table of contents – (spoilers)
Choke was on the walkway above the north gate when the ambush squad returned. As they approached the gate, Peep gave a loud all-clear whistle to alert him. Choke came down and opened up the gate with the soldier he was guarding it with. The man was armed with the unit’s one crossbow, and his shield and spear were leaning against the wall just inside the gate. It was still the middle of the night, so they had two lanterns going: one up above the walkway, and the other hanging on a bracket next to the gate.
“What happened?” Choke asked as Osgar, Pinch, Peep, and then Hardmod filed through the gate. “Where’s— oh,” Choke interrupted his own question as he saw what Peep carried with her.
“Yeah. Reece didn’t make it,” Peep said, raising up the head towards Choke and the soldier. “He thought tonight was the night to try to get some of the Outfit bounty on our heads. It didn’t work out for him.”
“Okay then…” Choke drifted off for a while before rallying. “I suppose I will need to make a report. We’ll have to—”
“It’s okay man. I’ll give ye what ye need. These guys are tired. Pinch; Hardmod; Osgar: thanks for yar help tonight. Ye can go hit the sack now. LT: if ye want a private word with me, ye can come up and help me stick the head on the gate,” Peep said.
Both Osgar and Hardmod saluted Peep and Choke and left for the barracks. Pinch hesitated.
“Ye wanna come up too, Pinch? Ye got something ye wanna say?” Peep asked.
“No. All good. Good night,” he said, before saluting and following the other two.
“Yeah. Good night, man!” Peep called after him cheerfully.
Up on the walkway above the gate, Peep skewered Reece’s head on one of the iron spikes up there for that very purpose. She set it facing in towards town.
“So what’s the story?” Choke asked her.
“Some people learn. Some don’t.”
“Okay… and what does that mean?”
“Reece didn’t. Story is, I overheard him trying to get Osgar to kill me and Pinch out there to get the gold on our heads. So I shot him.”
“And what about Osgar?”
“He didn’t hear any of what Reece was saying, on account of he got some shit in his ears. I’m the only one that heard it. My call, all the way.”
“Okay. But what about Osgar? Is he going to be a problem?” Choke asked calmly.
“I don’t think so, man. He’s a person that learns, I reckon. We had a heart to heart out there. He understood what I told him. That I heard what I heard, and no one else needs to have heard it. And that none of it had anything to do with Rabbit, who is our friend.”
“He understands all that,” Choke said.
“Yeah, he does. Hardmod, too. So, whad’ye think man? We need a couple more corporals. Them two are our guys, I reckon,” Peep said with conviction.
“Hardmod is your man. No problem. We can promote him tomorrow. Are you sure about Osgar? Shouldn’t we hold off just a little bit to make sure?” Choke asked.
“Make sure of what? He’s gonna do what he’s gonna do whether he’s a corporal or not. And making him a corporal could give him all the more reason not to be a dick. And he’s Knuckle’s pick. A good pick, too, I’d say. He’s tough, and smart enough to keep his mouth shut when he has to. Also, we gotta give him Butters’ chainmail right away, right? We shoulda done that already. So how’s that gonna look if we do that and don’t promote him?”
“You’re right. We need that chainmail in use. And he is the best fighter of the men by far. And has basically been serving as Knuckle’s corporal already. I’ll tell Knuckle he can give Osgar the mail and word of his promotion tomorrow. It ought to come from him.”
“Good. Alrighty, then, I’m going to bed. Gotta wash that piece of shit’s filth off my hands before I do,” Peep said.
“Indeed. Well, just let me say, Peep: thank you for handling that. I’m sure it’s not the correct way to have done so, but I’m also sure that I don’t care.”
“Correct?” Peep laughed. “Aint one of us correct! So how the fuck else would we handle it? Piece of shit had to go, and any other way was gonna burn Rabbit, some way or another. And what I’m saying I heard him say tonight aint far off what I heard him and Osgar saying on the Spitzer road when we were coming here. So, it’s fair play, I reckon.”
“Well, I’m glad you think so, Peep. I will have to make an official report.”
