TIMING IS EVERYTHING
By: Eileen Scout
Buck woke up in a room slowly. Still groggy, he tried to make out his surroundings. The more he awake he became, the more the memories came back and the angrier he became. He began to look around. He was in a room; with only one window, and it had bars. The room had one door, a single bed and one chair - nothing else. 'Great. This ain't gonna be easy.' He was distracted when he heard a key in the lock of the door. Amazed, he watched as Louisa walked in with one of the guys from last night - at least he thought it was last night.
"Good, you're awake. The Don will be pleased to know. He has been anxious to see you," Louisa stated mater-of-factly. She turned to the man with her. "Tim, wait outside."
When Tim was out of the room, Louisa walked across the room to meet Buck half way. She just stood in front of Buck and waited.
"Why?" was all he asked.
Looking at Buck, she had to admit she felt a flicker of something for him, but would not help him. "I had to. I owe Alejandro my life and I choose to serve him for he is like a father to me and I would do anything for him. I didn't know who you were when we met before, but once I knew, I could not go against him."
Buck listened and still didn't understand. All he knew was that he felt betrayed by this woman. "Where are we?"
"Not that far from Four Corners, actually, but far enough away that no one will find you." As she backed away towards the door, Buck called out.
"Wait! Who is Alejandro?"
Smiling, Louisa answered, "You'll find out soon enough."
"Chris, over here!" Vin called out.
As the others come to a stop, Chris rode up to Vin, who said, "Tracks go off in this direction toward the old Steely farm."
Chris looked up to the main road. "You sure? It's only five miles from town."
"Only one way to find out, Chris, but yeah, I'm sure."
Rejoining the others, Chris and Vin brought them up to speed on the old Steely farm.
Mary's ears perked up. "That sounds right."
Chris heard her and asked, "What?"
Looking at the men, she continued, "I had forgotten, but it would make sense. I remember hearing that this place had been sold about six months ago, but no one had ever moved in."
As they rode to the Steely farm, each hoped for the best. Buck held a special place in each of their hearts and they were damn sure gonna keep him there.
When they got within a mile of the farm, they staked the place out to gather information. All were surprised that there weren't men around the house. It looked like it there was just a few men guarding it. Right before they were about to move, Louisa walked out of the house.
Mary spoke up. "I'll handle her. Go find Buck." And with that she discreetly headed off to meet Lousia.
Ezra, like the rest of the men, watched her stealthy approach the house. "Should not one of us follow her to ensure her safety?"
Chris smiled. "Trust me. Be afraid for Louisa. Besides, with so few men it shouldn't take us long."
Don Alejandro de Madera was patiently waiting in the dining room of his new house. Finally, what he had waited for since his son's death was now at hand. 'Buck Wilmington will now know what my son went through.' He stood in time to see his two paid henchmen escort Buck into the room.
"Ah, Senior Wilmington, it is nice of you to join us." The Don looked at this right hand man, Alegro, and instructed him, "Tie him to the table."
Buck watched and listened. He knew that once he was tied up, there would be little chance for him to escape. With all of the strength he could manage, he broke loose of the two men holding him. His freedom was short lived when Alegro drew his gun and shot Buck in the shoulder.
The other two men picked him up and set him on the table. Once he was securely tied, Don Alejandro de Madera addressed Buck again.
"Now that you have been settled in place, "Do you know why you're here, Senor?"
Buck watched this man and noticed the coldness of his eyes. In his normal wisecracking nature, Buck replied, "Should I?"
As soon as those words left his mouth, the Don backhanded him. "Do not mock me, Senor Wilmington. Look close into my face and tell me what you see."
The Don backed away and stared at his son's murderer. He had thought about revenge on Inez, but it was not her fault. This man was the one responsible; he could have shown mercy, but did not. Now, the Don would show no mercy to Buck Wilmington. "Well, answer me!" the Don demanded.
Buck looked at him. The only thing that ran through his mind that seemed to have any connection was Don Paulo – and that was just because they were both Dons. "Don Paulo's father?" Buck knew it he was right as soon as the words left his mouth.
"You murderer. Do you admit it?" Don Alejandro chillingly asked.
Buck now looked shocked. "What are you talking about? I didn't murder him."
The Don flew back to Buck's side and towered above him. As he bent down, mere inches from Buck's face he said, "Yes, you did."
Buck refused to accept the lie. "No, he challenged me. Yes, we fought. I could have killed him, but didn't. You men speak of honor - Paulo was going to shoot me in the back and one of your men stopped him."
"SHUT UP." Don Alejandro screamed. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I've already taken care of him. Now, it is your turn." Turning Alejandro walked to a cabinet and unlocked it. After walking back, he placed the box on the table.
As he opened the box, he laid out the contents for Buck to see. "Senor Wilmington, do you have hobbies?"
Buck was now a little confused at the sudden change in the conversation. "Kind of," he answered as his dread grew. Seeing what Alejandro took out of the box did nothing to reassure him.
Looking at Buck, Don Alejandro grinned. "Hobbies are wonderful to have. After my son's death, I developed a new one. Shortly after his death, I met a doctor. You could say he was crazy, but he taught me a lot."
Buck listened while trying to loosen the ropes. He couldn't get them undone. He noticed that it was now just the two of them in the room. 'Where did the other men go?' he thought.
