By Bernadette
JD stood on the porch of the Sherrif's office looking up and down the street wondering what everyone else was doing at the moment. It was the first quiet week they had since Judge Travis hired them over a month ago. Nothing had happened all week and it was showing. Everyone was starting to get jumpy. Particularly Chris who was snapping at everyone. He got like that when he had too much time on his hands - he thought too much, probably about his wife and son. Chris had picked on Ezra mostly, he had been short with Ezra all week and JD still couldn't figure out why. Ezra had a way of rubbing everyone the wrong way but that was still not a reason for treating as him as Chris had been doing. Ezra was only bored too as there was no one left in town for him to play poker with. And the other guys soon learned that you did not play with Ezra if you wanted to keep your money.
JD sighed. He wondered where the next lot of trouble was going to come from. He did not have to wonder very long as when he next looked down the street towards the saloon he saw a rider coming in. He looked like he had been on the road for a while. The man on the black horse saw JD and headed towards him.
"Are you the law in this town." the man asked as he reined his horse to a stop.
JD was amazed. This was the first time that someone had actually assumed that he was the Sheriff.
"Yeah I am," replied JD "And you are?"
"Marshall Hanley. I'm just passing through town on my way to Tascosa. Gonna hang around for a few days. Both my horse and myself could use some rest. Thought I should introduce myself to the local law." He showed JD his Marshall's badge.
JD looked at his badge and then the man himself to see if there was anything to show him that he may be here for another reason. Such as Vin. But he couldn't read the man's face. He seemed to hide his intentions behind a poker face as well as Ezra does. The only thing he could see was that the man needed a bath and a shave.
"Well then I should take you to meet the rest of the guys as there are actually seven of us. Judge Travis hired us to protect the town."
"Why would you need seven men to protect a small town like this?" enquired Marshall Hanley.
"Four Corners didn't really have any law or a Sherrif for that matter. Place was dangerous for local folk. He thought it would need more than one person," JD answered with a smile on face as he thought about the amount of times that it did take the seven of them to deal with the local riff raff. "Come on there in the Saloon."
JD waited while the Marshall got off his horse and led him off to the Saloon not realising at the time the trouble and pain that this man was going to cause Ezra. If he did know he would have put a bullet in the man right there and then.
"Can I engage any of you gentlemen in a game of chance?" Ezra asked in his southern drawl.
The five men in the saloon looked up at Ezra. They hadn't even noticed him come down from his room. He was wearing his dark green jacket, a large smile and was carrying a bottle of whiskey in one hand and his cards in the other as though he was all ready to take what money they had left. Vin grimaced at the thought of playing poker with Ezra, he had already lost most of his money to him.
"No thanks Ezra." mumbled Vin. The others nodded in agreement.
Chris though just stared at him. He wanted to wipe that smile off Ezra's face. Ezra raised his eyebrows at Chris waiting for the sarcasm that was sure to follow as it had been this way all week. Ezra would make a comment and then Chris would take his frustration out on him. He had an idea why Chris was doing it so he just let it go for now.
"Why would anyone want to play with you Ezra, what being a cheat and all." Everyone could hear the sarcasm in Chris's voice.
"I do not cheat." retorted Ezra. Making sure that the hurt he felt did not show on his face. If he was glad of one thing about the trade his mother taught him it was that he could hide his emotions very well.
Chris did not take any notice of the looks the others gave him. He was angry and frustrated and he needed to take it out on someone and at the moment he could not think of anyone better than Ezra. After all he did run out on them at the Indian village.
"Your also a liar and a coward and I am suprised that your still hanging around here." Chris saw the hurt that quickly flashed through Ezra's eyes but the looked was quickly replaced by his poker face. Chris smiled at the idea that he had actually been able to hurt the gambler's feelings. Ezra had not shown any emotion at all this week in regards to the comments he had been throwing at him and this had made Chris even more angry.
The rest of the group held their breath not realising that they had made things worse by doing so.
"There is a difference between being a liar and a con-man Mister Larabee. A con-man cons, he does not lie and as for being I coward I think that I have proved more than once since taking on this position of trust that I am not a coward as you would suggest and I do not intend to leave at this point in time." Ezra was beginning to tire of his desertion from the Indian village being thrown in his face by this man. "And I take it that from the silence that I hear from the rest of the group that you all agree with Mr Larabee." continued Ezra. He knew this was going to be a statement and not a question.
As Ezra tried to look them in the eye Vin, Buck and Josiah looked away and down at their drinks. They were not sure what to say but Nathan looked Ezra in the eye. Nathan was thinking of the time that Ezra tried to make some money by selling those working girls as wives to rich men.
"Well then I think I shall find other company and let Mr Larabee wallow in his own self pity and the rest of you to enjoy such a pitiful show." And with that Ezra turned on his heel and went over to his regular table where he usually partakes in an excellent game of poker.
Before things could get any worse - or so they thought - JD walked into the Saloon with a man and motioned him towards them and started to give introductions. Across the room Ezra looked up to see what the commotion was all about and dropped the bottle of whisky that was in his hand.
"Good Lord." groaned Ezra. He quickly got up and quietly left the Saloon. Only Buck saw him leave.
"Marshall Hanley this is Chris, Vin, Buck, Josiah and Nathan. Guys this is Marshall Hanley, he is going to be in town for a few days." JD noticed as they all turned and looked at Vin. "It's ok guys he's just here for a rest."
Eveyone gave a quiet sigh of relief.
"Good morning gentlemen, like I told JD here I wanted to introduce myself to the local law just so there is no trouble," Hanley looked around " JD I thought you said there were seven of you?"
"Uh, yeah, where is Ezra?" JD asked the group.
"Ezra?" questioned Hanley.
"Yeah," smiled JD "You wouldn't think Ezra was one of us as he doesn't look the part being a gambler and all."
Hanley hid the suprise he felt. Could he have finally found Ezra Standish. This was to good to be true. He could get the revenge that he had dreamed of for the last three years.
"You just missed him, he left after you came in." Stated Buck. "You can meet Ezra later, just don't play poker with him."
"I have better things in mind for that man and they don't include poker." thought Hanley. "Well if you excuse me gentlemen I will catch up with you later. I got a horse to take of and a bath to take." He knew that if Ezra saw him come in that he would be headed for the stable and his horse. "Can you tell me where the stable is?"
"It's four blocks down on the right, behind the blacksmiths." answered JD. "Make sure you come back for a drink when your done."
And with that Hanley headed after Ezra Standish to seek his revenge for the murder of Charlotte Ramsey.
Marshall Hanley turned into the alley and saw the stables ahead. He got off his horse so Ezra would not hear him coming because he knew that if Ezra heard him he would have a lot more trouble trying to catch the man so he could seek the revenge that he had been planning for so long. He left the horse where it was standing and headed towards the stable. He looked around the alley and into the street to make sure that no one saw him. The last thing he wanted was a witness that may contradict what he had to say about what was going to happen. He noticed that the door was slightly ajar.
"Ezra, you must be running scared to leave the door open like that so any one can sneek up on you," thought Hanley. "I will have to remember to thank you later, if you are still around that is." A smile crept up on Hanley's face as he thought about that.
He went through the door and saw Ezra getting his horse ready for an escape that was not going to happen.
"Hello Ezra" called Hanley.
Ezra stood where he was and hung his head. "I am a dead man." he thought to himself. He turned around waiting for the bullet that would end his life. He knew that this was Hanley's intention since the murder of Charlotte three years ago and he was sure that his intentions had not change in that time. He looked at the face the man that would be his killer and saw the hatred in his eyes.
"Mr Hanley, it's been a long time. Have you come for a social visit or will this be business?" there was no way that Ezra was going to allow this man any sort of satisfaction in his death.
"Still coming out with the smart mouth comments." growled Hanley. "I have come to arrest you Ezra or kill you, I don't know which yet."
"You can't arrest me, you are not a lawman anymore."
"So does that mean that I can kill you, anyway I still have my badge and that is all I need to convince people that I am a Marshall." he chuckled to himself about this. "I want you to put all of your guns on the ground and if I see any sort of movement that may cause an injury to myself I will shoot you. Particularly that right arm with the derringer up the sleeve."
