Chapter
Three
The
Art of the Con
He remembered clearly the cards he had been holding that night; two pair composed of Jacks and Queens and single wild card that could go either way. He remembered sitting at the poker table with familiar faces around and feeling apprehensive about everything but the cards. Normally such a thing was unheard of because the poker table was the one arena in which Ezra Standish felt truly comfortable. Here at least, the misfortunes and twists of life seemed non-existent and his destiny was controlled by something whose consequences he could accept, the cards he was dealt. He felt beads of sweat forming under his crisp white shirt and wondered why the room was so hot or for that matter, why he was here. It took him a few seconds before the memory of Nathan telling him to get out surfaced in his mind.
Ezra could not imagine how his indifferent persona had shattered so spectacularly that he was escorted to the saloon, a place his friends knew he was most comfortable and at ease, in an effort to keep him from hyperventilating. Even now, they were keeping a close eye on him, refusing to let him return to the house he and Julia had shared since their marriage, so that he would not be a nuisance neither Nathan or Alex could tolerate at this time. Not that he had not attempted to bolt past them only to have Chris Larabee threaten to shoot him if he attempted it again. Ezra could not imagine why he was so skittish about all this. After all, it was hardly the first time this had happened to him. He recalled being present when it happened to Buck and then Vin. He had thought it would be easier when it was his turn.
"I cannot simply wait here!" He exclaimed throwing his cards down and standing up abruptly. He had barely made it upright when two arms on either side of him, one belonging to Vin and the other to JD grabbed him by the shirtsleeves and forced it back into the chair again.
"Siddown." Chris growled and then to JD and Vin. "If he does that again, shoot him in the foot."
"Mr Larabee…!" Ezra stared at him in astonishment. "I protest this restraint. I should be there!"
"Yes you should," Chris agreed. "And if it weren’t for the fact that you can’t keep from distracting Nathan and Alex, you would still be there."
"But, but, but…." Ezra stuttered.
"But nothing." Chris cut him off. "They got too much to do without you getting underfoot."
"Josiah is allowed to be there!" Ezra pointed out defiantly, meeting the gunslinger’s hard gaze.
"Josiah is a hell of a lot calmer than you are." Vin returned in support of Chris’ argument.
"Excuse me," Ezra turned to the tracker. "Were you not the one who insisted on being in the room when your daughter was born and if I recall correctly, we had to come pick you up from the floor when you saw the wonderful process of birth?"
"That was different." Vin said stiffly, remembering the embarrassment all too well. The images were still vivid in his mind and made him flinch even as he thought about it. How did women go through such agony? "I’ve seen gunshot wounds that weren’t as bad as that."
"Come on Chris," Buck responded. "It is his wife. He ought to be there."
"Thank you." Ezra said gratefully and turned his attention back to Chris. "You see? Even Buck agrees with me."
Chris let out a deep sigh and could understand Ezra’s fears and concerns. If it was he in the same position, he supposed he would want to be there as badly as Ezra did now. "Alright, but we’re going with you and you will sit calm in the parlor to wait this out. Julia’s got enough to deal with, without you going loco on her."
"I am the picture of mental health." Ezra said with complete dignity until he saw Nathan appear at the bat wing doors and bolted from the table before JD and Vin could grab him.
"Nathan what are you doing here? You are supposed to be with my wife? What’s happened? Has something happened hasn’t it? Is she alright? I knew I shouldn’t have left!" In his panic, his normal eloquence had given way to rapid fire questions that escaped him with no interval to catch a breath left the healer staring blankly at him for a moment before he demanded. "Nathan, how long does it take to answer a simple question."
Nathan leaned past Ezra and cast a gaze at the friends behind him. "I thought you were going to calm him down."
"We’re not miracle workers." JD declared. "It was hard enough trying to get him to play cards instead of running out of here."
"Nathan!" Ezra cried out exasperated, desperate to know if Julia was all right and giving him one last chance to answer before he went to find out for himself.
"Relax," Nathan straightened up and looked the gambler in the eye. "Julia’s fine. Consider yourself the father of a healthy baby boy."
"A boy." Ezra broke into a dimpled grin as he felt the relief flood into his body. "I have a son." He looked over his shoulder just as his friends were rising to congratulate him when suddenly; Nathan cleared his throat and returned their attention to him once more.
"Actually," Nathan was struggling not to break into a grin but he was having a great deal of amusement at Ezra’s reaction. "You have a son and a daughter."
"Excuse me?" Ezra stared at him blankly.
"You’re the father or twins Ezra."
"Twins?" Buck started to laugh as JD patted Ezra on the back who was still staring mutely at the healer trying to process all that information. "Ain’t that just like you Ezra. One kid isn’t enough, you’re always greedy for more!"
"Twins." Ezra muttered after a moment. "I have twins."
"Want that drink now?" Chris Larabee asked sympathetically. An infant was hard enough to care for with two parents; Chris almost pitied Ezra for what he was going to do with two babies.
"Yes," Ezra nodded his eyes still glazed from shock. "Make it a double."
***********
He never thought of himself as the family man or how well it would suit him.
For years he had wished for a family and when he had stumbled into Four Corners, he had done so without the least bit conception that when he had ridden into the dusty town, he had reached a crossroads in his life that would forever change him. Since that day, his life had taken a course he never expected it would, bringing him all the things ha had dreamt about secretly, the private fantasies that lurked behind the more obvious wishes of money and luxuries. With the joys had come devastating lows that even now he had trouble speaking of but had managed to survive because of the friends he met in Four Corners and the woman who loved him despite all the things he sometimes put her through. By the time they were married, everything he had ever wanted had come to pass and even though his fortune was limited to one saloon, Ezra did not care.
He was rich.
