Ringed Love

by Elizabeth Noble

  “What’s your name, kid?” Todd asked.

  “Kells.”

  Todd held the captive tightly until Kells had him tied securely, then shoved him to the ground. While they did that, Nick knelt beside the other man. He reached out and tried to move the man’s clothes away, saying softly, “I need a better look at this.”

  The man shoved Nick’s hands away and scrabbled for his gun. Nick pushed it farther out of the way, and the woman retrieved it. “Get your hands off me! You’re the one who caused this,” the man snapped.

  “I…you’re bleeding,” Nick insisted. He looked up at Todd, exasperation all over his face. More struggling from the man drew Nick’s attention back to him. “No, don’t do that!” The man grabbed Nick’s knife and yanked it out of his shoulder, screaming through clenched teeth.

  “Damn fool,” the other man with Kells said and rolled his eyes. “Let him bleed out.”

  Nick grabbed the man’s wrist and squeezed, making him drop the knife. “We can’t—”

  “He refused treatment,” the woman countered.

  Nick blew out a frustrated growl and leaned over the man, pressing the heel of a hand to the wound. When the guy howled, Nick grumbled, “Shut up.” He looked around at the others. “He wouldn’t be in so much trouble if he’d left the knife in.”

  “If you hadn’t put it there in the first place, this wouldn’t even be an issue!” the other guy shouted.

  “Stow it,” Todd snapped.

  Nick looked at him and shrugged. “He’s not lying.”

  “You’re not helping,” Todd groused.

  Nick rolled his eyes, retrieved his knife, and wiped it off on the bottom of his shirt. He motioned to Kells. “Help me sit him up.”

  Todd looked at the second man and held out his hand. “Todd Ruger. This is my mate, Nick.”

  “Trey Arnold.” Trey shook Todd’s hand and nodded politely to Nick. “This is Faye Lintz.” He motioned to the woman.

  Faye held up a hand and said, “Hello. Now back to these two.”

  Nick unbuttoned and took his overshirt off. Ripping it in strips, he fashioned a pressure bandage. “Is there enough rope to tie him up, too?”

  Kells nodded. He and Trey tied the sniper as well as they could while not disturbing the makeshift dressing.

  Todd looked around the group. He pointed a finger at Trey. “Fill me in.”

  “They—” Trey nodded to the two restrained snipers “—are part of a detail from West Caldera military and Raleigh’s militia. From what we can gather, they were sent to ‘round up,’ as they put it, owners and slaves and any sympathizers—”

  “Sympathizers?” Todd asked.

  Faye nodded. “People like me who worked in the slave villages raising and teaching the children.”

  “You’re a tutor?” Nick asked. Todd thought he paled slightly.

  “I was.” Faye smiled. “Weapons, tracking, and defense training, as well as mathematics.” She crossed her arms in front of her and studied Nick for a few seconds.

  “She never hurt us,” Kells said.

  Both Todd and Nick turned their attention to him, and Todd asked, “Where are you from?”

  “There is—was—a small village southeast of here. Twenty children at the most. There are more of us and some of the other tutors in our group. Mr. Arnold and the people with him helped us escape and took us with them,” Kells explained.

  “Not all of us use physically aggressive teaching techniques,” Faye added.

  “Where are you going?” Todd asked. Faye and Trey looked at each other, then the two restrained men. Todd sighed. “They can’t exactly get a message to anyone now, and clearly—“ he dipped his head in Nick’s direction “—I’m not in agreement with them.”

  “Considering the West Caldera laws on executing owners on the spot, you understand our caution,” Faye said.

  “Oh, believe me, I know all about their methods,” Todd muttered.

  “We can’t turn them loose,” Faye said. She’d begun to pace.

  “We’re not going to. However, we’re also not standing around here in the woods to wait for more of their friends to show up. Help Nick and me get them to our wagons,” Todd said.

  “Come with us. Please join our group,” Trey blurted out.

  Faye grabbed his arm and turned him away from Todd and to her. “What are you—?”

