EIGHT: hard floors
"It was him, Cale! I swear to it, man! Vash the Stampede, in the flesh! He was in my store."
"Cut the shit, Joey. You haven't been able to provide a shred of evidence, you know that? Where was the threat against your life?" The town sheriff gave the general store clerk a sharp look. If there was anything he hated, it was the constant spreading of rumors. For nearly three weeks now, such stories had found his ears, yet each story had been proven to be nothing more than fiction. Even when the story bore some truth, it had been quickly determined that Vash the Stampede had not be involved at all. "Did he at least tell you that was his name?"
"Well, no."
"Did he have a spiked head of hair and a blood-red trench coat?"
"No, but he was tall and blond and he had the devil's confidence in his eyes."
Cale leaned forward, his eyes dark with controlled anger. "I'm pretty tall, and I have blond hair, and when I get angry the devil's hand guides my gun." The sheriff leaned forward. "I'll need a hell of a lot more than that, Joey."
"It's him, damnit! You gotta trust me on this!"
"I don't have to trust anything, Joey. You're just being stubborn. Do yourself a favor and take a deep breath. Relax."
"How can I relax knowing that our town has become a safe-haven for a gunman so deadly he could topple entire cities in a matter of moments?" Cale leaned back and sighed heavily. This was going to be a long night. His brother was certainly going to see to that. "You know, he certainly didn't deny anything."
Cale shot him a look. "All right, all right," he said, a sigh revealing his disgust at the situation. "I'll look into it, okay. Any clue where this mystery man ended up?"
"I followed him over to Harvey's tavern," the general store clerk replied. "Apparently he's stayin' with the two girls who wandered into town yesterday."
This caught Cale's attention. "You mean the girls who came in to follow up on the original Vash rumor?"
"That's them," Joey replied.
Cale McBride was a ruffian at heart, but that didn't change the fact that he was the sheriff of this Godforsaken town, and it was his solemn duty to see that the real hooligans of this world didn't turn his town into their own personal hellhole. That alone was the reason he'd posted the sign in the window of the jailhouse—a sign he had replaced once already today. "Shit."
Joey grinned. "That's what I said."
Cale gave his brother a look. Though he had already been in a dark mood despite Joey's arrival, the nervous banter of his brother only made it worse. He didn't like to be put into uncomfortable situations, and here he was, smack-dab in the middle of the most uncomfortable situation of his life. The rumors of Vash the Stampede's coming was bad enough; he didn't know how he could possibly handle the situation if the real thing actually showed up. He recalled tales of fallen cities, and if the Humanoid Typhoon rolled through town, the whole of Black Rock could be turned into a crater in a matter of minutes. The thought made Cale a nervous wreck.
"Well?" Joey prompted.
Cale rolled his eyes. Why the hell did he have to be the one with the badge? He didn't want to die any more than the next guy, and a confrontation with Vash the Stampede signified certain doom. A month ago, this job had seemed to be a wonderful thing—free meals, free booze, peace and quiet whenever he desired. Of course, that had been before the rumors started to spread. "Harvey's tavern, you said?"
"That's it. I saw him go in before I came to find you."
"Okay, okay. I'll look into it. Now get the hell out of here." Soon, blissfully, Cale was alone. He opened his bottom desk drawer, to the right. The bottle was still full. He took a quick swig and breathed a heavy sigh. At least he had this sanctuary to lean back on. If that really was Vash the Stampede waiting for him in Harvey's Tavern, he sure as hell wasn't going in sober.
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He found her in the bar, alone save the big, friendly barkeep. It seemed that he had offered her all the club soda and Melba toast she could stand. He sunk to her side, gazing into her eyes as he helped himself to one of the crispy snacks. She fingered the cloth napkin set at the bar beside her, thinking about things he wasn't sure he could understand.
"When do we leave?" Meryl asked quietly, and took a sip of her drink.
"Early. I want to be gone by daybreak."
There was a brief silence between them. "What was she like?"
Vash sighed. He'd known it would come to this. "It's not what you think."
She closed her eyes, clenching her fist in anger. "Just who the hell are you to tell me what to think?"
He flinched at her outburst, but he kept his cool and lowered his voice. "Meryl, listen to me. She's an off-worlder." That caught Meryl's attention; she turned to him, eyes wide. He gave her a deadly serious, icy stare. "I don't trust that woman. There are other people apparently stranded here with her. They crashed a spaceship somewhere out in the desert. I think I need to check it out."
She flinched. A spaceship. She turned, watching him with concern. "Vash…"
He held up his hand. He had something to get off his chest before she had a chance to argue. "I told you I wanted you to stay with me, but I can't force you to go where I'm going. This may get dangerous. I'm not going to stop you, either, because it's true that we're in this together. If you want to come, I welcome you."
Meryl swallowed. She took all this in with surprise, but she held fast to his arm as he told her that she was welcome to follow him to the depths of his troubles. "Of course we'll come with you. Don't think for a moment you could ever get rid of us that easily." She scooted in a little closer. The strange woman, apparently, had been long forgotten. "We spent a year wondering where you've been, what you've been up to. Both Milly and I, and now that we have you back, we're not so inclined to let you out of our sight. I hope you can understand that."
Vash drew a deep breath. "You want the truth? Meryl, I never once doubted you'd follow. That much is obvious. The truth is I fear what might happen when you do. The truth is that I doubt myself for letting you follow. I think it might be a big mistake." He sighed, and then a smile stretched across his lips. "Above all, the truth is…I couldn't think of a better pair of companions for the journey. And it's really nothing more than that."
