We can see shapes and mounds where some of the buildings had crumbled away, ages ago, and over the years had been covered by the sand and grass and the earth. Once majestic structures now nuthin more than rubble under our feet, their secrets long hidden by the passing of time. Numerous other roads branch off from the one we’re on and weave through the rusted bones, dark and spooky looking, but there ain’t no way in hell we’re going to stray from the main road and travel those. We are going to try and stick to the open the best we can. It seemed the safest bet.
There’s no sound other then the sighing of the wind and our own breathing. Cat slinks along beside us, her head twisting in the breeze catching scents of things we cain’t, and possibly don’t want to know about. The quiet is nerve rattling and I find my hand hovering over the butt of my shooter. I know it ain’t nuthin but my imagination but I cain’t help but feel we’re being watched. Like at this moment there were countless eyes watching our passage through the dead city. Maybe it was just the ghosts of the settlers long gone but somehow that thought don’t make me feel any better. At least a critter or a mutie you could bring down with an iron shooter.
A loud shrieking from my right scares me something fierce and the shooter is in my hand before I recall moving. I duck instinctively as a black cloud sails past my head and disappears down into one of the paths to the other side of us. My heart is thumping frantically in my chest but I’m real glad the scream on my lips don’t come out ‘cause I feel real foolish now seeing as it’s just a bunch of crows. Our intruding on their territory must have scared them off. Cat takes chase after the birds but I don’t bother to call her back, I know she won’t go far. I look up at Finn who’s still riding the nag and grin at him. He grins back though I can tell from his eyes his fright had been just as bad as mine. It was good to see his smile though ‘cause it tells me he has forgiven me for yelling at him earlier. It eases some of my guilt. Tater is holding a hand to his chest, not bothering to hide his fright, his face pale and ashen.
“Oh dear me, that was rather disconcerting! But as my dear mother would say ‘fright makes the wolfling appear bigger than he is’. Truer words were never spoken.”
I’ve come to realize that Tater tended to prattle on the more scared he was. Hope we don’t come across no more crows, we don’t need to hear no more ‘wise sayings’.
I grab the nags’ reins and give her nose a reassuring rub as she snorts nervously. The crows had startled her too. These iron bones had put us all on edge. Hope it don’t take us too long to get through. I give a slight tug to get her moving again but we don’t get more than two paces when a howling from the path Cat had run down pierces the air and roots us all in place.
“Cat!” Finn yells and just like the boy I can tell her wailing is one of pain. In the blink of an eye he is down off the horse and I grab him by the scruff of his tunic before he can run...I know what he is thinking. He struggles against me but I hand him over to Tater.
“Stay here! The both of you! Tater make sure he don’t follow me!” I say.
I pull my shooter again and head in the direction the wailing was coming from, ignoring the words the boy is hurling at my back. From the sounds of it Tater had heeded me and was physically containing the boy and he wasn’t liking it....not one bit. But I cain’t be worrying about Finn trailing me. Something had Cat howling and it probably wasn’t anything good.
The path between the building husks was dark and narrow. I hesitate....try to adjust to the dim light. I peer into the dark but all I can see is dirt mounds and empty road....no sign of Cat. I was going to have to go in deeper. Taking a few deep breaths to steady myself, I step into the darkness, my shooter firmly gripped in my hand.
I make my way between the crumbling relics looking round swiftly....making sure nuthin is trying to sneak up on me. I don’t hear Cat no more but I can still hear Finn’s yelling....the boy was going to wake the dead with his fool shoutin’! Slowly I creep through, pausing every few steps...looking ‘round. Nuthin. I make my way to the corner where another road crosses the one I was on. It’s like a maze, I think....roads and tracks everywhere! I peer round the corner steeling myself for attack. All I find is Cat, lying on her stomach. She looks like she’s gnawing on something but I cain’t see!
“Cat,” I whisper loudly and she looks back at me and a miserable mewling comes out of her. Slowly I approach, still waiting for something to jump out at me. Finding it clear, I hunch over her and push her big head out of the way. Her front paw is caught in some sort of steel snare....a trap. There’s blood on her fur and I can tell the teeth of the trap have sunk in good. I pray there ain’t too much damage done to her paw.
