The Party at the Wall was just a moment in time for these city folk, a brief escape into another world, the wild Frontier of civilization. They’d romanticized the rugged look, the cowboy justice. But they had no idea what it was really like out here, where magical resources were spread thin, most of them going to powering the big Magitech wall that separated humanity from the plains of monsters.
I stretched out my legs, which were eager for a walk. Thank goodness we’d be arriving in Purgatory soon. You wouldn’t know it from the nostalgic wood benches and soft red velvet of the carriage interiors, but this train was as modern as you could get, crossing the five-hundred-mile distance between New York City and Purgatory in only an hour.
The bundle of bells over the door jingled as three women with identical high ponytails entered the carriage. They were wearing what I could only describe as cheerleader-cowgirl outfits, leotard tops with short denim skirts and tasseled suede boots. More role-players taking part in the Frontier fantasy.
The college guys immediately stopped shooting one another with magic pellets. Frozen, mesmerized, they watched the cheerleaders walk down the red velvet runway. As the women passed by, one of the guys, a fellow clad solely in a tan leather vest and matching pants stepped into their path.
“Hey there,” Leather Vest said in a slow, lazy drawl.
The head cheerleader looked him up and down and coolly declared, “Not interested.”
Leather Vest’s friends chuckled and slapped him on the back.
“Not any of you either,” said the cheerleader in the red leotard.
“Oh, that’s cold,” Cow Pants said, trying to keep a smile on his face.
“Yeah,” agreed Gunslinger. “What’s wrong with us?”
The cheerleader in blue glanced at his play gun and declared, “You’re not real cowboys.”
Then the three ladies continued down the aisle toward the exit doors. The train was slowing. We’d be stopping at the Purgatory station soon.
The college guys watched the cowgirl-cheerleader squad go. They too had come here to live out some fantasy, to meet rugged, rogue cowboys. The sort who wore ass-hugging jeans, thumping boots, big hats, and nothing else. The sort who went around shirtless in the scorching Frontier sun.
They would be sorely disappointed. Purgatory was not the home of sexy, single cowboys just waiting to give their hearts away to some special lady. It was the home of bartenders and grocers. Of mechanics and tailors. And some more bartenders. We had a lot of bartenders. Purgatory was a little more fun with a side order of hard liquor.
I got up and made my way toward the exit. The college guys perked up as they noticed me for the first time. During the journey, I’d used magic to mask my presence, to make myself a little less noticeable. It was the best way to get some peace and quiet while I finished my book.
The one wearing the enormous yellow hat glanced at the book, then met my eyes. “Good book?” he asked in a practiced, polished voice.
“Very.”
“The Secret World of Angels,” Cow Pants read aloud the title, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
“You’re interested in angels?” Yellow Hat asked me.
They were all trying hard not to snicker now. As though my fantasy was worse than theirs.
“Isn’t everyone interested in angels?” I countered.
He nodded. “I know a fellow who can get people into Heaven,” he said, moving in closer. “You know the place?”
“The Legion of Angels club in New York.”
“Exclusive club,” he said. “It’s the favorite watering hole of top members of the Legion. Including angels.”
Watering hole? He sure was getting into his cowboy character. I wondered what the angels I knew would think of their exclusive club being referred to as a ‘watering hole’. I swallowed a chuckle.
Yellow Hat must have mistaken my amusement for a purr of glee because he was moving in even closer. “This guy I know could get us in. I could take you there. What do you say?” He went in for the kill, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
I flashed him a grin. “I would love to pay Heaven another visit.”
He froze at the realization that I’d been there before, his play ruined. He must have been wondering how I’d gotten into Heaven because his offer was completely bogus, a cheap pickup line. He might not know it, but the bouncers at Heaven wouldn’t let in any Legion soldier under level five, not without an invitation from a higher level soldier. They wouldn’t let in a human period, not even if an angel invited them.
I patted his arm. “But right now, I’m looking to meet some authentic cowboys.” Winking, I shrugged off his hand. “See you around.”
Then I pushed past them and took the exit. As I walked away, I could feel the guys’ eyes glued on me.
“Shot down again, cowboy,” Suede Jacket snickered.
“Oh, shut up,” grumbled Yellow Hat.
As they tried to get back into character by shooting one another again, I went to go chat with the conductor. He was standing on the platform, watching the passengers disembark the train.
“Hey, Jon.”
“Leda, good to see you again,” he said, his wrinkled face drawing up into a warm smile. Dressed in a navy sweater vest over a dress shirt and a pair of heather-grey wool pants, he looked like everyone’s favorite grandfather. A golden pocket watch even dangled from his vest.
Unlike the collegiate cowboys and cheerleaders, I wasn’t a tourist. Though I lived in New York now, this town, for better or for worse, was home. It had been a year since I gave up my life to join the Legion, but I could never really give up my family and those I loved.
I smiled back at him. “Good to see you too.”
He glanced down at my big bag, tensing. “Is trouble brewing here?”
“Not this time. I’m just here to visit.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Good to hear it. You don’t come back home often enough.”
Though the trip from New York to Purgatory was only an hour with the high-speed train, I hadn’t been back for an actual visit since I’d left. I’d only passed through a few times when my work for the Legion of Angels brought me to the nearby Black Plains.
But I needed a little down time from the constant training and endless battles, from fighting monsters and chasing supernatural conspiracies. And there was no place like home to kick up your feet and breathe in the Frontier air.
“You’re too busy saving the world to pay us a visit, I suppose?” Jon asked me.
“It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it,” I replied with a smirk.
His lips spread into a smile, drawing up the wrinkles around his eyes. “You’re a good girl, Leda.”
“Well, when I want to be anyway.”
Then I walked off to the sound of his chuckles.
The tourists poured out of the train, flooding the station’s single platform. I could smell the slick city on them; I could see the innocence in the twinkle in their eyes as they stepped out into a whole new world. Purgatory was the end of the line. Literally. It was a small town that sat on the doorstep of the Black Plains, where monsters ruled and civilization ended. The Earth had been overrun by monsters centuries ago, and humanity had been caught in the crossfire of the war between gods and demons ever since.
I followed the swarms of tourists out of the station, watching them stare around in starry-eyed wonder. The citizens of Purgatory had gone all out for the festival. They’d decorated the town to appeal to the tourists’ wild Frontier fantasies, the tick box for every stereotype nicely checked. It looked so different than it usually did.
There were old wooden signs, carved and painted, that hung outside the doors of each and every business in town. The signs were one of the things the tourists wanted to see—expected to see—but they were not a part of everyday life here.
In reality, the extreme, constantly-shifting weather out here, so close to the Black Plains, would have ruined the lovely, handmade signs in no time. We often had summer and winter in one day—a mismatch of hard rain and snow, of storms and sunny skies, of scorching heat and extreme humidity. That was the consequence of the monsters, their close proximity throwing all magic and nature out of whack.