//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 
// Story: Moonshine 
// by bookplayer 
//------------------------------//

	Applejack woke up late, amid the chirping of bluejays already in the middle of their day. She groaned, putting a hand to her forehead. A hangover roared to life within her, pounding away at her with reckless abandon. Wincing, she rose to a sit, the drink in her sloshing her stomach, upsetting it. Her thoughts turned from her aches and pains and into last night. She froze, looking over.
Dash was gone, absent from the makeshift bed crafted from their clothes, absent from where she lay last night when they… when they…
Rising, AJ looked for the woman, clothes be damned. She crained her tall body, looking through the dense vegetation for the woman. Spotting a figure by a small stream a bit deeper into the field she moved towards it, her calloused feet not paying the slightest mind to the twigs and burrs between her and her goal.
She came to the stream. Dash sat at the water, looking distantly towards the rise of a hill and a brick grain silo that rose over it.
“Good mornin’,” AJ offered.
“What’s good about it?” Dash asked. She looked over to AJ, then quickly snapped her head back around when she realized the farmer was au natural.
AJ raised a brow.
“Glad yer a ray of sunshine today, sug,” she addressed, moving to the edge of the creek and kneeling, cupping her hands together and drawing a handful of water which she swallowed, giving a sigh of contentment.
After a beat, she moved into the water beside Dash, who looked almost panicked at the action.
“What are you doing?” Dash asked, stepping back.
“Hell it look like?” the farmer replied. She pointed at her wavy hair. “Cleanin’ this rats nest. Probably gonna put it in a ponytail after this, son of a gun’s hard ta take care of.”
“I’m still here,” Dash countered, giving a splash of the water to empathize.
“So? Plenty-a water fer both of us.”
Dash turned away from her. “Ever hear of privacy?”
Applejack gave a laugh. “I think we’re a bit past that part, sug.”
“That’s the problem, dope!” Dash snapped over her shoulder.
The farmer narrowed her brow. “Drop the hissy fit, it don’t fit ya, Evelyn.”
“Don’t call me that,” Dash warned.
AJ flinched, feeling more hurt than furious at the woman. The fuzzy magic of last night was fading, leaving her with only a bitter ache in her head and, the way Dash was acting, a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Why?” she finally asked.
“Because I’m not a soft sap, no matter how much you want me to be. No matter how drunk you get me,” she lectured, sternly pointing a finger.
If she had felt stabbed in the back before from Dash’s tantrum, now it felt like a knife had just been twisted in her. Applejack, a small part of her at least, wanted to reach out and snap that accusing finger—she could, it’d be easier than crushing an apple in her palm, a trick she had done a few times in her life—Dash’s digit would be child’s play. But she made no move for it, stifling her anger and instead putting her hands at her sides, balling them into tight fists the size of canned hams and tried to keep her cool.
“I didn’t get ya drunk,” AJ growled out. “We split the bottle, you coulda stopped anytime. But ya didn’t. Ya kissed me. Ya kissed me first. Not ta mention what else ya did first. An’ now yer blamin’ me fer it? Fuck you.”
“No,” Dash answered, shoving the farmer hard enough that AJ stumbled back a step. “Fuck you. We were drunk and you spoke enough sugar that I let my guard down. I got soft.”
“Why do ya have ta keep yer guard up around me? Do ya really think I’d hurt ya on purpose?”
Dash looked to her, then looked away, rubbing at her lips. “You might not on purpose, but you sure as hell could break me on accident.”
“I don’t…” AJ mumbled out, not really following.
“It was all a damn mistake. All of last night. I really screwed the pooch.”
“Don’t,” Applejack remarked, angry and sad and uncomprehending all at once. “Yer lyin’,” she finally settled on.
“Like hell I am!” Dash barked out. “I ruined a lot of shit!”
“Ruined?” AJ repeated. “Says who? Dash, yer bein’ a genius again. Last night was somethin’ else.”
“Because you got to fool around with a hot piece of ass?” the shorter woman barked out.
AJ slammed a foot down in the water. “Horseshit! I don’t chase tail, especially dame tail! How can ya not see that after last night? How come yer still spittin’ fire? Did nothin’ I say get through that skull or mean anythin’?”
“Do you even remember what you said?” Dash coolly asked, a genuine question. One she waited for a response to as she crossed her arms and stared.
“That you should be with me,” AJ countered. She softened up a hair and held her hand out. “I mighta meant it a bit different then, but I still mean it now. Come on, Evelyn.”
