Delaney dropped to the floor holding his knee and howling in protest. Ethan hadn't shot to kill but to ensure that the man who tried to kill Mr. Lee would be out of commission. Sweet just looked at Ethan, his eyes widening at what he'd just witnessed. When Ethan pointed his gun at him, he just put his hands up.
Ethan gestured to the man writhing on the floor.
"Get him out of here."
Sweet knew better than to argue with a man who'd just shot his henchman. So he did just that not even trying to remind Ethan that they all worked for the same employer, the mine. But Ethan never took his eyes or his gun off of them.
Ethan walked up to Mr. Lee who just stood there and rested a hand on his shoulder before leaving with the shotgun.
Sinclair sat at his desk doing paperwork when Ethan walked into see him getting right to the point.
"I quit Sinclair. Pay me what you owe me."
The boss sat up eying him as if he were crazy.
"Excuse me…"
"You heard me. I'm through."
"Why?"
"I just saw the way the mine works and I don't work that way."
Sinclair reared back.
"What are you talking about?"
"Your man Delaney tried to kill the hardware man."
Sinclair reacted by pushing himself up on his feet.
"What?"
"Yeah. He wouldn't sell and Delaney wouldn't take no for an answer."
"What happened?"
"I stopped him."
"Is Delaney dead?"
"No…but he's not going to be much help to you anymore."
Sinclair paused, his mind clearly working.
"We owe you Cord. A dead merchant would be a calamity for us."
He gestured with his hand.
"Please sit down."
Ethan just stood there watching him. That didn't make Sinclair feel any easier about how to deal with the gunslinger he'd hired as security.
"Look I don't know what got into Delaney but the mine doesn't work that way. Times have changed."
Ethan grimaced.
"I heard."
Sinclair moved on with his next sales pitch.
"Tell you what Cord. Take Delaney's job. We got to send someone out with our negotiator. You do it."
"I'm not a thug Sinclair."
The man sighed.
"We don't want a thug. We want good will. Make sure nothing like this happens again. Better hours, better pay. Much better pay."
Ethan appeared to think about it. He was tempted but if he were going to take the job, he'd do it in a much different way than his predecessor.
The two runaways, Toy and Min talked with the children inside the abandoned building where they'd been living since their escape.
"The mine fed us as long as we worked."
"See we could crawl through spaces where they couldn't go…to set charges."
"But my brother Min, he took ill and they didn't like that. It slowed them down. The boss thought he was fooling so he began to beat him. We ran away."
Joseph spoke up.
"How could they do that? You're just kids."
Toy shrugged.
"The mine said they owned us."
Ben furrowed his brow.
"People don't own people."
George looked at the two boys.
"Where your mother and father?"
Toy fidgeted with his hands.
"We don't know. They must have worked in the mines too but we don't remember."
George sighed.
"We don't have a mother or father either. We have our uncle."
"Your uncle?"
Min asked in Chinese what that meant and Toy explained it to him.
Claire felt bad for the two of them, not believing what she just heard.
"What are you going to do? You can't stay in here."
Ben brightened.
"We'll ask Uncle Ethan."
Min smiled and pointed at him.
"Uncle…"
Ethan had taken Amelia and the children to the restaurant to enjoy a fine dinner. He'd been thinking about the job offer and ran it past her, trusting her judgment.
"Better hours. Better pay. Much better pay."
Amelia narrowed her eyes.
"Don't you think they're just buying you off?"
"Course they are…otherwise we wouldn't be having this fine dinner. Sinclair's probably thinking he bought me of but I'm going to do the job exactly the way he told me to do it."
"Uncle Ethan?"
"Yes George…"
"Do you work for the mine?"
"Well I work for myself. The mine hires me for security. To protect their people, property and their money. Why George?"
Ben chimed in.
"You like working for the mine?"
"Yes I do…and I like being out on a trail. Going different places…not knowing what's around the bend. It's exciting work."
George frowned.
"Better than ranching?"
"Better than ranching? Well…uh they are different."
The children took the horse and buggy back to the ranch after summer as Ethan remained in town with Amelia.
Joseph held the reins, grumbling.
"Still can't tell him…"
George responded from the back.
"Why not?"
"You heard him. He likes working for the mine. Wouldn't be fair for us to get him fired."
Claire had considered that.
"We'll have to take care of them ourselves. We'll help them. That's all there is to it. Joseph…"
"What?"
"Would you be mad at me if I told you I was proud of you?"
"What for?"
"For saying it wouldn't be fair to Uncle Ethan."
He groaned.
"Yeah don't say it…"
In town, Ethan walked Amelia back down the main street towards her house, enjoying the quietness and the view.
She chuckled suddenly.
"What is it?"
