Vows
Prank Wars #1
He had caught the
mischievous twinkle of blue eyes only a second before it
hit,
and knew he had no time to get out of the way. Glaring
reproachfully
at
Chaucer from his perch on the ground, Ezra proceeded to wipe the
dust
off
his red coat before regaining his feet. JD and Buck were
snickering in
the
background, and even Chris seemed to find his position highly
amusing.
Luckily Nathan and
Josiah were back in town keeping an eye on things, and
therefore were unable to see his undignified dismount. Of
course, he knew
that
even second hand, he would be hearing about this for months.
Taking his reins
from a chortling Vin Tanner, Ezra looked up into his
lovers eyes and silently vowed war. He touched the brim of his
hat in a two
fingered salute at his tormenter, and Vin tipped his hat in
response.
Remounting, they continued on their way back to Four Corners.
2 Days Later
"Are the miscreants
still on our trail?" Ezra asked Vin, looking back over
his
shoulder in trepidation.
They had been out
on patrol for several hours when they had ridden directly
into
a camp of drunken cowboys who were still a little too quick with
their
guns.
They had been too busy concentrating on each other and hadn't
been
paying attention to the landscape. They had ridden out of there
post-haste,
but
the gang had taken it into their heads to mount up and follow.
"Don't think so,"
replied Vin. He fished his spyglass out of his saddlebag
and
raised it to his eye, checking the landscape for any sign of
their
pursuers. "Nope. We lost 'em."
Ezra sagged in his
saddle, relaxing for the first time in what felt like
hours. "Good. I do believe it is far past time we head home. I,
for one,
could
use a hot bath." He tossed a smirk in Vin's direction. "Race
you?" he
asked, then spurred Chaucer forward without waiting for an
answer.
Vin's curses followed him all the way home.
They rode into town
at a more sedate pace and headed for the livery to
stable their horses. Chris was inside, pacing.
"Where the hell have you boys been?" he growled.
"Calm down,
Cowboy," grinned Vin. "We're fine. Jest ran into some drunks
with
guns who thought it'd be fun to chase us fer awhile. Kept us out
a
little longer than we planned."
Ezra nodded his
agreement. "Indeed, Mr. Larabee, that is exactly how it
happened. Now, if you gentlemen would excuse me, I hear a hot
bath calling
my
name." Tipping the brim of his hat, Ezra strode out of the
stable and
headed towards the bathhouse.
Behind him he heard, "What happened to your eye, Vin?"
"My eye?" Vin sounded puzzled.
Ezra grinned and
hurried his steps. He was soaking in a hot tub when Vin
stalked in.
"What'd you do?" he growled.
Ezra merely pointed to the mirror.
Vin looked. Around
his right eye was a single, now smudged, black ring of
soot.
He picked up his saddlebags and pulled out his spyglass. He ran
his
finger over the end and held it up, covered in soot.
Ezra grinned at him. "You started it."
Vin's eyes narrowed
and he smirked at the gambler. "That's right. I did."
Tipping his hat in salute, he turned and left the bathhouse.
