by Angela Timms
Rennon tapped more keys. “No, they are under the protection of the Retorians who keep this group of planets protected. If we go down there it will be in direct violation of about a gazillion laws but if we leave it, well if that is a Follower then they have a problem.”
Kel smiled. “Then why don’t we just blast him now. A quick pinpointed bolt would vaporize him, the village folk would know nothing.”
Rennon glared at him. “No, for one thing we may be able to pick up something useful from that wagon, who knows what he’s got in there.” Kel’s smile faded and he shrugged. “Well we could blast him and then see what he’s got?” Kyla’s scowl didn’t go unnoticed. “Alright, so what costume am I getting this time?”
Rennon tapped his keyboard and some pictures came up. They flicked from screen to screen taking a look at different styles.
Kel smiled, “Well my choice isn’t hard, Kyla, looks like you are in for an uncomfortable time, look at those corsets. Rennon your choice might be more difficult, how about a suit?”
Back on the Argo they wandered down the rails, pulling clothing off, holding the costumes up against themselves in front of the mirror and then moving on. Finally all three had made their mind up with a lot of comparing, decision changing and general trying on of clothing.
Rennon emerged dressed smartly in a black, slim fitting slightly thread bare suit with a bowler hat. Kyla looked beautiful in a brown faded cotton dress with matching bonnet that had seen better days but looked cared for. Kel looked comfortable and every part the wild man of the mountains in a fringed buckskin jacket and trousers.
They cloaked the Hopper and landed in a clearing about a mile from town. There were no human tracks anywhere near it so they cloaked it, locked up and carefully wandered off to town.
The sun was blazing down and almost directly above them and it was early afternoon when they walked into town, each carrying a bag. They aroused a fair amount of interest but in a friendly way as the locals waved and they got the occasional “Welcome stranger.”
They hadn’t taken into account how difficult it would be to actually move about the town. They were constantly jostled, they had to jump out of the way of wagons and they generally had to pick their way very carefully along the road. Kel pointed towards a store and they all headed that way. When they got there Kel went in first, he pushed the door open and a brass bell rang with a steady tone.
The store was well stocked with all manner of vegetables, material and other goods all carefully displayed. The place was pristinely neat and tidy. The inside had been freshly painted white and the goods were well dusted. The floorboards were well worn but they had obviously been scrubbed as clean as counter there was a table was possible and swept regularly. By the of freshly baked cakes and bread which immediately caught Rennon’s interest.
The woman behind the counter was in her early twenties, her dark brown hair immaculately curled under her bonnet. Her skin was remarkably milky white and her steely blue eyes took every part of them in as they walked through the door. Kel stepped up to the counter. “Do you trade?”
The woman looked him in the eye which was difficult as she was about two feet shorter than him. She was delicately built, almost bird like but she pulled herself up to her full height and put her hands on the counter to balance. “I do if you have something worth trading.”
Kel pulled a bag from his pocket and laid out various pieces of tribal silver jewelry he had taken from the costume store. He smiled as the woman’s face lit up. “So, what would you give me for these?”
The woman picked the pieces up and turned them over in her hand then laid them out in front of herself so she could look at them together. “I’ll give you five silver for them.”
Kel smiled. “I’d need at least ten. That is fine workmanship.”
The woman picked one piece up. “It is indeed fine workmanship, I’ll give you seven.”
Kel’s smile faded and he made to pick the pieces up.
The woman hesitated as he picked up the first piece.
“Nine?” Kel continued to pick the pieces up.
The woman looked a little nervous and shifted her weight. “Alright, I’ll give you ten but that could be more than they are worth. I like them and you have an honest face.” She took a small key that was hanging on a chain around her neck and unlocked the big wooden box that was firmly bolted to a table behind her. She counted out the silver and placed it in Kel’s palm and closed his hand over the money. He made to move away but she had put her other hand over the top of his. “We don’t get strangers in town often, I hope you will have an enjoyable stay and if there is anything I can do to make it a bit more comfortable, just let me know.” She patted his hand and then let his hand slip from hers. She looked up at him and he saw fear in her eyes. Without moving his head he took a look around the room as far as he could see. It was just a glimpse and gone in a moment but he noticed a reflection in a wellpolished cooking pot. There was a man behind the screen to his left. He wasn’t able to see details image.
