A flurry of snow whistled into the pub. Boots clomped on creaking oak. A gloved hand pounded shut the door, swollen in its frame. "Blimey. The heat's relief," said Ewan, stamping scabs of snow and muck from his hobnails. He brushed frost from his bristled chin, licked frozen ooze from a healing split lip. "Aye," […]
There was a bump in the road. The stagecoach jumped, rocked on ironclad wheels. Inside, Ewan lolled, snapped awake. He straightened from his dozy slump, rubbed his eyes. "Morning," said a wheezy voice. Across from Ewan, a woman with scarred hands lounged on the purple upholstery. A fat backpack sat beside, bounced with every rock in […]
The consortium doors banged open. Noses lifted from oaken counters, distracted from their paper-stamping and coin counting. Three pairs of boots stamped in, trailed mud and snow. They clicked, hobnailed, on the stone tile. The leading pair belonged to a cutter in a leather duster. A considerable amount of something red and drying clung to his […]