Across the way, he saw Phil and Maggie coming, hand-in-hand. Maggie was wearing her scarlet dress and pranced gleefully as she pointed out things to her father. He seemed to be answering her questions patiently as they sauntered through the crowd. Harold looked across the crowd in the direction that Scott had come from and quickly found Sarah. When she looked his way, he waved at her. She smiled and returned his wave and then they walked toward each other.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” she replied.
“Reckon what Colonel Foxx is gonna’ talk about this time?” Harold asked, smiling.
Sarah rolled her eyes and laughed, “I don’t have a clue.”
Harold grabbed her hand and said, “Let’s step back some, I’m afraid I might actually fry him if he tells me to find another High-Born’s hand to shake.”
“I’ll get you some flour and grease,” Sarah smiled as they milled through the crowd.
It wasn’t long until Colonel Foxx appeared, and the woman who always accompanied him handed him her data-pane. Colonel Foxx queued the pilots and tapped his microphone. The rotating likeness of him flashed from sight and then suddenly became four separate images each facing a different direction. He cleared his throat and the crowd became quiet.
“Citizens of Foxx Hole,” he said. “I am glad to see that so many of you have begun to take advantage of the Low-Born trade initiative. It will move us all closer to unity. As all of you know, the harvest season is coming soon. In the coming weeks, my soldiers,” he gestured to himself and then to the crowd, “Your protectors, will be coming around and surveying your fields and assessing it for the proper amount of taxation. Those whose crops have grown exceptionally well will be pleased to know that we will put your share to particularly good use. There are many other Low-Born whose fields do not do so well because of various reasons, but we shall be taking an extra tax upon those fields so that others may benefit from your sacrifice.”
“More like we’ll steal it and eat it for ourselves, and make you think we’re doing you a favor by using fancy words,” Harold whispered so that only Sarah could hear him.
Sarah squeezed his hand and lightly elbowed him.
The colonel continued talking for some time about hard work and sacrifice and the greatness of the High-Born. Soon, the Kristall began spinning and the Vista was playing and Harold heard a dark and ominous bit of music, and saw a dark, cloudy sky. The roar of jet engines blared, as a deep voice said, “The Forgotten Nations brought war to their many and varied peoples.”
Harold just tuned the rest of it out as he rubbed Sarah’s thumb with his and she slid in closer to him and grabbed his hand with her other hand as well. She caressed his hand lightly and laid her head on his shoulder as they mindlessly watched the Vista.
After a few moments, Harold noticed something strange in the sky above him. He could see several cloaked gunships moving to hover above the circle. As best as he could tell there were about a dozen or maybe fifteen. He found it strange, but he could also sense them in a way that he didn’t understand. He thought it had something to do with the heat they gave off. He bumped Sarah and pointed to the sky. She squinted but then signaled him that she saw them, and gave him a questioning look. He shrugged as he looked around.
The soldiers were starting to clap now, and began urging the crowd to clap as well. Harold and Sarah joined in after few moments and Colonel Foxx did his usual overly-dramatic clapping fit. Soon, the circle was quieting down again, and the four images of Colonel Foxx flashed into view.
“Tonight, we have something special,” Colonel Foxx whirled his hand around.
A breeze from above blew over the crowd and the people in the front began stepping backwards. The gunships above them began appearing and landing in the area that had been blocked off. Harold could see crates in them, and the soldiers began unloading them
“Children from odd numbered roads now step forward,” Colonel Foxx said.
The crowd seemed to move toward the front as kids began filling the area. In a couple of minutes, the woman gave Colonel Foxx a nod, and he whirled his hand again. The soldiers quickly formed the children into lines and began handing out small boxes from within the crates. They also gave each child clothes of some sort.
“This is odd,” Harold said.
“I know,” Sarah replied.
Colonel Foxx’s voice came over the loud speaker, “In each of the boxes is a week’s supply of food. One only needs to add water to these packets of food. You will find that they are very tasty. Each child has also received a new pair of pants as well as a new shirt.”
