The exercise:
Write about: getting over the hump.
I could not believe it was only Wednesday when I woke up this morning.
Excuse the label, by the way. I couldn't find anything more appropriate before it was time to hit publish. I'll update it later if I find something more suitable.
2 comments:
Haha, it's Thursday here, which probably won't help you. So... it's all downhill to the weekend? Or did the ghosts keeping mounding the carpets in the town-hall up and tripping you over?
Over the hump
Josie half-turned before she reached her kitchen, pausing her heavy step. "You guys haven't asked where you should start looking," she said. She wasn't looking at us so you couldn't make it out to be an accusation, but we've both been up before enough judges to know what it sounds like.
"Down by the creek, in the gulch, and wherever else there's surface water," I said swiftly. "Everything needs water to live, and water's a good place for a predator to hang out and see what kind of prey he's got."
"Or she," said Ben. "Remember that schoolteach--" he fell silent as I kicked his shin under the table.
Josie nodded. "Jimmy said you were smart," she said. "Smart gentlemen, that's exactly the kind of person we need around here right about now. If you don't find the goat-sucker that way then come talk to me and I'll tell you where I found the bodies."
We let Josie get all the way back into her kitchen before Ben said, in a low voice, "And that doesn't sound ominous at all."
Jimmy leaned back in his chair, which creaked and cracked like firewood taking the flame. "What's all the talk of gentlemen, then?"
"They've got something to hide and we're being told not to go looking for it," I said. "Pretty normal for rural folks; usually I'd say it's the still for that hooch, but from what you said there might be something a little bigger this time round. Still, we've been pretty much explicitly warned off the mine which is a hassle."
"We can ask around and find out who owns it," said Ben. "Maybe they have a different view of what's going on around here."
"True," I said. "But then let's not ask right now; we'll seem too interested in it. Let's see if we can find a reason to have to ask." I belched, and felt a tingle at the back of my throat. "This curry is weak," I said.
"I'm surprised we got curry at all," said Ben. "No gift horses, eh, Red?"
"Fine," I said. "Well, I guess we may as well get to looking around a bit then before it gets dark. We got somewhere to sleep around here, Jimmy?"
"Already sorted," he said with a cheerful smile. He looked around, then under the table. "Did you guys not bring anything with you?"
"Hats on our heads," said Ben. "We travel light."
"Then I guess we can get over to the creek," said Jimmy. "It's that way." He pointed in the direction of the gulch, hidden by the slope of the land, which made perfect sense since water tends to find its way to the lowest point. "Over the hump. It's called Pine Creek around these parts, but the name changes as you move away."
"Probably just to Pine Creek in Indian," I said. "Looking at all the pine trees around here I reckon everyone will have had the same idea when it comes to naming the place. What are the local tribes?"
"Dunno." Jimmy shook his head. "I've never seen no Indians and the folks here haven't mentioned them."
Ben picked at something caught between his teeth, and after freeing it, said, "Might be best to keep an eye out for them as well then. If there's tension...."
"Then what?" Jimmy looked from Ben to me and back.
"Then they might just be our chupacapra," I said. "Or we might be walking into a silent battle between groups of folks over El Dorado."
Greg - I have learned to step more carefully, thanks.
Ah, the plot begins to thicken. I am enjoying this greatly, in case I haven't said so already.
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