Leslie lay just outside the bar, on top of a bale of hay. She had changed
out of her dress and was wearing a faded pair of jeans and a shirt. Staring
hard in the dark, she was writing a letter in a small book, when she heard
soft footsteps behind her.
"Well, Mr. Tanner, creeping up on a girl like that is liable to get one's self shot," she stated. Vin laughed and sat down beside her.
"I almost thought you were Casey," he said, before realizing that Leslie had no idea who Casey was. "Never mind, you'll be introduced to her soon enough. I just came t'see if you wanted t'go into the bar and meet the guys," Vin said. Leslie looked up at the stars.
"Guys? What guys?" Leslie asked nonchalantly.
"The other six of us. You see, me and a few other guys were hired t'protect this town. You've already met Chris and Buck, but there's still Josiah, Nathan, JD, and Ezra," Vin said, glancing at Leslie.
"Oh...oh, I don't think that would be a good idea," she stuttered, seeming flustered. Vin sighed, realizing that his suspicions were correct.
"You're hiding something from us, Leslie. I don't mean t'offend you at all, but I'll reckon that your name isn't even Leslie. And, I'll reckon that your father is one of the one's previously mentioned," Vin said gently. "I don't want t'pressure you, but if you will, tell me....is Leslie your real name?" he asked. She shook her head violently, holding back tears. "Will you tell me what it is?" he asked gently.
"I..I can't. You'll tell him," she said shakily. Vin shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss, usually I don't keep things from the others, but this time I'll make an acception," Vin said. The girl looked into his eyes, and Vin saw a flicker of trust in them. But before she said anything, she turned away. "If you don't want t'tell me then, I might as well be on my way," Vin said. "Night Miss," he said, tipping his hat. As he got up to walk away, he heard the girl take a shaky but sure breath.
"My name's Anabelle, Mr. Tanner. Anabelle Standish."
*******
A few hours later, Vin and Anabelle had saddled up and were headed out of town. Anabelle hadn't said much since she had told Vin her name, but he saw that she looked much more content and comfortable on horseback. She was patting Ace and occasionally whispering in his ear.
Once they were a good deal away from town, Vin turned to Anabelle. "Do you want t'talk?" he asked. Anabelle shrugged.
"I don't know. I came here all gung-ho about seeing father again, but now I seem to have chickened out. He has his own life here," she sadly.
"Yes, but you are part of his life. Hell, you should be his life. You shouldn't have t;live with your Nanna....which I assume is Maude," Vin said strongly, grimacing at the remembrance of Maude. Anabelle smiled a bit.
"Yup, that's my Nanna. I know she's always a pain here, so I convinced her not to come," she said. "Still, Nanna's not always like that at home. I mean, sure, she is a con-artist, but she always made sure that I was taken care of." Anabelle halted her horse and dismounted. "If you don't mind Vin, I'd like to stop here," she said, tying Ace to a tree.
"Don't take this the wrong way Anabelle, but I'm not sure Ezra will be the perfect father for you. For that matter, I doubt any one of us would," Vin said, dismounting.
"I know he may not seem like it. I'm also pretty sure he isn't. But I know it hurt him to leave me, and he was a rather good father before he did. He still is," Anabelle said softly, a sense of sorrow in her voice.
"Why did he leave you?" Vin asked quietly, then reprimanded himself. "Sorry, that probably wasn't one of the nicest questions," he said. Anabelle laughed.
"Don't worry, I don't mind," she said. "If you don't mind listening, I'll tell you the whole story. I know you won't tell anyone. From what Nanna's told me, you usually don't say much at all, so I'm a little surprised at your coming out here with me and all that," Anabelle laughed once more. Vin smiled and blushed.
"I always try t'help a lady in need, and at the time you seem like a lady in need," he said with his small smile, leaning against the tree next to Anabelle. She smiled softly at him.
"That I am. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I'd be able to confront my father without some help," Anabelle confessed. "So, you want to hear about my parents," she said. It was more of a statement than a question, but Vin nodded his head anyway. "Okay, here goes nothing," Anabelle sighed.
