z

Young Writers Society


E - Everyone

The Ticket to Trust CH.3- Suppertime

by ChieTheWriter


The noise and bustle of the café greeted Drew as his boots hit the wooden flooring of the building. The comforting smell of cornbread and steak floated through the air, followed by the sound of clanking silverware. He examined the area of the room, taking in everything.

“Hiya Jake!” a woman called from the back. “I’ll be with ya in a sec, just sit where ya usually do an’ gimme a minute.”

“Thanks Cassie,” Replied Jake with a grin, taking his hat off at the door. He held in his hands as he led the way to a table next to the window.

“Cassie?” Drew inquired, wondering about the girl’s name. He sat down at the table, unfortunately getting the seat next to Brett.

“Yeah, full name’s Casandra, but no one calls her that.” Jake seated himself across the table from the two and picked up the paper menu that lay in front of him. “Drew, pick somethin ya want. I already know what I’m getting.” Jake sent Drew his friendly grin.

Drew looked oddly at the menu. He had only sat in a decent restaurant a handful of times in his life, and to be handed a menu in a little downtown café and to be told he could get what he wanted was almost unheard of. He glanced at Jake, then down at the menu.

Special: Steak and fried onions, mashed potatoes and gravy accompanied with a glass of water. Drew liked the sound of that, but didn’t really know what fried onions would taste like, having never tried them. He had bit into a raw one when he was really little, but spit it out immediately. He hadn’t touched an onion since. Drew made a face and continued reading.

Chicken soup, beef stew… Drew scanned the menu. He couldn’t decide, and looked up at Jake. Uncomfortably he asked, “Er…what’s somethin good? I don’t really care.”

Jake looked at him. “Son, if there’s one thing one that slip of paper that ya just plain can’t go wrong with, it’s a steak. I ain’t never known anyone who can fry a steak better than Cassie’s Ma. The side I can’t choose fer ya, they’re all good. Trust me.” Jake winked at Drew and leaned back in the chair to twiddle his thumbs.

Drew looked back down at the menu, pretending to contemplate the meal choices. His eyes wandered across the room, watching folks walk in and out, or sit and finish their meals. The little bell on the door rang as people came inside or went out, adding a little bit of cheeriness to the already welcoming atmosphere. The sound of bustling in the kitchen, the low murmur of voices and the clanking of dishes and utensils only added to the friendly air.

“Thanks again fer the invite,” Brett fished around in his pocket to check for coins to pay for the meal. He pulled out a dollar and a quarter, plus a train ticket and a button that looked quite like the ones on his shirt. He squinted at them through his glasses at stuffed the ticket and the button back into his pocket.

“It’s nothin.” Jake smiled.

“Well, folks, what’ll it be?” A girl wearing a brown apron over her white blouse and denim skirt asked. She looked to be in her early twenties. Drew jumped, having not seen her approach. “Evenin’ Jake, I see you brought friends?” She smiled sweetly at Brett and Drew. Brett smiled back.

“Yes Ma’am. This here’s Brett Chauncey, deputy from Wildstone Wyoming. He’s here on business.” Jake concluded, nodding to Brett.

“Jake seems very good at introducing people,” Drew thought.

“M’ pleasure to meet you, Miss,” Brett shook hands with her, a sheepish grin on his face.

“And who might this handsome young man be?” Cassie asked, grinning at Drew.

Drew blushed furiously so that his face began to take on the color of ripe tomato. “D…Drew.” He managed, and then looked down at his lap.

“Drew?” The girl giggled, seeing how embarrassed he was. “Well, men, do ya know what you’ll be havin’ tonight?”

“The usual.” Stated Jake. “And get him a steak with some of your best taters ‘n gravy.” Jake nodded to Drew.

Drew looked at Jake in surprise. But wasn’t one to complain about food.

“I’ll get your beef stew.” Brett chimed in. He looked like he was about to say more, but seemed to stumble over his words and gave up.

“And that’ll be all?” She asked.

“Yes’m.” They all answered simultaneously. Drew grinned and whispered “Jinx,” under his breath.

“Thanks Cassie.” Jake said as the waitress turned to leave. “You alright over there Drew?” Jake chuckled.

“Grr…I’m fine.” Drew growled, looking up. He didn’t want to admit he was embarrassed just because he was complemented by a girl. Brett snickered and received a glare from Drew. Jake sensed tension and changed the subject.

“So Drew, whatcha think of Ruby Springs so far?”

“It’s...I dunno. It’s just another town.” The teen let his eyes drift to the window, watching the goings on of the town.

“You’ve only been here for a little while Sonny, but I think you’ll find out that it’s much more than you make it out to be.” That’s all Jake said. He didn’t preach, didn’t lecture, didn’t criticize, only dropped in a little correction with a dash of optimism.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” It really didn’t matter to Drew what happened to him in this little town, so long as he could make up his parole time and go free. The judge had decided parole time would be better than prison, considering Drew’s age and past.