The children redefined his existence as only children could. He had always believed he and Julia were soul mates, two creatures cut from the same piece of unique cloth but with the arrival of Peter and Penelope Standish, that perception altered. From then on, they were explorers in uncharted territory confronted by two alien beings who were more selfish and stubborn then both of them combined. The infants required a great deal of time and if Ezra had any doubts as to whether or not he had staying power in this marriage, his children taught him that he had hidden reserves from which to call upon. From nightly feedings, to colic, to teething and terrible twos (literally), the gambler did not think he could ever work so hard in his life.
Chris Larabee had given him a piece of advice on the night that the twins were born that Ezra found to be a useful guide in how to regard these new arrivals in his life. As the years continued, he realized how valuable that advice truly was and practiced it with earnest devotion. Chris had told him that every moment of a child's life was precious, to be savored like a tasty morsel and never squandered for any reason because once lost, could never be regained. The gunslinger had made this revelation during the rare occasions when his mood was such that he could stand talking about the child he had lost before coming to Four Corners. Chris had told him softly with no small measure of grief in his eyes that it was those tiny beads of memory about Adam that made his loss a little more tolerable over the years. The first smile he had ever made, the first steps taken were a small comfort for the girl he would never marry, the tree he would never climb and the life he would never have. ;
Ezra took Chris' words to heart and realised just how delightful the experience could be if one was prepared to shake the conventions of what a father was supposed to do in his child's life. He barely remembered his own and he did not want to be a fleeting memory for either Penelope or Peter. Since Inez managed the Standish quite efficiently without him and some say because of his absence, Ezra found that when he was not off playing peacekeeper to Four Corners, he was more or less regulated with the duty of caring for his two children. The Emporium still needed Julia to run and though he never confessed it mostly because he wanted to live, Ezra had a feeling that of the two of them, he was the one with the stronger maternal instinct.
Ezra was surprised by how much he enjoyed his children who were like shades of black and white. Penny took after him without doubt because she was flamboyant and always the lady. She loved to look the part and aspired to be a great actress someday, the result of a trip to Eagle Bend where he had smuggled her into one of the theatrical shows much to Julia's annoyance. She came home from the performance deciding that she would be an actress and later discovered that there was none greater than Lily Langtree and that's who she would be. And of course no life in the theatre would be complete without learning a few of the more important social skills, like playing cards. Something as her father, he felt obligated to teach her. She had inherited his hands and had a talent for the cards although he was not certain whether or not he wanted to her make a career out of it.
While he understood Penelope perfectly, Peter was a complete mystery. He had named the boy after his father, a man Ezra had barely known. What he knew of his father were images really and feelings he could not really define because emotions had no shape or form. He knew that his father loved him because there were smile and tenderness in his memories of the man but Maude did not speak of him very much. Ezra did not think he was wrong in believing that his father was the only man that she had ever loved and was part of the reason why she was never able to keep his successors for very long. The fact that Maude seemed to get misty whenever Peter was around convinced Ezra that perhaps Peter took after his grandfather which was why Ezra could not understand him.
Unlike Penelope who was open and a propensity for vanity, a trait she must have developed from Julia, Peter was extremely intelligent and introspective. This was evidenced by such incidents as the one when Ezra found him dismantling a clock at the age of seven and then to his amazement, assembling it in perfect working order again. Although he cherished his daughter, Ezra had come to understand that he had something of a prodigy in his son because the boy simply knew how things worked and if he did not, would learn soon enough. Ezra could not fathom how this had come about because he could see it when Peter was working things out, his mind was always trying to understand the way the world worked and would never accept anything as a given.
Although he was somewhat disappointed that neither of the two children took after him, on the whole Ezra was happier that they had dreams of their own, then trying to live up to expectations he had no right having. Maude had never given him a choice in the kind of life he was to lead and Ezra would not do the same to Peter and Penelope. His son had dreams that Ezra could not even begin to imagine, let alone understand, a dream of things conceived in the mind to be given life when he found the right medium. Penelope sought to captivate audiences as much as she had captivated her parents and even if the shell game was be lost upon the twins, Ezra supposed he could live with that. The art of the con was an acquired taste and it appeared none of his children had it.
Besides, one day, they might just surprise him.
**********
Maude Standish was not a happy woman.
The old Concorde in which she was travelling was giving her a rough ride and her demeanor was not much improved by the situation she was presently fleeing from in St Louis. She wondered just how long this nonsense would continue until a conclusion was seen and knew that unless she took matters into her own hands, she would be pursued into Perdition’s Fires. Although Maude was a woman past her sixties, she was still handsome. Her gold hair had grayed slightly but there was enough glint in each strand to still captivate those with fine appreciation of appreciation of beauty despite its vintage. Her eyes were always, the most telling thing about her, full of facets that were not definable with any kind of ease.
The sojourn to Four Corners was precisely what she needed to take her mind off her troubles because grandchildren had the ability to be an unending tonic for a sour disposition. Although she would always be disappointed that Ezra had not made use of his God given talents, she could not deny that his best production had been the twins she adored. Seeing them would give her the rejuvenation needed for a new plan of attack in regards to her present dilemma. After all these years, Maude was still unable to grasp that her entire family who had once consisted of herself and Ezra had suddenly grown to encompass Julia, Penelope and Peter.
Once Four Corners had been a place she visited every now and then but more and more as she grew older, Maude's trips to the small community was growing more frequent. Though she did not wish to discuss it or even confess the truth, there was going to come a day when she knew the Concorde trip into town would be her last. It was becoming harder and harder to leave her family behind. Age had a strange way of creeping up on a person, not in the substance of an aging body but rather the weariness of constant motion. The need to be around her family was becoming stronger each day and Maude knew the time would soon some when she could not turn away and she would come to Four Corners to stay.
