Vin shook his head and lowered Chaucer's hoof to the ground. “Ya aren’t gonna be able to ride him for a few days, Ezra,” the tracker stated quietly as he pulled his hat back on his head.

The Seven were in Eagle Bend. They had been sent to smooth over a disagreement. Just as they had entered town, Chaucer had started to limp for no apparent reason.

“Is it serious?” Standish asked, stroking his faithful steed’s neck.

“Naww. Just a bit sore. He needs a few days’ rest without your ass on him.”

“Indeed.”

**********

Once the boys had completed their business in town, they returned to the spot they had hitched their horses.

“You can’t walk all the way back to Four Corners,” J.D. pointed out, eyeing Ezra.

“Indeed. Thank you for identifying that fact, Mr. Dunne. What would we do without your considered insights?” Ezra muttered, sarcastically. The gambler felt hot and tired and solving this problem was the last thing he felt like doing. He had got to bed at a quarter past three in the morning but had been awoken to join this little ’adventure’ at a quarter to six! “Clearly, I will need alternate transportation.”

“I’ll see what I can find,” Vin offered, turning and heading for the livery.

“Thank you, Mr. Tanner.”

“So, you reckon our chat has worked?” Buck asked, referring to the business they had completed.

Chris shrugged. “Maybe. For a while anyway.”

“You want to go fishing when we get back, Buck?”

“What is it about you and fishing, boy?”

J.D. shrugged. “Just like it.”

“You should be spending your time doing something more useful,” Buck lectured.

“Like chasing women?”

Buck grinned. “A healthy way for a man to spend his day!”

“I wouldn’t mind a spot of fishing,” Nathan reflected, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “Should be cool down by the creek.”

“Yep, good way to get out of this heat,” Josiah agreed. “What about you, Ezra?”

Standish opened his mouth to reply, but froze. His eyes doubled in size. Every inch of his face showed with total astonishment. The rest of the regulators turned and followed his gaze. Vin had just exited the livery leading, what was obviously, Ezra’s alternate transportation. Laughter erupted from every regulator except Tanner and Standish.

“Is this some kind of a joke?” Ezra cried, his arms raised in front of him as if warding off an evil spirit.

Vin’s brow furrowed with annoyance. “It’s all I could get,” he replied in a deadpan voice.

Ezra stared at Vin, at the animal beside him and then back at the poker faced tracker. He couldn’t be sure if Tanner was pulling his leg. Vin had a warped sense of humour in Ezra’s opinion. “No! Not if my life depended on it! Not if it were the only beast left on this planet!”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think he’s cute,” J.D. giggled, stroking the animal’s head.

If looks could kill, J.D. Dunne would have been struck down where he stood.

“You can’t possibly expect me to ride that... that miniature beast of burden!”

Vin thrust the reins at the gambler and shrugged. “Suit yourself. It’s a long trip on foot.” Tanner mounted his horse without further comment. The other men, who were only just recovering from the delightful shock, did like wise.

“One jackass riding another jackass,” Buck called back.

“You will pay for this, Mr. Tanner. If it takes until the day I die, I swear, I will make you pay!” Ezra shouted, glaring at Vin’s retreating back.

Tanner raised his hand in acknowledgement but didn’t turn around.

Ezra began to splutter. They weren’t real words. He was so completely stunned and horrified. They were riding out! And Vin was leading Chaucer behind him!

Standish turned to look at the small donkey. It looked back at him stupidly with large, brown, dim-witted eyes. “Boys?! God, damn you all! Come back here!” None of his ‘ex-friends’ did so. They continued to mosey out of town without offering him a glance.

*********

Chris and Vin were sitting on the porch of the saloon surveying Four Corners without conscious thought. Both men had their feet resting on the porch rail. Tanner’s hat was pulled down over his eyes. Chris was whittling. A cry from the top of the street saw both men sit up and peer in the direction of the shout.

Vin Tanner’s face creased with amusement. Chris turned and winked at him. Astonished shouts filled the air. The population of Four Corners cascaded out to line the streets.

Buck and J.D. doubled over with laughter. Josiah and Nathan grinned at each other. At the top of the town was a sight so astounding, so staggering, so completely mind-blowing that mouths literally fell open. The sight? Ezra Standish astride a small brown mule - yes, a mule!

The gambler’s back was as straight as a poker. His arms were folded defiantly across his chest. He was riding bareback and thus his legs were dangling either side of the small donkey, only inches from the ground. Ezra’s eyes were directed straight in front of him. His face was set like stone. He was covered from head to foot in trail dust. This was not a man to be trifled with.

When the donkey slowed, intrigued by the number of people, Ezra urged it forward. Standish began muttering quietly to himself. His throat was dry and parched from the curses and from the vocal and particularly ingenious methods he had devised to attain his revenge. Vin Tanner was a dead man!

The crowd was silent. They waited for something to happen.

As Standish passed Vin and Chris, the two men tipped their hats. As he passed Nathan and Josiah the pair began to convulse. They both tried to stifle their laughter, but it was impossible. It trickled out and grew. This was certainly the funniest thing they had ever seen. Ezra P. Standish on the back of a small beast of burden.

Ezra’s eyes flicked to his amused companions, but he maintained a steely expression and returned his attention to the livery, which for some reason, didn’t appear to be getting any closer!

As Ezra passed Buck and J.D., the pair began clapping. “Just look at that stiff upper lip,“ Buck cried. The people around him joined in his applause. The ovation built to a crescendo.

If Tanner didn’t know better, he’d swear he saw a smirk on Standish’s face as he disappeared into the livery.

Later that night, Ezra’s parade was still the topic of conversation in town. The gambler found himself a table in the corner to play solitaire. He knew others were laughing at his misfortune.

The boys approached from different directions and invited themselves to his table. Chris placed a full bottle of whisky in the middle of the group. There was a grin on the gunfighter’s face that he hadn’t been able to shift all afternoon. The sight of Ezra on a donkey would stay with him for the rest of his life.

Ezra ran his eyes around the faces of his friends. “Humiliated! That’s what I’ve been!”

“Ezra, the Lord himself rode into Jerusalem on the back of a noble donkey.”

“Then I’m sure his derriere was as bruised and battered as mine is now!” Standish glanced at Tanner. “You did it on purpose.”

Vin grinned as he opened the bottle and began to pour everyone a glass. “It was all they had. Sorry, Ezra.”

“Mr. Tanner, if it takes the rest of my life, I will enact my revenge. When you least expect it, I’ll... I’ll....” Ezra honestly couldn’t find the words he wanted and that was something that rarely happened.

Vin pushed a full glass of whisky across to his friend. Standish glanced at it. Vin smiled. Ezra found the corners of his mouth defying his annoyance - they raised and formed a smile. Vin bobbed his eyebrows. Standish shook his head and picked up the glass. “Start sleeping with your eyes open, my loathsome friend.”

The smile on Vin’s face broadened. “Already do.”

“Indeed.”

“He aww, he awww, he always says that,” J.D. cried.

All of the men burst out laughing. All, including an embarrassed, but not so annoyed, gambler. Standish toasted his friends with a satisfied grin. Already he was taking solace in the fact that, before the day was over, he would have his revenge!