Cassidy St. Claire and The Fountain of Youth Parts I, II, & III

by A. H. Rousseau

“... enh?” Jacob shrugged.

  “Good enough, just go, go,” Cassidy said before settling into her seat and trying to look calm. Jacob rushed over to the table.

  The young man came slowly down the stairs and looked around the room. He then came down and meekly walked up to the bar. “Has a Russian been in here?” he asked the bartender.

  “Nope. No one has come in for over an hour.” The young man turned and looked around the room. “Would you like a drink while you wait?” the bartender asked.

  “Umm... yes. Yes. Whiskey, I think,” the young man said, sitting.

  Cassidy was sitting two stools down from the young man, hunched over her drink. As the man sat there, he glanced left and right. Cassidy looked straight ahead. “Howdy,” she said. The young man looked over at her. She turned slightly. “Remember me?” The young man's face went from confusion, to fear, to sadness, to something of a mix of them all. He got up. Jacob shuffled in his seat, readying for a chase but the man just moved down to the seat next to Cassidy.

  “I... I...” the young man tried to speak. He was breathing heavily. “Come upstairs,” he finally managed. “I don't want to say anything here.” He then got up and hurried up stairs. Cassidy followed.

  When they reached the hallway where the boy's room was, he paced back and forth a bit, gesticulating as though he was trying to form words. Cassidy stood there, her face open, expecting him to say something. She kept trying to make eye contact. Finally, the young man stopped and stared right at Cassidy, his face awash in sadness and tears.

  “Thank god!” he yelled, tears flowing from his eyes as he rushed forward and fell to his knees in front of Cassidy. Cassidy looked down with an expression of shocked confusion as the young man gripped her coat and held his face to it. “I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!” After he had finished wiping his tears on her clothing, he looked up at her with bloodshot eyes. “I had no idea, I swear! I had no idea who I was getting involved with. I didn't know who they were. I just thought I was going to do some cattle rustling, or maybe be some muscle for some rich family. I didn't know we were going to rob your train. I didn't know what I had. I didn't know who they were! I didn't know!”

  “Alright, alright!' Cassidy replied in a burst, still visibly confused. “Umm, well. I guess first, do you have my metal?”

  The man looked up without changing his expression for a short moment before having a broad smile burst across his face. “Yes! Yes I do!” The young man stood up and opened his coat, too small for his body, and pulled out a key. “I stored it for safe keeping down the street at the post office.” He held the key up and handed it to Cassidy. “After I found out what was going on, I just wanted to give the box back to you, but I was afraid that your company was being watched.” Cassidy put the key into her coat pocket. “I never wanted to be an outlaw. I always figured that I would just become a ranch hand or something. I just thought it was a job. I swear, I swear, I swear.”

  “It's alright. I believe you. But, first, who would be watching me? Who set this up?”

  The young man's mouth hung open for a moment as he stared into Cassidy's eyes. “They're... they're everywhere. I knew that it was safe here because I overheard them talking, but it was... I... um...” The young man breathed heavily as he searched for words. A humming noise in the distance quickly grew to a dull roar as Cassidy and the young man looked around the hallway. Portraits on the wall began to shake slightly. The expression on the young man's face quickly changed to terrified sorrow, as tears began to come from his eyes. “H... H.... They found me. They found me. How did they find me?” He turned to Cassidy and grabbed her coat. “You have to protect me. Please protect me. I'll tell you everything that I've learned.” Cassidy looked at him for only a second before he burst out. “Please!”

  “I will! I will! Jesus, I will. Just calm down.” Cassidy looked up and behind her. “Jacob! Get up here! Something's going down!” She then looked around the hallway. “The window, ok? The window. We'll go out the window and into the field. I don't care how many there are, they can't see in the dark.”

  “You just don't know,” the young man replied.

  “It doesn't matter. We'll get you out of here. I promise.” They ran over to the window and opened it as a bright light shined in, casting their dark shadows down the hall. “What the hell...” Cassidy said as an explosion knocked both her and the young man down into the hall. Cassidy rose, grimacing in pain, and looked where the window had previously been. Standing there, clad in a brown leather coat with poofy insulation coming out around the collar, suede pants and black leather boots, was a man wearing a freakish mask. It covered his entire face and was made of worn leather and metal, with a set of large, dark goggles turning the eyes into two, black discs. His coat was billowing in the wind coming in from outside as beams of bright light moved about his frame. The loud roar of engines shook the floor as Cassidy oriented herself.

