Jebediah's face. “AH!” Cassidy yelled.
“Sorry,” said Jebediah quietly. “What's happening?”
Cassidy was breathing heavily from the shock. “I don't know. We're stopping.” Jebediah gazed out the window with suspicious concern, a frown on his face. “My feelings exactly,” said Cassidy. “Think we should load up?”
Jebediah nodded. “Yes.”
Cassidy nodded and then walked back into the car. As they walked in, Gideon was standing in the middle of the car, blue with moonlight, wiping sleep from his eyes.
“Are we stopped?” he asked.
“Yes,” replied Cassidy. “We're loading up our guns just in case.” She reached down on the floor by her chair and pulled up her St. Clair Revolver. “Jeb, could you get the lights?” Jebediah nodded and turned a dial on the wall near the entrance, causing the wall-mount lamps to brighten.
Gideon squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light. “Of course, I have to be the one who sleeps like a log when I'm riding with a couple of ninjas.”
“What's a ninja?” asked Cassidy.
“Never mind,” replied Gideon.
---
The observation car was still dark. Cassidy and Jebediah peeked through the door before creeping in, guns drawn. “Gideon,” Jebediah said, “go outside, walk along the cars. If you see anything, don't engage, just get back in.” Gideon nodded and exited out from the door they came in.
“This shit never ends, does it?” mused Cassidy as they walked forward, quiet as possible.
“No. No it doesn't. And it doesn't matter how old you get, it never stops,” replied Jebediah. “The world just keeps spinning.”
The duo inched up to the door leading into the first passenger car, cracking it open. Nothing. They opened the door fully and walked through, walking nearly pressed against one another in the thin hallway aside the sleeper compartments. They slowed as they walked past the rooms, hearing people talking in them. Reaching the end of the car, Cassidy reached out to open the door.
Click. Step. SLAM! Cassidy grabbed the opening door, slamming it open and pointing her gun in the face of the intruder. It was just a porter, his eyes wide with fear. Cassidy stared back with equally wide eyes.
“What's going on?” asked Cassidy.
“Uhh, c... c... cow... cows on the track. We hit them. A train hit them. Another train hit some cows, not our train.” the porter stammered.
“That's it?!” asked Cassidy.
“Ye, yes, ma'am. Just some cows. We've got to clear them out before we can get moving again.”
“You sure there's nothing else. Nothing out of the ordinary?”
'No, ma'am. This happens all the time.”
Cassidy's cheeks twitched with frustration. “How long?” she asked.
“Don't know, ma'am. Could be a few hours. It... it's... cows. Lots of cows.”
Cassidy bared her teeth as her upper lip twitched. With a growl she removed the gun from the porter's head.
She stood up, as did Jebediah, who holstered his revolver. Cassidy snorted like a bull and stormed off past Jebediah.
“Sir, is...” began the porter. Jebediah made a calming motion with his open hand, indicating that everything was fine, his face tired.
“Thank you for the information,” said Jebediah. “There's a man walking along the right side of the train, could you please tell him to come back in?”
“Yes sir, I will do so immediately.”
“Thank you.” Jebediah then looked down the hall, toward Cassidy storming out of the car.
Back in Cassidy's car, she stood by a window, her arms behind her back, her head down.
“Worthless!” Cassidy yelled. “If I ran a company like this, I would kill myself! Goddamn useless company!”
Jebediah sat on the couch. “There's no reason to get excited.”
“Don't give me that patronizing tone! Don't try to calm me like some petulant child!”
“I'm not! Don't jump to conclusions.”
“I'm not jumping to conclusions. I can read the tone in your voice.”
“Obviously, you can't, otherwise you'd know that I didn't mean that. I'm trying to give you some words of support. There's nothing we can do. Unless you can run at fifty miles per hour for the next ten hours, we are stuck. We are forced to simply wait. Getting excited serves only to beat yourself up.”
