VOYAGERS! - The Voyager Chronicles
OLD FRIENDS, NEW BEGINNINGS - BOOK 6
(Sequel to A Ray of Hope)
By DA Daugherty (VoyagersFan)
December 2008 (Revised 03/2010)
Previous disclaimers apply

Chapter 10 - WHERE'S MATT DILLON WHEN YOU NEED HIM?

By this time, Mallory had made it to the front porch of the Dodge House and was leaning against a post, patiently awaiting the arrival of his partners. Without warning, the two Voyagers burst through the doors and almost stumbled over each other as they came to a screeching halt.

"What took you two so long?" Mallory asked with a hint of cynicism.

Bogg smiled as he steadied himself. "Sorry, Shawn. The kid and I had a bit of a problem strapping on those 'eight-shooters'."

"Never mind the guns. Look!" Mallory exclaimed as he pointed down the street.

The three Voyagers curiously looked off into the distance. They noticed Earp was only a few doors away from entering Webster's Saloon, while Masterson and the cowboy were running down the street attempting to catch up with him. Without warning, Masterson stopped in the middle of the street, put two fingers in his mouth and let out a whistle that would curl one's hair. Earp stopped and turned back to find the two coming toward him.

"There! Look, it's Masterson!" Jeff exclaimed. "And there's Earp."

"I wonder what they're talking about?" Bogg asked.

"Maybe they're hashing out a plan of attack." Mallory whispered.

Once the conversation had ended, Earp walked away and proceeded into the saloon as the cowboy went inside another establishment nearby. Masterson in turn proceeded at a fast pace down the street toward the local drugstore. As he passed the door to Wright's store, he observed some of Allison's men through the corner of his eye. They were patiently waiting inside with their Winchesters at the ready. Trying not to raise their suspicions, he tipped his hat as he walked slowly past the door and then ducked down the alley.

"Where are they going?" Jeff asked. "Are they just going to let Earp handle this one on his own?"

Mallory turned to his colleague. "Everything's ok, Jeff. According to the guidebook, Masterson's gone to the DA's office to get his gun. The cowboy is not mentioned in the official history, so I guess he's not important."

After a time, Masterson emerged with a shotgun in his hand. As he stepped onto the walkway in front of the drugstore, he was met by some of the local townsfolk. Not wanting to bring any undue attention to himself, he stopped for a moment to chat with them.

"He doesn't seem to be too concerned about Earp." Bogg said. "He's just standing there talking to those people."

"That's where he's supposed to be according to the guidebook." Mallory stated. "Remember, he has to warn Earp about the men in Wright's store."

"Oh, yea…right!" Bogg acknowledged. "I got an idea! Why don't the two of you go down to Webster's and see what's going on. I'll keep an eye on Masterson, just in case some of Allison's men have other ideas."

"Right!" Jeff acknowledged.

Before Jeff could walk away, Bogg grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back in front of him.

"Oh and one more thing, kiddo." Bogg said with a note of sarcasm in his voice. "Try not to get your tuba shot off, ok?"

"Don't worry, Bogg!" Jeff said bravely. "I won't. You just keep an eye on the legend."

"C'mon Jeff, let's see what Earp's doing." Mallory said as he and Jeff ran down the street.

Before they could reach the saloon, Earp burst through the doors and stomped out onto the sidewalk. With a scowl on his face, he walked briskly away from them.

"Look, Jeff!" Mallory whispered. "There's Earp… He's headed down the street again."

"Yea. I guess Allison wasn't in there." Jeff replied.

"C'mon, we need to follow him." Mallory urged.

By this time, Bogg had established an observation post between the Long Branch saloon and Wright's store to keep an eye on Masterson. As he peered out from behind an exterior wall, he noticed the legend was leaning against the corner of the drugstore. He had his gun propped against his shoulder and his eyes fixed on the area around him.

Earp continued his journey down the street toward the Long Branch. In a matter of moments, he had stepped upon the walkway and started toward the entrance. Without warning, Allison came barging through the doors and stood in front of him. Stunned by their face to face meeting, the two stood frozen in their tracks, silently glaring at each other in anticipation of the other's move.

