Clove & Moose 11: The Bad Bandits

Clove and Moose is a serial fiction story. While there is an overarching plot, each episode can be enjoyed on its own without reading what came before. However, if you want to get caught up, click one of the buttons below.

Previously, on Clove & Moose: After the mysterious Cataclysm dried up the earth and its magic, Clove left home to search for pools of corrupted magic left behind in the Cataclysm’s wake. Along with her cat Moose, Clove has been repairing these pools while travelling west. After rescuing a young woman named Marissa from one of the corrupted areas, the two agreed to stick together for a while.

“I spy with my little eye, something that is brown.”

Clove stopped walking to turn and glare at Marissa. “Are you kidding me? Everything is brown!”

They were walking along the side of a road that curved through the woods. The dirt beneath her boots was brown, the boots themselves were brown, the trunks of the trees around them were brown. The dead leaves were brown, the fallen pinecones were brown, and the puddles of water in the ditch were brown.

Marissa took advantage of the stop to pet Moose, who was trotting at Clove’s side. “It’s an easy one, I promise!” 

Clove sighed and started walking again. “Is it the dirt?”

“Nope.”

“Is it my boots?”

“Nope.”

“Is it–”

“Stop right there!” A man emerged from the woods, a gun pointed at them. “Put your hands where I can see them.”

Clove resisted the urge to pick up Moose and did as the man said, putting her arms above her head. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw movement as more people came out of the bushes and surrounded them.

“Give us all your money.”

“Money?” Clove almost laughed. “I haven’t had money in months.”

“Me neither,” said Marissa. “I barely had money before the Cataclysm, let alone now.”

Clove wished she could tell Marissa not to be a smart mouth, but she stayed silent. She didn’t dare even turn her head to look at the other woman. 

“Give me your food, then. You first.” He gestured at Clove with his gun, a movement that made Moose hiss. “And shut that cat up.”

“He’s just scared,” Clove said. “I’m going to set my pack down.”

Giving away their food would suck–they were a day’s walk from the nearest town–but getting shot would suck a lot more. Clove slowly set her backpack on the ground, then ran a hand over Moose’s back to calm him.

“It’s okay, boy.”

She was intentionally slow to open her bag, pretending her hands were shaking too badly to unfasten it. If she could buy some time, maybe she could come up with a plan. She wished she still had her magic; she’d never studied much combat magic but she did know a couple defensive spells.

But there was no magic any more. All she had was her wits and a backpack full of survival gear. 

She might be quick enough to throw a can at the man’s head, but there were at least three more behind her, and she didn’t think she could throw cans quickly enough to take them all down.

Best to play along for now. Hopefully once they had given their food over, the bandits would let them leave in peace. 

She pulled all the food from her pack and placed it in a little pile in front of her. “That’s all I have.”

“Check her bag!” the lead bandit yelled at one of his cronies.

Another man stepped forward and picked up Clove’s bag, dumping it upside down, shaking it, and using one foot to sift through the contents. “That’s it, boss.”

“Fine. Your turn.” He switched the gun to Marissa. 

Clove knelt to start repacking her back, but the gun quickly came back to her. “Leave it!” 

She raised her hands again and sat back on her heels. There would be time enough after the bandits left. If the bandits left.

While they repeated the process with Marissa, Clove took advantage of the distraction to get a better sense of the situation. There were only four bandits total. The one on the right looked young, and distracted. He kept glancing down the road behind them. 

“Boss, I think someone’s coming.”

“Hush.” 

“But–”

“I said hush!” The man with the gun turned on the young one. “If someone comes then we’ll deal with them too, you hear?”

“Yes, boss,” the young one said, taking a step back and turning his eyes to the ground.

“Alright, you can go,” the one with the gun said when they had finished raiding Marissa’s pack. “Take it real slow, now.”

Clove pushed her clothes and other items back into her bag and took a step back, toward Marissa. Two of the bandits moved aside, creating a space for them to leave. Clove had taken two steps forward before the leader shouted again.

“Hold it!” 

Clove froze. 

“Leave the cat.”

“What? Never!” Clove stooped to grab Moose into her arms. 

“Leave the cat or I shoot.” The gun was pointed right at her head.

“You’ll have to shoot both of us, then.” Marissa stepped in front of them. “No one hurts Moose on my watch.”

“Marissa, no.” Clove shifted Moose’s weight to one arm and reached into the pouch at her waist, hoping this would work. “We’ll have to use the bomb.”

“You don’t have a bomb,” the leader said.

“Don’t I?” Clove asked, pulling her crystal from her pouch and holding it aloft for the bandits to see. “A magical bomb. Let us go, or I throw it and run.”

“She’s lying,” the leader said. “Everyone knows magic doesn’t work any more.”

“People can’t do magic any more,” Clove said. “Magic artifacts still work.”

She had no idea if that was true. Her crystal could trap the corrupt magic. Maybe other artifacts still worked to their purpose.

“I’ve heard that,” the youngest bandit said. “My sister said there’s a–”

“Shut it!” The leader said, whirling on the young bandit. “No one cares what your sister said. Magic is dead.”

Was it enough of a distraction to run? Clove surveyed the other bandits. One was still watching. Did he have a weapon? 

She hesitated too long. The leader shifted his focus back to them. But now Clove heard what the young bandit had heard earlier. There was a clattering noise behind them.

“You hear that?” she said. “The energies of the bomb, making the stones rattle. It’s only a matter of time until they’re released.”

“Boss…” One of the other bandits spoke. “What if she’s telling the truth?”

“She’s not!”

“I’m telling you, my sister–” the young one protested.

This was good. If they started arguing with themselves, it might be enough of a distraction for the three of them to escape. 

“Your sister doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

“The noise is getting louder!”

“Screw this!” The youngest bandit threw down his knife. “I’m getting out of here.”

He took off down the road. The other bandit who had spoken about the noise hesitated, then followed after him. 

The third bandit, who’d been silent so far, shrugged. “Sorry boss. Majority rules.” He loped on after the last two.

That left only the leader, but his attention was now squarely on Clove and Marissa. “You haven’t seen the last of us,” he snarled, before following the others down the road.

Clove turned her attention behind them, where the noise was growing ever louder. A horse-drawn cart crested the hill. The man on the driver’s bench brought the horse to a stop, staring after the bandits, then looked to Clove and Marissa. “Am I that terrifying?”

“You showed up at a good time,” Clove said. “Thank you.”

“What happened here?”

Marissa told the story–with a few embellishments–while Clove soothed Moose.

“You folks need a ride anywhere?” the man asked when they were done. “Sounds like you’ve had a rough day.”

Clove glanced at Marissa, who nodded. “If you don’t mind taking us as far as the next town, we’d be very grateful. The bandits made off with all our food.”

“Not to worry.” He climbed off the driver’s seat. “The name’s Jasper, and this here is Miss Delilah,” he said, gesturing to the horse. “We’ll take you as far as you like.”

He helped them both into the back of the cart, which was half full of wooden crates, but had space at the back for the two of them to sit facing one another. Clove climbed up first, then Marissa handed Moose to her before hopping in. They settled into their places while Moose began a thorough inspection of the wooden crates.

“It was Moose,” Marissa said softly as the cart jerked into motion.

“What was Moose?”

“What I spied, earlier. Something brown?”

That felt like a lifetime ago, now, but it brought a smile to Clove’s lips despite everything. “You’re right, that was an easy one. I should have guessed it.”

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Katie Conrad is a speculative fiction writer living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. You can find her on twitter, instagram, and tumblr.