Savage Rage!!

A new band of Indians had come into the territory, they were said to be a mixture of different tribes. They had all been cast out of their own tribes, for being too savage. It was rumored that they hated all white men, so they enjoyed torturing and killing any that crossed their path. There had been some real horror stories, from a few fortunate souls, that had gotten away, of the beatings and torture these savages had inflicted. Everyone tried to make sure they stayed clear of them, but sometimes, they went looking, usually finding some unfortunate soul. The forms of torture they used were beatings, burning, scalping, and skinning, they used other forms as well, but those were the most used. The people of Four Corners were very concerned, these Indians had settled not far from town, they had the seven men that protected the town, but that didn't help a lot, because they were men and could be killed too.
Ezra was not happy, Chris had asked him to go to Eagle Bend to pick up a woman that Mary was aquatinted with. He hadn't wanted to do it, but Chris had pretty much made it an order. He was taking his time, just letting Chaucer trot at his own pace, the woman, Priscilla Conklin, Mary had said her name was, wasn't due until morning. He wished someone had come along, he was bored, luckily it was only a few hours ride. Once in Eagle Bend, he got some dinner and checked into the hotel, he was tired, but could not resist the urge to play a few hands of poker. He managed to get through 2 hands, winning both, when he was just too tired to play any more, plus the stage arrived early in Eagle Bend. He went to his room at the hotel, removed his jacket, tie, vest, and boots, then his derringer, gun belt, and shoulder harness. He laid down and was quickly asleep. He dreamed au what was bothering him, which was the fact that none of the others seemed to appreciate, or even like, him. He was part of a group, but felt utterly alone.
The next morning, Ezra greeted the stage, the woman that stepped off was striking, but not beautiful, she was almost his height, with light brown hair and hazel eyes. She had average features, but walked with dignity and pride. He walked up to her and said, "You must be Ms. Conklin?" she looked at him curiously, she did not expect someone to be meeting her, especially not this devilishly handsome man, with a sweet southern drawl. "Yes, That's me, and you are?" she asked. He took her hand and kissed the back au it, "I am Ezra Standish, at your service Mrs.. Travis sent me to escort you to Four Corners." he said and smiled, a smile that did not reach his beautiful green eyes. "Oh, well thank you for obliging, Mr. Standish, that was very kind of you." she said. "It is my pleasure Ms. Conklin, and please call me Ezra." he responded, "Thank you Ezra, what are your plans for returning to Four Corners?" she asked. "We can depart immediately if you would like, or if you need to rest and freshen up a bit, we can go a little later." he replied. She smiled again, he was so gracious, "Thank you, but we can leave now." she said. Ezra had gotten an extra horse from the livery, it and his horse, Chaucer, were saddled and ready to go.
They were about a half an hour into the ride back to Four Corners, neither of them were speaking, Ezra was deep in thought, Priscilla noticed that he seemed unhappy and distracted. She finally spoke, which brought Ezra out of his silent reverie. "Ezra? I don't mean to pry, but it seems like there is something weighing heavily on you." "It's a long story, lets just say, the other men I work with, don't seem to appreciate me and I feel completely alone." he said with a sigh. She felt bad for him, but she also understood, because she too was alone and with her health being poor, it made it worse. "I understand your loneliness, I too feel very alone, that's why I was coming to see Mary, but I don't understand how these other men could not appreciate you, you seem very helpful." she said. "Thank you Ms. Conklin, but it's a very complicated situation." he replied. She started to say "Please call me Lilly, for short." then the rest of her words caught in her throat, as several dozen, very angry looking, Indians were surrounding them. Ezra tried to pull his derringer, but one of the Indians struck him in the head, knocking him unconscious and he fell off of Chaucer into a heap on the ground. Priscilla was terrified, but she didn't make a move, she didn't want to provoke them, but they practically ignored her, Ezra was who their focus was on.
