by Brom Kearne
28
When Thorn awoke he didn’t feel any pain at all. He felt like he was floating on a cloud, and that meant that he was either dead or heavily drugged. As he looked around and found himself in one of the luxurious hospital rooms he had seen at the Len Dietrich Public Health Care Clinic, he ruled out the former assumption. He tried to sit up and found that it was difficult to bend his torso. Sliding his hand over his chest revealed that his upper body was covered in a thick layer of gauze.
A nurse walked in while he was struggling to sit up and she was startled to find that he was awake. Thorn recognized her from the night that he had tried to get in to see Brad Hadlik. That was only a few days ago, but it felt like a lifetime.
She went into action quickly, shoving a thermometer in his mouth before he could ask any questions, and then taking his pulse while she talked. “Oh, my, I’m glad you’re up. We’ve been worried sick about you.”
Thorn was about to ask how long he’d been out, but she seemed to read his mind as she continued.
“You’ve been out three days. You were very lucky that sparker shot didn’t shatter any bones in your shoulder. It was a clean shot and we were able to dig the projectile out and patch you up. Besides that you’ve got two cracked ribs, and you were suffering from dehydration and contusions over most of your torso. We’ve kept you sedated and we’ve got you on a morphine drip.”
“I certainly am.”
The nurse was making some notes on her chart.
“Are you hungry? I’ll bring in a tray. You’ve been living on a liquid diet these past few days, so you should get some food in your belly. I’ll start you small, don’t worry.” She winked as she replaced the chart. “Oh, you’ve had a visitor hanging around since we brought you in. He’s been pestering me constantly. ‘When’s Thorn going to wake up? When’s Thorn going to wake up?’ He’ll be just tickled pink to see you.”
She disappeared and less than a minute later an anxious-looking Scott Tanning peeked around the doorframe. He grinned and burst into the room when he saw Thorn was awake.
“I was so worried I couldn’t even sleep,” he said as he came into the room and sat on the corner of the bed. “I was afraid you were going to die after you collapsed on me like that.”
“I’ve been through worse,” Thorn said.
Scott scanned Thorn’s bandaged body. “I’d hate to have seen it.”
“Thanks for having my back out there.”
Scott was fidgeting with his hands. “You saved my life. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
Thorn didn’t like it when things got too emotional, and right now it looked like Scott was venturing dangerously close to that threshold. Thorn tried to sound as cavalier as he could when he said, “Hey, you saved my life too, remember? A couple of times. Besides, your father’s paying me very well for finding you.” Thorn attempted to sit up but was again frustrated in his attempt by the thick gauze around his torso which prevented him from being able to bend. “He’s paying for half of my new buggy. It’s going to be so sweet. It’ll be a hobby gas-fueled super buggy of his own design.”
Scott’s face had fallen at the mention of his father. Thorn paused.
“What’s the matter, kid? You don’t like buggies?”
“I love buggies. It’s just that . . . I can’t let you take me back.”
“Oh no, I went through too much for you to back out now. We’re going back even if I have to tie you down and drag you the whole way.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I want to go back. I want to go back more than anything in the world. Maybe I’ll become a mechanic like my dad. I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know what I want. But I can’t. I’m going to turn myself in for my role in the Amber Bones Gang. I helped hurt people. I was there the night that they murdered that man, Mr. Pith. I was part of it, and I should face the consequences.”
“I don’t think you should do that. This whole government is corrupt, from Len Dietrich to that mayor, what’s his name? Dinesh? I wouldn’t trust any one of them to administer justice.”
“Oh, that’s right, you haven’t heard.”
“Heard what?”
“The revolution. After everything that happened the farmers were so angry they took some of the guns that survived the explosion and marched on the mayor’s mansion. They got a bunch of the dock workers with them and they stormed the place. Just about tore it all down too. They went in there and threw Mayor Dinesh out. Chucked him into the Old Foss, literally.” Scott laughed.
“So who’s running things right now?”
“That trade caravan, Browning. But the town’s going to hold elections. Pretty much everyone’s thrown their support behind Mr. Varick for mayor. I’ve been talking with him, and he said that he’d vouch for me since I was a friend of yours. They caught some of the people with the gang. They got David Scontz locked up and a few others. Most of the others managed to flee though. But Mr. Varick said that I’d be assigned community service for a while. You know, to make up for what I did and help rebuild things here. I feel like it’s something I need to do. Do you think my father will understand?”
“I think your father would be very proud of you.”
Scott smiled. “Well, I guess I should go turn myself in. They let me wait until you were awake. Thanks again Thorn. You really did save my life. In more ways than one.”
Thorn was about to ask what had become of Court Raleigh, but Scott had disappeared around the door. Thorn’s mind was already working on what he was going to tell Rich Tanning when he got back. This was going to make one glorious story at the pub. He was going to play up Scott’s parts and turn him into a local hero. That kid was going to have his pick of the young ladies of Herrickstead when he came back from his community service. Thorn wondered if Rich would ever forgive him for that.
The nurse came through the door carrying a tray. Thorn couldn’t tell exactly what it was that was in the bowl she set before him. He was still too drugged up to feel hungry, but he figured he’d try to force it down regardless.
“I’m so glad that young man finally got to see you,” the nurse said as she helped Thorn into a sitting position and fluffed his pillow behind him so it would keep him propped up. “You should have heard him, pestering me day and night. And sitting in your room waiting, that boy never left your side. Now you eat up and I’ll be back in a few minutes for your tray.”
The food was bland, but it was warm and Thorn was able to eat it without too much trouble. Even though he didn’t feel hungry in the least, he did feel a lot stronger once he got the food down.
