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| A Magnificent Adventure |
| Summary: Third story in the series. When Clarity wanders away during a lunch break, a frantic Clay heads to the nearest town to recruit help from an interesting bunch of men. |
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| Ezra sat in his usual chair outside the saloon watching the street. Not far away, Chris was whittling and speaking softly to Vin. Josiah and Nathan were working on the roof of the church at the edge of town and JD and Buck were over in the Sheriff�s office going through the wanted posters that had come in with the mail on the last stage. It was an altogether quiet day, for which, Ezra was grateful. Over the past couple weeks, Vin had discovered he had a daughter and had begun raising the girl. Chris had been injured in an attempted bank robbery and Ezra had gotten the opportunity to play a good number of highly successful hands of poker. The gambler was glad that things seemed to settling down. �Rider comin�,� Vin said softly, gaining the attention of the two men with him. Ezra looked in the direction the tracker was staring and quickly got to his feet. Whoever the person was, they were coming in quite quickly � clear indication that something was wrong. Moments later, the rider reigned in just in front of the three lawmen. He was dressed in fine clothes with a black felt Stetson on his head. The man hopped down from the horse and Ezra could see he was about Vin�s height, with light brown hair and eyes the same color as Chris�. �I � I need some help,� he stammered uneasily. Chris took a step toward the man, and asked, �What seems to be the trouble, Mister�?� �Webb,� the man said. �Clayton Webb. It�s my daughter,� he went on quickly. �She�s gone missing. We can�t find her.� �How old is she?� Ezra asked softly. Webb�s brow knit together with concern. �She�s just five,� he answered softly. �We � we�re on our way to Providence and we stopped for lunch. She � she just wandered off,� he said helplessly. Chris set a reassuring hand on his arm and said, �We�ll find her, Mr. Webb.� Chris turned to Vin and added, �Go get JD and Buck. We need to find her before it gets dark.� The tracker nodded and ran over to the sheriff�s office. �I�ll get the horses ready,� Ezra stated, before bounding over to the livery. It wasn�t long before five of the seven lawmen were following Webb back to where he�d last seen his daughter. Chris had decided to leave Vin and Josiah in town, in case there was trouble. The men soon reached a small copse of trees where they could see a covered wagon and a woman with a small boy nearby. �Felicity!� Webb called, causing the woman to turn towards them. �Clay!� the woman exclaimed, hugging her husband as soon as he dismounted. �I can�t find her anywhere. I�ve called and called and she doesn�t answer.� Before Webb could answer, Nathan cut in with, �Don�t worry, ma�am, we�ll find her for you. You just stay here with your other little one.� Clay and his wife nodded and Ezra asked softly, �What�s her name?� �Clarity,� Webb answered softly. �Um, first three letters of my name, last three of my wife�s, with an �r� in the middle.� Ezra nodded and turned to Chris. �We should split up,� he suggested. �We�d cover more ground.� Chris nodded and turned to the others. �Spread out and see if you can find her,� he instructed. �She can�t have gotten too far.� *** �Clarity!� Ezra called, glancing around the underbrush. �Where are you, darlin�?� The southerner paused to listen and think. They�d been looking for nearly an hour and still hadn�t gotten anywhere. He hoped that some kind of wild animal hadn�t attacked the girl. Sighing deeply, Ezra started to call again, when he heard a soft whimper. Frowning the gambler followed the sound. As he got closer, he recognized it as a child softly weeping. He peered around a fallen tree and saw a little girl curled up against it. He light brown hair was somewhat disheveled and her skirt was torn, but she didn�t seem to be hurt. �Clarity?� Ezra said softly. The girl looked up and rubbed at her eyes with one dirty hand. Nodding, she asked, �Who�re you?� Ezra knelt down and smiled. �My name�s Ezra. You�re daddy asked me to help find you.� At the mention of her father, Clarity�s eyes welled with tears and she sobbed, �I want my daddy!� Ezra sighed and pulled her into an embrace. �Shh,� he said, standing up unsteadily. �It�ll be alright. I�ll take you to him.� Ezra backtracked through the woods until he found the wagon. He could see that the others had already begun to return from their own fruitless searches. �Chris,� he called softly. The black-clad man turned to face the southerner. Seeing the little girl, he smiled and tapped Webb on the shoulder. Webb turned and looked in the direction Chris pointed. Without a second thought, he ran over to Ezra. �Clarity,� he said softly, taking the girl from the gambler�s arms. �Are you alright, Baby?� �Daddy!� the girl sobbed, throwing her arms around his shoulders. Ezra smiled at the reunion and said, �I�m sure she�s not hurt, Mr. Webb, just badly frightened.� Clay smiled and nodded. The trio walked over to the wagon and Webb handed the girl over to her mother. �Thank you,� he said, holding a hand out to Chris. Chris took the hand and shook it firmly. �You�re welcome,� he replied. �I just wish all our jobs turned out so well.� Smiling slightly, he added, �Take care, Mr. Webb. Travel safe.� �Thank you,� Webb repeated. The five lawmen mounted up and waved goodbye to the small family, as they settled in for the evening. �Best head back,� Nathan commented, glancing at the sky. �Be dark before long.� The others nodded and kicked their horses into motion. Ezra paused briefly when he heard someone call his name. Turning in the saddle, he saw Clarity waving at him. Still smiling, the southerner tipped his hat and turned back to follow his friends. End |
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