Unfinished Business

Chapter One

by Alias

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Laurie winced at the sound of breaking tables. She had just finished fixing the last ones the Clapham boys had destroyed last week. She had told them not to come back, but here they were again. She could hold beer better than those four idiots when she was eighteen. Oh well, time to kick out the manure.

"Okay boys, I told you-"

"Aw, C�mon Laurie, jus� one more roun�"

"No. Now, if you gentlemen would pick up your brother�"

Aron Clapham was the one who had broken the table, although his brother Blake was the one who had thrown him on it. Behind her, she could here jeers. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that she was barely over five feet tall, and the Claphams were all well over six feet tall. She tried again, but all she got was laughing. She was about half a second away from grabbing a handful of the oldest one�s, Alex, hair and dragging him out after a comment about how she didn�t have any right to be running a saloon, when she heard the sound of three guns being cocked.

"Gentlemen, I do believe the young lady asked you to leave politely. As much as it shames me to admit it, my friends here know very little about being polite, and are quite willing to assist in your departure."

Ezra Standish. Or Smith. Or Simpson. No one really knew. They probably didn�t quite know what he was saying either. What they did know was that the well dressed gambler was holding a gun pointed at the Claphams, and his "unpolite" friends, J.D. Dunne and Vin Tanner did too. Despite their drunken stupor, the Clapham�s quickly cleared out, knowing that messing with these men would be fatal, especially if the towns other "peacekeepers" got involved. Laurie went back behind the bar.

"I do hope you don�t mind the interruption Miss Wilmington, but we feared having to deal with your brother�s anger had we waited a moment longer and been forced to fulfill our sworn duty."

She glanced at J.D.

"We were afraid you were gonna kill those guys and we�d have to arrest you."

"You were right. What�ll you have?"

Serving their drinks, on the house of course, she was amazed once again at the friends Buck had gathered. Ezra, who- for all accounts and purposes, should be in jail for who knew how many crimes- dressed and acted like a big city southern gentleman, and it was almost impossible to tell what he was saying half the time, but he also had a heart of gold. J.D. was like almost all the boys who had courted her- or tried to at least, back east- but she knew that none of them would have lasted a fraction of the time he had. So she figured there was something special to him, she just didn�t know what yet. Vin Tanner, on the other hand she knew almost nothing about. He was always polite to her, and nice enough if forced into a conversation, but most of the time he kept quiet. What she knew she had gotten from Chris. She knew Buck to well to even consider talking to him about any male on the planet with the exception of himself and Chris.

Later, as she was closing up, she heard the "Hey Brat" that she had been waiting for all evening.

"Hi Buck."

"You almost through?"

"Yeah. Where ya been?"

"Heard there might be squatters at the old Davis place."

"And?"

"There were, but they were gone by the time we got there."

"Need a drink?"

"Very much."

As they drank, she almost spewed out her beer when Buck asked the one question she had thought to never hear him ask.

"You ever consider gettin� married brat?"

"Ah, not really."

"No candidates?"

"Nope. Where�s this comin� from?"

"Nowhere, just thinkin� that I wouldn�t mind a few little Wilmington�s runnin� around, and I�m certainly not gonna have any�"

"If they were mine, and I was married, they wouldn�t be Wilmingtons." She felt it necessary to point out.

"Ah, he can change his name." Leave it to Buck to make her the sole exception to any rule in existence.

But that wasn�t the point. Before she got married, to anyone, she�d have to tell the man her secret, and considering what Mama had been, no man would believe her.

"Tell you what, if I decide to get married, you�ll be the first to know."

The next morning, as Laurie was checking her stock, an enraged Buck burst in.

"What in the Hell did you think you were doing?!?!?"

"Uhm, what�s this about?"

"�What�s this about?� She asks. I�ll tell you what this�s about.

This is about you tryin� to mix it up with the Clapham�s."

"They were breaking tables. And their credit�s no good."

"And what would you have done if the guys hadn�t shown up?"

"Probably killed one of them."

"Okay, allow me to try to explain something."

"Shoot."

"How tall are you?"

