The Cagon Mines
by The Chronicler
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The bartender slammed back against the wall, the force rattling the bottles.
Big Norse followed her blow with a growl as she stepped up to him. "If you EVER touch me again I will break every bone in your body! If you ever sniff at me again I will smack you so hard you'll be sniffing out of your butt! If you look at me again... Aw, hell. Let's make this simple: Either you keep your hormones under control, or I will.... by ripping your balls off and yanking them out through your freakin' eye sockets! Got it?"
The man frantically nodded, his eyes big with fear.
"Good." Big Norse stepped back and dusted her hands on her apron. Two days... Only two days and she was gonna need to sand blast her entire backside to get rid of that perv's fingerprints. OOoooh, Reno was going to so owe her! "And stop watering down the drink!" she suddenly snapped, sending the man's jumping out of his skin and fumbling for the bottle he nearly dropped. "If folks want water there's a trough out back." She returned to polishing glasses at the bar.
Pecos relaxed in her seat in the dark corner of the Naked Lady Canteena. "All's well that ends well that doesn't leave a man eye balled." she mumbled.
Her go-phone clicked softly, letting her know that, even though they might not get the reference, those listening understood that "All's well..."
For now, anyway.
The two women were the only Cavaliers obviously left in Cagon. The bus left two days earlier. "Gone in search of a cheap lawyer." Buckaroo had told the mayor who, ever so helpful, suggested a few names. What Buckaroo did was return the big World Watch One to the nearest BB garage and picked up more appropriate transportation and equipment. The girls knew he was out there, somewhere, hidden in the desert, keeping an eye, or rather an ear, on them.
The plan... they were just waiting for the plan to fall into place, then they'd have the proof they needed to prove that this town's whole damn justice system was one big slave con. And that would give them the footing they needed to legally free their companions.
Pecos frowned, swishing her cola in the glass. They knew where Reno (yea, yea, Perfect Tommy too) was. Most of them wanted to just go in and get their boys out. God, not to mention the bad guys, only knew what was happening to them in there! Sure, P.T. would be safe enough. They needed him. But Reno Nevada, the man Pecos would do anything for, had been an accident. And that made him expendable. They had to get him out of there! And she was getting damn tired of sitting around and waiting for the plan to...
"You know, it ain't like you're gonna find another job here in this town."
Pecos glanced over to the bar where the idiot bartender was once again moving in on Big Norse. Damn, the man just didn't get it. Kept reaching for the flame even after getting his fingers burned again, and again, and again...
Big Norse barely glanced at him as she held up a glass to the light for inspection.
"At my say, not a fellow in town would even glance your way!" the bartender growled, though he was sure to stay out of reach.
"Ooooh, like that would be a shame." Norse mumbled.
"Not like your street side heroes will ever show up again." He jabbed a finger at her. "You're stuck here. That bus ain't ever gonna come back for you."
Pecos snorted. They had told everyone who asked that they had hitched a ride out here with the tour bus. Two bored ladies with nothing better to do. Now they were just hanging around until they got a ride back to civilization... something the bartender often reminded them did not happen often.
Big Norse glanced across the room to her friend and they shared a smile.
The bartender ground his teeth together. "You should be thankful that I opened my doors to you! You owe me!"
Big Norse looked at him and smirked. "Let's see you try and collect, big man."
The man glared at her for a long moment. But he was learning the coming at her was not the way to do it. With hand balled up in tight fists, he spun about and stomped out of the canteena.
Pecos sighed. "Careful, Norse." she warned. "You get fired and we don't have a plan."
Big Norse shrugged. "Next time he asks, I'll sleep with him."
Both of their go-phones clicked, a reprimand.
**********
The bartender burst into Mayor Cagon's office. "I want that woman!" he growled.
The sheriff and mayor glanced up at him. "We have our next mark, Bagens. And it is not another saloon girl." the sheriff reminded him. "Besides, you have more girls than patrons."
"Like you need another boom boy?" the man snapped. he stepped up the desk and leaned over it. "I want that woman." he repeated. "You know you can't pull any of this off without MY contacts in Tuson, without MY brew luring those dumb asses to town, without MY Naked Lady to set them up in, without ME hiring patsies for your tin man here to kill off!"
"Keep your voice down!" the sheriff snapped. "What if someone heard?"
"Oh, don't be such an idiot! There ain't anybody in the whole town that doesn't know what's goin' on down at the mine!" Bagens waved his hands in the air. "Damn it, man, you've been stacking up bodies at my place like fire wood!"
