Lisa's Way

by Robert Collins

  “It’s one thing to kill in battle. What you two snuck off and did wasn’t killing in battle. Why you did it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that I told you not to. That you didn’t think about what you were doing. That the consequences of what you did could have been much worse.”

  “What are you going to do to us?” Matt asked.

  “I’m taking half of both your shares of our goods when we get back to Richmond. If any menial jobs come up before we leave this world, you two are first to do them.” Lisa folded her arms across her chest. “Don’t disobey me a second time.” She nodded towards the door. “That’s all.”

  Shawn and Matt stood up. Shawn still looked unhappy. Matt appeared to be ashamed. Once they left the building Lisa sighed and shook her head. You both better learn from this. I don’t want lots of kids wanting to avenge their parents.

  I don’t want to wade in blood to make things better.

  ***

  Once back in Richmond, Lisa took a walk to clear her head. She was still angry with Shawn. She knew she had to put that mess aside and move on. It refused to go away. She kept thinking about how to keep the incident from happening again. She wondered if she could set aside her own feelings and do the right thing. The issue just would not step aside.

  That became a new concern. She had to start thinking about the feuding towns. She needed to figure out what to do. Every time her mind tried to move on, something sparked the old fire. She grew more and more frustrated.

  Someone cleared his throat behind her. Lisa jumped and gasped.

  “Sorry.”

  She turned around. It was Wayne.

  She raised her hands. “My mind was elsewhere. I didn’t hear you come up.”

  “Yeah, I figured that. I didn’t want to bother you, Lisa.”

  “Oh, no bother. I’ve been trying to think about those towns, and what we can do to stop their feud. Well, trying and not succeeding. Anyway, what’s on your mind?”

  “Well, Shawn talked to me...”

  Lisa let out an agonized cry. She sighed, then shook her head. “Damn! I haven’t been able to focus because of what he did.”

  “He asked me to talk to you.”

  “About?”

  “About that incident. He wanted me to talk you out of punishing him.” He raised his arms quickly. “I told him I wouldn’t. You’re in charge, you make the decisions. I don’t know if I’d be so hard on him, but you said not to go off and he did. I told him he ought to take it like a man. He broke the rules, so he has to pay the price.”

  Lisa sighed. “I’m sorry if you thought I was going to jump all over you.”

  “That’s okay. I heard you weren’t too happy about it.”

  “Well, I’m not.”

  “It did get me thinking, though.”

  “About what?”

  “Springdale. I got to wondering if maybe Shawn might have gone off partly because he thought we’d move to another world once we were done here.”

  “No offense, Wayne, but I doubt he thought all that much before he took off.”

  “No, probably not. It occurred to me that he might have thought about it if he knew we wouldn’t be moving on. Maybe he wouldn’t have ran after those killers so quick if he knew me and Sherrie were staying on this world.”

  Lisa had to admit that it made some sense. People tended not to take action if they knew they had friends or family that could suffer as a result of their action. She thought that this sort of thinking was used by bad people to keep good people in line. Don’t oppose me, or I’ll take it out on your kids. Would that kind of persuasion work for Wayne?

  He seemed to know what she was thinking. “I know that it’s not the sort of argument you use in a situation like this,” he said. “Maybe our friends need to think like that. Y’know, bad things might happen to us if they don’t think before they act.”

  “Yeah, I suppose so.”

  “We need to talk to everyone about it anyway. Make sure everyone understands what happened, and why you punished Shawn and Matt.”

  “Okay. I’ll see if there’s a place...”

  “The church isn’t being used.”

  Lisa put her hands on her hips. She narrowed her gaze. “Should I be concerned about that?”

  Wayne smiled. “Not at all, boss.”

  ***

  Wayne spread out his arms. “That’s it,” he said. “We really don’t want to leave you. We’ve talked this over, and there doesn’t seem to be any other way. I think we will make a difference here.”