Ezra took his time and placed his guns on the ground as he was told to do. He wondered why Hanley had not killed him yet, he thought it was the first thing that he would do when he saw him and now he knew why. He wanted something more.
"Your friends told me where I could find you, sent me straight to you they did." grinned Hanley hopping that would get Ezra to show some sort of emotion. Hanley had not seen any emotion cross Ezra's face since he first confronted him. He knew Ezra had a good poker face but thought under these conditions he would show something. But he knew that Ezra could be a stubborn mule when he wanted to be. But he would soon change that.
"I assure you that they are not my friends." stated Ezra. "They are only acquaintances. I work with them." He hoped that he sounded convincing. Hanley was a hard man to con.
"Really." Hanley stepped up closer to Ezra and placed his gun against Ezra's temple. "I am going to tell you this once and once only Ezra. I am not going to kill you yet."
Ezra felt some of the tension and fear leave his body. Hanley continued though and Ezra felt what just left him return and his chest tightened.
"I am going to seek my revenge for the death of Charlotte Ramsey. You killed her and you are going to pay for what you did." Hanley breathed this last statement into Ezra's face.
"You know I did not kill Charlotte."
"You may not have killed her directly but you are responsible for her death. If it was not for you she would still be alive. She was going to marry me but when you arrived in town all she had time for was you. She no longer wanted me."
"Charlotte never loved you and she was not going to marry you." Ezra remembered the fear he saw in Charlotte's eyes when she told him that Hanley had threatened her life if she did not end her friendship with Ezra.
"That is why I killed her. But you were the one to blame for her death."
Ezra knew that it would be no good to argue with him so he said nothing more.
Hanley still continued though. He had a lot more to say and what he said made Ezra fear for the other six hired gunmen that he had become to know more as friends.
"If any of your acquaintances try to help you out of this situation or interfer with the revenge that I have planned for you I will kill them." he smiled at this. "And you know that I will do this don't you Ezra?"
Ezra nodded. He could think of nothing to say. He knew Hanley would do what he said. He was a cold blooded murderer.
"Now we are going to walk out of here and head for the jail. When your co-workers show up," Ezra wondered why Hanley would think the other men would be waiting for them when they left the barn. "I will kill them if they try to stop me. I won't get them all but I will get one maybe two and that will be enough for you to have another death on your conscience." continued Hanley.
Ezra saw the look change on Hanley's face. He felt the gun slowly slide down the side of his face, down across his chest until it lay on his right side. He felt the bullet before he actually heard the gun go off. There was a hot burning pain as the bullet entered and exited out of his body. He nearly blacked out with the pain but Hanley held him up.
That was just the beginning of my revenge Ezra, there will be more to come." smiled Hanley. " Keep awake Ezra, you do want to help your friends don't you."
Ezra cleared his mind. He knew he had to stay clear headed. He needed to be very convincing. Or it could cost one of his friends their life. Hanley dragged him towards the door and outside straight into six guns pointed in their direction.
All six men rose from their seats at the same time. They rushed out of the Saloon door and out into the street looking for where the gun shot had come from. They could not see who had fired the shot that had finally ended the quiet that had hung around Four Corners for the last week.
"It came from the stables." called Mary.
They all turned in the direction of the voice and saw Mary pointing towards the stable.
"The Marshall." whispered JD. Everyone looked at him. "Who else could it be?"
"Get back inside Mary, we'll take care of it." Chris motioned to Mary to go back inside but she hung around the doorway to wait and see if anyone had been hurt. She had been grateful for the quiet but like everyone else she knew it would not last. But like the others Mary did not know how badly the quiet had been shattered.
The men rounded the corner heading for the stable. They came to a stop, waited and listened for any other noise that would let them know what the situation was before they went head first into trouble. Just as Chris was about to tell the men what he wanted them to do they saw the stable door open wider and what they saw confused them. Marshall Hanley dragged Ezra out of the stable by the collar. They did not open fire but instead waited for an explanation from either man. Ezra saw the looks on their faces. He thought he would see expressions of shock but instead their faces showed confusion as though they had always expected something like this to happen but were confused as to why it happened. Ezra had pulled his coat closed so they could not see how bad his wound was hoping that the blood loss he was feeling was not yet showing too much through his clothing and waited to see who was going to make the first move.
"Do you want to explain yourself?" growled Buck. This question was aimed at Hanley. He knew that Chris was not going to say anything, he could tell by the look on his face. Chris looked like he was ready to kill someone but Buck could not tell if it would be Hanley or Ezra and that worried him.
"As you can see gentlemen I have arrested Ezra Standish." he raised his eyebrows in question. "You did not know that he was a wanted man?"
"We know Ezra was wanted for bail jumping but Judge Travis gave him a pardon, he's a free man now." replied JD. He noticed that Ezra was having trouble keeping on his own two feet. The Marshall was holding him up for some reason. He looked across at Nathan and saw that he had noticed it too.
"Oh, this is not for bail jumping. I would not go through this trouble just for that."
"Then what have you arrested him for?" Buck stepped closer as he asked this question. His eyes were on Ezra's face watching him for any sign that may show that he was in the sort of trouble which needed his friends to get him out of. Ezra just returned the stare keeping the pain he felt from showing on his face and in his eyes. "Damm you Ezra show me something." Buck said to himself.
"I have arrested him for murder. The murder of Charlotte Ramsey to be exact."
Buck looked back at Hanley and saw that he was serious.
Chris brushed past Buck and stood in front of Ezra. "Are you telling me that Ezra murdered a woman?"
Ezra saw the look in Chris's eyes and knew that he could take advantage of what the gunman was feeling to try and convince Hanley that they were not going to help him and therefore keep them all alive for the time being. He would have to think about how he was going to get himself out this mess later.
"Why don't you ask him yourself." Hanley squeezed Ezra's arm as to warn Ezra what might happen if he said the wrong thing.
Chris looked Ezra in the eyes to see if the man was lying when he answered his question.
"Well did you?"
Ezra prepared himself for what he knew was going to erupt from Chris.
"Yes." Ezra lied.
The rest of the guys could not believe what they had heard but it had come straight from the gambler's mouth and they did not think that Ezra would lie about something as serious as this. What reason would he have to do so.
Chris did not even blink at the answer. Instead he slammed the butt of his gun into Ezra's face drawing a trail of blood. Ezra fell to the ground and landed on his back letting out a small cry of pain. He grimaced at the pain as it shot through his side. Before anyone could stop him Chris kicked Ezra in the side hard enough to crack two ribs. Ezra tried to roll away but this movement only caused new pain to erupt from above the bullet wound in his side.
"Oh great, why didn't you just shoot me yourself Chris." Ezra wondered. He knew that Chris would hit him but he did not expect the kick to the ribs.
Buck, Vin and Josiah pulled Chris away from Ezra, knowing why the man erupted but thinking that we went to far as Ezra tried to raise himself to his knees. During all this time Hanley was enjoying himself thinking that these people disliked Ezra as much as he did. But then he saw Nathan move towards Ezra.
"Ezra let me have a look, he may have broken a rib."
"When I need your help Mr Jackson I will ask for it." Ezra grabbed his coat and closed it but not before Nathan saw the blood.
Nathan looked at Hanley with a question in his eyes.
"Why is Ezra bleeding?"
"He pulled his derringer on me so I had to shoot him before he killed me." Hanley saw the other men stiffen at this so he quickly added. " It's only a flesh wound though. I'll clean it up for him later."
Nathan bent down towards Ezra again.
"Ezra please will you let me have a look."
Ezra looked up at Nathan, anger in his eyes for what Chris had done and he hoped that Nathan would think that the anger was aimed at him.
"Get the hell away from me." Ezra spat out. "I do not need help from someone like you." He knew that he had been convincing by the hurt and anger that showed on Nathan's face.
Everyone could not believe what they were hearing. It was as though Ezra was a completely different person. They seemed to be seeing another side to him. Together they wondered if this person was the real Ezra. Nathan was stunned. He stood up and moved away from Ezra to join the others. Only JD seemed to be looking at Ezra with doubt showing on his face. Ezra hoped that Hanley did not notice.
