Table of Contents – (spoilers)
Walking back to town from the freight yard, Choke sent Hardmod and Rabbit out in front so that he, Peep, and Pinch could have a private word together.
“If someone took Henri out, there’s one less thing for us to do, anyways,” Peep said.
“I suppose that’s one way to look at it,” Choke said. “Assuming, of course, the story is accurate.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Peep asked.
“I was just thinking that,” Pinch said. “Could Sneed, or whoever, be feeding the story to the teamsters to lure us out there?”
“So some Outfit badasses looking to waylay us are gonna make up a story about killing a lone dipshit and a hoor in the woods, and then leave him alive out there to spoil the story? Instead of just actually killing him and taking the hoors for themselves. I mean, I’m not saying there aint anybody set up on the site, but, either way, Henri is dead,” Peep said.
Choke nodded.
“I see your point,” Pinch said. “But why kill one of the hoors?”
“How should I know? Maybe she kicked up too much a ruckus. Maybe someone just killed the girl to kick it off because that’s what some assholes do, and then Henri had to go. We gotta check the site for ourselves,” Peep said.
“Agreed,” Choke said emphatically. “But with all caution. That means we need Knuckle with us, at the least. And anyone else?”
“Dom. He’s solid out there,” Peep said.
“So that’s everyone who can properly supervise the men. We aren’t bringing all of them along, are we?” asked Pinch.
Peep laughed. “Sure! We could do that. But then we’re just gonna be using them as bait to flush out ambushers. Have them beat the bush and once they start getting shot, we move in. But I don’t think that’s how we wanna play it.”
“Absolutely not,” Choke said.
“So we’re leaving them unsupervised in town then. That’s… not great,” Pinch winced.
“I know it. There is possibly another solution, though,” Choke said. “The men should be at their lunch now. Give them new orders. After lunch, they are to make practice spears from the timber. They are going to do fight training in the courtyard.”
“Okay… but they’re still gonna be unsupervised. I mean, Lenny’ll be with them, but he’s barely worth a shit managing just a squad. In terms of discipline, I mean,” said Pinch.
“They will not be unsupervised,” Choke said with a grin. “In fact, they shall be receiving the very best in training from an experienced combat veteran.”
Pinch looked puzzled for a second. Peep had just started giggling when he figured it out.
“Barrelmender? Oh, shit, man! D’ye think he’s up to it?” Pinch asked.
“I do. He’s a Brother of the Holy Stone. Putting some new recruits through drills should wake up some more of that spirit in him.”
“Yeah, the only question is if we’re gonna have any men left upright after he’s done beating the shit outta them!” Peep laughed.
By this time, they had reached the Crotch. They went on in silence until they reached the village square in front of the church. There, Choke stopped to issue more orders.
“Pinch: inform the men that after lunch they are to make themselves practice spears. Then they shall train with Barrelmender. You, Knuckle, and Dom prepare yourselves and your horses for combat patrol. Peep: we are going to need Gabe along. So, if he’s not at the barracks with the men, track him down. Then, all of you, have a big lunch. I will talk to Barrelmender and be along shortly. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” Pinch said.
Peep just gave Choke a salute as she turned on her heel to follow Hardmod and Rabbit up the lane to the barracks and the north gate, leaving Pinch to follow her.
In the church kitchen, Barrelmender was sitting at the table, staring off into space over his empty lunch dish. He blinked and half rose as Choke came through from the church proper with a quick knock on the open door.
“Ah. It’s you. Good. Have a seat,” Barrelmender said.
“Thank you, Brother.”
“So, what brings you here today?”
Choke quickly told Brother Barrelmender about the news from Bob. He went on to explain that since they were going to do a proper reconnaissance of the South Hill in force, they needed Barrelmender to mind the men.
“I thought, Brother, it would be most useful for you to work on some fighting drills with them,” Choke finished.
“Is that what you thought, is it?”
“Yes, Brother. Exactly so.”
“And this is what passes for usefulness for me these days,” Barrelmender said.
“Indeed, Brother. This community may be of little matter to you. That cannot be helped. But those men are its garrison. And I am their commander, as well as your apparitor. And I, for one, think that it would be most useful for you to make sure that our men do not desert or get into any other mischief while we are off investigating a double murder for you, this community’s magistrate. And insofar as you are doing that, why not further increase your usefulness by giving the men the benefit of your military training? Do you not agree, Brother?” Choke finished tersely.
“I suppose I must.”
“Excellent. Please be at the garrison within half an hour. Thank you, Brother,” Choke said as he stood up.
“Oh, no, thank you, apparitor,” Barrelmender said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he bowed his head deeply with an arm flourish of a formal bow.
“You are most welcome, Brother,” Choke said, giving a clipped nod himself before leaving the kitchen.
Peep was gone to fetch Gabe when Choke reached the garrison. The men were lounging outside the barracks and the at edge of the courtyard against the palisade wall with their mess kits, having their lunch. Knuckle was with them, as usual.
“Attention!” Knuckle barked as Choke strode into view.
The men got to their feet and saluted Choke with reasonable promptness.