  “They’re sentries. Sentries who are also an owner and slave.” Trey nodded toward Todd. “He’s right, he has authority—legal authority. We could use their help and protection.” He leveled a hard stare on Todd. “That is still what sentries do, protect people who need it?”

  “Yes,” Todd and Nick said together. Todd heaved a sigh. “Our situation hasn’t changed. We still need to get these two somewhere until we decide what to do with them or find somewhere to detain them. Your wagons are over there, and ours are back that way.”

  Trey nodded. He turned to Faye and said, “It’s the best way to defend the kids.”

  Faye huffed a breath, and Todd got the impression she and Trey hadn’t just met and banded together. A quick glance at Nick, who was watching the two intently, confirmed Todd’s suspicions.

  “Our wagons are closer,” Nick said softly.

  “Let’s get these guys secured and go listen to what they have to say,” Todd said. He held Nick’s gaze for another second. It was clear Nick wanted to know what was going on with these people as much, or maybe more, than Todd did.

  Chapter 2

  Todd didn’t like the idea of Nick and him splitting up. He liked the thought of leaving these people alone while Nick and he secured their prisoners and moved their wagons even less. Judging from the looks Nick was aiming in his direction every few seconds, the same thoughts were running through Nick’s head.

  Taking hold of the wounded man’s arm, Todd pulled him to his feet. “Up you go.” Turning to Trey, he said, “We’ll deal with this one if the three of you will escort the other prisoner.”

  Nick stepped up and braced the wounded man against him while Todd adjusted his grip to take some of the man’s weight from his opposite side.

  “This doesn’t exactly feel great,” the man groused.

  They both ignored the man’s grumbling. If he was in any danger, Todd was confident Nick would have called a halt to moving him and insisted on providing whatever treatment he needed.

  “Wouldn’t it be easier and faster to take them to our camp while you get your wagons?” Faye asked.

  “Yeah. But that would mean splitting up. I don’t think that’s the best idea right now,” Todd said. “Who knows if there are others in the area. In fact, I’m sure it’s a real possibility we might have more unfriendly people to deal with.”

  “Is it wise to waste so much time?” Faye countered.

  “We’re not leaving them unguarded, and that means they’re not out of our sight,” Todd said. He kept his voice even and firm while he stood a bit straighter, pushed his shoulders back, and kept his gaze unwavering. When it looked like she was going to protest even more, he added, “If you want us to join you and help you get to safety, this is the way we’re doing it.”

  She blew out a breath and turned away, waving Todd off. Clearly she wasn’t used to her authority being challenged and didn’t like it one bit. Todd shrugged and Nick ducked his head, his lips twitching into a small smile. Trey and Kells looked from Faye to Todd. He nodded at them to take hold of the other man. Without waiting for further debate, Todd, with Nick and the wounded man, took the lead retracing the path to their wagons.

  Once there, Nick stood guard while Todd had Kells help him shift some of their belongings around in the back of one wagon to make room for the two men. A half hour later, Todd was satisfied the men would be secure enough they could safely move the wagons. They’d still have to separate to drive the two wagons, but Todd didn’t see any other way. Nick and Trey rode in the first wagon. Faye and Kells went with Todd in the second.

  The group of people waiting alo
ng the road was an interesting mix. Todd estimated there were several dozen people of all ages traveling in fifteen wagons. Some were the large Conestoga types, like their own wagons. Others were the smaller cargo variety with flatbeds adapted for travelling longer distances. Some people gave them curious looks, but there didn’t seem to be any hostility directed at them.

  Todd pulled his wagon alongside Nick’s and climbed down from the bench. Nick scooted to the side and leaned closer to Todd when Trey hopped down.

  “I’ll explain our plan, but it’ll be easier to show you. I need to get some supplies from my wagon,” Trey explained. “Give me a few minutes to gather everything.”

  Todd nodded, and Trey hurried toward a wagon near the front of the line. Kells was right on his heels while Faye moved among a few of the closer wagons.

  Nick rested his arm on the bench rail and spoke in a low voice. “What do you think?”