A couple of the other Indians got off their horses and picked Ezra up, very roughly, and threw him across Chaucer, then got back on their horses and headed back to their camp, with Ezra lying across Chaucer and Priscilla being pushed along. She watched Ezra while they rode, looking for any sign of movement, but there was none, she was worried about him. It took about 20 minutes of hard riding to get to their camp. Once there, they pulled Ezra off of Chaucer and he landed on the ground with a thud, he still hadn't wakened. They then put him and Priscilla, in a tee pee and left them. They had thrown Ezra in and he lay in a heap on the ground. Priscilla went to him and got him in a more comfortable position, she looked at the wound on his head, the cut was small, but the swelling was pretty bad. She brushed a few strands of hair off his forehead, she still couldn't get over how handsome he was. She said 'Ezra? please wake up, I am afraid and you have to be all right." then she bent and placed a small kiss on his lips, which made him stir. She straightened up and waited for him to open his eyes. He slowly opened his eyes, then groaned and put his hand to his head, he looked around a little, then at Lilly, he said, "Where are we?" "Shhhhhh......we are at the Indian's camp, they are very violent," she whispered. "They haven't hurt you, have they?" he asked, "No, they have practically ignored me, but they really seem to have a hatred toward you, do you know why." she said. "Sure, I am a white male, that's all they need." he said, his head was pounding, he closed his eyes for a moment, Lilly got worried, "Are you all right Ezra?" she asked, "Fine my dear, my head just hurts." he commented. "Well, you just rest then, I have a very bad feeling our nightmare is just beginning." she said. He just nodded and closed his eyes again, drifting off.
It was almost dark now, and there was no sign of Ezra and Priscilla, Mary was very worried. She had sent a telegram to Eagle Bend a short while ago, and was waiting for a response. She had asked if they knew when Ezra and Priscilla had left, depending on the answer, she might be looking for Chris, or any of the others. A few moments later the telegraph operator came over and handed her a telegram. It said that Mr. Standish and Ms. Conklin had left just after the stage dropped her off, that would have been this morning, she thought, they should have been here long ago, it was only a few hours ride. She was definitely worried now, as she walked up the boardwalk, she saw Buck and Jd, outside the jail, sitting in chairs, She ran over to them with the telegram, they stood as she approached, "What's wrong Mrs. Travis?" Jd asked, Mary was breathing hard from running, so she took a few deep breaths before she spoke. "It's Ezra and the friend of mine, that he went to pick up, they left Eagle Bend this morning, they should have been here a long time ago." she said between breaths, "Calm down Mary, we'll get the others, then go looking for them, but lets not panic yet." Buck said. "OK, I am sorry, it's just that my friend Priscilla, is not well, and I feel guilty, because we made Ezra go get her," Mary replied. "We'll find them Mary, don't worry." Buck said, then they left and rounded up the others, then the search began.
Ezra was still sleeping, Lilly began to worry again, it had been some time since he drifted off, she hoped we was all right. At that moment, several braves came in and yanked Ezra to his feet, then one grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, which made Ezra's eyes shoot open from the pain. They dragged him out of the tee pee, ignoring her the entire time. She was afraid they were going to kill him, but she didn't know what to do. He was gone for several hours, she was beginning to panic, she was afraid he was dead. A short time later, they threw Ezra back into the tee pee, his appearance shocked her, he was badly beaten, his shirt was gone and she could see burns on his arms and chest. They weren't too bad, just like a very bad sunburn, but very red and sore. She went to him to see what she could do, but with no supplies, she didn't think she could do much. She pushed his hair back off his forehead, his face had several bruises on it. She ripped a piece of cloth from her skirt, then attempted to clean up some of his cuts, but she really needed some water. She looked him over carefully, trying to see the extent of his injuries, they had beaten him pretty bad and she wanted to get some cool water on his burns.
She waited until it was completely dark, then peeked out of the opening in the tee pee, to see if there were any Indians around. She had seen a water barrel not far from the tee pee, if she could get to it, that would be a big help. She saw no one, so she quietly slipped out and snuck over to the barrel, she put the piece of cloth in the water and got it good and wet, then she saw a cup sitting next to it. She filled it, then went back to the tee pee, she got inside just in time, an Indian passed by just after. She went to Ezra and began dabbing the cold, wet cloth on his burns, then cleaned his cuts better. He groaned a few times, but did not wake. She took a few sips of the water, she had been so thirsty, but she saved most of the water for Ezra, when he could drink it. She looked at his handsome face, which was bruised and swollen now, then bent down and kissed his forehead, then moved down and kissed his nose, then down to his mouth, pressing lightly. This caused Ezra to wake, he weakly put his hand up to her neck and drew her deeper into the kiss, it felt good and helped him forget his pain for a few minutes. She pulled away and looked into his green eyes, they were filled with pain,"How badly do you hurt? are you in a lot of pain?" she asked. "Not too bad Lilly, I have been in worse." he replied as he carefully sat up, with her help. She then handed him the cup of water, he took it and drank every delicious drop, then looked at her puzzled, "Where did you get this?" he asked. She looked down at her hands, then said, 'I snuck out a few minutes ago and got it from the water barrel outside." He put his hand under her chin and brought her face up to look at him. "That was a very brave and very dangerous thing to do, they would have killed you if they caught you." he said, then leaned over and kissed her gently, he was filled with awe and gratitude for this woman, she had such courage. "You needed water, I needed water to clean up your cuts, they could have gotten infected." she said. He then pulled her into his arms and held her tight, "We will get out of this somehow, I promise." he said. They fell asleep in each others arms, feeling safe and comforted.
