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oom: stables
He's outside, working, but at the same time, thinking about what he knows.
It's not much. A name. The fact that Will and Kate are gone. Missing. He rode out over the grounds earlier, looking for tracks, signs, anything that Will might have left behind. He's a man of Sherwood and a fellow outlaw and outlaws don't just vanish without a fargin' trace. You just don't. No new notes have been left to him since Guppy's this morning, and he hasn't found a damn thing to help in the search.
Doc doesn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not one bit.
His body is on autopilot, using the fork to spread straw around a stall. The weather is warming up a bit and more and more of the horses and other beasts are taking to the paddock instead of staying inside all day, but it doesn't hurt to have things clean. Just in case.
Just in case.
Maybe he should search again. Take a run through the woods, perhaps. He and Billy survived an evening shooting the demon bunnies, he could do it on his own.
But would Will and Kate be able to survive demon bunnies?
Was it even the stupid bunnies at all?
Probably not. This was Milliways, after all. It was probably something bigger than he was, more advanced, something that he couldn't understand. Something with ships that fly among the stars or computers, the damn video player that he and Will couldn't figure out. Perhaps that had gone batshit and killed...
no no no no no.
They couldn't be dead. Will was stronger than that. Kate was stronger than that. They were young, yeah, but not as young as Tommy was. Not wrapped up in something they couldn't run from. Not wrapped up...
Well maybe they were.
"Christ."
Doc mutters the word as he feels his hand brush against something sharp, and looks up to see the scratch and the thin trail of blood starting to come to the surface. It's really not all that deep, just a surface wound.
He doesn't wipe it away.
Tom bled to death on the desert floor.
you ever seen a man shot before, tom?
Of course he had. Most everyone who was anyone had seen a man shot and killed on the desert or seen a man hung by the neck in the center of town. Doc couldn't count how many men he'd seen hang. Hell, he'd nearly been hung himself. Will had helped get him out of that mess.
He'd seen a lot of men shot, too. Before he joined the gang, before he started working for Mr. Tunstall. Then he saw John killed by Murphy's men. Dick gunned down by Buckshot Roberts. Watched Billy blow McKloskey's brains out near a river just south of El Capitan. Saw Charlie, Steve, Alex, all gunned down. Now Tom.
you read the book. you're next.
Doc blinks away the heat in his eyes and moves to grab a cloth from his pocket to wrap around his hand, then leans the pitchfork against a wall, and heads back into the bar.
It's not much. A name. The fact that Will and Kate are gone. Missing. He rode out over the grounds earlier, looking for tracks, signs, anything that Will might have left behind. He's a man of Sherwood and a fellow outlaw and outlaws don't just vanish without a fargin' trace. You just don't. No new notes have been left to him since Guppy's this morning, and he hasn't found a damn thing to help in the search.
Doc doesn't like the feeling in the pit of his stomach. Not one bit.
His body is on autopilot, using the fork to spread straw around a stall. The weather is warming up a bit and more and more of the horses and other beasts are taking to the paddock instead of staying inside all day, but it doesn't hurt to have things clean. Just in case.
Just in case.
Maybe he should search again. Take a run through the woods, perhaps. He and Billy survived an evening shooting the demon bunnies, he could do it on his own.
But would Will and Kate be able to survive demon bunnies?
Was it even the stupid bunnies at all?
Probably not. This was Milliways, after all. It was probably something bigger than he was, more advanced, something that he couldn't understand. Something with ships that fly among the stars or computers, the damn video player that he and Will couldn't figure out. Perhaps that had gone batshit and killed...
no no no no no.
They couldn't be dead. Will was stronger than that. Kate was stronger than that. They were young, yeah, but not as young as Tommy was. Not wrapped up in something they couldn't run from. Not wrapped up...
Well maybe they were.
"Christ."
Doc mutters the word as he feels his hand brush against something sharp, and looks up to see the scratch and the thin trail of blood starting to come to the surface. It's really not all that deep, just a surface wound.
He doesn't wipe it away.
Tom bled to death on the desert floor.
you ever seen a man shot before, tom?
Of course he had. Most everyone who was anyone had seen a man shot and killed on the desert or seen a man hung by the neck in the center of town. Doc couldn't count how many men he'd seen hang. Hell, he'd nearly been hung himself. Will had helped get him out of that mess.
He'd seen a lot of men shot, too. Before he joined the gang, before he started working for Mr. Tunstall. Then he saw John killed by Murphy's men. Dick gunned down by Buckshot Roberts. Watched Billy blow McKloskey's brains out near a river just south of El Capitan. Saw Charlie, Steve, Alex, all gunned down. Now Tom.
you read the book. you're next.
Doc blinks away the heat in his eyes and moves to grab a cloth from his pocket to wrap around his hand, then leans the pitchfork against a wall, and heads back into the bar.