As he was pushing the tray aside and seeing if he could get out of bed, a well-dressed man stepped into the room. “Ah, Mr. Thorn, the nurse said you were awake.”
“You my doctor?” Thorn asked without looking up.
He did look up when he found that the man had taken his hand in both of his and was shaking it vigorously. “No, I’m not your doctor. My name is Kevin Browning, and on behalf of the Browning Trade Family I wanted to extend my deepest and sincerest gratitude for your efforts to protect us.”
Kevin Browning was a young man with dark, thick hair and dark intelligent eyes peering out from behind a pair of spectacles.
Thorn leaned back on his pillow. “You endangered those people’s lives when you fired on them.”
“Yes, that was an unfortunate incident all around. Nonetheless, our investigators have been over the accident area, and they fully briefed me on everything that happened. Your quick actions saved many lives, and helped to preserve our family’s standing as the premier trade family.”
“I’m thrilled for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was just now trying to get out of bed so I can run on down to town hall and see if I can collect my bounty for Court Raleigh, and then I’m out of here.”
“That may be a problem,” Kevin Browning said, sliding one of the chairs over so he could sit by the bed. “I understand that you were unconscious these past few days, and that you aren’t aware of the political up
heaval in the town of Webster Grove?”
“I’m aware of it.”
“Are you also aware that in the terms of the standard public bounty contract that any time there is a significant upheaval of the political landscape in which the sitting members of the government are forcibly removed, such as a revolution, that the contract becomes null and void?”
“Are you telling me that after everything I did for them these people are going to stiff me?”
“You must understand that the town of Webster Grove has a significant amount of rebuilding to do. The Browning Trade Family has agreed to work with the new government as a form of atonement for our actions the other night, and we will be covering a significant portion of the costs to rebuild.”
“You could have put a stop to their revolution before it started. But how convenient for you it must have been. And of course, you’ll be receiving preferential treatment on the trade routes, I suppose? Len Dietrich filled me in on the significance of this town’s geographical positioning.”
“Naturally, we will expect to be on friendly terms with the new government, once we have properly atoned for our part in the other evening’s unfortunate activities. But you must allow me to get to my point. I don’t know how much you know about the man calling himself Court Raleigh.”
“I know his real name is Paul and he’s related to your family.”
“Paul Browning is my brother.”
Thorn’s face dawned recognition. “So you’re the famous brother I’ve heard so much about. You’re the one they chose to save. I didn’t recognize the family resemblance without the skull tattoos.”
Kevin Browning forced a smile. “In fact, our trade family is very tight, and there are many brothers and sisters. But, yes, I am the brother who was kidnapped along with Paul all those years ago. But I don’t think that you’ve been told the full story. Our family bartered for the both of us and paid for our release up front. The kidnappers, however, rightly fearing the reprisal of the trade family, only released us one at a time. They kept Paul back so they would have leverage to escape unharmed, leaving instructions for where the boy might be found at a later date. Some of the other trade families have a policy of not negotiating with extortionists and kidnappers as a deterrent. Ours, however, never adopted such a policy. We happily pay them what they want for the safe return of our family members, and then we track them down afterwards and subject them to some of the most excruciating and inhumane tortures that are currently known to man. The stories of our barbarity are usually deterrent enough. And that is exactly what we did in this case. Once we caught up to the kidnappers, however, we found that my younger brother, Paul, was not with them. We obviously thought they had killed him, but they stuck to their story even after days of torture. They said that he had escaped their custody and was most likely dead in the wilderness.”
“That’s certainly not the way he tells it.”
“Yes, it’s very unfortunate that he believed himself betrayed all of these years. We will never be able to make up for that lost time or those injured emotions.”
Thorn suppressed a laugh. Court Raleigh, or Paul Browning, rather, was dealing with a lot more than just hurt emotions.
“So they got him prison, I take it? Well, these prisons out here tend to be pretty lax. I can always pick him up for you again in a few years when he gets out.”
Kevin Browning was shaking his head. “Paul is not going to a public prison. He will be incarcerated in our own private detention center, and he will be treated by the best psychological physicians we have available to us. Trust me: he won’t be getting out any time soon.”
“I see.”
“But that brings me to the matter at hand. Twenty years ago when my family was searching for Paul Browning they offered a reward for any information that would lead to his discovery and return to us. We never found out what happened to him, and that reward is still good. I intend to honor it.”
“How much are we talking?”
“How does a thousand dollars sound?”
Thorn’s jaw dropped. “A . . . thousand . . . dollars?”
Kevin Browning produced a thick brown envelope from under his coat. “Please take this with our sincerest thanks. It has been difficult not knowing what had become of one of our own.”
Kevin Browning shook Thorn’s hand again before showing himself to the door. Thorn was able to pull himself into a sitting position with his legs dangling off the side of the bed in his excitement as he flipped through the bills inside the envelope. He had never seen this much money before; not at one time, anyway. It was more than enough for his new buggy, and probably enough for some new features that he wouldn’t have been able to afford before. His mind was spinning with the possibilities.
But first he had to get out of this hospital room. It was the nicest hospital he had ever seen, but it was still a hospital and Thorn nursed a deep hatred for them. He thumbed out a few dollars and left them on his pillow. This hospital used to be funded with Len Dietrich’s money, but Thorn didn’t know what had become of it now. But his money was already burning a hole in his pocket and he didn’t like the idea of being in debt to anyone. Besides, he fully intended to raid one of the drug closets before he departed for some more of that morphine he was hopped up on, and he wanted to pay for that as well. It was a long ride back to Herrickstead, and Thorn wasn’t quite ready to crash back down to earth. Not yet.