Blue

by Brandy Wehinger

  The Blue couldn’t climb.

  ELLIOT, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  AFTER THE BLUE had made several failed attempts at the ladder, Elliot began to panic. They needed to be up in that cave, hidden away, when the Gunslingers followed their tracks this way. He and Katie had made a couple of decoy tracks leading to dead-ends, but there was no guarantee that the Gunslingers would investigate those paths first, or even be taken in by them.

  Elliot felt like screaming as he watched the Blue trying to climb, and briefly contemplated leaving him. But he couldn’t. This was, after all, his own fault. If he hadn’t defied his family and decided to be with Katie, the Blue would have been left alone. Besides, Katie would be deeply disappointed in him, think of him as shallow and a lesser man. He was stuck.

  The Blue muttered under his breath, then sighed and turned to look at Elliot. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I just can’t do it.’

  Elliot tried to look cool. ‘We’ll just have to find somewhere else to hide. But there’s not much time, so let’s go.’

  They ran along the base of the cliff, looking for anywhere that would serve as a hiding spot. They had to stay relatively close to the cave, where Katie was expecting to meet them, so that they could signal to her when she came near. There seemed to be nothing. Elliot glanced back at the Blue and felt a pang of guilt. The fellow probably thought Elliot knew where he was going. He didn’t, and he was frightened. All he could hope for was that Katie would come quickly, maybe even intercept them on the path and get them out of this.

  Suddenly the Blue said, ‘There!’ and Elliot swung back to see a small crevice in between the cliff and the ground where time had eroded the rock, creating a recess and an overhang. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. They dropped low and crawled in backwards, pulling dead branches with them to obscure their entry.

  Elliot laid his head on his hands, and the sound of his ragged breathing filled the space. When he caught his breath enough to talk, he looked over at the Blue, who was peering cautiously through the branches.

  ‘What’s your name?’ Elliot asked.

  ‘Lukas. Are you Elliot?’

  Elliot raised his eyebrows. ‘You know my name?’

  ‘Sure. You’re a wanted man. You’ve made some very important people mad, apparently. But thanks for getting me out of there.’ He paused and looked out at the desert. ‘I don’t know for how long though.’

  Elliot followed his gaze. ‘We’ll find somewhere safer when Katie gets here.’

  ‘Katie?’

  Elliot turned to Lukas and smiled. ‘She’s a Blue, like you.’

  VIRGIL, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  HER EXPLOSIVE DEVICE was a better distraction than he could have hoped for. It set off with a small ‘snap!’ followed by a deep ‘BOOM!’ The ensuing fire made a wall of flames out of the brush along the fence-line. And the Blue could not have timed it more perfectly.

  The Gunslingers had just been getting up, were still sleepy and disorganised, when the blast shook the building and everything inside it. There was a moment of yelling and scrambling as everyone dived for the ground. Then boots were hastily put on, weapons grabbed and the dishevelled group was out the door, running towards the burning perimeter. Owen was shouting loudly as he ran alongside Ray. Then Virgil heard him call, ‘We need water!’ He disappeared for a moment, apparently getting water to douse the flames. In fact, Owen had dashed back into the shack and set the Blue free.

  Virgil, meantime, had run to the horses, both to ensure they were safe from the fire and to make it appear they’d broken free in fear. Releasing the six horses in a mob added nicely to the chaos. They thundered around the small enclosure, kicking up a dust cloud and forcing the Gunslingers to dodge them when they came past.

  Ray’s face had gone pale with fright. The fire was something he didn’t understand, and couldn’t bully and control into submission. Virgil smiled to see him looking vulnerable.

  It took them some twenty minutes to put out the flames and return to the shack. Greg got there first, and emerged again immediately, waving his machete around in the air, yelling, ‘He’s gone! The Blue’s got away! Ray, he’s gone!’ The way he carried on made it look like Lukas had made a run for it right then, so Ray pulled out his club and started tearing around the enclosure as if he might capture him straight away. Virgil had to hold back a laugh but decided that it would look better for him if he made an effort to help in the search. So he, too, grabbed a weapon and walked around the compound, pretending to look for a track amongst the hundreds of hoof prints.

