17 Chapter 17 - Wherein A Tiny Tale Is Transcribed

"Uggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Judas moaned for what had to be the tenth time since the carriage started transversing the endless wastelands. He didn't need to though. Not by any means. Everyone else trapped in the compartment was well aware the deadman was getting restless. At first he had just fidgeted in his seat all the way through the city, but now he wasn't even sitting in it anymore. He very visibly tried everything to occupy his five year old mind, laying flat on the floor, laying flat between the seats at the front and back of the compartment, hanging most of him out the window, and sitting upside down in his seat. All the while moaning like a shot mule.

Lozen tried to ignore him. By God, she tried. Alberta seemed to be the only one successful in that endeavor, but Lozen suspected the patron just wasn't reacting to the behavior as opposed to dismissing it. She started dead ahead, posture as prom as ever, and didn't move a single muscle while Judas squirmed on the ground around her. Lozen on the other hand spent most of the trip reminding herself not to shot the deadman and telling herself that it would alert the driver if he heard gunfire. Though, the thought was still tempting.

"God! This happens way too often to us!!" Judas exclaimed in the middle of the journey, head resting on the floor and get prompted up in the air by his seat. Lozen sighed and, feeling the urge to do something, anything, said "What happens too often?"

"This!!? Where we get stuck in some tight compartment going barely faster than a light jog!!"

"That's happened twice. And I didn't see you complaining when we were on the train."

"Because then I at least had a captive audience!"

"And you would prefer one of your little stage shows over transversing hundreds of miles on the back of a bloated, carnivorous equine corpse with the possibility of animal, bandit, and natural attacks to either bury us under stones or tear us limb from limb?"

Judas opened his mouth to answer, but Lozen cut him off before he could draw in a breath "That was a rhetorical."

Judas titles his head in confusion before saying "And that was rapsleous. See, I can make up words too."

"They're all made up. And it means don't answer."

"Then why did you ask?"

"To show we're a lot safer in here than out there."

"Exactly! What are we supposed to do for the next couple hours!!?"

"Something that doesn't involve getting into a shoot out or traumatizing a bunch of aristocrats?"

"What else is there to do!?"

Lozen flinched at that remark, but decided responding wasn't worth it. It never would be. Though, when she was distracted by his buffoonery, her mind started wandering again. She hoped that she could try focusing on the task at hand, but instead, all of her thought started cycling around Finch's words the moment she pulled her attention away from Judas.

They were like worms digging around in her head, never once letting her think straight or even about anything else but their mockeries. However, they didn't feel like intrusive thoughts that had slithered into her mind. More like ones she had been reminded were always there and she had tried desperately not to recall for some time. She didn't doubt them, not by a long shot and just tried not thinking about them. They just got in the way of doing what needed to be done. This time, they were just getting noisy and the pain of that realization of that was worse than anything she could have endured in a hundred years of roaming this lawless land.

But not unsurprising and that tiny fact helped to quell the venomous voices whispering in her ear.

"So you wanna talk?" Judas asked in a bored voice and Lozen replied before she could carried further away in her thoughts "About what?"

"I don't know. You got any friends turned villainous rivals?"

"Pardon?"

"You got anyone like her?" He asked in a deadpan voice as he jabbed a finger over towards the unresponsive Ms. Finch.

"No. The people I know aren't to keen on that sort of thing."

"What sort of thing?"

Her heart froze up at that before she answered "Revenge. Justice. Whatever you want to call it. We've survived this long by keeping our heads down and that sort of activity just gets in the way of that."

"Pfff. Sounds boring. How about a grim prophecy fortelling your demise."

Lozen raised an eyebrow at that and in an attempt to change the subject asked "How do you know all about this?"

"What?"

"I mean, for a lowly criminal-"

"Hey!! Lowly criminal my ass!! I am a wrecked criminal! I have worked very hard to get that title and I will not be called anything but it!!"

Lozen paused again, not believing what she was hearing before remembering who was talking to an continuing "wrecked criminal, you seem oddly....theatric."

"Well yeah. What other way is there to be? Better to die on the stage than live in the rafters."

"But why? Most people from these parts are concerned about surviving to the next day. That's why they commit crime. But you-"

"Of course not!! I am not that boring! Surviving! Pah! Only cowards and nobody's focus on surviving."

"My point exactly, so why are you different?"