The woman’s frown twitched and she hesitated. Before either could do anything, though, the loud bellow of bloodhound barking drew their attention away. Just climbing the apex of the hill by the silo was an old man, a rifle in his arms and a dog seeming to stare accusingly towards the two as they stood thigh-deep in water.
“Hey!” the old man called out. “The hell are you two doing naked on my land?! This ain’t the place for a boy and a lady to be neckin’!”
Applejack looked over to Dash, the flat woman held a glare that suggested that AJ not even attempt to make a joke.
“Any ideas?” AJ instead offered to the woman.
“Follow my lead,” Dash encouraged. She stepped out of the creek as AJ did the same, then took a breath, focusing. In a flash she turned around, taking off at a dead sprint towards the car.
“That’s yer lead?!” AJ called after her, putting a hand on the top of her head in exasperation. She looked behind her at the man stumbling down the hill after them and the dog that was quickly approaching her heels. She took off after the woman, pumping her arms violently with every step in a vain attempt to catch up. As Dash ran to the car, AJ stopped, scooping up their clothes in her arms in a tight bear hug and choosing to ignore the socks that dropped to the ground below her.
Dash lept over the door handle and sat at the wheel, only to freeze.
“Keys!” she called out. AJ fished into Dash’s pants pockets, swearing as she lost her bra behind her.
“The hell are they?!” she exclaimed when her search was fruitless.
“Breastpocket!” she called back, running a hand through her hair and giving a roll of her wrists, encouraging AJ to pick up the damn pace.
She found them and chucked them towards Dash; the woman caught it in one hand and started up the car just as AJ made it to its side. After throwing their clothes to the floorboard, AJ hopped in too, slapping at the dashboard.
“Come on, come on!” AJ called out. Dash shifted backwards and gunned it.
The tires underneath them spun out in the soft earth, sending clumps of grass spewing out.
“We’re stuck!” Dash exclaimed in a panic. “We gotta get her pushed out!”
AJ winced, looking from Dash to the elderberry bush the Raceabout was parked within.
“Are ya kiddin’?” 
“Does this look like Vaudeville?” Dash motioned to the woods.
“Sure don’t see nobody in blackface,” AJ repled with a scowl. She held her hand out to Dash. “Rock Paper Scissors. Loser has ta go inta the bush. Damn. We’re in a tight spot,” she muttered. “Quick-like, that ol’ boy can’t be too far behind.”
“This is--” Dash sighed. “Okay, fine.” She held out a hand and waited for AJ to do the same. “One, two, three, shoot!”
AJ frowned. Her paper beat by Dash’s scissors.
“Ya damn cheat,” the farmer swore. “Son of a bitch. Ok,” she muttered, hopping out. 
She rounded the car, stepping in front of it. A branch from the bush seemed to seek her out, ramming into her side hard enough to make her swear again as she positioned herself, bracing against the car.
“Gun it!” she called, once more letting out an almost girlish whine of pain as a thorn found purchase in her asscheek, drawing blood. “Any damn time now!”
The car revved, once more drawing dirt into the air. Only this time, there came a hair of traction, the car moving a blessed few inches backward. AJ stepped forward, drawing the irie of the bush once again, it drawing blood on her thigh, her hip. An exposed root gave a small puncture to her foot but she still moved on, expletives coming to her fast and quick enough that the devil himself would of drawn a blush.
Finally, the car found itself and Dash guided it back on the road, just as AJ fell forward, landing face-first into the dirt. She rose, glowering, and quickly ran to the car, brushing the dirt off her body and leaping in.
As soon as AJ was in the car, Dash slammed on the gas. The car jolted forward. She gunned it for a minute or two before slowing to a more sane speed.
Dash glanced over at AJ, then sputtered into a fit of giggles. 
“Har har, laugh it up,” AJ grumbled. “I don’t know how this can get any worse.”
As if on cue, as the reached the apex of a hill, another car passed by them and a young man drove past, his jaw unhinged as he took in the sight of the two. He swerved, nearly going off the road as he did and AJ put a muddy hand to her forehead in exasperation.
“I take it back,” Dash said with a grin. “You’d be a real hit in Vaudeville.”
She looked over to Dash and sighed. “Guess I need ta learn how ta sing Mammy an’ we’ll be in business.” Another pause and something sparked in her mind.
