Table of Contents – (spoilers)
It was about fifteen more minutes before Knuckle brought back the men with the wood to make their practice spears. The men sat down against the wall of the palisade to work on cutting the wood to length and stripping off the bark and twigs with their knives. Once he had them settled in doing this, Knuckle wandered over to the stables where Choke, Peep, Pinch, Dom, and Gabe were waiting.
“Wasn’t Barrelmender supposed to be coming to train them, or something?” Knuckle asked.
Peep snorted. “As ever, man, ye got yar finger right on the pulse.”
“Yeah, thanks for noticing!”
“He’s late. And we need to get going,” Choke said with a scowl.
“Well, let’s mount up and swing by the church on our way outta here,” Peep said.
“We are not all leaving the men alone with Lenny after they’ve been told Barrelmender is meant to be here commanding them. Not even for a minute,” Choke said.
“Okay, then, so one of us needs to go to the church to give him a kick in the ass,” Peep said.
“Yeah, that’s a great look, too,” Pinch said.
“Look, it’s okay. Ye guys go and I stay here and handle the men,” said Knuckle.
“I appreciate that, Knuckle, but I think we all need to head out on this one. It could be dangerous,” Choke said.
“Alright, then. What are we doing anyways?” asked Knuckle.
Everyone goggled at him.
“What?” Knuckle asked.
“Didn’t we tell you when we came back from meeting with Bob at lunch?” Choke asked, looking at Peep to check with her.
“Is that where ye were? I dunno, I don’t think ye said anything. Whatever, man, I’m down with whatever the fuck it is. Just point me in a direction and I go kill whoever ye’ve put in front of me.”
“For fuck sakes, Knuckle,” Pinch laughed, shaking his head. The others had a chuckle as well.
“I fuckin told ye before I went to get Gabe, man!” Peep said. “Henri, the deserter that killed the other soldier to run off with the hoors: seems he’s been killed up on South Hill and we’ve gotta go check it out.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. Cool.”
“I say again: for fuck sakes, Knuckle,” Pinch muttered.
“What the fuck does it matter if I remember every fuckin detail about what we’re up to? Ye guys decide everything without me, and then fuckin tell me what we’re doing when we do it. It aint like I got a fuckin say. And I wouldn’t want one no how. And, Peep, yar talking into one ear while I’m trying to get that bunch of pricks to lunch without any of them running off to ass-fuck each other. How the fuck am I supposed to remember every fuckin thing ye said? Ye told me we’re going out on patrol after lunch, and here I am fuckin set to go. What the fuck more d’ye want?”
“Alright, alright. I hear ye, man. Yar one in a million, Knuckle,” Peep laughed.
They settled into a silence then, with Choke glaring over towards the church.
“Wait a sec, Knuckle,” Pinch spoke up. “What did ye mean about the men running off to ass-fuck each other?”
“Whad’ye think I fuckin meant? Some of them are fuckin. At least I’m pretty sure,” Knuckle said with a jolly grin.
“What? What’s going on?” Choke snapped as he shook himself out of his thoughts.
“What are ye talking about Knuckle? Have ye seen them?” Pinch asked.
“No! Ye think I wanna see that? What the fuck?”
“So what are ye talking about?”
“Well, they’re just always sneaking off to the shitters in pairs and threes when they got a chance, right? And just now there was four of them back there and it looked for sure like Reece and his little crew were trying to get it going with that little feller,” Knuckle said.
“Who? Rabbit?” asked Pinch.
“Ye named him Rabbit? What the fuck man? First yar horse Knickers and now some runt ye name Rabbit. Suits him, at least,” Knuckle laughed.
“I didn’t name him! That’s his fuckin name. Was he the one they were trying to fuck?” Pinch snapped.
“Well, I don’t fuckin know his name. He’s the little guy with the ears that stick out. Ye took him out on patrol this morning.”
“Yeah. That’s Rabbit!”
