Category: Agents of the Vault
An original work of fiction. Think: A Western National Treasure with a dash of Harry Potter.
Agents of the Vault – Part 17
Part 17 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Now in Trinity, Grisom, Charlie and Doris try to come up with a plan to deal with Jane and the Pinkertons. They also need to figure out what to do about Leland.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 17
By Grant Baciocco
The cart carrying Charlie, Grisom and Doris rumbled into the small settlement, down the road that had, at one time, hoped to the be the main thoroughfare of the bustling city of Trinity. Weeds grew wildly in all directions and large tumbleweeds piled into the streets having come to rest on the side of the buildings. The buildings were in various states of dilapidation. The blue sky could be seen through the walls and the rooftops. Grisom steered the horses towards the tallest of the buildings, the hotel. “When we stop, Charlie, you help me get the Vault trunk up to the top floor of the hotel.”
“Right.”
“And me?” yelled Leland over the roar of the wagon, “What about me, dammit?”
“We’ll come back down for you.” Grisom spat. “The desk is our main concern. We will untie you and arm you, but we need to make sure the desk is safe.”
Leland continued to grumble his displeasure at playing second fiddle to the crate, but neither Grisom nor Charlie payed him any attention as they unstrapped the trunk with the desk in it from the back of the wagon. Both men strained as they carried it up onto the rickety old porch of the hotel. Grisom kicked the door open with his foot. The dilapidated door, nearly coming off its hinges as it swung wide and slammed into the inside wall. Grisom pulled the crate towards the staircase that looked even worse for wear than the door.
“Those stairs gonna hold us and this crate?” Charlie asked, trying to disguise the waver in his voice.
“Here’s hoping.” Grisom grunted as he mounted the first step.
The stairs were shaky, but, luckily, they held as Charlie and Grisom climbed them. At the top of the stairs, Grisom made a left and then another left and headed for the hotel room that overlooked the street, or what there was of it.
“I want you up here kid,” Grisom said as they sat the trunk back up against the wall furthest away from the windows. He was out of breath and took a second to catch it. “With your aim, you’ll be better advantaged from up here.”
Charlie nodded. “Where will you be?”
Grisom looked out the window pane, out across the prairie where five specks grow bigger and bigger by the minute. He figured Jane to be 5 miles off or so. “I’ll meet them in the street.”
“What?” Charlie said, “That’s suicide. You know Jane will shoot you on the spot.”
“She won’t shoot me until she knows where the trunk is and it’s in her possession.” Grisom said, turning to Charlie. “That’s why you are the last line of defense.
Charlie lowered his head and then looked across the room at Grisom, “And Leland.”
“I’ll arm him. I’ll post him on the stairs.”
“You trust him?”
“What choice do we have?”
“And Doris?”
At the sound of her name, Doris popped a head up out of the saddle bag slung over Charlie’s shoulder. She looked at Charlie, then Grisom, clearly understanding the gravity of the situation.
Grisom looked at her. “Doris, if Jane takes the stairs, and gets into the room, you get out through the window, get to ground and burrow. You do not surface until you don’t hear any sound for three days. Understand.”
Doris was clearly troubled, but nodded her understanding.
Grisom smiled at her. “You are more important than what’s in the trunk. You cannot get captured by Jane.”
Doris whistled in agreement.
Grisom looked back up at Charlie. “Look, kid, it’s going to be all right. There’s only five of them. You and I have faced steeper odds. We can take them.”
“And if we can’t?” Charlie asked.
“We will.” Grisom said, nodding his head. He crossed the room to the trunk and, with his finger, began tracing symbols on the padlock that kept the trunk sealed. “I’m also going to call for back up. I just hope they make it here in time.”
The padlock on the trunk popped open and Grisom slid it off the latch.
“Go down and get Leland untied and bring him up here.” Grisom said as he popped the latch on the trunk. Charlie nodded and headed downstairs. Doris at his heels.
