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Magnificent... 8?	By : SisterWine Category: M through R > Magnificent Seven Views: 1621 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: MGM Home Entertainment and Mirisch Corp. own the Magnificent Seven. I make no claim to the series or characters. The other characters in the story, are mine.

Chapter List
- 1-Magnificent... 8?
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Part Four
- 5-Part Five
- 6-Part Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Chapter 8
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Eleven
- 2
- 3
- 4
The night before......
Sitting around a big, round table, in the upper level and in the far corner, of the split-level saloon, the men had their drinks and eats while they talked about what Charlie wasn't saying about the man he hunted. "I became the sheriff in Echo about three years ago. The first sheriff was a man named Sloan McCall. He married a widow and adopted her eight-year-old daughter. About a year later, they had a boy; Jesse. Sloan was about Jesse's age when he married that woman, an older woman. She had a husband that was good to her and that girl. But, he got sick with Typhoid and died. So, she and her daughter moved out west. When Jesse was 10, Sloan got mixed up in the war, down in Southern Arizona Territory. When he came back, well, he was different."
"War changes a man in many ways." Josiah had been quiet for the majority of the trip. He had been thinking about the circumstances of the situation and what it would mean for Jesse, if caught alive. Mostly, he prayed for the girl and that she was alright in the hands of a ruthless outlaw. He also prayed that Jesse would go quietly and let justice be done.
Charlie took another drink of his whiskey and set the empty glass down on the table and pushed it away with his finger. "Well, people talk in that town. Anyway, Jesse's sister died and his ma moved back to Nebraska, where her brother lives. Jesse stayed behind, with his pa. Since he came back from the war, though, Sloan was harder, rougher and when his wife left....." Charlie reached for the bottle he, Ezra and Nathan shared, poured himself another glassful and threw it back. The mouthful burned down his throat. ".....about eight years ago was when I met Sloan and the boy. I was his deputy. He was a good man until she left him. His temper got shorter. Jesse was a rowdy kid. Smartin' off to his pa, neglectin' chores. All he wanted to do was play with that gun. He got real good, too. One day, I was comin' back from helpin' the stage fix its wheel. I heard Sloan yellin' at Jesse, somethin' real fierce. Then I heard that shot."
JD sat forward from leaning back in his chair. "He shot his pa?"
"Yep." Charlie stared at the table. "Killed him where he stood, right there in jail. That day, I became the sheriff and he became my prisoner. The circuit judge came through, tried him and pronouced sentence, decided to hang Jesse for murder. Jesse tried to claim self defense but, Sloan loved that boy, and his ma. Anyway, while he was waitin', we started talkin' about a lotta things. But, everytime Sloan would come up, he'd shy away from it."
Buck nursed his glass of beer, thinking about the story Charlie was telling. "How did your sister get mixed up with him?"
Charlie sighed. "Lyla came out west with me, after our ma's funeral. She met Jesse the second day in town, about five years ago. Two years later, I sent her up to a place in Dakota Territory. There was a school that was teachin' people how to write and read for the blind. I didn't know just how bad she took a shine to him until she came back. By then, Jesse was still waitin' trial for murder. When it came time to hang him, my deputy and I were escortin' him out when he slipped right through our grasp and took off on that horse. He disappeared. Then, I found out Lyla was secretly in touch with him through that school I sent her to."
JD kept his hand on the gun Jesse had removed and used against him. His mind replayed the same scene over and over. Since he had joined the seven, he had grown considerably faster and had better aim. His focus stole glances to Chris. He was sure Chris had seen his fair share of people who were faster than he was and had grown faster, himself, because of it. But to have a kid of 21 be faster than Chris and JD combined, was unconscionable. "His pa teach him to be so fast, like that?"
"Nope." Charlie shook his head.
"So, what the Hell are we in for, with him? Does he just know some cheap palour tricks?"
Charlie smiled, knowingly. "Well, I'll tell you this much. He's so damn fast, he doesn't feel the need to prove himself." Nodding in affirmation, Charlie stood and excused himself for the night.
