table of contents – (spoilers)
It was only a few minutes before Choke was back in the dining room, this time with Shane. Choke offered him ale or stugroot, but Shane declined both and requested simple water. Once they were both seated with their water cups, Shane began:
“First off, and I know ye didn’t ask me, but I thought I’d throw my two coppers in all the same. Ye said that yar men were all as green as grass when ye got them. How long have ye had them? Couldn’t be that long. Seems like just a few weeks ago ye were in Callic tussling with spider beasts and the Chisel and all that.”
“That is a good question, Shane. It feels like forever. However, I think it has been just over two weeks since I took command of them in Spitzer fort.”
“Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. And ye were the newest LT there in Spitzer, right? And they had just raised a big new levy. Heard all about that in Callic. Lots of bushrats dodging this way and that through our turf, getting away from the Baron’s men,” Shane chuckled. “So, pardon me saying it, but you being the new lieutenant and all, and you being what ye are… Sorry, but that’s the way of it. Ye got the dregs of the levy. But, all that being so, looking around here, I’d say ye’ve done a fine job with them. They look like soldiers, at least. How many have run off on ye?”
“Just one. Otilla and Sergeant Nikolas caught him and brought him back to hang. Otilla killed another for plotting evil against us.”
“Good. Well, morale seems okay. And they are a bunch of bushrat scum, but aren’t we all?” Shane chuckled.
“Funny you should say that, Shane. In Fort Spitzer I was told they were being called Pekot’s Bushrats. I applied it to them as a name of pride. The goal here is to turn them into light infantry scouts. Light cavalry, if we can get our hands on enough horses.”
“Sounds, solid. Anyways, I just thought ye might like to hear what I thought on the matter. Looks like yar doing good.”
“Thank you for say so, Shane. That does mean a lot. We have been doing our best. I just hope it will be enough.”
“Yeah, well, that’s the way of it. Now, unfortunately, I gotta lay even more on ye. And I don’t even know what yar meant to do about it. But I been sent by Father Nate, and, like I said, I’d a come here anyways because I think ye should know what happened.”
“Yes, thank you, Shane,” Choke said, taking a deep breath as he steeled himself for whatever Shane would say next.
“Okay. Well…” Shane said, scratching his beard as he fought to contain heavy emotion. “Yeah, well, it’s the Ungers. They’ve all been killed, is what. Massacred.”
“Who? What? The Ungers?” Choke exclaimed, taking a moment to place the name.
The Ungers were the small community consisting of two families located at the old Dwarven tower at the Didsbury trailhead in Callic. The landowner, Unger and his wife, Nemira, with their three children, lived with Unger’s man, Aaron, his wife, Janice, their two small children, and Aaron’s father Munn. It was Munn that had made Choke and Knuckle’s longbows, and Peep’s bespoke shortbow.
“Yeah. The Ungers,” Shane repeated grimly. “Except, I guess, Unger and Aaron themselves, who levied up as longbowmen with Captain Fairchild. Some welcome home they’ll have, huh?”
“The Ungers… oh no. What? All of them? All the children?”
“Yeah, well, I guess we don’t know for sure. But as these things go, may as well be all. Bandit raid, right? Pure mayhem. Animals all taken or slaughtered. Seems that Munn, ornery fucker that he was, burned his workshop down with himself inside. Probably to make sure the fuckers couldn’t arm themselves from his stock. The kids there, the smaller ones, I mean, were violated to death in various ways. Whatever else was done before they left, the bandits took the two womenfolk and Unger’s eldest boy away with them.”
“Nemira and Janice. And Jagg?” Choke said, barely holding himself together.
“I don’t know their names. Never got out there much. Kept my distance on account of the distance, and Munn being a smug prick about his ways. Grinding me over not using a longbow. Like his way is the only way to go about a thing. How’s a man supposed to creep through the bush properly with one of them things?”
