Wanted

#19 | Rest and Retreat

Doc chuckled. "He was always a collector. Books, various knickknacks, paintin's o' fish."

"Must've taken those down 'fore takin' me in," Curtis said with a laugh. "Never saw a fish in that house."

"Armani liked fish a lot."

Curtis nodded. "He never mentioned her. Makes sense, but I wonder if he still thought about 'er even after so long."

Doc nodded, too.

"Hey," Curtis said and leaned forward. "Armani told me, after the whole battle an' burnin' 'er outpost down," he explained while waving a hand as if it was just a passing detail, "That Midnight used the name Chester Gaines while they were datin'. That ring a bell to ya?"

"I've heard it," Doc said, nodding again. "Wasn't the same name I knew 'im as, and different from when Virginia knew 'im, too. He's under a new name everywhere 'e goes, it seems, so it's hard to know which ones hold any meaning or are of any help in findin' 'im now. As far as I know, Chester Gaines didn't make any big splashes."

A loud CRASH came from the floor above followed by several shocked groans and some laughter. Curtis watched the single bulb hanging over the table and listened to the people upstairs moving furniture and talking loudly, though it was impossible to make out what they were saying.

"The patrons upstairs," Doc said, quoting Virginia from earlier. "This is a pretty popular bar in town. The road is up a slope and meets the entrance a floor above us, so this is considered the basement. We chose t' meet here because the hatch is boarded up and nobody would hear us chattin' over the ruckus up there." Doc yawned and pulled up his sleeve to glance at his wristwatch—a luxury rarely seen in the southern half of the Mesa Frontier—then said, "Gettin' late. We should talk more soon."

Curtis sighed, appreciate that he learned something new about Midnight for once, but disappointed that it wasn't much. Still, Minutes 'til Midnight had plenty of secrets he was confident would be revealed if he stuck with them. He tapped his foot under the table in anticipation of further discussion. Mabel approached the table and took Doc's attention away.

"'Scuse me," she said nervously. "Mr. Holliday, could I ask ya fer somethin'?"

"And what's that, lil' Greene?"

"You said yer spell lets ya heal people. I's hopin' you could help me." Mabel rolled up her sleeves and revealed the peeling, pink skin on her arms.

"Oh my, that looks dreadful!"

"It hurts a lot."

"Here, sit down. Just yer arms?"

"Everywhere," Mabel groaned and sat in Doc's chair while he knelt beside and raised his hands in preparation.

"Goodness. How'd ya git so burnt?"

"I don't wanna git into it," Mabel said and glanced at Curtis.

Sly spoke with the rest of Minutes 'til Midnight once they grouped back together to prepare to turn in for the evening. They sat in a circle on the dusty floor.

"I don't expect much explanation, but most of you got your spells after birth, right?" Sly asked the group. Rowan White was still asleep on the couch, but the rest of the party nodded their heads. "I didn't know that was possible if you aren't a doyen. I guess it makes sense for you since it was the start of the Mystic Program," he said to Trapper. "But I didn't think anyone else had the means to give powers to someone else."

"I think it's only popped up recently," Virginia said.

"A former ranger would know best," Smiley said, "Doesn't the number of spellcasters seem much higher than just a few years ago?"