  Another fifteen minutes passed before the horses were caught and saddled. That gave Lukas a thirty-five minute head-start — good, but not perfect. Ray was an excellent tracker. He’d eventually find the trail left by the Blue and his helper, and follow them like a wolf.

  Virgil made sure to take a long time getting his horse ready to ride. Ray, already saddled up and pulling roughly on his still-terrified horse, had growled at him to hurry, and shouted furiously when Virgil continued to take his time. Finally, he gave up, and told Virgil to stay behind to finish putting out the fire — that he’d be better off without him. He rode out of the compound with only Greg and Maria.

  That left Owen, Jessy and Virgil back at the outpost. They stood quietly for moment in the early morning light, the smoking brushwood and kicked-up dust making the desert colours muted and surreal. Only when Ray and the other two were specks in the distance did they dare to look at each other. Slow smiles spread across their faces.

  Jessy covered her mouth to hold back a giggle. Owen smacked Virgil on the back, and beamed. ‘Good job, man. You really did it!’

  Virgil looked down. ‘We all did it. Couldn’t have done it alone.’

  ‘But that was so great!’ Jessy was dancing on the spot. ‘I can’t believe it worked! Oh my gosh, that fire! Ray was freaked out. Did you see his face?’

  Pleased as they were, Virgil knew that Lukas’s struggle was far from over. ‘I just hope he’s a fast runner,’ he said, looking away to where the Blue might have gone. ‘Still, one thing I do know is that this is the first right thing we’ve done in a long while.’

  Owen looked back at him. ‘I have to say that’s true, Virgil. We’ve done the decent thing.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘I’m done with all this. Right now, I wash my hands of Ray and the rest of them. I’m out. But you two are welcome to join me.’

  Jessy sucked in a deep breath and her eyes grew wide. She looked from Virgil’s expressionless face to Owen’s and back again. ‘What do you mean?’ she said. ‘You know Ray will make you help him, Owen. We don’t really have a choice, do we?’

  ‘Yes, kid, we do have a choice. I’ve just made mine. I’m leaving.’

  It was Virgil who responded first. ‘I’ll ride with you. But we’ve got to be clever. We don’t want Ray to know we had a hand in the Blue escaping. We’ll have to leave in such way that we’re not implicated — there’s no way we want him jumping to the right conclusions here.’

  To Virgil’s astonishment, Owen enveloped him in a bear hug. ‘Thanks, friend. Thank you. It would be an honour to have you come with me.’

  Jessy coughed, ‘Ah-hem. Um—’

  Virgil turned to look at her and saw her staring at him with large eyes. She found her voice at last. ‘Well, I’m not staying with them alone!’

  ‘Don’t worry, little bird,’ he said, ‘you’re riding with us.’

  KATIE, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  I SHOULDN’T BE so harsh. Nobody is perfect. Still, I couldn’t help but think Elliot and the Blue were idiots when I saw them backed into a hole, like crabs in a rock pool. Their tracks had led me directly to them, and I could see their scared little faces peering out from behind the dead brush they’d pulled up to camouflage themselves. Why didn’t they keep running and find somewhere half-decent to tuck away? Why didn’t they try to scramble up one of the other cliffs, the ones that don’t require a ladder to climb? That would have at least given them the proverbial uphill
advantage. But no, there they were, sitting ducks for the riders rapidly following their trail.

  I had seen the rope ladder still down, and Elliot’s and the Blue’s tracks moving away from our spot. I could also see the dust being kicked up by the Gunslingers in the distance, and felt a knot of fear grow in my stomach. Those scary psycho cowboys were on a trail leading right towards us.

  My mind raced, but I managed to stay calm enough to keep panic from freezing me. Think Katie, find them, they can’t be far, I instructed myself. Luckily, I had enough sense to keep following the others’ footprints in a way that meant my own were hidden in nearby brush and wouldn’t be obvious to the riders. That action saved me, at least.

  By the time I found them, it was too late. The Gunslingers were right around the corner. I knew that if I ran to Elliot and the Blue, I’d be captured too, and there certainly wasn’t time to warn them to hide anywhere else. My only hope was that the big bald-headed oaf would be somehow blinded by anger and wouldn’t notice the tracks ending at a stupid hole with two sets of eyes peering out.

