Missed Chance (by pjb)

Summary:  A quiet night on the trail and a flask of whiskey lead to contemplation of chances and choices.  A WHN for “False Witness.”

Rated: K+  WC 1800

 

                                            Missed Chance

 

Moonlight filtered through the branches overhead.  One of the horses snorted.  If Joe had turned around, he could have seen that the campfire had died down while he’d sat here on the end of the buckboard, his crutch leaning against the side as he remembered.

He heard the footsteps behind him, but he didn’t turn.  Moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You okay?” came his big brother’s gruff voice out of the darkness.

“I’m fine,” Joe said, even though he knew his tone exposed him as a liar.

“Your leg botherin’ you?” asked Hoss, not moving his hand.

Joe shook his head.  “Leg’s fine,” he said.  It was a lie, of course—the bullet had ripped through his thigh only two days earlier, and with all the pushing and shoving and fighting of that morning, when the Slader gang had dragged them out of the courthouse, the wound was hurting like blazes.  But that wasn’t why he was up, and they both knew it.

“You liked her, didn’t you?” asked Hoss when Joe said nothing more.

Joe turned at last.  “She was a pretty little thing.”

“Don’t you two ever sleep?” asked Candy as he came up behind Hoss.  They hadn’t heard him coming; he was as quiet as an Indian.  It used to spook Joe something fierce, but he was used to Candy’s ways by now.  Candy watched a whole lot more than he talked.  He had a temper on him, but when it came to important matters, he kept his feelings to himself and let other people do the same.

Which was why Joe was surprised when Candy asked casually, “You okay, Joe?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” said Joe.  With anybody but these two, he’d have been annoyed at the question.

Candy shrugged.  “I saved us a little something,” he said.  “Figured at least one good thing had to come out of that town.”

Joe turned to see the glint of moonlight on the flask.  He smiled ruefully as he took it.  A good swig, and he passed it on to Hoss.

“So, why are we all awake in the middle of the night?” asked Candy.

“I don’t know what you’re doing up,” Joe said pointedly.

Anybody else would have taken offense at Joe’s tone, but Candy knew better.  “It’s that girl, ain’t it,” he said, and it wasn’t even a question.  When Joe didn’t respond, Hoss handed the flask back to him, and Joe took another swig.  Without comment, Hoss took it back and led the way back over to where the embers of the campfire still glowed near their bedrolls.

“She was a nice kid,” Candy said, squatting to poke at the fire.  “Lousy taste in men, but cute.”

Joe watched the hot red sparks spiral up into the darkness.  A pretty little thing.  A nice kid.  Lousy taste in men.  Cute.  It didn’t seem like much to leave behind at the end of a lifetime.

He wasn’t sure when he’d first thought of her as something other than Mr. Haskell’s pretty blonde clerk.  After the shooting, when the four of them were herded into the hotel suite, he wondered what she would be like to live with.  They were all together until Billy Slader’s trial; the sheriff said it was the only way he could keep them alive to testify.  Valerie seemed nervous, but Joe chalked that up to the fact that she’d just watched a robbery and a cold-blooded murder, and now she had to move in with three cowboys she’d never met.  It didn’t occur to him that she might have any other reason for being nervous.

But then, Candy tried to get her upset that first evening, and Joe had come into the parlor of their suite to see her on the verge of tears.  Even though Candy admitted that he’d only said what he did to try to get her to let her feelings out, Joe had stood ready to protect her, and it had taken him a little while until he was willing to see that Candy meant the best.

And then, after Joe had been shot, when she was so sweet and worried, and so helpful when he limped back into the parlor—he’d felt something then.  Before then, to be honest.  Hoss and the doctor had told him to stay in bed, but he’d insisted on getting up.  A nice girl like Val would never come into his bedroom, and he wanted her to see that he was all right, that there was nothing to be afraid of.  So, he’d made Hoss help him on with his pants, and he’d ignored his big brother’s smirk as they made their way back into the parlor, where she’d waited so anxiously.

The night breeze was picking up.  Without being asked, Hoss helped Joe sit down on his bedroll.  Candy passed the flask back again, and Joe drank.  His leg wasn’t throbbing as badly now.  He handed the flask to Hoss as he said, “She just wanted what we have.”

“Uh-uh,” said Candy.  “She wanted more than that.  She wanted to be able to have it all without working for it.  Nobody gets that.”

Joe grunted.  “And she thought Billy Slader was the answer to her dreams,” he mused.  “Piece of dirt who probably never did an honest day’s work in his life.  Wonder what she ever saw in him.”

