*Author's Note*

Thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews.

Yay! Back-to-back updates. I'm still working on an update for SWTDS.

Crazy Old Coot

Nancy POV:

It's been a few days since Sarah sent Jefferson over to me and Abel's to hide out. He got into some trouble with his brother-in-law, Fred Wolford, at a barn dance. He went there to confront him 'bout somethin' goin' on that was upsettin' his wife and, well, it turned into a scuffle. Fred pulled a gun on Jefferson and my brother turned the gun onto his brother-in-law, tryin' to save himself, and it went off. Accidently killin' the mailman, but nobody wants to hear that and now there's a reward out on his head. Me and my husband's been lettin' him stay with us while Sarah speaks to the law to get the reward and charges dropped. Bein' the mailman's sister she's able to do that.

Jefferson had just gone outside to find the jug of shine my husband had stashed under a bush. Abel didn't like clutterin' the house wit' shine jugs and bottles cause of Harmony. He was afraid she'd get into it or break it, so he used the bushes outside to hide 'em. I didn't pay no mind to it. If he wanted to do that, good for him. Least I know my daughter ain't gonna break nothin' and get in trouble cause good shine these days is hard to find. Only one makin' it's Billy and he charges a hefty price for it. More then Tolbert or Johnse Hatfield ever did.

Oh hell…the Tug needs more shiners and less drinkers.

I was at the stove, fixin' Harmony somethin' to et whenever I heard my brother screamin' my name at the top of his lungs. Oh shit. Somethin' was wrong. "Stay at the table, Harmony." I told my toddler, who just nodded, 'fore rushin' to the door. Runnin' out the door, I saw my brother holdi' onto the stable post while that Vance Bastard, Jim Vance, and Cap Hatfield were all grabbin' at him; tryin' to yank him away from the post. "What're ya'll doin' to my brother?" I asked, runnin' down the porch steps.

"Ya can't let them take me, sis!" Jefferson screamed as Cap and Shaw got him to let go of the post he was holdin'.

Turnin' to look at me, Jim Vance ordered in a nasty tone, "Go on inside and get yourself dressed proper, Miss McCoy."

"Leave my brother alone; let him go." I ordered the men as Jim Vance turned back 'round to help his demon nephews wit' my brother since Jefferson was squirmin' and kickin' his way loose of their hold on 'im.

"What you gonna do 'bout it?" Jim Vance sarcastically asked, turnin' towards me an' spttin' toabacky at my bare feet.

That damn bastard. I'll show him what I'll do 'bout it. I grabbed a cow's tail hangin' on the wall near me an' ran over to that vile man. I whipped him over and over, showin' him that I was gonna fight for my brother to be let go. Jim Vance cowered, tryin' to cover his face, as I whipped him. Shaw and Cap were cursin' up a storm and tellin' my brother to get up since Jefferson threw himself on the ground an' grabbed hold of the bottom of the stable post.

"Damn, girl, ya need a good whippin'!" Jim Vance shouted at me while smackin' me in the face and yankin' the cow's tail right out of my hand. He shoved me down on the hay in the stable an' started beatin' me as if I was a mule. He held me down while cursin' an' screamin' at me.

"Nancy! Don't let him do that to you!" Jefferson shouted as I kicked and scratched at Jim Vance in an attempt to get him t'stop beatin' on me.

My daughter must've heard my cries an' Jefferson's shoutin' cause she ran out of the house lookin' for me an' my brother. She stopped near the stable an' asked, "Mama hurt? Uncie Jeff'son hurt?"

"Aww, look's like the baby McCoy shew can walk an' talk now. Wonder what she knows 'bout her parents schemin'." Shaw darkly chuckled, turnin' his attention off my brother and onto my daughter.

Oh hell no, these demons ain't gettin' my baby. They ain't takin' my baby. The killed my pap, tryin' to take my brother, beatin' on me like a mule, blackballed my husband from work, an' locked my sister-in-law up in a barm like a wild animal, but they ain't gettin' my baby. I'll fight to the death t'protect her from Hatfields.

I wildly fought Jim Vance while he called me a mangy lil whore. Cap, seein' my daughter watchin' me be beat, ordered him uncle to stop. When Jim Vance didn't, he jumped on him t'get him off me. Jefferson managed to kick down Shaw, who weren't payin' him no mind, an' ran off all while I tossed the cow's tail outta the stable an' scrambled out of it. I ran over to my daughter, who was now cryin', an' scooped her up.

"Damnit, he's gettin' away!" Shaw roared on top of his lungs, pointin' down the road, as Jim Vance and Cap were bickerin' in my stable.

I ran into the house wit' Harmony, prayin' that those demons don't catch my brother.