“Okay. So what? Every unit needs a pillow biter or two, don’t it?” Knuckle said.
“Sergeant! What the hell are you suggesting?” Choke barked.
“Nothin! Sir. I aint the one fuckin anyone. But that’s the way it is, aint it?”
“It most certainly is not how it is in this unit!”
“No? Okay then. Tell me what ye wanna fuckin do it about, then. Sir,” Knuckle finished with a scowl as he gave Pinch the finger off to the side.
“What exactly did you see at the latrines? What were they doing?” Choke demanded.
“Well, nothing like that. Yet. It was just the way the three of them were crowding him, and grabbing at him, and that. Ye know, it looked like they were trying to, ye know, get him to fuck or suck their dicks, or whatever. That’s all.”
“Oh, Stron preserve us. As if we don’t have enough already to deal with,” Choke said quietly as his head lolled back in exhaustion.
“Look, I dunno guys. I’m with Knuckle, I think. It’s how it goes, aint it? And keeping that kinda thing in-house is gonna keep them off the locals a bit more, right?” Peep said
Choke sighed and pinched his nose.
“Oh shit! There he is!” Peep exclaimed, clearly surprised.
“Who? Reece?” Choke snapped as he looked around.
It was not Reece. Brother Barrelmender had just walked into the military courtyard from Main Street.
The Brother of the Holy Stone had donned his armor to come and train the men. It was plate armor: a luxury that only the richest warriors could afford. Barrelmender’s suit was black with deep red, enameled embellishments. Thin red flames decorated the edges of the black steel plates, and over Barrelmender’s heart was the four-spoked Stronian Wheel done in the same red. His holy symbol, a black iron Wheel of Stron on an iron chain, clattered on his breastplate as he walked. The armor’s helm had a demonic, snarling gargoyle for a face. On Barrelmender’s hip was his steel longsword, and he carried his thick staff as another weapon, held horizontally in its middle, low at his side.
Brother Barrelmender was a tall man, and while thin, it was clear that he was quite strong. His shoulders were broad, and his body’s angles were sharp. He did not show any signs of his alcoholism and despair as he strode purposefully straight at the soldiers working on their practice spears. Barrelmender raised his helm’s visor as he reached them, replacing the snarling gargoyle visage with his own: a haggard, gaunt face of chiseled lines, with haunted, deep-set eyes.
“Attention!” Barrelmender bellowed at the men.
At the stable entrance with the rest of the patrol, across the courtyard from the men, Choke was as stunned as everyone else at the sight of Barrelmender. Choke straightened involuntarily to attention at the Brother’s command, even as he realized he should be hurrying to stand with him.
“Attention, I said! You wretches are mine this afternoon! Mine! And I will take the measure of you! Move!”
Barrelmender strode into the midst of the soldiers who were milling around, still getting their wits about them. He laid into them with his staff, holding it down at one end to swing it in wide, sweeping, powerful arcs. He kept these low, targeting the men’s legs. Mostly they were able to skip out of his way as he herded them into the courtyard, but several of them took heavy blows, and two of them fell with howls.
“Move, I said!”
Choke had finally begun moving to join Barrelmender and the men, but recognized as he did that his presence would be completely unhelpful for anyone involved. Instead, he turned back to join the others at the stable, who were watching the spectacle, completely agog.
Barrelmender now had the men in the courtyard and was walking around their perimeter like a wolf around a herd of sheep looking for its kill. He twirled and swung his staff as he did, which thrummed through the air.
“What are you doing, fools! Where are your weapons? I am your enemy! And you gather in the open without your shields and weapons? Fools! Arm yourselves!”
Barrelmender charged the men, driving them back towards the palisade wall where almost all of them had left their shields and spears. He gave several of them brutal cracks across their backs as he did, driving one more to the ground. With the men scrambling for their gear, Barrelmender eased up just a little with his staff as he strode along the edge of the group. Evey man within his reach took a blow, but these were lighter than the earlier ones.
