BDPT: Bad Company Prompts 64-72
Title: Bad Company 64-72
Author: gatechic
Characters/Pairing: Wyatt, Jeb, Garrett, Travis, Luara, Kasey, mention of Isabelle and Rebecca, some OCs and a brief scene with Wyatt/Adora.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Post-series. After the eclipse, the Cain men set off to find the rest of the Clan and find themselves on an unexpected adventure.
This chapter: Garrett is having a bad day. The Cain men finally reunite with some of their family.
Word Count:4,021
Disclaimer: Tin Man characters belong to the SciFi Channel, RHI, Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle. But Travis, Isabelle and Garrett belong to me. I also borrow from L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire and Rachel R Cosgrove (Payes). This is purely for fun and I'm not making a penny off of this.
A/N: These are prompts written for tm_challenge: Season Challenge 02 Big Damn Prompt Table. My table. This started off as a bunch of drabbles, not so much now.
Prompts 1-8||Prompts 9-11||Prompts 12-14||Prompts 15-20||Prompts 21-25||Prompts 26-27
Prompts 28-32||Prompts 33-37||Prompts 38-44||Prompts 45-50||Prompts 51-57||Prompts 58-63
Plans
With his flint knife drawn, Garrett stepped quietly from the bushes and into a clearing. He was so busy hunting the rabbit that he didn’t notice he was walking straight into a trap. By the time he noticed, his foot was snared in the rope.
“Shiiiiiiit!” Garrett yelled as he was dragged across the ground for a few feet and then was lifted up in the air. The knife had fallen from his hand when he fell backwards. He hung, upside down in the air.
“Damn, Munchkins and their traps,” he said angry. He pulled his scarf from his face so he could see how far his knife was. In a fruitless effort, he had tried to reach for it. He quickly gave up on that plan. He was just too far off the ground for his arms to reach. “Damn, got a plan to get out of this?” he mumbled to himself. He took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. On the last intake of air, he hoisted himself up to try and reach the rope around his ankle. He fell back down and repeated the breathing technique. He tried again, this time letting out a loud grunt from the exertion. However, he still couldn’t reach the rope. Garrett looked around for another idea. He may have to wait until Wyatt, Travis, and Jeb go looking for him, they must know he left by now and are now following his tracks that he covered up so they wouldn’t follow him. “Great.”
Noises from the bushes startled him and he tried to turn himself around in mid air. His arms flapped and he twisted his hips in an awkward dance to face the direction of the noise. He reached for his gun, and then remembered, he didn’t have a gun. He made a face that would have made a mobat fly off in fear. Therefore, his next approach was diplomacy. And that was not one of his strongest attributes.
“Hello?” Garrett asked in a soft voice, hoping to not sound threatening. If it’s a Munchkin, I’m in trouble, he thought to himself.
“What are you doing here?” a female voice asked.
Garrett again, tried to turn his body so he could see who was talking to him, but they kept walking around him so his back was to them. "For cryin’ out loud," Garrett mumbled and stopped struggling and folded his arms in front of him. He let momentum take it’s course and he turned slowly in the air like meet roasting on a vertical spit. He tried to look over his shoulder, but his duster blocked his view. “I was just looking for food, that’s all, I meant no harm,” he said. On the next rotation, he noticed his knife was gone. He looked around frantically and then felt the texture of the flint knife against his neck.
“Looking for this?”
“Uhm…yes, actually.” Garrett had no idea how he was going to get out of this. Even if he did fight back, he had no weapon to defend himself with and he was in no position for hand-to-hand combat.
“Are you a Longcoat?” she asked him, pressing the knife harder against his skin.
“No, no, no, no…I was Resistance,” Garrett added quickly and then cursed himself because he might have fallen into a Longcoat trap.
The woman paused. His voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
“What’d you find, Luara?” Troy asked as he appeared from the bushes. She glared at Troy for saying her name.
“Luara?” Garrett asked. It couldn’t be…could it? “Luara Cain?”
Troy looked at Luara and then at the man. He shook his head at Luara. Troy didn’t want her to give the stranger any information. They had to be careful while they traveled. They had come across a few con artists already and some of them were not too friendly.
“Lulu,” Garrett said, trying to lift himself up.
Luara pushed the stranger around so she could get a better look at him. “Only one man called me that and he died, a long time ago,” she said.
“No, Lulu, it’s me, dad…Garrett,” he said frantically, waving his hands towards his face.
Luara tilted her head to see him better. There was apprehension on her face when the stranger first said ‘Luara Cain’, then shock when he said ‘Lulu’ and now…recognition changed her features. Garrett saw her blue eyes and her dark curly hair, so much like his own. However, the little girl he knew was gone, replaced by a young woman.
Luara saw the same old features she remembered: the small scar above the corner of his left eye, the dimple in his chin, the scruffy beard he favored, his blue eyes, and his curly hair that had more grey in it than she remembered. He was, undoubtedly, her father, skinnier, but it was him. “Gods! Dad!” She reached out and hugged him. “I thought…we thought…you were…I can’t believe it! It’s you!”
“All lies, darlin’. All lies,” he said, hugging her in return as tears formed in his eyes. He had found his little girl. Well, actually, she found him.