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 16
Part 16 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Grisom and Charlie are spotted by Jane and the Pinkertons and try to find cover.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 16
By Grant Baciocco
The next morning, before dawn, they were in the wagon again, now headed North towards Yankton. Charlie and Grisom were up front, Doris in the saddlebag between Grisom and Charlie on the buckboard. Leland, laid out flat, tied to the floor of the wagon. They rode in silence, None of them speaking a word. Charlie kept glancing over his left shoulder to scan the horizon behind them, knowing now that Jane would want more than the trunk made him doubly nervous to get to Yankton and The Vault. He thought if they could make it there, at least there would me more Agents to help fend off Jane and the Pinkertons.
Charlie’s heart sank when he saw four specs appear on the horizon behind them, a cloud of dust being kicked up in their wake. “Grisom.” he said, turning and touching Grisom’s shoulder. Grisom looked at Charlie and then in the direction of Charlie’s nod.
“Well,” Grisom said, flicking the reigns, spurring the horses on faster. “It was fun while it lasted.”
“What are we going to do?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t know,” said Grisom, looking at the prairie ahead of them. They were just coming over the top of a small butte when, as if answer to a silent prayer, a small grouping of five buildings appeared ahead of them. “There.” Grissom said. “We’ll take them on there.” Grissom flicked the reigns once more on the horses and steered them in the direction of the buildings.
The horses thundered ahead of them, but Grisom could tell that they were getting weaker.
“Hey Grisom.” Leland yelled form the back of the wagon. “You mind telling me what the plan is? You just going to leave me all tied up here and let your Pinkerton girlfriend have her way with me?”
“No.” Grissom replied, “Though I’m sure you’d like that. Let us get cover and then I’ll decide what to do with you.
The wagon rumbled towards the buildings. Charlie held tight to the saddlebag and Doris with one hand, and the side of the buckboard with the other. This wagon was not made for this kind of speed and if the trunk bound for The Vault, the trunk with the gold and Leland hadn’t been strapped down, all three would have been thrown clear.
They past a wooden sign with faded letters that spelled out the word Trinity on it. As they neared the buildings, it was obvious this settlement had been deserted for quite sometime. In fact, Trinity, had been deserted for close to thirty years. A well to do Minnesotan had attempted to build a town here in the hopes that the railroad would come through it and turn it into a metropolis. In return, the Minnesotan, owning the land, would become even richer than he had been. The railroad had made a left instead of a right and the hopeful town of Trinity with a city hall, goods store, saloon, hotel and livery had been left to bake in the prairie sun and rot in the prairie winters.
Grisom kept the horses on at a breakneck pace, ignoring the danger of prairie dog holes as the horses raced forward.
“What are we going to do Grisom?” Charlie asked above the rumbling of the wagon and thundering of hooves.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there.” Grissom growled back.
As the cart rumbled towards Trinity, ten miles behind them, Jane led Brenner and the three other Pinkertons, galloping across the prairie. She was pretty sure the speck she saw dip below the horizon had to have been Grisom and the trunk. She glanced back at the men following her, lagging behind. Gilmore trailing at the back of the group, wrestling with the prairie fire they had taken from the indians. They had bound it with leather straps, lashed it’s snout shut and put a deer skin hide over it’s head, but Gilmore was worried that the creature might wriggle free and be able to breath its fire again. Or at the very least, bite him. To Jane, the capture of the prairie fire made the chase for Grisom and Charlie even more urgent. If they could secure the trunk, they could also secure Doris. Bringing both the Trunk and Doris home to her employers would, no doubt, double her pay. And, of course, killing Grisom on top of all that would make her day.
Brenner spurred his horse and pulled up alongside Jane. Brenner could barely hold his horse at a speed to match hers. “What’s the plan when we catch up to them?” he shouted over the horse’s running.
“We kill them all.” Jane spat back. “No damage must come to the trunk and the prairie fire must be taken alive.”
“Right.” Brenner nodded just as his horse lost pace with Jane’s and he began to trail behind her.