  But he did notice, and it was horrible. He jumped from his horse, pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at the hole’s entrance. ‘Get out here, Blue!’ he screamed. ‘Get out here now or I’m gonna set the bush on fire and then shoot you when you come out.’ His face was so red he looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

  All I could do was crouch low and watch helplessly. It was Elliot who crawled out first, followed by the Blue.

  ‘Get on the ground, face down!’ the big man growled.

  Elliot’s face was beet red and he trembled as he lowered himself. The Blue mirrored his movements. The short Gunslinger with dirty hair approached them with his machete drawn and a coil of rope. As he got closer, he kicked the ground, sending sand and gravel into their faces.

  ‘Put your arms behind your backs!’ he demanded.

  Elliot did as ordered and the Blue arched his one arm out awkwardly in the air. The leader slid from his horse and stood over the captives while the gnome-like Gunslinger bound each of them with a rope, securing their upper bodies tightly but leaving their legs free to walk. Then they were tied off to the horses and made to follow.

  Seeing Elliot with a rope around his neck made me sick. He kept stumbling, and couldn’t throw his arms out to catch himself before he fell, so he’d topple over onto his shoulder or face and be dragged by the horse until he could manage to get his footing again.

  The Blue was also a shock. The Gunslingers had tied his one arm to his side, but he was otherwise so normal yet so non-human. Like me. I tried to look closely at his face. He must have been young-ish, in his twenties, when he turned. I’d never seen a young-looking Blue before. The ones I’d come across had been changed when they were older: one had been a hairy old miner with poor personal hygiene, and the other one had been an uptight freak who talked to himself and wouldn’t let me in his house. I had guessed the years he had spent alone hadn’t been kind to his mind. This Blue, I have to say, wasn’t that bad to look at, which I suppose was an inappropriate thought to have at that moment. Maybe it was the stress.

  I felt torn. In the past, I would have just left the Blue and Elliot to the Fates, and let the cards fall how they may. Now that wasn’t an option. I was linked to them and felt responsible for their predicament.

  I knew what I had to do — take some kind of action to bail them out. But it was a question of how. The past sixty years of solitude had made me passive, and now I needed to snap into action. My head spun with thoughts, trying to make a plan.

  Where should I start? I needed time to think, to see what my options were. The old saying, ‘Know thy neighbour,’ came to mind. I had to figure out what the Gunslingers were doing — going back to the compound, to the City, or somewhere else? I’d have to do some spying to find out.

  So as Elliot and the Blue were dragged off into the desert, I ran to my Tower. I grabbed my goggles, a scarf and a pair of leather gloves, then headed for the smallest tarp-covered lump inside the bottom of the Tower. Parked next to my car collection was my trusted Vespa. When gasoline became more than scarce, just about non-existent, it was the perfect mode of transport for an emergency. It was stylish, too — black body, cream-coloured seat, and sporting four side-mirrors on each side. I mounted my motor scooter and took off into the night, like a witch on a broomstick.

  VIRGIL, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  RAY RODE INTO the compound with a terrible air of triumph. Tied to his horse lurched Lukas, dirty and dishevelled. Tethered to Maria’s horse was another individual, a young man with a puff of auburn hair. Elliot. Virgil felt nauseated. So, the day had finally come when the Gunslingers had truly lost their honour. Instead of heroes, they were bounty hunters working for the City Leaders. Well, Virgil thought, it’s a good and timely thing that I’m leaving this nonsense.

  Ray hollered for Virgil and Owen to come and help him take the prisoners inside. Owen looked at Virgil and raised his eyebrows. Virgil answered him quietly, ‘Let’s just go and get their horses cleaned up.’

  Ray was so full of himself, he didn’t notice that Owen and Virgil avoided the prisoners and went out to lead the horses to the pen.

  ‘I really thought he’d get away,’ Owen whispered as he filled the water buckets. ‘What a crying shame. What do you think we should do?’

  Virgil dropped his head and toed the dirt with his boot. ‘I think we have to leave. Let them deal with their own mess.’

  Owen looked at him. ‘Who? The captives, or Ray and the others?’

  Virgil sighed. ‘All of them.’

