PLEASE SEE CHAPTER 1 FOR WARNINGS AND DISCLAIMERS
CHAPTER 4
Ezra hadn't taken two steps toward the jail before he heard the distinctive sound of a pistol being cocked behind him. His hands automatically raised above his head.
"There's no need for you to turn around, Mr. Standish. We are going to take a nice quiet little walk to the livery stable," Torie explained in her soft southern drawl.
"I don't believe for one moment that you would kill me, Torie," the card sharp answered as he started to turn around.
"There are plenty of places I can shoot you without killing you," she replied coldly as she pointed JD's short-barreled colt at Ezra's back.
Ezra stopped to consider not only her words, but also the tone in which she spoke. Though he didn't think the girl would shoot him, he had read the letter from Ysebella's solicitor and was aware that she might do nearly anything to accomplish her goal. Not confident that the odds were in his favor he stilled his movements and did not turn to face her, deciding to focus on persuading the child to see reason.
"Mr. Larabee is going to be extremely displeased when he returns to town. If you put down that gun and stop this foolishness, I could be persuaded to plead on your behalf," he tried in his most convincing drawl.
"It won't really matter because I don't plan on being here when he gets back. Now we're going to go get your horse."
"Don't you think someone might notice that you are holding me at gunpoint?"
"Chance I'll have to take," she said. "We'll walk behind the buildings. When we get there I'll put the gun down, but you try anything and I swear I'll start shooting. You don't really want someone to get hurt do you? Even by accident?"
Ezra sighed. She had a valid point. A twelve-year-old yielding a loaded weapon was unreliable at best and potentially downright dangerous. Perhaps getting her out of town and away from innocent bystanders would be for the best.
"Very well, you shall have my utmost cooperation. However don't you think Yosemite will find it odd? Saddling up my horse and sending you off alone?"
The girl scowled. "I guess you'll be coming with me."
Ezra smiled. Like taking candy from a baby.
Not thirty minutes later the two were riding out of town, having stopped at the boarding house and retrieved Torie's weapons from their hiding place behind the bushes. The girl rode behind Ezra, wishing all the while she could just shoot him. The man never shut up. He had quite deftly pointed out each and every flaw in her 'ill-conceived plan'. When the road took a turn near a stream where there was a nice copse of trees Torie ordered a halt.
"I'll be going on alone from here. Take off your gun belt," she ordered. "Now that fancy jacket and the pea shooter up your sleeve." Ezra slowly complied, watching her surreptitiously while he did so. "Now your boots and your shirt."
"Why on earth-"
"Just do it." Torie figured that she'd leave the clothes a mile or so up the road. The southerner would be slow making his way along half dressed and without boots. Even once he reclaimed his things, he would still have to walk all the way back to town. That should give her a good enough head start.
Noting that the gambler wore more modern two-piece undergarments rather than the more common union suit, Torie insisted he strip to his drawers. Not that doing so didn't leave her red-faced. She had never seen a man in such a state of undress. Her mother would be appalled!
"Now, my dear, you can't possibly expect a gentleman to removed his trousers with you watching," he smiled his gold tooth flashing.
She brought the gun up but taking advantage of her distracted stated, Ezra quickly stepped forward and grabbed her hand lifting both up high in the air. The gun went off before he handily snatched it out of her hand. Torie stepped back in surprise, while the southerner glared at her. "You, young lady, are in quite a bit of trouble."
Glaring back, Torie moved for Ezra's horse, but he intercepted her with ease. "I don't think so, darlin'. This little game of yours has gone on quite long enough."
"Lâcher-moi! Fils de pute!" Torie swore angrily.
Both stilled, however upon hearing horses approach. As the three men drew near it became obvious that one of the three was a prisoner. Ezra stiffened and when Torie looked closer she realized that one of the men was her father's friend, Vin. Her eyes narrowed, the men with him weren't lawmen, that was for sure.
"Heard a shot fired," the larger of the two men stated, his small black eyes looking back and forth between the half-dressed man, and the little girl at his side.
"There was a snake," Torie lied smoothly. "I, I picked up the gun and tried to shoot it."
"You from around here?" the shorter, bearded man demanded.
"No we are just passing through," Ezra fabricated. "We stopped to refresh ourselves in the stream as our funds are too scant to afford us proper accommodations at the town nearby. Yourselves?"