Choke and Shane lapsed into a long silence. Shane sipped on his water and stared at the table, giving Choke some time to get himself together. Eventually, Shane continued:
“It weren’t a total one-sided affair, though. Munn and the women, I’d guess, did take some bandits with them. Three dead from arrows at the Unger place. Once more left for dead on the trail from a gutshot. We sent him on his way to hell when we found him. And, I’m sorry to tell ye, there is more to this that pertains to you, Lieutenant.”
“What? How?”
Shane reached into his belt and extracted a folded-up scrap of smooth leather. He unfolded it and laid it out in front of Choke on the table. On it was a message, scrawled in blocky, poorly-formed letters scratched into the leather with a blade. Soot had been rubbed into the scratches to make them stand out.
“HI CHOK! FRM YUR OLD PAL DGNUT!!”
“Yeah,” Shane said, his voice growling low with rage like distant thunder. “That was left across the face of one of the younger boys. He got it worse than any. Opened right up, by the end of it.”
“Dugnut,” Choke said.
“Yeah. Seems so. Once they were done at the Ungers, they lit out north. Father Callic put together a posse to go after them. I was on that. Saw what they done first hand. We found the one gutshot, like I said. Then tracked them for a spell. Gave up when they hit the bush. On the way out, though, the bandits swung by another hamlet. Menaced them a bit, but didn’t stay to do more than yell. But the bandit leader proclaimed himself Dugnut, of Pekot. He called ye out by name there, too. Said ye don’t have the balls to finish what the two of ye started back in the day. Said other unsavory shit about what the two of ye got up to back then, too, but that don’t bear repeating.”
“Dugnut,” Choke murmured again, like an infernal prayer.
“Yeah. The folk at the hamlet said the bandits had three captives with them. Two women and one lad. So the three were alive then. But, I don’t suppose I have to tell ye, but I will: if they’re still alive, there aint gonna be much left of them. I’ve seen more than my share of bandit and goblin raids in my day, and this one was about the worst.”
“What about Sneed?” Choke asked, his voice low and monotone.
“Who? Sneed? That’s the ear-taker the Outfit bosses sent out here after ye, aint it? How would they know him?”
“I’m sorry. Yes. Did the folk at the hamlet say if there was a longbowman with the bandits with a scar across his face?” Choke asked.
Shane shook his head. “No longbowmen. And we asked specific about weapons. And the folk of Callic know longbows well, as ye know.”
“I understand. How many bandits were there?”
“Oh, right. Sorry. About a dozen after the four were put down. All mounted.”
Again, Choke and Shane sat in silence while Choke attempted to process what he had heard.
“This thing,” Choke said, with his eyes closed. “The Ungers were targeted because of me. Because of us. Dugnut targeted them to get to us.”
Shane blinked at Choke before responding: “Well… yeah. Obviously. Everyone around the community knows ye took a shine to them. Munn making that special bow for Otilla was a popular thing. And ye cleaned out the tower right there. Word’s spread on that.”
Choke nodded. He took a few deep breaths and forced his emotions down, realizing he had to think critically about this.
Shane continued:
“The question is: why did Dugnut do this just now? Could be just that yar names are ringing out a lot lately. Ye’ve made them names taking down some big bandits, and with his history with ye, Dugnut wants to big himself up by pissing in yar eye. Might be nothing more than that.”
“Or…” Choke said significantly.
“Yeah. Or, this Sneed fella has heard about all this and reached out. Encouraged Dugnut to do what he’d be naturally inclined to do anyways. Then, he’s gonna set a trap for ye when ye go after Dugnut.”
Choke took a moment to organized his thoughts further before he responded:
“Sneed’s behind this. I’m sure of it. He brought up Dugnut and his history with us, with me, the last time we spoke with him. When he was still officially the teamsters’ security head out here. He goaded us with it, trying to provoke us into attacking him and his men so that he could kill us openly without it being murder. Then, that very day, Otilla tracked him down to the local brothel and overheard him making plans. He forced the local lieutenant to engage in an attack against us with the Chisel. But, he also expressed that he had no confidence in that plan, and was going to be leaving to begin work on his next scheme against us. That night, we attacked the brothel where the Chisel and his men had gathered. We killed the Chisel and his men and arrested Lieutenant Dixon. Sneed and his men killed Dixon from an ambush as we rode him past the freight yard.”