“You do that. It was my call. My play. I’m telling you I heard him say it. Put it in yar report and that’s that. Aint no one gonna try to burn me on a lie for that piece of shit.”
“I’m sure you are correct. So, thank you again, Peep. I appreciate it. But we’re not going to be making a habit of this kind of thing!”
“I sure as fuck hope not!” Peep laughed. “Shit like this pops up again, and I’m gonna feel real bad about myself for not scaring them straight! What with this shit tonight, and hauling Lenny back to get flogged and hanged. You watch: these boys are gonna line up tight now. Especially when we give Osgar to Knuckle as his watchdog. All that on the one hand for the stick. And on the other, coin in their pockets, pussy in town to spend it on, and beer and food in their bellies on the daily. These dipshits aint ever had it this good.”
“Sadly for them, I think you’re probably correct there, Peep. You go and sleep now. Thanks again.”
“Sure thing, man. Any time,” Peep laughed as she moved to the stairs and left Choke alone up on the wall next to Reece’s head.
***
The next morning at muster, Choke simply told the men that Reece had attempted to do evil the night before and had been punished for it. Osgar was already in his new chainmail, which fit him almost perfectly. As to Osgar and Hardmod’s promotions to corporal, Choke’s announcement was all that was necessary to make them so.
Looking the men over as they received the news, it seemed to Choke that most of them were fine with it, if not pleased. Osgar and Hardmod were the most natural choices. Their merit was obvious to everyone. That they were being rewarded for it so immediately was a signal that their little corner of the world, at least, was functioning as it should be. Those that had done wrong had been swiftly punished, and those that warranted it were being elevated.
Following breakfast, Peep took Hardmod, Rabbit, and two other men down to Big Rock on foot with a mule to collect their torches and the rest of Reece. His corpse was just as they had left it the night before.
“Alright, Corporal,” Peep said to Hardmod. “You supervise the men tying the body down to the mule. Don’t forget them torches. I’m gonna take Rabbit out for a little skulk by the crick. When ye got this shit loaded, come down that trail to us there. We’ll head back along the road and dump the body in the unconsecrated graveyard.”
“Yes, sir,” Hardmod said.
Peep looked to Rabbit and jerked her thumb and nodded towards the creek. Rabbit looked stricken, but followed her obediently down the short trail to Cowslip Creek. There, they got off the trail and crept down the bank a little way through the brush before hunkering down. Across the creek was the burned-out ruin of Tully’s brothel. Peep pulled a long, choice stalk of grass to chew.
“Did ye hear what went down there?” Peep asked Rabbit, pointing with the grass stalk.
“I dunno, sir. Was that that the hoorhouse ye guys burned.”
“Yup. We caught the Chisel and his men here, plotting with Tully and his boys to murder us. Killed them all. I burned it the joint with Stron’s fire, but that was actually a bit of an accident. Was torching some of their men and the roof beams lit up like a firestarter. Anyways, we grabbed Lieutenant Dixon, the dirty fuck, and were fixing to drag him back to Spitzer to face justice, but Sneed and his killed him with arrows before we could. It was hairy.”
Peep lapsed into silence as she chewed on the stalk, sucking the sweet juice out of it. Rabbit, of course, said nothing.
“Why am I telling ye that?” Peep asked.
“I dunno, sir.”
“I guess it’s so’s ye know who it is that yar tangled up with. So ye know that what happened with Reece back there last night weren’t no aberration. We get shit done, is what I’m saying.”
“Yes, sir.”
Peep and Rabbit sat together in silence for a while. From back in the bush at Big Rock, there was a shouted curse. Peep turned her head to listen for a moment. It was silent again. Peep chuckled.
“That, I’m guessing, is them guys learning that getting a body tied down onto a mule aint quite as easy, or as clean, as ye might think. Ye know anything about that, Rabbit?”
“No, sir.”
Peep nodded. She reached down into her boot and pulled out the nail shank she had found on the bank of the Bristle Creek where Reece’s attacker had cleaned themselves up. She gripped it with its balled rawhide handle in the center of her palm and held its point out in front of Rabbit’s face. His sudden, sharp inhalation was like a hiss.