  “Nicky, I have no idea,” Todd admitted. “If these people become a problem, we’re sitting ducks, being this outnumbered.”

  “Let’s not think that way,” Nick said.

  “I wouldn’t be so worried about it, except we have no way of knowing how many of them will agree with Faye and insist our detainees be executed,” Todd said. Nick nodded, then shifted his gaze to some point behind Todd. Turning, Todd watched Trey come toward them with an armful of large rolls of heavy paper.

  “This is our plan,” Trey said and settled on the ground, motioning them to join him. “I’m a bit of a history buff, and I came across these years ago. I never imagined I’d have reason to use them.” He shook his head and snorted a laugh. “Up until a few weeks ago, I had some of them framed and hung on my walls.”

  Trey spread a few of the rolls out on the ground. Nick knelt beside Trey, and Todd crossed his arms in front of him and stood behind Nick, gazing over Nick’s shoulder.

  “These two maps here—” Trey touched one map then the one beside it “—are from before the volcano erupted. Back then, people built a system of tunnels traversing north and south across the North American continent, mainly in this area, west of the Great Divide. It allowed them to travel more safely and easily in the winter.”

  “Heavy snow and ice have never mixed well with mountain roads,” Nick said. “No matter what your mode of transportation.”

  “Exactly.” Trey nodded. “There was a system of trains, smaller and faster than the ones we use today, commonly referred to as bullet trains. The tunnels were deep enough the damage to them during the eruption was minimal.” He pointed to another map. “This one, here, was surveyed about one hundred and twenty or so years ago by some people in Sierra Nevada Protectorate. They wanted to use the tunnel system to move livestock north and south between them and Yellowknife Protectorate. The tunnels were cleared of rubble and debris. The plan back then was to salvage the bullet trains for scrap metal and so on.”

  “The technology and fuel sources the trains would’ve used was never revived when rebuilding began,” Nick added.

  “That’s a great idea, but I’ve lived in this area all my life, and I never heard of it. You said the plan was. What happened to the plan?” Todd moved to the opposite side of the maps and crouched down for a better look.

  Trey shrugged. “There are a lot of legends from the area and stories about why the project was never put into execution. Or why anything started was abandoned. Most of what I’ve read seemed to be speculation. They did run right through this area, so they crossed West Caldera where the borders for the three protectorates meet. I’ve always suspected that was the real root of the issue.”

  “What sort of stories and speculation?” Todd asked.

  “All sorts of things, likely meant to scare people off. Creatures that can change form and look like one person then another one within hours.” He stopped, shook his head, and laughed. “Ghosts and spirits, of all things.” Trey looked at Todd. “But then I’ve heard the stories that sentries aren’t simply bounty hunters and defenders of our borders, as well as legal agents for hire. I never put much stock in those either. There is no such thing as ghosts.”

  Todd met Nick’s gaze and could practically hear his mate thinking, Famous last words. At least they had an idea what they’d possibly be up against.

  “That is where we’re headed. I figured even if the bullet trains don’t run, we can still hitch horses to them to pull them. Spread folks out and make them more comfortable.”

  Faye joined them. “A metal train is more defensible, too.”

  Nick nodded, and Todd had to agree with her. “It is,” Todd said. He turned to Faye. “When you said you trained slave children in weapons and defense—”

  “And mathematics,” Faye cut in.

  Todd sighed. “And mathematics. Tell me about what sort of weapons and defense, and for who.”

  Faye smiled and looked at the ground for a few seconds. “I’ve heard all the stories about sentries, and I’ve never once seen a shape shifter or ghost or any of the other things your kind is so fond of spinning tales about hunting.”

  “Oh, ye of little faith,” Nick muttered.

  Faye shot him a look but otherwise ignored his comment. “The slaves from my village went mostly to small towns and farming communities. Sometimes they’d go to a sheriff; other times families that needed additional help and security because of their more remote locations. So, they were taught hand-to-hand combat, farming techniques, and defensive use of knives. That’s it.”

  Nick took a deep breath and asked, “How far to these tunnels?”

