A figure munches on some cookies and enters the Master Story Room (evil music in background) leaning over the text on the pedestal in the circle of light, she peers into it's depths. Idly turning pages and munching her cookies , she raises her eyebrows.

Mystery Guest: Not bad at all......

Smarmslut Adept: hey! what the )#&(%^)*#&^ are you doing here??

Smarmslut Queen : Yeah! and who let her out of the )&*(^%#$)*&%^#)*&%^ closet!!!!

Mystery Guest: Well , someone opened the door and shoved this box of Christmas cookies into it and ran... leaving it open. So I thought I'd come out of the closet..... (pauses and looks at the camera ) wrong choice of words there......

Smarmslut Master: Umm.. well... uhh..... oops.....

Smarmslut Queen: YOU LET HER OUT!!

Smarmslut Master: I think I smell something burning in the oven here... umm.. i'll be right back.. yeah.... ok... bye...... aw hell. (runs out)

Smarmslut Queen: Yeah, and whose cookies did you throw.

Mystery Guest: BTW , they were really good too....

Smarmslut Adept: You ate them all??

Mystery Guest: Well, you havn't fed me in months.. what the heck was I supposed to do?

Smarmslut Adept: She's dead! (burning rubber accoompanies the departure of Adept.... lots of screaming and banging can be heard in the background... along with the evil music...)

Mystery Guest: Gee, whats their problem?

SmarmslutQueen: They don't like nosy writers eating their cookies.....

Mystery Guest: oops......

Smarmslut Queen: And guess what that earns you?

Mystery Guest: umm... a ticket out of here....

Smarmslut Queen: Close........

(Ominous music accompanies the slamming of the closet door)

Smarmslut Queen: Well with all that finally done with... on with our story. more JD torture on it's way for you Darlins!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ashes of the Mind, pt 15
by the Smarm Sluts


JD floated painfully back to consciousness, reluctant to leave the comforts of oblivion. As he slowly woke up, he became aware that he was in a very strange place. The bed was very hard, the air musty, and the noises which reached his ears were those of a busy nearby street. Where was he?

Memories slowly returned: he'd meet a girl in the desert, that was it. He must be in her house. Why was he in the desert? And what was that thing hanging on his wrist?

Then the horrible images returned with a crash, the asylum, Ezra getting clubbed to the ground, the scorpion pit, the endless desert. he had to get out of wherever here was and find Chris and the others, they didn't have much time-

"JD!"

His eyes flew open, blinking against the harsh light of the small, ramshackle rented room. He could hear someone pounding up the stairs, and before he knew it the door had flown open and Buck was standing before him, panting with exertion, his face full of concern and alarm. the girl-Maggie-was behind him, her eyes wide.

"Buck!" JD gasped, relieved but still too dizzy to do more than lay on the bed. "Oh God, Buck, we really got trouble this time!"

"You all right son?" Buck said, stepping towards him as Maggie shut the door. "Them bastards hurt you?"

JD sat up, his hazel eyes large with urgency. "I'm fine, Buck, just a few scratches. But oh Jesus, Buck, we gotta get Ezra out of there-" He choked a bit and began to cough.

"Just take it easy, son," Maggie said, grabbing a tin cup of water from nearby and handing it to Buck. Buck sat down on the cot and helped JD drain the cup; the kid was shaking like a leaf.

"Slow down there, JD, don't need you suffocatin' yourself," Buck admonished. JD swallowed the last of the water and gasped, collecting himself.

"Now," Buck said slowly, hoping his own composure would ease JD's anxiety some, "just tell ol' Buck real slowly now-what did you an' Ezra find out at the asylum?"

JD took a few more deep breaths, but they didn't seem to help; he sounded on the verge of tears. "God, Buck, it was awful, an' I'm sure we didn't even see the worst of it. They got them poor folks chained up like animals." He broke off and looked at Buck, deep fear in his eyes. "Jed Maxwell was there, Buck. I thought we'd never see him again."

