The wild prairie grass was still this day as the sunlight streamed across the peaceful land. A herd of cattle grazed quietly as two men in cowboy hats zig-zagged among the bulls. Chris Larabee and Buck Wilmington kept their heads low as they made their wy through the pasture. They paused only long enough to check the branding on each steer they came near and were shaking their heads until Buck gave a quiet shout of victory. They had indeed found the missing cattle that had been rustled away from Cleve Dowling's herd during a cattle drive. Both men crept toward the ranch house when they suddenly found themselves being fired upon.
"Get off my land!" called a voice from inside the house. It was Jed Fowler, cattle rancher, and newly-discovered rustler, extraordinaire.
Chris and Buck laid low in the grass and fired shots toward the ranch house. However, their aim was not quite on target since they could not even see their target from their cover beneath the grass. They only knew he was inside. But they did not want to kill him either... unless it was necessary.
Five horses with five riders suddenly stampeded near as more gunfire was heard, and the ranch house was surrounded. Nathan and Ezra entered the ranch house from the back door to find the man who was busy shooting at Vin, Josiah, J.D., Chris, and Buck out front. But the man ceased fire when he heard the distinct click of a pistol cocking right behind his head. "Well, sir, it looks like today is your unlucky day!" said a glowering Ezra from behind the gun.
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The man was soon tied and placed on the back of Chris' horse for the journey back to Four Corners where he was to be jailed and tried. Josiah and J.D. were given the responsibility to ride to Cleve Dowling's ranch and let him know his cattle have been located.
"Ride to the Dowling ranch? Then shouldn't we bring his cattle back for him?" J.D. asked after he mounted his ride.
Josiah glanced at him and then glanced at the cattle, then back again. "I don't know about you, J.D., but I ain't pushin' horns anywhere without professional help."
J.D. considered this argument and conceded, "Good point." Then he shouted to the others, "We'll see you back in town!" With that, he and Josiah rode off.
The remaining five then began their journey back to town with their prisoner. Vin took this opportunity to chastise him. "You don't get away with cattle rustlin' in these parts," he taunted. "Ya know what we do to your kind?" The man was silent. Vin turned to Buck. "Tell 'im what we do, Buck."
"Well, let's see, in our 'How to treat a cattle rustler' book, it says we should beat the hell outta the bastard until he cries for his mama," Buck chided.
"Now, boys, you know we can't do that," replied Chris half-jokingly, "...at least not before a trial!"
The man was becoming tired of all the verbal abuse. "No one treats Jed Fowler like this and gets away with it! Besides, you think I rustled them cattle? Well, I ain't..."
Chris pulled up on his reins to a sudden stop. "What did you say?"
"You can't treat me like some low-life! 'Cause I'm Jed Fowler, and..."
"That's what I thought you said," Chris interrupted. Then he turned to look at the man tied up directly behind him and gave him a knowing look. Suddenly, this wasn't just about cattle rustling anymore. "You wouldn't happen to be of relation to a man named Cletus Fowler, would you?"
The rancher paused. Then it became clear that he suddenly became a mute and Chris became impatient. "I'll take that as a yes. You're no ordinary rancher, are you?" It was more of a statement than a question. "You might just be a murderer, too!" Then Chris gave his horse a kick and they were all on their way again.
Then everyone was quiet. They all knew what the Fowler name meant to Chris. Buck rode beside his long-time friend and spoke quietly. He wanted to calm him down and let him realize that it's possible that the man does not know who hired Cletus Fowler to kill Chris' family. But Chris was adamant that the man's silence echoed the fact that he must know and he was trying badly to hide it.
As the team continued to 4Corners, they passed near another town. A man from the town with a star on his chest rode up to greet them with a smile. "Good afternoon, gentlemen." The men stopped as the man with the badge spoke. "I see you have a special delivery to make," he said as he indicated the prisoner. He gave a nod first to Chris, then to each of the other 5 men. When he saw Ezra, he paused and stared a while and narrowed his eyes. Why did this man seem familiar?
"We're taking him to justice," Vin replied.
Ezra noticed the lawman's gaze and began to eye him as well. He had a strong suspicion that this man would mean bad news for him.
"I'm Sheriff Ethan Pike of Spring Rock just up a little while here." The sheriff smiled and gave slight hesitation before he spoke the next words. "This man is wanted in our town for cattle rustling. We just hadn't had the fortune of capturing him or his men. I was wondering if you gentlemen would be willing to part with him at Spring Rock where we can take over for his punishment." He managed an amiable smile, suspecting from the looks of these men that this exchange would not go over so easily. "Our town has a way with criminals."
"Well, this MAN, if you want to call him that, is wanted for more than just cattle rustlin' in our town," Chris replied. "And I think OUR TOWN has a way with JUSTICE!"
By this time, Ezra had located the sheriff's image as well as the town's name in his memory. As he suspected, it was not good. He quickly quipped, "Well, I think that's settled, then. I suggest we depart before darkness shrouds our path." He began to turn his horse to leave, but just then, the sheriff turned to him.
"Wait!" the sheriff shouted. He paused as Ezra stopped in his tracks, looking almost like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. Pike's memory began to become clearer little by little. "Mr. ...Standish, isn't it?" Ezra's face was expressionless. "Yes,... yes," the sheriff repeated slowly as he shook a finger in Ezra's direction.
This obviously annoyed the con man. "Yes, you have a remarkable mastery of the enunciation of that word."
"Your mother's name is Maude, isn't it?" Pike continued. Ezra was poker-faced. "I don't suppose you remember the town of Spring Rock, do you, Mr. Standish?"
"I have never set foot in your town, Sheriff."
"Oh, but you have... almost 10 years ago, was it?" the sheriff added with a sneer.
Buck whispered to Vin, "10 years? Boy, do these folks know how to hold a grudge!" Vin nodded with a sigh.
Pike continued, "You were rather young then, but still a fiendish criminal!" The other men all turned to look at Ezra who was now sitting less than comfortably in his saddle. The man in red, however, heard no argument from any of them. He shook his head in denial. "You swindled our town and its citizens out of over $700! YOU are a wanted man in our town, too, Mr. Standish!" Pike grinned victoriously at his find.
Ezra shook his head as he felt his heart beating faster and the blood beginning to rush to his head. "No, sir, you must be mistaken..."
"I would recognize that voice, ...and that accent anywhere!"
"Damned accent," Ezra thought to himself. And for the first time in his life, he stopped liking the sound of his own voice.
"Well, it seems that you have TWO wanted men in your possession, gentlemen," Pike addressed the others. "I want them BOTH in my jail, and I will do everything in my power to see that it happens!"
END TEASER
MAIN TITLE SEQUENCE
The 5 men were still sitting on their mounts staring down the sheriff, who was still trying to convince them that justice would be better served if their prisoners were handed over to him. Nathan tried to reason with the man, "Sheriff, Ezra is not a prisoner."
The sheriff glared at Nathan with disgust. "Boy, I don't know what he's told you, but if you think he's really one of you, he must be pulling one hell of a con on you folks. And Fowler! He should be my prisoner, too! After all the damage he's done to our town,... I'll use force if necessary. The law is on my side!"
Vin quipped, "Well, whatta ya know? It's on OUR side, too!"
Chris tried to reason with the man. "Sheriff, this man was possibly involved in 2 murders, and I think that's a bigger crime than cattle rustling, which we're also takin' 'im in for." He gave it another thought and added, "We're going to have to pry some answers out of him. If you like, you can come along and take a whip to him yourself for good measure."
Pike gave a heavy sigh. They had been arguing here for quite some time, and neither side had budged from their stand. He was getting tired and told themso.
A few of the men raised their eyebrows. "Well, if you're tired, so are we," quipped Buck. "I guess we'll just take our prisoner and be going now."
"Not so fast," the sheriff stopped them once again. "I have a proposition for you."
Ezra didn't like the word "proposition." It was a word he himself used on numerous occasions, and it was usually not good news for the person he was talking to. He spoke with caution. "And what might your proposal be?"
The sheriff took a deep breath and spoke again. "I will not come away empty-handed. I will allow you to take Fowler... IF I can bring young Mr. Standish here to justice in my town."
"How'd I know he was going to say that?" Ezra whispered to Nathan.
"I don't know, Ezra. Seems like a fair trade to me," joked Nathan.
"Sheriff, I don't know if you're aware of this, but the honorable Judge Travis has pardoned me for my sins," Ezra explained.
The sheriff thought for a while and said, "No, I'm not aware of that."
"Well, it's true," Vin added.
However, the sheriff eyed him as well. They all concluded this was still not working.
"The offer still stands, though," the sheriff continued.
The five compadres huddled as well as they could on horseback to discuss it.
"We cannot possibly give credence to such a horrendous proposition!" Ezra immediately and predictably argued.
"Anything to get this guy off our backs," Vin half-joked.
Ezra took offense. "Were you not in jest, I would shoot you on the spot!"
"What other options do we have besides standing out here and arguing forever?" Vin replied. "If we try to just make a run for it, he's gonna follow us."
"We could try," Buck disagreed.
Chris shook his head in consideration. "This man might not mind an opportunity to shoot Ezra or Mr. Fowler in the back. And we don't want either of those to happen."
Nathan also opted for a less violent answer. "Look, if there is a way to do this without becoming wanted men ourselves, then that's the best way to dothis."
Ezra glared at his friendly adversary with sarcasm. "Why, thank you, Nathan. I am touched by your overwhelming consideration for my welfare."
Nathan furrowed his eyebrows as he glared back at the gambler. "Besides, handing Ezra over might be just what he needs, and what we need, too."
"I can't believe you!" Ezra turned again to the group as a whole. "Does everyone here think this is funny?" He allowed his temper to flare now and was feeling very betrayed and insulted. He contributed to the team effort as much as anyone else, but now felt that he could not count on the others if he needed support. "I am an indispensible member of this ensemble, and I refuse to be treated like..."
Chris interrupted his near-tirade. "Ezra, you go with him for now, and we'll wire the judge. You'll be out in no time," he said. "Go with him now and at least we'll have a change at getting something out of this guy. We'll come back for you later. We just need as much time as we can get. So I don't wanna waste it here." This came from their leader as a declaration; not a question. There was no question in Chris' mind that Fowler would be able to provide some valuable information as to the murder of his family, which was the most important thing to him. There was also no question in his mind that Ezra would be able to take care of himself if taken to jail. After all, he had been in difficult scrapes before. "I trust you to stay out of trouble, O.K.?"
Buck hesitated, but consented to the decision. "Yeah. Just don't try any more swindles before they put you on trial."
Ezra was speechless. He had expected this treatment from Nathan, who always disagreed with his methods, but now everyone else! "Well. I should have expected this from you hypocritical ingrates. I'll do it... in the name of learning who hired Cletus Fowler. But you will all owe me!"
Chris gave a nod and Buck gave Ezra a pat on the back. Then the group broke and turned back to Pike. "All right, Pike," spoke Chris. "You got yourself a deal."
Buck waved. "Bye, Ezra!"
Vin followed suit. "Don't forget to write!"
Ezra nudged his horse slowly forward toward Pike, but he did not look back at his "friends." He was having mixed feelings right now. The one thing he did know was that Chris needed to hold on to the real criminal here if justice had a chance to prevail for their leader. There wasn't much opposition to the exchange, so as he arrived next to Pike, he finally couldn't help but turn and watch as the others rode away. Anger was displaced by disillusion, then that again by anger. Well, he thought to himself, he had always been somewhat of a loner before. Now it was time to become one again. Or did he ever stop being one in the first place? Pike urged him to keep up with him as he tied a rope between their horses and tied Ezra's wrists together with another rope. He also relieved him of his visible weapon.
"You don't really expect me to attempt a hasty retreat, now, do you?" Ezra drawled.
"This is just in case you suddenly become stupid," Pike said with what Ezra swore was an evil grin. The gambler just rolled his eyes and rode on beside the sheriff.
Upon arriving at Spring Rock, the sheriff and his captive were greeted by some town people who couldn't believe what they were seeing and others who didn't know what they were seeing. A middle-aged woman sweeping her front door step with a broom gasped as Ezra passed. He gave a deep sigh, hoping that the townfolk did not remember him and decide to carry out their own idea of justice right there on the street.
The woman screamed, "Oh my God! Is it really... That lying, cheating, thief stole my family's savings! Where's your mother, boy?! I want her to burn in hell with you!"
"You've finally caught the scoundrel!"
Phrases such as these were echoed down the main street as the sheriff led Ezra to the jail.
Pike offered to help Ezra down from his horse but the dapper con man refused to allow anyone to help him into involuntary confinement. He dismounted and brushed the dust off his red coat with as much dignity as he could muster and strolled into the jailhouse.