Luara turned and glanced at Troy. “Cut him down, Troy! He’s my dad!” she said excitedly. Troy, on the other hand, didn’t look very happy. He took out his knife and began cutting the rope.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Garrett repeated quickly, but his protests went unheard. The rope was cut and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The leaves didn’t provide much of a cushion to soften the impact. His head spun and his shoulder ached.
“Dad!?” Luara screamed seeing how hard her father hit the ground. She was at his side, cradling his head. He looked up at her and her face went out of focus.
“Lulu,” he said, unsteady, and then his eyes closed.
“Dad?” Luara said, and checked to make sure he was still breathing. She turned and glared at Troy. “You knocked my father out!”
A group of men appeared from the brush, surrounded, and held their weapons towards Lulu and Troy. “Drop your weapons,” said one as he approached.
“Please, don’t hurt us,” Lulu said, placing the knife on the ground. She glanced down at her father and at that moment wanted to kill Troy.
One of the other men grabbed Troy and tied his hands behind his back. The first one smiled down at Luara, “I won’t hurt you…much,” he smiled and it wasn’t the kind of smile that was friendly. Luara felt a chill travel up her spine.
“Who is this?” the first man asked, pointing his weapon at the unconscious man’s head.
“My father,” Luara replied in a warning tone.
Shoe
“I need to have a long talk with that boy,” Travis said, looking at the print in the soil.
“About staying together?” Jeb asked, following Garrett’s trail into the clearing.
“Well, that, but-” Travis pointed to the boot imprints, “-he’s doing a lousy job of hiding his tracks.”
“If his intent was to make sure we didn’t follow, Jeb said, adding another opinion. “ Maybe he couldn’t sleep and decided to hunt for breakfast,” Jeb added. Travis nodded.
Wyatt knelt down in the center of the clearing, studied the ground, looked up and saw the rope dangling above his head. “Yeah, well, if he did want to hide his tracks, I don’t think he had the chance,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
Travis and Jeb joined him and found other footprints. Jeb followed a set that led from the brush. “Here’s some more and they’re not Uncle Garrett’s shoe prints, one of them may have been younger or female, the other is larger - could be male.”
Wyatt stood and walked towards Jeb and looked at the shoe prints. “Yeah, they came from this direction-” he pointed towards the brush and then swung his hand towards the center of the clearing, “-and walked towards the center, where I have a feeling Garrett was caught in that rope,” Wyatt pointed at the rope and then pulled it down. He held it up and said, “It’s been cut.”
“A trap?” Jeb asked.
“A trap yes, but not for Garrett, for anyone who passed by here. Jeb is right about one thing, Garrett was hunting-” Travis said, pointing to smaller animal-like prints as he followed them to where Wyatt and Jeb were standing, “-he was following breakfast and probably didn’t see the trap. He was dragged across the ground-” Travis said, pointing to a trail of disturbed soil, “-probably on his back and then hoisted into the air at this point.” Travis finished by looking towards the branches.
“The question is who took him?” Jeb asked.
Wyatt spotted some other tracks that led in the opposite direction. “More tracks over here,” Wyatt said simply, staring off into the forest.
Jeb and Travis looked at the tracks; they were definitely shoe prints and not like the other tracks. “The first tracks we found are in the center of these other prints, and look here-” Wyatt said pointing to an odd set of tracks, “-they were carrying something heavy”
“There’s no scouffle here, so Uncle Garrett may have been knocked unconscious,” Jeb added.
“Yeah, that’s likely, armed or not, Garrett would have put up a fight,” Wyatt said looking around for anyone that may have stayed behind, “Dead weight is heavy, no matter how much you weigh.”
“Garrett,” Travis said, aggravation in his tone. He removed his hat, wiped his brow with the sleeve of his duster, and then replaced his hat. “I’m really going to have a long talk with that boy.”
Noise
Jeb noticed something glistening from the corner of his eye. “Hey, dad, grandpa-” he picked up the object “-I found something,” he said looking at the piece of jewelry.
“An earring,” Wyatt said looking around and then he stopped, training his eyes on the area opposite of where they stood. “We have company,” he said and motioned with his hand for Travis and Jeb to kneel down behind the thick brush.
“Lu! Troy!” the female voice called out.
Wyatt looked at Jeb and then Travis. Guess he was wrong about the one set of prints belonging to a female. Both prints were male.
Travis had the best position to see the young woman step into the clearing. He watched as the young woman inspected the rope and then look nervously. “Luara!” she called out. Travis slowly turned his glance towards Wyatt and whispered, “Luara?”
“Wait-” Jeb looked at the earring in his hand, “-do you think…” Before Jeb could finish, Travis stood up and brushed past the vegetation.
“Dad!” Wyatt said with a huff. Why can’t people do what he tells them?
The young woman turned around when she heard the sounds behind her. Shock replaced the fear on her face when she saw the first one, then the second, and then the third. Kasey’s knees weakened. “By the gods…”
“Kasey?” Travis asked, unsure. In his memory, Kasey was still a young girl, not this woman standing before him.
She smiled. “Dad!” She ran to him and trapped him in a tight embrace. Wyatt turned and smiled at Jeb.
It took a few seconds for Travis to realize what was going on. His arms finally wrapped around his daughter and said her name.
“Kasey.”
Point
“Dad, mom is with me and so is Luara…that’s why I’m here…”
Travis’ tensed and pushed Kasey away from him, “Izzy?” Trepidation spread across his face and he froze. He was back in the cell, more drugs pumping into his system, and the hallucinations would soon start again. Was this another hallucination?
