By Atonia and Jo

Jo writing Maximus, Caroline, Bud, Marie, Sid, Hope, Cort, Lachlan, Ben

Atonia writing Terry, Dee, Alex, Linda, Jack, Tarwyn, John, Bethany, Dino

PART 2:   

There was no chance for sleep to come for Ben Wade as he lay on the bed closest to the window of the upstairs bedroom in the blue house. It was absurd, the whole notion that he was some damn character in some damn story. Carefully, he went through again every word that Cort had spoken. He did like the thought that Cort was, or at least had been, an outlaw in nearly the same time and place. The man carried a sadness about him that indicated he knew too well about great loss. Dan had not been sad, not like that. He’d been…heavy. Heavy with the weight of all that rested on his shoulders.

He thought about how Cort looked as they’d watched his movie thing together. He seemed to accept almost matter-of-factly that he’d been a story character. How had the man come to the point where he could do that? He himself was not ready for any such acceptance. There had to be some way out of this hellhole of confusion he found himself in. He’d find it. He wasn’t going to lie here on his backside and not try!

Rising quietly, he went out into the upstairs hallway. The door to the room where the so-called Roman general was, was shut. Good. He slipped down the stairs and out the front door, standing on the wide porch for a while to get his bearings. That way. He’d come out of the pine woods in that direction. With long strides he crossed the lawn and disappeared among the dark shadows of the pines. Briefly he stopped, just breathing in the night air, glad to be outside where at least a tree was a tree. Stooping, he picked up a large pinecone, rolling it in his hand.

“You ain’t some storybook cone, are you?” he said to it. “Or maybe you ain’t a cone at all. Maybe you’re a walnut just pretendin’ to be a cone an’ the cone don’t know it.” He hated the idea someone made him and he didn’t know it. It made him feel out of control, powerless…vulnerable…and none of those were things he wanted to feel. He threw the cone away, hard,

into the darkness.

Eventually he came out into the valley with the railroad tracks crossing its middle on their graveled ridge. He climbed up to the tracks, looking for some sign of the prison car, but it was gone. Why had he thought it might still be there? Well, it was the last link to where he belonged. That was it. He smiled grimly at the thought he belonged more on a prison car headed to Yuma than he did in the freedom of that blue house back yonder.

He walked along the tracks for a little way, but nothing around him was familiar. Contention was just not there. Arizona was not there. Pressing his lips together, he went back to where he could sit on the slope that led to the pines. He thought he might just keep his eyes on the track for a while and see what happened.

Half an hour later a freight whooshed by, pulled by a big diesel engine. Ben sat way back, supporting himself on his hands, staring in wonder. He’d never seen a train like that. Engine made no smoke and the thing went faster’n any train he’d ever seen. Just then a man appeared beside him, sitting in the grass like he was.

“Hello, Ben Wade.”

Ben almost bit his tongue in surprise, but then regained control and asked suspiciously, “An’ who might you be?”

“I be Sid,” the man smiled.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. “You the one plays with them others like they was toys?”

“Your grammatical construct is quite adorable, you know.”

“My…what? Just answer my damn question an’ be done with it!”

“Yes, I admit to being the puppermaster of this little stage play. I take it you are not particularly amused to find yourself a puppet?”

“I ain’t never been nobody’s puppet!”

“No?” With that Sid popped briefly with Ben into Gladiator, right when the tiger leapt on the General’s back.

Ben staggered and Sid chuckled. “Yes, quite staggering, isn’t it? That’s the Roman, Ben Wade, the one who even now is in bed with the former Alice.” He let Ben watch Maximus in action for a while. “You will note, Ben Wade, when you close your unlovely gaping mouth, how well he handles himself. There was a time when I wanted nothing more than to be like him.” Sid cocked his head. “Despite the shiny cap of black hair, he does quite look like me, don’t you think? And you, of course, only you are older and more frayed about the edges.”

“But enough of the General. Come, come!” and he took Ben into the ending of LA Confidential just as Bud gets shot and falls down.

“Byron,” Ben whispered.

“Ah, but that is Wendell, Ben Wade, one Wendell White, policeman of sorts. He is not fond of you, I hope you know, not after you threw him off that cliff. Tsk tsk tsk. So…unfriendly of you.”

