Rain, face beaming, ran for the group first. Seeing her, Nathan dismounted and opened his arms to her, for a long embrace and deep kiss. The two were engaged, and Nathan's departure with the rest had terrified Rain. She wasn't willing or ready to lose him no matter what cause it was for.
JD tied up his horse and walked away. Sam watched him go with no expression gracing her face. Mary ran for the group, and pushed her way through to Sam, taking the younger girl's face in her hands.
"Are you alright?" Mary asked, then noticed the girl's chopped off hair. "Oh, Sam."
Sam nodded, eyes full of dust, dry as could be. "I'm fine, Mary."
Mary stepped back from Sam and looked around at everyone else. "Is anyone going to explain what happened? You all run off in midday, leaving no explanation, scaring us all to death!"
Buck thrust a piece of paper at her. "Maybe this'll explain it." He handed his reins to Ezra and walked off down the street. Mary opened the flier, it was a wanted ad. In the picture, mingled in with the Winston boys faces and images, was Sam. But how could that be?
Sam saw the flier, and nodded. "That should explain everything." She resignedly tied up her horse and headed toward her room.
Mary stood, surrounded by Ezra, Vin, Chris, and Josiah. None of them spoke, all watching their friends scatter down the street.
"What on earth happened out there?" she asked. "Whats going on?"
Chris looked at her. He shook his head and walked away, with Vin and Ezra behind him, heading for the saloon. Josiah remained behind with Mary, who looked at him in desperation.
"Josiah," she pleaded.
The older man nodded and tied his horse to the rail. Then he began to unhook his saddlebags. "It may very well be the beginning of the end, Miss Travis."
"Call me Mary," she ordered. "I just saw the three closest people I know go off in seperate directions, ignoring each other. I just saw JD and Buck walk away from Sam. Obviously, something big happened. Now someone better lay this out for me, and fast!"
Knowing not to argue with the woman in that state, Josiah sighed. Then he began to talk.
"Whiskey," JD told the barkeep, throwing a coin down on the bar. Buck handed the coin back to him and settled at the bar next to the young, despairing man.
Buck shook his head. "Naw, kid. This ones on me."
The barkeep handed them two shots, which they then slammed down. Now, there was nothing to do but talk. Buck snuck a glance over at the poker table, where to his surprise Ezra was NOT sitting. The man in the red coat, instead, had joined Chris and Vin at a table by the window. No one looked happy.
"The thing that gets me the most-" JD started in the middle of the mental conversation he'd been having with himself, "is the fact that I didn't figure anything was wrong. I just thought she was homesick. I was completely duped." He went through all the moments he and Sam had shared, had they all been a lie? The ride home, his head had been empty of all thought. One whiskey, and they began swirling around in his head.
Buck shook his head. "I didn't know either, JD."
JD snickered. "She thought, she felt all these things, and couldn't, didn't talk to me about them. She told Ezra rather than tell me, or even you!" The thought was muddied to him, not sure if it was terrifying or hilarious. The barkeep brought him another whiskey, which he downed. "Hell, I don't know what I feel right now. I don't really want to feel anything. Too bad Wickstown isn't around, hey? We could go there and forget everything for a while."
Running a hand through his hair, Buck looked around the saloon. Everything was familiar, but different. He got up from the bar, gave JD a comforting pat on the back, and walked out of the saloon. JD watched him go, then the barkeep loaded him up again. He determined to drink his way into a good nights sleep. He'd think about everything later. One of the saloon girls came up to him and draped her arm around him. For the first time in a long while, he didn't object.
Soon, JD was the center of attention for three of the younger, prettier saloon girls. They laughed and drank and soon JDs face was covered in red lipstick kisses, and it was obvious he was drunk.
Chris, Vin, and Ezra watched him from their windowseat.
Vin spoke. "I just don't get it." He leaned into the others. "This just ain't like Sam. And Buck ain't himself. And the old JD would never have been interested in those women. Where the hell did this come from?"