  After pausing, he stomped forward aggressively, grabbing the young man who screamed for help, reaching to Cassidy. A large, metal assembly crashed in through the wall and the masked man, with one hand, easily threw the young man into the assembly which grasped him like a giant metal hand, before being violently yanked out back through the window, the metal hand expanding the hole as it ripped through the wood.

  “Heeeeelllllllllppppp!” the young man cried as he disappeared into the blinding lights.

  Cassidy tried to compose herself, flopping over on to her hands as she tried to stand. “I... am going... to put... so many fucking bullets... into you.” The masked man stared silently at her. After getting, uneasily, to her feet, she stared at the masked man. “Give him back!”

  “Cassidy!” yelled Jacob, from the other end of the hallway. The masked man looked up at Jacob, then, as a rope with foot mount dangled into the hole, grabbed a hold of it and swung out into the night. Cassidy rushed to the window and stood in shocked awe at what awaited her.

  There, suspended in the air, filling her field of vision, was a giant, roaring airship, with four large spinning fans and a main body of polished metal and hard edges and corners. It was short and wide, sixty feet long and forty feet wide. A large angular metal frame and protrusion extended from the bottom and a small cockpit extending from the front. Bright spot lights beamed from four spots on the craft's rear as it slowly turned and backed away from the building, its primary cargo door slowly closing, the metal hand dangling beneath it. Cassidy stared, agape and unmoving, her hair whipping around her head and face. She blinked rapidly, jostling herself free from the shock. She turned and yelled at Jacob, “Jacob! Meet me out front!” She then turned and jumped out of the building and down to the street, where she rolled and tumbled, grunting as she landed. “That's gonna' be another bruise.”

  Cassidy stumbled a bit as she ran over to her carriage parked in front of the hotel. Arriving at the rear she grabbed to open the trunk on the back but couldn't. “Shit! Key!” she yelled as she started patting at her pockets. “Fuck it,” she said as she simply drew her gun and blew the lock off. She kicked the top of the trunk open and pulled out a large rifle. She also grabbed a large gun barrel, the diameter of a silver dollar, that she clicked into place on the gun body. She reached into the trunk and finally retrieved a large shell. Grabbing a lever on the side of the gun, she shoved the latch forward, opening the gun. She placed the bullet inside and then shut the gun with a hearty metallic click.

  Cassidy turned to face the craft, which was now gaining altitude as it completed its turn, extinguished its lights, and started to travel down the street into the night. Cassidy walked a few paces with the large rifle in front of her before raising it to aim. The stock of the gun was a large, padded yoke that wrapped around the shoulder. “You're not the only one with toys,” she said as she pulled the trigger. The gun released a deafening boom as it sent Cassidy flying backwards multiple feet and the gun flying down the street. The craft lit up brightly for a moment in an explosion as the shell hit it, causing one of the engines to spin
and spit with flames. While slowed, it continued on into the distance.

  Cassidy lay on the ground, prone on her back, with a wide-eyed, shell-shocked look. She tried to rise in awkward thrusts, her arms limp at her side. She spoke through shallow breaths, barely getting the words out. “That... was... unexpected.”

  Jacob came rushing out and saw Cassidy on the ground. “Cassidy!” He ran over and knelt beside her. “Are you alright?” Cassidy, having trouble keeping her head steady, looked at him with the same shell-shocked look.

  “... no.”

  “Let's get you up,” Jacob said, starting to put his arms under Cassidy's back.

  Cassidy yelled. “AHHHH! Don't touch me!” Jacob immediately raised his arms and stopped touching her, dropping her to the dirt. Cassidy lay there on the ground, staring up into the sky. “I think... I broke... my body.”

  ---

  Cassidy sat at the bar, with a beaten and tired expression on her face, sipping whiskey from a small glass. “The pain is starting to subside,” she said.