“Dad?” Kasey said, concerned.
Wyatt stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, sis,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“Wyatt,” she smiled and then hugged him, “I knew it. I found the wanted poster-” she pulled away from Wyatt, “- what’s wrong with dad?”
“A long story,” Jeb said. “Hi, Aunt Kasey,” he said raising his brows as she slowly recognized him.
“Jeb?” she asked, shocked that her nephew was now a young man. He nodded and they embraced while Wyatt tended to Travis.
“Hey, it’s me, Wyatt. This isn’t the drugs or the Sorceress playing mind games, this is real. Remember, dad, come back to us,” Wyatt said putting his hands on Travis’ shoulders.
Travis blinked and a tear fell from his eyes, “Izzy?”
Wyatt smiled as he nodded.
“Izzy,” Travis repeated and then the corners of his mouth slowly turned upward. “My Isabelle.”
“Where’s grandma?” Jeb asked Kasey.
“She’s back at the camp. We met up with some people going south so we joined them. Figured there were safety in numbers. Luara and a boy named Troy made this trap to trap a wild boar or something for food. When she didn’t return, I came to look for her.”
“She caught a wild boar all right, but not the kind you can eat,” Travis said, coming out of his trance.
“What?” Kasey asked, thinking that maybe her father was still not thinking clearly.
“We think she caught Garrett,” Jeb added.
As amusing as that sounded, Kasey didn’t laugh. Because of the wanted poster, they knew that there was a good chance that Wyatt was still alive, but now she knew that her father, nephew, and now her other brother were still alive. “Garrett? He’s with you?” Kasey asked, trading glances with Travis, Wyatt, and Jeb.
The three men nodded. “We think they may have been taken-” Wyatt said, pointing in the direction of where they found the tracks, “-and went in that direction.”
“I found this.” Jeb held up the earring. “Do you recognize this?”
Kasey took the earring from Jeb’s hand and nodded. “Yeah, I do. It’s Luara’s.”
Peril
“Are you sure he’s the one?” John asked.
Jason nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of ‘em.”
Garrett gazed upward, still trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind. He tried to move his hands, but they were tied behind his back. Of course, he thought. His eyes squinted trying to focus on the face. “Hey, I remember you…”
Jason grabbed Garrett by his lapels and pulled him up. “I should kill you now-” Jason stopped when he felt a hand grip his shoulder.
“Not now, Jason.” John watched as Jason released the man. “Jason tells me that you and your friends are responsible for ruining my business in Westhallow.”
Garrett glanced around at their surroundings. They had been taken to an area that the way in was also the way out. They stood with their backs to the wall of a cliff, not a high cliff, but one that was too steep to climb. To Garrett, the cliff formation resembled a horseshoe. With their captors in front of them and the cliff blocking any chances they had for escape, they were definitely trapped. Garrett looked at Lulu and winked.
John smiled. “So…where are your friends?”
“Around, I’m sure,” Garrett said, but in his mind, he added, I hope.
John nodded to his men and Luara and Troy were separated from Garrett. John and Jason pushed Garrett closer to the side of the cliff.
“Dad! No! Please,” Luara pleaded with her captors as she was pushed away from him.
“Lulu, it’s okay,” Garrett said, trying to reassure her, but even he had no idea how he was going to get out of this.
“Trying to reassure your little girl, you should have thought about that before sticking your nose where it don’t belong,” John said, pushing Garrett against the rocks, his arm pressed against Garrett’s neck.
“Let her go, she had nothing to do with it,” Garrett said, gasping for air.
“Not yet, I have plans for you…and her,” John said. Jason chuckled.
“You best not hurt her,” Garrett spat.
John turned to Jason and nodded. As John walked away, Jason punched Garrett.
Stone
There was one thing about Horseshoe Cliff, the brightly colored fauna that surrounded the base of the cliff and the ancient stonewall that followed the slopes of the cliff on either side. The stonewall provided some cover for Travis and Wyatt. Jeb stayed with Kasey to make sure she got back to camp safely. Travis and Wyatt had no idea who took Garrett, Luara, and Troy, but they wanted her to be safe.
If it weren’t for seeing what was happening below, Travis would have picked some of those aromatic flowers for Isabelle. A part of him still wished he had gone to see her, but Kasey was right, she would have wanted him to help Garrett and Luara first. If anything had happened to them because he was a few minutes late, he would live with that regret for the rest of his life.
“Sons of bitches,” Travis said, watching his own son take one hit after another. Another man had joined in on the beating and Travis could feel his blood boiling.
“Dad, we need a diversion,” Wyatt began, “-take out the one nearest Luara. I’ll take of the one beating Garrett.”
“How? We only have the one gun from Kasey,” Travis said. “I can shoot fast…”
“Diversion, dad-” Wyatt pointed to the other four men, “-they’ll shoot them before you can get all of them. I have a plan, trust me.”
Travis blinked.
“I know, trust being a relative term, but…I know what I’m doing. Wait for my signal.” Wyatt patted his father’s shoulder and kept low as he stayed behind the short stonewall. “Damn, Munchkins,” Wyatt mumbled under his breath, remembering why the wall was so short. The Munchkins also had a name for this area, but right now, remembering the name was the furthest thing on his mind.