The sheriff started to rise to his feet, but Cagon held up a hand, stilling him. "Do we really need another explosive expert?"
"We could live without him." The Sheriff shrugged. "Get that laser geek to do his thing, and we might not need any of them."
Mayor cagon nodded slightly. he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the bartender. "Alright, Bagens, you can have the girl. Same con, switch roles." he pointed a finger at the man. "But this is the last one!" he warned. "It might be an inconvenience to replace you, Bagens, but it would only be an inconvenience."
The bartender grinned.
**********
Perfect Tommy jumped at the sound of a snapping whip. He looked up and watched as a group of slaves were shoved, poked, and beaten across the entrance to his workshop. The guards chuckled at the anguish they caused their prisoners, a sound that twisted in Tommy's gut until...
"Take it easy, P.T." Reno warned from where he was supposed to be sleeping. "There's nothing you can do for them 'cept make it worse."
Perfect Tommy dropped back on his work stool. He looked over his shoulder at his friend who still laid, eyes closed, breathing evenly. To all eyes, he still looked asleep. Turning back to his blue prints, the youngest Cavalier growled "This is crap!" Angrily he threw a pencil across the room, bouncing it off the rock wall. "I should just build some mega kill-all-evil laser and blast them all right out of existence!" He continued taking out his anger by throwing a ruler and another pencil.
Sighing, Reno sat up. "You do realize you are just going to have to get up, walk across the room, and pick those things up, don't you?"
Perfect Tommy dropped his head down on the work bench with a groan. "I don't do jail." he mumbled to himself.
"Well, this isn't exactly jail, now, is it?" Reno pushed himself off of the cot and shuffled over to lean against the work bench. "You okay, buddy?" he asked, concerned.
Perfect Tommy barked out a laugh. He sat up again and looked at Reno. His friend looked tired, covered in dust, blisters, and bruises. P.T. suddenly felt guilty about interrupting the man's much needed sleep. At least Tommy could do his work sitting down. As soon as the sun was up (or, at least P.T. assumed that was the hour... he hadn't seen the sun since he was shoved down the hell hole), the guards came and dragged Reno away, leaving Tommy alone and on his own.
"Hey." Perfect Tommy chuckled, a weak imitation of his usual cockiness. "I'm not the one who plays with rocks all day."
Reno smiled. He patted the boy's arm. "Hang in there. Buckaroo will get us out of this."
"Yea, well at least you get great material for a new book."
Reno flexed his work weary fingers. "If I can ever pick up a pencil again."
Perfect Tommy suddenly grinned, a spark of mischief coming back to his eyes. "You could find out by getting me those pencils." he suggested, indicating the thrown items.
Reno pushed him off the stool and out of the conversation.
Both men laughed until someone cleared his throat.
Perfect Tommy instently lost his humor as he looked up to see Mayor Cagon standing in the entrance. He quickly scrambled to his feet.
Reno grinned at the man. "Welcom to the pits of hell, mayor. How's it hangin'?"
The mayor ignored him as he walked up to the work bench. He looked over the sketches P.T. had been working on. "This isn't very promising, Tommas." He looked directly at the young Cavalier. "I had expected something more than cartoon could-bes by now."
Perfect Tommy glanced at Reno. "Why is it all the bad guys get my name wrong?"
Reno shrugged. "Probably intimidated by how perfect you are." he answered.
Cagon was not amused. "Perhaps you have not had the proper encouragement." His dark, hateful eyes fell on Reno.
Perfect Tommy's gut twisted again. He took a step foreward, but he didn't know what he could say to protect his friend.
Reno simply continued to grin. "Well, as the Cavalier's P.R. man, I would suggest, oh, $50,000 per design and, depending on their success, another $75,000 for the finished product." reno shrugged. "Now, these are low numbers, taking in to consideration that he really did steal a motor bike, but I wouldn't count on negotiating them down. This is as low as I am prepared to take them."
Perfect Tommy chuckled.
Cagon smiled slightly. He waved to a guard who stepped foreward and grabbed Reno by the arm.
"Intimidation is no good." Reno hurried on as he was dragged away. "I just can't let his work go for anything less."
When he was gone, the Mayor turned his attention back to his main target. "Mines are a dangerouse place, Tommas. Focus on that bit of knowlage, and you will be surprised at how fast all other distractions fade away."
From somewhere down the tunnel, Tommy could still hear Reno's voice asking "Was it something I said?"