Abel POV:

After Jessa stopped me on the road and warned me about Shaw, Cap, and Jim Vance plannin' on kidnapping and killing Jefferson this morning, while I was off workin' on Randall's farm, I rode home as fast as I could. I honestly didn't think they'd go after Jefferson since I read in my history book years ago that they did it to drive a wedge between Nancy and Johnse; I'm with her and not him so I assumed he'd be safe from this. I also assumed that Sarah, his wife, would get the charges dropped since the murdered mailman was her brother. Everyone knew that Fred and Jefferson were having problems getting along as brothers-in-law.

When I reached my cabin I saw the evidence that all hell had broken loose. A few side boards on my stable were torn off, my hidden shine jug was broken on the ground, and a whip was halfway between the stable and the cabin. As quickly as I could, I dismounted my horse and ran over to the house. "Nancy! Nancy!" I called out to my wife as I ran onto the porch.

Whenever I opened my door and walked inside, I saw my wife sittin' on our bed, rockin' our daughter as she cried hysterically. One side of Nancy's beautiful face was all bashed up by the whip that I saw layin' outside. "Who beat you? Was it Shaw or Jim Vance?" I asked, rushin' to my wife's side and gently cuppin' her cheek.

"Jim Vance beat me like I was a mule. Worse, he did disgustin' things to me infront of Harmony." Jesus, he beat and manhandled my wife in front of our 2-year-old. Fuck! "Him, Shaw, and Jim Vance come in here and tried to take Jefferson."

Harmony lifted her head from Nancy's shoulder and looked at me. Her big brown eyes had tears in them. "Pap, Mama hurt bad." Her tiny lip quivered as she cried, "Uncie Jeff'son hurt."

"Jessa stopped me on the road, warned me to get home." I told Nancy, causin' her to nod.

"She learnt 'bout their plan, tried to stop it." Nancy concluded as she continued to rock our daughter to calm her down. "Go after them; bring back my brother."

"Don't worry, I will." I assured my wife, kissin' her on the crown of her hair before heading out to rescue her brother from the craziest men in the Hatfield family.

Shaw POV:

Jefferson was runnin' towards the embankment near the Tug Fork River, but we were hot on his tail. Uncle Jim and Cap fired off some pistol shots at him while I spurred my horse on, tryin' to get close enough to lasso the McCoy murder. Ropin' his neck oughtta stop his ass. Goddamn, am I glad that I spent my teen years in the Southwest.

I learned how to use a lasso in Oklahoma whenever I worked part time after school on a ranch. It was one of the oldest and largest ranches in Tulsa; was in the same family since the late 1880s or early 1890s I think. The ranch just kept gettin' passed down generation after generation. I don't remember the name of the family that owned it since I never dealt with them. I dealt with the foreman and the ranch hands, so in a way the owners' names didn't matter as long as I got a paycheck from the Second Chance Ranch every other week. Yea, I know, weird fuckin' name, but it was founded 'round now and people that settle west tend to be in that second chance at life mindset.

"I'm almost close 'nough to rope him!" I shouted over the loud sounds of hooves galloping on the ground as we chased our target thru tall grass.

"Then get him so we can shoot his ass and go home!" Uncle Jim ordered as I stood up and began to twirl my lasso over my head.

Just as I flicked my wrist, sending the hoop of rope soaring into the air around Jefferson's neck, Cap let off a shot which caused the Mccoy to make a quick jerk forward. I tried to pull my wrist back to tighten the rope into a noose around Jefferson's neck, put he was too fast and I ended up lettin' the rope slip out of my hand. If only I hand on gloves, them I would've been able to keep my grip on the rope instead of gettin' rope burn.

"Damnit! You shootin' at him scared him off and made my hand get burnt raw, Cap!" I hollered at my jackass cousin while Jefferson made a mad dash down the embankment.

"Don't blame my shot for you not holdin' onto the goddamn rope, Shaw!" Cap barked as we pulled our horses to a stop on top of a large hill.

As we dismounted our horses and ran over to the edge of the hill, Jefferson was already at the bottom and was makin' his way towards the river. "Shit, he's gettin' away." Uncle Jim groaned while I just looked at the family sharp shooter, silently askin' him if he was going to use his skills to kill Jefferson. He was the only one around these parts that could make a shot like that.

Cap nodded, signaling that he was going to take a shot at Jefferson. "Uncle Jim, stand still." Cap ordered our crochety old uncle as Jefferson swam across the river.

Jefferson scrambled up the riverbank on the Kentucky side as Cap was balancin' his rifle on Uncle Jim's shoulders. "What's wrong, can't swim?!" Jefferson taunted us from the other side.