Travis took aim and waited for Wyatt’s signal.
Wyatt looked around and found a good size boulder, not too heavy, but the right size for his great rescue plan. He had one shot at this and he knew he had to make it good. He carefully glanced over the wall and could barely see the top of his first victim’s head. He had a pretty good idea where the second one was.
“Okay, you survived a jump of a much higher cliff and a fall into a freezing lake, this is nothing. Two story drop max, maybe three,” he said aloud to himself. He picked up the boulder, glanced over at his father and nodded.
Travis turned his attention to the sight on the gun and fired.
Wyatt tossed the boulder out and leapt.
Frame
The bullet tore into John’s frame, sending him to the ground. Luara was frozen at first, blood splattering on her cloths and face. Everything moved in slow motion as she turned to look at her father. Was he yelling something? She couldn’t tell at first.
The rock hit Jason on his head. The second man never saw the man falling from the sky.
Wyatt hit the second man before he even had a chance to pull his gun from his holster. They both crashed to the ground.
Travis took out a fourth man and then the fifth. None of them fired a single shot. Travis glanced over and saw Wyatt lying on the ground, motionless.
“Wyatt!” Travis yelled.
Luara didn’t see her grandfather precariously making his way down a hazardous slope as she ran to her father’s side.
Fall
They walked among the red, orange, and yellow leaves that signaled the start of the fall season. This was his first trip to Gillikin Country and Adora was right: this was nothing like he had seen before. He turned and smiled as they strolled down the middle of the row of trees that led to her parent’s home.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Adora asked him.
“The trees or you?”
She hit his shoulder. “That was so corny, Wyatt.”
He laughed. “Okay, yes, the trees are beautiful. We don’t really get a change of season, well, we do, but not like this. Thanks for inviting me.” He stopped and put his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss.
After a few minutes, she broke off the kiss. She brushed the side of his face with the back of her hand. “The big hero.”
“Huh?” Wyatt asked.
“Garrett’s going to be fine, you saved him. And you’ll be fine too. Just stay with me for a while, Wyatt,” Adora said to him and then pulled him in again for another kiss.
Wyatt didn’t understand what she meant, but he was enjoying the peace he felt and didn’t want to leave. He broke off the kiss, gave her a smirk, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along at a fast pace.
“Where are we going?” Adora asked, laughing.
“To do what you’re supposed to do when someone is raking leaves,” Wyatt said. He let go of her hand and then leapt into the pile of leaves. Adora watched as the leaves exploded into the air and laughed.
The only ones not amused were the gardeners.
“This is why I love you, Wyatt Cain. You can be a serious, no nonsense Tin Man and then turn around and act like a big kid.”
He stood up from the pile of leaves and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not a Tin Man yet, Adora.”
“I know, I’m just saying that you’re already starting to act like a Tin Man,” she said, brushing some bits of leaves off his shirt.
“It’s you, Adora. This is the affect you have on me.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Language
Munchkins had a peculiar language. At times, they spoke in rhymes. Too bad they chose this moment to show up instead of ten minutes ago.
Travis and his family were quickly surrounded by tiny people wearing feathers and painted heads. “You trespass on sacred lands, bind their hands,” the blue Munchkin said, sticking his spear in Travis’ face.
“We didn’t mean to trespass. My sons, they need help,” Travis said, looking down at Wyatt and then over to Garrett. He was mostly concerned about Wyatt. Garrett would be fine, but even that couldn’t keep his anger rising up in him. Why did Garrett have to take off…
Travis felt a spear poke his chest as his hands were tied in front of him.
“Your son shall face the wrath, because he chose the warpath,” another Munchkin replied.
“We didn’t come here on our own, my other son and his daughter were captured…” Travis was hushed quickly by a red Munchkin.
“Stop your words, they are like squawks of the blackbirds. The next time you speak, it will be while you peel on the wheel,” the red Munchkin added.
“I have right to council, I offer a…a…” Travis paused, urging his mind to come up with a rhyme. “A handsel.” His face distorted into disgust at his terrible rhyme.
The blue Munchkin gazed at him, surprised that a human would respect their ways, and then urged the group to move.
Garrett looked up as he pulled along. What a bad day I’m having, he thought as the Munchkin tugged on the rope tied around his waist. He glanced at his father, “Dad-”
“Don’t, Garrett, I don’t want to hear it,” Travis said with anger in his tone and then adverted his eyes away from Garrett. He watched a few of the Munchkins tend to Wyatt on the small wagon.
Garrett’s lips thinned as he looked at Lulu. He left because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of him. He wished he could go back and change things. However, would he have found Lulu? He just needed to wait for his father to calm down and he would try to talk to him again.
“We’re together, dad, that’s the important thing,” Lulu said giving her father a slight smile.
“I promise you, Lulu, we’re going to get out of this and I’m going to find Rebecca and I’ll make sure Harold never bothers us again,” Garrett said, determination in his voice.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bad Day by Daniel Powter
Where is the moment we needed the most?
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
They tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carryin' on
?Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, the camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on
You had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, the camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
Mmm, on a holiday
Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing it turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong
So where was the passion when you need it the most?
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
?Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, you see what you're like
And how does it feel a one more time?
