Child Of My Heart (7/12) - Mag7/Highlander
Title: Child Of My Heart (7/12)
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom: Magnificent 7 and Highlander
Beta: Much thanks to ithildyn
Prompt: #7 - Days for Crossovers100. My table is here
Rating: PG, Gen
Characters: HL: OFC Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black); Mag7: Ezra Standish, Maude Standish
Chapter Summary: Ezra confronts Maude and a decision is made.
A/N: Charlotte is an Immortal and an original character created by ithildyn. In Charlotte’s bio, Ith mentioned that she’d lived in New Mexico in the 1860’s, so it was obvious to me she knew the Mag7 boys. I have added the idea that she was Maude Standish’s teacher, longtime friend and one of those people Maude would occasionally ‘dump’ Ezra with. The rest of Charlotte’s stories can be found on ithildyn’s journal Here
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Epilogue
Child Of My Heart, Chapter 7
Ezra pulled his horse to a stop next to Charlotte’s wagon. Dismounting, he flipped the reins over the hitch and strode to the barn door. Ezra’s hand stilled on the latch as the raised voices from inside reached his ears. They were arguing about him. The moment brought back memories from when he’d been little and had eavesdropped on another conversation concerning his welfare. As he’d done then he waited, listening to what they were saying about him.
“I can not believe your lured my son to this godforsaken wilderness,” Maude said. “And he’s become a lawman! If it weren’t so ridiculous, I’d be crying.”
“I didn’t lure Ezra anywhere. He makes his own decisions and he has decided he wants a different life. I support his choice.”
Ezra smiled as he leaned against the barn door. All the fears of rejection that had gathered during his ride out the ranch were banished in an instant. Charlotte understood him, she supported him. His mother never would, and that thought, though sad, did not surprise him.
“He’s wasting his time here,” Maude insisted. “He needs to come with me and you need stay out of the way.”
“He’s not some child you can drag away from my care anymore, Maude.”
“You need to stop filling Ezra’s head with these ridiculous heroic notions and see the world as it really is.”
“No, you need to open your eyes and see the good man he’s become in spite of -“ Charlotte stopped.
“No finish. You were about to say ‘In spite of me’,” Maude sneered. “How dare you insinuate that? I am a good mother!”
“You weren’t fit to be a mother, Maude!” Charlotte shouted. “You found Ezra in an orphanage saw his potential and raised a tool for your own purposes, not as a child that needed your love. I should have been his mother, not you! I should have never let you take him from me.”
Ezra stepped back and stared at the barn door as if it had betrayed him. He was only peripherally aware of the conversation that continued inside. He must have heard Charlotte wrong. Maude had found him? She wasn’t his real mother?
That was impossible. He searched for his earliest memory going back as far as he could. Maude was always there, she was the only mother he had ever known.
The door was flung open and Maude stopped her exit when she saw him standing there. “Ezra!” she said. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “It’s very rude to eavesdrop.”
“Is it?” He said quietly. “I do believe you taught me that eavesdropping was a very useful skill.”
“Ezra, I can explain,” Maude said as she realized what he must have heard.
“Can you, moth- Maude?” Ezra wasn’t sure he ever wanted to call her mother again.
Her body tensed as she whirled to step back inside to accost Charlotte. “This is all your fault; you and your high and mighty principles.”
Charlotte ignored Maude’s tantrum. “Ezra,” she called to him. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
Mechanically, he entered the barn and crossed to stand in front of his cousin. “You knew she wasn’t my mother,” he said angrily, glaring at her, “And yet you let her drag me around the country and raise me like this!”
He knew he should be directing his anger at Maude but he had put his faith in Charlotte. He’d trusted her and somehow the fact that she’d left him to Maude’s ministrations felt like a betrayal.
“I am your mother,” Maude snapped from behind him but she was ignored.
“I wanted to keep you with me. You must believe that.” Charlotte pleaded. He could see the tears pooling in her eyes. “I love you like my own son but Maude had the legal rights to you. I couldn’t risk that she’d take you away and never return. That would have broken my heart.”
Ezra nodded, afraid to speak for fear of dissolving into very childlike tears. Her words filled him with joy and he instantly forgave her. Just knowing she wanted him and thought of him as her own child banished any misunderstandings he might have had. He grasped her hand and with his other wiped a wayward tear from her cheek. Her eyes told him how much she regretted not being there for him everyday.
He smiled at her and she returned it. Nothing had changed between them except that he no longer felt guilty that he cared for her more than Maude.
