A/N: I had to tweak the POV layout and organization of this chapter for various reasons. But everything should still be fine.
If the characters aren't reading quite right, apologies. That's what sleep deprivation will do to you... (And having three exams in one day...)
Thank you for the reviews! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own GMW otherwise Maya would be kicking asses for real.
"Let me go! Let me go you big lugs!"
Lucas kicked his legs and squirmed, thrashing around in hopes that the two men holding onto either of his arms would drop him to the ground.
Finally, the motion he felt did stop, and he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. The blindfold covering his eyes was yanked off, and Lucas glared at the three men in front of him. He had no idea where they had taken him, but they were in a wooded area that didn't seem to be anywhere their town. There were thick rocks all over the shore. Behind them was a torrent of cascading, foreboding water. The roaring of the rapids made it seem like the river was crying out to them.
Lucas sniffled and glared at them, "Wh-where am I?"
"You're quite the feisty one, Lucas." Jedediah said in amusement. "I would've thought after that beating you took, you wouldn't be moving quite so much."
"I'll kill you!" Lucas screamed, standing up and lunging at him. One of Jed's men shoved him backwards before he could even get within an inch of his uncle. Lucas lost his balance with a cry and hit the ground hard, dust and dirt flying up at the impact. He gasped in pain, his bruised ribs sending a shock of pain through his body and rendering him temporarily immobile.
It hurt.
Everything hurt!
"Ha! You? A little kid?" Jed responded, laughing cruelly, the red scratch on his right cheek still trickling blood, "I've never heard a funnier joke."
Lucas whimpered quietly and closed his eyes, shaking as uncontrollable sobs overtook his body.
"Mark my words…" Lucas cried, trying to stop the tears leaving his eyes, "I will have my revenge."
Jedediah's smile dropped off his face and he approached Lucas, his green eyes dull and callous. He stooped down so his face was near Lucas', and stroked the little boy's head tenderly. Lucas flinched.
"And how will you have your so called revenge, little Lucas…" Jed said coldly, gesturing to his men to grab the barrel he had brought with them, "…if you're dead and gone?"
Lucas scooted back in alarm with a gasp and tried to scramble to his feet, but Jed's men pounced on him before he could move and pinned him to the ground. Lucas cried out for help, screaming into the night, though he knew it was futile. They picked him up effortlessly and dropped him into the barrel, holding him down so he couldn't move.
"Let me go!" he cried, struggling against their strength.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Jed said, pulling out the shiny black Colt pistol Lucas had seen multiple times in his father's holster. "Here. I put one bullet in here. Something to put you out of your misery."
He laughed loudly and tossed it into the barrel with Lucas before turning away, walking away from the river. Before Lucas could even register what was happening, Jed's men lifted the barrel and tossed it into the river. Lucas fell to the bottom and cried out as water ran up his nose, and he cascaded down the river. He clambered up to the edge of the rickety barrel and watched as the three men at the bank became smaller and smaller.
"Goodbye Lucas. Say hello to your mother and father for me!" Jed called out, cackling into the night.
~.~.~
Lucas hopped off of his horse and walked through the gate of the Matthews family's cattle ranch, his bag of horseshoes and tools slung over her shoulders. It was by stroke of luck that Stuart Minkus had asked Lucas to head over to the ranch to replace the Matthews horses' horseshoes that day. Lucas had needed a decent excuse to come to the ranch in order to tell Maya the information he had come to learn, but it wouldn't have made any sense for him to show up unannounced without excuse. And it would have made even less sense for Billy, who fashioned horseshoes at the blacksmith's.
He stepped onto the wide porch of the grand town home, ringing the doorbell. Now the question was how to find her or ask for her without raising Cory Matthews' suspicions. Maya was unmarried, and Lucas had no doubt that asking for an unmarried maiden would put some ideas in his head.
The front door opened and the youngest daughter, Riley's, face lit up as soon as she saw him.
"Mr. Friar!" Riley gushed, a rosy blush on her face, "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
"Ma'am." He greeted politely, ignoring her obvious infatuation, "I'm just here to fix the horseshoes. Could you get your father please?"
