Ringed Love

by Elizabeth Noble

  Tapping the back of Nick’s leg, Todd said, “Lift up.”

  Obediently Nick bent his knee, and a minute later, his thigh was bandaged. He offered Todd an anemic smile. “That works. Feels better.”

  Todd put all their supplies away and leaned out of the back of the wagon to dump the water. Then Todd ran a hand over Nick’s head and pulled him in, kissing his forehead. “You sit tight, and I’ll find us some food and get you some water to drink.”

  “I smell coffee brewing,” Nick said and sighed.

  “Maybe whoever is making it will share. If not, I’ll make us some.” He brushed his lips tenderly over Nick’s forehead again, then patted his mate’s shoulder before climbing out of the wagon. “You’re safe. We both are. Get some rest.”

  Nick leaned back, rolled on his side, and tucked a pillow under his cheek and his arm beneath the pillow. When Nick opened his eyes and looked around, he was alone in the wagon. A blanket had been neatly tucked around him, and there was a large jug sitting on top of the closest trunk. He sat up and yawned, reaching for the jug. It was cool, and the metal looked as if it were perspiring.

  Opening it, Nick took a sip, then several gulps. It was cool water and tasted fresher than the stored water in the barrels. Clean clothes were folded neatly at the end of the wagon. Nick pulled the lightweight shirt over his head and wiggled into clean jeans. He’d be happy when they were out of the tunnel and possibly found a river or lake so he could clean up properly. Home and a hot shower were still a week or more away.

  He climbed down from the wagon slowly, easing the kinks out of stiff muscles as he went. Sal, Clara, and their family had their wagons pulled close to the wagons belonging to Nick and Todd, forming a secluded area in the middle. There was a table set up with chairs, and a small, cheery fire crackled nearby. Dishes of food and a coffee carafe were scattered across the table.

  Todd turned in his chair and smiled, then stood up and held out his hand to Nick. “Feeling better? I was beginning to think you’d sleep through till morning.”

  Taking Todd’s hand and squeezing before letting go, Nick settled in one of the vacant chairs. Todd stood behind him for a few minutes, hands on Nick’s shoulders, massaging tenderly.

  “Hungry?” Clara asked.

  Nick nodded. Todd laughed and eased into the chair beside Nick, then said, “He’s always hungry.”

  “Is that coffee?” Nick leaned forward and motioned to the carafe.

  “It is. Help yourself.” Clara was busy piling food on a plate she then set in front of Nick.

  He poured coffee and sipped it. “This is good. Thank you.”

  “We found fresh running water and a public shower over there,” Sal said and pointed to a group of doors in the tunnel walls. “This section was probably a sort of depot for people getting on and off the trains. Maybe an area they used if they had to wait here for any amount of time.”

  Nick nodded. He was too busy shoveling food into his mouth to comment.

  “The thought is we spend no more than thirty hours here. Everyone can get a good rest. This entire section seems to be a hub of some kind for the trains. Iron and magnets everywhere, so we should be safe,” Todd said.

  “I’m going to get a few hours’ sleep, then get started on the control room. It’s a mess, but I want to give it a good try,” Clara added.

  Nick felt much better after a good meal. The shower wasn’t hot, but the water was running, so it was better than scrubbing off in a lake. At least there was decent pressure. He diligently stayed under the cold water, getting the dirt and itch off his skin for as long as he could stand it. Todd hung around nearby and applied fresh dry dressings to his wounds after Nick dried off. They’d carried some of the larger water containers they stored on the wagons into the area and refilled them.

  They’d just returned to the group of wagons, and Nick was after another mug of coffee when a shy voice said from behind him, “Dr. Ruger?”

  Todd was securing the containers to the outer part of the wagon. He glanced up and smiled softly, nodding to Nick. “That’s him.”

  No one had ever called Nick “doctor” before, but Todd was pretty vocal about informing this group of people Nick was not only a trained veterinarian, but physician as well. It was another way Todd used to make sure the people in the wagon train saw him as someone other than a slave. Now that New Colorado Protectorate didn’t exist, Nick was no longer a slave.

