Confused, I gave the command to the driver. He pulled on the reins and our wagon creaked to a halt. Those behind us followed.
Hamath stepped down. He reached under his seat and pulled at his pack. He got it free and slung it over his shoulder.
“What’s going on, Ty? We got trouble?” Ira called out as he and Dekar walked up.
“No. We’ve come upon Hamath’s town.”
“Then why are we stopping?”
I nodded to Hamath. “Ask him.”
Hamath fiddled with the sword at his waist. “I thought it was obvious. I’m heading off.”
“Why get off here when we still got another couple miles before we reach town?” asked Ira.
“Because you don’t need to follow me. Supplies are fine. Plus, it’s still early in the day. Stopping is only going to set everyone back. I can walk the rest of the way.”
“How kind of you to consider our well-being.” Ira’s voice was lined with sarcasm.
I got down from the wagon. “If you don’t want us to come along, Hamath, just say it.”
He looked up, speaking in a deadpan voice. “I don’t want you to come along.”
“Why not?” asked Dekar.
“It’s nothing personal,” said Hamath, meeting each of our eyes. “I promise. I just—”
“All right,” I said, cutting him off. “You have your reasons. I don’t know how I’ll feel when I get home so who am I to judge what’s going on inside your head.”
His lips pressed together, and he gave me a nod. I returned it. We stared at each other for a few moments, wondering how to say goodbye.
Gods, it was more awkward than I thought possible. How could I tell my best friend, a man I had fought beside and killed with for years, “see you later?” He had saved my life and in turn I had saved his more times than I could count. Didn’t seem like there was a right way to do it.
“When you feel like you’ve had enough here and need a break, why don’t you come my way?” I finally mustered up. “Lasha can cook you up a mean steak.”
He forced a smile. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be there the first chance I get.”
I don’t think either of us believed that would happen. Despite how close we had always been, weeks of travel separated his town and mine, which for someone of our class, might as well have been months.
We embraced like brothers and parted. He waved over his shoulder and cut away from the road. He jumped the old wooden fence and disappeared into the grove of pecan trees, heading toward town.
CHAPTER 10
Over the next couple weeks our numbers rapidly dwindled. I watched a lot of awkward good-byes, some even worse than mine. Each parting made me think of Hamath and Ava. I started feeling down about all the relationships I was losing.
But then thoughts of Lasha and the kids would drive those feelings away. At our current pace, I’d be home by the end of the month.
I decided that wasn’t soon enough and began pushing harder. Most of our injuries had healed and those that hadn’t probably wouldn’t for some time. They’d suffer no matter what pace we kept so I saw no reason to delay things further.
A decent-sized town announced itself with an actual sign displaying its name.
Kafr stood on flat land between miles of pasture. Both cattle and sheep with heads down, munched away on bright-green grass. Considering we were down to seventeen men, none of us walking, I thought it time to sell off our remaining wagons with the exception of the one we’d take to the end. Knowing the type of towns we’d come to after Kafr, I didn’t think we’d find a better place to do so.
We rolled into Kafr shortly after midday with the sun at its highest. The town seemed deserted, which didn’t surprise me. Most anyone who lived in the area was likely working the fields. At night, I imagined things would be different.
Dekar tapped my arm and pointed. “Feed store is over there.”
I followed his gesture. “I should probably get the supplies. Anyone else is likely to waste the money. I want either you or Ira to come with me. The other can handle selling the wagons we no longer need.”
“I’ll come,” he said. “You know how Ira likes to negotiate. The man has tried so many scams of his own, he can always sniff one out.”
“All right. Hop off here and pass the word.”
Dekar jumped down as I guided the lead wagon aside, tying the horses to a nearby post.
I took a moment to shake the stiffness from my limbs while I watched the others ride by. Ira made an obscene gesture at me in jest. I shook my head, climbed up the steps to the feed store, and pulled on the door. A bell jingled on the handle as I went inside.
My eyes took a minute to adjust to the dim light. When they did, I saw a middle-aged man standing behind a counter, bald on top, bushy hair on the sides. He scowled while looking me over. The disgust he wore took me off guard. He pulled out a rag and began polishing the counter.
“Good day,” I said while walking over.
He didn’t respond.
I stayed calm. Maybe he was hard of hearing. Granted, that didn’t explain his scowl. I decided on a different approach, cutting through the small talk and getting right down to business. “I’m looking to make a purchase.”
“Inventory is running low,” he muttered without looking up. “Probably out of what you’re looking for.”
I stepped away from the counter and looked around the store. Sacks of flour rested next to piles of potatoes, carrots, and other root vegetables. A barrel of apples stood beside another of limes. Strips of dried beef and lamb hung on hooks. And those were the items fit for human consumption. Grain for the horses was in a different part of the store with various tools a farmer, butcher, rancher, tanner, or so on might need. Should I be so inclined to take up knitting, I could even buy a pile of yarn.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve got what we’re looking for.”
The man looked up. “None of this is for sale.”
“Huh?”
“It’s all been paid for in advance. Most of it just came in actually. No one’s going to come by to pick it up until this evening though.”
