Table of Contents – (spoilers)
It was mid-afternoon, so the joints in the pleasure quarter were just starting to open up. Mariola and Peep went up and down the strip, going around the back of several of the bigger places to find women to talk to. As far as their supposed purpose, they had no success. An abandoned wife with a child in tow in search of her faithless husband is never a welcome interloper in establishments of sex work.
However, being shouted out of several places was ideal for Peep’s true purpose. Everyone around paid Mariola, if not Peep, at least a passing glance. For them Peep was nothing more than an appendage of the forsaken woman, and she was accepted as what she was representing herself to be.
After going up and down the pleasure quarter for the better part of an hour, they went to the pleasure quarter’s intersection with Fort Road. At the intersection was the Busted Unicorn, the large tavern that Peep had killed Orcstabber outside of. From there, to the left, it was just a hundred meters north up Fort Road to the jail tower and the intersection with Main Street. To the right, Fort Road cut east to head up the hill to the fort.
Knuckle was standing in the intersection in front of the Busted Unicorn, laughing with some soldiers, including another sergeant. He seemed well in control of the group, who were clustered around him submissively, hanging on his words.
Not wanting to be noticed by Knuckle, Peep got behind Mariola’s skirts and gave her a bump to direct her north, towards the jail tower. As they moved through the square, Peep could hear that Knuckle seemed to be regaling the soldiers with the story of the Ettercap in the Old Mill. Or, at least, he was relating his original version of events, in paying particular focus to how grateful all the local peasant women had been to him for his heroic slaying of the beast.
At the jail tower square, Peep and Mariola paused near the gibbet and burning Wheel. There was no one else in the square now. The embers of the bonfire under the wheel were still smoldering. Up on the Wheel there were just a few charred remains of Billy stuck to the spokes. None of it looked particularly human of origin.
Peep hawked and spat towards Billy, before leaning in to hug Mariola’s hips to have a quiet word:
“Okay, Mom, I guess we should wander up and down Main Street here and ask all the merchants about Dad. Just the basic yarn. Don’t get stuck in. We just want them used to seeing me around. Right?”
“Yes, Junior. That is what we’ll do. What about going up to the freight yard and the sawmills? He might have gone in there looking for a job, right?”
“Yeah, that would be a good idea if we were actually looking for the asshole. But I aint looking to be hanging around up there. So we’ll be keeping it on this side of town, right?”
Mariola led Peep up one side of Main Street and down the other, popping into the general store, the bakery, the livery, the blacksmith, the weaponsmith, the butcher’s shop, and the apothecary. The Sheriff’s Office was locked up tight, but Peep had Mariola pound on the door all the same, just to keep up the show. Like the women at the well, the folk on Main Street treated Mariola and Peep respectfully and seemed sympathetic, if not actually friendly. By the time they were done with Main Street, it was early evening, so they went back to the church down the alley south of Main Street. This got them to the back of the church yard without incident. The few people they passed did not spare them a second glance.
In the church yard, in front of the stable, Choke was working with their three new recruits: Dominic, Bev, and Lenny. The men were mounted on sturdy little bush horses and were practicing riding in formation with Choke, who was armed with lance and shield on Nike, who was spirited indeed. They all seemed to be doing well enough. Not one of them even seemed to notice Mariola and Peep as they crossed the edge of the yard and went in the church’s kitchen door.
In the kitchen, Mrs Dunn was hard at her dinner preparation. She indeed noticed Peep and Mariola’s entrance. She had not seen Peep in her boy disguise when they had left, so she fell for it for as she immediately focused her ire on Mariola:
“What did I tell you lot about coming in here? No! Ahh!” Mrs Dunn startled as Peep pushed her cap back off her head with a grin. “Ah. I see. Well, then, I suppose you know what you are about. Can I help you, Otilla?”
“Yes, Mrs Dunn, ye sure can!” Peep said cheerfully. “First off, I’m checking in with ye, like we discussed. Anything from Father?”
“No.”
“Okay. Thanks. Second, this is Mariola. She’s with me now, helping me with something. So she can come and go through the kitchen as she likes. And, I’d like ye to feed her proper at meal times. Okay?”
“Yes. Fine. Is that all?”
“Guess so. Thanks,” Peep said, before turning to Mariola: “Okay, that’s it for now. That was good. Thanks. While yar waiting around for dinner, why don’t ye help out Mrs Dunn with anything she might need?”
“Alright, Otilla. Thank ye,” Mariola said.