Chris Larabee looked across the table at his friend. Vin's face showed real confusion, and Vin wasn't confused often. Chris looked over at Ezra, whose face gave away his misery.
"You coulda stopped this," Chris said, darkly. Ezra looked up in surprise, then nodded. Chris continued. "You knew, and you let her go back to Tulsa, when you knew all along."
Ezra shook his head. "She was going home for a visit. I don't know how the Winstons ended up there, but I wasn't aware of them being in the picture anymore. All I heard was a woman with a lot of burdens on her, who's been through a lot, feeling helpless and afraid and not being able to do anything about it. I told her to talk to JD, I guess she felt like she couldn't for some reason." Chris and Vin knew he was telling the truth, and simply because the words were coming out too fast and simple to be lies. When Ezra lied, he used hugely impressive phraseology to make it sound better.
"How do you feel?" Chris asked. "Knowing you could have stopped this before it started?" Chris stood up and walked out of the saloon, leaving Ezra sitting dumbfounded across the table from Vin.
Ezra started to talk, but Vin cut him off. "I'm not going to take sides in this, pard, but Chris has a point. Yes, it was a promise, but some promises are bigger than their own good." He gave Ezra a small smile and left.
JD had watched through his moderately drunken haze as both Chris and Vin had walked out on Ezra. Now the gambler was alone, looking awed by everything. JD felt his face go red with fury, and he went to Ezra.
"Are you happy now?" JD asked, slurring his words. He angrily lashed out and knocked over a chair. "Is this what you wanted? Keeping Sam's secrets from me..."
Ezra stood up and held up his hands. He was not about to fight JD in any state, especially not drunk. JD pulled out his gun and aimed it at Ezra, cocking it.
Ezra had been here before, only on the other side of the gun, and he understood. It hadn't even been a year since he and Vin had squared off over Anabelle. Ezra had proved the faster shot, but Vin had won the girl in the end. Now, seeing it from the other side, he was amazed Vin had ever spoken to him at all.
"Put the gun away, JD," he said softly. "You don't want to do this."
Melanie Hills came up next to JD, seeing the situation and with a good idea how to end it. She was one of Sam's best friends, and knew everything, she'd heard through her grapevine a long time ago. So she stood next to JD and spoke sweetly.
"JD, honey, come upstairs with us." JDs eyes moved to her, and she smiled, touching his face. He dropped his arm, still holding the gun, and Ezra slowly walked away. Melanie's friends surrounded JD and led him upstairs. Melanie didn't go with them. He was always going to be Sam's, and Sam was her friend and she respected both JD and Sam too much to take advantage. Instead, she went out of the saloon after Ezra.
"Mr. Standish-" she called, but stopped when she saw him bent over, hands on his knees. "Are you alright?" He straightened up quickly and pretended a smile.
Nodding, Ezra spoke in that familiar southern drawl. "Yes, everything is fine. Thank you, my dear, for what happened back in there."
Melanie nodded. "I know what happened, and I figured since you're probably one of the few friends Sam's gonna have left, I should keep you alive for her." Melanie's blonde hair swirled in the wind. Ezra tipped his hat and gave her a charming, though empty, smile.
"Much obliged." He walked away, not knowing where to go. He saw Chaucer, his chesnut, tied up in the street and had a split second idea to ride out of town and never come back. Were these people worth staying for, when none of them seemed to want to be around him anymore?
He decided that losing himself as the perfect host of the Standish hotel would be a better idea than facing the people who so obviously hated him.
He emerged from the hotel that night, seeing the street was totally clear of people. The night air chilled him, though it was getting warmer.
Down the street he was on stood a familiar looking figure. Yes, it was the one and only original pariah herself, Sam, looking around out into the night
"Well my dear," Ezra said as he approached, and leaned on the pole nearest to Sam. "Since we both now seem to be the pariahs of Four Corners society, perhaps there is a lesson to be learned from all this."
