***Part 5

Ezra slowly regained consciousness, feeling someone tugging at his clothing, trying to remove his jacket.

"Did you search everywhere?" A gruff voice commanded.

Ezra tried to open his eyes, but the harsh sun wouldn't allow it. He heard and felt the sand and grit beneath him and tried to roll over. Sand stuck to the blood that covered half his face and down his neck. He slowly reached up and wiped the sand from his lips.

Ezra managed to open one eye and turned his head to the side. He saw Chaucer tied by three other horses. The stressed animal pawed at the ground and had his lead stretched out trying to reach his owner. Ezra shifted his vision enough to see his saddlebags, tossed on the ground a few feet away, the flaps open and the contents strewed out on the sand. Jake crouched down in front of the semi-conscious conman, holding one of the brown medicine bottles like a prize. "Why would you want to die for those heathens?" Jake curiously asked, his malicious grin widening to reveal missing teeth and potent breath.

Ezra licked his lips and replied, "Sir, they're more worthy of my death than you'll ever be." Oh mother would definitely be disappointed in him. 'One must always look out for number one.' But the thought of making six infuriating men proud, especially one darkly clad gunslinger , brought a smile to his face and a feeling of value he'd never experienced before.

Jake snorted, thinking that Swan had hit him too hard. The man was obviously out of his head. He stood and glared down at the vulnerable man at his feet. He always enjoyed this perspective, having complete control over someone was such a rush. He thought of Petey. They hadn't exactly been best of friends, but Pete had been someone he could trust and that was a rare find. Jake pulled back his leg then swung it into the prone gambler's side.

A whoosh of air was forced from Ezra's lungs. He curled up as Jake's boot struck again and again, trying to protect his ribs.. Ezra's left arm flared with pain and went numb as the toe of Jake's boot struck his elbow. Jake smirked at the sound of a cracking rib. He halted his abuse , bending down he began searching the pain-filled man's body, roughly pulling off his boots, tossing them aside when he realized they were too small for him. "Damn, there ain't no money here!"

"Hey, fancy pants, where's your stash?" Swan growled as he turned out the fancy purple coat shaking it violently in frustration and throwing it to the ground.

Ezra's head swam from lack of oxygen and tears streamed down his cheeks. Through clenched teeth he managed to hoarsely quipped, "Sorry, musta…left it…in my other jacket."

Swan reached down and pulled the smart-ass gambler to his knees. "You think you're funny, fancy man?" Swan growled. He was a good head taller than Ezra, and outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Standish glared into the bigger man's face, seeing the ugly scar that ran down the side of his face almost taking off the man's ear. Greasy skin glistened under the hot sun and Swan licked at fat lips.

"I don't like you," Swan said unpleasantly.

Ezra guffawed and turned his face away from the smell of whiskey and cheap cigars. "Well sir, the feeling is definitely mutual."

Swan drove his fist into Ezra's stomach, doubling him over, but the bigger man kept a grip and yanked him back up. Ezra tried to focus, seeing Swan's wicked grin through a watery gaze. He felt the bile trying to rush up his throat and had already decided he would direct the onrush at the disgusting brute.

"This is for Petey," Swan snarled with a slash to Ezra's side, delivered by steel. Hot and cold pain spread across Ezra's body and his eyes widened in shock. Swan released his hold and grinned as the gambler crumbled to the ground, the desert sand eagerly drinking in the red fluid that poured from his side.

"Hey, Swan, c'mon let's go. We got what we came for. Leave 'im for the buzzards," Jake snapped. He looked up into the cloudless sky. "He won't last a day out here."

Ezra managed to open his eyes. He lifted his head slightly and watched the two men walking away. He let his head fall back to the ground as a surge of fire burned through his side.

tbc