Before Ben could adjust, he found himself at the end of Proof of Life when the grenade almost blows up Terry. “Why are you doing this?” Ben demanded.

“Ah, I have two reasons, Ben Wade. One being to show you that these ‘brothers’ of yours are not the wimps you might imagine. Your Butterfield here is no coward. And these are the men you now find yourself among. The other being to show you clearly that this is my show. I am the one who raises the curtain and who decides when the final bow may be taken. I have decided to bring you out of Yuma and plop you amongst your brethren for my amusement.” He smiled at Ben. “And there is not a thing you can do about it. You need to understand who is the boss here. It’s definitely not you, Ben Wade.”

Ben practically hurled himself on Sid, but found his body crashing down on the ground at the edge of the pine forest instead. He lay there, the wind knocked out of him, feeling more alone than he had since the third day at the train station long ago.

Terry was up making coffee. The experience back in Yuma seemed like a bad dream but it was one that wouldn’t leave him alone. It was the first time he’d ever been in a situation where there wasn’t any action he could take, where he was forced to say words put into his mouth. He turned around, hearing someone coming down the hall.

“G’day, Jack.”

“Coffee, what a good man you are, Terry. I’ve been awake for some time but still do not know how to manage a coffee maker.”

“You take it black?”

“I do, indeed. Thank you.”

“I expected you to sleep most of the day.” Terry leaned against the sink with his cup.

“I’m up with the sun.”

“So am I. Nolia and I talked yesterday and we’d like to have you and Tarwyn stay here for as long as you need to. I believe she is trying to move out here.”

“She had plans before we were sent into Yuma. That is a very generous offer and I appreciate it. However, I would not like to impose on you and your privacy.”

“The offer is there…I’m not taking it back.”

“I will speak with Tarwyn and if she is in agreement then we will accept your offer. I believe it may be a little crowded at the blue house at present.”

Terry set his jaw and turned looking out of the kitchen window. “It would certainly be too crowded for me.” He had little use for Ben Wade and the less he saw of him the better.

Jack stared into this mug for a moment. “I wanted to kill him, you know. If it hadn’t been for Alex’s situation, I would have gone after him.”

“Well, that’s all over with.” Terry didn’t want to relive a minute of it.

“It’s all over with for us but I fear it may have left some lingering effects with Tarwyn. Time will heal.”

Maximus woke up with Caroline leaning on an elbow staring at him. “Mornin’, Stranger,” she smiled.

“I am no stranger,” he smiled back.

“Wanna prove it?” she teased.

So he took her in his arms and proved it, more than once.

Later, Terry picked up his cell phone from the charger and checked his messages. He had a missed call from Dino. He stepped out into the back yard and returned the call.

“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been trying to call you for two days.”

“Slow down, Dino. I was away and not by choice. What’s up?”

“Business is booming down here in the rainforest.”

“What rainforest are you living in now?”

“Colombia. I need your help, Tio. I’ve got a client I’m working on right now and we got another insurance company contacting us about their victim. Same outfit has them both. I can’t talk out of both sides of my mouth with my contact and theirs.”

“What have you got so far?”

“A photograph and a demand.”

“Who are you dealing with?”

“FARC…need I say more?”

Terry winced. “That about covers it.” He looked toward the house. “Give me about thirty minutes and call me back.”

He walked around in a circle a few times. The excitement couldn’t be denied. This was exactly what he needed right now. He needed to work. Would Nolia think so? He squared his shoulders and walked into the house. Dee and Tarwyn were cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast.

He caught her eye and she knew something was going on with him. “Excuse me, Tarwyn.”

Terry led her back to their bedroom. “I got a call from Dino.”

Dee looked at him a minute and turned away moving to the dresser. “And.” She looked up in the mirror as he came up behind her.

“He needs my help. I need to do it, Nolia. I need to work…especially now.”

She met his eyes in the mirror. “I know you need something, Terry. Where is this job?”

“Colombia.”

“I’m going with you.”

“No, no, luv, I wouldn’t take you into that country. I don’t know the details yet or where he’s set up.”

“If it’s somewhere I can be…can I be?”

