Moon Boxing
Part One
The
sun dropped lazily towards the horizon, clumsily spilling molten gold over the
hills and valleys around Four Corners with nary a care. Greedily the dirt
lapped it up, desperately trying to hold on to the elusive drops as they faded
in brilliance. The sun barely noticed
the world's hunger, too self absorbed to do more than glance at the earth below
as she yawned tiredly.
A
few puritanical clouds blushed in irritation at the daystar's extravagance,
envious of her ability to blaze so brightly as they themselves could only fade
from view. A few of the more clever
wisps, however, drifted quickly over to the sweet rising moon, planning on
bathing in her simple elegance the whole night through. The wind helped them along, then quieted,
exhausted from the all the tumbleweeds he'd blown around all day.
Meanwhile,
Venus and her sisters made themselves known, bursting onto the scene as if the
sun was nothing but a mere weed in the face of their rosy appearance. With
barely contained impatience, they watched as their mother yawned and stretched,
spreading one last breath of purple and orange over the earth. Then they laughed in delight as she finally
fell asleep below the horizon, their tiny lights twinkling. Another night had begun.
The
moon glanced at her flashy sisters as she rose, then turned her attention to the
earth below. Slowly, she scanned the
peoples and towns of the earth with her enormous eyes, drinking it all in with
a never satisfied thirst. Tilting her
head to one side, she smiled at the laughter from below, frowned at the anger,
and cried with the tears. Unlike her
sister sun, who watched the whole universe with an air of calm indifference,
the moon only cared for the earth, so took everything on it deeply to
heart. Drying her eyes, she put on a
bright smile and caught the eye of one creature staring back at her. With a coy smile, she winked, then moved on,
his face already forgotten in the grand scheme of things.
Standing
outside the saloon, Ezra sighed. A slow
smile spread across his face as he admired the velvety sky and its queen, and
he tipped his hat in silent acknowledgement of the beautiful woman that briefly
glowed just for him. Then he turned,
quietly moving to patrol the streets of his home before returning to the gaming
tables for yet another long night.
__________________________________
The
next day, of course, the sun was back in full regalia.
Josiah
looked up from his table in the saloon, his graying head tilting upwards
towards the stairs leading up from the saloon floor. He raised a glass of whiskey to the yawning gambler who struggled
to keep his eyes open on his way down. It was well towards noon on yet another hot day in their little burg,
but the resident night owl was only just now getting up.
"Good
morning, my friend," the ex-preacher called cheerfully, earning him a fierce
scowl. In the background, Nathan looked up from the bar where he'd been
chatting with Inez, a mug of coffee in his hands. He grinned as Ezra slowly made his way to where Josiah sat, and
motioned to Inez to fetch him a second mug.
With
a great show of annoyance, Ezra rubbed his eyes against the glare of the sun
streaming into the room. He sat down
heavily next to Josiah, and stretched his tired muscles. As usual, his once dislocated shoulder
popped in reply.
"You
probably shouldn't do that so much," Nathan cautioned as he sat down on Ezra's
opposite side. "You might be wearing down the joint. Could trouble you when
you're old." He handed the gambler a
cup of coffee.
Ezra
looked up blearily through bloodshot eyes and smiled. "I don't plan on getting old, Nathan, just rich."
Next
to him, Josiah laughed heartily, and even Nathan couldn't resist a smile as he
took a sip of the hot liquid before him.
"Ezra
up yet?" a voice called impatiently from the batwing doors. The gambler groaned theatrically, throwing
an arm across his eyes. Chris Larabee
pushed the rest of the way through the doors, a half-assed smirk on his
grizzled face as he witnessed the melodramatic move of the younger man. He wandered over the table and threw a small
cloth bag down onto the table. Ezra's
arm dropped immediately as he heard the telltale chink, his eyes now wide open.
"Mr.
Wilson says you will have a better chance at estimating the worth of this lot
than him," Chris explained, shrugging. "Says he's not as good at jewels as he is with gold or coins." In fact, the banker of Four Corners had
nearly fainted at the sight of so much wealth, and had hastily asked Chris to
leave him out of any appraising. Too
damn dangerous.
"Jewels?"
Ezra repeated hungrily, that word being the only one he had heard. He reached for the bag, but was stopped by a
firm grip from his leader.