"Of course." She giggled, not moving at all and twirling a lock of her brown curls with one finger.
"Riley who's at the door?" Maya shouted, her voice growing louder as she approached, "It better not be that dumbass Clint again! I'll shoot him a new asshole if he thinks…"
Maya appeared at the door and tapered off when she caught sight of Lucas, a light blush dotting her cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
"I think a better question is why you're pointing a rifle at my head." Lucas drawled, raising a brow.
Maya narrowed her eyes and pointed it down, resting it against her leg, "Thought you were someone else. Care to answer my question now?"
Lucas lifted up his satchel, shaking it a bit for emphasis. "I'm a horse hand for a rancher."
"Right…" Maya's cheeks turned a bit more red in embarrassment at missing the obvious. "Could've fooled me…" she muttered under her breath, nonplussed.
A challenging smirk appeared on his lips, his eyes twinkling in mirth. "I could say the same about you, Miss Matthews."
"You two are awfully chummy…" Riley pointed out, confused at the ease with which they were conversing. For all the time Lucas had been coming to help with the horses, she couldn't recall Maya ever addressing him or speaking to him. "I didn't realize you knew each other that well."
"We don't." Maya quickly denied.
Riley gave her an incredulous eyebrow raise, and Lucas could tell Maya knew she had fucked up. He watched her in amusement, waiting to see what excuse she would come up with to cover up her blunder. It was becoming quickly apparent to him that she was a dreadful liar. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't bother him, but what would she do if she needed to convincingly lie on the spot during their plan?
Maya was saved from responding when Cory approached the door.
"Riley, your mother needs you upstairs." Cory said patting her shoulder.
"Okay Papa." She said, casting one last suspicious look in Maya and Lucas' direction before spinning on her heels and heading back inside.
"Lucas Friar! Good to see you!" Cory turned to Lucas, amicably, "On time as always! Come in."
"Good to see you too, sir." Lucas responded, nodding politely.
He followed Cory through the house to the parlor in order to discuss matters.
"I trust you didn't have too much trouble on the road? You need to be careful. I heard that just this morning, the sheriff found two dead cowboys in town. No one knows what happened to them. But it appears they had a duel of some sort."
"Sounds terrible. I can't imagine who would do such a thing." Lucas said, glancing at Maya in amusement at her pointed look.
Maya stalked behind them, glaring daggers at Lucas' head. He wasn't sure what he had done, but he did feel that he was unjustifiably the target of her malignance. Auggie was seated in the parlor, playing with some wooden figurines. When he saw Lucas, his face lit up.
"Lucas!" Auggie exclaimed, "Are you going to show me some more cool gun tricks?"
"Sorry, Auggie." He replied, smiling gently. "I have to work today. Maybe later?"
He turned to Cory, "Stuart told me you needed a shoeing for a few of the horses."
"Yes, in fact." Cory said, "A few of the grown foals are ready to be shoed. And I believe the travel horses might need trimming for their hooves. And Clutterbucket needs new shoes as well."
"Clutterbucket?" Lucas frowned. Not only was the name particularly ridiculous, but he was also pretty sure he had never worked on any Matthews' horses before named Clutterbucket.
"My horse." Maya clarified, polishing the barrel of her rifle with the bottom of her dress.
"The wild black mustang?" Lucas asked.
Cory nodded, "None of the other horse hands were able to get his new shoes on. Clutterbucket has a… habit of trying to kick at anyone he does not know or trust. I know it's a lot to ask, but do you think you could give it a try?"
"I'll see what I can do, sir." Lucas said.
"Thank you. His shoes were changed a while ago and should have lasted longer, but for some reason, they have been entirely worn out recently. I can't imagine why."
"I can think of a few reasons…" Lucas muttered, the corner of his mouth quirked up.
Maya shot him a glare so vicious, he was certain if looks could kill, he'd be six feet under at that very moment.