Lozen honestly didn't care in the slightest. So long as it didn't get in the way of this endeavor, he could be a cannibal for all she was concerned. Judas on the other hand seemed to have different thoughts. "None of your damn business! And I better not hear you ask that again or I swear I will feed you to the horse!!!" He cried out in a genuine, wrathful voice that caught Lozen off guard. Though, considering how he reacted before, she started realizing this wasn't deviant behavior for the deadman1. If anything, it was better than being left alone with their own thoughts.

"Why do you not want to tell me? You seem fine letting everyone else know you're a demon."

"I said I'd feed you to-"

"Judas, stop acting like you can keep me from asking."

"Stop acting you can make me tell you!"

Lozen rolled her eyes at that and was about to let the silence fill the room again before she was reminded of the thoughts that were scrounged up from the back of her mind.

"Judas, you are a mass murdering, moronic, narcissist with a sociopathic lack of empathy for anyone other than yourself. There is no way for my opinion of you to get any lower." She remarked which, much to her amazement, Judas didn't say a word to. He merely crossed his arms and let his gaze drift off to the side as if he didn't have a voice in the first place. She sighed again, thought about it for only a moment before saying "Then what's the story you'd like me to hear?" Lozen wasn't sure he reacted at all for a moment apart from a tiny flinch of his neck. He still looked like he was pouting and Lozen feared she might have to spend the rest of this trip with herself.

"I....I don't know." Judas muttered into his check, catching Lozen off guard with just how little he had said. No snide remarks or unnecessary aggression. It didn't even sound like he put much heart into it. "I don't really think about it." He added before falling silent again. Lozen again didn't expect that, but was surprised at just how normal that comment was and how much she understood it. She didn't want to force him talk about any of that, but she also didn't want to think about her own.

"Then..." Lozen started before her voice trailed off and after thinking about it for a moment, resumed "Take it one step at a time. How would it start?" Judas stayed quite at first before glancing up at his feet and saying in a steady voice "I guess......in the outback. Somewhere no one would ever think to go looking."

"A farm maybe?"

"Yeah. A farm. Not a good one though. With all these yellow, shriveled crops lying in the fields that crunch as you walk over them and burn when the summers get to hot."

"Who puts them out?"

"He doesn't remember. A boy I mean. Or a girl. I hear Calamity Jane ain't no push over."

"But a boy never hurt."

"No. He doesn't remember who put the fires out when they started. They were buried a long time ago. The last one he had to put in the ground himself when he was.....what would you say?"

"Seven."

"Really? You think someone can dig a grave at seven?"

Lozen paused for a moment before saying "You'd be surprised."

"Alright then. Seven. And he'd been one that farm ever since. Then, ten years later-"

"No. That doesn't sound right. How about twelve?"

"Nah. I think ten's the right one."

"Very well."

"Anyways, ten years later, he...."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know. You got any pointers?"

Lozen thought about it for a moment before saying "He realized where he was living. As in actually realized it. And he was disheartened. He looked at the barren wasteland of his home and decided it was time to leave it behind. Find something better. Maybe make a proper name for himself?"

"Oh yeah. Like his birthright was a wasteland and he set out to change that. And he swore never to return to that barren hellhole again. He'd be more than what it made him. A...I got it. A rat king of ruins."

"A bit theatrical."

"Like I said. Any other way to be?"

"Yes.....something without a title to call himself and no name of his own."

"So who would he be?"

"Not a King. Just another boy. Maybe that's what he tried to change. Maybe he could try to be something better?"

"Nah. That's way too cheesy. You got anything better?"

Lozen thought for a moment before adding "How about out of necessity? It's not as if he could make it if he stayed on the farm."

"Huh. I guess that could work. Doesn't sound too grand though."

"Life rarely is if at all."

"But it's a story. Shouldn't it be better? We've all got enough life as it is."

"That's a lovely wish. But still a wish."

"Fine, fine. But he becomes a law man straddling the likes of good and evil. That is non negotiable."

"How does he do that then?"

"I don't know. Nobody wants to hear the details."

Lozen froze again before saying "Fine. But he comes across something. Something that changed everything."

"You have an idea?"

"Yes. He finds....his sister. One that he thought his parents had given away long ago. And she's working instead for one of the most notorious criminal gangs in the west."