  Lisa had been standing to Wayne’s right on the side of the platform. She let him be the center of attention while he explained why he, Dave, and their families were settling down in Springdale. She now stepped towards him. She turned to her friends, sitting in the pews.

  “I didn’t want you thinking about Wayne’s plans while we tried to bring peace to those two towns,” she said. “What happened on the way to Southport changed my mind. There can be consequences to our actions. Those consequences might not affect us. They could affect any friends we leave behind. Friends we’ve had for a long time, or friends we’ve just made.”

  Wayne nodded in agreement. “We all need to be careful when we get into a fight. Especially coming up. We don’t want to make enemies that might chase us for years.”

  “I was first asked to try and end this fight because I’m not from here. By not being from here, Mayor Ross thinks that both sides might accept a solution from me. They can’t see me as biased towards one side. If you do something, and either town finds out that you’re one of my friends, they’ll think I’m playing favorites.”

  Ray raised a hand. “I know what you’re saying, but does it really matter? Especially if someone else picks a fight with us?”

  Before either Lisa or Wayne could reply Little Wolf spoke up. “We do not know how we shall end this feud. It might take days. It might take a season. It might take a year.”

  “We might try one solution,” Donna added, “find it doesn’t work, and have to try something else.”

  “So what?” Ray asked.

  “If one town thinks we’re being harder on them than on the other, they might never accept a solution.”

  “There’s also a principle involved here,” Lisa said. “Getting revenge might feel good, but it’s not good in the long run. Again, look at these two towns. Do they know why they’re fighting? Probably not. I’ll bet someone from one town did something to somebody in the other town. Instead of trying to look for justice, the victim or his friends went out and got revenge. To the first guy or his friends, it didn’t look like revenge. Maybe the revenge was worse that what had been done in the first place. Pretty soon, both towns are getting revenge for the other’s attempt to get revenge.

  “Now, either this stops, or there won’t be much left of either town. That’s why we’re supposed to get involved. To keep it from destroying both towns, or dragging the other towns into the mess. Do you really want to follow in their footsteps? Once something like this gets started, it’s hard to stop.”

  Ned smiled to her and raised a hand. “It might help if we knew what your plan was, Lisa.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, to tell everyone the truth. I do know we can’t just go and knock heads, or take out all their warriors. Aside from us actually standing between the towns and forcing them go through us to get to each other, I really don’t have a plan.”

  Ned let out a laugh. “Lisa, I like your principles, but I’m here to get a longer and better life. Getting between those towns doesn’t sound like I’d get either.”

  Everyone else laughed, including Lisa. Suddenly, something sparked in her mind. Get between them. One side thinking we’re against them. That’s it!

  She snapped her fingers. A wide smile appeared on her face.

  “She’s got an idea,” someone said.

  “That’s either good news, or bad news,” someone else replied.

  Lisa laughed. “Oh, don’t you guys worry. Not yet, any
way.”

  She looked for Jane. Making eye contact she said, “I want you and Alek to bring those drawings to my room after breakfast.”

  She turned to Ned. “If you don’t mind a little lying, I’ve got something I want you to do.”

  “Sure.”

  Wayne touched Lisa’s arm. “Are you going to let us in on what you’re planning?”

  She looked up at him. “Not just yet. I don’t have this fully formed. I don’t want anyone in town knowing about this just yet.” She turned to the rest of the group. “Surprise is going to be very important. I want all of you to keep honing your skills. Don’t talk to anyone in town unless I say so.”

  “Why not?”

  “One rumor, and we really could be risking our lives. The only way we can end that feud is with as little bloodshed as possible. The only way to do that is through surprise.”

  “In other words,” Ray said, “we have to trust you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Unlike people who aren’t your friends.”

  Lisa grinned. “Look at me. I’m short, I’m not very strong, and I’m a girl. All I have are my wits. Should I worry if that gives me an unfair advantage?”

  CHAPTER 15

  Alek spread his drawings out on Lisa’s bed. His maps of Butler and Poplar Ridge occupied either end of the bed. Between them were his illustrations of the important buildings of both towns, their fence walls, and a few other pictures worth looking at.