Don Alejandro continued to rant. "Look at these instruments. Aren't they beautiful?" The Don took out varying instruments of varying shapes and sizes, of the sharpness of the metal instruments the only element in common. Alejandro continued, "These instruments are wonderful at causing severe pain - when used correctly."
Buck saw a maddening gleam in the other man's eyes. Visibly gulping he thought his time had run out.
Meanwhile, the other five men moved on towards the house.
Vin took the house from behind and JD watched his back. Both men moved through the yard bent down. Once there, JD knocked on the door. Tim opened the door and received a punch thrown by Vin. The two then proceeded inside to find Buck.
Chris, Ezra, and Josiah moved toward the front of the house. To their surprise, the door opened before they reached it. Out walked Alegro and Bob. Seeing the three, men the two men drew the guns and fired. As they dove for cover, the trio returned the fire. Alegro and Bob went down, both men were dead.
Chris looked up to the house. "Come on, we need to find Buck."
So intent on Buck's torture, was he that Don Alejandro did not hear the commotion outside. He had placed stuck a scalped into Buck's shoulder, twisting it viciously.
Guns were still drawn as Chris, Ezra, and Josiah entered the house. They were about to split up when they heard an agonizing scream. All three hurried in the direction and crashed through the door.
"Don Alejandro, turn around," Chris demanded.
The Don ignored the gunslinger and continued twisting the scalpel into Buck's shoulder, making the incision larger.
When Buck let out another scream, Chris pulled the trigger to his gun and shot Alejandro dead. There were no second chances for the man mutilating the gunslinger's oldest friend.
At the sound of the gunshot, Vin and JD hurried into the room. They joined the others who had gathered around Buck, watching anxiously6 as Chris untied him.
Buck's mind was still foggy from the pain. He knew the danger was now over, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. When he was finally untied, JD helped Buck to sit up.
Vin examined his shoulder.
"How is he?" asked JD.
Vin looked up at JD. "He'll be fine. It's nasty, but he'll heal. Fortunately, the Don didn't get very far."
Chris let out a sigh of relief, only then remembering Mary. "We need to find Mary. She went after Louisa alone."
Mary continued her covert approach on Louisa and reached the barn first. She headed up to the loft to wait for her prey.
Minutes passed and Louisa finally made her entrance. She walked over to Amber and fed her horse a sugar cube. "This should be over soon and we'll be back home."
Mary waited for just the right opportunity. 'I can take her by surprise. It's not too far for me to jump.' So focused was she on the task before her, that she didn't realize that she was leaning on something. 'What is that smell?' Looking back down, she noticed that Louisa was almost in position. The bag in front of Mary was somewhat heavy so she threw all of her weight into the bag. Both the bag and Mary fell from the loft and landed on Louisa.
Unfortunately, Louisa was still conscious.
'Oh, wow, does this stuff smell.' Mary thought as she scrunched her nose. The awful smell almost but not quite distracted her from noticing a pain in her ankle.
Louisa sat up and shook her head. Once reality set in, so did her anger. "What the hell? You, what are you doing here?" Louisa reached out and grabbed Mary.
The two women were now struggling in earnest. Neither woman could get a good grip on the other or could even stand. They seemed to be sliding. After a moment they stopped and realized they were covered from head to toe in manure. 'Perfect,' thought both women and began struggling again.
Louisa actually managed to knock Mary down. Straddling her in victory, Lousia began to choke her. "Bitch."
Grabbing Louisa's hair, Mary managed to pull it, using the pain to distract Lousia and allowed Mary to knock Lousia off of her. "Whore."
Mary's right fist landed heavily on Louisa's face and momentarily stunned her opponent.
As Mary crawled off Louisa, she looked up to see six men standing at the door with varying expressions of shock and amusement on their faces. With an expression of disgust on her own face, she began to move away from her foe, but didn't make it too far because of the pain in her ankle. "And just what do you find so amusing?"
Chris immediately walked to her side to help. Placing his arm around her for support, he commented, "Nice job, only one problem."
Mary looked surprised. "What's the problem."
Chris looked at her and replied, "You stink." Turning away from Mary, he let a grin form on his face. "Before we move out, let's get these ladies washed off."
Mary threw her arms around Chris and hugged him tightly. Then, before the gunslinger could be too pleased with her actions, she drew away with a smile and said, "Now you don't have to worry about it, you smell just as bad."
Everyone broke out into a grin, except Louisa. She had taken the time to retrieve the gun she had stashed underneath her dress. "Where is my father?" Louisa spoke out.
All eyes rested on her. Buck took a step forward and answered, "Dead." As he turned his back, she picked up her gun and aimed.
"Watch out!" Ezra yelled, as he began to draw. But before he could fire another shot was heard.
Everyone watched as Louisa fell to the ground. She was shot through the heart.
JD lowered his gun and placed it back into his holster. He knew that this would be with him for awhile. He had never intentionally shot a woman before, but it was either her or Buck. JD's eyes moved to Buck who was now beside Louisa.
Buck didn't grieve for the woman before him because he didn't know her. However, he did grieve for the relationship he thought he had -- it just wasn't the right woman.
As the others looked, allowing Buck this moment, Josiah commented, "I'll go find the stuff for the burials."
Vin accompanied him to check on the one remaining man left in the house. Upon returning, Vin discovered that the man was long gone.
After the burials, they gathered all the horses and headed back to town.