In the distance, Mallory and Jeff witnessed the beginnings of their confrontation as it unfolded in front of them.

"Look!" Mallory whispered. "Earp's found him. This is so not good! We better take cover quick before the bullets start flying!"

In preparation for what they thought would be an all out gunfight, Mallory and Jeff quickly ran for cover behind a nearby watering trough.

"I thought you said nothing happened when they first met?" Jeff whispered.

"That's what it says in the guidebook." Mallory affirmed. "But you know something's not right here, so this innocent meeting of theirs could turn into an all-out shooting rampage."

"Where's Matt Dillon when you need him?" Jeff whispered to himself. "Allison would have been history if he'd been here."

"What?" Mallory asked curiously. "Who's Matt Dillon?"

Jeff nodded as he realized Mallory had no clue who he was speaking of. "Never mind, I'll explain later." He said with a smile.

Without taking his eyes off Earp, Allison began to slowly maneuver himself into a more advantageous position. Before Earp could realize it, Allison had pinned him against the wall.

"So…" Allison said defiantly. "You're the one that killed my friend Hoyt."

Earp, with his eyes still affixed on his man, eased his hand slowly around his gun as he made his reply.

"I guess I'm the one you're looking for." Earp said in a forceful manner.

Upon seeing a small amount of movement in Earp's arm, Allison took his eyes off him momentarily as he glanced down at his gun belt. What he saw next, sent a chill down his spine. Even though Earp was pinned against the wall, he had managed to move his right hand in position to draw his gun. His left hand was free and ready to grab Allison's gun if he attempted to use it. Allison, realizing he was in no position to continue this confrontation, suddenly changed his demeanor and backed down from his bold stance.

"Uhh…I guess…I'll…go around the corner. " Allison said as he slowly raised his hands and backed away cautiously.

"I guess you'd better." Earp insisted.

Upon reaching the edge of the walkway, Allison turned the corner and proceeded down the street.

While Bogg was watching the Earp and Allison confrontation on the sidewalk, one of Allison's men had slipped up behind Masterson and subdued him. As he was being dragged off down the alley, Bogg heard the noise and turned to find the legend had vanished.

"Bats-Breath! They've got him!" Bogg whispered to himself. He paused for a moment as he looked up the street and noticed Earp, who was now headed straight for him. The entrance to Wright's store was only a few feet away and unbeknownst to him, there was a big surprise laying in wait for him there.

"Now what?" Bogg exclaimed. He tried his best to get Earp's attention to divert him away from the area. However, his efforts were in vain. Earp was walking down the street with his head down, his thoughts focused on Allison and his threats. As he made his way ever closer to Wright's store, Bogg now faced the ultimate in dilemmas.

"Can this get any more complicated?" Bogg whispered to himself. Suddenly, he noticed Jeff and Mallory coming up behind Earp.

Bogg began to signal to his two colleagues to divert Earp away from the area.

"It's Bogg!" Mallory exclaimed. "He's trying to tell us something."

Jeff observed his partner as he attempted to communicate with him. Bogg's gestures were somewhat confusing, but after a few moments Jeff got the message loud and clear. Once Bogg knew his partner had understood, he ran off down the alley in pursuit of Masterson's captors.

"Shawn…Allison's men got to Masterson!" Jeff exclaimed. "We've got to stop Earp before he reaches Wright's store!"

"Mr. Earp!" Mallory yelled. "Mr. Earp!"

Earp turned and walked toward Mallory.

"Yes, I'm Earp." He replied. "What seems to be the problem?"

"My partner and I saw you having some words with Clay Allison."

"Yea, we had a few words, alright." Earp replied. "What about it."

"Well, sir. I found out from a reliable source, that some of his men are held up inside Wright's store. They're armed and waiting for you."

"Are you sure?" Earp asked.

"Yes sir. I'm sure." Mallory acknowledged.

"I wonder where Bat is." Earp said. "He's supposed to be covering my back."

"Sir, one of Allison's men got to him." Mallory explained. "A friend of ours went to try and help him."

"Well, my thanks to you and your friend." Earp said. "You've saved me from an otherwise awkward situation."

"It was our pleasure, sir." Jeff replied.