She looked at him suspiciously. "If you're going to yell at me, or reprimand me, or tell me how stupid I was, you don't have to. I've heard it from everyone already." She folded her arms and sat down on a step.
Ezra handed her his flask.
"I don't really drink," she replied.
He insisted, and she took it. "Now may be a good time to start," he said, sitting down next to her. She drank, and made a face.
"That stuff is horrible," she choked. Her throat was burning.
Ezra chuckled. "After quite a bit of it, you won't feel anything anymore."
Sam rolled her eyes. "Can we get a few more bottles then?" She managed to smile. "Im really sorry about everything. I guess I didn't figure everyone would turn on you, especially since you saved my life and all."
He shook his head. "Don't worry yourself about it, darling. Had the situation been reversed, I feel confident you would have done the same for me." There wasn't a doubt in his mind she would have.
Sam knew he was right. "In a heartbeat."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, looking around and exchanging the flask.
"I suppose its just us now?" she muttered. "Buck's furious at me, Chris too. Everyone else is just disappointed, as they've all told me by now. And JD...I don't even want to think about what he's feeling right now."
Ezra had a pretty good idea what JD was feeling right then. He'd seen the kid go upstairs to the saloon with the girls. Ezra didn't want to tell Sam that JD was thinking of everything BUT her at that moment. Instead, Ezra nodded.
"I suppose you're right," he replied. "But look on the bright side..."
"And what would that be?" Sam wondered, looking at him.
Ezra didn't answer for a moment. "I am frantically trying to assemble one."
Sam nodded, expecting that. Ezra leaned in a little and bumped her shoulder with his, a gesture of friendship. She handed the flask back to him and looked up at the overcast night sky.
In the morning, JD woke up in a strange bed, with no idea who the girl next to him was or where his clothes were. He panicked, and dove out of bed, then quickly located his clothes on the floor and got dressed. He didn't know whether he should leave money, or what. His hands went to his head as a bolt of pain went through his head. His clothes smelled like alcohol, and he flashed back to the night before. Him, the saloon girls, and many bottles of whiskey had temporarily made the pain in his heart go away. Now there was a matching pain in his head, and he managed his way out of the room and down the stairs.
At the bar leaned Vin Tanner and Josiah Sanchez. They both stopped drinking in midgulp when JD walked by them. JD stopped, and the three men made eye contact. He tried to be cool and casual.
"JD," Josiah said. "If you're going for innocence, it'd be best to wipe the lipmarks off your face."
In the mirror behind the bar, JD saw what he meant and frantically wiped them away. Vin handed him a whiskey, seeing the younger man wincing at the light.
"Wake up with your head hurting, have a whiskey in the morning. It'll help," Vin said. JD nodded and obeyed, then nodded his thanks and left the saloon.
Outside, JD ran into Chris and Buck, who were sitting on the bench outside, watching the street. Buck's face grew serious as he realized where JD had come from, and from that gathered where he had spent the previous night. Then he nodded, resignedly, and indicated the rocking chair next to them. JD shook his head and walked on.
"Damn..." Buck said after the kid had passed. "I never thought..."
JD made his way to the stables, where Nathan and Rain were saddling up. Rain stopped when she saw him approaching, and hit Nathan lightly to indicate. Nathan met JD halfway.
"Hey," JD said, attempting normalcy. "You goin to the village?"
Nathan looked back at Rain and their loaded up horses. He turned back to JD.
"Yeah, yeah we are. Your head hurtin you?" Nathan could smell alcohol and knew that JD must be feeling it about then.
JD nodded. "Can I ride with you?"
Rain watched the two mens exchange, feeling a million emotions. Sam was one of her best friends, but JD was one of Nathans. How would they balance that?
"Rain," Nathan said, as the two men came back to the horses. "JD's gonna ride with us today."
JD looked at her seemingly for approval. She smiled and nodded. "Thats great. We can always use an extra hand," she said.
