Summary: “He’s just one kid against the whole town….” Sheriff Gains’ words echoed in my mind and my guts twisted as I scrambled up onto the roof of the livery stable. A missing scene from the episode The Gamble.

Rating: K+

Word Count: 891

This scene is set between the one where Little Joe follows the deputy into the stable, and when the sheriff visits the rest of the Cartwrights in their jail cell.

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“He’s just one kid against the whole town*….” Sheriff Gains’ words echoed in my mind and my guts twisted as I scrambled up onto the roof of the livery stable. Sure, I’d been in my fair share of tight corners before, but this time it was different. This time it was life or death. If it had just been my life on the line, I could deal with that, but it wasn’t. Fear prickled at my skin, pimpling it with gooseflesh. I had one chance and once chance only. A single false move on my part and we’d all hang, every last one of us: pa, Adam, Hoss…and me.

 

The men will come, my conscience nudged. I thought of the posse I’d rounded up the day before. Yes, yes they’d come to Alkali, but would they get here in time? That was the real question. I didn’t know how long they’d had to wait for Bob’s men to arrive before they set out. I didn’t know exactly when the sheriff would drag my family out of the jailhouse to make that long, slow death march towards the gallows for a crime none of us had committed. I didn’t know who all was involved in this frame job. I didn’t know.…

 

Shoving those thoughts aside, I squared my shoulders, slid the colt into my belt, and slowly opened the hayloft door. I quietly slipped through the opening and shut the barrier behind me, blocking out the light from the half-moon. Darkness enveloped me and I blinked, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the shadowy interior of the stable. Somewhere down below a lantern hung from a peg on the wall, but that tiny bit of light didn’t do much in the dimness of the loft.

 

A small creaking noise was the only warning I got before the cold muzzle of a pistol pressed against the base of my skull and I heard the ominous click as someone drew back the hammer.

 

“Mister, you just made the last mistake of your life,” the gruff voice of the deputy rasped across my ears, sending my heartbeat skyrocketing. Without thinking, I spun around, and threw up an arm to shove the gun out of the way, knocking it from Stan Mays’ hand in the process. It skittered across the floor, getting lost in the loose hay strewn across the hayloft floorboards, but I didn’t have anymore time to think about the weapon. He swung a roundhouse punch at my head that I only just avoided by ducking, and the fight was on. I jabbed with my left, fist grazing his stubble covered chin, but it wasn’t enough to knock him out. He stumbled, caught his balance, and then bull-rushed me, rolling the two of us over and over in the hay as we traded blows.

 

Suddenly, the ground disappeared and we were falling, the musty smell of horseflesh, leather, and dung blowing past our faces. We hit the ground with an oomph. Stars exploded in my head as my skull made sharp contact with the floor and my visioned grayed.

 

Don’t you dare pass out! I clung to consciousness with both hands, struggling to suck air into my stunned lungs. A high pitched whine filled my ears.

 

I needed to get up. I needed to find Mays before he tossed me back into that cell with my family. But most of all I needed to breathe! Slowly, every so slowly my lungs started to remember their job and the tiniest bit of air flowed into my oxygen starved body.

 

Good, that’s good, just breathe.

 

Now, to get up. That was easier said than done. Just rolling from my back to my chest sent my head spinning and my stomach roiling like a storm-tossed ship, but I wasn’t about to give up. My fingers slid in some musty hay as I dragged myself up onto my knees. Blinking away black spots, I noticed the slumped figure of the deputy lying a few feet away from me. He’d crash landed atop one of the feed bins and was out cold. Well now, that worked for me.

 

Like a newborn foal, I wobbled my way to my feet and checked my belt. Jim’s pistol was still there. A grin tugged at the corners of my lips. Well. That was something. My smile widened as I spied a coiled rope draped across a nearby stall door and a plan started formulating in my foggy brain.

 

The deputy started to moan and Jim’s colt slid into my hand sweet and pretty. A step or two and I stood over the semi-conscious man, pointing the black muzzle of my borrowed gun at his chest—even with my buzzing head, there was no way that I could miss.

 

“Look’s like the boot’s on the other leg, Mays. Now, you’re gonna tell me what I wanna hear or I’ll blow your head off.” I said, staring him right in the eye. One kid against the whole town I might be, but one way or another I was going to free my family…or die trying.

 

The deputy lay there, sizing me up. He must have read me right because he eased both hands into the air, a bleak expression crossing his bruised face and he nodded.

 

“What do you wanna know?”

 

“Everything.”

 

~ Finis

Author’s Note:

• This was written in response to a Bonanza Ballad challenge on Bonanza Boomers. I was given the song title One Way Or Another by Blondie and had to write either a story or a poem using only the song title for inspiration. This is the result of that challenge.
• “He’s just one kid against the whole town*” this line comes directly from the episode.