Hanley dragged Ezra to his feet.
"Now if you excuse me I have to take my prisoner to jail." Hanley pushed Ezra in the direction of the jail trying very hard to keep the smile off his face. "It seems you were right Ezra, these men don't seem to really want to help you and they believed what you said." he whispered this into Ezra's ear so no one else could hear.
Ezra turned to look at the men he thought were his friends. He was saddened by the fact that he had convinced them so easily. It seemed that they actually thought he was capable of murder. He noticed JD pick up his hat which had fallen to the ground when Chris had hit him and start to follow them but Chris grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Let go of me Chris, I'm going with them to make sure Ezra's alright."
"He does not want our help JD." said Vin. "Can't you see that." He was still reeling from what had just happened. Ezra a murderer.
"Don't you want to find out his side of the story, maybe it was an accident or self defence even?" JD aimed this question at the whole group.
"He just had the chance to tell us. He would have told us if there was another side to it. A side that may have shown him to be innocent. Why would he lie about something like this." Chris growled this back at JD. He also gave JD a look that said that this was the end of the subject.
"For now," thought JD "but I am not going to let Ezra just rot in that jail cell."
They all then turned and headed back towards the saloon each man in his own thoughts trying to deal with what just happened. Just when they thought they could really trust Ezra and rely on him to protect their backs in a dangerous situation this happens.
Mary had seen Ezra dragged towards the jail. "What is happening?" she asked herself. Then she saw the rest of the group headed towards the saloon and wondered why they were not following Ezra to the jail. She raced after them to find out what was going on. She reached them before they entered the saloon.
"What happened?" she asked hoping that one of them would answer.
Chris and Nathan did not stop but continued into the saloon. Vin, Buck and JD looked at Josiah and walked through the swinging doors leaving him to answer Mary's question.
"Ezra has been arrested for murder." he simply stated. He watched for the reaction to show on Mary's face and she was shocked.
"Murder! I knew Mr Standish was capable of a lot of things but murder. Are you sure?"
"He admitted it. And he doesn't want our help. Don't ask me why, I am still trying to figure this out myself."
"And you believed him."
"He was very convincing Mrs Travis."
"Yes convincing is the word Mr Sanchez. What about the others are they going to help him or do they think he actually killed someone?"
Josiah did not answer straight away. The statement Mrs Travis had just made was nagging at him. Convincing is the word.
"I do not believe they are going to help at this time. We will give Ezra a bit of time to cool down and then we will see if he still refuses our help."
"Is that all you are going to do." Mary was starting to get angry. She did not like a lot of the things that Ezra did. But she had actually come to like the man. She saw a different side to him that the others did not see. He was not always afraid to show his human side to her. She knew he was changing, he still did things that angered her but she did not think he was capable of murder.
"I am afraid there is not much more we could do at the moment. Perhaps you could look in on him later and make sure he is ok maybe convince him to allow us to help."
Mary could only nod her head. She could not understand why these men needed Ezra's permission to help him. Josiah tipped his hat to Mrs Travis and walked into the saloon to join the others.
Hanley threw Ezra into the jail cell. He could not keep his balance and slammed his side into the bunk crying out as the pain that he felt in his side caused him to loose consciousness. He fell to the floor in a crumpled heap. Hanley lifted him and tossed him onto the bunk as though he was a rag doll. A smile crept up on his face as he observed Ezra's unconscious form.
It had been four hours since Ezra had been arrested and very few words had been spoken between the group of men. JD could not wait any longer he got up and started towards the door.
"He is not going to want your help JD, I've told you that already." Vin said not really sounding like he wanted to stop JD going to the jail. He was starting to regret not following Ezra himself.
"I just want to make sure that Marshall Hanley has taken care of his injuries." he said as he continued to walk through the door.
Chris noticed the looks that were aimed at him when JD said injuries. He did not care. The man deserved what he got. Anyone who was coward enough to kill a woman should suffer before his is finally hung for murder. He just wished that he could exact the same revenge on the person who had his family killed.
JD walked into the Sherrif's office and saw Marshall Hanley checking his guns as he leaned back in the chair behind the desk.
"Be careful of that chair, it tends to fall backwards on you."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." he looked at Ezra who had still not regained consciousness. "You come to check up on the prisoner?"
"Yeah." JD sighed. Ezra did not look good. He was very pale and not moving. He saw the bruise and cut from Chris's gun standing out on his pale face. He wished that he had asked Nathan to come with him to make sure that he was ok. "Is Ezra asleep?"
"Been asleep since I cleaned his wound and bandaged his ribs." lied Hanley. "Used some old clean sheets I found." He did not lie about using the sheets. He had torn them up and thrown some of them into the fire that he had started in the stove and used the rest to tie Ezra's hands together so he did not have to worry about any nasty surprises that he knew Ezra was capable of inflicting on a person. He knew that Ezra's wound was still bleeding slightly and he liked the thought of that.
JD just stood there watching Ezra wondering why he would ever kill a woman. He stood that way for ten minutes. Ezra did not move at all during that time. Hanley interrupted his thoughts.
"Um, JD in all the confusion I forgot about my horse. He's probably still standing outside that stable. Would you mind taking care of him for me." Hanley wanted to get rid of JD and this was the only way he thought he could do it without making JD suspicious.
"Sure," JD said "I'll come back later."
"Why don't you bring us both something to eat when you do. I'm sure Ezra will be hungry when he wakes up." Hanley followed JD to the porch steps and waited for him to disappear around the corner towards the livery and then looked towards the saloon where he knew the others would be to make sure that he was not going to be disturbed for the next ten minutes or so then headed back inside to get the keys to the cell. "I think it is about time we had some fun." he laughed to himself. They had no idea what he was doing with their friend or aquaintence as Ezra had put it.
Hanley pulled the blanket down far enough to reveal Ezra's wounded side. He then sat down on the bunk making sure that he put most of his weight on Ezra's legs so he would not be able to use them to defend himself. He looked at Ezra's face seeing that there was no sign that he was pretending to be unconscious. He placed his right hand over Ezra's mouth leaving his nose uncovered so that he could continue to breath. Then he put his left hand on Ezra's wounded side. He felt Ezra move slightly beneath him knowing that his hand had caused some pain. He squeezed harder. This time Ezra reacted more violently. He yelled in pain but the sound was smothered by Hanley's hand. At the same time his eyes flew open showing the pain that his was feeling. He saw Hanley leaning over him and knew that he was the cause of his pain. He could not use his hands as they seem to be bound in some way so he tried to kick him off but he couldn't move his legs either. Had Hanley actually tied him to the bunk. Hanley removed his hand from Ezra's side before he blacked out on him. He left his hand on his mouth for a moment longer.
"So Ezra are you enjoying yourself?" he removed his hand so that he could answer him. "Because I know I am."
"Loving every minute of it." Ezra gasped.
"You never change do you Ezra?" he began to run his fingers along Ezra's side enjoying the pain that crossed the gambler's face. "Always the smartass. You know this revenge thing might take a while."
"I'm sure I will keep trying to make it entertaining for you." The pain was starting to show more on Ezra's face as Hanley started to squeeze harder. He was not enjoying himself at all. Who would.
"You know Charlotte felt a lot of pain before she died." Hanley waited for Ezra's reaction. But he did not show one. Hanley was beginning to get really frustrated about this. Maybe he would have to just shoot him after all.
Ezra knew that he was waiting to see how he would react to that statement. If he was able to he would have killed Hanley right there and then. But that will have to wait till later.
"I did not want to kill her quickly. Wanted her to suffer for what she did to me. Just like I want you to suffer. Nobody takes what is mine."
To prove his point he put his hand back over Ezra's mouth to muffle the scream that would come and pressed his fingers into Ezra's side. He felt the blood begin to flow more heavily through his shirt. It took a few seconds for Ezra to black out again and when he did Hanley placed the blanket back over Ezra's arms to hide his condition and bound hands.
JD returned a couple of hours later just when it had started to become dark with the meals that the Marshall had requested. Ezra looked a lot worse to him. He face had reddened a little and there was a slight sheen of sweat on his face. JD saw Hanley looking at him and this caused him to think that something was not right. Ezra should be looking better not worse and because of this JD decided to keep the thought to himself. He will have to talk to the guys about this. If they would listen that is. Just then Mary entered hoping to talk to Ezra.
