Every muscle in his body objected when Buck slowly unfolded himself from the scrunched up posture he'd settled for the night before. Pews may be easy to fall asleep on during a Sunday morning sermon, but when you are looking for a decent night's sleep, they failed miserably at providing an ounce of comfort. And when it was the third night in a row, it fell just shy of torture.
The positive side in all of this, and it wasn't easy to find one, was that as far as he could tell, Ezra was getting better. Definitely taking his time about it, but then that was his style. He hadn't woken up again the first evening or night that Buck was there, but over the last two days he'd been drifting in an out of a semblance of awareness. Nothing that could be called waking up, and certainly no moments of clarity, but definitely heading the way things needed to be.
The others took turns staying with him, but other than a few short necessity breaks, Buck had stayed where he had promised to be the whole time. He'd heard his name called in moments of borderline consciousness but hadn't yet been able to calm or reassure Ezra of his presence. After a few agonizing to watch moments of tossing and turning, he would settle again, brow soaked in sweat and face etched in pain and worry. Buck couldn't stop wondering just how much more of this either of them could take.
He could hear his joints cracking as he stretched his back out before taking a quick walk around the church to work out a few more of the kinks. Wandering while still keeping his focus to the front of the church, he almost collided with the door being thrown open as JD arrived with breakfast.
"Jeez Buck – watch yourself. Damn near knocked the coffee out of my hand."
"And you damn near knocked me out." Buck snapped back. "What have you got – more cold sludge and day-old door stoppers?"
"No. Fresh coffee and biscuits from the bakery. Still warm. Not sure you deserve any if that's the kind of good morning you're going to give me." He twisted his way past Buck and headed further in with the intention of taking the spot next to Josiah, who was fighting to hide his grin. It was good to see the two friends sparring again, even if there was still a bit of tension to it.
JD forced a cheery tone into his voice as he approached. "Good morning to you too Ezra. You're looking better today."
"Not feeling it."
The room echoed with the crash of the tin plate of biscuits hitting the floor. "Ezra, did you just answer me?"
"Would have been rude not to." The voice was soft and weak, but unmistakable. It was all JD could do to not jump for joy. Fortunately, Josiah was the one closest and moved to still Ezra before he could talk further.
"Much as we are all mighty grateful to hear your voice again son, you really shouldn't be doing much speaking. Your jaw was cracked, and the less you move it the happier you are going to be."
"Where am I? Church?"
Josiah clucked softly. "Now didn't you hear what I just said? Yes, you are in the church. It's kind of a complicated story, but let's just say it was easier and safer to keep you in here while you healed up. Now, you stay still. JD is going to go get Nathan."
It was a good idea and JD understood the need for it, but as he was rooted to the spot it wasn't about to happen. He felt as if he had been waiting forever for this moment, and the thought of leaving now was unimaginable to him. Josiah bent forward and picked up one of the biscuits that had rolled toward him. With precision aim he hit JD on the side of the head, rousing him from his daze.
"Oh, right. Yeah. I can do that. You're gonna stay awake though, right Ezra?"
Assuming the small head movement to be a nod, JD reluctantly tore his gaze away and moved toward the door. He stopped when he saw Buck staring quietly at the scene from a distance. "Ain't you going to go over there? Isn't this what you've been waiting here for?"
Moistening his lips nervously, Buck whispered back. "He's not asking for me. Don't want to upset him."
"Next time you call me a stupid kid, I'm gonna remind you of this." JD moved around him, then shoved him toward the front as he escaped out the door shouting for Nathan and the others.
The stumbling sound seemed to rouse Ezra further and he made a weak effort to turn to find the source. Josiah stilled him again. "Stop moving Ezra. You are a lot of hurt there, and it's gonna take time. You don't move – we come to you for now." He waved Buck closer. Knowing he had no choice, Buck slowly obeyed, inching forward until he was within range of the one eye Ezra was able to fully open.