Jane lowered herself in the saddle and spurred he horse on faster. “Grisom.” She whispered. “Your time is up.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 15
Part 15 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Reunited with Doris, Grisom and Charlie race towards Yankton.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 15
By Grant Baciocco
Grisom, Charlie and Leland were far from the village but not so far as to not hear the gunshots. They stalled the cart for a second as the shots rang out. The two scouts who were escorting them turned and rode off in the direction of the ruckus. Grisom, clicked his tongue and spurred the horses on faster towards the West. The plan was to make a great loop and almost re-circle through where they had camped last night and continue north on through to Yankton.
Charlie tired his best to keep his leg comfortable with all the jostling of the cart. His leg didn’t seem to bother him much though, now that he had Doris back at his side. He held her tight as they rode along, even when she became fussy that she couldn’t run alongside the cart as before. Charlie reminded her that that’s how the Pawnee had spotted her. She reluctantly agreed and just contented herself with pestering Leland as they rode along.
“You mad I didn’t make Doris stay?” Charlie said to Grisom after some miles.
“Nope.” Grisom said. “You asked her her opinion. She chose you. Seems fair to me.”
“But do you think they should be together? The two prairie fires?” Charlie asked.
“Well,” Grisom replied, “I think eventually, for the good of their species, yes they should. But they seem content to wait.”
Charlie nodded.
They rode a few more miles and then Grisom said, “She’s much more valuable now. Moreso than when we thought she was the only one. Now that there’s two, you need to take extra special care of her. Make sure she’s able to provide a future for the prairie fire kind.”
Charlie nodded again.
He looked down at Doris who’d hopped back up in front with him and Grisom. He reached down and patted her on the head, then scruffled her ears. She whistled contently and then laid down next to his leg to nap.
Charlie decided he would do whatever Doris wanted. She was a sentient creature and able to make good decisions. When the time came for her to stay with Pahaat or anywhere else for that matter, it would be her choice.
They continued to ride on into the afternoon, passing the camp they had been at the night previous. They could tell by the tracks that Jane had been through there. Grisom hoped she was still dealing with the Pawnee and that would give them time to get far ahead of them.
Grisom had been sure the Pawnee could handle Jane, but as dusk began to settle over the prairie, a large black column of smoke began to rise from the southeast in about the distance the village would have been. Charlie caught Grisom staring at it, but he didn’t ask. Even Leland saw it and knew what it had meant. Things between Jane and the Pawnee didn’t go well.
Over supper that night, under the moon, Leland asked, “Why’s that girl after you Grisom?”
Grisom ignored the question and kept eating.
“I mean the way she’s tearing after you, the way, i reckon, she and her men did today to those indians, she wants to catch up with us. It’s not just the trunk I’m beginning to reckon.”
“No. It ain’t just about the trunk.” Grisom said. He paused then added, “I killed her father.”
This was news to Charlie, who looked over at Grisom in disbelief.
“Her dad was an Agent of the Vault, like me. Like Charlie will soon be. He was sworn to the same pledge to the Coalition as me, to protect history. But these things we protect are very valuable and Jane’s father, Clinton his name was, began rescuing the historical items, but then keeping them for his own uses. As someone who was his friend, but also an Agent, I tried to get him to knock it off. He refused. One night we reached an historical item at about the same time. I wanted to make sure it got back to the Vault. He wanted it for himself. I couldn’t let that happen.”
There was quiet as this sank in.
“So this girl wants revenge.”
Grisom nodded. “Make no bones about it, she wants the trunk. But more than that she wants me. Dead.”
Again, silence.
“I will add, if you figured you were in trouble if the indians got ahold of us, those things you said in yer little story about what they’d do, ain’t nothing compared to what she’d do if she catches up to us.”
Leland was dead silent.
“In fact,” Grisom continued, “If she catches up to us, you’re going to get your gun, because we’ll need to fight with all we’ve got against her. Or you’ll want to use that gun on yerself to make sure she doesn’t get her hands on you.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com
Agents of the Vault – Part 14
Part 14 of The Agents of the Vault is here! Jane and the Pinkertons are hot on the trail of our heroes when they encounter the Pawnee indians themselves.
