[The Lone Gunslinger, Chapter 16, Festival Day, Part I] [Part I] "I can't find my black shirt, Jaco took it," screeches Josh deploying his standard defense to anything in the cabin he might have misplaced. "Did not," replies Jaco. "Did too," argues Josh crawling back out from under the bed. Jaco is hanging upside down from the rafters as usual, and Simon is in his room getting dressed. I can smell the after-shave cologne from here; he always uses the cologne for special occasions. "Papa, Jaco stole my shirt!" yells Josh insistently. "I told you to fold it up and put it away," says Simon. "You left it in the bathroom." Jaco bares his little sharp teeth at Josh and hisses. Josh, not to be outdone, bares his teeth back and returns an equal hiss. I was worried when Jaco first started hissing at Josh, but Simon said Daraian siblings hissing at each other is normal. "Hero, go back the truck out of the barn," shouts Simon from the other room. Backing the truck out is something I live for and jump up off my bunk and dash for the keys hanging on a hook next to the door. We rarely use the truck, but tonight we have to go pick up Andy. The Children's Festival Day Play is tonight at one of the big warehouses emptied out for the occasion, and it would be too far for Andy to walk. Heck, even I wouldn't want to walk all the way down the switch-back to the Administration Complex. I pull the door open and find Andy just walking up to the cabin with his nurse; his cabin isn't far, and I guess he couldn't wait. "Andy's here," I shout. "Grandpa!" squeals Josh. The nurse wrinkles her nose as she walks past me into the cabin. I don't think the cabin smells too bad, maybe a little messy, but there are four guys living in a cabin meant for one, or maybe two. But I don't want to hear the nurse scolding Simon again for the state of the cabin and run to the barn and swing the double doors open wide. Horse greets me with a snort, and I check on her real quick and nuzzle her nose before pulling the tarp off the truck. The truck is under an old torn and dusty canvas tarp in the center of the barn, and I tug at the tarp to pull it away. It's an old truck, probably older than Simon is, but who cares, I get to pull it out. There will only be enough room in the cab for three people. Jaco, Josh, and I will have to ride in the bed… Unless Simon lets me drive… naw, that's not going to happen. The truck fires up the first time; Simon takes good care of it. I pull it out slowly, jump out and close the barn up, and then drive the old truck around to the front of the cabin. Simon is herding everyone out to the truck and pulls open the driver door. Terry--that's the nurse, I think I forgot to tell you his name--helps Andy climb into the truck on the passenger’s side and follows him in. "Okay slick, in the back," orders Simon. I jump in the back with my brothers and sit down beside Josh. Jaco stands against the back of the cab and spreads his wings while Simon pulls out onto the road. I smile a little looking at everyone. Maybe it's a strange family, but yea, we're a family. I think this is the first time I realize it. There are a lot of trucks heading to the Festival Play; this is so exciting. I see Gunslinger Elias with Misfire and Timmy in their truck and wave. Misfire waves back. "Hey Jaco, you trying to fly that truck," shouts Misfire. Elias' truck looks even older than ours; the Gunslingers aren't too keen on spending money if something still works. But then, I already knew that. Andy is going to have a real treat tonight. He gets to see something no outsider ever gets to see. This is my first time too, but I know what to expect, I have a part in the play too. The play is called the Children's Festival Day Parade, and it's true the little kids are the main stars, but the play is about all of us, it's the whole history of the Lone Gunslingers, and something more. The intersection is a mess down the switch-back, trucks are lined up in every direction trying to merge--this is so awesome. There are Gunslingers at the intersection trying to direct traffic, and they have a few of the seventh and eighth graders with them helping--they all have bright orange vests on and it's just adding to the festive atmosphere. Simon leans his head out the window. "Jaco, can your wings support Josh's weight?" "Yea, no problem," shouts Jaco. "Okay, he's going to be late, this traffic jam is going to take too long," says Simon. "Take Josh over there to the cliff and fly him down to the Festival Hall." Jaco jumps out of the truck followed by Josh enthusiastically and takes Jaco's hand, and they dash between the headlights of the trucks. I see Jaco wrap his arms around Josh and leap off the cliff at the edge of the switch-back. …And that opens the flood gates. Not more than a minute later other Ravens are walking around the trucks and shouting, "Ten Imperials for a glide down to the warehouses, eighty-pound weight limit!" The Ravens have found a way to turn the traffic jam into profit. Dozens of kids are jumping out of trucks and waving Ten Imperial Notes at the Ravens, and the glider rides begin. I stick my head around to the window and grin at Andy. "Fun, huh Andy?" "I don't know, Hero," says Andy. "Seems a bit dangerous." "Dangerous?" I laugh. "We're dangerous people, we send our kids out on the prairie to get chased by Beastie-Cats, this is nothing." "Chased by Beastie-Cats?" Andy asks Simon. "What's he talking about?" "Don't worry, Josh doesn't do that until he's sixteen," says Simon. "I