Just writing during these troubled times. Hoping everyone enjoys this story.
(C) The Magnificent Seven belong to themselves and all its characters are properties of MGM and its affiliates.
One
"Give me a hand with that,"
If there was one thing Evelyn Larabee knew, it was independence. She'd always had that she thought to herself as she pushed the plank of wood onto the back of her father's wagon, giving a huff of self satisfaction immediately after. James Potter placed both hands on his hips as she mimicked his pose, before the two burst out laughing.
"You two are as dumb as ox," said Gloria Potter, smiling at the two who both gave small smiles. It felt like she was looking at the same youngsters when in reality both were sixteen and old enough to be married. "If you want to take a walk, Miss Larabee?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Potter," said the young woman with a grin. "I'll be right back, just want to check in with Billy and Mary today. Pa's asked them to check in on me tonight thought I might stop a visit."
"You must be hoping," laughed Gloria. "Mary will never break a word to your father."
"Sure you don't want to stay in town, Evie?" asked James, as the two walked along the boardwalk together. "It'd be safer."
Evelyn shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. It just means somebody got to stay out on the ranch needlessly."
The young man nodded and offered his arm. She grinned and took it, a travelling salesman passing nearly fell in the water trough when he saw the two seeming cowboys walking arm in arm while a few old maids clucked affectionately. Evelyn Larabee was considered quite a catch in the area, despite her tomboyish ways and her helping her father and Vin on the ranch. She was a hard worker, and many men had thrown their cap in the ring to be the future son-in-law of Chris. It helped matters that she was easy on the eye too, with her once nut brown hair lightening with her age and she shared the same rueful if shy smile as Chris.
"If one of those Conklin boys see me, we are done for," teased James, laughing at her expression. "Nick's working up the courage to formally ask your father."
"To be fair, Nicks improved like a fine wine with age," agreed Evelyn, smiling as they walked down the boardwalk. "Shame Levi went the same way as milk."
Years previously, Nick had been the subject of Evelyn's despising and he had decidedly hated her while Levi had been a good friend. As the trio had aged, Levi's ill health had left him mollycoddled by overindulgent parents and Chris had forced Evelyn to try and get along with Nick for the sake of the formers health. It had taken some doing – and caused more than a bit of mischief – but they'd managed to be friends. In recent months, James and Evelyn had taken to strolling down the boardwalk together when she was in town.
It was an entirely innocent gesture, which had been accepted by the parents of the two children and the townsfolk. It had been during one of these walks, a jealous Levi had yelled about the 'whore called Larabee'. He had found himself at the end of three guns, and one Bowie courtesy of four of the seven – and a near broken jaw from his brother who had merely looked across at Evelyn and given a small nod. When prompted by Chris, the young man had blushed and explained his love for the young woman – let alone his brother ought to have known what was going to happen. Levi, ever since, had tried his best to woo Evelyn while the shyer and burlier Nick often came to dinner on a Sunday. He'd missed last nights due to helping out ready for the big cattle run that Guy Royal was arranging. Evelyn was already well aware of her poor fathers concern at being related to the Conklins and privately enjoyed the sadism that this presented.
"Eve!" talk of the devil, Evelyn looked up into the eyes of Nick Conklin who was walking down the boardwalk with a firm and happy grin on his face. "Just got in from Tascosa, hullo James... do you mind?"
James shook his head, gave Eve a wink then walked off back to the general store. Nick patted her hand as she gave an involuntary tremble. The name always made Evelyn shudder, and she looked hard at him. The young man was hoping to become a lawyer and Evelyn had made him conditionally promise to look at the case of Vin Tanner. "Well?"
"Looks good. Seems it was hearsay... didn't ask too much," admitted the young man. "Seems that there's still interest, McKaid had at least four brothers and each has their private vendetta."
"Just great," muttered Eve, smiling as she felt him tense. "Say – you haven't thought of bounty hunting have you?"
"No, by the way where's our escort?" asked the young man. "Feel like Vin's going to spring out at me with Ezra and eat me alive."
"Not frightened of them are you?" teased Eve. "And no, they're out on a 'do-gooding mission that'll save ma soul!" she put on Ezra's voice. "All of them have gone. Jamie's going to look after the jail from tonight."
"Of course not," scoffed Nick, tipping his hat to several passerby's. "More frightened of you, you know I still have a scar on my right lip?"
"You picked the fight – and what aren't you telling me Nick?"
"I joined up for the cattle drive," he said. "It's three weeks good paid work from Uncle Royal... and the minute I get back I'm going to see your Pa."
"What about?" Evelyn asked as he held her hand now, and smiled up.
"Beginning formal courtship ritual."
"Then you'll have to get through me," teased a familiar voice, behind them. "No escort?"
"Morning Mary, and no just stretching my legs," said Evelyn.
The frontier newspaper woman was still ordering the town, still putting her father in his place and finding any way which reason to join in any crusades. She still took on too much in Evelyn's opinion, and something that made her smile when Billy came out of the office, fingers stained with ink and making a gesture as if to wipe his hand down Evelyn's face, only to get a cocked eyebrow and an unimpressed look. She was equally unimpressed when she was nearly tackled by a bundle of four kids, earning laughter from all involved.
