"Psst!... Hey!"
*Poke* *Poke* *Poke*
"Mmmph..."
"Hey, mister, ya'll all right?"
*Poke* *Poke* *Poke*
"Stop pokin' me..."
"Mister, what happened? Where's yer clothes?"
"Where's my clothes? Good Lord!" Ezra bolted into a sitting position and immediately regretted it, letting out a long groan and clutching his aching head. Lord, his whole body felt like he'd run a ten mile race. As the pain subsided, he looked up to see two little boys, probably no more than seven, each wearing an old pair of overalls over their bare chests and tattered straw hats over their messy black hair. The tallest of the boys poked him with a stick.
"Ow! Quit poking me! I am awake, you know."
"Where's yer clothes?"
"The hell if I know." The two boys let out twin gasps and their eyes bulged. "Okay, the heck if I know. Must have been robbed during my episode last night-"
"Did you sthee the thing that killed our theep?" the other boy lisped.
Ezra stopped talking and looked at the smallest one, who had a gaping hole where his front teeth should have been. "What sheep?"
"That one."
Ezra turned around and gasped as the sight of a horribly disemboweled sheep came into view. It looked as if it's innards had been ripped out with a knife and, for some strange reason, been taken away. The sheep's eyes were opened wide as was it's mouth, tongue hanging out across the sand. Ezra cringed when he saw a fly land on the unseeing eyeball and then crawled down and into a blood-soaked nostril.
"Ugh! Poor creature..." he looked back at the boys, who looked at him warily. "No my fine young gentlemen, I think I would have remembered if I had taken the liberty to witness the sacrifice of a helpless lamb."
"Then why'th ya gotsth blood on ya?" the little one asked, pointing at Ezra.
Ezra looked down and was appalled to discover his naked chest covered in dried blood. He trailed his hand up the sticky path and also found his mouth coated with it too.
This had to be one of the most humiliating situations he had ever been in. Buck-naked (no pun intended towards Mr. Wilmington) in the middle of the desert with no recollection of the last nights activities, covered in sheep blood and being discovered by two innocent little boys. "Not so innocent now, though," he thought. "I'm sure Mother would be proud of her so-called darlin' baby boy."
Ezra ran a bloody hand through his hair and tried to concentrate on figuring out what had exactly happened the night before, but the pounding in his head made it difficult. "Uh, I'm sorry children. I do not seem to recall... anything from the previous night... Did yall see me come here last night?"
The littlest of the two started to chew on his fingernail nervously as his eyes darted towards his older brother. "Naw, but we thaw a monsther."
"Monster?"
"Yeah. It wath huge, probably 'bout eleventy feet tall."
The older boy whacked his brother's head and knocked off his straw hat. "No it wasn't! Eleventy's not even a word. Go on and get Pa, and tell him to bring some clothes fer this here feller." As the little one left with his hat and his hand and a pout on his face, the eldest turned back to Standish. "We really couldn't see him that well, since our cabin's way over there, but we sure as heck heard it. It sounded real nasty too, like a cougar of a coyote only a whole lot meaner. And it was pretty big from where I could see it, I dunno. I'm bettin' it was at least seven or eight feet. Me 'n Tate were so scared we hid in the storage bin. Soon as the sun came out we saw you and thought you was hurt. Glad ya ain't."
Ezra stared at him for a good measure and let of a soft chuckle. "Oh, my my. The imagination of a young child is simply marvelous."
The boy stopped smiling and scowled at the gambler on the sand. "Fine, I don' care if ya don' believe me. We'll give ya some clothes and then you can jez git. Oh, and would ya please cross yer legs? I don' really like seein' yer Yankee Doodle."
------------------------------
Chris entered the Standish Tavern for a nice quiet lunch and a maybe a good bottle of whisky, but of course, with the company he kept, "quiet" was never an option. Sighing in frustration, he just listened to his men chatter while he picked at his fried chicken.
"Okay, okay. This one's real good, Josiah. You'll like it, it's from the Bible. What did Noah say when he met the pirate captain?"
Josiah rubbed his temple and faked a smile. "I don't know JD, what did Noah say?"
Barely containing his laughter, he growled (in his best pirate impersonation), "Ark, matey! HA ha ha ha! Ya get it? Noah built the Ark and he says 'Ark, matey!' instead of 'argh!',... Ya get it?"
"Wow, JD. You must have a million of those up yer sleeve." Josiah dryly commented.
JD's smile faded and he scoffed at the preacher, "Oh, come on now, that was funny! Wasn't that funny Vin?"
Vin was staring out the window with a faraway look on his face and jumped when he heard his named called. "Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah it was."
"Something on yer mind, Brother Vin?"
