AUTHOR and E - MAIL: Cecilia Tj. [email protected]
A NORMAL WEEK IN FOUR CORNERS
*******
Buck sat outside the sheriff's office looking at the people out on the
beautiful sunday afternoon. It had been a slow week and nothing had happened.
Not that Buck was complaining but things had been very slow for the last few
weeks. He was really looking forward to JD returning so he at least could have
someone to pick on. JD and Vin had been escorting a prisoner to Sweetwater for
trial.
"Afternoon, Buck." a dark voice interrupted Buck's thoughts.
"Afternoon, Chris." he smiled.
"Slow week, huh?"
"Yeah, you could say that again." Buck sighed. "And no pretty ladies around to
watch either."
"Well, that's too bad for ya, Buck." Chris said as he sat down on a chair
beside his old friend.
"Where ya been today?"
"Saloon." was Chris short answer and Buck just nodded.
"Good afternoon gentlemen." Ezra said as he came up to them.
"Ezra." Buck nodded to the gambler.
"Could I interest you in a game of cards?" Ezra asked the two men.
"Bored, Ezra?" Chris asked.
"Well, I guess you could say that I am, mr. Larabee." Ezra smiled so his gold
tooth showed.
"I'm not interested in losing money to ya, Ezra." Buck said.
"That's too bad. Mr Larabee, are you.... Oh forget all about it." Ezra said as
he met Chris' stare.
"Already forgotten." Chris said as he leaned back in the chair and closed his
eyes.
"Where's Josiah and Nathan?" Buck asked.
"Well, I believe you can find them on the roof of the church." Ezra said as he
pulled up a chair and sat down beside Chris.
"Still doing the usual fix up, huh?!." Buck said.
"Yes sir, I believe they are." Ezra said and in a Chris - like manner leaned
back and closed his eyes.
hj
The three men sat in silence for about two hours when Buck jumped up from his
chair. He looked over at a small dustcloud coming closer and closer.
hj
"Rider coming in." Buck yelled happily that something finally happened.
"Huh, what?" Ezra almost fell off his chair since he had fallen asleep.
"Rider coming in." Buck repeated.
"It's Vin and JD." Chris said as he joined Buck on the street.
hj
The three men went and joined Vin and JD at the livery. JD smiled happily as
he saw the three men approaching.
hj
"Slow ride?" Chris asked Vin as they headed for the saloon.
"Yeah. I could have managed without JD trying to talk me to death though." Vin
said and got a chuckle from Ezra.
"Well, mr Tanner, I must remind you that you did volunteer to join JD." Ezra
said.
"I know." Vin said as they entered the saloon.
hj
They all sat down at their table in the back of the saloon and ordered
whiskey. Soon J.D. and Buck joined them, JD looking somewhat annoyed and Buck
with a grin on his face. Buck ordered a beer for himself and milk for JD and
then they sat down at the table. Ezra started shuffling a deck of cards and
after having asked the men if they wanted to play cards, and got a no back, he
played solitaire.
hj
"Mary, what's wrong?" he asked in a worried voice.
"The Johnson house in on fire!" she said shakily.
hj
Within a few seconds all five men were outside of the saloon. Chris barked an
order to JD to get Nathan and Josiah. The remaining men and Mary ran to the
Johnson house which was located a few hundred yards from Four Corners.
All men grabbed buckets of water and started extinguishing the fire. Soon JD,
Josiah, Nathan and a few more men came running.
hj
"Is everybody out of the house?" JD yelled as he noticed mr and mrs Johnson.
"Where's James. James!" Mrs Johnson screamed. "James where are you?!"
"Mom!" a voice was suddenly heard from inside the house.
"He's still in there." Vin yelled.
"I'll go." Chris said and without a second thought he burst through the front
door.
"He'll get himself killed." Nathan yelled as they saw Chris disappear.
hj
Mary stood staring at the house where Chris had disappeared. She kept staring
at the house wondering why it took Chris so long to come back with the boy.
Chris Larabee ment more to her than she would willingly admit and that made
this so much worse.
hj
"You alright, Chris?" Buck asked as he studied Chris' blackened face.
"I'm just f..." Chris said as he collapsed in Buck's arms.
