Alpha Males, part five
"Men of Thebes"
(Note: I don't speak Spanish, so I simply placed everything that would be spoken in Spanish in parentheses)
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"Will this work?" JD asked, riding up next to Nathan. They were all heading at a quick clip in the direction of the ghost town, all except Face and Ezra who had gone to throw off the outlaws.
"We had better hope so. I don't like relying on those two, though. If they fail, they'll be no one in Four Corners to meet the outlaws. Buck and Josiah are meeting us in Freedom, and the army is a whole day away from being able to back up the town."
"Yeah, I mean, no offense to Ezra and all, but we're putting a lot of faith in his and that other guy's ability to trick all those men," JD shook his head, pulling a bit on Hero's reins as the horse started moving a little too quickly. It was sensing his rider's nervousness.
"You boys really don't trust Ez, do you?" Vin interrupted, moving to ride up next to them. JD and Nathan both looked at him sheepishly, wearing expressions similar to the one's they'd worn when Ezra accused them about not trusting him with that $10,000.
"It's not that, Vin, it's just...what if he fails?"
"What, you saying you want to turn around?" Vin replied quietly. "Leave Ezra and Face to the wolves alone after they lead the outlaws to an empty town? Even I may admit some doubt when it comes to Ezra and great sums of money, but when it comes to us, to Four Corners, and to his ability to spin a yarn, I'll place my money on him anytime." The tracker shot them both dark looks, then rode forward.
Nathan looked down at the ground slipping past, while JD focused on some spot in the distance.
"Fear is normal, and maybe even just," Murdock said lightly, slipping up next to them, "but slandering your friend and maligning his trust? Men of Thebes, I have faith in all of you; how can you not feel it too?"
Nathan frowned, "Look, Mr. Murdock, I don't think...."
The captain shook a hand at him, his eyes taking on a focus and clarity heretofore absent, "Listen to me," he said softly, "Face is the best at what he does. He says he can do this, then he will. As to your friend, I'm guessing he's pretty good as well, considering how easily he beat Face at cards. Count on those outlaws being turned around and delivered to Freedom, and worry only that we will be ready to receive them when they arrive." He loosed his hold on his paint and fell back to ride next to BA, who was watching them from behind. The huge man sneered at their backs, then concentrated on something he was making in his hands. Murdock immediately started rhyming again, much to the big man's annoyance.
Impressed, Nathan blew out a breath, "Well, huh. That was pretty clear, wasn't it. You know, maybe, like his friend, Murdock is also not what he seems."
JD snorted, "Yeah, but, um, Nathan? Did he call us, Men of Thebes? I mean, isn't that in Texas somewhere or something?"
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Ezra leaned across Chaucer's neck, peering into the yellow canyon. Sure enough, not far below, about a hundred men were using themselves and their horses to try and shift some large boulders blocking their way. It had apparently not occurred to any of them to turn around and try a different route through the canyons, or even to climb up one of the sides and look for another means of escape. Hannibal had been generous giving them as little time as four hours. At the rate the outlaws were going, it would take them the rest of the day.
"They look determined," Ezra said jokingly, looking over at Face. The blond man was scratching at his hair, which he had covered with mud to darken it. There was also dirt on his face, on the poncho they had clad him in, and to top it all off, he was wearing a dark brown, low slung sombrero. Mud caked that as well, and some dung. He kept pulling on the hat, clearly unhappy. When he caught Ezra looking at him, he smiled.
"I hate hats," the conman admitted. "Make my head too hot. 'Course, BA tells me that it's because my head is filled with hot air." He adjusted the ugly thing on his head.
"Is he really going to fight you when we get back?" Ezra asked, remembering the big man's threats right before they left. He was still angry about the graze he had gotten because of Face's "carelessness."
"Yeah, probably. But he mostly said that to tell me he expects me to come back. It's his way of giving me confidence."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
Ezra pursed his lips, "the four of you...do you never doubt each other?"
Face glanced askance at the gambler, "Sometimes. I sometimes wonder if Murdock is going to go just a little too far over the edge, or if Hannibal is just going to go too far, or if BA will back-up one of his threats with real force...but then I remember that we're a team. When we work together, we're at our best," he grinned. "In other words, we're just like you seven."
Ezra snorted, "What?"
"The magnificent seven? The defenders of Four Corners? Oh come on, don't tell me you are unaware of the reputation you guys are building. Murdock has an addiction to dime novels, and he read yours several times. It was because of his urging that we came to your town in the first place - he has a thing for meeting heroes. He's been comparing you to the seven champions of Thebes in that Greek play by Aeschylus."
Ezra blinked. Normally he was good with literature references, but while he knew Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy, he was somewhat forgetful of the others. Face shrugged, seeing the expression.