"No, not really. Jez wonderin' where Ezra went off too. Haven't seen him since last evening'."
Nathan snorted in his coffee. "Like he gives a damn about us anyway. Probably off stealin' money from an old lady or, I dunno, polishing his whip or something'."
Buck, wearing a pair of jeans over his long johns and cuddling a yellow blanket around his shoulders, slapped a comforting hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Aw, don' be mad at Ez, Nate. Ya probably just caught him at a bad tii-I-I-I-ime..." Buck's speech ended in a long, sickly belch and he covered his mouth as his face drained of all color. After a moment of frantic swallowing, he relaxed. "I'm okay."
Nathan slammed down his now empty mug. "Dammit Buck, why the hell are ya throwin' up? Yer fever's down and yer on the mend, why are ya throwin' up?"
"Aw, the hell if I know Nathan, I-... What the crap?" Buck's attention was at the door, and when the others turned to see what he was gawking at, they all had to suppress a sudden burst of giggles.
Ezra Standish, one of the most well groomed, well educated and well dressed men in town, was standing awkwardly in the doorway wearing a pair of moth-eaten jeans, a tattered white long-sleeved shirt that appeared to have numerous food stains on it, a pair of worn out boots with his toes sticking out of the holes and an old straw hat on top of frazzled brown hair. He looked just like a country bumpkin who lived in a shack down by the river.
"Mornin' Brother Ezra." Josiah smiled. "Looking sharp."
"I don't want to talk about it." Ezra snarled.
"Good, cuz we don't wanna hear about it." Nathan snarled back, refusing to make eye contact with the conman.
Ezra's embarrassment and anger left when Nathan snapped at him, replaced by guilt over what happened yesterday afternoon. "M-Mr. Jackson?" When the healer didn't answer, he pulled off his hat in respect and bowed his head. "Nathan... I just want to say how... tr-truly sorry I am for what happened yesterday. I don't even know why I said it since I only think of you with high regards as a doctor, a man and hopefully a very dear friend. I know that doesn't excuse me for what I said, but... I just want you to know that I am ashamed and I beg your forgiveness."
Nathan's hard visage softened as he watched the conman apologize with his eyes to the ground, apparently humiliated by what he had done. With a deep sigh, he said, "Dammit Ez, ya don't make it easy bein' yer friend..."
"I know, I'm so-"
"But I guess it wouldn't kill me to forgive you... THIS time."
The southerner drew his head up sharply to see Nathan smiling at him, reluctantly though. "Thank you Mister Jackson. I swear I'll make it up to you somehow. In fact, Mr. Wilmington, aren't you allergic to coconut?"
Nathan was perplexed. "What?! What does that have to do with me?" He didn't even notice Buck sheepishly looking down and blushing.
"Because, Mister Jackson-," Ezra paused and sniffed the air, almost like an animal. "-I detect some of Miss Georgette's fine coconut cream pie an Mr. Wilmington's apparel."
Nathan fumed and glared at Buck. "Dammit Buck! You've been eating coconut cream pie this whole time when you know that stuff makes you sick?!"
Buck looked up with a small smile. "W-well you know how I can't ever turn down a fine lady's home cookin'."
"Yeah, it shows." JD muttered. This earned him an amused chuckle from Josiah and Chris. Now that was funny.
"Jesus Christ Buck, you're lucky I don't just castrate you right now and end all of our misery. Thanks Ezra, least some of us our thinking' today." Though it was really weird that Ezra figured out the problem by just smelling Buck. It was like he turned into some sort of smell hound.
"No problem, Mister- GOD DAMMIT!" Ezra began to scratch fiercely in his hair, whining, "Nathan! Can you give me something for these god damn fleas. They're driving me insane!"
Nathan stared at con man. Fleas? "Sure Ezra, head on up to the clinic and wait for me while I sort things out with this here horny toad. Oh, and be quiet, would ya? I got a real sick patient and he's probably sleepin'."
"Will do." Ezra stood up and walked towards the livery.
"Ezra, don't ya want any lunch?" Vin asked. He had been anticipating for Ezra to come and now he was leaving again. He really needed to talk him.
"No thank. I ate such a enormous dinner last night. I couldn't eat another bite." That was true. Since he woke up in the desert it felt like his stomach would explode. Of course he had no idea what he had eaten. Without thinking about it anymore, he exited the saloon, scratching his arms, neck, chest and other parts of his anatomy that ladies should never see scratched in public.
"About that patient Nathan. He gonna make it?"
Nathan sighed. "He's in bad shape. I'm surprised he's lasted this long."
Vin watched Ezra through the window and sighed. Why couldn't he just come out and tell the gambler that he was in love with him?
