[Mag 7 Fic] The Path Less Traveled- PG-13- 1/12
Title: The Path Less Traveled
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
For some, when a journey begins, it often has to start at a beginning and often times it reads like a book. Beginning, middle, end, plot, hero, villain and sometimes there is a heroine involved. Most stories, if printed, were over-dramatized to bring more action to a story but some of the best had very little drama and were quite understated. Adam had very much hoped that his true story was one of those. Something clean cut, something that would be resolved quickly, something to help him understand who he was and where he came from.
He was quickly learning that wasn’t the case.
“Boy, you need something else?” the gruff man who owned the local store asked.
Lifting his head, confused green eyes cleared and shook his head at the man before pausing. “Actually, do you know of any farm or ranch hiring right now?” he asked. He handed over the few coins that the man was asking for. “’Fraid I’m getting low on those.”
The man packed up the few things Adam had bought into cloth that he could easily put into his saddle bag. He shrugged. “The Stokes ranch is a few miles outta town,” he said. “Ain’t rightly sure if Kate’s hirin’, but can’t hurt to ask. She’s been up there by herself for a few years now since comin’ back here. You could go talk to her, but don’t be surprised, boy, if she sends you packin’.”
“She got something against men?” Adam asked.
“With good reason,” the man said. “But she’s also got somethin’ against people she think are pityin’ her. Right independent one she is. Guess she had to be, considerin’ what a waste that father o’ hers was.”
Adam could have taken anything from that statement, but he wasn’t going to ask any more questions of the man. He knew how men that were a ”waste” were often men that took advantage of the girls in their family. The man probably didn’t know all the details of this Kate’s history either beyond what he possibly heard on rumor, but at least Adam now had an idea as to how to potentially approach her.
“Which direction is the Stokes’ place?”
~~
Normally Kate Stokes was very aware of her surroundings. You didn’t run in the circle of a man like Del Spivak for so many years and not learn how to keep looking over your shoulder. Even though it had been a number of years since the events in Four Corners that led, not only, to Del’s death but her sister, Maddie’s, as well, she still felt like she had to look over her shoulder for the next person that was trying to take advantage of her. But she was arguing with a particularly stubborn weed that just would not release its hold on the rock hard soil it was buried in, so she didn’t see the horse coming from over the hill, a solid figure astride its back.
“Excuse me, you Kate Stokes?” the voice called.
Kate stiffened and glanced to her left where her shot gun rested against the rickety fence. She wondered if she would have enough time to dive for the object and aim before she felt a bullet pierce her skin. She figured moving wasn’t a good idea. Yet.
“Who’s askin’?” she asked, not turning.
“Name’s Adam,” the voice said. “Man over at the general store in River Creek said you might be in need of help out here.”
“That man’s got a big mouth and shouldn’t be talkin’ ‘bout things he doesn’t know,” Kate quipped.
Adam sighed a bit. “Look, ma’am…”
Kate slowly turned and looked at him. “I ain’t hirin’,” she said. “And certainly not any man that is gonna try and tell me what to do.” She couldn’t help but stare at the boy. Oh he was far too young for her in terms of looking at him as a more than just a kid, but she’d have to be completely blind to not see the resemblance between this boy and Chris Larabee. Why would a boy that looked like a gunslinger she hadn’t seen in six years end up on her land?
*She’s got more of a chip on her shoulder than me…* Adam thought, his eyebrow arching some. “Ma’am, no offense, but it doesn’t look like you are making much headway on this land,” he said. “I could help.”
“I’ve been doin’ fine the last few years without any help from anyone else,” Kate protested. “I think you can go now.”
Adam hopped off his horse. “Miss Stokes…”
“I said you can go, or I swear I’ll grab that shot gun and put a bullet through you,” Kate said, stiffening. “I don’t give a damn if you can get to your gun faster.”
Adam paused where he stood, the reins of his horse still in hand. He studied the way Kate stood and wondered just what was done to her.
“Ma’am, I’m not aimin’ to hurt you.”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “I’ve heard that before.”
Adam put his hands up, reins dangling from the one. “I’ll go,” he said. “But really, I was just lookin’ for work. Am running out of money and it was just a suggestion to come here.” He kept himself passive, finally getting back onto his horse. He turned the steed and started a slow walk away, not wanting to spook Kate anymore than he obviously had.
“Wait,” Kate called. She reached for her shotgun, in case, but then began walking towards the young man. “Said your name was Adam?”
Adam glanced over at her, nodding his head. “Yes, ma’am, I did.”
“You got a last name, Adam?” Kate asked.