For the moment however, the wanderlust still filled her veins and unless she corrected the problem she had come to Four Corners to escape, she would not be returning to her colorful existence in St Louis. Part of her could not believe this was happening to her again. What was it about her that inspired such fierce ardor in the opposite sex? A dozen years ago, she had almost been jailed because of the affections of one Mr Preston Wingo. It had taken too many years to convince him that she was not in the least interested in being married again, in fact he had to die for that to happen, Maude now found herself on the receiving end of more persistent affection.
Simon Doyle was nothing like Preston Wingo who had made his fortune by having a silver spoon in his mouth and the spoilt temperament of the indulged who believed that nothing should be denied him. Doyle was a self made man, rich and powerful. Alaskan gold had been the impetus for his fortune and though it meant that Maude would have had access to a monies beyond the wildest dreams of avarice, she was far too old to be swayed with the notion of trading her independence for cash. In the last two decades, she had come to value her freedom as something precious and she was not about to yield it in favor a rich husband who would use her weakness for excess as a means to control her. No, she would not fall into that trap willingly.
Unfortunately, Doyle was not satisfied with refusal and his determination to have her bordered almost on the obsessive. At first, his attempts to sway her were somewhat flattering but as its intensity increased, Maude started to feel trepidation because instinct told her that if she allowed him that much power over her, she would become lost. In truth, Doyle was an engaging man, the kind that could make a woman lose all sense if she was not careful. Even though Maude had loathed admitting it, he affected her on a deeply personal level and her feelings for him had taken a life of its own. However, it would still mean the loss of her independence, which was unacceptable to her. Maude hoped that perhaps Ezra might have a fresh perspective on her problem. Ezra and his friends always seemed to bring solutions to the surface when they were together and supposed that is why her darling boy had confined himself to this small dusty town and to such a mundane existence.
Still at the very least, this sojourn would give her time to catch up with her two darling grandchildren and allow her a moment's peace while she recuperated from the man's efforts to snare her as his wife. Sometimes, it did not pay to be a fiercely independent woman who was still handsome for her vintage. At her age, it was more trouble than its worth. Although in this instance, she knew that it was a little more complicated then that, owing to her own feelings. Maude came to the conclusion that if Ezra could not come up with a plan to help her out of this situation; she would simply have to conjure up one on her own to deal with Mr Simon Doyle.
No matter how difficult it was.
***********
From the birth of their children and further back then that, Julia had come to the firm conclusion that she was no housewife and did not aspire to such. While she loved her children dearly, she was aware that she was not like average mothers. What with an Emporium to run and business holdings that seemed to expand every time she considered testing new waters for a challenge, Julia knew her efforts to stay home and keep house would be lacking. Ezra did not mind his wife having such an acute business sense when it was quite obvious she was more skilled at it then he was. Ezra himself was content to spend his days either with the children or in the Standish Tavern. However, there were some things he was unable to do around the house, like laundry and the cooking. After all, a gentleman did have to draw the line somewhere. During those inevitable occasions when he was required to act as one of Four Corner's peacekeepers, the children was placed under the supervision of Mrs. Megan Riley, a rathe r formidable matron who had acted as part time babysitter and full time house keeper.
Although the woman had a no nonsense attitude that reminded him of Nettie Wells, a trait which contributed heavily to her employment as the Standish housekeeper, Ezra was certain that beneath her grizzled demeanor, the lady had developed a deep affection for Julia in particular. The look she gave him was always one of disapproval but Ezra knew her enough to be certain that the feigned dislike was only for show. She always claiming that he and Julia were children who needed looking after. Despite her caustic manner, she had become a part of the Standish family and had continued to be the same even after the children were born. Ezra's relationship with the woman achieved greater strength when she saw that he was more than prepared to stay at home to raise the children when Penny and Peter were born, so that Julia could continue working in the Emporium, a thing she truly loved doing.
Mrs Riley's presence ensured that when Maude unexpectedly made a visit, the household was more than capable of presenting his mother with the welcome that was her due. Though Ezra could not fathom how it came about, Maude and Mrs Riley seemed to strike up an unlikely friendship and Ezra often had little difficulty in convincing the lady to join them for dinner whenever Maude was in town. Under normal circumstances, Mrs Riley would not have even considered it.
"So where is Julia today?" Maude asked as they sat down to the meal.
"Momma's in Eagle Bend." Penny answered quickly, beaming at her grandmother as she answered.
"What ever is she doing there?" Maude looked at Ezra after giving Penny a little wink.
"Miss Julia is on a buying trip or something of the like." Mrs Riley remarked.
"Miss Julia?" Ezra gave her a look. "Mrs Riley, Julia and I have been married for a better part of a decade. At what point are you going to stop calling her Miss?"
"Oh Ezra, leave Megan alone." Maude chuckled, perfectly aware that the lady was only doing it to irritated her son, a talent she could not berate anyone for when she did it so well herself. Maude and Mrs Riley shared a conspiratory wink before she turned back to Ezra.
"So mother, to what do we owe this visit?" Ezra asked once the two women had amused themselves at his expense and once his twins stopped giggling. Sometimes, he wondered if he was the only sane person in his family and then recalled that he was just as hopelessly infected.
"Oh nothing," Maude shrugged immediately, having no wish to have a delightful meal ruined because of one Mr Simon Doyle. "I just felt the need to see my grandchildren." Maude turned to Peter and Penny and smiled. "And you too of course," she added as an afterthought to Ezra, giving him a decidedly wicked gleam as she made the statement.
Ezra stared at his mother, perfectly aware when she was telling an untruth and knew that she was in the midst of delivering such a fabrication to him at this moment. However, Ezra did not pursue it because his mother was always full of secrets and if he attempted to get to the bottom of every white lie she had ever told, he would be a thousand years old and still no closer to accomplishing the task. Besides, Maude had a way of telling him if it was required his attention and beyond that, Ezra was in no particular hurry to intrude on his mother's personal affairs.
