table of contents – (spoilers)
Walking back through town on their way back to base, still with a drunken Gabe in tow, Peep and Pinch passed by the church. As was usual during the day, its big, double doors were open. However, unlike its normal state of emptiness, there were several people in church praying. Peep gave Pinch a surprised look and skipped up the steps to have a look inside. In the pews, there were four women of various ages and one elderly man. They were all kneeling in front of the altar, on their knees, praying quietly.
“It aint Sunday, is it?” Peep ask Pinch as they continue walking.
“No. It’s Friday, I’m pretty sure.”
“So, that’s weird, aint it?”
Pinch shrugged.
A little ways up the street, they met Choke riding towards them on Knuckle’s beautiful black stallion that had belonged to the Chisel. He reined up to have a word. Peep and Pinch stopped, but Gabe continued shambling on, seeming not to notice Choke.
“Is he all right?” Choke asked.
“No. He’s a fuckin idiot. But this here is just the hangover. Least of his fuckin worries,” Peep said.
“Okay. So, anything useful from the women?”
“Oh, yeah. But nothing that great, so it aint anything that won’t keep. We can get into it later. Everything good up here?” Peep asked.
“Yes. Knuckle and the rest are outside clearing forest. This is the last horse from our stables to be ridden. Once I’ve finished with him, I’ll go tend to the three in the church stable. Then I’ll muck it out, I think. It probably needs it,” Choke said, once again becoming shifty when he mentioned the church stable.
Pinch seemed not to notice this, but Peep gave him a sideways look.
“Ye can get one of the dipshits to do that, ye know,” she said.
“No!” Choke snapped. “Sorry. I just want to do it. Working in a stable relaxes me.”
“Yeah… okay. Yar the boss. So, ye want us outside with the men?” asked Peep.
“Yes, thank you. That would be good.”
“Sure. You enjoy that horseshit,” Peep said.
Choke spurred the horse and rode off without a word. Peep cracked a grin at Pinch.
“Fuckin jinks and their horses, huh?” she said.
“Is he okay?”
“How should I fuckin know? He’s been weird since yesterday. Since… oh, shit. Right,” Peep said tiredly as it occurred to her what was probably going on, at least in the broad strokes.
“What?” Pinch asked.
“Nothin. It aint nothin. Let’s just get on with it.”
They spent the rest of the morning outside of the palisade with Knuckle and the men, keeping watch in the bush while the men worked. Choke had been right: with a full day’s work that day, it would probably only take one more to finish clearing the forest away from the palisade. They had already cleared all the way around the north and west side down to the Cowslip Creek, and were now pushing down the steeper slope towards the Bristle Creek. This was a shorter distance, but the rugged terrain made it more difficult.
Choke was back from his stabling chores for lunch and seemed in a much better state of mind. Indeed, he was downright cheerful as he joined the rest of the platoon for the afternoon’s work.
As the men worked, Choke, Peep, and Pinch spent some time discussing what next needed doing. They decided that once the forest was cleared, they would put one work party on repairing the palisade all the way around. There were many areas where the logs and the ropes securing them together were rotting and getting loose. These needed replacing. Further, there was the hole under the logs at the bank of the Bristle Creek, where Peep and Knuckle had slipped in and out to dispose of Corporal Munge’s corpse. Beyond that, the entire bank could use some stabilizing with rocks and gravel. Getting the materials for this was more than Choke thought their unit capable of, so he decided to discuss the job with Bob and see what it might cost. Finally, Peep, supported emphatically by Pinch, declared that the palisade needed some observation points along it. Particularly on its east side overlooking the Bristle Creek with the Bristlenook Road across it. Some kind of walkway like those above the gates would do, she thought.
“All right, then. That is an excellent idea. I think our men should be able to manage building some of those. We can see who are the best builders as they’re repairing the palisade itself,” Choke said.
As the afternoon was about to bleed into evening, there was the sound of the bell at the freight yard ringing the alert of a caravan returning. This created something of a ruckus in town, with the idle heading down that way to see what news and gossip there might be, whether they had family among the teamsters, or not.
“That’s gotta be Balan, right?” Pinch asked.
Peep nodded. “Reckon so. Just a day late, then. So, Bab’s said she’d get him to put word out to the Stronian lumberjacks to come in for a talk. We should expect that tomorrow, or maybe Sunday.”
“Indeed. Good. Things are progressing well!” Choke said cheerfully.
“I guess. At least, yar in a much better mood than ye were earlier,” Peep grinned at him. “Ye took a load off with that stable mucking, huh?”
Choke flushed and looked away to the creek in embarrassment. Pinch reacted to the exchange with a quizzical look, but chose to let it go.
After another twenty minutes of work, twilight was falling and Choke just about to call for a halt to day, when the bell at the north gate rang an alert.
“The fuck?” Peep exclaimed. “That’s the north gate, aint it?”