"Yeah, I didn't know it either. Murdock has a brain that is too big for his head. In some ways, I think that's what drove him nuts during the civil war, that and his ability to see right into the heart of folks," the lieutenant sighed, then shook off the cobwebs of memories. "In any case, the play is called Seven Against Thebes, about seven champions chosen to guard the seven gates of Thebes against the attacking Argive army. They won, the seven men, although the king, Eteocles, I think Murdock called him, was killed at his gate despite being told to send someone else. He was Oedipus' son, see, and at the gate he chose, he faced his brother Polyneices, who had allied himself with the Argives. Part of the terrible destiny of that family - they both died."
"And their sister Antigone got in trouble for burying Polyneices with Eteocles," Ezra nodded, remembering. Then he chuckled, "So Murdock thinks we're champions?"
"Yep. After he met you, he even named you by your Greek counterparts. He was yammering on about it right before we were attacked yesterday morning. You're Hyperbius, if I recall, the risk-taker at Athena's gate."
Ezra shook his head and laughed again, "You're right, Murdock is nuts."
Face smiled crookedly. "No," he said slowly, "no he's not, not really."
Neither man spoke for a minute, just continued to watch the slow efforts of the outlaws grunting and groaning below. It was amazing that none of the outlaws had turned around, or even looked up. Apparently, intelligence was not something these men had in abundance.
This was a good thing.
Ezra looked back at Face, seeing him shove up at the hat again. "If you don't use a hat, how do you keep the sun out of your eyes?" the gambler asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, I have a white Stetson I wear when riding that's not very heavy. But I take it off as soon as I can," he shrugged. "Shall we go?"
Ezra looked down at his own clothes, borrowed off a cheap traveling salesman in town. Chaucer shifted under him, annoyed at his own disguise. He had been outfitted with more bits and pieces than a junkman, which was the persona Ezra had been aiming for, and the horse was not happy about it. Face was riding his white mare, which had also been splattered with mud. She was about as happy as Chaucer was.
"After you," Ezra grinned. Face nodded and headed south, in a direction that would take them down somewhere behind the outlaws.
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"Ho! Hola! Por favor!" Face rode up slowly, wiping at his nose and looking as pathetic as possible. His mare had her head down, shuffling along slowly as if she had been ridden all day. Ten men looked up from where they were lounging around a small campfire, toasting something that looked suspiciously like a prairie dog.
"Hola," one of the men replied, looking up and down at the stranger, "(what do you want?)"
"(I'm wondering what is happening? Is the way blocked?)"
"(Yeah, you could say that. Where you headed?)"
"(Just to a small town on the far side, Passo del Norte, it's called. Guess I'll have to go around now.)"
"(Passo del Norte? Mister, you got that wrong. Town on the other side of this is Four Corners.)"
"(Four...oh no, I don't think so. I travel this way every few weeks, friends. This is the way to Passo del Norte. I should know, my wife's there.)" Face shook his head. "(She'll kill me if I'm late. Oh well, that's the way of it. Guess I'll have to go around now.)" Face pulled at his mare's reins, and she begrudgingly started to turn herself around.
The outlaws were looking at each other, puzzlement on their faces. The one who'd been talking frowned.
"(Wait! You absolutely sure that this isn't the way to Four Corners?)"
Face peered back at him as if he were crazy, "(Would I be going this way if it was? Believe me, if this was the way to Four Corners, I would be headed in the opposite direction. I just came from there.)"
"(Just came...What are you talking about?)"
"(Listen, fellas, I don't have time for this. I've got to get back to my wife,)" Face pulled again on the mare's reins, but she continued to fight him.
"(He telling the truth?)" one of the other outlaws asked the first.
"(Hey, you telling the truth?)" the first outlaws called.
Face just gave him a look, then pulled harder on the mare's reins, "(Come on, stupid mule!)" he said loudly. She just stopped moving and put her head down to eat some grass on the hillside. Face sighed loudly, secretly proud at how well trained she was. Meanwhile, two of the outlaws had come up fairly close, watching.
"(Mister! Hold up. If you're so sure, then tell us, where is Four Corners?)"
Face stopped, and scratched at his head, bits of mud dropping from his skin. "(Not far. Just have to backtrack a bit to get there.)" He pointed back the way he came, then swung his arm around to point in an easterly direction. He shrugged, "(I could show you, until I needed to turn to find my own way out of these canyons.)"
The outlaw narrowed his eyes, and walked over to Face to peer up at him. Face gave him a crooked smile, then wiped his nose again with a big sniff. The outlaw rolled his eyes slightly and walked back to his friends.
"(Farmer there smells worse than this whole lot put together,)" the outlaw muttered to his friends. They smiled appropriately. The outlaw shook his head, "(but if he's right, we're wasting our time here. Them that's leading us must've gotten the directions wrong.)"
"(But then who blocked us in?)" one of the others asked. "(Somebody dynamited this canyon to stop us.)"
