apachefirecat

Title: Power of Belief
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Author: Apache Firecat
Characters: Nathan, Josiah, Vin
Rating: G/K
Summary: The Seven don't have time for Josiah's beliefs... but maybe they oughta make time.
Word Count: 1108
Written For: Sunshine Challenge Day 5: Bloodstone
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: All characters within belong to their rightful owners, not the author, and are used without permission.









Josiah did not look up even as he heard hoofbeats approaching until he heard the sound of a familiar, distinctive whinny. He glanced up underneath a furrowed brow to see his best friend dismounting and heading toward him. "Josiah, I've told you we need help in town! With the recent crisis there's just not enough of us to fend off them gunslingers and care for the sick!"

"Yet the healer doth approach," Josiah rumbled in his deep tenor.

"Man, you're needed! Why are you still out of here playing with them rocks? You're getting about as Ezra -- " Taking another look at the dark green rocks Josiah was running water over, the healer suddenly did a double-take. "Is that blood?" he demanded. "Josiah, is there something going on that you need to tell me about?!"

Josiah swung to face him with one hand open and the other still full of the pan he was using to sort through the rocks. "Yes, it's blood, the blood of our Savior come down to wash away our sins."

Nathan's dark eyes narrowed in on the Preacher. "You been out here in the sun too long?"

"No." The big man shook his grizzled head. "You said you want something to help the people. To help them settle down while we find a cure for this sickness and while we stop the gang." He held up the pan and gestured to the collection of small, dark green rocks he'd been gathering on the shore. There were blood red dots on all of them. Legend had it that Jesus' blood had stained them all, but Josiah knew time was of the essence. Besides, whereas his congregation believed him with little argument, his six closest friends still doubted his sanity on an almost daily basis.

A crow cawed. Josiah shielded his blue eyes from the sun as he looked in the bird's direction.

"Those damn death birds of yours done been calling again, Josiah! We need you!"

"Fine, fine," Josiah muttered. He stepped up out of the creek, threw his pack over his back, and whistled for his horse. Quickly he scooped up the rest of the rocks. He deposited all but a few into his saddlebags. "But it isn't me you need, my friend. It's the Lord, the Maker of us all. No matter if it's a sickness of man, beast, or God above, the only ones of us who are going to make it through this ordeal, and through any other ordeal with which we are faced, are the ones He chooses to make it through."

He turned to Nathan and deposited a handful of rocks into the healer's dark, cupped hands. "But the Lord especially blessed these rocks with the blood of His Son when He lay dying on the cross for us. This blood is special, Nathan. It's meant to remind us that all can be healed and all sin can be washed away."

Nathan was still staring at Josiah, trying to figure out how to voice the doubt that clouded his mind while not angering his friend into refusing to help them, as the Preacher swiftly mounted and turned to ride away. Nathan looked down at his hands and was surprised to find six medium-sized rocks. Most of the rocks had seemed rather small, but he would have supposed the Preacher had picked these six out with certain care -- if he had not seen how effortlessly he had doubted the rest into his bags. He had not counted these rocks. He had not picked them out in particular. The hairs on his arms and the back of his neck rose, yet at the same time, something nestled contented in his low belly. "Josiah -- "

"WE'RE ALL CHOSEN, NATHAN," Josiah's booming voice called back to him.

Nathan blinked in surprise as he realized that the Preacher was already well ahead of him and almost out of sight! He pocketed the stones and jumped back onto his horse. Josiah allowed him to catch up to him easily enough, but neither of them spoke as they rode back to town. They dismounted in front of the saloon where Chris, Buck, and Vin were waiting.

Nathan turned to Vin for clarification. "Josiah thinks these rocks are going to help us," he said, taking the six rocks out of his pocket and holding them out for the tracker to investigate. There were many superstitions that had started with one tribe or another. Most of the native beliefs of the various healing properties of rocks, trees, and other foliage actually did hold true to one extent or another. Nathan had hoped that Vin would recognize the rocks and understand how Josiah intended for them to be used, but his puzzled frown told Nathan that, for once, he did not understand where their Preacher friend had gotten his thinking.

Vin studied the rocks. He lifted one of the smaller ones up, holding it between his thumb and forefinger. He sniffed it. Buck sniggered as Vin's tongue flicked out and tasted the rock. The tracker shrugged, but then he looked at a child not too far away from them down the boardwalk.

With the rock held in the palm of his hand, Vin approached the boy. He spoke to him in soft tones as Chris, Nathan, and Buck watched. They knew the child was already fatherless and belonged to a mother who they did not expect to see through the week. Yet as Vin opened his hand, the boy's face lit up. He grabbed the rock and raced away in the direction of his house.

"Th' powah of persuasion, mah friends," Ezra's smooth voice cut through the hot, Western air. "If you tell th' child that th' rock holds magical healin' properties, then o' course he is goin' to believe it does." His green eyes twinkled as he looked at the puzzled healer. "You got any more o' those magical rocks? We could sell them for a fortune."

Chris grunted. From around his thick cheroot, he commanded, "Right now we don't have time for a fortune. We've gotta stop these guns an' stop th' spreadin' o' this sickness."

"Yup," Vin nodded, inclining his head in a nod, but a week later when Nathan stepped out of the young widow's home underneath the tracker's watchful gaze, he was reminded of that moment and that small rock when Nathan slowly let a broad grin take over his face. "There's power in believin'," he drawled. Nathan nodded. Their gazes went together to the church at the end of the street. They exchanged silent nods, both deciding that's where they'd better be come Sunday.



The End