“It’s okay....it’s okay girl,” I keep whispering to her, rubbing her panting side, and studying the thing. At first I don’t notice the fresh bird carcass laying just past her head and the rope tying it to the trap. But at seeing it my blood runs cold. This was no random accident...someone had laid this trap deliberately....and recently! That meant we were not the only souls in amongst these iron bones! This realization hits me at the same time as the silence. Finn ain’t yelling no more! The dead quiet scares me more than anything and I bolt upright.
“I’m sorry Cat,” I whisper urgently. “I’ll come back for you....I promise!”
It’s like she understands my anxiety, my fear for the boy and she licks my hand giving me permission to leave her. I high tail it back the way I had come, berating myself for falling for their ploy. Who ever had done this had split us up on purpose and I had fallen for it like a fool! Fearing for what I will find I emerge onto the main road and my fears are painfully justified. I take it all in in an instant. There are two of them waiting for my return and another two holding Finn and Tater, both of them pressing wicked looking knives to my companion’s throats...to keep them from yelling out a warning. But I don’t fall into their hands as easily as they would have liked. At the sight of the iron shooter rock steady in my hand and pointing straight at their chests they bring up short and we eye each other for a bit.
I cain’t quite tell if they are man or mutie. The one closest to me is wearing a filthy red wrapper tied round his head and the ends hang down his back like a braid. Tiny white bones dangle from holes in his ears and what appears to be an actual small skull hangs round his neck. His tunic and trousers are a filthy patchwork of different colors and cloths, like he had sewn together the remnants of others (captives?) clothing. There are reddish, crusted sores covering his face and arms...some of them open and festering, running with pus. He smiles at me then and I can see his blackened gums and rotted teeth. He could be twenty, thirty or fifty born years...I cain’t tell. But the blade he holds in his hand could probably rip me open from belly to breastbone in a flash...I can tell that much.
“Well whadda we got ‘ere....a lovely little ducky... wot? Look at the ducky Beanie...ain’t she a lovely ducky?” he calls over his shoulder.
“Aye Talbert....a lovely ducky...lovely ducky,” the other answers in a singsong tone and then starts howling with laughter like it’s the funniest thing he’s ever said. That laughter echoes with madness and adds to my growing fear. Dangerous I can handle but crazy was a whole other story.
I gulp loudly a couple of times trying to swallow the huge lump blocking my throat.
“Let my companions go,” I say finally, finding my voice. I am amazed it only cracks slightly.
“And I promise not to shoot you.”
The one called Talbert takes an exaggerated step back from me and looks round in wonder.
“Wot? Ya ‘ear that Beanie? She ain’t gonna shoot us if we let the others go. I think the ducky is threatenin’ us Beanie. Wot you think?”
“Aye sounds like a threat to me all right,” he says, and snickers some more like he cain’t even help himself.
I can feel my fear threatening to overtake me but I push it down...I cain’t afford to show them any fear! Finn and Tater’s lives probably depend on my actions right now, I’m going to ha
ve to play this carefully.
“I am only gonna say this once more. Let us go....you can have some of our supplies. But let all three of us pass without harm and I will let you live,” I say.
The Talbert creature grins at me again and rubs his thumb along the sharp edge of his blade. I don’t know if the cut was on purpose or not but he don’t show no flicker of pain. He merely puts the bleeding thumb to his mouth and licks away the blood, never taking his eyes off me for a second.
“The ducky does ‘ave a big shooter fer certain....could even be a threat to us Beanie. Wots to stop us from killin’ the two yonder then the ducky an takin’ everthing fer ourselves eh? “
“What’s to stop us?” Beanie echoes then puts a fist to his mouth to stop his maniacal laughter.
I shrug my shoulders at him, keeping the rock hard lump of fear in my gut hidden.
“I suppose you could kill those two,” I say. I hear Taters indignant ‘here now!’ but I don’t look his way.