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Author: gatechic
Characters/Pairing: Wyatt, Jeb, Garrett, Travis, Luara, Kasey, mention of Isabelle and Rebecca, some OCs and a brief scene with Wyatt/Adora.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Post-series. After the eclipse, the Cain men set off to find the rest of the Clan and find themselves on an unexpected adventure.
This chapter: Garrett is having a bad day. The Cain men finally reunite with some of their family.
Word Count:4,021
Disclaimer: Tin Man characters belong to the SciFi Channel, RHI, Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle. But Travis, Isabelle and Garrett belong to me. I also borrow from L. Frank Baum, Gregory Maguire and Rachel R Cosgrove (Payes). This is purely for fun and I'm not making a penny off of this.
A/N: These are prompts written for tm_challenge: Season Challenge 02 Big Damn Prompt Table. My table. This started off as a bunch of drabbles, not so much now.
Prompts 1-8||Prompts 9-11||Prompts 12-14||Prompts 15-20||Prompts 21-25||Prompts 26-27
Prompts 28-32||Prompts 33-37||Prompts 38-44||Prompts 45-50||Prompts 51-57||Prompts 58-63
Plans
With his flint knife drawn, Garrett stepped quietly from the bushes and into a clearing. He was so busy hunting the rabbit that he didn’t notice he was walking straight into a trap. By the time he noticed, his foot was snared in the rope.
“Shiiiiiiit!” Garrett yelled as he was dragged across the ground for a few feet and then was lifted up in the air. The knife had fallen from his hand when he fell backwards. He hung, upside down in the air.
“Damn, Munchkins and their traps,” he said angry. He pulled his scarf from his face so he could see how far his knife was. In a fruitless effort, he had tried to reach for it. He quickly gave up on that plan. He was just too far off the ground for his arms to reach. “Damn, got a plan to get out of this?” he mumbled to himself. He took a few deep breaths and let them out slowly. On the last intake of air, he hoisted himself up to try and reach the rope around his ankle. He fell back down and repeated the breathing technique. He tried again, this time letting out a loud grunt from the exertion. However, he still couldn’t reach the rope. Garrett looked around for another idea. He may have to wait until Wyatt, Travis, and Jeb go looking for him, they must know he left by now and are now following his tracks that he covered up so they wouldn’t follow him. “Great.”
Noises from the bushes startled him and he tried to turn himself around in mid air. His arms flapped and he twisted his hips in an awkward dance to face the direction of the noise. He reached for his gun, and then remembered, he didn’t have a gun. He made a face that would have made a mobat fly off in fear. Therefore, his next approach was diplomacy. And that was not one of his strongest attributes.
“Hello?” Garrett asked in a soft voice, hoping to not sound threatening. If it’s a Munchkin, I’m in trouble, he thought to himself.
“What are you doing here?” a female voice asked.
Garrett again, tried to turn his body so he could see who was talking to him, but they kept walking around him so his back was to them. "For cryin’ out loud," Garrett mumbled and stopped struggling and folded his arms in front of him. He let momentum take it’s course and he turned slowly in the air like meet roasting on a vertical spit. He tried to look over his shoulder, but his duster blocked his view. “I was just looking for food, that’s all, I meant no harm,” he said. On the next rotation, he noticed his knife was gone. He looked around frantically and then felt the texture of the flint knife against his neck.
“Looking for this?”
“Uhm…yes, actually.” Garrett had no idea how he was going to get out of this. Even if he did fight back, he had no weapon to defend himself with and he was in no position for hand-to-hand combat.
“Are you a Longcoat?” she asked him, pressing the knife harder against his skin.
“No, no, no, no…I was Resistance,” Garrett added quickly and then cursed himself because he might have fallen into a Longcoat trap.
The woman paused. His voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it.
“What’d you find, Luara?” Troy asked as he appeared from the bushes. She glared at Troy for saying her name.
“Luara?” Garrett asked. It couldn’t be…could it? “Luara Cain?”
Troy looked at Luara and then at the man. He shook his head at Luara. Troy didn’t want her to give the stranger any information. They had to be careful while they traveled. They had come across a few con artists already and some of them were not too friendly.
“Lulu,” Garrett said, trying to lift himself up.
Luara pushed the stranger around so she could get a better look at him. “Only one man called me that and he died, a long time ago,” she said.
“No, Lulu, it’s me, dad…Garrett,” he said frantically, waving his hands towards his face.
Luara tilted her head to see him better. There was apprehension on her face when the stranger first said ‘Luara Cain’, then shock when he said ‘Lulu’ and now…recognition changed her features. Garrett saw her blue eyes and her dark curly hair, so much like his own. However, the little girl he knew was gone, replaced by a young woman.
Luara saw the same old features she remembered: the small scar above the corner of his left eye, the dimple in his chin, the scruffy beard he favored, his blue eyes, and his curly hair that had more grey in it than she remembered. He was, undoubtedly, her father, skinnier, but it was him. “Gods! Dad!” She reached out and hugged him. “I thought…we thought…you were…I can’t believe it! It’s you!”
“All lies, darlin’. All lies,” he said, hugging her in return as tears formed in his eyes. He had found his little girl. Well, actually, she found him.
Luara turned and glanced at Troy. “Cut him down, Troy! He’s my dad!” she said excitedly. Troy, on the other hand, didn’t look very happy. He took out his knife and began cutting the rope.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Garrett repeated quickly, but his protests went unheard. The rope was cut and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. The leaves didn’t provide much of a cushion to soften the impact. His head spun and his shoulder ached.