In the morning, Ezra was very stiff and sore, he hurt more than he had the night before, and the bruises on his body were much more apparent. To Lilly, his bruises looked hideous, she hated seeing him look like that. She helped him sit up, she was glad that it was summer, because without his shirt on, he would have been cold otherwise. She noticed how strong and muscular he was and wondered how he stayed that way. They were both starving by now, but they knew these Indians would not give them anything. A short time later, several Indians came in and took Ezra away again, he knew what it meant, more beatings. He was not going to be able to take much more, especially when they burned him with the fire, but he refused to give them the satisfaction of him screaming out in pain. He stayed silent and just held it in. They returned him unconscious, bleeding, and with more burns. Lilly felt her heart breaking at what they were doing to him. She just put his head in her lap and caressed his face, being careful of his bruises, and stroking his hair. She would do whatever she could to ease his pain, but that wasn't much, because she had nothing to offer. She held him tight and caressed his face and neck, trying to bring him some comfort. After a few hours, he began to wake up, as he opened his eyes, she could see the intense pain in them. She bent and kissed him, tasting a little blood, from a cut on his lower lip, her kiss was gentle and tender. Ezra was enveloped in it and felt no pain during the kiss. He owed her so much, for making his pain disappear, he just wished he could love her the way she deserved.
The six men had been searching for Ezra, until it got dark, they found where it appeared some sort of scuffle had occurred, Vin did a little looking around and found an Ace of Spades, Ezra had dropped it when he fell to the ground, so they knew something had happened there. They were going to have to wait until morning now, to do any tracking, it was too dark to do it now, so they all headed back to town, Chris advised Mary, "We found where it looked like a scuffle occurred, there were a lot of riders and we found this." he held up the ace, Mary looked quite concerned. "do you know who it was? or where they went?" she asked, "Not, sure. We are going to track them as soon as it's light." Chris said. "OK, I do hope they are all right, Priscilla is not in the best of health." Mary advised "Just how ill is she Mary? it might be helpful to know?' he asked. "She had scarlet fever a few years back, it damaged her heart, she told me, her doctor said she didn't have much time left, that's why she was coming here." Mary said sadly. "don't worry Mary, we'll find her, and Ezra." Chris said, then tipped his hat and left. None of the six men got much sleep, they were worried about Ezra, they were anxious for the morning to come, so they could start looking again.
Priscilla and Ezra, on the other hand, dreaded the morning, they were pretty certain, the beatings would continue. Lilly wanted to sneak out and get more water again tonight, but they had posted a guard at the tee pee now, so they would get no more water. Lilly was trying to help Ezra get comfortable on the floor, but it was pretty much impossible, he had bruises everywhere. She didn't think either of them would get much sleep, for Ezra was in too much pain, and she was beginning to have some pain in her chest, but she would not let on to Ezra, he didn't need to be worried about her. She had medicine in a pocket of her skirt, which she took without water, when Ezra wasn't looking. It helped, but she knew her time was growing short, she just prayed that she didn't die here, like this. Ezra finally gave up on trying to lay down, it was just too uncomfortable, so he sat up, but he had a hard time with that too. Lilly moved over to him and sat directly behind him, so she could support his back, she gently put her arms around him, it felt good to Ezra, he was actually fairly comfortable that way. Lilly laid her head against his bare back, she was very tired suddenly, she could feel him breathing and hear his heart beating, which lulled her to sleep. Ezra realized that Lilly was asleep, he tried not to move much, she hadn't slept a lot since this began, so he wanted to let her sleep, she had done so much for him, it was time to return the favor.