So Rain was going to be good about this, JD was relieved. He saddled his own horse quickly and rode off with them. He wanted to be away from that town and everything that reminded him of his life, or what was left of his life, at that moment. Going back to the village would take him back to the scene of his first battle. He hoped the place would help him gather strength and thoughts for this, his biggest battle yet in his young life.
The village was a few hours ride, and JD didn't talk much. He enjoyed the ride, the sun, and the stability of his horse and the miles ahead of him. He hadn't thought about freedom in a while. Now, there was nothing keeping him in Four Corners, except the six friends he'd grown close to. He could ride out anytime. The idea was new, and exciting.
But mostly on his mind were the events of the night before. He'd gotten drunk and gone to bed with a woman for the first, and second times. Now he knew why Buck was so crazy about those saloon girls. They were a different class of woman than Sam was, and Mary and Rain. Those were the marrying types, the innocents, the rare. Girls like Rachel Hicks and Jessica Tyler from the saloon were void of the moral code that had always kept Sam from letting him love her like he'd wanted to. Fully, with body and soul. He wondered if Bryce Winston had known Sam that way.
He would think about that later, he decided. For at that moment, the village came into sight.
They were greeted warmly, and set to a full days work helping the villagers with illness, wounds and childbirthing. JD stood off to the side as Nathan and Rain worked together as one capable being, helping all the citizens with their troubles. He felt a tug on his shirt.
"Hey Mister," said a little voice. Looking down, he saw a tiny dark haired Indian boy looking up at him. "Is that a real gun?"
JD smiled and kneeled before the boy. "Yeah, yeah it is."
"Can I hold it?" the boy asked with wide eyes. JD saw himself a few years ago, fresh from the east and let loose in the wild west, wide-eyed and ready for anything. He shook his head.
"Im sorry, son, thats not a good idea," he smiled.
A hand touched his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Rain leaning over him and the boy.
"Samuel," she said. "Why don't you teach JD how to shoot your bow? Samuel is a very good archer." Her smile was warm, she wanted JD to feel welcome there. It was a safe haven for the lost, whether geographically or mentally.
Samuel, the little boy, took JD's hand and ran off, leading him.
"Where the hell is that boy?" Buck stormed into the jail, joining his cluster of gunslinging friends. Josiah, Vin, and Chris were all gathered, polishing their guns and reloading. In their line of work, you always had to be ready. "No one knows where he is."
Josiah held up a hand. "Now, Buck, don't worry. I saw him ride off with Nathan and Rain this morning. They were going to the village. They'll be back tomorrow morning."
Buck sighed. "You've known all day and here I've been, searching everywhere!" Vin pushed him a chair, and he fell into it, exasperated and exhausted.
"I didn't know you were lookin'." Josiah replied. "You didn't ask."
Ezra walked in, then quickly stopped, seeing the four faces staring at him. He was obviously unwelcome. Swiftly, he reached over Buck and removed his Derringer strap from the drawer, then ducked out of the jail, not a word spoken.
Buck looked around at the rest. "Why do I get the feeling you've all had your words with Ezra already?"
Chris and Vin didn't answer, just kept loading bullets. It didn't need an answer, Buck knew.
Josiah looked at both of them. "Well, I for one haven't spoken to him yet. And I don't intend to. A man's reasons are sometimes bigger than can be imagined. And, in his defense, a man's word is his bond. I can't say why he, or Sam, did what they did, but I do know forgiveness is eay to find if those with the anger look inside themselves." He stopped talking, having said enough, and nodded. Then went back to polishing his gun.
"Damn Josiah," Vin said. "You always have an answer for everything, don't you?"
"Sam!"
Sam stopped walking upon hearing the voice. It was none other than her former friend turned scolding mother figure, Mary Travis. Rolling her eyes, which she found herself doing a lot lately, Sam turned around, ready for the lecture sure to follow.
