Oo It suddenly struck me as I was looking over the fics I've temporarily abandoned that… abandoning this fic (even temporarily)is a bad thing. I'm not sure why, I suppose I like Adam too much even with all the awkwardness and his annoying ability to give me writer's block. Lol
A Little Hope (and a lot of trouble): Chapter Five
by Ami-chan
"Boy's going to be trouble," Buck informed him, only half serious, as the young girls of the area quickly surrounded Chris's son. Chris nearly asked if he meant because of all the girls that had taken an interest in him until he saw what Buck was looking at – the boys, at least the ones around or older than Adam's age. They had gathered together, as well, and their attention seemed to be focused on the girls and Adam.
"Maybe right there."
Buck patted him on the back. "Take it from someone who knows, boy's gonna be trouble. Not necessarily bad trouble, though."
Chris's eyes drifted to Gloria Potter's boy, Will, who was a few years older than Adam – the boy was clearly trying to decide whether he should be thrilled his sisters weren't pestering him or annoyed that they were hanging around Adam at all. "Don't think he's been around other children much."
"Girls don't mind that, Chris. Not when he's got a pretty face like that!"
He almost made a mild protest at that, except that Adam was pretty; he took after Sarah, all right. "Adam!" The children all turned at the sound of his voice, most of their conversations halting immediately. Except for Billy most of the town's children were afraid ofChris or had been told to steer clear of him by wary parents and Chris had never minded that before. Adam slipped away from the girls with a few nods and came toward him immediately, his slightly hurried steps telling Chris that he was more than relieved to escape from the small mob that had formed around him. Chris pretended not to notice when the Potter girls, Ann and Stacia, trailed after them into the general store, Will having apparently already snuck in the back way to observe.
Adam allowed Mrs. Potter to fuss over him as she gathered up the necessary school supplies and Chris just stood back and watched. He had long ago lost hope of ever being able to see Adam do something so mundane as getting ready for school and now here they were. It was likely his close scrutiny that allowed Chris to note his son's gaze returning several times to the books that Mrs. Potter always kept in stock – there were plenty of westerns because of JD and an interesting assortment of poetry and classics because of Ezra and Vin.
"Anything else you want?" Chris asked when Mrs. Potter had finally ushered Adam back toward the cash register. The first response was a quick headshake, a negative. "Adam. Anything else?" His son had actually looked at him then, more slowly, considering, but again Adam had shaken his head no even if Chris knew he didn't mean it. "Go get it." There was only the slightest hesitation then Adam was turning straight for the books, his hand immediately closing around one that he brought back and laid on the counter. Chris glanced at the cover then back at his son.
"'The Iliad'," Adam responded, his eyes glowing with quiet excitement. "Homer's 'Iliad'."
Chris didn't know what it was or what it was about, but it didn't matter when it made Adam that happy. Hell, he'd buy him any damn book he wanted if that was the reaction he'd get. "You want anything else?"
Any other child probably would have asked for candy. Adam shook his head, his eyes glued to his book. Chris asked for lemon drops anyway – they'd always been Adam's favorite, at least they had been, and truth be told he liked them too.
Buck met them outside in an all too casual manner as if he hadn't really been waiting for them but that he'd just happened to be there when they came out. "Hey, buddy, why don't you go over there and see your friends? Or there's Vin," Buck added when Adam gave him a sharp look that suggested his first comment was ridiculous.
Eager to get out from under his father's watchful eye, Adam nodded and immediately headed toward the young tracker. His expression lightened as he approached Vin as he thought about showing him his new book. He had only just sat down beside Vin when Ezra suddenly appeared and took note of Adam. "Well, now, what have we here? What does the young Mr. Larabee take an interest in reading?" Ezra glanced over the book, his eyebrows raising. "A man of culture and taste, indeed. 'The Iliad'?"
"It's a great story. You've read it before?"
"I have and I take it that you have, as well. We must certainly enlighten our less fortunate friend." That was all it took to make Adam launch into a semi-detailed explanation of the book's plot, enjoying the attention as much as he had disliked being surrounded and singled out by his peers. He had no notion of how to behave with people his own age, but adults he understood.
After a while, when he'd run out of words to say Adam turned to Ezra and asked in all seriousness, "Are Buck and my papa okay?"
Taken about Ezra nodded immediately even though he sensed another layer or two to the seemingly simple question the boy was asking. "They are fine, indeed."
Adam appeared to be about to ask or say something else when his name, called by Chris, was shouted from across the street. Both June and Pony were being lead toward them by Chris and Buck and Adam, with a glance over at Ezra, started toward them, taking the reins of his mare from Buck's hands. "Aren't you coming with us, Buck?"
"Nah, I have to stay here and protect the town, but I'm sure I'll see you in the morning." Adam didn't mind his hair being ruffled, but going back to the cabin without Buck was not particularly appealing.