“I found this laying around. Seems like the kinda thing that someone like you might wanna keep in their boot. Am I right about that?”
“Yes, sir,” Rabbit croaked.
“Good. Here ye go, then.”
Peep twirled the shank around to grip its tip and hold the handle out to him. Rabbit took it and slid it into his right boot with a practiced ease.
“Ye make that thing here?”
“No, sir. I’ve had it a while.”
“Careless of ye do lose it like that, then,” Peep chuckled. “You ever kill a man before?”
“No, sir. Not yet, I guess.”
“That’s what I figured. Ye shoulda killed him. Stupid, leaving him alive like that. Not a mark on ye, and the wound ye gave him? Ye had him. Finish it! That sticker shoulda gone into his ear next. Or neck. Or eye. Or wherever. Instead ye leave him alive, to come back on ye later. With friends. Ye got anything to say for yarself on that?”
Rabbit sat quiet for a long moment before finally answering:
“No, sir.”
“Good. Because right now, official like, I don’t know shit for certain, and it’s better if we keep it that way. Right? But, what I am saying is, if ye’d done that job right and finished him, then ye go to the crick and clean yarself up. Then ye take a snooze in the sun to dry off. Ye stash the shank and slip back in with everyone once yar dry enough. Aint nobody gonna notice yar missing. Yar good at skulking like that. People forget ye exist. Then, once Reece is missed, we go out and we find him. Or maybe we don’t for a day or two until we notice the crows on him. And then who’s gonna think to ask you about it? But, instead, he comes crawling back bloody and puts us on high alert. And then you come back wet. Sloppy shit, man. Sloppy shit.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What the fuck did I just say about ye answering any shit about this? Sloppy! Smarten up! I’m talking out my ass. You got no reason to answer that. You aint gone anywhere near him. Nor him you. Not ever. He fell on a stick, like he said. And you fell in the crick. Right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Right. And anyone ever tries to tell ye different, ye tell them to talk to me. Now, Rabbit: ye ever shot a bow before?”
“No, not really, sir. Just real piddly shit. And not very much.”
“But yar good in the bush. What’s the story there?” Peep asked.
“I just got raised up in the lumber camps. Was a runner and a helper and all that. Then the Baron’s men come through and grabbed everyone that wasn’t real important. And that was that. Sir,” Rabbit finished.
“Ye miss that life?”
“No, sir.”
“And how’s this one shaping up for ye?”
“Better, mostly. This last day, anyways.”
“Yeah, guess so,” Peep snorted. “I’m gonna give ye some advice here, right? Ye keep yar head down, like ye been doing. Ye do what we say. And ye shadow Pinch. Sergeant Nikolas, I mean. Ye watch how he moves and ye try to copy him. Yar his kinda goon out here. No doubt. And we need guys like that. Ye help Pinch out and make sure he likes ye. He’s a good man and won’t take advantage. And he’ll bring ye along. That’s yar path forward here. Ye got that?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Now shut the fuck up. We’re gonna pop up on the boys when they come through. Shit them up a bit. Ye stay low and pop up when I do. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Rabbit whispered.
Peep pulled her shortbow from her case and shifted her position just a little so as to be set up properly in some bushes for an ambush on the trail from Big Rock. It was about another five minutes before they heard Hardmod and the two men coming down the trail with the mule. Impressively, Hardmod, who was out in front, halted the men behind him with an upraised hand when they were still about five meters from the creek. He then stood still, listening intently as his eyes darted around the bush in front of him.
“Good man,” Peep said as she stepped out from behind her bush, startling Hardmod and the two men with the mule behind him. “Ye smelled something off, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess so, sir. Ye were supposed to be here and ye weren’t. And something just felt off,” Hardmod said.
“And so it was,” Peep agreed. “Let’s cross the crick and head back on the road.”
The Cowslip was low enough that the stepping stones in it were usable, so they did not need to get their boots wet as the crossed. Walking around the burned-out ruins of Tully’s, Peep jerked her thumb towards it and grinned at Hardmod and the others.
