Young Writers Society

When the horse managed to find a bump along the road they were slowly traveling, the feeling was appropriate for what had just occurred. There came a snort from far under the saddle. Harry could relate to the poor beast.

It wasn’t like she had been expecting the revelation of her crimes against her planet to go over so easily. Or even the multiples of others that she had been instructed to eliminate from the complicated food chain that was the Federation command.

“What do you mean by war criminal? Or if you don’t want to answer that question, I can understand how it might be difficult or painful for you.”

It would be more painful to answer that than to have her heart ripped out by a rabid rabbit and thrown into the pits of Hell. For matters and times like these, came the solution of sarcasm.

“Well there was a war. And my actions for my own army, were considered to be criminal acts. It’s a rather simple definition.”

The punch that landed in her shoulder was not that much of a surprise and the reaction that Harry had been waiting for since the outburst on the top of the hill. If for once she could just keep that devil’s temper in check, it would have changed all of the things that had occurred in her life. If she didn’t have demon resting on her shoulder, she would have never considered leaving the out sectors and she would still be safe.

Cara would still be safe.

“If you’re going to have a goddamn conversation, Harry, please have it with me. Unlike you, I can’t just read the thoughts that are striking across your mind. I want something else, I want to actually know you because if you managed to forget what happened a few moments ago, everybody thought you were dead.”

“Bold of you bunch of idiots to assume that I could die.”

“See that’s exactly the sort of thing that pisses people off.”

Silence fell over them again, along with the darkness that was unnatural for the time of day. Most people would think nothing of the conditions. They’d pass it off as clouds surrounding the sky or the more superstitious blaming it upon some body sitting up in those very clouds. A very difficult line to walk when considering who might be lurking in the shadows, more likely your enemies than a goat with golden wings.

“Why are you so worried about these people trying to find you?”

“I’m not exactly sure which set it is that is trying to find me and I don’t really wish to speak to any of them. No matter if they’re someone out from the military, from the civilian counties or a federal bounty hunter.”

“Did you really do something that bad?”

“It comes back to your definition of bad and what you know of the time and the place.”

Cara slid further against Harry in the saddle, wrapping tender arms around her waist and leaving a head on her shoulder. Harry should have liked the position more than she did. It was nice. It was comfortable and it showed how much the other passenger loved her. But at the current moment she was concerned for the safety of the both of them and almost missed Cara whispering, “I know you and I don’t think you can do bad.

Trying to get away from another blow up that might have happened on the hill, Harry kept the silence that had been accompanying them the entire way down the path. There was a very particular tavern that she was trying to reach and this was probably the right road to find it on. Perhaps Earl would remember her from the many times she passed through there on Federation business, all of the times when no one knew she was in town. It really was surprising that no one had spotted her before as the ‘missing princess’. But it was still more likely that no one gave a fuck about her anymore, everyone except for the other rider in the saddle, Cara.

“If you knew me, you would know that I can do bad things.”

“Well I know that you can be rather violent but I don’t think you’re a bad person, Harry. I’ve known a lot of people from a lot of different armies who have passed through here at different times, better and worse fighters, but you’re not like that. I’m sure you didn’t join those people out of choice.”

But she had.

The choice had been entirely her own when Harry had boarded the ship for the Federation. They had been the ones to give her a way out of the sector but the way the instructions told their soldiers to fight, meant guaranteed suicide.

“I didn’t join the rebel band willingly but that’s not where I racked up my points against the universe. That all started once I started working for the Federation.”

“And what did they ask you to do that was so bad?”

“Seduce a couple of queens and kill their spouses. A massacre here, some genocide there, occasionally dropping a bomb on some cows. Helped this guy from the Federation command kill some nuns of an ancient order.”

“Oh the nuns? That was you?”

The horse stopped at a fork in the road while Harry tried to remember the way to go. Some of the clouds above began to look even more ominous, dropping bits of condensation on them in unidentifiable forms.

Snow?

Considering the time of year and the terrain they were making their way across, snow wasn’t really out of the question. It wouldn’t be too much trouble to make it through an extra bit of white fluffy stuff in the path but if they came across an ice slick that would be the end. Not necessarily for them but definitely for the horse.

