by Jack L Knapp
"Wal, you're feisty, I'll give you that. All right, Lee. You run pretty good."
"You too, old man."
Tex grinned, still puffing a bit but clearly he relished the exchange and Lee's show of spirit.
"He don't look very old but you've brung him up right, Matt."
"His mother and father did that before I ever met him. His father was killed by raiders, maybe from the first bunch we fought or maybe from the ones we fought at the ridge. I guess we can't rule out the idea of another bunch of raiders, but you'd expect that there wouldn't be three such groups operating in a region with only a few people. There are more people here than I saw when I lived in the woods east of here, but more doesn't mean there’s a lot of people.
“One of the groups that raided us had been assembled by the future people, mostly to keep them from raiding their mine workers but also to keep animals away."
"What were they minin', Matt?"
"I don't know, Tex. I don't think anyone knows except the mine operators themselves. We've made guesses, but that's all they are, guesses."
"There's a spring over yonder, Matt. See that clump of trees? Artesian spring, cold pure water and it runs off to the southeast. Forms a little creek and usually there are deer and elk around the creek downstream. I killed a nice elk there, early winter maybe three or four years ago it was. Got an antler tip and made a tool for flaking arrowheads."
"You've been around, Tex. Let's go by that spring, get a drink and refill the bottles. We're gaining on that fellow ahead. We'll catch him in an hour or two, maybe less if he's not pushing it."
"Good to know. I'd hate to think all this runnin' was for nothin'!"
Chapter 20
"Smoke up ahead, Matt."
"I see it, Lee. That fellow we've been trailing, I expect."
Ahead of them a knoll rose above the surrounding landscape. The slopes were grassy, but a clump of brush crowned the summit thirty feet above the landscape. The smoke was rising from there. As they watched, the smoke column stopped briefly, then resumed. Above the knoll two large, dark puffs of smoke rose into the air.
"Looks like the raiders know about smoke signals."
"Yeah, Matt. That's pretty simple. It won't mean anything to anyone except the raiders at the village."
"You're right, Lee. But he didn't do that by accident."
"Wal, we can jaw all day or go fix that feller's wagon for him. I'll just do that now. He can't be more than four or five miles away. You two can just wait here."
"Leave him for now, Tex. We can always find him later if Colin doesn't get him first.
"If he's warned the rest at the village, we need to push on or all we'll find is bodies and another trail to follow. We need to get there as fast as we can or we'll be too late."
Tex looked at Matt, clearly deciding whether to obey or go his own way. Finally he nodded and Matt led off, now running again. Lee followed and Tex fell in behind.
Matt hadn't missed the wavering. Something might need to be done about Tex. If he wouldn’t cooperate, he could go find another tribe. Cooperation meant doing what was best for the group and being disciplined enough to accept orders.
How far ahead was the slave raiders' village?
#
Not far, as it happened. An hour of running found them crouching in shrubbery just past the outer edge of huts.
The slavers had pressed their captives into service, packing goods and working at tasks around the small town. They had clearly interpreted the smoke signal as a warning.
"They might not kill the captives after all, Matt. They could take them along to carry their stuff. If they have food enough, anyway."
"No way to know, Lee. Maybe they'll take all of them, but they might only want the strongest ones. We'll just wait and see what happens.
The three settled in to watch. Matt wondered if the other two were as footsore as he was. At least his breathing was back to normal. He slowly slipped some of the jerky from his pouch, avoiding any sudden movement that might attract attention.
The raiders obviously didn't expect anyone. They hadn't even posted guards around the village. Only the increased activity level revealed that something out of the ordinary was happening.
Matt chewed on the jerky, sipping water from time to time. Activity slowed as the captives completed the tasks set them by the slavers. One by one, they were collected into a group of twenty or more.
Matt never saw a signal but suddenly a group of three men gathered at the edge of the group of captives. Matt felt uneasy as he watched...this was different, not part of gathering the group's possessions. The slaves appeared agitated too, moving around as far as the straps around their necks allowed.
Reaching a decision, Matt signaled Lee closer.
"I don't like this. Something's happening. I want you and Tex to slip in behind that briar patch over there. If you start shooting, the briars will provide cover. They can't use those spears unless they're willing to bust through the briars or throw the spears, and if they do, that leaves them unarmed. You'll have easy targets if they're tangled in briars.
"I'll watch from here. We'll wait for Colin unless that bunch starts the party, but if necessary I'll use the rifle. I really wish I had more ammo."
Lee nodded, then signaled to Tex. Tex looked at Matt and seemed disposed to argue.
"Tex, get your ass over there and do what you're told! We'll settle this once and for all when this is over. If you won't work with us, there's a whole world out there waiting for you. Got it?"
"I got it. I don't cotton to little tin gods and we'll damn sure talk about it after this is over!"
The two vanished silently into the brush while Matt’s temper cooled. He continued to watch, but now with the rifle pointing into the village. He’d moved the selector lever slowly from safe to fire. There was a slight catch as the lever moved but no betraying click. Feeling as ready as he was going to get, Matt waited.