Buck grunted. "We don't seem to be that lucky, kid."

The young man nodded. "I think he's the one who tipped Branford off to us. Next thing we knew, they were beatin' Ezra up an' draggin' me off to be killed. I saw him before they took me out. I-" He swallowed again. "I don't think he's doin' too good, Buck. This Maxwell, he really hates Ezra, an' the warden won't protect him. I-I'm pretty sure they're gonna kill him."

The other man shook his head. "We'll see that don't happen, JD. Did you see where they kept the escaped criminals?"

JD thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, but I heard Branford an' Jed talkin' about them. They're there, I think they were in another part of the building."

Buck sat thinking for a moment, then stood.

"Don't you worry, JD, we're gonna get Ezra outta there an' give them Branford an' Maxwell fellas a whuppin' they won't soon forget."

JD nodded a little, positive that Buck meant what he said. He didn't want to think it might be otherwise.

Buck then looked at Maggie and smiled, taking her hand.

"We're beholden to you, ma'am. You may have saved many lives today."

Embarrassed, Maggie laughed a bit and shrugged. "No need to thank an ugly gal like me, Buck."

Buck shook his head. "I seen ugly, ma'am," he said, his voice tender, "and you're as far from it as you can get. You ever want to come to Four Corners, I can personally guarantee that noone there will ever treat you bad."

She hesitated, then smiled.

"You can count on it, ma'am," JD piped up, putting on his hat. "Trust me, you'll have seven men lookin' out for you."

Maggie smiled a bit. "Well, I'm just glad t'see you got some friends to help you. I'll sure think about your town." Her eyes clouded. "But you better get your friend out of that asylum right quick. I heard things about that place to make even a hard ol' gal like me get the shivers."

"Now don't you worry about that," Buck assured her as they moved towards the door. "We got some experience in teachin' scum like this a thing or two."

She sighed, folding her arms. "That madhouse is a good place to start. An' they might be lookin' for JD here, so I'd suggest takin' the back ways to where ever you're stayin' in town."

"Good idea, ma'am, thank you," Buck said quickly. "Well, c'mon JD, Chris an' the others are waitin'."

"Right." JD stood before Maggie and smiled. "Thanks again for your help, Maggie. You saved my life. If you come to Four Corners just ask for JD Dunne, an' I'll do what I can for you."

She smiled sadly. "I'll do that, JD. Now you best run an' get this Ezra of yours-if he's in the kind of trouble you said, he ain't got much time."

Buck nodded and touched the brim of his hat. "We'll get 'im out safe, darlin', dont you worry."

Both men nodded to her and they swiftly left the boarding house, stepping into the street. The dull thudding of hooves caught their attention, and they both looked up the street.

"Shit," JD muttered, and quickly ducked back into the boarding house. Puzzled, Buck followed him, glancing at the two rough-looking riders coming up the street as he did so.

"Close the door Buck!" JD hissed. Buck complied, and the two men watched as the riders trotted past. The men were even more ugly up close, with burly muscular builds and angry faces. They were scanning the boardwalks carefully, rifles hanging prominently in the crooks of their arms.

Buck looked at JD after the men had passed. "They from that asylum?"

The pale cast of JD's face told the entire story. "They're lookin' for me, Buck. We've got to be careful."

"No foolin'," the other man said thoughtfully, chewing his lip. He then turned a serious eye to JD. "Kid, you might want t'lay low an' let us handle this. If them men see you you're like to get shot."

JD straightened and shook his head. "Ezra tried to save my life, Buck. Least I can do is the same for him. Besides, I think it's gonna take all of us on this one."

There was a pause, and Buck nodded, patting JD's shoulder. "That's a right brave attitude you got there, JD. Might want to hold on to that for a while, I think we're gonna need it. Now c'mon-let's find them back ways Maggie was talkin' about an' get back to Chris an' the others. We got a lot of work to do."