The lead outlaw narrowed his eyes, and looked back at Face. The conman was still trying to get his mare to turn. He just got her turned when the lead outlaw grabbed her reins to stop them.
"(Why would someone block this way through the canyons?)" he asked gruffly, tugging cruelly on the mare's reins. She whinnied a bit at the rough treatment. Face patted her neck lightly.
"(Someone who doesn't want you to get to Passo Del Norte, I'm guessing. It's a pretty nice place, and the union is thick there. Got a Fort not too far away, to deal with the Apaches. Maybe they saw you coming and decided it'd be cheaper to stop you this way than fighting you.)" Face shrugged. "(All I know is that my wife has got a baby on the way, and if I don't get home soon, she'll never let me leave again.)" He frowned down at the outlaw, and reached down to tug the reins out of the Mexican's grip. Then, slowly, he clicked at the horse and rode off.
The outlaw sneered, "(Ho! Wait. You said you'd show us the way. You a liar?)"
Face turned around in the saddle, the twinkle in his eye hidden by the sombrero, "(I don't believe in lying, mister, and besides, according to the wife, I'm terrible at it. Besides, even if I did lie, why would I lie to you?)"
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Face left the group sometime before the river, tipping his hat and heading in a northwest direction up a slope. The outlaws watched him go, then pushed on. Some were grumbling about the change, not sure they trusted the farmer, and still others wondering whether it really had been the army that had blocked that route. It made them wonder if the union was keeping tabs on them.
The air of nervousness caused a few less brave men to scatter, to head off on their own. All in all, the group was only 85 strong when they reached the thick river.
The twenty outlaws who had been with the original gang tried to reassure the rest, promising plenty of plundering when they reached Four Corners. But they, like their friends now in Four Corners' jail, did not know this side of the border well. They only knew about it at all because one of them had overheard the silver haired leader of the mercenaries mention the town's name before taking off. Then someone in the jail had said they'd heard of Four Corners, and had given them directions. But for some reason, that same man had refused to join them when they'd escaped together, saying he wouldn't go near Four Corners again - too well protected or some such stupidity. Well, so long as it wasn't army, the gang didn't care. They had enough men to take down some American sheriff and his men.
But, regardless, there was still a heavy mantle of distrust weighing them down. They trusted that departing farmer about as much as they trusted each other...which wasn't much.
When they got to the river, they found a junkman watering his horse. He looked up as they rode up, and the fear in his bright green eyes was clear. He backed up to his bay horse, grabbing his pommel in case he had to bolt.
The outlaw in front smiled at him, a huge gap-toothed smile of yellow incisors. "Good afternoon," he said, raising his hand. The junkman nodded back, the fear still bright in his eyes.
"Hiya," he answered shakily.
"Habla usted Espanol?" the outlaw asked.
Ezra shrugged, "Si, un poco."
The outlaw nodded, "(We're looking for Four Corners, you know it?)"
"Four...Four Corners? Yeah, sure. I mean, si senor," Ezra wiped his hands on the front of his denim shirt, and tried to smile.
"(Is it far?)"
"Is it far? No, I mean, um, (it's close to here. Maybe an hour? That way. Just follow the plain's edge.)" Ezra pointed east, his arm shaking slightly. "(In fact, I just came from there. Town's real quiet right now, though, 'cause of the festival over in Eagle Bend. That's another nearby town. Most of the town's there, except the law. They're watching some group in the jail. Mexicans, like yourselves.)" He frowned, then backed up some more, his eyes widening as if he just figured something out, "(Look, um, I'm not from there. You want to tear it apart, that's fine with me. I'm headed to Mexico, myself, see. I'm not a threat.)" He was shaking his hands in front of him wildly, backing up into Chaucer, who didn't react at all. The horse was too busy eating.
The outlaw watched him for a moment longer, then spit in his direction. "(There's nothing I hate more than cowards like you, junkman. You're lucky that you met me on a good day...and that you gave me the news I wanted to hear.)" He pulled hard on his reins, forcing his poor tired horse to rear. Ezra had to work hard to hide a frown at the mistreatment, in order to maintain his facade of fear.
Ezra stepped back some more, shoving Chaucer back to give the outlaws room as they crossed the river. Mentally, he was counting them, pleased to note that they were fewer now. After the last one had passed, he sighed heavily and pulled off his hat to wipe at his brow. Then he bent near the river to wash the dirt from his face. Splashing alerted him to someone else crossing, and he instantly put a hand to his gun.
A second later, he was grinning.
"Howdy," Face smiled. "Looked good from where I was. They on their way?"
"Yep. We go straight across the plain, we should get there before them with plenty of time to spare," Ezra nodded.
Face licked his lips, and plucked at his poncho, "Wonderful. Think I have enough time to get out of these wretched clothes?" His mare whinnied and splashed a bit in the river, happy for the cool water.