*******
"My mother and father lived together back in a rather large house in Georgia. Mr father was a changed man back then. The day he met my mother, Christa, he swore he would give up his old ways of gambling and con artistry. Of course, you can see he never quite managed to give all that up completely, but he was much better back when my mother was around.
"Oh, my mother was a wonderful woman. She taught my father how to live life to it's fullest. If it weren't for her, my father would not be the man he his today. You see, Nanna did teach him how to be a con artist early on, before she realized how much wrong she would be doing. My mother taught him how to trust and to love. Without her, he might not still be alive today.
"My father used to say that the day they had me was the most wonderful day of his life. When I was young, we used to play out on the field behind the house. Tag, hide and go seek, you name it. I even made his play dress up and he had tea parties with me," Anabelle laughed at this memory. "It was always fun when daddy was home. Life at the house would be so happy. Of course, he worked then, at a newspaper. He was a writer. It was fine for him then, but he would never be able to do it now. I seem to have picked up where he left off.
"Anyway, off track there. My father was a real gem. He would never let anything hurt his little girl. He taught me to ride, read, write, fish, swim...he taught everything that my mother didn't. There wasn't much my mama didn't teach me, but my father made sure I knew everything.
"It may come as a shock to you, but he refused to teach me about con artistry. What I now know I learned from Nanna. My father did teach me a little bit about cards, but he never really got into gambling. Still, I knew quite a bit about a deck.
"When I was five years old, there was a horrible storm. I still remember it to this day....I had been sitting out in the tree behind the house. Suddenly the air thickened and the sky turned dark, almost green in color. My father came running outside and pulled me out of the tree. He told me to run down to the basement and stay there.
"There was lightening and thunder for hours. My mother and father came down fifteen minutes into the storm, having secured the house and barn. There was nothing we could do but wait. Wait we did. After what seemed like days the storm appeared to die down. My mother and father went upstairs to see what the damage was. They didn't get to stay too long.
"You see, there was a tornado in the area. It was too far away for my parents to notice, inside what was left of the house and all. The tornado didn't do most of the damage, but the wind caused a tree to fall on the house. My mother was struck, and was cut severely by a branch.
"My father took my mother downstairs, and we all managed to survive the night. But when it was over, there was virtually nothing left of the house....even the money was gone from our personal vault. I didn't know what that meant at first. I only realized that my mother was dying.
"She died the next day....she just had too many injuries. Before she died, she gave me this locket," Anabelle said, once again touching the locket around her neck. "In it are pictures of my parents. That was the only treasure she could give me. She promised me that she would always be here with me...inside the locket. I never took it off after she told me that. Although I was horribly sad that she was gone, I was also somewhat glad because I knew she would always be here with me like she promised.
"Unfortunately she couldn't do anything to help ease my fathers pain. Aside from me, he had lost everything....even the money. He was past bankruptcy; every day he was becoming more and more in debt. He started drinking and gambling again. But he knew he could no longer care for me properly. He called my great aunt and asked her to take me in. I loved my great aunt, but she lived in Wisconsin. It was so far from the home I knew and loved. It was so far from my father. But I knew that he had his own problems to solve, and that I would be a burden to him.
"My father gave me Ace here as a parting gift. Ace of Spades....the card of death, yet my fathers favorite card. Ace and his namesake remind me of my dad in so many ways.
"As I was leaving, my father called out, telling me that one day I had to find him, let him be dead or alive. It was then when I realized I may never see him again. At first I was mad, but as the train pulled away from the station, I turned, and saw my father kneeling on the platform, sobbing. I have never seen him cry in public. Hell, I'd only seen him cry once before-- when my mother died. Then I saw how much he was giving up...he was giving the only thing left in his life....just so I could lead a fairly normal life of my own," Anabelle said. Her eyes glistened with tears.
"I'll never be able to make him like the man he used to be. I'm just hoping that my appearence won't hurt him at all. After all, I'm basically memories myself," Anabelle sighed and closed her eyes, indicating that she was done talking for the night. Vin sat in silence, as he had been doing since she began speaking. His heart filled with sorrow for this young girl, and for the first time he realized what pain Ezra had been hiding from the other six. He only hoped that he would be able to help bring Anabelle to her father.