“We’ll see.”

“I know you didn’t come in here to ask my permission.”

“We’re talking about it. If you say no…then we’ll talk some more.”

She turned around and faced him. “You’ve already agreed, haven’t you?”

“No, not yet.” He looked at his watch. “Not for about another ten minutes.”

Her eyes rested on his lips, that clearly defined cupid’s bow of an upper lip. “I would never try and stop you from doing something I know you want to do. I know how dangerous it is…but I also know you’re as careful as you can be. If there is any way I can go with you or be of some help to you and Dino…you’ll let me know, won’t you?”

“I promise I will.”

Dee sighed. “Go make your phone call.”

“He’s going to call me back in about ten minutes.”

“You underestimated me. It only took you about eight.”

Terry grinned and kissed her.

Cort lay alone in the big bed, looking up at the ceiling as the morning light began to filter in. Even though he intensely disliked that Sid had toyed with his mind, he was glad it was done with and he was back here where…where what? He sighed. That was the problem. Rachel was gone and now Hope was with Lachlan. It was right she should be, given her current circumstances, but the result of it all left him without his family and now he didn’t know what lay in store for him, where he should look to find some sense of life for himself. He didn’t want just to be hanging around the edges of his brothers’ lives.

Then he thought of Ben and how he was just as alone as he was. He felt he had a certain understanding of Ben and, though he was not someone Cort would necessarily have picked out for any sort of companionship, he seemed to be what fate…or Sid…had brought into his life.

The fact there was so much similar between them as to time and location, made him feel somewhat responsible for Ben, too. It didn’t look like the man would be finding much brotherly love from the others. He couldn’t blame them. Their experience of Ben was nothing less than horrible.

Getting up, he walked out to the kitchen to put some coffee on and was doing that when Ben came in the front door.

“You outside already?”

“Most of the night. Met that Sid feller you told me about.”

“You…met…Sid? You, you’re all right?”

“I ain’t sure, Cort. He took me around some. Saw that there Gen'rul fightin’ hisself some tigers. Saw Byron, um, Wendell…whatever…you know the feller. Saw him get hisself shot in some dark room. None of it made that much sense.”

“Sid took you into movies?” Cort’s eyebrows went up. “Why would he do that?”

“Think he was tryin’ to prove hisself some point, how he was boss of ever’thin’. I didn’t much care for it.”

“I imagine not.” Cort turned back toward the coffeemaker, suppressing a small smile.

Alex slept for fourteen hours. When he woke his eyes were sticky and his vision blurred. Linda was there with a warm cloth to wipe them down. She put more drops in his eyes. They stung a bit but after blinking a few times his vision cleared.

“You’re to wear sunglasses when you go outside. Won’t you be cool?” She smiled and capped the eye drops.

“What time is it?”

“It doesn’t matter unless you’ve got somewhere to go.” She sat down on the side of the bed.

He shook his head a little. Nowhere to go and nothing to do. He pushed himself up with his elbows. There was fresh gauze on his hands. “The doctor came?”

“Yes, she did. She’s an old friend of mine. We went to college together until she turned medical. I’ll bet you’re hungry.”

“You’d bet right. I don’t know when I last ate real food.” He swung his legs around on the side of the bed. “I don’t have any clothes.”

“Yes, you do. I hope you don’t mind. I slipped out early this morning and bought a few things for you.”

“Thanks, thanks for everything.”

“I don’t want you to start thanking me for things I do for you. I…I care about you, Alex. A lot. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had anyone to do for…anyone to…love.”

A slow smile started on his face. “You know the score, you know who and what I am.”

“Yes, I do. I watched your movie last night. Where were you when you were warped out?”

“Ah,” he leaned his head back. “On the road from Mexico into California. When I woke up I was somewhere out on the highway leading into this city.”

“I’m glad you finally got back on that road and found my driveway. I’ll tell Maria to cook you some breakfast.”

“Wait a minute.” He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her. “That’s a down payment.”

“Later, Alex, I’m going to call in your loan.”

“I’ll pay up,” he grinned.

“Alex, where are you from? You don’t have a California accent.”