"Don't
get any ideas, Ezra. Its not ours. We're just holding onto it for a little
while. Part of the loot we found on
Black-eyed Mike." Chris watched as the
gambler's face passed from avarice to a schooled indifference.
"Please,
Mr. Larabee," Ezra assured the black clad gunslinger, shaking off the other
man's hand. "I'm not about to abscond with this bounty under your very eyes
now, am I?"
Chris
merely raised an eyebrow. "Both hands
on the table at all times, Ez."
The
gambler snorted, but complied. With
great care, he loosened the tie on the bag and dribbled the light contents onto
the table top. Nathan and Josiah both
leaned forward, unable to help themselves.
"My
God…," Nathan whispered, his eyes huge.
"Or,
rather, Ezra's," Josiah replied smartly, smiling sheepishly as both healer and
gambler favored him with looks of exasperation.
The
jewels glinted in the half light of the saloon, a cluster of rubies, diamonds,
emeralds and other stones small enough to fit in your palm, but worth more than
the entire town of Four Corners put together. It took every ounce of strength the gambler had not to grab them and
run.
Josiah
watched the gambler, easily more interested in the younger man's reaction than
in the jewels themselves. If he
expected something, he was disappointed. Ezra's face looked very calm, almost pensive. With care, the gambler reached forward and picked up the largest
unset diamond, bringing it up to his eye to look for flaws. Only the heaving movement of his Adam's
apple as he swallowed betrayed his agitation. Slowly, he put that one down and picked up the next, all the time aware
of the shadowed eyes of Chris on his fingers.
After
a few moments, he asked Inez for water, a pen and a pencil. She complied, her own eyes unable to stray
far from the wealth that graced her table. A hand went to her throat after she dropped the requested objects off,
her mind imagining the sight of one of those diamonds around her neck. Ezra spotted the movement, and smiled. Then he went to work, cataloguing the jewels
onto the paper as he was expected. Concurrently, he began describing their value to Chris out loud in a
professional tone, as if appraising such gems were an everyday occurrence.
"The
three unset diamonds are of incredible quality, with almost no flaws that I can
see with the naked eye. I'd value the
largest to be about worth about $3000, the next around $1250 and the smallest
to be just under a thousand. The six
rubies are equally as valuable, worth almost as much. Indeed, that one there is the largest I've ever seen," he
indicated a stone almost twice the size as the largest diamond. It matched in color the red of his jacket. With a flourish, he scribbled six numbers
down for the rubies. He proceeded to do
the same for the emeralds, then began on the lesser stones, all the time
explaining their worth to the others at the table. In all, the combined worth of the stones, in his expert
estimation, came to just under $20,000.
Finally,
he picked up the one set stone. This
diamond was almost twice as large as the free ones before him, and set in a
platinum pendant. A handful of little blue Sapphires danced around the edges, highlighting
the diamond within the simple Celtic filigree pattern of the metal. The diamond was shaped into a tear, and was
absolutely perfect. His hands shook
slightly as he estimated its worth.
"This
piece," Ezra began, his voice taking on an almost reverential tone, "is likely
to be worth almost $10,000 on its own. I've never seen its like."
Chris
cleared his throat, and nodded. "That one is called the Moondrop pendant. You're right about its worth. Its also how we were able to identify the
owners of the other stones. Turns out,
Black-eyed Mike stole them all in one night in a hit on the Saint Louis Ritz
two weeks ago. Apparently, the woman
who lost this one posted a sizeable reward for its return, making it easy to
track."
When
he finished, no one moved for a minute. Each man simply stared at the stones, their minds drifting to the
possibilities they suggested. Eventually, Josiah broke the tableau with a sudden swig from the whiskey
bottle in front of him.
"He
must have been a very proficient thief," Ezra murmured.
"Proficient,
maybe, but not too smart," Nathan smiled, bringing everyone's eyes to the
healer. "He chose the wrong town to
hide out in." This caused even the
serious gunslinger to chuckle.
Black-Eyed
Mike had obviously hoped to lay low for a while in Four Corners, unaware of the
tremendous enthusiasm with which young Sheriff Dunne memorized the faces of all
the wanted posters that came his way. It certainly helped that Mike had a distinctive facial flaw – an odd
skin discoloration around his left eye made him look as if he permanently had a
black eye. The thief was immediately
approached by the seven, and had foolishly chosen to try and shoot his way out
of going to jail. He succeeded by
becoming a permanent resident of the Four Corners cemetery.