"Gosh darn it," she said, minding her language as one particular little green eyed rugrat fixed his arms around her neck. "James P. Standish. Should've named you James Trouble Standish."
The green eyed boy looked back at her with the adoration of a puppy dog which made her smile fondly at him. "Miss Larabee, you in town for long?"
"Only picking supplies up for my Paw," she said, standing back up and brushing herself down. "And why the formality?"
"Grandma says I gotta learn manners," he said, looking up at her with those big green eyes. "Like Pappy says."
"You let Ezra hear you calling him Pappy and we'll see who's britches will be dusted," Evelyn laughed. "I know of a very good jailhouse for that?!"
The little one laughed as she gave him a hug. "Can we come visiting?"
"Your grandma?" Evelyn knew how much her father liked Maude. It was about the same amount as he liked Mr Conklin visiting. Well at least her father wasn't home. "Fine, then."
"Will I need a password?" Evelyn chuckled at the innocent question. Recently James had taken a fascination in passwords, where this had come from nobody knew. But James liked to announce passwords and blockade people.
"Everyone needs a password," said Evelyn, chuckling before offering her hand to the little boy. "Let's go find Grandma and we'll set a time together." As they walked off Nick shook his head and smiled as Evelyn turned. "Come along Nick!"
They were so happy in that moment of time that nobody saw the cowboy move out of the shadows and head to the livery.
Chris struggled against his ropes while the men laughed nastily around the fire. The youngest – and the leader it would seem – had arrived back in the night. But the ropes merely burned his wrists as much as the fire in the belly burned when he heard what the men were planning to do to his daughter.
He had been awoken by Nathan tending to him in the wagon as they drove to this sight, the healer having a gun pressed to the base of his skull. It'd seemed that each of the seven had had a good solid beating to the point of unconsciousness and then thrown in the back of a wagon. Vin had been blindfolded, and Chris had the sneaking suspicion that it was due to the well known fact that Vin knew most of the local country and tread where many White men still feared to go and where Vin and Chanu often hunted.
"-I mean Larabee, she is beautiful," the man said, with a grim smile showing his gapped teeth. "The minute we get the chance, I'm going to introduce her to my masculine ways."
"Shut your filthy mouth!" snapped Buck, his gag – put on after his many inventive curses had even made them pale – evidently come out again. "You stay the hell away from her?"
"Can't do that, under orders." The voice was a new one, and a dark figure broke from the comfort of the shadows. It wasn't beyond Chris's notice that the other men reared away from this new figure. "Now, the girl mentioned some sort of password –"
"And when she gives it-"
The woods were filled with a burst of a gun and everything fell silent as the new mans bullet entered the leaders head and splattered poor Vin with brain matter. The tracker, used to such things with gunfights, nevertheless flinched at the sight of the man falling to his knees then face forward – eyes looking into the distance.
"I've told him too many times to not interrupt me," said the gunman coldly. "Now, now, the password."
If Chris had had a password for his daughter he wouldn't have given it and he knew they didn't share one. So he merely stared at the man who glowered and blasted dangerously close to Chris's foot. "Shooting me won't get you your answer," Chris hissed.
"You know you're right," said the madman with a wide grin. "Let's see which one of his friends it'll take for you to say."
"Wait, wait," Ezra said, breaking the silence as the gunman leveled the gun at JD's head. "The password. There's a phrase he uses for me to go on the ranch when I'm not there." The gunman altered where his gun was pointing at his head. "Her father fought at Vicksburg," Chris narrowed his eyes imperceptibly. What was the resident con-man up to now? "He said to tell her that I'll be calling by later... she's expecting me. So it'll be 'tyrants never yield."
The man gruffly laughed and pressed his gun to Chris's nose, Chris looking up into the hat and only catching a faint sneer in the licks of the firelight. "Didn't know you had a sense of humour?"
"How about you untie me and find out," Chris offered, darkly.
Instantly there was splitting pain at the side of his head as the madman swung the butt of the gun into it, Chris letting out a yelp of pain. He was still dazed when he and the other six were dragged up to the wagon that they'd been lying in when they'd awoken and put to the back of it, two men tied together back to back. Just his luck he noted dryly to be tied to Ezra. The talkative bastard probably talked in his sleep thought the amused gunman.
"Ez, you aien't got a password to be sneaking to see my daughter?" Chris whispered.
"Heaven forbid! You have enough reasons to shoot me, I'm not tallying a reason more. I just thought to myself, that those obtuse miscreants might as well be shot thinking they're luring a tiger into a trap when the tiger is going to strike?" Ezra replied.
"What do you mean?" JD asked, Chris managing to shush him at the same time as Buck gave his head a knock at the cost of his own. "Ow, Buck?"
"What the officious bastard means," Buck whispered, keeping his voice low. "Is that giving those lot a safety sentence when there isn't one,"
"Is going to douse her innocence to help out," Ezra finished.
"Let alone going to stop any plans of them sneaking it at night –" Josiah added.
" – and it gives her fair warning to go and get her gun," Nathan said.
"Blow their heads off," Vin whispered.
"Could almost feel sorry for them," Chris chuckled. "Almost."