“And between the four of you, you may be able to take me down....but not before I can put a slug between your eyes and blow your ugly head from your shoulders. You wanna take that chance....Talbert?”
I pray he don’t heed my bluff. My insides are shaking something fierce and feels like I’m gonna retch any second....but my hand holding the shooter don’t waver...not a bit. He studies me for a moment, assessing how much of a threat I could be. Then his grave face turns to cackling laughter making him sound just as crazy as the other one.
“She’s a lively ducky wot Beanie? Lotta spirit. I like that... I do. Tell ya wot ducky, me an Bean ‘ere we’s reasonable chaps....we make ya a trade we will. We’ll let ya pass...aye we will. Just give us yer supplies an yer nags an ya can go on yer merry way. No trouble, no fuss...ya won’t ‘ave to worry about us.”
Beanie’s high pitched howl makes me jump some and I tense for him to attack but he is just laughing uncontrollably and whacking himself in the head.
“No fuss...no worrying ‘bout us....yer a poet you is Talbert! A poet!” he says, wheezing between whacks.
Shizen! How much more crazy can I take? I shake my head no hoping they don’t notice the sweat beading my forehead.
“You can take the horse and two bags of supplies. We keep the mule and the water skins ....and the two of you get to keep your heads,” I say, hoping my threat is as forceful as I mean it to be. The Talbert one tosses his knife a couple of times...thinking hard and ignoring his companions impatient “Tell her Talbert...tell her!”
The silence seems to stretch on. No sound comes from Finn or Tater but I don’t dare look to see if they are okay....I get the feeling one moment of inattention is all Talbert would need to pounce on me.
“You drive a ‘ard bargain ducky. Tell ya wot...I’ll let ya keep the mule but in exchange ya leave us the boyo. You see Beanie ‘ere...well he likes the young’uns an ‘e ain’t ‘ad a playmate fer quite some time now. ‘E may look full grown but ‘e ain’t quite grown in the ‘ead...know wot I mean?”
I hear Finn’s gasp at the offer before Beanie’s howling laughter drowns him out. At knowing the boy is so scared I feel the anger building. How dare these lowlifes, these horrible wretches try and barter for Finn! The evilness of the situation, of these creatures, it surrounds us like a dark cloud....smothering, suffocating. I suddenly understand again what gra’da and the old folk of Rivercross had tried to do...to protect us from this all consuming evil that seemed to cover the lands on this side of the mountains. How did creatures like this standing in front of me come to be? What had made them this way? And how dare they even suggest I leave Finn in their vile hands! There ain’t no way in hell that’s going to happen!
The coldness of the iron shooter in my hand that used to scare me not that long ago, it comforts me now, like it is a part of me. I realize we ain’t going to come to no agreement. This was a game to them, they were playing with me and it was going to end badly. I raise the shooter slowly so that it’s aimed straight for Talbert’s head, confident I will not miss when the time comes.
“Bargaining is over mule turd. This is how it’s gonna be. You let my companions go, right now, and you walk away with nuthin but your lives....and that’s being damn generous on my part.”
All traces of humor disappear from their faces now at knowing I was onto them. I didn’t think it was possible but the sneer on the creatures black lips, it makes his face even uglier. But it’s his eyes that scare me more so. They are no more human than the wolflings or other creatures we had chased off these past few days. They were no different. They were predators and we were their prey. Only I ain’t going down without a fight!
Cheekily the Talbert one winks at me, all smiles again, distracting me from the wicked blade he is holding out in front of his chest in a fighting stance.
“Ave it yer way ducky....but choose wisely. You gonna save the boy? The old man? Or yerself? Ya cain’t get us all. Yer shooter cain’t...”
“Er...Talbert....” Beanie interrupts but the other man ignores him and goes right on talking.
“My men they’re gonna kill yer companions the minute ya move at....”
“Talbert!” Beanie says again and I watch disbelievingly as the ugly creature drops his knife and turns to him, totally disregarding me!