She slept for several hours, Ezra had begun to get very stiff and needed to move, but he would not, he would let her sleep as long as she needed. Finally she began to stir, Ezra took one of her hands, that were still around him, and kissed it softly, "did you sleep well, my dear?" he asked. "I am so sorry Ezra, I didn't mean to do that, are you all right?" she asked, as he turned to face her, "I am quite fine Lilly, you obviously needed to sleep." he responded. She reached and touched his face, avoiding the bruises, his bruises looked even worse than before. He saw the pain in her eyes, at his pain, so he took her face in his hands, looked her straight in the eye, and said "don't you worry about me, darlin, I am all right." he said, then added "If there is one thing I've learned in my life, it's how to survive." He pulled her close and kissed her gently, wincing slightly from the cut on his lip. She began to make the kiss deeper, but Ezra had to stop her, the cut on his lip really hurt, once he pulled away, he put his hand to his lip, it really hurt. Lilly looked stricken as she said, "Oh Ezra, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."then put her own hand to his lips. "It is quite all right, it was a very nice kiss, I enjoyed it." he responded, then kissed her fingers. Ezra finally laid down and went to sleep, the exhaustion overcoming any discomfort he felt.
Morning finally arrived, none of them could wait to get started, they headed in the direction that they found Ezra's Ace in. Vin felt it would be easy tracking, because there were so many of them and they left a very easy trail to follow. They followed the trail, moving at a steady pace, but not too hard, because they didn't want to miss something. After about 40 minutes, they came to the top of a hill and saw an Indian camp below. Vin took out his spy glass, looked around, then said. "This is not good, it looks to be those extremely savage Indians we were warned about." "Any sign of Ezra or Ms. Conklin?" Chris asked, "No, but I did see Chaucer, so Ezra is there some place." Vin responded, this worried Chris, he knew how savage these Indians were, and how they loved to beat and torture a man to death. He hoped they hadn't done that to Ezra. "We need a plan," Chris said. "Well, if we could find out where Ezra and Ms. Conklin are, we could have someone sneak in after dark and try to get them out." Buck Said, "That might work Buck, but if the person gets caught, then we could have bigger problems." Chris said. "I'm willing to take the risk." Jd said. "I'm the smallest, so I could sneak around easier, we can't just go storming in, there are too many of them for that." Jd added. "Well, I don't like it, but we'll give it a try." Chris said. "I hate to wait until dark, that's all day, who knows what could happen in that time." Josiah said. "It would be real risky to try now, but this would be a good time, it looks like most of them are still sleeping." Nathan said "I'm willing to go now, if we can figure out where they are." Jd said. Vin took out his spy glass again and began to look around the camp, he spotted a tee pee that appeared to be guarded, even though the guard was asleep, that must be where they are, he thought. "There, it's a tee pee that guarded." Vin said and pointed, Chris took the glass and looked, he nodded. "OK Jd, give it a try, but if someone sees you, get out quick." Chris said. "All right Chris, wish me luck," Jd said, as he headed out.
Jd carefully made his way down toward the camp, crouching down in the tall grass, the angled his way toward the tee pee. that they thought Ezra and Ms. Conklin were in. He got to within 10 yards, when he was spotted, damn, he thought. He made a run for the tall grass, turning to fire a few shots. the others up on the hill, began firing as well. Jd made it back to the grass, he looked back one more time, what he saw froze his heart. Ezra was looking out of the tee pee, to see what was going on, his face, arms, and chest, were badly bruised, Jd was horrified at the sight. Their eyes locked for a moment, Jd tried to let Ezra know, they were here to get him out. Ezra nodded and ducked back inside. Jd headed back to the others, he had to tell them what he had seen. A moment later he was back with the others, the look on his face had the others worried. "What is it Jd? What's wrong?" Chris asked, "I saw Ezra, God they have been beating him something awful." he said with a frown. "How bad is he Jd?" Nathan asked. "I saw him looking out of the tee pee, so he's conscious and alert, but there were bruises and burns, it looked like, all over his body." Jd replied. "Good god Chris, we have to do something before they kill him." Buck said. Chris nodded and they started to figure out what else to do.
Ezra had seen Jd, their eyes met for a moment in understanding, so the others had found them, but how were they going to get them out, there were too many Indians for them to take on alone. He moved over to Lilly, who had been sleeping, he was beginning to worry about her, she looked pale, and he thought he saw pain in her eyes. "What's happening Ezra?" she asked, "The other men that I work with, that I mentioned before, made an attempt to rescue us, but it failed." He said, "Oh no, that's awful, but at least they found us, they will try again, right?" she asked, then suddenly she put her hand to her chest and winced in pain. Ezra was immediately there with his hands on her shoulder's, looking into her eyes, "What is wrong Lilly?" he asked with great concern, "Nothing really. It's just all that's going on and the lack of food or water, it's getting to me a little, that's all. Please don't worry about me," she said. He took her in his arms and held her tight, which made her feel better, "I am so sorry I let this happen, I will get us out of here somehow." he promised. They looked into each others eyes, both needing comfort. He slowly lowered his head, bringing his lips to hers, touching them as lightly as a feather. She closed her eyes, enjoying his touch, trying to ignore the growing pain in her chest. She reached for his lips with hers, wanting to devour them, he could take away the outside world, when he kissed her, she drew him closer, they could feel each others hearts beating, he deepened the kiss, ignoring the pain from his cut lip, she gave him such feeling of being alive and cared for. He needed that, after his recent feelings of being alone and unloved. He hated that he didn't love her, at least not in the way a man normally loved a woman. He cared deeply for her, he loved her strength and courage, she was the most incredible woman he had ever known, but he had no desire to be "with" her. He deepened the kiss, farther as they shared their tongues, these thoughts in his head were making him dizzy, he released her and sat down, "What's wrong Ezra? are you all right?" Lilly asked, "don't worry darlin, I'm fine, I just got a little dizzy, probably the lack of food," he said.
