“You’re too modest, Captain. What of your valiant charge on Speaker’s Gate that saved the City Buildings! Though I have heard that the force you drove off was a group of protesting artists armed with mops and brooms and musical instruments.”
“Artists!” Bartok exclaimed. “I should have known that when none of them stayed to fight.”
Ronzal rang a silver bell. A side door opened. The same young man who had led Bartok to the room came into the room with a cart laden with their lunch. The man served soup, warm bread, steamed vegetables, roast fowl, and beer.
Bartok raised his glass in salute. “Wonderful! You even have City Steam beer. How have you managed?”
“Some of the offspring of the brewers survived. Not even the Dead Wind could keep City Steam Brewing from their trade. Most of the merchant and trade families and schools will try to pick up where they left off. Now that the dead are being handled honorably, people feel relieved and hopeful. We are in for a time of flux while the City reshapes itself.”
“And what is your role?” Bartok asked, looking hard at his host. “What part will you play in reshaping the City?”
“I wish for nothing that I did not have before the Dead Wind,” Ronzal said smoothly. “I believe we’re in for a time of great prosperity. You and I do not have to be at odds, Captain. There will be more than enough for all.”
“What about electing a new government, a new speaker? How do you stand on that?”
“That, my new friend is your problem,” Ronzal said. “But when the time comes, I may lend you my support.”
“You say you expect prosperity, but what of all the empty farms?”
“Already many farms have been claimed by those who have fled the City. And the vast majority who plan on leaving the City also hope for land to farm.”
Bartok nodded. “I'll have the gates reopened.” He paused and looked at Ronzal. “I will try to fulfill the duties of the government until there can be an election. You must fulfill the obligation of a tax-paying citizen, as you did before the Dead Wind. And I hope you encourage all your business associates to do the same.”
“I believe we understand one another, Captain. I look forward to working together.”
Gap Road
Big Red led her horse past a rock slide. Parts of Coast Road had fallen into the sea. The earthquake had hit Fisher Bay hard, so she wasn't surprised the road was gone. Now, she was backtracking to take Gap Road over the Coast Mountains to Ridge Road: a roundabout route back to the City.
The quake had caused the Fisher Bay fish-packing house on the pier to collapse, trapping the early morning workers. The City Troopers left by the captain had responded heroically, saving some lives and later helping to bury the bodies left by the Dead Wind. The bad blood caused by Bartok’s handling of the disgruntled workers had been forgotten. Now that a certain harmony had been established between the City Troop and the Fisher Bay community, the scout felt she could safely leave.
Big Red longed to know who had survived and how the City had fared. If the trend she saw in Fisher Bay held true, more of the City’s young would be alive than the old.
As the Gap Road headed east over the Coastal Range, it was lost in the morning fog, but Big Red had traveled this route before. The trail wound through the redwood trees and across the grass meadows. Hoping to reach Ridge Road by noon, she set an easy but steady pace.
She couldn’t help worrying about Jana. Was her friend alive? If so, where was she? As Jana had taught her to do, Big Red tried to clear her mind. She opened to the One Wave and slipped into the general vibration of her surroundings.
In a moment, though, she was worrying again, her mind spiraling in a negative cycle, her connection with the One Wave lost. She took a long breath and let herself relax. She missed the lessons Jana had begun teaching about the Way of the Tanan. Big Red brought to mind some of the movements and postures of the Way. Some were for combat, and some were for focus and meditation. Big Red opened to the One Wave and tried again to assume the state described by Jana as “Look nowhere; see all.” Big Red’s awareness flowed into the environment, and a sense of gentle comfort satiated her; she traveled more easefully.
The road flattened out into a meadow near the top. Across the meadow the road dipped back into the trees for the final short climb to Ridge Road. Big Red stopped the horse at the edge of the trees and reaffirmed her connection with the One Wave. She scanned the field, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She turned her gaze to where the road disappeared into the trees and felt a tingling at the base of her neck. This was a new sensation; her talent with the One Wave had expanded after the Dead Wind. She knew instinctively the sensation signaled a human vibration. Someone must be there.
