This story is an orphan – that is, the writer has not been active in the fandom for a long time, and the story has been rescued from the old, defunct Yahoo groups. So that we don’t lose the story entirely, we’re storing it here.
However the original author still owns this story. Should they reconnect with the fandom at some point, we will naturally respect whatever they want to do with their story.
Word Count 1,556
Johnny stumbled through the door of his bedroom trying his best to put one foot in front of the other before the floor moved any quicker than it already was. He spied his bed and took several quick determined steps towards it before it moved. Unfortunately he wasn’t quite quick enough and it leapt towards him catching him just below his knees throwing him forward. Luckily for him this time he was faster and managed to catch it in a kind of spread eagled fashion. That’ll do he thought, just got to hang on tight.
Bonnie are you alright? He heard. Bonnie! There’s a woman in here? Where?
Johnny, Johnny are you alright?
Oh! No woman then!
Yeah Scott, I’m fine
You’re not drunk then?
Nah, brother, just too much to eat
Riiiiight, OK then, see you in the morning
ZZZzzzzzzzz
——————–
CRASH, BANG, CRASH!
What the F**K, thought Johnny as he was suddenly woken, He opened his eyes, thought better of it and scrunched them tight again.
Bang, GOOD MORNING BROTHER, TIME TO RISE AND SHINE came the bright and breezy voice of his brother.
Inside voice Scott, inside voice….. Please!
BREAKFAST IN TEN JOHNNY, MURDOCH IS EXPECTING YOU
!!!!!!!!
——————————
The sun was just starting to heat up the day as Johnny came across a small pond; I’ll just dunk my face and neck he thought getting down off Barranca. As he led Barranca down to the pond he noticed the edge of the pond was quite sandy, looking around he spotted a tree that would shield him from sight of anyone riding past. Well looky at that Barranca, we can catch ourselves a quick siesta; let that breakfast settle in my belly.
He loosened the saddle then ground tied Barranca and walked over to the tree, clearing the leaves and debris with his foot he settled down. Lying back with his hat shielding his eyes he could feel the warm sand moulding to his body. Yep, just a few minutes to let my belly catch up with my legs and then we’ll be off again he said to Barranca.
Johnny lay there listening to the sounds around him, the gentle breathing of Barranca as he foraged for food, the sounds of insects in the grass and the birds in the tree above him. The gentle breeze cooled his face and the warmth of the sand seeped into his bones making him feel very relaxed. … and sleepy! This is nice he thought, full belly, nice spot and just him and Barranca, It seemed like a very long time since he had just stopped and considered his life, not since he arrived at Lancer just two months ago, no longer actually, the last time had been the night before he was due to be executed.
What a whirlwind he thought, there he had been all prepared to meet his maker …… yeah right! When along came the chubby faced Pink. Johnny chuckled at the memories of that man; obviously he didn’t know you just didn’t ride up to an execution waving money around like that. Boy, was he glad to see him though, he couldn’t believe what he wanted though. His Father wanted to see him and was offering a $1000 for an hour of his time. He remembered saying ‘Lancer’, the Pink hadn’t caught on but he slipped the name in as a way to make sure. Sometimes, just sometimes mind, he had doubts about what his Mama said about his father being a rich gringo rancher called Lancer, after all she had a habit of stretching the truth to fit what she wanted, just sometimes mind! The Pinkerton man didn’t say no when he said Lancer so maybe that wasn’t one of Mama’s alternate realities. He’d hightailed it after that right sharp, well until the sorry excuse for a horse he’d stole off the Rurales died underneath him. Ten miles outside Moro Coyo, stupid, stupid horse!
That’s when my luck really started to change thought Johnny as he remembered the stage coming down the road. Scott….. now Johnny was really chuckling, so much so his belly started to complain, he stopped thinking about the frilly white shirt and ridiculous hat very quickly and focused on his first meeting of Teressa, nice body there, Dios why did she have to open her mouth! Although what came out of it was certainly a shock to his system. A brother, wow! He could hardly speak on the trip to the Estancia, not only was he nervous of meeting his father but he just couldn’t take in that finally he had a wish granted, that had never happened to him before, but there he was sat right up front, his very own brother. Shame about the clothes!