A small bell chimed, and Dekar entered, rubbing his eyes just like I had. The old man’s scowl somehow deepened. He backed away a step.
Blinking, Dekar walked over.
“All right,” I said, facing the man once more. “What is for sale in the way of food and grain? Even if it’s not all we need, it will help us along until we get to the next town.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Come to think about it, I don’t think we have anything for sale. You and your friend might do best just heading out to that next town. I’m sure you’ll have more luck there.”
Having quickly figured out the situation, Dekar said “Just say it like it is. Plenty’s for sale, just not to us. Am I right?”
The owner nodded.
“Why in the name of Molak not?” I said. “Our coin is just as good as anyone else’s. I never heard of any business man prejudiced about how he makes his money.”
The owner puffed himself up. “I can run my store anyway I want. Now that you know the way it is, I suggest you get on out of here.”
“Tyrus?” asked Dekar.
I stared at the man and he stared right back. Despite not carrying any noticeable weapons, his gaze didn’t falter.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
“You sure?” asked Dekar.
“Yeah. We got enough food to last us until the next town. We can try our luck there. I don’t want another Damanhur.”
The man flinched at the name like he had heard of what had happened. I guess it was possible. Bad news travels fast and we had chosen to travel the safest path, not the fastest.
I cursed to myself. If they had heard about Damanhur from someone besides us, he might be thinking we started the whole thing. I opened my mouth in an effort to make our case one last time, when the store’s door flew open, slamming against the wall.
“Sergeant, you b
etter get out here right away. We’ve got trouble.”
“What is it? Where’s Ira?”
“Outside with the others. He’s the one who told me to grab you.”
Dekar cursed and followed the soldier out. I went after them, using some colorful language of my own. Ira rarely called for help.
My hand immediately shielded my eyes from the harsh sun as I rushed out of the store. Squinting, I followed Dekar further into town. I heard cattle shuffling around in their pens as we neared the edge.
Behind an old barbershop rested the animal pens I heard earlier. The men I sent off with Ira to sell the wagons and mounts stood with weapons in their hands. Anger and fear lined their faces. I spotted Ira at the front of the group. Sword at his side, he said nothing. Never a good sign. For all Ira’s talk, when things got grim, he got focused and quiet.
I walked up, Dekar beside me.
Across from our group, over thirty men from the town, mostly ranchers, stood with various weapons of their own. A few had swords or machetes. Most improvised with woodcutter’s axes or pitchforks. A handful wore patches of armor. Several others held makeshift shields. They were a rag-tag group, obviously unaccustomed to fighting. However, the townsfolk had numbers on us. Again. We’d take them, but not without losses of our own.
“What’s going on, Ira?” I whispered.
“Idiots trying to steal from us,” he answered back in a voice just as low.
Men continued to run in and join the group across from us. Inexplicably, none seemed in a hurry to do much more than stand around and try to intimidate us. That strategy suited me just fine as it gave me time to catch up with Ira. It also let me know that we had a chance of getting out of here while avoiding any violence.
“How so?”
“I made a deal with the owners. Fair for both sides I thought. I even had the men get the horses in pens for them. Then when the idiots came to pay us, they only gave us half of the agreed amount. Said they changed their minds. I threw the money at their feet and called for the men to get the animals back out. When I did, people ran out with weapons drawn.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t killed anyone yet,” said Dekar.
“Don’t think I didn’t want to. Just trying to do what you would do, brother.”
“You did good,” I said. “Which one is the leader?”
“The one carrying the scythe. At least he’s the one who told us we couldn’t get the animals back. Everyone seems to be waiting on him to do something.”
I grunted. “He looks the most nervous of everyone.”
“He’s had time to think,” said Dekar. “Probably second guessing whether this was all worth it.”
“Let’s hope.” I sighed and undid my sword belt, letting it drop to the ground. “Best to try this the easy way first.”
“Be careful,” said Dekar.
I walked out into the space separating the two groups, stopping halfway. “I’m here to talk to who’s in charge. I took my sword off as a sign of peace. Bring whatever you want with you for all I care. I don’t intend to kill anyone.”
All eyes went to the man Ira tagged as the leader. He didn’t move at first, but realized quickly he needed to in order to save face. He brought the scythe he carried with him. Apparently, he didn’t need to save that much face. The curved blade looked comfortable in his hand, like a man who had used one all his life. He probably had and that worried me a bit.
He stopped about five feet away, scythe leaning outward between us like some barrier he dared me to pass.
“Good day.”
He didn’t respond. Whatever the man at the feed store had was catching.
“I hear there’s a problem in regards to payment for our animals and wagons.”
“No problem from our perspective.”
“Of course. Even still, we’ve decided the deal just isn’t worth it to us. If you and your friends would kindly step aside, we’ll get our wagons hitched again and get out of your way. What do you say?”
The man looked over his shoulder. Several of the men behind him shook their heads. “I can’t do that.”
“So theft is something accepted here then?”
“We’re not stealing anything.”
“Sure you are.” I gestured behind me. “My friend made a fair deal.”
“It wasn’t fair.”
