by S. S. Engle
“Not him personally, no. But his family, I can’t get over his last name. Bad blood runs in his veins sweetheart. Just because he hasn’t wronged me yet doesn’t mean I need to wait around in his company until he does.”
“Guilty until proven innocent I see.”
“Something like that. You can be friends with him all you want, just don’t expect me to bend over backwards for a guy who kept me locked up in a cell in his basement.”
“But you got out.”
“That’s not the point. I asked him to let me out and he wouldn’t do it. I gave him a chance. He didn’t take it.”
“He has to be careful around his brother.”
“You defend him an awful lot.”
“He needs defending around you.”
“A man should be able to defend himself.”
“Well he’s not here to do it himself. He’s really quiet behind us right now isn’t he?”
“He probably just has his ear jammed up against the wall. Should I give him something good to listen to?”
“No!”
“I was just joking.”
“I know.”
The reason Harlan was so quiet behind Luca and Kassidy was because he wasn’t there at all. As the train was getting ready to leave the station the Ringers got on with the Fox leading them. They pulled Harlan out of his room and threw him off of the train. Now Kassidy and Luca had been riding along for the better part of half an hour now while Harlan was nowhere around. In fact Harlan himself was just now waking up from being knocked out and discovering for himself where he was. His jaw was sore, and though he couldn’t see it yet, a green bruise with the imprint of an A in the middle was making itself known on his cheek. He went to slide his hand down his face and try to wake himself up but he couldn’t. Both wrists were bound by rope to a wooden post. He knew where he was now. Atop the platform in the center of Engia Square a crowd had gathered. They cheered as Harlan rose his head, only to be pelted with a rotten tomato. The crowds cheered loudly as it made contact and slid down Harlan’s face. The streets were packed with people in all direction stopping the morning traffic. But Harlan could still focus in on one person, one person in particular he could always find.
“Brother! Please! Have mercy!”
“O’Brien’s don’t beg Harlan! But I’m a fair leader aren’t I folks?! I’ll let you decide! Should I give my brother mercy for aiding the Dreadcrank leader in his escape?!”
“NO!”
“You heard the people Harlan. I’m sorry, but they think you deserve this punishment. What kind of man would I be if I didn’t honor the public’s request?”
“Asa please!”
“Throw away folks!”
Asa sat back in the protection of his carriage. Looking out through a window he could see the crowd swarming the old platform that Harlan was tied up on. This would teach him not to help the enemy. What kind of family were they if they couldn’t count on each other. He was only doing this for Harlan’s good. He was such a good big brother. He sat back comfortably inside as the crowd raged on. Harlan was being pelted from all directions with assortments of rotten fruit, children’s toys, old clothes and boots. He was hunched over as much as he could to try and protect himself, but there was just no relief to be had. There were too many people. So many people in fact the train had to come to a screeching halt when the tracks were made impassable. All the passengers slammed against their walls, and were knocked to the ground. Kassidy and Luca were taken by surprise until they got to their window to see what was happening. Kassidy picked out Harlan by the sheer sinking feeling in her stomach that she somehow knew she had been involved in what had stopped the train. She lunged for the door and Luca pulled her back.
The Ringers were on the train now, slamming open every door screaming out for Lucky to turn himself in. The Fox’s whiny voice stuck out to Kassidy because it was the only man she could readily identify in the rival gang. Since neither Luca or Kassidy was going to willingly turn themselves s in they had to think of an alternative getaway. Luca went over to the window and opened it up, but it wasn’t wide enough for either of them to get out safely. He gripped Kassidy around her waist, spun her around away from the window, and punched out the glass with his mechanical arm. The spray fell mostly outside. Luca went out first, hung himself out on the ledge, and pulled himself on top of the train for safety. Next it was Kassidy’s turn. The Ringers were getting closer and she was growing impatient. She tried to carefully hoist herself out the window but the jagged glass was everywhere. She had cuts on her hands and legs as she drug herself out. Her hand was still sore from the cut the night before but Luca grabbed onto her tight from the top of the train as he proceeded to pull her up to join him.
“Luca hurry! They’re coming!”
“Just don’t let go!”
“I won’t let go!”
“I’ve got you! Alright? I’ve got you! Just climb up the side. Pull yourself up. I’ve got you!”
“Oh my god! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“I told you I had you.”
“Sorry, it’s my first train escape.”
“Amateur. Guess you could say we got lucky huh?”
“You could say that. We make a pretty good team don’t we?”
“Sometimes the most unlikely of pairings work out for the best. Now what do you say we get the hell off this train?”
“We have to help him Luca. We can’t just leave him up there.”
“I know.”