The blond young man shook his head, his features shuttering some. “Been using Smith,” he said.
“Using Smith?” Kate questioned. “You wanted or somethin’? Cause I don’t need that kind of trouble again.”
“I ain’t wanted,” Adam snapped. He took a calming breath as Kate’s eyebrow arched. “I mean, I’m not wanted.” Her eyebrow quirked higher.
“Well?” she finally asked.
“I don’t know who I am beyond my first name,” Adam said. “I’ve got bits of memory here and there, but that’s it. I don’t remember my parents. Just the orphanage I grew up in.”
“Oh,” Kate said. “Look. I ain’t looking to be some wayward teenager’s Ma--.”
Adam looked at her incredulously. “I don’t need a Ma,” he said. “I need a job. And to be frank, you need the help.”
Kate took a moment to study his look; his posture. If she let herself view him older, she would swear Chris Larabee was the one she was talking to, not some kid calling himself Adam Smith. She still couldn’t understand why the cantankerous son of a bitch she met six years ago in Four Corners was coming to her mind now as she looked at this boy. Keep telling yourself that you don’t think of him often, Kate. Maybe you’ll start believing it. Sometimes she hated her subconscious. Maybe with this kid here, she’d have less time to listen to that internal voice.
“All right, fine,” she finally said. “I do need help. But I can’t afford much and I’ll be needing some help cooking and keeping up the house, too.”
“A few coins, a roof over my head and food in my belly is all I need, Ms. Stokes,” Adam said.
“It’s Kate,” she said. “You can stay in the barn’s loft for now. If you’re here come winter, we’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks,” Adam said.
“There’s a stall for your horse you can use,” Kate said. “Then you can get started.” Adam tipped his hat and turned to lead his horse to the barn. Kate’s voice stopped him again.
“And Adam?” He turned to look at her. “If you aren’t on the level and try something, I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”
The smile he quirked was a swift kick to her gut. He tapped the brim of his hat before heading to the barn. Without looking like she was running, Kate hurried to the house and stepped inside. Once she closed the door, she practically collapsed against it, willing her heart to stop pounding as that smile came to her mind. Only this time it was in a face that was older, harder and haunted her dreams every night since she and Maddie found themselves in that damnable town six years ago. Who the hell was Adam Smith and why was he the spitting image of Chris Larabee?
~~
Nights were always the hardest for Kate. She slept a few hours, but the nightmares always brought her back to reality. Times like that brought her outside, getting fresh air, allowing her mind to filter the nightmares out of her mind. Mostly. They always lingered in some way.
She was just passing the barn, pausing when she heard something. It sounded like a child. Great, just what she needed, another child.
“No...” A frown crossed Kate’s features as she moved quietly towards the barn.
“Mama... no...” That wasn’t a child. Not a young one, at least. Kate stood completely still, listening. When she heard the whimper again, she realized it was Adam. Something ached in her chest as she heard the soft cries as she also heard him tossing in the make-shift bed he’d made for sleeping arrangements.
Turning and quietly making her way back to the house, all she could think was that she wasn’t the only one that suffered with nightmares.
~~
“Rough night, huh?”
Adam had quietly come into the house to pour some coffee, figuring Kate was holed up in the bedroom off the kitchen and living area as she was every other morning since he had started working on her homestead a few weeks ago.
“What makes you say that?” Adam said a bit cautiously, reaching for the coffee pot on the potbelly stove.
“Sometimes I need to clear my head,” Kate said. “Especially after a rough night of my own. So I take a walk outside.” She saw Adam’s hand pause with the pot in hand before finishing pouring and setting it back down.
“I heard you havin’ a nightmare.”
Adam closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He wished he could remember most of the nightmares and dreams he had, but they were so fuzzy that he had to wonder if they were memories trying to surface. He doubted he would ever really know.
“Everyone has nightmares,” Adam said, sipping the coffee, forcing himself not to grimace at drinking the scalding liquid too quickly.
“Occasionally,” Kate said. “But not many are cryin’ out for their Ma’s in them.”
“Don’t see me sneakin’ around and listenin’ to yours, do you?” Adam snapped. Kate stiffened. The tone, the posture, it screamed Larabee. There had to be a connection, only Kate didn’t know why.
Kate Stokes was no fool. Shortly after leaving Four Corners after her sister died, she couldn’t return to this place for awhile. Curiosity had gotten the best of her regarding all of the men in Four Corners, so she’d done her research. Some of them were harder to find information on, but Larabee had a farm between River Creek and Eagle Bend. The tragedy that had befallen him was all over the newspapers. She knew he had been married and had lost his family in the fire. She also found out that a few years ago, while in Four Corners, he had found out who had killed them, and then who had been behind the entire thing. If Kate hadn’t known that information, she would have guessed this boy was his son.