"Something the matter, Miss Matthews?" Lucas asked, his charming, congenial smile set in place.
"Not at all, Mr. Friar." She retorted through grit teeth, polishing her rifle more rigorously. He had no doubt she was imagining shooting him in the head with it.
"Maya, would you be so kind as to get us a glass of scotch please?" Cory asked.
"No." She replied, narrowing her eyes at Cory. "Not unless you rescind my courtship to Clint."
Cory sighed in exasperation, "Are you still mad about that?"
"'Still' implies there was a time I wasn't mad." Maya said easily, before turning to Auggie. "You can get the scotch yourself, father. C'mon Auggie boy. Let's go play a couple rounds of Shoot 'Em Up. Maybe today will be the day you beat me."
"Okay! Let's go!" Auggie cheered, grabbing his rifle and following Maya towards the back of the house.
Cory sighed, rubbing his neck tiredly, "Apologies Lucas. She's usually not that brash or belligerent."
You sure about that? Lucas thought, entertained by that comment. Clearly, Cory Matthews did not know the true extent to which Maya was brash and crude.
"It's fine, sir." He replied easily, "I don't like to drink on the job anyway. Breeds errors."
Cory looked impressed, "You're a wise young man, Lucas." He stood up, clapping his hands together, "Well, come. Let me show you which horses need taking care of."
~.~.~
"There you are…" Lucas muttered, setting the leg of the grown foal back onto the ground. Lucas stood back up and ran his hand gently through his mane. "Brand new shoes."
The horse whinnied, and Lucas supplied it with a carrot, smiling, before opening the stable door and guiding it back outside to go graze in the horse pastures with the other horses.
Now he only had to change Clutterbucket's shoes, and he'd be finished with his work. He figured that would be a good time to speak to Maya about the plan. From what Cory had told him, Clutterbucket got restless and violent when they kept him in the horse pastures for too long and would begin to antagonize the other horses, so Maya let him roam free wherever he pleased during the day. Cory had told Lucas to seek out Maya to bring him back and possibly help calm down Clutterbucket if the horse decided to use Lucas' face as target practice. Lucas wasn't particularly worried, nor did he need Maya as a guide. Horses generally listened to him. But he had agreed for a chance to speak to Maya alone. It was a good opportunity as any to finalize their plans officially.
He walked out of the main stables and headed towards the back of the house where he was certain he had last heard gunshots ringing out. He approached the porch and walked around the corner.
Maya was lining herself up for a shot, leaning over the banister of the patio with a false look of concentration on her features. Her hair was impossibly tangled, obscuring her vision, spilling over her shoulders, down her back, and even around the butt of the rifle resting on the banister. The puffy pale blue dress she was wearing was caked in oil from the rifle and dirt and dust.
With an amused chuckle, he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms to watch the shot. She most definitely was going easy on Auggie, but the thing that interested him most was that she was pretty severely distorting her proper form. But not random distortion. It was calculated sloppiness. As if she knew exactly how to misalign herself in order to not make perfect shots.
Lucas remembered she had shot in much the same way when she had freed him and Billy several days ago. Was she purposely giving herself a handicap whenever she shot off a gun? That was something intriguing in and of its own right. Especially since she clearly could make those shots very well. Was it for amusement? Was it to make shooting more of a thrill for her? If so, they were the same.
"Game point, Auggie." Maya said, closing one eye as she began to pull the trigger back. "You've only got one more round to not lose all the dime novels again."
Auggie pouted and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He looked like he'd just about had enough.
"I'm starting to think that it's your thing to "shoot" and run…" Lucas said, pushing himself off of the wall and walking towards them.
Maya gasped in surprise as she took the shot, hopping slightly as she pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the bottle on the rocks, breaking it into two and knocking it off of it with a crash.
"You missed the center." He pointed out, not needing to look to know that she had been far left in her intended hit zone.
"Only because you messed up my shot." She spun around in a flurry of blonde hair and glared up at him, "And what the hell are you talking about?"
"This makes two times now that you've gotten me involved in a bar fight I wasn't involved in in the first place. And then left."