thought us miners were a crazy lot," says Andy. "You Gunslingers are just plum nuts." There is too much to see to keep my head stuck in the side window talking about my annoying little brother. He's not really annoying, not much, but that's how the other kids my age talk about their little brothers and sisters, and I like fitting in. "Hey Hero," shouts Twig from the other side of the road. "Bunch of us are walking down, come on." Twig probably walked here from his cabin. I can't imagine Twig's mentor, Gunslinger Cyrus, letting Twig have the luxury of riding in a truck. I jump out of the truck and slap the side of the driver’s door. "Hey pops, I see some of my friends, we're gonna walk." Twig and I run over to a group of teenagers waiting on the side of the road. Rock and Misfire are there, and several other teens I recognize from school that will be doing the Long Run in the fall. “Hey, Hero,” David, Shane, and Heather greet me. They are already sixteen and just waiting for the next Long Run in a couple months. I don’t know them real well, but what I know of him tells me they are a wild group and always getting into trouble. I guess they’ll learn. We follow Misfire and weave between the headlights of the trucks and head down towards the switch-back, but Misfire jumps off the road and runs along a path moving away from the road. “Where are we going?” I shout following the others. “You’ll see,” shouts Misfire. The path leads through the trees to an old abandoned water tower. I’ve seen the water tower from the upper road before, but never bothered to go look at it. There is a sign on the ladder that goes up the side of the water tower that reads, ‘Warning, Condemned, Stay Off’. Misfire ignores the sign and heads up the ladder. I do not think the water tower or the ladder looks safe at all. “I don’t think we should go up there,” I say. “Oh don’t be a baby,” says David. “Come on.” “I’m not going up there, that’s stupid,” I argue. “I thought we were just walking down to the warehouse, I’m leaving.” “Come on, Hero,” whispers Twig. “I vouched for you, don’t be like this.” It doesn’t take me much to think it through. I lost the Class Leader position, shamed my family, lost Horse, spent a whole month on extra duty, got arrested, kidnapped, and sentenced to life as a slave. “No, I learned my lesson, see'yah later.” “Let him go,” says David. “He’s not one of us. Go back to your pet bird, I bet he keeps you warm at night.” I don’t even realize before it’s too late and draw my revolver. Twig is just as fast as I am and grabs my wrist and pushes my hand away as I pull the trigger. The round misses David and then Misfire swings down from the ladder and is pushing me down the trail. Misfire looks back at David, “What’s wrong with you?” “He wants little eggs with his pet freak,” taunts David making kissing sounds. “I’ll get him kicked out of the Gunslingers for shooting at me.” I try to break free and go after David, but Twig and Misfire grab my arms and keep pulling me away. The traffic is moving a little faster when we get back to the road, but it’s still faster to walk. Misfire and Twig are silent as we walk, but I know they're mad. Commander Conrad is at the bottom of the switch-back grabbing the older kids walking and putting them in the orange vests to direct traffic. I stop in front of the Commander and drop my head. The Commander sighs. "Now what?" asks the Commander. "Sir, I shot at David," I say. Misfire shoves me and gives me a disgusted look. "You're not supposed to tell on yourself," says Twig. The Commander gives me a look I can't read and then waves at one of the trucks passing. "Hey Jackson," shouts the Commander. "Hero shot at your boy." A Gunslinger leans out the window of a truck. "Did he hit him?" I shake my head. "Why were you shooting at him?" asks Gunslinger Jackson. I drop my head; I don't want to answer and Twig speaks up for me. "David was making fun of Jaco." "Boy, you're partnered up with a Raven," says Jackson. "You start shooting at everyone with something bad to say about Ravens, you gonna need to carry a lot more ammo around with you. I ain't getting involved with a couple of hot-headed sixteen-year olds foolish feuding. Now someone want to get this traffic cluster sorted out?" The Commander doesn't say anything and points at the box of orange vests and I grab one from the box and the Commander has us spread out to open spaces between the warehouses and each of us takes charge of getting trucks parked in the make-shift lots. My spot fills up pretty fast, and I go over to help Twig, he has a larger area to park trucks. The traffic starts to thin out after about forty-five minutes and the Commander shouts for all the kids to head inside. I drop my vest back in the box and run inside. The warehouse we're using is the largest one, and there must be a couple thousand people in here. Chairs are set up in rows facing a stage built up at the front, and there are tables of food against both side walls. I grab a handful of cookies from one of the tables and head up front to where the rest of the kids are. There is a big open section in front of the stage, and we are all lined up in rows by our class. The first graders are in the first row, then the second graders behind them, and progressively back to the three trainee classes. The last row before the audience is last years graduated class of Gunslingers sitting on chairs. I quickly find my class row and take a seat on the floor with them. I don't see Josh with the first