“Cooper has been needin’ some more clothes,” Harold said.
“Yeah, we can always use more food,” Sarah said.
After a few more minutes, the last of the first group of children were standing beside their parents.
“Now, if the children of even numbered streets will step forward,” Colonel Foxx said.
Harold watched and quickly found Cooper, Ollie, and Scott. They moved with eagerness and quickly stood at attention as the soldiers ushered them into lines. Harold caught a glimpse of Maggie’s scarlet dress as Phil pushed her into the cordoned off area.
The woman nodded at Colonel Foxx, and he whirled his hand. Two of the soldiers standing by the crates began walking to the back of the lines while two more stood at the front of the lines. Harold noticed more soldiers coming out of the gunships, and he could see a lot of people in the crowd shift uncomfortably. He tensed slightly as well, and he felt Sarah squeeze his hand more tightly. The two soldiers that had walked to the back of the lines lay something on the ground and each one stood up, holding something in their hands.
It was a net.
Harold heard a woman scream as each of the soldiers that had walked to the ends of the lines walked rapidly forward. The children in the back were immediately pushed forward into the others. Most of the kids were too shocked to move, and many of them didn’t even have an opportunity to flee as the majority of them were caught before they could run. The nets were quickly closed and the screaming children were roughly drug across the ground toward the empty crates. A few of the children had managed to escape the trap and were running around, but the other soldiers were quickly herding them.
All of Foxx Hole broke loose into utter chaos. The villagers were shouting in fury and despair as they began rushing the cordoned area. Loud metallic crashes echoed as they began slamming into the barrier. Despite the furious shaking and wobbling of the fence, it held strong. Several of the townspeople began pulling and yanking on it so fiercely that Harold thought they might tear it down. Something strange caught his eye and Harold saw Scape clambering up the fence. Scape’s speed and balance was nothing less than incredible as the trembles in the fence did nothing to slow his ascent. He quickly made it to the top and leaped down into the High-Born and children.
Several High-Born tucked their guns to their shoulders and leveled them at the crowd. Though the crowd slowed somewhat, several fathers began tearing at the fence. Harold saw a glimpse of Cooper dragging Ollie by her hand as he pulled her towards the gate in the fence that was now closed. A large High-Born caught them both, and snatched them apart from one another. Harold could see that Ollie was crying and screaming and reaching toward the edge of the fence. His eyes quickly found Aunt Nean who was standing at the edge of the fence reaching for her as well. Then he saw Cooper biting the soldier that had caught him. As Cooper kicked and punched the High-Born soldier, Harold saw Scape ferociously biting and clawing the soldier’s leg that had his little cousins.
The soldier turned and viciously kicked Scape. Harold watched him fly through the air and smack into the fence and bounce off it. As Scape fell to the ground, he spun and landed on his feet and seemed all the more ferocious. His strange ears laid flat against his head and the hair on his back stood straight up as he bared his fearsome teeth. Scape gathered himself and let out a frightening roar that dwarfed much of the noise in Foxx Hole. Then he darted
back into the crowd, jumping over and ducking under High-Born and the children until he found the one that had Cooper. He yowled and growled as he continued his attack on the soldier’s leg.
Storm clouds rolled in Harold’s mind and he felt himself losing control of his flames as he ran toward the fence, knocking people down as he sprinted.
A gunshot sounded and the crowd looked toward the noise. Colonel Foxx had fired into the air, and nodded to his soldiers. They all began firing into the air, and some even shot near the feet of the mob that was shaking the fence. Many people in the crowd stepped backwards and knocked down many of their fellow villagers.
Harold stopped running, and he could hear many of the kids screaming. The wails of crying people, both male and female covered the air. Even above the awful sounds, there was one voice in particular he heard amidst the commotion. It was Scott’s little voice, and it rang out clearly to him, as if he was meant to hear it.
“Fire-Man is my friend, you dirty snake! You better let me go! Because he will get you! Fire-Man will get you all! Let me go!”