Cassidy snorted. “So much time wasted. Everything about this was handled badly.”
“I don't think so. We've handled things very well, all things considered.”
“Oh yes, we handled El Paso very well indeed. We lost three days and burned the fucking town down.”
“There's no need for profanity.”
“Look, just because you're some sort of Buddhist monk, doesn't mean we all are. Some of us have emotions.”
Jebediah rubbed his forehead. “It has nothing to do with discipline. It has nothing to do with self control. It is about self preservation. If there is nothing that can be done, just stay calm, otherwise you are just harming yourself. A few more hours isn't going to kill us.” Cassidy glared at him. “Bad choice of words. That was a bad choice of words. Regardless, you get what I meant.”
“Yes, but those few hours could matter. Our target could be leaving right now.”
“Our target could have also left five days ago. We have no control. Worry about what you can control.”
Cassidy squeezed her fists tight and shook her arms as though they were almost vibrating. “Who the fuck do I have to pay to fix this? That's my question. Someone, somewhere will fix this for the right amount of money.”
“Well, unless the cows in the way are a bunch of business owners, I don't think your money will do you much good.”
Jebediah yawned and got up from the couch. “For now, we should get some sleep. We have many hours yet to go and there's no reason to be tired.”
“I can't sleep,” grumbled Cassidy.
“Try.”
“I can't.”
“Then get drunk. I don't know what to tell you.” Jebediah said, frustrated.
At this point, Gideon walked into the car. “Good lord, Do you two know what's going on?”
“Yes!” Cassidy barked.
Jebediah and Gideon looked at Cassidy who just sneered out the window. Jebediah then turned to Gideon. “Did you see anything?”
Gideon's eyes lingered on Cassidy for a moment before turning to Jebediah. “Yeah. Cows. Thousands of them. I've never seen so many cows. What the hell are they doing out here?”
“In all likelihood, these tracks run through some federal land that is allotted for grazing.”
“RAAARH!” Cassidy yelled. She grabbed her gun and began to walk out of the car.
“Where are you going?” asked Jebediah.
“I'm going to go shoot some cows,” she said.
“You are not going to shoot the cows,” Jebediah commanded. “They didn't do anything.”
“I don't care. It's punishment to the ass that let his herd go wandering. Now he gets to deal with a few splattered on a train and bunch more filled with bullets.”
“You're blaming people for nothing. It's probably not the owner but his ranch hands. So sit down.”
“I will not sit down.”
“And I will not let you out of the car.”
“Jeb, get out of my way.”
“No.”
“Jeb, I will fucking punch you.”
“I am not letting you out of the car,” Jebediah said, increasingly emphatic.
“Jeb, get out of my way!” Cassidy bellowed.
“No! If you do not sit down, I will arrest you!”
“You can't arrest me!”
“You'd be amazed at what I'm authorized to do.”
“I don't give a shit about what you are authorized to do. I am going to shoot some fucking cows owned by some fucking guy who fucking deserves it!”
Jebediah glared at Cassidy and stepped forward, closer to her. He spoke slowly and with emphasis.
“You are acting like a goddamned child. For every moment you impress me, you do something like this. You are a full grown woman, are you not?!”
“Don't condescend to me.”
“Are you not?!” Jebediah yelled. “How old are you? Does it matter? You're not some child who has just discovered a new toy,” he said, pointing to her gun. “Miss Flynn would be utterly ashamed if she knew you acted this way. William would be utterly ashamed! You are an adult. Act like it. Don't go out and willy-nilly waste bullets shooting some innocent animals.” Cassidy glared back at him. “Put. The gun. Down.”
Cassidy looked back with an angry but tempered expression. Her eyes fell from Jebediah's glare. She sneered as she tossed her gun onto her chair. She huffed then walked up to Jebediah, looking over his shoulder to the door. Jebediah stepped out of the way and Cassidy marched out into the observation car. Jebediah and Gideon looked at each other as the door shut.