"And we're thrilled to have you here of course." Ezra responded. "Aren't we children?"
Two voice responded in unison but Penelope and Peter were also studying their grandmother and while their father seemed unconcerned by Maude's rather flimsy explanation, the two children who adored her was not as settled. They could tell just as their father had that Maude was lying but could not understand why their grandmother would resort to that. Maude had never lied to them and she was the one person who truly treated them like adults and always seemed to understand what getting into trouble was all about. Giving each other a look, the twins made an unspoken decision to investigate the situation once the opportunity arose.
After all, Maude was their grandmother.
**********
The opportunity to learn the truth about Maude's unexpected visit did not emerge until the next day or so. As usual, during their grandmother's visits to Four Corners, the twins took every opportunity to be with her, completely aware that she paid little attention to the rules set by their parents. Although Maude was not thoughtless enough to take them into the saloons, she did allow the twins to accompany her to the hotel's gambling hall where, as she put it, the real skills of life needed to be learnt. Of course Maude always ensured that they only accompanied her to such haunts during the day when the clientele was not so drunk or rowdy because not even her own jaded sense of maternal instinct would allow her to be so irresponsible with her grandchildren.
Not that either child minded very much if she was because they enjoyed being with their grandmother immensely. They loved sitting at her table and watching her make all the other opponents squirm, all the while wearing a smile of complete innocence on her face. Penny had spent most of her life trying to imitate that smile while Peter learnt how to be immune to it. Maude seem to know people and while his views and Penny's differed on what should be important skills, they were both agreed that understanding people was important knowledge to have on hand. They also loved the noise and the color of the gambling houses, especially since it was usually forbidden to them. While their mother tolerated them being taught to play cards (it was sacrilegious if a Standish could not), she would not endure them being in such an inappropriate place.
"You see now my darlings how it's done?" Maude smiled sweetly at the duo watching her as she placed all her winnings into her purse after sending the latest round of opponents away from the table a lot less flushed then they were when they had initially sat down to play. Peter and Penny were seated next to their grandmother during most of the game, watching how smoothly she played cards and her opponents for that matter.
"What if they get mad?" Penny asked, unable to imagine taking all of a person's money could have gone as smoothly as they just witnessed. Maude was just showing them the finer points of winning gracefully and all the social etiquette's to be observed during the process, like for instance never counting one's money until after the game was done and the players had left the table. It made for interesting viewing, even though it had a tendency to be rather nerve wracking at times, especially when the men she was playing realised they were being beaten by a woman.
"Well my dear," Maude turned an eye in her direction. "It all comes down to a matter of selecting the right opponents. There are some men who just by the look of them appear to be difficult."
"What happens if you're wrong grandma?" Peter asked. "I don't want them to hurt you."
Maude let out a little sigh of warmth and let her hand cupped the small boy's face. "You are so gallant my sweet boy but I am seldom wrong and you'll be surprised how many men will come to the aid of a lady."
"Besides," Penny nudged Peter in the ribs, refusing to believe that anyone could get the better of Maude. "Grandma won't play with the ones that will hurt her and most of the time men don't think a woman can get the better of them anyway."
"That's exactly right." Maude replied, glad she had thought her grand daughter so well. "It is an unfortunate fact of life my dear boy that men think that we women have no power to us but they're wrong."
"I know that." Peter shrugged. He himself was infatuated with a young lady who could do very well for herself needing the aid of no man. Sam had useful knowledge in her head and was unconcerned by the silly things that other girls seemed to like. The things Sam considered beautiful were real things, like the land and the wildlife that grew upon it. He shared that perspective although his affection for it was not as powerful as Sam's.
"You don't have to tell him grandma," Penny said teasingly. "He knows all about it. He likes Samantha."
"Penny!" Peter groaned in embarrassment and his face turned red. "And you don't moon over Mike?"
"Everybody moons over Mike." Penny retorted, allowing the remark to slide off her easily. Penny did not know any girl her age in the town of Four Corners who did not swoon at the sight of Mike Larabee at one point or another. However, the truth of the matter was, those in their set knew clearly where Mike's heart was placed and it was with Elena Rose.
"Is that Vin Tanner's little girl?" Maude asked, becoming familiar enough with all the seven to know exactly whom Penny was referring to. "The one always dressed like a boy?" She glanced at Peter in question.
"No!" Peter declared vehemently, wishing he could go somewhere and hide. "She's just another girl."
"Sure." Penny snorted derisively.
"Now Penelope," Maude gave her a look. "Leave your brother alone. Affairs of the heart are a delicate thing and we must always take care."
"Sorry grandma." Penny nodded but smirked at her brother, who was glowering, in her direction.
"So have you told the young Miss Samantha how you feel?" Maude inquired.
"No!" Peter gasped exasperated, wishing this subject had never come up and reminding himself that the dead rat he had found underneath the house would soon find a new place and purpose by the time he was done with his loud mouth sister.
"Why not?" Maude questioned, guessing from Peter's reaction that Penny's assertions about his feelings for young Miss Tanner were quite true.
"Because she'll hit me!" Peter retorted. "Sam's not like other girls. She doesn't like wearing dresses and she climbs trees and she knows how to skip stones and she's just perfect." He capped off the sentence with a soft sigh.
"My goodness, he does have it bad." Maude looked in Penny's direction, only to have her granddaughter nod in agreement.
"You have no idea." Penny rolled her eyes.
"Will you quit it!" Peter grumbled, wishing to see this topic's discussion end once and for all. He felt humiliated enough as it was. What if Sam was to find out? He'd never live down the shame.
"Peter," Maude ran her hand over his shoulder. "We're not being unkind, we're trying to help. Now if you truly like this girl, you should tell her."
Peter stared at Maude uncertainly, aware that she was probably right if it had been any one else but Sam. However, since it was Sam, he was not even going to entertain the notion because he had no wish to have the crap beaten out of him at her reaction. "You don't know Sam."