  “Um…yes?” Nick responded.

  Standing between two of the wagons was a young girl. She held a rope in her hand that was attached to a goat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.” The girl petted the goat’s head. “I’ve had her since she could fit in my palms. I couldn’t lose her.”

  Nick stared, then raised his eyebrows when it clicked. This was the girl he saved earlier. “No harm done. Well, not much, anyway. I’ve had worse.” Nick held up his bandaged hands and shrugged. “Back home I have a horse. His name is Obi. I would have chased after him, too. You’re both okay?”

  The girl nodded. “Yes. But she—Brownie—my goat…she’s not eating as much as normal.”

  “Let me get some supplies. I’ll be right back.”

  Nick went to one of their wagons and found his medical equipment. He pulled out his stethoscope and went back to the girl, crouching down beside the goat.

  Holding the animal’s chin, he pulled her lips up. “She’s nice and pink. See here how her gums look?”

  The girl nodded solemnly and bit her lip.

  Nick adjusted the stethoscope ear pieces and listened to the goat’s chest, then belly. “Everything sounds good.” He turned around to look at the girl, and the goat bleated softly, nibbled his hair, and licked his cheek.

  The girl dissolved in giggles and Todd burst out laughing. Nick wiped his face off and said, “I think she’ll be fine. They can sense spirits and don’t like them if they’re violent. I don’t feel so good myself, so I’m not surprised she doesn’t either. If she’s not better by tomorrow, let me know.”

  Todd refused to let Nick haul anything and help clean out the control room or join the advance scouting party, so he wandered along the groups of wagons. He ended up addressing a number of minor injuries and ailments among the refugees and their animals.

  After hours of work, Clara and Sal finally conceded getting the lights working in this section wasn’t going to happen, nor were they going to be able to provide power to the train. When their self-appointed deadline of thirty hours was up, the group guided their wagons forward once more.

  Nick and Todd rode in the lead wagon. Nick felt much better sitting beside Todd and was finally able to relax.

  “How’re you doing?” Todd held the team’s reins in one hand and rubbed Nick’s knee with the other. “You tossed and turned a lot while we were supposed to be sleeping.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Todd gave his knee a squeeze. “Look up there. Natural light. How well did you jam the lock on the inside of the entrance door?”

  “Pretty well, though I guess if someone really wants in, they’ll get inside. We could bring explosives back and collapse the tunnels. So far it’s clear in this section,” Nick said.

  Todd sighed. “I guess first things first, get these people out safely.”

  The last thing Nick wanted to do was go back and confront those spirits again, but if it was necessary, he would do his job. He leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes, letting the gentle rocking of the wagon lull him to sleep.

  Nick woke up when the motion of the wagon stopped. As before, he felt much better after a few hours’ sleep. A look at his watch told him it had been more than a few hours, though. He’d slept for six hours. The wagons were stopped and gathering into groups again. They would rest and feed the teams, then themselves.

  A few hours later, Nick was adjusting the tack on one of the saddle horses. He pulled the girth tight and fastened the straps. “I’m all packed and ready.” He looked over the horse
s then back at Todd. “I haven’t felt anything hostile since we left the area of the first control room.”

  Todd nodded. “Good. Scouting ahead will be a lot more efficient…and faster…on horseback.” He swung onto the horse.

  Nick mounted his horse as well. Each of them carried a bag of iron shavings, salt, and an iron rod along with their standard weapons. They rode side by side, a Faraday lamp fastened to each of their saddle pommels. The side of the tunnel that ran parallel to the tracks had been originally engineered to drive livestock through, so it was fine dirt tamped down to make it firm and level.

  “Whatever happened near the first control room must have been bad,” Nick said softly.

  Todd glanced at him, reached out, and patted Nick’s thigh. “Tell me about what you sensed.”

  Nick sighed deeply. “It was all scrambled.”