---
Cassidy sat in the chair, her eyes closed, rocking back and forth. She was mumbling to herself, emphasizing a random word here and there. A tumbler glass was in her hand, sitting on the arm rest of the chair, half-filled with an unknown liquor. The moon sat low in the sky behind Cassidy, giving her shadowed face a frame of glowing, red hair. Gideon walked in quietly and sat in the chair opposite Cassidy.
“You alright?” he asked.
Cassidy lifted her head lazily and smiled an easy smile. “Oh yeah. I'm fine.”
“The bar was open?”
“Don't need the bar...” Cassidy reached down to the floor and lifted up a bottle, shaking it slightly, its amber liquid sparkling in the moonlight. “... when you have your own.” She extended the bottle toward Gideon. “You want some?”
Gideon smiled. “No thank you. More for you.”
“More for me then...” Cassidy smiled. “You beat me to it.”
“I'm having a bit of a hard time calming down. Thought some moonlight conversation may help,” said Gideon.
“So, let's talk about sex. When was the last time you had it?”
“That,” Gideon said with a smile. “Is none of your business.”
“Oh come on!” Cassidy said very loudly.
“Shh!” Gideon hissed, looking around. “It's night time.”
Cassidy burped into her throat. “No one can hear us.”
“You don't know that,” said Gideon, settling back into his chair. “There are old people in the car ahead of us. Old people hear everything, and I'd rather not simply announce to everyone on the train that a fairy is on board.”
“I think people assume.”
“No, they don't!” said Gideon, his face open and wide with emphasis. “Especially outside of the cities, people just seem to think that we are these phantoms that don't exist... I don't even know... don't exist in real life. As though we're creatures of myth.”
Cassidy didn't say anything for a moment and appeared to be thinking about what Gideon had just said. “So come on. Details,” she finally said.
“I'm not giving you any details, you pervert.”
“Like... do you like them big? I've heard that fairies can sometimes be interested in that. You've had sex... in the butt... right?”
Gideon's mouth hung open in surprise for a moment. “My god, I'm not talking about this.”
“Or are you the man in the relationship? Because, I'm going to tell you, I like 'em big. I don't know why. The best sex I ever had was with a small guy, so I shouldn't care. He was funny. He owned a general store. I bet you're big. It's always the quiet, reserved guys. Take their pants off and it falls down to their knees. You almost scream.” Gideon snorted out a laugh. “But there's just something about it. It's like fear, maybe. I think to myself oh lord, is that going to hurt?” Gideon just shook his head when Cassidy looked to him. Cassidy took another swig. “So do you do it... I mean... from the front, or from behind? How does it work?”
“I. Am. Not. Talking about this. For Pete's sake. I don't even really want to know about what you do,” said Gideon, finding everything simultaneously funny and uncomfortable.
Cassidy sighed and took another drink.
“So, do you—” Gideon began.
“I hate putting it in my mouth,” Cassidy interrupted. Gideon sighed and rolled his eyes. “It's never been fun. I imagine that you rather have to get accustomed to it. Not much choice. Again, why the big cocks? Do fairies actually like that or is that just a rumor? I'd imagine that most of what I hear is just a rumor. You know, you guys being mythical beasts and all.”
Gideon scoffed quietly and rose from his chair. “I'm getting rather uncomfortable and will take my leave before you manage to say something truly insulting.”
“Why? What did I say? I didn't say anything.”
“Trust me,” Gideon said. “Finish that glass and then go to sleep.”
“Can't sleep,” Cassidy replied.
“Do it anyhow. There are no assassins among the cows.”
“You don't know that. Cows are goddamn crafty. I've seen it. You can see it in their eyes. They're working things out. They outnumber us, you know. I've seen things.”
“I'm sure you have. Good night.” Cassidy nodded and raised her glass to Gideon. She watched with her head turned around as far as she could to see him go through the door. She turned back to her lazy recline after the door shut. She lifted her glass, looking at it in the moonlight, before letting it flop back down on the chair arm. She sat there, drunk. Looking out the window on the moonlit landscape.