Instead of following the road across the pasture, Big Red turned back to the trees and approached Ridge Road junction through the woods. Two wagons were parked across each road. A handful of young people sat on the wagons talking and bickering. Beyond the wagons, she could see the Roadhouse Inn. Five horses were tied in front. Smoke rose from the chimney.
Big Red spurred her horse, which leaped out of the trees and thundered toward the wagon. She reined quickly sending the young adults scattering.
“What's going on here?!” Big Red demanded. Her horse danced in a half circle.
A slim man, not much younger than she came around from the front of the wagon, carrying a sword, which he immediately pointed at her. “This is a toll road now. Pay to pass!” He waggled the sword at Big Red. The others, some with staves, crowded behind him.
Big Red began to laugh at the sight of them. She knew it was unwise, but she couldn't help herself. She laughed so hard that she had to dismount or she was going to fall off.
The young man, not sure what to do, took a step toward her, sword aimed at her chest. She quickly snatched the sword from his hand. Stunned, he stumbled back against the others.
Big Red took a step toward them and they all cringed back. Four of them turned and bolted into the woods. “Have you gotten anyone to pay yet?” she asked the two who remained.
“No,” said one, a tall young woman. “A wagon charged through here this morning without paying. It was the Brody boys in their fancy coach. Rude and his City thugs rode after them, but they came back empty-handed.” She waved her hand at the road block. “I told Rude this was a stupid idea, but we don’t have any control. He has our little brothers and some other kids held hostage, and if we don’t do what he says, he won’t feed them—or worse.”
Big Red studied the two. They were frightened teens, certainly not the types you would expect to find trying to extort travelers. “Where is Rude?”
“Rude and his creeps are inside.” She pointed to the inn.
“I'll go have a chat with Rude.” Big Red strode past the five tethered horses and onto the porch, pushing the door open and stepping through.
The post and beam-framed room was large. A long wooden bar with wooden stools fronted one wall. A huge stone fireplace anchored the end wall to the right. Empty tables and chairs occupied the tongue and groove wood floor. Three men sat at a table near the far end of the bar, two more leaned against the bar. They turned to the door when Big Red entered. One stood.
“You open for business?” Big Red asked. “I could use a mug of beer.”
“Come in, traveler. You'll have to settle for wine, no one is making beer right now.” From behind the bar, he retrieved a bottle and glass, which he placed on the bar. “Step up, honey. Help yourself.”
Big Red crossed the room and moved the bottle and glass to a table across from the other men. Still standing, she poured herself some wine. She saluted the men with her glass and sipped. She noticed the two young people had followed her inside and were hovering near the door watching with apparent interest.
The first man sat back down between the other two. “What's your business here, traveler?” he asked.
“Just passing through. Then I came across wagons blocking the roads. Seemed like a funny place t
o leave wagons.”
“Those are my wagons and my toll. I hope you paid the toll, traveler. If you didn’t, we will beat it out of you!” As one, the three men stood and drew arms—a knife and a cudgel to the right and left side, and the man in the center, the talker, had a sword, which he pulled from a scabbard. The two at the bar filled in behind their companions, both wielding clubs.
Big Red grabbed the table and shoved the opposite edge into the belly of the sword man, sending him crashing into one of the men with a club. They both tumbled to the floor. Big Red kicked out the legs of the man with the knife. Her follow through brought her around to catch the third man’s cudgel hand in its downward motion. She used his momentum to toss him on top of the knife-man, stunning them both. The last man standing ran at Big Red with his club raised. She lashed out with her foot and planted her heel into his solar plexus, dropping him to the ground.
Big Red hauled the dazed men together, sitting them around one of the room’s log posts. Finding a rope on a peg by the back door, she tied and gagged the men.
The young people at the door watched all of this wide-eyed. Big Red asked them, “Who are these men?”
