WWotWW - Chapter 1 - A Company Town

Some of your may have already read my WWotWW initial draft when I posted the latest poll, this is the fixed version of chapter 1 + 2 that I stayed up WAY to late last night to fix

As soon as I stepped on the platform I was struck by a dry, oppressive heat. 

It had taken me several days of non-stop travel to reach this point, and now that I was here I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. I’d come here expecting the lawless frontier, but from the look of it Gravewater was a well developed, fairly modern town. The platform and buildings weren’t built from unfinished logs, but refined lumber and brick, probably shipped from way back east, as a way to show off the company’s wealth. 

A quiet, upset hiss from my carpet bag reminded me that I had more important things to do than sightsee. I quickly hefted my rifle case in one hand, and the old, misshapen carpet bag in the other. “I’m going, don’t get your tail in a knot,” I whispered to the bag.

I quickly made my way down the platform, past the station, and on to the dusty main road. Thankfully, even though the town was fairly modern looking, it wasn’t that large, and all the main amenities were within a couple hundred feet of the train station. As soon as I spotted the hotel I sprinted across the street, ducking between the various horses and carriages, and headed inside.

I half expected to step directly into a tavern floor filled with gambling and prostitution, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found a neat lobby with a well dressed clerk instead. The man wiped his hands on a nearby towel, before picking up a pen. “Can I help you ma’am?” he asked politely.

“I’m looking for a private room, for a couple nights. Don’t know exactly how long,” I replied, eyeing him up suspiciously.

He nodded, then flipped through the ledger on his desk for a moment. “Unfortunately I don’t have any regular rooms available, only a couple of premium ones. We’re quite busy right now.”

“Why? Is there something happening?”  I asked suspiciously.

“Yes ma’am, one of the company trains is coming through tomorrow. Many of the local farmers, and ranchers, rent a room so they can be here when it arrives. It’s a pretty big deal around here.”

“I just got off a train, so I don’t get what the big deal is, but ok…” I muttered as I dug my wallet out. “How much are the premium rooms?”

“Two dollars a night.” I didn’t argue, instead I just dug a crumpled ten out of my pocket and dropped it on the counter. Before it even landed the man snatched it up, and placed it in the cashbox. “Name?”

“Zoey Claiborne” I said. 

The man nodded briefly as he filled in the register. Once he was done he reached under the desk, pulled out a key and handed it to me. “You’ll be in room eight, second floor at the end,” he said, “Welcome to GraveWater.”

I just nodded politely in response, before grabbing the key and heading up to the room. 

Even though the room had a solid door, and a modern lock, the inside wasn’t anything special. A double bed, chest of drawers, mirror, a stove, and a tiny window which looked out over the street. I quickly placed my bag down on the bed, and popped it open, revealing the small grey tabby cat inside.

She popped her head out, and stared daggers at me. “Merow!”

“I’m sorry, but you know most places don’t allow cats,” I told my feline familiar, before adding “Superstitious bastards,” under my breath. 

Kaylee laid her ears down flat, and stared even harder, but didn’t respond. Now that my cat was finally out of the bag, I threw my worn out black cowboy hat to the floor, and took a look at myself in the mirror. My raven black hair had dried out during the long trip, leaving it brittle and frayed, and I had huge bags under my hazel eyes. My fair skin was fine, but it wouldn’t take long for me to develop a tan in this climate. 

There was a small bowl of fresh water on the chest of drawers, probably one of the few extra amenities for the premium room, so I took a few minutes to clean myself up before turning back towards the bed. “Do you think this is far enough west yet?” I asked my cat.

Kaylee looked up from where she was grooming herself, and stared at me for a moment. “Meow”

“I know, I know. There’s no way for either of us to actually know, I just wanted your opinion,” I told her.

Kaylee just cocked her head to the side, then went back to grooming.

“Fine, be that way,” I mumbled. 

Since Kaylee was occupying the bed, and there was a bowl of water on the chest of drawers, I dragged my rifle case over to the window sill. The railway prevented anyone from openly carrying on their trains, and they had the muscle to back it up, so I had put my firearms away for the trip. Now that we’d arrived, I was itching to put my revolver back on my belt. 

The case was built with three compartments. There were spaces in the lid to secure my pair of Black Steel Co Revolvers, even though I normally only carried one at a time. Opposite the revolvers, was a space for my repeating rifle. I’d saved for months in order to buy it back home, and only had one chance to use it. Now just looking at it brought back bad memories.