"Cap, hurry up."

"Hush, Uncle Jim."

"Haha, you gonna shoot me from there?! You'll never make it, it's half a mile!" Jefferson laughed, raisin' both hands up and flippin' us off.

Before Jefferson could say another word, Cap's gun went off and a bullet landed right between his eyes. "Looks like he gave you a target." I chuckled, referring to the birds Jefferson shot us since they did work as a guide on where to shoot him at. In the goddamn head.

"Yea! A shot in the head!" Uncle Jim cheered as Cap removed his gun from his shoulder and slung it over his own. "You did good son." He clapped my cousin on the back.

Uncle Jim ignored my presence, choosing to walk with Cap back to our horses. It was as if my efforts didn't matter in killin' Jefferson. Since Cap made the head shot, he gets all the attention and praise. Well, fuck him and fuck Uncle Jim too. As I watched Jefferson McCoy's lifeless body go downstream, I swore that I'd get my revenge on Cap from stealin' Uncle Jim from me. I'd get my revenge on Uncle Jim for tossin' me aside for Cap too.

*A Few Moments Later…*

Abel POV:

I was almost to the riverbank whenever I heard the gunshot go off and saw Shaw, Jim Vance, and Cap riding off in the distance. I felt sick to my stomach. Knowing I had to retrieve Jefferson from the river and bring him to the undertaker, I continued to the riverbank and then rode downstream. I'm not sure how long I was riding for until I found Jefferson's lifeless body. He had a noose around his neck, which had caught on a root or something that was hanging from the side of the riverbank, which was the only reason I was able to find him in a reasonable amount of time instead of hours.

After pulling him out of the river, I slung him on the back of my horse and made my way to Pikeville. I knew that once Perry Cline and Brenton Landon saw Jefferson that they'd be insisting that reporter come back and do a story on it. I wanted T.C. Crawford to write about Jefferson's murder along with the beating my wife took in front of our daughter. The world needed to know that the Hatfields were getting worse instead of better.

Shaw POV:

After puttin' down Jefferson, we rode into Mate Creek so that Uncle Jim and Cap could get some supplies for the colony deep up in the hills that was almost ready to movie into. While they did that, I planned on stoppin' by the livery to check on Todd. I wanted to make sure that he wasn't runnin' my hard built business into the ground.

"Is that one of my horses at hitched at Doc's?" I asked, spotting what I swear was one of my older horses at the office that was across from the diner my mom once owned.

"Yea." Uncle Jim nodded, "Think something might be wrong wit' your wife, boy."

"My wife? Why'd she be here on horseback, we're havin' a baby in a couple months."

Jim let out a disgruntled sigh while Cap told me, "Cotton don't know how to hitch a wagon, but he can saddle a horse. Jessa had him help her up onto the horse cause something's wrong with' the pregnancy."

"Oh my god…" I jumped down from my horse and led him over to the hitchpost. Quickly, I tied him up next to the horse my wife used and ran up the front walkway to Doc Rutherford's office. "Doc! Doc!" I called out as soon as I burst thru his office door.

Loud cries and moans came from the back of the clinic. They were my wife's, I'm sure of it. The old doctor walked out of the back room, only to give me a sad look. Taking his cigar out of his mouth, he said, "Your wife's in the back."

"Is something wrong with the baby?" I asked, praying against all logic that he'd say no.

He came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Shaw, I'm sorry, but Jessa's having a stillbirth." I felt like I couldn't breathe. This couldn't be real. "There was nothing I could do; she was already havin' bad labor pains and bleedin' when she got here for help."

"Has she…?" My words died off as I tried to ask if she'd given birth to the baby yet.

Being a doctor, he knew what I meant and answered me with, "Not yet, but soon." I nodded, feeling like my life was falling apart. "You best get on home and tend to your children. Cotton Top's with them and your wife's still birth might take hours yet."

I didn't want to leave my wife all alone to miscarry our baby, but Doc was right. I needed to get home and take care of my kids. Cotton couldn't be alone with them for too long, he wasn't mentally capable of doing more than babysitting them. "Come get me when I can see her."

"I will." Doc told me, putting his cigar back into his mouth and turning around to go back into my wife's room.

Fuckin' McCoys and their damn bounties on us. That stress must've caused Jessa's miscarriage since she always did experience rough pregnancies. Time for me to find Bad Frank and give him the location of Selkirk McCoy, the kin killer. Hey, even tho he's married to a Hatfield he's still a McCoy. He's got Randall's blood, which is unfortunate for him right now.

AN:

And who saw that coming? Yikes! Next up poor Selkirk gets taken in by Bad Frank.