There were 2 cells. One was occupied by a man who appeared to be sleeping sitting up. The other cell was empty, at least for a few more seconds as the sheriff opened the door and Ezra looked askance at him. The bare walls of the cell and thin mattress of the cot were hardly welcoming. Then the gambler strolled into the cell with as much nonchalance as he could muster and turned to face the sheriff. He held out his fists expectantly and the sheriff obliged by untying those unsightly ropes and closed the cell door. The sheriff tipped his hat and informed his new prisoner that he will contact the judge to verify his story.
But Ezra's suspicious eyes followed Pike as he left. He had an uneasy feeling that this town wasn't big enough for both himself and all these people who wanted him dead. Ezra had the sneaking suspicion that the sheriff wasn't telling him everything and his thoughts soon steered involuntarily toward how to escape. However, this thought was soon displaced by another when he glanced in the direction of the other prisoner. He admired the beauty of the watch the man had dangling from his pocket. He suddenly forgot his predicament and let a golden smile creep to his face.
When the boys rode into Four Corners, they were greeted by Billy running into the street. "Chris! Can we go fishing NOW?" he asked hopefully.
But Chris did not stop for the boy. "Sorry, Billy. Some other time." And he continued to ride past the child on their way to the jailhouse.
Mary was coming out of the Clarion office to lock up when she witnessed the men's entrance. Billy was disappointed, since Chris had promised that they would go fishing soon. He never said how soon, but time means nothing to a child as young as Billy. She walked to her son as he came to her. "It's OK, Billy," she reassured him as she stroked his head. " Chris is busy right now. He'll have time later."
"I know," Billy said. Then he suddenly perked up. "But it was worth a try!"
Mary smiled and patted him on the head. When she looked up and watched the men riding down the main street, she noticed that Josiah, Ezra, and J.D. were missing.
Ezra appeared stolid as he shuffled his deck of cards. Then the sheriff returned with a short, round man with a thick, gray mustache. "I'm Mayor Wilby," the second man said. He tipped his hat.
Ezra gave a slight nod in the mayor's direction as he sized-up the man. Then he ignored him. "Heard from the judge?" he asked Pike.
"No, it turns out he'll be unavailable for a couple of days," Pike said unapologetically.
"Mr. Standish, we know that it was your mother who masterminded the scheme. Now, we are willing to offer you some lenience in exchange for custody of her."
Ezra, whose attention had been elsewhere, had to snap his mind back to the mayor. When the words registered, he had to smile at this proposition. He chuckled slightly, his gold tooth displayed prominently. Then he stopped smiling and rose to stand eye-to-eye with the mayor. "If I tell you where you can find my mother, will you release me?" He had no intention of sitting in this jail cell for two days waiting for the judge.
"Of course not!" the mayor seemed offended at the mere idea of simply letting him go. "But we will give you a more lenient sentence than your mother."
Ezra's green eyes narrowed as he studied the mayor's gray eyes. "And exactly what sentence would be exacted upon my mother?"
"Well, that has yet to be decided for certain."
"How can I deal when I don't know what's on the table?"
"Isn't that how you gamblers usually do it? I forgot, you're not really a gambler, you're a con man. You always know everything that's on the table," the mayor chuckled. Ezra made no attempt to hide his unamused expression. When the mayor was done chuckling, he became serious again. "I'll be honest, Mr. Standish. The people of this town have not forgotten either of you. The judge could hand down any sentence he likes, but I have to warn you that accidents do happen to our criminals on occasion. And judging from the people's reaction as you came in,..." He let Ezra fill in the blank for himself.
Ezra's eyebrows became upturned as he let the news sink in. "Death? For... for... a... a... ? Pardon me if I find that quite... excessive."
"Well, this town does have a way with criminals," Pike recapped from his earlier dialogue with the Seven.
Ezra shook his head in bemusement, then regained his composure. "Well, if that's the case, gentlemen, I don't believe we have a deal," Ezra said. Then he turned to go back to his cot.
The mayor, however, was not finished with the matter. "You were played by your mother and now you are going to take the fall all by yourself! And she is going to get away with it! Do you think that's fair?" Ezra turned to face the mayor again and stared at him like he had antennae popping out of his head. "She made you a criminal, didn't she? She never cared for you - just the money. You wanted her approval, so you did what she wanted. And this is what you get for it? You shouldn't have to go through the punishment yourself," the mayor urged.
Ezra smirked. "Well, sir, some of what you say may possibly carry some credence. And if it does, or even if it doesn't, I, first, am offended that you would even pretend to know me or my relationship with my mother, and second, I disagree with the assertion that I should be punished at all."
The frustration rose in the mayor like steam in a pressure cooker. Then he let it out. "You are unbelievable, sir!"
"No, YOU, sir, are unbelievable!" Ezra approached the unbelievable mayor. "Trying to turn a man against his own mother! To make him send her to her death! You should be ashamed of yourself."
"Shame? I am not the one defending my mother when she is on the wrong side of the law!"
"Law? We were business people, and just like any good business people, we gave the people what they wanted! What's the law against that? You ought to train your townfolk better than that, Mr. Wilby."
The mayor took a deep breath. He was turning red from the strain of arguing with this con artist, who appeared only stirred, but not too badly shaken... and the mayor was supposed to have the upper hand in this sparring match, since he was not the one behind bars. The mayor told himself not to allow this criminal to get the better of him and tried to calm himself down. "I will not have this discussion with an incarcerated felon."
"Then let me out," quipped Ezra, fully knowing that it wasn't going to happen.
The mayor was once again offended and he turned on his heel and marched out. The sheriff stepped to the bars where the mayor was just standing and just barely managed to feign understanding for the man on the other side. "You ought to consider the mayor's proposal," he said calmly. He tipped his hat and followed the mayor out.
Ezra somberly took this last piece of dialogue as a threat.
By this time, the other prisoner was sitting and watching Ezra. As the con man turned to sit on his cot and return to his card shuffling, he caught a glimpse of the other man's gaze. He paused in mid-stride. "Are you a gambling man, sir?"
Chris, Vin, Buck, and Nathan swarmed around their prisoner. The man asked for a cigarette. "You'll get your cigarette when we get our answers, Fowler," Buck growled.
"Who hired your brother to kill my family?" bellowed an angry Chris.
"I don't know. You'd have to ask my brother that," the man shrugged.
"We tried, but your brother decided that it was his time to die," Nathan answered.
"If it was his time, it was his time. Too bad about that, though."
Chris banged on the bars of the cell door, the sudden noise and vibration startling the prisoner. "I don't believe for a minute that you're not cooperating simply because you don't know! If you loved your brother so much, you'd know!"
"Your brother is gone," stepped in Vin. "Are you trying to protect his memory... or something else?"
"Ah, I see, you yourself must have something to do with the murders," Buck added. "Is that right?"
Chris banged on the cell door and sent it rattling again. "We're waiting, Fowler!"
"I already told you everything I know," Fowler replied.
"You ain't told us nothin'," Nathan shot back.
"You're right! Nothin' is all I know!" said Fowler. "I'm tired. I'm going to lie down."
"Don't play that game with me, Jed!" boomed Chris.
"Why should I tell you anything?"
"You got a reason not to?" insinuated Vin.
The prisoner considered his response and added, "If I tell you what you want to know, will you let me go?"
The lawmen exchanged glanced, and Chris replied, "We'll consider it."
"Dependin' on how good your information is," added Vin.
"I'll think about it," the prisoner shrugged.
"Why, you son of a bitch!" a restrained Chris almost shouted. He moved as if to drive himself through the bars to Fowler, but he held himself back.
The men looked at each other. "Maybe we should take a little breather," Buck suggested, "to let things cool down for a while. We'll try again later."
Chris took a deep breath. "Yeah, I could use a drink," he said as turned for the door.
Buck and Vin followed him out, but Nathan took a seat at the desk. "I'll stay here in case he tries anything or changes his mind."
"Can we get you anything?" offered Buck.
"Naw, I'm fine."
"How 'bout you?" Vin directed his question to Fowler.
"How 'bout a whiskey?" Fowler said.
"Well, don't mind if we do! None for you, though." Vin cracked a smile as he walked out the door.
The 3 men made their way down the street when Mary approached them. She noticed the very serious look on Chris' face, which actually is not unusual, but it somehow seemed different this time. "Chris, is something wrong? The man you brought in this morning... is he the cattle rustler?"
"Yes, ma'am, he is," Chris answered as the group kept up their trek to the saloon.
"Is there something wrong? There's more, isn't there?" she was becoming a pesky newspaper reporter now. She looked for signs of answers first in Chris' face, then Vin's, then Buck's. But they didn't oblige her.
"The man's a weasel," said Buck tersely.
Mary stopped following the men as the continued to the saloon. She looked after them with some concern until they passed through those all-too-familiar swinging doors.
Meanwhile, Ezra was moving around 3 slightly bent cards on the floor near the bars that separated his cell from the other man's. Ezra had concluded that the other man had been arrested for public drunkenness and gullibility. Both men had placed their watches on the floor near the bars where Ezra was manipulating the cards. The other man looked on as the gambler spoke.
"Now, keep your eye on the Queen of Hearts. Keep watching... keep watching. If you find her, she will reward you kindly." Ezra's smile was overflowing with charm. He stopped moving the cards and said, "There. Which one is the Queen?"
The man pointed to the card in the center. Ezra put his hand on the card, ready to flip it over, and said, "Are you sure?"
The man hesitated and said, "No, wait. It's this one." He pointed to the one on his right.
Ezra moved his hand to the indicated card. "Now, are you sure?" The man again changed his mind and indicated the final card. "All right, this is your last chance to change your mind," Ezra warned. The man said he was sure. Ezra turned the card over and revealed the Ace of Spades. "Aw, well, sir, this does not appear to be your lucky day," he said as he swiped the man's watch from the floor. Then he flipped over the center card, revealing the Queen of Hearts. "Oh, it looks like you were right the first time after all. How unfortunate." He began to gather up the cards when the man interrupted him.
"No, wait," the man replied in a slightly drunken accent. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold cuff link.
Ezra stared at it with doubt. "Where did you get that?" he asked as he put his watch back into his pocket and fastened the chain.
"I pulled it off the guy I was beating up last night."
A typical and obvious response, Ezra thought. Since he had absolutely nothing to lose, he decided to take the idiot up on his offer. "All right, if you insist." He took his hat from the cot and tossed the watch inside as he lay his hat on the floor beside him. He laid the 3 cards faced upright. They showed an Ace of Spades, Queen of Hearts, and King of Diamonds. "Lay your bet right there, sir. You will now have the chance to win back your watch. However, if you fail to locate the Queen, she'll just have to steal that gold cuff link from you, too. All right?" The other man nodded. "All right. Keep your eye on the Queen." He flipped all 3 cards over and began to move them around. "Round and round she goes. Wherever she is, you'll never know." The con man stopped and asked the man, "Which one?"
The man indicated the card in the center once again. "It's this one, I'm positive."
Ezra smiled. "Are you sure?"
The man smiled back and answered, "I know, I watched you real close. It's that one!"
Ezra sighed and said, "All right, but you don't think I would actually put it in the same place twice in a row, would you?"
The man stared at Ezra, trying to read his face, but in this regards, he was illiterate. Then a wide suspecting grin spread across his face. "Aw, you can't fool me," he said as he waved a finger at the man who held the cards as well as the fate of his cuff link, "you're just tryin' to make me change my mind again like last time. Well, it ain't gonna work. That's the Queen and you put it there in the same place again because you thought that I'd think that you wouldn't, and then I'd pick a different one!" The man continued to grin suspiciously at Ezra.
The man's grin spread to Ezra's face, his gold tooth once again shining. "Whatever you say," he said as he chuckled. Then he flipped the card -- the King of Diamonds. The man had an almost disbelieving look on his face as Ezra quickly swiped the cuff link and dropped it into his hat. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he said as he flipped the card on his left to reveal the Queen, and then quickly gathered up the cards.
The man shot a dirty look at Ezra. "You ain't cheatin', are you?"
"Cheat? Me? Against you? Never!"
The man grumbled as he got up and walked to the other end of his cell and sat down again. Then Ezra, turning away, quietly added, "That talent would be better used to play Solitaire." He picked up his hat and reached inside for his winnings.
Just then, the sheriff returned. This time, he was followed by 2 men. One was the mayor. The other was introduced as Dr. Olson. The sheriff explained that Olson had insisted on coming. Ezra nodded respectfully to the doctor.
"Ah, so you're the infamous Mr. Standish who hoodwinked this town out of an enormous sum of money!" the doctor exclaimed. "I was not in this town when you were here with your mother, but I've heard a lot about you two."
"All bad, I'll bet," Ezra remarked.
"I admit, the words haven't been in your favor, but as an influential member of this community, I'm here to make sure you are treated justly."
"Doctor - an honorable profession. If I may, I would just like to say that Judge Travis has indeed pardoned me for my past crimes. You can ask anyone in I know."
The sheriff interjected, "Uh, I'm afraid we need the judge's OWN word."