Rolling his eyes he kept a tight grip on Kassidy has they cautiously walked across the top of the train cars to get to the caboose in back so they could take a ladder down. It’d only be a matter of time before the Ringers figured out where they were and would come after them with any means necessary. Thankfully when one gang storms the city streets, they’re never alone. Dreadcranks spread throughout the crowd had noticed their leader and their newest member on top of the train, and were pulling their resources to go in and help. They never missed an opportunity to fight with the Ringers. As Kassidy neared the caboose with Luca at her side she began picking out stripes in the crowd, men coming in from all directions to help. The train was being swarmed. She pointed them out to Luca as they reached the ladder. The Ringers were still on board the train harassing innocent passengers and making the women scream and the children cry. They got some sort of sick pleasure out of that Kassidy thought. But she couldn’t focus on any on thing at the moment.
The second Kassidy touched ground the crowds erupted into mass chaos. She got separated from Luca for a little bit while he was telling his men what he needed them to do. He just had his bloodied glove flinging all sorts of ways in the air. The men knew what he meant regardless of the hectic atmosphere and dispersed. Broken glass filled the air as Kassidy ducked for cover. Luca found her and shoved her in-between two cars, pulling her into him close as he shielded her from the steam being poured out of the train. Everyone was yelling and Harlan’s cries could still be heard begging Asa to get them to stop. But Kassidy couldn’t figure out where Asa was, she couldn’t see him. She was beginning to shake and Luca felt her trembling against him. He’d seen this before, he was immune to the chaos, but she wasn’t. With her still firmly pressed between his body and the train he took her chin in his bloodied gloved hand and made her look up at him and focus.
“You know what you have to do sweetheart. This is your chance.”
“But I don’t know…”
“If anybody knows what to do right now it’s you. Just promise me something will you?”
“What?!”
“Be careful. Make it count.”
“Make it count. You’re going to get me out of there aren’t you?! You’ll come after me in the Brass Bulldogge?!”
“I won’t need to if you beat me to it.”
His smile made her smile. He felt her stop shaking and he let her go, pushing her between the cars to the other side of the train. Steam dropped down on him from the window above and r
eached in and pulled a Ringer out by his own gun. After he slammed on the ground Luca took the gun for himself and cracked it across his knee, splintering it into pieces and dropping water all over the man on the ground. Asa left his carriage now as the chaos was getting out of hand even for him. He had lost complete control, this wasn’t what he wanted. Kassidy was up on the platform now, and the pelting of rotten fruit and dirty clothes stopped instantaneously. Harlan was on his knees as far as the ropes would allow. When Kassidy took her dagger out and cut him free he fell into a heap of himself on the ground. She put her dagger back and picked him up, hoisting his weight against her own with difficulty. She scanned the crowd for a sympathetic face but couldn’t find one. All she saw was confusion. Asa climbed up the platform now with Natasha coming out pristinely clean behind him. Soon Silas and two other Ringers were on the platform. Nobody spoke to each other, it didn’t take any words. Asa cricked his head to the side and the Ringers took hold of Kassidy by each of her arms and dropped Harlan on the ground.
Asa made the crowd disperse. The fun was over. Everyone had jobs to be getting back to anyway. The city didn’t run without the people. Natasha led Asa back to the carriage while Harlan’s body was hauled back into the O’Brien mansion. They drug him by his arms and let his feet dangle into the cobblestone paths, getting all torn up and bloody. He was covered in rotten fruit, and the flies were already having their way with him. The gangs were making themselves scarce as well. With police blowing their whistles neither the Ringers nor the Dreadcranks wanted to get mixed up in going to jail again. Luca hid himself in an alley until things blew over. It took four policemen in full riot gear to take Kassidy from the protective hold of the Ringers on the platform. They picked her up off her feet and loaded her up in a police carriage with extra locks on the back and bars on the window. Then as they pulled away a man stood on a pullout step outside each window for added protection. Out the back window Kassidy had herself pushed up against the glass trying to look for Luca. She found him as he came out of his hiding spot in the alley and locked eyes with her. He held his bloodied gloved hand up to wave at her until nearby the low ranking Dreadcrank Jasper saw his leader come out in the open and tackled him back into safety.
“With all due respect sir, what the hell were you thinking?!”
“I’ve got to get her out of there.”
“Who? Wait, was that Kassidy that they hauled off just now?”
“Yes.”
“Lucky, she directly interfered with Asa O’Brien. They’ll put her in the Brass Bulldogge for that.”
“I know. That’s what we wanted. But I don’t know, I just think we made a huge mistake.”
“She willingly did this?”
“Yes.”
“That’s one hell of a woman. What on earth did you say to her to make her think this was a good idea?”
“I just told her to make it count.”
“I’d say she came through for you.”
“Course she did. That’s what scares me the most.”