  The doctor, an older and weary-looking gentleman, put the last of his instruments into his bag on the bar and clicked it closed. “You're extremely lucky you didn't break anything. I was able to put your shoulder back in place, but you've got a whole host of injured muscles. You're going to have to take it very easy for the next few weeks.”

  “Thank you,” Cassidy mumbled, her head in her hand. The doctor walked out and into the street. “So,” Cassidy said, looking up at the bartender. “You want that dollar now?”

  The bartender paused briefly before nodding. “Yes.”

  Cassidy placed a fifty on the counter. “Are you sure?” asked the bartender, a bit shocked.

  “Yeah,” replied Cassidy. “You'll need it.”

  The bartender smiled and held his hand out for a shake. “My name's Edward. Edward Steinbeck.”

  Cassidy smiled a tired smile as she held her hand out. “Cassidy. Cassidy St. Claire.”

  Edward didn't respond for a moment, then smiled. “The Cassidy St. Claire? Ha! I should have known!” he yelled, slapping the counter. “I really, really should have known! Who else could you have been?”

  “You know me?”

  “Of course I know you! I said we'd been here for twenty years! Everyone around here remembers your affair with those pirates ten years back. You're still famous in Monterey, I tell you what!”

  “Wow,” Cassidy said. “I had honestly forgotten that I had been through here. I forgot all about that... wow. Did it stink to high heaven back then as well?”

  “Oh boy did it. Worse if anything. A lot of new ice houses have opened since then.”

  “That's odd. I don't remember the smell bothering me back then. Regardless, I suppose, I'm happy to see my good name lives on.”

  “Yes ma'am! It's an honor to meet you, and I am wishing I had kicked out Bobby long before he got bad. No one is going to mistreat Cassidy St. Claire in my hotel!”

  Cassidy smiled. “No worries. You did good. Believe me. You did more than most would in the same situation.” Cassidy squinted in pain as she stood up, pushing up and away on the counter. “Where do you think you're going?” asked Edward.

  “Our poor friend gave me a key to a post office box just before he got ripped out through your wall. It contains my missing metals and I want to get it back.”

  “Good lord, ma'am. You are a machine, aren't you,” said the bartender.

  “Well, the sooner I get my metal, the sooner I can get home and sleep. I just want to sleep.”

  “It's also good that we're hurrying, I think,” said Jacob.

  “Why's that?” asked Cassidy.

  “Well the young man they took will probably tell them where the metal is during interrogation. They will come for it.”

  Cassidy stared at Jacob for a moment. “What?” asked Jacob.

  “Change of plans,” said Cassidy.

  ---

  The post office boxes extended down the left wall from the main door into the darkness. A large window next to the entrance looked out over the street and the wooden sidewalk. Stark shadows illuminated some of the boxes, lit by a gas light on the street. A loud crack of wood echoed through the silent room just before the door slowly opened. In walked the masked man. The sound of spinning optics in his goggles could be heard as he moved toward the boxes. He analyzed the wall for a moment, counting down the numbers until he reached the one he wanted. He jabbed a long piece of metal into the key and opened the small door. It was empty.

  “Looking for this?” asked Cassidy. The masked man wheeled about. Cassidy slowly emerged from the darkness and tapped the box with her palm as it sat on the counter integrated into the wall. “Well come and get it, big boy.”

  The masked man moved toward her while Cassidy adopted a battle-ready stance. He walked up to her and blocked her first punch, grabbed her shirt, and effortlessly flung her down the hallway. She let out an audible “oof!” as she hit the floor, sliding back a bit.

  The masked man tried to pick up the box from the counter and walk away, but found the box chained to the radiator next to the counter. He was then met with a fist to the face from Cassidy, who had returned for more. “OW!” Cassidy yelled, shaking her hand. She collected herself and threw another punch. After a dodge, a block, and another quick block, he connected a punch to her chest that sent her reeling back onto the floor yet again. Cassidy again found herself shocked, nearly unable to breath, and on her back. She lurched up in multiple attempts at rising as her body failed to obey. “Mother... fucker!' she gasped.