"Nathan!" Buck yelled as he gently placed Chris on the ground.
"I'll be right there." Nathan answered as he checked the boy.
hj
When Mary saw Chris collapse in Buck's arms her heart nearly stopped. She
rushed up to him and knelt beside him, she placed her shawl under his head.
After a while Nathan came up to them and got down beside Mary.
hj
"How's James?" Mary asked as Nathan started examining Chris.
"He's just fine. He stayed on the floor so he didn't inhale too much smoke."
Nathan said. "But Chris did."
"Will he be alright?" Mary asked with a worried frown.
"I'm sure he will be." Nathan said as he found a large cut on Chris' shoulder.
"Oh my God." Mary said as she saw the deep wound.
"We need to get him to bed and I need my things." Nathan said.
hj
Within a few seconds Josiah came up to them and gently lifted Chris in his
arms. Chris was not heavy in the big man's arms and he carried him with no
difficulty. hj
"Easy there, Chris." Nathan said as Chris attempted to sit up.
"I'm fine." Chris said but couldn't stop himself from coughing.
"You are not fine, Mr. Larabee. If you haven't noticed it yourself you do have
a rather large cut on your shoulder." Ezra said and gently pushed Chris back
down in the bed again.
"Oh." was all Chris said as he saw the nasty wound.
"Just stay still so I can fix you up." Nathan said.
"Fine. How's James?" Chris asked as Nathan started cleaning the wound.
"He's fine." Vin said who sat on a chair at Nathan's desk. "Much better than
you."
"I'm fine." Chris said again.
"Oh yeah?" Buck said as Chris hissed when Nathan started bandadging it.
"Shut up, Buck." Chris said as the pain made him wince.
"Okay, Chris." Nathan said as he finished wrapping Chris up. "Now you have to
do something for me."
"What?" Chris said.
"You have to stay in bed for the rest of the day." Nathan said. "At least!"
"I'm fine." Chris replied sternly.
"No no no, you *have* to stay in bed today."
"Alright." Chris sighed and laid back on the bed.
"Did you by any chance hit your head in there, mr Larabee?" Ezra asked with a
surprised look on his face.
"No, why?"
"You just accepted what mr Jackson said. I am most surprised." Ezra said.
"Well, the rest of the day ain't so bad. It's just a few hours left til
sundown." Chris said.
"Well, you're staying here til tomorrow." Nathan said.
"I will." Chris said with a sigh. "Care to leave me alone now?"
"We will most certainly leave you alone. If that is what you want, mr
Larabee." Ezra smiled as all six men went out of the room.
"Try to get some sleep." was the last thing Nathan said before he closed the
door.
As the men had left Chris sat up in bed, but quickly laid down again because
he heard footsteps outside the door. After a while there was a gentle knock on
it. Chris said come in and slowly the door opened to reveal Mary Travis. She
stepped into the room and gasped as she saw Chris' bandaged shoulder.
"I'm fine, Mary." Chris said reassuringly.
"The Johnson's wanted to thank you for saving James." Mary said.
"It was nothing." Chris said quietly.
"Would you like me to get you something?" Mary asked.
"No, I'm fine." Chris said. "Well actually some water would be good."
"I'll be right back." Mary said as she went to get some water for him.
hj
As Mary left Chris sat up again and was determined to get his clothes on. He
grabbed his shirt and tried to put it on. This however didn't work too well
because it hurt too much. He was in the middle of his fourth attempt of
putting his shirt on when Mary came in the room.
hj
"Mr Larabee! What are you doing up?"
"Getting dressed." Chris replied.
"Nathan said you were supposed to stay in bed." Mary said and couldn't help
but notice Chris' lean, muscular body.
"I'm fine." Chris said. "Will you please help me?"
"No I won't, mr Larabee." Mary replied.
"What?" Chris was surprised by Mary's answer.
"You are getting back into bed." she said sternly.
"No."
"Chris Larabee! Get into bed now!" Mary ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." Chris replied since he didn't want to upset the woman he'd come
to care for so much.
hj
Chris climbed back into bed and pulled the blanket over himself. Mary sat down
on a chair beside the bed and handed Chris a glas of water. After a while Mary
started giggling.
hj
"What is it?" he asked curiously.