Ezra's expression at the sheriff said, "Was I talking to you? No, I was not!" But he said nothing to the sheriff and turned back to Dr. Olson. "Doctor, these men have informed me of the general ill intentions directed at me by your townspeople. And I can't agree with them. First, whatever happened, occurred a long time ago, and I cannot be held accountable now for such ancient history."
"Well, that depends, now, doesn't it?" said Olson.
"I am a changed man, sir. If I did anything to harm your town 10 years ago, then I am truly sorry. I cannot verify exactly what I might have done, since, you must admit, it has been a long time. And to punish a reformed man..." he continued as he held his arms out to his sides as if to show himself on display, "...would be pointless... and wrong." He caught a glimpse of his hat in his hand with the other prisoner's watch and cuff link in it and promptly put it down on his cot, careful not to make the contents clink. He walked up to the door and clutched the bars with his fists in a plea. "I have a new life - in fact, just today, I helped apprehend a man who is wanted in several towns, including this one, for cattle rustling!"
"That's all very fine and well," replied the mayor, "but who we are really interested in is your mother. Is she supposedly reformed, too?" Ezra hesitated for less than a second and was about to speak, but Olson interrupted.
"We can be lenient on you," he said, "and allow you your freedom before the judge comes... if you cooperate."
"The sheriff and the mayor already offered that deal to me, but I don't barter with murderers," Ezra said evenly.
"Suit yourself, but just to let you know," said Pike, "those accidents we were tellin' you about?" Ezra could feel his chest tighten and his heart race as he interpreted the sheriff's meaning. "They tend to happen to guys who don't cooperate with us."
END ACT 1
Chris took a long, deep swig from his mug and laid it down heavily on the table. Vin finished dealing the cards around to the players. To Inez, something about this scene seemed unusual. Sometimes there were more of these men around the table, but sometimes there were only 2 or 3 of them, so the number was not it. Inez was pouring drinks behind the bar for a pair of thirsty cowboys when she realized this. The colors at the table were not as exotic as they usually were, which meant only one thing: Ezra was not here. Which was unusual, since this was quite literally his home. When she had served the drinks to Chris, Vin, and Buck, she assumed that Ezra would soon be joining them, but so far, that proved to be incorrect. The saloon manager glided to their table.
"Good. You just read our minds," Chris said as he raised his empty mug.
She took the mugs and held them on the round table in front of her, but she did not leave.
"Do you need something, Inez?" asked Vin as he picked up 2 cards from the deck.
"Is everything all right, gentlemen?" she asked the group.
"Everything's fine, thanks," said Buck. "I might add that everything just got better, though, since you fluttered over here." He flashed her a charming smile. By now, she was used to this. But she still didn't entirely like it.
"Well, good... so where's... everyone else?" she asked, not wanting to admit to either herself or anyone else that her main interest was Ezra's absence.
"Out," answered Vin. "Takin' care o' stuff," added Chris.
Inez frowned slightly at their answers, but nodded. Then she turned to Buck. "Buck," she said in a flirtatious manner, "do you have a better answer for me?"
Buck smiled and chuckled, "Woa, ma'am. I'm sorry, but it ain't nothin'. The boys are just out... doing... boys stuff!"
"We ain't their mothers or fathers," said Chris. Then he looked up from his cards and added, "And neither are you, senorita, so I think it best you don't worry about them."
"Well, I was only asking," she harrumphed. Then she took away the beer mugs and went back to the bar to refill them.
Then Josiah and J.D. entered the swinging doors. "Ah, we knew we'd find you here!" Josiah exclaimed as he took a seat next to Chris and J.D. sat down next to Buck.
"You're a little late," teased Vin. "Inez was just asking about you." He winked.
"Really?" J.D. was a little surprised. "Us?"
"She seemed rather interested in where you boys were just now."
"Interested? In us?"
Josiah leaned over to J.D. "I don't think he means THAT 'interested.'"
"Well, whatever way she meant it, it sure is flattering," J.D. said as he tipped his hat toward the lady refilling the mugs. "But I hope I don't need to do no explaining to Casey."
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you."
"Well, to be honest, she didn't mention you by names," interrupted Buck.
"Well, she don't have to! Who else could she 'a been talking about? Ezra?" Then J.D. stopped and looked around. He suddenly noticed that the gambler was not here. Nathan wasn't either, but they had just seen him at the jail. It was actually Nathan who directed them to the saloon. "Hey, where's Ezra?"
"Gettin' what's been comin' to 'im for a long time, I reckon," shrugged Vin, still holding his cards.
Josiah leaned forward and almost whispered, "Are you sayin' that professional sinner's been arrested?" The news caught him off guard, but he did not appear surprised.
"That's about the size of it."
J.D. was becoming confused and a bit flustered. "But,... so... how? Why? Who? When? Where?..."
"I see you been takin' journalism lessons from Mary," Josiah said as he put his hand on the young man's shoulder to keep him in his seat.
Inez seemed to appear out of nowhere with 5 drinks that thumped down at the center of the table. "Buenos tardes, senors Josiah and J.D. How are you?"
Josiah tipped his hat to the lady as she handed him his drink. J.D. sort of blinked wildly at her and finally managed to say, "Ezra's been arrested!" as a sea of other exclamations like "NO!" from Chris, Vin, and Buck tried to cover his words. However, Inez was still able to understand.
If she had still been holding the mugs, she would have dropped them. She had been unaware that Ezra had ever done anything actually illegal. She only knew him as an ambitious businessman. "Ezra? Why? Where? What happened?"
"This Mary thing is catching!" Josiah quipped.
"It's nothing to worry about," Chris tried to reassure those who were just hearing the news for the first time.
"Why are you not helping him?" Inez asked, just short of being furious.
Chris was about to answer but thought better of it. "Look, this ain't nothin' you need to worry about. We're handling the situation. Now you can go back to your bar. Your customers need you." He waved a dismissing hand toward the young woman.
She looked around the table searching for a different opinion, but she found none. She then said something in Spanish and stormed away.
"Hmmm. You'd think she might thank us for getting rid of him for her," joked Vin as he picked up his drink. "Now the other customers can gamble in peace."
"So why AREN'T we helping him?" asked J.D. to the group.
"We had to make a deal with a relentless sheriff," began Vin.
"Turns out that Ezra's wanted in Spring Rock for some con job he did with his mother about 10 years back," continued Buck, "but no one told the sheriff about his pardon."
"The man in our jail's wanted there, too. But it turns out, he's Jed Fowler, Cletus Fowler's brother," Chris added.
"Mercy!" Josiah breathed. He and J.D. exchanged glances.
"The sheriff wouldn't leave us alone 'til he had someone in his jail cell, so we said he could have Ezra," Vin continued.
"Only 'til Judge Travis straightens things out, or we can get Fowler to talk, tell us who hired his brother," added a solemn Chris.
"Doesn't sound like it's goin' too well," J.D. observed.
"We're just gettin' started." Chris then proceeded to drain his mug.
Ezra stood at the door of his cell and called to the deputy who was guarding the jail. The young deputy looked up. "I've reconsidered the mayor's proposition." The deputy seemed to just blink at him. "The deal? To offer me some form of immunity in exchange for arranging for the arrest of my mother?"
The deputy sat upright. "Are you gonna tell us where your mother's at?"
"Well, that is actually rather daunting. Since my mother and I have not been exclusively travelling with each other recently, it would be necessary for me to actually go out in search of her myself."
"Why would we need YOU to find her? If we wanted a search, we'd do it ourselves!"
"Oh, you don't know her like I do. I, for instance, would actually know where to look."
The deputy stood up with his hands on his hips, his thumbs through his belt loops. Ezra's eyes briefly glanced downward at the keys dangling from the deputy's pocket. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" the young man said as he stood in front of Ezra.
The con man produced a sly grin but said nothing. That, however, said it all and the deputy went back to his desk with a snort.
There were plenty of things Ezra could do to harass the irritable deputy, but none of them would aid his escape, and right now, that was all he wanted, but that he knew he couldn't have. He sighed and moped impatiently to his cot and sat down. He leaned with his back against the wall and his eyes pointing to the ceiling. He hadn't been this alone for this long since he joined the ranks of the Seven.
He thought about whether he had been here long enough for the others to have gotten any answers from their prisoner. He believed that answer to be "no." He thought about how empty and alone he felt, since he didn't have much else to do but think. He was so alone that he could even hear the thoughts echoing inside his head like he was shouting into a canyon. That's how empty it felt.
Then he thought about his first conversation with the mayor and mused about his uncanny ability to make people lose their composure in this town. He replayed that unsettling dialogue back in his mind. He closed his eyes and wondered if he had really meant all those loyal and supportive words about his mother. His mother who bore him into a life of crime and taught him insincerity since before he could remember. His mother who taught him that to get by in life, he must look out for himself because it was dangerous to trust and rely on others. His mother who assured him that it was not his problem if people were gullible enough to trust him with their savings.
She had taught him well. But did he really believe that he had given the cheated townfolk exactly what they wanted? No, of course not. He felt that he fought enough against his mother about the immorality of their acts, to make that clear. Even if he no longer believed that what he had done before with his mother was perfectly moral, he still cared about her... LOVED her, although he could never bring himself to say it to her. But did he love her enough to die for her? Did he hate her enough to let HER die? Aw, hell, he thought, this was all irrelevant. He didn't plan on being here long enough for them to even have a chance to execute him. Besides, there was no way they would let him out to search for his mother, anyway.
But then he thought about how she betrayed him by running him out of business more recently in 4Corners. She had done that, of course, just to keep him on his toes. For his own good. Now, he had the opportunity to repay her for bestowing that act of kindness upon him. If he turned her in and allowed her to sit through a prison sentence, it would be for her own good as well. But if the officials were correct, a prison sentence would not be harsh enough to satisfy the townfolk.
Suddenly, Ezra's bubble of solitude popped with the deputy's shout. Ezra had not realized that he was absently shuffling his deck of cards and repeating the same noise over and over, annoying the deputy. He looked at the cards in his hand and then at the deputy. "I'm sorry. Is this disturbing you?" he said insincerely.
The deputy responded, "The next time you do that, I'm coming in there to take those away from you! And you'll regret it!" He pointed an accusing finger at Ezra.
"The next time I do what? This?" And the gambler held one hand below the one that held the cards and let the cards fly from one hand to the other, producing a long, drawn-out shuffling sound.
The deputy got up and banged the door of Ezra's cell. "I mean it, con man! Don't think that anyone here would be upset about finding you dead in your cell tomorrow morning!" Then he sat down. He said "con man" as if it were an insult. And in a way, it was. Ezra did not consider himself a mere "con man." That sounded dirty and undignified. He was more like a master of the art of deception to get what he wanted from people. Most of the time.
Ezra decided to play his cards cautiously this time and to try not to make the locals angry anymore. Because he needed to live. And because Chris needed closure. Or revenge. Or justice. Or all of the above. And so he sat in his cell as a duty to Chris. He could exact an escape plan right now if he wanted, but then if he did, and too little time passed for Chris and the others to get any good information from Fowler, Sheriff Pike might withdraw the deal with them and try to get Fowler back again. And they didn't need another fight to worry about, so an escape would be pointless in the long run.
However, Ezra thought, if he could escape at night when it's possible that no one would even notice he was gone until morning light, then it might be worth it. He could even help the men interrogate their prisoner. OK, Ezra thought, he had an objective. Now he needed a plan.
J.D. had now taken over guard duty at the jail. Just outside the door, Mary approached with J.D.'s dinner, as well as some nourishment for the prisoner, if they wanted to give it to him. But Inez caught her before she could enter the building.
Mary was startled. "Inez, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be tending bar?"
Inez began to remove the tray from Mary's grasp and said, "Allow me. I'm taking a break right now. I'd just like to talk to Senor J.D."
"Oh. All right. Thanks. I have some things I need to do, anyway," Mary smiled. She began to step away but turned around again. "Are you sure that's all?"
"I don't know what you mean," Inez replied.
Mary was about to clarify, but thought better of it and just smiled and walked away.
Inez looked after Mary for a little while before entering the building. She wondered what Mary could have meant. She shrugged off that thought and opened the door. The young sheriff at the desk turned and looked at her. "Hi, Inez," he said as he stood to greet her.
"I've brought you dinner," she said as she placed the tray on the desk.
"Thank you." The young lawman paused as he looked at the tray of food. "I thought Mary was bringing me something to eat."
"She did... she made this... but, she had... other things to attend to, so she asked me to bring this to you for her," she lied.
J.D. remained standing and said, "Well, that's mighty kind of both of you." She was still standing there, which made J.D. feel rather awkward. "Uh, is there somethin' else I can help you with?"
Inez smiled and sat down in the chair next to the desk. J.D. sat down again in his chair and waited for her to speak. "It's simple. I would like to know what happened today. I heard that Ezra was arrested."
