{"id":4934,"date":"2014-04-29T17:04:50","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T21:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4934"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:16:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:16:39","slug":"missed-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4934","title":{"rendered":"Missed Chance (by pjb)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>A quiet night on the trail and a flask of whiskey lead to contemplation of chances and choices.\u00a0 A WHN for “False Witness.”<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0K+ \u00a0WC 1800<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Missed Chance<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moonlight filtered through the branches overhead.\u00a0<\/strong> One of the horses snorted.\u00a0 If Joe had turned around, he could have seen that the campfire had died down while he\u2019d sat here on the end of the buckboard, his crutch leaning against the side as he remembered.<\/p>\n

He heard the footsteps behind him, but he didn\u2019t turn.\u00a0 Moments later, he felt a hand on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou okay?\u201d came his big brother\u2019s gruff voice out of the darkness.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d Joe said, even though he knew his tone exposed him as a liar.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour leg botherin\u2019 you?\u201d asked Hoss, not moving his hand.<\/p>\n

Joe shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cLeg\u2019s fine,\u201d he said.\u00a0 It was a lie, of course\u2014the 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.\u00a0 But that wasn\u2019t why he was up, and they both knew it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou liked her, didn\u2019t you?\u201d asked Hoss when Joe said nothing more.<\/p>\n

Joe turned at last.\u00a0 \u201cShe was a pretty little thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you two ever sleep?\u201d asked Candy as he came up behind Hoss. \u00a0They hadn\u2019t heard him coming; he was as quiet as an Indian.\u00a0 It used to spook Joe something fierce, but he was used to Candy\u2019s ways by now.\u00a0 Candy watched a whole lot more than he talked.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Which was why Joe was surprised when Candy asked casually, \u201cYou okay, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t I be?\u201d said Joe.\u00a0 With anybody but these two, he\u2019d have been annoyed at the question.<\/p>\n

Candy shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI saved us a little something,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cFigured at least one good thing had to come out of that town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe turned to see the glint of moonlight on the flask.\u00a0 He smiled ruefully as he took it.\u00a0 A good swig, and he passed it on to Hoss.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, why are we all awake in the middle of the night?\u201d asked Candy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing up,\u201d Joe said pointedly.<\/p>\n

Anybody else would have taken offense at Joe\u2019s tone, but Candy knew better.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s that girl, ain\u2019t it,\u201d he said, and it wasn\u2019t even a question.\u00a0 When Joe didn\u2019t respond, Hoss handed the flask back to him, and Joe took another swig.\u00a0 Without comment, Hoss took it back and led the way back over to where the embers of the campfire still glowed near their bedrolls.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was a nice kid,\u201d Candy said, squatting to poke at the fire.\u00a0 \u201cLousy taste in men, but cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe watched the hot red sparks spiral up into the darkness.\u00a0\u00a0A pretty little thing.\u00a0 A nice kid. \u00a0Lousy taste in men. \u00a0Cute.<\/em>\u00a0 It didn\u2019t seem like much to leave behind at the end of a lifetime.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t sure when he\u2019d first thought of her as something other than Mr.\u00a0Haskell\u2019s pretty blonde clerk.\u00a0 After the shooting, when the four of them were herded into the hotel suite, he wondered what she would be like to live with.\u00a0 They were all together until Billy Slader\u2019s trial; the sheriff said it was the only way he could keep them alive to testify.\u00a0 Valerie seemed nervous, but Joe chalked that up to the fact that she\u2019d just watched a robbery and a cold-blooded murder, and now she had to move in with three cowboys she\u2019d never met.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t occur to him that she might have any other reason for being nervous.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 Even though Candy admitted that he\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

And then, after Joe had been shot, when she was so sweet and worried, and so helpful when he limped back into the parlor\u2014he\u2019d felt something then.\u00a0 Before then, to be honest.\u00a0 Hoss and the doctor had told him to stay in bed, but he\u2019d insisted on getting up.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 So, he\u2019d made Hoss help him on with his pants, and he\u2019d ignored his big brother\u2019s smirk as they made their way back into the parlor, where she\u2019d waited so anxiously.<\/p>\n

The night breeze was picking up.\u00a0 Without being asked, Hoss helped Joe sit down on his bedroll.\u00a0 Candy passed the flask back again, and Joe drank.\u00a0 His leg wasn\u2019t throbbing as badly now.\u00a0 He handed the flask to Hoss as he said, \u201cShe just wanted what we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-uh,\u201d said Candy.\u00a0 \u201cShe wanted more than that.\u00a0 She wanted to be able to have it all without working for it.\u00a0 Nobody gets that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe grunted.\u00a0 \u201cAnd she thought Billy Slader was the answer to her dreams,\u201d he mused.\u00a0 \u201cPiece of dirt who probably never did an honest day\u2019s work in his life.\u00a0 Wonder what she ever saw in him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon he jest came along at the right time,\u201d said Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cProb\u2019ly made all sorts of promises, an\u2019 there wasn\u2019t anybody to tell her not to listen to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said her money had run out,\u201d Candy said philosophically.\u00a0 \u201cA girl with no money and no folks\u2014she\u2019s likely to believe pretty much anything if a fellow says it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s pretty harsh,\u201d said Joe.\u00a0 He\u2019d have been rougher, but the whiskey was soothing the sharp edges of his hurting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s true,\u201d said Candy, and Joe didn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n