Mary stepped up to the girl, and saw the circles under her eyes, the messily braided hair, and that Sam was wearing a dress she'd once claimed to hate, saying it made her look heavy (though it didnt.) Apparently, she didn't care anymore.
"I was talking to Nathan this morning, and we decided it would be better if you didn't help at the clinic anymore." Mary spoke clearly and plainly, no fancy shroudings for the impact of her words.
"We decided?" Sam asked. "Or you decided? Be honest with me, Mary."
Mary nodded, knowing Sam knew her well. "Very well, I suggested strongly that Nathan didn't need your assistance since he has Rain now. Besides, the whole town is talking about what happened, I just don't think its wise to add to the gossip."
Sam shook her head, unable to hide her hurt, but not crying. "The whole town is talking about what they think happened. What you wrote in the paper. You didn't bother to find the truth, and now they think what they read is gospel. Fine, you can win this one. I won't help at the clinic anymore."
"Its not about winning, Sam," Mary said.
"Then what is it about?" Sam asked. "Driving me out of town like we did to Belle? She made a mistake, and we ostracized her, her friends. This town claims to be many things, a good town to live in, a place where people are friendly. And yes, they are. Until you do anything wrong at all. Then the entire city turns on you. Even your best friends, even your father." With that, Sam turned and walked away, down the street, into the office and into her room. She slammed the door behind her.
Mary stood dumbfounded on the sidewalk.
The village always celebrated at night with a bonfire and a feast. Though the feast was modest, it was hot and tasted fantastic. After a full days work, Nathan, Rain, and JD all enjoyed themselves. Samuel wouldn't leave JD's side, until his mother came to put him to bed. Nathan and Rain moved off to talk somewhere, and JD sat by the roaring fire, just watching it. Trying not to think, and not being able to stop it.
"The man with downcast eyes must bring himself to look up," a scratchy voice interrupted his thoughts. An old man with long, white hair was settling onto the bench next to him. The man put a blanket over JDs shoulders. It was woven with beautiful colors in an intricate pattern.
JD looked at him questioningly, not getting the idea.
The man pointed toward the ground. "The world seems to be down there right now. You must look up." Both men looked up. "The stars are still in the sky. The moon still shines. And in the day, the sun will be up there. Who wants to linger in the dirt, when you could dance with the sun?"
Looking at the man, JD shook his head. "What about when you can't keep your head up? When your heart is broken?"
The man smiled. "Ah, so it is a woman. Young men like you, its always a woman."
"Not just any woman," JD said. "The best in the world, at least I thought she was..." He took a drink from his bottle of moonshine a drunken villager had given him. The man took the bottle from him.
"Drink blurs the vision, you cannot see clearly with it," the man said. "My name is Osheela."
JD held out his hand. "JD," he replied.
"I remember you, from the battle with the confederates," Osheela remembered. "I almost did not recoignize you."
"I was young and stupid then," JD answered. "Thought I could handle anything the world threw at me. Thought I knew everything. I was apparently wrong."
Osheela dropped some more kindling into the fire and it crackled. Around them, JD heard the conversations in other languages, lives going on despite his own falling apart.
"One should never assume they know anything," Osheela finally said. "When you assume you know, you can be proven wrong. This woman of yours, why is she not here with you? Where is she right now?"
JD honestly didn't know. He hadn't seen Sam since the previous morning. Almost two days without sight of her, there was a time he would have been unable to breathe at that long apart.
"In town, somewhere, I guess," JD replied. "She...I loved her so much, and she doubted how much she loved me, enough to want someone else." Bryce Winston, damn you, he thought. He'd seen the man face to face in the middle of that town, and had never hated anyone so much in his life.
"She is young, like you?" Osheela asked.
"I feel a lot older than I used to," JD replied, meaning it totally.
Osheela nodded. "Young women are often confused, its part of their nature."
JD nodded. "Tell me about it."