“I am quite capable of handling my duties without help, thank you very much!” snapped Mrs Dunn without looking up from her cutting board.
“Yes, I know that, Mrs Dunn, but with all the extra business going on, there must be something ye’ve been letting slide, right?” Peep said reasonably.
This gave Mrs Dunn pause. She stopped chopping vegetables just long enough to think it over.
“Yes. You are correct about that. And with everyone trooping in and out, the proper church is in a right state. Mariola, was it?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“The broom cupboard is just out in the hall. Give the church a good sweeping before dinner.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Peep and Mariola left the kitchen together. At the broom closet, Peep paused to have one more word:
“Okay, yar all set around here, I guess. I’m gonna get onto something else. I think, after dinner, Beth would wanna go back to the hoorhouses to have a look around when they’re in full swing. Anyways, that’s what I wanna be doing. So we’ll head out there tonight. Okay?”
“Yes, Otilla. No problem,” Mariola said, her brow furrowed as she squared herself to take that on.
“Yeah, I know,” Peep said. “That’s gonna be when shit might go off for us. But we’ll have our blades. If any punters start fucking with ye, just stay in character. They won’t be minding me, so I’ll put them down if things get too heavy. If that happens, you split and run straight back to the church. Don’t ye worry about me. Right?”
“Yes, Otilla. No problem,” Mariola repeated.
“Good. You are fuckin awesome, woman! Fuckin A!” Peep said, holding her fist up for Mariola to bump.
Mariola blinked, having never been presented the gesture. She had seen many men do it, though, so she made a strong fist and gave Peep’s a solid bump.
“Fuckin A,” Peep repeated.
With Mariola off sweeping the church, Peep got back into her proper gear and went back into the kitchen. Mrs Dunn was alone there, still hard at it. Peep went into the pantry and got herself a small loaf of bread, a hunk of aged, crumbly cheese, and a hunk of cured, dry sausage for her dinner. She wrapped these up in a cheese cloth.
On her way out the kitchen door, something occurred to Peep, and she turned back.
“Hey, Mrs Dunn,” Peep said.
“Yes?” Mrs Dunn said sharply without looking up from her work.
“If anyone from town comes snooping around asking after a Beth and her boy, Trapper Junior, that’s actually me and Mariola. Okay?”
“I am sure I do not care in the slightest!” Mrs Dunn snapped.
“Okay, that’s great, too. Just be yar normal cheery self and it’ll sort itself right out. Thanks!”
Out in the yard, Peep hailed Choke, who wheeled Nike around and rode over to her.
“How they doing?” Peep asked, gesturing to the three men.
“Better than we could have hoped. They seem earnest enough, at least. Or, at least, cunning enough to put on a show of it, for now. But these horses of theirs are not going to tolerate any sort of combat around them, so they are transport only,” Choke said.
“Yeah, okay. Whatever. Did ye tell Srecko to let me into the tower?”
“Yes. He just stared at me, so I don’t know what that means. So I left Pinch at the tower to make sure.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Peep said, turning to leave with a wave. Then something more occurred to her: “Where’s Knuckle?”
“He came back with the second deputy. I believe he’s in with Father grilling him right now,” Choke answered. “When you get to the tower, if you feel like you can work with Srecko, why don’t you send Pinch back here?”
“Yeah, sure thing, boss,” Peep said, giving Choke a thumbs up.
Choke waved in return and went back to continue teaching the men the simple cavalry maneuver of a formation halt and wheel back into retreat.
Peep walked back to the tower down Main Street with her wolfcloak up and her shortbow in hand. There was a fair bit of foot traffic as the townsfolk rushed about in their last chores before the evening meal. They all gave Peep a wide berth, with many stopping to tug their forelocks and bow to her. Peep ignored them all.
At the tower, the door was open and Pinch was outside watching Srecko putter around building a rabbit hutch against the tower.
“Okay, that’s great,” Peep said to Pinch. “He talk to ye at all?”
“No. And I am very thankful for it. What’s up?” Pinch asked.
“I got a special job from Father M. Choke’s training the new men with horse riding. He said ye should head back to the church.”
“Okay, then. Anything I should know about?”
“Did Choke tell ye anything?”
