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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
- 7
- 8
- 9
Part Eight
Lyla lie on her left side and listened to Mary, who sat down on the dark blue setee, a few feet from where Lyla lay on the bed. "Mrs. Travis? Um, Mr. Larabee.... he sounds handsome and is very nice. Is he? Handsome, I mean?" Her left arm cradled her head on her pillow as she pictured what the smooth, masculine voice might look like. She smiled and remembered how his body frame felt. As the days had passed and she came to know Chris and the others more, she could tell Chris Larabee was completely different from who her brother was.
Smiling, Mary thought back to her first meeting with Chris and Vin. "Chris is very handsome and very nice. Much like how Jesse is with you." She recalled the look he gave her upon learning she had printed private things about him, in the town news. He had controlled himself in her presence but she could tell that his anger nearly boiled over from the misprints. Mary had also recalled catching glances at Chris, on the journey with a bunch of settlers and Gerard. Quite a few casual looks told her that Chris had become jealous of Gerard during the long trek yet hid his true feelings well, from her, as it was not his place to become emotional over someone he had only claimed as a friend. "He's had some hard times but, he takes care of those he loves, I think."
"What kind of faces do they have? Jesse has a soft, thin face with a handsome smile that sounds heavenly. Mister Tanner reminds me of Jesse, alot. They are both shy and reserved. Mister Wilmington...... he is sweet and kind but,--" Lyla paused and thought back to the campfire and then back, inside the schoolhouse, "he makes Jesse uneasy. Have I misjudged him? I would hope they aren't misleading me because I'm blind. I wasn't always so." Her expression changed to that of confusion. She thought she was a good judge of character, based on how people sounded and their mannerisms around her. Yet, her brother was quickly proving her naive in her speculations.
Mary didn't understand. "Makes Jesse uneasy, how, Lyla? Did something happen in Willow Ridge? The journey back, perhaps?" Knowing the past few weeks must have been traumatic for Lyla, Mary tried to place herself in the other woman's shoes.
Shaking her head, Lyla sat up. "I don't know. While I was waiting for him, in the schoolhouse, he left for awhile. When he came back, he was shaking and was injured. After we settled down, he mentioned he thought he saw his pa. The man he described was tall with black hair and a moustach. I know Mister Wilmington has a moustache. Every time he would take a sip if his coffee, his whiskers would brush against the lip of the cup. During the ride here, Mister Larabee and Mister Wilmington would talk to Jesse and I heard Mister Wilmington call Jesse 'son', several times. Mister Larabee would repeat what he said and Jesse would answer." She recalled how many times Buck referred to Jesse as "son" and could hear Jesse physically shiver from a few paces behind the horse she shared with Charlie, each time he said it.
"Jesse was terrified of his father, wasn't he?" Mary crossed her legs and leaned in. She was enjoying having a one on one talk with Lyla, keeping her calm and hoped she was helping her get some rest. Mary, herself, noticed Jesse eyeing Buck, as Nathan tended to Jesse's wounds from fighting with Charlie. She had noted the quiet fright in the youth's eyes as Buck moved from the celldoor, where Charlie had been put, to Jesse's bunk, for a closer look at him.
Lyla nodded. "Yes. He'd never say it, though. Mister McCall was always unhappy with him, no matter what he did. I only knew him for a short while and then-- Jesse isn't a cold-blooded killer. If he did kill his pa, I know he was only defending himself."
"Has he told you anything about that day?" Mary didn't want to ask but was curious to know why Jesse pulled the trigger and why Sheriff Drake was hell-bent against him.
Lyla shook her head again. "Only that it was a terrible day and he wishes he could undo it." She bowed her head in silent prayer for what happened. Her head lifted again as she thought of the trial. "Mister Larabee won't let Jesse hang, will he?" Lyla blinked and her brow furrowed as she pleaded with Mary.
Moving from the setee to the floor, kneeling in front of Lyla, Mary gathered Lyla's hands in hers and kept her voice calm. "I'm sure Chris and the others will help him as much as they can, Lyla. Best not to worry yourself, so much. You need your rest."
~~~~~~~
Jesse's head swam and throbbed with the horrid ache of being hit with the butt of the Sheriff's gun. He found himself getting uncomfortable with whichever position he chose. He had switched ends, to avoid dealing with the Sheriff, who remained locked up. He groaned and shifted again before sitting up and looking over to see Buck staring back at him. He felt sick but did his best not to vomit, even though, he probably would have felt better. Swallowing back the waves of nausea, Jesse wanted to ask for Laudnum but was afraid Charlie might use it against him, or that Nathan would give him too much. Sweat and heat surged through him but he shook his head, trying to clear the numbness.