TBC............
*Poke* *Poke* *Poke*
"Mmmph..."
"Hey, mister, ya'll all right?"
*Poke* *Poke* *Poke*
"Stop pokin' me..."
"Mister, what happened? Where's yer clothes?"
"Where's my clothes? Good Lord!" Ezra bolted into a sitting position and immediately regretted it, letting out a long groan and clutching his aching head. Lord, his whole body felt like he'd run a ten mile race. As the pain subsided, he looked up to see two little boys, probably no more than seven, each wearing an old pair of overalls over their bare chests and tattered straw hats over their messy black hair. The tallest of the boys poked him with a stick.
"Ow! Quit poking me! I am awake, you know."
"Where's yer clothes?"
"The hell if I know." The two boys let out twin gasps and their eyes bulged. "Okay, the heck if I know. Must have been robbed during my episode last night-"
"Did you sthee the thing that killed our theep?" the other boy lisped.
Ezra stopped talking and looked at the smallest one, who had a gaping hole where his front teeth should have been. "What sheep?"
"That one."
Ezra turned around and gasped as the sight of a horribly disemboweled sheep came into view. It looked as if it's innards had been ripped out with a knife and, for some strange reason, been taken away. The sheep's eyes were opened wide as was it's mouth, tongue hanging out across the sand. Ezra cringed when he saw a fly land on the unseeing eyeball and then crawled down and into a blood-soaked nostril.
"Ugh! Poor creature..." he looked back at the boys, who looked at him warily. "No my fine young gentlemen, I think I would have remembered if I had taken the liberty to witness the sacrifice of a helpless lamb."
"Then why'th ya gotsth blood on ya?" the little one asked, pointing at Ezra.
Ezra looked down and was appalled to discover his naked chest covered in dried blood. He trailed his hand up the sticky path and also found his mouth coated with it too.
This had to be one of the most humiliating situations he had ever been in. Buck-naked (no pun intended towards Mr. Wilmington) in the middle of the desert with no recollection of the last nights activities, covered in sheep blood and being discovered by two innocent little boys. "Not so innocent now, though," he thought. "I'm sure Mother would be proud of her so-called darlin' baby boy."
Ezra ran a bloody hand through his hair and tried to concentrate on figuring out what had exactly happened the night before, but the pounding in his head made it difficult. "Uh, I'm sorry children. I do not seem to recall... anything from the previous night... Did yall see me come here last night?"
The littlest of the two started to chew on his fingernail nervously as his eyes darted towards his older brother. "Naw, but we thaw a monsther."
"Monster?"
"Yeah. It wath huge, probably 'bout eleventy feet tall."
The older boy whacked his brother's head and knocked off his straw hat. "No it wasn't! Eleventy's not even a word. Go on and get Pa, and tell him to bring some clothes fer this here feller." As the little one left with his hat and his hand and a pout on his face, the eldest turned back to Standish. "We really couldn't see him that well, since our cabin's way over there, but we sure as heck heard it. It sounded real nasty too, like a cougar of a coyote only a whole lot meaner. And it was pretty big from where I could see it, I dunno. I'm bettin' it was at least seven or eight feet. Me 'n Tate were so scared we hid in the storage bin. Soon as the sun came out we saw you and thought you was hurt. Glad ya ain't."
Ezra stared at him for a good measure and let of a soft chuckle. "Oh, my my. The imagination of a young child is simply marvelous."
The boy stopped smiling and scowled at the gambler on the sand. "Fine, I don' care if ya don' believe me. We'll give ya some clothes and then you can jez git. Oh, and would ya please cross yer legs? I don' really like seein' yer Yankee Doodle."
------------------------------
Chris entered the Standish Tavern for a nice quiet lunch and a maybe a good bottle of whisky, but of course, with the company he kept, "quiet" was never an option. Sighing in frustration, he just listened to his men chatter while he picked at his fried chicken.
"Okay, okay. This one's real good, Josiah. You'll like it, it's from the Bible. What did Noah say when he met the pirate captain?"
Josiah rubbed his temple and faked a smile. "I don't know JD, what did Noah say?"
Barely containing his laughter, he growled (in his best pirate impersonation), "Ark, matey! HA ha ha ha! Ya get it? Noah built the Ark and he says 'Ark, matey!' instead of 'argh!',... Ya get it?"
"Wow, JD. You must have a million of those up yer sleeve." Josiah dryly commented.
JD's smile faded and he scoffed at the preacher, "Oh, come on now, that was funny! Wasn't that funny Vin?"
Vin was staring out the window with a faraway look on his face and jumped when he heard his named called. "Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah it was."
"Something on yer mind, Brother Vin?"
