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AUTHOR: Texas Aries
UNIVERSE:
Spirit Bay AU AUTHOR’S NOTE: Texas Aries create the
Spirit Bay AU. This AU is set in a small town in Maine during the early 1950s.
The Seven are all children with Josiah being the oldest at fourteen,
Chris and Buck both thirteen, Nathan twelve and Vin and Ezra eleven. Little 10
year-old John “JD” Dunne is the son of Judge Travis’ housekeeper and lives
in the judge’s home with his mother. The
older boys look on JD as a younger brother and include him in all their outings
and adventures. DISCLAIMER: The names of all the Magnificent Seven characters contained in this story is the property of Trilogy Entertainment Group, the Mirisch Group and MGM. No Infringements of these copyrights are intended in this story, which has been written for the joy of writing only. MYTHOLOGY CHALLENGE: In any universe you want, take any myth or legend, whether it be Greek, Norse, Native American, Chinese or even a modern one, like an urban legend, and retell the story with our boys. Have them live it. Now, I don't mean describing JD killing a lion in ancient Greece and wearing the pelt around his shoulders like Hercules (though that'd be pretty funny), I only mean for you to take the basic plot of the myth and modernize it, or westernize it, as the case may be. Ezra and
Vin moved through the deserted school building cautiously, looking for their
youngest friend and not sure they wouldn’t find trouble before they found
him. Ezra whispered to Vin, “I
know he’s still in here somewhere.
I
saw that bully Fisher picking on him at lunch.” Vin opened
one of the classroom doors, checking to see if his friend was hiding inside
the empty room as he replied, “Yep, Sarah said that he and his gang were
waiting for him after school, but she didn’t see JD leave.” Ezra took
a quick look inside a supply closet.
“Fisher
was just waiting until we were busy with baseball practice to pull this.”
The two
eleven year olds continued to search, and finally as they ventured down into
the basement they heard what sounded like JD’s voice.
“JD, are you down there?” Vin called out. “Vin?”
came JD’s panicked voice. “Vin,
let me out!” “Just
hang in there JD, we’ll get you out shortly,” Ezra called back.
They followed their friend’s voice to the back of the basement where
a set of old lockers was propped against one damp wall, and saw that one had
been jammed shut by a chair wedged under its handle. The two boys quickly freed JD from his confinement, but when
the door opened and the younger boy squinted against the new light Ezra’s
green eyes flashed with anger. He
turned JD’s face to the side, exposing the beginnings of a black eye.
“Did Fisher give this to you?” JD nodded.
Vin gave a sharp whistle as he got a good look at the injury, and JD
winced when the older boy gently probed the bruised skin around his right eye.
“Fisher is so dead when Chris and the others see this,” the young
Texan commented, pushing back his hat. “Guys,
don’t tell the others,” JD pleaded quickly.
“Please?” Ezra
snorted. “Mr. Dunne, they could
hardly fail to notice what that scum did to you.
This shiner he gifted you with is fairly large and colorful.” The
younger boy looked crestfallen. “I
guess you’re right, Ez. It’s
just that Fisher called me Larabee’s little crybaby, said he knew I’d run
right to him if they let me go.” Vin
wrapped one arm around him. “JD,
you’re not a crybaby; Fisher is just a big bully.
Besides, you’re our friend and no one picks on one of our friends and
gets away with it.” JD sighed.
“I just wish I could take care of Fisher by myself without having you
guys get involved.” Ezra
patted his shoulder. “Don’t
worry JD, one day you will. But
we will have to discuss it another time, because right now both of us are late
getting home.” “Yeah,”
Vin chimed in. “And Aunt Nettie
will be looking for me if I ain’t back soon.” “Just
let me get my books.” JD
reached back into the locker to retrieve his books and then followed his
friends back to the stairs. “So,
did Billy tell you where I was?” The two
older boys exchanged a puzzled look.
“Who’s
Billy?” JD
shrugged when he saw that the two older boys had no idea who he was talking
about. “Well, when Fisher
locked me up down here I kept pounding on the inside of the locker and yelling
for help. It seemed like forever
before I heard someone answer. He
told me his name was Billy and he tried to open the door but he couldn’t do
it, so he said he was going to try to find some help and I told him to get you
guys or one of the others. Then
he went away and it wasn’t too long after that that you showed up.”
JD hesitated before continuing, “You know, I
wasn’t
so scared after talking to Billy.
I
think it helped, that I knew someone knew where I was so I wouldn’t die like
that other kid.” His friends
looked even more puzzled and he added, “You know, the kid that died down
here. When Fisher caught me
trying to sneak out of the school he said he was going to lock me up down here
with the ghost.”
Vin shook his head.
“Ain’t no one ever died down here, JD.” JD shook
his head right back. “He said
it happened about ten or twelve years ago, that this kid disappeared on the
last day of school before Christmas. The
whole town looked all over for him and no one found anything, but when the
janitor came down here to check the boiler a week later, after everyone had
stopped looking, he saw all these chairs and stuff piled up in front of one of
the lockers and when he moved it all and looked inside he found the kid’s
body.” JD lowered his voice and
whispered, “They say he froze to death.” Ezra drew
himself up to his full height – which still left him half an inch shorter
than Vin and not that much bigger than JD.
“Mr. Dunne, there are no such things as ghosts.
Fisher was just trying to frighten you.” “Yeah,
folks just tell stories like that for a scare, ain’t nothin’ to any of
‘em,” Vin agreed. “Now come
on, we gotta get goin’ on home.” Ezra
nodded his head. “Very true,
Vin. We’ll just have to find Billy tomorrow and thank him for
coming to your assistance, JD.” JD agreed,
his voice drifting down the stairs behind him as his friends led him out of
the basement until the door shutting behind them left the room in silence
again. Then there was a rustle,
and a boy of about ten faded into view, gazing up the stairs with a wistful
look on his face. “You’re
welcome, JD,” Billy whispered.
The End |
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