oom: barlow estate (2)

[scurlock]

He sleeps well enough, curled on his side (after he manages to fall asleep, of course, nerves in his belly twisting at him for a while after the drink and conversation) and wakes with the first sounds of someone moving around the bunkhouse.

It's Jim.

Doc gives the older hand a few minutes of head start before he hauls himself out of bed and begins getting ready for the day. He notices that Jim, and the rest of the boys, all wear their guns, so once he's dressed himself, he settles his at his hip.

It's not dawn, yet, not by a longshot, when he makes his way over to the stables and barn in order to check on his horse - and see if Jim wants a hand in getting things taken care of. Might as well offer, after all.

"Hey, Jim...don't forget t'mind your hat," he mentions, quietly, as he enters the barn. His own is hanging around his neck by the cord, where he'll keep it out of reach of the horse as best he can. "You need a hand with anything?"

Comments

[ikissdhimbck]

At some length, Samuel gets the man to calm down enough to where he isn't shaking so bad, and informs him that he will not only be taking supper with them, but he'll be staying the night as Samuel's own personal guest as well.

"Boss," John chances a few steps forward, placing a careful hand on Samuel's shoulder. "Jay says he's got the equipment t' stitch up Joseph's cut in the bunkhouse."

Samuel glances up at him, and nods, taking a moment to think things through. "All right. Tell 'im to go on and get his kit, an' get him taken care of. John, why don't you go fix him a plate, too. He can eat in here, while they're fixin' him up. Katherine--"

He turns over his other shoulder to look for his daughter. She's sitting in the corner, arms around her knees, face broken and crushed. Samuel's heart plummets when he sees her, and he outstretches an arm, beckoning her to him. She comes, almost instantly.

"Y'think you can get some water and fresh bandages, sweetheart?" he murmurs into her hair, keeping her in a close embrace. She nods, carefully. "Good girl."

With only another few words, they all break for their various tasks. Samuel follows Jay out of the study, and it should be noted that the rifle comes with him.

[scurlock]

He's well aware of the fact that her father is behind him as he makes his way out of the main house - already moving once Samuel tells John to tell him to go, he doesn't have to be told twice - and his boots move quietly across the floorboards as he heads outside.

What surprises him is the sound of footsteps behind him, and he turns slightly, glancing over his shoulder.

Samuel's following him, rifle over his shoulder, and from the look in his eyes...



"Sir?"

[ikissdhimbck]

His eyes are dark and cold.

"Go on, it's all right," he says simply, on his way to the stables.

[scurlock]

"Sir, with all due respect," he protests, changing course to walk alongside the older man. Even if Samuel is the boss...

"You can't go over there without takin' someone with you. It'd be like walkin' into a shooting gallery."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Son of a bitch," he mutters, and that appears to be all he has to say on the subject. His eyes are focused on that barn.

Soon enough, Jim sees him.

"Boss -- no."

[scurlock]

"Don't disagree with you on that," he mutters, in response to her father's curse, but he continues to keep stride with the older man.

As best he can, anyway. Barlow's taller, so he has to take a few quick double-steps now and then to keep up right at his hip, trailing him like one of those hounds.

[ikissdhimbck]

"Out of the way, Jim."

"Hell no."

Beat.

"Sir."

Samuel stops up short, eyes going from Jim, to Jay, to Jim again. "I'm going to teach that bloody bastard a lesson, once and for all--"

"No, you ain't, because if'n you do, you're not only gonna get yerself killed, but yer gonna get hellfire an' fury rained down on this farm!"

"He can't do that to a man!"

"No, but he does, an' once you're outta the way, he'll come after yours. Think about Katherine!"

Jim's hands are on Samuel's shoulders, and the man stops cold.

"They'll take it out of her flesh, Sam," Jim says quietly.

[scurlock]

Jay would like to protest that there ain't a chance in hell that any of those boys or their father would ever get anywhere near Katherine, but now is definitely not the time for him to be interjecting.

Or speaking, for that matter.

So he stays quiet. Silent backup, in case Jim needs it.

(He doesn't think he will, given the way Samuel freezes when Jim mentions Katherine.

Then again, that could just be fuel to the fire.)

[ikissdhimbck]

"Tell me I'm wrong, boss."

The men fall silent, and for a long time no one moves.

Eventually, Samuel's shoulders slump, and with a resigned sigh he drags a heavy hand through his hair, knocking his hat off his head in the process.







"Fuck."

[scurlock]

He feels so young, right now, that it's almost uncomfortable.

Jay looks down at the ground and then scuffs his foot against the dirt. "M'gonna get the kit an' head back in," he says quietly, before he backs up a few steps and then takes his leave, heading for the bunkhouse to rifle through his bag.

He checks the kit (assembled in the bar) and makes certain that anything that might be a bit too modern stays in his bag. The curved needle and finer thread are coming with him, however.

It only takes him a moment or two before he's heading back into the house, for the study again.