"Five one."

"How tall are they?"

"Taller than you."

Did he really think that pointing out her size was gonna make a difference? He�d raised her to stand up for herself no matter what, and not to let anyone step on her. Maybe she should remind him of that.

"Maybe you shoulda� thoughta� that before you raised me to be a tomboy."

"I knew I shoulda� listened to Ma."

He started pacing the room, and she just grinned. She loved it when he got all flustered like this, especially since they both knew it was his own fault.

"Look, you knew that things like this would happen when I bought the Marjorie. Or did you think that men would behave themselves because a woman owned the Saloon now?"

"Well, I thought you�d have more sense than to attack them!"

"Well, was I supposed to-"

"That was as stupid-no, more stupid- than when J.D. was sheriff."

"J.D. was sheriff?"

"For a few days. Fortunately he wised up and realized that being a lawman was a big mistake."

"Buck, you were sheriff for almost a year in-"

"That, young lady, is not the point."

Yeah right.

"Look, Laurie," Laurie? Not brat? Something was up. "Just, try not to get involved with any saloon fights."

"Ok, I�ll be sure not to start any saloon fights."

"Great, now- wait a sec�!"

"That�s as good as it gets Buck, because I�m not gonna let people go around breaking tables in my saloon just because they�re bigger than me."

That night, she noticed J.D. and Vin hanging around a lot more than usual, with guns far more visible than she knew both men normally wore theirs..

"Let me guess, my Brother threatened you with death if you didn�t camp out here and protect poor, defenseless, Brat from the evil patrons." "Yup." Vin said. And "Pretty much." from J.D. "Well, should you see any Clapham�s, get them out before I see them, okay?� "Gotcha." J.D. replied.

For once, it was peaceful, most likely because of Vin and J.D.�s very visible guns, and their reputation. Eventually, the two of them settled down for poker. Laurie thought that, for once, it was going to be a nice, quiet evening(for a saloon anyways) when she heard a voice that she hadn�t heard in over ten years, and had hoped to not hear ever again.

"Well, Laurie, you may not be a whore- as far as anyone knows- but ownin� a saloon ain�t exactly the most upstandin� of jobs, especially one named after a whore."

She froze. Eric Collins. His voice was as cruel and mocking as it had been when they were children. His face was as cruel- most would say handsome, but cruel was the only way she would ever remember it, and his green eyes cold and mocking. As he stood there, grinning, she remembered one of the last times she had seen him, in what was easily the worst night of her life. In the background, she was vaguely aware of Vin and J.D. getting up from their table and heading for the bar.

"Something wrong Laurie?" Vin asked. "Out. Get him out." She was surprised that Vin could hear her she could barely hear herself. As Vin ushered Eric out, she heard him insist that they were old sweethearts.

Old sweethearts�

She didn�t realize how tense she was until J.D., after failing to get her to talk to him, pushed a glass of water into her hands. She took it, but was so tense that she broke it.

"Shit! Are you okay Laurie?"

She looked down. Blood was seeping from cuts in her hand.

"You should have Nathan look at that, they might be deep and-"

She always bled when Eric was involved�

"C-clean that up would you, and watch the place for a while."

"Uhm, sure. What hap-"

She left out the back before he could finish his question. He had just finished cleaning up the glass and water when Vin came back with a split lip.

"That guy give you a hard time?"

"Nope ran into a Clapham. Where�s Laurie?"

"I dunno. I think maybe to Nathan." He indicated the cloth with the glass in it, telling him what had happened.

"Damn. She tell you what got her so shook up? I was afraid she was gonna� pass out when she saw that guy."

"Nope. Maybe you should go after her."

Vin looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Well, she shouldn�t be alone right now. You know how she gets if she�s not thinkin� straight. Remember when she found out about her real Mama?"

Vin groaned. He still wished, like they all did, that that had never happened. He liked Laurie, and that woman had deserved what she got. He just wished someone besides Laurie had given it to her. But J.D. was right, Laurie didn�t think straight when she was upset.

He found her crouched down outside the saloon.

"Laurie? You okay?"