"Well, Inez," J.D. began with signs of an uneasy grin, "I... uh... am actually not supposed to talk to anyone about that." When she appeared offended, he added hastily, "Well, I wasn't actually there to see what happened first hand! So I really couldn't tell ya anyway!" He paused and studied her reaction. She seemed understanding. Then he added, "Sorry... but I wish I WAS there!" he chuckled and smiled mischievously. She no longer appeared understanding. "Sorry. I only know that it was 'cuz of something he did a long time ago." He hesitated as if he wanted to say more, but was apologetic when he spoke again. "That's all I can tell you. Actually, I shouldn't have even told you THAT much." Then he leaned forward and whispered, "Don't tell anyone I told you." Then he sat upright and lifted the cover off of his dinner and picked up the fork.
"I don't see the reason for all this secrecy," she implored the young man. "Where is he?"
J.D. began to shake his head and speak, but he was interrupted by another, much deeper voice. "Spring Rock!" called the voice. J.D. and Inez both turned to look at the man in the jail cell. "He's in jail in Spring Rock!" he repeated.
J.D. stood and pointed a finger at the inmate. "Hey, you stay out of this! I only want you talkin' if you're gonna tell us who hired your brother!" Fowler looked smug as he decided once again to remain silent. The greenhorn looked again to Inez who was also now silent. Then she paced out the door and to the street. J.D. gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Ezra, I hope you're doing all right."
Josiah stood behind the pulpit at the church reading, as he often did. The door in front of him opened and a shadow crossed the floor. The graceful shadow approached him.
"Josiah, I thought I'd find you here," she said as she stepped up beside him.
"Good evening, Mary," Josiah said. "What can I do for you this evening?"
"It's Chris."
"Ah."
"He's very disturbed about something." Mary chose her words carefully. The next words came slowly. "I... I'm concerned. I know he has moments when he needs to be alone... but as someone I hope he considers... a close friend, I... I'd just like to talk to him." She paused as Josiah gave her a warm yet expectant look. "I was hoping that you could tell me what's wrong."
Josiah smiled. "Ah, you know Chris. There's one man with determination. Anyone who gets in the way of his obsessions gets pushed by the wayside in the worst way possible." Then he looked Mary in the eye. "But if you ARE his obsession..." Mary's heart skipped a beat. Josiah gave a resigned sigh. "The man we brought in this afternoon... is a man who possibly aided in creating his heartbreak. Jed Fowler." He looked down, but Mary didn't quite understand. "His brother was the man who was hired to murder Chris over a year ago, but when he went to do the job, Chris' family ended up paying for it." Mary let out a sympathetic gasp. "Chris is hoping, as we all are, that Jed might be able to fill us in on who hired his brother to... send Chris' wife and boy to our Lord a little sooner than they ought to have been." He looked again at Mary.
She was silent. In a way, she knew how Chris must have been feeling. Her own husband had been killed and she never knew by whom until Chris and the others helped flush out the offenders. "I guess Fowler hasn't been very forthcoming so far."
"You guessed it."
She sighed and said, "Thank you, Josiah." Then she walked away.
Ezra could hear the commotion of people gathering outside. He was sitting on his cot with his hat faced-up on the floor. He was casually tossing cards into it, one by one, each one hitting the target. All of a sudden, the noise outside became a violent roar and he had to pause. But he didn't let it get to him and continued with the cards. Shortly afterwards, the sheriff entered with a tray of 3 plates of food. He placed the tray on the desk and gave a plate to the deputy on duty. Then he picked up the other two and sauntered toward the cells. He shoved one plate under the bars of the other prisoner's cell and shoved the other to Ezra the same way. The other prisoner took up the plate and fork and almost began to eat, but a glimpse of Ezra made him pause before taking a bite.
Ezra was staring hard and sternly at the sheriff. "Well, eat up or you'll be hungry," the sheriff urged in as nice a voice as he could.
"I ain't hungry. Besides, you want to render me deceased. How do I know you haven't expedited the execution process by lacing my dinner with a poison that would cause such an... accident?"
The other prisoner, who had been listening but not understanding, said, "Huh?"
Ezra shifted his eyes toward the man and back to the sheriff but retained the unyielding expression. "He may have poisoned the food."
The other prisoner now protested by not eating. "Yeah! How do we know you didn't poison our food?" he shouted.
"I don't intend to kill either of you," the sheriff said. He turned to the dim-witted prisoner and added, "Well, not you, anyway. You," he said, turning to Ezra, "on the other hand, have somethin' to worry about. But not until morning. That is, unless you change your mind and give us your mother."
"Morning? Is that when the frequency of accidents increase in this town?"
The sheriff shrugged.
"Well, I respectfully decline your offer... and your dinner. Instead, bring me an unopened bottle of whiskey." He declared it like an ultimatum, as if he was the one with the power here.
"You can't survive on whiskey alone," warned the sheriff.
"You haven't seen me drink."
The sheriff left the dinner plate on the floor for Ezra and left the jail with Ezra's vulture-like gaze following him.
Chris sat under the dim light outside the saloon. The sun was setting and he was contemplating their next maneuver on the man who, although was the one sitting in the jail cell, seemed to also have the upper hand. Footsteps crunched quietly, and then grew louder and closer. Chris turned to face the presence that sidled up beside him.
"Good evening," Mary cooed as she sat down.
"Good evening." There was a slight pause, then Chris continued. "What brings you out here at this time of day? I can't imagine it's the booze."
"No... it's the company."
Chris smiled with a hint of mischief. "You must mean Vin and Buck inside, 'cause I ain't good company these days."
"I was hoping we could talk."
"OK." He was waiting for her to start.
She seemed to be working up the courage to bring up a taboo subject. "About you."
"Oh." He seemed to suddenly lose interest in talking. "You know I don't take to well to talking about me, Mary."
"Well, I... Billy is concerned. He noticed that you're..." she struggled to find a word that would be accurate, but that would also not set-off the cowboy, "you're not quite yourself lately... you seem preoccupied. I was wondering if you'd like to talk about it. Get things off your chest."
He produced a slight guffaw. "No, ma'am, I wouldn't. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He began to rise from his chair but Mary's next words gave him pause.
"Chris, I know about Jed Fowler!" He stopped in mid-rise then looked at her. "Don't be angry with me..." She looked down as if hoping to find cue cards in the floor boards and looked up again. "I don't want you to keep it bottled up, and, and feel like you need to go through this alone." He stood and began to walk toward the swinging doors of the saloon. "I lost my husband, too! I don't blame you for feeling the way you do! I just wish..."
"You just wish what?" he quizzed her sternly.
His expression now gave her a mysterious chill. "I don't know," she said hollowly.
"Well, I don't know either. Now if you don't mind, I think I hear a bottle calling me." With that, he stepped past Mary and past the swinging doors.
J.D. sat in the chair with his feet propped up on the desk. He was wiping off the barrel of his six-shooter and fiddling with it in general. An occasional sideways glance at the prisoner just to make sure, and he was back to the gun again. The prisoner was eating his meal now. When he finished, he threw down the dish and fork with a loud clatter. J.D. jumped and threw back an accusing stare. "You better be behavin' yourself back there!" he called as he turned back to his gun but with his feet on the floor.
"So, you wanna know who hired my brother to kill your friend's family," he stated.
J.D. looked at him but did not rise from the chair. "Ya got somethin' to say about that?" "Only that I don't know who done it."
"Don't try playin' with me."
"What?"
"That you don't know who did it. That's what they all say."
"Well, maybe they say 'cause it's true!"
"And maybe they say it 'cause they tryin' to hide their own dealin's in it!"
"All right, I knew y'all'd never listen, but you just wastin' your time!"
"And right now, mister, you're just wastin' your breath!"
"Why, aren't you a little sassy one?"
"Who ya callin' 'little sassy,' you... you... grave digger!" J.D. was now up and walking as menacingly as he could toward the cell.
"Hey, you watch who you're accusin' of what, or I'll..." Suddenly, the prisoner was gasping and clutching his chest. His body was heavy as it slumped to the floor by the back wall of the cell.
J.D. stuttered over his words as well as his movements. Then he bounded out the front door and yelled for help. "Nathan! Nathan! Someone get... you! Get Nathan! Hurry!" The man and woman walking together across the street obliged the young sheriff. J.D. dashed back inside the jail and fumbled for the key that would allow him to try to help the fallen man who kept clutching his chest and taking ragged, shallow breaths. If he died, they wouldn't even be able to try beating the truth out of him. J.D. unlocked the cell and reached the prisoner. He kneeled by him but didn't know what to do. "Tell me who hired..."
BAM! A quick blow to the head interrupted that train of thought. Fowler pushed the unconscious sheriff aside and sprung for the door to his freedom.
END ACT 2
Jed Fowler dashed out the door of the jailhouse and barely made it off the wooden walkway when he was caught in the arms of Nathan and Josiah. They held onto him violently as he lashed about.
"Hey! Where you think you goin'?" Nathan huffed.
Slowly, the man stopped struggling as he realized it was a nice try, but no cigar. Nathan and Josiah escorted the man back inside.
A very dazed J.D. was waking up on the floor in the jail cell when the preacher, the healer, and the prisoner walked in.
"J.D.!" Nathan rushed to the young man's side and supported him as he got up onto one elbow. "Are you all right?"
The greenhorn groaned, "I don't remember a cattle stampede bein' in here."
"You'll be fine, J.D. Come on," and he helped J.D. to his feet and acted as a crutch as they left the cell. Josiah showed Fowler the way to his imprisonment and locked the door.
"I was thrown in here LAST night," droned on the dim prisoner in the cell beside Ezra's. "Still got me another 5 days to serve," he declared rather proudly over the roar of the mob outside, which continued more loudly than before. He had begun conversation upon completing his dinner, evidenced by the empty plate on the floor by his cell door.
"Almost a week in jail for fightin'?" commented Ezra, who was waiting for his whiskey and staring at his still untouched food.
"For STARTIN' a fight... at the mayor's daughter's engagement party."
Ezra turned to the other man. "I take it you were an UNinvited guest."
He smiled. "She was s'posed to be MY girl!"
The gambler almost laughed. "I conjecture that would only be over the mayor's dead body."
"Or at least his daughter's fiance's!"
Ezra's eyes doubled in size. Then the jailhouse door opened and in walked an unopened bottle of whiskey... followed by Mayor Wilby. Both prisoners' attentions turned to him.
"Finally. What? Did the sheriff need to clear this request through a higher authority?" Ezra remarked. "Are your incarcerated guests forbidden to indulge in liquor?"
"'Incarcerated guests,' as you say, are forbidden many pleasures," chuckled the mayor as he picked up Ezra's dinner plate and placed it on the deputy's desk. "We are, however, making an exception in your case." Wilby began to pass the bottle through the bars, but stopped. "But I would like something in exchange." He flashed a dastardly smile.
Ezra rose from his cot and approached the mayor one slow step at a time. "Why, Mayor, I do believe you are trying to bribe me. What? My mother... for a bottle?" The mayor just continued to smile. "Do you perceive me as being so frivolous? I can live off of nothing but the air I breathe longer than you can smirk!" The mayor frowned, thus proving Ezra's point. Ezra smiled as he paused and raised a finger to his lips in contemplation. "A deal for you, sir. I could go out in search of my nefarious mother and turn her over to you upon location."
"Ah, but if we did that, we would never see you or your mother again!" The mayor pointed an accusing finger at him.
"I would agree to have one of your men escort me to ensure that will not happen. Besides, your man could also offer me protection from that unruly mob outside."
The mayor paused. "You really don't know where your mother is?"
"I HAVE mentioned that," Ezra sighed impatiently.
The mayor looked suspiciously at Ezra. He was about to give him the bottle but stopped short again. He smiled widely. "On your knees." The deputy, who stood observing behind the mayor, laughed silently.
Ezra laughed, too. "You are positively hilarious, Mayor. Ezra Standish does not debase himself by groveling."
The mayor now laughed as well. "Well, I guess you don't really want this special privilege after all," he threatened, waving the temptation in a bottle.
"Well, in that case, it appears that neither of us will get what we want... of course what difference does it make to me if I don't have the pleasure of acquaintance with that bottle? On the other hand, you throw away your chance of having the illustrious distinction of arresting a criminal infamous for pillaging the west." He stared Wilby dead in the eye. "Now, whose loss would you say is greater?"
Ezra took a long gulp from the newly opened bottle of whiskey now in his possession. He was interrupted by the other prisoner who noisily cleared his throat. Ezra looked rudely interrupted as he glanced at the man.
"Hey, you really played that mayor like a fiddle!... Ya think I could have some o' that?" he asked hopefully.
"Ezra Standish shares with no one," he declared as he raised the bottle back to his lips.