A few moments later, two Indian's came in and got Ezra, Lilly tried to stop them. One of the Indians pushed her to the ground, which made Ezra angry, he punched the Indian that had done that and was struggling with the other one. The one he punched got up and struck Ezra hard on the head, making him slump. They took him outside and began their beatings, but it was worse this time, they were punishing him for the escape attempt. The other six men watched from the hill, their hearts were breaking at what they saw,"God, he never cries out, no matter what they do, he really has guts." Jd said. "We have to do something Chris, they are going to kill him." Buck said, "don't you think I know that." Chris snapped, he was furious now. "We can't right now, there are too many of them, it would not do any good, if we all got killed in the process." Josiah said. "As soon as more of them leave, to go on patrol, we will make a move."Chris said. Ezra continued to endure the pain they inflicted, without screaming, but it was very hard this time, they actually broke several of his fingers and his left wrist. The burns were worse too, but the pain in his hand was excruciating. By the time the Indians were done having their fun, Ezra was unconscious again, this had been the worst beating by far. He was tossed back into the tee pee, but Lilly was sleeping deeply, she was definitely having problems now, so she did not wake when Ezra was returned.
It was several hours before she woke, when she saw Ezra, the pain in her chest increased, but it was a different kind of pain. She began to cry, she had never seen anyone look like that. She reached to take his hand, then stopped, she saw that several fingers and his wrist, were broken, she hated these Indians for what they were doing to Ezra, he had never done anything to them. She cried harder, she wanted this nightmare over. She gently lifted Ezra's unconscious body into her arms and held him, she was glad he was unconscious right now, he would not be feeling the tremendous pain he would have when he did wake up. She wished she had the power to just take his pain all away. Another few hours passed, Ezra finally began to wake, the groans of pain that emanated from him made Lilly begin to cry again. He opened his eyes, they were shiny from pain, he looked up at her, saw she was crying, and raised his good hand slowly to wipe the tears away. She couldn't believe he was concerned about her, when he was in so much pain. The look in his eyes told her what he needed, they had become good at knowing what the other was feeling, just by looking into each others eyes, his were so expressive to begin with. She bent and kissed his nose gently, then moved to his mouth, caressing his lips lightly with hers, then he did something, she did not think he could possibly do in his state, he put his good hand behind her neck and pulled her, with a great deal strength, which was what amazed her, into the deepest, most passionate kiss they had experienced so far. She was devouring his lips and toying with his tongue, he needed this to last forever, his pain seemed to vanish when they kissed like this. She held him tighter, but still gently, the warmth of her arms and body felt good, to aching body, he continued to kiss her deeply, reveling in the love and comfort that surged through him, she was his guardian angel. Their kissing continued for a long time, giving them both comfort and companionship. Ezra began to feel that he did love her more than he thought, much, much, more.
The six men sat in the tall grass, watching and waiting for the right time. Thankfully, Chris thought, they had not seen Ezra, which meant the Indians were leaving him alone right now. He had to admit, the pain he felt in his heart, while he watched Ezra being beaten and tortured like that, was tremendous, not to mention, the guilt he felt over making Ezra go to Eagle Bend in the first place. Vin brought him out of his thoughts by saying, "Chris, I think now would be our best time, another group of Indians just rode out." "All right, does everyone remember there assignments?" Chris asked, "Yeah Chris, Josiah and I are to head for the tee pee that Ezra and Ms. Conklin are in, while the rest of you distract the Indians." Nathan said, "Right, you and Josiah need to get Ezra and Ms. Conklin out of there as fast as possible." Chris said, then looked at all of them."Are we ready boys?" he asked, the others nodded, "Lets do it Chris." Buck said. They mounted up, pulled their guns, and headed for the camp. They were moving fast by the time they reached the camp, the Indians that were there, were unprepared. The six men were picking the Indians off like flies. Nathan and Josiah headed for Ezra's tee pee, Josiah took out the guard, then they got off their horses and entered the tee pee.