  ELLIOT, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  ‘WHY ARE YOU doing this?’ Elliot asked the Gunslingers, looking desperately from face to face.

  They gave him nothing, ignoring him as if he were dead.

  Lukas was tied next to him and had his eyes closed. He looked ghastly.

  ‘It’s none of my family’s business what I do. I’m an adult and make my own decisions!’ Elliot tried again.

  His captors heard him, but gave no answer.

  ‘Why won’t you look at me? I haven’t done anything wrong!’

  The group’s leader scowled and spat on the floor. He’d had enough. He motioned to the smaller, scraggly blond man with a ponytail and said, ‘Put a gag on him.’

  Elliot thrashed and clamped his jaw as the man wrenched his mouth open and stuck a dirty rag in it. The taste was terrible — sour and bitter with sweat. The salt and harshness of the cloth irritated his mouth and made him salivate, and he could feel his drool start to track along the cloth and run out the corners of his lips and down his face.

  He was in shock. Not in his wildest dreams would he have believed he’d be treated in this way. Even when he’d imagined his parents coming after him, he’d assumed they’d send some kind of teacher or retired Leader, accompanied by a City guard and a couple of Gunslingers for escort. They’d plead with him to go back to the City, or they’d try to talk some ‘sense’ into him. Never did he think he’d be brought in like the worst kind of criminal. In the last twenty-four hours he’d been chased, dragged, tethered behind a horse, and now he was bound and gagged. What had he done to warrant such a punishment?

  His beautiful Katie was out there in the desert and unable to help him. She would know by now that he was captured but, without anyone to aid her, would be helpless to do anything about it. His heart burned for her — her grey eyes, soft painted lips smiling at him, her sleek black hair as it fell across her delicate shoulders.

  Elliot looked back at Lukas and a knot of contempt grew in his stomach. It embarrassed him to feel anger towards Lukas, but he couldn’t help it — if it wasn’t for the Blue, he would be in the Tower right now, comfortably reading a book, with Katie snuggled up next to him. That was all over, and it was Lukas’s fault. Wasn’t it? Elliot knew it was more complex than that, but at that moment he was tired and angry, and Lukas was right there. The Blue opened his eyes and gave him a half-hearted smile.

  �
��How are you holding up?’ he whispered.

  Elliot nodded and closed his eyes. If anything, the Blue’s kindness made him feel even worse.

  VIRGIL, autumn, 62 A. Z.

  THE HORSES WERE about as thin as Virgil had ever seen them. When he put his heavy saddle onto his mare’s spiny back, he felt ashamed of what the poor beast had been made to endure. ‘I promise you’ll get a break soon. You’re a good girl,’ Virgil whispered to the pretty roan. He hoped she had enough left in her to get him somewhere better. Where that was, he didn’t know, but it certainly wasn’t at this Gunslinger outpost. When Ray rode for the City today, Virgil, Owen and Jessy wouldn’t be going with him.

  But Virgil hated conflict and dreaded the likely argument ahead. The chances of Ray taking the news gracefully were slim — violence was his preferred reaction, and Virgil saw no reason to think he’d change this time. He had barely slept the previous night, but had spent long hours thinking about what he would say to Ray, what might be the best way of breaking the news.

  As it happened, Owen beat him to it. When the shack was locked up and the heavy gates were rolled down to secure the outpost perimeter, Owen simply rode his horse up to Ray and said, ‘Hey, boss, I’m not going to the City.’

  Ray turned his head slowly and looked at Owen, measuring him. ‘Excuse me. What?’

  Owen’s face went red, but he stuck out his jaw and met Ray with an icy stare. ‘I’m not going with you all. No disrespect, but I’m done with gunslinging.’

  Ray laughed and clucked his horse to walk on. Lukas, who was tied behind him, lurched forward as the rope pulled with the horse’s first step. Ray was ignoring Owen’s words as if dismissing the demands of a defiant child.

  ‘I’m leaving. I mean it,’ Owen pressed.

  Something in his tone made Ray’s low chuckling stop. He didn’t bother to look at Owen, but growled, ‘Enough of this, Owen! I’m warning you. If you leave, you’re not going to be welcomed back. Period.’