“At ease, men!” Choke said as he returned the salute.
Choke went through the barracks to the kitchen, where Pinch and Dom were standing up to wolf down their meals. Choke decided to do likewise and joined them.
“Where’s… ah, shit. What’s his name, again? Our cook,” Choke asked.
“Hubert,” Pinch answered with his mouth full. When he had finished swallowing, he continued: “He’s in the storeroom, putting together a day’s trail rations together for us. Ye never know, right?”
“Good thinking. Have the men been given their orders?” Choke asked.
“Yeah, I told them. And… well… they obviously have some opinions about Barrelmender already,” Pinch said significantly.
“Did any of them express themselves on it?” Choke asked.
“No. Nothing out of line, anyways. But they know all about what he’s been up to around here. There were some laughs. And some of the boys that take things more seriously seemed pissed off to be put under his command. And then, of course, Reece and his little circle seemed excited, so they’re probably looking forward to getting away with some shit on his watch,” Pinch answered.
Choke thought about this for a while as he ate. Then he sighed.
“I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise. The men left over from Dixon will have been talking. We’ll just have to hope that Barrelmender can handle them,” Choke said.
At this, Dom raised a finger.
“Yes, Corporal?” Choke asked.
“Pardon me, sir, but it aint just the men from before that’ve been talking. The local folks have been mingling with us, here and there, for the last couple of days. And, sorry to say, sir, but they really do like talking shit about Barrelmender. I’d say he’s regarded as a joke around here. No offense meant, of course, sir,” Dom said, looking nervous as he did.
“No offense taken. I suppose they have a good measure of him,” Choke said darkly. “Thank you for letting me know, though. We shall just have to hope that he surprises all of us.”
They ate in silence for a few more bites. Then something else occurred to Choke.
“Corporal?” he asked.
“Yes, sir?”
“You say you all have been mingling with the locals, yes? Has the topic of our patrol to Bristlenook come up? With, you know, the white hart and the skeletons and all that,” Choke asked.
“Oh, hells yeah, sir. That story’s been getting around. How could it not, right?”
“I suppose so,” Choke said, looking significantly at Pinch. “I wonder, though: have any of the locals shed any light on what that might have been? Have they said anything about who might be in control of Bristlenook?”
Dom thought about this for a moment. “Just normal townie bullshit, is all, sir. Some of them did say the same thing as that half-wit tavernkeep over there. About how it’s a cursed valley and under the protection of the forest, or some shit. They stay away from there, it seems.”
“Okay. Well, actually, that is somewhat useful. We know that Lucky, the tavernkeep, isn’t alone in his notions, at least. Although he did call it a blessed valley. I think I am inclined to agree with the people around here, though. Anything said about the priest, or whatever, over there? Thad, his name is.”
“Oh yeah,” Dom chuckled. “Apparently he’s hoarding all the best pussy out there. And with the hoorhouse going up in flames here, some around here seem a bit testy about it. Pardon me for saying, sir.”
“No, no. It’s good to know. Well, thank you, Corporal. Keep your ear to the ground, will you? You seem to have a knack for that,” Choke said.
“Yes, sir!”
With lunch finished, Choke, Pinch, Dom, and Knuckle started getting their horses ready for patrol. They were nearly ready when Peep returned with Gabe and they both joined in the preparations.
While this happened, the men were mostly loitering around the courtyard with a number of villagers. Some of the men were bantering with them in a familiar way. With what Dom had told him fresh in his mind, it struck Choke that it should have been obvious to him already that the townsfolk were no longer keeping their distance.
With Nike ready to go, Choke tied his reins to a hitching post and strode purposefully towards his men.
“At attention! Form your lines!” he shouted.
The townsfolk scattered as the soldiers began to fall in.
“Maggots!” boomed Knuckle as he dropped what he was doing and turned to stomp after Choke. “Fall in, the Lieutenant ordered! Whad’ye say to that!”
“Sir, yes, sir,” most of the men said.
“I can’t fuckin hear you!” bellowed Knuckle.
“Sir, yes, sir!” the men shouted back.
When they had formed up, it was immediately obvious that not all the men were there. Knuckle and Corporal Lenny went off looking for them. Hubert the cook was in the kitchen, cleaning the pots. Two others were snoozing in their bunks and got a terrible awakening with Knuckle yelling and slapping them about. Finally, four more soldiers were found loitering at the latrines around the side of the barracks against the palisade wall. These four were Reece, his burly sidekick, Osgar, another loutish fellow who had yet to distinguish himself, and Rabbit, the slight lad that Pinch had tapped to come out on Peep’s patrol that morning. With them all back in line, the platoon was again complete. Choke addressed them the instant they were.
“Men! This afternoon, our mounted squad must go out on official business. You will stay here and train. Our magistrate, Brother Barrelmender of the Brothers of the Holy Stone shall come here to train you.”
Choke paused here to see what reaction there might be to this. There were only a few muffled snickers, so he proceeded:
“Brother Barrelmender is an experienced soldier and a hero of the Faith. Any of you who do not do treat him with the proper respect with immediately regret it. I assure you of that! Brother Barrelmender is not one to brook insolence. So I suggest you heed him well and follow his orders. And know that you should feel honored to be instructed by a soldier of his standing!”