Kel opened his hand as the curve of the pot distorted the
and looked at the coinage, counting quickly, there were ten coins there. “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind. You have a lovely store here madam.”
The woman beamed a smile that said it all. “Why thank you, I try my best.” Kel looked around. “Not that you have any competition, well except for the wagon that pulled up outside the town.”
The smile faded from the woman’s face again. “That would be Nathan the Medicine Man. He visits here regularly.” He saw the fear in her eyes and the man behind the screen took a small step forward which was enough for his reflection to be seen again. She cast a nervous sideways glance at the screen. Kel’s brow furrowed. “Thank you for the trade. If I get any more I will be sure to bring them to you.”
Once outside Rennon stepped up beside Kel. “That was subtle for you.” Kel looked down at him. “I’m not comfortable about any of that. She is hiding something.”
Kyla looked stunned. “How do you know?”
Kel kept walking. “Because she wasn’t on her own in that room, there was a man behind the screen. She was nervous and she paid me way over the odds for those trinkets. The clasping of the hands meant that she was hopeful of some help. Her body language was nervous, she is frightened of something. I also smelt aftershave. Looking around that place she does not sell anything like that. It’s a branded type from the Centurion Moons of Elakor. I know it specifically as I had a bottle of it once.” Sadness came into his eyes as he remembered the day his wife had given him the small box carefully wrapped with shiny silver paper. It had been their first anniversary and their first child was on the way. He had associated that smell with the happy days that followed and smelling it again brought back that memory. Kel handed Rennon the money. “Other places may not be so accommodating. Mountain Men are probably welcome at the store but in the Saloon they probably prefer more genteel types. Rennon, you’d better handle the finances. What shall we do about the man?”
Rennon took the silver and looked at the coins. “You could be right. But you know I just took all that on face value, I’d have walked out happy with a good trade. If there is more going on here then we’d better take a look around. Shall we visit the Saloon and then take a walk out to visit that travelling salesman? Or should we go back and deal with him?”
Kyla looked worried. “Difficult one as if we interfere without knowing the full story we could get it wrong. But if we don’t and she is in danger that is worse.”
They watched the store and shortly after, the man left. They didn’t see his features as he wore a long coat and his hat was pulled down.
The saloon bar was virtually empty. There was an old bearded scruffy looking prospector type sitting in one corner with a glass of whisky in front of him looking very contented. Three well-dressed suit wearing gentlemen looked up from their card game. The piano was closed up, a small vase of fresh flowers on top of it brought colour to
the room. A group of five farm laborers were sitting by the window, plates of food in front of them and the bartender was washing his glasses in a bucket of water on the bar.
The saloon itself was dusty, the floor was covered in a layer of dust from the road mixed with grubby sawdust and the tables were covered in stains of spilled beer. There was a huge glass mirror behind the bar but the shelves which showed up the dust marks of bottles that had been removed were almost empty. Two bottles of whisky sat on the bottom shelf and a row of dust harboring empty bottles had been placed randomly along the top shelf which looked like an attempt at decoration. The walls had been painted red but they had seen better days and the stairs going up sported a threadbare red carpet which had suspicious brown stains, ominous patches which had obviously been scrubbed in an effort to remove them.
The main outer storm door was fixed open leaving the swinging half door the only token barrier between inside and outside. The three pushed the swinging door open. Rennon stepped in first, then Kel who took a quick look back to make sure that Kyla was following him inside.
As the bar was so quiet they caught everyone’s attention as they crossed the well-worn watched them while tucked the cloth he had been wiping glasses with into the belt around his slightly grubby once white apron and put the bucket on the floor.