*******
Anabelle woke after only a few hours of sleep to find Vin awake and alert sitting beside her. The sky was still dark, and she could hear the horses shifting in their sleep. Vin looked over at her and smiled. "Tired?" he asked. She stretched and shook her head.
"Nope, just a little hungry," Anabelle said, standing up. "Hmmm....it's a little late for dinner and a little early for breakfast; how do you feel about a midnight snack?" she said, looking for some animal to catch.
"Sure," Vin said simply, a little surprised that Anabelle wasn't more upset by what was happening. She turned around to see the look on his face.
"I really think talking helped me a lot. I realized that I can't do anything about the past....maybe I can do something about the future," Anabelle said. As she looked at Vin though, she seemed to break down before his eyes. Suddenly she ran to him and knelt down in front of his sitting figure. "Oh, please, Mr. Tanner, I know you don't like my father that much, but please, please, help us get back together again! I'm afraid to face him in public, I don't know what his reaction will be. Can you help me get him alone?" Anabelle asked, grabbing Vin's hand. "Please?" Vin was a little startled by how vulnerable Anabelle looked, but he quickly recovered.
"I sure will, ma'am. I'll do everything in my power to reunite you two," he said, although he was wondering just how gullible Ezra would be. Getting him alone to see Anabelle would be hard.
Anabelle smiled and let out a breath of relief. "Thank you Mr. Tanner," she said, regaining her composure. "Now, how about that snack?" she said, her eyes penetrating the darkness. Vin stood up and went over to get his Winchester rifle.
"If you don't mind checking the horses, Anabelle, then I'll shoot us something to eat," Vin said, but Anabelle shook her head.
"I'll check on the horses if you don't want to, but I'd rather catch something," Anabelle said.
"Are you sure you know how? I can show you, if you want, but...." his voice trailed off as she put her hand up. A jackrabbit hopped in front of them, about 50 feet away. "Anabelle, you'll never be able t'shoot him," Vin said quietly, but either she didn't hear him or she ignored him. The rabbit hopped a bit closer, still unaware of the two humans and their horses. Suddenly he sat upright, ears and nose twitching. Anabelle reached down slowly and pulled something out of her boot. The movement caused the rabbit to panic, and he began to dart away. Before he got two feet, however, there was a bang, and he fell to the earth in mid-leap.
"Like I said, Mr. Tanner, my parents taught me everything," Anabelle said, smiling and holding up a small derringer. "Now, if I had my dress on, it would be up my sleeve, but when I have jeans on and these shirts, I have no choice but to put it in my boot," Anabelle said, frowning slightly. "Oh well. It's better than nothing," she said, walking over to pick up the rabbit. "If you'd like, we can eat it raw, or else I can start a fire while you skin and get it ready, or I can get it ready while you do the fire," Anabelle offered, not minding either task. Vin chose to get it ready, but said that the wood would be far to wet to burn, as it had rained the night before. "I have my ways," Anabelle said slyly, before disappearing a little ways into the darkness to gather firewood.
*******
Just a half hour later, Vin and Anabelle were watching the rabbit roast over a brightly lit fire. Anabelle watched the fire dance, it's light reflecting in her hazel eyes. She looked strangely intense, yet quiet at the same time.
"So Vin, how am I to be reunited with my father without being seen in public?" Anabelle asked, leaning against the tree, still watching the fire. Vin sighed and shrugged.
"Well, I can try and get him out of town for a while, but I don't see how that will help any," he said, thinking hard. After a few minutes of silence, Vin seemed to think of something.
"Anabelle, you said your dad didn't teach you about gambling, right?" he asked cautiously.
"Not really. He taught me the little things, but nothing majors," Anabelle said, not seeing what he was getting out.
"Do you know how t'play card games though?" Vin asked.
"Oh, definitely. When I said my father didn't teach me, I never said the Nanna didn't," Anabelle chuckled. "Sorry, I probably should've explained that first. Do you have an idea?" Anabelle asked, suddenly alert and eager.