"Good thinking kid." A decidedly male voice remarked over them. "You never know how a woman's going to react when you come clean with her."
Maude faced front and found herself staring at Simon Doyle who was standing at her table, with two of his men, his eyes focussing on her so hard that Maude suddenly felt uncomfortable that the children were here. Trying to hide her shock at how he could be here and coming to the conclusion a split second later that he had had obviously followed her, Maude felt exposed and vulnerable. She wanted to tell Penny and Peter to leave because she did not want their relationship known to her family.
"What are you doing here?" She managed to ask after a moment; her voice had shriveled to a dry hiss.
Penny and Peter could tell immediately that their grandmother was nervous and that this man was undoubtedly the reason she had made her hasty departure from her native St Louis to take refuge in Four Corners. The man standing before them was big. He reminded them a little of Uncle Josiah in his bulk but his coloring was fairer and he seemed ungainly in his suit. Penny had the impression that he did not feel comfortable in one. Beneath his hat was silver grey hair and he wore a large moustache, not unlike the one Uncle Buck wore but only his was tinged with a little more grey. He glanced at Maude with laughing blue eyes and gave Penny a wink before eyeing Maude again.
"You left." He declared.
"You gave me no other choice." Maude returned stiffly.
"You didn't have to leave." He said impatiently. "I'm not such a brigand that I would harm you."
"You're harming me by this insane desire for marriage!" Maude cried out with the same exasperation that
"Marriage?" Peter and Penny said in unison as they stared at each other for a brief second and then at Maude.
"It will never happen!" She snapped, rising to her feet.
"Maude, you love me. Admit it."
"NEVER!" Maude growled. "I am sixty years old and the benefit of age is having to know that there comes a time when it is simply too late for love and marriage and for me that is more true than anyone else! I have no wish to be married. I did it five, nay almost six times and with the exception of the first, none of the others were equal to it so I have no wish to place myself in that kind of bondage again."
"Bondage?" Doyle chuckled almost bemused by her reaction. "I'm talking about marriage, not slavery!" The two men beside him had scattered to the bar, preferring a drink that witnessing their employer's debate with the love of his life.
"Is there a difference?" Maude declared as she leaned over the table and challenged him to produce a suitable response.
"Of course there is!" He laughed and the twins realised that he was armed with a confidence that seemed to be solidifying his cause no matter what Maude said. What did he know about their grandmother that made him so supreme in his belief that Maude was the one for him? "Maude, you are the most incredible woman I have ever met. You're steel wrapped up in velvet and I like that. I wouldn't change you for anything!"
"That's what all you men say!" Maude threw up her hands in defeat as she stormed out away from the table, completely forgetting about her two grandchildren in her haste to depart. "First its, I love you as you are my darling Maude and the next thing you know, is maybe you could stay home more, maybe you could be more like other wives, maybe you could COOK!" She punctuated that last statement by throwing up her hands in disgust and sweeping out the door.
"Wow." Peter exclaimed with his eyes wide. "I don't think I've ever seen grandma so mad before."
"Neither have I." Penny replied, easing further back into her chair.
Doyle continued to stare at the batwing doors, even after Maude had well and truly gone. It was a few seconds before he noticed the twins and turned his attention to them.
"Well hello there." Doyle leaned over and stuck his hand out at Peter first. "You must be Peter."
"That's me," Peter nodded and took out the hand offered to him.
Doyle shook it warmly and then turned to Penny. However, instead of the usual handshake, he gave Penny a more continental greeting and completely charmed the little girl with that one act. Even though her grandmother seemed set on rejecting this man, Penny could not help but like him. She wondered what grandmother was so afraid of. Doyle seemed likeable enough.
"You are as pretty as your grandmother described you." He said warmly before lowering himself down into the chair. "Please to meet you both. I'm Simon Doyle."
Instead of leaving the hotel now that Maude had gone, the twins lingered behind a while longer. They liked Mr Doyle and were curious about why his proposal of marriage and upset their grandmother as it had done. It did not look as if Grandma Maude disliked Mr Doyle as much as she disliked the idea of marriage. Besides, the twins had often heard mama saying that Grandma Maude ought to think about settling down, with daddy snorting openly at the idea. The conversation usually ended with their father making some comment regarding the climatic condition of hell becoming decidedly cold before such a thing would happen. Besides, they were fascinated by the idea of a potential suitor for their grand mother's hand.
"It doesn't look like grandma Maude wants to marry you Mister Doyle." Peter pointed out. "Maybe she don't like you."
"Peter!" Penny exclaimed, mortified by his sensitivity.
"Oh she likes me alright," he said confidently with a smile on his face that neither of them could understand. "She just don't like being married."
"I don't understand." Peter looked at him with confusion.
"Peter, honestly." Penny rolled her eyes. "Grandma Maude is a free spirit. She can't be tamed. When I grow up I'm going to be an actress so I'll never marry either."
Doyle chuckled and replied gallantly, enjoying the company of the children very much. "And I sure you'll be a great one Miss Penelope, but you should never say never."
"Oh no!" Peter exclaimed when his eyes darted to the doorway of the saloon and he saw their father walking into the establishment.
"Its daddy!" Penny burst out and immediately drew Ezra's attention to
their table.
Ezra Standish had been engaged in a game of cards with JD on the front walk of the jail house when he noticed Maude storming out of the hotel with an expression on her face that could only be described as fury. He knew his mother was not prone to outward displays of anger for she was like him in that respect, preferring to keep her emotions under tight rein. He was almost tempted to follow her and seek out the cause of her annoyance when he remembered the last known whereabouts of his two children was in the her company prior to entering the hotel. Common sense told him that Penelope and Peter would know better than to remain in the establishment without Maude but fatherly suspicion had driven him to the place to make sure for himself.
