STAKE YOUR CLAIM
Chapter 4: Part I
Buffy sat at the Rayne’s Sunday supper table, listening politely as Mayor Ethan Rayne discussed the news of the day. She had been in Cheyenne for less then a week now and was already impatient to move into the unfinished little cottage that the town council members were having built for her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the Raynes, all of them, she especially enjoyed Cordelia Rayne’s company, and of course being a school teacher, she adored children.
However, Buffy had hoped to move into her own place as soon as possible. The little cottage would be right next door from the Raynes, on the other side for the school house that sat just outside of town. With less then a quarter of a mile between the Rayne’s and the school house, Buffy was more then secure she would adapt to her new home just fine. Mayor Rayne was an enlightened man, Buffy had to give him that. He discussed everything from world events to local politics with his wife, Cordelia, Buffy, his guest, in front of his three boisterous children and other supper guests and family members who happened to be about the place.
This late Sunday afternoon, Daniel Osbourne and his young wife Willow had joined them all for supper. Daniel was the station master and his bride of less then a year was already carrying their first child.
‘I wonder why I didn’t get pregnant with Parker’s baby right off?’ Buffy wondered for the umpteenth time in the last two years. Parker had been a considerate husband, not too pushy in the ways of marital relations, but still, Buffy always ‘thought’ that at least one of their few encounters would have produced a child? She realized, on their wedding night, that she was actually more knowledgeable in the ways of marriage relations then her young Parker had been.
This, Buffy attributed to her huge amounts of reading, especially forbidden romance novels that she devoured just months before her wedding to Parker. Buffy had more or less studied the more scandulous literature of the time, trying to learn what a husband wanted from a wife. However, in the end, she found that Parker really didn’t expect ‘that much’ only to get his release and get Buffy pregnant as soon as possible with an heir.
Unfortunately, there was no baby and for some reason Buffy had always felt cheated in the marital bed respect, and perhaps a little less then suitable for Parker. Shaking off her memories, pleasant or unpleasant as they might be, she actually began to listen to what Cordelia Rayne was saying to the Osbournes.
“Of course,” Mrs. Rayne was prattling on, she was good at that, but Buffy instantly enjoyed the female conversations she had with Cordelia. “I’m not exptecting our Buffy here to remain single for long,” Mrs. Rayne was speaking to Daniel and Willow but smiling at Buffy.
“Cordelia for heaven’s sake,” her husband, Ethan interjected, “I don’t think Miss Summers appreciates….”
Willow Osbourne blushed and giggled, an odd sight with her hue of red hair, but Cordelia’s comment actually caused Daniel to find his voice.
“There’s certainly no question in my mind that Miss Summers will be courted by many a fine local man, but of course, I think my good friend Spike Giles is the man for her.”
Buffy began to get a bit flustered, ‘they’re talking about me, just like I’m not here,’ she thought. “Cordelia, Mr. Osbourne,” she broke in, “I appreciate your interest in my future as a wife and such, but truly, I came here to teach school, not find a new husband.”
Buffy blushed bright red when Cordelia interjected with a chuckle, “Buffy,” she began sounding much like a loving mother would with a child, “you don’t understand. It’s not so much that you are going to ‘find’ a husband; one will ‘find’ you. Do you know how many single men, young, old and in between are in this territory? A young, lovely woman such as yourself, smart and most importantly, single. Well,” Cordelia was smiling and shaking her head, “you might just as well come to grips with the fact that there’s probably going to be a all out range war over you. And, I have a feeling that Spike Giles will be the one leading it.”
Buffy shivered in disgust, “Spike or whatever his name is. And by the way, how did that odious egotistical male get such a nickname?” Yes, Buffy shivered in disgust, that mixed with a bit of excitement at the thought of that awful, horrendous, crude, handsome, indigo eyed Spike Giles.
Cordelia laughed and glanced at the shocked Daniel and Willow Osbourne, “apparently, our Buffy has already had a first round with Spike Giles. Right now, I’m thinking it came out a ‘draw’ but you never know. I have a feeling Spike will win this ‘match’ in the end.”
Willow blushed again and nodded at her husband, “Daniel would be able to answere the question about William Gile’s nickname as good as any, Buffy,” she said shyly, “he was there at the time. You know, when he earned it.”
