Word Count 4,058
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A WHN for Yesterday’s Vengeance. The ending of this ep always seemed fudged and smoothed over so I’ve made some small changes to the last scene and added another couple of scenes. No beta, all errors mine.
Warning – some profanity so if you don’t agree with our heroes cussing then please don’t read.
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“Mount up and follow us home. I’ll fix you some breakfast”, Ellen Haney said with an almost genuine smile
Murdoch nodded his agreement. The relief he felt at finally gaining closure on a situation that had kicked off twenty-five years earlier, without further bloodshed, overwhelmed all other feelings. Truth be told he just wanted to grab Johnny and Scott and get the hell away from Mesa Roja. However, both sons looked tired and frazzled, so Murdoch felt it would be sensible to fill their bellies before setting off back to Lancer.
Scott deferred to his father’s wishes and kept quiet. He was just relieved to hand over Deputy Sheriff Billy Joe Dumb-Ass to Haney and to see that Murdoch was up and about. Sitting down at the same table as these people and having a civilised breakfast seemed to verge on the ridiculous to him but some food and a short rest seemed a pretty good plan just then.
Johnny’s brain registered the words that were spoken by Mrs Haney and his first thought was “WHAT THE FUCK?!”
Breaking bread with this man whose actions had wreaked so much havoc on his family and this crazy woman who had, more than likely, shot his father was beyond his ability to understand. Surely to God Murdoch and Scott would not agree to it.
Johnny glanced at Murdoch just in time to see him give a slight nod. Then, shifting his gaze to Scott, he saw that his brother’s face was devoid of any emotion, indicating that he neither agreed nor disagreed with Murdoch’s decision.
Johnny was dumbfounded. Just hours before, he had read his father’s reasons for wanting to face Haney and knew that Murdoch had been on a mission of reconciliation. Just minutes before Johnny had tried to goad Haney into drawing his gun because he assumed that the sheriff had either gunned down his father, or he was protecting whoever had done the deed.
The fact that Murdoch was indeed alive and had been cared for by Mrs Haney did nothing to assuage the anger that Johnny now felt. The lies that the sheriff’s wife had told, the complicity of the towns people and last, but by no means least, the actions of Deputy Sheriff Billy Joe Ass-Wipe all conspired to make Johnny feel as if his head would explode if he didn’t bust somebody’s face open.
Scott looked over at Johnny and saw a look of pure rage on his brother’s face. In an instant he understood the cause of this rage and knew that he had to do something to diffuse the situation.
Sensing that he was being observed Johnny raised his eyes and locked gazes with Scott. No words were spoken but an understanding passed between the brothers. The predicament that they found themselves in was intolerable but while one brother could keep his feelings hidden, the other brother was promising no such thing. Johnny was like a keg of dynamite and Scott had to find some way to lengthen the fuse until such time as they were away from this stinking town or douse it completely. Looking at the fire in his brother’s eyes Scott didn’t hold out much hope of achieving either but he would have to try.
The brothers” attention was diverted back to their father when Mrs Haney got the horses moving and started turning the buckboard around. Murdoch was looking grey and drained and it became apparent that any protests would have to wait until he was rested and ready to leave. With that in mind Scott and Johnny mounted up and reluctantly followed.
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Breakfast was a strange affair. Scott and Murdoch made pleasant enough conversation with sheriff Haney’s wife as she pottered about the kitchen making scrambled egg, bacon and biscuits. Both men had spoken to her previously and it was therefore easier for them to talk about nothing in particular. Johnny, on the other hand, had only argued with the woman about his father’s whereabouts and he was in no mood to start making small talk with her.
Judd Haney seemed to be taking an inordinately long time locking up Billy Joe and washing up for breakfast but nobody seemed to miss his contribution to the little gathering, least of all Johnny.
The youngest Lancer sat at the table with rocks in his gut. He knew that he needed to get something into his belly but he was also quite sure that if he managed to eat anything it would make a return visit at some point; such was his internal turmoil. The coffee was good and strong and Johnny gulped it hoping to settle his stomach and work up an appetite. When the food was placed on the table, he took a small piece of everything and fiddled with it while drinking more coffee.
None of this escaped Scott’s notice as he managed to observe his brother without drawing attention to him. No way would he point out that Johnny needed to eat and take advantage of the opportunity to rest before they all set out for home. Scott knew that Johnny had to be tired after his overnight ride back to Lancer but he wasn’t going to be the one to bring the subject up. Instead he used his Boston manners and social skills to keep the conversation going and deflect his father’s eagle eye away from his brother.
Just then Judd Haney made an appearance and sat down to join the others to eat.
Scott immediately noticed that Johnny’s shoulders rose up towards his ears and he hunched even further over his plate, making no discernible effort to eat. Instead the younger brother took another large gulp of coffee, crashed the cup back onto the table and stood up.
