Epilogue
Ashes
Mary Travis wiped the rain from her
face and stared at the effigy in the middle of the street, whose flames had
been extinguished by the rain that pelted across the land, bringing salvation
in every moist drop. The cross was meant to signify great many things to a
great number of people. Yet as she stood before it now, with the night far from
over and the fires set in hatred, finally dying under the assault of the rain,
she felt her fury bubbling to the surface.
It was where she intended to raise a
family. It was the soil in which Stephen had been willing to invest his faith
and for which he had died. This was world she had intended to raise a new
family with Chris and finally, it was the place to which she wanted to bring
her son. This was her home and what had been transpired here tonight had shaken
her to the core because she no longer knew this town or its community.
When the fire that had claimed Will
Jefferson's home finally died, Mary had left the smouldering
wreck of the man's business and house to return to her own home to rummage
through the tool shed in the back yard, until she found what she had sought. As
she trudged across the street back to the effigy that had signified the evil
that had blighted their town this night, she had no idea what was running
through her mind because her anger was such that she was no longer thinking
clearly. As she approached the wooden cross, blackened by flames and cinders,
people who were still on the street watched her with curiosity.
Mary glared at the effigy, furious
by what it represented and the malice that lay behind its planting. She was
enraged by all the hurt it had caused to the town of
Without saying a word, Mary swung
the axe hard, the thick blade embedded itself deep
into the wood with a loud whack. The sound cut through the rain, capturing
everyone's attention as they turned to the sight of the blond widow, drenched
to the bone, swinging away in unconcealed rage at the symbol that had caused so
much grief in town on this night. Townsfolk, both black and white paused to see
the display as Mary swung again, determine to remove the obscenity from the
street.
Mary did not care if this meant
nothing to those watching. She cared not if the idea of racial impurity was so
deeply ingrained in the mind of those who had listened to Serfonteine's
sickness that they would never be free of it. All she cared about was removing
this thing from her sight. She kept swinging, ignoring the pain in her hands as
she chipped away at it, knowing she did not possess nearly enough strength to
fell it with one blow and wishing at that moment with all her heart that she
did.
"Let me help you." A voice
offered behind her.
Mary turned around and saw Mr. Rosken behind her. His face was etched in sorrow and shame
and she was tempted to tell him to go away when she realized that he was here
to help. Mary said nothing for a moment as Rosken
approached swallowing hard.
"I didn't want this to
happen." He whispered, the rain running down his face and the way he had
treated Nathan was reflected in his sorrowed filled eyes. "I never thought
that it could be like this."
"It's always like this!"
Mary shouted, not just to him but to everyone who could hear. She turned around
and let her eyes scan all the faces, resting long enough on those who were
guilty of this abomination to let them know that she was aware of who they were.
"How do you think it starts?"
She brushed a strand of wet hair
from her face and glared in particular at the bystanders who had watched it all
happen, not those who had come to help with the fires. She glared at Rosken who had showed his affiliation by driving Nathan
from his home, he stared at the women who had gossiped in the open about Alex
Styles, trapped between their own gullibility and their prejudice. "It
starts with men like Serfonteine coming to you people
and telling you stupid things about how things were? How the hell would they
know? Were they in town when we were building this town, all of us? Not just
the white folk but everyone!"
She saw some of them dropping their
gazes to the ground with the same embarrassment that Rosken
had displayed earlier, knowing in their hearts that they had been guilty of
letting a stranger pollute their minds with such unsavoury
ideas. "Mrs. Ross!" Mary glared at a rotund woman standing under the
awning in front of the hardware store. "Did you forget how Nathan mended
your son's broken arm even though you had no money to pay him?"
Mrs. Ross did remember because she
was whispering to someone who stood beside her as she nodded in agreement with
Mary's words. Her plump face seemed a little greyer when she conceded that
point.
"What about you Sheila?"