With
a thank you to the gambler, Chris took the tally sheet and gathered the stones
back into the bag in order to tie it to his belt. Ezra's eyes followed the bag as if it were a lifeline.
"Ummm…,"
he started, getting the gunslinger's attention as Chris worked the knots. "May I suggest that you wear that inside
your shirt, perhaps around your neck? Best if I…if the town can't see it. Never know what might happen," he smiled shamelessly, completely aware
of his slip-up. Chris watched him for a
second, then nodded.
"I'll
borrow a length of twine from Vin." He
finished tying the bag to his belt for want of something better to do with it
right then, and dropped his duster into place over it. He had taken a couple of steps towards the
doors when Ezra cleared his throat again.
"Er,
Mr. Larabee?"
"Yes
Ezra?"
"How
long will we have possession of the stones?"
"Give
'em to the judge when he comes in a week. He'll take them to Saint Louis to be claimed."
"Ah,
thank you."
"No
problem, Ez. See you boys around." And
with a swish, he was gone.
Around
the table, a collective sigh was released from the three remaining men. Ezra took a long drink from his now cold
coffee, effectively finishing it. He
also downed the water that sat next to it. Josiah watched him with amusement, a smile breaking his face as Ezra
next reached for the same bottle of whiskey that the preacher had been drinking
from. Pouring a liberal amount into the
now empty water glass, Ezra grinned up at both men.
"Can
I interest you boys in a game of chance?"
____________________________
Four
men rode slowly into the dusty hamlet, taking in the sights quietly. The street bustled around them, filled with
delivery trucks and the arriving stage from Bristol City. People and children wandered down the
boardwalks in front of the stores, and laughter could be heard from near the
hotel. No one gave the four riders much
mind, except the long haired young man in the bowler near the jail. He looked to be sizing them up. The man on the lead horse released a broad
grin, and tipped his hat at the youth. The young man tipped his own hat, then dropped off the boardwalk to walk
across the saloon.
"Kid
has a good idea, eh gents?" the leader asked, his Australian accent thick on
his tongue. He turned in the saddle to
look at his companions, his grin still on his face. The others nodded, and turned their mounts towards the hitching
posts outside the saloon.
The
youngest member of the group wearily slid off his horse and stretched. At that same moment, a breeze blew up, and a
dusty copy of the Clarion newspaper smacked him in the face. His strangled swearing brought laughter from
his friends as he pulled the paper off, until his whiny tone abruptly dropped
into an angry growl.
"Hell
and damnation," the young man spat, lifting off his hat and pushing a hand
through his coarse blond hair as he reread the headline.
"What?" the leader asked, coming round to look over
his shoulder.
"Mike's
dead. The law has the loot." He held the paper up and pointed to the
headline.
Moondrop Theft Solved:
Black-Eyed Mike Matthews Dead in Gunfight with Seven.
"Who
is Seven?" another man asked, looking at his boss with curious green eyes.
"The Seven, nob," the leader replied
impatiently. "They're the law here. Don't you ever read the bloody papers?
Damn, Mike sure knew how to pick the worst places." He shook his head, and looked around. "If the law has the jewels, we'll need a distraction in order to
get to them." He frowned as he looked
the town over, than glanced in through the large picture window of the
saloon. Suddenly, the easy going grin
returned to his face as he spotted a familiar face.
"And
I know the perfect distraction!"
___________________________
"EZZIE
BABY!" a voice boomed across the saloon floor. Still at the gaming table with Josiah and Nathan, Ezra's eyes widened
until they were as wide as saucers. His
cards fell limp from his fingers.
"Oh
God, no," the gambler muttered, not bothering to turn around to look at the
speaker, and dropping his head to the table to hide his face. At the bar, Buck and JD turned around,
instantly aware of a potentially embarrassing moment in the future for their
favorite black sheep. Ezzie baby!?