“All right. He makes a deal. Fair or not, it was one that you agreed to. Then you have a change of heart. He returns the money. And now you want to keep our animals anyway. If that isn’t stealing than I don’t know what is.”
“The animals stay. You can have the wagons.”
“And how would you have me take my wagons away without horses to pull them?”
He shrugged. “Not my concern.”
My eyes narrowed. “What is your problem with us? We did nothing to you or this town.”
“We heard about what happened in Damanhur. Better we get to you before you get to us.”
That made no sense. Even if the truth was that we razed Damanhur to the ground, why would he want to provoke us into doing something similar in Kafr. Scared and threatened, the people had forgotten to think.
I grit my teeth, trying to bite back the words pronouncing his foolishness. I didn’t think that sharing my thoughts right then would help matters much.
“What exactly did you hear?”
“That your men were all over the place, raping and pillaging with your first taste of freedom. Reports say Damanhur lost seventy men just trying to protect what was theirs on account of your numbers being so much larger.”
“You got it backward. Damanhur attacked us. We lost twelve of our own men defending ourselves. And I promise there was no raping and pillaging.”
“Just like there was no raping and pillaging going on in Genesha?”
That took me back. “What?”
“We’ve all heard the things that went on.”
“I never raped anyone.”
He nodded over my shoulder to those behind me. “What about them? Could you say the same for them?”
I said nothing, knowing that I couldn’t speak for everyone. It was the ugly part of war few talked about. Officers tried to keep that stuff in check, but we couldn’t be everywhere and we couldn’t see everything.
“I thought so. So, you didn’t do any raping. Good for you. I guess that’s saying something.”
“Watch yourself,” I said, voice low as I tried to stay calm.
He ignored me, spinning his scythe. Gaining confidence as he spoke, his voice rose so the others could hear. “How many villages did you burn? How many innocent people who had nothing to do with the war died? People like us. How many families died because of disease and starvation? How many Geneshan children did you press into work gangs?”
I’d always been the sort who could let most things people said against me slide, but the man’s accusations struck me like a fist to the jaw. It wasn’t the man so much as the truth behind his words.
The man’s scythe was in my hand. Its blade pressed against the owner’s throat. I couldn’t say when, but at some point I had reacted, pulling him inches from my face. I stared into his panicked eyes, smelling fresh urine run down his leg.
“Who do you think you are to judge me?” I yelled. “You think I wanted to be a soldier? I lost ten years of my life because of the army. All because they told me I had to join. It was my duty. Turine needed me. And without people like me, we’d all be speaking Geneshan now!” I paused, seething. “I was taken from the only home I ever knew, from my wife and my kids. I did my part to protect not only them, but also ungrateful people like you who didn’t have the guts to fight yourselves. Are there things I did that I’m not proud of? Yes. And I’d do it again, because I know the alternative. I saw what the Geneshans had done to the nations they conquered. I saw piles of children’s’ bones as tall as a man from kids the Geneshans used as sacrifices to Beel. Yes, people died. Yes, people suffered. It’s awful, and it’s as much a part of war as
the battlefield. Without what we did, you wouldn’t have any of the freedoms you enjoy now.”
“Hundreds of thousands dead? Thousands more who suffered? I don’t want freedom if that’s the cost of keeping it,” whispered the man’s quivering voice.
“Easy to say that since your freedom was never taken from you,” I hissed. “How dare you make assumptions about me? About these men. How dare you judge us when you never had to experience what we did?” I pressed the blade against the man’s throat until a small drop of blood trickled down his neck. “You weren’t there. You never had to make the hard decisions we had to make, the ones every soldier has to make. You never had to watch the man you laughed with the night before cry for his mother as he died. You never had to watch a man who trusted you, a man under your command, helplessly hold his guts in. You never had to look in that man’s eyes and lie, telling him everything would be all right. And until you do, you have no right to judge any of us.”
“What do you want?” one of the other men from town called.
I looked up trying to find the owner of the voice. Nervous expressions stared back at me. Fear dominated the looks in their eyes where before there was anger. Despite that fear, they still held weapons ready while eyeing the scythe in my hand. They’d pounce on us if I killed their leader.
I swallowed, the spit hanging up as it slid down my throat. I took a breath, lowering my voice. “I only want what we came for. You pay us the price agreed upon for the horses and wagons and allow us to buy supplies at the feed store. Then we’re gone.”
“If we do that, do we have your word, no harm will come to anyone?” said the same voice from earlier. It belonged to a man with a round face and a rounder belly. A line of sweat down the middle of his shirt split his stomach in half like a cut melon.
“You have my word. We did not start the events that happened in Damanhur.”
“We can make that deal. You mind letting him go?” he asked, gesturing to their leader.
I lowered the scythe, but pinned the man’s arm as I spun him around. I had been around too long to let my guard down at a kind voice. “I’d like to, but you’ve given me no reason to trust you. He stays with me until our business is done. You cross us, he dies. And after that you’ll be next. I’ll kill every last one of you myself if anyone tries to stop me from getting home. Am I clear?”
Forgotten Soldiers (Book 1) Page 11
