fiction - brigits_flame - carriage trade

[hwango]

"Sir, I regret that at this point I must ask you not to make any sudden moves."

Toby obliged, though largely because he was, for the moment, too stunned to even think of moving.

"Excellent. Now, if you would be so kind as to-"

"How did you get on the carriage?" Toby interrupted, fighting the urge to look behind him for the man who was speaking.

"The same way that we achieve anything worthwhile in this world - through effort and determination."

Toby found this answer tremendously unsatisfying. The coach had been moving at a quite respectable speed, and the road here was too wide for the intruder to have dropped from the overhanging branch of a tree.

"Now, as you can probably imagine, I shall be wanting whatever currency and valuables you may have about your person, as well as those of your passenger," the man behind him continued.

Toby considered this for a moment. "Aren't you supposed to say 'your money or your life' or 'stand and deliver,' or something like that?"

"I'm sorry if my congenial approach is leading you to feel insufficiently threatened. I suppose that I prefer to keep the possibility of violence more implied than overt. However, it does so happen that I am holding a firearm which is both loaded and currently aimed at your person. If further threats are necessary, I feel confident that I can supply them for you."

"A bit chatty for a highwayman, aren't you?"

"And you, sir, are proving to be a bit uncooperative for a man with a pistol pointed at his head." The highwayman waited a moment for the driver to absorb this. "Now, I think it would be best if you stopped the carriage."

Toby obliged. The carriage had only just come to a complete stop when the passenger inside began shouting.

"Toby! Why in heaven's name are we stopping? You know I'm in a hurry!"

"Highwayman, sir!" Toby called back.

"What? Why didn't you just run him down?!"

"Um…the opportunity did not present itself, sir," Toby replied.

"Sir," the highwayman began, "in order for matters to proceed with a minimum amount of unpleasantness for us all, I think it would be best if you remained inside while-"

"What in blazes are you talking about? Do you know who I am?!" The carriage rocked a bit as the passenger moved about in the compartment.

"It could be said that who we are is defined by our current circumstances rather than by any past experiences or events, for those only reflect who we were up until this moment. As such, who you were is not so important as who you are now, and who you are now is a man who has been waylaid on the road by a stranger holding a gun. But perhaps an even more important question is, 'who will you be tomorrow?' Will you be a man suffering from a bit of financial misfortune, or will you be a man prematurely experiencing the afterlife?"

Silence, and then "Are you really a highwayman? You don't sound like a highwayman."

"As a man who so highly values the art that is language, it wounds me to the core to say this, but in this instance perhaps you should consider not my words, but my actions. I have accosted you on the road and demanded your money and valuables. By definition, that makes me a highwayman."

"Hey," said Toby, "is this like that thing you were just saying about now versus the past, so you're, like, a highwayman now, but weren't one before, and that's why you talk all posh?"

"An insightful question, though by asking it you reveal that you rather missed the point that I was trying to make. Was I always a highwayman? Will I still be a highwayman tomorrow? If I were to say that I was giving up being a highwayman, would I then cease to be one? If that were true, is a highwayman only a highwayman when he committing the crime itself? Indeed, these are fascinating questions, but they rather fall outside the purview of our current scenario, as this is meant to be a robbery and not a philosophical debate."

"You started it," Toby said.

"This is ridiculous," muttered the coach's passenger, and he opened the carriage door and started to step out.

The answering gunshot caused Toby to drop the reins and cover his ears, which was most unfortunate considering that it also spooked the horses. A few panicked moments later and several yards further down the road, things were once again under control.

"As I'm sure you can understand, I would like to avoid a repeat of that incident," said the highwayman softly, and for the first time there was an edge of menace in his tone.

"That thing's like a bloody cannon!" Toby said, still shaking.

"Yes," the highwayman said, the silence that followed all the more ominous in light of the highwayman's usual loquacity.

The next sound was the clink of metal coins as a purse was ejected from the compartment of the carriage.

"Good judgment is exercised at last," said the highwayman. He gently prodded Toby with the barrel of his gun. "You next, my good man."

Toby slowly and carefully withdrew his own purse and tossed it to the ground as well, where it landed with a much softer clink.

"Now if you would both remain still while I make a brief inspection of your luggage, I would be most grateful."

Toby and his passenger sat in silence as the highwayman carefully looted their other belongings, taking time to repack that which he did not take. Then Toby heard the creaking of wood as the highwayman crept up behind him once again.

"Now, I will be on my way. But first, Toby, I thought that perhaps I would answer one of those questions that we raised during our time together. 'Was I always a highwayman?' No, Toby, of course not. No man is born a highwayman, just as no man is born a carriage driver. But somehow, paradoxically, a man can be born to be the sort of man who rides in a carriage. But the nature of privilege is that it is much easier to lose than to gain. And once privilege is lost, what must the once-privileged rely upon to make their way in the world?"

"Effort and determination."

Comments

[toxic-apiaceae.livejournal.com]

It's been a while since I've read (re: stalked) your work, and I have to say I've missed it quite a bit.

THIS was probably my most favorite piece for the first prompt. The entire thing was just pure, straight up genius. I love the characters, the set up, the dialogue... everything about this was just outstanding.

[hwango.livejournal.com]

Heh, well you didn't really miss any - my schedule for the last 3 months was such that I wasn't able to write anything. = (

Anyway, glad you enjoyed this one. Thanks!