Five.
Ezra had been told of the arrival of the newcomers the moment he had trotted contentedly back into town. The others, who had clearly been having some sort of discussion about the event, were gathered about, and as Vin relayed the tale, with JD chipping in details of how he'd nearly been knocked down, the others eyed him carefully.
Ezra of course, had been oblivious as to the purpose of the unfriendly newcomers, and in the hot evening after a long day of chasing around after a small child, Ezra was keen to collapse onto his bed, and as a result, had been unimpressed by the news. The conversation therefore, had dropped at his casual comments of mistaken identity. However, as the morning had dawned, Ezra had been beginning to piece together what he knew of Catherine and Hannah's past life, and the new gang in the area, and he was beginning to think that the shrugging off of such coincidental facts was no longer an option.
"Something more than just a case of mistaken identity?" Ezra jumped at the sound of Josiah's placid, but probing drawl. Ezra rolled his eyes as his heart returned to its normal rate, and scooped up the glass on the table in front of him. Letting it hover before his lips he replied carefully,
"I hope not."
Josiah, blending in with the dusty light creeping through the shutters, wandered forward, placing himself in the chair opposite the gambler, his eyes searching for more information.
"The woman and child. Do they have a troubled past?"
Ezra sighed and sat back, an arm dangling casually over the back of the chair as he stared at the glass.
"I truly don't know. But I do know that they have something of a nomadic lifestyle, and I also know that the late husband..." Ezra began, his eyes rising to meet Josiah's before flicking down again, "...was a Sheriff, who, I am led to believe was shot." The rest spoke for itself and so he let it hang.
There was a small silence, broken by Josiah, feeling the need to re-cap,
"So you think that whoever shot the husband, for whatever reason, is after them?"
Ezra met his eyes. The gambler's expression, although seeming unsure, seemed to convey conviction in the idea. Josiah shrugged,
"Makes sense to me. So what we gotta do now I reckon, is bring Mrs. Moore and her daughter into town. Keep them safe until all this trouble sorts itself out,"
Ezra stood slowly, gently putting on his hat. Josiah sat back,
"Going to get them?" he questioned. Ezra nodded, and Josiah smiled widely, "Don't forget Mrs. Roth now,"
Ezra paused at the door, and turning back, grinned widely at the preacher,
"I hardly think that possible."
With that, he tapped the brim, and left.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Not fifteen minutes after Ezra had left town at a somewhat faster pace than he had been doing so over the last few days, Chris stumbled wearily into town.
Buck, stretching lazily in the early morning heat had regarded his friend with some surprise before coming to his senses and scurrying over in concern.
"Chris," he frowned, as his friend wandered past him in a daze and straight towards a trough, where he knelt down and cupped water into his mouth, letting it trickling refreshingly down his chin. Buck lent over, peering at him closely,
"Chris?" he ventured again. Chris lurched to his feet, swaying wildly, and fending off Buck's steadying hands,
"Men. Horses." Chris, still wobbling madly began mumbling loudly, his face a picture of fury.
Buck backed away from him carefully, like a wild tiger,
"Now, you just hold on there Chris. You sit yourself down. I'll go and fetch Nathan. You sit tight now okay."
Buck turned on his heel, and spotting JD shuffling wearily out of the jail, hailed him loudly.
"Hey JD! Go and fetch Nathan, tell him Chris' back, and he's not looking too good!"
JD took a few seconds to digest the information, screwing up his face, and answering the gunslinger with a confused, "Huh!" Buck however, replied with a few expletives that sent the young Sheriff off towards the healer's at a more satisfying pace.
Buck turned at the sound of a thud. Chris, still unsteady on his feet, had plonked himself down beside the boardwalk, aiming for the planks, but misjudging the distance, and dumping himself down in the dust instead. Buck watched with a mixture of bemusement and concern as the group's leader let his head fall back onto the boards, clearly exhausted. Sighing to himself, the big gunslinger went over, and looked down at his long time friend.
"You want anything Chris?" he asked tentatively. Chris licked his lip longingly,
"Water."
"Water. Ok," Buck nodded and went into the saloon. He cast round for something large enough to carry a sufficient amount of water in, and then, as his eyes fell on a bottle of gleaming alcohol, he paused before looking up at the ceiling,
"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do."
He took up the bottle, and carried it outside, removing the cork and letting the alcohol run out onto the ground before filling it with water. He took it back to Chris, who drank it greedily, regardless of Buck's wistful sighs, and longing stares at a patch of wet ground, that was fast soaking up the moisture.
He looked up, Nathan was steaming up the street, looking half dressed, and rubbing shaving cream from his face as JD trailed behind trying hard to keep up.
Beside Buck, a little more rejuvenated, Chris was trying to get upright, and he reached up and grabbed at Buck's sleeve.