"Oh!! Even better! She's one of the most infamous members of that gang! And he's the most dutiful, greatest sheriff this side of the Mississippi! So when they finally meet each other, they both know they're going to have to fight."

"So what do they do?"

Judas paused for a minute before saying "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Why would I be asking you if I knew that?"

"Well....do you?"

Lozen thought about it for a moment before saying "I guess....they must be thinking a lot. They both want to be siblings again, they don't want what happened on that farm to keep them divided.....but they're worried that it might already be too late. That there's no way back and as much as they don't want to, this is who they are now. The brother is a hero, the sister is a villain. They have to fight....and there may be no other way?"

"Is there?"

"I don't know.....what do you think?"

"Spoilers." He answered with a mocking snicker.

"You don't know either, do you?"

"No, but isn't that the best part?"

Lozen grinned at that before saying "I suppose. So what do you we have?"

"A boy who somehow grew up for ten years on a farm that didn't grow a thing without a single adult, oh, after he buried a full grown corpse with nothing but his tiny hands and then one day decides to leave it, just out of the blue, only to become a law man who's tore between right and wrong."

They both fell silent for a minute before a small giggle escaped Judas's mouth and then he burst out into a full blown fit of laughter. His cackle bounced all throughout the carriage and as ear grating as it was, it did manage to bring a small smile to Lozen's face.

"Woah!! That's pretty bad, right?!" Judas spat out between his humours hollers and Lozen gave a small nod before saying "Yes. But it's better than the other things you say."

"Hey!! If that's what you consider good, then I must look like fucking Mark Twain!"

"I'm surprised you know who that is."

"Me?! Took the words right out of my mouth!"

Judas resumed his chuckling after he forced that comment out and Lozen felt no urge to interrupt him. His laughter was enough to stop the thoughts in the back of her mind from digging themselves back up. She almost started chuckling herself, but the very presence of Finch was enough to keep her on her guard enough to prevent that reaction. He laughed and laughed and laughed for the longest time, smacking his hand over his face as his hat fell off onto the floor, and almost made Lozen forget about his condition. It was as if for just that one moment. he wasn't a spoiled brat granted immortality by sheer luck, but just some jovial soul having a good laugh. Nothing more, nothing less and that was enough. Just this once.

It didn't last though and eventually it declined until it vanished altogether, leaving the both of them with a small smile on their faces. They just sat in the silence for another second longer before Judas snapped his eyes up to her and said "How much of that was real?"

"Excuse me?"

"That thing...how much of it was real?"

"I don't know. Someone would say as much as you believe, others believe it doesn't need to be real. I guess they're the same-"

"Not that. I mean how much of all of that was 'real'."

"Oh. None of it."

"Really?"

"Would you expect me to answer if it was?"

"Oh come on!! Can't you just give me something?!"

"Can't you?"

Judas opened his mouth as if he was a other to reply, but that was as far as she got before Lozen could continue "I know it's fair."

"I was gonna say boring."

"As boring as whatever you're hiding?"

"Yes!"

"And that little tirade was better?"

Judas paused for a moment, his eyes seeming to widen for a moment before he mumbled into his shoulder "I don't know...was it?"

His voice caught her off guard. It again wasn't bombastic, it wasn't even that demanding or anything of the sort. If anything, he sounded like he was begging. She thought it might be some sort of joke or performance, but the unnatural silence that followed his plead was convincing her of the opposite. He also didn't seem very comfortable, even for some sitting upside, shuffling around in place and burying his hand into his armpits as his teeth bite down on his lower lip. She didn't really know what to say to what she was watching, but she didn't feel like she needed to. With a heavy sigh, Lozen leaned forward and said said "Compared to the original? I wouldn't know....but I think I'd like that one better."

"You wouldn't. It's not a good story."

"Does it have to be?"

"Yes." He answered without hesitation and Lozen replied "I don't think so. Life is the worst story of all. It has unearned twists and turns, no build up, no reason for the things that happen in it, and main characters being killed off everyday without catharsis. Or worse, sometimes nothing happens. It's just a man getting up and doing his job like every other day without adventure or glory. But it's also the only true story around and hiding away in some fantasy land, deny it, does no one any good."

Judas snapped back "Well sometimes people want more than any dose of life! Everyone knows how awful their lot is and is it really so selfish to imagine something better! Just once!"

"Not if you forget that it's just imaginary. A story doesn't help you get to the next sunrise."

"But it makes you believe you can."

