Hold On Mr. Larabee
Disclaimer: The Magnificent Seven and characters are the property of MGM Television, The Mirsch Corporation, Trilogy Entertainment Group and CBS. No profit has been made off of this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 2
He tried not to panic, knowing that if he did he'd be dead. Instinctively he started kicking for what he hoped was the surface, his lungs screaming for oxygen. Seconds later he broke the surface sucking in a large gasp of air, treading water he tried to find a handhold but the sides were too smooth. It was then that he noticed how frigid the water was, not good.
Coughing up water, Chris yelled as loud as he could, "Buck! Hey, Buck!" holding his breath for a moment; he strained to hear over own his ragged breathing. Nothing. Looking up he could barely make out the sky above; how far had he fallen anyway? Pushing his hair out of his face he noticed blood on his hand, "Wonderful" he thought as he tried to summon help again, only succeeding in bringing on a coughing attack. He sank under the freezing water once again as his clothing pulled at him, kicking frantically he resurfaced coughing up water as he gasped for precious air once more. He'd definitely gotten himself into a bad spot.
Up above, Buck stood rooted to the spot; flabbergasted by what he'd just witnessed. There was no way that could have just happened; his mind was playing tricks on him. One moment Chris is stalking across the way and then nothing, not even a yell, the ground just seemed to swallow him up.
A muffled splash yanked Buck's mind back to himself and put his feet into motion, he took off with a ground eating pace to the place he'd last seen his friend. "Chris! Oh God, Chris!" Buck screamed as he seemed to move too slow and the distance too great to where he'd last seen Chris, "Vin! Ezra! Help! Help!"
Vin and Ezra looked up in confusion at the screams coming from the ladies man. They'd been looking near the farm house for any sign that someone had recently been on the property. At Buck's frantic cries both peacekeepers took off running. Buck's voice was bordering on hysterical, and neither man had any earthly idea of what could have happened to scare the man so thoroughly?
Rounding the corner at a run they saw Buck sprinting hell bent for leather toward the barn. They charged in Buck's direction, putting on more speed as they watched Buck drop to his knees, screaming Chris's name.
Sliding to a stop near a now visible gaping hole in the ground Ezra and Vin looked at Buck in confusion, the ladies man was pointing at the hole, gasping something completely unintelligible. Ezra knelt down and tried to peer inside, all he could hear was what sounded like harsh, stuttered breathing and splashing.
Looking questioningly at Buck, Vin asked, "You think Chris in there?" At Buck's nod he exclaimed, "He can't be, he's probably down at the barn. How could anyone miss this massive hole?"
Chris could hear muffled voices above him, pulling in a breath he shouted for all he was worth, "Hey! Hey get me the hell out of here!" As his teeth began to chatter, he strained to hear some sort of reply. When no reply was immediately forthcoming the gunslinger resumed treading water and silently cursed to himself.
As Chris's disembodied voice rose from the well Vin's mouth dropped open, snapping it shut he dropped down along side Ezra to peer down into the well also. "Chris, what in the world are you doing in the well?"
Again, Chris stilled for a moment, thinking that his ears were playing tricks on him. He knew he had just not heard Vin ask him what he was doing in the well? Rubbing at a cramp building in his leg he called out sarcastically, "I'm fishing. What the hell do you think I'm doing? Get me outta here!"
Vin shrugged as he rolled to a sitting position, "Guess he can't be too hurt, seems to have kept his wonderful sense of humor. Better grab a rope to pull his sorry ass out with." Standing quickly, Vin brushed the dirt off his pants.
"Don't think he was trying to be funny Vin." Buck remarked as finally pulled himself shakily to his feet. "I just hope he's really okay, he just scared ten years off my life."
Vin grabbed his rope off of Peso's saddle and handed it to Buck. "We should use your horse; he's not as ornery as Peso. It'll be easier to get Chris topside using the horse to pull."
"Sure, sure. Won't be a problem, General's most reasonable horse I've ever met. Let's get this done." Buck went about securing the rope to General's saddle horn, and when that was done the ladies man slid on his gloves in order to assist with the pulling.
Ezra had stayed by the well to listen for Chris. "Hold on Mr. Larabee, we should have you out of your current predicament post haste." Ezra called over the side of the well, squinting down into the darkness below. Ezra was currently lying on his stomach looking down into the dark abyss; the gunslinger was about thirty to forty feet below, in freezing water, waiting for them to pull him to safety. "Mr. Wilmington, are we almost ready? I believe our stalwart friend is tiring." Ezra leaned up on his elbow to look behind him where Buck was tying off the rope they were going to use to pull Chris to safety.
"I've almost got it." Buck called loudly so Ezra could hear, "Vin, when I give you the word you lead General off that way." Buck directed, pointing off to the right as he double checked the knot to make sure it was going to hold, and gave his horse a pat on the shoulder.
Vin gave Buck a thumbs up, "Let's get it done, and see what the damage is. I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible; this place gives me the willies."
Ezra turned back to the well when he heard Chris calling from below, "We're going to lower a rope to you in just a moment, Mr. Larabee, hold on for just a little longer."
Spitting water out of his mouth Chris called out, "Ez! You boys need to hurry, I've got a mean cramp coming up in my leg, and I'm not going to be able to hold on much longer!" Chris took small panting breaths, trying to breathe through the pain, and keep his head above water. Why did this have to happen? Who the hell doesn't mark where an old well is, especially one you can't see until you're falling in it?
Apparently at some point the well had been covered with boards, but had been left unattended for so long that the wood had rotted and scrub had grown up around it; silently waiting for the unwary traveler or preoccupied gunslinger. Chris was glad he had been on foot at the time, he would have hated for Pony to have found the well instead. Of course, Pony would have had the sense to miss the well entirely.
Buck dropped down next to Ezra and looked down into the well, "Hey, Pard how you doing down there?"
"Damn it, Buck! Just get me outta here, I'm freezing and I'm getting a cramp in my leg." Chris yelled up to the ladies man, again Chris tried to find purchase on the smooth sides of the well with little luck. He was beginning to feel a little frightened, not an emotion he liked to embrace, but the pain in his leg was building and he was shivering even more now, the spasms were to the point that they were painful.
"All right, I'm going to drop the rope down to you, just loop it around yourself and we'll pull you up." Buck grabbed up the rope and lowered it down into the well.
Chris reached up as the rope got within his reach, and somehow managed to loop the rope around himself despite having clumsy fingers and aching muscles. The gunslinger rasped out with a much force as he could muster, "Pull! And get me the hell out of here!"
Ezra turned to Vin, "Go, Mr. Tanner. He's ready." The gambler watched as Vin urged General on, away from the well.
As Buck and General pulled, Ezra kept watch as Chris was slowly drawn to the top. Glancing down into the well, to judge their progress, the ladies man took in the gunslinger's bedraggled appearance; his pale complexion, blue lips, the blood running down the side of his face from a cut somewhere in his hairline. Buck and Ezra both let out a collective sigh of relief. "Well welcome back, though I do have to say you look like a half drowned kitten." Buck chuckled as he reached out to pull Chris the rest of the way out of the well with Ezra's assistance.
Chris flopped into boneless heap on the ground, unable to move any further. "Just leave me, I'm done. Wake me when we get home." He moaned and closed his eyes; his arms falling uselessly by his sides. "Oh, and I've lost my hat."