Earp turned and walked up the street, avoiding the planned ambush.

While Mallory and Jeff stood in awe after their meeting with Wyatt Earp, their partner was engaged in a small problem of his own. As two of Allison's gunslingers dragged the semi-conscious Masterson down the alley, Bogg ran toward them and stopped.

"Uh…gentlemen!" Bogg said with a sheepish grin. "Two against one? That seems a little unfair, don't ya think?"

The two men stopped, dropped Masterson to the ground, turned and walked toward the Voyager.

"Yea, it's unfair. But that's the way we like it." The first gunslinger quipped.

"How 'bout we even the odds." Bogg asked as he taunted the two.

The first gunslinger looked at his partner and laughed. "Did ya hear that, Jess. The dandy here wants a piece of the action."

Jess cast an evil eye over Bogg and nodded. "Oh…Is that right, Will?"

"That's right and you two better watch out." Bogg threatened as he held up his fists and polished them on his vest. "These are registered as deadly weapons in many countries."

"Oh really?" Will said with a hint of sarcasm. He turned to his partner and shouted. "Let's git him!"

The two suddenly rushed the unsuspecting Voyager. Holding up both his arms, he caught the two in a chokehold and quickly threw them to the ground. While Jess shook off the effects of Bogg's unsuspecting countermove, Will, quickly got to his feet and landed a punch to Bogg's jaw. Bogg nodded his head as he rubbed the area momentarily.

"That's one for you." Bogg muttered to himself.

"Hey you weasel!" Jess shouted.

Bogg turned to face Jess. Unbeknownst to him, Jess was setting him up for Will's next move.

"Who are you calling a weasel?" Bogg asked.

Quickly, Will reached around from behind and grabbed Bogg in a rear choke-hold as he punched him in the kidneys. Now in excruciating pain, Bogg took hold of Will's head and pulled him over his shoulders and slammed him to the ground. With Will now semi-unconscious, his partner Jess took over the battle and landed a head-butt to Bogg's stomach. Bogg doubled over in pain and as Jess attempted to strike him again, he quickly rose up and threw a solid punch to Jess' breadbasket as well. With his opponent in a compromising position, Bogg interlocked his fists and landed a chop to his back, knocking him to the ground.

"And that's two for me." Bogg muttered.

As the Voyager stood there attempting to shake off the effects of his punishment, Jess once again managed to get to his feet, charged at him like a linebacker and tackled him to the ground.

With his enemy now seemingly subdued, Jess began throwing punches to Bogg's head. After he had connected twice, Bogg began to feel a surge of energy brought on by his anger. In a gallant move, he flipped himself over onto his hands and knees, throwing Jess off him once again onto the ground. For a time, Jess sat there breathing heavily as he wiped a stream of blood oozing from his mouth on his sleeve. Not willing to be defeated by a so-called 'dandy', Jess stood up and attempted to engage the unrelenting Voyager again. As he came toward him, Bogg glanced around and noticed a lone barrel stave lying on the ground. Quickly, he picked it up and thrust it backwards into Jess' stomach, cracking his ribs. With his opponent bent over in pain, Bogg got to his feet and swung the piece of wood against the back of the man's neck and he fell unconscious on the ground.

Will, who by this time had fully recovered from his unexpected contact with the hardened ground, sprung into action and ran toward the unsuspecting Bogg. Hearing the sounds of Will's footsteps coming up behind him, Bogg whirled about, extended his hand and yelled. "Wait a minute! Stop!"

Puzzled by Bogg's actions, Will stopped for a moment and looked curiously at the Voyager.

"What?" Will asked.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bogg warned.

"And why shouldn't I?" Will asked.

Bogg chuckled a bit as he held his bruised ribs. "Why? Because there's someone behind you who's going to stop you."

Will shook his head in disbelief. "You think I'd fall for that one? That's the oldest trick in the book."

"Go ahead then, suit yourself." Bogg taunted.

By this time Masterson had revived and was standing behind Will with the butt of his gun held high in the air. As Will started to take a swing at Bogg, Masterson quickly landed a blow to the back of his head. As his eyes rolled back into his head, like his partner before him, he fell unconscious to the ground.