As the first of the men stumbled back out into the courtyard with their new practice spears, Barrelmender roared with rage. He charged the nearest and swung his staff wide, gripping it near the base to get full reach as he cracked the man across a shin to drop him.
“Arm yourselves, I said! You come with sticks to a fight? Are you children? What nonsense is this?”
Barrelmender stood over top of the man and screamed down into his face:
“You are a spearman, yes? Get your spear! Now!”
As that man crawled away from him, Barrelmender turned and saw Osgar, the burly friend of Reece, the troublemaker. He had his spear and shield and was walking slowly out into the courtyard, stretching his back in pain as he glared at Barrelmender for the blow he had laid across it.
Barrelmender pointed his staff at Osgar.
“There! Yes! First spear! You are my sergeant today! Get your men in defensive formation! Remember: I am your enemy! Prepare to defend yourselves!”
With this, Brother Barrelmender turned his back on the men and walked to the stable where Choke and the others were standing slack, staring at him in shock and fear.
“What are you still doing here, Lieutenant? You have an investigation to begin, do you not? I have your men, and shall give them a good, thorough session. Quite useful, yes? So let’s get on with it so that we can all fulfil our utility to this marvelous community.”
“Yes, Brother. We will leave immediately. Thank you, Brother,” Choke said smartly, as though once again a child on the orphanage parade ground.
“Good. Happy hunting,” Barrelmender said. He then turned back towards the men as he slapped down the fiendish visage of his helm’s visor.
Just over half of the men had managed to form a semblance of a line. Barrelmender began to twirl and swing his staff again as he strode towards them.
“Defend yourselves, you swine!” he hollered.
Barrelmender made as though to go right at the line’s center, but veered off in an arc just before getting within the reach of their spears. Even so, the line faltered as several of the men almost broke. Barrelmender made it around the line’s right flank easily and attacked the man at the end. He lunged to drive the end of his staff into the man’s chest and then swung it hard into his knee, felling him. If Barrelmender had pressed on, the line surely would have collapsed, but he chose to retreat to loop back around the front, once again stalking the men like a wolf.
“Look!” he shouted, pointing his staff at two of the men he had dropped earlier, who were still laying in the dirt, groaning. “You leave your fallen comrades beyond your protection! To the mercy of your enemy! Shame! What kind of men are you? Get them to safety! Defend them and yourselves! Do it!”
Barrelmender quickened his stride to come around the left flank of the line. This time, the men reacted, moving to keep their spears and shields facing him. Barrelmender did not press his probe of their left flank, and eased back in front of the center. As he did, the appointed sergeant, Osgar, dispatched four men to drag the fallen men behind the line. When they had them, he had the men slowly collapse back from Barrelmender, to form a curved line with their backs to the palisade wall.
“Good! Well done! A defensive formation at last! Now let’s see how you can keep it!” Barrelmender shouted. He came at them again, skipping in and out of their spears’ reach, up and down their line, poking and swinging at their spears and shields with his staff.
Over at the stables, it was Peep that first came to her senses.
“Okay, man, I think we gotta get going, right?” she said as she prodded Choke in the back with her elbow.
“Ah. Yes. Sorry. Thank you! We’re all set, everyone? Yes. Okay, let’s mount up!” Choke ordered, shaking his head sharply to clear his thoughts.
The villagers had all fled the courtyard when Barrelmender had made his appearance, so there was no one obstructing them as the squad mounted their horses and rode around the edge of the courtyard to the north gate. Brother Barrelmender ignored them. As for the men, they were far too preoccupied with the battle monk to notice anything; Barrelmender had just dropped another fellow with a hard crack across the face, and was continuing to press them.
The squad of Choke, Peep, Pinch, Knuckle, Dom, and Gabe rode out the north gate and into the bush of the hump. Once they were clear of the gate, Peep reined up and started laughing.
