SEE CHAPTER 1 FOR WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS
Additional warning: This chapter contains strong language.
CHAPTER 4
Chris slipped through the door to Nathan's clinic and softly closed it behind himself. He wasn't surprised to find everyone but Buck and Josiah present. After leaving Mary's he had stopped by the jail and found the two men guarding the prisoners.
"How's she doin'?" Chris asked, indicting with a tilt of his head the young girl lying on the bed.
"She's sleepin' right now." Nathan replied. Chris looked at him, the question clearly in his eyes. There was no way she would have voluntarily left herself vulnerable enough to take a nap. "I gave her something to calm her down. She was startin' to get hysterical."
"You'd take a look at her injuries." Chris moved into the room and picked up a straight back chair. He sat it beside the bed where he could take a good look at the girl. There was something that still caused a tingle on the back of his neck, and he'd be damned if he knew what it was.
Nathan nodded. He sat in the chair on the other side of the bed and used the damp cloth in his hand to wipe at the dirt covering the girl's face. "Somebody's used this girl as a punchin' bag. She's covered in bruises, and some 'a them ain't more 'n a day or two old." Chris let out a vicious curse. "Yeah." Nathan nodded in sympathy. "She might also have some bruised or cracked ribs. I don't think they're broken. She's got bindin' 'round her ribcage, so I caint tell fer sure."
Chris nodded. He'd figured the girl might be older than she looked. If she was, it might have been necessary to bind her chest to hide her breasts in order to pull off her charade that she was a young boy. It went along with the boyishly short haircut and baggy pants and shirt. Chris was curious as the story this girl would tell once she awakened. However, he was under no illusions that she would willingly spill her secrets. He suspected they'd have another battle on their hands. Conversation soon lapsed into general small talk as the five friends waited for Sammy to wake up so they could find out what had brought her to Four Corners in such a fashion.
* * * * * *
Sammy slowly drifted into consciousness. She wasn't quite sure where she was, but she knew she was warm and comfortable, lying on a soft bed and covered with a quilt. She lay perfectly still, moderating her breathing as she listened to the voices in the room with her. She thought she recognized the calm voice of the dark-skinned healer and the raspy voice of the man who had carried her over his shoulder into the clinic. Still has comfortable as she was, her instincts screamed for her to run. She knew Jed Slater was behind bars, sentenced to hang the next morning, but he wasn't the only threat to her safety. Not to mention that she wasn't completely convinced that he would not somehow manage to escape his jail cell and hunt her down.
She felt a hand gently smooth the hair back from her forehead. Although she was surprised at the gentleness of the touch, she will herself not to react but to continue feigning sleep.
"Come on, open those eyes. I know you're awake."
Sammy didn't recognize the voice. She instinctively knew it belonged to one of the town's peacekeepers, but she didn't which one. She debated whether to continue to pretend to be asleep or to open her eyes. She was going to have to act soon because nature was coming to call, and she was going to have to find a chamber pot or go to the necessary soon.
She opened her eyes. The hand that had been so tenderly stroking her head belonged to the black-clad gunman who had order that she be brought to the clinic.
"Hello, Sammy." The man smiled at her, but it didn't make him any less intimidating. She knew with a glance that this man was someone to be wary of. He sat back in his chair, as if he didn't want to invade her space. "I'm Chris." He pointed to the other side of the bed at the dark-skinned man. "That's Nathan." Pointing to the other men in the room he introduced them to her.
"I'm sorry to be rude, but could one of you point me in the direction of the necessary." Sammy blushed slightly. She was trying to keep up her self-perceived touch image, but the though of mentioning such intimate bodily functions to these five men was embarrassing.
"You ain't in any condition to be goin' anywhere." Nathan stood. "There's a chamber pot behind that screen." He pointed to a tri-fold screen in the far corner of the room. "You can use that." He hadn't missed the girl's blush. He moved to help Sammy sit on the side of the bed. "Ain't nothin' to be embarrassed about, girl. We all have ta make use of it ever' now and then." Nathan helped her stand and held onto her until he was sure she was steady on her feet. "I'll just help ya over there, then we's all gonna step outside." The other men took the hint and left the room. "You start feelin' funny or need any help, you just holler out, you hear?" At Sammy's nod, he too left the clinic to go stand out on the porch.
Chris looked at the other four men. "She's gonna try and run." They nodded their agreement. "Slater's in jail, but my gut's tellin' me there's something else spookin' 'er." The men moved to the far side of the landing, away from the door and single window. Chris knew they were leaving a perfect escape opportunity for the girl, but figured one of the men would be able to catch her quickly if she decided to try and make a run for it. He didn't particularly want her to overhear their conversation.
"It took me a while to recognize her." At the blank looks the other men were giving him, Chris sighed. "Remember the day Slater was caught?"
Vin caught on quickly to the direction of Chris' thoughts. "She's the kid that ran down the street yellin' that the general store was bein' robbed."
"Only the alarm was a rouse to bring our attention to the fact that Mr. Slater was present in our little town." Ezra, too, was following Chris' thought.
"I'd wondered what happened to her," Nathan said. "J.D. and I went lookin' for her after Slater was locked up, but we couldn' find her."