"I just realised that you and my son are exactly the same." Mary said.
"Me and Billy? How?"
"You're both tenacious, never listen to anyone."
"Oh." was all Chris said.
"But you both listen when I give you orders." Mary said with a smile.
"Well, I'd better otherwise who knows what you might do to me." Chris said.
hj
After that Mary once again asked if Chris was alright. When he had assured her
again that he was fine she excused herself and left Chris alone. Chris sat up
in bed and was ready to get up when he heard a voice through the door:
hj
"Don't!"
hj
Chris smiled slightly and laid back down in the bed. Mary was just as
tenacious as he himself was. Maybe that was why he cared so much for her. The
gunslinger knew that he'd better stay in bed til tomorrow. Chris pulled the
blanket over him and closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
hj
***
hj
Nathan awoke early the next morning and went to check on Chris. When he opened
the door to where Chris was lying, the bed was empty. Nathan smiled and shook
his head. The black man wasn't surprised to find the bed empty, Chris was
awake and probably doing fine. Nathan walked out on the street and found Chris
sitting on a chair outside the sheriff's office with his feet up.
hj
"Morning Nathan." Chris said.
"Morning Chris." Nathan said. "You feeling better?"
"Yep." Chris replied.
"Could you at least try to take it easy today?" Nathan asked.
"Sure."
"Had breakfast yet?" Nathan asked.
"Yep, about an hour ago." Chris said.
hj
With that Nathan went and had breakfast and was soon joined by both Vin and
Josiah. Buck came in a while later looking very tired. He ordered himself a
cup of coffee and drank it immediately.
hj
"Morning Buck." Vin said.
"Morning. How's Chris doing?" Buck said.
"Just fine. He's outside the sheriff's office." Nathan said.
"Is JD over there too?" Buck asked.
"No, I think he's still asleep." Vin said.
"Great." Buck grinned.
"What are you going to do?" Nathan asked recognising *that* grin.
"Oh, nothing. Just waking him up." Buck grinned and disappeared.
"Brothers, I have a bad feeling about this." Josiah said.
"Me too." Vin said as he finished his coffee.
"We'd better get outside to see what he's up too." Nathan said and all three
men went out in the street.
hj
About a minute later a scream was heard from JD's room and Buck came running
out laughing so hard he was barely able to stand. Soon JD came out looking
like a drowned cat. He was dripping with water and came marching up to Buck
with a grim expression on his face. Buck had grabbed onto Vin's shoulder so he
wouldn't collapse laughing.
hj
"This is not funny!" JD yelled angrily.
"No, it most certainly isn't." Nathan said as he stiffled a laugh.
hj
Josiah and Vin had a hard time to keep from laughing too. JD was dripping wet
and the more Buck laughed the angrier JD got. JD spun around and stomped back
up into his room. As soon as he had disappeared all four men started laughing
and Chris came up to them with a smile on his face.
hj
"What did ya do to him, Buck?" Chris asked.
"Oh, nothin' just helped him clean up." Buck laughed.
"You're a terrible man, Buck." Vin smiled.
"Well, it got my day started." Buck said.
hj
Chris, Vin and Buck went over to the saloon where they sat down at the table
that was standing outside. Nathan and Josiah went to the church to keep
working on it. A few minutes later Ezra came down and walked up to the men. He
fell down on a chair and yawned.
h
"Good mornin' Ezra." Vin said.
"No no no. Not good morning. I was most rudely awakened by somebody's loud
scream. It was not pleasant." Ezra said and yawned again.
"Need your beauty sleep, Ez?" Buck laughed.
"Would you *please* shut your mouth, Buck." Ezra growled.
"Oh, sorry, Ezra." Buck said and turned his head so Ezra wouldn't see him
laugh.
"You are a terrible man, Mr Wilmington." Ezra said because he knew that Buck
was laughing.
"Good morning, Mrs Travis." Vin said as all heads turned toward the blonde
haired widow.
"Good morning." she said.
"What brings you here on this early morning?" Ezra asked.
"Well, I... I wanted to know if you knew who started the fire at the Johnson
house?" Mary asked.
"James said he had been playing with matches." Chris replied.
"Oh." Mary said.
"James was lucky to survive that particular ordeal." Ezra said. "And mr
Larabee too."
