AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I hope everyone's December has been fantastic! And I wish everyone a wonderful 2020! I hope to continue earning your support of my writing in the year ahead.
In the chapter below, there's a reference to a previous story in the The Fire Within series, The Fire Witch Incident.
Lloyd and Jay will now soon discover what's on the other side of the portal...
Chapter 2 - Where Are We?
Something was tapping Lloyd's cheeks. The actions annoyed him, for he wanted to remain asleep.
"Lloyd! Wake up!" a voice hissed.
Lloyd finally complied when he felt his shoulders being shaken violently. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jay's face right in front of him.
"I'm awake now," he growled. "Get away from me!"
"Lloyd, I can't get away from you even if I tried! We're in a prison cell!"
Jay's announcement erased the last remnants of grogginess from Lloyd's brain, and he quickly sat up to survey their surroundings.
Jay was right. Lloyd found himself sitting on a cot identical to one on the opposite wall of the small enclosure. The iron bars which caged him and his blue-clad ninja brother were reminiscent of the cell in which Fiora the fire witch had imprisoned them, their three brothers, and Kai's then-fiancee Sam a few years back. But these walls were made of brick and mortar, not like the stone barricades in which they all had been trapped during that hot, dry summer. The current setting seemed a bit more civilized.
Lloyd spotted a small barred window a few feet above the opposite cot. "Have you looked through that window up there?" he inquired of Jay.
"No. I woke up just before I woke you up."
Lloyd stood on the rickety bed and held onto the bars to steady himself as he peered through them. He could see the sun shining down on the unpaved street of a town. No motorized vehicles could be seen; horses appeared to be the mode of transportation, whether being ridden or being used to pull wagons. People appeared to be calmly going about their daily business. Women wore long skirts; the majority of men wore boots and/or bolo ties. All wore coats.
"It's a little cold in here," the green ninja observed as he climbed down from his perch, realizing he wouldn't mind wearing a coat himself right now. "It must be winter in this place, wherever we are. And the people don't seem to be too technologically advanced, since they're using horses to get around." He seated himself once more on the cot upon which he had awakened.
"Oooh, let me see!" Jay exclaimed, climbing up to take his own look through the window. For a minute he watched the action on the street. As he stepped down once again, he commented, "It actually makes sense that we ended up here. Nya said there was no location registered on the other side of the portal, so the program used artificial intelligence to come up with a location on its own. It knew the previous portal's destination was a jail cell, and I'll bet it could tell we'd been around horses, so it put two and two together and searched the universe for a destination that matched the criteria."
He plopped down onto the cot upon which he had just stood, and he tapped his chin in thought. "Now, how can we get back to Ninjago, since I lost the comlink?" He began to cheerfully hum a tune as he pondered.
Lloyd wished he was as positive as Jay seemed to be about their return to Ninjago. Struggling to push away the scary thought that they may never be able to return to their homeland, he swallowed and announced, "Well, let's start out by getting out of this cell first."
Suddenly, they heard a clattering of metal from a distance. The noise continued for several seconds, and when it stopped, the sound of footsteps could be heard, becoming louder as it grew closer.
"Someone's coming! Should we attack them?" Jay whispered to Lloyd, jumping up from the cot and assuming a fighting stance.
Lloyd also stood up quickly. He sniffed the air and held up his hand to stop his friend from shooting any lightning bolts. "No. I'm actually smelling something good. Maybe whoever's coming is friendly," he whispered back.
The owner of the stepping feet soon appeared on the other side of the iron bars. The tall, middle-aged man wore a shiny star on his vest and carried a tray of two steaming mugs of liquid. "I heard voices, so I figured you boys were awake now," he said as he balanced the tray with one hand while reaching for the keys on his belt with the other hand. He studied the ninja briefly as he placed one key in the lock of the cell door. "You're looking pretty fair to middlin' after your bender last night. I brought some coffee to help clear your brains."
"Thanks," Lloyd replied. He was relieved that the stranger seemed friendly, though he wasn't sure about the meaning of the phrases "fair to middlin'" and "bender".
The man, having unlocked the cell, pulled open the door and walked in, carrying the tray with both hands. Lloyd was surprised at the trust the man exhibited toward his prisoners by not guarding the exit. "Why are we in here?" he asked.
The man chuckled at Lloyd's seriousness. "Don't worry. You're not charged with anything. I always throw the drunk ones in here for the night. That way, they're off the street and they have a safe place to recover."
He thought we were drunk! Lloyd was initially a bit indignant but quickly realized that the assumption was a more believable story than the truth.