Three men against an estimated thirty-five slave raiders? He would wait for Colin to arrive, unless the raiders began to execute prisoners. The three would intervene if that happened, despite the risks. How far was Colin behind them?
A man slipped into camp and headed for the group of three. Was this the one who'd signaled from the knoll?
There was still no sign of Colin and the other tribespeople.
Whoever the man was, he picked the largest of the three men grouped together and began talking rapidly. Matt couldn't hear the conversation, but the effect was obvious. They looked around in alarm, then settled at a word from the big man. This one was probably the leader, Matt decided.
The new man disappeared in the direction of the piled packs of belongings. Selecting a spear, he returned to the group of three. The leader nodded and the four men walked purposefully toward the captives.
Matt tensed and had time for a brief thought, probably the same as every man throughout history has thought when faced with a sudden and unpleasant choice. Matt held the rifle sights on the leader but lost him as another man blocked his view. The four now held their spears pointing at the captives.
They were less than ten feet from the captives when Matt decided he couldn't wait any longer. A gentle squeeze, a loud crack and slight recoil, and the target dropped from view. The rifle cycled, ejecting a spent cartridge and chambering the next round. Matt looked for the leader but couldn't spot him. He shot another as the man stopped in surprise, looking at the raider on the ground. That one wouldn't be spearing any slaves...not with that shattered head...and neither would the astonished one.
The leadership group, now down to only two, quickly joined the rest of the slavers. The suspected leader was somewhere among them, but Matt still couldn't get a shot. He got quick glimpses as the man began bringing order to the chaos Matt’s shots had caused.
The clumped raiders split into three parts, one running directly away from Matt. The other two went to his left and right. Perhaps they thought they might circle and come at him from two sides...
but then Lee stood up behind the briars and launched his first arrow. Tex was right beside him, loud yell announcing his presence as he reached for a second arrow. Two men writhed on the ground as the others halted in shock. Turning, they changed course and came directly toward Matt.
Standing up, he fired his next shot from the partial concealment of a tree. The rifle tracked briefly and another raider dropped. The rest spread out, making it difficult for Mat to swing rapidly from one target to another. Finding the peep sight too restricting and the distance between the raiders and himself shrinking rapidly, Matt dropped the rifle and unslung his bow.
His first arrow took a raider in the leg. Matt hadn't aimed at him, but the group was coalescing again as they caught sight of him.
Slavers and raiders they might be, but they were clearly fighters. Matt launched a second arrow that was more successful, spitting a raider low in the gut.
Barely hesitating, the remainder separated around fallen comrades and came on. Matt reached for another arrow...there were a few arrows remaining but not enough to kill all of them. He risked a glance to where Lee and Tex were calmly shooting the raiders who'd charged at them. Several bodies lay on the ground, but the fight there wasn't over.
Last chance...Matt dropped the bow and picked up the rifle again. Turning the selector to B, he squeezed the trigger. The rifle fired three times, taking down another charging slaver less than ten yards away. A final twist of the selector put it to A and this time when Matt pulled the trigger, the rifle cycled through the remaining cartridges in the magazine. The raiders were at point-blank range as Matt pivoted his body, sweeping the rifle from right to left.
Two men still stood when the smoking rifle went silent, shocked and frozen by the burst of automatic fire and the carnage it had caused among them. Matt dropped the empty rifle and grabbed for his knife and axe.
Axe cocked in his right hand, he leaped forward and swung at the foremost attacker. The man snapped out of his paralysis and tried to block the axe, but it chopped into his forearm and stuck. The man shrieked and finally remembered his spear, but too late. Matt released the axe handle and grabbed the spear. Wresting it from the man's hand, Matt thrust hard at the belly of his remaining opponent.
That man turned to flee, only to take an arrow into the right side of his chest. Lee and Tex, arrows now exhausted, had abandoned their position behind the screening briars. Salvaging a spear each from raiders who no longer had need of them, they prowled forward, efficiently ending the struggles of survivors. Matt turned his attention to his earlier opponent, weaponless and with the axe still stuck in the bones of his forearm. A quick thrust with the spear dropped the raider. He writhed briefly before going still.
Matt recovered his axe, wrenching the handle back and forth until the blade came loose. No other enemies were left standing, and Lee and Tex dispatched the final living raider as Matt watched.
The terrified slaves huddled together, held in place by the straps around their necks. Two of them had fallen and Matt saw blood soaking into the ground. The fight had not been one sided after all, and Matt's intervention had come none too soon.
The arrow that dropped the last raider who'd been facing Matt had come from Laz. He'd arrived at the village just ahead of Colin and the others.
"Good timing, Laz. Did we get all of them?"
"Some of them got past me, Matt. I heard banging behind me, spears on spears maybe. They ran into Colin and the others, I think."
"I don't hear anything now. I guess we should go see what happened."
Matt found two of his arrows that could be recovered without great effort and spent a few moments salvaging them. Picking up the bow and nocking an arrow, he left the rifle where he'd dropped it. Empty now, it was no more than a poorly-designed club.
He found Colin five minutes later. Colin and others knelt beside three people lying on the ground.