Murdoch looked up with a puzzled expression and said, “Johnny?”
“Er, sorry Murdoch, excuse me Mrs Haney but I think I’ll go and check the horses.”
“But you’ve hardly eaten anything Johnny,” said Murdoch, sounding like a concerned parent rather than a gruff tune-caller.
“I’ve had enough pa. Thank you for the meal ma’am.” Johnny said, trying to remember his manners. The respect that he managed to muster however was more for his father than for the blasted woman.
Murdoch’s tired mind registered the use of the word “pa” and for some reason it caused him to pause and resist the urge to insist that his younger son remain at the table. Searching Johnny’s face, he gave a little nod and said, “OK son.”
Relieved beyond measure Johnny quickly left.
Murdoch looked at Scott but, other than a slight shake of the head and a look that clearly said “leave it”, his first born had nothing to offer. Both men then returned to their breakfast.
Scott of course knew that it was more than just the food that his volatile brother had had enough of.
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Outside Johnny managed to find some grooming brushes and set to making sure the horses were cared for and ready for the journey home. Murdoch’s horse was tied to the hitching rail with the other two Lancer horses (probably why Haney took so long getting back, thought Johnny) so Johnny groomed them, plus the horse which was hitched to the buckboard, just to make the chore last a little longer. Time spent caring for horses was time well spent in Johnny’s opinion, no matter to whom they belonged.
Having something useful to do calmed him and gave him room to breathe. When the job was done to his satisfaction, he found a spot in the shade of a nearby tree and then set about cleaning his gun, after first grabbing his rifle to ensure that he still had a working weapon. He was damned if he was going back into the claustrophobic atmosphere of the kitchen and vowed that he would sit where he was until kingdom come if necessary.
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Back in the Haney house Scott and Murdoch were making ready to leave. They thanked their hosts for the breakfast and bid the couple goodbye.
Mrs Haney half-heartedly asked, “are you sure you’re well enough to travel Murdoch? You can stay longer if you need to.”
The use of his father’s first name rankled with Scott and he felt the powerful urge to say so but, once again, he held his tongue.
“Yes Mrs Haney, I’m sure. I have my sons to keep me in line and I can rest on the way if need be.”
“At least take the buckboard so that you don’t have to ride,” said the sheriff. “You can return it when you’re passing this way again.”
Scott fervently hoped that they would never have to pass this way again but was glad of the offer, if only for his father’s sake.
“Thank you, Judd,” said Murdoch. “And now we really must be on our way.”
Mrs Haney handed Scott a quickly prepared food parcel. He nodded his thanks and followed his father out the door.
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Johnny was just finishing reloading his gun when he saw his father and brother come out of the house. “About fucking time,” he thought.
Scott called over to his brother, “time to go Johnny! Murdoch is riding in the buckboard and you’ve been volunteered to drive it.”
“You don’t say?” Said Johnny as he gave his sibling a quick punch in the arm to show just how much he appreciated the honour that had been bestowed upon him. Scott could see by the look in his brother’s eyes that Johnny was not peeved about it though and he felt a surge of relief.
Johnny made sure that his father was securely seated and then lithely leapt up beside him and took up the lines. The seat was a tight squeeze for the two men and Johnny was uncomfortably aware that if he moved about too much he was in danger of jostling Murdoch’s injured shoulder. The disgruntled young man heaved a huge sigh, squeezed over to the side of the seat as much as possible and got the horses moving. He glanced over at the Haneys, gave them a slight nod of acknowledgement and an icy stare and felt not one iota of guilt for it.
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The day wore on and heated up and it soon became apparent that Murdoch was flagging. As the Lancer men were close to a small wooded area and a stream Johnny decided it was time to take a break.
Steering the buckboard over to the shade of the trees Johnny called out, “hey Scott, time to water the horses and grab a bite to eat.”
In reply Scott gave a mock salute and started guiding his horse, plus the two others, over in the same direction.
Mindful of the horses” comfort the brothers loosened the cinches and led them to the stream to drink. Johnny helped his father down from the wagon and then unhitched the horse so that it too could drink and graze. Once Murdoch and the horses were settled Johnny returned to the wagon to retrieve the canteens and the food parcel which Mrs Haney had provided.
After nearly three hours spent squeezed on the small seat trying to drive the wagon and avoid bumping into his passenger Johnny’s mood had worsened somewhat. Hoping to vent some of his frustration he kicked the wheel of the wagon hard and then started muttering about what a “piece of shit” their chosen mode of transport was.
Scott observed the slight commotion taking place beside the wagon and glanced over at Murdoch to see whether he had heard anything. Murdoch’s eyes were closed and he appeared to be dozing so Scott decided to leave him to his rest and strolled over to his brother.