“Westchester, New York. My dad had a farm there near the Hudson River. I dropped out of college and joined the Marines when the war came home to Pearl Harbor.”

“That accounts for your tattoo.”

“Ah, yeah…everybody was getting them then. I was all gung ho. Farm boy going to war.”

She lay her hand on his face. “You can get dressed and I’ll see about something to eat.”

Linda asked Maria to prepare him a large breakfast and she walked out onto her patio. She had to ask herself if she was crazy falling for Alex Ross. He was younger than she was and younger than she first thought. She wondered how long she could keep him a secret. How long would it be before her father found out.

Maximus and Caroline came downstairs, finding Cort scrambling eggs. “Sorry,” Caroline said, “I should be doing that.”

“Why?” Cort looked at her with a smile. “Sit, eat. There’s toast there, too.”

Ben was tasting a glass of orange juice. He liked it. He’d felt fairly comfortable with Cort but was on guard when Maximus walked in.

Maximus inclined his head. “Good morning, Benjamin.”

“You were a gen'rul?”

“Indeed, I was.” Maximus picked up a piece of toast and began to spread apple butter on it.

“Cort here says you’re Roman?”

“I was…once. Now I am a Texan.”

“This here’s Texas?”

“The eastern part, yes.”

“I guess I ain’t so far from home as you are then.”

“My home is two hours away by automobile.” He smiled at Caroline.

“I mean Rome. You a long ways from Rome.”

“I lost any fondness for Rome a long time ago. It was a dream that became a nightmare, nothing more.”

“But you was one of its gen'ruls, right?”

“Once. I was also one of its slaves.” He lifted his wrists. “Like both you and Cort I have had my turn with manacles. I have no fondness for them.”

“I ain’t neither. You was in prison, then?”

“It may as well have been. It was a gladiator compound in Northern Africa. I was forced to fight. No, that is not right. I made a decision to fight rather than to die.”

“But Sid, he took you out of there?”

“He took me out before I died, yes.”

“You…died?”

“Evidently many, many times, but I was unaware that it was not the first. It was always the first for me as your whistle for your black was the first for you, or so it seemed.”

“And you, Ma’am.” Ben looked at Caroline. “You from some movie, too?”

“No, I’m not, Mr. Wade. None of the women you have seen here are. Only the men and all of them have the same source as you do.”

“Jimmy Stewart,” Maximus smiled.

“That that actor fella?”

“He is, or was, an actor, yes, but he is not our actor. Our actor is still alive and is busily making more of us.”

“More? How many of you…us…are there?”

“A couple dozen or more,” Cort volunteered, “gettin’ close to thirty by now, I guess.”

“An’ all of ‘em been brought out?”

“No, Benjamin, not all. Just the ones you’ve met...that we know of. And Sid.”

“I met him. Took myself a little walk back to that there train track place in the night, hopin’ to find that prison car but it was gone. Sid came by and took me around to see you fightin’ tigers and that Wendell feller get hisself shot.”

Maximus’ eyes widened. “He did that…already?”

“Said he wanted to show me who was boss, make sure I knew it wasn’t me.”

“He likes to think of himself in that manner,” Maximus said, “but he is mistaken. He is a brutal man with no conscience who exists only for his own pleasure.” He met Ben’s eyes meaningfully. “We do not need another among us.”

In all John’s days as a policeman he’d never been shot. The only thing he’d ever taken was a wild swing from a drunk. He suffered more from the hockey games than from his job. He was

not by nature a violent man. He’d seen 3:10 to Yuma as a movie but being a part of it, seeing

the senseless violence first hand coming on top of Decimus’ grisly death, made him want to pull away from it all for awhile. He couldn’t change or ignore what he was. He lay awake in Beth’s bed, staring at the ceiling, fully aware if Sid wanted to perpetrate some hideous crime upon him he couldn’t prevent it. However, he didn’t have to sit in company with the rest of them and wait for it.

He thought about Ben Wade at the blue house. What had possessed Sid to bring him out? It couldn’t be good…nothing good or Sid wouldn’t have brought him out. John was wary of Ben and didn’t trust him. His shoulder was awake and had been for a while. The pain medicine Dr. Canfield had given him had worn off. Beth had some pills somewhere but he didn’t know what she’d done with them.