The
large black-haired Australian bounded over and slammed his red hands down on
the table, effectively scattering the chips in the pot. Ezra looked up slowly into the grinning
face, unable to keep the look of shock and amazement from his expression. The man above him looked quite a bit older
than how Ezra remembered him, his unshaven and grizzled face giving him the
appearance of someone nearing fifty. The Australian's dark brown eyes still
glinted like a child's, however, and he obviously had all his boisterous
exuberance.
"Ezzie,
me old mate! Stand up and greet your
old friend proper like," the large man commanded.
Sighing loudly, Ezra stood up and extended a
hand. "Jake…" he began, but suddenly had his air cut off as the Australian
wrapped him in a huge bear hug.
"Damn,
Ezra, how long's it been! Twelve,
thirteen years? You were just a kid then, but look at you now! All adult, even
a bit jaded, but still looking as fit as a pit bull!" The large newcomer continued, ignoring the gambler's attempts too
pull away. With a firm grip on Ezra's
arms, Jake pulled back to stare happily at his old friend. Unable to keep a straight face, the gambler
finally broke into a smile of his own.
"Its
good to see you, Jake," he said quietly, and surprised himself by meaning it.
Rarely did the gambler like to be reminded of his past, but Jake had been a
good friend once. Very good. Ezra owed the man his life.
"That's
more like it, kid. Damn, but don't you
look fine in that get up. Better than
my old cotton hand me downs, eh?"
Ezra
fingered his fine red coat and grinned lopsidedly. "I've improved on some of my skills since San Francisco, Jake."
"I'll
say. What are you up to now, you
rapscallion? Just passing through, eh?
Headed to Saint Louis again? Or KC?"
"Ummm,
no, not exactly," Ezra replied, his eyes narrowing slightly as he considered
how to phrase the fact that he not only lived in Four Corners, but was a member
of the law here. He decided to sidestep
the question by turning his attention back to the table. Understanding, Nathan and Josiah stood up.
"Jake,
these are my friends, Josiah Sanchez and Nathan Jackson," Ezra introduced, and
Jake stuck his hand out.
"Pleasure,
gents," Jake smiled. He looked at
Nathan speculatively and turned back to the southerner, "And Good on ya,
Ez. Nice to see you're finally learning
that all men are created equal, eh?" He
grinned at the younger man's discomfiture and gave him a fierce hug about the
shoulders before looking back to the preacher and healer. "Any friends of the kid here are friends of
mine, mates. Hope you can say the
same!"
"Of
course," Josiah intoned. Nathan nodded.
"Does
that include us, Ezzie baby?" Buck asked congenially, stressing the nickname as
he sidled up to the table with a grinning JD in tow. Ezra sighed again, and introduced both men to Jake. As with the others, Jake threw out a large
hand and shook theirs good-naturedly. Then he turned back to the gambler.
"Come
on, I want you to meet some friends of mine," Jake announced, steering Ezra
around until they faced three rather somber figured near the door. Jake indicated the youngest, a man about
Ezra's own age, with blond hair and a bored expression. He stood a few inches taller than Ezra, but
wasn't much bigger in size.
"This
here's Sean," Jake said, and turned to the next man, "and this here's Charlie…"
Ezra shook hands with both, though was a
little daunted by Charlie's size. The man
was at least Nathan's height, maybe taller, and completely bald. He reminded the gambler of a wrestler he'd
once bet on while visiting the gaming pits in Abilene, though the gold earring
Charlie wore off one ear also suggested a piratical heritage. Neither were happy images for the smaller
man who fought the urge to back away and hide. Charlie favored him with a gap-toothed leer, and Ezra returned with a
weak smile.
"And,
this here is Eli," Jake continued, slapping a man close to Chris's age on the
arm. Eli nodded his brown-haired head
at Ezra, green eyes matching green eyes in height and depth. The man was stockier than the gambler,
though, and his face wider and more weathered. "Eli kind of took you place after your abrupt departure from Cisco,
kid." Jake explained easily, "He's my right hand these days."
Ezra
nodded back at the man, then turned to Jake. "Have a drink, Jake, and you can
tell me all about it. On me." He turned
to glance at Inez, "Drinks for these gentlemen, Senorita, whatever they want."
Jake's
grin grew wider as he followed Ezra to the bar. Charlie, Sean and Eli followed close behind.
"Does
that invitation include us, Ezzie?" Buck called from where he still stood by
the gaming table. Ezra favored him with
a displeased look at the continued use of the nickname.