Chris thumped a bottle of beer on the sheriff desk and sat on the desk next to it. The leader of the pack crossed his arms and looked to the man behind bars. Buck, Vin, and Josiah stood like a supportive wall around their leader. "Fowler," Chris began, with an earnest effort to stay level-headed, "we are prepared to offer you a little hospitality for your cooperation. If you didn't have anything to do with the murder, then we don't want to treat you like you did. We just need to know who we SHOULD be treating like a murderer."
"You," Fowler said plainly. "My brother died because of you."
Chris rose from the desk with his patience feeling tested. "What happened to your brother was a dirty shame... but we didn't want him to die. He chose that way out. Now, what are you going to choose?"
"I can't tell ya nothin' you want to know, and that's the truth."
"Well, boys, looks like he's tellin' us the truth!" Chris said as he threw his arms up and picked up the bottle of beer on the desk. Then he looked at the others who were all looking to him. "Josiah, bring Mr. Fowler out here for a sit," he ordered, pulling a chair out from behind the desk to the front.
Josiah did as he asked and unlocked the door to an openly confused man. "OK, nice and easy. No fast moves," Josiah warned in his smooth, easy voice.
Fowler followed Josiah's instructions, but as he reached the man who held the key to his freedom, he had to ask, "What's goin' on here? What y'all up to?"
"Just doin' like the man said: offering you some hospitality," Josiah said with a smile.
Fowler was still confused but he slowly walked to the chair and was wary of the 4 pairs of eyes on him as he sat. He was instantly surrounded by the 4 men. Chris held out the beer bottle. "Here. Make yourself comfortable." Fowler was uncertain but he took the bottle. It looked safe.
"Go on, have some... before we all start dyin' of thirst and keep it all to ourselves," Vin urged. Fowler was still hesitant. But the bottle had never been opened before so it seemed safe. He opened it slowly, still watching the men around him. Once the bottle was open, he sniffed it.
"That's some good stuff right there," Buck affirmed.
Fowler hadn't had much to drink since he got here, so he was thirsty. He figured it was worth a shot and began to drink.
"There, now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Josiah encouraged.
"Ya know, we are sorry for how we treated you earlier," Buck offered. "It was truly uncalled for behavior."
As the man continued to drink, Vin brought out four more bottles of beer that were hidden behind the desk and began to pass them around.
By now, the sun was set and the stars were peeping out in the dark blue sky. The angry mob of townspeople outside the jailhouse numbered about 30 now, and they appeared to even have a leader. He was shouting to the others that they must stay united in their show of force, and that they should pressure the town leaders to comply with their idea of justice. He also had a particularly painful-sounding idea to try and scare the younger Standish into compliance with their desire to administer justice to his mother as well.
Ezra was slumped down on his cot with his head propped up against the wall and his legs stretched out in front of him. He cradled a three-quarters-full bottle of whiskey in one hand against his chest. He could hear the mob leader's chants for so-called justice and did his thinking out loud. "I don't suppose they've heard that I don't know where my dearly beloved mother is."
"I reckon not," said the other prisoner, who appeared to be trying to strike the same pose as the cocky gambler, minus the bottle.
Ezra felt sorry for those people. He took a swig of whiskey. He felt sorry for himself, too, and took another. Here he was, the curse of this town, and he didn't quite know why.
The sheriff's and the town's names were familiar, and he didn't deny that he wronged the townspeople. But he couldn't, for the life of him, recall what con he and his mother had pulled here. There were so many. It wasn't a particularly huge heist for an entire town. Ezra thought maybe that's why the con was not worth remembering. But the townfolk were extremely angry for a mere collective $700. Was all this worth $700? Apparently, they didn't have much more than what was taken from them.
Even though he had to agree with the people that he had cheated them, he had to disagree with the violent form of retribution they wanted to bestow upon him. Correction, he didn't want ANY form of retribution to be bestowed upon him. Hey, he was a con man, not a masochist. He felt sorry for them now because if he had his way, they would never see any consolation for their losses.
He sighed with the bottle of whiskey to his lips. Another swig and he put the bottle down on the cot beside him, though he still clutched it. He turned to the other prisoner, whose name he never bothered to learn. "Hey." The man turned to Ezra. "Why are you apparently the one soul in town not out to crucify me?"
"The truth?" The man hesitated as he slowly dragged his body to sit upright. Ezra's eyes narrowed, then he slowly slid up the wall so his upper back was firmly against it, his eyes never leaving those of the other man. "Those folks outside? They didn't much care for me at all since I beat up my woman's fiance. Y'see, he's one o' them popular boys, and those folks don't like men like me showin' him what's what." As the man spoke and the words sank in, Ezra sat up and leaned forward with widened eyes, still clutching the bottle. The other man began to laugh. "Y'know, if it weren't for you, those people would be madder'n hell at me. But 'cause o' you, they mighta forgot all about me by now!" He was beaming.
On the other hand, Ezra's temper was simmering. He blinked erratically, trying to sort through all the things he could say. "You... you..." He stopped and regained some composure. "And to think that I was about to share this with you," he hissed, holding up the bottle. Then he jerked the bottle up to his mouth and threw back his head for a hard swig.
Suddenly, the shouting from outside became louder. "Make sure he rots in hell!" "Sheriff! Make him give my money back!" "Let's hang him!"
Ezra and the other prisoner turned their attention to the two men who entered the room. The sheriff and the mayor stood in front of Ezra's cell. The man in red stood.
"Have these men been behaving themselves, deputy?" asked the smiling sheriff.
"Maybe we should let 'em both out and let 'em go at each other," laughed the deputy. "It was just startin' to get entertaining in here."
"Not just yet," said the mayor.
The sound of the crowd soon died down and shouts advocating civility could be heard. It was the doctor's voice.
Ezra frowned. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"We highly encourage you to go easy on yourself and tell us where to find your mother," urged the sheriff.
"What about MY offer? To bring her to you myself? It is an honest offer. I hesitate to admit it, but you were correct in your deductions of my mother's duplicity and my pawn-like relationship with her. And that's why I would enjoy seeing her brought to justice." He looked at the mayor who appeared impressed. "My release is a necessary condition for my compliance with your... request, gentlemen."
"Only if you agree to be accompanied by the deputy, the mayor, and myself."
Ezra paused and glanced at each of the three mentioned men in succession. "You can't be serious."
"Oh, but we are," said the mayor. "We'd like to make sure we actually get something from this deal with the devil."
OK, the mayor started it. No more Mr. Nice Conman. "I'd rather take my chances with the lynch mob than to have to ride in your nauseating company, Wilby." Then he turned his back on the officials. "First you arrest you and tell me you intend to be fair, and then you punish me without reason!" He whipped around to face them again. "You call that justice? You call that civility?"
No one said anything for a while. Then the sheriff cleared his throat and said, "Well, I guess that means we still don't have a deal. I'll be up at 7 tomorrow morning to check on the gallows." He turned to the deputy. "Let us know if he changes his mind before then." The 2 officials took one last look at Ezra, and then they were gone.
Ezra had tried being polite earlier and it got him no closer to freedom than being sarcastic and sadistic. So he opted for the latter. That felt better than feigning humility toward them. However, he may not get another chance to insult the mayor, for he planned to be someplace far away from here during the night. For good measure, he took a giant gulp from his bottle.
Vin lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a gulp. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and said, "So then he got smart and surrendered right there. Remember that, guys?" He had been recounting the story of how the Seven had caught a man who had kidnapped a woman from the town.
"Yup. Those were the days when criminals knew better," mused Buck.
J.D. entered the room with Nathan. They witnessed their four friends standing around with drinks in their hands and the prisoner in the middle, sitting with his own bottle.
"What's goin' on here?" J.D. asked Nathan.
Nathan cleared his throat and whispered to J.D., "I was told they was gon' try to get him to talk."
"Yeah, but what's he talkin' about?"
The evening was getting darker and darker, and Inez used the opportunity to take her horse out. A shotgun was hidden snugly in her saddlebag as she walked the horse down a side street toward the edge of town.
"Inez!"
Inez jumped before turning and seeing Mary, who approached and apologized for startling her.
"What are you doing out this time of night?" Mary inquired.
Sometimes the newspaper woman could be as bad as the seven. Inez answered, "I was feeling restless. I was just going for a ride."
"Need some company? It might be safer," Mary offered, "plus,... I guess I'm feeling a little restless, too. Can we talk?" She said it like it was a confession.
Inez reluctantly agreed, smiling to hide her apprehension.
Mary and Inez were mounted on their horses, riding out from the town. "I find that, many times, men can be very difficult to read," Mary was saying. "Like Chris and the boys."
"Yes," agreed Inez, "you never know what they could be thinking... Well, some of them, you always know, because they only have one thing on their mind." She had a disgusted look on her face. When Mary started to look concerned for her, she quickly corrected herself. "No, not Chris... and... the boys. No, they are honorable."
"But they ARE men," Mary remarked with a devilish grin. "And they all have their problems, their... passions..."
"Their flaws, their weaknesses," Inez interjected.
"But, sometimes their weaknesses can be their strongest drive to continue on."
"And sometimes their weaknesses can be the death of them."
This gave Mary pause. "Chris and his men are more careful than that. They just don't always let you know it. I know they've fooled me a couple of times." She stopped and suddenly a smile spread across her face. "Very rough around the edges, yet every bit a gentleman when he wants to be."
Inez let out a soft laugh. "Sweet and rogue-ish, and... every bit a gentleman," she agreed.
"I just wish he would talk to me. I can help, too. He doesn't need to rely only on the other men!"
"Yes, sometimes he MUST rely on you because the other men will not be there for him!"
Now Mary was perplexed. "Inez? What are you talking about?" The entire time that they talked, they had continued to ride toward Spring Rock. This was something that Mary had not given thought to, but now she realized that they seemed to be taking a definite course and not just a leisurely ride. She looked around quickly. 4 Corners was nowhere in sight. "Inez?" She stopped her horse.
Inez resigned herself to the fact that Mary was on to her and stopped as well. "Senora Travis, forgive me. I didn't mean to bring you all this way."
"Why? Where are you going?" Fear was creeping into Mary's voice.
Inez looked directly at Mary. "You've probably heard that the men have allowed Ezra to be imprisoned in Spring Rock." Mary shook her head. She had previously noticed Ezra's absence since the men returned from the search for the missing cattle, but she had assumed that he returned separately from the others. "No, I didn't. But what does that... you're not going there now, are you?"
"Why are you concerned? Is it a bad town?" Inez queried as she moved her horse forward.
"No, it's just... if they allowed him to be arrested, they must have had a good reason!" Inez stopped her horse at this last remark and threw Mary a stunned look. "I'm not saying he ought to be locked up, but, well,..."
"No, I don't want to hear it," Inez declared and began to ride toward Spring Rock again, but faster.
"If you're planning to help him escape, don't!" Mary warned as she rode to catch up to Inez. "It's too dangerous!"
Inez kicked her horse to a trot and Mary accelerated to keep up. "What if it were Chris instead of Ezra? Then how would you feel?"
"What? Chris, or any of the others, it doesn't matter!" She covered any special feelings she might have about Chris but began to suspect that there was more to Inez's story than she let on. "Are you... Is Ezra something special to YOU?"
"No! No! He..." she tried to fish for what she felt about him. Funny, she hadn't really thought about it before. It wasn't an amorous feeling she had for him. It couldn't be. Besides, she didn't need a man now, least of all one like him. "He's a good customer," she admitted quickly and just as quickly accelerated.
"No! Inez!" Mary stopped and started to turn back to alert the men, but she figured that at the speed Inez was going, it might be too late, and the latter would be alone in that town trying to accomplish something dangerously illegal. Mary didn't want to go, but she decided that it would be safer for Inez if she was at least with her. She would try to convince her to turn around before they reached the town.
Jed Fowler seemed quite drunk as Buck handed him another bottle. "So how about that guy who hired your brother to kill that family? What was his name?" Buck said it like he was an old friend trying to recount fond memories.
Their prisoner accepted the bottle but didn't drink. "Huh? I have no idea who you're talking about."
Nathan sighed and whispered to Chris, "He's either real good, or he's tellin' the truth."
"So, the man can hold his beer. Doesn't mean he's tellin' the truth," said Chris.
"I don't know if this is workin'," wondered J.D. "If Ezra was here, he'd know how to make a bottle work for us." Chris and Nathan noted the irony.
Meanwhile, with the roar of the mob outside, Ezra was sitting on his cot, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands. The hair on the crown of his head was unusually disheveled. For the first time since he received the whiskey bottle, it was sitting on the floor, in a pool of its contents. It was half empty, but the other prisoner was optimistic at this time and saw it as half-full.
"Hey, Standish," the prisoner said. Ezra didn't acknowledge him. "Could I have the rest o' that whiskey, seein's you're done with it?"
Ezra slowly turned his head to face the other prisoner and slowly opened his eyes. His complexion was more rosy now than it was before. He picked up the bottle and got up from the cot. Then he sauntered over toward the other man's cell. "Do you want this?" he asked with a cock of his head and a raise of his eyebrows.