He did not know whether or not he should pleased that he was proven right for his suspicions or equally angered that they had disobeyed one of the most fundamental rules set out not only by Julia but himself as well. He knew perfectly well what it was like to grow up in the walls of a saloon or some gambling house. When he was dragged cross-country with Maude, that was all he had ever known and he wanted a more idyllic and conventional upbringing for his children. While he would not forbid Maude to bring them into the gambling house, he certainly felt that she ought to have been responsible enough to see to it that they were with her when she left. Neither was he too impressed to find Peter and Penny at a table with a strange man that was not a native of the town. Considering the enemies the seven had made in their lifetime, the rule about strangers was almost as important as venturing unsupervised in gambling house. He wished Julia were here because now he would have to discipline th e duo and she was much better at it then he was. A smile from Penelope or a remorseful look from Peter was usually all it took to crumble his resolve in such matters.
"Would you care to explain what you two are doing here?" Ezra asked tautly when he arrived at the table occupied by his children and Simon Doyle.
"Grandma Maude just left us." Penny quickly said.
"Oh really." Ezra gave her a hard stare. "Neither of you are infants. You are aware of the rules regarding your presence in this establishment alone."
"But...." Peter started to say but Ezra silenced him with a look.
"I want you both home. Now." Ezra said sharply.
"Excuse me," Doyle immediately felt his heart crumbling at the expression on the faces of both children as they looked on in dismay at incurring their father's displeasure. "This is my fault. I held them up here when their grandmother left."
"And you are?" Ezra turned to the man as if noticing him for the first time.
"Simon Doyle." The Alaskan magnate darted his hand in Ezra's direction. "I take it you're Ezra, Maude's son?"
"Yes," Ezra nodded; wondering who this stranger was in his ill-fitting suit of finest quality. Doyle's manner reminded Ezra of Vin whenever the tracker was required to wear something a little more formal then the buckskin jacket he was accustomed to. "And I take it you're the reason why my mother departed the vicinity in such a hurry?"
"More or less." Doyle shrugged and then glanced at the two children. "Don't blame them for staying here. I got to talking to them and held them up. I should have known better than to keep them in a place like this."
Ezra felt his anger fade a little at the genuine sincerity of the stranger's words and in truth, he was never very good at playing the authoritarian with his children anyway. "Well, I suppose that under the circumstances I shall let it go this time." He looked at both Penny and Peter who were looking sombre indeed. He ended his statement with a little smile, a gesture that told the two things were all right between them. His gesture immediately inspired corresponding smiles from the twins who were more than happy to know that their father was no longer upset at them.
"I'm sorry daddy." Penny said sweetly and then remembered the reason why they were here in the first place. "Daddy!" She suddenly burst out. "Mr Doyle wants to marry grandma!"
Ezra looked sharply at Doyle in horror as well as admiration at the same time. "Your apologies are not needed Mr Doyle, it appears that you are in need of the same from me."
Doyle chuckled and responded. "She said you had a silver tongue on you."
"Under the circumstances," Ezra replied, suddenly very interested in Doyle's presence in Four Corners. "I think we need to discuss this over a drink."
*************
Ezra soon learnt that Mr Doyle and Maude had been constant companion for the last four months in St Louis. A native of Alaska since 1859 when the Russians had made the first overtures of selling the territory to the United States, Doyle had made his fortune in gold. Gold had been discovered in Alaska long before the boom created by the discovery at Silver Bowl Basin which precipitating the massive gold rush across the Klondike. By the time the 100,000 prospectors arrived in the Klondike, Doyle was already a rich man having expanded his interests to include investments in oil, coal and salmon canneries. By the time the war had arrived, Doyle was well on his way to making his fortune and was by the present day, a self made millionaire with no need to ever concern himself with money again. Taking a respite from a lifetime of hard work, Doyle had come to St Louis, the city of his birth.
A life such as his did not allow for a wife and though he had no special interest in acquiring one when he arrived in St Louis, Doyle was not adverse to the idea of companionship in his later years. He was enamoured by Maude almost from the first moment of their meeting. The duo had been seldom out of each other's company during the past four months. Unfortunately, the instant he had proposed to the lady, Maude had panicked and fled St Louis, leaving Doyle with no explanation and in a state of puzzlement. While Doyle found her behavior perplexing, Ezra was actually surprised that she had lasted four months. Other than the father he barely remembered, Maude's history with her past husbands spoke plainly that the lady was ill suited for marriage to a conventional man. Having expensive tastes and strong independence were not traits that led to a successful marriage and after the fifth husband, Ezra knew Maude had more or less given up trying.
Strangely enough, Doyle had the same effect upon Ezra that he had upon the children. Despite Ezra's natural tendencies to keep everyone at arm's length until he knew them better, he found himself warming to Mr Simon Doyle and had the belief that his effect upon Maude had been the same. There was a time when Ezra was nervous about any man turning his eye upon his mother but being married with a family of his own had altered his perspective. He wanted the same kind of happiness for his mother although he had always thought the chances of finding a match for her to be so astronomical, it would not even be worth laying a bet on. However Doyle was different and Ezra was an astute enough observer of human nature to know that the persona before him was the genuine article.
"Well if you permit me to give you some advice," Ezra said after their second round of drinks. "My mother is fiercely independent and marriage threatens to take that away from her. You must understand that she is accustomed to going where she pleases. Perhaps companionship is the best that you may aspire to."
"It isn't right." Doyle said firmly. "I've been working all my life. I barely stopped to appreciate the finer things like a woman's love and a family. I can live with the sacrifice because I'm not ashamed of what I've done but my stop over in St Louis was unintentional. I had only planned to be there a few weeks before I on travelling to Europe. I want to see the world before I die. I don't want to waste what life I got left and I want Maude to see it with me. I've got a fortune that I probably won't dent even I circled the globe twice but I do want to share the good things it can give me with her."