Vin remained quiet and still but his blue eyes danced with humor at the sight of the half-dressed Ezra several miles from town. The tracker couldn't wait to hear this story and he wondered where everyone else was.
"Has that man done somethin' bad?" Torie asked wide-eyed, when the men seemed in no hurry to answer Ezra.
"Yeah, little girl he has. Killed a man in Texas."
A quick intake of breath gave the audible illusion of surprise, "Are you lawmen?"
"Nope, jest takin' him in fer tha bounty," the short one replied before spitting on the ground.
Torie didn't know much about her father's friends, but as she took in Vin's battered appearance, his head bleeding from what looked like the graze of a bullet, and considered his rather disgusting captors, she decided if she were betting on anyone's character it would be Vin's. The bounty hunters sent a chill up her spine, and the men that killed her mother came to mind. These weren't those men, but they were cut from the same cloth and a familiar sense of loathing turned in her stomach.
"Is that right? Did you kill someone, mister?" she asked, keeping her voice light and childlike, despite what she was feeling inside.
"No. But there's some thet think I did."
"Torie, perhaps we had best let the gentleman be on their way," Ezra warned. "They are probably anxious to get into town and get their prisoner safely behind bars so that they can relax for the night."
The small bearded man shook his head, "We ain't stoppin' in thet town. Word 'as it he's got friends there."
"It's kind of funny," Torie said, "Them taking him to Texas for a bounty, and you taking me to Texas for a reward."
"Torie-" Ezra started with a shake of his head.
"Reward?" the larger, more quiet of the two men asked.
"I was taken against my will. My family has offered a reward for my return."
"Her father is a friend of mine so I am taking her to him," Ezra was quick to interject.
"Out o' tha goodness of yer heart, no doubt," the short man said with a big smile, revealing crooked, tobacco stained teeth.
"Where about in Texas?" the dark-haired rider wanted to know.
"Ranch near Palo Duro Canyon," Torie answered without pause, causing Vin's brow to furrow, wondering why the girl might know that location.
"Hell that's nigh unta where we're headed," the short man laughed, ""What ya think 'bout thet, Jim?"
"How much is the reward?" Jim asked without answering his comrade.
"One thousand dollars."
Ezra kept his best poker face, but was ready to strangle the young Larabee. Not entirely sure what game she was playing, but clearly seeing that she was angling to go along with the men, he was uncertain where he was going to fall into this little scheme. He had hopes it wasn't dead, as these men did not appear overly scrupulous.
"It seems we might be in the position to help one another," Jim started. "Dangerous country round about here. We'll see you safely to her home and you split the reward with us."
"How could I refuse such a generous offer," Ezra replied, inclining his head, well aware that the two men had no intention of sharing the fictional reward with him. "Emmett Stimpson, at your service."
"I'm Jim Butler. He's Rupert Finny," the large man answered. "We might as well water the horses, while you make ready to leave."
He dismounted and grabbed the canteens. Rupert pulled Vin roughly off his horse holding a gun on the tracker, while the larger man lead the horses down to the stream. Once Vin was sitting and securely tied both hand and foot, the small man moved off a bit to relieve himself. When he returned, it was to find Ezra's gun pointed squarely at his chest.
"You'll want to be very quiet as loud noises and sudden movements tend to make my fingers twitchy. Put your hands up high where I can see them. Torie, get his weapon." The girl who had been cutting the ropes restraining Vin, moved quickly to do as the southern said.
Vin rid himself of the rest of his restraints and took the gun from Torie while Ezra bound and gagged Rupert. Making his way stealthily down to the river, the sharpshooter was able to get the drop on Jim without any bloodshed. As they were readying to head back to Four Corners Torie attempted one last ditch effort to make away on her own.
Unfortunately for her she had chosen Ezra's horse for her getaway. The beast was less than cooperative to begin with and it took everything she had to get him headed away from the men. With a shake of his head, the southerner sent Vin an exasperated look.
"Good heavens, I swear that child is the spawn of Satan." He then gave a high-pitched whistle which brought Chaucer prancing dutifully back to his owner, much to the frustration of the girl riding the chestnut quarter horse.