"Not
a chance, Mr. Wilmington," He replied nastily, stressing the man's full name,
causing Jake to laugh heartily.
"You
always were a bit of a snob, Ezra. Looks like that's only gotten worse,
huh? Maybe I should lend you some of my
old shirts to remind you of your youth!"
Ezra
merely shook his head and ordered the drinks. In the background, Jake's men slipped into seats around one of the empty
tables, and waited for Inez to serve them. Buck and JD joined Josiah and Nathan at the gaming table, and they
immediately began trying to speculate exactly where the boisterous Australian
fit into Ezra's life. Jake and Ezra
stayed at the bar, and were soon lost talking and laughing about old
times.
At
one point, JD looked up to glance once more at the newcomers, and at Jake. A small frown creased his features, but he
decided to shake off the feeling of seeing them before. They were Ezra's friends, after all, they
couldn't be that bad….
_________________________
As
the day wore on, Josiah and Nathan disappeared out on various errands, and were
replaced by Chris and Vin. The
gunslinger and tracker declined to sit with the boys, however, and were quietly
sipping their drinks at the next table over. Meanwhile, Jake, Ezra, Charlie, Buck and JD were deeply into a poker
game. Ezra, of course, was winning
easily.
"Damnation!"
Jake swore, throwing his cards down. "You weren't lying kid." Ezra
merely laughed and pulled the pot in towards him.
"You
mean he wasn't always this good?" JD asked curiously.
"Oh
no," Jake replied, shaking his head, not noticing that some of the smile had
left Ezra's features. "He was always
good, but no one took him seriously when I knew him in San Francisco. Too young to be allowed to the major
games. What were you, 17? 18? And a baby face to match too, kind of like
yours, JD."
The
young Sheriff frowned and rubbed a hand over his face. Buck grinned and slapped him on the
back. Ezra concerned himself by
gathering the cards back together and reshuffling them. To all intents and purposes, he was not
paying attention to his old mentor's story.
"Ezzie
here arrived in San Francisco on the heels of his mama, Maude, when he was
still a pup. Have you met her?" Jake
asked, to which the other men nodded. "Then, you have my deepest sympathies," he said seriously, and Ezra's
mouth twitched into a small smile. "Well, she quickly disposed of him by dropping him off in a saloon owned
by a friend of hers after a con she was running went bad, and took off to
greener pastures. Ezzie, here, was left
to fend for himself. I took pity on the
kid after some miners accused him of cheating in the saloon. Saved his life, and took him in. It was also the first time I'd seen the boy
fight." Jake turned to look pointedly
at the gambler. "You still fight, Ez?"
Ezra
blinked, and licked his lips. "No…" he began, but Buck interrupted.
"Sure
as hell he does, Mister. You should see
the way he throws himself into the brawls we have here. That is, until someone
sucker hits him from behind with a chair!" This caused both Buck and JD to
enter into hails of laughter, and even Chris smiled from where he sat a table
away. He and Vin had not been
eavesdropping intentionally, but the Australian was a very loud man.
Ezra
looked Jake square in the eye. "No, Jake, I no longer subject myself to such
meaningless pursuits anymore. I have
found much better ways to earn a dollar now that I'm older."
Jake's
eyes narrowed, his head tilting slightly. "Shame, kid, really."
Buck
stilled his laughter enough to ask what the hell they were talking about. Ezra shook his head, but Jake didn't notice.
He leaned in close to the ladies man. "Ezra here was the best thing to happen
to my purse for a long time, matey. The
best fighter I'd ever seen. Barring
myself, of course. I taught him
everything he knew. Well, almost
everything." He looked slyly at his old friend, who didn't meet his eye. Ezra
pretended a deep interest in his whiskey shot.
"Fighter?"
JD queried.
"Pugilist,
Mr. Dunne." Ezra explained, not looking up. JD looked even more lost. The
gambler sighed. "I used to box…in a ring…for money."
Buck
whistled, and leaned back. JD just frowned, watching Ezra closely, having
difficulty picturing the well dressed man in front of him as a boxer. Hell, he
couldn't even picture Ezra as a kid! The gambler's face had become stony, and his fingers began shuffling the
cards before him rapidly. Jake just
grinned, ignoring his friend's discomfiture.