"Help me up Buck, then go and get the others,"
Buck stood at once, pulling Chris upright,
"Ezra's not here. He went out this morning. We, kind of had a bit of a run in here yesterday, and he's going to bring some folks back into town."
Chris leant against a post,
"Well, go and get Josiah and Vin. I had a 'run-in' myself, and I bet the two incidences might just be related."
As Nathan drew to a halt beside Chris and began to quiz the weary lawman on his health, Buck signalled JD,
"Hey! JD, go and get Vin and then get back here. I'll go and get Josiah."
JD came up close, lowering his voice,
"What's going on Buck? What's happened to Chris?"
Buck sighed,
"I don't know. But I'm guessin' it might have a lot to do with them folks from yesterday."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ezra took a different route to the remote ranch where Mrs. Roth resided, across the grassy fields of wild flowers, hoping to find some new posy for Hannah, and ally any fears brought by the news he was carrying. Still he lamented, everyone would feel much safer back in town, and although forcing Mrs. Roth to leave was going to be no mean feat, it would all be worth it having Catherine and Hannah under the watchful eye of the seven. Or six, he thought to himself, in the absence of Chris.
He reigned his horse in as his eyes fell on a small blue flower, and he swung off nimbly to pluck a handful from the long grass.
There was a warm breeze blowing in his direction, catching in the folds of his jacket, feeling through his thin shirt like fingers, and rustling the grass into waves of rippling green.
Somewhere nearby the sound of pounding hooves, dense like thunder, rumbled past. Instinctively Ezra dropped to a crouch, searching out a dust cloud moving along the road. He narrowed his eyes. Seven horsemen? Eight maybe? All heading towards Mrs. Roth's.
Ezra glanced back at the town, sleeping quietly in the mid-morning sun, before turning back to the group of horsemen. He climbed back onto his horse and set off across the grass, trying to cut the route short and beat the men. He grinned ruefully to himself. Some simple reconnaissance wouldn't hurt anyone. He'd simply arrive at Mrs. Roth's before the horsemen, send Catherine and Hannah into town and then gather as much information the newcomers as he could.
Simple.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Well at least we know they're not after Ezra," Vin pointed out. The group were gathered around Chris, who, on Nathan's orders, had been given plenty to drink and been sat in the shade. The healer himself snorted,
"That makes a change,"
Chris looked up,
"And none of you know anything about this woman and her daughter? Has Ezra said anything?"
Josiah shifted somewhat uncomfortably, almost unsure of weather he was supposed to relate the information Ezra had told him this morning,
"Well..." he began, all eyes turned to look at him, "...Ezra said something this morning about a somewhat mysterious past. Late husband a lawman who was shot dead. Family's been moving around since then. He was figuring it might have had something to do with them men."
Buck nodded,
"Sounds good enough to me. Maybe the husband killed one of their own but was killed before they could get revenge, and so now they're trying to get even with the wife."
There were shrugs around the table as people tried out this theory. Vin nodded calmly,
"Well, we can ask her when they get back with Ezra."
Chris opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of a trap drawing up. Everyone turned to look.
Catherine, looking bright and refreshed climbing down holding a basket and a piece of paper. She smiled warmly,
"Hello everyone, thought I'd come into town for my Aunt Roth before it heats up too much."
She was greeted by a line of surprised faces, all seemingly stunned to see her. She frowned in puzzlement.
"Err..." Buck broke the silence, "Have you not seen Ezra this morning?"
Catherine shook her head,
"No. Why? Is he not here?"
Vin took a step forward,
"He was coming to see you. You didn't see him?" Catherine shook her head at this question, and the men exchanged glances. Vin continued, "Where's Hannah?"
Catherine's face turned from confusion to instant worry,
"She was still asleep. I left her with my aunt. Why?" her face paled slightly, "What's wrong?"
There was a small pause as each man considered what the next words might be. Almost simultaneously they decided there was no need to worry Catherine, since Ezra would no doubt bring Hannah back shortly. Instead Buck smiled,
"Err...no nothing." It wasn't the best piece of acting Catherine had ever seen, but luckily for Buck, Chris interrupted any further concerns by standing up,
"Mrs. Moore?"
Catherine turned to him with a nod,
"Chris Larabee," he held his hand towards the empty saloon, directing her in, "I need to ask you a few questions."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sorry about the wait, havejust had three weeks of revision and exams. God, if I ever look at another piece of paper again, it will be too soon. Anyway, off on holiday tomorrow, and so will be working on this by the beach. Wow, that sounds good! Anyway, this chapter is really just a means to an end, and so the next one will be a bit more dramatic 'cos things all start to happen.
Anyway, am off to pack! Bye!