Mary flung around to one of the women who had been so callous about their
opinions regarding Alex earlier that day. "I seem to recall your daughter
getting into that school in Sweet Water thanks to Alex's written recommendation?
You obviously forgot when you were crucifying her in the street this morning
and I won't even ask which one of your cowards painted that disgusting message
on her door? It's easy to forget when we had to go to Sweet Water or Bitter
Creek whenever we were ill or injured. How many of us could have died if it
were not for Alexandra Styles and Nathan Jackson?"
Obviously quite a few, if the
contrite faces before her were any judge of how ashamed some of them were
feeling. Mary offered no apologies for defending Alex or Nathan, they were her
friends and damn near her family. She would tolerate this behaviour
no more! "This is our home and we have built this place into something we
can be proud of, all of us!" Mary stared at the faces around her."We've endured lawlessness, wealthy ranchers who
ready to drive us away settling at the point of a gun, we've seen this land
find a dozen different ways to kill us and not once, did it ever matter what colour the person standing next to us was! We never cared about
race! The war is over! It ended years ago and a lot of men and women died so
that we can live together like this, not be divided the first time someone with
old ideas of past glories comes to town and infect us with his hatred like a
disease! We can't make it out here on our own! Haven't we proven that to each
other enough!"
There were those who came to help
when the fires were raging who were nodding in agreement with no doubt or
hesitation with what she had to say. However it took a little longer for those
who knew secretly that they were guilty of her accusations. She could see it in
their eyes as they wrestled with their conscience, perfectly aware to what
depth their responsibility ran or how guilty they were for what had taken place
tonight.
Rosken started
chopping down cross once more, adding more weight to the blows until very soon,
the effigy tumbled to the ground, splattering water and mud in all directions
as the structure collapsed upon impact. Pieces of wood scattered about as it
landed and Mary stared at it dispassionately until she turned her back upon the
symbol of everything the town had denigrated into the past day.
"You know the men who rode
tonight." Mary spoke further not quite done with her fiery tirade against
injustice. "You know who they are who cry their cause behind white robes
and claim they speak the truth but don't even dare to show their faces to do
it! They sit next to us in church and they come to our houses for Sunday
dinner, they wear the same faces we do. I just hope to god that doesn't make
them one of us!"
Mary could not say whether her words
touched those who were partially responsible for this climate of hatred and
intolerance that Nicholas Serfonteine had ignited.
She could tell that she reached some people and perhaps that would be enough to
bring
Serfonteine had touched
a nerve in all of them that would not be easily forgotten, by either those who
believed or those who were indifferent to his prejudiced view of the world.
All Mary Travis knew for certain
that tonight, something had been lost and whether or not this community could
ever regain it again was a question only the future could answer.
"Hold him!" Alex told
Nathan as they both stood over Ezra as the gambler writhed in pain as Alex was
forced to apply the antiseptic that would keep his horrific wounds from
festering with infection. Although Alex was still shaky after her experience
with Lamont, she knew the best medicine for herself
was to get back to work immediately. Alex had not forgotten how Ezra had placed
himself in harm's way to save her so she was determined to return the favour. As she looked at the lash marks on her back, there
was no doubt in her mind that had he not intervened and allowed her to escape,
it would be she who was wearing those wounds now, not Ezra.
"I got him." Nathan
declared as he tried to hold Ezra still. Ezra was moaning in pain, sending
icicles of anguish to those who could hear him beyond the partition of Alex's
infirmary. Alex could only imagine the pain he must be enduring after seeing
the blood encrusted welts in his back. However, Nathan understood it all too
well, having suffered the same torture a long time ago. Seeing Ezra like this
only made Nathan wish that he had made Serfonteine
suffer instead of making his death quick.
The pain was so considerable that
for any treatment to be administered, he was going to need sedation. As Nathan
tried to keep him still, Alex prepared the syringe that would administer the
sedative. Ezra had been lapsing in and out of coherence ever since the others
had found him because the pain was so intense that the black state of
unconsciousness was the only way he could cope with it to any degree. Alex
herself was still covered in mud and bruises, which she had yet to tend to but
she could not see past Ezra's pain at this moment. Sooner or later she would
wind down and the terror she had felt inside that dark well would haunt her
with terrifying memories but not right now.