"Ezzie
here was a natural, my friends. I can't even count the amount of money I won
off of him in the two years he hung out in my little city. Would probably have
made even more if…."
"Okay,
Jake, that's enough," Ezra stopped the man. "No need to tell my friends everything, eh? Let's just say that, like my mother, I felt it was time to move
onto greener pastures, as you put it."
Jake
laughed, "moved on….Moved on!" The man's face turned red and tears streamed
down his face. "You moved on, alright
Ez, smuggled out under my wagon in the middle of the night!" Even Ezra couldn't resist smiling, and Jake
slapped the gambler hard across the back.
"C'mon
Ezra, how about you demonstrate your skills for your friends tomorrow? I saw a flat bit of space near that
ramshackle church as I rolled in, we could set up a ring there real easy."
Ezra
eyes flashed, and he shook his head. "Absolutely not, Jake. I have not boxed in
many years, and I do not plan on taking it up again. Besides, who would I fight?"
"Who
would you fight? Why…," Jake looked around, and nodded to where his three
friends sat over near the bar, "you could fight Sean there." The blond looked up upon hearing his name, a
curious look on his face.
Ezra
raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Oh,
please, Jake. I'd wipe the floor with
him."
Jake
grinned, and a wicked gleam came into his eye. "Care to make a wager?" he asked
softly, instantly bringing Ezra's eyes to his. Buck and JD looked at each other, and sat back to watch the show. Chris and Vin both looked over at the table,
no longer pretending indifference. Ezra
never took his eyes off Jake.
"How
much?"
Jake
pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket, and proceeded to unroll it
slowly. He peeled off two bills and
laid them out. "$100."
Ezra's
green eyes flitted to the money on the table, then back up to Jake's face. "I take it, you've taught him as well?"
"Yup. And I should tell you, I think he's better
than you, kid."
"Oh,
ho," Ezra replied, shaking his head with a chuckle, a smile on his face, "I
very much doubt that, my old friend."
"Well?" Jake tempted, pushing the bills
forward. "What do you say, kid? You
still good enough?" In response, Ezra
carefully reached into his own pocket and pulled out his own money. He counted out $100 and placed it on top of
Jake's.
"I
never pass up a sure thing," the gambler replied, flashing his gold tooth.
__________________________
The
moon rose again, still waxing full. She
rested her chin on her hands, and glanced over the North continent
silently. She looked at all the bright
lights from the fires, and shook her head in amazement. One coast was almost totally lit up now, but
even the middle and the west had pockets of light. They were moving so quickly, now. Soon the whole continent would
be as bright as the other one. She
chanced a look at the small town in the West which, she thought, never slept,
hoping to catch a glance of the same face from the night before. Tonight, though, he was nowhere to be found.
Sighing, she moved on.
Inside
the saloon, Ezra and Jake were the only ones left. Inez had gone to sleep after being told they would clean up, and
everyone else has long since retired. Jake looked sleepily around the bar, and sighed heavily. What a small place, he thought, not for the
first time that evening. He never
thought his favorite boy would end up in a place like this, and certainly not
as a lawman. He giggled a little at
that, and Ezra looked up from where he sat looking blearily at his empty glass.
"What?"
"Oh
nothin', kid. Just curious still on how
you ended up here."
Ezra
didn't reply. He himself had not told
Jake that he was part of the law, and had no idea that Jake already knew. Ezra steeled himself for the next question,
and Jake sat up instinctively as he felt the tension build.
"How
is Moira?" the gambler asked, his face suddenly looking much younger.
Jake
sighed and averted his eyes. He'd been
dreading this. "She's…well. She married
a few years after you left, to someone her father picked out. Couple of kids. Happy, and all that. Shouldn't have fallen for a member of the
aristocracy, kid. They're too fickle. I could have told you she wouldn't give up
all that money to run away with some southern scoundrel."
Ezra
smiled at the last comment, but then his face shut down. The lie was clear in the older man's
voice. "Of course. So, what really
happened to her, Jake."
Jake
sighed. He should have known. With a topic this sensitive, it was
impossible to lie to the boy. He was
too quick.
"I'm
sorry, Ezra. She…she did marry someone
her father picked out. He was the only
one who would take her after you made her pregnant, and she miscarried. The man beat her. She died of a sickness brought on as a result."