"No, not really. Jez wonderin' where Ezra went off too. Haven't seen him since last evening'."
Nathan snorted in his coffee. "Like he gives a damn about us anyway. Probably off stealin' money from an old lady or, I dunno, polishing his whip or something'."
Buck, wearing a pair of jeans over his long johns and cuddling a yellow blanket around his shoulders, slapped a comforting hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Aw, don' be mad at Ez, Nate. Ya probably just caught him at a bad tii-I-I-I-ime..." Buck's speech ended in a long, sickly belch and he covered his mouth as his face drained of all color. After a moment of frantic swallowing, he relaxed. "I'm okay."
Nathan slammed down his now empty mug. "Dammit Buck, why the hell are ya throwin' up? Yer fever's down and yer on the mend, why are ya throwin' up?"
"Aw, the hell if I know Nathan, I-... What the crap?" Buck's attention was at the door, and when the others turned to see what he was gawking at, they all had to suppress a sudden burst of giggles.
Ezra Standish, one of the most well groomed, well educated and well dressed men in town, was standing awkwardly in the doorway wearing a pair of moth-eaten jeans, a tattered white long-sleeved shirt that appeared to have numerous food stains on it, a pair of worn out boots with his toes sticking out of the holes and an old straw hat on top of frazzled brown hair. He looked just like a country bumpkin who lived in a shack down by the river.
"Mornin' Brother Ezra." Josiah smiled. "Looking sharp."
"I don't want to talk about it." Ezra snarled.
"Good, cuz we don't wanna hear about it." Nathan snarled back, refusing to make eye contact with the conman.
Ezra's embarrassment and anger left when Nathan snapped at him, replaced by guilt over what happened yesterday afternoon. "M-Mr. Jackson?" When the healer didn't answer, he pulled off his hat in respect and bowed his head. "Nathan... I just want to say how... tr-truly sorry I am for what happened yesterday. I don't even know why I said it since I only think of you with high regards as a doctor, a man and hopefully a very dear friend. I know that doesn't excuse me for what I said, but... I just want you to know that I am ashamed and I beg your forgiveness."
Nathan's hard visage softened as he watched the conman apologize with his eyes to the ground, apparently humiliated by what he had done. With a deep sigh, he said, "Dammit Ez, ya don't make it easy bein' yer friend..."
"I know, I'm so-"
"But I guess it wouldn't kill me to forgive you... THIS time."
The southerner drew his head up sharply to see Nathan smiling at him, reluctantly though. "Thank you Mister Jackson. I swear I'll make it up to you somehow. In fact, Mr. Wilmington, aren't you allergic to coconut?"
Nathan was perplexed. "What?! What does that have to do with me?" He didn't even notice Buck sheepishly looking down and blushing.
"Because, Mister Jackson-," Ezra paused and sniffed the air, almost like an animal. "-I detect some of Miss Georgette's fine coconut cream pie an Mr. Wilmington's apparel."
Nathan fumed and glared at Buck. "Dammit Buck! You've been eating coconut cream pie this whole time when you know that stuff makes you sick?!"
Buck looked up with a small smile. "W-well you know how I can't ever turn down a fine lady's home cookin'."
"Yeah, it shows." JD muttered. This earned him an amused chuckle from Josiah and Chris. Now that was funny.
"Jesus Christ Buck, you're lucky I don't just castrate you right now and end all of our misery. Thanks Ezra, least some of us our thinking' today." Though it was really weird that Ezra figured out the problem by just smelling Buck. It was like he turned into some sort of smell hound.
"No problem, Mister- GOD DAMMIT!" Ezra began to scratch fiercely in his hair, whining, "Nathan! Can you give me something for these god damn fleas. They're driving me insane!"
Nathan stared at con man. Fleas? "Sure Ezra, head on up to the clinic and wait for me while I sort things out with this here horny toad. Oh, and be quiet, would ya? I got a real sick patient and he's probably sleepin'."
"Will do." Ezra stood up and walked towards the livery.
"Ezra, don't ya want any lunch?" Vin asked. He had been anticipating for Ezra to come and now he was leaving again. He really needed to talk him.
"No thank. I ate such a enormous dinner last night. I couldn't eat another bite." That was true. Since he woke up in the desert it felt like his stomach would explode. Of course he had no idea what he had eaten. Without thinking about it anymore, he exited the saloon, scratching his arms, neck, chest and other parts of his anatomy that ladies should never see scratched in public.
"About that patient Nathan. He gonna make it?"
Nathan sighed. "He's in bad shape. I'm surprised he's lasted this long."
Vin watched Ezra through the window and sighed. Why couldn't he just come out and tell the gambler that he was in love with him?
TBC............