“Crap!” she exclaimed, putting her hand to her cheek in alarm, “the damn upholstery on the chairs! It’s gonna get stained ta shit! We need some water!” She then looked over to Dash and herself. “An’ are ya wantin’ us to ride all-a God’s green earth lookin’ like the day we were born, sug? We could probably stand fer a pit stop, no matter how good the air’s feelin’.”
Dash looked over at AJ, smiling like she was going to make another joke, but her eyes lingered on AJ’s body and the smile fell away. “I’ll pull over in those trees up there and we can get dressed, then I’ll catch the next filling station we come to to clean up.”
“Thanks, girl. Yer the best,” AJ automatically replied. Tapping at the car door, she decided to approach the elephant they had almost cornered in the creek while she could. “Dash. I mean what I said earlier. Ya know that.”
“I know you think you do. But… I can’t. I shouldn’t ’ve last night, and I can’t today. Maybe someday, when my ship comes in…” Dash sighed as she pulled the car off the road into a small grove of trees and bushes. She grabbed her pants off out of the footwell and opened her door. 
 “Yer always talkin’ ‘bout ships. Thought you were a plane girl,” AJ remarked, trying to smile for the woman. She grabbed her skirt and shirt and hopped out too.
Dash hopped into her clothes, giving AJ a smile over her shoulder. “Ship, plane, car… I’ll take it, as long as it’s mine.”
“Well, glad ya ain’t too picky,” AJ replied. “Grab what ya can grab, after all.” She brushed herself off as well as she could and slipped into her skirt. “Though ya got somethin’ that’s yers that ain’t a tin can, jus’ so ya know. If ya want it, anyway.” She put on her shirt, giving a roll of her shoulders as she tried to get comfortable from the lack of a bra.
Dash sat back behind the wheel and pulled her shirt on, buttoning it up. “I told you, when my ship comes in. ‘Til then it’s not a fair deal.”
“How ain’t it a fair deal?” AJ questioned, raising a brow. She reached down and fished out a rock from her shoe, then got back in the car.
“Look at me, AJ.” Dash frowned and gestured, presenting herself. “This is all I’ve got. No, that’s not true, I’ve got less than this, ‘cause without that crate of your hooch back there I’m also out a set of kneecaps. You’re set, hell, you’re set enough that you can get me set up… I don’t wanna feel like someone is setting me up, and I especially don’t want to feel like that with you.”
“Yer so dumb,” AJ said, exasperated. “I ain’t doin’ this ta help ya fer charity. This right here? An’ investment. Yer a lil’ sapling right now. Give ya some water? A lil’ time in the sun?” She gave a small smile to herself, her brown skin too dark to show a blush, but heat coming to her face regardless, “maybe a lil’ love? That thing’ll grow inta a mighty fine tree. You’ll get that investment back an’ then some. If ya jus’ make sure ta take care-a the sapling.”
“Pretty sure you don’t screw your trees,” Dash muttered.
AJ paused, looking over to Dash. “Ya thinkn’ we did that last night?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, the way two gals are supposed to…?”
Dash raised an eyebrow. “Uh… yeah? I mean, one of ‘em must have been...” She shook her head. “And that’s not even the point. The problem is what we did last night, not what we call it.”
“What would ya call it?” AJ encouraged, giving a bit of a chiding smile. “Makin’ whoopee? That’s what Alice called it once.”
Dash looked down at the steering wheel. A blush came to her cheeks and she said through gritted teeth, “I’d call it making love, okay? And I’m not okay with it, and I’m not okay with you calling me Evelyn… and I wanna be okay with that someday, when I’m standing on my own, but I can’t be right now. So can we just forget it?”
“Dash…” AJ looked down at the floorboard. “I’d call it makin’ love too. Is there really a problem with callin’ it like we see it? Why ain’t it ok sometimes needin’ one-another? Don’t make ya any less of a woman. Sometimes I like bein’ a lil’ soft too, ya know? Around you, anyway. Ya really gonna let yer pride run ya ragged? That ain’t no way ta live.”
Dash cringed and laid a hand over her eyes. “I’ve got a lotta damn pride, okay? It’s hard… I just don’t wanna be someone’s doll. I wanna be a girl sometimes, with you, but I don’t want you-- no, I don’t want me thinking that’s all I am. And it’s so damn hard when I’ve got nothing else... except pride.”
“Ya ain’t no doll. I ain’t damn dizzy with no dame.” She paused, then gave a shake of her head. “Ya know what I mean. I don’t want no girly-girl, sug. I want you. I want Dash. An’ sometimes, when it’s jus’ us… I want Evelyn. Ya got a lot goin’ fer ya fer nothin’, sug. Trust me.” She gave a tap to her temple. “After all, I’m the brains between us, I gotta know what’s what.”