“Problems Johnny?” He asked while trying to look under his brother’s hat brim, which was pulled low over his eyes.
“Yes, brother I’ve got a problem. Whose idea was it to bring along this fucking buckboard? The seat is so damn small you could barely seat two little old ladies on it let alone me and our fucking giant of an old man!” A loud sigh finished off the tirade.
Scott tried very hard not to smile. Of all the things that had happened over the last couple of days Johnny was pitching a fit about the size of the wagon seat.
Looking away briefly to compose himself Scott very calmly said, “actually little brother it was the good sheriff’s brilliant brainwave, prompted by his concern for our father’s health and welfare.”
“Hmmmphhh. Figures.” Said Johnny, as he pulled his foot back to aim another kick at the offending wheel.
Moving quickly Scott pulled his brother around to face him before the kick could land.
“All you’re going to achieve by doing that Johnny is broken toes. It might be better for YOUR health and welfare if you were to tell me what’s really sticking in your craw.” Said Scott, as he tried to calm the waves of anger that he felt radiating from his younger sibling.
Johnny put his hands on his hips, sighed and attempted to put his scattered thoughts into words.
After a couple of minutes of silence, stormy blues eyes were raised and Scott waited for his brother to “get it said” and hopefully clear the air.
“Did Mrs Haney shoot our old man?” was the slightly unexpected question from Johnny.
“Yes,” said Scott without missing a beat.
The brothers had not had a chance to talk privately since they had parted company many hours previously and so each was privy to information that the other wasn’t.
Scott responded in kind, “did you read the note that Murdoch gave to Jelly?”
“Yes,” said Johnny immediately but seemed to hesitate about giving further details.
“Sooooo, the suspicion that our father’s would-be assassin was the good sheriff’s wife plus the information that was contained in his note have combined to fan the flames of your anger little brother.”
Johnny drummed his fingers on his thighs and seethed; Scott’s calm cool demeanour making him even more enraged.
“Too fuckin” right BIG brother!” Yelled Johnny.
“And?” Queried Scott, feeling there was more to come.
“AND then we all had to make nice and sit down and EAT with that sonofabitch Haney and his lying conniving wife. AND act as if everything that they had both done was justified and forgiven. Well not with me brother, not by a long shot!”
“AND now, just to add insult to injury, we’re driving our shot up old man home in this piece of SHIT.” Johnny gesticulated at the puny seat of the wagon to emphasise his point then kicked out at the wheel again.
“He went to Mesa Roja to make things right with Haney and made the greenhorn mistake of assuming everybody is as honourable as he is Scott. Because of that he got a bullet in the back. Now you tell me brother why in hell I should not be angry and why I shouldn’t go back there and make that pendejo suffer as much as our old man has!”
Scott thought hard to formulate a response that would appease his brother but he was saved the effort when Murdoch answered for him.
“Because I’m asking you not to,” came the soft but firm reply from a few feet away.
Both brothers turned to see their father struggling to rise to his feet.
“Stay down Old Man,” growled Johnny as he sprinted across to Murdoch’s side.
Murdoch gave up his efforts to get up and looked into the angry eyes of his son.
“Talk to me Johnny. I want to help you to understand what has happened and why.”
“Oh I understand everything Murdoch. It’s HIM you need to explain things to.” Johnny said as he pointed at Scott.
“HE needs to know all of it. ALL of it!”
With this Johnny threw his hands up and stomped off, fearing that if he didn’t he would open his big mouth and tell Scott the facts that should only be told by his father. He sought to justify walking away by grabbing up one of the canteens, shaking it meaningfully, and then heading upstream to fill it. Realising that he was actually heading in a downstream direction Johnny stopped, did an about face then walked in the opposite direction, all the while muttering muted curses.
Despite the gravity of the situation father and elder son simultaneously saw the humour in Johnny’s actions and shared an amused glance.
“My brother, your son, is a passionate man,” said Scott to break the silence.
“Yes indeed,” said Murdoch.
Scott then noticed that his father became very still and a look of intense melancholy settled on his face. He knew instantly what he had to do. He had to ease his father’s burden in any way he could.
“Sir, with your permission, could I offer up an educated guess as to what the real reason is for Johnny’s agitation?”
Relief flared in Murdoch’s eyes. “Of course son.”
Taking a deep breath Scott jumped in with both feet.
“Knowing that my little brother is fiercely protective of all the Lancer family members, both past and present, I’m guessing that the wrong that Haney did was to in some way harm or endanger a family member.
Add to that some facts that I learnt from the Haneys and I’m guessing that the wrong was done at a time when you were married to my mother.
Factor in some snippets that grandfather supplied regarding the circumstances surrounding my being raised by him in Boston and I’m now guessing that I was also somehow involved.
How am I doing so far?”