  Lisa had been amazed by his talent when she first saw him draw somewhere on White Rocks. He had an eye for detail. He sketched quickly, then would fill out the drawing later. He was as good at capturing features of objects as he was at capturing facial expressions. Even more amazing to her was his ability to get his hands on paper to draw on.

  Before she said anything Lisa took a few moments to closely examine his maps. They showed every building of any size. They had notes describing the important features. Both towns looked identical at first glance; the details gave each its own character. Lisa hoped that the details would help her vague ideas gain some definition.

  One detail on the Butler map caught Lisa’s attention. She pointed to it and spoke to Jane. “Is this right? Do they have bells on their walls?”

  “Yeah.”

  Lisa looked at the map again. There appeared to be four bells mounted on the fence wall. One bell was on the north, one south, one east, and one west. They weren’t perfectly aligned, but the map suggested that someone next to the west bell could see someone on the north bell, and vice versa. Clearly they were alarm bells.

  “Did you see how many guards stood next to each bell?” Lisa asked.

  Jane looked to Alek. He held up one finger.

  “And at night?”

  “We didn’t watch them at night,” Jane admitted. “Was that bad?”

  Lisa smiled to reassure her. “No. We can go back and check that out ourselves.” Lisa returned to the maps. “I don’t see the same bells at Poplar Ridge. Did you see what sort of alarm that town has?”

  Jane shook her head. “Didn’t look like they had any alarms,” she said. “Least not any that we could see.” She pointed to that town’s map. “They did have that tower. Maybe they can see pretty far from there.”

  “During the day, sure, but at night?” Lisa searched through the other papers, looking for Alek’s drawing of the tower. She found it, picked it up, and examined it.

  The tower was cobbled together from old strips of pre-Rain material. There was a ladder in the center of the supports. The top, which Alek’s notes said was taller than the tallest building, was a box with waist-high walls and a roof. There was a stand in the center of the box. On it were four curved objects; in front of each was a small line.

  Lisa pointed to the stand. “Did either of you get a close look at this?”

  “No.”

  Alek waved to get their attention. He mimed himself looking. He pointed to the tower picture. His fist sprung open. He mimed himself being blinded, and turning away.

  “A light?” Lisa asked. “A light from this hit your eyes?”

  Alek nodded. He tapped the curved objects in the drawing.

  “The light came from those? Sunlight?”

  He nodded again.

  “Interesting.”

  “Do you know what they are?”

  “Mirrors, I bet.”

  “Mirrors? Those things you look at yourself in?”

  “That’s right.” Lisa snapped her fingers. “Of course. Now I get it.” She looked at the other two, and cupped her left hand. “You take a mirror on a sunny day. You keep it angled towards the sun, and the mirror will shine a light anywhere you point the mirror.”

  She tapped the paper. “Those small things in front of them are probably candles. The candle’s light shines in the mirror, and the mirror reflects the light in a beam. As long as they can move the mirror, they can cast a light along or beyond the wall.”

  “So they don’t need bells,” Jane said, “they can see someone coming.”

  “That’s right.” That won’t be a problem. I want them coming out.

  She put down the tower drawing. “Did either of you see how many armed men each town has?” she asked.

  “I think we could say how many men they had,” Jane answered. “I don’t know how many are armed.”

  “I’d guess all of them.”

  Jane turned to Alek. “You remember the numbers?”

  He nodded. He pointed to the Poplar Ridge map. He held up all ten fingers.

  “Ten?” Lisa asked.

  He nodded. He closed his hands, then opened his fists.

  “Two ten? Twenty?”

  He nodded. He closed and opened his fists again, signaling thirty. He closed, and then showed eight fingers.

  “Thirty-eight. Including boys?”

  He nodded. He pointed to the Butler map. He opened and closed his fists three times, counting ten each time. The fourth time he only showed two fingers. He held a hand over his head, then lowered it to his chest.

