Press "Enter" to skip to content

The Best Laid Plans of Wolf and Man…

It had been over a month since He had arrived in New babbage, and as he closed the silk curtains and pulled the long pipe away from his lips John finally had a moment to relax. As he sat there, he closed his eyes and reflected on just what the hell had brought him to this point.

 

Paris, Two Months Ago:

 

Wright looked at the telegram in his paw in shock, he must have read it a dozen times already, and each time he couldn’t believe the words. His business partners back in the Dakotas had told him things were looking grim, but he had never imagined things would be this bad. The whole Herd of cattle, more than 10,000 heads, were gone, wiped out in a series of blizzards that struck quickly.

 

John tore up the telegram angrily and slunk into a chair by the window of his hotel room, lamenting his fate. He watched as workers tore up the Champs De Mars for some vast iron construct, it felt oddly symbolic of his own situation. The wolf Moreau continued watching the workers until a sharp rap on the door jostled him from his state.

 

“Monseiur Wright? There has been a problem with your account, We need you to come to the main desk and clear this little problem for us.”

 

John froze and stared at the door, he knew that there was no way he could clear this up, the money was gone and if they realized that, he’d be thrown to the police. He quickly grabbed his things and left the Room key on the small writing desk. Slowly he pushed open the window and climbed out onto the ledge. he made sure to close it back up before climbing the drainpipe down to the street and slinking away towards the train station.

 

Two weeks later:

 

Wright’s stomach was growling again, it had been a day since he had last eaten, but less than legal travel  requires odd eating habits. Nonetheless he was hungry. John checked his watch, it was almost dawn, If he was going to get anything to eat before the crew started cooking breakfast for the Airship’s paying passengers it was now or after nightfall. Another growl from his stomach convinced him and the wolf quietly removed himself from the cargo hold and crept towards the galley.

 

Within he found a veritable treasure trove of food, however John wasn’t looking for much, just a loaf of bread and some water for his canteen. He began looking around for his prize, and it wasn’t long before he found it, yesterday’s bread, uneaten and waiting to be tossed when the airship moored in New York. No harm, he thought to himself as he took a bite out of a small loaf. It was at that moment the galley lights came on.

 

Several hours had passed, the crew didn’t take kindly to stowaways and had given the wolf a good working over. It took all of his will power to not defend himself from them, but he did it. He had been draged to the crew boarding platform from the cargo hold. he watched as the ramp lowered into the grey abyss “End of the line, mate.” one of the crewmen said as John felt a set of large hands push him off the end of the platform. He didn’t have time to utter, all he ould do was fall and land against something, metal?

 

Wright lay there a few moments, he heard the thud of his bags land on the platform beside him and the sound of the magnetic graplers uncoupling from the mooring tower. He turned over in time to watch the airship, her crew laughing at his misfortune, drift away into the swirling grey clouds.

 

“Well, this is just wonderful” John muttered under his breath as he rose to his feet and stared out into the Grey swirling mist, the faint smell of coal dust rising on the wind. “Now, where the hell am I?”

Spread the love

7 Comments

  1. Tepic Harlequin Tepic Harlequin May 15, 2015

    long as it ain’t Bump, yer probably alright……….

  2. Elleon Bergamasco Elleon Bergamasco May 15, 2015

    Hmmm… not the first time someone has an unplanned arrival in our fair city. Used to be quite a few shanghaied by the airship pirates and then left to fend for themselves out in the old fortress before it sank into the sea. I hope you find your new surroundings at least tolerable. 

  3. Nyanka Jinx Nyanka Jinx May 15, 2015

    Heh, yer not the only one who just found yourself here…

    Welcome to New Babbage. Hope the soot doesn’t get in your eyes during yer stay.

    -Edward Hyde

  4. violet Solano violet Solano May 16, 2015

    do not despair, there a great many opportunities in new babbage for some one willing to work for them, it is just a matter of deciding how far you will go for a job.

  5. violet Solano violet Solano May 16, 2015

    oh and if you think you can cross that line

    contact me

    • John Wright John Wright May 16, 2015

      The line, once crossed can be crossed again by the right man as many times as he needs to.

       

      I’ll be in touch.

  6. Quentin Fumes Quentin Fumes May 16, 2015

    So .. someone got tipped out on his arse.  Worth watching.  Cross that line often enough you rub it out.  Very handy.  Is that why I’m here?  No word yet, just directions and the dosh.  Oh well, see you around me old china.

Leave a Reply