“My name is Shell,” said the tall young woman, coming over to stand before the scout. “This is my brother,” she added, indicating the would-be sword man. “His name is Harp. We’re musicians.”
Harp was inspecting the tied men. “By the Winking God, they're out cold!”
“Who are they?” Big Red said, as if she hadn’t just asked the same question.
“That’s Rude,” Shell said, pointing to the one with the sword. “He’s the leader. He's a pig, always pawing at me. He has our little brothers and some other kids held hostage so we are forced to do his bidding.”
“How about the others?”
“Fiscel and Dent, bigger pigs, not very smart but mean. They came from the City just after the Dead Wind. The three of them went around to all the farms and ‘recruited’ anyone they could find to join their band. If you didn't want to join, they took you anyway. Or if you were older, they'd kill you.” Anger was evident in her face and voice. “Anyway, that’s what I heard.”
“Where are your brothers and the other kids?”
“Our brothers are not with the other kids,” Harp said. “They’re too hard to handle so Rude had to bring them along. “The twins are a handful”—a note of pride crept into his voice—“they keep escaping, and causing all sorts of trouble. I thought Rude was going to kill them. I think he locked them in the tool shed behind the inn.”
“Let’s free them now,” Big Red said. “Does Rude have the key?”
“Here it is.” Shell pulled a ring from Rude's pocket.
“We don't know where Rude has the other kids,” Harp said. “We think they’re on one of the nearby farms.”
The back door burst open then, and a pair of gangly and identical boys darted into the room armed with axe handles.
“You escaped again!” Shell was jubilant. The twins went immediately for Big Red, raising their weapons.
The scout took up a chair to fend them off. “Hold it!” she said with a grin. “I'm on your side.”
With confirmation coming from their older siblings, the twins let down their axe handles.
“I'm Big Red.” She bowed her head to the twins in the scout manner.
“I'm Page,” said one. “I'm Book,” said the other. They did a quick, spinning jig, and called out their names once again. The onlooker had to be confused. There was no telling one twin from the other.
Big Red laughed, delighted by the pair.
“How did you get out this time?” their big brother asked them.
“Rude locked us in the tool shed.” Page's voice carried utter disdain.
“What could he have been thinking?” Book looked at Page with wonder. They both made silly faces and scratched the top of their heads.
“We have to leave,” Big Red said. Pointing to the tied men, she added, “We will leave them. How about the kids who ran into the woods? Will they come with us?”
“No,” Harp said. “Rude still has some of their siblings hostage. And a few of them even like the life Rude has offered them.”
“I’ll have to come back for them, anyway,” Big Red said. “But now we need to get you to safety.”
The young people collected their belongings and went outside. Big Red whistled for her horse and said, “We’ll take Rude's horses. No sense making it easy for them to chase us.”
They mounted and rode north on Ridge Road at a brisk pace until the Roadhouse Inn was out of sight. Big Red called a halt under a large oak tree.
“Does Rude have other horses, Harp?”
“Yes, but they’re a good walk from the Roadside Inn. Even if he got free right away, he couldn’t come after us for some time.”
“Good,” she said. “I’m on my way to the City, and the Ridge Road is no longer safe. I’d like to try another route, but I don't know this country well enough to suggest an alternate way. Do you have any ideas?”
Shell pointed up the road. “A little further along is Mill Road, which goes past Woodside Mill and down to Finger Lake. You could get to Valley Road from there. We were hoping to stop at Woodside Mill and see if anyone is alive. The Millers are fine people. With our parents gone, they might take us in.”
“Let's go.” Big Red looked around only to find the twins' horses without riders. The boys were nowhere in sight. “Where did they go?”
“There.” Shell pointed up.
Page and Book were at the top of the oak. One looked up the road, one looked down the road.
“Come down from there!” Big Red shouted. “What are you doing?”
“Lookout,” called one. “Look out!” called the other as he lost his grip and slid down the trunk. He hit the ground with an experienced roll, his brother close behind.