“That’s what I want, too,” Dash said softly. She frowned at nothing in particular for a long time. Finally she let out a long breath. “Just… only when we’re alone, okay?”
“Only if we got the same deal for Jacquline,” the farmer replied. She offered her hand out to Dash. “Fair enough… Evelyn?”
Dash smiled and shook. “Deal, Jacqueline.” A smirk crept over her face. “Besides, I think ‘dollface’ fits you better.”
“Ya know…” she put her finger to her chin in exaggerated consideration, “comin’ from ya? Maybe I like the ring too.”







They pulled up to a station and filled up. AJ, without any sort of provocation, rose from the car and headed for the station. A small whistle stopped the farmer and she turned, meeting Dash’s smirking face.
“Park that pretty little caboose back down, dollface. Drinks are on me this time,” she said, presenting a pair of quarters out from her pocket.
AJ looked to Dash, raising a brow.
“Did ya take those from me last night?” AJ asked plainly.
“Would pleading the fifth clear me, judge?”
AJ could help the small snort at the woman and she moved back, sitting down and bridging her hands behind her head.
“Alright, then. Orange soda this time. Appreciate yer generosity,” she dryly remarked.
Dash laughed, moving past her and giving a small pull at the rim of AJ’s stetson. “Face it, you kind of like getting played by this dame.”
“Jus’ get back with ‘em ‘fore I kick yer ass,” the farmer remarked, swatting Dash’s hand as she went into the station with a laugh. As she leaned back in the seat of the car, she shut her eyes, appreciating the breeze.
She had almost nodded off when there came the crunch of boots on gravel beside her.
“‘Bout time, sug. Had ta visit the john or somethin’?” she asked, stretching and opening her eyes.
What greeted her wasn’t her companion; rather, it was a young cop about her age with a no-nonsense haircut and a small notepad already open as he looked over her and the tin can.
“Good morning, Miss,” he said, tipping his hat. “Officer LaGarde.”
AJ froze. She finally managed a swallow and a weak, sickly smile.
“A-afternoon, officer. What can I do fer ya?”
He looked her up and down. “Well, can I get your name, Miss?”
“My name,” she repeated, looking to him. Her lips pursed and she looked towards her palms. “It’s, uh…” The farmer tried to come up with something quick, shoot from the hip, but instead her thoughts took her to her family, and she quickly blurted out her mother’s name. “Anna. Anna at yer service.”
“Surname?” He looked down at his notepad.
Applejack paused again. Giving out Pomme would be a stupid mistake, just as giving out some indian tribe name she might not even pronounce right would fuck her over too, so she offered another shaky smile, leaving this creation to her imagination.
“Uh, Gold… berg...en...stien?” she offered.
“Is this your car, Miss Goldbergenstein?” the officer said, not raising an eyebrow.
“Oh yeah, yeah. Uh… she’s sure somethin’, ain’t she?” AJ questioned, giving a gesture at it.
He smiled. “Yeah, I was reading about this one in a magazine. Don’t see many of them around here. You haven’t loaned it out to anyone recently, have you?”
“Nope, nope. Nobody that I know of,” AJ quickly shook her head. “T-too much bread ta let somebody get their mitts on, y-ya know?”
“If it was mine, I wouldn’t let it out of my sight.” He nodded. “Just, we got this report on the wire yesterday about one of these giving an officer a few towns over the run around. You don’t know a Miss Hammett, do you?”
“Hammett. Not on my life. Don’t know a Miss Pomme either,” AJ offered. “Total stranger.”
“Miss… Pomme?” Officer LaGarde looked confused. “Who’s she?”
“Oh, ya don’t know Miss Pomme?” Applejack asked, just as confused as he was. Dash either didn’t mention yer name, or she gave a fake one yesterday ta that one cop, genius, she thought, feeling stupider than she had in a long, long time. “Jus’...” she trailed off. “Jus’ a kinda rough gal from my neck-a the woods, that’s all. Never met her, but heard of her, thought you mighta too.”
He scratched his head. “Can’t say as I have.”
“Pomme?” Dash spoke up, walking up to them with two orange sodas in her hand. “Hey, I wonder if she’s the one that broke into your garage the other day?” she asked AJ, eyes wide and innocent. 
“And you are?” the officer asked, looking Dash over. 