"Yes. How are you doing today, mr Larabee?" Mary asked.
"I'm feeling just fine." Chris said.
"That's good to hear. Good afternoon gentlemen." Mary said as she went away.
h
After about half and hour JD came down with dry clothes on, even though he was
still a bit wet in his hair. He nodded to the four men outside the saloon and
continued over to the livery. Soon he rode past the four gunslingers and
proceeded out of town.
hj
"Where's he going?" Vin asked to noone in particular.
"I think he's riding out to check on the Johnson house." Chris said.
"Why riding? He could easily walk." Vin said.
"I think he'll ride a bit further... Over to the river." Buck said.
"To cool off?" Ezra asked.
"Yep. He has a bad temper sometimes, especially in the morning." Buck smiled.
h
The four men sat outside the saloon the rest of the day. They all ate dinner
in the saloon and were then joined by Josiah and Nathan. The six lawmen sat
discussing the fire in the Johnson house. Josiah suggested that he ought to
learn kids that playing with matches was a bad thing to do. Vin just laughed
at that suggestion and said that they should leave that up to the parents.
h
"I haven't seen JD all day. Where is he?" Nathan asked.
"Out riding. He's been gone a long time now." Vin said.
"Yeah, I wonder where he is." Buck said and tried not to sound too worried
about his "little brother."
"Rider coming in." Vin said as he saw a small dust cloud.
"It's JD." Buck said as he started walking towards J.D.
As JD came closer Buck noticed he was riding very slow and in a strange
position.
"You alright, JD." Buck yelled out.
"Help me, Buck." JD called out in a hoarse voice.
"JD!!!" Buck yelled as he saw JD's usually white shirt stained red.
hj
All men jumped up from their chairs and rushed over to JD Buck had already
helped him off the horse and was cradling him in his arms. He had been shot in
his right shoulder and in his right arm. He was bleeding heavily and passed
out as soon as Buck took him in his arms.
hj
"I have to examine him. Would you please move out of the way?" Nathan asked
all 5 men.
hj
Vin, Josiah, Chris, Ezra quickly moved to the other end of the room. But Buck
didn't move an inch from JD's side. Nathan tried to move Buck out of the way
but he resisted.
hj
"Easy there, kid." Buck said and held him down.
"Is it bad?" JD whispered to Buck.
"Nah, you'll be just fine." Buck said trying not to worry him.
"It hurts like hell." JD said as he squeezed Buck's hand.
"You'll be alright, JD." Buck said with a small smile.
hhj
Nathan gently checked for exit wounds and he found both. He then proceeded to
clean the wounds. JD's eyes brimmed over with tears because of the pain. Buck
felt completely helpless watching JD cry. All he could do was to wipe JD's
tears away and squeeze his hand gently. A while later Nathan wrapped both JD's
wounds with bandadge. JD squeezed Buck's hand so hard, Buck thought he would
break it, but he didn't say a word. When Nathan was done everyone came over to
JD and said some encouraging words. Then Nathan suggested that they'd all
leave so JD could get some rest.
hj
"I'll stay." Buck said.
"You sure?" Chris asked.
"Yep." Buck said as he pulled up a chair to the side of the bed.
"All right. Take it easy kid." Chris said as they all left.
>hj
When Buck turned to JD he saw that he was out already. Buck leaned back in the
chair and closed his eyes and went to sleep, all without letting go of JD's
hand.
***
Buck was awakened by a few rays of sunlight hitting him in the face. He sat up
and checked on JD who was asleep. He looked so peaceful sleeping and Buck
wondered who the hell had hurt him this bad.
h
"How's he doing?" Ezra asked quietly as Buck finished his coffee.
"Alright. He woke a few times during the night, but he's alright." Buck said.
"That's good to hear." Ezra said.
"What are you doing up this early, Ez?" Buck realised that Ezra always slept
late.
"Couldn't sleep, I was a bit worried about mr Dunne." Ezra said.
"No need to worry." JD said.
"Kid!" Buck said with a smile on his face. "How are you doing?"
"I'm alright. It hurts but I feel better." JD smiled.
"Would you like something to eat?" Ezra asked.
"Well, you have any milk?" JD asked.
