Vanessa was the queen's second cousin, twice removed.
Of course Martin was surprised. But Alo had been more surprised, because he thought that that meant that Vanessa was around 68. Martin had had to explain that "twice removed" meant there was a two-generation difference.
Once it was made clear that Vanessa was not around 68, and was rather 19, too, Alo exhaled and returned to flirting. The conversation moved to age, and Martin was surprised to discover that Frances was simultaneously the youngest (at 18) and most threatening out of the four of them. It was weird how the world worked.
So the conversation never really died; Alo and Vanessa wouldn't stop talking. Vanessa would talk about her life in Britain, Alo would talk about life in Gasche, Martin would synthesize the ideas, and Frances would interject every now and then, usually with a snide remark.
Martin sensed that Frances may have even been starting to like him. Only the previous day had she almost killed him. And Martin didn't find her so bad, either. She was driving, for one. She actually liked some things (though mainly guns), and she actually cared about some things (mostly family). Yet she didn't go into depth about her relatives; Alo was the only one Martin knew of.
She still remained rather enigmatic; anytime Alo was about to bring up something that involved her, like the time he blew up a schoolhouse classroom (and she had abetted him), Frances silenced him.
Things carried on this way until they reached a sign that read "Lawrencetown -- Mining to rock bottom to take us to the top!"
"Ah, a mining town," Vanessa said as she waved a hand fan at herself . "How quaint." Martin heard Alo grunt and knew that he was wondering what quaint meant. Yet he didn't bother telling him.
Frances began to drive much slower, and the car moved at a near crawl. The town was a dark silhouette in front of a backdrop of orange, and the sun was cautiously dipping between two rather jagged mountains.
All that could be heard was the purring of the car engine and the dust bouncing along the empty streets, the wind dancing past, carrying the scent of rocks along with it.
Nobody said a word as they entered the town, not even Alo. Martin was impressed.
The buildings were all shabby, and the streets were empty, essentially devoid of life. Eventually, Frances parked the car on the side of the road and hopped out. "Take your car back," she said brusquely.
Vanessa stepped out too, moving daintily. It was so out of place. She didn't really fit here in the West, the way she moved and all.
"Actually..." she began. Frances stopped and turned around to face her, hands on her hips.
"Actually what?"
Martin approached her. "Actually, maybe you should say 'thank you'."
Frances gave him a look, and his mouth was shut.
Now it was Alo's turn. He sidled up next to her, the sack hoisted over his shoulder. "What's wrong?"
Vanessa looked up. "Well, you see... I don't think I should go yet."
So Alo had won her over? Was that it?
Frances jerked her head up. "What?"
"I mean... Martin hasn't taught me enough about Mazium."
Martin looked between the two girls confusedly. "Not enough? Well, what else would you like to know?"
Vanessa stuck up her chin. "Exactly. The fact that there is something else I can learn proves that you haven't taught me everything about it." Alo nodded along.
The bounty hunter clapped her hands together, irritated. "Okay. You wanna know more? Come with us. We gotta find somewhere to sleep, and standing around isn't doing much for us at all."
Geez. Something must have annoyed Frances on the trip here. But she was still right; they had to move.
"Maybe I'll find a decent saloon here," Alo said, lifting his left arm up and lowering it over Vanessa's shoulders.
Vanessa nodded and stepped forward, not getting to watch Alo stumble towards the car. "Fine. You're right." She looked about. "Anyway, why is this street abandoned?"
"How would we know? C'mon, move it." She turned on her heels and marched down the dark road.
Martin heard voices carry down the street.
--
The four walked out a street and into the town square. The mayor's office was front and center. and a crowd of about 150 people, half of them miners, stood there, looking up at the podium. The mayor himself, whose baldness was still noticeable even with the hat on, and whose mustache gave him a somewhat pacifying look, gave a heartfelt speech to his townspeople.
"... a prosperous future for this town, with... prosperity... that will only grow..."
Martin quickly noticed that the mayor wasn't very gifted in rhetoric.
The man continued, looking in no particular direction, and gesturing at nothing. It was as if he were swatting at a fly too slow to pet it. "Our neighbors to the east and the west, to the north and the south, continue to trade for our Mazium. With the increased value of it, our town becomes more and more rich--"
"Yet we aren't seeing any results!" somebody in the crowd yelled.
The dissent started at a whisper, and the mayor watched with slight panic as it grew. However, it didn't last very long. A Chinese man with a fierce glare and some short stubble shot a revolver into the air, causing the mayor to flinch beside him. No sound followed after the bang.
"You don't see the results because results the money is being used to recover from previous debt," he said, his strong voice making the mayor's own seem like a cricket trying to talk over a tornado. "As you know, the town had been going through some tough times before Mazium went wild. Mayor Nipard must finish some negotiations with the Steam Union before money can be used to restore the town."
"Steam Union, my ass! Those fools don't do anything for us!" the same voice heckled.
The man pressed his lips together and turned to face Nipard, giving him free rein over the crowd.
The mayor cleared his throat. "Ah, yes, um, the Steam Union is indeed doing a lot for us."
"Like what?" A woman shouted this time.
"Well, they keep us funded for equipment, and ship in food for--"
The crowd burst out in yelling, jeering at the mayor. The man with the revolver shook his head at the mayor, looking rather apathetic.
Alo tapped a nearby miner's shoulder. "What's happening here?" he asked, as if he had been absent this entire time.
"Nipard's screwing us again!" he yelled, his grimy face contorted in anger and his nostrils flaring. "Keeps paying the WSU for God-knows-what, and we still get nothing! The mayor just wants money. All politicians do."
Martin wouldn't exactly argue with that part. Vanessa opened her mouth, then closed it.
The rage was tangible, the air vibrating with shouts and protests. Martin himself was beginning to get a bit angry at the mayor, too.
Then, a loud banging deafened him in the left ear. He flinched, and he almost hurt his neck as he whipped his head to see where it came from.
All eyes were on Frances, who held her rifle upwards, steam drifting away from the muzzle. She looked slightly more irritated than usual. Which wasn't good.
"Let them finish. Or, next time, the bullet won't just hit air."
The crowd murmured a bit, and that was it. Smart choice.
Nipard looked puzzled, and turned to his helper. The man clenched his jaw and spoke.
"Overall, Nipard would like to thank you for your cooperation so far." He paused, then clenched even more. "We are doing what we can."
Nipard raised his hands. "Dismissed," he muttered.
Dismissed? This place was worse than most towns.
The one thing Martin caught before turning to leave was the death stare the mayor gave to his aide before stepping off the podium.
--
"Weird-ass place, if you ask me."
Vanessa cleared his throat, and Alo immediately corrected himself. "Weird place."
Frances nodded, squinting through the darkness as they ambled through the streets. "Not so quaint, now, is it?" she said.
Martin was feeling confident, and moved in front of Frances to speak to her. "What's going on with you, Frances? You don't seem yourself."
"You don't know me," she growled, and stormed off ahead of them.
Martin and Vanessa looked at Alo.
"What?" he said. "I don't even know if I know her."
Vanessa shook her head. "So she isn't usually like this?"
"No, we don't know what she's usually like," Martin replied, his brain combing through possibilities of what could be going on.
"And you're her cousin?" she asked Alo.
"Yep. But, have your cousin gone a few years and she becomes a professional murderer."
A moment of silence followed, only the trio's footsteps with Frances' own up ahead, approaching an inn.
Then they heard grunting noises, like someone was having the air knocked out of them.
Frances stopped first. Then turned left, towards a dark alley.
And ran in.
--