----------
The bartender slammed back against the wall, the force rattling the bottles.
Big Norse followed her blow with a growl as she stepped up to him. "If you EVER touch me again I will break every bone in your body! If you ever sniff at me again I will smack you so hard you'll be sniffing out of your butt! If you look at me again... Aw, hell. Let's make this simple: Either you keep your hormones under control, or I will.... by ripping your balls off and yanking them out through your freakin' eye sockets! Got it?"
The man frantically nodded, his eyes big with fear.
"Good." Big Norse stepped back and dusted her hands on her apron. Two days... Only two days and she was gonna need to sand blast her entire backside to get rid of that perv's fingerprints. OOoooh, Reno was going to so owe her! "And stop watering down the drink!" she suddenly snapped, sending the man's jumping out of his skin and fumbling for the bottle he nearly dropped. "If folks want water there's a trough out back." She returned to polishing glasses at the bar.
Pecos relaxed in her seat in the dark corner of the Naked Lady Canteena. "All's well that ends well that doesn't leave a man eye balled." she mumbled.
Her go-phone clicked softly, letting her know that, even though they might not get the reference, those listening understood that "All's well..."
For now, anyway.
The two women were the only Cavaliers obviously left in Cagon. The bus left two days earlier. "Gone in search of a cheap lawyer." Buckaroo had told the mayor who, ever so helpful, suggested a few names. What Buckaroo did was return the big World Watch One to the nearest BB garage and picked up more appropriate transportation and equipment. The girls knew he was out there, somewhere, hidden in the desert, keeping an eye, or rather an ear, on them.
The plan... they were just waiting for the plan to fall into place, then they'd have the proof they needed to prove that this town's whole damn justice system was one big slave con. And that would give them the footing they needed to legally free their companions.
Pecos frowned, swishing her cola in the glass. They knew where Reno (yea, yea, Perfect Tommy too) was. Most of them wanted to just go in and get their boys out. God, not to mention the bad guys, only knew what was happening to them in there! Sure, P.T. would be safe enough. They needed him. But Reno Nevada, the man Pecos would do anything for, had been an accident. And that made him expendable. They had to get him out of there! And she was getting damn tired of sitting around and waiting for the plan to...
"You know, it ain't like you're gonna find another job here in this town."
Pecos glanced over to the bar where the idiot bartender was once again moving in on Big Norse. Damn, the man just didn't get it. Kept reaching for the flame even after getting his fingers burned again, and again, and again...
Big Norse barely glanced at him as she held up a glass to the light for inspection.
"At my say, not a fellow in town would even glance your way!" the bartender growled, though he was sure to stay out of reach.
"Ooooh, like that would be a shame." Norse mumbled.
"Not like your street side heroes will ever show up again." He jabbed a finger at her. "You're stuck here. That bus ain't ever gonna come back for you."
Pecos snorted. They had told everyone who asked that they had hitched a ride out here with the tour bus. Two bored ladies with nothing better to do. Now they were just hanging around until they got a ride back to civilization... something the bartender often reminded them did not happen often.
Big Norse glanced across the room to her friend and they shared a smile.
The bartender ground his teeth together. "You should be thankful that I opened my doors to you! You owe me!"
Big Norse looked at him and smirked. "Let's see you try and collect, big man."
The man glared at her for a long moment. But he was learning the coming at her was not the way to do it. With hand balled up in tight fists, he spun about and stomped out of the canteena.
Pecos sighed. "Careful, Norse." she warned. "You get fired and we don't have a plan."
Big Norse shrugged. "Next time he asks, I'll sleep with him."
Both of their go-phones clicked, a reprimand.
**********
The bartender burst into Mayor Cagon's office. "I want that woman!" he growled.
The sheriff and mayor glanced up at him. "We have our next mark, Bagens. And it is not another saloon girl." the sheriff reminded him. "Besides, you have more girls than patrons."
"Like you need another boom boy?" the man snapped. he stepped up the desk and leaned over it. "I want that woman." he repeated. "You know you can't pull any of this off without MY contacts in Tuson, without MY brew luring those dumb asses to town, without MY Naked Lady to set them up in, without ME hiring patsies for your tin man here to kill off!"
"Keep your voice down!" the sheriff snapped. "What if someone heard?"
"Oh, don't be such an idiot! There ain't anybody in the whole town that doesn't know what's goin' on down at the mine!" Bagens waved his hands in the air. "Damn it, man, you've been stacking up bodies at my place like fire wood!"