*Just ‘cause he lost one son doesn’t mean he didn’t have another shortly before that or after...* But she knew that wasn’t the case. Though she hadn’t gotten along with him at all, Kate knew that Larabee wasn’t the type of man like her father or Del or any of those other good for nothing men she’d met in her life. For all his faults, he was honorable and would have held true to his marriage vows. For this kid to be Larabee’s, he would have had to have cheated on his wife or fell into another woman’s bed shortly after her death. While the latter was a possibility, she would hazard a guess that he would be so drunk that he wouldn’t have done any woman any good between the sheets beyond slobbery kisses.
“I ain’t tryin’ to pry...” Kate started.
“Then don’t,” Adam snapped. He looked at her. “You’ve done your best to keep me at a distance since I started working here, so don’t go pokin’...”
“Don’t get lippy with me,” Kate finally snapped at him. She took a deep breath to calm her ire. “Look... I know I didn’t exactly act cordial or anything when you showed up. But you are a good worker and seem like a good kid. I know you said you couldn’t remember who you were. Figured maybe these dreams had somethin’ to do with it. Sometimes talkin’ helps.”
Adam picked up his coffee cup and drained its contents before setting it down. “Tell you what,” he said, his tone harder then he truly intended. “When you decide to start sharin’ your own issues and nightmares, then I’ll consider sharin’ mine. ‘Til then, I’ll be outside gettin’ the fencing up before startin’ on plowin’.” Before Kate could comment, Adam’s long legs carried him the few steps that led to the door and he disappeared outside.
Kate sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Great,” she murmured. “This is why I said I wasn’t lookin’ to be any kid’s Ma.”
Author: Jourdana Standish
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven- for the Mag7BigBang
Summary: A young man is desperate to uncover the mystery of his past, sometimes intruded by dreams that he thinks are memories and flashbacks, but none enough to fully remember. His quest to discover who he really is brings him to Four Corners after persuading a woman he has befriended to come with him. What he doesn’t know is that his presence, along with hers, is going to flip the lives of the Seven upside down and nothing will ever be the same again.
Author’s Note: The events in this story take place about six years after the episode “Lady Killers”. There is also a minor link to a previous story I wrote, “Lies Become Unraveled” but you do not need to read that story to read or understand this one. They are separate entities.
I’d like to think my beta reader, masteralida for her services and encouragement while I wrote this. Also thank you so much to my artist, nomooreroo, not only for the great artwork, but for showing so much enthusiasm over the story that it helped motivate me even further to make sure I got it done. It meant a lot to me.
~~
For some, when a journey begins, it often has to start at a beginning and often times it reads like a book. Beginning, middle, end, plot, hero, villain and sometimes there is a heroine involved. Most stories, if printed, were over-dramatized to bring more action to a story but some of the best had very little drama and were quite understated. Adam had very much hoped that his true story was one of those. Something clean cut, something that would be resolved quickly, something to help him understand who he was and where he came from.
He was quickly learning that wasn’t the case.
“Boy, you need something else?” the gruff man who owned the local store asked.
Lifting his head, confused green eyes cleared and shook his head at the man before pausing. “Actually, do you know of any farm or ranch hiring right now?” he asked. He handed over the few coins that the man was asking for. “’Fraid I’m getting low on those.”
The man packed up the few things Adam had bought into cloth that he could easily put into his saddle bag. He shrugged. “The Stokes ranch is a few miles outta town,” he said. “Ain’t rightly sure if Kate’s hirin’, but can’t hurt to ask. She’s been up there by herself for a few years now since comin’ back here. You could go talk to her, but don’t be surprised, boy, if she sends you packin’.”
“She got something against men?” Adam asked.
“With good reason,” the man said. “But she’s also got somethin’ against people she think are pityin’ her. Right independent one she is. Guess she had to be, considerin’ what a waste that father o’ hers was.”
Adam could have taken anything from that statement, but he wasn’t going to ask any more questions of the man. He knew how men that were a ”waste” were often men that took advantage of the girls in their family. The man probably didn’t know all the details of this Kate’s history either beyond what he possibly heard on rumor, but at least Adam now had an idea as to how to potentially approach her.
“Which direction is the Stokes’ place?”