Harold managed to find Scott amidst the pandemonium. He was scraping at the visor of the soldier that had him. The little boy was making fire noises as he kicked and screamed and then let loose his best Tiger-Man roar. The soldier gave Scott a hard smack across the face and the little boy fell limp in his arms.
Harold nearly lost control, but he felt someone grab his arm tightly. He turned and saw Sarah patting his back furiously. She was putting out the flames on his shirt.
“You’ll hurt everyone in the crowd!” she shouted above the wailing and shouts of fury.
He turned to look at her and he noticed that she stepped back, nearly terrified. She gritted her teeth as she summoned her own courage and stepped back towards him. She cupped his face as she leaned into his ear.
“Your eyes are glowing,” she shouted, but no one was paying attention to them. “If you fight them right now, y’all will kill half the town and probably all of the kids!”
Harold almost did not care, and if it had only been his life that was in danger, he would’ve lashed out at the High-Born with all of the terrible power in him, but she was right. He had no doubt that the power within him would consume everything in the immediate area if he released it, especially since he was as angry as he was. He leaned back, closed his eyes, and shouted at the top of his lungs. His shouting was drowned out by the mayhem taking place in the town circle.
Far in the distance, lightning flashed.
More gunshots sounded, and then a loud racket came out of the speakers of Colonel Foxx’s gunship that drove many people to their knees. It went on for several seconds before he motioned for the pilots to shut it down. The crowd was somewhat quieter now, but many people were still crying.
Some were even down on their knees begging Colonel Foxx to let their children go.
Harold looked toward Colonel Foxx and he saw him motioning for someone to bring something to him. He looked in that direction and saw two soldiers walking with Phil in between them. One of his eyes was black and swelled shut, and blood was dripping out of his mouth and nose, and he seemed to be barely hanging on to consciousness. The soldier on the left had Maggie by the back of her dress, seeming to hold her by the nape of the neck, carrying her like she was a mangy puppy. Her terrified and pitiful screams echoed across the crowd, and Harold could see some of the women tearing at their own hair. The two soldiers stopped in front of Colonel Foxx. Then, he turned to the pilots and motioned to his microphone and then the Kristall as he thumbed his pistol.
“Slaves of Foxx Hole!” he shouted. His voice had taken on a deadly quality that had an edge of seriousness to it that chilled Harold. “I will countenance no more of this defiance!” he fired a shot into the air. “I am your master! And I will not tolerate the disobedience of my slaves! You and your children are mine to do with as I please!”
Suddenly, the Kristall began spinning and projected the four live images of Colonel Foxx, Maggie, and the soldier holding her. Foxx turned the gun toward Maggie’s head, and Harold heard shrieks and gasps all over the crowd as there was a noticeable stop to the commotion. The little girl was the absolute vision of helplessness as she was now crying so hard that she wasn’t even making any noise, just twitching as she tried to catch her breath. Her tear-streaked face and beautiful blue eyes looked across the crowd as the soldier held her up for all to see. Maggie’s feet dangled as the soldier slowly moved her back and forth, and she suddenly took a deep, shuddering breath that became the most awful wailing sound Harold had ever heard.
Phil dropped to his knees, “Colonel Foxx, sir,” he placed his hands together. “Sir, I beg of you to show me… and all of us...” Phil motioned to the crowd, “I beg you to show us the kindness of the High-Born... Please... spare her... and punish me.”
Colonel Foxx bristled slightly. Harold could tell that there was some part of him that deeply enjoyed this.
“Very well,” Colonel Foxx said as he turned his pistol on Phil. The crowd had become so silent now that it was utterly unsettling.
“Slaves of Foxx Hole!” Colonel Foxx shouted with fury. “Watch and remember this moment well!” and then he looked back to Phil. “You shall receive the mercy of the High-Born only this once! I will spare both you and your daughter! But if anyone else in this town resists for one moment more! You all will watch him die!” Colonel Foxx swept his arm around at the crowd. Then, he violently snatched Maggie out of the soldier’s arms, tearing her little dress as he held her up, “And then all of you will watch her and these children die!” he pointed at the crates. “And I will take the others to replace these!”