I pulled the rifle out, and set it aside, in order to get access to the final, hidden compartment. Underneath the rifle, hidden beneath a false panel, was my broom. Although most of the coven had been quite traditional, hand making their own brooms, I had used a more modern design. The handle had a screw joint in the middle which allowed me to break it down for transport, and the bristles were tightly packed with artificial fibers, instead of straw. 

It was both my pride and joy, and one of the very few artifacts which I had that still worked after the incident.

I slowly brushed my hand down its length, before finally pulling away and closing the compartment again. It was best to be cautious. If anyone found it, it would cause issues for me.

I carefully placed my rifle back in its compartment, before grabbing one of my pistols and closing the case again. 

I ran my hands over its black enamel with silver embossed finish of my pistol; Carefully checking the chamber and barrel, before slipping a couple rounds into the chamber and tucking it into my belt. Once I did, I felt immensely better.

“Hold down the fort for a while, I want to look around,” I told Kaylee. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring you dinner when I come back, just remember to stay out of sight.” The cat meowed her confirmation, satisfied with my declaration, before disappearing under my bed, and meowing a half hearted goodbye.

“Yeah yeah, I love you too,” I grumbled as I grabbed my hat and headed to the door. 

I quickly locked up, depositing the key into a pocket on my vest, before heading back down to the street.  

They’d moved the train out of the station, but I could still see it at a makeshift railyard just outside of town. There had to be over a dozen employees crawling all over it, doing maintenance, refilling the coal car, and checking the passenger cars. Most towns didn’t even have the infrastructure to supply coal, so for the company to invest in a full maintenance shed probably meant they had big plans for this place later. 

I clicked my tongue at the thought. I’d come here, right to the end of the rail line to avoid people, and found a burgeoning town instead. 

I turned away from the train and started making my way down the sidewalk, glancing inside each building I passed. There was a saloon, which despite having the drinking and gambling I expected at the inn, was more subdued than most establishments I’d seen elsewhere. Beside it was the bank, which seemed to deal mainly in company notes, the sheriff’s office, a telegraph office, blacksmith, and finally a company store. I even double checked the side streets, looking for more businesses, only to locate the butcher and the church, but nothing else. I expected more somehow.

Since I didn’t have another choice, I stepped into the small company store. As I wandered up to the counter, looking over the stock, a little boy peeked out of the back room. The two of us stared at one another in silence for a moment before he turned towards the back and yelled, “Pa! Customer!” before disappearing. A second later a slightly balding, bow backed man stepped forward.

“Howdy stranger. Welcome to Gravewater mercantile, how can I help you?” he asked.

“I’m just looking for some supplies to get me through the week,” I reported, looking through my options. The man nodded politely while I browsed. “I noticed you only carry the staples, if I want something else can you order it for me?”

He chuckled. “This must be your first time in a Graves controlled town ma’am. All the company stores only stock the basics, because the big ticket items are only sold directly from the company trains. There’ll be one coming through tomorrow, if you’re interested.”

“Not sure why you wouldn’t just stock things locally. It seems overly complicated,” I grumbled.

“Company policy,” he said.. “As long as they sell directly from the train, and don’t ship anything in, no one can set up a competitive store. Graves has operated that way for years, you’ll get used to it pretty quick if you stick around." He smiled softly and leaned against the counter. “So, can I get you anything?”

“Yeah, just some cooking supplies, bacon, bread, beans and eggs,” I said, after quickly perusing what was available. “Looks like I’m going to have to stop by that train tomorrow,” I grumbled.

“I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, it’s quite an experience,” the shop keeper said, as he busied himself with collecting my supplies. It didn’t take him long before he came back, with a decent sized sack. “That’ll be fifty cents” 

I fished a couple coins out of my pocket and handed them over, before taking my groceries. 

As I stepped back outside, I noticed a commotion back towards the sheriff's office. From what I could tell, a small posse had rode into town while I was occupied. Bounty hunters?

The group had already attracted a lot of attention, so I stepped up to one of the locals nearby. “What’s going on? They bring in a major bounty or something?” I asked.

One of the women nearby turned to me, with a massive smile on her face. “Even better! They managed to pick up a couple of rogue spellcasters from that commune outside of town. It’s about time too! They’ve gotten away with their witchcraft for far too long, it’s about time they faced true justice.” As the rest of the group muttered their approval, I tried to catch a look at the ‘perpetrators’. I just managed to catch sight of two girls, so young they could barely be considered teens, as the posse dragged them off the horses and shoving them inside the sheriff’s office.

Every instinct in my body cried out to help the girls, but I knew I couldn’t do anything. Not with so many people around. Instead I just forced a fake smile. “Justice, right.”