Disclaimers and other Info. in Part 1 - additional acknowledgements will be included in parts where needed.
Some Het. in this story, but nothing inappropriate for a PG certificate. The extra characters in this part are all original characters created by me.
Part 6: Tennessee
They arrive at the guesthouse and unload from the cars.
Buck follows Clara into the hallway of the guesthouse. She leads him up some stairs into a daintily decorated area, where he meets several other women dressed up very scantily. They all smile at him.
"Who are they?" asks Buck, already having a good idea.
"They are my work associates," explains Clara, as if they work in a normal legitimate job.
"Do you usually dress like them?"
"Yes, but I couldn' welcome my brothers dressed like it though," answers Clara, smiling at the idea.
Vin has come up behind them wondering where they were going and has overheard the conversation. He exclaims, "You're a whore?"
"I wouldn' say I'm a whore. We are here to entertain the male guests if they need entertainin'. Does either of you two boys need entertainin'?" she asks with a sweet smile.
"No, thanks," replies Vin.
He pulls Buck back downstairs with him against Buck's will. Buck sadly waves to the girls as he leaves.
Vin takes Buck to one side and says quietly, "I'm beginnin' to have my doubts 'bout this place. I don' trust those two brothers. I think we should all leave here and get home."
"Can we stay and make friends with the ladies first?" asks Buck.
"No, Buck. We don't need no whores for friends."
Meanwhile, Will is showing the others around. The group look around and notice that wallpaper is peeling, there are dirty marks on the walls and floors and things are falling apart. There are even some lights flickering in places.
Chris whispers to JD, "We can't stay here, this place is too cheap - It's fallin' apart."
"You're right. Let's find Vin and Buck and leave this place quickly," answers JD.
Chris tells Will, "As nice as this place is, we have to get home."
"You haven' seen my sisters' dance yet," answers Will, with a smile.
"We have to get home, I'm sorry," apologises Chris.
"Okay."
Buck and Vin come along and they all go outside. They see men with rifles running towards them (although no-one knows why they are chasing them) and start running down a road as fast as they can.
"I have found out that those two brothers have been in prison for murder," reveals Josiah, who had wandered around the house with Nathan, unnoticed by anyone.
"Murder?" says Buck, hardly believing his ears.
"Keep runnin', they look mighty angry about something," says Chris, regretting ever picking up the hitchhiker.
Buck has an idea and dials a number on a mobile phone he's taken out of his pocket. He manages to do all this while he's still running.
"What are you doin' Buck?" asks Chris, who's running alongside his friend.
Buck speaks into the phone when a voice answers it; "Hi, it's Bucklin, you said if I was ever in Tennessee I should look you up."
"Bucklin? Where are you?" asks a woman's voice on the other end.
"We just left a guesthouse ran by whores and criminals," explains Buck.
"We don't have any of those here. Find your way to Memphis Rail Station and I'll put y'all up," says the woman.
"There's a truck comin', we'll see if he can give us a lift to Memphis. I'll see you soon darlin'. Bye," says Buck, then hangs up.
Chris approaches the cab, which has stopped after noticing Chris waving, "Hi, we need to get to Memphis."
"That's the other way," answers the very masculine looking driver.
Vin gets out his ATF ID card and says, "We need to use your truck, please vacate it now."
"Ya ain' usin' ma truck!" argues the driver, not bothering to read the ID card.
Vin takes his gun out which he had hidden on him and points it at the driver.
The driver looks scared and hurriedly gets out; "Okay, take it - I'll put stolen on my insurance claim."
Everyone except Chris and Vin get into the back of the flatbed truck.
Chris and Vin get in the cab and Chris starts it up. Vin finds a map in the glove compartment. Vin points at the map; "We're here and Memphis is here."
"I can't look at where 'here' is AND drive!" answers Chris, who's started up the engine.
"We need ta go east ta get to Memphis Rail Station," says Vin.
"You want me to drive through that general store, Vin?" asks Chris mockingly.
"We'll have to find a way around, obviously."
In the back of the truck, Buck and Krys are chatting.
"How do ya know Dorothy?" asks the girl.
"An old girlfriend - you'll love her," answers Buck
"Why would I love an old girlfriend of yours?" asks Krys, puzzled.
"She's great."
"I thought all women were great to you."
"Not if they prefer Vin to me they ain't," answers Buck.
"I wonder why they'd prefer Vin to you?" says Krys.
Nathan and Josiah have finished their conversation and are listening to Buck and Krys.