She just did not have time for it.
"I want to see him!" Both
Alex and Nathan heard Julia behind the partitioning, followed by Josiah's calm
but soothing voice.
"He's still alive Julia,"
the preacher was telling the woman. "But he won't be if you go in there
and disrupt the healing he needs."
"Alright, keep him still."
Alex replied, shaking away the voices and pressing the needed to Ezra's
struggling arm. With expertise garnered from sheer repetition, she slipped the
needle past his skin, finding the artery that would allow the concoction to
take its fullest effect.
"What did you give him?"
Nathan asked, watching the amber fluid disappear into Ezra's veins.
"Morphine." Alex
sighed, stepping back as she removed the needle. "It should make the pain
easier to bear."
"God I hope so," Nathan
hissed angrily. "Those bastards got off too easy."
"They're dead Nathan,"
Alex said quietly. "That's good enough for me." She replied, turning
away from him.
"Miss Alex," Nathan said
as Ezra's struggles started to subside once the morphine took effect. "You
need to tend to yourself."
Alex passed by a mirror on the wall
and stared at herself. For a moment, she did not
recognize that disheveled figure in the mirror, covered in dirt, tears and
discolored flesh. She did not want to pause because if she did, she would
remember and right now, Alex did not want to remember anything. "I'm
fine." She said in a small voice.
"I can take care of Ezra now,
Miss Alex." Nathan said gently, meeting her gaze so that she understood
how concerned he was. "Believe me," he glanced at Ezra who had
slipped into a blissful state of unconsciousness now that the exhaustion and
morphine had finally broken the back of his struggles. "I know how to tend
these wounds very well."
Alex had no doubt of that and she
had to concede that her state of mind was such that it was easy to make
mistakes. She let out a deep breath and nodded in consent to leave but not
before she went to Ezra's bedside and planted a soft kiss on the gambler's
cheek. She stared at him for a moment, remembering for a brief instant the love
she had once felt for him and how he had risked everything tonight to save her.
"He saved me Nathan," she
whispered, meeting the healer's eyes with tears in her own. "He could have
escaped without a scratch but he saved me."
"He's a good man," Nathan
agreed and place a gentle hand on Alex's shoulder. She was still wearing Vin's buckskin jacket because when
she had saw what they had done to Ezra, all thoughts about anything else was
driven from her mind. "You need to tell Miss Julia what's happening,"
he prompted, knowing it would be easier to leave if she had something to do.
"I'll take care of it."
She nodded quietly.
Everyone was present excepting Mary
Travis and Inez who were still dealing with the aftermath of the fires in town
with the when Alex stepped out from behind the partition that separated her
waiting room from the surgery where Nathan was presently tending to Ezra's
wounds. As soon as she emerged, she was immediately bombarded with questions
regarding the gambler's welfare, most notably from Julia Pemberton. She could
understand Julia's concern, considering the state Ezra had been in when he was
brought back to town. It was enough to frighten anyone.
"Nathan's with him now."
Alex quickly announced for the benefit of those assembled. "His wounds are
bad but it is worse than it looks. I had to sedate him for the pain but the
injuries are mostly musculature and not nerve damage so he should recover
without any permanent effects. Unfortunately," Alex met Julia's gaze,
"he will be in a lot of pain over the next few days."
A visible sigh of relief escaped
Julia and all those present because although the news though grim, it was not
fatal as they feared it might be when they had first seen all that blood.
"It will be a while before Nathan is finished with him," she added
further. "There's no reason for you all to remain. You should go get some
rest."
"I'm not going anywhere."
Julia said adamantly, green fire ablaze in her eyes at the mere suggestion.
Josiah dropped a hand on her
shoulder and remarked gently. "No one expects you too, if you'd like I'll
stay with you."