"Of course I do." Ezra said and handed JD a glass of milk.
"JD? You up to telling me what happened?" Buck asked as JD put down the glass
of milk on the tray again.
"Yeah. I went over to the river and sat there." JD said. "All of a sudden I
heard gunshots and suddenly I was hit."
"Bastards." Buck growled.
"I managed to get to my horse and then I just set him off." JD said. "He
managed to get to town by himself."
"Did you see who did it?" Ezra asked, he was apalled by the story.
"No, but somebody yelled 'that's for Rick!' just before I was hit."
"Rick?" Buck was confused.
"I guess he ment the prisoner me and Vin transported to Sweetwater. His name
was Rick Langdon." JD said.
"So you didn't see who it was?" Buck asked again.
"No. The man or men had to be hiding behind the rocks on the west side of the
river. I don't know more than that." JD said and yawned.
"Try to get some more sleep." Buck said. "We'll go talk to Chris."
"'kay." JD said and closed his eyes.
hjj
Ezra and Buck went downstairs and Ezra dropped off the tray at the saloon and
then they went over to Chris who stood at the Clarion talking to Mary.
hj
"Go get Vin, he's in the saloon." Chris said. "Where's Josiah and Nathan?"
"Right here." Josiah's deep voice were heard from behind.
"We got ourselves a few cowards to hunt down." Chris said not containing his
anger.
"They shot JD in the back so to speak." Buck growled with revenge shining from
his eyes.
"I'll get the horses ready." Josiah said and went over to the livery.
hj
A few minutes later Ezra came back with Vin. Chris quickly told the story to
him and then they all went to the livery.
They arrived at the river with their guns drawn. Vin and Chris went over to
the rocks to see if they found some tracks while the rest stayed to see if
anyone was approaching. Buck suddenly looked down and found a big red mark on
the ground... it was JD's blood.
They rode back into town and found the town quiet... *A bit too quiet* Chris
thought.
Part 2
© 1997 [email protected]
RATING: PG - 13
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've only written X - files fanfiction before. But I love this
show even more! Bear in mind that I'm not very good at this so don't complain
if anything sounds odd or if I spelled anything wrong, I am swedish.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own any of them, even though I'd love to have them all. The
Magnificent Seven and the rest belong to the actors themselves, The Mirsch Group, CBS, MGM....
All five men greeted each other and Buck immediately stole JD's hat. JD of
course started chasing Buck down the street and that caused the three remai
ning men to laugh.
A few minutes later Mary Travis burst into the saloon, her usually neatly
pinned up hair had come loose, and she was looking very upset. Chris was up
and infront of her before any of the other men could react.
Suddenly, after what felt like an eternity for Mary, Chris came staggering out
with the boy in his arms. Mr. Johnson rushed over and grabbed the boy mumbling
thank you to Chris. As Chris saw that Nathan went to check on the boy he
walked away from the burning house.
The fire in the Johnson house had started to die down so the remaining four
men could soon follow Josiah and Nathan to check on Chris.
Josiah laid Chris down on the bed at Nathan's place. Then Josiah quietly left
the room so he wasn't in the way. The preacher went directly to the church and
said a few quiet prayers for Chris.
Nathan started examining Chris as he suddenly woke up and started coughing.
Later they all sat outside the sheriff's office just looking at all the people
out for a walk in the warm evening.
Nathan quickly examined JD and said that he needed to get him up to his room.
Buck carried JD with the others following closely over to Nathan's room. As
Buck had placed JD on the bed, he then proceeded unbuttoning his shirt and
taking it off.
Chris and Vin got up and moved Buck from JD's right side to his left. Buck
grasped JD's left hand and didn't let go.
Nathan applied pressure to the wounds and JD woke up with a gasp.
A while later Ezra came into the room carrying a tray of breakfast for Buck
and JD He pulled up a chair next to Buck and watched in silence as Buck ate
hungrily.
Buck nodded to Mary and asked Chris to come with him. Buck then told the story
to Chris and asked what they should do.
Within a couple of minutes the six men rode out of town.
Vin and Chris came back a while later and Vin said he'd found some good tracks
Ethat lead into Four Corners.
All men quickly mounted their horses and sat off in gallop as they had to get
back to Four Corners quickly.
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