milliways_bar | EP: Kate Barlow | Main Bar, Library (age spell plot)

It had been a quiet day for Kate when the loud BWA-BOOOOOOOM shook the bar. She'd just settled down after her nightly chores in the stables, easing the tension out of her back in an armchair by the fire, sipping on a hot tea with bourbon in.

(It's getting close to All Hallows' Eve, and that's making her anxious.)

However, she didn't have all that long to think about the approaching holiday before she was seeing the room from an even lower vantage point, face scrunched in distaste at the liquor on her tongue. She blinked at the teacup and quickly set it down, jumped to her feet, and looked around the strange room.

" ... Daddy?"

Kate Barlow, aged twelve, was off in search of her father.

What she found instead were the libraries.

Now, far calmer, a young Kate sits amid a pile of books, occasionally sweeping cautious glances around the room. She's finding the words of Jules Verne to be a comfort at present. Clearly she slipped and bumped her head during chores, or stumbled onto a glorious vessel somewhere in deep space. She isn't quite sure what to make of it right now, but anywhere with an endless supply of science fiction can't be all that bad.

[ooc: open forever! you may find Kate in the library or the main bar. if your character wants to be in on a heist, they can take this opportunity to meet Kate. the actual heist will happen in a later post, so it's not required you tag this one (I'll update all interested parties once it's all in place). if you'd like me to send Kate round to one of your posts, just let me know!

tiny!tag: age spell plot]

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"A nicer horse."

The words escape Tommy's mouth before he knows what he's saying, and a sudden thrill of excitement and mischief sweeps through him-- because really? A horse? Borrowing a horse? Somehow he doesn't think that borrowing is the word they want.

He quickly looks up and down the aisle to check if any adults are around.

"Maybe the one that you liked," he says, jerking his thumb back at the mare.

"A gentler horse. Easier for a scaredy-cat."

All right, so she'd never imagine riding a stallion the height and temperament of the one in front of them, neither would she ever put Tommy on one, but — well. She's only twelve, and his nervousness is an easy target.

At the mention of the mare, her eyes widen. She does like her, and as she looks down the aisle the mare mildly looks back, ear twitching. Kate bites her lip, and smirks.

"Y'know what they do to horse thieves in Texas? They string 'em up and hang 'em."

Her eyes connect with Tommy's.

"C'mon."

There's that petulant expression again.

"I am not a scaredy-cat!"

Of this particular horse, maybe, but not other things! So there!

And he'll prove to her that he isn't a scaredy-cat, as he meets her eyes with the same kind of rebelliousness and follows her with an eager grin.

She had thought maybe she could ask an adult if there was a horse they'd let her take out, honest. However, there don't seem to be any adults around right now, and Tommy's piqued her pride just as much as she might have done his. Besides, she'll bring the mare back.

She grabs a saddle blanket off a bench a few feet away, and rushes to the mare's stall. She's looking eager even before Kate unlatches the door and pulls it open, but she doesn't bolt. She walks out and obediently stands by her lead hook, even though they don't have one on her. Whoever owns her has trained her well.

"Get up on that bench, there!"

She points to an empty bench for Tommy, and devotes her attention to the horse. If they get caught, or she runs off, this is all over.

She seems to know what she's doing, so he stands back as she lets the horse out of the stall. Then at her command, he darts over to the bench and climbs up on it, not sure what he wants him to do next, but he stays there, using this vantage point for the moment to keep an eye out for any grownups.

The rest of the animals don't seem too perturbed about this impending escapade. Some of the other horses are actually watching with great interest, craning their necks over their stall doors to try to get a better look at the juvenile outlaws.

Katherine throws the blanket on the bay's back and rushes around to a stool she saw when they came in. She sets it up so that Beaut is between her and Tommy, because she's got to hike her skirts up to climb on the horse. She wishes she had on some overalls, but the blanket will help keep her legs from chaffing.

The horse is just as sweet as you like, standing steady while Kate hops on and swings her leg over. The lace trim of her knickers peeks out around her knees, but she pays no mind to decorum right now. She's already being awfully naughty.

Burying one hand in the base of Beaut's mane, she urges the horse around to where Tommy is and holds out her other hand.

"Hop on! I'll help pull you up behind me."

Decorum? Tommy doesn't know the meaning of the word. (Yet another one that he actually, really doesn't know.)

But for some reason he thought there'd be a saddle and bridle involved. And when there isn't, he stares with uncertainty for a moment at her outstretched hand, and the broad back that he's supposed to 'hop on.'

He ain't no scaredy-cat, though.

He grits his teeth with determination, and grabbing her hand and vaulting off the bench, he swings a leg over the horse's back. He lands with an oof behind her, unused to sitting like this, and so high up. He also finds himself clinging to Kate's middle to keep from sliding off. Cooties and decorum be damned.

She hauls him up with enough power, even as a twelve year old, to keep him from hitting Beaut's rump and sliding back to the floor. She'd giggle at him if she wasn't concentrating on getting him up there safe and quick.

"Sit up straight an' hold on tight! If someone comes 'round, I ain't stopping."

Without further ado, she spurs Beaut into trot, then a canter, and once they clear the stable, a gallop into the freedom of the outdoors.

As he shifts his position so that he's sure he won't fall off, she can't see how wide his eyes are right now as he wraps his arms around her waist and clasps a hand on his wrist like a seatbelt. And when the horse starts moving, he sort of forgets to breathe.

Also, he didn't expect this much bouncing.

"N-not-- t-too-- f-fff-"

He's about to stutter out "fast" when the horse takes off at a gallop, and he really does have to hold on tight.

It's a glorious shift from a canter to a gallop, when the bounciness of the ride smooths out into flight, weightlessness, the overwhelming sensation of space, freedom, riding the wind, punctuated only by the next hoof beat launching them forward into open space again. Kate's laughing, though she's acutely aware of where Tommy is at all times, making sure he's not about to slip.

She'll slow down. Eventually. She'll even let him ride on his own around the lake, if he wants to. For now, they're running from the law with stolen goods, headed for their safe house in Deadwood, dust in their wake and the setting sun smiling in their faces.

There's thundering hooves below and whistling wind in their hair, and Tommy shuts his eyes at the weightless sensation, of being carried through the air, speeding along like the Devil was on their tail.

Kate's laughter rings out. And he cracks his eyes open.

And he breaks into a grin, his own whoops and hollers eventually joining hers.

Tommy's dad once told him that he couldn't be a cowboy, because there ain't no New York Yankees in Texas.

Well, this ain't Texas. Tommy's not even sure where they are. But it don't matter, because as long he's on this horse, with the open sky above and the open fields all around them, and a spunky little cowgirl laughing into the sunset, he can at least feel like one.

EP: Kate Barlow | Main Bar, Library (age spell plot)

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