Chris nodded his approval at that
suggestion because he had an idea that if Julia were to remain here, she would
only be a hindrance to the treatment Nathan was attempting to administer. At
least with Josiah present, the gunslinger knew that Julia would be kept
underfoot from the healer and it looked as if Alexandra Styles was in no
condition to offer comfort to anyone.
As if reading his thoughts, Vin quickly spoke up. "Come
on Darlin'," the tracker took her by the arm.
"You need to get cleaned up and have those bruises looked at."
"I'm alright, really." She
said with a barest hint of a smile even though everyone in the room could tell
that she was not. Her ordeal at Lamont's hands had left her shaken to the core
and feeling more vulnerable than she had ever felt in all her life.
"No you aren't." Chris
replied automatically, perceptive as always. "Vin." He gestured to the younger man to get a
move on. The doctor looked like she was about to drop where she stood and the
state of her appearance at the moment, not simply in a physical sense was
enough to give concern to all those present.
Although Ezra had saved Alex from
violation, she had suffered enough abuses by the looks of her to indicate to
them all, that she was just skirting on the edge of
her traumatized emotions.
Deciding that she was in no position
to argue with either of them, especially when both men wore those same
determined expressions, Alex conceded the point. Besides, she wanted to wash
and get the stink of that bastard off her skin. She could still smell the
liquor from his breath and the scent of it almost made her want to vomit.
"Come on Darlin,"
Vin took her by hand as he
started guiding her towards the stairs that led upstairs to her home. Vin could see even better than Chris just how close she was
to breaking down in tears and it was her usual courage and determination that
refused to allow them to see her vulnerabilities. He loved her so much for that
but was aware that even she had her limits at times.
"We better get riding to Sweet
Water." Buck said to J.D. agreeing with Alex's assertion that they could
do nothing for the moment. "we'll need to take
that trash out there to a doctor."
"Trash?" Alex looked
at him, stopping in mid step at whom Buck could mean. Buck shifted
uncomfortably as he exchanged glances with Vin whose expression hardened with cold hatred and
the entire room felt silent before Chris finally spoke up, because Buck did not
know how to do it. Chris did not believe in standing on ceremony and quickly
responded. "Lamont. We need to keep him alive to
stand trial for what he did to you and Ezra."
Alex felt like all the air was
draining out of the room because she found herself faced with something she
could not stomach and no one would rebuke her if she followed her impulses and
let the man be damned. Unfortunately, she had made oaths herself and those
oaths were to a higher ideal than the disgusting creed of hatred spouted by
Nicholas Serfonteine and used by Lamont as an excuse
for satisfying his own sadistic tendencies. Those
ideals would not let her turn her back on an injured man even though she might
want him dead more than anything in the world. Still beneath all that anger and
self sacrifice was a desire that was more selfish than courageous.
She was a doctor.
That's all she had ever wanted to be
and if Lamont made her turn her back just once, then he was taking a part of
her away that was not replaceable. Alex could not accept that state of affairs
under any circumstances, nor would he let him damage her that way.
Closing her eyes, she took her deep
breath and steeled herself for the protests that would inevitably follow.
"Bring him in here, I'll take a look at him."
She said heavily.
"Not a chance." Vin declared firmly, his blue eyes
hardening to the point of resembling flints of cold ice. "He can go to
Sweet Water."
"You don't have to do
this." Chris replied, being the only one in the room save Vin that might possibly understand
why she would wish to confront the man who almost raped her.
"No I don't have to," she
snapped angrily at everyone present. "But if I turn away and do not be a
doctor when someone needs it, then he wins doesn't he?"
"Alex, you don't have to prove
anything!" Vin
persisted, not liking this one damn bit.