Expressions of shock, relief, sadness and trepidation all danced across the face of the normally unflappable gambler. If he'd been at a poker table he would have been sorely disadvantaged as nothing was hidden.
"Mr. Wilmington." The uncertainty in his tone was evident. He was completely unable to determine what response Buck would have to seeing him back in town after all that had transpired between them. Buck read it differently.
"Hush Ezra. You need to be doing what you were told and that means hard as it is for you, you aren't supposed to be talking." Buck swallowed hard as he watched for a sign of forgiveness, not that he expected or deserved it. "I'm just here so that you know I'm ok. You don't need to be worrying about me in all this crap. You don't need to be thinking about me at all, you understand? You just get yourself well again."
Ezra closed his eyes slowly and forced himself to respond with a brief nod. He understood all too well and accepted his fate. He had no trouble believing that Buck wanted nothing to do with him. There really was no need for him to dwell on that matter. All that matter was that he got well enough to do what he had set out to do – what he had been told to do. Leave. Nothing had changed.
He wanted so badly to ask what had happened. How and why was he back in Four Corners? Was Annabella still around? Had the con – whatever it was – taken place? Would they even know if it had? Would they listen to him this time? The questions bounded around in his head, but he lacked the energy needed to give them voice.
He heard the door open, followed by voices speaking in somewhat muted but anxious tones. Soft as they were, he could recognize them, and easily deduce what the conversation was about. The others were determining how soon he could be gone, now that he was awake. The veritable inevitability of his fate tore at him, with the worst part being that he knew absolutely nothing he could say or do had a hope of altering it. All he could do was prepare himself to deal with the consequences yet again.
What he needed to do now was to try to sort out was why he was here. The last thing he remembered was leaving town. No, that wasn't right. He remembered riding off for some time before stopping to rest. That was the last clear memory. How then did he end up back in of all places a church, recovering from whatever had happened?
Blocking out everything else he tried to focus, but the pain was too distracting. Josiah had said he had a broken jaw, but it was apparent there was much more to it than that. Every fibre of his being ached. Each suggestion of movement made his head spin and his stomach lurch. Breathing was an unwelcomed challenge as well as muscles strained with even the shallowest inhalation. What could possibly have caused him so much harm? The few options that flitted through his mind were quickly rejected. Chaucer would never have thrown or dragged him; he was certain of that. There was no place he could have fallen on the route he was travelling, and he couldn't envision any occurrence in nature that would account for it. That left only external forces to blame.
The last threat he recalled was here in town. Buck had planned to shoot him, but had restrained the desire. Regardless, this was not the after effect of that kind of injury. It would be a different matter if he had threatened a beating… it all came rushing back to him. The ambush, the taunting and then the relentless pounding that he had taken. The fists flashed in his mind and he trembled as he relived every blow.
Buck was closest to him, having stayed in place as Josiah went to update the others. He watched as Ezra's body suddenly tensed and started to shake. He was moaning softly and trying with no success to move away.
"Nathan! Somethings wrong!" Buck knelt quickly next to the bed. "Easy Ezra. Take it easy."
"No. Stop!" His arms flailed weakly and the words were barely understandable through the sobs and gasping breaths, but it was enough for Buck to put the pieces together.
"It's over Ezra. You're safe. They're gone Ezra. You hear me. The bastards are dead."
The others had reached him by now and trying as gently as possible to hold him still with limited success. Buck backed away from the scene, afraid that somehow his presence had triggered the memories.
Nathan firmly but gently took hold of Ezra's arms. "Ezra, stop. You're gonna pull out stitches and hurt yourself worse."
"Ezra, listen to me. It's Vin Ezra. You're alright, but you have to calm down. Please."
"Damn it Standish. Hold still."
Whether it was Chris's authoritarian order, Vin's calming voice or sheer exhaustion no one could say, but Ezra began to settle. His breathing was still strained, and the panic remained evident in his face and body language, but the thrashing gradually slowed. Vin continued to try to quieten him, speaking in low, soft tones as Nathan began checking him over to make sure he hadn't reinjured himself.