graders; he's probably already backstage with the stage crew. Sprint sees my handful of cookies and jumps up to go get his own stash of cookies. Misfire is just sitting down and from the bulges in his pockets I think he's already attacked the cookie table. I see Simon, Andy, and Terry arriving and take three of the reserved chairs in the first row of the audience; I wave at Simon. The lights dim and the chatter from the audience dies down. I turn around; this is going to be awesome. "You'll like this," whispers Misfire. "It's too bad you never got to be in the play before." Gunslinger Elias walks out to a corner of the stage and claps his hands twice. The first and second graders jump up and run around to one side of the stage. The lights dim on the stage, and I can see the stage crew dressed in their black shirts dragging backdrops out. I see Josh; he's pushing one of the props. The stage crew lines up along the back of the stage and the then the lights come up. The first and second-graders march up on stage, and the stage crew throws white confetti in the air at the first and second-graders, walking in place now, and pretending to be shivering from the cold. A second-grader steps forward to the front center of the stage and spreads his arms out. "We have failed our Princes," announces the second-grade narrator. "We will go into the snow to die." A six grader walks out onto the stage, and a halo spotlight illuminates him. There is little doubt of the part he is playing; it's Jon Black. "No, my children," says the six-grade Jon Black. "Come with me, you are not yet permitted to follow your Princes into the Land of the Ancestors." The first and second-graders walk over to the cave prop Jon Black is pointing at and they crawl inside. Jon Black turns and walks off stage; the sound of wailing rises from the cave. "We are exiled," says the second-grade narrator. "Exiled… Exiled… Exiled…" chants the stage crew. The stage lights dim slightly to a thunderous applause from the audience. Then the lights on center stage brighten and the fourth graders rush onto stage in brightly painted Battleship cardboard props. The fourth graders make laser and explosion sounds while they fly around, and another fourth grader takes the stage next to the second-grade narrator. "We are Team Gunslingers," shouts the fourth-grader. "We prosper." The wailing sounds from the cave continue softly, "We are exiled… we are exiled…" One of the Battleships 'explodes' apart and the fourth graders from the destroyed Battleship, quite dramatically, fall down. The other fourth graders rush over and pick up all but one of the 'crew', the one remaining on the ground is dressed in a white tunic trimmed in gold. "You have failed your Prince," yells the fourth-grade narrator. "You will be punished." The failed 'Gunslingers' are taken to the far edge of the stage from the cave and wrapped in rope that looks vaguely like barb wire. The other fourth graders run out to the front of the stage. Brightly colored over-sized ribbons and tin-foil medals are on their uniforms now, and they strike a dramatic pose with their fists on their hips. "We are Team Gunslingers," shouts the fourth-grade narrator. "We prosper." The lights dim to a new wailing sound to join the first and second graders in the cave. "We are prisoners… we are prisoners…" chant the tied up fourth graders. The stage-lights dim and I turn around to look at the audience now murmuring angrily. I know all this history, but it feels much realer seeing it all acted out. A spotlight flicks on and illuminates the boy playing the part of Jon Black; his head bowed. Jon Black slowly lifts his head. Tears are streaming down his face. I think it's probably water, but the effect is brilliant. "My children suffer," whispers Jon Black. Jon Black spreads his arms out and then shouts, "ENOUGH!" Jon Black holds his hand out to the first and second graders in the cave, and the little actors crawl out of the cave and rush over to Jon Black and kneel. Jon Black turns and faces the fourth graders tied up and waves his arms dramatically. "You are free, my children," shouts Jon Black. The ropes 'magically' fly apart, and the fourth graders rush over and kneel in front of Jon Black. The audience can't contain themselves any longer and stand to applaud and stomp their feet. Gunslinger Elias allows the thunderous applaud for a few minutes and then holds his hands up to get everyone to sit back down. One boy stands up from the second graders and faces the audience shrugging and holding his arms out. "What do we do?" "The Empire is in great danger," shouts Jon Black to the audience. "Phillip, you will command these men and go to Raunu Major." The lights dim on the stage again, and all the kids run off the stage to the coaching of Gunslinger Elias. The stage crew runs on stage and starts moving props. One little boy gets a bit too excited and falls off the stage and starts crying. Gunslinger Elias picks the boy up and gives him a hug then lifts him back onto the stage and his fall is forgotten. The audience is applauding again and then Josh runs out to the front of the stage and waves at Andy. Gunslinger Elias shoos him back to the laughter of the audience. I can see Simon whispering to Andy, I suppose he's probably explaining details of the play's history to him. I notice the graduated Gunslingers sitting behind us are eating energy bars, and that reminds me and I nudge Misfire. "Remind everyone to eat their cookies." Misfire nods and passes the message