  The masked man yanked repeatedly at the chained box, shaking the building and causing the entire radiator to rumble and move. He eventually raised his arm stiffly into the air before bringing it hammering down on the side of the box in an attempt to free the chain. He finished it with a massive yank that eventually caused the chain and metal frame to explode from the side of the box. The masked man then put the box under his arm and made to walk out. Before he was able to move but a step, the sound of thudding came from the darkness, the man quickly turned, ready to fight again, but was instead met by an airborne Cassidy, who had leapt into the air and slammed into his chest with both boots. Both the masked man and the box flew through the large front window, bounced off the sidewalk, and into the street.

  The masked man quickly composed himself and had just begun to run down the street when a shot ripped into his leg, causing him to fall to a knee. He turned quickly, his goggle optics clicking and rotating, to see Jacob standing by the carriage, a rifle primed and aimed. Cassidy hustled out of the post office, slowing to a stop just past the stairs. “What are you gonna' do, circus freak?” asked Cassidy, her arms raised in mock expectation of a response.

  The masked man looked at both of them, before raising a fist straight up into the air. A flash, and a stream of sparks shot up into the sky, before exploding in a twinkling firework. The man lowered his hand and then stood, motionless. Cassidy and Jacob looked at each other, then back to the masked man. “And?” Cassidy asked. A moment later, the sound of engines could be heard in the distance, increasing in volume quickly. Cassidy and Jacob looked around nervously as the thundering air craft came careening out of the darkness over the buildings opposite the post office, banking and rolling in a bid to slow down quickly. It bumped into the post office and the adjacent building, causing wreckage to fall from the walls, the wild winds throwing dust and junk around like a hurricane. It settled unsteadily above the masked man who looked up as the craft's lamps flooded the area light and the rope lowered down to him. “Oh no you don't,” Cassidy yelled as she ran toward her carriage.

  The masked man grabbed the rope with his free hand and placed a foot inside the stirrup at the end of the line. He had just started to rise when a loud bang and an explosion in his forearm caused him to fall back off the rope. Back on the ground, he stood and looked at his arm, now mostly gone past the elbow. Wires and tubes dangled out, fluid dripped, and some stray sparks indicated elec
trical activity. His forearm lay on the ground, twitching. Cassidy and Jacob both stared at this, wide-eyed. “What the hell...” Cassidy gasped.

  The masked man paused only briefly, before, in one quick motion, grabbing the box and flinging it up and into the hovering craft. He then grabbed the rope and was yanked violently up into the bottom of the epic machine. As it took off, Cassidy let out a loud snort as she hurried around to the back of the carriage, again producing the canon rifle. She loaded another shell into the chamber, locked it closed, and brought it up to aim. She then closed her eyes in a grimace, looked away, and pulled the trigger.

  Nothing.

  Cassidy went from grimace to annoyed confusion. “A dud?!” She brought the gun down from her shoulder and held the side of the gun up to inspect it. As she did it, the gun fired, and with a boom, flew out of Cassidy's hands and across the sidewalk and blew up the front of the post office, sending shrapnel spiraling all over, bouncing off the carriage, and raining down on Cassidy and Jacob, who both lay face down with their arms over their heads. As they looked up, the sound of the air craft was already far in the distance, invisible in the night sky. They both looked at the post office, just as the entire front of the building fell down with a crash. They winced as it hit the ground then looked at each other. “Let's say that they did that,” said Cassidy.

  The hand was still twitching on the ground as Cassidy and Jacob walked up to it. A small pool of fluid sat next to it, soaking the dirt. They stared down at it, their faces framed by the starry sky. Eventually, Cassidy reached down and picked it up by the arm section and held it up for inspection. The hand was covered by a leather glove and the arm was a suede-like material. Still covering the arm was a fragment of the leather coat. An unknown liquid dripped slowly from the damaged insides. Cassidy held the arm up high into the light from a nearby lamp, in front of her and Jacob, as they stared at it, watching it twitch, and twitch, and twitch.

  6

  Cassidy walked in through the front door and dropped her sack on the floor. The great, heavy door of St. Claire Manor echoed in the foyer as she closed it behind her. She let out a loud sigh and yawn, glanced about the house with a look of sad introspection, and shuffled toward her office door. Amos, as always, appeared from the kitchen, floating elegantly through the room.