Charlie laughed under his breath. "How's your head, Jess? Still seein' stars?" Charlie walked over and leaned on the bars separating them. He grinned maniacally. He had been watching the other prisoner for some time, sneering and scoffing at the other man's pain. He hadn't cared that he had become a prisoner, as well. "Come on, boy. You can take it." Laughing, Charlie watched Jesse fumble around, trying to keep his lack of composure from being too obvious.
Closing his eyes and sighing, Jesse bowed his head. "Well, Charlie, it feels better knowin' yer still in there. Some place you shoulda been a long time ago." On opening his eyes, he turned his head to look up at the incarcerated sheriff. "You reckon my pa's badge'll rescue you, this time?" Jesse grinned as Charlie shifted with a sneer. For the past two hours, he had remained quiet, patiently waiting for the sheriff to be released, or for his trial to start.
Charlie glared down at Jesse. "Well, now. If you hadn'ta handed it to me, practically, we wouldn'ta had this conversation. All that time sassin' your pa ain't taught you a lick o' sense. So, you just hush yer mouth and take yer medicine, boy." Charlie had forgotten all about Buck, who sat at one of the desks, leaning back in the chair with his feet crossed on the corner of the desk, watching and listening to them. Charlie winked knowingly as he met eyes with Jesse.
"You can't buy this judge, Charlie. Not like you bought Papa or Carson." Keeping his voice low, Jesse breathed a smile of relief, hoping for his first fair trial. Jesse thought back to the night he overheard his father and Charlie agruing about something, only to have it end with Sloan becoming intoxicated and taking his frustration out on him. He hadn't put it together until he argued with his father before shooting him. Charlie had been trying to buy out the businesses of Echo and had offered Sloan McCall a percentage to look the other way. From what Jesse could tell, Charlie had been trying to win over Sloan since before his sister was killed. Charlie had turned everything around to make it seem as if Jesse had been the one working against the sheriff and had succeeded until Charlie bought Judge Carson's guilty verdict. For three years, Jesse had been sneaking around Echo, trying to prove that his gun, although fired, wasn't his father's murder weapon. So far, he had been unsuccessful.
Buck sat in his chair and listened as best as he could to what they have been talking about. He had been interested in seeing them communicate without being able to physically attack one another. Buck had only met eyes with Jesse a few times but received nothing from Charlie. Contrary to his thinking, it had been Charlie who had tried his hardest to rile Jesse up, yet the young outlaw was not biting. Buck had to give Jesse some credit at being more grown up for not succombing to the sheriff's prodding. What had amused him more was that Jesse had been wise to the tactics and had even shut Charlie down, as the sheriff taunted with expectations of the upcoming trial as well as being released from the cell without need of a trial, first.
Finally, after an hour more of verbal abuse, Jesse stood up and forced himself to walk straight over to where Charlie still leaned on the bars between them and took a deep breath before saying what he had waited to say for so long, "Charlie, I know what happened that day. And, I ain't gonna take your blame no more." Jesse glared between the bars at the sheriff, feeling confident the Judge Travis didn't know anything about what happened in Echo but was willing to give him an unbiased trial, even if it angered the original judge.
Charlie sneered and reached out to grab the front of Jesse's shirt, pulling him close. "Maybe, maybe not. But, I garrauntee you ain't gonna ever come near my baby sister again." He paused as the barrel of Buck's Henry jabbed him in the shoulder. He had been so close as to snap Jesse's neck and he had wanted to but reasoned that it wouldn't do him much satisfaction due to, he would then be incarcerated for murder.
"Let him go and both of y'all back up." Buck's jaw clenched as neither of them moved. Cocking the Henry, Buck reiterated, "I said, 'let go and back up'. That means now." Glancing over to Jesse as Charlie let go of his shirt, he could see the outlaw's widened eyes fixed on him, waiting for the barrel to trained on him. Buck smiled as Charlie sat down on his cot, a twisted sneer on his lips, leaning forward with his elbows on his thighs. "Good boy. Don't move, now."
Jesse stood in the middle of his own cell and watched Buck speak to and belittle the Sheriff of Echo, Utah. As Buck turned his attention to him, Jesse swallowed the lump in his throat and backed up a few more steps, waiting for Buck to uncock the Henry and return it to the case it had been resting on when Charlie grabbed his shirt.