Big Red shook her head in wonder as they mounted. “Well, did you see anything?”
“No, sir, uh!” they shouted, saluting with different hands. They saluted again, both having switched hands, still wrong. Finely they saluted with both hands, “All clear!” they chorused, completing the four-handed salute.
Smiling, Big Red shook her head and heeled her horse to a walk.
Woodside Mill
Matt and Mark were completing the changes to the trip hammer in the forge. Grandfather Lute hovered around like a child about to get a new toy. Scruff had lured Bell outside to play with a stick. She threw it and he, with great enthusiasm, retrieved it. They had played their way out to the closed front gate when they heard horses. Scruff darted to the base of the gate, barking. Bell climbed atop the big rock to peer over the wall.
She saw a tall, broad shouldered, red-haired young woman ride into view, followed by four other riders—first Harp and Shell, and then the twins, grinning and waving as they saw her.
Bell groaned. “Oh, no, Biff and Bash!” She smiled, though. She knew the twins well. They were a year older, and she took her schooling with them.
Bell hopped down from the wall and opened the gate, “Welcome! Welcome, Harp and Shell! Come and see Grandfather Lute.” She led the way to the forge, where all five of the visitors tied their horses. Grandfather Lute and Mark and Matt came out of the forge to greet them.
Grandfather Lute hugged each in turn, saying, “I'm so glad you are alive!” When he came to Big Red, he said, “Do we have you to thank for their safety, Scout?”
“She's a scout?” Shell said.
“Ha!” Harp said. “Rude didn't stand a chance!”
The twins saluted furiously with all of their hands, running around Big Red, who scattered them with a kick. “I think the only thing I did was save Rude from those two.” She bowed her head to Grandfather Lute. “I'm called Big Red. I’m on my way back to the City, but I found that Rude has more children captive. They will have to be rescued.”
Introductions were made all around, and Grandfather Lute led the new arrivals to the garden area next to the forge.
Under the shade of the live oaks, Big Red, with help from all the participants, told of their exploits at the Roadhouse Inn.
Matt and Mark went back to working on the trip hammer. Shell and Harp went with them. The twins were nowhere in sight. Bell sat with Grandfather Lute and Big Red.
“We have to do something to free the hostages and get rid of Rude and his bunch. You said you were returning to the City? How soon do you have to be there?”
“As soon as possible; but I won't leave you to deal with Rude alone. It is my duty to help the people under the protection of the City.”
“Harp and Shell and the twins can stay here. I relieve you of any responsibility for them.”
“Thank you, Grandfather Lute. I'm glad I don't have to take them to the City with me.”
“Where are we going to put everyone?” Bell asked.
“We can put Harp and the twins in the bunkhouse with Matt and Mark,” Grandfather Lute said. “Shell and Big Red can have Salt's house.”
“Me too, Grandfather,” Bell said. “I want to stay with Shell and Big Red.”
“I don't see why not. How does that sound to you, Big Red?”
Big Red stood. “Just fine, Grandfather Lute. Lead the way.”
“Bell, you take Big Red up to Uncle Salt’s. I'm going to see how the work on the hammer is going.”
By the end of the day, the trip hammer was functional. Grandfather Lute would run a test in the morning. Happy and tired, everyone retired for the night.
The City
Jana let the horse lead her. Consigning her friends’ bodies to the City Bay had taken its toll on her. Riding along the stone-paved Wharf Road, she wasn’t sure what to do next. Some of the joints between the pavers were noticeably askew from the earthquake. Portions of the waist-high sandstone wall that fronted the bay were now tumbled into the roadway. Her horse picked the way through the rubble.
At a pier up ahead, a barge was being loaded with the City’s dead while an empty barge stood waiting. The flow of wagons to the wharf was beginning to pick up. Jana could feel a grim satisfaction radiate from these people who were rescuing their City from the horror of these corpses.
The Dead Wind Page 6