The barman smiled as they approached. “Welcome to my humble establishment.”
Rennon put on a smile. “Thank you, we’d like drinks.”
The barman set up two glasses on the bar. When they looked surprised he smiled. “You are new here. From out of town are you? Women are forbidden to drink, it’s virtually a hanging offence if the Temperance League catches you. It’s difficult enough for us men. My last shipment never arrived, they found the wagon just outside town and the farmer who was bringing the cases in was found in a gulley about half a mile away with his skull cracked open. Since then I’ve had real trouble finding someone to fetch it.”
Rennon smiled sympathetically. “I can see why that might be a problem. What do I owe you sir?”
The barman put the bottle back on the shelf. “That would be two silver Sir.”
Rennon paid him and took a sip of the whisky which was very rough. “As you say we’re new here. Is there anything else we need to know?”
The barman smiled and leant on the bar, his pleasure at being asked very obvious. “Well, it’s a quiet place and unnecessary violence is frowned upon. We have about a hanging a week but that is mostly farm hands coming in and getting leery and causing trouble. The Sheriff is hard on any sort of crime, most are punishable by hanging or a good floorboards of the threshold. The farm hands chewing their mouthfuls of food. The barman long time in the lock up which can end up as the same thing. As you can imagine we don’t have much crime here. The biggest crime around here used to be not going to see the padre on a Sunday, now that the new religion has come that’s no longer a crime but just about everything else is.” He looked nervous and froze on the spot when he noticed one of the gentlemen in the card game seemed to be paying far too much attention to what he was saying. “Anyway, if you keep your noses clean, go about your business and don’t trouble anyone none, you’ll be fine.”
Rennon had noticed his nervous sideways glance towards the card player and could see him through his reflection in the mirror. “Well, thank you, we’re peaceable folk just fixing to spend a while then be on our way.” He picked up his glass, Kel followed suit and then went to a table by the window after giving each other a nervous knowing look.
Kyla joined him sitting by the window. “How about we see if we can hire some horses from the Livery and take a ride around?”
Rennon cast a worried look at Kel. Kel smiled. “A bit of a look around sounds good to me. The scenery is spectacular.”
The street was busy outside and they had to dodge their way between carts, riders and people walking. The Livery Stable was at the end of the street. Rennon went in first and took a look around. Out of the twenty three horses in there he couldn’t pick out any one over the other as he knew nothing about horses. They all looked fine to him. The Livery owner was mucking out and he saw them coming in. He leant on his broom and tipped his Stetson hat at them. “Afternoon gentlemen and lady. Are you just looking or would you like to borrow some?”
Rennon smiled at him. “Afternoon, we’d like to borrow some if you have something quiet. We’d like to ride around the area as the lady here would like to see the scenery on horseback.”
They rode out on the horses and they were quiet as promised. They did what they were told and the three trotted down the street and out of town. Once out of town Rennon scanned them. “We’re clear. We can talk. Well, it looks like the Followers have a foothold here.”
Kyla was looking at the scenery. “I just had a nasty thought. You’ve already had some whisky here, how do you feel?”
Kel looked worried. “I hadn’t thought about that but I would assume that if the Followers don’t want the whisky in town they wouldn’t be supplying it so they couldn’t tamper with it. I feel fine and I still think that they are the scum of the planets.”
Kyla’s brow furrowed.
Kel smiled. “Come on, what are you thinking about?”
Kyla smiled and relaxed. “I was just thinking that I wonder what the effects of alcohol are on the drug if they are using it. I know it could be a religious belief that they don’t like people drinking but alcohol makes people more “liberated”, perhaps there is something in it?”
Rennon thought for a moment. “You could have something there, I’ll work on that one.” He typed something into his box of tricks.
