The Escape"
In the following piece, it is assumed that the events portrayed in the episode entitled “The Escape” occurred relatively soon after the brothers arrived at the Lancer Ranch, and prior to those of some other first season episodes, such as “Julie”. This is based upon the observation that although in “The Escape”, Johnny takes it upon himself to attempt to escort Dan Cassidy out of town, and makes it clear that the ex-lieutenant will face his gun if he continues his effort to kill Scott, he appears to have much less of an emotional investment in coming to Scott’s aid than he displays in “Julie”.
WHN After “The Escape”
. . . Having insured that the ex-soldiers Jed Lewis and Rick Hardy had in fact removed themselves from their land, the three Lancers returned to the house with former lieutenant Dan Cassidy. When they arrived at the front door, one of the hands was there to collect their horses. Johnny assisted him to the stable, while Murdoch, Scott and Cassidy went inside. He relinquished Barranca with the others at the stable door, resolving to return to check on his horse before he turned in for the night.
Johnny entered the library through the double doors and saw the other three standing and conversing in the main entryway. As he sauntered towards them, it appeared that Cassidy was finishing up with some expression of gratitude--he shook hands and headed up the stairs.
Scott, left arm still in the black sling, watched Cassidy ascend the stairs. There was a slump to Scott’s normally erect posture; Johnny saw that his brother looked worn out, much paler than usual. As he came to a halt, he saw Scott close his eyes and give a slight shake of his head. <<Like maybe he was seeing someone besides that Cassidy fella climbing the stairs.>>
Scott turned towards Murdoch. “I want to thank you for backing me up in this”, he said. While he didn’t exclude Johnny, his words were directed primarily towards the older man. Johnny knew that neither his father nor his brother was aware that on his own he had tried, and failed, to get Cassidy out of town. It was likely to stay that way, unless Cassidy himself had said something. When Scott had turned up missing, it had been Murdoch who had organized the search. Murdoch had also acquiesced in Scott’s decision to bring Cassidy and his wife to the ranch after it was revealed to have been Cassidy who had inadvertently betrayed the escape attempt. Their father might not be certain whether or not he would have harbored Cassidy if Scott had not talked him into it, but Johnny certainly knew his own opinion on the matter: <<Man travels all this way to kill you, his troubles are his own.>>
“I . . .” Scott was about to continue when Murdoch gruffly cut him off---
”You’ve had a long day, Scott, you’d better get yourself upstairs and back in bed where you belong.” he said, effectively ending what passed for a heartfelt moment among the Lancer men.
“Yes, sir,” Scott sighed and turned to look up at the now empty staircase.
Johnny moved in beside him and looked up too. “Yah know Boston, it seems like maybe they added a couple while we were gone."‘ Scott slid a sideways glance at his brother, managed a tired smile, and placed his good arm around Johnny’s shoulders in acceptance of his unspoken offer of assistance.
Murdoch watched as the two slowly mounted the stairs. Scott’s long legs and slim physique, the black knot of the sling at his neck. Johnny’s flared pants, gun belt slung low on his hips, the hat hanging down his back. Blond head next to dark. He retreated to his study to pour himself a drink.
When they reached his room, Scott stood in the doorway. “Johnny . . . I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Scott.” As he turned away, he thought <<Don’t worry big brother, I wasn’t gonna try to undress ya and tuck ya in.>>
Johnny headed downstairs and found Murdoch seated at his desk.
“Pour yourself a drink,” was what Murdoch said by way of greeting, but Johnny declined. That was one thing that hadn’t changed since his sons had arrived, Murdoch Lancer still had to drink alone. Johnny moved restlessly around the room until he was ready to ask his question.
“So . . . you know anything about all this?”
Murdoch shook his head. “No”. The Pinkerton men had known exactly where to find Scott Lancer, so their report had clearly been perfunctory, at best. There had been very few details of Scott’s military service, and no mention of his imprisonment. Murdoch wondered cynically what other noteworthy events might also have been omitted. He took another swallow. He hated being reminded of how little he knew about his sons.
“I knew, after the fact, that he served on the Union side in the War. . . . in the 83rd regiment. Cavalry unit.”
Johnny waited quietly. Finally Murdoch continued. “Of course, I read quite a bit about the war, while it was happening. After it was all over, I remember reading something about Confederate prisons, ---how bad conditions were, but I had no idea . . .” He set down his not-quite-empty glass. “I can’t imagine your brother was there for a year.”
Johnny knew something about prisons. He certainly couldn’t imagine spending a year in one. “A year’s a long time, Murdoch”, he agreed. “But we already knew that Scott’s a lot tougher than he looks.” He smiled as he added this last part, but Murdoch didn’t see. He was still looking at his glass.
Johnny tried again. “So--the war ended, what, a while ago . . .”
“Five years.”
“That long. He wasn’t very old then.” Funny, it seemed like maybe one of the names he’d had for his brother when they’d first met----well, maybe it hadn’t been too far from the truth: “Soldier Boy”.
“From what I understand there were a lot of very young soldiers on both sides”.
“Guess I always pictured Scott growing up safe in some fancy house in Boston.”
What Johnny certainly could not picture was Scott in a prison setting. <<He seemed too--What was that word that Teresa’d used? Yeah, ‘Refined’.> > He couldn’t imagine his ‘refined’ older brother in such a situation. Whenever he did consider Scott’s military service, the image that came to mind was of ol’ Boston wearing a pretty uniform, prancing around on a high stepping horse, every strand of blond hair in place. Johnny thought that maybe he didn’t want to give that image up.
When Johnny mentioned “a fancy house in Boston”, Murdoch tossed back the rest of his drink. He looked at Johnny. “He’s here now. The Cassidys are leaving in the morning. I’m going to turn in.”
Johnny headed out to the stable and spent some time grooming Barranca. Funny how the first time that he’d laid eyes on Scott, on the stage, he’d figured he’d had him pegged. Well, his new brother had turned out to be full of surprises. Johnny had surprised himself with how protective he’d felt when he’d learned that someone was gunning for Scott. He’d been pretty certain that the man he knew couldn’t have turned traitor and caused the death of so many of his own company. And Johnny sure hadn’t liked listening to the Cassidy woman encouraging Murdoch to send Scott away somewhere. “Seems like I’m gettin’ attached”, he said to Barranca.
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