“Evelyn Belle,” Dash offered her hand, smiling, and Officer LaGarde shook it. “Anyway, she found her garage unlocked this morning.” 
“That’s right!” AJ agreed, the girl’s appearance nothing short of divine intervention to her. Her attitude came far more naturally to her and she grinned at the officer. “We were worried someone mighta fiddled with the car here, so we were givin’ it a test run. Evelyn’s the best damn mechanic in all-a Missouri. If this flivver has any kinks, then I can count on her ta spot ‘em.”
The officer raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?”
Dash grinned and opened her mouth. Then she shut it again. “Well, I don’t know about that, sir. But I do know my way around an automobile, and I can help out my friends from time to time.”
“Time ta time? Hell, she jus’ ‘bout lives under my hood. Reckon she’s got a sleepin’ bag stowed away somewhere there. Maybe under the uh… alt… the, uh…?”
“Alternator,” Dash easily suggested. “And this beauty? Needing an alternator fixed? Come on, now. Thing’s bulging compared to what you see on the road most days. I handle the tin-cans the Joe drives mostly.” She gave a coy wink to the officer “The kitten’s a bit spooked when it comes to these things. Doesn’t know that you just gotta treat ‘em like you would any dame: listen to when they complain, and get it fixed pronto.”
“That’s nice,” he nodded. “Did you notice anything about the vehicle here when you looked it over this morning?”
“Not really…” Dash considered. “There was some mud splashed on it, like someone had been off the roads, but I just thought maybe it got stuck in a ditch last time she had it out.” 
“That happens from time to time, out where we are,” Applejack explained. “Not all the roads ‘ve been paved yet. I’m surprised she even noticed that, it happens so much.”
The officer frowned at both AJ and Dash. “Well, it seems Miss Pomme and a Miss Hammett might have borrowed your automobile for a little joy ride. You say that Miss Pomme is trouble?”
The girls nodded solemnly in unison.
 “I’d talk to your local police when you get home and have them contact Officer Mannard over in Crocker. There should be enough information to get them in some real hot water over this.” 
“I’ll keep that in mind, officer. Maybe I’ll try ta talk to her folks ‘fore I press charges, tho’. Hear they’re the younger types, an’ ya know how sometimes kids get,” AJ replied, giving a nod.
“Some girls just need a tight rein to keep ‘em in line, sir,” Dash agreed.
AJ snorted at the remark, then let out a cough, trying to hide it.
Officer LaGarde smiled. “That’s up to you, Miss Goldbergenstein. Just make sure they stay out of your garage, this is a fine machine you’ve got here and I’d hate to see it get hurt.” He tipped his hat. “Well, I won’t keep you ladies. Have a nice day!”
As he turned to walk away, Dash smacked her hand over her mouth. Soon as he was out of earshot she let loose with her giggles. “Goldbergenstein? Really?”
“Like you could come up with anythin’ better!” AJ snapped back, throwing her hands to her side and holding back her own laughter. “Figured a Jew might have enough bank fer a ride like this. Was the only thing that came ta mind!”
Dash calmed down to an occasional snicker. “You’ve never even met a Jew. And I bet that copper hasn’t either, if he bought that name.”
“Nah, I ain’t,” she admitted, brushing her nose. “Ain’t like they come ‘round these parts, how was I supposed ta know that name was bulk?” After a beat, she looked over to Dash and let a small laugh of her own out. “Ya saved my bacon there. Or, whatever’s kosher, ya saved that. Good actin’, would fit a Belle jus’ like a glove.”
“I’ll thank Rare for letting me borrow her name next time I see her.” Dash grinned. “Besides, I was the genius that gave her name to the coppers last time. You saved both of our bacon before I even stepped in.”
“Hit ‘em with a one-two punch, sug. We got a good lil’ system goin’, when yer bein’ sweet, at least.”
“And when you lay off the real one-two punches.” Dash laughed. “Now let’s scram before we need to put on anymore skits like that.”
AJ offered a bark of a laugh herself, gesturing ahead with a carefree smile. “Alright, alright. Let’s hit the road, Marion Davies.”
Dash waked around to the passenger door and held it open. “Your car’s ready, Miss Goldbergenstein.”
“Ain’t livin’ that down fer a while, am I, Miss Belle?” Applejack questioned, giving a small curtsy and moving to the seat.
Dash walked around to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel. “I’m gonna make sure it goes on your tombstone, dollface.”
“I’ll outlive ya, even if it kills me,” AJ replied, pulling the cap off her soda and taking a long, deep drink as the car revved to life.