"I think I do," Vin said, smiling at the fire. "You see, if we do this......"
*******
"Well, Mr. Tanner, creeping up on a girl like that is liable to get one's self shot," she stated. Vin laughed and sat down beside her.
"I almost thought you were Casey," he said, before realizing that Leslie had no idea who Casey was. "Never mind, you'll be introduced to her soon enough. I just came t'see if you wanted t'go into the bar and meet the guys," Vin said. Leslie looked up at the stars.
"Guys? What guys?" Leslie asked nonchalantly.
"The other six of us. You see, me and a few other guys were hired t'protect this town. You've already met Chris and Buck, but there's still Josiah, Nathan, JD, and Ezra," Vin said, glancing at Leslie.
"Oh...oh, I don't think that would be a good idea," she stuttered, seeming flustered. Vin sighed, realizing that his suspicions were correct.
"You're hiding something from us, Leslie. I don't mean t'offend you at all, but I'll reckon that your name isn't even Leslie. And, I'll reckon that your father is one of the one's previously mentioned," Vin said gently. "I don't want t'pressure you, but if you will, tell me....is Leslie your real name?" he asked. She shook her head violently, holding back tears. "Will you tell me what it is?" he asked gently.
"I..I can't. You'll tell him," she said shakily. Vin shook his head and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Miss, usually I don't keep things from the others, but this time I'll make an acception," Vin said. The girl looked into his eyes, and Vin saw a flicker of trust in them. But before she said anything, she turned away. "If you don't want t'tell me then, I might as well be on my way," Vin said. "Night Miss," he said, tipping his hat. As he got up to walk away, he heard the girl take a shaky but sure breath.
"My name's Anabelle, Mr. Tanner. Anabelle Standish."
*******
A few hours later, Vin and Anabelle had saddled up and were headed out of town. Anabelle hadn't said much since she had told Vin her name, but he saw that she looked much more content and comfortable on horseback. She was patting Ace and occasionally whispering in his ear.
Once they were a good deal away from town, Vin turned to Anabelle. "Do you want t'talk?" he asked. Anabelle shrugged.
"I don't know. I came here all gung-ho about seeing father again, but now I seem to have chickened out. He has his own life here," she sadly.
"Yes, but you are part of his life. Hell, you should be his life. You shouldn't have t;live with your Nanna....which I assume is Maude," Vin said strongly, grimacing at the remembrance of Maude. Anabelle smiled a bit.
"Yup, that's my Nanna. I know she's always a pain here, so I convinced her not to come," she said. "Still, Nanna's not always like that at home. I mean, sure, she is a con-artist, but she always made sure that I was taken care of." Anabelle halted her horse and dismounted. "If you don't mind Vin, I'd like to stop here," she said, tying Ace to a tree.
"Don't take this the wrong way Anabelle, but I'm not sure Ezra will be the perfect father for you. For that matter, I doubt any one of us would," Vin said, dismounting.
"I know he may not seem like it. I'm also pretty sure he isn't. But I know it hurt him to leave me, and he was a rather good father before he did. He still is," Anabelle said softly, a sense of sorrow in her voice.
"Why did he leave you?" Vin asked quietly, then reprimanded himself. "Sorry, that probably wasn't one of the nicest questions," he said. Anabelle laughed.
"Don't worry, I don't mind," she said. "If you don't mind listening, I'll tell you the whole story. I know you won't tell anyone. From what Nanna's told me, you usually don't say much at all, so I'm a little surprised at your coming out here with me and all that," Anabelle laughed once more. Vin smiled and blushed.
"I always try t'help a lady in need, and at the time you seem like a lady in need," he said with his small smile, leaning against the tree next to Anabelle. She smiled softly at him.
"That I am. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think I'd be able to confront my father without some help," Anabelle confessed. "So, you want to hear about my parents," she said. It was more of a statement than a question, but Vin nodded his head anyway. "Okay, here goes nothing," Anabelle sighed.