Ezra grinned, clamping his hand to his chest, "Man after my own heart!"
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Face grinned as he saw the newly painted signs that hung around the ghost town of Freedom, loving the somewhat obvious lack of creativity. Everything was marked with such clever names as "Four Corners mercantile," "Four Corners Saloon," "Four Corners livery stable," and, of course, "Four Corners Jail." Talk about beating a dead horse.
"Gentlemen!" Ezra called, laughing, "I am impressed!"
Besides the signs, the dust had been cleared off the boardwalks and water added to the troughs from the town's well. The street had also clearly been dug up quite a bit, which also gave it a well-worn look. Face led the way, steering them around any suspicious looking piles of dirt. Before them, Murdock and JD were laying down something that looked like a heavily braided clothesline into the ground, while Vin and Nathan were putting the finishing touches on something that looked an awful lot like a wall of newspapers down one alleyway. Stopping near them, Ezra frowned as he dismounted Chaucer, tilting his head at the "wall."
"Dare I ask?" he asked.
"No," Nathan replied. "I'm not sure I get it either." He tapped in a final nail and backed up.
Ezra grinned, "Well, whatever it is, it's lovely."
"I know what it is," Face said cryptically, leaning on one leg and smiling brightly.
"Ezra!"
The gambler and Face turned around to see Buck crossing the street, Josiah behind him. Both had black oil all over their hands. When Ezra gave him a questioning look, Buck laughed.
"Just following the directions of that walking bull of theirs. Creating charges for all that gunpowder they brought down here from town. Since we just got here half an hour before you, we were told we got the dirty job, for being late."
"When are they gonna get here son?" Josiah asked, looking with some interest at the wall.
"Bout an hour, maybe less," Ezra replied automatically to the appellation. "They're coming around the plains edge. Do we have a lookout?"
"Chris and Hannibal are running a circuit."
Ezra arched an eyebrow, "together?"
Josiah grinned, "Yep."
"Well, whaddya know," Ezra grinned.
"Temporary truce," Vin said, nodding, "Never seen so much posturing since I saw two alleycats face off once." Ezra chuckled and elbowed the tracker in the ribs. Vin knocked his hat off.
"I'm going to go see what's left to do," Face said quietly, the feeling of being out of place nudging him away. His mare followed him without being pulled, completely devoted. When she wasn't acting, she was as much in love with her master as any other female. Murdock jogged over and joined him as the lieutenant walked past, asking about timing...and apparently, chickens. JD walked over to join the rest of the seven, his face confused.
"That guy, Murdock?" JD whispered, "He's real fun but...he keeps calling me Melanippus. What is a Melanippus? When I asked, all he said is that I was justice's son. What does that mean?" He looked at Josiah, then Ezra.
"Got me, kid. But he called me Polyphontes earlier," Vin said, picking up his own hat that Ezra had knocked off in retaliation, "something about champion of Artemis."
"Goddess of the hunt," Josiah inserted quietly, though he was also puzzled.
"Called me Aktor," Nathan nodded. "I don't think he meant I was in the theatre, neither."
"I'm guessing, those are three of the seven champions of Thebes," Ezra answered. JD looked at him, then at Josiah. The preacher was grinning.
"From the Aeschylus play?" Josiah asked, his face lighting up. "Now that is amusing!"
"Do you know it, Josiah?" Ezra asked.
"Only vaguely. Read it as a child. Read them all as a child. My mother loved to tell me all the old stories, much to my father's dismay. Seven Against Thebes was a short play, but, now that I think about it, I suppose I can understand the reference. I wonder who I am?"
"Lord Lasthenes," Murdock said, leaning against the wall behind him, "the surly gatekeeper. Old in wisdom, in sinew young." The tall man was grinning, and turned to Buck. "And you, you're Megareus, the great hand to hand fighter, not afraid of anything." Buck grinned back at him, lifting his hat of his head and bowing to the others around him, causing them all to laugh.
"And Chris?" Ezra asked.
Murdock shook his head, "Why he's the king, of course, the helmsman, the hand to guide the state, the eyes that never rest. He says in the beginning, 'I'll choose six men, myself the seventh, And station them against the enemy: Seven champions, each at his gate. This now. I need no messengers, No torrent of word to fire my heart.'" The tall man spread his hands and bowed slightly.
"Chris a king," Buck snorted, "he'll love that."
"You gonna tell him?" Vin asked, his arm propped on Ezra's shoulder, leaning against the gambler.
"Hell no, Polyanna."
"Polyphontes!" the tracker retorted, standing up straight.
"Um, gentlemen?" Face wandered over, followed by an annoyed looking and limping BA, "As ranking officer, I'm here to order you all back to work, before BA gets too angry with me."
As one, all six men saluted, while Murdock laughed.