"Like hell I do!" She
shouted at him, wishing he could understand and being in such a state of mind
that she really did not care if he did or not. "I am not going to spend
forever wondering if the next person is worth saving because he might turn out
to be a homicidal maniac! I took an oath Vin,
I took an oath to do no harm and to render aid when it is needed. I can't just
disregard it whenever I feel! Now I'll put this son of a bitch together again
but only to see him behind bars. I'm doing it because its
what I do and because I'm better than him! So bring him in here and let me get
on with it!"
With that, she swept out of the room
and continued upstairs.
Vin was shaken at her vehemence and although he did
not like it, he could almost understand what she was trying to tell him.
Looking at the others in the room, he noticed Chris was holding back his own
opinion on the matter. The gunslinger who was more than accustomed to dealing
with a strong willed lover was in complete sympathy with Vin but Chris tended to agree with Alex's reasoning.
"Let her." Julia stated
finally. The woman had been quiet during most of the discussion, her own
worries about Ezra having given away when she remembered how badly Alex had
suffered during her own kidnapping, in light of this new development.
"Let her?" Vin exclaimed. "Look what the
man did to her!"
"I am not blind Mr.
Tanner," Julia returned softly, comprehending his fear for Alex but not
what was running through her mind. Julia supposed it just had to do being an
independent female, a thing none of the men present could really appreciate.
"But Alex doesn't want to give this man any more power over her than he
already has. Let her do this, she needs to."
"It's your call Vin," Buck remarked, wanting to know so he and J.D.
could bring Lamont.
Vin swore under his breath and decided that it was
not up to him really, Alex had taken the choice out of his hands the moment,
she had told them to bring Lamont into her clinic. "Do it." Vin frowned unhappily. "But
he makes so much as one move towards her I'll finish what I should have done
back there in the woods."
No one could disagree with him on
that.
The days following the fire and the
death of Nicholas Serfonteine were gloomy ones for
Fortunately, some positive elements
did arise from the calamity of that fiery night. Will
Alexandra Styles did treat Lamont
with Vin standing close by
every minute of the treatment. The man had accepted her help begrudgingly but
was not foolish to make any further abusive attempts in her direction, not when
she held his fate in her hands and certainly not with the tracker keeping a
vigil with a sawn off shotgun at his side. Once he had received proper medical
treatment, Lamont was promptly removed to the jailhouse for the rest of his
stay in
She slept badly those first two or
three nights, with Vin
having to wrap his arms around her and hold her close as her ordeal relived
itself in her mind during her slumber. However, it aided to her mental recovery
when her patients started making appointments again and while there were still
plenty to keep the tongues of the town's scandalmonger's busy, it did not effect
her practice enough to give Alex any further thought to relocation.
Violet Serfonteine
returned home with her brother's body shortly after being told by Mary Travis
that should she attempt to pursue the matter of his death, Mary would in turn
be forced to pursue the matter of his activities during his stay in
It was the first time in days that
Ezra had seen the light of day.
Although he could only view it from
the guestroom of Julia's house, since it was scandalous enough that she had
demanded that he spend his convalescence at her home, it was good enough for
him after the pain he had been forced to endure the past few days. Ezra had
spent most of his time lying on his stomach because Nathan would not tolerate anything
else. Since the healer had first hand experience in this type of injury, Ezra
was not about to argue with him. If there was any consolation to be had in all
this, it was the fact that Julia had taken personal responsibility of nursing
him back to health and appeared more animated than he had seen her in weeks.
It was almost worth suffering what
he had endured to see his Julia back to her normal self. While she was not as
fiery as he remembered, her spirit had returned somewhat and it aided in his recovery
to see that familiar sparkle in her emerald coloured
eyes. He sensed that would change once she was finally ready to talk about the
pregnancy and everything that came with it. While he spent his days recovering
in her guest room, Ezra was visited by the rest of the seven who came by to
tell him what had been transpiring during his absence. They kept him appraised of the goings on in town or dropped by just to
play a hand of poker or keep him company. As the time went by, Ezra saw Julia
ease enough to speak of what was buried so deeply within.