She smirked, a mischievous smile on her lips, the sky blue of her eyes shining, "It's not my fault you're a sucker."
"That so?" he said, raising a brow in amusement, matching the challenging look in her eyes.
Auggie tugged on his pants, "Lucas, can you help me? She keeps winning all of my dime novels. Can you take over for this last round?"
He was intrigued by that offer. Clearly Maya was a great shot. He himself had been taught by Jonah Ross, one of the greatest and most underrated shots to ever exist. Just how good was she compared to him? He wanted to see how she would fare against a seasoned shooter.
"Why not." He replied, taking Auggie's rifle as the little boy cheered excitedly, "I'm interested in seeing who's the better shot."
"In that case, we're raising the stakes since you're playing for Auggie." She said calculatingly, "If I win, I get your most valuable possession."
"And what would that be?" he asked, intrigued by her bet.
"Your black cowboy hat."
Maya was more shrewd than he realized. When he'd first seen her, he had labeled her automatically as a Calamity Jane, but she was much more than just that. She had wits and common sense to go with her audacious nature. She was wild and a little crazy, but definitely interesting.
"You are something else…" Lucas said softly, the corner of his mouth lifting.
A light blush appeared on her cheeks, and she rolled her eyes, averting her gaze quickly.
"Your terms?" she continued.
"Alright. If I win, Auggie gets all your dime novels." He paused, "And I want your bayonet. The one with the curved blade."
"Fine. That's fair." She frowned, surprised he remembered she had one in the first place. "Auggie, go set up the bottles. We'll play one round. Cleanest shots. No smashing the bottles and breaking them. One straight shot through the center. Bottles have to stay completely upright in order for it to count. Auggie will be the judge."
Auggie ran off to set up the dual set of bottles besides each other on the rocks, and she turned to Lucas with a smug grin on her face.
"Ready to lose?" Maya asked chidingly.
"One more thing." Lucas said, loading some bullets into the rifle. "We do this with our dominant hands, in proper form. No handicapping yourself. I want to see the full extent of your shooting abilities."
Maya's eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at him questioningly, "How did you know I wasn't shooting with my dominant hand?" No one had ever been able to tell.
"Because I do the same." Lucas replied, gently picking up her right hand and turning it over so the palm was facing up, "I know it isn't because of your injury, because you shot Davis with your left hand too. But when you had your knife, you were using your right hand. And, your holster was attached to your right hip yesterday. Most likely, you like making shooting harder for yourself because you're bored."
"You're more observant than I thought…" she said, pleasantly surprised, "How'd you know about the form?"
He let out a little laugh, "Nobody shoots with their legs spread that far apart and one eye closed."
She bit her lip to keep from smiling widely and nodded, "Okay, that's valid."
"Does it hurt?" Lucas asked, holding her glassy, crystal blue eyed gaze.
"Hmm?" Maya said noncommittally, in a slight daze. "Does what hurt?"
"Your injury." Lucas replied patiently, his lips quirked up in a small knowing smile.
"Umm… are you guys going to start shooting any time soon?" Auggie said uncomfortably, leaning against the banister in boredom.
Eyes widening in alarm, Maya snatched her hand out of his and took a large step back, her face bursting into colour. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair out of her face, turning to face the bottles.
"You're going down." She said, steeling her expression and setting up her shot against her shoulder and arm. She didn't bother leaning on the banister this time.
As he suspected, her form was exactly on point. No holes in her stance, she was centered and balanced, and her arm placement was perfect for her height and the length of her arm. She pulled the trigger without hesitation and shot the bottle the farthest distance away. The bullet sailed straight through the center, leaving a visible hole through the front and back. No cracks formed on the bottle whatsoever, and it remained intact and upright. It didn't slide from position at all.
It was honestly speaking, a perfect shot.
Auggie's eyes widened in shock. He had never seen Maya shoot that way before. All the shots she always made always left cracks on bottles or parts of the bottle chipped off.