  “Nick, I know you’re not comfortable remembering or talking about this stuff, but keeping it bottled up isn’t healthy for you. Spill.”

  Nick glanced around the tunnel as they rode and took a few minutes to gather his thoughts. “The thing I remember the most was anger. Sheer, raw hatred and horrible resentment.” He sighed and shook his head. “I couldn’t get much of what caused them to be that way. There were a lot of them. Like there was some huge event that caused a lot of them to die at once.”

  “Probably why all the activity is concentrated in one area.”

  “Yeah.” Nick shrugged. “That, and once we got beyond that point, the concentrations of magnets and iron increased with the equipment in this section of the tunnel. That would have kept them trapped and possibly made them angrier.”

  “Makes sense. Fortunately for us, those are the best protection against spirits.”

  After he and Todd determined it was safe enough to begin moving the wagon train, they returned to the main group. They decided to break their traveling into six-hour segments. Todd and Nick, along with a few of the others, took turns working as advance scouts in an effort to allow everyone time to eat and sleep. Some areas had natural light coming through from a ventilation system, but it was only small amounts. The only other light was provided by their Faraday lamps.

  Finally the tunnel split. One part made a sharp ninety-degree turn and continued on somewhere else. They followed the section of tunnel that was a straighter path through until the large rounded entrance and heavy steel door came into view.

  The crank for this door wasn’t as operational as the first one had been. In the end they got it open with sheer manpower. Groups of people pulled on the heavy chains and lifted the doors, allowing the wagon train to complete its journey, and a whole new group of people had arrived in Yellowknife Protectorate, their new home.

  * * * *

  It would take another few days to reach Elk’s Ridge, depending on how fast they traveled. There were several smaller towns along the way and plenty of open unclaimed land. Finding someone to drive their wagons for a few hours each day so Todd and Nick could ride ahead on horseback and patrol the areas alongside the road wasn’t difficult.

  “We’ve used this road a few times and never had any problems,” Todd told Faye and Clara earlier that morning. “But better safe than sorry.”

  “There is a little town just over that ridge,” Nick said, pointing north and slightly east. “It’s on a river and it’s a nice place. We’ve stopped there before.”

  “I doubt they’ll have any, but I’d like to see if there is any dynamite in that town we can get our hands on,” Todd said.

  “Why?” Clara asked.

  “The more I think about it, the more I feel the right move is to block the entrance to the tunnel we used. Anyone trying to get through without the proper knowledge and protection is going to end up like Trey. Nick and I can get back, take care of it, and get out again quickly.”

  “What about the West Caldera militia?” Faye asked.

  “It’s one thing to avoid them when you’re a train of wagons with a lot of people and animals. Another matter altogether when you’re two men on horseback,” Todd said and grinned. “Now, if we can’t blow it and cave it in somehow, we’ll have to come up with some other way to make sure no one else gets in.”

  “I don’t think you’ll be able to cave it in completely,” Clara said. “The framework for the door and the door itself is going to create an effective support against collapse. The simple act of construction of a tunnel like that involves reinforcing the sides and ceiling against cave-in.”

  “So maybe our plan won’t work,” Nick speculated. “If we could keep that door from opening, we’ll achieve the same end.”

  “What about destroying that opening mechanism? That’s a damn big door, and without the chains, crank, and lift device? It would be easier to cross the area above the tunnel than get into it,” Clara suggested.

  Todd nodded. “I think that’s the best idea.”

  By the time they reached the town, the two of them, along with Clara’s input, had come up with what they hoped was a feasible plan.

  They spent the rest of the day securing their wagons and possessions. Todd and Nick had traveled through the town enough that they knew the owner of one of the two small liveries. There was a boarding house they’d stayed in several times, and they knew the owner of that establishment as well. Their teams and saddle horses were put up at the livery, and their wagons would be safe there until they returned. Nick took some of their personal items to the boarding house and rented them a room while Todd arranged for them to use two of the liveries’ horses and return to the tunnel entrance.