Ezra had been sleeping deeply again, his pain intense, especially his hand and wrist. Lilly had torn some more cloth from her skirt and tried to wrap his hand as best she could, it had hurt Ezra a lot while she did it, but once it was done, it did feel better. He was sleeping so deeply that he didn't even hear the gun shots and shouting. Lilly was lying down, but not asleep, she had too much pain in her chest and she felt rather weak now. They had not had anything to eat in days, plus the lack of water, had them dehydrated. She was very concerned about Ezra, he had not moved in hours, but she could see his chest rise and fall as he breathed. She thought he had a couple of broken ribs too, but he had denied it, despite the pain he had in his side. So when Nathan and Josiah entered the tee pee, Lilly sat up looking somewhat frightened, Nathan looked at her, Chris had told him of her condition, "It's all right Ms. Conklin, we are here to help, we are friends of Ezra's." Nathan said, she looked very relieved at that. Josiah had been checking Ezra, Jd had been right, he was badly beaten and burned, plus his wrist and several fingers were broken. He managed to get Ezra awake, the relief in Ezra's green eyes, at seeing Josiah, was intense. He helped Ezra to his feet carefully, Nathan came over to check him, he did look bad, but Nathan had seen worse.
They moved to exit the tee pee, Josiah and Nathan, leading the way with guns drawn, Lilly and Ezra were helping each other, Ezra could see she didn't look well and was worried "I can tell something is wrong Lilly, please tell me." he said to her,"I did not want to tell you, because I did not want you worrying about me." she said. He put one arm around her waist, as they headed for the entrance to the tee pee, then kissed her cheek, "Tell me." he whispered in her ear, but at that moment, several Indians came into the tee pee, with bows and arrows drawn. Ezra moved in front of Lilly to protect her, but she yelled,"No Ezra." and pulled him aside, "What are you doing Lilly?" he asked, "do not risk your life for me Ezra, I......I am dying anyway." she said. The look of shock that filled his eyes, pained her, she had not wanted to tell him like this,"What are you talking about Lilly?" Ezra asked with great concern. "It's a long story, I will tell you when we are safe" she said. She suddenly felt dizzy, all the activity had gotten to her, she fainted into Ezra's arms, but he had trouble holding her, with his injuries. Nathan and Josiah had gotten the Indians taken care of, so Josiah picked Lilly up and carried her out to the horses, Nathan took her while Josiah got on his horse, then Josiah lifted her into the saddle in front of him, putting his arms around her, to keep on the horse, then he took off toward Four Corners. Nathan helped Ezra get on Chaucer, "Can you ride without help?" Nathan asked, Ezra nodded his head no, Nathan could see him beginning to slump in the saddle already. He was going to have to ride on Chaucer with Ezra, he got on behind Ezra, then grabbed his horses reins and pulled him along behind, then headed for town.
The others saw that Ezra and Ms. Conklin were safely away, so they began to make their retreat, but before they got safely away, one of few remaining Indians fired his bow, hitting Vin in the thigh. Vin grabbed his leg in pain, but kept riding, they had gotten pretty lucky, Vin's injury was the only one.
Nathan was having difficulty though, the bouncing of the ride had hurt Ezra tremendously, so he lost consciousness, Nathan was having trouble keeping Ezra in the saddle, finally he stopped, got off of Chaucer and laid Ezra across the saddle, then mounted his horse and began riding again, pulling Chaucer behind him.
By the time Josiah got to town, Lilly had wakened, the first thing she said was "Where's Ezra?" "He should be here anytime, he's with Nathan." Josiah said. Mary ran over to greet her friend, she did not like the way Priscilla looked.
