don't want any coffee Row. I want a drink!" He shouted as he approached Rowan. "Can't you see? I've got to have one!"
RJ throughout this shouting, kept calm and collected. "Then go and get one." Mike then began searching around the room.
"Where's my hat?" He asked, a little calmer now.
Emery noticed a dusty rattan hat hanging above her and pulled it off. "Is this yours?" She asked holding it up. Mike spun around and squinted at her.
"Who are you?" Mike asked as he stepped over to her.
"We met last night, and again this morning." She said, sounding a little irritable. "Now is this your hat?" Emery repeated.
"No it's not my hat." Mike barked and seized the battered straw hat from her grasp. "But it'll do." He then flung the door open and headed out into the street.
Rowan stood in the door way, his hand on the massive metal door. Rowan questioned as to whether or not he should've stopped him. After thinking about it for a little more decided that it was best not to. Considering how angry O'Harrah was.
Mike shambled his way down the street, ignoring the looks of people passing by him. As he walked up the patio of the saloon, he failed to notice the four or five riders that were rapidly heading down the street.
Rowan however did notice, and almost slammed the door shut when he surmised who it was. Idaho, who was standing right next to him, gaped when he saw him too. "Is that-"
"Oh yeah." RJ began staring through the door crack at the one individual with the marled eye. "That's Van Ryan alright." Now Rowan really felt miserable. He let Mike go in there alone, and unarmed.
Minutes began passing by and Rowan was now half way at the point of flying out that door to get Mike. However the only thing holding him back was the fact there were no reports of gunfire. Then with a big sigh of relief, O'Harrah stumbled out of the saloon, cradling a bottle of whisky in his arms.
However Rowan noticed that his head was down, and his posture looked that of a man whose spirit was broken to pieces. He stumbled down the street a few yards before stopping.
"Well, aren't you gonna get out of the street?" RJ demanded and after nodding, Mike moved forward and managed to stumble his way into the jail.
He moved past Rowan, Idaho, Zoe and Dez, and leaned up against the bars of the holding area. He looked like he was on the verge of weeping.
"Row..." He said, his voice shaking. Mike then turned, his face covered in sweat, and his eyes getting misty. "Row, they laughed at me." He said pitifully. "R-right in front of Van Ryan. They-they laughed at me."
RJ sighed as he closed the door. "They've been laughing at you...for a few months." He said. RJ knew this was hard, but it was also the truth. "You've just been too damn drunk to even realize it." His team stared at him with shock at how hard he was laying into the sheriff.
However, the mist in O'Harrah's eyes changed to fire and in a fit of rage, he launched the bottle at the wall, narrowly missing Zoe and Dez in the process, causing it to shatter against the wall. "They'll laugh no more!" He said, his voice shaking again. This time with anger in his voice as he grabbed a gun belt that was hanging on the wall. "I'll show them-" He began, only for the revolver to slip out of the holster and onto the floor. That made the Regulators jump a little because if it landed on the hammer it would discharge.
As Mike bent over to pick it up, it was then gunfire could be heard from outside. This was quickly followed by a bugle blowing hard. Everyone froze when they heard that.
"What is that?" Mike asked, as the bugle blew hard again.
"Joe!" Rowan said as he picked up his hat, and both his shotgun and Jacoby.
"Needs help." Idaho said as he also picked up his hat and pulled out his small cannon of a shotgun. Everyone was rushing out the door, while the sheriff kept trying to get the gun back into the holster.
"Well, wait a minute-" he began trying to catch it from falling out. "Wait for me!" He said.
Rowan turned around and while his team was rushing down the street he simply asked, "Why?" before he himself flew out the jail to the source of gunfire.