Two were clearly dead of spear thrusts. The massive torso wounds had ceased to bleed. The third man, gray faced with pain, still lived. He could move his head but Matt saw no movement of his arms and legs. They lay limply on the ground beside him. Colin wiped blood and sweat off the face and Matt recognized him. Matt glanced at Colin who minutely shook his head.
"Looks like you bloodied your spear, Philippe. Can you talk?"
Philippe's jaw moved but no sounds came out. Matt looked at Colin who mouthed "Broken back, we think."
Matt nodded.
"You need to see to the rest of your people, Colin. I'll stay here."
Colin nodded and turned away.
Matt looked into Philippe's eyes...bright blue, he'd never really noticed that. And now...
"Philippe, you're hurt bad. Are you in pain?"
The eyes blinked, the jaw wavered, but nothing else moved.
"There's only one thing I can do. I hope you understand. I know you'd do the same for me if our positions were reversed."
The eyes blinked. Matt patted the forehead and shook tears from his own eyes.
It wouldn't get any better for waiting.
He smoothly drew the big knife and placed it on Philippe's chest just beneath the breastbone. Blade angled to pierce the heart, Matt thrust hard and felt momentary resistance from the skin. The knife sliced in and blood welled for a moment, then stopped. The slight flow oozed across Philippe's chest and puddled the ground scarlet under his body. Matt reached to close the eyes, but they were already closed.
Perhaps Philippe had known. Matt hoped so. When his own time came, hopefully there would be a knowledgeable friend to administer mercy.
Wiping his knife on Philippe's breechclout...Philippe wouldn't mind, he knew...Matt sheathed it and rose to his feet.
The other two dead were Karel and Willie, two former guardsmen who'd joined the tribe after deserting Pavel. Matt looked for their spears, but if they'd managed to injure a raider, their spears didn't show it. Training...Matt had wanted to do more, but there'd never been time to do all the things that needed doing. Perhaps they'd gotten more results from their shafts. The quivers now held fewer than four arrows in each.
Matt took the arrows. They weren't spined for his bow, but they were better than nothing until he could replace them with proper shafts. He took their spears too.
The slave-raiders appeared to be dead, but this world was never short of dangers. There were carnivores, and the noise and smell of blood would draw them here.
Tex came up as Matt was examining Karel's weapons.
"I think we got 'em all, by gum! That was a pretty good fight if I do say so myself."
"Yeah. I'll talk to you later, Tex. Right now I've got people to see to."
Matt turned and walked away. Eventually he would have to decide what to do about Tex, but not now.
"Colin, what shape are the rest in?"
"We've got two people with minor wounds, nothing to worry about. The rest are tired and so am I. I'll give the bastards credit, once they ran into us they got to work with those spears. We were too close to use the bows effectively. If we'd run into them when we weren't expecting...well, it wouldn't have been good."
Matt nodded. "I guess they had a lot of practice. Good thing they never progressed beyond spears."
Colin nodded. "I expect the people they raided only had spears. Spears against spears, numbers, surprise...the slavers wouldn't have had a lot of trouble. Kill the ones that fought, capture the rest and tie them to that rope."
Matt nodded. "The two with flesh wounds, have they been bandaged?"
"Lilia's taking care of it."
"Lilia's here? I thought she stayed with the others."
"She caught up after you three went on ahead. I guess she didn't think you and Lee could handle it, even with Tex along to help."
Matt smiled for the first time since he'd taken the trail to the raiders' village.
"Yeah, she takes pretty good care of us."
"Same drill as before, Matt?
"Almost, Colin. I figure the first thing is to cut the slaves loose an
d see if they can handle a spear. Get all of them a spear and a knife from the dead raiders. Tell them we want the heads off and piled in the open space.
"We're going to burn this place when we leave. Leave a pile of heads, and if they're charred a little by the flames, so much the better. Anyone who knows what this place was can take warning."
Some of the slaves looked lost, but half a dozen went to work with a will. The pile of heads grew. Fluids leaked from severed necks and the smell was...well, not to put too fine a point on it, the village stank. Perhaps it had done so before, but punctured human bodies added to the stench.
The fire might clear some of that up. Matt made a note of which of the former captives took part in collecting heads from bodies that no longer needed them. Those might make good tribe members. As for the rest, he would decide later. At worst, they would be alive, free, and with the arms that had formerly been used to enslave them. Whether they considered Matt generous if he decided not to offer them membership in the tribe...well, hard decisions had to be made. Those who weren't an asset to the tribe would be turned away.
"Have them throw the bodies in one of the cabins. Plenty of room, but only the heads stay outside. When we burn this place, the fire will clean up the mess. I want nothing left here but a bad memory."
"I'll see to it, Matt."
Two hours later, the war party retraced their way west toward the ridge and the river.
Three of the simple racks had been built and the bodies of their comrades placed on them. Matt had offered the freed captives the opportunity to care for the bodies of their fellows, but they'd elected to lay them near the frames Colin's men had assembled. Well, the choice was theirs.
Behind them, flames crackled. Only a fading smoke trail showed where so much misery had been.
Chapter 21
"Colin, we need to feed these folks for a few days and find out what they're like. I'd like you to get with Lee and look them over. Some of them helped clean up after the village fight, but some just stood around looking lost.