~~
Normally Kate Stokes was very aware of her surroundings. You didn’t run in the circle of a man like Del Spivak for so many years and not learn how to keep looking over your shoulder. Even though it had been a number of years since the events in Four Corners that led, not only, to Del’s death but her sister, Maddie’s, as well, she still felt like she had to look over her shoulder for the next person that was trying to take advantage of her. But she was arguing with a particularly stubborn weed that just would not release its hold on the rock hard soil it was buried in, so she didn’t see the horse coming from over the hill, a solid figure astride its back.
“Excuse me, you Kate Stokes?” the voice called.
Kate stiffened and glanced to her left where her shot gun rested against the rickety fence. She wondered if she would have enough time to dive for the object and aim before she felt a bullet pierce her skin. She figured moving wasn’t a good idea. Yet.
“Who’s askin’?” she asked, not turning.
“Name’s Adam,” the voice said. “Man over at the general store in River Creek said you might be in need of help out here.”
“That man’s got a big mouth and shouldn’t be talkin’ ‘bout things he doesn’t know,” Kate quipped.
Adam sighed a bit. “Look, ma’am…”
Kate slowly turned and looked at him. “I ain’t hirin’,” she said. “And certainly not any man that is gonna try and tell me what to do.” She couldn’t help but stare at the boy. Oh he was far too young for her in terms of looking at him as a more than just a kid, but she’d have to be completely blind to not see the resemblance between this boy and Chris Larabee. Why would a boy that looked like a gunslinger she hadn’t seen in six years end up on her land?
*She’s got more of a chip on her shoulder than me…* Adam thought, his eyebrow arching some. “Ma’am, no offense, but it doesn’t look like you are making much headway on this land,” he said. “I could help.”
“I’ve been doin’ fine the last few years without any help from anyone else,” Kate protested. “I think you can go now.”
Adam hopped off his horse. “Miss Stokes…”
“I said you can go, or I swear I’ll grab that shot gun and put a bullet through you,” Kate said, stiffening. “I don’t give a damn if you can get to your gun faster.”
Adam paused where he stood, the reins of his horse still in hand. He studied the way Kate stood and wondered just what was done to her.
“Ma’am, I’m not aimin’ to hurt you.”
“Yeah,” Kate said. “I’ve heard that before.”
Adam put his hands up, reins dangling from the one. “I’ll go,” he said. “But really, I was just lookin’ for work. Am running out of money and it was just a suggestion to come here.” He kept himself passive, finally getting back onto his horse. He turned the steed and started a slow walk away, not wanting to spook Kate anymore than he obviously had.
“Wait,” Kate called. She reached for her shotgun, in case, but then began walking towards the young man. “Said your name was Adam?”
Adam glanced over at her, nodding his head. “Yes, ma’am, I did.”
“You got a last name, Adam?” Kate asked.
The blond young man shook his head, his features shuttering some. “Been using Smith,” he said.
“Using Smith?” Kate questioned. “You wanted or somethin’? Cause I don’t need that kind of trouble again.”
“I ain’t wanted,” Adam snapped. He took a calming breath as Kate’s eyebrow arched. “I mean, I’m not wanted.” Her eyebrow quirked higher.
“Well?” she finally asked.
“I don’t know who I am beyond my first name,” Adam said. “I’ve got bits of memory here and there, but that’s it. I don’t remember my parents. Just the orphanage I grew up in.”
“Oh,” Kate said. “Look. I ain’t looking to be some wayward teenager’s Ma--.”
Adam looked at her incredulously. “I don’t need a Ma,” he said. “I need a job. And to be frank, you need the help.”
Kate took a moment to study his look; his posture. If she let herself view him older, she would swear Chris Larabee was the one she was talking to, not some kid calling himself Adam Smith. She still couldn’t understand why the cantankerous son of a bitch she met six years ago in Four Corners was coming to her mind now as she looked at this boy. Keep telling yourself that you don’t think of him often, Kate. Maybe you’ll start believing it. Sometimes she hated her subconscious. Maybe with this kid here, she’d have less time to listen to that internal voice.
“All right, fine,” she finally said. “I do need help. But I can’t afford much and I’ll be needing some help cooking and keeping up the house, too.”
“A few coins, a roof over my head and food in my belly is all I need, Ms. Stokes,” Adam said.
“It’s Kate,” she said. “You can stay in the barn’s loft for now. If you’re here come winter, we’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks,” Adam said.
“There’s a stall for your horse you can use,” Kate said. “Then you can get started.” Adam tipped his hat and turned to lead his horse to the barn. Kate’s voice stopped him again.
“And Adam?” He turned to look at her. “If you aren’t on the level and try something, I won’t hesitate to shoot you.”