Osheela looked around at his fellow villagers. Then he put a hand on JDs shoulder. "You stay here with us for a while, get away from this woman and see how much she really means to you, and you to her. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," the words Sam had said to him the day she'd left for Tulsa. Why he hadn't grabbed her right there and demanded to know why her eyes were darker and more sad than before? He should have never let her go, and made her realize that whatever the problem was he would spend eternity fixing it. But he'd let her go,
JD nodded. Staying there with the friendly villagers who didn't know him, and wouldn't look at him with pity or try and sneak around him sounded good. Plus, he didn't know how he could see Sam at that time. "That sounds like the best idea Ive heard in ages."
Ezra sat in the saloon, far away from the rest of his former compatriots, looking out a window. He'd actually been watching for Sam, but hadn't seen her since she and Mary had engaged in some sort of confrontation on the sidewalks earlier. Sam had disappeared to her room, and not come out yet.
At the other table, four of the men he'd once called among his best friends were playing a slow and absent-minded game of poker. Ezra could tell from watching that Vin was winning, and could also tell Buck knew that too. That table rarely spoke either.
Melanie slid into the other seat at Ezra's table. He was surprised to see her. Talking to him in public seemed to be a sin.
"Buck," Chris said, nodding ever so slightly to the table where Melanie and Ezra sat. Buck casually glanced, and his jaw set hard.
"Have you talked to Sam?" Melanie asked quietly. The whole town was abuzz.
Ezra shook his head. "I haven't seen her for a while. Why?"
Melanie indicated for him to lean in, which he did. She spoke quietly, seeing everyone in the saloon looking at them. She met Buck's eyes, and for once wasn't tempted to run to him. Instead, she was fraternizing with the enemy, Ezra. "Basically, Mary won't allow her to work at the clinic anymore. Sam thinks she's trying to drive her out of the town like we all did to Belle."
Ezra understood that paralell completely, and knew Sam was at least partially right. Then a worse thought crossed his mind, and face. "She's not thinking of leaving, is she?"
Melanie shrugged. "Someone should go talk to her. She needs a friend right now so bad. I can't leave, Doyle would fire me for sure." She indicated the saloon manager, who was glaring at her already.
Nodding, Ezra stood up. "Do you know where she is? In her room?"
"Last time I saw her," Melanie nodded. "Ezra, don't let her go."
"I won't" Ezra answered, and left through the back door. Melanie returned to the crowd.
"Mel!" Buck called, and she obligingly went to him. He put a hand on her waist. "What on earth were you talking to that scoundrel about?"
Melanie smiled. "Buck, I honestly don't know who you're referring to. The only scoundrel in this bar has his hand on me right now." Her eyes narrowed to a glare and she walked away.
"Well, that was harsh," Josiah noted. Buck sat, stupidly staring after her.
There was a knock on Sam's door. She was tired of everyone telling her how what she'd done was wrong. She wasn't stupid, she knew that. If they'd cared half this much before, she wouldn't have done it in the first place.
"Go away!" she called.
The door opened, and Ezra peeked in. "Well, fine, if you really mean it."
Sam half-laughed. "I didn't know it was you. Sorry."
"Seems like you're as fed up with our former comrades as I am," he noted. Her suitcase was sitting by the window. Ezra sat in a chair, and Sam sat on the bed. "Melanie said she talked to you, said she thought perhaps you were contemplating your departure. Going home, perhaps?"
Sam looked at him and shook her head. "I'm not the type to run from my problems. I've fought to stay alive and get back here twice. This is my home. God help me, I don't know how I can say that right now, but it is." She straightened her skirt, fidgeting.
"I'm glad to hear that," Ezra said. "I wouldn't want to begin thinking about being ostracized alone." He smiled, and his gold tooth gleamed in the lamplight. "Besides, maybe theres a lesson to be learned in this."
"For example?" Sam asked, not able to figure out what it could possibly be.
Ezra sat for a moment, then shook his head. "I am still frantically attempting to assemble one."
