Vash glanced over his shoulder as the priest followed him. Wolfwood seemed amused more than anything about the goings on. It was almost as if he didn't quite believe that Vash would go through with marrying the big girl. Or maybe he had some other plan up his sleeve… It didn't matter, Vash already knew that he had Meryl going, and he was ready to take it as far as he could go. Providing Milly didn't spill the beans. He put his hands in his pockets and brought out his sunglasses, putting them on his nose as he thought about the big girl. If she passed this test and managed to fool Meryl for the entire day, then he had faith maybe someday he could tell her the truth about himself too. Maybe he could finally find a new confidant for the impossible things he wanted to tell her.
He shrugged. If not, at least he had one last enjoyable day torturing the little insurance girl. But how to get the priest? Vash pushed his glasses up on his nose. There had to be a way to push Wolfwood over the edge too, but his cool demeanor and unreadable face were a mystery to him. Really, Nicholas D. Wolfwood didn't have any ties to this group other than meeting them on the bus a week ago. He seemed to be enjoying himself, even with the blackened jaw and empty pocketbook.
In fact… Vash bit his lip, he didn't have any money either. Neither did the insurance girl. They had already talked to the manager and the maid in order to arrange the fake reception and dress without any charges, but how to secure a church and priest without money? If he were alone he could have explained the situation, but with Wolfwood around, he had to play this game straight-up otherwise the gig would be up. Vash closed an eye in thought, he hadn't planned this far. He was sure one of the two would have called their bluff by now…
The same thought troubled him all the way up the front steps and into the sanctuary where the pastor was standing at the podium, running through his sermon to empty pews. The elderly man looked up and smiled, "Welcome to the House of God… I'm Reverend Brown."
Vash took off his sunglasses, "Hello Reverend. I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to perform a wedding this afternoon."
Wolfwood came to stand next to him, his gray eyes on Vash from time to time. He was pretty sure the little girl was right, that this was all a gag, but Vash was putting on a pretty good show. He kept waiting for the gunman to slip up, but so far this amusing game was being played fairly. Nicholas heard the commotion the night before at the hospital, how Vash gave up every last double dollar on him in order to help the hospital buy medicine from out of town for the children's ward. He'd even seen him hand over Milly's pocket book as well. The two of them were broke.
He smiled to himself as the pastor came down from the podium to shake hands with Vash. Wolfwood knew how easily he could set up a joke like this, the manager and maid were probably in on it, but the pastor… There was no way. "You're the man who saved the children in the cave in yesterday, aren't you?"
Nodding, Vash took the reverend's hand, "Yeah… I was just in the right place a the right time."
"Oh no! You even managed to help the Marshall capture the Hard Luck Gang. Those fellows were like clockwork coming into town once a month to stir up trouble. They always failed of course, but finally the mayor decided enough was enough and put the bounty on them. Now they'll go to prison and the town will be safe again." Brown extended his hand, "I saw you there as well, you helped stop Yast and Zan too, didn't you?"
Forcing a smile, Wolfwood shook the man's hand, "It was nothing really…" Nothing but trouble. Nicholas tried not to think about how much time he should spend in a confessional after yesterday's events. But perhaps God already found a way to punish him… He had the bruises to prove it.
"So," the pastor started again, "You say you want to have a wedding today? Is it that young lady you saved in the cave?"
Vash nodded, "Yes, that's her. We decided not to wait any longer. You never know when something horrible could happen!" He smiled and looked around, "Although I'm sure this is a pretty costly place… And I'm afraid I don't have any money after taking her to the hospital to get her head looked at."
"Why I'd never charge a hero for his wedding!" Brown turned on his heel, "This is a house of God, and when someone does His work, it should be rewarded! What time do you want the wedding? Shall we set it for, oh, four o'clock? Do you need help with any other plans?"
Grinning, Vash nodded, "I need to get invitations out. Milly's family is too far away to invite and I don't have any around here either. So we were thinking about inviting the entire town to attend."
"Wonderful! I know just the woman who can round everyone up."
Wolfwood looked at Vash and leaned toward him. "Are you sure you don't want a small wedding, Needle Noggin?"
Vash shook his head, "Why? I want everyone there to celebrate with us!"
Skeptical still, Nicholas just pressed his teeth together. "Okay…" He waved at the pastor, "I guess four o'clock it is!"
"Terrific! Leave it to me! Just be back here at four!" The pastor called for someone in the back, "Okay Glenda, do your magic! We've got a wedding!" Vash watched him go and smiled to himself, that worked out better than he'd planned. He wanted to let out a sigh of relief, but Wolfwood was still standing too close to him. Now what to do until the wedding?
"Hey, since you're the best man, how about throwing me a bachelor party?"
Wolfwood's mouth dropped open, "Well uh…"
"Come on! It's the least you can do!" Vash put his arm around the priest's shoulders. "I'm sure you have enough spare change to buy your buddy a drink right?"
Nicholas ground his molars together, he only had enough to buy gasoline out of this town… If he spent the money he'd be stuck even longer than he planned… "Sure… Whatever you say…" He was suddenly not quite so amused.