"Daddy we got to do something!" Penny exclaimed, completely won over by Doyle's speech.
Ezra turned to his daughter. "Are you suggesting that we interfere in this?"
"Not interfere, help things along." She insisted. "We've got to convince grandma to get married."
"Good luck," Ezra snorted. "Your grandmother does not do anything she does not wish. Trust me, I know."
"Then we have to come up with a scam." Peter stated.
"A scam?" All three looked at him.
"A con dad." The young boy repeated himself and faced Doyle. "You said that grandma likes you but doesn't like being married. She doesn't like being married because she thinks you're gonna try and tell her what to do."
"That's right," Doyle nodded, liking the way the boy put things so simply.
"Well then maybe we can convince grandma that Mr Doyle isn't going to do that, that he will have her anyway, even if that way is terrible." Peter met his father's gaze hoping he could take over from there.
Ezra considered the problem for a moment. "I may have an idea on how to achieve that." He spoke up with a dimpled grin a second later. "Providing of course, you children are prepared to help me in this endeavor."
'It was my plan dad." Peter frowned.
"Yes and believe me, it brings a tear to my eye knowing that the art of the con will survive me." Ezra said feeling a great deal of paternal pride at the moment. "However, in the mean time, I require you to gather some of your friends. For this little ruse to work, we need a few more players in the deck."
**********
Maude was already at home when Ezra arrived there to put into effect the first stage of his plan. As anticipated, the lady was not eager to talk about what had caused her abrupt departure from the hotel. Maude could be terribly closed mouthed about her feelings when she was not dispensing maternal advice, such as it was. Still Ezra could tell by her agitated manner that she was not so much frightened for her life as she was for her lifestyle and that convinced him that her feelings for Mr Doyle was not laced with dislike as she would have them believe. Besides, if Doyle had meant nothing to her, Maude would have turned him down and remained in St Louis with little reason to worry about the man's hurt feelings. The fact that she had felt the need to depart St Louis to hide in Four Corners for a time, told Ezra a great deal.
"So you have no affection for this man at all?" Ezra questioned her inside the parlor of the Standish home where she had been taking tea.
"Not at all." Maude said stiffly. "He is infatuated with me in the same way as that corpulent toad Preston Wingo, God rest his soul."
"I see." Ezra nodded. "So I take it you would like him permanently gone from your life?"
"Why of course." Maude responded but her answer did not come as automatic as it should have and there was a slight flutter in her voice when she made the statement.
Ezra pretended not to notice the lapse and continued speaking. "Then I have a plan."
"A plan?" Maude stared at him. "What sort of plan?"
"Let us say that by the time we're through with Mr Doyle, he'll never trouble you again."
"I'm intrigued," Maude replied with a smile on her face which Ezra knew to be completely for his benefit alone.
*************
The plan as devised by himself and his son culminated in the arrival of Simon Doyle at the Standish residence a few hours later. Ezra had invited the man for supper in order to play out the final act of this little ruse concocted by himself and given life by his son after he had sufficiently set the stage for the performance to begin. The more he observed Maude's reactions, the more he became convinced that she indeed shared Doyle's feelings but was too afraid to let him into her life for all the changes it would mean to her life. Although Ezra would never dream of interfering, he did know how obtuse Maude could sometimes be and knew that for her own good, he would have to break his own rules regarding her business to secure her happiness.
Ezra was only grateful that Julia was still in Eagle Bend.
"It appears we are on." Maude took a deep breath as she heard the front door knock. Hopefully this would not take very long and once it was done, Simon would leave and never trouble her again. However, even as the thought crossed her mind, Maude felt a pang of sorrow at seeing him go. Why did he have to go spoil it all with a proposal of marriage? Things were going so well until then.
"We certainly are." Ezra nodded and glanced at his children who had their own parts to play in this and quickly scattered to take their places.
Ezra paused to look in the mirror as Mrs. Riley went to answer the door while Maude awaited Doyle within the parlor. Ezra's appearance was rather disheveled and he stunk of liquor. The reflection that stared back at him was a man who had crumbled to the excesses of life and was now no better than a drunken derelict, not fit to be married or to care for his children. Mrs, Riley paused at the door and glanced in Ezra's direction, waiting to see if he had any final instructions before she proceeded further. Ezra merely nodded and gave her the signal she needed before entering the parlor and beginning his performance.
"You have to take them mother!" He shouted at Maude who stifled a smile as she spoke her own lines.
"But Ezra, your children need you!" Maude cried out with just as much intensity.
"They need a mother and since their mother has run off with some banker in Eagle Bend, all they have is me! I am barely capable of looking after myself, let a lone a gaggle of infants!" Ezra returned in a perfectly imitation of the louse he was trying to be.
"Ezra I am too old to raise children!" Maude responded, delivering just as stellar a performance as her son. After all, he did learn from the best, she thought to herself.
They timed their pause long enough to allow Mrs. Riley to appear on the scene with Doyle in tow. Doyle appeared confused and somewhat embarrassed at having walked in on such a volatile family squabble.
"Mr Doyle is here for dinner." The housekeeper announced his presence and then exited as quickly as possible, having no desire to be caught in the argument that was tearing the household apart.
"Oh Simon," Maude turned to him in dismay. "I didn't want you to hear any of this!"
"Hear what?" Doyle asked innocently.
"My family troubles." Maude went to him and dropped her shoulders with a heavy sigh. "This is my son Ezra."
"I gathered." He glanced quickly at Ezra and then back to Maude again. "What's happening?"
"My wife absconded with a banker!" Ezra snapped, his words escaping him in a slur. "She has left me with a household of children!"
"That's unfortunate." Doyle said apologetically.
"Its worse that unfortunate," Maude declared with an exaggerated expression of dismay. "He want me to take my grandchildren to St Louis. All seven of them."
