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[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

[dictated, cheerful]

How goes the cattle-brandin', gentlemen? I hope they're not givin' you too much trouble this year.



----- Whip -----

[after the conversation with York]

You reckon they trust us?

Comments

[encryptedlock]

[York actually sounds kind of cheerful.]

Gotta love searing the flesh of animals that weigh four or five times as much as we do.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Not fond of the cattle these days, Mr. York?

[encryptedlock]

Nah, they're fine. Some of my workers have no idea how to brand without peeing their pants. They're just cows, for God's sake!

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

No kiddin'. If those cows aren't marked, you can't sell 'em or claim the reward. Mighty foolish to consider otherwise.

[encryptedlock]

I know, right?

...Sides, I don't want to see what'd happen if we don't get all the work done.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

It's happened before. Plenty of folks in these parts know what it's like to not make the winter, and it leads to hard times for all. These past few years have been bad 'cross the country.

[encryptedlock]

[He'd been thinking more along the lines of Paradisa inflicting them with waves of attacking hostile natives or a buffalo stampede or something, but that works too.]

Aw, we'll pull out of it, long as we all work together.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

'Course. Folks 'round these parts are good at helpin' out their neighbours, no matter how troubled they are themselves.

[pause, and then a warm laugh]

You ain't worried about makin' the winter?

[encryptedlock]

Long as nobody goes around kidnapping any more of my people, nope.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Good.

I'm glad those men are back to normal. It's a real bother when those little things happen.

[encryptedlock]

No kidding.

On the plus side, they get to help me out here to make up for lost time.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

That so? Count yourself as lucky, then.

And how's the girl?

[encryptedlock]

I'll hold off on that till they prove they're competent.

Chie? Little shell-shocked - who wouldn't be? But I think she's more embarrassed at getting caught than anything else. She'll be fine in a few days, I'm sure.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Wise choice. And I'll tell you, if we could hold Carter responsible, he wouldn't be our deputy for a second longer.

Good. You'll send her all my best, won't you?

[encryptedlock]

Good. He's lucky it was temporary insanity, then.

Sure will, Miss Reno.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Mmhm. You ever seen that kind of thing before?

Thank you.

[encryptedlock]

[with just a trace of bitterness] The kind where you're acting in a way you usually don't for a week or so, then get off scot-free at the end with some lame excuse? Yeah. Heard of it. Most of the time, people I know get stuck with things a little more permanent, though.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

[pause]

These times really are changing. Poor things –– but at least you all face these things admirably.

[encryptedlock]

[He sighs. Didn't really mean for it to come out like that, but--it hasn't been an easy week for him, easy-going as he usually is.]

Thanks, Miss Reno. We gotta try our best.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Yes sir we do.

You got a name for these changes?

[encryptedlock]

[God, he's starting to pick up a Western twang. Tex is gonna laugh at him.]

We call 'em "losses". Not sure who started those names, but it's because you "lose" something - your sense of good and evil, maybe, or your gender. You know that nice lady at the butcher's shop? She's usually a guy.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Well I'll be damned.

[is that disbelief, or an under reaction?]

The times have really changed. Sounds like the work of the devil, but then again, I never met no devil in this place.

[encryptedlock]

[Probably disbelief. York knows he'd disbelieve it, too, if he hadn't had it happen to him.]

I wouldn't worry too much about it, Miss Reno. Best stick to what you know, and let us deal with the rest.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Now, there, Mr. York, you know I won't be taking any of that "men talk" nonsense. What do you think causes these "losses"?

[encryptedlock]

[He laughs, a bit sheepishly. He hadn't been going for "men talk"; more like "castle people talk". Oh well.]

Same thing that keeps these journals running, probably.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

You figured out that one yet?

[encryptedlock]

Some people call it magic. Not a word I like to use.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

[scoff] Witchcraft. Magic. All that superstitious stuff; never believed a word of it.

[encryptedlock]

Right. Don't have to know why the sky is blue to know that it is. Don't have to know what causes losses to know that they happen.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Sounds like good Kansas logic to me.

Well, I'd best be off. Good night to you, Mr. York.

[encryptedlock]

[Now if only Delta would agree with that kind of logic.]

Take care of yourself, Miss Reno.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

You too.

[journal closed]

[needsnoblade.livejournal.com]

The cattle are far more lively than the sheep I'm used to. But it's going well enough.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Glad t' hear it.

We don't have many sheep in these parts. Don't bring in as much as the cattle do.

[needsnoblade.livejournal.com]

I can see that. Back at home, the sheep's wool was imperative in keeping us warm. That's not really an issue here.

[so-catless.livejournal.com]

[quietly]

If I own the farm, they're my cattle...correct?

That means I can do with them what I want?

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

What ideas are floatin' in your head, young lady?

[so-catless.livejournal.com]

Nothing.

[oh so calmly.]

I think I'm going to...wait. A bit. Before doing anything with my cattle.

That's all.

[itslikethecity.livejournal.com]

Now remember, you'll lose 'em in the drive if you don't get around to it. You need me to send Whip over there to show you how to do it?

[so-catless.livejournal.com]

[...how to explain that you have no intention of taking part in the all-important cattle drive, for no other reason that you can't bear the thought of your cattle meeting a painful or violent end?]

No, that's alright.

We'll manage.

[she...wasn't even sure what she meant by that.]

[whistleandwork.livejournal.com]

I am finding the task of herding cattle to be difficult but rewarding! However, I could do without the practice of branding. I shall not forget the smell of burning flesh ...

[practicalslouch.livejournal.com]

Not bad.