The
gambler hissed and shut his eyes in pain.
"If
it's any consolation, her father did right by her in the end. He had the son of a bitch hanged for
murder."
Ezra
didn't respond. Her father had been the
reason he'd had to leave town. That,
and Moira had insisted that she didn't love him. They were just kids, after
all, and she admitted to being in love with someone else….
Ezra
looked up to see Jake's eyes on him. The Australian's mouth was set in a straight line. Ezra shook his head.
"You
can't stay here, Jake."
Jake
blinked, "What?"
"The
law here…they're very good. I'd even go
so far as to say that they are the best you'll ever see. Trust me, I know this from personal
experience." He offered a wry smile,
which Jake returned weakly. Ezra
continued, "They'll figure out who you are, Jake, and I won't be able to stop
them. I know you're wanted, Jake, and
they won't hesitate to hang you for it."
Jake
sighed, his brow furrowing. "So what do
you suggest?"
"Leave
tonight. Leave now."
Jake
smiled, "What about our little wager?"
"It's
not important. Just, please, leave."
Jake
watched the man in front of him for a minute, surprised. He knew that the kid would have had to have
changed to become a lawman, but he just assumed it was part of some scam. But to hear him willingly call a $100 wager
unimportant….Ezra'd changed even more than Jake imagined. This was not the kid he knew anymore. The
one with the one-track mind where money was concerned. This man was someone else.
Jake
shook his head, and stood up. "The
night has grown long, kiddo. I'm going
to retire myself. I'll see you tomorrow
afternoon. I'd practice some moves, if
I were you."
"Jake…"
The
Australian turned away from the gambler's pained expression and began walking
towards the saloon doors. "You may be able to turn down a hundred dollars, kid,
but not me," he explained. Nor can I
turn down a fistful of jewels, he reminded himself.
"I'll
concede. I'll give you the cash," Ezra
tried, his throat constricting a little at the thought. Damn, when had he become so soft?
Jake's
movement stopped. He turned a
completely shocked look at Ezra, still sitting at the table, a worried
expression on the younger man's face. For a moment, Jake saw his old friend with clear eyes, untouched by
ulterior motives, and almost took the offer. Finally, cold reason returned and Jake remembered the purpose of his
visit. He shook his head and chuckled
to dispel the tension. Ezra's shoulders
slumped.
"Don't
worry about me, Ezzie. We're cats,
remember? We always land on our
feet. I'll trust you to keep the dogs
at bay, just as I did once for you." With a two-fingered salute, he left the
gambler alone in the bar.
Ezra
looked down at his hands and balled them into fists. He looked at the faded calluses that graced the knuckles. He was older, yes, but not out of
practice. And his skills with cards had
not been the only thing to improve over the years. He looked out the batwing doors, and at the bright celestial
globe hanging in the sky. Standing, he
tipped the remaining chairs atop the tables, and blew out the lanterns still
lit. Then he went outside and around to
the moonlit side of the structure. After stretching, he started in on his usual workout, shadow boxing in
the light of the moon.
___________________________________
Jake
found his companions still awake in the hotel room, awaiting their leader. The
Australian locked the door behind him, and sat heavily on the side of the
bed. When he didn't speak for a moment,
Sean cleared his throat.
"What
is the plan, boss?"
Jake
looked over at the young blond, and shrugged. "Tomorrow, when Sean is fighting, Charlie and Eli, you will grab the man
dressed in black. Word is, he wears the
jewels around his neck in a bag. Kill
him somewhere out of sight, then ride out of town and wait by that saddle
canyon we rode past on the way in. Once
the fight is over -- which I expect you to win, Sean, as I don't want to lose
$100 -- we'll ride out to meet you."
"Won't
it seem suspicious, leaving so soon after just one fight?" Eli asked from where
he stood by the window. He was watching
the alley where he'd seen the gambler disappear into, wondering what he was
doing. He didn't like the man and
rubbed his hands together absently.
"No. Ezra will see to it that no one follows us,
neither. He owes me that."
Eli
looked over at his boss, an odd look on his face. "You sure you can trust him?"
Jake
didn't answer at first, then snorted. "Yes. At least until he finds
out what we did to his friend, and how we used him."
______________________________
Continued
in Part Two