"Yes sir." Masterson said bluntly. "That may be the oldest trick in the book, but it still works."

"Thank you, sir." Bogg said as he held out his hand. "If it hadn't been for you, I might have ended up on the ground instead of those two."

Masterson took Bogg's hand and shook it. "It's Masterson, Bat Masterson. You can call me Bat."

"Thank you…Bat" Bogg replied.

"No, sir. Thank you." Masterson said with appreciation. "If it hadn't been for your efforts, I might not be alive at the moment."

"What about those two?" Bogg asked. "Shouldn't we tie them up or something?"

"Why bother? They'll be out for a while. Let the rat's feed on them. Earp can deal with them later, that is, if they are still around."

Bogg turned to Masterson and asked. "Are you able to walk?"

"Yea, I'll be ok." Masterson replied. "I just need to get old doc to take a look at the bump on my noggin."

"C'mon then, let's get out of here." Bogg urged.

Bogg and Masterson now battered and bruised, slowly made their way out of the alley and back out onto the street. Mallory and Jeff saw the two as they emerged and ran toward them.

"Bogg!" Jeff exclaimed. "What happened? Are you ok?"

As Jeff ran up beside him, Bogg kneeled in front of his concerned partner and put his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm ok, kid…" He said as he breathed heavily. "A little battered and bruised, but ok."

"Is this your pa, son?" Masterson asked as he walked up and stood beside them.

"Yes sir!" Jeff acknowledged.

"Well, if it hadn't been for him, two of Allison's men would have taken me out for good.", Masterson said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'd say your pa is pretty good with his dukes."

"Wow Bogg! Two against one? I wish I'd been there to see that!"

Bogg smiled a bit as he rubbed his aching head.

"Kid, it was nothing… it's all in a day's work." Bogg replied

Out of nowhere, Allison rode up on his horse and stopped in front of Wright's store.

"Come over here, Wyatt." Allison said gruffly. "I want to talk to you."

Earp stopped in his tracks and turned to face Allison.

"I can hear you just fine right here." Earp yelled. "I think you came here to fight with me and if you did, you can have it right now!"

Masterson picked up his gun and drew a bead on Allison as he continued his conversation with Earp.

"Earp…" Allison continued. "I believe you're a pretty good man from what I've seen of you."

"What?" Earp said somewhat curiously. "Compliments…from a man who threatened to kill me?"

"Do you know these coyotes around here sent for me to make a fight with you and kill you?" Allison asked. "Well, I'm not going to take part in the killing of an innocent man. I'll be on my way now. I wish you good luck."

Allison snapped the reins and rode off down the street with a cloud of dust trailing him.

Masterson turned to the two Voyagers and like the gentlemen he was, politely excused himself.

"My thanks to you sir, for all your help back there." He said. "You know, I didn't catch your names."

Bogg looked at Masterson and introduced himself. "I'm Bogg and this is my son, Jeff."

Masterson reached out and shook Bogg and Jeff's hand. "Thank you Mr. Bogg, Jeff. If there's anything I can do for either of you, just let me know."

"We will, sir." Bogg replied.

"And now… Wyatt and I have some business to attend to here." Masterson said as he began to walk away. "There's a few rotten apples inside Wright's store that need to be disposed of."

As Masterson walked away in search of his friend, Bogg and Jeff were surprised as Mallory approached them.

"Bogg, Jeff… are you two ok?" Mallory asked.

"Yea, I'm ok." Jeff replied. "Bogg's a little beaten up. But he'll be fine."

With Jeff's help, Bogg slowly got to his feet and put his arm on Mallory's shoulder.

"Are we finished here?" Bogg asked woozily.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Mallory exclaimed as he fumbled for his omni. Once he had retrieved it from his belt, he opened it. Much to his surprise, there was a green light.

"Looks like we're finished here." Mallory said as he held the omni up in front of his partners.

"Well, what are we waiting for… Let's get outta this cow town and back to some civilization." Bogg said with a sense of urgency.

"Where to guys?" Mallory asked.

"Back to headquarters." Bogg replied. "It's time for a rest."

Upon setting the dials, Mallory pressed the button and the three vanished.