As expected, there wasn't a lot of conversation on the way back to the cabin, nor when they'd reached it, either. Chores were done with minimal comments and after that they had even less to say to each other – Buck would have filled the silence somehow, but Buck was back in town. It was therefore easy to crawl into bed that night, really the "guest bed" as Adam saw it though it was apparent that it was supposed to be "his" now, even if sleep never came easy.
In the early morning Adam wandered out onto the porch to watch the sunrise. What little sleep he'd gotten had been hazy and inconsistent at best. A gentle, "Hey," brought him out of his thoughts and he found Chris crouched beside him, watching him with a parental concern. "How long you been out here?"
"Not long." It was something of a lie though it hadn't seemed as long as it had surely been.
"Come on it. I'll make breakfast."
Adam couldn't stop his immediate response, the lifting of his eyes, and the straightening of his posture. Like a dog, he told himself coldly, perking up at the hint of a treat or a pat on the head. It was impossible to stop though – papa'd always been good at cooking even if he didn't do it often. It'd been better than his mama's cooking, at any rate, and it was the one thing he still recalled with any clarity.
When he was asked to ready the horses Adam did so immediately, taking the moment to once more familiarize himself with Pony. It seemed as if the horse had not changed and the only real difference was that he, Adam, had gotten taller. Except that Pony had certainly aged, though not to the point where he'd be put out to pasture, yet it was noticeable if you looked too close. He'd aged like papa had aged, only not as severe because papa had nearly become a different person. It was easier to focus on Pony.
The ride into town was mostly quiet with a few birds and other critters providing background music for them. The noise hit once they reached town – the creaking of wagons and harnesses, the plodding of horse's hooves, the shrieking of children playing around the school, and Josiah and Nathan apparently working on repairing the church. "I'll take the horses." Adam paused, glancing at his father first and then at June, before nodding. Then he turned toward the school and didn't look back. School was just books and learning. It couldn't be that difficult.
#t#
The mare's reins were tugged from Chris's clenched fist, the motion startling Chris back to reality to come face to face with Buck. He hadn't even noticed his friend's approach. "Adam'll be all right."
"Didn't say he wouldn't," Chris returned tersely, finally moving toward the stable to put Pony into his usual stall.
"Didn't have to say anything." There was a definite smirk in Buck's words that made Chris glance back at him just to see if he was grinning as widely as it sounded – he was. "Way you stared after him like you were going to lose him, or something. It's just school, Chris. He'll be out and ignoring you before you know it."
Chris cast a glare in Buck's direction. "Not worried."
A snort sounded from Buck's direction as he led the mare into a stall and began removing her tack. "No, of course not. Chris Larabee never worries about nothing. He's the calmest, the most level-headed cowboy in these here parts."
"I'm not a cowboy." Still, a small upward tilting of his lips showed only mild amusement not offense. It was Buck, after all.
"Come on, cowboy, let's do something to take your mind off the boy." Something, in a small town like this, generally meant going to the saloon and drinking. Maybe something else if they got around to it and if there was time. That was just fine with Chris.
#t#
"Class, as you know we have a new arrival…"
Adam decided rather quickly that he didn't much like Miss Alice. He was sure it had something to do with the public humiliation, the fact that she made him stand up in front of everyone while she rambled on about this and that concerning his father and the town and was there really a point to that? It was a given that everyone already knew everything she was saying. It was a small town, after all. Didn't take long for the gossips to make their rounds.
"…why don't you tell the class a little bit about yourself?"
This was not what he had expected at all. "I have nothing to add that hasn't already been stated."
It wasn't the best possible thing he could have said, Adam knew, but it had also seemed redundant to repeat everything Miss Alice had already said. In retrospect he realized that it was probably than that he'd set in motion Miss Alice's dislike of him by making a very bad first impression on his new teacher.
Adam didn't think about lunch until it was time for a break. Before he could wonder what he was to do, since he certainly hadn't brought anything with him, Inez appeared and told him that señor Larabee had asked her to bring Adam something to eat. He thanked her politely and Inez smiled at him before she turned to go. Since Inez had given him more than he could possibly eat on his own Adam ended up sharing his lunch with some of the girls that had insisted on gathering around him. Some of the girls hadn't gotten all that much to eat, anyway, so he figured it worked out.
"You remember Becky and Rachel don't you?" Stacia Potter was once more reminding him of a few of the other girls' names – he'd nodded obediently even if he hadn't truly recalled their names. The next thing he knew they were suggesting games to play. The concept of playing games wasn't completely lost on him, but the types of games the girls suggested were ones he'd never imagined before. Skipping rope, hopscotch, something called jacks, as well as others that made even less sense. Not that it stopped him from attempting to learn – their memorized little chants greatly intrigued him easily since they were not easily deciphered. It was like a sort of coded language he'd never been exposed to.
Then they'd been called back inside with the ringing of a small bell rung by Miss Alice. It had become quickly apparent that their teacher's knowledge was rather limited with even the "advanced" classes for the older children being extremely lacking as far as Adam was concerned. He was half listening to her lesson for his age group – a woefully lacking history lesson combined with some very basic grammar and arithmetic thrown in haphazardly – when the sound of a ruler hitting wood startled him into sitting up straighter.