“Here you are, folks. Yer supper.” Cassie set a couple of plates on the table. Drew eyed the food hungrily. He personally thought Brett considered Cassie a prettier sight than the food, but kept his thoughts to himself.

“Thanks Cassie.” Jake took his food and bowed his head, whispering a few words of prayer. Brett and Drew remained silent, and Brett bowed his head. Drew didn’t.

“Thank you kindly, Miss Cassie,” said Brett who immediately dug in. “This has to be the best beef stew I've ever tasted in my whole entire life.”

“Why, thank you Mr. Chauncey.” Cassie flashed him a sweet smile.

Drew had his mouth full of mashed potatoes when Jake asked him a question. “You like that?” Jake chuckled when Drew looked up at him fork in one fist, knife in the other, and his mouth stuffed. Drew only nodded, chewed his food and swallowed.

“Um... Thank you.” Drew mumbled. “It's... It's real good.” He turned red and then started at his steak.

Cassie looked over her happy customers. “You're all welcome. I got to get back to the kitchen, but I'll be back for the bill.”

Drew seemed to inhale his food. It was the first good meal he'd had since they'd left Wildstone. On the trip, he got by on hard bread and jerky, which by the way, it was not the tastiest meal there ever was.

“Easy boy, said Jake. Slow down. It ain't gonna just grow legs and run away.”

Drew looked sheepishly up at Jake, immediately imagining a potato with legs jumping up and running across the cafe. He grinned at the silly thought and took another bite of “taters ‘n gravy”.

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[Sorry about the abrupt ending, I got stuck. This needs editing so yeah I'm working on it. Thanks for reading]


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Sun Mar 26, 2017 9:41 pm
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PrincessInk wrote a review...



Hi, ChieRynn,

I did enjoy your chapter. The other novels here are typically fantasy (which is definitely a popular genre) and it was fresh to read historical fiction. I happen to love to read about food. I've read Farmer Boy countless times ha ha :)

Like EternalRain, I thought that there were only 2 people in the beginning. Well, it may be because I didn't read the previous chapters, but still... Maybe you could work on it slightly to squiggle in Brett better. I also felt as though Brett was shunted to the side. Maybe it doesn't really matter much, but I feel as though he's unimportant here.

The conversation was slanted to a "uncle-nephew" style between Jake and Drew, and I loved the accents there. It wasn't too dialect-y and hard to read, and it probably fits the time period (I'm kind of imagining the wild West).

I liked the way the characters were differentiated from each other. Jake, the calm man. Drew, the nervous possibly criminal. But, like I said before, I didn't particularly see so much of Brett. If there wasn't any particular reason he was coming along, I feel as if he's rather unnecessary in this scene. I don't really see how he contributes to the scene.

Cassie looked over her happy customers.


I would have liked some specificity here. "Happy" seems a little vague here and I thought you were sliding slightly into Cassie's POV.

But other than that, I really enjoyed your chapter of your novel. Happy writing!

~Princess Ink~




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Thu Mar 09, 2017 3:53 am
EternalRain wrote a review...



Hey! I apologize in advance for not reading previous chapters, but I hope that's all right anyway! Also, I'm writing this review on my phone so that may be the reason for some hecka weird typos, haha.

I really liked this. I don't read much historical fiction, and when I do it's not like this. I'm assuming the setting is somewhere in the country - based on their accents and food - but I'm not sure what the exact time period is/where they are (but I'm sure that's been addressed in previous chapters, and if it's not maybe throw in some extra clues).

So for the first chunk I thought there were only two characters entering the cafe/there - Jake and Drew. I'm not sure of their relationship but I can tell from a few of Drew's actions that he seems new to things and maybe he comes from a poorer background? Either way, from just jumping in, I thought there were a good amount of background details. Anyway, from what I said before: it seemed as if there was only Jake and Drew there, and Brett just kind of came in. Of course, it would probably make more sense coming in from reading the last two chapters but it does feel a little blank without Brett there for the first part of the chapter.

I think the most successful part of this was the interactions between the characters. Drew's blushing from the waitress was adorable and it rounds out his character well.

I'm curious: what's the time period here? I noticed it was in historical fiction genre and i definitely want to know.

~EternalRain






Date: September 3rd, 1875. Where: Ruby Springs WY. About Brett: In the previous chapter it was said that Brett was with them so yeah. Thanks for the review though!



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Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:19 pm
AlexOfLight says...



This chapter is AMAZING!!!!! :D I'll be happy to help you with the rest of the chapter.




AkeliaTaske says...


Nope. I don't.



AkeliaTaske says...


Sorry @AlexOfLight, wrong comment. Whoops.



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Wed Mar 08, 2017 8:09 pm
AkeliaTaske says...



Have I mentioned I have a crush on Drew?

This is hilarious! :)






You do not shut up



AkeliaTaske says...


Nope! :)





but srsly, you don't




An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backwards. So when life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means that life's going to launch you into something great, so just focus and keep aiming.
— Unknown