"Mr. Wilmington has asked me to
make a request of you." Ezra asked as he and Julia were having a late
supper the evening after Violet Serfonteine had
finally left town. She still would not let him out of bed any more than he had
to and dinners were usually served to him on a tray while she dined from her
wing chair. It gratified Ezra to know that she was lavishing such care on him
and the tenderness she displayed was more than surprising, it was so unlike her
that he was still becoming accustomed to it.
"Really?" Julia
looked up from her plate as she took a bite out of her meal.
"Yes, apparently he is dying to
know how you manage to pries the location of the Klan gathering from Serfonteine's sister."
"I'm surprised J.D. hasn't told
him," Julia remarked with a faint smile, still somewhat pleased with
herself for that little feat even though the events that followed did Ezra
little good at all.
"Mr. Dunne had been
surprisingly silent on that subject." Ezra met her gaze and confessed some
curiosity to know how she had managed it himself.
"Well J.D. has enough problems
on his hands," Julia answered "The poor boy has been attempting to
win back
"I would not know," Ezra
said with a completely straight face.
"I suppose you're dying to
know?" She looked at him with a tempestuous smile.
"I have so little occupy my time." He smiled back, more pleased than ever
that she was showing her former acerbic manner.
"Alright," Julia sighed
out loud and began to tell him how she had realized what would be Violet's
biggest weakness and how simple it was upon that discovery to exploit it for their own purposes.
Ezra stared at her with surprise.
"Miss Pemberton, I had no idea you were so cruel."
"I was having a bad day."
Julia said without a hint of repentance and still did not because, late as the
seven were to arrive to prevent the terrible injury that Serfonteine
had inflicted upon the man she loved, they had at least kept Ezra from being
killed. For that alone, she was willing to do anything.
She had no idea she could love him as much as she did until the reality came so
close that she might lose him. Suddenly, she did not care about her reputation
in the community or any wagging tongues that might be unleashed by having him
stay here. After what he had been through, Julia wanted him close.
"Ezra," she let out a deep
breath. The moment had shifted from jovial to something else and she finally
decided that since they were speaking about truths, its time she gave him the
most important truth that she had been hiding from him. "I need to tell
you the truth about the miscarriage."
Ezra swallowed, closing his eyes as
he forced himself to say the words, almost relieved that she had finally spoken
of it so that he could finally say them to her. "I know it was not a
miscarriage, Julia." He replied quietly.
"Do you see through me so
easily?" She swallowed, her eyes moistening as she spoke.
"I love you my dear," Ezra
answered. "I know everything about you and I also know that Alexandra Styles
may be able to bluff her way through a poker game, but she is a terrible liar
when it comes down to hiding something of this nature. I'm afraid our past
relationship gives me something of an edge."
"I am sorry," the words
tumbled out of her mouth now that the truth was out in the open. "I went
there with every intention to have it done." She did not explain where it
was because the details were not important, all that mattered was the truth she
was attempting to tell. "I went there, all the while thinking about
everything you said about how we could have this child together and when I
actually got there, it hit me what I was going to do and maybe there was
another way after all."
"Then?" Ezra looked
at her with confusion, feeling no anger, not really because he had more or less
suspected the truth for quite some time now. When Alex had told him it was a
miscarriage and Ezra had seen she was lying, he had instinctively guessed this
was what had truly taken place.
"He did it after I said
no." Julia swallowed, trying not to feel angry at the man who had done
this to her because it was not his fault, it was hers for going there in the
first place. "He knew I'd lost my nerve but the money was too good and so
he shoved this rag in my face and the next thing I knew, I'd woken up in my own
blood." She was not aware that tears had been rolling down her cheeks as
she spoke to Ezra because the guilt and the self recrimination was almost all consuming.
Ezra's jaw tightened in anger as he
thought of some back alley quack drugging his Julia into submission and
performing the surgery that would murder his child, all for the want of a few
dollars. It infuriated him and also explained why Alex had lied to him. If he
did not know Julia as well as he did, her story would sound completely
implausible but he did know her and there were no secrets between them.