"Sure!"
Ezra drew back the bottle and with all his strength let it shatter against the bars that separated them. The loud crash shocked the other prisoner as he shielded himself from the flying glass, the remaining whiskey splashing everywhere. The angry con man let the bottleneck shard drop from his hand to the floor and turned his back. The crash also got the deputy's attention.
"Is there a problem?" he inquired with his hands on his hips, the keys to the cells dangling from his pocket.
"Well, you certainly took your sweet time to notice!" he laughed. "The problem is I'm bein' incarcerated for no reason other than the whim of your town's oafish leadership!" The deputy just stood there.
Suddenly, a rush of angry men crashed into the jailhouse with rifles waving. The roar was deafening and sent Ezra reeling toward the back of his cell. Dr. Olson squeezed in through the crowd and tried to push them back. "No! Stop! Deputy, I could use some help!" The deputy shouted at the crowd and drew his gun. The crowd began to leave, but continued to shout. When they finally left, Ezra sat down with his back against the wall and closed his eyes.
A group of cowboys were looking around in Jed Fowler's ranch house. Another cowboy entered from outside and reported, "There's no sign of 'im out there. But I spotted some horse tracks headed northwest. They disappear in the grass out there."
"Pike must've got 'im," said another man.
"Well, let's go get 'im, boys!" said another. The men rounded themselves up and marched outside.
"Psst, psst."
Ezra opened his eyes. His eyebrows jumped and he had to blink a few times before believing his eyes and getting up. It was Inez. He came to the bars.
"What are you doing here?" he whispered. "Where're the others?"
"I had to come because no one else would." Then she noticed his complexion and tousled hair. "What happened to you?"
"Very noble of you, but no, you did not HAVE to come. In fact, you should leave. Now!" he ordered in a hushed voice.
"I'm going to get you out!" she whispered back.
"You listen to me..."
"Hey, is that your girl?" asked the other prisoner.
"No," Ezra said. Then he pointed a finger at the man. "You stay out of this! Don't you have another man's fiancee to covet?"
The man just laughed. "So she's up for grabs, eh?" Then he made kissing sounds at Inez.
She insulted him in Spanish and turned quickly back to Ezra.
"Inez, if they catch you tryin' to help me, they will not hesitate to have you join me in this cell. Now, neither of us wants that."
She was looking at the desk for the keys from her spot near Ezra but turned to face him and say, "But I don't plan to get caught."
"Inez, I did not initially PLAN on being in here either. Frankly, my dear, I need your assistance like the Devil needs a wood stove. Now go before the guard returns!"
"Senora Travis is at watch." She was now at the desk looking for the keys.
"Mary's here? How on earth did you manage that? Never mind! You won't find them there!" he called out. This last statement finally got her attention. "The deputy is wearing the keys. You can't release me, anyway."
"I have a shot gun outside. I'll shoot the lock."
"Uhhh, no."
"Then we need a plan."
"How's this? I'll stay, you leave!"
"No!"
"Inez, I'll find a way out myself."
"If you could, you'd be out already."
"Shows how little faith you have in me."
"Then what's your plan?" She raised a defiant nose into the air.
Ezra hesitated. "Just, believe me, I have a plan!" Inez was unconvinced as she crossed her arms. "It's difficult to explain. Look, if you don't leave right this instant,..."
Mary popped her head in. "He's coming!" she whispered loudly.
Inez turned toward Mary, then back to the man who had an unexplainable hold on her emotions.
"And don't come back!" Ezra added to Mary's warning.
Inez paused as if she wanted to argue, but appeared to acquiesce. Then she was gone.
Ezra let out a long breath. The other prisoner said, "Don't know what's wrong with you, but that was a beautiful woman."
Ezra opened his mouth to say something nasty to the lecherous idiot nextdoor, but the deputy's return muted him.
"OK, they gone home, and promised not to come out again 'til mornin'," the deputy announced. Ezra sized-up the deputy as the latter went back to his desk.
Mary and Inez ran into an alleyway near the jailhouse. They breathed heavily as they looked around to make sure no one else was here. The streets were empty except for a few horses and a few people walking home from the dispersed mob.
"Aw, hell, this ain't workin'," Vin whispered to Chris in a corner of the room. Nathan and Buck stood close by to be a part of this conversation as well. "We don't know any more now than before we filled 'im up."
Buck lamented, "What a waste of good beer."
"Maybe J.D. was right," Nathan speculated. "Maybe we need Ezra."
"Yeah, sometimes he's got a way with... people," Vin agreed. He let everyone add "and booze" for themselves.
"I wonder how the little weasel's holdin' up," Buck said.
"Nah," said Chris, "he's doin' fine. He's the best there is as far as weaselin' goes."
"Well, I'm gettin' tired of tellin' stories with this deer tick. What say we get our man back?" Vin proffered.
"Anything's better than what we've been doin'," sighed Nathan.
"Buck, lock 'im up and guard 'im," Chris ordered. "Guys," he turned to Josiah and J.D. "we're goin'!"
With no bottle to cling to anymore, Ezra had gone back to his deck of cards. He was sitting on his cot with his left knee drawn up so his foot was on the bed and his left elbow rested lazily on his knee. His right leg was equally lazy with his foot touching the floor at an angle. But his right hand saw some action, as he was slowly cutting the deck of cards over and over again with that hand. His intense green eyes were fixed solidly on the deputy who was trying to get comfortable in his flat wooden chair. The other prisoner was asleep on his cot.
The deputy caught a glimpse of Ezra in all his intense nonchalance. The prisoner's gaze proved to be unnerving, not to mention annoying. The deputy gave up trying to get comfortable and jumped forward in his chair. "What?!"
"Did I say anything?" Ezra asked innocently.
"Look, big shot, I ain't puttin' up with any more of your nonsense! You get that straight!"
"Oh? Is that a threat? What are you gonna do? Kill me? And incur the wrath of Wilby when he discovers that you beat him to it?" Ezra's eyes were expressive as he spoke. "Not even you would be so careless." Ezra put both feet on the floor and began shuffling the cards with both hands.
"It don't mean I can't hurt you, you ol' drunk."
Ezra laughed as he continued to shuffle. "Are you coming in here? You couldn't hurt me if you tried."
Suddenly, the deputy stood up, drew his gun, and pointed it at Ezra. Genuine fear shown in the gambler's eyes as he held up his hands in a halting gesture. "No, no, now, no need to resort to that. I am an unarmed man." The other prisoner began to awaken from his slumber.
There was a seemingly long and deafening silence before the deputy decided to put away his gun. Then he came to the bars of Ezra's cell and held out his hand. "Gimme those."
"What? These?" he asked, holding up the deck of cards. The deputy nodded an affirmative, keeping his expectant hand out. "Well," Ezra chuckled slightly, "you'll have to come get them yourself."
"I'm not playing games, gambler. Are you willin' to bet your life against me?"
Ezra paused to consider it. "All right. You win." He got up slowly and was uneasy on his feet as he meandered toward the door with the deck of cards in his right hand. When he reached the deputy, he clung to the bars and presented the cards to him. The deputy directed his attention to the cards and snatched them. In a split second, Ezra's left hand became a fist and smashed into the deputy's face. The deputy found himself pinned with his back against the cell door, Ezra's arm squeezing across his neck and a derringer produced from Ezra's sleeve, pressed against his right temple. The other prisoner was now wide awake and let out a gasp which was either unheard or ignored by the other two men.
The deputy, recognizing his unfortunate situation, said, "And you said you were unarmed."
"A novice should never ante up when a real gambler is dealing the cards," Ezra philosophized in a hushed growl, his face right behind the deputy's head. Both men breathed heavily through this exchange. Between breaths, Ezra gave orders to his new hostage. "Now, slowly, remove your gunbelt and drop it. Slowly." The deputy began to comply. "And don't try anything if you value your life. Because I, as a low life, lack compassion and morals and will not hesitate to shoot you." The deputy's gunbelt fell to the floor and echoed through the tense air of the jailhouse. "Good. Now slowly, give me the keys to this cell." When the deputy did not immediately begin to comply, Ezra tightened his constriction on the man's neck. "I AM perfectly willing to remove them from your lifeless body," he threatened. The deputy did what he was told. Ezra looked hungrily at the keys as the deputy held them up. "Now,... very... slowly... push them back behind the bars to me." The deputy complied. "Drop 'em." Then, at the drop of the keys, the con man choked the deputy enough to make him gasp for air, then grabbed his head and slammed it against the bars. The deputy's limp body slid to the floor. Ezra quickly snatched the keys from the floor and reached around to unlock the door. He came out and dragged the unconscious lawman into the cell. Finally, he leaped back outside and locked the cell.
He glimpsed the pile of cards that was splattered in a small area on the floor and threw the keys on the desk. He bent down to hastily gather them up and noticed that the Ace of Spades was the only one that had landed face-up. This brought a devilish grin to his face. He quickly put the cards in his pocket and grabbed his gun - which the sheriff had seized from him earlier - from the desk. He started for the door, but the other prisoner called out to him.
"Come on, buddy! Let me out, too!" He was grinning widely.
Ezra looked at the large ring that held the few keys and removed the key to freedom. He threw the ring onto the desk, clutched the magic key in his fist and threw it at the prisoner. The prisoner reached up to catch it... but it never reappeared from the air. "Hey!" he exclaimed as he looked all around himself in search of the missing key. "Where'd it go?"
Ezra grinned mischievously when he held up his hands to show that he no longer held it. "Well, I suppose you'll just have to find it. Now, for my next trick..." Ezra disappeared.
Meanwhile, Fowler's ranch hands were riding to Spring Rock in the darkness, getting closer and closer each minute.
Mary and Inez peeked out from the alleyway where they were hiding. "OK, so you get the guard to come outside and I'll be here waiting," Mary recounted the plan as she held up the rifle. "Then we demand the keys."
"Si," said her partner in crime.
"Good luck," Mary whispered. Inez paced to the jailhouse and Mary took her place next to the doorway, rifle ready. Her heart was racing into her throat, and she put her hand on it as if to keep it from bursting out.
Inside the jail house, the first thing Inez noticed was that there was no guard at the desk. She turned around in case he was sneaking up behind her. Satisfied that he was not here, she entered further into the jailhouse and found the deputy unconscious in Ezra's cell. Her pulse continued to race as she assessed the situation.
"Hey! Pretty little senorita! You came back for me!" the other prisoner shouted happily.
"Drop dead!" she cried.
Mary could see the six horsemen riding into town. She didn't know who they were or what they wanted, but they appeared vicious, and this was enough to make her instinctively duck to the other side of the jailhouse. She could hear the horses slow down close by and began to think that maybe they were lawmen. But they didn't look like lawmen. Then again, they didn't have to. Her large green eyes were like saucers as her mind raced, hoping that they didn't enter the jailhouse and discover Inez trying to assist in a jail break. She wished that she had warned Inez of these men, but she didn't know they were going to stop here. She heard the heavy footsteps come closer as the men stampeded into the jail and felt her own back press more firmly against the wall.
Inez turned toward the door and ran immediately into a large chest with a gun. The cowboy grabbed her by both arms. She gasped. "Well, boys, look what we have here," the man sneered.
END ACT 3
"You're not the deputy," Inez breathed as she struggled to get free from the big man's grip.
"I sure as hell ain't," he said as he pushed her aside and into the arms of the slimmer man who followed him.
The second man had a hungry look in his eyes as he held her arm and ran his hand down her back. "Well, this IS a nice surprise," he said, then brought his mouth uncomfortably close to her face. She struggled to get away or smack him, but a roar from further inside the building stopped everything.
The first man burst out with his gun still drawn. "Where is he?" he shouted.
"Who?" she managed to say with the second man tightening his grip on her.
"Fowler!"
"Who?" she repeated.
"Let her go!" demanded the newly conscious deputy from the jail cell floor. "Jed Fowler was never here! He's bein' held in Four Corners!"
The first man, the apparent leader of the group, paused for a moment in consideration. Then he said, "Let's go!" and started for the door. But the second man kept a tight grip on Inez. She struggled as the men all headed for the door.
"Hey! Let her go!" the deputy shouted as he got to his feet.
"Quiet!" The leader turned and shot the deputy, then turned to his men.
The second man still held onto his new prize who still struggled to escape. "Hey, boys, what say we hold onto her, too? Who says we can't get Fowler and have a little lady, too?" The other men joined in the laughter and made their exit.
Outside the jailhouse, Mary had been listening in horror to the exchange. She dashed into the alley before the men appeared in the doorway. Six guns versus her one was an unfair match, in her mind.
"All right, Fender, you, Brooks, and Dixon, take yer girl and go back to the ranch. The rest of us'll be enough to take care o' 4 Corners. Let's ride!" ordered the first man. As the men mounted their horses and took off in two directions, Mary shot out on her horse in another, racing as fast as she could.