“No. He just said we’d be moving back to the church, but that yar gonna need to get in the tower later, so I should hang out in case Srecko doesn’t let ye in.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the need-to-know,” Peep said. She pulled Pinch by the sleeve into the tower and dropped her voice low: “As for the real shit: the Sheriff’s fucked, is what. He cracked and tried to get to his sword after Father M had took it away, and we got to rough him up a bit. He’s locked up in a fuckin horror show of a dungeon under the church, and Father M says he’s gonna stretch him out on a rack for fun before burning him down for all to see. Keep that under yar hat, though. I think Father M wants to surprise everyone with it.”
“No shit,” Pinch murmured, his eyes very wide.
“Yeah, anyways, ye should head back to the church and see what’s what. I aint gonna make it back to dinner, so I’ll see ye later.”
“Okay. Is there anything you need help with?” Pinch asked.
“Nah. I’ll let ye know if there is. But, do we got any gear left here?”
“No. The new guys took it all with them to the church.”
“Okay, good. But, yeah, one more thing, actually… If ye have time, whenever, maybe see if these new guys are worth a shit with a bow. That would be good to know.”
“Got it. Okay, then, happy hunting!” Pinch said, giving Peep a friendly bump.
“Hey! I thought ye said Choke didn’t tell ye anything! How’d ye know I’m on the hunt?” Peep laughed.
“Well, what else, Peep? What the fuck else?”
Peep shoved Pinch out the door and the two shared a laugh as Pinch left the tower yard. Peep took a little time to enjoy the moment before heading over to Srecko.
“Hey. Srecko,” she said loudly, keeping a good three meters between them, with her bow still in hand.
He stopped what he was doing and stared at her.
“Lieutenant Pekot told ye about letting me in and out of the tower here, right?”
(stare)
“Okay, man, I know ye can talk. And ye seem to be good at listening, too. To the Father, at least. So, ye listen up good now. I’m gonna need to come and go in and out the tower for the next little bit. When I’m here, I’m gonna be going up to the roof. You need to be letting me in and out whenever I come and go. And ye don’t say shit to no one about any of it. And stay the fuck away from me when I’m here. D’ye understand?”
(stare)
“I asked ye a question, Srecko,” Peep said, taking a step towards him as she raised her palm up to show him her brand. “Ye think Father M is scary? Ye don’t wanna get a load of what got put inside of me. So do you understand?”
Srecko’s eyes grew wide when he beheld the Wheel, and he trembled as he said:
“Yes, Otilla.”
“Good. We’ll get along just fine then.”
Peep went back into the tower. She grabbed a short stool and took it upstairs. On the second floor, Merv, the butcher’s assistant, was shouting and sobbing in his windowless cell. Peep had a chuckle at his expense before going on up to the roof.
The round tower had a crenulated, defensive wall around its roof. Peep set the stool at a spot with a good view of the road up towards the freight yard and sawmills, and sat down between the merlons to set up her vigil. In coming to the tower, she had not seen any workmen coming down the road from that way, so she was confident that the work day was not over. Peep sat and waited, watching birds and the townsfolk at their business. She ate her simple dinner as she did, cutting bits of meat and cheese with her buck knife to go with the hunks of bread she tore from the loaf with her teeth.
Finally, when the sun had dipped behind the hills and twilight began to fall, the lumbermen and teamsters began to come down the road. A number of children, and even a couple of earnest young wives still in the bloom of marital love, were waiting at the tower crossroads for their men. Peep lent half an ear to the babble below as she kept her eyes sharp on those coming down the road, looking for Wes. It did not take too long before she spotted him.
Wes, the teamster and Outfit boss of Spitzer, came ambling down the road looking not so different than the workers around him that he exploited. The only real difference was the weaponbelt he had on, with a battleaxe and large fighting knife on his hips. With him was the same man that had been in his office. That man now had a shortsword on his hip.
Peep kept dead still as Wes and his man reached the crossroads and turned left to head south on Fort Road. As they moved directly below the tower out of her view, Peep relocated to a spot with a view down Fort Road. It was just about a hundred meters to the Busted Unicorn intersection that marked the entrance to the pleasure quarter. Most of the workmen were turning into the residential area before reaching it, but there was good number moving on to indulge in sin and vice.
Wes and his man walked most of the way to the Busted Unicorn and went into a better tavern right on Fort Road, with a large red ox painted on its signboard. Peep punched her thigh in excitement and immediately dashed down the stairs, leaving the stool up on the roof.
The jail’s door was still open, with Srecko continuing to work on his rabbit hutch. He and Peep ignored each other as Peep jogged through the yard and into the alley behind Main Street.