"I'm impressed." Lucas said, before lifting his rifle calmly and shooting his identically placed bottle. The shot whizzed through the air and punctured the front of the bottle. The bullet hit the back end and dropped to the base, clinking noisily as it settled in the bottle.
"But you can do better than that." He said arrogantly, giving her a smug smirk.
"Holy crap!" Auggie exclaimed, jaw completely unhinged, "You got the bullet to stay in?!"
Maya, despite schooling her expression and maintaining a neutral look, couldn't help but be similarly impressed by the shot.
"Not bad." She growled, a little irritated that he had one-upped her shot.
"You better step your game up, ma'am. Or you'll lose."
"We'll see."
They continued to face off, rallying each shot, each working to see who could have the most impressive or perfectly executed shots. The ones in the back were easy to shoot, due to their distance, but the closer to the front the bottles were, the more difficult it was to control the trajectory of the shot and not destroy the bottles with the force. It became quickly apparent, as they continued to shoot off, that they were neck and neck in ability. It looked like the tie breaker would come in shooting the bottles directly in front of them on the banister. It was a near impossible clean shot to make at such a close proximity.
Lucas found it pretty impressive that Maya was not even breaking a sweat, though he did note with each successful following shot he made, she grew more and more irritated. Belatedly, he realized he hadn't enjoyed himself that much in a pretty long time. He'd been completely focused on only his ploys for revenge for such a long time that it had been a while since he did anything relaxing.
But he knew this sense of peace wouldn't last.
Because he had to kill the mayor. The sooner, the better.
"Tiebreaker." Maya said, a confident grin on her lips, as Auggie set up the final two bottles on the banister in front of them. "Let's see who can successfully shoot these without destroying them."
Then Topanga walked out on the porch, wiping her hands with a small towelette, a smile on her face.
"Will you be joining us for supper, Lucas?" she asked, "I take it you'll want to fix Clutterbucket some horseshoes afterward?"
Lucas winced, surprised at himself. He had completely forgotten about work. He was not the type to ever forget his task at hand. That was unacceptable, especially to him, because he prided himself on his ability to maintain total focus, even in the midst of a diversion.
"Apologies ma'am. I'll get right on those horseshoes, then I'll be on my way." He said, tipping his hat in apology and setting the rifle against the rail. "Supper won't be necessary."
"It's perfectly fine, Lucas!" she reassured, "I'm impressed by your skills. I've been watching you both shoot from the kitchen for a while. Who taught you how to shoot?"
"Ah, his name was Jonah Ross." Lucas replied, a fond look of admiration on his face, "He's no longer with us, but he was an excellent shot. Both with knives and guns."
"He taught you well." Topanga said in intrigue, "Did he teach you how to ride and shoot as well?"
"Yes ma'am. And how to shoot moving targets while stationary and while moving."
"That's wonderful." She said with a wide grin. "I never learned to shoot while riding—I was never allowed to ride back in my youth, you see—so I could never teach Maya."
"You've still taught her plenty well. Shooting with regard to the shifts in wind and atmospheric pressure is something few people can get and excel at. It's very impressive."
Maya shot him a look, her face a little embarrassed by the easy compliment he had unintentionally paid her.
Topanga smiled, a little knowing look on her face at Maya's reaction. "You have quite the eye for shooting. Maybe I should be learning from you."
"Hardly, ma'am. I doubt my abilities are anywhere near your expertise."
"How charming." Topanga said congenially, before turning to her son. "Auggie, I'm going to have to postpone this game for now. Go start washing up for supper."
"But no one won! I wanted my dime novels." he whined, stomping back into the house, upset that the game ended inconclusively.
Topanga turned to Maya, "Clint will be joining us for supper tonight. So when you get finished with Clutterbucket, please clean yourself up, okay honey? I know you don't like him, but you have to give him a chance."
"Fine."
"Thank you, Maya. Have a good evening, Lucas." Topanga left the back porch, heading back inside to finish preparations.
Maya picked up the rifles and carried them on her shoulders to take back to the stables where they were to go.