  “Thirty-two,” Lisa said. It made sense to her. Mayor Ross thought Poplar Ridge was stronger. Alek’s maps showed that it had a few more homes than Butler. By showing the size of each town’s fields, they also suggested that Poplar Ridge was doing better. If they were doing better, they could support more people.

  Lisa glanced over the maps and drawings, trying to see if there was anything she’d missed. When she didn’t find anything she turned to Alek. “Can I hang on to these until this is over?”

  Once he nodded she looked at Jane. “That’s it for now. Find Little Wolf and tell him that you two, him, and me are going to scout out Butler tonight. Then find Ned and tell him I’ve got a job for him. Once you’ve found him you two get some rest. We’ll be up part of the night.”

  ***

  Ned knew he wasn’t as good at following someone in town as he was in the wilderness. He simply had more experience at the latter than the former. He did have some, and that was more than enough for the present situation. Especially since the kid he was following had none.

  Ned needed to get a few moments alone with the kid. Finding that time was not easy. The kid wasn’t in school; Lisa had said something about him getting kicked out for another fight. With no class to attend the kid spent the morning at home. He left after lunch, wandering from place to place. Ned wondered if there was a reason behind his quarry’s movements. Long observation told him that there wasn’t a reason; the kid was simply aimless and bored.

  Sounds familiar, Ned thought when he came to that conclusion.

  Finally the boy walked towards the fence that surrounded the town. He walked to a relatively isolated spot on the northwest side. The boy glanced around, then looked off into the west.

  Ned knew when his chance had arrived. He approached the boy quietly. On closer examination he noticed that the kid was somewhere between Doug’s age and his. His clothes weren’t quite as nice as those of the residents of town. He had dark hair, and a dark expre
ssion to match.

  “You Jerry?” Ned asked.

  The boy turned abruptly. “Yeah. Who’s asking?”

  “My name’s Ned.”

  The boy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re one of them off-worlders, ain’t you?”

  “Yep. I wanted to talk to you. Got a moment?”

  “Maybe.”

  Ned took a few steps towards Jerry. Not too friendly. Sort of like I was, before I met Bill Travis.

  “I hear you’re from Poplar Ridge. That true?”

  “Yeah. Why do you care?”

  Ned smiled. “I just thought you might wanna know that the folks I’m traveling with are sending some supplies to Butler, that’s all.”

  The kid sucked in a breath. He took two stern steps towards Ned. “Is that so?” he asked.

  Ned struggled not to laugh at the kid. He might not be as smart as Lisa. He knew a hot-head when he met one, and this kid was one. Lisa had read him all too well. It would make lying to him so much more fun. Much more fun when the kid found out he’d been lied to.

  “Oh, yeah,” Ned replied. “Our boss Lisa wants to stop that fight you old town’s having with Butler. She thinks that if our group chooses one side over the other, it’ll make that side too strong, and if they’re too strong, the fight’s over. Don’t you think?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “I heard that Poplar Ridge is much stronger than Butler.”

  “You got that right.”

  “I thought we should side with them. But, y’know, some people just can’t help feeling sorry for the weaker side.” Ned shook his head to complete the picture. “Too bad you pals back home are gonna lose.”

  “Oh, yeah? Who says they will?”

  “Our group has over two dozen people. You don’t think that’s a big force? I’ll bet your leaders give up without a fight once they hear how many in our group.”

  “No they won’t.” The kid frowned suddenly. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Call me a sore loser. I still think I’m right. If I got some help, maybe I could change some minds.”

  “What kinda help?”

  “Well, Jerry, it’s like this. We’re gonna start by sending Butler some food, tools, weapons, stuff like that. Lisa’s gonna tell their leaders that if they accept her help, they also gotta accept her leadership. If they agree then the rest of us are supposed to go there.

  “If her and those supplies didn’t make it to Butler, maybe the rest of our group gets to thinking. Maybe they’ll see the wisdom of helping Poplar Ridge instead of Butler. Maybe Lisa won’t be giving so many orders.”