At the Clarion... by Suzy

Mary paced back and forth between Chris as he followed her every move, trying to reason with her but she wouldn’t listen to him.

“I have a job to do, Chris, you can’t tell me not to stand up for what I believe in.” She argued while scrimmaging through unorganized papers to keep her mind occupied.

“That’s not what I’m telling you to do, but if you go out there in front of all those people, you’re gonna do nothing but get yourself killed. Does that mean anything to you?” Chris became irritated and quickly when Mary wouldn’t stop to face him with the obvious facts.

“Of course it does, but-“
“Then say it like you mean it!”
This sudden raise of the voice caused Mary to stop gathering and look at Chris in the eyes. He had his hands on his hips, and he was furious. He had that look in his eyes she grew to hate but usually shrugged off. Mary knew she had always been keen to talk to him but now wasn’t the time for needing, it was simply a time for speaking her mind and speaking it loudly to the gunslinger she knew to trust.

“Now you look here,” she stuck her face in his. “You can’t tell me what to do! I’ve worked too hard for this campaign to bring statehood to this territory! I won’t have just a little scare run me out of what I’ve been working for long before my husband was killed!”

Chris couldn’t believe it. “Do you really consider that whoever paid that assassin ten thousand dollars wanted to just scare you away?”
Mary backed away from his crazy stare and tone and turned her back on him.

“I’m gonna say it again, Mary, don’t out there.”

“No...” she turned back around, anger boiling in her veins. “I’m not going to let this mishap frighten me!”

“Mishap? Mary, why don't you listen to yourself, huh? Drop your morals, your behavior, and the way you think! Forget it! And think about your son! Think about Billy and what will become of him if you get yourself killed!”

She slapped him. “Don’t bring my son into this! You don’t get to talk about my son!”
Chris backed away, “Well, all right then, Mary, I won’t bring him up. Even though he’s the most important human being in your life and if you do this ignorant speech, who knows what then. Don't you think he's been through enough? He doesn't need to become an orphan before the age of ten! Most people would give their life to have a son like Billy. I know I would.”

Mary knew she was about to hit a soft spot on Chris, but at the current moment, she didn’t have the least worry about it.

“Look, Chris, I’m sorry for what happened to your family, but Billy and I are not your family and we do not need you to protect us.”

Chris couldn’t believe his ears, “Just stop, Mary, and think for once before you talk. You’ll always need protection. Maybe you won’t take it from the seven of us, but you need it and not only you and you alone will be enough to save the people in this town when the next herd of drunken scum ride along.”

Mary walked around Chris and he was force to turn her way as she did so. “Why can’t you understand? I don’t want you here, Chris. Get out!”
“Is this what you really want?” Chris asked, following her movements as she walked to her desk.

Mary couldn’t take the use of looking into his eyes. She may have had feelings for him but this was not the time or place to begin exploring those feelings. She was angry and she proved it by not caring what he had to say anymore.

“If things are going to happen, Chris, then let them happen. It won’t change my outlook on the matter.”
Chris took a long, annoyed sigh and shifted his weight to lean more on his left leg. The decision for reasonable and sanity slowly seeped from their conversation and he had nothing much else to say to her.

“Mary, if you cared at all—at all, you wouldn’t put your life in danger.”

“It’s not up to you, Chris. What will the town think if I stand down now? They’ll think of me as a fraud.”

“Who gives a damn about what the town thinks! You’ll be alive!” he yelled again.

He tested Mary’s ticking timebomb again in her body. “I have work to do, so, if you’d just—“

Chris shook his head, “No, Mary, you tell me why you’re doing this and for the real reason.

“I don’t feel I need to explain myself further to you, Mr. Larabee. You know my rights very well.”

“I’m not sayin’, Mary, that I don’t care for ya because I do. I ain’t gonna tell you what to do and what to write or what to stand up for. What I am gonna tell you to do is to look at that boy of yours. Take one good look at him and think again about participating tomorrow. You just better think.” Chris changed positions with her and opened the door but before he did, he grabbed Mary’s face and kissed her hard on the lips, leaving no breathing space. “Don’t do this.” He demanded of her and then he opened the door and was gone.