I think I had intentions to do slightly more with the Leftovers when I was writing this, but (as usual) I kind of got a bit distracted and they're more of a passing reference than anything else. I guess they're kind of leftover too :)
Reminder: this is the last week of October and we've not tackled Hindsight this month.
Leftovers Ben sighed. "Wouldn't we have gone riding to the rescue once?" he asked. "Yes," I said. "And no." "Both? At the same time?" There was a half-chuckle there, but the screams were dampening all our moods. His hands started doing the little dance to find a cigar and I wondered how many he had left. "Two," he said, reading my mind. "You were going to explain." "Was I?" I laughed now. "Yes, sometimes we ride off like the cavalry to the rescue. Remember when Jimmy's dad kidnapped him and we went straight after him? Or that time when the Mayor's son fell down a well and we had a rope down there and were fishing him out while the Mayor's office was still trying to find the right paperwork to report it? Or even that time we came across all those slaves locked up in the Indiana Prospective Gold Mine and set them all free even though we were being hunted by Sheriff Jackson?" "Ayup," said Ben. "Those slaves did a good job of distracting that Sheriff too. Very helpful, they were." "Yeah, it's a shame how many of them got rounded up and caught again. But then there was the time when Shanghai Suzie overplayed her hand with that Chinese gang, the 'Leftovers' up Maine way, and we found a poker game to join instead." "Huh. Well, Suzie can look after herself," said Ben, lighting the cigar. "And I won a nice sum that night. We actually got to stay in a hotel for two days after that." "Beat the barn," I said as the memories came back. "There were some aggressive rats in Placidville. And then there was the time in Greenmount when they set out a firing squad for Freddie Fingers and we discovered we had an urgent appointment over in Scottsville." "Yeah," said Ben. "But Freddie had sold us out. Twice. And to the ‘Leftovers' too." "Still," I said. "We've run to the rescue and we've run in the other direction before. And we're still alive because I say we know how to pick our battles." The screams had been silent for a couple of minutes now, and we fell silent as we heard the unearthly hooting sound, like gigantic hungry owls searching for prey on whispering wings of death, and then the thudding and pounding of heavy feet hitting the stone streets rose up. Ben turned, hiding the coal of his cigar from anyone running past and we felt the building shiver just a little as the noise crescendoed. Then the hooting things were passed and we listened to the noise fade away. "Get your stuff," called Ben to Jimmy. "Let's go and see who -- or what -- we can save." I looked to the horizon, wondering if going straight away was such a good idea, but the first light of dawn was just starting to emerge and I relaxed a little. So far, and it was a dangerous assumption to draw, it seemed like the hooting things preferred the night. Or at least darkness.
Greg - did you get distracted, or did the guys? :)
I still find those creatures deeply worrying. And I hope the guys don't get too close a look at them, even if they're likely about to get a close look at what they can do when they get a hold of a human.
2 comments:
I think I had intentions to do slightly more with the Leftovers when I was writing this, but (as usual) I kind of got a bit distracted and they're more of a passing reference than anything else. I guess they're kind of leftover too :)
Reminder: this is the last week of October and we've not tackled Hindsight this month.
Leftovers
Ben sighed. "Wouldn't we have gone riding to the rescue once?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "And no."
"Both? At the same time?" There was a half-chuckle there, but the screams were dampening all our moods. His hands started doing the little dance to find a cigar and I wondered how many he had left.
"Two," he said, reading my mind. "You were going to explain."
"Was I?" I laughed now. "Yes, sometimes we ride off like the cavalry to the rescue. Remember when Jimmy's dad kidnapped him and we went straight after him? Or that time when the Mayor's son fell down a well and we had a rope down there and were fishing him out while the Mayor's office was still trying to find the right paperwork to report it? Or even that time we came across all those slaves locked up in the Indiana Prospective Gold Mine and set them all free even though we were being hunted by Sheriff Jackson?"
"Ayup," said Ben. "Those slaves did a good job of distracting that Sheriff too. Very helpful, they were."
"Yeah, it's a shame how many of them got rounded up and caught again. But then there was the time when Shanghai Suzie overplayed her hand with that Chinese gang, the 'Leftovers' up Maine way, and we found a poker game to join instead."
"Huh. Well, Suzie can look after herself," said Ben, lighting the cigar. "And I won a nice sum that night. We actually got to stay in a hotel for two days after that."
"Beat the barn," I said as the memories came back. "There were some aggressive rats in Placidville. And then there was the time in Greenmount when they set out a firing squad for Freddie Fingers and we discovered we had an urgent appointment over in Scottsville."
"Yeah," said Ben. "But Freddie had sold us out. Twice. And to the ‘Leftovers' too."
"Still," I said. "We've run to the rescue and we've run in the other direction before. And we're still alive because I say we know how to pick our battles."
The screams had been silent for a couple of minutes now, and we fell silent as we heard the unearthly hooting sound, like gigantic hungry owls searching for prey on whispering wings of death, and then the thudding and pounding of heavy feet hitting the stone streets rose up. Ben turned, hiding the coal of his cigar from anyone running past and we felt the building shiver just a little as the noise crescendoed. Then the hooting things were passed and we listened to the noise fade away.
"Get your stuff," called Ben to Jimmy. "Let's go and see who -- or what -- we can save."
I looked to the horizon, wondering if going straight away was such a good idea, but the first light of dawn was just starting to emerge and I relaxed a little. So far, and it was a dangerous assumption to draw, it seemed like the hooting things preferred the night. Or at least darkness.
Greg - did you get distracted, or did the guys? :)
I still find those creatures deeply worrying. And I hope the guys don't get too close a look at them, even if they're likely about to get a close look at what they can do when they get a hold of a human.
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