As the sun dropped below the horizon, Torie sat nervously in front of Vin, wondering exactly how mad Chris was going to be when he heard about today's events. Her mind strayed back to a couple of nights ago, and she winced at the thought. For once she was having a hard time finding the rebellious anger into which she usually retreated. Instead there was a very real fear of the punishment to come that she just couldn't seem to shake. Perhaps if she were lucky, the other men wouldn't have arrived back yet.
However, lady luck was not sitting at Torie's table that evening. They rode into town only to meet four of the other five peacekeepers readying themselves to ride out in search of Torie and Ezra. When the girl caught site of the look in her father's eyes she wanted nothing more than to fade into oblivion.
Few words were spoken as the bounty hunters were locked up in a cell next to a snoring Mr. Braxton. All claims of the injustice of their incarceration fell on deaf ears. After taking a look at Vin's head wound despite the sharpshooter's best attempts to bat the dark-skinned healer away, Nathan offered to keep an eye on the prisoners while the others, "sorted things out."
The six men started in the direction of the saloon, Chris catching Torie's arm in a firm grip. Reflexively, almost, she pulled away from his hold. His response was to land three firm swats on her backside.
"Little girl, you do not want to add to what you've got comin', so I recommend you behave yourself," he growled as he took hold of her hand and all but dragged her to the saloon.
Wide-eyed, Torie clamped her mouth shut trying to ignore the fact that he was leading her along like a five-year-old. Those three swats had hurt more than she cared to admit and she had a very bad feeling that they were going to seem like love taps when the angry man was through with her. With a heavy sigh, the girl realized that life with her papa promised to be very different than life had been living with her mama, where the most she had ever faced for her antics was a stern talking to.
As the group headed for a corner table, Inez was quick to meet them, eying the girl in Chris's grip with sympathy. "Senior, Chris, would you like me to take your niña to the kitchen while you have drinks?"
"No, Inez, she's not going any further than that corner right there, where I can keep an eye on her."
Torie's jaw dropped. Not again and in a saloon full of people no less. At Chris's ominous look, her self-preservation over-rode her embarrassment, however, and she headed to the corner without argument.
Never overly loquacious, Vin quickly explained how the bounty hunters had managed to get the drop on him with the help of an angry Indian renegade who ended up dead for his trouble. All too soon the floor was Ezra's and Torie shifted nervously from foot to foot as he elaborately recounted the day's events with JD interjecting to explain how he ended up locked in his own jail. It sounded much worse listening to all of it than it had when it was happening. Somehow Torie was relatively certain that none of the laughter coming from the table behind her belonged to Chris Larabee and she was actually thankful for her humiliating position as it allowed her to avoid seeing his face.
When Inez brought food for everyone, Chris called Torie to the table but she was in no hurry to take the empty seat next to her father. He cast a heated glare her direction before ordering her to eat her supper. Conversation turned to what the group planned on doing with the bounty hunters, but nothing was decided before the meal ended. At this point Chris informed the group he was taking Torie back to the boarding house.
The girl was quite certain that a walk to the gallows couldn't be any more terrifying. She kept reminding herself the reason behind today's choices. Vainly she sought the anger that had been her driving force for months. Regrettably her mind was too busy worrying about the pain in store for her poor derriere.
"Up to your room and get ready for bed, I'll be in in a few minutes," Chris stated with an eerie quietness.
She was sitting on the bed in her nightdress when he entered, having shed his gun belt, hat, and black duster. He looked no less imposing to the girl who had decided to swallow her pride and apologize, beg if she had to. Anything to avoid the upcoming ordeal.
"I, I'm sorry for all I did today. I guess I really wasn't thinking all that clearly, and, and I won't do anything like it again," she stammered without actually meeting his eyes.
Chris's lips quirked. This contrite little girl was a far cry from the hellion he'd dealt with before, perhaps he was getting somewhere with her. "And what exactly are you sorry for?"
"Well, uh, for tricking JD, and taking his gun, and locking him in the jail, and for threatening to shoot Ezra – which I would never have done by the way – and for trying to steal his horse."
"And how about taking those weapons from my room?"
"They are mine," she answered defensively but without her earlier vehemence.
"You disobeyed me again," he pointed out calmly. "You could have gotten yourself or someone else killed today," as he spoke he unbuckled his belt and slowly removed it from the belt loops. "Not to mention that horse theft is a hanging offense."