"Mrs Travis." JD greeted her. He saw the look of concern on her face for Ezra.
"Why does he look so ill?" she asked.
"He got shot." said Hanley.
"And you are?" enquired Mary.
"This is Marshall Hanley, he said he had to defend himself when he arrested Ezra. He shot him. But the Marshall cleaned his wound so he should be fine." JD answered for him.
"JD you forgot to tell her what your friend Chris did to him."
Mary looked back at JD the anger showing on her face. "And what was that?"
JD could not look her in the eye so instead he looked at the still form of Ezra. Scared that something was wrong with him.
"He attacked Ezra when he found out why the Marshall had arrested him."
"Kicked him so hard he probably broke some ribs. I bandaged them up though." Hanley added the last part to cover up his tracks.
"Really." she was going to have to speak to Mr Larabee about that in the morning.
"Mrs Travis, why don't we leave Ezra to get his rest and come back tomorrow. I'll walk you to your room." JD guided her out of the office taking one quick glance at Ezra before they left. He really did not look good.
"JD what's going on?" Mary asked.
"I don't know Mrs Travis. Every time I go in there Ezra is asleep. The only thing I do know is that tomorrow I am going to have to either convince the guys to help Ezra or work out a way to help him by myself."
"You won't have do it by yourself. I'll come and talk to them with you and if they still refuse then we will work on a plan together."
JD smiled at this. Finally someone else wanted to help Ezra. He just hoped that tomorrow was not too late.
Hanley continued through the night to inflict suffering on Ezra. It was either physical pain by causing more damage to his wounded side or emotional pain by telling him how much Charlotte had suffered before she died giving him every detail of the pain that he had caused her. Ezra managed to get through most of this torture by thinking of his own ways to make this man pay for what he had done and what he was doing. Hanley eventually gave up though as it had become more difficult to bring Ezra around each time he wanted to have more fun.
JD decided to check on Ezra before he started to look for everyone else so he and Mrs Travis could talk to them. He did not know how he was going to talk them into helping Ezra. Maybe Mrs Travis could do that part for him. Marshall Hanley was not in the sheriffs office when he arrived so he was able to stand close to the outer cell and get a better look at Ezra. He was soaked with sweat and was moving his head side to side as though in a nightmare. Now JD was really worried.
"What the hell has Hanley been doing." It was as though he did not want Ezra to get better. Maybe he thought this was better than a hanging. "Well we aren't going to let that happen."
"Ezra?"
"Ezra?" JD called louder this time.
Ezra opened his eyes. They were filled with pain. He turned in the direction of the voice.
"Ah, Mr Dunne what are you doing here?" Ezra croaked.
"I thought I'd come to see how you were doing." JD could see that Ezra had trouble keeping his eyes open. "And I can see that your not doing to well at all."
Ezra did not reply.
"Have you had anything to eat or drink since yesterday Ezra?"
JD saw Ezra frown at the question as though he was trying to remember if he had but before he could answer he turned his head to the side and was asleep again. JD went to the pole for the keys to the cell but found that they were not hanging where they usually were. He tried the desk but found one of the drawers to be locked. He realised that the Marshall did not want anyone to have a closer look at Ezra so he locked the keys away. JD hurriedly walked out of the building determined to get the others to help him get Ezra away from that man.
JD saw Mrs Travis waiting for him outside of the saloon. She smiled as he arrived.
"You look like you did not get much sleep last night JD."
JD noticed that she herself looked the same. "He's worse." JD did not know any other way to say it.
"We better talk fast then." said Mary before she entered the saloon.
JD followed her in and saw the rest of the group sitting at a table playing cards. They did not seem to be taking much notice of what they were doing though. This might be easier than he thought.
He walked straight to the table. No one looked up at him. Mrs Travis was standing at his side and he looked sideways at her. She nodded for him to continue.
"Ezra's sick." stated JD
Everyone but Chris looked up. JD thought that he saw some concern in their eyes.
"Nathan could you please come and take a look at him."
Before Nathan could answer Chris spoke up. "How do you know he's sick? He might be trying to con you into helping him without actually asking for help."
"Mr Larabee." Chris looked up at the sound of Mary's voice. "Mr Standish is sick, I have seen him myself."
"I'm sorry but I don't believe that he is. The man is a murder, he will do anything to get out of the situation that he is in."
She found it hard to understand why he was acting like this towards Ezra. She looked at the rest of the group and noticed that Buck, Vin and Josiah were looking slightly guilty over what was happening. Maybe she could convince them to help.
"Gentlemen Mr Standish may not want your help but he does need it and he deserves to have it." Mary's voice softened as she said this thinking that it may make them feel even more guilty and help him.
"Are you sure that he is sick?" asked Buck.
JD looked at Buck. "Yes." He then looked at Nathan. "Nathan if you won't do it for Ezra would you please do it for me."
Buck could not stand it anymore. He stood up. "Come on Nathan, I'll go with you. And I am not going to take no for an answer. The man may have killed someone but he does not deserve to be treated like this. We are supposed to be his friends."
Nathan looked at Chris as though he was asking his permission to go with JD and Buck.
"Do what you want Nathan but I reckon the man deserves what he gets."
"And is that why you attacked him." Mary didn't hide the disgust from her voice.
Chris just looked at her not knowing why she would show any sort of concern for Ezra.
"Great. We have to hurry. I don't know how long Hanley will be gone for." said JD as he followed the others out of the saloon.
As they entered the jail Hanley watched from across the street. He knew that his game was up and that he had better find a hiding place and plan his next move. He was going to kill Ezra even if it meant dying himself. He left to get his horse ready.
Josiah got up and walked towards the saloon doors.
"Going too are you Josiah?" snarled Chris.
Josiah looked at him. "I am going to stand here and watch just in case I am needed.
Vin smiled at this. Seems everyone was starting to change sides including himself.
Nathan and Buck stood in front of the outer cell looking at Ezra. They then turned to look at each other.
"Where's the keys to the cell JD?" asked Buck.
"One of the desk drawers is locked so I think they are in there."
Buck went over to the desk and tried the drawers until he found the one that was locked. He used the butt of his gun to break the drawer open and pulled out the keys. He opened the outer door cell and then the cell itself. He let Nathan go in first and he stood back and hoped for the best. He could tell himself that Ezra was really sick. He was dripping with sweat and he sounded like he was having trouble breathing, he could hear the rattle from his chest each time he let out a breath. He should have listend to JD sooner.
Nathan knelt down beside the bunk. He looked at Ezra's face. Saw the grimaces of pain. He put his hand on Ezra's forehead and felt the heat burning into the skin of his hand. He turned to Buck.
"He's burning with a fever."
"I told you didn't I." JD said not disguising his anger. "But you wouldn't listen to me would you."
Nathan pulled the blanket back and everyone let out a gasp of shock. They saw Ezra's tied hands but what shocked them most was the amount of blood on his jacket, vest and shirt. Nathan left his hands for the time being and pulled aside Ezra's jacket. He then gently unbuttoned his vest and started to lift his shirt. The shirt stuck to the wound and Nathan had to pull harder. He felt a pair of hands grab him. The grip was weak. He looked down into Ezra's pained filled fevered eyes. Ezra's eyes began to focus.
"Nathan what are you doing?" groaned Ezra.
"Your sick Ezra and your going to get my help whether you like it or not."
He turned to continue what he was doing not waiting for Ezra to refuse him again. Nathan was able to lift Ezra's shirt away from the wound without causing him to black out. The wound was swollen and red and there was a yellow mucus leaking from it.
"The wound is infected." said Nathan grimly. "We have to get him to my room."
JD was pacing back and forth. He was begining to get very angry. Particularly at Chris Larabee. It was mostly his fault that Ezra had been left here to get so sick instead of helping him.
"No." said Ezra.
Nathan looked at him amazed that the man can still be stubborn when he was near his death bed. "Ezra why do you have to keep refusing help. You would die if we left you here."
"And you will die if you take me away from here."