Beth stirred beside him. “Mmm, good morning.” How wonderful it was to wake up next to John Biebe.

“Morning.” John turned his head toward her.

She frowned slightly, remembering his wound. “Are you hurting?”

“Ah, yeah, a little.” A lot but he wouldn’t admit to it.

Beth climbed out of the bed and went in search of his medicine. He tried to sit up but felt a little light headed and lay back down. He liked Beth’s bed, a big sleigh bed with hand pieced quilts and lots of down pillows. Her place was comfortable and looked like somebody lived there, unlike his own apartment.

“Here you go, John. One of each.”

He took his pills and leaned back carefully on the headboard.

“Do you feel like eating?”

“Eat…God, yes!”

“You stay right there and I’ll bring you breakfast.”

“I’d like to get up and, um…I’m a little dizzy.”

“Could be from the drugs you’ve had. Want to lean on me?”

He leaned on her to the bathroom door. She spoke through the door. “John, I’ve been thinking. You aren’t able right now to take care of yourself and…I thought if you wanted to you could stay with me. In fact…I wouldn’t mind it if you moved in here with me…if you want to, of course.” She heard the toilet flush and he opened the door.

“Are you sure about that? We’ve only known each other for a week.”

“I know you well enough but you don’t know me that well. It’s up to you. I’d love to have you here.”

He moistened his lips. “Well, I’ll stay until I’m able and then…I don’t know.”

She blinked. It was better than nothing and maybe he’d change his mind. “Okay, feel like walking to the sofa or back to bed?”

“Since I’m up, the sofa.”

Ben looked just as intently back at Maximus. “You sayin’ I ain’t welcome here, Gen’rul?”

“I am saying, Benjamin, that you have caused harm to a number of your fellows and that must cease. If that is the case, if you can do that, then you will be most welcome.”

“I ain’t got no plans to harm none of ‘em, Gen’rul. I don’t even know where I am, what I am, who I am. How’m I gonna hurt somebody?”

“Our natures come with us from our films, Benjamin. It is as simple as that. Every one of us is more than well acquainted with your movie, has seen all that you have done in it and done so with no remorse or hesitation. We have also seen that you cared to some degree for Dan Evans and that you did not wish him dead. None of us yet knows, however, to what extent you may be trusted. Trust is a thing not always easily earned.  You are new and must be given time to adjust to the realities you find yourself a part of. How you go about that will have much to do with how welcome or not you are. It is up to you, Benjamin Wade, to decide the manner of your greeting.”

“I ain’t a good man, Gen’rul. I ain’t led a good life. I admit to that. I been findin’ my way pretty much alone ever since I was a boy. Survivin’ been what it’s been about an’ when I got a handle on how to do that, I done it. I been good at what I done an’ it’s ‘bout all I know.”

“Well, Ben,” Cort spoke up, “there’s a whole different world out there now for you to find your way in. I think you’ll like some of it, maybe a lot, and some of it is goin’ to be right strange to you. I know.”

“You can start, Cort, by tellin’ me just when I am. This don’t look like what I know at all.”

“Ben, you are around 130 years beyond anything you know. This is 2011.” When Ben’s eyes widened, he continued, “I know that’s a long way, but it’s not as long as Maximus here has had to adapt to. The Captain, that would be Jack Aubrey, the blond fellow with, um, the lady you…well…in the saloon...”

“Emma? Well, I figure that there Captain feller ain’t too fond o’ me right about now. But

how’m I supposed to shoulder the blame for his gal bein’ in the saloon in the first place? If you say I done all this over ‘n over, then I done her over ‘n over, too. Ain’t my fault somebody else ended up servin’ drinks in that there saloon.”

“That is true, Benjamin,” Maximus nodded. “That the characters in your movie were substituted with our brothers and their ladies is not your doing but Sid’s. You were merely doing as you always do in the course of your movie.”

“Which I guess ain’t up to your standards, eh, Gen’rul?”

“You took your childhood tragedy, Benjamin, and you let it make you into a man who thinks of himself first and foremost in all situations. I am being honest with you because I believe it to be necessary. No, that is not what I would prefer to see a man do with his life. I find little meaning in your actions, no self control or restraint. You do not seem to have a goal that is larger than personal survival.”