The three of them passed the flask around another time, and another.\u00a0 Joe fell silent, thinking of that silken blond hair and those big blue eyes and the fierce red blood on her dress.\u00a0 Unable to stand, he\u2019d dragged himself over to where she lay dying, and gently, he\u2019d lifted her head from the dirty street.\u00a0 He knew as soon as he saw her that there was no chance left, but he promised that they\u2019d get her a doctor, as if that could make any difference.<\/p>\n

In the end, the only thing he could do was to hold her hand as she died.\u00a0 He wondered now if that had made any difference to her, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe shot Billy for lying to her,\u201d he said, just like they\u2019d been having a conversation all along.<\/p>\n

Candy shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cShe shot Billy \u2019cause he broke her heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know that,\u201d Joe pointed out.\u00a0 \u201cYou weren\u2019t there.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss and Candy hadn\u2019t come on the scene until almost everything was over\u2014the fight, Doug Slader\u2019s scornful laugh at Val\u2019s dreams of a ranch, Billy\u2019s matter-of-fact shrug as he prepared to ride off without her. \u00a0Val shooting Billy.\u00a0 Doug shooting Val. \u00a0By the time Hoss and Candy got there, Val was dying in Joe\u2019s arms, and there was nothing anybody could do.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I wasn\u2019t,\u201d agreed Candy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how do you know?\u201d Hoss asked.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t quite a challenge, but it was close.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Cause she loved him,\u201d said Candy.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s the only reason a woman would kill the man she loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe considered this.\u00a0 Val had loved Billy Slader.\u00a0 Loved that worm with his dirty-faced smirk who hadn\u2019t cared two bits about making her happy.\u00a0 She\u2019d watched him kill Mr.\u00a0Haskell, and she\u2019d sat there on the witness stand and cried about it, and then she\u2019d lied so that Billy could go free.<\/p>\n

Nobody\u2019s thinking about Billy Slader,<\/em>\u00a0she\u2019d protested just last night, as she and Joe sat together in the parlor.\u00a0 But Val had thought about him.\u00a0 She could have had a life, but instead, she\u2019d chosen Billy Slader.<\/p>\n

He could feel the others watching him in the flickering light of the campfire.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know if it was the whiskey or the gunshot wound or Val, but suddenly, he was so tired he couldn\u2019t sit up any more.\u00a0 He grunted them a good night as he lay down and pulled his blanket around him, turning his back to the camp.<\/p>\n

This morning, she\u2019d been alive, pretty as a day in spring.\u00a0 This morning, his biggest concerns had been how much longer they\u2019d have to stay in Sanddust and whether she\u2019d like the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Pa would have liked her.\u00a0 And maybe, with Billy Slader hanged and the trial behind them, maybe there would have been a chance for him and Val.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know if what he\u2019d felt for her was any more than protectiveness, but he\u2019d have liked a chance to find out.<\/p>\n

He heard somebody kick dirt over the fire.\u00a0 Hoss lay down next to him.\u00a0 He could hear the horses shuffling and the whisper of the breeze in the trees.\u00a0 Overhead, the moon glowed the way it did every night, whether somebody had died or not.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d made her choice.\u00a0 She chose Billy, and then she chose to kill Billy.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t have gotten out of there alive, no matter what.\u00a0 Sometimes, people boxed themselves in, and there was no escaping after that.<\/p>\n

Joe rolled onto his back.\u00a0 His leg was hurting more now.\u00a0 He\u2019d have Hoss look at it in the morning.\u00a0 They\u2019d get an early start, and they\u2019d probably be home by supper time.\u00a0 Life would go on.\u00a0 It always did.<\/p>\n

The hand on his arm startled him this time.\u00a0 He turned to see Hoss watching him in the moonlight.\u00a0 After a minute, Joe just nodded.\u00a0 There was no point in saying it out loud.<\/p>\n

Hoss watched him a little longer.\u00a0 Then, he squeezed Joe\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019Night, Little Brother,\u201d he whispered, quiet enough that even Candy wouldn\u2019t have heard.<\/p>\n

Joe nodded again.\u00a0 Eventually, Hoss\u2019s snoring joined the other night sounds.\u00a0 Candy never snored, but Joe knew he was asleep anyway, over on the other side of the embers.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0All 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0A quiet night on the trail and a flask of whiskey lead to contemplation of chances and choices.\u00a0 A WHN for “False Witness.”<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0K+ \u00a0WC 1800<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23],"tags":[17,16],"class_list":["post-4934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","tag-hoss","tag-joe","wpcat-23-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":2263,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/Bucket-Dog4.png?fit=682%2C446&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12911,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12911","url_meta":{"origin":4934,"position":0},"title":"The Stranger – A Missing Scene (by Jenny G)","author":"Gwynne & JennyG","date":"January 11, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 What followed when Roy released Little Joe from jail. 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