“Really Beanie? Wot is so important that you ‘ave to interrupt me eh? Wot? Cain’t ya see I ‘ave business with the ducky ‘ere? Wot ‘ave I told ya ‘bout interruptin’ me eh?”
Beanie looks terrified at Talbert’s outburst but he points tentatively with one of his purplish fingers and we both look in the intended direction. Shocked I see Talbert’s men now kneeling down on the ground, Finn and Tater holding their own knives on them! But that ain’t all we see. Talbert finds himself looking down the barrel of another shooter, only this one is held steadily by none other than Jax!
What the hell is Jax doing here?
“If I were you freak show I’d take the girl up on her offer and walk away with your lives ‘cause it’s a damn better offer then you will get from me.”
Unlike me, Talbert don’t show any sign of surprise at Jax’s unexpected presence. He merely looks from Jax to me then back to Jax and then, surprisingly, gives a little bow and puts his knife back into his sheath. Shockingly he smiles at us like he never just threatened my life!
“Looks like I ‘ave been outsmarted now ‘aven’t I. But we are not simple chaps are we Beanie. We know when the jig is up an when to walk away. Come along boys....our little adventure is over.”
The two on the ground don’t need to be told twice, they scramble to their feet and scurry away like rats to disappear in amongst the dark ruins. Talbert however takes his time, ambling away from us and whistling cheerfully into the wind. He don’t even bother to look back at us, not the least bit concerned we might just shoot him in the back! Beanie follows but he ain’t so casual. He don’t take his eyes off of us, still laughing maniacally though, ‘til they too disappear into the darkness of the rusted bones. We stand there for a bit, the four of us, sweeping the area making sure they ain’t gonna double back on us and try to attack again. I don’t even notice I’m holding my breath ‘til it comes out in one big sigh of relief. It was over!
“Jax!” Tater’s yell startles me so fierce that I nearly drop my shooter. “My dear boy...I have never been so relieved to see anyone in my life!” He does his strange little clap then smacks Jax on the back so hard he causes him to stumble.
“I must admit I truly did see my life flash before my eyes but your timely arrival and ensuing heroics have certainly saved the day! Just like one of my tales! As a matter of fact this will indeed become one of my tales and one of my finest to be sure!”
Don’t know why Tater was gushing on so...I had had everything under control. We hadn’t needed no saving by Jax. And what the hell was he doing here anyways? Last I seen of him he couldn’t wait to be rid of us. Why had he followed us? I ignore Taters withering comment of ‘Hmph! Stupid empty ruins indeed! Famo
us last words,” wanting more to know why Jax was here but before I can ask anything Finn’s tortured question of “Cat?” draws my attention.
“She’s okay Finn, no need to fuss. Got herself caught in a little trap is all.” The boys face sags with relief at hearing his beast was in no immediate danger.
“We need to go get her but we’re gonna all have to stick together. I don’t trust those creatures, not one little bit. Finn, Tater follow me with the nags, I ain’t leaving them behind for the taking. Jax, since you’re here you can make yourself useful and bring up the rear, watch our backs. I got a feeling we ain’t seen the last of those crazies.”
Cat is just as I left her and at seeing her lying there, hurt, Finn runs to her and wraps his arms round her furry neck. She rubs her head against the boy, mewling a little but don’t resist none when I go to work on prying the teeth of the trap open with my knife. I release it enough so as Finn can pull her paw out. The steel teeth had broken the skin some and her fur was matted with blood. Gingerly I probe her paw a bit but I can tell there ain’t no bones broken. Her injuries can easily be treated with some maloe leaves, I think. Lucky for her the trap had been meant for a much smaller animal. She gets to her feet and takes a few test steps. She limps some but at least it looks like she is still able to walk. She limps to Finn and starts licking his face and the boys laughter is tinged with relief.
“Enough with the reunion people... we have to move. It’s going to be dark soon and I don’t want to be in crazy territory when the sun goes down.”
Jax is right. We’d best move, get through the city as quick as we can. My questions at Jax’s presence were going to have to wait.
Awaken Page 18