“Dad!?” Luara screamed seeing how hard her father hit the ground. She was at his side, cradling his head. He looked up at her and her face went out of focus.
“Lulu,” he said, unsteady, and then his eyes closed.
“Dad?” Luara said, and checked to make sure he was still breathing. She turned and glared at Troy. “You knocked my father out!”
A group of men appeared from the brush, surrounded, and held their weapons towards Lulu and Troy. “Drop your weapons,” said one as he approached.
“Please, don’t hurt us,” Lulu said, placing the knife on the ground. She glanced down at her father and at that moment wanted to kill Troy.
One of the other men grabbed Troy and tied his hands behind his back. The first one smiled down at Luara, “I won’t hurt you…much,” he smiled and it wasn’t the kind of smile that was friendly. Luara felt a chill travel up her spine.
“Who is this?” the first man asked, pointing his weapon at the unconscious man’s head.
“My father,” Luara replied in a warning tone.
Shoe
“I need to have a long talk with that boy,” Travis said, looking at the print in the soil.
“About staying together?” Jeb asked, following Garrett’s trail into the clearing.
“Well, that, but-” Travis pointed to the boot imprints, “-he’s doing a lousy job of hiding his tracks.”
“If his intent was to make sure we didn’t follow, Jeb said, adding another opinion. “ Maybe he couldn’t sleep and decided to hunt for breakfast,” Jeb added. Travis nodded.
Wyatt knelt down in the center of the clearing, studied the ground, looked up and saw the rope dangling above his head. “Yeah, well, if he did want to hide his tracks, I don’t think he had the chance,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
Travis and Jeb joined him and found other footprints. Jeb followed a set that led from the brush. “Here’s some more and they’re not Uncle Garrett’s shoe prints, one of them may have been younger or female, the other is larger - could be male.”
Wyatt stood and walked towards Jeb and looked at the shoe prints. “Yeah, they came from this direction-” he pointed towards the brush and then swung his hand towards the center of the clearing, “-and walked towards the center, where I have a feeling Garrett was caught in that rope,” Wyatt pointed at the rope and then pulled it down. He held it up and said, “It’s been cut.”
“A trap?” Jeb asked.
“A trap yes, but not for Garrett, for anyone who passed by here. Jeb is right about one thing, Garrett was hunting-” Travis said, pointing to smaller animal-like prints as he followed them to where Wyatt and Jeb were standing, “-he was following breakfast and probably didn’t see the trap. He was dragged across the ground-” Travis said, pointing to a trail of disturbed soil, “-probably on his back and then hoisted into the air at this point.” Travis finished by looking towards the branches.
“The question is who took him?” Jeb asked.
Wyatt spotted some other tracks that led in the opposite direction. “More tracks over here,” Wyatt said simply, staring off into the forest.
Jeb and Travis looked at the tracks; they were definitely shoe prints and not like the other tracks. “The first tracks we found are in the center of these other prints, and look here-” Wyatt said pointing to an odd set of tracks, “-they were carrying something heavy”
“There’s no scouffle here, so Uncle Garrett may have been knocked unconscious,” Jeb added.
“Yeah, that’s likely, armed or not, Garrett would have put up a fight,” Wyatt said looking around for anyone that may have stayed behind, “Dead weight is heavy, no matter how much you weigh.”
“Garrett,” Travis said, aggravation in his tone. He removed his hat, wiped his brow with the sleeve of his duster, and then replaced his hat. “I’m really going to have a long talk with that boy.”
Noise
Jeb noticed something glistening from the corner of his eye. “Hey, dad, grandpa-” he picked up the object “-I found something,” he said looking at the piece of jewelry.
“An earring,” Wyatt said looking around and then he stopped, training his eyes on the area opposite of where they stood. “We have company,” he said and motioned with his hand for Travis and Jeb to kneel down behind the thick brush.
“Lu! Troy!” the female voice called out.
Wyatt looked at Jeb and then Travis. Guess he was wrong about the one set of prints belonging to a female. Both prints were male.
Travis had the best position to see the young woman step into the clearing. He watched as the young woman inspected the rope and then look nervously. “Luara!” she called out. Travis slowly turned his glance towards Wyatt and whispered, “Luara?”
“Wait-” Jeb looked at the earring in his hand, “-do you think…” Before Jeb could finish, Travis stood up and brushed past the vegetation.
“Dad!” Wyatt said with a huff. Why can’t people do what he tells them?
The young woman turned around when she heard the sounds behind her. Shock replaced the fear on her face when she saw the first one, then the second, and then the third. Kasey’s knees weakened. “By the gods…”
“Kasey?” Travis asked, unsure. In his memory, Kasey was still a young girl, not this woman standing before him.
She smiled. “Dad!” She ran to him and trapped him in a tight embrace. Wyatt turned and smiled at Jeb.
It took a few seconds for Travis to realize what was going on. His arms finally wrapped around his daughter and said her name.
“Kasey.”
Point
“Dad, mom is with me and so is Luara…that’s why I’m here…”
Travis’ tensed and pushed Kasey away from him, “Izzy?” Trepidation spread across his face and he froze. He was back in the cell, more drugs pumping into his system, and the hallucinations would soon start again. Was this another hallucination?
