Chapter 18
Beta's Saddletramp and Nakoosay
Jess's POV
My mind repelling the horror that is happening in front of me, I skid to a stop in shock. Move! My brain screams at me. Run! I want to continue but I-I can't. Do SOMETHING! My heart yells at me and jumps into my throat. But my body wont budge. I'm frozen. Stuck staring as my best friend's body falls forward, collapsing to the ground. I'm too late.
Something inside of me snaps when I hear the heart stopping thud of Slim's body smacking into the frozen lightly snow dusted ground. Pushing through my horror I continue racing to where Slim has fallen. I fall to my knees dropping my gun and turn his body over.
"Slim? Slim?" I shake him gently, tears threatening to start forming in my eyes, but the most wonderful pair of blue eyes open and try to focus on my face.
"Jess?" Slim's confused and mumbled words are like music to my ears. I lean back sitting on my legs and keeping one hand on Slim's shoulder I breath deeply trying to get myself under control.
"I thought I lost you partner. I really thought I lost you." Something akin to a grunted chuckle comes from Slim and when I look at him confused, he half smiling with mirth and half grimacing in pain.
"Can't get rid of me that easily Jess." He says.
I chuckle because it sounds vaguely like something I would say.
"Jess?"
"Yeah Slim?" I say as Sheriff Mort Cory and his deputies appear with the rest of Josh's gang in cuffs or tied up.
"Why am I not dead?" Slim's question shocks me. Lying just a few feet away is Josh's dead body, a bullet in his back.
A high male voice calls to us before I get a chance to answer him.
"Did I get him?" Slim grunts and I help him to a sitting position.
"Are you hurt Slim?" He checks himself over and winces slightly when he moves his right shoulder.
"I think I twisted my shoulder when I went down but I don't feel any new." I look at him, worried, and he gives me a quick smile "I'm okay, Jess."
"Say did yah fellows hear me? Did I get the varmint?" Called the voice again.
Slim's face is shocked for a minute but he answers slowly.
"You got him old timer. You got him good and saved my hide in the process." The man had a long whitish-grey tangled beard and hair in the back to match it as he walked the rest of the way from the barn and came over to us.
"Yup that guy is dead. I'm just glad I hit the varmint and not you sonny." When the man said "sonny", Slim's eyes lit up in recognition. With a little of my help he stood up and spoke
"You're the miner that helped me!" The miner looked pleased that Slim remembered and with a mouth full of slightly crooked teeth he smiled and said.
"Yep, that was me! Do you remember my name, sonny? When you were at my place ya fell and hit your head pretty hard." The old man's eyes twinkled with concern and I decided that he seemed okay. Especially since he helped Slim.
"Umm, I think it was Joziah Ebert?" Slim replied.
Joziah smiled even wider and pushing his unbuttoned winter coat open and hitching his thumbs behind his faded blue suspenders says.
"That's right young'un! Name is Joziah Ebert the 3rd."
"The 3rd?" I ask with a slight smirk on my face. "You mean there were two other Joziah Ebert's before you?" I chuckle quietly and the miner glares at me for a second before he bursts out laughing and slapping his knee says between guffaws.
"Your right funny; you are young'un." We slowly start to walk to where Mort and the others standing. Slim and I walked close together, glad that neither of us were dead.
Me and Slim found out later that when he had been at Joziah's home, he had been delirious and from what Joziah had heard he knew that Slim was in trouble. He didn't want to leave Slim, but he knew that he needed to get the Sheriff. So, he went for the sheriff and Josh's men had found the cabin and got Slim. Joziah rode hard and finally made it to Laramie. All it took from Joziah was that some fellow Slim was in a bad way at his cabin and that some other fellow named Jess seemed to be in trouble too. Mort had asked for a description and he knew that it was indeed Slim. Joziah led them back to his cabin but when they found it empty Mort led them to the ranch.
Joziah apologized to Slim, saying he wouldn't have left him. But Slim stopped him; thanking him saying that if he hadn't left and gotten the Sheriff, he would have ended up dead. In the end everything worked out. It took a couple of weeks for all our injuries to heal but they did. My ankle took a week longer though because I had sprained it bad and then hurt it worse when I ran to Slim.
Funny how things like that work. When I ran towards Slim, I couldn't even feel the pain from my ankle, my jaw or anything else. My only thought was for my best friend. I guess it could have been the adrenaline, but deep down I think it was because Slim is like a brother to me -and my family comes before anything else- even my own pain.
Slim's POV
All I could think about from the moment I was kidnapped was what if Jess were hurt? When I finally woke up at the ranch and saw Jess, I was so relieved that I had found him. I remember that when Josh yelled that he was going to kill me and I could feel his gun in my back, the only thought on my mind was Jess can't lose another family member.
Jess has lost so much in his life. From the day that I finally knew in my heart that Jess was going to stay and that he was my friend, I promised myself that no matter what, he wasn't going to lose me. Josh was going to make me break my promise and that killed me. When I opened my eyes and saw Jess's blurry face it was the most wonderful sight in my life. Jess still and will always have me.
Jess and Slim's POV
After all isn't that what brothers are for? To help each other rise from the dust, and find their way back to their home? To rescue each other when in the dead of winter, they find themselves hurt, separated and caught in Winters Grasp?
Yes, that's what we believe brothers do. We are brothers who would do all of that for each other no matter what. We have each other's backs. Besides if we didn't have each other who would there be to annoy or make smile? Who would cheer each other up when one is 'down'? As the sky is blue, we are happy that we are best friends, partners, and brothers at heart.
THE END!
A giant thank you to Saddletramp who revising this would have been impossible and Nakoosay for believing that I could make the story even better. an d a mega giant TAHNK YOU! to everyone who read my potholed original version and those who read this revised one.
THANK YOU!