He wasn't screaming. Not even once and Lozen didn't really know how to respond to that. Judas seemed...exposed somehow. He never made eye contact with her and his words were starting to drift off his tongue instead of being spat at her and she honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't want to press this for fear that he would shut down on her and leave her with onyl her thoughts, but at the same time, staying quiet wasn't an option. She shuffled her weight around for a moment before saying in as composed and humble a voice as she could "So...what do you want to call that? Every good story has to have a good name."

"Oh. Right. Can't be a good story without a title....Twin Pistols? For obvious reasons."

"Unforgotten."

"Huh?"

"Well...I was thinking, what if that's what the siblings were trying to do. Remember something that was never there. What they wanted to be there. A memory they wish they could share. One that could be more important than their duties. Or maybe they were trying to still make a memory that was unforgettable and give them the excuse they needed to stop."

"Huh. You are putting way too much thought into this. And what does any of that have to do with being unforgotten?"

"I don't know. I just sounded nice."

"Huh....I can get behind that."

They both fell quiet again before Judas remarked "You never told where your village is by the way."

"Indeed." Lozen answered before falling quiet.

"Sooooooo, do you mind telling me?"

Her eyes glanced over at Finch as she answered "Maybe now isn't the best of-"

"Oh please. I'll just shoot her before she even thinks of doing something. Besides, it's not as if she's ever gonna escape. So please just tell me."

Lozen glanced between the two in front of her for a moment, weighing either of her options and then saying "Do you know where Austin is?"

"Please. I'm terrible with direction, but not that terrible."

"Alright. There should be a main road heading down south from it. I can't remember what it's called, but you should find it eventually. Continue down that road for three days or so, turn off on the left side once you see a rock formation that looks like three spikes. Follow the sun's path for two days until you reach the town of Surefrow and then continue for three more. Then....then you'll find it."

Judas seemed to be repeating the instructions into thin air as she said it before saying "Got it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Honestly I thought there would be a whole lot more to that, but I can remember this no problem."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure."

"No. I don't mean in a 'stop worrying about it' way, I mean 'yes I know for certain'."

"Yes, yes. Jesus. I know for certain."

"Are you sure?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was?"

"Try me."

"Yes!! I'm sure!! I'm certain!! I'm absolutely certain I'm sure! Good enough?"

"It'll have to do." Lozen answered as she leaned back into her seat and folded her arms.

"It'll have to do!! Is that it!?" Judas exclaimed, flinging his arms out in the meanwhile, and before Lozen could reply, a sudden knocking came from the wall behind her. On the other side should have been the driver's seat and Lozen didn't need to guess why he had given that knock.

"Finally." Alberta could be heard muttering to herself as Lozen slid over in her seat and pulled back the curtains covering the carriages windows. Outside, the ever expansive desert seemed to end as the carriage marched past another iron fence line that divided the dust from a sudden massive field of greenery. Yards of grass sprouted up across a terrain that should have been lifeless and there were even a few full grown trees that grew from the field. At first Lozen thoughts she was imagining the sudden vegetation until Judas also gazed through the window and cried out "Wow!! What the hell is all this!?"

A small, restrained chuckle pulled their attention away from the window and onto the patrons as she said "Well, it's certainly better than living on a pile of dirt. Impressive though, is it not? From my estimates it cost a fortune to construct and even more so to maintain. But you have to hand it to Sirius. He somehow made it work."

"But why!?"

"A splendid question." Alberta noted, but fell short of actually giving an answer.

"How many men does he need to keep the ground?" Lozen asked as she started noticing several men roaming around in the middle of the grassy fields. Some were very obviously armed and dressed in semi-formal attire while others wore more ragged clothes with patchwork and grim stains adorning them. The more tattered individuals seemed to be tending to the ground, clipping tree branches, pruning the flowers patches scattered throughout the mass field, and carrying around shovels, racks, and buckets of dirt. They didn't seem to be that big of a direct threat, but more eyes was never a good factor for her to have to deal with.

"27 armed guards. 14 of them patrol the ground and the rest stay inside the manor. Each of them are armed with the same weapons as the men on my train and are told to stay on high alert at all times."

At that Lozen snapped the curtains shut and said "Judas, cover yourself now!"

"Right. Because I wasn't going to do that unless she said there were a lot of guards. I mean, I don't stick out like a sore thumb at-"

"Enough with the sass! Just cover yourself!" Lozen spat back as she readjusted her own bandana.