As the hour wore on, Buck kept a clear picture of Jesse's expression, in his mind and replayed it, analysing it and tried to make sense of how the younger man had looked at him, throughout their time of knowing each other, like he had seen a ghost. His attention was brought back as Nathan called his name for the second time, stating to let the sheriff out of the cell and then to check on Jesse's injuries. Standing up and stretching before grabbing the ring of keys that hung on the nail, on the support beam, Buck slowly walked up to the celldoor that kept Charlie inside. "Now, you behave, or I'll toss you back in here, myself. Comprende?" Buck unlocked the door and opened it, purposely leaning on the bars between the cells. His steady expression evened on Charlie as the sheriff stood and sauntered out of the cell, pausing to cast a smug smile over his shoulder at the pained outlaw who hadn't bothered looking up from the floor. Buck and Nathan watched the sheriff walk outside before Nathan closed the door and indicating to Buck to open Jesse's celldoor.
"Is he gone?" Jesse managed enough strength to ask, still not looking up from the floor as he heard the door unlock and open. His breathing had become ragged and he had started to sweat.
Nathan followed Buck into the cell, with his medical kit and glanced back at the door. "Yea, he's gone."
Jesse breathed heavily. "Good." Trying to force himself to his feet, the inability to stay conscious was overwhelming and as he stood up, he promptly fell forward and passed out, letting Buck catch him before he hit the floor. Though barely conscious, he had felt his body go limp as Buck picked him up and helped him back onto his cot to lay him down.
Nathan leaned over Jesse, examining him. "You hear me, Jesse?" Asking the question to see how coherent Jesse was, Nathan surmised that the young man had been overly dehydrated and the headache he had from being beaten only made it worse. In turning around, he asked Buck to fetch a basin of water and a clean cloth, from the counter beside the small stove. No sooner had he turned back to examine Jesse had Buck returned and knelt down, beside Nathan, slightly worried.
"He gonna be alright, Nathan?" Buck watched helplessly as Nathan applied the clean, wet cloth to Jesse's face and neck. His ears repeated the sound of Jesse calling him "papa" and tried to identify similar sounding words that would make sense but, came up with nothing.
Nathan examined Jesse every few minutes to see how fast he was recovering and nodded an answer to Buck. "Yea, he'll be alright. Needs some water, food and maybe sleep. I noticed he ain't touched his food and when Chris and I questioned him about his pa, it seems his pa was a little bit hard on him." Choking back the memory of Jesse's back, Nathan felt ashamed to see the remnants of a beating that shouldn't have happened.
"Those welts on his back? His pa beat this boy senseless, didn't he?" Buck asked, watching Jesse's sleeping face.
Again, Nathan nodded. "Lyla confirmed it to Chris and me, when we questioned her about him. Jesse showed us the evidence. Some are pretty bad. The sheriff told us Jesse was bad and terrorised his sister but, you get a beatin' like that, you learn to treat people like eggshells; fragile. Chris thought he was usin' her to cover up what he'd done. We were wrong." Nathan kept wiping Jesse down with the wet cloth, squeezing the cloth over his lips, to hydrate him. After a few more minutes of treating Jesse with the wet cloth, Nathan leaned in as Jesse started coming to. "You alright, son? You just got a bit overworked. You take it easy, for awhile."
"Gentlemen, I--" Mary had opened the door and paused in the doorway, trying to make sense of the scene before her. "What happened? Is he alright?" Closing the door behind her, Mary stepped forward and blinked a few times, focusing on Jesse. In waiting for Lyla to fall asleep, Mary had excused herself to take care of a few things, in the Telegraph Office. She had word from Jesse's mother, in Nebraska, and rushed over to give it to him.
Buck stood up and walked over to where Mary stood, just past the desk. Reaching out to place a hand on her arm, he explained Jesse wasn't feeling well and that it would be awhile before he was well enough to receive it. "He'll be alright. How's Lyla doin'?"
"That's good to hear." Mary took a breath before continuing. "She's fine. I finally managed to get her to rest. The telegraph is also addressed to the judge but, I thought Jesse might like to see it first." Mary glanced one last time over at Jesse and Nathan before telling Buck she would be back later on. She excused herself but glanced back again as she closed the door, behind her. Mary paused outside and stared down at the telegraph in her hand. She debated on waiting but the choice ate at her and, shaking her head, Mary headed back, towards the hotel to deliver the telegraph to the judge.
