The rest of the trip—through Cactus Head and on to Mushyon Ridge—passed uneventfully.
The road—and the land, for that matter—steadily sloped higher and higher as we went along, the land rising up to meet the top of the Cardinal Plateau. It didn’t quite reach, of course, but it was closer to the top on Mushyon Ridge than anywhere else. And therein was why it was a crossroads.
On the south end of the town was a steep ridge, not as large as the red cliffs of the plateau, but sharp enough. Under the town itself was a veritable gold mine of valuable metals and ores, though oddly enough, no gold. Down there was one of the largest mining operations in the Badlands, and you could see the coal smoke billowing in the air from miles and miles away. It was also where the train yard was. Of course, these trains were not for passengers, so it wasn’t like I could have simply taken a train from Parroia to Mushyon Ridge. These trains were for shipping all the ore back to the East.
Atop the ridge sat the town proper, a multileveled walled fortress of golden sandstone buildings and red clay tile. They didn’t dig too much out of the plateau at their back. What they did do was build into the cliffs.
Because at its heart, Mushyon Ridge itself was a ramp to the top of Cardinal Plateau. In the middle of the city with the same name as the ridge, a canyon opened up and ran north, bisecting the plateau for several miles until it gradually sloped into a ramp that brought you onto the top of the plateau. Buildings of red rock were carved into the walls of the canyon, and wooden bridges spanned the space where it was narrow.
Nell and I walked through the open main gate where the large wooden doors were wide open. Music and cheers streamed through and infused the air with joy. We shared a glance, then proceeded, making our way toward the heart of the festivities. And they were festivities! The town was in the middle of throwing a big party. Vendors lined the streets, some being your standard street hawkers, but many more were dressed in bright colors and sold alcohol and food and little flags. It was so much to take in at once, but I was enjoying every second. The color was refreshing next to the unending monotony of the Badlands.
Eventually, we came to the main town square. It was up the hill, and we had to travel up two levels from the ground level of the city, but once we made it, the crowds grew, and the chatter filled the air, as well as singing and laughter.
The square was packed, and vibrant with life. Small flags streamed from thin ropes and crisscrossed the square, all the colors of the rainbow fluttering in the wind. A band played nearby, lutes and banjos and xylophone keys joining together in a rapturous harmony. People danced, their spirits bright and their faces alive with smiles. Men dressed in dirty miner shirts, and men in denim or leathers and strapped with weapons alike danced with women in brightly colored cotton dresses, or women in jeans, boots, and chaps. And everything in-between. Men danced with men, too, and some women with other women. Old danced with young, children with children, elders with elders. Brothers with sisters, lovers with lovers, best friends with strangers.
It was all so wonderful, and not at all what I was expecting.
“We arrived at a good time,” Nell said beside me. She watched the festivities, her warm smile growing ever warmer. “This whole week is the harvest festival. A week of dancing and drinking and having fun, though, of course, they go in shifts. Couldn’t have the mines be completely shut down, after all. And it’s not like they have much of a harvest, but it’s the tradition that’s important.”
I nodded, awed and transfixed. Parroia didn’t have any festivals like this one. Not that we didn’t have any fun, but nothing like this. Maybe it was too much of a transportation hub, people always passing through on the train and not settling down. I would have enjoyed something like this. Deebo would have danced and danced until he couldn’t stand. Gareth . . .
Did Gareth dance here? Was he dancing here now? Or was he long gone? I found myself scanning the crowd for his close-cut brown hair, which by now could have been any color given he was probably a hunter. I searched for his stern face with the small scar at the corner of his mouth. I looked for his too-long nose that was bent a bit to the left but gave him an air of distinction.
He wasn’t here. Or if he was, I didn’t see him, not in the throngs of swaying bodies. There were way too many people to ever be able to pick him out of a crowd.
I knew we both had business to attend to, but neither of us wanted to get to it just yet. Not with the festivities in full swing. The day was young, and we had plenty of time. So, Nell and I bought some beer, and food, and we had a good time, even though we couldn’t find a table. Then we danced a bit. I wasn’t the most graceful dancer, but Nell was, and she was a pleasure to watch. She led our dance, and she compensated for my clumsy form. We found ourselves with smiles as bright as the sun and laughs as delighted as birdsong.
When we were thoroughly spent, covered in a fine layer of sweat, we peeled ourselves away from the crowds. We had stowed our stuff in a metal locker Nell rented at a nearby inn. Everything was still there when we went to retrieve it, which was good. I bet there was a ton of pickpocketing during festivals like this.
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We strolled away from the main crowds. The whole town was in a merry mood, but only the large main square was really booming with the huge crowds. Nell led us down to a lower level where there were more shops, and that part of town wasn’t as crazy. We passed the Cardsmith and the Card Trader, but I didn’t need any new cards at the moment. Besides, I needed to save my coins for travel essentials. Nell, too, passed these by without even a glance.