"Clint?" Lucas asked, amused. "A suitor?"
"Not for long…" Maya said cryptically, walking down the path that led to their horse's stables. "Anyway, Jonah Ross. Is he related to Billy?"
"His grandfather." Lucas responded as he followed Maya to the stables, "He raised us both until he died of typhoid."
"He raised you? I thought you mentioned having a family whose land was stolen. What happened to your family?"
"I take it neither Cory nor Topanga know about Katy in the whore house?" He replied, completely ignoring her inquiry.
Maya rolled her eyes, knowing he was deflecting her question yet again. It bothered her how adamant he had been in figuring out who she was when they had met, but seemed to avoid answering almost every question about himself. Who the hell was Lucas Friar?
"I just didn't feel it was necessary to let them know yet until I secured her safety." Maya said in irritation.
"Did you ever consider that you've stalled on telling them about Katy because the minute that you do, you know you have to let them go as your parents? And deep down, you don't want that."
Maya stiffened, and she clenched her jaw, irritated by his comment. "You know, I'm not sure I appreciate your commentary. My decision to remain silent has nothing to do with what you said. So zip it, Mr. I Ask A Million Questions But Refuse To Answer Any About Myself."
"Fair enough." He said, walking into the stables after her. "Where's Clutterbucket so I can finish up his shoes."
"He's probably grazing near the cow pasture." She said, setting the rifles against the wall with the other ones.
She held the doors of the stable open, brought her fingers to her lips, and whistled loudly, the sound piercing the air. A few moments later, the regal onyx mustang came bounding through the field before stopping in front of the stables in a cloud of dust. He trotted inside through the open stable doors and Maya guided him to where Lucas had his tools set up. He whinnied and snorted, nudging Maya enthusiastically.
"Hey boy. Sorry. No ride today." She nuzzled his nose affectionately. She glanced a Lucas, "Just a warning: Clutterbucket doesn't listen to anyone but me. Don't take it personally if he kicks you in the face."
Lucas gave her a single challenging look before approaching Clutterbucket carefully, a soft smile on his face.
"So your name is Clutterbucket, huh?" Lucas said calmly and confidently, stepping slowly toward the horse. Clutterbucket eyed him warily, ears pricked. "I'm sorry your owner chose such a peculiar name."
Maya shot Lucas a glare as he stopped in front of Clutterbucket.
"She is a crazy though, so I guess you shouldn't expect anything less." Lucas said, letting Clutterbucket sniff his hand.
"Hey!" Maya said indignantly, offended by his comment. "I am not crazy."
Clutterbucket's ears were no longer erect and were laying back, relaxed and easy. He whinnied lightly, nudging Lucas' bag with his nose.
"Oh, that? You're probably smelling my sugar cubes." Lucas said, stroking him softly, high on his shoulders. "If you cooperate, I'll let you have a few of them. I'm only going to fix your shoes, okay?"
He continued his motions for a few more seconds until Clutterbucket was facing him directly. Then slowly, so as not to spook him, Lucas crouched and gently lifted up his front leg, observing the hoof and horseshoe. When it became clear Clutterbucket wasn't going to attack Lucas anytime soon, Lucas stood with a smug smirk and gave the horse one of the sugar cubes.
"What was that about Clutterbucket not listening to anyone but you?" Lucas said, bending down and beginning his careful work to replace the aged horseshoes on the horse's hooves. "Keep him occupied, please."
"Traitor…" Maya whispered to her horse, pouting. He snorted and nickered, nudging her playfully. She nuzzled him softly, "You should have given him a good kick on the ass. Or messed up his face. He wouldn't be so good-looking then…"
"Good-looking?" Lucas said in amusement, setting the nails for the shoe.
"I'm talking to the horse, not you." She snubbed, petting Clutterbucket, "I'll give you some apples if you knock him into the wall, boy. What do you say?"
Lucas chuckled and rolled his eyes, shaking his head in mirth.