"Adam Larabee! You are not paying attention!"
He'd stared at Miss Alice in momentarily disbelief. Of course he'd been paying attention. He just hadn't been looking directly at her. "Yes, I was."
"Then what did I just say?"
Adam asked, "Verbatim?"
There was a long silence. Then Miss Alice's face gradually began to turn a vibrant red. "Out! Get out of my classroom!" Adam, stunned, hesitated perhaps a moment too long and then he was unhurriedly gathering up his belongings and strolling out the door heedless of her shrieked vocalizations.
It took him exactly twelve steps out of the classroom for him to realize that Miss Alice had no idea what "verbatim" meant. And she was a teacher. Granted, a backwoods teacher in a small, dusty town full of outlaws of all sorts, but a teacher nonetheless. He wandered along the boardwalk a ways, pondering what to do with his suddenly free afternoon, when the first gunshots went off. It wasn't until he heard a voice – Buck's, he realized distantly – shout at him to, "Get down!" that Adam realized standing where he wasn't was probably not the wisest idea. He saw Chris's gaze fall on him quickly, wide with alarm, then focus back onto the men they were shooting at. Adam had already ducked between the buildings before Chris could glance his away again.
Watching from the shadows Adam saw three men fall, two wounded and one obviously dead. A fourth fell, his gun tumbling onto the ground only a few feet in front of Adam. No one else had seen it, or the wounded man dragging himself up to reach for the gun. Four steps and Adam had the gun in his hand, pointing it straight at the man he assumed was a criminal or at least a troublemaker of some sort.
"Hey now, kid, why don't you give that to me?"
Adam pulled the gun's hammer back, aimed at the ground near the man's feet and fired a bullet inches from him, cocked the gun again and re-aimed at the man's heart. "Got one bullet left. Care to try your luck?"
Firing the bullet had served two purposes: both frightening the man before him and alerting Chris and the others that something was wrong. It took mere moments for the man to be grabbed and hauled off.
"Adam."
He released the gun's hammer and gingerly handed it over, handle first, into Chris's outstretched hand.
"Why aren't you in school?"
"Miss Alice asked me to leave," Adam replied simply, tilting his head up to look his father in the eye. "Because she didn't know what 'verbatim' meant." Off to the side Adam heard an ungentlemanly snort of amusement and a muttered comment in a smooth southern drawl, "That woman is not what you would call educated, not in the broader sense of the word, at least."
Not distracted by Ezra's side comment, Chris asked, "How'd that happen?"
He smiled slowly, unable to hold back his amusement. "She said I wasn't paying attention but I was. So she asked me to repeat what she'd just said and I asked if she wanted it verbatim or not. She didn't know what that was so she yelled at me to leave. So I did."
Chris glanced down at the gun in his hand, then back to his son. "You've fired a gun before." He said it as if it had just occurred to him; it probably had.
"Yeah."
"You any good?"
Adam considered that for a moment. "Not too bad."
Chris grinned suddenly, his whole face lighting up. For a moment everything seemed good. Then Buck was calling Chris over and Vin and Ezra were ushering him off to the other side of the street, away from the jail. Adam focused immediately on Ezra's appealing voice and words and the intellectual debate he offered, Vin listening intently and offering his own comments now and again.
#t#
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" It was rare enough to see Buck angry. Rarer still to see him well and truly furious, his eyes blazing, near foaming at the mouth.
"What are you talkin' about?" Chris's eyes narrowed to slits as he inwardly mulled over what had just happened. His son had nearly gotten killed. Again. His son had managed not to get killed. Again. His son had picked up a gun, fired a bullet at a "bad guy" then handed over the gun to him. Seemed everything had worked out just fine to him.
"Boy gets kicked out of school on his very first day and you just glance over it like it's nothing?"
Oh. That. "Yeah, so?"
"Chris!" Buck hissed, nearly spitting in his anger. "What would your pa have done had it been you getting kicked out of school?"
Chris glared. Or attempted to. His glares had never really had much of an effect on Buck. "That's different."
"What would he have done?"
"I ain't my pa and Adam sure as hell ain't me."
Buck shook his head, grabbing Chris by the shoulder when he attempted to turn away from him. "You're going to let that boy get away with that? You know damned well your pa would have tanned your hide for less than that. If you let him think it's okay – "
"He explained what happened. Wasn't his fault." Chris stood his ground, unable to do anything less. This was Adam, after all.
"So you're going to just drop it." It was an accusation. One Chris didn't care to think on. He turned away without commenting. Buck obviously didn't understand.
-to be continued-
If you don't know what "verbatim" means, look it up. :P I'll try not to be so long with the next chapter... hopefully soon I'll be starting a new job and #gasp# actually have something of a LIFE again so... happier me with more free time will equal more chapters to post. :)