“I reckon he jest came along at the right time,” said Hoss.  “Prob’ly made all sorts of promises, an’ there wasn’t anybody to tell her not to listen to him.”

“She said her money had run out,” Candy said philosophically.  “A girl with no money and no folks—she’s likely to believe pretty much anything if a fellow says it right.”

“That’s pretty harsh,” said Joe.  He’d have been rougher, but the whiskey was soothing the sharp edges of his hurting.

“But it’s true,” said Candy, and Joe didn’t disagree.

The three of them passed the flask around another time, and another.  Joe fell silent, thinking of that silken blond hair and those big blue eyes and the fierce red blood on her dress.  Unable to stand, he’d dragged himself over to where she lay dying, and gently, he’d lifted her head from the dirty street.  He knew as soon as he saw her that there was no chance left, but he promised that they’d get her a doctor, as if that could make any difference.

In the end, the only thing he could do was to hold her hand as she died.  He wondered now if that had made any difference to her, either.

“She shot Billy for lying to her,” he said, just like they’d been having a conversation all along.

Candy shook his head.  “She shot Billy ’cause he broke her heart.”

“You don’t know that,” Joe pointed out.  “You weren’t there.”  Hoss and Candy hadn’t come on the scene until almost everything was over—the fight, Doug Slader’s scornful laugh at Val’s dreams of a ranch, Billy’s matter-of-fact shrug as he prepared to ride off without her.  Val shooting Billy.  Doug shooting Val.  By the time Hoss and Candy got there, Val was dying in Joe’s arms, and there was nothing anybody could do.

“No, I wasn’t,” agreed Candy.

“So how do you know?” Hoss asked.  It wasn’t quite a challenge, but it was close.

“’Cause she loved him,” said Candy.  “That’s the only reason a woman would kill the man she loved.”

Joe considered this.  Val had loved Billy Slader.  Loved that worm with his dirty-faced smirk who hadn’t cared two bits about making her happy.  She’d watched him kill Mr. Haskell, and she’d sat there on the witness stand and cried about it, and then she’d lied so that Billy could go free.

Nobody’s thinking about Billy Slader, she’d protested just last night, as she and Joe sat together in the parlor.  But Val had thought about him.  She could have had a life, but instead, she’d chosen Billy Slader.

He could feel the others watching him in the flickering light of the campfire.  He didn’t know if it was the whiskey or the gunshot wound or Val, but suddenly, he was so tired he couldn’t sit up any more.  He grunted them a good night as he lay down and pulled his blanket around him, turning his back to the camp.

This morning, she’d been alive, pretty as a day in spring.  This morning, his biggest concerns had been how much longer they’d have to stay in Sanddust and whether she’d like the Ponderosa.  Pa would have liked her.  And maybe, with Billy Slader hanged and the trial behind them, maybe there would have been a chance for him and Val.  He didn’t know if what he’d felt for her was any more than protectiveness, but he’d have liked a chance to find out.

He heard somebody kick dirt over the fire.  Hoss lay down next to him.  He could hear the horses shuffling and the whisper of the breeze in the trees.  Overhead, the moon glowed the way it did every night, whether somebody had died or not.

She’d made her choice.  She chose Billy, and then she chose to kill Billy.  She couldn’t have gotten out of there alive, no matter what.  Sometimes, people boxed themselves in, and there was no escaping after that.

Joe rolled onto his back.  His leg was hurting more now.  He’d have Hoss look at it in the morning.  They’d get an early start, and they’d probably be home by supper time.  Life would go on.  It always did.

The hand on his arm startled him this time.  He turned to see Hoss watching him in the moonlight.  After a minute, Joe just nodded.  There was no point in saying it out loud.

Hoss watched him a little longer.  Then, he squeezed Joe’s arm.  “’Night, Little Brother,” he whispered, quiet enough that even Candy wouldn’t have heard.

Joe nodded again.  Eventually, Hoss’s snoring joined the other night sounds.  Candy never snored, but Joe knew he was asleep anyway, over on the other side of the embers.

And Joe lay on his bedroll, watching the moon, waiting for the sun to dawn on a new day so that he could start over again.

 

 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

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Author: pjb

Still human.

7 thoughts on “Missed Chance (by pjb)

  1. It’s easy to tell that Joe really wanted to have the opportunity with Val. But with her heart locked on Billy it was never going to happen. I found Candy’s observations about the girl intriguing. A nice follow-up to the episode.

  2. ‘She wanted to be able to have it all without working for it. Nobody gets that.’ Interesting observation from Candy here … I think this situation would be definitely something Joe would lose a few nights of sleep over — he would feel for her, even after all that had happened. Nice follow up to this episode, thx for writing!

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