“God damn... shit... cows...” she mumbled.
---
Mr. Martin walked into the darkened room. Standing in front of a large tank filled with fish and glowing water was the Shadowy Man, nothing more than a silhouette in front of the bright light. The well-dressed man turned to the side but did not face Mr. Martin.
“Sir. It appears that El Paso was a success. The damage was extensive. Half the town was leveled, and we appear to have lost Mr. Caesar in the operation, but Miss. St. Claire has likewise been eliminated. We will also want to initiate a covert retrieval mission. Some of our hardware may have been left behind. This shouldn't pose much trouble seeing as we still have a great deal of hardware down in Mexico.”
The Shadowy Man turned away from Mr. Martin. He put his hand up on the tank of water and hung his head in a display of melancholy.
“I know that this isn't the outcome you wished for, but I assure you, this is for the best. All things will return in the end.”
The Shadowy Man nodded.
“I am going to turn in for the night, sir. There is much to do in the next week.” Mr. Martin paused for a response, then turned and left. The well-dressed man stayed by the tank, his head low, his hand on the glass.
10
As morning bathed the flat, sparse landscape in sunlight, Cassidy stumbled into her car from the observation car. The train was moving again and well on its way. She had her empty glass and bottle in her hands as she stood, unsteady, her hair and clothing a total mess, in the small hallway by the door to the washroom. She yawned as Jebediah stepped out of the washroom, fresh and trimmed.
“Good morning,” he said.
Cassidy grumbled at him. “What time is it?”
Jebediah took out his pocket watch. “About eight-fifty.”
Cassidy nodded and yawned again. “Houston?”
“About seven hours,” replied Jebediah. “You should probably wash before breakfast. You smell like you soiled yourself.”
Cassidy looked down and over her body, sniffing her underarms. She then yawned again. She walked closer to Jebediah and handed him her glass and bottle. “Here,” she said. She then let out a hot, wet, quiet burp that practically oozed out of her throat.
Jebediah squinted and grimaced, as though the burp hurt his eyes. Jebediah let out a single cough. “Oh... my... god,” he said.
“You can go to breakfast if you like,” said Cassidy as she walked into the washroom and shut the door. “I'll catch up.”
<
br /> “We'll wait a bit for you,” he replied loudly through the door as Gideon walked in from the observation car.
“Oh, is she finally awake?” asked Gideon.
“Define awake,” replied Jebediah.
---
Jebediah and Gideon sat at the table in the dining car. There were only a few other people there, mostly finishing up their breakfasts as reflections of morning sun off the landscape rippled across the dining room. The two were calmly looking over the available menu when Cassidy walked up, her hair still a bit wet.
“Thanks for waiting,” she said. Jebediah and Gideon began to rise as she arrived. “Oh for Pete's sake, sit down. I figured that by now you'd know I don't care about that.” They sat back down.
“How are you feeling?” asked Jebediah.
“Good enough,” replied Cassidy. “I'll be feeling much better when we finally get to Houston, and I'll be feeling genuinely good when we reach New Orleans.” Cassidy took up her glass and drank all of the water in a single go. She swallowed hard then held up the glass to the waiter at the head of the car. He nodded and started to walk over with a pitcher. “What's the time from Houston to New Orleans?”
“Fifteen or so hours, I'd say,” replied Jebediah. “That's of course assuming that we were on an ordinary train.” Cassidy looked up with a raised eyebrow. Jebediah smirked. “The multi-hour delay from last night has all but guaranteed that a special express train that's available in Houston will be ready. Before, I was worried if it would be ready or not, causing us to waste time waiting. But now, we were already forced to wait. As such, the trip to New Orleans will only take us eight hours, maybe less.”
Cassidy St. Claire and The Fountain of Youth Parts I, II, & III Page 46