*******
"My mother and father lived together back in a rather large house in Georgia. Mr father was a changed man back then. The day he met my mother, Christa, he swore he would give up his old ways of gambling and con artistry. Of course, you can see he never quite managed to give all that up completely, but he was much better back when my mother was around.
"Oh, my mother was a wonderful woman. She taught my father how to live life to it's fullest. If it weren't for her, my father would not be the man he his today. You see, Nanna did teach him how to be a con artist early on, before she realized how much wrong she would be doing. My mother taught him how to trust and to love. Without her, he might not still be alive today.
"My father used to say that the day they had me was the most wonderful day of his life. When I was young, we used to play out on the field behind the house. Tag, hide and go seek, you name it. I even made his play dress up and he had tea parties with me," Anabelle laughed at this memory. "It was always fun when daddy was home. Life at the house would be so happy. Of course, he worked then, at a newspaper. He was a writer. It was fine for him then, but he would never be able to do it now. I seem to have picked up where he left off.
"Anyway, off track there. My father was a real gem. He would never let anything hurt his little girl. He taught me to ride, read, write, fish, swim...he taught everything that my mother didn't. There wasn't much my mama didn't teach me, but my father made sure I knew everything.
"It may come as a shock to you, but he refused to teach me about con artistry. What I now know I learned from Nanna. My father did teach me a little bit about cards, but he never really got into gambling. Still, I knew quite a bit about a deck.
"When I was five years old, there was a horrible storm. I still remember it to this day....I had been sitting out in the tree behind the house. Suddenly the air thickened and the sky turned dark, almost green in color. My father came running outside and pulled me out of the tree. He told me to run down to the basement and stay there.
"There was lightening and thunder for hours. My mother and father came down fifteen minutes into the storm, having secured the house and barn. There was nothing we could do but wait. Wait we did. After what seemed like days the storm appeared to die down. My mother and father went upstairs to see what the damage was. They didn't get to stay too long.
"You see, there was a tornado in the area. It was too far away for my parents to notice, inside what was left of the house and all. The tornado didn't do most of the damage, but the wind caused a tree to fall on the house. My mother was struck, and was cut severely by a branch.
"My father took my mother downstairs, and we all managed to survive the night. But when it was over, there was virtually nothing left of the house....even the money was gone from our personal vault. I didn't know what that meant at first. I only realized that my mother was dying.
"She died the next day....she just had too many injuries. Before she died, she gave me this locket," Anabelle said, once again touching the locket around her neck. "In it are pictures of my parents. That was the only treasure she could give me. She promised me that she would always be here with me...inside the locket. I never took it off after she told me that. Although I was horribly sad that she was gone, I was also somewhat glad because I knew she would always be here with me like she promised.
"Unfortunately she couldn't do anything to help ease my fathers pain. Aside from me, he had lost everything....even the money. He was past bankruptcy; every day he was becoming more and more in debt. He started drinking and gambling again. But he knew he could no longer care for me properly. He called my great aunt and asked her to take me in. I loved my great aunt, but she lived in Wisconsin. It was so far from the home I knew and loved. It was so far from my father. But I knew that he had his own problems to solve, and that I would be a burden to him.
"My father gave me Ace here as a parting gift. Ace of Spades....the card of death, yet my fathers favorite card. Ace and his namesake remind me of my dad in so many ways.
"As I was leaving, my father called out, telling me that one day I had to find him, let him be dead or alive. It was then when I realized I may never see him again. At first I was mad, but as the train pulled away from the station, I turned, and saw my father kneeling on the platform, sobbing. I have never seen him cry in public. Hell, I'd only seen him cry once before-- when my mother died. Then I saw how much he was giving up...he was giving the only thing left in his life....just so I could lead a fairly normal life of my own," Anabelle said. Her eyes glistened with tears.
"I'll never be able to make him like the man he used to be. I'm just hoping that my appearence won't hurt him at all. After all, I'm basically memories myself," Anabelle sighed and closed her eyes, indicating that she was done talking for the night. Vin sat in silence, as he had been doing since she began speaking. His heart filled with sorrow for this young girl, and for the first time he realized what pain Ezra had been hiding from the other six. He only hoped that he would be able to help bring Anabelle to her father.