“Dad?” Kasey said, concerned.
Wyatt stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder, “It’s okay, sis,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
“Wyatt,” she smiled and then hugged him, “I knew it. I found the wanted poster-” she pulled away from Wyatt, “- what’s wrong with dad?”
“A long story,” Jeb said. “Hi, Aunt Kasey,” he said raising his brows as she slowly recognized him.
“Jeb?” she asked, shocked that her nephew was now a young man. He nodded and they embraced while Wyatt tended to Travis.
“Hey, it’s me, Wyatt. This isn’t the drugs or the Sorceress playing mind games, this is real. Remember, dad, come back to us,” Wyatt said putting his hands on Travis’ shoulders.
Travis blinked and a tear fell from his eyes, “Izzy?”
Wyatt smiled as he nodded.
“Izzy,” Travis repeated and then the corners of his mouth slowly turned upward. “My Isabelle.”
“Where’s grandma?” Jeb asked Kasey.
“She’s back at the camp. We met up with some people going south so we joined them. Figured there were safety in numbers. Luara and a boy named Troy made this trap to trap a wild boar or something for food. When she didn’t return, I came to look for her.”
“She caught a wild boar all right, but not the kind you can eat,” Travis said, coming out of his trance.
“What?” Kasey asked, thinking that maybe her father was still not thinking clearly.
“We think she caught Garrett,” Jeb added.
As amusing as that sounded, Kasey didn’t laugh. Because of the wanted poster, they knew that there was a good chance that Wyatt was still alive, but now she knew that her father, nephew, and now her other brother were still alive. “Garrett? He’s with you?” Kasey asked, trading glances with Travis, Wyatt, and Jeb.
The three men nodded. “We think they may have been taken-” Wyatt said, pointing in the direction of where they found the tracks, “-and went in that direction.”
“I found this.” Jeb held up the earring. “Do you recognize this?”
Kasey took the earring from Jeb’s hand and nodded. “Yeah, I do. It’s Luara’s.”
Peril
“Are you sure he’s the one?” John asked.
Jason nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of ‘em.”
Garrett gazed upward, still trying to shake the cobwebs from his mind. He tried to move his hands, but they were tied behind his back. Of course, he thought. His eyes squinted trying to focus on the face. “Hey, I remember you…”
Jason grabbed Garrett by his lapels and pulled him up. “I should kill you now-” Jason stopped when he felt a hand grip his shoulder.
“Not now, Jason.” John watched as Jason released the man. “Jason tells me that you and your friends are responsible for ruining my business in Westhallow.”
Garrett glanced around at their surroundings. They had been taken to an area that the way in was also the way out. They stood with their backs to the wall of a cliff, not a high cliff, but one that was too steep to climb. To Garrett, the cliff formation resembled a horseshoe. With their captors in front of them and the cliff blocking any chances they had for escape, they were definitely trapped. Garrett looked at Lulu and winked.
John smiled. “So…where are your friends?”
“Around, I’m sure,” Garrett said, but in his mind, he added, I hope.
John nodded to his men and Luara and Troy were separated from Garrett. John and Jason pushed Garrett closer to the side of the cliff.
“Dad! No! Please,” Luara pleaded with her captors as she was pushed away from him.
“Lulu, it’s okay,” Garrett said, trying to reassure her, but even he had no idea how he was going to get out of this.
“Trying to reassure your little girl, you should have thought about that before sticking your nose where it don’t belong,” John said, pushing Garrett against the rocks, his arm pressed against Garrett’s neck.
“Let her go, she had nothing to do with it,” Garrett said, gasping for air.
“Not yet, I have plans for you…and her,” John said. Jason chuckled.
“You best not hurt her,” Garrett spat.
John turned to Jason and nodded. As John walked away, Jason punched Garrett.
Stone
There was one thing about Horseshoe Cliff, the brightly colored fauna that surrounded the base of the cliff and the ancient stonewall that followed the slopes of the cliff on either side. The stonewall provided some cover for Travis and Wyatt. Jeb stayed with Kasey to make sure she got back to camp safely. Travis and Wyatt had no idea who took Garrett, Luara, and Troy, but they wanted her to be safe.
If it weren’t for seeing what was happening below, Travis would have picked some of those aromatic flowers for Isabelle. A part of him still wished he had gone to see her, but Kasey was right, she would have wanted him to help Garrett and Luara first. If anything had happened to them because he was a few minutes late, he would live with that regret for the rest of his life.
“Sons of bitches,” Travis said, watching his own son take one hit after another. Another man had joined in on the beating and Travis could feel his blood boiling.
“Dad, we need a diversion,” Wyatt began, “-take out the one nearest Luara. I’ll take of the one beating Garrett.”
“How? We only have the one gun from Kasey,” Travis said. “I can shoot fast…”
“Diversion, dad-” Wyatt pointed to the other four men, “-they’ll shoot them before you can get all of them. I have a plan, trust me.”
Travis blinked.
“I know, trust being a relative term, but…I know what I’m doing. Wait for my signal.” Wyatt patted his father’s shoulder and kept low as he stayed behind the short stonewall. “Damn, Munchkins,” Wyatt mumbled under his breath, remembering why the wall was so short. The Munchkins also had a name for this area, but right now, remembering the name was the furthest thing on his mind.
Travis took aim and waited for Wyatt’s signal.