Chris had also been replaying what happened in the General Store, in his mind, but he thought about how many mistakes Jesse had made. Jesse chose to zigzag across the territory, knowing he was a wanted man with a kidnapped girl instead of leaving the territory. He shot and killed his own father but left Charlie alive to pursue him. He left the third man alive but killed the other two "miners". And then, left Lyla alone and himself unguarded, in the General Store, as well as not retrieving his package that he had dropped, once outside of the building. The package. Chris thought about the package that was left behind; the softness of it. Clothes, perhaps? By all means, Jesse had been sloppy for an outlaw.
Noticing his friend quiet and brooding, Ezra looked up from shuffeling the same deck of cards he held in his hand for over an hour and offered his two-cents worth. "Then, perhaps, we should use this time to come up with a plan to steal the fair lady away and not harm anyone else, in the matter?"
Chris said nothing but stared at the cards Ezra played with. "I think we should get an early start, in the mornin', startin' with finding Jesse and Lyla. If he is still in town, we need to find out where. Drake sounds about tempered enough to kill the boy, in attempt to get Lyla back. Jesse let down his guard once, to get that package, so let's see if he does it again."
"Why come out of hiding to get a package he left behind?" Nathan questioned.
Buck stood. "Let's find out. Shall we?"

~~~~
They sat around a roaring campfire, eating their supper and sipping on hot coffee. Charlie and Lyla sat the furthest away from where the still unconscious outlaw lay. He had been guarded mainly by Chris, on one side while the other took turns, sitting on the other side. Buck had removed the gunbelt and Colt, at the schoolhouse, before they draped him over Delby's back.
Next to Charlie, on his right side, sat Nathan, bandaging Lyla's swollen ankle from falling as she struggled to get away from Vin and Charlie upon leaving the schoolhouse. She had refused to speak to Charlie about the events leading up to where they were and barely tolerated anyone else in the party who wasn't Jesse. Lyla listened to the voices around her, getting a feel for their mentality as well as their mannerisms. She could hear Chris and Vin talking as the two got up and moved around the fire, to their horses, for provisions. But, it was Josiah who had calmed her down with his wisdom and Testament stories. They sat and talked for most of the mealtimes, on their way back to town.
Chris stood up to stretch his legs and traded spots with Vin while he went to relieve himself, behind a tree, away from camp.
Vin sat down on a fallen tree trunk, behind the prisoner who was stretched out, on his left side and facing the fire, and watch Jesse sleep for a few minutes. His head turned to see JD sitting down on the trunk, also. "Somethin' on your mind, JD?" He had noticed that the younger of the seven had been very cautious about being around the outlaw that now lay helpless and in cuffs, at their feet. Vin had collected Jesse's things and handed them to JD and Josiah, who had stayed with Jesse's horse, during the apprehention. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
Shaking his head and resting his hand on the holstered gun, on his right hip, JD's eyes never left the sleeping young man, scared that he might spring up with a gun he swiped from somewhere and kill him, instead of aiming for the jar of candy. "I don't know how he did it, Vin, but-- that was pretty damn fast, last night."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean,-" JD glanced over his shoulder to where Chris had disappeared before leaning over and looking back at Vin. "I walked up on his right and then Chris said something to him about handing it back to me. I looked down and my own gun wat sticking into my ribs. Not two--" JD glanced around, again, for Chris, "not two seconds before, both of his hands were holdin' that package, he wanted. Chris was a step behind me and by the time he came to a stop, Jesse already had his gun on him. I saw his eyes, Vin. Cold. Almost dead. I mean, Chris has his reasons for bein' who he is and pretty damn fast, too. But, Jesse made him look like a-- a-- an amateur."
Vin thought back to that morning's capture and how off-guard Jesse had been to not even reach for his gun, that had been beside him, or hear he and Chris make an approach. The look of shock and anger on the youthful face as Vin made his way cautiously over to where Lyla stood, in the schoolhouse. "He's just a man, JD. As human as any of us." What he and Chris had witnessed the two doing, that morning, spoke volumes of just how human the outlaw was.
JD looked down at Jesse, again. "How'd he get to be so fast?"