Nathan decides to answer Krys's question, "How many reasons do you need?"
"It didn' need no answerin'." says Krys, annoyed.
"Stop talkin' 'bout me," shouts Buck, agitated.
"What's this old girlfriend do?" asks Krys curiously.
"She's married and has some little kids now."
"You'll fit right in then!" laughs Nathan.
They get to Memphis and drive to the rail station and there's a very glamorous woman with long, dark brown hair, leaning against a red sports car parked nearby.
Buck gets out of the truck and rushes towards her. He kisses her, but she shrugs him off. The woman, who's obviously Dorothy, says in a Tennessee accent, "Bucklin, behave yourself."
Chris walks towards her; "Hi, I'm Chris Larabee, ma'am."
JD approaches Dorothy and offers his hand, "Hi ma'am, I'm JD Dunne. I'm pleased to meet you."
"I'm pleased to meet y'all. There's plenty of room at my house for y'all to stay a while. What brings y'all to Tennessee, anyway?" asks Dorothy, smiling pleasantly at the group.
"We're just passing through. We couldn't get a direct flight to our home state so we ended up here. As we've still got some vacation time left, we were thinking about staying away a while longer," explained Chris, immediately liking his old friend's ex-girlfriend. He decided not to tell her yet about the idol they had flown to South America for.
"You can meet my kids. It's a shame you can't meet my husband, but he's out of town at the moment," says Dorothy.
Buck smiles accidentally. 'Yes, it is such a shame!' he thinks.
"Don't go getting' no ideas in your head, Bucklin," says Dorothy sternly, noticing the smile.
Buck gets into the car beside Dorothy, while the others return to the truck and drive behind her car to the house. There are three young children playing on the huge front porch that surrounds the front of the large white three-storey house.
The children stop playing and look at the truck. "There's lotsa men and a few women in tha' truck!" exclaims the smallest boy with short dark brown hair, whose name is Billy.
"Are they army men and women?" asks the little blonde-haired girl called Jane. She'd seen army people in a truck on a film the night before.
"They ain't wearing army clothes, silly," replies the other brown-haired boy, Freddy.
"Perhaps they're in disguise." suggests Jane.
"I'm scared!" says Billy.
Dorothy gets out of her car and calls the kids to her. "I've bought some friends to stay with us for a while," she tells them.
The children run to the men and women who are standing outside the truck talking.
"Hello," greets Billy.
"Hi, what's yer name?" asks Buck, smiling at the boy who looks quite like a young version of Buck.
"I'm Billy; this is my sister Jane and my brother Freddy."
"You three better get washed up for dinner. Cook said it would be ready in ten minutes," says Dorothy, approaching her children.
The kids run into the house obediently and Buck watches them leave. "I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse," he mutters.
"I think I saw some on the way here," replies Vin.
"Good grief, you're not going to hunt them are you?" asks Lu, horrified.
"Don't be so silly, I was only expressin' how hungry I am," replies Buck.
"For a minute there, I thought you was being serious!"
"There's plenty of food here for everyone. I told cook y'all were coming and she cooked plenty. There won't be any need for Bucklin or anyone else to go huntin' horses," says Dorothy.
"There're nine of us!" says Buck, wondering how she'll have enough food to feed them all.
"Don't worry, there'll be plenty for everyone," reassures Dorothy.
They follow Dorothy into the house. It's a very clean house and everything is tidy. It's also a very big house with huge rooms.
Chris notices a girl about five foot five with long blonde curly hair. She looks to be in her early twenties. She takes their coats and hangs them on coat hooks for them.
"Hi, I'm Chris," greets Chris, noticing that she's looking at him and looks interested in him.
Shirley replies in a gentle voice with an English accent, "Hi, I'm Shirley. Are you staying long, Chris?"
"I'm not sure." The blonde tries to remember what day it is and how many days they have left, but can't.
"There's a spare room next to mine - maybe you could stay in there," suggests Shirley, hoping they will stay at least one night. The blonde man is the most handsome guy she's ever seen.
"Sounds good ta me!" says Chris, flashing her a brief smile.
Vin creeps up on Chris, who's staring into space, after Shirley has gone upstairs. He makes a kissing noise and Chris turns around startled.
"What're ya doing? You don't ever fall fer women," criticises Vin.
"Don't you think she's nice?" says Chris.
"We're not here to get girlfriends, Chris," informs Vin.
"Yer engaged, Tanner!" retorts Chris.
JD comes along and asks them, "Are you having a meeting about something?"
