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  I also wanted to try to write a little thing for the "Betrayal" challenge. I hope you enjoy. The Last Attempt by Silvia     Thanks to Sandy for her always quick and invaluable help.   Cipriano, the Segundo of the Lancer ranch, was about to go into the barn to check the horses as he does every morning when he was stopped by Johnny’s raised voice.   He listened for a moment and wondered why Johnny was speaking in Spanish, then shook his head and thought, “Here we go again.”   He turned on his heel, intending to walk away rather than get caught up in one of the usual fights between the Patron and his younger son.   After a few steps, he stopped. The second voice did not belong to the Patron but to Maria, the housekeeper, and she seemed very agitated and tried to explain something in a shrill and trembling voice.   When Johnny snapped at Maria, Cipriano felt compelled to intervene. The boy had no reason to be aggressive and disrespectful towards the poor woman who loved and

  Part One Johnny leaned against the splintery wood wall until the splash of a horse taking a piss on the other side moved him to a different stall; as he crouched down the pungent smell swept over him. He waved his hand in front of his nose a few times before he settled back, arms on knees, and bowed his head. He’d just left Wes in the bar, drinking up the money Johnny traded for the pocket watch he’d had for less than a day. Was he really going back to everything he’d wanted to leave behind: drifting, hiring his gun, losing more of his soul with every dark day? For a minute he’d had a taste of what he might have had if his father hadn’t thrown his mama and him out…. Johnny stopped that thought. He’d always tried to be honest with himself, and he had to admit maybe things weren’t like he’d been told. He knew from his own experience that Murdoch  Lancer  had been looking for him for at least three years, and he knew who was behind what saved him in Mexico. “Your father wants to see you