Posted by Eleanor on 11/4/2001, 10:35 pm I want to thank you for your patience in waiting for the next act of Mongoose. It will be rewarded. In the meantime, I thought I'd post the _original_ version of Mongoose, all that there ever was gonna be when I first thought of the idea. Mongoose Vin walked down the stairs into the saloon proper, the leather satchel in which Stutz had carried his ten thousand dollars in one hand, the body of the dead assassin's rifle creadle in the other. He joined five of his associates at the table Ezra had long ago staked as his territory, tossing the bag onto the table. It landed with a solid 'thunk'. "I knew he'd take the money," Nathan said, smiling as he shook his head. For once, he was grateful for Ezra's greed. It had been the only thing that had saved the gambler's life earlier that day. Vin carressed the barrel of his new rifle. "Ezra ain't no thief." Chris took the toothpick from between his teeth and looked at the tracker. "He took money that didn't belong to him." "That money didn't rightly belong to anybody," Vin said as Nathan produced the bloody ten dollar bills he'd taken from the lining of Ezra's jacket, hanging them over to Larabee. Chris did a quick estimate of the money he held in his hand, and came up with a rough figure of of fifteen hundred dollars...or about one seventh of ten thousand dollars. Putting the bills down, Chris grabbed the satchel, opening it quickly. Inside lay the rest of the ten thousand dollars. "Sh*t," the gunslinger muttered. He looked over at Vin. "I didn't mean it like that...." "Maybe not.... But that's how he heard it, Pard." "Heard what?" Nathan demanded, confused. "Don't let Ezra tie this up in knots, now. He stole that money." "No," Chris corrected. "Least, that ain't how he'd see it. He took his share...but only after we told him we thought he'd steal ours." "Repeatedly," Josiah sighed. "I don't understand," J.D. admitted. "That's what he wanted to do with the money," Chris told the youngest member of the seven. "Split it among the seven of us." "We ain't gonna do that, are we?" Buck asked, suddenly anxious. "No," Chris sighed, dismissing the tantalizing vision of a breeding stock of quarter horses. "We ain't." "His Ma wants him -- and two thousand dollars -- in St. Louis," Wilmington explained to the table. "I know," Chris said quietly. "Lotsa ways for Ezra to come up with two thousand dollars if'n he aint working with us no more," Vin remarked to no one in particular. "C'mon, Vin!" J.D. protested. "We all knew he couldn't resist taking that money!" "Seems to me we didn't give him much of a reason to try," Vin said softly, his fingers plaung oaling the barrel of the rifle cradled on his shoulder. He turned his gaze to lock with Jackson's. "I've been a monster in my time, Nathan. The difference between then and today was the trust of a friend." "Money does funny things to a man," Josiah said, looking down at his hands. "We all know Ezra places money above all else." "Reckon Mrs. Travis knew that, too," Vin countered softly. Silence gripped the table. Ezra hadn't known his luck would make a serious injury of a mortal wound when he'd thrown himself on Stutz's gun to save Mary. "Can't remember the last time I followed a prisoner into the outhouse," J.D. mused, looking across the table at Chris. "Me, neither, kid," Chris sighed. "We trust Ezra," Natha said. "Just...not with other people's money, like he admitted." "Other people's money ain't the same thing as _our_ money," Vin said. "That's what the ten thousand dollars is to Ezra -- our money. Reckon if I thought my compadres couldn't trust me with their money, the don't trust me with their lives -- which means I'd best thing twice about trustin' 'em with mine." Vin paused a moment, looking at Nathan, then at Chris. "Ezra told me once that his profession's all about pleasin' people, findin; out what they want from you and givin' it to 'em. SOunds to me like that's just what he did." The tracker pushed his chair back from the table and rose, the rifle moving along with him like he'd been born with it attached. "Gonna go see how Ezra's doin', see if he's up to playin' some cards." "He cheats," Nathan warned, laughing. "Not us," Buck said, standing up beside Tanner. "Now Louisa's gone with the stage, I got some time on my hands. Mind if I join ya?" Vin inclined his head to Buck, and lead the way up the stairs to Ezra's room. "Who's Louisa?" Chris asked. "The redhead that worked for the governor," J.D. explained, watching Wilmington with concern. "Buck asked her to marry him, but she didn't wanna give up her career." Chris spilt his whiskey. The End As I said, I hope that this, and the 91,000 words already posted in the five acts, justifies your patience and steady encouragement. Thanks! Eleanor
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