Deception was a game they both played with expertise but not to each other.
Alex had lied to spare Julia because Alex had believed in her innocence in this
matter.
"You should have told me
Julia." He said after a long pause.
Julia released a held breath,
thinking for one dark moment that he would not understand and he would leave as
she had believed he would. "I had planned to but when Alex concocted the
story of the miscarriage, the lie seemed the better solution."
"Not between us." Ezra
repeated firmly. "Never between us."
He extended his hand towards her and
it was with relief that Julia reached for it and felt his fingers enclose
around hers. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw that he did not hate her for
what she had done and that to a certain degree, he
understood the torment she had felt during all the time she had kept her
silence. "Never again," she whispered, wiping the tears from her
face.
Allowing him to pull her towards
him, Julia slipped into the sheets next to Ezra and nestled in his embrace as
they watched the sun set beyond the window, knowing that everything in its own way, would heal.
Alex stared at her reflection in the
water and winced at the sight of the bruises on her face that had yet to fade
away. She knew that when they finally healed they would leave no permanent
scars or anything that might serve to remind her of the unpleasantness that she
had been endured at Francis Lamont's hands. Still, it was easy to forget that
terrible night when she was sitting under a canvas of stars,
her bare feet dipped in water to the ankles as she sat at the edge of the creek
not far from the main house on Nettie Wells' property.
Vin was sitting behind her, his arms wrapped around
her waist as he savoured the scent of her hair in his
lungs. The business with Nicholas Serfonteine and the
Klan seemed so far away now. Even though things had returned to some semblance
of normalcy, Vin had wanted to get Alex away from
Four Corners for just awhile so they could spent some time together without the
town scrutinizing their relationship. He realized of course, that part of her
reputation being sullied the way it had was partially his fault.
Alex had never asked anything of him
when it came to their relationship. She had accepted his love without requiring
any formal declaration or understanding. He felt somewhat ashamed that he was
sharing such intimacy with her and had never at one point brought up the
question of marriage or even his intention in that direction even though they
shared each other's bed as lovers.
"You think we ought to tell
people we're courting?" Vin
asked as he delighted in how soft she felt in his arms, enjoying every curve
his hands were allowed to feel.
"Is it important to you that we
do?" Alex leaned into him, enjoying how his body felt against her and
feeling a surge of desire as his finger tips danced along her thigh.
"We ought to do
something," Vin pointed
out. "I mean people know we're together." His lips brushed against
the skin of her neck, tasting the flesh and sending tingles through her skin.
"And then some." She
teased, brushing her hair back so that she could have better access to his
mouth.
"And then some," he paused
what he was doing long enough to grin. "Maybe we ought to get engaged at
least." His fingers slipped to the shirt she was wearing and began tracing
lines on the smooth skin behind it.
"Maybe," she sighed
breathlessly, reaching into his hand, allowing him access deeper into her
shirt.
"Maybe you better, if you're
going to behave like a bunch of love sick teenagers." Nettie
Wells' stern voice exclaimed. The widow stood before them both, hands on her
hips, with disapproval clearly on her face as she regarded them like two badly
behaved children.
Vin and Alex immediately straightened up and
returned to more respectable positions side by side, scrambling like children
who had been caught with their hands well and truly in the cookie jar. Alex
brushed furiously while Vin
simply went silent with embarrassment under Nettie's
reproachful glare.
The older woman folded her arms and
remarked with the barest hint of a smile. "I was just coming to tell you
that supper is ready and none too soon the way you two were going at it."
"Thanks Nettie."
Vin replied, unable to meet
the woman's gaze.
"We'll be there in a
moment." Alex responded, feeling very much like a little girl again.
Suddenly, she had some idea of what having a mother would be like by the look Nettie was giving them both of them. It was easy to forget
that they were both full grown adults when Nettie was
talking to them like this.