“Yes. It’s time to break anyway. Sergeant Theodas!” Choke called to Knuckle, who was standing with his longbow amidst the working men.
“Sir!”
“We’ll go check the gate! That’s it for work today! Bring the men inside!”
“Yes, sir!”
Choke, Peep, and Pinch left the platoon and walked up through the cleared forest along the outside of the palisade. The north gate at the top of the hump was open without any sign of why the alert had been rung. When they got up to the road, however, they could see Balan and his two sons, Dusty and Garet talking to the two soldiers on watch just inside the gate. There were about a dozen villagers clustered around listening intently.
“Balan! Good to see you,” Choke said stepping up to shake his hand.
“Likewise, Lieutenant Pekot!”
Balan and his sons had the dust of the road on them, but seemed energetic and in good spirits.
“Yar a day late, aint ye?” Peep said in a friendly tone.
“That we are. And I was just telling all these folks the why of it. Don’t mind repeating myself a bit for yar sake, though. We got held back a day by Spitzer’s magistrate, Father Morrenthall, on account of him wanting to gather all he could to bear witness to the justice he was fixing to lay down. Yesterday morning, first thing, he burned the Sheriff on the Wheel!”
The folk around had obviously heard this already, since many nodded emphatically in agreement, as though they had not just heard that very news themselves a moment earlier.
“Oh, no shit! Waters got his finally!” Peep exclaimed. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy! So, tell me Balan, did he accept Stron’s cleansing fire and go easily?”
Balan grimaced and shook his head. “Oh, he most certainly did not, Miss Otilla. That he did not! But I should say that I don’t know that the Father gave him that option. He hardly seemed in a state to be accepting that kind of thing. They had to bring him out of the church to the tower in a cart, ye see. On account of him being a fair bit taller and a lot floppier than he used to be, with his arms and legs all being out of socket, and all. He was a whole new kinda shape, and I don’t reckon he had much of a sense of what was going on anymore.”
“So Father M racked him just like he said he would,” Peep said, with a dreamy smile.
“Yeah… I suppose so. And then he drug him out in that state for all to see and put him up on the Wheel and burned him with wood. There was enough of him left to do a bit of screaming when the fire hit him. But it was a pretty big fire, so not for that long.”
“Well, may Altas have mercy on that sinner’s soul, for Stron certainly did not,” Choke said, tracing the Wheel over his heart.
“I can’t imagine Altas liked him any better. Can you?” Peep asked.
“That is not for us to consider,” Choke said, his voice hard.
“Well, good riddance.” Peep hawked loud and spat. “I am a bit curious, though. Did Father M tell everyone why Waters was being done like that?”
“Oh, yes, he did indeed! The Father said that the Baron himself tasked him to root sin out from the barony. That he uncovered that the Sheriff and his hangman had been engaging in all manner of sinful business, but the worst of it was snatching up innocent women to be violated and sold on into degradation. That when he discovered this, the Baron himself proclaimed that such wretched sinfulness could not go unpunished, no matter how important the perpetrator. Father said that the hangman admitted his sins and repented of them, and so Stron rewarded him with His cleansing fire, and that the wretch was redeemed in the eyes of Altas and could go to Heaven. But that the Sheriff was willful and proud and would not admit the full reach of his sin, and would not wholeheartedly repent of it, and so had brought his fate on himself. And, further to that, as horrible as it was for him, it was nothing to what he faces in Hell after his judgement.”
“Well, I guess Father M said plenty, then. He didn’t mention anything about the Outfit, or soldiers, or general money corruption and the like, did he?” Peep asked.
“No…” Balan said, now looking nervous.
“Well, then, I guess that’s good. Means there’s none of that to be found in Spitzer!” Peep exclaimed happily. “Thank ye for the news, Balan. That does cheer me up! That fucker Waters is done with! Man, he musta howled something fierce under the church when Father M was cranking his arms and legs out, huh? Wonder what that sounded like, when they popped.”
“Okay. So… anyways…” Balan said, looking quite disturbed, “when that burning was done, we was free to go, so we lit out for home. And from that there’s one other thing I need to tell ye. But we might wanna step aside someplace more private. If ye don’t mind.”
“Not at all, Balan, thank you for your discretion,” Choke said. “Let’s go into our dining room. Would you care for an ale? Are your lads joining us?”
“I wouldn’t mind an ale at all, sir. Thank ye. But I don’t think the lads need join us. Ye two head home and tell yar mom that I’ll be along shortly.”
With that, Dusty and Garet went on out the north gate. Balan said a few quick goodbyes to some of the folk who had been listening, and followed Choke, Peep, and Pinch into the barrack’s officer’s mess.
“I’ll get the ales, Choke,” Pinch said. “And then, maybe I should go and help Knuckle?”