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Concluded in part six
"Men of Thebes"
(Note: I don't speak Spanish, so I simply placed everything that would be spoken in Spanish in parentheses)
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"Will this work?" JD asked, riding up next to Nathan. They were all heading at a quick clip in the direction of the ghost town, all except Face and Ezra who had gone to throw off the outlaws.
"We had better hope so. I don't like relying on those two, though. If they fail, they'll be no one in Four Corners to meet the outlaws. Buck and Josiah are meeting us in Freedom, and the army is a whole day away from being able to back up the town."
"Yeah, I mean, no offense to Ezra and all, but we're putting a lot of faith in his and that other guy's ability to trick all those men," JD shook his head, pulling a bit on Hero's reins as the horse started moving a little too quickly. It was sensing his rider's nervousness.
"You boys really don't trust Ez, do you?" Vin interrupted, moving to ride up next to them. JD and Nathan both looked at him sheepishly, wearing expressions similar to the one's they'd worn when Ezra accused them about not trusting him with that $10,000.
"It's not that, Vin, it's just...what if he fails?"
"What, you saying you want to turn around?" Vin replied quietly. "Leave Ezra and Face to the wolves alone after they lead the outlaws to an empty town? Even I may admit some doubt when it comes to Ezra and great sums of money, but when it comes to us, to Four Corners, and to his ability to spin a yarn, I'll place my money on him anytime." The tracker shot them both dark looks, then rode forward.
Nathan looked down at the ground slipping past, while JD focused on some spot in the distance.
"Fear is normal, and maybe even just," Murdock said lightly, slipping up next to them, "but slandering your friend and maligning his trust? Men of Thebes, I have faith in all of you; how can you not feel it too?"
Nathan frowned, "Look, Mr. Murdock, I don't think...."
The captain shook a hand at him, his eyes taking on a focus and clarity heretofore absent, "Listen to me," he said softly, "Face is the best at what he does. He says he can do this, then he will. As to your friend, I'm guessing he's pretty good as well, considering how easily he beat Face at cards. Count on those outlaws being turned around and delivered to Freedom, and worry only that we will be ready to receive them when they arrive." He loosed his hold on his paint and fell back to ride next to BA, who was watching them from behind. The huge man sneered at their backs, then concentrated on something he was making in his hands. Murdock immediately started rhyming again, much to the big man's annoyance.
Impressed, Nathan blew out a breath, "Well, huh. That was pretty clear, wasn't it. You know, maybe, like his friend, Murdock is also not what he seems."
JD snorted, "Yeah, but, um, Nathan? Did he call us, Men of Thebes? I mean, isn't that in Texas somewhere or something?"
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Ezra leaned across Chaucer's neck, peering into the yellow canyon. Sure enough, not far below, about a hundred men were using themselves and their horses to try and shift some large boulders blocking their way. It had apparently not occurred to any of them to turn around and try a different route through the canyons, or even to climb up one of the sides and look for another means of escape. Hannibal had been generous giving them as little time as four hours. At the rate the outlaws were going, it would take them the rest of the day.
"They look determined," Ezra said jokingly, looking over at Face. The blond man was scratching at his hair, which he had covered with mud to darken it. There was also dirt on his face, on the poncho they had clad him in, and to top it all off, he was wearing a dark brown, low slung sombrero. Mud caked that as well, and some dung. He kept pulling on the hat, clearly unhappy. When he caught Ezra looking at him, he smiled.
"I hate hats," the conman admitted. "Make my head too hot. 'Course, BA tells me that it's because my head is filled with hot air." He adjusted the ugly thing on his head.
"Is he really going to fight you when we get back?" Ezra asked, remembering the big man's threats right before they left. He was still angry about the graze he had gotten because of Face's "carelessness."
"Yeah, probably. But he mostly said that to tell me he expects me to come back. It's his way of giving me confidence."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
Ezra pursed his lips, "the four of you...do you never doubt each other?"
Face glanced askance at the gambler, "Sometimes. I sometimes wonder if Murdock is going to go just a little too far over the edge, or if Hannibal is just going to go too far, or if BA will back-up one of his threats with real force...but then I remember that we're a team. When we work together, we're at our best," he grinned. "In other words, we're just like you seven."
Ezra snorted, "What?"
"The magnificent seven? The defenders of Four Corners? Oh come on, don't tell me you are unaware of the reputation you guys are building. Murdock has an addiction to dime novels, and he read yours several times. It was because of his urging that we came to your town in the first place - he has a thing for meeting heroes. He's been comparing you to the seven champions of Thebes in that Greek play by Aeschylus."
Ezra blinked. Normally he was good with literature references, but while he knew Sophocles' Oedipus trilogy, he was somewhat forgetful of the others. Face shrugged, seeing the expression.