She wiped her face. "Fine. Don�t know what came over me."

"Stark fear."

"What?"

"When you saw that guy, you were so scared you almost passed out. And when you didn�t, you were still so tense that you broke a glass and ran from the saloon."

She noticed his lip. And tried to change the subject. "What happened?"

He grinned. "Jesse Clapham."

"Ah."

"He went home. And are you gonna tell me what got you so upset, or do I have to get Buck?"

Get Buck? He knew that if Buck found out, he�d never let her out of his sight. His look told her as much.

"Eric Collins went to school with me. He would always torment me because of what Ma did."

"Right. A schoolboy�s cruel remarks caused that reaction? I don�t think so, you�re to tough for that."

"That�s all there is to it."

"Buck it is."

She grabbed his arm before he could leave. "Look, it�s something very private, and I can�t tell anyone. Ever."

Vin looked down at her. He had a feeling he knew what Collins had done, and if he ever caught him near Laurie, he�d rip the man�s head off.

He nodded. He wouldn�t tell Buck or Chris about tonight, and he�d make sure no one else would either. "Lets have Nathan look at that hand."

At Nathan�s

"Looks like these cuts gonna heal up just fine."

"Thanks."

"Mind tellin� me how this happened?"

"I, uhm, dropped a glass and started picking it up before I realized what I was doing."

"Well, you be careful from now on."

"I will, and thanks."

"You�re welcome." As they started to leave, Nathan called for Vin to wait a moment.

"Yeah?" He asked as soon as Laurie was gone.

"She didn�t get those cuts by pickin� up no pieces of glass, did she?" He didn�t answer.

Laurie stopped outside the saloon, she knew it was stupid, but she just didn�t want to go in. She stiffened when she felt a hand on her shoulder, but relaxed at the soft voice.

"You ok?" Vin.

"Yeah, I�m fine." She groaned when she saw Buck talking to J.D.

"What are the chances that he won�t mention what happened earlier?"

"You don�t want to know."

They got to the bar just as Buck was asking exactly why Laurie had done a harebrained thing like leave J.D. in charge of the saloon.

"Hi Buck." She winced at the cheerfulness in her voice. How fake could you get?

"Where have you been?"

"Nathan�s."

She caught the murderous �And just why was she there?� look he directed at Vin. Apparently he�d been put in charge of her. For some reason, it left her feeling upset.

"Why?"

"I cut my hand."

"You�Let me see."

He grabbed her hand before she could object. "How�d it happen?"

"I dropped a glass and started picking it up before I realized what I was doing."

J.D. started to object, but stopped when he saw Vin�s slight shake of the head. He left as Buck was telling Laurie that this was just why she shouldn�t have bought the saloon in the first place. He figured Buck wouldquit with that old argument by now, leastwise, he hadn�t heard Buck complain� about it lately. He had some business to take care of. *******************************

Eric heard knocking at the door.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"It�s, uhm, Allie, from the saloon." Allie? Right the whore he�d been talkin� to before he decided to pay Laurie a visit and gotten kicked out by that gumnan. Tanner, he�d heard some of the people say.

"Comin� baby."

Opening the door, he found Allie, but in front of her was Tanner.

"Wha-" He stopped as Tanner�s hand closed over his throat and pushed him into the wall.

He flinched as he felt the cold edge of a knife pierce the skin of his neck, and a thin, sticky stream of blood trickle down his neck and onto the bounty hunter�s gloved thumb.

"Nice little scar ya got there." The knife moved upward, tracing along the scar on his left cheek.. "Hate ta have to give ya another one� on your neck."

"If she�s your woman-"

"She ain�t mine. She ain�t nobody�s but herself."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because she�s my friend. And if you go near her again, I�ll skin you alive." He let go, but stopped at the door. "Might wanna leave town before I decide to anyways."

Eric looked at the wound in his throat, just barely enough to draw blood. He wiped the blood away.

He�d come to Four Corners for a reason, runnin� into Laurie Wilmington was an added bonus. He�d take care of both before he left, no matter what Tanner said or did.

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