"I think you can come with me
now Vin Tanner," Nettie
retorted. She strode over to the tracker and leaned over before pulling Vin to his feet by his buckskin
jacket. "No telling what you'd both get up to alone."
"But ma'am.
." Vin started
to protest only to have Nettie silence him with a
look that would have sent Chris Larabee running for
cover. Alex started to giggle as she saw the woman drag her lover unwillingly
back towards the house, starting to see the absurdity of it all once her
embarrassment had worn off.
Somehow as Alex stood up to put her
shoes back on, she had this strangest feeling that if Nettie
Wells had anything to do with it, she and Vin were
going to be engaged by the time they got to dessert.
Nathan Jackson scrapped off the
remaining pieces of paper from the eviction notice he had torn up days ago,
from the surface of his front door. He had forgotten all about it until he had
returned from the saloon a short time ago and noticed the scraps still clinging
to the wood with dried glue. The day after the fires, Rosken
had sought Nathan out in the saloon and apologized profusely for turning him
out. The man apparently had no idea the true nature of Nicholas Serfonteine and appeared somewhat frightened to the core
that he had almost allowed himself to become embroiled in the same kind of
hatred.
Rosken confessed
that he did not know whether his feelings regarding the coloureds
would ever change but he was willing to try and overcome that prejudice if
Nathan would accept his offer to remain in the infirmary that the healer had
established. The man's attempt at reconciliation seemed genuine and Nathan had
decided that he was not too proud to be so self
righteous, particularly since he had killed Nicholas Serfonteine
on that fateful night. As far as the town was concerned, satisfaction had been
demanded and granted in the old custom between the two men and such things had
a tradition of acceptance that not even the law could penetrate.
"You need hot water."
Nathan heard a voice from the foot of the steps that led to his front door.
Nathan looked down and saw Rain
smiling at him.
"Rain!" Nathan exclaimed,
all thoughts about the door forgotten as he hurried down the steps to greet the
young woman, who waiting below. "What are you doing here?" He said as
they engaged in a warm embrace.
"Josiah and Buck rode into town
yesterday and said you might need some cheering up." The young woman
replied as she looked in the direction of the saloon.
Nathan followed her gaze and saw the
preacher and the gunslinger tipping their hat in his direction. The healer
smiled and waved at them as he and Buck disappeared into the establishment.
Nathan was not surprised that the duo would undertake such a journey, since he
had been feeling somewhat melancholic lately.
A part of him was still wrestling
with his conscience for killing Serfonteine, even
though it was something he had wanted to do for a long time.
Strange how
a lifetime of wanting the man dead could be so hollow in the final realization
of that desire.
"I'm cheered up plenty just
seeing you," Nathan smiled as he held her close for a few seconds. After
everything that had transpired during the past two days, she was a tonic he
needed badly and once again thanked Josiah in silence for bringing her to him.
"It's been hard few days."
"I know," Rain nodded in
understanding when Nathan finally parted from him. "Josiah told me."
"I killed him Rain." He
swallowed, referring to what he had done to Serfonteine.
Try as he might, Nathan knew he
would never be comfortable with what he had done it hat clearing, even though
at the time, there was no other alternative left to him in light of what Serfonteine was doing to his friends and his home. Nathan
had understood that it had fallen to him to end the madness that was
threatening to tear
"You did what you had to
Nathan." Rain stated firmly, with her faith in him present in her warm
brown eyes. "You always do what you had to because you are a good man. I
believe that in my heart and after awhile, perhaps you will too."
Nathan hoped she was right because
there would be a part of him that would always wonder if what he had done that
night was not out of vengeance. When he had seen what Serfonteine
had been willing to do to destroy his home and everyone he cared about, Nathan
knew that the man could not be allowed to continue. The people in his life
meant more to him than anything in the world, even his conscience. Nathan did
not know if the trade would be worth the sleepless nights and the endless soul
searching but for the moment, he was living the life that Rebecca wanted him to
live and that was enough.
He had survived.
The
End