down to the others; we are going to need the sugar in our blood for our part of the play coming up soon. The lights come up again, and the first, second, and fourth-graders are carrying cardboard cutouts of Needle Ships. But, unlike the bright shiny Battleships of the Team Gunslingers, these ships are painted splotchy gray, and have wires dangling off them, and parts are falling off. I can hear the audience murmuring angrily again. What happens next would never have happened to our ancestors if the Team Gunslingers had given us decent ships. The kids are shaking their Needle ships and spinning around in circles. The spot light falls on the second-grade narrator. "Our ships are too old," says the narrator. "We are crashing." The little Gunslingers begin falling down, some are lying under their Needle Ship props, and others are getting up to stand on top of the props; half the boys on the stage don't get up. The little boy playing Phillip comes forward to face the audience. "Spread out and search for survivors," shouts Phillip. The boys spread out and check the one's lying under their Needle Ship props. "I found Simon, he's still alive," shouts a boy. "Here's Elias. "I need help, Cyrus is trapped." "I need a med-kit, Michael is hurt." The boys on stage aren't talking about the current living Gunslingers by those names, they are shouting out what happened after the First Drop to our first ancestors by those names. The audience is deathly quiet. Then the spotlights move to the side of the stage and the fifth graders, dressed in Beastie Cat costumes, jump up on the stage. "Rawwr..." shouts the fifth graders. The fifth graders jump on two of the closest second graders, and they fall down and the fifth-graders pretend to be using claws to rip them apart. The fifth graders are throwing red confetti into the air for effect. I glance back at Andy; his eyes are hard and narrowed, and I think he looks mad. I hope he's not mad that the play is a bit gory. "Commander Phillip," shouts a boy. "What do we do?" The boy playing Phillip points at the mountain prop on the other side of the stage. "Run for the mountains," shouts Commander Phillip. "It's our only chance." The Gunslingers grabs their wounded brothers and runs for the mountain prop. Commander Phillip doesn't run with them, he runs to the center middle of the stage and pulls his bright orange gun and starts yelling... "Bang... Bang... Bang..." The fifth grader Beastie Cats start to fall, and then Commander Phillip pretends to run out of bullets and shoves his gun in his holster and pulls a prop hunting knife out. The other boys are already at the mountain prop. The second-grade narrator shouts, "Commander Phillip holds back the Beastie Cats while his men escape." Commander Phillip is slashing at the Beastie Cats, and then one of the fifth graders slashes a claw down Commander Phillip's arm. Commander Phillip falls to one knee but keeps fighting and then gets up, holding his arm and starts to run for the mountain prop. Gunslinger Elias claps his hands twice and all the actors on stage freeze. The lighting on the stage changes from white to red and a spotlight clicks on and illuminates the real Gunslinger Phillip, sitting in the front row of the audience. Phillip is the only original Lone Gunslinger still alive. Phillip stands with the help of his two assistants and removes his duster and holds up his arm; there is an ugly scar running down the length of his arm. Gunslinger Cyrus walks up on the stage carrying a plain wooden box. Gunslinger Elias walks over, opens the box and lifts out a large hunting knife and shows it to the audience. The audience starts stomping their boots in a slow rhythm and begins chanting the word, 'courage'. I understand what it means and chant the word with everyone else. The word 'courage' is the single word on a banner across the Crest of the Lone Gunslingers. I feel such a swelling of pride for the Lone Gunslingers I think my heart will burst. Gunslinger Elias closes the box and walks back over to the corner of the stage while Gunslinger Cyrus takes the box away. I've seen the box in the display case at the Head Shed before, but I didn't know what was inside. Elias claps his hands twice again, and the lights change back to white. Commander Phillip unfreezes and finishes the 'Long Run' across the stage. The stage dims to black while the stage crew changes the set. I'm watching for Josh when someone taps on my shoulder; it's Heather. "David wants to see you outside," says Heather. "I'm watching the play," I whisper. "He says it's important," says Heather. "Fine, whatever," I reply and crawl after Heather to the aisle. Misfire and Twig follows me. We run up the aisle to the door and earn more than a few scolding glares from the Gunslingers watching the play. I glance back at the stage; the kids are re-enacting the Silver Rebellion now. I think Andy is going to get the shock of his life when he finds out what the Silver Rebellion was really all about. David is leaning against the wall outside with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I can't believe he's that dumb. "A Beastie Cat is going to eat you on the run," I say. "Gotta show you something," says David. We follow David around to the back of the warehouse. He puts a finger to his lips, and crouching, we tip toe around the crates they stored outside to clear the warehouse for the play. David stops at the corner of a crate and motions for me to come look around the corner. I do it and… [End Part I]