He continued his work while Maya crooned and spoke to her horse, keeping him especially distracted when Lucas had to work on the hooves in the blind spot at the back. But there were no issues and he didn't get kicked. When all was finished, he gave Clutterbucket another sugar cube, and Maya opened the stable door so he could go back and graze outside. Lucas gathered up his tools and stuck them back into his satchel.
"And now that that's taken care of, one last order of business before I leave." He said, standing up and turning to face her.
Maya took a step back, narrowing her eyes warily, "What?"
"It's about our plan. Billy found out when the town council meeting is." Lucas said, all traces of his amusement gone from his face. He was wholly serious now, his expression lacking any warmth. "It's in two days' time."
"Two days?" Maya's eyes widened slightly. That was sooner than she had expected, "How did he find out?"
"Missy has been sanctioned to work that night as well. She told him."
"That's unfortunate."
Lucas nodded, "It's late in the evening, when night falls. There is an old, unused stable near the mayor's mansion. We can stow away there and lie in wait until the women arrive. You'll join up with the rest of them then. And then we can all meet back at the shed once we have finished our respective parts."
"Easy for you to say," Maya scoffed, crossing her arms across her chest, "You don't have to pry yourself away from some amorous asshole."
"Hey." He said seriously, holding her gaze to reassure her. "You'll be fine. If you can't think of a way to leave, just tell Billy and I, and we'll create a diversion."
Maya frowned, staring at him for a few moments, "How are you so confident about everything?"
"I've been plotting and making various plans for several years now." He responded easily, "But believe me, I used to get nervous too. You get used to it at some point."
"Hn." Maya nodded resolutely, "Alright. Is there anything else you need me to do for this plan?"
"What plan?"
Alarmed at the sound of a new voice in their conversation, Lucas and Maya both spun around and found Riley peering curiously into the doorway of the stables. They hadn't even noticed her come in.
"Riley! I didn't hear you come in." Maya said, running her hand through her hair and trying to appear nonchalant. Lucas could easily see this was a train wreck waiting to happen. "Why are you here?"
"Mama told me to check to see where progress on Clutterbucket was. Clint is supposed to be arriving soon." Riley's eyes narrowed a fraction, "…But I saw Clutterbucket running around outside… so I was a little curious where you were…"
"Ah… Well I was just having a chat with Mr. Friar."
"As I can see," Riley said, smiling gently, though her eyes were holding a shrewd quality to them that Maya came to pick up as Riley's unrelenting interest. "So what plan are you talking about?"
"Well… you see… We, uh…" Maya glanced at Lucas frantically, before sighing, "Truth is, he's been secretly courting me for a while. And… I, uh… I love him. We're planning on eloping."
Riley's eyes grew impossibly wide at her words, and she gaped at them, momentarily frozen in shock.
"Wait…You and him. Him and you. I can't believe it…" Riley babbled, still trying to wrap her head around what Maya had said.
Lucas' jaw clenched tightly, and he turned back around, giving Maya a questioning raised eyebrow. He was not amused. Of all the lies and of all the things she could have said, why the hell did she choose that one? This wasn't something that could easily be passed off and forgotten.
"Really?" He said lowly, agitation adorning his face, "Eloping?"
"I panicked. Please play along." She pleaded, whispering under her breath.
"Add the curved blade, and I might consider." He said, not altogether playfully.
"You're insufferable…" she growled.
His eyes narrowed dangerously, "Enjoy explaining to your father and mother what this so called plan of yours is when I tell your sister the truth."
"Fine. You ass."
Lucas turned back around, smiling charmingly, "I would like to marry Maya, but she's being courted by another. Eloping was our only option."
Riley's eyes sparkled in excitement, "Is that the reason why you were so adamant about not marrying anyone, Maya?! All along, you already had a love! I knew there was something going on when he came to the door earlier!"
"Yeah…" Maya said, unenthusiastically. Lucas could tell she was two seconds away from grimacing. Maybe now she was starting to realize the gravity of her lie. "That's exactly why…"
"Maya you're so cute! All this time you've been saying you had no interest in marriage, but you do. I'm so happy for you!" Riley squealed in excitement and hopped up and down, "You know what? I'm going to try to convince Papa to drop Clint's courtship. Maybe if I slide some hints about you two, he'll realize who you really want to be with."