They pulled the horses together in a line and looked out over a river valley. The village was behind them and in front of them were wide open spaces. They were in a river valley, the water level was way down and very little water flowed down the wide river cutting which meandered in huge loops along the valley floor which rolled away until it met the mountains. The grass was dry and slightly yellow and the bushes looked drought starved.
Rennon steadied his horse. “Shall we go and take a look at what Nathan the snake oil salesman is getting up to? We might be able to get some sort of an idea of what is really going on.”
Kel turned his horse. “Sounds like a plan.” He kicked his horse on into a gallop. The black and white patched paint pony mare jumped forwards at his first touch, put her head up and galloped away. Her nostrils flared as she pranced and bucked slightly.
Rennon turned his horse to follow. His black gelding was reluctant but soon caught up with Kel. Kyla turned her bay gelding and he hardly needed telling, he was happy to be off after the others.
Nathan the Snake Oil Salesman was sitting on a chair outside his caravan, feet on a stool, hat pulled down over his face. His stubble was more than a week in the growing and a cigarette hung out of the side of his mouth. His greasy black hair had more than a smattering of grey. His brown duster coat hung on the door of the wagon as his grimy white shirt, blue jeans and brown waistcoat was more than enough in the heat. A fly landed on him and he moved his hand to bat it away then he leant back and closed his eyes again, coughing slightly. He opened his eyes a slit and looked around, the fly was back and annoying him.
He had put his sales board out advertising “Dr Jones’ Wonder Elixir, just one silver coin a bottle. You can’t put a price on good health”. His horse was quietly grazing. There was a painted platform on the front of his wagon where he had set out bottles along the front edge.
Kel circled around the back of the wagon. The back door was slightly ajar and he was able to get to the stairs unnoticed. The horse looked at him, its ears went back but he continued eating, twisting the long grass around his tongue and pulling it into his mouth and biting it off before chewing contentedly. The stairs looked as though they would creak so Kel opened the door slightly with his knife blade, controlling the swing so that it made no sound. It opened without any problem and he was able to see inside.
To
the right there was a control panel which was high tech, it had a communications array and something else that he couldn’t recognise. Clothes were strewn everywhere and the place smelt of unwashed clothing, cigarette smoke, rotten wood and a distinctive herbal spicy smell.
As Kel turned the salesman woke up. He was on his feet in a flash and had his gun drawn. Kyla reacted with similar speed and before Nathan could get a shot off she had a knife to his throat and was pushing him back down into his chair. “Pleased to meet you Nathan. Now drop it.” Nathan let his gun drop onto the floor and Kyla kicked it away. “There’s a good boy now just a few questions if you don’t mind and I’m sure you won’t if you like breathing.”
Nathan opened his mouth his rotten teeth blackened and yellow stained from the cigarettes. His eyes were wide with terror. Rennon leapt from where he had been hiding and wandered over. The man’s eyes moved from one to the next. “What do you want to know?”
Kyla nearly gagged, the man smelt of body odor and cigarettes. “Where did you come from?”
Nathan looked bemused. “I came from Dogwood, it’s about ten miles from here.” He smiled as if he thought he was being smart.
Kyla moved the knife on his throat. “I’m not used to questioning and I could lose my temper, or slip so I would advise you to try to interpret what I’m asking in the most favourable way for me to get the answers I want. Then we can end this amicably and you can go on your way. Let’s put it another way, where do you get your medicine and what is that equipment in your wagon for?”
Nathan’s smile faded. “Well little lady.” Kyla glared at him and he swallowed nervously. “Sorry, force of habit. I pick up my boxes from a drop ship just south of Reahaven and I follow a route which covers the towns in this sector. I was doing pretty poorly until I found this new supplier. Now the people can’t get enough of it. It flies out of the boxes and I then go back, get more and off I go again. The equipment in my wagon was part of the deal. I can’t work it but I make sure the lights are all flashing and use the switch at the end to tell them if there is a problem. It has been working just fine, well until now. They didn’t tell me what it was for.”