The soldiers inside the fence began pointing their guns at the crates full of crying children. Colonel Foxx hesitated for a moment as four massive images of Maggie cried above the spinning Kristall. Then, he looked out across the crowd that was now beginning to totally submit, “On your knees!... Now!!”
Harold was the first to drop to his knees, and then Sarah. Then, slowly, the entire town acquiesced. Harold could feel tears running down his cheeks and he kept his eyes closed and his head down for fear of he would do if he looked at Maggie one more time.
“Remember this moment whenever I return!” Colonel Foxx shouted over Maggie’s crying. “For the next act of defiance will be punished with the death of the child and of the child’s parents! I will never tolerate such behavior ever again! You are all my property and you will act as such!”
Harold was shaking as his fire burned within him like it never had before, and it took all of his self-control to hold it in. In fact, it was nearly consuming him, and then he felt Sarah’s hand grab his own. He could feel her arms slightly jerk as she only half-controlled the sobs that were beginning to overtake her. He felt his own breath trembling as he struggled to hold down his sorrow. Then, she just fell into his arms, bawling as she wrapped her arms around him. He could feel tears overwhelming him as he laid his head on her shoulder, and he too began crying uncontrollably as he pulled her closer.
Then, they just knelt there, weeping in one another’s arms along with the rest of Foxx Hole.
Part II
“The Journey”
Chapter 21
Harold sat up and looked around the town circle as he wiped his red and swollen eyes. The people of Foxx Hole were scattered all about in the town circle. Many were still holding each other, and some were lying face down, still clearly weeping. Others seemed to be passed out and laid motionless in the dirt and grass. A few of the men were shouting at the top of their lungs as they used their fists to vent their anger on the sides of buildings and trees. There was even one woman walking around, mumbling unintelligible words and phrases. Strangely, she was actually laughing and dancing.
Of all the people Harold could see, he felt the most pity for her.
He looked down at Sarah, and he didn’t remember when or how, but he and Sarah both had ended up lying on the ground just holding one another as they did their b
est to comfort the other. He didn’t even know how long they had lay there amidst the sprawl of mournful villagers. Sarah was coming to her senses and she looked up at him through her puffy eyes. He didn’t know what else to do but stroke the side of her face. She grabbed his hand and kissed it as though it was a precious gift. He could see her tears returning, and he pulled her into another hug. She embraced him tightly and made a couple more whimpers, and then composed herself. She didn’t look at him, she just left her head on his shoulder, and she breathed calmly while he twirled her hair and held her.
His thoughts were starting to clear, and he looked around the circle again. He didn’t pay attention to any of the wandering people, he just blankly stared. A light wind blew in his face, and he saw something drifting in the air. He gritted his teeth and looked at it from under his eyebrows as he reached out with his hand. He didn’t even have to try to catch it...
...The piece of scarlet cloth simply floated into his hand...
He slowly cut his eyes towards the fenced-in area, and the floating image of Colonel Foxx. His feral gaze seemed to be pulled to it almost against his will. Ground into the dirt at the base of the pyramid was a little ragdoll named Betsy. As he stared at the doll, he listened to the wails of sorrow and crying all over the town. He looked over the townspeople as he clenched the cloth. His breathing quickened as tears of righteous anger began overwhelming him and a vision of storm clouds rolled through his mind.
As he looked across the stores, he passed by the blacksmith shop, and his eyes locked on it.
“Does your dad know what I can do?” he asked.
“No,” she said, still hiding her face on his shoulder.
He gently pulled her away from his shoulder, “Go tell him, and make sure he knows that you’re not loose-headed.”
“Why?” she asked with the look of a child that had just been disciplined.
“Do you trust me, Sarah?” he asked as he gently stroked her hair.
She nodded.
Blaze (The High-Born Epic) Page 15