Nathan took the cloth away as Jesse still hadn't regained full consciousness. Turning to Buck, he thought of what to do to bring down the fever Jesse had developed. "I'm gonna run back to my room and grab my bag. See if I can take care of this fever before he boils over. You stay with him, until I get back?"
Buck nodded and quickly strode back over to kneel beside the cot. He focused on Jesse's pale and clammy face. "Hurry back." Buck retrieved the cloth Nathan had placed in the water basin and resumed wiping Jesse's face and neck with it. "Nathan," turning around as the healer was halfway to the door, "you might want to mention this to Chris, if you see him." He turned back to see a pained expression on the young man's face as Nathan hurried out of the jail, leaving him to feel helpless. "Hang in there, kid. It'd be a shame to make that pretty bride of your a widow, so young. So, you just hang in there."
~~~~~~~~~
Early evening and Lyla had become restless in her sleep. Terror-filled scenes replayed over and over in her mind. Her hands had felt nearly every inch of Jesse's face, hair and body. His scent after a bath and the feel of his warm arms around her gave her enough of an image that she could see him so clearly. She laughed and smiled as she could picture him with her but her smiles and laughter turned for the worse as Jesse had been ripped from her arms and dragged up, onto the scaffolding, the noose around his neck. "NO!" Lyla screamed, upsetting herself so much that she had flailed her arms and knocked herself out of bed to land harshly on the floor.
Vin had passed by on his way to his room for a small rest before his shift in the jail. He stopped beside the door, after hearing her scream, and removed his pump-action, sawed-off from his side. "Lyla?!" Shoving his shoulder to the door, he burst in and scanned the room for the young woman, finding her on the floor. "Lyla? It's Vin Tanner. Are you alright?" Checking the room, he remained in the doorway until she answered. He knew better not to approach someone who was sight impaired for fear they might have a weapon, for protection. "Lyla, it's Vin. Are you alright?" Repeating his question and moving forward, he kept his wits about him as he knelt beside her, replacing his weapon to its holster. He could see that she had been crying and had upset herself.
Still sitting on the floor, on the opposite side she had originally been on. She had been sobbing, covering her face with her hands, wiping the tears away. "No." Sniffling and gasping for air, her efforts to stop her crying failed at every attempt. She had worked herself up into a fit and had been finding it hard to come down from the excitement and desperation she had placed on herself. Her legs had curled to one side, dress wrinkled and hair mussed and loosely falling out of the braid Mary had done for her. Tears fell on her dress and hit with a deft thud on the material.
Vin was at a loss of what to do. Gingerly, he placed a calm hand on her left arm. "How about we get you up, off the floor. Alright?" His voice was calm and soft. Helping her to stand up, Vin was taken aback by Lyla wrapping her arms around him and sobbing into his chest. "Worried about Jesse, aren't you?" He patted her back and held her for a long moment, shushing her sobs until she could control herself enough to sit back down on the bed. "Hey, he's gonna be alright. You gotta believe that. Tomorrow, he'll get a fair trial. Judge Travis'll see to that." Vin knelt back down, in front of her, as she sat on the side of the bed.
Lyla gasped for breath and nodded in reassurance. She had calmed down considerably since Vin had come into the room. "Mister Tanner, I'm not very hungry but, would you mind escorting me for a walk, please? I think I would feel better if I was out of this room. For a little while, at least." Her hands went to her hair and did her best to smoothe back the free strands that had come loose.
Thinking for a moment and then looking up into her face and seeing a small smile, Vin nodded as he answered. "I'd be honoured, Miss Lyla. It's a bit chilly, out there. Can I get you a jacket?" Vin glanced aorund the room, eyes settling on the tall, simple brown wardrobe, at the far corner of the room.
Nodding, Lyla thought of where Mary said she had placed Jesse's duster, and a while shawl that Lyla had in her pack. "I have a shawl. I think Mrs. Travis placed it in the wardobe." Her head raised as if she had been looking at Vin. She smiled as he patted her hand and whispered that he would get it for her. She listened to his footsteps as he walked to the far side of the room, retrieved her shawl and walked back. As he placed the thin white material around her shoulders, her hand brushed his as she reached up to take hold of it. Smiling nervously and moving her hand away, Lyla had almost forgotten that it was Vin, instead of Jesse, standing there. "Thank you, Mister Tanner." She stood up and waited for him to guide her to the door.
Vin placed his hand over hers as she held on, moving down the hallway and then carefully making their way down the two flights of stairs before exiting the hotel. "Where would you like to go? Any direction, in particular?" Vin kept his voice as calm as Jesse had spoken, in the schoolhouse. They stood on the front walk and waited for her to make up her mind.
