Page 34 of Emergence: Prequel

“I need to leave, Maestro.”

He nodded and brought his hands to his face, his fingers resting together at the tips as he rested his chin on them, swinging in his chair as he contemplated me.

“I figured this might be coming. I have a few ideas, but before that, tell me what you plan on doing? I can’t see you sitting doing nothing, Tinman.”

Chuckling, I shook my head at him, “Honestly, Maestro, I have no fucking clue what I’ll be doing other than helping Maggie.”

We were silent for a while; Maestro wasn’t rushing me. I gathered my thoughts before speaking up, “You know that Maggie is English, right?”

He nodded his head that yes, he knew that. She’d been in the US so long that she didn’t sound anything like she used to, so I wasn’t sure if he’d remembered.

I went on to tell him about the cider farm and that she needed to go and spend some time on it. I explained that Maggie was a farm girl, and she’d looked into all sorts of shit she could be doing with the cidery if she was on the premises. She’d even done a few courses on distilling, thinking she may expand a little. She’d supported me all these years, it was my turn to support her. I’m sure there’d be a garage on the cider farm and if there was, I’d be happy tinkering on an engine.

I went on to explain how we’d decided that we wanted to slow down a little. We were by no means old, just tired. We’d both be fifty in the next year or so, and Chains dying had woken us both up that life was short. Even if we weren’t a one percenter club anymore and the danger was less, we still wanted something different. Maggie and I had five children, ranging from Coal at twenty-eight to surprise baby Opal, who was fifteen.

Once I’d finished explaining about the cider farm and Maggie’s plans, I sat back and waited.

Maestro didn’t say anything for a while, just contemplated me for a minute.

“What about Coal and the other boys?”

I was surprised at the question, “What about them? I’m sure they’ll be staying here.”

“Mmhh,” Maestro muttered, his brow furrowed as he thought something through, muttering under his breath so soft I could barely hear him. But I got where he was going. “I had something pointed out to me not so long ago. Coal’s wasted here. He’d make a fucking fantastic president. The rest of your boys would be good as his officers, with a few others mixed in so that there are no favourites when it comes to voting.”

Taking a pad and pen from the drawer, he read something on it and was silent for a little while as he wrote a few things down on the pad in front of him, crossed them out, and then wrote something else down.

“Mmhh, yeah, that could work,” Maestro rubbed a hand across his mouth as he studied his notes. “Damn if those Skulls weren’t right. What do you think?” he asked, handing me the paper. Reaching across, I took it from him and read down the list of names. My brows raised as I read the list because four of the names on that list of officers were my sons.

PRESIDENT – COAL

COAL TIN

VP – COPPER

COPPER TIN

SGT-AT-ARMS – IRON

GAUGE FINN

ENFORCER – BRASS

JUSTUS FINN

CHAPLAIN – CROSS

MYLES ROALD

TREASURER – NICKEL

NICKEL TIN

ROAD CAPTAIN – BOLT

COBALT TIN

SECRETARY – TINMAN