Sitting down on the other side of JD, Chris took a deep breath before answering the question. "A better question would be 'why'?" He elaborated as the other two looked over at him. "A man gets that good with practice but, that takes years and a lotta patience. He wouldn't be that good without havin' a reason to be. That Colt's a heavy gun for a young kid. With a small revolver, he'd probably be twice as fast."
As JD looked across the fire, to the Sheriff and his sister, he remembered sitting in the saloon, the night before, and listening to Charlie tell the seven of why he didn't like Jesse being with his only, blind, little sister. Upon asking Charlie about the extent of Jesse's abilities, all he received was the haunting reply of, "well, I'll tell you this much. He's so damn fast, he doesn't feel the need to prove himself." As the memory of Charlie nodding and excusing himself from the table, early, faded JD's mind raced of thoughts of what could have actually happened in the store, beforehand. "He could have killed me. Just, shot me where I stood."
"He coulda killed me, JD. Anyone of us. But, he didn't." Chris surmised, ready to drop the conversation.
JD smiled nervously and shook his head in disbelief. "Oh no, you were ready for him. Besides, you had yer gun on him, too."
Chris looked over at Lyla, sitting next to but not looking at Buck, whom she had been talking to for the past five minutes.
~~
Sometime in the night, the sleeping body, that had been unconscious for the day and half of the night, stirred. Silently, he opened his eyes and looked around. Raising his head off of his saddle that Nathan had placed there, as a pillow, Jesse looked for any sign of life. In turning his head to see the full circle around the fire, he was once again staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Mornin, sunshine!" Buck smiled from sitting on the log, beside his head. "Goin' somewhere?"
Jesse swallowed and turned to see Chris stand up from having just settled down for his turn at sleep, a few feet from where Buck sat. Pushing himself up to a sitting position, Jesse shivered after getting a good look at Buck in the fire light. "Have to piss, sir." It was only for an instant that he thought he was staring at the ghost of his father, holding a gun on him.
Buck cleared his throat and stood up, grabbing Jesse by the arm and pulling him to his feet. "Well, let's get to it, then." Turning his head and nodding to Chris, Buck shoved Jesse in front of him. Pushing him towards a far tree, away from camp. He knew to keep the young man away from his gun belt so, he emptied the bullets from the gun before replacing it in the holster. He had paid attention to Charlie's tale of just how fast the young man was believed to be and he knew it was possible but, he had never seen Jesse in action. It was almost fun to him to taunt and dare the outlaw to try something. He knew the others weren't far away and Jesse's gun had been placed in Chris's saddlebags. Lyla had remained quiet about the time she had spent with Jesse, leaving Buck to have his thoughts. He didn't see what Chris and Vin had, walking into the tiny schoolhouse. He also didn't figure that Jesse had been preoccupied and that was how they had managed to subdue the youth.
Upon grabbing the back of Jesse's shirt and pulling him to a stop, in front of a tall birch, Buck stood directly behind him and pressed himself against his prisoner, leaning over to whisper into Jesse's right ear. "Now, I heard you were pretty fast. Just so smooth and cold. But, if that were true, we'd still be huntin' you. That young lady, over there, is scared outta her pretty little mind about you. So, you just try somethin'. I dare ya. An' I will tan yer hide before you can even attempt at makin' a move to harm her, again. Comprende?"
Jesse nodded and was allowed to relieve himself. When he finished, he buttoned himself up but paused before he turned to face Buck. "Takin' me back to Echo?"
"Nope." Buck stood a foot away from him. He didn't dare give him privacy. "Not just yet. Those three men you killed, back there, were within our County lines. Pretty sure, the Judge wants to determine self defense or not. Then, you go back, with the Sheriff, to hang for killin' yer pa, boy." As Buck grabbed Jesse's arm, to take him back to camp, Jesse twisted out of his grip, grabbed Buck's Colt that had been in the holster, punched Buck in the stomach and shoved away from him, making his escape all within several seconds.
