Follow In His Footsteps - Part 1
First Posted: 05 07 2013
The twin suns baked down on an endless dune sea. The heat was so unrelenting that even mirages did not form. Meryl ducked her head down, her dark hair falling in her eyes. The air was dry. So dry that it stole the moisture from the body. It hurt to breathe. She longed to wrap a cloth across her face. A cool one, moistened by water. Water she did not have. It hurt to blink. The air had whipped away what moisture her eyes could spare. The sand was gritty, stuck in her lashes. Ah, the sand. The dehydrated air and the heat were nothing on the sand. It was insidious, the sand. It worked its way into her shoes, and her clothing. She found it rubbing her toes raw. She found it rubbing other places raw, places that never saw the sun, but somehow the sand worked its way in.
She was so thirsty and so tired. She longed for the cool rooms of where there was no sand. At least no sand she had to deal with. Where she could sit and type reports with contented meticulousness, and have order in her life once more. And a cool glass of water to sip...
"Wahoo!"
Meryl jumped, startled out of her drifting dehydrated thoughts, then stumbled. Milly reached out a hand to steady her as she turned her ankle in one of the deep prints Vash had left in the sand. They watched as the man ran across the sand, his duster tails flaring out behind him.
"What happened to Mister Vash?" Milly asked worriedly.
Meryl blinked. It hurt to think.
"He's getting away, Milly." She breathed with exhaustion.
"Then we had better follow him, Miss Meryl." Milly said with determination.
Meryl glanced up at her. Did she not feel the heat exhaustion or the dehydration?
They trudged on. Through the heat. Through the dry air. Through the sand. Following in his deep foot prints in the soft sand. One pace. Then a small step that didn't quite reach, then another pace. He had such a large stride, one easily for every one and a half of hers. They would take them to him once more. All she had to do was put one foot in front of the other and link the dents he had made in the sand. Follow his trace to where he would be.
Milly ran into the Saloon. Blond hair. Red coat. Blond hair... Ah! Red coat with his face in water jug. There he was, the tricksome man! She marched straight over to where Vash was downing a jug of water in between sips of whiskey.
"You've got to help Miss Meryl!" She exclaimed.
Vash froze. Blinked at her, then coughed as the half swallowed water choked him. Milly took the jug of water from him and poured some into a glass. She sipped it while Mister Vash managed to find his breath again. He sat hiccupping.
"What?" He hiccupped. "What happened?"
"She's talking crazy and won't come into the town. Says she needs to follow your footsteps."
"Huh?"
They looked at each other. For someone with such innocent green eyes, Mister Vash had an impenetrable gaze. Milly did not know she had even won the staring contest until he dropped his gaze and sighed dramatically.
"Top up my jug, barkeep!" He declared.
Milly followed him to the edge of town where they could now see Meryl some distance away, walking back the way she had come with an odd gait.
"In my footsteps." Vash murmured incredulously. "Insurance girl, you were right!"
He raised the jug of water as if in a toast then strode out into the desert after her.
"Hey?"
She stopped walking and tried to open her eyes further, but they were glued into a squint by the sand and the harsh light. It took a moment for her sluggish thoughts to collect in her sun-addled mind.
"Here."
She knew what had been put into her hands. She could smell the water even as sand clogged as her nose was. She sipped at it, amazed at how it flowed down her throat, refreshing and revitalising her. Her glass was refilled and she gulped it down, greedily. It was filled a third time, and this time she looked up. It was with some confusion that she stared up at gentle green eyes and the wisps of blond hair that fell across them. Where was Milly? Hadn't she been right next to her?
For a moment Vash's expression was a sort of sad protective gaze. He then broke into a broad smile.
"There!" His voice was soft, unlike his usual exuberance. As if he did not wish to scare her. It was puzzling. "You can see me."
She frowned up at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"No- Nothing!" He exclaimed. "Only, big girl is waiting for us!"
Meryl handed the glass back to Vash and took the jug. When he walked beside her, he shortened his gait. She could keep pace with him now. She sipped the water straight from the jug. Why had he come out into the desert with a glass and a jug of water? Why was Milly looking so worried? She glanced down at the sand. With a creeping sense of shock, then horror she noticed that they were walking beside the deep prints she had been following. She could see her own, one and a half for every one of his. She had already walked this way, and ... and had turned back.
As if he could be found by the imprint he left. She felt herself blush. In her dehydrated confusion she had reached the road, and instead of looking for him, she had returned to follow his trace. She had reduced his complex existence to a simple indicator of his passing. Somehow, it had made sense back then, but now it made her look insane.
Right on cue he spoke.
"What was it about my foot steps that made you go back out into the desert?" He sounded genuinely puzzled.
She would not allow him the satisfaction of how foolish she felt just then. She had wanted to find him, of course. At that thought, she felt her cheeks flame red. She could feel the weird tension arcing between them. She did not know how to react to it, so slipped back into guard position and went on the defensive. She did not like this quiet gentle side of him. It made her react ... oddly.
"What do you think?" She snapped. "You brought me water!" Oh why had she said that? That was almost an admission.
"That you were sun crazy!" He grinned at her.
She gaped at him, infuriated, as he nailed it. Why had he come to find her, why not Milly? She hadn't wanted him to see her go to pieces like this, it was too humiliating. She irately jerked the jug up and tossed the water over his head. She spun around and marched toward the town.
"What? What was that for?" He called after her. In her mind's eye, she could see his hands going to his ruined hair and sodden coat.
It was his fault. This entire thing was his fault. He had some strange way of unsettling her thoughts, following his footsteps indeed. Hah!
"Oh man!" He whined, then called again, the whine only increasing in its pathetic nature as he raised his voice. "I didn't mean to call you crazy!"
Meryl ducked her head as she crossed the remaining distance between her and Milly. Her grip on the jug handle was so tight her knuckles were white. No, it had not been what he had said. His words were simply a catalyst. It was his presence. The way he radiated something, a heat she could feel, a very different heat to that which the sun gave off. And like the sun, it was driving her crazy. The water had not helped to cool it at all!
She stepped into the last of his footprints before the soft sand became road once again. His boot was so much bigger than hers. How could she hope to amount to anything in his eyes if she couldn't even keep up. She knew then that she was crazy, even without the sun and dehydration. What kind of thinking was that? She needed to get to the saloon and drink another jug of water.
She sneaked a glance back as Milly fell into step beside her. Vash was standing in the sand where she had left him. He had the oddest expression of concentration on his face and one eye squinted almost closed, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. He was fastidiously trying to fix his sodden hair. She couldn't help the giggles that came then.
Milly turned back to see what had caused Miss Meryl's laughter. To her surprise, Mister Vash gave her a lightning quick smile and a wink. Then stylishly traced a finger over his newly fixed hair and sauntered out of the desert after them. Milly smiled happily back at him. She was glad he did not hold Miss Meryl's behaviour against her.