  Before Todd went to the boarding house to meet with Nick, he went to the blacksmith’s workshop with a list of supplies. They didn’t have time to have anything specially made, but fortunately that wasn’t what Todd needed. A bit of haggling with the proprietor, and Todd had most of what they’d need. He was on the way to the boarding house when Nick met him.

  Holding up a bag, Nick said, “Enough food for a few days.” He patted two large canteens. “These are full, too.” A bedroll was tied to the back of Nick’s saddle, and he carried a second one in front of him.

  “I got the tools we’ll need from the blacksmith.” Todd gave the flap of his saddlebag a jostle. He took the bedroll Nick held out and secured it to the back of his horse. “Might as well get on the road.”

  Without the need to rest teams of horses, negotiate tunnels, and scout ahead, they’d be able to traverse the wilderness and get back to where they’d met up with the wagon train in a little more than a day without using the tunnel. They traveled until it was well past dark, stopped and camped until dawn, then set off again.

  Ever cautious of their surroundings and on constant lookout for West Caldera soldiers, they finally arrived at the tunnel entrance without incident. Nick had locked the door from the inside of the tunnel, but they didn’t want to chance someone figuring out how to get it unlocked and open. Taking the panel off the box with the switch and crank, Todd disassembled the mechanism. Nick moved to the other side of the wide doorway and went to work on the chain that pulled it along the track.

  It didn’t take Todd more than a half hour to make sure the latch and switch were rendered unusable. Cutting the heavy chain that pulled the door along the tracks was another matter. The blacksmith had lent them a small, portable torch, which Nick was using to heat a section of the chain.

  “The blacksmith said about ten minutes should do it,” Todd said. He stood behind Nick, keeping an eye out for anyone approaching.

  “Ready,” Nick finally said. He turned off the torch and set it carefully on the ground. Next he pulled on heavy gloves. Todd took one of the iron rods and wedged it inside one of the links. Nick grabbed the chain on either side of it and twisted in opposite directions while Todd cranked down on the rod. “I hate chains,” Nick grumbled.

  It took some doing, and they both worked up a sweat, but eventually the chain links snapped and clanked to the ground. From the other side of the door, they heard the bang and cla
tter of the rest of the chain dropping to the floor. The door made an odd sort of rumbling noise and settled more firmly into the ground. Todd nudged Nick’s side and grinned. He used the rod to break the links into smaller pieces. Those they poured some water over to cool them and gathered them up. Hiking a good thousand or so yards away, they buried the bits of chain in the hopes no one would find them and think to try to repair the chain and the door’s opening mechanism.

  “Since there are side tunnels, it’s probably best to leave the door alone where we exited. Don’t want to trap anyone,” Todd said.

  Nick nodded. “I’m hoping there aren’t many copies of those maps Trey provided.”

  “Anyone in those tunnels who knows about ghosts will recognize the wards we laid. That’s the best warning we can leave.”

  Their return trip to the town was quiet. They were both tired, and Todd was looking forward to a real bed and a shower. Crossing the border into Yellowknife, Todd said a silent prayer the conflicts in New Colorado Protectorate would smooth out soon. It was early afternoon when they returned to the town.

  “Looks like more people have gotten across the border,” Nick said.

  The streets that were sparsely populated a few days before had more traffic. There was a group of people waiting for assistance at the livery where they returned the horses. Even the blacksmith’s workshop had more than the usual amount of customers.

  Word of two sentries traveling to Elk’s Ridge, the second largest city in the protectorate, had spread. Todd posted a notice at the boarding house and liveries that he and Nick would be leaving the town at dawn three days from then. Anyone who wanted to join them was welcome.

  Hundreds of refugees, mostly owners and slaves and their families, were coming to Yellowknife Protectorate, where they didn’t have to worry about their safety. Todd doubted West Caldera would change its policy on executing owners and “rehabilitating” slaves any time soon. Maybe someday he, Nick, and others like them would be able to travel safely in New Colorado Protectorate, but today was not that day.