A wry smile appeared on Murdoch’s face and he said, “pretty good son. You missed your calling. You should’ve been a Pinkerton.”
Scott chuckled then grew serious again.
“So basically Haney is somehow to blame for the fact that my mother did not give birth to me at Lancer and that I subsequently ended up in Boston with grandfather.”
“In a nutshell yes Scott. In the note I left with Jelly there were a lot more details. When you told me that Johnny had gone to Lancer to retrieve the note I knew that those extra details would light your brother’s fuse. I thought that if Johnny assumed that I had been killed by Haney he would do something crazy.”
“I can see how that would be a concern,” said Scott. “So Johnny has knowledge of those extra details regarding Haney’s actions all those years ago. However, he doesn’t know what the Haneys have been through since that time and how that affected their actions over the last few days. In particular he is unaware of how desperate Mrs Haney was to protect the life that she now has with her husband; the man that she herself turned in to the authorities, so that they could stop running.”
“Exactly,” sighed Murdoch. “Exactly.”
The Lancer patriarch looked into the blue grey eyes of his son and for a moment felt that he was looking into the eyes of his beloved Catherine.
“My God Scott. Sometimes you sound and look so much like your mother it takes my breath away. You have her logical thinking and calm acceptance of what can’t be changed.”
Scott smiled. “Did she miss her calling too?” He asked.
“No son. She surely did not. But she did miss seeing her son grow into a fine man and for that I must take some of the blame. I sent her away when I probably should’ve kept her with me.”
Once again Murdoch looked profoundly sad and Scott felt the need to intercede.
“But we can’t live our lives on “what ifs”, can we sir? The result could’ve been the same if she had stayed, or it could’ve been worse. We’ll never know.”
“No Scott, we’ll never know and there’s nothing that I can do about that. There was something I could do to end what Haney started though. That was why I went to Mesa Roja and that’s what I want you and your brother to understand. You two coming home has been a new beginning for me. Because of that new beginning I wanted old grievances to be settled and put aside so that I could concentrate totally on doing my best for my sons. And Johnny was right. I made some mistakes and was careless. The Haneys, particularly Mrs Haney, were backed into a corner by my just breezing in and expecting an easy conclusion to old hostilities. I can live with that though if it means that this whole sorry affair is at an end.”
Scott nodded. “Now all we have to do is make Johnny understand that so that we can all move on.”
“Is that all?” Said Murdoch and huffed out a small laugh.
Just then the sound of spurs could be heard, heralding the arrival of the youngest Lancer.
Murdoch and Scott looked towards Johnny expecting the worst. However, both were surprised to see that the earlier incandescent anger seemed to have dimmed.
Johnny looked up through his lashes with a contrite expression on his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said, looking his father and then his brother in the eye.
Scott and Murdoch remained silent and looked on as Johnny sat close to his father and crossed his legs Indian style.
“I’m a selfish bastard,” he said out of nowhere.
He sensed the protests coming from the other two men but held his hand up to stay any further words.
“It scared the shit out of me when I thought you were dead Murdoch and all I could think of was getting even. The urge to kill Haney was all I could think about, it was all I had to offer.
“When I found out you were OK I still wanted to kill that snake for everything he had done to my family. While I was in that frame of mind, thinking of my own kind of justice, I didn’t consider you or give you a chance to explain and that was wrong.
“I just had a little talk with myself and I didn’t like the man that I spoke to. I couldn’t respect him or what he’d done. You on the other hand Murdoch, you I do respect, believe it or not. So like I said, I’m sorry.”
Murdoch took a moment and offered up a quick prayer of thanks for this golden opportunity.
“So your need for vengeance has passed Johnny?” The hopeful father asked of his son.
The son nodded.
“And why is that do you think?” Murdoch queried.
“Because I care more about the future than the past. Because the likes of Haney will only poison this family’s future if we let him,” said the man with the darkest secrets and most poisonous past of all of them.
Murdoch felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders and he relaxed for the first time in many days.
“Do you want to know what happened in Mesa Roja son?”
“Only if you want to tell me Murdoch and not until we get you home safely to Lancer. When we’re in the great room with full bellies and a glass of something strong the telling will be that much easier.”
Murdoch turned to his other son and said, “are you OK with that Scott?”
“Yes sir, I’m very OK with that.” Scott replied.
“In that case I think it’s time we headed back to the ranch,” said Murdoch, longing for the comforts of home and hearth.
“How about some chow first and then maybe you’d like to wedge your skinny Boston ass onto that seat this time brother,” suggested Johnny, looking at his horse with a certain amount of longing.
Murdoch rolled his eyes and smiled.
Scott laughed wickedly and said, “I think I can manage that brother . . . for a small fee.”
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~end~
2020-06-12
Dedicated to Doc
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