“Stay away from him, Charlotte,” Maude said angrily. She would not be ignored any longer and pulled Charlotte roughly away from Ezra.
“Maude, leave her alone,” Ezra commanded. “Haven’t you done enough?”
“Ezra, regardless of whether I gave birth to you, I am your mother. I have only had you best interests at heart,” Maude said.
He snorted in disbelief. “I doubt that. I see it all too clearly now. I have allowed myself to fall prey to your greatest con. The one that had me constantly trying to earn your love and attention; but it was all a lie wasn’t it?”
“Charlotte has finally succeeded in turning you against me as I always knew she would.”
Charlotte opened her to mouth retort but Ezra motioned for her to stay out of the argument and she obeyed.
“You believe that, don’t you?” Ezra scoffed. “All I ever wanted was to be the son you wanted me to be, but I see now that you never wanted a son; just a partner for your games.”
“Ezra.” Her whole manner softened as she stepped close to him. “You are my darling boy and always have been. I love you. I pushed you so hard because I knew that a great destiny awaited you.”
She reached out to stroke his cheek, and Ezra closed his eyes at the familiar touch. A part of him wanted to believe that the circumstances of his birth didn’t matter, that she was his mother, but the years of neglect and abandonment told a different story, one he was much more inclined to believe.
He grabbed the hand that rested on his check and pushed it away. “I will always care for you, Maude, but you must understand that I will no longer participate in you games. The life of a confidence man is no longer my ’great destiny’.”
Maude stepped back, laughing. The harshness of the sound surprised him. “You don’t understand. You think that Charlotte is so wonderful, but she wants to deny who you are. Someday you will come into your birthright and only then will you truly understand how I am the only one you can trust.”
“Stop, Maude!” Charlotte insisted as she stepped between them, her back to Ezra. “Think about what you’re saying.”
Ezra watched as something he didn’t understand registered on his mother’s face as she looked past Charlotte to stare at him. His cousin placed a hand on Maude’s shoulder and the gesture seemed to snap his mother’s attention back to Charlotte and a calmer state. More secrets? His confusion grew. He had wondered if his mother was going insane with their ramblings about destiny and birthrights. Yet Charlotte seemed to know what Maude was talking about. He suddenly got the feeling that being an exceptional gambler and confidence man wasn’t the destiny his mother was referring to.
“Charlotte, what’s going on?” Ezra demanded.
She turned to him and he could see the lie in her eyes as she said, “Nothing, your mother is just distraught because of everything that has been revealed today.”
“Charlotte’s right,” Maude agreed. “I admit I’d hoped you’d never find out about the adoption and certainly not this way. Please, Ezra, let me make this right between us.”
Ezra was stunned. He looked between the two of them and his head started to ache. His whole world was torn asunder and just when he thought that everything was fine between him and Charlotte, she’d taken Maude’s side exactly as he’d feared.
He stumbled back, and when his legs hit a bale of hay, he sat. Nothing made sense. His emotions were in turmoil. He wanted to understand why Charlotte lied to him. He looked at her, the question in his eyes, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. What did that mean?
“Look what you’ve done, Charlotte, he’s in shock,” Maude chastised her cousin, her tone sweet with false concern. “I’ll handle this. Why don’t you give us some privacy?”
“Maude, promise me you won’t upset him further,” Charlotte pleaded.
Maude waved a hand at her. “I am over my shock. I need to repair the relationship with my son and that is best done without an audience. You understand, don’t you, darling?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to leave.”
“I have no intention of doing anything to hurt Ezra,” Maude assured her. He watched as another unspoken message passed between the women. “He’s had enough of a shock for one day.”
“I don’t know, Maude.” Charlotte walked over to sit beside him. “Ezra?” she cajoled. “I’ll stay, and we can talk about this.”
He looked at his cousin. He wanted to believe the concern on her face was genuine. A part of him wanted to know what other secrets she and Maude were hiding, but he wasn’t sure he was truly ready to hear them.
Suddenly, he realized he wanted to be anywhere but here. He didn’t want to talk about any of it. He wanted to go back to Four Corners and follow Chris’ example of crawling into a bottle when things were too upsetting to be faced. Ezra doubted either woman would just let him ride away. No, they would want to talk and Charlotte wouldn’t stop until she believed he was feeling better.
He put on a false smile. “Any chance you have some of that scotch hidden in the barn?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I could go get some.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Do you want me too?”