[ikissdhimbck]

The two men continue to talk, long after Jay leaves them.

Inside the house, dinner is a rather somber affair.

Katherine is back in the study, continuing to clean the wound on Joseph's face, and a few other cuts on his hands and lip. She works slowly, giving him time to take careful bites from his plate of food.

(He eats like a man half-starved.)

[scurlock]

He won't interrupt the man while he's eating, especially when he needs him to sit still as he can while he's working on stitching the cut up, but he does enter and set the small cloth pack down nearby.

A glance at the man's plate, and then he kneels down slightly, in front of him.

"Joseph? Can I git you anythin' else to eat or drink? I know they got plenty in the kitchen."

[ikissdhimbck]

He shakes his head slowly, wincing a bit when Katherine hits a sensitive spot.

"The young Miss already asked me that. No, I'm alright," he says slowly, working on polishing off his potatoes.

Katherine's eyes very briefly skate to Jay, before returning to Joseph's face.

"Did my daddy leave?"

[scurlock]

"No he didn't, Miss," he replies quietly. "He's out in the stables, talkin' with Jim."

He better not leave.

Jay does go to the kitchen himself, to wash his hands again, and he rolls up his sleeves to the elbows once he's finished. By the time he re-enters the study, Joseph is finished with his meal, plate cleared and set aside. As he approaches, the eyes the cut over the gentleman's eyebrow - it's a nice one.

"I'm gonna take care of that 'fore you," he tells him, as he pulls a chair closer and fetches his kit again, opening it to reveal a few various needles, threads, tweezers, a small pair of snips, a capped blade and some squares of cloth.

[ikissdhimbck]

Katherine nods softly, sniffling a little as she rubs her nose with the back of her forefinger.

"Thank you."

Her sleeves are already rolled up, so as Jay pulls a chair near, she touches his shoulder lightly. "I can help."

It's an offer, regardless of the look on her face that says, 'I'm going to help.'

[scurlock]

"Hold onto this for me?" He asks, as he passes his kit over. "I'll need those snips in a little bit."

He picks a curved needle out of the kit and some thread.

A beat.

"Actually, Darlin', if you...can thread this for me? I got good eyes but might be easier for you do."

Plus, she'll get to help him from the get-go.

[ikissdhimbck]

She accepts the kit with no small measure of awe, examining each instrument carefully.



And then he calls her 'Darlin'.'



She takes the needle from him, as her cheeks flame pink, and begins threading the eye in bashful silence.

"Are you sum kinda doctor?" asks Joseph, eying the kit with his good eye.

The needle is ready, and Katherine holds it out to him.

[scurlock]

"I done a lot of stitchin' up wounds," he says. "Always some folk needing cuts and scrapes taken care of out on the trail."

He checks the knot and then carefully reaches up to touch the skin over Joseph's eye, turning his head to get him in the proper light.

"This'll likely sting a bit, but try not to move too much," he apologizes. "I got a steady hand so it won't take that long."

[ikissdhimbck]

He's smart enough not to nod, swallowing hard and blinking once. His eyes go to Jay, and he says:

"S'all right. I have a pretty good tolerance for pain."

Katherine stands quiet next to them, turning her head away at the words.

[scurlock]

Jay nods, slightly, ignoring the anger that flares up in the base of his skull.

He's got careful hands - poet's hands, doctor's hands, gunfighter's hands - and he calmly begins to work, careful to take his time to do the job right. He places careful, even stitches along the length of the split.

Midway through, he speaks to the girl at his side.

"Can you wipe away that bit of blood, 'long the top above where I'm about to stitch?"

[ikissdhimbck]

She nods, reaching for the rag and basin she'd set on the floor next to Joseph's chair earlier. She sets Jay's kit down, and wrings out the rag, before carefully dabbing at the dark man's forehead.

He winces a little, all throughout the procedure, but he never cries out or moves an inch.

[scurlock]

"That'll do," he tells her after a moment. "Thank you."

Jay makes simple work of the rest of the wound, ties it off and then glances at her.

"Can I get those snips?"

[ikissdhimbck]

"These?" she asks, reaching for a tool that closely resembles a pair of small scissors.

Her hair is falling from the careful pin job she'd done this morning, loose bangs and curls falling into her eyes. She brushes them away, but they simply fall back again.

"You sure seem to know a lot," she murmurs.

[scurlock]

"I seen a lot of things," he says quietly. "Been an awful lot of places."

He carefully pulls the thread and needle taut and then reachs for the small scissors, cutting the excess off with a quiet snip before he sits back slightly.

"Anywhere else that needs attention?"

He knows slave owners. Sometimes the damage isn't limited to the face.

[ikissdhimbck]

It's the sort of statement that deserves quiet reverence.

"You ever seen an outlaw?"

Until, of course, it doesn't.

>.>

Joseph slowly shakes his head. "No, sir. Don't reckon there is, no more."