“You did, Gen’rul? That what you sayin’?”

“He gave his life, Ben,” Caroline spoke up, “for the greater good of an entire empire.”

“Well, now,” Ben tipped his chair way back, “I ain’t saved no empire for a good month or two.”

“Ben…don’t!” Cort said, his voice severe.  “You need friends among your brothers, not enemies.”

“I ain’t never had no brothers, Cort.”

“Well, you do now, and you’d best learn to get along with them. They are not your enemies. Sid is. You need to understand that.” He looked with affection then at Maximus. “It is by stayin’ together that we survive.”

Jack waited for Tarwyn out in the back yard. “There you are, my lovely one. Terry has made us a most generous offer. He’s offered us a place to stay here until we may find accommodations of our own. I said I would talk with you and see what your thoughts are on the matter.”

“That’s awfully nice of him. I’d like to stay here…as far away from the blue house as we can get.”

“Tarwyn, you must put that behind you. It does not matter…it was not your doing. It was Sid’s.”

She turned and looked at him. “I know it was. I know I wasn’t in control of my actions, but it was me…it was me, not Emma, me.”

“Do you think I love you less?”

“I would hope not. It was you I was thinking of while…it was you I was loving.”

Jack held out his arms to her. “And it’s you I’m loving. No one stands between the two of us.”

She went to him and put her arms around his waist. “You’re right…I know you are. It’s just going to take me some time to…to forget and to forgive myself.”

Jack held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. “Terry tells me he’s going away.  He has a job and it’s good that we are here for Deidre. I’m glad you want to stay here.”

“I’ve still got to move.” She looked up at Jack. “I’ll try and do it by long distance. I don’t want to leave you.”

“Can you do such a thing?”

“I think so. I’m going to try. Everybody’s all banged up now, thanks to Sid. There wouldn’t be anyone to drive a truck back anyway. The thing is, I need my car.”

Jack took a breath. “I suppose you will have to teach me to drive one of those Ford Explorer rental cars.”

Tarwyn laughed a little. “It’s a car or a vehicle, darling. Ford Explorer is the brand name of the one I rented.”

He looked at her a moment. “Oh.”

“As I said, Gen’rul. I ain’t got no plans. I got none at all. So what is it I’m supposed to do? If I leave here, where do I go?”

“I’ve been thinkin' about that, Ben,” Cort said. “We could stay right here.”

“But…,” Caroline protested and Maximus covered her hand on the table with his.

“But,” he continued, “my Lady and I have much desire to return to our former place of residence out in the country. I do not wish, however, to be so far from you, Cort, not at this time.” His gaze passed quickly over Ben. “If, as it seems, you are thinking of showing Benjamin the ways of the modern world, might you consider doing so out at your own house near ours?

I would rest more easily if you were close by.”

“That might be a good idea, Ben.  It’s 200 miles west out of the city. There are horses, none of the hustle and bustle you’d find if you stayed around here.”

“You would invite me to your…home?”

“I am invitin' you. Trust has to begin somewhere.”

“You have no horses here that I have seen. How do you intend to cross those 200 miles? It is a long walk.”

Cort smiled, “Horseless wagons. You must have seen them out front.”

“Those wheeled things, they are wagons?”

“Much better than wagons. Once you get used to them, you’ll like how quickly you can get from place to place.”

“I would prefer to leave after lunch, if you think you can manage that,” Maximus added. “Perhaps Hope and Lachlan might return to eat with us and then you may explain your plan.”

Terry pulled up in front of the blue house. He was glad to see some of them were still there. He looked over at Deidre. “I dread this, you know. They depend on me and in a way I feel like I’m deserting the ship.”

“NanoCorp is gone, Terry. It’s time, don’t you think? It’s time for you to do what you do again.”

She opened her door and got out. Terry followed her into the house. They found the others still sitting around the breakfast table talking.

“Good mornin’, ya’ll,”  she said in her southern drawl and looked at Ben Wade. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced. “I’m Deidre Montgomery and this fellow…this is Terry Thorne.”

ON TO PART 3

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