"Ah, Riley that's not really neces–"
"There's no way I'm going to let you lose the romance you've finally found after all these years."
Maya smiled sheepishly, sighing in defeat. "Riley, that's sweet."
"Anything for my big sis!" Riley stated firmly, "I'm going to try to convince Papa right now! The sooner he ends it, the sooner you two can be wed! And maybe we might even be able to get you-know-who to come."
With that, Riley spun on her heel and skipped out of the stables, excited about the prospective marriage on the horizon.
"She knows about Bull's Sleaze?"
Maya nodded, "She knows about my mother. But nothing about you or Billy."
Sighing, Lucas picked up his bag and walked out of the stables with Maya, "Once again, you manage to throw me into a crazy situation I have no control over."
"I apologized."
"You didn't." he said, deadpan look set on his face.
Maya rolled her eyes, the sky blue starting to melt into a sharp gray with the diminishing sunlight.
"Well forgive me for trying my hardest to cover up our plan to kill the mayor." She said, her eyes glinting in frustration, "I'm sitting here, enjoying my life while somewhere out there, my mother is being fucked by that asshole. I have to get her out by all costs. Which means no one can know about our plans. Otherwise I'll lose any way to get her free. And she has to be."
Lucas watched her silently, watching as grief, desperation, agitation, and resentment swirled and passed in quick succession in her expression. He recognized each of those expressions, because he knew he'd been sporting them on his face for most of his life. He vaguely wondered if that was how he appeared to Billy most of the time, even when he smiled.
"Just calm down. We'll get her out."
Maya turned her gaze to him, a frown on her features, "Look, we really need to finish this mess as soon as possible after we find whatever we need to in the mayor's office. I promised myself I wouldn't lie to Riley again, and look what I just did. The longer this takes, the more I end up lying to people I care about!"
"You knew what you were getting into in agreeing to this plan, Maya."
"Yeah, yeah…" she said in annoyance. "Don't you have somewhere to be? If you're not staying for supper, you should go."
"Do you want me to stay?" Lucas quipped cloyingly, watching something towards the right. "I am apparently your love."
"I never said I wanted you to stay." Maya riposted quickly, her cheeks rouging at the reminder of her ill-timed lie, "I told you to leave."
"Alright." He said, returning his gaze to hers, and Maya's breath hitched at the tender look in his eyes.
Before she could even react, Lucas took her chin in his hand and kissed her lightly on the corner of her mouth, his lips lingering for a few seconds before he pulled back. However short-lived it was, Maya's breath was almost completely taken away by the simplicity and intimacy of the action.
"What the hell was that?!" she said, flustered and face an odd shade of red.
"We have to make it convincing for your sister." He said with a wink, cocking his head slightly towards the right. "And for Clint."
"Convincing my ass, you dirty pig." She hissed, itching to drive her foot into his shin. She ignored the thought floating in her mind that she enjoyed it, and was a little disappointed that he hadn't kissed her directly.
Though she did note that in the corner of her left eye, she could see a figure on the porch of her house, watching them. When she turned her head, the figure walked into the house.
"Two days' time Maya." Lucas reminded her as he headed towards the gate where one of the Minkus horses awaited. "Don't be late. And bring the curved blade, if you will."
And then he tipped his hat at her, not altogether politely, and she threw him the finger. Much to her chagrin, he merely laughed before climbing onto his horse and riding off into the distance.
And then Maya sighed, and let out a long breath. She had approximately two days to figure out how to put makeup on and mentally prepare. This was it. It was really happening. The plan would be in effect soon.
And once they succeeded, she and her mother would finally be able to live the lives they'd wanted. She wouldn't have to marry Clint, she would no longer have to deal with being restricted as a woman in this damn town, she would never have to feel alone again.
Smiling to herself, Maya made the light trek back to her porch.