Iron Quill - Six - Come Due

[engine]

Name of the Round: Six
Submission Date: September 23rd, 2015, 23:59 EST
Ingredients Used

·         Theme: Six

·         Character: The Beggar

·         Item: A monkey's paw

·         Location: A dusty street

Word Count:  1748

 

“Come Due”

By engine

 

“Son, Old Blue’s time has come.  He ain’t no use to us anymore, and his backside is real weak.“

 I kicked the stones and said nothing for a time.

 “I figured as much Pa.  He can barely get up to drink, even when it’s real hot.”

 He put a rough hand on my shoulder.  I looked up into his hard, creased face.  There I saw soft eyes.  He pressed the Collier into my right hand.

 “Why me?”

 “You are the best shot in the family.  Old Blue shouldn’t suffer.”

 With a pat and squeeze on my shoulder, he left me to it.  I looked at that iron in my hand for a long while. 

 “It’s okay Blue.  I’m gonna take care of you, don’t you worry.  You’re a good boy.”

_____

Moving from corner to corner, trying to keep a decent pace.  We were over the river, through the slums, and a good ways into the Quarantine Zone.  I could see the outline of the ruined observatory dome against a dark sky.  Come on Cal, keep up.  We are in a heap of trouble.  I could hear the quick step of boot nails of stone, just about to round the last corner.  I pulled up just for a second, turned over my shoulder, haste braced the pistol on my arm, and pulled.  Just as he appeared, the man under a wide brimmed hat and dark overcoat jerked wickedly, but fell with some grace.  His dance to the curbstep stirred the dust that was all around.

The shot echoed to silence.  Footsteps quickened.  I lurched into motion once more, pulling on Cal’s sleeve.  Hadn’t they had enough?  I’ve left enough brass and bodies on these streets to give any crew pause.  These lawmen were worse than a smashed hive a razorwasps.  They never knew when to count the losses and just get on with life.

We ran down the vacant street into the night.

_____

“You both leavin'?”

 “Yes, Pa.”

 “Don’t forget your brother took your mother’s life.  Make him a man worthy of that debt.”

 “Ok, Pa.”  He was just a newborn, but okay.

_____

My lungs were tight, and my britches soaked.  I pulled Cal under an awning.  The decrepit storefront once sold fruits, but all that remained were broken baskets filled with cobwebs, and mummified husks.  I took a moment to appreciate the modified Collier pistol in my hand while I recovered, chest heaving.  Blued, meticulously maintained, beautiful.  It was the one item Pa had given me before the journey.  Well, that and some furry talisman Pa brought home from the Northern Afrique Powder Wars before I was born.  He said it had brought him good fortune.  I had dropped that hideous thing in the first breachside begger’s tin I saw at Mailfaux Station.  I wanted none of the fortune it had bestowed on our family.

I realized I was out.  The sudden panic sobered me.  I shoved Cal forward with some urgency.  He slurred and doe eyed me.  The sound of our feet on the cobblestones was deafening, but worse, the tracks left on this dusty street were a death warrant signature.  They could track us to ground after three weeks in this filth.  We needed to get off the street.

I chanced a look in my vest pocket.  Beside my old pocketwatch, six weathered metallic cartridges rolled and clanked.  One full load left.  I fished them out, dropped the spent shells from the cylinder, and slid them in one by one. 

With a casual flip, the cylinder clicked back into place.  This was it.  We had to go deeper into the quarantine zone.  The darkness ahead was dotted with a fleeting, occasional glow.  What was more terrifying, the promise of all the playful sets of eyes ahead in the darkness, or the guarantee of the Guild rifles behind?  I had no time to ponder.  We forged ahead.

____

Cal smiled at me across the table.  That wry, half cocked smile of easy money.  It all seemed so simple.  We’d all heard it an hour ago.  Everyone in the saloon.  Foreman Jed had just bet the Cap a month’s wages that his crew would outmine the Cap’s over the next fortnight.  Cap had graciously accepted.

A little sabotage, if well hidden, would hamper Jed’s outfit enough to ensure Cap’s victory.  We pull the mishap, then split the winnings.  A quick talk with the Cap sealed it.

____

We took a hard right at what looked like a happening corner some years past.  Faded signs hinted at two saloons, general store, and a theatre of some sort.  The sidewalk fanned out here, allowing for people to gather.  The remains of chairs and tables littered the walk and second floor balconies.

A bark rolled down the street from behind, and a chair splintered.  We rounded the corner at speed, but just as we disappeared from view I came short. I turned, crouched, and extended my right hand.  In one motion I exposed my right flank around the blind corner.  A man in dark blue was running, pistols drawn, but out of his range.  He was hard to make out in the gloom.  I forced myself to relax, to slow time.  At some point after, I let the hammer drop.

Six.

He hoisted the wheelbarrow with a grunt.  As I watched him go, he slouched his shoulders and lowered his head, obscuring his face.  Old Jed would never notice Cal at the pace he was working the men.  Just another stinking, sweat stained grunt to use up.  The clockwork device and blasting powder were obscured by rocks and supply bags filled with scrap metal.  With the device timed as it was, the men would be just headed to supper when it let loose.  All mayhem, a collapsed tunnel, and no one had to get hurt, except Jed’s wallet.