“Man! When ye said ye hoped that training the men might wake up the spirit in Barrelmender, was that what ye had in mind, Choke?”
“Somewhat more than I imagined. Still, it’s good to see him making the effort. And a bit of hard training like that is going to be good for them,” Choke said.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Peep agreed.
“Fuckers needed a good dose,” Knuckle said. “And that is a fuckin Brother right there! I take back everything I ever said about him. Fuckin A! Where the fuck has that guy been?”
“No shit,” Pinch said.
In the lull that followed, everyone took a moment to think about what they had just witnessed. It was Dom that raised his hand.
“Uhhh… sorry, sir. But, just a question, I guess,” he said quietly, clearly shaken.
“Yes. Absolutely. Go ahead, Corporal,” Choke said.
“Ahm. Is that kinda thing normal with the Brothers? I mean, is that how ye were trained?” Dom asked.
Knuckle, Pinch, and Choke all started laughing.
“Fuckin A, man!” Knuckle exclaimed as he moved his horse alongside Dom’s to slap him hard on the shoulder and give him a jostle. “That’s the Brothers, man! They don’t train no pussies!”
“It’s hardly an everyday thing, that level of training. But it does have its place. And don’t forget that the Brothers are all perfectly able to heal whatever bones might be broken,” Choke said.
“D’ye think Barrelmender will?” Pinch asked.
“I suppose that is to be left to his discretion. And, now, I think it is time for us to get on with our duty,” Choke said.
Of course, earlier, while they had been waiting for Barrelmender, the squad had discussed their route to the South Hill with Gabe, as well as their general plan. Once again with Peep and Pinch alternating working point and rear, they rode the trail down the hump to the site known as Big Rock in the bush behind the Cowslip Creek. They had to go single file, so the order was Peep or Pinch in front, Dom second, Choke third, Gabe fourth, Knuckle fifth, and Peep or Pinch in the rear.
At Big Rock, they rode the trail heading west in the bush that kept roughly parallel with the Cowslip Creek. When Gabe assured them that they had passed the farmstead of Rodolf and his kin, where Burkhard’s bandits had attempted to ambush them previously, they cut through the bush to get to the bank of the Cowslip Creek at the tree line.
The Cowslip valley was narrow, but had good clear pasture and some fields. The squad dismounted inside the trees and crept up to the bank to look out at the valley. They were indeed past the windbreak treeline just to the west of the Rodolf farmstead. There were more farms to the west, but they were not too close. There were a few people in the fields around, but they were hundreds of meters away. To the east, the windbreak line of trees completely hid the Rodolf farmstead from sight.
“Well, Gabe, ye called this one true,” Peep said, giving him a little nod. “So, we’re gonna mount up and ride straight across to the other side of the valley. Nice and easy. Take it slow. Any of them fuckers in the fields start acting hinky, we cut back here and wait to see what’s what. Right?”
The Cowslip was placid and shallow, so the horses had no trouble at all crossing. The squad fanned out a little as they rode across the valley. Peep, Pinch, and Dom formed a triangle around the tighter nucleus of Choke, Knuckle, and Gabe.
Choke rode with his lance and shield armed and ready. His longbow was strung inside its saddle case just behind him, along with a full quiver on the other side. Knuckle rode with nothing in hand, but also had his longbow in an identical setup to Choke. Of course, his greatsword was on his back, and he had his warhammer on his hip. Peep had her Scythan warbow in hand, pulled from its saddle case, with her shortbow in its rig on her back. Both Dom and Pinch had their deer bows in hand as they rode.
Crossing the meadow of the Cowslip valley, it was clear that the folk working in the fields spotted them. The farmers stood up tall and watched the squad for a few seconds, but when it became obvious that they were not heading towards them, they went back to work. The squad reached the treeline on the south side of the valley without noticing anything of worry.