Shane nodded. “I heard bits and pieces of that story. That brothel was Tully’s, right? Miss Otilla burned it down, I heard?”
“That’s right, she did,” Choke answered.
“Well, that’s good, I suppose,” Shane said wistfully. “Ye killed Tully and his boys there, too, right?”
“We did. Did you have experience with them?”
Shane shifted in his seat. “Well, I suppose. A bit. But, not like anything heavy, right? Just as a patron there, from time to time. Tanglefoot aint that long a haul, right? Patrolling the whole trail once in a while is part of my duty. And Callic’s got nothing going on in respect to hoors, what with Father Nate taking a hard line on that sort of business.”
“Ah. I see. I’m sorry, it’s not my business. I just thought that with your history with Bob, you might have deeper insight into what Tully was up to.”
“Nah, nothing really. He was shady, but we never crossed paths like that. And while we’re on the topic, please don’t tell Miss Otilla about my dealings there.”
“Of course I won’t. But, she wouldn’t care or judge you even if she did know. She doesn’t care about such matters,” Choke said.
“Well, okay then. So, I guess the question is: what do you intend to do now, Lieutenant? You gonna mount up and head out all hot after Dugnut?”
“No. How could I? My duty is here, in Bristlehump. I cannot abandon my post to pursuit a vendetta. Whatever my feelings might be.”
Shane nodded, pleased. “Okay. Good. But yar sure that this Sneed is the one steering the situation?”
“Nothing can be one-hundred percent, but, yes, I am sure. We have to assume so, at least.”
“And ye got yar ear to the ground out here, right? Ye’ve been hearing the local gossip?” Shane asked.
“Yes, we have.”
“Okay, then. So let’s assume that Sneed is the one behind this. He’s gonna put Dugnut in play around here at some point. Bait the hook. And when he does, what’re ye gonna do?”
“Sneed is smart. Clever. And, I think, a good judge of character. He will understand that I will not neglect my duty here in order to chase after Dugnut. So, when Sneed puts Dugnut into play here, I am sure it will be in a way that I cannot ignore,” Choke said.
“So, yar gonna go and kill him, is what yar saying.”
“Yes. That is what I am saying.”
“Okay, then. So, I’m with ye. I’m here to help ye kill the sons a bitches.”
“Oh! Really?” Choke startled.
“Ye’ll have me, right?” Shane asked, staring at Choke hard.
“Yes! Of course! I just didn’t think— I didn’t expect… No, you are more than welcome! Of course! But, what about your duties at the Tanglefoot. Aren’t you—”
“No,” Shane interrupted, raising his hand. “Father Nate, lawful magistrate of Callic, gave me leave to come here and lend a hand. He wants these devils sent to Hell.”
“Well, then, that’s great. Yes! Please, help me, help us, deal with this. You are welcome!” Choke exclaimed, releasing a huge sigh of relief.
“Okay. I’m on board, then. But, there’s just a couple of things I gotta get straight with ye right now, so’s we don’t get wrong-footed later on. Right?” Shane said, meeting Choke’s eye with serious intent.
“Yes. Good. Please, go on,” Choke said.
“Yeah. So, like I said, I done my share of campaigning with the military. For the old Baron, like I said. But, mostly, it weren’t actually with the Baron, if ye catch my meaning. I was attached to this unit, or the other, with more junior officers. As a wilderness scout, I got to float around a bit. Ye understand, right?”
“I think so, yes.”
“Right. So that all being said, I’ve had my fill of dipshit junior officers barking nonsense into my face. No offence to you intended, of course. The way ye’ve conducted yarself before joining up, and since, as far as I can tell, tells me that ye aint one of that sort. But, I need it clear right off the hop here. I aint enlisting. I aint one of yar men. And I sure as fuck aint yar commander’s man, whoever that might be. I’m along in the capacity of advisor and guide here. We clear on that?”
“Yes, Shane, I understand. And I can appreciate your position.”