“Please, I promise not to start any arguments until you get back,” Ezra said.
“I think we could all use a drink,” Maude said seating herself on a neighboring hay bale.
Charlotte leaned over to whisper in Ezra’s ear. “I love you, you must believe that.” More loudly she added, “I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes. Behave yourselves.” Without waiting for a reply, she headed for the door.
Her declaration of love filled him with hope; Ezra wanted to accept that she was sincere. If there were more secrets, he had to have confidence that Charlotte was keeping them for a good reason. He desperately wanted to believe he could trust his cousin. Later he would ask her why she lied. If she lied again then he would know that trust was gone
He turned to face his mother, steeling himself for some self-righteous tirade against Charlotte once the door was closed.
“Speak your piece.”
“Ezra, I have only had your best interests at heart, you must believe me.” She reached out to hold his hands in hers.
He pulled them away. “Forgive me, but I don’t.”
“I never thought it mattered that you were adopted,” she explained. “Why should it bother you so much?”
“It just does.” It mattered because somehow it would have been easier to understand and accept her coldness. She was no more connected to him than some of those awful stepfathers he’d been forced to endure.
“Well, if you insist that I am not your mother, then you should know that means Charlotte is not your cousin.” His mother rose and came to stand in front of him.
He let loose a rueful chuckle, refusing to look up at her. “You really don’t understand. It’s not blood that makes her dear to me.”
“I knew it would come to this someday.”
He was about to ask what she meant when he heard the cocking of a pistol. He looked up to find her derringer pointed at his heart.
“Mother?” He laughed. “Is this a joke?”
“No,” she said. “I’m fulfilling your destiny.”
Before Ezra could truly register her intent, the gun went off. He didn’t feel the bullet at first and tried to draw his Remington but his arm would not respond to his command. Breathing became difficult as the pain in his chest exploded. He looked down to see a red stain spreading across his gold vest.
His head swam as he swung his gaze up to his mother. She was still smiling and trying to tell him something, but his mind couldn’t make out the words.
She’d shot him. His own mother had killed him. He closed his eyes and fell backwards across the hay bale as the world ended.
Author: strangevisitor7
Fandom: Magnificent 7 and Highlander
Beta: Much thanks to ithildyn
Prompt: #7 - Days for Crossovers100. My table is here
Rating: PG, Gen
Characters: HL: OFC Charlotte Sparrow (AKA Pearl Black); Mag7: Ezra Standish, Maude Standish
Chapter Summary: Ezra confronts Maude and a decision is made.
A/N: Charlotte is an Immortal and an original character created by ithildyn. In Charlotte’s bio, Ith mentioned that she’d lived in New Mexico in the 1860’s, so it was obvious to me she knew the Mag7 boys. I have added the idea that she was Maude Standish’s teacher, longtime friend and one of those people Maude would occasionally ‘dump’ Ezra with. The rest of Charlotte’s stories can be found on ithildyn’s journal Here
Chapter List
Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4; Chapter 5; Chapter 6; Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Chapter 9; Chapter 10; Chapter 11; Epilogue
Child Of My Heart, Chapter 7
Ezra pulled his horse to a stop next to Charlotte’s wagon. Dismounting, he flipped the reins over the hitch and strode to the barn door. Ezra’s hand stilled on the latch as the raised voices from inside reached his ears. They were arguing about him. The moment brought back memories from when he’d been little and had eavesdropped on another conversation concerning his welfare. As he’d done then he waited, listening to what they were saying about him.
“I can not believe your lured my son to this godforsaken wilderness,” Maude said. “And he’s become a lawman! If it weren’t so ridiculous, I’d be crying.”
“I didn’t lure Ezra anywhere. He makes his own decisions and he has decided he wants a different life. I support his choice.”
Ezra smiled as he leaned against the barn door. All the fears of rejection that had gathered during his ride out the ranch were banished in an instant. Charlotte understood him, she supported him. His mother never would, and that thought, though sad, did not surprise him.
“He’s wasting his time here,” Maude insisted. “He needs to come with me and you need stay out of the way.”
“He’s not some child you can drag away from my care anymore, Maude.”
“You need to stop filling Ezra’s head with these ridiculous heroic notions and see the world as it really is.”
“No, you need to open your eyes and see the good man he’s become in spite of -“ Charlotte stopped.
“No finish. You were about to say ‘In spite of me’,” Maude sneered. “How dare you insinuate that? I am a good mother!”