Mary helped Priscilla down from the horse, then gave her a big hug, "I was so worried about you Priscilla," Mary said, "I'm all right Mary, Ezra took very good care of me, I hope he is going to be all right." she said, as she looked back the way they had come. "What happened to the two of you?" Mary asked, "We were grabbed by some very savage Indians, they had a lot of rage against white men, they beat and burned, Ezra badly." Lilly replied with a tear in her eye. Mary hugged her again, then said "Let's get you to Nathan's clinic, so you can lay down, then I will bring you some food." "No Mary, I'm not going anywhere until Ezra gets here and I know he's all right." Lilly said, Mary nodded and asked."Is he really that bad?" "Yes Mary, I have never seen anyone so bruised and burned, they broke several of his fingers, his left wrist, and I think several ribs, even though he denied it." Lilly said, then began crying. Mary's heart broke from what her friend, and Ezra, had been through. The minutes passed and still no sign of Ezra and Nathan, finally, after about 30 minutes, Nathan appeared in the distance. He was on his horse and Ezra was draped over Chaucer, The look of panic and worry on Priscilla's face, had Mary worried, Priscilla started to move, to run to Ezra, but Mary stopped her, "No Priscilla, you are in no condition to be running, he will be here in a moment." she said, Lilly just looked at her, the concern on her face was intense, Mary looked surprised, "You care for Ezra very much, don't you?' Mary asked, "I love him Mary, he's the most wonderful man I have ever met." Lilly said. Once Nathan reached them, Josiah went and gently lowered Ezra off the horse. then carried him up to the clinic, Lilly followed closely behind, with Mary.
Josiah laid Ezra gently on a cot, Nathan came over to check him out. Lilly hovered, the whole time. Nathan finished checking him, then turned and said,
"He's beat up pretty bad, but nothing life threatening, a little rest and he should be fine," Lilly relaxed, then asked "does he have broken ribs?" "Yeah, a couple. why?" Nathan asked, "He insisted that he didn't, but I thought he did, he was so strong and courageous, he never once screamed in pain." Lilly said with a tear again. She began to feel faint again, "I need to lay down." She said, Nathan guided her to the other cot, Lilly laid down and was out in minutes. Josiah left to let the others know what was going on, when they got back. Nathan asked Mary,"Just what is Ms. Conklin's condition?" "I doubt if she has more than a few days Nathan, that's what she had told me before she came, but what she's just been through could not have helped." Mary said, "So there's nothing we can do, but make her comfortable?" Nathan asked. Mary just shook her head, "I'm going to go and prepare a big meal for both of them, they must be starving." Mary said, then left. Nathan left also, to clean up after that whole mess, he felt that both his patients would be fine., long enough for him to clean up. He no sooner got back to the clinic, when Buck helped a limping Vin, into the clinic. Luckily, Vin's wound was not serious, he cleaned and bandaged it, then Vin was good to go, but neither Vin or Buck left. They went over to, the still unconscious, Ezra and looked at him, Vin said,"Boy, he's beat up real bad, I hope he will be OK." "He will Vin, it just looks bad, but other than a few broken bones, it's just burns and bruises," Nathan said,"I can't believe one human being can do this to another," Buck said. Buck then glanced at Lilly, "What about Ms. Conklin, will she be all right?' he asked, "No, she had come here to die to begin with, she's probably only got a few days." Nathan said, Buck and Vin both frowned, "That is awful." Vin said, Buck just nodded, then they both left, Vin limping slightly.
Nathan had managed to get Ezra and Lilly awake long enough to eat, but he wouldn't let either of them out of bed, so they had looked at each other across the room, they both had concern, for the other, etched on their faces. Nathan wouldn't let them speak either, when Ezra had tried to say something, Nathan had shushed him, so they ate every bite, plus they both drank about a gallon of water, then they were both asleep again. Nathan was pretty sure they would both sleep through the night, so he left to go get some sleep himself.
Lilly awoke a few hours later, it was dark out, but the room was dimly lit by a lamp. Her chest was hurting badly and it seemed a little hard to breath. She knew she didn't have much time left and she needed to talk to Ezra. She slowly got up and went over to where Ezra was sleeping, she hated to wake him, but she felt an urgency to talk to him. "Ezra, wake up, I need to talk to you." She said and caressed his cheek. He stirred and slowly opened his eyes, there was still a lot of pain in them. "Lilly, how are you, darlin?" he whispered, "I'm OK, I need to tell you some things, before it is too late." she said, Ezra tried to sit up, Lilly helped him and he leaned his back against the wall. "I believe you were going to tell me why you are dying." he said softly, "Yes, I had Scarlet Fever a few years back, it damaged my heart, it is finally giving out. I think I will be lucky if I have a few days left." she said, Ezra's eyes filled with sadness, he took her hand with his good one and pulled her over to him, she sat on the cot next to him, he put his arms around her and said."I am so sorry, I can't believe your going to die, I don't want you to die." he said, fighting back the tears, they had been through too much together for it to end like this. "Ezra?" she asked. "What is it darlin?" he responded. "I.....I love you." she said. He gazed into her eyes, the dim light from the lamp made his eyes sparkle. "I think I love you too, I haven't had too much experience with love, but I do think I love you." he said, she leaned over and kissed him gently, he took in every moment of her kiss, wanting to remember every aspect of it, for it could be their last. She then put her head on his shoulder, he reached with his good hand and ran his fingers through her hair, stroking it softly, she fell asleep a few moments later, then Ezra, himself fell back to sleep.
