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‘Came a day that a young man left home. I say the day came, and I say that with a purpose because neither was it a planned thing, fated and foretold by thems that tend to know, nor was it a fit of high piqued temper. It was the sort of day that everyone knew to be just one sunrise over, but nobody knew exactly which sunrise that would be. See, that young man, he was a middle child. And in that place, in those days, that meant he had neither the oldests strong promise to that which his father had hoarded, nor the youngests freedom of disregard for what respect might have come with that. The young man, his given name was Zeke. As for his family name. Now that is a thing given and lost to width and time and rumor.
Point is, the day came, and the young man let out down the road well before sun-brake, a bag of clothes over on shoulder and a bag of food under one arm and an all but empty wallet in his pocket, and there weren’t no one that neither saw nor heard hide nor hair of him for three years straight.
That was alright though. While it did agreive his brothers more than somewhat, life rolled on. The sun rose and set. The grocer still opened shop. The old man who had been his father got older. And one day, that old man died. That left Terran and P.T, youngest and oldest respectively, with more money and more respect than either knew what to do with.
You could say it showed, I suppose. You could say that, because Terran, youngest that he was, with all his money to burn and all the respect he never thought he’d have to shoulder, burned both quickly. Staking bets he had no business staking, not being one who really and truly knew his way around a card table, you could say even that he was reckless. And recklessness, that more often than not lands a man with debts.
You could say also, that it showed in the way, P.T oldest that he was, squandered what respect he’d come to take for granted. With all the money he knew ought to be coming to him, what good did it to him to wear nice clothes and attend nice parties and drag around a legacy that would be forgotten in 6 months? Tarnished in less, anyway, if his remaining brothers money kept drifting the way it drew.
And so the both of them, in their grief and in their unworldliness followed their particular trails to ruin.
Terran, little brother who had never learned to worry, and drunk on gold, drank and danced and gambled his gold away. Not long was it until the creditors came knocking at his door. And not long was it until he owed money to more than just the bank.
P.T. Eldest brother who had always counted on fortune to carry him through had cultivated it, and forgone every brunch and banquet he could manage, he had money to burn. Or at least he did until Terran burned it for him. And after that, his graces ran thinner than thin. He got into arguments with some that did not bare arguing. He called in favors, and never paid them back.
There came a day that Terrans debts grew to heavy, heavier than all they sky he had reached for.
There came a day that P.T’s offenses grew too sharp. Sharper than all the words he had traded to keep his name clean and his standing high.
It happened that in conjunction, with their debts and their lies and their general desperation, they crossed the same person. It happened that they crossed the lady Ashe. And it happened that she, not standing for being crossed at this juncture, did something about it.
It happened that between their debts and their lies, the remaining brothers two fell, one by one. They fell into traps that Ashe had set, to call in debts of one type after another. And for almost half a year, neither brother younger nor older saw the light of day was it not at Ashe’s behest. Bound instead were they to serve in her house when the head butler and she were weary, and to fight at her side when odds called for.
And still no word was heard from Zeke. Though letters had been written and misseves had been sent, they came back one after another undeliverable. Nobody knew anymore in what direction Zeke had gone.
And so it went into the seventh month, and the eighth; his brothers toiled, weighed down by what they owed, and still no word and no footstep came from Zeke.
And then came the day that changed.
It was a quiet day, all things considered. Early morning on a day of early spring. It was not a day that folks expected anyone new, or anyone old for that matter, would come into town. And yet when the steps of a familiar stranger shadowed first the door of the bar, and then the door of the church, the word began to spread.
He answered no questions, though they flew at him like a flock of hungry birds, and he didn’t ask any either. He simply had his drink and paid his alms.
It was only after he had done those things that he made his way to the big house on the big lot of land far from the center of town. The only one left that still had original stonework in the walls, and the only one in town with holographic windows, by way of being the first to afford them.
Zeke went up to that fancy house and he knocked on the door, polite as anything, and when the door opened and greeted him with a mountain of metal, he didn’t waiver, just asked to speak to the lady of the house.
Now Zeke had seen many rooms in his travels. Big ones, small ones, rich ones and poor ones, but he had never seen a room like the one he was ushered into. It’s ceiling vaulted high as the one in the church, its windows wide and shimmering and shifting, and its walls lavishly adorned.
And at the center of it all, in an armchair that the sun backlit so it shone as bright as any throne Zeke had ever heard of, was the Lady Caledonia Ashe. She asked him, lazy-like, what business he had with her.
I have been gone many a year, he said, and I have missed my brothers. I would like them to come with me when I leave town again.
Your brother Terran owes me gold, she said to him, and he will work in my house until he has paid his debts.
How much gold will pay his debts? Asked Zeke, and the Lady smiled.
There is a town three days west of here, and in that town is a building with a golden cup. Bring it to me and Terran can go with you.
And so Zeke went west, walking on and on as the sun climbed and fell three times over, until he came to the town. In that town he found a church much bigger and more opulent than his own. It had windows of shining, glinting multicolored glass and doors that it looked like it would take about three men to open. It was through this shining glass, and behind these heavy doors, that he saw the priest blessing wine for mass. And he saw the the priest was blessing it in a heavy golden cup.
Now, he couldn’t exactly make off with the cup while it was being used, but that was just as well because it gave him time to plan, and plan he did. Come nightfall he was pretty sure he had a plan that would work.
He didn’t need to move the heavy doors, and he didn’t need to break the shining glass. Instead he dug his way down under the foundation and popped up through the floorboards and sure enough, when he made his way to the pulpit, the cup was waiting. He took it.
And he returned to her fine house with the cup under his arm, and held it out to her, in exchange for his brothers freedom. It was granted. But Zeke and Terran could not leave yet.
Your brother P.T owes me a boon, she said to him, and he will work in my house until our ledgers are even again.
What manner of boon will settle his ledger? Asked Zeke, and the Lady smiled.
There is a tree three days east of here, and a doll I lost in it when I was a child. Bring it to me and P.T can go with you.
So they took Terran’s bike, and rode. This tree was farther than the town had been, and they rode without rest as on and on as the sun climbed and fell three times over, until they came to it. When they arrived they thought, either the tree had been just young when Ashe had played there, or she had gotten shorter with age, for it was the tallest tree either of them had ever laid eyes on. It’s branches stretched and they could swear they saw it part the clouds. But there, on one low branch, they spied the doll. It’s silk and stuffing had somehow survived the weather all these years. So Zeke and Terran, they tied themselves together and like mountaineers they climbed. Hand over hand and each one braced to hold on should the other fall. The tree was so tall they were still climbing as the sun set again on the fourth day. But they got the doll.
And they returned to her fine house and this time, Zeke, Terran, and P.T were all free to leave.
So, matters settled, the brothers packed their bags to go.
As they turned to leave the house, their luck turned at once. There in the road was their bike, and on it, riding away, a hot-wiring thief, But the thief didn’t get far. A shot rang out and the tire blew and the bike stuttered and fell. The would-be driver took off running. When Zeke turned, who did he see with the a smoking gun but Ashe.
You know, said she, aren’t many who could have repaid those debts and settled those boons. Aren’t many who did their jobs as well as your brothers did either.
You know, said he, aren’t many who could have made that shot. Aren’t many with a reputation for adventure like you either.
And that is how two brothers, and one more came to join forces with the Lady Caledonia Ashe, and to this day they travel together. No more are they a master and her servants indentured, but compatriots seeking riches across that land, and no more are they a family scattered across the west.