Lancer is a TV western (aired 1969/1970), set in California of 1870.  Murdoch Lancer's vast ranch is threatened by "land pirates" who are trying to run him off the estancia.  He sends for his two sons to help him - Scott, whom he has only seen briefly once when Scott was five (his first wife died in childbirth and her family took Scott and raised him in wealth and privilege in Boston) and Johnny, who was taken before his second birthday by Murdoch's second wife when she ran away with a gambler.  So there are the bones of the story :  proud, remote landowner, rich Boston dandy, and a half-Mexican gunfighter better known as Johnny Madrid, all learning to be a family.

The only other thing you need to know is that Johnny Madrid -("Madrid's an awfully expensive gun to hire." "The suddenest man I ever saw." "The fastest thing west of the Mississippi and east of China." "I've heard stories about John Madrid from here clear down to the Mexican border." "What's another dead man to Johnny Madrid?" "How would you like to be dead?") - is the first of the messy-dark-haired men that I fell in love with.   Johnny is just gorgeous.

Episode summaries on the Lancerlovers site (this link opens a new window in your browser)

 

 

	Baked Goods An episode tag for Shadow of a Dead Man, in which Jessamie bakes biscuits, Grady goes to school and Scott brings letters and a photograph.
	Candle In The Sun What makes the world go around, apparently. And here's me thinking it was the conservation of angular momentum.
	Compliments A very tongue-in-cheek look at why Scott stayed... AU, of course
	Driving the Chariot Or five times that Johnny Lancer shows some sense, and one time he doesn't
	Dying to Live All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another. Anatole France
	Genre Challenge A recent meme on LiveJournal took 10 fiction genres and invited people to write a single sentence for each that would both show off their fandom and be a miniature example of the genre. Only 10? I ended up with 25
	Lessons Five tiny 55 word ficlets adding up to a tiny single story.
	The Old Maid's Tale The story of a greeny-yallery dress. Episode Tag for The Kid
	Sisters Under The Skin Two different women, a sense of place, and how to learn to belong.

 

The Hackamore Sequence

A series of stories charting the progress of the three disparate men adjusting into being a family.

 

	1. Benedictus A little revolution down Mexico way.
	2. Fancy Dan Scott accepts an invitation to go West
	3. Pride and Prejudice The first supper.
	4. Auld Aquaintance A meeting in Morro Coyo
	5. Barranca One of the vaqueros defending the hacienda watches Johnny's wild ride.
	6. Second Opinion Dr Sam Jenkins deals with the aftermath of battle.
	7. Tabula Rasa Scott ponders a decision, and admires the dawn light.
	8. Tamales and Beans The Lancers start to adjust.
The Sacramento Daily Record Union, issue date April 19th, 1870
	9. Parchment and Old Ink The partnership deed is signed.
	10. Trade Secrets The Lancer brothers get acquainted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Whore and the Gunfighter Sequence

A short series of stories of the meeting between a pistolero and a soiled dove. Tags for Episode 4, Series 1 : Foley in which Scott gets involved in a violent family dispute between an outlaw, Foley, and Polly, the pregnant wife of his dead son. Johnny recognizes her as a dance-hall girl with whom he "used to share a bottle" – with the implication that it was more, unsaid.

 

	The Scent of Sandalwood The whore meets the gunfighter on a hot, hot summer night.
	Green Tussore, With Roses Musings of a dancehall girl, or how to be a character in a dime novel about a famous gunfighter.
	Melted Into Air, Into Thin Air Polly marries Frank Foley and heads west, to California

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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