The lawman held out the tray, indicating that Jay and Lloyd should take the mugs off it. "You boys seem to be new in town. I'm Fred Madden, the sheriff of this county. Who might you be?"
"I'm Lloyd Garmadon, and this is my friend, Jay Walker," Lloyd explained as he and his fellow ninja helped themselves to the coffee. "And you're right. We're very new in town. Thanks for the coffee."
Sheriff Madden tucked the now-empty tray under his arm. "And how long are you planning to stay here in Stockton?"
So Stockton is the name of this place! Lloyd noted silently. He realized he didn't have a good answer to Sheriff Madden's question. "Well, uh -" he looked to Jay for assistance.
"Not long. We're just passing through," Jay piped up.
"Well, enjoy your stay while you're here." The sheriff tipped back the brim of his hat. "Though I suggest you boys avoid the Red Hat Saloon. Reckon that's where you went on your bender, since I found you passed out early this morning in the back alley of that place."
"We will," Jay nodded energetically, eager to stay on the sheriff's good side.
Sheriff Madden ambled toward the cell door. "You boys are free to go whenever you finish your coffee. You've slept it off by now." Suddenly he hesitated. Then, turning around and setting down the tray, he reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.
"Look, I didn't see any gear laying near you, so I figure someone stole it. I can look into it, but whoever took it is probably long gone by now." He took some bills from the wallet and held it out to the ninja brothers. "Since you boys seem like the decent sort, take this money and head on over to the dry goods store to get yourselves new coats and a few supplies. With this extra cold weather around here lately, you'll need something to wear over those...colorful...togs you got on."
Lloyd and Jay looked at each other and realized that their bright green and blue ninja gis would be conspicuous in their current environment. Still, Lloyd did not want to inconvenience the man who was proving to be an ally. "That's very nice of you, Sheriff Madden, but we can't possibly accept that."
The sheriff was a little taken aback by Lloyd's politeness. Usually the occupants of his cell were rude and impertinent. He grabbed Lloyd's hand - the one that wasn't holding the coffee mug - and pushed the money into his palm. "Please take it. This cold spell we're having is the worst one we've seen around these parts in a long time. And by buying yourself some new togs, you boys won't be such a target for fellas itchin' to stir up trouble, which'll make my job easier because there won't be any fight to clean up after."
Lloyd couldn't argue with that logic. "Thanks, Sheriff."
The lawman picked up the tray from the ground and raised his hand in farewell as he began to walk backward out of the cell. "I have to go out and take care of some things, so just put the coffee cups on my desk when you're done with them. And feel free to take the newspaper that's sitting there. Since you're new here, you can read it to find out about our town. The dry goods store is a few doors down from here, toward the livery stable." And with a wave, he disappeared through the cell door and back down the hall.
"Well, that was interesting," Jay commented, once they were certain the lawman was out of earshot.
"Yeah, can you believe he thought we were drunk?"
"Actually I was referring to the portal program sending us behind a saloon. I'm kinda disappointed that it didn't directly put us in the cell. Must mean it allowed extraneous data to influence the artificial intelligence functionality. Nya and I need to work on that when we get back."
IF we get back. Lloyd hoped that Jay's positive outlook would turn into reality, but the green ninja was inclined to plan for all possibilities, even the grim ones.
Finishing their coffee in a few gulps, they left the jail cell and made their way down the hall to the sheriff's desk to return the cups. Lloyd spotted the copy of the newspaper: the Stockton Daily Independent, dated January 4, 1880.
1880. Freaky! he thought.
He folded up the paper and stuck it inside his boot, along with Sheriff Madden's money, and they stepped out of the jail and into the street, where they were greeted by cold air.
"Hoo boy! The sheriff wasn't kidding...it IS cold!" Jay loudly declared, folding his arms for warmth.
Lloyd shushed him. "Don't attract any more attention than we're already getting!" he hissed. "We're already getting weird looks from people because of our gis!" Indeed, a little boy across the street was pointing at them and trying to get his mother to look, too. "Let's hurry to that dry goods store and get some new clothes right away!"
As they walked down the wooden sidewalk, they heard a commotion on the street, at some distance behind them. A horse was galloping at full speed down the middle of the street toward them. It was dragging a wagon behind it, and someone on the wagon was screaming.
As the horse and wagon got closer, they could see that the screaming was being done by a red-headed woman wearing a flouncy green dress. She was pulling on the horse's reins with one hand and holding her matching hat to her head with the other.
"Help me! Help me! Sakes alive! Someone, please help!" she screamed.