Jesse ran through the woods, Chris and Vin chasing after him. Buck had joined in, once gathering his breath from the punch. He had stumbled a few times but managed to get to his feet and evade being seen by his pursuers. Still in handcuffs, Jesse hid under an overgrown, Mesquite. With his back against the trunk, he waited there and caught his breath. Panting hard and trying to contain the noise he made, Jesse took the time to look over Buck's Peacemaker. Opening it up, his heart sunk a little as he found there wasn't any bullets. Deflated, he sighed.
In looking around, Jesse saw movement come from 50 feets away and scrambled to his feet. He ran for 20 more feet before being knocked to the ground by Vin. They wrestled for a few minutes but just when Jesse gained the upper hand, rolling on top of Vin, getting ready to punch him in the jaw, the butt of Chris's Peacemaker hit him between the shoulderblades and dropped him to the ground.
"Man, that kid has some energy!" Vin puffed as he got to his feet.
Chris stood over Jesse's unconscious body once again. "Been thinking about this mornin'. The look in his eyes, when I told him to pull out. That wasn't anger. Not even a boast. No, he looked at me like he saw the devil. Then there's the look he gave Buck. It was like..... He's scared of somethin', in that town, Vin."
"Murder does that to a man."
Shaking his head, Chris turned to see Buck slowly but surely running towards them. "You alright, Buck?"
Buck came to a stop beside Chris. "Where is he? I'll teach him to respect his elders. Punch me in the stomach and take my damn gun. I'll tan his hide." He growled and looked down to where Vin now knelt, retracting his earlier statement. Buck bent down and picked up his gun that Jesse had dropped when Vin knocked him to the ground. "Tell me something, how is it, he's supposed to so danged fast but you two have managed to catch this little runt, twice in one day?"
Chris thought it best to let Buck cool down before heading back to camp. "Just lucky, I guess."
Still kneeling beside Jesse, Vin saw a bruise on Jesse's back, where his shirt had pulled up. He was ready to say something when Jesse moaned and started coming around. "You alright, there? Shouldn'ta run." He could tell Jesse was in pain by the way he struggled to make it to all fours and then stand up. Nodding to Chris, Vin grabbed one arm while Chris grabbed the other and both pulled his to his feet.
When he turned around, he came face to face with an angry Buck. Taking a step back but still being held byt the two men, Jesse's eyes widened with fear but was quickly shaken away. "It don't matter where you take me. I'm as good as hung. The Sheriff'll see to that."
"Oh ye of little faith. Maybe the judge'll go easy on ya. That is, if you quit runnin' away 'fore you get to tell yer side of things." Chris draped an arm around Jesse's shoulders as they escorted him back to camp.
~~~~
Vin heated up a plate of some beans and dug out a biscuit, he had been saving for morning. Taking it over to where Jesse, Chris and Buck sat, back at the fallen tree, he handed it to the young man and noted Jesse had been starving from the way the outlaw hungrily accepted the food.
"Might wanna slow down, son." Buck leaned forward, over Jesse's left shoulder and whispered.
Jesse paused, hearing his father's voice and sentiment come from the bounty hunter behind him. Choking a bit, Jesse breathed and kept himself from throwing it all back up before shoveling another spoonful into his mouth.
Leaning over, Vin whispered into Chris's ear, "this kid's eatin' like his belly button's burnin' a blister against his backbone."
Chris nodded and watched Jesse eat, intently. "When was the last you ate, Jesse?"
Jesse paused again. Finishing the bite in his mouth, he thought. "Couple days."
"Why?"
Jesse shrugged. "Ran outta food."
Chris lowered himself to sit beside Jesse. "I saw yer pack. You were givin' your rations to Lyla so that you could save your money you left Echo with. In the General Store, you bought her a new dress. The one she's got on now, is all ripped up. Did you rip it, b'fore we found you?" Chris had his doubts that Jesse hadn't been the complete gentleman that he had portrayed himself as.
Shaking his head and hearing Chris's rising anger, Jesse answered promptly. "No sir."
"Don't lie to me, boy." Chris decided to play on a hunch he had, hoping Jesse would be completely honest with him, if he did.
Turning his head and staring pointedly at Chris, with Vin and Buck listening in, as well, Jesse once again held his calm in his answer. "Guess you won't believe me, then."
"Try me."

Continued.
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Magnificent... 8?