In the forest at the foot of the South Hill, the squad took their time working their way up the slope. Their target was the lumber skid track that they had previously taken from the camp at the top of the hill to observe the Rodolf Farmstead. It was this same track from which Burkhard’s bandits had observed their cohort’s attempt to ambush the Pekot Bunch.
The lumber skid track had been cut right into the hillside to run laterally along the South Hill and the adjoining slope. While overgrown, it was still used as a trail by man and animal alike. To approach it, the squad used the same foot trail that they had taken down the hill to attack the Rodolf farm.
Peep, Pinch, and Dom all dismounted and went ahead on foot, letting Choke, Knuckle, and Gabe follow behind leading all the horses. They worked their way up slowly, with long pauses hunkered down to watch and listen to the forest. The three out front used their birdsong signals to coordinate movement with the three following with the horses. It was nothing complicated. Two signals were all that was necessary: halt, and advance. In this manner, the squad made it up to the lumber skid track. Once there, they took a moment to have a drink of water, before continuing along the track, as before, with Peep, Pinch, and Dom out in front on foot, and the others following behind.
There was no sign of any humans until they reached the main fork in the track, with the lower fork heading down to the lumber yard, and the other heading up to the crest of the hill. The trail of both forks was beaten down and scarred by many boot prints in the soft ground, heading up and down the hill.
“Horny bastards,” Peep said very quietly to Pinch and Dom as they waited for the others to catch up to them.
When all six were together again, they hunkered down to listen to the forest. They could now clearly hear the caws of many crows from the top of the hill. None of them said anything about it as they braced themselves for what they would find up there.
After ten minutes it became clear that there was only the crows to listen to, so they started back up the hill. They kept the group tighter now, but still with Peep, Pinch, and Dom out in front. They stopped often, taking the time to watch for blinds and any other signs of ambush. They saw none.
Finally, the squad reached the camp at the top of South Hill. The crows were none too happy at their arrival, and let them know it as they flapped around in the trees above, scolding the human interlopers.
At the campsite were three large tents around the big firepit, which now had an iron tripod with a kettle hanging on it. Henri was face down by the firepit with a crossbow bolt buried in his back. A tin cup was laying beside him. The woman was between two of the tents, clothed in a simple dress, laying on her back. Her throat had been slashed deeply. The bodies were putrefying, and the smell of them hung in the air. With the bodies positioned as they were, the crows had been working more on the woman. Most of her face was gone.
“Okay,” Choke said quietly, “Peep, Pinch, Dom: go together and scout our perimeter. All caution.”
“Yessir,” Peep said. They slipped off into the bush through the latrine area.
“Gabe: tether the horses there,” Choke pointed to the nearest hitching post where a narrow spruce tree had been lashed sideways between two others to form one side of a simple paddock.
Before he handed his reins off to Gabe, Choke set his lance and shield on the ground. He pulled his longbow from its case and unlaced the quiver from the saddle. He nodded to Knuckle, who was doing the same.
“Knuckle: can you help me take care of these people?” Choke asked, his voice still very quiet.
Knuckle nodded grimly. They set their bows and quivers down by Choke’s spear and shield. Then they went through the tents and gathered four wool blankets which they used to wrap up the bodies. By the time they had done that, Peep and the other two had returned.
“Anything?” Choke asked.
Peep nodded. “Tracks. Good ones. Remember, it was raining real hard a few days ago, and then it let up. This shit went down yesterday morning, right? State of the bodies confirms that. So the ground was still real soft. Horse come up the holler on that trail to the south there. The same one we come up when we came through here last. Shod horse. Bigger. Was tethered to that tree over there. Then there’s some boot prints from one guy around the horse, and a couple ladies. One in shoes, one barefoot. Scuffling around there. Then the boots lead the horse back down the trail.”
“And the women’s footprints?” Choke asked.
“Stopped around the horse,” Peep answered.