Daniel smiled at his wife but directed his conversation at Buffy, “I’d be glad to tell the story, Miss Summers,” he assured her, “but I’m thinking it’s not the proper discussion for the young ones.”
The short red-headed man, shorter then his own wife, Willow, nodded at the three Rayne children who sat quietly, suddenly more then interested in this turn of conversation at Sunday supper. Ethan took things in hand, “children, run upstairs and wash up then play in your rooms. The adults need to discuss some things."”
As if on cue, young Ethan Jr., who was seven clasped his little sister, Alise’s hand, she was five, who in turn clasped young Samual’s little three-year-old hand and led them up to the bedrooms on the second floor.
Mayor Rayne stood and rushed into the parlour where he returned from with a nice carafe of brandy and five good sized glasses.
“You do imbibe, Miss Summers, for special occasions?” Buffy indeed imbibed, wine, brandy and sherry, for special occasions and something told her that this just might be one. Nodding and giving Mr. Rayne a benovolent smile, Buffy accepted his offer of a taste of good brandy, as did everyone but Willow.
“Can’t drink anything stronger then tea,” Willow said somewhat sadly, “makes me sick.”
Cordelia took her brandy glass and smiled lovingly at Ethan, making Buffy wonder just how these two got together in the first place. ‘Bet if I ask Cordelia, she’ll tell me the whole Ethan/Cordelia story,’ Buffy reasoned, but right now, she wanted to hear about William ‘Spike’ Giles, for whatever morbid reason.
“So, Mr. Osbourne,” Buffy smiled at Daniel, “do tell me the story of William ‘Spike’ Giles, I’d love to hear it. Though for the life of me, I don’t know why!”
Everyone at the table chuckled at this, causing Buffy to blush bright red, “I mean,” she stammered, “I’m sure there’s some redeeming qualities to the man.” Buffy close her mouth tightly and just looked at her brandy glass.
“Well, Miss Summers,” Daniel began, “I’ll be glad to tell you some things about my good friend Spike, but only if you will call me Daniel, not Mr. Osbourne. Makes me feel a hundred!”
He grinned at Buffy with a twinkle in his eye and Buffy finally smiled again and nodded, “okay, but only if you call me Buffy.”
Daniel smiled broadly, “okay,” he chuckled, “but Mr. And Mrs. Rayne are going to have to jump in and maybe add some details. They were here when all this took place too.”
Willow whispered to Buffy shyly, “I hadn’t gotten here yet,” she explained, “I came along later and missed all the fun!”
Daniel took his wife’s slim hand and kissed it tenderly, “yes, but you brought your own fun, darling,” he murmered softly. Willow blushed again, profusely and giggled, signaling for her husband to begin his tale.
“Well, let’s see,” began Daniel Osbourne, scratching his auburn head lightly, “I guess it’s best to start at the beginning with the whole William/Spike Giles thing. In fact, best to start way back, maybe when the catalyst of the whole set of events began. William, or Spike as he is now and I think it suits him best, is one of my best friends, Miss, I mean Buffy. I’m twenty-seven, that would make Spike about twenty-two I guess, but that’s not really important. What’s important is this, Spike was brought out here at about fourteen years of age, his older sister Drusilla had already married, back in England.”
Here Daniel looked over at Ethan who just smiled back at him, “as you know,” Daniel continued, “Ethan is my Mother’s younger brother. I was orphaned at a fairly young age and was living here by the time Spike showed up, with my Uncle. He was such a fragile young man, wasn’t he Aunt Cordelia?”
Cordelia chuckled and nodded, sipping her brandy and eyeing Buffy, who was already entranced by the whole William/Spike drama. “But soon,” Daniel continued, rubbing his wife’s hand with his fingers, “young William Giles seemed to adapt to this Country and Territory, even becoming quite a ranch man at an early age.”
Cordelia piped up with excitement, “tell Buffy about the Gile’s legacy, the Jenny/Rupert saga! It’s so wonderful and romantic, all about passion and such!”
Daniel blushed this time, “I’m thinking that you should tell this part Aunt Cordelia,” he nodded at her, “or maybe Uncle Ethan, he was here then.” Everyone at the table looked at the Mayor settling the matter, he would start this part of the story.