  “If this map is correct, there should be an entrance about ten miles or a little less in that—” Trey pointed north and slightly west “—direction.”

  Todd glanced up at the sky, then scanned the mountain range around them. “We can’t be too far from West Caldera proper, if we’re not already actually inside its borders.”

  “And as you’d said earlier, since Raleigh likely surrendered, even New Colorado Protectorate is technically West Caldera,” Nick added.

  “Traveling with this many people and wagons at night, even on the open road, will be risky. We can’t exactly camouflage everyone, their wagons, and livestock,” Todd pointed out.

  “Not to mention the noise they’ll make when moving,” Nick added.

  Todd scratched the side of his neck, then put his hands in his pockets. “Any of these kids trained well enough? Kells is what, eighteen, twenty? I don’t see many others much older than twelve or fourteen. What about the adults? Other than Nick and me, and you—” he nodded at Faye “—is there anyone else in this group trained in defense, or even hunting would be useful?”

  “Kells wasn’t schooled for that. Actually, the only children I was training specifically to assist any local law enforcement had already gone to their owners last year. Most of this group didn’t have predesignated owners,” Faye said.

  Relief flooded Todd, and Nick’s face reflected Todd’s emotions. “Good. What about the adults?” Asking children, even children with some preparation, to use weapons and defend the wagon train was pushing the boundaries of what Todd was willing to do.

  Trey shook his head. “Most are either from the slave village, teachers, administrators, or from my town. The slave village was more like a compound in our town. We farmed, manufactured some textiles. That’s all.”

  “Trey, you have the maps, and I’m guessing you’ve already worked out a route?” Todd asked. Trey nodded, and Todd continued, “Okay, sticking around here much longer is only asking for trouble. Nick will go with you and lead in one of our wagons. We should proceed as if there are plenty of others from West Caldera nearby; those men shooting at you weren’t alone. They may have been scouting ahead of a larger group. Regardless, they’re not working by themselves. It would be foolish to think they are. We’ll get as many of the children into the Conestogas as possible and keep the flaps down. I’ll have someone else drive our other wagon. Faye, you and I will travel on horseback. Stay on one side of the wagon train and k
eep moving up and down the line. We get everyone in a wagon and keep them moving as fast as the teams can travel.”

  “Do you really think all that is necessary?” Trey asked. Faye rolled her eyes and turned away, shaking her head. “We’ve made it this far.”

  “And we’ve been trailed and shot at!” Faye threw her hands in the air, her voice rising as she turned around to face Trey again. “If they want to stop us, they’ll have to do that before we hit those tunnels. I told you before, we have to presume others know about that route as well. I’d think chasing us down is a waste of time, but they don’t seem to agree with me.”

  “They probably figure refugees can come back eventually and cause trouble,” Nick said.

  “Doesn’t matter. Once we’re in those tunnels, their only way to get to us is from behind. I’m guessing it won’t be worth the risk,” Todd said. “Let’s get everything organized and move out.”

  * * * *

  Nick turned around and watched the train of wagons before taking a careful look at the territory along the road.

  “That’s the fifth time in the last half hour. Do you see someone?” Trey asked. He gave the horses another cluck and a tap with the reins to keep them moving at their current pace.

  Arching an eyebrow at Trey’s actions, Nick shook his head. “Not really, but I definitely won’t see anything if I don’t look. You don’t have to keep doing that to the horses. They’re fine.”

  “I don’t need driving instructions, especially not from a slave. Do I need to have a discussion with your master?” Trey was nice and friendly when Todd was around. When Todd wasn’t within earshot, Trey stopped being so pleasant to Nick.

  Nick turned away to glance at a heavier growth of trees and grumbled, “See how that works out.”

  “What?”

  “Hmm?” Nick turned back to Trey and smiled. “I was counting off miles. We’ve gone about six.”

  Trey looked him up and down. Nick smiled shyly and ducked his head so his bangs flopped in front of his eyes. He hunched his shoulders forward, adopting his meek persona. Trey sat back and relaxed. Nick smiled to himself. It worked every time. People tended to ignore him when he acted the way they expected him to.