Wanted

#21 | One with Nature

Slinky gritted her teeth and looked at Gummy who was still prepared to flee. The twins nodded to each other, and Gummy stretched his legs to take only two steps to make it over the ridge while Slinky coiled her legs and jumped all the way back up the rocky hillside.

Curtis's group took a collective sigh of relief and Minutes 'til Midnight helped them set their cart right. Curtis tied Esprit to the cart again and tried to adjust her robes as best he could to hide her gleaming hide that was partially exposed from the bullets that tore the fabric. Her metallic skin was undamaged from the bullets which Doc took great interest in, but he didn't probe about it.

Before continuing on the mountain path, Doc opened the window of the stagecoach and said to Curtis and Sly, "The split in the path to head northeast is comin' up, so won't be much longer now 'fore we part ways."

Curtis and Sly nodded and Mabel rejoined her group in the cart. Sure enough, not quite an hour after chasing off the Twisted Twins and Co., Minutes 'til Midnight bid farewell to Curtis, Sly, and Mabel.

"When might we see y'all again?" Curtis asked.

Doc shrugged.

"We'll be sure to meet up before we hit the Big City," Virginia said.

"Just don't git into too much trouble without us," Doc added. "We won't be trailin' ya anymore, so, you're on yer own fer now."

The rest of the crew chuckled, Mina cracking her knuckles with Rowan still out cold in the coach. Sly smiled and glanced at Mina somewhat glad to part ways with Payton Serrano's killer.

"Just don't find Midnight without us," Curtis said. "'Specially if someone wants 'im killed." He nodded to Trapper who just smirked in response.

With that, Curtis, Sly, and Mabel were alone in the open desert again, this time surrounded by jagged hills and long shadows. The trio made haste through the mountains, wary of any other threats that might hinder their travel. Luckily, for the rest of their second day of traversing the uneven, wavy ridges and crests of the mountains, no other foes, human or animal, interrupted the otherwise difficult travel with the sun beating even hotter overhead the farther they went. Better still were the shadows cast by the high peaks of the mountains that provided shade even during most of the day and allowed for frequent breaks. On the third day of travel, the trio still encountered no challenge other than a crack wheel which they were able to replace with a spare and the ever-present deity of light and warmth and life that was working overtime to superheat the ground and torch any exposed skin.

Finally, when the sun was again past the tips of the mountains and its orange glow was only visible in the west, the trio crested one more ridge. There, to the west, under the countless stars revealed everywhere east of the faded fire of the sun, a town was nestled just a few miles farther almost against the rise at the edge of the Valley Strip. Sure enough, flowing from the north just outside Far Reach was the rushing black water redirected from under Bullwater's bridges. The currents of water combining to form the river glistened in the last of the evening sun's light. Curtis, Sly, and Mabel sat atop the ridge for a moment basking in the glory and relief of having finally conquered the mountain path, but also in disbelief at actually finding the river now on the west side of the mountains.

Mabel stepped off the back end of the wagon and stretched her arms, legs, and back. She took a step down the ridge toward Far Reach and exhaled. "Wow," she said to the river's now proven repositioning. "How can that even happen?"

"We know how," Sly said. "And it won't be fun to meet him, I'm sure."

"But if this somehow gits us closer to findin' Midnight," Curtis added and stood on the bench on the wagon, "we gotta see what Far Reach is all about."