“Gosh,” began Ethan, “seems like forever ago. I was in my twenties then, single, lonely and miserable.” Mayor Rayne smiled lovingly at his wife then continued, “Rupert Giles had just come from England. Wanted to expand his cattle ranch to the ‘Colonies’ as he called them then. I’m sure when he arrived here in Wyoming he thought we were all a bit barbaric and uncouth. Then,” here Ethan chuckled and took his own wife’s hand, “then he met young Jennifer Calendar. She was only about seventeen or so, beautiful,” Cordelia pouted and her husband kissed her hand, “not so much as you dear,” he whispered to her, loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Rupert fell like a rock over the girl, but she ‘was’ kind of spoken for by Quentin Travers. A brash, rude man, but a friend of Jennifer’s father from the old days.”
Buffy shivered again, something told her that this was not going to end of the good, someone was going to get ‘hurt’ over this.
Mayor Travers frowned in remembrance, “Jennifer preferred Rupert, to put it simply and to the anger of Quentin Travers and the delight of every gossip for a hundred miles, they eloped. Rupert and Jennifer that is, immediately and right under her father’s nose. Of course, old man Liam Calendar forgave and forgot when he saw how happy his beloved only child was, but Quentin wasn’t so amicable. He was livid and rode off to join his younger sister and her wild brood out at the Webster homestead, only coming to town once in a while to get drunk, see a girl at Maggie’s or start a fight.”
Cordelia gasped, “Ethan!” she seemed mortified, “you shouldn’t be mentioning Maggie’s here, in front of Buffy, our guests!”
Buffy had to laugh at this, “Cordelia,” she reached over and patted her hostess’s hand, “I know all about Maggie’s and while I’m not in favour of a saloon/brothel, I have to say that I understand it. I mean, let’s be honest, out here, not a lot of single women? Maggie’s serves it’s purpose, I’m sure.”
Then she dropped it when Willow shot Daniel a dangerous look, followed by a warm smile. The red-headed wife knew her man, Buffy surmised; Willow did not fear Maggie’s Place, she had no need to. Neither did Cordelia.
“Anyway,” Ethan continued, changing the subject quickly, “years passed, Rupert and Jennifer welcomed Liam or Angel as they call him, though God knows why.”
Cordelia gasped again, “Ethan Rayne, have you had too much brandy?” Her husband grinned happily, “no, Cordy,” he responded bravely, “I haven’t, but I’ll try to imbibe a lot more, if you want?” Mrs. Rayne blushed and nodded for him to continue.
“Then, of course young Connor came along and finally when Spike was about fourteen, Rupert sent for him. I don’t know why he chose to wait as long as he did to send for his and Olive’s son, but I believe it had something to do with him wanting young William to have a good, solid British education. Anyway, I think William, he was still William then, had been here about four years or so, was about eighteen. I think this is where Daniel should jump in and finish the story,” Ethan now nodded at Mr. Osbourne.
“We were all at the Silver Spur Saloon,” Daniel took up the tale with enthusiasm, “Spike, or William that is, Xander Harris, he’s the best ranch hand the Giles have and myself. Of course this was a while before you came to town, Willow my dear,” he grinned at his lovely wife tenderly. “We were having a beer, it was hot that day. Hot for the Territory that is and William was drinking us all under the table, as usual. Xander’s Anya hadn’t come to town yet,” Cordy sighed and caught Buffy’s attention.
“Anya ‘was’ a working girl at Maggie’s, at least until about what, six months ago? Xander Harris went gaga over her right from the start and finally ‘convinced’ her to give up the life and marry him. They ran off to Hot Springs in Colorado, married and from what I understand she’s already pregnant with a child, right Willow?”
The red head blushed again, “yes Cordelia,” she confirmed, “and before anyone asks, it ‘is’ a child of their marriage.” Buffy had to admire Willow, under the shy retiring prudish exterior, Willow Osbourne had a center of steel, tempered with compassion.
“Go ahead, Daniel,” Cordelia handed the story back to him, seemingly ashamed of herself for her outburst about the ex-saloon girl and her adoring husband.