"Yeah," J.D. interjected. "We thought she'd taken off somewhere to hide or had gone back home, though neither of us recognized as being a local."
Chris nodded. "From the looks of her, someone from Slater's gang grabbed her. I'd say they've roughed her up, but were holdin' her until they could break Slater out of jail so he could deal with her."
"But Slater's gonna hang tomorrow. He won't be able to hurt her." J.D. was slightly confused as to why the girl would still be afraid. To his mind, the problem was solved.
Vin shook his head. "As long as Slater's still breathin' that girl's gonna be afraid 'a him. But, there's somethin' else – something' we don' know about that's got 'er so spooked."
The men's conversation was interrupted by the slight creaking of the hinges as the clinic door opened. They knew they were all hidden from view by the open door, but were not surprised when Sammy dashed out the door and ran toward the stairs leading to the street below. As one, the men took off after her. Chris caught up to her only feet from the foot of the stairs. As he lifted her from behind, Sammy began yelling curses and struggling to break his hold so that she could get away.
Chris sat her back on her feet, but before she could break free, Sammy once again found herself draped over a strong shoulder and carried back up the stair to the clinic. Once back in the clinic, Chris tossed her gently back onto the bed. He stood over her, his arms crossed over his chest, leveling one of his best glares in her direction.
"You try and run again, little girl, and I'm gonna tie you to a chair – after I tan your hide."
"Now, Chris, ain't no call for bein' so rough with the girl." Nathan approached the bed, intending to check to be sure the rough handling hadn't caused any further injury. He immediately jumped back to avoid the punch that had been thrown in his direction.
"Leave me alone, you bastard. You ain't got no right to keep me here."
Never known for his patience, Chris had had enough. He jerked Sammy up off the bed and landed two hard slaps to her backside before depositing her hard in the nearby chair. He moved to stand lean over and braced himself on the arms of the chair, effectively trapping Sammy in place. "Keep it up, and I'm gonna forget yer injured and blister yer backside."
Sammy tried to stand up, but was immediately shoved back down into the chair. All of her instincts were screaming at her to run, to get as far away from Four Corners as she could as quickly as she could. But, her mind was telling her to give and trust these men, that they would protect her. Her instincts won out.
"Get the fuck away from me, you cock sucking bastard." Sammy kicked out, catching Chris right above the knee. He saw red, but before he could jerk Sammy to her feet Ezra intervened.
"Might I suggest Mr. Larabee, that you go take a walk and calm down." He ignored the angry glare Chris shot at him. "I believe it may be prudent to allow calmer heads to prevail." He moved forward and spoke low so that Chris was the only one to hear his next words. "I do not believe anger and intimidation is the best method to employ at this moment. The girl is obviously scared out of her wits. It is going to take kindness and tact to get anything out of her."
Ezra's words sank through the red haze clouding Chris' mind. The gambler was correct, nothing was going to be accomplished by trying to force the girl to talk. Ezra's slight nod in response to Chris' unspoken question assured him that the smooth talking man believed he would be able to get answers out of the girl.
"Fine." Chris spun on the balls of his feet and stalked to the door. "I'm gonna go calm down." He pointed at Sammy. "You'd better be good and ready to answer some questions when I get back." He slammed the door hard as he left the room.
Tense silence filled the air. "Well, now. That was interesting." Ezra moved over to the sideboard and picked up the water pitcher and tin cup. "Now that that loathsome curmudgeon has gone, let us have a pleasant conversation, shall we." He poured water into the tin cup and handed it to Sammy, unaware that Nathan had done the exact same thing earlier. When Sammy refused to take the cup, Ezra drank from it until the cup was empty. He refilled the cup and offered it to her again.
"I assure you it is nothing but water. As you can clearly see, I was more than willing to drink the first cupful. I ask you, young lady, would I have been willing to do that if I had slipped something into it?"
Sammy looked at Ezra for a long moment, trying to determine whether or not he was lying to her. She shook her head, not yet willing to trust any of the men in this room. Ezra shrugged and returned the pitcher and cup to the side board. He watched her closely as he returned and moved another chair to sit in front of her. She was tensing, preparing to make another run for the door.
"Young lady, you may wish to reconsider your next move." He sat down in front of her. "Just because Mr. Larabee has vacated the room, that does not mean you will be able to make good on any escape attempts." He gestured to the other men who had stationed themselves around the room. "I and my companions are more than capable of stopping you. And, should you be so ill advised as to make me pursue you again, I will be more than happy to carry out Mr. Larabee's promised retribution."
He watched as Sammy's tense muscle relaxed slightly. "I promise you, nobody here wants to harm you in any way." He paused while the other men voiced their agreement with that statement. "We only want to help you, but in order to do that you must confide in us how you managed to make the acquaintance of Jed Slater and how you came to be in our little town this lovely morning."
Sammy looked around the room at the men who had been hired to protect the people of Four Corners. She was tired of running and fighting for her life. Her mind finally won the battle over her instincts, and she chose to trust these men. After all, she could still get away if she needed to.
"My name is Samantha Browning, and Jed Slather and his brother, Bart, killed my mother."
TBC