"Oh….The mine wanting the community's good will and hiring Ethan Cord, gunfighter to get it."
They continued up her walkway.
"Nah…it's still the mine. I know that. I mean it doesn't really matter if the mine cares or not as long as it brings good times."
They walked up the stairs onto her front porch. She didn't seem eager to open her door and go inside for the night.
"Good times bring people…families."
She sighed from someone who'd lived through all that before now.
"Good times brought people before."
He sat on the railing.
"Well maybe if we built something besides saloons, people would stay put. When people put down roots, something's bound to grow."
She smiled at his idealistic streak showing, one part of him she actually liked. But she challenged him anyway.
"People won't stay put."
"Why…because they didn't last time? Things change….times change…"
He paused just looking at her.
"People change."
Was he talking about himself, having changed when four children came into his life to challenge his role as the town gunfighter? Or was he talking about someone else…
She just stared at him not sure how to answer without knowing. He just looked back at her, waiting. Damn him, couldn't he move on to another subject?
She sat down on the porch swing thoughtfully. But the silence only grew between them.
"Some people do…some people don't."
He digested that.
"Some people don't want to…"
Ouch, he certainly knew how to aim accurately and hit his target with something else other than a gun.
"Some people can't…"
He got off the railing.
"Late…"
She just looked down at her hands for a moment and he couldn't leave like that. Didn't know why but his feet wouldn't move. Then he leaned closer and she looked up at him, their faces inch apart.
"Anyone can…"
Then he walked away leaving her alone.
The next morning, Amelia was all business at her bank sitting at the desk talking to Sinclair who'd dropped by with two men. He sighed a check and handed it to her.
"What's this?"
"A show of good faith Mrs. Lawson. Our lawyers will have the papers for you to sign within a week."
She chuckled in disbelief.
"Mr. Sinclair I've explained…"
He brushed her off.
"Let the mine take care of the technicalities. It could be years before your husband is declared dead, derelict…in the meantime we'll run the bank."
She didn't know what to say in response.
"It's worth our while to take the risk. Pleasure doing business with you."
They shook hands and he left the office. She looked at the check, knowing she had a decision to make. A certain gunslinger had been making it much more complicated for her.
Inside the abandoned building both Min and Toy ate pieces of fruit. Claire smiled at them.
"We'll bring you some more tomorrow."
The boys ate hungrily. Toy looked up at them.
"This is good…"
Ben shook his head.
"No it isn't."
Claire sighed.
"It's hardly enough to keep you alive…and it's dark in here. You can't live like this. All cooped up without light. You'll just waste away."
She opened the door allowing the sunshine in. George jumped up in protest.
"They'll see them. They'll get caught."
Toy walked over to shut the door.
"It was darker in the mine. We're used to it."
Joseph sighed.
"Nobody's used to that. You need exercise. You need to play."
Min said something in Chinese to Toy.
"Play?"
Ben looked incredulous.
"Don't you know what 'play' is?"
The two boys looked at each other and then back at Ben.
P.J. washed his hands in the marshal's office as Sinclair stormed inside.
"Where you been?"
P.J. looked annoyed.
"Chasing Chinese kids all over kingdom come."
"Cord shot one of my men."
P.J. tossed the towel down.
"Yeah well he's been known to do that sort of thing."
"Well we can't afford to have him do that sort of thing again."
P.J rolled down his sleeves.
"He's on your payroll, you fire him."
Sinclair glowered.
"That'll make it worse."
"There's nothing much we can do about it is there?"
"Yes there is…"
P.J. picked up his jacket.
"What?"
Sinclair's voice got icy.
"You heard me."
P.J. paused, looking straight at him.
"No…"
Sinclair stepped towards him.
"Paradise could be your last opportunity Marshal. You want to take advantage of it? Do your job. If not, we'll get someone else."
P.J. watched him go, and after he left, he threw his jacket on the desk in disgust.
Later he ran into Sweet who looked at him with a smile as they stood by the hitching post.
"You wanted to see me?"
P.J. sighed.
"I want to hire you."
Sweet arched his eyes in amusement.
"Deputy Marshal?"
P.J. said nothing and Sweet smirked.
"What did you have in mind?"
"Ethan Cord…I'll pay a premium."
"He's your friend…that's right isn't it?"
"It can't be man to man."
"Any other way is against the law…"
"I'm the law here. Do it anyway you want."
Sweet snickered.
"Guess that gives me a definite edge."
"I want it fast and clean…away from the children, and away from Mrs. Lawson."
Sweet shook his head.
"You tickle me. You don't have the guts to do your dirty work so you hire a man to do it fo you. But you wait it done with a doily."
P.J. stared at him, having made his choice.
"Just do it…"