“Thank you, Pinch. That’s a good idea. And please tell him about Sheriff Waters. We don’t want him feeling left out again,” Choke said.
“That’s just what I was thinking.”
Pinch went out through the interior door and returns shortly with three large mugs of ale. He then said a quick goodbye to Balan and left to return to the men.
“Well, cheers, Balan!” Choke said.
“Cheers!”
Balan, Choke, and Peep all took a deep swig of ale. Balan sucked the foam from his mustache and smacked his lips.
“Ah, I know this brew! A goodun for flavor, but a little on the weak side, aint it? Babs should fix ye up with something right!”
“This is right, Balan. We don’t exactly want our boys getting drunk, now do we?” Peep laughed.
“Well, ye have a point there, I suppose. So, sorry if I’m rushing things a bit here, but I do wanna get on home to supper. So ye don’t mind if I just get right into it, do ye?”
“No, not at all. Please do,” Choke said.
“Right. So, like I said, we lit out with our wagons yesterday just as soon as the burning was over with. Didn’t put us behind, really, since we’re coming back empty. But we wound up on the road with a couple of fellas. Bit strange really. They were at the burning together, and stood out in the crowd. And then after we left, they caught up with us on the road when we were about an hour outta town. They asked if they could join us for the trip here, and they seemed alright, so I said yes. Couple of extra hands never hurt. And they seemed capable.”
“Of?” Peep interjected.
“Sorry?”
“Capable of what?”
“Oh, right. Of taking care of business, if ye know what I mean.”
“You said they were strange, Balan. What do you mean by that?” Choke asked.
“Well, not from around here, for one. The one of them was just a real bushrat-looking guy. On the older side. The sort that looks like he lives in a tree normally, right? But no bow on him. Just a buck knife. So, that seemed off. His sort always have a bow, right? And he was none too friendly. Didn’t say much, and when he did ye could barely understand him. Like some of them hill folk from up north in Parat and the like that seem like half sasquatch, if ye’ll pardon me saying. And, I mean, that aint all that strange, no bow or not. Plenty of odd ducks like that wandering about. But then there was the other feller. And the two of them together is what seemed so odd.”
Balan paused to take another swig of ale. He then looked at Peep and Choke significantly.
“So, what’s this other fella’s deal?” Peep asked.
“Seems a southerner. Has that look about him, anyways. Not from around here, at least. But obviously a gentleman of some sort. Real nice kit. Decked out like a hunter. So, while I’ve seen his type here and there from time to time, him traveling with the bushman seemed weird, right? Just the two of them. Like, total opposites. Also, when the two of them were talking private to each other, it was in some other language. Nothing I’ve ever heard before. And then, the fancy one had a real special weapon on him. He’s got an autowinder,” Balan raised his eyebrow significantly.
“A what?” Peep asked.
“That’s a magical crossbow that winds itself, isn’t it?” Choke asked.
“Indeed it is. Good for you knowing that, Lieutenant! Because it aint like I knew that before. The thing looked so special, though, I asked him about it, and he filled me in. Dwarven. Beautiful thing. Says he can punch through plate armor at two hundred meters with it. And be set to shoot again in just a few seconds. Don’t know if all that’s true. Coulda been blowing smoke. But it sure looked serious.”
“Okay… and these guys came with you here to Spitzer? They were with you all the way?” Peep asked, shooting Choke a concerned look.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
“So where are they now?” Peep asked.
“They wanted to have a word with Bob when we got to the yard. So I left them there, of course, and came up here. And I woulda come to talk to ye about them anyways, on account of ye having yar troubles with the Outfit, and all, and them two looking like they’re up to something weird, at the very least. But, also, the one feller, the gentleman type, he was real interested in talking about you.”
“About us? Me? Choke? All of us?” Peep asked.
“You, mostly, miss. But also the Lieutenant, here. Now, I will say that it didn’t strike me as all that particularly off, or anything. I mean, everybody around’s been talking about ye and all that ye’ve done and the whole Holy Fire in yar hands and all that. So, it seemed natural enough that he’d ask about ye. Plenty of people in Spitzer have, too. On account as we’ve had dealings with ye, and all,” Balan said, swelling up a little with pride.
“I understand. But what sort of questions was he asking?” Choke asked.
“Well, pretty much just the normal ones, like I said. He’d heard all the stories about Goldy and the bandits out past Splitrock, and the Chisel, and the Outfit beef, of course. He was curious about what that might all be about. And I didn’t tell him a single thing about that, just so’s ye know. And I’m sure no one else with us did neither. Not that I suppose it’s a big secret, or anything.”
“No, I don’t suppose it is. But thank you for your discretion, Balan. I appreciate it,” Choke said.
Balan nodded before taking another sip of ale.
“I will say,” Balan continued as he set his mug down, “that the guy is friendly as all hell. Great talker. Made up for how surly the other feller was. Good company on the road, I have to say.”