Instead, she stopped in front of a large general store. Lazlo’s Goods. A large glass window dominated the main wall off the front porch, and those words were emblazoned in the glass in golden script. Down the steps, near a water trough and a horse hitch, stood a large bounty board. I spied several wanted posters for bandits and outlaws and even more bounties for clearing out monster nests or taking down specific dangerous monsters.
Nell went to the bounty board and scanned them. I followed her, but my stomach was beginning to squirm.
“Is this where we part ways?” I asked her, hoping beyond anything that the answer would be no. I was glad she was okay and back in my life, but I didn’t want to leave her now.
Maddeningly, she shrugged. “Not sure yet. I did say we’d split once we got to Mushyon, but I’m not certain as to my next course of action. I have a contact I’m going to visit. They give me good info and tips about bounties. While I do that, you can search around for information about your brother. I’ll ask my contact and some of the shopkeepers, too, when I do some shopping.”
I nodded. “Okay, sounds like a plan.”
She smiled. “Let’s get to it then.”
Nell went into Lazlo’s and that made me wonder if that was to get supplies or if her contact was there. I didn’t follow her in, though my heart yearned to be in her presence. She wanted to do her own thing, and I needed to as well. I explored the stores, and stocked up on healing potions from the local apothecary, bought a map of the region from the printer, and I exchanged some of my silvers for golds. It was always good to have some spare silvers and coppers, though, since most things weren’t as expensive as a full gold piece.
None of these errands, unfortunately, bore any fruit in the hunt for my brother. I asked all the merchants about him, but none recognized the name nor had seen anyone who resembled me. I supposed that I shouldn’t be surprised, but it was still a downer. He wrote about Mushyon Ridge, so clearly it meant something. But what? Unless that was only a note he wrote to himself, and it wasn’t actually directions or a clue, simply an affirmation for himself of his own goal. I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. I continued asking around and buying things where I needed them.
The town had a gunsmith, too, and so I bought a simple revolver. I didn’t have a card for firearms, but if I was in a pinch, a gun would be good to have. Firearms didn’t require skill cards like swords and other melee weapons. Sure, a card would improve my aim if I was shooting at a distance or at moving targets in a fight with bandits or monsters, but if something was close enough to attack me with claws, jaws or melee weapons, it would be hard to miss.
The only downside was that gunpowder was expensive, so guns and bullets were in rare supply and high demand, but I noted that this town had enough commerce to give the gunsmith plenty of options. I bought a simple leather holster that I could attach to my belt and a small hip-worn bullet pouch containing fifteen bullets, not including the six that were already in my gun.
Hopefully, I could make those last for a while. And of course, the gunsmith knew nothing about Gareth.
Maybe Mushyon Ridge meant nothing to Gareth. Maybe it had meant something to our parents, and it was just as much a first step of his journey as it was for me. But I knew nothing about our parents beyond vague, blurry memories. My father’s jovial laugh and big smile, ma’s sweet voice singing us lullabies, and the scent of the rose perfume she always wore. That was all I remembered of them. Uncle Deebo never spoke of them. I suspect it was too painful for him to do so.
I was pretty sure Gareth knew more than I did. I always suspected he found out something about them and left in a rage. But what did he learn? What secrets were there that Uncle Deebo was keeping? It was too late to ask him. I had searched that house high and low, but whatever my uncle might have known, he took to the grave. The only thing I found in my search was my uncle’s hidden safe, and that money got me through a particularly lean winter, but I discovered nothing about my parents. Nothing about why Gareth left.
So, what the hell was I to do?
I looked over out the festival one last time, though I didn’t get into the thick of it. I found a saloon with had an upstairs balcony overlooking the square, and I spent some time watching people. No sign of my brother however. It wouldn’t be that easy, of course. I knew that.
Defeated, I walked the city aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do and hardly paying attention to anything around me. Before long, I found myself in the part of town that led up into the Cardinal Plateau. The buildings rose around me, stacked atop each other, carved into the canyon walls and making me think they might topple over at any moment and crush me into a bloody pulp. People walked above on the bridges spanning the canyon, not paying attention to me at all.
I realized I had wandered beyond the city wall, though the people in the canyon didn’t seem to be worried about monsters. I bet it was easy to corner them in this narrow area, so probably not as dangerous.
But there was danger of a different type.
Lost in my internal struggles, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and I found myself colliding with someone. Or rather, they had time to move aside, but instead, they shoved me to the ground. I hit the red dirt with a heavy thud, my tailbone sending a painful jolt through me.
“Ow, son of a bi-”
“Well, well, well. Look what we have here,” said a grizzled voice.
I looked up. Three men stood over me, their antagonistic intentions clear. Their sneering faces and yellow-toothed grins said all I needed to know. And no sooner did I see the three of them did I realize these were not just any random trio of men. I recognized them, though it took me a moment to realize where I knew them from. They were the three men that had been directly in front of me when I waited to meet with Master Elloy back in Parroia. I’d thought then that they looked rather rough and sketchy, and that assessment didn’t seem off base.
One thing was certain: they were not my friends, and I was in trouble.