“That was Tully’s there. Stron burned it down. Smote that shit good. I asked him to light up some fools that we was fighting in there, and he did that and then some! Praise him! The whole fuckin place went up faster than a dry spruce in a brush fire.”
“Oh yeah? Praise Stron, sir,” Hardmod said on behalf of the men.
“Yes indeed. And ye can drop that ‘sir’ business when were out and about like this, man,” Peep said to Hardmod. “So long as ye do what I say, when I say it, ye can call me Otilla. Right?”
“Okay. Thanks… uh… Thanks, Otilla,” Hardmod managed.
They walked the rest of the short way to the unconsecrated graveyard, where they dumped Reece’s headless corpse in the dirt. Then they went around through the south gate.
“Okay, Hardmod. Go find the grave digger and tell him we have another one for him there. Tell him we’ll settle up after,” Peep ordered.
“Yes, sir. Or. Uh…”
“No, that’s fine, man. We’re back in town, so best stick with the sirs. Go find him.”
Up at the military compound, the rest of the men had been split into two groups. Choke, Knuckle, and Osgar were doing more fighting drills with the larger group in the courtyard. Osgar looked perfect in his chainmail, although it did seem that moving around in its weight was taxing him.
The smaller group of soldiers were out beyond the wall with Pinch and Dom. These were the men that had any semblance of experience with fabrication. They were gathering suitable logs from the stock of what had been cleared away from the palisade. These were going to be used to repair the palisade.
“All sorted, LT! Corporal’s just arranging the burial,” Peep called as she and the two men with the mule entered the yard.
Choke nodded and stepped away from the men at their training to join Peep.
“Go put the mule away properly, and then ye can have a quick drink of water before falling in for fight training there,” Peep said to the two men with her.
“Yes, sir!”
“So, what is your plan for the rest of today?” Choke asked her, once the men were out of earshot.
“Unless ye got any better ideas, I figured I’d pull the guys that are meant to be on the crossbow during watch and take them down to the range for a bit of shooting. The thing’s good for scaring towny dipshits, but they aint gonna be worth a shit unless they get some time on it.”
“That’s a good point. Good idea.”
“Yeah, I know,” Peep cracked a grin. “There’s also a couple of other things we need to get into. First off: when d’ye reckon Barrelmender’s coming back?”
“He left Sunday morning. It’s Tuesday now. So, if he spent last night in Spitzer, which stands to reason, he should be getting back this afternoon or evening, depending on how hard he rides.”
“Okay, good. So then we gotta figure out what we’re doing with Bristlenook, right? We never really talked over that meeting with the lumberjacks. Lenny split the next morning, and then we had all this bullshit with Reece and Rabbit to deal with.”
“Again, you’re right, Peep,” Choke said, sighing deeply as he rubbed his face. “With everything else that’s gone on, I don’t even know where to begin with that.”
“No shit. But it’s important. Pinch made a good point on that front a while back. If Barrelmender gets his shit together, or even just thinks he has, he can order us to do whatever he wants. Right? So we gotta figure out what we’re telling him about that meeting with the lumberjacks and that Sif bitch from Bristlenook. We gotta figure out what we wanna do about all that. Today. Before Barrelmender gets back.”
“Yes. Of course. Ahm…” Choke said, still rubbing his face and looking lost.
“Fuck man, start getting some pussy and ye lose yar shit! Tell, ye what: we got lots of time before lunch. Knuckle and Osgar are handling this. Pinch and Dom got the guys outside. I’ll do the crossbow shooting with the guys after lunch. Let’s go grab a cup a stug and take a load off. Talk it out and figure it out. Right?”
“Yes. Good. Thank you, Peep.”
“Yeah, go on,” Peep laughed, pushing Choke towards the kitchen door at the back of the barracks. She then threw a shrill whistle Knuckle’s way. “Hey! Knuckle! I gotta talk with the LT for a bit! You got the yard! When Hardmod comes back, send him out to help Pinch!”
“Got it!” Knuckle shouted back, giving Peep a thumbs up.
Peep returned the gesture and followed Choke into the kitchen to get a hot cup of overboiled stugroot.
Muse Vassal 