And Harry was far too attached to this horse.

“Yeah the nuns was mostly on him. I took care of seducing the members of royalty.”

“Well I know you can be very persuasive.”

“Cara, you are very good at wording things very nicely.”

The left path turned out to be the right path as Harry saw the neon nude woman far in the distance, mounted on the roof of the wilderness staple: Earl’s. Vinconni had showed her this place when they were still working together. With the way Harry talked about it in her mind, it sounded like they had split up years before and would meet on the battlefield once again. In reality, she had only been without her partner for two months and hoped to her god he never came back.

“So Harry, where are we heading to?”

“Just a little hide out from the storm.”

“We were heading there before you had even realized the storm began or have you gained some new psychic powers?”

“Psychic? You say that like I’m some common carnival performer predicting whether or not some ass is gonna break a little girl’s heart?”

The arms around her waist loosened, taking away the warm feeling of another against her and leaving a sigh. Harry had heard her voice rise and the attitude that came with the way she said the intended joke, but it still came out all the same. No matter where she was or who she was trying to be or what cloak she was hiding under, Harry always managed to hurt people. And maybe Cara shouldn’t have been so easily hurt by one joke but it was never just one joke. Cara had been there for a lot of the jokes in the past when she truly could have claimed innocence.

Well you might as well be with that attitude.

The naked, flashing lady was getting closer and that was somehow comforting.

“It’s only a bit farther until we get to the stop over. Hopefully there won’t be any ice along the path.”

The silence didn’t answer her.

“If there’s any problem up in the path, I’ll just jump off and walk along the road so the horse doesn’t have to struggle. Is that okay? Cara?”

Yeah, I walked right into that one.

Earl’s finally came up beside them. The horse had no care to go into the small parking lot filled with different cruisers of all sorts of different varieties. From the light survey of the area, the vehicles weren’t as disturbing as she had originally predicted the situation to be. It was a fair mixture of farmers, federation officers, police men, palace guards and the regular old office works. And also the notable signs of the electric cycle gangs.

The silence broke from the other side with, “Is this place safe?”

Probably not.

“It’s totally alright.”

No, it’s really not and you know it.

“Are you sure, Harry? Because it’s not like I don’t trust you or anything, but I do know we have different votes of confidence?”

“Well I have gotten in one or two fights while I’ve been here.”

“Have you ever – uh – hurt someone?”

“Yeah.”

Yeah. 

The word didn’t exactly cover all that the situation she had been in really was. It didn’t cover the fact that she stabbed someone in the neck with a pool cue and shot off someone’s toe. And had maybe, maybe not, killed someone.

Harry threw the reins over the post in the outbuilding. The horse rested uneasy next to the other beasts that were kept in Earl’s Place Livery and she didn’t blame the poor thing. She wouldn’t feel too good if she had to sleep next to a dragon swine with a war saddle or a golden edged lizard with an obvious control problem.

“Do you think they’ll be alright in there with the storm and everything?”

“Cara, I would be more worried about us being inside of Earl’s. I mean I haven’t done anything to them recently but some of my old enemies are probably still regulars.”

“That doesn’t make me any more comfortable about this situation.”

I know.

“I know that’s not the most comforting thing but it will probably all be fine.”

Harry opened the screen door, then the metal door and finally pushed against the swinging saloon doors with her hip. From far out on the porch, Harry could smell the smoke escaping from the glasses and whiskey seeping out of the curtains. Too bad she couldn’t call something like this home. From the bloodstained tiles to the shitty barstools, and farther to the other corner to look at the pristine pool tables, every inch felt comforting.

But no matter how comforting the scenery was, the sound of a gun cocking in all directions would always take the good feeling away.

“Harry, are you sure this is safe?”

“Not really.”

A figure stepped out from behind the bar, keys jangling at their hip and the ominous sound of their wooden leg hitting against the floor. Harry knew the sound of this person far too well.

“Earl! You couldn’t bet on how nice it is to see you again.”