“Well, anyway, like I said,” Daniel went on, “William Giles, Xander and myself, we were having some beer at the Silver Spur. Suddenly, Quentin Travers stumbled in, drunk and stupid, as usual and headed straight for our little group. No one in town had seen the old sot in ages, but William knew exactly who he was and turned his back on him, guess Spike knew he was trouble right off. Quentin tapped him, William, on the back and called him some filthy name. I won’t repeat it in front of my wife or any of you ladies, but it was awful. Then, to make it worse, he, Quentin, insulted Rupert, Jennifer Giles and the two youngest Gile’s boys. Well, by this time, William was livid, but being Spike, I mean William, he bode his time, kept his tongue. And believe me Buffy,” Daniel winked at her, “that’s a hard thing for William Giles to do, bide his time or bite his tongue.”
Buffy could appreciate this statement and she waited with baited breath for Daniel to continue.
“William turned to the drunkard and told him to take his dog and pony show elsewhere and he, Giles, would overlook his bloody stupid mouth. Quentin actually spit at William then stumbled back out onto the street. Of course, we all thought that was the end of it and went back to our beer.
Later, William and Xander walked with me to the train station window. Seems the Giles had some business there and while William went about it, Xander and I talked in my office. It was Xander that saw Quentin Travers first, sneaking up on William from behind. He called to William, alerting him to beware.
When William Giles turned to face Quentin Travers, he saw the knife in the old idiot’s hand and instinctively grabbed the first weapon he could find. It was an old railroad spike that lay by the tracks where William stood. Without a thought, William flung the spike at Travers, hitting him right in his heart and killing him instantly.”
Everyone got suddenly quiet at the table, even Buffy who felt lightheaded for a minute.
“William Giles murdered a man?” Buffy asked in shock. “No, Buffy,” Daniel shook his head, “William/Spike Giles killed a man in self defense and for some bizarre reason, the nickname ‘Spike’ just seemed to stick.”
Buffy had to sit quietly and digest this bit of information for a while; the rest of the table just seemed to blend into the background.
“Buffy,” Cordelia broke into her thoughts, “I have to say something and you can accept this or not but. Okay,” the elder woman continued, “if it wasn’t for men like Rupert, William and even Angel Giles; my Ethan, Daniel over there and Xander Harris; and numerous other men, young/old and in between? Buffy if it wasn’t for men like these, the women of this Territory, not to mention the town of Cheyenne, would not be able to walk safely down the streets without an armed posse or other escort. Do you understand what I’m saying, Buffy?”
Buffy nodded numbly, still stunned by William’s dubious nickname and the town that proudly gave it to him.
A soft knock came at the Rayne’s front door and Ethan hurried to answere it.
“It’s young Connor Giles,” the household head chortled good-naturedly. “Come in Connor,” Cordelia gushed, glancing at Buffy nervously, “have some apple pie, made it myself and some coffee.”
Connor blushed, embarrassed by being the momentary center of attention. “I came to see that Miss Summers is settling in well, Maam,” he stammered to Cordelia and smiled at Buffy.
“Hello, Daniel, Mrs. Osbourne,” he tipped his hat at the couple. “My Mother and Dad asked that I checked on Miss Summers and assure her that her home should be ready any day.”
Buffy stood up and greeted Connor warmly. “May I speak to you privately, Miss Summers,” Connor asked nervously, his voice cracked a bit.
“Of course, Connor,” Buffy assured him, leading the young man out to the parlour.
“I’ve a letter for you Miss Summers,” Connor seemed quite nervous by this time, “it’s from my brother, Spike. He’d have brought it himself, but….”
Buffy nodded and somewhat reluctantly took the piece of folded paper that Connor Gile’s offered.
“I’m supposed to stay and make sure you read the letter, Miss Summers,” Connor stuttered, again blushing profusely, “Spike’ll skin me alive if I don’t make sure you read it. Of course I’ll turn my back, to give you privacey, Maam,” young Connor looked like he was about to faint from embarrasment.
“It’s fine, Connor,” Buffy assured him, opening the letter slowly, “just have a seat and I’ll read your brother’s note. I don’t want him upset with you, so I’ll read it.” Buffy worried her bottom lip with her top teeth and began to read Spike Gile’s letter; it began:
Dear Miss Summers (notice I didn’t write Buffy!)
A/N: Sigh, that was a hard chapter. I tend to write myself and my characters into corners and have to scratch everyone back out again! Please read and review if you like. In the next Chapter 4: Part II, the letter will be revealed and another ‘new’ suitor for Buffy will make his way to the Rayne door. Can you guess who this might be? Thanks, Luv, Spuf
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