Torie's green eyes grew wide as saucers as she watched him take off his belt. This could not be happening. "But I'm sorry, I'll apologize to JD and Ezra. You don't need to do this. Please Papa," this last spoken with her mother's French accent.
Chris wasn't unmoved by the use of the title or the obvious fear in his little girl's eyes, but he knew that Ysebella's leniency and lack of discipline was in no small part why Torie was so hard to handle now. He was also very aware that if left unchecked the girl would undoubtedly end up hurt or dead. So he moved to take a seat beside her on the bed.
"I don't want to do this Torie, but the fact is you more than deserve it and I need you to know that I back up the rules I set. You've got to start thinkin' things through before you get yourself or someone else hurt or worse."
Deciding it was time to quit beating the devil around the stump he reached for Torie. She scurried away, but he was able to catch her arm. "Best we just get it done. You fight me, and it's going to be extra licks," he warned as he pulled her over his lap and folded the belt so that it was more of a paddle.
With the first smack of the belt, pain exploded across Torie's bottom. This was going to be so much worse than last time. "You don't try to run away," Chris stated resolutely after laying down several licks. "You don't take things from my room without permission." He continued to punctuate his words by smacking the belt down on her bottom, the thin cotton providing scarce protection.
"You don't take things that belong to other people." The belt came down another five times. "You don't point guns at my friends. In fact you don't pick up a gun unless you have my permission." He made sure to get this point across by landing the swats low where she'd feel it when she sat down. "You are going to start obeying me or you won't be sitting comfortably for a very long time." The belt fell a final five times and Torie lay sobbing over Chris's lap.
Setting the belt down on the table beside the bed, Chris gently rubbed her back until she calmed somewhat then carefully lifted her onto his lap. At first she sat rather stiffly but she finally succumbed to the comfort his embrace offered. When her sniffling had died down, Chris sighed.
"Torie, you can't keep this up, angel."
"You don't understand," she sniffed.
"I'm tryin' baby girl, but you have got to understand my position too. No more running away. If it happens again, this won't be over your trousers or nightdress. No more hide and seek games either. Until I know for sure I can trust you, you're to stay in sight of me or one of the boys. You don't and you'll be spending your time sitting none to comfortably in a corner. Understand?"
"Yes sir."
Holding her for a few more minutes, he finally kissed her head and lifted her as he stood. After pulling back the sheets and blanket, he laid her in the bed, noting her wince when her bottom hit the soft mattress. She shifted immediately to her side, eyes already drooping. Tucking the covers around her he smiled and trailed a finger along her cheek.
"Goodnight, angel," he whispered.
"Bonne nuit, Papa," she answered sleepily.
The words hit him like a blow. Though she had used the term before while trying to beg off her punishment, this spontaneous soft utterance pulled on his heart strings more than he would have thought possible. Once again bittersweet scenes from a past life replayed in his mind's eye and he grabbed his belt and retreated from the room with haste.
Vin was waiting out on the porch with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. Chris accepted a glass and Vin poured it full watching his friend down it in one shot. The tracker filled both glasses this time and set the bottle down, leaning lazily against the porch rail as he took a sip of his drink and studied the blond man.
Finally breaking the silence Chris declared, "Don't know if I can do this again."
"So, there's suddenly 'nother option?"
Exhaling deeply, the gunman took another drink. "No, guess there isn't."
Vin nodded.
"You let Nathan take another look at your head?" Chris demanded gruffly.
"Like I could stop him. Man fuss's like a settin' hen."
"We're gonna have to think of somethin' to do about those bounty hunters."
"Ezra thought we might try convincin' 'em I've been cleared an' tha bounty lifted."
"They're not gonna buy that."
"Nope."
"How 'bout we try what we did with the Judge. They see you shot down and buried, might at least get rid of them and give us some time to deal with this once and for all."
Vin nodded. "You got some idea how ta do thet?"
"Mary helped put together some letters from the townsfolk. I wrote up how I heard Eli Joe confess to the murder before he died and the Judge certified that as a deposition from a local lawman. Added his own accommodation as well and sent it all off to the Governor of Texas, asking for a pardon."
The sharpshooter was overwhelmed. Whether or not his name was cleared, it meant a great deal to him that his friends had gone to such great lengths. What he couldn't say in words, Chris was able to read in the younger man's blue eyes.
TBC