"I would like to go to the general store, please. Perhaps, they have some books to read?" Lyla sounded hopeful but her mind was far from reading anything other than the news of Jesse's innocence. She let Vin lead the way, making small talk with him about the evening. "I wasn't always blind, you know. I would love to see yellows and blues and greens, again." A smile played among her lips as she remembered being a little girl, running and playing at her father's ranch, just outside of Echo. She had loved the sight of sunkissed wildflowers and babbling brooks, the horses running around in their corral and chasing butterflies.
Giving her a smile in return, Vin wondered what she was thinking of that had made her so happy in that moment. "Musta been very happy." The night was now creeping in and the fires along the street were being lit, warming the night and burning off the low-rising fog that crept in.
Lyla nodded. "I was ten when I became ill. Father and Charlie took care of me, the best they could. Charlie left for awhile, going all over the territory. Father had nurses and a doctor take care of me. A judge even came to visit me. He came to help me with my affairs." Lyla giggled. "I was ten. I didn't have affairs but, father saw to it I had everything set, in case I passed. Father passed a year later. Mother took care of me, after I was well enough to discharge the nurse." Lyla hushed herself and remembered where she was and who's company she was in. "Forgive me. I tend to run on, sometimes."
"No apologies necessary, Mrs. McCall." Vin smiled. He had enjoyed listening to her chat about her origins and a happier time and place than where she was. He patted her hand as it rested on his arm. Movement in the distance caught his attention and he looked up to see Chris making his way over to them from the other side of the street.
"Please, call me Lyla." Lyla listened to the sounds coming towards them, recognising them and announcing their owner correctly, before he came to a stop beside them. "Good evening, Mister Larabee." It had taken her years to perfect her skill, not just with footsteps but by the way a person smelled, moved and spoke. She had practised on her brother and tested herself on Jesse and her teachers at the school for the blind and deaf.
"Good evening, Lyla. Out for a walk?" Chris had caught them in the middle of the street, as they paused by the fire to warm themselves. It had been a chilly evening and the wind had picked up considerably since he had stepped out of the jail.
Nodding again, Lyla clutched her shawl closer to her. "Yes. I had asked Mister Tanner to escort me to the general store, for hopefully something to read. Would you care to join us?"
Chris smiled as they started walking again.
Vin stepped up onto the walk, in front of the store and helped Lyla up the step. They stopped and Vin turned to Lyla, taking a breath, "Lyla, how did you know Chris was walking up to us?" He was curious and wondered if it could help in Jesse's defense.
Smiling again, Lyla reached up to feel the right sleeve of Chris's black duster. "Your coat, Mister Larabee, it makes the same swishing noise Jesse's does when he's wearing his guns. Your boots had the same rhythm on the street that they had walking across the floor of my hotel room." Swallowing and turning to Vin, she clarified knowing him, as well. "Mister Tanner, the leather of your coat has a clean smell but faintly gives off the scent of a pronghorn sheep, from Texas. I'm guessing around Comanche Springs? Also, your right leg walks heavier due to your firearm." Lyla smiled more confidently, not needing to see if she had been correct or not.
Chris and Vin looked down at themselves and then at each other. "Very good, Lyla. Are you sure you're blind?" Vin smiled back and escorted her into the store. He walked her up to the young woman behind the counter and then walked back over to where Chris stood, by the door.
"Spoke with Nathan, about Jesse. Seems the goin' over, Jesse got, was worse than he let on. He collapsed in his cell. Buck and Nathan are carryin' him over to Nathan's." Chris's expression flattened but hinted at being worried for the young man. "Just spoke with the judge and he's goin' over to see how Jesse's doin'." Keeping his voice low, Chris turned his head away from the inside of the store, even though Lyla and the clerk were on the far side of the room, busying themselves with books and papers.
Vin sighed and glanced over at Lyla, smiling and feeling the pages of the only braile book the clerk had in stock. "He gonna be alright for trial, tomorrow?"
Chris shook his head. "Dunno. Mary says Judge Carson is comin' from Cedar City. Might be here by mid-morning. Buck said Jesse and Charlie had an altercation, this afternoon. Jesse said somethin' about knowin' Charlie's secret. Tomorrow might get more interestin'. We need to be on our guard." Chris watched as Lyla paid for the book and turned to find her escorts. Waking over to her, he grinned as she took his left arm, for support, while carefully feeling her way through to the doorway, a few feet away.
Continued.
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Magnificent... 8?