"Yeah, I didn't know it either. Murdock has a brain that is too big for his head. In some ways, I think that's what drove him nuts during the civil war, that and his ability to see right into the heart of folks," the lieutenant sighed, then shook off the cobwebs of memories. "In any case, the play is called Seven Against Thebes, about seven champions chosen to guard the seven gates of Thebes against the attacking Argive army. They won, the seven men, although the king, Eteocles, I think Murdock called him, was killed at his gate despite being told to send someone else. He was Oedipus' son, see, and at the gate he chose, he faced his brother Polyneices, who had allied himself with the Argives. Part of the terrible destiny of that family - they both died."
"And their sister Antigone got in trouble for burying Polyneices with Eteocles," Ezra nodded, remembering. Then he chuckled, "So Murdock thinks we're champions?"
"Yep. After he met you, he even named you by your Greek counterparts. He was yammering on about it right before we were attacked yesterday morning. You're Hyperbius, if I recall, the risk-taker at Athena's gate."
Ezra shook his head and laughed again, "You're right, Murdock is nuts."
Face smiled crookedly. "No," he said slowly, "no he's not, not really."
Neither man spoke for a minute, just continued to watch the slow efforts of the outlaws grunting and groaning below. It was amazing that none of the outlaws had turned around, or even looked up. Apparently, intelligence was not something these men had in abundance.
This was a good thing.
Ezra looked back at Face, seeing him shove up at the hat again. "If you don't use a hat, how do you keep the sun out of your eyes?" the gambler asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, I have a white Stetson I wear when riding that's not very heavy. But I take it off as soon as I can," he shrugged. "Shall we go?"
Ezra looked down at his own clothes, borrowed off a cheap traveling salesman in town. Chaucer shifted under him, annoyed at his own disguise. He had been outfitted with more bits and pieces than a junkman, which was the persona Ezra had been aiming for, and the horse was not happy about it. Face was riding his white mare, which had also been splattered with mud. She was about as happy as Chaucer was.
"After you," Ezra grinned. Face nodded and headed south, in a direction that would take them down somewhere behind the outlaws.
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"Ho! Hola! Por favor!" Face rode up slowly, wiping at his nose and looking as pathetic as possible. His mare had her head down, shuffling along slowly as if she had been ridden all day. Ten men looked up from where they were lounging around a small campfire, toasting something that looked suspiciously like a prairie dog.
"Hola," one of the men replied, looking up and down at the stranger, "(what do you want?)"
"(I'm wondering what is happening? Is the way blocked?)"
"(Yeah, you could say that. Where you headed?)"
"(Just to a small town on the far side, Passo del Norte, it's called. Guess I'll have to go around now.)"
"(Passo del Norte? Mister, you got that wrong. Town on the other side of this is Four Corners.)"
"(Four...oh no, I don't think so. I travel this way every few weeks, friends. This is the way to Passo del Norte. I should know, my wife's there.)" Face shook his head. "(She'll kill me if I'm late. Oh well, that's the way of it. Guess I'll have to go around now.)" Face pulled at his mare's reins, and she begrudgingly started to turn herself around.
The outlaws were looking at each other, puzzlement on their faces. The one who'd been talking frowned.
"(Wait! You absolutely sure that this isn't the way to Four Corners?)"
Face peered back at him as if he were crazy, "(Would I be going this way if it was? Believe me, if this was the way to Four Corners, I would be headed in the opposite direction. I just came from there.)"
"(Just came...What are you talking about?)"
"(Listen, fellas, I don't have time for this. I've got to get back to my wife,)" Face pulled again on the mare's reins, but she continued to fight him.
"(He telling the truth?)" one of the other outlaws asked the first.
"(Hey, you telling the truth?)" the first outlaws called.
Face just gave him a look, then pulled harder on the mare's reins, "(Come on, stupid mule!)" he said loudly. She just stopped moving and put her head down to eat some grass on the hillside. Face sighed loudly, secretly proud at how well trained she was. Meanwhile, two of the outlaws had come up fairly close, watching.
"(Mister! Hold up. If you're so sure, then tell us, where is Four Corners?)"
Face stopped, and scratched at his head, bits of mud dropping from his skin. "(Not far. Just have to backtrack a bit to get there.)" He pointed back the way he came, then swung his arm around to point in an easterly direction. He shrugged, "(I could show you, until I needed to turn to find my own way out of these canyons.)"
The outlaw narrowed his eyes, and walked over to Face to peer up at him. Face gave him a crooked smile, then wiped his nose again with a big sniff. The outlaw rolled his eyes slightly and walked back to his friends.
"(Farmer there smells worse than this whole lot put together,)" the outlaw muttered to his friends. They smiled appropriately. The outlaw shook his head, "(but if he's right, we're wasting our time here. Them that's leading us must've gotten the directions wrong.)"
"(But then who blocked us in?)" one of the others asked. "(Somebody dynamited this canyon to stop us.)"
