Something that was kicking around in my head while I was working on another weird west story. History is full of places that are both one place and another, and sometimes the legends of a place can grow large enough that one world isn’t enough to hold them all.
I waved a goodbye out the open door of the barroom. The dusty young couple in their covered wagon waved back as the man flicked the reins and set their horses in motion.
“What did they want, Jack?” Vol mumbled around his tusks. Took some folks a bit to get what the orc was saying, but I’d been camped in Gateway long enough that I barely noticed his accent anymore.
“If they were headed the right way to get to California,” I said as I settled myself in at the bar. Dusty shafts of light illuminated the room and the rough-cut planks of the bar. “Told them they got a bit turned around, but to head up through the pass and straight on through to Virginia City.”
Vol stopped cleaning the mug I’d just emptied and squinted at me. “Now, why did you go telling ‘em something like that? That there’s the way to dragon country.”
“Yes. And No.” I shook my head. “Depends on where you’re trying to get to out here.”
Vol’s thick eyebrows bent down as he frowned. “Ain’t never heard of things working that way.”
“You might miss it ‘cause this here’s your home. You don’t want to leave, I mean. Not with the bar an Kel and the kids here.”
“Hells no!” Vol laughed. “Busted my ass three years to build this fool place. Ain’t no way I’d just pack up and leave!”
"See? That’s what I mean.” I waved my hand in the general direction of the rest of the town. “You’ve got a good place here. If you wanted to head to California, well, that road would take you to Virginia City. If you didn’t, it’ll take you out to dragon country.”
“Hmpf. So I get a choice?”
“More than one. If you don’t watch your steps, it can take you to the Haunted Plains, the Wasted Lands, Coyote’s Graveyard…”
“You’re just making things up, now. Let me guess. If you head back east down the road, it takes you somewhere other than El Paso?”
“Nope. It’s always El Paso.” I scratched my head. “Ain’t quite figured that one out quite yet.”
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