If you want to subscribe to the Grantcast, you can do so with iTunes, or by using this feed in your favorite podcatcher. Enjoy! And let me know what you think of the story in the comments here, as we go along.
Also, if you prefer a PDF version of this part to read, CLICK HERE for that.
Finally, if you’d like to support my projects, visit www.patreon.com/saturdaymorningmedia
Agents of the Vault
Part 14
By Grant Baciocco
Jane and her men had trailed the cart tracks to the spot where Grisom, Charlie and Leland had camped out before. It didn’t take long after that to discover the field full of fired arrows and the buffalo hides. Most important of her discoveries was the pool of blood back where they had camped and the tracks that indicated they’d left in a hurry. Someone had been injured in the confrontation with the indians. That meant they would be more desperate to find medical attention. Being more desperate meant more apt to become careless. That meant it’d be easier to find them. Find them and get the trunk.
After discovering all this, Jane pushed her men hard. They rode south at a blistering pace. They were headed towards the Platte river. But why? What was at that river? What took Grisom and Charlie half a day took Jane and her men half of that time. Of course, they weren’t pulling a cart loaded down with stolen gold so their horses could move faster
They were a mile off from the Pawnee camp when there was a loud war cry from directly in front of them. Jane pulled hard on the reigns of her horse, causing her to rear up. Her men did the same. Once their forward progress had stopped, Jane scanned the horizon in front of them. Her horse panting hard under her. Suddenly one single figure stood in the tall grass before them. A Pawnee brave. He held his bow, loaded with an arrow at his waist in front of him.
Jane held up a hand to her men, who she knew were already reaching for their pistols. Jane calmly hopped off her horse and began walking towards the brave. When she was now only 3 yards from him, he raised his arrow as if to fire. Jane continued walking but raised her hands.
“We are looking for two men who came this way in a cart.” She said in perfect Pawnee.
The Pawnee, stone faced said nothing. He held his bow aimed directly at her heart.
“They are bandits. Thieves. We have come to take them back with us.”
Still the Pawnee brave said nothing. Only stared deep into Jane’s eyes. She continued to walk directly towards him. “We mean you no malice, but if you are hiding the thieves, it will mean severe punishment for you and your tribe. So I ask you, have you seen the men we are looking for?”
The Pawnee brave said nothing, but suddenly, from out of the tall grass, a group of twenty braves stood, bows ready to be fired. Jane and her men were completely surrounded. This made Jane stop.
She looked around. Her men, nervous, fidgeted anxiously on their horses. Jane never broke eye contact with the brave once she’d taken in her predicament. She nodded and slowly turned to go back towards her horse. As she did she gave a shrill whistle and in a flash turned, gun drawn and shot the brave dead. Before the rest of the braves knew what had happened, Jane had killed 5 more and was reloading. Her men took the cue and began firing as well and soon Jane and her men stood in a bloody ring of dead indians and not a single arrow had been shot in return.
Jane holstered her gun as she strode back to her horse. She climbed up into the saddle and looked at her men. “We take the whole village.” She said, adjusting her hat.
Brenner turned to her, “The whole village?”
Jane ignored the skepticism in his voice.
“Yes.” Jane shouted, turning her horse to face her men. “Is General MacCallister’s calvary unit still stationed in Independence?
“I believe so.” Brenner replied.
Jane looked at Conners, “That’s about an hour’s ride east from here yes?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Conners, Ride there now and get him. Tell him to bring the whole calvary. Executive order.”
Conners was headed east before Jane said the word order. Brenner and the other Pinkerton watched him ride off, hell bent.
Brenner cleared his throat, “That’s a least two hours before they return.”
Jane nodded. “It is.”
“What do we do if the Pawnee come out looking for their braves?”
“We give them more of the same.” Said Jane as she climbed back up on her horse. “I want that trunk. If the Pawnee know where it is or have even seen it recently, I will know or I will burn their village to the ground and spill every last drop of blood under their red skin.”
©2015 Grant Baciocco/Saturday Morning Media – www.SaturdayMorningMedia.com