This post is part of the March 2013 Blog Chain at Absolute Write. This month’s prompt is “What the Leprechaun Said,” your generic St. Patrick’s Day sort of thing.
“The Leprechaun took it.”
It didn’t surprise me that the trail led back to the Leprechaun. Every piece of gold in Halftown, everything that could possibly be converted into a piece of gold in Halftown seemed to wind up in his pot eventually. Many a gumshoe had gotten a good working over from his goons, provided that they were small or sloppy enough to be overpowered by halflings. So I suppose you could say not that many gumshoes had been worked over, since it was mainly me and Marlow the Low in the Halftown PI gig.
I found the Leprechaun at his usual watering hole, The End of the Rainbow Club, a little speakeasy under the city’s main sewer line. He was at the head of a sumptuous banquet, a fine old halfling tradition that had been driven (literally) underground by banquet prohibition. The guard at the door let me in for some reason when I said I had business with the Leprechaun, probably because I’d come out black and blue every time I went (or was dragged) in.
“Word on the street is that you have a Gorgon’s head-snake in your pot,” I said, cutting straight to the head of the feast with a causal lope. “Just so happens I’m in the market for one.” I casually took out a pack, shook a cigarette into my hand, and then bit the end off. Candy cigarettes kill more halflings than real ones; we like our sweets early and often.
“That so, Tuesday?” said the Leprechaun. He slid off his chair, which put him at about eye level for me. He’s a halfling, of course, not a real leprechaun–that’s just a silly idea. Everyone knows leprechauns are extinct. But if you’re a halfling redhead named Mungle Snuh, the name has a certain cachet.
I tugged on the brim of my fedora. “That’s right. Girl likes her hair the way it is and hired me to bring it back.”
“Do you have any idea what a Gorgon’s snake is worth to the right people?” the Leprechaun continued. “It sees everything they see, hears everything they hear. It’s an easy ticket to blackmail or more, and it’s going to take more than the sayso of a shoer punk like you to make me give it up.”
Halflings don’t trust anybody that wears shoes, you see, least of all their own kind. Me, I kind of like mine–gum sticks to it a lot better than the alternative. Being called a “shoer,” a shoe-wearer, is one of the worst slurs you can sling at a halfling, right up there with “kid” and “dieter.” “Oh, you’re going to give me what I want, Mungle,” I said, hooking my thumbs under my suspenders. “And you’re going to do it for free.”
“Is that so?” The Leprechan’s feastgoers began to rise, looking rather put out and brandishing clubs and small-caliber mohaskas. “And how exactly are you going to do that?”
“That’s an excellent question, Mungle,” I said. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
Check out this month’s other bloggers, all of whom have posted or will post their own responses:
robeiae
writingismypassion
Sudo_One
randi.lee
pyrosama
SRHowen
katci13
MsLaylaCakes
meowzbark
dclary
Angyl78
KitCat
Bloo
areteus
dolores haze
ConnieBDowell
Lady Cat
Araenvo
MichaelP
Ralph Pines
March 5, 2013 at 7:57 am
The last line showed some great false bravado.
March 5, 2013 at 8:51 am
For free, huh? Will there be a fight? 🙂 I always wanted to see two small things fight each other.
March 5, 2013 at 8:54 am
Wasn’t the presidential election enough?
March 5, 2013 at 9:33 am
There will be blood!
This has an odd Firefly feel to me, or maybe I just think that way…
Good read, though.
March 5, 2013 at 10:38 am
Given your AW avatar, I would submit that everything has an odd Firefly feel to you 🙂
March 7, 2013 at 11:41 pm
I smell bloodshed coming. Good story!
March 8, 2013 at 4:25 am
A hobbit version of the wild west. I’m intrigued.
March 8, 2013 at 9:49 am
Well, more like a hobbit version of the Maltese Falcon. But close enough 🙂
March 8, 2013 at 6:52 am
Nice! Definitely original–I love your tone AND your control of pacing. It kept me right in the moment. And the last line? Brilliant. I love how your mc is confident in what he’s going to do, but has no idea how he’s going to do it–classic! Great job, O!
March 9, 2013 at 8:53 am
This is great – love the world building with the details about shoes and candy. Cliffhanger ending, though. More now, please 🙂
March 11, 2013 at 1:03 am
Great world you created here! I love all the little details. I’m really interesting in this Gorgon’s snake now. Lol!
March 22, 2013 at 12:00 pm
I love that “dieter” is an insult!
March 23, 2013 at 12:07 pm
I love this! Such a Dashiell Hammett feel to it. Well done, and I can’t wait to read more!
March 24, 2013 at 10:56 am
That was a lot of fun. Halfling noir?
March 24, 2013 at 12:01 pm
It’s an untouched genre!
March 24, 2013 at 12:20 pm
You need to quickly corner the market!
March 26, 2013 at 7:44 am
Brawling leprechauns for the win!
March 26, 2013 at 11:04 am
This is pretty funny. Great voice, fantastic little details (“Shoer.” LOL)