The guard’s head rocked back, the hat catching the wind and swaying back and forth to the street.  He fell backwards onto the street in an undignified manner.  The pistols clattered.  The footsteps behind slowed, then stopped.  They were cautious, finding cover.  I was a long way away.  It was a shot from the dark.

I spared a thin smile.

“Well Cal, that might buy us some time.”

Somehow, the man whimpered, and dragged himself towards his dropped pistol.  Damn.

Five.

I hadn’t turned my back for a minute before I was thrown off my feet.  The blast, concentrated in the entry of the mining tunnel, exhausted with fire and debris .  I was showered with rubble, and worse.  Too soon.  The device had gone off half an hour early, catching men coming in and out of the mine with supplies, carts, and overburden.  It took a minute to get my bearings and calm my ears.  The mine entrance had been erased, and replaced with dirt, stone, and bodies.

An armed scout lurked around the corner of the theatre, silent, close.  I let out a controlled breath, and squeezed. 

Four.

Cap’s crew and Jed’s day shift was woken to dig.  The main beam section ten feet inside the tunnel was splintered.  It was eight hours before we cleared the entrance, and I found what was left of my brother.

His revolver clattered across the uneven stones, out in the street, exposed.  I hadn’t heard a shot, it was likely full.  Another loaded pistol seemed like steel salvation.  It wasn’t too far, I had to risk it.

“Cal.  Stay here.”  He pouted.  His speech was agonizing and unintelligible, but his eyes watered and grew wide as I turned to run.  Everything was magnified and juvenile with him.

The Guildman had a hound on leash.  Heavily muscled, with red eyes and all fangs.  It lunged just as I rolled, exposing my shoulder.  The fangs pierced the heavy leather duster with ease, penetrating deep into my shoulder.  I nearly passed out from the shock and pain.  I managed to clench my teeth and push the barrel into its slab of a neck.

Three.

“I’ll do my best, but you need to understand the risks, and the costs, are substantial.”

 I pulled the heavy bag of scrip from my coat pocket, our half of Jed’s month.  The old man raised an eyebrow.

 “Well, that’s half of it.  Based on the…  seriousness of the injuries, the amount of work required is not within the Guild’s tolerance.  This will be considered an amalgamation of metal and flesh.”

 “I understand.  Please do what you can.”

He nodded and pursed his lips.

“I will, but I can’t make any guarantees.  I can’t tell you how much of your brother will remain.  After.”

 “I understand.  Even I can tell there ain’t much left to work with.”

Two shots sizzled past.  The riflemen were closing in.  The pistol was fifteen feet away over open ground, laying in the middle of the street.  Another shot grazed my midsection, causing a rapid inhale and wince.  Too close, and the steel was too far.  Time to hide.

I grabbed Cal and forced him up the exterior steps of a dilapidated two story common.  Off the street, and around the corner the dark had a predatory intelligence.  I opened the exterior door, pushed in Cal, and shut the door as quietly as I could.  The deadbolt still worked and I slid it into place.  I sat him down on the floor.  He complied, grinning wide with glassy eyes.  He pulled at the threads in the frayed, badly stained carpet.

I pressed into the corner, below a broken window facing the street, and listened.  They had found the lawman and his hound.  Muffled voices, then light footsteps headed away down the street.  I relaxed, but only for a moment.  More sounds of approaching men.  One set of footsteps were heavy, slow, and methodical.  Silence.  A few short words, directive.  Then footsteps on the exterior stairs, cautious, deliberate.

Cal stopped with the carpet, and looked up at me.  His eyes, suddenly lucid, were wide and afraid.  He tried to mouth words, but I didn’t need them.  I could tell he was troubled, frightened.  What would the Guild do to him?

I looked at the iron in my hand for a long while.

“It’s okay Cal.  I’m gonna take care of you, don’t you worry.  You’re a good boy."

Two.

A heavy boot outside of the door cracked the casing around the bolt.  One more would shatter it.

I’m sorry Pa, but the debts come due.

One.

 

Edited September 21, 2015 by engine

[Haunter]

Nicely done.  I really liked the balance and weaving together of the flashbacks and the current story.  The chase had good tension and pacing, and the flashbacks were a nice counterpoint that told the backstory well.  

The narrator/protagonist felt very engaging and I liked him immediately.

I loved the way you used the two 'don't worry, I'm gonna take care of you.  You're a good boy' lines to bring the story full circle.  I felt like that worked perfectly.

The 'did you ever truly love me' line felt a bit like a round peg in a square hole, kind of mashed in there but not really smoothly.  Granted, it's a tough line to work in given the story you're telling.

All in all an extremely enjoyable read!  Very well done!

[engine]

Thanks for the comments and encouragement, Haunter.  You are the fourth person to pick that line out as being out of place, and I also agree.  I feel I have covered enough of the ingredients to remove it.

Thanks again.

engine

Edited September 17, 2015 by engine