"Seven?" Doyle stared at her in obvious shock. "You have seven grandchildren?"
"Yes," Ezra nodded. "Five of the most unruly brats you've ever had misfortune to lay your eyes upon. CHILDREN! GET OUT HERE! Let Mr Doyle take a look at you." Ezra completed the speech by stumbling off his feet and falling into his wing chair.
"That's why I cannot marry you Simon," Maude explained quickly as a cacophony of feet started moving through the house towards the parlor. Chattering voices broke the sound of footsteps as Penny entered first, followed by Peter, Sam, Adam, Kyle, Annette and Jimmy. Peter had filled the younger children on what they had to do and they were more than happy to participate in a little bit of role-playing. "I have all these children to look after now. It would be unfair to put that responsibility upon you as well."
Just to emphasize what a Herculean effort it would be to look after so many children; Sam and Penny started fighting. It was a display of pushing and shoving that soon saw both little girls rolling on the floor, tearing at each others, with the sound of ripping fabric, appearing intermittently upon the litany of angry words being flung at each other.
"You're such a tomboy!"
"Well you even hit like a girl!"
"You're a ruffian!"
"You're prissy!"
"Take that back!"
"Will not!"
The harsh words seemed to frighten Annette who promptly burst into tears, her high-pitched squeal tearing through air and through their ears with shocking efficiency. Ezra started to shouting at all of them, making some reference to his head and the hangover that could not endure such noise, while Peter and Adam's efforts to pull the girls apart sent them both stumbling into furniture, upending a small side table of all its contents. Ceramic objects shattered against the floor as the table flipped over but its impact was drowned in the overwhelming noise being generated from so many fronts. The room was a monument to chaos with everyone playing their parts superbly.
"You see!" Maude cried out to Doyle above all this. "I can't marry you! I couldn't expect you to accept all this responsibility!"
"Of course you can!" Doyle laughed, finding the whole scene amusing more than anything else. "I love you Maude. I don't care if you come with this or anything else for that matter. If you need to take care of this mob, I want to do it with you. They're a little crazy but hell so are we!"
Maude stared at him in astonishment. "You're insane!"
"Why?" He asked, loving the whole idea of this insane family he was getting if he succeeded in convincing Maude to marry him. "They're your family, I couldn't turn my back on them anymore than I could turn my back on you! Maude I don't care what obstacles there are, I only care about you!"
Maude could not believe this! How could any sane man want a part of this lunacy? "After we're married, you could change! You'll want me to be different, to be more like a proper wife! I'm not like other wives, Simon! I never could be. I've been married five times and for four of those times, I had to leave just because of that!"
"I don't want you to be like other wives Maude!" Doyle retorted. "If I wanted that I could have gotten any number of society matrons who were sticking to me like bees to honey in St Louis. I don't want someone whose only gonna care about what looks proper. You don't give a damn about what anyone thinks of you Maude and when you want something, you go out and get it. You love life and you know to live it to its best. I want to know what that's like Maude, I've spent my life building this fortune and never had any idea what to do with it. I want us to travel, to live the high life, to see Paris and ride that gondola in Venice you talked about. I want to see you take some snooty Count for all the money he's worth when you get to Monte Carlo. Champagne and caviar Maude, that's the kind of life I want for us."
"That's so romantic." Penny sighed, having stopped fighting long ago when Doyle had made his empathic plea. In fact the whole room had become silent as they listened to the suitor make his impassioned bid for Maude's hand.
"Oh boy!" Sam rolled her eyes and then the two girls started to giggle at their earlier antics.
Maude looked at Ezra and the convenient way everything had fallen into place for Doyle to make his speech and started to get the impression that she was the one who had been played, not the man who would be her new husband. "My darling boy, you need to explain yourself."
Ezra broke into a grin, aware that the ruse was up. "Mother, you always told me that life is a gamble. I think its time you take one yourself. I know you mother and I know that you care deeply for Mr Doyle here who has convinced me that he will not follow the path of his predecessors. Take a chance mother, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."
"And you were all in it?" Maude looked at the seven children before her. With the exception of her own grandchildren, Maude received confirming nods from the five visitors.
"It was Peter's plan." Penny said proudly and grinned at her brother.
"Well," Maude started to smile. "It appears that the art won't be lost after all." She glanced at Ezra.
"I guess not." Ezra responded, ruffling his son's hair.
Maude turned back to Doyle and took a deep breath. She did love him. In fact, she had not loved anyone like him for a very long time. He reminded her so much of the man she had lost, the one who had given her Ezra and the precious family that followed. She had never thought she would find anyone like him again and now Doyle was in her life, proving that fate did offer a second chance. She had tried so hard to deny how she felt but if Ezra and her grandchildren could see that she loved him, then there was no way of denying it to herself anymore. "This could be a very bad mistake on your part, Simon." She remarked as she gazed into his eyes. "You could be getting more than you bargained for."
"Nothing about you could be a mistake Maude," Doyle replied and leaned in for a kiss.
When their lips met, the children exploded into a round of applause and cheering. Ezra merely watched, feeling this sense of warmth that told him that his interference was justified because his mother had found someone who truly adored her, which was as it should be. Despite their differences, Ezra wanted the best for her and was more than happy to see to it that she received it in abundance. He had a feeling that Maude's trips to Four Corners would be less frequent after this and though he would miss her seeing her, he was glad that wherever she was, she would be happy.
"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Julia's shocked voice snapped Ezra out of his reverie.
"She the one who ran off with the banker?" Doyle asked with a gleam of the devil in his eyes that indicated he would fit in with the Standishs' just fine.
"With who?" Came Julia's outraged demand as she came towards him, hands on her hips, eyes blazing. "Ezra, what is going on here?"
Ezra swallowed thickly and came up with the first answer he could think of.
"It was Peter's plan."