“All that talking, he didn’t let on what he’s doing out here, did he?” Peep asked.
“I wasn’t gonna pry, of course. But he did talk around it a bit and I gave him a nudge here or there. He’s on the job, that’s for sure. He said he’s come up here to look into a matter for a client. So, that struck me as a bit weird, since he looked more the type to be the client.”
“Okay… that’s… something,” Peep said, giving Choke another worried look.
Balan caught this one. “Ye think they might be assassins, sent to do ye in?”
“I don’t know. Doubt it, though,” Peep said thoughtfully. “I mean, Sneed’s still on the job, we assume. And he’s top shelf. So why send more? And, if they are, why ride in with ye like they did and declare their interest in us so openly? None of that adds up.”
Balan nodded. “Well, that’s a relief, then. Like I said: they seem real capable. But I didn’t get the feeling that they’ve got any ill will. Just seemed like they’re on the job. So, I thought I should give ye a heads up, is all.”
“Well, you were quite right, Balan. And we appreciate it very much,” Choke said. “By the way, do you happen to get their names?”
“Oh! What a silly goose!” Balan slapped his forehead. “Of course I did! And then I go and forget to tell ye them! Yeah, the fancy one said his name is Aoelric, and that his bushrat buddy was Hargarl.”
“Well, Aoelric is an old Gerant name. One of the pre-Stronian Gerant kings was named that. But what’s that other one? Hargarl?” asked Choke.
“Yeah, that’s it. Mouthful that, aint it?”
“Sound like someone trying to gargle a toad,” Peep said.
Balan chuckled. “It does at that. Actually, that’s kinda how the guy sounds when he’s talking. Good match, I suppose. And that’s about all I got to report on them two. So, d’ye got any other questions, or anything?”
“Well, not as such, Balan,” Choke said. “But, I suppose we should let you know that Otilla has been to see Babs in your absence and asked her to ask you to do us a favor. Yet another, I’m afraid.”
“Oh no, oh no! It’s really our pleasure. Don’t think for a second on it!” Balan said as he waved off Choke’s concern.
“Well, thank you again. So, I guess, Peep? Do you want to…” said Choke.
“Yeah. Well, it aint to complicated, Balan,” Peep said. “We just wanna know more about Bristlenook, and we got to thinking that all the lumberjacks out here are working out near there. They oughta know more than just about anybody around here, right? So, I had a word with Babs, and she thought there oughta be some of them that are good enough Stronians that they wouldn’t mind having a word with us about it. So, we were hoping that ye could reach out to them and see if we can’t set up some sort of a meeting. D’ye think that’s something ye could arrange?”
Balan nodded sagely. “That sounds like a good idea. I’m sure that more than a few of them would be willing to talk to ye, at the least. Tomorrow morning, I’ll go and have a word with Daeg about it. He’s a good Stron-fearing man, and a foreman out there. He’ll have a notion of who else to talk to. How many lumberjacks were ye looking to conversate with, anyhow?”
“Well, just one, if it’s the right one. But we’ll probably want to cast a bit wider net than that,” Peep said. “What we’re really looking for is what they might know about any weird happenings in the bush around Bristlenook. Also, what do they know about the folk out there? Are they dangerous? And what about Thad Swallowtail and the healing lady Diya? What do they know about them? While we’re on it, Balan, have ye heard anything about a white stag out there being creepy? Skeletons popping outta the bushes? Anything like that?”
“No! What in Aern are ye going on about, miss?” Balan exclaimed, his eyes wide.
Peep went on to quickly relate the story of their patrol to Bristlenook. Balan was quite gobsmacked by all of it.
“Well, I have to say, Miss, that all sounds right creepy. But I haven’t heard anything like that. We just don’t head out that way or mix with the folk out there if we can help it. And from what yar telling me, that’s probably a good thing!”
“Yes, it seems so,” Choke said. “Well, when you speak to Daeg, feel free to relate to him what we experienced. Anyone that is willing to speak to that sort of thing is someone we would appreciate talking to.”
“No doubt. Okay, then, I do that! Is that all?”
“That is a great deal, Balan. You and your family have been a great help to us. Stron bless you for it,” Choke said, flashing Peep a quick look.
“Yeah. Stron bless ye,” Peep said. She stood up and traced the Wheel overtop of Balan before pressing her brand down upon his brow. They both gave a little shudder as she did.
“Okay. Well… that’s… Yes. Yes, I can,” Balan said, his eyes glazed but voice resolute. He stood up suddenly. “Thank ye both. I should be off to see to my family. I’ll talk to Daeg tomorrow, like I said.”
“Thank you again, Balan. We appreciate it a great deal.”
“It’s not a problem. Yar doing Stron’s work. It’s an honor to help ye. I’ll be off now,” Balan said with a deep nod, before striding out purposefully.
Muse Vassal 