"Yeah, yeah." Judas dismissed as he started wrapped his face back up and then slapped his hat on top of his head.

"Finch, what are the chances that Cane has other guests?" Lozen asked as they all felt the carriage start steering itself into the curve of the road that should have

"Slim. He hates to have company."

"Alright. Judas, keep your eyes open. Finch," Lozen pulled out her revolver and flicked the cylinder out to count her rounds. "I don't think I have to tell you what will happen if you breathe a word of our true intentions. You're here to blackmail Cane into giving you a greater sum of his finances. Get him into a room, one without any guards, and we'll handle the rest. Try to escape-"

"And I'll put one between your eyes." Judas added as he flashed his spectral weapon for a moment, an act that only severed to make both Alberta and Lozen more aware of just how childish he really was. "Right." Alberta added, tossing aside that comment and then addressing Lozen "And indeed I do not. This isn't my first time in this situation. Nor because of him." She gestured towards the Judas.

The carriage came to a slow halt, lights streaming in through one of the windows and the sound of muttering and muffled footsteps coming through the door. All three of them stood up at once, but Alberta was the first to the door and said "Best stay behind me for now. You are my bodyguards after all." She didn't smile at that, though she didn't need to. Her mockery was all too clear.

"Judas, not a word." Lozen said, predicting what his reaction would be and before the deadman could scream something back, the door to the carriage opened. Both Lozen and Judas expected for armed guards to be standing on the other side, but their path out of the carriage was unblocked. The voice of the driver came just off from the side of the door, saying "Miss Finch, welcome back to the Cane Estate." Alberta took that as a sign to start marching down the steps with Lozen staying frozen in place for a moment. This was a very obvious set up to a trap, one where the driver was armed and there were four other guards waiting just outside the compartment ready to shoot them. "Go ahead." Lozen said to Judas as she stepped out of his way and he rushed past her as he said "Gladly! Just get me out of this death trap!!"

He leaped out onto the paved gravel outside and when nobody took the chance to start shooting him, Lozen stepped outside as well. However, what she saw once out didn't give her any sort of comfort. Standing in front of her at the dead center of the field was what appeared to be a gigantic mansion the likes of which she had only heard about in stories. It was two stories tall and resembled a massive body whose outline was adorned with magnificent sculptures and embroideries. Marble like stones lined the walls and belt drapes could be seen the rows of windows lining the front. Dead in the center of the wall was a massive half circle of columns that reminded her of a photo she had once seen some drunk soldier flaunt a few months back. What did he call it?

"Huh. Was he-" Judas started asking to which Alberta answered "Yes. He even bought the original designs just for this. Thought it might intimidate people who thought about coming close to him."

"God, that is just so stupid!"

"Would you want to rob the White House?"

"No! What are you.....oh."

"Precisely."

That was it. The White House. Peculiar, but what made her more concerned were what had joined them on the road. Not just more guards, but unarmed folk. Ones who were dressed in the same formal and often extensive attire, this time adorned with every color under the rainbow. They all held themselves with the same grace and poised perfection that Alberta had and each and every one of them was marching on over towards the columns in the front of the mansion. Behind the pillars were a pair of ornate doors carved from fine red wood and beyond that, Lozen couldn't see anything through the blazing lights. Carriages lined the gravel road and some were still spewing out the aristocrats much to Lozen horror.

"Alberta, what is all this?" Lozen demanded and Alberta, after taking a moment to observe what was happening, answered "I don't know. But I suggest you stay close. We're going to have to-"

"Oh no you don't!" Judas cut her off. "This is my field of expertise! I'm calling the shots!! You two, step back and watch the master work his craft!!"

Lozen hummed slightly before saying "Judas, you are not-"

"Glad you agree! See you inside!!" Judas tosses over his shoulder as he marched off towards the pillars and vanishing behind them before either Lozen or Alberta could say a word. Lozen sighed and started marching forward too as she said "Come on. We better get in there before he brings the whole manor down on me."

"My dear, I've had to handle Jebediah longer than you could ever dread. If there is anything those years have freed me from, it's having to be reminded of the depths of his moronicism."

Lozen couldn't really deny that, so, after holstering her weapon again and sucking in a small breath of air, she marched on after Judas, into the throat of the ostentatious manor.