Desperately trying to find the strength to talk, Ezra finally succeeded in gasping out a single word. "Dead?"
"You mean the two who did this? Yeah, both of them." Vin smiled reassuringly. "They tried to go ahead with their plan, but we made sure that didn't happen."
Ezra closed his eyes, trying to settle himself. Showing this much emotion and vulnerability was not the way he lived his life, and it felt decidedly uncomfortable, especially in these circumstances. Nathan mistook the action for something else.
"That's a good idea. You get some more sleep. Need to work at getting yourself strong enough that we can get you out of here."
Yes. That merely served to confirm what he expected. Tuning out whatever else was being said, Ezra turned his focus to recovery and leaving all of this behind.
7-7-7-7-7-7-7
Buck was waiting outside the church when Chris finally came out, with Vin just a few feet behind, still favouring his bad leg.
"He settled again?"
"Looks like. Doesn't seem to have hurt himself in that panic, which was lucky."
Chris's words were welcome news, and made what Buck was waiting to tell them a bit easier.
"I'm gonna head out soon then. Take a load of supplies out to Friesen's place. I checked with Mrs. Potter. She's still holding onto the order they were coming in for when all this happened. Figured I'd load a wagon and take it. See if they could use a hand."
In the past couple of days Buck had gotten a bit better about speaking to the others again, but he still didn't seem to be able to bring himself to look them in the eye while he did. That was going to take time, Chris supposed. Hopefully not too much more. What they all needed was for things to start getting back to some kind of normal, and the sooner the better.
"How long?" Both men looked at Vin. "How long you plan on staying there?"
Buck shrugged. "Guess as long as they need the help. I'm guessing doin' what they did for Ezra set them back some, so an extra hand might set that right."
Glancing back at the church, Vin considered everything that had been going on. Angry as he'd been at Buck, and to a slightly lesser degree Nathan and Chris, it had been good to see them all put together now to be there for Ezra, and each other. He knew how hard it was on Buck for him to sit there waiting, watching and probably praying a bit for things to work out. Now, with Ezra awake and seeming to be alright or at least on the way there, there was some other healing that needed to be started.
"Think you can manage this town for a couple days with two men gone Chris?"
Buck looked up in surprise. "You want to come with me?" Vin hadn't exactly been overly friendly toward him, not that he blamed the tracker. So why would he want to spend time with him now, and under these conditions?
"If you want the company. We'll be able to get things on track for them faster, which means we get back here faster as well. Both know Chris can't handle this town without us." He added the last with a wink.
"Yeah – with the two of you gone we might actually have a bit of peace and quiet and you know how much I hate days like that."
Shaking his head, Vin laughed. "Don't worry. JD and Josiah will see to it you don't get bored."
"You want to ride with me?" The joking had done nothing to diffuse Buck's confusion. "Why?"
"Well, if I don't ride with you it's gonna make this peacekeeping job kinda hard to do, wouldn't you say?" When there was no response, Vin continued. "Look, the truth is I wasn't sure you'd be ready to ride with me, what with the accusations and lying and all." Not exactly the full truth, although the thought had crossed is mind. This may have been a bit of a stretching of the truth, but one that Vin hoped would provide Buck with a bit more confidence, and maybe a clearer perspective on how they all needed to get past everything that had been said and done.
Knowing they were watching him, waiting for his answer, Buck wavered briefly. Slowly, just a hint of a smile appeared under the moustache. "Well, I suppose I've had worse riding company, haven't I cowboy?"
Chris sighed dramatically, grinning to himself in the process. "Outta here – both of you. Do my sanity a favour and stay away for at least a day."
He watched the two men walk off, a bit more distance between them then usual, but at least together. It wasn't what it had been, but it was a step in the right direction.
M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7
tbc