Buck came over then with a confused look on his face. He did not understand what Ezra had meant by that.
"What are you saying Ezra?" asked Buck.
Ezra did not seem to acknowledge that Buck had even asked the question.
"Where is Hanley?" he asked.
"I don't know." answered Nathan. "He was gone when we got here. JD made us come."
Ezra smiled at that. "Hanley said that he would kill anyone who helped me." Ezra was finding it harder to talk. He wanted to go back to sleep but he had to warn them of what Hanley was capable of doing.
"Is that why you did not want our help at the stable?" Buck asked. "Because you thought that he would kill us."
Ezra just nodded. He was falling into unconsciousness again. "That's why he killed Charlotte, she tried to help me."
They all looked at each other. The looks on their faces showing the tremendous amount of guilt that they were feeling. Nathan turned back to Ezra and pulled his shirt back down over his wound and covered him with the blanket.
"Buck do think you could carry him to my room?" questioned Nathan knowing what his answer would be. "JD you go on ahead and start boiling some water for me, where going to need it.
Buck came over and gently lifted Ezra into his arms. Ezra groaned.
"Sorry Ezra. I'll try to be more careful." he said this even though he knew that the gambler would not hear him.
He carried him through the doors outside to the street being careful not cause any part of Ezra's body to touch anything. Nathan followed him outside.
"Do you think were to late Nathan?"
"I don't know yet Buck, but I hope not."
"If Ezra dies Hanley is going to suffer an even worse fate that anyone could imagine." growled Buck.
"Gentlemen, I think you should come and have a look at this." Josiah called over his shoulder.
"What is it Josiah?" enquired Vin.
"It seems that JD was correct when he said that Ezra was sick."
Vin quickly got up and headed towards the door. Chris sat where he was until he noticed that Mary was looking at him.
"Well?" she asked.
Chris looked back at her for a moment then got up and followed Vin. He was not doing this for Ezra. Chris did not want Mary angry at him. The last thing he wanted was to be on her wrong side.
Vin and Chris looked at Josiah who just nodded in the direction of Nathan's room. They saw Buck carrying a figure wrapped in a blanket. They knew it was Ezra. He was hanging limp in Buck's arms with his head lying against his right shoulder. Nathan was following. Josiah and Vin did not hesitate, they ran towards them. As they got closer they could see how bad a condition Ezra was in. Their stomachs were tied in knots.
Chris did not know what to think, he was suddenly confused about what was going on. He felt as though he was being pulled in two different directions. He remembered the times that he thought Ezra was a friend and then to the fact that Ezra had admitted to murdering a woman. He nearly turned back to go into the saloon when he heard Mary's voice again.
"At least go and see what is happening Chris, please."
"As long as you understand Mary that I am not going to help him."
Mary nodded thinking that if she argued with him now that he would change his mind and go back inside. Together they walked to Nathan's room. Mary to see what she could do to help and Chris only because Mary had wanted him to.
JD had left the door open and Buck went through carrying Ezra in his arms watching his face for any sign of pain that he may be accidently causing him.
"Put him on the bed Buck."
Josiah and Vin followed Nathan through the door and stood to the side of the room staying quiet while watching Ezra's pale and sweating face. When JD had said that he was sick they did not realise how serious JD was. Buck gently placed Ezra on the bed being careful not to tug at his side when he removed his arm from around his waist. He took one look at Ezra and then joined the others at the side of the room to let Nathan do his job. Everyone but Nathan looked up when they heard someone else enter the room. They did not expect to see Chris. He looked towards the bed then at the others. No one seemed to be able to look each other in the eye at that moment. They were feeling guilty. Chris stood where he was but he allowed Mary to walk past him. He closed the door and waited like everybody else.
They watched as Nathan removed the blanket and saw that Ezra's hands were tied together. Chris saw this too and had become even more confused. He felt a slight twinge of doubt enter his mind but quickly pushed it away. Maybe there was a reason for this. He did not convice himself of this though and the doubt returned.
"What the hell." said Vin sounding angry "Why are his hands tied like that?"
"That's how we found him." replied JD showing his own anger in his voice that was aimed at the other men.
Nathan untied Ezra's hands and threw the strips of sheets on the floor. "I'll need someone to help me with his clothes." he said not looking around.
Josiah was at his side in a moment.
"Help me put him on his left side so I can take these clothes off." It took Nathan nearly five minutes to remove the clothing from Ezra so he could get a better look at his side.
What the others saw caused them to grimace. They saw the infected wound and a large dark bruise above it that seemed to cover half the side of his chest. Buck looked at Chris hoping that he had seen the physical damage that he had caused Ezra.
Nathan was worried. Ezra had not reacted the entire time that he was removing his upper clothing. He knew just looking at his side that some of his ribs would be cracked or broken. Ezra's breathing was slighty difficult but Nathan knew that it would be a lot worse if a broken rib had punctured a lung so he would deal with them later. He had to clean the wound first and that was going to be the most difficult part because it had become infected. It was going to cause Ezra an extreme amount of pain cleaning it and he was going to need to keep him still.
"Josiah, I am going to need you to keep him on his side. You may need to lean against his shoulder and hold his arms down because if he wakes up he is going to fight me all the way when I clean his wound. Buck could you please hold down his legs so he does not kick out at me."
Josiah sat down on the bed and gently placed himself against Ezra's back and he then took hold of his arms keeping them against Ezra's chest away from the wound on his side. He could feel the burning heat radiating from his body. Josiah quickly said a silent prayer for Ezra. Buck came over to the bed and leaned down heavy on Ezra's legs. He wanted to make sure that Ezra did not hurt himself anymore than he already was or anyone else for that matter. Ezra had still not moved or even made a sound while Buck and Josiah placed him in this position. They silently looked at each other sharing the same thoughts. A mixture of guilt, shame, fear and anger. The guilt being the most strongest at the moment.
"JD is that hot water ready yet."
JD only nodded. He carried the water over to the side of the bed.
Nathan quickly gathered some pieces of clean sheets and turned back towards Ezra. He knew what had to be done but he was not looking forward to it at all.
JD was beginning to feel ill at the thought of the pain that Ezra was about to go through. He could not help but blame himself for what was happening. Until he looked at Chris that is. He began pacing again as he had been doing at the jail cell. His anger was beginning to rise. He kept glancing back and forth between Ezra - his face grimacing in pain - and Chris who was showing no emotion at all. Whenever he glanced back at Chris his anger continued to grow until he knew that he would explode. He just didn't know what he would do when he did.
"Buck, Josiah are you ready?" they both nodded at Nathan. They trusted Nathan in what he was doing. If only they had trusted Ezra more because if they had he would not be in this position.
Nathan placed the hot moistened cloth on Ezra's wound knowing what his reaction would be. Ezra screamed out in pain. He struggled weakly under Buck and Josiah's grip. When he knew that he could not crawl away from the pain he turned his head into the pillow to cover his screaming. Ezra had never felt anything so excruciating in his life and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He just wished that who ever was doing it would soon stop and leave him to die so the pain would finally end.
Buck felt Ezra's struggles weaken beneath him. He hated himself for what was happening. He believed Ezra to be a friend and could not think as to why he had allowed himself to treat Ezra this way. He was going to be loosing a lot of money to Ezra for a long time for this. He thought that maybe it would be one step towards his own forgiveness. He did not know how he would even begin to gain Ezra's forgivness. It would not be as easy as a couple of card games.
Josiah could not remove his eyes from Ezra's pain filled face. When this was done he would be praying for God's forgiveness for what had been done to Ezra and he knew that they all were as much to blame as Hanley was. All of them except JD who was the only one of the group who thought that Ezra may have had a reason behind all this.
Mary could not bear to watch. She turned towards the wall with tears in her eyes knowing that Mr Standish should not be suffering like this.
Vin was looking at his own feet. He did not know what he was really feeling right then. He feelings were a mess. He did know that even though Ezra was a murderer he should not have to go through this as a friend. He was never sure about Ezra's loyalty. Did not know if maybe one day he would leave. But as Ezra had said before all this had started that he had proved himself several times over and it is that thought that stayed in his mind. Was Ezra proving himself worthy of the group again and if so why. They still did not know why he had committed murder.