Several days passed, Ezra had gone to his own room to recover. Lilly was bed ridden now, she was too weak to get up. Ezra had visited her this morning, but right now she wanted to talk to the other 6 men, that Ezra worked with, and Mary. She had asked Nathan if he would bring them all here. They were all present, except Mary, who was on her way. Once Mary arrived, Lilly said,"Thank you all for coming." she had to pause occasionally to breath, the others nodded, "I asked you to come, because of Ezra................when I first met him, he was so sad..............because he felt none of you.........appreciated or cared about him.......now I think I have seen that you all do...........so you need to express that to him more, please..........he is very special and I don't think any.........of you realize how important............he is to you." she finished. The men all looked sad and embarrassed, Chris spoke up."I am ashamed to say, that you are right Ms. Conklin, we will do what you have asked, we should have been doing it before." The others all nodded in agreement. "Thank you all very much." Lilly said, then closed her eyes, that had worn her out. They all left quietly, except Nathan and Mary.
Mary asked Nathan."Will she make it through the night?" "I don't think so Mary, I'm getting ready to go find Ezra, so he can be here." Nathan said, Mary got tears in her eyes, "OK Nathan, let me know when she goes, please?" she asked, Nathan nodded and Mary left.
Ezra's heart was heavy, the ordeal that he and Lilly had been through, had been very bad. She had been so strong and courageous, he had admired her for that, that admiration had slowly grown into love, he hadn't thought, he loved her for a while, but then he realized the feelings he had, were much more than respect and admiration. She had taken care of his wounds, after each of the beatings, and comforted him through his pain. Now she was here, in this bed, breathing her last breaths, her heart finally giving out on her. He caressed her hair, she looked deeply into his eyes and he knew, without a word being spoken, what she wanted from him, one last good bye kiss, so he would make it a good one.
He put his hand on her face, caressing her cheek with his thumb, then smiled at her, but the smile did not reach his sparkling green eyes. He moved closer to her, gently brushing his lips against hers, then just caressing her lips with his for a moment, then pressing lightly, feeling the softness of her lips. She was enjoying this very much, they had kissed before, many times, while she was comforting him, after his beatings, but this was much more wonderful, he was making her feel so warm and loved. He pressed harder now, deepening the kiss and making it more passionate, he slowly pushed his tongue between her lips, caressing them as he did, she closed her eyes and just let the pleasure of his incredible kiss, flow through her body. He deepened the kiss farther, then took her in his arms, being careful of his broken wrist, and held the kiss for a long time. He knew when she left the world, her body became limp in his arms, he continued to hold her, hating that this guardian angel had just come into his life, and just as quickly was gone. Those thoughts made him begin to cry, put Lilly back down on the bed and just sat, looking at her lovely face. The world had just lost a very special woman.
A few moments later, Mary came in, she saw Lilly's motionless body on the cot, and Ezra was crying softly, so she knew her friend was gone. She moved closer to Ezra, then placed her hand on his shoulder. When he looked up at her, she was crying, he stood up and took her in his arms, he said "I am sorry Mary, I should have come and got you before she.............left, but she wanted to be alone with me, if it helps, she was happy and went quickly." Mary sobbed, "Thank you Ezra, I wanted you to be alone with her at the end, friendship is one thing, but love is much more powerful." she said, Ezra held her tighter as they shared their grief, Mary tipped her head up and lightly touched her lips to his, not intending for any more than that, but Ezra's grief overtook him and he kissed her harder, tasting her sweetness, and the salt of her tears. Then he pulled away, "I am so sorry Mary, I did not mean to do that." he said. Mary just said "It's OK, Ezra, I understand, it meant nothing." She then gave him one more hug, then left.
They buried Lilly a few days later, all the men were present as well as Mary, Casey had come to give Mary some female companionship, plus she did like Ezra, and felt bad for him. Ezra had cried at the funeral, he gave the eulogy, but had trouble getting through it, so Josiah finished for him. After the funeral, the other men all let Ezra know how sorry they were and that they did care about him, which made Ezra cry more, but everyone understood. It took several months for Ezra to get back to his chipper self, despite Bucks constant attempts to cheer him up. Once he was back to normal, and all healed physically, he began playing poker again.
The End
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