*******
Anabelle woke after only a few hours of sleep to find Vin awake and alert sitting beside her. The sky was still dark, and she could hear the horses shifting in their sleep. Vin looked over at her and smiled. "Tired?" he asked. She stretched and shook her head.
"Nope, just a little hungry," Anabelle said, standing up. "Hmmm....it's a little late for dinner and a little early for breakfast; how do you feel about a midnight snack?" she said, looking for some animal to catch.
"Sure," Vin said simply, a little surprised that Anabelle wasn't more upset by what was happening. She turned around to see the look on his face.
"I really think talking helped me a lot. I realized that I can't do anything about the past....maybe I can do something about the future," Anabelle said. As she looked at Vin though, she seemed to break down before his eyes. Suddenly she ran to him and knelt down in front of his sitting figure. "Oh, please, Mr. Tanner, I know you don't like my father that much, but please, please, help us get back together again! I'm afraid to face him in public, I don't know what his reaction will be. Can you help me get him alone?" Anabelle asked, grabbing Vin's hand. "Please?" Vin was a little startled by how vulnerable Anabelle looked, but he quickly recovered.
"I sure will, ma'am. I'll do everything in my power to reunite you two," he said, although he was wondering just how gullible Ezra would be. Getting him alone to see Anabelle would be hard.
Anabelle smiled and let out a breath of relief. "Thank you Mr. Tanner," she said, regaining her composure. "Now, how about that snack?" she said, her eyes penetrating the darkness. Vin stood up and went over to get his Winchester rifle.
"If you don't mind checking the horses, Anabelle, then I'll shoot us something to eat," Vin said, but Anabelle shook her head.
"I'll check on the horses if you don't want to, but I'd rather catch something," Anabelle said.
"Are you sure you know how? I can show you, if you want, but...." his voice trailed off as she put her hand up. A jackrabbit hopped in front of them, about 50 feet away. "Anabelle, you'll never be able t'shoot him," Vin said quietly, but either she didn't hear him or she ignored him. The rabbit hopped a bit closer, still unaware of the two humans and their horses. Suddenly he sat upright, ears and nose twitching. Anabelle reached down slowly and pulled something out of her boot. The movement caused the rabbit to panic, and he began to dart away. Before he got two feet, however, there was a bang, and he fell to the earth in mid-leap.
"Like I said, Mr. Tanner, my parents taught me everything," Anabelle said, smiling and holding up a small derringer. "Now, if I had my dress on, it would be up my sleeve, but when I have jeans on and these shirts, I have no choice but to put it in my boot," Anabelle said, frowning slightly. "Oh well. It's better than nothing," she said, walking over to pick up the rabbit. "If you'd like, we can eat it raw, or else I can start a fire while you skin and get it ready, or I can get it ready while you do the fire," Anabelle offered, not minding either task. Vin chose to get it ready, but said that the wood would be far to wet to burn, as it had rained the night before. "I have my ways," Anabelle said slyly, before disappearing a little ways into the darkness to gather firewood.
*******
Just a half hour later, Vin and Anabelle were watching the rabbit roast over a brightly lit fire. Anabelle watched the fire dance, it's light reflecting in her hazel eyes. She looked strangely intense, yet quiet at the same time.
"So Vin, how am I to be reunited with my father without being seen in public?" Anabelle asked, leaning against the tree, still watching the fire. Vin sighed and shrugged.
"Well, I can try and get him out of town for a while, but I don't see how that will help any," he said, thinking hard. After a few minutes of silence, Vin seemed to think of something.
"Anabelle, you said your dad didn't teach you about gambling, right?" he asked cautiously.
"Not really. He taught me the little things, but nothing majors," Anabelle said, not seeing what he was getting out.
"Do you know how t'play card games though?" Vin asked.
"Oh, definitely. When I said my father didn't teach me, I never said the Nanna didn't," Anabelle chuckled. "Sorry, I probably should've explained that first. Do you have an idea?" Anabelle asked, suddenly alert and eager.
"I think I do," Vin said, smiling at the fire. "You see, if we do this......"
*******