Wyatt looked around and found a good size boulder, not too heavy, but the right size for his great rescue plan. He had one shot at this and he knew he had to make it good. He carefully glanced over the wall and could barely see the top of his first victim’s head. He had a pretty good idea where the second one was.
“Okay, you survived a jump of a much higher cliff and a fall into a freezing lake, this is nothing. Two story drop max, maybe three,” he said aloud to himself. He picked up the boulder, glanced over at his father and nodded.
Travis turned his attention to the sight on the gun and fired.
Wyatt tossed the boulder out and leapt.
Frame
The bullet tore into John’s frame, sending him to the ground. Luara was frozen at first, blood splattering on her cloths and face. Everything moved in slow motion as she turned to look at her father. Was he yelling something? She couldn’t tell at first.
The rock hit Jason on his head. The second man never saw the man falling from the sky.
Wyatt hit the second man before he even had a chance to pull his gun from his holster. They both crashed to the ground.
Travis took out a fourth man and then the fifth. None of them fired a single shot. Travis glanced over and saw Wyatt lying on the ground, motionless.
“Wyatt!” Travis yelled.
Luara didn’t see her grandfather precariously making his way down a hazardous slope as she ran to her father’s side.
Fall
They walked among the red, orange, and yellow leaves that signaled the start of the fall season. This was his first trip to Gillikin Country and Adora was right: this was nothing like he had seen before. He turned and smiled as they strolled down the middle of the row of trees that led to her parent’s home.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Adora asked him.
“The trees or you?”
She hit his shoulder. “That was so corny, Wyatt.”
He laughed. “Okay, yes, the trees are beautiful. We don’t really get a change of season, well, we do, but not like this. Thanks for inviting me.” He stopped and put his arms around her, pulling her in for a kiss.
After a few minutes, she broke off the kiss. She brushed the side of his face with the back of her hand. “The big hero.”
“Huh?” Wyatt asked.
“Garrett’s going to be fine, you saved him. And you’ll be fine too. Just stay with me for a while, Wyatt,” Adora said to him and then pulled him in again for another kiss.
Wyatt didn’t understand what she meant, but he was enjoying the peace he felt and didn’t want to leave. He broke off the kiss, gave her a smirk, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along at a fast pace.
“Where are we going?” Adora asked, laughing.
“To do what you’re supposed to do when someone is raking leaves,” Wyatt said. He let go of her hand and then leapt into the pile of leaves. Adora watched as the leaves exploded into the air and laughed.
The only ones not amused were the gardeners.
“This is why I love you, Wyatt Cain. You can be a serious, no nonsense Tin Man and then turn around and act like a big kid.”
He stood up from the pile of leaves and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not a Tin Man yet, Adora.”
“I know, I’m just saying that you’re already starting to act like a Tin Man,” she said, brushing some bits of leaves off his shirt.
“It’s you, Adora. This is the affect you have on me.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Language
Munchkins had a peculiar language. At times, they spoke in rhymes. Too bad they chose this moment to show up instead of ten minutes ago.
Travis and his family were quickly surrounded by tiny people wearing feathers and painted heads. “You trespass on sacred lands, bind their hands,” the blue Munchkin said, sticking his spear in Travis’ face.
“We didn’t mean to trespass. My sons, they need help,” Travis said, looking down at Wyatt and then over to Garrett. He was mostly concerned about Wyatt. Garrett would be fine, but even that couldn’t keep his anger rising up in him. Why did Garrett have to take off…
Travis felt a spear poke his chest as his hands were tied in front of him.
“Your son shall face the wrath, because he chose the warpath,” another Munchkin replied.
“We didn’t come here on our own, my other son and his daughter were captured…” Travis was hushed quickly by a red Munchkin.
“Stop your words, they are like squawks of the blackbirds. The next time you speak, it will be while you peel on the wheel,” the red Munchkin added.
“I have right to council, I offer a…a…” Travis paused, urging his mind to come up with a rhyme. “A handsel.” His face distorted into disgust at his terrible rhyme.
The blue Munchkin gazed at him, surprised that a human would respect their ways, and then urged the group to move.
Garrett looked up as he pulled along. What a bad day I’m having, he thought as the Munchkin tugged on the rope tied around his waist. He glanced at his father, “Dad-”
“Don’t, Garrett, I don’t want to hear it,” Travis said with anger in his tone and then adverted his eyes away from Garrett. He watched a few of the Munchkins tend to Wyatt on the small wagon.
Garrett’s lips thinned as he looked at Lulu. He left because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of him. He wished he could go back and change things. However, would he have found Lulu? He just needed to wait for his father to calm down and he would try to talk to him again.
“We’re together, dad, that’s the important thing,” Lulu said giving her father a slight smile.
“I promise you, Lulu, we’re going to get out of this and I’m going to find Rebecca and I’ll make sure Harold never bothers us again,” Garrett said, determination in his voice.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bad Day by Daniel Powter
Where is the moment we needed the most?
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on
You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
They tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces every time
And I don't need no carryin' on
?Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, the camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don't need no carryin' on
You had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, the camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
Mmm, on a holiday
Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing it turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I'm not wrong
So where was the passion when you need it the most?
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
?Cause you had a bad day, you're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know, you tell me don't lie
You work on a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day, you see what you're like
And how does it feel a one more time?
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day