The smile he quirked was a swift kick to her gut. He tapped the brim of his hat before heading to the barn. Without looking like she was running, Kate hurried to the house and stepped inside. Once she closed the door, she practically collapsed against it, willing her heart to stop pounding as that smile came to her mind. Only this time it was in a face that was older, harder and haunted her dreams every night since she and Maddie found themselves in that damnable town six years ago. Who the hell was Adam Smith and why was he the spitting image of Chris Larabee?
~~
Nights were always the hardest for Kate. She slept a few hours, but the nightmares always brought her back to reality. Times like that brought her outside, getting fresh air, allowing her mind to filter the nightmares out of her mind. Mostly. They always lingered in some way.
She was just passing the barn, pausing when she heard something. It sounded like a child. Great, just what she needed, another child.
“No...” A frown crossed Kate’s features as she moved quietly towards the barn.
“Mama... no...” That wasn’t a child. Not a young one, at least. Kate stood completely still, listening. When she heard the whimper again, she realized it was Adam. Something ached in her chest as she heard the soft cries as she also heard him tossing in the make-shift bed he’d made for sleeping arrangements.
Turning and quietly making her way back to the house, all she could think was that she wasn’t the only one that suffered with nightmares.
~~
“Rough night, huh?”
Adam had quietly come into the house to pour some coffee, figuring Kate was holed up in the bedroom off the kitchen and living area as she was every other morning since he had started working on her homestead a few weeks ago.
“What makes you say that?” Adam said a bit cautiously, reaching for the coffee pot on the potbelly stove.
“Sometimes I need to clear my head,” Kate said. “Especially after a rough night of my own. So I take a walk outside.” She saw Adam’s hand pause with the pot in hand before finishing pouring and setting it back down.
“I heard you havin’ a nightmare.”
Adam closed his eyes, swallowing hard. He wished he could remember most of the nightmares and dreams he had, but they were so fuzzy that he had to wonder if they were memories trying to surface. He doubted he would ever really know.
“Everyone has nightmares,” Adam said, sipping the coffee, forcing himself not to grimace at drinking the scalding liquid too quickly.
“Occasionally,” Kate said. “But not many are cryin’ out for their Ma’s in them.”
“Don’t see me sneakin’ around and listenin’ to yours, do you?” Adam snapped. Kate stiffened. The tone, the posture, it screamed Larabee. There had to be a connection, only Kate didn’t know why.
Kate Stokes was no fool. Shortly after leaving Four Corners after her sister died, she couldn’t return to this place for awhile. Curiosity had gotten the best of her regarding all of the men in Four Corners, so she’d done her research. Some of them were harder to find information on, but Larabee had a farm between River Creek and Eagle Bend. The tragedy that had befallen him was all over the newspapers. She knew he had been married and had lost his family in the fire. She also found out that a few years ago, while in Four Corners, he had found out who had killed them, and then who had been behind the entire thing. If Kate hadn’t known that information, she would have guessed this boy was his son.
*Just ‘cause he lost one son doesn’t mean he didn’t have another shortly before that or after...* But she knew that wasn’t the case. Though she hadn’t gotten along with him at all, Kate knew that Larabee wasn’t the type of man like her father or Del or any of those other good for nothing men she’d met in her life. For all his faults, he was honorable and would have held true to his marriage vows. For this kid to be Larabee’s, he would have had to have cheated on his wife or fell into another woman’s bed shortly after her death. While the latter was a possibility, she would hazard a guess that he would be so drunk that he wouldn’t have done any woman any good between the sheets beyond slobbery kisses.
“I ain’t tryin’ to pry...” Kate started.
“Then don’t,” Adam snapped. He looked at her. “You’ve done your best to keep me at a distance since I started working here, so don’t go pokin’...”
“Don’t get lippy with me,” Kate finally snapped at him. She took a deep breath to calm her ire. “Look... I know I didn’t exactly act cordial or anything when you showed up. But you are a good worker and seem like a good kid. I know you said you couldn’t remember who you were. Figured maybe these dreams had somethin’ to do with it. Sometimes talkin’ helps.”
Adam picked up his coffee cup and drained its contents before setting it down. “Tell you what,” he said, his tone harder then he truly intended. “When you decide to start sharin’ your own issues and nightmares, then I’ll consider sharin’ mine. ‘Til then, I’ll be outside gettin’ the fencing up before startin’ on plowin’.” Before Kate could comment, Adam’s long legs carried him the few steps that led to the door and he disappeared outside.
Kate sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Great,” she murmured. “This is why I said I wasn’t lookin’ to be any kid’s Ma.”