“So the killer, whoever he was,” Pinch said, flashing Knuckle a look to remind him that not everyone there was privy to all their information, “come up from the south, tied up his horse, and got Henri comfortable enough to turn his back on him so’s he could shoot him. Then he kills one hoor and puts the other two on the back of his horse to take them outta here.”
“Seems that way,” Peep said.
“It’s gotta be yar guy from Spitzer, right? What’s his name? Corporal Butters,” Dom said.
“Who?” Gabe asked.
“Butters. The fuck that shot the LT in Spitzer fort,” Knuckle said.
“Oh, right. Thanks,” Gabe said.
“Why would ye say it’s Butters, Corporal?” Peep asked Dom.
“Well, he’s on the run, right? Came up here to hook up with that Sneed cat that’s set to kill ye. But Sneed aint here. So he must be holed up waiting around for him. And the idiot pimp here got crossbowed, and Butters is about the only cat around with one of them. Unless we’re thinking the teamsters did it. But why would they go and fuck up the only hoor action around?” Dom said, just a little smugly.
Peep gave Choke an impressed look before turning back to Dom:
“Good thinking. That’s what we’ve been reckoning.”
Peep looked around the camp.
“Okay, so we got about four hours till it starts getting dark, right? And we wanna get Bob up here with a skid to haul them bodies to the church. Now, I don’t reckon that Sneed and his are anywhere around here. I figure this for Butters going crazy bored in the bush and catching a whiff of pussy on the breeze. A fucker like him is gonna make that move. But since no one’s out here levering that to kill us, I guarantee he’s on his own. So, what I mean to say with all this is that I don’t mind splitting up to work this quicker.”
“Okay. I’m not averse to that. What are you thinking?” Choke asked.
“Me and Pinch light outta here on foot and follow that trail. We can do that a lot quieter and faster without ye lugs on our asses. While we’re doing that, ye all go back down to the yard and get Bob. Bring him, or whoever, and the skid back and then pack up this camp to bring back with us, too. These are good three-man tents. Our boys are gonna like them.”
“Okay, and then what? Do we wait up here for you?” asked Choke.
Peep thought about this for a bit.
“No. Best not to. Pack it up and go back to the church with the bodies and all this shit. Me and Pinch can get back on foot by ourselves.”
“Okay…” Choke said unenthusiastically. “It does seem a bit risky, though.”
“For who? Me and Pinch? Fuck no. We was in more risk coming up here with ye lot dragging horses through the bush. I like our odds against one drunk soldier with two hoors to distract him.”
“I take your point. But we aren’t sure that he’s alone. I mean, besides the women.”
“No, we aint. But how fuckin sure is sure? We got a trail, and I wanna work it. And if we find where he’s holed up, we’ll scout it out and then come back to talk it over. Figure out what we do next. Alright?” Peep said.
“Okay, then. Just be safe. No unnecessary risks,” Choke said.
“No doubt.”
Dom now leaned forward and raised his hand.
“I’m sorry, but I’d like to go with you, Otilla. If I may. I’m a good tracker and hunter. Ye can use me.”
“I know it, man. And I also know that, unlike you, these three guys aint worth a shit out here,” Peep gestured to Choke, Knuckle, and Gabe. “So I’d feel a lot better with you working point for them. Also, and no offense, but I aint been in combat with ye yet. So I’m counting on ye keeping yar eyes and ears open to keep our boys safe out here. Alright?”
Dom nodded, clearly disappointed, but understanding.
“Okay. Thank ye for the explanation. I’ll do my best.”
“I know it. Alright, daylight’s wasting. Let’s get fuckin going,” Peep said to Pinch.
With her shortbow now in hand, Peep nodded to Choke and the others and started heading towards the south trail. Pinch tipped his brow in a suggestion of a salute to Choke before following her.
“Don’t ye fuckin kill him unless ye have to. I want in on this,” Knuckle said at their backs, actually remembering to keep his voice down, for once.
Muse Vassal 