The lead outlaw narrowed his eyes, and looked back at Face. The conman was still trying to get his mare to turn. He just got her turned when the lead outlaw grabbed her reins to stop them.
"(Why would someone block this way through the canyons?)" he asked gruffly, tugging cruelly on the mare's reins. She whinnied a bit at the rough treatment. Face patted her neck lightly.
"(Someone who doesn't want you to get to Passo Del Norte, I'm guessing. It's a pretty nice place, and the union is thick there. Got a Fort not too far away, to deal with the Apaches. Maybe they saw you coming and decided it'd be cheaper to stop you this way than fighting you.)" Face shrugged. "(All I know is that my wife has got a baby on the way, and if I don't get home soon, she'll never let me leave again.)" He frowned down at the outlaw, and reached down to tug the reins out of the Mexican's grip. Then, slowly, he clicked at the horse and rode off.
The outlaw sneered, "(Ho! Wait. You said you'd show us the way. You a liar?)"
Face turned around in the saddle, the twinkle in his eye hidden by the sombrero, "(I don't believe in lying, mister, and besides, according to the wife, I'm terrible at it. Besides, even if I did lie, why would I lie to you?)"
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Face left the group sometime before the river, tipping his hat and heading in a northwest direction up a slope. The outlaws watched him go, then pushed on. Some were grumbling about the change, not sure they trusted the farmer, and still others wondering whether it really had been the army that had blocked that route. It made them wonder if the union was keeping tabs on them.
The air of nervousness caused a few less brave men to scatter, to head off on their own. All in all, the group was only 85 strong when they reached the thick river.
The twenty outlaws who had been with the original gang tried to reassure the rest, promising plenty of plundering when they reached Four Corners. But they, like their friends now in Four Corners' jail, did not know this side of the border well. They only knew about it at all because one of them had overheard the silver haired leader of the mercenaries mention the town's name before taking off. Then someone in the jail had said they'd heard of Four Corners, and had given them directions. But for some reason, that same man had refused to join them when they'd escaped together, saying he wouldn't go near Four Corners again - too well protected or some such stupidity. Well, so long as it wasn't army, the gang didn't care. They had enough men to take down some American sheriff and his men.
But, regardless, there was still a heavy mantle of distrust weighing them down. They trusted that departing farmer about as much as they trusted each other...which wasn't much.
When they got to the river, they found a junkman watering his horse. He looked up as they rode up, and the fear in his bright green eyes was clear. He backed up to his bay horse, grabbing his pommel in case he had to bolt.
The outlaw in front smiled at him, a huge gap-toothed smile of yellow incisors. "Good afternoon," he said, raising his hand. The junkman nodded back, the fear still bright in his eyes.
"Hiya," he answered shakily.
"Habla usted Espanol?" the outlaw asked.
Ezra shrugged, "Si, un poco."
The outlaw nodded, "(We're looking for Four Corners, you know it?)"
"Four...Four Corners? Yeah, sure. I mean, si senor," Ezra wiped his hands on the front of his denim shirt, and tried to smile.
"(Is it far?)"
"Is it far? No, I mean, um, (it's close to here. Maybe an hour? That way. Just follow the plain's edge.)" Ezra pointed east, his arm shaking slightly. "(In fact, I just came from there. Town's real quiet right now, though, 'cause of the festival over in Eagle Bend. That's another nearby town. Most of the town's there, except the law. They're watching some group in the jail. Mexicans, like yourselves.)" He frowned, then backed up some more, his eyes widening as if he just figured something out, "(Look, um, I'm not from there. You want to tear it apart, that's fine with me. I'm headed to Mexico, myself, see. I'm not a threat.)" He was shaking his hands in front of him wildly, backing up into Chaucer, who didn't react at all. The horse was too busy eating.
The outlaw watched him for a moment longer, then spit in his direction. "(There's nothing I hate more than cowards like you, junkman. You're lucky that you met me on a good day...and that you gave me the news I wanted to hear.)" He pulled hard on his reins, forcing his poor tired horse to rear. Ezra had to work hard to hide a frown at the mistreatment, in order to maintain his facade of fear.
Ezra stepped back some more, shoving Chaucer back to give the outlaws room as they crossed the river. Mentally, he was counting them, pleased to note that they were fewer now. After the last one had passed, he sighed heavily and pulled off his hat to wipe at his brow. Then he bent near the river to wash the dirt from his face. Splashing alerted him to someone else crossing, and he instantly put a hand to his gun.
A second later, he was grinning.
"Howdy," Face smiled. "Looked good from where I was. They on their way?"
"Yep. We go straight across the plain, we should get there before them with plenty of time to spare," Ezra nodded.
Face licked his lips, and plucked at his poncho, "Wonderful. Think I have enough time to get out of these wretched clothes?" His mare whinnied and splashed a bit in the river, happy for the cool water.
