Tongue Tied Episode 10

Aria’s knuckles whitened on the grip of Grant’s blaster. Bessie’s head swayed closer, and the heat from her mouth made Aria feel like a roast on a spit.

“Now what?” Aria said. “It seems you got the upper hand with this here overgrown lizard, but I sure as shootin’ don’t want to go back to them saloonies.”

“How about you lower my blaster first off. Me and Bessie would feel a whole heap better if it wasn’t pointed at me.”

Aria relaxed her grip on the weapon and lowered it to her side. She noticed a light whiff of smoke coming off her dress, and patted at its glowing embers. She glared at Bessie and said, “Do you mind?”

Bessie moved her head farther away and the heat subsided. She continued to keep a wary eye on Aria.

“Okay, blaster down,” Aria said. The rumble of pounding hooves rolling across the red desert were growing steadily louder. “Now can we get out of here?”

“Blaster,” Grant said.

Aria hesitated.

“Now, unless you’d rather deal with them.” Grant pointed in the direction of a small cloud of dust moving toward them.

She threw the blaster to Grant.

In one fluid movement, he snatched it out of the air, twisted the setting to mid-range, and dropped it into his holster. “Anything you need out of that carriage, you get quick.”

The dust cloud danced over the last escarpment, coming fast. “They’ll be here any minute,” Aria said. The saloonies were close enough Aria could hear the cadence of individual horses in the thunder of the hooves pounding the desert floor. She grabbed her bag and a blanket from the carriage and ran to the edge of the thurium dig. All she could see in the pit was dust. “Grant! Don’t you leave me here, you son of a sidewinder.”

“That ain’t no way for a lady to talk,” Grant said. Aria shielded her eyes against the glare of the sun and looked up to where his voice came just as Bessie landed next to her.

“Maybe I ain’t no lady.”

“Sad to hear that,” Grant said. And it sounded as if he really meant it. “I’m headed out of here. You coming?” He reached out his hand.

Aria grabbed his hand and he pulled her onto Bessie’s back. Bessie rose into the air just as the saloonies rounded the hill and stormed into the arroyo. She could hear them shouting and shooting as Bessie’s wings caught the wind and Aria felt herself rushing through the air. She looked back and the men on the ground looked about the size of rabbits, then chipmunks, then they were lost in the dust from the pit settling over them.

Aria leaned forward and said into Grant’s ear, “Thanks for not leaving me.”

He turned toward her. “I should have come back for you sooner.”

She snuggled her head onto his shoulder and surveyed the sky in front of them. “Grant. There’s somebody in Bessie’s mouth.”

(I’ll bet if you found this by accident you're a might confused by all this ruckus. If you want to get the whole story, and find out how this all makes sense, click for Episode 1)

(Ready to ride the dragon on the next episode? Here is Episode 11)