Into the Rockies
Chapter 7
The McClay family sat around Joe’s kitchen table playing spades and taking shots of whiskey. Big joe sat towering over all of them, his 6’2" lanky frame at the head of the table.
Opposite of him sat his older brother who, unlike Joe who took after their father, took after their mother. He was short, fat, but had a full head of curly brown hair, unlike his balding brother’s greasy slicked back widows peak. He also had poor eyesight, dawning a pair of thick glasses over his oily face.
On Joe’s left was Sam, a buff beast with a shaved head and cold blue eyes. He was the muscle. Across from him on Joe’s right was Mary, a sickly looking girl after a lifetime of drug abuse. She was the brains.
“I’ll get right to the point.” Joe said after a drag on his cigarette and playing a card. “Those fluffies are worth a small fortune. I’m almost positive Bessie and I tracked them up to the plateau, but it’s guarded by the mountain man.”
“His real name is Jacob Silver.” Mary interrupted. “I’m surprised that you don’t know him better. He used to live in this very trailer park.”
“Probably back when our old man was running the show.” Joe replied. “You can’t expect me to keep track of every tenant that comes through here, especially those from the past.”
“What’s the deal with this guy?” Asked Sam. “Is he a badass?”
“He’s tough as nails and well armed.” Said Mary. “I got the skinny on him after jawin’ with the old man at the general store. Said he used to come down for supplies now and then, but he hasn’t seen him in years.” She played her card and dragged from her cigarette before taking a shot of whiskey.
“Lots of guns and ammo.” Cain replied. “He’s well armed and well prepared for a fight. We shouldn’t take him lightly.”
“Speaking of this whole ‘we’ business…” Sam sighed, looking up at his sister.
“Yeah…” Mary replied. “What’s in it for us?”
Joe scoffed and eyeballed his brother from across the table.
“Hey, don’t look at me.” Cain replied, playing his card. “You asked me to bring them, it’s up to you to do the convincin’.”
Joe sighed and took a shot while stamping out his cigarette. He walked into the other room, opened a cage, pulled out a whimpering brown alicorn, and walked back to the table holding the creature by its scruff.
“You see this?” He asked rhetorically. “This is a fluffy alicorn.”
“Yeah, an ugly brown one.” Mary chimed in. “So what?”
“Even with its brown color, these alicorns bring in $1,000 a piece.” Joe explained. “The better colors rake in almost twice that much. The rare colors can go for up to 5K apiece.”
He paused for a moment to toss the creature down and kick it towards the nearby dog food dish where it could eat some stale kibble and warm tap water.
“Now I was about halfway there.” Joe continued. “I had a couple basic colored alicorns breeding with almost 100% successful alicorn production. Once I got my hands on the rare colors, I’d breed them too, and so on.”
“You still haven’t talked about us.” Mary said as she crushed up some meth on the table and sprinkled it into a rolling paper full of shredded marijuana and tobacco. She rolled it up tight and licked the end before sealing it and lighting it up. “Get to the point.”
“The more money I make selling these things, the better our operation goes. Bail money, bribe money, you name it, I’ll have my cousin’s covered.” Joe said plainly.
“So this’ll be a debt you owe us?” Mary scoffed. “That’s it?”
“Fine!” Joseph growled as he slapped a thousand dollars on the table. “A thousand now, and a thousand more when the job is done.”
“Plus the debt you were just danglin’?” Mary asked sweetly.
Joe chuckled. “Come on now. When has Big Joe McClay ever let you down, darlin’?”
“Deal!” The woman said through an exhale of smoke.
Sam nodded in agreement, reaching out for the money only to have his sister snatch it up and stuff it into her bra.
“You get the other half when we’re done.” She said with a yellow toothed grin.
“Alright.” Cain said happily as he played his last card and won the game. “So what’s the plan, brother?”
Meanwhile, officer Fuzz, the deputy fluffy, licked the vanilla icecream off the dish placed before him. Soon the dish was spotless. He grabbed it with his teeth and hopped up the wooden crates by the register where he placed the dish on the counter.
“Dankoo Sawa.” He said to the woman wiping the counters. “Jus wut dis fwuffy needed to get his head stwaight.”
Sara chuckled. “You’re welcome officer Fuzz. It’s on the house after you found our shop’s missing cat.”
“Don’t dank me.” Fuzz nodded. “Dank my supew sniffew!” He took a deep breath through his nostrils to demonstrate his nose’s power. “Yow coffe is owd. Make a fwesh pot pweeze.”
“Oh your right!” Sara said, spinning around towards the pot. “It’s been sitting on the burner all day! It’s practically tar at this point.” She turned to thank the fluffy, but he was already out the door.
“Now onto my mission.” The fluffy said as he disappeared into the tall grass growing along the side of the road. He headed discreetly toward the trailer park, making sure to stay hidden as he headed toward McClays doublewide at the back of the lot.
Soon he arrived at his destination, with plenty of grass to cover his approach. The fluffy peeked over grass to survey the backyard. He had spied on this place before and knew it well. He carefully approached the back of the fenced yard, staying low to the ground as he sniffed his way up to the fence.
Bingo. Fuzz thought to himself as he discovered the hole that the alicorns had dug below the fence. He got a good sniff and picked up their scent. He then followed it away from the yard into the wilderness, stopping short after getting his answer. The alicorns had definitely gone up the mountain, no doubt about it.
“My nose nevew wies.” Fuzz said to himself as he disappeared back into the grass back to the police station.