Chris, Vin, Nathan, J.D., and Josiah prepared their guns in the saloon to go to the aid of one of their own. When they were ready, Chris gave a nod and they began to move out. Then a familiar figure proudly strutted through the swinging doors.
"Gentlemen," said Ezra, "what dubious undertaking is demanding your attention at this hour?"
The others paused and blinked at him for a second. Then Vin said, "Wastin' our time, I reckon!" Then he put down his gun and sat down at the nearest table.
"Ezra!" J.D. exclaimed with surprise, some relief, and joy. "How...?"
Ezra held up a silencing hand as he marched ahead, parting a path through the men toward the bar. "Gentlemen, you are looking at a man who has enough ingenuity and tact to execute his own escape..." he turned dramatically to face the others when he reached the bar and leaned on it, "...but I must admit, I am sincerely touched by your effort to come to my aid, however unnecessary."
"Ezra, do they know you're gone?" Nathan asked with a hint of accusation in his voice.
"Well, the deputy who tried to hinder my escape knows," Ezra replied as he looked at his watch. "He's probably waking up in his cell by now."
"Well, if he called an alert, they probably comin' after you by now," warned Nathan.
Ezra paused. "Now, let's see. That would be a problem only if we still require custody of Mr. Fowler. You haven't finished with him, have you?" He spoke the last sentence with a foreboding feeling.
"No, but since you're here, how 'bout helpin' us out?" Chris asked. He could feel the time slipping away and was eager to resume interrogation as soon as possible.
"Gladly," the con man said, and all the men strode out the swinging doors.
They reached the front of the jail house when they heard a horse galloping and a voice shouting in the distance. The horse approached at lightning speed with Mary at the reins. "Chris!" she shouted. She stopped the horse when she reached the group. She was out of breath but managed to shout, "They got Inez!"
"Inez?" Ezra questioned with concern and confusion.
"Mary, who? Where? Where're you comin' in from?" Chris asked, the urgency rising in his voice. Buck appeared in the jail house doorway, wondering what the commotion was about.
"Fowler's men..." she took heavy breaths as she spoke, "came... Inez was... trying to help... Ezra."
"Aw, hell! I told her to leave!" Ezra exclaimed, almost throwing his hat down in disgust.
"You and Inez went to break out Ezra?" Chris said, his temper rising.
Mary disdainfully nodded and added, "Fowler's men took her and they split up. Some are coming here to get Fowler, and the rest took Inez and headed back to their ranch!"
"How many?" Chris asked impatiently.
Mary tried to remember. "3 or 4 coming, 3 or 4 have Inez." Then she turned to Ezra with guilt. "Ezra, I'm sorry."
Ezra was angry and disappointed. "She didn't tell you I wanted you both to leave," he said. He did not look Mary in the face. He was also too upset to notice Mary's insinuation of how he must have felt about Inez.
Mary nodded sadly.
Chris reluctantly began to give orders. "Vin, Nathan, you come with me - we'll get Inez! The rest of you - stay here - don't let 'em get Fowler!"
As the men dispersed, Vin could be heard saying, "Aw, hell, here we go again. It better be for real this time."
The others left, but Ezra came to Chris as the latter helped Mary down from her horse. "Um," the usually eloquent gambler cleared his throat as he tried to think of how to say it.
"What is it?" Chris asked as Mary ran away.
"I was hoping for a change of assignment."
"I need you to stay here and get some answers outta Fowler."
"I... I know, which is why it's difficult for me..."
"What?!" Chris was beginning to get impatient with Ezra's verbosity. He was already walking to his horse.
Ezra followed beside him. He was trying to figure out what exactly he was feeling and why. He quickly settled on a satisfactory answer and spoke. "I feel that, in a way, I was responsible for Inez's kidnapping... and I just..."
Chris had stopped walking, his hands on his hips and his eyes cast to the ground. It was becoming more apparent all the time that the con man had a heart after all. "Go, Ezra. Bring her back." Chris looked up and nodded to Ezra as a look of gratitude came to the con man's face.
Chris, J.D., Josiah, and Buck stood outside the jailhouse and looked out after Ezra, Nathan, and Vin as they rode out to rescue Inez. "Well, there they go," J.D. said.
"Take your places. They'll be here soon," Chris ordered, and the men moved out.
Fowler's ranchhands closed in on 4Corners on the "low road." Inez's rescuers could see them from higher ground but knew that whatever happened at home was out of their hands now. And on they rode to Fowler's ranch.
Fowler's men rode into town down the main street looking for the jail house. The street was silent except for the clopping of horse hooves. The leader drew his gun and the others followed suit. Then a voice called out in the darkness, "If you want Fowler, you better stand in line!" Then a shot rang out and blew up dirt near the horses, startling them as well as their riders.
With nothing better to do, the riders shot all around them. "Show yourselves, you sorry excuses for gun men!" shouted the leader.
Then more shots rang out as Chris, J.D., Josiah, and Buck took turns peeking out from hiding to take aim and shoot. Chris at the saloon, J.D. upstairs of the saloon, Josiah in a second floor window of the hotel, and Buck down the street at the jail. Buck, however, tried to conserve his bullets until he really needed them - if the ranchers were able to reach the jail.
Bullets flew everywhere now as both sides fired at each other. However, the ranchers didn't quite know where they ought to be aiming, and rampantly shot holes into everything in sight. They tried to take cover, but an early bullet knocked one of them off his horse and into the dirt. Two of the men got off their horses in order to take cover near the buildings, but the leader got low on his horse and rode at a gallop down the street. One of Josiah's bullets whizzed past his head, but he continued to ride. "Damn," Chris swore under his breath. "Come on, Buck."
Inez was flung down to the bed with her wrists tied together amidst the lecherous snickers of the 3 men standing around her. Fender, the man who grabbed her at the jail, began to remove his gun belt. "Well, little lady, what say you and me party tonight?"
"Let me go! Please! I have done nothing to you!" she screamed.
"Well, I hope that changes real soon." A wicked grin spread over his face. Inez darted up from the bed and tried to run, but one of the other 2 men grabbed her.
"Not so fast, woman. I get you after him!" She spit in his face and kneed him in the groin. She was free for a second before the third man grabbed her from behind and stuck his knee into her back.
"Come on, the party's just gettin' started!" he said. Inez felt a shiver go up her spine as she was once again thrown onto the bed. She hoped desperately that help would arrive soon.
Outside the ranchhouse, 3 men on horseback appeared. They could see that the lights were on inside and assumed that someone was home. "Mary said there was 3 or 4 of them that took Inez," Nathan recalled.
A rueful Ezra commented, "However, there may be more men inside who didn't venture to Spring Rock with the others."
"We could be pretty well outnumbered," observed Vin. "We'll just have to use the element of surprise."
"We need to lure them outside," Ezra decided. All three men looked at the pasture of sleeping cattle and then at each other.
The gun battle continued to shatter the quiet night at 4Corners as Chris, Josiah, J.D., and the ranchers shot and dodged bullets. The downed ranch hand had been shot in the shoulder, but was well enough to fire back. He crawled his way toward a water trough, firing an occasional shot. Chris decided to try and end this quickly and, peering over a swinging door of the saloon, silenced the crawling man for good. Then Chris himself was almost hit by a bullet from a man across the street, but he ducked back behind the wall of the saloon.
Down the street, the leader of the pack arrived at the jail house to the tune of more gunshots from inside. He jumped down on the other side of his horse and ran for cover across the street. As he shot at Buck, he shouted, "Let Fowler go!"
Buck took several shots and shouted back, "Not on your life!"
Fowler stood in his cell in anticipation of rescue.
One of Inez's feet and both of her wrists were tied to the bedposts as Fender sat on the bed beside her where she lay. He ran his fingers through her hair and down her neck. She recoiled in response as if worms were crawling over her. His lips parted and came closer to hers before she turned her head away and kicked him with her free foot. He violently grabbed her leg and held it. He turned her face toward him. She gasped with obvious fear and loathing. He was about to thrust his face down to hers when he heard a commotion outside. The two spectators also paused to listen. There was the sound of horse hooves, cows mooing, an occasional gun shot, shouting, and dogs barking... or at least something like the sound of dogs barking.
"What is that?" one of the spectators said. He and the other spectator left the bedroom for the front of the house where they could see the cattle. Fender got off the bed to Inez's relief, but paused to threaten, "Stay put, 'cause I'll be back." With that, he was gone.
Outside, Ezra, Vin, and Nathan were zipping around the cattle on their horses, shouting and barking at the cattle to get them to move. Their efforts slowly began to pay off as the cattle moved in different directions away from the ranch. Ezra maneuvered his horse around some steer and barked violently at them. As they plodded away, he paused to say, "I can't believe I'm doing this." Then he continued with his work.
The ranch dog that had been asleep before now added to the barking. It targeted Nathan's horse for chase and barked violently.
The two ranch men looked out the window from inside the house and saw the chaos that reigned outside. They could see Nathan and Vin on their horses, their dog barking at them, and their horned prize possessions scattering slowly but surely away. "Hey!" they shouted and grabbed their rifles. Fender joined them.
Josiah peeked out the window and shot down at the man across the street behind a barrel. The man shot back and Josiah ducked. J.D. and Chris also continued firing. As the shots were fired, an occasional lantern was hit, dimming the main street and their vision.
Meanwhile, at the jail house, Buck was still holding off the leader. Fowler, still in his cell, shouted, "Come on, Mack! Take him out!"
"Shut up!" Buck shouted over his shoulder as he dodged bullets.
"What ya gonna do? Kill me?" Fowler shouted. Buck did not respond this time but kept shooting and dodging bullets. "Look, you boys need me alive to get anything outta me. But frankly, I been tellin' y'all the truth. I don't know who hired my brother. So you can stop all this shooting and let us all have some peace!"
"I ain't listenin' to you, so just save your breath!" The shooting persisted. But in the split second that Buck was distracted by Fowler, he was shot in the shoulder. Stunned, he held it in pain.
Mack, the ranch hand who had fired the bullet, realized he was no longer being fired upon and seized the opportunity to run into the jail. Once inside, he spotted Buck on the floor, swiped his gun from his loose grasp, then kicked him for good measure. Then he spied Fowler in the cell and the keys on the table. He snatched up the keys and unlocked the door. "Thanks, Mack," greeted Fowler.
As the ranchers rode around on their own horses to round up the loose cattle, they suddenly found themselves being fired upon by Vin and Nathan who had hidden their horses among the trees in the distance. The pair had dismounted and took cover in the tall grass. The ranchers dodged the bullets as they rode and shot back, trying to decide which deserved their attention more: shooting or driving cattle.
As this occurred in front of the house, Ezra rode quietly around the back and dismounted. He crept to a window and carefully peered inside. Not seeing anyone there, he crept to another window and again peered cautiously inside. He saw Inez struggling with the ropes to break free, but she wasn't making much progress. The sight of this torture made Ezra's blood boil, but he was relieved that she was apparently otherwise unharmed. He slowly opened the window, startling her. But when she looked up and saw Ezra climbing into the room, her fear gave way to relief. "Ezra!"
"Shhh." He put a finger to his lips as he came to the bed and proceeded to untie her hands. "Inez, are you all right? They haven't..." he hesitated.
She understood his meaning and answered, "No, they haven't. You came just in time." She was breathing heavily as she halted the tears that wanted to fall at the thought of what the men had planned to do to her.
Ezra had untied her hands and was now working on the rope on her foot. "Only the most uncivilized savages of society would even think of treating a lady this way," he said. When he freed her foot, he helped her to a sitting position on the bed. She was trembling - trying to hide it, but she was visibly trembling. He kneeled directly in front of her, his sea green eyes peering up sympathetically into hers. He could see the trauma and the tears quivering in them. He reached up to her face and stroked it tenderly. "It's all right," he said. Her face moved closer to his. He felt an urge to reciprocate that movement, but the motion did not come. Instead, he held his gaze and parted his lips. Her face was only a few inches away from his now and she held her gaze and parted her lips, breathing heavily along with him. Then Ezra said in almost a whisper, "We best be going now." Breaking the trance, he rose to his feet and helped her to hers. He thought to himself, "I could really use a drink right now."
Fowler and Mack dashed out from the jailhouse toward Mack's horse which had moved to the other side of the street.
Up the street, J.D. picked off the last shooting rancher and he, Chris, and Josiah all surfaced from hiding and ran into the main street. From there, they could see Fowler with his rescuer. Chris raised his gun and shouted, "Fowler!" Then he shot.
Ezra was mounted on his horse and helping Inez up behind him. "Hang on," he instructed. She wrapped her arms around his waist, sending an inexplicable tingling sensation throughout his body. Must be the thrill of the rescue and the prospect of having to dodge bullets once again. He steered the horse in the direction of 4Corners and proceeded at full gallop with his gun drawn.
While the other two ranch hands were distracted by Vin and Nathan's gunfire, Fender spotted his trophy escaping with another man. Red-faced and furious, Fender shot at them.