"No, kid. Jus' talkin'," answers Vin.
"I think dinner's ready - but you got to wash your hands first, Dorothy says," informs JD.
Chris and Vin go and wash their hands in the downstairs bathroom, then join the rest of their group in the large dining room.
They all sit down to dinner around a huge rectangular wooden table with Dorothy at the head. The children are sat at a smaller table nearby.
"Thanks for lettin' us stay here, darlin'," says Buck, with a smile.
"I enjoy the company, Bucklin," replies Dorothy.
Chris is served his dinner by Shirley and smiles at her; she smiles back.
Dorothy notices and says, "Shirley could show you guys aroun' town tomorrow."
"I'd be delighted to do that," says Shirley.
"Sounds fun," says Chris.
The others turn and look at Chris, amazed upon hearing him say the word 'fun'. Chris just glares at them and they go back to their dinner. When they finish eating, they head off to their bedrooms to help make up beds.
Shirley finishes working and goes to her room. Chris silently follows her without anyone noticing. The guys and girls meet in Vin, Buck and JD's room to talk for a while before bed.
"It's really great stayin' here. Let's stay for the whole week," says JD.
"I think Chris is enjoyin' it as well," says Vin, smiling.
"What makes you say that?" asks Buck, completely oblivious to the lovesick Chris.
"Didn' you see him smilin' at Shirley?" says Vin, in astonishment.
"You mean he's in love?" asks JD, not remembering the last time Chris was in love.
"Chris don' fall in love!" exclaims Vin, feeling sure that Chris has never been in love since he had his wife Sarah.
"Has anyone noticed where Mistah Larabee has effectively disappeared to at this precise moment?" asks Ezra.
"You don't expect him to be here do you?" asks Josiah.
"His room is right next to Shirley's," explains Nathan.
Meanwhile, Chris knocks on Shirley's door.
"Who is it?" asks Shirley from inside.
"It's Chris," replies the blonde.
Shirley opens the door. She is wearing quite a see-through nightdress. She smiles at the blonde man and says invitingly, "Hi Chris, come in."
Chris walks into the bedroom and sits on the bed, looking at the girl in awe.
"How do you like the house?" asks Shirley.
"Really beautiful, same as you," answers Chris.
"Thanks," says Shirley sitting down onto the bed, next to Chris.
Chris notices there isn't any rings on her fingers and decides to ask her something, "Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow night?"
"I'd be delighted to." Shirley smiles at him and looks into his hazel eyes.
Chris puts his arm around her, and Shirley doesn't complain. Chris moves his face closer to Shirley's and gently kisses her. Shirley kisses back…
Back in the other bedroom…
"We can't stay here forever though. Chris can't get too attached to her," says Lu, worried about what will happen when they have to leave the house including Shirley.
"We could always leave him here," suggests Vin, with a mischievous grin.
"He'd be really awkward to travel back with if he's heart-broken," agrees Buck.
"We can't just leave him here!" says Lu, astonished at the suggestion.
"He doesn' usually fall fer people we meet," says Vin, trying to remember if Chris ever has done.
"We don't usually get to stay in heaven though," says JD, thinking about where they have had to stay in the past.
"What makes you think that this is 'heaven'?" asks Josiah, not believing that any place they stay is like heaven.
"Everyone's so nice here, and we have comfortable beds," explains JD, who already tried out his bed.
"It's not heaven just because we've been sleeping rough and now we have more luxurious surroundings, brother," replies Josiah.
"Nowhere is completely heavenly," says Krys.
"I have to admit that this establishment is certainly more accommodating than that prehistoric prison cell," chimes in Ezra.
"There's nice and there's too nice!" says Krys, not liking things to be too luxurious.
Buck leaves the room, suddenly deciding there's something else he should be doing right now.
"Where's he goin'?" asks Vin, puzzled.
"I think he's going to see Dotty," answers JD, using the affectionate nickname he's given the woman.
Buck knocks on Dorothy's bedroom door, as he knows she is in there.
"Who is it?" asks Dorothy, while she's putting on her nightdress. She's planning to go to bed soon, as she's feeling tired.
"It's me, Bucklin."
"Go to bed Buck, you must be tired."
"I came to see you," says Buck, in a seductive voice.
"I know you did. I'm a married woman now, Bucklin," says Dorothy, sounding slightly regretful about her status.
"But he's away at the moment," argues Buck.
"That doesn't make any difference. Please go away," says Dorothy.
To be continued...