Behind the church, their three new men, Dominic, Bev, and Lenny, were sitting on one of the benches at the church’s back wall, eating their dinner from simple wooden bowls. In the kitchen, Choke, Peep, Knuckle, and Mariola were seated at the table eating with another man Peep had not seen before.
The man was of average height with a lanky build. Armored in brigandine with archer’s bracers on his wrists, he had the look of a wilderness scout. The dust of the road was on his boots and breeches, but his arms, face, and neck had been freshly scrubbed clean for dinner.
When Peep entered the kitchen, the man stood up and stepped away from the table. He bowed to her.
“Miss Otilla of the Holy Fire, it is my honor to meet you. I am Michal, sworn man of the Knights of the Holy Sword, sent from Bitina by our abbot there, to help Father Morrenthall. It is an honor to meet you.”
“Well… uh… yeah. Likewise, I’m sure. Welcome aboard,” Peep said, blinking in some surprise at his formality.
“Thank you, Miss Ottila. I understand that you are busy. But, time permitting, I would request a meeting with you in the coming days. I am a tracker and a scout, which I understand you are as well. I would like to hear your thoughts on the lay of the land in these parts. So to speak.”
“Yeah. Sure. No problem, man. It’s just you here, though?”
“For now, yes. The rest of my squad ride with pack horses. I rode on ahead. They should arrive tomorrow. By lunch at the latest,” Michal said.
“Cool. Cool. Okay… Michal was it? Right. Things are moving along quick, huh? So, why don’t we talk tomorrow, about midmorning?”
“That would be excellent, Miss Otilla. I thank you. Will you join us for dinner?”
“No, I ate on the job, just now. And actually, I gotta get back to it. Mariola, finish up yar dinner as quick as ye can and come to my room. I’m gonna change. Then we’ll head on out for a bit. Right?”
“Yes, Otilla,” Mariola said, dutifully digging right back into her bowl of gruel.
“I see you are hard at it, Miss Otilla. Thank you for your precious time. It has been an honor,” Michal said, bowing again to Peep.
“Yeah, no doubt. But yar on the team, right? So ye can call me just Otilla. Good to meet ye,” Peep said, stepping up to the man to shake his hand.
Michal gave a shudder and his head lolled back as Peep pressed her Wheel brand into his palm to shake hands. However, he had control of himself by the time she let him go.
“There ye go!” Peep laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “Ye got a bit of that spirit in ye already, don’t ye! Got some cross-mokination going on there! She likes ye! I can tell!”
“She?” Michal said staring down into his own palm with a stupefied look.
“The Spirit of the Holy Fire in me,” Peep said cheerfully.
“It’s a she?” Michal asked, looking back to Peep, his eyes wide.
“Yeah… I reckon so. Cool! Okay, tomorrow, mid-morning, then. I gotta get back to it. Have a good night!” Peep waved to Michal as well as Choke, Pinch, and Knuckle who were still seated at the table, staring at her.
On her way out of the kitchen, however, something more occurred to Peep. She went over to Mrs Dunn, who was cleaning the dinner pots, to speak to her in a quiet voice:
“Hey, Mrs Dunn. I wanna head out as that boy right away, but I don’t think I want them three new guys seeing me come and go like that so quick. They might put it together. There’s another door out on Father M’s side of the church, right?”
“Yes, there is. But we keep that locked and barred. But I suppose you will want to be coming and going through that now?”
“For sure. That would be great. Is that okay?”
“I am sure that I do not know! I suppose you want me to drop everything and go and disturb Father Morrenthall at his dinner to ask him, do you?”
“Yeah, that would be sweet. Thanks! I’ll be in my room changing.”
Peep went and did just that. Mrs Dunn knocked tersely on her door before she had even gotten out of her armor. When Peep opened the door, Mrs Dunn immediately started speaking with a very smug look on her face:
“Father Morrenthall said that he wants a word with you and this woman whose help you have enlisted, in his office, in your boy costume, before you go anywhere. Is that clear, Otilla?”
“Yeah. Okay, then. Thanks for bringing me the message, Mrs Dunn yar a real help…” Peep let her voice drift off as Mrs Dunn turned her back on her and left while Peep was still thanking her.
“War widow, huh?” Peep then muttered to herself as she shut the door. “Yar man probably got himself killed just to escape ye, ye fuckin dour old cunt. They oughta be looking at Father M for sainthood for taking ye on and putting up with ye.”
Muse Vassal 