“You weren’t fit to be a mother, Maude!” Charlotte shouted. “You found Ezra in an orphanage saw his potential and raised a tool for your own purposes, not as a child that needed your love. I should have been his mother, not you! I should have never let you take him from me.”
Ezra stepped back and stared at the barn door as if it had betrayed him. He was only peripherally aware of the conversation that continued inside. He must have heard Charlotte wrong. Maude had found him? She wasn’t his real mother?
That was impossible. He searched for his earliest memory going back as far as he could. Maude was always there, she was the only mother he had ever known.
The door was flung open and Maude stopped her exit when she saw him standing there. “Ezra!” she said. Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. “It’s very rude to eavesdrop.”
“Is it?” He said quietly. “I do believe you taught me that eavesdropping was a very useful skill.”
“Ezra, I can explain,” Maude said as she realized what he must have heard.
“Can you, moth- Maude?” Ezra wasn’t sure he ever wanted to call her mother again.
Her body tensed as she whirled to step back inside to accost Charlotte. “This is all your fault; you and your high and mighty principles.”
Charlotte ignored Maude’s tantrum. “Ezra,” she called to him. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”
Mechanically, he entered the barn and crossed to stand in front of his cousin. “You knew she wasn’t my mother,” he said angrily, glaring at her, “And yet you let her drag me around the country and raise me like this!”
He knew he should be directing his anger at Maude but he had put his faith in Charlotte. He’d trusted her and somehow the fact that she’d left him to Maude’s ministrations felt like a betrayal.
“I am your mother,” Maude snapped from behind him but she was ignored.
“I wanted to keep you with me. You must believe that.” Charlotte pleaded. He could see the tears pooling in her eyes. “I love you like my own son but Maude had the legal rights to you. I couldn’t risk that she’d take you away and never return. That would have broken my heart.”
Ezra nodded, afraid to speak for fear of dissolving into very childlike tears. Her words filled him with joy and he instantly forgave her. Just knowing she wanted him and thought of him as her own child banished any misunderstandings he might have had. He grasped her hand and with his other wiped a wayward tear from her cheek. Her eyes told him how much she regretted not being there for him everyday.
He smiled at her and she returned it. Nothing had changed between them except that he no longer felt guilty that he cared for her more than Maude.
“Stay away from him, Charlotte,” Maude said angrily. She would not be ignored any longer and pulled Charlotte roughly away from Ezra.
“Maude, leave her alone,” Ezra commanded. “Haven’t you done enough?”
“Ezra, regardless of whether I gave birth to you, I am your mother. I have only had you best interests at heart,” Maude said.
He snorted in disbelief. “I doubt that. I see it all too clearly now. I have allowed myself to fall prey to your greatest con. The one that had me constantly trying to earn your love and attention; but it was all a lie wasn’t it?”
“Charlotte has finally succeeded in turning you against me as I always knew she would.”
Charlotte opened her to mouth retort but Ezra motioned for her to stay out of the argument and she obeyed.
“You believe that, don’t you?” Ezra scoffed. “All I ever wanted was to be the son you wanted me to be, but I see now that you never wanted a son; just a partner for your games.”
“Ezra.” Her whole manner softened as she stepped close to him. “You are my darling boy and always have been. I love you. I pushed you so hard because I knew that a great destiny awaited you.”
She reached out to stroke his cheek, and Ezra closed his eyes at the familiar touch. A part of him wanted to believe that the circumstances of his birth didn’t matter, that she was his mother, but the years of neglect and abandonment told a different story, one he was much more inclined to believe.
He grabbed the hand that rested on his check and pushed it away. “I will always care for you, Maude, but you must understand that I will no longer participate in you games. The life of a confidence man is no longer my ’great destiny’.”
Maude stepped back, laughing. The harshness of the sound surprised him. “You don’t understand. You think that Charlotte is so wonderful, but she wants to deny who you are. Someday you will come into your birthright and only then will you truly understand how I am the only one you can trust.”
“Stop, Maude!” Charlotte insisted as she stepped between them, her back to Ezra. “Think about what you’re saying.”
Ezra watched as something he didn’t understand registered on his mother’s face as she looked past Charlotte to stare at him. His cousin placed a hand on Maude’s shoulder and the gesture seemed to snap his mother’s attention back to Charlotte and a calmer state. More secrets? His confusion grew. He had wondered if his mother was going insane with their ramblings about destiny and birthrights. Yet Charlotte seemed to know what Maude was talking about. He suddenly got the feeling that being an exceptional gambler and confidence man wasn’t the destiny his mother was referring to.