Ezra grinned, clamping his hand to his chest, "Man after my own heart!"
________________________________________
Face grinned as he saw the newly painted signs that hung around the ghost town of Freedom, loving the somewhat obvious lack of creativity. Everything was marked with such clever names as "Four Corners mercantile," "Four Corners Saloon," "Four Corners livery stable," and, of course, "Four Corners Jail." Talk about beating a dead horse.
"Gentlemen!" Ezra called, laughing, "I am impressed!"
Besides the signs, the dust had been cleared off the boardwalks and water added to the troughs from the town's well. The street had also clearly been dug up quite a bit, which also gave it a well-worn look. Face led the way, steering them around any suspicious looking piles of dirt. Before them, Murdock and JD were laying down something that looked like a heavily braided clothesline into the ground, while Vin and Nathan were putting the finishing touches on something that looked an awful lot like a wall of newspapers down one alleyway. Stopping near them, Ezra frowned as he dismounted Chaucer, tilting his head at the "wall."
"Dare I ask?" he asked.
"No," Nathan replied. "I'm not sure I get it either." He tapped in a final nail and backed up.
Ezra grinned, "Well, whatever it is, it's lovely."
"I know what it is," Face said cryptically, leaning on one leg and smiling brightly.
"Ezra!"
The gambler and Face turned around to see Buck crossing the street, Josiah behind him. Both had black oil all over their hands. When Ezra gave him a questioning look, Buck laughed.
"Just following the directions of that walking bull of theirs. Creating charges for all that gunpowder they brought down here from town. Since we just got here half an hour before you, we were told we got the dirty job, for being late."
"When are they gonna get here son?" Josiah asked, looking with some interest at the wall.
"Bout an hour, maybe less," Ezra replied automatically to the appellation. "They're coming around the plains edge. Do we have a lookout?"
"Chris and Hannibal are running a circuit."
Ezra arched an eyebrow, "together?"
Josiah grinned, "Yep."
"Well, whaddya know," Ezra grinned.
"Temporary truce," Vin said, nodding, "Never seen so much posturing since I saw two alleycats face off once." Ezra chuckled and elbowed the tracker in the ribs. Vin knocked his hat off.
"I'm going to go see what's left to do," Face said quietly, the feeling of being out of place nudging him away. His mare followed him without being pulled, completely devoted. When she wasn't acting, she was as much in love with her master as any other female. Murdock jogged over and joined him as the lieutenant walked past, asking about timing...and apparently, chickens. JD walked over to join the rest of the seven, his face confused.
"That guy, Murdock?" JD whispered, "He's real fun but...he keeps calling me Melanippus. What is a Melanippus? When I asked, all he said is that I was justice's son. What does that mean?" He looked at Josiah, then Ezra.
"Got me, kid. But he called me Polyphontes earlier," Vin said, picking up his own hat that Ezra had knocked off in retaliation, "something about champion of Artemis."
"Goddess of the hunt," Josiah inserted quietly, though he was also puzzled.
"Called me Aktor," Nathan nodded. "I don't think he meant I was in the theatre, neither."
"I'm guessing, those are three of the seven champions of Thebes," Ezra answered. JD looked at him, then at Josiah. The preacher was grinning.
"From the Aeschylus play?" Josiah asked, his face lighting up. "Now that is amusing!"
"Do you know it, Josiah?" Ezra asked.
"Only vaguely. Read it as a child. Read them all as a child. My mother loved to tell me all the old stories, much to my father's dismay. Seven Against Thebes was a short play, but, now that I think about it, I suppose I can understand the reference. I wonder who I am?"
"Lord Lasthenes," Murdock said, leaning against the wall behind him, "the surly gatekeeper. Old in wisdom, in sinew young." The tall man was grinning, and turned to Buck. "And you, you're Megareus, the great hand to hand fighter, not afraid of anything." Buck grinned back at him, lifting his hat of his head and bowing to the others around him, causing them all to laugh.
"And Chris?" Ezra asked.
Murdock shook his head, "Why he's the king, of course, the helmsman, the hand to guide the state, the eyes that never rest. He says in the beginning, 'I'll choose six men, myself the seventh, And station them against the enemy: Seven champions, each at his gate. This now. I need no messengers, No torrent of word to fire my heart.'" The tall man spread his hands and bowed slightly.
"Chris a king," Buck snorted, "he'll love that."
"You gonna tell him?" Vin asked, his arm propped on Ezra's shoulder, leaning against the gambler.
"Hell no, Polyanna."
"Polyphontes!" the tracker retorted, standing up straight.
"Um, gentlemen?" Face wandered over, followed by an annoyed looking and limping BA, "As ranking officer, I'm here to order you all back to work, before BA gets too angry with me."
As one, all six men saluted, while Murdock laughed.
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Concluded in part six