JD's face had paled considerably at the sound of Ezra's scream. It was at that moment that he realised they hadn't explained to the others what Ezra had told them in the jail.
Ezra let out another scream of pain as Nathan began to try and gently squeeze some of the mucus out of the would. Nathan had to keep going now matter how bad the pain was for Ezra. If he left any sort of fluid in the wound it would stay infected.
It was at this second scream that JD lost all control.
Buck saw JD moved towards the door thinking that maybe JD could not watch what was happening to Ezra and that he was going to leave. He was about to say something to try and help him through it all when he felt Ezra stop struggling beneath him. He had finally lost consciousness.
But JD was not actually going to go anywhere. He was going to do something. He walked straight up to Chris and hit him full in the face with his right fist. Vin looked up to see Chris step back from JD's blow. He went to grab hold of JD but Chris held up a hand to stop him. Buck and seen what happened. He was actually proud of the boy for standing up to Chris, standing up for Ezra and their friendship. He just hoped that Nathan was not going to have another patient. They all knew what Chris was capable of doing especially when someone has just hit him in the face. But Chris just stood there for a moment eyeing JD.
JD could not help himself. He let it all out and it was all aimed at Chris.
"Look at him Chris." said JD "Look at what we have done to him."
But Chris continued to look at JD.
"Look at him!" yelled JD. They all flinched at the volume of his voice. "Ezra woke up in the jail when we went to check on him. He had a few things to tell us once he realised that we were going to help him no matter how much he refused it. Said that Hanley had threatened to kill us if he did not go along with what he wanted." JD noticed that he had finally gotten through to Chris who was now looking at Ezra. His limp body was still being supported by Josiah. Buck had gotten up and was standing behind JD as though to lend his support if he needed it. Vin had also started to take notice.
"Ezra did not kill Charlotte Ramsey. Hanley killed her when she tried to help Ezra at one time. Seems to me that Hanley wants some sort of revenge and used his law badge to help him get it."
JD stepped closer to Chris.
"Ezra is going through all of this," he turned to look at Ezra then back to Chris "to protect us. He lied to protect us. He refused our help to protect us. He may die now because you would not trust him or believe him. You did not have the slightest doubt that maybe he lied. None of you did."
Chris had no idea. He didn't know what to say to JD. He looked behind JD at Buck who nodded to indicate what JD had said was true. He finally said "I'm sorry JD."
JD threw his hands up in the air in frustratioin. "It's not me you should be saying sorry to." He went back to the side of the bed to watch Ezra grateful that he had a chance to say anything at all as he thought that Chris would have just hit him back.
Nathan had finally fininshed cleaning Ezra's wound finding it a lot easier to do without the gambler struggling against his help. He also cleaned the small cut on his jaw that was caused by Chris's gun. He then checked his ribs to see if any had been broken. Ezra flinched as Nathan pressed against them. He found two cracked ribs.
"JD could you pass me those bandages there and I will bandage his side and his ribs. Josiah can you sit him up so I can wrap this around him." as Nathan was doing this he noticed that Ezra was becoming even warmer to the touch. His fever must still be rising he thought to himself. "Ezra you have to help me, I am not going to be able to help you by myself. I need you to fight this." Although he said this to Ezra every one else had heard him. They heard the doubt in Nathan's voice and thought that if Nathan was not confident about Ezra's recovery then he really felt that he may not survive.
It had been twelve hours since JD, Nathan and Buck had gotten Ezra out of the jail away from the man whom had for some reason allowed Ezra to become ill. Nathan had told them that the wound on his side had not been taken care of at all and that is why it had become infected. He had also noticed some sort of small bruises around the wound and that they may have been caused by something other than the bullet that had inflicted the wound. But he didn't know what. They had to find the man responsible and ask him what he had done or make him tell them, they all hoped it would come to making him talk.
Mary had not moved from Ezra's side during the whole time. She had been using a cold damp cloth to wipe the sweat away from his face trying to keep his fever down. She knew this would not help his fever but she had to do something. He had not improved at all since they brought him into Nathan's room. If anything he had become worse. He was delirious and constantly muttering to himself about Charlotte. From Ezra's words Mary had come to realise that Ezra had loved the woman and her death had truly effected him.
Nathan and JD had also stayed at Ezra's side while the others had gone searching for Hanley four hours ago as they could no longer do nothing while Ezra continued to suffer. They were angry - at Hanley and themselves.
"Mary I need to clean Ezra's wound again, can you help me?" asked Nathan. He had been cleaning the wound every three hours.
"Yes." She did not want to see him go through it again but she knew that Nathan had no choice.
But Ezra did not react the way he had been. The cries of pain had lessened and the struggling became weaker. This time there was no sound from his lips and only slight movements when he tried to move away from the pain but he was to weak at this point to put up much of a struggle. Nathan was very worried about the fever. He had seen men in the war with fevers like this, they had survived but they were not the same afterwards. It had effected their minds somehow, they were just not the same person. He hoped that if Ezra got through this that it would not happen to him.
It was another two hours before the others had returned to see how Ezra was doing. All hoping that they were not coming back to bad news. They walked into Nathan's room to see JD and Nathan struggling to hold Ezra down. He seemed to be thrashing about uncontrollably.
"Help us with him." said Nathan as he tried to keep Ezra from hurting himself.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Vin as he came over to grab hold of Ezra's legs and with Buck's help managed to keep them still.
"It's the fever. He's having convulsions. All I can do is keep him still until he stops. If I don't he is just going to injure himself more." Nathan looked worried sick and this made everyone realise than Ezra may be dying. Chris was standing back watching the whole scene.
Ezra convulsed one last time and went limp.
"God no." muttered Josiah who had stood by the bed in case extra hands were needed.
Mary burst into tears. The others stood back as Nathan checked Ezra thinking the worst and each swearing to revenge Ezra if it was the last thing they would do.
"His fever's broke. His going to be okay." sighed Nathan. "He's going to be okay."
Nathan though was quietly thinking to himself so as not to worry anyone else. "As long as the fever has not effected his mind."
There was a sigh of relief from everyone in the room. All grateful to have the chance to make amends to Ezra for what they had allowed to happen.
While Ezra had slept another seven hours JD, Buck, Josiah and Vin continued to look for Hanley leaving Chris, Nathan and Mary with Ezra. There was no trace of where Hanley had disappeared to. They tried other towns in the area and no one had recognised the description that they had given them. They were beginning to think that the man was halfway to Mexico knowing that if they had gotten hold of him that he would be a dead man. And he would have been right.
They rode back towards town anxious to see how Ezra was doing now that they knew he would be okay. Watching from behind a rock large enough to hide him was Hanley. He was going to ride into town late that night hoping that he would not be seen. He had a plan to get Ezra and he didn't have much longer to finally kill the man and get his sweet revenge. He thought that he may even deal with JD as he was the reason that he had lost Ezra in the first place. <
Chris was sitting in a chair across from Ezra so he could watch him sleep. He had not taken his eyes off him for nearly an hour. He was torn up inside. He hated himself. Ezra had nearly died protecting Chris and the others. And all Chris could do was hate the man whom he thought was a liar, a cheat and a coward. He now knew that Ezra was no coward. He was still a liar though but this time Chris smiled at the thought. He remembered back to the day when Hanley had arrived in town. He had called Ezra a liar and then when he had lied outside the barn he had believed that Ezra was telling the truth.
"And what is it that you are smiling at Mr Larabee?" asked Ezra in a voice that was full of weakness and pain. "Do you believe the situation that I am in is a humerous one."
JD and Nathan came over at the sound of Ezra's voice. JD was glad to see his friend awake. Nathan glad the hear the words that Ezra was using - this meant that the fever had left no effects on his mind.
"Ezra! Your awake." JD could not help but give Ezra the largest smile he had.
"Could I have some water please?" asked Ezra.
"Don't try to move about to much Ezra." said Nathan. "You have been through a lot and you are going to need a lot of rest."
Ezra gave Nathan one of his looks. Nathan was relieved to see it.
Mary came over with some water. Nathan helped him sit up so that he could drink some of it. Ezra only took a few small sips though. He did not have the strength to take more.