She stared at him, and then looked away. "Oh Vash."
He rose from his seat, gazing down on her. "We leave in the morning, before the crack of dawn." He started to leave, but then peered back to see she was still sitting there. "I don't want to risk danger to these people any longer than necessary." He drew a deep breath. "Let's get to bed. There's a long road ahead, and we need to be rested."
She rose and joined his side, the pain of the loneliness that had held her only a few moments ago had finally lifted. "Then come on, Mr. Vash… We can't have you dozing off in the desert when there are us girls to protect." She gave him a sheepish grin and headed for the stairs.
"But Meryl, who's going to protect me from you?" He grinned as he followed her up the stairs.
She laughed. "I think I'd be more concerned about anyone who tries to stop you."
Vash shook his head, still grinning. It was true; he was worried more about those people, too. The idiots that they were, they were still people. No matter how badly they behaved in their lives, they were no less than human beings.
"Don't worry, Vash. I'm sure things will work themselves out eventually."
"With you around, I'm certain of that."
Soon, they came to their room and she pushed the door open. Milly was still sound asleep in the only bed in the room, stretched out across the mattress. Vash looked about. The only other suitable place to sleep was a rather large recliner by the door. "Look, you take the chair. I'll sleep on the floor."
She glanced to Milly and shrugged. "That's all right Vash. You can have the chair." He watched as she grabbed a pillow from Milly and pried it from her grasp. She headed over to the window, next to the radiator. "I'll be fine. I'm used to hard floors." Without giving an explanation, she tossed her pillow there and leaned against the wall. "Night Vash."
He watched her from the shadows for a time. Soon her eyes slid shut and she drifted away from the realm of consciousness. When he was sure she was asleep, he glanced to the recliner. Like hell. He headed over to her, trying not to let his boots make too much noise, and sat next to her on the floor. He gazed to her face, drawing very close to her. Watching, waiting. For what, he didn't know.
He only knew how beautiful she looked right now as the soft light of the Fifth Moon cast her face in an angelic glow. Her breaths were calm and slow, comforted by much needed rest. He carefully wrapped one arm around her shoulder, trying not to wake her. She stirred, but did not wake, rolling her head to the side and resting it on his shoulder. She was still and soon fell silent once again.
Vash could remember a time she would have jumped up and screamed at him, demanding to know what he was doing hovering over her. And the truth was, at the time, he probably wouldn't have been able to answer her. He wouldn't have known even if she awoke now. All he knew was that he was somehow drawn to her, a bond stronger than family. He was proud to be her friend. She deserved to have his shoulder to lean on. He had been so frightened to leave them alone back then; who knew if Knives had other Gung-Ho Guns out there, just waiting for him to depart. Apparently, there had been no real reason to fear for the girls' lives.
That didn't mean he didn't feel sorry that he had left them. To this day, this wondrous, glorious day, he had been sad. Now he was with them again, and he felt whole because of them.
He reached down and brushed a strand of dark hair from her brow. He was so happy that she had allowed her hair to grow out. The thought made him smile. A lot really had changed, just as Meryl had said. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
She winced a little, turning toward the kiss, and for a moment he thought she would wake and find him over her, settled down with her in this position on the floor. But she didn't. Her long hair fell across her cheek. It framed her delicate face, making her look younger than she really was. She curled against him, needing his warmth in the cool of the night. Her hand tucked around his arm without her even realizing where she was, or that he was here with her. Rem once spoke of a perfect moment. He wondered if this was it.
Vash knew she would have freaked out if she knew he was so near, and she probably would figure out sooner or later, but for now she seemed at peace with her surroundings. Her breath came slow and calm as she slept against him.
He sat there, deep into the night, thinking. He felt her next to him, curled tightly against his side. It felt good, peaceful. He tried to remember the last time he had slept next to a beautiful woman. Rem. That had been when he was only a child, not yet even a year old, after a nightmare had stirred him from sleep one lonely night. Rem had taken him into her bed and cuddled him close, shushing his demons away. Had he known that within a few days, she and the entire crew of the Project SEEDS flagship would be dead, he would have asked her never to let him go.
He heard shuffling somewhere outside. The metallic click of a shotgun being opened and two shells sliding slowly into the chamber. His brow furrowed and he listened. A crate tumbled over, garbage spilling into the alley. Vash rolled his eyes. A drunk with a shotgun? Probably. Oh well. He'd just have to pay attention. Whoever it was breathed like an overweight thomas and was about as graceful, so it wouldn't be difficult to follow his movements, even if he was half asleep.
Meryl stirred next to him, and he looked down. Her eyes fluttered open a little, but she didn't seem to realize that he was here, right next to her. "You're still up…" she mumbled.
"I'm just thinking," he whispered, raking his fingers through her long, silky hair. "Go back to sleep. I'll wake you when it's time."
"Mmm, you get sleep too, 'kay?" For some reason she nestled tighter to him, as if craving his warmth. It was a little cold, he decided, and so he wrapped his other arm around her and drew her close. There was no need for either to freeze, and apparently the damn radiator didn't plan on working this night.
Without even realizing it, Meryl draped her free arm around his waist and drifted back into the heavenly sleep that held her close to him.
He listened to the drunk in the alley for a few more moments before sleep crept up beside him and took him with her.