Choke paused for a long moment to allow that thought to settle.
“Now, before Brother Barrelmender comes, you should know. While he is a spellcasting cleric, he is no priest. The Brothers of the Holy Stone are monks. So, you shall address him as Brother. Is that clear?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
“Good. Now I want you all to go to the wood pile you have set aside and make yourselves practice spears. Try to get limbs the same length and girth as your real spears. Do it now. Dismissed!”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
With the men falling out to head out the gate to the wood pile outside the palisade, Choke looked over to Knuckle.
“Are you ready to ride?”
“Yeah. I mean: yes, sir.”
“Good. Can you go with the men and make sure they all make it back quickly? I don’t want them lingering out there.”
“No problem!” Knuckle grinned. He pulled his jailer’s cudgel and started jogging at the men. “Let’s go! Move! Hurry the fuck up! Go! Go! Go!”
“Alright, LT. We’re pretty much set to go,” Peep said as she and Pinch ambled up to Choke in the courtyard. The three of them were now all alone, with Dom and Gabe standing over with the horses at the stable.
“Barrelmender’s coming, at some point, I take it?” Peep asked.
“Yes. I told him half an hour,” Choke answered.
“Well, he’s late, then, aint he?”
“I know it. We’ll give him a few more minutes.”
“Sure. So… as to the plan here,” Peep said, relaxing into a slouch. “We’re gonna creep up to the top of South Hill and look for anything fucky. And if we don’t find anyone trying to jack us up, and we find the bodies like Bob said, then what?”
“Well, I suppose the first order of business is bringing them back to the church. Then we need to figure it out from there.”
“Right. So we’ll need a mule and a skid to drag em down. But I don’t wanna bring all that shit along on a creep. So, I reckon that once we clear the hill, if there’s just the bodies there, we go back down and pay Bob to send someone up with us and haul them to the church. That way, we don’t need to bother doing it, and it’ll give us a chance to have another word with Bob. Maybe private, if we’re lucky,” Peep said.
“Okay. Good thinking. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We still have to clear the hill,” Choke said.
“Yeah. We do. But I have a hunch that we aint gonna find anything up there but the bodies,” said Peep.
“It’s Butters that did them. It has to be,” Pinch said.
Peep chuckled. “Clever fucker. Stealing my thunder over here.”
“Okay, I was thinking that it certainly could have been Butters. But why are you so sure?” Choke asked.
“Alright, Pinch. Let’s see what ye got. Tell the man,” Peep said to Pinch.
“Well, first of all, Bob said that Henri was crossbowed in the back. Right? Well, Sneed and his men all had proper bows. And all them bandits we killed, they only had bows. So crossbows aint a thing out here. And we know Butters has a crossbow, because the Holy Sword man in Spitzer that saw him ride outta town said he had one on his horse,” Pinch said proudly.
“Yeah, that’s right. Also, Bob told us that Butters has a crossbow,” Peep said.
“Well, I wasn’t with ye whenever he told ye that. Anyways, we know he can use it, seeing as he shot you, Choke. And backshooting someone is totally his style,” Pinch said.
“This is all what I was thinking. Anything else, though? I think we are far from sure with just that,” said Choke.
“Well, ye said that Bob told ye that Butters is holed up in a cabin south of the South Hill, right? They aint that far apart, are they? And he’s holed up all alone out there, going fuckin crazy. So he finds out there’s hoors up on the hill with just one asshole holding them down, and that’s that. And think about this: he’s alone, right? So how is he gonna control three hoors, getting them all the way back to his cabin through the bush? So he just took two, and killed the other,” Pinch said.
Peep nodded. “This is exactly what I was thinking, too. The one he killed is probably the ugliest.”
Pinch snorted.
“Peep, please,” Choke chided.
“What? That’s how assholes like him are. Anyways, I think ye hit the nail on the head, Pinch. And, I’ll fill in a blank for ye while we’re at it. We told ye Bob is supplying Butters, but he aint been doing that himself. He’s been sending that Klim asshole. The last run was Monday,” Peep looked significantly at Choke and Pinch both.
“So… today is Wednesday,” Choke said. “The teamster’s found the bodies yesterday evening. I am assuming some teamsters have been going up to those tents every day. So, that means that the murders probably happened yesterday morning.”
“No doubt,” Peep said, tapping her temple. “And whad’ye suppose the odds are that Klim, asshole that he is, said something to Butters about there being tents full of hoors set up just across the holler? Guy visits Butters on Monday, and Tuesday morning the pimp gets crossbowed and the hoors get yoinked. Seems pretty cut and dry to me.”
“I agree. But we can’t be sure that there aren’t other people involved. Sneed may have returned at any point during this,” Choke said.
“Absolutely. Which is why we’re gonna do this creep right today and make fuckin well sure,” Peep said.
“Fuckin A!” Pinch said, holding his fist out.
“Fuckin A!” Peep said as she punched it.
Choke refrained from cursing as he put his fist in as well.
Muse Vassal 