“Good. Now, having said all that, I’ll add this: I aint looking to boss ye around, neither. Yar all young here, so I’m assuming yar green in some respects. That can’t be helped. So I’ll proffer my opinion when I feel it’s needed. But I understand that yar in charge of what yar up to, and need to keep control of yar men. I’ll do my best to stay outta yar way in regards to that.”
“Thank you, Shane. That sounds… uhh… good. I’m sorry, I’m just overwhelmed by all this right now,” Choke said, suddenly struggling not to break down in tears.
“Understandable. I suppose this is the first time folk that ye know got done by bandits. It aint an easy thing to countenance, such wickedness. So take a minute with it. But, ye gotta salt all that emotion away, because ye can’t go after these guys hot. That’s what they want. Ye salt it away until they’re right under yar knife. If this Sneed operator is behind the move, and I agree with ye that he most likely is, then this is a tricky game we’re about to play here. He’ll set a trap with Dugnut as bait. But he’s gonna know that ye know it’s a trap. So, what’s his counter to yar counter gonna be? Right? But, there’s time for us to ponder that. Just a little, I’d guess. I’m gonna wanna sit down with ye and Otilla and go over what ye know already. I’m guessing ye’ve been working Sneed in some manner at yar end here?” Shane asked.
“We have, I suppose. Really, there’s been nothing we could do. Short of establishing trust with the locals so they keep their ear to the ground for us, I suppose. But, something seems to have moved there and we have a promising lead on him. That’s what Peep and Pinch are off scouting now. I think it’ll be best if we just wait for them to return and bring you up to speed when they’ve reported.”
“I think that’s right. Okay then, Lieutenant, I reckon we’re squared away for now. There aint anything ye need from me right now, is there?”
“No, thank you, Shane. Have you sorted yourself out with a place to stay here? Are your dogs okay?”
“Yeah, that’s all sorted. Dogs fed and kenneled, horse in the stable. I’ll bed down in the stable while I’m here, if that’s okay. Is it alright if I take my meals with yar men?” Shane asked.
“Of course. Just consider yourself one of us, as far as that goes. I will introduce you to them all at dinnertime.”
“That’ll be in a couple of hours, I guess?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Good. So… in the meanwhile…” Shane hesitated, looking embarrassed. He forced himself to push on, though: “I know ye burned down Tully’s, and all, but I don’t suppose there are any women around here that’ve set up shop in that respect, are there?”
“Oh. Right. Well, actually, yes. Two of Tully’s women have established themselves just outside of town. A farmhouse just a little ways up the Cowslip Creek from the Crotch. They’ve put a shingle up just on the road there.”
“Ah, good,” Shane said, brightening up. “I don’t suppose ye caught their names, did ye, Lieutenant? Not that I’m suggesting ye’d frequent them, or anything, but, ye know, just…”
“No, it’s quite alright. They were in some trouble when we arrived here. I suppose they’ll tell you all about it. Annica and Mya are their names,” Choke said.
Shane brightened up further. “Oh! That’s good news. Annica’s always been something of a shrew, but Mya’s a darling. Okay, I suppose I’ll go attend to that, then. I’ll see ye at dinner, Lieutenant.”
“Yes, indeed. Thanks again, Shane. I appreciate you coming to tell me. And your help in this is more than I could have hoped for,” Choke said, as he and Shane stood up.
“Well, I appreciate ye saying so, Lieutenant. Remains to be seen what help I can be, but I’ll do my best. Thank ye. And I’ll thank ye in advance for yar discretion in the matter of the hooring. I don’t know about her sensibilities, but I’d rather Otilla didn’t hear of it.”
“That’s fine, Shane. Of course.”
Choke and Shane shook hands warmly. Meeting Choke’s eye, the grizzled veteran recognized the pain there. Shane’s stoicism broke in a moment of commiseration between them. Shane nodded wearily and patted Choke on the shoulder as he moved to the outside door.
With Shane gone, Choke stood staring into space, lost in a maelstrom. He only just managed to contain it. Once he had, he hurried to his private room where he fell to his knees beside his bed with his Holy Book pressed to his forehead. He wept and prayed to Stron for strength.
Muse Vassal 