"Mary won't let me work in the clinic anymore, said she and Nathan decided it wouldn't be wise, given the towns buzzing with that she wrote about what happened," Sam practically spat the words. She'd read the story, complete lies about how Sam was trapped in a web of lust and lies that had led her to run off to join the Winstons and throw away her old life, and how she'd fought against the Seven until her side had lost. It painted Sam as reckless, cold, and heartless. Much like Mary's portrayal of Belle had been a year ago.
He nodded. "I know, I read it too." He'd been painted as an ally in the story, keeping vital information secret as some sort of evil alterior motive. "Small towns talk, thats what they do. Would you want to work alongside Nathan right now, anyway? He probably feels the same as everyone else does."
"True," she realized he was right. "He hasn't spoken to me since. Rain hasn't really either."
Ezra nodded, then got an idea. "Well, I think I can solve a few of your problems. Since you are currently available, I could use hostess for the hotel. Since Miss Travis will no doubt be coming up with a reason for you to leave this room, you could come to the hotel with me, stay there. Our former friends don't grace the hotel much, and incoming travelers will have no idea who you are."
Sam's eyes lit up, for the first time in a few days. "Really? You mean it?"
"Well of course," he said. "I'll come by tomorrow morning, and help you move. We'll get you settled, and it'll cause everyone to wonder what we're up to." The plan was foolproof.
"Thank you!" Sam stood up and threw her arms around him. He laughed and hugged her back. "You're brilliant! Thank you so much!"
They pulled apart, Sam was beaming, and Ezra felt fantastic. He'd brought a smile back to her face. He headed for the door. "Well, I shall see you tomorrow, my dear. We will blow everyone away with this new twist in the plot."
Sam laughed and clapped, as Ezra bowed out theatrically. When he was gone, she stood in the center of her room, looking around at the home that had held the last year of her life. It was time for something new. She began to pack up her things. They only took two up two suitcases and a small bag. She hadn't come to Four Corners with much, and hadn't needed much since arriving.
The first thing into her bag was the framed picture of her mother and Buck. It stood by her bedside all the time, the two faces familiar as anything ever had been to her. From a small wooden box, she pulled the locket JD had given her for her seventeenth birthday, small and delicate and lovely. Someday, maybe she'd get to wear it around him again. Also in that box was a bullet, the one Nathan had removed from her shoulder during the battle that had burst spontaneously within the town one day. She'd been hit, and Nathan had removed the bullet for her keeping, saying it was something she'd always want to remember. The box itself had been carved for her by Vin Tanner, always at work on something. One day, she'd been talking to him as he whittled away on something, and after about an hour he'd handed her a beautifully carved wooden box, with her initials engraved into the bottom of the wood. The box went into her bag.
Tomorrow a new chapter in her life would begin. Regardless of whether people cared about her anymore or not. She still had two friends, Melanie and Ezra. Granted, neither of them had stellar reputations, but then again, Sam didn't have one either anymore. Maybe the three of them were a perfect fit, the bad element.
She began to contemplate what to wear the next day. No one would be allowed to see her suffer. They would all see a woman, mature beyond her years, moving forward through adversity. She would find new friends, who didn't care about her mistakes and her past.
Yes, it was all going to change.
But as she sorted through her dresses, she couldn't help wonder where JD was, and how he was, and if he was alrright. Since there was no way to know, she of course imagined the worst.
Ezra returned to the hotel, and greeted his guests who milled around in the elegant lobby. His mother had done a luxurious decorating job, the hotel was the finest place in town. Edmund Rey nodded to Ezra as he played classical pieces on the grand piano. Then Ezra scampered up the stairs and unlocked a door to a room his mother had decorated perfectly for any true lady. It was an off-white color, with silk curtains and radiated elegance. Ezra had not rented it to anyone.
Perfect, he thought, and left the room, smiling. Then he went next door to his own room and fell fast asleep in no time.
Nathan and Rain rode back into town the next afternoon, and were greeted by an urgent looking Buck, who was flanked by Chris and Vin. The three were quickly becoming a tight trio.