"Thankyou Mrs Travis." Ezra looked at JD. "I seem to owe you my life JD. It was you who got me out of there was it not."
"Yes it was." answered Chris.
"I see you have been in some sort of physical confrontation Mr Larabee. I assume it was with Hanley."
Chris could not help notice the use of his last name while Ezra had use JD's first. He couldn't blame him.
Nathan could not help himself. "No it wasn't. JD did it."
Ezra raised his eyebrows at this.
"Ezra." Chris moved his chair closer to Ezra. "JD told us that you lied about killing Charlotte Ramsey.Why would you do that?"
Ezra sighed. He was beginning to tire already. "He told me in the barn that he would kill any of you if you helped me. I had to make sure that you did not."
"So you lied about it. You admitted to killing someone that you did not kill." this was a statement not a question. Chris wanted to know why Ezra did that. Wanted to be sure. If Ezra replied with the type of answer that he expected then he knew that Ezra was a man that he could now trust with his life.
"Mr Larabee, if you were in my position and knew that some of your associates would be killed unless you did something to protect them even if it meant putting your own life in danger, wouldn't you do anything that you could to help them?"
"You know that I would." replied Chris.
Ezra sighed again and closed his eyes.
"Then why would you assume that I would not!" Ezra was asleep again before Chris could give him a reply.
Hanley snuck into town shortly after and took up a post close to the saloon. Now all he had to do was wait for one of Ezra's friends to show up and then put his plan into action.
Ezra awoke a couple of hours later. He opened his eyes to see Chris Larabee still sitting in the chair across from him. He had his eyes closed so Ezra decided not to say anything, he did not particulary want to talk to him at the moment. After everything that had happened Ezra got the impression that for some reason Chris still doubted him.
Chris opened his own eyes to find Ezra looking at him. "How are you doing Ezra?"
"Oh, just great thankyou Mr Larabee."
Chris noticed the sarcasm in Ezra's voice. He looked over at Nathan who was sleeping in one of the other chairs in the room. It was the first time that Nathan had slept since they brought Ezra in. He looked back at Ezra wondering what he was going to say to him to try and explain the reasons for doubting him. Ezra moved trying to make himself more comfortable but he gave out a cry of pain and collapsed back on the bed.
"Ezra, I'm sorry. I did not know what to think. I've been in a bad mood all week and I let it effect my judgement of you. I let my anger blind me."
"You thought exactly what you wanted to think." thought Ezra who did not say anything out loud, he just continued to look at Chris. His green eyes showing the pain that he was still feeling.
Chris looked away from him. "When Hanley said that you killed a woman all I could think of was the men who killed my wife and son and it was that anger that took control of me."
"But I am not the same as the men who killed your family. Why would you even associate me with them?"
Chris was really starting to feel the shame of what he had done. "It wasn't my intention to Ezra." Chris looked back at him. "I know that there is nothing I can say or do to make up for it."
Ezra changed the subject. He was having enough of this coversation already. It was making him angry that Chris could not just admit that it was his lack of trust in Ezra that had blinded him. He was angry about his family but that was not the real reason he allowed this to happen. The truth was that he had always been angry at Ezra, had never trusted him from the moment that he left them in the village, had never forgiven him for it. And he had used this opportunity to get back at Ezra.
"What did you do with Hanley?" asked Ezra. He frowned at the look that came over Chris's face. "Has someone else been hurt?"
"Um no, we don't where he is." answered Chris.
"He is still out there?" Ezra was stunned. If Hanley was still out there then that meant the others were still in danger. He knew that he would not give up untill he got what he wanted.
"Don't worry Ezra, we won't let him get you."
"Mr Larabee, there you go again thinking that my concern is for myself and not the others." sighed Ezra.
Chris was becoming very uncomfortable. It seemed he couldn't say the right things at the moment.
JD and Vin came into the room then only to find Chris's gun pointed at them. Chris relaxed and put his gun away. Ezra felt hopeless thinking that if that was Hanley coming through the door that he would not have been able to do anything to stop him. Niether would he be able to get his own revenge for what Hanley had done to Charlotte and himself.
"Hey Ezra." said Vin. " I'm sorry about what's happened."
"Yes, you and Mr Larabee it seems." Ezra responded. "Mr Dunne may I have a word with you alone please?"
"Sure Ezra." JD watched Chris and Vin leave looking back at Ezra understanding why he was angry at them. He noticed that Nathan was still asleep in his chair. "What's up?"
"Firstly I want to thank you for saving my life. And secondly I want you to give me one of your guns."
"Where's Buck and Josiah?" enquired Chris after they stepped outside.
"They thought they would give the town the once over again to make sure that Hanley hadn't come back."
Chris nodded at this. Vin watched him for a moment. "How's he doing?"
"He seems better." Chris did not look at Vin.
"You know what I mean Chris."
"He's angry. Particularly with me."
"He won't blame you though for what Hanley's done." Vin hoped.
Chris finally looked at him. "He doesn't have to Vin, I blame myself."
Hanley was watching from a side alley making sure that no one saw him. He noticed Mary Travis walking towards the local store. Now he knew where Ezra was and who he was going to use to get to him. He moved back down the alley to find another way to the store.
When Chris and Vin went back inside Ezra had fallen asleep again. Nathan had also woken up and he was checking on Ezra to make sure he was still improving. JD was sitting in the chair that Chris had been occupying. Buck and Josiah soon joined them in Nathan's room which was now getting crowded. Nathan knew if he asked them to leave that they would just ignore him. They had spent most of the day searching for Hanley and they now wanted to spend some time with Ezra.
"How is he doing Nathan?" Buck enquired.
He is sleeping alot. But it is a peaceful sleep which is a good sign. His fever has not returned and the leakage from his wound is clear. It's just going to take time for him to heal and get his strength back. But I don't know how he is going to be emotionally. That part may take a lot longer to heal. We don't know what Hanley did to him in that jail and Ezra may never tell us. Were just going to have to be there for him.
"Like you were before?" JD reminded them.
"JD." warned Josiah. He was worried that this time Chris would not allow him to speak as he did before.
"It's alright Josiah. JD is right. We weren't there for Ezra when he needed us. We let him down." Chris was looking at JD when he said this. "We can't change what we did JD but we can change what we are going to do. And that is look after Ezra while he is recovering. Two of us will be with him all the time. We can't take the chance that Hanley won't come back. When it's all over we will help Ezra the best we can even if he won't accept our offer of help. Especially mine.
JD seemed to accept what Chris had said and nodded his agreement.
"Now that has been decided I think we should decide who the first two will be to stay with Ezra because it is to crowded in here and the noise will only wake him up. Now I know you want to stay but at the moment you all need your rest as much as Ezra does." Nathan told the group.
Buck was about to protest when they heard two gunshots from outside.
Hanley had waited for nearly an hour for Mary to come out of the General Store, he was beginning to think that she had left by a back exit. He was waiting in an alley between the store and the place where they were keeping Ezra knowing that was where she was going to go when she did finally leave the store. He waited until she had walked past him and he crept up behind her throwing one arm around her waist and the other over her mouth to stop her screaming. He then dragged her back into the alley.
"Now I am going to take my hand away from your mouth and if you scream I will kill you. I won't hesitate to do it either as I have killed a woman before. Understand?"
Mary nodded. Hanley then looked towards the building that the seven gunmen were in. He removed his hand from her mouth and then pulled his gun out. He pointed it into the air and fired off two shots. He watched as four of the hired men ran from the building, seperating into two groups to search for the person who fired the shots. He dragged Mary into the darkness as Josiah and JD ran passed them not realising that Hanley was so close. Hanley then moved towards the stairs thinking that he was not going to have any trouble with the two that stayed with Ezra.
Chris and Buck stayed with Ezra while the others went to investigate the shots.
"Do you think it's Hanley?" Buck asked Chris.
"Of course it was." they both turned to see Ezra returning their stare. "You did not think that he would give up so easily do you?"
As Ezra said this he was quietly thanking JD for giving him one of his guns which he now gripped in his left hand as he knew that he would not be able to use his right arm to lift and fire a gun. Buck and Chris turned as one when they heard the door crash opened. They saw Hanley coming through the door using Mary as his cover. He knew that they would shoot him on sight that's why he grabbed himself some protection before he went after Ezra.