The sheriff started to rise to his feet, but Cagon held up a hand, stilling him. "Do we really need another explosive expert?"
"We could live without him." The Sheriff shrugged. "Get that laser geek to do his thing, and we might not need any of them."
Mayor cagon nodded slightly. he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the bartender. "Alright, Bagens, you can have the girl. Same con, switch roles." he pointed a finger at the man. "But this is the last one!" he warned. "It might be an inconvenience to replace you, Bagens, but it would only be an inconvenience."
The bartender grinned.
**********
Perfect Tommy jumped at the sound of a snapping whip. He looked up and watched as a group of slaves were shoved, poked, and beaten across the entrance to his workshop. The guards chuckled at the anguish they caused their prisoners, a sound that twisted in Tommy's gut until...
"Take it easy, P.T." Reno warned from where he was supposed to be sleeping. "There's nothing you can do for them 'cept make it worse."
Perfect Tommy dropped back on his work stool. He looked over his shoulder at his friend who still laid, eyes closed, breathing evenly. To all eyes, he still looked asleep. Turning back to his blue prints, the youngest Cavalier growled "This is crap!" Angrily he threw a pencil across the room, bouncing it off the rock wall. "I should just build some mega kill-all-evil laser and blast them all right out of existence!" He continued taking out his anger by throwing a ruler and another pencil.
Sighing, Reno sat up. "You do realize you are just going to have to get up, walk across the room, and pick those things up, don't you?"
Perfect Tommy dropped his head down on the work bench with a groan. "I don't do jail." he mumbled to himself.
"Well, this isn't exactly jail, now, is it?" Reno pushed himself off of the cot and shuffled over to lean against the work bench. "You okay, buddy?" he asked, concerned.
Perfect Tommy barked out a laugh. He sat up again and looked at Reno. His friend looked tired, covered in dust, blisters, and bruises. P.T. suddenly felt guilty about interrupting the man's much needed sleep. At least Tommy could do his work sitting down. As soon as the sun was up (or, at least P.T. assumed that was the hour... he hadn't seen the sun since he was shoved down the hell hole), the guards came and dragged Reno away, leaving Tommy alone and on his own.
"Hey." Perfect Tommy chuckled, a weak imitation of his usual cockiness. "I'm not the one who plays with rocks all day."
Reno smiled. He patted the boy's arm. "Hang in there. Buckaroo will get us out of this."
"Yea, well at least you get great material for a new book."
Reno flexed his work weary fingers. "If I can ever pick up a pencil again."
Perfect Tommy suddenly grinned, a spark of mischief coming back to his eyes. "You could find out by getting me those pencils." he suggested, indicating the thrown items.
Reno pushed him off the stool and out of the conversation.
Both men laughed until someone cleared his throat.
Perfect Tommy instently lost his humor as he looked up to see Mayor Cagon standing in the entrance. He quickly scrambled to his feet.
Reno grinned at the man. "Welcom to the pits of hell, mayor. How's it hangin'?"
The mayor ignored him as he walked up to the work bench. He looked over the sketches P.T. had been working on. "This isn't very promising, Tommas." He looked directly at the young Cavalier. "I had expected something more than cartoon could-bes by now."
Perfect Tommy glanced at Reno. "Why is it all the bad guys get my name wrong?"
Reno shrugged. "Probably intimidated by how perfect you are." he answered.
Cagon was not amused. "Perhaps you have not had the proper encouragement." His dark, hateful eyes fell on Reno.
Perfect Tommy's gut twisted again. He took a step foreward, but he didn't know what he could say to protect his friend.
Reno simply continued to grin. "Well, as the Cavalier's P.R. man, I would suggest, oh, $50,000 per design and, depending on their success, another $75,000 for the finished product." reno shrugged. "Now, these are low numbers, taking in to consideration that he really did steal a motor bike, but I wouldn't count on negotiating them down. This is as low as I am prepared to take them."
Perfect Tommy chuckled.
Cagon smiled slightly. He waved to a guard who stepped foreward and grabbed Reno by the arm.
"Intimidation is no good." Reno hurried on as he was dragged away. "I just can't let his work go for anything less."
When he was gone, the Mayor turned his attention back to his main target. "Mines are a dangerouse place, Tommas. Focus on that bit of knowlage, and you will be surprised at how fast all other distractions fade away."
From somewhere down the tunnel, Tommy could still hear Reno's voice asking "Was it something I said?"