"Where's JD? Is he with you? Josiah said he-"
Rain shut him up quickly, as he helped her off her horse. "He's at the village. He decided to stay there for a while. To clear his head."
Buck was amazed, and looked at Nathan, who nodded, confirming.
"Damn," Buck muttered.
"Buck!" called a voice, and Mary strode toward them quickly looking flustered. "Did you know Sam is moving into the hotel?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"What are you talking about?" Chris asked.
Mary looked at Nathan. "I told her about our idea-"
Nathan cut her off. "Whoa, your idea, remember?"
"What idea?" Buck asked.
Mary put her hands on her hips, indignant. "The entire town is talking about what happened. I merely thought it would be wise if Sam didn't help Nathan out in the clinic anymore. Apparently, Ezra has employed her as the new hostess of the hotel, and the two of them are moving her in right now!"
The entire group headed down the street, Buck in the lead. Upon reaching the hotel, they saw Sam and Ezra greeting a woman just getting off the stagecoach.
Buck stopped cold. Sam was radiant. Her hair was up, much like Marys, and her burgundy dress made her look much older than her almost eighteen years. She didn't appear to be bothered by the current events, as she greeted the woman and began to go inside.
"Sam!" Buck called, and grabbed her before she could disappear. She pulled away from him, surprised and half-furious. "What in blue blazes do you think you're doing?"
Sam looked around at the gathered group. "Oh, you mean Mrs. Travis hasn't informed you all yet? Or worse, written up some scathing article in the paper to let the whole town know? Well, since Im no longer wanted at the clinic-"she looked at Nathan and her eyes went from cold to hurt. He felt terrible, that hadn't even been his idea. She turned cold again "I realized it was only a matter of time before I was unwelcome at the Gazette office, and Ezra came up with the brilliant idea for me to move in to the hotel and be the new hostess."
"Thank you my dear," Ezra said, walking out of the hotel and standing beside her. "It was a brilliant plan, wasn't it? See, I figured since you've all been so good to both Samantha and myself these past days, we didn't want to inconvenience you anymore by continued involvement in your lives. If you want either of us, you can find us here anytime." He gently led Sam back inside the hotel, then came back out and addressed them all. "Apparently, none of you paragons of virtue have ever done things you're ashamed of. But, and I state this fully, you will not drive Sam out of Four Corners the way Belle was driven out." He looked right at Vin for a last line. "We've all done things we regret. Luckily, sometimes people have big enough hearts to forgive."
Ezra went back inside, leaving everyone amazed and speechless.
Melanie walked past them all into the hotel, carrying a small bag. Buck stopped her by taking her arm.
"And what are you doing?" he asked.
"Buck, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't touch me without my permission," she replied. "I am now employed by the Standish hotel, as their bartender. I've had years of experience, and now someone is ready to appreciate my other skills for a change." She didn't say anything more, just went inside.
"Dammit!" Buck yelled, throwing his hat to the ground. "This can't happen."
"What are you more upset about, Buck?" Josiah asked. "That your daughter is closer to Ezra than you, or that he also won Melanie?" The older man stood at the back of the group, and it was a serious question.
Buck stormed up to him. "This will not happen," he insisted. "If I have to drag her out of there myself."
He pushed past Josiah and stormed down the street to the stables. There was his horse, Hunter, saddled. As soon as the horse saw Buck, it whinnied.
"Hey pard, " Buck greeted the brown beauty. "Ready for a ride?"
Minutes later, Chris saw Buck headed out of town toward the direction of the village.
He turned to Vin. "This just keeps gettin bigger."
Vin nodded. "It's been a long time since I felt this bad about anything." It had been almost a year, since Belle had left Four Corners, driven out by a town of people who had done to her exactly what was being done to Ezra and Sam right then.
Chris nodded. "Hard to see the sun,"
Both men looked up at the sky, which was covered by dark clouds moving in quickly.