"Drop your guns." Hanley looked at Chris and Buck annoyed that they hadn't done what he had just asked of them. "I'll kill her if you don't."
They still did not drop their guns. They were not going to let this man get the drop on them because if they did they all might end up dead.
"Ezra, why don't you tell them that I mean business. That I will kill her if they don't drop their guns." he looked at Ezra expecting him to tell them to do as they were told. But all he saw was Ezra's cold stare. He knew that look and he swallowed the fear that he suddenly felt. The tables were turning. He decided to try something else. "Did you tell them what I did to Charlotte?" thinking that this may stop the determination that he saw in Ezra's face.
"No he didn't." Hanley looked at Chris. "Why don't you tell us. We would like to hear it from the horse's mouth.
Hanley was starting to think that maybe he had got it all wrong and that he should have kept going. The look in this man's eyes were enough to kill him. But he shook himself out it, afterall he was the one with the hostage.
"I killed her but not before I had made her suffer. She was mine and no-one elses. Ezra was not going to have her so I killed her. Went through a lot of pain she did." he smiled at this.
Chris could not believe he had actually believed this man over Ezra. He held his anger down for the moment. The anger that he felt at himself.
"And what about Ezra?" he asked.
"What about Ezra?" he looked confused.
"We want to know what you did to Ezra in that jail cell before we kill you." Chris was determined to find out because he knew that Ezra would not tell them and he needed to know what Ezra went through.
Hanley looked at Chris and then Buck. He was beginning to become worried again. He moved more towards Chris and away from Buck and Ezra. Chris had noticed out of the corner of his eye that Ezra was beginning to remove his left arm from under the blanket. He saw a glint of metal. He instantly knew what Ezra was going to do. Knew that they would now probably never know what happend in that jail cell but he also knew that he was going to give him the distraction that he needed. Mary recognised the look in Chris's eyes and knew that something was about to happen. She knew not to do anything as what she might do could be the wrong thing and it would get herself killed. Buck had followed every move and also knew what was happening.
Ezra looked at Chris and finally saw the trust in his eyes. Ezra nodded slightly. Chris moved to the side to distract Hanley from Ezra. Hanley also moved his gun towards Chris's direction but before he could pull the trigger Ezra lifted his left arm clear of the blanket and without aiming pulled the trigger. Hanley was killed instanly as Ezra's bullet entered his skull. He dropped to the floor letting go of Mary as he fell. Mary ran into Chris's arms. Buck moved towards Ezra and gently took the gun from the gambler's hand.
"It's over Buck." whispered Ezra. He had not taken his eyes off Hanley. The man who had killed Charlotte was finally dead.
It had been three weeks since Ezra had suffered at the hands of Hanley. It had been one week before he could even get out of bed. His wound was healing but his heart was not. Then after another week he'd had enough. He left Nathan's room for his own. Nathan's protests had fallen on deaf ears. At night as he slept the others looked in on him on occassions to make sure that he was okay because he had suffered from nightmares while he was still in Nathan's room. During the day he spent most of his time alone in the saloon. He did not seek company with the others. They had tried to talk to him but they could never get him into a conversation. It wasn't that he was ignoring them. He was always lost in his own thoughts - remembering what he had been through, what had happened to Charlotte and how the others had reacted to the situation. At the moment that was what he had the most difficulty dealing with. Of course they had all apologised to him, tried to make up for what had happened but it did not help him. He knew it would take time. He did not yet know if he would forgive them for what happened and if he did he knew that he would never forget.
The others had kept a close eye on him. It was hard for them to watch Ezra going through it. He had refused their help again. But this time they would not let that stop them. They rarely left him alone. They took turns with him knowing that they could not get him to talk but just hoping it was enough for them to just be there with him.
Chris had been watching Ezra from across the saloon. At the moment Vin was sitting with Ezra. They were just sitting at the table quietly. Ezra did not even have his cards with him, they had stayed in his room all week. He did not have the enthusiasm to play poker. Usually it was a healing thing for him to do so but it will take more than a game of poker to heal him this time.
Chris got up and walked over to the table. Vin looked up at him.
"Vin I want to talk to Ezra."
Vin went and joined the others. They all sat and watched wondering what it was that Chris was going to do. Whatever it was they hoped that he was going to say something that would help Ezra. They hated seeing him like this. They hated it even more knowing that five of them were partly the cause of what he went through and was going through.
Ezra did not look up when Chris sat down. He was not really aware of the fact that he was even there. He was in his own painful world of thoughts and memories.
"Ezra." Chris said quietly.
Ezra still did not look up. He had not heard him in his world. Chris leaned over and touched his arm.
"Ezra look at me."
Ezra finally looked up. Chris was saddened by the haunted expression in his eyes. He knew that look. He had carried it himself for a long time after his wife and son were murdered.
"You loved her didn't you?" he asked.
Ezra looked away. It took him a moment but his eyes returned to Chris's. "Yes I did and it is my fault that Hanley killed her. She told me that he had threatened her. But she was worried that he would kill me so she convinced me to leave town for a couple of days. I have never forgiven myself for leaving her for when I returned she was dead." there were tears in Ezra's eyes but he would not let them fall. "It seems we have something in common Chris. The woman that we eached truly loved were killed for something that we had done."
Chris then knew that by the use of his first name that Ezra's anger towards him was calming. He hoped that he did not loose that anger completely as he felt that he did not deserve Ezra's forgiveness. He was ashamed of what he had done and he would never forgive himself for it.
"We can't blame ourselves Ezra. We didn't make these men kill them. Even if you stayed in town there is nothing to say that she would still be alive. You could not have been with her all the time. He would have waited for another opportunity. I know that it is easy to say now but it is something you will need to accept at some point or it will eat away at your soul."
"As it is eating at yours. You seem to have a lot of advice that you do not follow yourself."
Chris smiled at this. From across the room the others also saw the smile. They knew that the conversation was not going to end with the use of fists.
"I have also been thinking about what happened here with Hanley. Do you want to talk about it?" when he did not answer Chris continued knowing it was best not to force him. He will try again another time. "Ezra you know that we are sorry for what happened. I know that it is not helping you at the moment. I'm sure that you felt betrayed by us. If it were not for JD you would not have survived." He saw Ezra grimace but he did not know if it was from his use of the word betrayal or from the fact that he might have died. "I'm sorry that I did not trust you. I realised that a lot of it had to do with the Semolian Village incident. I still thought the worst of you even though you have proven me wrong plenty of times since. But it took this to make me realise I was wrong. I would trust you with my life now Ezra"
Chris had not taken his eyes off Ezra's face throughout the entire conversation. He did not fail to notice the poker face that Ezra had put on when he used the word trust. "He has put his wall up around himself." thought Chris but he could not blame him. He continued though knowing that he had to get it off his chest.
"We are all worried about you Ezra. We want to help you but you won't let us in. We were not there for you from the start but we are now."
Ezra had been looking at the table, he could not look at Chris. He thought that he would never admit the real reason he had for not trusting him and that he would also never admit to being wrong. He was now beginning to feel true friendship and did not know what to do with the feeling so he had done what he was most comfortable with. He had put up his wall and put on his best poker face. He looked up at Chris.
"Thankyou but I will be fine, I just need time."
Chris sighed. He knew it would be difficult to get Ezra to open up as it was something the gambler was taught not do by his mother. He wished Maude was here at the moment so he could tell her a thing or two. Ezra needed to talk about it more than what he just had or he would not completely heal. It would always be there scaring his heart and his mind.
"You need to talk about it Ezra."
"Maybe another time. But not right now."
Chris decided again not to push him as the wall would only become harder to break down.
"You know were here for you when you need us." Chris got up and went back to the table.
Vin got up to go back and sit with Ezra.
"No Vin. We need to leave him alone for a while. We need to give him some space. He has a lot to sort out and deal with at the moment."
For the first time since Hanley rode into town Ezra slept a peaceful sleep without any nightmares. And while he slept Chris sat in the corner watching him knowing that his first night without these nightmares was his first step to healing.
The End