“Charlotte, what’s going on?” Ezra demanded.
She turned to him and he could see the lie in her eyes as she said, “Nothing, your mother is just distraught because of everything that has been revealed today.”
“Charlotte’s right,” Maude agreed. “I admit I’d hoped you’d never find out about the adoption and certainly not this way. Please, Ezra, let me make this right between us.”
Ezra was stunned. He looked between the two of them and his head started to ache. His whole world was torn asunder and just when he thought that everything was fine between him and Charlotte, she’d taken Maude’s side exactly as he’d feared.
He stumbled back, and when his legs hit a bale of hay, he sat. Nothing made sense. His emotions were in turmoil. He wanted to understand why Charlotte lied to him. He looked at her, the question in his eyes, but she wouldn’t meet his gaze. What did that mean?
“Look what you’ve done, Charlotte, he’s in shock,” Maude chastised her cousin, her tone sweet with false concern. “I’ll handle this. Why don’t you give us some privacy?”
“Maude, promise me you won’t upset him further,” Charlotte pleaded.
Maude waved a hand at her. “I am over my shock. I need to repair the relationship with my son and that is best done without an audience. You understand, don’t you, darling?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to leave.”
“I have no intention of doing anything to hurt Ezra,” Maude assured her. He watched as another unspoken message passed between the women. “He’s had enough of a shock for one day.”
“I don’t know, Maude.” Charlotte walked over to sit beside him. “Ezra?” she cajoled. “I’ll stay, and we can talk about this.”
He looked at his cousin. He wanted to believe the concern on her face was genuine. A part of him wanted to know what other secrets she and Maude were hiding, but he wasn’t sure he was truly ready to hear them.
Suddenly, he realized he wanted to be anywhere but here. He didn’t want to talk about any of it. He wanted to go back to Four Corners and follow Chris’ example of crawling into a bottle when things were too upsetting to be faced. Ezra doubted either woman would just let him ride away. No, they would want to talk and Charlotte wouldn’t stop until she believed he was feeling better.
He put on a false smile. “Any chance you have some of that scotch hidden in the barn?”
Charlotte shook her head. “I could go get some.” She reached over and squeezed his hand. “Do you want me too?”
“Please, I promise not to start any arguments until you get back,” Ezra said.
“I think we could all use a drink,” Maude said seating herself on a neighboring hay bale.
Charlotte leaned over to whisper in Ezra’s ear. “I love you, you must believe that.” More loudly she added, “I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes. Behave yourselves.” Without waiting for a reply, she headed for the door.
Her declaration of love filled him with hope; Ezra wanted to accept that she was sincere. If there were more secrets, he had to have confidence that Charlotte was keeping them for a good reason. He desperately wanted to believe he could trust his cousin. Later he would ask her why she lied. If she lied again then he would know that trust was gone
He turned to face his mother, steeling himself for some self-righteous tirade against Charlotte once the door was closed.
“Speak your piece.”
“Ezra, I have only had your best interests at heart, you must believe me.” She reached out to hold his hands in hers.
He pulled them away. “Forgive me, but I don’t.”
“I never thought it mattered that you were adopted,” she explained. “Why should it bother you so much?”
“It just does.” It mattered because somehow it would have been easier to understand and accept her coldness. She was no more connected to him than some of those awful stepfathers he’d been forced to endure.
“Well, if you insist that I am not your mother, then you should know that means Charlotte is not your cousin.” His mother rose and came to stand in front of him.
He let loose a rueful chuckle, refusing to look up at her. “You really don’t understand. It’s not blood that makes her dear to me.”
“I knew it would come to this someday.”
He was about to ask what she meant when he heard the cocking of a pistol. He looked up to find her derringer pointed at his heart.
“Mother?” He laughed. “Is this a joke?”
“No,” she said. “I’m fulfilling your destiny.”
Before Ezra could truly register her intent, the gun went off. He didn’t feel the bullet at first and tried to draw his Remington but his arm would not respond to his command. Breathing became difficult as the pain in his chest exploded. He looked down to see a red stain spreading across his gold vest.
His head swam as he swung his gaze up to his mother. She was still smiling and trying to tell him something, but his mind couldn’t make out the words.
She’d shot him. His own mother had killed him. He closed his eyes and fell backwards across the hay bale as the world ended.