A new gun fight was underway up and down the main street at 4 Corners. Chris, Josiah, and J.D. were at the sides of the street firing at Mack and Fowler. Several shots near Mack's horse finally sent it galloping away before Mack and Fowler could reach it. Mack fired the last shot in Buck's gun and tossed it. Fowler, although free, was unarmed and relied on Mack to protect him. They retreated to the nearest building, across the street from the jail. They hid while Mack reloaded.
"Let's end this now!" shouted Chris down the dim street. "No need for bloodshed!"
"I ain't gonna be taken in for somethin' I didn't do!" came the reply. Fowler then turned to Mack. "People for miles around are callin' me a cattle rustler! You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"
His ranch hand shrugged. "We didn't do nothin' wrong."
Fowler's eyes widened. "Those cattle you boys bought last week. The ones you said you got a good deal on! What about them?"
Mack grew impatient with his boss. He cocked the hammer on his newly loaded pistol. "I told you I'd take care of the business end of things. Now, don't worry."
Fowler's jaw dropped in disbelief. "I can't believe this. I trusted you, and you made me a criminal!"
"Be quiet!" Mack whispered and pointed his gun at his boss. "I don't want to use this on you. I am gonna get us out of this, OK?" Fowler only looked at him in horror through new eyes.
Ezra and Inez rode frantically toward the trees, dodging bullets shot by Fender who chased them on his horse. The other two ranchers were still dealing with the loose cattle. Vin and Nathan had realized that if they quit firing at those 2 men, they may no longer be a threat. So they concentrated their fire on Fender, who was gaining on Ezra and Inez.
An extremely close shot hit the ground just in front of Ezra's horse and sent it careening sideways, tossing Inez to the ground. Ezra was able to regain control of the horse, but turned and found Inez lying in the grass several feet behind him. "Inez!" he shouted and a bullet whizzed past his ear. He looked up and saw Fender's riderless horse, but no rider. A cold sweat broke out as Ezra imagined the man holding a gun, slithering through the grass toward Inez. Another bullet flew past his chest and he promptly dropped himself into the grass for cover.
Chris, Josiah, and J.D. were waiting in their new hiding places along the sides of the main street to see if there would be any more gunfire. The night suddenly became very chilly in the silence. Then a voice called out to them.
"I want to call a truce! To explain!" It was Fowler. "Lower your guns! I'm coming out!"
The three men exchanged glances. Chris began to lower his weapon and the others followed. "All right!" Chris answered. Then slowly with uncertainty, Fowler appeared with his hands up. "Where's your friend?" Chris shouted. Fowler turned to Mack who was still hiding. Reluctantly, the ranch hand came out, dangling his weapon from his finger in an un-firable manner. Chris, Josiah, and JD still held their breaths. But Chris decided that the pair had held up their end of the deal, so he crept out from behind a turned table and walked a short distance into the street. "Drop it!" he shouted.
A few yards behind Chris was one man who had been shot... but not fatally. He was lying on the ground, just able to reach his gun. He clutched it and slowly raised it with all his remaining strength.
"You drop yours!" shouted back Mack.
Chris didn't like the idea but looked to either side of the street where Josiah and JD respectively were still hiding. He looked back to Fowler and Mack. "All right. At the same time!" He held out his gun to the side in order to drop it and Mack did the same.
Just then, JD spied the wounded man aiming his gun at Chris' back. "Chris! Behind you!" he shouted and he shot.
Chris quickly spun around and narrowly missed being shot. At the same time, he dove for cover. Two more shots rung out in unison. Mack had fired, but Josiah shot him first, sending Mack's bullet into space.
Suddenly, it was silent again. Chris turned to survey the situation as Josiah and JD came out of hiding. A wounded Buck also appeared in the jailhouse doorway. They spied 2 bodies lying on the ground down the street. A desperate feeling of emptiness swelled in their chests as they ran to them. Chris kneeled at Fowler's body. Blood pumped from the rancher's chest. He was dead. A look of anguish spread across Chris' face as he hung his head.
Ezra crawled through the grass to Inez. She was stunned from hitting the ground but awake. "Shh. Stay down," he whispered. She turned over onto her stomach to crawl after Ezra. He was holding his gun and was crawling in one direction, but soon heard a gun cock near his head. He slowly turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of Fender's rifle.
Fender smirked from behind the gun. "No one takes MY woman!" he declared.
"No one took YOUR woman, because she was never yours to begin with," Ezra replied in a breathy voice.
"Now, don't go and do something that'll make me even madder." Fender smirked wider.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Ezra said as he slowly raised his hands, still holding his pistol. "I was merely delineating an inaccuracy in your assertion." He was now also rising to a more upright position on his knees.
"Huh?" was Fender's response.
Meanwhile, Vin and Nathan were waiting for some sign of Ezra and Fender. All they could see were the two horses standing in the tall grass. "Come on, you ol' snake in the grass," Vin said impatiently, "where are you? What's goin' on? His horse is just standin' there."
"So's Ezra's," observed Nathan.
"I was TALKIN' 'bout Ezra!" Vin quipped.
Back in the grass, the stand-off continued. "Come now, you don't actually plan on shooting me, do you?" Ezra laughed.
"I don't know. Sounds like a good idea to me." Fender was matching Ezra's upward movement to keep the gun in his face. "On second thought, you're kind of a nice little catch yourself," he said as he looked Ezra up and down and licked his lips. "Maybe after the pretty little senorita, I'll have you, too." He laughed in what Ezra perceived to be a maniacal manner.
Ezra's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in horror. Then he jumped to his feet. Fender followed upwards immediately with his gun still aimed at Ezra. BANG! A shot rang out in the darkness as Ezra turned and ducked for cover. Then he cautiously looked to where Fender was and saw his body hitting the ground.
Vin and Nathan trotted towards him on their horses. Vin's gun was still smoking. "Are you two all right?" he asked.
Ezra held his chest and took a few heavy breaths for a moment and said, "Impeccable timing, as always, Mr. Tanner." Inez raised her head above the level of the grass and Ezra helped her to her feet.
Chris still kneeled at the lifeless body of their ex-prisoner. He shut the man's eyes. He, Josiah, JD, and Buck heard a murmur escape from the other nearby body. They stood over Mack, who clung to the last breaths of life but strained to speak. Josiah kneeled to him. Mack's voice was hushed and his speech stilted but desperate. "He was no cattle rustler..." he took quick shallow breaths, "some of us did it... he didn't know."
Then Chris leaned down to him in his own desperation. "What about his brother? Who hired his brother to kill my family?" he said hurriedly. Josiah put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
"Don't know... but Jed was... no murderer... I had to make... that clear..." and he wheezed his last shallow breath and stopped. Now it was Josiah's turn to close the dead man's eyes. He and Chris could not bring themselves up from the ground for a while.
It was later that night and Ezra and the others had already returned from what once was Fowler's ranch. Everyone was informed of the events at both fronts that night.
Chris was sitting in the saloon in the dark, nursing a beer and his guilt. As he gulped down his drink, Buck stepped into the nearly empty room from outside. "Go easy on that stuff," the patched-up cowboy said as he sat at the round table across from his friend.
"Go easy? That's somethin' I shoulda done before," Chris lamented.
"Chris, none of us knew. We all share the blame in this." He paused. "You weren't the one who shot him."
"No? But I might as well have." Chris took a deep breath and continued. "An innocent man. We treated him like the scum of the earth." He sighed. "Mary was right. I let the situation get the better of me."
Buck's brow furrowed slightly. "Did she say that?"
"No. But she wanted to. I just wouldn't listen." He paused to stare into his beer. "I should apologize to her. God, I hate having to say I'm sorry."
"No one's perfect. The only folks who never say 'I'm sorry' are those who don't admit their mistakes."
"I swore I wouldn't be blinded. I wouldn't get like Hank... or the Nichols family... I wanted to honor Sarah and Adam's memory and get justice for 'em." He looked straight at Buck. "This ain't justice."
"Well," Buck began, "Maybe I can't say anything to make you feel better. But it's important that we realize what happened, and that we learn from it." There was a pause as Buck studied Chris' face.
Chris nodded. "Yeah? Well, I don't know how much more learning I can take." Then he took another gulp from his mug.
The church stood silently in the cold dark night. Not a soul in sight except for one lost one sitting on the steps with a whiskey flask. Ezra was looking at the ground in front of him and tapping his feet anxiously. He reached into his pocket, but as he pulled out his watch, something fell out and settled on the ground. He looked down at the object. It was the cufflink he "won" from the other prisoner at Spring Rock. He paused. It reminded him of his latest swindle, which he did not wish to be reminded of. So he let it lie. And put his watch back into his pocket, forgetting to look at the time, and took a drink from his flask instead. After replacing the flask in his belt, he got up and, still looking at the ground, stepped off and away from the church, almost bumping into a broad chest just in front of him.
"Woa, careful there, Ezra," replied Josiah.
Ezra was silent but looked up briefly to the preacher's face, then back down. He stepped to the right to go around Josiah, but Josiah had also moved in that direction. Then in unison, they each moved back the other way. Ezra sighed and jerked his hands up to his hips in an annoyed fashion. He cocked his head in a similar manner and was about to speak but Josiah spoke first. "Can I help you with something?"
"What makes you think I require your assistance?"
"Well, for starters, you wouldn't be waiting for me at the church if you didn't."
There was a pause, then Ezra conceded. He turned and paced back to his spot on the church steps with Josiah close behind. "I've just been thinking about... all of the... day's sobering events." The preacher nodded as he sat beside his friend the con. "I wasn't here to witness the calamity that felled Fowler... but I feel - and you're not going to like what I am about to say - but,... I feel that, from all your accounts, I think I can truly sympathize for him. The roguish and insensitive manner with which he was treated... how you all tried to make him divulge to you the secrets of his kin, which he in fact may or may not have known..." Then he looked directly at Josiah and added, "And I gather that he didn't, just as I didn't."
"Ezra, I don't want you to feel TOO victimized here, 'cause there's a big difference between you and Fowler." He paused for emphasis. "He was an innocent man."
Ezra turned a defiant nose up at Josiah and turned away. "Oh, the irony is killing me. Don't think that that statement inflicts any shame upon me. It just makes what you boys did that much worse." He took a swig from his flask.
Josiah sighed, "Don't I know it." Then he grabbed the flask from Ezra and took a drink, too.
After a stunned pause, Ezra said, "I... apologize, Josiah. That was... inappropriate."
Josiah had to chuckle. Then he said, "It's OK. After all, I am here to listen. I was outta line." There was a pause as both men's minds fidgeted on the topic.
Josiah ventured to break the silence. "So, Pike tried to get your mother through you?"
"Just like I explained to y'all before."
"I see." He paused. "So... how is she?" he asked as casually as he could.
Ezra appeared to be struggling with something inside himself, with his expression souring and relaxing. "Josiah, there is something else." He was once again looking at the ground and appeared to be waiting for Josiah's permission to continue.
"Yes?"
"You'll hate me," he said as he looked up from the ground, his eyes twitching as if he wanted to catch Josiah's reaction but was afraid to look. He paused again, but Josiah passed on an easy wise-crack at Ezra's expense. "I seriously considered their offer. True, I'm not certain of her current whereabouts, but I could easily find out. And at one point while I was idling away the time in that dank imprisonment, ... I blamed her." Then he looked directly and desperately at Josiah. "I blamed her for my predicament. I kept thinking that if it weren't for her and her con - and it WAS all her idea - I would never have become a wanted man!" His breathing became harder along with his expression. "I wanted to have my revenge by turning her over to them! Well, hell, she's a criminal mastermind! She deserves punishment at least as much as me!" Then he calmed down and turned away from Josiah. "They might have killed her." He sighed and put his hand on his forehead and began to rub his face.
"But you didn't turn her over. You had good enough reason not to."
"I didn't, because she was my mother! If she had been any other fugitive, I would not have even blinked."
"But she wasn't anyone else."
"That's the point." Ezra turned to Josiah with a strained look of confusion. "That... inaction feels proper, but it also feels wrong." Josiah gave him a questioning look. "Aren't there some divinities that are more important than... loyalty just for loyalty's sake?"
"Maybe. But revenge isn't one of them." With that, Josiah gave the contemplative con man a supportive pat on the back, returned the flask, and got up and entered the church, leaving Ezra alone with his thoughts.
THE END
"OK, so the barking was a little silly, but I stuck it in because of something Anthony Starke (Ezra) said in an on-line chat in Jan. 1999. As Laurie Holden (Mary) told him, 'Be careful what you wish for!'
"'The Magnificent Seven' and its characters are owned by Trilogy, Mirisch, and MGM. They're not mine, but I really wish they were. The rest of the characters are mine. They and the story are fictional. Any similarity between them and real life is coincidental.
"Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome and appreciated. Please send them to mchuek@yahoo.com .
Thank you."
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