The first meeting with his Father had not gone as he planned. His intention was to take the money, yell a lot and then leave. So much for plans! When he had first seen Murdoch, his only thought was I got a Pa; it took a lot out of him to look unimpressed and even more to stop him throwing himself at the man and begging him to keep him. He’d covered up well he thought grabbing the money and being as obnoxious as he could.
Johnny snuggled deeper in the sand while he mulled over that little episode in his brain, the warmth and peace of the place trying to pull him into sleep. A snort from Barranca had Johnny sitting up and looking around, satisfied there was no one there he turned to Barranca, you remembering too amigo, smiling he lay back down. Maybe Barranca was thinking of their first meeting and of Scott jumping over those fences. That had worried Johnny; he knew Barranca was the horse for him but what if Scott decided he wanted him too? Would Johnny loose out to the eldest son? No way was he giving up Barranca. That had been what spurred him on to go into town so quickly so as not to give Scott or anyone else the chance to take his horse away from him.
He’d been surprised to see Scott and Teresa casually rolling up, didn’t they realise it was dangerous and in those clothes Scott screamed ‘Shoot me, Shoot me’! He’d been even more surprised with how well Scott coped with Coley. He’d ridden out shortly after they left and caught up with them at the river, trying not to let Scott see he was actually worried about him. It got a whole lot easier after that sucker punch!!! He’d nearly lost it all then, he’d felt his temper getting the better of him and was just going to ride away and leave them all to it. Then Teresa had opened her mouth, again! What she’d said about his Mama, well that just hurt, hearing his Father called for his Mama when he was ill, well that meant something didn’t it?
After that everything went haywire, Scott rode out on a dammed fool’s errand, Murdoch agreed with Scott and Johnny? Well he’d done it his way. He lay there recalling racing towards the Estancia, praying they wouldn’t shoot him and they would recognise him. Then that dammed bullet to the back and Scott running out to help him. He remembered trying to walk towards his Father not wanting to show weakness and hoping his Father would come for him, but all he’d got was blackness instead.
Then there had been weeks of lying in his bed being fussed over and coddled. He had enjoyed it if truth be told, especially when his Father would sit with him. They didn’t talk much but it made Johnny feel safe.
Finally there was yesterday! They had gone to town to sign the agreement. He still wasn’t sure of his Father and expected to be booted out any second. He was stood there chewing his stampede strings nervously as he watched Scott sign the agreement. Then it was his turn, with his stomach churning he approached the desk when suddenly Murdoch called a halt to it. This is it thought Johnny; this is where he shows me the door. When he realised that the Old Man was offering acceptance of him being Johnny Madrid it was like a huge weight had lifted from his shoulders and he had signed his name with eagerness. Johnny Lancer!
Then had come the celebration at dinner, where he had definitely, definitely not drank too much, he was a gunfighter after all and had to be aware at all times and he would have a huge hangover this morning if he drank too much last night! Johnny smiled finally he had a home, he was safe, he had a brother AND a Father. The lull of the warm sunlight and gentle breeze finally worked its magic and he fell into a deep sleep.
———————
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The 3 shots had Johnny leaping up gun drawn and ready looking straight into the eyes of his brother
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING SCOTT? He said peering through the dark night…. wait dark night, what the hell happened to the warm sunlight and the gentle breeze?
Just letting our Father know we have found you safe and sound…. well for now anyway
SHIT!
.
Jackie Kay,
23rd October 2009
.
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT
Thank you for reading! The authors listed on this site spend many hours writing stories for your enjoyment, and their only reward is the feedback you leave. So please take a moment to leave a comment. You can do so using the ‘reply’ box below.
Sadly, we can’t pass the comment on to the author, as we don’t have a current email address. Don’t let that stop you commenting! If the author reconnects with the fandom in the future, she will see how much her work is appreciated.
.
Lancer FanFiction - Lost Authors 
Leave a Reply