The New Hand, Part Seventy-Six

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

Adam stood at Joe’s side and watched as David and Hastings walked ten paces away from each other. The air was thick with smog that made the street lamps glow eerily. Meanwhile a crowd from the saloon had trickled outside to watch the show. Their murmurs only added to the tension in the air.

The two men turned to face each other simultaneously. Two shots rang out, and Adam could hear at once that Hastings’ had come first. For a bare second he felt as if his world had come crashing to a halt.

But David proved more agile and more accurate than Hastings. When David lowered his gun there was blood dripping from his arm. But Hastings had fallen backward on the ground.

Adam and Joe rushed over to David. Joe took hold of David’s gun while Adam ripped his sleeve open.

Adam sighed in relief as he looked at the wound. "He just grazed you," he said. "We’ll clean it up and you’ll be fine."

"There are plenty of witnesses here to testify that it was a fair fight," Joe added as he put the gun safely back in David’s holster. "You shouldn’t have any trouble with the law. Good shot!"

"Very good shot," Adam agreed. "I wasn’t sure you could handle a gun that well."

David scarcely seemed to hear them. He was staring at the crowd that had gathered around Hastings.

Adam glanced their way. It was clear from their shouts and comments that Hastings was dead. No one seemed to be in deep mourning over that fact—it seemed instead that everyone was satisfied with the show.

"I killed that man," David said in a hoarse voice.

Adam turned back to him and found his face pale and drawn. "Don’t think about that now, David," he ordered. "Just think about the fact that Abby is free. Besides, he wanted this fight. It was his choice."

"Yeah," Joe agreed, putting a brotherly arm around David’s shoulder. "Come back into the saloon and we’ll get some whiskey into you. Then we’ll get this all squared away with the law."

~

It took several hours before they returned to the hotel. David remained silent and withdrawn the whole time.

Adam took him in his arms as soon as they were back in the privacy of their room. David rested his head on Adam’s shoulder, but he still couldn’t seem to bring himself to speak.

"What are you thinking?" Adam asked as he stroked his hair.

"That what I did was little better than murder," David answered in a short, biting tone.

Adam kissed the top of his head. "It wasn’t murder," he assured him. "You gave Hastings every chance to walk away from that fight. He was just determined to have his shot at you. And as you said, you owed him that satisfaction."

David sighed. "I suppose," he owned. "Well, at least Avigail is a widow now. He can’t hurt her again."

"No, he can’t," Adam agreed.

He broke away from David and stared at him for a long moment. Then he kissed him—gently at first, but with a growing hunger.

"I’m glad I didn’t lose you tonight," Adam managed as the two men separated for air.

David grinned at that—his first smile since the duel. "I know," he said. "So am I!"

Adam laughed appreciatively and drew him back into his arms. "Come on," he commanded. "Let’s get you to bed."

LINK TO PART SEVENTY-SEVEN